Vertical Mecha Fins

Sometimes, a Mecha designer wants their work to look that much more impressive. The solution? Verticality. These go way past Shoulders of Doom in a very specific way, although they aren't necessarily pauldrons. Vertical Mecha Fins are when a mecha has a pair of large fin-like projections from the back or shoulders that are far taller than they are wide, extending far above the head of the mech. They may serve a purpose aside from intimidation, such as being the equivalent of a vehicle roof-rack, but they may very well just be decorative.

Just to reiterate, these are separate from Shoulders of Doom. Vertical Mecha Fins are characterized by giving the mech a very particular type of upper body silhouette, and do not need to be pauldrons.

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Examples

Anime and Manga

• Neon Genesis Evangelion, being the former Trope Namer, has this in spades. All of the Eva units in the series, except Unit 00 before being refitted and the Mass-Production units in End of Evangelion have these. They serve a few different purposes, as they work as: knife holders, jump jets, spike cannons, mounting racks for additional batteries and other equipment, an anchoring point for connecting to the rails of the vertical launch tubes, and, like the rest of their armor, restraints to keep the Evas from acting under their own will or gaining too much power.
  • Provisional Unit-05 uses them to mount pantographs which replace the umbilical cable while operating underground.
  • The actual script doesn't really have a consistent name for these, though the term "shoulder pylons" gets tossed around often as not.
  • As if lampshading their purpose as restraints, virtually any change in the Evas will first involves the Vertical Mecha Fins exploding. Such changes include when the Unit 01 gains an S2 organ in the TV series and performing the Third Impact in The End of Evangelion. Rebuild of Evangelion continues with the second set of arms Unit 03 grows in their place, Unit 02's Beast Mode purging them to eject its limiters, and Unit 01's ascension to godhood once more.
    • Interestingly the fins are made much smaller in Rebuild as part of the less exaggerated more human proportioned redesigns, yet the fins store even more stuff in them now. Unit 01's knife is now so big that it barely fits in the fin when folded in half; and, Unit 02 not only has two knives, just as big and in both shoulders now, but also retains its spike cannon from End of Eva, now in both shoulders.
  • They're also located where the Evas' angel wings seem to sprout from.
• Gunbuster, another series by Gainax, has this too in the eponymous mecha. in this case, they house rocket boosters and storage containers for Buster Shield, Buster Tomahawk and Buster Homerun.
• Mazinger Z: Although the titular Humongous Mecha itself had normal shoulder pads, several Mechanical Beasts had Vertical Mecha Fins. One example is Baras K9, that had long and pointed shoulders were part of his Jet Pack. Many Warrior Beast from Great Mazinger and Vegan Saucers from UFO Robo Grendizer had Vertical Mecha Fins. Grendizer itself had hints of this, sporting long, sharp, circular blades sprouting from his shoulders.
• The Rick Dias,◊ the Hyaku Shiki,◊ the Dijeh,◊ the Gundam Mark II,◊ the Hizack◊ and the Palace Athene◊ in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam all have large fins on their backs. In this case, they function as either extra "limbs" for zero-G maneuvering, or thruster mounts.
  • And the Rick Dias' successor in Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, the Schuzrum Dias, takes this to ridiculous proportions.◊ And in this case, the fins come mounted with cannons in addition to the standard thrusters.
  • The ν Gundam (Nu Gundam) has its funnels. The fact that they're called Fin Funnels only gives bonus points.
  • Victory 2 Gundam◊ says hello.
• The eponymous mecha of Space Runaway Ideon doesn't have "fins" so much as a third, blocky arm segment above the shoulder that sticks directly upward.
• Macross:
  • The SDF-1 Macross from Super Dimension Fortress Macross. After a botched Hyperspeed Escape attempt, the ship loses the conduits that power the main Wave-Motion Gun formed by the bow separating into a Wave-Motion Tuning Fork. An attempt to bypass the missing section involves transforming the ship into humanoid form, where the bow section becomes a pair of fins behind the shoulders that still work as the Wave-Motion Gun.
  • Both the Modified and Armored Valkyries feature auxiliary boosters that increase the vertical stature of their battroid modes. In Macross: Do You Remember Love?, the Modified Valkyrie's right booster has the fuel tank replaced with a "strike cannon" that is even taller (when it's not folded forward).
  • The Macross Quarter and the Macross-class Global research ship from Macross Frontier. In the former's case, the fins serve primarily as nacelles for the centerline engine thrusters, as the vessel's Wave-Motion Gun is a detachable Gunpod that the Transforming Mecha wields in its right hand.
• GaiGar from GaoGaiGar has these. It's not clear in-show what they're supposed to be - extra maneuvering thrusters or guide rails for combining, maybe? In addition, GaiGar seems to have been designed with an EVA sensibility - humanoid and agile - which GaoGaiGar throws out the window.
  • During the Genesic Final Fusion sequence which, as you may remember, would have been the original, the way the fins fall into the arms suggest they were there as something to keep Gadget Gao locked in. This extends to Stealth Gao/Stealth Gao II as well, logically.
• Verdant in Linebarrels of Iron has massive fin like pods on its back, their purpose? to hold the 20 swords verdant uses in combat, also serve as a physical shield and when they open up they give the blue mecha a very menacing winged appearance.
• Non-mecha example: in Bleach Wonderweiss's Resurrecion have something between this and Giant Poofy Sleeves.
  • Taomon's attire from Digimon Tamers also has Vertical Mecha Fin projections. They are only taller than Taomon if she removes her hat, though.
• Armada Megatron. Energon one too. And Star Saber from Victory.
• The Raiden and Shinden mechs in Gasaraki have these; ostensibly they're the battery packs that provide the "Tactical Armors" with power. This hasn't helped certain accusations one bit.
• The Jagd Mirage in The Five Star Stories with its Wave-Motion Gun pack installed. There is a reason why they are nicknamed The Twin Towers. Namely, their barrels are 150 meters long, which boosts an already impressively tall (~50 m) Jagd's height to an obscene 200 meters.
• In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann has giant drills mounted on its shoulders. When it performs a Giga Drill Breaker, they detach and connect together before attaching to the mecha's hand.
• The Guren in Code Geass gains a pair of Fins when it is upgraded into the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N.. These Fins are more than decoration: they're actually slash harkens... not that it needs them when it can simply Rocket Punch enemies with a Wave-Motion Gun. Still, Kallen likes to humiliate outclassed opponents with them, especially while delivering a Kirk Summation or Shut Up, Hannibal!
• In Shaman King Asakura Hao has these when using an armor-type Over Soul.
• Earth Engine from Captain Earth has these.
• In Dragon Ball GT, Baby Vegeta (who isn't a mecha, but is possessed by the Machine Mutant Baby) gains metallic shoulder fins upon taking on his short-lived Super Baby Vegeta form. They're replaced by regular shoulder pads when he further progresses to Super Baby Vegeta 2.
• The Type J-9 Griffon from Patlabor wears two pairs of these. The first one houses a flight system,◊ and the second houses an aqua unit.◊
• The titular robot in The Moon sports a downright humongous pair, stylized to look like a giant crescent moon on its chest and shoulders.

Comic Books

• Heroes Reborn: Iron Man: In the short-lived Heroes Reborn Continuity Reboot from The '90s, Tony Stark's signature Powered Armor was reimagined with 'smokestack' fins mounted on its shoulders.

Film

• The Transformers do this with car windows.
• Pacific Rim: Striker Eureka has them on its back, and Gipsy Danger has smaller projections that serve a similar purpose.
• Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla: Kiryu has large pylons on his shoulders which serve as hardpoints for his Shoulder Cannons.

Live Action TV

• TimeRobo Beta/Time Force Megazord, mode blue from Mirai Sentai Timeranger and Power Rangers Time Force has very high shoulders, especially on the toy. It should be noted that the shoulders/arms of this formation are legs in an alternate configuration.

Toys

• BIONICLE: normal Skrall and Mata Nui have these.
• Transformers toys - Transformers: Armada and Transformers: Animated Megatron, to name a couple. G1 Optimus Prime had smokestacks to give this effect.

Tabletop Games

• Sometimes shows up in BattleTech, especially on mechs like the Awesome, which varies between little stubs above the arms◊ to giant metal sheets extending above the mech's cockpit◊. Notably, the Awesome's Vertical Mecha Fins predate Evangelion by over a decade. The Mauler and it's death-trap predecessor, the Daboku, likewise have large metal fins sprouting from their arms. The Phoenix Hawk◊ also falls under this trope in the 'from the back' variety, and the Shiro◊ boasts Vertical Mecha Fins in the form of flags. The 'protrusions from the shoulders' category have representatives such as the Charger,◊ the Griffin,◊ and the Tiburon,◊ all of whom boast added but not substantial vertical height.
  • The Nobori-Nin (Known by the Clans as the Huntsman) gets its Inner Sphere name from the massive fin sprouting out of its back. Note that "Nobori-Nin" means "Banner bearer" in Japanese.
• Eldar Wraith units and Titans in Warhammer 40,000 have wing-like protrusions sprouting from their upper backs that apparently serve as force-field generators. Tau Battlesuits have similar protrusions that hold the thrusters for their jetpacks, adding to their Animesque feel.

Video Games

• Geth Primes in Mass Effect have a fairly large set of these, which serve to draw attention to them. as if you needed any help figuring out which one was the Prime. In universe, these fins are apparently radio transmitters. Later games have other geth platforms sporting them, including a single very thick pylon on Legion's back, and the geth rocket-troopers, Primes, and Juggernauts in Mass Effect 3 all featuring them as well.
• Armored Core:
  • It's possible to get this look on your mech in the games, by mounting a pair of radar extenders. No real point though, as your sensor range will be boosted far beyond the range of any of your weapons and you'd be better off with at least one back weapon.
  • Not quite the real deal, but you can simulate it with Stabilizers in Armored Core 4 and For Answer. (However, adding Stabilizers in 4 increased your weight.)
  • Some arm units also have these, most notably many of Armored Core V and Verdict Day's TE-resistant arms.
• Weltall from Xenogears has these, though they point more backwards like a backpack instead of upwards. When Id takes control from Fei, they open up to become wing-like jet boosters.
• Metroid Prime Trilogy:
  • Not mecha, but Space Pirate commandoes in in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes have tall shoulder fins like this.
  • Sylux from Metroid Prime: Hunters also has these. We don't exactly know if he's (if they're even a he) a robot, an organic lifeform in a suit, an alien that just looks like a robot, or a cyborg, so whether he counts as "mecha" is unknown.
• Justice, the queen and commander of the Gears from the Guilty Gear series has these, which add to her cyborg-like appearance. In fact, her face when her mask plate is gone kinda looks like a berserk EVA unit. Hmm, coincidence.
• These are present on the Spartans' MJOLNIR armor in the Halo series, and they are used to mount a number of attachments from flashlights to boost systems. They are generally subtle, though many armor variants in more recent games exaggerate their appearance.
• The Armacham Ordog MCA from Shogo: Mobile Armor Division. Admittedly, its fins are angled back more than is usual for the trope, but they still reach above the head enough to fit.
• StarCraft II:
  • The Terran Thor assault mech boasts a set of four giant stacks coming off its back - they look useless until you order it to use its Strike Cannon ability - the whole mech hunches forward and the fins turn out to house 250mm cannon. There's also a special addition Thor that adds on several decorative fins.
  • The Protoss Colossus, while lacking shoulders, has several fin shaped aerials that could pass as Vertical Mecha Fins
• Zone Raiders in Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars: Kane's Wrath sport Vertical Mecha Fins on their Power Armor. They hold rockets.
• The MechWarrior series, set in the BattleTech universe, features Vertical Mecha Fins on most of the mechs that have them in the boardgame, such as the Mauler.◊ Depending on the mech, vertical arm-mounted fins can be useful for shielding the mech's side torsos from flanking enemies, though they make the arms a larger target.
• Star Siege has the Apocalypse HERC carrying a pair of vertical fins courtesy of its massive missile launcher arrays on either side of the cockpit.
• Warframe's "Daedalus" cosmetic armor adds a pair of shoulder guards, which vary in size depending on which Warframe they are mounted on; on slender frames like Banshee they are relatively small, whereas on the bulky Vauban they extend all the way to the top of the suit's head.
• Broken Lords heroes in Endless Legend often have a set of ornate golden "wings" mounted high on their Animated Armor's back, reminiscent of winged hussars.
• In PlanetSide 2, each faction's Powered Armor gets their own flavor of vertical kibble with the cosmetic "Composite" armor, with varying degrees of size. The New Conglomerate MAX gets a set large of heat exchangers riding above their shoulders, the Vanu Sovereignty has diagonal "wings", and the Terran Republic have circular ammunition magazines mounted behind their shoulder blades.

Western Animation

• Shockwave and Megatron in Transformers: Animated have this going on, as do Starscream and the rest of the G1 Seekers.
  • The original Jetfire and his Classics remake have this as well, owing to his Macross origins. And if Shockwave counts, then so does the original Ultra Magnus.
  • Soundwave in Transformers: Prime.
    • Soundwave's can be justified as transformation kibble, since his arms form his wings in vehicle mode.
  • G1 Ultra Magnus has a pair of freaking girders growing out of his shoulders.
    • The shoulders of Transformers: Prime's Ultra Magnus are slightly less girder-y... But only slightly.
• The Megas in Megas XLR has a pair of massive Cadillac-fins on either side of the head unit, courtesy of Coop.
• The flashback episode of Generator Rex chronicling Rex joining Providence. Turns out he's got a Superpowered Evil Side that turns him into a Humongous Mecha with All His Shapeshifter Weapons Combined, including two Slam Cannons, shoulder-mounted in Vertical Mecha Fins position.
• Lex Luthor's giant mech in an episode of Justice League (Season 1). In fact, the mech itself looks like a thinly disguised Evangelion Unit 02. Possibly a Shout-Out, since the series' creator Bruce Timm is a bit of an Evangelion fan (he's done a few Timm Style drawings of Evangelion characters).

Real Life

• In feudal Japan, samurai sometimes wore flags on their back. See The Other Wiki.◊ This might also be the original source of inspiration for Vertical Mecha Fins.
• Also in the 16th and 17th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the heavy cavalry, known as hussars, wore sets of wings on their backs for ceremonial and/or intimidation purposes. This has lead to them being called winged hussars to distinguish them from later and earlier age hussars which were light cavalry.

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