Recap / Fanboy And Chum Chum S 1 E 9 I Fanbot

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Tropes

• An Aesop:
  • It’s important to study, even if you don’t feel like it.
  • What you choose to do might have unpleasant results.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Oz's robot is never seen again after this episode.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: As Oz and later Kyle pointed out, Fanboy should've put the robot's brain into his body so they would pass the test.
• Deadpan Snarker: Oz's robot is this to Fanboy's idea of switching brains.
• Foreshadowing:
  • When Kyle tests Fanboy on what 2+2 is, this causes him to stutter a little and temporary shut down. Later on, it's revealed with Fanboy's brain in the robot, everyone fails thanks to him.
  • While Fanbot helps everyone with the test, Kyle is the only kid he doesn't help, instead he does his own test. Later on, as everyone got 0s thanks to Fanbot, Kyle got a 12% as he didn't.
  • Fanboy/Fanbot claims the "Know Your Robot Body" book's reading probability is 0, which shows he doesn't actually read or understand the book while shredding it.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: Fanboy and Oz's robot switch brains.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • When Kyle insults Fanboy/Fanbot after he shuts down for "personal maintenance", you can see Chum Chum is clearly annoyed with what he's talking about.
  • During the test scene, Yo can be seen talking on her cell phone, Duke is playing a video game, and Nancy is well...sleeping.
• Idiot Ball: Fanboy is this - up to eleven. He can't even predict what 2 + 2 is.
• I, Noun: The episode title.
• Irony: Fanboy's still an idiot even after swapping brains with a robot, thus making everyone but Kyle fail the test.
• Meaningful Background Event: During the test scene when the camera shows an overhead shot of the class, Kyle is the only kid whose test is not being helped with, instead he is writing his own.
• Mundane Made Awesome: Fanboy attempting to study but keeps getting distracted.
• Never My Fault: The class get all angry at Fanbot for making them fail. This is after they saw that Fanbot wasn't actually a genius, but still allowed him to take their tests out of laziness despite having studied for it.
• No Ending: By the end of the episode, Chum Chum is too late to return Fanboy’s brain to him as Oz put the robot brain in his body and he launched himself on a rocket, leaving Chum Chum to put the brain in a toaster for the time being. By the next episode, Fanboy is back to normal.
• Noodle Incident: Oz mentions he once dealt with an angry mob during a shortage of nachos in '97.
• Only Sane Man: Kyle is the only kid who doesn’t agree with Fanbot’s purposes, and therefor is the only student whom Fanbot does not do the test for.
• Running Gag: "Robot claws!"
• Shout-Out:
  • The title is a reference to I, Robot.
  • "Oh, Mr. Roboto?"
  • The robot is also a collectible from a "1980's movie about nerds".
  • When the students turn on Fanbot, he attempts to fly away, only to land back with them seconds later. The same exact thing happens in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Bubble Buddy", where SpongeBob tries to escape from an angry mob with Bubble Buddy by floating away only to suddenly land back with them.
• Stating the Simple Solution: When Oz finds out Fanboy only swapped brains with the robot for a test, he asks him why they didn't just put the robot's brain into Fanboy's body instead (Kyle says the same thing when everyone fails the test later). Fanboy concludes if he did that, then he wouldn't have "robot claws". Unsurprisingly, when Oz put the robot brain into Fanboy's body for safe keeping, it causes Fanboy's body to become excessively smart and build a rocket ship which he flies away.
• Title Drop: Done when Fanbot gives a Rousing Speech in Oz Comix.
• Your Size May Vary: When Fanboy/Fanbot's head pops off and Chum Chum holds it, it is much smaller than usual.

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