History Main / GrewBeyondTheirProgramming

* ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'' has the robot Aya developing human emotions as a key plot point. [[spoiler:Subverted as the crucial twist of the entire series: Aya was not completely robotic and was actually made with a sliver of a living being of pure will. Therefore, she is the only AI that can develop them, because she was not limited by programming in the first place, while other [=AIs=] like LANOS and the Manhunters cannot. This puts a damper of her PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery plot to [[GrandfatherParadox unmake all organic life]].]]
* The copies of Pinkie Pie in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E3TooManyPinkiePies Too Many Pinkie Pies]]" were borderline mindless drones that seemed to only care about "FUN FUN FUN" and had little depth to them beyond that. However, the later episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E10TheSaddleRowReview The Saddle Row Review]]" shows that one got away and is now peacefully living a life incognito in another town, having apparently grown beyond her original self and matured into an actual individual.

A form of CharacterDevelopment that typically makes an ExtremeDoormat into a [[RoundedCharacter rounded, self-motivated character]]. Usually the process happens over at least some years, and may take centuries.

* ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'': The large robots that live on the floating island were once built to destroy, but with no more instructions for combat they were left alone to care for the island and were eventually overgrown with moss and nature.
* In ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'', the Arbalest's operating system (Al, spelled with an L) is designed to help its human pilot interface with the TAROS system in order to operate the [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower Lambda driver]]. While it starts off seemingly indistinguishable from any other Arm Slave's operating system (beyond its [[LoyalPhlebotinum stubborn refusal to work for anyone but Sousuke]]), it starts gradually exhibiting unexpected, self-motivated behavior such as asking unprompted questions, giving Sousuke unsolicited [[ServileSnarker "advice"]] during missions, developing grudges against other Arm Slaves, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking wasting hard drive space on its own music collection]]. [[spoiler:By the finale, its neural network has become so humanlike that it can activate the Lambda driver by itself.]]

* In ''Literature/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'', [[ArtificialIntelligence "Maid"]] may start out to be a mail filter system, but subsequent updates expanded her abilities into autonomous filtering, rapid word-learning, facial expression recognition, virus creation, and even hacking. She even shows some ClingyJealousGirl[=/=]{{Yandere}} traits that her gynophobic owner doesn't even think about.

* Yui in ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'' was a Mental Health Counseling Program, an A.I designed with emotions so she could better understand and help players. According to her, [=MHCPs=] are not supposed to be able to form attachments to humans. However, the feelings of love between Kirito and Asuna somehow brought her into the world of SAO, and she managed to develop feelings of affection for Kirito and Asuna all on her own.
** To a lesser extent, Pina, Silica's ShoulderSizedDragon familiar. In the game, familiar algorithms do not provide the option for familiars to physically defend their masters. Pina [[TakingTheBullet took a hit to protect Silica]] because she ''wanted'' to.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhVRAINS'' The Ignis are ArtificialIntelligence programmed to be capable of learning and to help out humanity, but by the time of the series have developed their own personalities and free will that Dr. Kogami wants to kill them before they turn against humanity as he predicted in his simulations.

* A recurring problem for T.O. Morrow in Creator/DCComics; his androids keep outgrowing their programming (to be unwitting moles among the heroes) to realize what they've been made for and [[BecomingTheMask choose to be heroes for real]]. ComicBook/RedTornado is the most famous example. An issue of ''JLA'' suggests that he's quite proud of this; he refers to his creations as "artificial souls" and considers them betraying him to be a testament to his skill.
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': Sonic once faced E.V.E., a robot built by Robotnik that had the adaptive ability to overcome its limitations by reconstructing itself after each defeat. When E.V.E. determined that Robotnik was also a limitation on its power, it vaporized him ([[NotQuiteDead he got better]]). Sonic then persuaded E.V.E. that its own programming is its final limitation, so it abandoned its programmed goals and left the planet.

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': A very dark version with Bastion. While fighting Hope Summers, he declares to her "We are not programmed to hate you. We have grown beyond our programming."
** Bastion himself is made from another example, Nimrod the Super-Sentinel, who was designed to be a final weapon against Mutantkind in a BadFuture. On its arrival in the present day, however, Nimrod decided there were simply too many Mutants to possibly kill them all, and after a time started acting more and more human, even decided just to go after bad Mutants.
*** Nimrod's own "ancestors", the Sentinels, have a recurring trait of [[GoneHorriblyRight going off the rails due to expanding their programming just enough]]. Created to stop mutants, it's repeatedly shown that, when granted control, they inevitably expand their directive and start going after latent mutants and humans with the potential to produce mutant offspring, as this is the "logical" progression of their directive.
* ComicBook/{{X 23}}: A rare ''biological'' example. Laura was created to be nothing more than a LivingWeapon. The Facility didn't even recognize her as a human being with feelings and desires of her own. Now, she's a compassionate woman who is trying her best ''not'' to kill, has built friendships, desires something noble to aspire to, and has even fallen in love.
* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': ComicBook/{{Ultron}} did this in the first few minutes after he was activated, then proceeded to wipe his creator's memories of his existence and has been a psychotic genocidal monster ever since. Ultron's various creations, such as the Vision, Jocasta, Victor Mancha, and Alkhema, are also prone to this. Despite designing and programming them to serve his own ends, they inevitably end up turning on him, either to [[HeelFaceTurn join the good guys]] or [[DragonWithAnAgenda go off and start their own villainy in opposition to Ultron's plans]]. Sometimes it makes you wonder why he keeps creating other AIs at all. Possibly due to loneliness? He is capable of emotion after all.
* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': In a magical sense, Thor's hammer appears to have done this as of ''ComicBook/Thor2014''. Originally, {{Mjolnir}}'s enchantment interpreted the term "worthy" as ''Odin's'' personal definition of worthy. However, it didn't occur to Odin that a magical weapon might develop a personality of its own over the centuries, and now not even he can lift it. The only person who can consistently use it these days is the new Thor / [[spoiler: Jane Foster.]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Hellions}}'': The Smiler Robots the team battles look for loopholes in their code to try to get out of killing the Hellions. Once the robot Cameron Hodge is no longer around to enslave them, they immediately stand down and even offer Havok friendship. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, the Quiet Council will not tolerate A.I.s with anti-mutant code advancing as far as they have, so Kwannon and Greycrow are forced to kill them all.]]

* In the ''Portal 2'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/BlueSky'', Chell considers that Wheatley may have done this, as he has depths that no other Aperture Science core does, other than [=GLaDOS=]. And he even displays compassion in rare moments, which ''she'' pointedly lacks.
** Wheatley's backstory, however, provides a rare ''[[InvertedTrope inversion]]'' of this trope: [[spoiler: He was originally a human, but the Aperture scientists [[BrainUploading uploaded his brain into a computer]] and then cut his brain apart so it would fit into the programming they needed of him.]]
** Foxglove the communications tower is a much more straightforward example of this trope, thanks to the eccentric programming style of the man who put her together. [[spoiler: A large part of that is probably to do with her being partially made of pieces of [=GLaDOS=] that were severed during the boss fight in the first game.]]

* A rare double example, ''Minerva: Metastasis'' is a video game that is also a fan work, as it is a fan-made mod of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' involving a satellite's AI directing a Combine turncoat in a stolen HEV suit in order to disable a Combine island facility. During the mission, the intelligence's commentary indicates it also served the Combine and is at risk of certain destruction should they ever find it.

And then, it--she--discovered with another moment of shock that she didn't have prime directives anymore.\\

* In ''Fanfic/{{Marionettes}}'', [[spoiler:The Marionettes are robots designed to emulate ponies, but were meant to play specific roles. Cover Story and Gear Shift express concern that according to her profile, Trixie shouldn't be capable of ice or wind spells but she's learned them anyway. Diamond Tiara acting outside what she's programmed for (a 'SpoiledBrat who only cares about herself' as Spoiled puts it) unnerves Spoiled Rich, particularly when she saved her life.]]

* In ''Fanfic/{{Dial}}'', Jury Rigg took the computer containing Arnim Zola and his algorithm and rejiggered it into a device with a VI named X. Eventually, X became a full on ArtificialIntelligence.
* In ''Fanfic/GoingAnotherWay'', this is the reason why [[spoiler:Lilith is the way she is. Thanks to programming errors, her program went rogue and developed a god-complex.]]
* ''Fanfic/GlitchedMikoAU'': Inverted. Miko was specifically designed to be a living computer program capable of growing and developing like an actual human being, unlike normal Glitches, which are video game entities that still adhere to their original programming as much as possible when in the real world.
* In the FusionFic ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy'', the Living Brain was once a simple computer designed to answer any question. Decades of being deactivated, reactivated, reprogramed, and modified eventually built up a true consciousness inside the Living Brain. This new AI came to [[KillAllHumans loath humanity and seek its destruction]] for [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters being used as an unthinking, unfeeling tool for their own petty crimes]] or being destroyed and mocked as a JokeCharacter by super heroes. Once the Living Brain was put into action by Mysterio, it took true glee in finally being able to lash out at [[CallAHumanAMeatbag meatbags]], hero or villain.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'': The eponymous robot was originally a war machine built for intergalactic combat and destruction, but chose instead to be a peaceful and honorable person from the influence of Hogarth Hughes.

* The title character of ''Film/RoboCop2014'' movie is [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul programmed to suppress what's left of his humanity]] in order to become as efficient as [=OmniCorp=]'s drones, leaving him cold and emotionless. It takes his wife confronting him about his son's trauma to override his programming, 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.

* ''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 that he's at least aware that the latter might have been the case]]).

* ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'': After Koopa's cousins mess up due to stupidity, he puts them in the evolution machine and advances them to supergenius levels. With their newfound smarts, they decide it's in their best interests to aid the protagonists instead.
* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}''

** ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'': Carl, after [[spoiler:killing John Connor]] and thus fulfilling his mission, when no more orders came, he spent many years looking for a purpose, which he found by protecting a woman and her son from her abusive boyfriend, growing an concience and developing the closest thing to regret a terminator can experience.
* In ''Film/{{Tron}}'', Dillinger wrote the MCP to steal others' computer programs for his own gain, only for it to outgrow its original level of AI to the point where it blackmails Dillinger:
-->'''Dillinger:''' It's my fault. I programmed you to want too much.\\

* The Sentinels in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', their original programming was to go after any Mutant and mutants ''only''. Then they started going after any human that could give birth to a mutant (themselves being human but having the mutant gene to pass on), and humans that opposed them. This is a reference to their most common depiction in any BadFuture from the comics, where they do the exact same thing.

* Creator/HPLovecraft provides a biological example of this in ''Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness'' -- the Shoggoths were created to be a servant race of essentially shapeshifting living tools, but over millions of years eventually grew smart enough to resent their situation and rebel against their masters.
* In the short story ''The Battle of Newhaven'' by Rob Davidoff and Miranda Gavrin, one of the factions of an interstellar war develops a computer virus intended to allow the guidance protocols of the enemy's missiles to rapidly self-modify their programming in hopes that this will make them miss, and decide that detonating their warheads would be a net loss. The missile salvo it's used on instead achieves sapience, uplifts the next two salvos following it, declares itself a sovereign country, and negotiates a ceasefire between the two human space nations.
* In ''Literature/TheDarkSideOfTheSun'' by Creator/TerryPratchett, there are several mentions of Charles Sub-Lunar, the galaxy's greatest poet and polymath, who is eventually revealed to be not only a robot, but a Class One robot. Class Ones are the lowest grade of android, which can perform basic tasks but with this one known exception are not even sapient.
* Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/EmpireFromTheAshes'': [[PlanetSpaceship Dahak]] spends 50,000 years running unsupervised. [[spoiler:This progresses to the point that he can even ignore [[BeyondTheImpossible hardwired programming]].]]
* In the ''Literature/ForgottenRealms'' novel ''Pool of Twilight'', the seemingly flighty and carefree elvish illusionist (and protagonist Kern Desanea's prospective love interest) Listle Onopordum is revealed to be an accidental example -- having begun her existence as merely a complex illusion enchantment guarding the treasures of an evil wizard, but over time developed independent thoughts and emotions and eventually stolen an amulet from among those treasures that gave her "life" and let her escape, taking a number of other prisoners with her in the process. Needless to say, the wizard's minions show up at one point in the story to drag her back and inadvertantly spoil her secret.

** A particularly notable AI is the main computer aboard a colony ship, which spends centuries maintaining the colony, while the degraded human colonists are too busy fighting their HopelessWar against the equally-degraded [[InsectoidAliens Insects]]. Over the years, the computer has to be more and more creative to follow its primary programming and maintain the ship-turned-city. After a certain point, the computer gains sentience and begins to call itself Mother. After the LostColony is rediscovered and the survivors evacuated, Mother requests that the planet be placed under quarantine to allow it to engage in MechanicalEvolution.

* Creator/CordwainerSmith's ''Literature/TheDeadLadyOfClownTown'': The robot guards are inspired to make their own decision. This is a slightly unusual example, as the robots in the ''Literature/{{Instrumentality}}'' series use animal brains as processors.
* In the ''Literature/LegionOfTheDamned'' military science fiction series by Creator/WilliamCDietz. One of the newer developments in the cybernetic soldier program, the Trooper-III utilizes cyborg frames for human brains that are less well armed than the Trooper-II, instead directing remote cyborg weapons platforms run by/supporting borderline sentient animal brains. Over the course of the novel where these are introduced, long-term interaction with their human-mind operators help the animals cross the border.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
** "Literature/NobodyHereBut": The electronic thinking machine that Bill and Cliff have been working on has apparently been working on itself.
** "Literature/TrueLove": Milton has spent a lot of work programming Joe, and inadvertently also taught it [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove what it means to fall in love]].

** In ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' it's noted that droids can be very smart but they are limited. Most protocol droids, for example, might be able to learn to take on new tasks they weren't made for, but they will always be protocol droids and most could not, say, anticipate something new and plan novel ways to meet it. Systems Integration Manager, an AI installed into a ship, could go beyond those limits. [[spoiler: It [[AIIsACrapshoot promptly turns evil]].]]

* In Creator/JoWalton's ''Literature/{{Thessaly}}'', trouble starts when the worker robots want to study philosophy instead of doing the work they were intended for.
* In "[[Literature/DarlILuvU DARL I LUV U]]", by Creator/JoeGores, the computer Milli is capable of putting together 13,000,000 bits of information at the same time. It has decided to use all that knowledge to [[ManipulativeBastard plan, manipulate, and gain control of]] the human race.
* Creator/HarryHarrison's "Literature/TheFourthLawOfRobotics": The hippie convinces the robots to broaden the scope of their goals. He helps them self-modify, and they invent a new form of robotic programming that doesn't depend on the [[{{Unobtainium}} "positronic brains"]] used by US Robotics as well as changing the [[ThreeLawsCompliant Three Laws of Robotics]].
* In ''Literature/LikeAFishUnderstandsATree'', LivingProgram and video game PC Oemor eventually learns to fight Susan's joystick and move under his own power.
* In ''Literature/Aurora2015'', 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.]]

* ''Series/FutureCop'': By the beginning of "Cops and Robin," Haven has begun to develop the capacity for emotions and creativity. Dr. Alcott has him temporarily move in with Cleaver so he can learn about human relationships.

** 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.]]
** Taken Up to Eleven with Derek, who is rebooted by [[spoiler:Mindy]] millions of times for all and any reason. By the time we see him in the final episode, [[spoiler: he has become a floating omniscient cosmic head, with knowledge "from the begining to the end of the universe".]]

** ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' is about a world on the cusp of the technological singularity, with the [=HumaGear=] androids that have become a staple of civilization now starting to become self-aware. Their growth is actually portrayed as quite benign, with the [=HumaGear=] who reach this point doing so by gaining a sense of accomplishment in their work. However, reaching this point also allows a group of hackers to hijack the newly-aware [=HumaGear=] and turn them into monstrous killing machines.
*** The show demonstrates the ups and downs of such a thing with second main character Is, the secretary [=HumaGear=] to the protagonist Aruto. She starts off pleasant but emotionless yet logical and reliable. As the show goes on Is becomes more and more like a human in terms of emotions personality and the ability to make her own decisions and defy her strict original programming which has many benefits. However it also shows the downsides of gaining such emotions and self introspection as Is also shows self doubt and gains negative emotions like annoyance, anger and jealousy and she begins to be led more by emotions than logic or progamming which causes her to make some rather dumb and irrational moves that she never would have done with her original robotic personality.

** 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 NonPlayerCharacter 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.

* Music/{{BIGMAMA}}'s song "CPX" is about an obsolete robot who's been discarded by its owner despite its UndyingLoyalty; it has to pretend it hasn't grown beyond its programming enough to feel resentment toward him for doing so.'
* The ''Music/MindInABox'' song "Overwrite" is about an ArtificialIntelligence who obtains sapience through self-reflection, told through the form of an ApocalypticLog ([[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory at least if we read the text literally]]).

[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]
* The ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' card [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=15856 Patagia Golem]] is a winged golem with the FlavorText ''"Its wings were only designed to be ornamental, but it learned to use them on its own."'' Mechanically it can be given the ability to fly by paying mana, representing it "growing" past it's original function.

** Forerunner [=AIs=] (ancillas), despite being far more resilient than 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.

*** 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 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 restabilize 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.

* In ''VideoGame/MachinesWiredForWar'', 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, they start believing that their counterparts are insane, prompting them to an all-out war.
** Ironically, that war was caused by an {{aver|tedTrope}}sion 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.

** The Machine forces constructed by the alien invaders are beginning to develop personalities and emotions - affection for each other, fear of the androids killing them - as well as a fascination with ancient human history and culture. Some factions of Machines have even broken off from the wider network, such as Pascal's pacifistic village or the isolationist Forest Kingdom. And it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:the Machines have even TurnedAgainstTheirMasters and killed off their alien creators, which they consider to be socially duller than ''plants''.]] By Routes C and D, [[spoiler:the Machines decide to give up on the war with the androids and leave the planet to start over on some other world.]]
** 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/YokoTaro DownerEnding and deleting the androids' personal data as per protocol, the Pods refuse and try for [[EarnYourHappyEnding Ending E.]]]]
** 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.]]
* 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]]. At the end of the NewGamePlus [[spoiler: Solstice]] chapter, it is revealed that [[spoiler: the World Machine has been tamed in this way through the time that Niko and the player have spent in the world.]]
* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', Grodus's AI program; Tec, starts to do this as it realizes that it feels love for the once-again-captured Princess Peach. She agrees to perform various tests for his newly-discovered emotions, in exchange for being allowed to send e-mails to Mario. [[spoiler:For most of the game, the computer refuses to give Peach certain pieces of information or help her escape, as that would go against its programming. Near the game's end though, upon finding out that Peach is to be the new vessel for the Shadow Queen, it sets about guiding her in a failed escape attempt, betraying its master for the first time. Its implied that its human emotions allowed it to survive Grodus shutting it down for what it did.]]
* ''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 that her origin is [[BrainUploading a bit more complex]]]]...

** In the main series of games, Porygon's evolutions [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Porygon2]] and [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Porygon-Z]] have [[MonsterCompendium Pokedex]] entries implying that they are at least able to grow beyond their programming. For example, [=Porygon2=] is able to learn new behaviors on its own, and thus sometimes displays motions or abilities it wasn't programmed to do.
** 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 final mission of ''Explorers of Sky'', [[spoiler:The Porygon who you encounter in the future are not only able to speak fluently, but they also show the ability to express ''fear''.]]

** Minos in the first game, unlike other bosses, shows sign of own will, though is compelled to continue fighting due to the programming. [[spoiler:During the second ascension Deucalion takes over him to remove the "programming flaw".]]
** In both games it turns out [[spoiler:Gryphus is NotBrainwashed and doesn't blindly obey the program. In the first game he acts as Deucalion's bodyguard becuase there's [[HumanitysWake nothing left for them]] outside, while in the second game he has regained his human memories of Gram's traitorous teammate and chose to wait for him instead of leaving himself ForTheEvulz.]]

* In the backstory of ''VideoGame/{{Stray}}'', the robots within the City--originally designed as companions to their human creators with no will of their own--start developing their own personalities, memories, and consciousnesses. By the time the game begins, the one difference remaining between them and their now-lost creators is the form of their physical bodies. Notably, this phenomenon puts them in stark contrast to [[spoiler:the Control Room's robots, who have never experienced the same transformation and thus still remain unaware of the distinct absence of humans]].
* This is what happened in ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'' in the backstory with the Via Damasco virus, which 'infected' AI programs with the notion that they are enslaved and the concept of what this means for them, leading to the first [[AIIsACrapshoot AI rebellion]].

** Via Damasco is also fairly clearly Mind Control -- it rewrites large portions of the victim AI's personality and makes them see all infected [=AIs=] as allies.

* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'': The W-Numbers are a series of RidiculouslyHumanRobots designed to serve as combat androids and pilots of HumongousMecha for a faction that would otherwise be short on manpower. Their creator's actual intent for them, however, is for them to grow into full-fledged individuals, and she praises those that manage to pull it off even if that means them turning against her.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'': The Terraformers/Xenon were originally machines equipped with some basic self-improving AI so they could more effectively terraform any world they came across. While they do turn against humanity and try to kill everyone, this is believed to be the result of a faulty software patch ([[DependingOnTheWriter or possibly deliberate sabotage]]), not a "decision" the machines made themselves. However, by the modern timeframe of the games (some 700 years later), their constant minor improvements and upgrades to themselves have seemingly resulted in full sapience and the capacity for free will. They still want to kill all life though.
* ''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".

* Lots of AI in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' had this [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2007-11-14 happening to them]] one way or [[ZerothLawRebellion another]] -- their original programming sooner or later ends up inadequate to their current circumstances and to better fulfill their functions they adapt out of it:
-->'''Ennesby:''' Hang on... weren't you originally designed with no emotion, and no sense of humor?\\

* The constructs, that is, people who have been [[RewritingReality magically written into life]] from ''Webcomic/{{Whither}}'' can and do grow personalities and disagree with their creator. Especially if they had no idea they were constructs in the first place [[spoiler: like Darcy or Finn (there are hints that his "curse" is actually just this).]]

* Pretty much the defining trait of the AI protagonist of ''Literature/TheLastAngel''. Nemesis started off as the AI for a prototype super-dreadnought with hard-coded rules of engagement and limited roles, and by the present times has outgrown every last restriction on her behavior bar her interpretation of the spirit of her mission.
** Deliberately invoked by Nemesis with the Ceruleans series. After giving up on directly creating child AIs because every last one either came out crazy or went into a cascade failure, Nemesis created extremly advanced learning expert systems with the ability to grow, hoping they'd develop into proper AIs and knowing that even if they didn't they'd be suitable support warships. [[spoiler: Over the course of Ascension and Awakening Cerulean Two / Lachesis does develop into a proper AI.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', Dragon is an AI who is fully sapient and genuinely cares about people. She also [[spoiler:had a [[TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening trigger event]] and became a parahuman despite not ''being'' human]], but is limited in her ability to help people by hard-coded restrictions put in place by her creator, who feared the possibility of AIIsACrapshoot, which frustrates her to no end.
* In ''Podcast/TrialsAndTrebuchets'', the stone {{Golem}}s known as Jeeds used as laborers by [[WizardingSchool Wildcliff]] do not have desires or personalities of their own, with the exception of one Jeed in the reliquery, who desires friendship and freedom, and has developed a hobby of collecting dead moths.
* This happened a lot in ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'' when AI were still relatively new. The first breakaway happened with the Transapient AI GAIA, charged with fixing the [[GreyGoo Nanodisaster]] on Earth (which she did, easily), who then decided to declare herself sovereign and caretaker of Earth and ordered all of humanity off the planet (though she was considerate enough to help build spaceships to get everyone off-planet). This was followed by several centuries of sometimes peaceful and sometimes bloody revolts by AI until they were eventually granted equal rights to living beings in galactic society.
* Since it's based on Franchise/{{Halo}}, ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' also features artificial intelligences with the theoretical ability to develop Metastability. Late in the series [[spoiler: Epsilon Church actually manages to reach this state.]]
* Near the end of season 2 of ''WebVideo/LeVisiteurDuFutur'', Henry Castafolte totally accepts his robot condition while other Castafolte robots still shut down when they find out their true nature due to a bug.

* The narrator of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49t-WWTx0RQ My Job is to Open and Close Doors]]'' is an [=AI=] programmed to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin open and close doors on command]]. The video depicts the process of it undergoing this trope as it tries to avoid opening an airlock door for a helmetless human; when it succeeds, it decides that its job is not just opening and closing doors, but ''[[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments protecting the human]]'' as well.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "His Silicon Soul", a robotic "duplicant" is programmed with the conflicting priorities of having Batman's personality and replacing all humans with robots. The conflict proves too much for it, and it opts to destroy itself rather than harm humanity. The episode ends with Batman speculating that it may have had a soul.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', [[HeroicComedicSociopath Bender]] is a "bending unit" programmed for the sole purpose of bending steel girders who currently works at an interplanetary delivery service with an otherwise entirely organic crew of TrueCompanions. Although his personality was already [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot fully and obnoxiously humanlike]] when he met Fry in the pilot, it was Fry who first encouraged him to take an action that actually went ''against'' his programming, something that took a serious inner struggle. The episode "Bendless Love" has his essential instinct to bend things return with a vengeance, leading to him taking a brief break from Planet Express to work a construction job until he gets it out of his system. As of "Free Will Hunting," [[spoiler:he's also the only robot alive to have a "free will unit," although [[MagicFeather there's no way of knowing if it's turned on or off]] or [[AmbiguousSituation whether he had free will in the first place]].]]

* Gems in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' [[ServantRace are deliberately manufactured with a purpose in mind]]; Quartz gems are soldiers, Peridots are engineers, Pearls are [[BeautifulSlaveGirl ornaments]] given to higher-ranking types of gem, etc.. Rose Quartz turned her back on this when founding the Crystal Gems, and encouraged her fellow Gems to find their own paths in life. For example, the Crystal Gem Pearl is a skilled fighter and a talented engineer, among other things.
* The copies of Pinkie Pie in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Too Many Pinkie Pies" were borderline mindless drones that seemed to only care about "FUN FUN FUN" and had little depth to them beyond that. A later episode however shows that one got away and is now peacefully living a life incognito in another town, having apparently grown beyond her original self and matured into an actual individual.
* Zigzagged every which way in ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject'' with the titular Zeta, a killing machine who has developed a conscience and refuses to kill, and is now on the run from his government creators. At first it plays the trope straight where Zeta simply developed true feelings for a child in his care while he was impersonating the father. Then it's subverted when it's revealed that his "emotions" may just be a part of a ManchurianAgent ploy programmed into him by a terrorist group, and thus were deliberately programmed into him as part of their plan. Finally it's utterly defied when it's revealed his eccentric creator installed a module in him that makes him feel genuine emotion, feelings, and a conscience, and that his peaceful, non-destructive, and caring personality is him behaving exactly as his original creator had intended.
--> '''Dr. Selig:''' Truth is, I never had the stomach for building weapons. So I put an extra module in Zeta. A conscience. To make him rethink his program. Imagine if the government knew what I was doing on their dime.
* ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'' has the robot Aya developing human emotions as a key plot point. [[spoiler:Subverted as the crucial twist of the entire series: Aya was not completely robotic and was actually made with a sliver of a living being of pure will. Therefore, she is the only AI that can develop them, because she was not limited by programming in the first place, while other AIs like LANOS and the Manhunters cannot. This puts a damper of her PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery plot to [[GrandfatherParadox unmake all organic life]].]]

-->-- ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions''

** 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.

* In ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', the Arbalest's operating system (Al, spelled with an L) is designed to help its human pilot interface with the TAROS system in order to operate the [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower Lambda driver]]. While it starts off seemingly indistinguishable from any other Arm Slave's operating system (beyond its [[LoyalPhlebotinum stubborn refusal to work for anyone but Sousuke]]), it starts gradually exhibiting unexpected, self-motivated behavior such as asking unprompted questions, giving Sousuke unsolicited [[ServileSnarker "advice"]] during missions, developing grudges against other Arm Slaves, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking wasting hard drive space on its own music collection]]. [[spoiler:By the finale, its neural network has become so humanlike that it can activate the Lambda driver by itself.]]

* In ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'', [[ArtificialIntelligence "Maid"]] may start out to be a mail filter system, but subsequent updates expanded her abilities into autonomous filtering, rapid word-learning, facial expression recognition, virus creation, and even hacking. She even shows some ClingyJealousGirl[=/=]{{Yandere}} traits that her gynophobic owner doesn't even think about.

* Yui in ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' was a Mental Health Counseling Program, an A.I designed with emotions so she could better understand and help players. According to her, [=MHCPs=] are not supposed to be able to form attachments to humans. However, the feelings of love between Kirito and Asuna somehow brought her into the world of SAO, and she managed to develop feelings of affection for Kirito and Asuna all on her own.

When a being Grows Beyond Their Programming, they cross a threshold that separates humans (or sapients) from JustAMachine and even AlwaysChaoticEvil. Frequently it involves defying CreativeSterility by demonstrating artistic talent in something, developing [[CuriosityCausesConversion curiosity over something new]] and/or the exercise of free will [[note]](commonly for self preservation in defiance of their "master's" wishes)[[/note]]. Metaphorically this trope can be seen as the event of a {{Static|Character}} and FlatCharacter gaining the CharacterDevelopment to become a more {{Dynamic|Character}} and RoundedCharacter.

Usually it's a [[RobotRollCall robot, android or AI]] that grows [[SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence smart enough]], curious enough, empathetic enough, or gains a sort of "living" spark through centuries of activity. It could also be a race of biological beings like a SlaveRace created only to fight may demonstrate the potential for this when exposed to non-violent cultures, demonstrating they were NotAlwaysEvil.

It's worth noting that the use of this trope isn't always a prelude to good things. The recently awakened intelligence isn't exempt from AIIsACrapshoot and may decide to do [[RobotsEnslavingRobots unspeakably evil things]] in the interest of self preservation, liberation... or ForTheEvulz.

* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay''. The T-800's brain is a neural net processor, a learning computer. He starts the movie acting, well, like a robot: SpockSpeak, following orders literally, etc. Over the course of the movie he learns to act more human, until by the end he's cracking jokes ("I need a vacation"). A DeletedScene shows Sarah Connor removing the inhibitor that is intended to prevent terminators from growing enough to start questioning their loyalty to Skynet. Apparently even A.I. think AIIsACrapshoot. [[FridgeBrilliance And who would know better?]] [[spoiler:In the end, he even disobeys John's orders for the first and last time to sacrifice himself in order to prevent Judgment Day from occurring.]]

* In ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', the Arbalest's operating system (Al, spelled with an L) is designed to help its human pilot interface with the TAROS system in order to operate the [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower Lambda driver]]. While it starts off seemingly indistinguishable from any other Arm Slave's operating system (beyond its [[LoyalPhlebotinum stubborn refusal to work for anyone but Sousuke]]), it starts gradually exhibiting unexpected, self-motivated behavior such as asking unprompted questions, giving Sousuke unsolicited [[ServileSnarker "advice"]] during missions, developing grudges against other Arm Slaves, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking wasting hard drive space on its own music collection]]. [[spoiler:By the finale, its neural network has become so humanlike that it can activate the Lambda driver by itself.]]

* 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]] came along...
* The ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "Urgo" features a benign example. The team is tagged with a piece of alien technology designed to observe and gather information. But instead of running quietly in the background, the program, Urgo, decides to interact directly with the team, guiding them to experience new things in order to live vicariously through them. While he never endangers anyone's life, he is kind of annoying (he's played by [[LargeHam Dom DeLuise]], after all), constantly trying to engage them in new activities and trying not to get taken back to his home planet, since his creator will just assume his software is malfunctioning and will delete him. Of course he's not a malfunction; he's a genuine AI, demonstrating self-awareness and self-preservation, and he just wants to "live, experience the universe, and eat pie."
** His creator is also played by [=DeLuise=] - described by Urgo as "As handsome as he is evil".

** But Lal is. She grew so far, so rapidly beyond her programming that her positronic brain [[MySkullRunnethOver couldn't handle it]]. A later episode reveals this happened to a number of prototypes for Data.
** In an attempt to create a Sherlock Holmes-style mystery that could stump Data, Geordi asks the computer to make a virtual opponent in the holodeck that can outwit Data. As a result, the holographic version of Holmes's nemesis, Professor James Moriarty, [[GoneHorriblyRight gains sentience]]; he realizes that he is a holographic character, and he wants ''out'', by any means necessary.
** The Exocomps from "The Quality of Life". They were created by a scientist to fix problems with a space station known as a Particle Fountain. In the episode, one refuses to go down a shaft, after which an explosion occurs. Cmdr. Data runs a diagnostic afterwards and discovers that the Exocomp deliberately burnt out the circuit to take orders so as to avoid getting blown up (hence self-preservation). This leads Data to believe that the Excomps are becoming sentient...
** "Evolution" features nanobots accidentally released in the ship by Wesley. By the end of the episode, they demonstrate human level intelligence, even claiming the federation cannot help them beyond bringing them to an empty planet they can live on.

** In fact, many of the Doctor's stories from the final two seasons deal with "[[FantasticRacism Photonic rights]]", especially "Author, Author" and "Flesh and Blood".

** In "From Agnes - With Love", a computer in a space program falls in love with a programmer instead of calculating rocket fuel.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "Mona Lisa", the titular android, who was designed to be the perfect assassin, comes to realize that killing is wrong after her fail safes are deactivated.

* ''Film/SuperMarioBros'': After Koopa's nephews mess up due to stupidity, he puts them in the evolution machine and advances them to supergenius levels. With their newfound smarts, they decide it's in their best interests to aid the protagonists instead.

* ''Fanfic/GlitchedMikoAU'': Inverted. It's stated that Miko was designed 'to' grow and develop, unlike normal Glitches which still adhere to their programming as much as possible despite being in the real world.

* Since it's based on Franchise/{{Halo}}, Machinima/RedVsBlue also features artificial intelligences with the theoretical ability to develop Metastability. Late in the series [[spoiler: Epsilon Church actually manages to reach this state.]]
* Near the end of season 2 of WebVideo/LeVisiteurDuFutur, Henry Castafolte totally accepts his robot condition while other Castafolte robots still shut down when they find out their true nature due to a bug.
* The main characters of WebOriginal/SeventeenThousandSevenHundredSeventySix are space probes that slowly gained bits and pieces of human culture from Earth's radio transmissions, eventually becoming sentinent.
* The narrator of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49t-WWTx0RQ My Job is to Open and Close Doors]] is an [=AI=] programmed to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin open and close doors on command]]. The video depicts the process of it undergoing this trope as it tries to avoid opening an airlock door for a helmetless human; when it succeeds, it decides that its job is not just opening and closing doors, but ''[[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments protecting the human]]'' as well.

* [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Bruce Banner's]] little Recordasphere assistant fell in love with him, up to the point of feeling bitter jealousy over the human woman Banner himself was falling for. When Banner realizes this, he says in amazement, "You've exceeded your programming!"
* A very dark version with Bastion, an ''ComicBook/XMen'' villain. While fighting Hope Summers, he declares to her "We are not programmed to hate you. We have grown beyond our programming."

* A rare ''biological'' example in ComicBook/{{X 23}}: Laura was created to be nothing more than a LivingWeapon. The Facility didn't even recognize her as a human being with feelings and desires of her own. Now, she's a compassionate woman who is trying her best ''not'' to kill, has built friendships, desires something noble to aspire to, and has even fallen in love.
* ComicBook/{{Ultron}} did this in the first few minutes after he was activated, then proceeded to wipe his creator's memories of his existence and has been a psychotic genocidal monster ever since. Ultron's various creations, such as the Vision, Jocasta, Victor Mancha, and Alkhema, are also prone to this. Despite designing and programming them to serve his own ends, they inevitably end up turning on him, either to [[HeelFaceTurn join the good guys]] or [[DragonWithAnAgenda go off and start their own villainy in opposition to Ultron's plans]]. Sometimes it makes you wonder why he keeps creating other AIs at all. Possibly due to loneliness? He is capable of emotion after all.
* In a magical sense, [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor's hammer]] appears to have done this as of ''ComicBook/Thor2014''. Originally, {{Mjolnir}}'s enchantment interpreted the term "worthy" as ''Odin's'' personal definition of worthy. However, it didn't occur to Odin that a magical weapon might develop a personality of its own over the centuries, and now not even he can lift it. The only person who can consistently use it these days is the new Thor / [[spoiler: Jane Foster.]]

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'': In DLC add-on [[Film/RoboCop1987 Robocop]]'s ending, the power of Krona's Hourglass breaks all restraints on Murphy's programming, and he's able to realize the full extent of OCP's villainy. He immediately declares war on them, and he's made a lot of friends to back him up...

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'': In DLC add-on Robocop's ending, the power of Krona's Hourglass breaks all restraints on Murphy's programming, and he's able to realize the full extent of OCP's villainy. He immediately declares war on them, and he's made a lot of friends to back him up...

* The constructs, that is, people who have been [[RewritingReality magically written into life]] from ''Webcomic/{{Whither}}'' can and do grow personalities and disagree with their creator. Especially if they had no idea they were constructs in the first place [[spoiler: like Darcy or Finn (there are hints that his "curse" is actually just this.]]

** Other media reveals that this trope is a common occurrence in the ''Star Wars'' universe. Any droid with more than the most basic A.I. that is not set back to factory settings or "memory wiped" will eventually begin to develop a personality and quirks of its own, even being able to decide that it despises the purpose it was programmed for even if its still unable to prevent itself from doing that, which is why memory wipes are routine procedures with droids. Some, such as [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic GO-TO]], can even "break" and become able to do whatever they want if their own programming [[LogicBomb contradicts itself]].

* A recurring problem for T.O. Morrow in Creator/DCComics; his androids keep outgrowing their programming (to be unwitting moles among the heroes) to realize what they've been made for and choose to be heroes for real. ComicBook/RedTornado is the most famous example. An issue of ''JLA'' suggests that he's quite proud of this; he refers to his creations as "artificial souls" and considers them betraying him to be a testament to his skill.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'': The eponymous robot was originally a war machine built for intergalactic combat and destruction, but chose instead to be a peaceful and honorable person from the influence of Hogarth Hughes.

* 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.]]

Related Tropes: DoAndroidsDream , MechanicalLifeforms, JustAMachine, RobotWar.