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Zoids is a series of plastic toy models that look like animal-shaped robots, as well as three anime series and a manga series based 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 three anime series pertaining to Zoids are: Zoids Chaotic Century, Zoids New Century/0 and Zoids Fuzors. 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.
New Century
Zoids New Century/0 takes place several centuries after Chaotic Century, 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.
Fuzors
Zoids Fuzors takes place a while after Zero, though this is disputed and is only a fan theory, and technology has progressed quite a bit. 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. About half-way through the series it was canceled and stopped airing on Cartoon Network, but continued to show in Australia and began to show in Japan.
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 Zoidarian 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 Zoidarian 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 Zoidarian 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 Zoidarian 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 melée 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 apparently no continuity with the Japanese anime.
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