Shield Liger

The Shield Liger is a Lion type Zoid, one of over 200 species of biomechanical lifeforms central to the Zoids model kit, toy, and media franchises owned and primarily distributed by TOMY. The Shield Liger plays a central role in Zoids: Chaotic Century, and appears in most of the anime series and video games.

Overview

The Shield Liger is a Lion type Zoid, created by the Helic Republic, and used during the various wars on Zi.

The Shield Liger's design was inspired by the Sabre Tiger, with the two designs sharing a number of components. While not created in direct competition to it, the Shield Liger proved to be a match for the Zenebas Zoid; the two had comparable arsenals and performance. While fast and agile in its day, the Shield Liger's performance has been exceeded by more modern Zoids. However, the Shield Liger remains a capable and versatile Zoid.

The Shield Liger's most distinctive feature is the Energy Shield built into its mane that gives it its name. The Shield Liger was the first Zoid to use an energy shield, at the time giving it an unparalleled advantage. The Shield covers the Liger's forwards half, protecting it from enemy weapons fire. In addition to a defensive measure, the Shield can also be utilised for high-speed ramming attacks.

The Zoid's principal weakness is its weak ranged weapons. To counter this shortcoming, the Republic developed the Shield Liger Mk II. This variant mounted a pair of heavy beam cannons on its back, greatly improving its firepower and performance. The extra weight of the cannons did reduce the Zoid’s overall speed, but this was seen as an acceptable trade-off.

A more advanced derivative of the Zoid is the Shield Liger Double Cannon Special - Jet, also known as the DCS-J. This version includes the beam cannons from the Mk II, but features greatly enhanced performance and improved defensive systems. The changes also renders the Zoid very difficult to control, with only the most experienced pilots able to use the Zoid.

Finally, the Shield Liger is also the basis of the Blade Liger design.

Battle Story appearances

The Shield Liger was first fielded by the Helic Republic in ZAC 2042, during the first Helic-Zenebas war. The Shield Liger quickly became an invaluable part of the Republic's forces, its Energy Shield and performance making it one of the few Zoids able to stand against the Zenebas onslaught. However, even it proved to be ineffective in combating the Deathsaurer.

In ZAC 2044, the Helic army introduced a new model, the Shield Liger Mk II. This version featured improved weaponry, greatly improving on the design's capabilities. The Shield Liger Mk II was an invaluable part of the Helic army's force used to retake its capital and eventually defeat the Zenebas Empire. The Shield Liger remained in service afterwards, but was eventually replaced by the King Liger.

Following the meteor strike of ZAC 2056, the Helic Republic lost the ability to produce high-performance Zoids like the King Liger. Instead, they began production of a new model of Shield Liger for their forces, based on the original model rather than the Mk II.

The Shield Liger was used during the Western Continent War against the Guylos Army; during that conflict the Shield Liger had the dubious distinction of being the first Zoid to face off against the Genosaurer and the resurrected Deathsaurer. In response to the annihilation of the Shield Liger force by these two Zoids, the Helic Republic developed an upgraded version, known as the Shield Liger DCS-J featuring considerably improved performance. However, the Zoid proved to be difficult to control, and was discontinued in favour of the Blade Liger.

Media appearances

Anime

Chaotic Century and Guardian Force

The Shield Liger initially appeared in Zoids: Chaotic Century. In the first episode, Van found a derelict Shield Liger in the desert, which was restored to life by his Organoid, Zeke. Van used the Zoid to fight off members of Rosso's Desert Alcaveleno Gang, and later defended his village against the full gang, including a Redhorn. Van continued to use the Shield Liger for the first half of the series, until it was destroyed by Raven's Genosaurer. The Zoid was subsequently resurrected by Zeke as the Blade Liger.

Other Shield Ligers appeared during Chaotic Century, used by the Helic Republic's army. Several characters, including Colonel Kruger and Captain Hermann, piloted them in various episodes. Some of these Zoids were coloured the same as the OJR 'Shield Liger Mk II' release (white and dark blue), as well as blue ones similar to Van's. Van's Shield Liger, however, had gold feet, whereas the rest had silver feet. This could be seen as a kind of foreshadowing of the Blade Liger, which also has gold feet.

New Century Zero

Leon Toros used a blue Shield Liger in the first two episodes of Zoids: New Century Zero, before he left the Blitz Team. He used the Zoid while travelling, until it was destroyed in a battle. He later replaced it with a red Blade Liger.

Comics and Manga

UK Zoids Comic

Shield Liger's only appearance in the UK comics was limited to a promotional flyer of dubious canonicity. Like the other large Zoids in the UK comic, it was depicted as being a unique character.

Chaotic Century

In the Chaotic Century manga, Van does not encounter the Shield Liger for several issues. When he does, he finds it guarding the tomb of its former pilot, Moonbay's older brother. Despite the Zoid's initial hostility to Van and his companions, Van is eventually able to win over the Zoid, and becomes its new pilot. The Shield Liger piloted by Van is named Caesar.

Video games

Like most Zoids, the Shield Liger (along with numerous variants based around weapons-fit and pilot-character) appears in the Zoids Saga Game Boy Advance/Nintendo DS series and the Zoids VS GameCube series. The Desert Liger plays a heavy role in the first VS game.

A specialised variant of the Shield Liger, designed for high-speed combat and bearing a head redesigned to minimise aerodynamic resistance, also appears in both series. This variant is known as the Aero Liger, which, though not released as a model kit, has been released as resin custom parts in very limited numbers.

Models

Original Japanese Release

• Assembly required. (Snap-together, no glue needed. Scissors or X-acto knife recommended for trimming off excess plastic bits.)
• The model's colours are moulded into the plastic, and it does not need any paint.

The Shield Liger kit comes on five frames (two of which are shared with the Sabre Tiger), along with a battery-powered motor (also shared with the Sabre Tiger), a semi-transparent canopy cover, sixteen rubber caps, a small chromed gold pilot, and label sheets. The Shield Liger is moulded in blue and black, with silver weapons and teeth, and a smoke-coloured canopy.

The Shield Liger’s construction isn’t overly complex or difficult, putting it roughly in the middle of the range for Zoid complexity. The Shield Liger uses a pair of "AA" sized batteries for motion. Once activated, the Zoid walks forwards with its jaws chomping. The Shield Liger also features two movable panels on its mane, a pair of concealed missile pods, and a retractable cannon turret.

Like several other Zoids of the time, the Shield Liger could use a number of different optional weapons that were included in the Republic Customise Set. The Shield Liger was released in 1985, and was produced up until about 1987.

Initially, the Shield Liger was given the type number RPZ-02, the same as the earlier Gustav.

Original European Release

The Shield Liger was released in the UK and Europe in 1986-1987 under the name Shield Tiger. There were no changes to the model, aside from packaging. The Shield Tiger is considered to be the rarest OER Zoid that can be confirmed to be released.

Robostrux

The Shield Liger was released in the U.S. circa 1986, under the name Fangz. The Zoid was recoloured in a dull blue colour, with a black frame. The model had only a very short production run and is the rarest Robostrux model. No complete samples have ever been located.

Shield Liger Mk II

File:Sligermk2.jpg

Shield Liger Mk II

In 1987, TOMY introduced a new version of the Shield Liger, replacing the existing one in production. This version had a new colour scheme; white armour and blue structure in place of the original blue and black, as well as golden weapons and fangs. It also featured new parts, with a pair of large beam cannons added to the Zoid, attached on the missile launcher arms.

Zoids2

A version of the Shield Liger was released in the European Zoids2 line in the mid-90s, under the name Claw. This version was coloured mostly a pale chrome gold, navy blue, and black with small amounts of neon green.

Technozoids

The Zoids2 Claw was also released in the U.S. and Canada, as a part of the Technozoids line. This version was identical, and may have simply been a re-release of leftover stock.

New Japanese Release

The Shield Liger was re-released as a part of the New Japanese Release in 1999. The new Shield Liger incorporated several changes from the original version. The blue was a darker colour, the canopies are orange and the pilot was now grey. The motor was changed to work off a single AA battery with no loss of performance. The battery lid was also modified to have a screw-down cover, rather than the clip-down one of the original.

TOMY also released an upgrade kit for the Shield Liger, the CP-01 'Dual Beam Cannon'. This unit is based on the cannons that were released with the Shield Liger Mk II, but the old plastic tubes are replaced by silver coilsprings. The Shield Liger can also use the CP-15 'Assault Gattling Unit', using the same connection as it uses on the Blade Liger. The unit even includes a pair of pegs to allow it to use both CP-15 and CP-01 at the same time.

Shield Liger DCS-J

In 2000, TOMY released a limited edition Shield Liger. This version included the CP-01, a custom sticker sheet, and was moulded in black, grey, and silver. Also known as the "Leomaster", this version only had a very limited release.

In late 2005, a second run of Shield Liger DCS-J models was made available to collectors. It should be noted that while the original DCS-J has a clip-shut battery cover like the old release, the newer ones have the same screw-shut kind as the regular NJR.

New American Release

The Shield Liger was re-released in North America by Hasbro in 2001. There were no changes from the New Japanese Release version, aside from packaging.

The Zoid was also released in the New Pacific Release in near-identical packaging.

Holotech Shield Liger

In 2004, Hasbro released a second version of the Shield Liger. While similar in colour, several of the armour frames were moulded in semi-transparent blue plastic. The Holotech Shield Liger was one of the last Zoids released in the New American Release, and received only very limited distribution, mostly in Canada.

New European Release

TOMY released the Shield Liger in England in 2003. This version was identical in colouration to the NJR version.

Desert Shield Liger

File:Desertliger.jpg

Desert Shield Liger

This version of the Shield Liger was released in 2004 as a limited edition, sold with the Japanese release of the Zoids VS II GameCube game. This version was coloured in desert yellow and brown.

NAR White Shield Liger

File:123WhiteLiger.jpg

White Shield Liger

Hasbro planned a second Shield Liger version for release as a part of the NAR. This version was based on the primarily white Shield Ligers seen in the Chaotic Century anime, and thus resembled the Shield Liger Mk II, only with an orange canopy and no CP-01. Additionally, the standard Shield Liger label sheet was redrawn with yellow labels replacing most of the white ones. However, the NAR was discontinued before the Zoid was released. A few examples were released to stores in the UK in late 2006.

TDP Shield Liger Mk II

In 2005, Toy's Dream Project re-released the Shield Liger Mk II. The TDP Mk II was near-identical to the original Shield Liger Mk II, with the only real visible differences a darker tint to the smoke canopy and the replacement of the plastic tubes connecting the cannons to the body with black coilsprings (likely because the old tubes had a habit of melting to plastic). The release was unfortunately marred by several moulding errors: some Shield Ligers were missing hardpoints on the cannons, preventing attachment of the decorative springs representing energy tubes.

Shield Liger Blox

Although not a 'true' Shield Liger model, the Shield Liger Blox was released as a limited edition through the 2005 Zoids Tactics game. The model is designed around a Leoblaze, with scaled down versions of the Shield Liger's head, back, leg armour, and weapons designed to work with the Leoblaze's core structure and legs.

The Zoid has been in development for at least two years before release; a prototype appearing at TOMY's 'Zoids 20th Anniversary Expo' in 2003. The Zoid has been redesignated RZ-007-BX, and includes a custom sticker sheet and standard grey pilot. The Shield Liger Blox is non-canonical in regards to the Battle Story.

High-End Master Model

In late 2006, a high-quality remodelled Shield Liger was released by TOMY and Kotobukiya as the first release of the High-end Master Model line.

A second limited edition of the HMM kit was recoloured in Desert Liger colours and a third was done in Shield Liger MK II style, complete with HMM versions of the CP-01 Dual Beam Cannons.

External Link

strikerunit.hobbyfrontier.com