Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Anime / UFORoboGrendizer

Go To

1[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/grendizer_0.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:250:Duke and Kouji with Grendizer in the background.]]
3->''"I love a lot of cartoon characters like Optimus Prime from ''[[Franchise/{{Transformers}} The Transformers]]'', ''Manga/{{Guyver}}'' and many more. But no one ever came close to ''Grendizer'', I like Grendizer so much that I refuse to think of it as a cartoon. This show carried a lot of morals and emotions. Duke Fleed was a great character by all standards. He was a selfless loving person, even though he was bleeding of pain inside."''
4-->-- '''[[http://www.maxtoons.com/grendizer.htm Maxtoons.com]]'''
5
6''UFO Robot Grendizer'' (UFOロボ·グレンダイザー, UFO Robo Gurendaizā, sometimes romanized as UFO Robo Grendizer), known alternately by the names ''Grandizer'', ''Goldorak'' and ''Goldrake'', is a SuperRobotGenre MechaShow anime and manga created by Creator/GoNagai, and the final series in the ''Mazinger'' trilogy, (chronologically set after ''Anime/MazingerZ'' and ''Anime/GreatMazinger''). It was broadcast on Japanese television from October 5, 1975, to February 27, 1977, and lasted 74 episodes. ''[[RuleOfThree Three]]'' manga versions were produced, one of them written by Go Nagai and the others by GosakuOta and EijiImamichi.
7
8Kouji Kabuto, hero of the the wars against ''[[Anime/MazingerZ Dr. Hell]] and ''[[Anime/GreatMazinger the Mykene Empire]], returns to Japan after a short stay overseas and arrives at the Makiba Ranch to meet [[TheProfessor Prof. Umon]] and talk with him about the recent trend of UFO sightings in Japan. There he meets the Makiba family and Daisuke, Dr. Umon's son, who comes across as a weird, lonely and taciturn boy. To add to the weirdness, when Kouji expresses his desire to make FirstContact with intelligent alien lifeforms, Daisuke warns him that he can not be sure that the aliens he intends to meet are friendly.
9
10Later, Kouji goes to meet an alien fleet that is hovering over the nearest city, but when he tries to communicate with them, he finds out... that no, [[AlienInvasion they are not friendly]]. However [[BadassInDistress he is rescued]] by an unknown HumongousMecha that easily destroys the hostile fleet. [[PaperThinDisguise Kouji right away suspects that Daisuke is the pilot]]. When he confronts Daisuke and Prof. Umon about it, [[MrExposition they explain the next history]].
11
12A while ago, the Vega homeworld became unstable and fell into ruin due to [[DugTooDeep its inhabitants overmining and overexploiting]] [[{{Unobtainium}} Vegatron, a powerful radioactive ore]]. [[TheEmpire Seeking to find another planet to settle on]], [[BigBad King Vega's]] armies started attacking and conquering neighbor worlds, like [[TheGoodKingdom planet Fleed]], a highly advanced but peaceful and idyllic world. The Vegan Alliance easily succeeded on taking over the planet, but [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo the Vegatron bombs]] that they used to annihilate the Fleedian army and cities [[HoistByHisOwnPetard turned the planet into an uninhabitable radioactive wasteland]].
13
14The Fleedian Royal Family got murdered, but Crown Prince Duke Fleed managed stealing Grendizer, a HumongousMecha built by the Vegan army using planet Fleed's resources to spearhead their next conquests (or depending on the version, the embodiment of the [[FirstChurchOfMecha Fleedian god of war]] that the Vegans had seized before the war broke out) and escaping. Grendizer guided him towards Earth, and Duke was found by Prof. Umon, who took him in like his son and assisted him in hiding Grendizer. Taking the identity of Daisuke Umon, Duke started working in the ranch and tried leading a normal life, forgetting his past.
15
16However the coming of the Vegan Alliance is about to put an end to his peaceful life. [[IJustWantToBeNormal Duke hates war and fighting, he likes his new life and he just wants to be normal,]] but if he does not fight his adoptive world will become another poisoned CrapSackWorld. And if he ran and abandoned his home again, he would be unable to stand it (he already got a pretty severe HeroicBSOD due to leaving Fleed).
17
18He ran away once. [[TheDeterminator NEVER AGAIN]].
19
20''Grendizer'' was well-received in countries like France, Italy, Canada (in French), the Middle East, Greece and Russia (but not in Japan, and in countries in which the previously two series were broadcasted first, due to the differences in concept and story). When it was shown in the US, it was {{Macekre}}d into ''Grandizer'' as part of the ''Force Five'' syndication block. Two episodes of ''Grandizer'' were released on VHS in America; it is otherwise hard to get in the US.
21
22A new comics, titled ''Goldorak'', was created by a French-Belgian team of authors (Dorison, Bajram, Cossu, Sentenac and Guillo) with Go Nagai's green light, and published on October 15, 2021. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1vlIYOtlFQ A video game adaptation developed by Endroads, published by Microids was released in November 2023.]]
23
24On August 23, 2022, [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2022-08-25/mazinger-franchise-new-ufo-robo-grendizer-project-to-be-unveiled-in-2023/.188990 Go Nagai announced that a new Grendizer series is in production]] under the title ''Project G''. The project was unveiled on August 5, 2023 as [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-08-05/grendizer-u-tv-anime-revealed-for-debut-in-2024/.201024 a new TV anime]] titled ''Anime/GrendizerU''. The new series is slated to premiere in 2024.
25
26----
27!!'''UFO Robo Grendizer''' provides examples of:
28
29%%* ActionGirl: Maria Grace, later Hikaru.
30* ActionHoggingOpening: The openings of the trilogy feature more action -featuring the titular {{HumongousMecha}}s tearing their way through an army of enemies-, and a better animation than an average episode of their series -especially of ''Grendizer''-.
31* AdrenalineMakeover: As Hikaru decides to toughen up, her wardrobe changes from flowing dresses to miniskirts and boots.
32* AerialCanyonChase: Used in the last episode, when General Gandal (Minos) tries to ram his ship into Grendizer in a suicide attack. Duke Freed manages to make him crash into a cliff, since the Spazer (Grendizer's UFO) was still controllable, while Gandal's flagship was a flaming mess.
33* AirJousting: Grendizer could [[CombiningMecha combine with a space-ship]], and the Vegan army mainly used mini-ufos and {{Robeast}}s [[TransformingMecha that often were able to transform into large flying saucers]], and all of them were carried in huge starships. Hence, nearly every episode had a major or minor dog fight, including an episode where Duke played a game of chicken with [[CoDragons Blackie's]] mothership.
34* AirborneAircraftCarrier: The Vegan Empire had a huge number of oval-shaped carriers to spearhead their inter-planetary conquest campaigns that were armed with missiles and laser beams and were used to store Saucer Beasts and Vega Beasts and mini-ufos. Some aircrafts belonging to several of the CoDragons were named, like Blaki's Motherburn, Minister Zuril's Warrior Mothership...
35* AlienAmongUs: This is the initial premise: Duke [[spoiler:and his sister Maria]] arrived at Earth running from his homeworld's destruction, and he chose living on our planet (he ''might'' leave at any time, but having no home to return to, he sees no point), pretending being a normal human. However, Kouji suspected he was not a normal person when he met him for first time, and playing his charade gets increasingly hard due to the [[TheEmpire Vegan Alliance]] [[AlienInvasion invasion]] he has to fight, in such a way that the whole cast knows his real self after the first season. Finally, after the GrandFinale he [[spoiler:and his sister]] return to planet Fleed to help to rebuild it.
36* AlienInvasion: Maybe the earliest example in Super Robot Anime.
37* AliensAreBastards: This trope is played with. At the start Kouji believes he can try to communicate with the aliens and befriend them, but Daisuke tries to warn him they are '''not''' his friends and are '''not''' peaceful or reasonable. However, Daisuke himself was an alien and a decent person. And although most of the Vegans at the beginning are portrayed like bastards -and the {{Mook}}s are AlwaysChaoticEvil-, along the series more aliens -including Vegans- are introduced who are decent people at best or at worst are {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s who believe that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans.
38* AllYourColorsCombined:
39** In the movies "UFO Robot Grendizer vs Great Mazinger", the two robots combined their ChestBlaster attacks to destroy a Saucer Beast.
40** Mazinger-Z, Great Mazinger and Grendizer combined all of their attacks in one manga scene to destroy a Vegan starship.
41* AlphaStrike: In the climax of the first season's two-part finale Duke played chicken with the Mother Burn -Blackie's CoolStarship-, shooting all of Grendizer's weapons at once as he flied straight towards it. [[spoiler:And he won!]]
42* AlternateContinuity: As things currently stand, Grendizer is the most powerful robot in the ''Mazinger'' universe... but so is the [[Anime/MazingerZ Mazinkaiser]]. This means that the two are mutually exclusive and aside from a single piece of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAec-jyYmTY promotional material]], they have ''never'' appeared together in a fictional work, be it animation or a ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' game. Go Nagai often jokes that he doesn't want to establish one as more powerful than the other and avoids having Grendizer and Mazinkaiser appear side by side for that reason. There have been rumors that he intends to clear this up at some point, but so far the two remain exclusive.
43* AlwaysChaoticEvil: At the beginning it looks the trope is being played straight, but finally it is averted. Several of the Vegans are decent people and many of them are given redeeming qualities.
44* AmnesiaDanger: At the first episode of the Gosaku Ota manga, Duke does not remember anything about his past since Dr. Umon had wiped his memory's out so he could live peacefully without remembering anything about his destroyed home and slaughtered family. He got his memories back shortly after the Vegans attacked.
45* AndThisIsFor: It happens at least once in the manga penned by Creator/GoNagai. After the Vegans kill one of his oldest friends, Duke [[UnstoppableRage rips to pieces]] a Saucer Beast as he yells: "And this is for my friend!"
46* AnimalMecha: Several Saucer Beasts resembled animals, mainly reptiles.
47* BadMoonRising: The Moon becoming red was a sign that the Vegan Alliance was getting ready another attack -and the main characters eventually learnt to watch for that-. One of the manga versions -penned by GosakuOta- reinforced that: in the first pages a red ''skull'' appeared on the Moon's surface (a sign that the Vegans had come) Duke felt upset when he saw it, and wondered if that was a bad omen.
48* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Danbei Makiba (Hikaru's father) was obsessed with meeting aliens. He did not expect those aliens were hostile conquerors bent on taking over Earth. He didn't expect either that one of his employees was an alien, and his daughter would have fallen for him.
49* BlackAndWhiteMorality: At first sight the Mazinger trilogy seems belonging to this trope since the the heroes are mostly good guys and the villains tend to be pure evil, but in reality the morality in these series is more greyish than it seems. [[MadScientist Dr.]] [[BigBad Hell]] [[FreudianExcuse became mad after having endured years of abuse, insults and mockery from everybody (including his parents) since he was a little kid, and even when he made a good action, he usually got beaten and scorned]]. [[Anime/GreatMazinger Great General of Darkness]] wanted to take over the surface world because the Mykene civilization had been forced to live underground for millennia and he wanted his people to enjoy again things humans take for granted (such as seeing sunlight and breathing fresh air). Emperor Vega began invading other planets because his own homeworld was dying, and several of his henchmen were {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s wanting to establish a benevolent dictatorship because they genuinely believed Earth people would be better off. And, frankly, humans in [[Anime/MazingerZ the]] [[Anime/GreatMazinger Mazinger]] trilogy often acted like [[UngratefulBastard utter]] [[HumansAreBastards bastards]] and forced the heroes to ponder why they bothered.
50%% * TheBladeAlwaysLandsPointyEndIn: Sometimes the Double Harken would land like this.
51%% * BossSubtitles
52%% * BrainwashedAndCrazy:
53%%** Kouji. Also, [[spoiler:Duke Fleed]] in the Nagai Heroes e-manga.
54%% ** And in the manga penned by Creator/GoNagai, Kouji and Tetsuya.
55%% ** And in another chapter, Brunhild, an old friend of Duke. Nonetheless, he was aware enough to warn Duke against come closer and beg to kill him.
56* BreakTheCutie: Duke is a friendly, good-natured, kind-hearted man. The Vegans murdered his family and burned his home-world, forcing him to run away. He crash-lands on Earth, finds a new family and home, gets used to his new world... and then the Vegans set out to invade Earth.
57* TheBridge: The [[AirborneAircraftCarrier aircrafts]] and spaceships of [[AlienInvasion the Vegan Empire]] had bridges fitted with the essential characteristics.
58* CardCarryingVillain: Vega's homeworld was dying cause the overexploitation of a rare radioactive mineral called vegatron. BigBad King Vega started his campaign of conquest through the galaxy because he needed to find a suitable world to settle their people on (and because he was a power-hungry bastard). His CoDragons followed him out of loyalty to him or to the Empire, and some of them were {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s, but Barados... Good Lord, Barados was pointlessly cruel and he committed atrocities as laughing: deliberately murdering women and children to exterminate a planet's population, taking hostages to blackmail his enemies with and then killing them in a horrible way... Let's tell than TheHero Duke told that was the only Vegan he could not forgive and when [[spoiler:he died,]] no Vegan higher-up missed him.
59* CharacterDevelopment: At the same time Duke is angsty because [[spoiler: he's dying via a radiation-inflicted wound he suffered during his escape and ''knows'' his days are numbered]], his best friend Hikaru Makiba gets tired of being a DamselInDistress [[TookALevelInBadass and trains to become a pilot and Action Girl]], etc.
60* ChildhoodFriendRomance: [[spoiler:Duke and Rubina]]. They were friends and engaged through an ArrangedMarriage. They liked each other so neither of them minded... but then Fleed's invasion happened. From then their relationship became a StarCrossedLovers romance ended up tragically.
61* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: By the end of the first season, [[ButtMonkey Banta]] completely stops making appearances. He doesn't get killed by the Vegans or anything, he just...vanishes.
62* CombiningMecha: The Mecha Expansion Pack Augment type. It combines with a space ship to form a starship. And then you have its different JetPack to allow it move on space, underwater or underground.
63* CompanionCube: It seldom happened, but you still have in one of the manga versions, when Duke was fleeing from the Vegans he pleaded Grendizer carrying him far away. Nonetheless, Grendizer was [[FirstChurchOfMecha the embodiment of the Fleedian god of War]], so he could have a point.
64* CompilationMovie: There are three of them made in Italy.
65* ConvectionSchmonvection: Since Grendizer was a HumongousMecha AND a starship allowed FasterThanLightTravel between planets it was kind of [[JustifiedTrope justified]] Duke could efficiently protect Duke when he fought near from lava.
66* CoolStarship: Grendizer is both a HumongousMecha and a CoolStarship. Vegans' spaceships and motherships also count.
67** FaceShip: When Grendizer combines with his flying device, its face shows up on the frontside.
68* DarkestHour: In the finale of the first season, Duke was defeated and forced into hiding with Grendizer, Kouji was shot down, Hikaru was dying, the base was taken by Blackie and Professor Umon was tortured.
69* DatingCatwoman: [[spoiler:Duke and Rubina.]] Although there was not much dating after the annihilation of Fleed.
70%%* DeathOfAChild: In the manga, on two occasions. %% Who dies, and how?
71* DemotedToExtra: Kouji was TheHero in ''Anime/MazingerZ''. In ''UFO Robo Grendizer'', he is merely TheLancer.
72* DestructiveSaviour: When Grendizer and the Vegans duke it out, the battlefield gets wasted. Duke tries to lead them away the cities, though, to prevent this.
73* DetachmentCombat: All vehicles allowed Grendizer flying -or maneouvering more easily in sea or underground- were detachable and could attack separately.
74* TheDeterminator: Even though Duke is calmer and more focused than his predecessors and he actually was forced to run away once, he is not a quitter either. He has gone through battles where he was clearly losing but finally he pulled through due to effort, brains and guts and a downright refusal to lie down and die.
75* DirtyCoward: Emperor Vega tend to lose his coolness, get frightened and run away when someone is aiming a gun to his head.
76* DoomedHometown: Duke Fleed's planet.
77* DrillTank: Drill Spacer is a vehicle with ''two'' drills bolted on the front. When it [[CombiningMecha combines]] with the titular [[HumongousMecha giant robot]], Grendizer is able to move and fight underground.
78* DubNameChange: Viewers in France and [[Creator/{{TVA}} Quebec]] know Duke Fleed as Actarus, Kouji as Alcor, Hikaru as Venusia and Maria as Phenicia, as well as Grendizer as Goldorak (Goldrake in Italy). The English dub ''Grandizer'' renamed Duke as Orion Quest, Hikaru as Brenda Morgan (and gave her a Texas accent), and Kouji as Lance Hyatt (note this was still before the ''Tranzor Z'' dub of ''Mazinger Z'' that renamed the same character "Tommy Davis").
79* DuelToTheDeath: Duke and Blackie's dog fight at the end of the first season.
80* EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Kind of subverted. The Vegans had conquered many other planets before striking Earth. It is true Duke Fleed landed on Earth -from all places!- when he ran away from the Vegan troops, and the Vegans show a special interest for Earth, but that is because there are not so many habitable worlds. Earth, Fleed and Vega had a similar atmosphere and enviroment, so Earth was the kind of planet they were searching for.
81* EldritchAbomination: Several of them showed up in the trilogy, often overlapping with DiabolusExNihilo: Great Emperor of Darkness [[spoiler:as well known as Hades]] (BigBad from ''Anime/GreatMazinger''), Gilgilgan (of the Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo movie), Grangen (of the Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo G feature), Dragonsaurus (of Grendizer, Getter Robot G, Great Mazinger: Kessen! Daikaijuu movie), the Bigbad of SuperRoboRetsuden (a {{Crossover}} penned by Creator/KenIshikawa featuring the most popular HumongousMecha of Creator/GoNagai)... and in the Manga/ShinMazingerZero manga [[spoiler:Mazinger Z itself.]]
82* EnemyMine: Subverted. In one of the manga versions, ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' BigBad, Emperor of Darkness, offered Kouji Kabuto an alliance to fight the Vegans together. It was subverted because Kouji refused the offer and King Vega [[spoiler:killed the Emperor to impede that alliance and get rid of a possible enemy and competitor.]]
83* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Duke averted this trope with Hikaru [[spoiler:and with Rubina.]] However, Kouji was absolutely oblivious to the feelings of Maria. Of course, he was the only one (much to Duke's amusement).
84* EvilPlan: [[AlienInvasion King Vega started to conquer planets]] because the Vegan homeworld was dying and its inhabitants needed another world to settle on. Some of his [[CoDragons generals]] wanted to take over Earth because they thought that [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans Earth people were incapable of governing themselves peacefully and efficiently, and their lives would improve if a Vegan government ran the show.]]
85* EvilVersusEvil: In the GosakuOta chapters, King Vega [[spoiler:killed Emperor of Darkness, BigBad of the former series (''Anime/GreatMazinger'')]]. Pretty fun, King Vega not only did it because he was a potential competitor -since he also wanted to TakeOverTheWorld-, but also because [[spoiler:Emperor of Darkness]] was wanting to ally with the heroes to overthrow him.
86* ExpositoryThemeTune: "Come on, Come on, Duke Fleed! Fly, fly Grendizer! Across the land, the ocean and the blue sky! Joined for the peace, Keeping ourselves steady to protect everybody."
87* FacelessGoons: All Vegan soldiers wore a green-and-yellow uniform with cap-like helmets with yellow, round eyes and weird gill-like marks covered their whole faces and necks.
88* FallingIntoTheCockpit: Duke -and Hikaru- play it straight after a fashion (in the case of Duke, it depends on what version we are talking. In the GosakuOta episodes, Grendizer activated on its own to lead Duke far away from Fleed and save his life). Maria, on the other hand, was trained to pilot the [[MidSeasonUpgrade Drill Spacer]].
89** On the other hand, Kouji avoided the trope twice: Kouji tried to pilot Grendizer once during an emergency and he was unable. He stated the controls were too complicated to him. And in another ocassion he got to pilot Great Mazinger, and he was worried he would have forgotten how handling it. Fortunately, Great Mazinger controls were pretty similar to Mazinger's and he got several years worth of experience for that time.
90* FantasticNuke: The Vegatron bombs. Capable to obliterate whole cities, and left the land polluted with radioactivity afterwards.
91* FinalBattle: It varies depending on if we are discussing the Creator/GoNagai manga, the anime series or the GosakuOta manga. In the anime version, [[spoiler:after his daughter got murdered, King Vega decided he had got it: he had wasted military resources trying take over Earth as planet Vega imploded and everyting he had managed was using up their resources, running out of {{Robeast}}s, and losing his commanders, his best soldiers and his daughter. So he ordered his troops to destroy their SpaceBase to hammer in them the idea of they now had no choice but conquering Earth or die, and he launched a full attack with the remnants of his army. Meanwhile, Duke took off in Grendizer and Kouji, Hikaru and Maria on a new starship. Both sides fought in the space, between Earth and Moon. The Vegan army was finally destroyed in the final confrontation, and Duke killed King Vega.]] Go Nagai manga version had no a definite ending, but GosakuOta version did it, and the final was very different from the anime series. Let's tell it got [[spoiler:TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]] worse.
92* FirstChurchOfMecha: Grendizer was the robotic embodiment of the Fleedian God of War.
93* FirstEpisodeTwist: That strange farm boy Kouji has just found? He pilots a HumongousMecha. And he is an alien.
94* GiantEqualsInvincible: Sort of. Vegan {{Robeast}}s could not be damaged by conventional weaponry, but neither did tinier Vegan combat ships. So it can be argued alien technology rather than sheer size was the cause of its invincibility.
95* TheGoodKingdom: Fleed-one of the ''Anime/MazingerZ'' series- fits into this, in spite of being the entire planet. Benevolent monarch? Checked. A prince who is also TheHero (Duke Fleed) and a Princess [[spoiler:(Maria Grace Fleed)]]? Checked. Princess has a romantic relationship with one of the heroes [[spoiler:[[Anime/MazingerZ Kouji Kabuto]]]]? Checked. GhibliHills surrounding the ShiningCity? Checked. Invaded -and conquered- by TheEmpire? Checked.
96* GrandFinale: After [[spoiler:his daughter's death, BigBad King Vega has lost his patience and decides deploying all of his remaining troops to launch a final attack. [[DragonInChief Gandal]] dissuades him, though, and challenges Grendizer to a mecha duel. When he loses, one of his personalities realizes Grendizer is invincible and plans killing King Vega to negotiate peace with Earth separately, but the dominant personality executes her by attempting to commit high treason, and tries to kill Duke Fleed with a kamikaze attack. When he fails, King Vega decides invading Earth, destroying his SpaceBase to show his troops there's no turning back. Meanwhile, the four heroes take off towards the space to fight the FinalBattle, using Grendizer and a new CoolStarship. Both fleets clash among Earth and Moon. After a long fight, Duke and his friends manage to win. Unfortunately it also means he and his sister will have to bid farewell to their friends and return to his homeworld. In one of the manga versions, Vegans' final attack caused the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.]]
97* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: Rubina is a beautiful, red-haired woman. She's also a pink-skinned alien.
98* GutPunch: In the Ota chapters both sides loses the war. The Vegan invaders are destroyed, but [[spoiler:Duke, Maria and Sayaka die]] and TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt happens. Only [[spoiler:Kouji and Hikaru]] are left alive.
99* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: The female side of Gandal, a Vegan with two personalities and faces]] decided turning on the Emperor after realizing they would never defeat Grendizer.
100** HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: But then [[spoiler:the male side]] took control back and shot [[spoiler:himself/herself]] on the grounds of high treason.
101* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The Vegans managed to make huge technological breakthroughs by exploiting ores of the material radioactive known as Vegatron. However, it led to his planet becoming unstable, forcing them to find new worlds to colonize. The vegatron bombs they rained upon Fleed scorched the Fleedian army to ashes, but they also turned the planet they intended to colonize on a radioactive wasteland. And finally, Vegatron radiation destroyed their homeworld and rendered their Moon SpaceBase -their last safe haven- inhabitable.
102* HomeBase: The Space Science Laboratory was the base of the heroes. The Vegans HomeBase was a SpaceBase located on the Moon.
103* HopeSpot: In second-to-last episode, Rubina finds out her fiancé [[spoiler:Duke Fleed]] is alive and flies to Earth to meet him. She apologises for the crimes her father committed and tries to convince him everybody -both Vegans and Earth's inhabitants- shall die if the war continues, and the only way to prevent it is they getting married and talking her father into moving the Vega folk to Fleed. And he accepts. For a moment it seems like if the war is over, but a Vegan squad that was using Rubina like an unwitting bait attacks [[spoiler:Duke.]] Rubina herself [[spoiler:dies]] shortly after, destroying any hope of the conflict would end up peacefully and without one side annihilating the another one.
104* HumanAliens: The Fleedian race -mainly represented in the series by Duke [[spoiler:and his sister Maria]]- look completely human. On the other hand, the aspect of the Vegans varies wildly. Emperor Vega seemed a hairy, pointy-eared, pig-nosed monster, but his daughter Rubina mostly seemed human. Other alien races in this universe range of monster-like to human-looking but with unusual hair, skin or/and eyes colour (like secondary character Menao).
105* HumongousMecha: It's the Mazinsaga, dammit.
106* IAmWho: [[spoiler:Maria]] got this reaction after her grandfather revealed [[spoiler:she was not his granddaughter but an alien princess.]]
107* IControlMyMinionsThrough: King Vega used Authority (he was his planet's ruler), Loyalty (his minions were very loyal), Fear and Acceptance (he was a bastard, but he cared for his people. He started his conquering campaigns to find a new homeworld for them).
108* IfItSwimsItFlies: One of its MidSeasonUpgrade -Marine Spacer- was designed to combining with Grendizer and allow it swim and dive. However it also could fly.
109* InterspeciesRomance: The Mazinger trilogy has several examples from romances between humans and humanoid aliens: Duke and Hikaru, and [[spoiler:Kouji and Maria]]. And the you have [[spoiler:Duke and Rubina]]. Both of them are aliens but they are from different species -and born on different planets.
110* ItsPersonal: In the Creator/GoNagai manga, Commander Barendos [[spoiler:dropped Duke's little siblings from a height from three kilometers]]. In front of Duke. Duke is usually calmed when he is not piloting, but the only sight or mention of Barendos is enough to really anger Duke.
111* JapaneseRanguage: This trope affected the main character, Duke Fleed, whose name was written like "Dyūku Furīdo". Several of his enemies also suffered from it: "Blackie" was written "Burakki", and Gandal was turned into Gandar.
112* JetPack: Grendizer had THREE of them (not counting its spaceship): Double Spacer -to fly inside and outside of atmosphere-, Marine Spacer -to fly and dive underwater- and Drill Spacer -to fly and burrow underground-.
113* JumpedAtTheCall: Duke subverts it slightly. He was a reluctant hero hated fighting and just wanted being normal. When the Vegans attacked he could have remained lying low and nobody would have him forced to battle. He willingly decided fight, nonetheless (knowing the consequences of not acting are your new home will become an uninhabitable radioactive wasteland all people you care for will be dead or enslaved no doubt helped factored into his decision).
114* TheKidWithTheRemoteControl: Maria Fleed, in the Mazinger Angels manga (a ''Series/CharliesAngels'' spoof with Sayaka, Jun, Hikaru and Maria as the lead characters). She controlled Minerva X using a special helmet channeled her brainwaves.
115* KissOfLife: Kouji finds a [[DudeShesLikeInAComa fainted]] Maria Grace in her spaceship. But before he gave her kiss of life, she wake up, slap him, and call him a commoner.
116* LatexSpaceSuit: The pilot suits for both the male and female characters.
117* LetsYouAndHimFight: The manga has the Vegans mind-control Kouji and Tetsuya into going after Grendizer in ''Anime/MazingerZ'' and ''Anime/GreatMazinger''.
118* LostTechnology: In one of the manga versions.
119* LoveDodecahedron: Hikaru is in love with Duke. Duke may reciprocate her feelings. Rubina is in love with him. Duke certainly reciprocates her feelings. And Minister Zuril was in love with Rubina. It is even more complicated if you think about Kouji and Maria and add Sayaka to the mix.
120* LukeIAmYourFather: It was inverted and played straight. [[spoiler:Maria]] told [[spoiler:Duke]] she was daughter of [[spoiler:the King and Queen of Fleed]], not knowing he was [[spoiler:their son, and therefore, her brother.]]
121* LuminescentBlush: In one manga chapter, Hikaru bluntly told Duke she was interested in him. And Duke's face turned fully red!
122* MadeOfIndestructium: Grendizer was made with Gren, an incredibly tough metal. Nevertheless, it could not be found on Earth, so when Grendizer got damaged, he was repaired with Alloy Z.
123* TheManBehindTheMan: In the original manga, Blackie is the first Vegan commander to show up, and he seems to be behind the invasion. However, in the next chapter, the BigBad King Vega and his DragonInChief Gandal (commander of the armies tasked with the invasion) are introduced.
124* MenUseViolenceWomenUseCommunication: In the ''Mazinger'' trilogy male characters tend to resort quickly to violence to solve a conflict whereas female characters tend to look for alternate, peaceful means to solve it or regret when a peaceful outcome seems out of reach:
125** In the first episode Kouji decided to [[SubvertedTrope try and negotiate with the alien visitors, for once]]. However he chose the worst possible time to change his usual approach, and he got nearly blown up.
126** King Vega was convinced that [[AlienInvasion invading and conquering other planets]] was the only way to find a new home to his subjects after their homeworld's demise. Duke was convinced that the only way to stop them from invading Earth was fighting them. Rubina -daughter of the former and [[spoiler:ex-fiancee]] of the latter- thought that mutual annihilation was the only possible result of that war. So that she ''did'' find an alternative option and tried to talk both into a ceasefire. [[spoiler:It did not work.]]
127** In a manga story, Duke has to fight [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] Kouji and ''[[Anime/GreatMazinger Tetsuya]]''. Meanwhile, Hikaru laments that there is no way that peace can result from that battle, not matter who wins.
128* MidairCollision: In the ''UFO Robo Grendizer tai Anime/GreatMazinger'' feature, ''[[Anime/MazingerZ Kouji Kabuto]]'' and Duke Fleed'' shot a [[{{Robeast}} Vega Beast]] down. It crashed down into the -previously heavily damaged- enemy spacecraft, blowing it up.
129* MidSeasonUpgrade: Grendizer got upgraded throughout the series with several attachable, flying vehicles allowed it maneouvering more easily in space, in sea or underground: Double Spacer -piloted by Kouji-, Marine Spacer -piloted by Hikaru- and Drill Spacer -piloted by Maria-.
130* MindControlEyes: Not permanent when victims are brainwashed but sometimes can briefly have them.
131* MindProbe: In the ''UFO Robo Grendizer vs Great Mazinger'' feature, Barendos kidnapped Kouji and used a mind-probing machine to extract information about Grendizer and the other Earth's giant war mechas -Great Mazinger and Mazinger Z- from him.
132* MissingMom: Duke and [[spoiler:Maria's]] fathers got murdered before the sereis began. Hikaru and her brother's mother passed away, and they raised by their father exclusively.
133* MissionControl: Duke and his partners were assisted by the Prof. Umon and the BridgeBunnies of the Space Science Laboratory, that provide plenty information and suggested strategies when they battled.
134* MonsterOfTheWeek: Like so many SuperRobot shows back in the day.
135* MookMobile: Besides the very dangerous Saucer Beasts and Vega Beasts, the mainstay of Vega's fleet to attack Earth are swarms of mini-ufos. Those are a threat to the lower-tech Terran forces, but not so much for the eponymous giant robot. Despite the massive size difference, the Spazer can easily compete in maneuverability with the mini-ufos, and even when attempting to overwhelm it with their numbers, Grendizer destroys them in drove thanks to its numerous, superior weapons.
136* NearVillainVictory: One of the best examples happened in the two-part finale of the first season. Grendizer had been beaten by two {{Robeast}}s and forced to hiding, Kouji's TFO had been badly damaged, [[TheDragon Blackie]] had taken control of the Science Space Center and tortured Dr. Umon. When Duke returned, [[spoiler:he managed beat both mechas, saving his friends and destroying Blackie's command ship.]]
137* NoEnding: The manga ends with a duel between Duke and one of the Vegans generals. Kouji got a minor moment of action, but Rubina and Maria had not been even mentioned, Hikaru was still in her pre-Action Girl days, Spazers hadn't been introduced, and there wasn't even a single instance of the [[ChestBlaster Antigravity Storm]] attack.
138* NuclearWeaponsTaboo: Vegatron bombs. It is explicitly stated they are radioactive, they are able to easily obliterate whole cities, the explosion forms a mushroom cloud, and they leave the land polluted with radioactivity. But no, they are not nukes. They are ''vegatron bombs''.
139* ObviouslyEvil: The decent or with more redeeming traits aliens are human-looking. The aliens who are more monstruous are pretty much bastards.
140* OldFlame: Duke and Rubina. Their marriage was arranged when they were children, and they liked each other. However their relationship broke off when King Vega invaded and destroyed Duke's homeworld. Rubina believed that Duke died, and Duke grew to hate Vegans. Several years later, she met him again, and both acknowledged they kept loving each other in spite of everything.
141* OldSchoolDogfight: Although AirJousting was frequent, Duke often get involved in dog fights, mainly when he was fighting mini-ufos (in spite of Grendizer being way larger, Duke was pretty good maneuvering behind them).
142* OncePerEpisode: Every episode Daisuke [[TransformationNameAnnouncement shouted]] "DUKE FLEED!" -his real name- to morph his clothes into his LatexSpaceSuit, and "Dizer Go!" to start Grendizer.
143* PairTheSpares: [[spoiler: It's revealed in an episode that Koji loves Hikaru. But she loves Duke.So he decides to forget her. In the very next episode, Maria Grace arrives, and is soon attracted by Koji.]]
144* PapaWolf: Danbei Makiba. He is fiercely protective of his daughter, constantly menacing with shooting the brains off of whoever ever thinks about damaging her or hurting in some way, shape or form. And God helps you if he entrusts Hikaru to you, and she doesn't remain perfectly safe and sound.
145* PietaPlagiarism: It happened near from the end, when [[spoiler:Rubina got murdered]] and Duke held her as she died.
146* PilotMovie: The eventual ''Anime/MazingerZ'' spinoff ''UFO Robo Grendizer'' started off as a 30 minute movie named UchuEnbanDaisenso.
147* PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: Grendizer, moon-shaped shoulder blades. Not only they could be thrown but also they could be linked to form the [[SinisterScythe Double Harken]].
148* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Vegans were a race whose society revolved around fighting and war. Many commanders of the army belonged to the HonorBeforeReason school of thought and [[TakingYouWithMe would rather dying taking their enemy with them]] before admitting defeat.
149* RedIsHeroic: Duke and [[spoiler:his sister]] wear red suits.
150* ReforgedIntoAMinion: The Vegans [[spoiler:grafted brains of prisoners into their Saucer Beasts.]] Duke got a severe HeroicBSOD when he was told [[spoiler:he technically had killed one friend of his every time he blew up a {{Robeast}}.]]
151* {{Robeast}}: Vega Beasts and Saucer Beasts
152* RocketPunch: Its Screw Crusher Punch weapon.
153** PowerFist: Several triangular blades are attached to the wrists of the HumongousMecha, and bent towards the elbow. When Duke shoots a RocketPunch, the blades turn forward and shred their target.
154** HandBlast: Grendizer's backhands shot energy beams.
155* RubberForeheadAliens: Vegans and other alien races have strangely-shaped heads or unusual skin or hair colours at the very least. Gandal has blue skin and his head looks cubic due to his very angular features, his wide forehead, and that the top of his head is nearly flat. Blackie has dark-purple skin, pointy ears and a very pointy, hairless head. Even the most human-looking aliens -like Rubina- have bluish or anormally pale skin, black irises or green or aquamarine hair (keep in mind no human character in this anime is blue-haired).
156* RuleOfThree: It was not so blatant like in the first series. Still, Prof. Umon was assisted in the Lab by three BridgeBunnies (Hayashi, Yamada and Aoi). Makiba family was formed by three members: Hikaru, Danbei and Goro. Duke battle partners were Kouji, [[spoiler:Hikaru]] and [[spoiler:his sister Maria.]] Grendizer got three {{MidSeason Upgrade}}s: Double, Marine and Drill Spacer...
157* SadisticChoice: It happened fairly often, especially in the manga penned by Creator/GoNagai. In one chapter Duke gets attacked by one of his oldest friends, whom he believed dead but was being mind-controlled by the Vegans. His friend could not control his body but he still could warn Duke stay away from him... and beg kill him.
158* ShinyLookingSpaceships: Both Grendizer and the Vegan starships are shiny-looking, bright and very polished -although they may get dirty in battle, though-.
159* SiblingTeam: [[spoiler:Duke and Maria.]]
160* Not-So-SinisterScythe: Double Harken, a pair of crescent-moon shaped scythes which pop out of Grendizer's shoulders and [[BifurcatedWeapon join together by attaching the ends]]. Usually [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks thrown]] as a FinishingMove.
161* SleepCute: Hikaru and Maria. The former murmurs as she dreams: "Nnn... Daisuke..." Her dreams must be interesting.
162* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: It definitely leans in the idealistic side.
163* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Grendizer played this trope with Hikaru until the third season when Maria joined the team and the gender ratio became 2:2.
164** TwoGirlsToATeam: Since the last season.
165* SpaceBase: Skull Moon Base, the base of the Vegan army. Seeing SuperVillainLair below.
166* StarcrossedLovers:
167** Duke and Hikaru. Hikaru's father refuses accepting their relationship (on grounds of Duke being male. Danbei is a BoyfriendBlockingDad perfectly willing to kill any male coming near from his daughter), but that is not the real obstacle (or an obstacle for that matter). The real obstacle is that Duke wants to return his planet to rebuild it if he manages surviving the war, whereas Hikaru does not want to leave Earth. Not matter what their feelings are, a separation is inevitable.
168** Also, [[spoiler:Duke and Rubina. Rubina is King Vega's daughter. They got engaged before the Fleed's invasion, but King Vega -- who never agreed to the engagement in the first place -- refuses seeing his daughter getting married with Duke.]]
169* StealthInSpace: King Vega's tactic during his army's offensive final depended on being stealth. Of course, [[spoiler:it did not work.]]
170* SuperVillainLair: The lair of the Vegan invaders was a SpaceBase set in the Moon. [[spoiler:When the Emperor began his final offensive against Earth, he ordered blowing it up to show his troops they had only two choices left: conquering Earth or die.]]
171* TagalongKid: Goro, Hikaru Makiba's little brother. Hikaru finds him ''very'' irritating.
172* TakeOverTheWorld: Planet Vega had become unstable due to the overexploitation of ores of vegatron, a highly radioactive material. King Vega needed to find another world to settle his people on, and so he began conquering other worlds. That expansionist campaign finally led them to Earth.
173* TakingTheBullet: During an aerial duel between Grendizer and another starship in the episode 72, [[spoiler:Rubina]] flies her own ship between Grendizer and an energy beam to save Duke. She [[spoiler:dies shortly after. Her HeroicSacrifice is done more tragic because Duke had accused her from betraying him shortly before.
174* TechnoBabble: Of course, being a sci-fi HumongousMecha MechaShow, instances of are plenty. An episode of the first season gave us a good example. [[AlienInvasion The Vegans]] plot attacking during an eclipse and luring Duke to fight in the eclipse's umbra because the lack of solar waves will disrupt the flow of the AppliedPhlebotinum that fuels Grendizer. Hence the HumongousMecha will run out of power and will be rendered defenseless.
175* TelescopingRobot:
176** Grendizer had one scythe stored into each shoulder could be joined to shape a double-edged shaft. The blades also worked like a PrecisionGuidedBoomerang. And that is not counting all weapons hid into its flying device.
177** Saucer Beasts hide weapons of all kinds inside their bodies.
178* TenMinuteRetirement: [[TheHero Duke]] [[HumanAliens Fleed]] was doing this at the beginning of the series. He was planet Fleed's [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Crown Prince]]. After [[AlienInvasion Vegan]] [[TheEmpire Alliance]] invaded his homeworld, murdered his family [[spoiler:but his little sister]], decimated his planet's army and turned the place into a radioactive wasteland, he ran away and [[AlienAmongUs settled on Earth]], planning leading a peaceful life [[RichesToRags like a farmer]] and trying to ferget what happened. Then the Vegans Alliance found Earth, a friend of his was in danger, and he started his SuperRobot and marched to the battle again.
179* ThematicRoguesGallery: Grendizer only fought alien ships and mechas.
180* ThisIsUnforgivable: Uttered by Duke when he remembered an unpleasant memory from the invasion and destruction of Fleed or when the Vegans had got him REAL pissed off. In the second instance you really did NOT want being the focus of his anger.
181* TheThreeFacesOfAdam: TheHero Duke is the lord (crowned prince of a whole planet, in fact), Dr. Umon is the prophet (serves like ParentalSubstitute, mentor and guide to TheHero), and Goro is the hunter.
182* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Subversion enforced. To start with, the Headquarters of the good guys is not in Tokyo but in the vicinity of Mount Fuji. Therefore, the enemy feels aren't compelled to exclusively target and attack Tokyo. Not only are a lot of Japanese cities destroyed but also the Vegan army attacked many countries, not only Japan.
183* TomatoInTheMirror: Maria Grace believed she was an average girl... until her gradnfather revealed that [[spoiler:she was an alien.]]
184** And [[spoiler:her brother]] Duke Fleed played this trope in the GosakuOta manga continuity. Dr. Umon had wiped out his memories so they did not torture him and he was able living like a normal human being. However, when a stream of reports of ufo sightings started to arriving to the Space Research Laboratory he started to feel odder and uneasier, although he did not udnderstand why. It was when the [[AlienInvasion Vegans started to strike nearby cities]] he finally remembered he was an alien.
185* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Hikaru and Maria subvert the trope. Hikaru usually wears male clothes and is a GirlyGirl. Maria, on the other hand, constantly and consistently wears dresses and skirts, and is a {{tomboy}}. Not matter what, they are good friends.
186* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Several characters. The more prominent of them was Rubina. She was a good person sincerely loved Duke, and wanted reuniting with him to end up the war and rebuilding his planet together. Unfortunately, when she managed meeting Duke to talk with him, [[spoiler: one of the Vegan generals took that chance to ambush Duke, and she died shielding her fiancee from a shot.]]
187* TookALevelInBadass: Hikaru Makiba.
188* TrueBlueFemininity: Hikaru is feminine, gentle and caring and wore a blue uniform. On contrast, Maria was a tomboyish {{Tsundere}} and usually wore red or pink.
189* {{Tsundere}}: Maria Grace, [[spoiler: Duke's younger sister.]]
190* TwoFaced: Lord/Lady Gandal is a [[Anime/MazingerZ Baron]] [[TwoFaced Ashura]] {{Expy}} with two personalities, a male one and a female one. During the first season, his body was male, but when the female side wanted taking control, his face split in two halves, revealing a tiny female human inside the head. Afterwards, his face changed every time he switched personalities. Due to their different personalities he combined being TheDragon with being TheStarscream.
191* UngratefulBastard: In all series of the ''Mazinger'' trilogy, humans barely need a little push to side with or become puppets of the people who want to enslave them or annihilate them and turn on the people who are protecting them with their lives.
192** Duke Fleed and his HumongousMecha is the only thing stands between the human beings and global genocyde. What does he get in exchange? Danbei Makiba insulting him, bossing him around and [[BoyfriendBlockingDad threatening to kill him if he so much as breathe near his daughter Hikaru]]. Danbei also complains if Grendizer did not exist, [[TooDumbToLive they could be good friends with the aliens]].
193* {{Unobtainium}}:
194** Grendizer is built with an alien metal called Gren. Since it can not be found on Earth, when Grendizer gets damaged, Alloy Z is used to repair it.
195** Vegatron is a highly radioactive material only can be mined from planet Vega. The Vegans used it to create powerful weapons, but its overexploitation led to the planet becoming highly unstable.
196* UnhandThemVillain: During the Fleed-Vega War in one of the manga versions, Barados kidnaps hundreds of women and children, shows them dangling from his ships to the Royal Family and promises that he will let them go if the Vegans hand over ten weapons in exchange for each life. The King acquiesces, and Barados lets his hostages fall to their deaths.
197* UnroboticReveal: A variant. It is revealed that the {{Robeast}}s [[spoiler:are powered by brains of Fleedian people]]. When Duke Fleed got told all Saucer Beasts he had been destroying contained [[spoiler:all that was left of his family and friends]], he got a HeroicBSOD.
198* UnusualWeaponMounting: Grendizer's horns can unleash electrical discharges, its backhands shot laser rays, blades are stored into its shoulders that can be merged to form a double-headed scythe...
199* UseYourHead: Duke uses this tactic sometimes, although he has a good excuse: usually he is trying to ram the enemy rather head-butt it, but his HumongousMecha head is on the front of his starship when [[CombiningMecha both mechas combine]], so that it is the first thing hits the enemy.
200* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: [[CoDragons Some generals]] of King Vega wanted to take over Earth because they thought that [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans Earth people is uncapable to govern themselves peacefully and efficiently, and their lives would improve if a Vegan government ran the show.]]
201* WalkingSpoiler: Maria Grace [[spoiler:Fleed.]] Her full name is already a total spoiler itself. Also [[spoiler:Princess]] Rubina of [[spoiler:Vega,]] fiancée to [[spoiler:Duke.]]
202* WarIsHell: The message is core to the series and it is delivered in a pretty heavy-handed way. The Vegans tried to take over Fleed to settle on it but their own weapons turned the planet into an inhabitable, radioactive chunk of rock. The only thing their expansionist war achieved was the destruction of several planets and their own annihilation. The war scenes were depicted in a very harsh fashion. And several characters argued nothing could be gained from that conflict:
203-->'''Hikaru''': Why friends must fight each other? It’s all the same. It doesn’t matter who wins… There’s no way peace can result from this fight!\
204'''Rubina''': If this war continues, not only all Vegans but also Earth will be destroyed.
205* WeaponOfMassDestruction: Vegatron bombs.
206* WellDoneSonGuy: Subverted. Minister Zuril had a son was obsessed with proving his worth to his father, even jeopardizing his life. However, Zuril was proud of him and tried to make him aware of that fact and he did not want him risking his life. Unfortunately, his son did not listen. He kept being obsessed with earning his father's approval, and finally he [[spoiler:commited a HeroicSacrifice to save his father's life.]] Zuril became very cold and fatalistic because it.
207* TheWorfEffect: Kouji Kabuto had been TheHero for two HumongousMecha series, facing dozens of enemies and -often- emerging victorious. In the first episode he got shot down easily by Vegan mini-ufos, forcing Duke to reveal his true identity to rescue him. Kouji got subjected to this trope throughout the whole series.
208* YouKilledMyFather: The parents and whole family of Duke [[spoiler:and Maria]] got murdered by the Vegans. It is one of the resons because [[spoiler:they]] want defeating them.
209* ZergRush: The Vegans attacked Earth cities with vast fleets of mini-ufos, often backed by at least one mothership and several Saucer Beasts.

Top