Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / MechVsBeast

Go To

1%%
2%%
3%% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end.
4%%
5%%
6%% Image kept on page per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1587316297000907000
7%% Previous thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1577891611072962300
8%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
9%%
10[[quoteright:350:[[TabletopGame/{{GammaWorld}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0ba37b52cb2648ff196e2842a2cd69d9_6.jpg]]]]
11
12->''"To fight monsters, we created monsters of our own."''
13-->-- '''Raleigh Becket''', ''Film/PacificRim''
14
15Oh no, a {{Kaiju}} is attacking the city! Bullets are useless, tanks just get stomped, an air strike would cause too much collateral damage... Guess it's time to bring out the HumongousMecha to punch it in the face.
16
17The idea that it might produce less collateral damage tends to be belied by the buildings smashed by both combatants in their battles. Doesn't really matter though, because watching a giant robot fighting a giant monster is the basic epitome of CoolVersusAwesome.
18
19A SubTrope of FleshVersusSteel and BehemothBattle. Compare AnimalMecha and {{Robeast}}, where it's a combination of a mecha and a beast. See also UltramanCopy for various giant, (usually) flesh-and-blood superheroes who fight giant monsters, and PrimateVersusReptile, another common matchup in monster stories. While initially very straight forward with the machine being the hero to root for against the beast, invoking much the same visual as a [[DragonsVersusKnights knight in armor against a dragon]], in recent years the inverse has become just as common.
20
21----
22!!Examples:
23
24[[foldercontrol]]
25
26[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
27* ''Anime/TheBigO''. Several episodes involve battles between the title HumongousMecha (piloted by Roger the Negotiator) and a giant monster.
28** Episode 3 "Electric City". The Big O must battle a giant monster (known as the Eel) that lives in the lake behind a hydroelectric dam.
29** Subverted in Episode 5 "Bring Back My Ghost". It appears that Big O will have to fight a giant monster that appears in fog by a river, but the monster turns out to be a light illusion projected by a [[HumongousMecha megadeus]] instead.
30** Subverted in Episode 7 "The Call from The Past". A large aquatic monster called the Sea Titan threatens the fishing industry and it looks like the Big O will have to battle it, but it turns out to be, yes, another false image produced by a [[HumongousMecha megadeus]].
31** Episode 8 "Missing Cat". The Big O must defeat a giant genetically engineered monstrosity known as the Chimera.
32** Episode 11 "Daemonseed". A giant tree grows in Paradigm City and starts destroying buildings with its animated roots. The Big O attacks it for a while, but the tree stops growing by itself and doesn't have to be killed.
33** Episode 22 "Hydra". The Big O confronts a gigantic monster known as the Hydra Eel. It appears to be related to the "Eel" monster the Big O fought in Episode 3 "Electric City", but has three heads. Like the Eel, it uses electricity as a weapon.
34* ''Anime/DarlingInTheFranxx'': Giant robots called [=FranXX=] are piloted to fight Klaxosaurs, weird bright blue {{Kaiju}} that feed off "magma energy" in cities. The line gets blurred later, when [[spoiler:Klaxosaurs turn out to be biomechanical hybrids... and [=FranXX=] are essentially a surgically altered Klaxosaur husk.]]
35* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': The eponymous [[GiantMecha EVA mechs]] are used by NERV to fight [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angels]], which resemble [[AlienGeometries weird]] [[{{Kaiju}} giant aliens]] with no uniform appearance. The only thing that qualifies them as "Angel" is that they have a "blood pattern blue" ([[NonIndicativeName which, despite its name, is still red]]). However, it's played with because the [=EVAs=] are not really robots, but actually [[spoiler: cloned Angels in a mechanical restraining bolt]]. In Episode 7, a competing agency tests an automated nuclear-powered mech, but a malfunction [[spoiler: or NERV sabotage]] causes it to go haywire, necessitating EVA 1 to stop it [[spoiler: making it something of an inversion.]]
36* The movie ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer, Manga/GetterRobo G, Anime/GreatMazinger: Kessen! Daikaijuu'' has these mecha (from different shows) allies to battle a giant prehistoric monster (even bigger than them) surviving unknowingly in the depths of the oceans.
37[[/folder]]
38
39[[folder:Comic Books]]
40* ''ComicBook/PrimalWarriorDracoAzul'': Draco Azul is an ancient alien mecha that was gifted to the Maya civilization millennia ago, and is used to defend Mexico from alien monsters called Diablos.
41[[/folder]]
42
43[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
44* ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' has a fight between a power-loader (basically a PowerArmor forklift) and a xenomorph queen.
45* The low-budget knock-off of ''Pacific Rim'', ''Film/AtlanticRim'', naturally features such figths. It's mostly known for getting riffed in [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S12E02AtlanticRim season 12]] of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.
46* ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'': Tony Stark in the Hulkbuster armor vs. a mind-controlled Hulk. They may be a bit smaller than other examples but the destruction is devastating all the same.
47* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'': The second and third Mechagodzillas were built by the UN to fight Godzilla and similar Kaiju. The first one was a Godzilla impersonator built by aliens. ''Film/GodzillaVsSpacegodzilla'' also had MOGUERA (first introduced in ''Film/TheMysterians''), who helped Godzilla defeat [=SpaceGodzilla=].
48** ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': [[spoiler:Mechagodzilla appears as the final antagonist of the film, forcing Godzilla and Kong to team up with one another. In this version, it's a human-built HumongousMecha that gets possessed by King Ghidorah's consciousness.]]
49* In 2010's ''[[Film/GulliversTravels2010 Gulliver's Travels]]'', the Liliputian villain builds a steampunk mech a head taller than Creator/JackBlack, and strong enough to give him a wedgie.
50* ''Film/KingKongEscapes'' has Franchise/KingKong versus Mechani-Kong (who actually predates the more well-known Mechagodzilla by about eight years).
51* ''Film/PacificRim'' is this trope personified. With an entire (defunded) international corps of two-pilot mechs called "Jaegers" for the express purpose of fighting the {{alien|invasion}} Kaiju coming out of the Pacific ocean.
52* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'': The movies have featured this just like the TV show they are based on.
53** ''Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie'': The climactic battle is between the Rangers in their new Ninja Megazord against Ivan Ooze who has fused with one of his insect mechs.
54** ''Film/TurboAPowerRangersMovie'': The Rangers battle an ancient monster named Maligore in their Turbo Megazord.
55** ''Film/{{Power Rangers|2017}}'' (2017): After gaining the ability to combine their Zords, the Rangers battle Goldar who in this continuity is a monster created from rocks and gold by Rita.
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Gamebooks]]
59* The ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' book ''Literature/RobotCommando'' allows you to pilot various giant robots, and some fights are against dinosaurs. The cover itself shows one such robot battling a ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex''.
60[[/folder]]
61
62[[folder:Literature]]
63* ''Literature/TheGrimnoirChronicles'' short story "Tokyo Raider" centers around a giant robot created by the Imperium used to defend against a Soviet-summoned demon referred to as the [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Gorilla Whale]].
64* The climax of ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'' features the main characters turning into Series/{{Ultraman}} and [=Mecha=]Franchise/{{godzilla}} to battle each other. In [[Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018 the movie adaptation]], Ultraman is switched out for WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant (so instead it's robot versus robot).
65[[/folder]]
66
67[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
68* ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'': When the Pyke Syndicate deploys a pair of Scorpenek droids, Boba gets his pet Rancor to fight them.
69* The climax of nearly every ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' episode starting with ''Series/BattleFeverJ'' (and by extension, every ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' episode) involves the MonsterOfTheWeek undergoing a MakeMyMonsterGrow and the heroes countering by summoning their HumongousMecha. Having a climatic battle between a giant robot and giant monster, however, actually originated from Creator/{{Toei|Company}}'s earlier ''[[Series/SpiderManJapan Spider-Man]]'' live-action series. Of course, being a LongRunner series, certain ''Super Sentai'' series may play on the nature of the mecha and the monsters the heroes fight.
70* While many entries in the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' feature human defense forces battling giant monsters, ''Series/UltramanZ'' plays more into this trope by giving its defense force, STORAGE, several giant robots which they use to battle the monsters. The robots had previously appeared as autonomous mechanical beings in previous entries, but in this series they are piloted mecha.
71[[/folder]]
72
73[[folder:Music]]
74* The novelty song "Monkey vs. Robot" by James Kochalka of ''WebAnimation/SuperFckers'' fame is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: a song about a monkey (actually an ape in the music video) and a robot fighting.
75[[/folder]]
76
77[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
78* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' has the potential for this to happen, when [[HumongousMecha BattleMechs]] come into contact with [[{{Kaiju}} MegaFauna]]. It's more often than not an AvertedTrope, as of course it's [[JustHereForGodzilla the Mech-on-Mech warfare that most people are interested in]]. There's actually a planet that uses this trope to attract tourists. Called Hunter's Paradise, it's full of dinosaur-like reptiles that tourists hunt using armed Industrialmechs. Of course, as they're just animals and not super-powered kaiju, there's really not much danger involved.
79* ''Mecha vs. Kaiju'', which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
80* ''TabletopGame/{{Monsterpocalypse}}'', being a game of giant monster battles, of course has this as some of its factions' {{kaiju}} are HumongousMecha.
81* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
82** Knight suits were designed for use in the colonization of planets with hostile native fauna or extreme weather, resulting in a feudal system where nobles wired into giant robots guard their peasant vassals. By the 41st Millennium Imperial Knights are often called to battle Tyranid bioforms or Ork Squiggoths. [[https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/House_Cadmus House Cadmus]][[note]]''They Who are Not our Allies are our Prey''[[/note]] in particular determines leadership in annual hunts of the mutants who replaced their homeworld's extinct megafauna.
83** Practically every faction has truly massive mechs called Titans. The Tyranids, a SwarmOfAlienLocusts that uses OrganicTechnology, have Bio-Titans, immense chitinous monsters meant to go toe-to-toe with mechanical titans and heavily armored bases.
84** The Vorgh, one of the Tau's minor client races, are immense sapient aliens so large that their primary battlefield role is to wrestle down enemy armored walkers.
85[[/folder]]
86
87[[folder:Video Games]]
88* ''VideoGame/CosmicStarHeroine'' has a playable battle that works like this. After the party has defeated a giant mecha all on their own, its pilot, as a last-ditch move, releases an artificial creature named the Blobmith which grows to kaiju proportions in seconds. Alyssa, the titular heroine, then knocks the pilot out, takes control of the mecha and uses it to battle the Blobmith, before activating the self-destruction sequence of the mecha and blowing both it and the monster up. It's all a BigLippedAlligatorMoment because it has no impact on the rest of the plot and nothing to do with anything else, but it sure looks cool.
89* In ''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce5'' the 150 foot Baraga, a mech built to function as a construction crane, is utilized as a weapon of war to defeat a large group of Archelus and Erginus.
90* In ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'', the Battle Royale Season 9 live event featured the giant [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fortnite/images/1/19/Mecha.png/revision/latest?cb=20190805050143 Mecha Team Leader]] battling against a giant beast known as Cattus, or more officially, [[https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/fortnite_gamepedia/f/fb/Cattus_The_Devourer.png?version=01e19f9285922a42a4a2a0c6fa9e31da the Devourer.]] An epic battle ensued in real time, with the Mecha emerging victorious after stabbing the Devourer's head with a [[BigFancySword giant sword]] made from the statue of Singularity.
91* ''VideoGame/IntoTheBreach'' is a TurnBasedTactics game in which you control a mech squad to repel the invasion of {{kaiju}} known as the Vek.
92* The sequel of ''VideoGame/KingOfTheMonsters'' replaced the KingKongCopy character Woo for his {{Mecha}} counterpart called Cyber Woo, which became so famous that it received an appearance in ''VideoGame/NeoGeoBattleColiseum'' in a human-like size, being controlled by a ChildProdigy.
93* Inverted in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' when Kalros, the semi-mythical mother of all [[{{Sandworm}} thresher maws]], is summoned to fight a [[MechanicalAbomination Reaper Destroyer]].
94* ''VideoGame/RobotAlchemicDrive'' has this as the entire plot with alien robots from space coming to earth on a semi-regular basis and the player having to fight them with remotely-piloted giant mecha.
95[[/folder]]
96
97[[folder:Web Animation]]
98* Episode 27 of ''WebVideo/SuperPowerBeatDown'' features "Godzilla vs. Dragonzord". The King of the Monsters versus one of the most powerful ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' Zords.
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Webcomics]]
102* ''Webcomic/TuesdayTitans'': A rare case where the [[{{Kaiju}} Titan]] "beasts" are the heroes and the Severine "mechs" are the villains.
103* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': Cresce developed their giant humanoid Firelopers to fight Alderode's dragon-like giant Vliegeng.
104* ''Webcomic/TheWhiteboard'': After [[http://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb1727.html Jinx]] is temporarily mutated into a twelve-foot rampaging monster, Kasi jumps into one of Doc's PoweredArmor suits.
105[[/folder]]
106
107[[folder:Websites]]
108* ''Website/{{Neopets}}'': Resident [[NotZilla Godzilla parody]] Chiazilla has a Mechagodzilla equivalent in the form of Dr. Sloth-created Mechachiazilla. The battle between them was a major plot point in 2000's Hunt for the Battledome.
109[[/folder]]
110
111[[folder:Western Animation]]
112* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
113** "Anthology of Interest I": A giant Bender is attacking the city, so Professor Farnsworth enlarges Zoidberg to fight it.
114--->'''Hermes:''' We're jerked! Nothing can stop a monster that big!\
115'''Prof. Farnsworth:''' Nothing except an even more equally big monster!
116** "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E17Benderama Benderama]]": Bender combines with his nanoreplicants to form one giant Bender to fight an alien giant.
117* ''LEGO Jurassic World: The Legend of Isla Nublar'': Danny Neidermeyer does battle with an ''Allosaurus'' and a ''T. rex'' with a dinosaur mech that he intended to use for digging up No Beard's treasure.
118* One of Creator/TerryGilliam's ''Creator/MontyPython'' animations was about an invasion of killer cars that were defeated by atomically-mutated giant cats. Unfortunately the cats then ate the city.
119* ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'': The eponymous mech versus the villain's MonsterOfTheWeek, although near the end of the first ([[ShortRunners and only]]) season, the American military did eventually build a mech of their own which managed to take down a {{Kaiju}}.
120[[/folder]]

Top