The Era of Flesh Has Ended Trivia Quiz

Answer: Comic

Astro Boy (known in Japan as Mighty Atom) is set in a futuristic world where humans and robots coexist. He is created by (in the original story) Dr. Tenma to be a replacement for his son Tobio, who died in a car accident.

Astro Boy first appeared as a serial in the Manga graphic novel series "Shōnen" by publishing company Kobunsha. Created, written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka (the Father of Manga), the character expanded to a live-action television and movie in 1959 and 1960, respectively, before becoming an Anime series in 1963, followed by a colour remake in 1980 and a third series in 2003. A computer-animated feature film was released in 2009, and Astro Boy has also appeared in a number of video games.

Answer: Book

R. Daneel Olivaw is a humaniform robot (he looks human) from the "Robot" series of novels by Isaac Asimov. He first appeared in "The Caves of Steel" where he partnered with a human police detective to investigate the death of a 'Spacer' (human from one of the 50 colonized planets). After three other books and a short story set in that same timeframe, Olivaw appears again in "The Foundation" series thousands of years in the future.

In other media, R. Daneel Olivaw has been portrayed on television by John Carson (in 1964), David Collings (in 1969), Georgiy Vasilyev (in 1978), by Brent Barrett in the 1988 TV movie, and on radio by Sam Dastor (in 1989). In the 2021 Apple TV adaptation of "Foundation", the character, stylized as 'Demerzel', is played by Laura Birn.

Answer: Comic

Ultron made his first appearance in "The Avengers" #54 in 1968, disguised as a character called the 'Crimson Cowl' and later revealed as 'Ultron-5, The Living Automaton'. In the course of the story, the reader learns that Hank Pym (Ant-Man) created Ultron using his own brain as a pattern for the robot's 'brain'. Unfortunately, it began to develop its own intelligence and rebels against its 'master'.

Ultron has made many more appearances in the Marvel Comic universe, as well as in animated television and video games. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ultron appeared, voiced by James Spader, in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" as the creation of Tony Stark (Iron Man).

Answer: Television

K9 was the faithful robot dog companion of The Doctor from the long-running British Sci-fi show "Doctor Who". He made his first appearance in the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) story "The Invisible Enemy", which aired in four parts in October of 1977. K9 (sometimes written as K-9) would reappear at various points in the show, but in different incarnations or upgrades (Mark I, Mark II, Mark III, Mark IV).

In addition to "Doctor Who" literature and audio plays, K9 has also appeared in three different television spin-offs: "K-9 and Company" (1981), "The Sarah Jane Adventures" (2007-11), and "K-9" (2009-2010).

Answer: Movie

R2-D2 (and his comedic counterpart C-3P0) made their debut with 1977's "Star Wars" a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Known for being 'the smart one' of the droid duo, R2-D2 is portrayed as a versatile (and very useful) astromech droid who displays loyalty to his 'masters' over the many years of the "Star Wars" storyline. For the first three films, actor Kenny Baker squeezed himself into the droid body and operated the 'controls'.

In addition to the many "Star Wars" movies, R2-D2 has been in multiple other media types from animated television, books, comics and video games. And he has made cameo appearances in a number of other films as a tribute, typically as part of floating debris.

Answer: Radio

Marvin the Paranoid Android made his first 'appearance' on the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" radio series on BBC4 that aired from 1978 until 1980. Marvin is not really paranoid, but he is certainly morose and depressed, with a "brain the size of a planet" that he barely ever has to use. He is first encountered as the ship's robot aboard the "Heart of Gold" starship that Zaphod Beeblebrox steals.

In addition to the original radio series, Marvin has been seen in books, on television, in movies, in video games, and even in a few songs.

Answer: Song

"Mr. Roboto" is the title of the song written by Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung. Recorded in 1982, the song was released on their 1983 album "Kilroy Was Here" and also as a single. It reached Number three on the US Billboard Hot 100.

In the song, part of the rock opera that is the album "Kilroy Was Here", Kilroy is being held in a futuristic prison for 'rock and roll misfits' and the Roboto are robots in the prison doing menial jobs, including guards. Kilroy overpowers one of the robots and escapes by hiding inside the shell of its body.

In the music video, the action takes place in a 'Rock Museum' where a robot turns into five robots who dance and then become the five members of Styx. They change back, and the robot is revealed to be Kilroy.

Answer: Toy

The Transformers (Autobots and Decepticons) were created as a toy line from Hasbro. The makers developed a background story for the different characters, and Optimus Prime was made the leader of the Autobots with a strong moral code and heroic attributes, battling Megatron and the Decepticons.

The first generation of Transformers included an animated show (1984-87) and a comic book series, both called "The Transformers". The franchise has expanded greatly since then with more characters (and toys), more TV shows and video games, and the 'live' action movies that began in 2007 and has spawned multiple films.

Answer: Movie

"The Terminator" was the title and main adversary of the 1984 film written and directed by James Cameron. Arnold Schwarzenegger portrayed the merciless killing machine from the future that was disguised as a human, and would stop at nothing to find its quarry (Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton). The cybernetic killer changed over the course of the franchise, ultimately becoming a protector, fighting off more advanced models of terminator.

In addition to the film series, the character of the Terminator has been seen in comics and video games, and comes up as a topic of conversation whenever technological advances in our present-day world are considered.

Answer: Television

In "Star Trek" lore, Data was created by cyberneticist Dr. Noonien Soong and found on the planet Omicron Theta in the year 2338 by members of Starfleet. Data later becomes an officer in Starfleet in his own right, and spends much of his time endeavouring to be more human in his day-to-day interactions.

Data's first appearance was in "Star Trek: The Next Generation"'s pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint", which aired on September 28th, 1987. Portrayed by Brent Spiner, the character was also in the "TNG" movies, and appeared again in the 2020 series "Picard". In other media, the character of Data has also been seen in comics and books.