Humongous Mecha: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:mazinger-
{{quote|''"You dig giant robots
''I dig giant robots
''We dig giant robots
''Chicks dig giant robots"''
|'''Chicks Dig Giant Robots''', Opening Theme of ''[[Megas XLR]]''}}
''[[Humongous Mecha/Trope Co|This item]] is available from the [[Trope Co]] catalog''
Who needs an Abrams tank when you can have a 100-foot man-shaped robot with a [[Laser Blade|glowing sword]] and [[Rocket Punch|a fist that fires off like a missile?]] There's no argument - [[Rule of Cool|fighting robots are just infinitely cooler than ordinary vehicles]]. Whatever their shape, though, they are all known as "mecha".
The "mecha", or "giant robot", concept is ubiquitous in Japanese pop culture, and is more than adequately represented in [[Anime]]. Despite the name, the robots need not actually be "giant" - [[Mini
The giant robot genre is considered to be the creation of Mitsuteru Yokoyama, creator of ''Tetsujin #28'' (''[[Gigantor]]'') and ''[[Giant Robo]]'' (''Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot''). Both of these featured the early trope of [[The Kid
[[Yoshiyuki Tomino]] (''[[Brave Raideen]], [[Zambot 3]], [[Combattler V]]'') started out emulating Nagai. Wanting to write a serious war story but under contract to crank out robot anime, he finally said "let's watch both!" and created ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'', the first step toward the [[Real Robot Genre]]. In its wake, such series as ''[[Fang of the Sun Dougram|Dougram]]'' and ''[[Armored Trooper VOTOMS|VOTOMS]]'' refined the concept with robots that looked as though actual military people had designed and built them. ''[[Macross]],'' in this context, was merely the first anime to come up with transforming robots that still looked like reasonable examples of military hardware.
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In more "realistic" works, such variations as the [[Spider Tank]] and [[Powered Armor]] are more common.
See also [[Combining Mecha]], where the mecha is comprised in turn of smaller mecha or vehicles, and [[Transforming Mecha]], where the mecha transforms to and from another form. If a mecha is small but still piloted as opposed to "worn", it's a [[Mini
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==
* Several [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4ckJFNkra8 advertisements for the Citroën C4] feature the car transforming into a Humongous Mecha.
* There's also a Singapore Army ad featuring ''a Navy Cruiser [[Transforming Mecha]]''. Now that's what I call firepower!
* In the same spirit as the Singaporean ad, this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs88ebSAP5k commercial] for the Republic of China's army basically promises recruits that they'll get to ride mechas to combat.
* One Vonage ad showed a man using his laptop to pilot the walking machine he was riding, which consisted of an armchair and two stilt-like legs.
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''Tetsujin #28'', or ''[[Gigantor]]'' as it was originally known in North America, was probably the first "giant robot" anime imported to the United States. This black-and-white series was aired during the 1960s in many markets.
* [[Go Nagai]]'s ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' was the first series to feature giant robots piloted by humans, the convention which came to define the entire genre. It also created the [[Super Robot Genre]] as we know it, featuring, if not originating, many of the tropes that have come to be associated with the genre. The series, along with sequels ''[[Great Mazinger]]'' and ''[[UFO Robo Grendizer]]'', have been aired worldwide.
** The caption for the page image is in fact a good example of [[Hilarious in Hindsight]]. [[Go Nagai]], trying to come up with an idea for a giant robot story that wouldn't rip off ''Tetsujin'', was observing a gridlock one day when he mused to himself that the drivers in back must be wishing for a way to bypass those in front. From that idle thought came the concept of a man-driven robot, and the rest is history.
* The ''[[Gundam]]'' metaseries launched the [[Real Robot Genre]], and its dozen or so sequels, prequels, and [[Alternate Universe
** In ''[[Gundam Wing]]'', a bit of [[Justified Trope]] goes on for the humongous mechas in the series where Lt. Noin explains that the advent of the mechas came about when the Alliance wanted a physically intimidating weapon.
** Technically, both Transforming Mecha and [[Combining Mecha]] have been in most Gundam shows. Gundam, ZZ Gundam, V Gundam, V2 Gundam and Impulse Gundam all use the same principle, with being module based and all. Freedom and Justice can both combine with the METEOR Units, and Exia and Dynames both have the GN-Arms Type-E and Type-D respectively. 00 Gundam also had the 0 Raiser and Arios had the GN Archer. In the Gundam 00 Movie, the large backpack on Raphael Gundam turned out to be an upgraded Seravee Gundam, transformed into a giant weapons-platform.
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*** The humanoid configuration also allows the capital ships to use the ''[[Ramming Always Works|Macross]] [[Megaton Punch|Attack]]'' without compromising the firepower, safety, or maneuverability of the entire ship.
** It was intercut and dubbed with with ''[[Mospeada]]'' and ''[[Southern Cross]]'' by Carl Macek to [[Macekre|create the frankenseries]] that is ''[[Robotech]]''.
** Another mech that's particularly iconic to the series is the Destroid Monster, which has an appearance and speed that wouldn't look out of place in [[
*** Which itself can be considered as not looking out of place because in the early pre-1995 versions of Battletech, various mecha there were licensed<ref>incorrectly; it's a long story</ref> from anime, including Macross.
* ''[[Getter Robo]]'', the first transforming and [[Combining Mecha]], which also features some of the most humongous mecha in the medium. The mecha progressively increase in size and ridiculousness over the series, ending with the Getter Emperor which {{spoiler|stands over a freakin' ''galaxy''}}.
** On the other hand ''Freeder Bug'', also created by the late Ken Ishikawa has some of the ''least'' humongous
* ''[[Giant Robo]]'' is a descendant of a 1960s live-action series brought to the U.S. as ''Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot''.
* Subverted in [[
** Nevertheless, the final arc plays this straight when said robotics expert finally succeeds in making a working one. It's kind of justified in that by then it's been about {{spoiler|20}} years since the first time.
* ''[[Gasaraki]]'' attempts (amidst an incomprehensible mass of mysticism) to show a "realistic" view of giant war robots in a contemporary setting. The "Tactical Armors" of ''Gasaraki'' are not much larger than a main battle tank, require extensive support squads, and can have their joints fouled by blowing sand.
* ''[[Infinite Ryvius]]'' subverted this by having the characters burst into laughter when they first saw a giant humanoid robot because it seemed so impractical. Needless to say, they were proven wrong.
* ''[[Full Metal Panic
* As ''[[
** Jet Alone is this trope played straight.
* ''[[Parallel Trouble Adventure Dual]]'' gently parodies ''Evangelion'' and giant robots in general while still having an upbeat and entertaining plot. It features an [[Ordinary High School Student]] who gains [[The Unwanted Harem]] when he turns out to be the only male capable of operating a "Core Robot", an apparent [[Real Robot Genre|real robot]], but later updates to a [[Super Robot Genre|super robot]] similar in appearance to the mecha of Escaflowne.
* ''[[Eureka Seven]]'' also uses mecha similiar to ''Evangelion'', where the mecha are more than simple robots. The LFO and KLF units, as they are called, have a form of sky surfing applied to their operation. Additionally, the units are [[Transforming Mecha]], as most can change into land vehicles.
* The immensely popular ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'' not only features a battle mecha class called the "Aestivalis", but also incorporates a 1970s-style [[Super Robot Genre]] anime called ''Gekiganger 3'' as a [[Show Within a Show]]. "G3" is a clear homage to the early classic ''Getter Robo'', and manages to hit all the classic melodramatic cliches of the genre.
* The popular Japanese franchise ''[[Sakura Taisen]]'' employs not-so-Humongous mecha (only about
* ''[[Patlabor]]'' is likely the most feasible
* ''[[Soukou no Strain]]'', which, though it may not be what it seems, is certainly about mecha pilots.
* ''[[Utawarerumono]]'' has a nation composed of a religious minority who have giant mecha given to them by their god to defend themselves. Considering the rest of the world hasn't even invented gunpowder, this is probably overkill. {{spoiler|Then again, their god ''is'' a psychotic nihilist.}}
* ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]! GXP'': {{spoiler|the main character Seina, already the captain of his own ship, finds a giant mecha in a late episode, and after using it to trash a few pirate landcruisers, decides, "Ships are great and all, but real men need giant robots!" His giant robot also looks suspiciously similar to one from [[Parallel Trouble Adventure Dual|another anime from the same creator]].}}
* The leaders of the Nobuseri bandits in ''[[
* ''[[Sky Girls]]'' contains about every cliche in this trope, including female pilots wearing [[Latex Space Suit|extremely skin-tight and revealing g-suits]].
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' takes the "humongous" part [[Up to Eleven|to ridiculous extremes]], with each incarnation of the main mecha being [[Meta Mecha|piloted by the smaller mecha]]. The show starts with the [[Mini
* ''Gunbuster'' and its sequel ''Diebuster'' have Mecha even more Humongous than most- Gunbuster is hundreds of meters tall, and Diebuster is approximately the same height as the Earth itself.
** Probably worth noting that [[
* The Xephon from ''[[
* The Rune Gods in ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]'' take form of not just beastly creatures, but also
** This funnily creates a fan-wishing to include [[Magic Knight Rayearth]] in [[Super Robot Wars]], despite the difference in theme of story. Well, who wouldn't want to see Rayearth teaming up with, say, [[
* All of the
** In one episode in the ''Diamond and Pearl'' series, it was noted that Team Rocket stole various parts from a factory, which they used to build that episode's mecha. That seems to help keep their expenses down.
** They also occasionally mention buying cheaper "build-it-yourself" mechas online, especially in the Johto story arc. That's one explanation for why most of the mechas have at least one glaring weakness.
* Played with in an episode of ''[[
* The main villains in ''[[Scrapped Princess]]'' are capable of transforming into
* Mecha are part of the central conflict in ''[[Code Geass]]''. A one-sided war was won with them, and now they're being used to reclaim the country from [[The Empire]]. And in a case of [[Fridge Brilliance]], dodges the whole too-vulnerable-to-having-it's-legs-shot issue by adding [[Rollerblade Good|landspinners]], making the mechas [[Lightning Bruiser|too friggin' fast]] to target their legs accurately. Or in the case of the [[Super Prototype|Lancelot]], target the whole mecha accurately.
** Though most of them are [[Mini
* In ''[[Gad Guard]]'', the mecha aren't ''piloted'', per se. Rather, the person they "belong to" rides around on their shoulder, or some such. While some of them occasionally give their mechs orders (especially the villain), they tend to act on their own. In battle at least...
* The Armor Troopers from ''[[Armored Trooper VOTOMS|VOTOMS]]'' (Verticle One Man Tank for Offense and Maneuvers) are perhaps among the most perceivable (combat based) humongous mecha in real life. They are no taller than 4 meters, do not transform, don't fly, and generally don't have any unique powers. They are more like bipedal tanks than anything else.
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** Not to mention that the protagonist builds an AT from scrap parts several times over the course of the show. They're repeatedly shown as disposable and cheap.
* ''[[Geneshaft]]'' has a very weird mecha, which looks more like a set of cranes welded together to vaguely resemble a human outline. It is also totally unclear ''why'' it should look remotely human anyway, given its function in the story.
* Funnily enough, ''[[
* The ''[[Brave Series]]'' franchise is a series of mecha shows each starring a different Super Robot and their respective crews. They will often feature a pair of main characters, rather than a single one (usually a young boy and a grown man, who often serves as a big brother feature). By far the most famous of these is ''The King of Braves [[
* ''[[
* Ramrod from ''[[Saber Rider and
* ''[[Dai-Guard]]'' turns its focus on the giant robot's pilots and all of the red tape they have to cut through to save the world.
* The robots from ''[[Bokurano]]'' are freaking enormous. Zearth is ''half a kilometer tall'', and is estimated to be able to destroy the entire military forces of the U.S. in two days. They are also piloted by [[Recruit Teenagers
* Each of the different nationality random girls in ''[[Rizelmine]]'' has one, each almost more ridiculous than the last.
* The mecha in ''[[Irresponsible Captain Tylor]]'' seem to be specifically designed to subvert the "Humongous" part of this trope, in fact most of their pilots are huge and shown to be very cramped inside their mecha. The big butch leader is in a pink one. The general design of the mecha is similar to the squat egg-shaped ones found in ''[[Sakura Wars]]''.
* Even a series like ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has them (maybe [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink|the series is just like that]]). They were created using the [[Super Prototype|Proto Type]] data from a [[Sealed Evil in
** (Much) Later on, Haruna uses her artifact to create a life-size robot body for [[Cute Ghost Girl|Sayo]]. Of course, Sayo can only use the robot body by possessing a small voodoo doll and climbing inside the robot body and piloting it
* ''[[Zoids]]'' manages to buck the trend in giant robots by having its eponymous robots patterned after nearly every animal imaginable ''except'' humans. This ranges from tractors shaped like beatles to flying battleships that look like ''whales''. A recurring theme through the various editions of the franchise is that the hero tends to pilot a Zoid based on a large feline (usually called a "Liger"), while his [[The Dragon|rival]] pilots a robotic dinosaur.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Busou Renkin]]'' has an example in the form of Great Warrior Chief Shosei Sakaguchi's Busou Renkin, Buster Baron, which resembles a 57m knight armed with a pair of knuckle dusters and a jet pack and is capable of using giant forms of the Busou Renkin of alchemy warriors who are riding in it.
* The eponymous [[Escaflowne]] is a 20-something-foot-tall [[Magitek]] mecha that can transform into a dragon-mech.
* ''[[Zettai Muteki Raijin
* In a [[MAR]] Filler arc, a trio of sisters can summon their mecha 'Rotkappchen Waltzer'.
** Those with ghost
* The Deucalion(Mecha Form) in [[Kiddy Grade]]. Just watch the last 4 episodes(and mind the statistic of the Deucalion) then you'll understand why.
** 65.000 fucking kilometers (which should actually be 65 fucking megameters) in length. You can't go wrong with that.
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* The eponymous mecha of ''[[Galactic Whirlwind Sasuraiger]]''.
* One appears in ''[[Moonlight Mile]]''. It's tested underwater first to prevent the dangers of it falling over.
* ''[[
* ''[[Zeorymer]]''.
* ''[[Gaiking]]''.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Kirameki Project]]'' can be seen as an [[Affectionate Parody]] of the genre. This may be the only anime with a [[kawaii]] giant robot that carries a [[Handbag of Hurt|handbag]].
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* ''[[X-Men]]'' has the Sentinels, mutant-hunting Humongous Mecha. They started out small (when compared to Evangelion, [[Super Sentai]], etc.) but worked their way up to standard mecha size. Much worse (in terms of design impracticality) is that they were created in a "Master Mold," which is actually a much larger Sentinel. Since [[A.I. Is a Crapshoot]], Sentinels are known for getting out of their creators' hands in short order (Especially Master Molds, Sentinel-shaped factories which wouldn't ''need'' any decision-making ability.) The [[Literal-Minded]] AIs in fact point out their creators' fallacies - "Hunt mutants? You do know that humans are mutant monkeys, right? ''Humans'' are mutants."
** It seems the government types [[Genre Savvy|finally learned their lesson]], because lately, Sentinels tend to be standard Humongous Mecha - Sentinel-shaped vehicles piloted by humans. One character [[Lampshade Hanging|points out the irony]] when some of those human-piloted Sentinels are assigned to ''protect'' mutants; "[[Does This Remind You of Anything?|It's like a black man]] [[Don't Explain the Joke|being protected by a burning cross]]."
* Does anyone remember First Comics' ''Dynamo Joe''? (Sometimes scripted by [[Phil Foglio]].)
* The BGY-11 of ''[[The Big Guy and Rusty
* Back when Marvel had licenced Godzilla as a character, they also created the Red Ronin giant robot to fight him. Godzilla has faded away from the Marvel Universe, but the Red Ronin still shows up. Occasionally.
** In ''[[Earth X]]'', Tony Stark has secretly redesigned the Red Ronin into a [[Transforming Mecha]] that spends most of its time as his "Iron Avenger" factory. We don't know this till the end of the story (making Tony appear to be a useless recluse), when he pilots it into battle against the even larger Celestials, who are [[Energy Beings|energy being]] versions of the
* [[Iron Man]] also built one to fight Megatron in a crossover between the Avengers and Transformers. He also has his various designs of the Hulkbuster armor which approach this trope and [[War Machine (Comic Book)|War Machine]]'s satellite turns into this trope.
** Marvel also, for a short time, ran a Shogun Warriors comic, featuring the Super Robots ''[[Combattler V]]'', ''[[Brave Raideen]]'', and ''[[Dangard Ace]]''
* Kazu Kibuishi's [[
* Warren Ellis' ''Tokyo Storm Warning''.
* The Man-Robots from the Disney Comics story "The Giant Robot Robbers" by [[Carl Barks]].
* Jack Hawksmoor of [[The Authority]] can actually turn ''cities'' into
* The Guardians in Doug TenNapel's ''[[Gear]]''.
** Nothing quite like mecha being piloted by anthropmorphic cats who look like they could have easily been extras on ''Steamboat Willie''
* Doug TenNapel seems to like this trope, because he used it again in ''[[Ghostopolis]]'', where {{spoiler|[[Kid Hero]] Garth transforms into one.}}
* In the [[Crapsack World]] of the ''[[Kingdom Come]]'' series, an aged Batman fielding an entire army of computerized mecha is the reason why Gotham City, along with the [[Flash]]'s Keystone City (constantly patrolled by the Flash at ultraspeed), are the only two really safe places for a normal human to live.
* Though rare, giant robots do show up on occasion in ''[[Judge Dredd]]''. The majority are from Hondo City, appropriately enough.
* Whether [[Justice Society of America|S.T.R.I.P.E.]] is a
* In ''[[SHIELD]] Infinity'', the [[Weaponised Landmark|Colossus of Rhodes]] was a
* In the [[Crapsack Future]] of ''[[Give Me Liberty]]'', the "Fat Boy" fast-food chain uses a humungous mecha ''mascot'' in their war to raze the Amazon rainforest into farmland.
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Spaceballs]]'' has Spaceball One/Mega Maid, which is apparently so big it can take the entire atmosphere of a planet. It is also a [[Transforming Mecha]].
* The ''[[Star Wars]]'' AT-ST's and the AT-AT's are among the most visually distinctive mecha in popular culture.
** And then there's the Transformers: Crossovers toy line which features an AT-AT which transforms into a giant robot.
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*** The explanation is that the AT-TE was far to vulnerable to mines, being only a few feet off the ground.
** [[Things Mr. Welch Is No Longer Allowed to Do In An RPG|And remember,]] [[Rule of Funny|AT-ST soccer games]] [http://theglen.livejournal.com/89715.html are strictly against Imperial Army proctocols (668)].
* The live-action ''[[Transformers (
* Mechagodzilla and Kiryu from the [[Godzilla]] series. There are also Mechanikong, MOGUERA and Jet Jaguar (though Jet Jaguar [[Sizeshifter|doesn't start out humongous]]).
** Special mention should go to Mog(u)era, alien terror weapon of the eponymous villains in the 1957 film ''[[The Mysterians]]'' (''Chikyū Bōeigun''). It [[Ur Example|appeared on the big screen]] a mere year after Tetsujin-28 was first published and a full six years before the anime, and showed up again 37 years later in [[Godzilla|Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla]].
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* ''Matrix: Revolutions'': Humanity fights off a flood of enemy machines with 20' tall humanoid mecha. Hilariously, the pilots are almost completely exposed in the suits, making them pretty worthless once the machines get close.
** [[Word of God]] said that even with the armor, the machines tore through it like butter, meaning there was no point it keeping it there if it was just going to be useless anyway
* ''[[Robot Jox]]'' was a low budget western attempt to exploit this genre. In a dystopic future, wars are resolved by [[Duel to
* ''[[Alien
* Similiar in size to ''[[Alien
* The climax of ''[[District 9]]'' features a rampage by a highly mobile, heavily armored and DEVASTATINGLY well armed [[Mini
* A rare, non-humanoid example: in the 2005 version of War of the Worlds, it's revealed that the aliens piloting the giant tripods look like human-sized versions of their death machines, making them the extraterrestrial equivalent of humongous mecha.
* A giant [[Transforming Mecha]] appeared in the latest ''[[Terminator]]'' movie.
* The climax in ''[[We Are the Strange]]'' has a giant mecha fighting a giant monster.
* There is a giant robot that guards the gates to the Goblin City in ''[[
* The monstrous heroes of ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'' face villain Gallaxhar's enormous Robot Probe. The Probe withstands a military strike and destroys half of San Francisco in its conflict with the monsters before being destroyed by Ginormica. It's later revealed that Gallaxhar has an entire army of Robot Probes at his command, but when he orders them to destroy Ginormica, they end up [[Villain Decay|smashing into each other like dominoes]].
* ''[[The Incredibles]]'': The bad guy makes giant robots to destroy all the Supers, improving his design each time a super manages to destroy one.
* The Destroyer from ''[[Thor]]''.
== [[Literature]] ==
* ''Empire'', by Orson Scott Card.
** Built in secret by [[Strawman Political|evil liberal ''pacifists'']] to slaughter U.S Service personnel out of naked hatred for American men-in-uniform, no less.
* The ''[[Star Wars]]'' [[Expanded Universe]], again, features lots of big walking war machines aside from the AT-AT and AT-ST models.
* Perhaps,{{verify}} collectively, the {{spoiler|army of giant golems}} in ''[[
** Moist also introduces the idea of thirty foot killer golems, since "If you don't invent thirty-foot killer golems first, someone else will".
* The [[Sholan Alliance]] Series has a unique version featured on the cover of the eighth book. Apparently, it is also given some page time.
* William Keith's ''Warstrider'' series.
* The Martian machines from [[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]. They practically founded the genre.
** If [[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]] is almost certainly one of the key [[Trope
* The Evil Librarians of the ''[[
* [[Older Than Dirt]]: Parts of the Sanskrit ''[[Rig Veda]]'' appear to describe air-to-air missiles traded between flying mecha and floating cities.
* Most of the books by John Ringo have these.
* [[Dangerous Fugitives]] subverts this by having giant animal robots instead of giant human ones.
* Deconstructed by a simulated
== [[Live
* In live-action, giant transforming and combining mecha have been a staple of the ''[[Super Sentai]]'' franchise since its third installment, ''[[Battle Fever J]]'', having borrowed the concept from [[Japanese Spider-Man|a live-action Japanese adaptation]] of ''[[Spider-Man]]''. Yes, ''that'' Spider-Man.
** Later installments of the franchise (from ''[[Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger]]'' onwards) would be adapted into ''[[Power Rangers]]'', which terms all its mechas as "Zords" and the combined forms "Megazords".
** The absolute biggest would have to be [[Gosei Sentai Dairanger|Daijinryu]]/Serpentera. To make it clear: Dairenoh/Thunder Megazord is 54 meters tall and Daimugen/Tor the Shuttlezord is 95 meters. Daijinryu/Serpentera is ''500 meters'' long and ''345 meters'' height when standing. We once got a distant shot of Serpentera standing in the city, and buildings were about the size of one claw. If it were to lie down, its head could be downtown and its tail could be ''in a suburb''. In franchise history, its size has yet to be topped.
* ''[[
** The K-1 robot from ''Robot'' eventually grew into one of these?
* [[Double the Fist]] gives us the shortlived Depot in Series Two.
* The Swiss-army knife that is Drago from [[Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad]], which manages to fit every category (excpet 'mini...' but then again, they're [[Cyberspace|inside computer systems]], so maybe it counts, too!) It can [[Transforming Mecha|transform from plane to dragon and back]], [[Combining Mecha|combine with Servo]] to make Phormo, [[Detachment Combat|split to make Tor and Jam,]] and Jam alone can transform into the Dragon Cannon to be used by Servo. The toy probably had to be a freakin' jigsaw puzzle.
** If anything, its counterpart, Xenon, was the jigsaw. Vitor folded about 8 billion different ways depending on whether you wanted it in jet form, Xenon form, or Synchro (Servo combination) form. Borr, the [[Drill Tank]], split into 4 different parts to make Synchro's shoulders/fists, and to change Tracto from Xenon's legs to Synchro's you basically had to turn it inside-out. Adding insult to injury was the fact that not only that did its Xenon form hate staying together, but that it looked like a really lousy [[Transformers|Optimus Prime]] knock-off.
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
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* ''Brick Bradford'' faced a remote-controlled robot about ten stories high in ''Brick Bradford and the Metal Monster'' (02/13/1939–03/16/1940).
== [[Music]] ==
* Parodied in the Beastie Boys' "Intergalactic" video.
* The [http://youtube.com/watch?v=QAFXayH1bpY video for Jason Forrest's 'War Photographer'] features a pair of humongous mecha. That transform out of giant robots. Crewed by vikings. Who battle it out with the power of rock and roll. No, seriously. And you know what? It's ''awesome''.
* [[Linkin Park]]'s video for "Pts.OF.Ahrty" features CGI
** There are also the videos for [[Mobile Suit Gundam|"Somewhere I Belong"]] and [[Transformers Film Series|"New Divide"]].
* Whore Moans and MC Frontalot have a song, "Mecha Mechanic", that is an ode to a giant robot.
* An army of giant robots is [[Doctor Steel]]'s back-up plan for world domination, if the whole "domination through entertainment" idea doesn't pan out.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* The classic western Humongous Mecha RPG is ''Mechwarrior'', the role-playing side of the ''[[BattleTech]]'' tactical miniature games. Both series feature everything from [[Powered Armor|3-meter tall battle frames]] to hulking 25-meter tall Humongous Mecha, and even had [[Transforming Mecha]] before their botched design licensing contract fell through with [[Harmony Gold]]. Originally created by FASA Corporation in 1984, it was sold to [[Wiz Kids]] in 2000, and has been owned since 2003 by Topps.
* Possibly the ''weirdest'' Humongous Mecha RPG is the [[Dungeons & Dragons]]-based [[Steampunk]]/[[Magitek]] crossover ''[[Dragon Mech]]''.
* Combining [[Cthulhu Mythos]], [[Macross]], [[Guyver]] and [[Neon Genesis Evangelion]], you get ''[[Cthulhu Tech]]''. Irony, while it's even more weird than ''Dragon Mech'', it has too much [[Captain Ersatz]] and thus not as unique.
* ''[[Exalted]]'''s Warstriders.
** Also, high-Essence Alchemical Exalts...until they turn into ''cities''.
*** Also also Hellstriders. They're made of demons.
* Every race in ''[[Warhammer
** It's been said that an Emperor Titan, built to scale with the actual Space Marine figures, would be the size of a 10-year-old. Anything large enough to take down an Emperor is probably large enough that if a model was ever made, with a bit of work with power tools you could wear it to a tournament.
** It should be noted that the Imperial Guard has specialist tanks designed for anti-Titan work. Shadowswords are armed with a [[BFG|Volcano cannon]], which is itself a Titan gun. Titans are somewhat less impressive when a tank on the ground vaporises one of its knee joints...
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20130921050918/http://www.the-waaagh.com/forums/?showtopic=22057 Here's a size chart for the most popular huge Ork vehicles.] This is only a guideline, not a limit.
* Even ''[[Dungeons
** Some golems can get pretty humongous, as well, in particular the iron, mithral, and adamantine golems. However, the biggest autonomous constructs are undoubtedly the colossi, 100-foot tall humanoids of stitched flesh, hewn stone, or cast iron, only ever created by the mightiest wizards.
** Dating back the the first edition Dungeon Master's Guide is the Mighty Servant of Leuk-o, something of a giant mecha which is controlled from a cockpit containing something like [[Billions of Buttons|one hundred unlabelled levers]], each with a different function.
*** Also in old D&D, an obscure module called "Earthshaker", which was set in and around a gigantic dwarf-crewed robot.
* D&D's sister product, ''[[
* ''[[Heavy Gear]]'', which features smaller robots than [[
* ''[[Rifts]]'' features a wide variety, from the Triax Devistator which can ''step on'' things up to the size of a two-story house, to designs such as the Ultimax and Terror Trooper which stand about twice the height of a man and blur the line between powered armor and mecha.
** And the famous Glitterboy, which is fairly small for a mecha but has to use built-in drills to secure itself to bedrock in order to not fall over from firing its ground-to-orbit "Boom Gun" railgun.
* ''[[GURPS]] Mecha'' gives players the wherewithal to design and build <s>just about any of the above concepts</s> every example on this page and then some. Of course, some finds that doing this results in a quite startling mix of Tech Levels for any but the simplest battlesuit (quick note: GURPS Mecha defines a "battlesuit" as powered armour where the pilot's arms and legs extend into the suit's arms and legs. A "mecha" is piloted from a cockpit. So the Iron Man armour is a battlesuit, while an AT-AT is a mecha).
** The ''Pyramid Magazine'' adventure for ''GURPS [[Discworld]]'' "A Little Job For The Patrician" features a ''Discworld'' Mecha. Based (of course) on a design by Leonard of Quirm, adapted by a brilliant Agatean nobleman whose [[Theory of Narrative Causality|narrative causality]] tends towards anime tropes, and powered by five trolls. The trolls even go through an [[Invocation]] as the thing assembles ("Other leg troll, put it together!"), although since they're trolls in a warm climate, it's possible they'd forget which one went where otherwise.
** The mix of [[Technology Levels|Tech Levels]] makes sense. Steel (TL 3) is still quite common as a building material today (TL 8).
* ''[[Mekton]]'' is a tabletop RPG that is meant to run just about any humongous mecha. Admittedly, there is ''no'' size scale for something on par with the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, bust still...
** Ahem. Excessive scale. Page 113.
** The scaling system in ''Mekton Plus'' is used to build five main scales of vehicle (of pretty much any kind): 1/10 (human), 1/5 (roadstriker - motorbikes and cars), 1/1 (Imperial Guard tanks, Gurren Lagann, most [[Transformers]]), 10/1 (really big combiners, mecha that turn into buildings for concealment, Dai-Gurren, Imperial Titans, the Millennium Falcon), and 100/1 (the [[Space Battleship Yamato]], the Transformer Metroplex, Arc Gurren-Lagann). There are rules to expand this scaling system to take care of "mecha bloat", so you might use a 1000/1 or [[Over Nine Thousand|10000/1]] scale to build a moon-sized structure like the Cathedral Terra or Unicron, or a 1/100 scale to build Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. Excessive Scale is reserved for the really, really unbelievably big things...as written, it would be used for Unicron and up, but for a TTGL-style game, it's probably best to reserve it for light-year scaling. And, of course, you can invest in huge amounts of [[Telescoping Robot|Expanding Plasma]] to turn your Optimus Prime figure into a galaxy-sized war engine.
* The ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'' supplement ''Mecha & Manga'' has a chapter devoted to creating your own
* The satirical game ''Macho Women With Guns'' had an enemy called BattleWarMechBots.
* The [[Iron Kingdoms]] game ''WARMACHINE'' is overflowing with mecha.
* The [[Fun
* ''[[Dust]]'' combines this with [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler]] and [[Ghostapo]]. Nazis find a [[Cool Ship]] while drilling for oil and adapt the tech into mechs, flying wing planes, bio-engineered cyborg gorillas, and zombies.
* In ''[[Magic:
**
* ''[[Adeptus Evangelion]]'', [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|obviously]].
== [[Toys]] ==
* ''[[LEGO Exo-Force]]'' is [[LEGO]]'s incredibly [[Animesque]] foray into the genre, a take on the standard tropes and themes of a Humongous Mecha series.
* ''[[Bionicle]]'': Mata Nui is a [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann]]-sized robot containing the entire "Matoran universe" within himself. It was inhabited and piloted by a "Great Spirit", also named Mata Nui, who was exiled by [[Big Bad|Makuta]] when he committed [[Grand Theft Me]]. Makuta apparently had plans to use this new body to conquer the universe, but they... [[Killed Off for Real|kinda fell through]].
** During his exile on Bara Magna, {{spoiler|Mata Nui has found an older giant robot of nearly the same type, an early prototype for his former body, which the inhabitants had used as a shelter without knowing what it was. Mata Nui retrieved its power source, reassembled it, and activated and inhabited it to confront the approaching Makuta. [[Curb Stomp Battle|It kinda didn't work]].}}
* Kotobukiya's [https://web.archive.org/web/20131110004233/http://fa.kotobukiya.co.jp/ Frame Arms]. The background story provide that the Frame Architect was originally suppose to be labor machine in grand scheme known as Project Re Sphere. After ten years of trial and error, they finally get Frame Architect 001 which can mimic human movement perfectly and can be used in all environment by swapping parts. Unfortunately, Project Re Sphere doesn't get launched and Frame Architect instead got turned into weapons known as Frame Arms by various nations.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* The ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' video game francise is based on the Battletech/Mechwarrior pen and paper/miniatures universe.
** The orginal ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' game takes place at the end of the Third Succession War.
** ''[[Mechwarrior]] 2'', ''[[Mechwarrior]] 2 Ghost Bear's Legacy'', and ''[[Mechwarrior]] 2 Mercenaries'' deal with the events immediately before, during and immediately after the Clan Invasion of the Inner Sphere.
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** ''[[Mechwarrior]] 4 Vengence'', ''[[Mechwarrior]] 4 Black Knight'', ''[[Mechwarrior]] 4 Merrcenaries'', and ''[[Mech Commander]] 2'' all deal with the Federated Commonwealth Civil War.
** A new ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' game, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orhOvbfyyJw with preview video on YouTube], returns to the Third Succession War, assuming it actually comes out.
** ''[[Mechwarrior
* The ''[[Heavy Gear]]'' video games are based on a Pen & paper game universe published by Dream Pod 9. ''[[Heavy Gear]]'' and ''[[Heavy Gear]] 2'', published by Activision in 1997 and 1999, were developed after Activision lost the rights to the [[Battletech/Mech Warrior|Mech Warrior]] series. ''Heavy Gear'' primaraly features powered armor, which called "Gears" in-universe, but it also features larger mechs, called "Striders."
* ''[[Starsiege]]''
* The entire premise of the [[
* A Humongous Mecha in the form of a {{spoiler|giant monkey}} is used in an epic battle ([[That One Boss|Unfortunately in one of the]] [[Scrappy Mechanic|worst puzzles]] in a [[Monkey Island]] game) at the end of ''[[Escape
** But [[Guide Dang It|if you know what to do]], you can win really easily by {{spoiler|1=repeating LeChuck's lines three times}}.
* ''[[
** ''[[
*** There seems to be something of an arms race near the end of the game as to which side can bring out an even bigger giant robot that, for whatever reason, they didn't bring out sooner to an extreme advantage. Eventually, we get to [[SDGY 4]] and Fort Hurricane, each of which is the size of large ''cities''.
** In ''[[
** ''[[Xenoblade]]'' continues the tradition. There's an entire ''god'' who fits the trope. The setting of the game takes place on the two gods, so it constitutes for roughly half of the game's landmass.
* The Steel Kossack from early PSX video game ''Krazy Ivan''. As the trope description says, it approaches the line between Power Armor and this trope; the eponymous Ivan controls it by doing the actual movements himself. This one falls straight into this trope, however, as the Mecha is far larger than a human.
* ''[[Live a Live]]'' gives us Buriki Daioh, a giant ancient Babylonian giant robot. It appears in the Near Future chapter expressly for the purpose of stomping tanks, shooting lasers at airplanes, shooting missiles at larger airplane aircraft carriers, and punching {{spoiler|an animated bird statue that is threatening to devour the world in a wave of liquefied human hate.}} (video game edition!)
* ''[[Super Robot Wars]]''/Taisen and [[Another
** Size actually is a factor in combat calculations. When units with two different sizes are fighting, the bigger mech will gain defense and attack bonuses, while the smaller mech will gain evasion and accuracy bonuses. However, some attacks, like a [[Wave Motion Gun]], can bypass these bonuses.
** These also feature in [[Spin
* The [[Visual Novel]] ''[[Demonbane]]'' feature both mundane ''Destroyer Robot'' and [[Magitek]]-based ''Deus Machina''. While the eponymous Demonbane is 50 meters tall, the form it take in prequel novel, ''Gunshin Kyoshuu Demonbane'' ([[media:demonbane-
* ''[[Metal Gear]]'' in all its stomping, nuke-launching incarnations. There's always a rationale (a missile platform which isn't limited to normal terrain) but the series makes light of the implausability anyway. Implicitly, as REX from ''MGS'' was designed by a brilliant but eccentric otaku, and the rest of the world has been caught in a REX-pirating arms race ever since. Explicitly in the prequel ''MGS3'' when the idea of a walking tank is openly derided.
** The fourth game {{spoiler|1=even features a fight between Metal Gears, with Snake piloting REX from ''MGS1'' against Liquid Ocelot in RAY from ''MGS2'' This is the only time the Metal Gear series has actually allowed you to ''pilot'' a Metal Gear.}}
** In ''[[Dune|Emperor: Battle for Dune]]'', one of House Atreides' mechs bears a suspicious resemblance to REX.
* Also of note is Hideo Kojima's ''[[Zone of the Enders]]'' series, which plays it straighter.
* ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'' portrays mighty [[Anachronism Stew|samurai general]] Honda Tadakatsu as a
** Also, giant war machines usually in the style of AT-ATs are occasionally fielded as Mini-[[Bosses/Elite Mook|Elite Mooks]], especially if the enemy commander is Chosokabe Motochika.
* The Giant of Babil (spelled as Babel in ''[[
** Easier to determine in the 3D DS remake. One of the Dwarves' ''tanks'' barely reaches to what would be the Giant's ''toe''.
* The various incarnations of Alexander in the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series seem to be built out of enormous castles which were then modified into mobile robots. The first iteration, in ''[[
** And, also in ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
** The second reference is made by one of the personality types for the player's NPC ally, who muses about how the legs, head and body of a secret weapon could be hidden under three of the larger features of three of the cities (A chapel, a giant tree and a tower).
* Not to be outdone, ''[[
* Goemon Impact of [[Ganbare Goemon]]. People tend to remember him by his [[Image Song]], which begins with a shout of '''"DA-DA-DASH!"''' (He's actually an alien that just happens to look like a robot. ''All righty, then...'')
** Don't forget, of course, that Impact is also an international movie star that wears roller sandals and shoots bullets out his nose. No, really. [[Rule of Cool|And why, you ask?]]
* The ''[[One Must Fall]]'' video game series was designed as a fighting game where hundred-meter tall robots remote-controlled by people smacked the [...] out of each other for profit.
* [[
** They are all trumped by the April Fools unit known as the Terratron, a unit that consists of a bunch of Terran buildings combined into a Super Robot sized killing machine that makes the Thor look tiny. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100408005945/http://www.starcraft2.com/features/terran/terratron.xml Terratron, terrorize!]
* The ''[[
** The Burning Crusade expansion for World of Warcraft also introduced the Fel Reaver, which is essentially a giant steampunk robot powered by demonic energy. And they are ''terrifying''.
*** The goblin-made shredders are giant robots primarily used for chopping down trees, but are also more than capable of chopping down people.
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*** Also, Mimiron's final form.
* In the final battle of ''[[Fallout 3]]'', {{spoiler|there is nothing quite as awesome as watching Liberty Prime stride purposefully towards the Jefferson Monument, crushing Enclave power armor troopers underfoot, vaporizing others with eye lasers, and tossing miniature nuclear bombs like footballs, all the while loudly proclaiming that death is better than communism}}.
(* Not to spoil anything but the [[Big Bad]] in ''[[Fallout|Fallout: Tactics]]'' uses robots, including ones that qualify as
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQn7ImLSook Quadraxis] from ''[[Metroid]] Prime 2: Echoes''. That is all.
** The Mogenar of Bryyo from ''[[Metroid Prime]] 3: Corruption'' count as well. Yes, you even fight one.
* The mechs in the ''Crusader'' series of video games aren't ''humongous'', per se, but they can get bigger than any human and pack some serious firepower. Also, the end boss of ''No Regret'' wears a battle suit that appears to be about ten feet tall.
* In ''[[Command
** {{spoiler|Shogun Executioner, which has three legs, three torsos, 6 arms, three heads, 3 lightning katanas, and heals itself when attacked with Tesla weaponry}}!
** Slightly less awesome are smaller Mecha Tengu, which are in essence [[Macross|Valkyries]] designed to look as a 50s jet fighter, Striker VX, chicken walkers that transform into helicopters([[Transformers]], anyone?), and Steel Ronin, [[BFS|Wave Motion Glaive]]-armed Humongous Samurai Mecha. Which somewhat resemble those from [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]. What, Gundams suddenly became less awesome, judging from the complete lack of Gundam ripoffs?
** Or the Nod Redeemer, an Avatar on steroids with the added ability to cause a [[Hate Plague]].
*** There's also CABAL's Core Defender that appears in ''Tiberian Sun: Firestorm''. It makes Mammoths Mk. II look puny, its [[BFG
* [[Metal Fatigue]] is an RTS built on this trope. There are non-mecha units, but even the one designed specifically against mecha is pretty much useless against decently armored models.
* In ''[[
** Most walkers in ''[[
*** It should be noted even the LIGHT 'mechs', such as the UEF Mech Marines, are the height of full grown spruce trees.
**** The community eventually worked out that 1 'unit' in the first game is about 19.5 meters. The aforemntioned Mech Marine, the smallest unit in the game, is 1 unit tall. The ''smallest thing in the game'' is ''bigger than your house''.
* ''[[Tech Romancer]]'', an obscure Dreamcast fighting game featuring humongous mecha inspired by super robot and real robot anime series. Did I mention that this game is in english? [[Rule of Cool|It doesn't get any better than this, folks]]!
** To clarify- The game's in English, but all the vocal sounds are in Japanese. Even better!
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls
** ''[[The Elder Scrolls
* Most of the [[Big Bad
{{quote|
** [[Recurring Boss|The Thugs 4 Less leader]] in Going Commando uses ''two''. {{spoiler|[[Up to Eleven|The second one makes the first look tiny by comparison.]]}}
** {{spoiler|Dr. Nefarious, in his appearance in [[A Ci T]], refrains from it.}}
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* Surprising no one's mentioned the Xbox game ''[[Steel Battalion]]'', which required a massive controller with tons of buttons costing $200 which was supposed to resemble the cockpit controls of the Humongous Mecha.
** ''[[Steel Battalion]]'' is pretty much a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for video games. It's also pretty [[Nintendo Hard|hard core]]. One of the controls is a red ejector button that flashes when you take critical damage and is covered with a lift up cover. If you don't eject in time ''your saved game is wiped and you have to start the game again''.
* ''[[
* [[Sonic the Hedgehog|Dr Eggman]] really loves these, and will usually be riding one during the non-Super final boss portion of each game.
** And then there's the Gaia Colossus (do golems count?), which is made from ''temples''! I couldn't [...] this one if I tried.
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** At the end of the first game, Joe upgrades it to ''Great Six Majin'', who is big enough to circle the earth in a few strides.
** Things get truly ridiculous in the second game, where Six Majin and Great Six Majin combine to form ''6x6 Majin'', who is bigger than the ''planets'' (its fist is only a few times smaller than the Earth). This is itself a counter to the final boss' ''Black Kaiser'', which is ''bigger''.
* ''[[Metal Wolf Chaos]]'', though some would argue it is more of a [[Mini
* You never actually fight Dist himself in ''[[
** Likewise in ''[[
** Don't forget the recurring enemy Murder and his ilk, who range from dog-sized [[Spider Tanks]] to full-blown mecha that reach to the top of the screen.
* A steam-powered mecha appears in the fourth chapter of ''[[Limbo of the Lost]]'' to save the day.
* The first part of the final boss in ''[[Disaster: Day of Crisis]]'' turns out to be {{spoiler|an experimental mechanised war machine, complete with arms and a missile launcher. It look like Evans had stolen a Metal Gear. Though, the designers were actually sensible enough to protect the cockpit... Doesn't stop Ray from taking it out, though.}}
* ''[[
** Chromehounds. Just as much, if not more customizable, with the major difference between it and the Armored Core series being about 300 MPH. Loved/hated because of it's speed, it places mecha combat in a more realistic (all things being relative) setting, keeping the focus on blowing stuff up while changing the game from "fly fast and [[Shoot Everything That Moves]]" to a more tactical game. Squads that fail to utilize the different role types and don't have an effective commander quickly find themselves scrap metal.
** During the Neroimus War, each nation has its own "Unidentified Weapon" that acts as a superboss to help out a country on its last legs. The Sal Kari Unidentified Weapon, the Ghalib, is about 210 feet tall, but has a maximum height of around 330 feet when it opens up its [[Macross Missile Massacre|heat-seeking missile silo]]. A large ACV squad accompanying you, seeing this silo, [[Oh Crap|open fire]]. The Ghalib not only receives virtually no damage from their combined attacks, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNDjnLBc0nI but then proceeds to wipe them all out with a single salvo.]''
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* ''[[Power Dolls]]'', unusual in that authors both [[Justified]] it (colonists weaponized a line of power loaders to defend themselves) and considered tactical problems: first, there ''is'' beyond-visual-range action, but stealth "shields" shorten the detection range, big target or not; second, PLD got lesser [[Hit Points|Endurance]] than a main battle tank (60 X3A/75 X3AC vs 70 M43T/90 M58T) and thus have to use good tactics relying on artillery support, stealth and slightly better sensors.
* In ''Road Runner's Death Valley Rally'', the [[Final Boss]] is the "Solid Tin Coyote" from the episode of the same name. Real [[Nightmare Fuel]].
* The [[Ray Series]] has Humongous Mecha... in ''ship-based'' [[Shoot
* In ''[[Universe At War]]: Earth Assault'', the Novus heroes Mirabel (a [[Human Alien]] with a tatoo on her head) and Victor (Her powered armor with an AI package) tower over the human sized [[Mecha
** There's the Hierarchy's ''[[War of the Worlds]]''-inspired walker units, which also serve as their production structures. They are heavily armed with guns that fire plasma projectiles the size of small cars for standard weapons, and be customized with more guns like those, anti-air guns, heavier, bigger guns, and the ability to bring in different units. They are the apex of the [[Mighty Glacier]], they are so big that they can crush most anything, including structures, but they are the slowest units in the game. The Hierarchy's units as a whole as the slowest, but their walkers move at a snail's pace even compared to them.
* In the ''[[Civilization]] IV'' mod ''Next War'', you are able to build Juggernauts, the second most powerful unit (behind Dreadnoughts) in terms of raw Strength, which are basically walking tanks. The Civilopedia lampshades how impractical mechs are compared to regular tanks, but notes that the world's militaries poured tons of money into them because [[Rule of Cool|they're just too cool.]]
** The Mod [[Fall From Heaven]] has the
** ''Civ V'' has Giant Death Robots if you reach the Future Era.
* The ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' games have several: one serves as the final boss in the first, and the third has two: one that wraps up [[Three Act Structure|the first act]], and one that is as ''big as a freakin' city'' serves as the final boss.
* Megaleg in ''[[
** Although not in terms of design, there was King Boo's Bowser mech in [[
** Similarly, in ''[[
** In the second game, there's a giant humanoid robot called Megahammer (according to Mario Wiki) with multiple Bullet Bill/rocket launchers fought as a boss, as well as a smaller version of Megaleg (Digga-Leg) to be defeated using the drill powerup.
* In ''[[No More Heroes]] 2: Desperate Struggle'', you go up against a football player and his horde of [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|assassin cheerleaders]] who pilot one of these... with your own
* In ''[[Mass Effect]]'', among other bad boys, you fight a "non organic" species called Geth, {{spoiler|the mobile plataforms that house programs (concept revealed in ''Mass Effect 2'')}} that range from small sentry turrets, to Humongous spider like mechas that are almost imposible to kill without a tank.
** {{spoiler|The Human Reaper}} in ''[[Mass Effect]] 2''.
** ''Mass Effect 3'' has Reaper Destroyers, small Reapers used for ground assault. Yep, "small". [https://web.archive.org/web/20140807101447/http://cdn.gamerant.com/wp-content/uploads/Mass-Effect-3-Reaper.jpg This is how big they are.] {{spoiler|It also turns out the Reapers themselves qualify; they're capable of moving around on a planet's surface as squid-shaped mecha taller than skyscrapers.}}
*** In ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', Cerberus soldiers sometimes use large Atlas mechs, which are outfitted with rocket launchers, a scaled-up shotgun, and can one-hit-kill anyone in melee range. If your aim is sharp enough, you can kill the pilot without destroying the mech, then ''[[Gundamjack|commandeer the mech for yourself.]]''
* ''[[Evil Twin:
* Hope from ''[[
* This is one of the monster types available in ''[[Crush Crumble and Chomp]]'', most notably Mechismo.
* Towards the end of ''[[Enslaved:
* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]''s [[Magitek|MagiMechTech]] MechaMech: ''"It fires a torpedo at you. A pink torpedo. KAWAIII!! I mean, OW!"''. It's more of a [[Mini
* ''[[
** ''[[
* The golems in ''[[Wild
* Sanae and Cirno's respective story lines in [[Touhou Project|Unthinkable Natural Law]] (12.3) involve them chasing after a huge human-shaped shadow, which Sanae believes to be a giant robot. Subverted at the end of Sanae's story though, when you find out that {{spoiler|it is actually the [[Title Drop|Hisoutensoku]], which is a large steam-powered mannequin that lacks the ability to move freely.}}
* ''[[Vanquish]]'' is crawling with these.
* Two of the eponymous monsters in ''[[War of the Monsters]]'', [[Super Robot|Ultra V]] and [[Real Robot|Robo-47]].
* ''Musha [[Aleste]]'' and ''Robo Aleste'' are mecha-based [[Shoot
* ''[[Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army]]'' has the Soulless Gods Oumagatsu and Yasoumagatsu, Taisho-era dreadnoughts retrofitted into towering, bipedal monstrosities which ''still'' happen to be very heavily armored and loaded with enough cannons to level cities and thermic rays. The main flaw of the model? It requires ''absurd'' amounts of spiritual energy to work, and once cut off them, the organic parts just melt.
* Not a mecha so much as being a cyborg, but [[Asura's Wrath|Asura]] {{spoiler|Becomes a Planet sized Cyborg mecha with a mecha fin styled jet pack for the final battle against Chakravartin. [[Moment of Awesome|It is awesome.]]}}
* The cool [[Cabal]]-like arcade game ''Alligator Hunt'' by spanish developer Gaelco features large mechas during the first stage. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS0IceCaLPo See here (jump at 2:00)]
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Xuan, R2, and Sanna discover that their guardian is a mecha in this [https://web.archive.org/web/20120527100838/http://www.between-two-worlds.net/story/comic.php?id=214 page] of [http://www.between-two-worlds.net Between Two Worlds]. Xuan then becomes the mecha's pilot.
* [[Web Comic]] subversion: In ''[[Mechagical Girl Lisa A.N.T.]]'', the A.N.T is a Humongous Mecha... [[Mobile Suit Human|for ants.]] To a human, it looks more like a [[Powered Armor]].
* In ''[[Megatokyo]]'', the police cataclysm division (which ''facilitates'' cataclysms like 'zilla, zombie, and alien attacks, as long as they are done in an orderly fashion) employs mecha. They turn out to be less effective than robot-girl Ping.
* In [https://web.archive.org/web/20101213193715/http://bukucomics.com/loserz/go/297 this] ''[[Loserz]]'' strip. [[Rule of Fun|Just for fun]], in this case.
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' parodies this a few times, most notably in the [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily
** Torg thinks their machines [[Transforming Mecha|transform]] into humanoid mode at all because they'd [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20010712 rather] have each unit [[Walk the Plank]] on a glorified space barge than build proper catapults.
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' has plenty of them, given that Sparks ''love'' to build stuff like that.
** The first time that Agatha is without her [[Restraining Bolt]], she builds one out of spare engines and parts ''in her sleep''. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20030307 It leads Baron Wulfenbach straight to her door.]
** An even better example might be the Duke D'Omas' [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20031201 Walking Gunboats]. Which are, well, [[Exactly What It Says
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080523 Medical Mecha]
* Molly's [http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20090811.html robot lion] from ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]].''
* [[Chicanery]] has the might of [[Weird Al|The 2000"]] [[Mystery Science Theater 3000|TV's Frank.]]
* Sarah Bryant's alien robot [[Adrastus]].
* Jayden and Crusader has a [https://web.archive.org/web/20120102140635/http://www.jaydenandcrusader.com/2010/05/28/page-155/ steam powered mecha] flying a giant Union Jack
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111113105017/http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive//20070821c0p028.jpg War golems] in [[
* The Gyeoknoho in [[Panthera]].
* ''[[Galactic Maximum]]
* In ''[[
* ''[[Titanzer]]'', the main character's robot and title of the webcomic.
* ''[[
* ''[[Kiwi Blitz]]'' has these for war and sport, though none of them so far were humanoid - the protagonist drives, well, a fancy ''kiwi bird'' built for stunts, and the only true military model shown was an "[[Spider Tank|arachbot]]" - 8-legged armored box with [[Invisibility Cloak|cloaking device]] and a few missile bays and gun/missile pods.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* ''[[The Impossible Man]]'' dedicated an entire chapter to a giant robot called, The Clipperstein Mark 100 Version Beta II X Turbo.
* The [[Homemade Inventions|prototype]] in ''[[The First Run]]''.
* Neutro from [[
* ''[[Ilivais X]]'' is basically a mecha anime in [[Web Serial Novel]] format, using both [[Real Robot]] and [[Super Robot]] influences. The eponymous mech (and the others like it) are more streamlined and shiny and just futuristic in general than other examples present.
* 'Tiny Tim' in the [[Whateley Universe]], which the inventors are still working on, since - in keeping with real physics - it is so big it can't take a real step.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWBKSO4DvWk&feature=PlayList&p=94EFCEE0E015C827&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=51 Code Guardian], set during [[WWII]], has a giant German mecha duke it out with a giant American mecha as the former tries to destroy a naval ship yard only to have {{spoiler|a giant Japanese samurai mecha show up at the end}}.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Transformers]]'' and the various series showcase a Western version of the archetypical transforming mecha. It's especially notable because unlike the usual mecha show, there are no pilots or crew to be the stars - the mecha themselves ''are'' the stars, being sentient robots.
** It has been speculated that the on-and-off popularity of ''Transformers'' in Japan is because it lacks pilots or other very important human characters... usually. When annoying kids are put in, the American fanbase, which is much larger and more consistent, shudders.
** The Japanese versions of ''Transformers'' appear to support the theory that giant transforming robots without pilots are alien concepts in Japan. While the Western series give reasons for their alternate modes (disguise, protection from radiation, etc.), the Japanese series, such as ''[[Transformers Armada]]'', generally disregard them-although, as the series exist to advertise toys, they transform anyway. This reached ridiculous heights in ''[[Transformers Energon]]'', where the Transformers, capable of flying around in space in robot mode, transform and ''drive in space''.
** Something else to be noted is that, even in a show of humongous mechas, some of them were EXTREMELY humongous. There was Sky Lynx and Omega Supreme, who were overshadowed by the fortress-bots Metroplex and Trypticon, who were in turn dinky compared to the city-bots Fortress Maximus and Scorponok. To say nothing of the Chaos Bringer, Unicron, or the Transformers' creator god, Primus, who are ''freaking planet-sized Transformers''.
* ''[[Voltron]]'' was, for a time, the best-known example in America. It was a [[Macekre]] of two fairly obscure shows, ''[[
* [[Cartoon Network]]'s ''[[Megas XLR]]'' is possibly the best Western parody, with an alien robot from the future crash-landing in a [[Joisey|New Jersey]] junkyard, where the main character, Coop, buys it for two bucks... which he never actually pays.
* Parodied occasionally in ''[[
* Parodied in ''[[
** Parodied again during ''Action''. Harold and Beth have to fight in ones during the Kung Fu challenge, but they turn out to be very simple, giant versions of Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots with Duncan and Courtney controlling them.
* As another American example, ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' had too many mecha count, probably because its creator is an anime fan. These are normally possessed by their enemies, especially the Delightful Children from Down the Lane, who have a seemingly inexhaustible supply. However, Numbuh Three (who is, incidentally, of Japanese descent) has her own mecha, Hippy Hop ([[Killer Rabbit|A robot bunny]]). Then again, Hippy Hop [[The Worf Effect|never seems to get the chance to do anything]] [[Running Gag|each time it's deployed]].
* In one episode of ''[[South Park]]'' Chef's giant plasma TV transforms into a humongous mecha at the end and goes on the rampage.
** In another episode of ''[[South Park]]'', ''Barbra Streisand'' transforms into a humongous mecha and goes on the rampage. However, it's not a not humanoid but a godzilla-like machine. The word 'mecha' is used in the episode to describe Ike, who's merely giant and not mechanical in any way.
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** Let us not forget the Mobile Oppression Palace.
** Or giant Bender in "What if" episode.
* ''[[
** And in ''[[Batman:
* Leave us not forget ''[[Mighty Orbots]]''.
* ''[[Insektors]]'' had Koa the Frog/Operation Frogbucket, which resulted in an army of giant mechanical frogs.
* ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]: the Series'': [[Punk Punk|Clock Punk]] inventor Mechanikles must have read this entry, because most of his giant mecha are based on arthropods. One exception was a
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' has plenty of giant mechas. Examples the robot from the pilot, the robots from [[The Movie]], the robots from the [[Grand Finale]] and a big flamingo.
* Parodied in ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]'': Brain and his archnemesis Snowball the hamster are battling in their robotic human disguises when suddenly Snowball's suit transforms into a
* In an homage to Lex Luthor's [[Powered Armor]], resident [[Rich Bitch]] Alexis apparently built her own (relatively small) mecha-suit on ''[[Legion of Super
* The Lizard Slayers in ''[[Godzilla:
* ''[[Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!]]'' is about a kid and a bunch of robot monkeys who ''live'' in a Mecha.
* Parodied in ''[[The Venture Brothers]]''. Season 1's "The Trial of the Monarch" features Hank & Dean's fanciful retelling of a battle with the Monarch in which they become "Mecha-Shiva". Season 3's "The Lepidopterists", Jonas Jr.'s team form a Voltron like mecha to take on the Monarch.
* ''[[Rugrats in Paris]]: The Movie'' features a Humongous Mecha Reptar.
* [[Wakfu
* On ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', [[Mad Scientist|Heloise]] has several, including a spider-shaped one [[Fluffy the Terrible|named Angela]].
* ''[[Ratatouille]]'': Remy uses Liguini as a biological version of this.
* ''[[
* Episode 19 of ''[[Generator Rex]]'' reveals that {{spoiler|Rex can turn into one.}}
** In "End Game", {{spoiler|The Meta enhanced Consortium can merge into one.}}
* The Eager Young Space Cadet gets one in ''[[Duck Dodgers]]''.
* Cartoon Network's ''[[Sym
* In the short cartoon ''[[DC Super Friends]]'', [[The Joker]] gets one.
* ''[[Sushi Pack]]'': Kani built one out of [[Bamboo Technology|bamboo]], but since the Pack are bite-sized themselves, it's only as big as a normal human.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Some kind of weaponized excavator would come pretty close to a more feasible version of the same concept, as demonstrated on one double-length ''[[Scrapheap Challenge]]'' special (albeit with smaller excavators then you'd need to really be this trope). Summary [https://web.archive.org/web/20141117055839/http://www.qwizx.com/jyw/specials/aliens/artillery.html here.]
* A company called Boston Dynamics developed a [[Spider Tank|four-legged]] [[Mini
* Though not a military vehicle, the civilian-made, [[Spider Tank|six-legged]] Timberjack Walking Machine probably deserves a mention. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2V8GFqk_Y\]
* Carlos Owens, a former army mechanic, spent four years and $25,000 to build an 18-foot tall steel mecha. [http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-05/man-machine No, really.]
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[[Category:Anime Fan Speak]]
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[[Category:Killer Robot]]
[[Category:Mecha Tropes]]
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