by Bender, the degenerate robot from the “Futurama” television series, is probably the most loved character in the show. It’s no wonder that he is such a draw for Futurama fans, because he has so much to offer.
Interesting Background
Bender’s model designation as a robot is Bending Unit 22. His real name is Bender Bending Rodriguez. This is because he was manufactured in Tijuana, Mexico at the Fábrica Robotica De La Madre plant owned by Mom’s Friendly Robot Company in the year 2997.
Bender is lovable yet immoral and wildly inappropriate. Fans love his design, which makes him seem as if he was built in the steamship age, and his voice which is decidedly un-robotic. He often narrows his eyes in an evil manner and laughs maniacally until someone asks him what he is doing and he snaps out of it.
Sarcastic, Inappropriate Behavior
He is bigoted towards humans and often makes comments that demonstrate his disdain for human beings. When he forgets himself in a moment of enthusiasm he will frequently yell, “Kill all humans!” In spite of his prejudice, he is loyal to his human friends and coworkers at Planet Express.
He once had an affair with his human coworker Amy Wong that led to an involvement in political activism. Bender successfully pursued a change in law that allowed robots and humans to marry. Upon realizing that he would have to commit to one female, he immediately broke off his relationship with Amy.
Bender will readily abuse the trust of his human best friend, Fry. He and Fry share an apartment at the Robot Arms building, and he never does any chores or helps in any way. He always lies around on the couch making rude comments, drinking and monopolizing the television. He constantly instigates Fry into schemes that get Fry into serious predicaments, like the time he and Fry stole the Planet Express rocket ship and went out for a joyride.
They damaged both the ship and the Planet Express building heavily, and then tried to pretend they would never do such a thing. Fry isn’t smart enough to pull off a deception like that, so when they got into trouble Bender blamed the whole thing on Fry.
Questionable Morals and Multiple Vices
He is also greedy and prone to stealing things. In one episode, his friend Leela puts on a set of goggles for a Bender Unit at the robot factory and finds that the goggles designate humans as targets for theft and beatings. Bender is constantly stealing from people, even when disassembled or blown into pieces. His hand was once shown taking the wallet of a scientist while his arm was lying on a work bench detached from his body.
Bender loves to smoke cigars and lights them with his finger tip. He is a notorious womanizer who doesn’t care if the target of his latest attempt at seduction is a human or a female robot known as a fembot. He has no preference for a certain type of female and will chase fat ones, skinny ones, short ones and tall ones. Fans love to quote something Bender said once while sleeping, “Hey, sexy mama. Wanna kill all humans?” Leela calls him a whoremonger. He is fun loving and drinks heavily.
Greatest Robot Ever?
To his legion of adoring fans, Bender is the ultimate in fictional robots. No other show has ever featured a robot that looked so primitively constructed, had so many technical capabilities and yet managed to seem so fallibly human. Bender is destined for the Robot Hall of Fame.
