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Lalah Sune is a fictional character from the anime series Gundam, voiced by Keiko Han. This young woman is one of the test subjects hailed from the Flanagan Institute, a Zeon research organization created to investigate the gifted humans known as Newtypes. She is the “star student” of Professor Flanagan due to her strong Newtype abilities, and as such is one of the key test subjects in the development of Newtype-related weaponry. Her powers are accompanied by a profound spiritual awareness.

Despite her gentle nature, Lalah is fiercely loyal to the man who saved her life - Char Aznable, the scheming “Red Comet”, who found her in an Indian brothel where she worked after losing her parents in the war. She was assigned to pilot the Newtype use mobile armor Elmeth as a part of the Newtype research project conducted by the Flanagan Institute. Although not stated in the original episodes, Lalah is ranked as an ensign under Char.

Lalah and Amuro first met on Side 6. Amuro was attracted to her with his Newtype powers and found Lalah in a house near to a lake, where they spoke briefly before Amuro had to go.

They met again some time after when Amuro’s jeep got stuck in the mud. Another vehicle pulled over and offered to help him. Aboard it was Lalah and incredibly, Char Aznable, Amuro’s rival (the two had not yet seen each other face to face).

Lalah left a profound impact on Amuro and was considered his first great love. During the MAN-08 Elmeth’s test run which saw its newtype “Bits” weaponry wreak havoc on the Federal Fleet guarding the newly-captured Zeon base Solomon, Amuro in the Gundam engaged the Elmeth but found out the pilot was Lalah. Both then realized they were soulmates and shared a “newtype bonding”, a sort of telepathic bond.

Unfortunately Char arrived and chastised Lalah for “consorting with the enemy” and raised his beam naginata to strike down Amuro’s wingman Sayla Mass, piloting the G-Booster jet. Lalah told Char to stop, for she sensed the pilot was Char’s sister Artesia (Sayla Mass is her alias) and he hesitated but this gave Amuro the opportunity to sever the weapon arm of Char’s Gelgoog, rendering it unarmed.

Amuro went for the killing stab but Lalah knocked away Char and took the fatal blow. This has a profound effect on both men, as their rivalry escalates from a professional to a very personal one which culminated in the movie Char’s Counterattack.

Although she died before the end of the One Year War, Lalah Sune’s spirit occasionally returns from beyond the grave to haunt both Char and Amuro Ray, as seen in Char’s Counterattack.

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In the fictional Mobile Suit Gundam series, Kycilia Zabi (or Kishiria Zabi) was the only daughter of Degwin Sodo Zabi. Sources disagree as to whether she was second-eldest after her brother Gihren Zabi or next-to-youngest before her brother Garma Zabi.

Kycilia was quick to adapt to the changing technology of the One Year War, and was equally proficient in gathering intelligence for use against the Federation. She was in charge of the Principality’s Mobile Suit Forces, and was responsible for their use against the Federation. In addition, she was responsible for the creation of numerous elite Mobile Suit units, including Char Aznable’s 300th Independent Corps (aka Char’s Newtype Corps), the hand-picked Chimera Corps, and the Midnight Fenrir covert ops team.

She is portrayed ambiguously during both the main series, and the various side stories surrounding the One Year War, with her motives often open to question. On the one hand, she is shown to be fiercely loyal to the people of Zeon, and to the men under her command. Many of her actions, however, can also be interpreted as those of a charismatic, but utterly merciless manipulator of the highest order, preparing for a military coup.

Not much is known about Kycilia’s youth, but she is known to have grown up on Side 3, where she first met Johnny Ridden.

During the Battle of Luom, she ordered her fleet to withdraw as soon as the main engagement was over, allowing her brother’s fleets the “glory” of mopping-up the Federation’s retreating troops while preserving the lives of the men under her own command. A veteran of the battle, Lt. Cdr Gerhart Schmeisser (who had been too seriously wounded in the fight to continue active combat piloting), approched her during the Antarctic Treaty cease-fire. He proposed the formation of a small Earth-bound covert-operations unit, to be named the Midnight Fenrir corps. She immediately approved.

Her activities during the first half of the One Year War are poorly documented, and neither she nor her forces encountered the White Base or its crew until much later. Her activities, in fact, are poorly documented even in Gundam’s extensive side-story material. If she appears at all, it is often as an aloof patroness, with little dialog.

In the latter half of the One Year War she took Char Aznable under her wing after Dozle Zabi dismissed Char from his regiment for failing to protect Garma. With her support, he proceeded to form the 300th Independent Corps, gathering Newtypes from Zeon-held territory and prototype Mobile Armors from the Flanagan Institute.

When Degwin attempted to negotiate a peace with the Federation’s General Revil, Kycilia was enroute to the location with her fleet in case the negotiations failed. Her fleet’s sensors picked up the IR signature of the firing of the Solar Ray, but she was unaware of the death of her father until Gihren told her, also claiming that the firing of the weapon was an accident.

As the opening shots of the Battle of A Baoa Qu were fired, however, Gihren Zabi finally confessed to Kycilia that he killed their father, Degwin. Kycilia promptly executed Gihren with a single shot to the head, and took control of all Zeon forces during the battle. As the defenses began to falter, she gave the order for the Zeon forces to retreat, and for the defenders of A Baoa Qu to surrender 15 minutes after her escape. Just before she left, however, Char Aznable decapitated her by firing a rocket launcher through the window of the Chimera, her flagship.

The ship was destroyed only moments later by Federation warships, the crew unable to communicate Char’s treachery to the fleet. Without her leadership, the Zeon fleet rapidly fell into disarray, with individual commanders recovering what suits and pilots they could, then fleeing; others fighting to the death, believing their commander to still be alive but unable to escape.

There is some debate as to the nature of her relationship with ace pilot Johnny Ridden, however, they appear to share a courtly love. He refers to himself as as her knight, and uses the symbol of a unicorn as a dedication to her. Immediately before his sortie at A Baoa Qu, Ridden hands her a hand-carved amulet of a unicorn, an heirloom from his grandfather, which she accepts as a token and secures to her pistol. When she shoots Gihren, however, she is seen discarding the amulet - perhaps in the belief that she is no longer “pure” and worthy of the Unicorn.

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Gihren Zabi (also spelled Giren) is a fictional character, and antagonist from the universe of the Gundam anime series. He was voiced by the veteran seiyu, Banjo Ginga in the original Japanese version.

One of the heads of the Principality of Zeon, Gihren is the oldest son of Degwin Sodo Zabi, the ruler of Zeon and the instigator of the war with Earth. With the death of Degwin’s favorite son Garma Zabi in battle, Degwin withdraws from day to day duties as Zeon’s leader which effectively made Gihren the leader of Zeon.

This was most evident in the speech Gihren gave at Garma’s state funeral. This speech was notable for possibly being the debut of the trademark salute “Sieg Zeon!” (literally translated as “Victorious Zeon”). Giren was gifted with a high IQ (240) and ingenious oratory abilities. He and his sister Kycilia were constantly at odds with each other as both had similar political goals but different methods.

Although Gihren was successful in reducing his father’s role to that of a figurehead ruler, he must still endure Degwin’s critisicms and scorn. Degwin saw Gihren as little more than an updated version of historical dictator Adolf Hitler (a role that Gihren was all too happy to take to heart.)

Gihren’s own father compared him to Hitler, which may not be completely inaccurate. Like Hitler, Gihren appeared to believe in a ’survival of the fittest’ mentality and that the ‘Superior Race’ should rule over the inferior ones (the superior race being Spacenoids from Side 3 and the inferior the Earthnoids). He also shared Hitler’s gift for oratory and manipulation, taking the reins of power from his father behind the scenes the way Hitler did with the German president of his day.

Unluckily for Gihren, he also had a number of Hitler’s personality flaws, such as an over-reliance on miracle weapons to turn the tide against numerically superior foes. By this logic, the assorted super weapons such as the MA-08 Big Zam and Apsalus Project Mobile Armours can be seen as analogies of the V1 and V2 rocket-bombs used by the Third Reich. Like Hitler, he also greatly overestimated the capability of his forces. This was shown during the final battle of the One Year War, when despite his claims of superiority his forces were overcome by those of the Federation.

In an effort to circumvent the Antarctic treaty (forbidding nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and colony drops on Earth), Gihren’s most ambitious project was the Solar Ray cannon. This consisted of a hollowed-out colony cylinder rebuilt into a giant carbon dioxide laser with the ability to destroy entire fleets.

Gihren learned that Degwin, tired of the war, decided to take his personal fleet to a designated area in space where he would meet the fleet of Earth Federation representative General Revill and discuss peace negotiations. Gihren arranged for an accidental firing of the Solar Ray which destroyed Degwin and Revill’s entire fleet. However, this may have cost Gihren one of his tactical advantages, as the premature firing burned the laser out.

Kycilia, eventually learning that the death of her father was no mere accident, personally executes Gihren for the crime of patricide. As a result, she takes over during Battle of A Baoa Qu. This resulted in many Gihren loyalists withdrawing from the battlefield.

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In the fictional universe of Mobile Suit Gundam, Garma Zabi is the youngest son of Sovereign Degwin Sodo Zabi. He is also the commander of the Zeon Earth Attack Force.

The handsome young Garma is as ravishingly suave as his siblings are ugly and unattractive and, unfortunately for him, as naïve as they are experienced and calculating. He is loved greatly by the Zeon people and is clearly his father’s favourite child, acting mainly as the commander of the North American Zeon forces under the command of his brother Dozle Zabi, residing temporarily in California.

Garma is also carrying on a doomed romance with Icelina Eschonbach, the daughter of the former mayor of New York City. When his old military academy schoolmate and best friend Char Aznable lands on Earth in pursuit of the White Base, which was forced off course during a space battle and landed smack dab in the stomach of Zeon controlled territory, Garma eagerly gives the Red Comet his support and that’s when the beloved Zabi scion’s naïveté shines brightest.

 Overly eager to prove himself to his sister Kycilia and hell-bent on becoming a hero to his people, Garma fails to ever see the vengeance-motivated treachery that burns within Char against the Zabi family, until it was far too late.

When Garma launches his Gaw MS carrier fleet and Char, scouting in his Zaku, notices that White Base is burrowed in an old half-destroyed sports dome, he tells Garma that the White Base is in front of his fleet….when, in truth, it was behind his fleet! The White Base’s near-endless and brutal attack on Garma’s Gaw Fleet is swift and relentless, taking a shocked Garma by earth-shaking spirit-crushing surprise.

It is in these final moments that Char passionately confesses his treachery, following his confession of a desire for vengeance with a maniacal laugh. Desperate and enraged, Garma takes control of his ships helm and attempts a kamikaze run onto the White Base as the barrage goes on, only to be killed in a blaze of glory before getting even close.

His heroic death comes as a shock to his family, his father Degwin and brother Dozle in particular. A magnificent funeral service is held for him in which his eldest brother Gihren uses Garma’s death as propaganda in his famous “Sieg Zeon” speech. From then on, taking vengeance for Garma’s death becomes a priority for Earth bound Zeon officer Ramba Ral and his troop as they assume pursuit of the White Base.

In some of the Gihren’s Greed series of strategy games, it is possible to prevent Garma’s death. Gihren’s Greed: The Blood of Zeon (Dreamcast, Playstation) has a bonus scenario in which Garma succeeds the Zabi family and leads the “New Zeon”; his opposition consists of the Earth Federation and Char’s Neo Zeon. However, in the Playstation 2 version of Gihren’s Greed, Garma’s fate is inevitable, though through the right choices players can prevent the deaths of Ramba Ral and the Black Tri-Stars.

Garma’s death is also preventable in the Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam video game. Through beating Haman Karn’s defualt scenario, several OYW pilots are unlocked, including Garma. Garma’s scenario allows him to survive the One Year War and escape to Axis, which, along with doing the same with most of the others, unlocks a special scenario where Axis returns earlier, and greatly strengthened.

In Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, while the plot elements concerning Garma’s death play out essentially the same, the action is shifted from New York to Los Angeles. Garma is headquartered at Los Angeles City Hall, and lives somewhere in the Hollywood/Beverly Hills area. Garma is stated in the manga to have died in his Gaw over Long Beach, California.

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In the fictional Mobile Suit Gundam series, Dozle Zabi is the second oldest son of Degwin Sodo Zabi and the Principality of Zeon’s Space Attack Force Commander. His job during the war was to move fleets to and from various points in space to help the Zeon secure victory during the One Year War, not unlike the American Fleet Admirals of World War II.

Tall, burly and scarred, Dozle casts a fearsome appearance at first glance but he is actually one of the more likeable of the Zabi clan. Gregarious and good natured, Dozle is a good man to his troops. He is also a devoted, loving family man and has a wife Zena and baby daughter Mineva. Dozle is closest to his younger brother Garma and actually looks forward to the day when Garma becomes an Admiral in his own right.

Dozle dismisses Char Aznable from his division, blaming him (though not suspecting him of foul play) for incompetence in the battle that resulted in Garma’s death. Dozle especially despises his sister Kycilia and this feeling is only increased when she takes Char under her wing.

Dozle is revered by his troops in the Space Attack Force for personally leading them in battle. He and his bodyguard and close friend Shin Matsunaga were known to stage frontline “inspections” in his custom MS-06F Zaku II mobile suit, which typically became impromptu raids on nearby Earth Federation forces.

Dozle’s command center is located in the heart of the asteroid Solomon (later renamed Konpei Island by the Federation), and it is here that Dozle made his last stand. Late in UC0079 the Federation launched an offensive against Solomon, utilizing their remaining Salamis and Magellan class vessels.

When the Federation’s Public class boats successfully deployed their beam dispertion smoke, Dozle ordered the mandatory evactuation of all non-essential personnel. At the same time the Federation deployed its first Solar System array at Solomon, which destroyed anything attempting to leave.

Dozle mounted his own mobile armor, the MA-08 Big Zam, and flew out to buy time for the evacuees, and shortly there after was engaged by the Federation’s Gundam mobile suit. Even after the Gundam disabled the big Zam, Dozle still exited the cockpit and began firing at the Gundam with a machine gun. He was caught in the subsequent explosion of the Big Zam and killed in action. His death marked the beginning of the end for Zeon forces in space.

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Degwin Sodo Zabi is a fictional character in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam universe. He was the absolute dictator of the Principality of Zeon and came to power in UC 0068 after the suspicious death of Zeon (Zion/Jion) Deikun.

Degwin was Zeon’s chief of staff and claimed that on his deathbed, Zeon, with his dying words, declared Degwin his successor. Given this much, general consensus tends to automatically connect Degwin Zabi with the sudden death of Zeon Deikun. But nothing concrete has ever been uncovered.

Degwin initiated a purge of Deikun loyalists and declared Side 3 colony the Principality of Zeon and himself as Archduke. He initiated a war with the Earth Federation and set his children up in high ranking positions.

While initially fiercely promoting war with the Federation, Degwin is also consumed by the intrafamilial feuding between his ambitious children, most notably Gihren and Kycilia.

Also, Degwin never recovers from the death of his youngest and most unspoiled son Garma. He falls into a depression and leaves most of the day to day operations to Gihren, his eldest. As a result, Gihren effectively becomes the self styled “fuhrer” of Zeon, leaving Degwin as little more than a figurehead.

Although Gihren dismisses his father as a tired old man, Degwin does not hide his disgust for Gihren’s ruthlessness. Never having any respect for Gihren’s lofty ideals, Degwin once humiliated his son by stating that he would never be Zeon’s idea of a Newtype but only a caricature of Adolf Hitler. And he anticipated that as with Hitler, Gihren’s own followers will eventually want to kill him.

Although Degwin gives Giren approval for the Solar Ray laser project, Degwin is genuinely tired of war and arranges for a meeting with General Revil to discuss peace negotiations. When the two sides’ fleets arrive at the neutral area for discussion, Giren arranges for an “accidental” firing of the Solar Ray laser that incinerates his flagship, The Great Degwin, as well as the flagship of General Revil and much of their accompanying fleets.

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Crowley Hamon (Hamon Ral) was a character in the classic anime TV series Mobile Suit Gundam.

The elegant and attractive Crowley Hamon served as an aide to Ramba Ral. Crowley was also Ramba Ral’s lover and he affectionately referred to her as “Lady Hamon”. Crowley Hamon mainly stayed on the bridge of the Gallop and helped to coordinate Ramba Ral’s guerilla attacks while he was out fighting.

Forever devoted to Ramba Ral, Hamon decided to attack the White Base after Ramba Ral was killed in a boarding action against the assault carrier. Using the hovering top turret of a Magella Attack Tank, Crowley was able to come close to destroying the Gundam, but was killed when a wounded Ryu Jose crashed his Core Fighter into the Magella Top, killing them both.

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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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Tem Ray is a character from the fictional Gundam science fiction anime universe, and is the father of Amuro Ray. He is considered to be the scientific mind behind the Federation’s Mobile Suit (V Project) series, and the creator of the original RX-78-2 Gundam.

Tem Ray’s birthplace is unknown, but like Amuro it is thought to be somewhere between Japan and the East Coast of the United States. As for Tem’s personal life, he married Amuro’s mother, Kamaria and led a normal life when he was not serving in the EFSF. Sometime before the One Year War, Tem was called up to research and develop weapons for the EFSF at Side 7 and took his son with him, much to Kamaria’s dismay.

Once at Side 7 he began research and had to leave his son in the care of the neighbor girl Frau Bow while he went away on government business. Sometime before and during the OYW, Tem began construction of MS with the blessings of the EFSF and headed the “V Project”.

When the project was in its final stages Tem was sent to report to Jaburo to receive the Pegasus-class assault carrier White Base and bring it to Side 7, where he was to collect its MS compliment. On the way to Side 7, the ship was followed by a Zeon Musai-class cruiser commanded by Char Aznable, who stumbled upon the White Base while returning from a mission of his own.

Once docked at Side 7, Tem immediately set off to transfer the mobile suits. However, one of the Zeon Zakus that infiltrated the colony went against order and decided to launch attack on the dock. In the ensuing chaos, Tem’s son, Amuro ran out of the refugee shelter and called out to him.

Despite being very happy to see his son, Tem coldly ordered Amuro to evacuate to White Base, then went off with another officer to find a tractor in order to complete the transfer of the remaining MS component. Being desperate, Amuro jumped into Gundam Unit 2, managed to start it up and began awkwardly engaging the Zakus.

He slashed a Zaku in half with Gundam’s beam saber, causing the Zaku’s reactor to explode, blowing a huge hole in the colony’s hull. Tem and his assistant were sucked out into outer space. Sometime after, he was rescued by a shuttle and sent to one of the neighboring sides where he received medical treatment, but he never recovered from the brain damage caused by the long period of oxygen deprivation.

During the last encounter with his son, Amuro found Tem residing in a junkyard in Side 6. Tem congratulated him for doing a good job and gave him a piece of machinery, saying it would enhance Gundam’s power.

In an ambigious scene in the movie trilogy, Tem fell down a stairwell while celebrating Amuro’s victory (which was broadcasted on Side 6’s television media). It is possible that he died from head trauma in this scene, but the viewer is never explicitly told whether he died or simply passed out.

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Slegger Law is a fictional character in the Mobile Suit Gundam anime series.

Slegger was a late addition to the series. An ace pilot and brilliant gunner for the Earth Federation Forces, as well as a man of a strong, cheerful, flirtatious and brutally honest personality, Slegger joins the White Base crew and fights along with them, until his death in battle against the Big Zam during the Battle of Solomon.

He had a brief romance with White Base navigator Mirai Yashima. However, Sleggar felt that Mirai was too wonderful and deserved better than someone like him, so he rejected further advancement in their relationship, but he did give her the ring that inherited from his mother, shortly before his last ever sortie.

In Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s Gundam the Origin, Slegger first appears during Char Aznable’s invasion of the Federation’s Jaburo HQ. In this adaptation, Law pilots a customized GM unit.

In the strategy game Gundam: Gihren no Yabou, if Sleggar survives the One Year War, he will resurface in the second half of the game as a member of the AEUG alongside his former White Base compatriots, wearing a Zeta Gundam era pilot suit in blue (his personal color) and yet in conversing with some of his teammates (e.g. Amuro, Sayla) he is considered to not have changed much from his carefree personality seven years ago.

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Sayla Mass (Seira Masu) is a fictional character from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam, voiced by You Inoue (Japanese) and Alaina Burnett (English). At the beginning of the Mobile Suit Gundam TV series, Sayla is a civilian of Side 7, who comes abroad the mobile cruiser White Base along with Amuro Ray, Fraw Bow and Hayato Kobayashi. Sayla is a Newtype like Amuro, though a weak one.

Originally a medical student on Side 7, Sayla is almost immediately recruited as an enlisted soldier, and set to the task of watching over the civilian refugees. With the near total lack of experienced personnels to defend White Base (most were KIA in Zeon’s Side 7 attack), Bright Noa assigns Sayla to the multiple positions of communications officer, navigator, and finally combat pilot.

Soon after joining the ship, she begins to repeatedly look for her brother “Casval”, and takes every opportunity to learn information about him and make contact. When Bright picks up a chest of gold bars intended for Sayla, she admits that her true identity is Artesia Som Deikun, sister to Casval Rem Deikun (better known as Char Aznable), and the only daughter of Zeon Zum Deikun, the founder of the Republic of Zeon.

At the beginning of the series, Sayla and Amuro share little common screen time, as Amuro is nominally paired with Fraw, and later develops a crush on Lt. Matilda Ajan. But during a battle against Ramba Ral, Sayla steals the Gundam in order to make contact with Char, and is heavily battered in combat against Ramba’s troops.

Reaching the battle area, Amuro immediately rescues her from the assault. Though Sayla is punished for the incident, Bright and Matilda both recognize Sayla’s latent abilities and she is assigned as Amuro’s co-pilot with G-Fighters (Corebooster in the Movie).

This pairing affords the two time to interact alone and learn to trust one another. Despite other male characters’ attempts to make advances upon Sayla, she seems to confide in Amuro, and the two grow very close emotionally.

During the battle of A Baoa Qu at the end of the original series, Sayla finds Char and Amuro dueling in a fierce sword fight. Worried over the safety of both of them, she breaks the two apart. A series of explosions then separates the three of them.

Sayla returns to Char, who wishes to find and kill Amuro. But upon seeing the pain in her eyes over his attacking Amuro, Char asks Sayla to leave the battlefield and go to the young pilot. Sayla (through Amuro’s telepathic guidance) escapes A Baoa Qu and is reunited with the White Base crew.

But to her horror she finds Amuro missing. Trying to convince herself that he isn’t dead, she cries tears of sadness and regret at his apparent loss. Luckily Amuro flies out of A Baoa Qu safe and unharmed. After he ejects from his Core Fighter, it is Sayla who welcomes him back with open arms.

Given the somewhat intimate scenes in the series between Sayla and Amuro, the fact that Fraw is soon to be married to Hayato, and that in the novel series (penned by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino) Sayla and Amuro are romantically and sexually involved, Sayla may have originally been intended to be Amuro’s soulmate and future girlfriend/wife.

However, this was not to be so. In the novelization, Amuro is killed while battling Char out in space. And in subsequent Gundam series, Amuro is paired with other leading women, effectively reducing Sayla to secondary character status.

Because of her voice actress You Inoue being on safari in Africa while Zeta Gundam was produced, Sayla only appeared in non-speaking cameos in this series (e.g. in episode 37, during Char’s speech), and Amuro was romantically involved with Irma Beltorchika.

A conversation between Amuro and Fraw Bow, however, indicates that Amuro and Sayla had spent some time together after the One Year War. Fraw even urges Amuro to consider proposing marriage to Sayla, but Amuro does not act upon this advice.

In Gundam ZZ, Sayla showed up mid-way through the series with Judau Ashta’s (presumed dead) younger sister, Leina. Within the last 3 episodes, she appears again, bringing Leina with her to see Bright Noa, where she passes him a letter from his family, and asks what he’s heard of Char. She also commented that Char has distorted their father’s ideal, implying Char’s future action in the Second Neo-Zeon War.

Finally, in Char’s Counterattack, Sayla doesn’t make a single appearance. However in a flashback of the One Year War, Char comments that if his sister hadn’t been there when he was fighting Amuro in space, Lalah Sune may have not been killed.

She did appear, however, at the end of the third Zeta Gundam compilation movie. She is seen relaxing on a leisure chair in her bathing suit conversing with Kai.

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Ryu Jose  is a fictional character from the 1979 anime series Mobile Suit Gundam. He was voiced by Shozo Iizuka in the original Japanese and by Ward Perry in the English dub.

A large, stocky man with a dusky complexion, Ryu was a test pilot-in-training for the Earth Federation on Side 7. When the colony was attacked by Char Aznable, Ryu took control of the Core Fighter jet to protect the White Base.

Being a gentle, caring, considerate comrade, Ryu was the best mediator to ease the tension between the uptight Bright Noa and the young civilian recruits. He was loved by all aboard the White Base.

Ryu was killed during the White Base’s attack from Crowley Hamon. A critically wounded Ryu (previously from firefights during Ramba Ral’s attempted boarding attack) drove his Core Fighter kamikaze-style into Hamon’s fighter in order to save the life of Amuro Ray as well as the crew of the White Base.

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