Zoids Warroom: Primer

Overview
What are Zoids?
Zoids are a franchise owned by Tomy (now Takara-Tomy) which started with a handful of Japanese snap-together small windup robotic dinosaurs in 1982. The line soon expanded to include more designs, some battery operated and overseas markets. Eventually, accessories, action figures, comic books, video games and animated series were added, but the core of this popular franchise remains a series of windup or battery-operated build-it-yourself toys. While there have been occasional lulls in interest and production, Zoids have been manufactured almost continuously from their inception through to the time of this writing in August 2009.
Zoids come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. Most are approximately 1/72 scale, but there are several designs at 1/24 scale and a handful at 1/360. Nearly every zoid mimics the shape of some real, mythical or prehistoric animal; dinosaur, insect and mammal themes are most popular. Most have a pilot figure, often chromed plastic. All are either motorized, articulated or both. Several have light and sound features as well.

Storylines
As with many popular toys, Tomy-Takara has often provided a background story and plotline to support its Zoids franchise. It is little surprise that the lines with the least background support have been the least successful. Predictably, as many of these storylines were created for markets as diverse as Japan, America and England, most of them are wildly different. Follows is a brief description of the major storylines.

Original/New Japanese/Rebirth Century Storyline (1983-1991, 1999-present)
This storyline, sometimes referred to as the 'Battle Story' is considered by many to be the most 'canon' of them all, and is built largely upon the text to be found on the packaging, but supported with other material such as magazines, storybooks and the "Zoids Bible". In this storyline, zoids are a mechanical/biological life form native to the planet Zi. It was discovered that their outer bodies could be augmented and modified, and as technology progressed they became a kind of animal-shaped warmachines, directed by human pilots but capable of independant thought and actions.
The story begins with Helic, the first king of the Republic, uniting the disparate tribes on Zi. After a bitter dispute over succession, the Zenebas Empure was formed, sparking an intense rivalry and a series of wars. With the crash-landing of a human ship onto Zi, the humans' advanced technology quickly made its way into zoid weaponry, escalating the arms race. In desperation, the Zenebas Empire turned to the inhabitants of the dark continent Nyx for help, who betrayed them and formed the Guylos Empire, restarting the conflict anew. At the final showdown, a comet struck Zi's moon, raining destruction onto the planet, splitting the continents and causing a cataclysm which plunged the world into a dark age.
The 'New Japanese Release' storyline picks up some centuries after the comet strike as Helic and Guylos pick up where they once left off, first reproducing older zoid designs and then progressing to greater and never-before-seen designs. As the Guylos Empire's collapse becomes evident, it is revealed that the newest war is only a ploy to weaken both nations, and the re-emergent Zenebas Empire presses its advantage over the weakened Helic Republic. With the humans' help, the Republic rallies and pushes the empire back to their original borders.
The 'Rebirth Century' storyline goes back and fills in the missing time between the comet strike and the restart of the war, describing a planet torn by magnetic storms and a multitude of factions.
A short interlude was included with several designs in 2004, apparently describing a situation some distance into the future of Zi, where corporations are more powerful than nations. One, Zi-Arms intends on taking ultimate power and resurrecting the Zenebas Empire. The forces of ZOITEC oppose Zi-Arms before vanishing.
As this storyline is one of the most 'realistic' and has the greatest depth, most of the information on this site is focused on this aspect of the franchise.

Original European/English Storyline (1983-1988) Wildly popular in England, this storyline was supported by a series of comic books annaling the adventures of a motley group of humans upon the planet Zoidstar. Zoidstar is a desert planet nearly devoid of life except for two competing armies: the heroic blue zoids and the evil mutant red zoids from Zoidstar's cold moon. In ages past, the Zoidaryans created the blue zoids to do their fighting for them, but all (save one) have now died off, leaving the zoids alone to roam the planet. The red zoids, stranded on Zoidstar's frozen moon, changed their bodies from cold metal to hot to survive, then set out to recover their home planet from the blue zoids.
A passing spaceship of humans crash lands into the middle of this war, trying to make their own way home without being obliterated by the gigantic machines warring around them. The comic book ended with the humans still stranded on Zoidstar, but gave tantalizing clues that the red zoids' goal of galactic dominance may not have been the first time they attempted such an ambition...

Zoids Anime: Chaotic Century, Guardian Force, New Century Zero (1999-2001)
The continuity of the first two seasons of this zoids anime appears very similar to the new Japanese storyline involving the renewal of conflict between Helic and Guylos factions on planet Zi but is subtly different. In the first two seasons, only a very few zoids are capable of independent activity, yet 'stray' zoids are mentioned but not explained. Also introduced are "organoids": human-sized robot-like life forms with the ability to merge with and augment and direct larger zoids.
In America, the third season was broadcast before seasons 1 and 2. This portion of the storyline takes place in the same continuity as the first two seasons, but at some point in the far future. The Republic and Empire have apparently ceased to exist, and zoids are now used in highly structured gladiatorial combat with a tournament structure. Organoids apparently no longer exist, either, but may have become permanently merged with certain zoids.
These three seasons, and especially the third, are considered the most popular and successful of the animated zoids series.

Zoids Anime: Fuzors (2003)
The fourth zoids anime takes place on the planet Zi, but seems to be otherwise separate from any other storyline. Similar to New Century Zero, this storyline chronicles the adventures of a young gladiator-pilot as he works his way to up to the championship. This series seemed to largely be a vehicle for the Blox ? series of toys and emphasized the 'combinability' of the toys. While a full run of 26 episodes were produced and shown in Japan and Australia, the series was cancelled after only 13 episodes in the US. Hasbro dropped its line of zoids shortly afterwards.

Zoids Anime: Genesis (2006)
The fifth zoids anime series also takes place on planet Zi, but like Fuzors, seems entirely disconnected from any other storyline. In this story, an apocolyptic earthquake some centuries in the past destroyed all civilization. Mankind has since rebuilt civilization, tied to mysterious devices named generators. Humans have also discovered ancient zoids, buried underground from civilizations past, and begun to excavate and restore them. The antagonists of this world are strange, skeletal bio-zoids of Digald, human-operated but still capable of functioning at distance from the generators. Seemingly unstoppable, it is up to the heroes of this story to confront the bio-zoids and end their reign of terror.

Assorted lines:
Many zoid lines had either minimal background story or none at all. These lines include the Original and New American Release, Zoids2, Technozoids, and Robostrux.

Zoid-Related Items
Several lines of toys, games and associated items are very closely related to Zoids. A couple of them are listed here in brief. The full list of all zoid-related items including such things as wristwatches and bootlegs is far too extensive for the author to be bothered with.

Starriors (1984)
Starriors were a line of American action figures largely consisting of humanoid robots with tiny pilots in cockpits and a windup gimmick, usually in the chest. Despite almost all being bipedal humanoids, they were very similar stylistically to Zoids. Their chromed plastic pilots were identical. The line also had an associated comic book series, but neither was particularly successful. Starriors were sold in Europe under the name R.A.T.S. (Robot Anti-Terror Squad)

Z-knights (1990)
Z-knights was a moderately successful line of toys by Tomy best described as a mix between Zoids and Gundam. The backstory of the toys described them as a development of technology from the planet Zi for use on Earth. All of them were windup or battery-operated humanoid robots capable of walking across a flat surface. Some models had additional movements such as swinging arms and swiveling heads. The series was moderately successful and produced 22 models, sold both in Japan and (limited) in Europe.

Sci-tex (1992)
Sci-tex was a short-lived Tomy toy franchise in Japan of modular components which could be assembled into a range of different shapes such as helicopters, bulldozers and spaceships. Thematically, they have little relation to zoids, but they used the same 'grade-up' mounting points as zoids, and thus were interchangeable to an extent. Some people have customized their grade-up zoids with sci-tex accessories.

Gashapons, art statues, etc (ongoing)
Takara-Tomy and Yujin have produced an extensive array of gashapons for the zoids franchise, including:

1/72 command zoids
pre-painted 1/320 scale vinyl zoid figures
Baratz Blox
Customize Blox
Zoid Gals
Zoid Heads
Zoid Art Statues

Video and other games (ongoing)
Many video games have been produced for the Zoids franchise, nearly all of them for the Japanese market. They range from RPG's to combat simulators to tactical games, and have been written for a wide array of platforms, including the PS1, PS2, Xbox360, Gamecube, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, arcade games and even one written for a mobile phone app. They all follow the New Japanese storyline and/or the various anime storylines, sometimes in the same game. A handful of these games have been released for the American/English market. The single game not originating in Japan was a game written in 1986 for the C64/Spectrum/Amistrad based on the OER storyline.
A highly popular trading/collectible card game was also distributed in Japan in the early 2000's.

King of Flexible Mobile (2002)
A smaller-than-typical pair of poseable action figures in Liger Zero and Berserk Fuhrer designs. The Liger Zero came with all three customize sets for Jaeger, Schneider and Panzer. A storm fuhrer set was apparently planned, but never produced.

Glossary
A very abbreviated glossary of zoid-related terms. Revised and expanded by request or by whim of the editor

Baratz: a short line of command-zoid-size blox zoids, usually consisting of a single blox
Bio-zoid: a series of skeletal, non-motorized, highly posable zoids with electronic light and sound effects
Blox: an extensive line of zoids consisting of modular cubic or spherical core units to which heads, limbs, etc are attached. See Neo-Blox
Command Zoid: A very small, unmotorized zoid, typically no more than 3" in any direction. Originally produced as gashapons
Customize Parts: Also known as CP's, a series of upgrade/customization sets released from 1999-present. Many sets were designed for one or more specific zoids.
Cyberdrive: a pair of remote-control zoid designs utilizing an IR-based controller or a Gameboy Advance (with a particular accessory)
Diorama Base: a series of zoid accessories consisting of several modular bases, figures and accessories
Evo-Drive: A short-lived series of mostly-assembled classic zoid designs, smaller than the original and using a motion-and-sound device.
Gashapon: a toy intended to be vended via a capsule through a vending machine.
Grade-up: A series of zoids with (usually) motorized accessory attachment points which accepted grade-up units or transfighters
Holo-: followed by the name of the zoid (eg: holo-gojulas). Indicates a zoid made partially or entirely of translucent plastic.
Kotobukiya: A Japanese toy company specializing in highly detailed plastic models. Kotobukiya models are, to this point, completely unmotorized but highly articulated and detailed representations of more conventional zoid designs. While not technically 'canon' zoids, Kotobukiya produces models of such quality, it would be a shame to not include them.
Mechibonica: The original line of zoids produced by Tomy in 1981 before being re-released under the brand name of Zoids. Panzer Tier: See Wave, below.
Robostrux: A line of American zoids sold from 1985-1986
Starzetta: The original line of zoids produced by Tomy in 1981 in Spain.
Technozoids: A line of American zoids sold from 1994-1995
Tomy: The original producer of Zoids, now Takara-Tomy
Toy's Dream Project: An independent company which leased Tomy's molds and produced a series of limited-production re-releases of classic zoids in the 2000's.
Transfighter: a series of 3 small, non-motorized transforming zoids which could attach to Grade-Up points on zoids.
Wave: An independent company which leased Tomy's molds and produced a series of limited-production re-releases of classic zoids in the 2000's.
Zevle: A limited run of select 1/24 scale zoids in different colors from the original.
Zoids 2: A line of European zoids from 1994-1995 making extensive use of chromed plastic