Tobor - Eight-foot-tall space robot on the live-action children's sci-fi adventure CAPTAIN VIDEO AND HIS VIDEO RANGERS/DUM/1949-55.

Tobor the Robot captures Atar

Tobor (played by 7' 6" Dave Ballard) was a prototype robot designed to be a tireless worker and indestructible soldier. It bore the inscription "I-TOBOR" (a reversed image of ROBOT-I) on its chest plate.

Tobor's body featured a cylindrical manlike form, rockets mounted on its back; an antenna sprouting skywards from each shoulder; a triangular flap of metal on its chest containing a lens which shot a death ray; and activation by voice commands via a pocket-sized device attuned to the vocal frequency of its controller.

Tobor was originally designed as a force for good in the universe, until Atar, a villainous female reset the robot's voice circuits to obey only her commands. Now in control of the powerful robot, Atar set out to conquer the solar system.

Tobor was finally rendered harmless when Captain Video, matching Atar's vocal frequency, sent conflicting commands to Tobor and disrupted its circuitry.

Months later (due to popular demand) Tobor was reactivated but this time under the guidance of Captain Video's voice. A video monitor was built into his metallic naval for closed circuit communication.

In a later episode, an evil scientist stole Tobor's blueprints and created a duplicate Tobor. A colossal battle of good vs. evil ensued with Tobor fighting his evil twin.

Tobor the robot was prominently featured in serial episodes: "I, Tobor" (1953);  "The Return of Tobor the Robot (1954); and "Dr. Pauli's Planet" (1955).

TRIVIA NOTE: The name "Tobor" appeared in the sci-fi movie Tobor the Great (1954) about a telepathic experimental robot with human emotions.

In the animated 1965 Japanese syndicated sci-fi series 8TH Man, a crime fighting android ("Tobor, the Eighth Man, the mightiest robot of them all") programmed by Professor Genius with the memory of police officer, Peter Brady who was killed by the villain Saucer Lip.