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Jennifer "Jenny" Wakeman (designation: Robotic Global Response Unit XJ-9) is the protagonist of My Life as a Teenage Robot (2002-2006).

She is a state-of-the-art robotic protector of Earth, armed with advanced weaponry and devices at her disposal, but wishes to live the life of a normal teenager. Throughout the series, she tries to balance her life with duties of a crime-fighter while attending high school and proceeding with teenage endeavors.

Background

Jenny was designed as a teenager of about 16 years of age (in design and mentality), but it was 5 years since she had been created, prior to the events of I Was a Preschool Dropout (2002). As her number indicates, she had eight prototypes, whom she treats as her older sisters.

While she was designed as a teenage robot, presumably with the adolescent mind of a 16-year old or so, she apparently did undergo a period of infancy according to the episode Humiliation 101 (2004). As revealed in the same episode, she also spent some of her early years as a crude steam-powered robot before being upgraded to hydronium-electric hybrid-power (as seen in the blueprints of her Master Plan).

For an uncertain amount of time, she was prevented from leaving the house by her mother, except for the purpose of saving the earth, where she would not be viewed by the general populace. Following the events of It Came From Next Door (2002), she finally managed to interact with the outside world and make human friends, namely Brad Carbunkle and his younger brother Tuck, and later enrolling in Tremorton High School where she soon met and befriended Sheldon Lee.

Physical Appearance

Normal appearance

Jennyplans-grey

XJ-9's model plan.

Jenny stands at 6.6 feet (1.98 m) tall and weighs roughly 600 lbs. She has blue "pigtails" with bolts connecting them to her head that can act as rocket boosters, blue "bangs", white skin, blue "clothes" (a crop top, a miniskirt and boots), a belly-bolt (a bolt that simulates a belly button) which doubles as a linchpin as mentioned in Around the World in Eighty Pieces (2004), hands with 4 fingers each and center holes, a "false nose".

Jenny has no ears, instead possessing an auditory system "decades ahead of its time." according to Ear No Evil (2002). Her body processes are carried out by a fully-functional, metallic electronic brain, which her eyes are connected to, as seen in Mind Over Matter (2004). Her body also contains several access ports for downloading, charging, and other purposes.

Disguised human appearance

Jenny has been able to don a pseudo-human form in her ambition to be a normal teenage girl on two occasions:

In Raggedy Android (2002), Nora designed an Exo-Skin for Jenny to freely go around in public during a amusement park event, but the first prototype skin was rushed in production within a day, which resulted in an exo-skin looking more akin to an old ragdoll that ended up scaring everyone at the park. By the end of the episode, Jenny decided to take off the Exo-Skin and reveal her true nature, and has since been able to blend into society freely as a robot.

In The Return of Raggedy Android (2002), after the owner of Mezmers (Mr. Mezmer) refused to serve robots, Jenny goes to her mother to use the exo-suit again. This time, Nora had made improvements to the suit to make Jenny look more human — human enough to fool anyone to believe that Jenny was a real girl. However, the skin ended up possessing a mind of its own and began persuading Jenny to act like a "normal girl" by dropping her robotic identity and adopting a persona of a girl more focused on diets and not getting her hands dirty. However, one day as Mezmers was being raided by the Space Bikers and the exo-skin constraining her from confronting the bandits, Jenny poured a chocolate milkshake on herself, making the skin short-circuit and come off, giving Jenny her freewill back and being the vigilant hero she has always been.

While disguised as a "human" in her Exo-Skin, Jenny had light skin with freckles and rosy cheeks. She had red hair tied into two pigtails with black bows. She wore a blue dress with short sleeves, short skirt, white socks and black Mary Jane shoes.

Personality

Thanks to having advanced artificial intelligence, Jenny's personality is that of an eager, young, tomboyish teenager. She desires a sense of freedom but also wants acceptance from her peers. She generally possesses a kind personality and likes anything pertaining to teenage activities, but becomes agitated when her mother or her duties get in her way of her enjoyment. Unfortunately, being kind and sweet, she is easily trusting of others and, as a result, can be quite naive. The Crust Cousins, Brit and Tiff, have often taken advantage of this for self-gain or to humiliate Jenny. Despite this, she can also be mischievous, hotheaded, careless, and stubborn at times, but always learns from her mistakes.

In her duties as a crime fighter and global responder, she is vigilant and determined to get the job done, though she can be reckless and quick to jump the gun in very few instances.

Relationships

Nora Wakeman

Since Dr. Nora Wakeman is the one who designed and built Jenny, she comes to view her as her mother. Like most mothers with teenage daughters, Dr. Wakeman and Jenny sometimes argue with each other, but Dr. Wakeman truly loves Jenny as if she was a biological daughter. At first, Dr. Wakeman confined Jenny in her bedroom in fear of Jenny possibly not being accepted by society, but when she saw that Jenny made friends after sneaking out of the house, Dr. Wakeman decided to give her more freedom.

Dr. Wakeman would always alert Jenny about any crisis occurring in Tremorton whenever Jenny is out by contacting her through her built-in monitor.

Brad Carbunkle

Brad is Jenny's first and best friend. She usually confides in him on her personal feelings and any other emotions she is going through. He often gives Jenny advice and helps her on missions, as well as normal teenager activities, while causing trouble of his own. He also usually goes on Jenny's side of things and defends her, especially with drama at high school. They often hang out as well.

Tuck Carbunkle

Tuck is the first human other than Jenny's mother, whom Jenny has come into contact with. While they first began their relationship in the first season, Tuck often called Jenny a "freaky robot". He has grown more and more close to Jenny, though, finding her abilities he once feared to be rather "cool". Soon, Tuck and Jenny grow a close bond to the point that Jenny will fly to Tuck's aid whenever she hears him scream, even though Tuck rather abuses this factor in their friendship quite often, particularly in the episode The Boy Who Cried Robot (2002). Tuck learns many morals through Jenny, and in the end, it is very much an older sibling to younger sibling relationship. Tuck is Brad's younger brother

Sheldon Lee

The relationship between Jenny and Sheldon began very awkwardly, as Sheldon became smitten with Jenny the moment he met her in Attack of the 5½ Ft. Geek (2002). Although over the seasons, the two grew more accustomed to and close to each other, and Sheldon still often pampers Jenny every chance he gets. Jenny sympathizes with Sheldon and his obsession with her, although many times she grows frustrated and exasperated with him since he inadvertently hinders her on some occasions. He has also significantly helped her on many occasions as well, and is known to create for her a plethora of different gadgets ranging from blasters to over-sized pencil sharpeners.

The two grew close enough that Jenny would often rely on Sheldon to make minor repairs for her when she had some loose bolts, with Sheldon happily complying since he is a genius mechanical nerd ; he stole and studied her blueprints in Designing Women (2004). Sheldon has unwavering faith in Jenny due to his love for her, and has saved her life and her reputation as a superhero on quite a few occasions, especially in A Robot For All Seasons (2004) and Agent 00' Sheldon (2006). For this, Jenny is deeply grateful, thanking him with a heartfelt kiss on the cheek in these episodes and also in Ball and Chain (2006). According to series creator Rob Renzetti, he intended to eventually bring Jenny and Sheldon together as a couple.[1]

Misty

Jenny first shared a friendly relationship with Misty when they first met in the episode Teen Team Time (2004), and when Misty returned to Earth in Teenage Mutant Ninja Troubles (2005). At first, Jenny was delighted to have a teenage girl friend who could stay on the phone all day long and do normal teenage activities with her.

However, in Teenage Mutant Ninja Troubles (2005), Misty's pranks on the Crust Cousins became extremely cruel and sadistic, and Misty showed a dark, megalomaniacal side of herself in her attempts to terrorize them with their worst fears. Because of this, Misty was expelled from Tremorton High School, and her cruel behavior made Jenny to begin to worry that her teen alien friend was becoming villainous.

Finally, in Mist Opportunities (2005), Misty returned once more and started fighting crime in Tremorton, resulting in Jenny relying too much on her, and slacking from her heroic duties. However, a fight erupted betweeen the two friends when Misty wouldn't do anything unless the citizens paid her, and let the town get destroyed by a monster without feeling any remorse. Tuck was put in grave danger and was nearly killed, as Misty refused to save him. Jenny, appalled that Misty was being so selfish and heartless, couldn't stand to see people (especially her best friends) in danger, and she and Misty became bitter enemies at that point. Misty mercilessly beat Jenny up, mocking her cruelly all the while, but when Jenny reminded Misty that she thought they were friends, Misty left in anger, snapping, "The only reason I don't destroy you is that nobody is paying me to do it!" The series ended without Jenny and Misty ever making amends.

Brit and Tiff

At first, Brit and Tiff tried to use Jenny, or made fun of her due to her desire to become popular and befriend them. After Jenny saved them from the fire caused by Tiff's bobby pin messing with Jenny's laser device, they refused to let the fire fighters take her until Jenny pulled the bobby pin from her hand, which ended up with them being escorted from the school. Since then, Brit and Tiff have tried to get revenge or make Jenny miserable.

Don Prima

Jenny had a temporary crush on popular boy Don Prima from Tremorton High, and had a habit of blushing when speaking to him. However, after going on one date with him, it was revealed to her that he didn't really care about her as a love interest - but instead, he cared about his suede Italian loafers getting ruined when the two were about to kiss. From there on, Jenny gets over her crush on Don.

Skyway Patrol

Jenny isn't fond with the Skyway Patrol, as the organization often tries to watch over her antics and attempt to shut her down should she be caught in the act of any tomfoolery or reckless behavior. Despite both parties have a duty to fighting crime, Jenny is a vigilante in contrast to Skyway Patrol's overbearing amounts of filing paperwork than actual patrolling, which has worked against them in Last Action Zero (2004).

The Cluster

Jenny despises the Cluster as much as she hates their leader Queen Vexus. She must constantly put a stop to their invasions, fighting against armies of Cluster drones to protect Earth.

Queen Vexus

Vexus is Jenny's archenemy, who appears in various episodes throughout the series. They have a bitter rivalry against one another. Vexus is the Queen of Cluster Prime, and has tried many times to force Jenny to become a part of the Cluster.

Killgore

In the episode Killgore (2004), Jenny was annoyed by Killgore as he followed her everywhere and force her to “surrender” to him constantly. But she couldn't do anything, as everybody else in Tremorton loved him so much, commenting that he was “the cutest thing in the world“. Killgore became a most terrible annoyance to Jenny. However, eventually, after considering destroying the tiny robot when no one was watching, Jenny realized that Killgore was as a defenseless toy, so she pretended to be Killgore's prisoner so that Killgore could impress the Cluster. However, just before being taken away by the Cluster, Killgore helped Jenny by releasing her, and both began to fight the Cluster (though Killgore still considered Jenny his enemy/rival).

Later in Enclosure of Doom (2005), Jenny was forced work with Killgore to find a way out from Armagedroid's body. Both robots worked together to destroy him as well.

Melody Locus

Jenny always felt uncomfortable with Melody due to the fact that she was the robot daughter of the evil Dr. Locus, always acting suspiciously like a perfect and pretty normal human girl. Seeing that Melody had a crush on her friend Brad and began dating him, Jenny became worried for Brad’s safety and tried to convince him that Melody was evil like her father. Jenny eventually got into a battle with Melody, accusing her of being a villain, which enraged Melody, causing her to unleash her true hideous robotic form. However, finally seeing and realizing how truly terrifying she really was, with everyone in Tremorton, including Brad, fearing her wrathful temper and grotesque appearance, Melody then felt like she didn't belong with Brad, or anywhere, and flew away in tears, never to return. Jenny discovered that although Melody was created to be a monstrous villain by Dr. Locus, she never really wanted to be evil, and felt remorse about accusing her.

Vega

When Jenny came to Cluster Prime, Vega saw her as a friend, even when she figured out that Jenny was the infamous XJ-9, whom her mother, Queen Vexus, considered the enemy of Cluster Prime. Jenny promised to visit her friend Vega on a reformed Cluster Prime once Vexus was cast out and Vega took the throne as the new leader of the planet.

Powers and abilites

Jenny is a robot designed to protect earth from any threat, and accordingly she has a vast amount of superhuman abilities and weapons to do so.

  • Superhuman Strength: According to the opening, Jenny has the strength of one million and seventy men, but the exact magnitude is unknown. This is because her strength, like most of her powers, has fluctuated over the series. She has thrown an entire alien spaceship into orbit around the Sun, which puts her lifting strength beyond 300 gigatons of force.
  • Superhuman Running Speed: She can run faster than even the finest human athletes.
  • Superhuman Reflexes: She has superhuman reaction speed.
  • Superhuman Agility: Jenny's agility is far beyond that of even an olympic level athlete, as is her balance and coordination.
  • Superhuman Durability: Her outer shell is made from an extremely durable titanium alloy, built to withstand heavy impacts and damage, (though this ability can be inconsistent, as she has been blown up by dynamite and torn up before). However, her internal mechanisms are generally less durable and are much easier to damage.
  • Superhuman Stamina: As a robot, she can exert herself for hours, sometimes days before she runs out of energy.
  • ​Superhuman Hearing: Jenny shows that she has super hearing from the first episode by burning a hole into a frisbee that was about to hit her in the back of her head. 
  • Telescopic Vision: She can see further than any human being.
    • Electromagnetic Vision: She has the ability to see different kinds of EM spectrum, some of them real, some others fictional:
      • Digital Vision: Makes everything looks like an 8-bit video game
      • Ultraviolet Vision: The ability to see ultraviolet light.
      • Infrared Vision: The ability to see heat radiation.
      • X-Ray Vision: The ability to see through solid objects.
      • Rainbow Vision: Makes everything look multicolor, with a psychedelic 1960's style.
      • "Heat" Vision: Makes everything look "hot" (i.e. Dr. Wakeman wearing a bathing suit while everything else is melting).
      • Sausage Vision: Makes everything look like sausages.
  • Flight: Jenny has rocket boosters to fly located in her feet, sprouted wings and her "hair". She can travel to the Moon in about 5 seconds, meaning she can travel at 1/4 the speed of light. She also flew to the opposite side of a hurtling Sun in 6 seconds, making her maximum potential for speed 83 times the speed of light.
  • Various Weaponry: Jenny's signature fighting style, consisting of unfolding a nearly unlimited number of weapons from inside her own mechanized body, although seeming random, are always chosen to fit the situation, even when looking absurd.
    • Shiva Swords: She sprouts 4 additional arms, and then forms swords out of all 6 of her arms.
    • Buzzsaw Arms
    • Heat Gun: Can reach temperatures of up to 1,700 °F.
    • Fire and Ice Blasters: Instantly melted and then froze asphalt respectively.
    • Fists of Fury: Giant Spiky Fists.
    • Drill Hair & Feet
    • Mighty Mallets: Giant Hand Hammers.
    • Electro Claw
    • Thunder Fist: Giant Flail.
    • Stun Grenade Gun: No explosive to be seen, but can reportedly fire at up to 125 rounds per second.
    • Tesla Cannon
    • Hair Razor-Rang: Razor Boomerang.
  • Energy Beam: She can fire energy blasts from her hands, feet, chest, eyes and "hair". She also has a wide array of weapons to do so, most notable being her "Laser Limb".
  • Stretchy Arms and Extendo-Fingers: She can stretch out her arms and fingers for miles. In Raggedy Android (2002) she used this ability to stop a runaway Ferris wheel, wrapping at least 7 times around it.
  • Shapeshifting: She can shapeshift into several (robotic) forms, such as a giant spider. Victim of Fashion (2004) shows that she can adapt new forms simply by scanning the imagery.
  • Repairs: She can remotely re-wire herself if she's damaged or destroyed, as well as simply replace limbs, such as her legs and her head.
  • Multilingualism: Jenny has integrated CDs containing data for every single language in the world, allowing her to speak every language known to mankind.
  • Corrosive Reflex: She can defend herself by using The Acid Reflex Lamination, made by triple polycarbonate lamination. This protects her against corrosive substances.

Appearances

Being the titular character and main protagonist of My Life as a Teenage Robot (2002-2006), Jenny appears in every episode of the series.

Season 1 (2002)

# Title Year
1a It Came From Next Door 2002
1b Pest Control 2002
2a Raggedy Android 2002
2b Class Action 2002
3a Attack of the 5½ Ft. Geek 2002
3b Doom With a View 2002
4a Ear No Evil 2002
4b Unlicensed Flying Object 2002
5a Party Machine 2002
5b Speak No Evil 2002
6a See No Evil 2002
6b The Great Unwashed 2002
7a The Return of Raggedy Android 2002
7b The Boy Who Cried Robot 2002
8a Sibling Tsunami 2002
8b I Was a Preschool Dropout 2002
9a Hostile Makeover 2002
9b Grid Iron Glory 2002
10a Dressed To Kill 2002
10b Shell Game 2002
11a Daydream Believer 2002
11b This Time With Feeling 2002
12a Saved by the Shell 2002
12b Tradeshow Showdown 2002
13a The Wonderful World of Wizzly 2002
13b Call Hating 2002

Season 2 (2004-05)

# Title Year
14 Victim of Fashion 2004
15a Last Action Zero 2004
15b Mind Over Matter 2004
16a Future Shock 2004
16b Humiliation 101 2004
17a Love 'Em or Leash 'Em 2004
17b Teen Team Time 2004
18 A Robot For All Seasons 2004
19a Pajama Party Prankapalooza 2004
19b Sister Sledgehammer 2004
20a Dancing With My Shell 2004
20b Around the World in Eighty Pieces 2004
21a Armagedroid 2004
21b Killgore 2004
22a A Pain In My Sidekick 2004
22b Crash Pad Crash 2004
23a Designing Women 2004
23b Robot Riot 2004
24a Bradventure 2005
24b Mama Drama 2005
25a Toying With Jenny 2005
25b Teenage Mutant Ninja Troubles 2005
26 Escape from Cluster Prime 2005

Season 3 (2005-06)

# Title Year
27a Weapons of Mass Distraction 2005
27b There's No Place Like Home School 2005
28a No Harmony with Melody 2005
28b Tuckered Out 2005
29a Stage Fright 2005
29b Never Say Uncle 2005
30a A Spoonful of Mayhem 2005
30b Enclosure of Doom 2005
31a Girl of Steal 2005
31b Mist Opportunities 2005
32a The Legion of Evil 2005
32b The Price of Love 2005
33a Teen Idol 2005
33b Good Old Sheldon 2005
34a Infectious Personality 2006
34b Trash Talk 2006
35a Agent 00' Sheldon 2006
35b Indes-Tuck-tible 2006
36a Puppet Bride 2006
36b Historionics 2006
37a Ball and Chain 2006
37b Labor Day 2006
38a Voyage to the Planet of the Bikers 2006
38b Queen Bee 2006
39a Samurai Vac 2006
39b Turncoats 2006

International voice actors

  • Spanish (Latin America): Leisha Medina
  • France: Laura Prejean
  • German: Tanya Kahana
  • Dutch: Céline Purcell
  • Polish: Joanna Pach
  • Russian: Olga Zverova (season 1-2, some episodes of season 3), Olga Shorokhova (season 3)
  • Hungary: Zsanett Czető
  • Japanese: Aki Sasaki
  • Brazilian Portuguese: Christiane Monteiro

Trivia

  • Jenny is the only character to appear in every episode.
  • She possesses the phone numbers of her enemies, as revealed in Humiliation 101 (2004), including the Cluster and the Space Bikers.
  • Jenny's voice actress, Janice Kawaye, has done her voice in both English and Japanese, as she speaks the latter language fluently and is half-Japanese.
  • Jenny's voice actor, Janice Kawaye has also voiced Ami from Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi, Gi from Captain Planet and the Planeteers, and Kim and Kam from Class of 3000.
Official First XJ9 Artist Sketches

A 1998 official rough design sketch of Jenny with antennas.

  • Jenny is ambidextrous, equally adept in using both hands.
  • Strangely, Jenny is seen blinking throughout the series, despite the fact a robot should not need to.
  • As shown in Jenny's schematic, she runs partly on electricity.
  • According to the XJ-9 Master Plan, Jenny uses hydronium (H3O) as rocket fuel (seen inside her pigtail rocket thrusters)
  • On the 'Teenage Robot Blog' by the creators, you can see early versions of Jenny from 1998 where she had antennas.

Gallery

References

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