30 Day Sci-Fi Challenge -- Day 8

Best Robot/Android -- Data

This was a fairly easy decision. Yes it's true I could have picked someone from Battlestar Galactica, or Doctor Who, or any number of movies, but this is the BEST.

Data was first introduced in the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as an android trying to whistle on the holodeck. During the show we learn that he has super human strength, can preform tasks at a supercomputer level, and he is fully functional in terms of sexuality. All that makes him awesome of course, but the reason we all loved him, and why he's on this list is because he would have given all that up in a moment in order to be human. Data is the Pinocchio of Star Trek.


As we watch him grow and evolve into a more human version of himself he learns the value of friendship, parenthood, love, and of course a joke. Every Star Trek series has someone like him. Spock, Odo, 7 of 9, and T'Pol to name the others that come to mind. I think Data is my favorite of the group. He had the best journey, and his issues seemed the most real to me.

To conclude this, I'm going to post the poem written by Data about his cat Spot.

Ode to Spot

Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature, 
An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature; 
Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses 
Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.

I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations, 
A singular development of cat communications 
That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection 
For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.

A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents; 
You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance. 
And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion, 
It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.

O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display 
Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array. 
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend, 
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.