Ah, Super Robot Wars. Pretty much one of the most ambitious crossover concept that has been running since the 1991. Combining many-many Humongous Mecha shows into one cohesive narrative and have them fight against their evil bad guys and original bad guys, with the help of an original good guys. What's not to love??
With so many Humongous Mecha combination, maybe you are wondering if you can make your own combination? With this, and a good dose of Hot-Blooded, you can do it too!
Necessary Tropes
- Hot-Blooded: One of the recurring themes in this series is 'With enough Hot Blood, you can crush down evil and bring peace'. So keep your series valorous and not very depressing. Heck, even they made a depressing series like Neon Genesis Evangelion really passionate!
- Humongous Mecha: It's called Super Robot Wars for a reason! You need the mechas!
- Massive Multiplayer Crossover: This is one of the most famous crossovers in fiction. You're going to need a lot of series. 12 series minimum.
- Original Generation: Usually serves as the point character of the story, and also contain the Big Bad group that unites the bad guys for the good guys to fight.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Set it to 'idealism', majorly. This series is known to take depressing series and giving it a more idealistic end. Throw that notion of Black-and-Gray Morality out of the script, if a series included was originally thriving on it, give A Lighter Shade of Gray to the Gray morality side. You can opt to give an optional bad ending to showcase some cynicism, but make sure that it's not the only end available, there has to be an uplifting, positive ending.
- Sliding Scale of Villain Threat: You need to arrange your narrative to ensure the villain threat are represented properly. For instance, while Char's Axis drop would no doubt be disastrous, no matter how iconic he is, those actions cannot be considered to be more dangerous than something like the Anti-Spiral. Arranging the scales will help you decide on how powerful your Original Generation bad guy will be, since they tend to be the Final Boss.
- Villain Team-Up: Another staple! You've got a bunch of Real Robot Genre organization and unions; as well as some invading force from the Super Robot Genre. Decide which ones get to team up, which one get to somehow oppose each other; not every villains will get along under the same united banner, and it sets up for a Mêlée à Trois for our heroes.
Choices, Choices
- Take note of the amounts of Super Robot shows and Real Robot shows within your series list. A series with more Real Robots might turn off Super Robot fans, and vice versa.
- Take note of the so-called Holy Trinity franchises: Mazinger Z, Getter Robo and Gundam. At least you need one entry from those series. Usually you can skip the Getter, but there has to be at least one Gundam series (and it doesn't have to be from the UC timeline) and one Mazinger series.
- Space Opera series has been proven to be an all right choice, as seen with Space Battleship Yamato 2199 when it first debuted in Super Robot Wars V, followed by Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and Arcadia of my Youth: Endless Orbit SSX. Try to find one that has a huge battleship as its main feature.
- As long as the series has mechanical beings, but does not follow the normal requirements of Super Robot Genre or Real Robot Genre, it is all right. But make sure that the 'mechanical being' had an importance in the story, instead of gratuitous additions or spoofs. Some of the proven examples of this include:
- Tekkaman Blade: A Powered Armor series, which also includes some man-made combat vehicles. Blade has also been seen fighting monsters that are well beyond his size.
- Magic Knight Rayearth: Normally a Shoujo, Magical Girl, Heroic Fantasy series, but they have a set of Humongous Mecha that proved vital in the story and dominates the combat in the 2nd season.
- Cowboy Bebop: It only features one combat plane and most of the draws of the show is its ground character interactions. But it is good enough, thanks to its strong, compelling cast.
- When picking your included shows, take note at the era these anime originated from. The older anime show will resonate with the older fans, especially when you consider the golden age of Humongous Mecha anime was around the 70's to 90's (and early 2000's). However, overloading too much with older shows will not work well to the newer generation, despite the Humongous Mecha anime no longer being as strong as it was in the past. Put a balance within your series list, generation-wise.
- Make your choice for your Original Generation. How many selectable protagonists are there? What about their genders? How many mecha is available for them to choose? Are they of Super Robot Genre or Real Robot Genre or you have the choice to pick them? Will any of the choices make a difference in the story? Your decision here can enhance how the story flows.
Pitfalls
- While Original Generation is a thing, you need to have care on how they're designed. After all, they're still story characters which can make or break your game. If your Original Generation character don't look too compelling story-wise, it will become a sore spot to the whole game. Worse, if your Original Generation character ended up being Unintentionally Unsympathetic and rubbing the fandom in the wrong way, this will damage the prestige of your story since they tend to be the main cornerstone of the overall story.
- It's one thing to take liberties towards the crossover stories. But too much artistic liberties can make your story a mess and leave a sour note. Find balance on what you can modify from the stories and what needs to be left as is.
Potential Subversions
- A Magical Girl series that utilizes a lot of Humongous Mecha elements can be considered. An example of this is the Lyrical Nanoha series.
- If your hero can turn gigantic and fight against bad guys, this is a possible option. They included Devilman in Super Robot Wars DD. Examples of this would be something similar to the Ultramen, but if you're looking for something that has an anime of it, there's also SSSS.GRIDMAN, which debuted in Super Robot Wars 30.
- Powered Armor characters are fair game as contenders, even if they're the size of normal humans. Tekkaman Blade appeared in both Super Robot Wars Judgment and Super Robot Wars W, while Super Robot Wars 30 had a specific version of Ultraman that fell under this. If the series pays homage to Mecha or Toku, that makes it an even bigger candidate. One such example is Symphogear.
- While this series are mostly taken from Japanese anime/manga/games... that doesn't mean that Western media properties are out of the question. Transformers, while also having its Japanese origins, is much more prominent in the west (I mean, who doesn't want to see Optimus Prime shooting down Kikaijus?) Or instead of using GoLion or Super Dimension Fortress Macross (and its sequels, now that Harmony Gold screwed its licensing), you can opt to use Voltron (or its remake) and Robotech (or the botched sequel and true sequel) instead. Or you can go out of the mile and then use that one series that says chicks dig giant robots...
- This can be said for having any media property made in Asia/Europe/other countries. Look no further than Robot Taekwon Vnote Hardcore Mechanote or Warhammer 40,000 as examples of non-Japanese media that can be in a Super Robot Wars story.
- A show from the Super Sentai, Power Rangers or Metal Heroes franchises can also work. Super Robot Wars X-Ω has Gokaiger, Zyuranger and Gavan in its lineup.
Writers' Lounge
Suggested Themes and Aesops
- Karma Houdini Warranty: One of the biggest draws of Super Robot Wars was that a villain that became Karma Houdini in the past will not escape justice here. Capitalize on this trope, and you may end up saving a problematic series by giving the audience a much needed Catharsis Factor.
- Fix Fic: This is one of the things that made Super Robot Wars famous. This means that you can put series that have been put on as Epic Fails in other pages, but you need to know how to fix the problems. Use cross-series interactions to develop these flawed elements into something that's more acceptable.
Potential Motifs
- Time Travel: True, Super Robot Wars Reversal has dealt with Time Travel from the Bad Future to the past; while Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden did the other way around (past to the Bad Future). That doesn't mean it would be the end of Time Travel, you can tweak things for something new. Like... travel from the bad past to know how the good future goes and see what can be implemented in the past when they get back? And more?
- Cyberspace/Virtual Reality: We've had Alternate Universe that looked the same with our normal verse but had different development; we've had Magical Fantasy settings... but we really never got a Cyberspace/Virtual Reality motif (something that Expelled from Paradise touched. This is a motif that can be used.
Suggested Plots
- Arc Welding, Canon Welding: Combining several series' plot points in order to create a new narrative is one of the things that Super Robot Wars does best, therefore be creative in looking for plot points to combine, or change certain characters' backstory or group affiliation to fit the new narrative best. This can also be used to set up your Original Generation. Of course, it goes without saying that you should not go overboard in this so your new narrative is still coherent instead of overly complicated.
Departments
Set Designer/Location Scout
Props Department
- Artifact Mook: Worried that your favorite show only had Monster of the Week that was eliminated in the same episode? Mass produce them and pretend they're controlled by AI or another series' bad guy.
Costume Designer
Casting Director
- Original Generation: While there are some Super Robot Wars devoid of originals (Compact 1, Scramble Commander; and even the last one has original enemies), it is VERY recommended to have original characters mingle in and probably being the one that linked the whole series interacting together. See pages provided here in regards of character building to make sure your OG characters also flow perfectly with the crossover. Beware of the pitfalls that come from designing these characters and stories, though.
