omg i am late sO CASTLEVANIA NETFLIX WAS AWESOME AF GORGEOUSLY ANIMATED AND GOREY AS HELL Alucard wasn’t as fabbu as i’d like but he still looked cool also Trevor is amazing i love him
This post is inspired by the following Ask from an Anon:
“What are the traits of the prototypical shounen-mecha protagonist, and how have they changed and evolved over the years?”
Well Anon, at least “mecha” helps narrow it down! LOL.
I’m not going to get too deep into how the shōnen mecha protagonist has evolved over the years, because I mostly focus on mecha anime from the 70s-80s. I’ll eventually catch-up to post-2000s mecha anime that isn’t Gundam, but honestly, I love the Super Robot genre and no one really does that anymore unless it’s either got parody baked-in, or is super dark (which is fine but I’m bored of that too).
That said, I’ve wanted to make a massive image grid of shōnen protags for awhile now and your Ask gave me a reason to do it.
Short answer first:
The shōnen mecha protagonist ‘changed and evolved’ by growing up.
His world became darker. He got slapped. He got laid. His emotions became more complex. He sunk into existential ennui. His backstory became darker. His body count became higher.
Above: Eiji Asuka (Aoki Ryūsei SPT Layzner), Takeru Myojin (Six God Combination Godmars), Apollo (Genesis of Aquarian), Van Fanel (Vision of Escaflowne).
He became an outsider, an alien, an evolved human. He gained psychic powers and secret lineages of lost royal blood. Sometimes he strayed into magical or mystical territory.
Next, traits (defined broadly) that generally define the shōnen mecha protagonist:
Moonlit Spires 