Malfunction

A female robot malfunctions after being shocked with electricity

A malfunction is an event where a fembot fails to function properly, because of computational and logical issues. This can result in a wide variety of unintended, improper or erratic behaviors. These may range from socially inappropriate actions to motor impairment or even the complete cessation of the fembot's functions.

Malfunction can precede, accompany or follow damage. However, malfunctions are different from damage in that they also fall outside of the fembot's normal operation, but do not result in visible harm.

Examples of malfunctions

Due to their wide range of causes and seriousness, malfunctions can be represented by a wide variety of fembot-related trope.

• Blank stares may show that the fembot is unable to process the data she is receiving, and has to relegate emulation of a normal human being to a secondary position.

• Jerky and spastic movement can show loss of motor control.

• Error messages can be delivered in a auditive way or by text through robo-vision and access panels.

• Hardware failure may lead to mechanical noises and ultimately sparks, explosions or meltdowns.

• Malfunctions can also drastically modify the behavior of a fembot, turning a passive housewife into a grinning killer or a assasindroid into a horny sexbot.

In fiction

• In the movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, the titular character Austin Powers somehow overloads Frau Farbissina's fembots with his "mojo". Unable to process so much sexiness, they start looking surprised, then start jerking and overheating, before finally exploding. This scene is not to be confused with Vanessa Kensington's one in the sequel Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, where she is purposely designed to explode.

• In the movie Cherry 2000, the titular robot Cherry gets accidentally wet, and suddenly starts sparking. She then loses all motor control, and a hear a loud beeping is heard before she eventually shuts down.

• In the movie Westworld, the main protagonist attempts at making a chained woman drink. It is revealed she is just another robot when she starts sparking and smoking.

• In the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Buffybot gets damaged by a vampire and loses her sense of direction, causing her to bang into objects.

• This trope is at the basis of most of Fection's art and writings. The character Candy, for example, is often shown as being unable to process paradoxes and even basic calculations, which ultimately leads to her demise.

More examples

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