Mecha

Gunmen are the main type of mecha used in the anime series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. The name itself means "face/facade"(顔面 ガンメン Face Surface), and can be broken down into "gun" and "man" — unsurprisingly, the mecha themselves are centered around faces and as such are very varied with few in the series being the same model. Gunmen sport a variety of weaponry: primitive models only use large clubs or bare hands, while advanced ones use solid or beam weaponry. Gunmen are powered by their human pilots' Spiral Energy(fighting spirit), or by electricity when piloted by a Beastman.

The original purpose of the Gunmen was to battle the Anti-Spirals, the main antagonistic force of the series. Lordgenome developed them about 1,000 years before the events in the series on a very large scale, with enormous Gunmen(called Dai-Guns) like the Dai-Ganzan and Arc-Gurren being much more commonplace than the smaller models seen through most of the series. Gunmen were also designed for space combat, so no further modifications were necessary when Team Dai-Gurren was launched with their Gunmen into the Earth's satellite orbit to fight the Anti-Spirals.

After the events of the series, there are very few Gunman are left in existence aside from Gurren Lagann and the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren, with the large bulk of Earth's military being made up of Grapearls.

Team Dai-Gurren

 * Gurenn-Lagann


 * King Kittan


 * Dai-Gurren


 * Dayakkaiser

For Pilots of these Gunmen, See Minor Characters of Team Dai-Gurren

Ainzer

Ainzer (アインザー, Ainzā?) is the Gunman that Ailak pilots. During the first arc of the story, it served as a mobile rifle platform for Yoko in combat. It resembles a shark with two small legs. Like the other Team Dai-Gurren Gunmen, it was believed to be destroyed after Grapearls were adopted by the military but was later upgraded and reintroduced by Leite in the second part of the series.. The later-created Space Ainzer differs in appearance from its original in the form of an enormous rocket thruster attached to its rear end. This Gunman is destroyed by the Anti-Spirals, along with the pilot.

Kidd Knuckle

Kidd Knuckle (キッドナックル, Kiddo Nakkuru?) is the Gunman piloted by Team Dai-Gurren member Kidd. This Gunman resembles a monkey armed with a pair of guns. Like the other Team Dai-Gurren Gunmen, it was believed to be destroyed after Grapearls were adopted by the military but was later upgraded and reintroduced by Leite in the second part of the series. Similar to Space Ainzer, the Space Kidd Knuckle looks similar to its original model but has an additional set of enormous rocket thrusters on its back. The Anti-Spirals destroyed this Gunman, along with the pilot.

Twin Boukun

Twin Boukun (ツインボークン, Tsuin Bōkun?) is a Gunman jointly piloted by the twin brothers, Jogan and Barinbo. It resembles two faces, each with a fist coming out of its mouth and a leg coming out of its neck. This Gunman vastly differs from most others, as it apparently sports two cockpits, each with a full array of controls similar to that of a typical cockpit. Apparently, this means that each twin would only control half of the twin boukun, making it unpilotable by anyone else (as a strong understanding between the two pilots must exist for them to coherently use the gunman, much less to use it with skill). Like the other Team Dai-Gurren Gunmen, it was believed to be destroyed after Grapearls were adopted by the military but was later upgraded and reintroduced by Leite in the second part of the series. The design of the colossal Space Twin Boukun differs from the original in more ways than the other Space Gunmen, having its general design altered so that it has a small head on the center of its body while the two larger faces of the mech act as the shoulders. This is likely due to the original Twin Boukun requiring two pilots, while the larger Space Twin Boukun only needed one. It also has much more detailed armor, a drill and horns protruding of various places and is a good percentage larger than the rest of the Space Gunmen counterparts. In a last-ditch effort to save Gimmy and Darry, Jogan and Barinbo sacrificed themselves so that the twins may make it to the Super Galaxy Dai Gurren, whilst shielding them from enemy fire, which destroyed the Space Twin Boukun, and by extension the original Twin Boukun and the pilots. Unlike the other Gunman destroyed by the Anti-Spirals, which exploded with minimal damage, the Space Twin Boukun detonated in a massive fireball, engulfing dozens or hundreds of enemies.

Sozoshin

The Sozoshin is Zoushi's personal Gunman, which he pilots as part of the main group of Gunmen Team Dai-Gurren deploys. Unlike the other core Gunmen, it's design is peculiar and squarish, not resembling any sort of animal or other object. Believed to be destroyed after the adoption of the Grapearls by the human military, the Sozoshin, among other Gunmen from Team Dai-Gurren, were in fact retrieved and maintained by Makken and Leite, who also equipped them with Spiral Energy-based weaponry. In the final part of the series an Arc-Gurren sized version of this Gunmen named the Space Sozoshin is created by Leite. However, it is later destroyed by the Anti-Spirals, along with the Sozoshin and its pilot inside.

Moshogun

Moshogun (モーショーグン, Mōshōgun?), piloted by Makken, is part of Team Dai-Gurren's main Gunmen squad. One of its weapons is a large katana, and its physical appearance is that of an ancient Japanese samurai. Believed to be destroyed after the adoption of the Grapearls by the human military, the Moshogun, among other Gunmen from Team Dai-Gurren, were in fact retrieved and maintained by Makken and Leite, who also equipped them with Spiral Energy-based weaponry. Makken is the first to appear to face the Mugann threat in his newly rebuilt Gunman. The Space Moshogun sports more armor and two katana as opposed to one. It was destroyed when Makken took a suicide dive into an Anti-Spiral missile in an effort to protect the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren.

Yoko's Unnamed Gunmen

An Original gunmen appearing in the Movie, Guren-Hen. It is similar to the Dayakkaiser, except pink with Yoko's skull hair accessory painted on. Another difference of note is the barrel of the Gunmen's cannon, for it is much shorter than that of a Dayakkaiser type Gunmen. Yoko has done little with it as of yet, only using it to help in the destruction of the Doten Kaizan.

Dai-Gurren Army

During the battle of Teppelin, several other villages arrived, along with several battleship-class and personal-class gunman. Though none are named, they all bear homages to earlier gunman defeated by Team Gurren. They are all either salvaged from destroyed Gunman or stolen ones. However none of them are as heavily modified from their original stats, most are simply recolors of enemy mechs. However, the battleship class ones are notably different from both the Dai-Gurren and the standard Dai-Gunman class battleship gunmans, suggesting that they are all customized.

Grapearl
After the seven-year time skip, mass-produced mecha were developed through research of the Gurren Lagann. Considered to be more powerful than the Gunmen, the Grapearls have an arsenal consisting of automatic handguns and blades and were adopted as the new mecha of the human army. The only two named pilots of the Grapearls (although there are many) are Gimmy and  Darry, who each pilot a custom-model Grapearl to symbolize their status as commanding figures in the Grapearl squadron. Another grapearl pilot is a man by the name of Nakim, who was one of Yoko's students when he was younger. He is shown to be a grapearl pilot at the series epilogue. Though originally outmatched by the Anti-Spirals, two new weapons developed by Leeron's science team allowed the Grapearls to successfully deal with Mugann units without causing collateral damage.

The name Grapearl(グラパール) probably comes from the "Gurren-Lagann (Guren-Ragan)", in reference to the fact they were developed using research on the Gurren-Lagann, and pearl (written in Japanese as パール), in reference to the pearl-grey color of the standard Grapearls (though Gimmy's and Darry's Grapearls are custom models, colored in blue and pink, respectively). However, in the Japanese radio program Onsen Toppa Gurren Lagann, it's stated that the name comes from the phrase "Look at all the Gurren-Lagann!", said by a child at the end of the epilogue. Leite also gives Grapearl-type space Gunmen to Gimmy and Darry's platoon.

Spiral King and Beastmen Gunmen

 * Enki

Unnamed Bull Gunmen The first Gunmen Simon and Kamina encounter. It crashes into their village and attacks Kamina, after he antagonizes it. The mecha loses sight of Kamina, Simon and now Yoko Littner. Simon then pilots the Lagann against the Gunmen, ending in its destruction. This model is likely generic since other gunmen that appear like this one appear throughout the series.

Unnamed Sixteenfaced Gunmen Appearing in Episode 4, this Gunmen tried to defeat Team Gurren while Kamina was still trying to teach Simon to combine stylishly, refusing to do so unless he did it right. This is not one gunmen, but, instead, 16 Gunmen merged together to create one stronger one. A mixture of Kamina's refusals to combine and Team Gurren's hunger prolonged this battle, but the battle was ended quickly once Gurren-Lagann was on the scene with well fed pilots.

Mobile Fortress Dai-Guns

 * Dai-Gunzan


 * Dai-Gunkai


 * Dai-Gunten


 * Dai-Gundo


 * Dai-Gunzan Two(Movie Only)


 * Doten Kaizan (Movie Only)

Beast General Mechas

 * Byakou


 * Sayrune


 * Shuzack


 * Gember

Spiral King

 * Lazengann


 * Dekabutsu

Anti Spirals

 * Mugann


 * Grand Zamboa

Ashtanga

The Ashtanga Class (アシュタンガ級, Ashutanga Kyū?) are two dreadnaut ships which are encountered by Team Dai-Gurren in space, resembling large, rocky, roughly, spherical shape covered with multiple stone faces. They can form a powerful energy barrier that not even the Arc-Gurren Lagann could pierce with it's drill. The hands and arms surrounding the faces are not just a decoration, either. All can extend from the Ashtanga, and throw anything within reaching distance. Though there has yet to be any indication of their actual size, they are clearly shown to be many times larger than the planets around them, even throwing the planets as projectiles against the Super Galaxy Gurren-Lagann before it destroyed them both.

The Ashtangas' design were created by manga artist, Hirohiko Araki.

Mass-Produced Anti-Spiral Mecha

These space-faring machines that emerge from the Ashtanga come in three shapes: the foot-like Pada Class (パダ級, Pada Kyū?), the hand-shaped Hastagurai Class (ハスタグライ級, Hasutagurai Kyū?) and a rocket with a foresection that resembles a set of teeth. At first glance, they appear to be weaker than the Mugann, but were faking until their trap is about to spring, revealing to be much stronger than Team Dai-Gurren initially thought. After revealing their true power, they were able to destroy a number of Brigade Gunmen and their pilots, though the Space Twin Bokken's massive explosion managed to take out the bulk of the armada with the surviving Dai-Gunman destroying the rest when they attempted to force the Super-Galactic Dai-Gurren deeper into the Galactic Spiral Abyss. Several of these are seen fighting against the Lazengann in Parallel Works 8, with some models that resemble the angels from Neon Genesis Evangelion. As the Anti-Spirals having already sealed themselves on their world, it can be assumed that these are autonomous robots controlled by the Anti-Spiral avatar.

To note:

-All of the Anti-Spiral mecha outside of the Muganns and the Grand Zamboa produce a very unsettling moan, or disturbing laughter.

Trivia

 * Mechas in Gurren-Lagann are known as some of the weirdest looking mechas in the genre
 * All the Spiral Gunmen have faces on their chests, while the Anti-Spiral mechas either have no faces ( Mugann ) or have one in its palm or toes (Mass Produced Anti-Spiral Mechas). This excludes the Grand Zamboa.
 * Some mechas make reference to previous Gainax shows. Lazengann looks like Unit 01 from Evangelion when in silhouette, for example.
 * None of the mechas in this series appear in the alternate reality manga series, Gurren Gakuen Hen