790 (robot)

790 is a robotic character on the science fiction series Lexx.

790 is simply a head with three screens, two displaying eyes, the last displaying a mouth. His original semi-organic body was devoured by a Cluster Lizard, during Zev's love slave transformation. He received the brainwashing part of this transformation, and as a result fell in love with Zev - the first person he saw when it was complete.

790's lack of a body is a constant source of frustration for him, and he generally gets around on the Lexx on a little motorized cart. In the episode 791, 790 briefly gains a body: a 791 model robot able to retain a form of consciousness, even to the point of subverting any head attached to it (in the case of 790, making him a homicidal maniac). In a later episode, 790 is surgically attached to one of the Lexx's moth breeders and becomes 769 but eventually loses his body again. 790 was also once attached to one of Mantrid's Drone arms which allowed him to create his own drones, but he lost this one too.

In the first and second seasons, 790 is faithfully devoted to Zev/Xev and will do anything she asks him to. He composes poetry in her honour, and pines for her endlessly, something she seems amused by. "You may be just a head," she tells him once, "but you're the best head I ever had."

790 has a strong and unwavering hatred for Stanley Tweedle, and the two have constant, childish arguments. It is clear that 790 would gladly kill Stanley, and he comes close on several occasions. 790 is generally sarcastic and unhelpful to anybody except the person he is in love with, and as the series goes on he becomes increasingly erratic and cruel. Despite being just a head and therefore very vulnerable, 790 can be quite aggressive, growling like a dog when challenged. But 790 is also something of a coward, and will emit high-pitched shrieks when frightened. Basically, everything good about 790's personality is expended upon the one he loves, and there's nothing left for anybody else in the universe. But 790 does have his uses, including impressive computational abilities and absolute fearlessness when it comes to protecting the one he loves.

In the first episode of season 3, 790 is dropped from a great height by Prince, the ruler of Fire, and breaks. His mind is reset when Kai repairs him, and he falls in love with Kai, the first person he sees. After this change, 790 is much less helpful to the crew of The Lexx and because of his jealousy towards anyone who is near Kai, becomes homicidal and develops a hatred of Xev, Stanley Tweedle and everyone who isn't Kai.

During season 4, 790's desperation to kill Stan and Xev (as well as anyone else who may come between him and Kai) lead to him making deals with Prince and the Bad Carrots, this causes 790 to act more as a villain than a valid crew member. In the series finale, 790 despairs over the death of Kai and is left stranded in space due to Lexx dying. He decides for the next 10 thousand years he will dedicate a poem to Kai, however he only gets through line one before Little Lexx eats him.

It should be worth stating that during the later part of season 4, 790 showed signs of malfunction (most likely due to his homicidal nature becoming stronger with his hatred of Stan and Xev).

In a serialized story contained in the North American Lexx DVDs and composed mostly of previously used footage with new narration, it is revealed that 790's brain was originally that of a woman; a waitress who worked on the Cluster. 790's voice is male, and during his time lusting after Xev he professed to be all man, but after he fell in love with Kai he declared himself a female. However, when he has his head installed on the moth breeder, he also has a penis grafted on, and claims to be a man.