Harry Champ
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Harry Champ is a character featured in the Zoids: New Century Zero anime, based on TOMY's Zoids model franchise. Voiced by Wataru Takagi in the original Japanese version and Brad Swaile in the English dub, he is the leader of the Champ Team and one of the show's primary sources of comic relief.
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[edit] Personality
Harry Champ is a rather eccentric character. Melodramatic and arrogant, his catch phrase is "My name is Harry Champ! I'm a man destined to be King!" Harry Champ is the son of a wealthy king [1],an heir to the fortune of the massive Champ Corporation, and is obscenely rich as a result; he is described by Brad as "a rich snob who goes into Zoid battles because it gives him something to do."
Though depicted as a formidable opponent in his first appearance, much like the Tigers Team, Harry Champ quickly degenerates into comic relief. He relies primarily on his wealth and influence to acquire powerful Zoids in order to compensate for his shortcomings as a pilot, managing to enter the Royal Cup based purely on luck of the draw. However, Harry did manage to briefly climb his way to class A, indicating that he is highly determined and can hold his own if he applies himself.
One of Harry's primary character traits is his unrequited love for the character Leena Toros. Harry's devotion to Leena borders on the obsessive; he frequently sends her love letters, calls her on the phone over 20 times a day, fantasises about her, buys her expensive gifts and will often dip into lengthly monologues expressing his love for her. He is shown as being highly possessive, fearing Bit as potential competition for her affection, (though he appears unaware of Bit's disinterest in Leena). Leena does not return his feelings, though she is not above manipulating him to get what she wants, usually by pretending to flirt with Bit.
He does know when to be serious and he has been on two occasions. First is when he and Bit pursue an underwater digging squad from the Backdraft Group after they spot a highly suspicious salvation project happening below the beach water.
[edit] Battle Statistics
- Close Combat: 10
- Ranged Combat: 6
- Maneuvering: 5
[edit] Zoids
Harry Champ is particularly notable as he possesses the most Zoids of any character, though he is only seen piloting a few of them in battle.
[edit] Dark Horn
The Dark Horn is the first Zoid Harry is shown using. Harry’s Dark Horn is a substantially modified version of the kind belonging to McMann, sporting a Hyper Beam Cannon in addition to a heavily modified special edition Gatling Rifle, as well as small boosters on its sides to grant increased manoeuvrability. Harry would use this Dark Horn several times during the series until it was taken away by the Backdraft group. However, Harry's Dark Horn would be seen again later- no explanation is offered if it is Harry's original Dark Horn or a new one with the same specifications.
[edit] Cannon Tortoise
Harry Champ owns several Cannon Tortoises. In episode 5, Harry Champ would pilot one of them along with his robot Benjamin to provide support fire for Jack Cisco and his high speed Lightning Saix. Harry's Cannon Tortoise would appear again in episode 12, where it is equipped with a "Plasma Particle Gun". Harry opens fire on the Blitz team, but the shot misses. However, it leaves behind weak traces of residual plasma particles on their Zoids, which allows the Blitz team to track down the Liger Zero after it is stolen by the Backdraft.
[edit] Iron Kong
Harry Champ and his team use Iron Kongs in several battles. The Champ Team's Iron Kongs would first appear in episode 9, "Mary Champ: The Princess Arrives", where they are purchased by Harry's sister, Mary, to use in a battle against the Blitz team to claim their Liger Zero. Despite a common misconception, Harry's Zoid is not an Iron Kong PK; it is even initially misidentified by the character Jamie Hemeros, who then corrects himself and identifies it as an "Alamazer M1896". How the Alamazer M1896 differs from an Iron Kong PK is never explained, though it appears to lack the tubes present on the Iron Kong PK model connecting the shoulder and wrist mounted cannons to the chest. Initially, only the Iron Kongs Sebastian and Harry piloted were the Alamazer M1896 types whereas Mary's and Benjamin's were of a different type that focused as missile turrets, as seen by their somewhat different color scheme. After Mary leaves, Benjamin's Iron Kong is seen thereafter as the same type as his teammates. It is unknown if Mary took the Iron Kong she piloted back with her or left it with Harry as a spare.
[edit] Other Zoids
- Gordos
- Gun Sniper
- Lightning Saix
- Shield Liger
- Guysak
- Command Wolf
- Rev Raptor
- Hel Digunner
- Iron Kong (Stock)
- Iron Kong (Shubaltz' Type)
- Dibison
- Gustav
- Helcat
- Red Horn
- Dark Horn (stock)
- Great Sabre
- Godos
- Black Redler
- Gun Sniper (Unknown variant similar to the Leena type)
- A pair of Warsharks (he lent Bit the other when both of them encountered the Backdraft group during a beach outing by both teams)
- "Cerberus" (Three headed Sabre Tiger from Guardian Force)
- Gojulas (never seen, though mentioned offhand by Harry)
- Several Whale Kings
[edit] Benjamin and Sebastian
Benjamin and Sebastian are a pair of custom built robot servants belonging to Harry Champ. Their primary purpose is to serve as teammates for Harry, and fight alongside him in battle; Sebastian pilots a custom designed Hel Digunner, and Benjamin pilots a Stealth Viper. They also do maintenance on the Zoids, cook and clean, and provide Harry with companionship. Despite being built to serve him, Benjamin and Sebastian won't hesitate to poke gentle fun at their master, calling him "pathetic".
Benjamin and Sebastian have been the subject of controversy; in the original Japanese version of the show, both robots are portrayed as rather flamboyant homosexuals, especially the former. The first instance of this was in episode 18, "Love on the Battlefield: My Love, the Judge", where Benjamin falls in love with a Judge robot. The second instance came from a gag in the Japanese version of episode 22, where both dressed up in tight bikinis (bikini brief for Sebastian and two piece for Benjamin), and Sebastian rubbed Benjamin head to toe with oil in front of Brad, causing him to run away in fear.
In the original Japanese version, the Judge robot (explicitly called a "Judgeman") had a masculine voice- the English broadcast of the episode changes the judgeman's voice to a feminine voice, and also removes parts in a fantasy sequence where Benjamin imagines him lifting weights and showering. The scene in episode 22 was removed entirely.
Sebastian is voiced by Susumu Chiba, Leon Toros' seiyuu, and Benjamin is voiced by Keikou Sakai.
[edit] New Century Zero
[edit] Trivia
- Brad Swaile, Harry's voice actor, would go on to voice RD, the main character in Zoids: Fuzors.
- Despite his prominent role in the anime, Harry never appears in the Zoids: New Century Zero manga.
