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Bender Bending Rodríguez a.k.a. Bender (assembled in Mexico) is a Fictional Sapient Robot in the '' Futurama '' Animated Cartoon Television series. He is voiced by actor John DiMaggio .
Though it also refers to his occupation, the name Bender is a reference to John Bender, the rebel stoner played by Judd Nelson in the John Hughes film '' The Breakfast Club ''. It may also be a pun on a drinking binge, noting his gluttonous consumption of booze, and his body's resemblance to a Martini drink shaker. Bender was built in the ''Mom's Friendly Robot Company'' plant in "America's heartland", Tijuana, Mexico , circa AD 2998. He is a Bending – Unit 22, serial number 2716057, chassis number 1729 . As his name indicates, he was created for the task of Bending metal girders. On December 31 , 2999 , Bender was waiting in line to use one of New New York City's public Suicide Booth s (he claimed he couldn't go on living when he found out that the girders he bent were used for suicide booths) when he met Philip J. Fry , a Pizza Delivery boy from the 20th Century who'd just been revived from Cryonic stasis earlier that day. After meeting Fry, Bender decided to put off killing himself until later and ended up getting a job with Fry and Leela at Planet Express, an intergalactic package delivery business. Despite his vices and macho posturing, Bender has several tender traits, such as his semi-secret aspirations to be a Cook or a Folk Singer as well as a soft spot for Turtle s and Penguin s. He has also shown affection towards Orphans and shed a tear during the Soap Opera tribute to himself from Calculon. Bender desperately wants to be a part of the Harlem Globetrotters , but was turned down. He shares an apartment with his human friend Fry, who said he always wanted a robot for a best friend when he was growing up in the 20th Century . If Magnet s are placed close to his head, they interfere with his inhibition unit, which causes him to act out his desire to be a folk singer by performing folk staples. He sometimes improvises variations on the songs' lyrics, such as "I'll be blasting all the humans in the world" in "She'll be Comin' 'Round the Mountain." Bender has a secret desire to kill all humans, possibly a reference to the many movies set in the future in which robots turn against their creators. He is clearly not bound by Isaac Asimov 's Three Laws Of Robotics . At one stage, on a robot controlled planet, he became a celebrity for his false reputation for killing humans. Notable events in Bender's life include his 'birth' (which he remembers), his previously mentioned hiring at Planet Express, and a brief stint as Pharaoh of the planet Osiris IV. Bender has met an intergalactic super intelligence which may or may not have been God . He also cheated his way to five gold medals in the Earth Olympics by disguising as a Fembot (female robot). He won a war medal as a hero of Earth. During his brief stint as a Superhero , he went by the name Superking. HARDWARE Bender's habit of hard drinking is a result of his design; like many robots on ''Futurama'', he uses alcohol as fuel. Paradoxically, Bender only suffers intoxication when he stops drinking, becoming disoriented and developing a kind of stubble which is actually Rust around his mouth as his systems break down. While alcohol is his primary fuel source, he is also capable of processing Mineral Oil and Dark Matter . He is also equipped with a Nuclear Pile , the effectiveness of which is unknown. His "extensomatic" limbs are extendable, detachable, and capable of functioning independently of his body. In most cases, his eyes are shown to be extending cylinders with rounded ends, but in at least one episode (" Anthology Of Interest I "), his eyes fall out and are shown to be spheres. He also has a cavity in his chest that seems to give him access to '', wherein there are a variety of cogs, wheels, giros and various other mechanical components (some of which are outdated even by today's standards), and the interior is indeed seen to be fairly large. However, as with most spin-off material for television shows, the videogame ''may'' not be considered Canon . His head is detachable, can continue to function when not attached to his body, and has been seen functioning as an audio tape recorder, camera, martini shaker, credit card terminal, and a Spray Can . He also uses it as a distraction when Pickpocketing , although whether this is an intended function is unknown. Bender may also be used as a film projector as shown in the episode " Crimes Of The Hot ". Bender can also perform great feats of strength, such as bending an "unbendable" girder. He is also water-resistant. He claims to have a total of eight senses, known to include vision in the human ranges, hearing and "smision", but not, much to his own dismay, taste. His eyes also function as cameras (still and video, both of which can be recorded or transmitted on demand); he has a total of three cameras on his body (the location of the third is unknown, but implied to be in the "below the waist" area). Other sensory equipment he displays in the series, such as " Gaydar " and X-ray -glasses, are external devices and probably do not count as part of his eight senses. He has a built-in, but unreliable, "Cheating Unit" for predicting the outcome of his own dice rolls. Bender makes mention of a Hilarity Unit (an opening subtitle for one episode of the show claims this unit may be powered by " Microsoft Joke"). One can assume he has other units devoted to displaying certain emotional states. Bender's computational abilities are self-admittedly poor. He is quite sensitive about his antenna, which is multifunctional and can work as a radio transmitter, a remote control receiver, or a toilet flusher, to pick a few. The antenna is implied to be analogous to a Penis ; in a scenario where he becomes human in '' Anthology Of Interest II '', it moves down to in-between Bender's legs. According to information from various episodes, he is composed of 30% Iron , 40% Zinc , 40% Titanium , 40% Dolomite and an unknown quantity of Osmium with a 0.04% Nickel impurity. No explanation for the total of over 150.04% was offered in the series, though it is pointed out in the DVD commentary. However, it could be implied that when Bender refers to "his body" being a certain percentage of alloy, it could possibly only refer to Bender's main chest plate and abdomen, excluding his arms, legs, and head. In Raging Bender , he is announced as weighing 525 pounds. Bender's Serial Number is 2716057, which is expressible as the sum of two Cube Numbers ((952)³ + (-951)³). He shares this trait with another Bending Unit he meets called Flexo , whose serial number is 3370318 ((119)³ + (119)³). (This is one of several joke references to obscure mathematical facts; see Hardy-Ramanujan Number .) Bender's CPU is a MOS Technology 6502 ('' Fry And The Slurm Factory ''), an extremely primitive choice even nowadays for a such sophisticated piece of technology, let alone in AD 2998. Of course, in AD 2998 the 6502's clock speed could be manufactured to meet any need. The series provides contradictory information about Bender's origin. In several episodes he is portrayed having been assembled in a factory in his current form only a few years prior to the start of the series, as an ordinary machine would be. However, in ''Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles'' he is shown as going through growth and development like an animal and said to have "robo- or RNA ", a DNA equivalent. He also claims to have been assembled in a plant in Mexico, hence his surname of "Rodriguez". The episode Raging Bender confirms this, as his origins are announced as "America's heartland - Tijuana, Mexico." SOFTWARE Bender is unique among robots in the universe in that he does not follow his programming. In the first episode, Bender was deprogrammed after first hearing Fry's arguments about becoming a robot that determines his own life ("You're full of crap, Fry!") and then being electrocuted by a hanging light bulb ("You make a persuasive argument, Fry!"). So it can be assumed that all the other robots act the way they do because they are following their program. Bender makes up his own rules. However, whenever his brain (in the form of a floppy disk) is removed, his vocabulary reverts to "I am Bender. Please insert girder." Also, he, like all other robots on earth, is built in with a "patriotism" chip in the event of war. When activated, he immediately becomes willing to obey orders from the military, and even offer himself for suicide missions. TRIVIA episode Future-Drama ]]
CATCHPHRASE AND FAVORITE WORDS Bender's most memorable Catchphrase is "Bite my shiny metal ass!" This is his first line of dialogue on the show. Some later derivatives include:
According to a database referenced by Zapp Brannigan in " War Is The H-Word ", the ten words Bender utters most frequently, in descending order, are: Several of these words are meant to be jokes; on the show, he almost never says "daffodil" and only says "pimpmobile" in that episode. "Up" and "yours" are clearly meant to go together. Bender almost never says the words Thanks , Sorry , funderful, Non-alcoholic , Compassion , and Shrimp Toast . The word Antiquing appears to be the word he uses the least. Other catch phrases include:
Bender also enjoys referring to himself in the third person, never missing a chance to compliment himself. Ex: "And then Bender ran." ("Leela's Homeworld") Words for humans:
INSPIRATION? Although unconfirmed, this issue of ''Startling Comics'' No. 49 may be the source of Matt Groening's depiction. {Link without Title} |
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