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A model line and anime series featuring animal- and dinosaur-shaped [[Humongous Mecha]].
'''''Zoids''''' is set on the planet Zi, a mostly desert-like world where the human population lives with Zoids, native mechanical lifeforms that can be turned into deadly fighting machines.
Most of the stories concern battles between the Helic Republic, the Guylos, and Zenebas Empires. This is told in the '''"Battle Story"''' [[All There in the Manual|in each of the model kits]], though the animated series doesn't follow them too closely. These models have been sold in North America, Europe, Japan, and elsewhere periodically over the past 20 years or so, rarely accompanied by the storyline.
Unique in all of the series is the animation style. The people and most of the environments are animated traditionally, but the Zoids are CGI with cel shading to blend in. The process is generally well done; the [[Conspicuous CG]] is there, but not very distracting.
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The animated series takes a lot of inspiration from the [[Gundam]] franchise, with the first two series having a war theme and later series lightening it up with a [[Tournament Arc|tournament storyline.]]
'''Zoids (Dub title ''[[Zoids: Chaotic Century]]'')''', was aired in 1999 and was the first anime series. Taking elements from the Battle Story, Chaotic Century focuses on [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Van Flyheight]], a boy who comes across a small Zoid known as an Organoid, which he names Zeke (Sieg in the original Japanese), sleeping in a pod hidden in an old ruin. He also discovers a [[Mysterious Waif|mysterious girl]] he names Fiona (Fiine), who happened to be sleeping in the pod next to Zeke's. Zeke has the ability to resurrect Zoids, so after restoring an abandoned Shield Liger to life, Van takes it to help Fiona find "Zoid Eve". Along the way, they meet up with the smuggler and trader Moonbay, the mercenary Irvine, and end up getting caught up in the war between the Helic Republic and Guylos Empire that takes priority over finding Zoid Eve.
The second season of Chaotic Century, '''Zoids: Guardian Force''', takes place two years after the end of the first season. Van is part of a special forces unit founded to help keep the peace between the Republic and the Empire. As he reunites with Fiona, they find themselves opposing a mysterious group that seeks to cause chaos all over the planet. While ''Chaotic Century'' had concluded its story, it left a lot of the backstory concerning Fiona and Zoid Eve a mystery. ''Guardian Force'' delves heavily into the backstory and finally gives a conclusion to the characters' timeline. The show had such a fan following that Cartoon Network actually relented to fan complaints that the last four episodes were not aired during its Toonami run and ran a marathon of those last four episodes.
The third anime series, '''[[Zoids: New Century Zero]]''', takes place centuries after the previous two, events from the first two seasons only [[Broad Strokes|vaguely being canon]] and confirmed as such by voiceovers left out of the dub. The world is more or less at peace, and battles between groups of Zoids are now a national spectator sport. The story focuses on Bit Cloud, a wandering Junk dealer seeking to build the perfect Zoid. Bit runs afoul of the Blitz Team, one of the competing teams of Zoid warriors, and while imprisoned, ends up befriending the Liger Zero, a tempermental Zoid that usually doesn't let anybody pilot it. The Liger Zero seems to like Bit, however, so the Blitz Team allows him to work off his debt by piloting the Zoid for them. As the story progresses it reveals an organization that likes to break the normal rules, calling themselves the Backdraft Group.
''New Century'' was actually the first Zoids anime to be released in North America, premiering on [[Cartoon Network]]'s ''[[Toonami]]'' block. ''Chaotic Century'' was aired later, usually early in the morning after the end of Adult Swim programming and before the resumption of Cartoon Network's regular programming.
The third series, '''Zoids Fuzors''', was similar in theme to ''New Century'', but set in its own continuity. It shows off the concept of the Fuzors, smaller Zoids that can [[Combining Mecha|combine with the larger ones]] to boost their power or give them new abilities. ''Fuzors'' was also aired on Toonami, but was canceled after only 13 of its 26 episodes aired. Eventually, all 26 episodes were shown in Australia. In a curious change, the series was shown in Japan ''after'' its US release. The Japanese version had new animation added, to the point where the second episode is completely different.
The fourth series, '''Zoids: Genesis''', is also in its own continuity, and is [[After the End|set after a]] [[The End of the World as We Know It|terrible cataclysm]] wrecks the civilization on Zi. This series only had a limited release outside Japan.
'''Marvel UK Zoids Comic''' The original 80s release of the models in the UK was accompanied by a Marvel UK comic http://www.zoidstar.com which stands entirely in its own continuity. It followed the story of the survivors of a human prison ship which crashed on what they think is an uninhabited planet but is in fact Zoidstar, former capital of the Zoidaryan Empire. The Zoids are the android-piloted war machines of the Zoidaryans left to run amok after the (almost) total extinction of their masters. Thanks to the actions of the last remaining Zoidaryans the Zoids have divided into two antagonistic armies - the Blue Zoids and Red Zoids - and are fighting a brutal war across the ruined surface of Zoidstar. A third faction soon arises dedicated to uniting the other two and conquering the galaxy.
A spate of video games take place in their own pocket continuities, [[Mega Crossover|Mega Crossovers]] of several of the above, or some combination of the two. Notable entries include the [[Turn-Based Strategy]] game ''Zoids Assault'' for the [[Xbox 360]] and the ''Zoids Saga'' [[Role
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* [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]]: Any blade or blade-like weapon is generally treated as such.
* [[Ace Custom]]: Helic's personal Kentauros as mentioned below, Karl Schwarz' Saber Tiger and Iron Kong customs, not to mention the Dengeki Hobby Magazine Zoids like Saint Gale Impressa and Rez Tiger.
* [[Action Girl]]: Rosa Lauri, bodyguard of President Helic and his eventual wife. Two notable feats are taking on Franz (an Empire soldier) in sword to sword combat on top of a Battlerover and Roadskipper and letting him live after she trounced his ass and piloting the Kentauros (a Gojulas/Ultrasaurus/Salamander/Gordos hybrid Zoid that was Helic's personal ride) against an enemy Zoid that Helic could not defeat - she grabbed said Zoid and flew really high into the sky before turning upside down and piledriving it into the ground. She ''survived''. Helic very promptly afterwards asked her to marry him.
* [[All There in the Manual]]: The toy series' Battle Story plot-line.
* [[Animal Mecha]]
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** Ray Gregg survived through the entire history of the Ray Force, whether against Berserk Fuhrers, Seismosaurus, Energy Ligers. You name it, he survived it.
* [[Beam Spam]]: The only purpose for Gunbluster.
** Also used with Seismosaurus. Thirty-one [[Up to Eleven|double-barrelled]] lasers makes for an [https://web.archive.org/web/20100520180429/http://momonga.zink.net.nz/images/model/new_069_bs-back_fb.jpg awesome light show].
* [[Beehive Barrier]]: Several Zoids, particularly the [[Meaningful Name|Shield Liger]] series, can generate these.
* [[BFG]]: Too many to list, but "buster cannons" as seen on certain Gojulas models are good examples.
** The biggest one of all is probably either a [https://web.archive.org/web/20060405161250/http://www.geocities.jp/mercyrabbit01/z_mercy20050401.jpg custom Seismosaurus weapon] or the [http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p268/grimmstudios/GCcopy.jpg Gravity Cannon] from Guardian Force.
* [[Big Bad]]: Evil Emperor Guylos in the Battle Story. Unusually for a [[Big Bad]], he ended up dying of old age.
* [[Cannon Fodder]]: Most of the smaller mecha, except when piloted by a significant character.
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* [[Grey and Gray Morality]]: The Helic Republic and the Zenebas (and later Neo Zenebas) Empire in the Battle Story, while Zenebas was a man who believed they should strike their enemies first he was also a loving father and a kind leader, the only truly evil decision he made was allying with Guylos, and he regretted that. Meanwhile, Helic was a good man, but he was never a warrior, and when he had taken back his lands he still pressed on. This is really obvious however between Ray Gregg and Wolf Muroa, both want peace (Ray under the Republic and Wolf under the Empire) and think the war has gone on long enough.
* [[Guns vs. Swords]]: Occurs fairly often, protagonists tend to have some sort of blade weapon on their mecha.
* [[Hellish Horse]]: Evil Pegasus, which is black with red wings toting a pair of gold lances and a golden horn called Thunder Blade. Even more frightening is how much collectors pay to get one.
* [[Humongous Mecha]]
* [[I Don't Like the Sound of That Place]]: Every location on Nyx, aptly labeled "The Dark Continent". The old line mentioned places such as the Bloody Gate and Devil's Maze, while most place names in the newer line are from Norse mythology (Yggdrasil Mountains, Sessrumnir City...)
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* [[No Export for You]]: A lot of the models.
* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Killer Spiner, Evil Scorpion, Evil Pegasus, Anna's Death Stinger called Killer From the Dark...
** Not to mention some of the weapons like Hyper-Killer Fangs or Killer Lance
* [[Palette Swap]]
* [[Puppet Gun]]: Using the Gun Sniper for its ''intended'' purpose involves the pilot being turned around in the cockpit to fire the Zoid's rifle, which is also its ''[[BFG|tail.]]''
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* [[This Is a Drill]]: Spinosapper's ''laser'' excavator, although it's circular instead of conical.
* [[Time Skip]]: Original Battle Story -> New Battle Story. Zoids: Rebirth Century started to fill the gap until it got cancelled.
* [[Units Not to Scale]]: Inverted by Chaotic Century/Guardian Force/New Century Zero.
* [[Vibroweapon]]: King Gojulas' "super sound blaster."
* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: Due to the nature of the Battle Story, it's never confirmed that Elena was killed or if she was simply sick of it all and escaped.
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* [[Bad Export for You]]: While DVDs of New Century/Zero are available in English, they lack Japanese audio tracks.
* [[Broad Strokes]]: New Century/Zero treats Chaotic Century and Guardian Force this way. New Century seems to take place quite some time after the earlier series, and their plots don't mesh much besides the occasional Continuity Nod.
* [[Calling Your Attacks]]: Done mostly with Bit an Liger Zero's various attacks, but Leena likes to do it as well.
* [[Chivalrous Pervert]]: Harry Champ.
* [[Continuity Nod]]: New Century/Zero has a number of these to Chaotic Century/Guardian Force. Notably, the final battle which takes place on top of the original Ultrasaurus.
* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: This is Bit in some episodes but especially the second one where he beats the crap out of two thugs and makes it look like an accident...and then proceeds to, in the upcoming battle against a sniper, waste all six of his allowed shots into the cliff face below her mech. Later we find that this has weakened it enough to send her plummeting down the cliff, allowing the Liger Zero into close-range combat - where it excels.
* [[Cut Short]]: New Century was cut down from a planned 30+ epsiodes to 26.
* [[The Dragon]]: Vega Obscura for the Backdraft Group.
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* [[Girl with Psycho Weapon]]: Leena Toros, who likes to think she's the cute and adorable but enjoys blowing things up in her Zoids way too much.
* [[Gladiator Games]]
* [[Hot-Blooded]]: Bit.
* [[Mad Scientist]]: Dr. Leon in tends to come across as one.
* [[Mecha Expansion Pack]]: The Wild Weasel unit Leena gets (then adds additional rocket launchers and a pair of gatling guns nearly as large as the mech itself!) and the CAS parts of the Liger Zero.
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* [[Multiform Balance]]: Liger Zero had different equipment modes that changed it into different types depending on the situation. "Panzer" mode became a [[Mighty Glacier]], "Schneider" is a [[Glass Cannon]] and the "Jager" unit is a [[Fragile Speedster]].
* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Berserk Fury.
* [[No Swastikas]]: No actual Nazi imagery exists, but the Japanese DO call it the "Berserk Fuhrer" rather than the "Berserk Fury".
* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Bit Cloud is the master of Obfuscating Stupidity. He obfuscates so hard that even many fans consider him a straight up [[Idiot Hero]] (see [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]] above), much less characters within the show. Of course, as the series progresses, [[Character Development]] kicks in, and he starts relying less and less on being underestimated as time goes on.
* [[Pity the Kidnapper]]: Leena's kidnapping by the Backdraft Group. When they call the Blitz Team to extort them into an unsanctioned battle, the team leader has to repeatedly yell at his men to keep Leena under control. He ends up getting hit in the face with a flying object when she continues to cause trouble, has to put the Blitz Team on hold to go deal with the situation, and when he returns his hair is disheveled, his clothes torn and his [[Cool Shades]] cracked in several places. He handles this with admirable dignity. Leena later escapes on her own... blowing a large hole in the Backdraft Group's Whale King in the process.
* [[Playing Cyrano]]: Used recursively. The rivalry between Dr. Laon and Dr. Toros began when Laon asked Toros to write a love letter to his crush on his behalf. Toros, however, doesn't feel up to the task himself, so he asks their mutual friend Oscar to do it for him. Unfortunately, Oscar mistakenly signs the letter as Toros instead of Laon, leading Laon to believe that Toros deliberately stole the woman he loved.
* [[Product Placement]]: Doc Toros is often seen building/playing with Zoids kits, complete with authentic instruction manuals/foldouts that seem a tad out of place with the rest of the art.
* [[Running Gag]]: Whenever Jamie's Ptearus is used in a battle, it is totalled. Complete with Jamie crying out for his beloved zoid.
* [[So Last Season]]: Zoids progressively get new upgrades, and some characters have to upgrade their Zoids themselves or be left behind. Or leave the Zoids behind and get new ones entirely; i.e. most every New Century/Zero protagonist barring Bit.)
* [[Spam Attack]]: Hello, Leena!
** [[Macross Missile Massacre]]: Liger Zero Panzer's "Burning Big Bang", Leena's "Wild Weasel Unit Total Assault".
** [[More Dakka]]: That would be Leena again.
** [[A-Team Firing]]: Still Leena.
* [[Split Personality]]: Jamie's "Wild Eagle" state.
* [[Stalker with a Crush]]: Harry Champ is constantly stalking Leena and trying to get her to reciprocate his feelings.
* [[The Stoic]]: Brad Hunter and Jack Cisco.
* [[Super Robot]]: The "Ultimate X" Zoids (Liger Zero and Berserk Fuhrer) come very close to being true Super Robots, being considered largely rarer and somewhat more sentient than normal Zoids.
* [[Ted Baxter]]: Harry, who proclaims himself to be "A man destined to be king". Leena also counts to a degree, having answered an anonymous e-mail asking who the greatest Zoid pilot is with "ME!".
* [[Trigger Happy]]: Leena.
* [[Wave Motion Gun]]: Liger Zero Panzer's Hybrid Cannons, which are roughly as powerful as a Charged Particle Gun, albeit not with a continuous stream like the CPG.
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* [[Bad Export for You]]: The DVDs, available in Australia/New Zealand only, are of ''terrible'' quality, right down to a botched NTSC to PAL conversion.
* [[Combining Mecha]]
* [[Gladiator Games]]
* [[Short Run in Peru]]: The English dub was cut short in the US. Its full run was only screened in Australia and Japan.
* [[The Worf Effect]]: Rastani from is the walking embodiment of this, right up there with [[Trope Namer|Worf himself.]]
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* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: {{spoiler|Felme}}.
* [[Strong as They Need to Be]]: The strength of the Biozoids' "hell armour" is wildly inconsistent, stated to be immune to everything but Metal Zi in one breath and being crushed by falling rocks in another.
* [[Token
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* [[A Boy and His X]]: X = Various dinosaurs (Griff and most notably Great Gorgon, Mighty Zoidzilla.
* [[Aborted Arc]]: The comic ended with no real resolution.
* [[A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away]]
* [[Big Bad]]: With a name like Krark the Prince Of Darkness, what else could he be?
* [[Blood Knight]]: Zoidzilla, who didn't care for factions; all he wanted to do was fight.
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* [[Mad Scientist]]: Opis from the first ''Saga'' game. So much so that his ''Japanese'' character description uses the exact words (well, in katakana) "mad scientist".
* [[Mysterious Waif]]: Juno in ''Saga 2/Legacy''.
* [[No Export for You]]: The majority of the video games with the exception of ''Zoids Saga 2 (as Zoids Legacy)'', ''Zoids VS. 2 (as Zoids: Battle Legends)'', and the [[So Okay It's Average]] strategy game ''Zoids: Total Assault''.
* [[Original Generation]]: All the main characters of the ''Saga'' games, as well as the ''VS./Battle Legends'' main characters. As for Zoids, there's the Trinity Liger, the Geno Hydra, the Blitz Tiger, the Death Meteor, the Victory Liger, and the Victory Rex and its various combinations with other Zoids (and that's just from the ''Saga'' games).
* [[Sibling Rivalry]]: Lance and Arrow in Zoids ''Zoids Infinity Fuzors''
* [[The Stoic]]: Ace in ''Saga''.
* [[Unflappable Guardian]]: Regina to Athle in the ''Saga'' games.
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