History Franchise / Zoids

* VideoGame/SuperRobotWars: You heard it. Genesis is only included in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsK''.

* FragileSpeedster: Most flight-specialty mecha play this straight, though some avert it and the anime more often than not follows the RuleOfCool instead.
** Among ground units Merda certainly qualifies with its crazy high speed hovering.

* MightyGlacier: Many, but notable examples include all the Gojulas types, Death Saurer, and Ultrasaurus.

It also spawned a SpinOff model line called '''''Soukou Kyoshin Z-Knight''''', which is about Earthlings' humanoid HumongousMecha developed from Zoids. It's moderately successful, but ultimately discontinue in 1993. It also has a short promo {{OVA}} by Creator/{{Sunrise}}.

The original '80s release of the models in the UK was accompanied by a Marvel UK comic, '''''[[http://www.zoidstar.com Zoidstar]]''''', which stands entirely in its own continuity. It followed the story of the survivors of a human prison ship which crashed on what they think is an uninhabited planet but is in fact Zoidstar, former capital of the Zoidaryan Empire. The Zoids are the android-piloted war machines of the Zoidaryans left to run amok after the (almost) total extinction of their masters. Thanks to the actions of the last remaining Zoidaryans the Zoids have divided into two antagonistic armies -- the Blue Zoids and Red Zoids -- and are fighting a brutal war across the ruined surface of Zoidstar. A third faction soon arises dedicated to uniting the other two and conquering the galaxy.

[[folder:Tropes Used In The Franchise As A Whole/The Battle Story]]

* ActionGirl: Rosa Lauri, bodyguard of President Helic and his eventual wife. Two notable feats are taking on Franz (an Empire soldier) in sword to sword combat on top of a Battlerover and Roadskipper and letting him live after she trounced his ass and piloting the Kentauros (a Gojulas/Ultrasaurus/Salamander/Gordos hybrid Zoid that was Helic's personal ride) against an enemy Zoid that Helic could not defeat - she grabbed said Zoid and flew really high into the sky before turning upside down and piledriving it into the ground. She ''survived''. Helic very promptly afterwards asked her to marry him.

[[folder:Tropes Used In New Century/Zero]]

[[folder:Tropes Used In Fuzors]]

[[folder:Tropes Used In Genesis]]

[[folder:Tropes Used In The UK Comic]]

[[folder:Tropes Used In Various Video Games]]

[[/folder]]

''Zoids'' is set on the planet Zi, a mostly desert-like world where the human population lives with Zoids, native mechanical lifeforms that can be turned into deadly fighting machines.

Most of the stories concern battles between the Helic Republic, the Guylos, and Zenebas Empires. This is told in the '''"Battle Story"''' [[AllThereInTheManual in each of the model kits]], though the animated series doesn't follow them too closely. These models have been sold in North America, Europe, Japan, and elsewhere periodically over the past 20 years or so, rarely accompanied by the storyline.

'''Zoids (Dub title ''Anime/ZoidsChaoticCentury'')''', was aired in 1999 and was the first anime series. Taking elements from the Battle Story, Chaotic Century focuses on [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Van Flyheight]], a boy who comes across a small Zoid known as an Organoid, which he names Zeke (Sieg in the original Japanese), sleeping in a pod hidden in an old ruin. He also discovers a [[MysteriousWaif mysterious girl]] he names Fiona (Fiine), who happened to be sleeping in the pod next to Zeke's. Zeke has the ability to resurrect Zoids, so after restoring an abandoned Shield Liger to life, Van takes it to help Fiona find "Zoid Eve". Along the way, they meet up with the smuggler and trader Moonbay, the mercenary Irvine, and end up getting caught up in the war between the Helic Republic and Guylos Empire that takes priority over finding Zoid Eve.

The second season of Chaotic Century, '''Zoids: Guardian Force''', takes place two years after the end of the first season. Van is part of a special forces unit founded to help keep the peace between the Republic and the Empire. As he reunites with Fiona, they find themselves opposing a mysterious group that seeks to cause chaos all over the planet. While ''Chaotic Century'' had concluded its story, it left a lot of the backstory concerning Fiona and Zoid Eve a mystery. ''Guardian Force'' delves heavily into the backstory and finally gives a conclusion to the characters' timeline. The show had such a fan following that Cartoon Network actually relented to fan complaints that the last four episodes were not aired during its Toonami run and ran a marathon of those last four episodes.

The second anime series, '''ZoidsNewCentury''', takes place centuries after the previous two, events from the first two seasons only [[BroadStrokes vaguely being canon]] and confirmed as such by voiceovers left out of the dub. The world is more or less at peace, and battles between groups of Zoids are now a national spectator sport. The story focuses on Bit Cloud, a wandering Junk dealer seeking to build the perfect Zoid. Bit runs afoul of the Blitz Team, one of the competing teams of Zoid warriors, and while imprisoned, ends up befriending the Liger Zero, a tempermental Zoid that usually doesn't let anybody pilot it. The Liger Zero seems to like Bit, however, so the Blitz Team allows him to work off his debt by piloting the Zoid for them. As the story progresses it reveals an organization that likes to break the normal rules, calling themselves the Backdraft Group.

''New Century'' was actually the first Zoids anime to be released in North America, premiering on Creator/CartoonNetwork's ''{{Toonami}}'' block. ''Chaotic Century'' was aired later, usually early in the morning after the end of Adult Swim programming and before the resumption of Cartoon Network's regular programming.

The third series, '''Zoids Fuzors''', was similar in theme to ''New Century'', but set in its own continuity. It shows off the concept of the Fuzors, smaller Zoids that can [[CombiningMecha combine with the larger ones]] to boost their power or give them new abilities. ''Fuzors'' was also aired on Toonami, but was canceled after only 13 of its 26 episodes aired. Eventually, all 26 episodes were shown in Australia. In a curious change, the series was shown in Japan ''after'' its US release. The Japanese version had new animation added, to the point where the second episode is completely different.

The fourth series, '''Zoids: Genesis''', is also in its own continuity, and is [[AfterTheEnd set after a]] [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt terrible cataclysm]] wrecks the civilization on Zi. This series only had a limited release outside Japan.

'''Marvel UK Zoids Comic''' The original 80s release of the models in the UK was accompanied by a Marvel UK comic http://www.zoidstar.com which stands entirely in its own continuity. It followed the story of the survivors of a human prison ship which crashed on what they think is an uninhabited planet but is in fact Zoidstar, former capital of the Zoidaryan Empire. The Zoids are the android-piloted war machines of the Zoidaryans left to run amok after the (almost) total extinction of their masters. Thanks to the actions of the last remaining Zoidaryans the Zoids have divided into two antagonistic armies - the Blue Zoids and Red Zoids - and are fighting a brutal war across the ruined surface of Zoidstar. A third faction soon arises dedicated to uniting the other two and conquering the galaxy.

It also spawn a SpinOff model line call '''Soukou Kyoshin Z-Knight''', which is about Earthlings' humanoid HumongousMecha developed from Zoids. It's moderately successful, but ultimately discontinue in 1993. It also has a short promo {{OVA}} by Creator/{{Sunrise}}.

* NoExportForYou: A lot of the models.

* BadExportForYou: While [=DVDs=] of New Century/Zero are available in English, they lack Japanese audio tracks.

* BadExportForYou: The [=DVDs=], available in Australia/New Zealand only, are of ''terrible'' quality, right down to a botched NTSC to PAL conversion.

* ShortRunInPeru: The English dub was cut short in the US. Its full run was only screened in Australia and Japan.

* NoExportForYou: Even though Viz had licensed it and planned to play it on the Toonami Jetstream, it was never released to the United States.

* OldShame: Never, ever mention GrantMorrison's run on the UK ''{{Zoids}}'' comic. It tends to be "conveniently forgotten" by his biographers and fandom, and he seems to prefer that it remains obscure.

* NoExportForYou: The majority of the video games with the exception of ''Zoids Saga 2 (as Zoids Legacy)'', ''Zoids VS. 2 (as Zoids: Battle Legends)'', and the SoOkayItsAverage strategy game ''Zoids: Total Assault''.

* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: The strength of the Biozoids' "hell armour" is wildly inconsistent, stated to be immune to everything but Metal Zi in one breath and being crushed by falling rocks in another.
** No, it's very consistent. The only thing that can pierce their armor is Metal Zi. [[LoopholeAbuse Crushing, however, can be done by anything of sufficient mass regardless of the strength of the armor.]] And even with that, you often only see them as "dead" (as in the mechanical stuff is destroyed and the armor turns tanish) after being slashed through.
*** That said, PlayedStraight in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsK''. Their armor allows them to RESIST attacks, so sufficiently strong attacks from a gun (which they are supposedly immune to) can still kill them.
* VideoGame/SuperRobotWars: Got its first run in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsK'', and it returns in OE, alongside the debuting [[ZoidsChaoticCentury original series]].

* BigBadassWolf: The Konig Wolf in ''Zoids Battle Legends''. It is perhaps the best muti-role weapons platform in the game.

The third anime series, '''ZoidsNewCentury''', takes place centuries after the previous two, events from the first two seasons only [[BroadStrokes vaguely being canon]] and confirmed as such by voiceovers left out of the dub. The world is more or less at peace, and battles between groups of Zoids are now a national spectator sport. The story focuses on Bit Cloud, a wandering Junk dealer seeking to build the perfect Zoid. Bit runs afoul of the Blitz Team, one of the competing teams of Zoid warriors, and while imprisoned, ends up befriending the Liger Zero, a tempermental Zoid that usually doesn't let anybody pilot it. The Liger Zero seems to like Bit, however, so the Blitz Team allows him to work off his debt by piloting the Zoid for them. As the story progresses it reveals an organization that likes to break the normal rules, calling themselves the Backdraft Group.

It also spawn a SpinOff model line call ''Soukou Kyoshin Z-Knight'', which is about Earthlings' humanoid HumongousMecha developed from Zoids. It's moderately succsesful, but ultimately discontinue in 1993. It also has a short promo {{OVA}} by Creator/{{Sunrise}}.

It also spawn a SpinOff model line call ''Soukokyojin Z-Knight'', which is about Earthlings' humanoid HumongousMecha developed from Zoids. It's moderately succsesful, and spawn an {{OVA}} by Creator/{{Sunrise}}, but ultimately discontinue in 1993.

* LostInTranslation: Guysack, Merda, Geruder, Gojulas, Zatton, Barigator, Malder, Wardick, Dontress, Gorhecks, Lidier, Raynos, Deadborder, Orudios, Gungyalado, Molga, Lightning Saix, Maccurtis, Grounchar, Shellkarn, Boldguard, Savinga, Rayse Tiger, Rainbow Jerk, Bamburian, Bio Megaraptor ''Glearmd'', Decalto Dragon, Bite Gryphon, Groundrago, Valga, Tigagodos, and that's just the mecha!
** Actually, none of those ''lost'' anything in translation - it's just that the original Japanese names were weird.

A spate of video games take place in their own pocket continuities, {{Mega Crossover}}s of several of the above, or some combination of the two. Notable entries include the TurnBasedStrategy game ''Zoids Assault'' for the XBox360 and the ''Zoids Saga'' RolePlayingGame series for GameBoyAdvance and {{Nintendo DS}}, along with a Commodore 64 game simply titled ''Zoids'' and released during the kits' original 80s heyday. Genesis is also included as one of the series in [[SuperRobotWars Super Robot Wars K]], which is considered a good sign for Takara Tomy and Bandai to work together.

* SuperRobotWars: Got its first run in SuperRobotWarsK, and it returns in OE, alongside the debuting [[ZoidsChaoticCentury original series]].

* SuperRobotWars: You heard it. Genesis is only included in Super Robot Wars K.

* SuperRobotWars: Got its first, and so far only run in SuperRobotWarsK.

SuperRobotWars: Got its first, and so far only run in SuperRobotWarsK.

* FallingIntoTheCockpit: Ruuji with the Murasame Liger.

The animated series takes a lot of inspiration from the {{Gundam}} franchise, with the first two series having a war theme and later series lightening it up with a [[TournamentArc tournament storyline.]]

* TheJuggernaut: Ultrasaurus, Death Saurer, Mad Thunder, Gilvader, King Gojulas, Gojulas Giga, and Seismosaurus. In Battle Stories, these zoids were consider unstopable when they were introduced. Most of them eventually got dethroned, except the King Gojulas that got destroyed by [[DropABridgeOnHim meteor shower]] instead.