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Super Robot Wars Destiny is the fourth installment of Banpresto's Super Robot Wars franchise on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, preceded by Super Robot Wars Advance, Super Robot Wars Reversal and Super Robot Wars: Original Generation. The series featured in Destiny is noted to be unique towards fans at the time (other than Super Robot Wars Judgment and Super Robot Wars K, since both involve the removal of traditional series), as uncommonly used series appear in the main plot, such as Megazone 23 and The Big O.

Featured Series (Debuts highlighted in bold):

Destiny takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, prominently after the beginning of Getter Robo Armageddon, where a nuclear explosion wipes out the majority of humanity. While other factions are doing their own activities, they are shocked to discover the Earth is sealed, having disappeared from the face of the universe. The heroes must find out the reason behind the sealing and how to stop it. On the course of the journey, the player will engage against the antagonistic Ruina, a destructive race bent on seeing the rest of the universe in ruins.

Like prior games, Destiny gives players the choice of two protagonists: Joshua Radcliff or Cliana Rimskaya, with a selection of two original real or super robots. However, depending on who is the primary protagonist out of the two, it ultimately affects which Secret Character is recruitable for the player. Note that Destiny is also notorious among the fandom for being a tad bit difficult, if not actually Nintendo Hard, as the way damage is calculated essentially forces super robots unable to tank their way through scenarios as usual.

Also important is Super Robot Wars Z and its sequels feature a large portion of the roster from Destiny: only Daltanious, Megazone 23, Victory Gundam and ZZ Gundam aren't present, with the original Mazinger trio being left in the first Z release. While only a coincidence, but Wild Mass Guessing presumes a remake of this game using the Z engine is entirely possible. With the announcement that the cast of Destiny is to be part of Original Generation, the game has clearly not been forgotten and has returned in style.


Tropes common to this game are:

  • Adaptation Distillation: The game managed to get through the entire plot of Megazone 23 Part 1 and 2 in literally only two scenarios.
  • Antagonist Title: Perfectio's mech is named Fatum, meaning "fate" or "destiny" in Latin.
  • Applied Phlebotinum: The Res Arcana System, Gravity Control System, and the Sympathia System, the latter which allows Glacies and/or Ventus to join, should the right conditions be met. Forte Gigas has Dual Res Arcana Engines which give it the largest Energy pool of all the units in Destiny, and perhaps the entire series save it's Original Generation incarnation.
  • Arc Welding: When the Invaders tried to take over Jupiter and turn it into a Getter Ray star, they attacked the Jupiter Energy Fleet, leaving Judau and Roux the sole survivors.
    • Also, after Shin Dragon opened a wormhole to get to Jupiter as quickly as possible, it stayed open after it left, and MZ23, which activated its jump drive to escape from A.D.A.M., emerged out of it. After it landed on the moon, the Zanscare Empire, ever obsessed with motorcycles, broke into it and stole a bunch of mass production type Garlands, which they later used against League Militaire.
    • The most plot-critical example, however, is the fate of Megazone 23's world: the humans from that world tried to weaponize Fabula Fores and ended up letting Perfectio in. They were forced to render the entire Earth lifeless just to save the rest of their universe.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: The Romefeller Foundation, despite being the de facto ruler of Earth, do not care about anyone but themselves. Even though they have Getter Radiation absorption technology, they only use it to keep their home territory in Europe clean while the rest of the world remains a radioactive wasteland.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: This is how the UC Gundam storyline started out: Neo-Zeon forces won during the events of Char's Counterattack, and Char decided to punish Amuro and Bright for opposing him by making them watch the completion of his Axis Drop. Problem is, the moment he was about to finish it, Earth suddenly vanished, to Char's shock. And then he's forced to play the Big Good role to investigate the disappearance of Earth.
  • Cool Mask: Duke Fleed and Chronicle Asher
  • Combining Mecha: Daltanious, Godmars, Getter Robo, Shin Getter Robo and Forte Gigas, combined from the protagonists' super robots Ganador and Strega.
  • Composite Character: Emperor Zuul in Destiny is a combination of the original Emperor Zuul from the TV series (has his appearance and personality), Emperor Dolmen (due to the Kroppen cloning plot) and King Vega (he led the attack that destroyed Planet Fleed).
    • This is actually something that Zul would do, as he had several clones of himself within the TV series.
    • On the heroes' side, Jinn Generham turns out to be an alias of Jin Hayato, and the various Super Robots from the Tower land battleship got folded into the League Militaire.
  • Continuity Nod: Each character who can pilot the Hi-Nu Gundam has the person they most regret being unable to save as part of the animation for the Fin Funnels - Lalah for Amuro, Four for Kamille, and Ple for Judau.
  • Crapsack World: One of the bleakest settings in the series to date: The Zentradi War forced humanity into going to space and establishing colonies only to be constantly attacked by extraterrestrial forces like the Invaders. This, along with the Federation's growing corruption and inability to properly assist, results in the Universal Century's conflicts with the twist of the Getter Ray permeation, the Mazinger stories and OZ's coup d'etat happening in between. By the time the game begins, it's a wonder how the Earth is even remotely inhabitable.
  • Darker and Edgier: When asked about what happened to most of the AEUG, Kamille Bidan responds they were dead before the game started...and this is just in the first few scenarios...
    • Zanscare's brutality is a large plot point early on during intermissions, including their habits of public executions. Amuro Ray and Bright Noah fail to stop Char Aznable's attempt at dropping Axis on Earthnote . Also, both of the Purus are dead. Destiny pretty much finds a way to make Universal Century more depressing, even when events are already concluded.
  • Demonic Spiders: Ruina and Zanscare mooks. In-universe, the Invaders are considered this. The Megazone 23 mooks don't fall under this only because they don't swarm.
  • Demoted to Extra: Unless you meet the conditions to recruit her, Haman Karn won't appear in the storyline at all.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Gepelnitch, The Invaders, Emperor Zuul and the Big Bad Perfectio.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: Getter Robo Armageddon has a lot that happens in this game that doesn't happen when it shows up in later games:
    • This game and the Super Robot Wars Z 2 duology are the only games where Tower and Stilva are playable units.
    • The original Getter Robo becomes an Ascended Extra, showing up partway through the first Earth route (with Benkei piloting it) and becomes an extra unit to fly around in later on.
    • As the Armageddon storyline ends at Scenario 17(?!), Shin Dragon is taken out of action for most of the game, forcing you to put the Shin Getter team in your other Getter Robos until you regain it.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: Destiny makes it clear it's a Crapsack World from the get-go. It's up to the Blue Swear to fix that.
  • Earth Is the Center of the Universe: Since Perfectio is trying to enter the universe through Earth, both the Invaders and Emperor Zuul wanted to destroy Earth, to prevent the universe from being destroyed.
  • Easily Forgiven: You can recruit Katejina Loos and instantly forgive every single thing of sheer depravity that she has done. Granted, several of her actions, such as killing members of the Shrike Team and Odelo Heinrik, don't occur in Destiny.
    • Char's colony and asteroid drop are also overlooked with more justification, as everyone - Char himself included - clearly has way bigger fish to fry. Amuro and Char even cooperate to an even friendlier extent than they did in Zeta.
  • Eldritch Abomination: Perfectio, king of the Ruina Energy Beings from another dimension. Since Perfectio feeds on despair, the Ruina try to turn Earth into his cattle farm by sealing Earth in another dimension. While it's possible to destroy the Ruina, Perfectio's Nigh-Invulnerable and can only be stopped by sealing the gate to its home dimension. If it fully enters a universe, that universe is instantly destroyed. That's why the humans of Megazone 23's universe considered scorching their own Earth an acceptable tactic to stop it from entering their universe.
  • The Empire: The Gishin Empire and the Zanscare Empire.
  • Enemy Mine: While Destiny includes antagonists from Gundam ZZ, Char's Counterattack and Gundam Wing, the situation at hand causes them to have the competence to ally with you all at the start since things are bad enough. Due to the Zanscare Empire attacking Earth, along with the Invaders and the Protodevlin, and the united alien forces of the villains from Daltanious, Godmars and Grendizer, the heroes quickly realize pretty much the only organizations out there that still have the sheer manpower to defend humanity are the Neo Zeon and the Organization of Zodiac. Thankfully, Roger Smith takes care of the negotiations. This results in one of the first heroic roles for longstanding villains like Char (his roles as Quattro aside).
  • Evil Versus Oblivion: Pretty much the premise of the first portion of the game, with the Neo Zeon and others who have no choice but to work with them fighting against even bigger threats.
  • The Federation: Subverted. Unlike in almost every other SRW title, where Earth is united under one of these (most frequently the Earth Federation), the Earth Unified Government was in tatters before the plot even started.
  • Fix Fic: At one point, Destiny follows the plot of Megazone 23 Parts I and II (putting the "Trash" gang on a bus), until Eve sends the entire Megazone to another dimension to keep ADAM from destroying everything. Destiny also allows the player to gain back Kinryu, who was Killed Off for Real in the TV series. In addition, Junko Jenko and Odelo do not die in Destiny; however, Oliver Inoue does still die, albeit through a different manner than in the series.
  • Galactic Conqueror: Emperor Zuul.
  • Gratuitous Latin: All Ruina characters and mecha. There's actually a pretty good reason for this...
  • The Heartless: The Ruina, in the sense that they're powered by negative emotions of some sort or another.
  • Holding Back the Phlebotinum: If you choose to go to Jupiter to complete the Armageddon storyline, you get to play with Shin Dragon for a stage, but after that stage, they reveal that Shin Dragon's reactor is completely drained. You don't get it back until the late 30s, so you'll have to put the Shin Getter team in classic Getter or Black Getter.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Trieze Kushrenada does this to defeat Perfectio.
    • Dr. Kabuto remains in the Scientific Fortress to allow everyone inside to escape from the Ruina's assault.
  • Humongous Combining and/or Transforming Real and Super Robots
  • Lightning Bruiser: The (Proto) Garland. Granted, its armor is crap, but it's agile enough to not need armor, and WOW does it hit hard when fully upgraded (specifically, its standard "Physical Attack" has a high critical hit rate, accurate, and doesn't cost EN; combine this with its 4 parts slots, and it will very easily be getting nothing but critical hits at a decent range in no time flat).
  • Midseason Upgrade: Destiny notably gives Amuro three of them in a single playthrough. He begins with the Re-GZ, then moves to the Nu Gundam. If certain requirements are met, the Nu Gundam HWS (Heavy Weapons System) is unlocked. Finally, the uber-powerful Hi-Nu Gundam is a mandatory upgrade for the last scenarios of the game. In a twist, while upgrades carry over from the Nu to the Nu HWS, it doesn't for the Hi-Nu.
  • Mythology Gag: Getter Robo in Destiny uses the exact same Open Get sequence from Super Robot Wars Impact (Getter 3/Shin Getter-3/Shin Poseidon, Getter 1/Shin Getter-1/Shin Dragon and Getter 2/Shin Getter-2/Shin Liger).
  • New Game Plus: Like most SRWs, Destiny carries over kill count totals, customizations and credits to the next playthrough. However, customizations are unit-specific, so if you get a new or secret unit/character for the first time, it starts as a blank slate on the next playthrough.
  • Nintendo Hard: A variant exists with unlocking Haman. She will only join the party if take the Angel Halo route, sortie Char, Kamille and Judau Ashta during a certain scenario (and they survive), and ensure those three pilots' kill count exceeds 400 or more collectively before a certain point in the game. The first two are easy; the last one? Basically impossible/impractical for your first time through.
    • Just to twist the knife further, should you cheat and set those characters' kill totals to the appropriate amount, you still have to wait until you clear the game once before Haman can be recruited. That's right: Haman Karn is exclusively a New Game Plus Secret Character.
  • Physical God: During the final battle with Emperor Zuul, you have to destroy three fake versions of him before you get to fight the real deal. Not only is the real one much tougher than the fakes, but he actually regenerates after you beat him once. As if that's not bad enough, he fully regenerates again after you take out one third of his health. All these reality warping bullshit arguably makes him the most frustrating boss in the game.
  • Put on a Bus: Emerald Force member Physica and Gamlin Kizaki's custom VF-22, Dr. Hell, Baron Ashura, Count Brocken, the Mycenae Empire, Judau's friends and younger sister do not appear in Destiny.
  • Redshirt Army: For once, not the basic grunts typical of a Gundam series, but the VF-11 Thunderbolt appears, as well. There's also a Taurus squad that gets destroyed by the Shin Dragon.
    • In fact, if nameless Macross7 OR OZ forces show up on your side at any given time, consider them already dead.
  • Shut Up, Kirk!: Emperor Zuul gives one to Relena Peacecraft.
  • Theme Initials: As of 2nd Original Generations, all of the Banpresto Originals' theme musics have titles that start with D. Destinies, Desire, Drumfire, Duologue, Duet, Destine, Deliverer, Devastator, Despair...
  • Too Dumb to Live: Duke Dermail, even more so than his canon counterpart. Literally every decision he makes ends up backfiring spectacularly: Give the Axis to Char? He drops it on Earth. Call the Macross 7 Fleet back? Not only do they refuse to obey OZ, who toppled the only government they recognized, but the Protodevlins also follow them to Earth. Refuse Neo Zeon's ceasefire? Lady Une realizes that he's a liability and turns against him, which ultimately leads to his Karmic Death.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Chronicle and Katejina are much less bonkers and murderous in the game than they were in the series, to help suspend the disbelief that they'd be worth saving in the first place. And then there's B.D, who is recruitable if you beat him quickly enough, and isn't the same population-controlling ass he was in the show. Also, Char is less obsessed with his former ambition of forcing everyone to become Newtypes and becomes an honest-to-God Big Good for a change. Also qualifies as Adaptational Heroism.
  • Unnecessarily Large Interior: The final scenario is a particularly egregious example. It takes place in an underground base at the South Pole. One of the battleships available for the mission is the Battle 7, a transforming Cool Starship that stands 1400 meters tall (about 200 meters short of a mile). It still has room to either fly or walk.
    • A scenario or two earlier tries to take this into account: the only battleship you can use is the Ra Calium. However, you can still sortie the much larger Shin Dragon as one of your units.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: If you choose to go to space for the first few scenarios, the story focuses on making it really damn clear that Char is this, stripping the "extremist" part away with the sudden disappearance of Earth and basically turning him into the Big Good for a while.
  • Where It All Began: The final battlefield is located in the South Pole, where you first get to control Joshua and Cliana.
  • Why Am I Ticking?: Takeru is connected to a bomb that can wipe out the Earth via his brainwaves stored in the Godmars itself; therefore, players unfamiliar with Godmars are likely to be surprised when they get a game over if Godmars is destroyed (although, if you've played 4 any of the games featuring Space Runaway Ideon, you'll be quick to pick this little detail up). It doesn't help that Takeru's Gaia (initially) transforms into Godmars when it's severely damaged (i.e. HP bar is in the red), either. This little penalty also applies when you're in space and nowhere near a planet, too.
  • You Killed My Father: Kouji Kabuto and Tetsuya Tsurugi want to kill Ignis for the death of Kenzo Kabuto. However, they realized that their desire for revenge was actually fueling the Ruina, and eventually grew out of it, deciding to fight for the sake of protecting Earth rather than avenging Kenzo.

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