Sex Bot

Admit it, you'd tap that.

Because when you're talking about a sex robot, the first thing most guys ask, "How's your Personality"?

—Stephen Colbert, on how the world's first sex bot has programmable personalities
Programming the sexbots to enjoy sex seemed a sensible move at the time, but we didn't realize the consequences of their developing fetishes.
—xkcd #595: Android Girlfriend (Alt Text)

A sentient robot, or at least one that convincingly simulates sentience, designed as a sexual toy for human beings. The robot is specifically designed for this purpose; this trope does not apply to any old robot designed to be capable of having sex if it wants to. It may also be a Robotic Spouse.

Common in Cyberpunk settings.

Frequently, but not always overlaps with Robot Girl or FemBot. More sexual version of Companion Cube.

A Sub-Trope of Robosexual.

No real life examples, please; we have not developed any artificial intelligence that convincingly simulates a human companion. Any product marketed as a sex robot in this day and age is merely a sex doll.

Examples of Sex Bot include:

Anime and Manga

  • Bubblegum Crisis had a band of these escape captivity.
  • Ghost in the Shell has them in nearly all incarnations. One ends up apprehending her owner for the police, some were used for combat (Cat Fight) but weren't very successful... The Sexoids are generally associated with perverts and Canadians in Ghost in the Shell. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
    • There is a funny episode in the second season of the series where the Major has to impersonate Chief Aramaki's sex doll for a party of rich pervs (they were going to arrest the host for embezzling), and the rest of the crew comment on how the old man is enjoying it way too much.
    • In one manga story, which was adapted as Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, Section 9 gets called in to investigate what is causing a company's sex bots to go berserk and attack people and find out that the company was dubbing the "ghosts" of real people into their machines, a serious offense in the Ghost in the Shell universe due to the process killing the original from which the copies are made.
  • Dominion Tank Police, another anime based on a Masamune Shirow manga, has among its main antagonists a pair of former sexbots. (Any reference to their previous career, however, is usually taken as a Rant-Inducing Slight.)
    • And a lot of Fetish Fuel when you find out that one of they features is to expel water to shrink to midget (cute) size. Could be for storage opportunity, but still...
  • Averted (somewhat painfully) in Chobits. Chii's father installed her "reset button"... down there specifically to prevent her from being used as a sexbot. Another character mentions that it does happen in other cases.
    • Only in the manga; in the anime, it's different.
  • Armitage III has Sexbots that, in a Shout-Out, are modeled on the main cast of Sailor Moon.
  • Yuria 100 Shiki is about a Sex Bot who wants to screw her own destiny.
    • The kicker, however, is that she's still not quite able to disobey her programming, and so will incorporate a sex act into any problem she attempts to solve. Hilarity Ensues, as the male lead is trying to save himself for his girlfriend.
  • Malice@doll is a CG anime that revolves around a group of robotic prostitutes who everyday walk their routes and ply their trade despite the fact that humans vanished a very long time ago, the Earth's resources are almost all gone, are divided to the machines by their importance, without customers the sex robots sit at the bottom of the rug and don't get squat. Their disappointment is voiced to the other robots by their dominatrix unit.
  • Darker than Black has an arc where the Yakuza acquires a Doll (that is, an emotionless person with no apparent will of their own) which they decide to use as a sex doll.
    • A similar situation occurs in the second season with a Shota Doll. Though not out right stated, this is the implied use for him.
  • Mezzo Forte: In the second episode of the OAV, the two thugs having sex with Mikura, who thought she is real, is revealed later that it's a robot.
    • In both the Mezzo Forte OVA and the subsequent series, Mikura's handler, Harada, builds Sex Bots as his day job. However, those who want Sex Bots often seem unwilling to pay him, or at the very least, pay him in hot lead. For this reason, he puts in a remote-activated self-destruct mechanism in the Bots.
  • Petit Robo, that is all.
  • Absolute Boyfriend Night is one accidentally ordered by the main character, who can't send it back.
  • The Big O has Roger being accused of having a relationship like this with Dorothy. It's typically Played for Laughs.
  • The Hentai OVA Karma Saiyuki, involves a trio of magical heroines whose power is fixing machinery. They end up "fixing" a trio of female sexbots who have gone rogue due to their mistreatment.
  • In the Mai-Otome manga, Miyu the MAID has these capabilities, with abilities such as increasing the size of her breasts to match even Erstin Ho, and supposedly being able to accommodate both genders and any sexual preference. Miyu's adaptability is fortunate for her, because Alyssa's plans to win the competition between the MAIDs and Otomes involve Miyu seducing the Wholesome Crossdresser Mashiro.
  • Mitsukazu Mihara's DOLL series regularly featured a sexaroid-type DOLL. People can either buy sexaroids, or have their Dolls remodelled (illegally) to suit their own perverse tastes. One story in particular focused on two sexaroids, Veronica (with a female body and male genitalia) and her nameless partner (male body with female genitalia). The two spend their time being used and abused, the more owners they have means their value wears off. The nameless doll grows more disturbed by their emotionally devoid life, until Veronica is finally killed by their latest owner. The nameless doll is bought by Ichiro, the reoccurring DOLL remodeller, and we discover he's really the companion that Ichiro had been working with for the previous two novels. By the end of the series, the nameless doll gains a new name: Itsuki.

Comic Books

  • Superman/Batman #26 shows us sexbots of the female Teen Titans, belonging to the teenage Toyman (not the original villainous version). And Superboy clearly enjoys them. Yeah...
  • Lex Luthor in his Action Comics recent[when?] run has one of his own: an armed to the teeth, opposing viewpoint version of Lois Lane. Kink factor is off the charts by the second issue.
  • Y: The Last Man. While in Japan Yorick and Agent 355 come across a brothel using an expensive male 'actoroid' for women whose husbands and boyfriends have died in the Gendercide although he seemed to only provide emotional support.
  • PJ Maybe in Judge Dredd seems to be in a committed relationship with a sexbot named Inga, who when they're not shagging sometimes helps him kill people.
  • The Aliens expanded universe features "sex synths"—artificial people who don't look like Lance Henriksen. They do not appear to be very intelligent (although one comic mentioned the ship's sexbot was also programmed as a scientist).
  • A story in the very first issue of MAD was set in a Zeerust future where "disposable prefabricated robot women" are purchasable from vending machines. Alhough what they are used for is never explicitly stated, the main character pointedly observes: "Have you noticed how less and less men are getting married, and more and more of these robot women are being sold?"
  • In Ironwood Fantasia Faust is an iron golem. After serving her creator's original purpose of ridding his land of faeries, he found other uses for her, including as a lover. She is enchanted with illusions so complete that a person can be ravaged by Fantasia without ever realising that she isn't made entirely of soft, warm, forgiving flesh, and subtle but effective neuromancies to entice anything with a steady pulse to desire her.

Fan Works

  • In the "Vanguard City" storyline on DeviantArt by author Sara-Quinn,Sexarella (an android with an uncanny resemblance to Juliet Starling is an unholy combination of this Trope and Killer Robot, originally purchased by a group of Otaku teenagers but reprogrammed an assassin. While Sexarella herself seems nearly mindless (and seems to believe she's doing the typical function of this Trope) her programming has been altered and modified in a way that she does not bother with consent, and her "advances" can cripple or even kill a victim. (And this is not a case of Double Standard Rape at all; she's perceived as a dangerous threat.) This is far from the only time in this particular story to use Interplay of Sex and Violence as a plot device. Note that while the link is SFW, much of the storyline is not.

Films -- Live-Action

  • The titular housewives in The Stepford Wives are submissive robots programmed to replace the "imperfect" (read: not pretty enough, too feminist) wives of the men of Stepford. The 2004 remake changes this to simply brainwashing the women and implanting mind-control chips in their head, plus giving them plastic surgery.
  • Mr. Universe's Love Bot in Serenity.
  • In Blade Runner, one of the replicants, Pris, is described as a "basic pleasure model." While the replicants aren't exactly robots, their function is essentially the same.
    • Oddly in the original novel it was mentioned that sexual contact with androids (the word "replicant" comes from the movie) is illegal, and having android lovers is considered sexual deviancy. It's vaguely implied that this might have something to do with battling against low birthrates, but no explicit reason for illegalizing sexbots is given, except to add a new layer of moral conflict to the protagonist.
  • The Fembots from Austin Powers. Or so their victims are meant to think.
  • Gigolo Joe from the movie A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.
    • And his female counterpart, Gigolo Jane.
  • The titular character from Cherry 2000.
  • Dracula 3000, a terrible space vampire flick without Dracula, at the end Aurora and Humvee accept their doom, Aurora reveals she used to be a sex robot so Humvee picks her up and the ships explodes in a very poor special effect.
  • Heavy Metal.

Robot: Earth women who experience sexual ecstasy with mechanical assistance always tend to feel guilty!

    • And a little later we have this gem:

(Presumably jewish) Woman, seemingly considering marriage: Are you circumcised?

  • In a manner of speaking, Persephone from The Matrix. Word of God is that her purpose was to solicit "donations" of genetic material from men in the Matrix before she deserted to be with the Merovingian. Mouse offers to set Neo up with The Girl In The Red Dress in the same capacity.
  • Westworld has some robots that are "sex models."
  • The android from Friday the 13th (film) (the space-opera installment of Friday the 13 th) is implied to be her owner's sexual partner, although she proves more useful as an Action Girl after she gets Upgraded To Badass.
  • Though it wasn't stated onscreen, Robo Brenda from the 1999 film version of Inspector Gadget was one of these: a ditzier version of Brenda (Gadget's creator) with enhanced breasts and a skintight purple bodysuit. The novelization (a kids' tie-in) gives her a line where she states that she's Scolex's "pleasure unit." Understandably, the real Brenda is more than slightly horrified.

Literature

  • In The Windup Girl by Paulo Bacigalupi, the genetically-engineered Emiko serves this purpose.
  • The first Red Dwarf novel ('Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers') had an early scene that saw Rimmer go to a mechanoid brothel on Mimas. Unluckily one of the mechanoids goes beserk at the worst possible time...
  • The main character of Saturn's Children by Charles Stross is a sexbot, in a solar system which entirely lacks the actual human beings she's programmed to be attracted to. This creates major angst in her model line, as the sexbots feel they don't have a purpose.
  • In the Apprentice Adept series, sexbots are just one of many purpose-built robots available to the Citizen class, though mostly those with specific tastes go for robots over the more easily acquired (and cheaper) human Serfs.
  • In Conan the Fearless, one of the plotlines is of a witch whom no man can satisfy. So, she tries to create a Sex Bot. The problem, she requires a heart of a really brave man as one of the components, and the one man she chose proves to be too much.
  • In Tanith Lee's novel The Silver Metal Lover (and its sequel, Metallic Love), a corporation comes out with a line of male and female humanoid robots in various metallic skin tones; they're advertised as "artists" (golds specialize in acting, silvers in music, coppers in dance) and though they can do those things, everyone seems to assume that they're really intended as sex bots and the other capabilities are just frills. Kind of a robotic High-Class Call Girl. The first one (and only one until the sequel) we meet is also Ridiculously Human, which becomes a plot point.
  • Sexbots are one of the many types of robots made by the major corporation in The Sherwood Game by Esther Friesner. The Robin Hood program is downloaded into one of these bodies.
  • In the Dutch SF story "Pairpuppets" ("Paarpoppen," translated and anthologized in The Best from the Rest), lots of people are buying "pairpuppets," which are just what you'd think. The protagonist is kind of tired of them, and meets a real, flesh-and-blood woman. They have sex in a ditch. Then she tells him she's a new model, thanks him for product-testing her, and says she'll return herself to the factory.
  • Kiln People by David Brin is about a world where people can download their personality—suitably edited according to what task they want to do—into clay 'golems', e.g black golems are all logic and focus and are used for intense study, green golems are happy to do boring household tasks, while white golems are highly sensual as they are used for sex. The protagonist's girlfriend has to go on a trip, and leaves a white golem packed away in the freezer "in case you get lonely."

Live-Action TV

  • On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Quark has many sex programs in his holosuites that serve this purpose.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation: Data isn't (technically) a sexbot, but he is "fully functional", "programmed in multiple techniques", and Voltaire wrote a song about it.
  • Star Trek: The Original Series has the various androids of the Planet Mudd in "I, Mudd." Chekov is enjoying his "harem," except for the fact that they "aren't real girls." They inform him that they are, and that Harry Mudd programmed them to "function as human women." Chekov's reaction? "This place is even better than Leningrad!"
  • There was an episode of The Twilight Zone where the protagonist was a prisoner on an asteroid, and the supply ship brings him an android female. He was far too emotional over leaving her behind for someone simply having a machine as a companion (sort of like the woman who follows The Doctor or someone who he simply talks to). His response was more-or-less exactly what you'd expect they'd react if their lover/wife had to be left behind.
  • The ship avatars in Andromeda aren't explicitly designed for this, but it's implied that they can be made "fully functional". There's also at least one known sexual relationship between an avatar (Jill Pierce/the Pax Magellanic) and her captain.

Harper: OK, Rommie, you're taking this all wrong. I mean, for you... uh... because I wanted you to feel the full advantages of being a human woman. You deserve it. And, for me... in the capacity of an engineer who prides himself on perfectionism. I just wanted everything to be just right.
Rommie: So when you handled certain parts of me, did you wear gloves?

  • Warren's Sex Bot April, and the BuffyBot he built for Spike, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
    • April deconstructs the trope, in that her creator Warren abandoned the perfect woman he created because her constant subservience was too boring compared to the real girlfriend he was dating. Then he killed his girlfriend basically for not submitting to his will.
  • Several Terminator fans have been Squicked by the thought of the fully functional Cameron Phillips's relationship with John Connor. Well at least the ones that don't hate Riley. And of course excluding the ones who want a Cameron Phillips of their own.
    • On the other hand John shows little if any interest in her that way. Cameron flirts with him when they first meet, feels threatened by Riley and even strips off and lies next to him, saying she knows his life can be lonely. Of course she might have just been manipulating him, but there was also how she overrides her programming to terminate him.
    • The concept wasn't lost on the writers of Robot Chicken, and they gave it the parody it deserved.
  • The Whitest Kids U' Know: Perhaps the most inadequately designed machine of his kind, Sex Robot seems to actively repel every human he comes into contact with rather than attract them as if he has a powerful repulsor field generator in his crotch. "Sex Robot! Sex Robot! Sexing up your town!" "Oh,Heeeeeeell no!"
  • In Space: Above and Beyond a number of the Silicates were originally programmed for this - Felicity OH anyone?
  • Several Outer Limits episodes explored the inherent problems with Sex Bots, though some of them were created for non-sexual purposes but just happened to be "fully functional."

Music

  • Frank Zappa has a song with the title "Sy Borg" on the album Joe's Garage about this trope, the "Sy Borg" shorts out after a golden shower.
  • Dee D. Jackson's Automatic Lover. She doesn't find the robot very appealing and sings about her desire for a human touch.
  • Frankenstein Cha Cha by Sigue Sigue Sputnik: "She's my silicone sensation/my secret transformation/my sex-creation built to fit the crime."
    • And later, "Barbarandroid".
  • "Electric Barbarella" by Duran Duran.
  • Gary Numan: "I hate to ask, but are friends electric? Only mine broke down, and now I've no one to love."
  • Dharma - Plastic Doll
  • "Coin Operated Boy" by the Dresden Dolls.
  • "Built for Pleasure" by Informatik.
  • Lenny Kravitz's song Black Velveteen is this trope played as satire - the robot described not only guarantees you disease-free sex, it will do the dishes as well.
  • "Herr Drosselmeyer's Doll" by Abney Park.

Tabletop Games

  • New Horizon: Aesir Wafan were originally built to be either this or sanitation workers. When the Wafan war rolled about, they were the ones that struck the hardest against the humans...
  • Eclipse Phase has "pleasure pods" who are partially biological and can change genders at will. It's also possible for transhumans to sleeve into one.

Video Games

You: Er... ALL the time?
C8-42: You don't want to know...

    • Bring Canderous for this bit. He NAILS the squick ideas this scene conjures better that Carth's and Bastila's banter.
  • One of the puzzles in Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail is how to get the top score by pleasuring a love robot.
  • One of goods in Vega Strike is "Pleasure Borgs" (Specialty Goods:Entertainment category). Complete with low-res photo, also presented with a list of models for several species in one Loading Screen -- ads of "Shmrn Medical Consortium", along with proper medical stuff.
  • Fisto in Fallout: New Vegas. The guy who asks you to find him insists that it's not for his personal use. His obvious excitement when you return with him says otherwise.
    • The player can try it out themself before bringing it back to the buyer.

Fisto: ASSUME THE POSITION.

  • In the adult action adventure game Bone Town, there are two sex robot one can have sex with. One really fat and one skinny.

Web Comics

Marten: The thought of sentient sex toys is profoundly disturbing. I couldn't even play a GUITAR if I knew it was judgin' me the whole time.

Web Originals

  • The Platinum Blonde, an android crime fighter in the Global Guardians PBEM Universe, started her existence as one of these. The company that created her, Android Companions, Incorporated, specialized in custom, made-to-order Sexbots who were identical in appearance to celebrities (the Platinum Blonde being a Marilyn Monroe-bot).
  • While no sex is shown,[1] The Nostalgia Chick recently got a coffee-making, dish-drying Sex Slave robot that she can control with a TV Remote tazer. To say the robot isn't particularly happy or well-treated would be understating it.

Western Animation

  • Futurama had one episode featuring this. Amusingly, the episode comes complete with an instructional video warning humans not to get too attached to the robots, lest they make the human race extinct by never actually breeding.
  • In Batman Beyond, such robots are banned by law. Naturally, in the episode we actually see one, it goes berserk and has to be taken down by Terry.
  • Six-of-Nine from Tripping the Rift was designed as one, and according to her bio she's very good at it. Something about breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record in the most efficient way possible: parallel processing in groups of ten. But, since she wanted to feel more useful to her crew, she downloaded the requisite knowledge to be the ship's science officer.
    • Also a subversion, as she's the only character with intelligence and decency in the cast, at least when Gina Gershon was voicing her.
  • The Venture Brothers features a character named Mike Sorayama in one episode, who has made robot versions of a girl he was obsessed with for this purpose. As the character is a reference to Hajime Sorayama, the guy who made the page illustration above, they look rather like that but with human faces.
  • Archer: "I call him Fister Roboto..."
  • Referred in South Park episode Awesome-O, when one of the scientists ask if Cartman (disguised as a robot) is a "pleasure model".
  • Referenced in a Robot Chicken sketch in which a scientist is showing a highly advanced robot he created at a convention. A man in the crowd insistently asks "Can you fuck it?". When the scientist says no, the entire crowd loses interest and walks away.
    • Arguably the Humping Robot counts, not that you'd want to get within ten feet of it.
  1. ↑ so get your brains out of the gutter
This article is issued from Allthetropes. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.