is a mecha anime series aired in Japan from 1982 to 1983 for 56 episodes (52 regular episodes and four recap episodes).
In the United States, the series was heavily edited to become part of the Voltron series. The Dairugger footage was the primary source for the "Vehicle Voltron" episodes, though various footage was also inserted into the more commonly known "Lion Voltron" episodes (themselves adapted from another, unrelated Japanese series, Beast King GoLion).
Story The Rugger Team is an exploration, planetary survey, and defensive force. Planet Earth is in a time of prosperity. The Galaxy Garrison launches a mission to explore the galaxy, colonize, and build new maps of the stars. Soon after commencing the mission, the Rugger Team and their starship, the Rugger Guard, are attacked by the xenophobic Galveston Empire. The Galveston homeworld is dying and their space fleet are also on a mission of exploration and colonization. Dairugger, the super robot, must defend the Rugger Guard and its fleet as they attempt to continue their mission. When Galveston repeatedly refuses to accept peaceful coexistence, the Rugger Guard mission turns to finding the Galveston homeworld, liberating its people from their despotic Emperor, and helping them find a new planet before their world collapses.
Characters Dairugger pilots The Rugger Team is made of three smaller teams of five members each: "Aki Team" (Air), "Keats Team" (Sea), and "Walter Team" (Land), after each team's leader. Each of the 15 parts is referred to as a "Rugger" and can combine into larger machines as separate teams called Kurugger (Air), Kairugger (Sea), and Rickrugger (Land), as well as together to form the super-robot Dairugger. The 15 separate Rugger units as well as the name come from the sport of rugby, since 15 players are required to form a rugby union team.Clements, Jonathan. McCarthy, Helen. (2006). The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised & Expanded Edition. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press.
Aki Team is the air division of the Dairugger team. Their vehicles combine to form the .
Leader of the Aki Team and main pilot of Dairugger XV. Aki pilots Rugger #1, which forms Dairugger's head. His teammates address him as .
Pilot of Rugger #2, which forms Dairugger's upper torso.
Pilot of Rugger #3, which forms Dairugger's right shoulder and bicep. Shota is from the planet .
Pilot of Rugger #4, which forms Dairugger's left shoulder and bicep. Mutsu is the youngest member of the Dairugger team.
Female pilot of Rugger #5, which forms Daiugger's chest.
Keats Team is the sea division of the Dairugger team. Their vehicles combine to form the .
Leader of the Keats Team and pilot of Rugger #6, which forms Dairugger's mid-torso. A native of the planet , Keats is gifted with precognitive abilities that warn him of incoming threats.
Female pilot of Rugger #7, which forms Dairugger's right thigh. She is close friends with Aki and Mutsu.
Pilot of Rugger #8, which forms Dairugger's left thigh. Like Shota, Saluta is from the planet Sala.
Pilot of Rugger #9, which forms Dairugger's right shin.
Pilot of Rugger #10, which forms Dairugger's left shin.
Walter Team is the land division of the Dairugger team. Their vehicles combine to form the .
Leader of the Walter Team and pilot of Rugger #11, which forms Dairugger's waist.
Female pilot of Rugger #12, which forms Dairugger's right forearm. Like Keats, Moya is from the planet Mira.
Pilot of Rugger #13, which forms Dairugger's left forearm.
Pilot of Rugger #14, which forms Dairugger's right foot.
Pilot of Rugger #15, which forms Dairugger's left foot.
Galaxy Garrison is a planetary union of Earth, Sala, and Mira.
Second-in-command of the . He is the first member of Galaxy Garrison to establish diplomatic negotiations with the Galveston Empire through Captain Drake. By episode 17, Ise becomes the captain of the Rugger Guard after Dick Asimov is reassigned to Earth.
Captain of the Rugger Guard. In episode 17, Asimov is reassigned to become Supreme Commander Dewa's aide-de-camp on Earth. In episode 33, he is commissioned as the commander of the Three Allied Planets fleet to attack planet Galveston. In episode 43, Asimov holds peace talks with Teles on the Number 3 Planet of the Number 37 Star System and offers to give the Galveston Empire full ownership of the planet on the conditions that the empire cease their aspirations of global conquest, that they leave the planet's indigenous human population in peace, and that they disarm their military. The negotiation falls through due to Supreme Commander Caponero's insistence of driving out the indigenous population. Teles leaves the planet, but Asimov has a small fleet stay to protect the inhabitants from an attack by Galveston. Asimov leads the Alliance to successfully invade planet Galveston. After the fall of the Galveston Empire in episode 52, Asimov informs Tess Socrat that the surviving citizens will be migrated to the Number 3 Planet.
Commander of the Galaxy Garrison's space fortress. In episode 22, Dewa sends a fleet led by Commander Date to rendezvous with the Rugger Guard on Planet K and prepare for an all-out war with the Galveston Empire.
The Rugger Guards doctor and head of the Research Department.
Dewa's second-in-command. Date leads a fleet as part of the Galaxy Garrison's war with the Galveston Empire. In episode 32, he and his crew sacrifice themselves by ramming their ship towards the Galveston Frontline Command's hangar doors to help the Dairugger team escape from the base's destruction.
Director of Galaxy Garrison.
A Galaxy Garrison officer under Commander Date. In episode 31, Yamamoto offers to command a ship on a suicide mission through the mine-laden asteroid belt to clear a path towards the Galveston Frontline Command. and
Two Galaxy Garrison officers stationed at the Number 3 Planet of the Number 37 Star System in episode 45. When Morikawa is wounded during Commander Zucca's invasion, Aki fends off the invaders while Morikawa and Sato run to safety. They are both killed by Galveston forces after finding a cave for shelter.
Galveston Empire The is an advanced alien civilization in search for planets to colonize, as their home planet is rapidly dying from depletion of its natural resources and the deterioration of its Van Allen radiation belt. Aside from a massive fleet of spaceships, the empire is equipped with mechanized and . The Galveston Empire is named after Galveston Island, a barrier island in Texas with a history of piracy.
Commander of the Galveston Empire's Frontline Command. While the Galveston Empire starts the war with the Rugger Guard, Teles believes that both factions should explore the galaxy together. In episode 22, he is relieved of his duty by Commander Luciano and sent back to planet Galveston to become Garrison Commander. Upon his return to the planet, Teles is reassigned as Frontline Exploration Base Commander. Shortly after the destruction of Frontline Command, he is given new orders to attack and destroy the Earth fleet. Teles defies these orders and pursues a ceasefire with Galaxy Garrison. In episode 43, he meets with Captain Asimov to negotiate peace talks over the Number 3 Planet of the Number 37 Star System. The negotiations, however, fall through, due to the Supreme Command's insistence of taking the planet by force. He is then dismissed and placed on house arrest upon returning to Galveston. With the aid of Sirk, Teles is freed from captivity to lead the resistance forces against the government. In episode 51, the resistance succeeds after Emperor Corsair is killed during the uprising. While leading his people to evacuate the dying planet in episode 52, Teles is assassinated by three soldiers who blame him and the government for the planet's destruction. Teles is named after Teles of Megara, a Cynic philosopher from Ancient Greece.
A female member of the Galveston Royal Guard who is assigned as Teles' adjutant upon his return to the planet Galveston. Following Teles' house arrest on episode 47, Sirk is abducted by a guerrilla faction, who asks her to join their quest to overthrow Emperor Corsair. She collaborates with the guerrilla faction to free Teles from his house arrest. Following Teles' death at the hands of three assassins in episode 52, the Dairugger team urges Sirk to carry on his will to rebuild Galveston.
General commander of the Galveston Empire. Ignoring the deteriorating state of his planet, Caponello oversees the attacks on Galaxy Garrison to ensure Galveston's dominance in the galaxy. Once the Three Planets Alliance invades the planet, Caponello retreats to the palace and urges Emperor Corsair to migrate to another planet, but Corsair refuses the offer. Caponello, Gomez, and Ventura pilot a Battle Attacker in an attempt to escape from the Alliance, but are intercepted and destroyed by Dairugger. Caponello is named after the American gangster Al Capone.
Teles' father and Internal Secretary of the Galveston Empire. The Galveston supreme command holds Tess responsible for the ongoing riots in the country and dismisses him of his position upon Teles' return. In episode 34, upon his reinstatement in the government, he urges Teles to follow Emperor Corsair's orders to destroy the Earth fleet. By episode 51, Tess sides with his son and the resistance forces against the government. Once the empire falls, Tess offers to meet with Captain Asimov to negotiate the safe migration of his people to a new planet. Tess Socrat is named after the Greek philosopher Socrates.
Emperor of the Galveston Empire. When planet Galveston's defenses fall to the Three Planets Alliance in episode 51, Corsair refuses to leave the planet despite Caponello's pleas to do so and the resistance close to overthrowing the government. Corsair meets his fate by a stray shot from one of his fallen commanders.
Science secretary of the Galveston Empire. He is killed alongside Caponello and Ventura by Dairugger in episode 51.
A Galveston commander sent as reinforcement to Teles' fleet in episode 34. Raucher and his crew are immediately at odds with Teles' pacifistic approach to the Galaxy Garrison. In episode 36, Teles has Raucher negotiate a ceasefire with the Rugger Guard, but Raucher uses the negotiation to ambush the fleet. His plans, however, are thwarted by Dairugger. In episode 44, Raucher becomes Frontline Exploration Base Commander after Teles is dismissed for attempting to make peaceful negotiations with Galaxy Garrison. During the fall of the Exploration Base in episode 46, Raucher commandeers a Battle Attacker in a last-ditch effort to wipe out the Three Planets Alliance fleet, but is ultimately killed by Dairugger.
Second-in-command of the Galveston Empire's Frontline Command. In episode 22, Luciano replaces Teles as Frontline Commander with the intent of wiping out Earth from the galaxy. He is killed after the Aki and Keats teams detonate bombs in the Frontline Command's power source. Luciano is named after Italian-American mobster Lucky Luciano. , , , and Raucher's subordinates. In episode 42, Jackson's fleet lands on the Number 3 Planet of the Number 37 Star System in response to Gallo evacuating the planet upon the Earth fleet's arrival. He defies Teles' orders and proceeds to advance towards the Earth fleet before Nolan arrives and stops him in time for peace talks. In episode 43, when the negotiation falls through and Teles has his fleets leave the planet, Raucher has Jackson return and attack the Earth fleet protecting the planet. Jackson's fleet is wiped out by the Earth forces.
A Galveston commander who attacks the Rugger Guard during a planetary exploration in episodes 1–3. He is killed when the planet explodes from the Frontline Command's photon missile bombardment. The Rugger Guard crew posthumously names the planet .