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| Sylia's Hardsuit | Priss' Hardsuit |
| Nene's Hardsuit | Linna's Hardsuit |
The original hardsuit research was performed by Dr. Katsuhito Stingray, Sylia's father. He applied some of his mechatronics knowledge acquired from researching and developing Boomers to the field of powered armor suits, and Sylia later developed the hardsuits which the Knight Sabers wear. For information regarding powered armor or the motorslave mecha that the Knight Sabers use as well, please see the appropriate section on the technology page.
All the hardsuits have several systems and basic design features in common. The first is the ceramic and metal alloy exoskeletal armor. This armor serves to absorb and/or disperse the kinetic energy of projectiles, the momentum and energy of melee attacks and impacts, and the energy of lasers and particle weapons, and it is powerful enough that it's impervious to small arms fire. The armor itself is heat and pressure resistant, fully sealed against chemical and biological attack, and is also sealed against nuclear fallout. In order to make the hardsuit livable under such conditions, it must also have full lifesupport and be temperature controlled, plus have a battery pack or fuel cell capable of providing significant amouts of power for a long time. Hardsuits are currently battery powered, with up to 50 hours of continuous use. A second common feature of the hardsuits themselves is their strength amplification abilities. Each hardsuit is capable of amplifying the strength of the person within it by 9 to 10 times.
Other features include the Heads-Up Display (HUD) in the helmet, plus the addition of a solid, armored helmet visor which not only protects the face of the wearer but keeps her identity secret as well. Each hardsuit also has at least a set of jumpjets set into the back and hips for jumps and breaking falls. And each hardsuit also has at least one powered gauntlet which contains most of the integral weaponry. These gauntlets are quick-change mounted for emergency replacement should the need arise. And, arguably most important, the hardsuits are fusion resistant.
All of the hardsuits are similar in another respect as well: they all need to be optomized for a single, specific user. This means that a given hardsuit will be unusable by anyone else without a major refit. Thus each hardsuit is optomized for a given wearer's abilities as well as her limitations. The particulars of the various hardsuits that the Knight Sabers wear are given below.
In order to optomize a hardsuit, the wearer must go through a series of difficult tests wearing a "measuring suit," which the image of Linna shows This process is shown in the series in the Scoop Chase episode, where Sylia spends quite some time with the rest of the team testing them so that they will get the best performance out of their hardsuit. Operating a hardsuit is similar in that a special innerwear sensory suit must be worn in order to interface the body's motions with hardsuit correctly. The innerwear cannot be worn over and underwear because the clothing would interfere with the transmission/reception of biofeedback data.
In Bubblegum Crisis, all four characters go through at least two different hardsuit designs. The following sections cover the designs in detail.
Sylia's original hardsuit is the most technologically advanced of all the hardsuits, armored more than even Priss' hardsuit, and with flight wings and thrusters that make it capable of true flight, albiet for a very limited time. Each forearm is a powered gauntlet which mounts both a laser-edged sword for melee combat and a laser cannon. The laser cannon doubles as a knuckle bomber, an electromagnetic weapon that produces effects much like a shaped explosive charge. It is generally devastating when used on a Boomer, usually killing it instantly. The image to the left is Sylia's original hardsuit.
In many respects, Sylia's hardsuit is the most general of all the hardsuits - it's not the best at melee or ranged combat, but then again, neither is Sylia herself. But for Sylia, the hardsuit is perfect. After all, the first rule of combat is to kill the leader, and Sylia is the leader.
In 2033, Sylia redesigned and enhanced all the hardsuits. In the process, she improved the armor of her own hardsuit and re-engineered the laser swords. Instead of folding out like they did on the original hardsuit, the new swords slide forward out of a sheath in the gauntlet, above the wrist. This change enabled the swords to be double-edged and capable of handling more punishment - the weak point of the old swords was the folding pivit point, and the new swords don't have that weakness. Sylia also increased the output of the laser cannons for greater damage and improved the thrusters for faster and longer duration flight.
Priss' original hardsuit has been optomized for Priss' assault skills. After Sylia's hardsuit, Priss' is the most heavily armored, and it is the most heavily armed. Her hardsuit has only one powered gauntlet, but within it are a beam cannon and three railguns, each of which fires armor-peircing needles. In many cases, the railguns are what takes down Boomers unlucky enough to have run afoul of Priss. Priss' hardsuit mounts jumpjets, but they are not powerful enough for true flight.Priss' original hardsuit was severely damaged by the D.D. Battlemover in Moonlight Rambler. Sylia did some repairs but also immediately began a redesign of Priss' suit. The repaired original hardsuit was totally shredded by the HyperBoomers in Red Eye's, but the second, redesigned hardsuit made its appearance. This suit was augmented with a knuckle bomber built into the gauntlet, a more powerful beam cannon, and rocket motors on the ankles to radically enhance the damage Priss' kicks could do. The railguns in the gauntlet were reduced from three to two, but thier damage and armor-piercing ability was enchanced.
Priss' third hardsuit was a simple upgrade from her second. Sylia, when she redesigned all the other hardsuits in late 2033, added a rack of 3 S-mines, a knuckleguard, and leg bombers to further improve Priss' suit. The S-mines are shaped explosive charges capable of adhering to any surface and of totally destroying a Boomer in one explosion, and the leg bombers added to the power of Priss' rocket kicks by building what amount to a knuckle bomber into the feet and lower legs of the hardsuit.
The image show Priss' various hardsuits. Hardsuit #1 shows Priss's gauntlet with the beam cannon and the covered railgun ports between the fingers. Hardsuit #2 shows the changes to the legs, and the gauntlet shows the knuckle bomber and the new beam cannon, although they are hard to see unless you know exactly what you're looking for. Hardsuit #3 shows a better view of the gauntlet and beam cannon. The grey semi-circle at the bottom of the gauntlet is an S-mine, and the knuckleguard on the left hand is obvious.
Nene's suit, pictured at right, is the least heavily armed and armored, carrying only a laser in the powered gauntlet. However, Nene's skills in electronics and computers are enhanced through the inclusion of multi-purpose antennas with all the electronics necessary for jamming, anti-missile ECM, and radar with a 250km range. Add technology scanners capable of producing detailed schematics of any scanned device and a powerful computer for hacking and Nene becomes a mobile, armored hacker that can steal control of guided missiles from the launcher, break into a computer system with relative ease, and assist in the destruction of orbital laser sattelites from the ground, as in Red Eyes. Of course, all this requires a lot of power, so Nene's hardsuit also contains a powerful generator in addition to the batteries.
When Sylia redesigned the hardsuits, Nene's was given some upgrades as well, mostly regarding her electronics and signal warfare capabilities. The target analyzers, radar, and scanners were radically improved, and the jammers and ECM were enhanced as well. The suit was also given an advanced generator and cooling system to further enhance Nene's power while hacking and to also enhance her ability to screw with the enemy's communications. And with the new cooling system, Nene can operate the electronics suite longer without having it overheat, and keep mobile and out of harm's way herself. Nene's laser was not, however, upgraded.
One of the more interesting attributes of Nene's hardsuit is the laser's "scribble" feature. This essentially turns her laser cannon into a laser engraver, burning or cutting thin lines into concrete or steel. This allows the Knight Sabers to leave thier signature calling card, and in Tinsel City, Nene uses it to draw a stylized picture of herself sticking her tongue out at the surviellance sattelite tracking them. A bit silly and immature, perhaps, but so is attempting to track the Knight Sabers from orbit.
Linna's hardsuit was optomized for her amazing skill in close-quarters and melee combat. It is lightly armored, and the gauntlet contains only a knuckle bomber and a laser cannon. The hardsuit's main weapon is the monomolecular ribbons attached to the helmet. These ribbons operate much like a whip, snapped with a sudden movement of Linna's head, and they cut through just about everything. They would cut through the hardsuit too, if the cutting edges couldn't be rapidly "deactivated" by sliding the monomolecular filiment from the edge of the ribbon to the center, effectively dulling the ribbon.
Linna's hardsuit was redesigned along with all the others, but required little true redesign since most of its systems had performed extremely well. However, much of the suit's melee abilities were enhanced, since the need for heavy assault had been nearly totally taken by Priss. The ribbon cutters were made retractable into the helmet for ease of use, and the laser in the gauntlet was improved. In addition, Scoop Chase seems to show Linna cutting up a Boomer with a blade, but supposedly she doesn't have one built into her gauntlet. Just another minor oversight.
The image to the right is of Linna's original hardsuit.
All images © of Youmex / AIC and appear courtesy of AIC and AnimEigo.
Webpage © 1997 - 2000, Brian Angliss
Revised - September 21, 2000
