Line #112 Anime/TekkamanBlade


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10	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/85e4ee3d1a5537473db04876f171bdb1.png]]
11	[[caption-width-right:280:Whoever said that angst hinders badassery?]]
12
13	->''"Someone's wounded heart is burning in the lonely sky..."''
14	-->-- first (and oddly appropriate) [[AnimeThemeSong OP]]
15
16	''Space Knight Tekkaman Blade'' is a 1992 {{anime}} series by Creator/TatsunokoProduction, re-imagining their 1970s series ''Anime/{{Tekkaman}} the Space Knight''. The setup for the series is that the Earth is being invaded by parasitic aliens known as the Radam (Venomoids in the English version). The Radam are led by mysterious armored warriors called Tekkamen (Teknomen in the English version). The Earth military and the Space Knights have been unsuccessful at fighting the invading aliens (and at cooperating with each other) until the arrival of a mysterious young man known as D-Boy, who can transform into the powerful armored warrior Tekkaman Blade. Together with the small, but elite team called the Space Knights, D-Boy must fight tooth and nail for the future of Earth and humanity.
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18	''Tekkaman Blade'' was dubbed in English by Creator/SabanEntertainment under the name "Teknoman" in two versions: the American dub, which only lasted 26 episodes on Creator/{{UPN}} (as part of their launch lineup in 1995) and the international dub, which lasted 43 episodes and was shown everywhere else besides America and Japan. The DVD American release is of the international dub.
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20	A sequel series, ''Tekkaman Blade II'', takes place [[TimeSkip ten years after the events of the first series]]. The Radam are invading yet again, and the expanded Space Knights train a team of new Tekkamen to fight them. The first half deals with the continuing Radam war and focuses on Yumi Francois/Tekkaman Hiver, a clumsy mechanic who is nonetheless recruited into the new team. The second half details the appearance of Tekkaman Dead and his struggle with Space Knight David Kruegel/Tekkaman Sommer, as well as with Blade himself.
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22	Though its premise is more like an armored super hero, it still made its way to ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' (''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment J]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsW W]]''). Go figure. And if superheroes (and Creator/{{Capcom}}) are more your cup of tea than giant robots, then you can check out Blade's playable appearance in ''[[VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom Tatsunoko vs. Capcom]]: [[UpdatedRerelease Ultimate All-Stars]]''.
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25	!!'''Anime/TekkamanBlade''' provides examples of the following tropes:
26	%%* AdBumpers
27	* AbsurdlySharpBlade: The various Tek-lancers, which can ''cut '''tanks''' in '''half'''''.
28	* ActionPrologue: Opens with D-Boy fighting Radam monsters on the Orbital Ring.
29	%%* AdjectiveNounFred: The full title.
30	* AfterActionHealingDrama: Takes place after most of the larger-scale battles.
31	* AfterTheEnd: The second half of the series, after [[spoiler: Miyuki self-destructs in an attempt to destroy the other Tekkamen, which also destroys the Space Knights base.]] Earth was barely holding on even before that.
32	* AirJousting: Tekkamen fighting with Tek Lances generally fight like this.
33	* AliensAreBastards: We're dealing with aliens that wanted to terraform every planet inhabitants they came across and eventually setting themselves as the ruler of the universe. May be subverted come ''II'' when some of them are shown to be genuinely mourning for their fallen comrades... but of course, as Aki had to remind the new Space Knight Tekkamen, they are still hostile forces against humans.
34	* AlienKudzu: The Radam trees/tekkaplants, which engulf the Earth and slowly terraform it. [[spoiler: Their true purpose is to capture people for conversion into Tekkamen.]]
35	* AlienInvasion: The Radam are trying to take over the Earth.
36	* AlliterativeName: "Ringo Richards," "Star Summers" and "Mac [=MacElroy=]" in the dub.
37	* AllegedLookalikes: Takaya and Shinya. Sure, they're similar, but not nearly enough for one to pass for the other.
38	* AlternativeCalendar: The series begins in United Space Calendar Year 192.
39	* AlwaysOnDuty: Pretty much everyone defending Earth.
40	* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: The Aiba twins, Takaya and Shinya, AKA [[spoiler: D-Boy and Tekkaman Evil]]. [[AllegedLookalikes In-universe at least]].
41	* AndTheAdventureContinues: Blade II's ending counts as both this and a BolivianArmyEnding.
42	* {{Angst}}: Turning into an alien monster and having to fight and kill your family members and closest friends (Goddard was practically family, and Fong would've been his sister-in-law if the Radam had snared the ship a day later) who still seem to be mostly themselves (they have their personalities and memories, their loyalty is just to the Radam over the human race) is a pretty tall order no matter how you slice it. Add on the fact that he's deathly afraid of getting close to anyone ever again because of it, the fact that if he goes overtime in his Tekkaman form he could become an out of control threat potentially worse than the Radam (and does), the fact that early on he is at best mistrusted by the others and at worst hated and treated like a monster... especially considering his general emotional response is to just run on sheer anger and hate for the Radam and the wangst only comes up when he's out and out overwhelmed, as anime leads go, Takaya's emo moments are pretty damn justified. Which make his [[spoiler:amnesia as the side effect of the [[SuperMode Blastor Form]] more of a blessing than a misfortune, really.]]
43	* [[AscendedFanboy Ascended Fangirl]][=/=]HeroWorshipper: Yumi ''really'' idolizes Blade.
44	* AsteroidThicket: During their meeting with the convoy from Io, the [[CoolSpaceship Blue Earth]] flies through one of these.
45	* ArmorPiercingAttack: Generally possible with [[AbsurdlySharpBlade Tek-lancers]].
46	* ArtificialGravity: The Orbital Ring is stated to have this.
47	* AwesomeButImpractical: Blastor Mode, which is stated to shorten the lifespan of a Tekkaman who uses it and seen to consume D-Boy's memories.
48	* BadassNormal: Most of the Space Knights, although the most notable example here is O'Toole. He not only managed to survive against the Radam for a REALLY long time, he also managed to catch a Tekkaman off-guard, something that is downright impossible for normal humans.
49	* BandOfBrothers: The Space Knights.
50	* BarrierBustingBlow: Radam monsters and Tekkamen often break through walls and doors.
51	* BatmanColdOpen: ''Blade'' begins with D-Boy's attack on the Radam occupying the Space Ring, in contrast to ''Teknoman''[='s=] VillainOpeningScene.
52	* BattleOfTheStillFrames: Most battles are portrayed this way in the series; not so much in the OAV.
53	* BeingHumanSucks: At least the Radam Tekkamen think so.
54	* BladeLock: Since Tek Lances can't cut each other, a lot of Tekkaman fights wind up with them in a clinch.
55	* BigFancyHouse: That looks more like a BigFancyCastle; the Space Knights stay in it for at least two days.
56	* BigGood: Freeman, leader of the Space Knights.
57	* BioAugmentation: By way of ImportedAlienPhlebotinum.
58	* BittersweetEnding: The Radam are defeated and humanity is rebuilding, but all of Takaya's/D-Boy's old friends and family are still dead. Furthermore, [[spoiler: Takaya loses all of the memories of his old life because of the stress that his Blaster Mode put on him. However, this gives him a new lease on life by removing the burden of losing his old family and friends and is living with Aki by the end of the series.]]
59	* BodyHorror: Saying that D-Boy's transformation in the OVA "Twin Blood" special looks ''incredibly'' painful [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ7s5kRXf5M is a gross understatement.]]
60	* BodySnatcher: The Radam [[spoiler: use worm-like parasites that can control larger hosts like human Tekkamen; they presumably enter fairly late in the process since Blade and Rapier were freed with nearly full power before getting implanted]].
61	%%* BridgeBunnies: Milly/Tina.
62	* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: D-Boy and Aki.
63	* BugWar: The Radam are giant arthropod-like creatures that turn into alien trees after burrowing into the ground, for a slight variation on the usual queen and hive structure.
64	* BullyingADragon:
65	** Shortly after D-Boy arrives on Earth and is discovered by the Space Knights, Noal repeatedly tries to antagonize him with probing questions about what he is and whose side he's on. This is ''after'' he's seen D-Boy assume his Tekkaman form and effortlessly cut through the Radam's Spider-Crabs, which until now have been virtually unstoppable.
66	** How the plot of ''II'' pretty much kicks into gear.
67	* ButSirItsNotReady: Said nearly verbatim in the dub; [[GeneralRipper Colbert]] sends the Sol-Tekkamen out anyway.
68	* ByThePowerOfGreyskull: "Tek-Setter!" In ''Teknoman'', "Tekno-Power!"
69	* CainAndAbel: ''Teknoman'' actually renames one of the brothers "[[NameOfCain Cain]]." The second episode of ''Tekkaman Blade II'' includes the biblical Cain and Abel story in its title crawl.
70	* CameFromTheSky: Blade/D-Boy, who falls from the Orbital Ring and crashes near Aki and Noal in the first episode.
71	* CallBack : The end of series speech Blade made to Dead to live on and let Tekkaman Dead to die is a CallBack to the end of the first series where he state that Takaya Aiba is dead before defeating Omega.
72	* CallingYourAttacks: Only Blade calls all his moves, but it seems no Tekkaman can resist shouting "[[WaveMotionGun VOLTEKKAAAAA!]]" at least once.
73	** Out of all the 12 tekkamen introduced in the two series, all but four use it (Omega, Dagger, Rapier and Scarlet). Of the remaining eight, Axe and Sword are the only ones who don't call it.
74	%%* CastOfSnowflakes
75	* CataclysmBackstory: The Prague Black September, when Primary Tekkamen revolted and got nuked, for the OVA. Three of the four new characters are closely tied to it (David and Dead are survivors, Natasha's father ordered the nuking) and Aki killed the rebel leader. It's not really described until the last few episodes, but David constantly flashes back to seeing Aki in the burning city.
76	* CatapultNightmare: Takaya has a few, though more often it's [[AnxietyDreams a dream about killing his fellow Space Knights]].
77	* CensorShadow: Alternates with BarbieDollAnatomy.
78	* CleanCut: Anything sliced by a Tek-lancer; even mountains and tanks.
79	* ClipShow: Out of 49 episodes, this series had '''four'''. The last two were only separated by a couple of episodes (40 and 45).
80	* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: Noal and Balzac get {{Powered Armor}}s based on Tekkaman abilities.
81	* CombatTentacles: Radam beasts use these in combination with claws and acid spit.
82	* ConvenientCranny: Blade ducks into one of these while being hunted by Dagger.
83	* CrapsackWorld: Though, by the end it seems to be getting better.
84	* CrucifiedHeroShot: [[spoiler:Miyuki gets pinned to a wall by her wrists and stabbed by Evil and co.]]
85	%%* CulturalTranslation
86	* DangerousForbiddenTechnique[=/=]DeadlyUpgrade: In the beginning of the first series, the main character's incomplete transformation allows him to retain his free will, but has a side effect; his constant transformations into his superpowered form are destroying his central nervous system. The upgrade to [[SuperMode Blastor Mode]] fixed this problem, but caused transforming to burn up his memories instead--he even forgets how to transform at one point. And dialogue by the arch-villain, in the Australian dub at least, implied that this SuperMode upgrade would cause a Teknoman to burn out and die within a few months, though this doesn't come to pass.
87	* DarkerAndEdgier: The original ''Tekkaman'' was already pretty grim, but ''Blade'' throws [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism Idealism]] into deep space and ([[MemeticMutation space]]) lances it. Just to compare on how much darker it is... let's compare the protagonists:
88	** [[Anime/{{Tekkaman}} Jouji]] lost his father against an invading alien force (Waldastars) which set him on a path of hatred against aliens, but he always had his friends to reel him in and he eventually learned to put those feelings aside in order to protect mankind that's mostly welcoming of his efforts. When he's in Tekkaman form too long, he put a strain on his body but the worst he got was just severe pain everywhere (although still life-threatening enough to be taken seriously).
89	** D-Boy lost his entire family and most of them got completely assimilated to the alien force (Radam), and only barely escaped. When he returned to Earth, he's not exactly welcome there, some forces were trying to use him for their own ends while he still has to worry about beating down the aliens in the name of much more justified revenge (though he did have friends to reel him in). Oh and if he stays in Tekkaman for too long, he risks on losing control of himself and will kill all his friends in a frenzied state and when he gets a power up, he risks on getting his memory wiped slowly (and it DID happen). Also said assimilated family return to spearhead the invasion of Earth, and D-Boy, despite his attempts to persuade them, had no choice but to kill them all. ''Yikes''.
90	%%* DeathIsDramatic
91	%%* DeathIsASadThing
92	* DemotedToExtra[=/=]PutOnABus: Takaya/D-Boy aka ''Tekkaman Blade'' in the first half of ''Tekkaman Blade II''. However, when [[TheBusCameBack he returns]], ''[[SpotlightStealingSquad he returns]]''.
93	* DesolationShot: Many, often featuring the RuinsOfTheModernAge.
94	* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe: Takaya's father had one.
95	* TheDitz: Yumi in ''Tekkaman Blade II''.
96	* DividedWeFall: The [[TheSquad Space Knights]] and the Allied Defense Force are at odds over who gets control of Tekkaman Blade.
97	* DoubleWeapon: The '''''[[MemeticMutation SPACE LANCE]]''''', er, Tek Lancer.
98	* DownerBeginning: The Radam have seized the Orbital Ring and are using it to bombard the Earth, conventional weapons are useless against them, and the Radam trees are taking over much of the land.
99	* DramaticHighPerching: Tekkamen really like standing in tall places to look down on their foes.
100	* DramaticShattering: Blade's Tekset crystal when he tries to transform while caught in a trap that suppresses his power. It's sorta fixed a couple episodes later.
101	* DrinkingContest: O'Toole goads D-Boy into one in their first encounter and easily wins, gaining D-Boy's cooperation in the Orbital Elevator operation.
102	* DudeShesLikeInAComa: [[spoiler:[[GenderFlip Actually a "he."]] Just goes to show how much Aki cares for D-Boy...]] And leading [[spoiler:her]] to ConverseWithTheUnconscious.
103	* DuringTheWar: Focuses on the Space Knights and their attempts to stop the Radam invasion, and later resistance to the occupation.
104	* DysfunctionJunction: The new Tekkaman team in the OVA are a deeply screwed up group, with most of their issues centered on the Hayato/Jumi/D-Boy/Aki/David love polygon and a common tie to Prague.
105	* EarthIsABattlefield: The Radam are landing everywhere, and fighting takes place across the entire Earth, most of it going badly for humans.
106	* EscapePod: Takaya's father puts him on one when the Radam attack their ship.
107	* EstablishingSeriesMoment: The series starts with Blade fighting the Radam, and barely slows down from there.
108	* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Between Aki and D-Boy; or so Noal claims.
109	* EveryoneLooksSexierIfFrench: Inverted subversion: Yumi is clearly Japanese, but she has a French surname... and she's the cute [[TheDitz ditz]] instead of the "sexy" (that title goes to the [[SensualSlavs Russian Natasha]]).
110	* EvilAllAlong: In an episode on season 1, D-Boy mentioned how the CharacterOfTheDay is mysterious and might have something he hid. Later on, he apparently abandoned his mission and seemingly go in the same direction as the Radam. [[spoiler:Subverted, he did that to do a suicide attack to make sure he can fulfill his mission of delivering the supply that he escorted to earth.]]
111	* EvilIsVisceral: Moreso in the "Twin Blood" OAV, though.
112	* ExpositionDiagram: During most of the many briefings conducted during the series.
113	* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Tekkaman Dagger]] has this happen to him after ironically causing a similar injury to [[spoiler:Blade.]]
114	* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: Sometimes crosses over into FamilyUnfriendlyDeath.
115	* FantasticRacism: The Primary Bodies (people partially converted by the Radam pods with a semi-armored form) get subjected to this in ''Tekkaman Blade II''. It eventually escalates into a rebellion that ends in Prague getting nuked.
116	* FetalPositionRebirth: Anyone being made into a Tekkaman, at least in the first series.
117	* FighterLaunchingSequence: Nearly OnceAnEpisode, with the Blue Earth.
118	* FinalBattle: One of the episodes is even ''called'' this in the English dub.
119	* FoeTossingCharge: [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Crush/Crash Intrude]], which sometimes also counts as HotWings.
120	* {{Foreshadowing}}: If you watched the series carefully there is TONS of hints that hinted that [[spoiler:yes, D-Boy's life really sucks, and he's nicer than he appears to be]], particularly episode 10.
121	* FourIsDeath: Tekkaman Dead, the fourth introduced new Tekkaman in ''Tekkaman Blade II''. And he starts out evil, too.
122	* GeneralRipper: Galt/Colbert, who's obssessed with destroying the Radam and constantly tries to kill D-Boy despite his being on the human side..
123	* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Aki "Bright Slaps" D-Boy at one point.
124	* GiantEnemyCrab: Radam mooks are generally arthropod-shaped with tentacles and acid spit.
125	* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Spider-crabs, and Tekkamen when they're transformed.
126	* GratuitousEnglish: Freeman's CatchPhrase, "Blue Earth, Go!" In ''Tekkaman Blade II'', the phrase is inherited by Aki and mocked by Yumi.
127	* GuiltFreeExterminationWar: Absolutely no one feels bad about killing off the Radam's hordes; the Tekkamen... [[SubvertedTrope not so much]].
128	* HadToBeSharp: Every one of the survivors; the Space Knights in particular.
129	* HeelFaceTurn: The enemy Tekkamen, considering D-Boy knew them all for years because they were either family members or close friends.
130	* HenshinHero: Blade, of course. Also Rapier, technically. And of course, everyone in ''Blade II''. To say nothing of the Radam Tekkamen.
131	* HereWeGoAgain: In the second series, the Radam come back.
132	* HeroicBSOD: Blade suffers one of these over several episodes as a result of a temporary FaceHeelTurn.
133	* HeroicRROD: Blaster Mode eventually consumes all of Blade's memories except his hatred of the Radam, leaving him in a catatonic state at the end of the series.
134	* HeroicSacrifice:
135	** In the TV series, [[spoiler:Miyuki/Shara, already dying, blows herself up in battle with the Tekkamen attacking the Space Knights' HQ at the end of the first season. However, in the second season, it turns out that the evil Tekkamen survived. Also a scientist from earlier episode and Barnard O'Toole.]]
136	** In the OVA, [[spoiler:Dead End, as his first act of atonement for the Space Knights after being beaten by Blade and told to live a new life, jumped to space and destroyed a nuclear missile, sparing Aki from the job and seemingly destroyed himself in process. Unlike Miyuki, however, turns out Dead survived that and he then joined the Space Knights in their war against the Alien Radams.]]
137	* HighlyConspicuousUniform: The ones that the Space Knights wear.
138	* HostileTerraforming: Played with. People believe the Radam intend to terraform Earth into their newest colony. [[spoiler:This is far from the case. They don't care about Earth whatsoever, they're ''bio-forming'' us.]]
139	* HourOfPower: D-Boy can't stay in his Tekkaman form for more than thirty minutes, or he'll go into an UnstoppableRage that will supposedly culminate in a permanent FaceHeelTurn.
140	* HumansAreInsects: What the Radam believe, said often in the English dub.
141	* HumansAreSpecial: Humans just make better Tekkamen. Even when Tekkamen made from other alien races appear, complete human Tekkamen are still leagues above them.
142	* IAmWho: D-Boy/Takaya, when his amnesia becomes especially pronounced.
143	* ICannotSelfTerminate: D-Boy directly asks Milly to make sure the Space Knights kill him if his HourOfPower is over and he goes into UnstoppableRage.
144	* IdenticalTwinIDTag: Shinya / Evil has paler skin and finer eyebrows than Takaya / D-Boy.
145	* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Blade sometimes tries to get through to his former friends and family who've been brainwashed into Tekkaman. Sure, [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption it never works]], but it shows how much he still cares.
146	** Made [[TearJerker all the more crushing]] when he finds out near the end of the series that each Tekkaman is only evil via a Radam parasite, and that he could've gotten through to them if only he'd known to kill the parasite first somehow.
147	* INeedNoLadders: All Teknomen are capable of leaping at ''least'' their own height.
148	* InsectoidAliens: The Radam cannon-fodder.
149	* InvisiblePresident: Only shown from the top of the nose down.
150	* KarmaHoudini: In ''II''... [[spoiler:General Pablochiva, Natasha's dad, practically got away scot free for [[NukeEm dropping a nuke]], killing many innocent Primary Body Tekkaman just to kill off several rebelling Tekkaman who rebelled as a retaliation to FantasticRacism subjected upon them, and dropped ANOTHER just to stop Dead, despite the possibility of creating another "Black September of Prague" like when it happened during the first nuke drop, overruling Aki's pleas not to do the second one and requiring Dead to make a HeroicSacrifice to stop it. Also, he was responsible in arresting and possibly executing Noal for attempting to stop the first nuke drop. By the end of the OVA, he still retained his position instead of his bigotry biting him in the ass like Colbert in the TV series, and the Space Knights concentrated more in facing the Alien Radam that just came. All this guy got for all these is probably just strained relationship with his daughter.]]
151	* KillSat: The Orbital Ring... [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs which just happens to be under the control of the Radam]].
152	* KungShui: Tekkamen battles ''always'' rearrange the local landscape.
153	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: DoubleSubversion: D-Boy apparently has amnesia at the beginning of the series, [[spoiler:but it turns out he's lying. Then near the end, he starts losing his memory for real.]]
154	* LighterAndSofter: ''II'' is a lot lighter, with younger Tekkaman group that was prone to teenager antics and some humorous cliche like FaceFault. Even so, there were still some dark elements in ''II'', including FantasticRacism, nuclear strikes, bloody battles, although when you compare with the first series' litany of how much Blade's life, past and present, sucked... those seemed lighter.
155	* LightningBruiser: EVERY Tekkaman.
156	* LikeCannotCutLike: A Tekkaman's lancer has never been shown as capable of cutting another one.
157	* LimitedWardrobe: We rarely see characters out of their signature outfits, and even then mostly in flashbacks.
158	* LivingShip: The Radam travel in these.
159	* LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: David, who is shown constantly flirting with mechanics and staff at the base and picking up a one night stand on vacation.
160	* LoveDodecahedron: Aki/D-Boy/Yumi, with Hayato having unrequited feelings for Yumi. Also D-Boy/Aki/David, with David eventually establishing some sort of HoYay with Dead.
161	* MagicalParticleAccelerator: A couple episodes focus on the defense of a large-scale particle accelerator in Texas [[note]]likely based on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_Super_Collider Superconducting Super Collider]] that was canceled shortly after the series aired[[/note]] that produced Fermion Cannon ammunition for the Sol-Tekkaman suits.
162	* {{Mangst}}: Despite all the endless and very angst-inducing problems D-Boy seems to have, he doesn't even TALK about them during practically the entire first half of the series, instead focusing all his efforts of kicking the Radam's ass. Pretty damn manly way to deal with angst.
163	* MeatMoss: The [[spoiler: Aiba family's ship]] after the Radam remodel it into their base, as well as the alien ship they found near Jupiter, though Radam tend for a more vegetalbe look.
164	%%* MechaShow
165	* MadeOfIndestructium: The Radam Tekkamen, and of course D-Boy when he's transformed.
166	* MelancholyMoon: D-Boy spends a lot of time staring up at it.
167	* MetamorphosisMonster: The Spider-crabs, who eventually transform into Radam trees.
168	* MildlyMilitary: The Space Knights.
169	* MissionBriefing: Quite a few, mostly from [[DaChief Freeman]].
170	* MonsterIsAMommy: [[spoiler:A scene in ''II'' where Alien Tekkamen mourn the death of one of their own.]]
171	* MonstrosityEqualsWeakness: Played with: the [[GiantEnemyCrab monsters]] that the Radam use as shock-troops ''are'' fully capable of destroying normal military vehicles and weaponry, but the Tekkamen are far stronger than they are, and quite a bit more humanoid.
172	* MonumentalDamage: Quite often; one of the episodes had a shot of the Coliseum exploding, another has a shot of Big Ben covered in Radam foliage.
173	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: D-Boy, after he attacks Milly.
174	* MythologyGag: In one of the later episodes of the first series, during the [[spoiler:evacuation to the Orbital Ring]], we are treated to a child being picked up by a rescue worker, whom the scene lingers on while they talk. The worker answers the child's concerns with "As long as we have Tekkaman, we'll be fine". Watching the "History Of Tekkaman" featurette on the UsefulNotes/{{DVD}}s, and the appearance of the rescue worker is a ''dead ringer'' for Joji Minami, the original Tekkaman from 1970s series.
175	** Moreover, the kid's mother who came later to the scene looks like Hiromi Amachi, the heroine of 1970s series. And when the scene cuts to the Space Knights, one of the crews there had the appearance of Andro Umeda, Joji's [[TheLancer lancer]] and best friend.
176	* NakedOnArrival: Blade, in a crater, covered in blood.
177	* NeckLift: Lance does this to a few soldiers when he's hunting Blade during the latter's DeadlyUpgrade.
178	* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: At the end of the series.
179	* NotOfThisEarth: The Radam trees.
180	* NuclearOption: It fails due to [[ImplacableMan Blade's sheer power and durability]].
181	* OminousWalk: Seems to be a staple of Radam Tekkamen.
182	* OneWomanWail: The Thorny Garden song from the Japanese soundtrack of the anime.
183	* OnTheNextEpisodeOfCatchPhrase: "Brush away those tears underneath your mask!"
184	* PanUpToTheSkyEnding: Looking out to the sunset in the first series.
185	* PastelChalkedFreezeFrame: Used for dramatic moments like [[spoiler: Miyuki's death and ensuing destruction of the Space Knights base.]]
186	%%* ParentalAbandonment
187	* ParentalSubstitute: Both Honda and O'Toole end up being a father figure to D-Boy.
188	* PeopleJars: Pods filled with MutagenicGoo.
189	* PerfectHealth: When D-Boy starts showing signs of failing health, it's either his HeroicBSOD or [[HeroicRROD something worse]].
190	* PhlebotinumRebel: D-Boy/Blade/[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Slade]].
191	* APlaceHoldsMemories: Late in the series, D-Boy, [[spoiler:who has been suffering increasing IndentityAmnesia every time he transforms into Blade [[DeadlyUpgrade thanks to the]] [[SuperMode Blastor Mode]] upgrade]], takes his girlfriend Aki with him to his family home in Japan. Having lost his family members through various means to the Radam menace, the fond memories he experiences leave him increasingly despondent, culminating in him breaking down crying when he finds a recorded message [[UsedToBeASweetKid Shinya]] left for him when they were ten.
192	%%* PowerEchoes: All of the Tekkamen.
193	* PowerAtAPrice: [[HyperactiveMetabolism Hyper Metabolism]], and fatal PowerDegeneration if one happens to be incompatible with the process.
194	* PoweredArmor: The Tekkamen themselves actually become [[SiliconBasedLife metallic lifeforms]] when they transform. However, the Sol Tekkamen/Teknosuits fit this trope.
195	* PowerCreepPowerSeep: One of the biggest offenders of this trope. As far as crossover goes, mentioning that D-Boy survived nukes alone puts him several levels above the cast of the shows that are featured in the same game as him. In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' terms, early in the series Blade has Armor stats similar to Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}} while having agility that makes the resident {{Fragile Speedster}}s such as [[Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross the Valkyrie]] as fast as snail in comparison.
196	* PsychosomaticSuperpowerOutage: Blade goes into an UnstoppableRage after exceeding his time limit. When he recovers, he goes into a FreakOut and is so afraid that it will happen again that he can't transform.
197	* {{Pun}}: The dub is full of these. Leads to a bit of MoodWhiplash, as Blade will go from joking around to deadly serious in the span of 5 minutes.
198	* PunchAWall: Blade, during his HeroicBSOD.
199	* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: Actually ''thrown'', when Tekkaman Lance infiltrates the Space Knights' Headquarters.
200	* PuppeteerParasite: The Radam, who are revealed near the end of the series to be small worm-like creatures that can control larger organisms like humans.
201	* PsychicLink: Given to all Tekkamen during the [[TransformationTrauma transformation process]], along with a PsychicRadar.
202	* RedEyesTakeWarning:
203	** All of the Radam Tekkamen have red eyes.
204	** Blade has green eyes that turn red once his HourofPower is up.
205	* {{Retirony}}: [[spoiler: A scientist on an episode of season 1, he almost returned to earth safely, but things go bad, and he pulls of a HeroicSacrifice. Subverted with Blade in the last episode, he recovered during the sequel.]]
206	* ReversePolarity: It's stated in the English dub that this is what's done with Blade's [[TransformationTrinket crystal]].
207	* ScavengerWorld: In the second half of the series, the human industrial base is gone, so any human resistance has to scrounge weapons, ammunition, and spare parts wherever they can be found. However, this is fixed by the time of ''Tekkaman Blade II''.
208	* ScreamingWarrior: Notably to the point that [[Creator/ToshiyukiMorikawa Blade's voice actor]] broke the recording microphone on ''two'' separate occasions.
209	* ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing:
210	** Blade's transformation acted like this at first, before he gained MagicPants.
211	** In ''Tekkaman Blade II,'' all the Tekkaman recruits have changing booths with bathrobes inside for when they turn back to human.
212	* ShesAManInJapan: Levin/Maggie, who went from an extremely effeminate man in the original to a woman in "Teknoman."
213	* ShipperOnDeck: Noal and Miyuki ship D-Boy/Aki.
214	* ShouldersOfDoom: Most, if not all, of the Tekkamen, which usually leads to...
215	** ShoulderCannon: '''[[WaveMotionGun VOLTEKKA!!!]]'''
216	* ShoutOut: You can find the presence of Dr. Nambu from Gatchaman series (also produced by Tatsunoko Productions) among the mob characters in the episode you found the MythologyGag.
217	* SiliconBasedLife: It's eventually clarified in the series that the Tekkamen aren't merely assuming a suit of PoweredArmor, but physically transforming into metallic crystal-based organisms that channel quantum energy, which they use for flight, fuel and energy attacks.
218	* SinglePhlebotinumLimit: The Radam technology.
219	* SkySurfing: The only way to travel for Tekkamen.
220	* SoftGlass: Most notable during the fight between D-Boy and Evil near the end of the series.
221	* SpaceStation: The Orbital Ring; once served as a SpaceBase, and was served in turn by several {{Space Elevator}}s.
222	* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
223	** Crash Intrude is sometimes spelled as "Crush Intrude" or even odder names like "Crush Interlude" or "Crest Interlude." Likewise with variations of Voltekka such as "Volt Tekka" and "Voltekker."
224	** This also happened between the U.S. and international dubs of ''Teknoman'': it was Ness Carter/Teknoman Slade (U.S.) versus [[Music/BackstreetBoys Nick Carter]][=/=]Teknoman Blade (international).
225	* StockFootage: Blade's transformations and the launching of the Blue Earth, in particular.
226	* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: Somehow, Blade is simultaneously stronger ''and'' weaker in the sequel than he was at the beginning of the original series. No information is ever disclosed to explain this.
227	* SuicideAttack: Blade's last attack on [[BigBad Omega]] was nearly this.
228	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: In the climax of Episode 1 of ''II'', [[RookieRedRanger Yumi]] deploys against Aki's order in order to save David and Natasha who are struggling against Radam... despite not having any training at all. [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer All she knew at that point was just Reactor Voltekka.]] She used that to save her friends, but [[PowerIncontinence is absolutely untrained for stopping it, causing collateral damage.]] This results Aki shooting her down unconscious to stop the Reactor Voltekka, and the next day, Yumi is suspended from combat duty for violating orders and causing collateral damage. So much for the common 'newbie trying to invoke ThePowerOfFriendship and earning their peers instantly' cliche... And as a bonus/insult to the injury, Natasha slapped Yumi, scolded her for going too recklessly (on top of [[GivingTheSwordToANoob accidentally stealing her Reactor Voltekka]]), while Yumi thought of that they're going to get along well because they're a team, she hasn't earned her peers; leaving Yumi to cry alone in her suspension room. It's only after the second episode that Yumi got some much needed training and redeemed her blunder in the first episode in the ensuing battle that both David and Natasha start bonding with her.
229	%%* SwitchingPOV
230	* TimeCapsule: Takaya and his brother buried one in their back yard when they were ten years old.
231	* TheJuggernaut: All of the Tekkaman, who can charge through entire armies without blinking and even take nukes to the face.
232	* ThemeNaming:
233	** The Tekkamen [[TheyCallHimSword are named after bladed weapons]] from some time period (Axe, Sword, Lance, etc.).
234	*** Tekkaman Omega and Tekkaman Evil are an [[OddNameOut exception]] to the rule. The English dub renames the latter to Sabre, though.
235	** The dub renames Noal and Aki to "Ringo" and "Star," probably [[ShoutOut after]] Music/TheBeatles.
236	** The dub surnames of "[[Comicbook/FantasticFour Richards,]]" "[[Comicbook/XMen Summers,]]" and "[[Comicbook/SpiderMan Jameson]]" may be {{Shout Out}}s to Creator/MarvelComics.
237	*** For that dub, they had Eric S. Rollman as executive producer. For anyone who doesn't know, Mr. Rollman has been involved in pretty much every AnimatedAdaptation of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse from ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' to present shows like ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperheroSquadShow'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes''.
238	** ''Tekkaman Blade II'' names three Tekkamen after the seasons in various languages: Sommer (German for "summer"), Vesna (which is a poetic word for "spring" in many Slavic languages), and Hiver (French for "winter"). Aki's name already means "autumn" in Japanese, so she fits the theme without even needing a CodeName.
239	** ThemeTwinNaming: Both Takaya and Shinya end with "-ya".
240	%%* TheSquad: The Space Knights.
241	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8TrK-XBVYw '''VOLTEKKA!!''']]
242	%%* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler:Miyuki.]]
243	* TookALevelInBadass: Aki in ''II'', going from a token girl to TheCaptain [[spoiler:and a Tekkaman herself!]].
244	* TransformationNameAnnouncement: "Tekkaman Blade!" "Tekkaman Sommer!" "Tekkaman Vesna!" "Tekkaman Hiver!"
245	** Aki notably doesn't do this in the sequel, simply posing silently at the end of her transformation. In fact she doesn't have a Tekkaman name at all during the actual show. Side material and SRW would dub her "Tekkaman Aki" mostly out of needing to call her something.
246	* TouchedByVorlons: How all of the Tekkamen get their powers.
247	* TransformationSequence:
248	** A rare example of a ''male'' nude transformation sequence.
249	** There's also the typical female versions, which can double as a {{Fanservice}}y aversion of NippleAndDimed ([[MaleGaze for some]], anyway).
250	* TransformationTrinket: The Tek-set system is composed of a single crystal whose appearance varies between each individual Tekkaman. When Takaya's is shattered, it's later installed in his HumongousMecha, Pegas. And somehow regenerated in the sequel without explanation.
251	* TragicVillain: Pretty much all of the evil Tekkamen, who [[spoiler: were Takaya's family and friends]].
252	* {{Transhuman}}: All of the Tekkamen, with those on the Radam side engaging in TranshumanTreachery.
253	%%* TroubledButCute: D-Boy.
254	* TwinTelepathy: Takaya and Shinya/Tekkaman Evil. Mildly subverted in that it's actually part of their Tekkaman powers.
255	* TheUnfavorite: Shinya/Cain in the ''Burning Clock'' special. He felt that his father viewed him as weaker than his older brother and blamed him for his mother's death. It doesn't help that even though Shinya often won the matches, races and other competitions he had with Takaya, his more outgoing twin would unintentionally overshadow him most of the time.
256	* VictoryGuidedAmnesia: Or is it [[InvertedTrope amnesia-guided victory?]]
257	* ViolenceIsDisturbing: Is it ''ever''; unfortunately ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption.
258	* WallSlump: D-Boy, also during his HeroicBSOD.
259	%%* WarWasBeginning
260	* WasItReallyWorthIt: Takaya is forced to murder his way through the members of his family to protect the Earth.
261	* WaveMotionGun: The Voltekka, used by nearly every Tekkaman on both sides.
262	* WholesomeCrossdresser: Levin--changed to a female, Maggie, in the dub.
263	* WholePlotReference: Once you think about it, Tekkaman Blade shares a lot of simmilarity with Series/KamenRiderBlack.
264	** Most of the main cast is modeled after [[Creator/TatsunokoProduction Tatsunoko's]] '80s series, ''Anime/RedPhotonZillion'''s, complete with at least one set of promotional images [[LampshadeHanging intentionally mirroring]] each other. Likewise the Radam Tekkamen's blank white faces and [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]] evoke the stronger Nozans.
265	* WrenchWench: Levin... sorta. ''Really'' sorta. Also Yumi Francois, who started the OVA as a Blue Earth mechanic but quickly got upgraded to the first half's main character.
266	%%* YouAreNotAlone: The [[BadassCrew Space Knights]] to D-Boy.

Context Anime / TekkamanBlade