Zoids Index

RZ-053 König Wolf Technical Data ケーニッヒウルフ

	Name Note:	König: King (German)
	Alignment:	Helic Republic
	Rollout:	ZAC 2101
	Type:	Wolf
	Length:	21.24 m
	Height:	8.64 m
	Weight:	90.5 t
	Max Speed:	290 km/h

Equipment Information
Weapons:	Equipment:
Electron Bite Fangs (Head) Electron Strike Claws x4 (Paws)	2-barreled Multi-discharger x2 (Lower back) Cooling Fan (Back) Headgear x1 (Head) Night Vision Camera Dual Scope for precision fire

Story Information
Pilots:	Introduction:
Amy (MK-II) Bucks Thrust Danbul Rob Hermann Signer F Steve Bone	The König Wolf is a wolf-type Zoid with power and mobility equal to that of the Liger Zero. Its original development was hurried in order to defend the Republic's Mad Thunder from a raid of Liger Zero X units. That made it very important that the Zoid perform well, but overheating has been known to be an issue. ^[1]

- Details of Design

- Wild Zoid Base

The König Wolf is one of several Zoids designed with the idea of emphasizing the instincts and agility of its base wild Zoid, using wild forms from the Western Continent. This grants the wolf power and mobility comparable to the Liger Zero.

- Overheating Issues

Original development of the König Wolf was rushed to put it on the battle field. The Republican Army decided to borrow structural aspects of the Command Wolf while also recycling its combat data for the König Wolf. Unfortunately this conflicted with the Zoid Core that they used from the Western Continental giant wolf species. The body was too small and the core generated an excess of energy. When the combat system couldn't find ways to use this energy it resulted in overheating within the wolf's body and could cause it to roll into a system freeze. A cooling fan was installed to fight these effects but was unable to eliminate them completely.

- Dual Sniper Rifle

The König Wolf is sometimes depicted with the DSR equipped, but without any missiles. This variant hasn't been given an official name, but appeared in both The Iron Bible and on a promotional art board from CoroCoro. The closest named variant is the Rapidly Wolf from DHM's Smack Zoids B-Part series, but in this case it was still a prototype design with unfinalized features. It does, however, appear listed as just König Wolf on the art board, with stats. (Depth: 21.24 m / Height: 8.64 m / Weight: 125.0 t / Speed: 290 km/h)

- Concept Art

One of the earliest designs for a successor to the Command Wolf, featured in Dengenki Hobby Magazine, January 2002 issue. The first design aesthetics of the König Wolf are taking form in this version, dubbed the Proto Wolf.

This design featured in DHM, dubbed the Silver Fang, is said to have been a mysterious Zoid in the König Wolf's development history that utilized technology rumored to be from the Eastern Continent. You can read more about it here.

This is an early development sketch of the König Wolf, from back when it was still being developed under the title of Command Wolf MK-II (ver. 3). It was featured in the 40th Anniversarty Encyclopedia. It shows off a noticeably different head, rifle, and tail design, as well as a new style of cap that would persist all the way to the Rapidly Wolf / Proto König Wolf stage.

Concepts featured in the Zoids Graphics pamphlet showed off some designs of the wolf before it was finalized. In this version, when the scope activated the cheek armor would slide over the eyes.

When this design sketch showed up in the same issue of DHM, labeled as the Rapidly Wolf, it showed off another shot of the rifle not seen in the Zoids Graphics issue. It's said that the König Wolf was designed by adapting the data from Silver Fang. The image featured left was dubbed at the time as the Proto König Wolf.

- Military History

Early Development, Successor of the Command Wolf

The König Wolf's history started as a concept for advancing the development of the Command Wolf. The Lightning Saix had been a huge problem for the Republic. While it hadn't yet reached a state of mass production, it was as strong as traditional ligers and faster than the Command Wolf. So many designs went into the process of finding a new high-speed combat Zoid, including the Command Wolf MK-II, Atrocious Wolf, and more. They largely suffered the same problem. The wild wolves of the Central Continent just couldn't handle taking the Command Wolf platform much further than they already had. If they continued to push the limits of the Zoid Core, the Zoid's lifespans would become so short that they were no longer fit for practical use. The earliest designs that echoed design aspects of the later König Wolf were still known as part of the "Command Wolf MK-II's" development.

Around this time, a Western Continent ruins investigation team happened to capture a massive wolf-type Zoid that would revolutionize their development project. The larger wolves of the Western Continent solved the capacity problem, and development of the König Wolf was able to begin for real. The Zoid started being developed as another platform for the Changing Armor System, intended to take up the adaptive nature seen in the Liger Zero. A unit was even completed under this basis, but as the design moved towards the Rapidly Wolf, a Zoid that closely resembled the König Wolf MK-II, it still struggled with limitations from the Command Wolf's development.

That is, until the design was taken over by Dr. Baba, who redesigned it into the first König Wolf (later dubbed Proto König Wolf), developing it from the original Proto Wolf. Effectively, taking it back to its first successful roots. Modern König Wolves deployed in combat were continuations of the Rapidly Wolf design, leading to potential issues later. Thus the version created by Dr. Baba became known as the early or ancient type. He would continue his development, further evolving the König Wolf into the Silver Fang, a version specializing in melee combat. It was rumored to incorporate mysterious technology, including Magnezers, potentially from the Eastern Continent. The original test machine went missing along with its creator while on said continent, and to this day, 40% of the research data he left behind remains unanalyzed because of the mysterious language it was written in. It was believed that the final wolves deployed by the Republican Army were de-tuned versions of the Silver Fang design. ^[2]

Later Development, Pre-Rollout

After an extensive development period the Shadow Fox became the honorary successor of the Command Wolf, even if it lacked the mass production numbers in the wild, while the König Wolf had been developed with the intention of playing a similar role to Liger Zero. After all, capturing wild lions was difficult, and wolves could help fill in those gaps. However, by this point, the CAS concept had been put to use in real time combat and it had become clear that the platform wasn't as effective as initially thought. It was a powerful adaptive system, for sure, but it was also extremely cost prohibitive. Developing a single Liger Zero with a suit of CAS units cost more than three times the cost of developing a single Blade Liger. Augmenting this problem wasn't in the Republic's best interests, so modifications were made to the frame to bring out the natural power and mobility of the wild form, highlighting the other benefit of Zoids like Liger Zero: Just how swift and naturally strong they were. The CAS system was effectively removed from the König Wolf's design, and it instead became a high-speed combat Zoid.

At this time the Empire was moving faster than the Republic cared for. The Wolf was rolled out in a state that was still unstable. Still with sufficient combat power, but it was believed that if the wolf could be completely redesigned in a way that accounted for its massive size compared to the Command Wolf, it would perform even better than it did.

ZAC 2101, September, Rob Hermann's König Wolf DSR

In ZAC 2101, Karl Lichten Schwarz, a man of immeasurable influence in the Empire met with Rob Hermann. They were to discuss Prozen's conspiracy and the needless prolonging of the war. Karl's sway was an annoyance to Prozen, and he took this opportunity to send an assassin after Schwarz while he was with his presumed enemies. The assassin, Johann H. Staufin destroyed most of the base's defense units with his Liger Zero X. Though Hermann tried to help Schwarz, Schwarz's Saber Tiger SS was killed by the X, which was too fast for Hermann's wolf to keep it in the sights of its sniper scope. It was only by sheer luck that Johann noticed the Mad Thunder being developed in a nearby hangar. When he tried to destroy it, he recklessly placed himself in a narrow corridor, where his X fell victim to the Wolf's Dual Sniper Rifle. Schwarz survived, though he was badly injured.

ZAC 2101, October, Battle of Sessrumnir, König Wolf, König Wolf DSR

In the Battle of Sessrumnir the Guylos Empire and Helic Republic clashed in one of the most devastating battles of the Dark Continent War. 30 Death Saurers and 20 Mad Thunders had been deployed to the battlefield. In one of these battles, a Mad Thunder would've been destroyed had a König Wolf DSR not jumped between them, dazing the Death Saurer with chaff and smoke long enough for the Mad Thunder to drive its one remaining Magnezer horn through the Death Saurer's throat. Rob Hermann and Karl Schwarz's arrival following the X assassination attempt also brought with them vital information that prevented the two armies from destroying each other.

ZAC 2101, November, Battle of Valhalla

Now aware of Prozen's conspiracy, Helic and Guylos joined forces to march on Valhalla, which had been taken over by the former imperial Regent. They clashed with the PK Division, unaware of the fact that Valhalla was rigged with explosives. Both Heavy Arms and König Wolf DSRs were depicted in this battle, and presumeably disappeared with the rest of the forces when the city detonated.

ZAC 2101, December, Invasion of the Central Continent

When the Eisen Dragoon received word of the flashes in Valhalla, it was their signal to invade the Central Continent. The Republic was ill-equipped to handle the new Empire's advanced technology, and one of their worst obstacles was the Dark Spiner's jamming waves. This new Zoid could take control of Republican units and turn them against their allies, allowing the Republic to do part of the fighting for them.

ZAC 2102, Steve Bone's König Wolf

An effort was made by the Republic to recapture Helic City after it fell into the hands of the Neo Zenebas Empire. However, they still had no answer to the Jamming Waves of the Dark Spiner. Steve Bone was piloting his wolf as part of the High-Speed Force, but when the Jamming Waves immobilized his unit, it was attacked by Diloforce and Demantis. He was forced to abandon his Zoid and live to fight another day.

ZAC 2105, Autumn, Steve Bone's König Wolf

Five years later, Steve was doing patrols near one of the Republic's last strongholds. The Empire had mopped up almost all other Republican bases. When he witnessed an enemy force consisting of Dark Spiners moving towards the base, he shut down his Zoid and fled on foot, hoping to give them warning without his Zoid's signature betraying his presence. Though his wolf played no further part, he arrived at the base and used the Gojulas Giga, the Republic's new countermeasure to defeat the Black Dragoon, a terrifying Imperial force.

- Equipment Information

- Electron Bite Fangs

Electron Bite Fangs: エレクトロンバイトファング

The Wolf's special move, also known as the Electric Fanger. This attack draws all electromagnetic energy from the fuselage and focuses it into the teeth. The destructive burst of power can shut down or even destroy the enemy Zoid. Because of the amount of power and electrical energy moving through the fangs it must be used sparingly, or it could cause the wolf to stop functioning.

- Electron Strike Claw

Electron Strike Claw: エレクトロンストライククロー×4

Unlike the fangs this attack seems to be treated like the Strike Laser Claw, in that the energy coating it dramatically improves the cutting power of the claws. There's no notable surge of electrical energy like there is with the fangs but the technique still remains powerful.

- Headgear

Headgear: ヘッドギア

A large helmet that provides night vision cameras and a dual precision scope for more accurate firing. Aside from that the large piece of metal fitted over the head dramatically increases the integrity of the cockpit, providing a much stronger defense against cockpit shots. The design originally called for the face armor to slide forward at the same time as use. This feature was cut in the final version of the Zoid.

2-Barreled Multi Discharger

2-Barreled Multi Discharger: 2連装マルチディスチャージャー×2

These barrels on the Zoid's back are often mistaken for weapons. They emit smoke from the top barrel (the Smoke Chargers) and chaff (a countermeasure of a flakey material used to confuse enemy radar and tracking) from the bottom barrel. In the VS games they could also be converted to boosters.

Cooling Fan

Cooling Fan:

Not listed in the stats list, but frequently mentioned, this tool was used to help counteract the König Wolf's overheating problem. A problem that came from adapting the Command Wolf's combat system, which didn't use the excessive amount of power generated by the core, leading to overheating. In multiple medias the cooling fan also acts to provide additional power, which often translates to greater speed. It's also used in combination with the Electron Bite Fangs.

- Merchandise

Model Kits

RZ-053 Konig Wolf

Zoids Core: König Wolf HA

FZ-002 König Wolf MK-II

Figures

Cards

Assorted Merchandise

- Featured In Media

Zoids Fuzors

The König Wolf's first anime appearance was the König Wolf MK-II in Zoids Fuzors, where it was piloted by Amy. It was originally piloted by Kidd, with the two of them being their own team, but when he failed to defeat the reigning Zi-Fighter, he gave up on the König Wolf and left. Unfortunately, throughout the series the Zoid never gets much positive action, easily being defeated by almost everything it encounters.

Zoids Planet Zi: Galaxy Quest

König Wolf was featured in Zoids: Galaxy Quest Planet Zi! He was piloted by the main character 'Kugo' who refers to him only as König. This Zoid was particularly wild, believed to have run away from humans and later gone insane after the power built up from his core became too much to handle. In spite of its insanity König was believed to be the strongest Zoid in the territory at the time of its capture.

Zoids Web Comics

In the original Zoids Web Comics the König Wolf is piloted by a kid named Bucks. It is once again featured as a primary character and fights against Maya and the Liger Zero X. In this series the Zoid is later upgraded into the Assault Wolf variation, which features both the CP-22 Dual Sniper Rifle and the CP-23 5-Shot Missile Box.

Zoids Saga

König Wolf appears in all of the Zoids Saga games and in the end become relevant characters to the story line, being piloted by Prince Athle's 3 guards. The Zoids themselves are not distinguished much as characters.

Secondary Media Features

Magazine Media: Zoids Graphics

Game Media: Zoids Bonds of Steel
Game Media: Zoids Field of Rebellion
Game Media: Zoids Infinity
Game Media: Zoids VS. I
Game Media: Zoids VS. II (Zoids Battle Legends)
Game Media: Zoids Vs. III