Classic Timeline: 1 | 2, 3, 4/F/Final
Classic Subseries: Masou Kishin | Compati Hero Series
Alpha Saga: Alpha/Shin/Super Hero Sakusen | Alpha Gaiden | 2nd Alpha | 3rd Alpha
Compact Series: Compact 2/Impact | Compact 3 | MX
Z Saga: Z | 2nd Z | 3rd Z | Walking Spoilers
Nintendo Handheld Series: A | R | D | J | W | K | L | UX | BX
VTX Trilogy: V | X | T
Other Standalones: 64 | GC | NEO | OE | X-Ω | DD | 30
Original Generation Saga: Steel Dragon Battle Group | Earth Federation | Enemy Factions | Civilians and Walking Spoilers | Endless Frontier
The Ardygun Family
Main protagonist of W, 16 year-old Kazuma is the only son of Blessfield Ardygun. An extremely Hot-Blooded boy, Kazuma is determined to get rid of the common stereotype that Trailers are no different than Space Pirates, alongside making a name for himself as a Trailer, like his father has in his youth. On Blessfield's request, Kazuma writes in a journal daily, recording all of the events that have transpired. When the Earth Sphere is threatened by multiple extraterrestrial prescenes, Kazuma and his family are recruited by the "Gutsy Geoid Guard", the "Space Knights" and the "Preventers", with assistance from the "Photon Reasearch Institute", "Mithril" and the "Nergal Heavy Industries", to form "Wärter". Unfortunately, the group is disbanded when the Nadesico battleship is crippled and Blessfield is declared "missing-in-action" following an encounter with Inference and the mysterious Database. The loss of his father was enough for Kazuma to leave his family and join with the mercenary "Serpent Tail", going by the alias "Kite".
Six months later, "Neue Wärter" is reorganized from the remnants of Wärter, as a response to multiple events, such as the "Bloody Valentine Incident", the invasion of the Radam and the threat of the Evoluders. Kazuma rejoins his former allies with Serpent Tail and newcomers Junk Guild and the Archangel battleship, alongside defectors "Regulate" and Aria Advance of the Database.
Kazuma begins using the "Valhawk", a Transforming Mecha with his younger sister Mihiro serving as his co-pilot. The machine is powered by a "Proton Drive" and is capable of combining with the Valstork to form the "Valguard". When "Applicant" of the Database defects to Neue Wärter, the Valguard can combine with Aria's "Arm Arcus" and Applicant's "Arm Stoma" to become the "Valzacard".
- The Ace: In-universe example. Subverts this at the beginning of the story, where he's harassed by his family for wasting ammo unnecessarily and for every nick and scratch that the Valhawk suffers, to the point of relying on his copilot-slash-sister Mihiro for constant corrections on both targetting and maneuvering. Manages to play this trope straight after the Time Skip, due to his experience with such a fast mech giving him skills tremendous enough to impress, and join, a seasoned mercenary group, to the point of repeating the same dodging patterns on a civilian transport ship!
- Ancestral Weapon: The Valstork and Valhawk were handed down generation after generation in the Ardygun family, with no one knowing where it really comes from. It was Blessfield who built them, with some help from extraterrestrials after being sent back in time 15 billion years ago into the previous universe.
- Armed Legs: The Valhawk has a pair of "Heat Edge" spikes on top of its feet that form the tip of its nose when it transforms into its "Air Force" mode. It uses them in its "Beam Shot Launcher" and "Ray Blade" attacks, and in the latter, the Heat Edge is ignited.
- Berserk Button: Pirates, but also implying that Trailers are a form of pirates. This is due to his mother Yumi Ardygun being killed during a pirate attack.
- BFS: Valzacard's "Dimension Breaker", where it wields the Arm Arcus in its "Sword Mode" as a sword hilt to generate a blade of crystal energy. The power of the attack is amplified by Regulate, which allows it to break apart the walls of dimensions.
- Butt-Monkey: The W Yonkomas don't treat him kindly
- Chef of Iron: Post-Time Skip, the first thing he's asked to do after his return to the Valstork is to cook for the crew, because he was the most experienced chef of the crew.
- Chick Magnet: Ironically, despite not being in a relationship throughout W, he's really good at talking with the girls of Neue Wärter, especially post-Time Skip. Something of a subversion though because not many of them really fall in love with him.
- Combination Attack: "Proton Cannon Focus", where the Valhawk uses the "Dual Proton Cannons" of the Valstork to unleash a Wave-Motion Gun. In essence, three of the four attacks of the Valzacard are also this, since they use the Arm Arcus and Arm Stoma.
- 11th-Hour Superpower, Story-Breaker Power: The Valzacard is only usable near the end of part two of W. Even if the player doesn't bother to upgrade the Valhawk, whose upgrades carryover to the Valzacard, it's still one of the strongest units towards the end of the game.
- Expy: The Valhawk seems to be an expy of the R-1 and by extension, to the Zeta Gundam. Similar weapons, especially to the latter (Beam Rifle, Vulcans, Ley Sabers), aesthetics and the ability to transform into a plane show obvious inspiration, but the addition of the Heat Edges and having no specialized super-pilot systems and relying on the pilot's skill alone make it different.
- Compare the Valzacard to the Super Robot Type-X Altered "Banpreios"; bonus points for the fact that at the end of each unit's respective game, neither one has unlocked its true capabilities yet.
- Forklift Fu: In one early mission, Kazuma fights a Tekkaman with an industrial power loader, and somehow doesn't die instantly.
- Generation Xerox: Post-Time Skip Kazuma looks like a younger, non-Perma-Stubble version of Blessfield. Lampshaded by the multiple members of Neue Wärter.
- Hot-Blooded: Actually, Kazuma learns to be this over the course of W. Near the beginning, he's overwhelmed by the attitudes of other characters like Guy Shishioh, Kouji Kabuto, and
Jiro YamadaGai Daigoji; by the end, he's on par with the best of them. - Humongous Mecha: The Valhawk is roughly a 30-meter tall, medium-sized machine, but the Valzacard towers at over 212 meters, making it one of the largest original mecha in SRW history. By contrast, the Geant Chevalier is 110 meters long, and more than half of its length is its lance-like BFS.
- Instant Runes: Part of the Valzacard's EXA Nova Shoot Over's "Dynamic Kill" animation
- Jack of All Stats: The Valhawk is fairly mobile, but not extraordinarily powerful (though on par with other Real Robots), but strong enough to be effective at all ranges, has all three basic defensive abilities and has the transformable Air Force mode for added movement. While not great in any aspect, unlike most units in W, it has no real weaknesses.
- Leitmotif: "Bullet Striker" (pre-Time Skip), "Sail On Future" (post-Time Skip) and "Just One Chance" (during Valzacard's EXA Nova Shoot Over)
- Magikarp Power: The Valhawk quickly gets outclassed by numerous stronger units, with its saving grace its upgrades being able to carryover to the Valguard, which receives a boost in power and is matched up with many units, until the later parts of the Time Skip. Once the Valzacard is available, it's one of the best units in the game.
- The Power of Love: In this case, familial love; however, this leads to Unlucky Everydude (see below).
- Running Gag: The inability for Kazuma to get a date or girlfriend, in spite of being able to say some very flattering things to the girls of Neue Wärter.
- Ship Tease: Has some with Ryoko Subaru and Flay Alster, to the point where Kira asks him for tips to deal with the latter.
- Swords Akimbo: In the Valhawk's Ray Blade attack, it uses one of this weapon, but follows up with an additional Ray Blade stored in its knee for Dual Wielding.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Deliveres one to Natarle Badigruel after she reappears as captain of the Dominion battleship
- There Will Be Toilet Paper: Judging by the bandage on his face, Kazuma consistently cuts himself while shaving in the exact same spot throughout the entire 21-month span of W.
- Took a Level in Badass: As Horis Horion points out after Kazuma rejoins the Valstork, he "left as a child, but returned as a man".
- Training from Hell: At the hands of Melissa Mao and Lucrezia Noin
- Unlucky Everydude: Kazuma has the dubious honor of being the first original to have the "Love" Spirit Command, yet not be in a relationship. He spends a good portion of W bemoaning this.
- Weak, but Skilled: Kazuma's stats are slightly above average for a real robot pilot; unfortunately, he has no stat-increasing abilities nor does the Valhawk have an unique ability to cover them. However, he makes up for it by having the best native skill set of any series protagonist in the game ("Sword Cut" note , "Gun Down" note , "Shield" note , "Support Attack" note , "Support Defend" note and "Combo Attack" note ). You can invoke this by pumping up his "Skill" stat to make him even more of a defensive powerhouse, being untouchable due solely to outclassing basically anything in the game.
A former space pirate, who had many run-ins with law enforcement agents such as Heinrich Freeman and Kotaro Taiga, 45 year-old Blessfield at one point clashed with Taiga over the same woman named Yumi, who would become Blessfield's wife. After some unspecified time, he gave up the life of a pirate, and they became Trailers. Since then, Blessfield has fathered four children: Shihomi, Akane, Kazuma and Mihiro. Known as "the legendary Trailer", his reputation has garnered him the nickname "Hawkeye".
Blessfield is from Mars, and like all Martians, he has the ability to initiate "Boson Jump", which allows instantaneously travel through space and time with the help of "Chulip Crystals". In many cases, the "Jumper" may even wind up going backwards through time. During a major battle with Inference and the Database, Blessfield instinctively protects Kazuma from an explosion by using a Boson Jump, but accidentally sends himself back 15 billion years into the past (shortly before the Big Crunch that proceeded the Big Bang that created the W universe). Stranded, Blessfield nearly loses all hope until a chance meeting with an ancient civilization called the "E's", teaching him the importance of memories. Working alongside them, Blessfield creates the "Knowledge Records" and the "Record Plant", inevitably bringing the Database to life. The Valstork would be his final legacy, intended to be handed down to his ancestors in the future, 15 billion years later.
- Big Good: Shares this with Taiga; this traits is carried on well after his apparent death in the form of Applicant.
- Brick Joke: According to Kazuma, his mother Yumi was a famous masked Trailer woman.
- Crazy-Prepared: Blessfield knew that sooner or later the Database will become a threat to other civilizations and cultures in the new universe, thus created two failsafes - the first was to copy his personality and a part of his mind into Applicant, making him the "overseer" of the Database in secret, while the second was to create the Valstork with the ability to combine with the Arm units, provided that two Database personalities "break down" from the rest of them.
- Crutch Character: Blessfield helms the Valstork with three other characters, meaning an exceptionally large list of Spirit Commands to use, a MAP weapon for the Valstork, good stats and Blessfield's own superb set of Spirit Commands surprisingly filled with a lot of them that are usually earned late-game. He's likely one of the best battleship commanders in Super Robot Wars and for good reason: he's only playable in the first part of W; by the second part, the Valstork by itself is useless when it can combine with the Valhawk to form the more powerful Valguard, and he's replaced by Kazuma, who gets the best list of Spirit Commands to use with six pilots when the Valzacard is available.
- Fake Special Attack: Supposedly, Blessfield has 2000 special techniques, but they're all mundane and basic. Some examples include "Hiding in the Clouds", "Kidnapping", "Reversed Grudge" and "Playing Dead".
- Leitmotif: "Departure ~ To the Endless Sea of Stars"
- Odd Name Out: He's the only member of his family that has a Western first name, the rest of the family are Japanese-named.
The youngest daughter of the Ardygun family, 10 year-old Mihiro is the co-pilot of the Valhawk, who assists with aiming and evasive programs. After the death of their mother Yumi, Kazuma was the one to take care of her, as the rest of the family was too busy with their Trailer duties. She's very attached to her older brother.
- Bootstrapped Leitmotif: When she pilots the Valhawk by herself, she uses her sister Shihomi's Leitmotif.
- Idiot Hair: She is actually pretty smart though.
- Little Miss Badass: Since Kazuma wasn't with them, Mihiro had to use the Valhawk alone to defend the Valstork against the Radam. She eventually gets herself into a mess when fighting a group of Moebius mobile armors because she didn't want to kill fellow human beings.
The eldest Ardygun child, 22 year-old Shihomi serves as the main operator of the Valstork. After Blessfield's disappearance, she becomes the captain of the battleship and head of the family.
- Eyes Always Shut: Though according to one Yonkoma, she opens them when deep in thought.
- Leitmotif: "Determination ~ Pride and Memory in the Heart", once she takes over the Valstork
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Slapped Kazuma when he was confused after realizing that Applicant might be their father.
The second oldest daughter of the Ardygun family, 20 year-old Akane is a rather cheerful, but stern woman. Aboard the Valstork, she is the weapons operator. According to Akane, she prefers a tough man, and her gullible personality makes her an easy target for Horis' teasing. She's also troubled about her lack of a sizeable chest, something Horis constantly jokes about.
- Fangirl: Of Uppo-kun; she even has a hug pillow (or at least, a large stuffed animal version) of it. This gets played with as Akane's nearly retcons the appearance of EI-13, the Zonder based off of Uppo-kun. Then Sōsuke Sagara shows up as "Bonta-kun" and ruins the moment.
- Lethal Chef: So much that the first thing Horis asks of Kazuma post-Time Skip is to replace her as chef of the Valstork.
- Trademark Favorite Food: She drowns every kind of food in mayonnaise
24 year-old Horis is currently employed by the Ardygun family as a freelancer. Knowledgeable about many things, he is the navigational operator of the Valstork and has excellent controls with the battleship. Horis is actually an intelligence operative from the Organization of Zodiac, who infiltrated the Valstork to investigate its capabilities and technology, but decided to stay behind rather than report to his superiors after growing too attached and fond of the Ardygun family and how well they treated him.
- Official Couple: In the ending, he proposes to Akane; she accepts
- Spell My Name With An S: Is it "Horian", "Horion" or "Horaian"? While the latter is closest to the katakana spelling of his name, it sounds phonetically odd. Most players stick with either "Horian" or "Horion".
A general-purpose robot on the Valstork, Carret acts as the communications and signal analysis officer.
- Black Box: Carret contains data on the origins of the Valstork
- Captain Ersatz: Of the Haro and Ropet
The Database
Tropes associated with multiple characters of the Database:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot
- Beings created by the Precursors of the previous universe to store all knowledge and let their civilizations survive in some fashion? Well, of course they won't turn evil!
- Critic is moreso than other members of the Database: it was he who suggested they destroy the recorded civilizations. Secondly, Critic is the only Database individual created without emotions or a personality.
- Captain Ersatz: An artificial intelligence that wishes to control all known information in the universe, and kill billions to keep that knowledge secret. Are we talking about the Database or Brainiac?
- The Dreaded: Despite the Evil Versus Evil nature of enemy factions in W, all are deathly fearful of the Database, with good reason.
- 11th-Hour Ranger: Inference and Applicant in the second half of the final scenario of a New Game Plus, with Applicant surviving his Heroic Sacrifice and Inference fully switching sides instead of dying and embracing evil respectively.
- Evil Twin: With the exception of Critic, the Database is physically and mentally identical to Blessfield, Yumi, Mihiro, and Kazuma Ardygun barring some cosmetic anomalies. Applicant, Regulate, and Aria eventually defect as a result of their templates as Bless, Yumi, and Mihiro bleeding through, but Inference only has a change of heart in a New Game Plus — otherwise, him regressing into Kazuma's personality just drives him completely insane.
- Insane Troll Logic: Inference was taught the importance of keeping memories, which is why he and the database record knowledge of civilizations. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way Critic came to reason that the recorded knowledge gains more value the scarcer it becomes, leading the Database to exterminate civilizations after recording them.
- Musical Spoiler: If you listen closely, the Database Leitmotif "Eternal Memory" is a rearrangement of Kazuma's "Bullet Striker". Now consider what Inference is to Kazuma.
- We Wait: They lie in wait for eight months before commencing their plan.
The commander of the Record Plant, Inference is the leader of the Database, piloting the "Scentia". Calm and collected, he has an unusual tendency to act irrationally whenever angered.
- Affably Evil: He's an insane copy of Kazuma, of course he'd be decently chill about everything even as he plans to blow Earth to kingdom come.
- Evil Twin: A color-inverted data clone of Kazuma. Once he starts developing feelings, he becomes as foul-mouthed and snarky as his template.
- Evil vs. Evil: Pulls the rug out from under Critic once he realizes that their relationship was emotionally abusive, building the Sapientia in secret for an eventual coup. However, this just makes the Database even more unhinged as he still respects its goals and has Kazuma's personality installed in him.
- Given Name Reveal: His real name is Recorder.
- It Amused Me: Hearing that Sinclyne would sell out his father to save his own skin lets him look the other way about executing him, perhaps the only non-Evil Laugh he had in 10,000 years.
- Leitmotif: "Knowledge Recorder" and "Eternal Memory", if he is the Final Boss.
- Not So Stoic: His original personality may have been The Stoic, but once he changed his name to Inference, the slightest thing can set him off. He also takes a liking to exterminating civilizations after their data is recorded, and he gains a pretty foul mouth to boot.
- Put the "Laughter" in "Slaughter": He very thoroughly enjoys his corrupted directives and carries them out with the exact same fervor as his template Kazuma."Hahahahahahahahahahahahaa!! Vanish, bitches!!"
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Bar none the most vulgar original villain, even going so far as to yell at Kazuma "you little shit" (albeit Censored for Comedy) when beaten for the first time.
With a physical appearance 16 year-old, Aria is one of the frontline commanders of the Database, piloting a custom Arm Arcus. She sees Applicant as a paternal figure, even addressing him as "papa". Due to the mechanical nature of the Database, Aria is socially inept at establishing relationships, though during her encounters with Mihiro, she grows oddly attached and fond of her, yet cold and callous towards Kazuma.
- Beam Spam: Arm Arcus' "Totoum Schlopetum", combined with a Wave-Motion Gun at the end. The attack features both over-the-shoulder and hip-mounted cannons, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Freedom's "Hi-MAT Full Burst" attack.
- Doppelgänger Attack: Arm Arcus' "Luna Gladius", with a Gory Discretion Shot.
- Foreshadowing: It's hard to notice, but during one scenario where Aria is forced to fight alongside Neue Wärter, notice how Aria's stats and Spirit Commands are identical to Kazuma. This is long before The Reveal she is his opposite sex personality clone.
- Leitmotif: "Soul Stranger"
- Me's a Crowd: The Arm Arcus can split itself into five solid copies for short durations during its attacks. Presumably, this ability is integral to how it transforms into the Valzacard's sword and bow, considering the tremendous difference in size between the two.
- Opposite-Sex Clone: Unlike the other Database characters, Aria is a clone of Kazuma, more specifically a "personality clone" of him. This explains why she feels more affectionate for Mihiro and despises Kazuma, because she wishes to be rid of him so she can replace him in the Ardygun family.
- Send in the Clones: Male clones of Aria called "Deceiver" are made to pilot mass-produced versions of the Arm Arcus and Arm Stora after Aria and Regulate defect.
- Wave-Motion Tuning Fork: A literal examples, as the blades of the Arm Arcus look like tuning forks which double for melee use.
The one in charge of managing the Database, Applicant uses the "Valarm" first before replacing it with the Arm Stoma.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: He is an android based on the mind and memories of Blessfield Ardygun
- Playing Possum: How he defeats the Valguard. Taken straight from Blessfield's playbook of 2000 special techniques.
- Ramming Always Works: Arm Stoma's "Linear Lector" involves it creating two copies of the Arm Arcus which hold down the enemy while it charges the prongs on the bow of the Arm Stoma and rams all three of them.
- Rocket Punch: Valarm's "Remote Drill Burst" combined with This Is a Drill
Acting as an enforcer for the Database, Regulate heads to fight in the frontlines to support Applicant.
- Foil: To Applicant, as they always fight alongside one another. More or less a Battle Couple, since she's based on Blessfield's wife Yumi.
- Only Sane Man: Her designated role, hence a regulator. When she was aware there was something wrong with the Database's methodology, she defects along with Aria.
- Team Mom: Post-Heel–Face Turn, Regulate develops a deep maternal personality.
An advisor for Inference, Critic endorses his actions and the Database's. However, his personality often clashes for playing second fiddle to Inference, thus is often suspected by other members of the Database to have ulterior motives.
- Leitmotif: "Eternal Memory", if he is the Final Boss
- The Starscream: He becomes the True Final Boss, but only on New Game Plus
- Treacherous Advisor: Played with, until it goes straight during New Game Plus
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In the final scenario of New Game Plus, Critic reveals he was only keeping Inference around because he didn't know how to control the Sapientia.
