Robot Character-- Science or Tech Origin?

I think a lot of it comes down to, as Silver Gale said, which enhancements sound right for the character. My namesake character received her powers from a psionic mutant heroine and, since she hasn't learned to control them and she's a huge fan of the magical-girl genre (which itself can twist magic and science into pretzel knots), her unconscious expectations make them look like magic powers.

Her origin could be mutant (they're mutant powers, even if she's not a mutant herself), science (she was an ordinary girl until they were given to her) or magic (that's what it actually looks like she's doing most of the time). Science would be the simplest, most literal answer, but power boosts by xenon exposure in a lab just make no narrative sense for her. Mutation and Magic share DO's and the concept behind mutation SO's sort of works, but CoH has a pretty strict lore concept when it comes to being a mutant (part of which is that you were born with your abilities) and she doesn't really fit that bill.

In the end I went with magic because she looks magic, acts magic, and talking to genies, hanging out at Pandora's Box and dramatically flashing talismans and shouting mythological names felt much more in line with her character than anything else. The origin affects the flavor of the character's progress through the game, which stores and enhancements they use, how NPC's describe them and so on, so it's really just a question of which one feels right for that character's adventures.

As for a robot with a Science origin: "You received your powers either through purposeful scientific inquiry or some accident gone awry. You have since learned to harness your new-found abilities, becoming a powerful force in the world." A robot that gained sentience through some unique circumstances and is now trying to use its new-found freedom to change the world could definitely fit that description.

I look at is as Tech is engineered, Science is the result of an experiment (successful or disastrous). Mutant is something they are born with but it's not a ability for their species. Natural is for someone trained or has an ability that is common for their species. Magic covers everything use.

I have a character that is a half-demon. Father is human, mother is a Kitsune, a Japanese fox spirit. So are her abilities mutant, natural or magic? She has the abilities of Illusion, like all Kitsune (natural). Her ability is not something that humans have (mutant). Kitsune are beings of legend, messengers of a goddess with abilities that seem magical to ordinary humans (magic).

Since this character didn't know about her mother's true form until she turned of age, she thinks of herself as a human first so mutant. But it could be any of those three.

I always make my robots, cyborgs, and guys in power suits Tech. Science is for guys like the Hulk or Spider-Man.

Well you could always just say the robot performs science. So maybe it started with electrical processes, but the robot is smart enough to build its own chemical/biological enhancements. Or the "robot" could be a human infected with nanobots, or the reverse: an electrical robot "infected" by a mortal mind. As soon as you come up with a hard category, its difficult not to find an example that can break it, hence the need for a lot of subjectivity.

One of the very first robots I made in game, Kintetic Flux, was already level 18 before someone pointed out his origin was Natural.
I'd just been messing around in the creator and forgot to change it! /Doh.

I quickly came up with a background, since I was loving the character and name.
I decided he was a sentient robot from a dimension were machines were the dominant lifeforms. Natural origin robot!

I rerolled Gardossus as Tech-- yes his sentience is a unique accident, but the flavor of the enhancements, etc. would have always bothered me.

Plus, in a month or two, when (if) he gets the rumored Archetype Power Pool, I bet the Tech one will make more sense for him.

I usually see robots as Tech, though in some cases I could possibly see a Science origin making just as much sense depending on what the robot can do. A robot who has fairly straightforward powers such as inbuilt guns or flamethrowers, or who has the strength and speed to match human heroes simply because he is a robot of sound construction, would unquestionably be tech. However, when you get to wilder abilities more commonly associated with science than with what's thought of as tech - say your robot is in essence a walking particle accelerator, for instance, and all its abilities are completely dependent on that; truly a scientific device with extraordinary qualities even for a robot - then I could see a Science origin.

It's a similar way of thinking to how I would differentiate between a Natural- and Tech-origin character in ambiguous cases: It's all in where the ability really comes from. I have a scrapper who uses a matched energy shield and energy blade, and wears sleek, hi-tech armor, but I call her Natural origin because it's her skill with them that matters - someone else might have the same basic idea of energy weapons and space armor but with the difference that their ability comes directly from having those things, and that character would be tech-origin. To me, a Tech-origin robot is the same as a Natural-origin human, and weird abilities that go above and beyond the robot's "natural" (tech) abilities could easily fall under the category of Science.

I can think of stories for anything but Mutant, and I'm sure if i can make Natural work, I could find a way to squeeze in Mutant with some time to think about it.

These are comic book origin stories. They're five generic backstories, each born of a different modern fascination, that explain how the hero got powers, and are so frequently used that really, pretty much every modern super hero falls into one of them.

Science: Hero gets powers from being exposed to some exotic substance or energy. "Ever since I got back from the exploration mission, I can't stop exploding. OH GOD GET BACK."
Technology: Hero gets powers from inventing or coming in possession of some machine or devices. "This may look like an ordinary salad fork, but in actuality...."
Natural: Hero gets powers from a life of training and ascetic discipline. "..."
Mutant: Hero gets powers from being born different from others of its kind. "So like omigod the principal totally almost suspended me for hanging by my ears from the goal post at the pep rally. She is such a racist."
Magic: Hero gets powers from a relationship with supernatural entities or forces. "My father was a god. My mother was a Holstein. DON'T. ASK."

I'm leaning toward Technology (as you are "in possession of" your own awesome mechanical self), but depending on your backstory and powersets, it could possibly be any of the five.

Mutant Robot: "Hey Doc... you said all these units are supposed to have exactly the same AI, down to every last bit, right? You better take a look at this." "A fractal quantum evolutionary transform?! It isn't supposed to be possible! Quick, give it a really big gun!"

Actually there is one robot (or android as it has a high artifical inteligence) I may consider as a science origin. In one of Asimov's stories about three robot law "I, Human" protoganist robot started to develop organic prosthesis to be used on people and slowly replaced its metal body with them. I remember at the near of end he was asking someone if he could be counted as humansince he had emotions and organic body.