The following page is a footnote, created to explain the science/supernatural phenomena/other details seen in the series, The Knights of the Multiverse.
This page contains a list of all the cartoons & anime featured in The Knights of the Multiverse, as well as a list of possible candidates for later addition to the series. It consists mostly of shows from Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel/XD, 80's and 90's Saturday Morning Cartoons, and all types of different anime (mostly stemming from the 70's to the 2000's (especially the Mecha genre) or shows that were featured on Toonami & Adult Swim, and even a few that were featured on the Sci-Fi Channel).
This list is split into three sections, featured in alphabetical order (mostly): the main shows featured (a majority of the show's characters being represented throughout the show's run and their characterizations from their source material is kept completely intact or the use of some of the show's plot points, either because A, their original series storyline has already taken place in the show's timeline (i.e. the Super Robot pilots) or 2, their show is adapted entirely (i.e. Gundam ZZ)), minor roles (only one or a small handful of characters from a show are represented, with them either having the same characterization and history as their source material or their history is rewritten almost entirely to fit the show's plot), and cameos by season (shows or characters from said show that only appear for one season).
Main Shows Featured[]
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| All-Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku-Nuku | |||
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| Angelic Layer | |||
| Arcadia of my Youth: Endless Orbit SSX | |||
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Astro Boy (1963. 1980, 2003 & Jetter Mars) |
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| Brave Series |
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Dragon Ball, Z & GT |
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Getter Robo & Getter Robo G (with elements from Getter Robo Armageddon and Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo) |
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| Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still | |||
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Godzilla (with elements from Showa, Heisei and Millennium eras.) |
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Kotetsu Jeeg (with elements from Kotetsushin Jeeg) |
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Mazinger Z & Great Mazinger (with elements from Mazinkaiser and Mazinger Edition Z: The Impact) |
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| Medarot/Medabots | |||
| Mega Man (X & Mega Man: Fully Charged) | |||
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Mobile Suit Gundam SEED/SEED Destiny, SEED X Astray &SEED C.E. 73 STARGAZER |
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Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (w/ some elements from Endless Waltz) |
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Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (with elements from the 90's anime & Crystal) |
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| Toei's Spider-Man |
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| Uchu Enban Daisenso | |||
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Other Types of References[]
In addition to the many, many shows that appear in the series in some way, shape or form, there are numerous other types of references to other shows, movies & other media in two different ways.
References in Dialogue[]
A majority of references are sprinkled into the dialogue of several episodes (mostly to elude to other adventures the Knights have been up to offscreen, or just to throw out a pop-culture reference), mostly in the second season:
- At the beginning of one episode, the team discusses having come back from an adventure in the Magiswords world, commenting on it wasn't really one of their best adventures, but also wasn't one of their worst ones. It just kind of... happened. Though it did feel like someone was sitting on the fast-forward button the entire time (a reference to the show's mixed reaction from audiences and critics).
- Biollante is referred to as the main reason as to why genetic manipulation - least of all the kind involving plants - is prohibited on Earth Prime.
Visual References[]
Several references to other animated works include visual iconography from other prominent scenes in said works, many of which are actually used to emphasis pivotal moments in the series:
- In Usagi and Atros's second fight, the two perform a cross-counter near the end of it, as seen in the classic boxing anime Ashita no Joe as a way to symbolize the formation of their rivalry for a majority of the first season, just as Joe and Rikiishi did (of course, it's not used as many times as it is in Joe). It also sort of helps to show how strong Usagi truly is in her Sailor Guardian form, as she's able to deal Atros a good amount of damage.
- Several episodes end with combo attacks based off of attacks from other Super Robot anime and Super Robot Wars:
- The way Sunset uses her Magical Wings is heavily inspired by the Victory 2 Gundam's "Wings of Light".
- Nyoka usage of her Arm Cannons is heavily based off of the Wing Zero's Twin Buster Rifle, with her often activating both of them & facing them forward or downward to blast her target, and sometimes even firing them at full blast while spinning in a Pirouette-like twirl like the Wing Zero would to eliminate a large group of enemies. Her gem crest will also glow red whenever she activates her cannons too, in a manner similar to how the crest of Wing Zero's chest would glow whenever it activated the ZERO System.
- Cynthia using her Black Box to target multiple enemies is visually inspired by the sequence in Gundam SEED whenever Kira would use the Freedom's full burst mode on his opponents. Of course, rather than the projection covering her entire face, Cynthia's targets only appear in her optics.
- One episode has the Knights perform a twelve-way combo move based off of the two variations of Final Dynamic Special performed by Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, Grendizer and Getter Robo G in Super Robot Wars Z. Lorelai and Minerva kick it off with a Double Blizzard to destabilize the monster-of-the-week (based off of Mazinger and Great blasting their Rust Hurricane/Great Typhoon combo), while Ayakoa & Rosy blast its leg (a variation of Grendizer & Great firing their Space Thunder & Thunder Break), leading to the monster being sent flying in the air from the blast of the Double Blizzard. From the air, Nyoka and Cosmo blast their Photon Beam & Photon Cannon (like Z & Getter G with their Photon & Getter Beams) and Pink & Getter D2 toss their Shields & Tomahawk Boomerangs (like Grendizer & Getter G with their Spin Saucer & own Tomahawk). The move finishes with a four-way mix between Usagi's Moon Tiara Cross, Emily's Boost Knuckle, God Sigma launching its Big Wing and the Zeta Gundam performing a Waverider Crash (based off of the finisher of Z's Daisharin Rocket Punch, Great's Great Booster, Grendizer's Double Harken and Dragon's Shine Spark.
- Sort of like the Ashita no Joe reference, during a duel between Puru and Puru Two, Puru finishes the duel in a style based off of the RX-78-2's final shot at the end of the original Mobile Suit Gundam. However, unlike how that iconic fight, Puru's Gundam only cripples Puru Two's mobile suit, only blowing off its leg and sending it careening down to the ground. This is act as the first steps towards Puru Two's slow path towards redemption, rather than the two sisters forming a rivalry like Usagi and Atros did.
- Asuka takes down one Mass-Produced Eva in a move very similar to the final blow in the duel between the Impulse and Freedom Gundams in SEED Destiny (which is all the more ironic since Shinn is a featured character here).
- While it isn't featured directly like the other Dynamic Planning Super Robots, elements from UFO Robo Grendizer are sprinkled all throughout the series, such as Asuka' pilot suit being taken directly from the character Maria Fleed, Emily being given a set of Hand Beams on her armor's gauntlets, Magneto being able to use a variant of its Anti-Gravity Storm, Getter D2 being able to combine its Tomahawks like the Double Harkens and the TFO's being used in a monster-of-the-week episode themed around cheesy alien invasion movies. It's "prototype" Gattaiger, however, is featured in its place, mostly because it works better as a villain-of-the-week that its successor (and is less recognizable).
- There are a few instances where the main cast of an episode will be based/made as a nod to certain sets of characters from other series. One episode has the main cast be made up of Agnes, Drum and Lorelai as a nod to the main trio of Magic Knight Rayearth and their themes (fire, water and wind). Another has Agnes and Lorelai teamed with Ayako and Meryl as a nod to the Ryu Brothers from GaoGaiGar (fire, wind, ice and electricity).
- Various scenes and characters' abilities are influenced/references to many Tokusatsu heroes.
- Several elements from the Metal Heroes franchise are referenced in characters' attacks and powers, such as Emily's transformation being based off of the Space Sheriffs' transformation sequences, her and Pink's swords replicating their Laser Blades, and Mohm having a laser cannon with a charge shot attack primarily based off of Mobile Detective Jiban's Autoderringer gun.
- Usagi and Roscarl have a combo attack based off of the new Gavan's "Gavan Hyper Dynamic"; of course here, it's performed by two people rather than just one.
- There are a multitude of references to Super Sentai, from the attacks of individual Rangers to team attacks, especially with Usagi's group,
- There's the typical move of having several several beam attacks combine into a single beam strike, sometimes appearing as a giant energy ball.
- Usagi's use of her Moon Tiara as a handheld weapon could be seen as a nod to several Rangers that used boomerangs as their weapon, such as Midorenger, Green Sai and even Denziman's DaiDenzin.
- In order to defeat the Robot Vikings' combined form, Usagi's group perform a move based off of the Gorengers' Gorenger Storm, where they pass one of the Vikings' own Explosive Balls to one another before kicking it at their enemy, causing it them to explode. They even pass it to each other in order of colors the Gorangers did, with Usagi (pink) kicking it off, who hands it off to Emily (green) who then passes it to Agnes (yellow), then goes to Meryl (blue) and finally to Nyoka (red) who delivers the final kick.
- The storytelling of the first season itself is actually quite similar to Gorenger in of itself, as it has the main cast infiltrating enemy bases & the like to spy on them or sabotage plans from within just as much it has them fight they bad guys of the week.
- As another way to show their combined strength, Agnes, Meryl, Lorelai and Ayako perform a move based off of JAKQ's JAKQ Covack; though of course unlike the Blitzkrieg Squad where the final blow comes from a combination of their electric energies, the girls here blast bursts of their respective elements.
- Lime's gloves are characterized to give her a certain boost in strength, an idea mainly inspired by Denziman's metal Denzi Punch gloves, complete with her sometimes even clashing her knuckles against one-another like the Denzimen.
- Usagi, Roscarl, Emily, Atros & Tobikage "combine" their blades once more in a move based off of the Denziman's "Lightning Drop", with them leaping high into the air and bringing down all five blades to destroy an enemy Mecha one episode. Although, they use their weapons to slice down their enemy as they descend, whereas the Denzimen only strike their target and let the released energy in their Denzi Sticks do the rest.
- Emily's sword has a special move where it essentially lights on fire, a move based directly off of Bioman's Red1 and his Bio Sword's own Fire Sword attack or Muteki Shogun's Flaming Shogun Sword to (quite obviously) be a showing of her and Agnes's bond, even before they become a couple.
- Baldios has a new "series-exclusive" final attack, the "PulSaber Photon Crash", is based off of Flash King's Super Cosmo Flash.
- One episode has Lime giving Drum a speed boost by punching her feet as she accelerates forward to perform her Rising Torrent, which is based off of Turboranger's Combination Attack (or at least as it was presented in Gokaiger).
- Atros's "Saber Crash" is based off of Red Turbo's dual-wield varient of his "GT Crash" finishing attack.
- One episode sees Usagi defeating an enemy using both Emily's Sword and Roscarl's Shortsword as a nod to Zyuranger, when TyrannoRanger Geki used his Ryugeki Sword and his brother DragonRanger Burai's Zyusouken in his Armed TyrannoRanger form.
- Emily's "Shining Star" finisher is meant to be a combination of Sasuke/NinjaRed and Jiraiya/NinjaBlack's signature sword techniques from Kakuranger.
- One episode has a nod to the Lightspeed Megazord/Victory Robo's 'Fire Circle' finisher, with Agnes creating a huge whirlwind of fire around an opponent while Emily charges through the blaze and strikes their enemy with a vertical slash empowered by the flames.
- Usagi's transformation "sequence" in the first episode of Season 1 is meant to be based off of MagiShine's Henshin sequence, with her Sailor Guardian uniform appearing on her body the same way Hikaru's armor would connect to his body.
- Several elements from the Metal Heroes franchise are referenced in characters' attacks and powers, such as Emily's transformation being based off of the Space Sheriffs' transformation sequences, her and Pink's swords replicating their Laser Blades, and Mohm having a laser cannon with a charge shot attack primarily based off of Mobile Detective Jiban's Autoderringer gun.
"Prequels"[]
These are shows whose events occurred before the main series.
Combattler V & Voltes V[]
The events of the Combattler V and Voltes V anime occurred in Earth Prime's past, with the Battle and Voltes Teams appearing as aged, experienced fighters. These shows are actually very essential to Earth Prime's history, as the Campbellians invasion is largely responsible for the formation on the EDC.
Zambot 3[]
Zambot 3 is also a part of Earth Prime's past, but in exchange for their own enemies in their home series, like several others like them, their main enemies in this universe, their families' main enemies are the Mycenae Empire. Even the main villain of the series, Killer the Butcher, is made into a Mu general rather than working for Gaizok.
Tokusatsu Shows[]
There are several characters featured in this series that come from various Tokusatsu works. However, this is amended by having the designs for them be based off of any 2D production art (if it exists, of course) for them. This is especially the case for shows created by Shotaro Ishinomori, as many of his shows had manga adaptations he produced/drew for or had production art that he drew personally (heck, some of them like Kikaider had full anime adaptations).
Other Candidates[]
This section is dedicated to shows that are up for consideration for inclusion in the series:
Western Animation[]
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Sonic SatAM
- The Powerpuff Girls (1998)
- Invader Zim
- Samurai Jack
- Teen Titans (2003)
- Megas XLR
- Infinity Train
Mecha Anime[]
- Gordian Warrior
- Robotech/Super Dimension Fortress Macross/Do You Remember Love?
- Dancouga
- Blue Comet SPT Layzner
- Fang of the Sun Dougram
- Round Vernian Vifam
- Special Armored Battalion Dorvack
- Megazone 23
- Panzer World Galient
- Lord of Lords Ryu Knight
- Magic Knight Rayearth
- The Big O
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Other Anime[]
- Devilman
- Galaxy Express 999
- Captain Harlock
- Dimension W
- Black Magic M-66
- Shippu! Iron Leaguer
- Medarot/Medabots
- Trigun
- Outlaw Star
- Kowarekake no Orgel
- Little Witch Academia
Notes[]
It should be heavily stressed that not every character, location, robot, and even technology featured in this series is a one-to-one adaptation of their original series depiction. One of the best examples of this is the M1 Astray: in its home series, Gundam SEED, it was used by the ORB Union, a peaceful nation that only fought back as a last resort. However, in KotM, they act as one of Axis Zeon's frontline units in their battles.
It should be noted that a majority of the characters featured in this series (the ones the audience is meant to sympathize with, at least) are females ranging in age (physically, at least) from 6 to 17. This is mainly because its these characters that leave the most room for the series to develop more, given how most of them only had one episode or two before either dying or never being seen again, and they fit with some of the series' themes. In addition to that, the main cast especially are meant to have a Powerpuff Girls-type spin to them, with almost all of them possessing Marvel & DC-style "superpowers" or really flashy/powerful weapons built that let them battle against larger and sometimes rather intimidating enemies.
It should also be stressed that there will be no OC's (Original Characters) created by the writer/creator of this series featured in said series. All the characters presented in KotM originate from some type of already-existing animated series. The closest thing to something like this is characters having their powers expanded a little bit or given a little twist on their fate in their home series', as well as expanding on their personalities (since many of them were only featured in a single episode in their home series, and even then, a good number of them were simply damsels in distress/love interests that only hung around or died in their episode).
- Also, just to warn those curious of checking out any of the original properties represented in this series, some of the Anime featured here aren't exactly "PG", both in manner of content and... use of fanservice, which is actually a pretty big reason as to why this series doesn't include many modern anime (also not many of them are even very good).
The characters from the Saber Marionette franchise that appear in this series have their appearances from the "R" OVA, mostly because the designs fits their personalities a little better than the mainline ones (and are a lot easier to draw). However, their overall stories and personalities are meant to be a sort of fusion of both the OVA and their main-series "J" incarnations.