WAR
TOYWAR
TOY
Real Name: Fighting Machine-1
Identity/Class: Alternate
reality (Earth-75395) robot;
presumably active circa the 1960s-1970s in that
reality (see comments)
Occupation: Soldier
Group Membership: Formerly
the United States Army, United Nations armed forces
Affiliations: General
Hamilton Arkay, Betsy Curtis, Dr. Freeman, other soldiers alongside whom
he fought; the human race in general
Enemies: Unidentified
alien invaders;
US Army authorities who discharged him (not truly
enemies, but they took away his purpose in life);
most military officials and civilians regarded his
robotic nature with disdain or fear.
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: FM-1, "little tin soldier" (from military
authorities)
Base of Operations: Unrevealed
First Appearance: Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction#2 (March, 1975)
Powers/Abilities:
War Toy was superhumanly strong, fast and durable, with extremely swift
reflexes.
He was programmed and highly skilled in
armed and unarmed combat, as well as military strategy. He was also
programmed to protect him soldiers.
He carried an automatic rifle with which he had great accuracy and could hit multiple targets in short order.
He could operate a peak efficiency for
an undisclosed period of time.
Eventually, over a period of presumably
years, his parts would break down and cause progressive and eventually
terminal dysfunction.
History:
(Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction#2 (fb)) - With
the
dream of sparing commanders the pain of losing men in battle and knowing
their orders had led to those deaths, General Hamilton Arkay sought to
replace fragile human warriors with robots, who could be rebuilt, rather
than mourned, if they fell in battle. To this end, he designed Fighting
Machine-1 (aka FM-1) to be a thinking and fighting man, able to make
on-the-spot assessments and act accordingly, unlike previous attempts that
had turned out to be failures.
(Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction#2 (fb)) - Army robotocists completed Arkay's designers but noted their opposition, feeling that there should be control device. Explaining his reasons, General Arkay noted their objections, and activated FM-1.
(Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction#2
(fb)) - Arkay raised FM-1, training him in military history, and when
FM-1's knowledge was that of an eighteen-year-old boy, FM-1 was drafted.
General
Arkay personally handled FM-1's training, and the general was as proud as
any father on the day of FM-1's graduation.
General Arkay presented FM-1 for testing, noting this to be the most
difficult training course ever devised, with no man having ever completed
it in less than an hour and never with a perfect score. Completing the
course in 15 minutes and with a perfect score, FM-1 asked if his
performance was acceptable. However, those in charge noted that it had
costs millions to produce Arkay's "little tin soldier" and that they could
not afford soldiers who cost that much. Arkay tried to explain that FM-1
was a prototype and that with mass production they would be able to bring
the cost down, but he was shut down and told that he had wasted enough of
the Army's valuable resources on "this
plaything...this war toy."
Both FM-1 and General Arkay were devastated these
insults.
(Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction#2
(fb) - BTS) - General Arkay allowed himself to be transferred to some
minor desk job at some backwater post, demanding only that FM-1 be
assigned to him as his personal aide de camp. Happy to be rid of two
"embarrassments" at once, the Army officials agreed to Arkay's demands.
(Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction#2 (fb)) - Refusing to give up on his dream and on FM-1, General Arkay counseled FM-1 that those who had denied him would not always be in charge, as the Army changed with the times. FM-1 asked General Arkay why he supported him relentlessly to the detriment of his own career. Impressed with FM-1's perceptiveness, Arkay told him that maybe it was because he had brought him into the world and perhaps because he believed he deserved a chance. Regardless, a bond formed between Arkay and FM-1.
Years passed, during which both General Arkay and FM-1
endured ridicule and scorn.
(Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction#2
(fb) - BTS) - Earth was invaded by unidentified tentacled aliens who
attacked and swiftly conquered the entire continent of Australia.
However, as their fuel apparently burned more quickly than expected in
Earth's atmosphere, the aliens were out of fuel for their saucers and
had to make more. 
(Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction#2 (fb)) - As General Arkay had been assigned to Australia during World War II, he was considered to be the most qualified to launch an offensive from an established Australian beachhead. Arkay agreed to head the mission as long as FM-1 accompanied him, and he further advised his superiors that if they had not rejected his project, they would have an army of robots to fight the aliens. Needing Arkay for the mission, they agreed to allow him to take his "War Toy" with him.
In Australia, FM-1 and Arkay determined
that the aliens sometimes spoke English, presumably for practice, and
they learned that the aliens needed to make more fuel before they could
attack other parts of the world. The communication signal was broken up
for some reason, and Arkay resolved that they would have to carry the
information back themselves after nightfall, but before they could, the
aliens located and attacked them. Arkay and FM-1 fought back, but Arkay
was shut in the back. Dying, Arkay ordered FM-1 to get the information
to their troops, and the bullet-resistant FM-1 destroyed the attacking
aliens and then made his way to the US troops, taking out a number of
alien camps/groups en route.
After FM-1 delivered the information to
US troops, the commanding officer planned the mission to take out the
alien ships and ordered FM-1 to "head for the motor pool along with the
rest of the jeeps." Refusing to obey, FM-1 insisted that he was going to
fulfill his duties as a soldier in the US Army, and objections fell by
the wayside in light of the urgency of the mission. As jets bombed and
took out the alien ships, FM-1 fought alongside ground troops with skill
and courage, saving many lives in the process.
The war with the aliens lasted 87 days, and the US Army joined up with UN forces outside Sydney. FM-1 led a squad to destroy the invaders' fuel reserves, and then was finally part of the group of soldiers who raised the UN flag in the rubble that was once downtown Sydney.
However, once victory was achieved, the
US Army granted FM-1 an immediate honorable discharge. Although FM-1
replied that he had only been programmed for military service and asked
where he could go to re-enlist, the Army told him that they had
concluded that having even one robotic soldier would set a bad
precedent.
While his training qualified him for
many good positions, FM-1's appearance was unnerving to people, and he
did not hold any jobs for long. Without service, his parts started
wearing down, and he began to malfunction. The jobs he could hold, such
as working as a custodian at a bar, did not pay enough to replace his
damaged parts.
Eventually FM-1 broke down, and he was found in a gutter by the drivers an ambulance from the Veterans Administration hospital, and a compassionate paramedic decided that FM-1 was going to receive the full care due a veteran, regardless of whether he was a robot.
(Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction#2) - As Dr. Freeman provided care for FM-1, whose internal "organs" were manufacturing. While some involved disapproved of operating on this "hunk of junk" like it was a man, Freeman insisted he would save FM-1, dismissing reporter Betsy Curtis as they took him into the operating room.
(Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction#2
(fb) - BTS) - Dr. Freeman and his team stabilized FM-1, although it
would take a fortune to really repair him, and he could barely move.
Freeman told FM-1 that Curtis wanted to interview him.
(Unknown Worlds of Science
Fiction#2) - When Curtis came into his room, FM-1 told her that he did
not wish to be interviewed and that he wished he could move enough to
switch himself off. Curtis told him that once she aired the story of
this once proud veteran, he would get the money needed for his repairs.
However, FM-1 countered that he did not want to be a cause and that he
had only wanted to be a soldier, after which he punched his fist into
his own chest, deactivating himself. 
(Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction#2
(fb) - BTS) - The next day, the aliens invaded Earth again...
Comments: Created by Tony Isabella and George Perez.
The comment about
millions seeing the destruction of Sydney on the same sets that had
showed them Armstrong's first small steps on the surface of the moon
would seem to indicate to me that this took place around the time of
publication in
Thanks to fellow
Appendix-writer and long-time colleague Ronald Byrd for the inspiration
to do this profile.
This profile was
completed 11/16/2025, but
its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th
anniversary 's celebratory event.
The design for Alkhema's War Toys was based on these robots as mentioned in their profile.
--Markus Raymond
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
War Toy aka Fighting Machine-1 and FM-1 should be
distinguished from:
First posted: 09/27/2026
Last updated: 11/16/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!