10.
Voltron
I
was going to use the Vehicle version of Voltron just to enrage a friend of
mine, but the majority of people who recognize the name Voltron immediately
think of the lion version when they hear that name. There is a good reason for that to, the Lion
Force robot is extremely cool looking.
So you’re asking if Voltron is iconic and has such a great design why is
he only number 10 on the list? It’s because
watching a Voltron cartoon is excruciatingly boring. All the archetypes are there, but nothing
interesting is ever done with it. That makes it even worse, it has such potental to be amazing and it's just bland. I’m
including all the re-launches in that statement too.
9.
Emperor Titans (Warhammer 40K)
No
setting in existence does over the top better than the Warhammer 40K
universe. The armies of man have giant
war machines called Titans, the largest of these are the Emperor Titans. Standing 166 feet tall the Emperor Titan towers
over everything else on the battle field.
As you’d expect the Titan is loaded down with weapons with equally over
the top names like Hellstorm Cannons, Apocalypse Missle Launcher’s, and Vulcan
Mega Bolters. I almost forgot to mention
that it carries a cathedral dedicated to the God-Emperor on its shoulders. It's a massive warmachine and a walking church.
8.
Liberty Prime (Fallout 3)
If
you remember the Journey of Thall Faceshooter you know I had a great time
playing through Fallout 3. There are
some issues with the setting of the game when compared to the rest of the
series; some of the lore just doesn’t
fit as well. Liberty Prime though is
awesome. Originally built to liberate
Anchorage, Alaska from the Red Chinese this robot was dug up by the Brotherhood
of Steel. Liberty Prime eventually is
set upon the Enclave and causes massive destruction by shooting dual energy beams
from his head and throwing mini-nukes like footballs. All the time he’s wrecking face he says
things like “Communism is the very definition of failure,” and “Democracy is
non-negotiable.”
7.
Volfogg (GaoGaiGar)
One
of the Super-AI robots in the GGG is the definition of cool. His vehicle form is a police Ferrari and his
robot form is pretty much a ninja. He carries
tow Silver Moon throwing blades that can be combined to form a giant throwing
star known as the Silver Cross. He is
also equipped to create holograms, create smoke screens, and to use his Mirror
Coating to turn invisible. When he needs
a power upgrade he can join with a non intelligent motorcycle and helicopter to
form Big Volfogg. He looks significantly
less ninja-like when it Big Volfogg mode though.
6. Lockdown (Transformers)
Transformers
Animated introduced one of the coolest Transformers of all time. It’s heavily implied that this faction-less
bounty hunter was once an Autobot.
Lockdown has a habit of collecting trophies from his prey, usually it’s
a weapon or upgrade that he can use for himself. This is how he came to own Ratchet’s EMP
generator. Lockdown’s alt form is a
nasty spiked racecar with an exposed engine block and a cow-catcher on the bumper. Oh and in the cartoon he is voiced my Lance
Henricksen.
5.
Megas XLR
With
a theme song that told the world that “Chicks dig giant robots,” it was obvious
that Megas XLR was going to be different than most cartoons. Produced by Titmouse, Inc, Megas XLR only
lasted one season (just like their amazing cartoon Motorcity). In the future the Earth is losing a war with
an alien race called the Glorft. The humans steal a prototype giant robot and modify
for our use. Megas and its pilot Kiva
are going to be sent into the past hoping they can stop the invasion. All sorts of craziness happens. Megas is damaged and sent to the wrong time. The
damaged Megas is found in present day by Coop , who repairs the robot and replaces the damaged head with a muscle
car. He calls the robot XLR. Kiva finds Megas but is unable to
pilot it anymore because of Coop’s modifications. Megas XLR makes fun of every giant robot
trope in existence and then moves on to anime tropes in general. The series was smart and funny as all
hell.
4.
Iron Giant
Iron
Giant is the best Superman movie ever made.
If you haven’t seen it you should stop reading right now and go see
it. Nothing else really needs to be said
about it.
3.
Veritech (Macross/Robotech)
The
VF-1 Valkyrie is a classic. It goes from
from jet mode, to guardian more, to battloid.
There are numerous different versions just in the first series
alone. The design has been copied
across all different sorts of media.
Roy Focker’s Veritech looks the best of course. The black and yellow scheme stand out on the
white body and the skull squadron symbol just makes the whole thing look cool. The Robotech cartoon had a huge impact on me when I was a kid and this design will be with me forever.
2.
Springer (Transformers)
I’ve
talked numerous times about Springer on That F’ing Monkey. My all time favorite Transformer. In the cartoon he was a sarcastic asshole who
got shit done. In the comics he’s the
lead of the Wreckers. Springer is named
because he’s legs are so powerful that he is able to leap across
battlefields. Considering he also turns
into a helicopter you wouldn’t think that would be an issue. He goes from sports car, to helicopter, to bad ass. This triple changer first debuted in the Transformers
movie and I’ve been obsessed with him ever since.
1.
GaoGaiGar
GaoGaiGar could be placed on the top of this list for his theme song alone. For those unfamiliar with this awesomeness let me explain what it takes to transform into GaoGaiGar. A cyborg leaps into a giant robot lion's mouth. This causes the lion to transform into the robot GaiGar. That robot is then joined by a drill tank, a bullet train, and a stealth fighter. All four of these machines then take on the form of GaoGairGar. You want a giant robot anime that takes it over the top? This is it. GaoGaiGar protects the world from the Zonder threat and while I had just mentioned his basic transformation as the series went on he was outfitted with more equipment to battle the aliens. The most famous is probably his Goldion Hammer, a gigantic hammer that contains an artificial gravity well. Another robot had to be introduced so it could turn into an arm attachment strong enough to even hold the hammer. Most of the foes GaoGaiGar faces end up be completely disintegrated. There is a reason GaoGaiGar is the King of the Braves.
