Roboto is a fictional character from the '' Masters of the Universe'' franchise.

Character history

The 1980s

Roboto was introduced into the Masters of the Universe toy line in 1985. His first appearance is in the

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

mini-comic "The Battle of Roboto", in which he is built by Man-At-Arms, who gives him a

cybernetically Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson m ...

-enhanced

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, which enables him to feel

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

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s and interact with his comrades as a human rather than as a machine. He was an exceptionally brave fighter, even to the point of taking on

Hordak Hordak is a fictional character in the '' Masters of the Universe'' franchise who opposes She-Ra and He-Man, as well as the franchise's main villain, Skeletor, to whom he was once a mentor, and the cause of the latter's ambition and pursuits of e ...

in single combat in one issue. Given that the accompanying cartoon series was drawing to a close at the time his action figure was released, Roboto only makes one appearance in the cartoon, but unlike most other figures released at this time, Roboto was lucky enough to get a whole episode written around him. This episode, "Happy Birthday Roboto" features a radically different

origin story In entertainment, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a Character (arts), character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist, and it adds to the overall interest and complexity of a narrative, often giving reason ...

for him, in which he was a space

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

from the

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

world of Robotica, who crash-landed on Eternia. Initially wrecked by the crash, he was repaired and restored by Man-At-Arms.

2002 series

Roboto features in the relaunch of the ''Masters of the Universe'' toy line and cartoon series in 2002. In the new cartoon, he is introduced in the episode "Roboto's Gambit", in which he is built by Man-At-Arms as a simple

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-playing

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may ...

. Desiring to apply his chess skills to the real battle around him, he upgrades himself to a warrior robot and effectively transfers his skills into the Masters' combat. However,

Teela Teela is a fictional superheroine from the '' Masters of the Universe'' franchise. She is the Captain of the Royal Guard at the palace of Eternos and thus responsible for training and protecting Prince Adam of Eternia. While Adam is He-Man, T ...

refuses to let him join the fighting forces since he is not specifically designed for battle. However, during the prevailing incident of battling an army of small bone monsters controlled by Tri-Klops, which doubles its numbers every time it is destroyed, it is Roboto's analysis that determines the only way to defeat it is to attack Tri-Klops directly. To do so, Roboto advises He-Man of his idea and uses himself as a self-sacrifice to draw the enemy's attention to allow the superhero to approach his target. While He-Man is successful, Roboto is overwhelmed and seemingly destroyed before the enemy can be neutralized. Teela mourns his destruction and berates herself for not appreciating his courage and skills when offered. However, to her relief, her

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

then announces that she will have that opportunity as he presents the fully repaired Roboto who is ready to assume the duties Teela gladly offers. Subsequent episodes see him serving as the Masters' combat analyst.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation

Roboto appears in Masters of the Universe: Revelation as one of Teela's allies.

Reception

Roboto has had a mostly positive reception from critics.

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

voted 13th best out of 15 Best He-Man Toys. Gizmodo ranked Roboto 21st best toy in Masters of the Universe.

References

{{Masters of the Universe Fictional characters introduced in 1983 Fictional androids Masters of the Universe Heroic Warriors Fictional robots Male characters in animated series