Tobot Galaxy Detectives (or "Tobot V/Victory" in Korean markets) is a South Korean CGI animated series by The Ocean Group, Studio Button, and Young Toys. It's part of the Tobot franchise.
Legend tells of six devices known as the Galaxy Weapons, which are so powerful that whoever manages to gain all of them can control reality itself. As such, a villain named Pulsar the Conqueror has set his sight on getting them all. During a chase through space, the ship carrying the weapons is shot down, scattering the weapons all over the planet it was over at the time: Planet Earth.
Season 1 would follow Tyler King, a young boy living in Nav City with impressive sleuthing skills and a collection of RC vehicles. One day, he finds a mysterious red-and-white device on the front lawn of his home and, thinking it's a brand new controller for his cars, gives it a try. All of a sudden, he finds three of his RC toys, his blue race car Speed, his orange monster truck Monster, and his white rocket ship Rocket, have all come to life and are now capable of growing into giant robots that can turn into their vehicle forms. Tyler is excited about this, and uses his new friends, whom are dubbed the Tobots, to protect his home from evil.
Season 2 follows Victor, who discovers Galaxy Weapon 4 and creates new Tobots. These heroes now face off against the short-tempered and egomaniacal Bubble Cat, who is then overthrown by a superior order of villains. Things start heating up as Tyler, Master V, and Zora enter Smile City looking for Galaxy Weapon 6, allowing both groups to team up for a showdown against Pulsar himself.
Season 3 is set in the distant future with a grown-up Victor and his son. The story follows a new generation of Tobots as an intergalactic rescue/law enforcement group and their fallout from an attack by the Space Pirates, whose V-Crystals are re-installed by Victor's son Mateo in the present day as they search for the missing members of their team while helping protect their adopted home city on planet Earth from the pirate kings. Unfortunately, Tobot's old commander stirs up conflict in the ranks, and Mateo is forced to hunt for new teammates when his original team gets lost in space-time.
The series debuted on July 27, 2018 in Korea and on May the 28th, 2020 in the United States. On December 10, 2021, the series would quietly get canceled on a cliffhanger in Season 3 following low toy sales and the creation of "Tobot: Daedo's Heroes", a continuation of the original "Tobot" show.
Tobot Galaxy Detectives contains examples of:
- An Arm and a Leg: At the climax of the episode "My Friend RO-B!", when both Rocket and RO-B are in danger of being sucked into a black hole, RO-B snips off the arm Rocket is holding him by, allowing himself to be sucked in so Rocket can escape.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: The humans of Team Mayhem are Eeny (Thin), Meany (Short), and Miney (Big).
- Birthday Episode: Episode 7, "Mrs. James' Birthday". The main conflict comes from Team Mayhem causing problems at the airport, preventing the plane carrying Mrs. James' family (who are coming for a surprise visit) from landing.
- Combining Mecha: Commander Universe and Tank Guy can combine to form Invincible.
- Cute Machines: RO-B from "My Friend RO-B!" is an adorable little robot on treads with a boxy body, and a head similar to R.O.B. the Robot's.
- Escaped Animal Rampage: In episode 4, a female gorilla escapes from the zoo and takes Jay to the top of a tall structure. Jay and the Tobots are able to pacify the gorilla, putting it to sleep and saving Jay.
- Hair Colors: In Team Mayhem, Eeny has pink hair, Meanie has green hair, and Miney has blue hair.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In "My Friend RO-B!", RO-B allows himself to be sucked into the black hole by snipping off his arm, allowing Rocket to escape.
- Instrumental Theme Tune: The show's theme tune is mainly on guitar.
- Kid Hero: Tyler, when he's piloting the Tobots.
- Minecart Madness: In episode 5, Cave Adventure, the kids and Team Mayhem end up riding through the caves on some very roller coaster-esque mine cart tracks.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: Team Mayhem. They're a trio of villainous-but-goofy bad guys who all wear yellow uniforms and pilot a giant lizard mech.
- Red Is Heroic: Tyler, one of the protagonists of the series, wears a red jacket. When he activates V Transformation on the Tobots, he's transported into a cockpit, and wearing a red uniform and helmet.
- Remember the New Guy?: Averted at first. When introducing the Rescue Squad and Captain Police, the Tobots had to explain about them to Tyler first. It's played straight later on with Commander Universe and Tank Guy.
- Shout-Out: In "Giant Shark Attack!", when the titular giant shark flings Team Mayhem through the sea, the shot then turns into a recreation of the poster for Jaws with Moe in place of the boat, and "Galaxy Detectives" as the title.
- Theme Naming: Team Mayhem's names are Eeny (the woman), Meanie (the short-haired guy), Miny (the big blue-haired guy), and Moe (their giant lizard mecha).
- Transforming Mecha: The Tobots become this following Tyler activating their V Transformation.
- Moe gains the ability to do this in "Tobot Naval Battle Part 1".
- Another case closed!
