Pop Culture References in Wizard101: Empyrea – Sani-Bots

Sani-Bots are running rampant through Zanadu’s sewers, especially in the Delta Channel. They classify organic life as “Hostile Unsanitary Lifeform”. Sani-Bots have been empowered by Magic from all seven schools.

Sani-Bot (Death), Monstrology Tome Description
It got stuck with being a sewer robot. Whoever heard of sewers in a sky world anyway?

Sani-Bot (Balance), Monstrology Tome Description
Robots designed specifically – and whose only reason to be is – to clean the Zanadu sewers. A revolution is inevitable.

Sani-Bot (Fire), Monstrology Tome Description
Cleaning robots! What will they think of next?

Sani-Bot (Ice), Monstrology Tome Description
They have a particular method of cleaning: running around in expanding circles until they get stuck under a bookcase.

Sani-Bot (Life), Monstrology Tome Description
Ironically, they are themselves hideously insanitary. What with the living things in the sewers and all.

Sani-Bot (Myth), Monstrology Tome Description
Requires an extensive anti-malware package. Apparently it picks up a lot of viruses when cleaning.

Sani-Bot (Storm), Monstrology Tome Description
Needs to rest in the Charging Station between clean cycles… when it can find the thing.

The idea of having a robot vacuum that can clean a home isn’t new. In popular culture, one of the most recognizable and memorable is Rosey, a character in the once-futuristic “The Jetsons” cartoon. The first episode of The Jetsons’ first season in 1962 was even called “Rosey the Robot.”

Rosey was an idea that was far more advanced and capable than the robot vacuums we have today, some 60 years later. For example, that robot also served as a maid and housekeeper.

Over the years however, experiments have been leading to the development of various household cleaning machines, or robots, and the first robot vacuum that looks and functions as we know them now was released in 1996.

30 years later the robot vacuum market is big business with at least twelve major manufactures of the product. Major companies that make robot vacuums include iRobot (Roomba), Ecovacs, Roborock, Xiaomi, and SharkNinja. Other brands involved in the market are LG, Samsung, Dyson, TP-Link, Eufy, and Dreame.

The Borg are an alien group native to the Delta Quadrant that appear as recurring antagonists in the Star Trek fictional universe. They are cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) linked in a hive mind called “The Collective”. The Borg co-opt the technology and knowledge of other alien species to the Collective through the process of “assimilation”: forcibly transforming individual beings into “drones” by injecting nanoprobes into their bodies and surgically augmenting them with cybernetic components. The Borg’s ultimate goal is “achieving perfection”.

Aside from being recurring antagonists in the Next Generation television series, they are depicted as the main threat in the film Star Trek: First Contact. In addition, they played major roles in the Voyager and Picard series.

The Borg have become a symbol in popular culture for any juggernaut against which “resistance is futile” – a common phrase uttered by the Borg.

The Borg are cyborgs, having outward appearances showing both mechanical and biological body parts. Individual Borg are referred to as drones and move in a robotic, purposeful style, ignoring most of their environment, including beings they do not consider an immediate threat. Borg commonly have one eye replaced with a sophisticated ocular implant. Borg usually have one arm replaced with a prosthesis, bearing one of a variety of multipurpose tools in place of a humanoid hand. Since different drones have different roles, the arm may be specialized for myriad purposes such as medical devices, scanners, and weapons. Borg have flat, grayish skin, giving them an almost zombie-like appearance.

Sani-Flush was an American brand of crystal toilet bowl cleaner formerly produced by Reckitt Benckiser. Its main ingredient was sodium bisulfate; it also contained sodium carbonate as well as sodium lauryl sulfate, talc, sodium chloride, fragrance and dye.

Sani-Flush was introduced by the Hygienic Products Company of Chicago, Illinois in 1911 as a toilet bowl cleaner; since 1922 it had also been promoted for flushing “rust, scale and sludge” from automobile radiators. Advertisements from the 1920s onward depicted a housewife in an apron using the product to disinfect the bowl and remove odors; it “cleans closet bowls without scouring” with “no drudgery whatsovever”.

When sodium bisulfate is mixed with water, a highly-corrosive acidic solution is produced, which dissolves accumulated minerals such as iron, magnesium and calcium from the bowl.

The product has been discontinued because of environmental concerns; by 2013 its last original US trademark was cancelled or allowed to expire.

The current list of all the (known) Empyrea references can be found here.

Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references but I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.

Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages

Sani-Bots images are from Wizard101, and are copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment. Montage assembled by Alien Graphics

Rosie the Robot Maid image is copyright Hanna-Barbera.

Roomba image is borrowed from WalMart.com It is copyright iRobot.

Borg images are copyright Paramount/CBS Studios

Sani-Flush ad is borrowed from AbeBooks.com The ad is in the public domain.

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