R.O.B.

R.O.B. (short for Robotic Operating Buddy) is an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System who made appearances in a few Mario games as a character. In Japan, it was known as the Famicom Robot, which was short for Family Computer Robot. R.O.B. functions by translating flashes of information on the television screen into physical actions. R.O.B. was used for the games Gyromite and Stack-Up. R.O.B.s seem to have a relationship with one another, as when the R.O.B.s are about to detonate the bomb Outside the Ancient Ruins in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of the R.O.B.s is seen waving goodbye to the Ancient Minister.

Players can control R.O.B. with the to make him raise and lower gyroscopes. To make the gyroscope spin, the player must set the object in the gyroscope spinner and then balance it on one of the two round trays that are connected to controller two. Placing a gyro on the red tray lowers the red gates in the game; placing a gyro on the blue tray lowers the blue gates.

Mario Kart DS
R.O.B. is the last unlockable character in Mario Kart DS, unlocked by winning either all nitro Mirror cups, or all retro Mirror cups. In the game, he is tied with Bowser for being the heaviest racer. R.O.B.'s symbol is the NES. R.O.B. has two original karts: the ROB-BLS, which resembles R.O.B.'s stand; the colored pegs are from a game that uses them as pieces to a puzzle, and the ROB-LGS, which is a kart that appear like "legs" for R.O.B. His karts are fast, heavy, and have wider handling, but they also offer the weakest drifting among all the other karts. R.O.B. is the only character in Mario Kart DS who doesn't control his kart with the wheel. Instead, he seems to control the kart by moving his arms. It's possible that since R.O.B is a robot, he can be wired into the kart to control it.

R.O.B. is the first non-Mario character to appear in the Mario Kart series. The others (in the Mario Kart Arcade GP series) are Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Blinky, Mametchi, and Don-chan. Link from The Legend of Zelda, as well as the Villager and Isabelle from Animal Crossing are also set to appear as extra downloadable characters in Mario Kart 8. During online play, they may come across the HVC-012, the red and white Japanese version of R.O.B. His karts also experience the same change of color. Also, the staff ghost data for Desert Hills and Rainbow Road features the Japanese R.O.B., no matter what version of the game it is.

WarioWare series
R.O.B. is also the subject of the Stack-Up microgame in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! from 9-Volt's games. In WarioWare: Twisted!, a R.O.B. is seen in 9-Volt's game room. In WarioWare: Touched!, a R.O.B. accessory appears in the microgame Gunslinger after the player destroys a blue canister (this microgame is found in 9-Volt/18-Volt's stage). In WarioWare: Smooth Moves, R.O.B. is the boss of 9-Volt's stage, the Star Fox boss level. Like many of his other appearances, his model differs between Japanese and western versions. He bobs around, shooting either a large revolver-like light gun using both arms in the Japanese version or its western equivalent, the NES Zapper. To defeat him, the player has to shoot the flashing blocks set-up for has if he is being used to play Stack-Up.

Super Smash Bros. series
R.O.B.s have three different roles in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The first role they play is serving as enemies to the characters. They are part of the Subspace Army and attack any character that goes to their lair on The Subspace Bomb Factory. There are three variations; R.O.B. Sentries, R.O.B. Launchers, and R.O.B. Blasters. A specially trained group of R.O.B.s serves as the Ancient Minister's personal bodyguard; the R.O.B. Squad. R.O.B.s are also used to detonate Subspace Bombs In the Subspace Emissary it is revealed that the Ancient Minister is actually a R.O.B. himself and is being commanded by Tabuu to destroy the Super Smash Bros. World to help his people. When Samus, Pikachu, Olimar, Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong infiltrate the bomb factory and meet the Ancient Minister, he refuses to battle with them. Ganondorf appears in a hologram and forces the R.O.B.s to detonate all the bombs and to shoot the Ancient Minster when he tries to stop them. After the R.O.B.s shoot the Ancient Minister, his robes burn off revealing that he was a R.O.B. himself all along. Unable to prevent the bombs from being detonated, he ends up finally being carried away by Donkey Kong as the factory explodes. R.O.B. then escapes on the Falcon Flyer and meets up with the rest of the characters on the ground. He goes into Subspace and is turned into a Trophy by Tabuu. Eventually, King Dedede, Ness, and Luigi save him and he goes on to defeat Tabuu and save the world.

The lead R.O.B. then becomes a playable character in his own right. R.O.B.'s Final Smash makes him shoot a group of short-ranged whirling lasers out of his eyes, followed by some hard-hitting short lasers, similar to the Superspicy Curry. R.O.B. can freely move during this Final Smash, unlike some other characters. The tiny light on R.O.B.'s head tells how charged up his laser is, being brighter the more powerful. R.O.B. appears primarily as the Famicom [Japanese] version of himself, with the grey NES version available as an alternate costume. Additionally, R.O.B. makes sound effects similar to sounds from an NES.

A structure that looks similar to R.O.B. appears in the Port Town Aero Dive stage. It is visible in one of the stop spots in the background of the stage. Also, R.O.B. is the only playable character in the "Other" category of trophies when sorted by series. He is also the first inorganic playable character. R.O.B. is the only playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl who doesn't have a home stage, which is a stage that pertains directly to it's character. However, in All-Star Mode, Mario Bros. functions as R.O.B.'s home stage, but technically this is the Mario series team's stage. It was likely made into R.O.B.'s home stage, because the origins for that stage was from the actual game, Mario Bros., which was released on the NES, the same console that Gyromite was released on. Lastly, Gyromite is a music choice for that stage.

R.O.B. appears again in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U as an unlockable character. This time around, his default palette is different depending on the version to match the colors of its original release; in the Japanese version it is the tan and red Famicom palette, while the US and PAL versions have the grey NES palette.

Robo Beam


Robo Beam is the name of R.O.B.'s Standard Special Move in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In this, he shoots out a laser so long, it takes up the whole width of the screen setting. This move however is extremely thin, approximately 3/4 the size of the Light Arrow. The move does 3% damage. Also, if the player aims it downwards, it will bounce off the ground. It also will be deflected at an angle if shielded against. Also, just like Wario's Wario Waft, if the player doesn't use the attack for a while, it will be a Super Robo Beam. However, the attack will not work if used again immediately after firing. Kirby is able to use this attack if he sucks up R.O.B.'s powers; even saying "Beep!" when using the attack.

Arm Rotor


Arm Rotor is the side special move of R.O.B. in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It's a spinning move that hits the opponent a few times. It causes R.O.B. to move forward a little while spinning, similar to the Ice Climbers' move Squall Hammer. R.O.B. can change the direction of the way he is swinging his arms. He can also deflect projectiles.

Robo Burner


Robo Burner is the up special move of R.O.B. in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. When used, he uses a booster to send him flying. R.O.B. can also angle it to the side. Other attacks can be used whilst flying. The flight lasts about five seconds. A short hop will occur if the special move button is simply tapped.

Gyro


Gyro is R.O.B.'s down special move in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. R.O.B. pulls out a Gyro (spinning top) and launches it forward. It's movement varies depending on the stage and gravitational effects. R.O.B. can charge it up to make it launch faster, further and make it spin for longer. this charging technique is similar to Samus's move Charge Shot. To use it once charged, the player must press the Down special attack button when they want to fire it. Once R.O.B. shoots it, the Gyro can remain on the stage for a while, depending on how long the attack was charged for. R.O.B. or another character can pick it up and throw it again. Until a fired Gyro disappears, the player can't shoot another one. The name comes from the game Gyromite, R.O.B.'s first appearance, and his weapon, the Gyro.

Diffusion Beam


Diffusion Beam is the name of R.O.B.'s Final Smash. Once the Smash Ball has been opened and R.O.B. activates it, swirling lasers will come out of his eyes, which deal a lot of damage to opponents caught in their short range, without any knockback. The player can choose to shoot a quick short-range laser beam which does moderate damage and high knockback, and which will cause a KO in most cases. This Final Smash allows the player to move around and pick up items while the lasers are still firing automatically. It also makes R.O.B. temporarily invincible. R.O.B.'s Final Smash was the only one that wasn't detailed on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website.

Mario Kart DS

 * Default Karts: Standard RB, ROB-BLS
 * Unlockable Kart: ROB-LGS
 * Website Bio (Flag of Europe.png): "Robotic Operating Buddy, to give R.O.B. his full name, has come out of retirement to take up a new career as a Mario Kart driver - and a strong one at that. But you'll be lucky if you catch sight of him, as he's notoriously elusive..."

Website Bio
"R.O.B., the Robotic Operating Buddy from the NES, makes a grand entrance into the maelstrom!

His stately form has received a lot of attention, but it’s his air of gentle playfulness that really charms us."

Snake's codec

 * Otacon: So, Snake, you're fighting Robot?
 * Snake: Yeah, it's a robot. Although, couldn't they have come up with a better name?
 * Otacon: Actually, in the U.S. they called him "R.O.B." Robot, R.O.B.--take your pick.
 * Snake: Fine. R.O.B. it is, then.
 * Otacon: In North America, R.O.B.'s body was grey, like the NES. But in Japan, he had a white body and red arms, the color of the Japanese Famicom.
 * Snake: Huh. You sure know your geeky tech stuff, Otacon.
 * Otacon: (chuckles) Well, you know...

Trophies
Red indicates exclusive to the 3DS version. Blue indicates exclusive to the Wii U version.

Palutena's Guidance

 * Palutena: Look at that cute little robot!
 * Pit: R.O.B. isn't a very creative name for a robot.
 * Palutena: I think it has a certain ring to it.
 * Pit: No way! Any name is better than R.O.B.! Like, hmm... How about Mr. HVC-012?
 * Paultena: That doesn't exactly roll off the tongue...
 * Pit: How about Robobuddy, Third Edition?
 * Palutena: And what happened to the first two editions?
 * Pit: Oh, good point. How about Zzzrt...Blaaat...Tron?
 * Palutena: Let's just keep things simple by calling him R.O.B.
 * Viridi: The light on its head shows you the strength of the laser it's about to fire. The moment you forget about it, it'll unleash its laser at maximum power, so watch out!

Trivia

 * R.O.B. is one of only two fighters who isn't an actual video game character. The other is Mr. Game & Watch, who is just a nonspecific and generic person from a Game & Watch.

Names in other languages
R.O.B.