What’s up with the fascination about Voltron?

[Mr. Adventure]

I watched an episode of Orbots on Youtube and it's an interesting show. It's more eccentric and unstructured than Voltron, I think as a kid I would have been turned off by the fanciful designs with chubby robots and big eyes which would've seemed more kiddie to me. As an adult, the quirkiness is more interesting and I'm curious to check out another. It's interesting that the Metal Men-like robots are autonomous which I don't think is common in the genre.

I guess I would need to watch an episode of Voltron again to compare the animation which only seemed OK to me. It's definitely a different art style and presentation which may obfuscate the quality of the animation itself.

 

[Marsden]

I liked both Voltrons, but for I liked the Team Force Voltron a bit better.

The things that made the two different are actually simple,
The Lion Voltron has witches and magic and monsters and ghosts mixed with the high tech scifi stuff.
Team Voltron is a straight science fiction with no fantasy other than the existence of aliens.
Also, Team Voltron is a part of the Galaxy Alliance's Exploratory Force with many capital ships and fighters and mid size vessels.
Lion Voltron is absolutely all Arus has vs. King Zarkon until they turn the castle into a spaceship and then that's all they have is the robot and the castle ship. There is no other Galaxy Alliance forces, even though the 5 travelers were sent by the Galaxy Alliance.

The main reason I like the Team Force Voltron more was not any of that, though, but the actual flow of the plot, the Drule Empire, of which Zarkon is a Satrap, was first depicted as a typical "evil enemy" but as the series progressed you came to learn that the dictatorship was not really the will of the Drule people and there were genuine attempts by certain high ranking Drules to want to have peace with the Galaxy Alliance and a lot of character development, especially with Hazar, the main strongman of the Drule Empire. He started off as a Lotar clone, he really resembled Lotar, but by the end he was one of the main people in trying to arrainge peace between the peoples and the eventual overthrow of the dictatorship and a democratic Drule government.

But political intrigue and peace negotiations during wartime would probably not appeal to most boys as opposed to Monsters and Magic and "Form Blazing Sword!"

 

[C.E. Evans]

Growing up in St. Louis, there weren't that many kids my age who didn't know about Voltron. World Events Productions is headquartered there, and there was a connection between WEP and the local KPLR-TV station, so Voltron probably ran there longer than in most markets, enough that it kinda became "generational" (I remember first seeing it in grade school and it was still playing there when I graduated high school).

But the Vehicle Voltron season did not do well there at all. After a debut in the "prime time" afterschool slot on KPLR, it was later banished to pre-dawn Sunday nights. Still, we got the Voltron: Fleet of Doom hour-long special that featured both Voltron teams and kind of served as a finale for the original Voltron series, even though I learned it was really meant to be a passing of the baton episode between the two teams.

 

[Skipper]

why the heck did they build a robot that needs fifteen pilots?!? You have to hope that none of them will ever take a sick day

 

[Marsden]

why the heck did they build a robot that needs fifteen pilots

Flexibility to mission requirements, each individual vehicle is useful independently, then they can combine in 5s into a larger vehicle as needed, then into the Voltron mode if needed as well. You don't need a giant robot to do certain things. They were part of an exploratory force and the land, sea, and air teams did planetary exploration in each of those environments.

 

[Cyke101]

So what confuses me about Voltron's popularity is that here was a more exciting cartoon with better animation and yet Voltron's what gets remembered and remade and people look at you funny if you mention the Orbots.

Voltron had choppier animation sure, but I'd argue that its style set it more apart than Orbots. Orbots was part of that wave of hybrid Western/Japanese studio collaborations in the 80s with other shows like Dungeons & Dragons and M.A.S.K, which were almost like a dime a dozen, whereas Voltron was straight Japanese and more unique in the American landscape. As if Orbots got lost in the mix.

But probably more importantly, Orbots only had 13 episodes, whereas Voltron had 52 episodes, and thus much more exposure. And from that, 20 more episodes were made for American audiences.

But that's only my guess about Voltron and Orbots. It doesn't explain just how Voltron has more brand nostalgia than something like Star Blazers or Robotech.

 

[psCargile]

I remember two things about Voltron: one, if they formed the robot first, the show would last five minutes—okay, maybe ten, tops, and two, "And I'll form the head!"

 

[Skipper]

I remember two things about Voltron: one, if they formed the robot first, the show would last five minutes—okay, maybe ten, tops, and two, "And I'll form the head!"

I don't know why they still bothered to keep the robot separated.

 

[Christopher]

Flexibility to mission requirements, each individual vehicle is useful independently, then they can combine in 5s into a larger vehicle as needed, then into the Voltron mode if needed as well. You don't need a giant robot to do certain things. They were part of an exploratory force and the land, sea, and air teams did planetary exploration in each of those environments.

Looking at it practically, though (just for the sake of discussion), isn't it better just to have a separate giant robot already, instead of having to piece it together out of a bunch of separate vehicles? What if one of the vehicles is wrecked? What if they're too far apart to combine in time? What if the connectors are damaged or clogged by dirt or something? Sure, I can see the toy value of a combining robot/mecha, but is there any real-world practicality to such an approach?

We see so many combining or separating vehicles/robots in fiction. It's not just combining mecha -- we have things like the Prometheus in Star Trek: Voyager, one starship that breaks into three smaller starships. But are there any large machines or vehicles in real life that are made up of smaller components that can operate separately? Is there actual precedent for anything like this?

The first thing that comes to mind is a Saturn rocket or a Space Shuttle, but in those cases, the detachable parts are just boosters and fuel tanks that are discarded after a few minutes. The Apollo capsule had the Eagle module carried onboard, and they could operate separately, but the Eagle didn't really perform much of a role in the combined craft (aside from providing backup life support in the Apollo 13 accident, IIRC). It was more just being carried along for the ride until it was needed, like the support craft on a ship. Of course, tractor trucks can have different trailers put on, but the trailers don't operate as independent vehicles; they're just being towed. Same with trains -- you can combine the cars in a bunch of different ways, but as a rule, only the engine can operate as an independent vehicle. Ditto motorcycles and sidecars.

I think that, in general, something that's trying to be two things at once tends to be less than ideal at either one. The Prometheus has always struck me as a silly idea; three smaller ships are each going to be less powerful than the whole ship, and a ship that's made up of three separate pieces is going to be structurally weaker than a single integrated ship and have a lot of wasteful redundancies. You could probably make the same argument for a combining or shapechanging mecha. As a rule, if you need vehicles that can do, say, three different functions, it's probably better to make three separate, specialized vehicles than one that transforms into three configurations. After all, if the latter were really a practical idea, we'd see it used more in real life.

 

[Marsden]

Looking at it practically, though (just for the sake of discussion), isn't it better just to have a separate giant robot already, instead of having to piece it together out of a bunch of separate vehicles? What if one of the vehicles is wrecked? What if they're too far apart to combine in time? What if the connectors are damaged or clogged by dirt or something? Sure, I can see the toy value of a combining robot/mecha, but is there any real-world practicality to such an approach?

That did happen, more than once. Also, some of the vehicles were detained at times to prevent them from reforming until later in the episode.

Why not keep it the robot constantly? I think it's the same old question of why send a super heavily armed warship to go say hi to new alien species. The robot is made only for fighting, but the individual vehicles are more for exploring new planets and scientific missions.

 

[Christopher]

Why not keep it the robot constantly? I think it's the same old question of why send a super heavily armed warship to go say hi to new alien species. The robot is made only for fighting, but the individual vehicles are more for exploring new planets and scientific missions.

Yeah, but in that case, the more realistic thing would be to have the giant fighting robot and the separate individual vehicles. I mean, if you have the resources to build 15 vehicles, surely you have the resources to build 16. And like I said, jack of all trades is master of none. A giant fighting robot that's designed exclusively to be a giant fighting robot is going to be better at it than one that's put together from a bunch of exploration vehicles, and a bunch of exploration vehicles designed exclusively for exploration are going to be better at it than ones that have to double as pieces of a giant fighting robot.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I remember two things about Voltron: one, if they formed the robot first, the show would last five minutes—okay, maybe ten, tops, and two, "And I'll form the head!"

Probably cut it to a minute if they would just form Blazing Sword immediately after.

As to the practicality of the formed machine vs the components in Voltron at least the lions were somewhat mystical in origin weren't they? Not that it explains it exactly but you can chalk it up the mystery of "infernal machines". I don't think they did in Voltron but didn't some shows do the combined form takes such power it was only usable for short terms which would also explain not staying in robot form the whole time.

 

[Christopher]

As to the practicality of the formed machine vs the components in Voltron at least the lions were somewhat mystical in origin weren't they? Not that it explains it exactly but you can chalk it up the mystery of "infernal machines". I don't think they did in Voltron but didn't some shows do the combined form takes such power it was only usable for short terms which would also explain not staying in robot form the whole time.

Which just underlines the notion that it would've made more sense to design the giant warrior robot as something that was purely a giant warrior robot. Then it wouldn't have to expend power doing the other stuff the lions did separately, or expend power on the process of combining, or lose power to the inefficiencies of a hybrid design.

Of course, if we want to get into analyzing the practicality of this from a realistic standpoint, then the whole idea of a giant humanoid robot is ridiculous on the face of it. Upright bipedal locomotion is completely impractical for something that massive. Even quadrupedal locomotion isn't a great idea at that scale, but the smaller, horizontal lion robots would be more stable than the giant, vertical biped. Meanwhile, an attack force of 15 separate vehicles would probably be more effective in combat than a single, precariously balanced giant robot, which is why in real life we have tank squadrons and the like.

I'm still wondering, though, if anyone can come up with an example of a real-world vehicle or mechanism that's a combination of two or more different vehicles or mechanisms that can function both independently and in combined mode. Has that ever actually been done, for anything?

 

[Skipper]

I just finished watching the first episode of Dairugger XV and there are some interesting ideas here. The 15 vehicles are specialized machines for the exploration of new planets. I believe that is the first time that an anime giant robot is not only used for combat. The protagonists seem more explorers than soldiers...

 

[shivkala]

I remember two things about Voltron: one, if they formed the robot first, the show would last five minutes—okay, maybe ten, tops, and two, "And I'll form the head!"

Yes, much has been said about that. I think the recent Netflix series did a good job of avoiding that cliche, as much as possible.

 

[Commander Richard]

As to the practicality of the formed machine vs the components in Voltron at least the lions were somewhat mystical in origin weren't they?

Yes, Voltron was initially just a robot that was "blown apart" by a witch into five pieces in the form of lion robots. Vehicle Voltron in turn was built by man and was based on the Lion Voltron.

Since we're nitpicking Voltron, I have a few...

• As much as I loved Voltron, how is a giant robot such a powerful and indispensable weapon? It's just a giant robot.
• Vehicle Voltron does seem impractical in one big way... It has two SUVs for feet. How do they support the weight of a giant robot?

 

[Christopher]

Yes, much has been said about that. I think the recent Netflix series did a good job of avoiding that cliche, as much as possible.

Yeah, they don't even form Voltron in every episode, or face a Robeast in every episode (I don't think they even used that term, although it seemed like a word that Lance or Hunk might've coined).

Yes, Voltron was initially just a robot that was "blown apart" by a witch into five pieces in the form of lion robots.

Huh? How does that even work? If the witch wanted it blown apart, why would she blow it into pieces that were capable of combining back into the original? For that matter, why blow it into pieces that were functional at all, instead of just blowing it into scrap?

 

[shivkala]

Huh? How does that even work? If the witch wanted it blown apart, why would she blow it into pieces that were capable of combining back into the original? For that matter, why blow it into pieces that were functional at all, instead of just blowing it into scrap?

That part of "The Legend of Voltron" always confused me. While again, visually striking, if I were making a robot, I don't think I'd want lion heads as hands or feet. Voltron looks like five different pieces put together, not like something that was a whole and then was split apart.

Apparently, the whole splitting apart thing might have lost something in translation. From what I can discern, the Japanese version had Voltron as a sentient robot whose battles to save the universe ended up with a lot of collateral damage, though he didn't care as it all his victories fed his ego. He challenged the Goddess of the Universe, who split him into five lions to teach humility. Apparently, there was some lesson to be learned from being split apart and having to recombine (though it doesn't appear he ever regained his sentience).

In the American version, Haggar disguised herself at the Goddess of the Universe and attempted to seduce Voltron, who resisted. She got her revenge by splitting him apart.

The original version does help the splitting apart make a slight bit more sense. Perhaps the lesson was that the once autonomous robot would learn humility by being controlled. This way it could still be used to protect the universe, but, hopefully without damaging a good portion of while doing so.

 

[Christopher]

That part of "The Legend of Voltron" always confused me. While again, visually striking, if I were making a robot, I don't think I'd want lion heads as hands or feet. Voltron looks like five different pieces put together, not like something that was a whole and then was split apart.

My assumption would be that the original robot didn't have lion heads, and that the five-lion combo is just the closest approximation of the original that the lions are capable of forming.

And yes, the whole "Goddess of the Universe" thing does better explain why GoLion was split into five functional pieces that could recombine.

Honestly, I think GoLion is a much cooler name than Voltron. I mean... "Voltron." "Volt" plus "tron." It's incredibly generic. It could be the name of pretty much any robot. Heck, it could be the name of an electric razor or toaster oven. There's nothing about it that says "magic giant robot warrior made of robot lions." But "GoLion" puts the coolness of lions right up front, and it has "go" in it, which is a dynamic action word, as well as being Japanese for five (and that bilingual pun is why we've had Sentai series like Gorenger and Go-Go V and Go-Onger and the Goseiger/Gokaiger/Go-Busters trio -- plus there's an echo of it in "Go, go, Power Rangers").

 

[Silvercrest]

I don't know why they still bothered to keep the robot separated.

Looking at it practically, though (just for the sake of discussion), isn't it better just to have a separate giant robot already, instead of having to piece it together out of a bunch of separate vehicles?

I'd handwave it by suggesting that the giant robot form has high power or other resource requirements that can only be maintained for a short time. Maybe the ability to produce Spinning Laser Blades, Solar Combat Spears, etc. AND a Blazing Sword on a moment's notice is just not something you can keep primed for very long.

Come to think of it, if the Blazing Sword has the highest power requirement of all, that might explain why they always wait so long to bring it out. Voltron might be ready to keel over after he's finished wielding it.

Of course, as we all know, bringing out the Blazing Sword first would finish the battle sooner ... probably. But a cautious team leader would want to try everything else before a risking a move that leaves his machine vulnerable.