The Guardians of the Lost Code (Brijes 3D) is a Mexican animated film released in 2010 as part of the festivities of the Bicentennial Anniversary of Mexico's Independence.
In the beginning, when there was magic in the world, humans lived in harmony with magical beings called "Brijes". Each human would have a Brije assigned to him or her as a magical guardian; when the human turned 13, it was a custom to be instructed in the art of "Synchronicity" in which the human and Brije would fuse their bodies into something called "The Warrior Form". For thousands of years this alliance worked wonderfully, but as humans stopped believing in magic they stopped believing in Brijes too, and many Brijes who were left alone without a master were corrupted by The Dark, who manipulated them in order to obtain the secret of the synchronicity and turned them into Dark Brijes. The Dark soon launched a conquest against the few humans who still believed in magic and one by one they were conquered, but the secret of the synchronicity remained safe.
Now, in the present day, planets and stars have aligned and there's a prophecy of three young chosen ones who will find the codex which contains the secret of the synchronicity and use it to vanquish the darkness and restore the alliance between humans and Brijes. Three kids, Freddy, Kimo and Atzi, are the chosen ones for this quest, but the Dark will do everything to stop them and claim the codex for itself.
This movie provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Atzi.
- Dark Action Girl: Mutey.
- Adults Are Useless: The chosen ones are children, but this is justified in that only children, or those with childlike qualities such as innocence or the ability to dream, can still see Brijes.
- Aerith and Bob: The main characters' names: Kimo, Atzi and Freddy.
- Same thing with their Brijes: Cloko, Bri and Hopper.
- All Myths Are True: Mythological gods like Shun Yu, Ra, Anubis and Quetzalcoatl are in reality the most powerful, oldest and wisest of Warrior Forms, who banded together and formed the "Brije Council".
- Animal Motifs: The Brijes themselves, to reflect an aspect of the personality of their masters:
- Animesque: One of the most respectable examples. Some of the animation techniques and character expressions wouldn’t be too out of place in an anime like Pokémon.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: The fall of great civilizations and ancient conquests were revealed to be driven by The Dark to eliminate the Brijes and obtain the synchronicity. The last instance of this was the conquest of the Americas, in which we see Hernan Cortes, under orders of The Dark, torturing the last Aztec emperor Cuauhtemoc for the secret of the synchronicity.
- Big Bad: The Dark, but Elmer acts as its Dragon-in-Chief.
- Bird People: The Warrior Forms of Atzi, Tetzin, and Elmer and Garras are humanoid birds; Atzi in her warrior form looks like a female humanoid hummingbird, while Tetzin looks like a very beautiful humanoid women eagle, while Elmer and Garras take on the warrior form of a powerful demonic humanoid hummingbird.
- Bond Creatures: The eponymous Brijes.
- The Chosen One: Freddy, Kimo, and Atzi are said to be this at the beginning of the movie by the Brije Council, each of them described with different traits that explain themselves. However, at the start of the film's climax, we learn that the actual Chosen Ones were in fact the kids that were harassing our heroes throughout the movie: Púas, Muty, and Zejas. The same traits used to describe Freddy, Kimo, and Atzi are then used to describe Púas, Muty, and Zejas, and actually fit the latter three much better in hindsight.
- Disney Death: Muty.
- The Dragon: Elmer is this for The Dark, Garras is this for Elmer.
- Establishing Character Moment: Freddy's enthusiastic zeal to explore the museum and learn its secrets at the beginning of the Movie does a lot to explain himself. Zejas intimidating a "toll" of some change and a yoyo from a little kid when we first see him does the same for him.
- Evil Counterpart: Elmer recruits three street kids - Púas, Muty and Zejas - to bond with Brijes of their own and serve The Dark with him.
- Exact Words: The Chosen ones are described as one whose heart longs for attention but also friendship, a young lady who is sensitive and intelligent beyond words but also a warrior, and one who wants to protect his friends and destroy evil. It turns out our main protagonists are not the chosen ones, but rather the "Dark Chosen" who better fit this description.
- Fusion Dance: The "Warrior Form" between the Brije and its master fuses them together for an increase in power.
- Heel–Face Turn: The alleged "Dark Chosen" go through this during the climax, right after it was revealed that they were the true Chosen Ones after all. Zejas even gives the above-mentioned kid his yoyo back.
- Kid Hero: Freddy, Atzi, and Kimo are 13 years old.
- Mons: The Brijes, again.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: In Atzi and Tetzin's Bird Warrior Forms they have breasts. but this is justified, since they are human girls fused with their Brijes and in their warrior forms they give them adult humanoid appearances.
- One-Winged Angel: Elmer and Garras assume one after their warrior form is defeated by the heroes.
- Our Alebrijes Are Different: The brijes are based on alebrijes, but encompass beings from other cultures too. They used to be in contact with humans, amongst others through their dreams, and each human was paired with a brije they could combine with into a Warrior Form. The contact eventually fizzled out and in the present it's up to a group of Chosen Ones to restore the old alliance.
- Plot Twist: Elmer's group of so-called "Dark Chosen" were the real Chosen Ones referred to in the prophecy.
- The Psycho Rangers: Elmer enlists the help of three street kids to fight directly against the chosen ones. Turns out that Elmer's group WERE the chosen ones, which they were trying to corrupt.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Inverted with Cloko and Scales, resembling a chameleon and an alligator respectively, and both of whom are warm, friendly and devoted to their human partners.
- Scary Scorpions: Averted with Claw, Zejas' partner, who's not very creepy at all.
- The Voiceless: Muty. She stopped talking after a past incident that was left purposefully vaguenote . True to form, at the end of the movie she speaks her only line of dialogue - "Brother!"
- Tom the Dark Lord: Elmer doesn't sound like a terribly menacing name for a villain.
- Wicked Cultured: Elmer, as shown by his mansion and interest in the occult.
