In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the paranoid android is Marvin. Created by Douglas Adams, Marvin is the robot aboard the starship Heart of Gold and one of the series' most recognizable characters.
Marvin was built by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as a prototype for its Genuine People Personalities technology. His enormous intelligence is paired with chronic depression, boredom, and a deeply pessimistic outlook. The joke is that a machine with a “brain the size of a planet” is usually asked to perform trivial tasks, such as opening doors.
The description “paranoid android” is slightly misleading. Marvin is not portrayed as clinically paranoid; he is consistently morose, frustrated, and convinced that life is pointless. Other adaptations feature different performers, including Stephen Moore in the radio and television versions and Alan Rickman in the 2005 film.
Marvin also inspired Radiohead's 1997 song “Paranoid Android,” whose title references the character. He is sometimes confused with robots from other science-fiction franchises, especially Star Wars' C-3PO and Star Trek's Data, but Marvin is uniquely Adams's creation.