Heavy Metal L-Gaim

Show me the way to you! Lead me there where you are!

Heavy Metal L-Gaim is an anime television series, begun in 1984, which was directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino. Its characters and mecha were designed by Mamoru Nagano, who would later go on to create The Five Star Stories. L-Gaim takes place in the Pentagona System, a solar system made up of five planets. Oldna Poseidal, the legendary emperor from the planet Gastogal leads his 24 Temple Knights from planet to planet until all have fallen under his control. His final victory is on the planet Mizum in 3975 when he defeats Kamon Walha V, ruler of the Yaman Clan. Kamon hides his heir, Kamon Myroad on the planet Mizum with the legendary white mecha, L-Gaim. Fifteen years later, now grown up and known as Daba Myroad, he leads a rebellion to free the planets of Pentagona from Poseidal's grasp.

Tropes used in Heavy Metal L-Gaim include:

• Ace Pilot - Most main characters.
• Air Jousting
• Artificial Limbs - Lilin after an encounter with Daba's Lightsaber. And later, Giwaza after squaring off against Nei Mohan
• Battle Aura - L-Gaim Mk. II's advanced central computer's silhouette does this, sort of.
• Beam Saber - Most commonly used Heavy Metal close-combat weapon. Most main characters also have lightsabers.
• Beam Spam
• BFG - The Buster Launcher.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu - Pretty much what happened to L-Gaim Mk. II in its fight against the original Aug. Although the arm was ripped off.
• Butt Monkey - Kyao, usually.
• Colony Drop - Operation Star Dust.
• Dead Little Sister - More like lobotomised.
• Deflector Shields - Except they're physical and can be destroyed.
• Downer Ending - Combined with Tear Jerker. Daba tells his friends that he is retreating to live alone with his sister on Koam and nurse her as she was brain-damaged by Poseidal.
  • Actually, it's more of a Bittersweet Ending since The Empire is destroyed, the war is over and the bad guys are dead. Still, a tear jerker.
• Expy - Lilith is virtually identical in appearance to the character of Cham Fau from Aura Battler Dunbine. It has never been fully addressed why Cham and Lillith are exactly alike aside from name and personality, although its speculated that many people on the staff that worked on L-Gaim also worked on Dunbine, and many had a soft spot for the spunky fairy. Further proof for this can be seen in Lilith's space suit design, which has wing covers very similar to those of the titular mecha in Aura Battler Dunbine.
• Falling Into the Cockpit - Averted. Nearly everyone is a trained pilot. Those that aren't are quickly removed from the picture.
• First Girl Wins - : It turns out that Daba met Olibee as part of the show's backstory and he chooses to become her caretaker after the war ends.
• Foe Yay - Daba and Gavlet. So Much. Leccee and Amu alternate between slight Les Yay and Cat Fights bordering on Foe Yay from time to time...
• Grand Finale - Yes.
• High Heel Face Turn - Leccee, after meeting Daba.
• If It Swims, It Flies - Somewhat subverted, as most Heavy Metals need additional equipment to do so.
• Kill'Em All - Notably averted, for a Yoshiyuki Tomino series. Only a few main characters die.
• La Résistance - Various factions come and go; eventually, a cohesive force is pulled together by Daba.
• Large Ham - Gavlet Gabre.
• Last of His Kind - Daba is the lone survivor of the Yaman race. Lilith is also the only fairy to survive a nuclear holocaust.
• Lost Technology - L-Gaim and the original Aug.
• Mecha Expansion Pack - The various Land Boosters.
• Meta Mecha - Kind of, as both L-Gaim and L-Gaim Mk. II can only be exploited to the fullest of their capacities using the Spiral Flow and Viewy air bikes. (They can actually be piloted without the air bikes, but it's a bumpy ride since they serve as shock absorbers.)
• Mid-Season Upgrade - L-Gaim Mk. II.
• Mind Rape - Obilee.
• Name's the Same / Fan Nickname - There are two Humongous Mecha in the series named "Auge"; fans often refer to Poseidal's Ace Custom as "Original Auge" to distinguish between the two.
  • Not to mention that at least half the mechs have ones named after them in The Five Star Stories, including yet another two Auges (Auge Arusqul and Original Auge's counterpart, Machine Messiah Auge). Usually, different romanizations are used to differentiate them. L-Gaim's A-TAUL vs. A-toll from FSS, Bat-Shu the Blue Knight vs. Vatshu the Black Knight, etc.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: the extremely poweful L-Gaim Mk. II is easily totally trashed by the original Aug. The only thing that prevents Daba from a Heroic Sacrifice is when Mian deactivates the Bio-Relation, causing Amandara to buy it.
• No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup - played pretty straight with the L-Gaim Mk.II, although there was clearly a prototype. But to really make sure that this was the case, when Daba and Co. stole the Mk.II, they also made off with the technician in charge of it.
• Panty Shot - Several.
• Really Seven Hundred Years Old - The real Poseidal emperor Amandra Kamandra.
• Real Robot - All mecha. Crosses the line a bit with L-Gaim, L-Gaim Mk. II and the original Aug, as they are one-of-a-kind-mecha, albeit prototypical ones.
• Redemption Equals Death - Several minor characters. Most notably in the episode General Kurosu, where a criminal has taken the place of the real General Kurosu, who was executed by the Poseidal Military Forces. After he discovers the truth, Daba asks him to stand-in for the real Kurosu. He truly redeems himself by saving Daba from Nei Mo Han by interposing his Machinery between Auge and L-Gaim. Sadly, his Machinery is destroyed in the process and he dies.
• Spell My Name with an "S" - Some fans apparently like to romanize the Big Bad's name as Possoidal (or, less frequently, Pposoidal) because his counterpart from the official English version of The Five Star Stories uses the name Ladios Sopp.
• Super Prototype - L-Gaim Mk. II. Literally: It is an Amon Duule Stack improved with L-Gaim's technology.
  • The L-Gaim and L-Gaim Mk.II count for other reasons - the former is mass-produced as the D.Ssard while the more advanced Novel D.Ssard (of which we see only one, piloted by Lecce) is based off of the latter.
• Super Robot Wars (Shows up in F, F Final, Compact and GC/XO)
• The Empire - Poseidal's Empire
• The Power of Friendship - What makes the rebellion a success.
• Time Bomb - The long-forgotten nuclear reactor on Paratta Star which begins ticking down to self-detonation when jarred by a battle outside.
• Transforming Mecha - L-Gaim Mk. II.
• Triang Relations - Starts as a type 3 with Amu and Leccee competing for Daba's attention, eventually settling into a type 4 with Daba accepting Amu's feelings. In the end, neither wins.