Rename (alt titles crowner 4/24): Gundamjack

@Shimaspawn, post 7: Gundam is not Super Robot. The trope namer is Real Robot.

Also, is it just me, or does the intro section give Example as a Thesis? I mean, it goes like "so you've got a situation where X blablabla".

edited 14th Feb '12 1:16:36 AM by ThatHuman

Yeah this is not exclusive to SuperRobots, Real Robots get jacked more often than Super.

The only requirement is that its an advance suit the other side wants it so they jack it and use it vs the enemy. (or a third party jacks it)

The Trope namer itself was jacked because it was a prototype suit that held a nuke and they planned on using it. It happens in 14 Gundam series off the top of my head... extremely common in the first episode kicking off the plot.

Grand Theft Prototype is ok as a redirect Mecha Hijacking right now is ok.

But seeing how this thread was against the TRS rules shouldnt this be locked? The OP didn't like the name that is it. "An opening post in Troper Repair Shop must contain evidence of something being broken, If the opening post does not contain this evidence, it will be nuked on sight. Please holler if you see one that needs nuking."

edited 14th Feb '12 2:49:39 AM by Raso

By the time we got to it in a moderating capacity, someone was doing a wick check. At that point, it would have been a waste to lock the thread, so I decided to leave it open under the condition that the wick check produce actionable evidence. It did, so the thread remains open. We're not going to lock a thread that's actually going somewhere just to keep to the letter of the law. In the future, though, please do continue Hollering about any threads with such an OP.

The wick check showed nothing though.

I mean it is not exclusive to Unique Mechs, also this trope can be used for hijacking better combat mechs for use vs the enemy that used them in the first place. Nothing says it has to be a Super Prototype really, a mech that will or has alter the course of the war yes, A Super Prototype is the most common, Ace Customs, (EDIT: those are a 100% different from each other... I don't get why they were merged....) or stealing Mobile Suits when your side does not have any would count too.

(Also the Mobile Suit Gundam F 91 Mobile Suit Gundam Wing are correct)

edited 14th Feb '12 2:54:13 AM by Raso

Even with those two examples being correct, that's still over 20% wicks that don't match the description. Now if you want to argue that the trope is actually something more broad than the Example As Thesis—the only part of the description that actually defines the trope, mind—makes it out to be, then you can go ahead...but in that case, the description is shit and we still need a TRS thread.

I would say, despite the poorly made OP, there's a lot of work that this thread has uncovered.

For the record, I think we should split "stealing a Mecha" from "stealing a prototype", with "accidently took control of" as a tropes are flexible use of either.

Why should "stealing a mecha" be different from capturing any other enemy military vehicle, like a ship or a starship?

Grand Theft Prototype gets my vote. I don't see the point of splitting off Mecha as as separate trope.

because prototypes aren't the only Mechas that are stolen.

Agree. No reason why mecha should be distinct.

edited 14th Feb '12 8:26:09 AM by lu127

I like Grand Theft Prototype. Do we have it restricted to prototypes for a reason? Just stealing a powerful unit is good enough for me. I suggest Stealing The High Value Target as another redirect.

Grand Theft Prototype gives me the warm fuzzies. It gets my vote.

Looking over just taking vehicles in general... Hero Stole My Bike covers bicycles, Flashed-Badge Hijack covers police taking vehicles (generally cars, but I've seen other vehicles taken, usually Played for Laughs). Though I don't see any general tropes besides those for taking vehicles from others. Huh. Could've sworn we had one.

By the way, does the intro section of the article need fixing?

It is fine as a redirect but not as a main name as this has to be a military unit used for combat not stealing the I Phone 5 prototype or some prototype car. These are hijacked (from the enemy) über killing machines which are used aganst the enemy if the Gundam Jack is successful usually leveling or tipping the playing field in a war.

I also see no reason for renaming just a rewrite get rid of the "say you" and "if" crap directed at the reader..

edited 14th Feb '12 9:17:17 AM by Raso

You can't see a problem naming a general trope after a specific series?

Agreed that this should specify that it's about stealing major military hardware, not a prototype blender. In fact, I don't see the "prototype" part being of particular importance; it being a significant unit matters, though.

I recall stories based on the theft of experimental or otherwise special aircraft, spacecraft, or ships, too.

Agree with Raso on the military target stuff. This has to be a military vehicle for it have the same sort of impact on the story. The hero stealing a transportation to chase the bad guy is only tangentially related to this.

We might need two supertropes or a supertrope and an index for this. One for Hijacking Vehicles and another for stealing powerful things in general, assuming we don't leave this one as it is.

Edit: or maybe one specifically about stealing prototypes.

edited 14th Feb '12 9:29:29 AM by Deboss

If we are changing this trope to be specifically the prototype vehicles, then the name would be non-indicative. But if this will be prototype vehicles, then I must ask what about non-vehicle prototypes? Where do we put Jackie Chan from The Tuxedo? Where do we put Obidiah Stone from the first Iron Man movie, when he stole the Mini-arc reactor mark II?

This page works as a Mecha-only subtrope of vehicle theft, and we should make the supertrope/index (hijacking) as well as splitting off the "any prototype technology" from this one.

^^^ The movie Firefox starring Clint Eastwood immediately springs to mind — it was released in 1982 — he has to steal a prototype fighter plane and get it back to the US before the dirty commies shoot him down.

It looks like this is another case of Missing Supertrope Syndrome.

edited 14th Feb '12 9:34:05 AM by Madrugada

I would suggest we make this trope something like Prototype Hijack: a prototype (most likely a Super Prototype kind) of some sort is stolen.

We also need a Hijack The High Value Target: a character takes over a high priority target. This would include stuff like taking over an artillery fire base in a critical section or stealing an ammunition truck to a critical position. It would function as a supertrope to Prototype Hijack since prototypes are High Value Targets.

We will likely need a Hijacking super index as well. Hijacking strikes me as too chairsy for a trope, but since it tends to be important could work as one.

That is a little bit different than most of the examples of this I think, these when stolen are usually put into combat the instant they are stolen, they don't run they fight and kick ass then maybe retreat give techs some data on the thing then back out into the field they are weapons of war and are used as such and it will rarely ever leave the hands of the person who stole it unless its a Hand Me Down Gundam when the person who stole it gets their Mid-Season Upgrade. (Contrast to RL to where it would be diced up and analyzed to death then copied and modded.)

Never seen the movie though.

edited 14th Feb '12 9:46:04 AM by Raso

@45- thats why I think non-prototype Mecha being stolen can work as a subtrope of hijacks, separate from Prototype Hijack

Raso, I think that you are unnecessarily assuming the conventions of the mecha genres are absolutely necessary here.

My feeling is that that's over-specific. "Stealing the enemy's revolutionary military hardware" is a nice cross-genre trope we're clearly missing. How that is handled in different genres is interesting, and MIGHT form the basis for a sub-trope, but I'm not sure it's needed.

We have a history of very specific anime tropes without having the general, cross-genre trope, and I prefer to avoid that.

I would not be opposed to a Super-Trope being made really we could use one, this trope right now is about a specific thing that happens in a lot of Mecha works and a few other Sci-Fi shows it is a subtrope to a non-existent super trope.

edited 14th Feb '12 10:07:52 AM by Raso

I think the best thing to do is broaden it the way Morven says. Hijacking important military hardware and using it against the opponent.

edited 14th Feb '12 10:13:13 AM by lu127

Raso, that's the point we're trying to make. The trope name is for a specific thing that happens in an anime, but the trope itself is about something that happens far more often and in a much more broad series of genres. That's why I did the wick check: to prove that the name and the trope don't match, and that it confuses people.

The problem I see with making Gundamjack a mecha-specific trope is that most of the mechas jacked are still Super Prototypes. So even if we make it a separate trope and rename this one, most of those mecha examples would still go on this page. I only saw a handful of non-unique mech jacking examples in my wick check, not enough to warrant its own page in my opinion.

I agree with making a generic Hijacking super-trope. It's common only to a few genres, and if we can specify it to hijacks that happen onscreen, that would probably cut out a lot of inane examples.