- "Danger, Will Robinson."
- - Robot is the best character throughout Lost in Space
- - This is very much true, but Scarecrow takes a close 2nd
Robot is a friendly character on Netflix's Lost in Space. He develops a bond with Will Robinson, becoming his friend. He is an amalgam of shapeshifting alien metal and organic thought patterns and one of many alien Robots that comprise an entire species.
History[]
Past[]
Robot was built by another alien race, known as the Robot Builders, who all went extinct after SAR dropped an alien engine on their planet which acted as a bomb. Robot's full origin is unknown. It's also unknown what year he was built. What we do know, is that he was born on the Shattered planet at one of its cites. At some point in time he was friends with Scarecrow and when he crashed on Earth he was heartbroken. Robot later detected Scarecrow on the Resolute, so he took his ship and went to the Resolute to rescue him and get his engine.
First Appearance on Resolute[]
We first meet Robot on the ship, Resolute, where he is attacking humans.
After Will Robinson is separated from his father and wanders into the forest, he comes across Robot's ship, as well as Robot's lower half. Will climbs a tree to get away from the unknown creature (the lower half of Robot), only to find himself next to the upper half on the tree limb. Robot is initially hostile towards Will (with his face lights colored red), but soon seems to lose energy and is dying. A fire springs up all around Will and Robot. Without hope, Will uses a string saw to cut the limb, allowing the upper and lower halves of Robot to be reunited. Moments later a fully connected Robot climbs up the tree, takes Will into his arms and carries him to safety.
Once safely away, Robot and Will assess one another. Robot holds out his 3 fingered limb to Will and scans the boy. He then morphs into a humanoid shape, so as to not be as threatening toward Will. His face lights have also turned blue at this time indicating a more passive temperament.
Robot takes on a human-like appearance in an effort not to scare Will.
Saving Judy[]
Robot then appears at the top of the hill, walking down towards the sunken Jupiter 2 ship, where the Robinson family is frantically working on freeing Judy from the ice. John, initially assuming the Robot has hostile intent, holds a knife guarding his family. Will runs down exclaiming it is ok and the Robot will not hurt them. He then asks the Robot if he will help to free his trapped sister. The Robot holds his hands over the hole the family has dug and heats the surrounding ice (presumably with what were once hand lasers). Once fully melted, he reaches in and pulls Judy out, freeing her from the ice. Once the family is huddled together, hugging Judy, Will asks for another favor. He asks if the Robot can do something to keep them from freezing. Again, the Robot holds out his hands and keeps the Robinson family warm all night long (mentioned earlier, the temperature will be at least -60).
Helping the Robinsons[]
The following morning, Robot goes to the frozen ice and heating its body descends to the Jupiter 2. Working together, pumps are put in place and water levels lower throughout the ship. The Robot works to dry the top levels of the family's ship. At one point, John walks to Robot and questions what it is. Later, John and Maureen head off to look for survivors of other Jupiter ships. John, not wanting to leave the Robot on the ship only with his daughters, invites Will to join him and his mother. When Maureen questions this, John says,"You don't get one without the other." Maureen indicates that she trusts the Robot, because it saved both her son and daughter and is helping the family with the ship. She comments that these are behaviors which help to build trust.
While exploring, John hears a strange sound on the radio and Will tells him that he recognizes the sound from his time spent in the forest. The sound is coming from Robot's downed ship. Maureen implores her son to have the Robot lead them back to the ship despite John's reservations. Once at the ship, Maureen and John go inside, leaving Will and Robot outside. During this waiting period, Will finds a baseball in his backpack (apparently placed there by his dad) and teaches the Robot to play catch. It goes well until the ball rolls under a piece of metal. Struggling to get it, Will is assisted by the Robot, who presses on the metal arch to raise the other end. When he touches the metal, something happens. Robot's face lights turn from blue to red and as Will is also touching the metal, it seems to establish a psychic link between him and Robot. He is able to see through the Robot's eyes the attack on the Resolute and see Robot's involvement. This psychic link is probably the reason that Will is able to command Robot and also feels such a bond with him. At the same time, inside the ship, Maureen and John are presented with a map of the stars and learn that they are no longer in the Milky Way galaxy. When the Robot releases his touch of the metal, the map disappears and the psychic link is severed. Will is afraid of what he saw and runs away into the forest, with Robot following after him. Will struggles to reconcile the images he saw with his apparent friend and protector, but determines that Robot is no longer like that as he has no memory of the events before the two met. Will asks Robot to lift it's left hand, then his right hand, before asking him to turn around and walk forward (which would lead him off a cliff). Robot without hesitation complies, but Will stops him at the last moment, asking him to come back to him. As Robot does, he kneels in front of Will in a tender moment.
Will and the Robot share a tender moment after a psychic episode.
Robot and Will reunite with John and Maureen and tell them they were exploring the surrounding area. As the family begins the journey back, a hail storm of metal (or stone) begins. Robot lifts his arm above Will's head in an effort to keep him from getting hit. The family runs to a large rock that offers some cover. John and Maureen shield Will between them sharing a knowing glance, when Penny's radio signal finally reaches them. She tells them she cannot locate them due to the storm and Maureen tells her to look for the light. The Robot has positioned himself on the rock above the family and proceeds to emit a signal light from side to side. When Penny arrives in the Chariot, the family scrambles in and the Robot climbs onto the back of the Chariot, as he is too large to fit inside.
As they are returning to their ship, the family take a slight detour to rescue June Harris, after she has left Don West. Once the family and June arrive back safely, June recognizes Robot as the one who attacked the Resolute, but Will assures her that he is completely safe.
Turnabout[]
Will is eventually forced to admit the truth to his father, that he has learned that it was Robot who was responsible for the attack on the Resolute. Additionally, the other colonists of the 24th Mission learn of the Robot, prompting a difficult decision. John has Will create a memorial of stones for those lost in the attack. He then takes the Robot to the top of a cliff and has him walk off, disabling him.("Eulogy)"Dr. Smith," ever-resourceful and ever-manipulative, witnesses this scene and decides to claim Robot as her own. She rescues his mangled form and manages to recover him, then uses him to try to manipulate Maureen Robinson. ("Resurrection") Eventually, the Jupiter 2 is launched back into space after Maureen manages to escape, but Dr. Smith tries to use Robot against her and Will, when another of the alien robots attacks. Ultimately, however, Robot shows a true loyalty and friendship to Will, protecting him from the other Robot and allowing their escape, but the alien drive from Robot's species is activated, sending the Jupiter 2 into a realm unknown. ("Danger, Will Robinson")
Separate but connected[]
The Robinsons were stranded on a water planet. Although Will and Robot were apart the entire time, the two remained connected, Robot experienced visions of everything which happened to Will. He saw his life on the planet and the Robinsons, along with "Dr. Smith" and Don West. He watched from afar as they turned the Jupiter 2 into a sailing boat, which traversed the ocean of the planet in order to reach an electrical storm, which they used to recharge the vessel's batteries and escape from the planet. While on the planet, they discovered strange glyphs which matched those on Robot and his ship. ("Shipwrecked," "Precipice")
The Robinsons tracked a signal from the Resolute, which was in orbit around an amber planet. There, they discovered another robot named Scarecrow rampaging throughout the ship, but managed to contain him. Will Robinson then got a flash and realized that his own robot was on the planet below. ("Scarecrow")
With the help of one of the vessel's crew named Ben Adler and his mom Maureen, Will traveled to the planet to search for the Robot. He succeeded in finding him, but first they had to face off an attack by the SAR, Second Alien Robot. Will was overjoyed when he was finally reunited with his own Robot. ("Severed")
The Robot and Will, mourning the death of a horse
Due to the effects of a rust virus which was spreading on the planet, the group was forced to travel on horses, something which was definitely a new experience for the Robot. Upon first seeing one, he was startled, believing it to be a threat, but Will told him that they were actually friends and showed him one to calm one down when upset. He also explained the use a bit to Robot, explaining that it wouldn't hurt. He said that the horses were friends and the Robot agreed "Friend, Will Robinson."
As they continued their journey, they came across a herd of bison-like animals, which forced them stop and find an alternate route. Will gave Robot an apple and had him feed it to the horse in order to bond. The Robot then tried to remove the horse's bit, saying that it was a friend, but Will told him that while he might think he was helping, the horse needed the bit. It didn't know any better and would just wander off without it. As they continued, they got caught in a stampede, which badly injured Will's horse, Gypsy.
Robot stopped and comforted the horse, surprising Ben Adler, who was wary of anthropomorphizing Robot. Will comforted the horse too, explaining to the Robot that it wasn't like him and couldn't simply be repaired. The horse died and Robot created a memorial of rocks, similar to what Will had done back on the unknown planet. He then collected the horse's bridle, something to remember it by. Adler was stunned by the display, wary of believing that a creature like the Robot could mourn. ("Evolution")
Saving a friend[]
Lost in Space 2x08 Robot Refuses Will Robinson
"No, Will Robinson."
Robot was brought back to the Resolute the idea being that he would transfer the alien engine from the Jupiter 2 back to the Resolute in order to send them to Alpha Centauri. When Will reunited with his sister Penny, she thought that the Robot seemed rather different, but he wasn't quite willing to listen to her. It turned out, however, that Robot was no longer quite listening to everything that Will was saying either. When Will tried to get him to help with rescuing Don West and Ava, who had been trapped in airlock by the devious Hastings, he just kept walking, saying "Danger... friend." He led the group to a room where Scarecrow, the robot from before, was being kept inside a box, badly damaged and tortured by members of the ship's crew with electrical sticks. The Robot went on the attack and freed Scarecrow. He then started to walk away as Scarecrow went limp in his arms. Will begged him to stay, that they needed him to get home, but his stunning reply was "No, Will Robinson." ("Unknown")
Will decided to help Robot save Scarecrow, as Robot had done so much to help them to do so. However, in order to do so, he and his family had to play a shell game with the crew of the Resolute in order to get the Robot and Scarecrow to a thunderstorm on the amber planet, where Scarecrow would be able to recover. They put the elaborate plan into motion and were largely successful. However, Ben Adler correctly anticipated Will's actions and was waiting for him at the Jupiter spacecraft he planned to use in order to get down to the planet. He summoned other members of the vessel's crew, who began shocking the Robot into submission. As they did, the Robot pleaded "Help. Friend." and "Help, Ben Adler." Ben Adler had longed for a connection with the robots and the Robot's message got through and he decided to help. He aided Will to get Scarecrow on board, but in order to do so, they had to leave the Robot behind and at the mercy of the vessel's crew and Hastings, who had arrived on the scene. Will watched in despair and shock as the doors of the Jupiter closed, and the Robot was left to his fate. ("Shell Game")
Ninety-Seven[]
Hastings torturing the chained-up Robot
Hastings and the crew chained up the Robot and subjected it torture, demanding that it activate the engine and take the vessel to Alpha Centauri. He was joined "Dr. Smith," whose allegiances remained unclear. He pushed his machine to the redline, but Robot had only one response: "Will Robinson." Both Hastings and Adler remained surprised as it shouldn't even have memories anymore, but it does. Meanwhile, Will's father John Robinson had staged a daring breakout from his captivity. Meanwhile, his wife Maureen and daughters Judy and Penny also arrived and it was Maureen who had the pleasure of knocking out Hastings with a shock prod. They freed the Robot, though Penny worried they might be too late. "Can you hear me?" asked John and light returned to Robot's face.
Meanwhile, on the amber planet, Will and Adler succeeded in saving Scarecrow, but their actions resulted in a new complication. Their presence was detected by another group of alien robots, who launched an attack on the Resolute. Worse, an entire fleet of alien robots began converging on the vessel. Judy came up with a plan to place 97 children in a Jupiter spacecraft and put the engine on it to get them to safety on Alpha Centauri. Will convinced the Robot to help and got him to transfer the engine. However, the attacking robots made their way for the vessel, led by the THAR. The Robot, detecting this, left on installing the engine to try to help, but Scarecrow returned from the planet and fought off THAR long enough to allow to escape. They engaged the engine and traversed the rift. Will asked Robot if he knew that Scarecrow would be there, but the Robot just stared back. Will suggested that perhaps he had just hoped that Scarecrow would be there, asking him if he knew what hope was. "Yes, Will Robinson," replied Robot. The group then realized that wherever they were, it was not Alpha Centauri. Robot had followed a human radar signature, but the signature he had followed was not that of Alpha Centauri, but rather that of the Fortuna, a lost vessel captained by Judy Robinson's biological father Grant Kelly. ("Ninety-Seven")
Reprograming[]
The Robots assault Alpha Centauri led by SAR, attempting to use one of their engines to destroy the planet as they had the shattered planet. During the battle, Penny Robinson and her friends are able to befriend several Robots by saving their lives and they side with humanity in the battle. As a result, Will comes up with a plan to free the rest of the Robots from their old programing and he, Robot and Smith travel to the Robots homeworld where Robot attempts to use the story of his and Will's friendship to convince his kind of what could be without success. With Will dying from his mechanical heart failing, Robot sacrifices himself to save Will, something that is witnessed by the others of his kind, finally inspiring them to be free of their old programing. The Robots provide Will and Smith with a command to broadcast to the other Robots on Alpha Centauri to reprogram them.
As SAR closes in on the alien engine, Will and Smith return and provide everyone with the command. The Robinsons, Smith, Grant Kelly and Don West broadcast it to SAR, but he nevertheless tries to activate the engine and take humanity with him. Remembering Robot's order to "Trust, Will Robinson," Will shuts down his broadcast and allows SAR to impale him in the heart again which Robot had anticipated would happen. SAR thus, accidentally, absorbs the part of Robot that had been left behind in Will's heart and transforms into Robot himself, who shuts down the engine, ending the war and saving Alpha Centauri. SAR is presumably entirely erased, thus ending his threat once and for all.
After being set free, most of the Robots depart to parts unknown. Others coexist in peace with humanity, helping Maureen and Don build a replacement for the Resolute using their advanced technology. ("Trust")
Exploration[]
Robot himself remains a part of the Robinson family, sharing dinner with them, Don West and Grant Kelly. He and Will later depart on an exploration mission together in a Jupiter using the alien engine with Will promising his family that they won't even leave this galaxy and that they will be back by Christmas.
During their mission, Will and Robot land on another planet with a breathtaking view. ("Trust")
Physical appearance[]
Unlike previous iterations of the other robot, the new robot is very different to its predecessors. Whereas the robot from the 1965 series and the one from the 1990s film traversed terrain on treads, this new robot possesses a full humanoid stature, capable of walking with two legs. He can transform his two arms into four and he possesses powerful energy weapons, which are fired from the palms of his hands. His face is a translucent material filled with millions of multicolored lights, an echo to the original "bubble-head" incarnation.
Kevin Burns stated that the robot looks different for a reason, that the appearance reflects the world we are living rather than any sort of "political correctness" and that things change, evolve, and grow.
Personality[]
Lost in Space Boy’s Best Friend HD Netflix
The Robot is not unlike a child. At first when seen, he is hostile, but over time he protects Will and helps him, primarily just because he is told to - he is compelled to help as repayment for Will saving his life. He learns things at amazing speed, often just by looking at a new event once, like when Will makes a drawing of him, and he instantly draws the two-ringed solar system that he says is "danger."
He is protective of Will, and eventually more of the family, and slowly responds to them more and not just Will himself. During him being connected to 'Dr. Smith' he almost seems entirely distant and uncaring, only listening to her, until something makes him change - and then change again when he sees his friend in danger. "Friend. Will Robinson."
When an animal he later cares for dies, he is shown mourning - grieving for it, displaying deep sorrow and regret - an animal or human trait, which many thought impossible of a mere machine. And he can also show great hatred.
He may not understand things perfectly, but he understands enough to have emotion, a need to protect, help and survive.
He seems to display emotion and thought through the many lights seen on his face.
Although initially loyal only to Will Robinson, and later briefly to Dr. Smith, his experiences begin to change him. When the robot Scarecrow is injured, he refuses Will's request to pilot the Resolute to Alpha Centauri until they have helped Scarecrow, telling him, "No, Will Robinson." By this time, Will's family have noticed the change, pointing out that while in the past Robot used to follow Will around, he is more assertive, taking the lead instead. ("Unknown")
When Will is severely wounded by SAR, Robot is not just upset, but driven into absolute rage, something that June Harris notes. June tells Robot that while many would believe him to be emotionless, she knows that he is not and that he cares very deeply, to the point that Robot sacrifices himself to save Will.
By the time that the colonists reach Alpha Centauri, Robot is shown to honor his connections to both Will and June, something that June herself points out to Will. With only a few words, Robot is shown to be able to reach June's deeply hidden compassionate side, convincing her to help the kids escape from the Resolute and stopping her from likely killing Captain Radic, who she had formerly put into a coma. In the latter case, Robot tells her "help. Dr. Smith" which she initially takes to mean that he wants her help. Eventually she understands that Robot is telling her that he is helping her instead of the other way around.
Skills & abilities[]
The Robot in his many-limbed attacking form
He possesses the ability to produce strong heat from his body, enough to melt metal. ("Impact")
He is also, as is seen throughout the series, able to learn new things nearly instantly. When simply observing John hammering metal rods into the ground for the sensor net and is allowed to help, the Robot simply pushes it down 'like a toothpick'.
Robot also grows to care, in his own way, not for just Will, but for others, wanting to help and protects his friends - and family. Despite many seeing him as a threat, which he evidently is, he doesn't attack anyone unless provoked. He is both an advanced machine but like a child learning new things - just much faster than a child would. Later in the series, even under attack, he outright refuses to retaliate.
Robot also has immense strength - he can bend titanium with little effort, carry things almost as heavy, if not heavier, than himself, and he can deal with hostile animals with ease, either using his energy weaponry to shoot and 'melt' them, or just tear their jaws or bodies apart.
Another feat of his immense strength is when the Resolute flies down into the gas giant to gather ionized ammonia - the Robot goes outside on the main structure of the ship, and when it begins to break, he literally pulls the parts back together, and then melts it back in place with its immense heat generation.
Robot's feet when in his many-limbed attacking form.
When angered or enraged, he can transform into his original form: a six-limbed body capable of withstanding most attacks and dealing out punishing damage. ("Eulogy") This form of Robot has the lights in his face turn orange/red, four arms with three fingers in each hand and two legs that both split off into four long feet (two feet face forwards and two face backwards). We have never seen Robot run when in this form, but we can speculate from the rest of his species, that he is able to run over 100 miles an hour/160 km an hour.
Robot is a skilled pilot capable of using the Alien Engine to open rifts in space to various destinations. As shown in one case, he is capable of redirecting the rifts in mid-transit if necessary. However, he isn't always completely accurate in his destinations as seen when he locks onto the Fortuna instead of Alpha Centauri. In this case, he chose to lock onto a human-made radar signature despite the fact that the star map is capable of showing entire solar systems, something that would've revealed that the system had a single star instead of being a trinary star system like Alpha Centauri. Notably, when Robot accurately directs the rift to Alpha Centauri, he is shown studying the star map closely and looking at the system in question itself rather than a radar signature. However, his piloting skills appear to be limited to using the alien engine as Robot is never seen flying human craft himself and instead relying on a human pilot to handle that for him.
Design[]
The design of the robot is explored in the featurette "Designing the Robot" from the Season 1 home video release. Kevin Burns describes the robot as a protector, but also a child in that it's learning to be a human. Executive producer Zack Estrin stated that it designing the Robot, it had to be a number of things, including intimidating, but also having a soul and something people could connect to and be afraid of. To create the Robot, some of the greatest mechanical and creature designers from film and television were assembled. Matt Sazama described the process as being a big challenge, in terms of finding their own version compared with the original series robot. Robot's glowing "face" was inspired by the lights of the original Robot.
Appearances[]
| 2018 TV series | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Season 2 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Season 3 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
External link[]
Gallery[]
[]
.jpg){kind=link}
Command Crew: Captain Radic • Captain Kamal
Other Jupiter spacecraft: Angela Goddard • Connor • Diane • Evan
Robinson Family: Will Robinson • Judy Robinson • Penny Robinson • John Robinson • Maureen Robinson
Others: Ben Adler • Alistair Hastings • Grant Kelly • SAR • Scarecrow