WMG / Super Robot Wars Z

Warning: expect umarked spoilers!

The Z Series

Let's kick things off right: "Asakim Dowin" is in fact Masaki Andoh, or at least some version of him

This one both is and isn't obvious - it's almost right there in the name, and of course the Shurouga is an Evil Cybuster. But it could also be obvious misdirection or just putting a twist on a character archetype.

As of Z2 Saisei, though, we know quite a bit about the mechanics behind dimensional travel and the Wanderer's Curse. What we know, and what we've seen of Asakim, begin to reinforce the idea that he is some version of Masaki Andoh on a far more fundamental level. To wit:

• The Wanderer's Curse is non-voluntary and can be gained simply by acting altruistically. This is what's happened to all our poor protagonists as of the end of Saisei - through no real fault of their own, aside from wanting to help others, they've all gained the brand of Wandering. While Asakim has referred to his brand as "punishment" in the past, it seems very possible, perhaps even likely, that his was simply gained through actions just like those of our heroes - he tried to fight the forces threatening the world he came from and ended up cursed to fight forever, and that his thinking of it as punishment is either deliberate melodrama for effect on our heroes, or self-deceiving melodrama brought on by his circumstances. (It'd be very hard to remain objective about what's happened to him, after all.) And the Masaki seen in various other SRW products would easily end up in such a situation, when faced with dimensional rifts, due to his natural altruism and heroic spirit.
• Relatedly, a person cannot enter a world where they already exist. Exactly how tight this restriction is hasn't been made entirely clear yet - whether a person cannot simply replace their living self or if they lived at any point and are barred entry. The former seems somewhat more likely, given that nothing in particular should be stopping Char Aznable or Amuro Ray from having lived in the Z2 setting but simply not having had their legendary lives. This is why we've never seen Masaki and Asakim together - the two cannot coexist, because "Asakim" can only manifest in a world where his other self either never existed or has already ceased to exist.
• The various images in the Ley Buster. They've been the source of speculation for ages now, and for a long time whether they had any meaning at all was debated, but with Crowe's appearance it's clear that they're all meant to depict events that either happened or will happen. Moreover, his shadow in one of the images in Z1 clearly shows Masaki, thanks to the coat, and the "cats" make an appearance. Most of this imagery only makes sense in the context that he is, indeed, Masaki Andoh, particularly as he refers to what we see as "his sin(s)", among other things.
• Asakim is has much more knowledge of the greater forces at work here than was initially obvious. In Z1 he simply was cruel to Setsuko to stimulate her Sphere as quickly as possible. Once we saw him being civil in Z2, however, it rapidly became obvious that he had substantial knowledge of whatever the "taiji" is, and he seems to know the proper form of whatever this "greater threat" that Gaioh had to fight was (and may even have participated in fighting it alongside Gaioh, though that's far less clear). This would make the greatest amount of sense in the context that he was not always a darkly-aspected death seeker - that is, he was once the heroic Masaki Andoh.
  • Asakim also seems very familiar with a lot of the various series as a matter of course. This one is a bit less obviously "Masaki" and more just related to the Wanderer's Curse, but Asakim seems very familiar with how many of the stories of the various characters will go - likely because he's seen a great many of these played out previously. Masaki himself has appeared in a huge number of games shared with these shows.

Put all together, it becomes relatively easy to piece together a history of the man: somewhere in the Multiverse, a version of Masaki began the journey many of his other various selves went on, going to La Gias, getting the Cybuster, clashing with Shu, making friends with awesome robot pilots, and whatnot. However, at some point, something went terribly wrong - he may well have fought at the side of "Gaioh" when the being we know as Gaioh was still a living man, but either way Masaki had to engage in significant dimensional travel or other dimensional events, and ended up with the Wanderer's Curse. Either during the initial event or afterwards, he also ended up making significant compromises on his usual morality, as the realities of a Wanderer's life and attempts to "fix" things go awry. Ultimately, he ends up seeking little more than death - having wandered for so long, and having seen "copies" of people he once considered friends fail again and again, he now wants only the release of mortality.

He is a former idealist who now wants only death and is denied it. He has been fighting this war for a very, very long time (both literally and meta-textually). He is Asakim Dowin, who was once Masaki Andoh. With what we know, it fits perfectly.

The Anti-Spirals, the STMC and the Angels are all part of Ba'al

• All three are dedicated to wiping out humanity and all three are Gainax-created creatures. It'll happen.
  • Confirmed with the Anti-Spirals.

Asakim Dowin is Masaki Andoh's Shadow Mirror-verse Evil Twin

It's pretty obvious really, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

• If Axel fought Masaki in Super Robot Wars: Original Generation 2, he'd remark that he knows about Cybuster and wants to have a chance to fight it, but never know it. Considering Asakim never referred his Shurouga as 'Cybuster'... how could the Shadow Mirror and Axel call it 'Cybuster'? Can't be Asakim, as much as this seems to be a cool concept...
  • Well, it's like Lemon. Asakim used to be Masaki and Shouroga used to be Cybuster, but something happened to them, most likely connected to whatever sin Asakim committed that got him cursed with immortality. This most likely happened to them while they were back in La Gias, and anyone who'd heard of Cybuster on the surface probably didn't hear about it. Of course my other alternate theory is that this isn't a Masaki at all, but an alternate Shu, and Shouroga's appearance/attacks and Masaki's voice actor are just redherrings that have some crazy explaination, but I'm not sure how to justify that, aside from him looking like Shu to me.
    • That's if there's one La Gias per dimension, if La Gias turns out to be another 'exclusive' thing... But it's most likely La Gias has its doubles.
    • There are multiple La Giases. So far there's at least 3 (SRW 2-F-Final La Gias, Alphaverse La Gias, and OG La Gias)

There is more of the likes of Asakim, coming from a reversed La Gias

Okay this may be a bit off, but it is possible that the Shadow Mirror La Gias is twisted beyond hell that it creates something like Asakim out of the Masaki of that dimension. Perhaps the La Gias inside that dimension is anti-La Gias, instead of mildly peaceful with occasional civil wars here and there, it could be a La Gias where Shiva Volkruss prevails and rules with an iron fist. Masaki was a Sociopathic Hero at first, when one of his sociopathy turned into a sin that got him caught and cursed with immortality and becomes Asakim, the more he spends his time, the more he forgot about his 'Heroic' part and turns into a villain who only cared about how to get himself killed.

Like how Asakim is Not-Masaki, there could also be Not-Yang Long, Not-Tytti and Not-Mio, with their dark versions of Granveil, Goddess and Zamzeed. They could be allies to Asakim when he was Masaki, but were also punished and now went separate ways, becoming evil in their own way; or they could be part of the corrupted La Gias who were responsible of capturing and punishing Asakim with immortality. And besides, if you want to imagine how Not-Tytti sounds, it's easy. Just imagine one certain megalomaniacal guitar-wielding bitch.

• That's assuming that they start focusing on La Gias again and bring the other Elemental Lords back into the games at some point in the future. That might be possible considering Asakim's introduction might mean they'll be focusing more on the Masoukishin storyline in the future. Alternately, La Gias wasn't really that different from other versions, but something horrible happened to Masaki in that world that warped him beyond recognition and turned Cybuster into Shouroga. His sin is that he killed the other Elemental Lords, and maybe more than just them, in a fit of insanity as a result of this change. For this, he was cursed with immortality and banished. This would explain why he's so emo and determined to break the curse, no matter what it took. In this case, he wouldn't be a Sociopathic Hero who forgot the "hero" part, but a guy like the Masaki we all know who got broken really badly and fell down the slippery slope pretty hard after, eventually becoming the villain from Z, or just went plain crazy. Either way, Asakim's a Fallen Hero. Doesn't change the fact that he's a bastard though.
  • We're not sure if Asakim's sin is killing his dimension's versions of Yang Long, Tytti and Mio. In any case, it's also possible that the three could return evil, in separate games. In fact, if SRW K still deals with the Holy War that Asakim mentions, one of them (corrupted version) may make appearance there. OR, if they don't want to bother with that, they could turn Yang Long and Tytti into their respective Ruina generals Ignis and Glacies. But that'll mean leaving Mio out... unless of course, Mio never appeared and Ricardo is the only Herald of Zamzeed, and his death went uncorrupted.
    • Well really we don't know what Asakim's sin is at all. I just picked the one that seemed most likely cause Masaki to turn into a bad guy. This still all depends on whether or not Banpresto will start focusing on Masaki's story again.
  • If Terada is making up Not-Yang Long, Not-Tytti or Not-Mio, they do not need to link back to the Elemental Lords. Remember, even when Asakim is introduced, he's not seen within the vicinity of Masaki. The dark versions of the Heralds need not to be placed alongside the 'good' heralds, just like how there's no Masaki around when there is Asakim.

The last game in SRW Z timeline will include Bokurano

If they keep the dimensional conflict theme and darker tone that is. The dimensional robots like Zearth are yet another creation of Taichi as tools to destroy unworthy worlds, indirectly force the Sphere holders to finish the holy war. And the game possibly being first that loaded with Bad Ending with worlds being destroyed left and right.

• And to add some interesting battle, Bokurano stage will feature alternate player team on enemy side (you known, every Super Robot love their world). It would be cool if two version of Gaiking and Mazinger crash, and you damn the other side to perish forever.
  • Pah. Far, far, far more awesome would be a recreation of the @3 manga's final battle, where the two sides Take a Third Option and team up to blow the bad guys right out of the universe. Bonus points if the "enemy" force contains the Original Generations regulars, and monster bonus points if we get a team attack from Sanger and Sanger and Wodan.
• Jossed. Tengoku-hen does not feature Bokurano.

Asakim is yet another mask of Nyarlathotep.

Come on. His dominate color is black, is very charming, and currently working in grand scheme of Cosmic Horror Story. And as we known, Nyarly can take possession of human's body. It will make more sense if future Z title include Demonbane.

After Z3 is finished, there will be a "SRW All Stars" game for the PS3.

...Which will feature characters from the Alpha, Z, and NEO, as well as J, W and K. Also, the new additions in this teamup will have mechs from UFO Dai Apollon, Baratack, Gundam Unicorn, Gundam 00: Awakening of the Trailblazer, Brave ExKaiser, Might Gaine, J-Decker, Goldran, Dagwon, Dai Rugger XV, Albegas, Macross Dynamite 7, Blocker Gundan IV Machine Blaster, Ginguiser, Groizer X, Astroganger, Laserion, and more. Plus the SRW debut of Gundam BattleField Record 0081 and Brave Saint Baan Gaan (If Daiteioh dubuted in NEO, so can this one), and the return of Mechander Robo, Vision of Escaflowne and Ninja Senshi Tobikage.Not to mention online play with teamup online play too.

• Who said that there will be a Z3?
  • When Z2 Saisen-hen is done, there would be one, although it'll take a long time.
• Are you assuming that A Wakening is not going to be in Z3? Seems like a bit of a leap. It will probably be a long wait until Z3 is even out, so Unicorn might even be able to be thrown in there.
  • Comfirmed in the case of Z3 which has both Awakening and Unicorn

Asakim is Crowe

Come to think of it, Brasta and Shurouga really looks rather simmilar, in which Shurouga is more gold than white. It can be that the misfortune caused by the sphere doesnt get better and Crowe is overloaded by the power that come from the misfortune without getting the enough number of fortune to balance it out, thus turns him into the twisted being that is Asakim. Not to mention Crow(e) is commonly associated with Death and Misfortune. Considering the fact that Crowe is a He-Man Woman Hater and what Asakim does with Setsuko (Sphere power aside) and Xine...

• Unless Asakim is Crowe from the future, and not some Alternate Universe counterpart (to which it would violate the Z rule of Never the Selves Shall Meet), perhaps....but even then, that's seems improbable.

Between the Z games, Asakim did not kill Xine

Let's face facts: it's been heavily implied that Xine was the one who Asakim got the Truthful Goat and there are enough clues to help support that. However, CHIMERA and The Edel also come into consideration with this. The entire reason that CHIMERA warms up to ZEUTH in SRW Z is purely so they can gain access to the protagonist's Sphere and can make a copy of it. If one of their own was in possession of a Sphere then this convoluted plan would be wholly unnecessary and not to mention more dangerous, since what eventually gets the better of The Edel is getting absorbed in the original version of the Sphere of his copy because of a reaction between the two.

There is also Asakim's behavior in the original game as well, and his tendency to explain himself to some degree. Even in Rand's route, where he vehemently denies being involved with Setsuko, his body language while saying that undermines the claims. In short, he's pulling a reverse-Aim. No matter how much he's trying to bullshit everyone, he can't help but leave a clue behind. This would mean that the Truthful Goat was already in his possession and when he tells Xine to live freely, with an honest smile, he genuinely meant it because his involvement with her had reached its end.

As for why it takes Asakim so long to use the Truthful Goat when he's had it all this time? That's because he doesn't know how. It's not until Saisei-hen, when Asakim destroys a ZONE, that he figures that out by gaining some of the Black Knowledge.

Besides, when's the last time Banpresto killed a character off-screen like that? Ingram in the Alpha games?

• They did just give Filio Presty in the Second Original Generation a Bus Crash. Nothing's stopping Banpresto from doing this again.
• Confirmed!
  • Confirmed nothing: the epilogue only hints that it's Xine. Who's to say it's the same person and not some entity in possession of her body?
  • Turns out she is still alive, and she's the queen of Chrono. Also she's an attack unit for Traiya.

Gaioh is Guy Shishioh who somehow survived after the end of GaoGaiGar Final and thrown into the Z universe

Gaioh's name sounds like Mix between Gai + Shishioh. also, Gaioh's nickname( King of destruction ), sounds like a combination between King of The Braves and The God Of Destruction ( which both are Guy's nickname ).

The Z-timeline will get its own gaiden game similar to the Masou Kishin one.

• It will be divided into two parts like the original. The first will feature Asakim as someone similar to Masaki, and his punishment is inflicted on him at the end of that act. The second half will pick up after the last of the "normal" Z-games, featuring all the surviving Banpresto originals working together to finally defeat the Taichi.
• Partially confirmed: it will be called Rengoku-hen, and is set between Jigoku-hen and Tengoku-hen. Crowe and Setsuko will star in this game.

Setsuko and Mail Beater are actually two halves of Dark Brain

After somehow acquiring the Twelve Keys, their power proved too great and horrible for even its existence, undergoing a self-induced Heel–Face Turn. To provide itself with a measure of control, it divided itself into two halves; one who drew out the power of the Keys when happy and one when sad, drastically reducing the potential damage that could be caused to reality. The personalities of the two women, both good people at heart, ensured that provided they would meet up, would mean both would not trigger their abilities at the same time. Setsuko's determination to defeat Chimera in fact comes from the fear that someone else may try to claim the power of the Twelve Keys and not learn the lesson that she did.

Super Robot Wars Z

Z is linked to Another Century's Episode R somehow

The two games share a surprising number of series in common (Overman King Gainer, Gundam SEED Destiny, Genesis of Aquarion, and most importantly Super Dimension Century Orguss), and director Terada said that they had a lot of ideas they wanted to implement in Z but were unable to; perhaps ACE:R is the unimplemented ideas, stripped of most of the Supers and turned into an ACE game?

• Jossed: it's the Original Generateion universe that's linked to A.C.E. R. Ryusei, Kyosuke, and Masaki are warped to what's left of the planet Eria.

Second Super Robot Wars Z

Gilliam Yeager will appear in Z2

Gilliam is a dimension traveller, and dimensional travel forms part of Z's plot. Gilliam was originally a member of an organisation called ZEUS, of which ZEUTH is just an Engrish version. Added to that, his namesake Chuck Yeager was central to the book The Right Stuff, which Z gives a Shout-Out to as the name of the Glory Star squad's theme music.

• Alternately, Cobray Gordon could show up. Or both, both would be cool.
  • Jossed on both accounts.

Esther will play a more major role in Saisei-hen.

Because, really, is there anyone who does not expect this to happen?

• Confirmed

Gundam F91 and Crossbone Gundam will be added to Saisei-hen, to set up Victory Gundam in Z3.

Because we all know they are going to do something with Victory, and this would just increase the awesome factor because... it's Crossbone and Crossbone is awesome. Plus, neither has been in a SRW since the Alpha series and they are due for a revisit.

• ZZ could appear in Z3, or if we're lucky, Saisei-hen.
• Jossed: neither appear in Saisei-hen.

Saisei-hen will include an optional scenario to prevent the death of Nena Trinity

And gives us the databook-only Arche Gundam Drei (which Regene Regetta failed to deliver thanks to Ribbons' interference) as the closest way to play as Ali's Arche Gundam. Aside of the existing data, Super Robot Wars is known for making what could be impossible be possible, like manning up Shinji Ikari. Nena is a popular character in Japan, so this could happen. Plus imagine what would be her joining scene like: A What the Hell, Hero? of epic proportions.

• Agree that you should be able to save Nena, but getting Arche Drei sound little too good to be true. Not to mention that, gameplay-wise, Throne Drei with Liang's GN cannon should be more useful.
• Alternately, we may get to save Anew Returner. Yeah, she wouldn't be playable until after Ribbons is dead, but she sure deserves a second chance more than Nena. And frankly, I'd take an addition battleship crew member over the Throne Drei or Arche Drei. The Arche Drei isn't actually a very good machine anyway. Yeah, the beam negation and fang jamming is nice, but it has no offense whatsoever. Seriously, 2 fangs and a beam saber? Maybe if it brought Throne Drei and Liangs weapons it would be good.
  • Jossed for saving Nena, but confirmed with Anew.
  • However, Nena may be Not Quite Dead in Z3, given past precedent with things like Euphemia's survival and the fact that despite the exact same death scene for Nena playing out in both end routes, Wang Liu Mei ends up being revealed to have survived it in the ZEXIS Route. She then dies for real, but the fact still stands that if she survived that exact same scene, Nena could have too.
    • Jossed regardless, given Jigoku-hen defaults to the "Don't Trust Zero" Route.

Depending on your choices in Hakai-hen, Kamina and Euphemia il Britannia

may be Not Quite Dead in Saisei-henSo a lot of people on /m/ has been complaining about SRW Z2's linearity? Well I bet that Banepresto is preparing something big to happen for Saisei-hen. Given Kamina's popularity it is likely that he could be brought back for Part 2. The main reason that Kamina, Lockon and Euphemia died was because their deaths were needed for Character Development and story progression, so they can't just avoid their deaths in any game. But it can be argued, with the case of Gai from Nadisco that SR Ws can bring a character back to life in a plausible way AFTER Character Development that resulted from their deaths has taken place suppose the player fufils specific requirements for their survival. That way fans get their Fix Fic at the end and Character Development still flows properly with the "dead" characters that have caused the Character Development to happen emerge as Not Quite Dead when their revival can cause less damage to Character Development. Lockon on the other hand..........is pretty much dead for real, given the existence of a second Lockon that will take his place. After all, there is a reason that the first part of Z2 is called World Breaking Chapter and the second part Reborn World Chapter.

• Eh, he could come back in a Dynames a la TerminExia and get a combination attack with Lockon II. It would be awesome but probably not happen.
  • Well this IS SRW, and anything can happen...
• Confirmed for the latter, but only if you hit specific requirements.
• Kamina's spirit joins the crew in Tengoku-hen and has some battle dialogue in Tengen Toppa in the last few stages. But no subpilot status.

Possible Saisei-hen Final scenario

Takes place right at the end of Gurren Lagann's story, everyone elses stories are done, forming an even stronger Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann to fight the Anti Spiral King, and beat him without sacrificing the Mech.... and then Gaioh shows up, declaring that the galaxy sized mecha is close enough to a god to be its opponent, forcing a final battle in Anti Spiral space, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann vs Gaioh.

• Uh, it is still a strategy game. Having Duel Boss in final battle would be Post-Final Boss. And I don't want to see Gaioh went down in that fashion.
• Jossed: Arc Gurren Lagann is the final attack of Gurren Lagann, while Chouginga and Tengen Toppa don't show up in the game. As a result, the Anti-Spiral fights in the Anti Gurren-Lagann with Anti-Spiral Nia.

The Muge Zorbados Empire and the Shin Mazinger version of Mycenae will mostly conquer the world between the two parts of Z2.

Because the ending of Shin Mazinger just leads so well into the beginning of Dancougar.

• Unlikely. While I agree that they will conquer some part of Earth, the One World Order compose of Earth Sphere Federation, OZ and Britania will be in their way.
  • True; although the question remains about whether or not that is a good thing...
• Jossed; apparently the Z2 Dancougar team has already defeated the Muge Zorbados Empire, and Shin Mazinger does not even finish its plot in Z...

The Edel Bernal will be back as the final boss in Z2.

Sure you fix the dimensional collapse he caused but you didn't actually permanently kill him.Which means he's probably still out there trying to repeat the process again. Plus he's just too awesome and amusing a villain not to use again.

• He's killed, at least in normal and good ending. Setsuko's (or Mel's in Rand route) sphere absorb his very soul as she stop him from attack Kei and Orson. This is because Edel has the replica of her sphere.
  • Which just leaves the possibility of The Edel taking over Setsuko or Mel's body from the sphere.
  • Jossed. The Edel Bernal does appear in Hakai-hen/Saisei-hen, but he's on your side.

Amuro's counterpart in ADW is E.A Ray

Since E.A Ray is long-gone, Amuro could enter the Z2-verse during the dimensional quake.

Third Super Robot Wars Z

Super Robot Wars Z 3 will feature one or more of these series: Eureka Seven AO, the rest of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, Armored Trooper VOTOMS: Shining Heresy, Gundam 00: A Wakening of the Trailblazer, ZZ Gundam, Gundam F91, Gundam Unicorn, Victory Gundam, God Mazinger, Mazinkaiser/SKL, the Aquarion OVA/Aquarion EVOL.

They're sequel series/continuations of series already featured in the Super Robot Wars Z series.

• The Neo-Zeon conflict occurs/builds up in the absence of so many ZEUTH members. Char will join Neo-Zeon and finally upgrade to the Sazabi (which will probably take up half the animation budget for its attacks).
• Garrod and Gainer acting as Ao's big brothers/adoptive uncles and smacking Renton for suggesting that they should kill off the Scub Coral.
• Mykage and the Altair teaming up with Ba'al
• Zen, Amata, Mikono, Mykage and Crea knowing who ZEUTH are in advance.
• Armageddon Ryouma and Shin Mazinger Kouji getting along with Hibino Yamato, Ken Kaido and Ryo Magami.
• Baron Ashura showing up and interacting with the Mazinkaiser SKL plot and/or the God Mazinger plots.
• Vyacheslav Montewells will try to plot against Ba'al.
• Truth has access to the Black Knowledge.
• ELS being a sub-species of the Vajra.
• The first Lockon Stratos will show up in the Anti-Sprial Labyrinth.
  • Counter WMG for Unicorn, it doesn't finish its run yet; considering how long Sunrise took to produce previous episodes, it's most likely won't before Z3's released. On other hand, it should have Tetsujin 28 FX.
• Partially Confirmed; it will be called the Third Super Robot Wars Z: Jigoku-hen, and it will feature Endless Waltz, Shining Heresy, A Wakening of the Trainblazer, Gundam Unicorn and Aquarion EVOL. The other series are nowhere to be seen.

Z3 will include a third "Z-World"

This world will include Mobile Fighter G Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam AGE, giving the Z series every main Gundam universe, if not series (see WMG above) to date.

Other possible series' include:

• Mazinkaiser or Mazinkaiser SKL: To have a Mazinger in each universe. Jossed, but Mazinkaiser SKL will appear in Super Robot Wars BX with Shin Mazinger.
  • Possibly include both by ZEUTH!Koji upgrading to Mazinkaiser and SKL being from the Z3 universe.
• New Getter Robo: Z1 (ZEUTH) has the classic Getter Team, Z2 has the Armageddon team. Z3 will include New and/or Getter Emperor and the Warrior Heaven from the end of New and Armageddon. Getter Emperor will combine with all the other Getters to form an Ultimate Getter big and bad enough to fight alongside Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann in its finale.
  • Note that combined with the two above, this would make Z fairly all-encompassing for all three of SRW's mainstays.
• The Robot Romance Trilogy: As a counterpoint to the Invincible Trio
• Alternately, at least three of the Brave Series, for the same reason: Brave Exkaiser, Might Gaine or J-Decker, and of course GaoGaiGar.
• Eureka Seven AO: since Ao's world is an alternate universe/timeline, Ao probably ends up there.
• A series that nobody thought would ever make it into a Super Robot Wars game, making the fans go wild.
• Megas XLR and Sym-Bionic Titan
• Orguss 02, because Gadlight mentioned another person if he fights against Kei during his last battle with Z-BLUE.
  • Seems possible, now that the UCW and ADW have merged into one for Jigoku-hen, along with other as-of-yet unnamed Alternate Universes.
    • Partially confirmed in the epilogue of Jigoku-hen, as a second Earth appears.

The Edel Bernal of Z3's world will be the game's Original Generation viewpoint character/pilot of the Genion.

The Edel Bernal was an enemy in Z's world (UCW); his Alternate Universe counterpart in Hakai-hen/Saisei-hen (ADW) is the Big Good. There's not much else to go from that.

• Suzune is the co-pilot of the Genion and it turns out her split-personality is an Edel Bernal counterpart.

Simon will take Noriko and Shinji under his wing.

• By the looks of it, these two will certainly be starting out simple while Simon's a manly man. By the end of the game, all three will be piercing the heavens!
  • And it will culminate with Shinji calling Simon 'Aniki' And it will be glorious.
    • Partially confirmed. Noriko is already an experienced pilot by her first appearance but the two of them do take Shinji and the Eva pilots under their wing. And Shinji does call Simon Aniki, who screams hotbloodedly with joy. He also calls Noriko "Coach".

Simon will force Shinji to "GRIT THOSE TEETH!!!"

• Specifically, when Unit-01 has gone 'Beast' Mode, Simon will have Gurren Lagann break through it's AT-Field and punch Unit-01 so hard, it knocks 'The Beast' out.

Jigoku-hen is a Gainax Love Letter

• Let's face it - it is!

There will be no Z3.

Since Asakim's Karma Houdini status is averted in Saisei Hen and there's no Sequel Hook in Saisei Hen, and given the fact that Gundam 00 A wakening of the Trailblaze is set to appear in Super Robot Wars UX. It's highly possible that there's no Z3. As for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, we have wait for another SRW game.

• Sequel hook? Taichi and whole Holy War? Baal, the being that kicked Gaioh's ass?
• Jossed

Laplace's Box will be based on a fragment of the Black Knowledge.

• Richardo might have seen the future with the Black Knowledge and has written it in an attempt at stopping the wars he saw.

The ELS are running from the STMC.

The STMC in their home series are some form of "immune system" on a galactic scale (at least in human terms). Perhaps the ELS discovered this and journey the cosmos to find a species that understand their plight when the STMC begin attacking the ELS homeworld, thus kicking off the A Wakening of the Trailblazer plot.

Banagher Links, at one point in the game, will eventually be portrayed as oblivious to the affections of other female characters.

• Considering that he shares his seiyuu with one of the most dense harem protagonists in Anime, it's not that far-fetched. Also, his attachment towards Audrey would probably be played with in almost every aspect possible.

There will be a "Final Gainax Special".

As a Shout-Out to the "Final Dynamic Special" between Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, Getter Robo and UFO Robo Grendizer (all four are part of Dynamic Productions), the Gunbuster, Evangelion Unit-01 and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (regardless of size) will gain a Combination Attack with one another.

The Char Aznable fought by the group in the Third Z is actually Full Frontal.

• Isn't it kind of odd that he broke his promise near the end of the Second Z?
  • It's possible Char's convictions and motivations previously established could've been muddied by the actions of Zechs Marquise and Treize Khushrenada in the ADW during Saisei-hen. Him dropping Axis in Jigoku-hen is perhaps an excuse for something else influenced indirectly by Zechs and/or Treize rather than his original motive from Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack of wanting humanity to becoming Newtypes by heading into space.
  • Jossed as there's scenes showing the two working together and the Amnesiac Dissonance problems returning characters have may have something to do with it. Further Jossed as Char, having united Neo Zeon, uses Axis as a singularity point and never planned on Colony Dropping it. Full Frontal is the one doing it.

The reason why most of the ZEUTH series are missing

When ZEUTH went through the portal into the UCW, the Anti-Spiral intercepted ZEUTH and trapped who he feels is the most threatening in a Time Prison. He forced them to live the moments that would give them the most despair. He also did the same for some of the members of ZEXIS.

• Jossed as the Anti-Spiral showcased no signs of removing others. The second earth that appears is the indication the missing members are from there.

The combined world in Jigoku-hen is the titular "Time Prison"

Seems that way as memories have been altered to forget the exact events of the last two games, with varying results and seemingly having them deal with struggles, unaware of the bigger picture. Though this with the knowledge of the stinger, suggests that the second game will deal with the second earth, which is a different sort of prison, perhaps one of unnatural peace (to contrast the 'hell' prison which had constant conflicts)

In SRW Z3.2 Upgrade Possiblities

• Amuro and Char will upgrade to the Nightingale and Hi-Nu
• Kouji Will gain access to Mazinkaiser
  • Not necessarily: it could easily be a full-powered Shin Mazinger in "Devil Mode".
• Sousuke will get the Laevatein
  • Confirmed
• And seeing as Z3.2 will adapt the last few episodes of Unicorn, Full Frontal will possibly get the Neo Zeong.
  • confirmed in the second PV.

Kouji won't get Mazinkaiser from the Shin Dragon...

...He'll get it from Zeus merging with Mazinger. This theory is basically that Zeus was always meant to [[Foreshadowing foreshadow]] Mazinkaiser. Mazinger's power is supposed to be 'To Become a God or Devil', while Mazinkaiser's power is 'To Kill Gods and Devils', which Zeus has done (the other Myceanes). Also, in the game, Zeus is an L-Sized unit, which Mazinkaiser has generally been, compared to Mazinger. And he uses a sword with a 'Z' emblem very similar to the Final Kaiser Blade. Finally, 'Mazinkaiser' can be taken to mean 'King Mazinger' (Kaiser=King), and in Classical Mythology, Zeus is the King of Gods...

Asakim will be the Deuteragonist in the sequel to Jigoku-hen.

Advent is really the Moby Dick DAMON

• Pure White
• Has a good grasp on Dimensional attacks.

AG is actually The Edel Bernal's Z3 counterpart

• AG -> GA -> G - A -> Ji - Adel -> The Edel
• He also makes a few jokes which only make sense in the context of the original series.
  • Not just that. He also makes jokes which only makes sense if you take into account out of series memes, like Kira being the real main character of Destiny, and getting a death threat from Heero guaranteeing your survival.
• Confirmed, but AG is short for All Gathered.

Expanding on the above, both AG and Suzune are parts of the whole The Edel Bernal of the combined world

• AG's is explained above. The other part is the name of Suzune. The first kanji, 鈴, is actually the one for tin, but the most common kanji pronounced as "suzu" is the one for a bell, 錫; and the second kanji in her name is the kanji for sound, 音. A bell's sound can be made by ringing/sounding it. 'To sound' is pronounced in Japanese as naru (鳴る). Bell-naru, or Bernal.
• For that matter, the two characters act similarly to The-A Babel—The Edel's disguise in Z1—and Edel Bernal, the figurehead leader of Chimera in the same game. AG and The-A are both quirky comic relief characters, while Edel and Suzune are both mild-mannered characters at first, whose personalities change drastically under distress, dropping any pretenses of formality or modesty.
• confirmed

Sentou God Noa will make an appearance in Tengoku-hen or an OG game.

The HD SRW remake is a taste of things to come.

• Sentou God Noa even title-dropped the Z3 titles during his God Buster attack.

There will be a sequel to Tengoku-hen.

Word of God may claim Tengoku-hen is the final Z installment, but his reputation as a Lying Creator says otherwise. Furthermore, potentially leaving the Rebuild of Evangelion plot with 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo into either a Cliffhanger or something entirely new is lazy and/or suspicious, when 4.0 hasn't finished production yet. On the other hand...

Tengoku-hen will hint at what will happen in Evangelion 4.0

• Nope

The actual plot of Evangelion 3.0 will be used lightly, if at all.

Considering how the previews haven't shown the Evangelions fighting enemies from their own series, and how the new Rei (referred to in the game text-boxes as Ayanamirei (no spaces)) is fighting on our side in a team with Nono while previous scans shown Asuka and Mari on our side, not to mention Shinji and Kaworu piloting Unit 13 on our side, it seems that, while the overall setting will be used, the big story elements have a much lower chance of being used, big story elements referring to NERVE becoming the villains, Shinji being taken by them, him and Kaworu almost ending the world under the assumption they're fixing it, ect.

• Shinji, Kaworu, Asuka, and Mari get their 3.0 units offscreen and keep them for the rest of the game. It looks like there's no actual 3.0 plot, so maybe Kaworu will make it to the end.

The Galactic Alliance of Humankind is a part of Sidereal or they are the same organization.

• Jossed. Sidereal are enemies of the Galactic Alliance.

Ledo came from a previous cycle.

This isn't the Z3 originally planned (Meta)

Something happened to Banpresto after Z2 (likely being absorbed into Namco proper and/or losing some key staff like the OG character artist for Z), and as a result Z3 wound up being redone. The new direction seemed to emphasize less the existing plot threads set up by the last two games and more OG characters and popular series, some of which seem to be in for the sheer sake of having them. Various units getting the short end of the stick and other seeming budget issues are effects of this. Not to mention the amount of DLC the two Z3 games had.

The Artist leaving likely explains the not so standard (compared to other console SR Ws) designs of the Z3 originals.

• Makes sense, seeing how shoddy Z3 with it's plot was.

Vandread was originally intended to appear in Z3 but was reworked into the OG characters

Anyone familiar with Vandread will note that the characters, mech design/abilities and plot have a lot of similarities to Vandread. Such things include, a lead pilot named Hibiki who copilots with a redhead. The mech they pilot, the Genion has a similar design and build to Vandread Dita, sporting a primary blue color. Additionally, Green is heavily present in both mechs weapons and attacks. They both wield a green lance are attached to the back of the mech. They can both be used as a beam weapon. They both achieve more powerful transformations via magical abilities relating to a sphere like object. On top of this, their main enemies for most of their series are drones that are later revealed to be from an evil Earth.