History Anime / GreatMazinger

* TheWorfEffect: Tetsuya was stablished on both series how an excellent HumongousMecha AcePilot, BloodKnight CombatPragmatist and highly competent, HotBlooded Badass. In the reimaginings (''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'' and ''Anime/ShinMazinger'') how did you show the situation at hand was dangerous and the villain a serious threat? Simple. Pit Tetsuya against said villain and injure him or make him struggle.
** Venus A was also used like a punching bag by the Mycenae Warrior Monsters when it was needed showing how terrible they were.
* WorthyOpponent: Tetsuya and Ankoku Daishogun. And its mutual. Some of the Mycene general also view Tetsuya as a opponent that worth fighting against.

Several millennia ago, a powerful civilization named Mykene thrived in the Greek island of Bardos. To defend their island from invaders, they employed [[HumongousMecha metallic giants]] [[ChestBlaster that blasted tongues of fire from their chests]]. However, an earthquake destroyed their island and the Mykene disappeared. For a long while it was believed they perished right then, but it was false. In reality they were forced to seek shelter underground, and a lot of them grafted their heads into powerful mechanical bodies to survive. However they longed to return to the surface again and getting the sunlight, fresh air, and unpolluted water back.

Many centuries later, Dr. Hell and Dr. Kabuto conducted research on Bardos and through different means both of them reached the conclusion that their civilization was still alive. Dr. Hell decided on allying himself with one them. (Which turned out to be a bad move). Dr. Kabuto suspected the Mykene were preparing to return to the surface and take it back from humans and he decided to start taking precautions.

When his son and his daughter-in-law were mortally injured in a laboratory accident that went awry, he turned his son into a cyborg to keep him alive and revealed to him his plans and his fears. Kenzo Kabuto agreed to work secretly to prevent the Mykene invasion.

After the ending of ''Anime/MazingerZ'', Mazinger Z was easily destroyed by the Mykene Battle Beasts. Kouji and Sayaka went to study in America, leaving the defense of Earth on the hands of Tetsuya Tsurugi and Jun Hono, two combat-pro [[ConvenientlyAnOrphan orphans]] who are slightly DarkerAndEdgier compared to Kouji and Sayaka. Piloting Great Mazinger -an upgrade to Mazinger Z, built by Kenzo, Kouji’s NotQuiteDead father, by improving upon his father’s plans- and Venus A, [[BattleCouple Tetsuya and Jun]] go to battle the Mykene Empire, led by the Emperor of Darkness, and eventually Tetsuya becomes the WorthyOpponent of TheDragon, The Great General of Darkness.

* AHeadAtEachEnd: Several Mykene War Beasts had a head at each end (an occurrence happened more often than you would think since ALL Mykene War Beasts had several heads: one of them was the {{Humongous Mecha}}'s head and the other -or others- belonging to the human warrior fused with the mecha). This trope was used for first time in the Mazinger universe in the ''Mazinger Z vs Great General of Darkness'' feature.

* AbusivePrecursors: The Mykene Empire.

* AdvancedAncientAcropolis: The Mykene inhabited the Greek island of Bardos. Their technologic level was miles ahead of any other culture of the same time, and the rest of the world would need millennia to catch up. However, one earthquake shook their island and destroyed their cities, and they were forced to seek shelter underground. They founded another civilization BeneathTheEarth, but on the surface the only remainder left of their presence were abandoned, decaying ruins, and old legends about the HumongousMecha they used to defend their land.

* AirborneAircraftCarrier: Mykeros and later Demonika, Mykene Empire's flying fortresses. All of them were flying fortresses with formidable attack powress and capability to store several War Beasts.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Mykene play with this trope. The Warrior Monsters are HumongousMecha with the head of a Mykene soldier implanted in the giant mechanical body. Since the soldiers are indoctrinated to attack and wipe out anything non-related to the Mykene civilization, the trope is justified. On the other hand, the commanders of the army display different personalities and even honorable qualities (specially Ankoku Daishogun), and even though they are not portrayed like good, they are not portrayed like proud of being evil, but like a proud race of warriors want to return to the surface world after being forced to living underground for millennia.
* AnimalMecha: The Mykene Empire army was split in seven armies. Five out of those seven armies were named after the animals their mechas resembled: mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes and insects.

* BeneathTheEarth: The Mykene. Their civilization thrived in the Greek island of Bardos millennia ago. An earthquake destroyed their island and forced them to seek shelter underground. They lived below Earth for millennia, building their cities in networks of subterranean tunnels and caverns and grafting their bodies into HumongousMecha to survive. Unlike fromn other examples from this trope they did not strictly harbored a grudge against humans... but they did not like them, nonetheless.

** And don't even try to hurt or threaten Jun or Kenzo, as a Mykene Battle Beast found the hard way.

*** Several Mykene Battle Beasts found the hard -and extremely painful- way. [[spoiler:Great Marshall of Hell being one of them.]]

* BigCreepyCrawlies: Overlapping with AnimalMecha, one whole host of the Mykene Empire army were bio-mechanical, massive insects. Their commander, General Scarabeth, resembled a gigantic rhinoceros beetle.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: At first sight the Mazinger trilogy seems belonging to this trope since the the heroes are mostly good guys and the villains tend to be pure evil, but in reality the morality in these series is more greyish than it seems. [[MadScientist Dr.]] [[BigBad Hell]] [[FreudianExcuse became mad after having endured years of abuse, insults and mockery from everybody -including his parents- since he was a little kid, and even when he made a good action, he usually got beaten and scorned]]. [[Anime/GreatMazinger The Great General of Darkness]] wanted to take over the surface world because the Mykene civilization had been forced to live underground for millennia and he wanted his people to once again enjoy things humans take for granted; seeing sunlight again and breathing fresh air. [[Anime/UFORoboGrendizer Emperor Vega]] began invading other planets because his own homeworld was dying, and several of his henchmen were {{WellIntentionedExtremist}}s wanted establishing a benevolent dictatorship because they genuinely believed Earth's people would be better off. And, frankly, humans in [[Anime/MazingerZ the]] [[Anime/GreatMazinger Mazinger]] [[Anime/UFORoboGrendizer trilogy]] often acted like [[UngratefulBastard utter]] [[HumansAreBastards bastards]] and forced the heroes to ponder why they bothered.

* BrainInAJar: The [[BodyHorror Kedora]]. Creator/KenIshikawa one-shot "The Relic of Evil" revealed that [[spoiler: the Mykene controlled their {{Robeast}} by grafting the brain of a soldier taught to destroy all non-Mykene civilizations into a parasitic organism, and it fused with a robot, giving the Mykene soldier complete control.]] They would show up later in ''Anime/ShinMazinger''.
* BreathWeapon: Great Typhoon. Great Mazinger blows a jet of wind from its mouth grill to blow the enemy away. It is similar to Mazinger's Rust Tornado, but without the rust effect. Many Warbeasts also had breath-based attacks, usually expelling out fire, acid or even poison. One of the seven armies of Mykene Empire (the Reptilian Warbeasts) specialized in this kind of weapons.
* TheBridge: The [[AirborneAircraftCarrier aircrafts]] of [[BeneathTheEarth the Mykene Empire]] had bridges fitted with the basic elements.

* CardCarryingVillain: DragonInChief Great General of Darkness (Ankoku Daishogun) was very clear about his goals: he wanted the ancient Mykene civilization returned to the surface world and felt the light of Sun for first time in milennia, and he thought conquering the surface and wiping the whole humanity out was the only way to accomplish that. However, BigBad Great Emperor of Darkness didn't make clear that was his motivation. Then again, he was [[spoiler:Hades.]] It's a bit hard not being evil when you are a GodOfEvil.

* CoolAirship: Mykeros and Demonika, Mykene Empire flying fortresses and airborne carriers.

* {{Cyborg}}: Prof. Kenzo Kabuto and Archduke Gorgon. And if you keep in mind the Warrior Monsters were bio-mechanical HumongousMecha were controlled by the brain of a Mykene soldier grafted into it, then you have to that series' {{Robeast}}s were giant cyborgs.

** It is played straight with Kenzo. His sons, Kouji and Shiro grew up believing their parents had died cause a laboratory experiment that went wrong. [[spoiler:However, Kenzo's father saved his son's life by turning him into a cyborg. However, neither of them told Kouji and Shiro he was alive because Kenzo was going to build a HumongousMecha to repel the Mykene invasion they predicted, and train its pilot. And both his father and he wanted to shield Kouji and Shiro from danger and psychological shock.]] It was not a bad reason, even if it was somewhat weak because Juzo was also building another HumongousMecha and he raised them, even if he hired a maid because he was nearly always absent. [[spoiler:When Kenzo revealed the truth to his little son, it took a long while for Shiro forgiving him. Though Kouji forgave him right away.]]

* DarkestHour: In the anime it happened in the last episode: the Mykene bombarded the Fortress of Science, Kouji and Tetsuya were forced to fight separately, Tetsuya was defeated [[spoiler: and nearly got killed]] and Prof. Kenzo Kabuto [[spoiler:died.]] And in the GosakuOta episodes it was worse AND [[FromBadToWorse things went downhill]].
** Nevertheless, in that same manga the DarkestHour happened in one of the last arcs: Great Marshall of Hell blackmailed the Government into destroying the Fortress of Science, Great Mazinger and Venus A. The Fortress was blown up to bits and crumbled into the ocean, the heroes were forced to flee and hiding, and while they were seeking a shelter and lying low, the Mykene army conquered Japan.

* DoingInTheWizard: In the Mazinger versus Great General of Darkness, a prophet warns Boss and his gang -and later Kouji and his friends- about the inminent Mykene invasion. It turns out that [[spoiler:in reality he was Prof. Kenzo Kabuto, father of Kouji and Shiro, who kenw about the Mykene for reasons having nothing to do with prophecies.]]

* EvilPlan: [[GodEmperor Emperor of Darkness]]' plan is [[TakeOverTheWorld conquering the surface world]] so that [[BeneathTheEarth the Mykene civilization]] can live above ground again.

* ExactlyWhatIAimedAt: In the ''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'' movie Tetsuya is fighting [[FishPeople Angoras]] and [[BigCreepyCrawlies Scarabeth]]. Tetsuya throws Great Mazinger's [[PrecisionGuidedBoomerang Great Boomerang]] and right after shoots [[BreathWeapon Great Typhoon]]. Both attacks miss, both commanders laugh and ask where he is aiming at... when Great Mazinger's boomerang slices them both from behind. As he is dying, Scarabeth -Mykene army's best tactician- realizes Tetsuya had missed his boomerang throw on purpose, and he shot Great Typhoon to change the boomerang's trajectory. So he caught them by surprise and killed both of them at once.

* FacelessGoons: Mykene Empire's foot troops wear viking helmets cover his entire head.

* FinalBattle: It varies depending on if we are discussing the Creator/GoNagai manga, the anime series or the GosakuOta manga. In the anime version, [[spoiler:Great Marshall of Darkness sent several Warrior Monsters to attack the Photon Energy Research Institute as Demonika -his CoolAirship- stealthily approached the Fortress of Science. Kouji fought a powerful Warrior Beast but Tetsuya (who was irrationally jealous) refused to sortie to help him. Finally he deployed Great Mazinger, and Great Marshall chose that moment to attack. A Warrior Monster attacked Tetsuya as Demonika started bombarding the Fortress. Tetsuya was easily shot down and cut off reinforcements. Dr. Kabuto then commited a HeroicSacrifice to save him. After retrieving his corpse, Mazinger-Z, Great Mazinger, Venus A and Diana A regrouped and attacked Demonika together, blowing the Mykene army up to Hell.]] The manga versions are similar, but there is a very important difference in the GosakuOta version: Tetsuya [[spoiler:commited HeroicSacrifice, self-detonating Great Mazinger to destroy Demonika and the Mykene army.]]

* GiantFlyer: The division of the Mykene army commanded by Birdler were all giant, bird-like mecha.

* GoodWingsEvilWings: Great Mazinger had two sets of wings: two red metallic wings unfolded from its back, and Big Booster (a grey JetPack docked its back. Big Booster wings were triangular and grey-colored). Several squads of the Mykene Empire army were formed by animal-shaped, bio-mechanical {{Robeast}} (such like the Avian army or the Insect army), so it was usual seeing Monster Warriors equiped with wings of bat, bird or insect.
* GrandFinale: Kouji and Tetsuya's rivalry reaches a boiling point when [[spoiler:the Mykene army attacks Mazinger and Tetsuya refuses helping Kouji. Finally, he gets talked into launching Great Mazinger, only to be shot down by a War Beast was awaiting for him. At the same time, flying aircraft Demonika appears and starts bombarding the HomeBase of the heroes. TheProfessor Kenzo Kabuto (Kouji's biological father and Tetsuya's adoptive father) commits HeroicSacrifice to save his adoptive son. Tetsuya suffers a HeroicBSOD, realizing his fear of losing his father has brought about his father's death, and Mazinger, Great Mazinger, Aphrodite and Venus combine forces to annihilate Emperor of Darkness' CoDragons and blowing up their fortress. And in one of the manga versions, Tetsuya committed another HeroicSacrifice to atone for what he had done.]]

* GutPunch: In the GosakuOta manga the punches started when the Mykene blew up a coast city after Great Marshall of Darkness replaced the former [[spoiler:deceased]] DragonInChief. In a few episodes the Japanese army threw an attack against the heroes and their HomeBase, [[TheProfessor Prof. Kabuto]] went through a DespairEventHorizon, the Fortress of the Science got destroyed, forcing the heroes to run away and lie low, the Mykene burnt Tokyo to ashes, conquered Japan and crafted a KillSat, obliterating whole cities. Then you have the FinalBattle. The heroes were busy building a new HomeBase when the Mykene army launch an attack. Misato [[spoiler:gets sliced in half]] in front of Tetsuya as he is unable to do anything, Mazinger-Z and Great Mazinger are trashed, Prof. Kabuto [[spoiler:dies to save Tetsuya,]] and in reaction Tetsuya, realizing it was his blame [[spoiler:commits a TakingYouWithMe HeroicSacrifice.]] The FinalBattle in the anime version was ''not quite'' so brutal, but in exchange you had [[spoiler:a scene where Prof. Kabuto dies in arms of his son Kouji.]]

* HomeBase: The Fortress of Science was the place where the heroes lived and their HQ to fight the Mykene Empire. It stood out in sea beside the Japanese shoreline and it could submerge -doubling like an UnderwaterBase-. Some parts of the building could detach off the remain and work like a submarine or a flying carrier. Mykene Empire HomeBase was necessarily an ElaborateUndergroundBase because they were a civilization lived underground.

* IControlMyMinionsThrough: Great Emperor of Darkness was a GodEmperor, so he used Authority, Fear, Loyalty, Power and Divine Right. His minions were loyal and respected his authority because he had protected the whole Mykene civilization when they were forced to hide underground, and because its power [[spoiler:(in ''Anime/ShinMazinger'' his real identity was Hades).]]

* ItsPersonal: Fighting the Mykene army was not a personal matter for Tetsuya... until [[spoiler:Professor Kabuto]] died. THEN it became personal right away. In the Ota manga chapters, Tetsuya has a personal grudge against Marquiss Yanus after [[spoiler: she tore Misato in half in front of him.]]

* LostTechnology: The Mykene technology. It was seen for first time when Dr. Hell foudn an army of giant robots in the island of Bardos.

** In the ''Mazinger-Z versus Great General of Darkness'' movie it is said the legions of Mykene Warrior Monsters are commanded by Great General of Darkness. He seems to be the supreme leader of the Mykene Empire. In first episode of ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' we learnt he is the supreme commander of the Mykene ''army'', and he is under the orders of the Emperor of Darkness (also known like [[spoiler:Hades]]).

* TheMole: The Mykene Empire had a mole infiltrated among Dr. Hell's henchmen, [[spoiler:Archduke Gorgon]], and [[spoiler:Marquiss Janus]] tried to infiltrate into the Fortress of Science once by pretending being an average human girl.

** In the GosakuOta manga episodes, Great Marshall of Darkness sucessfully blackmailed Japanese army into destroying Great Mazinger and the Fortress of Science. The army bombarded the Fortress and stormed into the place before blowing it up completely, and the heroes were forced to flee and lie low for a while. Meanwhile, Mykene army conquered Japan.
** In the last episodes of the anime and GosakuOta manga, the Mykene army struck the Fortress [[spoiler:and in the manga, Marquis Janus traped Misato and cut her in half]], and attacked Mazinger-Z and Great Mazinger separately. Kouji and Tetsuya nearly got killed, and [[spoiler:Prof. Kabuto commited a HeroicSacrifice to save Tetsuya.]] The generals of the Mykene army laughed. [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Five minutes later they were not laughing]].

* NotSoDifferent : Proud of their skills as a warrior, protecting their kinds, yet prefer to show their superiority in combat towards their enemy, admires someone who can math their own skills, and many more to list. Yes, the only difference that Tetsuya have against the Mykene generals, especially Ankoku Daishogun is the fact that he is Human.

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Mykene. Many of them were warriors highly proud of their skills and eager for testing them, and their {{Robeast}}s were made by grafting into the body of a HumongousMecha the brain of a soldier indoctrinated to fight and exterminate all non-Mykene civilizations.

* RuleOfThree: It was not so blatant like in the first series. Still, three HumongousMecha fought the Mykene. Great Mazinger, Venus-A and Boss Borot. Boss Borot was driven by three pilots: Boss, Nuke and Mucha. The BridgeBunnies are three. Prof. Kabuto had three sons [[spoiler:Tetsuya, Kouji and Shiro]]...

* SculptedPhysique: The Mykene have bodies that are part organic, part mechanic.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Jun Hono was the only female character between the heroes (and Marquiss Janus the only female member of the Mykene high command. Then again, the remainder members were humans whose brains had been grafted into HumongousMecha, so it was hard telling). That changed during the last chapters, when Sayaka was BackForTheFinale and the male to female ratio became 3:2. In the GosakuOta manga, Misato again was a recurring character in the last arcs, so the ratio became 3:3.

* TakeOverTheWorld: The Mykene were an ancient civilization had been forced to survive underground for millennia. BigBad and PhysicalGod Emperor of Darkness and TheDragon Ankoku Daishogun wanted to return to the surface world and let their people enjoy sunlight, fresh air and clean water, and they thought take over the world was the only way to achieve that.

* ThematicRoguesGallery: The Mykene's Warrior Beasts, split in seven thematically-organized divisions: the armies of Superhumans, Evil Ghosts, Mammalian, Avian, Aquatic, Insect and Reptilian Battle Beasts.

* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Subverted. For start with, the Headquarters of the Fortress of Science are not located in Tokyo on the Japanese shore. Therefore, the enemy feels not compelled to exclusively target and attack Tokyo. A lot of Japanese cities are destroyed, and in the Mazinger Z versus Great General of Darkness, the Mykene army struck New York, Londres and Moscow before striking Tokyo.

* UnresolvedSexualTension: Tetsuya and Jun. You would think the issue of them being adoptive siblings would be the main issue, but it is not. Tetsuya is an ObliviousToLove IdiotHero FULL of issues -he is the TropeMaker for BrokenAce, JerkassWoobie and InferioritySuperiorityComplex in HumongousMecha anime-, and he is obsessed with piloting Great Mazinger and fighting the Mykene Empire because he thinks if he does not, his life will be worthless and his adoptive father will love him no longer. Hence, he is unable to notice Jun's ''very'' obvious advances and flirting. And Jun is a {{Tsundere}} with plenty issues herself and little tolerance for oblivious fools. So they keep their BelligerentSexualTension throughout the entire series.

* UnwantedAssistance: Jun was a ActionGirl with a worth-of-years extensive training like mecha pilot and martial artist. Likewise, Venus A was clearly more powerful than the ''Anime/MazingerZ'' {{Fem Bot}}s). During her first mecha battle she fought the Mykene War Beast skilfully, gaining the upper hand several times. She could have won... if Boss would have not gotten in the way EVERY TIME she was about of finishing the {{Robeast}} off, telling her [[StayInTheKitchen girls should not fight]] and he would look after the Mykene monster. Whenever she managed to shove him off, the War Beast had recovered and she had to begin again. The ironical part is Boss thought he was being chivalrous, charming and kind instead of an offensive and hindering nuisance.

** Venus A was also used like a punching bag by the Mykene Warrior Monsters when it was needed showing how terrible they were.

* AllYourColorsCombined: The Mazinger trilogy series have extensively played with this trope:
** In ''Anime/GreatMazinger'', the [[spoiler:final battle]] is won when Mazinger, Great Mazinger, Aphrodite A and Venus A combine their strongest attacks to bring CoolAirship Demonika down.
** In ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'', Mazinger-Z, Great Mazinger and Grendizer combined all of their attacks in one manga scene to destroy a Vegan starship. And in one of the movies, Grendizer and Great Mazinger combined their ChestBlaster attacks to destroy a Saucer Beast.
** In the first episode of ''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'', Mazinger-Z and Great Mazinger used their ChestBlaster weapons in combination to melt a Mechanical Beast to slag.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: At first sight the Mazinger trilogy seems belonging to this trope since the the heroes are mostly good guys and the villains tend to be pure evil, but in reality the morality in these series is more greyish than it seems. [[MadScientist Dr.]] [[BigBad Hell]] [[FreudianExcuse became mad after having endured years of abuse, insults and mockery from everybody -including his parents- since he was a little kid, and even when he made a good action, he usually got beaten and scorned]]. [[Anime/GreatMazinger Great General of Darkness]] wanted taking over the surface world because the Mykene civilization had been forced to live underground for millennia and he wanted his people enjoyed again things humans take for granted -such like seeing sunlight and breathing fresh air-. [[Anime/UFORoboGrendizer Emperor Vega]] began invading other planets because his own homeworld was dying, and several of his henchmen were {{WellIntentionedExtremist}}s wanted establishing a benevolent dictatorship because they genuinely believed Earth people would be better off. And, frankly, humans in [[Anime/MazingerZ the]] [[Anime/GreatMazinger Mazinger]] [[Anime/UFORoboGrendizer trilogy]] often acted like [[UngratefulBastard utter]] [[HumansAreBastards bastards]] and forced the heroes to ponder why they bothered.

Many centuries later, Dr. Hell and Dr. Kabuto conducted research on Bardos and through different means both of them reached the conclusion that their civilization was still alive. Dr. Hell decided on allying himself with one them (which would be a bad move). Dr. Kabuto suspected the Mykene were preparing to return to the surface and take it back from humans and he decided to start taking precautions.

** In his climatic SwordFight with TheDragon Great General of Darkness, his mecha was damaged and running out of power and he was badly hurt after a battle when he was informed that the Great General of Darkness -the biggest villain {{Badass}} of the Mazinverse- was approaching to challenge him. Everyone exhorted him to run away. What did Tetsuya do? Picking [[DualWielding two swords]] and meeting {{The Dragon}}'s challenge.

* SwordFight: Great Mazinger was the first HumongousMecha used swords like weapon (even before ''Anime/VoltesV'' or ''Anime/GoLion''). Tetsuya was quite profficient using them, and he even did DualWield. Naturally he had several sword duels throughout the series, the most famous and most fondly remembered against {{Badass}} TheDragon Great General of Darkness.

* TheWorfEffect: Tetsuya was stablished on both series how an excellent HumongousMecha AcePilot, BloodKnight CombatPragmatist and highly competent, HotBlooded {{Badass}}. In the reimaginings (''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'' and ''Anime/ShinMazinger'') how did you show the situation at hand was dangerous and the villain a serious threat? Simple. Pit Tetsuya against said villain and injure him or make him struggle.

Considered DarkerAndEdgier than its predecessor, ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' was less successful and less popular among fans. It was followed by the next, and final, entry of the trilogy, ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer''. There were several {{crossover}}s among it and other GoNagai series, such as ''Manga/GetterRobo'' and ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'', and the two main characters reappeared in ''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}''.

* EldritchAbomination: Several of them showed up in the trilogy, often overlapping with GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Great Emperor of Darkness [[spoiler:as well known as Hades]] (BigBad from ''Anime/GreatMazinger''), Gilgilgan (of the Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo movie), Grangen (of the Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo G feature), Dragonsaurus (of Grendizer, Getter Robot G, Great Mazinger: Kessen! Daikaijuu movie), the Bigbad of SuperRoboRetsuden (a {{Crossover}} penned by Creator/KenIshikawa featuring the most popular HumongousMecha of GoNagai)... and in the ''Manga/ShinMazingerZero'' manga [[spoiler:Mazinger Z itself.]]

* FinalBattle: It varies depending on if we are discussing the GoNagai manga, the anime series or the GosakuOta manga. In the anime version, [[spoiler:Great Marshall of Darkness sent several Warrior Monsters to attack the Photon Energy Research Institute as Demonika -his CoolAirship- stealthily approached the Fortress of Science. Kouji fought a powerful Warrior Beast but Tetsuya (who was irrationally jealous) refused to sortie to help him. Finally he deployed Great Mazinger, and Great Marshall chose that moment to attack. A Warrior Monster attacked Tetsuya as Demonika started bombarding the Fortress. Tetsuya was easily shot down and cut off reinforcements. Dr. Kabuto then commited a HeroicSacrifice to save him. After retrieving his corpse, Mazinger-Z, Great Mazinger, Venus A and Diana A regrouped and attacked Demonika together, blowing the Mykene army up to Hell.]] The manga versions are similar, but there is a very important difference in the GosakuOta version: Tetsuya [[spoiler:commited HeroicSacrifice, self-detonating Great Mazinger to destroy Demonika and the Mykene army.]]

** In one of the GoNagai manga chapters a Warrior Monster was holding Jun hostage. Tetsuya did not dare to attack the Monster, but [[TheProfessor Prof. Kabuto]] ordered him throwing his doubt out and attacking (in spite of Jun was his adoptive sister, BattleCouple and LoveInterest).

* UngratefulBastard: Tetsuya and Jun had the same kind of gratitude and regard Kouji and Sayaka received for their world-saving efforts. Or even worse. In the manga episodes penned by GosakuOta -one of the GoNagai assistants-, Great Marshall Of Hell [[spoiler:warned he would blow Tokyo up unless the HomeBase and the HumongousMecha of the heroes were destroyed. People demanded the Government yielded... And they did. The Fortress of Science was destroyed, and Tetsuya and his allies were forced to flee and lie low for a while.]] During that time they had absolutely NO help to try and keep defending the humankind. They got many insults, though.

* DeflectorShields: The Fortress of Science was equipped with a deflective energy barrier that surrounded the whole building to repel the strikes of the MonsterOfTheWeek and raids of enemy ships and airships. Unfortunately, a strong enough War Beast could shatter the barrier by employing enough brute force, and the CoDragons were DangerouslyGenreSavvy enough to search and blow up the devices that made the barrier working.

* SnipingTheCockpit: In the Mazinger trilogy aiming for the cockpit (clearly visible in Mazinger-Z and Great Mazinger) is a common tactic constantly employed by GenreSavvy villains... and the army when the Government turns on the heroes (which also is an alarmingly common occurrence). In fact, it happened in the first Mazinger-Z manga chapter. And in a Anime/GreatMazinger manga episode, a Warbeast is holding Great Mazinger still as Marquis Janus orders to snipe the cockpit. However, the likewise GenreSavvy HumongousMecha builders had the cockpits specially reinforced to protect the pilot.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy : The Mykene. Oh god the Mykene. Not only most of them are a good fighter and thinker, they know that the biggest weakness of Great Mazinger, is the fact that it is a piloted robot. This resulted in NearVillainVictory for the Mykene as early as the third chapter.

* {{Badass}}: Tetsuya. That is NOT debatable. Great General of the Darkness is also an absolute badass. During his duel with Great Mazinger, he beat the crap out of the giant robot, and in fact [[spoiler:he believed he had killed Tetsuya, declaring his victory before dying.]] And in a promotional material featuring all Go Nagai robots, he single-handedly crushed all of them -minus Shin Getter Robo, Grendizer and Mazinkaiser-, and the slaughter didn't stop until [[Manga/GetterRobo Shin Getter Robo]] and [[Anime/UFORoboGrendizer Grendizer]] showed up.

* {{Badass}}: Tetsuya. That is NOT debatable. Great General of the Darkness is also an absolute badass. During his duel with Great Mazinger, he beat the crap out of the giant robot, and in fact [[spoiler:he believed he had killed Tetsuya, declaring his victory before dying.]] And in a promotional material featuring all Go Nagai robots, he single-handedly crushed all of them -minus Shin Getter Robo, Grendizer and Mazinkaiser-, and the slaughter didn't stop until [[Manga/GetterRobo Shin Getter Robo]] and [[UFORoboGrendizer Grendizer]] showed up.

* {{Crossover}} (Out of all 70's anime based on Dynamic Productions mangas ''Great'' has the biggest number of crossovers - one with ''UFORoboGrendizer'', one with ''Manga/GetterRobo'', one with ''Getter Robo G'' and one with ''Getter Robo G'' and ''Grendizer'' at the same time).

* BrainInAJar: The [[BodyHorror Kedora]]. Creator/KenIshikawa one-shot "The Relic of Evil" revealed that [[spoiler: the Mykene controlled their {{Robeast}} by grafting the brain of a soldier taught to destroy all non-Mykene civilizations into a parasitic organism, and it fused with a robot, giving the Mykene soldier complete control.]] They would show up later in ''ShinMazinger''.

* Myth/ClassicalMythology: It has an increasingly important role in the trilogy. Dr. Hell finding several HumongousMecha in the underground mazes of a Greek island has its basis on the Greek legend of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talos]], the giant man of bronze that protected Creta. Gorgon's {{Robeast}}s resembled gods, heroes and creatures found in the Greek myths. And in later retellings of the story (Z-Mazinger and ShinMazinger), Mazinger-Z turns out to be [[spoiler:Zeus]] and Emperor of Darkness becomes [[spoiler:Hades.]]

* AirJousting: Great Mazinger was able to fly, and the Avian Host was comprised of bird-alike AnimalMecha specialised in this kind of battles. Aerial duels were constant, the first happening in the first episode and the last of them in the last episode.

* TheAce: Tetsuya. Both in series and pretty common in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', he is considered this. [[spoiler:Surprisingly Tetsuya himself is the only person who have any kind of doubts about it.]]
** Some ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' {{Yonkoma}} stories have treated with that. This, for example: [[http://www.dra-mata.com/manga/4koma/old/tsurugi01.jpg]] [[http://www.dra-mata.com/manga/4koma/old/tsurugi02.jpg]] [[http://www.dra-mata.com/manga/4koma/old/tsurugi03.jpg]] [[http://www.dra-mata.com/manga/4koma/old/tsurugi04.jpg]] [[http://www.dra-mata.com/manga/4koma/old/tsurugi05.jpg]] [[http://www.dra-mata.com/manga/4koma/old/tsurugi06.jpg]] [[http://www.dra-mata.com/manga/4koma/old/tsurugi07.jpg]] [[http://www.dra-mata.com/manga/4koma/old/tsurugi08.jpg]]
** Or this: [[http://www.dra-mata.com/manga/4koma/old/bp04.jpg]], [[http://www.dra-mata.com/manga/4koma/old/bp05.jpg]]

** One of the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' manga takes this UpToEleven. He is such a good pilot that he can handles an army of Mycenean beast and its high class general with only a little help of Venus in a short time. In fact, he is so much of an ace that Egret Fehu considered Tetsuya to be an UltimateLifeform, being described as the soldier that humanity sought to achieve and, as a result [[spoiler:used as a reference for creating the Machinery Children]]. [[BadAss SANGER ZONVOLT]] sees the result of Great fighting with an expression that implies fear on his face.
** The best part of it? While the Egret Fehu part is debatable, all of this(him defending the South Atalia base with Venus) is canon. And this is a story set before the event of [[NintendoHard Alpha Gaiden]].

** The ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games have exploited this. When several of the GoNagai mechas show up in the same game, they are given combination attacks. It is usually called Final Dynamic Special, and it is always impressive: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-f3LOeDqTI]].

* BreakoutCharacter : Tetsuya Tsurugi, in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha''. In the first game he is simply an extension to Koji's storyline. In ''Alpha Gaiden'', he is featured in such an extent that the fanbase pretty much considered him the Main Character of ''Alpha Gaiden'', note that Tetsuya is the only non OG character who has been considered as one.

** Hadias and his warrior beasts get better treatment in the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games though with Mamirez being the only spectral type not to appear in one to date.
** If he's not potrayed for his status as TheAce or AcePilot Tetsuya Tsurugi in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' 4koma is this. Any single hole within his character is played for laughs.

** This get elaborated in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha Gaiden'', where Tetsuya ''laugh in happiness'' after knowing that the Mykene is alive and he can fight them at that time.

* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'': Great Mazinger is a stalwart on many ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games, appearing in every games with the original Mazinger Z excepting ''VideoGame/ShinSuperRobotWars'' and ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsK''. However, it will be absent in games that uses the non-classic Mazinger/Mazinkaiser continuity. (Such as ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ Super Robot Wars Z2 and Z3]]'', that uses the ''Anime/ShinMazinger'' continuity, or ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsUX'' that uses the SKL continuity)

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Koji and Tetsuya has a dinstinct way to pilot their own Mazinger. Koji is the Technician, who uses his weapons in normal way, such as Mazinger's Photon powered EyeBeam as a long range weapon, pure brute force and combine it with CombatPragmatism. Tetsuya is the performer who combines his own CombatPragmatism by using Great's wide arsenal of weapon in an unorthodox way, such as using Thunder Break as weapon infusion, Swords as Lightning rods, more directed version of Thunder Break, his surprisingly weird way of handling swords, and covering Great with the heat energy of Breast Burn(which later adapted in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' by Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}} for Kaiser Nova).

* TheWorfEffect: Tetsuya was stablished on both series how an excellent HumongousMecha AcePilot, BloodKnight CombatPragmatist and highly competent, HotBlooded {{Badass}}. In the reimaginings (''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'' and ''Anime/ShinMazinger'') how did you show the situation at hand was dangerous and the villain a serious threat? Simple. Pit Tetsuya against said villain and injure him or make him struggle. Even ''Videogame/SuperRobotWars'' uses this to varying extent.

Considered DarkerAndEdgier than its predecessor, ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' was less successful and less popular among fans. It was followed by the next, and final, entry of the trilogy, ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer''. There were several {{crossover}}s among it and other GoNagai series, such as ''Manga/GetterRobo'' and ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'', and the two main characters reappeared in ''{{Mazinkaiser}}''.

* CanonImmigrant (Great Mazinger later gets featured in the alternate retelling of the first of the trilogy, ''{{Mazinkaiser}}'')

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Koji and Tetsuya has a dinstinct way to pilot their own Mazinger. Koji is the Technician, who uses his weapons in normal way, such as Mazinger's Photon powered EyeBeam as a long range weapon, pure brute force and combine it with CombatPragmatism. Tetsuya is the performer who combines his own CombatPragmatism by using Great's wide arsenal of weapon in an unorthodox way, such as using Thunder Break as weapon infusion, Swords as Lightning rods, more directed version of Thunder Break, his surprisingly weird way of handling swords, and covering Great with the heat energy of Breast Burn(which later adapted in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' by {{Mazinkaiser}} for Kaiser Nova).

After the ending of ''MazingerZ'', Mazinger Z was easily destroyed by the Mykene Battle Beasts. Kouji and Sayaka went to study in America, leaving the defense of Earth on the hands of Tetsuya Tsurugi and Jun Hono, two combat-pro [[ConvenientlyAnOrphan orphans]] who are slightly DarkerAndEdgier compared to Kouji and Sayaka. Piloting Great Mazinger -an upgrade to Mazinger Z, built by Kenzo, Kouji’s NotQuiteDead father, by improving upon his father’s plans- and Venus A, [[BattleCouple Tetsuya and Jun]] go to battle the Mykene Empire, led by the Emperor of Darkness, and eventually Tetsuya becomes the WorthyOpponent of TheDragon, The Great General of Darkness.

* BigDamnHeroes (Tetsuya's forte. Even his debut was a BigDamnHeroes moment in the final episode of ''MazingerZ'', where, fresh off beating Dr. Hell, a new, more powerful army appears and promptly whups Mazinger Z. When all hope seems lost, the brand shiny new Great Mazinger shows up on scene and proceeds to hand the new enemies their butts. Tends to happen a lot in the remakes, generally kicked off with a nice, big Thunder Break).

** It is subverted with Kouji and Shiro's mother in the original series. In episode 90 from ''MazingerZ'', their mother appeared in the Institute, revealing she was alive and asking meeting her sons before telling them why she let them believe she was dead during years. Shiro was happy of getting his mother back, but Kouji was distrustful. [[spoiler:It turned out that Kouji was right. Their mother was truly dead and that woman was a cyborg fabricated by Dr. Hell to infiltrate the Institute and destroy Mazinger from within. So her "good reason for abandoning them" was false.]]

* EldritchAbomination: Several of them showed up in the trilogy, often overlapping with GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Great Emperor of Darkness [[spoiler:as well known as Hades]] (BigBad from ''Anime/GreatMazinger''), Gilgilgan (of the Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo movie), Grangen (of the Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo G feature), Dragonsaurus (of Grendizer, Getter Robot G, Great Mazinger: Kessen! Daikaijuu movie), the Bigbad of SuperRoboRetsuden (a {{Crossover}} penned by Creator/KenIshikawa featuring the most popular HumongousMecha of GoNagai)... and in the ShinMazingerZero manga [[spoiler:Mazinger Z itself.]]

* ReforgedIntoAMinion: Ironically Emperor of Darkness did this to [[spoiler:''MazingerZ'' BigBad Dr. Hell]] turning it into his newest TheDragon. It is ironical because [[spoiler:Hell constantly turned reforged people into his minions.]]

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Even though it is darker and more cynical than ''MazingerZ'', this series is still plenty idealistic. Only mustering all of their courage, heroism, unwillingness to give up and belief in the humanity, he heroes were able to carry forward and win.

* SpeechImpairedAnimal: Bakarasu was a raven ("Bakarasu" roughly means "Dumb crow") Boss and his gang used as a lookout or a messenger. In return, Bakarasu mocked Boss, annoyed him and drove him mad. Bakarasu strangely could talk -and laugh, usually at Boss-, and theoretically it worked alongside Boss, Nuke and Mucha, but in reality it did whatever it pleased. It only had one appearance in ''MazingerZ'' (episode 69), but he showed up in several ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' episodes.

* {{Tsundere}}: ''MazingerZ'' had Sayaka, ''Great'' has Jun. Both of them have little patience when TheHero goes stupid. Jun, however, also has her own problems to deal with...

* BrainInAJar: The [[BodyHorror Kedora]]. KenIshikawa one-shot "The Relic of Evil" revealed that [[spoiler: the Mykene controlled their {{Robeast}} by grafting the brain of a soldier taught to destroy all non-Mykene civilizations into a parasitic organism, and it fused with a robot, giving the Mykene soldier complete control.]] They would show up later in ''ShinMazinger''.

* EldritchAbomination: Several of them showed up in the trilogy, often overlapping with GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Great Emperor of Darkness [[spoiler:as well known as Hades]] (BigBad from ''Anime/GreatMazinger''), Gilgilgan (of the Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo movie), Grangen (of the Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo G feature), Dragonsaurus (of Grendizer, Getter Robot G, Great Mazinger: Kessen! Daikaijuu movie), the Bigbad of SuperRoboRetsuden (a {{Crossover}} penned by KenIshikawa featuring the most popular HumongousMecha of GoNagai)... and in the ShinMazingerZero manga [[spoiler:Mazinger Z itself.]]

Considered DarkerAndEdgier than its predecessor, ''GreatMazinger'' was less successful and less popular among fans. It was followed by the next, and final, entry of the trilogy, ''UFORoboGrendizer''. There were several {{crossover}}s among it and other GoNagai series, such as ''Manga/GetterRobo'' and ''UFORoboGrendizer'', and the two main characters reappeared in ''{{Mazinkaiser}}''.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: At first sight the Mazinger trilogy seems belonging to this trope since the the heroes are mostly good guys and the villains tend to be pure evil, but in reality the morality in these series is more greyish than it seems. [[MadScientist Dr.]] [[BigBad Hell]] [[FreudianExcuse became mad after having endured years of abuse, insults and mockery from everybody -including his parents- since he was a little kid, and even when he made a good action, he usually got beaten and scorned]]. [[GreatMazinger Great General of Darkness]] wanted taking over the surface world because the Mykene civilization had been forced to live underground for millennia and he wanted his people enjoyed again things humans take for granted -such like seeing sunlight and breathing fresh air-. [[UFORoboGrendizer Emperor Vega]] began invading other planets because his own homeworld was dying, and several of his henchmen were {{WellIntentionedExtremist}}s wanted establishing a benevolent dictatorship because they genuinely believed Earth people would be better off. And, frankly, humans in [[MazingerZ the]] [[GreatMazinger Mazinger]] [[UFORoboGrendizer trilogy]] often acted like [[UngratefulBastard utter]] [[HumansAreBastards bastards]] and forced the heroes to ponder why they bothered.

* EldritchAbomination: Several of them showed up in the trilogy, often overlapping with GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Great Emperor of Darkness [[spoiler:as well known as Hades]] (BigBad from ''GreatMazinger''), Gilgilgan (of the Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo movie), Grangen (of the Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo G feature), Dragonsaurus (of Grendizer, Getter Robot G, Great Mazinger: Kessen! Daikaijuu movie), the Bigbad of SuperRoboRetsuden (a {{Crossover}} penned by KenIshikawa featuring the most popular HumongousMecha of GoNagai)... and in the ShinMazingerZero manga [[spoiler:Mazinger Z itself.]]

** In the ''Mazinger-Z versus Great General of Darkness'' movie it is said the legions of Mykene Warrior Monsters are commanded by Great General of Darkness. He seems to be the supreme leader of the Mykene Empire. In first episode of ''GreatMazinger'' we learnt he is the supreme commander of the Mykene ''army'', and he is under the orders of the Emperor of Darkness (also known like [[spoiler:Hades]]).

* SnipingTheCockpit: In the Mazinger trilogy aiming for the cockpit (clearly visible in Mazinger-Z and Great Mazinger) is a common tactic constantly employed by GenreSavvy villains... and the army when the Government turns on the heroes (which also is an alarmingly common occurrence). In fact, it happened in the first Mazinger-Z manga chapter. And in a GreatMazinger manga episode, a Warbeast is holding Great Mazinger still as Marquis Janus orders to snipe the cockpit. However, the likewise GenreSavvy HumongousMecha builders had the cockpits specially reinforced to protect the pilot.
* SpeechImpairedAnimal: Bakarasu was a raven ("Bakarasu" roughly means "Dumb crow") Boss and his gang used as a lookout or a messenger. In return, Bakarasu mocked Boss, annoyed him and drove him mad. Bakarasu strangely could talk -and laugh, usually at Boss-, and theoretically it worked alongside Boss, Nuke and Mucha, but in reality it did whatever it pleased. It only had one appearance in ''MazingerZ'' (episode 69), but he showed up in several ''GreatMazinger'' episodes.

** And in one of the ''GreatMazinger'' manga back in the seventies he had to fight nine Mass-Production Great Mazingers... Yes, he is Asuka's template, definitely.

Considered DarkerAndEdgier than its predecessor, ''GreatMazinger'' was less successful and less popular among fans. It was followed by the next, and final, entry of the trilogy, ''UFORoboGrendizer''. There were several {{crossover}}s among it and other GoNagai series, such as ''GetterRobo'' and ''UFORoboGrendizer'', and the two main characters reappeared in ''{{Mazinkaiser}}''.

* {{Badass}}: Tetsuya. That is NOT debatable. Great General of the Darkness is also an absolute badass. During his duel with Great Mazinger, he beat the crap out of the giant robot, and in fact [[spoiler:he believed he had killed Tetsuya, declaring his victory before dying.]] And in a promotional material featuring all Go Nagai robots, he single-handedly crushed all of them -minus Shin Getter Robo, Grendizer and Mazinkaiser-, and the slaughter didn't stop until [[{{GetterRobo}} Shin Getter Robo]] and [[UFORoboGrendizer Grendizer]] showed up.

* {{Crossover}} (Out of all 70's anime based on Dynamic Productions mangas ''Great'' has the biggest number of crossovers - one with ''UFORoboGrendizer'', one with ''GetterRobo'', one with ''Getter Robo G'' and one with ''Getter Robo G'' and ''Grendizer'' at the same time).

* ClassicalMythology: It has an increasingly important role in the trilogy. Dr. Hell finding several HumongousMecha in the underground mazes of a Greek island has its basis on the Greek legend of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talos]], the giant man of bronze that protected Creta. Gorgon's {{Robeast}}s resembled gods, heroes and creatures found in the Greek myths. And in later retellings of the story (Z-Mazinger and ShinMazinger), Mazinger-Z turns out to be [[spoiler:Zeus]] and Emperor of Darkness becomes [[spoiler:Hades.]]

* GreekMythology: (Pretty much the theme of the main villains).

* EvilPlan: [[GodEmperor Emperor of Darkness]]' plan is [[TakeOverTheWorld the surface world]] so that [[BeneathTheEarth the Mykene civilization]] can live above ground again.