Publication History
Bender seems to be based on a nameless robot that appears on the cover of Startling Comics #49 by Alex Schomburg.
Compare the cover to the right with the prototype Bender design to the left.
Origin
Bender is a Bending Unit 22 robot that was created for bending metal girders. Sometime afterward, he decided he had no reason to live when he found out that these girders were used to make suicide booths.
He first met Fry in the line to one of New New York City’s suicide booths. They along with sewer mutant Leela ended up being hired to work at the Planet Express delivering company after Fry convinces Bender that he is free to choose his own path.
Bender is fueled by alcohol, which results as green house gasses. He can run on mineral oil and dark matter as well. Bender seems to have a hammer space in his chest cavity, as he can fit a number of things inside, like his CD player, His Gaydar, on some occasions Lucy Liu’s head, weapons, and comes equipped with breathing masks inside, and in the event of an emergency, his butt can be used as a flotation device. Bender can both operate in deep sea and in space. He has extendable (extendo-matic) and detachable limbs and a detachable head, which doubles as a tape recorder, and comes equipped with zooming vision (his eyes pop out) and he has a cheating device. Bender also appears to be extremely strong as in several episodes he has performed amazing feats of strength. In one, he bent an ‘unbendable’ girder, and in another, he picked up ‘dark matter’ which weighs more than 1000 suns.
Bender was created in Mom’s Friendly Robot company in Tijuana, Mexico, in 2996. His serial number is 2716057, and his fellow Bending Unit, Flexo, has a similar number, as they are both the sums of two cubes.
Bender has very little emotion or care for others, as he often states that he would like to kill all humans. Bender has always wanted to be either a folk singer, or a cook. According to a court order, he is no longer allowed to sing, but can still cook. It is difficult for Bender to cook, as he has no sense of taste. Often when the others try his food, they either get sick, or dump it somewhere when he is not looking. Often he even cooks deadly or poisonous food. He once served a Neptunian Slug that had ‘10% less than a lethal dose,’ and he has even served acid in glasses, which he dropped, melting through the floor. When a magnet is stuck on Bender, it messes with his inhibition unit, causing him to live out his urge to sing. He often sings “Jimmy Cracked Corn” while in this state. In one episode, he was pulled in by a magnet on a large can-opener, and in the midst of being shredded and screaming, he sang it. After that, he went on a tour with Beck, but was soon kicked out when he realized he could move again. Bender also cares for turtles, as they both have hard outer shells, but lead rich inner lives. Also like a turtle, when knocked on his back, Bender has great difficulty getting back to his feet.
He is composed of 40% zinc, 30% iron, 40% dolomite , 40% titanium and an unknown amount of osmium with a 0.04% nickel impurity.
Famous Quotes
- Bite my Shiny Metal Ass.
- Kill all humans!
- I’m gonna build my own lunar lander! With blackjack and hookers! Actually, forget the lunar lander and the blackjack.
- Well i don’t have anything else planned for today, let’s get drunk!
- Hey, what kind of party is this? There’s no booze and only one hooker!
- This is the worst kind of discrimination. The kind against me.
- Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer extortion. The ‘x’ makes it sound cool.
- It is every robot’s duty to give his life for the good of humanity!… oh, crap.
- Leela save me! And my Banjo! And Fry… and yourself I guess.
- Game over, losers! I have all the money. Compare your lives to mine and then kill yourselves.
- Don’t worry, I’ll save me!
- I don’t remember fighting Godzilla, but that’s so what I would have done.
- He knows how to make Ice-cream soup?
- Friends, I’ve come to save you from your complicated lives. The complicated part not the lives part.
- (Sees Hermes about to commit suicide by jumping off the roof of Planet Express) Do a flip.
- I was god once.
- In the event of an emergency my ass con be used as a flotation device.
- When I grow up I wanna be a steam shovel!
- I’m boned.
- I am Titanius Anglesmith, fancy man of Cornwood.
- Have you ever tried simply turning off the TV, sitting down with your child, and hitting them?