Would you rather be in the real robot genre or the super robot genre?

I was thinking since a lot of you are intersted in Humungous Mecha which genre do you guys pefer being in.I myself would want to be in a super robot genre that has a female audience in mind and runs on the power of love/friendship.

Super robots. Reals have an annoying tendency to have ridiculously high body counts.

If I was the star of a super robot genre then I would it would have a lot of Christian symbolism and magical girl warrior elements.It would be a reverse of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanhoa which its a humungous mecha series aimed at girls who like magical girl warrior shows.

Mine wouldnt even bother with religious symbolism. It'd concentrate on one-upping Gravion and Gurren Lagann in the ridiculously awesome category,

Love and Friendship are a big part of biblical teachings so it could fit just as well in a humungous mech show.I was thinking my mecha would be resemble the biblical mentioned armor of faith and run on some mystical elements in order for it to work.

I also think that the power of faith should be one of the elements to power it;faith,love,and hope.I would also be apart of a power trio that is two girls and one boy.

edited 21st Sep '11 7:34:49 AM by joyflower

Super Robot. But I would not want to be the hero or the pilot. I'd rather be the scientist who discovers the Applied Phlebotinum of the day and is responsible for the development of the robots.

I still think that scientists should be the true heroes of super robot shows, not some random schmuck with more fighting spirit than common sense who, in a reasonable universe, would end up as a funny shaped stain around the time of Episode 2.

edited 21st Sep '11 7:35:56 AM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

The scientist usually ends up kidnapped, though.

well. Unles you're Klein Sandman. Not only invents the applied phlebotinum but is also badass enough to pilot it.

I assume you mean the "Armour of God"... Which isn't actually a physical suit of armour. It's saying that if you embody the traits represented by the components of that figurative suit of armour, evil will not harm you. So I guess you won't be riding in a mecha after all?

Super Robots are cool just because they are.

The Real Robot genre is also kind of cool but I think its appeal depends more on the background plot and things like that.

So, Super Robot wins. I think it would be nice to see a series with an Aztec or Meso-American theme. The geometries of their architecture and artwork seem to suit well the aesthetics of a robot. Otherwise cultures like the Babylonians and Assyrians would bring in some cool imagery (think their sphinxes or depictions of Marduk and the like) which I feel would work well with the genre.

Either one of those sets of aesthetics (I'm actually leaning towards the Assyrians/Babylonians the more I think of it), with the robots being ancient artefacts from the centre of the Earth/an alien world (if the latter then we get an Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull type "aliens influenced this culture" type-thing; perhaps for the former, too), and some kind of struggle (between various factions, perhaps those including aliens from aeons ago) across the planet, the solar system and the galaxy resulting in huge amounts of awesome. No Aesops allowed.

edited 21st Sep '11 7:48:48 AM by ekuseruekuseru

I meant the robot would have the physical shout out to the armor of god.I was thiniking maybe it could be part Golem as a shout out to Jewish mythology.I was thinking that I would fight in a fantasy kitchen sink world that has a mutlitude of different enemies who have their own robots.

Well, if it's going to be pro-Christian propaganda like that, don't expect it to be coming out of Japan any time soon.

Pfffft like Japan doesn't think Christianity is magic anyway. They love that stuff over there.

Super robot, definitely, but it's not exactly my favorite genre. Especially once my house gets destroyed because some rookie (probably myself) can't land properly.

In fact, if it was something like Megas XLR in that destruction of property and even planets is just a slap on the wrist consequence, I'd totally be up for that.

I'm pretty sure the concept of Law having limits was a translation error. -Wanderlustwarrior

Eh, if someone is capable of building a mobile, powerful super robot I guess they'd be also capable of building a nigh-undefeatable security system. Which of course will eventually be suborned by the enemy and go into a rampage of destruction of apocalyptic proportions — which is why, in this scenario, there will be such a thing as a self-destruct code.

As for the symbolism... I'd probably go for the late Roman Kingdom/early Roman Republic and their legends — I'd use the Roman/Etruscan wars as the main backdrop, I think, but putting in non-chronological order some of the other most amusing legends.

For example, I'd definitely want to to have one of the characters being Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, married (or just friend to — opinions vary) to the goddess of fountains, who cheated Jupiter out of human sacrifices — when he asked for a head, he gave him the "head" of an onion*

, when he asked for something that was alive, he gave him a fish, and when he asked for something out of a man, he gave him some hairs.

Now make Jupiter into an unbelievably powerful mecha of the Powered by a Forsaken Child variety, make Numa into someone who learned how to cheat the requirements using common items and some creative thought, and you see what I mean — damn, now I want to write this...

edited 21st Sep '11 8:14:42 AM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

My first pick would be Super Robot; the robots would use the power of the Heidegger Drive and be named after Existentialist philosophers (the prototype: Kierkegaard). Not just the hot-shot teenagers, but anyone with a cultivated sense of self-actualization and spiritual momentum can shift the wave-form in their favor. Because you don't have to be a screaming idiot to be Hot-Blooded. Appropriately enough, the enemy is a computer system based off the same technology that has begun uniting all of humanity into one consciousness.

Since there isn't enough Real Robot love here though, my second pick involves a mecha-performance troupe who operate acrobatic humanoid vehicles meant for entertaining stunts, but get caught in a situation where they have no choice but to use them to fight (military attack, zombie apocalypse, etc.) Less of the expected military drama and more Action Survivor. The ones who escape are the most resourceful at using their mechs in creative or jury-rigged ways, and overcoming their squishy human potential in the process.

... oh man, is this thread more appropriate for Writer's Block than OTC now?

Wow, I didn't take you for a mecha fan

I'm a dyed in the wool Super freak. Plus like someone said, reals have a much higher mortality rate.

And come on, who doesn't love shouting out their attacks?

One idea I had was a mysterious meteorite crashed into earth, and even the smallest amount of electricity that ran through it would make a HUGE amount of energy in return (like an AAA battery could juice an entire county) and a shard of it broke off and was put into the mecha. It would be called the Graham's Engine (Based off the Graham's Number)

edited 21st Sep '11 8:59:22 AM by Thorn14

Shouting your attacks is great, but even greater when it's a declaration of inevitability (granted that's easier to get across in the written word... and the mecha genre could really use more exploration in novel form).

"And come on, who doesn't love shouting out their attacks?"

This. Just this.

Enjoy the Inferno...

Whichever genre gets to change me into a babe that looks like Yoko Littner, is the genre I wanna be in, robots themselves be damned.

It's better to be right than liked. Really. I Just Want to Be Loved

Super. I WANT TO BE THE HERO. So many explosions...SO MUCH YELLING. SO MUCH AWESOME.

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

Eh, think about the back pain. Also, that midsection looks a bit too thin to contain the required organs, and I don't think that even the Spiral Power could fix that...

edited 21st Sep '11 11:07:07 AM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

If you think Yoko is bad you clearly have not seen Godannar

Damn, I need to see more super robot shows. Time was they were almost impossible to find licensed, but they seem to be coming out much more regularly this past decade.

Real - I'd like to be a mechanic on one.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

Real à la Patlabor.

edited 21st Sep '11 11:35:38 AM by Breakerchase

Real, if I get to be a general. Always loved RTS's, and frankly the plots of most real robot shows require that all the cast be idiotic in some fashion to sustain the incredible amount of stupid shit that goes wrong, so I think I could make it go slightly better via genre savviness...

I am now known as Flyboy.

Hm, I'm not sure. On one hand, Real Robot Genre will have a shitton of casualties for well developed characters. On the other Super Robot Genre tend to get the mooks and Red Shirt body count, as well as the occasional Heroic Sacrifice to show the bad guy means business. I suppose, given my chosen profession, I'd prefer Real Robot simply because I find it more interesting.

Fight smart, not fair.