List of fictional computers
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This page is intended to be a list of computers in fiction and science fiction.
Computers have often been used as fictional objects in literature, movies and in other forms of media. Fictional computers tend to be considerably more sophisticated than anything yet devised in the real world.
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Helpful / benevolent fictional computers
- AIVAS, Artificial Intelligence Voice Address System, from Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern books.
- Cosmic AC, the ultimate computer at the end of time in Isaac Asimov's short story "The Last Question" (The name is derived from "analog computer"; see also AC's ancestor, Multivac).
- Box, a small, box shaped computer from the British television show Star Cops
- The benevolent CC (Central Computer) in John Varley's Eight Worlds novels and short stories
- The Central Computer of the city of Diaspar in Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars
- Cortana, the shipboard A.I. of the U.N.S.C. Pillar of Autumn in the Halo video games
- Deep Thought, from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, (1978)
- Eddie, the computer for the starship Heart of Gold, from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, (1978)
- Hex, from Terry Pratchett's Discworld
- Holly, and Queeg 500, the on-board computer and back-up computer (respectively) for the space ship Red Dwarf in the BBC television series of the same name.
- I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E. - computer for Team America: World Police
- Jane, from Orson Scott Card's Ender Series
- LCARS fictional computer architecture of the Starship Enterprise-D and E, and other 24th century starfleet ships, in Star Trek.
- Leela and Durandal (Marathon 2 and Marathon: Infinity), two of three A.I.s onboard the U.E.S.C. Marathon
- LEVIN, Low Energy Variable Input Nanocomputer from William T Quick's novels Dreams of Gods and Men, and Singularities.
- The ship, hub and planetary Minds in Iain M. Banks' "Culture" novels and stories.
- The Machines, positronic supercomputers that manage the world in Isaac Asimov's short story "The Evitable Conflict".
- The MATRIX, database of all Timelord knowledge, Doctor Who (not to be confused with The Matrix)
- Max Headroom, the cyber punk TV presenter from The Max Talking Headroom Show
- Mother Box, from Jack Kirby's Fourth World comics
- Multivac, a supercomputer which features in a number of stories by Isaac Asimov
- Mycroft Holmes (aka Mike, Adam Selene), in Robert Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (Named after Mycroft Holmes, the brother of Sherlock Holmes)
- Nicole, Princess Sally's computer in the Sonic the Hedgehog Saturday morning TV series and US comic series
- Orac in Blake's 7.
- Prime Intellect, the computer controlling the universe in the Internet novel The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect by Roger Williams.
- PRISM, the "world's first sentient machine" which you play as the protagonist of the game A Mind Forever Voyaging by Steve Meretzky published by Infocom.
- SAL 9000, the counterpart of HAL 9000 in 2010: Odyssey Two
- Shalmaneser, from John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar, a supercomputer kept well below freezing temperature in liquid nitrogen
- SID (Space Investigation Detector), the computer onboard the Voyager in the children's comedy series Galloping Galaxies
- Slave, a somewhat subservient computer on the ship Scorpio in Blake's 7
- Solace, the distributed intelligence in some of the stories of Spider Robinson.
- Teletraan I, the Autobots' computer in Transformers, 'revives' The Transformers after crashing on the planet Earth.
- Tim, from The Tomorrow People, is a computer able to telepathically converse with those humans who have developed psionic abilities, and assist with precise teleporting over long distances.
- Vox, a holographic computer in the 2002 movie version of The Time Machine.
- Zen, the somewhat aloof computer of the Liberator in Blake's 7.
- ZORAC, the shipboard computer aboard the ancient spacecraft in The Gentle Giants of Ganymede and the related series by James P. Hogan. Also in the same series is VISAR (the network that manages the daily affairs of the Giants) as well as JEVEX, the main computer performing the same function for the offshoot human colony.
Harmful / malevolent fictional computers
- Alex7000, from the two-parter episode Doomsday is Tomorrow of the TV show The Bionic Woman. It was programmed to set off a nuclear holocaust if anyone tested any more nukes. Clearly meant in homage to Stanley Kubrick films 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr Strangelove.
- Alpha 60, in Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (1965)
- AM from Harlan Ellison's short story I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream
- ANGEL 1 and ANGEL 2, Ancillary Guardians of Environment and Life, shipboard 'Freewill' computers from James Follett's Earthsearch series. Also Solaria D, Custodian, Sentinal, and Earthvoice.
- Arius from William T Quick's novels Dreams of Flesh and Sand, Dreams of Gods and Men, and Singularities.
- Blaine the Mono, from Stephen King's The Dark Tower. A control system for the City of Lud and monorail service. Also Little Blaine and Patricia.
- BOSS (Bimorphic Organisational Systems Supervisor), from Doctor Who ("The Green Death")
- CABAL (Computer Assisted Bio-engineered Artificial Life-form) the computer of Nod in Westwood's Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun, Command and Conquer: Renegade, and, by implication, Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn.
- Colossus, from Colossus: The Forbin Project
- Comp-U-Comp, a super computer from an episode of the Dilbert TV show. In the episode, Dilbert must face off against Comp-U-Comp when a clerical error results in his not getting the computer he ordered.
- Con-pewter, a parody of other malevolent computers in Piers Anthony's Xanth.
- Durandal, one of three A.I.s onboard the U.E.S.C. Marathon
- FATE, the computer that determines how events span out from Chrono Cross.
- Hactar, the computer that designed the cricket-ball-shaped doomsday bomb (that would destroy the universe) for the people of Krikkit, in Douglas Adams's Life, the Universe, and Everything
- HAL 9000 (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) is a fictional mission computer in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey that fatally malfunctions when burdened with the secret purpose of the mission.
- Kilg%re, an alien AI that can exist in most electrical circuitry, The Flash
- Lingo, a sentient AI that evolves from a simple home computer and escapes to the Internet in the book "Lingo" by Jim Menick.
- M5, an experimental computer featured in the Star Trek original series episode "The Ultimate Computer".
- The Machine, a computer built to specifications received from an alien intelligence beyond our galaxy in the novel A for Andromeda by Fred Hoyle.
- Master Control Program from Tron.
- Mentalis from Doctor Who ("The Armageddon Factor")
- Mother Brain from Chrono Trigger, a supercomputer from the 2300 AD time period that is controlling robotkind and exterminating humans.
- Mother Brain from Metroid.
- The Matrix, virtual reality simulator for pacification of humans, The Matrix series
- Maxine from the Roger Zelazny story "My Lady of the Diodes"
- The Oracle from Doctor Who ('Underworld')
- Proteus IV, the computer self-programmed to rape in the film/novel Demon Seed
- Red Queen, the AI from the movie Resident Evil
- SHODAN, the enemy of the player's character in the System Shock computer game and its sequel.
- Skynet, the malevolent fictional world-AI of The Terminator and its sequels.
- Toy, from Chris Claremont's Aliens vs. Predator: The Deadliest of the Species.
- Traxus IV, A.I. that went rampant on Mars, Marathon (computer game)
- Tycho, one of three A.I.s onboard the U.E.S.C. Marathon
- Unnamed AI from the season 5 X-Files episode ('Killswitch')
- V.I.K.I., (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence) from I, Robot (2004)
- XANA, from Code Lyoko
- WOTAN (Will Operating Throughout ANalogue) from Doctor Who ("The War Machines")
- Xoanon from Doctor Who ("The Face of Evil")
- System Deus from Xenogears
Ambivalent / neutral fictional computers
- The unnamed computer from Fredric Brown's short story "Answer", which answers the question "Is there a God?" with "Yes, now there is a God."
- 0D-10, Artificial intelligent computer in the sci-fi chapter from the game Live A Live. Secretly plotted to kill humans onboard the spaceship of the same name in order to 'restore the harmony'. Its name derives from 'odio', a spanish word for 'hate'. An obvious reference to Hal 9000.
- Central consciousness, massive governing body from the computer game Total Annihilation.
- The Computer from West End Games Paranoia role playing game.
- Earth, the greatest computer of all time in Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, bought and run by mice to find the Question to Life, the Universe, and Everything.
- EPICAC in Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano, which coordinates the United States economy. It is also featured in other of his writings.
- EVA, the Electronic Video Agent AI, console interface, and more benign equivalent of the Brotherhood of Nod CABAL in Command & Conquer (see above).
- Googleplex Star Thinker in Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which can calculate the trajectory of every single dust particle throughout a five-week Dangrabad Beta sand blizzard.
- Eddie, the shipboard computer with artificial personality in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
- The Engine, a mechanical computer featured in Gulliver's Travels (1726). This is considered to be the first fictional computer.
- Father, the station computer in the movie Alien: Resurrection.
- Frost, the protagonist computer in Roger Zelazny's story "For a Breath I Tarry"; also SolCom, DivCom, and Beta.
- Gambit, game playing computer from Blake's 7 ('Games')
- The General, from The Prisoner
- Ghostwheel, from Roger Zelazny's second series of Amber novels. A computer with esoteric environmental requirements, designed to apply data-processing techniques to alternate realities called "Shadows".
- HAL 9000, in 2001: A Space Odyssey (and sequels) in which the computer (HAL) starts murdering the crew when it discovers that they plan to disconnect its higher brain functions because of what they believe to be a problem. HAL's actions are later revealed to be the result of a logic conflict.
- Loki 7281, from Roger Zelazny's short story by the same name, in which his home computer wants to take over the world.
- The Magi, a trinity of computers individually named Melchior, Balthasar and Casper, from Neon Genesis Evangelion
- Magic Voice, the Satellite of Love's onboard computer on Mystery Science Theater 3000
- Mother, the ship-board computer in the SF horror movie Alien
- SCMODS (State, County, Municipal Offender Data System), police patrol car computer in the movie The Blues Brothers
- Starship 31, the sapient spaceborne battleship, from the episode Starship 88 in The Outer Limits
- The Ultima Machine, a WWII code-breaking "computing machine" used to translate Viking inscriptions, from Doctor Who ('The Curse of Fenric')
- WESCAC (West Campus Analog Computer) from John Barth's Giles Goat-Boy
- WOPR (War Operations Plan and Response) from the movie WarGames
- XERXES The ship computer system which is under the control of the annelids in the computer game System Shock 2.
Uncategorized
- Alpha, from Mike Walker's BBC radio play of the same name.
- Art Fish AKA Dr Fish, later fused with a human to become Markt, from Pat Cadigan's novel Synners
- Banana 6000, from the comic strip "Bloom County' by Berkeley Breathed
- Batcomputer, the computer system used by Batman and housed in the Batcave
- The CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER, narator from Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage
- Compy 386, Strong Bad's second computer in Homestar Runner
- Extro, in Alfred Bester's novel The Computer Connection
- GWB-666, the Great Western Beast of Robert Anton Wilson's Schrödinger's Cat trilogy, published in 1988.
- First Universal Cybernetic-Kinetic Ultra-micro Programmer, from the Illuminatus trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson
- HARLIE, protagonist of When HARLIE was One by David Gerrold
- iFruit, from the FoxTrot comic strip.
- Joe, a "logic" (that is to say, a personal computer) in Murray Leinster's 1946 short story "A Logic Named Joe"
- Joshua, a subprogram that runs on the WOPR (q.v.) in WarGames
- Lappy 486, Strong Bad's third computer, a laptop, in Homestar Runner
- The Muller-Fokker computer tapes in The Muller-Fokker Effect
- Neuromancer and Wintermute, from William Gibson's novel Neuromancer
- OoGhiJ MIQtxxXA - (supposedly Klingon for "superior galactic intelligence") from the "Super Computer" episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- The Ox in Frank Herbert's novel Destination: Void
- The Quark II in Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
- Tandy 400, Strong Bad's first computer with which he answered e-mails in Homestar Runner. Tandy is a real company, but never produced a 400 model.
- Rei Toei, an artificial singer from William Gibson's novels Idoru and All Tomorrows Parties
- TECT, from George Alec Effinger, various books. Notice that there are several computers named TECT in his novels, even though they are unrelated stories.
- The Interocitor communication device in the 1955 film This Island Earth
- Vox from the TV show The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
- Sol - 9000 Xenogears
Computers as Robots
See the List of fictional robots and androids for all fictional computers which are described as existing in a mobile or humanlike form.
Related articles
External links
- http://newark.rutgers.edu/~hbf/compulit.htm
- http://www.computer.org/intelligent/homepage/x2his.htm
- http://technicity.net/articles/writing_the_future.htm
- http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/mnbkfc.htm – A large set of reviews of fiction that bears on computers in some aspect
- List of computer names in science fiction (http://www.ludd.luth.se/~anna/mnames.html) – Also includes androids, robots and sundry aliens
- Robot Hall of Fame at CMU (http://www.robothalloffame.org/index.html) – With fictional inductees HAL-9000 and R2-D2