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Expositron 9000
- 109 statements
- 20 feature instances
- 20 referencing feature instances
| Expositron 9000 | type |
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| Expositron 9000 | comment |
When in need of plot critical Exposition, characters will frequently find a computer and use it to fill the role of Mr. Exposition. They may type their questions and read answers on a screen, but typically it's a computer with a voice, (monotone or not) and an ability to answer freeform questions in plain spoken English. Because of these traits the computer will frequently at least be a Magical Computer and possibly even a true Artificial Intelligence. The Expositron 9000 will give one of three answers to whatever question it's given: an accurate answer based on available data and number crunching, a Bat Deduction that is unerringly accurate despite lack of data ... or admitting that it lacks the info needed to answer the question. That said, it may still make amazingly accurate predictions based on what limited data it does have. However it's often the case that the computer's sensors have already recorded all the relevant information needed or it already had files on the topic. This is done to avoid boring the audience and dragging the plot, though the character asking the computer may bring data they've recorded themselves to show some effort. Because of this accuracy, a computer giving a flat out wrong answer would be a subversion. Compare Omniscient Database. |
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| Expositron 9000 | fetched |
2023-08-11T12:01:20Z | |
| Expositron 9000 | parsed |
2023-08-11T12:01:20Z | |
| Expositron 9000 | processingComment |
Dropped link to RobotBuddy: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Expositron 9000 | processingComment |
Dropped link to SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Expositron 9000 | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_11fd7982 | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_11fd7982 | comment |
The scan visor in the Metroid Prime Trilogy allows Samus to gleam a detailed analysis on just about anything she encounters, from bosses to items to the environment to friendly and enemy computer systems. It's only ever stumped a handful of times, usually to indicate that you're in deep doodoo. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_11fd7982 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_11fd7982 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Metroid Prime Trilogy (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_11fd7982 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_1f9f4419 | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_1f9f4419 | comment |
In The Thing (1982), Blair asks the base computer what The Thing would do if it escapes out of the Arctic, and it projects total global infection around two years. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_1f9f4419 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_1f9f4419 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Thing (1982) | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_1f9f4419 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_36ee2abe | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_36ee2abe | comment |
In Paranoia, a character with the Data Analysis skill can ask Friend Computer to analyze the situation. He probably doesn't have a high enough clearance to be told the answer, but he can still ask. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_36ee2abe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_36ee2abe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Paranoia (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_36ee2abe | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_545545c9 | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_545545c9 | comment |
Happens in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse of all places where a series of lights coming from Mars is deduced by the Mousekadoer to be a distress signal and/or invitation. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_545545c9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_545545c9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mickey Mouse Clubhouse | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_545545c9 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_6ce0d19c | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_6ce0d19c | comment |
Quantum Leap and its sequel series have Ziggy, a "parallel hybrid computer" that is used to process historical data and project probabilities for what Sam or Ben need to do to solve the current leap. However, while said projections are often quite good, they are not always perfect, and from time to time the leaper's gut instinct wins out. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_6ce0d19c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_6ce0d19c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Quantum Leap | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_6ce0d19c | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_9a7088bc | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_9a7088bc | comment |
Star Trek did this on a regular basis. One particularly good example was in "Wolf in the Fold", where a series of questions answered by the computer allowed the Enterprise crew to identify which person Jack the Ripper was masquerading as. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_9a7088bc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_9a7088bc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star Trek: The Original Series | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_9a7088bc | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_a8a4211a | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_a8a4211a | comment |
Mass Effect 2: In addition to being a Do Anything AI, EDI is this. Whenever anyone wants plot-relevant information, they just need to ask. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_a8a4211a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_a8a4211a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mass Effect 2 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_a8a4211a | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ae0356e0 | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ae0356e0 | comment |
Courage the Cowardly Dog would often have the title character look up the information needed to defeat every Monster of the Week on his sentient computer, though Courage would type in the questions, despite the fact that he would regularly speak to the audience. Ironically, said computer ended being the Monster of the Week in one episode. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ae0356e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ae0356e0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Courage the Cowardly Dog | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_ae0356e0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_b3788a5d | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_b3788a5d | comment |
HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey and the sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact can be considered a partial Trope Namer. Just don't assume he's telling you everything though. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_b3788a5d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_b3788a5d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| 2001: A Space Odyssey | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_b3788a5d | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_b4fe32c9 | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_b4fe32c9 | comment |
Invader Zim expects his secret base's computer to be this, but as the page quote indicates, its information is not always complete (or accurate). | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_b4fe32c9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_b4fe32c9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Invader Zim | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_b4fe32c9 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_b9a0d78d | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_b9a0d78d | comment |
Alien. When Captain Dallas tried to get information out of Mother (the Nostromo's computer) about the title monster he got the "Insufficient Data" type response. When Ripley tried the same thing later, Mother's first response was just as unhelpful, but Ripley got lucky and got some Accurate Answers. |
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| Expositron 9000 / int_b9a0d78d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_b9a0d78d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Alien | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_b9a0d78d | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ba4b95c9 | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ba4b95c9 | comment |
Done often on Time Trax with Lambert asking SELMA, his credit-card-sized computer programmed with all knowledge of the 20th century, to extrapolate from known data into unknown territory. She is always reluctant to do this and gives percentages of how right she might be. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ba4b95c9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ba4b95c9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Time Trax | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_ba4b95c9 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_dbe77265 | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_dbe77265 | comment |
In episode 43 of Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan, the villains create and hand out devices that can answer any question, with the hope of making local kids rely on them for all their knowledge and become too stupid to resist them as a result. They end up being Hoist by Their Own Petard as Vul Eagle manages to get one of the devices and uses it to find where the villains are hiding. (However, when he tries it again later, it doesn't work because the villains have put up a shield around their van.) | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_dbe77265 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_dbe77265 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_dbe77265 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_e25322af | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_e25322af | comment |
In Homestar Runner, Strong Bad's computers have a tendency for this, as do his printers, oddly enough. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_e25322af | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_e25322af | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Homestar Runner (Web Animation) | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_e25322af | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_e93b2f62 | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_e93b2f62 | comment |
In The Fly (1986), once Dr. Brundle realizes he's not really 100% human any more he asks the computer what's going on, and it exposits that he's fused with fly DNA and will eventually mutate into a hideous creature. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_e93b2f62 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_e93b2f62 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Fly (1986) | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_e93b2f62 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ef076a36 | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ef076a36 | comment |
Star Trek: Voyager: This was practically Captain Janeway's catchphrase. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ef076a36 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ef076a36 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star Trek: Voyager | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_ef076a36 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_f74b5f80 | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_f74b5f80 | comment |
Babylon 5: Commander Sinclair did this once in an early episode. He started with a straightforward keyword search. The computer gives him some useful data. Eventually he accidentally asks a rhetorical question to which the computer gives the standard "Unknown" response. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_f74b5f80 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_f74b5f80 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Babylon 5 | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_f74b5f80 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_f7958019 | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_f7958019 | comment |
In Sunshine the cast asked the computer, Icarus, whether their plan to dump a dark matter bomb into the sun to reignite it would work. Which it said would be impossible to compute as the variables increase too quickly the closer the simulation got to the sun. Because of this uncertainty they decide to make a detour and get the bomb from the Ghost Ship Icarus 1 and double their chances. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_f7958019 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_f7958019 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sunshine | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_f7958019 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_fb9c177d | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_fb9c177d | comment |
This was Teletraan One's (and later, Teletraan Two's) job on The Transformers. | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_fb9c177d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_fb9c177d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Transformers (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_fb9c177d | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ff9ab17f | type |
Expositron 9000 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ff9ab17f | comment |
Due to its longer run, Star Trek: The Next Generation did this even more, though generally in inverse proportion to the technical ability of the asker. In other words, the worse your questions were, the smarter the computer got. Lampshaded a few times in "Remember Me", once Dr. Crusher has no one left to talk to but the ship's computer. The fact that it can answer one particular question says as much about her predicament as the actual response. |
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| Expositron 9000 / int_ff9ab17f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Expositron 9000 / int_ff9ab17f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star Trek: The Next Generation | hasFeature |
Expositron 9000 / int_ff9ab17f |
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