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ZoidsZoids is a series of plastic toy models that look like animal-shaped robots, as well as five anime series and three manga series based, for the most part, on the toys. The original line of toys, resembling dinosaurs, was released in Japan, Europe and the United States in the 1980s. New versions of the toys today are tie-ins to the anime series. Zoids fans in the UK were also treated their own storyline, featured in the comic Spiderman and Zoids, that differed considerably from that depicted in the more recent anime. Planet Zi is not mentioned, and the zoids are divided into warring Red and Blue factions, with humans caught in between. Anime plot summary The five anime series pertaining to Zoids are: Zoids Chaotic Century, Zoids Guardian Force, Zoids New Century/0, Zoids Fuzors, and Zoids Genesis. All of these series take place on the planet Zi, and in all series the Zoids are metallic lifeforms which are used by people as workers and weapons. Chaotic Century Zoids Chaotic Century follows a boy named Van Flyheight; the series starts with him being chased by bandits into some old ruins, where he finds a girl named Fiona and a small silver Zoid, which he names Zeke, in old capsules. Zeke, who is later found to be an Organoid, helps Van and Fiona escape the bandits by reactivating a broken Shield Liger and helping Van pilot it out. As the series progresses, Van meets various opponents, such as Raven, and friends, like Moonbay and Irvine, and eventually ends up helping Fiona in her quest to regain her memory and to find the Zoid Eve. The manga is published in English in North America by Viz Communications, and it is published in Singapore in English by Chuang Yi. Guardian Force Zoids Guardian Force is the sequel to Chaotic Century, taking place approximatly 2-4 years after Chaotic Century, though the later date seems to be the more viable one. Van has been training for the past few years under the direction of an officer in the Helic Army. Due to several events and assumed terrorists arising, the Helic Republic and Guylos Empire form a joint military task force, which is called the Guardian Force. Van soon meets up with Fiona, who has been searching for Zoid Eve along with Dr. D, a seemingly insane and childish genius. The set out to find Zoid Eve together again, and, along the way, meet up with both old and new freinds and foes. While the last series to be screened in the US (before Fuzors), Guardian Force was for a long time the most popular. Despite this, the show had a rahter lackluster plot that made very little sense, and very weak chracters. New Century Zoids New Century/0 takes place several centuries after Guaridan Force, where Zoid battles have become a sort of tournament-based league of sorts. The main character is Bit Cloud, a junk dealer, who runs into the Blitz Team. As Bit interferes in a match with the Blitz Team he comes across the Liger Zero, a zoid possessed by the Blitz team which no one can pilot. Bit and Liger form a partnership and end up joining the Blitz Team in their various league matches. Along the way, Bit's unique Zoid gets the attention of the Backdraft group, an organisation who are trying to take over the Zoid battles. The Backdraft attempt to acquire the liger Zero by any means possible. Fuzors Fuzors is not a direct sequel to New Century Zero, but rather is set in its own continuity. Technology has progressed quite a bit compared to the other series. Now, it has been discovered that Zoids can fuse with other Zoids and create more powerful combinations. The story follows the team Mach Storm as they fight against opponents on the ever changing battlefield. This series follows the story of RD, a novice pilot for Team Mach Storm. His teammates are Helmet, Sigma, Doc, and Sweet. RD commands the Liger Zero also and eventually meets up with the Fire Phoenix. When they combine they form the Liger Zero Phoenix. RD's main rival is Blake, a pilot on Savage Hammer. About half-way through the series it was canceled due to poor ratings and stopped airing on Cartoon Network, but continued to show in Australia and began to show in Japan. The plot, character development, and battles for the first part of the series are were considered by some to be rather disappointing and boring, especially in the English version that aired in the US and Australia. However, the series is accepted by a somewhat large amount of fans to have redeemed itself in the latter half of the series, to the point where some fans prefer it over any of the other series. Genesis Zoids Genesis is a new series for 2005. The following plot summary is from Phenotypes Zoids Site- Plot Outline: Natural disasters have devastated planet Zi, killing off almost all life. A thousand years later humans have gradually re-established civilization, salvaging ancient Zoids through diving and mining efforts.1 Episode 1 synopsis: The story begins in a village whose most previous item is a giant sword which they worship as a holy symbol. A teenage boy discovers an ancient Liger-type Zoid while on a deep water salvage operation.1 Suddenly the village is attacked by skeletal "Bio-Zoids" intent on stealing a powerful generator located in the village.1 Our teenage hero awakens the Liger and discovers that the town's sacred sword is the Liger's weapon, together they fight off the mysterious Bio-Zoids, saving the day. At least for now.1 UK Zoids Comics Outline The Zoids were created by a blue-skinned humanoid race native to the planet Zoidstar, who used these mechanical behemoths to conquer and enslave other worlds in a Zoidarian Empire. Most powerful of these war machines was the Giant ZRK. However, the Zoidarians were a warlike species, and delighted in battle. Thus, once this Empire was pacified their lust for the fight remained unsated, and so they used their battle machines in epic duels to the death. This was the era of Heroic Combat, considered a golden age by the Zoidarians. But, this combat led to the dwindling of Zoidarian numbers, as ever more succumbed during duels. So it was decreed that henceforth androids should pilot the zoids, and the Zoidarians would sate their battle-hunger vicariously. Thus the golden age ended. On the outer rim of the Zoidaryan Empire, battlefleets still patrolled their subdued populations, periodically returning to the home system. One such battlefleet miscalculated its return, and crashed onto the Blue Moon of Zoidstar. There was a single Zoidaryan survivor, pulled from the wreckage by android technicians, and given a protective exoskeleton to restore his crippled body. On the icy moon, the marooned zoids were incapacitated by the frigid temperatures, and the androids set about converting them to more resilient forms. Eventually, the surviving Zoidaryan returns to Zoidstar to find that his people have apparently been wiped out, and that automated factories have produced legions of zoids that continue to battle on, even though their creators have disappeared. Realizing that he is the last of his kind, the Zoydarian adomts the monicker "Namer", and gives each of the warring machines an apt title to describe its capabilities, for example: "Small and fleet of foot, yet cunning and deadly in battle; thus I name you Spiderzoid." With his naming, the Namer issues a stark prophecy, that when the remodeled Zoids from the Blue Moon return, then there will be an ultimate battle. (It is confusing to note that the Zoids from the Blue Moon are actually the Red Zoids, such as Redhorn the Terrible, and those that remained on Zoidstar, such as Zoidzilla, are the Blue Zoids). Into this mele crashes the Celeste, a human prison ship filled with convicts in "sus" (suspended animation), that is knocked out of orbit by a huge fireball. The survivors of the crash band together, and are joined by the Namer, and attempt to survive the rigors of Zoidstar. This story has no continuity with the Japanese animes, as, for one reason, it was created a number of years before the animes ever existed. It was created to go along with the original UK (and, subsequently, Australian) release of model kits Internet Communities Online RPG Boom Various online RPGs were created in response to the mildly popular Zoids New Century/0 anime which aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami. In response to the show, which portrayed a world where zoids fought in macthes much like modern day professional fights. This world was so open ended in the fact that many time-lines and characters (or "teams") could be created without disrupting or conflicting with the original storyline. And so, many fan fictions were written. These writers immediatly begain to form online RPGs in the form of online Forums in which people buy and own zoids, upgrade them and fight them on teams. Many of them were released within Zoids New Century/0's first year of release and most of them became inactive within that year, however a few sites are still actively maintained with hundreds of members from many different countries. Message Boards and Groups Like the RPGs, a great amount of Zoids-related message boards and groups started popping on the internet up after Zoids enjoyed relative popularity. The vast majority of these are now rather slow, and a large percentage are also pretty much dead. However, a there are some that, all things considering, are fairly active and have decent membership, such as ZoidFans, Phenotype's Zoids Forum, Zoids Evolution Forums, Zoids GC Message Board, and Metal Machine Music's boards. External Links Reference 1
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