Voltron

Voltron
File:Voltron in the sun.jpg Lions combined to form Voltron
Genre	Mecha
Anime
Directed by	Hiroshi Sasagawa Katsuhiko Taguchi Kazushi Nomura Kazuyuki Okaseko
Studio	Toei Animation

Voltron is a shape-changing giant mecha robot first featured in the 1980s animated television series Voltron, Defender of the Universe. There has since been a second series, made in the 1990s using CGI techniques. The 1980s Voltron series was based on two vaguely-related Japanese anime series (both originally produced by Toei Animation & Bandai, who also produced the popular Super Sentai series in Japan). The anime was dubbed and strung together by North American television production and distribution company World Events Productions. The series was not a straight dub, however, as much of the violence of the original Japanese series was removed (among other things).

Lion Voltron (Voltron of the Far Universe)

The first episodes were based on the 1981 series Hundred Beast King FiveLion (百獣王ゴライオン - Hyakujūō Goraion), and featured a team of five young pilots commanding five robot lions, which could be combined to form Voltron. In this era, the Voltron force was in charge of protecting the planet Arus (ruled by Princess Allura) from the evil King Zarkon, his son Lotor, and the witch Hagar, who would create huge Robeasts to terrorize the people of Arus. (This storyline is similar to those of the Toei Super Sentai shows, which formed the basis for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.) Despite being the first of the two robots to appear on American television, the "Go Lion" version of Voltron was regarded as "Voltron III" within the toyline, possibly because of its distance from Earth.

Voltron, in the comic book series published by Devil's Due, was originally a unified machine intelligence. He did not break into five pieces and had "normal" hands and feet. Voltron was tricked by Haggar into landing on a black comet with nearly the gravitational attraction of a singularity. Voltron was then attacked by Haggar and somehow blown into five pieces. They became the five "lions".

Vehicle Voltron (Voltron of the Near Universe)

Later episodes were based on the 1982 series Armored Fleet Dairugger XV (機甲艦隊 ダイラガーXV - Kikō Kantai Dairagā XV), and changed the storyline considerably. In this iteration of Voltron, the Galaxy Alliance's home planets have been overcrowded, and a fleet of Explorers have been sent to look for new planets to colonize. Along the way, they attract the attention of the evil Drule, who proceeds to interfere with the explorers and the colonists. Since the Voltron of Planet Arus was too far away to help the explorers, a new Voltron is constructed to battle the Drule threat.

This Voltron team consisted of 15 members and were divided into three teams of five, known respectively as the Land, Sea and Air Teams. Each team was specialized in gathering data or fighting in their area of expertise. Each team could also combine their vehicles into a bigger machine, with each combined vehicle differing amongst the three teams. These fighters were:

• The Aqua Fighter (Sea Team)
• The Turbo Terrain Fighter (Land Team)
• The Strato Fighter (Air Team)

When necessary, all 15 vehicles combine to form the mighty Voltron. This Voltron in the toyline was referred to as Voltron I and also called the Vehicle Team, possibly due to it being closer to Earth than the more popular Voltron III or Lion Force Voltron.

In the recent comic by Image and Devil's Due Publishing, this Voltron came about through the capture and study of the original Voltron. Thus, while machines cannot truly be cloned, this Voltron could be considered an imperfect clone of Voltron. The machine was referred to in one issue as V-15, and was actually attacked by the Lion Voltron in order to repair itself. Unlike in the animated series, which only had two crossovers with the Lion Force (once at the end of the Lion Force run and the other in the Fleet of Doom special which brought both Voltrons together), in which the two Voltron Forces were longstanding friends in most cases, the comics depicted Keith and Jeff having an antagonistic relationship with one another, particularly in regards to Voltron's supposed 'sneak attack' on the Vehicle Voltron.

In early episodes, it was mentioned that the Vehicle Voltron once assembled had only five minutes of fuel. This was promptly forgotten during later episodes.

Gladiator Voltron (Voltron of the Middle Universe)

There were plans for yet another Voltron, which would have been based on the series Light Speed Electric God Albegas (光速電神アルベガス - Kōsoku Denjin Arubegasu). This series would have featured three smaller humanoid robots (named alpha, beta and gamma) that combined to form one larger robot aka Voltron. It was housed in a mountain base, and wielded a sword like the other Voltrons. Due to the strong popularity of the Lion Voltron, the unenthusiastic response to the Vehicle Voltron and Albegas' lack of popularity in Japan, World Events Productions, (the St. Louis, Missouri based company who owns the rights for both Voltron series) ultimately decided against another alternate Voltron series. Matchbox released a toy of Gladiator Voltron labeled Voltron II, in addition to Voltron I (Vehicle Voltron) and Voltron III (Lion Voltron).

To appease fans who wanted to see a spawned feature from the Voltron II toy, Gladiator Voltron made a brief, one-panel appearance in the Devil's Due comic in 2004.

New Projects

• Voltron: The Fleet of Doom - In 1986, World Events had Toei Animation produce some additional footage to create this crossover television special which was otherwise mainly composed of recycled GoLion and Dairugger footage. Made for the international markets, this special has not been released in Japan.

File:Voltron.jpg

Voltron: The Third Dimension

• Voltron: The Third Dimension - After some initial interest, a computer-generated series was released in 1998 (set five years after the end of the original Lion Voltron series) to a mixed response because of its departure from the original Lion Voltron's anime look, as well as some character changes such as the physical appearance of Prince Lotor. Two of the most infamous scenes coming from this series are the scene where Keith pulled a gun on Lance in a fight between the 2 Lion Force Members over authority in the episode A Rift in the Force and the destruction of the Voltron lions brought on by Amalgamus, the robot leader of the galaxy alliance in The Troika Moons saga. It served as a sequel to the Lion Voltron series, and among the tools used to bridge the gap was an official starmap as designed by Shannon Muir and finalized in partnership with World Events Productions. After Voltron: The Third Dimension, World Events Productions went back to the drawing board to develop a more traditionally animated series in an attempt to recapture the spirit of the original.

• Untitled Voltron Movie - Producer Mark Gordon (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) is developing a yet unnamed Voltron movie for release in 2008.
• Interactive Voltron Series - A new animated series originally slated to be released in the fall of 2005, it was set to be produced by Kickstart Productions, with Tom Pugsley and Greg Kline writing the episodes.

• New York based distributor Media Blasters has announced the release of Voltron commerically on August 23, 2006 in it's original broadcast version on DVD, as well as the two japanese shows that made up voltron, Hundred Beast King FiveLion(Golion) and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV. Each in their original japanese unedited versions with english subtitles.

Comic Books

In 1985, Modern Comics, an imprint of Charlton Comics, produced a three issue mini-series based on the Lion Voltron television show.

Lion Voltron recently was revived in print through a hit comic-book series from Image Comics. After a six issue run, Devils Due Publishing began to self publish Voltron. The series lasted another eleven issues, as well as two trade paperbacks collecting Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 Issues 1-5. The line was ended in 2004.

Characters

Note: Full names taken from Devils Due Comic Series

Japanese names are first, followed by the American names.

Based on the American version of Voltron: Defender of the Universe:

File:Voltron pilots01.jpg

Original Voltron team. From left to right: Sven, Keith, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk

• Akira Kogane (黄金旭 Kogane Akira) / Commander Keith Kogane - Commander and leader of the Voltron Force who pilots the Black Lion and wears a red uniform. He is approximately 21-23 years of age. Keith is a quiet individual who spends much of his time pondering his decisions, thinking up new strategies, and just being a leader. He also has this hobby of reading a lot of books. He can often be found doing so either in the pilot's lounge or in his room.

• Isamu Kurogane (黒銅勇 Kurogane Isamu) / Lance Charles McClain - Second in command of Voltron who pilots the Red Lion and wears a blue uniform. He is a tall man, both wiry and wiley, about 21-23 years of age. Lance is always cracking jokes and teasing others whenever he gets the chance. He is the only one in the group who has the guts to contest any of Keith's commands. He is also a ladies' man, a great pilot, though a bit too daring at times.

• Takashi Shirogane (銀貴 Shirogane Takashi) / Sven Holgersson - Sven was the original second in command who piloted the Blue Lion and wore a black uniform in the very beginning of the series. In episode 6, he was badly injured during an attack by Haggar and was sent away to be healed. Allura replaced him as the Blue Lion's pilot. His age is about the same as Keith's. Sven now resides on the Planet Pollux with Princess Romelle and Prince Bandor, both cousins of Allura. Sven was always very quiet and spoke only when he had something important to say. Though he may not show it, he is a very emotional person, and his heart is always leading his mind in any decision.

• Tsuyoshi Seido (青銅強 Seidō Tsuyoshi) / "Hunk" Garett - Hunk is the strong-man of the group, piloting the Yellow Lion and wearing a yellow uniform. He is about 22-24 years old. He may look tough and mean, but he has a soft heart, especially when it comes to children. He is never late for a meal. Though his friends tease him about his appetite, most of Hunk's bulk is muscle. Hunk was voiced by Lennie Weinrib.

• Hiroshi "Chibi" Suzuishi (錫石宏 Suzuishi Hiroshi) / Darrell "Pidge" Stoker - Pidge is the youngest and smallest of the group; he pilots the Green Lion and wears a green uniform. He is approximately 12 years old. Pidge graduated from the academy at a young age, and his specialty is science. Like the others, he is well-trained in martial arts and uses his size and agility to his advantage. Pidge is not afraid to speak his mind, especially to the villains, and his heart is often in his words. Pidge has a brother, Chip, who is a member of the Vehicle Voltron - Air Team.

File:V-princess-allura01.jpg

Princess Allura

• Princess Farla (ファーラ姫) / Princess Allura - Princess Allura of the planet Arus is the ruler of the Kingdom of Altaire (as well as the entire planet for the most part). She takes over for Sven as the pilot of the Blue Lion and wears a pink uniform. Her age is about 18-20. Though a bit naive, especially with matters of romance, Allura is a strong-willed person and is very capable of ruling her planet, though some like Coran and Nanny tend to disagree. Allura's voice was played by B.J. Ward.

• Princess Omuvei / Princess Romelle - Princess Romelle is Allura's cousin who lives on the planet Pollux, where she co-rules with her brother, Prince Bandor. She is a dead ringer to Princess Allura. Though once a slave of Lotor, Sven came to her rescue and together they fight for her people against the Drule empire. She is also in love with Sven, who returns her feelings.

• Raible / Coran - Coran is Allura's royal advisor, and is in charge of the Castle Control. He also advises the Voltron Force and is very wise, though he can be very overprotective and opinionated sometimes.

• Hisu / Nanny - Nanny is Allura's over-protective caregiver who always wants to make all of Allura's decisions for her. Like Coran, Nanny fusses over the Princess and is bent on keeping her away from all harm.

• Prince Sincline / Prince Lotor - Prince Lotor is the evil son of the Drule King Zarkon. He dislikes his father greatly and wishes to rule in his place along with Princess Allura, to whom he's developed a strong and obsessive attraction. Lotor is a very sly, smart, smooth, powerful man who exudes force and emanates pure evil. In Go Lion, Sincline's obssession with Fahra is due to the fact that she resembles his mother, whom Emperor Daibazar (aka King Zarkon) had killed. In other words, this is basically an Oedipus complex.

• Emperor Daibazar / King Zarkon - King Zarkon of the Planet Doom is one of the rulers of the Drule empire, though by no means the absolute ruler. He is constantly using others as scapegoats for his own failures, more often his son Lotor.

• Honerva / Haggar - Haggar the witch is the one responsible for creating all of the Robeasts Voltron must go up against. She is also notorious for using her dark magic to cast hypnotizing spells over people. Though she was once good and beautiful, she is now evil and ugly. It was Haggar who was responsible for originally splitting Voltron into 5 components. Like Princess Allura, Haggar's voice was played by B.J. Ward.

• King Raimon / King Alfor - King Alfor is Allura's deceased father and previous ruler of planet Arus. Years ago, King Alfor went up to battle against King Zarkon and his Doom forces in the Valley of Zoar on Planet Arus. He was tragically killed on that day. His body was placed in a royal tomb located right underneath the castle. Nowadays, He returns to the world of the living every so often in a ghostly form to give advice to his daughter to help her in her struggles to maintain peace on Arus and the surrounding galaxy. King Alfor is credited with being the designer of Voltron.

Vehicle Voltron Characters

File:Vehicle voltron.jpg

Top: The Air Team. Middle: The Land Team. Bottom: The Sea Team.

• Commander James Hawkins - Commander of the S.S. Explorer, it is Commander Hawkins who gives all the orders to the vehicle Voltron Force. Firm and strict, Hawkins is determined to make peace with the Drule Empire, despite how many times they attempt to backstab him in the process.

• Space Marshall Graham - Supreme commander of the Galaxy Alliance. Along with Commander Steele, he is usually conducting meetings discussing current situations involving the conflict with the Drule Empire.

• Commander Steele - High-ranking official of the Galaxy Alliance. Along with Space Marshall Graham, he is usually conducting meetings discussing current situations involving the conflict with the Drule Empire. He takes a more active role in the conflict towards the end of the series.

• Captain Newley - Captain of the S.S. Explorer and good friend to Commander Hawkins. Midway through the series, he got transferred back to Galaxy Garrison on Earth, but that didn't stop his fight against the Drules.

• Professor Page - The S.S. Explorer's chief scientist and acting physician, he can tell you all about a planet and even its cultures simply by examining a sample or an artifact.

Air Team

• Jeff Dukane - Leader of the Air Team and the entire vehicle Voltron Force, Jeff is hot-headed, occasionally quick-tempered, yet still brave and a very capable leader, even if he doesn't always follow the rules. Although dialogue early in the series hints at something going on between him and Ginger, later episodes suggest a relationship between him and Lisa, much as there was with their Dairugger XV counterparts.

• Chip Stoker - Member of the Air Team and the youngest member of the vehicle Voltron Force, Chip happens to be Pidge's twin brother, despite the fact that they are visibly different heights. Although not often prominently featured except for in one episode, Chip can be described as the brains of the Vehicle Force, much like Pidge is to the Lion Force.

• Ginger - Member of the Air Team and pilot of the ship that forms Voltron's chestplate. Despite her high, girlish voice, Ginger is a brave and capable pilot, and fights for a worthy cause ever since she helplessly watched her family get destroyed in an astro ship explosion when she was a little girl.

• Rocky - Brooklyn-accented member of the Air Team, usually described by fans as the "Hunk" of the vehicle Voltron Force.

Sea Team

• Cric - Hailing from an unnamed water planet, Cric is appropriately the leader of the Sea Team. Speaking with an otherworldly alien accent, he has clairvoyant powers that tend to tell him when something bad is about to happen.

• Lisa - Kind and compassionate member of the Sea Team. She is very knowledgeable in ancient cultures, and always seems to know the right thing to say to others. It is most likely she is in a relationship with Jeff, much like their Dairugger XV counterparts.

• Shannon - Irish-accented member of the Sea Team. Like Ginger, he too fights for a worthy cause, as his brother is a prisoner of the Drule Empire.

Land Team

• Cliff - Leader of the Land Team. He has a strong Australian accent and sometimes tends to have a wry sense of humor.

• Cinda - Member of the Land Team. Like Lisa, she too is kind and compassionate, especially when it comes to nature. She comes from the same water planet as Cric.

• Modoch - Large member of the Land Team who can best be described as a "gentle giant".

• Marvin & Hutch - Good buddies and members of the Land Team, these two are often seen together, either playing cards or brawling with each other. While Marvin is usually comedic, Hutch is a regular tough guy, always looking for a good fight.

• Wolo, Zandee, and Tagor - The remaining members of the vehicle Voltron Force who are usually treated as unmeantionable background characters, although Wolo has had at least one moment to shine.

Drule

• Commander Hazar - High-ranking warlord of the Drule Empire. At the beginning of the series, he was a typical Drule leader bent on galactic conquest. However, midway through the series, he begins to have a change of heart and becomes more compassionate in his quest, and, like Commander Hawkins, tries time and time again to arrange for peace between the Drule Empire and the Galaxy Alliance. Throughout the series, he has had to put up with demotions, imprisonment, and worst of all, trecherous underlings who repeatedly and deliberately disobey his direct orders of helping bring peace in favor of attacking the Alliance.

• Dorma - Hazar's kindhearted sister, who appears towards the end of the series. When she is kidnapped by the Drule U.R.F. (Underground Rebel Force), she agrees to join in their fight for peace and freedom on planet Drule.

• Chancellor Mozak - Hazar and Dorma's father, and kindhearted member of the Drule Supreme Council, he wishes nothing more than for peace and freedom on planet Drule. He often clashes his views with Viceroy Throk.

• Captain Mongo - One of the Drule Empire's best officers, and loyal friend to Hazar. When Hazar began to have a change of heart, Mongo was one of the few Drules who supported him, and he continued to loyally support him until he eventually went into exhile midway through the series.

• Bakki - Founder of the U.R.F., Bakki is a kind Drule who hopes to liberate planet Drule's citizens from the tyranny of the Drule higher-ups.

• Captain Nerok - Cruel and heavyset Drule officer. A natural-born kiss-up and backstabber, he lives for nothing more than destroying the Galaxy Alliance and making Hazar look like a fool.

• Marshall Keezor - Wicked and crafty member of the Drule Supreme Council. He first arrived personally to give Hazar the news of his demotion, then appeared to take on Hazar's duties of eliminating the Voltron Force. In the Lion Voltron series, it was Keezor who arranged for Zarkon to be stripped of powers and have those powers handed over to Lotor.

• Viceroy Throk - Possibly the worst of the worst, Throk is at bitter ends with Mozak and Hazar, and the loyalist supporter of Emperor Zeppo. Throk became the main baddy under Zeppo towards the very end of the series, especially when it came to the Voltron Force arriving on planet Drule to aide Hazar in liberating the planet and overthrowing Zeppo. Later, Throk would join forces with Zarkon in building the universe's most feared space armada, the Fleet of Doom!

• Emperor Zeppo - Through most of the series, all we ever see of Zeppo is a portait of him adorning every Drule command ship. It is not until much later that he is introduced in the flesh, attending meetings of the Drule Supreme Council. No other Drule is higher up than Emperor Zeppo. When the liberation of planet Drule finally came, Zeppo quietly stood by as Hazar personally overthrew his rule. Hazar was immediately Drule's rightful emperor, though he then decreed that their world would no longer have any Emperors, but that leaders would from then on be elected. Zeppo and Throk proceded to quietly flee the dying planet. Shortly after the inevitable destruction of planet Drule, the liberated citizens were moved to a new planet by the Galaxy Alliance. As soon as they settled in, Zeppo and Throk set up a decoy to distract the Voltron Force while the remnants of the Drule Empire swept in on the planet and retook control of their people. Emperor Zeppo was in control again. This possibly would have lead to a second season of the Vehicle series had WEP decided to animated their own episodes of it as they had with the Lion series.

Differences between the Japanese and American Versions

Besides the name changes, and to conform to the stricter standards of American children's television, some modifications were made to both series.

General Modifications

• Shots of shooting/explicit torture (e.g. whipping) prisoners/civilians/slaves, shots of corpses removed.
• Grunts being shot (as infantry) or being blown up (when in ships/fighters) were referred to as "robots", as are spacefleets.
• In the case of special characters, they ejected/were rescued and taken to treat their injuries, even though they died in the Japanese series.

Series specific changes:

Golion:

• Both shows begin with the five pilots as astronauts whose space exploration mission takes them to a planet devastated by war. In Voltron the pilots arrive on Arus during their mission, and are captured and taken to Doom. They then escape and return to Arus and become the pilots of the Robot Lions and Voltron. In Golion, the initial scenes are actually of Earth, as the pilots have returned from their mission in the year 1999 to find that the entire population of Earth has been killed in nuclear war. They are then captured and taken to Galra, where the plot proceeds similarly.
• Takashi (Sven) was killed when he battled Honerva (Hagar). His younger brother Sho was the one who fought Sincline (Lotor) at the siege of Planet Garla(Doom). Sho and Sincline fell to their deaths whereas in Voltron they fell into a pool and survived.
• It was a goddess not Honerva that split up Golion due to his arrogance (Golion is supposedly sentient, although this was subtly discarded in the series).
• Voltron's Queen Merla arc never existed, and was created by Toei at the request of World Event Productions. The Japanese GoLion series ended with the destruction of the giant Daibarzaal (Zarkon) robot which killed him.

Dairugger

• Manabu (Jeff) has a serious relationship with Haruka (Lisa).
• Chip was never Pidge's brother.
• All the Galaxy Alliance officers the episode focused on were killed, unless it was explicitly shown they survived (i.e. they are in succeeding episodes), likewise, this is also the condition for Drule officers and leaders.
• The series started with the Drules and the Galaxy Alliance having tense relations with the Drules attacking the Explorer on the grounds it violates their space. In the Japanese series, both powers were unaware of each other and there was no overcrowding for the Alliance, the Explorer is merely an exploratory vessel and the Drules are stretching their power, not looking for a new world.

References in other media

As Voltron was a popular and distinctive cartoon in the United States during the 1980s, many artists who grew up watching the show have recently started referencing the show in more modern works.

• Voltron was made known in a song by P.Diddy, Nelly and Murphy Lee "Shake Ya Tailfeather" with the line "Come on you know the chicks connect like Voltron"
• Voltron was featured in the satirical web-based cartoon strip Get Your War On.
• Voltron was referred to often by the eccentric rap group, Wu-Tang Clan.
• Voltron was also mentioned in episode three of the machinima series Red vs Blue, comparing them to women, in that "the more you hook up, the better it gets".
• In a sketch of Robot Chicken, "You got Robo-Served", Voltron is forced into a dance competition against a Robeast and loses. Voltron proceeds to kill the Robeast with his sword. both of the songs danced to (the original Work It Out on the Floor and its legally-necessitated replacement) contain references to the cartoon series.
• In one story arc of the webcomic Okashina Okashi, five pilots manuver robots to form a Voltron-esque giant robot...only to screw it up and make an origami crane instead.
• In an episode of Sealab 2021, 5 mice are placed inside the empty bodies of five Sealab crewmembers, who were now robots. The mice are all wearing Lion Voltron flight suits and shout "GO, MOUSETRON!!" after they are all placed inside.
• In a Sprite commercial, Voltron was controlled by five rappers instead of the cartoon version.
• Voltron was referenced in the VH1 anthology series I Love the 80s 3-D
• Voltron is referenced in the song 'Funky Voltron' from Edan's 2005 album 'The Beauty and the Beat'
• There is a grindcore band named Voltron whose lyrics are based around the show.
• A Voltron cartoon is seen playing in a bar in Butt-Ugly Martians.
• Voltron is shown as a Christmas present during a flashback on Lost.
• In the Gamecube game Gotcha Force, the character Metal Hero is arguably modeled after Voltron, with a helmet resembling that of a lion or tiger, and wielding a "blazing sword".
• A Gizmodo computer review describes the Itronix GoBook III laptop as looking "like Voltron's underwear".
• Voltron is a central role in Emogame's game 'EmoGame 2.5 - The AntiBush Game'
• Voltron is mentioned in the chorus of a song by the former Christian ska band Five Iron Frenzy entitled 'The Wizard Needs Food Badly'. The song examines the differences between the sexes by referencing popular culture of the seventies and eighties.
• In an Episode of Home Movies, 5 kids can be seen forming Voltron in the background during the battle between the kids from the Scifi Convention and the kids from the Renaissance Faire
• In the Collectible Card Game Magic: The Gathering, the Visions expansion featured robotic Chimera creatures which added their abilities interchangeably to one another. Though the deck built around the Chimera creatures was never particularly powerful, it was and is still well known as the Voltron Deck, and the game mechanic from the Chimera as the Voltron Mechanic.
• In the Flash game titled Bushgame [1], Voltron is featured along with other 80s icons such as He-Man and Mr. T.

External links

• World Events Productions homepage
• The Official Voltron Force Homepage
• Hyakuu Ju Oh Goraion - Japanese version of Voltron

The Series

• Voltron: Defender of the Universe at IMDb
• Voltron: The Third Dimension at IMDb
• Voltron at TV.com
• Anime Secrets Review of Voltron Fleet of Doom
• End of Voltron Comic Series - Devil's Due (publisher of 2004 Voltron comic) message board post regarding the end of the comic series.

Fansites

• Purrsia's Voltron Central - Voltron fansite with images, information, episode guides and fan listings for both classic Lion and Vehicle Voltron.
• Galaxy - A Voltron fansite with bios, downloads, and more.
• Rhapsody in Blue Voltron/Prince Lotor fansite
• Cossack the Terrible - Humorous and fun fan page done from Cossack's point of view