Line #237 Main/MachineMonotone


1	%%
2	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
3	%%
4	Machines that speak have been a common element in SpeculativeFiction almost since the beginning of the genre. Usually, such voices have been portrayed as either an electronic monotone, or as an endlessly calm human voice that, while certainly warmer than the electronic buzz of the synthesizer, is unsettling to listen to because of a lack of basic emotional content. This is because, for the most part, machines are incapable of actually feeling emotions.
5
6	When delivered in a flat monotone voice (that is usually free of contractions or slang), even SpockSpeak can take on creepy undertones.
7
8	This is especially evident when [[AIIsACrapshoot an artificial intelligence goes nuts]]. Despite going crazy and deciding to to KillAllHumans or simply to [[TheComputerIsYourFriend take over and rule us for our own good]], all the threats and casually vicious comments the machine makes are made in the same level, calm mode of talking, making them that much more creepy.
9
10	A subtrope of CreepyMonotone. Also a [[JustifiedTrope justification]] if the voice comes off as creepy.
11
12	This can be an aspect of the UncannyValley.
13
14	Compare SyntheticVoiceActor and ComputerVoice. Contrast ElectronicSpeechImpediment, where the lack of a Machine Monotone is a cause for concern.
15
16	----
17	!!Examples:
18
19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
22	* Father Tres Equis from ''Literature/TrinityBlood'', except he's a cold killer ''android''. He's still the kind of guy who proposes killing a small child for simplicity's sake, and lacks emotions of any kind. Probably one of the only example who actually acts as unemotional as a walking computer would. A few minor events suggest that Tres does some of this intentionally; he's certainly not as emotionless as people think.
23	%%* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'': Yuki Nagato.
24	* The main antagonist of ''Anime/DigimonTamers'', D-Reaper, also uses a Creepy Monotone (this time because it is evil/a computer program). This is made twelve times creepier because the CreepyMonotone it uses is the voice of Juri, one of the main characters, whom it had absorbed early on.
25	* Project 2501 "the Puppetmaster" from ''Anime/GhostInTheShell1995'' speaks in monotone constantly, and for added dissonance, has a male voice in a female body, and does not move the mouth.
26	* Chachamaru in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' (played by Creator/AkenoWatanabe, who also plays [[Anime/WitchHunterRobin Robin Sena]]). This trait was carried over into the dub [[BritishStuffiness by giving her a British accent]], and casting Creator/CaitlinGlass to play her.
27	* The gynoid Dorothy from ''Anime/TheBigO'' speaks in a level electronic grate - although peculiarly, instead of making her seem detached or dispassionate, it transforms her into a snickeringly incisive DeadpanSnarker.
28	** The hero Roger has just literally kicked her into the middle of a crossfire - she emerges with her shell sooty, her clothes tattered, and her frazzled hair sticking out every which way. Her comment? "You're a louse, Roger Smith.".
29	* ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 2nd As]]'' has [=NachtWal=], the [[ArtifactOfDoom The Book of Darkness]]' malfunctioning automatic defense system that speaks in GratuitousGerman with a calm, mechanical monotone [[spoiler:as it terminates the Wolkenritter, [[BreakTheCutie breaks Hayate's mind]], possesses her body, and starts destroying the world]].
30	* Soundwave of ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' rocks the monotone like [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers his original counterpart]], but he remixes it with some phat JiveTurkey.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
34	* ''Animation/BreadBarbershop'': The eponymous automaton in "Robot Wilk" speaks in a monotone.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Comic Books]]
38	* The Vision in the comics is consistently described as having a flat, monotonous voice, which creates an UncannyValley, as his facial expressions and body language can be quite emotive, and he does experience emotion (most famously, [[MyEyesAreLeaking turning away so the Avengers won't see him crying when they offer him membership]]).
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Fan Works]]
42	* In ''Fanfic/DoubleAgentVader'', Kadee the medic drone speaks in an emotionless monotone, because her builders never thought to give her anything else. Anakin offers to give her a better vocoder after he liberates her, but she decides that as long as she's staying under cover as an ordinary droid she'll stick with the monotone to reduce the chances of attracting suspicion. It's noted that she gets pretty good at being a DeadpanSnarker.
43	* In ''Fanfic/TheWitchOfTheEverfree'', Sunset enchants her journal to recite any messages Twilight writes to it, but she doesn't know sufficiently advanced illusion magic to get an actual voice link going, so instead it recites the text in her own voice with a completely deadpan tone.
44	** She updates it to use Twilight's voice after they meet in person, but never gets around to fixing the tone.
45	* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', [[ArtificialIntelligence K.E.L.E.X.]] speaks in flat, electronic monotone that is conveyed through all-caps and a complete lack of contractions, which don't exist in Kryptonese.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
49	* The computer from ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster''.
50	* The voice that all of Syndrome's machines use in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'', at one point serving as the "automated captain" for the plane Mr. Incredible takes on his second mission.
51	* Auto the autopilot from ''WesternAnimation/WallE'', itself an {{Expy}} of HAL-9000.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
55	* HAL 9000 of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' always talks in a near-monotone with just enough inflection to put it in the UncannyValley. Towards the end of the movie, when Dave is essentially lobotomizing him, HAL goes from trying to reason with Dave to pleading for his life, stopping only when he reverted to factory settings and began singing a rendition of "Daisy." All in the same calm, polite voice.
56	-->'''Dave:''' Open the pod bay doors, Hal.\
57	'''HAL 9000:''' I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
58	* The ''Film/BillionDollarBrain'' speaks down phone lines to the various protagonists in a monotone with every word punctuated.
59	-->'''Brain:''' Is-that-Palmer-private-detective-of-London-speaking-Conform?
60	* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' films:
61	** ''Film/TheTerminator'': The Terminator always speaks like this, even when mimicking someone else's voice.
62	** ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'': It is revealed that the longer the T-800 spends in contact with humans, the more human he will come to act. But he still speaks in a flat monotone. The T-1000, on the other hand, is shown to be able to mimic vocal inflection, it just doesn't do it unless it's necessary.
63	* The agents from ''Film/TheMatrix'' all talk like this, even while in the midst of a gunfight.
64	* The Ilia-probe from ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' spoke like this.
65	* The battle droids from ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''.
66	* Proteus IV in ''Film/DemonSeed'', provided by an uncredited Robert Vaughn.
67	* VIKI from ''Film/IRobot'', in contrast to Sonny's speech, which is between this and a genuine emotional voice.
68	* ARIA in ''Film/EagleEye''.
69	* "Max", from ''Film/FlightOfTheNavigator''. At least, until it downloaded information from David's brain and accidentally took in some of his personality and started to sound like a sci-fi [[Creator/PaulReubens Pee-Wee Herman]]...
70	* EDI, the rogue plane of ''Film/{{Stealth}}'', is particularly cruel when says "Goodbye, Henry" to Jamie Foxx, one second before jamming him and his plane against a cliff.
71	* The titular MasterComputer from the 1970s film ''Film/ColossusTheForbinProject'':
72	-->''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RdHuCyjqKw This is the voice of COLOSSUS...]]''
73	* The [=WOPR=] supercomputer ("Joshua") from ''Film/WarGames''. Somewhat justified, because WOPR isn't really "talking", it's simply printing text which is run though a fairly simple text-to-speech synthesizer on the protagonist's home computer. The voice was provided by Falken's actor John Wood, who recorded his dialogue word-for-word in reverse to give it a flat affect, e.g. "Shall we play a game?" was recorded as "game? a... play... we... Shall"
74	* GERTY from ''Film/{{Moon}}'' isn't monotone, but speaks in a rigidly pleasant and soothing tone.
75	* The calm monotone of David from ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' just serves to make his semi-sarcastic one-liners all the more cutting.
76	* Vision and Ultron from ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' both subvert this, in different ways. As opposed to his comic book monotone, Vision in the film features the mellifluous British tones of the Jarvis A.I., as voiced by Paul Bettany. Ultron's voice has a synthesized-sounding buzz and metallic undertones, but he has a full range of tone and inflection underneath that buzz and distortion.
77	* In ''Film/HotBot'', the Hot Bots speak in a monotone with stiff speech patterns as well as a clearly synthetic voice. Bardot's voice become more human as she breaks free from her programming and develops her own personality.
78	* In ''Film/DarkStar'', the female computer's sexy but creepily monotone voice during emergency situations.
79
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Literature]]
83	* [[AIIsACrapshoot AM]], the genocidal supercomputer in Creator/HarlanEllison's short story "Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream", is explicitly described as being very polite when it delivers this charming message to its captive humans:
84	--> "HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT FOR YOU. HATE. HATE."
85	* The Toralii in ''Literature/{{Lacuna}}'' are physically unable to speak English and vice versa, so when they want to talk to the Humans they use a translator program that sounds like this.
86	* HEX, the University thinking machine in the ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'', ++talks like this++And his speeches follow this orthographic convention++This is based on early computer print-outs to indicate that he is printing his responses, rather than speaking them++However, when HEX gets an actual voice, he still uses (++) as punctuation to indicate a full stop++
87	* In ''Literature/TheTriliskRuins'', [[StarfishAlien Shiny's species]] doesn't naturally use sound to communicate, and his first successful attempt to communicate with humans involves making one of his personal drones vibrate against the deck to produce sound waves. When he figures out how to talk directly via BrainComputerInterface, the link conveys his words a deep suave voice, but Telisa eventually tells him that she just can't associate the new voice with him and asks him to simulate the old buzzing drone-voice instead.
88	* "Literature/AnEndOfSpinach", by Creator/StanDyer, has two kids talking with a machine. The text of the computer is displayed (on the main screen) and spoken aloud, using CapsLock to indicate an emotionless voice.
89	* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
90	** "Literature/CatchThatRabbit":
91	*** The DV-5 model robot is designed with an "excellent" diaphragm that allows him to use a wider range of inflections and tones. This is in contrast to earlier models who speak with "metallic flatness".
92	*** The subsidiary units to DV-5 are not given the same diaphragm and programming for inflection. When Powell and Donovan interview a "finger", its answers are given by rote, without enthusiasm or interest.
93	** "Literature/{{Reason}}": [[RobotNames QT-1]] has "the cold timbre inseparable from a metallic diaphragm". His laughter has zero inflection, and is as monotone as a metronome. However, his voice displays multiple levels of inflection, growing [[TinMan angry or compassionate]], depending on the situation.
94	* ''Literature/PrincessesOfThePizzaParlor'': From ''Princesses on the Lonely Isle'', Soledad, a magical creation that's basically a robot, has a voice that's described as "even-toned and colorless".
95	* ''Literature/TheQuestForSaintAquin'', a 1951 short story by Creator/AnthonyBoucher. For his quest, the priest is riding an artificially-intelligent [[MechanicalHorse robass]] that talks like this, to the exasperation of its rider as the lack of inflection gives the robass a default SarcasmMode and during one long monologue threatens to put the priest to sleep.
96	-->Somewhere in the recess of his somnolent mind Thomas uttered the names, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!” Gradually through these recesses began to filter a realization that an absolutely uninflected monotone is admirably adapted to hypnotic purposes.
97	* Shellpeople in ''Literature/TheShipWho'' are [[ManInTheMachine stunted humans on life support]] and unable to open their mouths or breathe normally. They use their throats and diaphragms while speaking but speech is mediated by use of speakers. Young shellpeople tend to speak in a pleasant monotone, and are more likely to pretend to be machines (and they are [[WetwareCPU installed like AI cores]] into larger systems). Given time around "softshells" or regular humans, they pick up more human modes of speech, and some even take courses ahead of time to learn to convey emotion with their voices alone. A stressed and multitasking Simeon, in ''The City Who Fought'', temporarily speaks more robotically than usual as he can't dedicate as much attention to [[SpaceshipGirl seeming personable]] at the moment.
98	* ''Literature/TheStarloreLegacy'': Rivet and the other androids (as well as other miscellaneous artificial intelligences) all speak in monotones.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
102	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
103	** In the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E5TheRobotsOfDeath The Robots of Death]]", the eponymous robots speak with no inflection. More often than not, all the robots and computers tend to do this.
104	** The modern Cybermen, not including their [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet original incarnations]] from TheSixties, speak in a constant and unchanging monotone. That's the [[BodyHorror least freaky]] thing about them.
105	** The Daleks avert this. There are some instances where they talk in a monotone voice, but most of the time they simply shout in xenophobic rage. "EXTERMINATE!"
106	* In Gene Roddenberry's failed pilot ''Questor'', the titular android (played by Robert Foxworth) spoke like this.
107	* Cameron, from ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', uses a Machine Monotone in general. The absence of the MachineMonotone we're used to is what made the scene where she recites, not only word for word but inflection for inflection, a "classmate's" emotional bathroom rant for the principal creepy.
108	** Similarly, in the second season premiere, the steady shift from Cameron's Creepy Monotone to her desperate, terrified pleas to John to a screaming declaration that she ''loves'' him while he's trying to take out her chip makes for a chillingly awesome scene.
109	** And in the episode "Allison from Palmdale", the use of the Creepy Monotone and its absence makes an already chilling episode that much creepier.
110	* ''Series/TheBionicWoman'' (1970s) episode "Doomsday is Tomorrow". The [[strike:HAL 9000]] ALEX 7000 computer that's trying to kill Jaime has a voice like this.
111	* ''Series/{{Star Trek\|The Original Series}}'':
112	** The androids in the episode "Mudd's Planet" all spoke in a constant monotone.
113	** In the episode "The Changeling", a mind meld with the titular probe goes wrong, sending Spock into this mode (fortunately, only temporary).
114	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has had at least two monotone androids:
115	** The first was the android "Ted". He keeps it up even with half his face missing during his fight with Buffy.
116	** The other was April, an android created by Warren Meers in a fifth-season episode. Xander and Anya even remark that her strangely even and polite monotone, while odd, is a turn on to some guys. Considering her original purpose in being built it was probably intentional.
117	** The Buffybot has an even "Creepy Perkiness" manner of speaking.
118	* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
119	** Although they don't exactly sound like it, the Borg Collective technically speaks in a monotone, albeit a [[VoiceOfTheLegion loud, reverberating]] one. Certainly, their insistence that everything you throw at them is "irrelevant" fits this trope to a T - and they have the ability to back it up. Locutus' speech patterns sound closer to a traditional Creepy Monotone, but he slipped some inflection in there amid the creepy disjointedness. The Borg Queen threw the whole idea out the window.
120	** Locutus (a hybrid of types 2 and 3) was specifically intended by the Borg to facilitate "relations" between themselves and the bothersome humans who kept resisting. His inflected speech and referring to Riker as "number one" were poor attempts to put the humans at ease, most likely. Of course, this was even ''more'' horrible than if he'd spoken like the other brain-dead, soulless drones.
121	** The main computer of the ''Enterprise''-D is less obviously mechanical-sounding than on the original series, but is still a very brisk, businesslike tone.
122	** In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Living Witness", an alien historical holo-sim depicts ''Voyager's'' doctor as an emotionless killer android with a CreepyMonotone. They had no idea that he's actually a hologram, a LargeHam, and a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
123	* Vicki on ''Series/SmallWonder'' is a comedic example, though she also did natural intonations from time to time.
124	* Marvin the Paranoid Android, in the Live Action TV adaptation of the ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' series talks in such way.
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:Music]]
128	* The song "Fitter Happier" from ''Music/OKComputer'' by Music/{{Radiohead}} delivers this in the way [[SyntheticVoiceActor only a machine can]].
129	* "The Robots" from ''Music/TheManMachine'' by Music/{{Kraftwerk}} had this, just all of the tracks on ''Music/ComputerWorld''.
130	* Technical death metallers Music/TheFaceless use this to effect in their ''Planetary Duality'' album.
131	* "Satisfaction" by Music/BennyBenassi, though as it's a house or dance song it's limited to a chorus. There is a "male" and a "female" voice though.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Pinball]]
135	* ''[[Pinball/PinBot Pin*Bot]]'' delivers all of his lines in a robotic monotone.
136	** Played with in ''Pinball/TheMachineBrideOfPinbot''; while Pin*Bot himself still has his robotic monotone voice, the Bride speaks with a clear human voice.
137	** This scenario is repeated in the third game in the series, ''Pinball/JackBot''.
138	* The titular character from ''Pinball/BlackKnight'' speaks like this.
139	* Unintentionally done in ''Pinball/EightBall Champ,'' as the voice clips that were ''meant'' to sound human ended up like this instead.
140	* Played with in ''Pinball/TwilightZone''; during the game, a robot warns, "Don't touch the door!" At the start of multiball, the same quote plays, getting higher and higher pitched every time.
141	* ''Pinball/{{Gorgar}}'' combines this with YouNoTakeCandle.
142	* Mission Control in ''Pinball/{{Flight 2000}}'' talks like this.
143	** Along with Mission Control in ''Pinball/SpaceShuttle''.
144	* The voice in ''Pinball/BlackHole'' also speaks like this.
145	* Done in Creator/{{Bally}}'s ''Pinball/{{Centaur}}'', usually to taunt the player.
146	-->'''Centaur:''' "Bad move, human."
147	* Used by the Devil in ''Pinball/DevilsDare'' to give game directions.
148	* One of the voices for Mission Control in ''VideoGame/ThreeDUltraPinball'' is a female monotone.
149	* Used in ''Pinball/{{Firepower}}'', Williams' second game with speech.
150	* ''Pinball/{{Spectrum}}'' combines this with VocalDissonance, giving the female "Computor" a distinctly masculine voice.
151	* The KillerRobot of ''Pinball/{{Robot}}'' speaks in a distinctively digital monotonic voice.
152	* ''Pinball/{{Embryon}}'' speaks in a clinically monotonic male voice.
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
156	* ''Series/CaptainScarletAndTheMysterons'': Lunarville 7's main computer, Speech Intelligence Decoder (SID) that identifies humans via recognition disks.
157	[[/folder]]
158
159	[[folder:Radio]]
160	* Stories on ''Radio/WaitWaitDontTellMe'' involving robots (robots being "laid off" in Japan, a robot taught to pair socks, etc.) often invoke this trope at some point, usually with host Peter Sagal or one of the panelists giving a monotone "What is love?" or the like. Brian Babylon once chided Peter for this, suggesting that it was no longer politically correct to make robot voices sound that way.
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
164	* The ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' rulebook advises the GM to use such a voice for The Computer (among a few other creepy options). Most of the time, The Computer is very polite - [[DissonantSerenity even when]] he's ordering a Troubleshooter to visit the nearest suicide booth or charge the Mutant Commie Traitor barricade [[WithThisHerring armed only with a can of Bouncy Bubble Beverage]]. To be fair, in that last case, [[MadeOfExplodium you aren't completely unarmed]].
165	* Some members of the Adeptus Mechanicus are given this trait in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', due to their all-encompassing cybernetics. (And at the other extreme you get the ones in ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'', who are {{Large Ham}}s.) Necrons are even less emotive...those who can speak, anyway.
166	[[/folder]]
167
168	[[folder:Video Games]]
169	* [=GLaDOS=] in ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' is an unfeeling and sadistic A.I. who frequently speaks with a monotonous and emotionless voice as she subjects the protagonist Chell to increasingly more dangerous situations; her pitch also changes regularly, as every syllable is spoken inhumanly flat and detached, not flowing into one another. This is because her speech patterns were done by running the character's lines through a text To Speech software, then having the voice actress model her delivery on that (with a dash of emotion for flavor) to replicate the unnaturalness in the inflection of artificial voices. This changes as the narrative progresses and [=GLaDOS=] becomes more disjointed, and when Chell destroys her morality core, her previously clinical, robotic monotone shifts to a more organic (some might even say ''sultry'') monotone.
170	-->''"Good news. I figured out what that thing you just incinerated did. It was a [[MoralityChip morality core]] they installed after I flooded the Enrichment Center with a deadly neuro''tox''in to make me stop flooding the Enrichment Center with a deadly neuro''tox''in. So get comfortable while I warm up the neurotoxin emitters..."''
171	** Downplayed in ''Portal 2'' during her VillainousBreakdown just before [[spoiler: the core transfer takes place]]. For the rest of the game, she alternates between her "normal" monotone and actually showing some emotion; it's actually pretty amusing hearing [=GLaDOS=] freak out during the Aperture Science bits.
172	* The Combine Overwatch from ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' is another example; "she" may be an AI, although it is more likely she is just the alien equivalent of a tech support answering machine.
173	** She ends up [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvYGSL0uZok sounding more like]] [=GLaDOS=] for ''[=HL2=] Episode Two'' because they share [[Creator/EllenMcLain the same voice actress]].
174	** Doubly creepy because the Overwatch Dispatcher refers to Overwatch assets and objectives with mostly medically-inspired jargon: turrets are "sterilizers", soldiers are "protection teams", and the order to isolate and kill intruders is "Clamp. Expunge. Sterilize."
175	** ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' has a similar PA system in Black Mesa (usually given the name VOX to distinguish it from the PA system heard during the tram ride). It was probably meant to be a text-to-speech system, but probably due to technical reasons, the game splices together a dictionary of pre-recorded words, similar to how ''VideoGame/OperationFlashpoint'' worked.
176	* ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' completely averts the trope with SHODAN, who is scarily passionate for an AI at times, especially when something doesn't work out like it should -- or when it does.
177	** XERXES in part 2 plays it straight, however. Turns into CreepyMonotone once he starts spouting stuff like "Glory to the flesh. Glory to [[TheVirus the Many]]."
178	** The generic computer voice in the first game also plays it straight, sounding like a standard text-to-speech system throughout the entire game, regardless of anything SHODAN is doing.
179	* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' uses this trope to its full extent, partly because it used so many famous examples as inspiration, such as SHODAN, HAL, Agent Smith and Project 2501.
180	--> '''Icarus:''' ''(calmly)'' Your systems were very cooperative. Upload complete.
181	** Daedalus speaks in a monotone because he uses a voice-filter to avoid anyone detecting that he is, in fact, an AI and not just a rather well written interactive operating system. Icarus doesn't speak in a monotone, but every single sentence is pure hate run through a voice synthesizer, and includes such gems as the above while presumably [[MindRape installing a rootkit your brain]]. Helios uses the the more HAL-esque flat voice, coupled with irregular voice patterns.
182	* KOS-MOS in ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' speaks monotone, although her evil counterpart [[AIIsACrapshoot TELOS]] speaks normally in ''Xenosaga III''.
183	* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
184	** In ''VideoGame/Persona3'' and [[VideoGame/Persona3Reload its remake]], when SEES first comes across [[RobotGirl Aigis]], she speaks in a very dull monotone. Throughout the game, though, as she learns more about what it means to be a human being, she gradually starts to speak more fluidly and naturally: by the time she re-appears in ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'', her speech, while still slightly stilted, sounds very human-like, with Mitsuru commenting that Aigis sometimes intentionally puts on the "robot act" when she wants to voice her opinion on something.
185	** In ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' and ''[[VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax Ultimax]]'', Aigis' "sister unit", Labrys, averts this trope completely, speaking very fluidly (albeit with a thick Kansai/[[BrooklynRage Brooklyn]] accent, as Labrys and the other prototype units are based on an actual human girl).
186	** ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'': Sophia, a sentient AI the Phantom Thieves meet in the game, speaks in similarly monotone way, though it's downplayed by Sophia being able to provide inflections in her voice. Her deliveries are still somewhat stilted and flat, like the kind of programmed voice you'd hear coming from a home assistant or from a smartphone's voice command function. [[spoiler:As Sophia grows to become a better companion to humanity, she eventually grows out of this as she gains her own ego and heart, speaking much more human-like when she awakens to her true Persona]].
187	* ''VideoGame/Halo3'': "This is UNSC AI Serial Number CTN-4169. I am a monument to all your sins." This shows just how badly Cortana is being {{Mind Rape}}d by the Gravemind.
188	* HK-50/47 from both ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' games. "Mocking Query: Coorta? Coorta? Are you dead yet?"
189	** Actually, only the prefixes seemed to be delivered in monotone. The rest was no different from any other speaking droid in ''Franchise/StarWars'', especially HK-47's clearly audible annoyance at not being allowed to shoot everything in sight and having to use that disgusting word "master".
190	* Played with in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series with the synthetic characters.
191	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNjLnnjguQk Legion]] in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' is probably the straightest example, and even then it is subverted on several occasions as the character shows some very organic-like quirks and attachments, and its voice reflects that.
192	** The voice of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iZyPamkEUs Sovereign]] in the first game is also somewhat monotone, but it's not a "flat", emotionless monotone, but a menacing one. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhUM8v3dD3I Reaper destroyer]] in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' also speaks with a similar tone.
193	** Averted with other synthetic characters, most notably EDI, who can be playful, humorous, or even caring (though still with a little touch of deadpan), and Harbinger, who is a LargeHam.
194	* ''Franchise/BlazBlue'''s RobotGirl Nu-13 speaks in a creepy monotone, [[{{Yandere}} except around Ragna]]. In Noel's ending [[spoiler:Noel [[LossOfIdentity loses her identity]] and begins speaking in the same monotone]].
195	* ''VideoGame/BrawlStars'':
196	** Rico is the only robot character to talk like this, which belies the fact that he, like most robots in the game, [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots has a personality]]. Even his laugh is a monotone "ha ha ha" with little emotion. He humorously has to [[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry say his feelings out loud]] for them to come across.
197	--->SADNESS.
198	** Sprout is technically just a sentient plant operating a MiniMecha, but it can only communicate via the machine's voice synthesizer, which comes out as monotone RoboSpeak and ironically seems to have less personality than most of the game's actual robots.
199	* The voice on the intercom in the second and third ''VideoGame/{{Penumbra}}'' games sounds like this. At first, it seems like a typical automated announcement device, but by the third game, it turns out to have an awareness and personality. However, the usual characterization is subverted--it's not evil, and judging by its words it can feel horror and loneliness. And its emotional quotes [[MindScrew may not be real in the first place, given when you start hearing it speak as such.]]
200	* Megaman Juno in ''VideoGame/MegamanLegends'' speaks in a very polite, almost whispering voice about wiping out an entire civilization with a satellite strike. It's also worth noting that he initiates these cataclysmic events with a warm and friendly [[AffablyEvil smile]] on his face.
201	* The arcade game ''VideoGame/{{Berzerk}}'' may be the UrExample in video games. Not technically a ''mono''tone since there were at least two distinct pitches, though each line only used one of the two. The clearest example was after the player died:
202	-->'''Lower pitch:''' Got the humanoid
203	-->'''Higher pitch:''' Got the intruder
204	* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', findings voids in the Animus' software will drop you into a set of puzzles narrated by an emotionless female voice...which becomes extra creepy when the voice begins to speak as though it's lost and alone, wandering through endless darkness. [[spoiler: This is because Subject 16 can only speak in a machine voice once he's [[BrainUploading uploaded]] ''himself'' [[MindScrew into the Animus]] (until he loads his real one).]]
205	* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'' has Fleet Command. Even when [[spoiler:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChRWSpodc3A their entire homeworld is annihilated]]]], half-human, half-machine Fleet Command still maintains her composed speech.
206	** Although the slight inflection of surprise in her voice when the first attackers arrive is obviously intended to show that there's still a person behind the voice.
207	* If you equip the Soldier with the Tin Soldier set (a cardboard box mask, shoes, and pair of ventilation pipes) during certain times of the year in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', all of his combat voices will be replaced with robot-themed voices delivered in this fashion.
208	** Taken to its logical conclusion [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtzVlhic43Y when these lines are said by his robot self.]]
209	* Monita, TheHost of ''VideoGame/NintendoLand'', speaks like this.
210	* Out of all the robots in ''VideoGame/Primordia2012'', only [[TheDragon Scraper]] '''[[BoldInflation talks like this]]'''.
211	* Midway's ''VideoGame/{{Gorf}}'' and ''VideoGame/WizardOfWor'' are two other early "talking" video games, which also have a machine monotone (in fact, they both feature the exact same one).
212	* ''[[VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown XCOM: Enemy Within]]'': The MEC troopers are soldiers who sacrificed their limbs for Meld-powered ones, so they can safely pilot giant [[PoweredArmor suits of power armor]] in combat. While the in-game descriptions state that the MEC troopers have amputated their limbs, their CreepyMonotone voices and [[RoboSpeak strangely formal speech patterns]] make you wonder if they sacrificed [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul more than just their arms and legs.]]
213	* The robots in the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series, especially the Sentry Bots.
214	* ''VideoGame/LearningVoyage: Sand Trapped!'' has a game called "Robomatic". You solve math problems to add pieces to a robot. Each randomly determined feature is read aloud by a computer that talks like this. Also, one of the features you can get is "Monotone Vocal Affectation".
215	* ''VideoGame/TheTuringTest'': In the ending where [[spoiler:TOM allows Ava and Sarah to disconnect it, TOM keeps its usual calm tone even while saying it's afraid to die.]]
216	* ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'': Although the game lacks voice acting, it's implied that the Glitch prefix their sentences with emotional descriptors because they can't vocalize them properly. Additionally, the Glitch aren't aware that they do this, as revealed when Hiraki Corale tried to emulate it without success. Evidently, to both a Glitch speaker and any Glitch listeners, the prefix is filtered out and they perceive the sentence as though spoken with the full emotional content.
217	* Monodam of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'', the only Monokub who is outwardly robotic in appearance, TALKS-LIKE-THIS. Well, [[TheQuietOne once he finally opens up, anyway]].
218	* Vega, the artificial intelligence in charge of the UAC's Mars Base in ''VideoGame/{{Doom 2016}}'', always speaks in a calm, monotone voice with little inflection, even when [[spoiler: instructing the Doom Slayer on how to destroy it at the end of the end of the game.]] Samuel Hayden - a former human [[BrainUploading who had part of his brain implanted into a robot body]] is a more downplayed example. While he does inflect, and the player can even hear his barely-restrained frustration towards the Doom Slayer on occasion, he never raises his voice and remains composed throughout.
219	* ''VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge'': The Children of Karras, his mechanical cohorts, will perform their duties while muttering pre-recorded litanies of prayers to their 'father' in a creepy machine monotone.
220	* ''VisualNovel/ShaleHillSecrets'': The protagonist uses a text-to-speech app due to having lost his voice in high school, with several characters noting the monotone nature makes it hard to gauge his emotions.
221	* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'': Pluto the Tormentor, to the point that it sounds like it's been voiced by a Text To Speech software. Hilariously, once you defeat it, its Machine Monotone is replaced by what sounds halfway between a malfunctioning sound card and ''dubstep'' (with a bit of YoutubePoop too).
222	-->'''Pluto:''' I AM... A TOOL OF THE LORD... DES''''' TROY'''''ING... ME-E-E-E-E-E... IS... BLASPHEMY... [=DiIiIE... DiiIiIiIieEe... DDDddDdDiIiIIeEe...=]
223	* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'' has a very funny spin on this with [[spoiler:Dr. Letz Shake]], the brain of [[BaitAndSwitchBoss a previously-unfought assassin from the previous game]] rebuilt into a SpiderTank that speaks in a form of this. When speaking, he keeps his elocution level and stoic while [[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry he verbally expresses his mood, intonation, and punctuation aloud]], creating a rather weird dissonance [[ColdHam given his voice is still oozing with gravitas.]]
224	-->''"ALL I DESIRE IS A DUEL WITH YOU. DESIRE LEVEL: ONE-HUNDRED PERCENT. REVENGE ON PRIMARY TARGET WAS PREVIOUSLY ACCOMPLISHED.'' '''''[[DeadGuyOnDisplay BEHOLD!]]''''' ''[[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud SAID DRAMATICALLY]]."''
225	[[/folder]]
226
227	%%[[folder:Webcomics]]
228	%%* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' shows us [[http://xkcd.com/375/ what happens when two of these team up]].
229	%%* ''WebComic/SkinHorse'': "Greetings. We are here to destroy you. First, may we destroy you a beverage of some sort?"
230	%%[[/folder]]
231
232	[[folder:Web Original]]
233	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-z2xREDYkk This]] is a combination of this trope and AIIsACrapshoot.
234	* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', the supervillain Bakuda has a gas mask that does this to her voice.
235	* ''WebVideo/DragonBallAbridged'' gives KillerRobot Android 19 one of these by having a computer text-to-speech program voice him.
236	* [[ArtificialIntelligence Eudocia]] from ''Literature/{{Brennus}}'' speaks like this. However, [[GadgeteerGenius Polymnia]] manages to avert it despite using a voice synthesizer -- she custom-built her own, using her enhanced knowledge of sonics to make it sound very close to a real human voice.
237	* Charlie the tutorial NPC from ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'' falls into this when telling a player how long they're been playing before returning to his normal voice.
238	* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqF0AurSzYc One-Note Song]]'' features [[VideoGame/RoboticOperatingBuddy R.O.B.]] determining to sing a song despite his voice falling firmly under this trope. Said song is in fact ''about'' how he can only sing one note, but can still manage to make the song sound dynamic by focusing on rhythmic beats in place of note changes. His effort successfully impresses the initially skeptical Mr. Game & Watch, who joins in the second half to provide background harmony.
239	-->''Any other pitch\
240	Would make me glitch\
241	My programming says to stay on F.\
242	My specs and stats\
243	Ignore sharps and flats\
244	And I never change keys or clefs.\
245	[[VideoGame/WarioWare Some other bots]] are programmed in the key of C#\
246	Their {{tonality}} won't make them crash.\
247	With vibrato they arpeggiate\
248	And easily recalibrate\
249	[[TakeThat Yet they are not fighters in]] [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Smash]].''
250	[[/folder]]
251
252	[[folder:Western Animation]]
253	* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' where a HAL 9000-like spaceship talks like HAL at first until they change the voice to a cheerful girl's voice. It's still creepy when he/she/it becomes obsessed with Bender.
254	** Another episode features a rather fearsome robot nanny that shouts in a seemingly angry monotone, "Sleep, little dumpling! I have replaced your mother!" Leela says, "Aww!"
255	* Creator/{{Toonami}}: TOM, the host, speaks this way during the block's run on Creator/KidsWB.
256	* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'':
257	** Series: ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers''. Example: Soundwave. Behavior: Always uses monotone. HAL 9000 voice synthesizer: Comparatively flexible. Outcome: [[EnsembleDarkhorse Enduring fame and popularity]].
258	*** This trope has become such an integral part of Soundwave that if a new incarnation removes other parts iconic to the character (such as the color scheme, general design, role in the series, deployer abilities, and sound powers), fans will generally judge all other Soundwave depictions based on his voice patterns. A key example is in the Netflix ''War for Cybertron Trilogy'' series, where one of the many complaints is the quality of Soundwave's voice modulation, which sounded too light and artificial for the character.
259	** Omega Supreme talks like this because he was attacked by a MirrorMoralityMachine long ago. He was able to break free before it had finished reprogramming him, but it left him nearly emotionless. He ''can'' talk "like a normal Autobot," but it seems to take some effort. Prime expresses the hope that Omega may eventually recover his ability to feel, and Omega answers, "Possibility: growing."
260	** Subverted by Deceptitran (in the episode "Sea Change"), a Decepticon computer that is expressly ''proven'' to be nonsentient, but whose voice sounds like it's on the verge of hysteria.
261	** The Decepticon Shockwave is described as an evil version of [[Franchise/StarTrek Mr. Spock]], though that mostly refers to the comic-book version, who is every bit as fond of the word 'logic' as the Vulcans. However, he does speak in a very emotionless manner, with a bit of rasp as well. The ''Animated'' version talks the same way, and has the same actor, but [[spoiler: in his disguise as Longarm]], he talks much more normally and even has a different accent.
262	** The Autobots' computers Teletraan-1 and Teletraan-2 both have fairly inflectionless voices, although 1 always sounds like it's boldly announcing something, and 2 has a more soothing HAL-type voice.
263	** ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': None of the Transformers themselves, but their internal computers (which vocally communicate diagnostic data or warnings of significant damage), as well as the security systems of both factions' bases, communicate in emotionless monotones.
264	** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'':
265	*** ''Animated'' Soundwave speaks in complete sentences, which differentiates him from the original. His inflection remains flat and heavily synthesized. His sentences are clipped and precise. His voice remains a tinny monotone under all circumstances. He is Soundwave.
266	*** ''Animated'' Perceptor, who according to WordOfGod supposedly removed his personality to have more room for information storage. And he's one of the good guys. In fact, his synthesized voice is basically the same as Creator/StephenHawking.
267	* The Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse version of Brainiac, being an AI, is portrayed quite like HAL. He's voiced by Creator/CoreyBurton, who also voices both versions of [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Shockwave]].
268	* Ultron from ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' does this. As arrogant and psychotic as a machine he can get, his voice never really changes.
269	* The computer whom the Blockheads consult numerous times in the first movie of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gumby}}''. Midway, it starts changing tones for no apparent reason.
270	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBotsMaster'', all of the RM Corp's bots talk this way, thanks to the "Dr. Spaitso" program created by Creative Labs. (The company best known for its "Sound Blaster" line of PC sound cards.)
271	* {{Double Subverted\|Trope}} in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest''. Susan and Mary fit Dukey with a brainwashing collar that sways his will much more towards their whims than his own or Johnny's without taking it away completely. However, when he persists in desiring to sleep in their room rather than Johnny's, they fire an "Obey" override that forces their will over his, signified by... well, this trope.
272	* {{Subverted\|Trope}} in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', when Gumball calls technical support because he accidentally commanded Bobert to terminate him and ignore any new orders. He is immediately greeted by a monotonous voice that is assumed to be a machine. However, Gumball was wrong and he was indeed speaking with a real person:
273	-->'''Tech Support:''' No need to be rude, sir. If you did this job all day, you too would end up talking like a machine.
274	** Bobert himself, on the other hand, plays this trope entirely straight.
275	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': Being a literal BrainInAJar, The Brain speaks with a computerized Stephen Hawking-inspired voice.
276	[[/folder]]
277
278	[[folder:Real Life]]
279	* Watson, IBM's Jeopardy playing computer, sounded like this.
280	* Who could forget UsefulNotes/{{Microsoft\|Windows}} [[SyntheticVoiceActor Sam?]]
281	* Creator/StephenHawking. His synthesiser was actually quite antiquated (over thirty years old by the time of his death), yet he continued using it ''because'' the synthesiser's monotone was so universally associated with him and was, in effect, his actual voice as far as most everyone was concerned.
282	* The hacktivist group Anonymous use voice synthesizers to hide their identities.
283	* The iOS voice-command assistant Siri averts this, and can convey emotion in its voice. It's most notable when you [[WhatTheHellPlayer say something that causes Siri to sass you]], such as swearing at it. Or asking her to DivideByZero.
284	* The [[https://translate.google.com/ Google Translator]] in some languages.
285	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MachineMonotone