Marvin, the Paranoid Android
Marvin, the Paranoid Android, is a fictional character from the series of humorous novels by British writer Douglas Adams, collectively known as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Marvin is the onboard robot of the spaceship Heart of Gold. He was created in the laboratories of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as a prototype under the “Genuine People Personalities” (GPP) program.
Marvin suffers from severe depression and boredom, which he attributes to the fact that he has “a brain the size of a planet” but is rarely given the opportunity to use it. His deep resentment toward life stems from the reality that no task is challenging enough to engage even a fraction of his vast intellect. Marvin claims to be “50,000 times more intelligent than a human,” though he admits this is a significant understatement.
Marvin once revealed that he instantly devised the entire military strategy for the warlike robot species Krikkit, who had kidnapped him and connected him to their supercomputer. At the same time, he solved a vast number of mathematical, physical, chemical, biological, sociological, philosophical, etymological, meteorological, and psychological problems of the planet and the universe—except for his own. Afterward, he composed numerous lullabies.
The rather harsh nickname “Paranoid Android” was given to him by Zaphod Beeblebrox, while Trillian more accurately refers to him as a “manically depressed robot,” which better describes his condition since Marvin does not exhibit actual paranoia.
Additionally, Marvin often complained that the diodes in his left side caused him excruciating pain and that no one ever bothered to replace them.
Marvin is deeply introverted, patiently waiting millions of years for his employers without complaint.
By the end of his life, Marvin was 506.9 million years old, as he stated that due to his frequent time travels, he had become 37 times older than the universe itself.
In the 2005 film adaptation, Marvin was portrayed by British actor Warwick Davis, who is 1.07 meters (3 feet 6 inches) tall. The character was voiced by British actor Alan Rickman.
