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Body of titanium, heart of gold.
Charley: You know, little girl, you freak me the hell out. On the outside, you're just pretty as a picture, but on the inside, you're a...
Cameron: Hyperalloy combat chassis.
Charley: ...is that a complicated way of saying 'scary robot'?
Cameron: Hyperalloy combat chassis.
Charley: ...is that a complicated way of saying 'scary robot'?
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She's gorgeous, she's sexy, and she's got a 50,000-mile warranty. She's the Robot Girl, a staple character archetype in anime. Most commonly found in science fiction and Sentai stories, but not exclusively. Despite their artificial nature, Robot Girls are never — well, hardly ever — sexless; they are at the very least cute as hell, and more often drop-dead gorgeous, if not outright seductresses. Robot boys are not unheard of but often times their male counterparts take on more robotic characteristics compared to them. Despite how cute or sexy she may be, though, the Robot Girl is often a dangerous opponent in a fight, even if they're only created to do common household chores.
Common characteristics of a Robot Girl are their artificial human-like skin that covers their inner frame as opposed to metal or plastic plating (such as the Fembot), a beautiful and fully articulated face, synthetic hair and other organic characteristics that makes them appear and feel more human than any other types humanoid robots. Think the Terminator but as a cute girl.
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Sometimes the character is shown to be an android by some unusual accessory to cue the audience. Due to the popularity of To Heart's Multi, having headphone cups, air vents or Antennae for ears is almost universally understood. Other times, like Aigis pictured here, visible mechanical joints are another dead giveaway.
However much the robot girl trope slides closer from either end of the anthropomorphism scale, their human face and hair will almost always be the last thing to be roboticized by any character designer aiming to invoke this trope. Their arms or legs may even be fully robotic but their human torso will almost likely be preserved in the design. Often opting for a skin-tight hi-tech looking jumpsuit to emphasize their feminine features such as many of the female robots of the Mega Man franchise and its many offshoots.
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The robot girl is not necessarily always depicted as a mechanical being. The character type can also encompass cyborgs, Artificial Humans, Artificial Intelligences and Virtual Ghosts with female on-screen or holographic avatars.
While not unheard of in American shows (My Living Doll, Small Wonder, Mann & Machine) the robot girl on American TV tends to be a gimmick or MacGuffin on which to hang a series concept rather than a character type in its own right.
Of course, Japan being the worldwide leader in consumer electronics, androids are quite popular in that country. These androids could be male, but because Most Writers Are Male, most of them are sleek, sexy females. (Technically they would be gynoids, if one cares.)
Very often an Innocent Fanservice Girl. After all, why in the world would a drop-dead gorgeous female facsimile have any conception of chastity, much less modesty, programming notwithstanding? If the Robot Girl is the lead female or at least an important one, this innocence and naivety can be a large part of their character or even the theme of the work.
Robot girls are often, but not always, depicted with a monotone emotionless personality to further emphasize that they're a robot and not an actual girl. Examples of this have included Cameron from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Eve Edison from Mann & Machine and Rhoda from My Living Doll. Unless, of course, the robots are programmed from the start to simulate - or even genuinely experience - emotion, such as the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica (2003) or the Replicants from Blade Runner.
Compare Fembot (for when Robot Girls are more robot than girl), Projected Man (When the Robot Girl is a hologram) and Robosexual. A few may also be a Robotic Spouse.
Contrast Uncanny Valley Girl, Spaceship Girl and Fembot.
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- No. 30/Thirty Nanba from A.I. Love You is a computer program brought to life.
- Night, of Absolute Boyfriend and Zettai Kareshi (the live action drama of the anime/manga) is the Spear Counterpart of this trope, it being more obvious he's robotic in the Drama.
- Sigel in Ah! My Goddess started out as a mannequin advertising an antique shop. Skuld then added some features, including artificial intelligence and the signature Rocket Punch.
- Nuku-Nuku and Eimi from All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku.
- The title character Maico from Android Announcer Maico 2010 (Image◊) is a Robot Girl. But whenever referred to as a robot, she insists, 'I'm not a robot.' She prefers to think of herself as an android (which is also wrong, the correct term would be Gynoid).
- The Animatrix has an absolutely heartbreaking, and horrific scene during The Second Renaissance sequence featuring one. During the anti-machine movement, a robot girl made to look human is smashed to bits by a group of men who rip away her clothes, synthetic skin, and hair until there's nothing but a metallic skeleton left. All while sobbing that she's 'real.'
- Naomi Armitage and the other 'Thirds' from Armitage III are a partial subversion since they easily can and do pass as fully human, to the point that they can even reproduce with humans. The 'seconds' from which they descended were intentionally designed to fit this trope, however.
- Nei from Avenger thinks she's one, but she's actually the first human girl born on Mars - specifically outside of the colonies that have settled on the planet's surface. She's been acting like a 'Doll' in order to avoid drawing attention to herself.
- Alita/Gally from Battle Angel Alita.
- The hIEs in Beatless.
- R. Dorothy Waynewright in The Big O.
- Sylvie, Anri and the other sexaroids from Bubblegum Crisis.
- Chobits has the Persocoms, of which the main character is one. While male persocoms are actually quite common, since the main human cast is male, the majority of persocom characters in the series are female.
- In Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou, the superhero Earth-chan is a satellite which transforms into a robot girl in order to aid people in distress.
- The SISTERs in Coyote Ragtime Show.
- Cutey Honey in all of her incarnations except Flash, the magical girls version. Though she wasn't actually human there either.
- Princess Ixquic and Leina in Cyborg 009. The first was built by (apparently) aliens to be one of the guardians of a gold pyramid; the second was created by a Mad Scientist to become the Soul Jar of Adolf Hitler, of all people.
- In Da Capo, the robotic clone of one of the girls is distinguished by a keyhole (for winding) in the back and occasionally spewing smoke. Of course, only the male lead learns that it's not the real girl.
- Minatsu Amakase from Da Capo II.
- Korone the Liladan from Demon King Daimao
- One of the earliest (and youngest) robot girls is Arale from Akira Toriyama's Dr. Slump, who in physical appearance is only around 12 years old, despite being 18 by the end of the run. That few others realize this is the series' main Running Gag.
- Kurika Kurinohana (a.k.a. Clicker) from Dokkoida?!.
- Annapuna and Unipuma - the Puma Twins from the Dominion Tank Police manga and anime series - were revealed, close to the end of the original manga, as androids - Ostensibly 'love dolls', although they take offense at this designation. In the second manga series, their android nature was on the table all the time, even becoming a plot point on at least two occasions. Interestingly, in the anime the issue was ignored completely, even as an implication.
- Android/Artificial Human#18 of Dragon Ball Z is a more destructive take on the trope, as she (and her siblings, most notably her twin brother #17) was built specifically to cause destruction. In an alternate timeline, she manages to eradicate the most powerful fighters in the world with her brother until they are both destroyed by Future Badass Trunks, who came back from the main timeline after helping the main cast destroy another android, the Big Bad of the saga Cell (it's not as confusing as it sounds). In the main timeline however, they are able to be subdued (mostly through the appearance of the Trunks from the future altering the timelines and Cell's interference) and she survives to marry one of the main cast. She does actually have biological parts (so she's more of a cyborg than an android), so is capable of producing a daughter and becomes a mother... An extremely powerful mother, but a mother nonetheless.
- El-Hazard: The Magnificent World features Ifurita, a wind-up weapon of mass destruction in the form of a curvaceous cutie. Her appearance and attitude vary wildly between the OVA and TV universes; in the former she evolves from an emotionless killer to a borderline Artificial Human, while in the latter she wavers between brainless and outright loony.
- Ropponmatsu #1 and Ropponmatsu #2 from Excel Saga. In the anime, they're two distinct entities, while in the manga, there is only one Ropponmatsu core switched between the two bodies.
- Iwata becomes one for a time when he gets cancer and his brain is put in the Ropponmatsu 1 body as a stopgap measure to keep him not dead. He's quite pleased because he's always liked Ropponmatsu 1, seeing as she's a tall, well-built adult woman, but he gets into an argument with actual Ropponmatsu in body number 2, who's always gotten on his nerves. Iwata gets ready to throw down...and falls over as Ropponmatsu mocks him because she always found body 1 to be clunky and unreliable, and reveals that her personality was different (read: nonexistant) in this body because all her processing power was taken up staying upright.
- He also ends up in 2's body for a short while, much to his extreme displeasure.
- Drossel from Fireball, interesting in that she doesn't look even remotely human beyond her basic body shape, but has an unusually human (and bitchy) personality.
- Nano-Nano from Galaxy Angel Rune and Galaxy Angel II is a living Lost Technology.
- Mechanical humans abounded in Galaxy Express 999 and its sequels thanks to various plots about humans abandoning their old flesh bodies for mechanical bodies as well as android characters. Some of the main female robot girls would be be Claire, Yuki, and Promethium.
- More examples of robot girls who are also Humongous Mecha: KouRyu and AnRyu from GaoGaiGar FINAL.
- Most of the fembots in Ghost in the Shell count. As do female full body cyborgs, including the lead character, The Major (Motoko Kusanagi). The difference being that the former are still AIs which aren't truly intelligent, while full body cyborgs are basically human brains in android or gynoid (or, in at least once case, a box on wheels) bodies. The tachikoma also share a lot of the tropes associated with the archetype, despite the fact that they have tanks for bodies.
- Actually, even the brains are mechanical. With absolute replacement of every organic part of a person's body with robotic substitutes being possible, the term 'ghost' had to be coined to refer to what makes a human still human even when their body isn't.
- In GunBuster 2, Nono is actually a Buster Machine. She is clearly stated to be gynoid (female android) even before that.
- The protagonists in Gunslinger Girl are brainwashed cyborgs.
- In Haruhi Suzumiya, Yuki and the other Humanoid Interfaces arguably count, although Yuki has the good fortune of not getting picked for the maid job.
- Heaven's Lost Property: All the Angeloids are subservient android girls with wings, built for specific purposes and completely devoted to following their master's orders.
- Hugtto! Pretty Cure has Ruru. She starts off as a villain, but joins the Cures and eventually becomes one partway through.
- Pion of Humanity Has Declined. And Oyage is a Robot Boy. Though their true forms are deep space probes.
- Odette from Karakuri Odette, though she gradually develops human-like emotional traits that further qualify for Ridiculously Human Robots instead. A more straight Robot Girl would be Asia from the same.
- Key of Key the Metal Idol. Nonetheless, she is eventually shown to be a subversion and deconstruction of the trope, as she is actually a human who is convinced and, ergo, convinces others that she is a robot to conceal her potent and terrible extra-physical abilities, which become gradually exhumed and deconstructed as the series progresses.
- The Angels in Kidou Tenshi Angelic Layer are similar, though they're about a foot tall and controlled by their users. The Angelic Layer manga is set in the same universe as Chobits and states that Angels were forerunners to persocoms.
- June from Kokoro Library.
- Angela from Kurogane Communication, later accompanied by the even more human-like Lilith and Alice.
- Canal from Lost Universe, technically, though she's actually a holographic projection of the Artificial Intelligence of a spaceship.
- Moe, a French-made bisque automaton-turned-Tsukumogami, from Love Hina (anime only).
- The Combat Cyborgs of Lyrical Nanoha. There's also the female Wolkenritter and the Unison Devices, who are basically programs with physical forms.
- Aiko from Magical Pokaan.
- Mahoro and Minawa from Mahoromatic. Partially subverted in the series by having Mahoro constantly on the lookout for 'dirty thoughts' on the part of Suguru Not to mention confiscating his porn collection. Being innocent herself, this creates a paradox. This argument happens in the series' second season, where Mahoro and Suguru's grandfather arguing the point, with the grandfather winning. This convinces Mahoro that she is perverted.
- Mahou Sensei Negima!:
- Chachamaru. Evangeline also has a number of Robot Maids serving in her resort. And to fulfill the hotness part of the trope, part of her Mid-Season Upgrade was an improved synthetic skin that essentially makes her look like a normal girl with robot ears. Naturally, there was a scene of her taking a bath soon after said upgrade.
- In an...interesting variation on the idea, Haruna uses her artifact to create a full size robot body for Sayo to use. Of course, Sayo can't actually possess it, but instead possesses a small doll that sits inside the robot body and pilots it like a Humongous Mecha. Being an Otaku Haruna naturally built so many guns into the thing that it's wonder that it's able to move.
- Miyu from Mai Hi ME and Mai-Otome. Definitely designed for combat and war.
- The Gamia sisters, Erika, Lorelei... from Mazinger Z (and Minerva X in the Shin Mazinger Zero manga). Possibly Marquis Yanus from Great Mazinger is one as well, since the Mykene grafted their brains in robotic bodies to survive underground, but it is harder to say with her.
- Tima from Metropolis.
- In Mobile Suit Gundam 00, we have two examples — and surprisingly, neither is female (well, as far as can be proven). It is heavily suggested, if not stated outright that Tieria is not entirely, perhaps not at all, human. Then, during the series finale, Lichty of all people turns out to be at least part cybernetic. This still can't save him, sadly.
- The first season epilogue introduces Tieria's evil twin Regene, and the second season goes on to imply that they, Big Bad Ribbons Almark, and the rest of the 'Innovators' are artificial constructs. And we see the first clearly female-bodied example: Anew Returner.
- It's also possible that they are cyborgs; while at least two of them are quite clearly part of mass cloning projects (Bring being the pilot of a very large number of kamikaze MS at one point, and Ribbons himself walking into the room and killing Regene while his own corpse bleeds on the floor) they are clearly capable of inducing Innovator traits in ordinary humans like Louise (who also has a cybernetic left hand).
- Sayuri, Brooke, Vivian and the other 'dolls' who serve Professor Machinegal in Moldiver.
- In Mother Keeper Syal and Mother are both robot girls. Syal is a battle cyborg and Mother is simply a computer made to look like a little girl. Both look ridiculously human though Mother doesn't seem to speak.
- Marie from My Dear Marie.
- Nano from Nichijou appears to be perfectly normal—aside from that huge Wind-Up Key sticking out of her back. The eight-year-old girl who created her also likes to modify her body with useless additions, just for the heck of it, and the little brat refuses to remove the darn key 'because it's cute.' This doesn't always make Nano too happy, since she so much wants to come across as an ordinary girl. She learns to love the key as part of herself in the end (although a message of self-acceptance doesn't excuse its useless and inconvenient existence).
- Malfina from Outlaw Star is a bioroid who was created to serve as navigator for the titular ship as well as to be the maiden of the Galactic Lei Line. This causes her a great deal of distress to begin with, but Gene eventually convinces her that her artificial nature doesn't make her less human.
- 'D' from Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure is effectively a Robot Girl for most of the story.
- Mea from Popotan, a robot maid who also guards the other girls (Ai, Mai, & Mii) on their journey through Time.
- Flandre, Francesca, and Francette from Princess Resurrection.
- Meika from Punch Line looks like a little girl but is a twenty year old robot. Being a robot doesn't give her any advantages over humans besides being very smart.
- In Queen's Blade Rebellion, the little elf Yuit creates Vante, a robot girl incapable of speech (beyond one sound), but apparently cognizant and emotionally aware.
- Arguably subverted in Real Drive, where android Holon clarifies that she isn't a woman in any real sense, and has no sexual identity beyond superficial programming meant to make her appealing for male users, and that she could change to a male body at any time without losing any sense of her real identity as a sentient machine.
- The Robot Carnival segment 'Presence' features one built by a man trying to compensate for his distant relationship with his own family.
- The Rozen Maiden are arguably a fantasy-based example, as opposed to straight(ish) science fiction. Specifically, they're dolls. They do have a clockwork mechanism that requires them to be wound up to be able to live, walk, talk and the like, but they also need a roza mystica, which would roughly translate to a soul to the dolls, and there's a lot of things they can do that clockwork engineering can't accomplish alone.
- The entire Female Gender including Lime, Cherry, Bloodberry, Tiger, Panther and Luchs (among many others) from Saber Marionette J.
- Mecha-Rin-rin-chan, an android double of herself that Rin-rin from Sister Princess builds as a future companion for her brother Wataru when all his sisters have grown up and moved on to their own lives.
- Titular character of SoltyRei.
- Kurumi, Saki, Karinka and about 50 others from Steel Angel Kurumi.
- There are many androids of both genders in Time of Eve. On the female side, there are cafe regulars Sammy, Akiko, and Rina.
- In Totsugeki Pappara-tai Totsugeki! Pappara-tai, there was originally one, then three, then five, then eight, then was about to become seventeen in total through out the entire manga... (Also, Dr. Shooba. N. Einstain answered the excellent question of 'Why do we make robot girl... and not robot guy?' in vol. 9.)
- Ai in Video Girl Ai, though since she was created by a VCR, she's not technically a robot. The same goes for Len in the sequel manga, Video Girl Len.
- The title characters of Wings of Vendemiaire are Steam Punk automata that look like teenage girls.
- Alpha, Kokone, Maruko, and the other Alpha from Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (manga and OVA). Alpha also meets a robot boy. She asks him if there are others. He does not know, but he tells Alpha that male models are somehow weaker than female ones, which explains why the female-looking robots prevail.
- Dolores from Zone of the Enders: Dolores, i is very much a Robot Girl. Innocent, kind of ditzy, and occasionally clumsy. A scary combination in a 100-feet-tall almost-godlike Humongous Mecha.
- Lila, is type of android called a Humaritt from the Ecchi action series Najica Blitz Tactics. She is tasked along with the main protagonist (Najica) to track down rogue Humaritts, which can be identified from behind by a 3 letter serial in the form of a tramp stamp.
- The protagonists of the Livewires miniseries include three lovely Robot Girls (sorry, Construct Girls), each one a different take on this trope, from the snarky Cute Bruiser to the nearly-human viewpoint character.
- In Y: The Last Man, expensive male actroids are used for comfort/sexual purposes in Japan after the death of all the men. Self-proclaimed manga fan Yorick is quite delighted by this.'Any retired cop turned mandroid wrangler is aces in my book.'
- Marvel Comics has a few examples:
- Jocasta from The Avengers, created by the evil male robot Ultron to be his bride; and later, Alkhema, who had a similar origin. Neither of these relationships worked out. Later on, Ultron showed up in female form himself.
- Detective-Inspector Karima Shapandar (aka Omega Sentinel) from the X-Men. She was an unwilling victim of the Sentinel program's brief foray into converting normal humans, but her love for her mutant boyfriend Neal Shaara (Thunderbird III) allowed her to overcome her programming. She even joined the X-Men and became a more dedicated member than he was.
- Minordomo, overly excitable Perky Female Minion to Mojo's robotic manservant Majordomo. Tends to overheat and shut down from sheer exuberance, which manifests as a heart attack. Fortunately, she has a reset button.
- The independent comic Geisha is about Jomi Sohodo, an android originally built as a sex slave, but who was instead taken in by a kind, decent man who raised her as a real person alongside his own children. She's a talented painter and wants to make a career of it, but prejudice against androids makes this difficult. She ends up joining her adoptive father's 'family business...' as a professional bodyguard.
- Platinum, Copper, and Nameless from the Metal Men.
- Lyla Lay from Paperinik New Adventures. Lots of characters drool over her in the series' run, and probably a fair amount of readers too. Did we mention she's also a duck?
- Indigo from the relaunch of the Outsiders then it's revealed she's a Brainiac from the future.
- Aphrodite IX, 'Aphrodite IV' and 'Aphrodite V'
- Bonnie of Last Man Standing is one.
- During Lex Luthor's run as the star of Action Comics, he had a robotic Lois Lane for a sidekick.
- Sky Doll is named after wind-up gynoids designed and used mostly for men's convenience and pleasure. Sky Dolls are happy with being slaves and sex objects, actual women are oppressed and seem to have the rights of house furniture, and men as well as the religious government prefer things just the way they are.
- Guri from the Shadows of the EmpireStar Wars multimedia event, which included comics, as well as the follow-up Shadows of the Empire: Evolution comics. Most sensors short of a full medical scan are fooled into thinking she's an ordinary human. Which is rather the point, since she's also an assassin droid.
- When the computer running the X-Men's Danger Room achieved sentience, it self-identified as female and built a body to match, calling herself Danger.
- The DC Comics limited series Superman's Metropolis involves alien nanotech causing the city itself to become self-aware. She falls in love with Jimmy Olsen. Of course.
- Richie Rich's robot maid, Irona.
- The Fantastic Four's receptionist is a robot named Roberta. She has a human-shaped upper body, so she looks human sitting behind her desk, but below that she has wheels. In the strictly non-canonFin Fang Four comics, she's dating the hulking but gentle robot Elektro; it's very cute.
- Beautie of Astro City is an adult-sized robot replica of a popular children's toy. She fights crime even as she wonders about her own enigmatic origins.
- In Superboy and the Ravers the Horizon Event DJ is revealed to have been an android the entire time when she's destroyed and her inner mechanical workings are exposed. She never quite seemed human but given that Event Horizon is an extraterrestrial nightclub that exists in a pocket dimension that was never any reason to expect her to be a robot.
- In Mr.Evil'sBen 10 fanfic Hero High: Earth Style, Pharaoh's assistant Miss. Neith is revealed to be an android at the end of the story.
- Beochan: Paisean Agust Aifeala has Lalasa, the AU's interpretation of bothSanjay and Craig, may be this or at least a cyborg.
- MALIK from the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command / Lilo & Stitch / Invader Zim crossover series Both Syllables
- In Alchemical Solutions, Taylor gets uploaded into a new synthetic body.
- Annalee Call from Alien: Resurrection. It is interesting how fast other characters forget that they used to think about her as a human when they find out.Johner: 'Can't believe I nearly fucked that thing.'
- The iconic Robot Maria from Metropolis. In the novel Rotwang, the scientist who creates her, says that it's far more likely for a man to create a woman than another man.
- Any of the female replicants from Blade Runner fit this trope, mainly Rachael.
- In Toys, Alsatia (Joan Cusack) is revealed to be a robot at the end of the movie.
- The Fembots (though these were not of the Fembot variety) from the Austin Powers series, usually equipped with machine-gun jumblies.
- Galatea in Bicentennial Man. She's also so annoying it's actually cute.
- Kay-Em 14 from Jason X.
- Since there's no separate male version of this trope (for now), the titular D.A.R.Y.L. (short for Data Analysing Robot Youth Lifeform) technically qualifies.
- Virtuosity. Sheila 3.2, Virtual reality sex doll, sole function is to deduce your psychosexual needs, and fulfill them. 'Sheila 3.2 is collecting information from 136 aspects of your physiology. Your heart rate, pupil dilation, vocal intonation, syntax...' She was scheduled for download to a super strongregenerative body, capable of shape-shift into the IA virtual avatar. Subverted because is the male IA SID the one who ends being downloaded.
- RoboGeisha. It's all there in the title.
- The Thief of Bagdad (1940) featured an automaton dancing girl, given by an Evil Chancellor to a sultan who liked mechanical toys. When he went to embrace the dancing girl robot, it stabbed him.
- The T-X from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines film.
- In the original film (and its remake) and the book version of The Stepford Wives, all of the women in Stepford have been replaced with obedient androids. This was kept in the 2004 remake. Some of the sequels to the original film changed this process to simply the women getting brainwashed.
- Roberta from Not Quite Human II.
- Almost all of the women in Westworld (and Roman World and Medieval World too).
- Kristy Swanson's character becomes a 'sort of' one of these in Deadly Friend.
- Megagirl, from the Team StarKid musical Starship.
- One of the segments in Movie 43 features an MP3 player that is the size and shape of a human woman. Not surprisingly, the user base ends up using it for 'other purposes' besides listening to music... despite a cooler in the lower end.
- My Girlfriend Is A Cyborg. In spite of the title and use of the word in the film, she's actually a robot.
- The Perfect Woman is a 1949 British comedy (based on a play) about an inventor who creates a robot with an appearance based on his niece, and hires a young man to take it out on a date as a field test. The film is noted for its lingerie scenes, which are fairly risqué for its period.
- Valeria in Robot Holocaust.
- Despite being a machine, Ava from Ex Machina is very female and very attractive. Many of the scenes that highlight her sexiness simultaneously draw attention to her artificial nature. Caleb does ask Nathan why he didn't just design her as a sentient black box instead, but Nathan points out that supplying the robot with a gender identity gives it a reason to interact with the outside world.
- The 'Mecha' Gigolo Jane that appeared briefly in A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.
- The titular Galaxina from the 1980 sci-fi spoof, played by Dorothy Stratten, is a robotic crew-woman on a space cruiser.
- I Love Maria is a 1988 Hong Kong science fiction film, in which a gang leader created a female armed robot named Pioneer II, which was modeled after his girlfriend's face, leading her to develop a strong hatred for the robot. Later on, the robot is sent to hunt down one of the gang's members (and as well as a researcher working for the police), who became dissatisfied with the direction the gang is headed, only for Pioneer II to malfunction and be reprogrammed (hilariously, he confuses the robot to be Maria, whom she was modeled). Pioneer II slowly begins to develop feelings for the human characters, and is later given a human disguise.
- Invoked as part of the plot to rescue the children in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Trudy disguises herself as a Doll-on-a-Music-Box, a present for the villain ruler.
- Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: Dr. Totenkopf's lieutenant turns out to be one of these, to Sky Captain's surprise. She is an excellent fighter and dedicated to her work, serving as the de facto main villain since her creator has been Dead All Along.
- Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine: Goldfoot constructs human-appearing robo-gals who seduce weathy men into marrying them, and then steal their assets. In the sequel, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, he uses them to assassinate assigned targets.
Literature
- The classic (1938) short story Helen O'Loy by Lester del Rey. A medical student (Phil) and a mechanic (Dave) modify a household robot to have emotions. While Phil is away Dave activates Helen, who learns about love (from watching soap operas!) When Phil comes back home Dave has already fled from her affections, but changes his mind and marries her. On his death Helen requests that Phil shut her down and bury her with Dave. Phil does so, even though it's revealed that he'd fallen for Helen too.
- Sheen of the Apprentice Adept series: A sentient robot designed to appeal to protagonist Stile's personal tastes without being blatant enough to make him suspicious that she was a robot. (He figures it out anyway.)
- Galatea from the backstory of Soon I Will Be Invincible. A sentient robot who became a member of the Champions.
- Olimpia from 'The Sandman' by E. T. A. Hoffmann. Perfectly human in appearance, although a bit too precise in music and singing, and behavior somewhere in the Uncanny Valley.
- In the Adam Link series, robot Adam eventually gets a robot wife, of course named Eve.
- The protagonist in Saturn's Children, a novel by Charles Stross. A Robot Girl Sex Slave no less, in a universe where humans no longer exist.
- Deirdre in C. L. Moore's 'No Woman Born' is technically a cyborg, although only her brain is organic. At the end, it's implied that she may be slipping into Emotionless Girl territory, because Cybernetics Eat Your Soul.
- Maggie, the protagonist of Virtual Girl.
- Guri, from the Shadows of the EmpireStar Wars multimedia event novel.
- Automata in Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle, who resemble twelve-year-old girls with animal ears, and act as the managers of the Ruins. They must follow the orders of Xfer (a race of humans who built the Ruins and the Automata) and Lords (a ruling family whom the Xfer serve).
- Penny becomes one of these in Please Don't Tell My Parents You Believe Her, a human soul trapped in a robot body. Possibly also Polly Vinyl Chloride.
- Charlie, from Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes, Five Nights at Freddy's: The Twisted Ones and Five Nights at Freddy's: The Fourth Closet, though her true nature isn't made apparent until the third book; she was the first child killed by William Afton, and her father created four different animatronic bodies for her soul to inhabit (it didn't work, but his love for Charlie and grief over her loss gave said animatronic bodies something resembling life and a soul).Elizabeth Afton/Circus Baby also counts as one; she even steals Charlie's fourth body and poses as her in the ending of the second novel.
- Cyborg Shibolena from Denji Sentai Megaranger was close or far from this. Beauty check, Busty Check, Panty Check.
- Colon (pron. 'Cologne') from Choujuu Sentai Liveman was an early example, although she was unambiguously mechanical at a glance. She was specifically built to serve as a base operator, but jumped into battle far too often for her own good.
- Lal, Data's 'daughter' from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager is an interesting case. As a former member of the Borg, she was born human and was assimilated at a young age. Even though her connection to the Borg was severed and her human appearance and organs reasserted themselves after most of her Borg parts were removed, she still had to relearn human emotion and retained a few cybernetic implants.
- Star Trek: The Original Series episodes 'What Are Little Girls Made Of?' (Andrea), 'Requiem for Methuselah' (Rayna Kapec) and 'I, Mudd' (various female androids).
- The Fembots from the original The Bionic Woman series.
- Rommie, from Andromeda. Not to be confused with her hologram and AI duplicates.
- Cameron from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Counts also as Emotionless Girl. It is strongly hinted that Cameron was made to be attractive deliberately. Her appearance was based on a resistance fighter named Allison Young, who was implied to know future John Connor personally.
- The female human model Cylons from Battlestar Galactica (2003). In Six's case, they're even specifically designed to be sexy. Needless to say they succeed in this aim. As with most Robot Girls, they're also capable fighters. It's likely not a coincidence that Boomer is drop-dead beautiful either. And it works, given the lengths their lovers go to protect them. By the end of the series, it becomes clear that there is really nothing robotic about the biological Cylons at all, other than that they can talk to computers by sticking their hands in the sink.
- The prequel series Caprica has this as well in the form of the first Cylon, Zoe Graystone. However, she's also a major subversion, as she doesn't look like the human-model 'skinjobs' but rather is the faux-consciousness of a 16-year-old school girl downloaded into the ultra-robotic-looking proto-'Centurion' Cylon. She does have an avatar version of herself, which looks completely human.
- April and the Buffybot made short appearances in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Stargate SG-1 features female human-form Replicators, including RepliCarter, one designed specificially to look like Dr. Lieutenant-Colonel Samantha Carter.
- Harlan also replicated SG-1 as robots to help him maintain his underground facility. Harlan is also a robot, and a barmy one at that.
- Also, the gynoid who created the replicators in the first place. As toys.
- The short-lived science fiction cop show Mann And Machine featured Eve, a highly intelligent but emotionally childlike android.
- Tenaya 7 in Power Rangers RPM' is a rare villainous example. Also her counterpart in Engine Sentai Go-onger Kegalesia, whose robotic identity is given away by the valves and pipes coming out of her otherwise human-like body.
- Much earlier than that there was Archerina of Power Rangers Zeo, although she was much more metallic than most other examples, lacking in synthetic skin or coloration.
- Archerina's Japanese counterpart, Princess Multiwa of Chouriki Sentai Ohranger.
- Much earlier than that there was Archerina of Power Rangers Zeo, although she was much more metallic than most other examples, lacking in synthetic skin or coloration.
- Vicki from Small Wonder.
- The Twilight Zone
- Alicia in 'The Lonely' is left by a sympathetic space captain with a prisoner who's been sentenced to exile on an isolated asteroid.
- 'The Loneliness of the Hour' has a family whose every need is attended to by Ridiculously Human Robots. Their daughter worries that they're becoming to dependent on them and begs her family to deactivate them. Then she discovers that she too is a robot with Fake Memories.
- The Outer Limits loves its robots, and occasionally combines it with Tomato in the Mirror. It being an anthology, some episodes have it turn out better than others for robots and/or any humans who love them than others.
- E.R.I.C.A. from the Sliders episode 'State of the A.R.T.'
- Rachel from the Weird Science episode 'The Copper Top Girl'.
- Invoked on Target Women in response to a creepy skincare commercial that showed the same 'clone woman' over and over as a lab subject.New Olay Professional Pro X! A specialized team of dermatologists and Olay have designed Pro X to resignal your skin so it looks more like it did when you were younger.
'But can a robot lady learn... to love?' - My Living Doll, a 1963-64 sitcom, starred Julie Newmar as Rhoda, a secret government project to create a robot astronaut.
- On MythBusters, during a demonstration of a lie detector test, Grant is asked whether he has ever thought of building a female robot. He is very embarrassed, but doesn't deny it.
- Get Smart - Octavia is a KAOS Femme Fatale agent who seduces information from CONTROL's #2 men. Hymie the robot is promoted to #2 as he would be immune to her charms - only she's a robot herself, and the two fall in robo-love.
- Android from Dark Matter, who is also, in a way, a Spaceship Girl thanks to her uplink to Raza's systems.
- Most of the female hosts in West World are young women.
- Elly from Ultraman Max is a highly advanced gynoid who serves as the team's communications operator and strategist.
- Ultraman Ginga S had one named Android One-Zero as one of the bad guys initially, serving the AlienChibu Exceller. She's also an expy of one that appeared in Ultraseven that was serving the original Alien Chibu.
- I Am Frankie gives us the main character, her Evil Twin, Eliza and, in Season 2, Simone.
- The Good Place:
- Janet is a subversion/aversion/parody. She's a walking, talking, infinitely more helpful version of intelligent personal assistant programs like Siri or Alexa (Eleanor even calls her 'Busty Alexa' at one point), providing information about the afterlife to residents of the Good Place. However, she's neither a robot nor a girl; rather, 'she' is a genderless interface for the celestial mainframe. The human characters repeatedly refer to her as one and/or the other, and Janet always has to correct them.
- She also has an Evil Counterpart in the Bad Place in the form of Bad Janet, a blonde bimbo in a black leather jacket who goes out of her way to be unhelpful before going back to checking her phone.
- The live-action TV movie version of Kim Possible has Athena, created by Drakken to destroy Kim only to find herself actually becoming friends with her; she sacrifices herself to save Kim, but is rebuilt by the end of the film with help from Kim's parents. She even shows off her true nature to Kim before the final act.
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- All of the EA robots from Metal Heart.
- Chevrolet from 3 Level Combination.
- 'Robot Girl' is the title of a song by Was (Not Was). Guess what it's about.
- Da Yoopers also had an unrelated song with that title on their debut album.
- R&B singer Janelle Monáe portrays an alien Robot Girl named Cindi Mayweather in Metropolis, a quadrilogy of Concept Albums about Cindi's struggles after she falls in love with a human.
- 'Yours Truly, 2095' by Electric Light Orchestra: 'I met someone who looks a lot like you, she does the things you do, but she is an IBM'
- The music video for 'All Is Full of Love' by Björk, probably the inspiration for SVEDKA_GRL (See below under Real Life).
- Robot Noodle from Gorillaz is an example, premiering in Phase Three. Probably a deconstruction, too—it's completely unlike the real Noodle and it turns out Noodle is not, in fact, dead. On top of that, this robot girl is vapid, incredibly violent, subservient to her creator, and generally not at ALL like Noodle.
- 'FTWWW' and 'Mastas of Ravencroft' by Mad Gear & The Missile Kid imply sex with android girls.
- Abney Park's Herr Drosselmeyer's Doll described a steampunk version of the Robot Girl.
- The focus of Kokoro (from eitherperspective) is on a Robot Girl seeking a heart.
- The title character of the Voltaire song 'The Mechanical Girl,' created by a tinker who made her as a second daughter. When a king whose wife ran off on his steed seeks to take her for his new queen and take her away from her father, things go quite badly for his royal highness.
- Charli XCX's 'Femmebot' may or may not be from the point of view of a literal robot girl, with a ton of liberally-peppered and playful robot metaphors that at least invoke this trope.Go fuck your prototype
I’m an upgrade of your stereotype
Don’t come with a guarantee
I’ll use you up like you’re my battery
I feel the sparks between us, electric shock
Hot-wired if you mess it up, I’ll self-destruct
- In The Iliad, Hephaestus is served by automatons in many forms, one group being servant girls of living gold, making this one Older Than Feudalism.
- The smith Ilmarinen makes himself a wife of gold in The Kalevala. However, he could not actually bring her to life and she remained hard and cold, so he ended up scrapping her.
- The T-X from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
- Dungeons & Dragons: Debatably, female-identifying Warforged in the Eberron setting are a magitek version of this trope, though they don't have any physical female characteristics unless they deliberately adopt them.
- New Horizon: The Wafans, three entire races of Wave Form Androids, come in both male and female flavors across the board.
- Transhuman Space: This setting offers a huge range of 'cybershell' bodies on which AI software can be installed. Some 'Cyberdolls' are inevitably built to resemble attractive human women — sometimes for innocent reasons, and sometimes not.
- In the ballet Coppeliathe mysterious girl Franz has fallen for is actually a mechanical robot built by Dr. Coppelius.
- Blazblue has several, most notably the Murakumo Units and Kusanagi.
- Pictured above: Aegis (Aigis in the international versions) from Persona 3. FES added Metis in 'The Answer', though strictly speaking, she isn't actually a robot, but a personification of Aigis' internal conflict.
- And Persona 4: Arena adds another one, Labrys.
- KOS-MOS from the Xenosaga series is the canonical robot girl, with a surprising twist at the end.
- Momo from the same series, as a Realian, also qualifies, though Realians are organic rather than mechanical.
- In Phantasy Star Online, the raCaseal character class were Robot Girls, and most of their costumes were maid like, including a large bow on the back and a skirt. One of their hairstyles even had a little hat appropriate for a nurse or maid. They were joined in PSO: Episode 2 by huCaseals. Their costumes were more ninja-like in design.
- The sequel Phantasy Star Universe has 'casts' as a playable robot race. They can be male or female, and are hugely customizable in looks, from barely human looking to your classic Robot Girl Maid With Antenna. Kinda unique in that if you wanted to, you could have a sexy male robot running around. Furthermore, there are multiple supporting NPCs that are casts. One of the more plot relevant is the pink haired Lou, who features significantly into episodes 1 and 2 of the game. Also, an early trailer for the game indicates that one of the main heroines was a 'cast,' but was eventually replaced by the newman Karen Erra.
- Introduced in Phantasy Star Portable and later appearing in the main version of the game, Vivienne is a model of a new type of cast. Running repeated missions with her gives the player a unique opportunity to sculpt her personality as she asks you questions about her enviroment. You can, in fact, have her call you 'master.'
- The sequel Phantasy Star Universe has 'casts' as a playable robot race. They can be male or female, and are hugely customizable in looks, from barely human looking to your classic Robot Girl Maid With Antenna. Kinda unique in that if you wanted to, you could have a sexy male robot running around. Furthermore, there are multiple supporting NPCs that are casts. One of the more plot relevant is the pink haired Lou, who features significantly into episodes 1 and 2 of the game. Also, an early trailer for the game indicates that one of the main heroines was a 'cast,' but was eventually replaced by the newman Karen Erra.
- Continuing from the above, Phantasy Star III and Phantasy Star IV both had them. In III, there is an entire 'race' of sentient mechanical humans (called cyborgs, though they have no organic components; later in the series, they're called androids to reflect this), represented mostly by black-and-silver Wren-types (male) and Mieu-types: lithe, leotard-clad, claw-wielding, red-haired and overall more human-looking Robot Girls. In IV, the Robot Girl who joins your party is Demi, a unique model that some fans speculate is a custom design of Wren, a thousand-year-old Wren type.
- Tabatha from Tales of Symphonia.
- The E-series of Gadget Trial are at least partly biological versions of this, made from biometal. Each is supposed to be the equivalent of a full military unit in power, and they create more of themselves by a sort of mitosis.
- Curly Brace is one of these in Cave Story.
- Lamia Loveless in Super Robot Wars Advance is also a biological version. Though not seen in-game, in the OVA, she bleeds and has mechanical parts for body.
- A.D.A. and Pharshti in the Zone of the Enders series are both similar in concept to Dolores (see the anime section), although A.D.A. ain't quite as self-sufficient (She can't move her frame by herself like Dolores and Pharshti can).
- Tesse from Waku Waku 7. She's also a Robot Maid.
- Mei Fang from Arcana Heart
- Emeralda from Xenogears. Despite being a nanomachine colony that can freely morph into nearly any shape, she usually takes the form of a cute young girl, an appearance which came from her 'parents' (previous incarnations of the main characters). Or, if an optional (but quite easy) Side Quest is completed, a hot green-haired woman. Who quickly becomes the most powerful character in the game.
- From the same game, Tolone, the cyborg girl representing the Elements. According to Xenogears Perfect Works, her body is 90% cyberized.
- Fiora in Xenoblade becomes one due to being part of a Faced Mechon. She becomes human again in the ending.
- Poppi is Xenoblade Chronicles 2's version of the Xeno series tradition of having one of these as a party member. Poppi is an Artificial Blade built by Tora, a Nopon who wanted to be a Driver but didn't have the potential. Her initial form, Poppi α looks like a little girl, Poppi QT note , her Mid-Season Upgrade, looks like a Robot Maidand her final form, Poppi QTπ note is designed like an idol singer.
- KOS-MOS from Xenosaga is also in the game as a Rare Blade.
- Tio from Grandia II.
- Roll and Splash Woman from Mega Man, plus Alia and Iris (among others) from the X series, Alouette and others from Zero. (It's also not unheard of for Zero to be mistaken for one.)
- Naturally, when Roll appeared in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Viewtiful Joe was more than a little attracted to her.
'A cute robot girl that's also a maid? You know, there is such a thing as overkill.'- Being a Spiritual Successor to the Mega Man series, Mighty No. 9 brings us Call, Mighty No. 2 Cryosphere, and Mighty No. 3 Dynatron. Ray/Raychel is also this, though it isn't as obvious.
- Another Spiritual Successor, 20XX, has Nina, the Mega Man-equivalent player character.
- Soul Calibur IV has Ashlotte, a robotic Elegant Gothic Lolita sent to capture Astaroth. Her profile describes her as being 'something that would eventually be called a machine', which makes sense when you remember the series takes place in the16th century.
- In Dokapon Kingdom, female characters who use the Robo-Knight character class turn into robot girls with floating ponytails that turn into wings.
- Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia gives you the Arma Machina glyph, transforming Shanoa into one of these. The other male robots will fall in love with you and follow you around in this form, fighting creatures for you.
- Marina Lightyears, the protagonist of Mischief Makers.
- Triggerheart Exelica: Triggerhearts Exelica, Crueltear and Faintear.
- Tales of Graces has the Humanoids, robotic children which are varied between boys and girls. Most notably, though, is Protos Heis / Sophie, as well as the adult Emeraude, though in her case, this isn't revealed untilher 'death', as she was a robotic clone of the real Emeraude from centuries ago.
- Incarose from Tales of Hearts basically defines all the dangerous things in this trope. Also Corundum. In fact, almost every robot in the game, regardless of gender, is pretty much crazy. Except Kunzite.
- Lunar Knights, the robotic attendants at the Solar Bank and the store and also the seemingly more human robotic female aide to the the resident Mad Scientist.
- Raki Saionji, from Piece Of Wonder.
- Alisa Boskonovitch from Tekken 6.
- The Elemental Dolls from DoDonPachi DaiOuJou and the Elemental Daughters from DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu.
- Miss Marshmallow from MOTHER 3.
- In Infinite Space, Mad Scientist Gavriil Minas takes a broken HELP Android (The In Game Encyclopedia) and makes in to one of these. She has 5,000 kelvin Degree cutting claws, her eyes shoot laser beams and she has the best combat stat in the entire game.
- Luminous Arc: Despite having a pronounced evil edge to her Iris, the Steel Witch is very cute. She also talks like a Dalek.
- One of the stranger examples in video-gaming was the adjutants from Starcraft I and StarCraft II. Though a robot, in Starcraft I, it was initially seen as a bald, bio-mechanical woman's head that had a robot voice. They were redesigned in StarCraft II, that appeared to be cuter, less explicitly human, and not like a borg. Being initially a face and a voice, the adjutant had some of the least potential to be sexualized. Cue Starcraft II, which produced the cuter, more feminine adjutant, cue the fanart. In the later missions, there's also another adjutant that played a bigger role in the plot, and you could tell just by looking at her.
- As of Mortal Kombat 11, Frost, Sub-Zero's Distaff Counterpart and hated rival, is a Cyber Lin Kuei. Her body had undergone significant cyberization, such that some of her animations show her head and arms being easily detachable.
- Robogirl, the appropriately-named ally from Billy Vs SNAKEMAN. Subverted; her 'robot body' is actually a shell she wears due to a weakly-defined anxiety about 'real' people. You help her get over it in the Pizza Witch storyline, and she takes off her shell, revealing a real flesh-and-blood person.
- There's lots of them in the Japanese MMO Cosmic Break, such as Crimrose and Lily Rain.
- In the DLC of BioShock 2 Minerva's Den gives us the failed Robotic Little Sisters.
- Unreal Tournament 2004 has a bit of a send-up of the character type with Devastation, Liandri's latest domestic gynoid entered in the tournament as a marketing stunt. Her status as Super Powered Robot Meter Maid is handwaved with the explanation she's in the tournament to demonstrate the model's agility and AI adaptability (her armored shell and combat abilities don't come standard) and her womanly figure is described as being based on a 'popular adult holoactress' in another bid to boost sales.
- Dominique in The Bouncer.
- In Mass Effect 3, when Shepard travels to the Mars base, s/he encounters a Dr. Eva, who is actually a robotic infiltrator sent by Cerberus. Eva's body is disabled and taken back to the Normandy to recover data. Eva reactivates, but EDI, the ship's AI, is there to stop her. In the subsequent AI combat, EDI seizes control of Eva's body and subsequently uses it as a physical avatar.
- Not only that, but EDI has the potential to become Joker's Love Interest in Eva's body, especially if the Synthesis ending is chosen.
- KARA from Quantic Dreams' latest tech demo.
- Miss Bloody Rachel from Viewtiful Joe 2 is a good example. She was built specifically to take down Joe and Silvia but instead is befriended by them. And then she gets zapped, frying her circuits, but it's not permanent.
- The main character in The Guardian Legend is a robot girl that transforms into a spaceship. She's given no name in the English version, though in Japan she was named Miria.
- Orianna, the Clockwork Lady, is a playable champion in League of Legends. She was built by the father of a real girl who died while training to join the League. She's a very creepy and unnerving individual, imitating humanity while lacking human characteristics.
- Patricia Wagon the main character in Mighty Switch Force! is a cybernetic cop (first game) and/or a firefighter (second game). Although some official material states that she's a cyborg as opposed to a full robot.
- Ernula from G.rev's Senko no Ronde is an android girl that also that consists of several duplicates of her. Cuilan, an android boy, is often be mistaken for one.
- Enemy Zero has one. Laura, the player character.
- Experimental Princess Farrah Day from Nefarious, who was designed to be the perfect princess.
- In NieR: Automata there are the YoRHa unit's, combat androids sent by the surviving humans on the moon to combat the alien robots that has invaded Earth, the female unit 2B being the main character. Devola and Popola also return from the original Nier, or to be more exact, two Devola and Popola model robots who are unrelated to the previous ones.
- Herbert, from The Legend of Dark Witch 2, is an android that leads the elite group of researchers that make up the first set of bosses. She is capable of flight and her area of expertise is alchemy of all things.
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of the Superheroes: The Secret Character known as Shadow Lady is Chun-Li from an Alternate Universe where she was forcibly turned into abrainwashed cybernetic minion for Shadaloo. Before she was forcibly roboticized, Chun-Li routinely foiled Shadaloo's plans at every turn, and in retaliation, Shadaloo kidnapped, experimented and cyborgized her for the sake of turning her into a pawn against Interpol. When the task was completed, they turned her into a living weapon, complete with a new name and transformed her into M. Bison's top operative. Unlike Shadow—a roboticized Charlie Nash, who escaped shortly after being transformed—Shadaloo added a Restraining Bolt to Shadow Lady's programming and internal systems so the cyborg would remain fully obedient and loyal to Bison, and complete her missions by having her body be remotely controlled, essentially making her a Dark ActionRobot Girl. As Shadow Lady, Chun-Li's formerly cheerful personality was obliterated, and her body's physiology altered so itexperienced no emotion apart from being a ruthless but highly effective killing machine and assassin for Shadaloo - in essence, she is essentially a completely different person inhabiting her body and mind (being more machine than human), and serves as nothing but a weapon against her former allies and Interpol. It's also been implied that deep down, the old Chun-Li is still there on some level, and is at least partially aware of what she has done. Even if her allies ever managed to revive her, Chun-Li would have to deal with theguilt of being a tool for Shadaloo, not to mention the fact that being a brainwashed robotic minion wouldn't go away overnight should she become a good person again. Aside from retaining a few moves from her non-cyborgified variant, she has built-in high tech weaponry, and all of this was augmented to her robotic body, like the T-X from the Terminator series, thus making her more faster and stronger than Shadow, but at the cost of becoming a brainwashed minion for Shadaloo. She shoots homing/heat-seeking missiles from her back, thrusts forward with a drill, encases herself in a electric barrier (that also deflects attacks and stuns opponents), miniaturized Vernier thrusters in her feet that enable her to jump much higher (and allow her to kick more rapidly) and fires a large beam (Big Bang Laser) from her palms. In her ending however, she manages to overcome Shadaloo's brainwashing,regain her original memories as Chun-Li, and join forces with Shadow in taking down Shadaloo. Despite this, she retains her robotic parts even after the brainwashing broke.
- Endless Frontier gives us Aschen Brodel, Haken's android friend and voice of reason, who pulls triple duty as not only the Robot Girl, but resident Deadpan Snarker AND Genki Girl all in one package (depending on whether she's overheated or not).
- Starbound: The Glitch are an entire race of sapient robots (who, because of certain reasons, believe themselves to be living in medieval times), so half of them qualify. You can play as one, as well as invite them to live in your homes and work on your crew.
- Shinatama, is an android or SLD (simulated life doll) who was subsequently Kidnapped, Tortured, and Blown Up. She acts as a liaison to the main protagonist Konoko in Oni.
- METAGAL has Meta and her eight sisters, who she has to fight to return them to normal after they've been reprogrammed into battle robots.
- Tanya and Julia from Bionic Heart are androids. Both can hold their own in combat, and Tanya often serves as the Innocent Fanservice Girl.
- Kotomi Ichinose from CLANNAD isn't actually a robot, but Tomoya commonly compares her to one mentally, due to her blank expressions, total lack of social skills, and incredible memory and intelligence.
- Yumemi (Reverie in the Fan Translation) from Planetarian.
- Colonel Sebastian Moran in Shikkoku no Sharnoth used to be a biological human, but her body appears to have been almost entirely replaced by Engine Machines. As a little girl, she was the Sole Survivor from a small village destroyed by a Metacreature attack; when on the brink of death she was both saved and rebuilt into a Robot Girl by M, which is the reason whyshe's completely devoted to him.
- Stella Silver from Shining Song Starnova is a prototype android designed to be the perfect Idol Singer.
- Multi from To Heart is probably the earliest example of this trope in a Dating Sim context.
- Ilfa, Silfa, and Milfa are a trio of sister robot girls in To Heart 2 and its various spin-offs.
- Luna from Virtue's Last Reward is a robot girl.
- The titular Lucy ~The Eternity She Wished For~ is one who also has emotional responses.
- Angel Moxie: Ms. Konk. Her creator makes some drastic changes to her, revamping the scary old lady robot to a bubbly, ditz, with a body like a supermodel.
- Eve from Applegeeks is a robot made, predictably, from a Mac computer to be a girlfriend for Hawk. Some of her first actions in life are wrecking Alice's (Windows) PC and detonating an Apple store because she was jealous.
- Ask Dr Eldritch has Helen, the Doctor's Robot Maid. He really hates it when people call her a Sexbot, though, so don't.
- Ayuri: Aside from being made of plastic, Kay seems like an ordinary human woman.
- Bigger Than Cheeses has two robot girls: The Ditz Lei and sex fiend Cleo (which often crushes her chosen beau Thanatos with her comic-robot-level strength)
- Comedity has Alice, a robot girl which (due to the comic's Life Embellished nature) is the stand-in for the author's computer.
- Ping from MegaTokyo (remember that both, especially Megatokyo, are largely influenced by manga); notice, however, that Ping does have a modesty programming, and seeing Largo in his boxers can make her panic. She also has a programme routine which means that although she is “anatomically correct” she retains discretionary control over this.
- Commander Kitty has the Alpha Droids aboard Zenith Central.Along with Zenith herself, Nin Wah's clone, and a good portion of the galaxy's population.
- Dresden Codak: Fitting the cyborg part of this trope is Kimiko Ross, whose legs, an arm, a eye, some of her spine are all cybernetic post-Hob, and she even has an input jack in her upper back.
- In El Goonish Shive, Susan initially mistakes Grace for one of these thinking Tedd couldn't have possibly have a real girlfriend and must have made one instead.
- Kotone of Experimental Comic Kotone, although she's so realistic-looking that none of the characters that weren't explicitly told so (that is, everyone except for the nameless protagonist) don't realize that she's a robot. She also fits the Token Mini-Moe and Not Blood Siblings requirements (ExCoKo is a parody of a Dating Sim).
- Evalyn Zeronius/Zero-Girl from Iron Violet The Shy Titan is a combat robot girl with super-speed. Humorously, she is capable of having emotion, but is unable to express it properly, causing her to be constantly deadpan.
- Yuri: So you're a fan of the Magical Princess Knight Celtia games too?
Evalyn: [emotionless] Affirmative. Her whimsical girlish adventues excite me. I am giddy with anticipation for the new game.
Yuri: Y-yeah...I can...see that...
- Prism from Flaky Pastry turns out to be one.
- The Muses (and Princess Anevka) from the webcomic Girl Genius. Otilia, the Muse of Protection, easily the most badass-looking Robot Girl of all time.
- Aversion in Gunnerkrigg Court: Jones is not a robot.
- Aradia in Homestuck becomes one, although in this case it's a ghost of a girl that's posessing a robot body.
- And then she explodes and comes back to life again as a time goddess.
- Jayden and Crusader has two, Computer and Computer Version 2. The first one was temporarily almost a main character, but the second one showed up twice and was never seen again.
- Computer came back and boy is she angry.
- 42 of Kiwiblitz is this, imported from a friend of Mr. Frohlich who lives in Japan.
- Last Res0rt has two types (debatably): CG-86 is referred to as a 'Defective Stepford'. Gangrel and the Cybees, on the other hand, are a little too small and plush to be 'typical' robot lasses, and we've already seen male versions as well.
- Magic And Physics has one in the form of Morgan Lillup. Which could constitute as some form of accomplishment as it is a Stick-Figure Comic.
- Sulla from O Human Star is one. She's not that sexualized, but she is very cute. Averted... kind of... she's a transgender girl.
- Questionable Content has many, many examples dues to the existence of Anthro P Cs and their ability to use a humanlike chassis. There are a lot seen throughout the series, but the most notable are below:
- The first and most seen was Momo, Marigold's Moe Anthro-PC. Originally looking like a chibi schoolgirl, in strip 2000 she upgraded to a more human-proportioned body later (but still looks somewhat young and anime-ish. Momo is a curious example in that she has been specifically shown on at least three occasions to have an active libido, but for reasons of her own, presents as a more-or-less pre-teen girl. Momo is implied to be “anatomically correct” (not least, the Running Gag about “eel handling” in her original chassis) and May appears to believe this, but her pre-teen appearance makes this a subject best avoided.
- Momo also presents the dilemma of the cost and financing of robot girls. Idoru appears to be a commercial enterprise, selling AI bodies which appear to cost as much as a car, for no clearly defined purpose. This becomes a plot point between Momo and Marigold. It doesn’t appear when Hannelore buys Winslow a chassis, but Hannelore is implied to be independently wealthy so can presumably afford it.
- May is a robo-convict who first appeared as an avatar inside Dale's smart-glasses, as a (reluctant) AI helper. She later got out of Robot Jail and went to crash with Dale in a proper (albeit ill-maintained) body. May is another example of the cost/benefit issue, because her (state-provided) chassis is clearly at or near the end of its useful life, and has no funds available to maintain it. May certainly ISN’T “anatomically correct”
- Bubbles, a former combat droid who worked in the same underground fighting ring as Faye. The ring was run by Corpse Witch (yes that IS her name), another example of this trope but one that errs more on the 'robot' side. Bubbles’ take on the cost/benefit issue appears to be that HER chassis appears to be military-surplus; the termination of the programme meant that she was allowed to retain it upon discharge, but Corpse Witch implies (and Bubbles appears to believe) that the government could reclaim it at will. Bubbles’ anatomically correct status isn’t known.
- various minor characters may, or may not be. Melon, a recent minor character, doesn’t appear to be, and is quite happy walking about wearing only a sweatshirt. Officer Roko, no information. Seven is more of a Tin-Can Robot although she DOES have an electronic libido, by her own account. None of the “Male” robots have been shown to be anatomically correct.
- Orphaned SeriesRumble Fall over at Wirepop had Demeneos the mechdoll, an Expy of KOS-MOS.
- Shortpacked! has UltraCar's current form, a redhead with retractable rolling skates.
- Skin Horse has Violet Bee, actually a drone remote-controlled by the mysterious Goldbug. Her/its creator later links the body to Nick Zerhakker instead.
- Oasis of Sluggy Freelance was originally revealed to be a robot, though later plotlines revealed this to be false.
- Times Like This has Nicki, the Robotron-brand MIRA, or Multifunctional Interactive Robotic Assistant. Manufactured in 2023, purchased secondhand by Cassie in 2027, and now living in the present time.
- YOSH! counts many robot girls as characters: Miyo, Nami, Toyoko, Lien and Rieko, a robot fox girl with the soul of a human. It is stated that their creator, Shiden, made thousands of them (all female) and occasionally uses them to attempt to conquer the world.
- Doris in Val And Isaac is an adorable, blue-haired female robot. Her girlfriend Minnow is certainly very fond of her.
- Several works by James Franzen include robot girls, most notably MTC Saga.
- The short story And, combining this trope with hints of What Measure Is a Non-Human?
- Girl Robot, a Web musical.
- Female golems in Tales of MU, especially Two, are the Magitek equivalent.
- Teen Girl Squad: In Issue 15, Japanese Culture Greg tries to date a clunky robot named Chizuko and gets 'UNCANNY VALLEY'D' to death for his trouble.
- The League of S.T.E.A.M. has a clockwork cyborg girl (R.O.S.E.) used for zombie hunting.
- Sweetie Belle in Friendship is Witchcraft is very blatantly robotic, yet nobody, including her family or herself, ever notices. In a case of Dramatic Irony, she accuses her biological (but less emotional) sister Rarity of being one.
- Destiny Factor has two; Sammy 64, who looks about Terry's height, and Virus... who'd stand out in a crowd due to height. Virus is debatable due to another set of genetalia she has...
- Laurel from Skyway Mechanix is a very realistic robot.
- RWBY has Penny, whom much of the fandom speculated was a robot when she first appeared thanks to her odd mannerisms and the Tron Lines on her clothes. In volume 2, this was confirmed, when stopping a truck scrapped off some of the skin on her hands to reveal metal.
- SCP Foundation provides a rare example that is sex-free - if only because it's an actual girl - with SCP-191, Cyborg Child. It is a girl who was kidnapped and suffered Unwilling Roboticisation by a Mad Scientist, that even rendered her horribly disfigured (most notably, the left half of the face and skull and her jaw were replaced by robotic implements).
- An American twist on the trope: Jenny in My Life as a Teenage Robot is less interested in saving the world than hanging out with high school kids, even though she can certainly hold her own in a fight.
- Another, very early American twist: a 1943 continuity arc in the Mickey Mouse comic strip introduced Mimi, a sexy robot girl who wooed Mickey in a sci-fi scenario. In the story's climactic battle, Mimi was actually blown apart during a Heroic Sacrifice; interestingly, she was treated as dead and never reassembled, making this decidedly not a Robot Disney Death.
- Honorable mention goes to Sari from Transformers Animated, a Half-Human Hybrid of Cybertronian and human. Her heritage gives her circuitry under the skin and hands that unfold into blasters, combined with a human digestive system, possibly nervous system and skin, among others. In the beginning of season 3 she receives a self-induced upgrade, going to being more machine than man, fitting the trope more accurately.
- Many female Transformers also fall under fembots.
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has Alice, the hottest Decepticon ever.
- The American Mega Man cartoon made Roll not only older and more attractive looking, but also a serious Action Girl, which Mega fails to recognize. In the first episode, she one-shots Fire Man with a vacuum!
- The title characters from Challenge Of The Go Bots also have gender (Crasher, Small Foot, and Pathfinder being the most prominent female cast members), but with the significant difference that they are cyborgs (in the Brain in a Jar sense) rather than true robots, and so they probably do have biological gender, at least on a neurological level.
- The Batman Beyond episode 'Terry's Friend Dates A Robot' is about the school's biggest nerd suddenly getting a very attractive girlfriend. As the episode title already spoiled for you, she turns out to be a robot that he commissioned from the same company that makes Batman's robotic training dummies. Eventually he gets her reprogrammed to act more like a real girlfriend, which results in her becoming lethally jealous of the new female friends that the nerd gains through his new-found popularity.
- In Kim Possible, the heroes were tasked with tracking down a woman who had allegedly stolen robotics technology from her older male former partner, a self-proclaimed robotics genius. She and her boyfriend are completely unhelpful when they reveal they talked with her partner. In the end, it turns out no, no, she's human, it's not that. Rather, she was the genius roboticist, the former partner was a fraud trying to steal her glory, and her boyfriend was a robot.
- Also, Drakken's Bebes.
- Yakkity Yak has Penelope.
- Jinmay of Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!.
- Green Lantern: The Animated Series has Aya, an artificial intelligence that builds herself a robot body (in 2.1 seconds!) when Kilowog tells he she needs a body to be a Green Lantern. Also counts as Spaceship Girl.
- Japan, of course, is working on making them a reality This,this,and this are some examples.
- JSK Robotics is currently building a robot that looks a bit like a cross between Shinji and Rei
- ELIZA, the parser program designed to fool a Turing Test by rephrasing anything that is said to it as a question, was presented to testers as being a live woman. Its designer was later appalled when some people started hailing this bit of transparent stage trickery as true artificial intelligence.
- An inventor in Canada has been building Aiko, a robot in the design stages that is intended to be capable of everything from household chores to security duties to, yes, 'companionship.'
- SVEDKA_GRL, the mascot of a brand of Swedish vodka, has Hartman Hips, the Most Common Superpower, and is in general hot enough to float over the Uncanny Valley in a peculiarly alluring manner.
Alita - Mirror scene
Alita battle angel practicing some moves in the mirror
Index
W.I.T.C.H. | |
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Clockwise from center: Will, Hay Lin, Irma, Cornelia, and Taranee. | |
Genre |
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Based on | W.I.T.C.H. by |
Developed by |
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Directed by |
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Creative director(s) | Glenn Eichler (creative consultant, season 2) |
Voices of | |
Theme music composer |
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Opening theme |
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Ending theme |
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Composer(s) | |
Country of origin |
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Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 52[7](list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Running time | 22 minutes |
Production company(s) | |
Distributor | Buena Vista International Television[8] |
Release | |
Original network |
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Original release | December 18, 2004 – December 23, 2006 |
W.I.T.C.H. is a French-American animated television series based on the Italian comic book series of the same name. The animated series was produced by SIP Animation in association with and with participation from Jetix Europe, The Walt Disney Company and France Television.[10][8]
The show follows five girls – Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin – who have magical powers, which they use to fulfill their duties as Guardians of the Veil. The names of these five characters form the titular acronym, despite the characters not actually being witches.[11] The show takes place in the fictional city of Heatherfield and various mythical worlds, primarily Meridian.
W.I.T.C.H. premiered December 18, 2004 on ABC Family, and concluded on December 23, 2006 on Toon Disney.
- 1Plot
- 1.1Guardian Powers and Magic
- 2Characters
- 2.1Protagonists
- 2.2Antagonists/Villains
- 2.3Recurring and supporting characters
- 2.3.1Inhabitants of Earth
- 3Setting
- 3.1Earth
- 3.1.1Heatherfield
- 3.2Meridian
- 3.1Earth
- 4Production
- 5Release
Plot[edit]
The Guardians must save Meridian from the evil sorcerer Phobos and Cedric who are searching for Phobos' sister, the long lost princess of Meridian and true heir to the throne. They later find her and the Guardians then set about saving her from Phobos. When Meridian is freed from evil and true heir takes the throne, a new mysterious sorceress named Nerissa frees Phobos' top henchmen and reforms them as the Knights of Vengeance. Once the Guardians learn more about the sorceress and her evil plan of reuniting former Guardians, they are able to defeat the Knights only to have more powerful Knights of Destruction, in addition to the former Guardians attack them.
The Guardians' chief ally is Hay Lin's paternal grandmother Yan Lin, the original, former Guardian of Air, and the one that taught the girls about their magical abilities and destiny as the second generation of Guardians of the Veil. They are also helped by Caleb, a heroic soldier from Meridian, leader of the rebellion against Phobos, and Blunk, a frog-like goblin creature (known as a Passling) who takes things from the human world to Meridian (and vice versa), humorously mistaking everyday objects for other things or items of value.[5] Matt, Will's boyfriend, accidentally learns about Meridian and when he sees the troubles there going on, he learns how to become a warrior to help them. They are also helped by the Oracle, leader of the Universe in Kandrakar, who was the one who chose the five girls.
Guardian Powers and Magic[edit]
Each of the five Guardian's powers are derived and drastically strengthened via the mystic temple by Kandrakar, transmitted to the Heart via the Aurameres (the physical representations of the Guardians' powers). The Aurameres grant the same exact elemental powers to each of their guardians; for instance, powers held by Irma would also have been possessed by Cassidy. The keeper of the Aurameres is Luba, a cat-like being.
When the Guardians transform, they change form, height and grow wings, which help them fly. Also, the Guardians can combine their powers together and create a beam of concentrated mystical energy from their hands as seen on the show's premiere. Since the Veil was taken down, the Guardians have to cross worlds by 'folding', with the help of the Heart of Candracar. Queen Elyon and Blunk (via the Tooth of the Tonga) can fold as well.
In order to travel to another place in the same world, each Guardian can teletransport. Teletransporting is a difficult ability to learn and one can materialize into another solid object if not careful enough. If a Guardian teletransports while not connected to an Auramere or a Heart than they will drain their life force.
It has been shown that if a Guardian uses her elemental powers and is not connected to an Auramere, it will drain their life force, making them much weaker. This may be why Nerissa aged so much faster than the rest of C.H.Y.K.N.A Guardian can become a Quinto-Guardian, which has the powers over the five elements:Water, Fire, Earth, Air and Quintessence. A Quinto-Guardian can gain the power to create solid ice out of thin air as with liquid water. The only known Quinto-Guardians are Cornelia (temporarily via the merged Aurameres) and Nerissa (by using her Seal).The Guardians can also become one with their dragon (or the powerful nymph Xin Jing, in the case of the Guardian of Quintessence and Keeper of the mystical Heart of Kandrakar, Will) and literally become their element while increasing all of their elemental abilities to their zenith of strength. But this is risky and rather dangerous because it costs them their humanity and they could be easily controlled and enthralled.
Astral Drops and Altermeres[edit]
Using the Heart of Candracar's mystical power, a Guardian can create an Astral Drop, a duplicate of herself, when the words 'Spord Lartsa' (Astral Drops spelled backwards) are said. The Astral Drops are doppelgangers, summoned when the Guardians have to go on a mission and need doubles so their absence is not felt. Although a Drop is a perfect physical copy of a person, they possess none of their memories, and have no personality of their own. All the Astral Drops make their debut in 'Ambush at Torus Filney'. Cornelia makes another Astral Drop in 'The Mogriffs', as does Will in 'H is for Hunted'.
An Altermere is an Astral Drop brought to life through the power of Quintessence. Unlike Astral Drops, they do not fade away when 'Astral Drop' is said; they are actual living beings with feelings, emotions and memories. The concept of Altermeres is introduced in 'H is for Hunted' when Will creates an Astral Drop to do her chores (laundry). Nerissa soon creates trouble by making it an Altermere. In 'R is for Relentless', Nerissa tries to corrupt Yan Lin to her side, but can not. So she traps Yan Lin in the Seal of Nerissa and creates an Altermere double who does not realize she is not the real Yan Lin until Nerissa tells her. In 'Z is for Zenith', Yan Lin introduces her long-lost sister she found in China to Joan and Chen Lin: Mira.
Characters[edit]
Protagonists[edit]
W.I.T.C.H.[edit]
- Wilhelmina[12] 'Will' Vandom (voiced by Kelly Stables) - Will is the 13-year-old[13] leader of the Guardians of the Veil and the owner of the Heart of Kandrakar. Will moves to Heatherfield with her mother at the beginning of the series. Originally Will's powers are limited to activating the transformation into Guardian form and sealing portals. However, in the second season Will fully gains her own elemental ability of quintessence, the fifth element, which grants her electrokinetic and life-granting abilities. In addition, Will is able to communicate with electrical appliances. Her only love interest and boyfriend throughout the series is Matt Olsen.
- Irma Lair (voiced by Candi Milo) - Irma is the 12-year-old[13] Guardian of Water whose ability allows her to control water, and in the second season, the power of mind control. Irma acts as the series' comic relief, providing witty dialogue and remarks, which is often a source of irritation for Cornelia. Irma is appointed as the station manager of Sheffield Institute's radio station, she titles her radio segment Lair on the Air. Unlike the other Guardians, Irma does not have a boyfriend despite her affection for Andrew Hornby and the unrequited attention from Martin Tubbs.
- Taranee Cook (voiced by Kali Troy) - Taranee is the 12-year-old[13] Guardian of Fire, able to create and manipulate Fire, and in the second season, she has the ability to telepathically communicate with the other Guardians. Taranee is dedicated to her schoolwork, and often uses her intellect to defeat enemies. Her boyfriend is Nigel Ashcroft, whose social circle initially causes mistrust by Taranee's parents.
- Cornelia Hale (voiced by Christel Khalil) - Cornelia is the 13-year-old[13] Guardian of Earth granting her the ability to control earth and plants[9] and in the second season, she gains the power of telekinesis. Cornelia is vain and haughty, and is often a foil to Will. But she begins to warm up to her eventually, throughout the series. She is best friends with Elyon Brown, later revealed to be the missing Princess of Meridian. Cornelia becomes romantically involved with Caleb. His duties in Meridian later cause a rift in their relationship.
- Hay Lin (voiced by Liza del Mundo) - Hay Lin is the 12-year-old[13] Guardian of Air which enables her to control Air, and also become invisible in the second season. Her paternal grandmother, Yan Lin, was the previous Guardian of Air and introduced the new Guardians to their roles. Hay Lin is of Chinese descent and her parents own the Silver Dragon, a Chinese restaurant, where Hay Lin works part-time. Hay Lin enjoys art and is a free spirit. Despite her original distaste for dating, Hay Lin becomes infatuated with Eric Lyndon who eventually becomes her boyfriend.
Allies[edit]
- Caleb (voiced by Greg Cipes) - Caleb is a 15-year-old[14] human teenager, who started Meridian's resistance movement. Caleb is usually accompanied by Blunk. Personality-wise, Caleb is brave and reckless, as well a strong and quick-thinking leader and a good fighter. He tends to be a little arrogant and bad-tempered, with a sarcastic streak. He also fails to understand how girls' minds work (something that gets him in trouble with Cornelia from time to time). Although he puts on a tough and uncaring attitude, Caleb is a loyal friend who sticks to his beliefs no matter what. Even though he is the only one of the main characters who has no special powers or abilities he is more than able to hold his ground against more powerful opponents with his experience, quick thinking and hand-to-hand combat skills. Although his most preferred weapon seems to be a sword he is skilled with the use of other ones too.
- Blunk (voiced by Steven Blum) - Blunk is a small and smelly creature who lives on Meridian. He is a Passling, a short toad/goblin-like creature who travels through the dimensions to find and steal goods to sell. Blunk went to Earth with Caleb and the Guardians and quickly made a home there: the Silver Dragon's dumpster. Blunk, being able to sniff out portals, frequently went to Earth and back. He spent half his time on Meridian finding goods, helping the Guardians and selling to customers, and the other half on Earth finding goods, helping the Guardians and sniffing out portals for them. Blunk often helped Caleb in his missions, and when he was almost eaten by Cedric and Miranda, Caleb was greatly worried about him and called him a 'friend'. Blunk was so happy with Caleb that from then on, he sticks by him.
- Elyon Brown (voiced by Serena Berman) - Elyon was born in Meridian, lone daughter to the Queen and King and heir to the throne. However, after the disappearance of her parents, a Meridianite named Galgheita took her to Earth to evade the wrath of the cruel and heartless Phobos, her evil brother, and to protect her from him, as he had plans to steal her superior magical powers. Elyon was raised there as a normal girl by the Browns, Meridianites whom Elyon believed to be her parents. Cedric eventually tells her about her identity and turns her against the Guardians, convincing her to go to Meridian, where he teaches her to wield and use her powers. After staying by Phobos and Cedric's side for a while, Elyon realizes that Phobos and Cedric are heartless tyrants lusting after her powers and helps W.I.T.C.H. defeat them. Elyon then stays in Meridian, along with her surrogate parents, and assumes her rightful place as the Heart of Meridian.
- Matt Olsen (voiced by Jason Marsden) - Matt Olsen is Will's classmate and starts off as her crush, later becoming her boyfriend. He is the lead guitarist and main singer of his band, Wreck 55. His musical talents have been showcased in a few episodes, particularly 'S is for Self' ('The Demon in Me', and 'The Will to Love', a song written for Will). He first appeared in 'Happy Birthday Will'. Matt first learns about the Guardians in 'The Stolen Heart', when he accidentally follows Caleb and the girls through a portal and finds himself in Meridian. After seeing Will in her Guardian form, Matt considers himself a part of the team. After participating in the major events in 'The Final Battle', Matt decides that he wants to help, though the Guardians (mainly Will) are reluctant, in case he should be injured. As a result of this, he asked Caleb to train him how to be a warrior in 'D is for Dangerous'. See below for his information as Shagon.
- Yan Lin (voiced by Lauren Tom) – See below
Antagonists/Villains[edit]
Main enemies[edit]
- Prince Phobos (voiced by Mitchell Whitfield) - The primary antagonist of the first season. He is the ruler of Meridian, in spite of his missing sister Elyon being the rightful heir. Phobos seeks to remain ruler of Meridian by defeating Elyon, the lost Princess and the Guardians of the Veil. At the end of season one, Phobos is defeated by the Guardians and is imprisoned with Cedric, Miranda, and the Lurdens. During season two, Phobos is briefly freed by the Knights of Vengeance in 'J is for Jewel' where Phobos turns Miranda into a spider and throwing her into Cedric's cell for siding with Nerissa. When Elyon returned, she reimprisoned Phobos and the Lurdens as well as the Knights of Vengeance. During the final episodes of season two, Phobos is released to help defeat Nerissa. Afterwards, he uses the Seal of Nerissa to convert into his staff in order reclaim his rule over Meridian only to be swallowed by Cedric. When Cedric is defeated, both Phobos and Cedric were rendered comatose from the experience and are incarcerated.
- Lord Cedric (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) - Lord Cedric is Phobos' right-hand man who is able to shape-shift into a human-snake hybrid. He commands Phobos' army of monsters and was tasked with locating the missing Princess Elyon in order for Phobos to absorb her powers. In the first season, he comes to Earth and opens a bookstore under the alias of Cedric Hoffman in order to attract the Princess. At the end of the first season, Cedric is shrunk to a caricature of his snake-like form by Phobos for failing him for the last time. Near the end of the second season, Cedric is released and swallows Phobos in his moment of glory while also ingesting the Seal of Nerissa as well. During the time Cedric demanded that the Knights of Vengeance swear their allegiance to them, Miranda took the opportunity as it was revealed that they have a love relationship. When Cedric was defeated enough to regurgitate Phobos and the Seal of Nerissa, both Cedric and Phobos were rendered comatose from the experience and are incarcerated.
- Nerissa (voiced by Kath Soucie) - Nerissa is the original former Guardian of the Veil who was gifted the power of quintessence and original Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar, the predecessor of Will. She is introduced as the second season's primary antagonist. Nerissa aims to regain control over Kandrakar and the other magical realms. She is successful in procuring the Hearts of several worlds. In order to achieve her aim, throughout the season Nerissa creates groups who can fight the present Guardians. These include the Knights of Vengeance, the Knights of Destruction and C.H.Y.K.N., the original five Guardians of the Veil, of which Nerissa the fifth member and leader.
The Knights of Vengeance[edit]
The Knights of Vengeance is Nerissa's first team, that she assembled. Most of them formerly worked for Prince Phobos. Among its members are:
- Raythor (voiced by Steven Blum) - Raythor was a high-ranking knight of Phobos. Raythor debuted in 'The Key'. When Caleb escaped from the castle, he managed to get out of handcuffs by using a key. This leads Raythor to suspect that Vathek (the rebel spy cell guard) helped Caleb to escape. The Guardians rescue Vathek and take down Raythor. As they do, Will hides the key in Raythor's uniform so when Cedric and his troops arrive, they arrest Raythor for stealing the key, and Raythor, not Vathek, is thrown into the Abyss of Shadows. Raythor then appears in 'A is for Anonymous' after crawling out of the Abyss of Shadows in a malnourished state. He joins with the other knights of Phobos to form the Knights of Vengeance. Raythor is made leader since he has good decision planning and thinks before charging into a battle. Raythor has a desire for vengeance and hates Queen Elyon, the rebels, and especially the Guardians. But when Phobos breaks his oath to the Guardians in 'W is for Witch' and releases the Lurdens and the Knights of Vengeance, Raythor is ashamed and decides to join the Guardians.
- Frost the Hunter (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) - Frost the Hunter was a high-ranking member of Phobos' army. Frost makes a cameo in 'Ambush at Torus Filney' but his real debut is in 'Framed' where he and Crimson go to defeat the Guardians in Elias Van Dahl's painting in which they are trapped. Frost challenges leadership to the Knights but Raythor outsmarts him in a mini-battle. He participates in all the Knights' activities proving to be a useful member, along with Crimson. Frost lacks intelligence and is a downright brute; his dimwitted-ness is shown by naming his black-green rhino Crimson. Frost is also very impatient, has a short temper, and never thinks before he acts.
- Crimson (vocal effects provided by Michael Bell) - Crimson is Frost's three-horned rhinoceros-like mount.
- Miranda (voiced by Grey DeLisle in most episodes, Susan Silo in animal form during season one) - The youngest of Phobos' associates who, like Cedric, is a shapeshifter with one human and one animal form. Her human form is a small Asian girl in her early teens with shoulder-length black hair, wearing a green and yellow dress. Her animal form is a hairy, four-legged, four-eyed spider-like creature with the power to climb walls and shoot webs. She was entrusted with the task of spying on the Guardians on Earth as a student in Heatherfield under a human identity Melinda. During the second season, she is recruited by Nerissa to join the Knights of Vengeance and is turned into a spider by Phobos as a way to punish her for siding with Nerissa. She is placed in Cedric's cell. Near the end of the second season, Miranda sides with Cedric after he swallowed Phobos as the two of them are revealed to have a love relationship.
- Sandpit (voiced by Kath Soucie in most appearances, Mitchell Whitfield in 'A is for Anonymous' and 'Z is for Zenith,' Lloyd Sherr in 'B is for Betrayal,' Byrne Offutt in 'C is for Changes,' Greg Cipes in 'E is for Enemy') - Sandpit was originally a living pit that swallowed and imprisoned any victims that walked over it. Sandpit first appeared in 'Ambush at Torus Filney' capturing Caleb after going for a false story about the Seal of Phobos. Irma and Taranee combined their powers to transform Sandpit into a shiny glass lake. In 'A is for Anonymous', when Nerissa is starting to form a group of Knights, she visits Sandpit and through the power of Quintessence, Sandpit came back to life and worked for Nerissa. Since coming back to life, he is now a tall new humanoid form that is free to wander. He joined the Knights of Vengeance, mainly using his powers to protect the Knights by blinding or trampling enemies. When Phobos breaks his oath and attacks Meridian, freeing his minions, Sandpit is convinced by Raythor to join the good guys, the Guardians.
- Gargoyle (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) - Gargoyle is a giant rock monster who worked for Phobos, protecting and guarding the moats from any rebel that dared to try to sneak into the castle. He is very large, but he only has one eye and cannot speak, only roar. In 'It Resumes', Gargoyle made his debut appearance fighting the Guardians after rescuing Will from Phobos. When Gargoyle reached through a portal to grab Irma, Will quickly closed the portal, chopping the left hand off. Nerissa meets up with Gargoyle and convinces him to join the Knights of Vengeance after she recreates his left hand as a club/boulder weapon. Gargoyle's main job was to smash down any buildings and to carry the other Knights on his head. Raythor, the former leader of the Knights of Vengeance, convinces Gargoyle to join the Guardians as Phobos has no loyalty, honesty, or honor.
- Tracker (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - Phobos's most effective scout and hunter, who is often employed to locate or hunt down an individual, even if he possessed no prior knowledge of the target's whereabouts. He was given the task of hunting down Caleb, who was either hiding underground in the Infinite City or on Earth. This task caused him to repeatedly tangle with the Guardians. After Phobos's first defeat, Hunter flees the castle and is recruited by Nerissa to join her Knights of Vengeance, where he serves as a loyal fighter and continues to hunt down his prey, specifically the rebels and the Guardians. The Tracker has an army of bats at his disposal to attack his enemies and be scouts for him, while his main weapon is a glowing green electrical chain capable of doing massive damage. During the season two finale, Tracker is killed and completely destroyed by Drake.
- Sniffer (vocal effects provided by Dee Bradley Baker) - Sniffer is a huge black dog and is very good at sniffing wherever there is a scent and is very strong, fast and agile.
The Knights of Destruction[edit]
The Knights of Destruction is Nerissa's second team of minions, created from her dark emotions of hatred, misery, anger, fear, all of which each Knight feeds upon. Among its members are:
- Shagon (voiced by Jason Marsden) - Shagon has the appearance of a muscular man with large, black, feathery wings and a golden mask as his face. He has the power to generate yellow-green light beams from his eyes, fueled by the hatred of his enemies. Matt Olsen and Mr. Huggles are captured by Nerissa. Using Matt's hatred he feels for her and the power of the Heart of Meridian, Nerissa transforms Matt into Shagon, thus gaining control of his mind and body. He assumes Matt's identity during the day (the Guardians see him during school), so he can spy on the Guardians. Shagon gets Will to hate him because of her deep and strong romantic love for Matt and he teases her, saying that he hurt Matt. Shagon loves to torture the Guardians themselves, particularly Will. In the episode 'S is For Self', it is revealed that the real Matt still exists in Shagon's mind. In the same episode, Matt eventually breaks free from Shagon's control by using his love for Will as a weapon and destroys Shagon's soul, therefore regaining control of himself.
- Khor (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker in most appearances, Jim Cummings in 'N is for Narcissist') - Khor has the appearance of a terrifying dormouse-like beast with no wings, clawed hands, and gorilla-like arms. He has the power to jump on others to attack, which is fueled by the anger of his enemies. Mr. Huggles and Matt are captured by Nerrissa. Using the anger Huggles's felt for her and the power of the Heart of Meridian, Nerissa transforms Huggles into Khor, thus gaining control of Huggles's mind and body. In the episode 'S is for Self', it is revealed that the real Huggles still exists in Khor's mind. In the same episode, Huggles eventually breaks free from Khor's control by using Nerissa's power as a weapon to destroy Khor's soul, therefore regaining control of himself.
- Tridart (voiced by Jim Cummings) - One of the Four Knights of Destruction, created by Nerissa using her Quintessence power from the numerous icy stalactites found in the cave which Nerissa was sealed in. He represents the despair Nerissa felt in her prison. Tridart has the appearance of a bald, tall, winged man made from ice. He gets his power from the despair and fear of his opponents. Tridart controls the element of ice. His weapon is an axe from which he can conjure icy blasts. He was destroyed by his own creator in 'S is for Self', as he and his form was absorbed by Nerissa when she reformed C.H.Y.K.N. to be Guardians again.
- Ember (voiced by Cree Summer) - One of the Four Knights of Destruction, given life by Nerissa with her power over Quintessence from the lava which flowed around Mount Thanos. She represents the pain that Nerissa felt for killing Cassidy. Ember gets her strength from the pain and hurt of her opponents. She looks like a lady with a pointy hairdo made from lava. Ember controlled the element of lava. Her weapon is a lava trident that shoots lava blasts. Ember appeared to have some kind of 'relationship' with Tridart. She was killed in 'S is for Self' by Nerissa when she was absorbed by her.
C.H.Y.K.N.[edit]
C.H.Y.K.N. was the original five Guardians of the Veil until they broke up after Nerissa's betrayal many decades ago. After she absorbed the Knights of Destruction, Nerissa restored the forms of C.H.Y.K.N. back to their youthful looks and Guardian costumes, even returning the original Guardian of Water, Cassidy, to life in full. Among its members are:
- Cassidy (voiced by Susan Chesler) - A russet-haired woman and past Guardian of Water, she was entrusted with the Heart after Nerissa's betrayal, but was later killed by an increasingly bitter and jealous Nerissa, in retaliation, by being pushed off a cliff on Mount Thanos. Cassidy, before she was killed by Nerissa, was a caring and life-loving woman who was close to her mother. In the second season, her spirit was raised by Nerissa's exceptionally powerful elemental abilities of Quintessence, and was later restored to a physical body. After being released, she was reunited with her elderly blind mother and continued the teenage life that was stolen from her forty years previously.
- Halinor (voiced by B.J. Ward) - A blonde-haired woman and past Guardian of Fire, she is kindhearted, although she can be cowardly and insecure. She didn't believe that the present Guardians, Will and her friends, were strong enough to defeat the forces set against them, so during an especially hard battle she tried to steal the Aurameres in order to become a Quinto-Guardian. However, she accidentally put the Aurameres into Cornelia, who became the Quinto-Guardian instead. Nerissa used this weakness (betraying others when afraid) in order to take control of her.
- Yan Lin (voiced by Lauren Tom) - The former Guardian of Air, she is Hay Lin's paternal grandmother and a helpful advisor to the new Guardians. In the second season, she is captured by her former best friend and fellow Guardian, Nerissa, and cloned via an Altermere, who was corrupted and forced to work for Nerissa.
- Kadma (voiced by CCH Pounder) - The former Guardian of Earth, she had remained on the jungle-like world Zamballa as queen. She wielded the mystical Heart of Zamballa until she was corrupted by her former best friend, Nerissa, and forced to use her elemental abilities over the earth.
- Nerissa (voiced by Kath Soucie) – See above
Recurring and supporting characters[edit]
Inhabitants of Earth[edit]
Family[edit]
- Susan Vandom (voiced by Lauren Tom) - She is the mother of Will. Susan divorced from Tony Vandom after he had left her. Susan cares so much about her daughter that she was ready to sacrifice her relationship with Will's history teacher Dean Collins and move away from Heatherfield just because she feared Will did not like the neighborhood.
- Thomas Vandom (voiced by Dan Gilvezan) - Tony Vandom is Susan's ex-husband and Will's father. He divorced Susan and disappeared for six months. He is now visiting and is engaged to a Sarina Sanchez, who Will believed was Nerissa.
- Anna Lair (voiced by Candi Milo) - Anna Lair is Irma's mother. She looks a lot like Irma, only taller and with longer hair. Her personality is similar to Irma's, too, but she is a little more mature.
- Tom Lair (voiced by Byrne Offutt) - Tom Lair is Irma's overweight police officer father. He is a party animal and a sports fan who hates when the garage gets dirty and has little patience for fussy people.
- Christopher Lair (voiced by Cesar Flores) - Christopher Lair, always called Chris, is a brat who enjoys annoying his sister and her friends. He is in first or second grade and likes amusement parks, toy cars, and scary stuff. He strongly resembles a male version of Irma and has exactly the same hair and eye color as she does, and also has a bit of a Spanish accent.
- Theresa Cook (voiced by Mia Korf) - Taranee's mother and a judge. She's very strict and does not approve of Taranee seeing Nigel after he got her in trouble for defacing a statue with Uriah's group. Though she later spoke in his defense after he got blamed for something he didn't do.
- Lionel Cook (voiced by Dorian Harewood) - Taranee's father and a very good cook. It seems he works as a chef. He is allergic to fur and by extension Mr. Huggles. Yet, he thinks animals are very cute and regrets his allergy.
- Peter Cook (voiced by Ogie Banks) - Taranee Cook's brother. Peter seems to be between 16 and 18 years old. He used to date Cornelia (posing as her 'older sister Lillian') while she was mad at Caleb for choosing Meridian over her. Peter has dreadlocks and is a gifted basketball player, skater, and ice skater. Taranee thinks of her brother as cool and nice.
- Elizabeth Hale (voiced by Nancy Linari) - Elizabeth Hale is Cornelia and Lillian Hale's mother. She is always cheerful and hates the fact that Cornelia does not like to show her face that often. She looks just like Cornelia except she has glasses and shorter hair.
- Harold Hale (voiced by Jim Cummings) - Harold Hale is Cornelia, and Lillian Hale's father who is very rich and owns a successful bank. He seems to be strict in the embarrassing way, like at the car wash.
- Lillian Hale (voiced by Alyson Stoner) - Lillian Hale is Cornelia's little sister. She is eight years old, and has blond hair and big blue eyes. Lillian likes to play pretend, hear fairytale stories or even play games with her classmates or sister. Annoying Cornelia and playing pranks on her has also become a hobby to her. During the second season, it is revealed that Lillian is the Heart of Earth, the center of mystical power on Earth.
- Napoleon (voiced by Edward Asner) - Napoleon debuted in Season 2 in 'B is for Betrayal' as the Hale's family cat, during which Lillian named him Napoleon. Later on in 'U is for Undivided', Lillian wishes that Napoleon would talk and when she leaves the room, Napoleon starts talking, freaking Cornelia out in the process.
- Chen Lin (voiced by James Sie) - Yan Lin's son and Hay Lin's worrisome father who does not believe that she is old enough to take care of herself. He, like the rest of Hay Lin's family, is of Chinese origin.
- Joan Lin (voiced by Rosalind Chao) - Hay Lin's Chinese mother. She seems to be stricter than her husband but less worried about Hay Lin. She is not always as nervous as Chen Lin, either.
- Yan Lin (voiced by Lauren Tom) – See above.
- Herbert Olsen (voiced by Val Bettin) - Matt's grandfather, who seems to take on a parental role. He is very kind but not organized. He owns a pet shop and gave a Will a part-time job.
- Mr. Huggles (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) - Mr. Huggles is Matt's pet dormouse. In 'The Rebel Rescue', he was given to Will by Matt as a present, although Will's mom did not allow her to keep it. See above for his information as Khor.
Sheffield Institute[edit]
- Principal Knickerbocker (voiced by Candi Milo) - Principal Knickerbocker is the head of the Sheffield Institute who is strict but fair. She thinks highly of the W.I.T.C.H. girls, but low of Uriah and his gang. C.H.Y.K.N. knew her when she was young.
- Dean Collins (voiced by Cam Clarke) - A history teacher who dates Will's mother, Susan. He was believed to be a monster from Meridian and was attacked by the Guardians.
- Galgheita Rudolph (voiced by Marianne Muellerleile) - A math teacher at Sheffield Academy. She is a Meridianite and the nanny of Elyon. She stole the Seal of Phobos and brought Elyon to Earth as a baby. In her true form, she is a frog-like creature.
- Martin Tubbs (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) - An unpopular nerd who has a helpless crush on Irma. He sits with the group at lunch and hangs out with them a lot. Martin is also a technology expert, and knows a lot about computers and machines. He has blond hair and wears red glasses.
- Andrew Hornby (voiced by Byrne Offutt) - Andrews Hornby is a cool, popular kid at school with brown hair and a dark voice and is Irma's semi-secret crush. He is a little bit older than her and in the higher grades, but Irma and Andrew do have a weak relationship, as he approves of her apologizing to Martin.
- Nigel Aschcroft (voiced by Michael Reisz) - Red-haired Nigel Ashcroft is Taranee's big crush and later her boyfriend. He is a member of Matt's band 'Wreck 55', which was revealed in the episode 'Walk This Way', which also began his relationship with Taranee. At first, Taranee's mother Theresa didn't like Nigel.
- Eric Lyndon (voiced by Justin Shenkarow) - Eric is Hay Lin's crush and later boyfriend. He is a new kid in Heatherfield who lives with his grandfather, Zacharias. Eric is convinced by Uriah to join the Dunnsters, as he is good at playing the saxophone. He has shiny black hair and dark eyes.
- Uriah Dunn (voiced by Byrne Offutt) - A troublemaker at school disliked by Elyon, Alchemy, and W.I.T.C.H. who is often getting into trouble with Principal Knickerbocker. He has a gang for a while consisting of Kurt, Clubber, and Nigel. Uriah has orange spiky hair.
- Kurt Van Buren (voiced by Steven Blum) - A member of Uriah's gang, Kurt Van Buren is very obese and has purple-dyed hair. He started learning the drums when he was six and quit when he was seven, but his short drum lessons actually helped The Dunnsters during the Battle of the Bands.
- Laurent Clubberman (voiced by Greg Cipes) - One of Uriah's gang members, Laurent Clubberman is usually called 'Clubber'. He is blond and fat. Clubber is shown to be actually good at art, winning the art contest for his bunny painting in 'X is for Xanadu'.
- Alchemy (voiced by Lauren Tom) - Alchemy is one of the best friends of Elyon and Cornelia. She has reddish-brown messy hair and big mellow-blue eyes. She is in the same classes with them, and seems to be the least feminine of them all. Whenever she is upset, she cheers up by listening to real depressing music. She has a small cat for a pet.
- Bess and Courtney Grumper (voiced by Tracy Martin and Courtney Peldon) - Bess and Courtney Grumper are two twin girls known as 'The Grumper Sisters'. They have bright red hair and green eyes. Bess and Courtney love spreading gossip. They are into fashion and are rivals of Cornelia.
Inhabitants of Meridian[edit]
- Aldarn (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) - Aldarn is the son of weapons maker Aketon and the second-in-command of the Meridian Rebellion. He is the best friend of Caleb and helps him in almost all his missions.
- Vathek (voiced by Lloyd Sherr) - Phobos' prison keeper, Caleb's friend and a spy for the rebellion. After Phobos is removed from the throne Vathek becomes the prison keeper for his cell.
- Julian (voiced by Loren Lester) - Julian is Caleb's father and former co-leader of the Meridian Rebel Army. He was believed to be dead, but Aldarn's father Aketon discovered that he was actually in prison in Phobos' underwater mines from where he was rescued.
- Drake (voiced by Michael Bell) - Drake is a captain of the rebel army and a good friend of Aldarn and Caleb. He debuted in 'Walk This Way'.
- Tynar (voiced by Daran Norris) - Tynar is a castle guard for Phobos. When Cedric, him, and the other guards tried to capture Caleb and Blunk, he was severely wounded and left behind to rot. The Guardians decided to take him to Earth to cure him. As a reward, he decides to join the rebels and spread the knowledge that what Phobos had told them were lies.
- Thomas and Eleanor Brown (voiced by Mark L. Taylor and Vanessa Marshall) - Elyon's adopted parents. They are Meridianites who raised her on Earth to hide her from Phobos. Their real names are Alborn and Miriadel.
- Jeek (voiced by Paul Eiding) - Jeek is an evil passling and Blunk's nemesis. A smuggler much like Blunk, he has a tendency to make deals with the bad guys.
- Trill (voiced by Candi Milo) - Trill is a good-natured red-headed woman who worked in the castle during the reign of Phobos. She passed information onto the rebels and has helped the Guardians on some occasions. Eventually, it is revealed (in 'J is for Jewel') that she is really Nerissa in disguise and she only wanted to capture Elyon's powers.
- Guards (various voices) - The regular guards of Phobos are large bulky men that seem to have not much of a personality, although they are capable of thinking for themselves. Some of them join the rebellion and help the rebels in 'The Final Battle'. In season 2, they become the Royal Guards for Elyon, on the good side now.
- Lurdens (various voices) - The ogre-like foot soldiers of Prince Phobos. While some of them are green-skinned and bald-headed, other Lurdens are brown-skinned and have brown hair. They work in Phobos' grain plants, and help the guards fight the rebels. Unlike the Castle Guards, the Lurdens never joined the rebel army and always remained loyal to Phobos.
Inhabitants of Kandrakar[edit]
- Oracle (voiced by Michael Gough) - A powerful wizard and mentor to both the old and new Guardians.
- Luba (voiced by Iona Morris) - A cat-like member of the Council of Kandrakar and the keeper of the Aurameres. She was forced to guard Kandrakar alone after Nerissa trapped the other Council members inside a miniature version of the Veil in season 2.
- Mage (voiced by B.J. Ward) - A powerful sorceress who guarded the Infinite City during Phobos' reign. She used the Heart of Kandrakar to create the Star of Threbe, implying that she may have once been a Guardian and the Keeper of the Heart like Will and Nerissa.
- Halinor (voiced by B.J. Ward) – see above.
Inhabitants of Zamballa[edit]
- Ironwood (voiced by Masasa Moyo) - A Zamballian, who like all Zamballians, looks like a purple tree. She is a thoughtful leader of the Zamballians. She was made Regent of Zamballa when Kadma was taken by Nerissa and was later given the job permanently. Ironwood now holds the Heart of Zamballa.
- Bough-Breaker (voiced by Nika Futterman) - Ironwood's Zamballian son. He is still a small, young tree and obedient to his mother's advice.
Setting[edit]
Various worlds play an important role in the W.I.T.C.H. series. Earth is the home of the Guardians of the Veil, later the Infinite Dimensions while Meridian, Kandrakar and Zamballa are mystical dimensions that are introduced as the story progresses and the evil forces get stronger. In 'V is for Victory', Nerissa also briefly visited a place called Aridia, a desert realm home to giant rock creatures, in an attempt to steal its Heart.
The Hearts are the sources of immense mystical energy for each of the worlds they come from. They can be represented by a jewel, a talisman or a living being. Prominently featured in the series is the Heart of Kandrakar, a pendant that allows W.I.T.C.H. to transform. Most of the time a mystic Heart is found to be in the form of living being, as it is for Earth, Meridian, and Aridia.
Earth[edit]
The planet where humans live and no-one knows of different kingdoms like Meridian or Zamballa or any creatures that exist there. It is home to each generation of five Guardians of the Veil.
Heatherfield[edit]
The main human-populated city, in which the second generation of Guardians of the Veil live. It is also where original, former Guardian of Air, Yan Lin, still lives with her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter Hay Lin. Its main known high school is Sheffield Institute, with Mrs. Knickerbocker as principal.
It also happens to be the home of Lillian Hale, Cornelia's eight-year-old younger sister and the mystical Heart of Earth itself. For twelve long years, the younger sister to Prince Phobos of Meridian was taken for safety and raised by Alborn and Miriadel, who posed themselves as her 'human' adopted parents Thomas and Eleanor Brown.
The Silver Dragon[edit]
The Silver Dragon is a Chinese restaurant and is the place where Hay Lin and her family live. Her parents and her Grandma Yan Lin run the Restaurant. The Silver Dragon made its debut in season 1's 'It Begins' when Hay Lin has some weird phases of sneezing and the room exploding. This is also the place where Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin learnt they were Guardians and were given the Heart of Kandrakar.
The basement is where they all meet up and hang out (Blunk calls the basement 'Guardian HQ'). The Guardians spend their time in the basement on planning their attacks and next moves. Yan Lin is always there to help the Guardians on some occasions.
Meridian[edit]
Meridian is by far the most important world seen in the series, as most of the action takes place here.
Meridian is a kingdom far away under the watching eye of the Oracle. It is ruled by a single Queen, who has powerful magical powers and is the center of mystical energy in the dimension (the Heart of Meridian). As of season 2, the Queen is Elyon Brown. This world has streets full of merchants and extraordinary caves. People here live mainly from agriculture, although some have other jobs.
Meridian has many different creatures like Larveks, Mudslugs, Mogriffs, Sandpit, Hermeneutas, Passlings, Kaithim, etc. Some creatures can change between an apparently human form and a beast form, such as Cedric and Miranda.
Meridian is the most frequently traveled-to place for the Guardians in season 1. Throughout season 1, Meridian is the only known dimension to the Guardians besides Earth as the Veil was raised and not much was known about the other worlds like Zamballa, Kandrakar and Aridia. Much of the action happened on Meridian in season 1 and the Guardians frequently traveled there to help, and stop Phobos' schemes. An important place in Meridian is in a large village next to the castle, which is on top of high land extending upwards. This is where Phobos lives and is the main centre of activity since the Guardians repeatedly attack it.
The Infinite City[edit]
The Infinite City made its debut in season 1's 'A Service to the Community'. The Infinite City is below Meridian and the Guardians didn’t know at first, but Caleb tells them and shows them. The Mage guards the city. The city is underground and has lots of pillars running along it. The city is colored lime green, but in daytime the city appeared to be red, orange and cream.
Nobody knows who created or built the Infinite City and when, as it has a mysterious past and the city is infinite and keeps going on and on in all directions. The Infinite City was kept secret from Phobos because the Rebellion used it as their base of operations. One way of getting down into the city is by using a secret passage in a disused area of land and going through a little cupboard. It then leads down some stairs and into the city itself. Just a few yard's way is another passage, and under there seems like a basement but inside is a waterfall where the Mage stays and guards the city.
Kandrakar[edit]
Kandrakar made its debut in 'B is for Betrayal'. The Guardians frequently went to Kandrakar for answers, such as why their powers had improved and become stronger. The Council of Kandrakar's job is to look over the whole universe and protect its worlds from any evil. It has its own five Guardians to help accomplish this task and protect the universe from harm. The Guardians also have a leader who wields the pink orb necklace of the mystical Heart of Kandrakar itself, which transforms them and greatly magnifies their elemental powers. The Aurameres are housed in one of Kandrakar's rooms and are guarded over by Luba.
Zamballa[edit]
Zamballa was first introduced in the season 2 episode 'P is for Protectors'. Zamballa is a purple world with a jungle stretching out as far as the eye can see. At the center is a pyramid, the palace where Kadma lives while the Veil is still in effect. The Zamballans themselves look like walking purple trees. In 'Z is for Zenith' the Heart of Zamballa is returned and Kadma abdicates from her throne to live a more humble life on Earth, while Ironwood takes the Heart and is made Queen herself.
Production[edit]
Two seasons were produced in total, adapting plot elements from The Twelve Portals and Nerissa's Revenge comic arcs from the original series. Each season consists of twenty-six episodes, resulting in a total of fifty-two episodes overall.
An unaired 15-minute pilot episode exists, which was never fully animated. It was used to test the show with a focus group in 2003.[15] The first episode of the series was originally meant to air on Halloween, with corresponding themes.[2]
Development[edit]
SIP Animation announced the production of an animated series based on the comic books in 2002. The show was immediately picked up for a full order of 52 half-hour episodes.[7] According to Justine Cheynet (associate producer in the first season, story editor in the second),[16] SIP had come to Disney with the initiative of producing a cartoon based on the Disney-owned comics.[17]
Work on the series began in spring 2003, in collaboration with Disney Channel. In September of that year, Andrew Nicholls and Darrell Vickers were hired as supervisory producers, and would serve as showrunners throughout the first season. The show's primary target markets were considered to be Italy, France (represented by SIP Animation), the United Kingdom (Fox Kids UK), and the United States (Disney Channel). As such, while Nicholls and Vickers were officially employed by SIP, they would be working with guidance from all four of these countries.[2]
A team of freelance writers was also brought in under their supervision, ultimately being responsible for just over half of the first season. Due to the show's unusually heavy use of continuity for a cartoon, Nicholls and Vickers planned out the season arc and even individual episode stories beforehand, and gave the other writers very careful instructions covering even smaller details of the series to avoid contradictions and repetition throughout the episodes.[18] The director for this season was Marc Gordon-Bates, who was unfamiliar with the series and surprised that he was offered the position over other directors with greater interest in the project and more relevant prior experience.[4]
At the outset, the show was more oriented towards comedy (early marketing described the series as an action comedy[1]) than the original comics, which were primarily of the fantasy genre, but in common with the source material was targeted towards the female audience. Early on, the writers were informed that the show was now to be aired on Toon Disney and the Jetix block on ABC Family, as part of a changing business strategy being pursued by Michael Eisner (chairman and CEO of Disney at the time). As such, the show was reoriented to appeal more to boys, including more action and additional focus on the few major male characters.[2] By this point, the first 7 episodes had already been fully scripted (with several more outlined), and had to be rewritten.[19]
For the second season, Disney decided on a 'darker, more fantasy-driven approach', with less humor.[2] A completely different team of writers was hired, with Greg Weisman now serving as supervisory producer and showrunner, and Norman J. LeBlanc as the new director of the show. According to Nicholls, Weisman had decided against re-hiring him and Vickers to work on the second season due to considering them 'sitcom writers' (although W.I.T.C.H. was indeed their first non-comedy series, Weisman's impression may have been a result of omissions from IMDb of shows not under the auspices of the Writers Guild of America, which included numerous other animated series they had worked on). This may have been a factor in the hiring of other comedy writers during the season, as the network considered the early scripts to have insufficient humor.[18]
The writing team for the second season was given 'marching orders' to incorporate more material from the comics, and bring the two mediums closer together. At the same time, only the first season of the show was considered official, and as such the first 26 episodes could not be contradicted, while there would continue to be certain differences from the comics.[20] Weisman emphasized the seamless nature of the transition between seasons, especially in production aspects such as character voices and model sheets.[21] The episode 'J is for Jewel' was considered to be a turning point during the season, before which a lot of work had been done to set up the new direction of the series.[22]
According to Justine Cheynet, the show ended after 52 episodes as a result of 'very little to no interest both from the investors' and the producer's side in making a third season'. There were no plans for a movie.[15]
Changes from the comics[edit]
Although the basic structure of each season follows the respective arc of the comics, and the show shares a great deal of plot points and characters with the source material, there are many differences as well. At the start of production, the showrunners had only approximately the first 6 issues of the comics – about half of the first arc – to work with in developing the overall storyline for the season[18] (for comparison, the first 27 issues were made available to the writers of the second season, which covered slightly beyond the end of the second arc[16]). More than 20 creatures had been created specifically for the animated series by the end of the first season.[19] Certain further changes requested for story reasons were denied by the network in light of the comics' popularity and existing fans.[18]
One of the major differences is the variety of powers the Guardians have in the first season. During the screenwriting stage, questions arose from the network as to why the girls did not use their powers more in a given situation. As a result, certain powers they had in the comics were not among their abilities during the first season, such as telepathy, 'instincts' about people, and communicating with appliances.[19] In the second season episode 'C is for Changes', this changes as the Guardians gain most of the remaining powers they had in the source material.
The character of Caleb was altered significantly in the show, including his visual appearance. In the comics, he had clear facial markings that made him obviously different from a regular human. In the show, they are not present for multiple reasons: child test audiences found them unnerving; when animated, they looked too similar to a beard; and in the animated series, in contrast to the comics, he spends extended periods on Earth blending in with the inhabitants, which would be much more difficult to accomplish otherwise.[23]
Blunk is an original character created for the cartoon, and does not appear in the comics. A comedic sidekick smuggler, his role and prominence in the story became increasingly important as the show shifted its focus from comedy to action during production of the first season, as one of the few major male characters in a series now trying to appeal to boys. The character's name was reused from a failed pilot, created by Howie Mandel and produced by Nelvana, that the first season showrunners had worked on.[2] Second season showrunner Greg Weisman admitted to initially disliking Blunk, but came to view him as an invaluable part of the team, particularly as a result of the bonds between Blunk and the main characters that had begun to form in the first season.[22]
In the comics, Will's dormouse is introduced quite early into the first arc. In the cartoon, this only occurs in episode 24 of the first season. Although the showrunners tried to have this take place earlier in the series, the network did not approve it for some time. According to Andrew Nicholls, this may have been due to its similarity to the naked mole ratRufus in Kim Possible, another Disney series.[18]
The character Vathek starts out as an enemy of the Guardians in the comics, but in the show he is already on their side. This was changed to streamline the first few episodes due to the number of characters that had to be introduced.[24]
Early into production, Nicholls had suggested changing the name 'Kandrakar' out of sensitivity toward the ongoing events in the real-life Kandahar in Afghanistan. This request was initially ignored, but ten episodes in the writing team was informed that the spelling had been changed to 'Candrakar',[2] with later episodes referring to it as 'Candracar'.[25] However, the 'Heart of Kandrakar' is consistently spelled that way throughout the closing credits of both seasons. Certain character names were changed as well: Laurent was referred to by his nickname 'Clubber' instead as it was considered more appropriate for a bully character, and in the second season, Thomas Vandom's first name was changed to Tony for legal reasons.[15]
Animation[edit]
The animation studios for season 1 were Wang Film Productions and Hong Ying Universe,[8] while Dongwoo Animation animated season 2. Hong Ying and Pipangaï [fr] provided digital ink and paint services for the second season. The 3D animated design of the Heart of Kandrakar used throughout the series was made by Maga Animation Studio.
The series has been considered anime-influenced animation in terms of its visual style.[5] First season director Marc Gordon-Bates cited anime such as Neon Genesis Evangelion as design inspiration.[4] The original comics are themselves drawn in line with manga conventions, as opposed to the more rounded style traditionally used by publisher and co-producer Disney.[26]
Intro sequences[edit]
W.I.T.C.H. has different theme songs and openings, depending on country of broadcast.
The original, international title sequence shows the girls and their powers in a story version with unique footage for the opening, and music by the composers of the show, Alain Garcia and Noam Kaniel. In the original international English version, the opening theme is 'W.I.T.C.H.' performed by Sabrina.[27] The intro sequence of the second season, storyboarded by Richard Danto and Bruno Issaly, is changed to incorporate the new plot developments and characters, along with remixed music.
The US version, composed by Adam Watts and Andy Dodd, shows action clips from some episodes and scenes from W.I.T.C.H.demo reels from various animation studios.[15] It uses a demo version of the song 'We Are W.I.T.C.H.' until episode 14, when it is replaced with a version sung by Marion Raven.[27] The footage and theme are unchanged for the remainder of the US series. An earlier demo of the theme song, composed by Christopher Tyng and Trey Callaway was originally considered by Disney. It has been explained that once the American broadcaster had chosen a different song, it was decided that a new opening should be made for it instead of the other way around, and the intro was unchanged in the second season as the network 'wanted consistency in case they aired both seasons simultaneously'.[15]
In Italy, a different opening was used, consisting purely of clips from the show and first international intro sequence. It was composed by Max Longhi and Giorgio Vanni, and performed by the group Lucky Star (Emma Marrone, Colomba Pane, and Laura Pisu).[28]
Cancelled third season[edit]
Until its cancellation, plans for a third season were fully mapped out and three scripts were produced shortly before production stopped. It would have loosely adapted the Crisis on Both Worlds arc with several major changes. The new season was planned to be more dark, intense, and serious than the previous two. A total of 30 episodes were set to be produced instead of 26. Phobos, Nerissa, Miranda and Cedric were to return but take on more morally ambiguous anti-heroic roles. Alchemy, Raphael Sylla, Riddle, Tony Vandom and Uriah Dunn were to be added to the main cast along with the five leads. A major storyline would've been Dean and Susan officially being engaged and the girls' friends and families discovering they were Guardians and a major change from the comics was the main villain of the season was going to be a disillusioned priest who begins to develop abilities of his own.
Release[edit]
Broadcast[edit]
Because W.I.T.C.H. is based on a Disney comic series and was produced in association with Jetix Europe, it has been broadcast on the Disney-owned Jetix channels, as well as Jetix-branded television blocks worldwide, including that on Family in Canada (November 26, 2005 – March 10, 2007; reruns until August 26, 2007),[29] and on ABC Family, Toon Disney and Disney Channel in the United States.[9]
Terrestrial channels in English-speaking countries that had broadcast the series were as follows. In the United States, it was shown on the ABC Kids block, part of the Disney-owned ABC television network.[9] In Canada, it was broadcast on none of the English-language terrestrial TV networks, but the French version was shown on the CBC's French-language television network Télévision de Radio-Canada (September 10, 2005 – October 27, 2007; reruns until April 25, 2010).[29] In the United Kingdom, BBC's children's strand CBBC had broadcast it. In the Republic of Ireland, it was broadcast on RTÉ Two's The Den. In Australia, it was shown on Seven Network and its affiliates. In New Zealand, the show was aired on the 2 Kids block on TV2.
In France, where this TV series was primarily made, it was terrestrially broadcast on France 3. (The second season was known as Dimension W.I.T.C.H. in the country.) In Italy, where the original comic came from, it was shown on Italia 1.
DVD[edit]
W.I.T.C.H. has been released on DVD in Europe, Australia, the Philippines (also in VCD format), Brazil, and Malaysia containing episodes of the first season, which was divided into volumes of varying number of episodes. Each volume contains 2 art cards, each featuring one of the W.I.T.C.H. girls.[citation needed]
In the UK, the first three volumes were released in 2006 on 1 May, 19 June, and 21 August respectively.[30][31][32] In October 2007 the volumes were re-released as a DVD box set along with the box set of volumes four, five and six, containing the rest of season 1.[33][34]
Season 2 DVDs have been released in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Russia. The Czech and Polish sets have audio available in multiple languages, including English.[35][36][37]
Reception[edit]
In the early stages of the first season, the series was a major hit and a TV breakout.[38][39]
Common Sense Media described the show as 'an animated fantasy-adventure series for tweens', and gave it 3 out of 5 stars.[40]The New York Times found the series to emphasize the importance of teenage friendships among girls, while appealing to boys as well.[5]
Toon Zone reviewed the first two episodes, praising most aspects and noting that the show stood out on Jetix.[41] In an interview following the conclusion of the first season, it added: 'What makes this a unique series is the approach to the characters, all of whom are fallible and utterly human.'[21]
In 2006, Joey Paul Jensen was nominated for the Casting Society of America's Artios Award for Best Animated Voice-Over Television Casting.[42]
Soundtrack[edit]
A soundtrack for the series was released in January 2007: Music From and Inspired By W.I.T.C.H. Among other tracks inspired by the series, it includes full-length renditions of the first international theme as well as the US version.[27]
The song 'The Power of Five' by Jillian Escobosa was used for promotional material[43] and official websites[44][45] prior to the TV series' launch. An official Italian music video was created by Marco Pavone for 'W.I.T.C.H. Is In the House'.[46][47]
References[edit]
- ^ abc'Wayback Machine'. May 2, 2006. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ abcdefgh'Wayback Machine'(PDF). February 7, 2006. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^Bellerby, Grace (August 15, 2012). The History of Magical Girl Anime: Sparkles Without Cullens (Speech). Amecon 2012. Keele University: SlideShare. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ abc'Animators' Hall of Fame'. www.agni-animation.com. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ^ abcdCutler, Jacqueline (February 6, 2005). 'FOR YOUNG VIEWERS; Growing Up Galactic'. Retrieved March 25, 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^'Greg's Introduction : Gargoyles : Station Eight'. www.s8.org. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
- ^ abWaller, Ed (October 1, 2002). 'SIP Animation adapts Italian comic books'. C21 Media. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
- ^ abcdeDeMott, Rick. 'W.I.T.C.H. Licensed On Free TV To 13 Countries Across Europe'. Animation World Network. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
- ^ abcd'Christel Khalil's Superhero Voice'. Soap Opera Digest. March 9, 2005. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
- ^'Disney Animated Co-production W.I.T.C.H. To Launch At MIPCOM'. Jetix Europe N.V. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
- ^'Divide and Conquer'. W.I.T.C.H. Season 1. Episode 7. February 26, 2005. Jetix.
We're not witches. It's just our initials.
- ^'It Begins'. W.I.T.C.H. Season 1. Episode 1. December 18, 2004. Jetix.
–Hey, Wilma. –Ah, it's just Will. –OK, Wilma.
- ^ abcdeTerrace, Vincent (2008). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2d ed.). McFarland. p. 1186. ISBN9780786486410.
- ^'It Resumes'. W.I.T.C.H. Season 1. Episode 2. December 18, 2004. Jetix.
Hey, girly girl, I'm fifteen.
- ^ abcde'W.I.T.C.H.: W.i.t.c.h. FAQ - TV.com'. December 2, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
- ^ ab'W.I.T.C.H.: W.i.t.c.h. FAQ - TV.com'. December 3, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
- ^'W.I.T.C.H.: W.i.t.c.h. FAQ - TV.com'. December 3, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
- ^ abcde'interview_a.nicholls - thetoonmaster'. sites.google.com. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
- ^ abc'W.I.T.C.H. 'Walk This Way' Talkback (SPOILERS)'. Anime Superhero Forum. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
- ^'Search Ask Greg : Gargoyles : Station Eight'. www.s8.org. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
- ^ ab'Toon Zone Talks to Greg Weisman, Part Four: 'W.I.T.C.H.' - ToonZone News'. www.toonzone.net. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
- ^ ab'W.I.T.C.H.: W.i.t.c.h. FAQ - TV.com'. December 3, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
- ^'WITCH Personality Study thread'. Anime Superhero Forum. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
- ^'W.I.T.C.H.: W.i.t.c.h. FAQ - TV.com'. December 3, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
- ^DVD subtitles
- ^'Disney's journey to the teen heart'. en.tefen.com. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ abcWitch, Disney, January 22, 2007, retrieved February 25, 2018
- ^Salvatori, Danilo. 'LS3 (CON LA SIGLA DELLE WITCH) di LUCKY STAR Genere MUSICA PER BAMBINI'. www.lallegrettodischi.com. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
- ^ ab'Television Program Logs'. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. March 2, 2016. Archived from the original on May 16, 2016.
- ^W.I.T.C.H. - Vol 1, Disney, May 1, 2006, retrieved February 25, 2018
- ^W.I.T.C.H. - Vol. 2, Disney, June 19, 2006, retrieved February 25, 2018
- ^W.I.T.C.H. - Vol. 3, Disney, August 21, 2006, retrieved February 25, 2018
- ^Gordon-Bates, Marc (October 1, 2007), W.I.T.C.H: Series 1 - Volumes 1-3, Disney, retrieved February 25, 2018
- ^Gordon-Bates, Marc (October 1, 2007), W.I.T.C.H: Series 1 - Volumes 4-6, Disney, retrieved February 25, 2018
- ^Studio Bambásek. 'Vyhledávání - W.I.T.C.H 2.série - disk 1 - Magic Box'. www.magicbox.cz. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
- ^'«W.I.T.C.H. (Witch) Czarodziejki Pakiet (slim)» (2005) [DVD] Reżyser: Ginny McSwain • DVDmax.pl'. www.dvdmax.pl. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
- ^'Чародейки. Сезон 2. Часть 1. Эпизоды 1-13 (2 DVD)'. GoldDisk. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
- ^'W.I.T.C.H.ing Hour - License! Global'. www.licensemag.com. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^Lawson, Tommy (January 20, 2005). 'W.I.T.C.H. Premiere Ratings Improve Over Previous 4-Week Average'. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
- ^'W.I.T.C.H.'Common Sense Media. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
- ^''W.I.T.C.H.' Premiere a Promising Start for Jetix - Anime Superhero News'. January 14, 2005. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
- ^'Artios Awards'. Casting Society of America. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
- ^'Wayback Machine'. November 5, 2006. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
- ^'W.i.t.c.h. -- The Official Website'. January 25, 2004. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
- ^'landing page Witch'. March 24, 2004. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
- ^Pav1 Animation (November 21, 2017). 'Witch is in the house - Disney music video (2005)'. Retrieved October 31, 2018 – via YouTube.
- ^'INFO'. pav1.net. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
External links[edit]
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- W.I.T.C.H. on IMDb
- W.I.T.C.H. at TV.com
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