Why this overlooked entry in Voltron saga never quite formed up.
WARNING: This article contains spoilers forVoltron Legendary Defenderseason 8.
Withthe end ofVoltron Legendary DefenderSeason 8, the most hardcore fans of the franchise finally got what they wanted.
A direct acknowledgement ofVehicle Voltron.
For all the new fans however, youre probably left scratching your head.
What the hell is Chip?
Why is there a giant helicopter?
Well Im here to help.
Lets take a look back at the forgotten entry in theVoltronfranchise,Vehicle Voltron.
So, sit yourself down and really ask yourself… what do you know aboutVehicle Voltron?
Can you name any of the characters (besides Chip)?
What was their goal?
How many vehicles made up the combined Voltron?
What were the Vehicles?
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Unless youre a hardcoreVoltronfan you could maybe answer one of those.
Ask the same questions aboutLion Force Voltronand even the most casual of nerds could answer most of them.
Why does no one rememberVehicle Voltron?
Why does everyone gravitate to the lions instead of the vehicles?
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I kinda answered my own question there, didnt I?
After all, lots of great shows fail to break into pop culture.
Hey, Ive always rooted for the underdog.
The two groups often fight over habitable worlds all while various commanders in both forces vie for peace.
Thats an awesome concept, right?
Compelling motives on both sides that dont just boil down to good versus evil.
Its a story engine that provides a lot of variety in plots.
Theres no shortage of political machinations, exploring, and action.
Its the kind of discussion youd expect on a good episode ofStar Trek: The Next Generation.
Speaking as someone who sat through every episode ofLion Force Voltron, this sort of mature storytelling was shocking.
One could actually argue the Drules are the real main characters of the series.
Its shockingly compelling stuff.
You know how the subtitle of the series is Defender of the Universe?
Well the Lion Force team never seemed to do a whole lot of defending of the universe.
They mostly chilled in the Castle of Lions and waited for Zarkon to show up.
InVehicle Voltron, the team is out and about in the universe.
Im a sucker for space travel, especially in animated series, andVehicle Voltronhas plenty of it.
Its also nice that we get a somewhat more diverse group of characters for the Voltron pilots.
Some are visibly aliens and some are humans from colony worlds.
What Went Wrong With Vehicle Voltron
It was a cartoon in the 80s.
Okay, thats a really easy answer but hear me out.
80s cartoons were not equipped to tell the kind of long form storyVehicle Voltronwas attempting.
80s cartoons were largely structured around one and done stories.
Status quo was king.
Small incremental changes did happen, but they took most of the series to really amount to anything.
You see, Earth just needs new worlds.
Sure they have an overcrowded population but it doesnt seem too bad.
No ones starving in the streets or anything.
The Drules on the other hand?
Their world is dying out.
If they dont get a new planet soon every single man, woman, and child will be dust.
So hey, maybe the Galaxy Alliance shouldnt be such dicks to them!
Yeah, some of the Drule commanders are pretty evil but they at least have a reason.
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Again, it was an 80s show.
We cant sympathize with our enemy, thatd be crazy!
At least we sort of care about the Drules.
I couldnt care less about the Vehicle Voltron team.
Yeah, you know…them.
Our supposed main characters.All fifteen of them.
Thats the main flaw of the show.
It would take a skilled writer in modern kids TV to balance that many characters.
The rest of the cast?
You might get one episode about them if youre lucky.
Dont even bother trying to remember their names, as theres just too many of them.
Some of the voices are just straight up the same ones from Lion Force or theyre borderline racist caricatures.
Why did anyone in the creation of this show think that many main characters was a good idea?
I know I compared this series toStar Trekearlier, butDeep Space Ninethis aint.
The series also had a horrible problem with ending every episode as light hearted as possible.
Totally understand.Vehicle Voltrontakes it to another level though.
There should maybe be some consequences here, right?
Time in the brig, maybe?
A stern talking to, perhaps?
No, this is what happens.
Your punishment for forming Voltron without authorization?
Eating Ice Cream with vegi-sauce.
Everyone laughs, probably as those squadrons family members are being sent word of their deaths.
It was in that moment I stopped trying to takeVehicle Voltronseriously.
Lets talk about the Voltron robot itself for a minute.
Fifteen land, sea, and air based vehicles.
Thats… really boring.
The final combined robot looks fine, but the individual pieces suck.
Man, sucks if youre Voltrons inner leg.
You look like crap!
Plus, that whole land, air, and sea team thing is kind of useless.
All of the vehicles can fly!
Why do you need an air team if everyone can fly?
So youve got bad pacing, underdeveloped characters, and a bad mecha.
Why Lion Force Thrived And Vehicle Force Died
Okay, first offLion Forceclearly had amazing mecha.
Those Lions are some of the coolest looking things to come out of the 80s.
No one will dispute how awesome those mecha are.
As forLion Forces characters and story?
They uh, they kinda sucked.
I mean really, what do we know about Keith?
Not a whole lot.
At least I kind of care about Allura.
Way more then I cared about any of the Vehicle team members, thats for sure.
Its really hard to care about fifteen mostly blank slate characters.
Everyone gets lost in the shuffle.
Just look at their uniforms.
You cant tell them apart!
Hes scared of what will happen to him and if hell ever see his family again.
Those stand alone episodes would also wildly vary in quality, most them being fairly forgettable.
But you know what?
That formula was succesful.
Yeah, it kinda sucks watching it thirty years later, but it works.
Especially for the 80s, most kids wanted that kind of easy repetition.
You always knew Voltron was going to form up in the end and bust out the blazing sword.
They dont do the combining sequence and use the blazing sword.
Those kind of repetitive elements get stuck in our minds.
Since those lions were such a cool visual, its no wonderLion Forcesurvived over Vehicle.
A world that had a layer ofStar Warslike magic.
I do however believe that a reboot ofVehicle Voltroncould work.
Hell, itd be a great sequel toVoltron Legendary Defender.
All the elements I outlined in the What Went Right section make for some compelling stuff.
Yeah, itd be kind of awesome!Battlestar Galacticathe hell out ofVehicle Voltron!
If youve seenLegendary Defenderand youre interested in checking outVehicle Voltron, Id first recommend watching all ofLion Force.
If after that youre really into style of old schoolVoltron, giveVehiclea shot.
