Char Aznable (Shā Azunaburu) is a fictional character, and often one of the main antagonists from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam, its sequels Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Char’s Counterattack, voiced by Shuichi Ikeda (Japanese), Michael Kopsa (English dub of original series and Char’s Counterattack), Steven Blum (Mobile Suit Gundam movies 1 through 3) and Tom Edwards (English dub of Zeta Gundam).

Born Casval Rem Deikun, Char Aznable is also known as Edward Mass and the alias Quattro Bajeena. He is also known as the “Red Comet”, due to the speed at which he destroyed five of the Earth Federation’s Magellan class battleships at the Battle of Loum during the One Year War (which has earned him a promotion of two ranks to Lieutenant Commander). He is the elder brother of Sayla Mass (Artesia Som Deikun), and the son of late Zeon Zum Deikun, the former leader of the space colonies of Side 3, later the Republic of Zeon.

According to the Manga Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, young Casval and his sister Artesia escaped to earth shortly after their father’s death with the help of family friend Jimba Ral (father of Ramba Ral). They spent several years living a luxurious life under the guardianship of the aristocratic Don Teabolo Mass, who named them Edward and Sayla, and treated them like his own children. During this time, Jimba Ral constantly reminded Casval of the Zabi Family’s betrayal of his father. After narrowly escaping an attempt on their lives (in which Jimba Ral died), they fled to the Texas Colony.

They lived for a time in a house set up by Texas Colony’s chief manager Roger Aznable, still under Teabolo Mass’s care. Soon they met Roger’s son Char and discovered that he and Casval were nearly identical, except Casval had blue eyes while Char had reddish brown. Eventually Char is taken in by Gihren Zabi’s propaganda, and against his father’s wishes sets off for officer training school.

Casaval decides to accompany him under the guise of looking out for his friend. Kycilia Zabi finds out that Casval is headed back to Side 3, and without consulting Gihren, orders Casval’s death. Both near-identical boys are booked to leave on the same flight, but an antique pistol and fake explosives are found in Char’s bag (almost certainly planted by Casval). Not wanting to miss the entrance exam, Char readily accepts Casval’s suggestion to swap clothes in the restroom.

Char boards the ship under the name Edward Mass, while Casval, under the name Char Aznable is detained overnight. Shortly after departure, the ship explodes and kills everyone aboard (no doubt the work of Kycilia’s henchmen). Edward Mass is listed among the dead and Casaval takes on the name Char, enters the Zeon Military Academy and begins wearing sunglasses to hide his eye color (as it wouldn’t match any of the real Char’s IDs).

After entering the Academy, Char excelled in his training and became the best friend of Garma Zabi, who even suggested Char to become his wingman. After graduation, Char joined the Zeon mobile suit forces under the command of Admiral Dozle Zabi. He displayed superior fighting ability during the Battle of Loum, single-handedly sinking five Federation Magellan-class battleships, which earned him the nickname “Red Comet”. He was promoted an exceptional two ranks to Lieutenant Commander.

During the One Year War, Char showed a great capacity not only as mobile suit pilot, but also as tactician and commanding officer. Late in the One Year War, Char began a bitter rivalry with Federation pilot Amuro Ray, and he developed a rather peculiar relationship with the Newtype Lalah Sune, a girl he saved from an Indian brothel. Char himself also developed into a Newtype, and formed distinct psychic bonds with Amuro and Lalah. Char’s abilities and his natural charisma allow him to inspire and manipulate others to follow his will fanatically.

In the Battle of A Baoa Qu, Char and Amuro’s rivalry peaked to the level that they engaged in gunfight and then swordfight after both lost their mobile suits. In the duel, Char thrusted Amuro in the arm, while being stabbed in the head, which left a permanent scar on his forehead. He survived only because he was wearing a helmet in memory of Lalah, who told him not to take risk.

At this moment, Sayla ran into the room and urge both men to stop. Char then started to realize that his true enemy is not Amuro, but the Zabi family. An ensuing explosion knocked them apart, and Char rushed to save his sister. After being told by a dying Zeon soldier that Kycilia Zabi, the last surviving Zabi, was escaping, Char told Sayla to “be a nice woman” and go back to Amuro, and took off with a bazooka. He found Kycilia’s departing ship, saluted them (”Garma, I’m sending your sister to join you”) before firing into the cockpit, annihilating the ship’s bridge in the process. He then disappeared out of the battlefield.

At the end of the One Year War, Char went to Axis and his experience there was partly depicted in the manga Char’s Deleted Affair.

Char reappears 7 years later in Zeta Gundam, no longer with mask and instead merely wearing sunglasses. Some time between U.C.0079~0087, Char returns to the Earth Sphere on a mission to gather intelligence for Axis Zeon, and infiltrates the Earth Federation Forces ranking with the alias “Quattro Bajeena”. However, things are turned upside down with the rising of Titans as an oppressive side. Char then join the renegade group of Earth Federation Force’s soldier and in the end he became a leading member of the Anti-Earth Union Group.

This time, rather than serving as the rival of the new protagonist, Kamille Bidan, Char serves as Kamille’s mentor in the war against the Earth Federation’s oppressive Titans organization. In Zeta Gundam, Char becomes an ally of his former adversaries in Mobile Suit Gundam: Amuro Ray, Hayato Kobayashi and Bright Noa. He serves under Bright Noa as leader of AEUG mobile suit forces.

Zeta Gundam puts ahead Char’s image as a hero who is always willing to stand up and fight for the freedom of spacenoids. His political speech in front of Federation Assembly in Dakar, which was broadcast throughout Earth and Space, is one of the most important events in the UC Gundam timeline. It seals Char’s total commitment toward space colonization and migration of humanity to space.

Despite AEUG’s victory in the Gryps War against Titans, Char is defeated in the final battle by Haman Khan, leader of the Axis (later Neo Zeon) faction and assumed dead. However, as the final credits roll, Char’s totally damaged Hyaku Shiki floats by with its cockpit hatch open. In ZZ Gundam, Bright Noa remarks to Sayla Mass that he has a gut feeling that Char is simply watching from the sidelines and waiting for the right opportunity to return.

Char does not appear in the sequel to Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam. Yoshiyuki Tomino has stated officially that he had originally intended to feature Char, but the plan was cancelled when he was granted to go-ahead with the theatrical movie Char’s Counterattack.

Another 5 years passed before Char returns in the movie Char’s Counterattack, as the leader of a new Neo Zeon faction. He intends create a nuclear winter by dropping the massive asteroid base Axis on the Earth, hence forcing a complete migration into space, which he believes will make all of humanity to evolve into Newtypes. Only one thing stands in his way: the Federation’s Londo Bell task force, and their top ace pilot, his old archrival Amuro Ray.

In the Second Neo-Zeon War, both Char and Amuro piloted mobile suits equipped with an advanced psycommu system known as psycoframe. Char himself was responsible for authorizing Anaheim Electronics to pass the psycoframe technology to the development team responsible for Amuro’s ν Gundam, thereby effectively planning a fair showdown between them in advance. After his Sazabi was destroyed by Amuro in the final duel, Amuro captured Char’s escape pod, and against Char’s taunting, attempted to push the asteroid Axis away from Earth.

The intense willpower of Amuro’s and all the pilots assisting him caused Nu Gundam’s psycoframes to resonate and overload, resulting in a spectacular aurora with Axis pushed out of Earth’s orbit. Both Amuro and Char disappeared without a trace in the incident. Since then there has been no news of the two, and it is assumed that they both were killed in the massive explosion. (In the novelization of Char’s Counterattack, both characters are confirmed to be KIA.)

Japanese pop culture holds Char Aznable in very much the same way western pop culture views science fiction icons Darth Vader and Mr. Spock. Even many people who do not watch anime at least know the name. Char Aznable has routinely placed in the top 10 lists of popular characters in both Gundam-specific and general-oriented fan magazines in Japan, such as Gundam Ace and Animage, typically ranking higher than the main character and his rival, Amuro Ray.

In Gundam Ace, Char is consistently in the top 3 of the list, and held the number 1 spot for long periods of time, despite the fact that Gundam Ace tallies votes for Char’s alter-ego Quattro Bajina separately. In fact, Quattro also consistently ranks in the top 10.

On the popular Japanese bulletin board 2channel, the Gundam forums are named Char custom , and the anonymous placeholder for the name is changed to “3 times more anonymous” , a reference to the “3 times faster than a normal Zaku” line from the original series.

Char Custom itself refers to Char’s tendency to highly customize standard Mobile Suits to his exact specifications and generally making the said units far more potent than normal. This usually involves him coloring his suits red, which led some people to go as far as to label anything red “Char-custom”, and to make vague references to the “3 times more potent” line in the original Gundam series (e.g. A red pencil might write 3 times faster, or is 3 times more likely to break).

Bandai has capitalized on Char’s popularity by licensing out his name to various products. There has been a Char-custom laptop, Char-custom Nintendo Gamecube, and a Char-custom motorbike helmet. All these products have a red satin finish, and have the goldleaf Zeon insignia or the emblem of Char’s Neo-Zeon emblazoned on them.

A Char-custom Game Boy Advance SP was also created in Japan (with many sources claiming its battery will last 3 times as long as the normal GBA, or even that it will crash 3 times as much). On July 25, 2006, GE Consumer Finance released a Char Custom credit card, which receives three times as many bonus points per 1000 yen spent compared to their other Gundam-related credit cards [1].

If one looks at popular Japanese culture as well, one can see the impact the Red Comet has made even outside of Gundam. For instance, one may note the characters of Ken Masters of the Street Fighter series and of Zero of the Mega Man X series of video games, both of whom are crimson clad blondes who play the role of the “second main character” or “rival” to the protagonist.

Even going further, another example could be Seifer Almasy of Final Fantasy VIII. Although not clad in red, Seifer bears a resemblance to Char as he appears in Char’s Counterattack and has a scar across his forehead to symbolize his eternal rivalry to the games’ protagonist Squall Leonhart. In fact, the symbol of a “Red Rival” has become one of Japanese pop cultures’ most widely used archetypes.

Even suggestions of Char’s influence can be traced to Armored Core, in which, the ace pilot Nine Ball is known to sport red, and is the genre’s mancing identity. Even Square-Enix, the role-playing game juggernaut, had a red-suited pilot figure in its mecha-oriented RPG Xenogears in the form of the prince Bartholomew Fatima who himself was stripped from a seat of power and is almost an exact Char. Char is truly an iconic character to the Japanese.

In a planned spaceflight for 2006, Soyuz TMA-9, a Japanese internet investor named Daisuke Enomoto had asked to dress up as Char Aznable. However, medical restrictions prevented him from participating in the flight.

An episode of the anime series School Rumble features an extended Gundam parody, most notably introducing a character named Harry McKenzie. Harry is modelled after Char, including his appearance (highly similar to Char’s Quattro persona), sunglasses, penchant for wearing red, and ownership of a red motorcycle with the kanji “Hyaku” (from the MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki). Harry is friends with Tougou Masakazu, who resembles a younger Anavel Gato and shares Gato’s penchant for rousing speeches.

In many Mega Man games, Dr.Light’s first prototype robot and Mega Man’s brother,Proto Man is known to share the same characteristics of Char due to his red colors and hidden indentity like his shades to cover his eyes(similiar in a way Char or “Quattro” during Universal Century 0087 does it), Proto Man from Mega Man Battle Network also shares the same treatment but slightly different.

In the video game, Star Fox 64 for the Nintendo 64 game system features a level called “Sector Y” which contains many mechs that launched from battleships and wielding beam rifles and shields that were very similiar to many mobile suits from Gundam, one of these mechs had Char Aznable’s indentical red colors and is said by Peppy “He’s quick, becareful!” meaning the similiar speed of many red mobile suits used by Char told on this mech.

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