Line #209 Anime/Voltron


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5	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/voltron_2914.jpg]]
6	[[caption-width-right:300:Loved by good, feared by evil. Narrated by [[Creator/PeterCullen Optimus]] [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Prime.]]]]
7
8	->''"Form feet and legs! Form arms and torso! And I'll form the head!"''
9	-->-- '''Commander Keith'''
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11	''Voltron: Defender of the Universe'' is a CombiningMecha cartoon, created by Creator/WorldEventsProductions in 1984 with recycled clips from the Creator/{{Toei\|Animation}} anime series ''Anime/{{GoLion}}'' and ''Anime/DairuggerXV''. ''Voltron'' is still considered ''[[SmallReferencePools the]]'' [[SmallReferencePools combining mecha anime]] in mainstream American pop culture,[[note]]a series of early 2000s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkODvs4grqE "Sprite" commercials]] pitted rappers against King Zarkon. Later, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFeFsUTr2JI theme song]] for 2011's Voltron Force was done by rapper and hip-hop producer Swizz Beats.[[/note]] but anime fans love it too. While changes to the anime were not as severe as those made to ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'', alterations were made to fit ''[=GoLion=]'' and ''Dairugger'' together.[[note]]For the knowledgeable: Zarkon (''Lion Voltron'''s main villain) is in this continuity a vassal of the Drule Empire (the bad guys of ''Vehicle Voltron''), the two short kids are now brothers, and the Galaxy Garrison of ''Dairugger'' has scenes cut into ''Lion Voltron'' in which they would talk about the situation, but never do anything about them, as there was no fight footage available that featured the conversing characters.[[/note]]
12
13	Two series were made, each with individual storylines: ''Voltron: Defender of the Far Universe'' (a.k.a. ''Lion Voltron'') and ''Voltron: Defender of the Near Universe'' (a.k.a. ''Vehicle Voltron''). ''Lion Voltron'' is the original and best-remembered, though ''Vehicle Voltron'' has its fans for its somewhat harder sci-fi premise. Later, additional episodes of ''Lion Voltron'' were made with all-new animation from Toei, including a special called "Fleet of Doom" featuring ''both'' Voltrons.
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15	Episodes revolved around fighting [[{{Robeast}} Robeasts]] in a [[MonsteroftheWeek Monster of the Week]] format. Some Robeasts were huge Mecha, and others were apparently non-robot aliens that grew to gigantic size when hit with a special energy beam. Both species of Robeasts were ''always'' killed by being sliced in half with the [[ForgottenSuperweapon Blazing Sword]], prompting the same explosion footage episode after episode, as a censored alternative to the sometimes violent deaths in the anime.
16
17	In the United States toy market, ''Lion Voltron'' was sold under the name "Voltron III", while ''Vehicle Voltron'' was sold as "Voltron I". A third Voltron, "Voltron II", was also available. This "Gladiator" Voltron was based on ''Anime/{{Albegas}}'', which was intended to be used for the third season that never materialized.
18
19	''Voltron'' was one of ''the first'' television programs to be produced and broadcast in stereophonic sound. Around the time of the show's production, the Federal Communications Commission was in the process of approving stereo broadcasting, yet most programs and cartoons back then were still being broadcast in monaural sound. World Events Productions took notice of this and decided to make the stereo sound of the series a big selling point: almost every store selling stereo television sets in the mid 80's used ''Voltron'' as a highlight of what stereo sound could deliver versus mono.
20
21	In the year 1998 as the TurnOfTheMillennium approached, ''Voltron'' was [[{{Revival}} revived]] in the form of ''[[WesternAnimation/VoltronTheThirdDimension Voltron: The Third Dimension]]'', a completely CGI animated continuation of the ''Lion Voltron'' storyline, set a [[TimeSkip few years into the future relative to the original]], as there are important changes to the setting, but the character cast stayed mainly the same. This sub-series tends to have a slightly darker, more mature take on its plots. In its second season, Voltron was redesigned as a "Cyber Stealth" model. (How exactly a robot that big could qualify as "stealth" even when painted black is anyone's guess.) There have also been several comic book series based on ''Lion Voltron'', including a series that basically retells the origins of the "Voltron Force" and their discovery of Voltron and more recently, a ''Robotech/Voltron'' crossover. In addition, Creator/PrivateerPress released a Voltron [[TabletopStrategyGame tabletop miniature game]] based on its ''TabletopGame/{{Monsterpocalypse}}'' ruleset.
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23	In TheNewTens, {{Creator/Nickelodeon}}[=/=]Creator/{{Nicktoons}} brought us ''WesternAnimation/VoltronForce'', another CGI ''Lion Voltron'' SequelSeries that premiered in summer of 2011. It picks up [[TimeSkip seven years]] after the original where, after an incident, the lions went crazy and were decommissioned by the Galactic Military. When Lotor comes BackFromTheDead, it's up to the old team and the lions, as well as [[SpaceCadet three new trainees]], to stop his evil plans.
24
25	In 2016, ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'', a ContinuityReboot, was released by Creator/{{Netflix}} and Creator/DreamworksAnimation, reviving the franchise. Because of the re-imagined series, there was talk of [=DreamWorks=] owners [[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal Pictures]] doing a LiveActionAdaptation of ''Voltron'', an idea that has for years been stuck in DevelopmentHell due to legal issues. However, [=DreamWorks=] lost all rights to the franchise in 2021 which led to WEP getting full rights back from [[Creator/NBCUniversal NBCU]] and the future of the franchise is unclear.
26
27	Meanwhile, select episodes from ''Lion Voltron'', ''[=GoLion=]'', ''Vehicle Voltron'', ''The Third Dimension'', and ''Voltron Force'' are [[https://www.youtube.com/user/WEP/playlists available to stream]] from WEP's [=YouTube=] channel. ''Legendary Defender'' can be streamed in its entirety on Netflix.
28	----
29	!!''Voltron'' provides examples of:
30
31	[[foldercontrol]]
32
33	[[folder:Lion Voltron]]
34	* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Haggar gave this to Zarkon, something which doesn't get revealed until after Lotor tries to poison him.
35	* AdaptationDyeJob: The series' protagonists have gone through several of these in the series' various incarnations and sequels:
36	** Second season: Allura's hair color is changed from honey blonde to strawberry blonde and Romelle's eye color is changed from indigo to dark brown. One color change that ''did'' make an iota of sense was making Sven's skin considerably paler, as would generally befit someone of Nordic ancestry.
37	** Devil's Due Comic: Keith went back to having dark hair and dark eyes, and Pidge and Sven's eyes were colored green and blue to match their lions respectively. Allura's hair was a conspicuously paler shade of blonde than in the original anime.
38	** This isn't counting fan art, which usually shows Sven with the [[PhenotypeStereotype traditional Nordic blue eyes]] and Pidge with green eyes, and had for years before the Devil's Due comic came out.
39	** ''Voltron: The Third Dimension'': Keith's signature black curls and dark eyes were changed to brown hair and blue eyes, much to the chagrin of many of his fans.
40	* AdaptationalHeroism:
41	** Voltron's origins are much more heroic than his ''Anime/GoLion'' counterpart. In the American version, it is explained that Voltron was turned into five lions due to a trap by Haggar, while in ''[=GoLion=]'', a benevolent Goddess split up the titular robot as punishment for his arrogance and violent ways.
42	** ''Voltron'' makes villains less evil than in [=GoLion=]:
43	*** Daibazaal was a tyrant who had Fala's entire family shot, commits horrible atrocities on the conquered, and has slaves killed for sport. It's even revealed any affection Daibazaal has for his son, Sincline, is fake and Daibazaal has no love for him, only keeping around because killing him would cause scandal. In ''Voltron'', Zarkon was a tyrant who killed Allura's father, isn't shown to murder slaves for sport, and doesn't commit horrible atrocities on the conquered. Zarkon's relationship with Lotor is more ambiguous with Zarkon seeming to show genuine affection for Lotor at times.
44	*** Honerva was always a WickedWitch and commits satanic acts on her enemies and Galra prisoners. In ''Voltron'', Haggar used to be a good sorceress and her actions are more typical witchcraft.
45	*** Sincline was a mentally unbalanced ChildByRape who abused women, had a sick obsession with Fala, and tended to kill his subordinates, and any honor he showed was fake. In ''Voltron'', Lotor had a HairTriggerTemper, only attempted AndNowYouMustMarryMe stuff, had a more genuine affection for Allura, only yelled threats at his subordinates, and was actually honorable. Lotor even pulled an EnemyMine to save Allura at one point.
46	*** In the 11th episode of ''[=GoLion=]'', Galra was doing a PrisonerExchange, but it's revealed to the audience that Galra had no intention to honor this and was going to kill the hostages [[ILied anyway]]. In the 11th episode of ''Voltron'', the Drules of Planet Doom seemed like they were going to actually keep to the deal.
47	* AdaptedOut: In ''[=GoLion=]'', Allura's counterpart had older siblings who were killed along with her parents. In ''Voltron'', Allura appears to be an only child. ''Someone'' had to have given birth to her niece Larmina, though.
48	* AesopAmnesia: You would think after the first time it happened that they would be warier about letting obviously suspicious people into the castle but this happened at least twice after the first time.
49	* AlienInvasion: The forces of Doom are invading Arus.
50	* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: In France the narration set to the music composed by Dale Schacker was replaced with a song by Arias Norbert. The lyrics apply only to Lion Force, though.
51	* AllYourColorsCombined: Five lions, each a different color, combine into one SuperRobot.
52	* ArtisticLicenseSpace: Earth, when shown in its EstablishingShot, has at least five moons around it.
53	* ArmchairMilitary: The Galaxy Garrison spends all their time talking about what the Voltron Force is doing rather than sending them supplies, reinforcements, or taking advantage of the fact that Zarkon's attention was focused on Arus to attack on another front. After the initial arc, they don't even show up to do that much very often. Justified in that Arus was pretty much on the other side of known space (hence the "far universe" description) and The Garrison was rather busy with dealing with the Drule Empire closer to home. Sending Keith and company was the most they could do to help Arus at first.
54	** The Galaxy Garrison does send some help in the PostScriptSeason, in the form of... one senior officer, who proceeds to forbid the team from forming Voltron and micromanaging their tactics. He then blames the ineffectiveness of his tactics on the youth of the pilots rather than on the fact that he'd hamstrung an elite unit with his stupid orders. He gets relieved for incompetence and shipped back home in a single episode.
55	* AssKickingPose: Voltron has several of these, usually directly after he's transformed, formed the Blazing Sword, or after he's beaten the MonsterOfTheWeek.
56	* AvengersAssemble: "Let's go Voltron Force!"
57	* BadassNormal: Sven. He survives being nailed in personal combat by a Robeast, [[spoiler:and survived a plunge from the heights of Castle Doom]]. Even after that, he was in good enough condition to fly Blue Lion again.
58	** [[spoiler:This, however, is a case of SparedByTheAdaptation: Sven was originally twin brothers in ''[=GoLion=]'' and neither of them were as lucky.]]
59	* BetaCouple: Romelle and Sven.
60	* {{BFS}}: "Form Blazing Sword!"
61	* BigBad: King Zarkon.
62	* BloodBath: The evil witch Haggar bathes her cat in blood (although [[{{Bowdlerised}} it's called a "lava bath"]] in the English version).
63	* {{Bowdlerise}}: A lot of character deaths and gory bits were edited or written out of the Japanese source material.
64	* CaptainObvious: Keith, every time they form Voltron - telling them what they do every time.
65	* CatScare: In the second episode, while traveling through the foggy woods, the space explorers hear a lion's roar. Then suddenly a bird flew from the bushes, startling Lance. Later they find out the roar came from a lion's statue in front of the castle.
66	* CatsAreMean: [[WickedWitch Haggar's]] RightHandCat. Averted for Voltron itself, which is made of five benevolent cats.
67	* ChangingClothesIsAFreeAction: The StockFootage shows the Voltron Force entering the ziplines wearing civilian clothes, and then riding in the trams wearing their pilot uniforms.
68	* {{Chickification}}: While Allura was a really girly girl to start, she learned quickly; she was able to pilot Lance's lion (Red Lion) and hold the Blazing Sword with no problems at all by Episode 23, and Keith later teaches her judo. Unfortunately, her character's progress plateaued in the American-written second season, which had her father's ghost [[DeusExMachina continually solving problems for her]].
69	* ColorCodedCharacters: The Voltron Force and Lions.
70	** Keith pilots the Black Lion and wears a red costume.
71	** Lance pilots the Red Lion and wears a blue costume.
72	** Sven pilots the Blue Lion and wears a black costume, but he is later replaced with Allura, who pilots the Blue Lion and wears a pink costume.
73	** Pidge pilots the Green Lion and wears a green costume.
74	** Hunk pilots the Yellow Lion and wears a orange-ish yellow costume.
75	** Later ''Voltron'' series would change the colors of the characters' costumes to match their respective lion. ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' changed this in its second season to match the original costumes.
76	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Averted, if the above trope is any indication. Most of the heroes' costume colors don't correspond to their respective lion.
77	* CombiningMecha: The trope codifier -- in America, anyway. Whenever something involves smaller vehicles or creatures combining to form a larger whole, chances are good that people will compare it to Voltron.
78	* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Wonderfully averted when Lance doesn't trust a potential new pilot. Although it was for the wrong reason, Lance was right because the new guy was the MonsterOfTheWeek.
79	* CoolSword: The Blazing Sword, which gets pulled out OncePerEpisode.
80	* DemotedToExtra / DiscontinuityNod: Due to ''Albegas'' never getting adapted, the Gladiator Voltron found itself as only a mere cameo through the years, mostly in the comics. One time it was seen as an early attempt by Earth scientists to create their own Voltron which would lead to the Vehicle Force (and was dismissed as a "knockoff" by the Lion Force pilots), and in one panel of the ''Robotech/Voltron'' crossover showing different dimensions and timelines, it was shown standing together with the other two Voltrons.
81	* DividedWeFall: Since all five members of the Voltron Force have to be present in order to form Voltron, many of Haggar and Lotor's plans center around separating one member of the team from the rest. These plans invariably fail to work long enough. In ''[=GoLion=]'', Honerva succeeded in killing Shirogane, which led to Fala replacing him.
82	* DoomedHometown: Lotor turns Pidge's home planet into a radioactive wasteland as part of a plot to lure the Voltron Force off Arus, after which Allura grants Pidge Arusian citizenship so that he can make himself a new home there.
83	* TheDragon: Prince Lotor.
84	* DubNameChange: Most of the characters, and location.
85	* ErmineCapeEffect:
86	** Even when not fancied up, even in uniform, Allura still wears her [[RequisiteRoyalRegalia tiara]].
87	** King Zarkon is a straight case, always sitting on his throne, wearing his cape and heavy-looking crown.
88	* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: Allura does sparkle sometimes.
89	* EvilDetectingDog: Allura's mice can always tell if somebody is really Haggar under a disguise.
90	* FairytaleWeddingDress: A dress made for Allura to wear at her possible future wedding.
91	* FallingIntoTheCockpit: Allura did not appear to have any pilot training before deciding to take over as Sven's replacement on the team. She is noticeably the weakest pilot for some time afterwards.
92	* {{Fanfare}}: Notable in that ''Voltron's'' score has one, while ''[=GoLion=]'' does not.
93	* FauxActionGirl: Allura, especially when she isn't piloting the Blue Lion. There's a reason she was the picture of the trope.
94	* FighterLaunchingSequence: The Voltron Force going to their lions, which involves ziplines and personal shuttles.
95	* ForgottenSuperweapon: The Blazing Sword, always the ''last'' thing pulled out in a battle.
96	** Except in the first few episodes, where it was the first.
97	*** It does get pulled fairly quickly in a small handful later episodes, only for it...and Voltron...to quickly suffer a NoSell, followed by a WorfEffect.
98	** Also Voltron itself. When the Voltron team first arrives on planet Arus, the planet has only just been ripped to shreds by Zarkon -- despite the fact that the leadership knew where the lions were and had already built a complicated transit network to get to them, and ''someone'' must have surely known the keys were buried with the King -- yet no one handed the keys over to their best pilots and told them to form Voltron.
99	*** Not so much with Voltron as with the lions. Remember, the [[spoiler:mice took one of the keys.]]
100	* ForGreatJustice: When Keith spouts about Voltron's role.
101	* {{Frankenslation}}: It's made by combining ''Anime/{{GoLion}}'' and ''Anime/{{Dairugger XV}}''.
102	* FriendToAllLivingThings: Allura and the mice. She even knows their language. Pidge would also fall into this category.
103	* GladiatorGames: Zarkon has a Robeast Arena, with the strongest Robeast usually getting to fight Voltron. At several points, Lotor fights in it, and at one point, [[OrcusOnHisThrone Zarkon himself]] gets in the arena to fight Lotor, and [[RankScalesWithAsskicking wins]]. Usually they forced captured slaves to fight in them only to be slaughtered by the Robeast.
104	* GoGoEnslavement: Lotor keeps at least a dozen slave girls whose sole duty is to dance for him in harem outfits. He fully intends to have Allura and Romelle join them once they are captured.
105	* HighClassGloves: The wedding dress Nanny made for Allura. Also part of Romelle's mini-dress of power.
106	* {{Homage}}: It could be unintentional, but Allura's grand dress [[https://imgur.com/a/Zuhc15u bears a resemblance]] to [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Princess Aurora's]].
107	** Speaking of clothing homages, Lance looks like Franchise/{{Lupin III}}'s kid brother made off with Creator/JamesDean's leather jacket.
108	** In a more obscure example, Pidge looks a great deal like [[Manga/TowardTheTerra Soldier Blue]] would if he had normal hair and eye coloring.
109	* HumongousMecha: The Voltron mecha.
110	* JustEatGilligan: Why didn't Yurak devote all or most of their firepower to destroying [[IdiotBall their worst enemy?]] Or at least attacking various parts of the planet, rather than the '''capital city''' right next to the freaking lions? Either you do some damage and avoid Voltron for a while, or better yet split the Voltron Force's numbers and prevent them from even forming him? And supposedly they have massive numbers of robot warriors, so why not use them to tire out the Voltron force with a small but constant barrage? Or sneak in and gas the damn palace?
111	* KissDiss: There's an infrequently used piece of StockFootage in which Pidge tries to get a kiss from Allura, only for Allura to have him be kissed on the cheek by the mice.
112	* LargeHam: Prince Lotor. Is there any time he doesn't shout his lines?
113	* LarynxDissonance: In the dub, a lot of the female extras voices were done by a guy.
114	* LeaderFormsTheHead: The TransformationSequence (played, of course, {{Once an Episode}}) comes with a voice-over of the team leader ordering each step of the process, ending with "...AND I'LL FORM THE HEAD!"
115	* LeitMotif: And it is AWESOME.
116	* LighterAndSofter: The most violent scenes from ''[=GoLion=]'' were removed in ''Voltron''.
117	** Another notable example is that Sven just barely survives the attack in episode 6, whereas Takashi Shirogane (his name in the original series) in ''[=GoLion=]'' [[spoiler:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRHYheM7f00 is clearly]] KilledOffForReal.]]
118	* LimitedSocialCircle: The Voltron team does pretty much everything together.
119	* LimitedWardrobe: With the exceptions of Allura and Sven (a CompositeCharacter), everyone has exactly three outfits - a uniform, a set of civvies, and sleepwear.
120	** Allura has four outfits: her uniform, her sleepwear, and ''two'' sets of civvies (one formal, one casual). It is revealed in "The Witch Gets a Facelift" (Episode 13), that Allura has a closet full of various outfits, but we don't see her wear any.
121	** ''Voltron: The Third Dimension'' took it to its logical conclusion; everyone ''except'' Allura wore only their Voltron Force uniforms. Allura was given some dresses to wear on state functions.
122	* LoveTriangle: Hinted as early as Episode 6, in which Allura physically comes between Keith and Lance during an argument, and again in the final episode of the first season in which Allura, lying down in a field among the Voltron force, is reclining between Keith and Lance. It's a Love Tetrahedron once Lotor is brought into the picture. The Triangle collapses in the PostScriptSeason, in which not only are Keith and Allura kissing, embracing, and holding hands, but Allura's father gives them his blessing.
123	* MakeMyMonsterGrow: It's fairly common for Zarkon's forces to use either magic or science to make the robeast-of-the-week grow much larger as it prepares to fight against Voltron. In one especially literal example, after Prince Lotor replaces Yurak as leader of Zarkon's attacks on Planet Arras, Yurak is enlarged into a giant robeast and pitted against Voltron himself.
124	* MilitariesAreUseless: Apart from the Voltron Force, the Galaxy Garrison is completely useless. The team fights the entire war using entirely allies and resources they found on their own. If anything, they're even '''worse''' in the postscript season, where the Galaxy Garrison actually appears as something other than commentators who are too far away to provide any assistance in a few episodes, and ''still'' fails to accomplish anything without Voltron doing the lion's share of the work.
125	* MiniDressOfPower: Romelle, after she gets rescued and gets involved in the final battle.
126	* ModestRoyalty: Once Allura is a pilot, she usually wears her pink jumpsuit instead of her fancy dress.
127	* {{Mooks}}
128	** MechaMooks: Zarkon's alien soldiers with the Conical heads were robots due to concerns of violence. Notably in the PostScriptSeason, they were actually animated as [[MadeOfExplodium easily exploding]] robots complete with metallic insides.
129	* {{Mordor}}: Planet Doom appears to be a black wasteland with skeletons everywhere.
130	* MrFanservice: Ladies, you get your selection of four different flavors of Bishounen: Knight-in-white-armor Keith, ladies' man Lance with the leather jacket and tight pants, quiet and thoughtful Sven, and Lotor, who MIGHT have a heart of...something underneath all those impulses of conquest. And pick two male characters from Voltron, ANY two male characters from Voltron--at least the ones of legal age--and you WILL find a female-written Slash Fic pairing them.
131	* NameTron: Especially since ''[=GoLion=]'' didn't have that kind of name.
132	* NearMissGroinAttack: In "The Buried Castle", where skeleton warriors raise their spears from underground between Lance and Allura's legs.
133	* NeverSayDie: The word destroy was always used instead. However there were a few exceptions, Yurak died after being turned [[OneWingedAngel into a monster]], a GoryDiscretionShot was pulled on a merchant who attempted to extort Lotor, and Mogor died in a BloodlessCarnage.
134	** [[spoiler:In the final episode of ''Lion Voltron'', Allura considers all the people Prince Lotor has "hurt", accompanied by a montage of various characters that appeared throughout the series. Made all the more poignant by the fact that in ''[=GoLion=]'', their equivalents were ''killed''.]]
135	* NeverTrustATitle: The two-parter "Return of Coran's Son"/"Coran's Son Runs Amuck"; the character mentioned in the titles is actually a clone.
136	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: The weapons systems that each Lion and Voltron possess are never explicitly listed, so new weapons pop up out of nowhere every few episodes. The only Voltron weapons that show up on a regular basis are the flamethrower arms and the Blazing Sword, the latter of which is used in pretty much every episode in which Voltron is formed (which is almost all of them).
137	* OfficialCosplayGear: You can get official Voltron costumes of the titular robot, but if you want a costume that isn't [[https://www.amazon.com/Rubies-Voltron-Classic-Adult-Costume/dp/B006MRNGUG Halloween costume quality,]] you're better off making it yourself.
138	* OjouRinglets: Allura/Fala, although the way they are drawn makes them easy to mistake for sideburns.
139	* OverlordJr: Lotor.
140	* ParentalAbandonment:
141	** Both of Allura's parents died years before the events of the show.
142	** We also don't see Romelle and Bandor's mother when they are introduced, so we assume they've been motherless for some time; and even through the cut-and-paste editing, you can see that their father died in battle.
143	** Pidge is also a war orphan who eventually was adopted. And then Lotor slagged his home planet.
144	* PimpedOutDress: Allura's dress. Romelle's dress isn't that fancy, but when she wears a battle jumpsuit, it fits this trope better.
145	* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Galaxy Garrison's job is pretty much MrExposition. Despite supposed huge amounts of resources at their control, all they do is sit around and talk about what Voltron is doing.
146	* PostScriptSeason: How much more popular was ''Lion Voltron'' than ''[=GoLion=]''? It was so much more popular that World Events Productions actually hired Creator/ToeiAnimation to make 20 new ''Voltron'' episodes. Not 20 new ''[=GoLion=]'' episodes, 20 new ''Lion Voltron'' episodes. That just doesn't happen very often.
147	* PrincessClassic: Even as a pilot, Allura is like this.
148	* PrincessesPreferPink: Allura wears pink with everything, even her uniform.
149	* RecursiveCanon: This version of the show appears in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' and it is justified as an InUniverse anime adaptation of that Team Voltron's adventures. Considering how great are the differences between both versions of the series, [[StylisticSuck the obvious reaction]] [[AdaptationDecay of the "true" Team Voltron]] is to wonder [[WhoWritesThisCrap who the hell thought that making this show was a good idea.]]
150	* RedOniBlueOni: Lance is the Red Oni - impulsive, confrontational, outspoken, rebellious, even a little aggressive - and pilots the Red Lion... but wears blue uniform and civvies. Keith is the Blue Oni - rational, calm, level-headed, prudent, reasonable... but wears red uniform and civvies, and pilots the Black Lion. Curiously, Keith is TheHero and Standardized Leader and very idealistic; while Lance is TheLancer and much more realistic. Further playing with this trope is the fact that Allura has an even mix of both Red Oni and Blue Oni traits, wears pink outfits, and pilots the Blue Lion... ''and'' has a crush on one of these guys.
151	* RefusingParadise: [[spoiler:In the episode "The Little Prince", an angelic being offers eternal paradise to our heroes, who all-but-immediately refuse. Internal monologues then confirm their unending devotion to the people of Arus.]]
152	* {{Robeast}}: The TropeNamer.
153	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Allura as one of the pilots.
154	* SchizoTech: Voltron and the Castle of Lions are state of the art, while everything else on the planet appears to be using a medieval tech base.
155	* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The top speed of the Voltron lions is Mach 10, but they're able to fly between planets in a fairly short amount of time. For reference, traveling between Earth and Mars at that speed would take about seven months under ideal orbital conditions. Traveling between systems would take years.
156	* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge go to answer a distress signal coming from Pidge’s home planet (in ''[=Golion=]'', it was actually Earth), but get detained by Coran and the castle guards, saying that Voltron is for the defense of Arus. The four fight their way through and go anyway, saying that ignoring a distress signal is low.
157	* SeriesFauxnale: The first season finale, "Final Victory", which was the dubbed version of the series finale of ''[=GoLion=]''. The PostScriptSeason, however, basically undoes everything that happens in it.
158	* TheShortGuyWithGlasses: Pidge.
159	* SimpleYetOpulent: Allura and Romelle's princess dresses have just a few frills, so they are both this trope and pimped dresses.
160	* SlipperySwimsuit: Happens once to Princess Allura. A high dive while wearing a bikini leads to her top surfacing before she does.
161	* TheSomethingForce: The Voltron Force
162	* SpaceX: In the second episode, while in the middle of the desert Hunk hungers for some "space burgers".
163	* SpeechImpairedAnimal: The Space Mice.
164	* StandardizedLeader: Keith.
165	* TheStarscream: Lotor desires to overthrow Zarkon and rule himself. At the end of season 1, he accomplishes this.
166	* StatusQuoIsGod: Between the original finale and the PostScriptSeason.
167	** Zarkon has returned to the throne of Planet Doom.
168	** Lotor is back in a subordinate position without any sign that he's been punished for his coup.
169	** Haggar and Lotor are working together again, despite having betrayed each other in the finale.
170	** Planet Doom has returned to being able to pose a threat to the galaxy despite Voltron trashing most of its infrastructure in the finale.
171	** The Voltron Force is in an antagonistic relationship with the mice that they hadn't had since episode 4 of the original show. Pidge, who was actually the mice's closest ally after Allura, is the one most opposed to the mice's activities (which are far worse than anything they pulled in the original anime).
172	* StayInTheKitchen: The way Allura's guardians treat her some of the time, especially Nanny.
173	* StockFootage: Including stock audio. The exact amount used (some scenes get skipped or compressed) varies from episode to episode depending on how much time the animators needed to fill after the actual storyline of the episode is accounted for, but the key clips that get brought up all the time are:
174	** The center of the control room rises under Coran's feet, revealing the entrance to the ziplines.
175	** The Voltron Force runs to the ziplines.
176	** The Voltron Force rides the ziplines to the trams.
177	** The Voltron Force ([[ChangingClothesIsAFreeAction now wearing their pilot uniforms despite being dressed in civvies in the previous stock footage scenes]]) rides the trams to their Lions.
178	** The Voltron Force inserts their keys and activate the Lions.
179	** The Lions leave their respective hangars.
180	** The Lions run (or fly) in formation.
181	** The Lions form Voltron.
182	*** The line "And I'll form the head!" seems weird in ''Lion Voltron'' since the Black Lion forms both the head and entire body... but both shows used the same narration for the combining sequence. Thankfully, the ''[=GoLion=]'' TransformationSequence has the head transforming on its own, so the whole thing works.
183	** Voltron forms Blazing Sword.
184	* StormOfBlades: In the second episode, after the team crash-landed on Arus, they're suddenly bombarded with a storm of spears, thrown by the scared natives believing them to be Zarkon's men. Keith tries to tell them they're friends, but they continue to throw at them until Hunk has enough and chases them deep into the cave.
185	* SuperRobot
186	* TallDarkAndSnarky: Sven, especially when it comes to the {{Robeast}}s and the Drules.
187	* TrailersAlwaysLie: The opening credits claim that the show is the story of a team sent by the Galaxy Alliance to retrieve Voltron. This is wrong on many levels.
188	** The team's original mission had nothing to do with Voltron. They were sent to discover what Zarkon was up to, got captured, escaped, and found the Castle of Lions and Voltron by chance after getting shot down.
189	** The team first assembles Voltron in episode 4 (or to put it another way, roughly 3% of the way through the series), and never take it back to Alliance HQ.
190	** One member of the team featured in the opening credits (Sven) is incapacitated early in the series and doesn't come back until a later season, but remains in the credits instead of having Allura appear.
191	* TransformationIsAFreeAction: Subverted oh so many times, but that's what happens when you get CombatPragmatist villains.
192	* TrueBlueFemininity: Romelle's main dress.
193	* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Allura and Romelle are distant cousins who look almost exactly alike.
194	* UnwillingSuspension: Romelle.
195	* {{Warrior Prince}}ss: Allura.
196	* VillainBall: In "The White Lion" Haggar succeeds in capturing four of the five members of the Voltron Force, but instead of just cutting their throats or something, she ties them up and waits for them to wake up so she can gloat about her victory and make them watch as the Lion Robeast kills them, which gives Keith time to draw away the Robeast and Coran and Nanny to deliver the Blue Lion and drive away Haggar. This is not the only example of times the villains snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by needing to make a production out of the death of the Voltron Force.
197	* AVillainNamedZrg: Zarkon
198	* VillainousCrush: Lotor's infatuation with Allura appears to be his motivation for much of the series, and also for his hatred of Keith.
199	* VillainsActHeroesReact: At times it seems like Arus keeps forgetting that it's at war whenever Zarkon stops attacking for a while. Rather than do anything to strip Zarkon of the ability to keep sending more Robeasts to them, for most of the show, the only times they concern themselves with issues outside of Arus is if someone explicitly requests that the Voltron Force intervene.
200	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: If anything get blasted, obliterated, or cleaved by the Blazing Sword, it's just a robot. Really. The dialogue says so.
201	* WhiteHairBlackHeart : Prince Bokar of Sennec from very early in the series (villain of the week). Prince Lotor and Witch Haggar both have white hair as well.
202	* WickedWitch: The aptly named Haggar.
203	* TheWorfEffect: Every encounter the titular robot has with a robeast who is a physical threat to Voltron is an example of this.
204	* WrongInsultOffence: Happens when Allura insults the evil Prince Lotor and Lotor ''does'' feel insulted... but for the [[CardCarryingVillain wrong reasons]].
205	-->'''Allura:''' You're a monster, just like your father!
206	-->'''Lotor:''' That old fool?! Why I'm twice the monster he is!
207	* YouHaveFailedMe: This gets pulled on Yurak, and later on Lotor. Then when Zarkon himself fails, the Drule Empire frees Lotor so he can invoke the trope against Zarkon.
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209
210	[[/folder]]
211
212	[[folder:Vehicle Voltron]]
213	* TheBattlestar: The Explorer, the space carrier from which the vehicles launched before combining
214	* CombiningMecha: Two ways! 15 small vehicles could combine into three larger ones, and then if that didn't get the job done, they could re-combine into the titular HumongousMecha.
215	%% * DubNameChange
216	* TheEmperor: Zeppo, who is technically the BigBad, but rarely shows up, relying on Throk, and [[NobleTopEnforcer Hazar]].
217	* FighterLaunchingSequence: Most of the time but not always.
218	* ForgottenSuperweapon: The Blazing Sword... so similar to the Lion version, but both shows were Toei productions anyway.
219	* HumongousMecha: Not only Voltron, but the Robeasts as well (they tended to be piloted vehicles in this version).
220	* NeverSayDie: Although ''Anime/DairuggerXV'' had its fair share of military death, the American dub took pains to tell the audience that the things being shot up were "robot attack ships" and "android stormtroopers." The next-to-last episode even had a violent Drule lynch mob chanting, "Capture the president! Capture the president!"
221	* NobodyCanDie: In the American dub, the only character confirmed to die was Captain Keyo.
222	** Enemy troopers who were obviously getting killed were said to be "android stormtroopers."
223	** Space fighters that blew up were dubbed "robot attack ships."
224	** When a Sea Team member has a flashback to his brother dying a tragic death, the American dub ends with him saying "Oh, brother, I'm so glad you're all right!"
225	** An angry, bloodthirsty mob storming the Presidential base on Planet Drule were heard screaming "Capture the president! Capture the president!"
226	** [[MonsterOfTheWeek Villains of the week]] were said to be exiled.
227	** Quark claimed he'd return, [[SpecialEffectFailure right before his ship exploded]].
228	* OldSchoolDogFight: The air team vehicles got to do a bit of this before the need to form Voltron arose.
229	%% * ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Drules
230	* PuppetKing: Emperor Zeppo is pretty much a pawn of Viceroy Throk. Also counts as a ShelteredAristocrat.
231	* RuleOfCool: In the original Japanese version, Captain Newley (Captain Asimov in the original) was the senior officer to Commander Hawkins. In the US version, their ranks were reversed and Newley was taking orders from Hawkins. Since Hawkins was more active of the two, the dubbers must have assumed he was TheCaptain. Also, he was voiced by the always awesome Peter Cullen using his Optimus Prime voice. Which means, he's got to be the man in charge!
232	* TheShortGuyWithGlasses: Chip.
233	* TheSomethingForce: Vehicle Voltron Force.
234	* StockFootage: The transformation
235	* SuperRobot: Vehicle Voltron
236	* ThouShallNotKill: Notable in one of the last episodes where Throk, and his comrades try to escape Planet Drule. In the original Dairugger, the heroes chased down the fleeing Mecha, and destroyed it, killing Caponero (Throk), and his followers. In Vehicle Voltron, the heroes let it get away because there were people in it, and they were fleeing. Reasoning that Voltron is a defender.
237	* TransformationIsAFreeAction: See above.
238	** Bit of a subversion here. Several Drules actually attack Voltron mid-combination sequence, and it worked, sorta. While not fully combined, and therefore not at full power, Vehicle Voltron has fought without a head, and without a leg, just for examples.
239	* WagonTrainToTheStars: Vehicle Voltron is composed of several flying Vans.
240	----
241
242	[[/folder]]
243

Context Anime / Voltron