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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_heroicage.png]]
2[[caption-width-right:300:Age in his human and {{Kaiju}} forms]]
3%%
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5A 26-episode original anime series conceptualised by Creator/TowUbukata that aired in 2007 on TV Tokyo, based on the concept of the Five Ages of Man from Myth/ClassicalMythology.
6
7Long ago, a race of beings known as the [[{{Precursors}} Golden Tribe]] sent out a telepathic message into the depths of space, to the other races, who were still young. "Come, from the planets you were born on, here into space and join us." Three races answered. The Golden Tribe called them the Silver Tribe (a race that would directly study under the precursors), the Bronze Tribe (a race of sentient insects) and the Heroic Tribe (a warlike race of {{Kaiju}}). The Heroic Tribe quickly annihilated themselves save for five individuals, who were subdued by the Golden Tribe, transformed into gemstones, and implanted into members of other Tribes.
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9In time, when the Golden Tribe chose to undertake a journey to another universe, there was a last race which answered their call. The fourth race was Humanity; they were named the Iron Tribe.
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11In the present day, The Silver Tribe has taken up the mantle of the Golden Tribe, but has dominated the Bronze Tribe and declared the Iron Tribe to be their enemies, driving them from the Earth. Battle-weary and on the run, Iron Tribe receives a new source of hope from their discovery of a Nodos -- a young human boy named Age, who was raised by the Golden Tribe before they vanished and contains the fifth surviving Heroic Tribe member, Bellcross. This does not sit well with the Silver Tribe, who redouble their efforts to destroy the upstart Iron Tribe. They too possess not only their own Nodos, but the other three as well, all bound to serve the Silver Tribe.
12
13The story proceeds along parallel lines from this point, following Humanity's search for a new home and for peace, Age's crusade to protect his human friends and the struggles of the Silver Tribe Nodos as they attempt to understand Age's resistance and their own place in the Golden Tribe's grand designs.
14
15Not to be confused with Creator/MarvelComics' [[ComicBook/HeroicAge2010 storyline]].
16
17----
18!!This anime provides examples of:
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20* AllYourPowersCombined: Near the end, all Nodos activate the secret gate [[spoiler: that the Golden tribe left through]].
21* AntiVillain: The Four Nodos serving the Silver Tribe are very sympathetic.
22* ApocalypseHow: Class X, several planets are [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroyed]] throughout the series, including [[spoiler:Jupiter]].
23* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: And so can the Bronze Tribe and the Nodos. Silver Tribe members use Hedron Shields to contain a pocket of air, or elect not to ''physically'' appear in space, instead using a psychic projection.
24* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: The Golden Tribe's master plan involved the five Nodos battling each other at maximum power, an absolutely catastrophic event that was required to release enough of the right energies to open a portal to another galaxy, allowing the other remaining Tribes to pass through. To that end they assigned Nodos to the Silver and Iron Tribes and had them war with each other.]]
25* BerserkMode: The anime's term is "mental chaos" (or "madness" or "frenzy," depending on [[LostInTranslation which translation you're watching]]). Basically, if a Heroic Tribe member goes berserk, they undergo a significant change in appearance (Bellcross grows a tail and becomes even more shark like in this form) as well as become significantly more powerful (which, given how strong they are ''to begin with'', is pretty frightening). Enough for Bellcross to start punching through the fabric of space itself.
26* BeehiveBarrier: The "Hedron Shields", a multi-purpose tool developed by the Golden Tribe themselves. They function as weapons as well as defenses and can fire powerful psionic beams. And to top it all off, they can be used to repair and construct ships out of thin air!
27* BigDamnHeroes: The bread and butter of nearly all fight scenes. Things look hopeless for the Iron Tribe until one Nodos or another arrives to turn the tide of the battle.
28* BloodKnight: Basically ''all'' members of the Heroic Tribe were like this. Prior to the start of the anime, the Heroic Tribe basically went into an all out civil war, annihilating star systems in their frenzy. By the time the Golden Tribe put a stop to it, only 5 members of the race remained. The people chosen to receive their power, on the other hand, don't necessarily fit the type, especially not poor Mehitak.
29* ButForMeItWasTuesday: While humans remember losing Earth to the Silver Tribe, and yearn for the day they can reclaim it, the Silver Tribe view it as yet another planet they've conquered and attempted to subjugate, much like they had done with the Bronze Tribe. When the Iron Tribe finally starts their invasion to reclaim their solar system, the Silver Tribe largely doesn't put up much of a fight, and mostly just abandons it rather than risk fighting for something they don't value too much.
30* CameraAbuse: Episode 12 begins with showing the Silver and Bronze Tribe rolling out and one of the space insects apparently proceeds to eat the camera (and probably the camera team as well).
31* CatSmile: While it never becomes too overt or silly, whenever one of the heroic female characters is really pleased with herself, her smile gets a little cat-like.
32* CoolShip: The ''Argonaut''. Also (we would assume) the Althaea, Meleagros' and Atalantes' personal ship and flagship of the human armada, would fit this trope but we don't get to see it in action that much, mostly due to the princes' [[TooDumbToLive appalling lack of intelligent strategy.]]
33* EarthShatteringKaboom: [[spoiler:Well, Jupiter-shattering anyway.]]
34* EmotionlessGirl: Invoked by the entire Silver Tribe. Prome O transfers the emotions of her tribesmen to herself.
35%% * EnergyWeapon[=/=]BeamSpam: Artemia's specialty. Each is said to have the ability to destroy a ''planet'' and he can fire them at a machinegun-like rate.
36%% ** Energy Weapons are also used by pretty much everyone's ships, though there's not much explanation of just what those things ''are.'' In addition, the trails of the Iron Tribe's missiles also look like curvy lasers.
37* EveryoneHasStandards: When the Iron Tribe attacks the Bronze Tribe's homeworld, several of them notice that after defeating the main Bronze Tribe forces there it's mostly just a nursery for their young ones. Some of the characters don't even bother fighting after a while once they realize any further attacks would essentially be a genocide.
38* {{Expy}}: The Bronze Tribe are awfully reminiscent of [[VideoGame/StarCraft the Zerg]], being InsectoidAliens with a HiveMind and some PsychicPowers, which [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace can survive in a vacuum]], employ [[LivingShip Living Ships]] and usually attack enemies with a ZergRush. In addition, you'll actually hear the Zerg larva sound effect used for Bronze warriors several times.
39* FailureIsTheOnlyOption:
40** [[spoiler:Erymanthos attempts an in-universe form of SaveScumming by using TimeTravel to kill Bellcross at the points in time when the latter was most vulnerable... only to learn the hard way that he was [[YouCantFightFate protected by destiny]]. [[SuperpowerMeltdown Then the accumulated temporal energy blew up...]]]]
41** At another time she tries this same tactic to try to destroy the Argonaut. [[spoiler: She finds that doing so [[BerserkButton only increases Belcross's murderous rage]], causing extreme devastation. She was then forced to go back again and stop herself from destroying the Argonaut.]]
42* FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence: The Silver Tribe was deeply offended by how the Iron Tribe, a race thought to be young, weak, and vastly inferior to themselves, was granted the most powerful Nodos by the Golden Tribe. To that end, they made it their goal to wipe out the entire Iron Tribe.
43* FormFittingWardrobe: Standard issue for the Iron Tribe's military, though [[FanService the women's uniforms]] are [[SensualSpandex more form-fitting than the men's,]] especially in the [[PaintedOnPants buttocks area,]] [[MaleGaze which we see plenty of.]] Dhianeila's ''entire outfit'' looks like it's painted on.
44* GloryHound: Meleagros and Atalantes, whose main main motivation for fighting is personal glory, and are quite willing to throw away the lives of the men under them to achieve it.
45* HegemonicEmpire: Despite styling themselves as benevolent guardians of space, no one is under any illusion that this is what the Silver Tribe functionally is. Other races must abide by their laws and decrees, and any attempt to defy them invites summoning a Bronze Tribe fleet, or worse, one of the Nodos.
46* HiveMind: The Bronze Tribe appears to function on one, with individual "ant-hills", as their called, being directed by an entity in the center.
47* HoldingOutForAHero: In addition to the tactics described below, the Iron Tribe princes' battle plan basically involves pointing Age at the enemy and releasing him. Then they holler for his help when they fail.
48* HollywoodTactics: Used exclusively by the two ruling princes, Meleagros and Atalantes. Most of which are AttackAttackAttack. Granted, they ''are'' considered idiots in-universe.
49* HufflepuffHouse: The Bronze Tribe; they least fleshed out of the major races, mostly just serving as TheUsualAdversaries for the Argonaut.
50* HumansAreSpecial: The Golden Race gave Humanity the strongest Nodos, and at one point in the series, the Silver Race note that only [[NotSoDifferentRemark the Humans share the Golden Race's attachment/fondness for their individual species' past.]]
51* HumongousMecha: Used by the ''Argonaut'''s forces. Pilots with special abilities have AceCustom units that amplify those abilities to a mecha scale. While they are useful enough in dealing with lower level Bronze Tribe {{Mooks}}, Age is forced to deal with anything bigger.
52* ImprovisedWeapon: The Silver Tribe improvise a ''planet'' as a weapon. [[spoiler:After the human fleet ignites a fusion reaction in Jupiter's atmosphere with an [[ColonyDrop Io drop]], the Silver Tribe ships (along with a horde of Bronze soldiers) deploy their DeflectorShields as one immense barrier...and then push, compressing a big chunk of Jupiter's atmosphere, accelerating the fusion and turning ''the entire planet'' into a giant ''thermonuclear bomb.'']] The result is somewhat unpleasant for the human fleet.
53* InsectoidAliens: The Bronze Tribe.
54* {{Jerkass}}: The Silver Tribe and their allies, especially Rome Ro. This doesn't apply to the three Nodos who work for the Silver Tribe just because their own Tribes are being held hostage -- Lecty, Mehitak and Karkinos.
55* TheJuggernaut: The Heroic Tribe were essentially the second most powerful race in the galaxy, after the Golden Tribe, and the Nodos that possess their power are capable of wiping out entire fleets on their own with little effort. The only thing that can potentially challenge a Nodos is another Nodos.
56* {{Kaiju}}: The Heroic Tribe is basically comprised of Giant Space Monsters. One looks like an insect, another a shark, and a third has no mouth or eyes at all. Makes you wonder how they breed... Though judging from their mechanic sounds, they may not be entirely organic.
57* KarmaHoudini:
58** [[spoiler: Despite the fact that the Silver Tribe's quest to KillAllHumans was largely his fault, Rome Ro survives without major injury and receives no explicit punishment, although he is clearly no longer completely sane in the end.]]
59** [[spoiler: The two human princes as well. [[EarthShatteringKaboom Destroying Jupiter]], [[MoralEventHorizon slaughtering a planet]] [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman full of innocents then celebrating it]], and what do they get in the end? They cheat death ''three times'' and become high ranking individuals using their sister's reputation to their own advantage!]]
60* LaserBlade: The humans' [[HumongousMecha Organ Units]] actually have beam ''bayonets'', which is [[RuleOfCool pretty awesome]].
61* LawOfChromaticSuperiority: Of kinds. There are both subverted and straight examples. One would be the respective rise in raw power and commonness of psychic powers from the Iron Tribe (only sparse psychics) over Bronze (one may argue, but they still shoot lasers!) and Silver Tribes to the Golden Tribe, which is even regarded as godlike by the Silver Tribe, which already is strong. The "nobleness" of the metal used to name the race clearly increases, too. One subversion is [[spoiler:that only a certain girl of the Iron Tribe, read humanity, could find meaning behind the Golden tribe's prophecies and open their gate for the Silver Tribe to use (Well... she certainly has Golden Hair.]]
62&& ** Another example (in deep red) is every frenzied Heroic Tribe member: Their aura becomes red, they grow way stronger, and sometimes, well... Episode 25.
63* LetsMeetTheMeat: Age's only companion at the beginning is a squid-like creature that is also his primary food source. The tentacles Age takes grow back, and Age feeds him trees in return.
64* LibertyOverProsperity: One of the men from Titarros remarks that "Prosperity is a chimera if the price is enslavement."
65* LightningBruiser: All the Nodos qualify but Bellcross is the exemplar. He has the greatest physical strength and endurance when none of them are experiencing their UnstoppableRage and his flight speed is not to be underestimated either (though it is explicitly stated that Artemia, at least, is quicker).
66* LoadBearingBoss: Each of the Bronze Tribe's asteroid-like ships has a small creature at its core which apparently causes the whole ship to blow up when killed. This is apparently because it both controls the ship's movement and when killed makes it self-destruct. Not that this actually works against Bellcross in particular.
67* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler: Episode 22 -- Karkinos' death sends Yuty over the edge. Not only does Cerbius grow twenty times it's normal size (she was already in berserk mode prior to that), but she ended up making a '''solar system'''-sized black hole.]]
68* MadeOfExplodium: Pretty much the entire human armada.
69* MegatonPunch: Bellcross punches ''[[Awesome/MechaAnime BLACK HOLES]]''. Also the basic attack Bellcross will always use.
70* MessianicArchetype: Age is acknowledged as this in-universe. He was raised by the Golden Tribe, prophesied as the one who will save mankind from destruction. He then proceeds to end the war tearing the galaxy by [[spoiler: sacrificing his life to open portal leading to "Heaven" and comes back after to life after four years]].
71* MoralMyopia: The Silver Tribe condemns the Iron Tribe as savage barbarians, especially after they destroy Jupiter (which is uninhabited save for a Bronze Tribe outpost on one of the moons). However, it's outright stated the Silver Tribe has driven numerous races to extinction themselves.
72* NeglectfulPrecursors: Before leaving, the Golden Tribe only left a series of vague prophecies and guidelines to the other races, and allowed the galaxy to descend into either chaos, or tyranny under the Silver Tribe. The only one who seemed to have a greater idea of what they had in mind was Age, and even he only had a vague sense.
73* NonIndicativeFirstEpisode: Which is mostly about Age's life alone before meeting the main characters.
74* OjouRinglets: Dhianeila, in the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue.
75* OnlySixFaces: The character designs were done by [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Hisashi Hirai]] and it shows, with the younger female characters being almost identical apart from their hair and height. There is a lot more variety than in his previous work, though.
76* PersonOfMassDestruction: The Nodos; just one of them is capable of obliterating an entire world.
77* PsychicPowers: Demonstrated by all the Tribes.
78** The Golden Tribe was believed to have achieved [[RealityWarper virtual omnipotence]] before leaving the known galaxy but little is actually said about their powers during the course of the series.
79** Several Heroic Tribe members demonstrate incredible feats which are explicitly stated to involve psychic energy, such as Bellcross and Artemia's massive energy blasts and Erymanthos' TimeTravel.
80** The Silver Tribe can communicate telepathically, assemble matter at an atomic level, create shields, levitate, fire energy blasts and telepathically control the Bronze Tribe, among other powers. Most of these they received directly from the Golden Tribe.
81** The Bronze Tribe use psychic energy for simple blasts and barriers due to their low mental capacity. They also maintain a HiveMind of sorts which can only be understood by the Silver Tribe.
82** Certain members of the Iron Tribe have developed mental powers similar to those of the Silver Tribe but of a much lower level. Dhianeila is capable of astral projection and telepathy, Iolaus can teleport within a limited radius and the Mehelim twins can project psychic blasts and barriers when they are together. [[spoiler:At the end of the series the Iron Tribe receives all of the Silver Tribe's powers when the latter joins the Golden Tribe in the other galaxy.]]
83* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Rome Ro's primary motivation as the antagonist of the series is his anger at the Golden Tribe for "abandoning" the galaxy to conflict and destruction. So much for "emotionless".
84* ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming: The show's title and names are heavily based off Myth/GreekMythology, particularly those pertaining to various Ages of Man, in particular the concept of a near-perfect "golden race", a less perfect "silver race", a [[{{Mook}} more violent "bronze race"]], and a plucky "iron race". Then there's the whole idea of the 12 Labors that [[strike:Hercules]] Age must fulfill.
85* ReluctantMonster: Despite being host to a planet-destroying {{Kaiju}}, Mehitak is an extremely peaceable individual for whom Lekti and Karkinos go to great lengths to protect from battle. To top that off, he even refrains from consuming living things, eating only inorganic materials like metal. Considering the above and that he was ''forced'' into fighting (else the Silver Tribe will kill off his people), he's earned TheWoobie status.
86* RubberForeheadAliens: Some more than others, though for the other Nodos, the primary differences are minor details. For example, Mehitak's people do not eat any material that could be considered organic, and instead are able to eat raw materials such as steel.
87* RuleOfCool: A lot, the least of them is the SceneryPorn of constant nebulae in the background, the part where they [[spoiler:ignite Jupiter]], and the Nodos are basically gods.
88* SeriesMascot: Bee No Bee, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of the ship's AI.
89* SlaveRace: Though this wasn't necessarily what the Golden Tribe intended, it's what the Nodos ended up being for the other races. For the Silver Tribe, they are simply [[LivingWeapon Living Weapons]] to be called up and dismissed on command, with the exception of Yuty, who herself is part of the Silver Tribe, and commands the rest of them. Similarly, though more well-intentioned, the Iron Tribe used to think the same way about Age, though they soften more over time.
90** The Bronze Tribe was also essentially this for the Silver Tribe, serving as {{Mooks}} to enforce latter's will on the rest of the galaxy. For their troubles, the Bronze Tribe is later abandoned during the Iron Tribe's invasion of their homeworld, with the Silver Tribe not so much as lifting a finger to help them; in spite of this, the Bronze Tribe still continues to loyally serve them. And though it's not shown in detail [[spoiler: the ending indicates those who didn't follow the Silver Tribe into the new galaxy essentially end up being this for the Iron Tribe as well]]. [[note]] It's implied that the Bronze Tribe functions and interacts only the Silver Tribe can understand, which is how they control them. [[/note]]
91%% * SpaceOpera: Very much so.
92* StalkerWithACrush: Iolaous is generally a pretty decent guy, but he does pay his sisters to smuggle him holographs of Dhianeila. Given the generally positive light in which he's portrayed, this may be a case of StalkingIsLove; the revelation of this habit of his seems to serve no other purpose than to establish his feelings for the princess. [[spoiler: He seems to have moved on to a (much healthier) relationship with Aneasha by the end of the series, though.]]
93* StayingAlive: Lernaea's powers of decay also work the other way round, allowing him to regenerate from even the smallest fragments. [[spoiler: Karkinos eventually extends this power to Yuty, bringing her back to life after her Nodos form disintegrates.]]
94* SupernaturalFearInducer: In a rare heroic example, this appears to be what Dhienalia does to Phaeto when she psychically attacks him. His mind is flooded with images of terrified humans, he retreats ''very'' quickly, and for the rest of the series has a crippling fear of humanity that causes him to act irrationally. (Unfortunately for Dhienalia, serving as the conduit for all that fear is [[HeroicBSOD not healthy for a person's psyche]] either.)
95* SuperpowerMeltdown: Heroic Tribe members who succumb to "mental chaos" will eventually be ripped apart by their own powers as they are fully focused on dealing out ever-increasing levels of destruction.
96* TelepathicSpacemen: Most notably the Silver Tribe.
97* TooDumbToLive: Meleagros and Atalantes, also far too dumb to ''stay dead.''
98* TheAsteroidThicket: The Cemetery Belt, as well as the asteroid belt near the Bronze Tribe homeworld.
99%% * TheOjou: Dhianeila.
100* TimeTravel: Erymanthos' specialty. Unlike the other Nodos, which actually transform their hosts' bodies, Lecty actually projects it to a desired point in time and controls its actions, though she is also capable of direct transformation.
101* UndyingLoyalty: Age plays this straight, as he is sincerely loyal to Dhianeila, though the others zigzag it. Karkinos is a somewhat downplayed example, in that he eventually develops a sincere loyalty to Yuty, but it's made clear that both Mehitak and Lecty only fight to fulfill their contracts, and because their races are being held hostage. For her own, Yuty is herself part of the Silver Tribe, and is glad to enforce the will of her people on the galaxy.
102* UnresolvedSexualTension: It is ''hinted'' that each of the three main canon pairings[[note]] Age/Dhianeila, Iolaous/Aneasha, and Yuty/Karkinos, if you were wondering[[/note]] resolve their respective tensions in the end, but it's really just too toned down to really be satisfying for the audience.
103* UpperClassTwit: Meleagros and Atalantes
104* WalkingWasteland: Lernaea's corrosive gas can melt ships, asteroids, Bronze Tribe carapaces and even Nodos skin.
105* WaveMotionGun: Used primarily by the Iron and Silver Tribes. Bellcross' seldom-used mouth beam also counts, as do Artemia's energy beams. [[spoiler: And in the final episodes, the ''Argonaut'' fired its main gun, appropriately named the ''Star Blaster''. The firing mechanism is a clear homage to [[Anime/StarBlazers the original Wave Motion Gun.]]]]
106%% * WhatMeasureIsANonHuman[=/=]WhatMeasureIsANonCute[=/=]WhatMeasureIsAMook: When the human armada attacks the homeworld of the Bronze Tribe. The humans are horrified when they realize that they've essentially been ''carpet-bombing an alien mass nursery''.
107%% ** This is what makes it really work as an Aesop, It is one thing to kill soldiers during a war, but its quite another to target civilians.
108* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The last third or so of the final episode shows the major cast members 4 years in the future. Skipping this epilogue is not advised....
109* WildChild: Age. Lived his entire life on a ruined planet, has alien squids as playmates, and considers the AI of a dilapidated spaceship to be his mother (a function entirely beyond its processing power).
110* WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide: Averted when the Iron Tribe attacks the Bronze Tribe, and after wiping out their defense fore, raze half the planet and its inhabitants. Most of the humans are disgusted, and horribly guilt-ridden by the act (with the notable exception of the already established JerkAss princes), and anyone who tries to offer some kind of justification is quickly shot down.
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