I guess my view that robots are alive came very young.
One of the first games I was exposed to was Megaman X, very simple but it taught me many things. The character that struck out to me the most was Zero, although at the time my brother and I thought he was a girl though a few months later we realized he wasn't. In the few talking scenes the game had I was able to get a few things even though I was in kindergarten at the time.
X wasn't confident in his abilities and thought he wasn't strong but Zero believed other wise. He believed that X could become strong, he had the potential to do so, and although the game didn't say this he knew X could become even stronger than himself.
He cared about X, they were great friends. Then came the fortress levels when Zero was captured and X was in a sorry state himself. Zero sacrificed himself to save X and for him to move on. My brother also didn't find the Buster upgrade so Zero gave X his buster. Either way that scene always made me cry as a kid when we got there.
A character who I thought was cool and was X's buddy was gone. Megaman X was the thing that taught me what death was, because we didn't get X2, X3 or X4. I didn't find out Zero was alive until X5, I'd say around the time I was in 2nd grade or something.
Either way Megaman X had a big impact in me, it not only taught me the concept of death but gave me a appreciation of all kinds of life.