Real Robot is a term first seen in the Super Robot Wars series of video games, to describe robots or mecha that are treated as realistic tools rather than as heroic semi-characters, or super robots.

It can also refer to a genre of Japanese animation. Tomino Yoshiyuki's Mobile Suit Gundam series is the arch-example of the real robot genre. It established the concepts behind "real robots" that set it apart from previous robot anime, such as:

• The robot is used as an industrial machine including arms and is manufactured by nations and commercial enterprises.
• The concept of industrial production and commercial manufacturing processes appeared for the first time in the history of robot shows, introducing manufacturing language like "Mass production unit", and "Prototype".

Other series such as Patlabor explore non-military uses for real robots, like law enforcement and construction.

Some examples include Macross, Armored Trooper VOTOMS , Nadesico and the Patlabor movies.

What Japanese speakers refer to as real robots are popularly referred to by English-speaking fans as mecha, a re-borrowing of a Japanese abbreviation for the English term "mechanical." In Japanese, "mecha" refers to all robotic and non-robotic mechanical objects, including real robots, super robots, and everyday objects such as cars and toasters.