History VideoGame / CustomRobo

* DoAnythingRobot: Robos aren't solely for children's competitions. As early as the first game, one kid points out that they and Holosseums both have numerous practical uses in a variety of business, medical, construction and even peacekeeping and aerospace fields. However, ''Arena'' negatively notes that Robos make for disturbingly effective tools for terrorist organizations, and one post-game NPC makes a comment about them that wouldn't sound out of place in an argument concerning gun control. ''Battle Revolution'' highlights that the heroes especially use them, as they're quite effective in non-lethally taking down targets compared to the risks with real firearms. Further, even with their diminutive size, Robos are capable of massive property damage and serious harm to humans. Small or no, they're still metal humanoids firing very real ballistic, energy, and explosive weapons at high speeds. Size and numerous limiters are about all that keeps them from being fatal. [[spoiler:When a human-sized Robo with a mentality appears and acts outside of legal boundaries, people end up ''dead''. Meanwhile Hadron from ''Arena'' is a normal sized Robo, but is a highly illegal model with many of the limiters a Robo would normally have absent to allow it to, among other things, absorb energy from a human with greater efficiency. Liv is fine as she's a special case, but when Hadron goes for Scythe (who while a skilled commander is otherwise a normal human in terms of mental energy) in a moment of desperation, the lack of limiters means nothing stops Hadron from draining Scythe to death.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ernest, your boss in ''Battle Revolution''. He's an abrasive, condensending cheapskate who initally refused to even let you join the Steel Hearts, but he genuinely cares about his employees and does become friendlier over the course of the game.

[[SequelDisplacement The best-known game]] to North American players is the first one to [[NoExportForYou release outside of Japan]] - the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] release, subtitled ''Battle Revolution'' in Japan but simply dubbed ''Custom Robo'' in America. The plot involves a talkative protagonist, a smart-aleck womanizer, and a girl who can see the last memories of a robo commander. Everyone uses robos, including the police, criminals, and you. Notable for being considerably DarkerAndEdgier (even if it doesn't seem like it at first) and serving as something of a {{Deconstruction}} of both the previous games as well as MonsSeries in general.

** The exception is ''Custom Robo GX'' for the {{UsefulNotes/GBA}}, where nearly every gun is uniquely named; for instance, Bubble ''Smasher'', Glider ''Wing'', Gatling ''Cannon'', to name a few.

* MakeGamesNotWar: The titular Robo Battles supplant the need of actual weapons, which is especially noted in the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube version. This initially seems incredibly strange and quite silly until it is revealed that [[spoiler:the only reason that they managed to beat Rahu, the being who almost demolished humanity, was to trap it in a a child's toy (a robo). Following this, the robos were used as a means to train people to defend themselves from such an end, even if they were the cataclysm was then wiped from memory.]]

* RobotBuddy, just like ''VideoGame/{{Medabots}}'', ''VideoGame/MetalWalker'', ''Animation/CubixRobotsForEveryone'', and ''VideoGame/{{Robopon}}''.

* BoobsOfSteel: The Sassy Stunner[[note]]In Japan, ''Sexy'' Stunner[[/note]] robo class, both figuratively ''and'' literally.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Harry is both surprised and horrified to learn that his boss, Ernest, is actually the same age as the HotScientist Linda late into ''Battle Revolution's'' story. Alternatively, he's unnerved because it could imply that Linda is actually much [[OlderThanTheyLook older]] than he thought.

* TheRival: Marv. He's the only consistent rival in all the games.
** In the Gamecube version, he's not the rival. He's just some guy who shows up and declares you his "rival", then is never heard from again.

* TheReveal: Late into ''Battle Revolution'', the player and supporting cast learn the AwfulTruth after matters press them enough: [[spoiler: Rahu destroyed most of the planet a good, long while ago, and the domed city the cast think ''is'' the world is really just the last remnant of it. Not long thereafter, you get to see nothing but a handful of ruins and the Z-Syndicate's base surrounded by floating abyss and storms. Even worse, [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Rahu intends on finishing the job.]]]]

* TheReveal: ''Battle Revolution'' has two major ones. In the main story there is the reveal about how [[spoiler: Rahu destroyed the world and the survivors built a domed city and covered it all up while claiming that there was nothing beyond its walls]]. And then in The Grand Battle you find out in the very last tournament that [[spoiler: nobody else's Commander rank were actually dropped back down to D except for the protagonist. The entire thing was put together to give the protagonist a true challenge and to test their limits after they defeated Rahu.]]

* HotScientist: Linda and Sherry, the only two female robo researchers in ''Battle Revolution'', are both beautiful. In ''Arena'' Kindaj and Dr. Mars qualify as well. At least until [[spoiler: you find out they're not actually who they say they are.]]

* FunWithAcronyms: The A.I.R.S. robo from ''GX'' and ''Arena'', [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which is]] an '''A'''rmy-'''I'''ssue '''R'''ay '''S'''ky model.
** It's actually '''A'''nti '''I'''nsurgent '''R'''ay '''S'''ky(er).

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Illegal Parts]]. They're supposed to put a mental strain on not only those using them, but also their ''opponents''. And in all battles involving the parts, you get ''no'' negative effects except a penalty to your score (And scores only pop up in the post-game). In ''Arena'' in that it's heavily suggested that your character is more than able to withstand the mental strain, though this doesn't explain the random opponents.

* DevelopersRoom: ''Battle Revolution'' has one inside of Lucy's apartment which you can only access late into The Grand Battle post-game. Inside are various staff members on the game represented by various characters you've met throughout the game and talking to each one will have them tell you about their contribution and thanking you for playing the game. One of them, hilariously, is represented by the ''corpse'' of the man who was killed by Rahu in the main story. He'll even scoot around on the floor as he talks to people!

* JokeCharacter: The Oil Can in ''Battle Revolution'' and the Chick in ''Arena''; they're worse in every way than the default.
** Oil Can parts are downgraded, and the Oil Can legs are the polar opposite of the Ultimate Legs, lowering all of your abilities.

* BraggingRightsReward: Getting a high win streak with the Chick in ''Arena's'' online mode earns you the title of "The Peerless Master"

* CutscenePowertoTheMax: The opening cutscene of ''Battle Revolution'' has a Ray 01 taking on three other Robos at once and coming out on top.. Aside from the 3v1 scenario only happening in specific fights and never against the player: there's also the fact that Ray is able to take down each of his opponents with a single attack using either his guns or his pods. In actual gameplay even the weakest Robos would take much more punishment before losing. Finally Ray's gun gets destroyed and he picks up an opponent's gun after defeating them, two things that cannot happen in gameplay.

* SuddenlyShouting: In ''Battle Revolution''. Sergei, the quiet mysterious villain, suddenly swapping sides to help the protagonists and screaming his "superior's" name in rage seems to come completely out of left field until you learn that the Z Syndicate we're not originally villains until Oboros and the Twins took over and corrupted the organization, betraying their oaths and duties. Sergei taking Oboros down as punishment for this betrayal.

** Evil.

* AerithAndBob: The Supernovas, Bayside Academy's robo team. LostInTranslation in the English port, where they all have very common names beneath their pseudonyms, the Japanese version has Lenny (Lunax), Hugh (Terrax/Galax) and ''Jinpachi'' (Solax).

* GuideDangIt: Induced by the language barrier resulting from being Japan-exclusive. While these games are typically very easy to complete without speaking a word of Japanese, ''GX'' has a point in the latter third of the game where a password must be used move forward, halting any player that cannot read Japanese.
** The solution is fairly obvious to Japanese players, as the password is used to obtain the robo. The password, as it turns out, is Ray Skyer (レイスカイヤー ''reisukaiyaa'' - Ray Sky's Japanese name).