The subtle weaving and unravelling of irony in literature
and life are matters of infinite gradations, and no amount
of terminology will encompass them all or receive
universal acceptance.

—Burchfield, The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage

The use of words expressing something other than their
literal intention. Now that IS irony!

—Bender

The Master and Moron

The Robot Devil knows irony; his plots and schemes are saturated with it. Bender, on the other hand, regularly responds “Whatever!” when he encounters subtlety or nuance of any kind. Bender ain’t no logophile. It is, therefore, mildly ironic that in Episode 72 (“The Devil’s Hands Are Idle Playthings”) Bender becomes a strict literalist about the usage and definition of irony. Whenever, over the course of the episode, Bender hears Robot Devil remark that a situation is ironic when that situation is not literally ironic, Bender calls him on it. Occasionally, ironically.

Irony and Humor

Irony is often funny. And just as humor takes many forms (jokes, comedy, caricature) so does irony. Yet at their roots, both irony and humor stem from opposition and juxtaposition. One theory of humor—the incongruity theory—states that humor is often caused when we consider two opposing (but related) ideas side by side. In a similar manner, one type of irony—a structural irony—occurs when two closely related objects have incongruent qualities:

Leela: (Grasping Fry’s devil hands) Owww! They’re so cold!
Robot Devil: (From Hell) And yet Hell is so hot! (He laughs maniacally) Can I have my hands back now?
Fry: No!
Robot Devil: (From Hell) You’re not nice!

We expect the hands of the Devil to be warm, at the very least. But a Devil with gelid hands? We can’t help but laugh at the juxtaposition of incongruent qualities (a whiny devil, for instance).

Master Fool

Robot Devil masterfully sets the stage for the ironic fugue to follow when he promises to give Fry robot hands that will allow him to become a master musician. The catch?

Robot Devil: No catch! I’ll merely pick a robot at random from somewhere in the Universe (probably one you’ve never even met) and then I’ll remove his hands and switch them for yours! It’s just the sort of guy I am. What do you say?
Fry: Umm, I don’t know. It doesn’t seem entirely moral to—
Bender: Fry, if you don’t take this offer right now I will lose all respect for you and punch you.

(Aside, Robot Devil laughs and taps his hands around “Bender” on the Wheel of Robots)

Fry: Well, alright. Are you sure I won’t know him?
Robot Devil: Most definitely probably not. Just sign this contract. . .

(A pillar rises with pen and contract)

Bender: Wow.

(Fry signs the contract)

Robot Devil: And here we go!
Fry: I got a hundred bucks on Rectoid Zambot!

(The Wheel spins and is about to land on “Bender” but it skips one peg forward and lands on “Robot Devil” instead. Robot Devil screams.)

Fry: “Robot Devil?” I get your hands? Zam!
Robot Devil: Oh! What an appallingly ironic outcome!
Bender: It’s not ironic! It’s just coincidental! Now fork over those ladyfingers, cookie!

(Robot Devil pulls an axe from his chest)

Robot Devil: You know, I only put my name on there as a show of good faith for the other robots.
Fry: Stop being such a baby and chop my hands off!

Dramatic Irony, Fateful Irony

As Bender forced Fry to take the deal that was about to cost him his own hands, the audience knew the future. We knew that Bender’s enthusiasm was about to have tragic consequences; that awareness is dramatic irony.

And as the Robot Devil’s deal backfired upon himself, he experienced a fateful irony, one that stems from a dashed hope or expectation. Robot Devil was rejoicing in his knowledge that Bender was about to lose his hands; but ended up losing his own. As Robot Devil points out, an appallingly ironic outcome.

Irony of Literal Intention

Yet Bender, ever the strict literalist, insists that it was just a coincidence. Why the contradiction? The Wikipedia article on irony opens:

Irony is a form of expression in which an implicit meaning is concealed or contradicted by the explicit meaning of the expression. Irony involves the perception that things are not what they are said to be or what they seem.

And with that exact device, Robot Devil concocts a scheme to recover his hands: He tricks Leela into agreeing to give him her hand. In marriage.

The Denouement

With the Devil’s hands, Fry becomes a master musician. His magnum opus is an opera titled “Leela: Orphan Of The Stars.” On the day of the premier performance because of the Robot Devil’s machinations, Leela loses her hearing. During the intermission of the “greatest opera” ever, Robot Devil makes a deal with Leela to give her robot ears so she can hear the rest of the opera. It continues until interrupted by Robot Devil. The characters then wrap up the story line operatically:

Fry: What do you want?
Robot Devil: I want my hands back!
Fry: Never! A deal’s a deal, even when a dirty dealer.
Robot Devil: Very well. Then I’ll take what I want from Leela!

(Robot Devil pulls Leela onstage)

Robot Devil: Leela has promised me her hand!
Leela: Fry, you do not understand! (She steps aside)

I should have revealed I’ve been deafened by Bender! (The shame! The shame!)
But I feared you’d stop writing [sic] this musical splendor;
Deception’s the curse of my whimsical gender!

He gave me mechanical ears;
Effective, though just a bit garish!
In return, without shedding a tear,
I agreed that I’d give him my hand—

Robot Devil: In marriage.

(Fry and Leela gasp)

Robot Devil: You’ll give me your hand in marriage!

Desperate to deal, Leela didn’t read the fine print and gave away her hand in marriage—a literal irony.

Ironic Mastery

Robot Devil proves himself to be a master schemer, a master fool, and a master ironist. The final episode of Futurama is a masterful treatment of irony and recalls another devil-starring masterpiece: Bulgakov’s Master and Margerita—itself an excellent work of comedic literature.

It Ain’t Tragedy

The ultimate irony? A brilliant comedy was cancelled.