Liked CL4P-TP so much that it’s the centerpiece of my Warmachine army.
A while back, and with a younger Geek Baby, I talked about how a baby is a lot like a bad boss. As the Geek Baby has grown, I’ve come to think of another strong analogy for what I am reminded of.
Beyond looking good in yellow and being short and fast, a baby is a lot like CL4P-TP, or Clap-Trap, from the Borderlands video game franchise. A prominent NPC in the first two games, and a playable character in the third game… the game 1.5? The Pre-Sequel. Clap-trap is always good for a laugh, for an annoyance, and sometimes for the plot. In the second game, he is your early-game tutorial. He’s the antagonist of a DLC in the first game.
And he’s incredibly quotable.
So here are my top five reasons that a baby is a lot like CL4P-TP.
#5 – “Aaaand Open!”
So part of the joke is that Clap-trap’s job, as a robot, is opening doors. He walks up to them and says his defining line, “Aaaaaand open!” And the computers that run things will either open the door… or not. Kind of making you wonder why there’s a robot doing this at all…
One of the Geek Baby’s favorite activities is opening and closing doors and gates. We installed a gate on her door, and she loves opening and closing it, over and over… at least until it locks. Gates are only going to stop her so long…
#4 – *knock knock knock*
When he’s not opening doors, Clap-trap can be found rolling around town knocking on doors. You’ll be standing around, looking in your inventory or headed to a merchant, and just hear knocking. And chattering.
The Geek Baby loves banging on things to find out their sounds – so much so that she definitely got a drum set for her birthday. From grandparents. Who clearly love us and want what’s best for us…
I have also started listening to Rush drum solos more frequently.
#3 – I’m Dancing, I’m Dancing!
Used especially in their marketing (the marketing for Borderlands 2 in particular was phenomenal), Clap-trap does a lot of dancing. Something you’ll hear him doing in town (when not knocking on doors) is randomly start beat-boxing or dub-stepping. Not that he’s any good… but he does it. Look at me! I’m dancing, I’m dancing!
The Geek Baby, when hearing the start of new songs especially, will also dance. It’s usually a seated dance, her torso and arms moving most especially. That makes her look EVEN MORE like Clap-trap dancing.
#2 – “Minion, over here! Your master commands you!”
You know how I said that Clap-trap serves as tutorial in Borderlands 2? Yeah, he decides that he’s your new master, and you are his minion. And so he calls you minion – a nice way to only have to program the one audio track regardless of who you play, perhaps, but also hilarious. And annoying.
And maybe this is a throwback to the baby-as-boss comparisons, but come on. As far as a baby is concerned, they’re in charge. I mean, we follow the baby’s schedule (especially at first) and let her choose what we’re doing a lot of the time. Or just let her randomly explore and move around and play. And we clean up after her, do her dirty work, feed her…
Minions!
#1 – Possibly a Ninja Assassin
From http://borderlands.wikia.com/wiki/Claptrap_(robots)… and a DLC entirely about CL4P-TP starting a robot revolution.
I mean, we have no evidence that she’s not. She’s getting faster, stealthier, and smarter. She may have worn a ninja costume for Halloween. This version of Clap-trap was the final boss, if I recall, of the Robot Revolution DLC. And also, I think, some of the design that then went into making Clap-trap into a playable character.
You’ve got to watch out for ninjas. But to be fair, if it’s a good ninja, you won’t see them coming. So we may never know…
Comparative Geeks 