Boss Borot

Boss Borot (ボスボロット, Bosu Borotto^?) is a fictional mecha from the anime and manga series Mazinger Z, first premiering in episode 48. Within the story, Boss Borot was created by three engineers from the Photon Power Laboratory and piloted by Boss and his cohorts Mucha and Nuke. Boss Borot (and Boss himself) serve as the comic relief in Mazinger Z, a role they would continue to play through the Mazinger timeline, reappearing in Great Mazinger, Grendizer, the OVA Mazinkaiser and most recently in Shin Mazinger. The latter part of its name comes from the Japanese phrase for "crumbling" (ボロボロ, boro-boro^?) in reference to its construction from scrap metal.

History

Boss was the bully at the local high school attended by Mazinger pilot Kouji Kabuto and his best friend/romantic interest Sayaka Yumi. Jealous of the fact that Kouji got to be so close to Sayaka (with whom Boss had been friends for quite a while already), and that he was honored as a hero for saving the day with Mazinger Z all the time, Boss hatched a plan. He and his friends Mucha and Nuke sneaked into the Photon Power Laboratory and used toy guns to hold some engineers hostage, ordering them to build him a robot so he could be a hero too. Unfortunately for Boss, the engineers didn't have much to work with. As a result, his self-named Boss Borot ended up being made from scrap metal.

Regardless of its obvious flaws, Boss would use Borot throughout the battles with Doctor Hell's minions, gradually learning to respect Kouji and becoming a valued member of the Mazinger team. Even as the group changed over the years, Boss would remain a member of the team, aiding Tetsuya Tsurugi in his battles with the Mycenae and even showing up to help Duke Freed fight the Vegans. In Mazinger's saga, Boss Borot is able to destroy for himself a mechanical beast, Serpenter Ι6 (chapter 75).

Statistics

• Height: 12 meters
• Weight: 95 tons
• Running Speed: 120 km/h
• Output: 12,000 horsepower
• Armor Materials: Scrap metal

Weapons and Attacks

Though it fights alongside Mazinger Z and its allies, Boss Borot does not have the same weapons commonly associated with members of the Mazinger family. Instead, Borot primarily uses a combination of basic physical attacks and occasional use of impromptu weapons. However, Borot's main weapon is Boss's dedication to his friends and his willingness to stand up to vastly superior enemies.

Unlike the other Mazinger robots, Boss has no special vehicle to board the Borot and simply climbs into the cockpit through the openings in its "mouth".

Some of the weapons and attacks Boss Borot has had over its career include...

• Ball and chain: Apparently taken from a wrecker.
• An imitation of Mazinger Z's Rust Hurricane.
• Borot Pressure Punch: an attempt to mimic and surpass Great Mazinger's Drill Pressure Punch.
• Borot Chain Attack: This weapon, essentially a length of chain with a lasso-like loop at the end, was used by Borot in the Mazinkaiser movie. Using this "weapon", Boss was able to kill Archduke Gorgon, the Mycene soldier who had been sent to assassinate Kouji.
• Borot Hissatsu Hip Attack: Used in the Mazinkaiser OVA, this attack consists of Borot flinging itself, rear end-first, at the enemy.
• Borot Rolling Crush: Used immediately after the Hip Attack, Borot spins around rapidly, tearing up the ground and anything in its path (as well as making Boss very dizzy). This attack was used to get rid of Dr. Hell's footsoldiers who stood between Kouji and the Kaiser Pilder.
• Borot Homerun: A combination attack between Boss Borot and Shiro's mech, the Robot Junior. The Borot attempts to throw a baseball for Shiro to bat at the enemies. Instead the Borot's head is thrown, with the ball replacing it on the Borot's body. Upon contact, the Borot's head flies into the distance, leaving an explosion behind. In Super Robot Wars J, this attack became a standalone move for the Borot only.
• Borot Dynamic Special: An attack exclusive to the Super Robot Wars series of games, this involves Boss throwing a variety of objects at an enemy, including grenades, rocks, and a giant boulder, before hitting it with a shot from a slingshot and causing a huge explosion capable of destroying an entire group of enemies. The name is in reference to the Final Dynamic Special, a common combination attack between Getter Robo G (or sometimes Shin Getter) and Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger (with Grendizer added in games where it is present), which was based on the attack used to destroy Dragonosaurus in one of the Mazinger Movies. Surprisingly, this is generally treated as a disproportionately overpowered attack, usable after movement (though it has short range and is limited to one shot), and is on par with some of the strongest attacks in the game - because, when customizing the weapon, it gains more attack power than any other. In Super Robot Wars K, the Borot would rush at the enemy, just to trip over a rock, ejecting the head towards said enemy, which hits multiple times; at the end, Borot puts his head back, and punches the foe. If it's a Dynamic Kill, he will pose after the punch, with the foe exploding, making Borot's body explode; the head still survives, and a bolt falls comically over it. Super Robot Wars Z features two different version of the attack: an anti-ground variant in which Borot replaces its feet with torpedoes and crashes into the enemy (based on a scene from Mazinger Z vs. The Great General of Darkness), and an in-air variant in which Borot dresses like a magician (inspired by Dororon Enma-kun) and fires a beam from a magic wand.

Accessories

• Borot Spazer: In his typical fashion, Boss was impressed by Grendizer and sought to outdo Duke. To this end, he devised the Borot Spazer, an attempt to surpass the Spazer. However, given Boss's limited resources, the Borot Spazer ended up a comical contraption held aloft by a helicopter-style rotor, and it fell to pieces by the end of the episode.

Other Versions

• In Tranzor Z, the American version of Mazinger Z, Boss was renamed Bobo, and Borot was called Bobobot.

Related Machines

• Kerot: A frog-like robot appearing in the latter half of Combattler V, which, like Borot, serves primarily as a comic relief robot.