Super Robot Genre - TV Tropes

"So much for the laws of physics!"

A handy checklist to see if a mecha is a Super Robot as opposed to a Real Robot:

• The robot performs the function of a Super Hero.
• The robot is easily capable of breaking the laws of physics.
  • The robot has highly improbable or outright impossible Transformation Sequences.
  • The robot can grow in size and creates and dismisses weapons more or less at will.
• The robot is sentient. (Example: The Brave Express Might Gaine, Transformers)
  • The pilot regularly addresses or refers to the robot by name as if it were a person, even if it is not (obviously) sentient.
    • The robot has never been successfully activated until its pilot begs/orders it to.
  • If it can be operated remotely, the robot responds to voice commands rather than, say, radio transmissions.
    • The robot is capable of acting independently to attack enemies or protect its pilot, especially if it should not be capable of doing so (eg. no on-board AI, or one which wasn't programmed to act that way).
• The theme song is almost exclusively a Bragging Theme Tune; if not, it will exhort the robot and its pilot to fight for 'us/justice/good/the Earth'. Either way, the theme will treat the robot as the show's real hero. Heck, the show being named for the robot means you're halfway there.
• The robot is directly compared to a god and/or a devil. Double points if "God" or "Devil" is part of its actual name.
• The robot grows stronger in the presence of strong emotions or willpower, usually but not always from its pilot. Double points if this is its only power source.
  • Adding additional pilots to the robot increases its performance, regardless of whether this makes sense (eg. the mecha is piloted by motion capture, thus requiring five pilots to perform the same movements). (Example: Dancougar, Gravion) In some cases the additional pilots can evoke this effect without doing any actual piloting.
• The robot uses two or more of the following weapons. Bonus points if a weapon is used only for a Finishing Move, especially if such a restriction can't be explained by limited power reserves (eg. a sword).
  • Rocket Punch
  • Eye Beams
  • Chest Blaster
  • A normal melee weapon (such as a sword) scaled for the robot, particularly one capable of a Clean Cut. Most Laser Blades are less Super than physical swords, partly because the former are associated with Gundam, partly because they make the robot look less like a knight/samurai and partly because Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better. Of course, if it's not Super enough you can just make it bigger...
  • A Bow
  • A Boomerang
  • A Drill (Example: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Getter 2)
  • A weaponized tool of some sort, beyond the common drill: Screwdrivers, wrenches, hammer and nail (Example: Gaogaigar), pliers, anything that you can find at a hardware store.
  • Ramming into an opponent while transformed and/or surrounded by a Battle Aura.
  • Double points if the weapon is disguised as/transforms from a part of the robot (such as a detachable pair of wings^note  which can be thrown as a boomerang) or another robot transforms into the weapon.
• Three or more separately piloted vehicles combine to form the robot.
  • Especially if there's no particular reason they should ever un-combine except to allow for the next episode's transformation sequence. e.g. Voltron, Megazord...
  • Two robots in the series have the ability to combine, despite the robots' creators being enemies or unaware of each other (eg. many Sixth Rangers' zords in Power Rangers).
• The pilot is Hot-Blooded. Bonus points if he directly affects the robot by being so. Triple points if he also sports Go Nagai Sideburns.
  • The pilot always screams the name of the attacks.
  • The pilot never wears a helmet while operating the robot, unless a helmet is part of his normal attire.
    • If he does wear a helmet, it includes a clear visor and does not cover his mouth (unless it's used to conceal his identity). Super Sentai gets a pass on this one for obvious reasons. It will usually be a Cool Helmet in any case.
  • The pilot's "pilot suit" is implausible or even Stripperific. (Example: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cross Ange)
  • The pilot is a martial artist; the older his school the better. (Example: Mobile Fighter G Gundam)
• The robot's power source/energy exhaust are green-cyan (e.g. Getter Rays, G-Stone Energy, Spiral Power etc)
• The robot is summoned by its pilot (usually with shouting involved) rather than the pilot heading to a hangar.
  • The robot appears from an implausible location when summoned, such as a hollow skyscraper or the inside of a volcano. Bonus points if it has to break its way out, especially when this should logically cause the location to eventually be destroyed or left permanently opened to the outside.
• The robot is one-of-a-kind and/or is the only line of defense between the earth (or other place to be defended) and the invading hordes.
  • If someone tries to copy the design of the unique robot, no matter how hard they try to improve on it, it will suck.
• The robot (or part of the robot) can only be piloted by one specific person, due either to a "brain-scan security system", a "unique and special power", or "destiny".
• The robot was designed and built by a scientist or lab independent of the government and military.
  • The robot was created by the pilot's father, grandfather, or uncle.
• The robot was built using technology far in advance of what is available to the general public or military.
  • The robot was created by an ancient civilization to battle the series's antagonists.
  • The robot uses a newly-discovered type of energy which will be used in few places, if any, apart from the robot.
  • The robot is powered by magic.
• The robot's (or the show's) name begins with or features the letter G, and/or ends with "-er".
  • The name of the robot incorporates a badass letter/initial. Weird "Futuristic"-sounding consonants are the norm, like Z, V, X, and of course, G. (The Super Robot Wars franchise had Z, V, X in their game's name)
  • A robot - typically an upgraded version - has the word "Great" in its name. Great Mazinger, Gaiking the Great, so on.
  • At least one robot in the series has a noble title as part of its name, such as "Kaiser" (Mazinkaiser), "King", "Emperor", or "Oh" (Japanese for lord/king).
• The robot features one or more of the following design elements:
  • Red and blue colour scheme, with white upper limbs and gold details.
  • Power Crystals.
  • Improbable size, being either so large that it should collapse under its own weight (Example: Gunbuster), or so small that it could not possibly hold and/or power its weapons. Extreme examples include Powered Armor capable of destroying cities and humanoid mecha with enough interior space to transport entire civilisations.
  • Winglike protrusions from the sides of its helmet.
  • A chestplate in the shape of an inverted triangle or an animal's head, possibly also with winglike protrusions to the side.
  • A retractable mask which covers its mouth, and/or a removable helmet (usually deployed as part of forming a Combining Mecha or entering a Super Mode).
  • A cape, especially if it is badass.
    • Anything which hangs loose from the mecha, including scarves and hair.
  • All of the robots in the show, whether or not they're mass-manufactured, are unique designs based on some common theme (usually different kinds of animals).
  • The robot's face is flexible and capable of things such as opening and closing its mouth.
    • For that matter, having a face (nose and mouth etc...) period is probably a good indicator in itself.
  • The joints are covered by what seems to be solid metal, yet are still capable of the full range of human mobility.
• The show's title has "Muteki" ("Invincible") in it somewhere. (Example: "Invincible" Superman Zambot 3 and "Unchallengeable" Steel Man Daitarn 3)
• You (or maybe your parents) recognize the robot from a Shogun Warrior toy.
• Ichirou Mizuki or JAM Project (particularly Masaaki Endoh) does the theme song. MEGA extra points if it's done by BOTH.

• Albegas is about three teenagers who make their own robot prototypes, only for a brilliant scientist to fuse them all into one, the titular robot. It has a wide range of powers and protects the Earth against the invading Dellingers. However, it's also a parody of this genre and contains many Shout Outs to other mecha series.
• Astroganger: Let's go through the checklist....a robot performing the same function as a Super Hero? Check. Said robot being one-of-a-kind, able to break the laws of physics, grow in size, act independent of orders, built by a scientist/the main character's parent, being built by an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, having a red-and-blue colour scheme, appearing from implausible locations, and being the last line of defense against Earth? Check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check and check. The robot's name beginning with the letter G and ending with "-er"? Check, his name is Ganger. The robot only allowing one person to pilot him? Check. The pilot being Hot-Blooded as can be? Check. Bonus points for having a Bragging Theme Tune sung by Ichiro Mizuki and the robot's powers including Chest Blaster, Rocket Punch, Eye Beams and weaponized tools.
• Misuteru Yokoyama's Gigantor (Tetsujin 28) is the effective Trope Maker. The robot was not piloted (that would be covered by Mazinger Z below), instead being controlled from outside by the protagonist, Shotaro Kaneda.
• On the other hand, Go Nagai's Mazinger Z and its sequels (Great Mazinger and UFO Robo Grendizer) and reimaginations (God Mazinger, New Mazinger, Mazinkaiser, Mazinger Angels, Shin Mazinger) was the one who defined the trope as we know it.
  • The actual term originates from the Mazinger Z theme song, which states, in English, "Super robot... Mazinger Z!!!"
  • While Gigantor/Tetsujin 28 had the first giant robot, Mazinger Z was the first one where the mecha had human pilots. Prior to Mazinger Z, the robots were operated by The Kid with the Remote Control.
    • This genre fact is actually a plot point in 20th Century Boys, which has a very Real (as in, Awesome, but Impractical) Robot in it.
• Getter Robo The first combining Super Robot.
• The Robot Romance Trilogy -Combattler V, Voltes V and Daimos- developed the Super Robot Genre further, incorporating new tropes -like the Five-Man Band or the Motion-Capture Mecha- and themes, and showing more "realistic" combinations and transformations than Getter Robo.
• Raideen (which later inspired RahXephon). The first half was directed by the aforementioned Yoshiyuki Tomino; the latter half was directed by Tadao Nagahama, better known for the Robot Romance Trilogy.
• Zambot 3, first Deconstruction of the genre.
• Daitarn 3, the follow-up to the aforementioned 'Zambot 3', but otherwise a much lighter show.
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is based on the mecha being like this in as many ways as possible: Let's see... Sentient: check. Transformation Sequence: check. Creates weapons at will: check. High-volume attack screaming: check. Flexible face: check. Combining Mecha: check. One-of-a-kind: Kinda check; Lagann is one-of-a-kind, but Gurren is just a Ganmen that Kamina jacked during a battle. Powered by Hot Blood: Check. Drills: Oh, so very checked. Becoming large enough to literally throw galaxies as projectiles: not in the list, but it should be, and absolutely check.
  • Don't forget the shades are a Precision Guided splitting Boomerang, the (stolen) helmet and the red paint job.
  • The show subverts one of the main Super Robot traits when it acknowledges that it creates matter from nothing and breaks the Conservation of Mass Law, and that it will lead to the end of the universe if overused.
  • Many of the other robots are Super to some degree as well. The King Kittan is the only star-shaped Gunman we see and gets fancier weapons when it combines with another couple of mecha, and both the King Kittan and the Dayakkaiser meet the "nobility" naming rule. Obviously, the same goes for Space King Kittan, which is just a Space Gunmen for use by King Kittan.
    • Just in case you didn't catch that, that's a Super Robot being piloted by another Super Robot in a giant cockpit. And by the end of the series there's a Super Robot piloting a Super Robot, piloting ANOTHER Super Robot, PILOTING YET ANOTHER SUPER ROBOT.
    • ...PILOTING A GOD, if you watch the Compilation Movie.
• The B'ts from B't X fit quite well: Sentient? check. Weird power-source? check. Link with their pilot? check... They are, however, very small in size compared to the standard Super Robot.
• Giant Robo: Another mecha series by 'Tetsujin 28' creator Mitsuteru Yokoyama.
• GunBuster was Hideaki Anno's directorial debut.
• Force Five was a weekly TV series consisting of americanized versions of the anime that the Shogun Warriors toys were based on, and the Robots there in were all Super.
• Gaiking
  • Its In Name Only retelling, Gaiking: Legend of Daiku Maryu
• Kotetsu Jeeg combines the Super Robot genre with the Henshin Hero genre, as its protagonist would have to transform into a sentient mechanical head that would then combine with other parts to form the titular robot.
• The entire Brave Series from Sunrise animation, most famously King of Braves GaoGaiGar. (Oddly, though placed in the same continuity as GaoGaiGar, the robots of Betterman are rather un-Super.)
  • GaoGaiGar is notable in that there's absolutely no weirdness in any of the transformations for the main characters - every single part and motion is accounted for, so all toys made for the franchise would be perfect (the toys and character models were made together). The villains (who didn't have many toy) on the other hand, routinely distort, shapeshift, dissolve and reform, etc. GaoGaiGar itself seems to obey at least SOME of the laws of physics, when during the fight with Spine Primeval, GaoGaiGar attempts to fly into space, but can't due to the fact that StealthGao's jet engines have run out of air at such a high altitude. This limitation is, of course, fixed in the next episode. And despite the theme song billing the titular mecha as invincible, it gets pretty badly beat up on a regular basis, even sustaining damage from combination or using its own weaponry. In GaoGaiGar FINAL, a copy of the original GaoGaiGar is destroyed by GaoFighGar, which is later in the series destroyed by Palparepa.
    • The fact that GaoGaiGar has no part appearing from out of nowhere is enough to confuse some viewers into thinking that it's a Real Robot, rather than a Super Robot. The fact that it is designed by Kunio Okawara, which can be seen in the design, doesn't make it any more obvious that it's supposed to be a Super Robot.
• In an amusing reversal, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, the first Gundam series not in the Universal Century timeline, is a notable super robot show (with designs that get really, really weird), despite Mobile Suit Gundam essentially launching the real robot genre.
  • There's usually a trend for antagonist suits to gain a technological edge on the titular Gundams sometime in the other series, which may or may not warrant a mid-season upgrade. The original RX-78-2 was considered almost obsolete by the time the One Year War ended, had it not been for Amuro's incredible abilities.
    • The same holds true for the Super Prototypes present in both Code Geass and Eureka Seven, which are clearly many leaps and bounds ahead of the other, "normal" mechs they share the spotlight with.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 00 in second season uses a few super robot elements :
    • Allelujah Haptism regains his alternate personality, Hallelujah, through contact with concentrated GN Particles.
    • Tieria Erde starts calling his attacks all over the place and firing what basically amounts to a GN Particle Bowling Bomb from his BFG.
    • Last, but certainly not least, Setsuna F. Seiei gains the ability to teleport himself and his Gundam through sheer hot-bloodedness and determination.
  • The ∀ Gundam has the ability to destroy technology. Despite the fact that it even exhibits more power than most other titular mecha in the franchise, it is said to use less than 10% of its abilities over the course of the series.
  • The Universal Century doesn't fit comfortably into either genre. While it's the Trope Maker for the Real Robot Genre, and the various series are almost universally war stories, Newtypes simply don't play by the same rules as everyone else. While Minovsky Physics is fully in force for non-Newtype mobile suits, Newtype powers and NT-capable mobile suits don't always obey them; in particular, Psychoactive Powers are an explicit ability of psycommu technology starting with the Zeta Gundam's bio-sensor.
    • Worth noting is that Fan Wank (endorsed officially in Gundam Officials) has explanation of the special powers of Newtypes is only the ability to attract Minovsky Particle and sense the disturbance in the particles. The psycommu(Psycho communication) systems amplifies the wave for long range communication for remote control of weapons, sensing other Newtypes, and create almost magical abilities when enough of Minovsky particles are attracted, like forming an I-Field barrier to block attacks and maybe even bounce off falling asteroids(just like the Minovsky craft effect), so Newtypes are more of reproducing feats machines are already performing, instead of pulling out tricks only Psychics can do.
    • On the other hand, late Universal Century does give us "Psychikers", and Newtypes struggle against.
  • The Gundam Build anime in general lean far more into the Super Robot genre than other Gundam shows with the biggest offenders being Gundam Build Fighters Try and Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE. As the series contains numerous homages to G Gundam, it's no surprise it's got Super Robot DNA. This is most exemplified by three gunpla: The Try Buring Gundam, the Denial Gundam and the Tryon 3. The Try Burning and Denial are both strong references to the God Gundam in their aesthetics and abilities. The Try Burning is also an empathic weapon whose pilot suffers its wounds and that has several Super Robot finishers from clones to a burining phoenix to a version of the God Gundam's finisher. The most well know though is the Gundam Tryon 3, an unambiguous Super Robot existing in a Real Robot universe... albeit said robots are actually model kits animated by special particles. Its core design is the Double Zeta Gundam, which is the closest the overall Gundam meta-series got to a Super Robot while keeping the Real Robot trappings. It's Super Robot In A Real Robot World is hilariously lampshaded in its introduction where people are bemused by the idea of it, and not that physics demands the combination and general ludicrousness of it means there's no point to forming it as it must ultimately be quite structurally weak. It proceeds to annihilate an opposing team single handedly.
  • Build Divers Re:Rise, a series where Gunpla battles occur on the web in a MMO, brings in numerous Super Robot elements such as empathetic weapons, attack names etc. It also features the OTHER unambiguous super robot, the Re Rising Gundam. A combination of the four BUILD DiVERS mechs, it's not only much larger than it's component parts (about the same size of an Eldora Daugthress which was able to hold the Juptive Gundam in one hand) it's massively more powerful. It's ultimate attack causes the Re Rising to turn gold, create a massive glyph and fire a beam powerful enough to lay waste to a moon sized super weapon.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion, although arguments over whether it should be counted as Super or Real Robot Genre is debated even by characters themselves in Super Robot Wars. Eva units fit the Super Robot description almost point-for-point — sentient, check; each unit is one of a kind, check; Earth's only defense, check; production overseen by main character's bastard dad, check; each unit usually accepts only one pilot, check. Note that the series is infamously a Genre Deconstruction, and that the titular mecha are actually a dark and twisted parody of the Super Robot concept: they're actually giant cloned Humanoid Abominations that contain the souls of the pilots' mothers. Rebuild of Evangelion has Mari gleefully adding to the "super" aspect, talking to Unit-05 and Unit-02 and shouting out, "point-blank attack!" as she charges Zeruel with two BFGs. Seeing as the Evas rely on the pilot's brain waves and physical movement rather than voice commands—with the exception of the password "The Beast!"—this one isn't really necessary. However, Mari's level of sanity is somewhat questionable at this point.
• The various Zoids series feature giant animal-shaped robots that can only be piloted by those they "choose", and are powered up by Small Annoying Robots manufactured by an ancient, lost civilization. Outside of the main character, though, most Zoids are treated more like Real Robots. Depending on which fluff you're reading they may be Real robots and fighting a war and treated as such or the mechs themselves are fighting a war à la Transformers. OR you can have tons of Combining Mecha, ancient weapons and sentient zoids that choice their masters. Its all vaguely justified by treating them as Weaponized Animals with unknown and seemingly varying levels of intelligence.
• The Ideon from, well, Space Runaway Ideon fits the bill pretty well, at least when it feels like it. Since the mech is inhabited by the God-like energy known as the Ide, when the Ide doesn't feel like helping all it can do is punch, kick, and shoot lots of missiles. But when it does help out, you get scenes like the Ideon emitting blades of light and carving a planet in half with them.
  • Fairly unusually for this sort of show (but not for Tomino's work), Ideon's displays of planet-destroying power are often portrayed as something frightening and dangerous, rather than just awe-inspiringly cool.
• In Full Metal Panic!, the mechs used by Mithril and Gauron are Super Robots, in that their technology and power is far beyond that of mechs that others use, including superpower nations. Also, the special equipment created from Black Technology that's on Sousuke's and Gauron's Arm Slaves relies greatly on the pilot's creativity and emotional state.
  • They are real robots unless they are equipped with the Lambda Driver, and even then it's only when using it. Sousuke's robot seems to have a personality, but it's an AI that mostly exists to aid him (and tell the audience what they'd normally need to be able to read instruments to know).
    • Which doesn't stop Sousuke from playing the straight man to his own robot in the final episode of The Second Raid.
  • In-Universe, they are all real robots. Except there is black technology, an incredibly advanced technology, which is used in some highly advanced prototypes such as the Arbalest and the Tuatha de Danann. As we know all highly advanced technology is magic.
• The El Dorado team from GUN×SWORD includes most of the tropes, other than the fact that the pilots are all in their 80s. They even stole some sound effects from GaoGaiGar.
  • The similarities are parodied in Super Robot Wars K: El Dorado V's moveset is almost entirely based on GaoGaiGar's - even having a move called "Infierno y Cielo" - Spanish for "Hell and Heaven".
  • The Original Seven mechas are also non-combining Super Robot, considering their unorthodox method of piloting and that they really don't give a crap about normal technological contraptions, mostly being powered by the pilot's will. For instance, the protagonist Van rides the Dann of Thursday, a robot that wields one or two sword, turns into a giant sword, and powered with either his love for his dead wife and gigantic desire to take vengeance against those responsible for said death. It's as ridiculous as it sounds and it works (and while Van is cynical as heck, sometimes his heart leers to positivity when surrounded with many positive people.)
• The titular RahXephon. Of course, it is God.
  • Of course, the rest of the mecha are also Super Robots (in the Evangelion sense of Super Robot).
• Dancougar uniquely tries to combine Super Robots with the more gritty war setting usually found in Real Robot Genre, but somehow still manages to make it work, albeit that the pilots needed to get over their personal baggages to actually combine effectively which only happened halfway through the series. In contrast, the 'successor' Dancougar Nova is a more traditional Super Robot show taking after Gravion but with elements and designs based on Dancougar and having pseudo-war themes.
• Planet Robo Danguard Ace, the only robot anime Leiji Matsumoto ever did.
• The Megadeuses of The Big O are all technically Super Robots, as they're one-of-a-kind, possibly sentient (or at least possibly haunted) and treated as god-like, but they're also a bit of a subversion of the concept. Notably, not only were the Megadeuses mass-produced and used in a war in the past, and have land, air and sea variants, but also they're much slower and bulkier than most Super Robots. When a more traditional Super Robot shows up in one episode, it's defeated in less time than it took to transform. There's also the fact that their treatment as godlike in-universe is because the world is After the End. Well, maybe. Mind Screw and all...
• All three entries in the Eldoran Series — Matchless Raijin-Oh, Genki Bakuhatsu Ganbaruger and Nekketsu Saikyo Gosaurer — qualify, with the last series probably being the only show to ever exist where the mecha is literally made out of a school building.
• Gekiganger 3, a Show Within a Show from Martian Successor Nadesico, is an Affectionate Parody of such Super Robot shows as Mazinger Z, Combattler V and Getter Robo.
• The Knightmare Frames in Code Geass start out as 100% Real Robots but, depending on who you ask, the rate of technological progression makes the main models creep closer and closer to what some fans consider Super Robot territory by the latter half of the second season, though others are content to simply label these machines overpowered Super Prototypes.
• Heroic Age certainly fits the category in spirit, at least. The Humongous Mecha used by the humans are generally more in the Real Robot class, being mass-produced vehicles with few, if any, extraordinary abilities, but the overall mood of the show is much more like the positive, optimistic outlook of Super Robot series than the cynical view of the Real Robot, with lots of credit to The Power of Love. The only thing barring the Nodos from classification as Super Robots is that they're... well, not robots, though they do tend to have a distinctly mechanical vibe to their appearance, especially when not in an Unstoppable Rage.
• Six God Combination Godmars. As the title suggests, the titular robot is formed when six humanoid robots combine, ready to dispense mostly camera-cut battles like the robot doesn't even need animations to deliver Curb-Stomp Battle. Indeed; the plot is mostly the Zuul Empire trying to do psychological damage towards Takeru (while also bullying him with mecha of the week) because Godmars had a bomb that triggers if he dies, and it would destroy Earth. When Takeru thinks there's no other way, he summons and pilots Godmars, who proceeds to stomp the enemy flat in no time, unless it's someone particularly tough.
• Brigadoon: Marin and Melan has the three Gun-Swordsmen; Melan Blue, Pyon Silver, and Erin Garnet. They're partly organic, though, and none of them have pilots, though Melan regularly carries his human companion Marin with him into battle.
• Bokurano: Zearth and the other dimensional robots of its kind. Although since it's a series by Mohiro Kitoh, its cynicism is worth the idealism of any three idealistic Super Robot series at least.
• Hades Project Zeorymer: Zeorymer of the Heavens itself is one of the few robots who could get away with the "Invincible" title being taken literally, if it used it. In the OVA, the only time it even so much as took damage was when it was missing its main power supply, and even that took a Yin-Yang Bomb Combination Attack from two other robots to so much as damage it. And said damage regenerated in no time at all. Of course, it wasn't exactly created to save the world. (At least in the OVA.)
• Star Driver: The robots belong to a lost civilization, are named after Phoenician alphabets, and can only be operated by chosen drivers with special marks on their bodies. Completed with Calling Your Attacks and Color-Coded for Your Convenience.
• Captain Earth, Star Driver's Spiritual Successor, featured guns/extra-dimensional aliens called Livlasters, which allowed the heroic Midsummer's Knights to harness their own near-limitless Orgone energy to power up their mecha to almost Deus ex Machina levels, like most other super robots. Also, another thing regarding Captain Earth, the Impactor mecha have two different forms, including their Ordinary forms, which have the size and traits of a Real Robot and are mostly used for surface combat; and their larger, stronger Impactor forms, which combine from three larger, stronger modules for space combat.
• Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars: While strange and even trippy, its adherence to Rule of Cool places it here rather than Real Robot Genre.
• Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet: Interestingly, Chamber manages to combine this with Real Robot Genre due to differing tech levels. In space, Chamber and his pilot were both mass-produced results of a huge war machine, mostly fighting by numbers and tactics—in fact, the series starts with them losing a battle and only surviving by sheer luck. On Earth, Chamber is at least centuries beyond everyone else; none of their tools can so much as scratch him, and he destroys an entire pirate fleet with a horrifying level of casual ease. And this was while conserving power.
• UFO Warrior Dai Apolon: Played straight for the most part. Teen orphan Takeshi discovers he's actually an alien prince who must control a Humongous Combining Mecha against the evil general who killed his father. Instead of a cockpit, however, Takeshi uses his energy powers to grow and merge with the mecha, "wearing" it like armor.
• Magic Knight Rayearth: Despite being mainly billed as a Magical Girl Warrior meets Heroic Fantasy, when it comes to the robots, they follow the trends set by the Super Robot genre. The Rune Gods are sentient, the requirement of piloting it boils down to "You must prove your heart worthy on donning us, O chosen ones!", they are piloted by willpower and close enough to be a Motion-Capture Mecha, at least two of the pilots are Hot-Blooded (Hikaru and Umi, the former one is the main character), they run more on magic than science, and there's only three of them, all being exclusive to whoever is proven worthy. Their purpose is the salvation of Cephiro... by killing the Pillar of Cephiro when she went astray and ended up indirectly destroying Cephiro. But once that's done, they can be summoned as normal if Cephiro needed a normal type of defense from outside invaders.
• Psycho Armor Govarian, to a degree. The robots are influenced by their wielders' emotions, since they are created from their minds, and only the chosen may pilot them. Their powers include Rocket Punch, Chest Blaster, wing attacks, ramming attacks and kinetic blasts. The robots are also one-of-a-kind, and a result of non-human technology. They are also the only shot of defense for the Earth. While most Super Robot shows have one robot, Govarian has three, the first and most prominent being the title character and the other two being supporter machines who are less powerful. The show was also developed by Go Nagai.
• The Core Robots used in Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure by the Earth Defense Force and the Rara Army are from alien artifacts that were excavated in Tokyo in the parallel Earth where the two have an Enforced Cold War. The EDF's CRs are based on Zinv while the RA's CRs are based on the HIMC.
• Daimidaler the Sound Robot has a mech known as the Daimidaler. To make it work, it requires a huge amount of Deus Sex Machina between the male and female pilots.
• Rumble Garanndoll has the Garrandoll, except they're a super robot since they're powered by battery girls. But the pilot's power is based on own geekiness in popular culture. The Shinkoku Nippon military has stated that the Garrandolls were based on their Garrans.
• Mechander Robo (1977) toes the line between this and Real Robot Genre. The main robot performs the role of a Super Hero, has powers that involve a boomerang, a rocket gun, ejecting fire and a Chest Blaster, is made up of three vehicles, a unique creation that is Earth's only protector, and a name that ends with "er". The anime's theme song was also by Ichiro Mizuki.
• Blocker Gundan IV Machine Blaster: Improbably huge robots with melee and kinetic weaponry being treated like superheroes? Check. The laws of physics being chucked away to hilarious levels? Check. The mecha pilots being the chosen few? Check. The presence of supernatural elements? Check. The Reveal is also that the robots' creation were linked to Akusa's ancestor, thus being created by an extraterrestrial. It was also part of the Shogun Warriors line, and considered the rarest toy of them all.
• Groizer X: The titular robot is built by advanced technology literally from out of this world, as its creator was an alien scientist (who's also the father of one of the main characters). It has an Awesome McCoolname that begins with "G" and has an "X" at the end for the sake of Xtreme Kool Letterz. It is also one-of-a-kind, a heavy weapon on its own, requires a pilot to meet specific criteria and has bombs, blasters, and kinetic melee weapons in battle.
• Cross Ange has Villkiss and the Ragna-Mails where they're capable of Teleport Spam, a red energy barrier that protects the mech which Ange uses to ram through anything, her sword turns into a Laser Blade that can slice through anything like swiss cheese, teleport through dimensions, and its most powerful weapon is a Wave-Motion Gun located at its shoulders which capable of destroying the world and rip time and space.

• The DCU:
  • DC: Mech: The miniseries takes place in a version of the DC Universe where a Parademon invasion wiped out most of the Justice Society, afterwards humanity worked to developing mechs to fight back against the forces of Apokolips.
• Marvel Universe:
  • Avengers Mech Strike: In the series, the Avengers, who all have giant robots shaped like themselves.
  • Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1977): Red Ronin was Marvel's attempt to make their own Super Robot in the vein of Mazinger Z or Getter Robot. The robot was designed by S.H.I.E.L.D. to fight againt Godzilla.
  • Marvel Mega Morphs: In the series, most of the heroes operate super robot-type mechs of their own known as a MegaMorph.
  • Shogun Warriors: The Shogun Warriors were Raydeen, Combatra, and Dangard Ace, adapted from the eponymous toy line. Their final adventures actually had two of the Fantastic Four filling in as Combatra pilots.
• Mech Cadet Yu: The series involves kids teaming up with giant robots from outer space to protect the planet from aliens.

• The Robot Taekwon V film series, one of the first Korean science fiction franchises that featured an "indigenous" super robot.
• The various Tobot animated shows feature super robots that are meant to be marketed to young children. They were marketed as response to surveys in South Korea, where older children tend to purchase Transformers or Power Rangers-based merchandise/shows.

• Super Robot Quest is a quest firmly set in this genre, in a world where the Earth Union is under attack by monstrous Kaiju, Westphalian Separatist terrorists, and the robotic alien Kausen, and the only effective defenses are the Super Robots Mercury V and Valiant. It follows the duties of Major Johnathan Devin as he leads the Defense Force Research Institute to create Super Robots of their own.

• Batman Unlimited: Mechs Vs. Mutants has Batman and Green Arrow use the Bat/Green Arrow mechs in response to kaiju versions of Bane, Clayface, Killer Croc, and Chemo after they were turned by Mr. Freeze and Penguin. They were made by Kirk Langstrom on behalf on a Wayne Enterprises and Queen Industries-backed contracts.
• The Iron Giant has the eponymous robot land in 1950s Maine.

• Godzilla vs. Megalon: "He jock it made of steel. Eat sushi from a pail. Jet Jaguar? Jet Jaguar! He mother never really love him."
• Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.: Kiryu (AKA The cyborg version of [[Film/Godzilla|1954 the 1954]] Godzilla) was the only version of Mechagodzilla to defeat his flesh-n-blood counterpart. That, and he was intelligent enough to be able to communicate with humans.
• Robot Jox: A 1980s B-movie trying to cash in on the 80s giant robot fad. Often considered So Bad, It's Good.
• Pacific Rim draws inspiration both from this and the Real Robot Genre. The Jaegers are Real Robots in that they're explicitly built by a military-industrial complex and time is given to the extreme amount of resources, logistics and support required to drive and maintain them. On the other hand, individual Jaegers are treated like Super Robots, what with their colourful and individual names and designs, being humanity's 'only hope', and fight using common Super Robot tropes like rocket punches, wrestling moves, unique fighting styles between each robot, the 'drift' and the Absurdly Sharp Blade of Gipsy Danger being its ultimate weapon.

• The Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot series consists of an unnamed super robot who Ricky befriends after Dr. Stinky McNasty orders him to lay waste to Earth.
• Iron Widow has chrysalises, giant organic and malleable machines based on Chinese folklore that can transform into more humanoid states, piloted by men by sacrificing their female co-pilots, which might not be as necessary as the strategists want people to believe. The pilots and their mechs are treated as celebrity superheroes.

• Super Sentai (and its western adaptation Power Rangers): The various mecha cover most of these aspects all of the time, and a few specific ones depending on the exact season.
  • Denshi Sentai Denziman's Daidenzin was probably one of the more outstanding examples. Not only did it have all the moves of a Super Robot, it acted extremely sentient at times, often showing up when the Denzimen are in danger without being summoned. Plus, the backstory of the Daidenzin is quite long-winding. It's a combination of Lost Technology and Space tech from the Denzi aliens.
    • The inclusion of these into the franchise was inspired by the Japanese live-action version of Spider-Man, which had its own Super Robot called Leopardon.
  • Subverted in that most Megazords/gattai robos lose to any main cast villain, and, unless combining two Megazords together, beating any significant villain is nigh-impossible.
• Kyojuu Tokusou Juspion is the only Metal Heroes show to be one^note , with a protagonist who pilots a giant robot to battle kaiju.
• The titular Super Robot Red Baron is one of the earlier examples, in Toku.
• Mech-X4 is an American take on the genre with the titular mech controlled via technopathy, the ability to control machines from the mind.
• If the Mach Five is a car-shaped Super Robot, then so is the indestructible K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider.
• Spider-Man (Japan) was an early Tokusatsu (1978) which gave Spiderman his own Super Robot, the Mighty Leopardon. It was incorporated into the Spiderman Comics in 2014 as part of the Spider-Verse.
• Stargirl (2020) has Pat Dugan create a robot from mostly old and tossed automotive parts called S.T.R.I.P.E. after he left the Justice Society of America. It's equipped with a chainsaw on the left arm, flamethrower on the right arm with both able to use rocket punch-based attacks. He and his son, Mike, were able to use it as times of crisis.
• Voltes V: Legacy is the live-action version of Voltes V. As such, the tropes that apply to the anime also apply here.

• Mercilessly spoofed by "Giambel V" from Italian parody rock band GemBoy, with a lot of Self-Deprecation since the titular robot is made in Italy. It is a stylish piece of junk with food-themed superweapons, that never manages to defeat any aliens because of bureaucracy, lack of funding, the pilot's stupidity and the laziness and carelessness of the command center.

• In We Are Our Avatars, The Phase Distorter was created from an odd mishmash of both Super and Real, incorporating technology from several different mecha from different universes. Given the generally soft setting, though, the end result falls into the former category. Its head looked like a Mister Saturn, for cryin' out loud.
  • Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, Grendizer and Daltanias have showed up in the Incarnates arc. Kotetsu Jeeg is in the second And Now for Someone Completely Different arc.
  • Dragonzord and Zenith Ultrazord, to say the least.

• The Near Future chapter of Live A Live has the Most-definitely-not Gigantor Buriki Daioh (Great Tin King, or Steel Titan in the remake), which is powered by Psychic energy.
• The Super Robot Wars series (despite the name) mixes both Super and Real Robot Genre series freely, with Mazinger Z and Getter Robo being the perennial favorites of the former. However, it also contain their own original supers, such as the Transforming Mecha "Grungust", the BFS-wielding "Dygenguard", and the Combining Mecha "SRX", composed of three reals.
  • Sometimes, this trope can get out of hand with the originals: the "Alt Eisen" from Super Robot Wars Compact 2 is a real, but performs on par with a super, if not, better than one. Meanwhile, the "Valhawk" from Super Robot Wars W is another real which combines with a battleship "Valstork" creating the super "Valguard". By the end of the game, the latter can combine with another real and another battleship to form the more powerful super (and Game-Breaker) "Valzacard".
    • Played with regarding the Valsion and Fairlions: though they look like Super Robots, all are built almost entirely with technology used by other real robots in the setting.
  • As far the terminology of supers go, the series is oddly realistic about it, and most associated tropes tend to come from the originals hanging around the likes of Kouji Kabuto and Ryoma Nagare. In fact, in Super Robot Wars: Original Generation, the most "super" robot of the cast is the Compatible Kaiser, filled with implausible weaponry that has little to no scientific explanation involved. Even the machines from the subterranean world of "La Gias" blessed by gods/spirits have a logical explanation to them!
    • Additionally, Original Generation tends to refer to supers as "special units" designed specifically to fight single-handedly against many opponents (by contrast, reals can excel in multiple situations, but can't do it alone unless they're in a group). Essentially, this setting deems supers as "real robots built using feasible technology, yet have technical explanations to state why they are supers".
• Another Century's Episode does the same thing with the Super Robot War series as well, but with the control used in the Armored Core games.
• In one of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness's On the Next segments, Etna claims that the Prinnies are capable of combining into the Super Robot "Pringer X", which actually appears in the Animated Adaptation. Also, when Jennifer is kidnapped, a vague hint causes several characters to imagine her being transformed into a Humongous Mecha.
  • Pringer Z actually shows up in other games by the same team, most notably in Phantom Brave as the ultimate secret Superboss. He's normally Prinny-sized, but uses Super Robot weapons (including a towering column of flame that reaches SPACE). However, in this series, a towering column of flame that reaches SPACE isn't all that impressive.
  • Another Nippon Ichi game, Makai Kingdom, has the Prinnies making a Robosuit in the bonus content, which is a Shout-Out to the best armor in Disgaea and a stereotypical Super Robot. Arguably on the same page, there's also the Space Battleship Yoshitsuna, which is another shoutout to Disgaea — being the ultimate sword in that series, and the ultimate vehicle and hardest boss in this one. For extra Superboss points, it's piloted by one Prinny Baal.
• In Xenosaga, the ES units are clearly super robots, whereas standard AWMS units are closer to the real robot scale. The AWGS units in Xenosaga ep 1 would actually be Real Robots if not for the fact that they can materialize out of thin air using the UMN.
  • Then you have Erde Kaiser.
  • Likewise, the Omnigears of Xenogears are definitely super robots, along with several other Gears that fight on an Omnigear level (such as Weltall, Crescens, Seibzehn and the titular Xenogears). Many of the regular mook Gears are real robots, but anything a PC uses will be an Ace Custom at the least.
• The Playstation 2 game Robot Alchemic Drive is built around this trope, putting the player in command of robots that can perform rocket punches, flying kicks, throw giant boomerangs, transform into various vehicles, and even teleport in an instant.
  • They're also 'old school' robots, operated from the outside by you as The Kid with the Remote Control. Try not to get stepped on.
• Ganbare Goemon has quite possibly the weirdest example by far, in the form of Goemon Impact. It's a giant clockwork robot that resembles Goemon himself, built by the Wise Man (or hailing from a planet inhabited by people resembling it), that must be summoned using a conch shell, can fire beams out of its mouth and nose, and happens to be entirely sentient.
• The eponymous character Mega Man is a super-powered android made to combat the Mad Scientist Dr. Wily and his army of robots. Only difference is that Mega Man isn't a Humongous Mecha, although Marvel vs. Capcom did give him a super move that transforms him into a homage of Mazinger Z.
• Asura of Asura's Wrath fame becomes this in his Asura the Destructor form.
• Zone of the Enders features two different types of mecha, including its own Super Robots called Orbital Frames, such as Jehuty, the protagonist mecha of the series, and Laborious Extra-Orbital Vehicles, or LEVs for short. Orbital Frames inherit their Super Robot powers through Metatron, compared to LEVs using more realistic, utilitarian power sources.
• In Trails Series, the Divine Knights are the super robots compared to the Panzer Soldats as the Divine Knights are a One-Man Army.
• Like the Gundam franchise, the various SD Gundam G Generation games have original mobile suits that operate as super robots.
• Tech Romancer is a homage and parody of all known Super Robot series and put in a fighting game back when it was first released in 1998. It has influences from Getter Robo, Gundam, Macross and Mazinger.
• Marvel Avengers Academy has Peter Parker aka Spider-Man create Leopardon while in the Avengers Academy. The game mentions that he was inspired to make it after he watched a lot of Japanese tokusatsu shows.

• Heaven Will Be Mine centers on three women fighting in three different factions in an interstellar conflict using "ship-selves." Saturn pilots the (stolen) ship-self Interloper Prototype String of Pearls, Pluto pilots the ark-self Creation Star Type Krun Macula, and Luna-Terra pilots the ship-self Original Archetype Mare Crisium. Battles in such machines are thrilling, flashy spectacles of strange weapons and flaring passions in which the pilots themselves never get hurt, their ship-selves serving as vehicles for ideological arguments and extensions of their own personalities more than weapons. The "toy warfare" of ship-selves is contrasted against the Attack Drones favored by Earth, which are weapons: boring, practical and lethal.
• The Deus Machina from the Demonbane franchise, which are notable in particular for being Magitek super robots. The strongest form of the titular mech is also the largest super robot in the genre, dwarfing even the much more famous Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann by an order of magnitude. It gets so big it pops the universe it's in.

• Achilles Shieldmaidens blurs the line a bit via heavy use of technobabble to explain the Achilles and their Ur counterparts, plus the Achilles were created by a multinational defense alliance against the Alien Invasion that apparently they but nobody else knew was coming. Overall though, it's very much more about sci-fi action and spectacle.
• Adrastus is an alien robot hidden by the main character's family. It has rocket punches, beams, and an amazing mohawk.
• Titanzer is equal parts parody and homage. Example: Johnny doesn't trust any robot's really dead unless it explodes. Linky
• L.E.G.E.N.D. from Energize and Heroes Alliance is a super robot built by the Heroes Unite Initiative to help take down Energize when he went rogue in the Energize: Hunted arc. L.E.G.E.N.D. barely slowed Energize down for a moment.
• The Kiwibot in Kiwi Blitz, created by Heinrich Frohlich, given to his daughter Steffi as a means of fighting crime as a vigilante.

• gen:LOCK has the Holon, prototype mechs made for the Vanguard by Dr. Rufus Weller under the Vanguard's Experimental Science Unit. These consist of pilots who have been deemed compatible with gen:Lock technology in order to control them. They work by having their consciousness uploaded to their Holons prior to battle under specific time limits or it would be harder for them to get their minds placed back to their bodies over time. The Union has a captured Holon mech that contained some aspects of the actual Julian Chase captured by Union troops during an early ESU op. It's been upgraded by Union tech many times (alongside cloning) that the mech's AI is driven mad due to being used way too many times and being able to tear through Vanguard forces with ease. Not to mention that Julian wasn't able to get back to his body. Weller has insisted to Colonel Marin that being forced to push the Holons ahead of their scheduled rollout is forcing them to work with what he can to help the Vanguard ensure combat readiness without any certaintly if a platoon of Holons can be ready in time.
• The eponymous Ilivais X and its fellow prototypes definitely fall in here. The GEKICOM units have implausible Elemental Powers, the STRUQ units are a massive Combining Mecha pastiche, and the Phonos Weapons are as a whole incredibly powerful and dangerous. X itself is more of a Deconstruction though. It's sentient and has its own agenda of sorts, has an unlimited source of energy that by it's very nature is just off, there's all sorts of parallels between it and Lucifer, and so on.

• Frankenstein Jr. is a very early (1966) example, played straight as an arrow.
• The short-lived Sym-Bionic Titan. According to Genndy Tartakovsky, he wanted to include as many Super Robot tropes as possible.
• Parody: Megas XLR. Not only is it controlled through the use of 90's videogame controllers, it also has an endless supply of aptly named doomsday buttons, is set with a victory pose that mimics that of its driver, can only be driven by a fat, lazy, slow-headed video game geek and gearhead, and contains almost every Wave-Motion Gun in anime history (Including, THE Wave Motion Gun, along with half of the ship). Did we mention it only cost its owner two bucks, which he never paid?
• The Mighty Orbots from 1980's Saturday morning TV.
• Voltron, and its source shows GoLion and Dairugger XV. This includes sequel series Voltron: The Third Dimension and Voltron Force, as well as the continuity reboot Voltron: Legendary Defender.
• Transformers is usually closer to this than Real Robot Genre, but contains its own twists; for example, the robots are sentient and have their own will, and weren't created by humanity in the first place, nor do they really need humans — they've just ended up on our planet by chance. Many of the Japanese titles for the various series do feature the phrase "Super Robot Lifeform".
  • The various Transformers anime tend to bring them much closer to a typical Super Robot show, with Transformers gaining incredible powers by merging with humans, using magic(!), or just gaining a lot more Wave Motion Guns, depending on the continuity. Though the first instance of humans as powerups were in the three-part Grand Finale of the American series. (The Marvel comic book really ran with it, and explored what it would mean to be thusly dependant on a partner, for the human/Nebulan and the Transformer.)
    • Most Super Robot quirks tend to be edited out in the English dubs - what was originally a Battle Aura summoned by Heroic Resolve becomes "I'm being surrounded by a forcefield! Is the Omega Lock doing this?" Fans generally refer to instances like this as "BURNING JUSTICE!"
  • "Optimus Prime, Super Mode!"
  • "Optimus Prime, Super Mode! Powerlink! Fire One, combine! Copter Two, combine! Digger Three, combine! Submarine Four! ^note  Optimus Prime Super Mode, Powerlink complete!"
    • The Transformation Sequences in Energon and Cybertron even have the Autobot or Decepticon symbol in the background with a final pose, much like so many robot series (and a few Tokusatsu.)
  • Speaking of weapons, weapons as part of the 'bot are almost standard. Sometimes they remain attached, sometimes they detach to become handheld weapons. Some have guns that don't store on them, and seem to come from hammerspace as needed. (The Japanese series, however, explicitly show them being summoned in a flash of light, based on the three instances of such in the Transformers: Generation 1 series.)
  • Most Transformers series fit with the Super Robot genre to various degrees, including the Western series and the Live-Action movie. However, Japan-made Transformers are full-fledged Super Robots.
  • Optimus Prime especially fits. He has a faceplate that slides into place in almost all incarnations, and some of his Super Modes have head-wings.
    • Then throw in combination. in Transformers: Energon, the drone vehicles he has and can combine with, and some of the attacks done with them (such as having them fly around him in a circle and amplify his attack to make a serious Beam Spam finisher - so awesome he naturally does it only once ever.) really scream "title robot of a Super Robot anime."
  • While no pilots, the TFs themselves call their attacks in the Japan-original series. Attack calls were even added in the Japanese dub of Transformers: Animated.
  • That isn't to say American incarnations of Optimus Prime are much better.
    • In Transformers: Prime and the general aligned continuity, Optimus is more of a Savior-like figure wielding an ancient holy sword against a warlord empowered by the blood of the God of Evil, and the mysticism of the series is heavily played up.
    • In comparison, Transformers: Generation 1 takes Optimus along the lines of a honest-to-goodness Superhero, with the classic "Brick" powerset of Super-Strength and Nigh-Invulnerability combined with the mentality of The Cape.
• An episode of ReBoot used a Super Robot. It was pretty much explicitly a parody of Power Rangers/Super Sentai.
• Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! should be self-explanatory. It's literally even called "The Super Robot".
• Dexter has a few of his own in Dexter's Laboratory. He later joins up with his family to form their own super robot, created by combining vehicles together similar to the Super Sentai series.