steam powered giraffe is an american pantomime musical act, formed in san diego california in 2008 by isabella bennett, david bennett, jon sprague, and erin burke. these four compromised the original steam man band, playing rabbit, the spine, the jon, and upgrade respectively. they performed in balboa park for a number of years, doing music and improv comedy.
erin & jon eventually left the band, and sam luke (their backing musician) joined on as hatchworth, the fifth walter robot. after he departed in 2016, bryan barbarin joined as zer0!
the band grew and changed often, with a variety of actors joining; there have been a handful of walter workers, backing musicians, and other human members of the band as well. overall, steam powered giraffe is a really sick theater experience and my favorite thing in the world!
for more in-depth lore, see here!
played by: isabella bunny bennett
status: active
metal frame type: copper, impossium
bio:
rabbit is the eldest walter automaton, built in 1896 by peter walter the first. she got her name due to repeating the word "rabbit" as her father attempted to teach her english, in order to make him laugh. as is clear, she is Commited to the Bit from the second she is built.
rabbit was originally designed to resemble doctor delilah morreao, her father's unrequited love. after delilah died, her father scrapped her plans and left her in her half-finished body after brutally breaking off her jaw. she was referred to as a man from then on, despite being very, very aware she was a woman. despite this hardship, rabbit eventually managed to tell peter walter the sixth that she was, in fact, a Wacky Transgender Robot. he builds her a new body and she's thriving.
rabbit canonically struggles with PTSD. she is very close with her siblings, especially the spine. she enjoys causing problems, pining after pretty girls, and feeding the ducks at the walter family cemetery.
played by: david michael bennett
status: active
metal frame type: silver
bio:
the spine is the second-oldest walter automaton. he was built soon after rabbit by peter walter the first. while he likes to think of himself as a serious, down-to-earth guy, the spine is actually a big massive nerd who loves cowboys and romance and drama.
he's been experimented on by the government for most of his life, and holds a variety of weapons. for a few years (pre ~2011?) he was given a "human" upgrade. he eventually went back to looking more like his true robot self (after his actor figured out a cooler makeup design heheh).
he has a longing to be human, and struggles with feeling self-worth. he likes to play pretend, and is very protective of both his family and his toys when his little brothers try to steal them. he can detatch his head and core from his chassis and slithers around like a snake when he's bored. he spends a lot of time in walter manor's hall of wires. i would do anything for him.
played by: bryan barbarin
status: active
metal frame type: gold & silver
bio:
zero is one of the younger walter automatons. he was built out of the scraps from various other robots in order to fight as a weapon in the weekend war, and as such was not programmed for music. after the weekend war, he was shut in the basement of walter manor and forgotten about until 1992, when BEEBOP found him. BEEBOP played him motown records and zero learned how to sing.
eventually, he left walter manor and became a sitcom star, before investing all his fortune in the "abstract concept of love" and being forced to return home. he currently plays bass for spg!
zero is a happy and excitable nerd. he likes playing with his firetruck (and also spine's firetruck) and his dinosaur (and also spine's dinosaur). he's close with all of his siblings and considers BEEBOP to be his best friend. he's scared of the dark and of being alone, but doesn't have to worry about that anymore, because his family will never leave him stuck in the basement again.
zero is my favorite walterbot besides upgrade. i love him very much.
played by: samuel luke
status: inactive
metal frame type: brass
bio:
hatchworth is the third eldest walter automaton. he was built out of a cast-iron stove, and is thus able to open his hatch to store things. he preferred cooking to war, but was nonetheless conscripted to fight in various battles with his siblings. in 1938, it was found by two walter that hatchy's core was leaking. they shut hatchy into a vault to protect the humans around him.
in 2010, six walter fixed hatchy, and he joined the band until 2016! he left to go gold-fishing and left the position to his younger brother, zero.
hatchy is a cheery automaton who enjoys teasing spine, playing really rad guitar solos, and his Fancy Shoes. i love him so goddamn much.
played by: erin burke
status: inactive
metal frame type: copper (?)
bio:
upgrade is one of the younger walter automatons. she was not built for music, and prefers to spend her time in the act making fun of her siblings and interacting with the audience. she has not received an upgrade since 1996, and likes playing pogs! please play pogs with her.
she served as a nurse in world war i, before running away from walter manor to join an anti-war hippie commune. fives walter dragged her back to the manor in 1969, where she was the only automaton at home before rabbit, spine, and jon got back in 1973. after her siblings were fixed up with pacifist programming, she stuck around!
she was an original member of steam powered giraffe, singing harmonies and playing the tamborine. she is the vocalist for i am not alone. before 2011, she left the band to go have adventures in kazooland. she eventually took over the dimension and currently reigns as a princess. she has made both rabbit and zero princesses of kazooland as well.
upgrade is a rather loud and excitable robot; her actress said much of her inspiration came from dot warner of the animaniacs. she is shown to not really understand how humans work (regularly attempting to feed them breadcrumbs), and has a deep love for the nineties.
upgrade is my favorite walterbot besides zero. i love her very much.
played by: jonathan sprague
status: inactive
metal frame type: gold
bio:
the jon is one of the younger walter automatons. rather than having a blue matter core, he has a void in his chest, which holds a hot dog and a koi fish. he fought in every war the walterbots were involved in, and daydreams often to cope with it. he goes on many adventures and enjoys singing and playing the mandolin.
he also wears red suspenders which are enchanted to give him super ultimate banjo powers. in the ten year anniversary show, he says he's a superspy and will never be seen again.
played by: chelsea penyak
status: active
position: mechanic, dancer
bio:
chelsea is a walter worker who helps maintain the robots during their stage performances, works at their merchandise table, and handles their marketing. she also performs as a dancer during songs such as hold me, turn back the clock, and me & my baby. she, like all walter workers, is consistently exposed to blue matter radiation. thus, she has blue hair and incredibly pale skin. she carries a remote which can shut down the robots.
chelsea is close with the spine, whom she dances with in me & my baby. in the spg radio adventures podcast, she's shown as a very overworked mechanic who still clearly cares about the robots, despite her General Air Of Exhaustion at their shenanigans. in the spg rpg that occured through the first dozen or so episodes of the bennetarium, chelsea follows the spine and rabbit as they attempt to save the galaxy from hypexion moon worms. she consistently manages to knock herself out with her own wrench. rabbit forces her into a lot of games of parcheesi.
for a variety of personal reasons, chelsea is my favorite character in all of spg canon. she means the world to me and i have many a headcanon about her!
played by: camille penyak
status: active
position: mechanic, dancer
bio:
camille is a walter worker who helps maintain the robots during their stage performances, works at their merchandise table, and handles their marketing. she also performs as a dancer during songs such as hold me, turn back the clock, and me & my baby. she, like all walter workers, is consistently exposed to blue matter radiation. thus, she has blue hair and incredibly pale skin. she carries a large wrench, which is used to beat the robots into working again when they break down.
camille is most commonly found teasing the robots on stage. during the leap day performance, she chases zero down when he steals chelsea's remote. in the spg rpg, she spends her time avoiding doing household chores, making fun of spine, and flexing her multiple doctorates.
i love camille very much, and have a lot of headcanon about her.
played by: samuel luke
status: inactive
position: mechanic, drummer
bio:
sam was a backing musician from early in spg's time busking until his actor (also called sam luke) went to go play hatchworth. he is a mechanic who helps maintain the robots; he's also proficient at many instruments, though he most commonly plays the drums for spg. the spine, rabbit, and the jon all enjoy making fun of sam, and he takes it with only the occasional complaint. he's known for his mustache and his very spiffy suit and tie.
he also helps the jon pick up his sandwiches when he drops them, and deals with the spine constantly trying to scare him. sam, while not technically a "walter worker" in the traditional sense, is referred to by the bots as '[their] human' and, by all accounts, appears to be a valued member of the walter robotics gang.
played by: matthew elton smith
status: inactive
position: mechanic, drummer
bio:
matt was a drummer with spg after sam luke began to play hatchworth. he's known for his solo in brass goggles (which he Absolutely Slammed in the ten year anniversary) and for not being the doctor. he's close with hatchy (who says he has very well-defined calf muscles??). he left the band due to travelling commitments.