Beast King GoLion

Beast King GoLion (百獣王ゴライオン, Hyaku Jūō Goraion; The King of Hundred Beasts GoLion) is a Japanese super mecha anime television series that aired form 1981 to 1982. The animation from GoLion was edited and trimmed to create the American series Voltron: Defender of the Universe, with new names and dialogue. In 2008, GoLion was released on Region 1 DVD in three volumes. To coincide with the anime's original run, a manga adaptation by Yoshiki Tsuchiyama was serialized in TV Land (テレビランド, Terebi Rando).^{[citation needed]}

GoLion's story is set in 1999, when the planet Altea is subdued and enslaved by the Galra Empire. Meanwhile, five space pilots (Akira Kogane, Takashi Shirogane, Isamu Kurogane, Tsuyoshi Seidou and Hiroshi Suzuichi) return to Earth from their latest space exploration, only to find the planet annihilated by war, World War III. Suddenly, the explorers are ambushed, captured and enslaved by the visiting Galra Empire, and then, they are forced to fight for their lives in Emperor Daibazaal's arena.

The young pilots escape and eventually land on the planet Altea, where they discover the secret of the mighty sentient robot GoLion, the only weapon powerful enough to defeat Emperor Daibazaal's forces. Thousands of years ago, GoLion was an arrogant robot who, after defeating several Beastmen, tried to challenge the goddess of the universe into battle, but failed. For GoLion's hubris, the goddess taught him humility by separating him into five pieces in the form of five lion robots that sailed through space and crash-landed on Altea, to lay in wait for those who would one day reawaken him to fight evil once again. The Princess of Altea, Fala, recruits the five of them so they can become the new pilots of GoLion and help her start fighting back against the Empire.

The Galra Empire (ガルラ大帝国, Garura dai Teikoku) are a race of merciless individuals who even oppress their own people. They capture other planets and enslave their population, forcing them to serve its evil ruler, Emperor Daibazaal. Daibazaal's son, Prince Sincline, conquered other worlds and beheaded their leaders as trophies. The Galra Empire invades planets with the aid of Galran Beast Fighters.

Golion was separated into five separate lion robots by a space goddess who wished to teach Golion humility until he could be reassembled. Golion later gains a soul after being reawakened by the five pilots who use Golion to protect the universe from Emperor Daibazaal's forces. Golion is 60 meters (200 ft) tall, and weighs 772 tons. Individually, the lions weigh 154.4 tons.

Each Lion has a Lion Blade (a boomerang held in the lion's mouth), dorsal missiles, and shoulder-mounted lasers. When united, Golion's main weapon is Ten Kings Sword (十王剣, Jūōken), which is usually used to deliver the final blow to his opponents. Later in the series, it is used to perform the techniques Lightning Drop (稲妻落とし, Inazuma Otoshi) and Meteor Five Step Slash (流星五段斬り, Ryūsei Godan Giri). The name is a pun: Jūō written with the kanji 獣王 means Beast King. In Media Blasters' release of GoLion, it is translated as "King's Sword Jyuoken" (when summoning the weapon, otherwise it is simply "Jyuoken").

Galran Deathblack Beastmen (デスブラック獣人, Desuburakku Jūjin) were previously Beast Fighters, serving as the apex of Galran technology and dark magic, and are sent by Honerva against Golion. Anyone captured and enslaved by the Galran Empire are immediately herded into the arena on Planet Galra where they are forced to fight to the death against the larger, powerful, and deadlier Beastmen who can easily kill them before an enthusiastic crowd. Then the slaves are butchered and made into slave stew, a favorite gruesome dish for the Beastmen to eat and also fed to surviving slaves as a form of forced cannibalism to turn them to be as savage as the Beastmen. Anyone who survives fighting the Deathblack Beastmen are subjected to Honerva's dark magic that changes them into Beastmen to fight Golion.

Galran Mechablack Beastmen (メカブラック獣人, Mekaburakku Jūjin) are the successors of the Deathblack Beastmen and first appear in episode 31; most of their names are taken after letters of the Greek Alphabet. Unlike deathblacks, mechablacks are constructed at planet Galra's occult science plant instead of the coliseum and use beastmen as their brain component.