History Main / CombiningMecha

* Jailbot from ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}''. In "The Trouble with Triples", he turns himself into a mech suit for Alice. In "Oedipus Mess", he splits himself up into dozens of smaller jailbots to perform an arrest on a global scale.

** Meanwhile, the [[MerchandiseDriven toyline]] isn't helping matters; the $100 "Supreme" Constructicon Devastator goes vehicles-to-Devastator with no individual robots, but it also has its own screen inaccuracies like omitting the smaller excavator that partially forms the left arm. On the other hand, there's a set of all seven Constructicons available in the "EZ Collection," smaller Legends class toys that ''can'' form both individual robots and a combined form. WordOfGod is that Devastator is one robot who had to be split into multiple vehicles because nothing on Earth was big enough.

* Parodied in Machinima/TeamServiceAnnouncement ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYN7RxpumU8 Fake Players]]''. Several AI controlled players, i.e. "bots", combine to form a single bot with people for legs and arms.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBotsMaster'' has Jungle Fiver. Like the Transformers, five vehicles can all combine and transform into a giant robot. Interestingly, the five vechiles are usually manned by five sentient bots (the Sport Boyzz) and Jungle Fiver is not sentient itself.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBotsMaster'' has Jungle Fiver. Like the Transformers, five vehicles can all combine and transform into a giant robot. Interestingly, the five vechiles are usually manned by five sentient bots (the Sport Boyzz) and Jungle Fiver not sentient itself.

** In Chapter 20 of ''R2'', [[spoiler:the Black Wyvern unit locates the Enigma of Combining. A relic created from Nexus Prime, the first combiner, that contains a fraction his power. When the Black Wyverns get cornered by Steeljaw’s pact, as well as Akito's brother Shin, the Relic reacts to Leliah's Geass, and with it, it allows the Alexander Valiants that the Black Wyverns pilot to combine into a new Knightmare that they dub the Hercules.]]

** The combinations of mecha reach MIND-BOGGLING EXTREMES as Gurren Lagann finds new ways to transform. [[spoiler: First, the regular Gurren Lagann, combines with Arc Gurren to form the metropolis-sized Arc Gurren Lagann. Then, both machines are hooked up to a drill-powered energy plant inside the Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann to transform it into the lunar-sized mecha of the same name. And then... it goes UpToEleven times [[ReadingsAreOffTheScale Over 9000]] with the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann- and that behemoth '''dwarfs''' '''''GALAXIES.''''' But even ''that'' isn't the biggest mech! In the second movie adaption, the combination of the former mech and the equally-sized Space Gunmen creates the Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, a GOD-SIZED [[EnergyBeing CELESTIAL ENERGY]] MECHA NO SMALLER THAN '''''1.8% of the ENTIRE UNIVERSE.''''' With that, it is the undisputed king of this Trope! You may pick up your jaw now... Try not to have an aneurysm on the way out.]]

** The card game takes things with the VWXYZ lineup UpToEleven. In 2016 it introduced A-Assault Core, B-Buster Drake, and C-Crush Wyvern, which can combine to form ABC-Dragon Buster, which itself could then combine with XYZ-Dragon Cannon to form the A-to-Z Dragon Buster Cannon. (Another monster, Armed Dragon Catapult Cannon, was released a few years later, but it's more of a living creature wearing VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon as armor, so it doesn't really count.)

*** ''[[UpToEleven Taken even further]]'' in the second movie, a recap of the second part of the series. [[spoiler:Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is torn apart, but the dozen+ pilots are able to form their own individual giant mecha ''on the same scale, '''then combine those'''''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS62KmYlm4k Words cannot describe it, so watch it in action.]]]]

** The duelists who wield the Meklords can also do this, combining with their Duel Runners. This then goes UpToEleven when the three duelists themselves then combine into one person named Aporia, and so do their Runners -- and then Aporia combines himself with the unified Runner.

* In ''Videogame/NoMoreHeroes'' Travis Touchdown's [[SoapWithinAShow favorite show]] [[WordSaladTitle Pure White Lover Bizarre Jelly]] is about [[PowerTrio three]] [[MagicalGirl magical girls]] with mecha that combine to form Pure White Giant Glastonberry.
** In the sequel, he has a version of it built for himself in the event that he's ever staring down a giant robot.

** In Chapter 20 of ''R2'', the Black Wyvern unit locates the Enigma of Combining. A relic created from Nexus Prime, the first combiner, that contains a fraction his power. When the Black Wyverns get cornered by Steeljaw’s pact, as well as Akito’s brother Shin, the Relic reacts to Leliah’s Geass, and with it, it allows the Alexander Valiants that the Black Wyverns pilot to combine into a new Knightmare that they dub the Hercules.

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* ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': At the beginning of ''R2'', the Constructicons and Combaticons arrive and help the Decepticons finish off the remnants of the Britannian Empire. When Lelouch asks about Autobot combiners, he’s told that the Aerial bots can combine, but only two of them, Silverbolt and Air Raid, are present, and they don’t know what happened to the other three after Cybertron went dark. When he proposes a hypothetical combination of Bumblebee, Strongarm, Sideswipe, and Grindcore, the Autobots shoot it down by pointing out that they lack the Combiner technology, as Combiners are very rare among Cybertronians.

SubTrope of RuleOfCool, for the above reasons. Can be seen as the mechanical equivalent of FusionDance, and combiners made of sapient mecha generally qualify as both. See TotemPoleTrench and TheWormThatWalks for similar tropes involving living things.

** Group of humanoid robots to giant robot? This is perhaps the least-seen scheme, but it happens. Despite never doing it before, three seasons in a row had ''two'' set of Zord-per-Ranger, one of them humanoid: Kakuranger/Power Rangers season 3 with Shogun Zords/Giant Beast Generals who formed Megazord/Muteki Daishogun (it was the first set of Zords in Japan, second in US), then [[Series/PowerRangersZeo Super Zeo Megazord]]/[[Series/ChourikiSentaiOhranger OhBlocker]], then Turbo Rescuezords/Victory Rescue Vehicles, who were vehicle-to-humanoid TransformingMecha as well as being able to make Rescue Megazord/VRV Robo. Super Zeo Megazord and [[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Titan Megazord]]/[[Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger MagiKing]] many years later even managed to have completely symmetrical formations rather than the Voltron-style one-on-each-side.

* The non-canon [[http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/2/2e/THE_BEAST.jpg Beast]] of the Transformers comic ''VideoGame/TheBeastWithin'', formed by the Dinobots. [=TFwiki=] put it best when they said "This is a monument to all your sins."

* The non-canon [[http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/2/2e/THE_BEAST.jpg Beast]] of the Transformers comics, formed by the Dinobots. [=TFwiki=] put it best when they said "This is a monument to all your sins."

* In ''Robo Army'', one boss is a pack of {{Robot Dog}}s that all merge together before you fight them.

** Zigzagged in ''Anime/GundamBuildDiversReRise'': all four of the main cast's robots have expansion packs of some description, and their ultimate combination requires all of them to separate the core from the expansion pack, after which the main character's Core Gundam combines with the expansion packs of the other three robots to form a huge Gundam. This plays out more like a traditional SuperRobot combination than an expansion pack, because the Core Gundam is small enough that it only forms the head and a small part of the chest, with the rest of the body being formed by the expansion packs. In addition, unusually, the other three characters are still able to move and fight in their respective core robots or fighters.

*** Aside from Tidal Wave, mentioned above, the truest example of this form in Transformers would be the Duocons: two vehicles (one land and one air in both cases) combining into a single robot, with no robot modes for the individual vehicles. Blaster's micro-cassette team of Raindance (cassette/jet-fighter) and Grand Slam (cassette/tank), who combine into the robot Slamdance also counts.

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', and therefore ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', of course. 40+ years of the former and 20+ years of the latter with ''at least'' 2-3 super robots per season mean everything's been covered. ''Everything.'' For the purpose of simplicity, ''Power Rangers'' terms will primarily be used here - ''Super Sentai'' has few cross-series terms like 'zord,' without which this becomes a lot harder to describe.

* ''Literature/SkippysList'' has examples:
--> 191. Our Humvees cannot be assembled into a giant battle-robot.

*** What's really great about that moment is that there are exactly five Wreckers present--the number needed for a typical Transformers combiner.

** Transformers is another series that gives us a number of types. Vehicles/beasts to robot, check. Humanoids combine, check - though if it doesn't involve a return to vehicle mode it's usually a two-bot combiner. Vehicles into vehicle, check - again, typically applies to two (Dreadwind and Darkwing become Dreadwing, which is a jet with no robot mode. Jetfire and Jetstorm combine one way to become Safeguard's robot mode or another to become Safeguard's jet mode.) Interchangeability, check, some obscure Japanese stuff even shows off that the "Scramble City" style combiners can not only shuffle around who's which limb, but also trade limbs between combiners. Expansion pack... many versions of Optimus Prime can combine with one other bot to become Optimus Prime [Something] Mode, so the story treats it that way, though the combinations are involved enough you'd think it was "two become new robot" rather than "Optimus is wearing Wing Saber" to look at them. RID's Omega Prime, though, is the only Optimus combo to be treated as not exactly either of his components. Heck, there's even a few ''really'' weird ones, like three vehicles/humanoid robots combining into ''weapons for larger robots to use'' (the Star Saber, Requiem Blaster, and Skyboom Shield from ''Anime/TransformersArmada''), and a couple really off-the-wall instances of ''animals combining into a larger animal'' (Sky Lynx from G1 and Magmatron from ''Anime/BeastWarsNeo'', the latter's organic beast modes resulting in a particularly bizarre combined alternate mode.) Even some cases where two Transformers have separate robot modes, but must combine to form a vehicle. And then there's Six-Gun, made mostly from Metroplex's guns.

** In the second movie, Lagann-hen, [[spoiler:After Lord Genome converts the [[WaveMotionGun Infinity Big-bang Storm]] after Tengen Toppa versions of the ENTIRE Dai Gurren-dan's ganmen appear (Kittan is the only one who died before this as the {{Mauve Shirt}}s were spared in the movie. Nia also gets to use her own ganmen) they AGAIN combine to form the SUPER Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann which resembles a body made of spiral power more than an actual mecha. Not just any body either - it's an enormous Kamina on fire with Simon's shades and the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann for a face.]]

* ''VideoGame/GotchaForce'' features four different component robots - Machine Red, Machine Blue, Cyber Mars, and Cyber Atlas - that can combine if one top-half robot (Machine Red or Cyber Mars) and one bottom-half robot (Machine Blue or Cyber Atlas) are active while [[LimitBreak Power Burst]] is activated. The possible combinations are named after TheFourGods for a reason, as they have absurd firepower (boosted by the ridiculous reload speed buff under Power Burst), [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe an all-blocking shield that covers their entire front half]], and a WaveMotionGun to really ruin their foes' day. While actual player use of them falls under AwesomeButImpractical for several reasons (mostly, difficult to control during multiplayer and too expensive to use in single-player), they work as very effective bosses for certain levels during the main single-player campaign.

* ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperheroes'' has possibly the ultimate example: after his FaceHeelTurn, Brainiac 5 takes control of his entire species--composed of metamorphing robots linked in a HiveMind--and when challenged by the Legion, turns ''all of them'' into a single gigantic battlebot.

* In ''Anime/GaikingLegendOfDaikuMaryu'', the skulls of the Daiku Maryu and Daichi Maryu, and the crest of the Tenku Maryu all combine with the respective Parts 1 and Parts 2 units to form Gaiking, Vulking, and Raiking, respectively. Gaiking can combine with any of three support vehicles to form either: Buster Gaiking, giving it a BFG; Sky Gaiking, allowing it to fly; Diver Gaiking, allowing it to operate underwater; or finally Triple Gaiking, in which all three of the support vehicles combine with it at once. Finally, later on in the series, the strongest parts of each of the mecha - Daiku Maryu's skull, Raiking Parts 1, and Vulking Parts 2 - can combine together to form a robot with ten times the [[AppliedPhlebotinum Flame Power]] of the original Gaiking, called Gaiking The Great.

** The aforementioned "four limbs plus the commander as torso" configuration was actually used for several combiners starting in the second season of G1--called the "Scramble City" combiners after a [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] {{OVA}} that heavily involved them and showed off the limb-switching gimmick. They were originally the Aerialbots/Superion, the Protectobots/Defensor, the Stunticons/Menasor, and the Combaticons/Bruticus, and season three would add the Technobots/Computron and the Terrorcons/Abominus. They could use the four smaller robots as limbs completely interchangeably--even switching arms/legs between teams (at least with the toys). Behold [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Abomenaticus Abomenaticus]]! (Takes parts from Abominus, Menasor, and Bruticus.)

*** The toys even represented this with a more one-size-fits-all transformation, as each Autobot could turn into the legs or the torso. The potential combinations were many - far more than the show could feature.

* ''Anime/MazingerZ'' is the first example - the robot is powered by dropping a small aircraft (the "pilder") onto its head. And then it is combined with a JetPack to allow it fly.

** ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'', where several vehicles combine with a central lion-robot to make it larger and more powerful. (Original only - later versions from ''FINAL'' replaced the core or the peripherals.)

* ''Blocker Gundan IV Machine Blaster'' combined the concept of ''Anime/MazingerZ'' with Franchise/SuperSentai - instead of one robot with a piloted aircraft that would attach to it, there was a team of four, each robot with its own piloted aircraft that formed the robot's head.

* This is effectively how the Chimerae in the ''Visions'' expansion of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' work. Each chimera is an artifact creature that can be sacrificed to put a token granting its own power, toughness, and special ability (flying, trample, vigilance, or first strike) on another chimera. If you combined one of each of those chimerae together (just make sure you never sacrifice the one you put the first token on), you'd end up with an 8/8 monstrosity with all four of the above-mentioned abilities. Amusingly, since the rules text don't specify ''artifact'' chimerae, it would become possible to attach the Visions creatures first to Mistform Ultimus, then the changelings in Lorwyn and Morningtide (in both cases, we're talking about creatures that count as every creature type at once--chimerae included), and finally ''actual, biological'' chimerae in ''[[Myth/ClassicalMythology Theros]]''.

** To confuse the matter, several Mini-con teams could combine into something larger - Perceptor was the main three Minicons combined into a robot, but other teams could combine into Transformer-sized weapons; the [[CoolSword Star Saber]], [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe Skyboom Shield]] and [[WaveMotionGun Requiem Blaster]].

[[folder: Other]]

* ''Anime/MiraiRoboDaltanious'', which was originally intended to ''Voltron'', involves a combination of a humanoid robot, a lion, and a vehicle - the same types of mecha used by Albegas, Golion, and Dairugger, the shows that '''did''' become ''Voltron''.

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' has a parody of this in one episode - all of Dexter's family members control a different section of the combined robot, and thus are out of sync until they figure out how to work together. In fact, they even have to switch places early on because they had no idea how to properly use the individual limbs.

* A small handful of ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' combine into larger alt modes instead of larger robot modes. Dreadwing is probably the best example. Of course, they all had their own robot modes anyhow... save for Tidal Wave, who was a big robot, a big ship, or three small ships.

* In ''Videogame/NoMoreHeroes'' Travis Touchdown's [[SoapWithinAShow favorite show]] [[WordSalad Pure White Lover Bizarre Jelly]] is about [[PowerTrio three]] [[MagicalGirl magical girls]] with mecha that combine to form Pure White Giant Glastonberry.