History Anime / GreatMazinger

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Great_Mazinger_8100.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:In the forefront, Tetsuya and Jun. In the background, Great Mazinger, Venus A... [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Boss Borot]].]]

* UngratefulBastard: Tetsuya and Jun recieve the same kind of gratitude and regard Kouji and Sayaka received for their world-saving efforts - none. Or even worse. In the manga episodes penned by GosakuOta -one of the Creator/GoNagai assistants-, Great Marshall Of Hell [[spoiler:warned he would blow Tokyo up unless the HomeBase and the HumongousMecha of the heroes were destroyed. People demanded the Government yielded... And they did. The Fortress of Science was destroyed, and Tetsuya and his allies were forced to flee and lie low for a while.]] During that time they had absolutely NO help to try and keep defending the humankind. They got many insults, though.

* ButNotTooForeign: June combines this with ButNotTooBlack.

* ShipSinking: Tetsuya / Misato. Misato was Boss' cousin and a secondary character during ''Anime/MazingerZ'' last season. She also showed up in the ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' manga penned by GosakuOta. Even though he liked Jun, Tetsuya found himself attracted to her, but then she [[spoiler:got brutally murdered by Marquis Janus.]] Tetsuya himself [[spoiler:died shortly after commiting a HeroicSacrifice.]]

* AnAxeToGrind: Some [[{{Robeast}} War Beasts]] also were axe-wielders. General Juuma -- one of the CoDragons of [[DragonInChief Ankoku Daishogun]] -- wielded one in ''Anime/MazingerZ vs Great General of Darkness'' (and nearly skewers Mazinger's head -- and Kouji -- with it). In the proper series, Garalya (from episode 2) was the first War Beast who used an axe (a ''huge'' double-headed axe with no handle).

** The [[spoiler:final battle]] is won when Mazinger, Great Mazinger, Aphrodite A and Venus A combine their strongest attacks to bring CoolAirship Demonika down.

* NotSoDifferent : Proud of their skills as a warrior, protecting their kinds, yet prefer to show their superiority in combat towards their enemy, admires someone who can math their own skills, and many more to list. Yes, the only difference that Tetsuya have against the Mycenae generals, especially Ankoku Daishogun is the fact that he is Human.

* MalignedMixedMarriage: Jun Hono is mentioned as having been bullied for being the child of a Japanese mother and an African-American father. This was especially notable for an anime during TheSeventies, [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped when issues like racism were rarely discussed in the Japanese media at all, let alone in children's programming]].

* EldritchAbomination: Several of them showed up in the trilogy, often overlapping with GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Great Emperor of Darkness [[spoiler:as well known as Hades]] (BigBad from ''Anime/GreatMazinger''), Gilgilgan (of the Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo movie), Grangen (of the Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo G feature), Dragonsaurus (of Grendizer, Getter Robot G, Great Mazinger: Kessen! Daikaijuu movie), the Bigbad of SuperRoboRetsuden (a {{Crossover}} penned by Creator/KenIshikawa featuring the most popular HumongousMecha of Creator/GoNagai)... and in the ''Manga/ShinMazingerZero'' manga [[spoiler:Mazinger Z itself.]]

** BiggerBad: He played this role in the first series.

* TheManBehindTheMan: In ''Anime/MazingerZ'', Archduke Gorgon was apparently a Dr. Hell's ally. In the last chapters we learnt he was a DragonWithAnAgenda was working for a BiggerBad, Great General of Darkness/Ankoku Daishogun. Likewise...

* AnAxeToGrind: Some [[{{Robeast}} War Beasts]] also were axe-wielders. General Juuma -one of the CoDragons of [[DragonInChief Ankoku Daishogun]]- wielded one in the ''Anime/MazingerZ vs Great General of Darkness'' (and nearly skewers Mazinger's head -and Kouji- with it). In the proper series, Garalya (in the episode 2) was the first War Beast in using an axe (a ''huge'' double-headed axe with no handle).
* AbusiveParents - ParentsAsPeople: Kenzo Kabuto. He almost died from a laboratory experiment gone wrong, but his father saved his life. However, both of them thought [[spoiler:it would be better not to tell Kouji and Shiro -- Kenzo's sons -- he had survived. For YEARS Kouji and Shiro grew up mostly alone, thinking their father died alongside their mother, though he did have the [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou pretty decent excuse]] that he was building a HumongousMecha to defend humankind.]] When this was revealed, Kouji was too glad to hold a grudge, and Shiro took a long while until he could forgive him. Also, Kenzo had no troubles slapping Tetsuya when he thought his adoptive son was crossing the line. All of it finally bit everyone's butts at the end of the series.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Mycenae play with this trope. The Warrior Monsters are HumongousMecha with the head of a Mycenae soldier implanted in the giant mechanical body. Since the soldiers are indoctrinated to attack and wipe out anything non-related to the Mycenae civilization, the trope is justified. On the other hand, the commanders of the army display different personalities and even honorable qualities (specially Ankoku Daishogun), and even though they are not portrayed as good, they are not portrayed as proud of being evil, either. They're more like a proud race of warriors want to return to the surface world after being forced to living underground for millennia.

* [[spoiler:DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou:]] It is both played straight and subverted:
** It is played straight with Kenzo. His sons, Kouji and Shiro grew up believing their parents had died cause a laboratory experiment that went wrong. [[spoiler:However, Kenzo's father saved his son's life by turning him into a cyborg. However, neither of them told Kouji and Shiro he was alive because Kenzo was going to build a HumongousMecha to repel the Mycenae invasion they predicted, and train its pilot. And both his father and he wanted to shield Kouji and Shiro from danger and psychological shock.]] It was not a bad reason, even if it was somewhat weak because Juzo was also building another HumongousMecha and he raised them, even if he hired a maid because he was nearly always absent. [[spoiler:When Kenzo revealed the truth to his little son, it took a long while for Shiro forgiving him. Though Kouji forgave him right away.]]

* AbusiveParents - ParentsAsPeople: Kenzo Kabuto. He almost died cause a laboratory experiment gone wrong, but his father saved his life. However both of them thought [[spoiler:it would be better not telling Kouji and Shiro -Kenzo's sons- he had survived. For YEARS Kouji and Shiro grew up mostly alone, thinking their father died alongside their mother while, though he did have the [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou pretty decent excuse]] that he was building a HumongousMecha to defend humankind.]] When this was revealed Kouji was too glad to hold a grudge, but Shiro took a long while until he could forgive him. Also, Kenzo had no troubles slapping Tetsuya when he thought his adoptive son was crossing the line. All of it finally bit everyone's butts at the end of the series.

* TheAce: Tetsuya is considered this. [[spoiler:Surprisingly Tetsuya himself is the only person who have any kind of doubts about it.]]
* AcePilot: Tetsuya, considering the fact that he is a well trained combat pro, this is pretty logical.
* ActionHoggingOpening: The openings of the trilogy feature more action -featuring the titular {{HumongousMecha}}s tearing their way through an army of enemies-, and a better animation than an average episode of their series -especially of ''Grendizer''-.
* AdvancedAncientAcropolis: The Mycenae inhabited the Greek island of Bardos. Their technologic level was miles ahead of any other culture of the same time, and the rest of the world would need millennia to catch up. However, one earthquake shook their island and destroyed their cities, and they were forced to seek shelter underground. They founded another civilization BeneathTheEarth, but on the surface the only remainder left of their presence were abandoned, decaying ruins, and old legends about the HumongousMecha they used to defend their land.
* AirJousting: Great Mazinger was able to fly, and the Avian Host was comprised of bird-alike AnimalMecha specialised in these kinds of battles. Aerial duels were constant, the first happening in the first episode and the last of them in the last episode.
* AirborneAircraftCarrier: Mykeros and later Demonika, Mycenae Empire's flying fortresses. All of them were flying fortresses with formidable attack powress and capability to store several War Beasts.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Mycenae play with this trope. The Warrior Monsters are HumongousMecha with the head of a Mycenae soldier implanted in the giant mechanical body. Since the soldiers are indoctrinated to attack and wipe out anything non-related to the Mycenae civilization, the trope is justified. On the other hand, the commanders of the army display different personalities and even honorable qualities (specially Ankoku Daishogun), and even though they are not portrayed like good, they are not portrayed like proud of being evil, but like a proud race of warriors want to return to the surface world after being forced to living underground for millennia.
* AnimalMecha: The Mycenae Empire army was split in seven armies. Five out of those seven armies were named after the animals their mechas resembled: mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes and insects.
* ArmedLegs: Great Mazinger has two attacks based around this, the Knee Impulse Kick (a retractable knee spike) and the Backspin Kick (a cutting blade in the lower leg).
* ArrogantKungFuGuy : Tetsuya, mostly a {{Jerkass}} on daily basis, who always make sure that you know that he is a Combat Pro, both by his attitude, and his performance at battle.
* AttackAttackAttack: Tetsuya Tsurugi is the worst offender in the whole trilogy. He is a hard-headed BloodKnight who never, ''ever'', retires.

** In one of the first episodes, [[TheProfessor Kenzo Kabuto]] had to actually threaten him with -to Tetsuya- a FateWorseThanDeath: "Return to the Fortress NOW or else you will be out of Great Mazinger... permanently".
** In his climatic SwordFight with TheDragon Great General of Darkness, his mecha was damaged and running out of power and he was badly hurt after a battle when he was informed that the Great General of Darkness -the biggest villain badass of the Mazinverse- was approaching to challenge him. Everyone exhorted him to run away. What did Tetsuya do? Picking [[DualWielding two swords]] and meeting {{The Dragon}}'s challenge.

* BeneathTheEarth: The Mycenae. Their civilization thrived in the Greek island of Bardos millennia ago. An earthquake destroyed their island and forced them to seek shelter underground. They lived below Earth for millennia, building their cities in networks of subterranean tunnels and caverns and grafting their bodies into HumongousMecha to survive. Unlike fromn other examples from this trope they did not strictly harbored a grudge against humans... but they did not like them, nonetheless.

** And don't even try to hurt or threaten Jun or Kenzo, as a Mycenae Battle Beast found the hard way.

*** Several Mycenae Battle Beasts found the hard -and extremely painful- way. [[spoiler:Great Marshall of Hell being one of them.]]
** In an arc of the GosakuOta episodes, a CorruptCorporateExecutive thieved Great Mazinger's plans to produce and sell his own HumongousMecha. One of his imitations managed to defeat Great Mazinger (by preventing Tetsuya from docking). When Kenzo, Tetsuya and Jun tried to convince him to stop building HumongousMecha, the man told they were just jealous of his robot was stronger than Great Mazinger. Tetsuya inmediately lunged at him, shouting he had NOT lost.

* BossSubtitles
* BraggingThemeTune

* TheWorfEffect: Tetsuya was established in both series as an excellent HumongousMecha AcePilot, BloodKnight CombatPragmatist and highly competent, HotBlooded Badass. In the reimaginings (''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'' and ''Anime/ShinMazinger'') how do you show the situation at hand is dangerous and the villain a serious threat? Simple. Pit Tetsuya against said villain and injure him or make him struggle.

* AnArmAndALeg: Great Mazinger (literally) at the end of his fight with the General of Darkness.
** Happen regurarly to Jun and Boss mechas.

-->'''Tetsuya:''' "Jun was a very special person to me! GUILLOTINE KICK!"

* BigDamnHeroes (Tetsuya's forte. Even his debut was a BigDamnHeroes moment in the final episode of ''Anime/MazingerZ'', where, fresh off beating Dr. Hell, a new, more powerful army appears and promptly whups Mazinger Z. When all hope seems lost, the brand shiny new Great Mazinger shows up on scene and proceeds to hand the new enemies their butts. Tends to happen a lot in the remakes, generally kicked off with a nice, big Thunder Break).

* ButNotTooForeign (June combines this with ButNotTooBlack.)
* ButtMonkey (General Hadias's role in a nutshell, he only gets to use three of his warrior beasts in the entire series while the other six generals use much more and multicapable robotic types pretty much take over the second half of the show (although they are shown much earlier). However, he is the only general in the show to hold his own against the Mazingers in the final showdown).

* CanonImmigrant (Great Mazinger later gets featured in the alternate retelling of the first of the trilogy, ''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'')

* CharacterDevelopment (The characters of ''Mazinger Z ''had only the basics of this, but the ones of ''Great'' get a bit more fleshed out. [[spoiler: I.e: Tetsuya's jealousy of Kouji for being Kenzou's ''true'' son [[ValuesDissonance which make more sense for Japanese viewers than Westerners due to honor and blood line issues]], Jun being a victim of discrimination for being the daughter of a black man and a Japanese woman, Shirou's relationship with Kenzou himself...]] )

* {{Crossover}} (Out of all 70's anime based on Dynamic Productions mangas ''Great'' has the biggest number of crossovers - one with ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'', one with ''Manga/GetterRobo'', one with ''Getter Robo G'' and one with ''Getter Robo G'' and ''Grendizer'' at the same time).

* TheDragon (Great General of Darkness (aka Ankoku Daishogun). CoDragons include Archduke Gorgon, Minister Argos, the Seven Mikenese Generals (mostly Julicaeser), and Marquise Janus (Gorgon's successor after [[spoiler:being destroyed by a Thunder Break in episode 22]].)
** Dr. Hell as the Great Marshal of Hell takes over his position starting in episode 36 after [[spoiler: he dies in combat against Great Mazinger five episodes earlier]].

* LavaAddsAwesome: One of the weapons of Marquis Janus' IslandBase was an artificial volcano built on the island could vomit rocks and lava when Janus needed.

* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger (Great's trademark pose when using Thunder Break)

* Myth/GreekMythology: (Pretty much the theme of the main villains).

* LatexSpaceSuit (The pilot suits)

* MalignedMixedMarriage: Jun Hono is mentioned as having been bullied for being the child of a Japanese mother and an African-American father. This was especially notable for an anime during TheSeventies, [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped when issues like racism were rarely discussed in the Japanese media at all, let alone in children's programming]].
* MakeMyMonsterGrow: Marquis Janus- could change size when needed. However usually she turned her HumongousMecha into human-sized, so maybe it inverts the trope.

* ParentalAbandonment ([[spoiler: Tetsuya and Jun are orphans raised by Dr. Kenzou Kabuto.]])

* RazorWings (Great Mazinger's Great Booster).

* RedOniBlueOni: Tetsuya and Kouji. Surprisingly, Kouji is the blue one, since he had matured somewhat in America and tried thinking strategically(not to mention having quite a lot of combat experience), whereas Tetsuya's jealousy turned him rash and impulsive.

* TagalongKid: Shiro Kabuto, right like in the original series.

* TokenMinority (Jun is a [[ButNotTooForeign half-black]] female lead *and* the love interest for the main character, reasonably impressive for a 1970s Japan kids' show.)

* UngratefulBastard: Tetsuya and Jun had the same kind of gratitude and regard Kouji and Sayaka received for their world-saving efforts. Or even worse. In the manga episodes penned by GosakuOta -one of the Creator/GoNagai assistants-, Great Marshall Of Hell [[spoiler:warned he would blow Tokyo up unless the HomeBase and the HumongousMecha of the heroes were destroyed. People demanded the Government yielded... And they did. The Fortress of Science was destroyed, and Tetsuya and his allies were forced to flee and lie low for a while.]] During that time they had absolutely NO help to try and keep defending the humankind. They got many insults, though.

* [[spoiler:YouKilledMyFather]]: It happened in the last episode to [[spoiler: Kouji and Tetsuya]], that went in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge because it.

** In the ''Great Mazinger vs Manga/GetterRobo'' feature, Tetsuya tried all Great Mazinger's weapons against an EldritchAbomination. Neither did work, and the monster ripped off his mecha's arms and melted one leg. What Tetsuya did? Trying ''headbutting'' it.