This page refers in general to police labors. For other uses, see Patlabor (Disambiguation)
Patlabor is the portmanteau of the words "patrol" and "labor", and is a general term for any police or law enforcement labor. With the advent of the labor as commercially available heavy machinery, the need for an effective countermeasure against their misuse became immediately apparent. Thus, police departments across the world adopted "patrol labors", or "patlabors"; labors specifically designed to fight labor crime.
History[]
First-Generation Patlabors[]
In the mid-1990s, heavy machinery companies across the world began producing labors. When used as intended, labors became invaluable tools on the construction site, but they became powerful destructive devices when they fell into the wrong hands. Almost as soon as the first production labor hit the market, ill-equipped police departments demanded units to combat labor crimes.
First-generation patlabors were, for the most part, merely repainted commercial labors. The quintessential first-generation patlabor, the ASUKA-MPL-96, was only effective in the hands of a highly skilled and competent pilot, and couldn't compensate for a less capable operator, as demonstrated by Isao Ohta's botched apprehension of an HL-97 "Bulldog" in episode one of the Mobile Police Patlabor Anime.
Second-Generation Patlabors[]
It quickly became apparent that the patlabors available were not up to the task of effectively countering labor crime, leading to the development of labors specifically designed for police use. Second-generation patlabors were defined by a more humanoid design than traditional construction labors, making them more mobile and effective in hand-to-hand combat. Second-generation patlabors would come to make up the majority of patlabors used by police departments around the world.
The first documented second-generation patlabor was the MPL-97S Python, the mainstay unit of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Special Vehicles Section 2, Division 1 up until 1999. It was highly capable against construction labors of its time, but the rapid advancement of labor technology led the Python to quickly become obsolete.
The pinnacle of second-generation patlabors was the iconic AV-98 Ingram. At the time, it was the most advanced patlabor ever built, and was even powerful enough to hold its own against military labors. However, most patlabors of this generation paled in comparison to the Ingram.
Third-Generation Patlabors[]
As labor technology continued to advance, it became clear that second-generation patlabors would become obsolete in the near future. Near the turn of the 21st century, the first third-generation patlabors hit the market. In the Mobile Police Patlabor anime, the only known third-generation patlabor is the AV-0 Peacemaker, but in the original animated timeline, there exist two known third-generation patlabors: the AV-X0 Prototype and the AV-02 Valiant. The third generation wasn't defined by any particular shift in patlabor design philosophy, but rather by a general improvement in patlabor technology.