A comic anti-hero, Bender was described by Turanga Leela as an "alcoholic, whore-mongering, chain-smoking gambler," which largely sums up his personality. He curses, fights, argues, smokes cigars (to make himself look cool), drinks constantly (though, in his defense, alcohol is his primary fuel), reads robot pornography (in the form of circuit diagrams), and constantly demands attention and praise from everyone around him (he even created Bender Day). He also has a strictly voluntary sense of morals, being a kleptomaniac who snatches wallets and other valuables at every opportunity. He is easily the most offensive of the Planet Express crew. It is often stated that he has no emotions, though this is quite clearly not true ("We robots don't have any emotions, and sometimes *sniff* that makes me feel very sad!")
Bender is a sentient robot who was built in the Mom's Friendly Robot Company plant in "America's heartland", Tijuana, Mexico, circa AD 2998. He is a Bending-Unit 22, serial number 2716057, chassis number 1729. As his name indicates, he was created for the task of bending metal girders. On December 31, 2999, Bender was waiting in line to use one of New New York City's public suicide booths (he claimed he couldn't go on living when he found out that the girders he bent were used for suicide booths) when he met Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy from the 20th century who'd just been revived from cryonic stasis earlier that day (and also thought the suicide booth was a phone booth). After meeting Fry, Bender decided to put off killing himself until later and ended up getting a job with Fry and Leela at Planet Express, an intergalactic package delivery business. Bender is hired as the ship's cook, which was clearly a mistake, as it is frequently mentioned (and, when he attempts to prepare food, shown) that the rest of the crew is unable to eat Bender's atrocious cooking.
Despite his vices and macho posturing, Bender has several tender traits, such as his semi-secret aspirations to be a famous cook and/or a folk singer. Bender has a soft spot for turtles (because much like a turtle, he has great difficulty getting back on his feet after he has been knocked onto his back), penguins, and has also shown affection toward orphans. Bender desperately wants to be a part of the Harlem Globetrotters, but was turned down. He shares an apartment with his human friend Fry, who said he always wanted a robot for a best friend when he was growing up in the 20th century. If magnets are placed close to his head, they interfere with his inhibition unit, which causes him to act out his desire to be a folk singer by performing folk staples. He sometimes improvises variations on the songs' lyrics, such as "I'll be blasting all the humans in the world" in "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain or "Froggy went a-courtin' and Bender is great, uh-huh!."
Bender's tenderness is also shown through his loving relationships. After winning his five gold olympic medals in the episode "Bend Her", Bender has to undertake a robot sex change to physically become a fully fledged fembot and pass the gender testing. During his time as a fembot, Bender attracts the amorous attentions of Calculon and they eventually become engaged. In order to avoid the marriage and return to his life as a manbot, Bender fakes his own death at the altar. Bender's love for Calculon lives on however, shown when he sheds a tear after watching the movie tribute by him, dedicated to their relationship. Bender also falls in love with a female robot named Angleyne in the episode "Bendless Love". Their relationship crumbles, however, when Bender disguises himself as Angleyne's ex-lover (and his own identical twin), Flexo, in order to entrap her; this backfires when Angleyne realizes Bender has shown her she is still devoted to Flexo.
Bender has periodically stated a desire to kill all humans (although it should be noted that in the episode The Sting, in which Fry is thought to be dead, Bender reveals that every time he stated that he wished to kill all humans, he would then whisper "except one," the one being Fry), possibly a reference to the many movies set in the future in which robots turn against their creators. He is clearly not bound by Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. At one stage, on a robot controlled planet, he became a celebrity for his false reputation for killing humans. Interestingly, in the episode "I, Roommate" (wordplay on Asimov's classic book of short stories I, Robot), Bender contradicts his misanthropic personality with this description of "human stuff": "He laughs, he learns, he loves" (to which Fry responds with: "Boring."). In another Futurama episode, Bender claims to have "pounded a guy into the ground like a stake with a shovel".
Ultimately, it may be said that Bender's sense of morality or conscience is highly situational, based on his mood at the time and/or the comedic needs of the script. At times, he seems to respond with sympathy or guilt toward human suffering, at other times he is perfectly happy to join Robot Santa in killing much of the population of New New York City.
Notable events in Bender's life include his 'birth' (which he remembers), his previously mentioned hiring at Planet Express, and a brief stint as pharaoh of the planet Osiris IV ("A Pharaoh to Remember"). Bender has met an intergalactic super intelligence which may or may not have been God ("Godfellas"). He also cheated his way to five gold medals in the Earth Olympics by disguising himself as a fembot ("Bend Her"). He won a war medal as a hero of Earth ("War is the H-Word"). During his brief stint as a superhero ("Less Than Hero"), he went by the name Superking (which may be an allusion to the cigarette brand of the same name).
Hardware
There is very little consistency in Bender's hardware from episode to episode, and his internal workings vary as required for the story or for comic effect.
Bender's habit of hard drinking is a result of his design; like many robots on Futurama, he uses alcohol as fuel. Ironically, Bender only suffers symptoms of intoxication when he stops drinking, becoming disoriented and developing a kind of stubble which is actually "five o'clock rust" around his mouth, as his systems break down. While alcohol is his primary fuel source, he is also capable of processing mineral oil and dark matter. He is also equipped with a nuclear pile, the effectiveness of which is unknown, although it did keep his robot brain operational for over 1000 years when he was buried in "Roswell That Ends Well."
His "extend-o-matic" limbs are extendable, detachable, and capable of functioning independently of his body. In most cases, his eyes are shown to be extending cylinders with rounded ends, but in at least two episodes ("Anthology of Interest I" and "A Flight To Remember"), his eyes fall out and are shown to be spheres (in "A Flight To Remember", they are more like cylinders). Additionally, in the episode "The Farnsworth Parabox", Bender replaces his normal, cylindrical eyes with a set that feature a 90-degree bend, like a periscope. These are then used to check the surroundings from his location in the steam vent, to make sure Leela's not around.
He also has a cavity in his chest that seems to give him access to hammerspace in order to store his beer, loot, and whatever dials or buttons he requires for a gag in a given episode, although it was filled to capacity when Bender stole almost everything of value in "A Bicyclops Built For Two". It is also large enough to fit a person in it, shown when Fry gets trapped accidentally in "The Honking." The interior of Bender's chest cavity is seen in Futurama: The Game, wherein there are a variety of cogs, wheels, gyros, and various other mechanical components (some of which are outdated even by today's standards), and the interior is indeed seen to be fairly large. However, as with most spin-off material for television shows, the videogame may not be considered canon. In "Insane in the Mainframe", an X-ray like "Gamma Scan" reveals a variety of axles and cogs, as well as a small bat. In one episode, Bender distills about 30 bottles worth of malt liquor in his chest cavity, carrying it as though he were pregnant.
A frequently used item in his chest is his purple camera. On different occasions, he will say the word "Neat!" and take a picture with the camera. No explanation has yet been given on why he does this or where he puts the pictures.
His head is detachable, can continue to function when not attached to his body, and has been seen functioning as an audio tape recorder, answering machine, CD player, projector, camera, martini shaker, credit card terminal, and a spray can. He also uses it as a distraction when pickpocketing, although whether this is an intended function is unknown. Bender may also be used as a film projector as shown in the episode "Crimes of the Hot". Bender can also perform great feats of strength, such as bending an "unbendable" girder. He is also water-resistant and can operate in a vacuum.
In one episode, the Planet Express crew crashed underwater. When they got out of the ship to look around for help, Bender opened his chest to reveal breathing masks, like in a plane that loses cabin pressure. He then stated "In the event of an emergency, my ass can be used as a floatation device"
He claims to have a total of eight senses, known to include vision in the human ranges, hearing and "smission", but not, much to his own dismay, taste. His eyes also function as cameras (still and video, both of which can be recorded or transmitted on demand); he has a total of three cameras on his body (the location of the third is unknown, but implied to be in the "below the waist" area). Other sensory equipment he displays in the series, such as "gaydar" and X-ray-glasses, are external devices and probably do not count as part of his eight senses. He has a built-in, but unreliable, "Cheating Unit" for predicting the outcome of his own dice rolls. Bender makes mention of a Hilarity Unit (an opening subtitle for one episode of the show claims this unit may be powered by "Microsoft Joke"). One can assume he has other units devoted to displaying certain emotional states. Bender's computational abilities are self-admittedly poor. He is quite sensitive about his antenna, which is multifunctional and can work as a radio transmitter, a remote control receiver, or a toilet flusher, to pick a few. The antenna is implied to be analogous to a penis; in a scenario where he becomes human in "Anthology of Interest II", it moves down to in-between Bender's legs. In "I, Roommate", Bender responds to Leela's suggestion of removing his antenna with, "You're not a robot or a man, you wouldn't understand."
He also seems to have three different buttons for deleting information: on his shoulder, on his chest, and one where his rear end would be.
According to information from various episodes, he is composed of 30% iron, 40% zinc, 40% titanium, 40% dolomite and an unknown quantity of osmium with a 0.04% nickel impurity. No explanation for the total of over 150.04% was offered in the series, though it is pointed out in the DVD commentary. However, it could be implied that when Bender refers to "his body" being a certain percentage of alloy, it could possibly only refer to Bender's main chest plate and abdomen, excluding his arms, legs, and head. The incorrect total may simply be due to misinformation. Bender admits to being a bad calculator in the episode, "The Cyber House Rules". In "Raging Bender", he is announced as weighing 525 lb (238 kg), but in a later episode, Leela was easily able to tip him off a couch (admittedly, Leela is quite strong). Fry and Leela also roll Bender up after he is flattened in the fight and carry him away without any problem. Dwight was able to carry a safe within which a sleeping Bender was locked.
Bender's serial number is 2716057, which is expressible as the sum of two cube numbers ((952)³ + (-951)³). He shares this trait with another Bending Unit he meets called Flexo, whose serial number is 3370318 ((119)³ + (119)³). (This is one of several joke references to obscure mathematical facts; see Hardy-Ramanujan number.)
Bender's CPU is a MOS Technology 6502 ("Fry and the Slurm Factory"), an extremely primitive choice even nowadays for a such sophisticated piece of technology, let alone in AD 2998. Of course, in AD 2998 the 6502's clock speed could be manufactured to meet any need.
The series provides contradictory information about Bender's origin. In several episodes he is portrayed having been assembled in a factory in his current form only a few years prior to the start of the series, as an ordinary machine would be. However, in "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" he is shown as going through growth and development like an animal and said to have "robo- or RNA", a DNA equivalent. He also claims to have been assembled in a plant in Mexico, hence his surname of "Rodriguez". The episodes "Raging Bender" and "Bendless Love" confirm this, as his origins are announced as "America's heartland - Tijuana, Mexico." His full name is revealed in "The Luck of the Fryrish" during the following conversation:
Bender: Bending is my middle name!
Fry: It is?
Bender: Yep. My full name is Bender Bending Rodriguez.
This is also confirmed in "The Cyber House Rules" when the "Cookieville Minimum Security Orphanarium" is renamed the "Bender B. Rodriguez Orpaharium" in light of Bender's generous donation of twelve orphans and a government check for $1200 (presumably $100 per orphan donated).
Software
Template:Spoiler
Bender initially could not act against his programming. In the first episode, Bender was deprogrammed after first hearing Fry's arguments about becoming a robot that determines his own life ("You're full of crap, Fry!") and then being electrocuted by a hanging light bulb ("You make a persuasive argument, Fry!"). However, whenever his brain (in the form of a floppy disk) is removed, his vocabulary reverts to "I am Bender. Please insert girder." Like all other robots on earth, he is built with a "patriotism" chip in the event of war. When activated, he immediately becomes willing to obey orders from the military, and even offer himself for suicide missions.
When he comes in contact with a magnet, it disrupts his inhibition unit and he sings various folk songs, including "She'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes".
Although unconfirmed, Startling Comics #49 may be the source of Matt Groening's depiction. [1] Coincidentally, in the episode "Roswell That Ends Well", Bender and the crew of the Planet Express ended up in the year 1947 wherein Bender was mistaken as flying saucer debris at Roswell, New Mexico. It should also be noted that in the episode "Crimes of the Hot" the robot that Professor Farnsworth remembers building in his flashback is the prototype of all modern robots and looks almost identical to the robot in the comic.
Trivia
Bender has made cameo appearances in several episodes of Matt Groening's other show, The Simpsons. In "Future-Drama", Bart and Homer go through a portal/tunnel on a hovercraft. At the other side, Bender is seen in between Bart and Homer, saying "Alright! You guys are my new best friends". Homer says "You wish, loser!" and throws him out of the car, where he (literally) falls apart.File:GABF12.jpgBender makes a cameo appearance in The Simpsons episode Future-Drama
Bender still has over $8 billion laying out of circulation from the sale of popplers. He made $1 per dozen popplers sold, with 198 billion sold with 'help' from Fishy Joe's Fast Food Chain.
Throughout the series, Bender appears in various different forms. Some examples are:
a cowboy version of himself in the 'only' other alternate universe in "I Dated a Robot", whose only difference seems to be that he has a cowboy hat.
Bender as a superhero, Super King (however, wanted to rename himself to El Zilcho), in "Less Than Hero"
In both episodes featuring the What-If Machine, the outcome for Bender's what-ifs end in his own macabre death: in the first, he becomes 500 feet tall, and is impaled on a skyscraper when a giant Dr. Zoidberg snaps off his footcups; in the second, he becomes a human and dies of overeating, drinking and smoking. It also should be noted that the line "Good night sweet prince." is spoken after both of Bender's deaths, first by Fry in "Anthology of Interest I" and then by Farnsworth in "Anthology of Interest II".
While against human-robot relationships, such as Fry and his Lucy Liu-bot, Bender himself had an affair with Lucy Liu's head, who appears once more in his chest cavity in "Love and Rocket".
In addition to his twin, Flexo, Bender has a "family" of sorts. He has two "mothers": one is the industrial robot that assembled him, the other is "Mom" of Mom's Friendly Robot Company. Bender also has a screwy aunt named Rita, who, in fact, is a screw. He also has a (deceased) Uncle Vladimir, from whom he inherited the family castle (which he presumably still owns, even though he did not technically spend an entire night in the castle as he was supposed to as stipulated in his uncle's will).
Bender's apartment number is 00100100, which when translated into ASCII, is the $ symbol.
Bender, much like a turtle, has great difficulty getting back on his feet after he has been knocked onto his back.
Bender's color is foghat grey.
In the episode "The Sting", he mentioned that he is not allowed to sing by a court order.
Although Bender is five years old at the end of the fourth season, if one takes into account the episode "Roswell That Ends Well", he could be considered 1060. In that episode, Bender's head was dropped from the Planet Express ship just outside Roswell Air Force Base in the year 1947, where it stayed buried in the sand until the crew dug his head up 1056 years later in the year 3002. This is widely seen as a reference to the "Time's Arrow" episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which Data's head is left in the past in a similar way.
Bender's speed of speech has become faster over the seasons. In the first episode, he spoke with a more airy slow voice, but over the seasons his voice has picked up in speed and pitch. By the last episode he was talking at a faster pace.
Despite being born 2 years prior to the commencement of the Futurama series, it is learnt that Bender has attended High School (with a robot shown in episode 1.02 - The Series Has Landed) and Mars University (this is somewhat contradicted during a sequence of his birth which shows him gaining a diploma).
Several of these words are meant to be jokes; on the show, he almost never says "daffodil" and only says "pimpmobile" in "War is the H-Word." "Up" and "yours" are clearly meant to go together, as are "bite", "my", and "shiny". Bender almost never says the words thanks, sorry, funderful, non-alcoholic, compassion, and shrimp toast. The word antiquing appears to be the word he uses the least (and thanks to a bomb in his chest, "Stuck in there with glue or something," will destroy the planet should he ever say it).
Other catch phrases include:
"Kill all humans."
"Cheese it!"
"I'm back, baby!"
"Well, I'm/we're boned."
"Neat!" (And takes a picture with a camera)
"He's/You're pending for a bending"
Bender also enjoys referring to himself in the third person (example: "And then Bender ran" from "Leela's Homeworld") and never misses a chance to compliment himself.
Words used to describe humans:
Meatball
Meatbag
Meatloaf
Skintube
Porkpie
Bloodbag
Pork pouch
Organ sack
Fleshwad
Coffin-stuffer
Sausage-link
Meaty-meaty meat lump
"Pets" (used in reference to Fry in the episode I, Roomate){This same term is also used by Queen Vespa in My Life as a Teenage Robot to describe humans}.
Items kept inside chest cavity
Throughout Futurama, Bender has used his chest cavity to store a variety of weird and wonderful items, most commonly beer (appears 19 times) and cigars (appears 9 times):
