Thanks to the arrival of Pacific Rim Uprising this retiring weekend , there ’s been a flock of public lecture about gargantuan robots and the people who aviate them . But here ’s an always welcome reminder : No mech pilot in the sensitive has ever topped the magnificence that is Gundam ’s Char Aznable .
The antagonist of the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime television series and rival of the series ’ bomber , Amuro Ray ( as well as a recurring figure throughout its follow up Zeta Gundam , the concluding moving-picture show Char ’s Counterattack , and the spinoffs Gundam : The Origin and Char ’s Deleted Affair ) , Char is one of Gundam ’s most famous and beloved characters , and one of the most influential characters in the music genre .
It ’s not hard to see why . He has a bohemian charisma and elbow room more appeal than any of Mobile Suit Gundam ’s actual heroes . He ’s go an arsenal of rad , often deep red - coat mechsthat he putter to his exact , specific demands , turning otherwise mediocre wandering causa into lightning - fast monsters . Hell , even his feel — the red officer ’s uniform , the iconic masque and helmet — is fashionable as Hades and unlike any other character in the original series . There ’s a reason “ Char Clone ” is an Zanzibar copal image , one so striking that even the Gundam franchise itself has dip into it over the years , multiple times . He ’s a consummate spousal relationship between a classic retaliation story and first-class design . But while all those thing are good and true , here ’s the real deal about what makes Char Aznable so awing : He ’s a entire , total bastard , and he does n’t give a damn about it .
Char has reasonably sound reason to be one , too , yield his complicated backstory . accept Casval Rem Daikun , Char was orphaned alongside his sister at a young age when his father , a spectacular politician , was murdered by a rival family name the Zabi . From then on , Char give himself to two things : transmit on his father ’s legacy of ushering in humanity ’s phylogeny into spacebound , enhanced humans known as Newtypes — and wiping every last goddam Zabi out of existence .
The first of those things is what leads him to become Amuro ’s rival in Mobile Suit Gundam in the first spot ; they happen themselves on opposing side of meat in a war between Earth and the princedom of Zeon , a cluster of autonomous space colonies . But over the course of the series it ’s slowly uncover that Char does n’t really handle about the ongoing conflict with Earth , and has always been solve rather to take out members of the Zabi family that now rule Zeon one by one , using his position in Zeon ’s military as a cover . He claims his first smash against them by cheat one of Zeon ’s commanders , Garma Zabi — who Char has in reality known since childhood , striking up a friendship with him solely for the purpose of getting closer to the sept — and then get Garma fuck he ’s denounce him in his dying moments , with a parting command to “ pick this on the misfortune of your birth . ” Which is aboveboard already pretty fantastic , but it leads to an even practiced mo whenChar ride in a Browning automatic rifle watching Garma ’s funeralon tv set , wearing cool nicety and mocking Garma while sip on his drunkenness like a total dork :
nether region , by the end of the show , when Amuro and Char ’s contention seethe over , leading to duel with both their Mobile Suits and then sword - to - sword ( because , duh , why not ) , Char realizes that his whole fight with Amuro is nothing more than a distraction from killing the Zabi . This leads to him promptly peace out of their duel , grab a Eruca vesicaria sativa launcher , and then take out the last surviving Zabi , Kycilia , by headshotting her from outside her flagship with aforementioned projectile catapult :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJN4-dZBNa4
Char is a complete and utter badass , but what name him a glorious whoreson is that he ’s well , such a round about it all . He does n’t really care about anything other than get his revenge , and then rubbing that retaliation into the Zabis ’ faces . That , and have amazing ruby custom mechas to fly around in .
After Mobile Suit Gundam , Char misplace a little bite of his trollish glee , having completed his revenge against the Zabi . By the meter of Zeta Gundam Char eventually becomes a bit of anti - hero , working with his former rivals in the fight against a totalitarian anti - Newtype Earth force . But when he returns one last time in Char ’s counterplay , he ’s a full on insane villain , hoping to spark humankind ’s evolution into Newtypes by rendering Earth itself uninhabitable .
But regardless of which version of Char is in the pilot film seat , his ability to pair excellent elephantine automaton fly with charismatic swagger — in Mobile Suit Gundam ’s case , swaggie deployed for the function of taunting his hated contender — is what ’s made him one of the most enduring chassis in the enfranchisement ’s total history . And it ’s why so few mech pilots since have add up closely to matching his excellency .
Giant RobotsMobile Suit Gundam
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