# Was Inspector Gadget an android? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 10, 2003, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988 "2003-02-10T01:14:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/1 "2003-02-10T01:14:33Z")
I never saw an origin show or explanation as to how he got to be “gadgetized”. What’s the scoop? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/2 "2003-02-10T01:36:01Z")
I believe the term you’re looking for is “cyborg” - that is, a human with machine parts. According to the Matthew Broderick movie version, the Inspector was severely injured and was rebuilt a la the Six Million Dollar Man. ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/3 "2003-02-10T11:18:20Z")
I don’t think it was ever fully explained in the cartoon version. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/4 "2003-02-10T12:03:42Z")
I feel compelled to point out that in the _Inspector Gadget_ movie, there is an evil-gadget clone, constructed by Dr. Claw, who is an android. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/5 "2003-02-10T13:08:12Z")
I think the OP is strictly refering to the cartoon. My guess is that he was a cyborg instead of an android, simply due to the fact he had a niece. Robots generally tend not to have blood relatives. Then again, Penny was abnormally smart, and Brain was a hell of a lot more evolutionarily advanced than any dog I’ve ever scene, so it’s quite possible that they were all androids. But, I believe there were scenes where Gadget was effected by poisons or gasses, which would indicate that he had biological parts, thus making him a cybrog, and not an android. Man, I feel like such a dork. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/6 "2003-02-10T13:30:46Z")
But what if Penny was a plant put there to make the Gadget android feel more human? Let’s suppose that this “spy” organization that Inspector Gadget worked for was trying to develope a highly intelligent A.I. that was as human as you or me. In order for it to be so, they implanted false memories of a family and stuck Agent Penny there to keep an eye on him. As for the being affected by poisons and gasses? Well, a highly intelligent A.I. would be prone to the power of suggestion just like a human mind would. If he thinks that it would hurt him, it will. ---
**Author:** ![Young\_Mr.Grace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e47c2d/32.png) [@Young\_Mr.Grace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Young_Mr.Grace)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/7 "2003-02-10T14:17:08Z")
Little known fact: Brain was a semi-intelligent sojourner from the planet Melmack. Alf was his smarter cousin. ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/8 "2003-02-10T15:48:59Z")
Ugh, the live action movie . . . is coming out with a sequel. Maybe it will be like Highlander II and completely skew the origin story, so there will actually be no correct answer to this question. That aside, I’d vote for cyborg, mostly for the part about him having a blood relative (as Rojo pointed out). ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/9 "2003-02-10T15:55:18Z")
The sequel I beleive is going to be direct to video. I heard in it that there will be a female version of Inspector Gadget, a love interest if you will. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/10 "2003-02-10T17:48:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Amp \* > \*\*The sequel I beleive is going to be direct to video. I heard in it that there will be a female version of Inspector Gadget, a love interest if you will. \*\* Any notion as to what her umm, ah… “gadgets” will be? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/11 "2003-02-10T17:54:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Elvis Rojo \* > But, I believe there were scenes where Gadget was effected by poisons or gasses, which would indicate that he had biological parts, thus making him a cybrog, and not an android. > > Man, I feel like such a dork. There was one episode where he got really high on something (by accident, of course :eek: ) and he thought he was a donkey. > [@](#): > > The sequel I beleive is going to be direct to video. I heard in it that there will be a female version of Inspector Gadget, a love interest if you will. Yep, and Inspector Gadget will be played by French Stewart instead of Matthew Broderick. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/12 "2003-02-10T19:00:41Z")
One has to wonder what happened to Penny’s parents. My working theory is that one time Gadget was over at their house for pizza. One call of “Go go Gadget Pizza Cutter” and Penny was instantly orphaned… ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Mr\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/13 "2003-02-10T20:08:42Z")
Slightly off the main topic but my brother swears there was an episode of the cartoon show that showed what Dr. Claw looked like. Is this true? Picture? ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/14 "2003-02-10T21:05:16Z")
As far as I know, Mr. Jim, it was only from the elbow down. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/15 "2003-02-10T21:15:27Z")
I don’t think he appears in the cartoon, but you can find out what he looks like by looking up a picture of his action figure. Kind of a dissapointment, really. I think the figure was packaged with his face obscured. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/16 "2003-02-10T22:14:09Z")
i always thought in true hollywood tradition we would find out Dr. Claw was Gadget’s brother, and father of Penny. And Brain and Dr. Claw’s Cat were lovers or something. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/17 "2003-02-11T00:41:50Z")
I don’t have a cite, but I think the story in the cartoon was that Gadget slipped on a banana peel, was injured and put back together as a cyborg. ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/18 "2003-02-11T03:46:26Z")
They showed Dr. Claw briefly in the nintendo version of things, I think. Like a few frames of his whole body escaping. He had white hair. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/19 "2003-02-11T06:43:06Z")
There was an episode where Gadget met Claw face to face, though of course _we_ never see his face. And Claw was in a Santa costume, so Gadget didn’t know it was him. I don’t remember much else from that episode but imagining Santa Claus with Dr. Claw’s voice is hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-inspector-gadget-an-android/153988/20 "2003-02-11T07:52:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Amp \* > The sequel I beleive is going to be direct to video. I heard in it that there will be a female version of Inspector Gadget, a love interest if you will. “Go, go, Gadget penis!” Oh, if only…