History Anime / Robotech

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Zentraedi officers are stronger, larger and usually more skilled than their subordinates. A common Zentraedi soldier dealing with a VF-1 in hand to hand is easily defeated, but a Zentraedi officer like Khyron is a match for the usual pilot as long as he wears body armour, and Breetai once fought off Rick, Ben and ''Max'', demolishing the mechas of the first two, wearing his normal non-armoured uniform and armed with a Zentraedi-sized ''metal pipe'', and [[NighInvulnerable shrugged off Rick's fighter exploding on his face]].

* PragmaticVillain:
** The Invid Regess. She lets the Humans on Earth do as they please as long as they don't attack her children, during the invasion she let the Southern Cross survivors leave (while keeping pressure on them to make sure they don't get any funny idea), and she even ''tolerates the presence of a few REF strongholds on Earth'' (Jonathan Wolfe's city and resistance base and Point K's army of ten thousand [=VFs=]) as long as they don't act out (Wolfe was luring soldiers into Invid hands to keep his city safe, and after he turns them we see an Invid army approach his city. Why? Because she doesn't care in the slightest of what the Humans do as long as they don't oppose the Invid or pose a danger. But if they do... Well, the first (and only) we see of Point K is ''its ruins from the Invid reaction to them starting to pose a danger''.

* HauntingTheGulity:: Shortly after Ben Dixon's death, Rick has visions of Ben in his quarters, telling him not to blame himself for his death, that it was just his time to go.

* TheLancer: Max Sterling, Sgt. Angelo Dante, Rand, but ironically '''not''' Lancer (he and Rook tag-team TheSmartGuy and TheChick).

* TheyLookLikeUsNow: Zentraedi becoming human sized. The Masters, particularly Zor Prime being sent in as a HeelFaceMole, and the Invid Simulagents.

One of the stranger aspects of all of this was how Harmony Gold could obtain the US trademark for ''Anime/{{Macross}}'' just by defending the rights to ''Robotech''. Japan and the US did not have reciprocity for copyrights at the time and Bandai/Big West (the owners of ''Macross'') had sublicensed the international distribution rights to Creator/TatsunokoProduction, who licensed all aspects of ''Macross'' except the Japanese model kits to Harmony Gold. Bandai also licensed several mecha designs to FASA for use in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''[[note]][[https://www.sarna.net/wiki/The_Unseen According to Sarna.net]], a website dedicated to the lore of the Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse, FASA might not have had a rightful license in the first place - the importer who cut the deal, [[https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Twentieth_Century_Imports 20th Century Imports]], had deliberately misrepresented their own associations with Bandai, and allegedly had no legal claim to said rights themselves[[/note]], and they were incorporated and used in the miniatures game. FASA had sued Creator/PlaymatesToys over alleged copyright infringement for a design in their ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad/Robotech'' crossover line that resembled a "Mad Cat". Harmony Gold countersued FASA for the longstanding use of ''Macross'' IP in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'', citing their license from Tatsunoko. The suit was settled out of court, and the settlement was sealed so the settlement terms are not known. However, the suit forced FASA to voluntarily remove the offending designs out of fear of renewed legal hassles[[note]](More details are available on the ScrewedByTheLawyers/BattleTech page.)[[/note]]. Big West subsequently successfully sued Tatsunoko (but only in Japan), as ''their'' license to ''Macross'' was originally only to cover the original animation content of ''Macross'', and ''not'' any derivative content based thereon.

** The first and most obvious one being the "mystery of the invisible SDF-2". The reason? [[spoiler: In the Masters section there's 3 mounds which in ''Robotech'' are supposed to represent the ruins of the SDF-1 and Khyron's ship that crashed into it, inside which is found the Flower of Life which is supposed to be the source of Protoculture. Basically they had to make up the SDF-2 to account for the third mound, and had it that Lisa Hayes was to be its commander. No such ship appears in the original ''Macross'' (yet. An SDF-2 (the ''Megaroad'') would come up later), so we don't see it in the Macross Saga footage.]]

** Why cities such as UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity (complete with famous RealLife theatre) exist in ''The New Generation'' series when [[spoiler: the Earth got nuked by the Zentraedi and they barely managed to rebuild before being invaded again by both the Masters and then the Invid? (Maybe because there were no Zentraedi, or Masters, in ''Mospeada'').]] This is explained in ExpandedUniverse as the villains tended to target populations not cities, and they were abandoned fairly early on. The Novelization also explicitly states that rebuilding New York was a priority during reconstruction.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Invids in Robotech has a minor difference from their counterpart in Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada. While the Invids in Robotech were said to have enslaved humans on Earth as slave labor, [[ShowDontTell at least by narration and Sentinel series' showing their conquest over Sentinel worlds]], Mospeada version seems to left the humans on Earth to their own actions so long as HBT fuel usage are regulated and armed resistance is not present [[spoiler: along with their status as InvadingRefugees--in the sense of vagrants in Mospeada rather than vengeance-fueled conquest as in Robotech--seeking a new homeworld after the destruction of their original home]].

* AnyoneCanDie: The ''Macross'' series had a surprisingly high body count among its main cast, which shocked western audiences during its heyday. [[SacrificialLion The first among them]] was [[spoiler: [[ColonelBadass Roy Fokker]]]], who was followed by [[spoiler: Ben Dixon]] only two episodes later. Countless billions were also killed when the Zentraedi [[OrbitalBombardment bombard Earth's surface]], annihilating over 2/3 of its populace. Several scenes are shown of people on the ground as they get vaporized, including a soldier [[spoiler: asking a young girl how old she is. After she replies "two", he grabs her as they both vanish into white.]] And, in the final episode, [[spoiler: Admiral Gloval and the entire bridge crew of the SDF-1 (minus Lisa, who'd been shoved into the bridge's lone escape pod) die when Khyron and Azonia [[TakingYouWithMe steer their damaged ship directly into the bridge]]]].

* TheNeidermeyer: Lt. Sue Graham focused on her main objective of testing weapons and gathering intel with little concerns for her former comrades and Scott's group. [[spoiler: Though she suffer from HeelRealization after suffering from fatal wounds.]]

** T.R. Edwards and [[spoiler: Anatole Leonard]] wanted a strong and independent Humanity. To them that meant taking over the world and kill every alien who could pose a threat.

''*The light returns, and the Regess appears in all her glory, in the form of a woman with alien dress and [[UncannyValley looks]]*''\\

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: The Genesis Pit is full of these due to Invid experiments.

* DarkSkinnedRedhead: Exedore, without the usual personality type.

* NowWhat: ''Repeatedly'' [[DefiedTrope defied]], as apocalyptic events that would spell the end of nearly any other series ''keep happening'' again and again, yet this series accepts the challenge to keep on going and shows what happens ''next.'' Part of this is baked into the original ''Anime/{{Macross}}'', and part is a fortunate consequence of the stitched-together nature of the American series.

* NowWhat: ''Repeatedly'' [[DefiedTrope defied]], as apocalyptic events that would spell the end of almost any other series ''keep happening'' again and again, yet this series keeps on going and shows what happens ''next.'' Part of this is baked into the original ''Anime/{{Macross}}'', and part is a fortunate consequence of the stitched-together nature of the American series.

A couple of licensed VideoGames were also created around the TurnOfTheMillennium: ''Videogame/RobotechBattlecry'' (based on ''Macross'') and ''Robotech: Invasion'' (based on ''Mospeada'').

A couple of licensed VideoGames were also created around the TurnOfTheMillennium: ''Videogame/RobotechBattlecry'' (based on ''Macross'') and ''Robotech: Invasion'' (based on ''Mospeada''.

A couple of licensed VideoGames were also created around the TurnOfTheMillennium: ''Videogame/RobotechBattlecry'' and ''Robotech: Invasion''.

* JerkassHasAPoint: So abundant that an alternative name for this series could be "Jerkass Has a Point: The Series":
** Lynn Kyle started off a well intentioned pro-peace anti-war advocate but gradually degenerated into a {{Jerkass}} control freak due to stress from living in a war zone where his views weren't easily achievable, alcoholism, and resentment of not getting any return on the emotional investment he'd made in his cousin Lynn Minmei. While war is an undeniably terrible thing and peace greatly preferable to war, Kyle took his black and white view of the situation to an irrational extreme, making him a reversal of Rick Hunter, who also began the series with a similar black and white view of the world but eventually learned to accept the shades of gray that exist in reality. Kyle's final appearance in ''Private Time'' had him splashing water in Minmei's face (when she claimed to be tipsy) and then forcefully hauling her out of a restaurant after she irresponsibly blew off a media engagement to have lunch with Rick Hunter and then chastises her for running out on the concert she was supposed to give before telling her that he's leaving as her manager. Although he was an unreasonable jerk Kyle was also undeniably right when he chewed Minmei out for not appreciating the good fortune she'd had in life. At least at the end he's finally self-aware enough to realize he's part of the problem and genuinely wishes Minmei well as he walks out of her life. Also, some of his points against war are genuinely good, and Lisa ''uses them when talking to her father''.
** Prior to their last meeting, Minmei called Kyle out a few times for copping an ItsAllAboutMe attitude in light of how everyone was suffering equally and also for his own ingratitude towards the Veritech troops who had protected and rescued them in their time of need. This back and forth calling each other out for their bad behavior ultimately led to Kyle's realization above, driving them further apart;
** Khyron is a violent BloodKnight, often seeking battle with the humans even when it doesn't benefit the Zentraedi and trying to sabotage the peace talks, the latter under the justification that the Grand Fleet ''will'' come and kill them all, Earthlings and Zentraedi all, if they catch wind of that. Not only Breetai agrees with the latter point, but the Zentraedi Grand Fleet shows up as soon as Dolza is informed by Azonia; previously, during the ambush on Mars he shot down a soldier that tried to attack early, stating that they needed to wait and that if ''he'' could do it then his men could do the same. Not only that soldier trying to attack early nearly ruined the ambush, but following episodes make clear that if you can't wait as long as he can you're a suicidal idiot.
*** During the assault on the SDF-1, Khyron shoots a Zentraedi from another unit, and starts trying to do the same to his own men when they run. All of them had confessed they were planning to ditch the fight to go look at Minmei's concert, something that amounted to ''desertion in the face of the enemy'': he was perfectly justified in killing them all on the spot, and he was actually going easy by making an example of the former to try and recover everyone else (who instead panicked), and is in fact screaming to his men to ''go back to the fight'' as he's chasing them.
** In "The Masters" saga of ''Robotech'' Colonel Fredericks of the Global Military Police, whose job is both of military intelligence and to enforce military discipline, often offers harsh criticism of Dana's actions as an officer. Thing is, Dana's squadron is more a [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels biker gang]] than a military unit, in her first on-screen encounter with the GMP Dana ''toppled a security robot just because'', and Fredericks has shown some respect for Dana's battlefield prowess;
** Being effectively Fredericks' disciple, Nova Satori has her moments, especially when trying to bust Musica and Bowie when the first one comes to Earth. Thing is, Musica may be on Earth's side, but she's still a triumviroid ([[CloningBlues clone subject of the Robotech Masters]]), and the last time a subject of the Masters apparently joined the Earth defenders he was actually a brainwashed spy, and as a member of the GMP her job description includes hunting down spies ''and'' those who help them;
** Again in "The Masters", supreme commander Anatole Leonard of the Army of the Southern Cross often acts as a BloodKnight, advocating offensives against the technologically superior Robotech Masters in spite of the enemy's superior firepower and defences, rudely ordering the commander of the first counterattack wave to send in the new fighters against the Masters' motherships in spite of the failure of the better-armed large warships, and not caring that the Masters' troops could be actual human beings and not brainwashed micronized Zentraedi (and in fact he apparently refuses to even consider the idea, kicking Dana out of a meeting when she proposes it): aside for being ''less'' bloodthirsty than his superiors in the government (even [[FacePalm facepalming]] at some of their demands), the Masters are unwilling to talk, and the only way to defeat them is through the desperate counterattacks he demands; the new fighters are apparently the ''only'' reason the first wave survives, as they are launched at the same time as the Masters' launch their corvettes for the final blow and prove a match for them; and with the Masters unwilling to talk the actual identity of their soldiers doesn't matter (and in fact believing them being basically biological robots is useful for the troops), and Dana in that meeting was being insubordinate to the point of calling him a fool (Dana is a ''lieutenant''. She was lucky to not get demoted to private);
** Sergeant Angelo Dante. Generally acting sarcastic, dismissing his commanding officer in the 15th Squadron for being a woman and scatterbrained, and when Zor Prime, a bioroid pilot of the Robotech Masters, is shot down and captured and, having lost his memory, is reassigned to the 15th Squadron in the hope he'll recover it and help the Earth armies, treats him as a spy. He's right on two points: his superior officer is the above-mentioned Dana Sterling, [[GeniusDitz a tactical genius with few peers, an incredible ditz outside battle]], and rather childish and spoiled (and he actually becomes less dismissive and more collaborative as Dana's character improves and she demonstrates herself a capable officer); Zor Prime is a (unwitting and brainwashed) spy, who got his memory wiped and his bioroid shot down by friendly fire ''precisely'' to insert him as a spy, the Masters hoping he'd give the the location of Earth's reserve of Protoculture with the device that transmits everything he sees and hears to them (he succeeds, and as a bonus he accidentally gave forewarning about Earth's counteroffensives against the Masters);
** The twice-mentioned Dana Sterling. She's childish, spoiled and thoughtless, treats Zor Prime as her own personal property, and gets mad when Dante continues keeping an eye on him in spite of mounting evidence he's a spy. But when it comes to tactical decisions she's usually right (she's been even described as a tactical genius, and has proven it by taking on the suicide missions of downing a Masters' mothership and then perform a recon in arms and completing th first succeessfully with minimal losses and aborting the latter when it became effectively impossible and ''still'' bringing home some useful data plus [[GrandTheftPrototype a completely intact bioroid]] that had tried to cut her escape), and can be counted on providing useful advice when her subordinates have emotional issues;
** Octavia's rant when the Masters imprison her and Allegra for their sister Musica's defection may sound jerkish... Except at this point she's still loyal, even if her clone, raised to think as one with both Octavia and Allegra, has defected (even if this opens a whole other can of worms, what with the Masters' society rejecting individuality...);
** After overcoming the Masters' brainwashing and joining the Southern Cross for real, Zor Prime becomes this out of [[TheCynic cynism]]. Musica feels bad for having effectively betrayed her people and sisters? He points out she's beyond forgiveness for betraying those who trusted her, just as ''he himself is'' (the fact he ignores how he had been brainwashed into doing it doesn't matter to him: he betrayed first his companions in the 15th Squadron and then the Masters). He declaring he should have stayed on the Masters' mothership that he blew up, never mind how disrespectful to the soldiers who fell in combat until then? He can't trust himself to not fall again to the Masters' conditioning, he's a security risk. Calling Nova and confirming her suspicions about Musica being a Tirolian triumviroid? Read again why he feels he should be dead, and add to it that his phone call is the only reason why Nova (who had almost worked out what was happening on her own) didn't arrest the whole squadron;
** As "The Masters" is full of such guys, it's only appropriate that the eponimous Robotech Masters join the group. In the latter part of the saga the Masters interrupt offensive operations against Earth to try and deal with the Invid Sensor Nebula before it can detect the presence of the Flower of Life and thus summon the Invid... And then often wonder ''why'' the Southern Cross starts launching continuous offensives against their fleet in spite of the Masters' technological superiority translating in superior firepower and robust DeflectorShields that always cause ''heavy'' losses to the Southern Cross. They also imprison Allegra and Octavia for Musica's defection... But as they are triumviroids, that is ''a trio of clones based on the same genetic matrix and raised to think and act as one'', it's only natural they expect the other two to try and defect at the first chance (as they in fact later tried to do) or otherwise do something dangerous now that their sister has started thinking on her own and isn't there to balance them anymore, and strangely generous on their part to not just execute them on the spot;
** During the Battle of Reflex Point, the Invid Regess points at the Robotech Expeditionary Force's all-out offensive trying to reconquer Earth, even having weapons of mass destruction ready in case they lose, as proof that HumansAreBastards. Sure, she may not know just what the Invid Regent did on Tirol, but considering that the Invid occupation of Earth translated in the conquerors not only letting the Humans do as they wished as long as they didn't try to oppose them nor tried to break the tight regulations on Protoculture (that, incidentally, is the fuel for the mechas and guns that can actually pose a danger to the Invid) but also ''repairing Earth's ecosystem after the Zentraedi's bombardment brought it on the brink of collapse'' it's easy to see why she had such a low opinion of the REF. [[spoiler: That and she had recognized the REF new equipment as coming from the Haydonites, meaning their ancient enemy was manipulating the Humans into trying to do the dirty work for them...]];
*** In ''The Sentinels'', every scene involving the Regess, be it her recorded voice or her in person, has her insulting the Regent and his crusade against the Tirolian race, detailing ''why'' she's insulting him. Every single insult and their justification is spot-on.
** To complete the list, we have the Invid Regent. Who, in the one ''Sentinels'' scene in which he appears with his wife he quickly counters her later tirade of insults by pointing out that ''she'' is responsible for their situation in the first place, having got seduced by Zor into giving him the secrets of Protoculture, and that the supposed evolution she's gone through since then looks suspiciously like an imitation of the [[HumanAliens humanlike Tirolians]]. Notable because not only the Regess doesn't counter either of his points, but on Earth (long after she got fed up with him enough to dump him) she tacitly aknowledged the second by ''researching a better form into which transmutate herself and the Invid'' (the fact the research ultimately indicated the Human form as the best one may or may not be a coincidence).

Aside from the DC comics, there have been a number of other comic adaptations as well, from Antarctic Press, Eternity Comics (later Academy Comics), and others. Titan Comics launched a new run in 2017, which swiftly went [[OffTheRails into a new direction on its own]]. The 2017 series ended in 2019 after the IntraFranchiseCrossover ''Event Horizon'' set up a ReTool into the ''Robotech Remix'' series, featuring multiple characters from various parts of the original timeline interacting in the new Titan continuity.

* KidFromTheFuture: The Titan Comics run has Dana Sterling showing up during ''The Macross Saga'', [[spoiler:sent back in SuspendedAnimation aboard the SDF-1 to warn about the "Event Horizon" IntraFranchiseCrossover about to begin]]. ''Robotech Remix'' continues with this plot point, with [[spoiler:Dana's desperate search for a way back to her original timeline fueled by her angst over her parents not being in love with each other, even if they both love her like their own daughter anyway]].

This is ironic, because ''Robotech'' is a CutAndPasteTranslation of three different anime series, edited together by Carl Macek of Harmony Gold. Macek had wanted to bring the Japanese anime ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' to western television, but was unable to since it did not possess the [[SixtyFiveEpisodeCartoon sixty-five episodes]] needed for a syndication deal[[note]]It was supposed to have 48, but this was slashed to 36 due to production costs[[/note]]. Macek's solution was to tie ''Macross'' to two other unrelated series with [[FollowTheLeader similar elements and art styles]], ''Anime/SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross'' and ''Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada'', and to turn the whole thing into a multi-generational saga, using ''Macross'''s Protoculture--now retrofitted to be the fuel source behind the various technology used by the different races--as the uniting factor between each series. In addition, Harmony Gold found out that the model company Revell had already bought the rights to several ''Macross'' models (as well as ''Anime/SuperDimensionCenturyOrguss'' and ironically, ''Anime/FangOfTheSunDougram''), releasing them under the name "Robotech", as well as a comic book made by Creator/DCComics with an original setting. As an agreement to keep brand synergy, the name was kept. The DC comic, which at the time only had two issues, and its continuity, was dropped.

* CutAndPasteTranslation: One of the most famous examples. Less glaring in the initial ''Macross Saga'', which handled the story similar to the series it was adapted from with the exceptions of names and changes made to emphasize ''Robotech'' specific worldbuilding.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Multi-generations of them on both sides of the conflict.

** Compared to the original series, as well: the ''Macross Saga'' famously was, in general, a direct translation of key events in Macross and not much editing-out of violence; come the finale, however, it gets much more bleak, as [[TheCaptain Captain Global/Gloval]] and the BridgeBunnies, who SURVIVED the destruction of the Macross in the Japanese version, are outright [[KillEmAll KILLED in the Robotech version]].

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair - For American anime fans who grew up in the '80s, Max and Miriya are the ur-example. Max is especially notable since he's fully human, so his hair color can't be explained away as a sign of alieness.

* FallingIntoTheCockpit: Deconstructed (as with most things in the first episode) with poor Rick Hunter. He's a stunt flyer, not a combat pilot. When his brother Roy shows off the controls to him and is called away, Rick happens to still be in the Veritech when the attack happens. He tries to explain what's going on over the channel to Lisa, but he's burning fuel and is a sitting duck on the ground, so he's browbeaten into taking off. Roy tries to cover for him, but Rick panics in his first dog fight and is shot down, and even after Lisa explains the controls for transforming the Veritech for the very first time on screen, he only succeeds in having a somewhat more controlled crash through multiple buildings.

** Rick Hunter, while stranded with Minmei during ''The Long Wait'', used an unpressurized flight suit and scarf to try holding his breath for a quick space walk. Additionally, the tuna didn't suffer from any freezer burn.

** A notable example is the Invid who eventually becomes Corg is this. The only things that identifies him as different is the blue lens of his mecha, but unlike every other Invid who fights the Robotech Rebels, he actually retreats when the fight becomes unwinnable without any prompt from the Regess, and actually dodges Scott's missiles and gives him trouble when Corg was just a humble Invid scout. He's eventually promoted and becomes a major threat as a result.