Description
The Backdraft Organization (also known as Backdraft group) are an illicit organization that rule unsanctioned battles. They are ruled by the mysterious "committee of seven", with a Count residing over the committee. They oppose the Zoid Battle Commission, and use their own Judges, called Dark Judges, to hijack legal fights.
They win over competitors by offering very large prize money, usually measured in multiples of regular prize money (that would be given from fighting in a sanctioned battle). However, in return, participants that lose must forfeit all their Zoids to the Backdraft. Teams that do not participate in battles are often attacked anyway, to show that the Backdraft always get their way. The Backdraft is apparently funded by gambling, with battled being rigged to maximise bets. An example of this is episode 12, when the safety featured on the Liger Zero are removed for no reason other than profit maximisation.
According the the New Century DVD special features:
"Little is known about the Backdraft except they are in opposition to the Zoid Battle Commission and seek to destroy them whenever they get the chance. Overseen by a committee of seven mysterious members and chaired by "The Count" they illegally interrupt matches and challenge a team to an unauthorised battle. The challenged team has little choice but accepting the challenge with promises of an enormous amount of prize money if you win. But if you lose, they will take all of your Zoids and leave you with nothing."
Role
Initially shown in episode 4, the Backdraft were doing seen to attack basically at random, involving the Blitz team inadvertantly when Leena accidentally flies over their forces, who shoot her down and kidnap her. They then extort the Blitz team into a battle, but are ultimately defeated, both in combat, and by Leena herself, who overwhelms her guards and escapes on her own. In this episode, the Backdraft use illicit weapons, use more Zoids than the opponent, and, in general, disregard fairness or norms in order to win the battle.
Their next appearance is in episode 6, where Sanders uses the Elephander to try and beat the Blitz team, but apart from setting up a dome over the battle field, use no illicit manoeuvres and no tricks, instead simply relying on the overwhelming power of the Elephander to gather wages on their battle.
After this battle, the Backdraft grow interested in the Blitz team, as they see their victory over the Elephander as a highly significant win. This is because they thought the Elephander to be an Ultimate X, but upon its defeat, begin to consider the Liger Zero as one instead. They put this to the test, sending the Fuma team against them, but once again, the Blitz team is victorious. Now sure that the Liger Zero is an Ultimate X, they procced to steal it, once again pitting it against the Elephander- this time, in a one-on-one duel, without the Liger's CAS options. While the Liger is soundly thrashed, the Hover Cargo is able to interrupt the match and deploy the Schenider unit, and it and the Elephander take each other out (resulting in a draw). Immediately after, the Zoids Battle Commission deploy the Blitz team and trick the Backdraft into a battle, and, with the deployment of the Raynos, are successful in extracting revenge on the Backdraft's Zabat squadrons.
Later, there are several developments. Firstly, the Blitz team are inadvertently involved with the Backdraft, who, targeting Naomi's team, rather than their team, interrupt a battle between Bit Cloud and Leon Toros. The next development is when Dr. Laon joins them in order to get his revenge against Steve Toros. During this battle, Pierce defects from the Backdraft. After this, Stoller steals the Elephander and defects, challenging Bit to a legitimate Zoid battle, and inadvertently causing the Backdraft and the Blitz team to come into conflict. The use of the Liger's Panzer armour obliterates the Backdraft's forces. Some time later, Brad Hunter finds Laon's Shadow Fox, and promptly joins the Backdraft. This is short-lived, as he essentially steal the Zoid and returns the Blitz team. In retaliation, Dr. Laon kidnaps Harry Champ and tries to use him as a hostage to get Leena out of the way and then extract his revenge against the Blitz team using the Fuma team, who's Warsharks he upgraded. This goes horribly wrong, as Leena, rather than being paralysed by love, is enraged by Harry's kidnapping (as Harry's kidnapping meant she was stood up on a scheduled date with him), and blasts him, along with the Fuma team, ending the conflict.
From this point on, the Backdraft's focus shifts to the Berserk Fury. Altail, ridiculed for his belief in the existence of the Ultimate X, is assigned to finding one, a job they don't honestly expect him to achieve (even joking about taking bets on his success or failure). He does succeed, though he is once again shunned, with Vega Obscura being given the Fury, and Sarah, his handler, is given control over all its actions. Here, she places Vega into the Royal Cup, and proceeds to use a Charged Particle Cannon to wipe out the Battle Commision's Judge Satellites, with the intent being to completely usurp control of all Zoid battles. Enraged by his sidelining, Altail gives the Fuma team three Geno Saureres and tells them to defeat the Fury. They fail, and the Fury nearly proceeds unimpeded to the Royal Cup's finish line. But just before the finish line, the Fury halts and retreats on its own will, actively seeking a rematch with the Blitz team, or specifically, their Ultimate X, the Liger Zero.
The battle is heated, with Bit and Brad seemingly overpowered by Vega's Fury- but the decent of a Judge Satellite halts their defeat. Brad manages to take Vega by surprise as Bit swaps his armours, having the Schneider and Jager damaged earlier in the event, and the Pazer overheating due to firing all its missiles at the falling Judge Satellite, Bit is forced to use the basic Zero. The Shadow Fox is then defeated, and the only the Hover Cargo's Energy Shield stops Vega from completely obliterating the Blitz team. Then, the battle descends into a high-class duel between the Fury and Zero, with Bit accidentally knocking out Vega, who, upon regaining consciousness, ejects from his Zoid, which had gone Berserk during the battle. This means the Backdraft's attempt to win the Royal Cup was thwarted. Furthermore, the appearance of a colossal Judge Satellite, with many, many, cannons, results in the obliteration of the Backdraft's Dark Judge Satellites.
Thus, with the series' end, the Backdraft is totally and thoroughly defeated, although the ultimate fate of the organisation is unknown.
Noteworthy members
- Altail
- Fuma, Ehga, Koga, and Negola
- Dr. Laon (joins midway through the series)
- Major Polta
- Pierce
- Sarah
- Stigma Stoller
- Vega Obscura