History Anime / SDGundamForce

** Bakunetsumaru makes the Daishogun 200 rice balls as a SNACK.

Two video games were produced, though the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 game is more noteworthy for introducing the dimensional pirates of [=Da
eScar=], {{Exp|y}}ies of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam V Gundam]]'''s villainous Zanscare Empire, as well as more Expies of more machines from the primary three worlds involved. There was also a manga retelling of the series, as well as a promotional manga called ''Manga/SDGundamForceGaiden'', neither of which were released in the US.

Two video games were produced, though the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 game is more noteworthy for introducing the dimensional pirates of [=DaScar=], {{Exp|y}}ies of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam V Gundam]]'''s villainous Zanscare Empire, as well as more Expies of more machines from the primary three worlds involved. There was also a manga retelling of the series, as well as a promotional manga called ''Manga/SDGundamForceGaiden'', neither of which were released in the US.

* OblivioustoLove: Princess Rele ends up developing a crush on Shute, however, he never seems to notice it. [[spoiler:Not even at the end of the show when Rele calls out to him, but Shute ends up leaving her in the dust.]]

* EggMcGuffin: The Spirit Egg, during the Mystery of Lacroa episodes, is the focus of those episodes because of its importance to the SDG and Zero.

* NervesOfSteel:[[spoiler:Captain's battle with Sazabi. Though Captain gradually loses ''all'' his equipment (and even an ''arm'') he never changes composure and always seems perfectly fine, while Sazabi gradually freaks out.]] A perfect example from the same fight is when Captain [[spoiler:grabs Sazabi's beam sabers with his, albeit charged up via his Soul Drive, bare hands. Before he squeezes hard enough to destroy the beam sabers, Sazabi lampshades this]]:

* NeverSayDie: Zigzagged.
** The English dub averts it during the Ashuramaru episodes.
** The English dub tries to hide the fact that Cobramaru attempts ''seppuku'' after his defeat in Season 2.

** [[spoiler: Captain with the power of the Superior Dragon on his side.]]

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: At first subverted with [[spoiler: Bakunetsumaru's friend, Kujakumaru/Ashuramaru,]] who turns against him because he refuses to follow this trope. Later played straight when [[spoiler:Bakunetsumaru is forced to kill him. Later still when Tallgeese sacrifices himself to free Fenn from Deathscythe's magical cage]]. Depending on whether you're watching the anime or reading the manga, [[spoiler:Gerbera/Madnug at the end will either free himself from brainwashing only to be killed by his boss or sacrifice himself for his boss.]]

** [[spoiler: Madnug/Gerbera is the victim of one of these, depending on whether or not the [=SDGF=] thought one life was worth changing the timeline for. Then again, the vision of the future Shute saw thanks to the Superior Dragon may have been real.]]
** [[spoiler: The Daishougun of Perfect Virtue helped Genkimaru get the bridge of the Gundamusai to Ark from a distance, without Genkimaru seeing him]]

* SuperSentaiStance: The Gundam force does one when introducing themselves to Genkimaru.

* SynchronizedSwarming: The Bagu-Bagu do this for their attacks.
* TakenForGranite: The Bagu-Bagu turn organic matter to stone and Princess Rele suffers this. [[spoiler: It's reversed later on.]]
* TeenGenius: Bell Wood and Shute are teenagers with impressive technological achivements, but Bell Wood's dimensional gate never works properly.

* WorldTree: The Spirit Tree of Lacroa is so big that the royal family had its castle built around it, and the town is built on its roots. It was TakenForGranite by the Dark Axis, and the first we hear of it is when the Dark Axis is trying to revive it for some reason. [[spoiler: In the series' second half we learn that the Tree can create Spirit Eggs that give birth to sacred spirits and Knight Gundams. This power was sealed off by the royal family so the Dark Axis couldn't use it to sacrifice Knight Gundams to the General. After the Dark Axis is defeated for good and Lacroa is un-petrified, Princess Rele undoes the seal.]]

* ComedicSpanking: When Genkimaru proved to be particularly bratty, Bakunetsumaru created the "spanking fan." He doesn't actually use it, but he threatens Genki with it several times.

* DiscOneFinalBoss: We spend the entire first season under the impression that "The Commander", Sazabi, is the leader of the Dark Axis, [[spoiler:but when he's defeated we discover that he's actually subservient to Zeong.]]

* EliteFour: In season one, Commander Sazabi has the Four Doga Commandos acting as his personal Dragons during the Invasion of Neotopia. [[spoiler:While Dogas Blue, Purple and Green were each destroyed by a member of the Gundam Force, Doga Grey was personally wiped out by Sazabi himself. In Ark, Kibaomaru has his Kibao Horde, a quartet of Musha Gundams that guard his castle. Those four, however, survive their battles.]]

** [[spoiler: Deed, Knight of the Shining Blade became Deathscythe knight of Darkness when he betrayed Lacroa.]].
** Zapper Zaku was actually a nice guy before the events of the series as told in the side story manga, [[spoiler: however, when his friend was killed, he became the trigger happy villain we know and love to hate. This effectively gave more meaning to his attack against General Zeong]]

* FutureBadass: The BrattyHalfPint Genkimaru grows up to become [[spoiler: the Dai-Shogun of Perfect Virtue.]]

* LaughablyEvil: Tallgeese is delightfully [[LargeHam hammy]] and at one point does a little dance and song.

* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler: Deed's fall from grace and adoption of the Deathscythe identity was brought about by falling in love with Princess Rele. He thought that invading her home and turning her to stone would make her return his love; LoveMakesYouStupid and LoveMakesYouCrazy also apply here.]]

* MindRape: [[spoiler: The General's specialty is brainwashing people into evil by tormenting them with custom built nightmares.]]

** Some are more obvious than others, for instance Gerbera's [[spoiler: true identity as Captain Gundam's brother]] is based on the fact that [[spoiler: the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory Gerbera Tetra]] was based off of the rejected Gundam GP-04 (and in fact, the Gerbera Tetra Kai IS the GP-04 with armor covering the Gundam-y parts), while Captain Gundam and his various upgrades are based on the GP-01 and GP-03.]]

** [[spoiler: Zapper ''claims'' to have been faking his happy janitor routine...when he joined the final battle.]]

* SummonMagic: Tallgeese uses Lacroa magic to summon Griffon and later [[spoiler: Zero with the Feather Dragon.]]
* SuperSentaiStance: The gundam force does one when introducing themselves to Genkimaru.

* WeAllLiveInAmerica: While the show features tons of American stereotypes, Neotopia still features lots of Japanese customs. Such as Shute knowing how to make riceballs and several of the citizens having Japanese names.

* EggMcGuffin: The Spirit Egg, during the Mystery of Lacroa episodes, is the focus of those episodes because of its importance to SDGF and Zero.

* EverytownAmerica: Neotopia features a lot of American motifs from Mark's terrible country music, to everybody playing catch in the park, to even a giant ferris wheel statue of the mayor herself that resembles the Statue of Liberty! If that doesn't make it America maybe Shute knowing the existence of Ypsilanti, Michigan might.

* QuirkyMiniBossSquad: Zako, Grappler, and Dom are a trio of villains higher than the Zako mooks who (initially) give the Gundam Force a hard time.
%%* HelpingHands: General Zeong

* ShotInTheAss: When looking for an exit in the Dark Hole, Bakunetsumaru takes a barrage of bullets to the bum curtesy of Captain.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: "Cynicism"? [[SugarBowl What's that?]] Joking aside, the grey morality of other Gundam shows is not present here and characters are powered/inspired by virtues like friendship and loyalty.

%%* AndTheAdventureContinues:

* BigBad: General Zeong is the leader the Dark Axis the one pushing the invasion.

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Zero's undying loyalty for the queen of Lacroa, Princess Rele, is shown during his time in Neotopia when he starts calling Sayla "Princess".

* Everytown,America: Neotopia features a lot of American motifs from Mark's terrible country music, to everybody playing catch in the park, to even a giant ferris wheel statue of the mayor herself that resembles the Statue of Liberty! If that doesn't make it America maybe Shute knowing the existence of Ypsilanti, Michigan might.

* ArtifactOfDoom: The Demon Sword Epyon houses an evil spirit that will eventually turn the wielder into a berserker.
* ArtisticLicensePhysics: You cannot hang a flying fortress from a satellite. It doesn't work that way. ''Gundam SD'' doesn't care.

** [[spoiler: Chief Haro showing off his fighting ability in the final battle against General Zeong, which involves deflecting missiles with his ''head''.]]

* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: Zapper Zaku pretended to be loyal to the SDG after Commander Sazabi's defeat just to get a chance to destroy General Zeong for mistreating him, his companions and the Zakos.]]

** Zero is implied to have eaten at least one entire cake.

* BreakingSpeech: [[spoiler: Sazabi and Gerbera gives these to Shute and Captain, respectively. Sazabi claims that 'there is only those who rule, and those who are ruled!' while Gerbera's lecture can be summarized as HumansAreBastards.]] They are both told to ShutUpHannibal;

* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler: The 'Zakurello Gate' and son does this at the end of the series. With the General destroyed, there's nothing stopping them from going back to whatever dimension the Dark Axis stole them from.]]
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: Professor Gerbera is Captain Gundam's "brother" Madnug post-brainwashing.]]

* CyberCyclops: The Dark Axis have only one eye. [[spoiler:At least the ones that aren't Gundams]]
* DancingMookCredits: The Season 2 credits were kicked off and ended by the Zako Soldiers dancing to the song playing in the credits. Along with nearly every other main character.

* TheChessmaster: Several, but Kibaomaru comes into focus as he's an avid ''shogi'' player. He even uses a giant board as a plateform in the Dark Axis base.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: The combination move Zapper, Grappler and Destroyer come up with, but never get to use? It's what ultimately destroys the General.]]

* CoolStarship: The Magna Musai is the Dark Axis flagship and suitably menacing. [[spoiler: It is later reconfigured into the Gundam Musai.]]

* DefeatMeansFriendship: By the end of the series, [[spoiler: Zapper Zaku, Grappler Gouf, Destroyer Dom, and even Cobramaru have defected to the ''Genki Energy Force''.]] Between this trope and all the cases of RedemptionEqualsDeath, only the major villains of the series end up dead.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: We spend the entire first season under the impression that "The Commander", Sazabi, is the leader of the Dark Axis, [[spoiler: but when he's defeated we discover that he's actually subservient to Zeong.]]

* EliteFour: In season one, Commander Sazabi has the Four Doga Commandos acting as his personal Dragons during the Invasion of Neotopia. [[spoiler: While Dogas Blue, Purple and Green were each destroyed by a member of the Gundam Force, Doga Grey was personally wiped out by Sazabi himself. In Ark, Kibaomaru has his Kibao Horde, a quartet of Musha Gundams that guard his castle. Those four, however, survive their battles.]]

** Also subverted with Superior Dragon [[spoiler: who instead of being a gundam split into two separate gundams is an actual dragon that is a spirit, who is the combined form of Fenn and Steel Dragon. He is also never properly seen on screen. Although, the fusions between Zero and Fenn and Deed and Steel Dragon are reminiscent of (Vassal) Knight Gundam and Satan Gundam.]]

* NervesOfSteel:[[spoiler: Captain's battle with Sazabi. Though Captain gradually loses ''all'' his equipment (and even an ''arm'') he never changes composure and always seems perfectly fine, while Sazabi gradually freaks out.]] A perfect example from the same fight is when Captain [[spoiler:grabs Sazabi's beam sabers with his, albeit charged up via his Soul Drive, bare hands. Before he squeezes hard enough to destroy the beam sabers, Sazabi lampshades this]]:

* CyberCyclops: The Dark Axis have only one eye. [[spoiler: At least the ones that aren't Gundams]]

* NotSoDifferent: Sazabi tries this on Captain near the end of their fight [[spoiler: when it's revealed Sazabi has a Soul Drive like Captain's, only filled with darkness]], culminating in asking Captain to join the Dark Axis. Captain's response?

** Shute's father, Mark, appears to be a laid-back guitarist with a penchant for bad hippie music, but is strongly implied to be [[spoiler: the leader of the SDG, Chief Haro.]]

* RebelliousPrincess: [[spoiler: Rele. She's a bit of a brat at first and eager to spend time with the Gundam Force, especially Shute.]]
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: At first subverted with [[spoiler: Bakunetsumaru's friend, Kujakumaru/Ashuramaru,]] who turns against him because he refuses to follow this trope. Later played straight when [[spoiler: Bakunetsumaru is forced to kill him. Later still when Tallgeese sacrifices himself to free Fenn from Deathscythe's magical cage]]. Depending on whether you're watching the anime or reading the manga, [[spoiler: Gerbera/Madnug at the end will either free himself from brainwashing only to be killed by his boss or sacrifice himself for his boss.]]

* SecretIdentity: Captain's 'civilian' mode is needed because the people of Neotopia aren't supposed to know about the war with Dark Axis. Zero and Bakunetsumaru don't have any, but the Mayor [[HandWave Hand Waves]] it by saying they're actors. They no longer need the identities after [[spoiler: the Big Zam brings down Blanc Base, and the Gundam Force's existence is revealed.]] It's also strongly implied that Chief Haro is really [[spoiler: Shute's father, Mark.]]

** After the end of the first season, Zapper Zaku is captured by the SDG and dragged into a creepy white room for "reprogramming." Here, [[Room101 everything he loathes and fears is shoved in his face]] [[NineteenEightyFour until he cracks and learns to love organic creatures]].

* CoolSword: Zero's Buster Sword, and Bakunetsumaru's katanas, one of which is a piece of Ark's Five Sacred Swords..]]

* RentAZilla: Musha Daishinsho is an enormous gundam.

** [Film/ApocalypseNow "I love the smell of concrete in the morning."]]

* FaceHeelTurn: [
** [spoiler: Deed, Knight of the Shining Blade became Deathscythe knight of Darkness when he betrayed Lacroa.]].

* LaughabllyEvil: Tallgeese is delightfully [[LargeHam hammy]] and at one point does a little dance and song.

''SD Gundam Force'', the SD ''officially'' standing for "Superior Defender", but also for "SuperDeformed", A term used for a long-running series of [[AffectionateParody Affectionate Parodies]], is a [[CelShading CG anime]] series based on the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' metaseries. It ran for two seasons, but ended on a full course.

%%* BlackSpeech:[[spoiler: General Zeong.]]

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: The combonation move Zapper, Grappler and Destroyer come up with, but never get to use? It's what ultimately destroys the General.]]

* CoolAirship: The Magna Musai is the Dark Axis flagship and suitably menacing. [[spoiler: It is later reconfigured into the Gundam Musai.]]

* TheDitz: Sayla; the girl just ignored a pitched intergalactic battle to focus on baking a cake! Although you could take her line at the end of the same episode as a sign of ObfuscatingStupidity...

* EverythingsBetterWithSamurai: If Bakumetsumaru wasn't enough... all of Arc is inspired by the idea of samurai.
* ExactlyWhatIAimedAt - Zero [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks tosses his sword]] while locked in a nosediving tackle with Tallgeese, causing a rock suspended overhead to crash down and leaving his enemy to be smashed into the Dark Hole after his friends pull him out of danger.

* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon: It's ironic this Gundam show is always being accused of ruining the franchise given all the impressive looking and effective weapons. Just look at Zapper Zako and Dom.

* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler: Deed's fall from grace and adoption of the Deathscythe identity was brought about falling in love with Princess Rele. He thought that invading her home and turning her to stone would make her turn his love; LoveMakesYouStupid and LovesMakesYouCrazy also apply here.]]

* TheMole: Rare villain-on-villain version: [[spoiler:Zako Red is strongly implied to be nothing more than a dummy body for Sazabi, as seen when Red goes inert after handing Sazabi the Soul Drive and is unceremoniously disposed of.Not to mention they have the exact same voice, and Zako Red seems to force his "Zako" tic rather than it being an actual tic]]
* {{Mooks}}: The Zakos Pawn Leos and Zakobusshi exist to defeated effortlessly by the Gundam Force and allies. Ironically, the subtrope of MechaMooks is subverted. While the Zakos are nearly indistinguishable from each other and act as grunts, none of them are ever portrayed as dying onscreen, and are instead just bashed aside with no harm outside of a concussion and comically missing armor.

** It may apply to Sayla; there have been two instances of her experiencing the intergalactic battles from the front seat, but she never lets on that she knows what's happening...

%%* PostScriptSeason: Season 2.

%%* PunchParry: In the final battle between Captain and Commander.
* RacingTheTrain: Shute's first appearence, mostly to show off his rocket skates to the audience. Justified in that he's a kid who's playing around.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Captain came very close to saying this to Cheif Haro in episode 2, when he told him he wanted to hang out with Shute. But he chickened out at the last moment.

* ShoutOut: [

** Zero summoned [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid a cardboard box labeled for storing oranges]] in an episode where a pawn leo was sneaking around while invisible, only being seen when he picked it up. The box returned in the second season in an episode where Destroyer Dom and Grappler Gouf were sneaking around in cardboard boxes with holes cut out for them to see which had the same exact label and markings.

* TheSpock - Captain's lack of comprehension for facets of humanity others take for granted also makes him TheComicallySerious. He loosens up as time goes on.

** [[spoiler: The Daishougun of Perfect Virtue helped Genkimaru get the bridge of the Gundamusai to the Ark from a distance, without Genkimaru seeing him]]

* TakenForGranite: The Bagu-Bagu turn organic matter to stone and Princess Rele suffers this. [[spoiler: It's inverted later on.]]

%%* TerribleTrio: Zapper, Grappler, and Destroyer become one of these.
%%* ThatsAllFolks: The ending of the [[GrandFinale final episode]].

%%* ZenSurvivor: the Dai-Shogun of Perfect Virtue.

* TakenForGranite: The Bagu-Bagu turn organic matter to stone and Princess Rele suffers this. [[spoiler: Inverted later on.]]
* TeenGenius: Bell Wood and Shute.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Zapper, Grappler and Destroyer.
* TerribleTrio: Zapper, Grappler, and Destroyer become one of these.
* ThatsAllFolks: The ending of the [[GrandFinale final episode]].

* UnfortunateNames: Tallgeese, which is kind of odd considering the names the rest of the Dark Axis run around with. So much so that Shute can't resist pointing and laughing when he introduces himself.
** Does //not// help that his armor has what seems to be a rooster comb on the top of it...

* WaveMotionGun: The cannons on the Magna Musai.
* WorldTree: the Spirit Tree of Lacroa is so big that the royal family had its castle built around it, and the town is built on its roots. It was TakenForGranite by the Dark Axis, and the first we hear of it is when the Dark Axis is trying to revive it for some reason. [[spoiler: In the series' second half we learn that the Tree can create Spirit Eggs that give birth to sacred spirits and Knight Gundams. This power was sealed off by the royal family so the Dark Axis couldn't use it to sacrifice Knight Gundams to the General. After the Dark Axis is defeated for good and Lacroa is un-petrified, Princess Rele undoes the seal.]]

* ZenSurvivor: the Dai-Shogun of Perfect Virtue.

* AccentuateTheNegative: This series has been generally panned by many anime and gundam fans who failed to see the positive aspects.

** Zapper also tends to do this when insulting people, with or without SesquipedalianLoquaciousness.
* [[spoiler: AndTheAdventureContinues]]

* ArtifactOfDoom: The Demon Sword Epyon.
* ArtisticLicensePhysics: You cannot hang a flying fortress from a satellite. It doesn't work that way.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: [[spoiler: Chief Haro showing off his fighting ability in the final battle against General Zeong, which involves deflecting missiles with his ''head''.]]
** Early on, Captain Gundam had an annoying habit of informing the villains that he was authorized to use weapons in defense of Neotopia. Followed by him smacking them around.
** To say nothing of Commander Sazabi and General Zeong.
* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: Allegedly Zapper Zaku, who pretended to be loyal to the SDG after Commander Sazabi's defeat just to get a chance to destroy General Zeong for mistreating him, his companions and the Zakos.]]

* BerserkButton: Bakunetsumaru flies off the handle faster than usual when Zero [[spoiler: plants flowers on him.]]
** Tallgeese doesn't take kindly to his name being made fun of, either.
* BigBad: Several. We start off with Zapper Zako, then his team mates, then the Commander of those guys, [[spoiler: then we get the ManBehindTheMan General Zeong...]]
* BigEater: Most of, if not all of, the Musha Gundams. Bakunetsumaru makes the Daishogun 200 rice balls as a SNACK.

* [[spoiler:BlackSpeech: General Zeong.]]
* PowerGivesYouWings: Zero Custom, Knight of Silver Wings. [[spoiler: Captain with the power of the Superior Dragon on his side.]]

* TheChessmaster: Several, but Kibaomaru comes into focus as he's an avid ''shogi'' player. he even uses a giant board as a plateform in the Dark Axis base.

* TheChosenOne: Not the two main characters, Captain and Shute, actually. Zero was singled out as being the one destined to save his homeland Lacroa from the petrification, which he does...with some help.

* CombinationAttack: GUNDAM FORCE, TRIPLE ATTACK!
** Also, FINAL DEADLY SCREAMING CHAOS CATASTROPHE!
* CoolAirship: The Magna Musai, [[spoiler: which is later reconfigured into the Gundam Musai.]]
* CoolGate: The Zakarello Gate.
* CoolSword: Zero's Buster Sword, and Bakunetsumaru's katanas, one of which is a piece of Ark's Five Sacred Swords.
* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler: Arguably, Captain's battle with Sazabi. Though Captain gradually loses ''all'' his equipment (and even an ''arm'') he never changes composure and always seems perfectly fine, while Sazabi gradually freaks out.]]
** A perfect example from the same fight is when Captain [[spoiler:grabs Sazabi's beam sabers with his, albeit charged up via his Soul Drive, bare hands. Before he squeezes hard enough to destroy the beam sabers, Sazabi lampshades this]]:
-->'''Sazabi''': What!? With your bare hands!? You can't do that!
-->'''Captain''': Sorry Commander, but I'm afraid I must contradict you!
* CyberCyclops: The Dark Axis. [[spoiler: At least the ones that aren't Gundams.]]

* DefeatMeansFriendship: By the end of the series, [[spoiler: Zapper Zaku, Grappler Gouf, Destroyer Dom, and even Cobramaru have defected to the 'Genki Energy Force.]] Between this trope and all the cases of RedemptionEqualsDeath, only the [[BigBad Big Bad's]] of the series seem to end up dead.

* TheDitz: Sayla. Come on, the girl pretty much just ignored a pitched intergalactic battle to focus on baking a cake! Although you could take her line at the end of the same episode as a sign of ObfuscatingStupidity...
* EggMcGuffin: The Spirit Egg, during the Mystery of Lacroa episodes.

* EverythingsBetterWithSamurai: If Bakumetsumaru wasn't enough... all of Arc!

* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Deed to Deathscythe]].
** Zapper Zaku was actually a nice guy before the events of the series as told in the side story manga, [[spoiler: however, when his friend was killed, he became the trigger happy villain we know and love to hate]]
*** [[spoiler: This effectively gave more meaning to his attack against General Zeong]]

* FauxAffablyEvil: Tallgeese, who is delightfully [[LargeHam hammy]] and at one point does a little dance and song.
* [[FiveBadBand Four Bad Band]]: The enemies end up this way at the end of the series.
** The BigBad: Commander Sazabi[[spoiler:/General Zeong]]
** TheDragon: Zapper Zaku[[spoiler:/Commander Sazabi/]]
** The EvilGenius: Grappler Gouf[[spoiler:/Professor Gerbera/Madnug/]]
** The Brute: Destroyer Dom

* GoldfishPoopGang: Zapper's gang end up this way by season 2. In the last 26 episodes, they only menace the Gundam Force three times (And one of those times was by accident), and spend the rest of the episodes being bounced around by fate and circumstance.

* HannibalLecture: [[spoiler: Sazabi and Gerbera gives these to Shute and Captain, respectively. Sazabi claims that 'there is only those who rule, and those who are ruled!' while Gerbera's lecture can be summarized as HumansAreBastards.]] They are both told to ShutUpHannibal;
--->[[PowerOfFriendship Shute]]: We don't rule anyone and we wont be ruled by anyone! Not ever! We're all friends! Friends living together!
--->[[RobotBuddy Captain]]: Those of us with Soul Drives are ''meant'' to be with humans!
* HarmlessVillain -> QuirkyMiniBossSquad: Zako, Grappler, and Dom.
* HelpingHands: General Zeong just might have the LARGEST Helping Hands in fiction.

* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon: It's ironic this Gundam show is always being accused of ruining the franchise, though. Just look at Zapper Zako and Dom.

* LighterAndSofter: In comparison to other ''Gundam'' series... until it hits the CerebusSyndrome.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: See the FaceHeelTurn spoiler.
* LowClearance: Happens twice; Grappler Gouf is trying to hijack a train, but is focused on the train that he doesn't see the tunnel and hits the wall. Later on, when he and the Gundams are fighting their TrainTopBattle, the same thing happens to Zero.

* MindRape: [[spoiler: The General's specialty.]]
* TheMole: Rare villain-on-villain version: [[spoiler:Zako Red is strongly implied to be nothing more than a dummy body for Sazabi, as seen when Red goes inert after handing Sazabi the Soul Drive and is unceremoniously disposed of.]]
** [[spoiler:Not to mention they have the exact same voice, and Zako Red seems to force his "Zako" tic rather than it being an actual tic]]
* {{Mooks}}: The Zakos Pawn Leos and Zakobusshi.
** Ironically, the subtrope of MechaMooks is subverted. While the Zakos are nearly indistinguishable from each other and act as grunts, none of them are ever portrayed as dying onscreen, and are instead just bashed aside with no harm outside of a concussion and comically missing armor.
* MoreDakka: Dom's Gallop trailer is filled with a ridiculous amount of guns that all fire at once on command. [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy Of course, they rarely, if ever, hit something.]]
* [[MyHeroZero My Hero Zero, the Winged Knight]]
* MythologyGag: Practically built into the premise. Some are more obvious than others, for instance Gerbera's [[spoiler: true identity as Captain Gundam's brother]] is based on the fact that [[spoiler: the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory Gerbera Tetra]] was based off of the rejected Gundam GP-04 (and in fact, the Gerbera Tetra Kai IS the GP-04 with armor covering the Gundam-y parts), while Captain Gundam and his various upgrades are based on the GP-01 and GP-03.]]

** Also subverted with Superior Dragon [[spoiler: Who instead of being a gundam split into two separate gundams is an actual dragon that is a spirit, who is the combined form of Fenn and Steel Dragon. He is also never properly seen on screen. Although, the fusions between Zero and Fenn and Deed and Steel Dragon are reminiscent of (Vassal) Knight Gundam and Satan Gundam.]]

* NeverSayDie: The English dub tries to hide the fact that Cobramaru attempts ''seppuku'' after his defeat in Season 2.
** Averts it earlier during the Ashuramaru episodes.
* NonIndicativeName: The Zako Zako Hour, which only runs for a few minutes.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Shute's father, Mark, appears to be a laid-back guitarist with a penchant for bad hippie music, but is strongly implied to be [[spoiler: the leader of the SDG, Chief Haro.]] May also apply to Sayla; there have been two instances of her experiencing the intergalactic battles from the front seat, but she never lets on that she knows what's happening...
** [[spoiler: Also, Zapper, possibly. He ''claims'' to have been faking his happy janitor routine...]]
* OmnicidalManiac: The General. Possibly the only villain in Gundam history who wants to wipe out the entire ''multiverse.''

* PostScriptSeason: Season 2.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: What Captain needs to activate the Soul Drive, and a major theme of the series.
** Of course, the power of friendship can't stop Zero from [[SomethingAboutARose screwing]] with [[BerserkButton Bakumetsumaru.]]
* PowerTrio: Twice.
** SD Force
*** Ego: Captain
*** Superego: Zero
*** Id: Bakunetsumaru
** Dark Axis
*** Ego: Zaku
*** Superego: Gouf
*** Id: Dom

* PunchParry: In the final battle between Captain and Commander.

* [[spoiler: RebelliousPrincess: Rele. She's a bit of a brat at first and eager to spend time with the Gundam Force, especially Shute.]]
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: At first subverted with [[spoiler: Bakunetsumaru's friend, Kujakumaru/Ashuramaru,]] who turns against him because he refuses to follow this trope. Later played straight when [[spoiler: Bakunetsumaru is forced to kill him. And later still when Tallgeese sacrifices himself to free Fenn from Deathscythe's magical cage]]. And depending on whether you're watching the anime or reading the manga, [[spoiler: Gerbera/Madnug at the end.]]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: The Dark Axis.[[spoiler:.. who can't be taken literally for all of Season 1.]]

** Bakunetsumaru the hotheaded samurai, and Zero, the levelheaded knight. Zero has the longer fuse of the two, but he spends off time picking on Bakunetsumaru.

* RentAZilla: Musha Daishinsho.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter / SmallAnnoyingCreature: Fenn. One second he's all snuggly and cute, the next second he's ruining your hard culinary work or breathing fire in your face.

* SecretIdentity: Captain's 'civilian' mode. Zero and Bakunetsumaru don't have any, but the Mayor [[HandWave Hand Waves]] it by saying they're actors. They no longer need the identities after [[spoiler: the Big Zam brings down Blanc Base, and the Gundam Force's existence is revealed.]] It's also strongly implied that Chief Haro is really [[spoiler: Shute's father, Mark.]]
* ShoutOut: [[Film/ApocalypseNow "I love the smell of concrete in the morning."]]

* ShowWithinAShow: The Zako Zako Hour.
** Later on, the Pawn Leos try this with the Pawn Pawn Hour in one episode, and Zakobusshi take over this role when the cast lands in Ark.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: "Cynicism"? [[SugarBowl What's that?]]
* TheSpock - Captain, especially in the earlier episodes. His lack of comprehension for facets of humanity others take for granted also makes him TheComicallySerious
* SpinoffBabies: This the closest you're going to get with to this trope with HumongousMecha.
* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler: Madnug/Gerbera is the victim of one of these, depending on whether or not the [=SDGF=] thought one life was worth changing the timeline for. Then again, the vision of the future Shute saw thanks to the Superior Dragon may have been real.]]

* SummonMagic / SummoningRitual: Tallgeese with the Griffon, and later [[spoiler: Zero with the Feather Dragon.]]

* SupportingLeader: Captain Gundam

* SynchronizedSwarming: The Bagu-Bagu do this.
* TakenForGranite: The Bagu-Bagu turn organic matter to stone. [[spoiler: Inverted later on.]]
** Princess Rele suffers this.

Practically the definition of a LoveItOrHateIt series. When it first aired, ''SDGF'' was flamed to a crisp by some viewers as a LighterAndSofter perversion of ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' that ruined the franchise. However, quite a few ''Gundam'' fans enjoy it because of the flashes of depth lurking beneath the cutesy exterior, ranging from extended {{Mythology Gag}}s to deeper characterization than one normally expects from a kids' show. Two video games were produced, though the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 game is more noteworthy for introducing the dimensional pirates of [=DaScar=], {{Exp|y}}ies of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam V Gundam]]'''s villainous Zanscare Empire, as well as more Expies of more machines from the primary three worlds involved. There was also a manga retelling of the series, as well as a promotional manga called ''Manga/SDGundamForceGaiden'', neither of which were released in the US.

* BadassNormal: Shute. Despite having NO combat ability aside from just being annoying(to the bad guys), he manages to help out starting with 1) Rescuing Captain and Zero when they were captured, and ending with 2) [[spoiler:Effectively destroying Zeong's Soul Drive FROM THE INSIDE, among other things.]] And that's not even counting all the times he's been threatened at swordpoint/gunpoint by the Big Bads...and he's only [[ImprobableAge ten years old]]!

* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler: The 'Zakurello Gate' and son does this at the end of the series. With the General destroyed, there's nothing stopping them from going back whatever dimension the Dark Axis stole them from.]]

* DefeatMeansFriendship: By the end of the series, [[spoiler: Zapper Zaku, Grappler Gouf, Destroyer Dom, and even Cobramaru have defected to the 'Genki Energy Force.]] Now that I think about it, between this trope and all the cases of RedemptionEqualsDeath, only the [[BigBad Big Bad's]] of the series seem to end up dead.

** [=DaScar=] from the {{Playstation 2}} game = [[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Zanscare Empire]]

Practically the definition of a LoveItOrHateIt series. When it first aired, ''SDGF'' was flamed to a crisp by some viewers as a LighterAndSofter perversion of ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' that ruined the franchise. However, quite a few ''Gundam'' fans enjoy it because of the flashes of depth lurking beneath the cutesy exterior, ranging from extended {{Mythology Gag}}s to deeper characterization than one normally expects from a kids' show. Two video games were produced, though the {{Playstation 2}} game is more noteworthy for introducing the dimensional pirates of [=DaScar=], {{Exp|y}}ies of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam V Gundam]]'''s villainous Zanscare Empire, as well as more Expies of more machines from the primary three worlds involved. There was also a manga retelling of the series, as well as a promotional manga called ''Manga/SDGundamForceGaiden'', neither of which were released in the US.