Zone of the Enders: Difference between revisions

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[[File:250px-Zone_of_the_Enders.jpg|frame|It was so nice of Konami to provide a free game with the ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2]]'' [[Preview Piggybacking|demo]].]]

[[File:250px-Zone_of_the_Enders.jpg|frame|It was so nice of Konami to provide a free game with the ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty]]'' [[Preview Piggybacking|demo]].]]

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The First ''Zone of the Enders'' was released on the [[Play Station 2]], a high-speed mecha combat game about a boy named Leo Stenbuck, a kid from a space colony in orbit around the planet Jupiter that is attacked by BAHRAM, a group of rebels seeking to steal back "Jehuty", a [[Super Prototype]] Orbital Frame that, naturally, Leo [[Falling Into the Cockpit|accidentially ends up piloting]]. With little choice in the matter, Leo, along with Jehuty's AI A.D.A., tries to deliver Jehuty to the [[The Federation|UNSF]] forces on the other side of the colony, while trying to do what he can to halt the attack.

''Zone of the Enders'' did a brisk initial sale, which was mostly attributed to the fact that [[Preview Piggybacking|the game also included a demo of]] ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2]]: Sons of Liberty''. So rather, people were buying the ''demo'', and then maybe later on trying out the "free game that came with it".

''Zone of the Enders'' did a brisk initial sale, which was mostly attributed to the fact that [[Preview Piggybacking|the game also included a demo of]] ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty]]: Sons of Liberty''. So rather, people were buying the ''demo'', and then maybe later on trying out the "free game that came with it".

Nonetheless, the game sold well enough to gain a cult following of its own. An anime OAV called "Zone of the Enders: IDOLO" was released. A prequel to the game, IDOLO starred Viola, [[The Dragon]] of the game, and Radium Lavans, two Martian soldiers who join a resistance movement against the Earth using IDOLO, the first Orbital Frame. A full-sized TV Series, ''Zone of the Enders: Dolores, i'', followed up on the story, featuring James Links, a space trucker who ends up receiving Dolores, an Orbital Frame that happens to think he's her uncle, from his estranged wife Rachel, one of IDOLO's designers who was supposed to have died during the climax of that story. This spurs him to seek out and reconcile with his equally-estranged children and reunite his family. And no government forces, crime families, or rebel troops are going to get in his way.

A spin-off game, ''Zone of the Enders: the Fist of Mars'' (a.k.a. ''2171 Testament'') is a [[Turn Based Strategy]] game for the [[Game Boy Advance]] about a boy named Cage Midwell who finds an strangely powerful L.E.V. hidden on a cruise liner just before the ship is destroyed, forcing him and a mysterious young girl to get inside to save their lives. They eventually fall in with a rebel group known as B.I.S., who seek to free Mars from UNSF oppression. ''Fist of Mars'' plays similar to the ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' series, but uses a more player-participating battle system where the player chases down the enemy with their crosshairs (or avoids the enemy's) to determine whether an attack hits or misses, and even critical hits. Although the stats of the units help determine how easy or difficult this is, it is entirely possible to hit with every one of your attacks, or dodge every enemy attack, even when a hit or miss would be otherwise unavoidable.

A spin-off game, ''Zone of the Enders: the Fist of Mars'' (a.k.a. ''2171 Testament'') is a [[Turn-Based Strategy]] game for the [[Game Boy Advance]] about a boy named Cage Midwell who finds an strangely powerful L.E.V. hidden on a cruise liner just before the ship is destroyed, forcing him and a mysterious young girl to get inside to save their lives. They eventually fall in with a rebel group known as B.I.S., who seek to free Mars from UNSF oppression. ''Fist of Mars'' plays similar to the ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' series, but uses a more player-participating battle system where the player chases down the enemy with their crosshairs (or avoids the enemy's) to determine whether an attack hits or misses, and even critical hits. Although the stats of the units help determine how easy or difficult this is, it is entirely possible to hit with every one of your attacks, or dodge every enemy attack, even when a hit or miss would be otherwise unavoidable.

A true sequel to the game: ''Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner'', was released on the Playstation 2 in 2003. It features a miner and former soldier named Dingo Egret who finds Jehuty, the frame from the first game, hidden on the moon of Callisto, just as BAHRAM does. He fights his way though them, and eventually all the way onto their command ship, where he meets Nohman, leader of BAHRAM and an old colleague of his who wants him to come back to the group. Dingo refuses, so Nohman [[Combat Pragmatist|shoots him]]. He finds himself awakened by by Ken Marinaris, a woman he fought earlier on Callisto, who calims to be a UNSF spy, and hard-wires his body into Jehuty's life-support systems to keep him alive. In exchange for her saving his life, and later completely fixing him, she wants his help. Dingo escapes down to Mars, where he faces Bahram mecha, trains, battleships, the first game's Leo Stenbuck in the [[Gradius|Vic Viper]], and finally settling the score not just between himself and Nohman, but Jehuty and Anubis as well. Along the way, however, he has to stop A.D.A. from completing her own mission: make her way to BAHRAM's headquarters and destroy it by self-destructing Jehuty.

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Despite rather low sales, Zone of the Enders continues to be a cult favorite, and Kojima has stated that he has ideas for another ZoE game, but for years was tethered to the ''Metal Gear Solid'' franchise. But now [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2012-05-25/kojima-unveils-zone-of-enders-sequel-project it's official that] [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|a sequel is currently in the works]]. From the images released, it seems the Jehuty will sport a [[Darker and Edgier]] look and the plot will apparently incorporate fantasy-like elements and demonic creatures. However, Kojima said that the producers plan to keep the previous games' basic nature intact in the new sequel.

In the meantime, An HD Collection of the games (The two console ones, anyway) has been announced for the [[PS 3]] and 360, [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|much to the elation of fans]]. Expect to see [[Memetic Mutation|Jehuty in 1080p]] in 2012. It was later confirmed that this collection would also be available on the [[Play Station Vita]], allowing portable Jehuty action.

In the meantime, An HD Collection of the games (The two console ones, anyway) has been announced for the [[Play Station 3]] and 360, [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|much to the elation of fans]]. Expect to see [[Memetic Mutation|Jehuty in 1080p]] in 2012. It was later confirmed that this collection would also be available on the [[Play Station Vita]], allowing portable Jehuty action.

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* [[Almighty Janitor]]: Dingo, a former BAHRAM military pilot, and is a genius runner to the extent to be rumored to be the only one that can match Nohman on one-on-one battle. And that's probably the reason why the Jehuty in the 2nd game is far stronger and more useful than the first game Jehuty.

** There's also the fact it gets upgrades in the second it never had in the first.

* [[A Mech By Any Other Name]]: LEVs and Orbital Frames.

* [[A Mech by Any Other Name]]: LEVs and Orbital Frames.

** To further distinguish them from one another, orbital frames being immeasurably superior to LEVs in .. pretty much every way. The only thing LEVs have on frames is they can be manufactured with common materials. Although, by 2nd Runner, commercial LEV technology, as with the Vic Viper, had ''just about'' caught up with frame tech, at least insofar as a decent pilot can give a frame a run for its money.

* [[AI Is a Crapshoot]]: The [[A Is]] in Hathor and Anubis are decidedly evil, while {{spoiler|Hathor's twin sister}} Dolores is a bubbly and innocent [[Robot Girl]]. Though initially neutral, ADA evolves into a compassionate computer, as does Pharsti from ''Fist of Mars''.

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* [[Battleship Raid]]: The Train and battleship fights in The 2nd Runner

* [[Blade Below the Shoulder]]: Jehuty, Dolores and Testament have this.

* [[Blade On a Stick]]: Anubis's [[Weapon of Choice]].

* [[Blade on a Stick]]: Anubis's [[Weapon of Choice]].

* [[Beam Spam]]/[[Roboteching]]: The Homing Laser attacks used by several Orbital Frames.

* [[Beat Them At Their Own Game]]: Much of ''The Second Runner'' centers on finding the Zero Shift so that Jehuty can fight on par with Anubis.

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** The burst attack, where Jehuty pushes a lot of its shot energy into a "bubble" of compressed space, then projects it all at once at a target.

** The [[Wave Motion Gun|Vector Cannon]] can ''only'' be fired this way:

{{quote| '''A.D.A.''': [[Transformation Sequence|Switch to Vector Cannon mode]]... [[Do Not Run ~~With~~ a Gun|landing gear and climbing irons locked]]... inner chamber pressure rising normally... life-ring has started revolving... [[Most Wonderful Sound|ready to fire]].}}

{{quote| '''A.D.A.''': [[Transformation Sequence|Switch to Vector Cannon mode]]... [[Do Not Run with a Gun|landing gear and climbing irons locked]]... inner chamber pressure rising normally... life-ring has started revolving... [[Most Wonderful Sound|ready to fire]].}}

* [[Cherry Tapping]]: Forced upon you in ''The Second Runner'' when you fight Anubis for real {{spoiler|Jehuty has been damaged, leaving the only things it can do is blade, dash, grab, burst-blade and Zero Shift. No shield nor long-range weapons of any kind}}. Needless to say, it makes Anubis [[That One Boss|insanely hard]] on your first attempts.

* [[Chessmaster]]: Nohman is shown to be one in the [[Expanded Universe]].

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* [[Dark Action Girl]]: Viola

* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Early on in the Fist of Mars, if you decide to spare {{spoiler|Nadia}}, you begin a process which will lead to her having a [[Heel Face Turn]]. There could have been a virtual goldmine of tension between her and the [[Eviler Than Thou]] newcomer Amante, or at least something about her learning and growing. Unfortunately, she doesn't even get twenty more lines in the whole game.

* [[Die Hard On an X]]: ''[[~~Die Hard (Film)|~~Die Hard]]'' On An Oxygen Plant.

* [[Die Hard on an X]]: ''[[Die Hard]]'' On An Oxygen Plant.

* [[Disney Villain Death]]: {{spoiler|Baan}}

* [[Determinator]]: Baan walks on the surface of Mars without a space suit just to attack the Links family.

* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: Because it warrants restating, cockpit.

* [[Downer Ending]]: {{spoiler|Z.O.E. 2167 IDOLO.}}

** Also [[Doomed By Canon]]

** Also [[Doomed by Canon]]

* [[Dysfunctional Family]]: James' family starts out as one. One of the main sources of comic relief from ''Dolores, i'' comes from James' attempts to change this.

* [[The Dragon]]: Viola {{spoiler|and her AI copy}}.

* [[Earthshattering Kaboom]]: {{spoiler|Aumaan, designed to wipe out the entire solar system.}}

* [[Early-Bird Cameo]]: We get to see Nohman before his exposure to Metatron completely changes him in ''Dolores, i''.

* [[Expy]]: For his emotional issues, Cage in ''Fist of Mars'' has been compared to Shinji in ''[[~~Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anime)|~~Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. Fortunately, Cage has more backbone and friends who actually trust him than the poor [[Butt Monkey]] from Evangelion.

* [[Expy]]: For his emotional issues, Cage in ''Fist of Mars'' has been compared to Shinji in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. Fortunately, Cage has more backbone and friends who actually trust him than the poor [[Butt Monkey]] from Evangelion.

** Task Force ACEMOS is highly similiar to the Titans from [[Zeta Gundam]], especially in their [[Fantastic Racism]] beliefs. Bonus points for being led by a corrupt, scheming [[Complete Monster]] with serious ego issues.

* [[Evil Knockoff]]: The mass produced Ifrits are this to the orbital frame "Testament" that Cage pilots.

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* [[Get Back Here Boss]]: Inhert in ''2nd Runner''. It will actively run away from Jehuty during almost all of the battle, except on the second part when it'll attack once you get closer enough.

* [[Green Rocks]]: Metatron

* [[Grievous Harm ~~With~~ a Body]]: Jehuty can grab enemy mechs and whack more enemies with the one it grabbed. Of note is during [[The War Sequence]], where the Vic Viper has infinite health, so a sound strategy is just to grab it and whack away until everything that is not your friend dies.

* [[Grievous Harm with a Body]]: Jehuty can grab enemy mechs and whack more enemies with the one it grabbed. Of note is during [[The War Sequence]], where the Vic Viper has infinite health, so a sound strategy is just to grab it and whack away until everything that is not your friend dies.

* [[God Mode]]: Naked Jehuty may sounds stupid but there is only one Orbital Frame that can withstand it's ''one'' full blade combo. And that one foe by the way is the final boss itself.

** Justified since it's Jehuty after absorbing {{spoiler|Anubis}} energy. It is the combination of the {{spoiler|two most powerful Orbital Frames ever}}, so what do you expect?

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** and a man thong too by the looks of it...

* [[I Only Read It for The Articles]]: Non-pornographic example: Several of the people who got the first ''Zone of the Enders'' infamously only bought it to get the ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty]]'' demo included in it, something that was also lampshaded in a [[Penny Arcade]] comic, which also acts as the text for the trope picture.

** Looks like history will repeat itself, as it's just been announced that the HD collection will include the demo for ''[[Metal Gear Rising Revengeance]]''.

** Looks like history will repeat itself, as it's just been announced that the HD collection will include the demo for ''[[Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance]]''.

* [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies]]: {{spoiler|Myona}} in ''Fist Of Mars'' falls into this line of thinking {{spoiler|after regaining her memory}}. {{spoiler|She even tries to die in the facility where she got turned into a [[Tyke Bomb]] so her friends do not get hurt by people who may come after her}} in one of the two possible scenarios.

* [[The Lancer]]: Warren would qualify, but aside from the fact he has some [[UST]] for Mebius, who likes Deckson, he's actually fairly respective of Deckson, though he's somewhat more pragmatic at times. It also helps that all three parties like each other so much that no one thinks about [[Murder the Hypotenuse|murdering the hypotenuse]]

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** {{spoiler|Zephyr}} in ''Fist of Mars''.

** Lloyd in ''2nd Runner'' is [[Informed Ability|said to be one]], although it probably was just Dingo being snarky.

* [[Man in ~~The~~ Machine]]: Dingo.

* [[Man in the Machine]]: Dingo.

* [[Matrix Raining Code]]: In the tutorial area for ''Second Runner.''

* [[Mecha Mooks]]: Both the one eyed UNSF Phantoma and the mass produced Raptors from Mars. The former are piloted, the latter usually automated.

* [[Mecha-Mooks]]: Both the one eyed UNSF Phantoma and the mass produced Raptors from Mars. The former are piloted, the latter usually automated.

* [[Meganekko]]: Robin O'Connell.

* [[Missing Mom]]: James' wife in ''Dolores, i''.

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* [[One-Man Army]]: Subverted since Jehuty is a [[Humongous Mecha|giant mecha]]. Well, a giant mecha fighting a whole army of giant mechas, a battleship,and an even gianter mecha!

** In the second game it even fights an army of giant battleships protected by armies of not-that-giant mechas.

* [[Only Known By Their Nickname]] - Nohman, his real name is Ridley but no one calls him that.

* [[Only Known by Their Nickname]] - Nohman, his real name is Ridley but no one calls him that.

* [[Orphean Rescue]] - How James brings Dolores out of her "coma" once Hathor forcibly took part of her Operating System.

* [[Power Crystal]]: On every Orbital Frame, coupled with [[Power Glows]], [[Tron Lines]], and motion blurred streaks of light, looked really cool.

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** [[Averted Trope|Symphatetic my ass]]. This is the guy [[Fantastic Racism|who had condescending view toward Martians]], [[Kick the Dog|had no qualms]] [[Moral Event Horizon|about harming civilians (and children, in top of that)]] in his search of James Links, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|always calling James "John Carter"]].

* [[Team Mom]]: Semyl and Mebius share traits of this.

* [[Tech Demo Game]]: ''Zone of the Enders'' is generally considered this, not specifically from the player's perspective, but from the developer's perspective, seeing as it uses the same game engine as the higher-profile game ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2]]'', so it's easy to think of ''ZoE'' as Kojima Productions' warm-up game before they tackled ''MGS2''.

* [[Tech Demo Game]]: ''Zone of the Enders'' is generally considered this, not specifically from the player's perspective, but from the developer's perspective, seeing as it uses the same game engine as the higher-profile game ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty]]'', so it's easy to think of ''ZoE'' as Kojima Productions' warm-up game before they tackled ''MGS2''.

* [[Theme Naming]]: Most of the important mecha in the series are named after Egyptian Deities. Subverted in ''Fist of Mars'' where the main character's mech is called [[Symbolism|the Testament]] and the main antagonist's mech is called the Iblis (which is the name of the primary devil in Islam). Also, the Testament's [[Evil Knockoff]] is called Ifrit.

* [[Tomboyish Name]]: Ken Marinaris from ''The 2nd Runner'', who is otherwise ''very'' girly.