R.O.B.

R.O.B. (short for Robotic Operating Buddy; in Japan known as the Famicom Robot, short for Family Computer Robot, or simply called Robot) is an accessory released alongside the Nintendo Entertainment System to help advertise the console as a toy. He functions by translating flashes of information on the television screen into physical actions to assist players in compatible games, and was only used for the games Gyromite and Stack-Up. Aside from this, R.O.B. has also appeared in some WarioWare microgames, especially 9-Volt's and as a playable character in Mario Kart DS and a few Super Smash Bros.'' installments.

R.O.B. has been voiced by Toru Asakawa in Mario Kart DS. In other games (notably the Super Smash Bros. series), he uses computer-generated sound effects instead.

Gyromite
In Gyromite, players can control R.O.B. with the control pad to make him raise and lower gyroscopes. To make the gyroscope spin, the player must set the object in the gyroscope spinner and then balance it on one of the two round trays that are connected to the second controller. Placing a gyro on the red tray lowers the red gates while placing a gyro on the blue tray lowers the blue gates.

WarioWare series
R.O.B. is the subject of the Stack-Up microgame in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! from 9-Volt's games.

In WarioWare: Twisted!, a R.O.B. is seen in 9-Volt's game room.

In WarioWare: Touched!, a R.O.B. accessory appears in the microgame Gunslinger after the player destroys a blue canister (this microgame is found in 9-Volt/18-Volt's stage).

In WarioWare: Smooth Moves, R.O.B. is the boss of 9-Volt's stage, the Star Fox boss level. Like many of his other appearances, his model differs between Japanese and western versions. He bobs around, shooting either a large revolver-like light gun using both arms in the Japanese version or its western equivalent, the NES Zapper. To defeat him, the player has to shoot the flashing blocks set-up for has if he is being used to play Stack-Up.

R.O.B. reappears in WarioWare Gold, appearing in the R.O.B. Block Set microgame.

Mario Kart DS
R.O.B. is one of the four unlockable characters in Mario Kart DS, the others being Daisy, Dry Bones, and Waluigi, and is the first non-Mario character to appear as a playable character in a main Mario Kart game. He can be unlocked by winning gold trophies on either all Nitro or Retro Mirror cups. In the game, he is tied with Bowser for being the fastest and heaviest racers. R.O.B.'s symbol is the NES D-pad colored purple and is the only emblem in the game not to be a circle. R.O.B. has two original karts: the ROB-BLS, which resembles R.O.B.'s stand for the game Stack-Up, and the ROB-LGS, which is a kart that appears like "legs" for R.O.B. His karts are fast, heavy, and have stronger handling, but they also offer the weakest drifting among all the other karts. R.O.B. is the only character in Mario Kart DS who doesn't control his kart with the wheel; instead, he seems to control the kart by moving his arms.

In the Japanese version of the game, R.O.B. is colored like his Japanese model, and is named HVC-012, the model number for the Japanese version of R.O.B. His karts have also different colors in the Japanese version. Also, the staff ghost data for Desert Hills and Rainbow Road feature the Japanese R.O.B. and vehicles, regardless of the version of the game the player has.

This marks R.O.B.'s first and currently only playable appearance so far in the Mario Kart series, making him the only playable character in Mario Kart DS to not return as a playable character in later installments so far.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
R.O.B. appears as a newcomer and unlockable playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is unlocked by playing 160 Brawl matches, collecting 250 trophies, or having R.O.B. join the party in The Subspace Emissary. His moveset is mostly based on the original R.O.B. accessory. His standard special move is Robo Beam, which fires a beam from between R.O.B.'s eyes. R.O.B.'s side special move is Arm Rotor, which has him spin his arms around rapidly to attack. His down special move is Gyro, which charges and tosses one of R.O.B.'s gyro accessories. His up special move is Robo Burner, which uses jets in R.O.B.'s base to fly into the air. His Final Smash is Diffusion Beam, which fires a short-range constant beam from R.O.B.'s eyes that deals constant damage to nearby opponents. R.O.B. is an unusual character as he is fast and is difficult to launch, but has lower attack power than other heavyweights.

R.O.B.'s general appearance in the game is that of the Japanese version of the accessory, while his NES colors appear as an alternate costume. One of R.O.B.'s alternate costumes is based on the colors of the North American Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

A structure which resembles R.O.B. appears in the Port Town Aero Dive stage, as it is in F-Zero GX. It is visible in one of the stop spots in the background of the stage.

The Subspace Emissary
Before the events of the Subspace Emissary, R.O.B. was the leader of the R.O.B. race of robots, officially titled the Master Robot. He and the other robots lived on the floating Isle of Ancients and watched over the World of Trophies. However, it was ultimately invaded by Tabuu, a humanoid entity from Subspace. He attacked the Isle of Ancients, deactivating many R.O.B.s and eventually taking the robots hostage. R.O.B. was forced to ally himself with Tabuu in order to prevent the deaths of more of his robot brethren, and began to hide under his ceremonial robes of mourning and assume the title of Ancient Minister. The Isle of Ancients itself was converted into The Subspace Bomb Factory, and the Ancient Minister became the commander of the Subspace Army. As the commander of the army, he lead the invasion of the World of Trophies on behalf of Tabuu, while a specially trained group of R.O.B.s served as the "Ancient Minister's" personal bodyguards, the R.O.B. Squad, made up of R.O.B. Sentries, R.O.B. Launchers, and R.O.B. Blasters. R.O.B.s were also used to detonate Subspace Bombs, to the "Minister's" deepening regret.

As the Ancient Minister, he first appeared in the Subspace Emissary after Mario and Kirby's match at the Midair Stadium, where he detonated a Subspace Bomb, sending the stadium to Subspace. He escaped, only to be later chased by Mario and Pit in The Plain, who had little success catching him. He then detonated another Subspace Bomb at The Battlefield Fortress, attracting the attention of Marth, Meta Knight, and Ike. Regardless of the group's efforts, he manages to escape their grasp, however, he is soon discovered by Mario and Pit once again, along with Link and Yoshi. Again, the Ancient Minister escapes, but not before detonating yet another Subspace Bomb, sending Castle Dedede into Subspace.

The Ancient Minister is not seen again until Samus Aran and Pikachu corner him at the Subspace Bomb Factory. Samus and Pikachu are ready to fight, but the Ancient Minister refuses, growing depressed at the number of R.O.B.s sacrificed to activate the Subspace Bombs, confusing them. Soon after, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, and Captain Olimar arrive, also battle-ready, but the Ancient Minister still refuses. A holographic Ganondorf appears, quickly realizing that he has betrayed him. Using a remote-controlled button, he is able to control the R.O.B.s, ordering them to attack the Ancient Minister and activate every Subspace Bomb in the factory.

However, when the R.O.B. Squad shoots the Ancient Minister, his robes burn off, revealing to everyone present that he was a R.O.B. himself all along. Unable to prevent the bombs from being detonated, he ends up finally being carried away by Donkey Kong as the factory explodes. R.O.B. escapes with the others on the Falcon Flyer and later meets up with the rest of the characters on the ground. He and the rest of the cast go into Subspace to confront Tabuu, but are all turned into Trophies. Eventually, Kirby saves him and he joins the group who go on to defeat Tabuu and save the World of Trophies. With so many Subspace Bombs set off simultaneously on the Isle of Ancients, only a shining, X-shaped scar appears where the Isle once was when the rest of the world is restored with the destruction of Tabuu and the Great Maze.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
R.O.B. appears again in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as an unlockable character. This time around, his default palette is different depending on the version to match the colors of his original release; in the Japanese version, he is the tan and red Famicom palette, while other versions have the grey NES palette. R.O.B. also has a new Final Smash, the Super Diffusion Beam, which turns R.O.B. into a cannon that fires a single beam, dealing continuous damage until the end of the attack.

For equipment, R.O.B. uses the Zapper equipment for attack, the Block equipment for defense, and the Booster equipment for speed.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
R.O.B. reappears as an unlockable playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This time, he has a light gauge on his chassis showing how much fuel he has left when using his Robo Burner, which emits blue when it is full, yellow when it is two-thirds full, red when it is one-third full, and flashes red when it is completely empty. R.O.B.'s pummel now has him headbutt the opponent, while his forward throw now has him rear his arm back, and punch the opponent. R.O.B. travels higher during his up throw, while his down throw now buries opponents; it deals less damage to compensate. His double jumping animation is now a midair twirl.

Once again, R.O.B.'s Final Smash has been changed, making him one of the few fighters that have appeared to have a different Final Smash across every game since their introduction (along with King Dedede, Pit, and Zero Suit Samus).

In the Korean version, despite R.O.B.'s name being written the same way as in the English version, unlike in the Korean version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the announcer refers to him as "Robot", as in the Japanese and Chinese versions.

Due to the default and secondary palettes being swapped between the Western and Eastern regions, some spirit battles featuring NES-color R.O.B. in the Eastern versions use the Famicom-color one in the Western versions, and vice-versa.

World of Light
R.O.B. is not seen when the fighters oppose Galeem for the first time. However, he, like every fighter except Kirby, is hit by one of Galeem's beams of light and imprisoned in the World of Light, where a puppet fighter of him is created. Said puppet fighter initially serves Galeem, but is later forced into serving Dharkon. Kirby's team defeat the R.O.B. puppet fighter in the Dark Realm, freeing the real R.O.B. who joins the team against Galeem and Dharkon.

Super Mario Maker
R.O.B. also makes an appearance as a Mystery Mushroom costume in Super Mario Maker. His appearance changes depending on the region: in the Japanese version of the game, his appearance matches that of the Famicom; in all other versions, it matches that of the NES. Upon transforming into R.O.B., the "level start" tune from Gyromite plays. When is pressed, R.O.B. emits beams of light from his eyes.

Mario Kart DS

 * Default Karts: Standard RB, ROB-BLS
 * Unlockable Kart: ROB-LGS
 * Website bio (Flag of Europe.png): "Robotic Operating Buddy, to give R.O.B. his full name, has come out of retirement to take up a new career as a Mario Kart driver - and a strong one at that. But you'll be lucky if you catch sight of him, as he's notoriously elusive..."

Website bio
"R.O.B., the Robotic Operating Buddy from the NES, makes a grand entrance into the maelstrom!

His stately form has received a lot of attention, but it’s his air of gentle playfulness that really charms us."

Snake's codec

 * Otacon: So, Snake, you're fighting Robot?
 * Snake: Yeah, it's a robot. Although, couldn't they have come up with a better name?
 * Otacon: Actually, in the U.S. they called him "R.O.B." Robot, R.O.B.--take your pick.
 * Snake: Fine. R.O.B. it is, then.
 * Otacon: In North America, R.O.B.'s body was grey, like the NES. But in Japan, he had a white body and red arms, the color of the Japanese Famicom.
 * Snake: Huh. You sure know your geeky tech stuff, Otacon.
 * Otacon: (chuckles) Well, you know...

Palutena's Guidance

 * Palutena: Look at that cute little robot!
 * Pit: R.O.B. isn't a very creative name for a robot.
 * Palutena: I think it has a certain ring to it.
 * Pit: No way! Any name is better than R.O.B.! Like, hmm... How about Mr. HVC-012?
 * Palutena: That doesn't exactly roll off the tongue...
 * Pit: How about Robobuddy, Third Edition?
 * Palutena: And what happened to the first two editions?
 * Pit: Oh, good point. How about Zzzrt...Blaaat...Tron?
 * Palutena: Let's just keep things simple by calling him R.O.B.
 * Viridi: The light on its head shows you the strength of the laser it's about to fire. The moment you forget about it, it'll unleash its laser at maximum power, so watch out!

amiibo

 * This robotic operating buddy was released in 1985 as an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. R.O.B. introduced a new and unique way for players to interact with games. In recent years R.O.B.’s appeared as a playable character in multiple games, including Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, using projectile weapons to attack and a rocket base to fly through the air.

The Famicom R.O.B. description adds in “R.O.B. sporting his Famicom colors” to the beginning of the sentence.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Super Smash Blog bio

 * He has two powerful projectiles: Robo Beam and Gyro, along with a very effective recovery. The 1P color in the North American version of the game is a light gray, and the 2P is red and white, but this is reversed in the Japanese version.

Trivia

 * In the same style as the original R.O.B., R.O.B.'s amiibo's coloring differs depending on the region; however, R.O.B.'s Famicom coloring would later be available around the world. The NES coloring was not released in Japan.
 * If both are used in Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, the player can get two different R.O.B. Yoshis. Curiously, the same cannot be done in Super Mario Maker.
 * In the Nintendo 3DS game Tomodachi Life, R.O.B.'s description references its appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series, referring to it as an "official Smash brawler."