A term from the MACROSS science fiction anime franchise.
It was introduced in the first series Choujikuu Yousai Macross from 1982.
A Variable Fighter is a fighter jet or a starfighter that can transform into a manned robot or mecha.
Most of them have three modes of transformation: giant robot (battroid), fighter and an in-between mode called gerwalk.
In real life most of the variable fighters of the franchise (except those from Macross 2) were created by mecha designer and anime creator Kawamori Shouji.
Variable fighters were renamed Varitechs in the ROBOTECH American adaptation of Macross.
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