Mechanical Beasts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mazinger mecha | |
| Mechanical Beasts |
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| Creator | Go Nagai |
|---|---|
| Weapons | Varied (rays, missiles, blades, acids, sound waves, drills, swords, axes, bombs, invisibility, supersonic flight, etc.) |
| Construction | Steel |
| Energy Source | Atomic |
| Mazinger Mechas | |
The Mechanical Beasts ("kikaiju") , also known as mechanical monsters or mechanical brutes, were the evil mecha from the Mazinger Z anime and manga series, created by Go Nagai. Almost all of them were created by Koji Kabuto's nemesis, Dr. Hell. They were varied in shape and weapons, and even though many times they were no match for Mazinger, some of them represented a terrible threat since they usually featured advanced characteristics that their opponent only acquired as the story developed, such as the ability to fly. They served as Monsters of the week for the series.
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[edit] History
During an expedition to the Greek Insland of Bardos, ruins of the ancient Mikenese Empire are found. Among these ruins, the expedition team discovers wrecked giant automatons that once served the inhabitants of the island as protection against invaders. Amazed by them, they rebuild them, without noticing that one of the scientists in the team, Dr. Hell, had secretly implanted remote control devices on the machines. Seeking to use them to achieve his dream of world domination, Dr. Hell commands his newly acquired golems to kill the entire staff of the expedition so that he can prepare his next steps without intromissions. The robots succeeded in slaughtering all the scientists (by burning them with fire they spat from their mouths) but one, Dr. Juzo Kabuto, who scapes as he hears Hell's promise to find him and kill him.
After some time, Dr. Hell has created his own monsters and is ready to begin his worldwide take over. But before this, he orders his servant Baron Ashura to find and kill Dr. Kabuto. During the time Hell got his army ready, Kabuto had been working to develop a robot to counterpart the evil mechas, Mazinger Z. Baron Ashura commits his duty and blows his house into pieces, leaving him barely alive. Only moments before his death, he is able to tell his grandson, Koji, about Mazinger. From this moment on, Mazinger faces one beast after the other for the rest of the plot, until chapter 92, when, weakened by the last battle against Dr. Hell, he is defeated by Gratonios and Pilanias (in the OVA Mazinger Z Vs. The Great General of Darkness he is defeated by the attack of several warrior beasts).
[edit] Characteristics
The mechanical beasts, unlike Mazinger, were made of steel rather than Super-Alloy Z (one of Dr. Hell's aims is to obtain some of this alloy to build a monster that could face the enemy in equal conditions; eventually he will achieve this in chapters 56-57 of the anime). This made them more vulnerable, so other gimmicks had to be developed. Being Dr. Hell brilliant, he was able to give his robots sophisticated weapons (all kinds of rays, missiles, blades, acids, sound waves, drills, etc) as well as making them capable of outdoing MZ by flying or manoeuvre underwater way before he could do it.
Another difference is that except rare occasions (Dayma U5, Blogun G3) the monsters are not piloted, but remote controlled. Stronger T4 and the Megaron siblings could also be piloted.
At one point (Chapter 68), Dr. Hell is out of ideas and has to make an alliance with Archduke Gorgon. Many of the following beasts are not of Hell's making, but part of the Mikenese Warrior Beasts ("youkikaiju") Armies (which would later be shown in all of their monstruous splendor in Great Mazinger). These are different from the regular mechas Mazinger had faced since they are partly made of organic pieces and have relatively more power. Ryne X1 (Chapter 61) was not created by Hell either, but by Dr. Heinrich, one of his ex collaborators. This particular mecha is also unique since it is formed by two parts: the regular giant robotic body and a cyborg (Lorelai, Dr. Heinrich's "daughter") that eventually merges with the beast and acts as its "brain". Bicong O9 was originally a mini-robot created by a child, Ashura turns it into a giant mecha thanks to a special rifle that increases the size of objects.
Minerva X (Chapter 38), a female mecha created by Dr. Kabuto, was built by Dr. Hell using the blueprints he had stolen from Kabuto's house, and because of this is credited both as a good and evil robot. However, Minerva's attacks were controlled by Ashura; without his influence, she acted as a companion for Mazinger and fights alongside him, until Hell orders her destruction for turning against him.
Even though the beasts are just machines, in some chapters they show some level of autonomy in their actions; this is the case of Spartan, who refuses to fight (chapter 14), Faizer (the large one), who disobeys Ashura's indications to aid the smaller Faizer (chapter 53), and Jenova, who commits suicide to preserve its "honor" when defeated by Mazinger (chapter 66).
Dr. Hell's creations' names were always formed by the name itself and the combination of a letter and a number (except cases such as Zaila and Danchel). Gorgon's beasts in the Mazinger Z chapters sport a Greek letter and a number, those shown in the Great Mazinger chapters have no letters nor numbers after their names.
[edit] Transportation
Though many of the beasts were able to reach their destination by water or air, usually they were launched from one of the fortresses built by Dr. Hell; the submarine Salude and Bood (commanded by Baron Ashura) and the flying Gool (commanded by Count Blocken). These provided storage and supplies for the robots during battle, transportation for Hell's infantries, submarines and tanks and also featured powerful weapons, such as bombs, proyectiles, rays and typhoons.
[edit] Mechanical Beasts Gallery
These are the beasts that appear (sometimes repeatedly) throughout the manga, anime TV series, Mazinger OVAs and Mazinkaiser OVAs. Some of the names may vary according to the translation. Even though technically some of them are not mechanical beasts but warrior beasts (such as Gusios and Elefans), they are listed here since they appeared in the Mazinger series and are usually grouped as mechanical beasts.
[edit] Manga
[edit] Anime
 Chapter 01/02 |
 Chapter 01/02 |
 Chapter 03 |
 Chapter 04 |
 Chapter 05 |
 Chapter 06 |
 Chapter 06 |
 Chapter 07 |
 Chapter 08 |
 Chapter 09 |
 Chapter 10 |
 Chapter 11 |
 Chapter 12 |
 Chapter 13 |
 Chapter 14 |
 Chapter 15 |
 Chapter 15 |
 Chapter 16 |
 Chapter 17 |
 Chapter 18 |
 Chapter 19 |
 Chapter 20 |
 Chapter 21 |
 Chapter 22 |
 Chapter 22 |
 Chapter 23 |
 Chapter 24 |
 Chapter 25 |
 Chapter 26 |
 Chapter 26 |
 Chapter 26 |
 Chapter 27 |
 Chapter 28 |
 Chapter 29 |
 Chapter 30 |
 Chapter 31 |
 Chapter 31 |
 Chapter 31 |
 Chapter 32 |
 Chapter 33 |
 Chapter 34 |
 Chapter 35 |
 Chapter 36 |
 Chapter 37 |
 Chapter 38 |
 Chapter 39 |
 Chapter 40 |
 Chapter 41 |
 Chapter 42 |
 Chapter 43 |
 Chapter 44 |
 Chapter 45 |
 Chapter 46 |
 Chapter 47 |
 Chapter 47 |
 Chapter 48 |
 Chapter 49 |
 Chapter 50 |
 Chapter 51 |
 Chapter 52 |
 Chapter 53 |
 Chapter 54 |
 Chapter 55 |
 Chapter 56 |
 Chapter 56 |
 Chapter 57 |
 Chapter 58 |
 Chapter 58/59 |
 Chapter 60 |
 Chapter 61 |
 Chapter 61 |
 Chapter 62 |
 Chapter 63 |
 Chapter 64 |
 Chapter 65 |
 Chapter 66 |
 Chapter 67 |
 Chapter 68 |
 Chapter 68/69 |
 Chapter 70 |
 Chapter 71 |
 Chapter 72 |
 Chapter 73 |
 Chapter 74 |
 Chapter 75 |
 Chapter 76 |
 Chapter 77 |
 Chapter 78 |
 Chapter 79 |
 Chapter 79 |
 Chapter 80 |
 Chapter 81 |
 Chapter 82 |
 Chapter 83 |
 Chapter 84 |
 Chapter 85 |
 Chapter 86 |
 Chapter 86 |
 Chapter 87 |
 Chapter 88 |
 Chapter 89 |
 Chapter 90 |
 Chapter 91 |
 Chapter 91 |
 Chapter 92 |
 Chapter 92 |
[edit] Mazinger Z Vs. Devilman OVA
 Zaurus F1 |
 Bragger S1 |
 Demonger J5 |
 Mantes K9 |
 Barbados F7 |
 Scarald B7 |
 Headhawk M3 |
 Baian S2 |
 Bazin B9 |
 Barias B5 |
 Burimas W5 |
 Magudas J9 |
 Ghostarn V10 |
[edit] Mazinkaiser
 Croc-Diver O1 |
 Toros D7 |
 Tobitante |
 King Gordon |
[edit] Toys & Games
Over the years, the Mazinger enemies have been translated into many toy formats, like the Jumbo Machinder line. Some of the most recent versions feature the two most iconic robots, Garada and Doublas, for the Soul of Chogokin series (models GX-26 and GX-25) and the Fewture Models Garada Action Figure. Illustrations of a Doublas Action Figure from this series had also appeared, but to date (September 2006) no model has been produced. The most popular monsters appear in trading cards and video game.
[edit] Mechanical Beasts versions
Many of Mazinger's enemies were only featured in the manga versions at first, and most of the remaining ones suffered modifications when ported to the anime. Some of them, that were not included in the TV series, appeared in the Mazinger Vs Devilman OVA. The mechanical monsters featured in the Mazinkaiser OVAs have a more manga influenced style, and many of them resemble the original versions of the characters more than those in the TV series. Also, for the first time, some beasts that previously had only be included in the manga, made it to an animated version. Recently, a new Mazinger-related saga was released, Mazinger Angels, with Aphrodite A, Diana A, Minerva X and Venus A as protagonists and the classic mechanical monsters as enemies.
[edit] Trivia
In some translations the Greek Island the beasts were from is not Bardos but Rhodes. This island apparently had a tradition of mechanical engineering, and the Antikythera mechanism is thought to come from there.
