Death Saurer
From Zoids Wiki
The Death Saurer (also written as Death Saurer) is a Dinosaur type Zoid, one of over 200 species of biomechanical lifeforms depicted by TOMY's Zoids model, toy, and media franchise. The Death Saurer is the penultimate villain of the Chaotic Century and Guardian Force anime series, and plays a major role throughout the Battle Story.
| Death Saurer | |
 Death Saurer in the anime series | |
| EZ-021 Dinosaur Type Guylos/Zenebas | |
| Crew | 2 |
| Weight | 400 tons |
| Depth | 32.4 m |
| Height | 21 m |
| Maximum Speed | 90 km/h |
| Weapons | Killer Bite Fangs, Hyper Killer Claws (2), AEZ 20 mm Beam Gun, Large-Bore Particle Beam Cannon, SSM Pod, Small-Bore Anti-Ground Laser Machinegun (2), TEZ 20 mm Linear Laser Gun (2), AEZ 20 mm Beam Gun, Small-Bore Laser Machinegun, Sixteen-Shot Missile Launcher, Weighted Striking Tail |
| Equipment | E-Shield Generator (anime only), High-Precision Infra-Red Beam Laser Searcher, Composite Sensor Unit, Charged Particle Intake Management Fan or Charged Particle Converter (anime) |
Contents |
[edit] Overview
The Death Saurer is a Dinosaur-type Zoid modeled after the fictional Japanese monster Godzilla, and is used by the Zenebas Empire, and later the Guylos Empire. The Death Saurer is one of the most powerful Zoids ever to have existed.
The Death Saurer was developed as a counter to the Republic's Ultrasaurus, a Zoid that was considered to be unstoppable. To defeat it, the Death Saurer was armed with a new weapon, the Charged Particle Cannon. This weapon, long considered to be one of the most powerful ever mounted on a Zoid, was capable of levelling almost any target in a single blast. No form of armour or defense was effective against this weapon. While other Zoids have mounted Charged Particle Cannons, the Death Saurer's is still the most powerful. Additionally, unlike most other CPC-armed Zoids, the Death Saurer does not need to be immobilised in order to fire its cannon.
In addition to its powerful weapons, the Death Saurer is also covered by some of the thickest armor on any Zoid. The Death Saurer 's armor was designed to defend against such weapons as the Ultrasaurus' quad 360 mm Cannons and the Gojulas Supercannons. The only weakness in its armor is the intake for its Charged Particle Cannon. The intake is less protected than the rest of its body, and is vulnerable to attack. Destroying it will expose the Zoid's power system to a direct attack.
The Death Saurer's only other weakness is the ponderously slow speed at which it moves, which makes it an easy target. Of course, its thick armor and powerful weapons mean that it can survive almost any assault.
[edit] Battle Story appearances
The Death Saurer first appeared during the Zenebas offensive against the Republic in ZAC 2044. With the Death Saurer's power, the Empire was able to steamroll the Helic army, destroying their capital and forcing them to retreat to the mountains in the far east of the continent. The Death Saurer was simply unstoppable; there was no weapon that was effective against it. With each Death Saurer being protected by dedicated escort of Lidiers and Reddras, there was no easy way to exploit its few weaknesses.
The Republic began a program to overcome this failing, eventually resulting in the deployment of the Madthunder in ZAC 2048. The Madthunder force was used to counterattack the Death Saurer force in the Republic's capital, and succeeded in defeating them. From there, the Republic drove towards the Empire's capital, capturing it in ZAC 2049. Zenebas' personal Death Saurer was one of the first Zoids to face a Guylos Deadborder, being crushed by the latter's gravity cannons. The surviving Death Saurers were integrated into the Guylos army and served as shock troops, but were destroyed in the meteor strike of ZAC 2056.
In ZAC 2099, the Guylos Empire found the ruins of a previously unknown advanced civilization on Mount Olympus, on the Western Continent of Europa. Inside these ruins was a Death Saurer which, while damaged, provided them with enough information to reverse engineer its technology and begin limited production of it for their armies. They also developed a new Zoid from its systems, the Geno Saurer.
In response, the Helic army began work on recreating the Madthunder. The two massive Zoids faced each other again in ZAC 2102 on the Dark Continent, the Helic Madthunders again triumphing. However, Imperial Regent Gunter Prozen had his own Zoid, the Bloody Death Saurer. He used it to attack the Helic forces in the Imperial capital, before it was disabled by a Guylos Iron Kong. Mortally wounded, Prozen set the Zoid to overload and explode, destroying the city and the bulk of the two armies present.
In ZAC 2230, the Zi-Arms corporation found the wreckage of a Death Saurer. Using technologies developed for the Chimera Blox, they revived it in a new form, the Mega Death Saurer. However, the Zoid went berserk and attacked everything around it, destroying the Zi-Arms forces. In the end, the combined power of the three legendary Tiger Zoids, Whitz Tiger, Rayse Tiger and Brastle Tiger was required to destroy it.
[edit] Media appearances
[edit] Anime
The Death Saurer first appeared in Zoids: Chaotic Century, as a major part of the central plot of the series. It is depicted as a truly evil Zoid with a thirst for death and destruction and a will of its own, able to possess the minds of lesser beings such as Prozen and Hiltz. In the past, before humans came to Planet Zi, the Death Saurer had been created by the Zoidans and wiped them all out, with the exceptions of Fiona, Hiltz and Reese. The Zoidians managed to contain the Death Saurer with two unnamed scorpion zoids. They attempted to destroy the Zoid Eve in order to stop it, but were unable to do so. Instead, the Zoid Eve, along with the Death Saurer, fell dormant. As a part of his plot to take over the Guylos Empire and the rest of Zi, Imperial Regent Gunther Prozen revived the Death Saurer and used it to attack the Imperial capital, and armies from both the Helic Repbulic and the Gulyos empire were powerless to stop it. The Zoid was destroyed by Van Flyheight's Blade Liger, exploding and apparently killing Prozen.
In Zoids: Guardian Force, Hiltz planned to use the Death Saurer, enhanced by the Zoid Core of the Death Stinger, to destroy all life on Zi. It was explained that while the core was genuine, the body of the Death Saurer fought in the Imperial capital was a low-quality copy (albeit still nigh invincible). The core survived by fusing with Prozen, who had inexplicably managed to survive the destruction of the first Death Saurer. The 'true' Death Saurer was found at the end Guardian Force, having been locked in an ancient city, but was revived when Prozen and the Death Stinger's core were fused to create a new core for it. The revived Death Saurer was much stronger than the first, leaving Van's Blade Liger and Raven's Geno Breaker unable to harm it. Even the Ultrasaurus's gravity cannon is unable to damage this Death Saurer, and the Ultrasaurus was crippled by it. Using the large lens like field produced by the repelled gravity cannon shell, Hiltz (now merged with the Death Saurer's core), was able to use the Death Saurer's charged particle cannon on target all across Zi. Fiona initially planned to destroy the Zoid Eve to stop the Death Saurer (an event that would actually cause the destruction of all Zoids), but eventually came up with the plan of firing Van's Blade Liger out of the Ultrasaurus's gravity cannon to destroy the Death Saurer. Before that happened, Raven discovered an energy shield around the Death Saurer that he'd have to break down for Van's idea to work, and managed to do so even though it used all of the Geno Breaker's power. After being fired out of the gravity cannon, the Blade Liger successfully destroyed the Death Saurer.
Not physically but in more of a visual, the Death Saurer's lone appearance in Zoids: New Century Zero is a super deformed version breathing fire (apparently intended as "animation within the animation") at the start of a news broadcast. The Death Saurer is also mentioned in passing in some episodes; Doctor Laon boasts that his custom transport, the "Great Whale King" is as powerful as one, and Steve Tauros mentions offhand that his Hover Cargo's shield could deflect shots from a Death Saurer's Charged Particle Cannon.
[edit] Size Discrepancy
In the anime, the Death Saurer appears differently to its Battle Story counterpart. The Death Saurer is an ancient, powerful Zoid, responsible for the destruction of the Ancient Zoidian civilization. The anime Death Saurer's size is expanded for dramatic purposes, but is also rather inconsistent. Sometimes, it is shown as closer in size to Godzilla, while at other times the Zoid is depicted as being closer in size to the battle story version. This is especially evident in the scenes depicting Prozen as standing on its shoulder. This feature is not unique to the Death Saurer; many other Zoids are portrayed in the anime as being larger than their stats indicate.
The animation model of the Death Saurer also has somewhat exaggerated proportions; the Zoid's neck is longer and thinner than the model's, while the head is proportionally smaller, making it more closely resemble Godzilla than the model kit. Its claws are also elongated and razor sharp, as opposed to the blunt, squared off fingers of the model kit.[edit] Video Games
The Death Saurer appeared in the Zoids: Saga II as well as the prototype Death Meteor. It also fuses with Victory Rex to become Death Saurer VF. In-game, it also features a 'Diffused Charged Particle Cannon', capable of hitting every enemy at once. This version of the charged particle cannon is also used by Geno Flame, Geno Hydra (and its variants), and Berserk Fury (and its variants). The bloody demon is a one-off kit and a winner of a Zoids custom contest and was then included in the Saga II video game. It was also issued as a gashapon included in the Whale King playset.
 Death Saurer |
 Death Meteor |
 Bloody Demon |
 Death Saurer VF |
The Death Saurer also appeared in the Zoids VS series. It, along with it's variations Bloody Death Saurer and Mega Death Saurer (Referred to as simply the Megasaurer) appear at multiple points during the game, as an enemy in Battle Mode and both Mission modes. The player can only use the Death Saurer and its variants in Vs Mode, because it cannot be bought in Battle Mode. To unlock Megasaurer, the player must enter a certain code; different codes also unlock Energy Liger and Liger Zero Phoenix.
The Bloody Death Saurer appears as an opponent in Zoids Battle Colosseum, with Prozen piloting the Zoid.
[edit] Trading Cards
The Death Saurer was featured in three out of the four Zoids Trading Cards releases; all except Zoids Scramble.
[edit] Models
[edit] Original Japanese Release
- Assembly required. (Snap-together, no glue needed. Scissors or X-acto knife recommended for trimming off excess plastic bits.)
- The model's colours are moulded into the plastic, and it does not need any paint.
The Death Saurer kit comes on five frames (one of which is a weapons frame also shared with the Red Horn, Sabre Tiger and Dimetrodon), along with a battery-powered motor with light, a clear frame, thirty-two rubber caps, a frame of washers, a rubber band, two small chromed silver pilots, and label sheets. The Death Saurer is moulded in bronze, bright red, and silver, with silver weapons and a smoke-coloured canopy.
The Death Saurer’s construction is reasonably involved and complex, especially given the Zoids size. The Death Saurer uses a pair of “C” sized batteries for motion. Once activated, the Zoid walks forwards, waving its arms, sweeping its tail from side to side, the jaws opening and closing and the fan on its back spinning. The Death Saurer's eyes also flash on and off.
Like several other Zoids of the time, the Death Saurer could use a number of different optional weapons that were included in the Empire Customise Set. The Death Saurer was released in 1987, and was produced up until about 1989.
[edit] Original European Release
A version of the Death Saurer was planned for release in Europe in 1987-88, but was cancelled before it reached production. A single image of the Zoid exists in a TV commercial, depicting the model as being black and grey in colour with blue caps. It seems around 20 units were produced, as promotional items for the shops, packaged in white boxes. This version is commonly named Deathsaurus.
[edit] New Japanese Release
The Death Saurer was re-released in Japan in 1999 in the New Japanese Release. This version had a different colour scheme, being black, dull red and silver, with light blue canopies and blue pilots. There were no changes to the design.
Several chromed versions from independent companies were released.
[edit] Clear Death Saurer
Often called "Crystal" by English-speaking fans, this version was available as a competition prize in Japan. It was moulded almost completely from clear plastic; only the pilot, motor, and caps were produced in the "NJR" colours. A total of one hundred were made in the beginning. But soon after, another release of this Zoid was done in Singapore, and it became easier to find one.
[edit] Bloody Death Saurer
This limited edition version was released by Toy's Dream Project in 2003, with an estimated total of 3,000 released. The Zoid has been entirely recoloured in blood-red, black, and dull silver, with smoke-coloured canopies. A small modification has been made to the design; the lights now remain on instead of flashing.
[edit] New American Release
The Death Saurer was released in the US as a FAO Schwarz exclusive in 2002. There were no modifications to the Zoid beyond the packaging. Hasbro had planned a wider release of the Death Saurer in 2004, but the NAR was cancelled before the release occurred.
Despite the model not actually being released by Hasbro, The Death Saurer was released as part of the Hasbro Action Figures line. It featured a backpack with 2 spring-loaded missiles that could be fired.
[edit] Mega Death Saurer Prototype
Supposed to be released in 2004, this model was only seen once. It is a white re-colored version with a special back part. It was also the reputed main antagonist in the Three Tigers story line and also featured in a video game. Present status of this model being made into production is currently unknown. Mega Death Saurer |
 Special customized backpack |
[edit] Dark Death Saurer
