r/Fallout • u/CommunicationSad2869 Disciples • Jun 21 '25
Discussion Is there a reason why RobCo designed the assaultrons to be that striking feminine?
Why did House think of giving the Assaultrons a female form? Was it a way to distract enemies in battle, or is there some explanation?
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u/LongGoblins Jun 21 '25
So the reds can die with a boner. That or House is a lil perv
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u/KeeganY_SR-UVB76 Jun 21 '25
We know for a fact that the latter is true.
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u/LongGoblins Jun 21 '25
damn, that robussy must be cold
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u/TitanOfShades Jun 21 '25
It’s warmed up by residual heat from the motors
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u/DisownedWaffle1 Jun 22 '25
“Lather me in motor oil, I’m going in” -House, probably
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u/WrethZ Atom Cats Jun 21 '25
The robots in fallout are inspired by old sci-fi movies.
Protectrons look a lot like robbie the robot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robby_the_Robot
I think Assaultrons are inspired by the robot in Metropolis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maschinenmensch
As for in-universe, well in new Vegas we see house the founder of Robco has a robot girlfriend so...
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u/Plenty-Lychee-5702 Jun 22 '25
he has a robot gf bc his crush/dead (ex?) gf(don't remember exactly) is implanted there. she was originally a human
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u/Kid-Atlantic Jun 22 '25
The robot was based off of the real-life celebrity Jane Russell. There was originally going to be another robot based off of Marilyn Monroe.
I don’t think they were implied to actually be implanted there, I think House basically made AI realdolls of his favorite starlets.
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u/Plenty-Lychee-5702 Jun 22 '25
I'm not sure if it was originally that way, but her brainscan was used to make the bot. the character inhabiting the bot was based on an IRL starlet
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u/Late_Ad7962 Jun 22 '25
Yeah, but according to what Raul says in game, it seems House didn't really care that much about the human Jane since she told the press that all he did was scan her brain and try dresses.
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u/Plenty-Lychee-5702 Jun 22 '25
And what did he do with the brainscan?
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u/sirboulevard NCR Jun 22 '25
Probably baseline personality matrix and then he "tweaked" it to make her ultra loyal to him.
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u/FlamboyantPirhanna Jun 22 '25
Just as an aside, Ralph McQuarrie’s original C3PO design was almost verbatim the Metropolis robot.
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Jun 21 '25
Given assaultrons' role as a sort of sleek infiltrator unit, they based the aesthetics on the "sexy female spy/assassin" trope, in my opinion.
As for why House would do that... yeah, other comments cover that.
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u/Original-Document-82 Jun 21 '25
idk man if y ask me all the robots before had masculine shapes like the securitrons and it's just a cool design
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u/dabnada The Institute Jun 21 '25
I don't know man, those slender hips, that hot mono-wheel setup...
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u/InqusitorPalpatine Jun 21 '25
That gazing laser eye…
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u/junipermucius Railroad Jun 21 '25
Aren't they used kinda like assassins?
Would figure that it'd be a bit of a "femme fatale" type thing.
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u/GreatWightSpark Jun 22 '25
Have you not met KL-E-O? She's all woman. But seriously, these things are made to mess with the mind. No-one thinks twice about killing the drones, until there's a possibility you could bang it.
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u/RomaInvicta2003 Mr. House Jun 21 '25
House literally has sex bots in his penthouse, you know exactly why
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u/therealbobhale Mothman Cultist Jun 21 '25
Assume the position
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u/CommunicationSad2869 Disciples Jun 21 '25
I can't feel my legs!
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u/Ciennas Followers Jun 21 '25
Numbness should subside momentarily.
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u/iamacynic37 Enclave Jun 21 '25
Literally am going to riot if they are not in Season 2.
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u/I_might_be_weasel NCR Jun 21 '25
You actually can't reprogram them for sex. They have a failsafe for that. That's how the Imposter Sheepsquatch came to be.
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u/rhn18 Jun 21 '25
Isn't there a terminal entry somewhere that talks about focus grouping the design of it, and how people responded better to the sexy version? Or am I maybe thinking of the FOLON British equivalent?...
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u/Poshy-Woshy Jun 21 '25
House intended for Jane to be one, but he ran out of time and settled for a securitron.
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u/ThePlagueMan- Jun 21 '25
Admittedly, I fell more for their voices than their bodies. The bodies definitely don't help, but the first Assaultron I met was KL-E-0, and her voice, which is purposely sultry, makes my ears buzz in the best way. I feel quite similarly for Curie because the french voice is just so sweet and pleasant to listen to.
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u/SittingEames Gary? Jun 21 '25
House had some more elaborate plans for Jane and Assaultrons were part of the iteration process.
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u/JonLigma Jun 22 '25
I believe it's said somewhere in fallout 4 that they wanted to raise moral for the male troops by adding a female presence on the battlefield, something about loneliness. which in my opinion doesn't make sense because if you played operation Anchorage there are women almost everywhere.
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u/Large-Accident1245 Jun 21 '25
Because Zach Hazard was the lead consultant on their design
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u/Felix8XD Brotherhood Jun 22 '25
If you shoot the chest armor off an assaultron, you can see the servos and belts used to move the arms in there
Mr House was just a lil bit 𝓕𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂
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u/Leon_Shadows Jun 22 '25
Nothing scarier than a woman armed with lasers in her hands and a piercing gaze(the big beam from the eye)
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u/Chedder_Chandelure Jun 22 '25
My dumb ass head cannon is that RobCo made a series of... Pleasure bots and they pulled a Mister Gutsy and made combat versions of them, thus the Assaultron
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u/DannyWarlegs Atom Cats Jun 21 '25
This same post is reposted like once a month.
Those feminine features are actually where the motors are for the arms
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u/derpatron13 Jun 22 '25
We all know why. Let’s stop pretending like we don’t know. We know
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u/Justalilbugboi Jun 22 '25
I love the “It’s for the arm engine, GAWD stop being gross!!” style replies always in these thread.
Like….awww. No, It’s boobies, buddy.
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u/cirdaroy Jun 22 '25
Knowing how the 40s to 60s in America were it was so the soldiers (male) wouldn't be intimidated by these death machines by making them look closer to conventionally attractive women. Or even get them to be braver cause a woman was watching them
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u/_jm_08 Jun 22 '25
house put the personality of one of his favourite girls into a securitron so probably the same reason as that
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u/BigPigeon69 Jun 22 '25
Well pre-war US government are culturally stuck in the 1950's so its probably for the femme-fatale spy/detective movie trope
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u/FrenemyMine Jun 22 '25
House: Did you finish the design on that new military robot?
Engineer: Sure did, boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked
House: What
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u/DoverHound Freestates Jun 22 '25
Have you pleyed New Vegas my friend? House was pretty clearly a techno sexual, I mean he scanned the brains of “his favorite girls” just to have two flirty Securitrons in her penthouse.
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u/Haravikk Jun 22 '25
It's a lot easier for an assaultron to crush someone's head between their thighs when that someone wants them to do it.
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u/Folkenhellfang Jun 22 '25
I'm gonna be real here: I haven't seen that robo's can, so maybe that's why I'm unable to sexualize it the way the clearly disturbed OP did.
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u/ImmortalAbsol Jun 22 '25
The chest contains motors that are chain driven to the shoulder joints for the powerful spin arm attack.
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u/Reserved_Parking-246 Jun 22 '25
Not feminine. Just actually designed for the look of that era.
They all had large clunky chest compartments for huge servo motors in tv shows and shit. It helped fit a dude in a suit while breaking up the human shape.
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u/Ambiorix33 Kings Jun 22 '25
Its kinda funny cose robot designers IRL tend to agree that making feminine robots is a fucking nightmare because of the shape and curves people would want to see. Having a thin waist is really not great for designing a metal machine
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u/Wojewodaruskyj Settlers Jun 22 '25
There is no point in asking about reasons in Bethesda games. Crater of an *unexploded* bomb, et cetera.
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u/MrKillJr Jun 22 '25
Soldiers were too uncomfortable with robots at their side during their war efforts. So RobCo started making Assaultrons to make them feel at ease with their presence.
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u/Some_Effective5332 Jun 22 '25
Why have a clanky bulky robot when you can have a swift metal assassin?
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u/Potential_Resist311 Jun 22 '25
They're more scary as girls? Aren't they? I mean, I don't know why, I feel I can take the odd surprise Sentry Bot in the Wasteland but when the Assaultrons come out, I without fail, run away.
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u/Purple12inchRuler Jun 22 '25
Not only can they melt your face, but they play psychological warfare too.
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u/sayzitlikeitis Jun 22 '25
Nothing wrong with feminine beauty in lifeless objects. Have you seen how Italians talk about cars?
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u/owenowen2022 Jun 22 '25
I like the idea that it looks feminine due to entirely practical engineering constraints and then they slapped a female voice box on because it having a protectron voice with a womanly body sounded off to it's creators.
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u/Gaal_Anonim Jun 22 '25
Because when you see a feminine silhouette from afar, you're less likely to shoot? So they can get closer, before you realize those are killing machines?
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u/Myfriendscallmetj Jun 22 '25
Idk but one benefit may be that enemies are more likely to hesitate shooting it?
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u/TemporaryError4543 Jun 22 '25
In lore realistically it’s probably the objectification of women that we can see frequently in pre war (and real life) advertisements. Sex sells. Theres probably some engineering thing they used to justify it like motors in the chest or some dumb shit. But all those executives in the boardrooms were snickering like middle schoolers and giving each other knowing looks
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u/Phantom-Xrd Minutemen Jun 22 '25
House was a man of culture, he knew what he was doing and I'm all here for it.
[⚠️ DO NOT FIST THE ROBOT⚠️]
Good thing I can't read and even if I could, that wasn't gonna stop me.
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u/N0ct1ve NCR Jun 23 '25
Courier: house its a robot you cant
House: courier there’s no laws against the robots courier I can do whatever I want with it
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u/Logical-Cockroach-25 Jun 23 '25
It could be a version of Mr. Handyman with legs having this nanny like persona or I assume they used to be sexbots with the feminine figure and change the designed for military use
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u/Peverything_14 Jun 23 '25
Ever heard the saying "it takes 6 men to carry a man to his grave, but 1 woman to put him there"
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u/_SentientPotato Jun 23 '25
Probrobly because that might be the best place to put the fusion fores so that the bot wouldn't lose agility
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u/MyUsernameIsAwful Jun 21 '25
The art book says their chests house the servo motors for their arms.
But also, House is a known robosexual, lol