WMG / Super Robot Wars T

All WMG entires should be entered here.

Post-release

DyGaian will return as the fourth Dynamic Guardian General

It fits the theme naming of the DGG Banpresto Originals, and the current pilot would fit into Original Generation continuity as an Aggressors-tier dandy old pilot with a midlife crisis and his own idea of how to fight off the next alien invasion, by forcefully defeating both the Federation and the Divine Crusders to create a unified Earth government.

Queen Emeraldas is Saved for the Sequel

Or else why did B.B Studio go all the way to prepare a map sprite for her ship? Sure, the next game is not gonna be a sequel to T, but I'd say it's a good guess to see Queen Emeraldas in the next entry.

In the ending, Van prevents Spike from dying.

Ending spoilers. Van is completely absent from the ending, said to be still resuming his wandering. Spike did as well, but he was mentioned that he would confront the Red Dragons and Vicious. In the normal anime, this would lead to his ambiguous death, but Spike's ordeal with Vicious is heavily influenced with the death of his lover Julia by the Red Dragons. This would've hit right at home for Van as well, who also lost Elena. Not to mention, the Red Dragons were indirectly involved in the Claw's plans. So as a payback of Spike's assistance with him, Van decided to assist him against the Red Dragons, but in as much that he'll take out Vicious' Mooks so they wouldn't exhaust Spike until his final confrontation against Vicious. From there, Spike would have enough reserve energy to finish the fight with Vicious and then not dying. Afterwards, both go back to the T3 together.

Claw is a Newtype.

Who specifically can make people accept his point of view. Even with all the Obviously Evil traits, many of the heroes are reluctant to spend effort in fighting him; labeling his crew as Van's obsession. However his cooperation with the Martian Successors cannot be overlooked.

• If true, it ends up dubious because some characters seems to be able to No-Sell his Newtype powers; for instance, in battles, Hikaru outright called him a Serial Killer not worth befriending and she's supposed to be the 'innocent girl' and the Claw has already seduced children like Carossa and Melissa. Is that a perk of being a Magic Knight or being the ex-Pillar of Cephiro that just relinquished her powers to the people?
  • Strong-willed individuals can resist the effect. He mostly focuses on broken people.

Van is an aberration that No Sells Newtype-style powers.

Something about his anger cancels out Mind Control. Be it the Zonders, Lady Debonair, or Claw.

Expansion pack guessing

Yes. They announced an expansion pack a la Dark Prison in DLC form. The V and X protags will return. What else can we expect?

• Final showdown with Vicious.
• The return of Amari-bot
• What Chizeta and Fahren have been up to.
  • Likewise with the Illumidas. Its existence is at least confirmed in one of the DLC missions.
• Characters from series in V and X meeting those in T.
  • Harlock meeting an older Kodai or Okita
  • Salia meeting a real Magical Girl.
  • Wataru meeting fellow people who 'got stuck in another magical world'
• Characters from series debuting in V and X showing epilogues if their own.
  • The Norma either introducing their Arsenal island resort or getting along well with the former Mana users.
• If the IF route is the one taken account, maybe we'll have an actual Heel–Face Turn of Michael Garret and Fasalina. Just like in their debut installment.

Pre-release

Villain Team-Up Possibilities

• Drake Luft and Zagato, for being villains from an alternate fantasy dimension. If this takes place, Zagato will probably take his time to absorb the Byston Well knowledge from Drake in order to perfect his Rune God that he's gonna use to destroy the legend of Magic Knights. He might even try to use Riml Luft as leverage to keep Drake from backstabbing him.
  • Depending if they're using Season 2 Anime of Rayearth, one of the threats that could be included is Lady Debonair. As a level up on the above, Lady Luuza Luft might be secretly collaborating with Debonair behind Drake's back as a backup plan for herself if the Drake-Zagato alliance collapses.
  • Confirmed, but the alliance is between Zagato, the Drake army, and Black Knight. Debonair's one is Jossed, she instead collaborates with The Northern Sage/decaying Shot Weapon.
• Alternatively, Zagato and The Clawed Man, since the latter's Endless Illusion setting can count as an alternate dimension/planet. In particular, Clawed Man may very well sympathize with Zagato's efforts to keep Emeraude alive. Additionally, they come with their own set of Quirky Miniboss Squad that can interact very well together. Carossa and Melissa might be able to interact with fellow kid Ascot, while Fasalina can also interact well with either Alcyone and/or Caldina (but especially Alcyone, who has 'love problems' to touch in with Fasalina's status as an ex-prostitute). Their format of bringing enemies can also be very similar, a lot of GXS Monster of the Week are turned into multiple Mooks, the same could apply to Ascot's monsters (see below)
  • Jossed as both don't even meet one another.
• Hoi Kow Lou would feel at home with Fahren. If he is included, perhaps Wong Yun Fat will also hang out with the Fahren people, or perhaps even Master Asia too, acting as a secondary mentor for Princess Aska.
  • Jossed since Hoi Kow Lou doesn't appear in the anime, Wong Yun Fat hangs out with The Claw, and Master Asia is against The Claw.
• Autozam with either Gilgamesh or Balarant, all of them being spacefaring cultures with Used Future aesthetics.
  • Jossed; Astragius and Cephiro are universes apart of each other.
• Martian Successors and The Red Dragon as both groups are Mars-based. Hoi Kow Lou could also work with the latter.
  • Jossed as the Red Dragon are a part of The Claw.
• Martian Successors and Jupiter Empire as they're all Jovians. They might even be justified in opposing the heroes and/or The Federation this time if the latter try to use Jupiter as the core of the Black Hole Bomb in spite of the multitude of people living in the moons and colonies around it.
  • Neo Zeon would also likely help and Char would threaten to drop Axis to make a point about what it would mean for those people to lose the planet on which they rely on for their way of life. Char will agree to stop the drop if the two sides finally reach an understanding but someone will hijack his plans to go on with it no matter what and an Enemy Mine situation will occur.
  • And then it all gets further complicated when some of the moons get infected by alien AIs with assimilatory properties and an alien being the size of a small planet plugs into Jupiter via its hair...
  • The Neo-Zeon/Jupiter Empire/Martian Successor alliance has been confirmed.
• Illumidas and the Titans, making the latter group The Quislings this time around.
• Bucci is a student of Prof. Wolfgang. So is Shot Weapon.
  • If they're featuring Shot Weapon as he appears in New Story, the relationship might be inverted.
• Red Shoulder remnants could work with just about any human faction in the game as long as they get paid.
• Gilgamesh could be combined with the Earth Federation and Balarant with the various Zeon incarnations of the Universal Century. The Red Shoulders could be the Titans' special forces or black ops group.
• Illumidas and Martian Successors. Captain Harlock is fighting a Jovian mech in the 1st PV.
• Team Wolfgang, The Asian Mafia, Shadow Army, and The Pink Cats with the Devil Gundam for another "DG Alliance".
• Black Noir and DEVA System. Black Noir's nature might make it look like part of the DEVA System, either an extra AI or replacing one of the AI's there.
• The Claw could just be another servant of Black Noir.
  • Jossed; Might Gaine is post-plot.

Rayearth will include material from both the manga and anime.

Becuase there isn’t too much material that can be used in the manga.

• Well in that case, it'll be a challenge to mix the 'Creator Mokona' and Lady Debonair plots together.
  • It only includes Lady Debonair so WMG is jossed.

Like Wataru in X, Rayearth will be the main focus of T.

Of all the series introduced, Rayearth appear to be the highest in terms of Serial Escalation by having to save a collapsing world that’s the center of all worlds.

• I can see this confirmed because in tradition of SRW, new entries tend to become the big focus of the game (although there are exceptions, like Virtual-On in Super Robot Wars Alpha 3)
• Well, since Rayearth itself is literally front-and-center of the group shot for the key/cover art...
  • It's one of the focus but it isn't the biggest focus of the game.

Cowboy Bebop units will have “Tank!” as the theme song.

Because it’s nothing without its epic opening.

• Actually confirmed! "Tank!" is listed among the tracks for the (Japan-only) premium edition that uses original anime music.
  • The developers decided to one-up this WMG by having one of Spike's attacks recreate parts of the opening movie of the show!

The Mushroom Samba Episode

Most likely as bonus content, with the cast experiencing weird hallucinations with hilarious results.

• Or they can easily play this for a serious matter, like the hallucinations could be dead serious images. Imagine Hikaru or Umi or Fuu getting their hands on them... and they end up reliving the moments they killed Emeraude. Heck, if somehow they included Nova, the Mushroom Samba could end up being used to adapt how Nova attempted to mess with Hikaru's head when she broke her sword. Or it could be worse for some like Akito, he could end up reliving the moments he was brutally tortured by Kusakabe's men into the Empty Shell he is at the moment.
  • Let's Take a Third Option: What if the Cast of Bebop is one that sticks with the main characters, but the episode in question is adapted differently depending on what route is chosen (if there's a split) - perhaps the split will have the characters from the more comedic/lighthearted series in one side, whereas the characters from the darker/more serious series will be on the other, and the former will have the episode Played for Laughs, while the latter will have said episode Played for Drama.
    • Jossed; it doesn't happen.

Jet Black either won't become a unit or have new voice actor

Unless somehow, Unshō Ishizuka has recorded the voices necessary for Jet before his death. But in case of going through The Other Darrin, let's see who's the candidate to stand for him:

• Kiyoyuki Yanada: Deep-voiced and had a good portfolio on big guys and might have been active during the airing of Cowboy Bebop, so he's a 'same generation' replacement.
• Hiroki Yasumoto: I think he actually can do an impression of Ishizuka since their voice can be very similar, only that he became active in the latter age after Cowboy Bebop has long become a classic.
  • Jossed. Unshō Ishizuka managed to finish Jet's lines before dying (even if limited to Bebop Formation II) and gets himself a Posthumous Credit.

Spike is still going to die no matter what

Even with the universe or multiverse at stake, after Spike has his final battle with Vicious, he's still going to say that iconic line, "Bang." And it will still be just as much of a Tear Jerker now as it was then.

• What about the possibility of extra efforts to save Spike from that fate? We know that they've avoided that in some cases like Kamina and Lockon Stratos/Neil Dylandy in Super Robot Wars Z or Mu La Fraga in Super Robot Wars Judgment, but the jury is still out whether they want to let you save Spike or not. For your comfort's sake, unlike the Kamina/Lockon example, Spike's final death was meant to be a finale that can be fixed, not something that's important for an early-mid show development.
  • As you mentioned, Spike's death isn't final (for that matter, it's something that's never been explicitly confirmed or denied by the staff - although if you believe the director, he's just asleep), but after thinking it over, there's 2 possibilities I came up with for how he could be saved if it's possible for him to die (provided the player doesn't do anything):
    • Spike trains in martial arts with Domon in the story regardless of what happens, but if the player gets Master Asia to join them (either they recruit him if he's a Secret Character, or if he's already on their side from the start, Domon convinces him to take Spike in for a few lessons) and fulfills a few other conditions, it'll give Spike the skills to get to the fight with Vicious in much better shape than he was in canon (and by extension, survive the fight).
    • You resolve the situation involving the Red Dragons in a different way from canon (i.e., you convince the Elders of the Red Dragons not to attend Vicious's execution and prevent Vicious from rising, you take out Vicious before that time comes, you take other measures to ensure that Julia does not die from the ensuing shoot out), so the event that leads to Spike's death doesn't occur.

Master Asia knew the El Dorado Five from back when he was younger.

He might even be their Tagalong Kid, a character archetype present in a lot of Super Robot anime. That would be quite the revelation.

• Confirmed.

GaoGaiGar is based on El Dora V's design

That would explain the similarities between Hell and Heaven and El inferno y cielo. It would also give them a reason to have a Combination Attack.

• Jossed; El Inferno Y Cielo isn't part of the game.

Van, Dingo, and Spike will be good friends or at least respect each other.

All of their sources have varying influence of The Western.

• Maybe as a meta Save-Skit gag, Van and Spike can also compare on how their shows' theme songs don't have lyrics (barring "Tank!"'s eary monologue)

Captain Harlock has close ties to or is a member of the Crossbone Vanguard.

The Canon Welding potential is so obvious that it would even be more of a surprise if it doesn't happen. If the Mother Vanguard isn't around again, the Arcadia will fulfill the role as their primary battleship.

• Confirmed

Rayearth's enemies will take form of Ascot's monsters mass produced

Ascot's monsters used to take place as the Monster of the Week for the anime, the game can easily modify Ascot from making just one monster and turn it into making multiple monsters.

Or alternatively, when Ascot summons his monsters, at first it would be a one-and-only, so Ascot has reasons to angst when someone killed his friend. Afterwards, someone else used Ascot's magic monsters as a template for mass production, but it would result a group of soulless monsters, so Ascot won't feel like angsting again, those mass-produced beasts do not share the unique souls of his beast friends.

• Jossed.

Judau will express interest at Frontier Setter's plan to travel into deep space.

He did the same thing in the Victory Gundam Gaiden manga as his Grey Stoke persona.

Hikaru, Umi and Fuu will be less traumatized after killing Emeraude

In the original series, they absolutely had no one to turn to for comfort or consolation. But in this series, while they would likely deal the final blow, there will be others that witnessed the deed. Maybe the likes of Kouji, Ryoma, Domon, Guy, Noriko or more will shed Manly Tears for their sake and help them cope with their grief. Not to say the Tear Jerker and trauma will be completely gone, but it may soften the blow.

• Additionally, some of the good guys will not be pleased at Clef for hiding that secret and directly chew him out for lying at the girls, though only to find out that there's just nothing they could do to prevent that.
  • How they handled it is that Bright ends up asking Eagle if he knew about it and ultimately don't blame Emeraude for what happens.

DEVA from Expelled from Paradise will use mechs from other series.

The two robots that showed up in the trailer for this entry are their only combat-capable models in the entire film. If they want a better chance at fighting the heroes, they will need to have variety. They'd probably upload their pilots into Mobile Suits or even Mechabeasts.

• Jossed; they only use their own Arhan's.

Argo Gulskii was a member of the Crossbone Vanguard or Captain Harlock's crew.

He was a Space Pirate before he was arrested and forced to become a Gundam fighter after all.

• Jossed, but Harlock helps him out.

George de Sand will admonish Zabine Chareux for his twisted idea of nobility.

Obligatory "Secret Characters/Units" guesses here

We might as well speculate what characters or units will be secret. So let's guess, shall we?^note feel free to add your guesses here

• Zeta/ZZ Gundam: Four, Jerid, Haman (if the story isn't already completed), Mashmyre, Yazan, Glemmy, Rakan, Scirocco
  • Jossed on most except for Mashmyre. Haman meanwhile is a mandatory recruit. Additionally, Ple and Ple Two are secrets this time, alongside the Quin Mantha.
• Char's Counterattack/Beltorchika's Children: Alpha Azieru, Nightingale, Quess, Gyunei Guss
  • Confirmed for all of them.
• Crossbone Gundam: Divinidad, Amakusa
  • Jossed.
• GaoGaiGar: Soldato-J, Mamoru or Renee piloting one of the GaoGaiGar knockoffs, The Dragon Sisters / Ten Ryu Jin, and the alternate combinations for the Dragon Brothers.
  • Renee and the Dragon Sisters are only there if FINAL is included. It is unfortunately not. Meanwhile, Soldato-J is a mandatory character that doesn't leave the party and Mamoru is a supporter.
• G Gundam: Master Asia (if he isn't already a good guy to start with), Rain, Schwarz Bruder.
  • Confirmed with Master Asia. Jossed with Rain (she's a supporter) and Schwarz as G Gundam is post-plot.
• Gun X Sword: Michael, Fasalina, Carossa, Melissa, Gadved, and, just not to miss out a day of the week, even Woo.
  • Jossed. None of them are recruitable compared to K.
• Expelled From Paradise: Frontier Setter, otherwise he'll be an AI co-pilot like Tieria; cosmetic option for Angela's adult body.
  • Jossed as he's a supporter party member alongside Dingo. Also jossed for Angela's adult body.
• Magic Knight Rayearth:
  • Lantis: If the secrets are not fulfilled, then either he does not join or become a super small unit a la Tekkaman Blade or Vega, riding his flying horse and casting normal magic or takes a vacant GTO. If the secrets are fulfilled, it turned out that Zagato made his Rune God to be able to be ridden by his brother, and Lantis decided to take up using it to honor his brother... and not destroying the legend of Magic Knights.
    • He joins by default so jossed. And apparently Zagato had a spare Rune God for Lantis.
  • Eagle Vision: Simple. Either his sudden death by Debonair is omitted by default or becomes a secret to be fulfilled. Either way, he'll be in FTO.
    • He joins by default and he can either be staying in the NSX or deployed in the FTO so jossed.
  • Nova: If the conditions are fulfilled, her Regalia isn't fully destroyed or retrieved by Debonair, so after Hikaru gave her a pep talk and accepting her, Nova decides to help Hikaru directly after a bit of personality adjustment, using her Regalia. Debonair ends up having a spare Regalia to use for herself.
    • Jossed as she becomes one with Hikaru again.
  • Alcyone: If the conditions are fulfilled, the heroes manage to get through her trance, calming her mind about Zagato and figures out a way to discover Debonair's lair without having Alcyone break her geas. Umi then convinces her to change sides, and eventually Alcyone would recognize her prowess thanks to their constant battles, and decides to join the heroes. If she has to fight, she might end up on the flying horse she had on Episode 1 (since she really won't be be taking up one of Debonair's beasts)
    • Jossed.
  • Vigor/Hikari: Should the conditions be achieved, Ascot will probably ask some people to find a way to bring some of his dead beast friends to life (through some crossover methods), but he could only pick one. He chooses Vigor instead, as an apology to Hikaru.
    • Jossed.
• Cowboy Bebop: Spike himself (prevent his iconic death), Cowboy Andy, Julia (in order to prevent Spike's death, she needs to be savable, even if not as a playable unit)
  • Jossed
• Aura Battler Dunbine: Riml Luft, Todd Guinness and Bern Bunnings as is tradition. As for potentially new secret units, maybe Jeryl Kuchibi and/or Zet Light.
  • Todd joins with the crew by default.
  • New Story of Aura Battler: Rabern Zaramand. Jossed.
• Might Gaine: Black Might Gaine. Joe Rival in the combined Hiryu and Goryu.
  • Confirmed with Black Might Gaine as he's available in a secret scenario. Joe's stuck with Goryu.
• Armored Trooper VOTOMS: Ypsilon, various other VOTOMS models for Chirico's choice such as the Turbo Custom, Burglary Dog, Strike Dog, and Rabidly Dog.
  • Jossed.
• Mazinger Z: Infinity:
  • Sayaka, for the first time after decades of being a staple support unit. She only piloted a pilder in the movie and never joined in combat. Perhaps she'll pilot the Venus A that Jun tried to hijack. It will also have the Mazin-girls' other Venus A's as an attack, most likely its strongest. Jossed.
    • Alternatively, Sayaka might also had the Aphrodite A or Diana A rebuilt in secret. After Jun gave birth to her child, she's given the permission to pilot her Venus A again. Jossed.
    • Health issues after giving birth aside, the greatest hindrance to letting Jun pilot is Adult Fear. She and Tetsuya both grew up as orphans and even after being adopted by Kenzo Kabuto, it remained as a sore spot for them. It's noble to save the world but they'll be afraid to put both of their lives on the line and risk subjecting their child to the same fate. They're Super Robot pilots but they know they're not invincible.
  • The titular robot itself. In keeping up with the Arc Words of how a Mazinger can be a god or a devil, it's possible that they will be able to use it after defeating Dr. Hell. It could most likely be an upgrade to Great Mazinger that could be summoned from Hammerspace.
    • Jossed.
  • Shiro's Type 17 being able to use Thunder Break without Great Mazinger's help. Otherwise, he'll only be able to use it when doing the Combination Attack from the movie.
    • Jossed.
  • Dr. Hell, if he can somehow be convinced that the Earth is worth fighting for and have a Fake–Real Turn in his call for co-existence. If Ashura and Brocken don't die before it happens, they'll join as an attack.
    • Jossed.
• Endless Orbit SSX: Queen Emeraldas, Deathshadow
  • Jossed. Queen Esmeraldas just appears here and there while the Deathshadow was already buried in Mars.

Final Dynamic Special has to be in this game now.

It's about time right, with both Getter and Mazinger Z Infinity?

• Sadly jossed.

For the first time, Kouji will have a sub-pilot with Lisa.

She was his co-pilot in the movie, so it should happen in-game, right?

• She's a supporter character but not a sub-pilot so jossed.

Shogun Mifune will think that the Shining/God Gundam isn't Japanese enough

Because unlike the rest of the Shuffle Alliance, it doesn't carry its theme too far.

• Jossed. Both Might Gaine and G Gundam are post-plot.

The Tequila Gundam will be unexpectedly playable

And its pilot, Chico Rodriguez, will be a student of the living members of the El Dorado Five.

• Jossed.

Ground non-mecha missions will be more common

This SRW has a lot of characters who can go on fight on the ground while fighting people bigger than their size. And SRW has gotten away with doing that a few times, most notably Master Asia vs Alberto the Shockwave. So to wit:

• Domon Kasshu & the Shuffle Alliance & Allenby Beardsley: The requirement to pilot their Gundam is to fight hand in hand. They may lack the extra weapons or super skills their Gundams had, but their own Charles Atlas Superpower will be enough to carry the day. And of course, there's the case about 'Domon punching a skyscraper on foot'.
• Guy Shishioh: There has been cases that Cyborg Guy goes on foot and fights giant monsters, even in an SRW (Super Robot Wars Alpha 2 did that)
• Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki, Fuu Hououji: A majority of the 1st season of Rayearth is without their Rune Gods, so they could have missions where they showcased their on-foot fighting prowess and magic. Also they constantly fought monsters bigger than their size.
• Spike Siegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine: Much like Rayearth, despite taking place in space, the show's draw is when Spike and his crews walk around and do stuffs there. Hell, if Spike wants to whip out some Bruce Lee-inspired moves like he did in the show, now would be a good time (enemy made of steel can be turned into Awesome when Spike one-inch punched that successfully, or turned into Funny when it instead temporarily broke his arm). Ed gets left out from the list because she's more of a tech-wiz.
• Van: The guy's armed with a sword, and the controls of Dann of Thursday also uses something similar to the direct motion system. And in-show, he did kill The Claw with his sword, so there.
• Might Senpuuji: This guy occasionally goes on foot tasks and has a collection of devices similar to Batman to get the upper hand against mid-level tall mechas bigger than him in size (just as long as it's not overly humongous than mechas that require Might Gaine).
• Ground combat was common in the first half of Aura Battler Dunbine thanks to the guerrilla combat tactics employed by the heroes - most infamous was the operation to rescue Silkie from Castle Lass-Waus which saw Show infiltrate armed only with his sword and pistol and end with a climatic chase scene of Show/Silkie weaving in and out of the trees on a motorcycle to escape the pursuing Aura Machines.
• Getter Robo Armageddon: Considering this is the same Ryouma who could break swords lodged onto him just by flexing and kicking so much ass...
• Chirico: He does have his magnum and he did one of the luckiest shots in fiction on foot. Plus it's entertaining to see him use his gun on foot as a dynamic kill.
• Tobia: He is the Memetic Badass of the UC Gundam where he wins against a Gundam on foot by hijacking it.
• Amuro: While he is just an average fighter, he does know his way around weapons and there was that one time he tackled Char while Amuro was driving a car and Char was riding his horse.
• Kamille: Trained black belt in karate.
• Dingo: Trained sniper and urban warfare specialist, plus has a personal truck used to lure sandworms and fight Arhans.
• Captain Harlock is a fencer and marksman.
  • All are jossed. They are taken care of in cutscenes.

George de Sand will probably recognize and have extra relations with Umi Ryuuzaki

George is part of nobility and being stinking rich, whereas Umi came from a rich family, so the Ryuuzaki family might have traveled overseas and be in contact with the de Sand family. Both of them also use Royal Rapier as their weapon choice, so it won't be rather out of place if George at one point became Umi's fencing mentor (or replacing her nameless mentor that we saw during the Lotus-Eater Machine episode, though only temporary because George would be very busy with his own schedules so he was just there for a guest teacher. You don't actually need to adapt that filler episode too, just a flashback will do). If Umi manages to bond with Selece early before it is revealed that the candidates for Shuffle Alliance gets infected with Devil Gundam Cells, she might have to fight early to wake her mentor up until Domon sweeps in for the finisher.

It's kind of ironic because George's VA actually did work in Rayearth... as Fuu's boyfriend Ferio instead.

• Jossed as G Gundam is usually in a different route from Rayearth.

They're gonna use the names God Gundam and Devil Gundam again

They may think that insisting on the old names 'Burning Gundam' and 'Dark Gundam' will clash against an undubbed game, and it's pretty outdated, as well as too much depending on the overly strict censorship code in the past, when today, it would've been a bit more looser.

There's also the incentive from the previous game: Duo Maxwell has called himself 'The Grim Reaper', a closer translation to the original (Shinigami), instead of 'The Great Destroyer' like the original dub.

• Jossed.

The final composition of the "carrier fleet"

The Arcadia serving as the primary command ship of the player force is virtually a given. Aside from that vessel, it's also likely that the Excellion will go the distance, lasting until at least the equivalent of the fifth episode of Gunbuster (and they might come up with a different idea for that). It's also pretty darn likely that one of the models of the Argama, either the original or the Nahel, will be present. With three command ships, it feels less likely that the vessels from GaoGaiGar or Dunbine will be used for very long. The Nadesico, meanwhile, is a wild card, especially since only the events of Prince of Darkness are being covered.

• Instead of an Argama, they might use the Ra Cailum.
• Nadesico-B (later upgrading to C)
• Gran Garan, due to the greater storyline presence of Aura Battler Dunbine. The Zelana itself will probably be destroyed like in the show as that would free up Captain Nie to become a separate unit so he can have his Heroic Sacrifice to kill Drake.
• The Bebop, in spite of being really small compared to the other ships.
• Shin Dragon, in spite of not having passengers aside from the three pilots.
  • The confirmed ones are Nadesico-B to Nadesico-C, Ra Cailum, Arcadia, and NSX. The Bebop itself does show up but it ends up getting repaired for the rest of the game.

Time Travel will be involved somehow

While this franchise is no stranger to some minor Canon Welding especially in Gundam's case, the fact that Show Zama and Shion Zaba meet each other who are in-story separated by 700 years seems a bit too much - especially since Shion is the reincarnation of Show and so them even being in the same place should be impossible. But whether this is standard time travel within one world or something like the previous game where all the characters were pulled from across time and space into the OG's world remains to be seen.

• It would also neatly explain how Crossbone Gundam can occur alongside Char's Counterattack and as well as this Expelled from Paradise could be the Bad Future that everyone wants to avoid.
  • Continuing with this train of thought, perhaps DEVA receives some Adaptational Villainy and actively mucks with the past to ensure that their False Utopia happens, including convincing Char to go through with the Second Neo Zeon War to get humans into space and move things along. Also, when Angela breaks out of captivity with her upgraded Arhan and various weaponry, she grabs the future schematics to the Hi-Nu and/or later Crossbone Gundams and hands them over to the other heroes.
    • Alternate dimensions and universes are indeed a thing but Time Travel is not one of them so jossed.

Voice Actor Jokes predictions

It's a tradition in SRW. Which ones will they do now?

• Gyunei Guss is sent to work with the Red Dragons on behalf of Neo Zeon, and gets in a fight with Spike. Vicious gets confused by them having similar sounding voices, and attacks Gyunei by accident. Either gets Played for Laughs (Vicious and Gyunei get into a fight, and by the time they realize that Spike's who they should really be fighting, he's left), or more seriously (Gyunei opts to join Spike).
• A more heartwarming case: Kamille Bidan, regardless of his issues, will try to become some sort of Big Brother Mentor to Hikaru Shidou, perhaps being the one who tried to comfort her after the tragedy of Emeraude. If you ask how this came to be, well... Kamille has the same VA as Hikaru's oldest brother (not likely going to appear in this game), who did the comforting at the beginning of Season 2.
• Though not involving a relationship with other character, in this game, Tatra might make an excuse for her typical ditz attitude by saying that she's at heart 17 years old. And Tarta will deliver the typical "Oi, oi!" response. Bonus: Carmen 99 will also chime in the same comment.
• A more serious version. Lady Debonair will recognize Domon's burning desire for vengeance which nourishes her, so to mess around him further, she will have Alcyone occasionally mimic Rain's voice style to drop Domon's guard for a few cheap shots that could be fatal.
• The cast of Expelled from Paradise will lampshade that it's a Mobile Suit Gundam 00 reunion movie in disguise. Angela will act Ax-Crazy in an Out-of-Character Moment, Dingo will say "targeted and firing", and Frontier Setter will express his admiration of DEVA. They might even discuss it in a save-quit skit and a few other minor characters from the movie, also voiced by 00 alumni, might also join.
• SRW, in a save-skit, shouting back to They Are My Noble Masters for their Shout-Out towards them or just the respective shows: Domon and Guy about to have a clash between Shining/God Finger and Goldion Hammer... and suddenly, Master Asia interrupts literally.
• Someone will try to dress Hikaru Shidou in an Elegant Gothic Lolita getup thinking that it would fit her nicely or 'it's her calling', with Hikaru being utterly confused about where did that come from. Bonus points if the suggestions come from either Tobia Arronax or Sai Saici
• Either Show Zama and/or Shion Zaba gets pitted into the same room/area with Joe Rival and Nova which led to a 3-person battle royal (or 2 on 1, if Joe has already pulled a Heel–Face Turn), then all of the sudden, Vicious crashes in with any mecha he got his hands on with intentions to kill all three.
• Since this is the game where they blatantly tries for an international appeal, they could instead try something new in voice actor jokes: Make a voice actor joke based on the English dub of the show. Topic can be anything, but for starters, we could try the three pair of Faye Valentine, Umi Ryuuzaki and Angela Balzac. Another possibility for this is the two pair of Spike Siegel and Dingo.
• Jet Black will become protective of Marvel Frozen due to reminding him of his old lover Alisa.
• A voice joke between Might Senpuuji and Guy Shishioh might appear in some form, but also added with a name joke for how their first names were used for a character in one of the most famous Shonen Jump manga series, Might Guy. So either Might and Guy do some form of Dynamic Entry together or an OG villain will be voiced by Masashi Ebara.
  • Half-confirmed and half-jossed in the same time? Dyma Goldwin is actually the Big Bad and he's voiced by Masashi Ebara. But there's no confirmation of Maito and Guy directly making references of a Dynamic Entry on him. You're going to have to make that up yourself with Double Drive Wheel Sword followed with Hell and Heaven.
• Eagle Vision will have a quote saying that it's not nice to run away from him, as opposed to assuring that he musn't run away.

The Gespenst's pilot will be...

• Gilliam Yeager, the most likeliest choice, since he's synonymous with the black-colored Gespenst in all his appearances throughout Super Robot Wars.
• An established Original Generation character who hasn't appeared outside of their home game (the other Super Robot Wars 4 protagonists who aren't Irm or Ring), with Jayce Starlord being the obvious front-runner in this regard.
• A brand new Original Generation character.
  • Confirmed: Between Saizou and Sagiri, whoever is not picked as main protagonist will get the Gespenst.

The setting will feature surprisingly little "otherworld" shenanigans outside of what's strictly required by Dunbine and Rayearth, with the focus being on one "Terra"

This seems possible given the way the first trailer and related promotional material has leaned heavily on the idea of "protecting your home, Terra". It isn't going to be like the dimension-ripping settings of Z, V and X, and will instead be more like the heavily-integrated setting of the Alpha games. This will actually help Rayearth to stand out a little, since the trip to Cephiro alongside the girls is going to be so outside the wheelhouse of everyone else's experiences, much like how the trip to Byston Well was such a surprise for the crew in Alpha.

• The main difficulty would be integrating Expelled from Paradise without somewhat gutting its concept of the Earth being dead; it will be interesting to see how that is handled. The presence of Getter Robo Armageddon might help, as in that story, Earth got devastated via futile nuclear strike at Shin Dragon, which can be used as a way to help out Expelled From Paradise's setting.
• Given that it's been revealed that a theme of the game will be "the Solar System", this is beginning to sound more likely.
• Considering that Dunbine will have a considerable role in the plot this time around, it's possible that the fantasy oriented characters will gather in Byston Well and a recreation of the final arc of Dunbine's story kicks in where Queen of the Faeries - Jacoba Aon uses her Godlike Aura to transport the characters to Earth which is how they get involved in the plot of "T".
• Also considering the presence of 'VTX' group, which seems to be more likely to be located at the actual world, compared to X with Al-Warth (and it ended up following Wataru's story and 'otherworld shenanigans' a lot more), this WMG is getting a lot more plausible.
• The basic premise, at least, is confirmed in a Famitsu interview (via DualShockers)! "The previous game, Super Robot Wars X, was set in another world, so for T, they decided to go back to the how things are usually, with a classic setting featuring Earth."

There will be a starting route split determined by character choice ala the Alpha games

Given the thematic differences between the "magic" settings and much of the rest of the cast, it feels likely that there's going to be a starting route split, right out the gate from mission 1, depending on where the player wants to go first - the routes being a "magic route" (Rayearth and Dunbine) and a "reality route" (which will probably feature Crossbone Gundam and Captain Harlock heavily). Other route splits will likely lean toward this as well. And the best way to make this choice, of course, is an Alpha-esque character selection, with the first mission varying based on your choice of protagonist.

• Since V originals seemed geared more into Real type, while X originals geared more to Super type, I can see the option of multiple protagonists with multiple mechas encapsulated with differing routes.
  • Jossed.

"Lawfulness" will likely feature heavily as a key theme

Needless to say, there's a fairly obvious philosophical divide in the cast - on the one hand, you have the most famous Space Pirate in Japanese fiction, alongside a faction of piratical Gundam pilots, a bounty hunter crew who has a very casual relationship with the law, the Getter Armageddon crew, who generally don't give two shits about the law (Ryouma in particular), and Van & Ray, the main characters of a Space Spaghetti Western, who really would stomp on the law as long as it gets them closer to their vengeance. On the other side of the coin, you have the Braves (who are generally, it must be remembered, allies and supporters of the government in their home shows), the Gunbuster crew (who are loyal military pilots), the Nadesico crew (largely ditto) and the Argama crew (who are technically rebels themselves but who generally try to stop tyranny and what they see as lawlessness). And then there's folks who can fall both ways, including the Expelled duo (who begin as "government" agents but their lives get more complex as time goes on), Koji and the Mazinger (who hates evil, but isn't above going against the law to do what's right), Gundam Fighters and the Shuffle Alliance (had their own laws of the Gundam Fights to maintain balance, but generally less inclined with the more casual law and eventually after the death of Master Asia, saw their law to be really flawed) and most prominently the Rayearth team (who begin very "lawful", but get much more skeptical about laws and systems due to certain major events during their story). The set-up is ripe for a split of the cast among "law vs. pirates/anti-law" lines, and the nature of law and lawfullness will likely be a key theme for much of the game, with route splits possibly emphasizing one or the other.

• The reveal of "revenge" as a key theme makes this theory a little more compelling, since, of course, revenge (especially violent revenge of the sort you see from, say, Van & Ray) is usually something that goes against the law...
• The reveal of the Protagonists being Salaryman will also play a part in this. There may come a time where either Saizou or Sagiri will have to decide to do things as regulated by VTX Union (Lawful) or to screw the rules, doing the right thing. (Good)

DEVA or Cyber Security will be a boss of some sorts.

Considering how they see the artificial world an Utopia and Frontier Setter an enemy becuase they cannot control it, they will outright oppose the heroes. If they do not confront the station itself, which is highly likely, the mission will be about doing something to it instead.

• Jossed. They are taken care of in a cutscene and Wiseman is behind them.

This game's success may lead to a chance for a Super Robot Wars W remake with updated graphics.

It happened with Advance. As well as how Banpresto is pushing for more international coverage, if the international push is a success, they may green-lit this for a remake (in addition of first voiced SRW of Tekkaman Blade and Detonator Orgun, the HD and English rendition of GaoGaiGar FINAL, as well as GoLion AKA Voltron (refitting it to the English version completely sounds kind of impossible since they had to sell to Japan first)).

Of course, the catch is that the Ardyguns need to appear in OG series first.

The handling of both Seasons of Rayearth

This is a big one. We know that both seasons of Rayearth will be included, with the presence of both Zagato and Eagle. But how will be the ratio of seasons spread? There are three possibilities:

• Season 1 is only at the tail end of the season, once you meet the Magic Knights, they're just about to get ready to strike at Zagato. Afterwards, it's full on Season 2, you only learn Season 1 via exposition.
• Season 1 is slightly covered, but the Magic Knights already got their mecha. Most of the Season 1 land shenanigans were modified to make sure they happen while the girls are already in their Rune Gods.
• Season 1 is slowly covered, with modifications of mainly important parts: The awakening of the Rune Gods, and it is modified to make sure they might not always happen in Cephiro, and the Rune Gods deviate from the rule that rather than waiting until all three awakened, they will join the girls who awakened them first and be ready for combat ASAP. That way, you get the Magic Knights one by one; first Umi, then Fuu, then Hikaru. While the pacing could be slow, this benefits that the Magic Knights will have more time to interact with other SRW characters, developing them and making sure their friends can also feel empathy more on the tragedy of Emeraude.
  • They could make a further alteration and have Hikaru get Rayearth first, since she's the title character; while this would be a pretty major change with some knock-on effects for everything else, it would also address the problem of the lead character not being playable for a good chunk of her own scenario.
    • Even if Hikaru gets Rayearth the last, she will still be playable on the majority of Rayearth scenarios, since these would happen in the first half of the game, and a majority of the second season heavily focused on her. A good guess is that each major Rayearth scenarios for Season 1 before the battle against Zagato are the Rune Gods' resurrection (similar to the manga pacing), so at worst, Hikaru might be just missing out two major missions, and then get involved with the latter more to make up for it (not to mention, she can start out with predefined upgrades compared to the other two if she came later, depending if Magikarp Power is at play or not).

We all know that Season 2 will be covered fully. I think based on what Super Robot Wars W taught us, even if there is a Time Skip, it can still fit into one game.

• What the developers did is that they end up getting the Rune Gods and then recreate season 1 all the way to having to kill of Emeraude.

Angela's mission will start from the El Dorado Five's hometown.

If GUN×SWORD's plot isn't in a different planet, they'll likely have the town of Gloria in Mexico and avoid Fantasy Counterpart Culture altogether. Based on the footages in Expelled from Paradise, the area Angela was sent to was somewhere in North America.

• Jossed. Eldora V's hometown is at Mars while Angela lives in a whole different dimension and her mission involves assassinating Chirico.

Dingo will be playable

He'll either use that desert buggy and fire his guns from there a la Mellowlink or use his "motorhome" as a tank, like the Gratan, equipped with the missile launchers he placed in the abandoned buildings in the film's final battle.

• Jossed as he's a support character alongside Frontier Setter.

Cohen and Stinger may have a hand in manipulating Zagato into imprisoning Emeraude

With intents to immerse Cephiro with Getter Ray and de-evolutionize the living beings there as well, also being curious with how the varying creatures within Cephiro would evolve. Emeraude was actually aware of the threat of Invaders and her being a Pillar would have the intents of protecting Cephiro from the dangers of the Invaders. To weaken that, Cohen and Stinger 'manipulated' Zagato to have more audiences with Emeraude, culminating them in falling in love, and Emeraude's weakening power as a Pillar allowed some Invaders to sneak into and terrorize Cephiro. Once that happened, Cohen and Stinger simply departed and went to manipulate Prof. Saotome as in Armageddon plot. Their sapient forms will also allow them to 'immerse' themselves to Zagato without raising suspicion.

• Jossed.

Chibodee Crocket isn't going to be amused with the actions of Schwartz Koff, if he appears

As in, "I know what happens with Japan, but for the love of God, stop making bad stereotypes on us Americans!", before Schwartz gets a Character Development. Considering last time even Chibodee was offended with the tamer Jack King...

• Jossed as Schwartz Koff doesn't appear.

They'll have another Broke Episode bonus scenario and this time, they'll be hunting for the sand worms from Expelled from Paradise.

The anime showed that they sell well in the desert. They'll sell some of them while some of the Team Chefs like Akito will want (or be forced by Dingo) to cook and serve them. Van wouldn't mind eating it as long as he has condiments.

• Akito might have a problem with that, since it's the Prince of Darkness version, and he was deprived of his sense of taste and unable to continue cooking (since if he's deprived of that, he'll be unable to test how he cooked those worms and see if they could be served to others). If this was the TV Nadesico, then it might have been possible.
  • It could coincide with his friends wanting to give him a confidence boost and a handful of them volunteering as taste testers. Potential volunteers could include Chirico and Ru Shako (Planet Quaint has similar creatures called Sand Moles). If Yurika and Fyana are still in the enemies' hands at that point in the story, it's a chance for Akito and Chirico to bond over their similar situations.
• If taken to a different, less serious path, they can begin with an Iron Chef-style competition offering a big prize, hosted and judged by neutral inhabitants of wherever they are at that time, between Hoi Kow Lou and Sai Saici with sandworms that they already have as their main ingredient. Then, before a winner can be announced, living worms decide to attack, attracted, ironically, by the aroma of their cooked brethren.
  • Another different, less serious path, is that some members got so hungry that they decided to also toss in some of their Team Pets as part of the cooking menu. Spike will offer Ein. Umi will offer Mokona. And for some reason, Wendy messed up and involved Kameo in something that caused the Broke Episode in the first place, so Van will offer Kameo. You can also combine this with the Mushroom Samba episode. Somehow the mushroom got included as ingredients...
  • Regardless of which path taken, the cooked sand worms looks yucky but actually tasted good. This, on the other hand, flies over the head of Fuu, who has 'yucky food' listed as her least favorite food in her bio, so she tries to politely refuse to eat it, only to be cornered and ended up having a Not So Stoic action, one of the rare moments Fuu ends up 'not so eerily calm' unlike her usual self.

There may be one skit involving Umi and the Goldion Hammer

One of the Running Gag of Rayearth is a pissed off Umi trying to splat Mokona with a comical hammer. When she's in an universe with a super iconic hammer like Goldion Hammer, she might try to find something very similar to that in exchange of her usual hammer (probably a miniature edition). Guy will probably complain about it with, "Isn't that a little bit too overkill!?"^note Could be worse! You'd thank Bamco to not include FINAL and the Goldion Crusher.

The Emperor of Darkness will appear as an enemy despite only having a cameo in Mazinger Z: Infinity.

They already have the resources from the previous games. Despite being implied to have died before the events of the movie, it could be that He's Just Hiding.

• Jossed. Infinity's final boss is Dr. Hell.

The Devil Gundam will combine with an object that isn't from its own series again.

It might combine with...

• Axis, just like in Super Robot Wars 64
• Infinity, leading to the first official Mazinger-Gundam hybrid.
  • To take it to hybrid overkill, it combines with the Shin Dragon, too. It would be amazing if it controls DG cell-infected Type 17 Mazingers and Getter Robo G's.
• Cohen and Stinger's Invader form
• Black Noir
• Birthday (Big Brain)
• Zonuda
• SSX
• The Will-Wipps or the Zwarth due to potentially the DG Cells being attracted to the life force that is Aura.
• Castle Cephiro, in case Debonair got her hands on the Devil Gundam, in order to speed up the destruction by Cephiro by taking over its only safe haven and corrupt its Pillar Room inside (possibly also allowing her to enter that room without interference).

The Devil Gundam will be piloted by someone that isn't from its own series again.

Related to the WMG above.

• Char Aznable
• Prof. Saotome and/or Dr. Hell
  • Here's a crazy branch in case it is Dr. Hell: He goes to Devil Gundam and then plugs itself into Mazinger Infinity.
• Cohen and Stinger
• Black Noir
  • Alternatively, Black Noir doesn't pilot the Devil Gundam, but either makes Exeve pilot that, or send it in along with Exeve's default robot, since its final plot is to send a lot of regenerating mechas with zombified pilots, which sounds like what the Devil Gundam and Devil Army does, to dominate the world. It can even tell Purple to pilot that instead of just sticking in his battleship.
• Lady Debonair
• Kan Yu
• The Claw
• Mikoto Utsugi
• Frontier Setter
• Vicious
• Drake Luft or Rabern Zaramand
  • Jossed. It's piloted by Rain again.

The events of Armored Trooper VOTOMS will take place in the Solar System if Astragius Galaxy is Adapted Out

Unless they have them in another dimension like Cephiro and Byston Well.

• Mars or Venus will substitute for Quaint.
• Kummen Arc will take place in Southeast Asia. They did that in Z2: Saisei-hen.
  • It's actually at Astragius and no, it's not adapted out.

Woolong will be the game's currency.

• Jossed. It's an original currency called T$, presumably 'Terra Dollar'.

The final attack of the Gespenst will be the Gespenst Kick.

• And it will have, whoever is piloting that thing, screaming in full hotblooded fashion.
  • Why not go ahead and revive the actual Gespenst Punch (not as Jet Magnum) as well while they're at it? So... Gespenst Punch & Kick?
  • Jossed. Gespenst here is based on the old Classic Timeline Gespenst before it gets all the good future toys, and presumes that you are not using Jayce or Patricia, therefore no Gespenst Kick or Punch. Its strongest attack is Slash Ripper.

Haruki Kusakabe will return

He skipped out V. Considering the theme being 'Revenge', he might return, since he also held tremendous grudge against the Earthling. But seriously, though, the main reason is just so you can personally kick his ass and deliver the hammer of karma after not being allowed to do so in V.

• He's in the game but as a cutscene only.

Cephiro will be some sort of Planet X.

Killing the Pillar caused the planet to lose control. Until a replacement is chosen and stirs it away, it will be on a collision course with Earth.

• Autozam, Fahren, and Chizeta will be adjusted for the story as regular space colonies or terraformed moons in the Solar System akin to those in Gundam and Cowboy Bebop. They just happened to be the first ones to know about and anticipate Cephiro; Fahren and Chizeta through their myths and legends and Autozam through Lantis.
  • Autozam is the only faction in the game.
• Villain groups from other series will also fight to instate their own candidates as Pillar of Cephiro.
  • Jossed.

Hikaru Amano is going to have a field day with either the Magic Knights together or Lantis and Eagle

It's CLAMP, and they have dabbled a lot in yaoi and yuri, something that Amano really likes. She might restrain herself for the Magic Knights since they're underage, and she's not going there. Lantis and Eagle, though? They're one of the poster boys of MKR yaoi. It was meant to be.

The explanation of integrating Rayearth into things outside Cephiro

In the original, the Rune Gods were strictly contained within Cephiro. In order to make sure the Magic Knights can participate in other plots instead of being stuck in Cephiro and overall helpless in the real world, the rule would be modified: The Rune Gods can manifest within the actual reality outside Cephiro, and the Magic Knights are able to wear armors and weapons and cast spells just like in Cephiro as a result. Additionally, the Rune Gods would be more wary of the extraterrestrial threats like Invaders or Zonders.

• There's also the fact that the second OP of Rayearth, as well as a few promo images, teased the idea of the Rune Gods fighting in Tokyo. The show and manga itself never went there, but it's clearly been an idea kicked around for ages and CLAMP likely has notes on how they themselves intended to justify it. (And, of course, the OVA took place in Tokyo, but as the trademarks and whatnot reveal, what's included here is specifically Rayearth TV - the OVA would've been noted separately in the series listing.)

There will be a gap between beginning Rayearth Season 1 and 2

Not just so Hikaru, Umi and Fuu can participate in other events, but also filling in the gap during the time they were consumed with grief... and the bad guys trying to take advantage of that. For instance, the Zonders actually wanted to relieve everyone from stress by turning them to machines. Seeing that the Magic Knights got horribly stressed after the tragedy of Emeraude, the Zonders might even see them as perfect targets to turn into Zonders.

Either way, Hikaru, Umi and Fuu will have to quickly pick up their resolve to not grieve that much for the moment. The above WMG will also help them get back to battle to show their resolve until it's finally time to go back to Cephiro and start Season 2.

• Jossed. They get over it really quickly (from a gameplay stand point)

The fate of Tokyo Tower

This SRW got a combination of anime where stuffs happened to the tower. Based on that page:

• Spike fought Vincent in a pseudo Tokyo Tower at Mars. This might not get included because the movie isn't included in the roster.
• Hikaru, Umi and Fuu got transported to Cephiro from Tokyo Tower.
• Domon wrecked the Tokyo Tower to undo the brainwashing of the Shuffle Alliance.
• Pasder set up his base beneath Tokyo Tower and 'merged' with it for his final assault.

So how much more stuffs can Tokyo Tower take in this game?

• Answer? It doesn't get affected at all.

Tryder G7 will be the glue holding the Brave Series plots together with each other and the metaplot.

• Watta has sworn Kohaihood to Might Sempuuji, and is classmates with Mamoru.
  • Watta being classmates with Mamoru looks confirmed by PV2.
• Nambalon has taken Mitsuhiko under his wing, somehow.
• The Takeo General Company is a big supplier to both The Sempuuji Concern and The Gutsy Geoid Guard.
• Black Noir arranged for Michitaro's death.
• The Robot Empire is connected to the Zonders in some way.
• Kotaro Taiga, Tetsuo Atsui, and Aoki Keichiro were in the same Special Forces unit together.

Vicious will pilot a mecha outside his series

It worked with Shapiro Keats during Judgment where he pilots a Gradosian mecha. In fact, due to the minimum mecha in Cowboy Bebop, this looks like the only way Vicious can make his presence known in battles. The question is which mecha.

• Maybe the Devil Gundam?
  • Jossed. Vicious only appears in a cutscene.

Shin Getter Robo Armageddon and Expelled from Paradise will headline the plot.

The 'Shin Dragon Nuke' incident and the Nano Hazard are collectively speaking the two biggest potential disasters that could be used to massively deplete the Earth's population, with the Astral Gate accident from Cowboy Bebop ranking at a close second. Depending on how the two are written out we could be looking at an even bleaker opening than Super Robot Wars D with very little of the actual earthbound population of the world remaining.

• Depending on how Char's Counterattack is played, then there's the possibility to pile up the wreckage... The beginning of the game is spent on trying to prevent Char to drop the Axis and then, thanks to probably the OG villain, they fail anyway so Earth is further fucked on that. Not that Char gets a happy conclusion either: Since the game story said that 'effort to travel to space is halted', his original goal to let mankind reach space via Axis drop face difficulty after the drop anyway.
  • Jossed.

This game will have a slight modification on Umi's final spell, Ice Blades

And surprisingly, it doesn't heavily depend on other series, just the usual SRW 'plot tinkering'. In the original, Umi learned the spell out of nowhere, with the explanation of 'willpower increased' or Ice Magic Is Water. This will probably translate into some sort of Adaptation Distillation, especially since in the original series, aside of the beginning, Umi was the one who put down Alcyone: If you continuously have Umi shoot down Alcyone, rather than being disgusted, she slowly grows to acknowledge Umi as a Worthy Opponent in combat. And by the time she's freed from Debonair's thrall and either about to die or saved (if the game allows it), she will depart some knowledge of her magic to Umi, thereby giving the explanation how she learns Ice Blade. If the secret isn't fulfilled, Umi will still get the spell, but it's slightly weaker, but regardless of the results, she will hold the spell as a proof of Alcyone's existence.

Wiseman is playing a Cosmic Chess Game with Black Noir, another Master Computer that manipulates behind the scenes and with delusions of godhood. They could both be Overmen before they decided to inhabit computers.

They might even be the ones who came up with the Pillar System, if they're not including Creator Mokona from the Magic Knight Rayearth manga, then Wiseman began favoring Chirico as a replacement to Emeraude but Black Noir would rather have the current universe end and begin anew.

The High Officials of DEVA might be in on this, too, as they chose the appearance of gods from several mythologies and they could be their arbiters. Their insistence on not letting anyone explore deep space will be because it will derail the game.

The ruins in Mars were left there by Ancient Quaintians.

The Ancient Quaintians even have Teleportation technology similar to Boson Jumping but with less restriction.

The blue liquid in the Original Seven Armors is jijirium.

The modification to allow certain people to pilot them is similar to the process of creating Perfect Soldiers. It's also why the pilots can heal while in their Armors.

There will be a bonus scenario where Ein will sneak out and hijack a mech.

Probably a Scopedog or the Brownie (because it has a dog's head) and the theme song will be "Bad Dog No Biscuits". It could happen during the Mushroom Samba.

• Jossed.

Members of The Society will not have their swastika emblem for obvious reasons.

One of Hikaru's actions will be inspired by Chirico's.

Specifically, Chirico's rejection of Wiseman will give Hikaru the idea to abolish Cephiro's Pillar System.

• Kouji's affirmation about humans despite their ups and downs towards Lisa might also inspire her decision.

The theme 'Revenge' will be abused to hell by Lady Debonair

Revenge is one of the products of negative emotions like hatred. This might mean that some whose plot was driven by personal revenge, they will inadvertently empower Debonair (her scope is expanded to be beyond Cephiro). Some might be able to get over it, for instance, Domon would develop himself to avert it... but for some like Van, who's a wee bit too hell bent on vengeance... He will have to eventually rethink which one takes priority: Love for Elena or vengeance against Clawed Man. Or if he has to Take a Third Option, he needs to think in a way so his desire for vengeance cannot be used by Debonair, by being inspired by other characters or something. Same can apply to Ray... who's in a worse scale of revenge obsession.

The Exelion will return home, from a fight against the STMC, to a Solar System dominated by the Illumidas.

This would be after that one time Noriko piloted Gunbuster without a partner and this could explain why Kazumi Amano, hiding from the aliens for years, was missing from the announcement trailer. They'll join up with rebel groups like AEUG, the Crossbone Vanguard, or Harlock's crew and will be given the Arcadia's warp technology or Boson Jumping so that they wouldn't have to worry about Time Dilation the next time they set out to fight the space monsters.

• Jossed. Illumidas doesn't appear in the game.

The characters will point out the similarity in appearance between Chizeta and the open Black Hole Bomb.

There will be a delay to the abolishment of Pillar System of Cephiro

There is a chance that Debonair will not be the Final Boss or the last enemy to go down before they go to face off the OG final boss. Debonair is destined to be impaled to death with the Proof of Pillar of Cephiro turned into a giant sword to be wielded by the merged Rayearth. If that was the case, unless the Final Boss strikes immediately after the death of Debonair, the game will have to find a way or excuse so merged Rayearth can use the Pillar Blade for more scenarios.

Kouji will deploy the Mazinger Z earlier than the movie

Seems a bit weird that you probably won't get the iconic robot before mid-game, it has always been an early game unit. The plot of Infinity would need a bit tinkering that Kouji had to get back to the battlefield earlier before Dr. Hell returns with Mazinger Infinity since there's a crapload of threats outside him that forced Kouji to do so instead of only doing so because Dr. Hell's appearance forced his hand. Kouji can solo pilot it for awhile, but mid-game, he gains Lisa as a subpilot.

Heck, we might even get more screentime/availability for Tetsuya and Great Mazinger too.

• Confirmed. Kouji joins pretty early in the game.

Miscelaneous Player Character Interaction and Crossover WMGs

• Noriko, Kazumi, Hikaru, Kei and Sayaka all went to the same junior high school, though not necessarily together, which just happens to be the distaff counterpart to the school Gai attended.
• Mikoto, Yurika, and Fuu attended the same magnet school, though the last two did not necessarily graduate from it.
• Due to the events of Getter Robo Armageddon, Noriko will consider the senior Getter Robo team to be Broken Pedestals, and will instead hero worship The Mazinger Bunch, well, except maybe Boss. Noriko will also be a big fangirl of Gekiganger 3.
• In fact, amongst the school boys and girls, the names of Kouji Kabuto and Sayaka Yumi has gone into 'legendary' status since the events of the original anime has ended and they've gotten really prestigious careers that makes other students go hero-worship on them (not just Noriko). In turn, Shirou Kabuto ends up either being their senpai about to graduate or just recently graduated, and perhaps had to set straight some rumors that Kouji was the super cool and unapproachable guy due to his fame, while Shirou had to correct that even as he grew into adulthood, some of Kouji's idiocy just never left him.
• Speaking of hero worship, the Rune God riders will be big fangirls of The Three Angels, and Shidou Hikaru in particular will also be a big fangirl of Gekiganger 3.
  • Not yet confirmed on the worshipped people above, but Hikaru Shidou being a Kouji Kabuto Fangirl confirmed in PV2.
• Akito will become a mentor of Shou, and also, if his story ends early enough, will try to steer Van away a bit from the path of vengeance. In order to unlock Todd and Bern, Akito will have to remove significant chunks of their respective mechs' HP with the Black Selena and also talk to them.
• Ruri, Fuu, and Wendy will be the only people able to understand Ed, though both Ples will make valiant attempts.
• Much like with Ange and Lelouch in Super Robot Wars X, the rest of the cast will consider either Noriko or Shidou Hikaru and Shishioh Gai to be each other's Distaff and Spear Counterparts.
• The fencing tournament that Umi planned to attend was supposed to be overseen by George, and as far as fencing goes, Umi is a big George fangirl, and later on George might tutor Umi to further prepare her duel against the Chizeta princesses. Additionally, George himself might get a rivalry with Woo, who might have issues with George participating in Gundam Fights (most likely jealousy or sorts, as if Woo didn't have enough issues already).
  • George himself will discuss with Show Zama about what it means to be a "Knight" and will support him in his duels with Bern "The Black Knight" Bunnings.
• Amano Kazumi and Amano Hikaru are related.
• Nagare Ryoma and Nagare Akatsuki are also related.
  • The Nergal Corporation was a big investor in the Saotome institute.
• Gekiganger 3 was a fictionalized account of the adventures of both the El Dorado Five and the original Getter Robo team, back before Professor Saotome went bonkers and framed Ryoma for his murder.
  • Ryoma and Nero both want their royalty checks from the production company.
• As some sort of Ascended Meme about how these two were clamored as the top Hot-Blooded characters within the record of their actors and it's just now they get into the same SRW, Domon and Guy will be rivals that started out rough, but became genuinely Friendly Rival.
• Similar to Super Robot Wars V, Tobia (and potentially any other "Future" characters) will try to persuade Hathaway Noa from letting the death of Quess Paraya consume him and prevent his future as a revenge driven terrorist.
  • Alternatively, it will be seeing how the quest for revenge has consumed Van/Akito/Domon that causes Hathaway to reconsider his path in life.
• Ed will be the only one to laugh at Izumi's jokes.
• In a strike of Genius Bonus, Chibodee Crocket will compliment the people of Autozam, and especially Eagle Vision because they take the 'American stereotype' very subtly, even compared to him (including the comparison of 'bald eagle' within Eagle).
• Combining with the seiyuu joke WMG above, Hana will be awestruck and goes Hero-Worshipper on Umi for some trivial things (either her high status or fencing and general grace), but felt that she'd be a bit 'too cool for commoners' like her, only to find out that Umi is a total Spoiled Sweet and pretty much acts like a Cool Big Sis on her. At one point, Guy will spot the two interacting and get reminded with his past when his mom was alive, and makes a comment that one day Umi would become a fine mother, which would please her since one of her stated goals in life is to be a good bride.
• Akito will end up 'bonding' with the Magic Knights post season 1, seeing that they (particularly Umi and Fuu) became disillusioned with something fun as 'playing RPGs' similarly as the reveal of the Jovian Lizards and the tragedy of Tsukumo Shiratori embittered Akito about a certain fun Hot-Blooded anime known as Gekiganger 3. It's still not known which side will encourage the other side to reaffirm the fun of that something fun; perhaps the opposing side ended up doing the other activity to form a neutral opinion (Akito plays RPG, the Magic Knights watch Gekiganger) and making them realize that despite the tragedies that happened, it should've been harmless and it's OK to enjoy them.
• Char Aznable will express nostalgia over Bern Bunnings being a young Char Aznable Clone.
  • Alternatively, he could be angry at the way Bern and Schwartz Bruder have stolen his style.
• Allenby and Priscilla will become fast friends over their athletic abilities and pinning for a guy they probably had no chance with. Allenby might also introduce Priscilla to the game she played that made her a great Gundam Fighter and got shocked when she notices that Priscilla is just as equally great in that game, prompting Allenby to think that if Priscilla's nation participated in Gundam Fights, she'd be her country's Gundam Fighter.
• Even before merging with Hikaru, Nova would end up bonding with Riml Luft since they were under Evil Matriarch. Even when fixated on Hikaru and hating anything she loved, Nova won't see Riml as a threat (since she and Hikaru are basically strangers), treats her as some sort of Morality Pet and is in fact horrified at Luuza, all while believing that Debonair isn't anything like her (only to be proven otherwise later). Riml will later prove to be pivotal in scenarios of Nova pulling a Heel–Face Turn.
• Marvel is related to Jack King. If the Gekiganger 3 references in the game include the Texas Robo, she's going to do lots of face palming.
• Spike will get surprised when he realized the name of the Gundam belonging to Schwarz: Gundam Spiegel. "Wait, since when did my name get used to name a Gundam without my permission?"
  • Then Inez Fressange or Jung Freud^note She's supposedly Soviet but she's named after an Austrian and a Swiss will inform him that it's German for "mirror", but the latter will do so harshly.
• Maito is acquaintated with Umi since her parents were influential enough that the equally influental super young CEO of Senpuuji Concern would meet them in either annual meetings or dinner parties hosted by the Senpuuji Concern or another group and they brought Umi along for the ride. When Maito reunites with Umi after so long, one of the things he asks would be if Umi's parents still act like Sickeningly Sweethearts, which embarrassed the hell out of her.
• Tetsuya and Lantis will consider each other equals or rivals (friendly one), due to Tetsuya's hypercompetitive attitude and Lantis being able to gain expertise in piloting anything outside Cephiro (as proven with GTO). They also share the experience of being turned into a Badass in Distress in their respective series (against Dr. Hell/Mazinger Infinity and Nova/Regalia, respectively), so when one of them gets grafted into an enemy mecha as a hostage/energy source, the other would relate and do their best to get their friend out of the predicament, depending who's available. There's also the fact that their Signature Move involves lightning (Thunder Break and Lightning Call) which may play part in that rescue scene. Example: Lantis' Lightning Call doesn't seem to be enough to break away from Regalia despite Eagle's efforts, so Tetsuya adds extra lightning power with Thunder Break.
• Fuu will look up to Amuro as some sort of idol since he knows his way through the computer and system engineering (the latter was actually Fuu's dream profession), with Amuro seeing potential in her. Additionally, there could be a one-off joke that people thought her Windam is secretly a variation of Gundam, because it's named almost the same (they both ended with 'ndam'), and Amuro, being the expert in the actual Gundam, will help debunk it.
• Jung Freud is initially distrustful and wary of Argo Gulskii in spite of being fellow countrymen (assuming that the former is rewritten to be a Neo-Russian) because the latter was a Space Pirate, but they will become comrades after learning to respect each other's skills. There can also be a metafictional reference to how their anime aired before and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union respectively.
• Battle Bomber, in particular Dino Bomber, will probably have a unique look on ChoRyuJin. Not because of being similar autonomous AI robots from the same set of series, but also to point out the "ChoRyuJin killed the dinosaurs" thing.

As a darker addendum to the above: the One Year War is going to play a major role in a lot of backstories.

It's a major event that's going to be in history for this particular entry, and if they keep the scope of it similar, it will have touched everyone's lives in some way.

• Hikaru Shidou may be the biggest: if they want to make her a somewhat more tragic figure and add even more punch to what happens later, they could easily say her father died in the OYW rather than just being on a martial arts journey.
  • If that was the case, one can only wonder how Hikaru can keep up being a Genki Girl before the tragedy of Emeraude.
• Jet will almost certainly be a OYW veteran. Spike may have cut his teeth during that period, too.
• Kouji and the Getter team got roped into the OYW, despite not wanting to get involved in a conflict of that scale; the Getters being used in conflicts of men may well be a contributor to Hayato's bitterness and Professor Saotome going off the deep end. It may also factor on Kouji not going back to pilot Mazinger Z until the events of Infinity and chose to be a researcher until adulthood: The OYW embittered him about using Photon power for combat against other men.
• Another big one: it could well be the OYW that drove Harlock away from the Earth Sphere, disgusted with the indiscriminate slaughter both sides were willing to inflict on one another.
• Depending on how Gundam Fights were handled, the OYW could replace one of the Gundam Fights as the impetus of Master Asia's Start of Darkness, citing that the brutality of humanity during that war a major reason why he wanted the Devil Gundam to wipe out mankind.
• The crew of the Exelion might, due to all the time dilation effects, think that the OYW is still going on if no one else in the PC faction clues them in otherwise.
• Having spent his youth in Australia, Shot Weapon may have been traumatised by the Colony Drop on Sydney during the OYW and could have based the Aura Machines on Mobile Suits out of obsession for revenge. Similarly, rather than Air Force pilots, Todd and Allen could have been trained as Mobile Suit pilots instead.

Someone will attempt to impersonate either Hikaru...

...And will be smacked with the Goldion Hammer for his/her trouble.

• Probably because someone would get their personality wrong. They will be tipped off when they see 'Shidou Hikaru' attempt to like yaoi.
  • With the above WMG, maybe the sight gag of Umi with miniature Goldion Hammer is not too far away since she's most likely the one who'll get pissed at her friend being impersonated like that...

Buster Machine #3 will be designed by the Illumidas-controlled Earth Sphere government or their lackey, Mr. Zone.

Their ships have similar capsule-like design.

The Magic Knights will have an extra layer of Heroic BSoD aside of the Emeraude tragedy.

In the original series, they usually fought monsters or illusions or magical constructs, usually this would be nothing special. Now, they're in a Super Robot Wars, where their enemies might also be fellow humans that just happened to be on the opposing side, and they come in a lot of numbers compared to Zagato being just one person. Honestly, that seems to be a recipe of extra Heroic BSoD that they'll end up having to use their magic to either burn, drown or rip people to shreds... but of course, either way, they will steel themselves up to finally accept the inevitable or try to just disable/dismantle their opponents instead of outright killing... Never mind the exploding animation for defeated units.

• This wouldn't be the first time this issue has come up. In Super Robot Wars V, during a DLC level involving Kedora hijacking Mazin Emperor G, Kouji acknowledges that he needs to be careful not to destroy the mech and Tetsuya with it. Then the player selects Big Bang Punch, and Kouji says, "In the name of Almighty Zeus, I will shatter your atoms!"
• That seems to be applied to one particular person that's already close to each other, so it would be a different case. The WMG is more geared about those Mooks you find in shows like Gundam (eg: Neo-Zeon mooks), which come in massive numbers, has no particular close links, but still humans. I would think that at the very least, the Magic Knights' innocence will take a blow on this, and this can happen in early game, because they probably would be mixing with the Aura Battlers and... the Byston Well soldiers, have feelings and souls too, you know? Heck, if Nova would try to Mind Rape Hikaru, she could easily conjure up the spirits of the dead Mooks she killed during the course of the game.
• If they actually go through with this, it would be an improvement in writing if they can deconstruct Outside-Context Problem and Outside-Genre Foe. However, like breathing in space, there's always someone who comes up with an excuse why they shouldn't worry about it. Sometimes, characters from series without human on human violence or minors (like Wataru in X or Hokuto and Ginga in MX) are told that the enemies have Ejection Seat (regardless if they actually have that in their home series) but most of the time, they don't even address that. Quotes from human or not terribly monstrous Mooks usually imply that they can survive or even that they're the same people that you've fought before.
  • That's a solid counterpoint, but there is also a benefit to enhance the Mind Rape scene by Nova. For instance, despite Rayearth telling about ejection seats, Hikaru slips off at least once and she's devastated. Sure, it seems as if others manage to make her get over it, but it continues to haunt Hikaru's heart that it became parts of herself that she discarded which formed up Nova, and when Nova invaded her mind, she could easily mess up with that one event to make Hikaru think she killed every one of her opponents based on that one scene. Originally, Nova managed to mingle up about how Hikaru thought Umi and Fuu thought about her and the whole quest (really really insensitive), she could easily add that extra Accidental Murder as an addition due to being in an SRW (hell, Original Generation has been no stranger to this, even Masaki Andoh has experienced this early in his career).

Rail Work Corporation will be an Ascended Extra and Unknown Rival to the Brave Express Corps.

The former will resent the latter for being the more successful railway company so they'll throw in their lot with DG/BD Alliance and lend them their own train-inspired Armor.

They'll combine the Mecha Battling plots from GUN×SWORD's 14th episode and Armored Trooper VOTOMS: Big Battle

And the Gundam Fighters will be involved, too.

There will be a Squad System.

Unless the developers come up with new attacks or upgrades that weren't originally in their anime or exaggerate Power Creep, Power Seep, the zipcrafts and MONOs from Cowboy Bebop would be relegated to the same mediocrity as Melda's Czvarke or the Gratan in V and X respectively and doomed to be benched by players for the rest of the game when they're not event units or whenever better units are soon available.

• Jossed that there are no Squad System, but for a mere zipcraft shown in the demo, Spike seemed pretty usable and powerful on his own, not to mention being capable to summon his fellow Bebop friends with Bebop Formation attacks.

As a famous series, they'd know that its fans wouldn't take it being sidelined lightly so they'll have to give them bonuses that would convince the players that they're worth using.

There may be a surprise entry beyond what's given in the first trailer

In the first trailer of V, they did not show the existence Mazin Emperor G and Tetsuya Tsurugi, only showing them once the second trailer was out. Based on this... There is a chance that B.B Studio is hiding one surprise unit to be shown in latter trailers. Which unit, you ask? Well that is up in the air.

• Confirmed. Turns out it's Shin Getter Dragon from Getter Robo Daikessen!

The Light Monster at Rayearth episode 14 will make an appearance

Though with its status as a filler monster, it might be merged with another faction. Most probably the Zonders, who might take advantage of the Magic Knights traumatized due to the tragedy of Emeraude (see the above WMG) to attempt to Zonderize them (which coincidences with the Light Monster's modus operandi). This might make a rather awkwardly funny scenario with GaoGaiGar whereas this coincidences with the debut of Goldion Hammer, whereas there might be an awkward scenario of Guy's iconic line "Transform to light/Hikari ni nare" getting a little twisted: How does turning something that is made of light into light works?

Combination Attack possibilities

• Returning
  • Shuffle Alliance Fist, Double God Finger, Sekiha Love-Love Tenkyoken
    • Jossed for any Sekiha Tenkyoken combo but Shuffle Alliance Fist is confirmed.
  • Gun X Sword, Dangan Bomba Dello
  • Double Aura Slash (either Show-Marvel or Show-Shion), Twin Aura Strike (Show-Bern)
  • Joint Dragon Fire
  • Shine Spark
    • Half-Jossed. Shine Spark exists as a normal, solo attack for Shin Getter Dragon.
  • Final Dynamic Special (with the Mazingers and Getter)
• New
  • Triple Mazinger Attack (name can change)
    • Jossed. But as an exchange, the classic Double Burning Fire returns.
  • Light Spiral, Combined Rayearth
    • Confirmed on both.
  • Final Brave Special (name can change)

The only line in "Tank!" is going to be uttered in some variation within the game

By Spike, of course. The context can be anything, but it's somewhere along the line of "Well, I'd say it's about time we blow this scene, get everybody and the stuff together." (and later) "Three... two... one... OK, let's jam!"

Shion Zaba will get the Bellvine

For those unaware, there was originally 10+ Aura Battlers created for the OVA sequel to Aura Battler Dunbine as revealed by the artbook Aura Phantasm but because the budget was so constrained, only the Sirbine and the Zwauth eventually made it into the final product. Shion was supposed to swap out the Sirbine (a Dunbine Expy) for the Bellvine (a Billbine Expy). The Sirbine is traditionally the final upgrade for Show Zama, so for Shion to start out with it seems a bit overpowered unless Shion shows up much later in the story than the rest of the Dunbine cast or they nerf it and give him a different final mech (such as the Bellvine). It wouldn't be the first time that a non-animated mech will make it into SRW such as the Hi-Nu Gundam so it's not completely impossible.

• Since they listed Aura Battler Dunbine seperately from New Story of Byston Well, suggesting a separate listing under the Favorites selection screen, it stands to reason there will probably be far more mechs available than just the Sirbine and Zwauth.
• Confirmed. The second trailer shows Shion in the Bellvine fighting against Jeryl.

The Gekiganger themes used within Nadesico combined with the Getter series will be played more intensively

Since this is the Armageddon installment, things get a lot more severe. Since the Jovian Lizards worship the Gekiganger 3, which is based on Getter Robo. Ryoma, Hayato and Benkei will eventually piece things together and noticed the similarity. This might look normal at first... until they reached the comparison between Michiru and Nanako, and in what manner Nanako was worshipped by the Jovian Lizards. Considering how Michiru died in the Armageddon continuity, and most likely after the Stoner Sunshine scene, they end up finding the manner of Jovian Lizards worshipping them flat out insulting to Michiru's (and to an extent, Musashi's and Prof. Saotome's) memories and decide to take cue from Mazinger's usual slogan 'You can be a God or Devil with this machine'. In this case, they decided to become the 'wrathful Gods' that got pissed at their 'followers' (the Jovian Lizards) corrupting their 'teaching' and making the world a worse place.

• That would work much better if the original series of Martian Successor Nadesico was in play. By the time of Prince of Darkness, the likes of Kukasabe and Hokoushin and the rest of the Martian Successors had dropped that charade. We also have to consider how Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam figures into the equation.

Time Skip will be featured

If they can use Time Skip in one game like Super Robot Wars W, I don't see why this couldn't be utilized into the game. The revealed shows so far reveal that this is almost guaranteed to use Time Skip:

• Getter Robo Armageddon first half with Daikessen elements peppered in -> Armageddon second half.
• Aura Battler Dunbine, except with the ending averted -> New Story of Aura Battler Dunbine
• Mobile Fighter G Gundam with Shining Gundam -> Mobile Fighter G Gundam with God Gundam
• GaoGaiGar first half (until the first defeat of Z Master) -> GaoGaiGar second half (until Zonuda).
• Magic Knight Rayearth Season 1 -> Magic Knight Rayearth Season 2
• Mazinger Z: Infinity expanded prologue (which explains why we're gonna get more Tetsuya) -> Mazinger Z: Infinity actual show proper (Lisa enters the scene here)
• Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ combined -> Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack

Some elements of Rayearth in Sega Saturn will be featured in the game

If they could include Getter Robo Daikessen! without putting it on the credits list, they might also do the same to the Rayearth Saturn game. Although most probably to give Fuu Hououji a bow attack like how her Escudo sword was replaced by Escudo bow in the game. In other words, they can turn Fuu's sword into a transforming weapon that switches between sword and bow. The excuses can vary: Either Windam gave her the ability to do so, or Fuu's willpower made it happen (since that's the rule in Cephiro: One's will rules over all)

Both Michael Garret and Fasalina will be promoted into a non-secret unit

Since this is the second time GUN×SWORD have been featured in an SRW, that means B.B Studio can opt for more liberties of how the story goes (after sticking with canon as 'close as possible' in K). Additionally, Terada has teased that there has been a lot more voice works by veterans and new voice actors, but in particular on Fasalina's VA (as well as the Magic Knights' VAs , but that's another story unrelated to this WMG), so I had a suspicion that it means that there is a chance that both Michael and Fasalina will be an Ascended Extra, instead of just mere unlockable bonuses with no bearings on the plot once recruited, they will be more involved in the plot, have extra lines (like against the final boss) and their recruitment are not just optional, similar to Joe Rival.

They can modify the plot to make Michael actually less gullible and eventually caught on that he was tricked by the Clawed Man (will actually count as a Fix Fic, since Michael tends to get flaks for being gullible enough to keep siding with the Clawed Man despite proofs saying otherwise) and eventually after much thinking, decided to boot out. Fasalina tries to stop him but ends up not being able to stop him because she developed genuine feelings for Michael. Or at first they decided that there is an Enemy Mine that required them to team up with Van, and they ended up having to swallow some Awful Truth about the Clawed Man by the common enemy.

I know the chance of this happening is low, but this is a pretty wild guess.

Hathaway Noa will get the Xi Gundam as a secret unit

Since Banpresto have already shown with the Shin Getter Dragon that they're able to slip in certain mechs uncredited and with the Bellvine they're willing to put in mechs just to advertise other properties then it's possible that Hathaway will get the Xi Gundam as a secret unit to advertise the Hathaway's Flash film coming later this year. The Xi Gundam has already debuted in V so it wouldn't be too hard to implement and it could be explained away in-universe as being obtained together with the Hi-Nu Gundam depending on how Amuro gets his final mech.

• Even the Hi-Nu Gundam and Nightingale appeared in installments like Alpha Gaiden and D without Beltorchika's Children in the official cast list.
• In addition, they might even reuse the non-MP F91 from X as a secret unit for Kincade Nau to give tribute to Kouji Tsujitani.

A joke scenario will involve one or all of the Magic Knights acting like more typical Magical Girl

Admittedly, Rayearth is a rather atypical example for Magical Girl, since they focus more on their RPG-like adventure or the drama at the 2nd season than frilly costumes or shiny, sparky magic or acting cutesy like a lot of Magical Girl out there (even their Transformation Sequence doesn't get much focus). I think as a joke or lighthearted scenario, in a similar manner to Salian in the previous games, they could end up making the Magic Knights act like more typical Magical Girl.

Though rather than a hidden, embarrassing joke (though some like Umi will still get embarrassed anyway), they're probably going to use it for something more altruistic. Maybe they participate in some sort of event/show that requires them to dress up like that and act cutesy (for example: a kid's show that's held on Mamoru's school? Watta might be the one suggesting the idea) to the point that someone brought a variation of their final armors to be even more frilly than usual.

DEVA System will end up being the Greater-Scope Villain of Magic Knight Rayearth

The concept of Cephiro and the Pillar System might end up being one of the DEVA System's proposed plans for Utopia, spearheaded by one of its more loose members, Mokona, who has a different idea in creating an Utopia compared to the DEVA trio. Unfortunately, its massive flaw became unveiled thanks to the Emeraude tragedy, and after bonding with the Magic Knights, Mokona felt horrible for proposing the system in the first place. Unfortunately, the DEVA System was insistent that the Pillar System should be preserved due to how effective it was in keeping peace, considering Emeraude's grief to be an everyday sacrifice, and when Hikaru became the new Pillar and abolished the Pillar System, the DEVA System is pissed and put Hikaru and the rest of the Magic Knights into their crossfire for ruining perfectly good plans for Utopia, even if the original creator, Mokona, has been disillusioned with it. Naturally, Hikaru won't take it well. At all.

Arcadia of my Youth - Endless Orbit SSX's plot will be pretty much be represented solely by Mr. Zone

In a manner similar to how some previous entries have represented the plot of Dancougar only by having Shapiro fulfill his role from the series using another entry's alien villains, Mr. Zone will lend his services to a different enemy group in his attempts to show up Harlock. As such, the Illumidas would likely be absent, just like the Muge Empire was in certain games featuring Dancougar.

• Confirmed

Van will feel Hate at First Sight for Exev

Aside from him and The Claw having similarities in regards to killing people important to The Protagonist and The Rival in their respective shows and their world-ending plans, it will also be a Fandom Nod to Exev's other alias as "Mister X" and how it is a Significant Anagram of Mist Rex.

Guessings for the other Key Theme aside of Revenge

This is to pool up guesses of other Key Themes:

• Adaptability: The new major element that hasn't been revealed yet is cross-series unit piloting. It is unlikely but given how much hype the producers are building and how fans have asked for that feature for years, they might have found the right mechanics and opportunity to do this. If so, it could be restricted to just the Real Robots but it could give certain pilots and units more usability. Adaptability as a theme could relate to how people can survive the hardships in this game's setting and, on a meta level, how Super Robot Wars should change to keep its fanbase and attract newcomers.
• Redemption: This works in tandem with the revealed theme of 'Revenge', because it is almost like its antithesis. Additionally, Terada has stated that there will be less secrets in the game, which may mean that a lot of 'usually secret' units will be rendered obtainable by default. And from there, it's both these former villains redeeming themselves from their past sins and the revenge-addled heroes learning to let go and forgive.
• Time: This might look like a retread to Time Travel, which R has tackled before, but B.B Studio can easily modify certain parts so it didn't look too much like R's "Go to the past, fix it so the Bad Future does not come to pass.". Time will probably play a part, thanks to the existence of alternate worlds like Byston Well and Cephiro, but Terada himself said that they will focus on one Earth... that doesn't mean it's always going to be present day Earth. If you also look at the WMG about Time Skip, you'll notice that there are a lot of series that were like begging to be given Time Skip treatment. Additionally, 'Time' has the same initial word with 'T'. Yes we know T is supposed to stand for 'Terra', but it could be used similarly as well. Next up, the male protagonist, Saizou Tokitou, has the surname that starts with 'Toki'... which not only starts with 'T' like the title, but it also translates to time. So either way, Time will probably be used, but in a different way than R.

Merill is going to pull a Face–Heel Turn

The fact that unlike Saizo, Sagiri and Ramy, she didn't get a 'spotlight' during the reveal as well as how her face looked a bit like aloof/mysterious, this looks like a Foreshadowing that she won't be in VTX Union for long and then be a bad guy later.

The Otherworlds of the Fantasy Anime will be combined together

The fact that the central theme of this game is protecting "Terra" probably means that we'll be spending as little time as possible in the fantasy otherworlds before having the characters return to Earth. Therefore, it's possible that they will try to canon weld Byston Well and Cephiro together into one world.

• Way I see it, the Byston Well arc might get sped up to the point that everyone got transported to Earth and then the final arc happened there. That is one way to speed it up so Shion can appear and have his plot... which is not at the New Byston Well, but re-integrated to the Earth setting.
• Cephiro might stay as an alternate world, but only visited a few times, they will facilitate it so the Magic Knights do not visit there often. They'll probably go there in the beginning, and then maybe the Rune Gods ended up sleeping within the actual Earthsphere so the Magic Knights got sent to the actual world to revive them, but once they do, they take the fight back to Cephiro again for the climax of Season 1. And after the climax, it caused Cephiro to materialize to the current galaxy, therefore making it a target to several other worlds (With Autozam, Chizeta and Fahren being already integrated to the normal galaxy)
• Byston Well is already a place on Earth between its land and sea (hence Show's dimension is called as the "Upper Earth"). Retaining that and adjusting Cephiro to be in the same place will keep the story Earth-centric.

Endless Illusion is combined with Mars

If the Stage 4 Preview will serve as basis. They could have adapted Mars as the thriving planet from Cowboy Bebop instead of the Ghost Town, so to speak, that it was in Martian Successor Nadesico. The second PV has Tetsuya, Faye, and Spike (the former could have hired the Bebop's crew to bring him there) having a conversation in what could be the El Dora V's hometown (because it looks like The Wild West)^note However, it could just be one of those generic towns from Captain Harlock and that would explain why Van is with them on Stage 4.

• Confirmed

Captain Harlock will think that Cephiro is the Arcadia he's looking for...

Until he realizes that it's not any better than the other places he's seen.

Ed will clarify that she's a girl, not a cowboy, not named BeBop, and the computer she's currently using isn't hers.

It could come up in a save-skit gag or as a response to someone who made a wrong assumption (along with being a 3-year old, 7-foot tall ex-basketball pro, Hindu guru, drag queen, and an alien) in the story.

Ed is a fan of Ruri Hoshino.

She's Famed In-Story in Prince of Darkness and SRW tends to acknowledge that with characters from other series. Ed would naturally have an admiration for the "Electron Fairy" as a hacker. On a related note, Ein might have been subjected to the same experimentation as Ruri when he was turned into a data dog.

Ed is helping Frontier Setter hack into DEVA.

Frontier Setter could also be one and the same with D135/Emphu.

The Might Gaine episode of 'Vuitton wants to make an elixir of youth' will be adapted and end up related to Magic Knight Rayearth

Originally, Vuitton scoured through rare animals within the Earth that would sound rather impossible to find in normal world. However, Cephiro is home for really unique and mystical creatures, so she could instead try to find things like 'unicorns', 'salamander', etc within Cephiro instead of Earth. The crowning part of this combination? For the 'phoenix' part... Vuitton will instead attempt to steal Windam from Fuu with predictably hilarious result.

• While she's at it, she could be searching Byston Well for a few of those critters, too. If one of the ingredients were about insects, she might even hunt down any of the Aura Battlers, which had heavy insectoid designs.

The Rune Gods inspired the design of the Bombers Team

Before the addition of Horn Bomber, it seemed that each of the Bombers had a similar, less 'fantastical' design with the Rune Gods' animal forms. And some of them possesses similar powers:

• Rayearth (Lion-wolf hybrid) -> Lio Bomber (Lion). Lio Bomber's Lio Fire is based on Rayearth's fire magic.
• Selece (Dragon) -> Dino Bomber (Dinosaur). Dino Bomber's Dino Blizzard is an attempt to emulate Selece's water magic, not knowing that if certain conditions were met, Selece is capable of ice magic too.
• Windam (Phoenix) -> Bird Bomber (Bird). Considering the Brave Express' nature, it might have recognized that wind is probably more uncontrollable and has a very big chance of property damage, so Bird Bomber is set with ultrasonic power rather than Windam's wind magic.

As of how it came to be, perhaps one of the story liberties was that Hamada, before being involved with the Brave Express Team, had a run-in with the Rune Gods when it was traveling outside of Cephiro due to the threats outside it thanks to the crossover setting (rather than just sticking in Cephiro. Maybe they were scouting for which 'another world' would be part of the prophecy of Magic Knights?). He thought their designs and powers were cool, especially when he's also a Sequential Artist, so that ended up influencing his decisions when designing the Bombers Team. The decision of 'less fantastical' animals was there to ensure relatability to the people of Nouvelle Tokyo.

Though in process, Hamada ended up switching Rayearth and Windam's colors for Lio and Bird Bomber.

A Beach Episode, DLC or not, will involve going to Misoughi/Bokini

It wasn't adapted in K most likely for hardware limitations and they used to try that on handheld in J and it wasn't optimal when all they had were head portraits. This is a perfect opportunity to use that setting.

Feel free to list up the chaos/interactions that could ensue with this cast of SRW.

• Confirmed
  • That's actually jossed. Beach Episode exist, but it takes place in a normal beach, not Misoughi/Bokini. The queen makes an appearance, but as a normal citizen, not queen.