Robot Jones

"Zombies!"

- Robot's famous catchphrase

"All systems are go"

- Robot's other catchphrase

Robot Electro Jones is the main protagonist of the Cartoon Network TV show Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? A TV show included in Cartoon Network's Cartoon Cartoons block. He learns new things every day in life and keeps each life lesson in his Data Log Entry archives. He attends Polyneux Middle School in Delaware, USA.

In the TV show he is voiced by Apple's text-to-speech 'Junior' voice which is credited as just 'himself' (season 1) and Bobby Block (season 2 and season 1 re-recordings). In Crossover Nexus he is voiced by 'Junior' again.

Background
In the opening credits it appears that sometime in the 1980s Robot was assembled in a JNZ Robotics factory by JNZ Robotics workers as seen in the opening titles of the TV show. He is specifically a KX8, as he claims to be in the episode "Jealousy". Robot's age is unknown, but he is likely programmed to be the age of a human adolescent thereby fitting in with the middle schoolers he is observing. His age could also be interpreted as lying in the child section due to his young voice actor Bobby Block. The pupils in Polyneux Middle School initially feared Robot when he first unexpectedly emerged, but now they barely acknowledge him most of the time, mainly due to his very short stature, for being a robot and not a human and for acting very differently compared to the others of his age group.

Robot always tries to make as many friends as he can but unfortunately, most of the students don’t return the favour. In response to this Robot considers humans as 'inconsiderate'. He usually hangs around with his good friends Socks, Cubey and Mitch, who like, respect and gladly accept Robot into their friendship group. The four boys get along very well and go everywhere together. Most commonly they visit Nob's Arcade.

Robot was built for the purpose of collecting data on humans. He has a crush on Shannon Westerburg, mostly due to her having a metallic leg and a very large orthodontic appliance surrounding her head making her appear half-robot.

Profile
Likes: Attention, respect, being popular, hanging out with his friends, Nob's Arcade, punk rock music, video games, The Gigawatts, Shannon, drinking super coolers, skateboarding, arcade games (specifically racing and shooting games).

Dislikes: Being told to go to school, his parents embarrassing him in public, competitions, being yelled at, being called a dork, being laughed at, Finkman.

Heroic Acts
Robot exposed Principal Madman as framing him for his misdeeds, saved Shannon from a bear and rescued Mitch, Cubey and Socks who were trapped inside a television amalgamation that the Yogman Twins had created. In the episode "Math Challenge" he let Mr Mcmcmc. win the math challenge in order to make him happy and to avoid being put into detention by Mr. Mcmcmc. again. This resulted in Mr. Mcmcmc. being awarded the math challenge trophy.

Physical Appearance
Robot is a primarily gray robot with blue joints. Robot's head and body are separate and blocky in shape. His body or chassis is painted with a red stripe to indicate a "shirt" and a black stripe on the lower part to indicate "pants". He frequently removes this chassis when serviced, but curiously not when recharging. His head consists of what looks like two large, warm, luminous yellow eyes and a rectangular, black mouth which will sometimes show three (to five) white teeth depending on the episode, and a pink tongue. His eyes function as cameras with night vision and X-ray vision while his mouth provides a variety of functions. There are speakers behind his mouth which enables him to talk. He has microphones near his "ears" which enable him to listen. Also on the side of his head are yellow, removable, headphone-like, antennae on either side of his head that function as his "ears". The top of his head consists of a large, bright, halogen style light bulb which functions as his "brain". He is partially still able to function without this brain and can be reprogrammed with alternate software. His feet resemble boots. His neck, arms, and legs have the capability of stretching.

Social Status
Robot is usually neither popular nor unpopular at school, but in some episodes he is criticized more often than favoured. Almost every pupil in the school barely notices him. In some episodes he becomes popular by accident.

In the episode "Parents" Robot Jones was seen as a hero by the students in his class after his parents accidentally blew up Polyneux Middle School, therefore causing the children to be forced to stay off school for multiple months until the school was rebuilt.

The children in Polyneux Middle School really liked Robot for handing them the answers for the History tests in the episode "Scantron Love".

Personality
Robot differs from most cartoon heroes because the core of his personality, his cynical sense of humor and sharp nature, make him appear unlike the ideal hero, and less like an optimist.

Robot is mainly grave, critical, ambitious, ill-tempered, proud, reckless, vulnerable, unlucky, and stubborn, but he is also fairly friendly and has been shown as selfless and loyal on some occasions. Robot was intended to act like an adolescent, reacting excitedly when he hears the word video games being mentioned, is willing to impress girls, sometimes throws parties, works hard at school and enjoys to visit the arcade. He finds humans 'inconsiderate' and 'inefficient'. He often disobeys his parents and likes to be independent. Robot is shown to be quite mature for his age, and is even more mature than his eccentric parents. He's more mature than the other students at Polyneux Middle School.

Robot is shown as being affectionate in some episodes. In "Hookie 101" he gave his father Dad Unit a big hug and in "House Party" he hugged Gramps Unit.

He often pushes himself too hard, for example in the episode "Popularity" where he was extremely competitive and injured other middle school students by his forced and clumsy dance moves.

He's ignored for his complex style of speech. For example, if Robot tells a joke it results in other children failing to understand it then walk away from him uninterested. Sometimes Robot can be easily offended, but at other times he can be left unfazed by the offences, and tends to hold grudges on some occasions. He takes things too literally, often resulting in him being laughed at. He is frequently bullied for being different and often called a 'Dork' by Polyneux Middle School students.

Robot is possibly one of the most intelligent students in the school, being very good at solving the most advanced and detailed Math problems and equations, but he lacks in English class. He is very polite and quite shy at times, especially when he is around Shannon. In some situations he talks loudly because The Modern Robot's Rules of Conduct instructs him to do so.

He displays a selfless side to his personality in the episode "Summer Camp" when he saved Shannon's life from a wild bear and washed her clothes for her afterwards.

Robot displays a great amount of confusion and emotional instability towards the usual things in life. Unfortunately he is unable to calm himself down. The 'system overloads' often cause Robot to explode, therefore hurting everyone around him. Robot's basic emotional programming leads him to frequent overheating and bizarre outbursts when overwhelmed with complex emotions.

Unfortunately there is also another side to his personality which is questionable and very mysterious. He can be very delusional and maniacal at times. He became insane due to him having an unhealthy obsession of trying to be 'efficient' by enforcing strict rules on everybody, including his closest friends, and controlling the school in the episode "Safety Patrol". In the episode "Politics" Robot wanted to be treated as a ruler and a god. In the episode "Family Vacation", he is shown with a violent temper that he has little control of. Robot loses his temper while playing an arcade game at Nob’s Arcade and ends up breaking the arcade machine.

Relationships
Socks- They both share an interest in rock music and go to Nob’s Arcade together. Socks tries his best to mentor Robot, but he can fail to understand him sometimes. Overall he is a pretty good friend to Robot, but he rejects him occasionally. They usually get along really well despite having their multiple differences, but they can argue from time to time. Though he typically mentors and provides Robot with reassurance as best as he can, he has a realistic cap to his understanding, and can lose his temper with Robot, as shown in "Family Vacation". In his first appearance in the Pilot, he was a student in Mr. McMcMc's class who commented positively on Robot challenging the Math teacher Mr. McMcMc., and had no name at the time. Unlike Mitch and Cubey, it’s never been revealed on how he became Robot's friend, let alone his closest. It’s rather peculiar that the two would be seen together and managing to get along, since Socks is the most popular student in the school, while Robot is usually seen as a nobody.

Mom Unit and Dad Unit- His parents care greatly about him, as does Robot, but he dislikes it when they urge him to go to school and refuses to obey their orders.

Gramps Unit- Gramps Unit is Robot’s grandfather figure. On some occasions he seeks him for advice when Mom Unit and Dad Unit aren’t present in the household. They played chess together. Robot Jones and Gramps Unit get along well and Gramps Unit saved Robot from getting into trouble in the episode "House Party".

Shannon- Robot has been deeply in love with Shannon since his first day of school. She is known for having a prosthetic leg and a very large retainer surrounding her head, making her appear to be very mechanical for a human, and Robot sees these physical traits as her most attractive features. Overall they appear to share a complex, complicated and indeterminable relationship. Shannon usually finds Robot Jones to be a nuisance and is often offensive towards him. Robot has tutored her in Math. Robot is very loyal and would be willing to do anything for Shannon. He saved her life before she got eaten by a bear, as shown in the episode "Summer Camp". Strangely after Robot saved her life she didn’t display any form of thankfulness and instead made a fuss about the state of her clothes, yet in "House Party" her personality was the opposite of what it usually was, as she treated Robot with gratefulness, even saying 'Thanks, Robot'. In "House Party" she showed a romantic interest in him and she was even willing to get very close to him. In the episode "Garage Band" Shannon appeared to show a fondness towards Robot. While she is usually not fond of Robot in most episodes, she is not nearly as hostile compared to the Yogman Twins. They have been shown as having a close relationship in certain episodes (such as "Garage Band" and "House Party") but a not so pleasant relationship in other episodes (for example "Summer Camp", "The Rules of Dating", "Jealousy" and many other episodes). Their relationship is mainly one-sided. Shannon seems to be unaware of Robot’s feelings for her. Throughout the whole series Robot never got the chance to admit his love for her. They were very close to kissing in the episode "House Party". Shannon sometimes fears Robot and presumedly she is worried about her reputation being ruined by being around Robot. She gave Robot a kiss on the cheek in "Popularity", regardless of her interest in Robot’s fake lookalike.

Mitch and Cubey- Mitch and Cubey are the first two students that Robot befriended. They became friends in the episode "Electric Boogaloo" and share a close relationship. The two friends think that Robot is cool and warned Robot about the Yogman Twins when they suddenly appeared behind Robot.

Pam- Like Shannon, Pam is usually rude and critical towards Robot. In the first part of the episode "Gender" Pam is nasty towards Robot but later she is very supportive towards him. They develop a good relationship and eventually became friends.

Principal Madman- Principal Madman is the child-like, strict and temperamental principal of Polyneux Middle School. Being a technophobe, Madman hates Robot and struggles to trust him. He often yells at him. Despite Robot being pleasant and polite towards the school principal, Mr. Madman wants to do anything he can to get Robot into trouble and give him countless detentions.

Lenny Yogman and Denny Yogman- The twins are often able to successfully manipulate Robot and embarrass him in public. They bully Jones often. They made Jones extremely angry in the episode "Cube Wars". They see Robot Jones as a nobody and find pleasure in mocking him. The three are enemies.

Finkman- Finkman is a foreign exchange student Android (or 'Foreign Exchange Unit’ as he proudly refers to himself by). Finkman is extremely arrogant, treats Robot badly, and is quick to dismiss Robot, so in response Jones despises him. Robot Jones is very envious of Finkman because he stole Shannon from him in the episode "Jealousy". He continues to maintain a cold grudge towards Finkman.

Trivia

 * Robot's full name was confirmed in the episode House Party.
 * Robot made his first appearance in years when he had a cameo role in the OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes crossover episode Crossover Nexus. It's unlikely that he'll return again.
 * Greg Miller thinks that Robot went from being a protagonist to an antagonist.
 * In the TV series Robot's joints are blue-gray, in Crossover Nexus they are pale gray and in the Cartoon Network 20th Anniversary promo they are jet black. They've even been shown as purple.