Medachange

Medachange (メダチェンジ), also written as MedaChange and Meda-Change, is a transformation act that some Medabots can perform. Medachange was introduced in Medarot 3, and later appeared in Medarot 4, Medarot Navi, and from Medarot 7 onward.

Description

A Medachange can only be achieved by some Medabots that have been built to perform said action. To be used, all parts must be of the same set and all must be functional, becoming unavailable if one part is destroyed.

When a Medabot performs a Medachange it will undergo a physical transformation, with the consequence that the Medabot won't work under the four parts architecture while the transformation lasts. Thus, any damage the Medabot receives will affect its whole body. However, the Medabot will be as resistant as it was before the Medachange.

When the Medabot changes back to its original form, the total damage done to its body during Medachange will be shared equally to each part.

Actions

During a Medachange, a Medabot will have three actions available for it to use, like its previous form. These actions are called Drives (ドライブ): Drive A, Drive B and Drive C. Each Drive action will allow the Medabot to perform a certain action not limited to a certain part of the body, like it was for its previous form. For instance, Brave Police's normal form has charge related actions like Charge Drain, while his Medachange allows him to either shoot a Rifle attack or a Gatling attack from either arm, or use both arms as Sword attacks to strongly strike an opponent.

Some Medabots that can Medachange will perform exactly the same actions it could do before the Medachange. One example of this is Pass-Ghoul.

Destroy does not work against a Medabot while in its Medachange form, as Destroy must be partial. MF Seal can prevent Medabots from using Medachange.

Other consequences of the Medachange

Medachange will entirely change a Medabot's shape. This does not limit the change to the actions it can do, but the way the Medabot mobilizes. This means that most Medabots will also change their leg type to another one, depending entirely on how the Medachange was designed. For example, Saikachi's Medachange form is a vehicle, while his regular form is bipedal. This change also allows the Medabot to be somewhat more adaptable to different terrains. Others, just like Diststar, keep their leg types.

Usually a Medabot that is able to perform a Medachange is less resistant to another one of its same series that cannot Medachange. For example, the KWG type Rokusho's parts are slightly more resistant than his successor, Roks'.

Game mechanics

Prior to Medarot 3

Medachange was only seen with six Medabots that would allow the player to move around. Landmotor and Landrotor, for instance, would help Hikaru and Ikki respectively to move around faster, and to achieve this, they would need to perform a Medachange and change from their bipedal appearance to a more car-like one. Those forms were also seen in the manga and anime adaptations, and while not referenced as Medachange at the time, became available as their Medachange in later appearances.

Medarot 3, 4 and Navi

To perform a Medachange, the player must choose the below option, that, instead of having the Charge Medaforce option, it will have a big C icon, indicating it can Medachange. When the Medabot changes, the new form will have its total armor equal to the sum of all of its parts' armors, and the attacks from individual parts changed to Drives.

In Medarot Navi, the player must press Select until the Drives option comes up, and when the player chooses to use a Drive the Medabot will Medachange.

Types

In the earlier games, there are two types of Medachange. One is known as the "Shift Transform" (シフト変形), and the other as the "Power Transform" (パワー変形). A Medabot's Medachange can only be of one of these types, and no Medabot has two Medachange forms.

A Shift Medachange is usually weaker than a Power Medachange, but it is a standard change. It has no backdraws and can be performed in any moment.

A Power Medachange is more powerful than a Shift Medachange, with the backdraw it manipulates Medaforce for every turn the Medabot keeps that form. In Medarot 3 and 4, it drains Medaforce, while in Medarot Navi the Medaforce can rise or fall.

From Medarot 7 onwards

From Medarot 7 onward, the Shift and Power types were dropped.

In Medarot 7, Medachange can only be activated if the Medaforce gauge is full, and cannot be cancelled until the gauge is empty, with each action costing 10% of the gauge. Due to this, Drives can be used without restrictions. The Medaforce gauge will not fill during Medachange.

The Medachange mechanics in Medarot 8 and 9 are similar to Medarot 7, except that Medachange can now be activated if at least 20% of the Medaforce gauge is full, and it can be cancelled at will. Additionally, the attack MF Seal became able of sealing Medachanges.

In Medarot S: Unlimited Nova, Medachange acts similar to Medarot Navi, with the Medabot automatically changing by using a Drive. Each Drive requires a different amount of the Medaforce gauge to be filled to become available, and use different amounts of the gauge. There are also Drives that have no requirements. Selecting an action from the normal form, charging the Medaforce gauge, or using a Medaforce will cancel Medachange. Damage taken will fill the Medaforce gauge normally.

Anime mechanics

Landmotor's transformation.

In Medabots

The only Medabots shown to be able to change were Landmotor and LadyJet. Landmotor could change from a bipedal appearance to a more car-like one, while LadyJet could Medachange from a bipedal form to a plane-like form. Despite granting Landmotor ease of mobility and LadyJet the ability to recover from a freefall while flying, it is unknown what other effects Medachange might have done to them.

A similar effect was done by Giganko after he disposed part of his big leg parts, changing from multi-legged to bipedal.

In Medabots Spirit

Metabee's Medachange in Medabots Spirit.

In the anime, Medachange can only be done with Medabots and Kilobots that have been designed to be able to Medachange. Medachange at this point is no different to the game canon, however the Shift and Power Medachanges don't exist. Instead, most Medabots and Kilobots that can Medachange have been shown with two forms: Action Mode (レクリスモード, Reckless Mode in Japanese) and Demolition Mode (クラフティーモード, Crafty Mode in Japanese). A Medabot first must transform to its Action Mode. In this form, most Medabots will gain a new type of legs, much like in the games, and new actions it can perform. However, it can't perform all three actions the Medabot could in the games. Instead, to perform the remaining ones, the Medabot must undergo a second change named the Demolition Mode, where new components will be transported to the Medabot in order to complete its transformation.

For example, the new parts from Ikki's Metabee can shoot Missiles while in Action Mode. However, to perform the other attacks it was supposed to be able to, Cross Attack Set and Cross Fire A, he must change to Demolition Mode, where Metabee will charge a powerful shooting attack and then fire a huge energy blast.

The only Medabots and Kilobots seen with a Demolition Mode were Metabee, Roks, Unitrix, Exor, and Redrun.

The Medachange from Arcbeetle Dash and Tyrelbeetle is known in Japanese as Mighty Reckless Mode (マイティレクリスモード). This difference was dropped in the English dub, being mistakenly called both Action Mode and Demolition Mode in Once a Medafighter (2). Similar to Demolition Mode, additional parts appear for the transformation, although Arcbeetle Dash usually appeared with the extra parts equipped on his shoulders by default. Instead of having a Demolition Mode, Arcbeetle Dash and Tyrelbeetle have Meda-Combo (メダユナイト, Meda-Unite in Japanese), the two combining into a single Medabot named Masterbeetle.

Trivia

• Although Blakbeetle was not seen using Demolition Mode in the anime and games, her Medarot Dual Model figure has a Demolition Mode.
  • Blakbeetle's figure also has a Meda-Combo, but unlike Arcbeetle Dash and Tyrelbeetle, Blakbeetle combines with the extra parts that appear for the Demolition Modes from herself, Metabee, Roks, Unitrix, and Exor.
• The two Meda-Combos are also known as Twisty Mode (トゥイスティモード) in the Dual Model figures.
• Redrun's Demolition Mode was named Mighty Reckless Mode in the form's concept art, but is named Crafty Mode (Demolition Mode) in the anime and in the Dual Model figure.
• Except for Redrun's and Blakbeetle's, the Demolition Modes also appeared in some scenes from Medarot 3. The Demolition Modes from Saikachi and Roks also appeared in Medarot S: Unlimited Nova as separated versions of the normal Saikachi and Roks, each having their own mode.