Robotboy / YMMV - TV Tropes

Adorkable: Tommy is a typical goody two-shoes boy with a geeky interest in robots, comic books and superheroes. Let's not forget how flustered he gets around Bambi.
Alternative Character Interpretation:
- "The Return of Robotgirl" and "The Old Switcharobot" imply that Protoboy wants Moshimo's approval, in his own twisted way.
  Protoboy: You always like Robotboy better than Protoboy! Now get vengeance!
- Is Tommy actually aware of Lola's crush on him? At times, his reaction to her being affectionate towards him range from being uncomfortable^note to even showing irritation^note, implying he doesn't return her feelings. Considering he already has a crush on Bambi, it can explain why he seems to be standoffish towards Lola's feelings for him.
- Just how much does Moshimo care about his creations? Kind as he is to Robotboy and Robotgirl, he’s somewhat implied to not have treated Protoboy well, and then there’s the whole Robotman fiasco…
Anvilicious: "Constantine Rising" isn't very subtle about the moral about letting your friends help you, by a landslide. Apparent by how Tommy is portrayed as oddly egotistical and cocky, not to mention how he had never shown any hesitance having his friends help him before or afterwards for that matter.
Base-Breaking Character:
- Gus. A few viewers enjoy him, while others... not so much. There is one side that finds him to be a pretty entertaining big fat Jerkass that is usually used for very crude comic relief. In other words he's basically the G-rated version of Eric Cartman. While others absolutely despise him for those same reasons, being a Creator's Pet, an annoying and unpleasant "friend" whom more often than not usually is the root cause of various problems in many of the episodes, with many wishing that Tommy, Robotboy and Lola would just stop associating with him and being his friend. Interestingly, the show itself does seem to cater to the latter sides. This is mainly due to Gus being the show's The Chewtoy, as he regularly gets humiliated and has the consequences of his reckless actions blow up on his face at the resolution of an episode.
- Robotman is either liked for being a cool one-time villain and an Evil Counterpart to Robotboy, or hated for his Jerkass attitude.
- Dwight Turnbull is in the same camp as Gus. Dwight is your typical idiot dad who clearly shows favoritism towards Tommy’s abusive brother Donnie. Either people laugh and are endeared by his Bumbling Dad behavior, or outright dislike him and see him as an abusive parent that they would rather see tied up and then have Debbie divorce him.
Badass Decay: In his first two appearances, Bjornbot was evenly matched with Robotboy, and even had his own super-activated mode. But beginning with season 2, he was weakened greatly, to the point that he never even superactivates and in "The Sleepover", was simply defeated by Robotboy burping on him then setting him on fire.
Best Known for the Fanservice: Ask anyone what they remember most fondly about the show and you usually get one of two answers: Tommy's mom, the P.E. teacher or even Mona Lethal.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: In "Journey to the Center of the Gus", there’s a random scene where Robotboy encounters a bunch of anthromorphic parasites which he briefly fights. They are never mentioned again.
Cargo Ship: The IT teacher from "Tween for a Day" seems way too attached to her work.
Catharsis Factor: “Donnie Turnbull’s Day Off” is pure schadenfreude plain and simple. For anyone who wants to see Donnie get punished for all the times he’s abused Tommy, this episode is for you.
Cult Classic: Even today, the show still has a sizable fanbase. It helps the show got slightly more popular years after it ended.
Draco in Leather Pants: Protoboy gets this from some fans, even outside of those who find him Unintentionally Sympathetic. Making him somewhat more nicer and empathic.
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Robotgirl. She's only in two episodes (though she would have appeared more if the show continued), but she gets a lot of fan art. You would expect from the sheer amount of talk she gets she would play a larger role in the series.
- Protoboy is also extremely popular to around the same level, though its more justifed since he appeared in 2 more episodes total than Robotgirl.
  - There is also a lot of fanwork among Protoboy's fanbase involving his unnamed "dear", who is often portrayed as a robot. Not bad for a character made presumably just for a one-off gag and Deus ex Machina.
- To a lesser extent then RG and PB, Robotman, though as stated above he's a Base-Breaking Character to some.
- Among the reoccurring villains who aren't Protoboy, Bjorn Bjornson and Bjornbot are probably the most popular.
- Felonious Hexx is the most popular villain introduced in season 2, possibly due to his entire existence being basically a Take That, Scrappy! towards Gus.
- Tommy's mom, Deb Turnbull, due to her Hartman Hips. There's a lot of pinup fanart of her online.
- Despite being only appearing twice, one being a cameo, Mona Lethal manages to be quite popular.
- Agent Kalashnikov, if only for one reason.
Friendly Fandoms:
- Several fans also like Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, another Cartoon Network show centred around a robot kid learning about humanity, to the point some ship the two titular protagonists with each other. There also doesn't appear to be that much Fandom Rivalry unlike below.
- When it isn't undergoing Fandom Rivalry, there's a pretty decent overlap between Nickelodeon's My Life as a Teenage Robot. Just like the above example, some fans also do ship Jenny and Robotboy together or at the very least, give the two a younger brother and older sister sibling relationship.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: This show is far more popular overseas than in its native France.
- The show seems to have a small but impressive cult following in Japan, considering its Moe titular character. Alongside clearly having taken great influence with Japanese media.
- This show still airs in Eastern Europe, and Germany and has a surprisingly high number of fans in North America and Asia.
Heartwarming Moments: "Zap, you're Old!" has Gus rescue Tommy from the hands of Donnie when the latter tries to beat up the former for using "his" water gun by turning the big jerk into a baby using Dr. Kamikazi's age-changing ray gun. Doubles as a Moment of Awesome.
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- "The Sleepover" had a Cyber Cyclops robot with a British accent. Sound familiar?
- Robotboy and Robotgirl's Super Activated modes reminds some people of Cure Marine and Cure Blossom, respectively from Heartcatch Precure.
Incest Yay Shipping:
- Robotboy/Robotgirl is pretty much Brother–Sister Incest, if we take in account the "robots with the same creator=siblings" rule. Its worth noting though that Robotgirl is never referred as "sister", only "friend", and Moshimo intended her to be a "companion" to Robotboy. Maybe the ship exists because Robotboy's previous crush was Mona Lethal...
- Tommy/Debbie also has a bit of a following.
It Was His Sled: While it was intended to be a surprise, practically everyone knows Protoboy is the villain of "The Return of Robotgirl". Even the offical synopsis of the episode doesn't bother to conceal it.
Jerkass Woobie: Protoboy may be a destructive maniac most of the time, but it’s implied (especially in “The Old Switcharobot”) that he’s got a lot of issues under the surface, such as an inferiority complex. Not to mention he was brainwashed at what’s implied to be a young age, as well as shown to have been tied up and gagged, hanging from the celling of a warehouse, when Kamikazi and Constantine came to kidnap him, which doesn’t exactly say good things about how Moshimo treated him, regardless of how violent he allegedly was.
Love to Hate:
- To an extent, Gus. The show wouldn't be much of a comedy without him.
- Protoboy is probably the most heinous villain in the show, but he is pretty popular with fans. Being one of, if not the most competent and serious villains helps his case.
Moe:
- Robotgirl is a sweet, innocent, adorable and playful little robot.
- Robotboy himself, too, given he and she are pretty much the same.
Moral Event Horizon: Quite a few of the villains (even the Laughably Evil ones) have crossed it)
- Kamikazi ordering a brainwashed Robotboy to kill Tommy in "Crying Time". What makes it even worse is that he cracks jokes during it.
  - He attempts to do this again in "Rowho?", but with the added bonus of Gus and Professor Moshimo.
- Bjorn lying to Robotboy (who he tricked into thinking he turned into a real boy) that Moshimo was going to turn him back into a robot, which leads to Robotboy attempting to outright murder him until Tommy told him the truth in the first "Runaway Robot".
- If Robotman didn’t cross it when he tells Robotboy that he isn’t wanted and makes him leave, he definitely does when he incidentally causes Gus and Lola to fall off him and refuses to save them from falling to their death.
- Affenkugel crosses it when he threatens to feed Tommy to crocodiles unless Robotboy deactivates in "Six Million Euro Man".
- Protoboy crosses it either when he gleefully (possibly) strangles Tommy with his shirt in "The Revenge of Protoboy" or later in the same episode when he tries to destroy a cruise ship and murder everyone on it.
- Even Donnie crossed it in "The Donnienator" at the very start of the episode when he’s throwing Tommy’s toys in a wood chipper and decides to try and toss Tommy, his own brother in without so much as a second thought!
- in "C.H.O.P", Lance Chestwax and S.U.B cross it when the former blows off his titular partner and lets the latter shoot at and badly damage him.
Nausea Fuel: Several, but one in "Donnie Turnbull's Day Off" stands out, Donnie blows coffee and boogers out of his nose into a teacup, and then Dwight drinks it!
Nightmare Fuel: Here.
Recurring Fanon Character: Protogirl is a common "female prototype robot" OC, almost universally appearing as Protoboy's "dear".
Robo Ship: Protoboy is implied to have a wife in "The Revenge of Protoboy". However, she becomes a case of What Happened to the Mouse?.
The Scrappy: You won't find that many fans of Brian/Brainy Yak. He's hated for his backstory which some felt retconned Moshimo's well-liked background in "Brother" and his bizarre and unfunny nature. Coming out of nowhere to defeat Ensemble Dark Horse Protoboy in his second and final appearance doesn't help his case.
Seasonal Rot: Season 2 (which in broadcast, was separated into seasons 3 and 4) where Bob Camp of Ren & Stimpy fame and Heath Kenny took over as director are considered weaker then the first and outright hated by some, for several reasons. Downgraded animation, a tone shift to a Denser and Wackier comedy show with few action elements (Bob Camp was more interested in comedy than action), considerably weaker writing, downgraded fight scenes, more gross-out humour and less superactivation (Robotboy only superactivates in 25 out of 52 segments). They do have their benefits though, such as the return of Robotgirl and Protoboy and there were several well-loved episodes.
They Copied It, So It Sucks!:
- The show has frequently been accused of copying My Life as a Teenage Robot, due to the fact that both shows revolve around a blue-colored robot trying to fit in among a human society while fending off antagonists that want to use them for world domination. However, as noted in both this and that show's YMMV page, this doesn't stop some from shipping their protagonists together and several people are fans of both shows.
- Some think Gus is supposed to be a rip-off of Eric Cartman due to his voice and attitude.
Take That, Scrappy!:
- Brainy Yak getting captured and taken away at the end of "The Old Switcharobot", (his final appearance) didn't have many people upset, especially Protoboy fans.
- One can also consider the many times Gus gets his comeuppance as this trope. To a lesser extent, Dwight too.
Toy Ship: Robotboy/Robotgirl, almost literally. Ditto Lola/Tommy and Bambi/Kurt.
Unintentionally Sympathetic: Protoboy to some. Despite all the terrible stuff he does, he’s been Brainwashed and Crazy, yet the heroes treat him as if he was fully in-control of himself and (asides from Robotboy originally) never consider trying to get him to reform. His constant deaths may also enlict this reaction.
Unnecessary Makeover: The redesigns, minor or major, of several characters in season 2 to several, especially Bjorn and Bjornbot. Even Jan himself stated he prefers the old designs for the former two, Donnie and Special Agent.
Vanilla Protagonist: There isn't much to Tommy other than "He's a nice guy", and "He's friends with Robotboy".
The Woobie:
- Robotboy just wants to be a real boy and have fun like his trio of human companions. Is that too much to ask for?
- Robotgirl, especially in "The Return of Robotgirl" where she had amnesia.
- In a sense, Consta ntine. Sure, he's a bad guy, but Kamikazi mistreats him very badly, and on some occasions he is shown to be nicer than his boss, such as "Teasebots". Also, in "Kamikaze Nightmare" and "Kamispazi" it's implied that he grew up in an orphanage. If that doesn't make you want to hug him, nothing will.
- Tommy too, especially in "I Want That Toy" and "Crying Time".
- Lola as well, considering she has to deal with Gus being a Jerkass and her very obvious crush on Tommy going unnoticed by him.

YMMV / Robotboy

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