Welcome to Cyclopaedia 8: Mecha. Cyclopaedia is a monthly article on the InnRoads Ministries website. Mike Perna, illustrious leader of InnRoads, has often requested Mecha as a topic for Cyclopaedia. This month is for you, Mike. As a child of the ’80s, I was blessed with so many amazing mecha cartoons. After school, I would run home to watch Voltron and Robotech, then a friend introduced me to anime and my cinematic life exploded. As my roleplaying hobby grew, I found Robotech and BESM which let me create and pilot my own anime mecha. Later, I was introduced to the intricacies of BattleTech and the immersion experience of a BattleTech Center. Recently, Pacific Rim unleashed upon movie screens everywhere a live action experience that brought to life all my mecha dreams from cartoons, anime, and gaming. So grab your plasma rifle and chain sword so we can wade into battle!
If you have questions about this article or topics you would like me to consider researching for future Cyclopaedia articles, please leave a comment below.
Overview
Mecha is a subgenre of science fiction devoted to giant armored fighting machines with legs instead of treads or wheels. A mecha is piloted while a powered armor is worn and a robot or android has its own intelligence. The term “mecha” derives from the Japanese abbreviation meka. In Japanese, meka encompasses all mechanical objects, including cars, robots, phones and other devices. The Japanese use the term “robotto” or “giant robots” to distinguish limbed vehicles from other meka. English speakers have repurposed the term as mecha (or the shorthand mech) for limbed humanoid shaped vehicles, made popular by the BattleTech game. In Japanese, these machines are seldom called “mecha” but instead are robots or super robots.
The first occurrence of mecha in fiction is thought to be the The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, where the Martians use tripod walkers as machines of death and destruction. The modern mecha genre was defined mostly by author Go Nagai. His Mazinger Z was the first successful super robot anime series which defined the mecha genre, even defining a now iconic maneuver of pilots calling out their weapon names to activate them (“Rocket Punch!”).
Mecha and super robot stories are extremely popular as topics of cartoons and anime. You also see them in combination with Sentai and Kaiju stories quite a bit. They have also spawned numerous toy and game lines because of their visually unique design.
Related Humanoid Technologies
Mecha as defined in this article must be giant robots or limbed war machines with living pilots and thus this related humanoid technologies are not included.
- Androids
- Cyborgs
- Exoskeletons
- Robots
- Transformers
Following are sources of information pertaining to Mecha to assist prospective game masters, game designers, writers, and storytellers in knowing where to start their research.
ARTICLES
BattleTech Masters: Emergence of the First U.S. Virtual Reality Subculture
By Heeter, C
Source: MULTIMEDIA REVIEW, 3, no. 4, (1992): 65
A Brief History of Japanese Robophilia
By Gilson, Mark
Source: Leonardo, v31 n5 (19980101): 367-369
Plausible Reasons for usage of Combat Mecha
http://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/10320/plausible-reasons-for-usage-of-combat-mecha
Sci-fi Rant: Why Giant Mecha Robots Are Stupid
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/geekend/sci-fi-rant-why-giant-mecha-robots-are-stupid/
BOOKS
ABAKAN 2288: Kallamity’s World of Mecha Design
By Zampriolo, Luca
BattleTech: 25 Years of Art & Fiction
By Bills, Randall
The Corps: BattleCorps Anthology
By Coleman, Loren L.
Dead Mech: (Apex Trilogy)
By Bible, Jake
Bane of the Dead (Seraphim Revival)
By Holo, Jacob
The Big O – Manga
By Ariga, Hitoshi
Decision at Thunder Rift (Saga of the Gray Death Legion)
By Keith, William
Embers of War
By Schmetzer, Jason
En Garde (The Warrior Trilogy)
By Stackpole, Michael A.
Exodus Road (Twilight of the Clans)
By Pardoe, Blaine Lee
Full Metal Panic!
By Gatou, Shouji
Ghost of Winter
By Kenson, Stephen
Ghost War
By Stackpole, Michael A.
Heir to the Dragon
By Charrett, Robert N.
Highlander Gambit
By Pardoe, Blaine
Inside the Robot Kingdom: Japan, Mechatronics and the Coming Robotopia
By Schodt, Frederik L.
Knights of Sidonia 2 – Manga
By Nihei, Tsutomu
Lethal Heritage (Blood of Kerensky Trilogy)
By Stackpole, Michael A.
Leviathan
By Westerfeld, Scott
Mazinger Z
By Nagai, Go
Mecha Corps: A Novel of the Armor Wars
By Patton, Brett
Mobile Suit Gundam: THE ORIGIN – Manga
By Yasuhiko, Yoshikazu
Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation Paperback
By Tomino, Yoshiyuki
Natural Selection
By Stackpole, Michael A.
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Manga
By Sadamoto, Yoshiyuki
Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero – Comic
By Beacham, Travis
The Science of Anime: Mecha-Noids and AI-Super-Bots
By Gresh, Lois H.
Shogun Warriors – Comic
By Moench, Doug
A Silence in the Heavens (The Proving Grounds)
By Delrio, Martin
The Sword and the Dagger
By Mayhar, Ardath
Way of the Clans (Legend of the Jade Phoenix)
By Thurston, Robert
War of the Worlds
By Wells, H.G.
Wolf Pack
By Charrette, Robert N.
Wolves on the Border
By Charrette, Robert N.
GAMES
A.E.G.I.S.: Combining Robot Strategy Game – Tabletop Game
Armored Core – Computer Game
BattleTech – Tabletop Game
BESM – RPG
BRP Mecha – RPG
Cthulhutech – RPG
DragonMech – RPG
Dust Tactics – Tabletop Game
Earthsiege 2 – Computer Game
Front Mission: Evolved – Computer Game
Gier Krieg – Tabletop Game
Golem Arcana – Tabletop Game
Gundam Battle Assault – Computer Game
Jovian Chronicles – RPG/Tabletop Game
Hawken – Computer Game
Heavy Gear – RPG/Tabletop Game
Heavy Steam – Tabletop Game
Iron Kingdoms – RPG
Mecha! – RPG
Mecha Vs Kaiju – RPG
MechAssault – Computer Game
MechWarrior series – Computer Game
MechWarrior – RPG
MechWarrior Online – Computer Game
Mekton: Anime Mecha Roleplaying – RPG
Mekton II & Zeta – RPG
Metal Gear Solid (1-4) – Computer Game
Remnants – RPG
Metal Wolf Chaos – Computer Game
Robotech – RPG
Scythe – Tabletop Game
SHOGO: Mobile Armor Division – Computer Game
Steel Battalion – Computer Game
Strike Suit Zero – Computer Game
Super Robot Wars – Computer Game
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri – Computer Game
Titanfall – Computer Game
Warhammer 40,000 – Tabletop Game
Xenogears – Computer Game
Zone of Enders (1 & 2) – Computer Game
CINEMA
9
Avatar
The Big O – Anime
Blue Gender – Anime
Broken Blade – Anime
Code Geass – Anime
Eureka Seven – Anime
Genesis of Aquarion – Anime
Getter Robo – Anime
Giant Robo – Anime
Gunbuster/Diebuster – Anime
Gunhed
Macross/Robotech – Anime
Mazinger Z – Anime
Mobile Police Patlabor – Anime
Mobile Suit Gundam – Anime
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Anime
Pacific Rim
Power Rangers – Movie
Power Rangers – TV Show
RahXephon – Anime
Robot Jox
Sakura Wars – Anime
Sentinel 2099
Space Runaway Ideon – Anime
Star Musketeer Bismarck – Anime
Starship Troopers 3
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann – Anime
Vision of Escaflowne – Anime
Voltron: Defender of the Universe/Beast King GoLion/Armored Fleet Dairugger XV – TV Series
Voltron: Legendary Defender – TV Series
War of the Worlds
Zoids – Anime
LOCATIONS
BattleTech Centers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BattleTech_Centers
Cybernetic Walking Machine – U.S. Army Transportation Museum
http://www.transportation.army.mil/museum/transportation%20museum/cybernetic.htm
Giant Robot Japanese Attractions
http://muza-chan.net/japan/index.php/blog/giant-robot-japanese-tourist
Gundam Front Tokyo
http://gundamfront-tokyo.com/assets/pdf/gft_en.pdf
Mechacon
http://www.mechacon.com/
Toei Animation Gallery
http://www.gotokyo.org/en/kanko/nerima/education/104.html
PEOPLE
Tohru Furuya
Shoji Kawamori
Carl Macek
Go Nagai
Michael A. Stackpole
Yoshiyuki Tomino
Jordan Weisman
Hajime Yatate
Saburo Yatsude
Mitsuteru Yokoyama
I hope you find these resources informative and inspiring for your adventures, storytelling, or game design.
Stay Creative!
T.R. Knight
( If you would like to save this list of resources as a convenient PDF for later reference, you can find that HERE )
WHO IS T.R. KNIGHT?
He is a freelance editor, proofreader, and writer in the game industry. He is also a Husband and Caregiver to his wife Angie, Father of Twins Emily and Rachel, Gardner and Hobby Chef, and Director of Academic Technology and User Services at Taylor University. You can learn more about T.R. at his blog http://www.thomasrknight.com.