Super Prototype - Television Tropes & Idioms

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.

See also: Conservation Of Ninjitsu. Contrast with No Plans No Prototype No Backup.

Examples:

The RX-78-2 Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam, compared to the RGM-79 GM.
- The infamous Zaku II used by Char Aznable ("Three times faster than a regular Zaku") is the ur-example of the Ace Custom.
  - In fact, nearly every Mobile Suit called a "Gundam" is either a Super Prototype or, less often, an Ace Custom.
- Gundam Wing's Wing Gundam Zero is perhaps a minor subversion in that it was literally never constructed by its designers because they realized how insanely powerful it was and didn't trust anyone with that power. Naturally, each of the five designers later designed and constructed a Gundam based around the Zero's general design, making it one of the first super prototypes to be used to build MORE super prototypes.
  - The Tallgeese in Gundam Wing carries this trope to possibly it's most bizarre extreme, it's the prototype from which all other mobile suits were created, and despite being so old that Zechs Marquise actually stole it from a Museum, it can outfight hundreds of the modern, mass produced models.
  - On the other hand, the Tallgeese is TOO powerful for its time, in that the strain from piloting such an outdated mech at such high speeds gave even ace pilot Zechs a heart attack.
  - There's an argument to be made for 'it kills the pilot/no one can pilot the damn thing' being a major design flaw in any prototype.
Super Dimension Fortress Macross usually subverts this, with the production models being built up from the Prototype's capabilities.
- Ditto in Macross Frontier, where the all the custom packs does not make them all-around better, just specialized, such as Mikhail's Long-Range Pack and Luca's EW Pack. Super Packs and Armored Packs does make standard VF-25s better, but it's never so dramatically overpowered.
  - However, the trope is also played straight at the same time since the VF-25s, in and of itself are prototypes assigned to the private military contractor "SMS". The military-standard VF-171 is no match against the show's literal Giant Space Flea from Nowhere. Justified since the VF-25s are meant to be next-generation Variable Fighters while VF-171s are old upgrades.
  - Or not actually depending on who you ask the VF-25 might actually be an aversion as in the fandom there is some debate over if it actually is better then the old VF-22 and 19 given that it seems to lack a number of those crafts features such as internal missiles and energy weapons, active stealth, and a barrier system. It’s said to be faster, but given what the old 19 and 22 did (They could fly so fast it killed the pilot) it’s questionable just how much faster it could honestly be. This Tropers reaction to the VF-25 was something like “Wait they’re replacing the VF-19 with this piece of crap?!” A "super" prototype inferior to an older mass production model? This Troper says yes.
The titular mecha of Gunbuster is powerful enough to take on entire alien fleets on its own, far more capable than the grunt units that came before, and still substantially more powerful than the mass-produced Sizzlers, based on its design.
The original mecha of the Super Robot Wars games are just full of Super Prototypes and Ace Customs, far too many to mention here.
- Although it does subvert the trope; Lune Zoldark's Ace Custom Valsione is weaker than the Valsion it's a custom version of. Lune disliked the bulky and infernal appearance of the original, so redesigned it as a small, swift mecha resembling a cute girl at the expense of armor and damage, as well as lacking the special shielding that makes the original extremely difficult to damage.
  - 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 Custom can't, and can fulfill a crowd-control duty due to its Sphere Of Destruction
- A possible subversion are Alt Eisen and Weiss Ritter- they were built as Super Prototypes for the Gepsenst Mk III, but due to the finalization of the Huckebein and Lion lines, all plans to make mass-produce a new series of Gepsensts were shelved.
- Another example, although justified, were the original Gespents. When going up against the surprisingly powerful Gespent Mk. I Type-S, more than a few characters voice their shock at its power, before being told that since it was one of the prototypes, it's funding had been astronomical in comparison to the funding for the mass produced Gespensts.
The police protagonists on Patlabor had three prototype AV-98 Ingram mechs. One episode focused on the introduction of a mass-produced line of Ingrams, subverting the trope a bit in that the prototypes weren't exceptionally good so much as the mass-produced ones were exceptionally shoddy.
The prototype, test, and limited production model mecha in Neon Genesis Evangelion were far more powerful than the later mass-production models, which despite having superior equipment served only as Mecha Mooks. This could, however, be linked to the quality of their pilots (or the association Eva Soul/Pilot).
One character from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Subaru Nakajima is a self-admitted homage to Super Robot Wars. She is the prototype to the Number cyborgs, stronger than the rest of them, and apparently, so is her sister Ginga. The special moves "borrowed" from such Super Robots like Gear Fighter Dendoh, Gao Gai Gar, Combattler V and more make this homage especially apparent.
- Fate Testarossa is another Super Prototype in a way -- she was the very first successful Artificial Human created by an illegal cloning project run by the master of the Numbers, Jail Scaglietti. She bears the project's original name, and is the prototype that Jail used to create all the other Artificial Mages of the setting.
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.
Done in the Battle Tech animated series, and in the world setting for the original game as well (most notably Natasha Kerensky's mount Widowmaker, and the gauss rifle version of Yen-Lo-Wang, neither of which could be built with the normal construction rules).
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 Dominon 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.
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.
Variation: In the movie The Last Star Fighter, the ship flown by the heroes was a Super Prototype because it was a prototype of the NEWEST version.
Ram-Dass in Soukou No Strain is an illegally made mecha where the Union only condones standard issue. Because Sara saved them in it, it's explained away as a "prototype" to anyone that asks. Her brother's Gloire, on the other hand, is an Ace Custom.
- The Emily doll also turns out to have been a very early prototype Mimic... with a very cruel origin that the current Union knows nothing about.
Gurren Lagann in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is significantly more powerful than the Gulaparls created from it. Justified in that the point of Gurren Lagann is that it becomes more powerful the stronger the pilot's will is. The series also lampshades the use of this trope:
Gimi: "Anyway, aren't Gulaparls supposed to be superior to Gurren-Lagann? There's something wrong with a prototype being stronger."
The prototype of Metal Gear RAY was much stronger than the mass-produced versions, although this could be justified by the fact that the proto-RAY was piloted by a human and the mass-produced RAYs were piloted simultaneously by an AI.
Rockman / Mega Man is regularly one uped by his older "Brother" Blues / Protoman. Sometimes explained as having to do with Mega Man's originally being a lab assistant, or alternatively, Protoman's nuclear core. (which is apparently pretty dangerous, thus its not being used for Megaman)
Code Geass features several Super Prototypes, including the Lancelot, Guren Mk-II, Gekka, and Gawain. The trope is carried to completion in the Oddly Named Sequel, which introduces mass production versions of the Lancelot (Vincent) and Gekka (Akatsuki).
- ...Not to mention even more ludicrously overpowered Super Prototypes all around, one after the other. About halfway through it, everyone who's someone has got their own Redshirt Army slaughterer.
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!)
Interestingly, Mazinger Z has this despite being the archetypical Super Robot series. The manga introduced the Mazinger Army, a trio of weaker robots each designed to wield one of Mazinger's distinctive weapons. All three made minor appearances in the Mazinkaiser movie, and all three were destroyed, with only Million Alpha putting up any kind of a fight.
- Averted in the Mazinkaiser manga, though. The Mazinger Army saves Kouji's ass big-time, display tremendous competence in battle against the enemy robots and work together to compensate for using weaker units, and all the pilots survive.
  - Although Mazinkaiser itself is actually an example too, being the first robot Kouji's grandfather made before deeming it too powerful, and building Mazinger Z instead.
For a show filled with Lolicon, Sky Girls also features this: The three original Sonic Divers are prototypes, and they do their job well. Subverted in the fact that the mass production model can do just as well, but the WORM attacks the production assembly plant, making the only one model that was completed a Super Prototype in its own way.
- Also used straight when the Vic Vipers make their debut, it is marketed as cheap, much better and more heavily-armed alternative to the Sonic Divers that the titular characters use, and hence, is mass-produced. Not only it really is underperfoming in comparison, the best thing it can do is act as support rather than replacement. It actually even gets beaten by an old, conventional fighter piloted by the show's The Ace in the end, and it's a two-against-one battle.
  - To be fair, its debut was against a regenerating Monster Of The Week, in which even the titular team had a lot of problem. They did manage to help with that, but later, they essentially became nothing more than a Redshirt Army to provide distraction during the final battle...
Super Robot Wars - Elzam is the ultimate Ace Custom pilot. He seems to simply refuse flying in anything that isn't customized to him, painted red and black, and named "Trombe" after his horse. He has a succession of various units ("Huckebein Trombe", for instance) until eventually getting his own Super Prototype: The Aussenseiter, built for him, painted red and black, and which transforms into a horse.
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◊.
- 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.
Subverted in Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, in which, because it was a demonstration model, the prototype of the 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...
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.
Metal Armor Dragonar plays with this a bit. The beginning of the series shows the Dragonars as a set of stolen Super Prototype units, but their pilots are inexperienced, and the Ace Custom units just trounce them often. After a while, the Dragonars are used as the template for a new Mass Production model that has specs stronger then any of the Dragonar units. However, after Professor Plato's Xanatos Gambit guides the heroes back to the military, the Dragonars are upgraded into Ace Custom Super Prototypes... So Yeah.
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.
Pretty much the only mechs that accomplish anything important in Eureka Seven are Super Prototypes, with the two Nirvash (which are actually alive) units being the most prominent. There's also Holland's late-series mount, the TB-303 Devilfish, which is ridiculously powerful and has enough firepower to wipe out multiple capital ships, but requires the pilot to take life-threatening drugs to operate it... Aside from those, the rest of the powerful LFO's are all Ace Customs. Anything with "KLF" or "Mon-Soono" in its name is utter cannon fodder.

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