History SoYouWantTo / WriteAHumongousMechaAnime

* BecomingTheMask: These characters are often great sources of conflict. There's a reason why Franchise/{{Gundam}} [[CharClone has so many.]]

* ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'' - A rare example of mecha used in a civilian rather than a combat setting, if you want to see how that works. Like ''Votoms'', it is on the "very real" end of the spectrum.

* {{BFG}} - There is always room for MoreDakka

* ''{{Transformers}}'' - More than [[TransformingMecha meets the eye]].

* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' - The mecha are [[InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha not really central to this one]]. What makes it enjoyable is the character interaction. [[SoYouWantTo/MakeInterestingCharacters Writing interesting characters]] is vital to any good story.

* When it comes to mecha design, if you're trying to pull off RuleOfCool in a SuperRobotGenre, call in Creator/MasamiObari, he can design awesome mechas for you. However, try to ask him not to design female characters in your show, because he'll usually go overboard and make them extremely big-boobed no matter the age, which doesn't always translate to [[BuxomIsBetter 'better design']] (some people might laugh at the design)

* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: CGI will help you get the most out of your budget and can produce some impressive visual effects, but screw it up and the entire project will look halfassed. Less of a problem nowadays because TechnologyMarchesOn and in fact, it can be a NecessaryWeasel at times due to a scarcity of mecha animators nowadays, but do be aware you might be alienating animation purists if you go this route.

* ''Anime/{{Zambot 3}}'' - The first anime to invoke the idea of KillEmAll, this was also the first work of a then-unknown Creator/YoshiYukiTomino[[note]]although he did direct the first 26 episodes of hereinafter Anime/{{Raideen}}, this was his first solo effort[[/note]].

* ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon'' - Directed by "KillEmAll" Tomino, who lives up to his nickname here, it is about the Ideon, a Super Robot with a rather ''scary'' power source, the Ide. Was one of the inspirations for Evangelion.

* EldritchAbomination/{{Kaiju}}: The biological counterparts to the above.

* ''Anime/MazingerZ'' and ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' - The TropeMaker for piloted HumongousMecha and in many ways the codifier for the genre. If the original series is too dated, perhaps check out the 2000 remake Mazinkaiser or the 2009 version ''Anime/ShinMazinger''.

* TrappedInAnotherWorld / SchizoTech: Another popular place to set up this kind of story; a common fantasy realm [[LikeThatShowButWithMecha with more mecha in them.]]

** [[RealRobotGenre Real Robot]]: Franchise/{{Gundam}} is perhaps the archetypal example of the [[RealRobotGenre Real Robot]] setting, with Anime/ArmoredTrooperVotoms taking it to [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness the max.]] Real Robots settings typically have the mecha as mass-produced weapons of war, and oftentimes they're ignominiously blown away, much like soldiers in war films.

* MinovskyPhysics - For Real Robot writers who want/need to inject some applied phlebotinum without loosing [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness their sense of realism.]]

* HumongousMecha - This one is pretty obvious, although you can instead use MiniMecha (see ''[[Anime/ArmoredTrooperVOTOMS Votoms]]'' and ''Anime/CodeGeass''), PowerArmor (''Anime/DetonatorOrgun'', ''Anime/SenkiZesshouSymphogear'', and ''Anime/TekkamanBlade''), or even ''toys'' (''[[Anime/GundamBuildFighters Build Fighters]]'', ''VideoGame/LBXLittleBattlersExperience'', and ''VideoGame/CustomRobo'').

* HumongousMecha - This one is pretty obvious, although you can instead use MiniMecha (see ''[[Anime/ArmoredTrooperVOTOMS Votoms]]'' and ''Anime/CodeGeass''), PowerArmor (''Anime/DetonatorOrgun'', ''Anime/SenkiZesshouSymphogear'', and ''Anime/TekkamanBlade''), or even ''toys'' (''[[Anime/GundamBuildFighters Build Fighters]]'', ''[[VideoGame/DanballSenki Danball Senki]]'', and ''VideoGame/CustomRobo'').

* ''[[VideoGame/DanballSenki Danball Senki Wars]]'' - A good example of how an anime can retain the dark themes associated with this genre while still being aimed towards kids. It has well delivered political message, good character development, kickass battles and epic OST.

* ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'' - A rare true American example of the [[SuperRobotGenre Super Robot]] genre, made from whole cloth rather than by {{Macekre}}ing an anime. Defined by RuleOfCool, RuleOfFunny and CrazyAwesome.

* If [[SuperRobotGenre Super Robot]], pack in some CrazyAwesome. If [[RealRobotGenre Real Robot]], do it anyway.

** [[SuperRobotGenre Super Robot]]: Though Anime/MazingerZ is the trope maker, Manga/GetterRobo is an example of [[SuperRobotGenre pure Super Robot]], it has a mysterious machine made by a MadScientist that is brightly colored and does ''very'' impractical things. Super robots are defined by the RuleOfCool, typically. And CrazyAwesome.

* HumongousMecha - This one is pretty obvious, although you can instead use MiniMecha (see ''[[Anime/ArmoredTrooperVOTOMS Votoms]]'' and ''Anime/CodeGeass''), PowerArmor (''Anime/DetonatorOrgun'' and ''Anime/TekkamanBlade''), or even ''toys'' (''[[Anime/GundamBuildFighters Build Fighters]]'', ''[[VideoGame/DanballSenki Danball Senki]]'', and ''VideoGame/CustomRobo'').

* ''Anime/GunBuster'' / ''Anime/DieBuster'': Considered to the big sisters of Gurren Lagann in terms of tone, hard work, and guts, right down to the protagonist of Gurren Lagann, Simon, being a Gender flip of Gunbuster's Noriko. The endings of both are well known for their ringing the tears out of oldschool Otaku, in [[HeartwarmingMoments a beautiful way.]]

* ''Anime/GunBuster'' / ''Anime/DieBuster'': Considered to the big sisters of Gurren Lagann in terms of tone, hard work, and guts, right down to the protagonist of Gurren Lagann, Simon, being a Gender flip of Gunbuster's Noriko. The endings of both are well known for their ringing the tears out of oldschool Otaku, in [[MomentOfHeartwarming a beautiful way.]]

* ''Anime/GunBuster'' / ''Anime/DieBuster'': Considered to the big sisters of Gurren Lagann in terms of tone, hard work, and guts, right down to the protagonist of Gurren Lagann, Simon, being a Gender flip of Gunbuster's Noriko. The endings of both are well known for their ringing the tears out of oldschool Otaku, in [[HeartwarmingMoment a beautiful way.]]

* ''Anime/GunBuster'' / ''Anime/DieBuster'': Considered to the big sisters of Gurren Lagann in terms of tone, hard work, and guts, right down to the protagonist of Gurren Lagann, Simon, being a Gender flip of Gunbuster's Noriko. The endings of both are well known for their ringing the tears out of oldschool Otaku, in [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming a beautiful way.]]

* ''Anime/GunBuster'' / ''Anime/DieBuster'': Considered to the big sisters of Gurren Lagann in terms of tone, hard work, and guts, right down to the protagonist of Gurren Lagann, Simon, being a Gender flip of Gunbuster's Noriko. The endings of both are well known for their ringing the tears out of oldschool Otaku, in [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwaming a beautiful way.]]

* ''Anime/GunBuster'' / ''Anime/DisBuster'': Considered to the big sisters of Gurren Lagann in terms of tone, hard work, and guts, right down to the protagonist of Gurren Lagann, Simon, being a Gender flip of Gunbuster's Noriko. The endings of both are well known for their ringing the tears out of oldschool Otaku, in [[MomentOfHeartwaming a beautiful way.]]