History Film / RobotJox

** EvilIsHammy: By comparison every other character is much more subdued, save for Tex. [[spoiler:Considering Tex is TheMole though, this turns out to be unintentional foreshadowing.]]

* NeverLiveItDown: In-Universe. Achilles is constantly being called a coward for quitting robot fighting, though it's obvious he's having doubts about his career and is massively traumatized due to [[spoiler:accidentally killing hundreds of spectators trying to protect them from Alexander.]]

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Alexander is introduced standing over the fallen, broken robot of his opponent as they yield and plead for mercy. Alexander coldly demands the referees judge the match, and they rule in his favor and tell him to order his position. Alexander's eyes light up and he turns back to the fight to deliver a FinishingStomp to his opponent. This immediately establishes him as a murderous BloodKnight who has no problem ignoring officials.

* TheArtifact: The robot jox are referred to as "robojox" in dialogue. This was the original title of the movie, before the studio was forced to change it to avoid a lawsuit from the creators of ''RoboCop''.

* CombatByChampion

* DesignerBabies: The Genejox, the Jox currently in training to replace Achilles and the other Market Jox, somewhat reminiscent of the Clanners, even in attitude.

* {{Expy}}: Given the director himself said that ''Transformers'' was his initial inspiration, it probably isn't a coincidence that Achilles's robot is red and white. His first robot particularly has a predominantly red torso with white legs. Recolor the legs blue and it's a dead ringer for G1 Optimus Prime.
** Also, the genetically-engineered pilots are strongly reminiscent of the Clan Elementals from the ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' game.

** RedIsHeroic: Though the Market mostly leans to white, they also feature red a lot.
** DarkIsEvil[=/=]EvilWearsBlack: However, in comparison to the Market's red and white being balanced, the Confederate uniforms and robots are virtually all black.

* AfterTheEnd: It's hinted at that WorldWarIII was ''not'' a good experience, as serving a single hot dog is considered a special occasion.
** In addition, there is pregnancy propaganda all over the place, and one pregnant woman cheerfully says she's just "doing her part" being pregnant. This strongly hints that the world's population is very low.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Alexander's robot in the first fight is incapacitated when one of its legs is damaged and he falls to the ground. For the next fight, his robot [[spoiler:has ''four legs''.]]

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Alexander's robot in the first film is knocked off balance when one of its legs is damaged and he falls to the ground. For the next fight, his robot [[spoiler:has ''four legs''.]]

Robot Jox was a low budget western attempt to exploit the HumongousMecha genre. In a dystopic future, a nuclear war has devastated the earth. With war outlawed, all territorial disputes are settled through CombatByChampion using giant robots piloted by "Jox", and their battles have become media-televised sporting events.

** In the climax Alexander reveals a giant chainsaw from his groin, and he proceeds to cut directly into the cockpit of Achille's robot lying beneath him, the cockpit naturally being in the approximate location of the humanoid robot's head. Picture that scene for a moment. Not until the internet area would it be realized that Alexander is practically tea bagging Achilles.

* ExecutiveMeddling[=/=]WriterRevolt: ZigZagged. Creator/JoeHaldeman and [[Film/ReAnimator Stuart Gordon]] had entirely different plots in mind while working on the movie. Haldeman wanted to make Literature/TheForeverWar with HumongousMecha, focusing on the psychological stress of the jox being personally responsible for countless lives and in Achilles' case, deaths. Gordon wanted to make a campy flick about giant robots pounding the bolts out of each other.[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_Jox#Production]]
-->'''Haldeman''': I would try to change the science into something reasonable; Stuart would change it back to Saturday morning cartoon stuff. I tried to make believable, reasonable characters, and Stuart would insist on throwing in clichés and caricatures. It was especially annoying because it was a story about soldiers, and I was the only person around who'd ever been one.
** The film became a CultClassic because they met somewhat amicably somewhere in the middle, and it might have turned out okay anyway if not for the TroubledProduction.
-->'''Gordon''': Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. There were sandstorms, flooding, and sets getting destroyed by winds. He wanted to shoot it outside. Normally, you shoot miniature work in a very controlled environment, but Dave had this idea that he wanted to shoot it against real skies, and real mountains, and really give this thing a sense of reality. Because of the sunlight, the depth of field was such that you could fool the eye.

Compare ''GGundam'', which has a similar general plot hook.

* StarDerailingRole: This pretty much ruined Gary Graham's career for a long time outside ''Series/AlienNation'' TV movies.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: A spinoff called ''Battle Jox'' was in the planning stages years later, but never saw development.

* EverythingIsBigInTexas: One of the characters, Tex, is nothing but this. Giant hat, heavy accent, boisterous attitude, [[{{Acrofatic}} heavy build]]; he's the biggest stereotype in a movie full of them. (It's not surprising he's played by Joe Don Baker.)

** Also, the genetically-engineered pilots are strongly reminiscent of the Clan Elementals from the {{BattleTech}} game.

** [[spoiler:When Athena mugs Achilles and takes the field in the robot, the Market protests that the robot was hijacked and asked they be allowed to bring in Achilles. The referees reply that the identity of the pilot isn't their responsibility.]]