Cubert Farnsworth is a
fictional character,
Professor Hubert Farnsworth's clone from the animated television series
Futurama. He was created from a growth on
the Professor's back in 2989. Cubert differs from the Professor in appearance due to his nose being squashed up against the wall of his cloning tube from being left there too long. His hair is reminiscent of his great-great-great-etc. grand-uncle/grandfather
Fry. According to the DVD commentaries he was the first character to be designed, and was originally to first appear in the episode "
A Big Piece of Garbage" in the first season, but was cut for time. Originally, he was to be a character who pointed out obvious plotholes (for example, how Leela, who has little to no depth perception, could pilot the Planet Express ship) but it was then decided that the viewers would ask questions like that themselves.
It was originally intended that Cubert was to be a genius character so bothersome that the viewing audience would want to punch him in the face (
David X. Cohen likens this to many fans' opinions of the character
Wesley Crusher in
Star Trek: The Next Generation). Unlike other shows, however, the crew would actually want to—and would—punch him in the face as well; this idea was lost as Cubert took a less vital role in the series and could not be properly established as an unlikable character.
Unveiling
Cubert was unveiled to the crew in 3001
to become the Professor's successor. His first words, immediately after the unveiling (to the entire crew) were, "What? You've never seen a genius' wiener before?". This is because he is naked in his pod and he thinks that the crew is shocked by this, although they are merely shocked by the unveiling. At first, he keeps insisting that the Professor was crazy, that the Professor's ideas are impossible, his inventions are useless, and his crew is incompetent. However, because of a dream (after a severe blow to the head), he concludes that nothing is impossible and then goes on to save the crew from the Near Death Star robots. At the end of the episode he begins to call the professor Dad.
Character
Cubert is pompous, arrogant, and very rude to the other members of Planet Express. Unsurprisingly, he is unpopular with the crew. He will frequently shout "That's preposterous!" upon hearing a concept which he believes to be impossible. However, he admits that he is subject to the ignorance of a child's mind; this is demonstrated in his frequent act of imitating whatever is on his favorite show,
All My Circuits ("
Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV"), and his belief that the addition of flame decals to the
Planet Express Ship would increase its speed. Cubert may be missing a toe.
It is mentioned by Bender that he is a bed-wetter,
possibly connected to Hubert's condition referred to as "Wandering Bladder".
Because he is Professor Farnsworth's clone, he is technically his identical-twin brother, but being much younger than him, Farnsworth treats him as a son, and even refers to him as such, while Fry (his Great x30 Uncle) treats him as a nephew.
Friends
Cubert befriended Hermes' son
Dwight as they both attend the same school. However, Cubert is unpopular with the other children; when Cubert and Dwight's fathers throw a birthday party for the two, no guests accept the invitation.
Only by committing a burglary, boosting their score on the
Cool-O-Meter to "over forty Mega-
Fonzies", are Cubert and Dwight able to attract guests to their subsequent party.
Awesome Express
In "
The Route of All Evil", Cubert and Dwight teamed up to take over Planet Express for their own delivery company- Awesome Express. Dwight discovers that the Professor declared himself
legally dead as a tax dodge (the professor claims he just took a nap in a ditch and everyone thought he was dead), so Cubert inherits his building and his space ship, forcing the Professor and Hermes out of the job. The rest of the crew are taken on as paper-boys. When the duo realized that they had promised to deliver more than they could, their parents help them out. After apologizing to
Horrible Gelatinous Blob for breaking his window, Cubert and Dwight realize that they should give up and let their parents do all the managing, after they (Hermes and the Professor) were "on the ass end of an ass kicking". In this episode, it is revealed that he is 12.
In battle
In
Bender's Big Score, Cubert was drafted to fight in the Earth force that reclaimed the planet from a gang of scammer aliens that had duped Earth's people out of their homes. Commander
Zapp Brannigan, symbolizing a battle to preserve the Earth for several generations, chartered a "Children's Ship" that included Cubert (possibly as captain, as he is seen on screen with the captains of 23 other ships before the battle). His ship was reported as destroyed by the scammers "Nailed the children's Ship" though he is shown in subsequent films without any visible injuries.
Cultural references
