Super Prototype: Difference between revisions

[[File:gunnerkrigg-superprototype.jpg|link=Gunnerkrigg Court|frame|Left: Seraph 1. Right: Seraph 13.]]

 

 

 

A question that often comes up is ''why'' the super prototype is so, well, ''super'' compared to the production model. The typical reason given is that the production model is far cheaper or easier to make in large numbers. Sometimes, the technology that makes the device so much more powerful is [[Black Box]] tech (although one wonders why a prototype of a future possible design would include tech the mass-produced versions would never be capable of including), and thus not easily replicated. Or the technology in the prototype is difficult to use, thus ''requiring'' an [[Ace Pilot]] to operate, while the later models are less powerful but stable enough for normal soldiers to use. Mass-production models were likely made (in the grand tradition of military equipment) by the lowest bidder, who cut corners wherever possible. But mostly, it just lets [[The Hero]] be [[Rule of Cool|that much more awesome]].

 

A specific instance of [[Older Is Better]]: the prototype came first, so it is better than all that came after it. The [[Opposite Tropes]] is the [[Flawed Prototype]]. A closely related trope is the [[Ace Custom]]. See also [[Bigger Stick]].

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'' usually averts this, with the production models being built up from the prototype's capabilities. It's used in ''[[Macross Zero]]'', though, where the prototype VF-0 Phoenix was head-and-shoulders above conventional aircraft and managed to win by [[Transforming Mecha|surprising]] the enemy pilot. On the other hand, maintenance was a helluva nightmare, even compared to the Tomcat.

** The majority of ''[[Macross Plus]]'' consists of a contest between two super prototypes (YF-19 and YF-21) competing to be the new mass production model. This is actually a realistic portrayal of the prototyping system; similar contests have actually occurred in real life.

* The police protagonists on ''[[Patlabor]]'' had three prototype AV-98 Ingram mechs. One episode focused on the introduction of a mass-produced line of Ingrams, subverting the trope a bit in that the prototypes weren't exceptionally good so much as the mass-produced ones were exceptionally shoddy. Also, other kinds of mass-produced police and military mechs are shown to be close in quality to the Ingrams.

** The first film has the Type Zero which was supposed to be an advanced replacement for the AV-98. It proved to be a fearsome opponent in melee combat against other labors and when it was overtaken by the Babel virus, it completely mopped the floor with Ohta's Ingram and Noa barely managed to subdue it. Seeing as the Type Zero wasn't seen in the subsequent films, it can be assumed that the design was abandoned.

* Ram-Dass in ''[[Soukou no Strain]]'' is an illegally made mecha where the Union only condones standard issue. Because Sara saved them in it, it's explained away as a "prototype" to anyone that asks. Her brother's Gloire, on the other hand, is an [[Ace Custom]].

* Remarked upon in ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', in reference to the [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Grappals/Gulaparls]] compared to the Gurren Lagann:

* ''[[Code Geass]]'' features several super prototypes, [[Lensman Arms Race|progressing in power with the times.]] Supplementary materials explain the backstory of KMF development, where they were literally putting pieces together just to see how it worked.

* Appears as an [[Unbuilt Trope]] in ''[[Mazinger Z]]'', the archetypal [[Super Robot]] series. Mazinger Z was lacking a lot of its special features at first and regularly had to be upgraded and re-outfitted with new equipment. At the same time, the manga introduced the Mazinger Army, a trio of weaker robots each designed to wield one of Mazinger's distinctive weapons. All three made minor appearances in the ''[[Mazinkaiser]]'' movie, and {{spoiler|all three were destroyed, with only Million Alpha putting up any kind of a fight}}.

** And it was also averted in ''[[Mazinkaiser]]'': Shin Great Mazinger and Mazinkaiser are explicitly stated to be the finished models, their predecessors are the prototypes.

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' does strange things with this trope. Units 00, 01, and 02 are referred to as the prototype unit, test unit, and production unit, respectively, but they're functionally identical in operation. ''[[End of Evangelion]]'' features "mass produced Evas" that are superior in basically every way, but aren't really a refinement of the original Evas so much as the same underlying technology taken in a different direction.

** Also used straight when the {{spoiler|[[Gradius|Vic Vipers]]}} make their debut, it is marketed as cheap, much better and more heavily-armed alternative to the Sonic Divers that the titular characters use, and hence, is mass-produced. Not only it really is underperfoming in comparison, the best thing it can do is act as support rather than replacement. It actually even gets beaten by an old, conventional fighter piloted by the show's [[The Ace]] in the end, and ''it's a two-against-one battle''.

* ''[[Metal Armor Dragonar]]'' plays with this a bit. The beginning of the series shows the Dragonars as a set of stolen super prototype units, but their pilots are inexperienced, and the [[Ace Custom]] units trounce them frequently. After a while, the Dragonars are used as the template for a new Mass Production model that has specs stronger than any of the Dragonar units. However, after Professor Plato guides the heroes back to the military, the Dragonars are upgraded into Ace Custom Super Prototypes.

* Partial subversion in ''[[Vipers Creed]]'', in the last episode we see a prototype white mech with greater speed, armor and two additional arms; but its software is not optimized, so at critical moments it freezes from bugs.

* Played straight in ''[[Outlaw Star]]''. The XGP15A-II was purpose built using advanced military tech for the purpose of reaching the Galactic Leyline.

== Comic Books ==

* This happens when any villain tries to replicate a [[Super Serum]]. The first villain to try it is bigger, stronger, faster than the original, but the original never pushes it to the limits because of the [[Idiot Ball|idiocy-inducing effects of an overdose]], or the subject becoming completely musclebound or even ''[[Ludicrous Gibs|exploding]]''. On the rare occasions that the villains continue to use the super serum on [[Mooks]], they will have much smaller doses and usually be sent in groups.

** Captain America's shield is a Super Prototype as well, being the precursor to adamantium. Adamantium is the attempt to recreate the material of his shield, but even primary adamantium is weaker than it.

* The comic book version of ''[[Iron Man]]'' both subverts this trope and plays it straight. The subversion comes from Stark constantly producing improved models after the original prototype. The straight examples come from any even vaguely mass-produced derivatives, like the Guardsman armors, which are never on par with Iron Man's own gear. Of course, readers probably wouldn't want a bunch of glorified prison guards to be as powerful as the superhero.

** And, in fact, it's explained that Iron Man himself doesn't want a bunch of glorified prison guards to be as powerful as he is. He deliberately withholds the best tech for himself and even goes so far as to build in exploitable weaknesses in case the armors are ever used against him. Considering the number of times Stark's technology has been stolen, duplicated or reverse-engineered, he's got a right to be paranoid and hold back technology. (Although, as seen in the ''Armor Wars'' story, sometimes he takes that right too far, beating up innocent people like Stingray and Captain America.)

* [[Super Dinosaur]] is superior to the successive Dino Men because of his armor which grants him unparalleled firepower.

 

== Fan Works ==

* In ''[[The Open Door]]'', the ''Stiletto'' is the first craft built by newChaos as a test bed for the combination of the technologies available to them. Although officially rated as a frigate, it can punch far, far above its supposed weight. Eventually, with its long shakedown cruise over, its equipment receives rather drastic tonedown.

* Subverted and defied in ''[[An Entry With a Bang]]!'': The first GDI monitor is an unstable hodgepodge of Clancy-Earth and ''[[BattleTech]]''... uh, tech. The first prototype BearCat aerospace fighter is not mounting weapons. Both in-universe and at the writers' level, there has generally been agreement to take things slow and not do any funky stuff.

 

== Film ==

* Batman's costume in ''[[Batman Begins]]'' is a prototype armor suit that was rejected by the army because it was too expensive.

 

== Literature ==

* The ''Long Shot'' in Larry Niven's ''[[Known Space]]'' 'verse is the only Quantum II hyperdrive ship ever built. Big motor in the biggest hull made left no room for profitable cargo.

* In ''Mad Skills'' by Walter Greatshell, coma patient Madeleine Grant is a testbed for an experimental brain surgery that uses leech brain cells to supercharge her mind to Singularity levels. {{spoiler|Actually, she's a prototype testbed for a ''lot'' of separate projects, qualifying as an [[Artificial Human]] to some degree; [[Tomato in the Mirror|her body is the repurposed shell of a brain-dead pop star]], while her brain is entirely artificial and contains [[Fake Memories|heavily-edited memories]] [[Brain Uploading|taken from an orphan girl who was quietly killed]], and ''that'' brain is what's upgraded with the Leech-Tron. The Leech-Tron also incorporates a wi-fi connection that allows subliminal commands and advertisements to be beamed directly into her brain, but the amount of brainpower she has available allows her to [[Phlebotinum Rebel|slip the leash]] by mid-book.}}

* In ''[[Daemon]]'' the first AutoM8 is an armoured, solid-tired Hummer that is [[Immune to Bullets]]. Later versions use normal cars as a base and are thus less survivable.

* Mack Maloney's ''Wingman'' series makes liberal use of this trope, particularly in the case of Hawk Hunter, the titular Wingman. His main aircraft is arguably ''both'' a super prototype ''and'' an [[Ace Custom]], as he usually flies an F-16XL<ref>only 2 were ever built</ref> which he has further modified with [[More Dakka]] and advanced avionics. When circumstances force the Wingman to use a different type of aircraft for more than a chapter, he will generally take the time to similarly customize his new plane, often even transplanting the avionics from his F-16 into the aircraft.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* The [[Cool Starship]] equivalent is the USS ''Defiant'' in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]''. In its debut, it took a dozen Jem'hadar attack ships (just ''three'' of which had shown themselves capable of easily destroying the previous most powerful ship in Starfleet) to disable the ''Defiant'', and that was after it was heavily damaged in an ambush. Not to mention, they hadn't even worked all the bugs out of the design yet; in later appearances it was even more formidable. The specs indicated that it was about 1/10 the mass of the ''Enterprise''-D yet carried armament equal to it. Starfleet eventually does make others which are apparently just as powerful ({{spoiler|including a replacement for the original when the Dominion finally manages to destroy it}}), but it takes a while to get them into production.

** [[Star Trek]] actually kept a pretty good eye on its tech level as various ships are introduced. The registry for the prototype ships usually have an NX prefix. The ''Excelsior'' was originally NX-2000 and was more of a testbed for the (ultimately failed) "Transwarp" engine more than anything else. Once the testing phase was over, she was given a proper NCC prefix. Otherwise, it didn't appear to completely outclass other starships like the ''Enterprise'' in terms of combat performance. In later series it seemed that the ''Excelsior'' design was actually one of the most versatile in terms of longevity, the design showed up as modern starships as late as ''[[Deep Space Nine]]'s'' fourth season, more than 80 years after it was introduced.

* Western subversion: ''[[Knight Rider]]'': In "Trust Doesn't Rust", KARR takes KITT for an "inferior production-line model" and assumes himself to be a super prototype. He turns out not to have any apparent technological advantage over KITT (of course, KITT is hardly "production-line"), aside from a slightly improved speech module (In the next episode, KITT's is replaced by one similar to KARR's), though when KARR reappears in the third season, while still not more advanced than KITT, he does possess a number of features which KITT had only gained during the second season.

* ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'' has the Paleozords, abandoned mecha from the early days of Project Ranger. The reason they were abandoned is because the zord tech hinges on bio-energy fields of living beings, and the Paleozords (based on dinosaurs, as you might have guessed from the name) were trying to connect to creatures that no longer existed, which made them powerful but uncontrollable. By the time the Rangers rediscovered them, the technology had advanced enough to bring them under control.

** In ''[[Power Rangers Time Force]],'' the Quantum Ranger and his Quantasaurus Rex Zord were created during the early days of Time Force, and lost in an early time travel experiment until being rediscovered. However, they're quite stronger than the main five Rangers and any of their tech. However, there's a drawback: the main five have a DNA lock, so only you or your [[Identical Grandson]] can use it (hence Wes.) The Quantum powers have a ''voice'' lock, making it easier for, say, the [[Monster of the Week]] to sic your Zord on the Rangers with just a voice imitation device.

* In ''[[Denji Sentai Megaranger]],'' the Megasilver suit is a lot stronger than the others... until we find out that its power only lasts two and a half minutes. (In ''[[Power Rangers in Space]],'' the 2.5 minute problem existed for different reasons and the suit wasn't a prototype.)

** Also, the prototype Kamen Rider Birth suit in ''[[Kamen Rider OOO]]'' has fewer weapons than the main Birth suit.

* The robot Imperiser/[[Spell My Name with an "S"|Imperialiser]] from ''[[Ultraman Mebius]]'' is insanely hard to destroy with thick armor capable of self-regeneration and can evolve ''right in the middle of battle''. The mass production version lacking said qualities, they are still deadly nonetheless. And since they retain teleportation ability, [[We Have Reserves|their strength in numbers does made up with it]].

 

== Tabletop Games ==

*** The Adeptus Custodes are specifically stated to be cruder, more poorly armored versions of the process that creates modern [[Space Marines]], but at the same time, a single member of the Custodian Guard is to a squad of marines what marines themselves are to a squad of [[Redshirt Army|regular guardsmen]]. Unfortunately, as the comatose Emperor's [[Praetorian Guard]], [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot|they have been essentially confined to the role of the guarding the Imperial Palace since the Heresy.]]

** Played straight with the Primarchs, who are superior to any other soldier the Imperium has and are the templates for almost all of the Space Marines in existence today. However, the process which created them were extremely intensive and the Emperor only managed to create 20 of them, which he later deemed to be used as the templates for the Space Marine Legions and commanders for said legions. They were, however, basically [[Designer Babies]] (from the Emperor's DNA himself) where Space Marines are people born normally with genetic engineering applied later.

* ''[[Jovian Chronicles]]'', Dream Pod 9's [[Gundam]] inspired setting is naturally filled with them. A couple of the prototypes do get mass produced version, but they pale in comparison to their predecessors.

 

== Video Games ==

* In the ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' series, the prototype Metal Gear RAY is of far superior quality to the mass-produced models later encountered by Raiden as a boss battle; then again, it may have been actually designed for its supposed purpose (to defeat REX derivatives) whereas the mass-produced versions were actually tactical defense units for Arsenal Gear.

* [[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]] is regularly one-upped by his older "brother" Proto Man. Sometimes explained as having to do with Mega Man originally being a lab assistant, or alternatively, Proto Man's nuclear core (which is apparently pretty dangerous and thus, not being used for Mega Man, who instead uses a solar reactor).

* Early in ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star FOX]] Assault'', the player is attacked by a powerful enemy, referred to only as "some kind of prototype." The same enemy reappears in the last level, more powerful than ever. (You'd think the Aparoids could have mass-produced it by now!)

* The [[Cool Ship|Delphinus]] from ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'' is a possible example, but it's not entirely clear whether the weaker mass-produced equivalent (the Spectre-class battleships) are scaled-back mass production versions or the immediate predecessors of the Delphinus.

** The real planes also have a bit of this. ''5'' in particular both subverts it (the F-15 S/MTD is better than the stock F-15 it was modified from) and plays it straight (the S-32 is better than the later Su-47)

* The Smithy Gang in ''[[Super Mario RPG]]'' (Mack, Bowyer, Yaridovich and the Axem Rangers) are the super prototype models for their production lines. When you reach the last area, you discover that Smithy is creating an entire army of the bosses, though the Machine-Made versions are less powerful than the actual bosses.

* The Edelweiss in ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'', made by Isara's father for Welkin's father for the previous war. It was found to be an incredible tank, but it was too expensive for any kind of mass production.

* Vivi, like all Black Mages in ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'', is an animated doll. However, as the prototype model, his power is greater than that of his "brothers", and his lifespan is much longer, as well.

* A [[Continuity Nod]] in ''[[Thunder Force]]'' series. The mass production model of Styx in ''III'' appear as [[NPC]] in ''IV''; The Rynex in ''IV'' has its production model appear in ''VI'' and also serve as prototype of Gauntlet in ''V''. It take [[Mid-Season Upgrade]] the Gauntlet into [[Ace Custom]] Vambrace and [[Mecha Expansion Pack]] Brigandine module that Earth's fighter can fight the Rynex. It's justified since Gauntlet is Earthling's replica, built with alien technology they aren't fully understand.

* In the ''Compilation of [[Final Fantasy VII]]'', Sephiroth is a super prototype who is much stronger and more powerful than regular SOLDIERs and much more physically stable than the competing Project G prototypes Angeal and Genesis, who are subject to degradation. Unfortunately, Sephiroth could not be duplicated and he cannot replicate his genetic traits in monsters (like Angeal) or in humans (like Genesis).

* An interesting version of this is in ''[[Fate/stay night]]''. Gilgamesh has all the prototypes of every Servant's Noble Phantasm, and goes on to explain exactly why his prototypes are that much more powerful. However, this is subverted in Unlimited Blade Works when {{spoiler|Shiro "traces" or copies all of Gilgamesh's super prototypes with his Reality Marble, essentially creating a water-downed mass production type version of each one; right after explaining although his versions are weaker imitations, there is no rule about the imitations losing to the originals, he states that he will prove his imitations are superior by destroying all of Gilgamesh's weapons and Gilgamesh himself. Cue [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]].}}

** There's also the Tesla-Beaton Prototype, a unique Tesla cannon, and a prototype Laser Rifle with a green laser.

* A similar effect occurs with the ''[[Supreme Commander]]'' Experimental units. Any player will realize that these 'experiments' are always a great success, and utterly trounce dozens if not hundreds of the 'tested' units. And although you can build more than one of them, the too-expensive-justification is in full effect, as you need a very solid economy before you can start building one.

* In ''[[Command & Conquer|Red Alert 3]]'', the [[Humongous Mecha|King]] [[Real Robot|Oni]] is a hulking behemoth capable of bull-charging enemy tanks and shoot [[Eye Beams]] for the glory of the [[Imperial Japan|Empire of the Rising Sun]]. Apparently, the original King Oni is a super prototype, given to Emperor Yoshiro as a gift, which he uses when the enemy approaches his palace.

* Played with by Prototype Jack in ''[[Tekken]]''. While it's unknown what happened between him and Jack (both survived the original tournament), P. Jack was soundly scrapped by Jack-2 in ''Tekken 2''. However, P. Jack's ability to fly was implemented in all subsequent playable Jack models.

* ''[[The Unholy War]]'' has a regular unit called Razorfane, a robot that attacks with circular saw blades. One of the secret unlockable characters is called Betarazor, which is basically just an upgraded version of Razorfane, with more health and more powerfull attacks.

* Invoked (but not in any meaningful manner) in ''[[Sonic Heroes]]''. One of E-123 Omega's combo-score quips is "Worthless consumer models!"

* The eponymous armor from ''[[Vay]]'' has been copied and mass-produced by [[The Empire|the Danek Empire]] to create their massive robotic army. However, once the five magic orbs are retrieved and the Vay Armor's power is fully realized, it can stand toe-to-toe with almost anything Danek can throw at it.

* Subverted and played straight in ''[[Homeworld]]: Cataclysm'': the player ship ''Kuun Lan'' subverts it as, while the second of the two Explorer-class ships built by the Soomtaw, [[All There in the Manual|has superior armour, engines and module capacity than the prototype due correction of design flaws discovered during construction]], while the Soomtaw Acolyte-class fighter plays it straight, as it's based on a Bentusi design that is slightly faster, has about five times its number of hit points and sports guns about twice as powerful.

* ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]]'' has the Biolizard, the prototype ultimate life form which was enormous compared to its successor Shadow the Hedgehog. It was locked in suspended animation by GUN until Dr. Eggman reactivated it in the process of inserting the Chaos Emeralds into the Eclipse Cannon and sent the ARK hurtling towards Earth, after which it was defeated by Shadow but recovered and merged with the Eclipse Cannon in order to ensure that the colony would fall, only to be defeated again by the combined efforts of Super Sonic and Super Shadow.

 

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' has a room full of them. Most notably, the first robot of the Seraph series, S1, looks much better than the more recent ones. And it has actual hands, rather than the simple claws of the later S models. The explanation given is that, since the original designer died, no one (not even the prototypes themselves) understands the cutting-edge technology underpinning them (for example, these robots have [[Magitech|no visible power source, or motor, or means of moving their limbs]]). The robots were forced to simplify their designs just for future robot generations to survive.

* From ''[[Girl Genius]]'': The one or two Dingbots that Agatha has actually personally built, referred to as [[Fan Nickname|Dingbot Prime]], are much better in every way than their successors. This is because most Dingbots are [[Mook Maker|built by other Dingbots]], and each generation is inferior to the previous one, leading inexorably to this trope.

 

== Web Original ==

 

== Western Animation ==

* {{spoiler|The titular character}} in ''[[Generator Rex]]''. {{spoiler|Rex's nanites}} come from an earlier batch that had already received full programming and testing. The nanites that were spread all over the world in the [[Mass Empowering Event]] came from a later batch with incomplete programming.

** Alpha, the [[Big Bad]] of the [[Crossover]] with ''[[Ben 10]]'', is a prototype model control nanite from when the creators were still working out a way to control the nanites. Alpha is so powerful he has the potential to destroy the world ''single-handedly!''

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Older Is Better]]

[[Category:Mecha Tropes]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]