Cliff Steele was risk taker who was eager to face any challenge that presented itself. After climbing Mt. Everest one day Cliff says to himself "I should try my hand at NASCAR". Which is obviously the next logical step after climbing Mt. Everest. Cut to Cliff racing around a track at 140mph. He is having the time of his life until a villainous oil slick jumps out in front of his car sending it crashing. No radioactive spider or gamma radiation here, just your regular old oil slick. The crash utterly destroys Cliff Steele's body but amazingly his brain is recovered unscathed and placed in a robot body. After a while Cliff Steele "crawling from the wreckage" of his once dare devilish lifestyle emerges on the superhero scene calling himself Robotman.

Now my question, is Robotman still Cliff Steele after the accident? This is a common theme in many of the issues of Doom Patrol, the superhero team which Robotman leads. This question is reminiscent of Theseus' Paradoxor as most people know it "the problem of my great grandfather's axe". Imagine your great grand father had this axe that was passed down through the generations. Your grandfather wears out the blade and has to replace it and your father breaks the handle which he replaces. When they give you the axe for your 18th birthday is it even still your great grandfathers axe? Most people will agree no, but find it hard to pinpoint exactly when it stopped being your great grandfathers axe. If you go with the first repair you could just as easily take it further up the line until you get to the first nick in the blade. Maybe I'm getting off-topic.

So is Cliff Steele still Cliff Steele, and if not at what point did he stop being himself?

In my book a person is not defined by appearance, it's what's inside that counts, and for that Cliff Steele IS still Cliff Steele.  
 
 
*Goes back to eating cereal* 

Lol.

Is it odd to say I actually find that robot in the first picture the topic creator posted to be cute?

@Samimista: Not entirely lol. He looks like he smiling or has a beak.

@DoomDoomDoom: I shall call him...RoboBeak!

@Samimista: And so the first robotic avian superhero was born.

As long as Cliff retains his human will, he'll always be himself. That's what makes him still a human despite his robot body.

@ApatheticAvenger said:

As long as Cliff retains his human will, he'll always be himself. That's what makes him still a human despite his robot body.

What he/she said.

@DarkShadows: he XD

@ApatheticAvenger: Just playing devil's advocate to stir up some covo, would you consider someone who has been in a car wreck and is now a vegetable the same person before and after the wreck? As a vegetable I would imagine you would lose your will.

@DoomDoomDoom: Oh most certainly. Without sentience of any kind can someone even be considered a person anymore? This is the case with someone in a vegetative state. They've lost their humanity. Without their ability to reason or empathize, or even think on a basic level, they really can't be called a person anymore. It's sad, but true.

Cliff is obviously a different story in that while his body was destroyed, his mind remained intact and could be placed in another (albeit robotic) body. He may not be the same person he was before physically, but mentally he remains intact. Well, aside from the horrible shock of being in a robot body causes him that is. :P

@ApatheticAvenger: I agree that the "self" resides in the mind. I think Cliff Steele is still Cliff Steele(say that 5 times fast).

@DoomDoomDoom: lmao