Infinite Robot (Infinite Generation)

In the Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare universe, Infinite Robots are fighting machines created and deployed to safely explore Infinity Time and ward off the Gnomes. They form the basis for all gameplay in Plants vs. Zombies: Infinite Generation, having been subject to constant evolution in their technological capabilities.

By the time period Infinite Generation is set in, all Infinite Robot (IR) frames used for exploration and combat have shrunken down considerably (such that they are about as tall as the average plant or zombie) and become bipedal, adopting forms that resemble powered armor suits in the process.

Origins
All IR frames and most of their armor are based on designs from the Gundam franchise. Armor that does not fall into the above category is instead based off of suit designs from the Kamen Rider franchise.

Control
Through a mixture of Gnome tech and magic, all Infinite Robots are not "piloted" in the traditional sense. Instead, the user and their soul is digitized and absorbed by the unit's system, and placed into a containment field inside its chest; after this, the unit powers on and the user can control the Infinite Robot as if it were their own body. They will be able to see through the unit's optic sensors with enhanced clarity and a heads-up display, and will be able to feel touch through the body of the frame. By default, a user will also feel full pain with any damage the unit receives as a safety measure against reckless decisions.

Zombies require no training for use of an IR frame as they are already humanoid; plants, on the contrary, often need it due to differences in morphology.

In spite of its ghastly nature, the control system of an Infinite Robot is completely safe for most uses; if the unit is incapacitated or destroyed, the user can "eject" out of the system and recall to a specific point through portal tech, and Time Crystals can repair damage out of active combat to the point of even reviving non-functional units in concentrated amounts.

Weapons
On-suit weapons (i.e. not separate firearms) and mechanisms are telepathically manipulated using the mental processing faculties granted by an IR frame's systems. The more complicated the system, the more difficult it is to fully master its usage.

Overclocking
Most Infinite Robots have limiters placed on them to prevent malfunction while in operation. However, they can be disabled for various purposes, usually to maximize the damage caused by an all-out attack or to gain a speed boost; such measures are often taken by experienced pilots who have yet to properly upgrade their units. When a limiter is disabled, the optic sensors of an Infinite Robot glow red, shining brighter the more intensely overclocked the unit's systems are.

Destruction
However, pilots are not invincible within the Infinite Robots. Breaching the soul containment field in a unit's chest without a proper recall (often the case with sudden attacks or particularly dangerous missions) will cause it to "bleed" out the pilot's digitized state and power down; normally, this takes the form of a swirling mass of green (plant) or purple (zombie) energy around the collapsed unit, which can then be either properly recalled if initially possible (abandoning the unit and sending the pilot back to the defined point) or regenerated by themselves or another pilot through Time Crystals, returning the pilot to the unit in the process. In-game, the above mechanics form the basis of the respawn and revive system. Alternatively, a pilot can choose to exit their unit on the spot without being recalled in case of shutdown, though this is considered highly inadvisable.

In extreme cases, total annihilation or continued assault of the soul containment field will erase the pilot, effectively rendering them permanently dead with no corpse. When a player or team wipes in a zone with restricted respawning, this is essentially what is happening to them if it is not explicitly stated that a tactical retreat is planned in case of defeat.

Rider System
Main article: Rider System

Some pilots have customized their Infinite Robots to the point of having to manage ancillary equipment for the unit's operation and versatility that is initially separate from the unit itself when in storage; often, the quantity or size of such equipment is too unwieldy to manually switch between on the field, which can prove problematic in the ever-changing battlefield. To this end, some methods of expediting the process of donning extra armor and weapons have been created to maximize combat efficiency.