Defender of the Universe

Monkey-Girl's childhood hero was Voltron III. You may be remembering him as just plain old Voltron; but , as many Japanese imports, it's more complicated than that.

Voltron III, the first shown in America, was the second cartoon produced in Japan. He's made up of five robotic lions. The story is set the furthest from Earth.

Voltron I, the second shown in America, was based on an earlier Japanese show. He's made up of fifteen vehicles. The story is set the closest to Earth.

Voltron II, a show never seen in America (but I remember seeing the toys at Kay Bee as a little penguin), was supposed to be based on yet another Japanese cartoon. He's made up of three smaller humanoid robots. The story's location was somewhere between the other two.

So, there you have it. The roman numerals are reflective of the Americanized characters' relative proximity to the Earth. It must have made sense to someone.

Anyway, the only socially relevant Voltron is Voltron III. For that, he gets to drop the roman numerals.

The first birthday present I ever got for Monkey-Girl was a reissue of the old Matchbox Voltron III gift set. (The box just calls him Voltron now.) All five die-cast metal lions were recreated for the set. I never had this Voltron growing up, but I'm happy to see him surveying Money-Girl's office today.