I was re-watching Mazinger Z the other day, and I came across a rather interesting looking character. And you guessed it, its another anthro. This time in the form of Unicorn Sigma 2. Now its understandable that not many of you have heard of or seen this guy before. And again, that's understandable since Mazinger Z is a long series, spanning 92 episodes and having TONS of different mecha designs and so fourth. But I'll explain. Unicorn Sigma 2 is a giant anthropomorphic unicorn-like robot, making its debut appearance in episode 71. Like most of the Mehcanical Beasts, Unicorn Sigma 2 was a mere machine with no feelings or emotions. And it didn't talk at all. It only acted on its program to cause mayhem and destruction in order to attract the attention of Mazinger Z and destroy him.

Though I guess you could say the robot is male since it has a male like appearance. I tend to label a lot of male looking mecha as “male” despite the fact that some robots in fiction have no gender, and are not living thinking sentient beings. So anyway, this particular robot was quite interesting to me. It has a red unicorn like head with red skinny legs, large ears (which kind of gives it the appearance of a kangaroo), pink cheeks, a blonde mane, sharp fangs protruding from its mouth, yellow dots down its face, yellow eyes with black markings, and a purple horn sticking out of its forehead. Its body is covered in green and purple armor with orange outlines, trims on the joints, and a black pelvic area (though it looks like a speedo because of the robot’s organic shape). It has large green wings on its back that allows it the ability of flight. The wings on the robot’s back enable it to create strong hurricane winds. Its armor is noticeably strong as it’s able to resist some of the most powerful attacks. And the horn on its forehead emits electricity in the form of bolts or sparks, and the dots on its neck are repellent rays.

Unicorn Sigma 2 was released by Duke Gorgon and Baron Ashura to invade the Photon Power Lab (the base of operations for the good guys), and to do battle with Mazinger Z and his allies; Aphrodite A and Boss Borrot. Koji docks Mazinger Z, and engages in battle with the robot. As you’d expect, Unicorn Sigma 2 proves to be quite a challenge for our heroes, as he kicks Aphrodite and Borrot’s asses (and with little effort I might add). And when Mazinger Z first engages him, he at first struggles as the Unicorn seems to have the upper hand. But then Koji comes up with a strategy (with some help from Dr. Yumi). He lures the robot away from the lab, and gets it to follow him to a safe distance. Then Koji ejects from Mazinger Z, and has Unicorn chase him in midair. Koji manages to dupe the robot (most likely due to its limited AI), and blasts off its wings with missiles. Now that Unicorn Sigma 2 is unable to fly, and missing an arm, Koji docks Mazinger Z, and engages in battle with Unicorn Sigma 2. Mazinger Z manages to destroy the robot with a rust hurricane, followed by a breast fire attack, and then a photon eye beam, obliterating Unicorn Sigma 2, and reducing it to a pile of smoking ruble.

Now, I have to say this character has caught my interest. And you can probably guess the reasons why. But I think he looks strangely a lot like a boss from the Megaman X series. I mean just look at him and tell me he doesn’t look like one of the Mavericks. Because honestly, he looks like he could be another horse-like Maverick besides Spiral Pegasus AKA the Skiver. And I his general design. Its retro, but strangely refreshing as hell. Such a shame he had to be destroyed by Mazinger Z. But oh well, at least he has one fan who has made fanart of him. And that’s me. Now some of you who are Megaman fans may find it strange that this character shares the name "Sigma" with that of the main villain from the Megaman X series. Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but Mazinger Z first debuted in the 70s. Whereas Megaman X debuted in the 90s. So its only fair to say that Go Nagai and Toei Animation beat Capcom to the punch 20 years prior.

Mazinger Z/Unicorn Sigma 2 © Go Nagai and Toei Animation.