The History of the Giant Robot

[ElDestructo]

You see them everywhere nowadays in various guises -- the giant, city-destroying and/or defending robot. Usually, said robots have a cockpit for the operator in the head or chest area, but sometimes they are autonomous or controlled remotely. Without straining too much, I can list several examples: Ultraman, Voltron, the Transformers (an added twist there!) the Gundams from Gundam Wing, Big O (my personal favorite big robot name AND physiological response to stimuli). Hell, not only does Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory have one, but he built his hated sister DeDe one, and his arch rival Mandark has one, too. And remember Truckasaurus from the Simpson's? It's real! There is actually a giant t-rex-looking thing that works the monster truck circuit tearing cars to bits with giant robotic claws and jaws for your viewing pleasure.

Where did this science fiction cliche' come from? Who was the first to dream the dream of a giant, heavily-armed humanoid robot that terrorizes and/or champions civilization? What is the earliest instance of the giant robot in literature, comics, film, and/or TV? At what point was the innovation of several different vehicles that combine to make a large humanoid robot added? When will I get mine?

[Zarathustra]

Maybe with Thomas Hobbes's Leviathon.

When will I get mine?

What I want to know is, it's the year 2001 and where is my damn flying car, dammit!

[Sofa King]

Zarathustra asked:

where is my damn flying car, dammit!

Here it is (http://www.moller.com/).

[Gozu Tashoya]

The oldest giant robot anime I can think of is, appropriately enough, Giant Robo. Not much help, I know, but still....

And FTR, at least one of the incarnations of Ultraman wasn't a robot.

[RealityChuck]

"The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction" lists Edmond Hamilton's "The Metal Giants" from 1926.

Even earlier -- a steam powered elephant in Jules Verne's "The Demon of Cawnpore" (1880)

[Sofa King]

In 1903's, "The Land Ironclads (http://www.shoarns.com/Tanks.html)," H. G. Wells described something that nowadays is likened to a tank, but his actual description of the vehicle matches somewhat to the dog-like at-ats from The Empire Strikes Back.

[Amedeus]

Originally posted by Sofa King
Zarathustra asked:

where is my damn flying car, dammit!

Here it is (http://www.moller.com/).

Ewww:


From your garage to your destination, the M400 Skycar cruises comfortably at 350+ MPH at 15 miles per gallon.


oh, really nice MPG there... makes you wonder why It hasn't left production yet.

[MEBuckner]

Well, that's about the same MPG as your really behemoth SUV's get, so it's not impossibly out of line with other popular transportation alternatives. (And you can't actually fly in an Excursion or a Navigator or an Escalade.)

[Arken]

Jeez. I gave Zarathustra a link in this (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=69090) thread! What am I, Zarathustra, chopped liver?

[Sam Stone]

The Skycar is not going to happen. I won't go so far as to call it a scam, but it's close. The performance numbers don't stand up to engineering scrutiny. The thing is a conglomeration of unproven technologies. It relies on an ATC infrastructure that doesn't exist. It has never flown. It has never even been ground tested.

Despite this, I have an article here by Dr. Moller claiming that test flights will be starting in several months. Problem is, the article dates back to 1992. And the thing looked pretty much identical then.

If it ever does fly, it'll be hideously complex, very dangerous, and cost at least half a million bucks per copy.

Moller is claiming that the thing can be built for $80,000, at a time when a lousy Cessna 172 with a 4-cylinder 150 HP engine costs about $150,000. And the Skycar has 8 engines and 8 fans, each of which must be featherable. Just the engines and fans will be worth a couple of hundred grand.

There have always been dreamers and frauds in the aviation world. I'd prefer to put Moller in the 'Dreamer' category, and there's nothing wrong with dreamers. The problem is that he crosses the line whenever he accepts money for the thing or for any of the related products he sells (videos, T-shirts, models, etc).

Save your pocket money.

[Zarathustra]

All right, all right, mad props to Sofa King and Arken for correctly pointing out that there is such a device out there, though I don't know if I'll be able to go out and buy one yet. But it still chaps my hide that here I am, living in the twenty-first century, and can I book a room in a Space Hilton? Nooo. Can I fly to work in a bubble-domed vehicle that folds up into my briefcase as I step onto the moving sidewalk (as in the Jetsons)? Noooooooo. Do I see cyborg policemen and reanimated "freejack" racecar drivers walking around? Nooooooooooooooooo. And regarding the OP, I for one am extremely disappointed that madmen bent on destruction resort to such twentieth-century technology as fertilizer and fuel oil, rather than giant robots stomping buildings flat.

On the other hand, electronic paper (http://www.techreview.com/magazine/mar01/mann.asp) isn't too far off, and that seems kind of cool.

You may now redirect your thread toward its scheduled destination. Viva Fidel!

[Dijon Warlock]

Ahem...Originally posted by Sam Stone

The Skycar is not going to happen. I won't go so far as to call it a scam, but it's close. The performance numbers don't stand up to engineering scrutiny. The thing is a conglomeration of unproven technologies. It relies on an ATC infrastructure that doesn't exist. It has never flown. It has never even been ground tested.

Despite this, I have an article here by Dr. Moller claiming that test flights will be starting in several months. Problem is, the article dates back to 1992. And the thing looked pretty much identical then.<snip> From the Moller website: (http://www.moller.com/skycar/m200x/)M200X Skycar:
...On May 10, 1989 Dr. Moller flew the M200X for the International Press. Since then the M200X has made over 200 successful flights.

[SPOOFE]

BACK TO THE OP.... cough cough.....

If you really want to bend your definition of "Giant Robot", there've been tales of golems for ages. Since ancient Egypt, I would think, at the very least.

[Measure for Measure]

The word "robot" was coined by Czech playwright Karel Capek, in his 1921 work R.U.R (which stands for Rossum's Universal Robots). Robot comes from the Czech word "robota", which means "forced labor".

[El_Kabong]

Just after arriving in Harare, Zimbabwe, I was driving into town from the suburbs when I came upon a sign saying "ROBOT AHEAD". I anxiously peered around, looking for signs that a metal-munching monster was in the area, only to discover that the sign meant there was a traffic light ahead.

[dr hermes]

Going back still further, in Greek myth there was Talos, the huge artificial man of brass. He heated himself in a fire and then gave you fatal hug against his white hot chest.

As visualized by Ray Harryhausen in JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, Talos was roughly Godzilla-sized.

[Atrael]

Speaking about robots. Does anyone know the name of a show that I think I remember as a child? It seemed asian, as in most of the charaters had asian features. It had 3 giant robots that somehow changed into rockets. One was Gold, and the other Silver. I think they were like a matched pair, and the 3rd one was their offspring. Anyone remember anything like that? Know the name?

[ElDestructo]

Geez, I leave this thread alone overnight and it veers wildly out of control. But I hear Cuba's nice this time of year...

KK, I have always been a little fuzzy about Ultraman. Robot? Cyborg? Human empowered by technology or magic? Or is he a human in possession of a giant robot? Is his natural state big or small?

Zarathustra, I too am disappointed by the lack of moon bases and orbiting hotels. But, on the positive side, I will relate this story. An internet company (which will remain nameless) recently closed its office in my town. My newly unemployed friend liberated a webcam for me from the ruins of the office. I hooked it up to my computer, downloaded Netmeeting from the Web, and placed a video conference call to an old friend who lives in Portland, OR. We shot the proverbial shit for a few minutes and then logged off. When I was done, I said to my girlfriend "Wow! I just placed my first videophone call!"

"Well, it is 2001." she said.

[furryman]

The original Ultraman was a giant alien. He merged with Hyata after accidently destroying the plane he was flying.
I think Voltron was the first giant robot made up of the merging of smaller robots, although Transformers may have had something similar.

[Zarathustra]

Originally posted by furryman
I think Voltron was the first giant robot made up of the merging of smaller robots

Seeing this made me all the more disappointed that no one noted my Leviathon (http://www.benet.org/teachers/cpeters/World/web_activities/locke_and_Hobbes/LeviathonI/leviathon.jpg) reference.

As for the twenty-first century, I guess if all the flying car scenarios are set against all the dystopic visions like 1984, Terminator 2, Brave New World, and all that, I guess on balance we haven't come out too bad.

I'd like to live in a Jules Verne version of the future, though. Imagine those big cutter ships flying overhead, but with propellers instead of sails . . .

[Gozu Tashoya]

As far as I can tell, furry's right about the original Ultraman. There have been, OTOH, a whole lot of them (http://www.waynebrain.com/ultra/all.html) and none of them seem to have been robots, though I could've sworn one of them was (something to do with motorcycles or something). Well, nobody ever accused me of having a good memory...

[Sofa King]

Zarathustra, I'm not even going to pretend that I finished Leviathan or can remember what little I read, but Hobbes was speaking metaphorically, wasn't he? I remember that he speculated that the collective human mind, through the use of their machines, would eventually produce a machine intelligence greater than our own, or something like that... but he wasn't talking about literally building a Johnny Sokko, was he?

[Zarathustra]

Originally posted by Sofa King
Zarathustra, I'm not even going to pretend that I finished Leviathan or can remember what little I read, but Hobbes was speaking metaphorically, wasn't he? I remember that he speculated that the collective human mind, through the use of their machines, would eventually produce a machine intelligence greater than our own, or something like that... but he wasn't talking about literally building a Johnny Sokko, was he?

I dunno, when I read the OP for some reason the first thing that came to my mind was that picture of a giant king looming over the horizon, a king made up of a bunch of little people.

If "doing a Homer Simpson" is making a mistake that nonetheless saves the day, then there must be some phrase for inadvertantly dropping a highbrow reference and having people assume you're making kind of deep and esoteric point . . . when you really don't know what you're talking about. Doing a Zarathustra? Doesn't roll off the tongue.

[Sofa King]

Heck, no, don't get me wrong, here. That's a totally cool picture. I just don't don't know my Hobbes, outside of the funny pages.

[Sam Stone]

Dijon: See my reply to your message in the new Moller Skycar thread, which I started to avoid hijacking this one further.

[furryman]

Hmmm, I wonder if Leviathon was where "Parasite Eve" got their idea for that cool scene where all the members of the concert merge and form a giant golden glop. ;)

[msmith537]

So, why (according to Anime and sci-fi) is the giant rock-um sock-em robot always used as a war machine? With the possible exception of the walking forklift in Aliens, you never see anything close to a civilian giant robot (like a Farm-plow-a-saurus or a Construct-o-bot, or a Mecha-container-ship-loading-man ).

I would think a 50 foot robot would be better suited to building skyscrapers or (un)loading ships than as a super weapon.

Think about it like this. A giant robot is not stealthy or quiet. It has to be more expensive to build than a company of conventional tanks because of the complex walking mechanisms. And they always seem to get tripped up by cables and stuff.

[Scylla]

Before Gigantor, there were not true giant robots. He is the father of them all.

[Ben]

Originally posted by msmith537

So, why (according to Anime and sci-fi) is the giant rock-um sock-em robot always used as a war machine?

I believe that in _Patlabor_ the giant robots are construction equipment. Also, in Lem's _Fiasco_ the "Diglas" were industrial giant robots, too.

-Ben

[jab1]

Originally posted by Sofa King
In 1903's, "The Land Ironclads," H. G. Wells described something that nowadays is likened to a tank, but his actual description of the vehicle matches somewhat to the dog-like at-ats from The Empire Strikes Back. Why not the Martian War Machines from Wells' The War of the Worlds, published in 1896? Giant machines that walk on three legs, manned (Martianed?) by a crew of three. Besides the famous heat-ray, don't forget those nifty metal tentacles.

The At-Ats looked more like camels to me; single-humped dromedaries, to be precise.

[Gozu Tashoya]

Originally posted by msmith537
So, why (according to Anime and sci-fi) is the giant rock-um sock-em robot always used as a war machine? With the possible exception of the walking forklift in Aliens, you never see anything close to a civilian giant robot (like a Farm-plow-a-saurus or a Construct-o-bot, or a Mecha-container-ship-loading-man ).

I would think a 50 foot robot would be better suited to building skyscrapers or (un)loading ships than as a super weapon.

Think about it like this. A giant robot is not stealthy or quiet. It has to be more expensive to build than a company of conventional tanks because of the complex walking mechanisms. And they always seem to get tripped up by cables and stuff.

I think the rationale is that they can be better armed/armored and, to a certain degree, more maneuverable than most tanks. Of course there is the matter of balancing such a thing, and this is generally explained by some sort of gyroscopic device (or a telepathic bond to the pilot, take your pick).

Well, I'm sure there's at least a couple Battletech devotees in here somewhere, so I'll step aside and wait for them to answer.

[Badtz Maru]

Originally posted by KKBattousai
Originally posted by msmith537
So, why (according to Anime and sci-fi) is the giant rock-um sock-em robot always used as a war machine? With the possible exception of the walking forklift in Aliens, you never see anything close to a civilian giant robot (like a Farm-plow-a-saurus or a Construct-o-bot, or a Mecha-container-ship-loading-man ).

I would think a 50 foot robot would be better suited to building skyscrapers or (un)loading ships than as a super weapon.

Think about it like this. A giant robot is not stealthy or quiet. It has to be more expensive to build than a company of conventional tanks because of the complex walking mechanisms. And they always seem to get tripped up by cables and stuff.

I think the rationale is that they can be better armed/armored and, to a certain degree, more maneuverable than most tanks. Of course there is the matter of balancing such a thing, and this is generally explained by some sort of gyroscopic device (or a telepathic bond to the pilot, take your pick).

Well, I'm sure there's at least a couple Battletech devotees in here somewhere, so I'll step aside and wait for them to answer.

Well, aside from looking cool I think the main reason they use them is because of their ability to handle rough terrain.

[Linear Crack]

Originally posted by Atrael
Speaking about robots. Does anyone know the name of a show that I think I remember as a child? It seemed asian, as in most of the charaters had asian features. It had 3 giant robots that somehow changed into rockets. One was Gold, and the other Silver. I think they were like a matched pair, and the 3rd one was their offspring. Anyone remember anything like that? Know the name?

Atrael,

I'm not sure if this is the show you're thinking of, but man does this bring back memories for me.

Johnny Sokko and his flying robot (http://www.alphalink.com.au/~roglen/johnny_sokko.htm) was a trippy movie to watch. The robot was a mix between a giant egyptian pharaoh and a "break dancer" (he did these really bizarre moves) And then his master Johnny, with his trusty remote control wrist watch, scary I tell you.

"Giant Robot!, gives him your Power Punch!"

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Psychological warfare is a big reason for giant robots. a giant attacking you will ignite certain primal fears that date back to the Primitive Ape-Man in your subconcious mind.

A number of these designs have what appears to be , uh, "crotch bulges". :o The VF-1 Valkyrie from Robotech is a good example. The Freudian symbolism & significance of this is self-evident. It also gives the ladies a thrill, & robo-pilots always get dates on Saturday night. :D

[msmith537]

Originally posted by Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor
Psychological warfare is a big reason for giant robots. a giant attacking you will ignite certain primal fears that date back to the Primitive Ape-Man in your subconcious mind.

A number of these designs have what appears to be , uh, "crotch bulges". :o The VF-1 Valkyrie from Robotech is a good example. The Freudian symbolism & significance of this is self-evident. It also gives the ladies a thrill, & robo-pilots always get dates on Saturday night. :D [/B]


Ah yes. The Ron-Jeremy-A-Tron!:o

[Chronos]

Quoth msmith537:
I would think a 50 foot robot would be better suited to building skyscrapers or (un)loading ships than as a super weapon.True, of course. Ever been to Cleveland's North Coast Harbor? Fifty-foot mechanical arms, unloading ships. Just like with industrial robots, there's little point to building the rest of the body.

If you're ever in Cleveland, go see them (they're visible from any of the bridges over the Cuyahoga downtown). They look like giant grasshopper legs.

[ElDestructo]

After reading this:http://members.tripod.com/~absoluteanime/gigantor/ I tend to agree with Scylla. At least on the anime front.

[Papermache Prince]

To the earlier writer who asked about the giant robot named Goldar

http://www.alphalink.com.au/~roglen/space_giants.htm

"Methusan, a wizard of many powers with long white hair and beard brings to Earth two robots Ð
Goldar and Silvar from the 2rf Galaxy, dedicated to stopping Rodak and defending the world.
Goldar is a 50ft golden robot, 14 feet wide and weighs 20 tonnes and his wife Silvar, a silver
coloured 5ft robot. They live with their son GAM (created by Methusan) in a volcano in Mt
Olympian."

"The main human characters are centered around a Japanese chain smoking reporter -
Ita Mura, who works for a world wide newspaper and his wife Tomoko and son Mikko whom
when in trouble blows his whistle given to him by Goldar to summon Goldar or members of his family for help."

As I remember, Silvar wore an apron and did not fight nealry as frequently as Goldar. Then again, he was ten times her size.

This webpage even has the theme song.

Papermache Prince

[Atrael]

Papermache Prince--

You are increadible. That's the series I was thinking about. Although I don't remember them looking nearly that cheesy when I was 6. I wonder if the series is something you can buy on tape? I'll have to search for it. Thanks again.