Organoid
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Organoids are a special type of fictional mecha which exist within the Zoids anime, manga and some of the games; specifically, in Zoids: Chaotic Century and Zoids: Guardian Force. The name is often said to be a portmanteau of "Organic" and "Zoid", although this is probably mere speculation on part of the fandom.
Organoids, like their Zoid counterparts, resemble animals; they usually look like small Tyrannosaurs, (albeit many with added features like wings, spikes, etc), although the Organoid "Pulse" from the Zoids Saga II Game Boy game appears to be some kind of feline. Conveniently, Organoids are much smaller than regular Zoids, around the size of a small horse.
Zoidians and Organoids apparently had a special relationship; they went everywhere together, and when the last remaining Zoidians went into their long sleep, their memories were stored away inside the Organoids.
Organoids do not appear in any way in Zoids: Fuzors or Zoids: Genesis. Given that both shows are set in their own, separate continuities, it is likely that Organoids do not exist in either show.
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[edit] Basic Abilities
Although Organoids are extremely varied and possess all manner of different special abilities, Organoids tend to have a base set of special powers.
- Flight: All Organoids are capable of some form of flight, whether it be flight via boosters, like Zeke, or actual wings, such as Shadow.
- Fusion: All Organoids are capable of turning into a bolt of pure energy and merging directly with the core of a Zoid. Their own power added to that of the Zoid greatly increases a Zoid's speed, power and maneuverability.
- Independent control: All Organoids are capable of controlling a Zoid on their own, without the assistance of a human pilot. This ability could possibly be seen as an extension of their ability to fuse with another Zoid.
- Escape Pod: The inside of an Organoid is hollow, filled with hundreds of prehensile tubes or wires. Under dire circumstances, the Organoid can bail the pilot out, wrapping them up with wires and withdrawing them into their hollow bodies to make a quick escape.
- Metamorphosis: Although all Zoids are capable of gradual ontogeny on their own, an Organoid can greatly accelerate this process, enabling a Zoid to change into to a more advanced form; for example, turning a Shield Liger into a Blade Liger, or a Geno Saurer into a Geno Breaker. Indeed, according to the character Dr. D, this seems to be their primary function.
[edit] Individual Organoids
[edit] Zeke
Van Flyheight's Organoid, a Silver Organoid with red eyes, and the first one seen in the series. He goes by the name "Sieg" in the Japanese version, and in both versions, Zeke is named after the Command Wolf Van's father once piloted. Zeke is friendly and loyal to both Van and Fiona. Early on in the series, Irvine wanted to steal Zeke for himself, believing an Organoid was too valuable to waste on a kid. After becoming friends with Van he came to accept that Van and Zeke were meant to be partners. Zeke is often regarded as the Organoid with the most personality, which is understandable as he's the one most commonly seen and is the most anthropomorphic.
In addition to basic Organoid powers, Zeke has the ability to resurrect dead Zoids, and heal Zoids that are damaged in battle. He has displayed this ability on multiple occasions, sealing cracks in the Shield Liger's body and growing back one of the Blade Liger's blades after it broke off in battle.
[edit] Shadow
Shadow is the second Organoid encountered in the series. He belongs to Raven, Van's rival, and is black with blue eyes. Shadow is a direct opposite to Zeke in nearly every way, in both appearance and attitude. In contrast to Zeke's friendly nature, Shadow is feral and dangerous. He obeys only Raven, and is his only companion. Though he is frequently accused of killing Raven's parents, the dark Organoid seen in the flashback is actually Ambient in low light (Shadow hadn't even come out of his stasis pod yet).
In addition to basic Organoid powers, Shadow has great fortitude, able to remain fused to the Geno Breaker longer than most Organoids would normally be capable of. Also, once again in a direct parallel to Zeke's resurrecting and healing powers, Shadow is able to kill smaller Zoids by ripping right through the core.
[edit] Ambient
Ambient is the third Organoid encountered in the series, and one of the two new ones introduced in Guardian Force. He is red with green eyes with a thagomizer on his tail, and belongs to the Ancient Zoidian Hiltz. Ambient is cold and merciless, although unlike Shadow's wild nature, Ambient is more cunning and wily. Ambient is the Organoid who killed Raven's parents.
Ambient's abilities are an extension of the base metamorphosis ability possessed by all Organoids; he is able to tap directly into a Zoid's core and bring out its full potential instantly. This is witnessed on the occasion he fused with a Gun Sniper, causing it to turn red and sprout spikes. He was also able to merge two Zoid cores together to create the Death Stinger, in another display of his mastery of Zoid metamorphosis.
He was also able to resurrect the Death Stinger after it had been crushed by the Gravity Cannon, and again when Hiltz faced off against Van one-on-one, but it was implied that this was not one of his main abilities, but instead a new power granted to him by Zoid Eve. Ambient disappears from the show after fusing one final time with the Death Stinger in preparation for the transfer of its core to the Death Saurer. It is likely that Ambient died along with Hiltz and Prozen when Van destroyed the Death Saurer.
[edit] Specular
Specular is the fourth and final Organoid introduced in the series. The Organoid has no clear gender, but it is usually assumed to be female due to its slender form and partner. She is a blue Organoid with yellow eyes and buglike mandibles. Taller and more slender than the other Organoids, Specular belongs to the Ancient Zoidian Reese. She doesn't display much personality, but is shown to be loyal to Reese.
Specular's special ability lies in her power to amplify Reese's already formidable psychic powers. She is also able to make a Zoid grow larger when she fuses with it, as seen when Specular fused with Reese's Double Sworder. However, this power seems to be ignored later in the series, as Reese never uses it on her Geno Saurer.
There appears to be some slight confusion over the correct spelling of Specular's name, much like there is for her master, Reese. She is referred to occasionally as "Specula" in the dubbed version of the anime, and even more strangely, as "Sakura" in one of Viz's Chaotic Century DVD extra features.
[edit] Pulse
Pulse is a leopard-type Organoid unique to the games, particularly in Zoids Saga II (Zoids Legacy in the English-language release), owned by Zeru, the game's protagonist. His primary abilities are healing and fusion. The other skills were never seen. Furthermore, depending on the choice of words Zeru says to people, Pulse's color (which determines its stat growth) can either change to black (Attack power), red (Defensive power) or blue (Speed) or remain white (HP). However, his primary ability is to infuse any Zoid Zeru is in with the Zoidcore Overload System (ZOS), doubling its power and giving it one or two extra attacks per turn of combat. Zeru is immune from the side effects of ZOS unlike the other characters who are forced to use it when forced to fight them because Pulse is the only stable ZOS generator. Pulse was given to Zeru by Dr. T, Atory's personal scientist and a character from the original Zoids Saga and Silver Liger Zero, early on in the game.
[edit] Organoid System
Also of note is the "Black Box", AKA The "Integrated Organoid System" possessed by the Ultimate X Zoids, the Liger Zero and the Berserk Fury in the Zoids: New Century Zero anime. Built directly into the Zoid's core, the Organoid system is actually an extremely advanced, self supporting artificial intelligence program. The Organoid system allows the Liger Zero and the Berserk Fury to think and learn on their own; every time an Ultimate X is defeated, it emerges with even greater strength than before. This is seen in the final battle in New Century Zero, where both the Liger Zero and the Berserk Fury's Organoid systems rapidly counter each other's attacks and increase their speed and power as the battle keeps on going. In addition, only special "chosen ones" can pilot and bring out the full potential of an Ultimate X, such as Bit Cloud and Vega Obscura. Fan speculation is that Organoid Systems are derived from actual Organoids (see Fandom for further detail.)
[edit] Battle Story
While the battle story does not have Organoids as such, it does feature something called the Organoid System. Different form the similarly-named system seen in New Century, the Organoid System was discovered by Guylos scientists in an ancient ruin. The Empire was able to copy the system and integrate it into their newest Zoids, improving their performance. The Republic also copied the system, and used it to create their own new Zoids.
The exact nature of the Organoid System is unclear; it may be a part of the Zoid (Although it is never listed in the Zoid's equipment) or even a completely separate system or modification made at the time of manufacture. There is no indication that the Organoid System is in any way like an anime Organoid System, however, or that anime-style Organoids even exist in the battle story.
The Organoid System enhances a Zoid's performance, making it faster, more agile, more capable and more intelligent. All Zoids that use Organoid Systems were first released in the New Japanese Release; those that are known to use it include the Rev Raptor, Geno Saurer, Geno Breaker, Blade Liger, Storm Sworder, Gun Sniper, Lightning Saix and Death Stinger. The Republic also tried to use an Organoid system in a Gojulas; while the resulting Zoid, known as Gojulas the Ogre, was far more capable than a regular Gojulas, it was also almost completely uncontrollable.
The Organoid system is apparently hard to manufacture or mass-produce; because of problems with the manufacture of the system, the Republic had to discontinue production of the Storm Sworder in favour of the older Raynos. Zoids based on "wild" Zoids, like the Liger Zero, do not use Organoid Systems at all, though giving it somewhat the same, maybe superior, efficiency. (It is noted that the Berserk Fury's power exceeds that of its predecessor, the Geno Breaker, perhaps implying that Wild Zoids are stronger than those with Organoid systems.)
[edit] BEEK
BEEK is an AI program developed by Thomas Shubaltz of the Guardian Force. Installed into the core of his Dibison, BEEK is capable of uncovering an opponent's weaknesses and exploiting them, among other abilities, (such as tracking stealth Zoids by footprints and gunfire). He communicates to Thomas via robotic beeps, whistles, and warbles, similar to those made by R2-D2 of Star Wars fame. BEEK is integrated into the combat system of the Dibison, but can also be carried portably by Thomas via a multipurpose device that also serves as the Dibison's steering wheel. Thomas boasts that his BEEK AI system is superior to a real Organoid.
Also of note is that Leena's Dibison has the same multipurpose steering unit as Thomas', although it is unexplained if hers has a BEEK AI as well.
[edit] Fandom
[edit] Criticism
Organoids are well established in the Zoids fandom. Although they are generally liked by most fans, Organoids have been criticised for the way they are portrayed in the anime. Main complaints come from accusations that Organoids are merely Deus Ex Machinas; that they are too powerful, and do very little except provide an overly convenient and unfair advantage for their respective masters.
[edit] Fanfiction and Role Play
Organoids are a popular feature among messageboard Zoids RPGs. Many RPGs allow a player to start off with an Organoid, while many others insist the player earn their Organoid through Role Playing or by directly purchasing them. Organoids are often used in fanfiction as well; while they're frequently used as mere pets and plot devices for Mary Sues, many other authors like to explore the untouched potential of Organoids in fanfiction and elevate them to full blown characters. Many fans like to create their own made-up Organoids for their RPG characters and fanfiction, often based on species that the canon Organoids ignore such as wolves, raptors and dragons.
[edit] Ultimate X Zoids
It is commonly believed among the fans that the Organoid system possessed by the Liger Zero and the Berserk Fury are literal Organoids, permanently bonded to the core. Some believe that these Organoids are Zeke and Shadow respectively. By extension, the Liger Zero and the Berserk Fury seen in New Century Zero are the evolved forms of Van Flyheight's Blade Liger and Raven's Geno Breaker.
There is no tangible canonical evidence to support either claim, and the abilities displayed by the "Organoid System" are inconsistent with those displayed by true Organoids. This "Descendent Theory", as it is often called, is a prime example of fanon; the only connection the Organoid System seems to have with the actual creatures is the name.
Due to its similarity in function to an Organoid System, some fan speculation suggests the Organoid System may in fact be a highly advanced version of the BEEK AI. This hypothesis also lacks tangible evidence to support it.
