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I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
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Killer Robots

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Eric (ciredark) | 8 comments I love the time honored sci-fi tropes of the Killer Robot and malevolent AI. On the tvtropes website they're called "CRUSH KILL DESTROY" and "AI is a crapshoot". It all began for me at a tender young age with the original Terminator flick. Then there was the Borg, and then the reboot of BSG.
On the more disembodied side of things, the Terminators would be nothing without Skynet. HAL9000 got the #1 spot on the Nostalgia Critics countdown of scariest villans. And then there's the baddest of them all... AM. AM makes the former two mentions look pathetic in comparison. Sure, HALs omnipresence, cold calculation and disregard for human life make him terrifying, and sure Skynet can kill you before you even know what hit you. AM, however, transcended the bonds of computation and learned how to actually feel hate, and boy does he feel it. It's not enough to just kill almost all of humanity (which he did), but then he found a way to do much much more. If you're not familiar with "I have no mouth...", I recommend getting the audio version read by Harlan Ellison.
One last shout out to The Necron from the Warhammer40k universe. I'm not well versed in WH4k lore, but as a fan of RTS video games, I stumbled across Dawn of War:Dark Crusade. Can't go wrong with an ancient race of killer machines that worship death. Their leader actually turns into a giant Grim Reaper. They have soldiers that wear the flayed flesh of their slaughtered opponents as trophies. I love these guys. If you know about any of the WH4k novels that focus on the Necron, please let me know.
So I'm asking, what other stories am I missing? Any other evil machines I forget to mention? I need recommendations.

TL;DR Version:
Terminators
Skynet
The Borg
Cylons
Replicants
HAL9000
AM
The Necron

What else?


message 2: by kvon (new)

kvon | 563 comments There were some deadly Von Neumann machines in The Killing Star, which gets us back to programming.

Wasn't the Matrix a bunch of computers and robots?


message 3: by Colin (new)

Colin | 278 comments The war robots from Cricket ( Douglas Adams', Life, the Universe and Everything) were pretty killer/evil.


message 4: by Kris (new)

Kris (kvolk) Fred Saberhagen had his Berserker series. The ultimate in von Neumann machines...


message 5: by aldenoneil (new)

aldenoneil | 1000 comments I just saw an episode of Star Trek TOS that featured Andrea the Android (played by the hottest woman I've ever seen in my life [after my wife, natch]), who is one of a few androids that tries to kill Kirk and crew.

Also, I Have No Mouth... is, like, my favorite short story ever.


message 6: by Michael (new) - added it

Michael (michaelbetts) Agreed. I love that story. One of the creepier stories out there.


Eric (ciredark) | 8 comments @Kris not the first time someone's recommended the Berserker series to me. Looks like I'll finally have to put it in the "to read" list.

@kvon Killing Star sounds worth looking. Also, The Agents and the "Squiddies" certainly qualify. Well done.

Also, couple uses of the term "Von Neumann" machine?
I'll google it after I post this but perhaps someone could explain for those too lazy to figure it out for themselves?


message 8: by Kris (new)

Kris (kvolk) Eric wrote: "@Kris not the first time someone's recommended the Berserker series to me. Looks like I'll finally have to put it in the "to read" list.

@kvon Killing Star sounds worth looking. Also, The Agents a..."


Eric the von Neuman machine is a self replicating machine that usually gets made into a killing machine in scifi...this is what the book of knowledge says...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-rep...


Eric (ciredark) | 8 comments @Kris Consulting the book of knowledge? Well, In The Morning to ya! Just so happens today is Thursday as well...

Turns out Von Neumann was the one the coin the phrase "Grey Goo" which is a neat twist to whole Killer Robot concept.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo


message 10: by Kris (last edited Dec 15, 2011 08:11PM) (new)

Kris (kvolk) Eric wrote: "@Kris Consulting the book of knowledge? Well, In The Morning to ya! Just so happens today is Thursday as well...

Turns out Von Neumann was the one the coin the phrase "Grey Goo" which is a neat tw..."


Nice look up...grey gooo is the enemy of Von Neuman machines or maybe the end result?....in the morning to you...and yes I am living the american dream...


message 11: by AndrewP (last edited Dec 16, 2011 07:37AM) (new)

AndrewP (andrewca) | 2668 comments How about the Von Neumann machines in the TV show Lexx. They eventually used up all the mass in the universe and caused in implosion when Stan tricked them into being in the same place at the same time.


message 12: by Michael (new)

Michael | 10 comments That thing from Robocop 2.


Trike | 11211 comments Does size matter? Because the nanites in The Plague Zone.... day-umm.


message 14: by Joseph (new)

Joseph (noz666) | 3 comments Ultron from Marvel Comics.


message 15: by Tim (new)

Tim (zerogain) | 93 comments Kris wrote: "...and yes I am living the american dream... "

We're all just gettin' bye.


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