History VideoGame / SuperRobotWars

* TieredBySize: Each unit is categorized into five sizes: XS, S, M, L, and XL. Each size helps determine a unit's durability and mobility - a XS unit like Anime/TekkamanBlade would be squishier yet much harder to hit than an XL unit like Anime/Daitarn3 while the latter would be able to absorb the hits with ease. Newer games have introduced 2L (XXL) and 3L (XXXL), particularly ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV V]]'' which is filled to the brim with battleships.

* TieredBySize: Each unit is categorized into five sizes: XS, S, M, L, and XL. Each size helps determine a unit's durability and mobility - a XS unit like Anime/TekkamanBlade would be squishier yet much harder to hit than an XL unit like Anime/Daitarn3 while the latter would be able to absorb the hits with ease.

* GambitIndex
** GambitPileup: While some [=SRW=] plots have [[ThePlan many types of plans]], ''Z'' essentially boils down to this.
** MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: Defeating the BigBad in one game of the major timelines will likely send said BigBad's allies to come at you with an even greater force in the sequels.
** SpannerInTheWorks: More or less, it's the heroes who play this trope straight, that being you, the player.
** TheManBehindTheMan: One way or another, some installments will feature the TrueFinalBoss entering into the plot after the BigBad's defeated.
** UnwittingPawn: The protagonist/player gets to play this a lot before they get upgraded to spanners

* NamingConventions
** ArmsAndArmorThemeNaming: Several original characters are named after brands of firearms, such as the ''Nanbu'', ''Browning'', ''Ingram'', ''Beretta'', ''Enfield'' and ''Armalite''. One of the franchise's most famous HumongousMecha, the Astranagant, is a composite of ''Astra'' and ''Nagant''.
** ThemeNaming: Virtually almost all original characters, factions and mecha

* CharacterExaggeration[=/=]{{Flanderization}}:

* NoFourthWall: A staple of the save-quit intermission dialogues, which can vary from standard GuiltBasedGaming messages derived from particular series' casts to jokes about the voice actors. One of more notorious examples comes from ''Alpha Gaiden'', where Masaki "Creator/HikaruMidorikawa" Andoh speaks in the voice of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Heero Yuy]] behind an "unknown character" portrait.

* ThePowerOfRock: Certain heroes from the ''Macross'' and ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'' universes use it as attacks or boost stats to allies.

* PunchPunchPunchUhOh: Usually any introduction of a powerful enemy

* ShutUpHannibal: The heroes' usual response to a villain's speech

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: An installment frequently takes the cynical side from its series and turns it on its head towards idealism - essentially, [[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship]] and [[ThePowerOfLove love]] drive the plot. Villains that were {{Karma Houdini}}s in their home series? Not here; however, modern releases have played with this, putting it more on the edge of cynicism, without fully sliding it towards complete idealism.

* TimeSkip: ''W'' does this to allow it to use a set of series, then use the sequels of said series in the same game. ''Alpha Gaiden'' revolves around our heroes taking one past [[AfterTheEnd two or three apocalypses]] to use DesertPunk mainstays ''Xabungle'' and ''Gundam X''. This is later [[PlayingWithATrope played heavily with]] ''Saisei-hen'', where [[Anime/{{Zambot 3}} some characters]] don't age between games, while others get hit with it pretty hard. [[WhenDimensionsCollide Dimensional collision nonsense]] is used to justify this.
* TimeTravel: First used in ''Alpha Gaiden'', the whole plot in ''Reversal'' and partially responsible for the events in ''W''
* TookALevelInBadass: Many characters, and thanks to FixFic, Shinji's ''much''-appreciated badassery stands out the most in ''Alpha 3''. He took enough levels to do a GetAHoldOfYourselfMan on another character.

* AdaptationPersonalityChange: A common trait to the franchise, as different circumstances mean characters will develop differently than they did in their own shows. [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Shinn Asuka]] in the ''Z'' saga, for example, changes from a rash, angst-riddled teenager into a mature, young soldier. Even villains like [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Haman Khan]] become kinder than her canon counterpart - during several points in ''Jigoku-hen'', she expresses genuine concern for the well-being of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Marida Cruz and Mineva Lao Zabi]]. The most famous example of course is [[Franchise/NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji Ikari]] changing from helpless wimp to CowardlyLion and legitimate badass in the ''Alpha'' saga.

* BigDamnHeroes: Just about every playable character does this at one point or another, but special mention goes to [[Toys/MachineRobo Rom Stol]], who has this down to an art form. He has a habit of appearing (sans robot) just in the nick of time when the heroes about to be kicked in the teeth, distracting the villains with a [[BreakThemByTalking badass speech]], then leaping into his mecha to properly stomp some asses. An argument can be made that Rom is the heroes ''to'' the heroes.
** The best part is his speeches are fully voiced (by Creator/KazuhikoInoue no less), and despite a lot of PurpleProse, are usually the most awesome parts of the game.
* BilingualBonus: See NamingConventions. Many original characters and mecha are named after foreign words.

* ContinuityNod: Mostly for the original characters, specifically those making cameo appearances or reference what they'll be doing once they're fully integrated into ''Original Generation'' continuity.

* EasilyForgiven: So you've pulled a FaceHeelTurn and joined TheDarkSide, while shooting up a bunch of our allies. Hey, we're all cool with it now; so, [[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Katejina Loos]], want to join the gang again?

* {{Expy}}, CaptainErsatz: Multiple characters and mecha.

* {{Fanservice}}
** BeachEpisode: Aside from the text-based intermission scenes using this in the ''Original Generation'' games, the end credits of ''The Inspectors'', featuring a multiple of the girls in bikinis and SchoolSwimsuit. Perhaps as a joke (or a likely ShoutOut due to the games), two male characters in one segment are wearing nothing but LoinCloth and a speedo.
* FixFic: At least until ''Alpha'', the franchise goes out of its way to avert more unpleasant elements and "fix" problems many fans had with the original series, with the most recent ''Z'' towards improving peoples' attitudes on ''Gundam SEED Destiny'' by mellowing [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Shinn Asuka]] out. Being able to have the MindScrew plots of ''Evangelion'' and ''The Big O'' make sense have earned the fans' respect for the writers.

* UselessUsefulSpell: All ''Gundam'' units with Vulcans as an attack. The Vulcans in early games almost only do the minimum of 10 damage where their purpose was to increase Will, waste the enemies turns or reduce their HP very slowly so that they do not reach the retreat threshold. Even then, these strategies rely on stages where there is no turn limit whether it is to complete the level or for the Skill Point. Later games may provide the added status effect of reducing the target's Mobility but this does not make a difference when fighting MightyGlacier bosses while more nimble opponents can be dealt with via Strike, Attune or strategic placements of Commander auras
* VictoryPose: Especially prevalent following a "Dynamic Kill"

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Given the magnitude and scope of the franchise, pretty much any {{anime}}[=/=]{{manga}} trope can be found in ''Super Robot Wars'' sooner or later, due to the fact that it contains so many series. Some that stand out, though, are the following:
[[hardline]]

The first ''Super Robot Wars'' was released on the Nintendo Platform/GameBoy, and featured mecha from ''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' (various series) and ''Manga/GetterRobo'' (referred to as the "[[FanNickname Holy Trinity]]" of the franchise and would star in nearly every game from then on). This game is one of the oldest and most triumphant examples of the MascotRPG genre, a TropeCodifier that would go on to inspire many other StrategyRPG MassiveMultiplayerCrossover outings between other franchises. As the franchise itself grew, more series were added, as well as their characters. Each game would take the storylines of all the series and merge them into one (mostly) coherent whole. This often required some creative interpretation, particularly in the case of ''Gundam'', as characters, mecha and events that took place decades apart in the original stories now occur within a matter of weeks of each other, if not, simultaneously.

* DependingOnTheWriter: Read as Depending on the Developer. A unit's abilities and terrain rankings will likely differ throughout the games it appears in.

* ExpyCoexistence: Since newer {{Mecha}} series inevitably take inspirations from older ones, this tends to happen with certain characters and units. [[Franchise/{{Gundam}} Char Aznable]] is in plenty of installments where his {{Char Clone}}s are also present.

* CombinationAttack: Mostly ones from the same series, but there have been series crossover combinations.

* SuperMovePortraitAttack: Abused to hell and back when even the most basic attack is precipitated by a cut-in of the pilot.

The series is occasionally referred to by English speakers as ''Super Robot Taisen'', the original Japanese name. While some of this usage can be attributed to Japanophilia, the ''scant'' few American releases of the series were specifically titled "Super Robot Taisen" to avoid a trademark conflict with the ''Series/RobotWars'' series. (The {{Irony}} of using an English translation of a Japanese title while using ''rōmaji'' for an English-language title should be noted.) Strangely, "Super Robot Wars" is a Japanese invention: "大戦" (''taisen'') is the actual term used, and the only bit of Japanese in the title. At some point, "Super Robot Wars" began to be used as an alternate "English-language" title in Japan, akin to "Mobile Suit Gundam" and so on. This title has been used for the English-language Asian releases starting with ''Moon Dwellers'', essentially making it the official English title of the series going forward. Starting with 2017's ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV'', English subtitles were included, allowing North American players to finally play the game by importing the Platform/PlayStation4 disc from Asia. The 2021 entry, ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars30'', will be the first to have an official North American release on Platform/{{Steam}}, on October 27, 2021.

** In classic timeline, [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterAttack Quess Paraya]] has her SpoiledBrat personality removed, and instead has her fangirl attitude toward Amuro increased to the max. She try to impress him by bringing very good MS with her upon joining (either Sazabi, Jagd Doga, or both), something you will be appreciate.

The first ''Super Robot Wars'' was released on the Nintendo UsefulNotes/GameBoy, and featured mecha from ''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' (various series) and ''Manga/GetterRobo'' (referred to as the "[[FanNickname Holy Trinity]]" of the franchise and would star in nearly every game from then on). This game is one of the oldest and most triumphant examples of the MascotRPG genre, a TropeCodifier that would go on to inspire many other StrategyRPG MassiveMultiplayerCrossover outings between other franchises. As the franchise itself grew, more series were added, as well as their characters. Each game would take the storylines of all the series and merge them into one (mostly) coherent whole. This often required some creative interpretation, particularly in the case of ''Gundam'', as characters, mecha and events that took place decades apart in the original stories now occur within a matter of weeks of each other, if not, simultaneously.

Starting from the second game, entirely new mecha and characters were introduced. These became known as "[[OriginalGeneration Banpresto Originals]]."[[note]]The term would become defunct once the developer was absorbed into Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment.[[/note]] In 2002, Banpresto released ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, which consisted entirely of the original characters and mecha created for the series over the years; a sequel was released in 2005. Both titles, including SpinOff ''VideoGame/EndlessFrontier'', [[NoExportForYou are the only]] ''Super Robot Wars'' games to be officially released outside of Japan, due to the obvious lack of licensing problems. However, by UsefulNotes/TheNewTens, franchise publisher Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment began a new international push via its licensed installments and the realities of modern Internet commerce (see "International Era" folder in [[Recap/SuperRobotWars recap]]).

The series is occasionally referred to by English speakers as ''Super Robot Taisen'', the original Japanese name. While some of this usage can be attributed to Japanophilia, the ''scant'' few American releases of the series were specifically titled "Super Robot Taisen" to avoid a trademark conflict with the ''Series/RobotWars'' series. (The {{Irony}} of using an English translation of a Japanese title while using ''rōmaji'' for an English-language title should be noted.) Strangely, "Super Robot Wars" is a Japanese invention: "大戦" (''taisen'') is the actual term used, and the only bit of Japanese in the title. At some point, "Super Robot Wars" began to be used as an alternate "English-language" title in Japan, akin to "Mobile Suit Gundam" and so on. This title has been used for the English-language Asian releases starting with ''Moon Dwellers'', essentially making it the official English title of the series going forward. Starting with 2017's ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV'', English subtitles were included, allowing North American players to finally play the game by importing the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 disc from Asia. The 2021 entry, ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars30'', will be the first to have an official North American release on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, on October 27, 2021.

** Meanwhile, ''Original Generations'' and its {{Sequel}}s took the road of a smaller "partner-based" system: ''K'', ''L'', and the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS games, as well as the ''Third Z'' duology followed suit, whereas ''Z'' had the three-unit based TRI-Battle System.

* LoopholeAbuse: As noted in the "International Era" subfolder above, Bandai Namco used the fact that the [=PlayStation 4=] and Switch have next to no region restrictions to skirt around the prohibitively-expense task of obtaining all North American and European licenses for a Western release. The only thing that a Western fan would have to do that's out of the ordinary is set up a UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork account for one of the English-speaking Southeast Asian countries in order to buy DownloadableContent.

* NewWorkRecycledGraphics: A common complaint about the series is that sprites and other assets evolve very slowly between installments. This became obvious with the UsefulNotes/GameboyAdvance and UsefulNotes/NintendoDS installments, which shared many series between the titles.

** {{Inverted}} with the "Alert" Spirit Command, allowing 100% evasion from any attack, making it an "Always ''In''accurate Attack" example.

* BossDissonance: Done occasionally because boss difficulty isn't necessarily determined by the amount of {{Hit Point}}s or statistics it has, but from its pilot skills, unit abilities and whether or not it can successfully perform a CounterAttack; fighting such an enemy may invariably lead to the next boss being much easier. Take ''Alpha Gaiden'' for example, where the penultimate boss is harder than the FinalBoss, despite being statistically weaker than the latter. This is due to the FinalBoss having limited ammunition for its attacks.

* ColorCodedArmies: Blue for allies, red for enemies, yellow for neutral/third-party

** The universal pilot skill "Counter" gives the user a chance to attack first before an enemy unit during its attacking phase. Its chance of activation, however, depends on the user's skill stat.

* DefenselessTransports: Rarely are battleships, the primary allied transport units, incapable of defending itself as most are armed with basic weaponry, but the Tausendfussler-class transport in ''Original Generation'' is the one to truly play this straight.

* GlassCannon: A unit with a poor armor rating, but can dish out high damage via weapon statistics, unit abilities with its pilot(s) having offensive-based skills and/or Spirit Commands are this. Top spot for examples goes to ''Getter Robo'', and is more or less reserved for supers.