Real Life Giant Robots

When I was about eight years old or so I used to watch The Adventures of Gumby. I always thought Gumby was weird, especially the early episodes where Gumby doesn't talk and there isn't really much of a plot, it's just barely connected scenes of bizarre imagery. It was interesting.

My Dad however was not impressed. I remember him specifically saying "Gumby is for wimps." So the next day he comes back with this VHS tape that had UFO Robot Grendizer on it. For those of you not into anime Grendizer is the sequel series to Mazinger Z, (better known in the states as "Tranzor Z") which was one of the first real giant robot anime, created by the man himself, Go Nagai. Mazinger Z is where we get all the giant robot tropes from, the rocket punch, the robot flying out of the secret base through a waterfall or something, the works. In the immortal words of my father, "This is way better than Gumby." This of course has instilled in me a life-long love of giant robots, mecha, and other such things.

So decades pass and we're living in the 21st century. Growing up in the 80's & 90's there was always this sense that when the year 2000 came around we'd have all this awesome technology - flying cars, spaceships, teleporters, jetpacks, etc. Well, it kinda-sorta came true. We have the cool computers and the cellphones, and like robot vacuum cleaners and such. But where the hell are the giant robots?

In recent years it looks like the giant robots are coming true as well. In the 80's and 90's you'd see the occasional attempt at something giant robot-like, usually created by an entertainment company or as some type of special effect. One that comes to mind is Robosaurus, which is 48 foot semi-trailer that transforms into a robot T-Rex that stands 40 feet tall when fully erect.

Robot Dinosaurs are always cool

Robosaurus was created in 1989 by Doug Malewicki, and can breathe fire, fire missiles, fireworks, or confetti, as well as crush cars with it's claws that can exert 24,000 lbs of force. Robosaurus is usually featured at motorsports events like destruction derbies and monster truck rallies, and also starred in a made for TV movie called 'Steel Justice," that is kinda rare to find nowadays. There are of course smaller imitators trying to muscle in on the act such as Megasaurs and Transaurus.

Transaurus, a 30 foot tall Robosaurus imitator

This is all fine and dandy - who doesn't want to destroy mankind in a giant robot dinosaur-transfomer, but it's not really what one pictures when one thinks"Giant Robot." These types of car-crushing machines are essentially cranes with flame throwers attached, which while they're still pretty cool to watch isn't exactly what I had in mind. Specifically, one thinks of a giant humanoid robot, with a rocket-punch and blazing sword. Maybe you have to fly it with five other co-pilots that wear multi-colored uniforms, then fight a giant monster with it. Everybody knows that's what giant robots are really for.

About a decade ago bipedal mecha started becoming a reality, with the occasional hobbyist or lone inventor attempting to create a giant mech suit. One example is hobbyist Carlos Owens, a former US Army engineer and owner of Neogentronyx, who started to build a 18 foot mech suit called the "NMX04-1A."

The NMX04-1A from Neogentronyx

Owen's robot (nicknamed "Big Red,") uses hydraulics powered by an 18 horsepower Briggs and Stratton engine. It is supposedly capable 40 different possible movements, has nailgun cannons on it's shoulders, and has flamethrowers for hands. However it's not clear if Owens ever finished his mecha, as while there are articles which describe it walking, there is no video of it actually doing so. The Neogentronyx website hasn't been updated in a few years. It appears at some point the NMX04-1A went for sale on Ebay for $35,000 but the ultimate fate of the robot (and Owens himself) is unknown. 

Japanese company Sakaibara-Kikai has taken the concept one step further, and have created several different models of mobile mechas that you can rent for events, such as birthday parties. They come in several shapes and sizes, including their flagship Landwalker, as well as more kid friendly models such as the "Kidwalker" and "Mechtyrannos."

The Landwalker, from Sakaibara-Kikai

The Landwalker stands at 3.4 meters (roughly 15 feet,) weighs 1000kg, and walks at a sturdy 1.5 km per hour. It's armed with two hydraulic gattling guns that fire squishy rubber balls. 

The "Kid's walker"

For the wee ones we have the "Kid's walker" model, which stands roughly 1.6 meters and uses a gasoline engine to crusie along at a speedy 1.4 km per hour. The mech features two swivel arms that end in powerful pincer claws.

The Kid's walker "Cyclops." 

The "Cyclops"model is slightly larger roughly 2 meters tall, 1.3 meters in length, and uses an electrical battery. Both arms can swivel in and outwards, and although it doesn't have much in the way of weaponry it does feature a pretty neat looking drill hand, like something out of a Capcom video game.

Go Go Power Rangers!

The Mechtryannos stands at 2.3 meters, with a length of 1.6 meters and a walking speed of 1.4 km per hour. This mechanical beast is capable of carrying five people, with snapping jaws, light-up eyes and roars included.

However when the kids go to bed, it's time to bust out the real stuff. Behold "Mononofu." At 8.5 meters (28 ft) and weighing over 7 tons, it currently stands as the tallest humanoid mecha in the world and the closest thing to a Gundam style mech that exists. Mononofu features movable arms with hands that open and close, a waist that swivels, and a firing air cannon. The robot is controlled with foot petals and features an assortment of monitors to give the pilot a full view of the surroundings.

See a write up of the full Mononofu experience here.

Unfortunately we still have a ways to go before Mononofu is on par with Gundam. It's paltry .6 km per hour walking speed is not breaking any landspeed records, and currently it's unable to even leave the hangar it was built in, as the robot is too large to fit through the door.

All of these mechs are pretty cool looking, but not really functional in any real sense. They're essentially oversized toys, and are listed on the website as "playground equipment." They're overall limited in movement and capabilities, and walk very, very slowly, with a shuffling gait akin to a wind up toy. While they may be fun to play around with you won't be fighting any Zentradi in these things.

If you're looking to own a mecha yourself then look no further than Kuratas, made by Suidobashijuko industries.

Kuratas 

The Kuratas is the first mass produced, commercially available mecha. At 13 feet tall, it features tripod style, wheeled "spider legs," maneuverable humanoid arms, and optional shoulder mounted BB gattling gun. It uses a gasoline engine and is piloted using interior touch panels, or even remotely via an Iphone app. Unlike the various mecha offered by Sakaibara-Kikai detailed above the Kuratas does not use it's legs to walk, but instead each leg terminates in a wheel which allows it to cruise around at a speedy 6.2 mph (which for those of you keeping track is way faster than any of the "shuffling" robots listed above.) One could imagine the Kuratas armed with some real weaponry, and while it's no Grendizer it could possibly be able to do some serious damage. 

And you can own one too, for the small price of one million dollars.

American company Megabot USA raised $1.8 million dollars on kickstarter on 2014, and has so far produced two different models. Same as with the Robosaurs they mostly exhibit them at motosports events, although apparently you can also rent them.

The Mk. II is a 15 foot tall bipedal robot, which weighs in at 6 tons. It's maneuverable arms have a combined wingspan of 22 feet, and end in a 6"cannon on one arm and missile launcher on the next  As with the Kuratas it doesn't use it's legs to walk, but instead uses tank-like treads to maneuver at a top speed of 2.5 mph.

The Megabot Mk. II "Iron Glory"

The second model is the Mk.III, which at 16 feet tall and 12 tons is both larger and heavier than the Mk.II. A modular arm design allows for the installation of different weapons, such as power claws, cannons, or chainsaws. It's 430 HP engine allows it to haul ass at a speedy 10 mph, which is is nearly twice as fast as the Kuratas. 

Megabots Mk.III "Eagle One."

Check out this video of the Mk.III lifting and destroying a car. 

Sadly things are not looking good for Megabots, because as of 2018 the company reported they ran out of money. As of this writing they do post the occasional youtube video but not much else in the way of updates has been heard.

You can't have two companies building giant gladiators robots without having them fight. I mean, that's just the only logical conclusion, Good thing that's exactly what happened. On October 2017 the Kuratas from Suidobashijuko Industries squared off against both the Megabots Mk.II "Iron Glory" and Mk.III "Eagle One" in the world's first ever giant robot battle. 

Well, that might not be what most people had in mind when it comes to "giant robot duel," but it was very entertaining. I would like to see actual unscripted piloted mech fights one day, maybe we're just not there yet. Still, the grappling between Kuratas and Eagle One was awesome, as well as how the chainsaw sword just tore the Kuratas' arm to shreds. For the first ever event it was pretty cool. Here's hoping other companies sponsor more mechas for future events.

At the same event a Chinese company called Greatmetal promo'ed their own giant robot, the Monkey King.

The Monkey King prototype

The Monkey king is 15 feet tall and human piloted, designed by artist Sun Shiquan, who is also a big fan of Japanese mecha such as the Transformers and Gundam. Unlike the Kuratas or Megabot machines it doesn't use wheels or treads to move, but would instead use it's legs to walk on all fours like an actual monkey. Armament comes from a 15 foot iron staff like it's mythical namesake.

Video of the Monkey King, from Greatmetal.

Team Greatmetal formally challenged Team Megabot to their own robot duel, but sadly it doesn't appear that the Monkey King was ever completed. At the time of the first robot duel in Oct. 2017 the prototype was shown moving it's arms up and down and turning it's head, but wasn't yet capable of locomotion. Here's hoping someday Sun Shiquan is able to finish the robot and take on the Megabots team for the title. 

Check out this video of Monkey King creator Sun Shiquan discussing his love of robots and Mecha, and also a cool concept reel of the Monkey King in action. 

The Monkey King wasn't the only Chinese challenger to throw their hat in the ring. From Jizhan Robotics comes the Yamantaka, which unlike Monkey King is completed and fully functional. 

At 11 feet tall and 2.6 tons and with a top speed of 2.5 mph, it's smaller and slower than both the Megabots models and the Kuratas, but it's creators have such confidence that they've stated it could take on both of the other robots at once. It uses a steel framework and a chasis made of an aluminum-magnesium alloy to give it extra defense. Like the Megabot models it uses steel tank-like treads instead of walking. Both arms are fully articulated and capable of a wide range of motion. The left hand has articulated fingers, while the right terminates in a hammer-type weapon. The mecha also features dual flamethrowers mounted on it's back.

Check out this video of the Yamantaka in action. 

Team Megabot was also challenged on April 17th, 2019 by Robo Dragon, which is a 18 foot tall, fire breathing car crushing robot in the same vein as Robosaurus. Robo Dragon certainly has a better paint job. Pilot Barry Parkin has only one condition for the duel - the fight has to be unscripted, and broadcast live. 

Behold, the Robo Dragon!

Actually, this thing does look pretty cool. 

As of yet there's no confirmation from either side if the fight is ever going to happen, I think it's unlikely that Megabot would want to see Eagle Prime burn up to a crisp, while I'm pretty sure Mr. Parkin doesn't want Robo Dragon's head to be chainsawed off. These things aren't cheap to build. Still it would be pretty awesome to see the two mechas actually fighting for real.

Another Chinese company called Futurewise has also created their own giant robot, called the Water Ape xx21. Not much is out there on the web regarding the size or speed of the mecha as the concept video is clearly CG.  I did manage to find another video of it at a Chinese electronics fair where it's shown moving it's arms and turning it's body. Apparently it can seat two pilots in the cockpit, and can be yours for a mere $2.2 million.

The "Water Ape xx21" by Futurewise

Concept video from Futurewise, showing the planned capabilities of the Water Ape xx21.

Another video of the mecha in action. Footage starts at round 53 seconds in

Another Japanese company called Taguchi Industrial has created their own mech, called the Super Guzzilla. Taguchi Industrial is an established company that specializes in demolition and salvage equipment. It's built from a Hitachi construction wheel loader (i.e. a tractor,) with a custom steel torso and two mechanical arms terminating in their own "Guzzilla" industrial cutting shears. At 15 tons, 11 feet tall, and 22 feet in length, the Super Guzzilla is the heaviest mech on the list (if not the tallest.) It certainly is the fastest, with a top speed of nearly 16 mph.

With it's four large tractor tires the Super Guzzilla isn't really a bipedal robot, but who cares? It's pretty awesome looking nonetheless. It reminds me more of a "super tank," kinda like in that old video game Blaster Master. Add a few cannons and rocket launchers to this thing and give it rocket boosters and we're ready to go.

Source: https://bot-spotting.tumblr.com/page/2

I did also manage to find one intriguing video about an engineering student named Jan Lethovirta, who created a 20 foot tall robot suit named Teraleon, although this looks more like a proof of concept rather than a combat mecha. It is capable of moving it's arms around and walking (extremely slowly, but it's still walking.) I like how they filled it with prop weaponry, like it has guns coming out of every surface. This thing would look pretty good in a movie. 

The Teraleon

Check out the Teraleon in action. 

Now for something a little different. Up until now all the of the mechs and robots we've seen have gone for a Japanese anime/Mechwarrior inspired route, however most of them aren't very functional. Those that are maneuverable such as the Megabots Mk.II and Mk.III as well as the Kuratas machines use methods other than walking for locomotion, while the rest use a sort of "shuffling" which, while technically is walking, limits them to painfully slow speeds. 

Enter the Prosthesis, made by a company called Furrion. At 15 feet tall and nearly 4 tons it ranks in the same weight class as the Megabots and Kuratas above, however the Prothesis wasn't conceived as a mechanical gladiator, but rather as a racing machine. Prosthesis clocks in at a speedy 20mph, which leaves it's contemporaries in the dust. Apparently it can also step over objects, and runs for up to an hour on one battery charge. Cool and eco-friendly to boot.

The Prothesis, by Furrion

The Prothesis in action

While it looks great and certainly seems to be faster than all the other bots so far, it still looks pretty akward. Furrion hopes to create a mecha racing league, and while that would be awesome we're going to have to get those speeds up a bit to make it exciting. I say put some guns and chainsaws on this thing and have it go up against Eagle One and Kuratas in a killer robot three way battle for the fate of mankind.

So up until now all of the bipedal mechas we've looked at either use wheels or treads to move, or use a shuffling, skating motion to "walk." None of them actually lift their legs and walk with a gait similar to that of a human being.

Enter the Method 2, created by South Korean tech company Hankook Mirae Technology. At 13 feet tall and 1.6 tons, it isn't the largest or heaviest bot on the list, however unlike all it's rivals this one actually lifts it's legs and walks around. Of all the mecha shown so far this one comes closest to those depicted in sci-fi movies such as Alien, The Matrix, or Avatar. Chairmain Jin-Ho financed the development of the Method 2 with $200 million of his own money, and hopes someday it will be used in fire and disaster relief, along with military applications. How cool would this thing look with dual mounted machine guns on it's shoulders?

The Method 2, truly a thing of beauty.

Check out the Method 2 in action.

Of all the mecha on this list the Method 2 comes in at the most expensive, at one hundred million dollars (!) however it is also the most impressive. Don't expect to be taking it out to beat up kaiju anytime soon, as it's not for sale. It is still a beauty to behold. 

I would really love someday to see these types of robots armed with handheld weapons like clubs and chainswords beating the stuffing out of each other in a combat arena. I really have no way to end this except to say please somebody out there, make it happen!

Comics You've Never Heard Of #3: The Adventures of Gamepro

Back in the 80's and 90's before there was an internet to speak of, the way we learned about new games was by reading about them in these things called "magazines." For you kids out there a magazine is sort of like a website, but printed out and stapled together like a comic book, then sold in stores every month. They're handy for swatting flies.

Anyway, the coolest of these gaming magazines was Electronic Gaming Monthly Gamepro. The bright, dynamic covers seemed to squeeze in every video game mascot ever, while the cartoon character personas the game reviewers took on appealed greatly to the 12-17 year old crowd. A lot of other video game mags also featured a comic (Howard and Nestor from Nintendo Power comes to mind,) but The Adventures of Gamepro seemed to step it up a notch with excellent artwork and a story that mostly didn't suck. It was popular enough to eventually be collected and published in it's own three issue series.

Now when I say "mostly doesn't suck," I mean "mostly doesn't suck for an 80's comic about video games," which is to say there's a healthy amount of all American goofy cheesiness to keep it just silly enough to be entertaining, but still cool enough to make it interesting.

So what the hell is this about? A guy named Alex West who is of indeterminate age (old enough to have a job at least,) gets magically sucked into his TV and into the "Video Dimension." Turns out every video game you've ever played was just a portal to another dimension where video games are actually real. So all those hookers you beat up and robbed in Grand Theft Auto? Real hookers. I hope you're proud of yourself.

Apparently, some space demons called "the evil Darklings" have invaded and nearly conquered the Video Dimension, and are planning to use it as a staging ground to invade our normal ordinary non-video game dimension. Yes, they're called "the Evil Darklings." Not just "Darklings," or any other kind of adjective except "Evil." We know that's what they're called because every time somebody mentions them they always say the full "Evil Darklings."

Like Here.

And Here.

And Here too. 

And again.

So anyway, there's a group of good guy wizard types called The Council, who are like the rulers of the video game realm. The only one who gets a name is called Zardoth, who is also the only one to figure out the Evil Darkling's dastardly plan. Unfortunately for him the Evil Darklings show up and blow all the other good guy wizards to kingdom come, leaving Zardoth as the sole survivor.

This leaves Zardoth no choice but to recruit somebody from Earth to act as his champion, and become "the Gamepro," the final hope for the video game dimension. Which is kind of strange, since pretty much every game out there has some kind of hero who kills monsters/shoots enemies/blows up spaceships/etc. You'd think he'd go around to each game world and recruit an army of video game protagonists to fight back against the Evil Darkling invasion. Even though this comic debuted in 1990, there were still a ton of decent game protagonists to choose from - Super Mario, Alex Kidd, Shinobi, the Double Dragon brothers, the guy from Altered Beast, etc. That would be a pretty cool story actually.

Who says video games are bad for you?

Nope, nothing as cool as that happens here. Instead Zardoth makes the only logical choice for a comic featured in a video game magazine that had to buy the rights from different game companies if they wanted to feature their characters, and go with a guy from Earth. Hence Alex West gets sucked into his TV, gets the magical wand-lasergun-staff thing, and becomes "the Gamepro." Even though this is 1990 his superhero outfit still rocked a funky 70's disco collar.

Some things never go out of style.

The first issue explains the backstory, and has Alex  traveling through a couple of video games ferreting out the Evil Darkling's influence. Some pretty good games are featured in this issue - Castlevania, Blaster Master, Ghouls and Ghosts, California Games. It starts getting a little obscure in Issue #2 with some lesser known titles like Temco World Wrestling. The Adventures of Rad Gravity, Captain Skyhawk,  and Psyco Fox (which was Sega's answer to Super Mario bros. 2, because this was several years before Sonic came out.) These stories revolve mostly around the games, and do their best to work in game play hints without sounding too forced. It was a comic about playing video games after all.

It's a little known fact that all monsters in the video game dimension were required by law to have their weakspots plainly visible, and to blink rapidly red and white before they die. The blinking was also applied to dynamite, or anything that was about to explode.

It picks up a bit once an original villain shows up by the name of Stalker, who kinda looks like budget Iron man with minimalist Boba Fett's helmet. Stalker uses dirty tricks to capture Alex, but gets his behind handed to him later on when they throw down. 

Other characters include Dr. Ssyth, the Evil Darkling mad scientist cyborg with a derivative name. To be fair, this came out years before Star Wars Episode One made "The Sith" a thing.*

As well as The Evil Darkling Supreme Overlord, who is this huge purple guy with spider legs. If Zardoth is Obiwan Kenobi to Gamepro's Luke Skywalker, then this guy is the Emperor to Stalker's Darth Vader. He does the usual evil dark lord things, like scream madly when he loses and murder underlings for no reason.

Truth be told I was a little disappointed in his design. They hype him up a bit, and when we first see him it kinda looks like maybe he's all purple because he's like hidden in the shadows or something, but later on we see him in full light and he still looks the same. It would've been nice to get a bit more detail on him. 

Issue three features more games such as the excellent Bonk's Adventure and Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Apparently this is supposed to be the "real" Michael Jackson, like he's somehow capable of also transporting himself to the video game dimension 

Some of these panels may not have aged so well.

Issue three focuses more on Alex and his battles with the Evil Darklings in the real world. We get two more throw-away characters named Technos and Seeker, who are admittedly pretty generic and go down without much of a fight.

One pretty funny gag has a disguised Stalker ordering them to use  their cloaking powers to accidentally disguise themselves as Captain Kirk and Spock from Star Trek. 

At first glance I thought that Alex just had a photo of Kirk and Spock laying around his apartment, but then I realized Stalker is holding another one of those "magazine" things. Shit, even I'm starting to forget what they look like.

Stalker gets away. Gamepro takes out Technos and Seeker and saves the Earth from the Evil Darklings. However (spoilers - as if anyone cared, but still) his traveling to the video dimension does something wacky to his cellular structure or some shit so Alex has to go back or he'll die. Thus the stage is set for further adventures that sadly were never to be. The comic never got past three issues, so we never got to see Gamepro destroy Stalker or the evil purple Overlord once and for all. Which is too bad really, because even though the comic is as cheesy as they come I was kinda getting into it.

Overall The Adventures of Gamepro is a good read through. The story is goofy enough to not be taken too seriously, with a big helping of cheese smeared over a veneer of 90's radical extreme-ness. Issues can be found pretty cheap on Ebay, or can just be downloaded if you google hard enough. Fans of old school video games might get a kick out of it, and the wacky storylines never turn into an excuse for an overbloated advertisement.

The Adventure Continues!


*Somebody out there is probably going to be a nerd and tell me that George Lucas got the word "Sith" from John Carter on Mars. I write this because you're too late, nerd.