T•RIDEN•T Land Cruiser

The T•RIDEN•T Land Cruisers are combat robots the JSSDF develops with a future conflict in mind, appearing in Neon Genesis Evangelion: Iron Maiden. Two machines exist, the Raiden and the Shinden. Keita Asari and Musashi Lee Strasberg pilot them, with Mana Kirishima attached as a spare pilot; all three begin training young so they can master the machines fully by around age twenty.

The game itself never speaks the class name aloud. It surfaces in the book Sore o Nasumono: Neon Genesis Evangelion Concept Design Works, where designer Ikuto Yamashita explains that he wanted a class designation folded into the name. The result is a layered Japanese pun: the second kanji of the mecha's working name Gamu can be read as hoko, meaning halberd, a three-pronged hoko is a trident, and the Japanese pronunciation of trident wraps the word Raiden between two to sounds.

Six thrusters on the back let the 3,000-ton machine glide over land, while a hydrojet handles surface skimming and underwater operation, and its tank capacity supports up to seven days of activity. The enormous legs fold away during gliding. Nothing is permanently armed; instead, optional weapons attach at various points, typically a cannon at the nose tip and a medium-range missile launcher on the shoulder pylons. A pair of arms extending from the base of the nose permits close combat, though their strength is modest.

A thermonuclear reactor provides power, with the turbojet engine generating 100,000 horsepower. Handling is another matter: the machine is difficult to steer and punishes the pilot's body, which motivated a plan to steal Evangelion data and improve the flight control system. The cockpit sits in the nose and includes a life-saving capsule for emergency escape.

Keita Asari and Musashi Lee Strasberg eventually break away from the JSSDF and haul both machines to the Hakone region, dragging NERV into the incident. The Raiden goes over the edge of a waterfall and is destroyed, leaving its pilot gravely hurt. The Shinden evades detection for a time by resting in Lake Ashinoko during daylight, but the pursuers draw it into the open by using Mana Kirishima as bait. A joint JSSDF and NERV operation brings it down with the Evangelions, and an N² bomb finishes it off.