"Get ready for Gundam like you've never seen it before! ...Really cute and tiny!"
—Toonami Promo
SD Gundam Force (SDガンダムフォース), the SD officially standing for "Superior Defender", but also for "Super-Deformed", a term used for a long-running series of Affectionate Parodies, is a CG anime series based on the Gundam metaseries. It ran for two seasons, but ended on a full course.
The city of Neotopia is a peaceful place, where the humans live in harmony with Mobile Citizens, small robots between three and four feet tall that look a lot like Mobile Suits. A young boy named Shute finds himself at ground zero of an invasion by the Dark Axis, an army of evil (and equally tiny) robots who seem determined to turn everything to stone. He is rescued by Captain Gundam, a robot styled after the Gundams of the Universal Century universe (particularly the GP-01). After beating back the invading forces, Captain suddenly shows up at Shute's house in a civilian guise, saying his commander wanted him to get experience with civilians, and he decided to start by being Shute's friend.
During the battles against the Dark Axis, Captain meets with two other warriors from parallel universes: Zero, the Winged Knight, a magic-using warrior from the world of Lacroa, and Bakunetsumaru, a Samurai from the world of Ark.
Two video games were produced, though the PlayStation 2 game, SD Gundam Force Showdown, is more noteworthy for introducing the dimensional pirates of DeScar, Expies of V Gundam's villainous Zanscare Empire, as well as more Expies of more machines from the primary three worlds involved. There was also a manga retelling of the series, as well as a promotional manga called SD Gundam Force Gaiden, neither of which were released in the US. In Sanrio Puroland, a 4D show called SD Gundam Force: The Daishogun of Destruction Appears! Zako!? played during the anime's run.
Now with a recap page, under construction.
This series contains examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: Bakunetsumaru. Guneagle spends the entire end of his debut episode trying to get his name right, and Shute's parents don't have much of an easier time with it at first. The Zako soldiers can't get it right either.
- Adorable Evil Minions: Being a series were most of the characters are Super Deformed, this is a given, zako.
- Alliterative Name: Zapper Zaku, Grappler Gouf, Destroyer Dom...
- And the Adventure Continues: The show ends with Shute and company patrolling the different worlds with the Gundam Force.
- Anime Theme Song: Played straight in season 1's japanese intro with Sunrise by Puffy AmiYumi, but averted in season 2's intro.
- Artifact of Doom: The Demon Sword Epyon houses an evil spirit that absorbs anyone that's been injured by it and steals their powers. In addition, it will eventually turn the wielder into a berserker before corrupting their body into the Evil Warrior Epyon.
- Artistic License – Physics: You cannot hang a flying fortress from a satellite. It doesn't work that way. SD Gundam Force doesn't care.
- Batman Gambit: Zapper Zaku pretended to be loyal to the SDG after Commander Sazabi's defeat just to get a chance to destroy General Zeong for mistreating him, his companions and the Zakos.
- Battle Aura: The Gundams get these when performing team attacks. Captain gets a golden aura, Bakunetsumaru has fire, and Zero... has the background turn a weird texture of dark blue.
- Badass Normal: Shute. Despite having NO combat ability aside from just being annoying (to the bad guys), he manages to help out starting with 1) Rescuing Captain and Zero when they were captured, and ending with 2) Effectively destroying Zeong's Soul Drive FROM THE INSIDE, among other things. That's not even counting all the times he's been threatened at swordpoint/gunpoint by the Big Bads...and he's only ten years old!
- Berserk Button:
- Bakunetsumaru flies off the handle faster than usual when Zero plants flowers on him.
- Tallgeese doesn't take kindly to his name being made fun of.
- Big Bad: General Zeong is the leader of the Dark Axis.
- Big Eater: Most of, if not all of, the Musha Gundams.
- Bakunetsumaru makes the Daishogun 200 rice balls as a SNACK. Though Daishogun ends up eating the entire 7-layer cake Keiko and Sayla bake for him instead.
- Zero is implied to have eaten at least one entire cake by himself.
- Bakunetsumaru wolfs down an entire 100 rice balls in order to heal his injuries.
- For her birthday Sayla bakes Mayor Margaret a cake almost the size of a castle, to go along with the much smaller one.
- Black Speech: General Zeong speaks in a an odd guttural and snarling language, only Professor Gerbera can translate for him.
- Blush Stickers: Captain and Shute both have these whenever they get embarrassed.
- Breaking Speech: Sazabi and Gerbera gives these to Shute and Captain, respectively. Sazabi claims that 'there is only those who rule, and those who are ruled!' while Gerbera's lecture can be summarized as Humans Are Bastards. They are both told to Shut Up, Hannibal!;
- But Now I Must Go: The 'Zakurello Gate' and son does this at the end of the series. With the General destroyed, there's nothing stopping them from going back to whatever dimension the Dark Axis stole them from.
- Cain and Abel: Professor Gerbera is Captain Gundam's "brother" Madnug post-brainwashing.
- Casting Gag: Commander Sazabi is played by Shūichi Ikeda, Char Aznable's voice actor. Meanwhile, Professor Gerbera (based on the Gerbera Tetra from Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory) is voiced by Akio Ōtsuka, who played 0083's most prominent male villain, Anavel Gato.
- Cerebus Syndrome: The series starts out fairly light hearted, but as it goes on it gets slightly darker and more dramatic.
- The Chessmaster: Several, but Kibaomaru comes into focus as he's an avid shogi player. He even uses a giant board as a platform in the Dark Axis base.
- Chekhov's Gun: The combination move Zapper, Grappler and Destroyer came up with, but never got to use? It's what ultimately destroys the General.
- The Chosen One: Not the two main characters, Captain and Shute. It's actually Zero who was singled out as being the one destined to save his homeland Lacroa from the petrification, which he does with some help.
- Chromatic Arrangement: By their mouthpieces
- Captain: Yellow
- Zero: Blue
- Bakunetsumaru: Red
- Clip Show: Two of them. The first involves a Zany Scheme by the Zakos to get the Gundam Force to divulge their secrets under the guise of a TV interview, and the second is the Force trying to convince Genkimaru to trust them.
- Combination Attack:
- GUNDAM FORCE, TRIPLE ATTACK!
- FINAL DEADLY SCREAMING CHAOS CATASTROPHE!
- Cool Gate: The Zakarello Gate is a living dimensional gate generator.
- Cool Starship: The Magna Musai is the Dark Axis flagship and suitably menacing. It is later reconfigured into the Gundam Musai.
- Cool Sword: Zero's Buster Sword, and Bakunetsumaru's katanas, one of which is a piece of Ark's Five Sacred Swords.
- Comedic Spanking: When Genkimaru proved to be particularly bratty, Bakunetsumaru created the "spanking fan." He doesn't actually use it, but he threatens Genki with it several times. At the end of the series, he bequeaths it to Zero to keep Kibaomaru in check.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: This is Zero when Fake Rele gets close to Shute in order to convince him to give her the White Bagu Bagu. Coincidentally, Shute also gets this way whenever somebody other than him gets to eat HIS cake, not even Captain is allowed to have any before him.
- Creator's Culture Carryover: While the show features tons of American stereotypes, Neotopia still features lots of Japanese customs, such as Shute knowing how to make rice balls and several of the citizens having Japanese names.
- Cute Machines: The whole series is This Trope: The Anime. Even most of the bad guys are cute.
- Cyber Cyclops: The Dark Axis units have only one eye. At least the ones that aren't Gundams
- Dancing Mook Credits: The Season 2 credits were kicked off and ended by the Zako Soldiers dancing to the song playing in the credits along with nearly every other main character.
- Defeat Means Friendship: By the end of the series, Zapper Zaku, Grappler Gouf, Destroyer Dom, and even Cobramaru have defected to the Genki Energy Force. Between this trope and all the cases of Redemption Equals Death, only the major villains of the series end up dead.
- Disc-One Final Boss: We spend the entire first season under the impression that "The Commander", Sazabi, is the leader of the Dark Axis, but when he's defeated we discover that he's actually subservient to General Zeong.
- The Ditz: Sayla; the girl just ignored a pitched battle to focus on baking a cake! Although you could take her line at the end of the same episode as a sign of Obfuscating Stupidity...
- Dual Wielding: Bakunetsumaru wields a pair of twin swords, one of which is actually one of the Five Sacred Swords passed down to him from his master. Zero also ends up wielding the Twin Buster Sword when he fuses with Fenn, which can split into two separate swords.
- Egg McGuffin: The Spirit Egg, during the Mystery of Lacroa episodes, is the focus of those episodes because of its importance to the SDG and Zero.
- Elite Four: In season one, Commander Sazabi has the Four Doga Commandos acting as his personal Dragons during the Invasion of Neotopia. While Dogas Blue, Purple and Green were each destroyed by a member of the Gundam Force, Doga Grey was personally wiped out by Sazabi himself.
- In Ark, Kibaomaru has his Kibao Horde, a quartet of Musha Gundams modeled after the Four Heavenly Kings that guard his mobile fortress. Those four, however, survive their battles.
- Everything's Better with Samurai: If Bakumetsumaru wasn't enough... all of Ark is inspired by the idea of samurai.
- Everytown, America: Neotopia features a lot of American motifs from Mark's terrible country music, to everybody playing catch in the park, to even a giant ferris wheel statue of the mayor herself that resembles the Statue of Liberty! If that doesn't make it America maybe Shute knowing the existence of Ypsilanti, Michigan might.
- Exactly What I Aimed At: Zero tosses his sword while locked in a nosediving tackle with Tallgeese, causing a rock suspended overhead to crash down and leaving his enemy to be smashed into the Dark Hole after his friends pull him out of danger.
- Expy: Locations are Expies of something from a standard Gundam timeline crossed with a SD Gundam series, save for the villain locations.
- Neotopia = Earth Federation (Mobile Suit Gundam through Char's Counterattack)+Command Chronicles.
- Dark Axis = Zeon/Neo Zeon (likewise)
- Lacroa = Gundam Wing + Knight Gundam
- Ark = G Gundam + Musha Gundam
- DaScar from the PlayStation 2 game = Zanscare Empire
- Face–Heel Turn:
- Deed, Knight of the Shining Blade became Deathscythe, Knight of Darkness when he betrayed Lacroa.
- Zapper Zaku was actually a nice guy before the events of the series as told in the side story manga, however, when his friend was killed, he became the trigger happy villain we know and love to hate. This effectively gave more meaning to his attack against General Zeong.
- Face Ship: The bridges of the Magna-Musai and later the Gundamusai are Zaku and Gundam themed faces, as well as the Zako Zako Hour stage inside.
- Fastball Special: Episode 12, Captain and Bakunetsumaru. When you need to get out of an abyss and only one of you has a jetpack...
- Future Badass: The Bratty Half-Pint Genkimaru grows up to become the Dai-Shogun of Perfect Virtue.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Shute; his inventions include robot-strength superglue, a voice imitator, magnetic rollerblades with jet boosters, and a rocket-powered kite.
- Goldfish Poop Gang: Zapper's gang end up this way by season 2. In the last 26 episodes, they only menace the Gundam Force three times (and one of those times was by accident), and spend the rest of the episodes being bounced around by fate and circumstance.Bakunetsumaru: (Tiredly) Them, again?
- Good Wings, Evil Wings:
- Zero Custom has angel wings while Deathscythe has bat wings.
- While both are evil, Griffin Tallgeese has golden wings while Epyon has dark red ones.
- Bagu-Bagus have insect wings but reversed ones have the same wings as fully grown Fenn.
- Helping Hands: General Zeong's gigantic pair of hands can fly and function as a set of Attack Drones.
- Hulk Speak: DOM MAKE THEM GO BOOM!
- Incoming Ham: Mostly Musha Gundams and certain characters from Lacroa. The Dai-Shogun's is particularly epic.
- "From as far away as Ark, I sensed the energy of two mighty souls in conflict. Are you the two who seek honor in a trial by combat? Know you then who asks this question of you. It is I, Lord of Swords! The Dai-Shogun of Ark! Warrior of Perfect Virtue!"
- Instant Runes: Most spells from Lacroa will invoke these, no matter the user. Princess Rele can use hers as a flight platform, too.
- Inverse Ninja Law: The Zako Soldiers, Pawn Leos, and Zakobusshi make up the backbone of the Dark Axis, and yet they're either incredibly incompetent or incredibly weak when met with opponents nowhere close to even a twentieth of their numbers
- Invisibility Cloak: The Pawn Leos employ some sort of invisibility talismans that are not securely adhered and come off whenever they take a hit.
- Cobramaru has some sort of cloaking ability that he can use with or without his cobra hood.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Chief Haro originally tries to keep Captain away from Shute because his inter-dimensional activity could put the boy in danger. They both decide against it, the Chief after realizing Captain needs Shute to activate the Soul Drive, and the Captain when he realizes Shute is his friend.
- Impossibly Cool Weapon: It's ironic this Gundam show is always being accused of ruining the franchise given all the impressive looking and effective weapons. Just look at Zapper Zaku and Dom.
- Killed Off for Real:
- Commander Sazabi was killed when Captain Gundam shattered his Soul Drive.
- After the Gundamusai appeared in Lacroa, the combined force of the ship's cannons and Zero Custom's Infinity Winds attack destroyed Epyon permanently.
- Tallgeese, Deathscythe, Mercurius, and Vayeate perished in the Lacroa Story Arc.
- The Cobra Ninja Force do not survive their fight with Bakushinmaru. Though, since they're Musha, they must be awaiting Reincarnation like Ashuramaru.
- Gerbera/Madnug sacrificed himself to be melted to complete General Zeong, who was also killed through the efforts of all the forces including Dark Axis.
- Large Ham: Most of the villains, though even good guys like Zero and Baku get in on the ham sometimes.
- Last Episode Theme Reprise: During episode 51, the last opening song plays in the Japanese version during the final attack against the General.
- Laughably Evil: Tallgeese is delightfully hammy and at one point does a little dance and song.
- Leitmotif: Each division of the Dark Axis gets a theme that plays whenever they cause havoc.
- Lighter and Softer: In comparison to other Gundam series it is cute and tiny and funny. Then Cerebus Syndrome kicks in and it fits in better.
- Love Makes You Evil: Deed's fall from grace and adoption of the Deathscythe identity was brought about by falling in love with Princess Rele. He thought that invading her home and turning her to stone would make her return his love; Love Makes You Stupid and Love Makes You Crazy also apply here.
- Low Clearance: Happens twice; Grappler Gouf is trying to hijack a train, but is so focused on the train that he doesn't see the tunnel and hits the wall. Later on, when he and the Gundams are fighting their Traintop Battle, the same thing happens to Zero.Grappler: Hurts, doesn't it? At least I'm not the only idiot around here...
- Mid-Season Upgrade: Captain Gundam's Hyper upgrade in season 2.
- Mind Rape: The General's specialty is brainwashing people into evil by tormenting them with custom built nightmares.
- The Mole: Rare villain-on-villain version: Zako Red is strongly implied to be nothing more than a dummy body for Sazabi, as seen when Red goes inert after handing Sazabi the Soul Drive and is unceremoniously disposed of. Not to mention they have the exact same voice, and Zako Red seems to force his "Zako" tic rather than it being an actual tic
- Mooks: The Zakos, Pawn Leos, and Zakobusshi exist to defeated effortlessly by the Gundam Force and allies. Ironically, the subtrope of Mecha-Mooks is subverted. While the Zakos are nearly indistinguishable from each other and act as grunts, none of them are ever portrayed as dying onscreen, and are instead just bashed aside with no harm outside of a concussion and comically missing armor.
- More Dakka: Dom's Gallop trailer is filled with a ridiculous amount of guns that all fire at once on command. They rarely, if ever, hit something.
- My Hero, Zero: From the land of Lacroa he has come to banish evil! He is Zero, the Winged Knight!
- Mythology Gag: References to other Gundam series are practically built into the premise.
- Some are more obvious than others, for instance Gerbera's true identity as Captain Gundam's brother is based on the fact that the Gerbera Tetra was based off of the rejected Gundam GP-04 (and in fact, the Gerbera Tetra Kai IS the GP-04 with armor covering the Gundam-y parts), while Captain Gundam and his various upgrades are based on the GP-01 and GP-03.
- The Pawn Leos have a more subtle example in the form of their incredible weakness. Simply tripping breaks the spell that animates them, referencing their original counterparts' shoddy construction.
- Subverted with Gunbike being Captain's teacher instead of Command Gundam.
- Also subverted with Superior Dragon who instead of being a Gundam split into two separate Gundams is an actual dragon that is a spirit, who is the combined form of Fenn and Steel Dragon. He is also never properly seen on screen. Although, the fusions between Zero and Fenn and Deed and Steel Dragon are reminiscent of (Vassal) Knight Gundam and Satan Gundam.
- In a non-character example, the mobile castle Tenchijo is reminiscent of White Base.
- Nerves of Steel: Captain's battle with Sazabi. Though Captain gradually loses all his equipment (and even an arm) he never changes composure and always seems perfectly fine, while Sazabi gradually freaks out. A perfect example from the same fight is when Captain grabs Sazabi's beam sabers with his, albeit charged up via his Soul Drive, bare hands. Before he squeezes hard enough to destroy the beam sabers, Sazabi lampshades this:Sazabi: What!? With your bare hands!? You can't do that!Captain: Sorry Commander, but I'm afraid I must contradict you!
- Never Say "Die": Zigzagged. The English dub averts it during the Ashuramaru episodes, but then it tries to hide the fact that Cobramaru attempts seppuku after his defeat in Season 2.
- No Focus on Humans: For most of the second season, the only humans important to the story are Shute and the real Princess Rele.
- No Ontological Inertia: After General Zeong is destroyed, all of his thorns disappear.
- Non-Indicative Name: The Zako Zako Hour only runs for a few minutes.
- "Not So Different" Remark:
- Sazabi tries this on Captain near the end of their fight when it's revealed Sazabi has a Soul Drive like Captain's, only filled with darkness, culminating in asking Captain to join the Dark Axis. Captain's response?
Captain: If you want a friend, you'll have to do better than that!- Gerbera attempts the same later on, likewise being told to Shut Up, Hannibal!.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Many of the villains are very comical, but can prove themselves to be very strong. Prime example is Tallgeese, who is comically mocked by Shute when he first appears, but then right afterward curbstomps everyone.
- Obfuscating Stupidity:
- Shute's father, Mark, appears to be a laid-back guitarist with a penchant for bad hippie music, but is strongly implied to be the leader of the SDG, Chief Haro.
- It may apply to Sayla; there have been two instances of her experiencing the battles from the front seat, but she never lets on that she knows what's happening...
- Zapper claims to have been faking his happy janitor routine...when he joined the final battle.
- Oblivious to Love: Princess Rele ends up developing a crush on Shute, however, he never seems to notice it. Not even at the end of the show when Rele calls out to him, but Shute ends up leaving her in the dust.
- Official Couple: Keiko and Mark. The only husband and wife couple seen in the entire show.
- Omnicidal Maniac: The General is possibly the only villain in Gundam history who wants to wipe out the entire multiverse.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: The Zako soldiers. Put a wig and some camera gear on them and they'll pass for reporters...well, at least to Bakunetsumaru.
- Pokémon Speak:
- While most of the Zakos and Pawns just say their names as a Verbal Tic, a few of the one-scene extras only say their names.
- The Elmice only say "mouse."
- Played straight with the first Komusai, though it only talked once. The second Komusai made bizarre gibbering noises after getting a dozen control horns stuck on it.
- Power Gives You Wings:
- Zero Custom, Knight of Silver Wings, and Griffin Tallgeese.
- Captain with the power of the Superior Dragon on his side.
- The Power of Friendship: What Captain needs to activate the Soul Drive, and a major theme of the series. Of course, the power of friendship can't stop Zero from screwing with Bakumetsumaru; after all, friends tease!
- Psycho Rangers: The Dark Axis trio are generally considered opposites of the main three Gundams (Captain/Zapper, Zero/Grappler, Bakunetsumaru/Destroyer), but it isn't until episode 30 that Genkimaru becomes, temporarily, their equivalent of Shute.
- Quirky Mini Boss Squad: Zako, Grappler, and Dom are a trio of villains higher than the Zako mooks who (initially) give the Gundam Force a hard time.
- Racing the Train: Shute's first appearance, mostly to show off his rocket skates to the audience. Justified in that he's a kid who's playing around.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking:
- Chief Haro showing off his fighting ability in the final battle against General Zeong, which involves deflecting missiles with his head.
- Captain Gundam had a habit of informing the villains that he was authorized to use weapons in defense of Neotopia. This was followed by him smacking them around.
- Commander Sazabi and General Zeong are both more powerful than any Dark Axis soldier beneath them (with the general greater than the commander).
- Rebellious Princess: The Real Rele. She's a bit of a brat at first and eager to spend time with the Gundam Force, especially Shute.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Dark Axis have red eyes that peer down on the dimension they are invading.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: With the proper colors:
- Bakunetsumaru the hotheaded samurai, and Zero, the levelheaded knight. Zero has the longer fuse of the two, but he spends off time picking on Bakunetsumaru (by making flowers grow out of his swords).
- Zapper Zaku, the blustering bulky red robot, and Grappler Gouf, the smooth talking sleeker design.
- Redemption Equals Death: At first subverted with Bakunetsumaru's friend, Kujakumaru/Ashuramaru, who turns against him because he refuses to follow this trope. Later played straight when Bakunetsumaru is forced to kill him. Later still when Tallgeese sacrifices himself to free Fenn from Deathscythe's magical cage. Depending on whether you're watching the anime or reading the manga, Gerbera/Madnug at the end will either free himself from brainwashing only to be killed by his boss or sacrifice himself for his boss.
- Reincarnation: Musha Gundams never truly die. Their GunSoul remains to wait for a new life.
- Rent-a-Zilla: Musha Daishinsho is an enormous Gundam.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Fenn. One second he's all snuggly and cute, the next second he's ruining your hard culinary work or breathing fire in your face.
- Robosexual: One-sided and deconstructed; Deathscythe is madly in love with Princess Rele, but felt that as a Mechanical Lifeform, his feelings for her, a human, would never be returned or allowed. His ultimate plan is to seize the power of Lacroa's strongest Spirits and use them to become human.
- Room 101: The "Robo House," a room within the SDG base where Killer Robots are rehabilitated. It involves giving them potted plants and watching videos of the Neotopian citizens dancing around.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Princess Rele, upon being de-petrified, decides that she will not just sit on the sidelines, and uses her magic to aid the Gundam Force to great effect.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Captain came very close to saying this to Chief Haro in episode 2, when he told him he wanted to hang out with Shute. But he chickened out at the last moment.
- Secret Identity: Captain's 'civilian' mode is needed because the people of Neotopia aren't supposed to know about the war with Dark Axis. Zero and Bakunetsumaru don't have any, but the Mayor Hand Waves it by saying they're actors. They no longer need the identities after the Big Zam brings down Blanc Base, and the Gundam Force's existence is revealed. It's also strongly implied that Chief Haro is really Shute's father, Mark.
- Shot in the Ass: When looking for an exit in the Dark Hole, Bakunetsumaru takes a barrage of bullets to the bum courtesy of Captain.
- Shout-Out:
- "I love the smell of concrete in the morning."
- Zero summoned a cardboard box labeled for storing oranges in an episode where a Pawn Leo was sneaking around while invisible, only being seen when he picked it up. The box returned in the second season in an episode where Destroyer Dom and Grappler Gouf were sneaking around in cardboard boxes with holes cut out for them to see which had the same exact label and markings.
- Cobramaru's cloaking ability might be another MGS reference(as he is a snake-themed robot), though it was never explained what method he used.
- After the end of the first season, Zapper Zaku is captured by the SDG and dragged into a creepy white room for "reprogramming." Here, everything he loathes and fears is shoved in his face until he cracks and learns to love organic creatures. Of course, given what Zapper hates and fears (flowers, people getting along), this is much funnier than the original.
- Show Within a Show: The Zako Zako Hour is a short segment at the end of episodes where a trio of Zako talk about the episode. Later on, the Pawn Leos try this with the Pawn Pawn Hour in one episode, and Zakobusshi take over this role when the cast lands in Ark.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: "Cynicism"? What's that? Joking aside, the grey morality of other Gundam shows is not fully present here and characters are powered/inspired by virtues like friendship and loyalty.
- The Spock: Captain's lack of comprehension for facets of humanity others take for granted also makes him The Comically Serious. He loosens up as time goes on.
- Stable Time Loop:
- Madnug/Gerbera is the victim of one of these, depending on whether or not the SDGF thought one life was worth changing the timeline for. Then again, the vision of the future Shute saw thanks to the Superior Dragon may have been real.
- The Daishougun of Perfect Virtue helped Genkimaru get the bridge of the Gundamusai to Ark from a distance, without Genkimaru seeing him.
- Summon Magic: Tallgeese uses Lacroa magic to summon Griffon and later Zero with the Feather Dragon.
- Super Drowning Skills: In episode 16 we learn Bakunetsumaru and Zero both have no clue how to swim, in season 2 episode 37 we get the perfect example when Bakunetsumaru flails about on the ground panicking about drowning after a flood of Mmns reunited the Gundam Force in the Garden of Wisdom.
- "Super Sentai" Stance: The Gundam force does one when introducing themselves to Genkimaru. He is not impressed.
- Supporting Leader: Captain Gundam is the field leader for the Gundam Force but he is not The Protagonist. That would be Shute.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Commander Sazabi, or Grappler depending on the mission.
- Synchronized Swarming: The Bagu-Bagu do this for their attacks, even forming a giant Bagu-Bagu at times.
- Taken for Granite: The Bagu-Bagu turn organic matter to stone and Princess Rele is one of many victims. It's reversed later on.
- Teen Genius: Bell Wood and Shute are teenagers with impressive technological achievements, but Bell Wood's dimensional gate never works properly.
- Teleporters and Transporters: The Zakorello Gate and the Dimensional Gateway device count, as do a few spells from Lacroa.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Zapper, Grappler and Destroyer do not like working together. Too bad for them.
- Took a Level in Badass: Shute gets an upgraded arsenal in the second season, with a booster backpack and a glue shooter included.
- Unfortunate Names: Tallgeese, which is kind of odd considering the names the rest of the Dark Axis run around with. So much so that Shute can't resist pointing and laughing when he introduces himself. Making it worse is that his armor has what seems to be a rooster comb on the top of it...
- Upgrade vs. Prototype Fight: Captain Gundam, the GP-01, versus Professor Gerbera, the GP-04 from the not so distant future.
- Verbal Tic:
- The Zakos, zako! The Pawn Leos also seem to say 'Pawn' at times, and the Zakarello Gate usually throws in guttural 'rello's to his sentences. In fact this is often the only line he speaks in an episode.
- In Ark, the Zakobusshi say Busshi.
- Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: The Zakos and their squad leaders are a bunch of goofy, lovable losers, but their commanders are a bunch of Misanthrope Supremes whose ultimate goal is to destroy both universes.
- Wave-Motion Gun: The cannons on the Magna Musai are massive. General Zeong's main particle cannon also counts.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Even though Shute makes a dub-only joke about Michigan in one episode, the exact location of Neotopia is never actually revealed.
- World Tree: The Spirit Tree of Lacroa is so big that the royal family had its castle built around it, and the town is built on its roots. It was Taken for Granite by the Dark Axis, and the first we hear of it is when the Dark Axis is trying to revive it for some reason. In the series' second half we learn that the Tree can create Spirit Eggs that give birth to sacred spirits and Knight Gundams. This power was sealed off by the royal family so the Dark Axis couldn't use it to sacrifice Knight Gundams to the General. After the Dark Axis is defeated for good and Lacroa is un-petrified, Princess Rele undoes the seal.
- You Can't Thwart Stage One: Done at the end of each season; The villains are at the cusp of victory, only for the heroes to win at the last moment.
- The Dark Axis Invasion of Neotopia begins with the Terrible Trio trying to bring down Blanc Base, which they succeed in after a fashion. After that, they begin using their Control Horns and Bagu Bagu to attack the city, which Captain uses his Captain System to stop. However, Zako Red steals Captain's Soul Drive and gives it to the Commander, who establishes a base at Neotopia Tower and declares himself ruler of the city.
- Even though Gerbera or Madnug is defeated by Captain, he stills "wins" by sacrificing himself to revive the General. The following three episodes become a literal uphill battle as every fighter in the series tries to destroy the General before he succeeds in his goal.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
- The Commander threatens this trope on Zapper's group, ultimately deciding to stop relying on them as the first season goes on, calling for reinforcements from Dark Axis forces in Ark and Lacroa. Their very last mission results in the three of them getting trapped under Blanc Base. In the second season, Kibaomaru gets fed up with Cobramaru's failures and just discharges him, and in an inversion of this trope, refuses to let him have an honorable death.
- The first thing Tallgeese does once he gets the Epyon sword is to kill Mercurius and Vayeate to steal their powers.
