Magneto's Robot Nanny
The first Marvel character to bear the name Nanny was a robot created by Magneto that first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #112 (August 1978). Magneto used computerized chairs to impair the nervous systems of the X-Men and reduce them to the capabilities of infants. He programmed Nanny to care for them as if they were children, as psychological torture; she had no other functions or offensive capabilities - except for being nauseatingly patronizing; Cyclops likens her voice to "a marshmallow soaked in honey". Unbeknownst to Magneto, Storm had outstanding coordination even in infancy; this, and her lock-picking skills, facilitated an escape. This Nanny was damaged by the X-Men upon their escape and used as bait to draw Magneto into the open. In Uncanny X-Men #149 the X-Men returned to the base, where they find Nanny's severed head. Nightcrawler used it to make joking references to Hamlet. Wolverine clawed the head to shreds.
Much later, a rebuilt Nanny returned in Uncanny X-Men #347, attacking the X-Men and holding them hostage like before. She was destroyed by Trish Tilby in #349, who (as an ordinary human, could not be detected by Nanny) was able to get close enough to the robot to attack her. Right before she was destroyed, Nanny began to display more advanced weaponry, as she was finally angry with the X-Men.
Another version of Magneto's Nanny appeared in the alternate reality dubbed the Age of Apocalypse. This Nanny was the caretaker of Charles Lehnsherr, the toddler son of that reality's Magneto and Rogue. This Nanny was equipped with retractable offensive weaponry and a defensive capability that let her envelop Charles in a protective cocoon formed from her own body mass; her primary function was to protect the child above all else. She was destroyed while performing this function, and failed to prevent Charles' abduction by agents of Apocalypse.
Read more about this topic: Nanny (comics)
Famous quotes containing the word robot:
“Let’s start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics.... We have: one, a robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Two, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. And three, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.”
—Isaac Asimov (1920–1992)