History Theatre / RUR

The play is most notable for featuring [[TropeNamers the very first use of the word "robot"]], [[BilingualBonus taken from the Czech word for serf labor]][[note]]or, more precisely, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvee compulsory unpaid labour in a feudal system]][[/note]]. (Capek credited his brother Josef for coming up with the new word). The term took off like wildfire through numerous languages, despite the play's own robots being quite different from the modern concept of the term.

A play by [[Creator/KarelCapek Karel Čapek]], set mostly in an island where they [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin manufacture]] [[ArtificialHuman artificial people]] called robots, which was released in book form in 1920 and premiered in [[OlderThanTelevision 1921]]. ''R.U.R.'' -- a.k.a. ''Rossum's Universal Robots'' -- tells a story we might be familiar with.

A play by [[Creator/KarelCapek Karel Čapek]], set mostly in an island where they [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin manufacture]] [[ArtificialHuman artificial people]] called [[TropeNamer robots]], which was released in book form in 1920 and premiered in [[OlderThanTelevision 1921]]. ''R.U.R.'' -- a.k.a. ''Rossum's Universal Robots'' -- tells a story we might be familiar with.

The play is most notable for featuring the first use of the word "robot," taken from the Czech word for slave labor [[note]]or, more precisely, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvee compulsory unpaid labour in a feudal system]][[/note]] (Capek credited his brother Josef for coming up with the new word). The term took off like wildfire through numerous languages, despite the play's own robots being quite different from the modern concept of the term.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Alquist paraphrases the Gospel of Luke (chapter 2 verses 29-30) in his final monologue.

* BittersweetEnding: The robots kill humanity, but Alquist realizes they are capable of love and will avoid humanity's mistakes.

* MeaningfulName: Rossum is derived from the Czech "rozum" meaning "reason". Domin is derived from the Latin "dominus" meaning "master of the house." Robot is derived from the word "robota" which was forced labor for ordinary people on the fields of the nobility (the English equivalent would be "serfdom").

The robots spare Alquist because he does manual labor like them. The robots then found out that the formula for their manufacture was lost (it was destroyed by Helena; Harry wanted to use that as a bargaining tool). Lacking the knowledge to manufacture themselves, with a lifespan of only 10 years, and relying solely on the only human left, the robots seemed doomed...

* RoboRomance: Primus and Helena.

* UnbuiltTrope: To RobotWar; the robots do rebel and kill humanity, but the robots are treated very sympathetically - their first act of "rebellion" was simply asking to be treated better and forming work unions, but humanity kept on escalating and cracking down harder until the robots came to the conclusion the only solution was a GuiltFreeExterminationWar.

* WhatMeasureIsANonhuman: Helena wanted to call the company out on exactly this until she found out that it was useless.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Alquist quotes the Gospel of Luke (chapter 2 verses 29-30) in his final monologue.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Alquist quotes the Gospel of Luke (chapter 2 verses 29-30) in his final monologue: "

* CrushKillDestroy

The play is most notable for featuring the first use of the word "robot," taken from the Czech word for slave labor [[note]]or, more precisely, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvee compulsory unpaid labour in a feudal system]][[/note]] (Capek credited his brother Josef for coming up with the new word). The term took off like wildfire through numerous languages, despite the play's own robots being quite different from the modern concept of the term, with the older Czech word "robota" originally meaning a peasant obligated to compulsory service under the European feudal system.

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: The people at R.U.R. named a robot Marius and a robot girl Sulla because they thought Marius and Sulla were lovers. Helena points out that they were both Roman generals, and they fought with each other.

A play by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Capek Karel Čapek]], set mostly in an island where they [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin manufacture]] [[ArtificialHuman artificial people]] called [[TropeNamer robots]], which was released in book form in 1920 and premiered in [[OlderThanTelevision 1921]]. ''R.U.R.'' -- a.k.a. ''Rossum's Universal Robots'' -- tells a story we might be familiar with.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Harry says that Rossum first created artificial tissue in 1932. The story is set several years later (not exactly specified how many).

* OneSteveLimit: Averted. [[NamesTheSame Helena has a robot named after her.]]

* RobotGirl: [[NamesTheSame Helena]], a robot made by Dr. Gall in Helena Domin's likeness; in the beginning, there was Sulla, the robot secretary.

The play is most notable for featuring the first use of the word "robot," taken from the Czech word for slave labor [[note]]or, more precisely, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corv%C3%A9e compulsory unpaid labour in a feudal system]][[/note]] (Capek credited his brother Josef for coming up with the new word). The term took off like wildfire through numerous languages, despite the play's own robots being quite different from the modern concept of the term, with the older Czech word "robota" originally meaning a peasant obligated to compulsory service under the European feudal system.

The play is most notable for featuring the first use of the word "robot," taken from the Czech word for slave labor [[note]]or, more precisely, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corv%C3%A9e compulsory unpaid labour in a feudal system]][[/note]](Capek credited his brother Josef for coming up with the new word). The term took off like wildfire through numerous languages, despite the play's own robots being quite different from the modern concept of the term.

A play by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Capek Karel Capek]], set mostly in an island where they [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin manufacture]] [[ArtificialHuman artificial people]] called [[TropeNamer robots]], which was released in book form in 1920 and premiered in [[OlderThanTelevision 1921]]. ''R.U.R.'' -- a.k.a. ''Rossum's Universal Robots'' -- tells a story we might be familiar with.

A play by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Capek Karel Capek]], set mostly in an island where they [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin manufacture]] [[ArtificialHuman artificial people]] called [[TropeNamer robots]], which was released in book form in 1920 and premiered in [[OlderThanTelevision 1921]]. ''R.U.R.'' - a.k.a. ''Rossum's Universal Robots'' - tells a story we might be familiar with.

It opens up in the island where Helena Glory, a member of the League of Humanity, pleads with Harry Domin (or Domain; the General Manager of R.U.R.) for rights for the robots, believing they are people being enslaved. He reveals to her that [[UncannyValley the robots aren't human, although they look convincingly like them.]]

A play by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_%C4%8Capek Karel Capek]], set mostly in an island where they [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin manufacture]] [[ArtificialHuman artificial people]] called [[TropeNamer robots]], which was released in book form in 1920 and premiered in [[OlderThanTelevision 1921]]. ''R.U.R.'' - a.k.a. ''Rossum's Universal Robots'' - tells a story we might be familiar with.