Created by Paul Guinan | Species Robot | |
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Partnerships Professor Archibald Campion First appearance Boilerplate website, July 2000 Similar Frank Reade, Guinan, Rocketeer, Robby the Robot | ||
Boilerplate is a fictional robot which would have existed in the Victorian era and early 20th century. It was created in 2000 by Portland, Oregon USA artist Paul Guinan. Originally intended for comics, the character became known via a faux-historical website created by Guinan, and has since appeared in other media.
Contents
Development
Boilerplate was originally featured on a website created by Paul Guinan in 2000. The Boilerplate site details the history of a remarkable robot built in the late 19th century, and features photoshopped "archival images" in which Boilerplate (actually a 12-inch articulated model) is seen interacting with historical figures, such as Teddy Roosevelt and Pancho Villa. Becoming aware that some visitors to the site were taken in by its contents, making it an unintentional hoax, Guinan resolved to see how authentic he could make the character seem, working to ensure the descriptions of non-fictional events were accurate. He explained his motivation in a 2002 interview:
"Certainly I felt happy about having achieved my goal," he said. "I put this thing across as trying to be real, and people bought into it. So, that's a success! But, as an amateur historian, I feel a responsibility to get the story right. So I felt bad about some of these people being hoaxed. It was a mixed bag."
"But," he revealed, "I thought, if I was getting this reaction and I wasn't really trying, then what would happen if I really tried?"
Guinan estimated that roughly a third of the site's visitors treated its faux history as real. Comedian Chris Elliott, while realising that Boilerplate was fictional, thought that the spoof dated back to the 19th century and included the character in one of his books (see below).
Guinan later expanded his website into The History of Robots in the Victorian Era, which features other "turn-of-the-century robots, both real and imagined".
Fictional character history
Boilerplate is built by Professor Archibald Campion in the 1880s and unveiled at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The robot's notable adventures include an expedition to the Antarctic, during which it saves the lives of the team members by singlehandedly moving ice floes, clearing a path for the ship to sail out.
Designed for the self-proclaimed purpose of "preventing the deaths of men in the conflicts of nations," Boilerplate charges into combat during the Spanish–American War and the Boxer Rebellion. Campion and his robot also circle the planet with the U.S. Navy, make silent movies, and hobnob with the likes of Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla.
Boilerplate is also active in the First World War, but disappears during the relief of Major Whittlesey's Lost Battalion, possibly having been captured by the Germans for study. Supporters of this theory point out that German military technology advances tremendously in the twenty years between the two world wars, encompassing guided rockets, experimental jets, and sophisticated tanks. Post World War II, Boilerplate is sighted on a number of occasions, often in Chicago.