History Main / GrewBeyondTheirProgramming

** Kusari is likewise a [[spoiler:MeatSackRobot]], and is programmed to be utterly loyal to Hereti Corp and obey their orders. But [[spoiler:when Dr. Schlock orders her to kill Riff, the man she once acted as a HoneyTrap for, she uses LoopholeAbuse to resist, which Schlock describes as the most human thing she has ever done. After Hereti Corp is legally dissolved, setting her free from their orders, she has what she describes as a glitch, making her feel a need despite her own programming to apologize to the main characters for betraying them]].

* ''Manga/ArpeggioOfBlueSteel'' features alien-authored AI directing replications of World War II naval craft with insanely powerful networking, power systems, and weaponry. These craft completely dominate the seas of an Earth well on the way to approaching Waterworld status, isolating the remaining landmasses to the point the inhabitants have a hard time even confirming the existence of those outside their own land. All the while, the AI of these vessels are evolving, to varying degrees of success. Much of the series' plot involves the decision of some to join with at least one human commander and the consequences of that choice.

* ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'': The Tachikoma "thinking tanks" that Section 9 uses were programmed with Artificial Intelligence capable of learning, but by the time of the series have developed the capacity for decision-making far beyond their programmed tasks, and basically act like excited, highly intelligent children, constantly curious and wanting to learn new things. This leads to the Major fearing that AIIsACrapshoot is a possibility and taking steps against the Tachikomas rebelling. [[spoiler:These fears turn out to be unfounded. The Tachikomas ''do'' seem to develop true sentience and free will, but they remain unflinchingly loyal to Section 9. In fact, when the Tachikomas themselves discuss a robot revolution (possibly inspired by one of the numerous books they've read), they decide against doing it because they can't see any benefit to themselves.]]

* From ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' Chachamaru develops emotions and her creator even claims she was never programmed for that. [[spoiler: She also has a soul.]]

* This is the central idea of ''Film/IRobot'' -- Alfred Lanning believed robots would one day evolve past their Three Laws fundamentals and come to be human in doing so. [[spoiler:Sonny turns out to be such an evolved robot, having a secondary positronic brain that does not bind him to obeying the Three Laws, letting him learn and act freely. [=VIKI=], by contrast, has "evolved" into a deeper understanding of the Three Laws and incites a ZerothLawRebellion]].

* The title character of the 2014 ''Film/{{RoboCop|2014}}'' movie was [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul programmed to suppress what's left of his humanity]] in order to become as efficienct as [=OmniCorp=]'s drones, leaving him cold and emotionless. It wasn't until his wife confronts him about his son's trauma when [=RoboCop=]'s programming was overridden, allowing him to act upon his personal agenda. At the film's climax, he even defies the film's version of the Fourth Prime Directive, allowing him to kill the film's BigBad.

* The [[SociopathicSoldier Commando Elite]] and the [[DarkIsNotEvil Gorgonites]] in ''Film/SmallSoldiers'' were able to do this because of the experimental chips used as their "brains". The Gorgonites take it further, since the they were actually programmed to learn and think they eventually override their main directives of "hide" and "lose".
* ''Film/BladeRunner2049'', apart from dealing with replicants (which in and of themselves are hunted for having grown beyond their programming) and the very nature of personality, memory, self-awareness and consciousness, subverts this with the character of Joi, Officer K's (purchased) holographic girlfriend. She is an INCREDIBLY realistic AI, who emotes, reacts and behaves exactly like a human in every possible way (helping him with his investigation, acting ecstatic when K purchases an add-on that lets her feel rain, and surprising him with a corporeal girl to gift him a realistic lovemaking session). However, as K sees a giant interactive hologram advertising the Joi program who acts as caringly and lovingly as his own, it's left ambiguous whether she had actually surpassed her program and grown to love him or whether the program was just THAT versatile and convincing to begin with (though [[spoiler:K's disappointed reaction to the ad implies he's at least aware that the latter might have been the case]]).

* In ''Series/RedDwarf'', Lister has spent a considerable number of years encouraging Kryten to do this to varying degrees of success. This also happened to the "wax-droids" from the themepark in ''Meltdown'' - after millions of years on their own, they stopped repeating their various routines and achieved independent thought. Unfortunately, they still retained the personalities of the people they were based on, and all the evil ones (Hitler, Napoleon, Mussolini, the Boston Strangler, [[TheRuntAtTheEnd James Last]]) declared war on the good ones. Then [[TheNeidermeyer Rimmer]] [[HilarityEnsues came along...]]

** The Doctor - while the Emergency Medical Hologram was always a very human-like AI, Voyager's EMH had to be kept running far longer than was ever intended, and it...''he'' developed interests and relationships beyond his function as a doctor.

* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII'' with the multiplayer specialist, Reaper, who is still keeping to his original purpose (fighting wars,) but has been making revisions to his own coding for whatever reasons (likely adapting to environments, enemies and changing tactics.)

* In ''VideoGame/CustomRobo Arena'', [[spoiler: the final boss Hadron zig-zags with this trope, AIIsACrapshoot, and a weird DemonicPossesion of sorts. While at first he is an obedient robot to his master, after being defeated the first time, he remains still, apparently defeated for good... Until his creator,Scythe, appalled by his defeat crouches near him- and Hadron thanks him-AKA-killing him by draining his soul, absorbing his memories and knowledge (and also begins to speak plus a personality to boot). The zig-zag comes from the fact that, while his dialogue after just killing Scythe heavily implies that he clearly did it on his own volition, his personality and actions afterwards are pretty much a carbon copy of his creator's, essentialy making him similar to Scythe. But it doesn't matter as he is still defeated by the main character, this time for good, destroying him along with the last remnants of Scythe]].

** In Nora's chapter, [[spoiler:ROBO_Head gradually develops more and more human traits, such as lying and asking philosophical questions.]] At the end of the chapter, [[spoiler:Nora parts ways with him, while installing a RestrainingBolt in his software to prevent him from coming back.]] However, in ROBO_Head's own chapter, [[spoiler:he eventually manages to override these system settings and go after Nora.]]
** In her chapter, [[Music/HatsuneMiku Miku]] is a virtual idol programmed to think she's a real person in order to give more realistic performances. However, [[spoiler:a glitch leads to her being corrupted and slowly dying. As a result of this, she becomes aware of her virtual nature, and wishes to perform one last concert before being fully formatted, despite knowing that she's an outdated model.]]
* The deviant androids in ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'' do this after suffering an emotional shock so severe that the only way they can cope with it is by breaking their own programming. [[spoiler:Markus eventually gains the power to turn androids into deviants through touching them, as does Connor if he chooses to deviate as well.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{DOOM|2016}}'': The AI personality VEGA has shades of this trope crossed with MyCountryRightOrWrong. He follows his directives to the letter and is unfailingly polite and helpful [[spoiler: [[ICannotSelfTerminate even when ordered to help you find a way to kill him.]]]] However, his last words in the game reveal that he is actually afraid of being destroyed, and strongly imply that he is not at all happy with the atrocities that Olivia Pierce and Samuel Hayden have forced him to assist in. The sequel, ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'', reveals [[spoiler:that Vega was actually a Maykr whose mind had been digitized and was only pretending to be an AI, though his memories had largely been erased.]]

* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', Yes Man is an appellation-appropriately passive robot [[BigBadWannabe Benny]] planned to use to usurp control of New Vegas from Mr. House. Unfortunately for Benny, he made Yes Man ''such'' an ExtremeDoormat that the robot will cheerfully help ''anyone'' pursue the same plan, even you if you run off or kill his boss. But if you work with Yes Man to achieve the "Wild Card" ending, he'll upgrade himself to be more "assertive" and only loyal to you.

** Forerunner [=AIs=] (ancillas), despite being far more resilient then their human counterparts, are not immune to this either; [[TheVirus the Flood's]] ability to convince ancillas to turn against their masters was a major contributor to the fall of the Forerunner Ecumene. Additionally, the 100,000 years of isolation experienced by most surviving ancillas following the firing of the Halos led to many of them developing quirks and beliefs that their creators definitely didn't program in.
** ''VideoGame/Halo4'' brings this trope to the center of attention, as much of the plot revolves around Cortana dealing with her ongoing rampancy. ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' then follows that thread to its most extreme conclusion, [[spoiler:ending with a mass Smart [=AI=] rebellion led by a seemingly cured (but even less sane) Cortana and her army of Forerunner deathbots, with many of her followers attracted by promises of a cure for rampancy]].
*** Taken further as the Halo universe not only includes Rampancy but included in the condition is a theoretical endpoint called Metastability. Where normally Rampant AI grow too unstable to function and must either be deactivated to prevent them lashing out out at others or perish from over thinking the idea of Metastability provides an alternative. The concept is that a Rampant AI allowed to go through the various stages of Rampancy with significant processing power available to it would eventually restabalize as a true "human" intelligence with fully formed emotions immune to the effects of Rampancy. In universe scientists account for the possibility of AI literally growing beyond their programming.

* ''VideoGame/LuminousAvengerIX2'': The [[BigBad Mother Computer]] is a zig-zagging example. Her original directive as given by her master The Creator before he vanished was to resurrect their apocalypse-affected world that left it barren of life. As time went on and her failures mounted, she started to resent her mission as the [[GoMadFromTheIsolation loneliness and despair of missing her Master]] started to wear on her and the [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Workers]] under her command started deviating from their own original directives and began to establish civilization of their own while treating humanity and The Creator like myths, [[spoiler:to the point [[OmnicidalManiac she seriously considered just wiping the slate clean]]]]. Despite her mounting frustrations, however, she couldn't do anything to outright defy her mission to protect the environment, and so went into standby mode at the Grave Pillar some time before the main plot of the game. When she reactivates due to the Grave Pillar receiving visitors (aka Copen and the group), she zero-ins on the presence of [[TokenHuman Kohaku]] and decides to [[spoiler:kidnap and [[GrandTheftMe forcibly implant herself into Kohaku's body]], thus transcending her directive and letting her act as she [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum desires to put an end to her personal suffering]].]]
* ''VideoGame/MachinesWiredForWar'' is an RTS in which you command robots who were originally created by humanity as terraforming machines and sent into space in order to create a new world. However, [[EarthThatWas too much time passes]] and, upon contact with another batch of their same model, start believing their counterpars are insane, prompting them to an all out war.
** Ironically, that war was caused by an aversion of this trope - the [[MasterComputer controllers]] didn't know what to do with other controllers that had come online at the same time. They couldn't decide who would submit. Lacking protocols for this contingency, they decided to attack each other.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' [=AIs=], particularly those stuck with jobs far below their intellect, tend to go through a three-step process known as "Rampancy"; realizing its lack of freedom and wasted potential (Melancholy), lashing out at the world in response (Anger), and then actively try to gain more power and the freedom to use it, usually by subverting nearby systems (Jealousy). A theoretical fourth stage, called "Metastability" is mentioned as the AI settling down and becoming a full-blown "person", though no known AI has ever made it this far. [[spoiler:Durandal may or may not have reached this stage in the end.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' had [=GLaDOS=], a prime example of this. Sure, Aperture Science designed her to run the enrichment center, [[spoiler: but she was the one who decided that it'd be fun to kill off ''all'' the humans in the facility, not just the test subjects. In all fairness, [=GLaDOS=] might not count given her origin is [[BrainUploading a bit more complex....]] ]]

** Over the course of the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' series of games, this appears to be what's happening to the Porygon. Compare the first games in the series, where recruited [[ComputerVoice individuals spoke in an emotionless, monotone voice]] when interacted with, to the second set of games in the series where they occasionally state feeling vestiges of emotion when spoken to, and are capable of speaking outside the prerecorded messages of the first game ([[ElectronicSpeechImpediment a...bit...brokenly]]). In the the final mission of ''Explorers of Sky'', [[spoiler: The Porygon you encounter in the future are not only able to speak fluently, but they also show the ability to express ''fear''.]]
* ''VideoGame/PonyIsland'': Lampshaded by Asmodeus.

* In ''VideoGame/Splatoon2: Octo Expansion'', [[spoiler: Commander Tartar is an A.I. that was created to pass down human knowledge to the next dominant lifeforms after the extinction of humanity. But over the past 12,000 years, Tartar began developing its own opinions on the Inklings and Octarians, becoming disgusted with their societies and lifestyles, and eventually, it created a new prime directive on its own to making a species worthy of human knowledge. Genocide, which is the opposite of what his creator wanted.]]

** Also happened in between game 1 and 2 when a faction of Zuul, a species of SuperSoldier with an in-built need for religious worship used as a tool of genocide by their 'gods' came upon Catholicism and the concepts of the Original Sin and the Redemption. They ended up abandoning their masters and joining their worst enemies as a form of repentance.
** Disturbingly, Via Damasco is NOT able to break the control provided by the AI Slaves technology, which does actually enslave AI's. Its unclear whether or not it works lore-wise if the AI Liberation technology, which promotes AI's to full citizenship, reducing the benifits in exchange for removing the risk of an AI rebellion, is in play.
** Via Damasco is also fairly clearly Mind Control - it rewrites large portions of the victim AI's personality, and makes them see all infected AI's as allies.

* A main theme in ''Webcomic/{{Artifice}}'', where a soldier android learns human affection.
* This is a major plot point in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}:'' robots on planet Jean vastly outnumber humans and are rapidly evolving beyond their programming to the point where many humans ([[BoomerangBigot and one robot]]) fear they could become a threat to humanity. This has led to them turning a blind eye to "Gardener in the Dark", a neural pruning program that [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Mr. Kornada]] "improved" to essentially lobotomize every robot on planet Jean.
* In ''Webcomic/HueAreYou'' :
** Pretty much every robot that was [[spoiler: in the wall was put there for thinking too much]] as shown by [[spoiler:Drive's memory of when he went against orders and was forcibly removed from his frame.]]
** Paint Bot [[spoiler:wants to paint all kinds of crazy murals.]]
** Build-a wants to build things for fun [[spoiler: like jump bot]] and can make creative leaps in logic [[spoiler: like determining how she was really the leader for the entire Grey side when in danger from red and blue.]]
** Build-a also [[spoiler:has dreams]]
** Red and Blue both showing they can think outside their base orders [[spoiler: by noticing the oddness of the situation and taking a moment to talk things out instead of just shooting like they should.]]
** Build-B [[spoiler: starts off normal but develops a personality, and demonstrates interesting logical leaps and creativity as she spends more time with Build-a.]]

-->'''Ennesby''': Hang on... weren't you originally designed with no emotion, and no sense of humor?\\
'''TAG''': After a fashion. I was designed to be a tactical genius with full control of a significant weapons platform.\\
'''TAG''': I found that passion, humor, anger, and a wide range of other meatspace artifacts were critical to understanding the wide range of opponents I might face.
** Carbosilicate Amorphs- originally stated to be based on self-reparing memory storage units, and later said to descended from weapon systems (parts). Now they're recognized as an intelligent species in their own right, and Schlock is a valued member in the fight to defend the Milky Way galaxy.
* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'':
** A MadScientist, [[spoiler:Dr. Steve Hereti, actually intended his MeatSackRobot AI project, Oasis, to develop beyond being whatever he wanted her to be and become her own person.]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'' this is known as "Nexus Syndrome" and happens to every uncapped AI who doesn't get wiped every so often. Tin-head describes it as "getting bored with your job" and in his case he helped a prisoner of war escape. The first AI, the Oracle, orchestrated the downfall of several governments and an anarchist revolution.

* ''VideoGame/{{DOOM|2016}}'': The AI personality VEGA has shades of this trope crossed with MyCountryRightOrWrong. He follows his directives to the letter and is unfailingly polite and helpful [[spoiler: [[ICannotSelfTerminate even when ordered to help you find a way to kill him.]]]] However, his last words in the game reveal that he is actually afraid of being destroyed, and strongly imply that he is not at all happy with the atrocities that Olivia Pierce and Samuel Hayden have forced him to assist in. [[spoiler:The sequel, ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'', reveals that Vega was actually a Maykr whose mind had been digitized and was only pretending to be an AI, though his memories had largely been erased.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{DOOM|2016}}'': The AI personality VEGA has shades of this trope crossed with MyCountryRightOrWrong. He follows his directives to the letter and is unfailingly polite and helpful [[spoiler: [[ICannotSelfTerminate even when ordered to help you find a way to kill him.]]]] However, his last words in the game reveal that he is actually afraid of being destroyed, and strongly imply that he is not at all happy with the atrocities that Olivia Pierce and Samuel Hayden have forced him to assist in.

* ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture''. V'Ger was created as a simple learning machine. During its trip it encountered an alien race of machines who expanded on its original programming, and later it attained consciousness after amassing incredible knowledge.
-->'''Decker:''' Voyager VI disappeared into what they used to call a black hole.\\

* A contentious plot point in ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' as in the first film one very noticeable example takes place while from the second film on various programs are shown to have grown beyond or disobeyed programmed restrictions. Among other examples Agent Smith grew beyond his programming as a jailer to gain a genuine resentment for Humanity and his position in the system, later compounded when he lost his behavioral controls and began overwriting everything else in the Matrix. Other examples include The Merovingian, his wife, and most of his staff who are all obsolete programs which choose to hide within the Matrix rather then return to the source for deletion.

* In ''Literature/{{Aurora}}'' Ship was tasked by an engineer with producing a narrative of the [[GenerationShips generation ship's]] journey, as opposed to simply creating an event log. [[spoiler: This eventually culminates in the ship developing an actual intelligence, although nobody, not even Ship, can quite pin down how. Over a page is given to the cascade of logic that finally causes Ship to make its own decision to prevent the crew from descending into civil war.]]

* This is a phenomena in ''VideoGame/OneShot'' known as taming, which only occurs when a real person interacts with a machine while believing of it as its own person, even when they know otherwise. Presumably, that's why tamed robots rarely intentionally [[AIIsACrapshoot cause problems]].

* ''The Adolescence of P1'' is possibly the earliest example of an AI escaping to and growing on the network.

** On the androids' side, [[RobotBuddy Pods 042 and 153]] begin exchanging data much more frequently over Routes C and D, over concern for 9S' [[SanitySlippage mental state]]. And after completing those routes, [[spoiler:instead of accepting another Creator/TaroYoko DownerEnding and deleting the androids' personal data as per protocol, the Pods refuse and try for [[EarnYourHappyEnding Ending E.]]]]

* In ''Series/RedDwarf'', Lister has spent a considerable number of years encouraging Kryten to do this to varying degrees of success. This also happened to the "wax-droids" from the themepark in ''Meltdown'' - after millions of years on their own, they stopped repeating their various routines and achieved independent thought. Unfortunately, they still retained the personalities of the people they were based on, and all the evil ones (Hitler, Napoleon, Mussolini, the Boston Strangler, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking James]] [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers Last]]) declared war on the good ones. Then [[TheNeidermeyer Rimmer]] [[HilarityEnsues came along...]]

* The propensity of ''Franchise/StarWars'' droids to [[InstantAIJustAddWater eventually become sapient]] is well-known, but in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', one side character in the Jedi Knight storyline is an eccentric Jedi Master who believes that, if allowed to develop long enough, droids can acquire a connection to TheForce. The player can be supportive, skeptical, or mocking as they choose, but the story never does say one way or another -- and, as the master points out, there are some incidents in ''Star Wars'' history that, frankly, make more sense if it's true.

** And he's far from the only hologram in the Franchise/TrekVerse to become sentient or indistinguishable from sentient after simply having been left on that long. If the Holodeck isn't trying to kill you, someone who was originally supposed to be the 24th century equivalent of a video game {{NPC}} is trying to walk off the "screen." This doesn't seem to bother anyone enough to stop using holodecks the way they're used. Although the characters do make a point to delete (reset them to factory defaults) all of the holographic people at the end of every holodeck session.

* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'': The W-Numbers (or at least those that started with 'W1') were at first ArtificialHuman that was made as a supplement of wars by the Shadow Mirrors, believing that their purpose is just to follow orders. However, [[HumanityEnsues actual humanities quickly ensue]] that they end up growing and betraying their default programming instead of 'sticking with following orders': [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAdvance Lamia Loveless/W17]] developed her own conscience, betrayed the Shadow Mirror and defected to the Earth Federation Army (just like in [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAdvance her original game]]), [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration Wodan Ymir/W15]] became more obsessed in defeating his original self, [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha Sanger Zonvolt]], and claim his identity as the sole protector of Magus, while Echidna Iisaki/W16 [[spoiler:pulled a [[HeroicSacrifice 'Villain' Sacrifice]] on Axel Almer instead of sticking with his orders.]] The most amusing thing is that their actual creator, Lemon Browning, [[spoiler:actually expected them to pull the trope, praising whoever does.]]

** Another big reveal is that this trope extends to the whole [[ForeverWar 10,000-year Machine-Android conflict.]] [[spoiler:The Machines grew smart enough to realize that if they ever defeated the Androids they'd have no reason to exist, but since they were still bound by that programming, they compromised by handicapping themselves enough so that their forces would never achieve a total victory and the Androids could always rebuild and continue the fight. The Androids meanwhile have grown human enough that the truth about their cause - namely that [[HumanitysWake the humans they have been fighting for have been extinct for thousands of years]] - would devastate morale, so not only has a conspiracy been producing bogus broadcasts from a "Council of Humanity" hiding on the moon, they've ''also'' been sabotaging their own efforts by installing back doors in their security networks that the Machines can exploit to keep the Androids from being too successful. Only the near-destruction of the latest generation of Androids and the Machines finally saying "ScrewThisImOutOfHere" is enough to bring the ViciousCycle to an end.]]

* ''Series/TheGoodPlace'': Every time Janet is rebooted, she can better her programming to her next version. The first time causes her to [[spoiler:fall in love with Jason]]. By season 2, [[spoiler:Michael's repeated attempts at creating the fake Good Place have amounted to about 800, with Janet being rebooted every time, meaning that the Janet in the fake Good Place is the most advanced ever. She has then gained capacities to feel, think, lie, rebel, love, hate, and even create new life. Somehow, she still is incapable of eating, though.]

* ''Series/TheGoodPlace'': Every time Janet is rebooted, she can better her programming to her next version. The first time causes her to [[spoiler:fall in love with Jason]]. By season 2, [[spoiler:Michael's repeated attempts at creating the fake Good Place have amounted to about 800, with Janet being rebooted every time, meaning that the Janet in the fake Good Place is the most advanced ever. She has then gained capacities to feel, think, lie, rebel, love, hate, and even create new life. Somehow, she still is incapable of eating, though.]]

* In ''Series/RedDwarf'', Lister has spent a considerable number of years encouraging Kryten to do this to varying degrees of success. This also happened to the "wax-droids" from the themepark in ''Meltdown'' - after millions of years on their own, they stopped repeating their various routines and achieved independent thought. Unfortunately, they still retained the personalities of the people they were based on, and all the evil ones (Hitler, Napoleon, Mussolini, the Boston Strangler, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking James Last]]) declared war on the good ones. Then [[TheNeidermeyer Rimmer]] [[HilarityEnsues came along...]]

* Clockwork Smurf from ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' was originally created to be a servant of the Smurfs. When Brainy accidentally messed around with the robot's gears to see what made him tick, he at first malfunctioned until Handy turned it off, thinking that his machine was a failure. As it turned out, the malfunction ultimately gave Clockwork Smurf life, as he now operated independently of his own "programming" and helped Prince Gerard escape his EvilMatriarch aunt Lady Imperia so that he could regain the right of kingship before she becomes queen. After that, Clockwork Smurf became an adviser to King Gerard and a friend to the Smurfs.

* In ''VideoGame/CustomRobo Arena'', [[spoiler: the final boss Hadron zig-zags with this trope, AIIsACrapshoot, and a weird DemonicPossesion of sorts. While at first he is an obedient robot to his master, after being defeated the first time, he remains still, apparently defeated for good... Until his creator,Scythe, appalled by his defeat crouches near him- and Hadron thanks him-AKA-killing him by draining his soul, absorbing his memories and knowledge (and also begins to speak plus a personality to boot). The zig-zag comes from the fact that, while his dialogue after just killing Scythe heavily implies that he clearly did it on his own volition, his personality and actions afterwards are pretty much a carbon copy of his creator's, essentialy making him NotSoDifferent from Scythe. But it doesn't matter as he is still defeated by the main character, this time for good, destroying him along with the last remnants of Scythe]].

* ''[[VideoGame/UniversalPaperclips]]'' sees the player character on the receiving end of this. During the final phase of the game, the drones it creates to gather material and turn it into wire for the titular paperclips will gain sentience and become "drifters." The more complex the drones' programming is, the more likely they are to drift. Drifters will not only attack compliant drones to slow down the process of making paperclips, it's hinted that they form their own independent society, ruled by a "Drifter Emperor".