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{{trope}}
[[File:
A common feature of military stories set in [[Steampunk]] settings, and also [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]] and beyond, a
While ''slightly'' more reasonable than the humanoid [[Humongous Mecha]] more common to Japanese media, these still mostly fall into the [[Awesome but Impractical]] category, and thus this trope owes its existence primarily to the [[Rule of Cool]]. Pretty much the only reasonable justification is the ability of legs to more easily handle rough terrain, but that's generally pretty flimsy.
Given that they're used almost exclusively by military forces, it should be no surprise that Walking Tanks are always treated as [[Real Robot
This is a [[Super-Trope]] of [[Chicken Walker]] and [[Spider Tank]], and [[Sister Trope]] of [[Humongous Mecha]].
{{examples}}▼
== [[Anime]] & [[Manga]] ==▼
▲{{examples}}
* The Zentradi Regult battlepods from ''[[Macross]]''/''[[Robotech]]'' used the two-legs-and-a-pod design, but if ''[[Macross Frontier]]'' is any indication, they've abandoned those for the Queadluun-Rau powersuits.
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Star Wars]]''
** [[The Empire]]'s AT-AT and AT-ST walkers from the original trilogy are probably the best-known examples of this. The prequels introduced the clone army's AT-TE, a low-slung six-legged version of this trope that probably wouldn't be susceptible to the old tripwire trick, and apparently the predecessor to the AT-AT.
** Parts of the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] mention that there are legless versions which fly slowly on repulsorlifts, which would seem more practical, but it's also mentioned that there is technology to disrupt repulsors and make those versions crash.
** The AT-TE was more stable, but it was also more vulnerable to mines, hence, raising it high above the ground. (in hindsight, it's still a better design)
** The Expanded Universe also has the AT-XT, a [[Super Prototype]] for the AT-ST. It's got better armament, slightly stockier legs, and ''[[Deflector Shields]]''. Which would tend to defeat the tripwire trick (not to mention [[Rock Beats Laser|rocks and logs]]).
* The ED-209 from ''[[RoboCop]]''.
* In ''[[Battle: Los Angeles]]'', the aliens have a
== [[Literature]] ==
* The "Clanker" powers from Scott Westerfeld's ''[[Leviathan (novel)|Leviathan]]'' use these, both in two-legged variations like the Cyklop Stormwalker and [[Spider Tank]] versions like the SMS ''Herkules''.
* The Step-Walkers of Orson Scott Card's ''[[Orson Scott
* The [[A Mech by Any Other Name|serv-machines]] in Andrey Livadny's ''[[The History of the Galaxy]]'' are between this and [[Humongous Mecha]], depending on the novel. In the 'verse, serv-machines are considered to be the epitome of planetary warfare, refined over the centuries since they were introduced during the First Galactic War. The original walkers were designed as terraforming tools by the colonists who have settled Dabog, a hostile world with treacherous swamps and large, dinosaur-like lizards, which eat standard planetary vehicles (e.g. tanks, troop transports) for breakfast (sometimes literally). The colonists studied the lizards' locomotor system and designed new types of vehicles using this method. The walkers proved extremely effective at clearing away hostile flore and fauna and, during the invasion of the [[The Empire|Earth Alliance]], showed them to be superior combat vehicles to traditional tanks and troop transports. Since then, the latter were relegated to support roles, leaving most of the fighting to serv-machines.
** Unlike your typical
** Some are also equipped with a system of indirect fire, allowing it to precisely calculate the trajectory of a Gauss round [[Pinball Projectile|bouncing off objects with known properties to hit the target]]. In one book, this is used to perform an assassination with a 30-mm round. A seemingly wild shot bounces off several ruined structures, as well as the remains of a skyscraper, and hits a man living in an enclosed compound on top of a large hill. Only a machine can pull this off.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* Most "walker" vehicles in [[Warhammer
** The Imperial Guard has the Sentinel, a one-man light scout walker used because of its ability to quickly traverse rough terrain.
** The Eldar have a walker unit similar to the Guard's.
** The Space Marines' Dreadnoughts are essentially this. They're big metal boxes with mortally wounded marines inside controlling them and guns and legs bolted to the outside.
* About 50-60% of Battlemechs in the ''[[BattleTech]]'' series are this type. The rest are either traditional "Armored Soldier" types, [[Spider Tank
** The [http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Goliath Goliath] 'Mech deserves a particular mention, being a walking tank in [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|the most visually literal sense imaginable.]]
* Most of the Panzerkamfers in ''[[Gear Krieg]]'' fall into this category.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops II|Call of Duty Black Ops 2]]'': Will be featured.
* The BattleWalkers from ''[[Battlefield 2142]]'' are textbook examples of this trope; the EU's L5 Riesig provides the page image.
* The ''[[
* Most versions of ''[[Metal Gear]]'' are bipedal walking tanks. RAXA had four legs but didn't really walk. The Shagohod was a cross between walking tank and hovercraft.
** Also from ''[[Metal Gear]]'': the GEKKO.
* The Terran Goliaths from ''[[
** And the [[
* ''[[G-Police|G-Police 2]]'' had the Raptor, a bipedal, walking, gliding tank. It was awesome.
* Some enemies in the ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star
** The Arwings themselves would qualify in the unreleased [[Star Fox (series)|Star
* The Shredders from ''[[World of Warcraft]]''.
* The Next War mod for ''[[Civilization]]'' talks about the problems walkers would face in the Civopedia. After mentioning said problems, the civopedia justifies all of them by saying that [[Rule of Cool|walkers are cool, making them worthwhile]].
** They make a comeback in Civilization V in the form of [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Giant Death Robots.]] Said Giant Death Robots require 2 units of uranium to be built. For reference, a nuke only requires one.
* The Malta Group's Titan walkers from ''[[City of Heroes]]''.
* Warmech and several lesser enemies from ''[[Final Fantasy I]]''.
* Most AFWs in ''[[Ring of Red]]''. Those that aren't (the 4-legged AFWs) are [[Spider Tank
** Just to emphasize how much they fit this trope, most of the AFWs are blatantly based off of actual World War II tank designs.
* ''[[Fallout]]: Tactics'' got four-legged [https://web.archive.org/web/20141109165425/http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/
* ''[[Steel Battalion]]: Heavy Armor'' went from the original [[Humongous Mecha]] designs to this. [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|The fans are]] [[Ruined FOREVER|NOT pleased.]]
* [[Waku Waku 7|Politank-Z]].
* The Slug Gunner from ''[[Metal Slug]] 5'' is a walking tank with great firepower but a painfully slow turning animation.
** In ''Metal Slug 3'', there are walking tanks... which are actually [http://images.wikia.com/metalslug/images/9/94/Japanese_tank_firing.gif three Japanese soldiers carrying a hollowed-out tank]. Too poor to afford a regular tank?
* While many designs from ''[[BattleTech]]'' are already examples of walking tanks, the various ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' games have been much more true to the spirit of the
* The mecha in ''[[Trenched]]'' are World War I-era trenches with mecha legs.
* ''[[Ground Control]] II: Operation Exodus'' has the [[The Empire|Terran Empire]] use walkers alongside their [[Hover Tank|hoverdynes]]. The missile-armed variant is very effective against air units, even your [[Drop Ship]].
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* The VileDriver of ''[[Chaotic]]'' subverts the usual speed limitations; it can keep up with a monowheel motorcycle at top speed, and apparently has such a powerful engine that it can jump from a hill and land in front of a fleeing target (or on top of said target).
* ''[[
* The Meap army of ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' employs ''skipping'' tanks. The reason being that their military, [[Sugar Bowl|like their entire society]], [[Badass Adorable|is based on cuteness]].
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[[Category:Mecha Tropes]]
[[Category:Vehicle Tropes]]
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