Voltron

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. more...

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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 Hyakujuu-ou Golion (百獣王ゴライオン - Hyakujūō Goraion, Hundred Beast King GoLion/FiveLion), and featured a team of five young pilots commanding five robot lions, which could be combined to form Voltron. In this undefined future 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 Haggar, 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 "GoLion" version of Voltron was regarded as "Voltron III" within the toyline because it was the last of the three series released in Japan.

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." (Much of this was presented in the "History of Voltron" back-up stories written by Mark Waid, which were ended early due to the cancellation of the series. Therefore, the Devil's Due origin is incomplete.)

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 become overcrowded, and a fleet of explorers have been sent to search out new planets to colonize. Along the way, they attract the attention of the evil Drule Empire, who proceed to interfere with the explorers and the colonists. Since the Voltron of Planet Arus was too far away to help the explorers, a totally new Voltron is constructed to battle the Drule threat.

Read more at Wikipedia.org