Welcome Transfans to the 25 Robots NOT from Cybertron. Of course if we were to do a top 25 list of robots we'd quickly load it up with our favourite autobots, decepticons, and their kin. So I've removed them all from the equation to give everyone else their moment of glory. Also to give everyone a fair shake, only ONE spot on the list per franchise/show/story/universe/whatever. Ie. If I had included Transformers they would only get one spot, there would not be individual spots for Optimus, bumblebee, megatron and everyone else. Also much like certain countdown tv shows there will be honourable mentions and other surprises along the way, including a look at a future robot that I think will find himself on a list like this one day. So now that all the formalities are out of the way, let the count down begin!!!! #25 Leopardon/Marveler (Spider-Man [Japan]) You have to look reeeeal close at this guy's chest and you'll see a very familiar design. Yes boys and girls, this giant robot belongs to your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man! See, back in the 70s Japan decided to give Spider-Man a live action kids show. Since they had this thing about robots, they decided to give Spider-Man one. His name was Leopardon and he transformed from a space ship, yes he was basically Spider-Man's Zord. In fact he was the very first Zord ever created. That's right Power Rangers fans, you have Spidey to thank for all those giant fighting robots you see in every episode of the Power Rangers. The show itself might not have been that great but it was ironically a key moment in robot history. #24 GizmoDuck (DuckTales) "BLATHERING BLATHERSKITE!!" Here's Disney's contribution to our list, this robotic crime fighter first appeared in the TV movie Super Ducktales. From that moment on we all loved him and he would be come a regular on Ducktales and even have some guest appearances on Darkwing Duck. #23 Johnny 5 (Short Circuit 1&2) "JOHNNY 5 IS ALIVE!" Johnny was a pop culture icon in the 80s with his 2 movies about a robot that got zapped by lightning and became ALIVE. Very soon he will be back in an all new remake of that 80s classic. #22Megas (Megas XLR) "Chicks dig giant robots!" Megas was the star robot on a sadly short lived animated series called Megas XLR on Cartoon Network from 2004. Two bumbling gamers had a giant robot land in their laps and not knowing what to do with it, they slapped a hot rod on top to control it. This show was known for spoofing a number of our favourite animes and robots. #21 The Iron Giant This big guy starred in his own animated motion picture, based on a children's book from 1968. Every so often Cartoon Network feels the need to marathon this wonderful film, and rightfully so. ************************************************************** And now let's take a break to enjoy the opening to Megas XLR which featured an awesome theme song that is pretty much an anthem for all us giant robot fans! YouTube Video: Lyrics: (chorus) I dig giant robots. You dig giant robots. We dig giant robots. Chicks dig giant robots. NICE! Ok back to the counddown.... ****************************************************** #20 Michi (Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis) Well the above image is from the anime, which was made in 2001. It's based on a manga written over 50 years earlier in 1949, but legendary artist/animator Osamu Tezuka. Michi (Tima in the film) is the focus of the story and it is considered genderless, although it has a button in its mouth at the back of the throat that makes it change genders. The story concerns a scientist who's forced to create a genderless being named Michi and then steals it from the criminal who forced its creation. Eventually Michi runs away from its surrogate father and wanders the world searching for its nonexistent parents. Michi's encounters provide a tragicomic commentary on Tezuka's surroundings: the escalating Cold War, human folly and the search for love and affection in an increasingly harsh world. #19 Evangelion (Neon Genesis Evangelion) Evas were mysterious biological giant robots controlled by teenagers to fight mysterious beings known as Angels. No one knows what is truely what and this series is probably best known for its mindwarp of a conclusion. It was so bizzare that a film was made to redo it, even THAT was still a bit screwy. #18 Jiro/Kikaider (Android Kikaider) Kikaider started out as a live action series in Japan and was later remade as an anime. Oh yeah, there was a manga too. It tells the story of Jiro a robot with emotions, his adventures protecting his creator's children, their search for him, and Jiro's quest to learn about his past. #17 Zoids Zoids started out as a toy line way back in 1982. 17 years later in 1999 it got an anime series and has had several of them since then. Pictured above is the Liger, probably the most popular Zoid which has been featured in nearly all of the anime series in one form or another. The plots of the series vary from one to another but the one constant is these sentient fighting robot vehicles piloted by humans. Some versions feature a smaller robot that combines inside a Zoid similar to a power master transformer. The Zoids franchise continues strong to this day. #16 Maria (Metropolis - 1927) Maria certainly deserves a mention here, as she was the very first robot to ever appear on film. She made her appearance in the german silent scifi epic film Metropolis in 1927--80 years ago. METROPOLIS takes place in 2026, when the populace is divided between workers who must live in the dark underground and the rich who enjoy a futuristic city of splendor. The tense balance of these two societies is realized through images that are among the most famous of the 20th century, many of which presage such sic-fi landmarks as 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and BLADE RUNNER. Lavish and spectacular, with elaborate sets and modern science fiction style, METROPOLIS stands today as the crowning achievement of the German silent cinema. ************************************************************ Ok time for another break, here's a look at fun short lived robot anime that did not make the list: Pilot Candidate Youtube video clip of the first episode: Aaand back to the countdown.... ************************************************************ #15 Robbie the Robot Of course no robot list would be complete without mentioning Robbie. He first appeared in the 1956 film Forbidden Planet, but since then he's been randomly popping up in tv shows and films ever since. Robbie might look familiar to fans of Lost In Space, as LIS's Robot looks an awful lot like Robbie. This comes as no surprise since BOTH robots were designed by Robert Kinoshita. Robbie even showed up on Lost In Space to meet his counterpart. #14 MegaZord (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) We would be remiss if we didn't have some mention of the giant robots employed by the Power Rangers. Their Zords would combine to form the MegaZord and of course there have been numerous MegaZords over the years, this one pictured is the original. (Ok so there were several other Sentai shows in Japan before Saban gave us Power Rangers, but this started it all for us here in North America.) #13 Gobots (Challenge Of The Gobots) We all know about the ugly illigitemate second cousins of the Transformers, but we all have some of the toys and we all watched the cartoons. Don't even bother trying to deny it. #12 Voltron In a common trend in the 80s, a US company took 3 completely unreleated short animes from Jpana and mashed them together to create a satisfactory length cartoon series in the US. Voltron is the product of one of those experiments. They gave us two flavours of Voltron with a 3rd one planned, but we loved the first version so much that they scrapped #3 and stuck with the Lions to this day. #11 Daleks/Cybermen (Doctor Who) The Daleks and the Cybermen, two robotic villain races from Doctor Who the longest running scifi program of all time. The British show started in 1963 and continues to this day. The Daleks and the Cybermen are two of its most cherished villians and still survive to annoy the good Doctor today. *********************************************************************************** Time for another break, this time we have a robotic Public Service Anouncement ASTAR can put his arm back on, but YOU CAN'T. So play safe! View the classic PSA: View the ALL NEW remake: Time to get back to our countdown, we're down to the top 10!! ******************************************************* #10RoboCop Everyone's favourite robot cop, once a man left for dead rebuilt as a machine. He starred in 3 movies, 2 live action tv series (ok one was a miniseries), and 2 cartoon series. He also had a brief stint as a wrestler in the now defunct WCW. #9 The Terminator (Terminator) In 1984 Arnold Swartzaneggar took on the role that would define him as the robot soldier known as the Terminator. In the first film he was the bad guy but he would be the hero in both of the sequels. He won't be able to continue on since he became governor of California, but Terminator will live on, a new tv series will be starting in the next week or so and a 4th film is in production. #8 Lt. Commander Data/The Borg (Star Trek: The Next Generation) One of the biggest franchises in SciFi gave us two robotic icons. The childish Lt. Commander Data and his pinnochio pursuit of being human, and the evil Borg. Resistance is futile! Sadly Data recently sacrificed himself for his crew, but those stupid Borg just won't go away. #7 SDF-1 / Valkyrie Fighter VF-1 (Robotech) Like Voltron, Robotech was a US mishmash of several unrelated animes. On the plus side, the first third of the series gave us two iconic robots. The first SDF-1, (Super Dimentional Fortress), a giant freaking spacecraft with a whole city in it that transforms into a giant fighting robot that could rival the likes of Fortress Maximus. The smaller, but equally as important, contribution was the Valkyrie Fighter. A Jet that transformed into a robot and became the blueprint for our very own Autobot Jetfire. #6 R2-D2 / C3P0 (Star Wars) If I'm going to mention Star Trek in this countdown, I would probably get mobbed by fanboys if I didn't also include Star Wars. Star Wars of course gave us two of the most iconic robots in pop culture, C3P0 and R2D2. These two loveable robots have appeared in all 6 Star Wars films and were so popular they got their own animated series. View the Droids cartoon intro here: ****************************************************** We're getting down to the top 5! But first, here's some random robots that didn't make the list: V.I.C.I. from Small Wonder Small Wonder intro: c.L.Y.D.E Clip/theme music: Robotix Pilot Episode: T-Bob (M.A.S.K.) T-Bob clip: Metal Head (TMNT) See his debut: BattleTech Watch the first episode of the cartoon: Pixar's Robots Trailer: O (The Big O) Intro: The Gads (Gad Guard) Dual! Watch the first episode: Ok let's get to the top 5, and don't forget to stay tuned at the end for a look at a future robot star coming soon! ***************************************************** #5 Gigantor "Gigantor is a space age robot, his power is in your hand!" Before Transformers, before gobots, before Power Rangers, Voltron, Gundam, Zoids and all the other giant robots we all love even existed there was Gigantor. Created in 1958, Gigantor was the very first "giant robot", if it wasn't for him we probably wouldn't have a messageboard dedicated to Transformers right now. He was controlled by remote control by a boy named Jimmy Sparks. Gigantor was featured in a manga and a cartoon series. Recently he got a new cartoon series and a live action film in Japan. View the original intro: #4 Mega Man When you think of robots and video games there is only one character that comes to mind: Mega Man. He debuted in his own game for the NES back in 1987 aptly titled "Mega Man" and has appeared in numerous video games, cartoons, and comics ever since. #3 Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam) What began as a short anime series exploded into a franchise phenomenon that shows no signs of slowing down. It all began with the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam about giant robots called "mechs" that were piloted by people, it was the very first concept of the mech. Since Mobile Suit Gundam there have been numerous other anime series and films, mangas, video games, and of course the toys & model kits. Gundam is probably one of the biggest robot franchises along side the likes of Transformers and Sentai (Power Rangers). #2 Iron Man Well there are a few robots in the world of comic books, but Iron Man is probably #1. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he made his debut in the horror anthology comic Tales of Suspense #39. Millionare Tony Stark was caught by a land mine explosion and had to install robotics into his chest to keep him alive. He had been captured by the enemy and forced to build a super weapon for them. Instead he secretly built a super robotic suit that made him Iron Man! ****************************************************** Ok boys and girls, it has all come down to this. The #1 robot NOT from Cybertron. The moment you've all been waiting for, DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ****************************************************** #1 Astro Boy Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I give you the robot that started it all. In 1951 Osamu Tezuka created Tetsuwan Atom (Mighty Atom), better known to you and me as Astro Boy! 12 years later in 1963 Tezuka brought Astro to the small screen in the very first anime series, and also the very first anime to make its way to North America. You ever notice the big eyes you see in anime characters? That all started right here. Osamu Tezuka was inspired by the work of our very own Walt Disney and began drawing his characters in a similar style, ie. the big eyes. With Astro Boy Tezuka set the standard for decades to come for the use of robots in fiction, to put it simply--he gave them life. Since the original anime series there have been two others, and of course the mangas. Sadly, Osamu Tezuka passed away in 1989, just after completing the transfer of the second Astro Boy anime series to North America. His great body of work maintains his legacy to this day, he is revered in his native Japan much in the same way we think of Walt Disney here. Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) ****************************************************** ****************************************************** And now the OTHER moment you've been waiting for. We close this nostalgic look at robots with a look at the NEXT great robot: On June 27, 2008 Pixar will debut a new character in theatres in his very own movie: Wall-E The year is 2700. WALL*E, a robot, spends every day doing what he was made for. But soon, he will discover what he was meant for. Check out the trailer here: http://www.imdb.com/video/trailer/me60561549/
Interesting list. Nice to see MegaMan there. That being said (aka. time to bitch), some of them aren't robots (IronMan for one), Pixar didn't do Robots, and finally, where's Bender?!
No offence dude nut I believe some of them shouldn't have even made the list. For example, Iron Man, Megas XLR and GizmoDuck. For example, I would consider Iron Man a "robot" and even if he is, I don't think he would make the "list". What stumps me is how Gizmoduck is even considered! LOL! Mega XLR as cool as it is, simply isn't iconic...YET. Likewise for the Iron Giant. Many mech fans would replace them with votoms (scopedogs), Mazingers (both the original and Great Mazinger) and what about the Getter robots, Raideen and Gunbuster also? Dude... alot of notable absentees. And how can Gundam be ranked at no.3 - even losing out to Iron Man? Me thinks alot of anime and fans from Japan, HK would start a riot! LOL! Base on the impact made by the franchise in terms of concept (first "real-type" mecha) and the amount of merchandise it churns out, it should have taken the no.1 spot.
Futurama doesn't get alot of hype. However, Bender (and probably some others too) should have shown up in the part of the list where I put the robots that didn't make the list. This thread is not only about the top 25 robots but a fun celebration of all robots, giving people opportunity to learn about some they're not familiar with along the way. So if I missed some, throw them in here!
Didn't realize that Gizmoduck was getting more "hype" then Bender these days. Still I maintain that IronMan and several others aren't even robots to begin with. If you're just looking for any mechanical parts on an organic frame then I'd throw Samus Aran in while we're at it. Heck, I'm no Star Wars expert but I think Darth Vader has more robotic parts on him then Tony Stark.
I was thinking the same thing. That show rocked. And why aren't the saucer-esque robots from Batteries Not Included not mentioned?
I'm taking it that this is your own personal list considering many of those aren't Robots but either battle armor or Cyborgs. Besides those mentioned, I wouldn't consider Robocop or the Borg robots either. Nice effort though.
<rant> What a horrible llist; since when was Iron Man a robot? Ditto for Robocop; at last check he was a cyborg. If anything, ED-209 should've been there instead; you also missed this legendary trio of robots... I'm also with the other users about the exclusion of other notables like the Mazingers... Lastly, Power Ranger zords were descended from the first sentai robot from Battle Fever: J.. </rant>
Sorry bud, Spidey's Zord came first. Check the dates. There were Sentai shows before Battle Fever J, but they didn't have giant robots until Spidey got one. Edit: Yes, Tranzor Z should be in the list.
Technically, those are both wrong actually; all PR zords are of the combining series so if anything, they are descended from Combattler V. That's for another thread anyways...
Nice list, but there are a few I would have added. Instead of Iron Man, there are a lot of comic robots such as Sentinels, Vision, or Red Tornado. Cylons and Bishop from Aliens would also be on my list.
Based on some of the comments and on the list, I think too broad of a spectrum is being discussed here. You have battle armor like Gizmo duck or Iron man, piloted mecha like that of macross, gundam, power rangers, etc., and androids like mega man, astro boy etc (no Data from Star trek?), and cyborgs like the borg and robocop, all mixed into one list. I think you could split that up into at least 2 or 3 lists and gain a lot more meaning from it. For example, have the best robotic armors and include both mecha and battle armor like Gizmo duck, as one list, and for another list, have the best human-like robotic life forms and include androids and cyborgs like cylons and borg.
Interesting but bullshit that Prime isnt on this list. And there are a bunch there that aren't robots. Ironman, Robocop, and the Borg are all cyborgs. And Data is an andriod, not a robot. EDIT: Gizmo duck is also not a robot. He's a duck that wears a metal suit.
Data IS on the list, his image just doesn't work. He's right next to Borg. Same show, one spot on the list. This list is Robots NOT from Cybertron, NO TRANSFORMERS! (Otherwise 75% of this list would have to be transformers ;p )
