The Advent of Mazinger
Mecha on the Battlefield
Western Invasion
Assimilation
The Present
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Machine Evolution
Before Mecha
The concept of powered armor was actually considered as early as in 1959, by Robert A. Heinlein in his science-fiction war story Starship Troopers, which featured ground warfare unlike anything previously imagined. The Mobile Infantry of earth's forces dropped from space onto planets in powered battle suits that could take on the hordes of huge insectlike aliens that were the nemesis of the human race. The suits, depicted in convincing detail in the novel, became the pattern for later designs. It also became a favorite piece of war technology, regularly featured in sci-fi war stories as the Space Marine's weapon of choice.
The ATs of Armored Trooper Votoms were heavily influenced by Heinlein's novel.
Not surprisingly, the battlesuit idea found its way into the hands of weapons developers. The cold-war atmosphere of the 1960s proved conducive exploring the possibility of actually developing battlesuits. These efforts produced at least one prototype, but in the aftermath of the Soviet Union's dissolution, funding and support suddenly became scarce.