Z-Knights (Europe)

Z-Knights were a series of toy model kits designed and produced by Japanese toy company TOMY (now Takara-Tomy). Each model was designed in 1/72 scale and had features that would activate once the kit was fitted with a battery and turned on. The models are very similar in design and construction to another of Tomy's lines, Zoids, and although the two series are not officially linked many collectors consider Z-Knights to be a sub line of the popular Zoids franchise.

Z-Knights went on sale in Europe during the early 90s. There were 3 distinct sizes of model and each encorporated easy construction (rubber bolts and clips hold parts together so that no glue is required), motorised movement/walking and decals to apply once the model is complete. The two largest Z-Knights (Megahertz and Hardware) also had a pilot.

The models were taken from the larger Japanese line of Z-Knights and although the moulds were unchanged most had new colour schemes and redesigned decal sheets. The line also had a backstory different to the Japanese line (and perhaps more relevent for 90s Europe): the European Z-Knights were warriors from computer games that were infected by a virus and given the ability to jump into the real world. From there the story was rather cliched: the Evil Z-Knights were bent on destroying humanity while the Heroic Z-Knights were out to protect us.

The line was fairly short lived and only two waves were produced for a total of 10 models. The two models from the second wave (Megaclone and Alt) were produced in considerably lower numbers than the rest of the models and are far harder to find. In addition, an 11th model, Guyzack, was available in exchange for 10 tokens from within the boxes. The model was simply a direct import from the Japanese line and both versions are identical (even the box remains unchanged).

The Models

Original Japanese names of the models are shown in brackets.

Heroic Z-Knights (Wave One)

Represented by a letter Z backed by a sword.
*Hardware (Z-Knight)
*CPU (Skullviper)
*ROM (Northeglaiver)
*Boot (Nilas)

Evil Z-Knights (Wave One)

Represented by a scorpion or a Z-shaped serpent wrapped around a sword.
*Megahertz (Marinekaizer)
*Hacker (Desertwalker)
*Shutdown (Vigace)
*Kilabyte (Darksizzar)

Wave One Mail-away
*Guyzack (Guyzack)

Heroic Z-Knights (Wave Two)

Represented by a letter Z backed by a sword.
*Alt (Zeligaia)

Evil Z-Knights (Wave Two)

Represented by a Z-shaped serpent wrapped around a sword.
*Megaclone (Deviking)

External links

Information

* [http://www.digital-lifestyle.ch/zknights/archiveKnights.html The Z-Knights Archive]