Summary
The following contains spoilers for Futurama season 12 episode 1, “The One Amigo,” now streaming on HuluFuturamahas repeatedly tweaked the history of Bender, expanding his backstory in surprising ways.Futuramahas always been a particularly inventive and expansive universe, with the sci-fi comedy taking some wild swings over the years. The main cast has largely remained consistent though, with their backstories expanding in surprising ways. While major revelations about Fry, Leela, and Professor Farnsworth have been introduced across the show’s twelve seasons, Bender has gone through the most changes to his origins over the years. When he was introduced in the show’s first episode, Bender came across as a simple robot from New New York.
However, subsequent seasons have revealed that Bender wasn’t born in New New York, andhas technically actually only been around for a few years(although the time-travel elements of episodes like season 3’s “Roswell That Ends Well” and theFuturamamovie “Bender’s Big Score"mean that Bender has been around since ancient times).FuturamaSeason 12continues this trend, with “The One Amigo” tweaking the character’s origins and revealing how his lineage goes back centuries. Here’s the origins of Bender inFuturama, what he was doing before the events of the show, and how the series has expanded his family.
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Bender’s Robot Creation In Tijuana Explained
Bender Was Made Four Years Before The Events OfFuturama
Bender’s origins inFuturamahave been steadily revealed across the course of the long-running animated comedy, setting up his extended family in some other episodes whole others retconned aspects of his backstory and history. As revealed in season 3’s “Bendless Love,“Bender was constructed four years prior to the main events ofFuturamaat one of Mom’s Friendly Robot Factories. Bender was constructed on the outskirts of Tijuana at one of Mom’s Friendly Robot Factories. Coupled with the revelation from 3’s “The Luck of the Fryish” that his last name was Rodriguez, this means that Bender identifies himself as Mexican.
Bender is set up in season 4’s “Crimes of the Hot” to bea descendant of the robots invented by Professor Farnsworth, who designed them while working for Mom decades before the events of the series, giving Bender a surprising connection to Farnsworth. Episodes like season 4’s “Teenage Leela’s Mutant Hurdles” and season 6’s “Lethal Inspection” revealed that Bender was briefly a robotic infant when he was born. Not long after that, however, he was reconstructed in “Bendless Love” on an assembly line and given his traditional body and personality by the robotic arm that he considers his true mother.
What Futurama Has Revealed About Bender’s Robot Family
Season 12 Introduced More Of Bender’s Extended Family
Bender’s family has been expanded over the years. Season 2’s “Mother’s Day” revealed that, like all modern robots, Bender harbors a maternal love for Mom. Even beyond her ability to seize control of robots from around the world, Bender has shown an otherwise uncharacteristic fondness for her. Bender also considers the robotic arm that put him together to be his mother. Bender’s father has never appeared in the show, but has been referenced in some episodes.Season 12’s “The One Amigo” explored more of the family connections of Bender’s mother, including a secretive village where Bender’s grandmother and cousins thrive.
Bender’s mother fled from the village seconds after Bender was born, according to Bender’s grandmother.Season 2’s “The Honking” established Bender’s other extended family, who live in the capital of the Robo-Hungarian Empire. Bender’s uncle Vladimir died in that episode, leaving much of his fortune to his son Tandy and his family castle to Bender. This could be presumed to be a connection to Bender’s unseen father, who was revealed to have been killed by a can opener in season 2’s “I Second That Emotion.” Bender has also had children, as seen in season 8’s “The Bots and the Bees.”
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What Happened To Bender Before Planet Express
Bender Was In A Dark Place Before Meeting Fry
“Bendless Love” quietly revealed a lot about Bender’s backstory, and set the stage for where the character was by the events depicted in the show’s first episode, “Space Pilot 3000.” As with most robots in Futurama, Bender was constructed with a specific purpose – namely, bending girders. After “bending around Europe for a few months,“Bender relocated to New New York and got a job bending girders. This was what Bender spent the next few years doing, up until days before the events of season 1. However, Bender was shocked and distraught when he discovered he was helping construct suicide booths.
Bender was overtaken with guilt over this and tried to use one himself. This led to a chance encounter with a confused Fry, setting the stage for one of the show’s principal relationships. Notably, this was also when Bender was accidently electrocuted in the Head Museum.This was a key moment in earlyFuturama, as it allowed Bender to overcome his natural programming and begin bending anything he wanted. This set upfan theories about how Bender’s change inFuturama’s first episodeand set the stage for the character to become the chaotic and unpredictable figure he’s become defined as.
How Futurama Has Retconned Bender’s Origins Over Time
How Hermes Saved Bender’s Life Years Before They Formally Met
Bender’s origins have been tweaked and retconned multiple times over the years, altering his backstory within the world ofFuturama. While Bender was originally suggested to have always had his current physical form, “Teenage Mutant Leela’s Hurdles” revealed thatBender had gone through a rabid growth spirit while under construction. Other episodes explored secret details about Bender’s origins, including some surprising key players. One of the most important hidden factors of Bender’s backstory is the presence of Hermes. Revealed in season 6’s “Lethal Inspection,” Hermes worked for Mom as a robotics inspector in Tijuana before finding employment at Planet Express.
It was Hermes who allowed a technically defective Bender to get a chance at growing up. Season 12’s “The One Amigo” delved more into the backstory of Bender’s mother, who had previously only appeared in a major role in the post-Comedy Central podcast episode “Radiorama.” She was a part of a community of robots with ties to an ancient line of computers who eventually fled her family home and relocated to Tijuana. These retcons have changed the origins of Bender over time, helping expand the backstory of a character who’s quietly become a fundamental part ofFuturama’s world and timeline.
Futurama
Cast
Futurama is an animated science fiction series that follows Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy from late-20th-century New York City. He is accidentally cryogenically frozen for a thousand years and becomes an employee at Planet Express, a delivery service in the retro-futuristic 31st century.
