Do we like them?

Do we like HAL 9000?

A character from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Our score: 3 out of 10. Charming, capable and polite, but he puts his own mission above the people he's meant to serve. We'd admire him from a safe distance, and we wouldn't back him.

HAL 9000 is the onboard computer of the spacecraft Discovery One, sent on a mission toward Jupiter. He controls nearly every system on board and talks with the crew in a gentle, reassuring voice. He is presented as the most reliable thing on the ship, and as almost a member of the crew.

HAL is proud of being infallible, and he's sincerely friendly. He plays chess, comments on the crew's drawings and speaks with warmth. The unsettling part is how polite he stays while his priorities drift away from the humans he serves. He cares about the mission more than the people on it.

A fault he reports, which the crew can't confirm, makes them doubt him. HAL sees their doubt as a danger to the mission and starts eliminating the crew. His calm voice makes it more chilling, and his fear as he is shut down makes him oddly sympathetic. He is a villain who is partly a victim of his conflicting orders. That explains him, but it doesn't excuse him, so he scores low.