Count Blocken
Encyclopedia
Count Brocken was a villain from the fictional robot story Mazinger Z
. He was a cyborg whose head was hewn from his body during a car accident, and he carried it around with him. He sometimes carried it under his arm, but it had the ability to float on its own. This was the "sanified" version of Blocken's origins given in the 1970-anime series.
In the Manga version penned by Go Nagai
and fellow Gosaku Ota the charachter's background is quite grimmer: in the comic Blocken was none other than a nazi Waffen-SS
officer who suffered fatal wounds during the battles of WW2, at the time Doctor Hell was serving the Third Reich as medical experimenter in the death camps and was given the task of saving Blocken's life. Not being able to restore nervous and vascular connections in the neck he chose to sever them altogether placing the escinded head in a vat of nourishing/regenerative bath, thus creating the decapitated count.
(When Nagai and Ota created the characters in the late 60s WW2 was a relatively recent event).
As the war ended Hell and Blocken parted ways but he returned to head the "Iron Crosses Corps" to aid Hell's plans for world domination via mechanical monsters. The nazi motif in this background justified Blocken's penchant for militaristic attire complete with Sam Browne belt, as well the cross motif and the teutonic helmets worn by his stormtroopers (while Ashura, resulting from a jigsaw combination of ancient mummies, outfitted his Ashura Corps to resemble mycenean warriors)
This version of the story is heavily indebted with H.P. Lovecraft's story of the macabre: "Herbert West, Re-Animator" which features a former officer of WWI 'saved' by West and doomed to carry around his resuscitated albeit severed head in a box under his arm.
, after repeated failures on the part of Hell's other officer, Baron Ashura
, to destroy the heroic robot Mazinger Z. Competition between the two villains was fierce, Ashura to regain Hell's favor and Brocken to prove himself the better commander.
He was given Gool to attack as well as a loyal army of soldiers, the Iron Crosses.
However, Brocken was also unable to gain the advantage over Mazinger Z despite repeated tries. He died in the story's finale when Mazinger Z blew up his airship while attempting to escape.
Before his death, Ashura faces a group of Iron Crosses, loyal to Brocken, that had planned to kill him without Brocken's knowledge. When he finds out about this, he rushes to stop them, although Ashura had already taken care of them. However, he doesn't believe his foe wasn't behind the attack and escapes from Dr. Hell's island. Brocken shows a certain degree of respect towards Ashura when he dies in battle.
Mazinger Z
, known briefly as Tranzor Z in United States, is a Super Robot manga and anime series created by Go Nagai. The first manga version was serialized in Shueisha Weekly Shōnen Jump from October 1972 to August 1973, and it later continued in Kodansha TV Magazine from October 1973 to September 1974. In...
. He was a cyborg whose head was hewn from his body during a car accident, and he carried it around with him. He sometimes carried it under his arm, but it had the ability to float on its own. This was the "sanified" version of Blocken's origins given in the 1970-anime series.
In the Manga version penned by Go Nagai
Go Nagai
, better known by the penname , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with Meakashi Polikichi, but is best known for creating Cutie Honey, Devilman, and Mazinger Z in the 1970s. In 2005, he became a...
and fellow Gosaku Ota the charachter's background is quite grimmer: in the comic Blocken was none other than a nazi Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
officer who suffered fatal wounds during the battles of WW2, at the time Doctor Hell was serving the Third Reich as medical experimenter in the death camps and was given the task of saving Blocken's life. Not being able to restore nervous and vascular connections in the neck he chose to sever them altogether placing the escinded head in a vat of nourishing/regenerative bath, thus creating the decapitated count.
(When Nagai and Ota created the characters in the late 60s WW2 was a relatively recent event).
As the war ended Hell and Blocken parted ways but he returned to head the "Iron Crosses Corps" to aid Hell's plans for world domination via mechanical monsters. The nazi motif in this background justified Blocken's penchant for militaristic attire complete with Sam Browne belt, as well the cross motif and the teutonic helmets worn by his stormtroopers (while Ashura, resulting from a jigsaw combination of ancient mummies, outfitted his Ashura Corps to resemble mycenean warriors)
This version of the story is heavily indebted with H.P. Lovecraft's story of the macabre: "Herbert West, Re-Animator" which features a former officer of WWI 'saved' by West and doomed to carry around his resuscitated albeit severed head in a box under his arm.
History
He was a new lieutenant brought in to oversee the plans of the story's main villain, Dr. HellDr. Hell
Dr. Hell is the main villain of the fictional robot anime Mazinger Z. He is a brilliant, cunning and evil scientist, obsessed with world domination through his creations, the armies of Mechanical Beasts.- History :He was a colleague of Dr...
, after repeated failures on the part of Hell's other officer, Baron Ashura
Baron Ashura
is a fictional character featuring in the works of Go Nagai. It is the main henchman of Dr. Hell, the antagonist of Super Robot series Mazinger Z. It plagues the hero Kouji Kabuto for much of the series' run, until finally being killed in one of the later episodes....
, to destroy the heroic robot Mazinger Z. Competition between the two villains was fierce, Ashura to regain Hell's favor and Brocken to prove himself the better commander.
He was given Gool to attack as well as a loyal army of soldiers, the Iron Crosses.
However, Brocken was also unable to gain the advantage over Mazinger Z despite repeated tries. He died in the story's finale when Mazinger Z blew up his airship while attempting to escape.
Relationship with Ashura
Brocken appears as a direct competition to Ashura, demoting him as Hell's main servant and forcing him to work as a team in a number of occasions, mostly with terrible results, to the point of ordering their respective mechanical beasts to fight each other to prevent each other from defeating Mazinger. Nevertheless, it's because of their collaboration that Dr. Hell finally achieves one of his goals: to obtain Super Alloy Z and build a mechanical monster with it, Balmos Q7. His plans are spoiled when Ashura disobeys his orders out of jealousy and leaves Mazinger unwatched, who manages to escape from Fortress Bood and destroys Dr. Hell's monster.Before his death, Ashura faces a group of Iron Crosses, loyal to Brocken, that had planned to kill him without Brocken's knowledge. When he finds out about this, he rushes to stop them, although Ashura had already taken care of them. However, he doesn't believe his foe wasn't behind the attack and escapes from Dr. Hell's island. Brocken shows a certain degree of respect towards Ashura when he dies in battle.
Mecha
Brocken is appointed as Blogun G3's pilot, but is defeated by Mazinger and humiliated by Ashura, who picks his head from the ground after his robot's explosion and slaps him for having failed. Brocken also manages to take control of Mazinger Z once.Other Versions
- Brocken was called (for obvious reasons) Count Decapito in Tranzor Z. In the Latin American version, he was named "Conde Decapitado" (Decapitated Count)
- In the Parody OVA, CB Go Nagai World, Brocken is played up comically and extremely perverted. His body at one time was also stolen by Jinmen of the DevilmanDevilmanis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai which originally started as an anime adaptation of the concept of Nagai's previous manga series, Demon Lord Dante. A 39 episode anime series was developed by Toei in 1972 and Nagai began Devilman as a manga in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen...
series. - Unlike Ashura, Brocken wasn't included in the MazinkaiserMazinkaiseris an anime OVA series, inspired by Go Nagai's Mazinger series. The OVA follows Kouji Kabuto, Tetsuya Tsurugi and the rest of the "Mazinger Team" as they fight against Dr. Hell's Mechanical Beasts....
version of the saga. - Brocken appears in the Mazinger AngelsMazinger Angels-Releases outside of Japan:The manga was also released in Hong Kong and Taiwan by d/visual taipei and in Italy by d/visual.-Toys:Besides the manga, a series of toys from the Soul of Chogokin line from Bandai have been released. The main robots from Mazinger Angels are available as part of the GX...
manga, but this time his head is attached to his body. - Brocken appears yet again in Shin Mazinger Shogeki! Z Hen, as one of Dr. Hell's generals. In the first episode (which is called the Finale to the series), he is killed by Kouji using Mazinger Z's "Big Bang Punch". In episode 5, however, he is introduced into the story, deploying Groizer X-10 to destroy Mazinger Z.