< Mobile Suit Gundam

Mobile Suit Gundam/Characters


The Character Sheet for the Gundam series that started in all: Mobile Suit Gundam.

Earth Federation

Amuro Ray

"I can pilot the Gundam better than anyone!"

The son of the Gundam's designer Tem Ray, Amuro is an alienated, antisocial young man who identifies better with machines than he does with people. Climbing into the Gundam's cockpit to save it from being stolen or destroyed, he finds himself serving as the White Base's main line of defence, against his own will. Initially caring only about his own survival, Amuro eventually comes to realise that other people matter too.

  • Ace Pilot: The first Gundam protagonist to reach ace status in the titular machine, and the prototype for all those that follow. By the end of the war, he's as feared in Zeon as Char is in the Federation military.
  • Ambiguous Disorder: There is something off about Amuro's social skills from the start of the show, and they have nothing to do with his later bout of PTSD.
  • Battle Couple: With Sayla, though it never goes beyond Ship Tease.
  • Blue Oni Red Oni: Char and him.
  • Brad Swaile: English VA in the series.
  • Broken Bird: A male example, considering what he witnesses in this series and how these things keep affecting him during the rest of his life.
  • Brown Eyes
  • But Not Too Foreign: Half Japanese, half either Mexican or Canadian depending on continuity and born in Prince Rupert, BC. Canada. In the novels, it's also implied that he may not have any Japanese ancestry at all, since one of the psychic visions he receives as his powers begin to awaken shows his mother cheating on his dad.
  • Combat Pragmatist: He has no qualms shooting distracted opponents, sacrificing various armaments, and ambushing opponents. He even takes this to the logical conclusion, using the Gundam as a decoy in order to rush to the enemy cockpit and take out Char.
  • Combining Mecha/Mecha Expansion Pack/Transforming Mecha: His Gundam has numerous forms that it can create by combining with the G-Fighter and other armours.
  • Cool Plane: The G-Armour.
  • Curtains Match the Window
  • The Dreaded: Once he becomes good at piloting. He's called White Devil for a reason...
  • Duel to the Death: Once with M'Quve and once with Char.
  • Epic Flail: The Gundam Hammer is a rocket propelled flail intended for use against heavily armoured targets.
  • Falling Into the Cockpit: The original Gundam example.
  • Forgets to Eat: Tends to get a bit too wrapped up in his job for his own well-being, thanks to the pressure placed upon him by his vital importance to the war effort and the White Base's survival.
  • Heroes Want Redheads: Specifically, Matilda.
  • Hurting Hero: He may be a massive badass, but his mind and emotions are initially shattered.
  • I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Mathilda and Lalah. He eventually gets over the former; he never recovers from the latter.
  • The Insomniac: For much the same reason as the Forgets to Eat entry above.
  • Instant Expert: Justified by the Gundam's tactical computer, which learns alongside him as he fights, and by his awakening as a Newtype.
  • It's Personal: With Char.
  • Jack of All Stats: The Gundam itself. Some Zeon suits are faster. Some are stronger, or more heavily armoured, or better armed. None are as suited for all around combat.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Amuro is, in no particular order, paranoid, antisocial, blunt and prone to angsting about how hard his life is. He's also an unfailingly loyal friend to anybody who manages to get through that facade, and puts his life on the line again and again in order to take down Zeon and its successors.
  • Likes Older Women: His crush on Lieutenant Matilda. And his crush on Hamon Crowley.
  • Love At First Sight: With Lalah.
  • Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Amuro's shield is destroyed numerous times over, usually saving his life in the process.
  • Michael Lindsay: English VA in the movies.
  • Mindlink Mates: With Lalah.
  • No Social Skills/Not Good with People: His Establishing Character Moment was when Frau finds him in his room fiddling with a computer in his home electronics lab... only in his underwear, not having eaten for days, and not realizing that the sirens he'd been hearing were evacuation alerts. And Frau still has to nag him out of his room! Amuro having to learn how to deal with others is a major theme in the series.
  • One-Man Army: By the end of the series, he's pretty much a match for a small enemy fleet on his own. And he's rarely on his own.
  • Phrase Catcher: "You should get some rest, Amuro."
  • Properly Paranoid: He's always fearing something will happen to his colony. Of course, it does.
    • He's also right about The Federation using the White Base and the Gundam as a decoy to lure Zeon's attention away.
  • Psychic Powers: One of the first and strongest Newtypes, rivalled only by the likes of Kamille Biden, Paptimus Scirocco and Lalah Sune.
  • Red Baron: Not as famous as Char, but people also know him as White Shooting Star. His RX-78 Gundam is nicknamed, both within the series as the "White Devil", a title that is sometimes slapped on Amuro as well.
  • The Rival: To Char.
  • Satan: His title is "The White Devil".
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: More so with every episode. He doesn't even begin to recover until the sequel.
  • Ship Tease: With Sayla.
  • Sword Fight: With Char in the finale.
  • Tank Goodness: The G-Bull.
  • Teen Genius/Gadgeteer Genius: Was depicted as one of these as a civilian, having a knack for electronics and being able to build small robots... like Haro Haro!
  • Tohru Furuya: The role that made him famous.
  • Warrior Therapist: Starts evolving into one here.
  • What Beautiful Eyes!: Lalah seems to think so.


Sayla Mass/Artesia Som Deikun

"Big brother? Casval?"

A medical student from Side 7, Sayla becomes one of the White Base's Bridge Bunnies, before graduating to pilot status. She is frequently partnered with Amuro during the latter stages of the war, and the two of them share a good working relationship. She also has some sort of connection to Zeon ace Char Aznable, which is explored over the course of the show. Cool, controlled and nearly unflappable, Sayla frequently acts as the voice of reason among the ship's crew.

  • Ace Pilot: By the end of the series, she's an ace several times over, downing numerous mobile suits, battleships and mobile armours in what's essentially a fighter plane.
  • Action Girl: The original in the series. Whether it's pulling a gun on Char or shooting down dozens of mobile suits and a battleship with the G-Fighter, Sayla always comes through.
  • Badass Princess
  • Battle Couple: It may not go much further than Ship Tease, but she and Amuro are so very much this. She's his copilot and back-up starting from the moment they introduce the G-Fighter.
  • Blue Eyes
  • Bridge Bunnies: Started as one, before hopping into the Gundam and later a Core Fighter.
  • Broken Bird: Almost all of the girls in this series have shades of this, and she's no exception.
  • Commander Contrarian: To Mirai during the former's brief tenure as acting captain. Unusually for this trope, she's more or less portrayed as being in the right.
  • Cool Plane: The G-Fighter, which can combine with Amuro's Gundam to form the G-Armour (another cool plane) and the G-Bull (a cool tank).
  • Demoted to Extra: Despite being one of the main heroes of Mobile Suit Gundam, she more or less disappears for most of the subsequent series. And for worse, her voice actress later died.
  • Epic Fail: Her first outing in the Gundam, in which she accomplishes nothing but getting its foot sliced off. She improves. Dramatically.
  • The Medic: Was this more than once, since she was a medical student at Side 7.
  • Mission Control: Her role when she was still confined to the bridge.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Courtesy of Amuro and Char.
  • The Quiet One: Sayla more or less keeps to herself unless she has something important to talk about.
  • Plucky Girl: Sayla may be quiet and reserved, but she doesn't let things get to her for too long.
  • Psychic Powers: Has some limited Newtype abilities.
  • Rebellious Princess: Her real name is Artesia Som Deikun, daughter of the legendary Zeon Zum Deikun. However, she only wants to have a normal life and rejects her heritage as well as her older brother Casval (aka Char)'s grudge against the Zabis.
  • Ship Tease: With Amuro and Kai.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: With her brother Char. They don't hate each other enough to be Cain and Abel, but jeez, have they developed different life philosophies.
  • Space Fighter: The G-Fighter and G-Armour can operate in both the atmosphere and outer space.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Fromr Bridge Bunny to Ace Pilot. You Go, Girl!
  • You Inoue: Sayla's original voice actress. She has yet to be replaced.

Bright Noa

"You can't be a real man without taking a few lumps!"

A 19-year old petty officer, Bright is forced to take command of the White Base when all his fellow officers end up dead. The strain of doing so, coupled with his naturally aloof personality, leaves Bright in a state of constant stress and irritation, even as he slowly matures into a fine commanding officer. He has a very rocky relationship with Amuro and the rest of the White Base's pilots.

Frau Bow

"Amuro! You forgot to eat breakfast again..."

One of Amuro's friends from Side 7, Frau Bow does her best to keep him grounded in reality. Having come aboard the White Base, she takes Sayla's place among the Bridge Bunnies. She has a fairly significant crush on Amuro, who simply takes her friendship for granted.

  • Bridge Bunnies: Gets Sayla's position after the former upgrades to fighter pilot.
  • Broken Bird: Somewhat less than Sayla.
  • Childhood Friend Romance: A complicated mess. Hayato's crushing on her while she crushes on Amuro who honestly couldn't be less interested. See below for how it works out.
  • Cool Big Sis/Parental Substitute: To the orphans. She and Hayato eventually adopt them.
  • Fiery Redhead: Her hair is a subdued auburn, and she's usually good-natured and well-behaved, but she does have bursts of temper. Downplayed.
  • Full-Name Basis: And given how goofy her name is, it doesn't help.
  • Literally Loving Thy Neighbor: She's in love with Amuro. He doesn't reciprocate.
  • Magic Skirt: And how.
  • Mission Control: To Amuro, Sayla, Kai and the rest of the pilots.
  • No Sympathy: She really goes back and forth on this one. Early on, she's rather prone to giving Amuro's lectures on how he needs to do more, when she herself is doing very little. She gets better about this as the show progresses.
  • Plucky Girl: Very few things keep this girl down.
  • Tsundere: A mild Type B.
  • Unlucky Childhood Friend: To Amuro, who more or less takes her for granted.
  • Victorious Childhood Friend: To Hayato, after realising that the two of them have far more in common than she and Amuro do.


Kai Shiden

"Dead people don't get pensions."

A civillian from Side 7, Kai is an abrasive young man with a mean streak, and little respect for authority. Recruited into serving as the pilot of the Guncannon mobile suit, Kai constantly gripes and complains about the increasingly dangerous situations that the White Base is thrust into. Despite this, he proves himself to be a capable soldier, and eventually (after a rocky start) becomes good friends with Amuro.

  • Ace Pilot: Reaches this status fairly early on, though you'd never know it from his attitude.
  • Badass Normal: Despite a complete lack of Newtype powers (beyond the baseline sensitivity that the whole crew develops by A Baoa Qu), he's arguably the most reliable pilot on the White Base's roster.
  • Broken Bird: Another male example, and specially after Miharu's death.
  • Cowardly Lion: Emphasis on the 'lion' bit. His cowardice mostly consists of incessant grumbling and a Ten-Minute Retirement whilst the White Base was safely docked in port... otherwise, he's typically amongst the first into the fray, and serves as a very reliable (if abrasive) soldier throughout the One Year War.
  • The Cynic: About twelve layers deep, over a slightly more fragile and nicer core. But mostly this.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Constantly, much to his crewmates' annoyance.
  • The Eeyore: Apparently incapable of looking on the bright side about anything.
  • Face of a Thug: Kai is not an attractive young man. Luckily for him, he has other talents.
  • Heroes Want Redheads: Miharu, for a start, and he also has a bit of a crush on Matilda (along with the rest of the crew).
  • Jerkass --> Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He begins as a cowardly, snarky jerk and kinda The Friend Nobody Likes. Later, he's still a snarky jerk, but his heart of gold shines through.
  • The Lancer: To Amuro, with his cynicism nicely complementing the former's idealism.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Being on a team with Amuro will do that to you.
  • Phrase Catcher: "Kai, enough."
  • The Resenter: Like Hayato, he's this to Amuro. He gets over it a lot faster.
  • Richard Ian Cox: English VA in the series.
  • Ship Tease: Even though he and Sayla bicker a lot, he's flirted with her a few times.
  • Shoulder Cannon: The Guncannon mounts two of them.
  • Sour Supporter: For a guy as cranky and pessimistic as he is, he's a remarkably helpful member of the crew.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: With Miharu. Snifffff....)
  • Took a Level in Badass: Becomes a notably better pilot after Miharu's death, even downing a fair few enemy suits of his own.
  • Toshio Furukawa


Hayato Kobayashi

"It's just like my judo sensei taught me..."

One of Amuro and Frau Bow's neighbours from Side 7, Hayato serves in a number of positions on the White Base acting as the pilot of the Guntank, and as a spare gunner when the situation demands. Possessing an unfortunate tendency towards insecurity, he deeply resents Amuro for doing things better than him.


Mirai Yashima

"Maybe you should go a little easier on him, Bright."

Another civillian, Mirai is the daughter of a powerful Federation politician. Quiet and understanding, she serves as the White Base's pilot, and as Bright Noa's unofficial second-in-command.

  • Arranged Marriage: With Cameron Bloom. She's less than interested.
  • Bridge Bunnies: Technically, as she's the one who handles the helm of the White Base.
  • Broken Bird: She cracks specially badly when Ryu dies, and Bright suffers an Heroic BSOD, and the whole deal with Cameron isn't kind on her either.
  • Cathy Weseluck: English VA in the series.
  • Heroic BSOD: Suffers a brief but ugly one when she has to take over the White Base while Bright is otherwise incapacitated.
  • Improbable Piloting Skills: She's the first of Gundam's many assault carrier pilots, and as such, is the first to demonstrate these, perfectly flying a brand new military vessel despite her very limited pre-war flight time. And that's not taking into account some of the crazy manouveres she pulls of with it.
  • Military Brat: As said below, she is the daughter of a very high-ranked Federation officer who died months before the series took place.
  • Mukokuseki: Mirai is fully Japanese and has quite Asian looks, especially when compared to Hayato and the half-Japanese Amuro.
  • Number Two: Is unofficially this to Bright, due in part to her age, and in part to the fact that she's the pilot of the damn ship.
  • The Ojou: Her Disappeared Dad is a recently deceased high-ranked Federation officer, and her family had many connections within the colonies. She doesn't like it when people bring it up though, and personality-wise, she's more of a Yamato Nadeshiko.
  • Only Sane Man: Often plays this role, mediating between hotshot pilots like Amuro and Control Freak Bright.
  • Psychic Powers: A fairly weak Newtype.
  • Team Mom: Is nicknamed "the mother of the White Base".
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: Especially in Zeta Gundam and Chars Counterattack.


Ryu Jose

"Die, you Zeon scum!"

  • Ambiguously Brown: With Ryu's name, it's hard to tell where he's supposed to be from or what ethnicity he might be. His looks though would seem to mark him as black or Latino. All There in the Manual says he's ethnically descended from Black Argentinos.
  • Big Brother Mentor: To Amuro, Bright and Hayato.
  • Big Fun: Cheerful, easy-going, and noticably portly.
  • The Big Guy: The largest member of the crew.
  • Big Guy Fatality Syndrome: He's both the biggest member of the crew and the one keeping them emotionally stable. He had to go, sadly.
  • Expy: Of Getter Robo's Musashi Tomoe. The Guntank's design was even inspired by Getter-3.
  • The Heart: Very much so, since he's more mentally/emotionally grounded than the others (Bright included) and so he does his best to help them.
  • Killed Off for Real
  • Sacrificial Lion: He went out in a Heroic Sacrifice just under halfway through the series. His death ended up making everyone on the White Base stronger.
    • Perhaps as an intentional mirror of the audience, Amuro initially refused to believe that Ryu was really dead after Sayla tried to break the news to him.
  • Shozo Iizuka: One of his well known roles in his high profile career.
  • Stout Strength: The largest member of the crew, and a very capable pilot.


Tem Ray

"Get the Gundam on the lift before the evacuees!"

General Johann Abraham Revil

"Zeon is exhausted!"

Commander-in-Chief of the Earth Federation Forces, and an all around awesome guy, General Revil kept the Federation together when it looked like a Zeon victory was gauranteed. He takes a personal interest in the progress of the White Base crew, and is the mastermind of the Federation victories at Odessa and Solomon.

  • Badass Beard
  • Badass Grandpa
  • Big Good: As CINC of the EFF. He's in his 60's and knows all the tricks of Zeon and the Federation. If not for him...
  • Commissar Cap: Wears one when in uniform.
  • Cool Old Guy: One of the few Federation higher-ups who isn't corrupted, cowardly, etc.
  • Four-Star Badass: Though more verbal than physical, Revil earns major badass points almost every time he opens his mouth. He also believes in leading from the front, and often puts himself at risk to observe battles.
  • Killed Off for Real: He and Degwin Zabi are killed together when Gihren fires the solar ray.
  • Michael Dobson: English VA in the series.
  • The Obi-Wan
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: In the "Zeon is exhausted" speech, he not only acknowledges the Spacenoids' grievances but also admits that the Earth Federation authorities, his own leaders were very much at fault for helping make the One Year War nigh inevitable. Still, he refuses to buy Zeon's shtick and let the Federation or mankind in general get trampled by what he correctly sees as a deluded ideology.
  • Rousing Speech: "Zeon is exhausted!". Can be read here.
  • The Strategist: CINC of the Earth's defence forces.


Lieutenant Matilda Ajan

  • Action Girl
  • Fiery Redhead: Has bright red hair and SEES quite a lot of fire in combat, but she's a very cool and steely sort, appropriate for her job as a high-ranking military aide. Subverted.
  • Hello, Nurse!: She's extremely pretty, and Kai complains when a mob of guys want their picture taken with her because his camera only makes twelve copies.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: In order to protect the White Base, Matilda rams her Medea into one of the Black Tri-Stars' Doms in an attempt to topple it. But Dom pilot Ortega hits back, smashing the Medea's cockpit so the transporter crashes into the ground, exploding and killing her instantly.
  • Keiko Toda
  • Killed Off for Real
  • Retirony: She died right before she and Woody were about to get married. Lampshaded by Woody himself later.
  • Team Mom: As the one who provides White Base with supplies and emotional support. Matilda's extremely competent, and the show emphasizes her sense of duty and professionalism.
  • Vasquez Always Dies: She seemed to be more of an Action Girl then even Sayla, but then she bit it.


Lieutenant Woody Malden


Sleggar Law

  • The Ace: Was an ace pilot before he was assigned to the ship.
  • Big Brother Mentor: Slightly. He does die in an Heroic Sacrifice that pumps up Amuro enough in battle though.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Asks if Mirai wants to come join the pilots' group shower, but he's very hesitant and cautious when she confesses she has real feelings for him. And then gives her his mother's ring and kisses her, anyway.
  • Custom Uniform: His blue pilot suit, complete with a gold 'S' on the helmet.
  • Danger Deadpan: Sleggar maintains a laid-back, even tone in almost all of his appearances, be they chatting with the crew, or flying dangerous maneuvers.
  • Eagle Land: Mixed. He's brash, cocky, arrogant and a shameless flirt, but an excellent pilot and a decent guy once you get past his unrefined exterior.
  • Handsome Lech: Teases Sayla and Mirai once or twice.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For a guy as rough as he is, the scene where he deflects Mirai's confession and gives her a good bye kiss and a ring is surprisingly bittersweet. Even more so after he bites it in battle.
  • Killed Off for Real
  • Lantern Jaw of Justice: Probably has something to do with being entirely based on the image that runs through a Japanese person's head when he hears the words "American movie star".
  • Missing Mom: We don't know if Mrs. Law lives or not, but he carries around a ring that belongs to her. He gives it to Mirai before he dies.

Principality of Zeon

Char Aznable/(Casval Rem Deikun)

"I'll show you that mobile suit has its limits, my friend."

One of Zeon's most infamous aces, the enigmatic Char Aznable is responsible for the attempt at stealing the Gundam in the first place. Pursuing the White Base wherever they go, Char makes it clear that he has his own agenda, even as his rivalry with Amuro Ray develops from a professional one into something both deeply personal and very ugly.

  • Ace Custom: Repeatedly slaps red paint jobs and larger engines onto grunt suits. The later Gelgoog was built precisely to his specifications.
  • Ace Pilot: Char is a notably brilliant tactician and thanks to a combination of intellect and skill, is able to outmaneuver and kill the vast majority of mobile suit users and goes toe-to-toe with some of the best pilots in the series, such as Amuro Ray and Haman Khan.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: He's the son of Zeon Zum Deikun and about as blue-blooded, and as coldblooded, as you can get.
  • Attack Drones: The Zeong's hands are detachable, and can be flown independently of the rest of the suit. The head can also detach.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He pretends to be a loyal friend and adviser to Garma, only to call curtains on him later.
  • Breakout Character/Breakout Villain: He's essentially become the face of the franchise.
  • Broken Ace: Cool, collected, an Ace Pilot, a brilliant Chessmaster and Manipulative Bastard... and by Jove, is he ever screwed up.
  • Char Clone: He IS Char.
  • Chessmaster: Played with. Char's a competent planner, and is able to stay a step ahead of most people, but he's more of a short-term opportunist than a long-term schemer.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Char betrays everyone he's ever worked for. This trend continues into later installments in the franchise.
  • Cognizant Limbs: The Zeong's head and hands can all be operated separately from the torso, as noted under Attack Drone above. The suit has to be destroyed piecemeal to actually take it down.
  • Cool Helmet: His iconic white helmet in the first series.
  • Cool Mask: AND HOLY GODDAMNED HOW!
  • Custom Uniform: One of the most famous ones out there.
  • Cyber Cyclops: All of his suits, from Zaku II to Zeong.
  • The Dragon: Following Kycillia's hiring him away from Dozle, and the death of her previous Dragon, M'Quve, Char assumes this role to Zeon's princess.
  • The Dreaded: The mere appearance of his Zaku panicked Paolo Cassius, the original commander of the White Base who had kept his cool until then in spite of being mortally wounded. Him summarily trashing the Gundam in spite of the superior performance of the titular robot (and failing to destroy it only because it's Nigh Invulnerable) would cause a collective Oh Crap every time he appeared.
    • It extended to the rest of the franchise: in the Gundam IGLOO version of the Battle of A Baoa Qu, a group of Federation pilot backs down when confronted with a red mobile armor, fearing it's Char.
  • Duel to the Death: Against Amuro.
  • Enigmatic Minion: To the Zabis.
  • A Father to His Men: Char's introduction is telling a subordinate who escapes to report back to him, seemingly expecting a You Have Failed Me..., is told not to worry because he followed his orders. When Amuro kills off one of his men he mourns them by name.
  • Finger Firearms: The Zeong's lasers are built into its fingertips.
  • Flawed Prototype: The Zeong is only 80% complete, and is missing its legs. This isn't nearly as crippling as it sounds, since the suit's rockets enable it to be fully functional in space without the legs (although going to Earth would presumably cause some problems).
  • Giant Hands of Doom: The Zeong's hands.
  • The Heavy: Drives the action of most of the episodes in the series, even as Gihren drives the overall plot. They seem to share the role.
  • Improbable Age: He's twenty years old, and already one of Zeon's best aces and the captain of his own squadron of ships.
  • It's Personal: With Amuro.
  • Jerkass: Even in his most sympathetic moments, Char still comes off as kind of an asshole.
  • Lack of Empathy: Char is good at many things. Seeing other people as more than expendable tools is not one of them.
  • Law of Chromatic Superiority: The trope originator a.k.a. 'Char Custom Rule' or 'Red = Three Times Faster'.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Unfortunately for everyone around him and most of humanity, Char's far more successful when he's doing this (all appearances except for Zeta) than when he's not.
  • Michael Kopsa: English VA in the series.
  • Mid-Season Upgrade: Repeatedly. Zaku --> Ze'Gok --> Gelgoog --> Zeong.
  • Psychic Powers: His Newtype abilities start to awaken from his proximity to Lalah. He's nowhere near as powerful as she or Amuro though.
  • Red Baron: Red Comet.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Amuro and him.
  • Revenge by Proxy --> Sins of Our Fathers: Kills Degwin's family to pay him back for killing Char's father, continuing even after the bastard dies.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge
  • Shuichi Ikeda: The role that made him famous.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: Him and Sayla.
  • Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Oddly, Char starts at this and ends at the end too.
  • Steve Blum: English VA in the movies.
  • Super Prototype: The MSN-02 Zeong a prototype Mobile Suit built specifically for Newtype pilots. In terms of performance, it outcasses the Gundam in almost all respects.
  • Sword Fight: With Amuro in the finale.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Kycilia Zabi figured out his secret, trusted him, and kept it anyway. He paid her back with a rocket to the head.
  • Worthy Opponent
  • You Killed My Father: His hatred for the Zabis comes from this.
    • Interestingly, we never do get any confirmation that it was really the Zabi family that did it. It's entirely possible that the official story about him dying of a heart condition was the truth and his adoptive father Jimba Ral just told Char his father had been poisoned so he could be molded into a Tyke Bomb against the Zabis.


Lalah Sune

"I can see through time..."

A Newtype from one of Zeon's labs, Lalah Sune's potential was recognised by both Char Aznable and Kycilia Zabi. She is eventually recruited to serve as the pilot for the MAN-08 Elmeth, a Newtype-specific mobile armour. During this time, she also meets and forms a connection with Amuro.


Degwin Zabi

"Have you ever heard of a man named Adolf Hitler?"

An associate of Zeon Zum Deikun, Degwin Zabi became Sovereign of Zeon after the latter's death and turned the colonies into his family's personal dictatorship. Now old and tired, Degwin leaves the day to day running of the war effort to his oldest son Gihren.

  • Adipose Rex: An overweight tyrant.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: Head of Zeon's most important aristocratic family, big bad at least in name.
  • Bald of Evil: Degwin's hair is long gone.
  • Big Bad : Until he's offed by Gihren.
  • Despair Event Horizon: While his position as the Zabi patriarch was already undermined by Gihren's thirst for power, Garma's death sent him over the edge. When we get to see him after that, he's a tired and weary old man who believes he's getting too old for all of this and is planning an armistice. Little did he know what Gihren was planning to do...
  • Despotism Justifies the Means: In the backstory.
  • Disc One Final Boss: Murdered by his own son when he attempts to negotiate a peace with the Federation.
  • Doting Parent: To Garma.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Even Degwin thinks Gihren's a Nazi. Hence the page quote.
  • Evil Chancellor: Before obtaining his current position.
  • Evil Old Folks: Into his sixties. Still the dictator—at least in name—of Zeon.
  • The Family That Slays Together: Got all of his children high-ranking positions in the Zeon military, largely because he doesn't trust anyone else. As Gihren demonstrates, this may not have been the best move.
  • Fat Bastard: Though he's hardly the most evil character around, Degwin is both quite overweight, and the tryannical ruler of a one-party state.
  • Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Played With. Big glasses, absolute dictator. However, he does care for his family, well besides Gihren.
  • Killed Off for Real: Once Gihren has the Wave Motion Gun "accidentally" fire on his vessel when he was going to make peace with the enemy.
  • Large and In Charge: Subverted. He's large only in the sense of being overweight, and is only nominally in charge.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: He's an old, fat, tired man. No, he isn't really up to doing a lot of fighting.
  • Non-Action Guy
  • The Patriarch: Initially looks like an evil version of this, but it's quickly subverted as one realizes that his kids, and not him, are really running the show.
  • Puppet King: After Gihren was done with him.
  • Spanner in the Works: His attempt to surrender to the Federation forced Gihren to fire the Colony Laser before it was complete, resulting in Zeon's war-winning superweapon getting trashed after only taking out half of the enemy fleet. Needless to say, the other half swiftly proved themselves to be very troublesome indeed.
  • Visionary Villain: Once upon a time.
  • Was It Really Worth It?: He's starting to suspect that it might not have been.


Gihren Zabi

"I'll show you how a man who follows in Hitler's footsteps can fight!"

Degwin Zabi's eldest son, Gihren is a domineering, ambitious social climber, who runs Zeon's war effort from his position as Commander-in-Chief. Ruthless, controlling and totally void of empathy, Gihren is nevertheless a skilled organiser and gifted public speaker, whose charismatic personality may be all that is keeping Zeon together. Having isolated his father from the public, he is the real ruler of Zeon in all but name.

  • Ambition Is Evil: The single most ambitious character in the show actually.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: Crossed with Nazi Nobleman in Gihren's case.
  • Armchair Military: Though oddly enough, he's not portrayed as particularly ineffective.
  • Banjo Ginga
  • Big Bad: He's the de facto Big Bad for most the series, and takes the position in name after Degwin's death.
    • Bigger Bad: In The 08th MS Team, War in the Pocket and any other series set during the One Year War, Gihren is this by default.
  • Cain and Abel: Him and his sister Kycilia. More like Cain and Cain really.
  • The Caligula: The Zabis are a Big Screwed-Up Family, and evil does seem to be in the genetics, but Gihren's the only one who's totally certifiable.
  • Clasp Your Hands If You Deceive: Does it throughout the Battle of A Baoa Qu.
  • Deadly Gas: Deploys it in the opening days of the invasion of Earth.
  • Despotism Justifies the Means: Gihren is a totally Machiavellian personality, concerned only with establishing his own power.
  • The Dragon: Starts out as Degwin's.
  • Dragon-in-Chief: By the time of the One Year War, Gihren has reduced his father to a powerless figurehead and made himself the real dictator of Zeon.
  • Evil Chancellor: His relationship with his father has definite aspects of this.
  • The Evil Prince: He's already cut his father out of the picture and taken most of Zeon's political and military power for himself as of the start of the series. He further isolated Degwin following Garma's death, and finally kills the old man, usurping Big Bad status for himself.
  • The Evils of Free Will: Gives a little speech to his father about how Democracy Is Bad and that people should have their own will replaced with that of the Zabi family (read as: Gihren).
  • Greed: One of the video games in the franchise is entitled Gihren's Greed. That should say it all.
  • The Heavy: For much of the series. He and Char seem to split the role, with Char shaping the individual episodes, and Gihren the overall plot.
  • Hypocrite: Gihren, like the rest of Zeon's leadership, talks a good game about how humanity has polluted the Earth and must be moved into space. He also gasses millions of people and tries to Colony Drop the planet in the backstory, before invading the planet with military force. Justified as Gihren honestly doesn't care about Zeon's political stance... he just wants to be the most powerful man in the world.
  • Improbably High IQ: 240. Of course this may simply be Zeon propaganda.
  • Insane Admiral: Zeon's CINC and an utter psychopath. He's not really what you'd call incompetent, but is otherwise barely human, which causes him to make a number of tactical errors later on.
  • Insult Backfire: His father compares him to Adolf Hitler. Gihren takes it as a complement.
  • Killed Off for Real: By Kycilia.
  • Klingon Promotion: Kills Degwin to further his agenda.
  • Lack of Empathy: Char may be empathy-deficient, but Gihren has absolutely none for anybody. If you're in his way, or no longer useful, you die. This actually causes him problems when it comes to predicting his sister Kycilia's actions: he assumes that she's every bit as ruthless as himself.
  • Large and In Charge: He's nowhere near the size of his brother Dozle (than again, who is?), but Gihren is still a very tall guy with a broadshouldered build and an imposing demeanour.
  • The Leader: Of Zeon. He's a Type IV personality with a Type I style of leadership.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Played With. Gihren manipulates Zeon's public with ease, constantly drumming up support for the war. On the other hand, he is very bad at manipulating individuals.
  • Master Race: Views the people of Zeon this way.
  • A Nazi by Any Other Name: Gihren's a hardcore, militaristic Social Darwinist with genocidal intentions, a load of charisma, and no concept of morality. It would be more accurate to say he's Adolf Hitler by another name.
  • Nazi Nobleman: He's The Evil Prince and an enthusiastic Social Darwinist who sees Adolf Hitler as someone to look up to.
  • NEET: According to the (admittedly tongue-in-cheek) prequel manga Garma Of The Space Island, he was one before he became involved in Zeon Deikun's independence movement.
  • Nepotism: He got his job as Zeon's supreme commander because his father is the ruling Sovereign. He's kept it by being an efficent, imaginitive, charismatic and utterly ruthless psycho.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: Following Degwin's exit.
  • Non-Action Guy
  • Overlord, Jr.: Of the worst possible type.
  • Patricide: Murders his father to keep the war going.
  • Putting on the Reich: All of Zeon does this, but it's most noticeable on Gihren.
  • Rousing Speech: At Garma's funeral. He's pretty good at it.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: He may lack his brother and sister's fighting ability, and he's an unpleasant guy on top of it, but no one can claim Gihren isn't pulling his weight. Between serving as commander-in-chief, organising the war effort and keeping up troop morale, he makes a definite contribution.
  • Self-Made Orphan: Although Kycilia sees to it that he doesn't live much longer himself.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: He and Kycilia are the cold, calculating Blue Onis to Garma and Dozle's Reds.
  • Smug Snake: A high-functioning one, but one nonetheless. He's arrogant, overconfident, manipulative, has no regard for anyone else's wants (or lives), and condescends to everyone around him.
  • Social Darwinist: Convinced that the weak need to move aside to make power for the strong. Hence his treatment of Degwin.
  • The Sociopath: The original Gundam example. Azrael, Djibril and all the other psychos in the franchise owe him a tremendous debt. Gihren is emotionally cold, displays a shallow affect, does not understand basic human interaction (though he can manipulate the masses easily enough), is totally amoral and without a concience, and is seemingly without shame or fear. Apparently, raising your kids on an ideology of Social Darwinism can be hazardous to their mental health.
  • The Starscream: He doesn't bother hiding his contempt for his father and his policies, and more or less treats Degwin as a relic, accumulating increasing amounts of power for himself. Degwin knows what's happening, but at this point, is powerless to stop it.
  • The Strategist: To Zeon as a whole.
  • Take Over the World: Wants Zeon to rule the world and himself to rule Zeon.
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Uses the Solar Ray to assassinate one person. Jeez Gihren, ever heard of subtlety? He was also the one behind the gas attacks on Earth, and seeks to deploy nukes on several occasions.
  • Visionary Villain: Gihren has a vision for the future of humanity. It involves the culling of the weak, the destruction of democracy, and the Zabi family dictatorship lording over the Earth sphere for all of eternity.
  • Warrior Prince: Gihren's no fighter, but given how vital a role he plays in the Zeon war effort, it would be difficult not to class him as this.
  • Weapons of Mass Destruction: Gassed vast portions of the Earth, doesn't see the problem with utilizing nuclear weapons, builds the Solar Ray... he's got a definite thing for these.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: His hair is a light shade of blue.


Admiral Dozle Zabi

"Once we mass-produce the Big Zam, the Feddies will be dead before they know what hit them!"

Degwin's second son, Dozle Zabi is everything his older brother Gihren is not. An aggressive fleet admiral, Dozle commands Solomon Base and leads his troops from the front. A dedicated family man, he cares a great deal for his father, his brother Garma, and his wife and daughter.


Kycilia Zabi

"We will lead the Principality of Zeon to a decisive victory and gaurantee ourselves complete control of the masses after the war is over."

Degwin Zabi's only daughter, Kycilia is a bright but cold young woman who serves as one of Zeon's best admirals. Capable of inspiring great loyalty in her subordinates, Kycilia is nevertheless without scruples when it comes to the conduct of the war. She is in charge of Newtype research, and has an intense rivalry with her brother Gihren.

  • Aristocrats Are Evil: One of the rare Evil Princesses in fiction.
  • Badass Princess
  • The Baroness: She's got the icy demeanour, the militaristic attitude and dominating personality all associated with the trope.
  • Big Bad: Briefly graduates to this status when she kills Gihren halfway through the penultimate episode.
  • Boom! Headshot!: How Char kills her off.
  • Cain and Abel: With her older brother Gihren. It might be fairer to say that they're both Cain, with Kycilia being the slightly more sympathetic of the two.
  • The Captain
  • The Chessmaster: Plans her moves out very carefully. Given that she's going up against Gihren, she doesn't have much choice.
  • Cool Helmet: Wears one that's almost identical to Char's actually.
  • Cool Mask: Often wears a mask over the lower parts of her face when she enters battle.
  • Daddy's Little Villain: She's far from childish or spoiled, but Kycilia still fits the trope, sharing her father's philosophy and remaining loyal to him even after his death.
  • Dark Action Girl: Kycilia isn't afraid to take the field when she has to, as her first appearance (fighting alongside M'Quve in the Adzam) attests to.
  • Despotism Justifies the Means: She and her brother share this outlook on life.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She's not an especially warm person, but she definitely cares about her father, and looked rather sad when Garma's death was announced.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: She was planning to move against Gihren for a long time, and it's implied that his psychopathy is a motivating factor. That's not to say that she isn't pretty damn awful herself.
  • Evil Genius: Of the Zabi family and Zeon as a whole.
  • The Evil Princess: Very evil (though noticeably less so than her older brother Gihren) and not averse to climbing to power the old-fashioned way.
  • Evil Redhead: More like Magnificent Bitch redhead. Only Char could upstage her.
  • Four-Star Badass: Has the rank of Admiral.
  • Killed Off for Real: Char offs her via a rocket launcher to the head in the finale.
  • Klingon Promotion: Kills Gihren and takes his position.
  • Know When to Fold'Em: Kycilia realises that the battle for A Baoa Qu is lost, and attempts to flee, planning on rallying the forces in the homelands, rather than dying at the base.
  • Lady and Knight: The Dark Lady to M'Quve's Black Knight.
  • Lady of War: Gundam's first example.
  • Lean and Mean: Notably skinnier than other women in Mobile Suit Gundam, due to Tomino finding it unattractive.
  • Mami Koyama
  • Manipulative Bastard: Runs in the family.
  • Nepotism: How she got her position. How she's kept it is another story.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: She's a Rear-Admiral in the Zeon fleet and takes an interest in research and development, eventually masterminding much of the defence of A Baoa Qu.
  • Secret Keeper: For Char. She regrets that.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: She and Gihren may hate each other, but they've got a lot in common personality wise. The family basically splits in two, with Kycilia and Gihren being icy and calculating, and Garma and Dozle being hot blooded and passionate.
  • The Starscream: As M'quve's activities in Europe showed, she was preparing to move against Gihren for quite a while before he fried their father and staged a coup.
  • Villainous Cheekbones: You could cut glass on them.
  • Warrior Princess
  • We Have Reserves: Kycilia has no problem with leaving her men to die if it serves her purposes, going so far as to order the destruction of a lost base with her own troops still inside.
  • You Killed My Father: Why she wastes Gihren.
  • Younger Than They Look: She's just 24.


Garma Zabi

"Don't laugh, the men are watching."

Degwin's youngest son, Garma serves as leader of the Earth Invasion Force under his sister Kycilia. Desperate to win his family's respect, he is perhaps the most human member of the family, and is deeply in love with his girlfriend Icelina. He and Char Aznable go way back, having been friends since their days at the military academy.


Ramba Ral

"This is no Zaku, boy! No Zaku!"

An affable Zeon ace, Ramba Ral came to Earth following Garma Zabi's defeat at the hands of the White Base crew. Meeting Amuro Ray while both were off-duty, Ramba Ral struck up a friendship with the boy. He would later lead a number of attacks on the White Base crew.


Crowley Hamon

Ramba Ral's girlfriend and Number Two, Crowley Hamon is the brains of the Blue Giant's outfit, planning strategy while he leads from the front. Quiet, composed and always graceful, she makes quite the contrast with her Boisterous Bruiser boyfriend.

  • Action Girl
  • Anti-Villain: Hamon is a perfectly nice person: graceful, intelligent and kind; not even officially part of the Zeon military... just someone who's totally devoted to her partner who's fighting for the bad guys.
  • Avenging the Villain: She targets the White Base due to their role in Ramba Ral's death, and even before then, sought, alongside Ral, to avenge Garma Zabi.
  • Brains and Brawn: The brains to Ramba Ral's brawn.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Doesn't care if she lives or dies following Ral's death.
  • Eucatastrophe: Leads perhaps the single most successful attack on the White Base, and is within seconds of destroying it before she is defeated.
  • Hair of Gold/Blondes Are Evil: Somewhere in-between the two.
  • Killed Off for Real
  • Lady of War: Establishes herself as one after Ral's death, piloting one of Zeon's tanks during her revenge strike on the White Base.
  • Lean and Mean: Subverted. She's very thin, and works for Zeon, but is thoroughly sympathetic.
  • The Ojou
  • Opposites Attract: With Ramba Ral.
  • The Strategist: Of Ral's group.
  • Tank Goodness: Crowley actually gets some mileage out of her Magella Attack Tank, and was about to blast the White Base's bridge into smithereens when she was stopped by Ryu.
  • Undying Loyalty: To Ramba Ral.
  • Unholy Matrimony: Subverted, due to both her and her boyfriend being Anti Villains.


M'Quve

"Come if you dare!"

Kycilia Zabi's right-hand man, the aristocratic M'Quve represents his mistress on Earth, commanding her troops in the desert, and leading Zeon's forces at the Battle of Odessa. Totally loyal to Kycilia, M'Quve has an ingrained distrust of Char Aznable. Despite all appearances, he is a skilled mobile suit pilot.

  • Ace Custom: The YMS-15 Gyan: it was built to his specifications with the intent of rivaling the Gundam and Char's Gelgoog. It resembles a knight in plate mail, equipped with a beam rapier and a shield loaded with missiles.
  • Adaptational Villainy: Inverted in the movies and their supplementary material, where he's a mildly snooty Anti-Villain: none of his nastier actions are shown, and he even carries out a Heroic Sacrifice to save Dozle's wife and infant daughter.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: Invoked by his wealth, obvious connections to the Zeon upperclass, and total ruthlessness.
  • Armchair Military: In the movies, his two attempts at engaging the Gundam directly in combat (first with the Adzam--copiloted by Princess Kycilia!--then the Gyan) were excised because it was thought to be out of character for him.
  • Booby Trap: Liberally booby-traps the Texas Colony before his duel with Amuro.
  • Camp Straight: Most likely.
  • The Chessmaster: M'Quve doesn't leave a hell of a lot to chance.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Has zero understanding whatsoever of the concept of 'fighting fair'.
  • Cultured Warrior: Despite being an overconfident Smug Snake, he's actually a pretty competent pilot and strategist, as his final battle with Amuro attests to. Even Char admits that "M'Quve's putting up quite a fight", and it takes the first full-fledged activation of Amuro's Newtype powers for the Gundam to gain a decisive advantage.
  • Cyber Cyclops: The Gyan.
  • Duel to the Death: Deliberately lures Amuro into one of these, and carefully rigs everything in his own favour.
  • Famous Last Words: "Deliver that antique vase to Lady Kycilia. It's very valuable."
  • Faux Affably Evil: Affects an upperclass attitude and tone, but at his core is cold-blooded and ruthless.
  • Forehead of Doom
  • Kaneto Shiozawa
  • Killed Off for Real
  • Lady and Knight: The Black Knight to Kycilia Zabi's Dark Lady. He is utterly loyal to her, right unto death, and the Gyan is even designed to resemble a knight.
  • Lean and Mean: As skinny as his boss.
  • Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: The Gyan comes equipped with round buckler shield, itself equipped with missile launchers.
  • Macross Missile Massacre: The Gyan's shield is equipped with fifty-six missile launchers, enabling it to create one of these with ease.
  • Man of Wealth and Taste: One of Zeon's richest commanders, and a connosieur of fine art... antique vases in particular.
  • Mean Boss: Among other things, M'Quve sees funeral rites for fallen comrades as a meaningless waste of his soldiers' time.
  • Nuke'Em: After losing the Battle of Odessa, he fires an ICBM at the Federation forces.
  • Rich Bitch: M'Quve is very well off and enjoys demonstrating that wealth to everyone.
  • Royal Rapier: M'Quve's a fencer, and the Gyan comes equipped with a beam rapier for this very reason.
  • Sissy Villain: He's got the fancy clothes, swishy wrists, mincing motions and cultured tone of voice one associates with this villain type.
  • Smug Snake: He isn't incompetent, but his ego has clearly grown past the point where it would be justified.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: In the films, his final battle with Amuro in the Texas Colony in the fancypants fencing Mobile Suit Gyan was one of the many things cut for being too Super Robot-y and was replaced by Char and an early appearance of his MS-14S Gelgoog. However, the Zeta Gundam Interquel Char's Deleted Affair has him die at the helm of the Gyan in a different manner, in a desperation attack on The Federation to cover the retreat of Zeon forces from A Baoa Qu.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Earlier transliterations spell his name as "Makube", meant to be pronounced "Mah-Koo-Bay" with inflection on the first syllable. The official transliteration since the beginning of the 2000's was M'Quve, pronounced "Muh-Koo-Vay" with inflection on the second syllable. This second spelling and pronunciation is odd for a number of reasons. Most notiecably, it makes his name appear to be Swahili in origin. But given Gundam's tendency for characters of ambiguous race or ethnicity, M'Quve despite his European looks could very well be a mixture of anything.
  • The Strategist: He leads the White Base around by the nose for quite a while.
  • Subordinate Excuse: Possibly towards Kycilia, whom he was very devoted to.
  • Undying Loyalty: To Kycilia: with his last words, he instructs one of his subordinates to deliver his prized Ming vase to her.
  • Villainous Cheekbones: Just like his boss.
  • Wicked Cultured: See Man of Wealth and Taste above.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Purple actually.

The Black Tri-Stars

The nickname of Gaia, Ortega and Mash, a trio of Ace Pilots famous for capturing General Revil at the start of the war. They're currently serving under M'Quve, and have been assigned Zeon's deadly new Dom suits with which to hunt down the White Base.

  • Ace Pilot: Amongst the first Zeon aces Amuro faces.
  • Attack Pattern Alpha: Their 'Jet Stream Attack', which uses their Doms' superior speed and manoeuvrability to land several hits on an enemy suit in rapid succession. Unfortunately for them, Amuro figures out the pattern after the first time they use it on him, and turns it to his advantage.
  • Badass Beard: Gaia, the team leader, has a fairly impressive one.
  • Gonk: None of them are exactly male-model material, but Ortega has a face only an elephant seal could love.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Mash has one over his right eye.
  • Lightning Bruiser: The Dom is Zeon's heavy assault suit, an armoured battering ram floating on two powerful thermonuclear thrusters. It's fast, tough, and a lot more heavily-armed than the Zaku.
  • Southern-Fried Private: The dub gave them all thick Southern accents, which became canon from then onwards.
  • Terrible Trio: They're on the more competent end of the trope, though it doesn't save them against Amuro.

Others

Icelina Eschonbach


Cameron Bloom

  • Butt Monkey
  • Cowardly Lion: Becomes this when he uses his own shuttle to escort the White Base out of Side 7. During a battle.
  • Romantic False Lead: Played With. He's scarcely mentioned until three-fourths of the way through the show, let alone showing up even later, and he's not the first guy to show interest in Mirai (the third). It is established he's the first one to be in a relationship with her though, and Mirai has very conflicting emotions from the moment he appears again. With the paths the war have put them on, he is pretty obviously the wrong guy for her, however.


Miharu Ratokie

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