Character
Fender
Fender in Futurama (1999), played by John DiMaggio.
Fender is a bending unit built for construction work, which he treats as an insult to be avoided at all costs. He drinks, smokes, gambles, and generally lives for himself, latching onto Fry as his best friend and partner in low-grade crime almost as soon as they meet. Cynical, lazy, and shameless, he wants pleasure now and consequences never.
DiMaggio's growl gives Bender an unearned swagger that makes his selfishness funny instead of grating — he's a robot with all of humanity's vices and none of the guilt. The writing lets him be genuinely awful to everyone he loves without ever losing the audience, because underneath the bravado he clearly needs Fry and Leela more than he'd admit.
The animators didn't seem to understand how guitar amplifiers actually work, thus botching part of the gag, as Fender's setup is backwards from the industry standard for 2-piece rigs, which have the speaker cabinet on the bottom and the amplifier "head" (wink) on top.
Played by
Appears in
Futurama1999