Zoids: Guardian Force

Zoids: Guardian Force
The Guardian Force's logo is a combination of the Helic Republic and Guylos Empire's symbols
Japanese Name	ゾイド
Name Translation	Zoido
Genre	Adventure, Comedy, Mecha
Director	Takao Kato
Studio	Shogakukan Productions.
Network	TBS, Cartoon network
First Aired	1999-09-04
Last Aired	2000-12-23
Episodes	33

Zoids: Guardian Force is the direct sequel of Zoids: Chaotic Century. Guardian Force is an Anime series based on the Zoids mecha model range produced by TOMY. The series is set two years after the events of Chaotic Century.

There are 33 episodes, although the Western dub version merges Chaotic Century and Guardian Force into a single series, retaining the name "Chaotic Century" for the entire series.

Series Background

Guardian Force is set two years after the events depicted in Chaotic Century. The Helic Republic and Guylos Empire are at peace after defeating the attempted coup by Regent Prozen. Members of both the Helic and Guylos militaries have combined into an elite multinational peacekeeper force known as the Guardian Force.

The Guardian Force

The Guardian Force was created as a part of the peace process between the Helic Republic and the Guylos Empire, and is made up of elite, specially trained soldiers from the militaries of both nations. Led by Colonel Kreuger of the Republic, the mission of the Guardian Force is to prevent all future wars. Members of the Guardian Force seek out dissidents, terrorists, and volatile groups, and contain them before they can do any damage.

Plot

Guardian Force follows the joint Guardian Force fighters, centring around Van Flyheight. With the conclusion of the Helic-Guylos war, the main antagonist switches from the Guylos Empire to a mysterious band of Ancient Zoidians lead by Hiltz. With Hiltz's knowledge of Ancient Zoidian lore, he is a powerful enemy that even the combined Republican and Imperial forces have trouble containing.

Characters

For detailed information, see each character's respective pages on the table provided below

Deleted Scenes

In Japan, there are different censorship laws to English-speaking nations, as such, several scenes present in the Japanese version were not allowed to be broadcast on most foreign TV networks. These scenes were cut out during localisation, to remove drug references, violent scenes (blood, etc.), and any implied nudity or sexuality.

• Episode 1: Hiltz throws someone off a cliff.
• Episode 6: People are drinking; Van gets a gun pointed to his head and is kicked out of a Whale King. (He gets back to the Whale King).
• Episode 7: Reese chokes Fiona; Thomas is bleeding during his fight with Karl.
• Episodes 8, 9 ,10: Quick scenes of blood.
• Episode 12: This episode suffers the worst of English-dub editing. While underwater, the English version shows Reese screaming and everything fading to white as Van destroys Reese's Hammerhead. The Japanese version is much longer. As Reese screams, she physically contacts Fiona and puts Fiona and Van in her and Niccolo's place as she witnesses his (very bloody) death, making Fiona feel her pain. As Fiona wake up from this, she cries for Van to rescue Reese, while in the English version she is much less distressed.
• Episodes 13, 15, 17, 32: More quick scenes of blood.

Zoids

New Zoids introduced in Guardian Force include:

• Death Stinger
• Dibison
• Double Sworder
• Geno Breaker
• Gun Sniper
• Helcat
• Lightning Saix
• Ultrasaurus

Episodes

Main article: List of Zoids Chaotic Century/Guardian Force episodes

Theme songs

In the Western dub, there is only one opening and ending theme, both of which are modified versions of certain background music tracks used throughout the series. The following full-voice songs were featured in the Japanese release only.

Opening

1. Wild Flowers by Ramar

Endings

1. Song for... by Dear
2. Chase by Develop=Frame
3. Into Yourself by Transtic Nerve
4. Your Song by Earth

Trivia

• The translation and dubbing of the final four episodes of Guardian Force was delayed. Australia was the first Western nation to air what came to be known as the 'Final Four', near the end of 2002. Cartoon Network in the United States followed in January 2003.