Space Corps Database
Your complete guide to the characters, ships, gadgets and, erm, diseases in Red Dwarf.
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Mechanicals
Kryten 2X4B 523P
Originally a service mechanoid aboard the Nova V, Kryten inadvertently killed the entire crew and crashed the ship when he decided to give the main and back-up computers a good soapy clean. The three other survivors of the crash - mapping officers Jane Air, Tracey Johns and Anne Gill - perished soon afterwards, but Kryten did not appear to notice and kept feeding and dressing them regardless.
His first arrival aboard Red Dwarf was short-lived - his willingness to serve was so abused by Rimmer that Kryten rebelled, took Lister's space bike and fled into the night. Soon afterwards he was found to have crashed into an asteroid. Lister toiled to fix the droid, but was unable to fully restore his original personality. (Or his accent, which altered from upper-class English to Canadian.
Despite being voted 'the big-eared, ugly one' by his other spare heads (all of which would later be destroyed by a nega-drive blow-back), Kryten attracted the attentions of Camille, a pleasure GELF whose love Kryten would sadly lose to her husband, Hector.
Maintaining a staunch belief in Silicon Heaven, Kryten continues to take lessons from Dave Lister in lying and rudimentary insults. He has also mastered pomposity if he does say so himself - although when ambivalent he does have the look of a dog chewing a caramel toffee. He has also - and quite by accident - begun to exhibit a possessive jealousy towards Kristine Kochanski over Lister.
All these character flaws - of which Kryten had become rightly proud - were nearly lost when his corrupted files were repaired by Red Dwarf scientists and the Data Doctor program. However his ability to display ambivalence came through, re-corrupting his circuitry and returning him to the messed-up mech he was.
Harbouring a desire to be human, Kryten was lucky enough to get his wish when his part-organic brain allowed his DNA to be transformed. Discoveries of non-functional nipples, mediocre visual functions and disturbing underpant activity, however, forced the mechanoid to rethink his position and change back.
Kryten's more unfortunate features - his obsessive mothering and a head shaped like a novelty condom - came from his designer, Professor Mamet, in a mockery of John Warburton, the fiancée who jilted her. He also had a furious temper, prompting Mamet to give Kryten and his kind nega-drives in which to store their negative emotions.
Kryten served time in the brig on floor 13. He was in the women's wing, sharing a cell with Kochanski - the decision having been taken that his lack of male genitalia automatically categorise him as female.
In recent years Kryten has taken to vacationing in the ship's broom cupboards as an attempt to lower his stress levels.
Operational notes: Kryten has attempted to create himself a penis, nick-named Archie. It was last seen scurrying towards Hollister's office. I think Kryten's sentence is about to get longer...
