Guess I'm a Robophile...

So...

I'm obsessed with robots.

I think it was Voltron, Mighty Orbots or Transformers that started it... back when I was a kid in the 80s. The idea of huge robots that joined up to form even bigger ones was always something that fascinated me, or maybe just robots that turned into other things. I remember being insanely envious of kids at school who had the Voltron toys, which of course I was never allowed to have because my mum thought Voltron was Satanic. Transformers was perfectly fine though - no magic, devils or witches to be found there. So me and my two brothers amassed an impressive collection of Transformers, mostly the more obscure Autobots, because they were smaller and cheaper, but we did manage to get the whole set of Constructicons, two of the Seekers, a couple of Insecticons and some of the Stunticons. When I was a little older and started to get some money of my own through doing paper rounds after school and other part time jobs, I managed to get some of the 'bots I'd always wanted... including Starscream, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Grimlock and Megatron, and my mum bought my younger brother and I the Holy Grail of Transformers for Christmas one year - Optimus Prime, which we had to share, much to my frustration. I never did manage to get Soundwave or Shockwave though, my two favourite Decepticons, and in fact my two favourite Transformers. Oh well.

After that, anything with robots in immediately grabbed my attention. Other cartoons like COPS, The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers and even Gargoyles, movies like the Star Wars films, Short Circuit, Batteries Not Included, The Black Hole and Robocop, even silly live-action TV shows like Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. I started looking for older TV shows and movies with robots in them, and grew fond of The Jetsons, Lost in Space and old movie classics like Metropolis, The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Forbidden Planet. My interest in robots continued unabated, right up to Steven Spielberg's epic A.I. and Pixar's brilliant Wall.e... In fact, robot-wise, there's very little that I haven't seen.

My obsession's not limited to just robots, of course, I'm also fascinated by all the many cyborgs of film and TV, from Star Trek's Data and the Borg to Doctor Who's Daleks and Cybermen, the Synthetics from the Aliens franchise and the various Terminators from the films of the same name. I still have a lot of my cyborg and robot-toys, packed away in boxes at my mum's house, and I have every intention of collecting them and putting them all out on display when I have a place of my own. Sigh. One day...

Original VOLTRON Lions - An Introduction

Below are the Voltron Lions as they appeared in the opening credits of the original cartoon (after Sven was injured and replaced by Princess Allura). I've put them in order of size and importance (sort of).


The Black Lion is the biggest and most powerful of the five, being the lion that forms the torso, thighs and head of mighty Voltron. It's piloted by Keith, the leader of the Voltron Force, and stands on proud display outside Castle Arus when not in use. I always thought the Black Lion was a bit ugly, but whatever. It's the only one of the original Lions to possess wings.


The Blue Lion, piloted initially by 2nd-in-command Sven and then by Princess Allura, is one of the next two biggest Lions (the Yellow and Blue being virtually the same size). The Blue Lion forms mighty Voltron's right leg. I put it before the Yellow because both its pilots outrank the other members of the Voltron Force (apart from Keith, though arguably Allura outranks Keith when they're not piloting the Lions). It's also my favourite of the original Lions. The Blue Lion resides at the bottom of a lake when not in use.


The Yellow Lion, as already mentioned, is roughly the same size as the Blue, but possibly a fraction bigger, and it forms mighty Voltron's left leg. It's piloted by Hunk, the biggest and strongest of the human pilots. The Yellow Lion resides in the great deserts of Planet Arus when not in use. Like it's pilot, the Yellow Lion is pretty tough, arguably the strongest after the larger Black Lion.


The smaller Red Lion is piloted by Lance, and forms mighty Voltron's right arm. When not in use, it rests inside a fiery volcano on Arus, being resistant to and recharged by extreme heat. Lance becomes the 2nd-in-command after Sven's injury, literally the right-hand-man of the Voltron Force leader, Keith, though they don't really seem to like each other that much and are eventually rivals for Allura's affections.



The final lion is my 2nd favourite, the Green, which forms the left arm of mighty Voltron. It's smaller, like the Red Lion, but has a nice smooth body, setting it apart from the other four. It's piloted by Pidge, who I find INCREDIBLY annoying in original Voltron (but much more likable in the new Voltron Force), like its pilot it seems to be the weakest but it's perhaps the most agile and maneuverable. When not in use, it rests deep in one of the dense green forests of Arus.

Together, they form the giant robot Voltron, Defender of the Universe!

Epic Win!!

Well worth posting... I've never seen so much awesome in one picture before! How many of these robots from TV and film do you recognize? Most of the more important ones are there, from Maria (Metropolis) and Gort (The Day the Earth Stood Still) to C3PO and R2D2 (Star Wars) to the Daleks and Cybermen (Doctor Who*) and Marvin and Bender (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Futurama, respectively).

*And yes, I'm well aware that the Daleks and Cybermen aren't technically robots but rather cyborgs - I'm a Doctor Who nut, it's my favourite show. Check out my Doctor Who blog!

Robbie the Robot

Robbie the Robot, from the groundbreaking film The Forbidden Planet. Robbie was one of the very first Robot CHARACTERS, with an actual personality, C3PO, R2D2, Marvin and Bender all owe their existence largely to Robbie's immense popularity :)

C3PO

No need for introductions here :)

Danger Will Robinson, Danger!

Here's B-9, or 'Robot' as he's better known, possibly the most famous fictional robot of the Twentieth Century, from the cult-classic 60's TV series Lost In Space.