Personal Trooper

Personal Trooper (パーソナルトルーパー) is a Banpresto Original Mecha Lineage first mentioned in Super Robot Spirits Prestory. To put simply, it's an umbrella term referring to numerous Real Robot-type mecha, mainly in the Alpha and OG timelines.

Overview

Personal Troopers' emblem in SRW manga

Personal Troopers can be considered as the Banpresto Original equivalent of Mobile Suits, Heavy Metals, Metal Armors, SPTs,...in other Real Robot mecha series. They can be characterized through typical Real Robot specifications such as high mobility but low armor compared to Super Robots, (somewhat) realistic weaponry and mass-production by government army.

There were several Banpresto Original Mecha which appeared in SRW before the term Personal Trooper was coined in 1998 with the SRS Prestory short novel, and they were later classified as Personal Troopers in future games.

Classic Series

The term Personal Trooper had still not yet been introduced. First appearance of the Gespenst Type-R, Gespenst Type-S, Gespenst Mk-II, Gespenst Mk-II Type-R, Gespenst Mk-II Type-S and Huckebein, which were all later classified as Personal Troopers in future games.

Neo Super Robot Wars

The term Personal Trooper had still not yet been introduced. First appearance of the R-Series mecha* R-1, R-2, R-2 Powered, R-3, and R-3 Powered, which were all later classified as Personal Troopers in future games.

Super Robot Spirits Prestory

The term Personal Trooper was introduced for the first time, used to refer to the R-Series.

Super Hero Operations

Used to refer to the R-Series and the debuting R-Gun/R-Gun Powered.

Alpha Series

Following the sudden appearance and crashing of giant alien spaceship designated ASS-1 on South Atalia Island, along with the subsequent investigations on the spaceship conducted by various world organizations, it was concluded that there is an ongoing interstellar war between extraterrestial lifeforms taking place beyond the Solar System. Numerous mobile weapon development plans had been initiated in response to this, one of them being the construction of Personal Troopers by Mao Industries.

Development began with the Gespenst, with units PTX-001 to PTX-003 rolling out in October NAD 180. Research continued with the PTX-004 Schutzwald and PTX-005 Wildschwein, rolled out in December 182 and September 183 respectively. Succeeding them were the transformable PTX-006 Wildraubtier and mass-production prototype PTX-007 Gespenst Mk-II. In August 184, the Wildraubtier was wrecked in a accident during a test run, ceasing further development. Its data will later be used for the R-1. The Gespenst Mk-II was rolled out in October 184. In November, while piloted by Major Elzam V. Branstein on an orbit test run, the Gespenst Mk-II engaged in combat and captured an alien mobile weapon, which was later designated AGX-01 Bugs.

The SRX Project began in June 185 at the Earth Federation Far East Branch, with cooperation from Mao Industries, Divine Crusaders and the Tesla Reich Institute. Development on the R-Series mecha was started in July. In February 186, the T-Link System was completed, and was installed on the R-1 still under construction. The R-1 was then rolled out in June, followed by the R-3 in July, and finally the R-2 and R-Gun in November. The two Tronium Engine-equipped machines failed the boot-up test however due to reactor instability, and thus the R-Gun received modifications and became the R-Gun Powered.

Development on the next-generation PT, the Huckebeins began at Mao Industries's Moon facility in July 185, as per request by the Earth Federation. In November, the Black Hole Engine-equipped Huckebeins PTX-008R and PTX-008L, along with the Nuclear Fusion Engine-equipped Huckebein PTX-009 were rolled out. Second Lieutenant Raidiese F. Branstein was selected as 008R's pilot. A mobility test for the 008R was conducted at the lunar Technetium Base the next month, however the Black Hole Engine malfunctioned and caused a meltdown, wiping out the entire base and leaving only 3 survivors. The remaining 008L was later customized into the Huckebein EX. In January 186, Mao Industries began research on the mass-production prototype Huckebein Mk-II, with cooperation from DC and SRX Project members. It was subsequently rolled out in April 187.

Super Robot Wars Advance

Gespenst Mk-IIs appear in the game.

Compact Series

Gespensts and Gespenst Mk-IIs appear in Compact 2.3/Impact Part 3 respectively.

Super Robot Wars MX

MP Gespenst Mk-IIs appear in a flashback.

Original Generation Saga

Advent of Meteor-3

Following the controlled descent of Meteor-3 on Aidoneus Island, subsequent investigations by the EOTI Council on the asteroid revealed the existence of an extraterrestial civilization beyond the Solar System, equipped with gigantic arthropod-type and humanoid-type mobile weapons over 10 meters of height, which exceedingly surpasses humanity's employed weapons. Concluding that humanity cannot defend against an invasion from said aliens with its current military strength, Prof. Bian Zoldark warned the Terra Federation government regarding the threat of the aliens, as well as the necessity to develop Earth's own humanoid mobile weapons as a countermeasure. Understanding the severity of the situation, the TFF greenlighted the research of these weapons, contracting various heavy industry companies to compete in the development of a humanoid mobile weapon, codenamed "Personal Trooper" that meets the following demands*

• Equipped with 4 limbs and capable of switching weapons according to the situation with a manipulator (hand).
• Capable of enacting human-like movement and reaction speed.
• Operable for long periods using an internal power source instead of an external one.
• Equipped with robust and durable armor, allowing for the continuation of the mission even after the machine has received damage.
• Total height around 20 meters, total weight below 80 tons.

These difficult and unprecedented demands by the TFF were ultimately decided based on the alien mobile weapon data found inside Meteor-3, as there would be no meaning in developing a mobile weapon that is inferior to the enemy's. To visualize this project, the TFF shared with its contractors highly classified Extra-Over Technology (EOT) found inside Meteor-3 and analyzed by the EOTI Council (though EOT which had been constructed with basic theories post-analysis are treated as standard technology), along with a discovered "blueprint" of the aliens' humanoid mobile weapons (which in fact only consisted of conceptual graphs such as the basic frame, armor material, etc..., making it rather difficult to understand the machine's structure and abilities).

Gespenst Development

Mao Industries was one of the companies contracted by the TFF to build these next-generation weapons. Staking its fate on this one great project, the company poured in a huge amount of funds and manpower on the research, forming a development team centered around robot engineering geniuses Kirk Hamill and Marion Radom. Kirk and Marion first studied the blueprints sent to them from the TFF, before taking note of several hints from the graphs and steadily clearing development hurdles one by one.

Development of the Gespenst began in NAD 179. There were initially 3 options for its power source, either a Fuel Cell, a Large Capacity Battery, or a Nuclear Fusion Reactor. The Nuclear Fusion Reactor was eventually chosen due to its constant high energy output and extended operation time, though it took much effort from Mao Industries' technical department to miniaturize the large reactor down to sufficient size. For the piloting method, a special operating system known as TC-OS was developed, which receives set commands from the pilot, analyzes the surrounding environment and current state of the PT, before carrying out the action. With this system, pilots can effectively concentrate more on decision-making and worry less about complicated machine controls. Through these multiple technological breakthroughs, the Gespenst prototypes were completed at the end of NAD 180, after only a single year of development. Although they were built to operate in all environments, Unit 2 specialized in space combat while Unit 3 specialized in ground combat, in anticipation of future operations, As a result, they were officially designated as PTX-001 (Unit 1), PTX-002 (Unit 2) and PTX-003 (Unit 3).

Entering NAD 181, Mao Industries sent the PTX-001 to participate in the TFF's evaluation test, competing with mobile weapon models from other companies. The machines were tested in various environments and situations, out of which the PTX-001 showed superior performance above all other models and received the highest score. Subsequently, Mao Industries became the TFF's primary Personal Trooper developer. Even so, the highly-regarded Gespenst was not without problems. Firstly, it was not capable of unassisted atmospheric flight and can only briefly glide, which has not yet fully visualized the TFF's idea for an "all-purpose weapon", having to leave aerial combat for fighter jets to handle. Furthermore, its armor was thinner than expected, and momentary blurs often appear when using handheld shooting weapons, reducing accuracy, which was said as the consequence of Mao Industries pursuing weapon versatility. After receiving these complaints from the TFF, Mao Industries quickly set off to subjugate the limitations by upgrading the Gespenst units.

The PTX-001 Gespenst was given the designation "Type-R" (R for Rapidity), undergoing modifications aimed at improving its gliding duration, agility and mobility. The PTX-002 Gespenst was given the designation "Type-S" (S for Strength), undergoing modifications aimed at improving its armor and at the installation of high-output fixed weapons. Though there were problems regarding energy shortage to power the Type-S's fixed weapons, they were quickly resolved through the adoption of the groundbreaking EOT-based Plasma Generator. The PTX-003 was modified back to that of the PTX-001's specifications, then installed with a specialized sensor device aimed at data-gathering, meant for the development of future units. Thus, it was codenamed "Type-T" (T for Test). The Type-T later became one of the 2 core machines of the ATX Project, the Alteisen.

PT-X Concept Plan

In NAD 182, together with the Type-S, Mao Industries submitted a concept plan detailing the future development, mass-production, strategies and tactics regarding Personal Troopers, known as PT-X. At around the same time, Major General Norman Sleigh suggested the anti-alien militarization plan "Earth Sphere Defense Project", resulting in PT-X becoming incorporated as one of the vital components of the Project. In NAD 182, the Gespensts Type-R and Type-S were assigned to the Special Tactics Guidance Corps for the development of combat-use TC-OS Motion Patterns, as the existing Motion Patterns at the time were only basic actions inputted in by the Mao Industries staff. The skilled Guidance Corps pilots mostly controlled the units manually, and the machine's movements were recorded through a tracing system, allowing for the compilation of new Motion Patterns, which were then fed back to the machine's TC-OS. Through mock battles between the 2 Gespenst units, more advanced Patterns were compiled, further completing the TC-OS day by day. Data gathered from the Mk-I units was used to develop future Personal Troopers, such as the bombardment-type PTX-004 Schutzwald, the mass-production candidate prototype PTX-005 Wildschwein, and the next generation PTX-007 Gespenst Mk-IIs. Along with that are various other Personal Trooper research projects such as the R-Series, ATX Project and Huckebein Series.

List of Personal Troopers

Gespenst Series

• Gespenst Type-R
  • Gespenst Type-RV
• Gespenst Type-S
  • Gespenst Haken
• Gespenst Type-T
• Gespenst Mk-II Type-R
• Gespenst Mk-II Type-S
  • Gespenst Mk-II Type-SA
    • Gespenst Mk-II Type-SA Kai
• Mass-Production Gespenst Mk-II
  • Mass-Production Gespenst Mk-II Type-TT
  • Mass-Production Gespenst Mk-II Kai
  • Gesterben

PT-X Prototype PTs

• Schutzwald
• Wildschwein
  • Mass-Production Wildschwein
• Wildraubtier
  • Wildraubtier Schnabel

R-Series/RW-Series/RXR Project/SRX Project

• SRX
  • Banpreios
• R-1
  • R-1 Kai
  • R-Blade
    • R-Blade Custom
• R-2
  • R-2 Powered
• R-3
  • R-3 Powered
• R-Gun
  • R-Gun Powered
• ART-1

ATX Project

• Alteisen
  • Alteisen Riese
  • Alteisen Nacht
• Weissritter
  • Rein Weissritter
• Wildwurger
• Wildwurger Type-L
• Wildfalken
• Wildfalken Type-L

Huckebein Series

• Huckebein
  • Huckebein 009
  • Huckebein EX
• Huckebein Mk-II
  • Huckebein Mk-II Trombe
  • Mass-Production Huckebein Mk-II
    • Sniper PT
    • Pfeil III
• Huckebein Mk-III Type-L
• Huckebein Mk-III Type-R
  • Huckebein Mk-III Trombe
• Huckebein Boxer
• Huckebein Gunner
• Guarbein Mk-III
• Exbein
  • Exbein Boxer
  • Exbein Gunner
• Exexbein
• Huckebein 30
  • Huckebein 30th

Grungust Series

• Grungust Type-2
  • Mass-Production Grungust Type-2

Shadow-Mirror PTs

• R-Eins
• Gespenst Mk-III (Shadow-Mirror)

Endless Frontier Mini-PTs

• Phantom
• Alteisen Nacht
• Weissritter Abend