Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars (Z.O.E. 2173 Testament in Japan) is a 2001 spinoff of the Zone of the Enders franchise. Unlike its mecha action console brethren, it's a Turn-Based Strategy game, not dissimilar from the Super Robot Wars franchise by the same developer, Banpresto. The twist is that during combat, attacks' success is not determined purely by stats (or the Random Number God), but also by a short first person minigame where the player targets/evades the enemy, thus adding a degree of skill to the proceedings.
The story is set in 2173 (as the Japanese title implies) and follows Cage Midwell a worker on an interplanetary express ship who, finds an LEV hidden with an advanced AI when he spots a Mysterious Waif in the cargo hold. The ship falls under attack and he takes control of the LEV along with the girl, Myona, to make their escape. The pair eventually fall in with a resistance group trying to fight Earthnoid superiority and get caught up in the conflict between Earth and Mars.
The Game provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Semil and Mebius are both skilled runners and unapologetically feminine.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Ares and Myona, two of the people closest to Cage suffer through this, being turned against him through no fault of their own.
- The Chessmaster: As in the main series, Nohman. It is revealed in The Stinger at the end of the game that the entire game's plot was a ploy to get rid of his opposition within the leadership of BAHRAM.
- Cutting Off the Branches: Halfway through, the storyline splits depending on whether you destroy more or less enemy units than a trio of NPCs. However, while the routes are notably different, the ending is more or less the same for both routes.
- Damsel in Distress: Myona Alderan is also targetted by the villains because of her special ability.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Cage is genuinely surprised when another character refers to Phil as a male, as his long, flowing blonde hair looks incredibly feminine.
- Falling into the Cockpit: Cage had no intention of becoming a LEV pilot, but when his ship came under attack, had no choice but to hop in to save himself and become its pilot.
- A Father to His Men: Deckson is such a gifted leader partially for his skills, his noble goals, his genuine care for his subordinates, and the loyalty to him that all this creates.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Phil has a million different misgivings with Cage and they all tie back to this, namely that the girl he has a crush on is attracted to Cage, and that Cage gets to take the helm of every sortie despite being the newbie while Phil himself is marginalized and stuck in a support role. Depending on which route the player takes, he may even pull a Face–Heel Turn because of this trope. Fittingly enough, Phil even has green eyes.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Myona falls into this line of thinking after regaining her memory. She even tries to die in the facility where she got turned into a Tyke-Bomb so her friends do not get hurt by people who may come after her in one of the two possible scenarios.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Myona begins the game with very convenient amnesia.
- Mysterious Waif: Myona is found in the hold of a ship where she shouldn't be, near a mysterious LEV, and has even more mysterious amnesia.
