Changes: Bob Morton

Revision as of 15:18, 5 November 2017

"Oh, he's got this killer rep, but it's a smokescreen, the guy's lost his teeth, he's a pussy."
―- Bob Morton on Dick Jones' reputation.

Character Overview

Robert "Bob" Morton was a young, ambitious OCP executive in the first film. He uses a boardroom incident as an opportunity to convince the CEO to approve his RoboCop program, which resulted in him angering the Senior President, ultimately leading to his untimely death.

First Appearance

"Don't mess with Jones, man. He'll make sushi out of you."
―Donald Johnson^[src]

Morton is first seen with Johnson and Mr. Kinney, discussing the notorious reputation of OCP Senior President Dick Jones while riding a glass elevator to the upper floors of the OCP headquarters, summoned there by Dick Jones for the unveiling of Jones' project: the Enforcement Droid, series 209, or ED-209.

Jones' presentation reveals a mutual disrespect between the two characters. This is not due to some personality difference, but rather because of their similarities: both are intelligent and ambitious, both head up advanced projects within OCP, both are competing for the Old Man's approval and, most vitally, both are competing against each other in a volatile power struggle.

The second thing we learn is that ED-209 doesn't work quite according to specifications, riddling Mr. Kinney with large caliber shells even after the Junior Executive complied with its orders. As Dick Jones is struggling at trying to explain his failure to the Old Man, Bob Morton steps up and steals the contract with the RoboCop project. Jones attempts to silence Morton, though is quickly stopped by the Old Man with interest in the project.

RoboCop Development

It is revealed in a passing conversation that it was Security Concepts, Bob Morton's division, who has "restructured the police force to place prime candidates according to risk factor." It is implied that it is at least partially Bob Morton's fault that Officers Murphy, Frederickson, Alcott, Connors, Duffy and many others have been injured and killed, due to lack of manpower, resources, training and proper management. They have done this so death rates among officers will be high, and provide "raw materials" for the RoboCop Program.

After Murphy's death, Bob personally oversees RoboCop's development, expressing annoyance that the surgical team were able to save his arm, reminding them that they agreed on total body prosthesis, and that human qualities are a secondary concern. Johnson fills him in with the legal particulars of their position before Bob orders them to proceed with the surgery.

Bob also tests out RoboCop's titanium laminated cyberarm, the 400 pressure of which almost breaks every bone in his hand.

RoboCop Unveiling

After the many weeks of development, Bob Morton has RoboCop covered in a clear sheet, and then dramatically unveils him to the development team as a celebration. He's quickly loaded into a truck and his various equipment is stowed in a convoy of vans, bound for the Metro West Precinct.

Bob Morton gets immediately confronted by Sergeant Reed, to whom he informs the proceedings are OCP business and to "please, get lost."

Bob personally oversees, with glee, the testing of RoboCop's marksmanship, tracking and record/playback functions, then, when testing in complete, orders him to recite his Prime Directives. Bob is pleased, and RoboCop is pronounced ready for the field.

Confrontation with Jones

"Here at Security Concepts, we're predicting the end of crime in Old Detroit within 40 days. There's a new guy in town. His name's RoboCop."

- Bob Morton on Mediabreak.

It was the success of RoboCop which made Morton finding himself in the seat of the Vice President of OCP. After RoboCop's initial success, Bob gives a quick interview to Mediabreak about the foundations of Delta City, where he predicts that crime will be a "thing of the past" in a few months. It becomes clear in a conversation with a colleague, Mr. Walker, that he has access to the exclusive and illustrious "Executive Lounge" in the OCP tower. However, Bob did not notice that Jones was in the lounge, and continues to talk behind his back with Mr. Walker.

Realizing Jones heard every word, Walker tries hard to shut off the flow of urine, mumbling something about a meeting, and quickly walks off. Bob holds his ground, moving to the wash basin, as Jones sidles up behind him.

Jones firstly appears calm and unruffled, congratulating Bob for his work in Security Concepts, and regaling him with stories of his own days as a young executive. The situation gets even worse when Dick grabs Bob by the hair, telling him he's made a big mistake in insulting him personally, and insulting the company with his "bastard creation." When Bob is visibly shaken, Dick backs off, leaving him in the lounge.

Bob Morton and Dick Jones — "You just fucked with the wrong guy!"

As if Dick Jones's angry threats were not enough to ruffle his feathers, Bob Morton then receives a call from the OCP science team at Metro West Precinct. RoboCop has experienced a severe emotional response and, without warning, walked out of the building. After learning that this simply means he had a dream, Bob berates Lewis for daring to ask RoboCop's name and proceeds to threaten Reed, before backing down.

Morton's Murder

"I'm cashing you out, Bob."

- Dick Jones's final words to Bob Morton.

A few days later, in order to calm down from his particularly challenging and nerve-wracking first days as Vice President, Bob Morton invites Chandra and Tawny to his home. He also orders champagne and lots of cocaine. The drugs go well into the mix, with Bob snorting it off Tawny's chest and getting all three worked up into a horny fluster.

The doorbell rings, thinking it may be the champagne ordered earlier. Not wishing the girls to cool off, he rushes to the door, barely able to greet the man standing there before a familiar pistol is thrust into his face. He backpedals into the room at Clarence's insistence, who rudely orders the girls to leave, before pushing Bob away into the middle of the room.

Bob being shot — No no, Clarence. Champagne, not champain.

Bob manages to regain a little of his composure, demanding to know what is going on. Clarence answers him by slotting a silencer onto the barrel of his pistol, and without hesitation, shoots Morton several times in the legs, dropping him to the floor. As he struggles on the floor, Bob begs Clarence to spare his life, looking helplessly on as Clarence slots a CD into Bob's entertainment suite. As Clarence helps himself to some coke, Bob sees, to his absolute horror, that the message playing to him is from Dick Jones, who he quickly determines has paid Clarence to kill him.

Bob tries to barter his life by offering Clarence double whatever Dick is paying, but this does not work - as Clarence does not care what worth Bob is, as he is an obstacle to his criminal activities - and Clarence produces a futuristic looking grenade with a digital timer. Bob pleads and begs, but it does no good, and Clarence gently pulls the pin with his teeth, gently placing it on the glass coffee table, then mooching on out of the condo.

Bob is left, struggling to reach the grenade, with Dick Jones' mocking message playing out on his media suite. In a tense and terrible scene, Bob's fingers brush the shell of the grenade, fumbling it, and knocking it a farther centimeter from his fingertips. The grenade detonates mere feet away from him, blasting the frontage of the condo to pieces.

Behind the Scenes

Bob's character was supposed to be more unpleasant and evil, but after Miguel Ferrer was cast, Paul Verhoeven and Edward Neumeier realized he was going to be well liked by the audience, and adjusted his role accordingly. However, he's a patronizing, condescending, arrogant, power hungry, insulting, uncaring, womanizing and inhuman CorpDog who deliberately puts honest police officers in harm's way just so he can harvest their brains and organs for his personal project, so it's not clear exactly how he could have been much more evil and unpleasant.

@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 :: - '''Dick Jones''''s final words to '''Bob Morton'''.
 [[File:Morton.jpg|thumb|299px|Morton entertaining two intelligent women.]]
-A few days later, in order to calm down from his particularly challenging and nerve-wracking first days as Vice President, Bob Morton invites Chandra and Tawny to his hom. He also orders champagne and lots of cocaine. The drugs go well into the mix, with Bob snorting it off Tawny's chest and getting all three worked up into a horny fluster.
+A few days later, in order to calm down from his particularly challenging and nerve-wracking first days as Vice President, Bob Morton invites Chandra and Tawny to his home. He also orders champagne and lots of cocaine. The drugs go well into the mix, with Bob snorting it off Tawny's chest and getting all three worked up into a horny fluster.
 The doorbell rings, thinking it may be the champagne ordered earlier. Not wishing the girls to cool off, he rushes to the door, barely able to greet the man standing there before a [[Desert Eagle#Clarence's Desert Eagle|familiar pistol]] is thrust into his face. He backpedals into the room at [[Clarence Boddicker|Clarence's]] insistence, who rudely orders the girls to leave, before pushing Bob away into the middle of the room.