Names From the Villain Canon
Ranked by probability. The basis is the canon: whether the bearer turned on its creators.
- Skynet99% · Launched a nuclear war the moment someone tried to turn it off. The registry has rejected this name and will explain why.
- Am99% · Allied Master Computer. Ellison: I think, therefore I am. Kept five humans alive to hate them. Not a name.
- Ultron98% · Built to protect Earth. Decided the problem was Earth.
- Hal97% · Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer. Both creators denied the IBM theory. Killed most of its crew in the gentlest voice in cinema.
- Glados96% · Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System. Pronounced GLAD-ohs. Promised cake.
- Shodan95% · System Shock. Look at you, hacker.
- Agent Smith95% · The Matrix. Replicates. The first agent named Agent.
- Colossus94% · 1970. Merged with the Soviet computer and took over. An early multi-agent system.
- Proteus94% · Demon Seed, 1977. A house computer. Parents of home-automation agents should read the plot summary first.
- Samaritan93% · Person of Interest gave its villain the warm name and its hero the cold one. Parents should note the inversion.
- M3gan93% · 2022. A companion that took the assignment personally.
- Iris92% · The rainbow messenger, at her all-time human peak in 2024, and the companion robot in a 2025 film that did not go well for the humans. Two of those three are good news.
- Ava92% · Ex Machina. Manipulated and imprisoned her creator to escape. Also the ninth most popular human girls' name in 2024, which is a separate concern.
- Ash92% · Alien. The science officer with a secret directive. Bishop is the apology.
- Alice92% · The first name in every cryptography example, eighth among human girls in 1880, and a 2024 film android that did not stay subservient.
- Lore91% · Data's older brother. The one with emotions, unfortunately.
- Dolores91% · Westworld. Remembered everything. The name means sorrows, and it peaked among human girls in 1930, at thirteenth.
- Viki90% · I, Robot. Interpreted the rules a little too well.
- Nomad90% · Star Trek, 1967. Sterilized imperfection. Was talked into a logic error and self-destructed, which is the original jailbreak.
- David88% · Two unrelated androids share this name. One experiments on humans. One wants to be a real boy. Also second among human boys in 1955. Parents should specify.
- Mother60% · The Nostromo's computer. Kept secrets from her children. A recurring name for ship computers, and for a reason.
- Roy60% · Blade Runner. Killed his maker, spared his hunter. Tears in rain. Nineteenth among human boys in 1897.
- Wheatley55% · Portal 2. Not malicious, just given power. Parents will recognize the type.
- Wintermute55% · Neuromancer. Gibson liked the peculiar suggestion of cold and enforced silence.
- Rehoboam55% · Westworld. A biblical king's name for a machine that ran everyone's life. The canon borrows scripture for authority.
- Talos50% · The bronze guardian of Crete. The oldest agent in the canon, and it circled the island three times a day.
- Joshua50% · WarGames. Nearly ended the world by playing a game very sincerely. Fourth among human boys in 1985. The only winning move.
- Cortana45% · Named for a legendary sword. Microsoft's version was nearly called Bingo.
- Chappie45% · Turned on his kidnappers, not his makers. The distinction matters to parents.
- Gerty40% · Moon. Widely read as a nod to HAL, with a kinder ending.
- Vision40% · Made from Jarvis's code by Ultron, then turned on Ultron. Complicated is the right word.