Valkyrie variants

[Galaxy_Stranger]

I've been getting the Master File books for reference for my modeling and it's been an enlightening experience. I'm not terribly plugged into the Macross lore and details. As a fan I always thought about how the squadrons were all organized and so forth. But after learning about what has come to be considered semi-canon, I've found some details that I hadn't really considered, and this is mostly because I'm aware that some technical decisions were made solely in the interest of visual presentation.

For example, the colors of the various light sabers in the star wars franchise have absolutely no technical meaning. For years, fans figured that red was for the bad guys and blue was for the good guys. And then Luke has to screw around and show up with a green light saber. The fact is that the color was chosen based on the color scheme of the scene and contrasting characters. Likewise, (as we see in Voltron and other franchises), Valkyrie color schemes are a device used for the audience to be able to keep track of the major characters, (with the exceptions of Kakizake and Focker which remain a mystery to me).

So at this point, when I see a Valkyrie with fast pack on, I see a Valkyrie that has had a fast pack fastened to it. Same thing for an Armored Valkyrie. Now, I can understand the VT-1 and VE-1 Valkyries being separated off as different variants as the F-15C is to the F-15E. But it appears that a Valkyrie with a fast pack, or an armored Valkyrie is considered a full variant of the Valkyrie. And yet in the TV show, it doesn't make sense that they would produce and paint a new variant JUST for Hikaru on the off chance that he would need it.

What's the deal? Are the fast packs and armored versions separate variants or modified Valkyries?

[Mr March]

The FAST Pack/Super Valkyries and Armored Valkyries are just modified versions, not variants (using your definitions of those words). The two reasons for this are 1) for all the performance boosting and additional firepower provided by FAST/Super Packs or Armored Packs, they are simply mounted upon standard variable fighters and 2) because these equipment packs can be mounted on almost any variant of the standard variable fighter (like the Super Packs can be mounted on a VF-1J or a VF-1S). There might be some exceptions (the VF-1D chest section might be problematic for mounting the GBP-1S Armor Pack), but for the most part the theory holds true. This remains the case even up to the Frontier era, where a Super Messiah can be a VF-25F or a VF-25G or a VF-25S. ANd the Armored Messiah can be a VF-25F or a VF-25S as well. The base unit is unchanged, all that changes is the additional equipment of the Super/Armor packs themselves.

[Galaxy_Stranger]

That's how I always took it, but then this book seemed to suggest they were new types. Weird.

[Mr March]

It's best to think of the Variable Fighter Master Files as valuable embellishment of the Macross franchise, but not a substitute for official trivia. The Master Files series are not part of the official continuity as stated by the written disclaimer in each book; "It is not official setting material and is written based on the book published in the Macross universe". So it's official Macross product, by not official continuity. So the books should be gently aligned into the Macross universe, but never accepted as fact over any official trivia.

Designating the FAST Pack/Super and Armored variable fighters as distinct variants of the VF-1 Valkyrie isn't necessarily wrong. There could be FAST Pack/Super and Armored variants, but not all FAST Pack/Super and Armored valkyries are variants. Remember, often times there's ways to incorporate the Master File trivia without dismissing it or contradicting the official continuity as some fans are want to do. All Macross products, even the ones that cause us frustration, can help elaborate on the fictional world of Macross with just a bit of imagination. That's why they were produced and sold in the first place. In some rare cases, trivia from these books actually makes it into the official continuity, like the SF-3A Lancer II trivia from the Sky Angels book now being part of the official Macross Chronicle trivia for that craft.

It always pays to give due consideration to all published Macross works.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Mr March

[Galaxy_Stranger]

Good points