Tobikage (translated as "Flying Shadow") is the titular robot of Ninja Senshi Tobikage and is a major character in The Knights of the Multiverse, introduced in Season 1. Created by Dr. Maya, he's a Droid made in the appearance of a ninja, complete with being able to reach incredible speeds and armed with a powerful sword. He was originally made for the sole purpose of serving the L.O.S.R. organization & destroying their enemies, and while he was very loyal to the cause (or, really just his father) at first, he would soon turn against them alongside some of his other robotic comrades when he became disillusioned by the organization's evil deeds and joined the Crystal Knights.
Personality[]
Tobikage was programmed with the basic personality traits of a ninja: he's very honorable, polite in normal conversation, stealthy, and very quiet & efficient when in battle. However, though he may be the most robotic of his compatriots in appearance, he's actually one of the most empathetic of them. He acts as the leader of his group of friends, often spending most of his time with them trying to cool down tension whenever they get into arguments or trying to help them (especially Lime) train to hone their skills, or sometimes just enjoying their company while observing the beautiful nature around them in between missions. While he had no quarrels about taking drastic measures at first, he soon developed a more pacifistic-like attitude towards how he fights, often trying to solve things without force and only drawing his blade if he has no other option. At the same time though, he's always despised foul play and trickery, with him almost immediately developing a distaste for the organization's more monstrous members and schemes. Like the others, he only ended up becoming more and more disgusted by the group's tactics, triggering doubt about his position in life, with the only thing keeping him with the organization being his loyalty to his father. Eventually though, like the others, he eventually overcame this, and when he eventually joined the Knights, he was the one that was the most apologetic for his actions in the battles prior and was one of the ones that tried to make good on trying to redeem themselves.
History[]
Season 1[]
Tobikage was one of the first of the Renegades' androids to enter the field. His first mission was to retrieve another android called Cosmo, an angel-like Droid that had managed to escape the base the two were created in. He soon found her in some sort of forest. Trying to fly away, Tobikage struck fast, slicing through one of her wings and sending her down to the ground.
Season 2[]
Season 3[]
Abilities & Equipment[]
- Specialized Armor
Tobikage's armor is made out of a specialized metal that makes him resistant to all heat and electric-based attacks.
- Optics
Tobikage's optics were designed to allow him to analyze and see-through virtually all of his surroundings, such as through thick brushes of trees and walls.
- Vacuum Adhesion Apparatus
Tobikage's feet have a function that allow the ninja bot to stick to any flat surface, such as ceilings and the surface of mountains.
- Super Speed
Thanks to his small stature, Tobikage is able to move at incredible speeds, sometimes to the point where he appears to turn invisible to the naked eye, flashing out of sight in a second.
- Jet Boosters
Tobikage has a pair of boosters built into his back, close to his underarms, that allow him to fly.
- Enhanced Strength
Despite his small size, Tobikage is as strong as any Mecha, able to lift up objects many times larger and heavier than him.
- Chain Attack
Tobikage has a metal chain that launches from his right wrist. He typically uses this to entangle enemies or reach high objects.
- Throwing Stars
Tobikage is armed with a multitude of "throwing stars", with a collection of them being stored in both of his forearms. The armor on the back of his hand lifts upward and lowers three stars onto his knuckles, and he then throws them in quick, rapid succession.
- Tracer Star
- Tobikage has a special throwing star that is actually a tracking device he sticks onto enemies, typically to trace them back to enemy bases. Also unlike the normal stars, it doesn't hit its target with any sharp edges; rather, it sticks to their body so as to better detract notice of it.
- Scabbard Rifle
Tobikage has a large scabbard that attaches to his back to hold his sword. However, it can also convert into a Photon powered assault rifle that fires green Photon beams.
- Thunder Arrow Gun
- To mimic another of the ninja's most frequently-used weapons, Tobikage converts his rifle into a metal bow-and-arrow, with the front of the scabbard folding outward and the trigger pulling back, similarly to an arrow in a traditional bow. From there, he charges its Photon Energy so he can release a powerful Photon blast.
- Sword
Like all good ninjas, Tobikage has a katana-like sword that houses in his large scabbard. It is strong enough to slice an entire boulder in half and dice off the head of an enemy Mecha in one good strike.
- Machine Gun Slash
- Tobikage is able to slash/stab at least dozens of times per second at extreme speeds.
Combo Attacks[]
- Cosmic Moon Crash
Group combination attack: When facing an enemy that's too strong, Tobikage and his companions will combine their powers into a ball of pure, combined energy, with Tobi supplying a blast from his Thunder Arrow Gun. It can be formed with only four others, but for the truly powerful foes, all of them will partake in creating the ball, making it even bigger than it usually is.
Relationships[]
Emily[]
Emily was the main member of the Knights that Tobikage found himself clashing swords with the most. While he originally saw the adopted daughter of the Tsurugi-Hono family as a simple foe that he needed to fight, after repeated encounters, the two developed a mutual respect for each other thanks to their shared relatively good nature, care for their companions & skills with the blade. This would lead to the two often treating their clashing of swords as friendly competitions, although he would be quick to comment on how reckless she could be at times in their duels.
Iris[]
Atros[]
Lime[]
Tobikage took on a mentor-like relationship with Lime, helping her train to hone her powers and giving her guidence whenever she seems lost.
Drum[]
Chaotique[]
Cosmo[]
Originally Tobikage saw Cosmo as simply a mission, an objective for him to retrieve. While he did feel remorse for cutting off her wing, he still felt that he could not disobey his creator.
Catra[]
Shadow Bots[]
At first, Tobi thought that it was a great honor to have his body serve as the basis for the organization's main force. But as he eventually realized the Renegades' true machinations, the more he grew to hate the Shadow Bots, seeing them as some sort of dark reflection of himself that simply needed to be destroyed before they hurt his friends and anyone else.
Zerokage[]
Even worse than Blade and Orgun, Tobi doesn't see Zero as a "brother" as he does a vandal, deceiving his friends and using his deception to nearly get them all killed.
L.O.S.R.[]
Dr. Neos[]
Blade & Orgun[]
Axis Zeon[]
Glemy Faction[]
Guild of the Multiverse[]
Gallery[]
Notes[]
Like many other characters featured in this series that were just power armor in their original show, Tobikage wasn't a robot with its own personality but rather a piloted mecha (well, it could operate both on its own and with a pilot, but semantics). For KotM, he's been made into his own 'bot, with a somewhat stereotypical ninja personality and given a role very similar to that of Genji from Overwatch or Waruder from the original Kikaider 01 Tokusatsu series, other "robotic" ninjas/swordsmen with their own sense of morals looking for retribution, though he is given an added element to his personality of lamenting how he's one of the more robotic looking members of his companions, with his robotic appearance giving off the vibe of sixth Sentai/Ranger members like GoseiKnight/Robo Knight (for obvious reasons).
In the original anime, the front part of Tobikage's Thunder Arrow Gun seemed to sort of appear out of nowhere from his backside, possibly in a case of "hammerspace". Here, a case of suspension of disbelief is taken so as the sheathe converts into the bow-like part itself
In Tobikage's original series, he was quite tall, standing at 3.6 m (12 ft) tall and weighing 500 kg (1,100 lb). For KotM, he's been shrunken down to about 6 to 7 feet, so he's still reasonably taller than most of the cast without being too big compared to them.