The Robot

"The Robot" is the nineteenth episode of Season 1 of The Amazing World of Gumball.

Synopsis
After Gumball teaches Bobert how to become a real boy, Bobert begins to take over his life.

Plot
The episode begins with Tobias, Alan, Jamie, Banana Joe, and Tina playing soccer at school while Bobert sits on a nearby bench. After a few kicks back and forth, the ball hits him, so Tobias asks him to kick it back. Bobert overdoes it and kicks it all the way to the sun, prompting the kids to insult him and leave. Bobert hangs his head and sadly walks away.

Meanwhile, Gumball and Darwin are playing roughly with dolls. While they're playing, they notice Bobert looking sad. They ask him why he's sad, and he expresses his desire to be a real boy. Gumball tries to help, and he starts by doing a silly demonstrations of emotions with Darwin, walking with an exaggerated "cool" walk, and talking like a normal person. Because Bobert is unable to make his voice more human-like, he copies Gumball's voice exactly, with his permission. He begins making fun of Gumball, which makes him laugh. Realizing that this means he has feelings, he hugs Gumball and Darwin for a very long time.

That night, Bobert is in his bathroom talking to himself in the mirror. He still isn't satisfied, because although he's a real boy in the inside, he still doesn't look like a real boy on the outside. It is then that he decides to copy Gumball's identity. Before we see his transformation, his mother calls him for "dinner simulation".

While going to his locker the next morning, Gumball overhears some girls talking about how dreamy he is. Feeling smug, he walks over to his locker, only to discover the combination has changed. He brings his backup - a bobby-pin that, instead of picking the lock as you would expect, pokes his behind to make him smash into the locker and smash it open, but to his surprise the locker is completely empty.

At lunch, he tries to eat a burger, but Rocky takes it away from him, claiming that he already got one. He cleans the burger with a cleaning spray and gives it to Carmen, who smiles and runs off, unaware that it has been inside Gumball's mouth. Gumball insists that he didn't get one yet, but before he can finish, he sees Penny flirting with someone. Gumball moves in to try to eavesdrop on their conversation and notices that it is Bobert, who has evidently painted the front of his body to look like him. Right after Penny kisses Bobert on the cheek and leaves, Gumball rushes up to him, demanding to know why Bobert is copying him. After a short argument, Gumball asserts the famous phrase, "There's only room in this town for one Gumball!" and challenges Bobert to see how long people will believe that he is Gumball.

Exhausted and annoyed with Bobert copying him, Gumball walks home. He is shocked to find both the front and backyard doors locked. He looks into the backyard window to see his family and Bobert sitting at the dinner table. Nicole is pleasantly surprised with Gumball's perfect grades. They move in for a family hug as Gumball yells "No!". Bobert pulls down the blinds to tune out Gumball's voice and knocking, as well as hide him from their sight.

Gumball, having no way to get into the house and convince his parents he's the real Gumball, curls up in the yard. Feeling cold and hungry, he rips up a bunch of leaves to use as a makeshift blanket. He was finally semi-comfortable, but at that moment, the sprinklers turn on, causing him to sadly sob.

The next day, Darwin and Bobert are playing Dodj or Daar out in the yard. As Darwin picks up a card, Gumball tackles Bobert, demanding that he stop impersonating him. He commands Darwin to hit the robot, but Darwin still believes Bobert is the real Gumball, causing him to hit Gumball. Gumball, reaching his breaking point, once again yells at Bobert to stop. Bobert seemingly agrees, but requests to say a few last words.

Unfortunately for them, Bobert has no intention of surrendering, and instead activates his defense protocol. He begins to shoot lasers at Gumball and Darwin, causing them to panic and hide behind the shed to catch their breath and formulate a plan.

Meanwhile, Richard is playing a video game inside and Nicole asks him to check on the boys. Through the window, you can see and hear lasers and the boys running away from them. Richard is apparently oblivious to this fact, and tells Nicole that he is too busy playing a video game. Nicole asks him again, so he just groans and pretends to check on them.

Back outside, Gumball suggests that Darwin distracts Bobert so he can sneak up behind him and reboot him. Darwin agrees, and steps out into the open and taunts Bobert, causing him to immediately vaporize him.

Since Darwin only distracted him for a few seconds, Gumball was not able to reboot Bobert. He instead throws a bunch of dirt at him, blinding his single eye. Gumball thinks that he has miraculously won, but instead, Bobert begins to transform into a much larger robot with dual gattling gun lasers for hands, lasers on his shoulders, and a laser on his chest. Gumball whimpers and gets visibly terrified, so he runs away in fright. After blowing away all the cover that Gumball could have used, Bobert gets Gumball out in the open. He targets his head with a laser and fires a devastating blow, causing a mushroom cloud to form over Elmore. Amazingly, Gumball is alright, and managed to hide behind some debris that didn't get destroyed in the explosion. He successfully taunts Bobert into "fighting like a man", which means hand-to-hand combat.

Bobert then shrinks back down to his normal size and prepares to face off against Gumball. They lunge at each other, Gumball attempts to karate-chop Bobert in the head, but since he's made of metal, Gumball only recoils his hand in pain. Feeling brave, he then taunts Bobert into hitting him. Bobert obliges, and Gumball flies across the yard from the force of his blow. Bobert walks up to Gumball, preparing to finish him off. Gumball, too weak to do anything, prays for "something insignificant" to save him. Darwin answers his call, and runs up to Bobert with a shovel, but Bobert just punches him away. Gumball then prays for "something else insignificant" to save him. Suddenly, the sprinklers turn on and Bobert's electricity gets shorted out. Gumball gets up and prepares to reboot Bobert, but Bobert gets up first and pleads Gumball not to do it, saying the two of them can do "great things" together. Gumball flatly declines and reboots Bobert.

As soon as Bobert is rebooted, Darwin, who's face is swelled from Bobert punching him in the face, returns. He seemingly does not remember anything about the fight with Gumball, and then randomly hugs the two of them. As Gumball and Darwin walk off, Bobert expresses his intent to try stealing an identity again. Darwin peaks back, wondering what he said, but Bobert shrugs it off. The episode ends with Bobert's eye turning red again and playing a recording of Darwin's voice, implying he will steal Darwin's identity.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Bobert

Supporting Characters

 * Darwin

Minor Characters

 * Nicole
 * Richard
 * Anais (cameo)
 * The Sun
 * Banana Joe
 * Tina
 * Tobias
 * Alan
 * Jamie
 * Penny
 * Rocky
 * Molly
 * Leslie
 * Masami
 * Carmen
 * Anton
 * Carrie
 * Ocho
 * Hot Dog Guy
 * Mushroom
 * Mom-Unit (voice only)
 * Blue Wig

Trivia

 * This episode was the first to feature Bobert in a major role.

Continuity

 * This is the second time the Dodj or Daar motto was interrupted: "It's time to play Dodge or Dare! Just roll the dice, take a--". The first time this happened was in "The Third."
 * This is the first appearance of Bobert's "combat mode."

Cultural References

 * Bobert wanting to be a real boy in this episode is a reference to the classic children's literature character, Pinocchio.
 * The line "There can be only one" is a reference to the film Highlander, in which the quote is a recurring theme, suggesting that only one immortal will survive the deadly game they play.

Goofs/Errors

 * In the beginning of the episode, Alan is seen playing football with Tina, Banana Joe, Tobias and Jamie, which is weird since he doesn't have limbs.
 * In "The Mystery," Bobert laughs at Principal Brown falling down the stairs, however, in this episode, it is stated that he cannot feel any emotions.
 * That means that this episode would have chronologically taken place before "The Mystery," and Gumball and Darwin explained what was funny offscreen.
 * On its rerun broadcast on the SD feed on September 4, 2012, this episode aired in widescreen, then showed up cropped to 4:3 after the commercial break. This is an unknown effect that previously affected Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, when one part of the episode was cropped fullscreen before the finale aired, then was returned to widescreen. This is likely an issue with Cartoon Network's broadcasting systems.
 * When Gumball yells at Bobert in the cafeteria, for a brief moment, his whole mouth becomes the same color as his head.
 * When Gumball tackles Bobert near the fight, Nicole can be seen standing at the window holding the porcupine parade puzzle box, which it was used from "The Goons."

El Robot