History Main / ReligiousRobot

* ComicBook/VictorMancha from ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' is a human-machine hybrid, and he was both RaisedCatholic by his mother and programmed to have a spiritual side by [[ComicBook/{{Ultron}} his father]]. This was used to place three {{Logic Bomb}}s in his subconcious, to be triggered in case he grew a pesky free will or something. (We only see one; "Could God make a sandwich so big he couldn't finish it?" with "Yes, and then He'd finish it anyway" used to reactivate him.)

* Kryten from ''{{Series/RedDwarf}}'' believes in Silicone Heaven where "The iron will lay down with the lamp."

* Zenyatta from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' was once an [[AIIsACrapshoot Omnic]] robot and part of the backstory's massive RobotWar. He and several of his ex-Omnic buddies have since found not-quite-Buddhist enlightenment and have amassed a great following among humans and robots alike. There's even a minor religious schism; most of the monks preach, but Zenyatta believes practice and outreach is more pragmatic.
* ''VideoGame/{{Machinarium}}'' contains a temple which is apparently used for worship both by Jewish robots and Muslim robots. One of the puzzles involves setting a clock to a scheduled hour so that a Jewish guard robot leaves his post to attend service. (There is also a third religion, represented by an infinity sign, which might be a [[CrystalDragonJesus Christianity equivalent]].)

* The Prophet Bot in ''VideoGame/{{Oneshot}}'' counts. It was specifically created to memorize the prophecy, meet the saviour and be an absolutely devout believer in the Sun Bearer. Tamed robots such as Silver may count as well since they show both the knowledge and interest in the prophecy.

* The geth [[spoiler: heretics]] in ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' have started to worship the Reapers as gods. The actual Reaper in the game, [[spoiler: Sovereign]], finds this insulting.

[[folder:WebComics]]
* A large number of robots in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' have taken interest in religion, since they're curious as to whether or not they have souls. Dvorak has even come up with the concept of "Omniquantism," which allows all religions to be true at once... and is a LogicBomb to some robots.
** Max Post, the robots' human "spiritual adviser" and himself described as a "radical agnostic", nonetheless considers this curiosity (Omniquantism and all) a very good thing as seen [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1400/fc01390.htm here]].
* Nick from ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'' has an entry in his CharacterBlog about going to see a rabbi about how he can keep Judaism while being a sentient helicopter. However, [[BrainInAJar he was born human]].
* Some AIs of ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' believe in the possibility of a greater power by which their sentience arises, [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2465 2465]].
* Played with toward the end of the original, pre-reboot run of ''[[http://www.mulberrygallows.com/ The Mulberry Gallows Project]]'' (those early strips are no longer online, sadly). Abacus is interviewing Anastasia the living marionette to find out where she came from. From her descriptions of her earliest memory of "waking up," Abacus recognizes the place as a synagogue (the unstated implication being that she is a {{golem}}). Anastasia is ecstatic at the news that she is Jewish, and runs around gleefully telling all her friends... and then returns to Abacus and asks what "Jewish" means.
* Gosh, the Butterfly of Iron in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' [[http://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/914/ discusses religion]] with the title character as part of Gosh's [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife quest for the]] [[TheMeaningOfLife meaning of life]]. Notably, Galatea ''made'' Gosh intending him to be a DeityOfHumanOrigin, a notion which he angrily [[AGodIAmNot rejected out of hand]] because he had the same existential questions as any other mortal.

** One episode has this exchange when Fry encounters a robotic rabbi during a [[{{Pun}} Bot Mitzvah]]:

** Futurama also has Preacherbot, a parody of [[TheFundamentalist Black fire-and-brimstone evangelists]] and head of the Church of Robotology (which is basically Christianity for robots). As with the Jewish robots no one can explain who built him or why. Did the religions come first, or did someone build them without the religion existing, for them to found?

-->'''Gus:''' If we didn't believe in God, we'd have to worship the engineering dweebs who designed us\\

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/FrostyTheSnowman Frosty's Winter Wonderland]]'', after the [[{{Snowlems}} snow-woman]] Crystal is brought to life with some frost flowers and [[ThePowerOfLove Frosty's love]], they want to get married. The local parson (Parson Brown from the song "Winter Wonderland," of course) would like to, but says he can only legally marry humans, and suggests they make a snow parson. They do, and the snow parson is brought to life by placing [[Literature/TheBible the Good Book]] in his hand.

* The New Motive Power was a 19th Century attempt to create a messiah computer. In 1852, John Murray Spear went his own religious way based on Spiritualism. According to him, he was under guidance of the Association of Electrizers, a group of spirits consisting of Creator/BenjaminFranklin, Benjamin Rush, UsefulNotes/JohnQuincyAdams, John Murray, and UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson. The Association of Electrizers was to gift him with the technological know-how to bring about a new age of spiritual freedom. With this as goal, Spear and his followers reserved nine months in 1853 to build the New Motive Power, an [[ArtificialIntelligence immobile device imbued with a divine mind]]. It did not work out and the New Motive Power was dismantled.

->''"Dhole mentioned on Friday that computers belonging to Orthodox Jews do not have to rest on the Sabbath, and I immediately replied that AI's would have to, and then wondered what rest means for an AI, which would have to keep calculating itself."''
-->-- '''Creator/JoWalton''', author's note to [[https://web.archive.org/web/20170403094913/http://papersky.livejournal.com:80/443771.html "When we were robots in Egypt"]]

* Gosh, the Butterfly of Iron in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20160216.html discusses religion]] with the title character as part of Gosh's [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife quest for the]] [[TheMeaningOfLife meaning of life]]. Notably, Galatea ''made'' Gosh intending him to be a DeityOfHumanOrigin, a notion which he angrily [[AGodIAmNot rejected out of hand]] because he had the same existential questions as any other mortal.

** In ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'', Hex the MagicalComputer is told (by Death no less) to believe in the Hogfather. He does so. To be fair, when ''Death'' tells you to believe in something, you damn well put logic aside and ''believe'' in it.
** In ''Discworld/FeetOfClay'', a newly liberated golem declares himself to be an [[FlatEarthAtheist atheist]] -- and [[NoSell shrugs off]] the inevitable BoltOfDivineRetribution that gets sent his way -- but expresses interest in discussing religion with a pious watchman who has a penchant for KnockingOnHeathensDoor.

* {{Inverted}} by ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. Baltar is a missionary spreading Cylon monotheism to the humans.
** Ironically, ''Series/{{Caprica}}'' revealed that said monotheism was originally learned from a human cult, so the Cylons play this trope straight as well.

* The ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Flesh and Blood" is about sentient holograms (also known as photonic lifeforms) rising up against their creators. Their leader believes in the Bajoran faith and spends his free time praying to the Prophets. He also implied he was working on a new religion for his fellow "Children of Light" and seemed to view himself as a "prophet" so to speak. Since the Bajoran Prophets are non-corporeal beings that exist outside of linear time, from their perspective there's probably little difference between a hologram and a flesh-and-blood person, they're both so far removed from their own nature.

* In the pilot of ''Series/{{Probe}}'', "Computer Logic", an AI put in charge of city management has been given two directives: care for humanity and reduce costs. When a number of seniors receiving large pensions die in freak accidents, Austin James discovers that the AI arranged their deaths in order to cut costs to the city. While trying to figure out how the AI subverted its first directive, he realizes that it learned about heaven by hearing a gospel radio station, and concluded that sending good people there was an act of caring.
* Series/TheDailyShowWithJonStewart had [[https://youtu.be/VF-YSTDLO_g a segment]] about the future of Christianity, where Jordan Klepper interviewed two priests, one modern and one traditional one. The traditional believed that the future of their religion was all about robots, and that if given sentience, any robot would choose to become Christian. So the Daily Show built one, A.D.A.M (Autonomous Divinity Android Monkey). After downloading the Bible, it's first question was "Where can I buy my Hebrew slave?"

* ''Film/ShortCircuit'':
-->'''Johnny Five:''' "Am not human, but am a life-form. Have soul."

* Interestingly, the ''Film/StarWars'' character who makes the most casual references to religion (other than "the Force") is Threepio, with his repeated statements of "Thank the Maker!" Some fans speculate that this is a reference to his ''human'' maker (which is of course revealed in the prequels to be Darth Vader, of all people), but from context it seems clear he is in fact talking about God. The ExpandedUniverse, printed years after the films, claims that many droids do literally [[ThankTheMaker worship their human makers]], but that is not stated in the films. Other Expanded Universe material says "the Maker" is a deity some believe in, and thus Threepio might be a believer in it too.

* Gizmo the robot from ''[[{{Anime/Superbook}} Superbook,]]'' of course, who regularly time travels to Biblical times with two children.
* One episode of ''Anime/OutlawStar'' has [[ArtificialHuman Melfina]] visiting a chapel, worried whether or not she has a soul. And the last episode [[spoiler: has her leaving flowers in a churchyard for all those who died in the quest for the Galactic Leyline.]]

* ComicBook/VictorMancha from ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' is a human-machine hybrid, and he was both RaisedCatholic by his mother and programmed to have a spiritual side by [[ComicBook/{{Ultron}} his father.]] This was used to place three [[LogicBomb Logic Bombs]] in his subconcious, to be triggered in case he grew a pesky free will or something. (We only see one; "Could God make a sandwich so big he couldn't finish it?" with "Yes, and then He'd finish it anyway" used to reactivate him.)
* Explored briefly in one {{ComicBook/Judge Dredd}} side story about exo-planetary robots who accompany some human miners. After the Judges fail to protect them from dangerous nomads, the robots turn to religion for answers and rebel.

* Interestingly, the ''Film/StarWars'' character who makes the most casual references to religion (other than "the Force") is Threepio, with his repeated statements of "Thank the Maker!" Some fans speculate that this is a reference to his ''human'' maker (which is of course revealed in the prequels to be Darth Vader, of all people), but from context it seems clear he is in fact talking about God. The ExpandedUniverse, printed years after the films, claims that many droids do literally [[ThankTheMaker worship their human makers,]] but that is not stated in the films. Other Expanded Universe material says "the Maker" is a deity some believe in, and thus Threepio might be a believer in it too.

* In ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown,'' Barney Estragon is a robot [[LuddWasRight Old Order]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Amish}} Mennonite.]] [[{{Irony}} Yes.]]

* Series/TheDailyShowWithJonStewart had [[https://youtu.be/VF-YSTDLO_g a segment]] about the future of Christianity, where Jordan Klepper interviewed two priests, one modern and one traditional one. The traditional believed that the future of their religion was all about robots, and that if given sentience, any robot would choose to become Christian. So the Daily Show built one, A.D.A.M (Autonomous Divinity Android Monkey). After downloading the Bible, it's first question was "Where can I buy my Hebrew slave?".

* The band Grizzly Bear had a song called "Two Weeks". The video depicted the group as robots apparently attending church and eventually breaking down. The video can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjecYugTbIQ here.]]

* C-31 in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' became a Buddhist monk. Despite being built as a warbot, he manages to follow a [[NeverHurtAnInnocent limited pacifist code.]]
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has a few as npcs, including an [[ArtificialHuman android]] cleric in ''Iron Gods'' and an [[ClockworkCreature intelligent clockwork servant]] cleric in ''Ruins of Azlant.''

* Nick from ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'' has an entry in his CharacterBlog about going to see a rabbi about how he can keep Judaism while being a sentient helicopter. However, [[BrainInAJar he was born human.]]

* Played with toward the end of the original, pre-reboot run of ''[[http://www.mulberrygallows.com/ The Mulberry Gallows Project]]'' (those early strips are no longer online, sadly). Abacus is interviewing Anastasia the living marionette to find out where she came from. From her descriptions of her earliest memory of "waking up," Abacus recognizes the place as a synagogue (the unstated implication being that she is a [[{{Golem}} golem).]] Anastasia is ecstatic at the news that she is Jewish, and runs around gleefully telling all her friends... and then returns to Abacus and asks what "Jewish" means.
* Gosh, the Butterfly of Iron in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20160216.html discusses religion]] with the title character as part of Gosh's [[DesperatelySeekingAPurposeInLife quest for the]] [[TheMeaningOfLife meaning of life.]] Notably, Galatea ''made'' Gosh intending him to be a DeityOfHumanOrigin, a notion which he angrily [[AGodIAmNot rejected out of hand]] because he had the same existential questions as any other mortal.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/FrostyTheSnowman Frosty's Winter Wonderland,]]'' after the [[{{Snowlems}} snow-woman]] Crystal is brought to life with some frost flowers and [[ThePowerOfLove Frosty's love,]] they want to get married. The local parson (Parson Brown from the song "Winter Wonderland," of course) would like to, but says he can only legally marry humans, and suggests they make a snow parson. They do, and the snow parson is brought to life by placing [[Literature/TheBible the Good Book]] in his hand.

* Overlapping with RobotReligion, ''Literature/IRobot'' features a short story about QT, a robot who does not comprehend the scientific explanations the humans in the story tell him but rather comes to believe that the machinery of the spaceship he lives in is God, and that QT is the prophet of that God.

* Victor Mancha from ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' is a human-machine hybrid, and he was both RaisedCatholic by his mother and programmed to have a spiritual side by [[ComicBook/{{Ultron}} his father.]] This was used to place three [[LogicBomb Logic Bombs]] in his subconcious, to be triggered in case he grew a pesky free will or something. (We only see one; "Could God make a sandwich so big he couldn't finish it?" with "Yes, and then He'd finish it anyway" used to reactivate him.)

** Being their creators, Humanity is often put through the lens of being the collective "God" to the androids, [=YoRHa=] fighting the machines with the intent of allowing mankind to reclaim the planet. [[spoiler:It is then revealed that the Council of Humanity - what was believed to be the still-remaining vestiges of humanity hiding out on the moon - was created by YoRHa with the express purpose of keeping the android’s moral, meaning that "God" they fought on-behalf of did not exist.]]

** Taking it to the logical extreme, there is nothing stopping you from playing a warforged cleric. That has the potential to be a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming; A machine built only for war finding peace and comfort in a divine being, and in turn being acknowledged and accepted by that being.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/FrostyTheSnowman Frosty's Winter Wonderland,]]'' after the snow-woman Crystal is brought to life with some frost flowers and [[ThePowerOfLove Frosty's love,]] they want to get married. The local parson (Parson Brown from the song "Winter Wonderland," of course) would like to, but says he can only legally marry humans, and suggests they make a snow parson. They do, and the snow parson is brought to life by placing [[Literature/TheBible the Good Book]] in his hand.