Great Mazinger

Great Mazinger is the title character in the 1974 series Great Mazinger (series). The pilot of this mecha, unlike Mazinger Z was Tetsuya Tsurugi and not Koji Kabuto. It was introduced as a new and improved version of the original Mazinger Z.

Origin Story[]

Kenzo Kabuto is the creator of the new, improved version of Mazinger, made by refining his father's Chogokin Z (Super Alloy Z) into a new, stronger form, designed to fight against humanity's new enemy, the Mikene (or Mycenae) Empire, led by the Great General of Darkness and his army of Warrior Beasts.Kenzo gives the Great Mazinger to Tetsuya to pilot, who is accompanied by a new girl, Jun Hono (an orphaned half Japanese, half black girl), in her female robot Venus A.Both Great Mazinger's and Tetsuya's training are completed just in time to come to Kouji's aid as the Mycene Battle Beasts overwhelm Mazinger Z. With the original Mazinger destroyed, Kouji went to America to study space travel and left Japan's defense in the hands of Tetsuya and the Fortress of Science!

Weapons and Attacks[]

Navel Missile
Just like Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger mounts a missile launcher in its stomach.
Atomic Punch
Great Mazinger also possesses a Rocket Punch-like attack, though its fists spin while in flight, giving them extra force.
Drill Pressure Punch
It is like the Atomic Punch, except that the forearms sprout drill-like blades that add to the damage as well as the speed of rotation.
Great Boomerang
Great Mazinger can take the heat sink fin off of its chest and throw it as a giant boomerang.
Scramble Cutter
Just like Mazinger Z's Scrander Cutter, Great Mazinger slashes the enemy with the Scrander's wings while flying at high speeds.
Great Typhoon
Just like Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger uses turbines to generate powerful wind attacks. However, Great Mazinger's attack is simply a wind-based attack, lacking the corrosive properties of Mazinger's attack.
Knee Impulse Kick
Great Mazinger can sprout a spike from its knee, making its kick attacks more lethal.
Backspin Kick
Great Mazinger can also sprout a curved blade on the front of its leg for stronger kicks.

Mazingerblade — Great Mazinger with the Mazinger Blade

Mazinger Blade
The flanged compartments on Great Mazinger's legs hold a pair of swords. Tetsuya typically uses the Blades for melee combat, but on several occasions he threw them at the enemy.
Breast Burn
Like Mazinger Z, the fin on Great Mazinger's chest doubles as a heat sink and a weapon, unleashing incredible thermal energy.
Thunder Break
Great Mazinger can release energy into the atmosphere, stimulating the process that creates natural lightning. Great Mazinger then calls the lightning down onto the antennae on its head and redirects the energy towards an enemy. In the Super Robot Wars series, Tetsuya can perform this alongside the Grendizer's Space Thunder or another Great Mazinger unit's Thunder Break to perform the Double Lightning Buster.
Thunder Blade
A one-time attack where Tetsuya channeled the lightning from the Thunder Break through one of his Mazinger Blades.
Double Thunder Break
Similar to Thunder Break but Great Mazinger uses both hands to redirect the lightning.
Breast Burn Special
Basically a powered-up Breast Burn, almost akin to the Kaiser Nova of Mazinkaiser but with detrimental effects to Great Mazinger. Used in the manga to destroy Gilgilgan from within.
Double Burning Fire
In certain Super Robot Wars games, Tetsuya and Kouji can use their chest beam attacks to cause an even more powerful, faster burn for their opponents. Also in Mazinger Z vs The Great General of Darkness both used this attack to finsh off General Juuma.

Brain Condor[]

Like Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger is operated by a separate vehicle that docks with the Mazinger's head. It emerges from an underwater launch bay connected to the Fortress of Science and docks with Great, which rises from a whirlpool in the nearby waters.

Length
5 meters
Maximum Speed
Mach 1
Maximum Dive Depth
8 kilometers
Power Source
Photonic Energy
Armor Materials
Chogokin New Z (New Super-Alloy Z)
Weapons
Lasers, Missiles

Great Booster[]

A supplemental craft, the Great Booster functions much as the Jet Scrander did for Mazinger Z (Great already had some flight capability "out of the box", thanks to its collapsable Scramble Dash). Though rarely used, the Great Booster was incredibly powerful and was instrumental in Tetsuya's defeat of the Mycene.

Wingspan
28 meters
Weight
1.8 metric tons
Maximum Speed
Mach 4
Ceiling
50 kilometers
Weapons
Lasers, Bladed Wings

OVA Version[]

In the 2002 OVA Mazinkaiser: Tetsuya again fights alongside Kouji against Doctor Hell's forces. The OVA version of Great Mazinger is physically identical to the original, but with black coloring on the arms and legs instead of blue. Great is seriously damaged during the initial battle in the series, and later, when the captured Mazinger Z attacks the Photon Power Labs, Tetsuya does his best to defend the lab against Mazinger Z and later the rampaging Mazinkaiser, leaving him badly injured and Great Mazinger a complete wreck. Afterwards, he leaves together with Jun for treatment for his injuries.

Near the end of the OVA, Tetsuya returns with a new, much more powerful Great, discovered in Doctor Juzo Kabuto's laboratory; this is said to be the real Great Mazinger (or "Shin Great Mazinger"). The "true" Great is structurally the same as the earlier version, but the color scheme for the forearms and legs is blue, as in the original 70's version. It is explained that the Great Mazinger made by Doctor Kenzo Kabuto (Kouji's father) is the prototype version, seen in the early episodes, whereas Doctor Juzo Kabuto (Kouji's grandfather), secretly working in an underground laboratory, managed to finish the final version of Great Mazinger. It has tremendous power compared to the prototype version, and its armor is almost identical to the new Z Alpha armor used by Mazinkaiser.

The concept of Shin Great Mazinger is to bring Great to the ranks of modern and more powerful robots such as Mazinkaiser and Shin Getter Robo.