History Main / MetaMecha

* The Mantis MiniMecha in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}''. Though intended to be piloted by a (relatively) unarmored human, its cockpit is capable of accommodating a fully {{Powered Armor}}ed Spartan-III, or even a bulkier Spartan-II (namely the [[PlayerCharacter Master Chief]].)

* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann '' has the Space Gunmen, which are essentially up-scaled Gunmen capable of fighting and moving in space and piloted by regular Gunmen, which are then piloted by humans.

* ''MartianSuccessorNadesico'' has the Black Selena, a mecha inside a mecha inside a ship.

* In ''SuperRobotRetsuden'' -a KenIshikawa AffectionateParody / {{Crossover}}- of several GoNagai {{Mecha Show}}s, ''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Anime/GreatMazinger'', ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'', ''[[Manga/GetterRobo Getter Robo G]]'' AND ''Anime/KotetsuJeeg'' rode a ''ridiculously, impossibly, massively huge'' TransformingMecha in the FinalBattle.

* In ''GodMars'', whenever using Gaia isn't enough ([[WorfEffect which is often]]), it can get inside the God Robot Sphinx before combining with the other five to form the eponymous giant robot. Gaia does need the extra protection, though, since it's equipped with a ''[[EarthShatteringKaboom world-destroying]] bomb''.

* ''BubblegumCrisis'' had the Motoslaves, {{Cool Bike}}s that transformed into PoweredArmor for the Knight Sabers' PoweredArmor.

* ''GetterRobo'' has the [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome]]-slash-terrifying ability to crash into any material, including organic masses and then reform them around itself into a larger Getter with the original buried in the center.

* The [[FinalBoss EXTREME Gundam]] in ''[[GundamVsSeries Gundam Extreme Vs.]]'' uses this: the main mobile suit pilots a larger frame that carries most of its weaponry. It has three of these frames: Carnage ([[StuffBlowingUp Lots Of Explosions]]), Ignis (BeamSpam), and Tachyon ({{BFS}}). ''Full Boost'' added a fourth, the centaur-like Mystic Phase, which is something of a balance of the other three.

** In ''Series/ShurikenSentaiNinninger'', the chest of Shurikenjin is designed like a throne that a smaller humanoid mecha sits in. It's usually [=AkaNinger's=] (the Red Ranger's) mecha sitting there, but sometimes {{Mecha Expansion Pack}}s take its place and [=AoNinger=] (the Blue Ranger) can also put (part of) his mecha on the throne for an alternate combination.

* In ''Series/NinpuuSentaiHurricaneger'', Sargain turns out to be [[MobileSuitHuman an antlike being piloting a human-sized suit of armor]]... so when Sargain pilots HumongousMecha, that means he's controlling a suit that's controlling a bigger suit. Not quite the same, though, perhaps.

* Much like the example in Comic Books, ''Film/IronMan'' uses this method while suiting up in his Hulkbuster armor in order to fight [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] in ''Film/TheAvengersAgeOfUltron''.

[[caption-width-right:320:[[Series/PimpMyRide Yo dawg, I heard you like robots, so I put your robot in a robot so you can pilot while you pilot]].]]

* ''[[Videogame/MechWarrior MechWarrior Living Legends]]'', has this [[PragmaticAdaptation for the sake of gameplay]]. When a player ejects from a [[HumongousMecha BattleMech]], he goes flying into the sky in a full suit of Elemental or Longinus [[PoweredArmor Battlearmor]], where he can then engage players on foot. The rest of the series does not feature this (nor is it in the source material, ''BattleTech''), as the eject button in previous games was essentially the suicide button.

* ''GundamSEEDAstray'', as well. Initially, when Lowe makes the 150 Gabera Straight (which, by the way, ''re''-redefines the {{BFS}} - it's an orbital [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] ''150 meters long''), he has to put his Astray Red Frame into a Junk Guild Power Loader (pictured above) just to swing it.

* Much like the example in Comic Books, ''Film/IronMan'' uses this method while suiting up in his Hulkbuster armor in order to fight [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron''.

* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann '' has the Space Ganmen, which are essentially up-scaled Ganmen capable of fighting and moving in space and piloted by regular Ganmen, which are then piloted by humans.
** The show practically runs on this trope (In addition to the standard HotBlooded fare and universe-powering RuleOfCool) as it's essentially the major signature power of the Lagann - a smaller head-shaped robot compared to the standard Ganmen, it can drill itself into larger robots and take command of them. So, really. In the end, we have a human piloting a robot about the size of a human co-piloting a mech the size of a building [[spoiler: piloting a robot the size of an entire city, piloting a robot the size of the MOON, co-piloting a robot who is measured in ''light-years''.]]

* ''TransformersAnimated'', the Autobots' ship transforms in to a huge mecha called Omega Supreme. He has a mind of his own and an interior control console, so it's hard to say how much control the pilot has.

* ''Anime/CaptainEarth'' combines this with MechaExpansionPack; a smaller mecha is jetted up into space via shuttle, then passes through three orbital stations where the main Earth Engine mecha is assembled in parts around the smaller one.

** Ultra Magnus's original toy is essentially the Optimus Prime figure [[PaletteSwap in white]], sitting inside a massive, fully-humanoid robot made of the truck's trailer. The Dreamwave continuity featured this, and IDW had a somewhat roundabout take: [[spoiler:Ultra Magnus is a LegacyCharacter, whose armor is passed to certain Cybertronians with powerful enough sparks to bear it without strain. The current Magnus takes it a step further: under the Magnus armor, he's normal-sized, but the normal-sized body is actually one of these for [[MatyroshkaObject his true body, which comes up to Rodimus's waist]].]]

* In Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn [[spoiler: Sinaju recieve the large armour Neo Zeong in final episode]].

* In Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn [[spoiler: Sinaju recieve the large armour Neo Zeong in final episode]].

* [[CodeGeass So, your]] [[EnsembleDarkhorse resident Orange]] has just [[HeelFaceTurn pledged his allegiance to your cause]] out of [[FailureKnight LOYALTY to your family]]? Now, we just need to give him a good [[AceCustom custom mech]], hmm... Hey, I've got it! Let's take the [[RedShirt original]] [[http://codegeass.wikia.com/wiki/Sutherland Sutherland]] frame he piloted in the early series, and make it into the central core unit of the [[MidSeasonUpgrade rebuilt]] [[http://codegeass.wikia.com/wiki/Siegfried Siegfried]] he became [[MemeticMutation famous for]] [[SeasonFinale at the end of the last season]]! Ladies and Gentlemen, I present - for your humble consideration - the [[strike:[[MacrossMissileMassacre STORM OF LOYALTY]]]] [[http://codegeass.wikia.com/wiki/Sutherland_Sieg Sutherland Sieg]]! Basically, Jeremiah controlled the Siegfried through the core Sutherland Unit, which was itself outfitted with the Siegfried's telepathic controls (Rakshata is mentioned as being "disappointed" that the system isn't feasible for mass-production). When the Siegfried is destroyed, the Sutherland unit activates and comes into play. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfC2ye_SkjQ&feature=related And it]]. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Is. AWESOME.]]

[[caption-width-right:320:[[PimpMyRide Yo dawg, I heard you like robots, so I put your robot in a robot so you can pilot while you pilot]].]]

* The Grey Knight Nemesis Dreadknight from TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} uses this, a power armoured super soldier in a even bigger suit of power armor. The marine inside appears to be exposed (despite the fact that having it exposed just makes it twice as ridiculous), which is hand-waved away as protecting him with a force-field. It's [[FanNickname called]] the [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/File:DerpKnight.jpg baby carrier]], because of how silly the model looks.
** Some of us think the Dreadknight model looks very cool indeed. It was designed to allow individual Grey Knights (a force of elite psychic daemon hunters) to go toe-to-toe in close combat with the gigantic Greater Daemons that they are frequently called upon to defeat. That the pilot is capable of sorceries that can strip said Greater Daemons of their otherworldly powers only adds to the Dreadknight's effectiveness.
*** Also, it helps that the "exposed" pilot is in excessively heavy PowerArmor that can shrug off being shot at with anti-tank weaponry.
** And the latest Space Marine codex introduced Centurion armour, which is essentially a huge, unwieldy suit of PowerArmor wrapped around the pilot's normal PowerArmor and loaded down with either terrifying amounts of firepower or tank-shredding drills with built-in flamethrowers.
* {{Exalted}} has Warstriders, {{magitek}} superweapons which vary between [[MiniMecha giant powered armors]] to [[HumongousMecha castle-sized war machines]]. Exalted also has the Alchemical Exalted -- mechanical demigods with heroic mortal souls, empowered by a titan's Essence. Nothing stops Alchemicals from riding Warstriders... This is actually rather likely, considering the mechanical nature of the Alchemicals' world.

* The Huckebein Mk III from ''SuperRobotWars'' is able to equip a suit of PoweredArmor called the Boxer Frame. The frame can also detach and transform into a ''flying surfboard'', just [[RuleOfCool for the hell of it]].