Jonathan "John" Brown, a man who dreams of helping people by being a police officer, is a security guard working at the Bradford robotics laboratory in Riverton, Ohio, run by Artemus Bradford and his daughter Brenda, to whom John is attracted. Brenda and Artemus are working to create a lifelike robotic foot as part of the Gadget Program, an operation for manufacturing computerized law enforcement officers. One night, sadistic tycoon Sanford Scolex attacks the lab, steals the foot, and murders Artemus before escaping in his limo. Brown then chases him down in his Chevrolet Chevette, and during the ensuing chase, Scolex blows him up in the upside-down wreck and leaves John for dead. Unfortunately, John's bowling ball is launched out of the Chevette by the blast and crushingly smashes Scolex's left hand, forcing him to replace it with a mechanical claw and take the alias "Claw."