Sam-Robo

The title Super Robot / Mecha from my work-in-progress series Sam-Robo (formally Sam Fernandez and His Unwanted Robot); a comical take on the boy and his giant super robot sub-genre.

Sure, the idea is nothing new, with such beloved entries as Mobile Police Patlabor and Megas XLR being the most famous examples. But I'm still moving forward with this project because you can never have enough off-beat super robot comedies...and I want to throw my hat into the ring, God(zilla) damn it!

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Sam Fernandez is an intelligent, good-hearted, but cynical and childishly short fourteen-year old who is much put upon by others in and out of school; basically one of those poor individuals who has the unfortunate habit of attracting jerks like dirty flies to sweet honey. Then one day, the all-mighty Smug, a race of constantly bored and unenthusiastically benevolent slug-related aliens, whose self-appointed job is to maintain order in the galaxy, forces Sam into becoming Earth's guardian against an upcoming surge of hostile alien and giant monster activity.

Thankfully the boy is not alone in his mission, as he is assisted by the cheery and sweet green haired alien mechanic Seta Alexandran, as well as from his mother Gwen Miko, who is enjoying these weird developments far better than everyone else in the story.

Among the other tools given to Sam for the job, is this handsome mechanical fellow above, whose true designation is the Giant On-Loan Planetary Protection Smug Robot 1897644-GH9. But for the sake of time and precious brain cells, its dubbed Sam-Robo for short.

Sam-Robo stands at 29 meters (97 feet) high, and is armed with a large arsenal of weapons, including lasers from the eyes and a third smaller, but stronger one on the left chest plate. Sonic enhanced laser blasters in its wrists called Wrist Blasters, and an Electrical Baton that can transform into a Plasma Sword hidden within the right leg. The Force Shield; a limited size energy field that comes fourth from his left arm that acts as defense to the Plasma Sword's offense. Powerful Megaton Leg Kicks, with an additional supply of near endless laser-based missiles shot from the heels. A powerful Sonic Wave Cannon within the right, vent-like chest plate, and an equally devastating Solar Beam Cannon on the very top of its head.

But perhaps the one device that makes the robot the best machine one could have in saving the day is the Tele-Crest. True to its name, it fires a wide spread transportation beam that sends innocent bystanders to a safer distance. This device makes it easier to battle giant enemies without tragic casualties, and is Sam's personal favorite feature in his assigned colossus. Additionally, Sam-Robo possesses superb mechanized strength, with fists that are able to turn in constant circular motion at great speeds, which Seta has dubbed the Screwdriver Punch.

Despite an unknown number of past operators, it's currently Sam and Sam alone who can pilot the giant robot. The cockpit, located deep in the very center of the robot, is spheroid in shape and can create a real time simulation of its surroundings, blended with real life footage from the eye mounted cameras. From here Sam can control the robot through motion sensors; in other words, what Sam does, the robot mimics, like motion control piloting. And the overall cockpit is one of the strongest built elements of Sam-Robo, like a Black Box to an airplane, thus insuring Sam's safety at all times.

But as amazing as the Sam-Robo may be to us Earthly humans, by alien standards they're still some major problems with it. For starters, it has limited flight capabilities that keeps the robot trapped within Earth's atmosphere; all so that Sam won't get any crazy ideas about escaping from his duties. And although the Sam-Robo is all awesome looking and toughly built, it is actually an out of date piece of old, funky technology as far as Sam's otherworldly adversaries are concerned.

Seta on the other hand, defends the 'classic jalopy' with a car-like passion.

The justification by the Smug for this however is simple; Earth is a very obscure and out-of-the-way little planet...why waste something more expensive and brand new on it? Yeah, the Smug are like that, and Sam and his friend know this all too well.

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EXTRA IMAGES:

Originally Sam-Robo was going to be 44 meters tall (145 feet), but I went against it because I don't like my giant monsters being TOO gigantic Its always more interesting for me visually if the hero is smaller then the adversaries he / she / it face against. Even if both parties are behemoths.

I guess Ultraman Towards the Future was the biggest influence behind my preference, as that show often had the title hero battle opponents (rubber monster suits) who towered over him. Unlike later series like Ultraman Tiga where almost all the villains were basically a foot smaller then the lead hero, and gave a rather unimpressive (and laughable) feel to the climatic fights. Here is a size chart not only featuring the older, bigger Sam-Robo, but also a special guest star...

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Here's an awesome redesign of Sam-Robo done by the one and only , apart of a commission he did for me back in 2008:

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And finally another awesome Sam-Robo piece, done as an art trade with

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