Elephander

The Elephander is a type of Zoid, one of over 200 species of biomechanical lifeforms depicted by TOMY's Zoids model, toy, and media franchise. The Elephander is cast as the villain in Zoids: New Century Zero for much of the series, and later appeared in several Zoids: Genesis episodes.

Overview
The Elephander is an Elephant-type Zoid created by the Guylos Empire. Created as a multipurpose platform, the Elephander is designed to be easily adaptable to a variety of roles.

The Zoid's base form is very heavily armoured, comparable to the Iron Kong or Gojulas. While relatively slow, the Elephander is surprisingly agile for its size and bulk. The Zoid's trunk gives it further flexibility, giving its weapons a greater range of mobility then if they were normally mounted.

The Elephander's greatest asset, however, is its adaptability. The Zoid's trunk weapon, back weapon, ears and head can be replaced with different modules to allow the Elephander to fulfill different roles. With the right equipment, an Elephander can easily be swapped between different roles. Three standard Elephander configurations exist:

* The Assault version is the most common model. This version mounts a claw module on the end of the trunk which is capable of grabbing and crushing other Zoids, as well as a pair of beam cannons. A powerful pair of beam cannons is mounted on the Zoid's back, giving it a considerable offensive punch. To supplement its thick armour, this version mounts a pair of energy shields in its ears.
* The Command version uses a different head module that, while less heavily armoured, carries more advanced communications equipment. The Assault version's rear turret is retained, while the Energy Shield ears are replaced with a pair of rocket launchers. The trunk claw is replaced with a beam projector, a unique weapon that is able to function as a heavy beam cannon, a beam sword, or an energy shield.
* The Scout version is the rarest of the three and the only one not designed for combat. This version retains the head module from the Assault version, but replaces the ears with a sophisticated sensor array. The rear turret is replaced with a 3D radar mast, while the trunk weapon is replaced with a magnetic anomaly detector designed to locate landmines and other buried objects.

Battle Story appearances
The Elephander was designed during the Guylos invasion of the Western continent in ZAC 2099. However, by the time it reached the frontlines in ZAC 2101, the war had turned in favour of the Helic Republic, and the Guylos army were on the retreat. The Elephander helped to slow the Helic advance to a degree, being able to withstand the heavy bombardment by the Republic's Gojulas and Ultrasaurus Zoids.

During the final Guylos withdrawal form the continent, a small force of 100 Elephanders stayed behind to protect the retreating Guylos forces. These Zoids were able to hold off a far larger Helic force before being destroyed, but were able to buy the retreating forces enough time to escape.

Media appearances
Anime
New Century Zero
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The Elephander first appears in Zoids: New Century Zero, in episodes 6, 12, and 19. The Zoid is initially piloted by Backdraft pilot Sanders, and then piloted by Captain Stigma Stoller. On one occasion, the Elephander was also piloted by Major Polta.

The Elephander confronted the Blitz Team, and specifically Bit Cloud in his Liger Zero, on three different occasions. After leaving the Backdraft Group, Stoller joined the "Zoids Battle Commission" and had the Elephander considerably modified to challenge Bit to a legitimate battle.

Until the appearance of the Berserk Fury near the end of the series, the Elephander was the most powerful Zoid the Blitz Team had faced. Over the course of the three battles between the Elephander and the Liger Zero, all four forms of the Liger Zero and two of the Elephander's three forms (Assault and Command) are displayed. In each battle, the Liger Zero faces the Elephander in a different CAS unit, and although the Liger Zero Jager defeats the Elephander in episode 6 (with assistance from Brad and his Command Wolf), the other two battles are inconclusive or interrupted.

The anime depiction of the Elephander exaggerates its size compared to the model kit's statistics, though not quite to the same degree of other Zoids such as the Death Saurer, Ultrasaurus or Death Stinger, being roughly twice the height of the Liger Zero.

Genesis
The Elephander appears on three instances in the Zoids: Genesis anime. In two of these appearances, the Elephanders are under the control of the Hiyabou clan. The third appearance shows a herd of wild, zombie-like Elephanders, which attack the heroes. These Elephanders are shown with dead pilots in their cockpits.

Manga

New Century

The Elephander is the antagonist of the second chapter of the Zoids: New Century Zero manga adaptation. Piloted by Stoller, it is depicted as a powerful and ruthless Zoid, shown impaling a Godos on its tusks even after the pilot surrendured. It faces the Liger Zero Schnieder in combat, and is defeated by it.

The depiction of the Elephander in the manga adaptation differs somewhat from the anime. It is shown to possess an E-shield powerful enough to deflect a charged particle beam, which is also able to protect the Zoid's flanks. Its strength comes from its modified Zoid core, which grants it a 300% increase in power. However, this also proved to be its downfall, as it quickly depleated shield energy, causing it to fade out after heavy impacts, allowing the Liger Zero Schnieder to disable it with its blade attack.

Video games
The Elephander appears in the Zoids Saga series of Game Boy Advance Games as a 'wandering monster'. In the first game, all three variants of the Elephander design were included, along with the Assault Gatling-upgraded Elephander. Zoids Saga II and later games in the series dropped the Scout and Command variants.

Models
New Japanese Release
*Assembly required. (Snap-together, no glue needed. Scissors or X-acto knife recommended for trimming off excess plastic bits.)
*The model's colours are moulded into the plastic, and it does not need any paint. Some sections come pre-painted.

The Elephander kit comes on ten frames, along with a battery-powered motor, two different semi-transparent canopy covers, thirty-two rubber caps, two small blue pilots, and label sheets. The Elephander is moulded in dark blue, black, and silver, with red caps, and a green cockpit window. There are numerous painted details on the body of the Zoid.

The Elephander’s construction isn't overly complex or difficult, putting it roughly in the middle of the range for Zoid complexity. The major problem is the trunk, which can be quite difficult to keep assembled. The Elephander uses a single "AA" sized battery for motion. Once activated, the Zoid walks forwards and raises its trunk. Its back weapons, trunk weapons, ears and canopy can be manually positioned.

Extra parts and instructions are provided with the Elephander model, enough to form three different variants. These variants are known as Standard, Command, and Scout. The model can be changed between the three configurations once built.
A single upgrade kit has been released for the Elephander, the . This consists of a large missile box and a Gatling gun. The unit is mounted on the back of the Elephander, and can rotate through 180 degrees.

New American Release
The Elephander was released by Hasbro as part of the New American Release. Apart from changes to the box, no alterations were made.

New Pacific Release
The Elephander was also released as part of the first wave of New Pacific Release Zoids. No changes were made, apart from the packaging.

Despite being one of the first Zoids released in the NPR, the Elephander sold poorly. Unsold Elephanders could still be found on store shelves until early 2006.

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See Also

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