Kids and Cute Robots: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 17:26, 6 January 2017
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In a future time, children will work together |
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"I hate funny robots."
—The Tenth Doctor, The Waters of Mars, clearly forgetting a Robot Buddy he once knew...
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The death knell for any attempt at a serious science fiction show is the inclusion of a kid and/or a robot in the primary cast, especially if the show is supposed to be military-flavored. The robot is invariably too cutesy or smart-ass, or the kid too twee or saccharine, and the serious aspects of the show suffer for it.
Sometimes the cute kid is deathly ill. At that point, you should be afraid. Very afraid.
The adolescent version of the cute kid is the Teen Genius.
For both in one, see Robot Kid.
The Trope Namer is a 1991 posting on GENIE (a now-defunct online service from General Electric) by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski, who would promise the SF community that (among other things) his then-upcoming show would have no kids or cute robots, ever.
When adding examples, remember please that this trope is not about the simple presence of kids and/or robots in a show. It requires several specific conditions to actually be present:
- The work is science fiction or fantasy.
- The work is not about the kid(s) and/or robot(s).
- The kid(s) and/or robot(s) are regulars, not one-shot appearances.
- They only provide comic relief or "human interest" for the main characters, or are at most The Wesley; they are always secondary to the main action, and if you removed them from the work, there would be little to no negative impact on the overall plot or concept.
- Optionally, there is evidence, either anecdotal or otherwise, that the kid(s) and/or robot(s) were added to the show by executive fiat because a suit somewhere was convinced that SF/F was always and only "for kids" and thus any SF/F show was required to have "kid appeal" elements.
See Talk Page for this trope before adding examples.