Mazinger Z provides examples of the following tropes:
A Head At Each End: Several Mykene War Beasts had a head at each end (an occurrence happened more often than you would think since ALL Mykene War Beasts had several heads: one of them was the Humongous Mecha's head and the other -or others- belonging to the human warrior fused with the mecha). This trope was used for first time in the Mazinger universe in the Mazinger Z vs Great General of Darkness feature.
A bigger example is Kenzo Kabuto. He almost died cause a laboratory experiment gone wrong, but his father saved his life. However both of them thought it would be better not telling Kouji and Shiro — Kenzo's sons — he had survived. For YEARS Kouji and Shiro grew up mostly alone, thinking their father died alongside their mother while he was building a Humongous Mecha to defend humankind. When Kenzo revealed the truth to them, Kouji was too glad to hold a grudge, but Shiro took a long while until before he could forgive him. Also, Kenzo had no troubles slapping his adoptive son when he thought Tetsuya was crossing the line. All of it finally bit everyone's butts at the end of the series.
Justified, considering what happened in the series, its rather understandable why he didn't reveal himself to be alive, since he took care of Tetsuya and Jun. How he treated Tetsuya on the other hand, is a good example. During one the first chapter of the manga, he ordered Tetsuya to throw his doubt and attack the enemy who hold Jun hostage(which is not only his love interest, shes technically his family). Sure, Tetsuya is a trained soldier, but the way that Tetsuya reacts shows how much of a Sadistic Choice it really is.
Another Mazinger Z character who suffered due to Abusive Parents was... Big Bad Dr. Hell himself. Like it was seen in the manga continuity penned by Gosaku Ota (that gave a backstory to most of the villains), since he was a child his mother abused him physically and emotionally (insulting him, stating openly she did not want getting kids and she would be better off if he would have never been born...) as his father shrugged off indifferently. The physical and psychological mistreatment he suffered back then is one of the reasons he decided Humans Are Bastards and he became so unhinged.
A Glass of Chianti: Dr. Hell and his lackeys are sometimes seen drinking fine wine.
Ace Pilot: In the trilogy, Kouji -like Duke Fleed- had to grow into the role. In the first chapters it was painfully obvious than he had no idea of how piloting a war vehicle. And the consequences of it were just so painful to him. Nevertheless, through training and battles he became a true ace. In contrast, Tetsuya Tsurugi not only was trained into it before the series but also he is the Trope Codifier -and Deconstruction- by Hot BloodedAce Pilot in Humongous Mecha anime.
Accidental Pervert: It happened several times, not only to Kouji but also to Sayaka. One example of it was original manga's episode 8 when they saw each other naked in the hot springs. Curiously there was not slapping or reproaching. After the initials screams they calmed down and apologized at each other. It was even cute.
And in the Mazinger vs Great General of Darkness movie, Kouji accidentally walked in Sayaka when she was having a shower in one of the first scenes. This time he was slapped.
Action Girl: Sayaka was among the first action-geared ladies in Japanese anime
Achilles in His Tent: Kouji did this — out of all people! — in episode 7. After mobs of people expressed their displeasure in having his hometown leveled by a Humongous Mecha battle by harassing him and after a quarrel with Sayaka, Kouji decided since nobody wanted him fighting, he would stay in home. Of course, it did not last long.
Adults Are Useless: The series plays with the trope, but subverts it. The weapon most powerful in the world is handed over to a teenager, and Dr. Hell and his servants (who are all adults) are unable defeat a bunch of teenagers... but neither Kouji nor Sayaka nor Shiro — nor Boss and his gang — would have been capable of protecting humankind and defeat Dr. Hell if they would not been supported by plenty of adults. All workers in the Institute (starting with Prof. Yumi, who was a good scientist and strategist) were fully competent and without them Mazinger Z would have not got the frequent upgrades, repairs and maintainance it needed.
Advanced Ancient Acropolis: The Mykene inhabited the Greek island of Bardos. Their technologic level was miles ahead of any other culture of the same time, and the rest of the world would need millennia to catch up. However, one earthquake shook their island and destroyed their cities, and they were forced to seek shelter underground. They founded another civilization Beneath the Earth, but on the surface the only remainder left of their presence were abandoned, decaying ruins, and old legends about the Humongous Mecha they used to defend their land.
Air Jousting: Dr. Hell started sending flying Beasts after Kouji and Mazinger-Z as soon as the episode 19. Mazinger got a Mid-Season Upgrade to grant him flight capabilities in episode 34, and in that same episode Kouji got his first aerial battle (Against Genocyder F9). Since that moment and through the whole series he had many climatic aerial duels against flying enemies like Kirma K5 (who used hit-and-fly-off tactics) or Jeiser J1 (that could easily blast Mazinger away, was impervious to his weapons and forget Kouji to chase it across the sky in spite of Mazinger was nearly out of power and the cockpit was smoking).
Airborne Aircraft Carrier: Ghoul, a flying fortress commanded by Count Brocken. It had capability for housing a large number of Brocken's Iron Cross troops, dozens of combat jets and Mechanical Beasts, and it could mask itself from radar devices, fly at high altitude and spend several months airborne without needing landing.
All Myths Are True: Dr. Hell joined an archaelogical expedition to the Greek island of Bardos, thinking maybe several ancient legends that told the island was defended by an army of mechanical giants were true. Unfortunately for everybody else, he was right. Classical Mythology plays an increasingly important role in each retelling of the series, until the point of Greek gods start showing up and Great MazingerBig Bad is revealed to be Hades in Shin Mazinger.
All There in the Manual: Many supplementary materials (such like the Mazinbible book) have been released, providing with additional information and backstory about the series and the worlds where they happen, their characters, blueprints of mechas and bases...
Almost Kiss: Kouji and Sayaka do this in the Mazinger-Z vs Great General of Darkness, right when Kouji is going to sortie with Mazinger-Z to fight a battle he knows he can not win, and thinking he'll die. Sayaka stops him to give him his little brother's birthday gift, and both stare into each other's eyes for a long while... and then Kouji turns around and leaves. Cue millions of fans groaning in exhasperation. In the manga version of that moment, though, they DO kiss.
Alternate Continuity: There are several manga versions. The original one was written and drawn by Go Nagai. A second version was drawn by Gosaku Ota — one of his assistants — that ran parallel to the anime series and was heavily influenced by it (That version was made when Sueisha realized two Mazinger Z mangas would make more profit that one). Gosaku Ota's manga showed the backstory of the Dr. Hell and his undelings. Other versions are: New Mazinger, Mazin Saga, Mazinger Angels, Shin Mazinger, Shin Mazinger Zero, diferent one-shots and short stories — one of them made by Ishikawa)... And then you have the different anime versions...
In Great Mazinger, the final battle is won when Mazinger, Great Mazinger, Aphrodite A and Venus A combine their strongest attacks to bring Cool Airship Demonika down.
In UFO Robo Grendizer, Mazinger-Z, Great Mazinger and Grendizer combined all of their attacks in one manga scene to destroy a Vegan starship. And in one of the movies, Grendizer and Great Mazinger combined their Chest Blaster attacks to destroy a Saucer Beast.
In the first episode of Mazinkaiser, Mazinger-Z and Great Mazinger used their Chest Blaster weapons in combination to melt a Mechanical Beast to slag.
Great Mazinger and Getter Robo have also combined their attacks in several movies.
The Super Robot Wars games have exploited this. When several of the Go Nagai mechas show up in the same game, they are given combination attacks. It is usually called Final Dynamic Special, and it is always impressive: [1].
Ancestral Weapon: Kouji probably counts, if you count his grandpa's and his dad'sgiant robot as an ancestral weapon.
And The Rest: It happened constantly. Often the villains told a sentence along the lines of "Go ahead! Finish with Mazinger-Z... and the other two robots!". The other two robots being Aphrodite-A (or Diana-A) and Boss Borot. Needless to say, it was intended to be demeaning.
And This Is for...: In the manga, as they are making preparations for the Final Battle, Kouji tells -of course, loudly- that, for his poor murdered granddad, for all people has been hurt, and for the peace of Japan... THIS TIME HE'LL DESTROY DR. HELL FOR GOOD!
And in the second chapter of Shin Mazinger Zero she falteringly uttered she loved Kouji shortly before dying.
Animal Mecha: Several Mechanical Beasts resembled animals (insects, crabs, birds, whales, seahorses...), specially the Beasts commanded by Gorgon, which looked like mythological creatures (dragons, harpies...).
Applied Phlebotinum: Koushi Ryoku (Photon Atomic) energy is what Mazinger-Z is powered with. When it runs out, Mazinger ceases functioning. It was discovered by Dr. Kabuto (ironically, in the Gosaku Ota episodes, it was stated he was already investigating it back in college, and one of his classmates helped him by correcting his calculations. Name of that classmate? Hell). It is repeatedly stated and shown in the series Photon energy must be used in conjuction with a body made from Japanium, or the Humongous Mecha is less effective: either the weapons are too powerful and overload the computer and damage the armor, or the robot is sturdy but its weapons are weak.
Phlebotinum Battery: Mazinger Z runs on an engine powered by Photon Atomic energy. When it runs out of Photon energy, it ceases functioning and it has to be replenished to work again. Great Mazinger and Mazinkaiser also work with a Photon engine. Grendizer works with the same principle but with a completly different energy source.
Arc Words: "When you pilot Mazinger, you can become a god or a devil."
Arm Cannon: Besides shooting its fists, Mazinger Z hid a cannon in each upper arm shot drilling missiles. Several Mechanical Beasts had cannons (or even machine guns like Balkan P5) instead of limbs. A stands out example is Debira X1 (a beast seemed a blend between bat and vampire) had a hidden leg cannon (and blew one of Mazinger's arms off with it).
Armed Legs: Mazinger-Z had one rocket on each foot to propel it underwater, but Kouji also used them to fight. Usually he blast with them a ¨Mechanical Beast's face to force it to release Mazinger.
Asskicking Pose: Mazinger-Z's asskicking pose was pretty simple: upon activation, the robot flexed its arms over its head. Most likely it is a Shout Out to Gigantor, which did the same thing. Great Mazinger and UFO Robo Grendizer, on the other hand, did not have one.
Attack! Attack! Attack!: Kouji falls into this sometimes, when he is facing a Mechanical Beast several times stronger than Mazinger and still he refuses retiring or playing defensive. However, he still is able to think strategically, come up with plans quickly, and every so often you can talk him into leaving the battlefield, so he is not the biggest offender in the series (that one would be Tetsuya).
In his battle against Jeiser J1 his enemy was too sturdy to be taken down easily, his mecha was quickly running out of power, the mechanisms were so strained that the controls were giving off sparks and the cockpit was filling with smoke, and he was risking to a freefall (since they were fighting in midair)... and still he refused going back to the Home Base, waiting for a chance to nail the Beast instead.
In the whole Mazinsaga the only method the army is capable to think to stop the Robeasts is attacking them endlessly, and when it fails, send more troops in. They DID get one sucess in the Gosaku Ota Mazinger-Z manga, though, but they needed a nuke to achieve it. You would think that after the first few times they would learn that Giant Equals Invincible.
Attack Its Weak Point: When a Mechanical Beast seemed too powerful Kouji, Sayaka, Prof. Yumi and the rest of the scientists of the Institute would examine footage of the battle to try to come up with a strategy or find a weak point. Good examples were Bikong O9 (its weak point were the horns jutting out of its head) or Jinray S1 (It was aMechanical Beast flew and struck at Match 5 speed. It beat Mazinger-Z and fled without Kouji even knowing what had hit him. However its weak point were the legs where its rockets were located. Kouji defeated it by destroying one of them).
Attack The Tail: In the Mazinger-Z vs Great General of Darkness feature, a serpent-like Robeast had one head on each end. The tinier head, located on the tip of the tail, was the REAL head (Mykene Warbeasts were controlled by grafting the head of a Mykene warrior into a Robeast), so when Kouji cut its tail off, the Warbeast lost control and it was destroyed.
Boom, Headshot: Baremos Q7 was a Mechanical Beast built with stolen samples of Alloy Z. However its head was made of a less sturdy metal since Dr. Hell did not have enough alloy Z. During the battle, Kouji eventually noticed the Robeast was ALWAYS protecting its head. Logically, he aimed for it. Another example happened in one of the first chapters, when he was told Bikong O9 weak point were its horns.
Go for the Eye: Gumbina M5's armor was completely impervious to Mazinger-Z's weapons. Kouji not even was capable of scratching or denting it. Its weak point were its large eyes located on the chest. Sayaka ended up the battle when Aphrodite-A's Torpedo Tits managed to hit them. Ouch.
In the "Mazinger-Z vs Great General of Darkness", Kouji was sword-dueling against a clearly superior Warbeast had pinned Mazinger-Z on the ground and was trying run its sword through it. Kouji shot Mazinger's drill missiles and managed hit one of its eyes. The Warbeast crumbled down due to the missiles boring into its head and exploding. Double ouch.
Ozones B3 subverted the trope. It had a huge, glowing, single eye on its head... but it was not its weak point, and Kouji did not try to destroy it.
Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Kouji and Sayaka. Although in the original manga they got along well, the anime series took their Belligerent Sexual Tension up to eleven — and some of their fights were legendary. However, you always had moments where they stopped to get mad, bicker and insult each other and showed they cared for each other very much.
In episode 29 Kouji saw a Mechanical Beast — Grengus C3 — walking from the direction where Aphrodite A — Sayaka's Fembot — had gone at before. Inmediately he panicked, got on a bike and drove towards the place, yelling "Sayaka" all the way (he was so freaked out he did not realize the bike he had got was not his). When he finally found her — wounded and lying down on the floor beside Aphrodite A's remains — he shook her awake and hugged her.
And in another episode, Kouji and Sayaka got an actually serious fight, and Sayaka refused to back him up in battle. When he was seriously injured, Sayaka took care of him in the hospital and kissed him in his comatose sleep.
Back Stab: In the Gosaku Ota manga continuity, Dragon with an Agenda Archduke Gorgon murdered Big Bad Dr. Hell by stabbing him from behind with one sword when he was distracted. Afterwards he pulled his sword from the body, said "So long, old madman" and left him lying -and bleeding- on the ground, laughing all the way as he left.
Bad Future: In Shin Mazinger Zero the world and the entire mankind have been burnt to ashes by a Mazinger-Z turned Eldritch Abomination in the future, and Minerva-X sends Kouji back in time to save everybody. However they are locked into a Groundhog Peggy Sue loop since Kouji has failed every time so far, and Minerva keeps sending him back because she can trust no one else. They have repeated the same cycle almost three thousand times when the series starts, so it seems not matter what Kouji does, the world is doomed. Given that Minerva is the original Minerva-X, future in the Mazinger Z universe seems bleak, indeed.
Bad Moon Rising: In Grendizer, the Moon becoming red was a sign of the [Alien Invasion Alliance Vegan]] was getting ready another attack -and the main characters eventually learnt to watch for that-. One of the manga versions -penned by Gosaku Ota- reinforced that: in the first pages a red skull appeared on the Moon's surface (a sign of the Vegans had come) and Duke felt upset when he saw it, and wondered if that was a bad omen.
Badass Back: Hilariously subverted in the first chapter of Mazinger ZGo Nagai manga. Sayaka sortie in Aphrodite-A to stop a mysterious Humongous Mecha is trashing the city that mysterious Humongous Mecha being Mazinger-Z, "piloted" by a Kouji Kabuto had just got on the robot and had absolutely no idea of how controlling the damned thing. When she strikes it, the Humongous Mecha easily withstands its attack, heaves her Fem Bot, throws her away... and then it turns its back towards her. Sayaka is incensed, believing that robot thinks Aphrodite is not good enough to fight and is making fun of her. Her father is worried and requests her being careful because it is a monster is dangerous even if he has its back turned to her. She gets ready to attack, when the Humongous Mecha suddenly turns around... and its pilot manages to communicate with her and explain he did all that because he did not know how piloting the robot.
Badass Family: Dr. Kabuto and his son built the most powerful robots in the world. Kouji has fought and stomped whole squads of armed soldiers, and trashed dozens of massive war machines. Even his little brother is also perfectly capable defend himself on one fight.
Badass in Distress: Although he undoubtedly is a Badass, and he is a competent fighter can take care of himself even when he is outside of his Humongous Mecha, Kouji often needed being rescued either because he had fallen into a trap or because the odds were brutally against him. It happened in all series in the trilogy and in Mazinkaiser, but it was specially glaring in UFO Robo Grendizer, where he was demoted from The Hero to The Lancer, and instead of a Humongous Mecha he piloted a support unit. However usually he was saved by a Big Damn Heroes moment from Sayaka, Boss, Tetsuya or Duke, so even when he was in danger, usually it ended up in a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
Badass Arm Fold: Kouji sometimes used the pose. A good example in an episode in which Mazinger-Z is nearly completely depleted from energy during a battle, the control deck is smoking and giving off sparks due to the strain, the weapons don't work, Prof. Yumi is ordering -''repeatedly- Kouji retreating because he'll die otherwise... and Kouji simply folds his arms across his chest as he calmly waits for one chance to blast the Beast down! It is hard to convey how Badass he seemed right then.
The Bait: Often Kouji voluntereed for the role. Sayaka, too. Boss could be more willing or more reluctant to play bait depending on the situation.
In one Crossover movie between Great Mazinger and Getter Robo, he played bait to lure a monster to a deserted island.
Baleful Polymorph: In a story of the Gosaku Ota episodes, a race of giant, man-eater, fish-alike, humanoid Eldritch Abominations from another dimension named Chip Kamoy tried to invade Earth. They kidnapped a normal human girl and transformed her into a mermaid-like being to communicate with humans. Later they trapped The Hero Kouji Kabuto and she helped him to escape. In punishment she got executed by the Chip Kamoy.
Barbie Doll Anatomy: In the original anime, Kouji had some shirtless scenes, and nipples were nowhere to be seen.
Partially averted in Mazinkaiser: when Sayaka's top comes undone in the fourth episode, the nipples and areola are present and accounted for. Don't know where the male nipples are hiding, though.
Barehanded Blade Block: Kouji was forced to pull this maneouver sometimes. A specially awesome example happened in episode 52: he is fighting a Mechanical Beast armed with scythes can easily slice and dice his Humongous Mecha. During the fight the Beast tries to cleave Mazinger in half... and Mazinger blocks the scythe with both hands and splits it. And then he grans his enemy's broken weapon, slice its remainder scythe off, and stab the Robeast with its own weapon! Justified Trope since Kouji does this using his Humongous Mecha, so he does not need get worried about losing a chunk of his hands.
Bash Brothers: Kouji and Boss (when they were not fighting), Kouji and Tetsuya (when they were not arguing) and Kouji and Duke.
Batman Gambit: Kouji used several throughout the whole trilogy, often mixing them with Crazy Enough to Work. For example, in one chapter a Mechanical Beast -Kirma K5- sliced a chunk of one Mazinger-Z's wing during an aerial battle. Kouji could not balance his Humongous Mecha and he fell towards the ground. Then he goaded Kirma into attacking him again, and positioned Mazinger so his foe's Sinister Scythe sliced a chunk of the another wing. Now the Mazinger wings were the same length again, and his enemy was nearby, he could balance Mazinger back and grab Kirma. As he was beating the crap out of the Robeast he gloated it should have let him drop.
Prof. Yumi -and later Prof. Kenzo Kabuto- also used the Batman Gambit fairly often.
Beam-O-War: Sometimes Mazinger Z and a Mechanical Beast engaged in this, and usually Kouji used Mazinger's Breast Fire to couterattack their energy beams or waves. Some examples happened in episode 11 (against Brighton J2) and episode 30 (against Brutus M3).
Becoming the Mask: Erika. She was a android built by Dr. Hell. However, she suffered from amnesia and had forgotten her origins. She genuinely believed she was a normal girl, and when she was told her true nature, she rejected it. And the end she helped Kouji and she died cause it.
Beehive Barrier: The Photonic Research Institute uses a energy barrier to protect the facility when under attack.
Beneath the Earth: Not surprisingly, Mazinger Z introduced this trope in Humongous Mecha anime. The Mykene were a civilization lived and thrived in the Greek island of Bardos millennia ago, using mechanical giantsblast fire from their chests to protecting their land from invaders. An earthquake destroyed their island and forced them to seek shelter underground. They lived below Earth for millennia, building their cities in networks of subterranean tunnels and caverns and grafting their bodies into Humongous Mecha to survive.
Berserk Button: Kouji has several of them: insulting his grandfather, hurting Sayaka, harming innocents... Sayaka also gets easily mad when someone mocks her skills or makes Stay in the Kitchen statements directed to her (needless to say, Kouji pressed her Berserk Button constantly).
And in Shin Mazinger, when Boss and his goons insulted Kouji's grandfather one too many times, he promptly beat the ever-loving crap out of Boss, and would have seriously hurt him if Sayaka hadn't interrupted to tell Kouji that his grandfather was in real danger.
And in the Shin Mazinger Zero manga, you do not try and harm Sayaka. Otherwise, Kouji... will not be nice to you.
Beta Test Baddie: Dr. Hell has shades of this. Part of his animosity and resentment towards Dr. Kabuto comes from the fact he thinks Juuzo surpassed him, rendered him obsolete and took all away him when they were younger. All of it contributed to the breakdown turned him into a Mad Scientist. And in the third episode, after his first batch of Mechanical Beasts were crushed by Mazinger-Z, Hell got a Villainous BSOD due to after fifty years, Juuzo Kabuto STILL could surpass easily whatever Hell did.
Beware My Stinger Tail: Several Mechanical Beasts had armed tails. For example, Danchel not only had a massive tail it used to crush things with but it also shot galons of acid.
The Big Board: The Photon Power Research Institute had one that was used by Prof. Yumi and the cast during strategic sessions. To cite some examples, it was seen in episode 33 when they were trying to solve the mystery of a monster showed up in a chain of lakes, and in the last episodes when they were trying to locate Dr. Hell's Super Villain Lair and later when they were preparing the Final Battle.
Bigger Bad: The Emperor of Darkness -who fits the bill like God of Evil-. The Humongous MechaBig Bad Dr. Hell found were ancient -and severely outdated- weapons of his army. During the first series he did not directly interfere with the plot, and he remained in his underground empire, watching the war between Kouji Kabuto and Dr. Hell as one of his underlyings schemed to bring both of them down. After causing the end of Dr. Hell's army and Mazinger-Z he became Big Bad of the next series.
Big Damn Heroes: Kouji -and Sayaka, and even Boss- pulled this off sometimes. However, the most memorable moment happened in the final episode (and its extended movie version) when a new enemy army appears and proceed to completely overwhelm Kouji. As the Mazinger barely holds itself even a tiny bit together, the Great Mazinger shows up just before the final blow is struck and proceeds to absolutely dominate the new foes. Also something he's fond of doing in remakes, often with a nice big THUNDER BREAK to blast any number of enemies ready to swarm his allies. Also some really nice descending from the clouds shots.
The Big Damn Kiss: In Mazinger-Z vs Great General of Darkness, Kouji is going to sortie with Mazinger-Z to fight a battle he knows he can not win, and thinking he'll die. Sayaka stops him to give him his little brother's birthday gift, and both stare into each other's eyes for a long while... and then Kouji turns around and leaves. However, in the manga version of that moment, though, they DO kiss. The pannel itself featured them floating in a void, and flower petals falling around them.
Big Creepy Crawlies: Several Kikaiju (such like Winder A2 or Megaron P1 and its "brothers") resemble slightly humanoid insects.
Blackmail Is Such an Ugly Word: Subverted in an episode. Baron Ashura hijacked a plane and threatened Professor Yumi with killing all passengers if he didn't hand over the plans for the Jet Scrander. Yumi protested that was theft and blackmail. Ashura languidly replied: "OF COURSE it is. What else did you expect from me?"
Blade Below the Shoulder: Mazinger-Z belongs to the second kind (permanently-attached blade). In the last season the mecha got equipped with the "Iron Cutter", two retractable blades stored in each arm. Often he used them in combination with its Rocket Punch to slice enemies from far. On the other hand, several Mechanical Beasts belonged to the third kind (blade replaces hand or arm). For example, Brutus-M3 had a scimitar-like blade replacing one of its arms.
At the end of the Go Nagai manga, Sayaka got herself a new Fem Bot. One of its weapons were two blades attached tot he forearms it could shoot like a boomerang (joining this trope with Rocket Punch and Precision-Guided Boomerang).
As mazin sounds like majin (demon god) this may explain why Mazinger is translated as Tall Evil God.
Crabstick. Asia directs the beast king armies of Dr. Hill with its Crabstick.
Blow You Away: Mazinger-Z's Rust Tornado. Also, Stronger T4 and Blowgun P1 were equiped with weapons generated powerful currents of wind.
Body Horror: The Iron Masks (what lies beneath their helmets is not pretty), Viscount Pygman, the Kedora, a lot of Mykene Monsters... Given that this is a work of the creator ofDevilman, it was to be expected.
Blue and Orange Morality: Minerva-X is a sentient giant robot specifically created to be Mazinger-Z's Battle Couple. Despite -or maybe because- she was created by humans, several of her personality traits -mainly her conception of what love is- are completely bizarre. Because she was created to be Mazinger's partner in battle, she is in love with Mazinger in spite of she knows it is a machine and it is not sentient. She also treats the pilot of a Humongous Mecha like if it was another part of the mecha (presumably, the brain). This is expanded on Shin Mazinger Zero, where she (transformed into a Robot Girl) teases Sayaka because she saw Aphrodite (Sayaka's Fem Bot) fighting alongside Mazinger and got jealous, got... all bothered when she was inside Mazinger's cockpit, and she told she loved Kouji... but she loved even more Kouji piloting the Hover Pilder, and she loved above all Kouji on the Pilder piloting Mazinger. Usually Kouji and Sayaka only hake their heads and accept her like she is.
Sayaka: How... unique...
Book Ends: Episode 47 starts and ends with the same scene: Ashura and Brocken clashing blades as insulting each other. The only difference is in the first scene Dr. Hell broke the fight, and in the last scene he is trying and ignoring them as he has dinner (groaning about being Surrounded by Idiots).
Boring, but Practical: Mazinger's Photon Beams are one of its most boring weapons, lacking from the inherent visual awesomeness and raw power of the Rocket Punch, the Breast Fire or the Rust Hurricane. However it is Mazinger-Z's most used weapon in the series. Why? Because they are powerful enough to have the work done, cost-efficient and can be shot many times in quick sucession (Kouji can't use Mazinger's Finishing Moves recklessly because they overheat his robot and consume a lot of energy). Also, in the original manga Kouji dealt with the enemy by punching it and kicking it and using a weapon to finish it more often than not. Less spectacular? Certainly. Effective, regardles? Definitely.
Boss Subtitles: Every time a Kikaiju appeared for first time, its name was splashed on the screen. Two exceptions were Zaila and Danchel, since the title stated their names but not their respective letter/number code. You would have to read any of the Mazinger-related books for finding out.
Brain in a Jar: The Kedora. Ken Ishikawa one-shot "The Relic of Evil" revealed that the Mykene controlled his Robeast by grafting the brain of a soldier taught to destroy all no Mykene civilizations into a parasitic organism, and it fused with a robot, giving the Mykene soldier complete control. They would show up later in Shin Mazinger.
Brainy Brunette: Professor Gennosuke Yumi and his daughter, Sayaka. Yumi is a Badass Bookworm, and although Sayaka is an Action Girl, she is pretty smart and knowledgeable.
Brainwashed and Crazy: The Hero Kouji Kabuto was brainwashed by Viscount Pygman, and later by the Vegans in the UFO Robo GrendizerGo Nagai manga, the UFO Robot Grendizer tai Great Mazinger movie and Super Robot Wars MX in Chapter 10. Professors Morimori, Sewashi and Nossori also were brainwashed by Baron Ashura into one of the earlier episodes of the original anime series. AND in another episode three workers of the Institute were brainwashed into piloting several Mechanical Beasts. AND then you have the Iron Masks...
Breaking the Fourth Wall: The original manga penned by Go Nagai broke the fourth wall several times. In one of the first episodes Kouji gets forced to kill a Mook in self-defense and he suffers s Heroic BSOD thinking he is a murderer... until another character calms him down stating he was only defending himself and he is the main character and The Hero, so he did no wrong. And in this page Count Brocken complains Kouji is a Combat Pragmatist and yells the main character should not fight dirty and the fans will cry. Kouji was not impressed.
Breast Expansion: In a rare, non-human example Aphrodite A once got this. Kouji thought it would help to fight a flying mechanical beast (Gelbros J3). It Makes Sense in Context.
Breath Weapon: Rust Hurricane. Mazinger blows a jet of particle-charged wind from its mouth grill that corrodes the enemy into nothingness. Many Mechanical Beasts also had breath-based attacks, usually expelling out fire, acid or even poison.
Brought to You by the Letter "S": Although the original series avoided this, in later retellings and spin-offs Mazinger-Z wore a big "Z" letter in such the chest, the Hover Pilder or the Jet Scrander.
In that same episode, Mitsuo, the bullied kid, later decided he would show them what being picked on by somebody bigger than you feels like, when an unknown lady showed up all of sudden and offered him borrowing her Humongous Mecha to take revenge (and he agreed. Oh, my God) Of course, that went so well how you would expect.
Calvin Ball: Parodied with Brockenball. It vaguely resembles soccer, but the only established rule is everyone wins. Except the ball. Which is Count Brocken's head. Kouji and his friends played in the original manga and Shin Mazinger when they managed capture it. They found it very funny, but Brocken found it not funny at all.
Canine Companion: Saijyo -a secondary character appeared in episode 26- and his female dog, Norako. He was an orphan, homeless boy, and she was her only friend. He was fiercely protective of her.
Episode 33. Baron Ashura has hijacked a flight and threatens Professor Yumi with killing all passengers if he doesn't hand over the Jet Scrander's plans:
Cargo Ship: A mind-screwing example, overlapping with Robo Ship. Minerva-X was a Fem Bot was programmed to be Mazinger-Z's Battle Couple. So she was in love with it. However, she ALSO was a Humongous Mecha, only unlike Mazinger she was sentient, had her own mind and could feel, think and act on her own. Sayaka declaring only HER Fem Bot Aphrodite-A was Mazinger-Z's true Battle Couple did not help matters...
Robo Ship: Mazinger-Z and Aphrodite A (and later Diana-A). Also, Mazinger-Z and Minerva-X. Minerva considered matter-of-fact she was Mazinger's partner; however, Sayaka insisted ONLY Aphrodite-A was true's Mazinger partner.
Character Development: It was not huge but it was there. For example, Kouji's sexism diluded somewhat through the episodes. At the beginning, Kouji flatly refuses Aphrodite gets modified into a full-fldged battle robot, declaring he does not need aid, and stating -to Sayaka's face- girls should not fight (Predictably, Sayaka was not amused by this). Several dozens of episodes later, Aphrodite A is utterly destroyed in battle, Sayaka nearly loses it (see Heroic BSOD example), and a new robot is built for her. Kouji asks the professors endowing it with weapons.
Charles Atlas Superpower: Kouji was a physically average teenager in the original series, but in Shin Mazinger Zero he performs physical feats should be not posible, possibly due to the constant time travel is somehow heightening his capabilities. He does not seem being initially aware of it, though. In the second timeline we see he destroys one robot with one single punch and he panics wondering if he is some kind of monster. In the third timeline he easily dodges the attacks of the Gamia sisters and takes down one of them despite of they are several times faster and more agiler than a human being (like an amazed Minerva notes).
Chekhov's Volcano: The Photon Atomic Research Institute is located on the base of Mount Fuji. And unlike other shows, this series remembers it IS a volcano. Cue battles over or around the crater, the villains plotting set off an eruption in one episode and dunking The Hero and his Humongous Mecha in the volcano in another one.
Classical Mythology: It has an increasingly importance in the series. Dr. Hell finding several Humongous Mecha in the underground mazes of a Greek island has its basis on the Greek legend of Talos, the giant man of bronze protected Creta [2]. Gorgon's Robeasts resembled gods, heroes and creatures found in the Greek myths. And in later retellings of the story (Z-Mazinger and Shin Mazinger), Mazinger-Z turns out to be Zeus and Emperor of Darkness becomes Hades.
Climactic Volcano Backdrop: Several climatic battles happened next to volcanoes and lava pools. In episode 25 Kouji fought Aeros B2 and B3 next to Mount Fuji's crater, and lava bubbled and spilled out of the pool as they brawled, threatening with engulfing them. In one manga chapter penned by Gosaku Ota, Kouji and Holzon V3 battle took place into the crater of Mount Fuji, with the sheer walls of the volcano as background, toxic fumes rising and swirling around them and magma sizzling and churning under their feet. And then you have the episode where Mazinger-Z got dunked in lava...
Clingy Jealous Girl: Sayaka, sometimes. The most egregious example, though, is "Minerva X", a Sentient Mecha that loves Mazinger Z and is openly jealous of Sayaka's Aphrodite A.
It happened to Sayaka whenever a beautiful girl hang around Kouji: Hitomi, Erika, Misato...
Clothing Damage: It happened to Sayaka in the original manga sometimes (too many times for her liking). Given that it was created by the man introduced Fanservice in anime, it is not surprising. In one chapter, several female robots with blades replacing her arms sliced her dress to ribbons, without actually cutting her flesh or underwear.
Colonel Badass: Commander Badass, in this case: Great General of Darkness/Ankoku Daishogun, The Dragon of the Emperor of Darkness and commander of the seven armies of the Mykene Empire. He wields a BFS, sports a Badass Cape and a Badass Beard, and he can kick the butt of nearly any Humongous Mecha invented by Go Nagai. He led the army of Mykene Empire, personally or delegating on his generals, and he was A Father to His Men considered unforgivable default intelligence costed the lives of his troops. He fought Great Mazinger because he knew he could win, slicing it with his blade mercilessly as he laughed its attacks off. And he fought Mazinkaiser quite evenly.
Combat Pragmatist: Koji, like you wouldn't believe. In his first appearance, in which he just received Mazinger. his fight is filled by abusing the fact that Mazinger really IS invincible(at least for that point). During his second appearance, he is not above tricking his opponent to think that he gives up the fight only to kick ass. And he does this several time during the course of the series.
Combat Tentacles: Several Mechanical Beasts: Stronger T4, Megaron P1 and its "siblings", Gambina M5... And in Shin Mazinger ZeroJuzo Kabuto.
Combining Mecha: Mazinger-Z is the first example -not surprise here- of this trope in Humongous Mecha anime, being of the Mecha Expansion Pack Augment kind: the robot is powered by dropping a small aircraft (the Hover Pilder) onto its head. And then it is combined with a Jet Pack to allow it fly.
Companion Cube: Several times the characters talked to or about Mazinger-Z and Aphrodite A like if they were sentient beings. Sayaka actually had a Heroic BSOD when Aphrodite A was destroyed. She even hallucinated Aphrodite was calling her. And then you have Minerva-X, an actual sentient Fem Bot and Humongous Mecha could act, think and feel on her own and was programmed to be Mazinger-Z's Battle Couple, and considered Mazinger was meant to be HER Companion Cube.
Context Sensitive Button: Inverted example. Mazinger's cockpit was full with buttons and levers, and it is unclear what did what. Sometimes Kouji pressed completely different buttons to activate the same weapon. At least when Kouji started the Hover Pilder and took off it was consistent.
It was inverted AND deconstructed. Even although it is unclear every button and lever's function, EVERY ONE has a very specific function, and you can NOT simply press a random button and expecting Mazinger Z does whatever you want in the time. The first time Kouji activated Mazinger in the original manga, he nearly demolished one half city because he kept punching random buttons as trying figuring out how handling the damned thing. The same thing happened in the anime series, with the variation of it did not happen in one city. Even so, Kouji nearly got his little brother killed.
Conveniently an Orphan: Kouji and Shiro's parents died on a laboratory accident but in reality only their mother died. Sayaka has also lost her mother.
Convenient Coma: In Mazinger-Z versus Great General of Darkness, Shiro got badly injured and fell into a coma when the ceiling of the room he was in collapsed. He needed an urgent blood transfusion to save his life, and since blood supply was low (what with giant monsters obliterating major cities), Kouji demanded they used his own blood, in spite of he was hurt. Kouji spent the whole night by his brother's side, not knowing if he would live to see another day. Fortunately, Shiro came out of his coma the next day.
Convection Schmonvection: Many battles happened around volcanoes, near volcanoes or IN volcanoes, and at least once The Hero Kouji was dunked in lava. Since Kouji always remained inside Mazinger-Z, his Humongous Mecha provided protection from extreme heat, toxic fumes and other dangers, but in the episode where Mazinger-Z took an unwilling magma dive it was stated not even Mazinger-Z's armor and heat-insulation could endure THAT for long, and Kouji eventually would die of burning, dehydration or asphyxia. The sequels -Great Mazinger, UFO Robo Grendizer- and reimaginations Mazinkaiser played with the trope as well.
Converse with the Unconscious: Done twice (and subverted in one of them) in episode 52. After Kouji and Sayaka have a serious fight (they fight the whole time, but this time was worse than usual), Sayaka refuses to help Kouji to fight, and he gets badly injured. A grief-stricken Sayaka takes care of him in the hospital, talking to him while he is comatose. Later Kouji gets badly injured again and he falls unconscious in the battlefield. Sayaka is cradling his body, crying, begging him not dying and doing an Anguished Declaration of Love... when he opens his eyes and he calmly states he is not getting married to a tomboy.
Played straight in a chapter of the Gosaku Ota manga. Sayaka is unconscious and Boss by her talks to her, before finally leaving for battle, stating that dying like an hero is all what he can do for her.
Also played straight in the Mazinger-Z versus Great General of Darkness movie. Shiro gets hurt cause a ceiling collapsing onto him, and falls into a coma. He needs a blood transfusion and Kouji insists on them using his blood. As the medics are performing the transfusion, Kouji talks to his comatous little brother, reassuring him everything will work fine.
Cool Airship: Guru, Count Brocken's aerial fortress. It appears for first time at the episode 40.
Cool Bike: Kouji is a Go Nagai main character. Go Nagai main characters ride bikes. Sayaka and Boss also ride bikes.
Energer Z, the "prototype" design of Mazinger, was controlled by a motorcycle driven into the head; for the final version Nagai replaced it with the Hover Pilder because he was concerned the bike would look like a rip-off of Kamen Rider.
Cool Helmet: Kouji and Sayaka wear one. Kouji began wearing it (along his Latex Space Suit) after his first battles since his head got hit several times.
Cool Old Guy: Dr. Juzo Kabuto. He escaped alive from two Hell's assassination attempts (they were two in the Gosaku Ota manga). He built the eighteen-meter-tall, One-Man ArmyHumongous Mecha was the last hope of humanity. He saved his son's life, turning him into a cyborg. When Ashura blew up his mansion, he got half-buried under several metal rafts, but in spite of he was moribund and trapped in an underground basement, he managed surviving until his grandsons showed up and he could hand Mazinger over to Kouji. And in the manga and Shin Mazinger he overlaps this with Crazy Awesome.
Cool Ship: Salude and Bood, Baron Ashura's submarine fortresses.
Could Have Avoided This Plot: In an episode Kouji has a conflict with a young homeless boy named Saijyo because his dog was stealing Kouji's little brother's chickens. That conflict -that was exploited for The Dragon to attack Kouji- could have been avoided if only Saijyo would have mentioned his dog stole food to feed her puppies.
Crazy Enough to Work: Kouji's plans CAN be carefully and throughtfully planned strategies, but many times his plans are an Indy Ploy or... this. One example happened in episode 32: Mazinger Z got the crap beaten out of it by Gelbros J3, a flying, three-headed dragon-looking Mechanical Beast. Mazinger could not fly -yet-, so Kouji could not fight back. His plan was... equiping Aphrodite A with even bigger Torpedo Tits. During the battle Sayaka shot them, Mazinger latched on the giant missiles and was propelled it skywards, where Kouji was capable to reach the Robeast and shoot it down.
Crazy-Prepared: In one episode, an enemy was unceasingly shooting missiles at the Hover Pilder to preventing Kouji from docking with Mazinger. Kouji pressed a button, and his vehicle let go a trail of smoke to make the enemy believing he had been shot down and having him stopping to shoot as he docked.
Crucified Hero Shot: Both Kouji and Mazinger are subjected to this several times in the course of the series. So did Shiro, Boss, Nuke and Much. Ashura seemed to love this Trope. Also, Devilman himself in the movie Mazinger vs Devilman.
Cry for the Devil: Neither the original manga penned by Go Nagai nor the anime series delved in the past and motivations of the villains. It was the manga penned by Gosaku Ota and published simultaneously with the tv show finally revealed what they were. In one of the last chapters, as Dr. Hell is making preparations for the Final Battle, Dr. Hell begins to narrate what his early life was like. We learn during the flashback that he was born in a very poor family. His mother never wanted to have a child, constantly stated his existence was a bother for her and beat him constantly as his father did nothing. No child wanted to play with him because he looked ugly and weird. Looking for a way out of it he turned to the books. He became very intelligent, began to get excellent grades in school... and then his teachers accused him from cheating and several of his classmates bullied him. He grew up without friends until he got in college, when he befriended someone who appreciated his intelligence and he fell in love with an exchange student. Shortly after he found out they were a couple and his frayed mind was already so paranoid he thought they were plotting against him to backstab him. After another unpleasant incident where he got beaten by making a good deed -a little girl slipped in front of him and he caught her, avoiding she hit the ground and got hurt. It was a well-meaning, innocent act. However her parents thought he was molesting her, and her father pummeled him- his mind finally snapped out and he decided Humans Are Bastards and one day he would wipe the world off idiots and everyone would have to kneel before him. You can tell in that right moment, Dr. Hell had been born.
Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Dr. Hell is wealthy enough to build dozens of giant, humanoids war machines, Doomsday weapons, squad of cyborgs, several HQ, aircrafts, submarines... It was kind of justified in the Ota's manga when Dr. Hell revealed shortly after finding the old Mykene's mechanical warriors, Count Brocken took over several ancient European Mafia in order to earn cash for Hell.
Cyborg: All villains -except Dr. Hell- were cyborgs: Baron Ashura, Count Brocken, their Mooks... All of them -except by Archduke Gorgon- were created by Hell himself. Usually he fabricated his cyborgs by modifying corpses, replacing damaged parts with artificial limbs or organs and implanting cybernetic components in their brains to create obedient, brainwashed slaves (and there was at least one scene in one of the manga versions where Baron Ashura killed many people off, as gloating they would be transformed into cyborgs and turned into his/her slaves. Now you know what happened to all people died when a Mechanical Beast attacked). It looked like this. However, in at least one instance he saved the life of the subject -Count Brocken- by turning him into a cyborg. Other cyborg characters were Kenzo Kabuto and in the Gosaku Ota manga Kouji Kabuto himself was turned into one by the end of the series.
It is played straight with Kenzo. His sons, Kouji and Shiro grew up believing their parents had died cause a laboratory experiment that went wrong. However, Kenzo's father saved his son's life by turning him into a cyborg. However, neither of them told Kouji and Shiro he was alive because Kenzo was going to build a Humongous Mecha to repel the Mykene invasion they predicted, and train its pilot. And both his father and he wanted to shield Kouji and Shiro from danger and psychological shock. It was not a bad reason, even if it was somewhat weak because Juzo was also building another Humongous Mecha and he raised them, even if he hired a maid because he was nearly always absent. When Kenzo revealed the truth to his little son, it took a long while for Shiro forgiving him. Though Kouji forgave him right away.
It is subverted with Kouji and Shiro's mother. In episode 90 from Mazinger Z, their mother appeared in the Institute, revealing she was alive and asking meeting her sons before telling them why she let them believe she was dead during years. Shiro was happy of getting his mother back, but Kouji was distrustful. It turned out that Kouji was right. Their mother was truly dead and that woman was a cyborg had fabricated Dr. Hell to infiltrate in the Institute and destroying Mazinger from within. So her "good reason for abandoning them" was false.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: The Kikaiju Grengus C3. It confronted Mazinger-Z in a lake. The first thing it did was violently hitting the water's surface to splash the Pilder's glass cockpit. So Kouji was unable to see its attack and prepare for it.
Darkest Hour: Its Darkest Hour happened in episode 92, but the Mazinger vs Great General of Darkness expanded upon it and turned it even more tragic: The army of Mykene Empire struck, easily razing several big cities (Londo, New York, Moscow...) to ruins. When they raided Tokyo, Kouji flew to fight them... and got the crap beaten out of him. When he returned to the Institute, he found out several Mykene Beasts had smashed the place, destroying Sayaka and Boss's Humongous Mecha. And Shiro, his little brother, had been hurt when a ceiling collapsed, and he urgently needed a blood transfusion. In spite of he was weak -and he was underage- Kouji DID demand they used his blood. Later, at the night, he was sitting in what was left of his bedroom, observing a picture of his father and his grandfather and crying Manly Tears as he muttered the Mykene Beasts would return, and he could not win, but he would fight even though he knew he was going to die (unbeknownst to him, sayaka was observing him, shedding tears as she heard him talking).
Deadly Gas: When Kouji and a Mechanical Beast fought near the crater of a volcano, toxic volcanic fumes pervaded the atmosphere (and unlike other examples of this trope, those fumes had a greyish color). Given that the Home Base of the heroes was located on Mount Fuji, it happened more often than you would expect. One example happened in episode 19: Kouji is engaged in aerial battle with a Mechanical Beast -Debira X-1-. During the fight they fly over Mount Fuji, and Kouji's visibility gets hindered by the dense curtain of poisonous gas rises from the crater.
Destructive Saviour: This trope was played tragically. As soon as the first episode we could see how destructive Mazinger-Z may be (in the original manga, Kouji destroyed half cityas he was trying figuring out how handling the damned machine. In the anime series he activated Mazinger on an unpopulated area; still, he destroyed his grandfather's lab, went on a rampage through the landscape and nearly got his little brother killed). When Kouji and Sayaka battle a Mechanical Beast, usually there is not much left of the battlefield in the wake of the fight. And when it is a city, buildings crumble down and people dies. As soon as the episode 7 it was shown people did NOT appreciate this and as far as they were concerned, Mazinger-Z was just so bad like Dr. Hell's Mechnical Beasts.
Detachment Combat: Several of the giant robots fought by Mazinger Z had this ability: Deimos F3, Velgas V5 (its parts had individual rocket propulsion and could attack separately), and a third one. Mazinger Z itself and one of its successors, Mazinkaiser, also did it sometimes (detaching theScrander Jet/Scrander Kaiser off themselves. Moreover, Mazinkaiser used its wings like a cutting, oversized boomerang).
The Determinator: Kouji never gives up. Not even when he is going against several Kikaiju at once. Not even when the Robeast is completely impervious to his Humongous Mecha's attacks. Not even when it has abilities his robot could not match (he faced submarine and flying Kikaiju long before Mazinger got upgraded to be able to fly or swim or got weapons worked under water or in air). Not even when he is buried under rubble. Not even when he gets dumped into a freaking volcano! Not matter the odds, he will think fast, analyze his foe (and its weapons and capabilities), come up with a plan or cheat like crazy.
Geez, not even when he KNOWS the fight is utterly hopeless and there is no way to win he will quit. In the last episode of Mazinger Z and in the movie Mazinger Z tai Ankoku Daishogun he deployed Mazinger Z as stating he was not walking alive out of that battle and he knew that... but he did not care.
The only way you can get him stopping to fight is holding someone hostage. And even then he will try to exploit any edge to release the hostage and giving you a sound trashing.
Delinquents: The Moral Guardians of the era didn't like Kouji, because he skipped school and used rough language.
Despair Event Horizon: Kouji almost, almost crossed it during the Mazinger-Z vs Great General of Darkness movie. After several Mykene Warrior Monsters have easily destroyed four major cities (Paris, London, New York and Moscow) they strike Tokyo. He launches Mazinger-Z to fight them... and he barely walks out of it alive. The Warrior Monsters easily rip his mecha apart and turn Tokyo into burning ruins as he is unable make anything to stop them. Back in the Home Base, he learns MORE Warrior Monsters have visited while he was away. His Home Base is in ruins, Sayaka and Boss' Humongous Mechas have been destroyed, and worst of all, his little brother Shirou got hurt cause a collapsing ceiling and is in coma. Later, Kouji was sitting on -the remains of- his room, and he cried as he said he knew he could not win and he was going to die in the next battle; poor Sayaka, who was eavesdropping, also cried as hearing him.
It was way, WAY worse in one of the first chapters of Shin Mazinger Zero, where he did fully cross it. Straight after seeing his grandfather murdering his father and murdering Sayaka after raping her, and losing one of his arms he was thrust in Mazinger-Z and his body absorbed by the machine. Turned into a raging The Berserker, he began fighting Mechanical Beasts in spite of he not even knew what they were or whence they came, and his negative emotions -pain, rage, despair, sadness, loneliness- fed Mazinger-Z until its sleeping consciousness woke up, transformed into an Eldritch Abomination by poor Kouji's despair, and it burnt the world to ashes.
Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: In one of the Gosaku Ota manga chapters, Dr. Hell plots the next scheme: overwhelm Mazinger-Z with a Macross Missile Massacre as another of his Mechanical Beasts -Deathcross V9- attacks him, and as the Humongous Mecha is weakened and disoriented by the constant battering of missiles and the onslaught of the Beast, shooting a freaking huge missile to finish him off. It was a good plan. It could have even worked... Should Baron Ashura and Count Brocken have worked together. However, they were so eager and impatient for upstaging each other they attacked separately. Brocken shot the big missile without waiting for Ashura -wasting it and forcing them to rebuild the strategy-, and Ashura decided he could use that chance to defeat Mazinger-Z using the Mechanical Beast (because that tactic had worked so well in the past, right?) and humilliate Brocken.
Did You Die?: In episode 91, Kouji tries to bring a severely beaten Boss around. Boss mutters he is dead, and Kouji remindes him dead people can not speak. Boss realizes he is right and stands up.
Disappeared Dad: Kouji and Shiro. They were missing their father after he died in a lab experiment gone wrong. Years later they found out he was not dead. And shortly after they found about it, got used to the idea and got over their abandonment issues he died. For real this time.
Sayaka Yumi belongs to the "her father is physically present but he is barely there" category. Her father was Married to the Job, and getting the responsibility of saving the world dumped on his lap has not improved the situation. At least he tries to take care of Sayaka, but she knows his family is secondary to his job in the Institute, and she feels neglected.
Yuri, Sayaka's cousin. The main reason of she developed a demanding-attention, cranky attitude was her parents were always away, leaving her alone constantly.
Hiroshi, son of Dr. Kasuya, a scientist worked in the Institute. His father disappeared in a car crash, but the body was not found. He refused to accept his father was dead. How it turned out, he was right.
Disguised in Drag: Done by -of all people!- Baron Ashura at least twice (in episodes 7 and 36). He/she disguised like a woman to manipulate a mob or frighten nosy people away one of his/her operations. Fortunately he/she was a shape-shifter, so it was not so hard looking like a woman how it would be to him/her (on the grounds of Ashura being half-male, half-female). It overlapped with Creepy Crossdresser since it was pretty squicky -and eerie-.
Disposable Woman: Rumi was the maid Prof. Kabuto had hired to take care of his grandsons while he was creating Mazinger Z. She was cold-bloodly murdered by Baron Ashura less than five minutes after her first appearance. Kouji and Shiro cried when they found the corpse, but she was not mentioned again after the first episode.
Distaff Counterpart: Aphrodite A and Diana A; Minerva X is a greater example, since it is quite literally a feminine version of Mazinger.
Similarly, in Mazinger Angels (a spoof of Charlie's Angels) the main characters are Sayaka, Jun, Hikaru and Maria, piloting Aphrodite A, Venus A, Diana A and Minerva X, respectively. It's like your usual Crossover blending Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger and UFO Robo Grendizer, but Gender Flipped: the male pilots and their robots are nowhere to be seen, and the main characters are the female leads and robots.
Distracted by the Sexy: It happened fairly often in the manga. Usually was Sayaka the one did the -unwilling- distraction -either because her clothes were torn or because she was involuntarily naked-, but sometimes it was done by enemies to distract Kouji. The Gamia sisters come to mind...
Do-Anything Robot: Mazinger Z has weapons to solve nearly any situation it can find (although it helps Mazinger is piloted by a quick-thinking Genius Ditz is able of devising new strategies -or ways to get himself out of trouble- on the fly), and throughout the series it gets upgraded equiped to combat at any enviroment.
Do Not Do This Cool Thing: Throughout the entire Mazinger trilogy and alternateseriesGo Nagai tried to send the message of War Is Hell. Cities were destroyed and burnt to ashes, innocent people was hurt and suffered or died in horrible ways (there are several instances of genocyde) or lost their loved ones or were enslaved or brainwashed... And victory always had a high prize. Unfortunately, he did so by showing real cool battles between colourful, awesome Humongous Mechas and impressive, imaginative monsters duking it out among them with spectacular Weapons Of Mass Destruction, so a lot of viewers kind of missed the point.
Do Not Touch the Funnel Cloud: Played more or less straight in Mazinkaiser. One of its weapons is Rust Tornado. Mazinkaiser blews three tornadoes from its grill mouth. Of course, anything it touches gets obliterated, and the wind gales kick big dirt clouds and leave a trail of destruction in its wake (in the movie it dug a wiiiiide trench across Mount Fuji). Though the area surrounding the attack does not seem so affected how it should.
The Dog Shot First: Inverted. In the Mazinkaiser OVA, Doctor Hell dies because his base exploded while he was trying to escape. When Go Nagai penned the Mazinkaiser manga, Kouji shoots him in an abrupt, albeit iconic and stylized, sequence.
Doing in the Wizard : In the Mazinger versus Great General of Darkness, a prophet warns Boss and his gang -and later Kouji and his friends- about the inminent Mykene invasion. It turns out that in reality he was Prof. Kenzo Kabuto, father of Kouji and Shiro, who kenw about the Mykene for reasons have nothing to do with prophecies.
And in the episode 36 of Mazinger Z, Baron Ashura pretended being a witch.
Do Not Adjust Your Set: Done as soon as the SECOND episode, when Baron Ashura announced the world belonged to Dr. Hell henceforth and all who opposed to him (i. e.: Mazinger-Z and the Photonic Research Institute) would be destroyed. Since then it was often employed by Dr. Hell and Baron Ashura to threaten, make demands, blackmail the Japanese Government, spreading lies and misinformation about the heroes and -successfully- scare people away in making their biding. In Great Mazinger, Great Marshall Of Hell was the only Mykene commander broadcast his demands by TV, showing Dr. Hell did not lose that custom even after dying and being brought back to life.
Doomsday Device: Several of them. Dr. Hell -and sometimes Ashura- loved to build them (and in the manga of Gosaku Ota, he stated he was already working on them when he working for Hitler, but he kept them for himself. He also claimed if he would have revealed all his inventions, Germany would have won the war).
In Great Mazinger, Great Marshall of Hell a revived Dr. Hell grafted into a Humongous Mecha kept on that tradition. One of those devices -appeared only in one of the manga versions- was a giant, ice lens orbited around Earth and worked like a Kill Sat.
Downer Ending: The original series ended with Kouji killing Dr. Hell. However, the Mykene Empire -that had been awaiting for one of their enemies destroying the other- struck inmediately, razing to rubble several major cities -New York, London, Paris, Moscow and Tokyo-, bringing down the Photon Power Research Institute, destroying Diana-A, Boss Borot and Mazinger-Z itself. Kouji almost died, and he was saved by Tetsuya Tesurugi pulling off a Big Damn Heroes moment with Great Mazinger. The series ended with the humanity on the brink of being wiped out as several characters told Mazinger-Z was now useless. And later, in Great Mazinger, Dr. Hell returned, showing Kouji's efforts and struggle had been all for nothing. It was even worse in several retelling of the series:
In Shin Mazinger even though Kouji kills Dr. Hell and saves the day, it turned out to be a Batman Gambit by Baron Ashura, ensuring the Mikene Empire will rise and the series ends with Mazinger-Z defeated, the God Scrander destroyed!
Dragon with an Agenda: Gorgon. Supposedly he allied himself with Dr. Hell, but in reality he only was biding his time for betraying him, getting him killed ( He literally backstabbed him in the Gosaku Ota manga), and destroying Mazinger Z. He succeeded on all fronts.
Dramatic Sit Down: The Hero Kouji did this in the Mazinger-Z vs. Great General of Darkness movie. Tokyo is attacked by Mykene Warrior Monsters, so he launches Mazinger-Z to fight them... and loses. Badly. Tokyo and his mecha are easily destroyed. It worse when he learns that his Home Base is in ruins and Love Interest Sayaka and Boss' Humongous Mechas have been destroyed by more monsters. His little brother Shirou was put in a coma after a ceiling collapsed on him. Kouji was sitting in his (destroyed) room and cried. He started talking to himself and that he knew he couldn't win the next battle and would die because of it; Sayaka, who was eavesdropping, was driven to tears by this.
Dressing as the Enemy: Several times Kouji and his friends disguised as Iron Masks to infiltrate into one operation of the enemy or one of their bases and rescuing one of their friends -usually Sayaka- or blowing the whole place up. The uniforms they stole seldom fit them, though (specially not Boss).
The first happened in an early episode, when Ashura, disheartened after still another defeat, thought the only way to redeem himself/herself to Hell's eyes was by comitting suicide. Hell rebuked that was dumb, and the way to atone for his/her failures was going on fighting until destroying their enemy.
The second time happened in episode 39, when he was so badly frightened on the possibility of Count Brocken replacing him that he staked his life on his next operation. When he failed, Brocken was all but ordering him killing himself, and he was about to do it when Hell stopped him, stating that even if he had failed in destroying Mazinger-Z, his war tactics had delivered a huge blow to Japan, and he forgave him.
The third -and final- time happened in episode 78. Ashura was so sick of being defeated, mocked and scorned by enemies and allies alike he hijacked the flying fortress Ghoul to crash it against the Institute in a Taking You with Me tactic. He failed, but he died believing he had finally won.
Drives Like Crazy: Koji is a not a bad driver. Oh, no. In fact, when he drives he is the only person on the road is absolutely safe. He is a Badass Biker believes traffic regulations are mere suggestions, limit speed is a myth and bikes were made to pull crazy stunts with them.
Boss also kissed Sayaka once when she was lying asleep on a hospital bed.
Duel to the Death: Between Kouji and Dr. Hell in the manga version of the Final Battle. Both used giant robots (Hell's mecha was Great King of Hell, a humongous Humongous Mecha).
Dug Too Deep: An archaelogical expedition researching ancient ruins in the Greek Island of Bardos went too deep in the underground mazes of the island and found an army of Humongous Mecha. Subverted, since Dr. Hell hoped finding them and using them to further his goals. Also, when Hell seized those robots, he drew the attention of the Mykene Empire -an ancient civilization had been forced to live underground- and they decided return to the surface quite violently.
Ear Worm: "MAZIN GO! MAZIN GO! MAZZZINNGGAAAA Z!!!!"
Elaborate Underground Base: Dr. Hell's first base spread underground, along the mazes of the Island of Bardos.
Dr. Kabuto's lab basement also counts. It was hilariously lampshaded by Kouji in the original manga (since Kabuto had built Mazinger in his home in the middle of a city instead of in his mansion located in Mount Fuji), when he found the entrance and asked: "Since when is there a basement in the garden?"
Eldritch Abomination: Several of them showed up in the trilogy, often overlapping with Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: the demons of the Mazinger-Z vs Devilman movie, Great Emperor of Darkness as well known as Hades (Big Bad from Great Mazinger), 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), Varon the Annihilator (Bigbad of Super Robot Retsuden, a Crossover penned by Ken Ishikawa featuring the most popular Humongous Mecha of Go Nagai)... and in the Shin Mazinger Zero manga Mazinger-Z itself.
Enemy Civil War: Brocken and Ashura openly hate each other and compete for Dr. Hell's approval
Essential Anime: Super RobotTrope Codifier. Aired in Japan from 1972 to 1974. The show that launched the Super Robot Genre. While Tetsujin 28 was the original giant robot, Mazinger is probably the most influential and biggest Trope Maker.
Eva Fins: Not Mazinger-Z itself, but some Kikaiju -like Baras K9- had them.
God Mazinger: Princess Aira, who ruled the kingdom of Mu alongside her father.
New Mazinger: Princess Krishna a Distressed Damsel Major Kabuto met when he was accidentally thrown in another dimension. She was trying to keep her kingdom together after her father got murdered in an ambush.
Excited Title! Two-Part Episode Name!: This series did this in approximately one third of all episodes. It was specially frequent in the last season. To name a few:
Episode 12 gave us Traitor! Great transformation robot Bicong!
Eye Scream: In the Mazinger vs Great General of Darkness, Kouji shot Mazinger's drilling missiles right in the eye of a Mykene Warrior Beast. So the tiny missiles drilled through its eye and exploded inside its head. Ouch. And in another episode, Sayaka blew up with her Aphrodite-A Breast Missiles the only weak points of the Mechanical Beast Gumbina M5... its eyes. Double ouch.
Exactly What I Aimed At: In the Mazinkaiser movie, Tetsuya Tsurugi is fighting Angoras and Scarabeth, two commanders of the Mykene Empire army. Tetsuya throws Great Mazinger's Great Boomerang and right after shoots Great Typhoon. Both attacks miss, both commanders laugh and ask where he is aiming at... when Great Mazinger's boomerang slices them both from behind. As he is dying, Scarabeth -Mykene army's best tactician- realizes Tetsuya had missed his boomerang throw on purpose, and he shot Great Typhoon to change the boomerang's trajectory. So he caught them by surprise and killed both of them at once.
Face Ship: There was a beastly face built on the frontside of Guru. On the top of Bood there was a head built in.
Faceless Goons: Ninety percent of the Mooks wore uniform concealed his faces. The Iron Masks wore a black suit, ancient armor and Greek-looking helmets fully hid their faces minus their mouth and chin. Subverted into a Nightmare Fuel fashion when one of them got their helmet removed and he was missing his skull's upper half, removed by the Big Bad when the mook was Reforged into a Minion. The purpose of those helmets is not to protect their heads but to replacing their skulls and protecting their brains. The Iron Crosses have identical uniforms, resembling modern-day soldiers, but they also seem identical and all of them also wear helmets covering his face up his mouth.
Falling into the Cockpit: Kouji knew absolutely nothing about piloting a giant robot -or any manner of robot, really- and in the first few episodes it shows. Mazinger went on a rampage the first time he activated it because he kept punching random buttons, and he got beaten in his first battles. Sayaka and her father did their best to teach him quickly, but until then he only survived due to Mazinger's impressive weaponry and sturdy body armor... and Kouji soon revealed he was a quick-thinker that could come up with new strategies on the fly.
Feather Flechettes: One of the attacks of Mechanical Beast Harpy π7 was hurling wave after wave of its metallic feathers at their enemies. Those feathers were hard and sharp enough to slice and cut through Japanium, and with they very nearly destroyed Mazinger-Z and destroyed Aphrodite-A for good.
Feed It a Bomb: Kouji and Sayaka use this strategy to defeat Mechanical Beast Dian N4. How do you defeat an enemy is geared with a nearly impervious armor? You shove a giant missile down its throat, of course!
Female Gaze: Kouji Kabuto. In the anime he was shown half-naked more often than Sayaka. And in the manga he visited a hot springs resort, and stripped himself once for not reason at all. Duke Fleed from UFO Robo Grendizer also "suffered" from it. An example was when Kouji went to Duke's room late in the night to discuss a matter was worrying him, and both of them were naked up waist during the conversation.
Festival Episode: Episode 29 happens during a festival that Kouji and his friends were participating on. Unfortunately, the appearance of Mechanical Beast Grengus C3 put a damper on the festivities.
Final Battle: It varies depending on if we are discussing the Go Nagai manga, the anime series or the Gosaku Ota manga, but it had two battles at the end of the series. At the final of the anime series, the main characters located Dr. Hell's Supervillain Lair at last. Quickly they began to make preparations for the final battle, but Hell used a last scheme to hinder them as he completed his own preparations. Mazinger-Z, Venus A and Boss Borot stormed Hell's Island, supported by the Japanese army, but Dr. Hell sent against them his last Mechanical Beasts. The three Humongous Mecha got severely trashed, but Mazinger-Z could still work. Kouji stormed the base, destroying and blowing up all what he saw. Hell set his Lair to self-destruct and he and Brocken tried to flee on the aerial fortress Guru. However, Mazinger-Z chased them and they faced off for last time on an aerial battle over the ocean. It was subverted, though, since all of it happened in the second-to-last episode, and the narration -and the scenes involving a smug Gorgon- warned the last episode would be NOT a happy day. The events were very different on the Go Nagai manga (Hell attacked first, deploying several dozens of Mechanical Beasts at once to invade Japan. Ashura and Brocken coordinated their squads in the assault, and the Japanese army used Mass-Production Mazingers against Hell. Finally, Kouji and Sayaka fought alone against the Island of Hell, what had transformed into a humongous Humongous Mecha). The Gosaku Ota episodes are similar to the anime, but Gorgon makes his move while Kouji is storming the base. He goads his Warrior Monsters against Mazinger-Z and backstabs Hell when he is distracted before leaving the base. Enraged and dying, Hell pulls a lever. Hell's Island takes off and flies towards the Institute to crash on it. However, Great Mazinger arrives, defeats the Mykene Beasts, fetches a defeated Mazinger-Z and runs away with it. Meanwhile, the battle has altered the course of the island, and it floats upwards, leaving the atmosphere and losing itself in the space...
Several Mechanical Beasts were armed with this weapon (for example, Danchel in one of the earlier episodes. Or one Beast from the Mazinger-Z vs Devilman feature).
Finishing Move: A bit of a subversion. Breast Fire and Rust Hurricane would be Mazinger-Z Finishing Moves. However, Kouji used whatever weapon he saw fit to end up the battle. In the original manga, Kouji mainly used Mazinger-Z's fists and kicks to beat the enemy and then he finished it off with whatever weapon.
First Episode Spoiler: Kouji's grandfather gets assassinated in the first episode. Shortly before dying he reveals to his grandsons that he was secretly building a Humongous Mecha.
First Kiss: In the Mazinger-Z vs Great General of Darkness, Kouji is going to sortie with Mazinger-Z when Sayaka stops him. He is on the brink of crossing the Despair Event Horizon, and believing he'll inevitably die in the next battle, and Sayaka is anguished about it. They look at each other for a long moment, but finally they broke up without kissing. However, when that scene was replayed in the manga (the episodes written by Gosaku Ota), they DID kiss. That scene was very heartwarming, but their relationship after the kiss was awkward for a while (since Kouji did now know how dealing with they being an Official Couple).
Fish People: The Chip Kamoy ("divine fishes" in Ainu idiom). They showed up in Gosaku Ota manga version, and they were a race from gigantic, bipedal, humanoid maneater fishes from another dimension raised herds of humans like if they were cattle. Their bodies were scaly and filled with fins. However they had depleted their homeworld's natural resources and were running out of food, so they crossed over to our dimension to find more preys.
The Evil Genius: Archduke Gorgon. On the surface he would seem The Brute, but in reality he was a manipulative, conniving, scheming, Magnificent Bastard prefered using his intelligence before his -considerable- physical strength- and provided The Big Bad with increasingly powerful weapons.
The Brute: Count Brocken. Although he is not so physically powerful like Gorgon, he commanded his own corps and would often rather using strength instead of cunning. He is an ex-Nazi officer, so he definitely liked getting his hands dirty.
The Dark Chick: Viscount Pygman. He was not a girl but he definitelystood out and he definitely was considered a freak. His skills, abilities and powers were also very different of his colleagues' ones.
Flat "What.": In a chapter of Shin Mazinger Zero, Kouji and Minerva-X are together inside the cockpit. During the battle Minerva lands on Kouji on a very awkward and embarassing position. Sayaka -who has just arrived and destroyed three Mechanical beasts in a fit of jealous rage- sees him, and they -after displayin a tremendously comical Oh Crap stares- try to explain it is not what it seems, and Minerva is not human but she actually is a Super Robo created by The Professor Dr. Kabuto to be Mazinger-Z's partner. Sayaka's reaction?
Flying Brick: Mazinger Z after its MidSeasonUpgrade, but also several Kikaiju. one of the worst offenders was Jinray S1 (It flew at Match-5 speed when Mazinger could not fly yet, it threw bolts of lightning, and shot missiles)
Follow the Leader: Super Robot Genre shows like Tetsujin 28 already had their own success, but it was Mazinger Z that solidified the concept of piloting a robot (via a cockpit within its head, rather than remote control) and started a revolutionary trend that attracted toy makers and captivated children. Such influence would eventually lead to all sorts of landmark works that keep the said genre alive and relevant to this day.
Franchise Zombie: The original anime series was supposed to wrap up at episode 57. However, the series was so wildly succesfull it was continued for other thirty-five episodes. And then two movies were made. And two sequels. And more movies. And crossovers. And spin-offs. And reboots. And remakes. And Go Nagai has stated he has got offers for a Mazinger-Z live-action movie...
Frickin' Laser Beams: They are all over the place in the trilogy. Mazinger-Z is equiped with Eye Beams, making it -again!- the Trope Maker in Humongous Mecha, and Grendizer is armed with three or four kinds of different laser beams. Plenty Robeasts from all series are equiped with sundry kinds of laser beams, and the Vegans were mainly armed with ray guns or rifles. Dr. Hell also build ray guns for human use but intriguingly his minions nearly never used them. his Co-Dragons and Mooksprefered guns or machine guns shot bullets. Of course, both Humongous Mechas and Robeasts are frequently seen dodging beams.
Forgotten Phlebotinum: It was played straight often. Many times Dr. Hell came up with a Mechanical Beast equiped with a weapon put Kouji or Mazinger-Z in a serious disadvantage: Gromazen R9 shot an acid could melt Aphrodite A's armor (that was made of Japanium, although it was less tough than Mazinger Z's), Kingdan X10 projected mirages, Holzon V3 set eathquakes off, Jinray S1 flew at Match 5, Aeros B2 could absorb Mazinger's attacks and hurling them back, Desma A1 caused hallucinations, Gumbina M5 was nearly invulnerable... and they were not used again. However, sometimes Dr. Hell reused and improved some strategies or weapons, or deceived the enemy in believing he was using the same trick.
Forgotten Superweapon: In episode 10 Mazinger-Z shot missiles from its fingers. That weapon never showed up again. It is somewhat subverted, though, since it was not so useful and Mazinger-Z had better and more powerful weapons, so it is likelier than the animators realized it was silly placing missiles in the fingers of a Rocket Punch, and they chose to forget about it and replace them with weapons were not Awesome, but Impractical.
Freeze Ray: one of the weapons of Mazinger Z: its helmet's horns shoot freezing beams tat turn the enemy into a chunk of frozen, brittle ice. It is called REITOU BEAM!!!
Freudian Excuse: Dr. Hell was an a unwanted child -a fact his mother took great pains to remind him of constantly-. When he was a school student, he was constantly belittled by professors (who believed it was impossible he got those marks without cheating) and beaten by his schoolmates. When he was in college, he took pride on his grades... and then a foreign student (Juzo Kabuto, Kouji's Grandfather) surpassed him easily before wooing the woman he was in love with. After saving a little girl and being beaten up by her father (since he falsely believed he was molesting her), he declared he was sick of it all and one day everybody would kneel to him. And then Nazism happened and he... got tips.
From Bad to Worse: In the beginning of the Mazinger-Z versus Great General of Darkness feature, Kouji believes his life will be peaceful from now on. Then an unknown army of Robeasts razes the main cities of the world to ashes. After that, they strike Tokyo. Kouji goes to fight them... and he gets easily defeated. The War Beasts easily burn Tokyo to ashes and leave after tearing Mazinger-Z apart. When he returns to his Home Base, he finds the place has been turned in ruins for another squad of Beasts, his friends have been hurt and their Humongous Mecha destroyed... and his little brother got crushed by a failing ceiling and is in coma. Shortly after more Beasts attack the Institute and he goes to fight them, fully believing he will die. He gets soundly beaten, and Mazinger-Z is finally destroyed. The only highlight is he manages walking out of alive.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Dr. Hell started like an unwanted son born in a pauper, ordinary family was -psychologically and physically- abused by his mother, berated by his teachers and bullied by his classmates. Forty years later he was designing Doomsday Devices by Hitler and experimenting with human beings in Austchwitz. Thirty years later he was trying to Take Over the World and enslaving the humankind with an army of Humongous Mecha.
Genre Savvy: Prof. Yumi was pretty Genre Savvy. For example, he made sure they got spare parts for Mazinger-Z ready to be used in case of an emergency (during one battle Mazinger had lost his fists and they launched spare Rocket Punches at its location to help Kouji). In one episode he hesitated several persons were dead why their corpses were not found. And he memorized the plans for the Jet Scrander in case of they were stolen (and indeed, they were).
Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Subverted. Sometimes Kouji slapped Sayaka to try to calm her down or get her out of a Heroic BSOD (it happened as soon as episode 7). However, given that he is infamously tactless, it did not work. The only thing it accomplished was getting her mad -or madder-.
Giant Enemy Crab: Zarigan G8 was a Mechanical Beast shaped like a orange-and-red giant crab with large eyes and a long tail. It was amazingly fast and agile underwater and beat the crab out of Mazinger-Z -that had always been a lousy fighter underwater- during their battle.
Giant Equals Invincible: For the most part it is played straight. In the first episode Garada K7 and Doublas M2 are trashing a city. Bullets, missiles, tanks, jets are thrown in their way... and they not even put a dent in their armor plates. It is not until Mazinger shows up they are trashed in turn. However, FemBots are not invincible -even if they were crushed by other giant robots- and sometimes Aphrodite A was overwhelmed and briefly deterred by an army of Iron Masks using conventional weapons.
Giant Robot Hands Save Lives: Several examples. A particularly awesome instance happened in the episode 28 when Mazinger Z saved Professor Yumi with a Rocket Punch when he was falling down a cliff. In the Ota equivalent manga chapter, he was faling from a flying fortress and Aphrodite A was the one caught him.
Give Me a Sword: In Mazinger-Z vs Great General of Darkness, Kouji has been defeated by the Mykene War Beasts, his Humongous Mecha is utterly trashed, it barely functions, and its weapons are useless. Then Tetsuya shows up piloting Great Mazinger, and as he begins to deliver a sound beating, he throws one of his swords at Mazinger-Z saying "You can use this" (and conveniently and intentionally impaling a Warbeast). Kouji catches the sword, and even though his Humongous Mecha is barely capable to move, he still manage to destroy one of the Mykene War Beasts, and he impales the Mykene commander was leading the squad. The sword was returned to Great Mazinger afterwards, along a heartfelt "Thank you".
The Glomp: Sayaka used it several times in many manga versions and continuities (albeit not so much in the anime adaptation). Remarkably, she resorts to them when Kouji is feeling gloomy. Her reaction when she met Kouji again after the Final Battle in the Gosaku Ota manga? Glomping him. Her reaction in the Shin Mazinger Zero manga when Kouji got a I Am a Monster moment? Glomping him as declaring he is her ideal man.
Erika used The Glomp with Kouji in episode 63, much to Sayaka's jealous wrath.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: When the eyes of Mazinger Z glowed, you knew you had to run for cover. Often it happened when Kouji was really, REALLY fired up or even panicked or in danger, and somehow his state of mood affected his mecha (which suggests Mazinger was sentient, a point plot later versions have explored). A memorable example happened in Shin Mazinger Zero. Mazinger was chained by a Robeast and unable to get free as another Mechanical Beast was disintegrating Sayaka'sHumongous Mecha. Then Kouji got REAL MAD, and Mazinger's eyes glowed right before he shattered the chains binding it and delivered a Curb-Stomp Battle to both Robeasts.
Grand Finale: At the end of the series, the group has finally located Hell's base, and they head towards there, supported by the Japanese army (in the Go Nagai manga, an army of Mass-Production Mazingers was produced; Hell's counterattack was sending a fleet of seventy Mechanical Beasts, a submarine and an aerial fortress to imvade and take over Japan in ten days). Mazinger, Aphrodite-A and Boss Borot duel against Hell's last Mechanical Beasts and start trashing his Base. Hell gets fed up and decides blowing his island up and fleeing on board of his aerial fortress. Mazinger goes after him and they engage in a last aerial duel. After winning, the heroes return to their Home Base, believing they are safe at last, but Dragon with an Agenda Archduke Gorgon sends two War Beasts behind them. Gorgon's Robeasts easily destroy the three Humongous Mecha and raze the Institute to rubble, but before they could kill Kouji, another Robot shows up and easily annihilates the Beasts, hinting the sequel.
After a fashion. Minerva X was designed by Professor Kabuto, but never actually built; Dr. Hell got his hands on the plans and constructed Minerva, using mundane armor materials instead of Super Alloy Z, and installing an AI "crown" piece in place of a Pilder.
And in the "The Relic of Evil" one-shot, Mazinger-Z itself was hijacked by a Kedora sent by Dr. Hell.
Gratuitous English: The Toei dub has theme songs sung entirely in English by famed anime singer Isao Sasaki.
Though not nearly as gratuitous as the version Ichiro Mizuki did, which was pretty much nonsensical.
Gratuitous German: Count Brocken was German and sometimes into the Gosaku Ota episodes he fell into uttering some sentence his native idiom ("Gutten Abend").
Green Aesop: Several times we were given messages about the dangers of depleting the planet's natural resources and polluting the enviroment. They were not subtle. AT ALL.
In Shin Mazinger, Zeus gets his arm cut off by Hades. When he sees Mazinger Z use a Rocket Punch later in the episode, he's so impressed that he picks up his own severed arm and throws it while shouting "ROCKETTO PAAAANCH!!"
Gut Punch: The last third of the anime series was getting increasingly darker due to the new enemies: Professor Morimori was murdered, Aphrodite A was definitely destroyed -which, believe it or not, was a great deal and Sayaka got an Heroic BSOD cause it-, Kouji and Shiro's mother returned only to be revealed she was an imposter -poor Shiro was forced to shoot her in spite of he was not sure of she was not his real mother-... and then you have the final episode: the heroes have triumphed over Dr. Hell and return to his Home Base... only to find out tht one of the Co-Dragons was secretely working for a Bigger Bad. Two unknown Robeasts appear, easily destroy the Institute, Diana-A and Boss Borot, and when Kouji goes to fight them, they easily and mercilessly trash the erstwhile apparently invincible Mazinger-Z.
This episode was better developed in theMazinger-Z vs Great General of Darkness feature. Five major world cities destroyed in one single day, Shiro wounded cause a crumbling ceiling and falling into a coma, Kouji deploying Mazinger, in spite of he is injured and weakened and his robot unrepaired and power-depleted, and being soundly trounced... Great General of Darkness had an excellent The Dragon curriculum.
Ham-to-Ham Combat: In the Dynamic Heroes e-manga, Kouji Kabuto fought Great Marshall Of Hell as riding Mazinger. It is noteworthy as it was, maybe, the first time in the history of the franchise Kouji and Dr. Hell faced each other directly as both were riding giant robots. Too bad it was a Curb-Stomp Battle.
Held Gaze: Kouji and Sayaka do this in the Mazinger-Z vs Great General of Darkness, right when Kouji is going to sortie with Mazinger-Z to fight a battle he knows he can not win, and thinking he'll die. Sayaka stops him to give him his little brother's birthday gift, and both stare into each other's eyes for a long while. In the movie, Kouji finally turns around and leaves. In the manga version of that moment, they DO kiss.
Here We Go Again: The series ends up right like it began: a mysterious army of Robeasts attacks the Photon Atomic Power Research Institute, and they are defeated by the sudden appearance of a Super Robot named Mazinger the enemy knew nothing about. Cue the sequel starting the next week in the same time slot.
Heroes Prefer Swords: Subversion. In spite of the fact that swords are common Humongous Mecha weapons, Kouji never used one (unless you count the Iron Cutter weapon he got in the last seasons). His sucessor, Tetsuya, was the one who introduced the trope in Super Robot Genre.
Heroic BSOD: Sayaka, after Aphrodite A is destroyed. She even almost drowns herself in a lake when she thinks she's hearing Aphrodite calling out to her from there.
She had another way earlier, in episode 7. A mob -enraged at having their hometown leveled by two battling Humongous Mecha- threw stones at her father, landing him in the hospital, and almost broke in the Institute. She was so upset and distraught she considered to stop fighting.
And in the original manga, Kouji has another in an early chapter after being forced to kill an Iron Mask. He remained kneeled and shaking.
Heroic Resolve: Kouji has plenty moments like this. Threatens someone innocents and he will go The Berserker. A good example happens in Shin Mazinger Zero: The Dragon Baron Ashura has managed gets Mazinger-Z and Aphrodite-A trapped, but instead of ordering one of his Mechanical Beasts targeting Kouji he orders it targeting Sayaka because she pissed him off (by wrecking THREE of his Beasts), so he wants to kill her as Kouji witness it helplessly. It was NOT a good idea (You do not know what an Unstoppable Rage is until you see an angry Kouji charging).
Heroic Sacrifice: ... Just one too many. Specially in the Mazinkaiser movie. Subverted by Boss at an early stage - he self-destructs the Boss Borot, but shows up a short while later asking "Why do I have to die for you, Kouji!?"
And in episode 74 Sayaka sacrifices Aphrodita-A to save Kouji.
Heroic Second Wind: Kouji got several of them through the series, and the first of them happened as soon as the second episode. He barely know how piloting his mecha and he was being soundly beaten by Garada K7 and Doublas M2. Finally he got knocked out and Doublas M2 proceeded to torch Mazinger with him inside. However, as he was unconscious, he saw or believed seeing his grandfather's spirit reminding him because he was fighting and what were the consequences of being defeated. Kouji came around, got up and started to trash both Mechanical Beasts using Mazinger's weapons.
Heroic Spirit: Kouji Kabuto will keep fighting even if he is badly wounded and weakened, his weapons have been destroyed, his Humongous Mecha is running out of power, he is outnumbered and the enemy is way more powerful than him. The times he has almost or fully crossed the Despair Event Horizon his mindset has been "I am going to die... Alright. I'll die fighting." However Sayaka's Heroic Spirit is even greater because she knows she is always underpowered. She is nearly always badly beaten in battles and still keeps fighting.
It is hinted in the original series and more heavily in other relatedseries the "God or demon" Dr. Kabuto lecture is due to Mazinger-Z's power depending on Kouji's Heroic Spirit. If Kouji is in The Determinator mode and wants to save the world, Mazinger will even move on its own to save Kouji. If Kouji has crossed the Despair Event Horizonit will become a demon.
Hero Killer: All heroes -and even his allies- are scared of Archduke Gorgon. He is strong, physically imposing, ruthless, and neither of them can beat him in a fight. The only character refused to shrink back from him was Pygman.
Highly Visible Ninja: Blazas S1 and S2 were two ninja MechaMooks than Big Bad built for a sabotaging mission in episode 46. They were actually pretty stealthy when they infiltrated into the Institute... but when they had to chase a target or fight Mazinger they used all kind of flashy movements, jumps and sommersaults, making a pose as they threw shuriken and shot missiles and being incredibly loud. Needless to say, their blue-and yellow colors did not help to camouflage themselves in a woodland.
Hope Is Scary: In Shin Mazinger Zero Minerva-X is locked into a Groundhog Peggy Sue loop where she sends Kouji Kabuto back in time to save the world, he fails and she sends him back again. Until now she has failed 2,798 times towards averting the End of the World as We Know It. She does as much as stating all of those times she hoped, and her hope was in vain. However, in the current timeline she is stuck in, she is seeing signs of maybe -maybe- things will finally be different this time around. So she feels a glimmer of hope... and she is afraid of being hopeful only for getting disappointed and heart-broken again.
Hot Springs Episode: In chapter 8 of the original manga, Kouji and his friends spending a while on a hot springs resort in a mountain. That episode was noteworthy because Mazinger-Z did not show up and it had a very funny Kouji/Sayaka moment in the hot springs (with a double Luminescent Blush included).
Hoist by His Own Petard: Dr. Hell designed a Mechanical Beast (Spartan K5) resembled a gladiator but it was a pacifist refused attacking unless provoked. Baron Ashura decided testing it against Mazinger Z, but Kouji actually befriended it. Enraged, Ashura ordered several Iron Masks putting a time bomb on Spartan K5 to blowing it up. Later, Spartan was accidentally goaded into attacking Mazinger Z and UTTERLY BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF IT. It was about of delivering the final blow when the bomb went off. Kouji and his friends felt sad. Hell and Ashura threw a fit.
A nearly literal example in another episode. Kouji was fighting the Mechanical Beast Glossam X2 in a an underwater battle. Glossam shot a pair of torpedoes at Mazinger. Mazinger grabbed them and threw them back, blowing Glossam up.
In episode 27, Ashura captures Aphrodite A and scans it in order to learn how building a photong engine. He hands over the records to an Iron Mask and commands him go and hand them out to Dr. Hell. Though, a Kikaiju -that had been deployed by Ashura to delay Mazinger Z- is returning to base right on that moment, and steps on the Iron Mask, killing him and ruining the records.
Home Base: The Photon Atomic Research Institute was the heroes's base where they kept the Humongous Mecha and all tools they needed to repair and upgrade them. Originally it was a civilian use building -a laboratory researching the newly discovered Photon Atomic energy-, but Dr. Hell pretty much forced them to make some modifications (such like installing a Beehive Barrier). Over the half of the series, The Hero and his little brother moved to the Institute, making the example even more literal. Big Bad Dr. Hell had two Super Villain Lair's Bardos Island And Hell Island. Both of them counted as Elaborate Underground Base, Island Base and Mad Scientist Laboratory.
Island Base: Like noted above, Dr. Hell had two Island Bases: Bardos, an ancient Greek island full of underground mazes and labyrinths where he found an army of Humongous Mecha: and Hell Island, an island near from the Japanese coast where he moved later in the series. It was a barren, rocky islet. A low mountain rose in the center, and several giant faces had been carved on its slopes. Baron Ashura's submarine fortress Salude doubled as both an Island Base and Cool Ship.
Hope Spot: Several of them. Maybe the best remembered ones are:
In episode 91, finally the main characters defeat Dr. Hell. Naturally, they think the war is over and they have finally achieved peace. However, the music playing during the last scenes is eerie, and the narrator voice reminds the viewers that Archduke Gorgon is still alive, and he warns the heroes are about of facing the worst battle of their lives. In the next episode, two Mykene War Beasts, more powerful anything Hell had ever constructed, utterly crush the heroes and destroy their Home Base.
In episode 92, Sayaka and Boss are fighting the War Beasts and being utterly trounced. Then Kouji finally shows up... and the War Beasts tear through his Humongous Mecha like if Mazinger-Z was made of paper instead of Made of Indestructium.
In the Mazinger-Z vs Great General of Darkness feature Kouji is fighting an army of Mykene War Beasts... and getting completely trashed. Out of helplessness, the main characters launch Boss Borot. Boss' Humongous Mecha crashes into a Beast was previosuly thought of like invulnerable, and he manages blowing it up, saving Mazinger. The main characters cheer up... right before another War Beast swats Boss away with a single blow, and the Mykene army keeps on tearing an utterly helpless Mazinger apart.
In the Gosaku Ota manga episodes, Mazinger-Z is trashing Hell's Super Villain Lair. Hell is out of Robeasts, out of Co-Dragons, out of troops, out of traps and out of tricks. Suddenly Archduke Gorgon shows up, commanding two War Beasts proceed to soundly trash Mazinger-Z, and Hell laughs thinking he has won at last. And then Gorgon backstabs him. Literally.
How Dare You Die on Me!: In episode 52, Kouji gets brutally hurt during a fight and falls unconscious. When he does not move or reacts, Sayaka gets grief-stricken. She kneels by his side, and she starts crying as holding him in arms. She pleads him not dying and not leaving her alone, and even makes an Anguished Declaration of Love. Then Kouji opens his eyes and he announces he is not getting married to a tomboy. Cue Sayaka wanting killing him for real.
How Unscientific: This is a sci-fi Mecha Show. Several times Kouji said (in the original manga) that he does not believe in ghosts or living corpses. Then in a Crossover movie with ''Devilman, he accidentally wakes up a demon and spends the remain of the movie finding and fighting demons and devils.
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Inverted in New Mazinger. Major Kabuto is human-sized. Princess Krishna is Mazinger-sized (around eighteen-meters tall). He -understandably- complains she is the most beautiful woman he has found, but they are the wrong size.
