Mecha-Mooks: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
[[File:Battle_Droids_2_6155Battle Droids 2 6155.jpg|link=Star Wars|frame|Not squishy anywhere.]]
 
{{quote|''"If you are looking for an unstoppable army of killing machines unhampered by such weaknesses as mercy and compassion, robot warriors are for you."''
 
{{quote|''"If you are looking for an unstoppable army of killing machines unhampered by such weaknesses as mercy and compassion, robot warriors are for you."''|'''Neil Zawacki''', ''[http://evil-guide.tripod.com/ How to Be a Villain]''}}
 
In many American cartoon series, the extraordinary violence is blunted by having the [[Faceless Goons|nameless bad guys]] (or [[Mooks]]) be, in fact, robots. This allows the protagonists to [[What Measure Is a Mook?|dismember, mutilate, and otherwise wreck-up armies of faceless goons]], in a manner [[Family-Unfriendly Violence|unacceptable if said bad guys were squishy and red on the inside]].
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In many of these shows, a common sequence has the heroes fighting the mooks [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|as normal]], until one of them hits one a little ''too'' hard, [[Robotic Reveal|revealing]] it to be a robot. At which point, things [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|start to get really]], ''[[Good Thing You Can Heal|really]]'' [[Just a Machine|messy]], as the heroes [[The Unfettered|decide they don't have to hold back anymore]].
 
'''Mecha-Mooks''' are [[Strong Flesh, Weak Steel|surprisingly fragile]]. In extreme cases the heroes will demolish them with their fists. Mecha-Mooks go to the [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy]], since it would be awkward if the heroes had their brainstems [[Gun Kata|targeted perfectly by Mooks running a predictive kinetic model]] [[Computers Are Fast|much faster than real time]]. Still, to a certain type of pragmatic villain, there are advantages. They know no fear, never have moral dillemas about killing, never retreat nor surrender, and ''never'' question orders. Of course, they have trouble comprehending complex orders, rarely anything more advanced than "charge and attack", but it's relatively easy to build more of them (much easier than recruiting and training human soldiers) so long as you have the materials and [[Mook Maker]]s needed to, uhm, make more mooks. Expect them to be programmed to march in eerie unison using [[Marionette Motion]] (and in a pinch [[Summon Backup Dancers|provide back-up for dance numbers]]). Naturally, Mecha-Mooks have their own versions of [[Elite Mooks]], [[Mook Lieutenant]]s, and [[Giant Mook]]s. Some settings might even have a few [[Mook Medic]]s to repair (or salvage parts from) busted Mecha Mooks.
 
Two governing rules of Mecha-Mooks seem to be:
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This often is a form of [[Pragmatic Adaptation]] when the series is based on an earlier source which was more realistically violent, but showing that would invoke the ire of [[Media Watchdogs]]. When you've got an action-based children's show where [[Nobody Can Die]], expect Mecha-Mooks to pick up the slack. After all, they're [[Just a Machine|Just Machines]]. Should they ''not'' explode, then at the least you will see [[Eye Lights Out]]. On a related note, if they should be [[Hacking Minigame|hacked]] or reprogrammed their [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]] will have a [[Convenient Color Change]].
 
[[Anime]], has a second, more [[Humongous Mecha|literal]] type: [[Real Robot]] series' will usually have at least one class of [[Mecha]] that basically acts as [[Redshirt Army|the "Grunt" unit]] for the bad guy's army. This mech is usually simply constructed, probably with a basic ranged weapon ([[Gatling Good|machinegun]] or [[Frickin' Laser Beams|energy weapon]] or two, a close-combat weapon, and may have the option of carrying a [[BFGBig Freaking Gun|bigger gun]], depending on how much tougher the hero's armor is. These will act just like regular Mooks ''or'' Mecha-Mooks, depending on how much the writers want you to empathize with the enemy. There's usually a very good chance that the Hero's Rival will at least start out by riding in an [[Ace Custom]] version of this mecha.
 
The [[Playful Hacker]] is the deadliest threat to Mecha-Mooks, especially since villains tend to have [[Achilles' Heel| one computer]] that controls the entire army with no backup system in place and weak anti-viral systems in place, meaning a skilled hacker could shut down (or even reprogram) the entire army should he get in.
 
If one wants something a bit more up the ladder in terms of "kill-tasticness" and "[[Elite Mook|non-suckitude]]", look at [[Mechanical Monster]]. If you want the guy ''building'' the mooks, that's the [[Robot Master]].
{{examples}}
 
{{examples}}
== Anime &and Manga ==
* The multitude of (live) enemy troopers who would get mowed down in most episodes of ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman]]'' were [[Macekre|recast]] as [[Ridiculously-Human Robots]] in some of its various US incarnations (e.g., ''Battle of the Planets'').
* A subversion is featured in ''[[Texhnolyze]]''. The creepy white [[Death Ray]]-wielding Shapes appear to be Mecha-Mooks, but are in fact humans who have (voluntarily or otherwise) undergone full-body Texhnolyzation. Their heads, concealed beneath [[Cyber Cyclops|monocular faceplates]], as well as the rest of their organs, stuffed in a green cone in their chest, are all that remains of their original bodies.
* A subversion of this trope are the Pacifistas in ''[[One Piece]]'' {{spoiler|as they are cyborgs modified to be human weapons by the evil World Government, and they are anything but as just one of them took the Straw Hats everything they had to beat just one pre-timeskip.}}
* ''[[Star Blazers]]'' was infamous for, as an American adaption of anime, having enemy soldiers who were killed described as "robots".
* The Jovians employ millions of the suckers in ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'', ranging from drone scouts to automated [[Wave Motion Gun|Wave Motion Guns]]s, to the point where [[The Reveal|we don't see a live Jovian until halfway through the series]]. There are several reasons for this, including some justified [[Offscreen Villain Dark Matter]] and how the [[Teleporters and Transporters]] [[Applied Phlebotinum|Phlebotinum]] works, but mostly it allows the ship's mostly civilian crew to [[Stuff Blowing Up|blow stuff up]] indiscriminately, {{spoiler|and allow for drama when actual human enemies appear}}.
* ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' makes this a major plot point with the introduction of Mobile Dolls, mecha controlled by an AI program rather than a human pilot. Its introduction widens the pre-existing ideological fissure within OZ, between [[Worthy Opponent|noble-minded soldiers]] who hate them for dehumanizing war, and [[War for Fun and Profit|heartless war profiteers who love them for being good business]], which results in an outright civil war between the supporters of Treize (who is the former) and Duke Dermail (the latter).
* Jail Scaglietti's [[Anti-Magic]] Field protected Gadget Drones in ''[[Lyrical Nanoha|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]''. Precia also had her own small army of Mecha-Mooks protecting the Garden of Time.
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* Partially subverted in the ''[[Zegapain]]'' anime, as the Gardzorm seem to use animal-like mech designs against the main characters, when one is blasted open, they see that it's piloted. Later still, several altered humans are seen boarding the blue aerial Gardzorm mechs, though it's implied their level of awareness is significantly less than human.
* The Bugmechs from the ''[[Vipers Creed]]'' anime.
* Black Shadow uses them in the ''[[F-Zero]]'' Anime. You [[Player MooksMook|can actually race as them]] in the anime based F-zero climax.
* The Grimoire units from the ''[[Rideback]]'' anime.
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has the Tanaka-sans and the [[Spider Tank|Spider-mechs]] and all the other robots that made up {{spoiler|[[Mad Scientist|Chao Lingshen's]]}} Martian Robot Army in the Mahora Festival [[Story Arc]].
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== ComicsComic Books ==
* Spoofed in ''[[Tom Strong]]'', where Timmy Turbo realizes that "We can be as violent as we like with these teachers, because they're just ''robots''!"
* One of Lex Luthor's plans to take over the United States relied upon him unleashing a horde of GI Robots that were technically property of the US army. Since [[Superman]] was apparently dealing with Brainiac that week, [[Batman]] ended up taking out all except one -- thatone—that Bats had reprogrammed with the Geneva Convention. Really.
* Codified in an issue of ''[[Exiles]]'', when Mimic reflects that superheroes really, really love fighting robots for the sheer pleasure of unfettered destruction.
* The robotic aliens who hunt the title character in ''[[Omega the Unknown]].
* [[Doctor Doom]]'s Doombots--bothDoombots—both the [[Robot Me]] Doombots, and the more straightforward purple-and-gray Mecha-Mook Doombots. Oddly, the two designs rarely appear together in a story.
* [[Superman]] is one of the few ''good guys'' to keep a contingent of Mecha-Mooks, the Superman Robots in the Fortress of Solitude. In the Silver Age, he mainly used them as [[Robot Me|decoys]] to preserve his secret identity, and occasionally to pinch hit for him when he'd been incapacitated by Kryptonite or some such. A [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|bridge got dropped]] on the bunch of them in the [[Bronze Age]], but they were reintroduced in the [[Post-Crisis|modern era]] and occasionally appear in the present day.
* The minor [[Spider-Man]] villain Armada was a [[Robot Master]] who liked to build little flying robots to attack enemies with. The interesting thing is that he ''cared'' about their welfare, and would [[Berserk Button|freak out]] when they inevitably started getting destroyed.
* Through the law of [[Conservation of Ninjutsu]], The OMACs from ''Countdown To [[Infinite Crisis]]'' [[Badass Decay|fell from]] [[Killer Robot]] to [[Mecha-Mooks]] pretty quickly
* A major plot point in ''Savage'' from about 2007 onwards is the introduction of robot soldiers by both sides in the war. It began with the Allies deploying Hammersteins in Wales, which were so effective that the Volgans had to develop their own robots, the depraved Blackbloods, to compensate. These robots invert the normal rules of mecha-mooks by being much stronger and tougher than human soldiers, what with being made of metal and all.
* [[Moon Knight|Doug Moench's]] ''[[Electric Warrior]]'' had a [[Heel Face Turn|refomed]] Mecha Mook as the main character.
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== Films -- Animation ==
* Subverted in the feature-length anime ''[[Steamboy]]'' -- what—what appear at first to be combat robots deployed by the O'Hara Foundation turn out, to the horror of the Foundation's 13-year-old heiress, to be men in [[Power Armor]].
 
 
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* The Golden Army in ''[[Hellboy II]]''. Clockwork Mecha-Mooks that put themselves back together upon being destroyed.
* ''[[Iron Man (film)|Iron Man]] 2'':
{{quote|'''Vanko:''' [[Memetic Mutation|Dhrone bettuh.]]<br />
'''Hammer:''' What, why '''"drone better"'''? Ivan, I got an order for '''suits''', not '''drones!'''<br />
'''Vanko:''' [[Funetik Aksent|Peppol mek problum. Trhust meh. Dhrone bettuh.]] }}
** The problems so averted are threefold: 1. no longer a squishy thing in the middle of the machine, which Hammer's suit design proved it had a problem working with; 2. the recovered space can be used for more processing power and more ammo; 3. there is no cognitive dissonance when our heroes blow them up.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Classic]](1978 TV series)|The original ''Battlestar Galactica'']]. The Cylons were originally meant to be aliens in body armor, and were rewritten as robots to appease the censors. The remake calls them Centurions, and actually, they die at the same rate as fellow "skinjobs" a.k.a. the humanoid models. A similar fate seems to be with Raiders, until {{spoiler|it is shown, through Starbuck, that they are biological beings}}. Regarding Centurions, it turns out that {{spoiler|they have a personality and some degree of authority once they are freed from restrictive modules}}.<br />In the end, the Rebels {{spoiler|let them go off and find their own destiny, despite worries that they'll come back and try to destroy humanity. They think not, as they will most likely remember being freed and left to their own devices, rather than fighting their way out of slavery and still living with a plausible threat.}}
* About half of the time, the [[Mooks]] in ''[[Power Rangers]]'' are robots, including the Cogs (though the Putties of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|Mighty Morphin]]'' were actually golems). Robot or not, however, ''Power Rangers''' mooks are almost never shown to be killed, instead teleporting away once they have been incapacitated. ''[[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive|Operation Overdrive]]'' changes this, however, with a nearly unprecedented level of mook destruction, and at least one of the two sets of mooks are indeed alive. Quite a few Rinshi in ''[[Power Rangers Jungle Fury]]'' got reduced to purple dust, too. ''[[Power Rangers RPM|RPM]]'' goes back to having more durable grunts.) The same courtesy is seldom extended to the [[Monster of the Week]].
** In a bit of a retcon, Divatox's mooks in the ''[[Power Rangers Turbo|Turbo]]'' movie were quite clearly humanoids in fish-styled armor (we even see several of them with their faceplates off), but for the series, they've been downgraded to a non-humanoid fishlike race. The "tron" in "Piranhatron" suggests they're Mecha-Mooks, but they make squishy sounds when hit.
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* The Robot Santas from the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "The Runaway Bride" were robots under the control of the Queen of the Racnoss. They also appeared in "The Christmas Invasion", although there they were working by themselves.
** Also, while the Doctor might pay lip-service to [[Wangst]] over killing those poor defenceless rampaging armies of death that are Cybermen and Daleks, imagine the difference if organic beings were killed off in similar numbers. [[Fridge Logic|Despite the fact that, under the armour, they are organic beings.]]
*** For the record, he ''does'' regret killing even Daleks in some episodes, especially when said Dalek may be the last of its kind. This is in spite of them being [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil]] by design. The Cybermen, while organic underneath, have had their emotions and feeling removed because of the constant horrific and intense pain their existence entails. It could literally be seen as putting them out of their misery.
** The Second Doctor fought [[Doctor Who/Recap/S6 E1/E01 The Dominators|the Dominators]] and their army of Mecha Mooks, the Quarks. The spiky-faced little dudes seem to have made an impression: when the Time Lords put him [[Doctor Who/Recap/S6 E7/E07 The War Games|on trial]], the Doctor mentions the Quarks alongside the Daleks and Cybermen in his list of cosmic evils who need to be fought.
 
 
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]''
** Played straight with Tau Gun Drones, though they are only used in a supporting role to the living Tau Fire Caste soldiers.
** Imperial Servitors are this to any Techpriest. Their biological components are more or less used to support their technological ones, rather the other way around for conventional cyborgs.
** The Necrons aren't really so much [[Mooks]], as they are [[The Juggernaut|unstoppable]] torrent of an ancient [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|undead robot]] [[Determinator|determinatorsdeterminator]]s, marching at you like [[Made of Iron|unflinching]] metallic death.
* Unmanned combat drones are ''everywhere'' in ''[[Shadowrun]]''. From spy-cameras disguised as pigeons to robot tanks.
* These are the main troops of the genocidal human civilization Wreathe in [[Mortasheen]], all modeled after Pre-Cambrian creatures. In a subversion, these are usually more powerful than lower level characters.
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** There's also the terrifying Phyrexians, who are [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|zombie cyborgs]] who want to assimilate everyone.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (Tabletop Game)|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'': The aptly-named Meklord ''Army'' monsters from ''Extreme Victory'' are these for the Meklords, with the Meklord Emperors being, obviously, [[King Mook|Emperor Mooks]].
** The plotline of the "World Legacy" series is set in a post-apocalyptic future dominated by killer robots and features several archetypes for them.
* [[Dungeons and& Dragons]]
** ''[[Spelljammer]]'' got Clockwork Horrors - a [[Mechanical Lifeform]] acting as a [[Horde of Alien Locusts]]. Low-ranked ones are neither smart not tough, but they don't bleed, don't tire, know no fear, and all that.
** ''[[Eberron]]'' has an interesting variation with the Warforged. They were made to be this, but ended up developing sapience and now have to deal with integrating into a post-war society.
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** In the German version of ''[[Command & Conquer]] Generals'', the "real world" GLA soldiers were replaced with cyborg clones that bleed green. Referenced in ''[[AH Dot Com the Series]]'', which has The Germans (a mercenary group of recurring characters) use "Cyborg Robots with Green Blood" as their disposable muscle.
*** Most (probably all) earlier Versions of ''C&C'' did the same, with soldiers being cyborgs with black "blood" (supposed to be oil) and also cyborg guard dogs... even in the booklets the pictures of these units were crossed with a bar noting "top secret" so you couldn't see the faces... in the GAME itself tho those faces were still used as the build icons, so one must wonder what that was all about.
* The Novus in ''[[Universe At War]]: Earth Assault'' are a heroic example, a race of Mecha-Mooks [[Laser Guided Tykebomb|Laser Guided Tykebombs]]s working with the [[Ancient Astronauts]] Masari against the [[Planet Looters]] Hierarchy.
* The [[Starfish Aliens|Ceph]] from ''[[Crysis (series)|Crysis]]'' use an army of tentacled [[Powered Armor|exosuits]] and small man-sized octopus robots to take over the Lingshan Islands. They all explode upon death (with [[MacGuffin|one]] notable exception), but it has more to do with preventing humans from acquiring alien technologies than with dealing damage.
* ''[[God Hand]]'' has a great deal of robot enemies in the fourth level. They aren't too different from the regular type, but it helps emphasize the level's mechanical theme (as opposed to Western, wasteland, or circus, the themes of the preceding levels). The boss of the level is a mecha [[Giant Mook]], Dr. Ion.
* Disney's extraordinarily "kid-friendly" [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]] ''[[Toontown Online]]'' solely features an ever-replenishing army of robots as your enemies -- whomenemies—whom you destroy with ''jokes''.
* ''[[Super Smash Bros.]] Brawl'' has an entire army of Robotic Operating Buddies in Subspace Emissary, only they're anything but friendly -- armfriendly—arm swipes, missiles, and laser fire are the norm for them. They do have a measure of AI not seen in most Mecha-Mooks, as they are at least capable of expressing sorrow; {{spoiler|this is demonstrated when the Ancient Minister, the alpha R.O.B., looks down with regret before seeing two more disappear into the detonation of a Subspace Bomb.}} Nevertheless, the only one who {{spoiler|doesn't submit to Ganondorf's -- and subsequently Tabuu's -- reprogramming is the alpha himself, who becomes playable after the former villain sees it fit to have him punished for questioning authority.}}
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' has the Geth, an entire race of these. The sequel adds a series of cheap, mass-produced robotic security troops (called "Mechs" in-universe, natch), that are roughly on-par with an Imperial Stormtrooper in terms of intelligence and accuracy, though Imperial Stormtroopers never had robotic dogs and giant missile-firing robots backing them up. Unlike the Geth the Mechs do not use true AI, and may even be more in-line with the trope's definition as they do not think for themselves, are surprisingly resilient - blowing off a limb only slows them down, doesn't stop them (they actually have a taser-like device on their non-gun arm. Even if you take off its legs it'll still crawl towards you with the intent to self-destruct in your face. Usually encountered in hordes.
** The Geth themselves seem to be a slight subversion of the trope. They have a smooth organic appearance, bleed some sort of white blood-equivalent, give off odd electronic death-squeels when shot, and don't explode upon death. This doesn't stop the heroes from mowing them down by the score without batting an eyelid, however.
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* ''[[Dinosaur King]]'' has the Alpha Droids, who act as servants and guards for the Alpha Gang in the anime (often carrying out orders which lead to their own destruction), and as [[Random Encounter]] enemies in the DS game.
* There are quite a few examples in the ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' series, but the Mecha Koopa enemies from ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World]]'' onwards are the most obvious examples. Some other examples include the entire population of The Factory/Smithy Factory in ''[[Super Mario RPG]]'', Wizzerds in ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]] 2'' and Mechawfuls in ''[[Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]''.
* [[Mega Man (video game)|Dr. Wily]] and [[Sonic the Hedgehog|Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik]] are vilains [[Robot Master| who specialize in this sort of Mook]].
* One of the first signs you aren't in Kansas anymore with the last two ''[[Wizardry]]'' games is when your sword-and-sorcery party runs into their first Savant robot armed with a laser lance. Fully fledged battle droids also make an appearance towards the very end of ''VII''.
* Subverted and used in ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' series, as times goes on, it shifts from fighting human pilots (which most of the time will get a chance to escape) to battling AI versions of robots due to the bad guys sharing AI technology since manpower gets smaller with the huge killcount our men racks up in the battlefield. In the OVA, the ATX and SRX had discovered the shocking revelation of the Bartool's [[Powered by a Forsaken Child|ODE system]] and had concerns about killing more innocent captured civilians but during the final push later on, they were unmanned with no human core inside which allowed a more liberal course of destruction.
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* Many ''[[Transformers]]'' games have you fighting numerous generic or nameless enemy chassis (the Armada game, called simply "Transformers" in the states, coined them as "Decepti-clones"). Different from the TV shows in that every character shown was given a name.
* The [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]] part got a nice Lampshade Hanging in ''[[The Incredibles|The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer]]'', where Mr. Incredible spots the first robot enemies in the tutorial stage and quips, "I guess that means we don't have to play nice!"
* Without [[The Igor|Klungo's]] aid to raise her army of monsters in ''[[Banjo-Kazooie|Nuts & Bolts]]'', [[Big Bad|Gruntilda]] resorted to create her own band of [[Mecha-Mooks]] with the Gruntbots. Thanksfully, those crud-looking mechanical mischief makers are more a nuisance than a real threat to the bear and bird duo.
* ''[[SD Snatcher]]'' gives Gillian a large variety of Metal Creatures to do battle with.
* [[Serious Sam]] 2 has the Floaters, Spawners, Rollers, Rhino Cybertoys, Rocket Turrets, Fatso Fighter Planes, Seagull Bombers, and Giant Cyborg Spiders which are usually mixed in with the various other enemy types, primarily zombies, aliens, and bio-machines.
* ''[[Mini Robot Wars]]'' has the evil-looking Machines. Also inverted as the good guys units are also mecha mooks of sorts, except cute-looking.
* Sneaker and Spinner in ''[[FHBG]]''.
* Roughly half the Mooks in ''[[Lies of P]]'' are puppets, as in, [[Clock Punk]] automatons, much like [[The Hero| Pinocchio]] is here. In fact, ''all'' enemies are puppets until the Cathedral, where [[Our Zombies Are Different| Carcass enemies]] start appearing. The few human enemies are mostly bosses.
 
== Web Comics ==
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* Parodied in ''[[Ask a Ninja]]'', where the ninja says that [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evkMVb839Lc robots are no fun to kill.]
* ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' example: in "Ayla and the Great Shoulder Angel Conspiracy" and "Ayla and the Birthday Brawl", Team Kimba are going through a Team Tactics course. Their first 'pop quiz' is against robots and mechanical weapons. Their big 'invading the supervillain lair' simulation includes an armada of Mecha-Mooks. In neither of these are there tons of exploding robots, except where Tennyo and Fey unleash their powers.
* Doctor Infanto of the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' is a hyper-intelligent mutant toddler who commits crimes using remote-controlled [[Mecha-Mooks]] (among other high-tech devices).
 
 
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** Modern audiences may remember this as the Walking Eye from ''[[The Venture Brothers]]''. Walking Eye!
** Though in general the original ''[[Jonny Quest]]'' series [[Moral Dissonance|didn't have many problems killing off human Mooks]] as long as it wasn't ''too'' graphic, like the two frogmen crushed by the leaping motorboat in the title sequence.
* The original ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ]]'' cartoon turned the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage|original comic's]] Foot Ninja into a robotic army with unlimited numbers. In the Turtles' first battle with the Foot, they were evenly matched with the robot ninjas until one of them was sliced open. Then began the dismemberment.
* Heavily subverted by ''[[Samurai Jack]]'': although he only ever cut the Mecha-Mooks (or [[Demonic Invaders]]) with his sword, they always seemed to be [[Ridiculously-Human Robots]], either outside or internally ("veins" and "bones" in the interior of a roach-robot Jack cut in two, for instance). This allowed the show to get away with the [[High-Pressure Blood]] trope and other extreme scenes of carnage, because [[Symbolic Blood|it was just oil]]. ''Really.''
** Additionally subverted in one episode in which an episode is told through the perspective of a mecha-mook, and his very real, very human emotions are made painfully apparent to the viewer. Then he fights Jack and gets cut up like any other robotic malcontent.
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*** There's also the Terrorcons from the five-part pilot, robot zombies whose on purpose in unlife was to get gloriously dismembered by Optimus Prime and Ratchet.
* ''[[Duck Dodgers]]''
** The regular Mecha-Mooks, the Martian Centurions, are something of a subversion in any case, being [[Ridiculously-Human Robots|Ridiculously Human]] [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Villains]]s.
** In an episode, due to [[Applied Phlebotinum]] Cadet is transformed into a gruff, testosterone-fueled, hulking [[Action Hero]] and viciously blows up two enemy fighter ships.
{{quote|'''Dodgers:''' Uh..., those were just ''robot''-piloted ships, right?
'''Cadet:''' Yeah, "robots". ''(laughs maniacally)'' }}
* The ''[[X-Men (animation)|X-Men]]'' animated series as often as not had the titular heroes battling the robotic Sentinels and all manner of mechanical foes, rather than organic bad guys. Indeed, only two characters (good, bad, or background) are directly shown to die at any point in the series, and both eventually come [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]].
* Although most of the villains in ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'' are human, "The Last Laugh" featured a robotic henchman to [[The Joker]], called Captain Clown. In an interview, the producers admitted this was done specifically so that Batman wouldn't have to hold back in the fight.
** Another instance, with better in-universe justification, occurs in the second part of "Heart of Steel."
* ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]''. Hornets. Interestingly enough, the [[Robot Buddy]] protagonist is the target of more violence than any villain, [[Good Thing You Can Heal|since he's capable of being rebuilt from ridiculous amounts of damage.]]
* In ''[[Challenge of the Go Bots]]'', the "robot" protagonists are actually [[Brain In a Jar|cyborgs,]] living beings despite their mechanical appearance. However, the villains used nonsentient, inorganic [[Humongous Mecha]] called Zods which the heroes could destroy without any ethical quibbles.
* Both the 1970s [[Filmation]] animated ''[[Flash Gordon (animation)|Flash Gordon]]'' and the 1980s ''[[Defenders of the Earth]]'' gave [[Big Bad|Ming the Merciless]] armies of Mecha-Mooks. Interestingly, in the Filmation series, good guy [[Red Shirt|Red Shirts]]s would get killed all the time (usually a very tidy and bloodless disintegrator shot, or else an exploding manned vehicle). Presumably because killing people is, after all, what makes the villains ''villains''. The good guys got to fight Mecha-Mooks.
* Referenced in ''[[Darkwing Duck (animation)|Darkwing Duck]]'', a series famous for averting [[Never Say "Die"]] (at least in the earlier seasons, before [[Executive Meddling]] came in full force). In the first season episode "Bearskin Thug", villain Steelbeak's trained bear turns out to be a robot. Upon learning this, Darkwing says "Then I can take off the kid gloves!"
* The Brigadiers from ''[[Skyland]]''.
* ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' has a surprisingly wide variety of Mooks, but some definitely fall into this category. Slade's robots from the first two seasons are clearly there just to get blown up (though they serve the dual purpose of allowing him to [[Hannibal Lecture]] his enemies remotely from the comfort of his own home). Brother Blood in the third season uses human soldiers at first, but then switches over to [[Elite Mooks|Elite]] Mecha-Mooks based on Cyborg, which are actually quite tough, especially when there's a lot of them. In season four, the mooks are [[The Legions of Hell|demons]], which while not technically robots blow up just as nicely and painlessly. The fifth season, however, features [[The Chessmaster|the Brain]] using a pretty even mix of mechanical and human Mooks.
** Very nearly done in ''[[Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo]]'', too. In fact it would have been, had they been robots instead of living ink.
* [[Thundarr the Barbarian]] would often slice an enemy in half or lop off a limb, see the sparks and yell "Ookla! Ariel! They are ma chiiiiiiiines!" Note that lopping first is Thundarr's favored tactic, but he knows it would make a difference to ''Ariel'' -- who—who arguably packs more firepower than he does, if she doesn't hold herself back.
* Averted very subtly in ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers]]''. The Crown Agents look and sound like robots. However, they take bribes, argue, go rogue, scream and throw up their hands when their plane crashes into a tower, etc. More damning is that the Ranger [[Technopath]] Doc Hartford ''never'' used his powers against them, though he could subvert most any technology with ease. "Lord of the Sands" topped it by having Zach admit "''As far as we know,'' Crown Agents are some kind of robot..."
* Deuce's robot army in ''[[Loonatics Unleashed]]''.
* ''[[She-Ra: Princess of Power|She Ra Princess of Power]]'' was [[Depending on the Writer|inconsistent about this.]] In some episodes, the Horde Troopers appeared completely sentient, and were defeated non-lethally by the heroes. In other episodes, they didn't get any dialogue, and could be smashed to pieces without any compunction.
* In ''[[Re BootReBoot]]'', when Matrix and Turbo are confronted by some infected Guardians, Matrix asks if their drones "have personality chips". As soon as they heard a No, both of them shot the robots, destroying them easily.
* An episode of ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'' has the good guys reprogramming a trio of battle droids to aid them in infiltrating a Separatist prison. These droids seemed to [[Rule of Empathy|live much longer]] than ordinary battle droids by sheer virtue of being on the good side. However once the situation got dicey, these droids were promptly ordered to sacrifice themselves to buy time for their organic masters to escape.
* In ''[[Code Lyoko]]'', XANA's various monsters can count as the virtual version of Mecha-Mooks. They do appears robot-like the two times some are materialized in the real world. Then in season 4, the [[Big Bad]] is busy constructing a whole army of robots to conquer the Earth.
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* Dr. Robotnik's Swat Bots from ''[[Sonic Sat AM|Sonic the Hedgehog]]''.
* ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold]]'': Degaton's robotic army in "The Golden Age of Justice!"
* ''[[The Owl House]]''; the [[Our Homunculi Are Different|Abomatons]] are ''[[Magitech]]'' Mecha-Mooks!
 
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[[Category:Robot Roll Call]]
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[[Category:Mooks]]
[[Category:Villains]]
[[Category:Mecha-Mooks{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]
[[Category:Killer Robot]]