History Anime / GoLion

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Before Media Blasters' official spelling, "Fala" was usually romanized as "Farla".

* OedipusComplex: The [[spoiler:half-Galran, half-Altean]] Sincline has a lot of daddy and mommy issues, especially with Fala resembling his long dead mother.

* {{Bishounen}}: Prince Sincline is a pretty man. So are Kogane, Kurogane and both of the Shirogane brothers.

->''One!... Plus one!... Plus one!... Plus one!... Plus one!... [=GoLion=]!!''

''Beast King [=GoLion=]'' (百獣王ゴライオン, ''Hyaku Jūō Goraion'') is a CombiningMecha from Creator/{{Toei}}[[note]]Not Creator/ToeiAnimation; the series was conceived by the main Toei company, but the animation was handled by other studios, with Creator/NakamuraProductions on character designs[[/note]] that aired in 1981-82. The show aired Wednesdays at 6pm on Creator/TVTokyo [[note]]Originally Tokyo 12 Channel, which became TV Tokyo in October 1981, during the show's run.[[/note]] and was syndicated to other stations across Japan. Since shows like this were a dime a dozen in Japan (TV Tokyo actually devoted the weekday 6pm time slot to robot anime at this time, with a different show airing each day), it unfortunately got overlooked. But [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff elsewhere, including the US]], where HumongousMecha shows were still practically unheard of, it got recognition as the lion robot of ''Anime/{{Voltron}}''.

* DarkerAndEdgier: It never quite matches the works of Creator/GoNagai or Creator/YoshiyukiTomino, but it's still a fair bit more brutal than most kid-friendly SuperRobot shows of its day and downright shocking to anybody who's more familiar with ''Voltron''. It's particularly notable the way the director seems to take perverse delight in causing secondary or unnamed characters to drop like flies, most notably most of the entire population of Earth in the first episode (one episode indicates that there were at least a few survivors who later became prisoners as a human girl with psychic powers agrees to be a saboteur in order to win freedom for the other prisoners and her older brother [[WasOnceAMan volunteers to become a half-beastman for the same reason]].) The Galra Empire also stood out as one of the most brutal galaxy-wide enemies, playing AlwaysChaoticEvil straight and showcases just exactly what happens when they have enough power: Successful invasions, images of death and slavery always follow wherever Galra goes throughout the galaxy (Though notably, the destruction of Earth [[NotMeThisTime wasn't Galra's fault in the first place]]). They also have harem scenes if the violence was not enough (though they do not show 'action'.). The series would likely Get a r-17 even in cartoon/animated form in the US if rated.

* DarkerAndEdgier: It never quite matches the works of Creator/GoNagai or Creator/YoshiyukiTomino, but it's still a fair bit more brutal than most kid-friendly SuperRobot shows of its day and downright shocking to anybody who's more familiar with ''Voltron''. It's particularly notable the way the director seems to take perverse delight in causing secondary or unnamed characters to drop like flies, most notably most of the entire population of Earth in the first episode (one episode indicates that there were at least a few survivors who later became prisoners as a human girl with psychic powers agrees to be a saboteur in order to win freedom for the other prisoners and her older brother [[WasOnceAMan volunteers to become a half-beastman for the same reason]].) The Galra Empire also stood out as one of the most brutal galaxy-wide enemies, playing AlwaysChaoticEvil straight and showcases just exactly what happens when they have enough power: Successful invasions, images of death and slavery always follow wherever Galra goes throughout the galaxy (Though notably, the destruction of Earth [[NotMeThisTime wasn't Galra's fault in the first place]]).
* DeathOfAChild: Raible's toddler son gets shot to death in episode 49.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The original five Golion pilots usually called each other by nickname: "[[TheHero Chief]]", "[[SacrificialLamb Quiet]]", "[[TheLancer Moody]]", "[[TheBigGuy Hothead]]", and "[[TheSmartGuy Shorty]]". They were otherwise only known by their last names. (The "[[TheChick Princess]]" manages to fit into the scheme later.)

%%* Five Man Band: One of the [[UrExample Ur-Examples]].

Even though the series never took off in Japan as well as ''Voltron'' elsewhere, it does have a cult following. In Italy, where the first 26 episodes aired dubbed in 1982 - two years before ''Voltron'' even existed - ''[=GoLion=]'' is arguably ''more'' popular than ''Voltron'', although ''Voltron'' was also released in Italy in 1986, creating a DuelingDubs situation. Also, [=GoLion=] appeared in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsW''.

''Beast King [=GoLion=]'' (百獣王ゴライオン, ''Hyaku Jūō Goraion'') is a CombiningMecha from Creator/{{Toei}}[[note]]Not Creator/ToeiAnimation; the series was conceived by the main Toei company, but the animation was handled by other studios[[/note]] that aired in 1981-82. The show aired Wednesdays at 6pm on Creator/TVTokyo [[note]]Originally Tokyo 12 Channel, which became TV Tokyo in October 1981, during the show's run.[[/note]] and was syndicated to other stations across Japan. Since shows like this were a dime a dozen in Japan (TV Tokyo actually devoted the weekday 6pm time slot to robot anime at this time, with a different show airing each day), it unfortunately got overlooked. But [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff elsewhere, including the US]], where HumongousMecha shows were still practically unheard of, it got recognition as the lion robot of ''Anime/{{Voltron}}''.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: WorldWarIII, when the US and USSR launch their missiles at each other, happens eight years after the USSR fell.

* FiveManBand: One of the [[UrExample Ur-Examples]].

* CallingYourAttacks: Naturally. King's Sword Jyuoken (the "Blazing Sword" in the Voltron adaptation) is the most famous.

* DarkerAndEdgier: It never quite matches the works of Creator/GoNagai or Creator/YoshiyukiTomino, but it's still a fair bit more brutal than most kid-friendly SuperRobot shows of its day and downright shocking to anybody who's more familiar with ''Voltron''. It's particularly notable the way the director seems to take perverse delight in causing secondary or unnamed characters to drop like flies, most notably most of the entire population of Earth in the first episode (one episode indicates that there were at least a few survivors who later became prisoners as a human girl with psychic powers agrees to be a saboteur in order to win freedom for the other prisoners and her older brother [[WasOnceAMan volunteers to become a half-beastman for the same reason]].)

* EarFins:* Emperor Daibazaal is an alien who has purple ear fins (this also applies to his ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' counterpart King Zarkon)