Superman
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The Superman Robots are fictional robots from the DC Comics Universe. The robots resembled Superman in appearance and abilities.
Superman robots played a particularly dominant role in late 1950s and 1960s era Superman comics, when readers were first introduced to Superman possessing various robot duplicates. These robots each possessed a fraction of Superman's powers, and were sometimes used to substitute for him on missions or protect his secret identity.[1] One notable Superman robot was named Ajax, also known as Wonder Man.[2] Other Superman robots had other names, including Robot Z,[3] Robot X-3,[4] and MacDuff.[5]
The idea of Superman robots extended into Superboy stories of the period as well, where it was revealed that Superboy also possessed robot duplicates of himself. Nearly all of these robots were either deactivated or converted into adult-sized robots when Superboy grew up to become Superman.[6] There was also Supergirl and Linda Lee robots so that Superman's teenage cousin could be a hero while at the same time seemingly be at class.[7] Also while not Superman robots per se, Superman had other machines who could pass for human. For example, in one 1960 Superman story, "Mr. and Mrs Crandall" adopt Bizarro's human-looking infant son who had wandered into Midvale orphanage. The Crandalls were really robots who only pretended to adopt the baby so that their master Superman could take custody of the child.[8]
In the early 1970s, the Superman comics largely abandoned the use of Superman robots as part of a change in the books' tone and writing style; the excuse given in the comics was that Earth's pollution levels and artificial radiation had rendered Superman's robots unusable.[9]
The notion of Superman robots was reintroduced for post-Crisis comic continuity in a late 1990s storyline. During the period where Superman (under the control of Dominus) felt he must police the entire Earth at once, he built an army of Superman robots (created in his own image, all wearing the famous "S" shield but wearing variations of the Red, Blue and Yellow costume). However, unlike the pre-Crisis Superman robots, these automata were not realistic androids capable of passing for the real Superman, but instead were obviously mechanical, with metallic bodies and no artificial skin. These modern Superman robot's powers included super-strength, flight, and heat vision, but were inferior to Superman's own powers. The Superman robots were also given a small degree of sentience, making each one an autonomous agent of the Man of Steel. Their job was to protect mankind (aggressively if necessary) and attend to crises beyond Superman's reach.
Once Dominus had been defeated, Superman had most of the robots destroyed. One particular robot (programmed to protect Lois Lane) was particularly difficult to get rid of.
In Superman (vol. 2) #170, Jeph Loeb wrote a story where, in defending Lois Lane from certain death, Krypto almost killed Mongul by ripping his throat out. Believing that Krypto was too dangerous to have around, Superman confined him to the Fortress of Solitude. A Superman robot nicknamed "Ned", presumably the same one programmed to protect Lois, was employed as Krypto's caretaker. The robot was programmed to occasionally give off Superman's scent to keep Krypto happy.
In a later storyline, Brainiac 8 revived and increased the power to a forgotten Superman robot. The robot attacked the Teen Titans, killing Troia and Omen before it was defeated.[10]
In Superman: Red Son, the Superman robots are Soviet citizens who were lobotomized and fitted with cybernetic implants as punishment for speaking or acting against the Soviet regime.[11]
In Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman, a league of Superman robots is seen operating various equipment in Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Towards the end of the series, the majority of these robots sacrifice themselves by aiding Superman in a battle with Solaris the Tyrant Sun.[12] The robots have a more obvious robotic appearance, with blue capes and the yellow and red on the "S" insignia transposed.[13][14][15]
In the miniseries Tangent: Superman's Reign, the stronghold of that world's Superman is protected by fearsome-looking insectoid robots. During an attempted robbery, one hero comments about "Superman's robots".
