Robotic Operating Buddy

For fighter info, see R.O.B. (SSBB).

Robotic Operating Buddy (R.O.B.)
R.O.B. File:ROBSymbol.png The original Japanese R.O.B. peripheral.
Universe	R.O.B.
Debut	Stack-Up (1985)
Smash Bros. appearances	Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System
Species	R.O.B.
Gender	None ( referred to as male )
Place of origin	Earth (Japan & America) and Isle of the Ancients
Article on Wikipedia	R.O.B.

R.O.B. (short for Robotic Operating Buddy), also called the Famicom Robot in Japan, was an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), intended to disguise it as a toy, rather than a video game, due to toy stores' avoidance of video games after the Video Game Crash of 1983.

Character description

File:Robotic Operating Buddy.jpg

The North American R.O.B.

R.O.B. was originally advertised as a toy in order to get toy stores to alleviate retail fears following the video game crash of 1983. R.O.B. was compatible with two games, Gyromite and Stack-Up and although the player didn't necessarily need R.O.B. to play the games, it still remained a key figure in Nintendo's attempt to keep the video games industry alive.

Although R.O.B.'s time has passed, his legacy lives on, as he was named the fifth in GameSpy's top twenty five smartest moves in gaming history. On the downside, ScrewAttack called R.O.B. the fifth-worst game peripheral ever, citing that it only moved up and down and side to side, was noisy and slow, was nearly impossible to put together by oneself and specifically noted the lack of games that could be played with R.O.B.

Despite only appearing as a game peripheral, R.O.B. has made many appearances in games, both in playable and non-playable roles. R.O.B. appears as a playable character in Mario Kart DS. A treasure in the Pikmin 2 game was "Remembered Old Buddy", being R.O.B.'s head and having the initials R-O-B. In Kirby's Dream Land 3, there is a stage where Kirby must complete puzzles in various rooms to collect pieces of R.O.B. for Professor Hector, R.O.B.'s creator in Gyromite, so that R.O.B. can be rebuilt. Robotic-cranes designed in R.O.B.'s image can be seen in the F-Zero GX course "Port Town Aero Dive", which can also be seen in the Brawl stage of the same name. Also, R.O.B.'s legacy is also paid homage to in the Star Fox series where the Star Fox team's robotic helper, ROB 64, was named after R.O.B and 64 as in Nintendo 64.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

R.O.B.'s artwork in Brawl

R.O.B. is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. There are also many R.O.B. enemies in the Subspace Emissary and he also appears when the Ancient Minister's clothes are burned off. It sports its Japanese color scheme, being white and red like the Japanese Famicom, though one of its alternate palettes is its North American design, being gray and black like the NES. It appears as the simple robot, without any specific accessory from its game configurations except for the hands, that are in fact its Stack-Up hands. It also uses a "Gyro" and the "Spinner" from its Gyromite configuration during its Gyro attack. Overall, the R.O.B. in Brawl looks more realistic than the actual toy.

R.O.B. is ranked 18th on the tier list in the C- tier.

Trophy

The R.O.B. trophy in Brawl.

R.O.B.
R.O.B. sporting his Famicom colors. R.O.B. debuted in Japan as Robot in 1985 as an add-on for the Famicom. He could be combined with a "gyro set," etc. for two types of play. The player controlled Professor Hector, the TV emitted light and R.O.B. responded to the light by moving. At the time, it was epoch-making game play. Recently, R.O.B. appeared in Mario Kart DS.

: Nintendo Entertainment System Robotic Operating Buddy

R.O.B. Squad

The R.O.B. Squad is the general term referring to the army and race of R.O.B. enemies in The Subspace Emissary. Although having no real canon of their own outside of the Smash Brothers series, the story of Subspace Emissary suggests that the race of R.O.B. robots called the floating island named the Isle of Ancients their home and was subsequently taken over by Tabuu in preparation for his invasion into the Smash Bros. world.

Trivia

• The original R.O.B. peripheral had a product ID of HVC-012. This appears as R.O.B.'s name in the Japanese version of Mario Kart DS and in the filename of R.O.B.-related stickers.
• R.O.B. is the only Super Smash Bros. playable character that actually exists in the real world, but as a Nintendo Accessory instead of a manufactured machine.