List of Robots characters

The following is a list of characters that appear in the 2005 film Robots.

Rodney Copperbottom

• Voiced by: Ewan McGregor

Ever since he was a young "bot", Rodney dreamed of becoming an inventor and meeting his childhood hero Bigweld. When his father's boss becomes angered by one of his inventions, Rodney decides to leave Rivet Town, to go to Robot City and sell his idea to Bigweld. He finds that Bigweld has been replaced by Ratchet, a smooth-talking but sinister robot. He also meets a beautiful-executive robot named Cappy who works in the Bigweld Industry Company with Ratchet, but doesn't like his scheme and attitude. During the movie, it may seem that Rodney might have feelings for Cappy because he smiles at her when Wonderbot accidentally dropped him into the boardroom and how they danced at the end of the movie. Later, after being evicted from the boardroom, Rodney meets the Rusties, a group of "outmodes" (outdated bots with worn out or broken parts). The outmodes befriend Rodney after he is able to fix most of them. He extends this favor to all the broken or crumbling robots in the City. Rodney and Fender eventually discover that Ratchet is the one who stopped the production of replacement parts, in order to force all robots to receive regular upgrades. Ratchet also forced Bigweld into hiding, to keep his plan a secret. Rodney and the other robots then unite to save Bigweld and defeat Ratchet, awaken Robot City, and the outmodes finally receive their much-needed replacement parts. In the end, Bigweld names Rodney as his successor.

Fender Pinwheeler

• Voiced by: Robin Williams

Fender first appears when he takes some pictures of Rodney Copperbottom's first moments in Robot City, whereupon he tries to scam Rodney by saying that he must buy the photo for $50. He later meets Rodney again in Robot City and travels with him on the crosstown express to Bigweld industries, only to be thrown across the city after being hit with a large hammer. The third time they meet is when Fender attempts to steal Rodney's foot. They meet a fourth time in the spare parts shop where Fender is trying to get a part to fix his neck. When they aren't able to acquire one and Fender finds out he's been outmoded, Rodney offers to fix Fender's neck and the two become friends. Throughout his role, Fender is whimsical and sometimes melodramatic. Fender has a "sister" named Piper Pinwheeler, with whom he has a sometimes one-sided sibling rivalry. At the Bigweld Ball later in the film, he meets a female robot named Loretta Geargrinder and has a short fling with her. After he drops her off at her home, he sings a short song and during a moment of carelessness, Fender is captured by a sweeper and taken to the chop shop, where he loses his legs. He puts on a replacement, only to find out his new waist once belonged to a female robot. With no time to find another replacement, he uses the new legs to escape the chop shop and return to his friends to tell them who's behind the master plan. He adopts the image of a female Scottish warrior in the battle at the chop shop.

Cappy

• Voiced by: Halle Berry

Cappy is a beautiful and clever young robot, living and working in Robot City as Bigweld Industries' only female co-executive. Unlike Ratchet and his sycophants, she sympathizes with the outmodes as their parts are cut off to make way for Ratchet's new plan. Ratchet is seen flirting with her, of which she always dismisses. Upon meeting Rodney, she quickly begins to develop a crush on him and wants to keep him and Bigweld out of trouble, especially from Ratchet. She becomes Rodney's ally and companion, serving to help him and his friends when they are in danger. Cappy is able to drive a variety of vehicles, she also has two small "wheels" on her feet which she can activate at will and used for transport at high speed in similar fashion to rollerblading.

Bigweld

• Voiced by: Mel Brooks

Bigweld is the head of Bigweld Industries. He also owns a television show called "The Bigweld Show", and Rodney follows this show in his childhood. He also enjoys setting up and knocking down dominoes. Bigweld has two main catchphrases heard in the movie:

• "You can shine no matter what you're made of!"
• "See a need, fill a need."

When trying to fire Ratchet from the company, Bigweld is hit over the head with a telephone by Ratchet. Rodney is then able to save him and flee. However, Bigweld suffers amnesia and sings songs such as "Daisy" during their escape from Ratchet, but Rodney is soon able to repair him. He has no legs, but resembles an enormous titanium sphere on which are added arms, a tuxedo-like cover, and a head.

Piper Pinwheeler

• Voiced by: Amanda Bynes

Piper Pinwheeler is the younger sister of Fender. Two pigtail-like devices on her head can extend on command to lengths greater than her own height, making them effective semi-projectile weapon. Piper is friendly, outgoing, and generally a happy character, but oftentimes having sibling rivalry with Fender, though they really are good "siblings". She also has a crush on Rodney and wants to help him when he is in danger. Piper has a hate- love relationship with Fender.

Wonderbot

Wonderbot is a sentient invention with a nervous disposition that does not have a speaking part and uses body language, and different pitched noises to communicate.

Wonderbot was designed by Rodney to help complete the task of cleaning dishes for Rodney's father, Herb Copperbottom. However, the Wonderbot was frightened by Herb Copperbottom's boss, who was then dirtied as a result of being startled by the Wonderbot, fired Rodney from his job as a server at the restaurant. Thereafter Rodney traveled to Robot City, where he intended to sell the Wonderbot to Bigweld. There, Wonderbot was discarded by Ratchet and later discovered by Piper Pinwheeler. He later became instrumental in several incidents, such as pointing out possible opportunities to meet the absent Bigweld and his duel with the evil Madame Gasket. In the film's final scene, he is shown throwing Bigweld Industries' obnoxious gatekeeper Tim out of the audience's field of vision.

Wonderbot possesses three long, wire-like limbs that he uses variously as hands or as means of creating pictures for visual communication.

Phineas T. Ratchet

• Voiced by: Greg Kinnear

Phineas T. Ratchet's (otherwise known as Ratchet) goal is to destroy Bigweld ultimately putting an end to outmodes, and to take over Robot City with beautiful upgraded robots. He wants Bigweld Industries to stop making spare parts for outmodes and to start making only upgrades. By doing so, he can help his mother fullfil her plans. His mother is Madame Gasket, who runs the chop shop (a place where outmodes are taken) and is the true mastermind behind Ratchet's plot to take over Robot City. Rodney thwarts his plans by fixing outmodes so they don't have to buy upgrades, quickly becoming Ratchet's biggest rival. He also has an obvious thing for Cappy and is shown flirting with her multiple times, and is usually rejected. After Rodney helps Bigweld find himself again, Bigweld tells Ratchet he's fired and to leave the company. He then knocks Bigweld out and tries to get security to take him to the chop shop so he can be melted down to make new upgrades when Rodney comes and rescues Bigweld from Ratchet. During the climactic battle between a team of Ratchet and his mother versus Rodney and his outmode army, Ratchet grabs on to his mother and they're both about to fly into the furnace, when the chain he's holding on to breaks off and he's flung to the metal bar where his father is being held. Upon hitting the bar his upgrades fall off. Disgruntled about it, his father attempts to cheer him up by telling him that, "You can shine no matter what you're made of." To which he responds negatively and that is his last appearance in the film.

Herb Copperbottom

• Voiced by: Stanley Tucci

Herb Copperbottom is Rodney's father and Lydia Copperbottom's husband.

Herb first appears at the beginning of the movie, wherein he announces enthusiastically that he is to be a father (this being the day of Rodney's creation). It is said that he had wanted to be a musician and that he played pretty well too but his father was worried that Herb would not make a living so he was remodeled to be a Dishwasher, however he became a musician at the end of the film, wherein Rodney gives him a brass wind instrument resembling a French horn. In the interim years, Herb was a dishwashing machine at a restaurant owned by a cranky robot called Mr. Gunk. Mr Gunk bosses Herb around until the end of the film when Herb has had enough of him and quit his job. Herb begins to disintegrate during Rodney's adulthood, ultimately to be repaired at Bigweld Industries later on. His musical career begins with an off-key song that transmutes into an enjoyable dance number that combines, according to Fender, "jazz and funk". The resulting music is called "junk".

Herb wears a white dishwashing machine on his chest until the final scenes, below which is a metal panel resembling an apron. He is optimistic, but less prone to lie than his wife.

Aunt Fanny

• Voiced by: Jennifer Coolidge

Aunt Fanny is a motherly figure to the Rusties, whom she adopted as her housemates when they were homeless. Her name appears to be derived from her gigantic rump, which resembles a snail's shell and is used as a storage compartment. She is known as being "a little artsy-fartsy" according to Piper. The artsy being OK, but not so much when she gets fartsy (hinting at how flatulent she is). Aunt Fanny appears to have a sentimental crush on Bigweld, who also seems to have a crush on her, allegedly because both have enormous posteriors. For the UK release, her name was changed to "Aunt Fan", because "Fanny" is slang for female genitals. In a contest among the Rusties wherein they made flatulence-like noises (she believed they actually did it, not just making the noises with their arms), she showed her gassiness, as she actually farted, killing a nearby street lamp. She is seen wearing glass with make up on and having square head. She has regular sized arms but has tiny legs under her large rump. On her large buttocks is strip of white that falls down her crack.

Tim

• Voiced by: Paul Giamatti

Tim is gatekeeper of Bigweld Industries. He resembles a miniature, hand-puppet-like officer of some sort, clad in black. Tim is sarcastic and naughty-spirited in life, in contrast to his comical benevolence in Bigweld's television program, and may become servile when intimidated. When Rodney asks to meet Bigweld, Tim teases him by slamming the door in his face multiple times. Rodney later tricks Tim into closing the gates by requesting to see Bigweld as Rodney escapes Ratchet's minions, locking them away from their quarry. At the end of the film, Tim is (presumably) invited to Rivet Town for the protagonists' celebration of their victory, only to be thrown from a great height by the Wonderbot as punishment for closing the entrance door's while Rodney was trying to see Bigweld, only it was Ratchet inside Bigweld Industries.

Crank Casey

• Voiced by: Drew Carey

Crank Casey (known to his friends as Crank) is a robot.

Staying true to his name, he is constantly complaining about various problems. He prefers the easy course of action, which to him involves sitting around waiting for the worst to happen, and complaining when it does.

Crank is one of the many robots Rodney meets on his journey to Robot City. He lives with Aunt Fanny, Fender, Piper, Lug, and Diesel. He helps find voice/sound chips for Diesel. In the final battle, wherein he temporarily gives up his pessimism in favor of determination against the common threat, replacing his old wheels with monster truck wheels and obtains headlights.

Lug

• Voiced by: Harland Williams

Lug is a large robot whose main problem with scavenging for parts is that he can never find them in his size. Later in the movie, he is converted into a professional-wrestler robot in order to fight evil robots.

Lug is one of the many robots Rodney Copperbottom meets on his journey to Robot City. He takes care of Aunt Fanny, Fender, Piper, Crank, and Diesel. He helps find voice/sound chips for Diesel.

Diesel

Diesel is a robot who needs voice boxes to communicate or make noises from his mouth. His personality changes to suit the voice box he is currently using. Some of the personalities he uses include those of a dog, a singer, a cowboy and Darth Vader.

He and his friends often look for voice boxes that he can use. A running gag throughout the movie involves him finding and trying to use different voice boxes, then acting out a pop culture reference for each one. For example, when hearing about Rodney's talent, he assumes a voice box and says "The Force is strong in this one" in Darth Vader's voice. In the end, Diesel receives a brand-new voice box from Bigweld, and starts singing like James Brown. He also wears shoes.

Madame Gasket

• Voiced by: Jim Broadbent

Madame Gasket is the mother of Ratchet and the true mastermind behind Ratchet's plot to take over Robot City. She owns an underground chop shop for the outmodes collected by her sweepers. Oblivious to this herself, she is also made out of "outmode" material. Despite not appearing much in the film, it is suggested that she is the controlling force that directs an otherwise weak and dim-witted Ratchet, whom she inspires with her own power-hungry ideas and whom she uses as a tool. During the film's climax she is overconfident about her army's power Ratchet has created; she is about to order her armies of Chop Shop Workers and huge Sweepers/Choppers to attack on the protagonists when Piper comes to the rescue, along with all the outmodes that Rodney repaired. During the battle when Madame Gasket attempts to finish Bigweld off, she is outfought by the Wonderbot and it throws her into her furnace, destroying her.

She is voiced by Jim Broadbent. It is presumably because of this, as well as her hideous appearance, that Fender (as well as presumably the other robots) mistakes her as a male upon first sight.

Lydia Copperbottom

• Voiced by: Dianne Wiest

Lydia Copperbottom is the mother of Rodney Copperbottom and wife of Herb Copperbottom. She is a very kindhearted housewife, but can be melodramatic and sometimes plays fast and loose with truth. Early in the movie, she tried to prevent Rodney from going to Robot City, believing that his intentions were to leave home,so she used her 'mother's instinct' to find him at the train station. However,his father stepped in and explained that Rodney actually left them a note saying that he would be at the train station, leaving to Robot City to get a job.

Mr. Gunk

• Voiced by: Dan Hedaya

Mr. Gunk is the boss of the diner where Herb Copperbottom works. He is strict, mean-spirited, and bossy. He is a cash register with a clock for a nose, hinting at miserliness and insistence on a tight schedule. He is ultimately forsaken as a boss by Herb, whom he always had addressed by his surname. At the ending of the film he stops Herb from going outside to see Rodney and exclaims "Copperbottom! Where are you Going? What about the dishes?" Herb, after putting up with years of being bossed around, takes off his dish washing machine and dumps it on Mr Gunk's head. Herb and Lydia head outside and Mr. Gunk tries to follow them and yells in a tremendous yell "HEY, GET BACK HERE! YOU'LL NEVER WASH IN THIS TOWN AGAIN!!" before getting hit by the doors that close on him he is probably arrested by the Rivet Town police after this.

Loretta Geargrinder

• Voiced by: Natasha Lyonne

Loretta is a good-looking, pink female robot that believes that Fender is "an eccentric billionaire" for his clothes at the Bigweld Ball, and becomes his dance partner. After the party, they continue to court one another. She is shown working as a receptionist at Bigweld Industries and later as Fender's partner in the final scene's dance sequence. She presumably does not really care about Fender's new lower half, but that he loves her as she does him, even if he is apparently gender-bent. For the British release Natasha Lyonne's voice was replaced by Cat Deeley's.