Series / Voltes V: Legacy

This is our legacy.^note From left to right: Mark Gordon, Little John Armstrong (with OCTO-1), Steve Armstrong, Jamie Robinson and Robert "Big Bert" Armstrong. Background: The Super-Electromagnetic Robot itself, Voltes V.

Voltes V: Legacy is a live-action adaptation of Voltes V, which debuted in Japan in 1977. It is produced by GMA Network, with CGI work done by Riot Productions and under the supervision of Toei Company. The first episode was released throughout the Philippines on TV and on GMA's YouTube channel on May 8, 2023 and the final episode was released on September 8, 2023. The show was planned to receive 80 episodes^note Word of God reveals that the show has extended to 90 episodes at the San Diego Comic Con 2023 announcement., and is directed by Mark A. Reyes. Given that it's an adaptation, expect to see Adaptation Expansion.

The show stars Miguel Tanfelix, Radson Flores, Matt Lozano, Raphael Landicho and Ysabel Ortega.

Note that unlike the anime, the names of most characters are taken from the English dub made in the Philippines. In addition, the show is done in both English and Tagalog with a Conlang system made to represent the Boazanian language.

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Voltes V: Legacy provides examples of:

• Actor Allusion:
  • Dennis Trillo playing Ned Armstrong/Baron Hrothgar in Voltes V: Legacy alludes to how he originally voiced Steve Armstrong in the 2005 Hero TV Tagalog dub of Voltes V known as Voltes V: Evolution.
    • Trillo's role as a key figure in the series also makes up for how GMA Network botched the development of the Filipino sequel-in-spirit of popular Metal Hero series Space Sheriff Shaider, the infamous Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan. He also played the lead in Zaido, in fact.
    • Trillo's current role is also an allusion to his recent role as Crisostomo Ibarra/Simoun in^note the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo fanfic and pastiche in the style of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Maria Clara at Ibarra. He fulfills yet another role where he attempts to invoke a revolution to free his people from an abusive invading empire, even to the point of having dual identities.
  • During the 2017 re-release of Daimos in the Philippines, Miguel Taneflix voiced Richard Hartford (Kazuya Ryuzaki) while Bianca Umali voiced Erika. 6 years later, he'd also end up on Philippine broadcast TV as Steve Armstrong (Ken'ichi Gou) in Voltes V: Legacy, a remake based off another work from Tadao Nagahama's Robot Romance Trilogy.
• Adaptational Attractiveness:
  • In the original anime, Zuhl had blue skin and an elderly, gnarled appearance while Draco had red skin and an orc-like demonic look. In Legacy both have human skin tones and are decidedly less monstrous-looking than their anime counterparts.
  • Zuhl in Legacy also looks younger than Zuhl in Voltes V. It's the same deal with Dr. Smith and Dr. Hook. They both got younger versions of themselves in Legacy.
• Adaptation Expansion: Given that Legacy has more than double the episode count of the original anime (80 versus 40, later extended to 90), some plot points that were merely mentioned or not covered by the anime are added or expanded upon. For instance, in the first five episodes, viewers are treated with the explanation behind the Fantastic Caste System of the Boazanians, as well as the Boazanian language, a Conlang formulated by the show's head writer, Suzette Doctolero, who also previously created the Enchata language for Encantadia.
• Adaptation Deviation:
  • Episode 20 features a different version of Mark's mother's death. Instead of being out in the American wasteland and taking down a pack of wolves with her with explosives, she's unceremoniously killed off by wolves in the woods while gathering herbs for her husband. Dr. Richard Smith said officials found her corpse much later, but by then Mark's father was dead and Mark himself was already off elsewhere. And Smith shows Mark the report as proof that he wasn't lying.
  • Hornless Boazanians are supposed to be just like humans but with more advanced alien technology. The horned aristocracy, meanwhile, are just horned humanoids. Legacy deviates from this original template by making Boazanians Made of Iron supermen capable of deflecting bullets with their bare skin.
  • The change in Boazanian biology was seemingly decided upon by the production team for foreshadowing purposes and to justify Ken'ichi's admittedly reckless decision to catch a bullet with a gun and two stones for the sake of mastering the relatively easier Butterfly Return in the original anime.
  • The Heinel and Katherine dynamic changing from unrequited love till the bitter end to Zardoz and Zandra having an in-series Bedmate Reveal and metafictional "mall dates" is... quite the deviation from the original.
  • The Voltes Team are kept in the medical bay by sedative formulas and tightening straps (which in the anime, Kenichi and Daijirou manage to break free). Only Little John was spared this, not that he could do anything on his own. Until he's convinced by Steve to undo only his straps and leave his teammates behind. It takes Big Bert threatening to sit on top of OCTO-1 that he follows up with the others.
  • As troublesome as Namazungo was in the original anime, he was finished off by a mere double foot stomp. In Legacy, Namazuka actually gets a proper V-Slash from Voltes V.
  • Instead of having the human Sakame/Sakabe/Wilson infiltrate Camp Big Falcon, Legacy instead had Zardoz transform into Manuel Nabuz to basically do the same thing.
  • Gamenza was finished off by the Laser Sword in the original. In Legacy, Gamera was finished off by Volt Bomber and Volt Panzer when they shot its Chest Blaster mid-charge.
  • Dr. Smith still dies, but the way he dies is different in this adaptation. Instead of saving the Voltes Team from a jellyfish and gorilla kaiju by kamikaze escape shuttle attack like with Mary Ann, he instead gets stabbed by an imposter version of Dr. Armstrong, all because he was being Properly Paranoid about him.
  • The way Commander Robinson died is also different in the show, with him dying in Oslak's hands to shield his daughter from harm instead of while riding a helicopter (which, in contrast, is again reminiscent of the airplane-related deaths of Mitsuyo Gou and Prof. Hamaguchi).
• Adapted Out: According to the production team, only 16 (18 if Daiga, Negg, and Dainegu are counted separately) of the 41 Beast Fighters from the anime will be adapted for the series.
  • Bonzarus, the Beast Fighter of episode 3 of the original series, is omitted, skipping directly to Gardo of episode 4.
  • Bad Heil, Karakus, Dario and Gondom are also excluded from the show, skipping directly to Negg and Daiga.
  • Gamenza, who was supposed to support Namazungo/Namazuka in another Boazanian attempt at a pincer attack, was absent during the Namazuka episodes. He was then teased in holographic blueprint form in episode 43 before formally debuting later in episode 47 as "Gamera".
  • Kanigan, Gonguru, Kuragenyara, Garuman, Jaguard and Suneizaa are also excluded from the show, skipping directly to Zairus. Suneizaa was later upgraded to Armored Beast Fighter and made a very late surprise appearance.
  • Gokiiru and Tobiurago are also excluded from the show, skipping directly to Zoldier.
  • Octopus Guard, Sazarus, Zemingo, and Garus are also excluded from the show, skipping directly to Okozenia.
  • A whole host of Beast Fighters are skipped as Voltes V instead faces off against Shugoshin Godor.
  • Apart from Beast Fighters, a few minor characters from the original anime are nonexistent in Legacy. These are: Mr. Sakame and his daughter Rumi, the puppy, Nakamura and his parents, and Kaori Adachi.
• Adaptation Name Change:
  • The Legacy version of Baizanga is named as "Vaizanger".
  • The Legacy version of Neegu is named as "Negg".
  • The Legacy version of Namazungo is named as "Namazuka".
  • The Legacy version of Gamenza finally arrives in episode 47, but this time it's named "Gamera". Yeah. That Gamera.^note That might have to do with Daiei's Gamera—who Gamenza was a shout-out to—having its films end up unreleased or obscure in the Philippines, so there's no need to write around trademarks with its name.
  • The Legacy version of Zaizarus is named as "Zairus".
  • The Legacy version of Zoru is named as "Zoldier".
  • The Legacy version of Suneizaa is named "Zunaizer", or alternatively Zunaizer-Hydra.
  • The Legacy version of Shugoshin Godol is named "Godor", Boazan's God of War.
• Adaptation Species Change: In the original run, the third "Beast Fighter" Gardo used to be just a foreign giant alien who earned the favor of Prince Heinel and was granted horns before engaging Voltes V in battle. Here, he's a creation of Draco's after he drew inspiration from Japanese samurai.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • In the original run, the "study center" where Prof. Gou used to live only appeared in Episode 15. Here, it features prominently as the Armstrongs' home while Mary Ann was still alive, and when Impostor Ned came to visit, just like in the original.
  • Impostor Ned is also an example of this since in the original, he didn't arrive until two episodes after Dr. Hamaguchi's death. Here, he's personally responsible for it, among other things.
• Adaptational Late Appearance: In the anime, Suneizaa was a regular Beast Fighter that appeared in episode 16, between Gamenza (Gamera) and Zaizarus (Zairus), whereas here it appears in the finale as Zunaizer, an Armored Beast Fighter.
• Agent Scully: One of the world leaders attending the Earth's Defense Force meeting about the incoming threat of Boazan Star Empire does not seem to believe Dr. Ned Armstrong's explanation about the Beast Fighters and their capabilities, and sarcastically asks if he has a solution against them, which he did: Voltes V.
• Aliens Speaking English: The series gives the Boazanians a Conlang of sorts; "Hrothgar" shows Hrothgar activating a translation device behind his ear when he realizes the Earthling he's talking to can't understand him. And soldiers that were guarding him were surprised that he can speak their language.
• And This Is for...: In "Rise, Armstrong Brothers", Steve dedicates the Laser Sword Finishing Move to his recently deceased mother Mary Ann, who did a Heroic Sacrifice earlier to stall Vaizanger.
• Anger Born of Worry: Medical Bay Doctor Alonzo when the Voltes Team tries to leave despite their injuries, and she even calling them to be just like Steve Big Bert and Little John's mother ^note Steve managed to escape by then. Given Mary Ann had died right after this, it's no wonder she's frustrated.
• Art Evolution:
  • The Voltes V: Legacy proof of concept Pilot episode or video showcases a much leaner and more streamlined look for Voltes V reminiscent more of Beast Wars than of the Pacific Rim look it eventually sported.
  • The Voltes V robot design has clearly improved from the first teaser trailer in 2020 to the following trailer in 2021. It's the same with the 2020◊ version of the Sky Rook compared to its look in 2023◊. The production team apparently used the COVID-19 delays to further enhance the end product.
• Assassination Attempt:
  • Apable attempts this three times after Eva blackmailed him into helping her get rid of Jamie Robinson so she becomes the new Voltes Team member in exchange for not blowing the whistle on his corporate espionage mission.
    • First, he tries to snipe Jamie in her room from afar but missed his shot.
    • Second, he infiltrates Jamie's room to shoot her with a silencer pistol from behind but was thwarted by Jamie and escaped before she tries to unmask him.
    • Third, he knocks out Jamie with a sleeping pill added into the glass of water he gave her before bringing her to her room where he would finish the job with the silencer pistol. But Steve Armstrong, who overhears a frantic Jamie's call for help, intervenes and confronts Apable. With help of Mark Gordon in his Big Damn Heroes moment, they are able to take down Apable and subdue him.
  • After turning traitor, Judy attempts this by sneaking inside the Boazanian base and shoot Zardoz with the stolen blaster. But Zandra's Deflector Shields saved the prince and Zuhl disarmed Judy after sneaking behind her. She was forced to flee for her life as a result.
• Awesome, but Impractical:
  • Instead of being a ranged support weapon to charge up the Volt Machines, the Ultramarcon was meant to be equipped to Voltes V, but is used as the former anyway due to (in-universe) time constraints.
  • The Ultra Electromagnetic Beast Cannon is this as this consumes too much energy to use when Dr. Hook explains to the Voltes Team that he used the entire reserve power of Camp Big Falcon to power it up and it's still not enough. Hence, the Ultra Electromagnetic Ball is the alternative solution to deal with the Armored Beast Fighter.
• Barehanded Blade Block: Big Bert's Butterfly Return technique, just like in the original. And he has to teach Steve this in order to beat Gardo since he's piloting the main robot. Despite pulling off the same "block a bullet with two rocks" like before, he knows that's not enough, and has Big Bert swing down at him with Steve's own sword just to make certain he's got it. Thankfully, he does.
• Beehive Barrier: When Camp Big Falcon is under attack, it deploys this in order to protect the base and its personnel from a Beast Fighter attack. Although it does not last long under repeated barrages and it's at a risk of breaking down.
• Big Applesauce: New York City is shown briefly on "Voltes V vs. the Boazanian Empire", where it is one of the first locations around the Earth that the Boazanians devastate, along with the Great Wall of China, Paris, and somewhere in the southern US.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • At the end of Episode 31, Little Jon does this on behalf of the others when he interrupt's Negg's attack on them.
  • Voltes V itself does this too in Episode 32 when it intercepts Daiga's attack on Camp Big Falcon.
  • During Apable's third Assassination Attempt on Jamie, just when he has Steve on the ropes and about to slice his throat open, Mark comes in and snags his wrist with his whip, pulling him away long enough for Steve to escape the grapple and finish the fight.
  • Mark pulls this off again against Imposter Ned to stop him from detonating his bomb on the Volt Frigate thanks to Steve taunting him to buy time.
• Bittersweet Ending: As with the source material, Zambojil is slain by Zardoz using the dagger given to him by his mother, but the bomb held by the emperor explodes, and Zardoz has to sacrifice himself to save Steve from falling debris. But Zardoz makes peace with his biological Hrothgar and his three Earthling siblings before passing away. Hrothgar is crowned as the new emperor of Boazan, with the planet now free of tyranny and oppression and on good terms with the people of Terra Erthu, but the Voltes Team needed to return to Earth to resume their duty in protecting the planet and the Armstrong siblings will be once again apart from their father. But Little Jon is reassured that the team can return to Boazan at any given time.
• Blackmail:
  • Little Jon attempts this on his mother regarding the true nature of his Boazanian half from him and his brothers he figured out as a way to get in into the Voltes Team training program. However, Mary Ann Armstrong swiftly shuts him down.
  • Eva stumbles on Apable spying on the Voltes Team and convinces him that if he does not help her assassinate Jamie Robinson so that she gets a vacant spot as Volt Lander pilot in her place, she will report to Camp Big Falcon's higher ups about his corporate espionage.
• Blatant Lies: In "Destiny to Fulfill", when Mary Ann Armstrong tries to hide the Armstrong siblings' half-Boazanian traits, such as their bulletproof skin, she refers to them as being the results of a vaccine that "weaponized" them, leading to the siblings' confusion. Later on in the episode, Little John speculates that this is a genetic trait, where the siblings agree.
• Biomanipulation: Zuhl creates a device called a "Polseras" that transforms Prince Zardoz into a human to spy on Camp Big Falcon as a castaway by using samples of human blood and the same technology used to create the Beast Fighters. Judging by Zardoz's screams during his transformation, the transformation process is quite painful.
• Bohemian Parody: A publicity shot◊ for Prince Zardoz and his crew, which is shown in the ending credits sequence, looks similar to the most recognizable shot in the music video for one of Queen's most recognizable songs.
• Book Ends:
  • The series begins with Hrothgar, a well-respected Boazanian prince about to be crowned as emperor, only to fall from grace when Zambojil exposes him as a hornless Boazanian, and ends with Hrothgar officially crowned as the new emperor of Boazan after Zambojil's death.
  • The series also begins with the five Voltes V pilots training and roughly ends with them going back to their former lives before the Boazanian invasion occurs, even though some of them had Relationship Upgrades along the way.
• Bowdlerise:
  • In "Voltes V vs. the Boazanian Empire", Little Jon is swimming with a dolphin compared to his anime counterpart Hiyoshi Gou who fought a shark underwater with a knife during his training.
  • Voltes V's signature "V-Cut" in the original anime occasionally involves cleaving the opponent's head vertically. In the series, Voltes instead opts to mostly do the shoulder-to-shoulder cut that the original Voltes also does.
  • Prince Zardoz punishes Zuhl and Draco with an electric beam instead of threatening to cut them down by hitting them with the flat side of his sword before slashing Katherine's veil. He even avoids outright flogging Zuhl in later episodes in favor of using the device instead.
  • Gardo is a robot rather than a giant humanoid Boazanian, which makes his death less gory for a primetime slot on TV according to the MTRCB. In the original anime, the humanoid Gardo is defeated by the "V-Slash" finisher, which visibly shows organic flesh (though thankfully no blood).
  • The fourth Beast Fighter Neegu was renamed "Negg" in the adaptation due to the pronunciation of the original coincidentally sounding too much like a certain N-slur.
  • Voltes V's "Finger Missiles" have been changed to "Knuckle Missiles" for obvious reasons^note (even though the original anime calls them "Gatling Missiles" instead because "Finger Missiles" was a Dub Name Change).
    • In "Ned's Plan", Steve actually used the term "Finger Missiles" instead of "Knuckle Missiles", even though the missiles were still released from Voltes V's knuckles.
  • The original anime's "Sodom and Gomorrah Posi-Negatron Defense System"^note (a defense system composed of two combat satellites capable of destroying everything in its path with positive and negative electromagnetism) had its name shortened to just "Posi-Negatron Defense System" in the show. Legacy showrunners removed the biblical reference for the sake of its mostly Catholic viewership in the Philippines.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: On "Octo-1", the titular robot also greets the audience after greeting Steve and Jamie.
• Calling Your Attacks: The show explicitly states that Voltes V's weaponry is voice-activated, invoking this trope.
• Cassandra Truth: Zandra stumbles upon Zuhl's contact with Emperor Zambojil about his secret mission to sabotage Zardoz's campaign to conquer Terra Erthu, and goes to inform the prince about it. However, Zardoz doesn't believe her and points his sword at her. He eventually stands down when she proves her loyalty by staking her life on this claim, but he instead assumes this sabotage plot is under the suggestion of Baron Zander rather than direct orders from Zambojil.
• Child Soldier: Dr. Mary Ann Armstrong is very reluctant to let her youngest son Little Jon be a member of Voltes Team to fight off the Boazanian invasion. Even before that, she doesn't even let him be part of the training program with Steve and Big Bert. But eventually she relented due to the other cadets' absence and there is no other choice. This is in complete contrast with her anime counterpart Professor Mitsuyo Gou who seems to have no problem of her son Hiyoshi Gou undertaking training as a soldier and Voltes Team member despite his young age from the beginning.
• Chekhov's Gun: In Episode 43, Little John gives "Manuel" a model ship (not Mikasa unless he somehow recovered it from the harbor after Negg's attack since it would be lost in the water even if it wasn't vaporized like in the original). In Episode 44, Zardoz crushes it as he derides the emotions that drive humans.
• Conscription: Mark Gordon was formally recruited into the Voltes Team training program which he is also allowed to bring his horse Alpha along in Camp Big Falcon compared with his anime counterpart Ippei Mine who was Press-Ganged into becoming a member of Voltes V via kidnapping by soldiers under Professor Hamaguchi's orders and forcibly separated from his horse Eiffel.
• Combining Mecha:
  • The titular Voltes V is this, formed from the fusion of the five Volt Machines.
  • The ogre-like Daiga and the serpentine Negg are able to fuse into "Dainegu", though it primarily just consists of Negg coiling around Daiga to form armbands and leg bands with its head arched over Daiga's head. Later, Dainegu transforms into its Roller Form as a proper fusion this time.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience:
  • Members of Voltes Team have their respective colors that stand them out in their pilot suits, on-duty uniforms and civilian attires:
    • Red for Steve Armstrong
    • Blue for Mark Gordon
    • Dark Green for Big Bert Armstrong
    • Light Green for Little Jon Armstrong
    • Yellow for Jamie Robinson
  • The Mission Control personnel of Camp Big Falcon have yellow for women's uniform and grey for men's uniform respectively.
• Curbstomp Battle: Earth's military forces and defenses are completely no match for the Boazanian invasion force especially when Dokugaga and succeeding Beast Fighter are deployed on the field.
• Creator Cameo: Mark A. Reyes, the director of Legacy cameos as one of the world leaders attending the Earth Defense Force meeting with Hrothgar/Ned Armstrong and later agreed with General Robinson to deploy several squads of jet fighters to defend Camp Big Falcon from Namazuka.
• Death by Childbirth: This was the fate of Rozalia, Zardoz's mother and Hrothgar's first wife.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune:
  • The cover of "Chichi wo Motomete (Looking for Father)", the original anime's ending theme, is sung by Matt Lozano, who also plays Big Bert. The song is finally played in Episode 36.
  • "Ikaw Sana Ang Nauna (I Wish You Were My First)", a love theme specifically written for Legacy, is sung by Crystal Paras, who also plays Judy.
• Do Not Go Gentle: The disarmed Gardo does this as he immediately runs for his sword and performs a brief but powerful Blade Lock with Voltes V's Laser Sword before his weapon gives out and the samurai Beast Fighter is cut down.
• Due to the Dead: Voltes Team and General Robinson does this to mourn the passing of Dr. Smith who was murdered by the imposter robot of Ned Armstrong and his death affected them.
• Dramatic Irony: Mark Gordon refuses the offer of having a day off far away from Camp Big Falcon by Tomas del Rosario, who befriended him in first meeting, thanks to his Ineffectual Loner attitude. If Mark Gordon had accepted, he would have been too far away to respond to orders of returning to base and Voltes Team would still have one member lacking even after Little Jon is added in.
• Elaborate Underground Base: The Boazanians built their massive underground base on Earth which is hidden from the Earth Defense Force's Spy Satellites. It is where Zardoz and his aides plot and scheme in finding ways to defeat Voltes V and take over Terra Erthu along with every creation of a new Beast Fighter.
• Everyone Can See It:
  • Steve's affections for Jamie, which not only do his brothers notice, but Eva and the other candidates as well. She eventually confronts him on this at the start of Episode 17, and it sparks an oblivious Love Triangle. Even Mark can see it, as much as Jamie denies it when he asks her about it. Even Zardoz can see it.
  • On the other hand, Zandra's affections for Prince Zardoz is known among her fellow generals Draco and Zuhl, who is a Shipper on Deck, and their Boazanian forces despite her trying to brush it off as Undying Loyalty to the prince.
• Extreme Mêlée Revenge: In "Rise, Armstrong Brothers", the Voltes Team delivers a no-holds-barred beatdown on Vaizanger after Mary Ann sacrifices herself, as they believe the Boazanians are to blame for her death.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • On the perspective of Boazan:
    • The hornless Boazanians suffer this under the Fantastic Caste System where the horned Boazanian nobles treat them poorly and sent those who stepped out of line to prison camps for the rest of their lives. When Zu Zambojil exposed Hrothgar as a hornless Boazanian mid-coronation, everyone in court turned against him and eagerly accepted Zambojil as their new emperor.
    • This is averted for Rozalia who still loved Hrothgar even after learning he was hornless all this time, even drawing a dagger to try kill Zambojil in her husband's defense. This also applies for General Watson, the commander who was hunting down the hornless Boazanian rebels in Episode 36. He's actually acquainted with Hrothgar and recognizes him when they meet face to face after so long. He allows Hrothgar to escape and falsely report to Emperor Zambojil of his failure to suppress the rebels at the expense of being zapped and derided by the emperor for it.
    • The horned Boazanians extend this towards the humans of Earth for not only harboring Hrothgar but also being primitive in terms of technology and resembling the hornless Boazanians.
  • On the perspective of humanity: The Voltes Team show contempt at the Boazanians for invading Earth, duping them thrice with three infiltrators Judy, Zardoz in his "Manuel Nabuz" disguise and the Android Ned Armstrong, and the deaths of Dr. Mary Ann and Dr. Smith. They also willingly attacked a small fleet of Boazanian ships manned by Hrothgar and his rebel forces without even trying to contact them and also assume they're reinforcements for the invaders with another fake Ned Armstrong.
• First Contact: Dr. Mary Ann first met Hrothgar when his ship crash landed on Earth and is surprised when he speaks a language she doesn't understand which he activates a device to speak hers and asks for help before passing out. In response, she takes him to a medical station in one of the Earth Defense Force bases where Hrothgar later wakes up (after shrugging off a bullet by a nervous guard) and properly meet her, Dr. Smith and General Oscar.
• Flat "What": Dr. Smith does this when he learns from Mark Gordon, Little Jon and Jamie Robinson that Steve and Big Bert are busy training to use the Butterfly Return technique in the middle of Gardo attacking Camp Big Falcon.
• Forehead of Doom: A non-human variation. The Skull Ship's "forehead" can fire missiles from it, which is used primarily to attack Hrothgar's escort and Voltes Team in "Home Coming".
• Gender Flip: Baron or Marquis Zaki, who was a man in the original, is now a woman. Also, in the roughly 10-episode filler arc she first appears in, Contessa or Countess Zaki is now its Filler Villain.
• Get Out!: Dr. Smith tells Eva, Ally, Tomas and PJ to get out of the command center overseeing Voltes Team's first sortie after calling them out on their tardiness once they returned to Camp Big Falcon.
• Glory Hound: Eva is displeased that she is no longer part of the Voltes Team training program due to breaking rules of Camp Big Falcon and is reduced to Mission Control staff member as she watches the award ceremony of Armstrong brothers, Mark Gordon and Jamie Robinson getting Medals of Honor and rank promotions (except Little Jon who is a kid but still receives a medal) after their first victory against the Boazanian invaders, clearly wanting the glory for herself. She seeks to dispose of Jamie and discredit her as well so that she becomes the new pilot of Volt Lander in her place. However, Eva jumps at the opportunity to take Big Bert's place after hacking into the classified files and discovers his resignation letter, which she recommends herself as his replacement to Dr. Smith at his office.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Eva Sanchez is this toward Jamie Robinson after learning she and Steve are close, even threatening her to stay away from him. It didn't help matters when Eva trashed Jamie's room, and even seeks to replace her from the Voltes Team.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: In "Ultra Marcon", General Robinson implores with the world leaders to aid Camp Big Falcon under siege by Namazuka and set aside their differences to defend Earth from the Boazanians together. They agree and deployed their respective squadrons of jet fighters which brings relief to Dr. Smith and the personnel of Camp Big Falcon.
• Human Aliens: The Boazanians, both horned and hornless people, in a nutshell. A hornless Boazanian can easily blend in among the people of Earth as shown with Hrothgar who fled to that planet, and a spy working for Zardos who was sent to infiltrate Camp Big Falcon. The hornless Boazanians can be identified by their high level of heat signature as shown when Dr. Smith had Hrothgar be scanned to see the difference between a human and a Boazanian. This allows Dr. Smith to realize that Judy/Judalah, the girl Big Bert dated, is the spy from the Boazanian invaders.
• Hope Spot: When Gardo recovers its sword and made a Blade Lock clash with Voltes V's Laser Sword, Zuhl is overjoyed to see that the counter worked... Only for the Laser Sword to slice through Gardo's weapon and body anyway.
• Hotter and Sexier: Prince Zardoz gets a controversial Bed Scene with Zandra as an Adaptation Expansion exclusive for the live-action version of Voltes V.
• Humanity Is Infectious: Judy starts getting second thoughts about her mission the more time she spends with Big Bert and humanity. Zardoz isn't amused at all, as he is holding her sister's life hostage in exchange for this mission.
• If It Swims, It Flies: The Boazanians' Skull Ship is not just a skull-shaped space station, but can also enter the Earth's atmosphere and also doubles as a submarine.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy:
  • The Boazanian armored troops are this as they failed to shoot down Hrothgar and his fellow hornless rebels when they fought their way to escape from the prison camps via the main teleporter to the Imperial capital's hangar bays and flee the planet with the stolen spaceships. They do eventually get the ship not holding Hrothgar, though.
  • When Hrothgar returned to Boazan and had to defend himself after being intercepted, the soldiers failed to hit him with their weapons even when they are at close range.
• In Medias Res: The first episode heralds the Boazanian Empire's invasion of Earth and Voltes V's first battle, while episodes 2-10 detail the events leading to the invasion.
• Just Friends: When Mark asks Jamie the nature of her and Steve's relationship given how much Eva tries to get between them, Jamie insists this trope.
• Kaiju: Big Bert outright calls Dokugaga as this when Voltes Team first encounters it in the skies before engaging in combat.
• Kick the Dog: Zambojil is fond of doing this:
  • He publicly humiliates Hrothgar in front of court by revealing his hornless nature and usurped the throne from him and had him thrown to the prison camps where he visits him and rubs in his face that Rozalia and his mother, Fadsa are dead (which in reality, they were in house arrest).
  • He kills Fadsa for trying to get in his way of taking the recently born Zardoz in his custody after Rozalia passed away from giving birth to her son.
  • When he receive news of no sign of Hrothgar in any planet (until he's found at Terra Erthu), he orders an invasion anyway.
  • Whenever Zardoz reports his failure of defeating Voltes V and conquering Earth, he viciously mocks his nephew and compares him to his disgraced father Hrothgar.
• Lack of Empathy: Steve calls out Eva for this during Episode 20 when she tried to get back with him after breaking up with him last episode shortly after his mother's funeral and attempting to get between him and Jamie.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: Remember the plot twist in the original series where the father of three of the Voltes Team is actually a (hornless) Boazanian, and that the antagonist trying to conquer Earth is their half-brother all along? Well, this is revealed as early as Episode 2, "The Origin".
• Line-of-Sight Name: Variation: (Some of) the names of the Voltes V pilots the Boazanian spy gives to Prince Zardoz in place of the real ones [Jordan Hues (Europe), Andrew Chambers (America), Hiro Nagasaki (Japan), Ezekiel Sumera and Cassidy Lapay (Philippines)] are taken from a radio broadcast she overhears. Zardoz and Zandra aren't amused with this limited information, and demand more intel such as their appearances next time.
• Love Triangle:
  • Steve between Eva and Jamie.
    • The former confronts him on this in Episode 17 before deciding to leave, and while he admits to having affections for Jamie, he says he won't act on them. Eva still leaves anyway because she doesn't want to deal with this, but it's made worse for Steve since he had just lost his mother.
    • However, she decides to return in Episode 20 to put more of an effort in her relationship with Steve, and the rivalry begins in earnest, although Jamie and Steve (currently) don't even think there is anything between them.
  • Jamie between Steve and Mark.
    • Episode 35 begins the birth of another of these between Steve and Jamie, this time being Mark. Jamie claims Mark to be her boyfriend, but she only did so after Steve rejects her. Jamie then confesses to a friend that she doesn't really love Mark but Steve, which breaks Mark's heart after he overhears the confession.
    • Jamie ends up breaking up with both after the trauma of losing her father. It's only after the Grand Finale that she decides to give Steve a chance, with them ending the series with the Big Damn Kiss that confirms they're now the Official Couple.
• Love Confessor: Jamie confesses her love to Steve to minor character Anna.
• Made of Iron: A Boazanian (in this continuity) is tougher than they look despite looking like a horned or hornless human as demonstrated when Hrothgar got shot in the arm... Only to get back up with little issue as he casually takes out a bullet that was unable to penetrate his skin, though it did draw blood. And this trait is passed down to his half-human sons, as shown when Apable, a soldier who disliked Steve shot him in the chest for his impudence during the exam. He naturally survived, but now realizes there's no way he or his brothers are ordinary humans. Steve later verifies that this applies for Big Bert as well in episode 8, when he casually shoots him (on the leg) with their mother's service pistol that he secretly swiped earlier in the episode.
• Mauve Shirt:
  • The other Voltes Team candidates who had passed the final exam alongside Steve, Mark, Big Bert, and Jamie: Eva Sanchez, Ally Chan, Tomas del Rosario, and PJ Santiago.
  • Another example is the Master Chief of the Big Falcon base who's often alongside Mary Ann Armstrong. He's also been seen during the training missions, and eventually he bites the dust during Vaizanger's attack on the Big Falcon Base.
• Meaningful Rename: When Hrothgar lands on Earth and decides to have a relationship with an Earthling, he decides to adopt the Earthling surname "Armstrong". His Boazanian physiology allows him to be immune to bullets, which was demonstrated when a Earth Defense Force soldier tried to put him down with a shot to the arm. Hrothgar got out of this unharmed. The same goes with his original Japanese adopted surname, Gou (剛), which means "strong".
• Menacing Stroll: Voltes V does this after transforming and confront the Boazanian forces and later Dokugaga.
• Militaries Are Useless: The Earth Defense Force's military is helpless before the might of the Boazanian invaders as their ground, naval and air forces were easily taken out. It didn't help when a Beast Fighter is deployed on the field where they are just chew toys to it.
• Named by Adaptation:
  • Hrothgar's mother was named as Fadsa, compared to her anime counterpart who was never given a name at all.
  • Zambojil's mother, who was the concubine of the previous Emperor, was named as Contessa.
• Neck Snap: After getting a security officer help with opening his computer, Impostor Ned delivers this treatment to him before hiding the body.
• Never Trust a Trailer: The episode 45 preview features Impostor Ned hugging Little John and ready to stab him while doing so. But come episode 48, and no such thing occurs. The closest that happens is when Impostor Ned grabs Little John by the neck and unsheathes his blade before Steve arrives.
• Not What It Looks Like: Eva once exploits this by meeting Steve just as Jamie shows up and acts like the flowers he had were for her. When Jamie leaves, Steve clarifies that the flowers were for his mother's grave, and that he's not amused with this antic. He also clears up that situation with Jamie at Episode 24, except she was never jealous to begin with, but she thanks Steve anyway for this information.
• Oh, Crap!: In "Destiny to Fullfill", Little John saw through his telescope explosions (the Boazanian fleet practicing their weaponry) close to the moon, and is suspicious since there's no meteor shower scheduled. Mary Ann — without explaining to her son — realizes what this means and immediately warns General Oscar.
• One-Man Army:
  • The Beast Fighters are this as they are used by the Boazan Star Empire to conquer worlds and each of them are capable of wiping out an entire planet's military force as explained by Hrothgar/Ned Armstrong in the Earth's Defense Force meeting.
  • Voltes V can be considered this to the fleets of Beast Fighters it has defeated throughout the series. Sometimes, it even takes them out two at a time.
• Only the Chosen May Pilot: Zigzagged. The Voltes Team training program was initiated where several candidates would undergo Training from Hell and only five of them that passed will make the cut as pilots of the Volt Machines. However, when the Boazanians launched their first wave of the invasion, only Steve and Big Bert Armstrongs, Mark Gordon and Jamie Robinson were present when recalled back to Camp Big Falcon while Eva Sanchez, Ally Chan, Tomas del Rosario and PJ Santiago were on a day off in the mainland after breaking the rules to sneak. Due to the absence of other candidates, Little Jon was added in as the fifth member of Voltes Team out of desperation (with convincing a very reluctant Dr. Mary Ann) and that he proved vital in fixing the technical issues affecting the Volt Machines that Dr. Smith had trouble with. At the end of Voltes Team's first victory against the Boazanians, General Robinson chewed out Eva and her fellow candidates for their rule breaking incident before outright declaring the end of the training program, disqualifing and assigning them as Mission Control.
• Origins Episode: "The Origin", "Hrothgar", and "Voltes Team" (episodes 2 to 4) cover Prince Hrothgar's origins, his family, his fall from grace after being exposed by Zambojil of his hornless status, his flight from Boazan, crash landing on Earth and meeting his to-be-wife, and preparing the planet for the impending Boazanian invasion. "Camp Big Falcon" (episode 5) covers the Armstrong family (plus the father's departure back to his home planet) and the formation of the Voltes Team.
• Punch Parry: Voltes V does this with Dokugaga in its first battle with a Beast Fighter in the cliffhanger of "Voltes V vs. the Boazanian Empire", and again in "Sanib Pwersa" during the fight proper.
• Rank Up: During the ceremony at the start of "Vaizanger", all the Voltes Team members except Little Jon (who still gets a Earth Defense Medal of Honor alongside everyone else) get promoted to Lieutenant (though Steve gets the rank of Lieutenant-Commander).
• Red Herring: Eva was accused by Jamie Robinson of being a spy after taking classified blueprints of Camp Big Falcon (which is actually on Dr. Smith's orders), and while Apable is a spy, he's more of a corporate one for a defense contract supplier. It's actually Judy, the girl Big Bert was infatuated and dated with, who is the hornless Boazanian spy working for Zardoz.
• Remake Cameo: A minor one, but Dennis Trillo being cast as Ned Armstrong in Voltes V: Legacy is pretty appropriate, seeing that he voiced Steve Armstrong in the 2005 Hero TV Tagalog dub of Voltes V known as Voltes V: Evolution.
• Real Robot Genre: Ironically, despite being a Super Robot Genre show adaptation, it shows that Voltes V is maintained by Camp Big Falcon's facilities and a large number of support personnel and Mission Control staff just like in the original anime. Especially when it's shown with Voltes V under construction in the middle of Hrothgar's departure from Earth and later Dr. Richard Smith showing the cadets of the Voltes V being completed.
• Retcon: The second week of episodes immediately refute Episode 1 in terms of Little John's position in the Voltes Team. Rather than already taking part in training, he's subbed in out of desperation when the other candidates were off-base and thus unable to get back in time.
• Ridiculously Human Robots: The humanoid machine posing as Ned Armstrong made by Zardoz himself using what he had learned in Camp Big Falcon as "Manuel". It comes with concealed bladed weapons and can even imitate human emotions perfectly, especially drinking liquid beverages without issue when Oscar Robinson invites him over for a drink together.
• Right Behind Me: Zandra, Draco and Zuhl are bickering over who deserves the favor from Prince Zardoz for the creation of Gardo... Only to realize that he was behind them and made himself known to quell it.
• Robeast: The term "Beast Fighter" is adopted by the Boazanians (specifically Zardoz, who likes it out of amusement) after hearing a Filipino reporter calling it as such. Given that Dr. Armstrong had described them to the military...
• Sarcasm-Blind: Hrothgar/Ned Armstrong doesn't seem to take notice of one of the world leaders being sarcastic at him in the Earth's Defense Force meeting, clearly not believing his exposition about the Boazanian Beast Fighters and their power.
• Secret-Keeper:
  • Only Dr. Mary Ann Collins Armstrong, Dr. Richard Smith, and General Oscar Robinson are aware of the Armstrong siblings' Boazanian heritage (although the siblings have started to suspect there's something beyond human about them). Security Specialist Apable, the soldier who shot Steve during the exam, is sworn to secrecy by Gen. Robinson in regards to the Armstrong's survival of the bullet. Sgt. Major Edwards joins Apable under this umbrella by Dr. Smith when he discovers not only are Judy's bioscans different from normal humans, but Steve and Big Bert's too.
  • Big Bert himself becomes privy to another secret when confronted by Dr. Smith with thermal scans supposedly proving that Judy is not from Earth: he and Mary Ann have met an alien before (read:Hrothgar/Ned), and that he's the reason Camp Big Falcon was hidden, that he warned them of his kind coming to invade Earth.
• Ship Tease:
  • Steve and Jamie, to the point that their colleagues can see it too, and the former's old girlfriend Eva starts getting jealous and threatens her to stay away from him. Big Bert and Little John tease him about it too, and Tomas even overhears and reports this to Eva.
  • On the Boazanian side, Zuhl supports Zandra's courtship with Zardoz.
• Simulated Urban Combat Area: Steve, Mark and Big Bert practice CQB tactics in a deserted building in "Locked Up". Eva volunteers herself to join despite Steve's suspicions that she nearly killed Jamie.
• Slipping a Mickey: Apable's third assassination attempt on Jamie involves mixing in a sleeping pill into her glass of water, thus clearing the way for him to kill her in her sleep.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Hazy case: unlike the original run, where Mitsuyo Gou's the only survivor in the medical bay after the Skull Ship attacks the Big Falcon base, Mary Ann overrides the medical team's authority and leaves the room before that happens.
  • The Boazanian rebels were ignored by Zuhl who captures Hrothgar's ship with the Skull Ship's tractor beam before leaving compared to his anime counterpart who gleefully shot down their ships, killing numerous rebels.
• Spell My Name With An S:
  • Emperor Zu Zambajil's last name is spelled "Zambojil" in this adaptation.
  • The second Beast Fighter, Baizanga, is spelled "Vaizanger" in this adaptation.
  • The fourth Beast Fighter, Neegu, is spelled "Negg" in this adaptation.
  • Baron Zander is spelled as "Xander" in the closing credits.
• Spoiler Opening: In this case, Spoiler Closing. Eagle-eyed viewers who watch the closing credits will deduce that Judy is the Boazanian spy, as evidenced by her original name, Judalah.
• Super Serum: When Steve confronts his mother regarding their unnatural attributes as a result of their Boazanian heritage, Mary Ann tries to excuse this trope being added to their vaccines as the reason, and that Dr. Smith and Dr. Armstrong were complicit in this "project". Steve then asks if there were others given this vaccine, or if it's only them. She replies that they shut down the "project" once it's realized that these powers could be used for selfish gains. It's clear that neither Little John nor Steve believe this, though, and the latter adds to this later on after dinner that their mother and Dr. Smith aren't pharmaceutical scientists at all, but specialists in astrophysics (Mary Ann) and aeronautics and robotics respectively (Dr. Smith and their father).
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • Mary gets mad at Little John after Camp Big Falcon security forces caught him snooping at the Voltes V, because he violated protocol on visiting areas that are restricted in "Destiny to Fulfill".
  • General Oscar Robinson is very upset at Eva Sanchez, Ally Chan, Tomas del Rosario, and PJ Santiago for breaking rules of Camp Big Falcon and sneaking off in the middle of a Boazanian invasion and disqualifies them from the training program, assigning them to be part of Mission Control staff in "Skull Ship".
  • Volting In might be easy when Beast Fighters are your only concern, but doing so while several Boazanian saucers surround you might be risky, as two shots on the Volt Frigate interrupt them twice and force Little Jon to return to base.
• Taking You with Me:
  • Apable threatens Eva that if he gets caught trying to kill Jamie Robinson for her petty motive of replacing her in the Voltes Team, he will bring her down with him. Unfortunately, he never gets to fulfill his promise as he gets sniped down by Eva personally outside Camp Big Falcon after being caught and arrested.
  • Zuhl attempts this on Zardoz when he was given the dagger to commit Seppuku after his pleas for forgiveness were rebuffed. Even if he had somehow succeeded, he would have faced the full wrath of Draco and Zandra. Unfortunately for him, Zardoz easily overpower Zuhl which he redirects the dagger to stab the latter in the chest, followed a finishing blow with his personal sword.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Zandra, Draco and Zuhl often bicker with each other over who gets Prince Zardoz's favor even when working together to create new Beast Fighters to counter and defeat Voltes V.
• Title Drop: "Skull Ship" literally shows Zardoz's skull-shaped spacecraft arriving at Earth.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Hornless Boazanians are this as they can blend in among humans (so long they are not detected by their high levels of heat which gives them away). Takeo and Arisa uses this to their advantage by dressing up as human civilians to present themselves as "fans" when finding Little Jon and capturing the boy successfully.
• Those Two Girls: Eva and Ally. They gossip together in regards to interpersonal relationships, and they even clearly teamed up in the final exam. This becomes less prevalent once Eva becomes more proactive in her attempts against Jamie and on Steve, though the two still converse.
• Training from Hell:
  • The EDF provides training for prospective recruits by putting them through obstacle courses, firearms training, martial arts and a SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) exercise.
  • Just like episode 2 of the original animé, in "Skull Ship", a live-fire exercise is conducted between the Voltes Team and the Big Falcon base defenses. And just like canon, before any damaging blows can be exchanged, the Boazanians' second Beast Fighter interrupts the exercise.
  • And just like his counterpart's debut in the original animé, Dr. Hook's first training exercise he conducts involves firing seeker missiles at the Voltes Team, without them using any weapons to destroy them.
• Transformation Is a Free Action: It wouldn't be a Super Robot Genre show adaptation without a classic uninterrupted transformation sequence of the Volt Machines into Voltes V, and it is a glorious sight to behold.
  • It's also justified since most Beast Fighters thus far are ground-bound and lack the ranged weaponry to disrupt the sequence. Dokugaga was given no orders to interrupt since at the time the Boazanians didn't think Voltes V was going to be a threat. Vaizanger was briefly knocked down to the ground by the Volt Machines before they combined. Gardo's only purpose is to counter the Laser Sword, and his Eye Beams likely lacked the power to stop them if he tried. Negg was under other orders at the time (to rendezvous with Daiga) and didn't have strong enough weapons anyway. And Bombos was counting on them to combine so it can scan the Volt Machines.
  • And explicitly defied by Namazuka, who has the power to interrupt the Volt-In sequence and leave them floating mid-air helplessly. Once its weapon is destroyed, it's helpless to stop them from combining.
  • This is defied again by Zairus whose high-speed flight enables it to interrupt the Volt Fighters' Volt-in sequence by ramming straight through them. It's only when they perform the risky "Spin Fly" technique and wreck the Beast Fighter's wings with it, that they are able to combine without interruptions.
• Undead Tax Exemption:
  • After Going Native, Hrothgar was able to settle on Earth and forge a new life as Dr. Ned Armstrong with his second wife, Dr. Mary Ann and three half-Boazanian sons. It helps that he has made connections with Dr. Richard Smith and General Oscar Robinson in the government to become a member of human society without issue.
  • Judy, the hornless Boazanian spy, was able to infiltrate human society and manage to obtain a house and a job… And yet there were no legal records of her existence on Earth as Sgt. Major Edwards found out in his investigation on behalf of Dr. Smith.
• Underestimating Badassery: When Voltes V confronts the Boazanian invaders, Zardoz and his aides Zandra, Draco and Zuhl do not take it seriously and assumes that Dokugaga will destroy this robot made by Terra Erthu. They regret this after witnessing Voltes V being more than a match for their insectoid Beast Fighter.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Or rather Wife. Rozalia drew a dagger from behind her back and tried to stab Zambojil in defense of her husband who got exposed as a hornless Boazanian mid-coronation but was thwarted and taken away to be separated from Hrothgar.
• Waist-Deep Ocean: Dokugaga does this when eradicating the Earth's naval forces single-handedly.
• Wham Episode:
  • "The Culprit" reveals tht Eva was responsible for shooting Jamie in the gym while hiding under kendo bogu.
• The Worf Effect: Voltes V subjects this to Dokugaga in its first battle against the Boazanians which gives a wakeup call to Zardoz and his generals that taking over Terra Erthu will not be easy as they thought and they have to create new Beast Fighters every time to try defeat Voltes V.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: 9 months on Earth is equal to 4 months in Boazan.
• You Can Talk?: Gardo is the first Beast Fighter to speak as a nod to his anime counterpart who is a flesh and blood giant being with (fake) horns. Unfortunately he speaks in Boazanian and Voltes Team cannot understand him.
• You Have Failed Me:
  • Zardoz inflicts punishment on Draco and Zuhl by zapping them with an Agony Beam, and Zandra by cutting through her veil after the defeat of Vaizanger by Voltes V's Laser Sword.
  • He does this again, this time at Draco since Gardo was his creation and it failed to counter the Laser Sword of Voltes V. Draco tries to resist by taking on the Boazanian armored soldiers but is neutralized by the lightning blast from Zardoz's finger-sized device before being taken away to suffer his punishment.
  • Zambojil delivers the same treatment towards General Watson after he (purposely) fails to capture the rebel leader (Hrothgar). Derision and a hearty zap from two Boazanian royal guard's spears are how Zambojil delivers this.

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