Black Rider - Tumblr Posts
Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Missing Link - Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by 歪エムエス
I kinda want to do a post about my feelings on Mobile Suit Gundam Code: Fairy, but I’m just gonna start off with the MS designs, since I’ve got a lot to say on those relative to everything else.
First up: the Earth Federation Forces
I do like the Black and White Riders. Of course, they’re pale rider variants (prototypes in-universe), but I think they do a good job of looking and acting good. They both continue in the theme of the early rider units being patterned after the Four Horsemen of the apocalypse, being pestilence (the white rider with a bow and crown) and famine (the black rider with a set of scales). Though I don’t really have a favourite of the two, (the white rider has a wonderfully Gundam-like face and the crown is gorgeous, while the black rider actually kinda nails the whole “tacticool” look with its faceplate and arms) I will admit that the black rider opens up a whole can of worms because it has an actual stealth system. Not like, just weapons suited for stealth or sloped armour to reduce visibility like the Efreet Nacht, a genuine cloaking field.
For context, those (to the best of my knowledge) just straight-up are not really a thing in Universal Century. Minovsky particles kinda nix most long-range weaponry, hence why mobile suits are a thing. If you want to be stealthy, you typically go the route of removing emissions (as the Efreet nacht does with its lack of heat weapons) or having camouflage to reduce the chances of visual detection. Spotters are a big thing in lots of UC works. So the Black Rider being able to just “*poof* invisible” is a really odd thing in context. I can only assume (in-universe) it wasn’t practical at all, or it only worked early on, and improvements in technology eventually made it infeasible.
Even putting that aside, they’re not perfect. Heat weaponry is…. Basically nonexistent on Federation suits, so it’s inclusion here is a little odd. But the main flaw with the suits is that they’re just not well utilised. They essentially function as expendable grunts for the main villain. They don’t even have named pilots. Furthermore, Rider units are kind of a big deal, being very rare and quite powerful. So this one random force just having them - even if they are former prototypes - is just kinda odd, and it’s never addressed why they have them.
Note: I am aware that the Manga has put a face to the pilot of the white rider. But that and the fact that the manga exists are literally the only facts I know, so I’m not counting it.
The GM Spartan’s then.
Honestly, they’re nice, but they’re not really my thing. I do love a lot of the Fukuchi Mobile Suit Station designs, but I honestly prefer the original artwork (below) to the design they went with here. It’s not bad, but it’s obviously taking just as much influence from the GM Sniper II (if not more) than it is from the original artwork. It’s not equipped with any specialist weaponry in-game however. The unit on the left is the RG version, customised by use of the Game’s villain, Renato Germi (I would spoiler-tag that, but it’s very obvious). I actually like this design, since it could’ve been a very effective use of visual storytelling - Gundam-style parts are higher-quality than regular ones, so could have been used to signify that Renato has friends in high places that can get him fancier equipment. Or it could’ve been used as an effective contrast to the other Gundam pilot in the game. However, unfortunately, neither opportunity was used. It does however, remain a nice design.
The Gundam Pixy/Pixie is, has and always will be, one of my favourite designs in Gundam. Granted, I have a lot of favourites (as I’ll get to later), but the Pixy is just wonderful. Something about a close-quarters focused, lightweight, light cost version of the RX-78-2 with a decent weapons loadout just appeals to me.
The problem with variations on your favourite designs is that you tend to be a lot harsher on them, since they’re trying to improve on perfection. The Gundam Pixy Lilith Aiden Custom is very very good. I wouldn’t say I prefer it to the original, and I do think it’s a smidge overarmed, but the design of the mech itself I think was handled very well. It’s easier to see when comparing them in-game, but the entire chest and head area has been remodelled and a small shield has been added to the arm. It’s really very well-done, giving the impression of adding armour to something that was originally lacking it. The fact that it makes it look slightly closer to the original art is a bonus in my book.
The original Pixy is armed with Vulcans, two beam daggers, then either a bullpup machinegun or two 90mm machine guns that look like Uzis. It’s a very light armament for a suit that specialises in getting in close. The Pixy LA is armed with Vulcans, two beam Sabers, a twin beam spear (shown in the above image), a rocket bazooka and a handheld beam gun. Two of those weapons are quite large and unwieldy, so I don’t really think such a machine can still be called lightweight. This is the first of a trend of taking established, specialised designs and making them more generalised, which I’m personally none too fond of.
I don’t really think it needed to be red, since honestly the pilot has very little in common with char, so it only serves as a “rival” unit.
And with all the unique Earth Federation units out of the way, let’s move on to our protagonists in Zeon in the next post, because I ran out of pictures.
Note: This is Part 2 of a post on the Pale Rider Seies. Part 1 discusses the original Pale Rider and it’s design.
Before beginning though I would like to mention that, while the actual number of Gundam’s running around the One Year War is largely set in stone, the Pale Riders are pretty much always deniable assets, with much of the information destroyed or lost. As such, new models are introduced on a semi regular basis, with the White and Black Riders being the most recent to my knowledge.
So, how about those other Rider units, then?
The White Rider was the first (in-universe) machine manufactured under the Pale Rider Plan. It is not equipped with a HADES system, but is instead equipped with the earlier ZEUS system (oh… I see what you did there). Which instead of hijacking the pilot like HADES, instead acts as a sort of really good fire control system. This is also the reason for the crown and more Gundam-like face. The system has not yet been miniaturised, and thus extrudes from the head quite considerably. It is armed with the Prototype Shekinah, which houses a Gatling gun and High-output Beam Cannon. The Shekinah was found to work fine, but the High-Output beam cannon severely limited the suit’s ability to use other beam weapons (and was quite frankly overkill), so the output was ratcheted down in future iterations. Because of this, the White Rider is armed with a heat sabre, styled after a rapier, as opposed to any beam sabers. I’m genuinely not that sure what the “cloak” on its left arm is for. It could be extra armour, but I seem to recall reading it was cooling apparatus/balancing for the Beam Cannon at some point, so I’m not sure. I’ve chatted about it’s design in a post I did on Code Fairy little while back, but in a nutshell, I like. The Beam Cannon being styled like a bow and the crown on its head both evoke the Biblical White Rider Pestilence, who rides a white horse, dons a crown and carries a bow, which is pretty neat. It was given to the Federation’s Black Dog Team after testing, and deployed against Zeon’s Noisy Fairy.
Next up, the Red Rider (which has some lovely art of it, by the way). The Second unit produced (by process of elimination) and the one that basically nailed down what the design was going to be. It was built to collect data to fine-tune the final product and was supplied to the Aggressor Squadron. It is fitted with an ARES system (getting a theme here), which… is essentially a baby HADES system, just with a much higher chance of killing the pilot. Because of this, the cockpit is fitted with a heart resuscitation program called “rymm-va”. I have no idea how this passed health and safety, not to mention that if the pilot dies in the suit, Zeon forces could easily capture it and steal valuable federation secrets. Nice job guys. Anyway, the Red Rider is armed with the standard suite of Federation machine guns, a beam saber and two new weapons. One, a 100mm machine gun equipped with beam bayonets, and two, a shield that can unfold and become a Zweihänder (as seen in the upper right image). Which is honestly pretty dang cool. It is designed after - you guessed it - the Biblical Red Rider War, who rides a red horse and carries a sword.
Unit 3 of the Rider Plan is the Black Rider. It was built to test a variety of specialised equipment, now that the basic design was down. From the fact that most of it never shows up again, we can assume things didn’t go well (or the data wasn’t properly backed up). It is equipped with a Rail Cannon (identical to the type used by the GM Ground type from M-MSV), heat daggers, a grenades launcher, stun anchor (a sort of electric harpoon similar to weaponry found on the Gouf) and fitted with a unit known as a Steelyard. I’ve talked at length about it’s design and my opinions on the existence of the Steelyard in an earlier post about Code Fairy, but in a nutshell: actual cloaking just isn’t a thing in UC, so this unit having it is very odd. I do love the Black Rider’s design though. It nails that whole “Tacticool” style I see getting thrown about so much lately without falling into the easy trap of going overboard with it. The Steelyard unit itself is styled after a pair of scales - such as the ones used by the Biblical Black Rider Pestilence (to measure the rising cost of grain). It is also equipped with the THEMIS system, which is a weaker version of HADES that removes most of the drawbacks (to my knowledge). Like it’s sibling unit the White Rider, it was eventually handed off to the Black Dog Team after testing, where it was then deployed against Zeon’s Noisy Fairy, and destroyed while attempting to kill Renato Germi, commander of the Black Dog Team.
The last Pale Rider unit deployed during the One Year War was the Pale Rider Cavalry. It was essentially supposed to be the Pale Rider, tweaked and simplified for mass-production after the war as a next-gen mobile suit. It was eventually stolen by the (by this point rogue) Slave Wraith team, but was later damaged and abandoned. It was armed with the Shekinah, a composite weapon made up of a Beam Cannon, Gatling Gun and Missile launcher in order to save costs (essentially a composite of the G04 and G05’ primary weapons, built to look like the Heavy Gundam’s frame Launcher). Other than it existing and having a pretty sweet design, I don’t honestly know a whole lot about it.
But speaking of that pretty sweet design, let’s go over that, shall we? I honestly really like the more Gundam-style design here, with the extra detailing just being wonderful. The Shekinah is a really good integrated weapon, because whatever weapon you want to switch to is going to be aiming at the same target at the one you switched from, so it’s very quick. I do love the Heavy Gundam’s frame launcher anyway, so the Pale Rider Cavalry having one is also nice. The colours evoke the Blue Destiny Unit 3, which is a very advanced and very good mobile suit. It all works so very well together, I think.
The Pale Rider Dullahan was built and deployed in 0080. It is the wreckage of the above pale rider cavalry restored to a functioning state after it was damaged. Unfortunately, since a large amount of the records regarding the Pale Rider had been lost, it was reconstructed without the HADES system. It was armed with a Hyper Beam Rifle/Hyper Bazooka, Heat Lance (taken/spare from the G-line Project) and Guardian Shield (taken from the GM Guard Type). It would be deployed against remnants of Zeon’s Marchosias team, where it would be destroyed in combat against the Pale Rider (VG). It was named the Dullhan after the headless horseman, since it wasn’t equipped with the HADES system. I honestly don’t have a whole lot to say on this one.
What I have considerably more to say on is the Pale Rider DII. It’s a reproduction of the Pale Rider Cavalry, with the Pale Rider Dullahan filling in the parts they don’t have information for (so, again, no HADES System). It was deployed against Zeon Remnant forces (that would eventually become part of the AEUG) in UC 0084. The full story can be found in Anaheim Laboratory Log, but in essence, the Pale Rider DII deploys with some GM’s to take on Two Galbaldy Alpha High Mobility Customs along with a new mobile suit, the Dowas Custom (painted red). The Pale Rider DII gets wrecked (though not destroyed).
The Dowas Custom, while initially appearing to be little more than a supercharged Dom, is actually rather special. It is the first (in-universe) second-generation mobile suit, acting as a carrier for some of the early Axis Zeon’s best technologies, which will in turn be used to develop the Rick Dias, the AEUG’s first mobile suit. So the fact that the Pale Rider, arguably the Zenith of First-Generation Mobile suit tech, loses to it is wonderful. Why? Because it shows that the Pale Rider’s time is over, that a new generation of mobile suits is coming, far superior over what came before. It emphasises just what a big deal the second-gen suits are compared to their forebears, how different things are going to be compared to the One Year War. It’s the first victory of the early AEUG over the titans. I love how the DII is used here as a microcosm of the events surrounding it. (Also it makes me think of a beefed-up GM Quel, which is quite nice).
Last one now. The AMX-18 [HADES] Todesritter. An unapologetic fourth-gen mobile suit, it was built by Neo Zeon using parts from the original Pale Rider, and retains its pilot, Chloe Croce, in addition to the HADES system in its head. It’s armed with Vulcans, Machine cannons, beam sabers, beam guns and so much more. It’s main gun is a hyper Knuckle Buster taken from a Ga-Zowmn, it uses a shield from a Bawoo with built-in mega particle guns, it has the tri-blades used by the Dreissen, and of course Incoms taken from the Döven Wolf. In addition to all this, it has two sub-arms in its shoulders that are used in close-quarters to wield additional beam sabers, such as hyper beam sabers of a similar design to those wielded by the ZZ Gundam. It is a lot. It was deployed by Char’s Neo Zeon in UC 90, against some Glemy Faction remnants, and is piloted by former Marchosias team personnel. Honestly, I quite like it. It doesn’t feel overarmed, since fourth-gen mobile suits typically have a lot of armaments. If anything, I tend to look at it as Neo-Zeon’s answer to the ZZ Gundam. It looks like this big, operatic villain, the incom units looking like a cape and the pointy feet adding a lot to this impression. The built-up arms and obvious emphasis on its weaponry makes it feel like it’s about to turn to me sadly and say “well if that’s how you really think of me, *draws sword* then you and I are enemies”. It’s a very solid aesthetic, is what I’m trying to say. It’s a distinctly odd blend of old Earth Federation aesthetics and Neo Zeon ones, but it all works. I especially like the legs, though that might just be because they remind me of the Döven Wolf. (Also, as an aside, I really like a lot of mobile suits with High Heels, simply because they’re always animated to run so delightfully. The Todesritter having a very busy back adds to this significantly, it looks like it’s lugging around a small dress train, or indeed, a cape).
"The Black Riders"
2021
As Frodo watched he saw something dark pass across the lighter space between two trees, and then halt.
-"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", by J.R.R. Tolkien
Back when Fellowship of the Ring was about to come out, and the trailers were running on TV and my mom brought me that promo magazine I mentioned in an earlier post... the thing that appealed to me the most but at the same time made me the most scared to watch it, were the images of the towering, black robed, faceless Black Riders. I thought they were very cool looking and mysterious, but also some of the most terrifying characters I had ever seen, like right out from a horror movie.
Needless to say that, if you know anything about me, you'd know that the Nazgûl became (and remain) one of my absolute favorite things in Lord of the Rings. I just love them. Can't get enough of them. A significant part of my identity, my outward appearance, how I present online, etc, is fashioned to some extent around them. I love their aesthetic, the hellish, otherwordly music that plays when they enter the scene, I love their presence, their role in the narrative, I love what they represent thematically in the story.
The Nazgûl are fear, terror and despair personified. They grow from being a disquieting menace in the Shire to complete overwhelming terror of war and death in the battlefields of Gondor, with their Captain growing so powerful so as to match the might of Gandalf the White. The Dark Lord never actually comes forth himself, so it is through his Nine Servants that he chiefly enforces his will and his malice. We come to know Sauron through the Nazgûl.
Now, I could have drawn the iconic 'Shortcut to Mushrooms' scene, which is when the hobbits first encounter one of the Nine. But 1) I didn't want to draw a whole ton of characters, and 2) this scene, where they spot one in the moonlight as they head to Bucklebury Ferry, is one of my absolute favorite shots in the movie.
"Flight to the Ford"
2021
At once the white horse sprang away and sped like the wind along the last gap of the Road. At the same moment the black horses leaped down the hill in pursuit and from the Riders came a terrible cry...
-"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", by J.R.R. Tolkien
Following up with my countdown of favorite Fellowship of the Ring scenes is the Chase Scene to Rule All Chase Scenes. Seriously, this scene puts all cheesy car chases in generic action movies to shame. It has high stakes, tension, emotion, beautiful scenery and camera work, very epic soundtrack, and just a touch of magic.
Flight to the Ford is such an epic, exhilarating, iconic sequence. Probably my favorite one out of the whole movie (together with another one, which should be fairly obvious). It's the first time that we've seen the Nine assemble all together since they've left Minas Morgul, which just adds to the sense of peril and urgency. I distinctly remember being completely nailed to my seat the first time I watched it, and flinching so hard at the part where one of the Nazgûl reaches out and almost snatches Frodo from Arwen. I remember also feeling disappointed when the Nazgûl where washed away by the flood, because I thought they had been destroyed, and already at my first watch I loved them so much. Fortunately for me there was a lot more Nazgûl to see in the next two films.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think one of the many strokes of genius in these films was to have Arwen do the rescuing. Glorfindel is a popular character, but the truth is that except for this scene his role in Lord of the Rings is fairly inconsequential. It makes sense to introduce Arwen this way. She is Elrond's daughter and Aragorn's betrothed... why shouldn't she go look for them? It also compensates a little for the lack of female representation these stories are known to suffer from.
"The Captain of Despair"
2022
"...but it was not by numbers that we were defeated. A power was there that we have not felt before. Some said that it could be seen, like a great black horseman, a dark shadow under the moon."
-"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", by J.R.R. Tolkien
I had wanted to illustrate this scene for a while: the Witch-king's assault on Osgiliath that opened the War of the Ring and that enabled the Nazgûl passage across the river to start their search for the One Ring.
"The Shadow of Despair"
2023
In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face.
-"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", by J.R.R. Tolkien
Behold! The Witch-king's moment of (near) triumph!
A notoriously, and unnecessarily, controversial scene. A lot of people don't like to see Gandalf the White being trounced by the Lord of the Nazgûl. Yet the reason why I say unnecessarily controversial is because we know from the texts that the Witch-king was vastly grown in strength at this point, and that Gandalf himself wasn't sure wether he could beat him. Thematically this represents a point of near defeat, where all the defences of Minas Tirith have been broken, and with the commander of the city, a character that in so many ways represents hope, about to fall to the enemy captain, a character that is the embodiment of despair. It therefore makes the subsequent arrival of the Rohirrim that much more powerful. So, and the detractors will have to forgive me, this scene works however you want to put it, and by rights should have been included in the theatrical release.
It's always a treat for me to see two opposing heavyweights of any fantasy story meet in battle. Granted, this was more of a brief clash than a battle; and the Witch-king isn't really the Big-bad from Lord of the Rings. But given that Sauron never comes forth from his tower, this is as good as we get; his second in command, there to enforce his Master's power and will on the battlefield. Gandalf and the Witch-king are also my two favorite LotR characters (and my favorites of any work of fiction, ever) so of course this scene was always going to be a favorite of mine.
"Morgul Lord"
2024
This way and that turned the dark head helmed and crowned with fear, sweeping the shadows with its unseen eyes.
-"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers", by J.R.R. Tolkien
The evil, greenish, foreboding light of Minas Morgul really suits the Witch-king beautifully.
Done for Day 2 of Allan Whincup's Tolkien Art Challenge on Instagram.