The Top 12 Movie Robots of All Time

They’ve delighted us and terrified us. They’ve warned us of danger and they, themselves, have been the danger. They have shown us the best of what human creativity is capable of and they have shown us the worst human creativity is capable of. They are the robots of the silver screen.

Here, then, is a look at the Top 12 Movie Robots of All Time.

12. The Robot (Lost in Space) – You know you are a bad mamma jamma when you are simply known as “The Robot”. In the pantheon of famous robots, he is “The Robot”. Best known for his many episodes on the ’60s sci-fi television classic Lost in Space, The Robot gave us the one of the most popular lines in American television history: “Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!” He made it to the big screen decades later when “Lost in Space” finally hit the big screen in 1998. Fortunately, Dick Tufeld was still around – 72 years old – to lend his legendary voice to The Robot’s big screen debut.

11. C-3PO (Star Wars) – As one half of the most famous robot tandem in history, C-3PO was the classic straight man that every famous duo needs. Created as a droid responsible for things like customs, manners, and etiquette, his role was to ensure that encounters with new life forms went smoothly. Of course, C-3PO rarely found himself in friendly encounters throughout much of the Star Wars series of movies; so that etiquette went right out the window. What came in another window is a litany of classic comic relief zingers like, “It’s against my programming to impersonate a deity.” Oh, that robot.

10. WALL-E (WALL-E) – While many robots are portrayed as minions of destruction, the fully animated WALL-E can only be called an insturment of salvation. Left to clean up the rubble-strewn earth after humans sucked every resources from it, WALL-E later discovers what 700 years of “evolution” has done to humans – made them gelatinous media receptacles. From that point on, he is humanity’s only hope to restore what once existed. Oddly enough, his tale is also a present day harbinger for what could happen if we let it. Not bad for a collection of pixels.

9. Robby the Robot (Forbidden Planet) – He is perhaps the most famous robot in history. Making his debut when most of the other robots on this list were parts in random bins, Robby the Robot scared the Bejeezus out of us in “Forbidden Planet” (1956). It wasn’t just his cold demeanor; Robby was a menacing presence at 7’6″ and 300 lbs. Since “Forbidden Planet” Robby has run the television circuit for decades on shows from Lost in Space, to Mork & Mindy, to The Addams Family and beyond.

8. Marvin (The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy) – Since the first robot was committed to film, the biggest menace they have posed is their use of artificial intelligence coupled with a stone cold lack of emotion. Marvin, from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, makes up for all of that lack of emotion as the most depressed robot in the history of … well … ever. When he can be bothered, the hapless Marvin is full of melancholia, such as: “Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they ask me to take you to the bridge. Call that job satisfaction, ’cause I don’t.”

7. Optimus Prime (Transformers) – Every generation has a robot that it calls its own. For children of the ’80s, that robot is Optimus Prime. In an age when movies are made, then merchandised ad nauseam, Optimus Prime and the rest of the Transformers took the reverse path. Beginning first as toys, they soon branched into lunch boxes, coloring books, and yes, a hugely popular cartoon. It wasn’t until 2007, that computer generated graphics could accurately capture the scenes children had been playing out in their heads for a couple of decades. And, judging by the $310 million box office haul, kids of all ages love them some Optimus Prime.

6. Sonny (I, Robot) – Suspected of murder, Sonny the Robot brings humanity face to face with its biggest robot fear (again): what would happen if robots with super-human capabilities developed emotions? What makes Sonny truly unique on this list is that Sonny is a Robot that was created with the sole purpose of trying to be as humanlike as possible. He succeeds. And that, perhaps, is why the depth of Sonny the Robot makes him an even bigger threat to humanity than robots that have been twice his size and strength.

5. Johnny 5 (Short Circuit) – What do you get when you have a robot funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, but designed by peace-loving humanitarians who see the true potential of robotics? You get a real conflict of interest. Johnny 5 is that robot. His accidental escape puts security forces on high alert to avoid any secrets of the robots’ true nature from being revealed. In actuality, Johnny 5′s true nature is much more humanlike, with a keen understanding of mortality. Notably, Johnny 5 gave us the only “your mama” joke uttered by a robot: “Your mama was a snow blower!”

4. R2-D2 (Star Wars) – Consider him the MacGyver of robots. He was roughly the size of a wastepaper basket, but had a little robot arm with every tool in the universe attached to it – even metric! Though he could not talk, his bravery in the face of certain (repeated) disaster and his cool-under-fire persona made him one of the most adored robots in history. And all of that in just under 1 meter.

3. Robocop (Robocop) – Okay, before we get started, I know there are a few robots buffs who will say, “Technically, Robocop a cyborg, not a robot.” Well, technically, a tomato is a fruit, too, be we put it in vegetable juice all the time – so there. What makes Robocop so completely unique is that he doesn’t have artificial intelligence; he’s the real deal. What happens when a being with robot power meets a human desire to exact revenge? 102 minutes of pure awesome, baby – that’s what!

2. The Terminator (The Terminator) – Hey, look at that, another cyborg. He’s not just any cyborg, mind you. He is the cyborg that took the realm of sci-fi and special effects to a whole new level in the 1980s. There are some films and some villains that define a genre, and The Terminator was one of them. Indeed, not only did it make sure all of use remembered to unplug our toasters and vacuum cleaners when they weren’t being used, but it gave us one of the most popular lines in movie history. Maybe you’ve heard it: “I’ll be back.”

1. HAL9000 (2001, A Space Odyssey) – HAL9000 isn’t the meanest-looking robot on this list. He’s not the fastest. He’s not even the most well-spoken on this list. Two things, however, make him the most terrifying movie robot ever. First is the excellent work of director Stanley Kubrik who put his hand prints in the cement of sci-fi history with this move. Second is the timing of this movie. Sure, there had been movies about robots, space, even space-traveling robots for decades prior to this. When 2001, A Space Odyssey was released, however, men were already walking in space and just months from walking on the moon. This reality cast HAL9000 in a whole new light. After all, where do you hide in space? You don’t … and HAL9000 knows it.

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