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alt title(s): Ace Custom Whenever The Federation deploys a new Humongous Mecha, they usually begin with a prototype to test out the technologies involved before approving it for mass production. This prototype is usually at least an order of magnitude more powerful than the mass-produced versions will ever hope to be. Aside from a more distinctive appearance, it usually has more weapons, heavier armor, and more powerful thrusters than its more numerous cousins.
This trope, found mostly in Real Robot series, seems to have its roots in the Super Robot genre from which it split. The prototype is usually the mecha piloted by the hero of the story, and so tends to stand out, particularly in combat. The mass-produced mecha, on the other hand, are typically put in the hands of the Redshirt Army, and as such give a much lesser showing on-screen. In a few series, the Super Prototype will virtually be a full-fledged Super Robot.
A similar phenomenon is the Ace Custom, a mass-produced or prototype mecha customized or re-designed for the use of an Ace Pilot, taken from the customized paint jobs of planes used by Ace pilots of World War I. These are often essentially Super Prototypes, with the only difference being that it was made after the mass-produced mecha. In additon to a personalized paint job, an Ace Custom may have a tweaked engine, extra sensors, or a distinctive weapon, all keyed to the individual fighting style of its pilot.
A question that often comes up is why the Super Prototype is so, well, super compared to the production model. The typical reason given is that the production model is far cheaper or easier to make in large numbers, as a result of or resulting in budget cuts. The designers may have put in some stuff they decided wasn't feasible, possibly for the express purpose of impressing the approval committee. Sometimes, the technology that makes the mecha so much more powerful is Black Box tech (although one wonders why a prototype of a future possible line of mecha would include tech the mass-produced versions would never be capable of including), and thus not easily replicated (if at all), or may not be as useful for normal human pilots. But mostly, it just helps the hero stand out more.
This can sometimes seem like Truth In Television, given that military prototypes will often post impressive test results that will never be replicated by production models. This happens simply because the point of a prototype is to test the limits. Anyone actually trying to use the thing will never approach the limits to avoid having to get an overhaul after every usage, or to avoid getting themselves killed by exceeding the limits. There is some overlap with the idea of an experimental model, which has great abilities but was never intended to enter production. Military test pilots refer to this as "pushing the envelope" - the upper edge is height, the left edge is speed. Visualize this as the kind of envelope you mail somebody and you realize that particular area is where the postage gets canceled.
In some cases, like what happened in the Soviet Union from time to time, the difference will be in the quality of production. The prototype will be handcrafted with top-of-the-line materials and much attention put into perfection. The mass production models will be churned out as fast as possible with shoddy materials by under-skilled factory workers, leading to a drop in quality.
Also, series may use this because The Hero does, after all, have to Travel Cool.
See also: Conservation Of Ninjitsu. Contrast with No Plans No Prototype No Backup. May result in Explosive Overclocking or Tim Taylor Technology.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
Comic Books
- A non-mecha example, this happens when any villain tries to replicate a Super Serum. The first villain to try it is bigger, stronger, faster than the original, but the original never pushes it to the limits because of the idiocy-inducing effects of an overdose, or the subject becoming completely musclebound or even exploding. On the rare occasions that the villains continue to use the super serum on Mooks, they will have much smaller doses and usually be sent in groups.
Film
- Variation: In the movie The Last Starfighter, the ship flown by the heroes was a Super Prototype because it was a prototype of the NEWEST version.
- In Star Wars, Darth Vader's TIE fighter was a custom model with a distinct appearance.
- Arguably justified, since Vader is an exceptional pilot, a genius mechanic, a cyborg and the second-ranking person in the Empire to boot.
- The various Star Wars space sims featured prototype craft: X-Wing featured the Rebel B-Wing and the Imperial Assault Gunboat; TIE Fighter featured a whole host of prototype TIEs being developed by Zaarin's R&D group as well as new introductions to the Imperial Navy fleet. The player is often tasked with protecting, escorting, and eventually flying prototype fighters as part of their missions. The TIE Defender in particular (infamous as the Game Breaker of TIE Fighter) would eventually see production, but its limited numbers, both due to its cost and its figurative flying in the face of standard doctrine, were too few to turn the tide of the Galactic Civil War.
- Subverted in Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, in which, because it was a demonstration model, the prototype of the Yuuzhan Vong Hunter (YVH) droids is much less effective—because it's armed with powered-down weapons. Armed with proper guns, they become outright badass—so much so that a couple can reliably threaten a Jedi in later novels...
- Their effectiveness in their intended role was not so much that as in their use: announcing themselves as machines superior to the rabidly anti-technology Yuuzhan Vong, causing its targets to raaaaaaage.
- The fact that they all talk like Lando Calrissian, their creator in the Yuuzhan Vong language helps.
- In the Rogue Squadron game series, craft from the prequels - which should be decades out of date in-story - are among the most potent weaponry available.
- Not necessarily. TIE Fighters were built to be cheap and expendable, while the Rebel Alliance didn't have the resources of the Old Republic. The starfighters used by the Clones towards the end of the war likely were superior to the TIEs and X-Wing/Y-Wings. And the Jedi fighters, of course, are by definition Ace Customs.
- You neglect the Naboo Starfighter, which packs the fastest speed and some of the most destructive cluster missiles of the game. Not to mention the flying Buick, which is arguably the most out-of-date (although the games do take place a long time ago).
- It doesn't really help matters that the Empire was carrying out a clampdown on technology the whole time.
- Galactic Battlegrounds features a level in which Colonel Veers is road-testing an experimental walker named the AT-AT. (Yes, those big mean ones on Hoth). The early version is, if this troper remembers correctly, a hero unit when Veers takes control, permitting it to regenerate health.
- Variation: In the film version of Iron Man, Stane's Ironmonger armor is derived from the prototype (which TONY STARK BUILT IN A CAVE! WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!), rather than the more advanced versions later in the film.
- The comic book version of Iron Man both subverts this trope and plays it straight. The subversion comes from Stark constantly producing improved models after the original prototype. The straight examples come from any even vaguely mass-produced derivatives, like the Guardsman armors, which are never on par with Iron Man's own gear. Of course, readers probably wouldn't want a bunch of glorified prison guards to be as powerful as the superhero.
- And, in fact, it's explained that Iron Man himself doesn't want a bunch of glorified prison guards to be as powerful as he is. He deliberately withholds the best tech for himself and even goes so far as to build in exploitable weaknesses in case the armors are ever used against him.
Literature
- In Joel Shepherd's Cassandra Kresnov trilogy, the title character is a prototype of a new and improved version of the "GIs" used as soldiers in interstellar combat. The main improvement is in her intelligence rather than her physical capabilities. She is creative and capable of lateral thought, making her more flexible and independent than lower level G Is who mostly serve as grunts that follow orders.
Live Action TV
- The Cool Ship equivalent is the USS Defiant in Star Trek Deep Space Nine. In its debut, it took a dozen Jem'hadar attack ships (just three of which had shown themselves capable of easily destroying the previous most powerful ship in Starfleet) to disable the Defiant, and that was after it was heavily damaged in an ambush. Not to mention, they hadn't even worked all the bugs out of the design yet; in later appearances it was even more formidable. Starfleet eventually does make others which are apparently just as powerful (including a replacement for the original when the Dominion finally manages to destroy it), but it takes a while to get them into production.
- The explanation given was that the Defiant was designed to fight a very specific enemy, and had severe design flaws to boot (such as the fact that it would literally rip itself apart if the engines were used at full power!). When the threat from that enemy seemed to recede, Starfleet (being only Mildly Military) decided they had little need for a single-purpose warship, so even after the flaws were ironed out they didn't build any more. Until a huge quadrant-wide war broke, and Starfleet basically needed nothing but dedicated warships.
- Also fully justified in that the Defiant was Starfleet's first dedicated warship in recent memory-not even tailored to fight a single threat, it was the first Starfleet vessel designed and built expressly for combat, rather than the science vessel/warship hyrbids that most Starfleet ships are, and as such has little purpose when the Federation is not at war. However, the Prometheus class may or may not indicate that Starfleet is reconsidering this position-the Prometheus's full capabilities are unknown, but it is a tremendously powerful warship.
- A subversion of this appears in the SNES game Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, where one of the simulator missions involves a battle against a stolen prototype Excelsior-class ship. Of course, you end up being able to use one...
- Western subversion: Knight Rider: In "Trust Doesn't Rust", KARR takes KITT for an "inferior production-line model" and assumes himself to be a Super Prototype. He turns out not to have any apparent technological advantage over KITT (of course, KITT is hardly "production-line"), aside from a slightly improved speech module (In the next episode, KITT's is replaced by one similar to KARR's).
- Though surprisingly, when KARR reappears in the third season, while still not more advanced than KITT, he does possess a number of features which KITT had only gained during the second season.
Oral Tradition
- It's not just for mecha, either: in mythology the first member of a given species is almost always far more powerful (and, usually, larger) than its lesser cousins.
- Especially true for vampires - the earlier the generation, the more powerful they are, in seemingly every piece of vampire-related fiction this troper has ever seen.
Tabletop Games
- Done in the Battle Tech animated series, and in the world setting for the original game as well. Many "ace" Mechwarriors have unique mech variants, such as Justin Allard/Kai Allard-Liao's Yen-Lo-Wang Centurion or Natasha Kerensky's "Widowmaker" Diashi. Ironically, Kerensky, possibly the most badarse Mechwarrior of all time, became most famous while piloting an entirely stock mech that she took from battlefield salvage.
- OmniMechs, with swappable hardpoints, were pretty much specifically invented to allow players to build their own Ace Customs as well as give particular pilots mechs that can only be described as Ace Customs among Ace Customs.
- Prototype Battlemechs are almost invariably less powerful then the production models. The earliest prottypes were built on "primative" technology that made them slower, more vunerable and far less effiecient.
Video Games
- The Original Generation mecha of Super Robot Wars is overloaded with Super Prototypes and Ace Customs, there's far too many to mention.
- Although it does subvert the trope: Lune Zoldark's Ace Custom "Valsione" is weaker than the "Valsion" because it's a custom version of it. Lune disliked the bulky and infernal appearance of the original, so father Bian Zoldark redesigned it as a small, swift mecha resembling a cute girl at the expense of armor, as well as lacking the defensive capabilities the Valsion had that made it extremely difficult to hit.
- That being said, Lune's Valsione is much more nimble and harder to hit. It also can be equipped with additional weaponry, something the Valsion can't, and can fulfill a crowd-control duty due to its Sphere Of Destruction.
- A possible subversion are the "Alt Eisen" and "Weiss Ritter". The Alt was built as a Super Prototype for a proposed Gespenst MK III line and the Weiss an Ace Custom for the mass-produced Gespenst MK II, but due to both being cost-ineffective and the finalization of the Huckebein and Lion lines by The Federation, all plans to mass-produce either were scrapped.
- However, this is played straight by the second Super Robot Wars Original Generation, wherein the Alt and Weiss receive upgrades that far outclass the Huckebein and Lion mass-produced lines combined; moreso on the Weiss' upgrade, it being tinkered by a Cosmic Horror.
- Another example, although justified, are the original Gespents. When going up against the surprisingly powerful "Gespenst Type-S", more than a few characters voice their shock at its power, before being told since it's one of the prototypes, its funding had been astronomical in comparison to the funding for the mass produced Gespensts.
- Plus it's mentioned the Gespenst Type-S they are facing isn't actually the original: it's a more powerful recreation by the Aerogaters.
- The "R-Blade" is completely averted: it's inferior to the equivalent of its production model "R-Eins".
- In a rather bizarre case, Ouka Nagisa is a Super Prototype, having much better stats than the rest of The School children, despite being an "older model", although this may be the case because she is a Recurring Boss character.
- Played with in Super Robot Wars Original Generation Gaiden: Mai Kobayashi wonders whether, since in all the robot anime Ascended Fanboy Ryusei Date has shown her, the prototypes are always the strongest, if the "SRX" will become weaker coming out of its research phase; Or So I Heard, anyways, thanks to No Export For Me.
- In the Metal Gear Solid series, the prototype Metal Gear RAY is of far superior quality to the mass-produced models later encountered by Raiden as a boss battle; then again it may have been actually designed for its supposed purpose (to defeat REX derivatives) whereas the mass-produced versions were actually tactical defense units for Arsenal Gear.
- Despite this, that RAY is defeated by the damaged, unmaintained, and radome-less original Metal Gear REX after Otacon uploaded a program allowing REX to fight as agilely as RAY, despite Snake having shot it with missiles aplenty nine years before.
- It has been suggested that the RAY fought in MGS 4 is a production model retrofitted to accommodate a human pilot, due to significant differences between the model seen in MGS 2, such as a lack of tail, and weapons similar to the the production models. In addition, as revealed at the end of the game, Liquid Ocelot wanted Snake to win, which implies that he wasn't trying to defeat Snake...
- Rockman / Mega Man is regularly one-upped by his older "Brother" Blues / Protoman. Sometimes explained as having to do with Mega Man originally being a lab assistant, or alternatively, Protoman's nuclear core (which is apparently pretty dangerous, thus its not being used for Mega Man).
- Not to mention, of course, that Mega Man regularly wipes the floor with armies of robot masters presumably based off his own design, made by one of the same two creators. And it's even worse with X, where a robot built at least 60 years before the start of the series and presumably upgraded only by parts which were also built decades before it starts does the same thing with futuristic robots with AI based off his own. Then Zero is presumably a hundred years out of date by the time his series starts...
- Of course, this one's justified in the backstory as Dr.s Light and Wily being just that good. Reploids, of which X was only a figurative prototype, were really little more than crappy knock-offs created by Dr Cain's rather poor attempt to replicate the vastly superior X. It took a very long time just to fix the bugs in the reploids, before they could even begin improving them, and the line only finally and completely shakes the horrible flaws from being bad copies after Mega Man Zero. Indeed, it might even be argued that X is an aversion, being as he wasn't a prototype, he was the pinnacle of the Mega Man line's development—Mega Man was the prototype, and X averts this trope by surpassing Mega Man by orders of magnitude.
- Protoman does it through Genre Savvy. He pulls Fake Defections left and right, sees Wily's tricks a mile off, and last but not least whistles his own Leitmotif before entering any battle, guaranteeing a Theme Music Power Up.
- Varied with Axl and the New Generation Reploids in the X series: Axl can easily beat his mass-produced brethren in combat, but that's not what they're made for. Their main feature is the ability to copy the forms of other Reploids. Axl is demonstrably inferior in this regard.
- Early in Star Fox Assault, the player is attacked by a powerful enemy, referred to only as "some kind of prototype." The same enemy reappears in the last level, more powerful than ever. (You'd think the Aparoids could have mass-produced it by now!)
- The Delphinus from Skies Of Arcadia is a possible non-mecha example, but it's not entirely clear whether the weaker mass-produced equivalent (the Spectre-class battleships) are scaled-back mass production versions or the immediate predecessors of the Delphinus. The Delphinus's unique status, though, is explained by the fact that its construction had been completed mere days before its introduction, and it was intended to be Prince Enrique's flagship. It's entirely possible that the Valuans intended to build more like it, but constructing a battleship tends to be a rather time-consuming endeavor (while viewers might accept the idea of a giant robot being built in a month or less, 600 foot long battleship takes years; it's unlikely that a flying battleship would be any quicker to build).
- Far less ambiguous is the game's non-mecha example of Ace Custom units: all but one of the Valuan admirals have heavily customized versions of the Serpent-class battleship, which in its non-custom form is the standard mook airship. Some of them have purely cosmetic alterations, while others have unique weapons and armor to suit the combat styles and personalities of the admirals. The latter type are the ones that the player actually gets to fight, naturally.
- The fictional planes of Ace Combat occasionally fall under this trope, particularly the X-02 Wyvern "Switchblade" of Ace Combat 04 (and which can be unlocked in both 5 and Zero) and the ADFX-01 "Morgan" of Ace Combat Zero.
- The ADFX-01 "Morgan" is the prototype of the ADFX-02 "Griffon", also available in Ace Combat 5 and Zero. Although the Morgan is amazingly capable (inferior only to the Wyvern and the Griffon in terms of sheer performance), the Griffon is superior in every way, including better manueverability, armor, speed, cockpit layout, and weaponry loads, thus making the Morgan a subversion of the trope.
- Also subverted by the ADF-01 Falken. The canonically first copy, the "Falken ZOE" from 2, lacks the iconic laser of the variants in later games. However, played straight if you factor in the Falken variant from Zero, which has more special weapons options than the one that appears in 5.
- You also have Ace Customs after a fashion, as a far bit of the Hundred Percent Completion in post-Electrosphere games comes from getting enemy aces' paint schemes.
- Inverted in the Halo series, where the ancient, one-of-a-kind Arbiter armor is actually less powerful than the newer, mass-produced Elite armor suits. Specifically, the cloaking device only lasts for several seconds, instead of nearly indefinitely, and also is disrupted by weapons fire. Also played straight in the Expanded Universe, where the more widely-produced armour given to the Spartan-IIIs lacks the Deflector Shields of the Spartan-II MJOLNIR armour. In said novel, Ghosts of Onyx, the Spartan-II programme is explicitly called a proof of concept by the man proposing the Spartan-III programme, which he compares to mass production.
- Of course the Spartan-II Is weren't being used a Super Solders, they were being used as cheap disposable shock troops.
- The Edelweiss in Valkyria Chronicles, made by Isara's father for Welkin's father for the previous war. It was found to be an incredible tank, but it was too expensive for any kind of mass production.
- It's also mentioned that the basic Edelweiss was really good, but that it was then customized out the wazoo, making it even better. That being said, it still has a hard time going up against enemy Medium or Heavy tanks without even more modifications in-game.
- Bio Shock 2's protagonist isn't just a Big Daddy - he's the first Big Daddy; unlike the production models, he's nimble and has plasmid powers.
- Subverted in Cave Story. About a third of the way through the professor appears and gives you a prototype jetpack, with very limited functionality. The game doesn't make the following obvious at all, but it's possible to avoid the encounter altogether and keep playing without the jetpack (made much easier if the player has the machinegun weapon, whose ridiculously strong recoil enables the player character to kinda-sorta fly). When you meet the professor again he'll give you the full-blown version of the jetpack, which is far more useful. Note that if you get the prototype you're stuck with that for the rest of the game - the professor never gives you the final version.
- Subverted in the first Riddick game. Assault rifles in the game require your DNA to be entered into a database before you can use them. While you manage to accomplish this, you eventually get captured and your DNA access is revoked. When you come across a prototype assault rifle (without DNA encoding) later in the game, you assume that it must be better than the earlier assault rifles, right? Actually, the prototype has a broken ammo counter and half of the old assault rifle's clip size. Still a good weapon, but the mass-produced variant is much better.
- Getting technical, any of the titular mecha from Armored Core are Ace Customs. Each one is a specially built engine of destruction that accommodates the pilot's fighting style and can wield an astounding array of weaponry. Also, when Armored Core 4 appeared, mass production models of Cores appeared as mooks— Normals. The newer NEXTS now being the weapon of choice for Ravens, err Lynx.
- The Armored Core series also has a subversion: AC technology was developed from MT (Muscle Tracer) technology, which serves as the mooks of the first three games and their spin-offs. M Ts, however, are usually custom-designed for specific purposes, such as construction, long-range bombardment, or close combat. The A Cs superiority isn't from their improvement over the basic design, but from their adaptability and weapon load. The NEX Ts, on the other hand, ARE technologically superior: Lynx pilots actually form a semi-psychic bond to the mech, allowing even better control than MT technology. Plus, you know, shields...
- In Sonic Adventure 2, we're introduced to two "ultimate life-forms" created as part of Project Shadow: The final product; a hedgehog similar to Sonic, albeit with jetboots, Chaos Control, and a supposed infinite lifespan, and the prototype; a gigantic dinosaur that projects a forcefield around itself, spits energy balls, and also possesses Chaos Control. While Shadow is certainly very strong, smart, and fast, the Biolizard could be considered practically invincible. However, the Biolizard proved imperfect, and was reduced to being connected to an enormous life-support system just to keep surviving, which explains why it's not the final product.
- The first super soldier you defeat in Return to Castle Wolfenstein can take far more punishment than the ones you meet later in the game, as well as being armed with a tesla gun rather than the Venoms of his mass-produced cousins.
- Subverted by Zone Of The Enders, where the prototype Orbital Frame Idolo seems to be rather less powerful than later high grade frames like Jehuty and Dolores. But then both Anubis and Jehuty (later, at least) have sole possession of the Zero Shift Flash Step, which none of the mass-prod mook Frames have.
- Vivi, like all Black Mages in Final Fantasy IX, is an animated doll. However, as the prototype model, his power is greater than that of his "brothers", and his lifespan is much longer, as well.
- A Continuity Nod in Thunder Force series. The mass production model of Styx in III appear as NPC in IV; The Rynex in IV has its production model appear in VI and also serve as prototype of Gauntlet in V. It take Mid Season Upgrade the Gauntlet into Ace Custom Vambrace and Mecha Expansion Pack Brigandine module that Earth's fighter can fight the Rynex. It's justified since Gauntlet is Earthling's replica, built with alien technology they aren't fully understand.
- In Prototype, you are the Super Prototype. And you're also psychotic.
Webcomics
- In Gunnerkrigg Court, the first robot of the S series, S1, looks much better than the more recent ones. And it has actual hands, rather than the simple claws of the later S models. The explanation given is that the original designer is no longer around and no one maintains the robots in the Court, so when they start to break down they have to create new bodies for themselves on their own with their limited knowledge.
Western Animation
- The e-frames given to Able Squad in Exo Squad were all modified versions of the usual models, testing new features which inevitably turn the tide in the first battle they are used in.
Real Life
- Truth In Television: up till quite recently, most prototypes of new fighter aircraft were painted in bright colours not too dissimilar from those found on the title mecha of a Humongous Mecha series. Example here
 ◊.
- You got it reversed; the mecha series took the colors from Real Life, which were in turn developed to be intentionally highly visible (it kinda helps to see what the prototype is doing before you mass-produce it)
- On the other hand, such prototypes were almost always less capable than the finished product that went into mass production.
- On the other other hand, this troper remembers reading somewhere that A-12, the prototype of the famous supersonic SR-71 Blackbird, was actually faster than the SR-71.
- According to Wikipedia, which has unreliable mph and km/h speeds listed, the A-12 did in fact reach Mach 3.35 in its limited run while the SR-71 has a listed speed of Mach 3.2—though potentially higher. Various sources ambiguously list the A-12 as the fastest airplane in the world, while others will grant this position to the SR-71.
- The A-12 was actually a secret CIA version that was mass-produced (at least as mass-produced as the SR-71 was). Though it did come first, you could think of it as being both a Super Prototype and an Ace Custom - it had some features and capabilities the later SR-71 didn't have, and it was highly customized for the CIA.
- Another good example of a prototype colour scheme here◊. The vehicle depicted would indeed have been far less capable than the production version, if the production version had ever flown...
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