Gundam Unicorn - Tumblr Posts
I wanna say it’s such an absolute treat to see all the new gundam fans chime in every new episode of g witch. I’ve loved this series since I was a kid so I’m extra happy to see so many new people dive into the franchise.
I hope some of you will also take a look into other shows like 00 or even build fighters! Im happy ya’ll are here :3
Here’s a nifty little chart to help you navigate the series :)
Me: Hey, I should do some short posts on the SD Gundam series designs, since I won’t have much to say on them.
Also me: I should do a post on the Great Zeong.
The MSN-03-2 Great Zeong was an upgraded version of the MSN-03 Zeong, a sister unit to the MSN-02 Zeong which was used by Char at a Baoa Qu. Though a veritable improvement on the Original Zeong, the Principality of Zeon lacked both the resources or technological know-how to build it. A prime example of the latter would be that the Great Zeong was designed to split into seven independently functioning parts, all controlled by the Newtype pilot, compared to the original’s comparatively simple wired hands and detachable head for use as an escape system. The Great Zeong is armed with a scattering mega particle gun in the chest which can also function as a “standard” Large Mega Particle Gun, a 5-barrel Mega Particle Gun in each of the arms (the arm is essentially built around the gun) which can of course be detached through the psycommu system. The Great Zeong is also armed with a mega particle gun in each leg, and another one in the head. There is yet another small Mega Particle Gun behind the front skirt, typically used when the lower body is detached. Moving on from beam-related weaponry, there are two Anti-ship missiles contained within each shoulder binder and finally each leg mounts a heat claw on its underside. In addition to all this, the Great Zeong mounts an I-Field Barrier Generator (presumably in the chest) and a Minovsky Craft System for atmospheric flight. Just as with the original, the head could also be used as an escape system. Interestingly, each of the separate parts mounts a mono-eye system when separated, including a secondary head mounted inside the upper body, akin to the Apsalus or Zaku II (I wonder if that’s any benefit to the pilot, or it’s just a design thing) . The design would be later developed into the NZ-000 Queen Mansa/Quin Mantha.
Before I get into talking about the design, I want to give a quick run-down on my feelings towards the better-known Zeong’s:
The Original MSN-02 Zeong is absolutely gorgeous. Legless, murderous, kingly, terrifying. It’s a fantastic design and its lack of legs adds charm, especially since it replaces them with thruster bells, granting it great speed and manoeuvrability. The wired hands are uniquely effective, heartening back to Gundam’s super robot roots, but also being supremely effective in combat. The head has a sort of grim expression to it, and the thrusters on each side give it a noble look- appropriate for a suit bearing the name of Zeon itself. I will admit bias here, since GBO2 gives it the sort of move-set where it can continually throw beams at something while managing to dodge with little trouble, but I do still like the Zeong itself. It feels like an appropriate final threat to cap off the series, without going overboard.
The Perfect Zeong is the Zeong with legs. Solid, makes for some cool poses, and I like how they just make it look more imposing.
I said during my Build Metaverse review that I don’t really like Mobile Armours that are just a bunch of fancy weapons and systems crammed on. The Neo Zeong is that. I like both Gundam Unicorn and Gundam Narrative, the series they’re from, and I think that they’re utilised well, but they don’t really grab me design-wise (if you need four I-fields for cover, and it still doesn’t cover the entirety of the Mobile Armour, then your MA is too large). Though I will admit that I’m probably down on them because I really like the Sinanju, which is used as their control unit. The Psycho Shard Generator does make for some cool visuals, but it’s probably the absolute limit of Newtype tech in U.C.
Also, I’m probably not gonna get the opportunity to bring this up again, but it’s stated that the Neo Zeong II is built using spare parts from the original. If you have enough left over to build a completely new unit of something as big as the Neo Zeong, I’m not sure that can be classed as a “spare” anymore.
As a successor to the original Zeong, I genuinely prefer the Great Zeong to the Neo Zeong, simply because it’s still a mobile suit, albeit a beefy one. The Neo Zeong is just a block of armour and Newtype tech, though I’ll admit this is just the design since I enjoy its use in the series. I just like how imposing the Great Zeong is, and it feels like an excellent evolution of the Zeong’s design. The Zeong’s an unfinished prototype, albeit a strong one, the Perfect Zeong is that prototype completed and the Great Zeong is just the Zeong but more, with it’s arsenal of mega particle cannons and additional weaponry. The fact that it can split into seven feels like the designer took the Zeong’s wired arms and just ran with it, which is fun, and the heat claws are a nice addition. I also like the shoulder binders, since they give it a gorgeous silhouette but they’re also used for the anti-ship missiles and Minovsky Craft System. I like the subtle change to head, it gives it a more aggressive feel when compared to the grim expression of the original.
How to get into Gundam
Because fuck it, I was gonna do one of these sooner or later anyway.
So you want to know what this Gundam thing’s about, maybe you like the mecha design, maybe you caught part of an episode one time and want to catch up, or maybe you saw a nice piece of Chamuro fanart and want to go to the source.
But there’s so many shows and timelines that it can be quite daunting on first look, so this guide is intended to give a rough overview.
I would however like to stress two four things beforehand however:
This guide is not intended as “The One True Way” or anything. There’s no harm it coming into it a different way, and these are only my own opinions.
There’s nothing stopping you from just watching one show and leaving it there. You don’t have to watch every single show going, even I’ve only seen most of these, not all. Gundam typically has variations on similar themes - it’s very nice watching multiple shows because they complement one another, but it’s not necessarily required.
I am very much an insider looking out here, so let me know if there’s any details I’ve missed.
I’m not gonna recommend these on a “if you like X, then watch Y basis”, mostly because I don’t personally find genre recommendations helpful, so I’d recommend picking based on promotional material (vibes, if you will).
I’ll be using this chart, supplied by the excellent@l-crimson-l, to illustrate everything.
Gundam as a whole can principally be divided into three sections: Universal Century (or UC), the Alternate Universes (AU’s) and the Build Series.
The AU’s are below the light blue line, near the bottom of the Chart, the Build Series is within the bright green line at the top-right corner of the chart and UC is the big line in the middle. We’ll talk about each of them individually.
The AU’s
The Alternate Universes were conceived as a way to get away from the continuity-heavy nature of Universal Century and provide an easy jumping-on point for new fans. The AU’s are standalone and require no prior knowledge, and are thus an excellent place to start. Honestly, I’d recommend quickly searching some promotional materials (like posters) and just going with the one you find most appealing based on that. They are (in production order):
Mobile Fighter G Gundam (1994)
New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (1995)
After War Gundam X (1996)
Turn A Gundam (1999)
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002)
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007)
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (2011)
Gundam: Reconguista in G (2014)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans (2015)
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (2022)
There’s side series and movies and other things besides, but these are the mainline shows, if you will. I have specific notes on a few of them:
Witch From Mercury - It’s of a shorter length than is usual for mainline shows, so consequently it’s a much smaller time investment than the others.
Mobile Fighter G Gundam - While undeniably rad as hell, I would recommend watching another AU first. G Gundam differs from its stablemates in a few key areas, and I find it helps to have a contrast to fully appreciate those differences.
Gundam AGE - is probably the only one I wouldn’t recommend. I didn’t like the art style and the technical explanations just got on my nerves, so I stopped watching.
Turn A and G-Reconguista are technically part of UC as well, but it’s not really crucial information so don’t feel like you have to watch UC first (I’m only including this detail for completionism).
I’ve found all the AU’s I’ve seen to be pretty good, so I’d say that which one you start with really just comes down to personal taste.
The Build Series
Is just kind of doing its own thing. The Build series is basically Buy Our Toys: the series. It’s got a far lighter tone, and I’ve had cause to compare it to pokemon prior. It’s also chock full of references and in-jokes to the other series.
Build Fighters and Build Fighters Try are the ones I’d recommend - they’ve got actual stakes and the fight scenes are really good.
Build Divers and Build Divers Re:rise I can’t recommend - I just find Build Divers aggressively boring. Build Divers Re:Rise is just okay - neither standout good or particularly bad. Its main flaw is that it’s a sequel to Build Divers.
The OVA’s are pretty much bad across the board - I’d particularly recommend avoiding Gundam Build Metaverse.
Universal Century
Universal Century is the big main timeline of Gundam, and is the timeline the original Mobile Suit Gundam from 1979 takes place in. There’s a tendency among certain fans to place UC as the one-above-all of Gundam, but I wouldn’t really go that far. It’s all pretty good, but I wouldnt really say one timeline is better than another (save personal preference, anyway).
Because UC is so big, it can be subdivided a couple times. The primary division is “Mainline” UC versus everything else. Basically there’s four-five shows in Universal Century from which everything else flows. As long as you know roughly what happens in these shows, then you can watch basically anything else in UC and have a good idea of what’s going on. These are (in order):
Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) - sometimes called Mobile Suit Gundam 0079.
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985)
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (1986)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack (1988)
With Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (2010) as a nominal fifth (honestly I feel like you could argue either way).
The rest of the shows are:
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (1989 Three-Episode OVA)
Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (1991 Movie)
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991 Thirteen-episode OVA)
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (1993)
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (1999 Twelve-episode OVA)
G-Saviour (2000 Live Action Movie) - nobody ever talks about or acknowledges this one, it’s just here for completionism.
Mobile Suit Gundam MS Igloo (2004-2009 Three OVA’s with three Episodes each)
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (2015 Six-Episode OVA, adapted from the Manga of the same name)
Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt (2015 Eight-Episode Series, adapted from the Manga of the same name)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Twilight Axis (2017 episode, adapted from a light novel of the same name. Later rereleased as Gundam Twilight Axis Red Trace, with additional footage)
Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative (2018 sequel movie to Gundam Unicorn)
Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway (2021 ongoing movie series, very much adapted from the novel Hathaway’s Flash)
Most of the other series relate to events in the aforementioned “mainline” shows in some way, but a lot of the sidestories set during the One Year War require very little introduction (Thunderbolt, 0080 and 08th MS Team). Similarly, works set in “Late UC” (F91 and Victory Gundam) carry on from the other series thematically but don’t have any plot connections, so they can all be watched without any background knowledge of the rest of the Universal Century.
Compilation Movies
Just a quick note here - many of the Gundam series have compilation movies, where either a whole series or part of one are compressed down into a movie. While each movie compares differently, they usually boil down to this: Compilation Movies usually have worse pacing, but really nice animation.
One of the great things about Gundam is that different shows offer variations on themes, so seeing how different characters react to similar situations, or how different settings change their approaches can make it incredibly rewarding.
I haven’t seen enough of SD Gundam to make any sort of recommendations there, and Manga is something I might touch on another day.
EDIT: Oh hey also: You can watch a good chunk of these on YouTube, for free, officially. The Official Gundam.Info YouTube channel rotates the series shown on its channel periodically. I think it’s got F91 and SEED on there currently? But it’s had Wing, 00 and Witch From Mercury before. Also all of the Build Fighters series are there.
So yeah, that’s a thing.
Zeon Remnants: Why so many?
*Spoilers for most of the Universal Century Below*
So a common criticism of Universal Century I see is that it’s essentially all Zeon Remnants, all the time. That it every antagonist to the Earth Federation is either a Zeon remnant or related to such and it makes the universal century feel smaller.
That is 100% a valid criticism.
However, it’s not something I particularly notice as a problem, so I figured I’d make a post delving into my reasons why. I’ll be talking about each of the “main” Zeon groups (The Principality of Zeon, The Delaz Fleet, Axis Zeon, Char’s Neo Zeon and The Sleeves) and I’ll talk about why Zeon are so frequently the antagonist. Alright, enough preamble, let’s get on with it.
Why don’t I have a problem with Zeon always showing up, all the time?
Because I usually consider each Zeon group its own thing. Like, yeah the aesthetics and some mobile suits tend to match up but they typically have…. If not different goals, then different cultures. It’s not just the same thing all the time.
I’ll be dividing them by roughly four factors:
Motivations - *Why* are they fighting, how unified are they?
Size - big force or little force, since it affects how they fight.
Newtypes - Oh hey, it’s just possibly one of their more important contributions to the setting in general. Kinda important. Focusing more on how they’re used and how they’re seen.
Mechanics - Mobile suits and overall tech level for the time.
The Principality of Zeon
First up, the good ol’ Principality of Zeon. The P of Z, if you will. Founded by Degwin Sodo Zabi in the aftermath of Zeon Zum Deikun’s death in U.C. 0068. Rapid Militarisation of Side 3 (Munzo), the colonies composing Zeon followed, with what would become the One Year War being declared in UC 0079. It’s sometimes known as “The Duchy of Zion” in older translations.
It’s a little unclear *why* war was declared, but the official line and the view of the average citizen would be that it was a war of Independence from the Earth Federation. Zeon Zum Deikun (who Zeon was named after) was the father of Contolism, a philosophy that combines two major elements:
Elseim - The Earth is Sacred, and must be protected (The Earth is Humanity’s Cradle, but man cannot live in the cradle forever-type stuff, with a big focus on environmentalism).
Sideism - All Space Colonies should be independent from the Earth Federation (This is where all the “Those whose souls are still bound by gravity”-type stuff comes from).
And nestled riiight in the middle of those two is the Newtype Theory, which postulates that ascending into space is the next stage of mankind’s evolution, giving rise to a “new type” of individual, with the ability to communicate over great distances and divides.
Due to Class divides and economic disparity between the Earth Federation “elite” and the Space Colonists (particularly those in Side 3), Contolism was massively popular, with Zeon Zum Deikun being raised to leader of Side 3. However, he died suddenly and (apparently) appointed Degwin Zabi as his successor. Degwin would instigate a purge of Zeon’s most loyal followers, and place his children in high ranking political positions, ruling the Principality of Zeon as absolute dictator. It’s unclear if Degwin declared war as the logical conclusion of the Contolism Philosophy to wrest Earth from the Federation, if he viewed it as a way to secure greater power or if he genuinely wanted to rule the entire earth sphere.
What I’m getting at here is that your average Zeon soldier believes he is fighting for the Independence of the Space Colonies and the safeguarding of Earth against the Federation Elites who seek to exploit it. The higher command however, is incredibly fractious, since each one is operating under a different member of the Zabi Family, and so there tends to be a lot of friction. Even if Zeon had won the OYW, it’s likely it would’ve had to deal with a Civil War at some point or another (dependant on which members of the Zabi family survived).
Zeon is also notable in that it’s the single largest organisation here, and since mobile suit combat was relatively new, it fought with a lot more variety than any of its successors, such as tanks and mobile armours. It also had the advantage of, with the notable exception of the RX-78 and its derivatives, being far better off than the Earth Federation technologically, possessing advanced mobile suits and actual Newtype research (important note; With one singular exception, it is never suggested that Zeon’s Newtype laboratories are anything less than above-board. Are they under immense pressure to succeed? Absolutely. But crucially, they aren’t inhuman). It had a large variety of mobile suits - usually a few good “workhorse” units (Zaku’s and Dom’s) with a bunch of oddities on the side (like Gyan’s and Zakarello’s).
Lastly, the One Year War itself. This is a point I’ll be coming back to frequently throughout this, but; The Federation possessed a major population and material advantage over the Principality of Zeon for the entire war, and was able to deploy a staggering amount of enlisted soldiers into the war. Zeon possessed the advantage of mobile suits early on, but they were also forced to mobilise a great many soldiers. Both Sides of the One Year War lost half of their respective populations in the early stages of the war (The One Week Battle) and Side 4 Moore was utterly devastated. What I’m getting at is that there would be an awful lot of individuals with millitary training and/or technological know-how running around after the war, as occurred in the real-world World War II and Cold War (strictly speaking I’m looking at them being an easy source of millitary experience in genre fiction, but you get the idea). So you have a lot of Ex-Soldiers and remaining military equipment hanging around, and a lot of people with “legitimate grievances” to hate the other side (Warcrimes on both sides, The Earth Federation essentially doesn’t change, Zeon Remnants remain an active problem with several becoming pirates and there’s a lot of Federation “mop-up” teams going around, the precursors to the Titans).
So, The Principality of Zeon in a nutshell; Principled reasoning (i.e. Contolism), massive force, Newtypes rare and incredibly valued (since they’re essentially a living reminder of why they’re fighting and a massive force multiplier), mobile suits essentially brand new and largely experimental.
The Delaz Fleet (and Zeon Remnants in general)
The Delaz Fleet was formally created in U.C. 0081, being primarily composed of former Gihren Zabi Loyalists from the Principality of Zeon, led by Aigulle Delaz (above, left). They were most famous for Operation Stardust in U.C. 0083. I’m also going to be discussing Zeon Remnant groups in general here, since the Delaz Fleet is essentially just a very large and successful Zeon remnant group. Delaz’ goal is relatively simple - vengeance. Delaz wishes to deal a hefty blow to the federation, largely to avenge the Principality’s loss at a Baoa Qu, with much of his forces feeling similarly (note: it’s possible that, had their been less withdrawals of Gihren Faction Loyalists like Delaz, A Baoa Qu may have gone differently). The forces under his command is relatively small, to the point where he is forced to seek aid from both the Axis Advance Fleet (though this is largely in materials and recovery) and the Cima Fleet, which costs him dearly.
Delaz specifically embellishes the “cause” of Zeon, focusing less on the Principality’s totally necessary warcrimes and more on Zeon’s fight for Independence against the Earth Federation. This is relevant because Delaz reaches a wide audience, espousing his own Zeonic ideals, largely divorced from the original Contolism basis. He also blames the weakened political leadership of the time (read: that nasty Kycilia murdering his precious Gihren Zabi). Delaz is specifically the most successful of the Zeon remnants in his era, directly to the space colonies detriment, since his actions directly lead to the founding of the Titans, who brutally crack down on the Colonies.
Equipment-wise, Zeon remnant groups are a varied bunch, but typically fight using older or ad-hoc equipment - The Delaz Fleet primarily utilises upgraded machines from the One Year War - Zaku FII’s, Rick Dom’s and, most notably, Dra-C’s - mobile suits cobbled together from spare Zaku and Gattle fighter-bomber parts. Any other materials they use are either stolen from the Earth Federation or are acquired through other means.
Newtypes are kinda weird here, since there just aren’t any in 0083, and the general theme with Newtypes in other remnant groups around this time is typically that they’re either propaganda or just not very good. It’s possible that the Newtype philosophy was largely dormant for a while immediately following Zeon’s defeat - either viewed as propaganda or directly suppressed by the Earth Federation themselves (like Amuro). The Newtype philosophy likely experienced as resurgence with the emergence of the Titans, since it would have been a rallying cry for spacenoid independence once more. As such, Newtypes just aren’t a big thing in Zeon remnant groups around this era, at least as near as I can tell (Delaz is the only animated force we see, and I try not to rely too much on manga, at least for Universal Century).
So, Delaz Fleet (and immediate postwar Zeon remnants) in a nutshell; Varied Motivations (though typically vengeance or survival), Small Guerilla Force, Newtypes near non-existent, mobile suits either OYW cast-offs or stolen.
Axis Zeon
Which I admit I’m using because it’s more easily distinguished than Neo Zeon, Neo Zeon and Neo Zeon. Anyway, Axis Zeon is made up of the various Zeon remnants that fled to the Asteroid Axis after the One Year War, this includes several pilots, scientists and engineers, which ensures that Axis enjoys a massive technological edge for most of its existence. Axis, in contrast to Zeons prior, is primarily concerned with “The Restoration of the Zabi Family” since one of the people that ended up there is Mineva Zabi, daughter of Dozle and the Zabi family’s only living heir. Except Glemy maybe.
Since Mineva was of the Zabi family lineage, of course she’d want to resume their conquest of the Earth Sphere, and so Axis was reconstructed into a fortress for her to rule when she came of age, with a regent being appointed to rule in her stead, which eventually fell to Haman Karn. Haman was essentially able to use Mineva as a figurehead in order to mount an invasion of Earth, and struck at the end of the Gryps War, when both the Titans and AEUG were reeling from that conflict. It’s also notable that a lot of the Axis members we see are very young, so were raised on “The Glories of Zeon” without actually seeing the realities of the One Year War with their own eyes.
Neo Zeon also was able to develop and field newtype weaponry, with newtypes being a potent threat against the AEUG. However, they still weren’t common, and so Cyber Newtypes were fielded. In contrast to “true newtypes” who have naturally awakened to their powers, cyber-newtypes are those with Newtype potential who have been forcibly conditioned with drugs and implants in order to function for combat. Though deadly threats, they are very unstable. You may notice that this seems anathema to the Contolism Philosophy espoused by Zeon Zum Deikun, and is incredibly dehumanising to boot, signifying that Axis is barely even paying lip service to its ideals of spacenoid independence. Axis Zeon is also notable for utilising clones to supplement its Newtype forces, which…. I don’t think is strictly counter to Contolism? But it feels like it’s against it in spirit, if not in letter.
It’s especially notable that a great many members of Axis Zeon espouse things like “For the Glory of Neo Zeon” and “For the Restoration of the Zabi Family” without really understanding what they mean. It’s also notable that, barring links with surviving Zeon Remnant groups, Axis isn’t noted as being very popular with the colonial population, likely because they don’t really understand what the “Ideals of Zeon” mean, and the civilians recognise them as merely parroting Zabi rhetoric.
Axis Zeon would eventually be undone by a Civil War within the organisation led by Glemy Toto, coupled with the AEUG’s offensives. Unlike the political manoeuvring of the One Year War, the Glemy Faction coup occurs very suddenly and results in massive casualties in the organisation due to his command of the Newtype corps.
Technologically, Axis is absolutely cutting-edge. They really don’t cheap out on mobile suit development and are able to design and field a variety of units comparable to the Principality in its heyday. Axis forces are essentially the best-armed Zeon will ever be, helped massively by the sheer amount of Newtype weaponry they can deploy (they have three mainline mobile suits in the Neo Zeon War, all three seeing good amounts of production at various stages and they’re typically first pick for Zeon Remnant Groups in the U.C. 0090’s). They also have the facilities for Newtype cloning, as mentioned above.
Axis Zeon in a nutshell; Hollow Motivations (Restoration of the Zabi Family and Conquest of the Earth Sphere), large force, newtypes and cyber-newtypes prevalent, mobile suits many, varied and cutting-edge.
(I haven’t quite finished all of ZZ, so forgive me if this one’s a bit rough)
Char’s Neo Zeon/Newborn Neo Zeon
Sometimes also known as Char’s Rebellion. It was basically founded in order to accelerate space migration….. by plunging the Earth into nuclear winter and making it near-uninhabitable. Founded by our good buddy Char Aznable in U.C. 0093, there’s less to go on for this particular iteration of Zeon, basically just a movie and supplemental information. It is composed of various Zeon remnants and political factions under Char Aznable with the express purpose of instigating the Axis Drop in order to make the earth uninhabitable and stop humanity from damaging it. Which is a terrible plan, barely paying lip service to the Contolist ideals Zeon was founded upon.
That’s because it’s a lie.
Char is in fact mounting a suicide run on the entire Earth. Creating a threat so massive that Amuro will be forced to kill him to stop it. Which is rather informative. Char is essentially using his influence to hold the entire operation together, and it’s notable that a good chunk of his own forces actively move to counter his goal when the option presents itself. Consequently, there isn’t much in the way of ideals on display here - Char is famous both for being the son of Zeon Zum Deikun and for his Dakar Address when he was a member of the AEUG. It kinda seems like a lot of his support is coming from people who know him from that, as opposed to what he’s actually doing. Newborn Neo Zeon is basically headlined and held together by Char, and has the vibe of a desperate last gasp for Zeon. It’s also notable that the only time we see Char actually lead Zeon is when he’s using its name for his own ends.
Newborn Neo Zeon also has a great more political pull than many of the other groups - Char Succeeds in a lot of his goals because he’s essentially able to play the Earth Federation like a fiddle, while remnant groups happily provide him aid. Technologically he has the backing of both Anaheim and Newtype Labs. Char’s mobile suits are, while not cutting-edge as such, very well rounded. The Geara Doga and Jagd Doga both share components and a general body structure, and the only reason the Sazabi is unique is because they couldn’t make the frame suit Char’s abilities (there’s a bunch of prototype units that pave the way to the Sazabi). Newborn Neo Zeon also retains a number of Axis Zeon Remnants, which bring their mobile suits and technical skill as well. Newtypes, while not exactly common, are considerably more stable than their Axis predecessors, and are given Jagd Doga’s, which are probably the closest a Newtype machine has ever come to reliability and ease of use. There’s also the Alpha Azieru…. which is also there (I don’t really have a lot to say on it honestly, it’s just kind of another “big newtype weapon”). Unfortunately, I really don’t have much to go on here regarding how the force views its newtypes - they’re essentially just treated as a special branch of the forces, no contolist ethics here, which is genuinely pretty sad. Because it illustrates just how far Char’s fallen from the ideals he espoused at the end of Zeta, especially considering he’s the son of Zeon Zum Deikun.
Char’s Neo Zeon in a nutshell: Motivations lean Char-centric, middling force with a lot of soft power, Newtypes present and mostly stable, small mobile suit variety but what’s there is very good.
(The Geara Doga’s one of my favourite grunt suits, so I’m probably quite biased here)
The Sleeves
Last of the “main” Neo Zeon Organisations. The Sleeves is a melting pot of every Zeon remnant group going. Founded around U.C. 0096, they were led by the man called Full Frontal, known as the “ghost of char”. Due to their disparate status, they aren’t recognised as a legitimate organisation by the Federstion, instead being branded a terrorist group - which they essentially are, being an aggregation of a bunch of other informal Zeon remnant groups. This mixed nature leads to a similar diversity in views and equipment - you have die-hard contolists, Glemy faction remnants, newborn Neo Zeon cast-offs and everything in-between.
They are essentially a return to form for Zeon Remnant groups, but are able effectively leverage their limited assets to fight quite effectively, though again, they’re heavily reliant on soft power, such as their relationship with Anaheim and political connections. They don’t have the forces to steamroll through the Earth Federation, so they’re forced to adopt an almost cell-based approach (at least that’s my read on Full Frontal and Suberoa Zinnerman’s relationship). It’s an odd mix of the realities of a Guerilla war against the federation and hearkening back to Neo-Zeon groups past (who were themselves hearkening back to the days of the old Principality). I should also note that The Sleeves maintain links with several other Zeon Remnant groups, such as some of the forces that attack Torrington in Unicorn. This is interesting not just because it shows a greater deal of collaboration between these groups than seen prior (Delaz and Cima were not exactly trusting of each other), it also shows a different mechanical composition to pre-U.C. 0090 remnant groups.
They’re kind of all over the place. Which I love because it’s 1:1 with their philosophical composition - they’re remnants from a bunch of different forces and groups, so of course it makes sense that their mobile suits would reflect that. The Sleeves do possess the…. Not-quite-cutting-edge-but-at-least-new Geara Zulus and the absolutely fabulous Sinanju (s), Kyshatriya and Rebawoo, but that’s kind of all they’re at. Everything else is from at least Char’s Rebellion or earlier - there’s one-of-a-kind custom units, old axis castoffs, even some stuff from the One Year War and immediate postwar period (like that poor regelgu). A varied armament for a varied force.
However, it is notable that The Sleeves don’t really have much of an identity of their own, largely due to their patchwork composition. They’re the scattered remnants of previous causes, and this is both called out and used against them in-universe. It feels like an examination of Char’s actions during CCA - Full Frontal certainly has Char’s charisma, but he doesn’t have his drive as evidenced by his eventual goal, which isn’t necessarily a *bad* aim, it’s just not Char.
Following on from this they share Newborn Neo Zeon’s just general…. disinterest in newtypes. They’re like any other pilot, they can just use different equipment. All the Sleeves Newtypes we see are very well-equipped though, so how they precisely look at them is unclear. This could be viewed as another extension of Char’s attitudes in CCA.
The Sleeves in a nutshell: Motivations are kind of all over the place, middling-to-low-sized force, newtypes uncommon but mostly-stable (one exception) and very effective, massive mobile suit variety but quality’s also all over the place.
Conclusion
So yeah, I find each revival of Zeon different enough that I can consider them separately to each other - yeah, there’s crossover, but their attitudes change each time - the only thing that stays the same is the aesthetic and who they’re fighting against.
But why are Zeon so often the antagonist?
Out-of-universe, because they sell. But you already knew that so let’s talk about possible In-universe reasons:
Old Equipment - The Principality was *huge*. Masses of equipment, enlisted men and yes, mobile suits. We see several individuals that are able to survive on the Scrap alone - Kelly Layzner, Judau Ashta, even the AEUG utilize a Gelgoog at one point. There’s a lot of material out there, and its a hot commodity post war and the Earth Federation will be in a hurry to rebuild - they don’t have the resources to track down every case of assault rifles or damaged-but-not-irreparable mobile suit. The South Seas alliance in Gundam Thunderbolt is one such organisation, but there will be a lot of Zeon Remnants who are still functional.
Loss of Leadership, not force - Aguille Delaz personally blames the “weak political leadership” (IE Kycillia) for the loss in the One Year War, but we can extrapolate that further. The Battle for A Baoa Qu saw pretty much all the remaining Zabi High Command due within hours of each other - Gihren kills Degwin, Kycillia kills Gihren, Char kills Kycillia. These are three massive losses to the war effort in very short spaces of time. Gihren’s betrayal of Degwin would’ve been very costly for him even if Kycillia hadn’t taken revenge there and then. He deprived himself of both the Solar Ray and the Fleet that Degwin was part of. The fact he took out Revil as well merely would’ve made it an even loss - if it wasn’t for the Solar Ray being rendered unusable into the bargain. Kycilia’s revenge killing of Gihren deprives A Baoa Qu of forces as the commanders loyal to Gihren flee the scene - Delaz among them - weakening the defence overall. Finally, Kycilia is killed as she is attempting to flee to Granada, where she planned to continue the war. This leaves a great many well-armed forces at large, since their strength wasn’t spent at A Baoa Qu - forces that Axis Zeon will draw on. All it really takes to galvanise these remnants is a charismatic individual, something which isn’t exactly in sort supply in the Universal Century.
Corollary to the above - Unclear loss - A Baoa Qu was absolute chaos, so the precise mechanics of “why Zeon lost” might be difficult for the average soldier to grasp - particularly one lacking in reliable non-federation communication sources. It would be easy to look at the mess of A Baoa Qu, then look at the equipment beside you and think “Yeah, we could’ve won. Yeah, we might still win”.
Unchanged Status Quo - Zeon launched the One Year War, at least officially, in the name of Independence. The Earth Federation was governing the colonies poorly, and class inequality was high. This does not change, if anything, it gets worse, as groups like the Titans see the OYW and Operation Stardust as Carte Blanche to utterly suppress the space colonies, and carry out War Crimes at least equal to Zeon’s. A failed war might at least spark some change to prevent another one, but if anything conditions for spacenoids only get worse, so resistance groups would see an upturn in numbers.
Corollary to the Above - Spacenoid Independence doesn’t stop with the war - The Independence of the Space Colonies is still a hot-button issue which the Federation has reason to suppress. So any ex-Zeon soldiers that folded back into civilian life may get involved with Colonial Independence movements. Or, any colonial independence movement that finds the Federation isn’t listening to them might seek a way to *make* them listen - and might find Zeon Remnant Groups sympathetic to their cause.
Little oversight - Before the formation of the Titans, the Earth Federation government believed Zeon to be removed as a threat - small pirate groups, but nothing major. Operation Stardust changed all this, yes, but before that Zeon remnant groups could operate largely unopposed, especially in areas with lower federation presence.
Total Societal Upheavel - Half of the population of the Universal Century died in the One Week Battle. Side 4 Moore was completely destroyed. There’s going to be some serious societal reconstruction after that no matter how you look at it. (Sidebar - Polygamy is mentioned as being a lot more common in Gundam Thunderbolt after the OYW, due to the massive gender disparity - you could also read this as Universal Century also being supportive of Lesbians). It’s not necessarily a driving force behind Zeon Remnant groups, but it’s worth remembering.
Military Experience - The big one, in my opinion. You have a lot of individuals with military experience after the war, including Guerilla warfare. This includes all the forces that had to adapt to new environments, like fighting in space, in colonies or on earth. There’s also a massive postwar economic depression. That’s not going to breed contentment towards a weak government, especially one that wasn’t doing a good job before the war.
In a nutshell, Zeon has the experience, materials and drive necessary to continue being a problem after the One Year War, and the Earth Federation Government doesn’t have the institutional will to stop them until Operation Stardust, which leads to the creation of the Titans, which really don’t help the situation.
Feel free to mention anything I’ve missed!
I focus on the shows primarily because, well there’s no really getting around it - Gundam “Canon” is kind of an absolute mess. I love it, but it is an absolute mess. So I tend to focus on stuff that’s either in the Animated Shows, or directly supplemental to that.
How I classify canon is a whole separate conversation honestly, but it's basically in Tiers - stuff from one tier takes precedence over another, that sort of thing. Animation's at the top purely because it's a "primary source" so to speak, but even that has levels.
Contolism: “None of the Zeon movements were in Zeon Zum Deikun’s footsteps because he wanted peace”. That’s an excellent summation of how I view the relationship between Contolism and Zeon, in all its forms - It’s a peaceful philosophy, that’s then taken and twisted into justification for war - none of the Zeon remnant groups are truly acting in its interests, but some element of it survives in The Sleeves. And that’s interesting because the Full Frontal’s big plan (slight spoilers) is Non-Violent (at least that’s my read on the whole “Side Co-Prosperity Sphere” thing), so of all the Zeon Groups, they might actually be the closest to it. That’s interesting to me, because Contolism is used as the justification for the One Year War by the Zabi Family (maybe with a little bit of “Manifest Destiny” thrown in there) and then basically ignored by Zeon revival groups until the Sleeves come along (Char lies about it, so I’m not counting him). It’s just neat to see it return here, and it illustrates the disparate motivations of The Sleeves.
Mafty: Solid Read on Hathaways motivations there. I typically look at his many pauses throughout the movie as him either wondering if he’s doing the right thing or trying to get a sort of manifesto together. I expect the next movie to draw more light on his motivations (and failing that I’ll just go back to the first one). I just don’t see him as a successor to Char, particularly since we can trust very little of what Char says in CCA, so it’s difficult to connect the two (Char was an influence absolutely, but how similar he and Hathaway are is up in the air for me).
So I just go back to the equipment again - any connection to Zeon feels too faint to tie Mafty to it, the Messer’s being Geara Doga derived feels about the only connection. I feel like if Mafty was an explicitly Zeon organisation then they’d have a lot more support from ex-Zeon members, so there must be some significance to them not being. We also see Mafty Imitators in the movie (I can’t think Hathaway’d waste a cell of his own organisation that casually, so they must be imitators), which I feel illustrates what Mafty *isn’t* - they’re not just terrorists who want to damage the Earth Federation Government - there’s an ideology, different to what came before.
Zeon Remnants: Why so many?
*Spoilers for most of the Universal Century Below*
So a common criticism of Universal Century I see is that it’s essentially all Zeon Remnants, all the time. That it every antagonist to the Earth Federation is either a Zeon remnant or related to such and it makes the universal century feel smaller.
That is 100% a valid criticism.
However, it’s not something I particularly notice as a problem, so I figured I’d make a post delving into my reasons why. I’ll be talking about each of the “main” Zeon groups (The Principality of Zeon, The Delaz Fleet, Axis Zeon, Char’s Neo Zeon and The Sleeves) and I’ll talk about why Zeon are so frequently the antagonist. Alright, enough preamble, let’s get on with it.
Why don’t I have a problem with Zeon always showing up, all the time?
Because I usually consider each Zeon group its own thing. Like, yeah the aesthetics and some mobile suits tend to match up but they typically have…. If not different goals, then different cultures. It’s not just the same thing all the time.
I’ll be dividing them by roughly four factors:
Motivations - *Why* are they fighting, how unified are they?
Size - big force or little force, since it affects how they fight.
Newtypes - Oh hey, it’s just possibly one of their more important contributions to the setting in general. Kinda important. Focusing more on how they’re used and how they’re seen.
Mechanics - Mobile suits and overall tech level for the time.
The Principality of Zeon
First up, the good ol’ Principality of Zeon. The P of Z, if you will. Founded by Degwin Sodo Zabi in the aftermath of Zeon Zum Deikun’s death in U.C. 0068. Rapid Militarisation of Side 3 (Munzo), the colonies composing Zeon followed, with what would become the One Year War being declared in UC 0079. It’s sometimes known as “The Duchy of Zion” in older translations.
It’s a little unclear *why* war was declared, but the official line and the view of the average citizen would be that it was a war of Independence from the Earth Federation. Zeon Zum Deikun (who Zeon was named after) was the father of Contolism, a philosophy that combines two major elements:
Elseim - The Earth is Sacred, and must be protected (The Earth is Humanity’s Cradle, but man cannot live in the cradle forever-type stuff, with a big focus on environmentalism).
Sideism - All Space Colonies should be independent from the Earth Federation (This is where all the “Those whose souls are still bound by gravity”-type stuff comes from).
And nestled riiight in the middle of those two is the Newtype Theory, which postulates that ascending into space is the next stage of mankind’s evolution, giving rise to a “new type” of individual, with the ability to communicate over great distances and divides.
Due to Class divides and economic disparity between the Earth Federation “elite” and the Space Colonists (particularly those in Side 3), Contolism was massively popular, with Zeon Zum Deikun being raised to leader of Side 3. However, he died suddenly and (apparently) appointed Degwin Zabi as his successor. Degwin would instigate a purge of Zeon’s most loyal followers, and place his children in high ranking political positions, ruling the Principality of Zeon as absolute dictator. It’s unclear if Degwin declared war as the logical conclusion of the Contolism Philosophy to wrest Earth from the Federation, if he viewed it as a way to secure greater power or if he genuinely wanted to rule the entire earth sphere.
What I’m getting at here is that your average Zeon soldier believes he is fighting for the Independence of the Space Colonies and the safeguarding of Earth against the Federation Elites who seek to exploit it. The higher command however, is incredibly fractious, since each one is operating under a different member of the Zabi Family, and so there tends to be a lot of friction. Even if Zeon had won the OYW, it’s likely it would’ve had to deal with a Civil War at some point or another (dependant on which members of the Zabi family survived).
Zeon is also notable in that it’s the single largest organisation here, and since mobile suit combat was relatively new, it fought with a lot more variety than any of its successors, such as tanks and mobile armours. It also had the advantage of, with the notable exception of the RX-78 and its derivatives, being far better off than the Earth Federation technologically, possessing advanced mobile suits and actual Newtype research (important note; With one singular exception, it is never suggested that Zeon’s Newtype laboratories are anything less than above-board. Are they under immense pressure to succeed? Absolutely. But crucially, they aren’t inhuman). It had a large variety of mobile suits - usually a few good “workhorse” units (Zaku’s and Dom’s) with a bunch of oddities on the side (like Gyan’s and Zakarello’s).
Lastly, the One Year War itself. This is a point I’ll be coming back to frequently throughout this, but; The Federation possessed a major population and material advantage over the Principality of Zeon for the entire war, and was able to deploy a staggering amount of enlisted soldiers into the war. Zeon possessed the advantage of mobile suits early on, but they were also forced to mobilise a great many soldiers. Both Sides of the One Year War lost half of their respective populations in the early stages of the war (The One Week Battle) and Side 4 Moore was utterly devastated. What I’m getting at is that there would be an awful lot of individuals with millitary training and/or technological know-how running around after the war, as occurred in the real-world World War II and Cold War (strictly speaking I’m looking at them being an easy source of millitary experience in genre fiction, but you get the idea). So you have a lot of Ex-Soldiers and remaining military equipment hanging around, and a lot of people with “legitimate grievances” to hate the other side (Warcrimes on both sides, The Earth Federation essentially doesn’t change, Zeon Remnants remain an active problem with several becoming pirates and there’s a lot of Federation “mop-up” teams going around, the precursors to the Titans).
So, The Principality of Zeon in a nutshell; Principled reasoning (i.e. Contolism), massive force, Newtypes rare and incredibly valued (since they’re essentially a living reminder of why they’re fighting and a massive force multiplier), mobile suits essentially brand new and largely experimental.
The Delaz Fleet (and Zeon Remnants in general)
The Delaz Fleet was formally created in U.C. 0081, being primarily composed of former Gihren Zabi Loyalists from the Principality of Zeon, led by Aigulle Delaz (above, left). They were most famous for Operation Stardust in U.C. 0083. I’m also going to be discussing Zeon Remnant groups in general here, since the Delaz Fleet is essentially just a very large and successful Zeon remnant group. Delaz’ goal is relatively simple - vengeance. Delaz wishes to deal a hefty blow to the federation, largely to avenge the Principality’s loss at a Baoa Qu, with much of his forces feeling similarly (note: it’s possible that, had their been less withdrawals of Gihren Faction Loyalists like Delaz, A Baoa Qu may have gone differently). The forces under his command is relatively small, to the point where he is forced to seek aid from both the Axis Advance Fleet (though this is largely in materials and recovery) and the Cima Fleet, which costs him dearly.
Delaz specifically embellishes the “cause” of Zeon, focusing less on the Principality’s totally necessary warcrimes and more on Zeon’s fight for Independence against the Earth Federation. This is relevant because Delaz reaches a wide audience, espousing his own Zeonic ideals, largely divorced from the original Contolism basis. He also blames the weakened political leadership of the time (read: that nasty Kycilia murdering his precious Gihren Zabi). Delaz is specifically the most successful of the Zeon remnants in his era, directly to the space colonies detriment, since his actions directly lead to the founding of the Titans, who brutally crack down on the Colonies.
Equipment-wise, Zeon remnant groups are a varied bunch, but typically fight using older or ad-hoc equipment - The Delaz Fleet primarily utilises upgraded machines from the One Year War - Zaku FII’s, Rick Dom’s and, most notably, Dra-C’s - mobile suits cobbled together from spare Zaku and Gattle fighter-bomber parts. Any other materials they use are either stolen from the Earth Federation or are acquired through other means.
Newtypes are kinda weird here, since there just aren’t any in 0083, and the general theme with Newtypes in other remnant groups around this time is typically that they’re either propaganda or just not very good. It’s possible that the Newtype philosophy was largely dormant for a while immediately following Zeon’s defeat - either viewed as propaganda or directly suppressed by the Earth Federation themselves (like Amuro). The Newtype philosophy likely experienced as resurgence with the emergence of the Titans, since it would have been a rallying cry for spacenoid independence once more. As such, Newtypes just aren’t a big thing in Zeon remnant groups around this era, at least as near as I can tell (Delaz is the only animated force we see, and I try not to rely too much on manga, at least for Universal Century).
So, Delaz Fleet (and immediate postwar Zeon remnants) in a nutshell; Varied Motivations (though typically vengeance or survival), Small Guerilla Force, Newtypes near non-existent, mobile suits either OYW cast-offs or stolen.
Axis Zeon
Which I admit I’m using because it’s more easily distinguished than Neo Zeon, Neo Zeon and Neo Zeon. Anyway, Axis Zeon is made up of the various Zeon remnants that fled to the Asteroid Axis after the One Year War, this includes several pilots, scientists and engineers, which ensures that Axis enjoys a massive technological edge for most of its existence. Axis, in contrast to Zeons prior, is primarily concerned with “The Restoration of the Zabi Family” since one of the people that ended up there is Mineva Zabi, daughter of Dozle and the Zabi family’s only living heir. Except Glemy maybe.
Since Mineva was of the Zabi family lineage, of course she’d want to resume their conquest of the Earth Sphere, and so Axis was reconstructed into a fortress for her to rule when she came of age, with a regent being appointed to rule in her stead, which eventually fell to Haman Karn. Haman was essentially able to use Mineva as a figurehead in order to mount an invasion of Earth, and struck at the end of the Gryps War, when both the Titans and AEUG were reeling from that conflict. It’s also notable that a lot of the Axis members we see are very young, so were raised on “The Glories of Zeon” without actually seeing the realities of the One Year War with their own eyes.
Neo Zeon also was able to develop and field newtype weaponry, with newtypes being a potent threat against the AEUG. However, they still weren’t common, and so Cyber Newtypes were fielded. In contrast to “true newtypes” who have naturally awakened to their powers, cyber-newtypes are those with Newtype potential who have been forcibly conditioned with drugs and implants in order to function for combat. Though deadly threats, they are very unstable. You may notice that this seems anathema to the Contolism Philosophy espoused by Zeon Zum Deikun, and is incredibly dehumanising to boot, signifying that Axis is barely even paying lip service to its ideals of spacenoid independence. Axis Zeon is also notable for utilising clones to supplement its Newtype forces, which…. I don’t think is strictly counter to Contolism? But it feels like it’s against it in spirit, if not in letter.
It’s especially notable that a great many members of Axis Zeon espouse things like “For the Glory of Neo Zeon” and “For the Restoration of the Zabi Family” without really understanding what they mean. It’s also notable that, barring links with surviving Zeon Remnant groups, Axis isn’t noted as being very popular with the colonial population, likely because they don’t really understand what the “Ideals of Zeon” mean, and the civilians recognise them as merely parroting Zabi rhetoric.
Axis Zeon would eventually be undone by a Civil War within the organisation led by Glemy Toto, coupled with the AEUG’s offensives. Unlike the political manoeuvring of the One Year War, the Glemy Faction coup occurs very suddenly and results in massive casualties in the organisation due to his command of the Newtype corps.
Technologically, Axis is absolutely cutting-edge. They really don’t cheap out on mobile suit development and are able to design and field a variety of units comparable to the Principality in its heyday. Axis forces are essentially the best-armed Zeon will ever be, helped massively by the sheer amount of Newtype weaponry they can deploy (they have three mainline mobile suits in the Neo Zeon War, all three seeing good amounts of production at various stages and they’re typically first pick for Zeon Remnant Groups in the U.C. 0090’s). They also have the facilities for Newtype cloning, as mentioned above.
Axis Zeon in a nutshell; Hollow Motivations (Restoration of the Zabi Family and Conquest of the Earth Sphere), large force, newtypes and cyber-newtypes prevalent, mobile suits many, varied and cutting-edge.
(I haven’t quite finished all of ZZ, so forgive me if this one’s a bit rough)
Char’s Neo Zeon/Newborn Neo Zeon
Sometimes also known as Char’s Rebellion. It was basically founded in order to accelerate space migration….. by plunging the Earth into nuclear winter and making it near-uninhabitable. Founded by our good buddy Char Aznable in U.C. 0093, there’s less to go on for this particular iteration of Zeon, basically just a movie and supplemental information. It is composed of various Zeon remnants and political factions under Char Aznable with the express purpose of instigating the Axis Drop in order to make the earth uninhabitable and stop humanity from damaging it. Which is a terrible plan, barely paying lip service to the Contolist ideals Zeon was founded upon.
That’s because it’s a lie.
Char is in fact mounting a suicide run on the entire Earth. Creating a threat so massive that Amuro will be forced to kill him to stop it. Which is rather informative. Char is essentially using his influence to hold the entire operation together, and it’s notable that a good chunk of his own forces actively move to counter his goal when the option presents itself. Consequently, there isn’t much in the way of ideals on display here - Char is famous both for being the son of Zeon Zum Deikun and for his Dakar Address when he was a member of the AEUG. It kinda seems like a lot of his support is coming from people who know him from that, as opposed to what he’s actually doing. Newborn Neo Zeon is basically headlined and held together by Char, and has the vibe of a desperate last gasp for Zeon. It’s also notable that the only time we see Char actually lead Zeon is when he’s using its name for his own ends.
Newborn Neo Zeon also has a great more political pull than many of the other groups - Char Succeeds in a lot of his goals because he’s essentially able to play the Earth Federation like a fiddle, while remnant groups happily provide him aid. Technologically he has the backing of both Anaheim and Newtype Labs. Char’s mobile suits are, while not cutting-edge as such, very well rounded. The Geara Doga and Jagd Doga both share components and a general body structure, and the only reason the Sazabi is unique is because they couldn’t make the frame suit Char’s abilities (there’s a bunch of prototype units that pave the way to the Sazabi). Newborn Neo Zeon also retains a number of Axis Zeon Remnants, which bring their mobile suits and technical skill as well. Newtypes, while not exactly common, are considerably more stable than their Axis predecessors, and are given Jagd Doga’s, which are probably the closest a Newtype machine has ever come to reliability and ease of use. There’s also the Alpha Azieru…. which is also there (I don’t really have a lot to say on it honestly, it’s just kind of another “big newtype weapon”). Unfortunately, I really don’t have much to go on here regarding how the force views its newtypes - they’re essentially just treated as a special branch of the forces, no contolist ethics here, which is genuinely pretty sad. Because it illustrates just how far Char’s fallen from the ideals he espoused at the end of Zeta, especially considering he’s the son of Zeon Zum Deikun.
Char’s Neo Zeon in a nutshell: Motivations lean Char-centric, middling force with a lot of soft power, Newtypes present and mostly stable, small mobile suit variety but what’s there is very good.
(The Geara Doga’s one of my favourite grunt suits, so I’m probably quite biased here)
The Sleeves
Last of the “main” Neo Zeon Organisations. The Sleeves is a melting pot of every Zeon remnant group going. Founded around U.C. 0096, they were led by the man called Full Frontal, known as the “ghost of char”. Due to their disparate status, they aren’t recognised as a legitimate organisation by the Federstion, instead being branded a terrorist group - which they essentially are, being an aggregation of a bunch of other informal Zeon remnant groups. This mixed nature leads to a similar diversity in views and equipment - you have die-hard contolists, Glemy faction remnants, newborn Neo Zeon cast-offs and everything in-between.
They are essentially a return to form for Zeon Remnant groups, but are able effectively leverage their limited assets to fight quite effectively, though again, they’re heavily reliant on soft power, such as their relationship with Anaheim and political connections. They don’t have the forces to steamroll through the Earth Federation, so they’re forced to adopt an almost cell-based approach (at least that’s my read on Full Frontal and Suberoa Zinnerman’s relationship). It’s an odd mix of the realities of a Guerilla war against the federation and hearkening back to Neo-Zeon groups past (who were themselves hearkening back to the days of the old Principality). I should also note that The Sleeves maintain links with several other Zeon Remnant groups, such as some of the forces that attack Torrington in Unicorn. This is interesting not just because it shows a greater deal of collaboration between these groups than seen prior (Delaz and Cima were not exactly trusting of each other), it also shows a different mechanical composition to pre-U.C. 0090 remnant groups.
They’re kind of all over the place. Which I love because it’s 1:1 with their philosophical composition - they’re remnants from a bunch of different forces and groups, so of course it makes sense that their mobile suits would reflect that. The Sleeves do possess the…. Not-quite-cutting-edge-but-at-least-new Geara Zulus and the absolutely fabulous Sinanju (s), Kyshatriya and Rebawoo, but that’s kind of all they’re at. Everything else is from at least Char’s Rebellion or earlier - there’s one-of-a-kind custom units, old axis castoffs, even some stuff from the One Year War and immediate postwar period (like that poor regelgu). A varied armament for a varied force.
However, it is notable that The Sleeves don’t really have much of an identity of their own, largely due to their patchwork composition. They’re the scattered remnants of previous causes, and this is both called out and used against them in-universe. It feels like an examination of Char’s actions during CCA - Full Frontal certainly has Char’s charisma, but he doesn’t have his drive as evidenced by his eventual goal, which isn’t necessarily a *bad* aim, it’s just not Char.
Following on from this they share Newborn Neo Zeon’s just general…. disinterest in newtypes. They’re like any other pilot, they can just use different equipment. All the Sleeves Newtypes we see are very well-equipped though, so how they precisely look at them is unclear. This could be viewed as another extension of Char’s attitudes in CCA.
The Sleeves in a nutshell: Motivations are kind of all over the place, middling-to-low-sized force, newtypes uncommon but mostly-stable (one exception) and very effective, massive mobile suit variety but quality’s also all over the place.
Conclusion
So yeah, I find each revival of Zeon different enough that I can consider them separately to each other - yeah, there’s crossover, but their attitudes change each time - the only thing that stays the same is the aesthetic and who they’re fighting against.
But why are Zeon so often the antagonist?
Out-of-universe, because they sell. But you already knew that so let’s talk about possible In-universe reasons:
Old Equipment - The Principality was *huge*. Masses of equipment, enlisted men and yes, mobile suits. We see several individuals that are able to survive on the Scrap alone - Kelly Layzner, Judau Ashta, even the AEUG utilize a Gelgoog at one point. There’s a lot of material out there, and its a hot commodity post war and the Earth Federation will be in a hurry to rebuild - they don’t have the resources to track down every case of assault rifles or damaged-but-not-irreparable mobile suit. The South Seas alliance in Gundam Thunderbolt is one such organisation, but there will be a lot of Zeon Remnants who are still functional.
Loss of Leadership, not force - Aguille Delaz personally blames the “weak political leadership” (IE Kycillia) for the loss in the One Year War, but we can extrapolate that further. The Battle for A Baoa Qu saw pretty much all the remaining Zabi High Command due within hours of each other - Gihren kills Degwin, Kycillia kills Gihren, Char kills Kycillia. These are three massive losses to the war effort in very short spaces of time. Gihren’s betrayal of Degwin would’ve been very costly for him even if Kycillia hadn’t taken revenge there and then. He deprived himself of both the Solar Ray and the Fleet that Degwin was part of. The fact he took out Revil as well merely would’ve made it an even loss - if it wasn’t for the Solar Ray being rendered unusable into the bargain. Kycilia’s revenge killing of Gihren deprives A Baoa Qu of forces as the commanders loyal to Gihren flee the scene - Delaz among them - weakening the defence overall. Finally, Kycilia is killed as she is attempting to flee to Granada, where she planned to continue the war. This leaves a great many well-armed forces at large, since their strength wasn’t spent at A Baoa Qu - forces that Axis Zeon will draw on. All it really takes to galvanise these remnants is a charismatic individual, something which isn’t exactly in sort supply in the Universal Century.
Corollary to the above - Unclear loss - A Baoa Qu was absolute chaos, so the precise mechanics of “why Zeon lost” might be difficult for the average soldier to grasp - particularly one lacking in reliable non-federation communication sources. It would be easy to look at the mess of A Baoa Qu, then look at the equipment beside you and think “Yeah, we could’ve won. Yeah, we might still win”.
Unchanged Status Quo - Zeon launched the One Year War, at least officially, in the name of Independence. The Earth Federation was governing the colonies poorly, and class inequality was high. This does not change, if anything, it gets worse, as groups like the Titans see the OYW and Operation Stardust as Carte Blanche to utterly suppress the space colonies, and carry out War Crimes at least equal to Zeon’s. A failed war might at least spark some change to prevent another one, but if anything conditions for spacenoids only get worse, so resistance groups would see an upturn in numbers.
Corollary to the Above - Spacenoid Independence doesn’t stop with the war - The Independence of the Space Colonies is still a hot-button issue which the Federation has reason to suppress. So any ex-Zeon soldiers that folded back into civilian life may get involved with Colonial Independence movements. Or, any colonial independence movement that finds the Federation isn’t listening to them might seek a way to *make* them listen - and might find Zeon Remnant Groups sympathetic to their cause.
Little oversight - Before the formation of the Titans, the Earth Federation government believed Zeon to be removed as a threat - small pirate groups, but nothing major. Operation Stardust changed all this, yes, but before that Zeon remnant groups could operate largely unopposed, especially in areas with lower federation presence.
Total Societal Upheavel - Half of the population of the Universal Century died in the One Week Battle. Side 4 Moore was completely destroyed. There’s going to be some serious societal reconstruction after that no matter how you look at it. (Sidebar - Polygamy is mentioned as being a lot more common in Gundam Thunderbolt after the OYW, due to the massive gender disparity - you could also read this as Universal Century also being supportive of Lesbians). It’s not necessarily a driving force behind Zeon Remnant groups, but it’s worth remembering.
Military Experience - The big one, in my opinion. You have a lot of individuals with military experience after the war, including Guerilla warfare. This includes all the forces that had to adapt to new environments, like fighting in space, in colonies or on earth. There’s also a massive postwar economic depression. That’s not going to breed contentment towards a weak government, especially one that wasn’t doing a good job before the war.
In a nutshell, Zeon has the experience, materials and drive necessary to continue being a problem after the One Year War, and the Earth Federation Government doesn’t have the institutional will to stop them until Operation Stardust, which leads to the creation of the Titans, which really don’t help the situation.
Feel free to mention anything I’ve missed!
Gundam Design Lineages - Universal Century
Because I’m probably going to do a few of these.
This is a follow-up to an ask by @wordsandrobots , with the original post here:
But honestly this one works pretty well just on its own.
Gundam as a series tends to have mobile suits share several features, and it plays around with the concept of lineages and development in that field. Seeing how I haven’t made much progress on finishing my thoughts on 00’s design lines yet, I thought I’d be nice to take a nice sidebar and talk about the Universal Century.
The Universal Century is the original series and the one with the most instalments. As such, it is absolutely thick with design lineages to trip over and discuss.
However, I really don’t see a lineage between the actual Gundam’s themselves. With the sole exception of the original Gundam and the Gundam Mk-II, they all feel rather unconnected - at least directly. The Original RX-78 line was constructed basically out of whole cloth during the one year war - the general concept of mobile suits was considered but there was little influence from pre-existing designs because there weren’t any. The post-war Gundam development project was a group of units with very different design goals, grouped together under the name “Gundam” because that’s what Federation high-performance suits were called, really. Yes, they would be used against Zeon remnant groups but the Gp02 and Gp03 especially were fully divorced from prior Gundam iterations (I guess there’s the focus on close quarters combat and quick strikes that connects the other three, but again that feels more regarding mobile suits in general than Gundams specifically to me). The Gundam Mk-II was a direct upgrade to the original built at the beginning of the Gryps Conflict using modern technology, and thus shares direct lineage, but from there it all goes a bit sideways. The “next” iteration, the Zeta Gundam, was developed by Anaheim Electronics under their Project Zeta line. Project Zeta could probably be its own post, but it was essentially brand-new in terms of mobile suit design, incorporating cutting-edge technologies and some data from Axis. Yes, the Gundam Mk-II was one of the suits that were used in the Zeta Gundam development, but so was the Rick Dias and Methuss, so I don’t tend to look at it as a Gundam development line all that much. The Gundam Mk-III also clearly incorporated design features from the Zeta Project (specifically both the Zeta and Delta Gundam’s) in addition to the Mk-II, so there’s no direct link there. The Gundam Mk-IV is stated to be based off the Mk-III, and I’d be inclined to consider it took influence from other Project Zeta units as well, considering both lines would have been incorporating remote weaponry around this time (such as the S Gundam, seen in Gundam Sentinel). The ZZ Gundam appears to have been developed in response to other Fourth-Generation Mobile Suits, and is also part of the Project Zeta line. The Nu Gundam is, surprise-surprise, also part of the Project Zeta line, but I tend to look at it more as an expression of Amuro’s development rather than the Gundam itself. Project Zeta is essentially a bunch of Gundam plans all running at once, so while they cross-pollinate each other, I don’t view them as a lineage as such. The Unicorns, F91 and Alex I generally look at as their own things - The Unicorns are this odd development of the Nu and the Sazabi through the Sinanju, but their status as the absolute zenith of Newtype-use mobile suits again separates them from Gundam’s specifically. The F91 is a development of the F90, which is essentially just, a Gundam. Like, a new one. Lastly the Alex, while absolutely lovely, falls into the trap of being built in the One Year War, and thus I’m inclined to lump it in with all the other OYW-era Gundams and Gundam-a-likes. Variants, not successors.
So, now that we’ve established I don’t really see the various Gundam’s as a design lineage, what do I think of when I think design lineages in Universal Century? Why, nothing less than the other side of the coin, from Federation elites to Zeon grunts, ladies, gentlemen and beyond, let’s talk about Zaku’s:
The Zaku I - The Zaku I was the first mobile suit assigned for use in combat, and was developed in UC 0095, four years before the outbreak of the One Year War. It’s production would eventually be replaced by the Zaku II in UC 0077-0078 (depending on if you class the Zaku II A Type or C Type it’s replacement), as the Zaku II had overall better performance, and was easier to work with due to a improved internal design. The Zaku I’s lower performance would see it mostly relegated to second-line duties during the bulk of the One Year War, but it was infamously used during the One Week Battle and Operation British, where it would be armed with Atomic Bazooka’s and G3 Gas Grenades. The Zaku I did see some frontline use however - Ramba Ral, Erik Blanke and Norris Packard would all make Ace status in these suits, and it wasn’t unknown for commanders to request it instead of Zaku II’s, since it was more likely to be available. It also was able to use pretty much any weapon that the Zaku II could, leading to a comparatively low loss in performance. Interestingly, two variants of this unit - the British Invasion “Green Devil” and First Refined Type 185th Airborne Paratrooper use, both used during Operation British and the Earth Drop Operation, respectively; would incorporate Zaku II parts, implying that the Zaku I could be upgraded to a level close to the Zaku II with little difficulty, similar to how the Earth Federation would later upgrade its aging GM’s into GM II’s.
Design-wise, I think the Zaku I’s just lovely. A little soldier guy. I like how simple and clean the body is, and the head’s just so well-defined and characterful - it just looks surprised. The darker tones and thinner design sell that this is the precursor to the Zaku II - I especially like the “bridge” in the centre of the visor - putting multiple at the side to give a clearer front view is the obvious choice, so having the Zaku I not have that is just very nice. Its weaponry is pretty great - its machine gun and bazooka are obvious precursors to ones used by the Zaku II, and it incorporating an actual shield to compensate for it not being integrated is also lovely.
The Zaku II - what even is there to say about this one? It’s justifiably iconic and for good reason. The Zaku II C Type entered service sometime in U.C. 0078, and was used in the early stages of the One Year War. After the signing of the Antarctic Treaty, it would be quickly replaced with the visually-identical F Type, which lacked the heavy radiation shielding around the cockpit and was consequently much more agile. However, the F Type would itself be largely replaced with the also externally identical J Type for Earth operations (often known as the Zaku Ground Type), which had internals better suited to combat under gravity. In case it’s not obvious, I really like the many, many Zaku variants. It’s just lovely to see so many spins on such a classic design. I like the simplicity of it, I like the weapon variety, I like how expressive it is, I like how it’s in basically everything because it’s just so “Zeon”.
The Hi-Zack. I know there’s a bunch of units between the Zaku II and Hi-Zack, but they’re all either Zaku II variants (and therefore good) or from Advance of Zeta (which I don’t really care about). So I’m just gonna talk about the basic Hi-Zack. It’s probably my least favourite of the suits I’m gonna talk about here, but that’s more to do with the rest of the line being really good. The Hi-Zack was used by the Earth federation and Titans during the gryps conflict, and was one of the three “main” mobile suits for both organisations during the war. It was noted for being vastly superior to the old Zaku, however due to a weak generator, it could only mount one beam weapon at a time (so beam saber or beam rifle, not both). This would eventually be remedied in the later Hi-Zack custom, but by then the titans were seeking a new main mobile suit, so it was only produced in limited numbers. Design-wise, the Hi-Zack’s an odd duck for me. I’m not particularly fond of the design itself, but I like a lot of the details surrounding it. It’s quite a nice microcosm of early Gryps War-era design - the chest in particular is this blend of federation and Zeon elements and I like how chunky the feet are. There’s just so much good detail here, but it doesn’t feel overdone and it looks great in animation. I’m just not really much of a fan of the design itself - it just looks too much like a Zaku +1 to me. Or the Zaku pushed through a Zeta-style design filter, with its wing binders and two-colour forearms. I also think it’s just lacking in the weapon department - the fact it can only mount a beam rifle or beam saber just does it no favours, and there’s nothing to really differentiate it from the pack, as it were. Pretty much all of its weaponry is used by other mobile suits, so there’s nothing that feels like it’s unique to the Hi-Zack. Well, one exception- I do quite like its machine gun, but I think that’s just because it’s essentially a Zaku machine gun with a fancy sight. I would also like to call out that I like how it’s got two colour schemes - one for the Titans and one for the Federation, and it looks absolutely gorgeous in the Zeta Gundam: A New Translation movies (seriously, it’s just so pretty).
The Zaku III - The Zaku III is Axis Zeon’s proper upgrade rollout for the Zaku Line, designed to be versatile and easily equipped for different missions. To this end, it had a variety of optional parts produced, leading to the Zaku III Custom, which was really just the Zaku III with various options parts added to boost performance. It was in competition to become Axis next mainline mobile suit - a competition it lost to the vastly more powerful Döven Wolf. As such, it would only be produced in limited numbers.
The regular Zaku III is a pretty big break away from the Zaku design lineage - which honestly is pretty nice. It’s built to essentially be full of beam weapons, and it has some good handheld ones (like three different kinds of beam rifles, one of which has a bayonet). I like the head and the gray colour scheme really makes it stand out. It’s got some nice bulk, so it feels like it’s derived from the Rick Dom a little as well. It’s just very nice overall, it hearkens back to the principality in form while being full of the firepower that is Axis Zeon’s functional hallmark.
A little bit of a cheat now - I really want to talk about the Zaku III Late Type. The Zaku III late type appears in the Manga Under the Gundam: Double Fake (and also Gundam F90: Fastest Formula) Honestly, there’s a lot of great designs in there, but I want to talk about this one because until the introduction of the Zaku IV (shown below), this was the link between the Zaku III and Geara Doga, so I figured it’d be nice to talk about. It retains the skirt-integrated beam cannons of the original Zaku III, as well as its beam sabers. It was also able to mount an optional bazooka. It also mounts a ballistic machinegun in contrast to the original’s beam rifle - it’s stated to be an improved version of the original Zaku III, and one typical way of improving a mobile suit is thinning out integrated beam weapons to ease the load on the reactor, so it having less beam weapons would make sense. It’s also possible that its operators anticipated fighting in colonies, where beam weapons would be overall detrimental, leading to a reduction in their use. The point I’m unclear on is if it retains the “mouth” beam cannon of the original - it’s never shown with it, but some iterations of the design are specifically noted as having removed it, implying it’s still present on this model.
Design-wise, honestly gorgeous. I love the blue colouration and the slant to the armour, while the body and form sell it as an improvement over the original Zaku III due to its more angular nature and the addition of smaller details to break up the armour. I like how the shoulders are slightly slimmed-down since it makes it feel sleeker, and there’s so many details here that are just prototypical of what we’ll see on the Geara Doga. 10/10, only note is I wish I knew how it’s armaments played out.
Note: Apparently the units seen in the Fastest Formula manga are the CR types, as opposed to the Under the Gundam: Double Take units C type designation, but honestly this could just be a stylistic thing, so I bundled the units together (there’s some nice art from Fastest Formula that’s a lot closer to how Zaku III’s are depicted in Unicorn).
The Zaku IV - Boy, it sure is lovely when Gbo2 decides to play ball and actually spits out two of the units I want to talk about. The Zaku IV is an odd one. Because, yes, precursor to the Geara Doga and part of the Zaku Lineage and all that, but also it’s designer is Ippei Gyoubu, who designed the Man Rodi, the Zaku-analogue from Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans. So it’s got just as much influence from the Man Rodi as it does the Zaku, which is just lovely. The Zaku IV was predominantly used by Zeon Remnant forces in the period between the first Neo Zeon War and Char’s Counterattack. It was armed with a long-barrelled sniper beam rifle, two rapid-fire beam cannons mounted on the head (allowing for a greater angle of fire than the original Zaku III), a pair of small beam machineguns holstered on the backpack and a pair of beam knuckle dusters stored on the waist when not in use. It does also have a large heat hawk as optional equipment.
I really like how heavily armed it is - it feels like a genuine advance on the Zaku III. It strips out a lot of the internal weaponry and hews a lot closer to the design of the Zaku II, but I like how advanced it feels. There’s echoes of 4th-Gen design hallmarks here - the Zaku IV even has an optional add-on, the Princess Booster, containing funnels. I really love how chunky the legs are - they’re an obvious follow-on to the Zaku III, but they remind me of the Dom as well - or more specifically the Rick Dom, so it’s blending together Zeon suits as opposed to just being about the Zaku. Weapon-wise…. The beam knuckle dusters are just adorable honestly, they don’t replace the heat hawk, but they’re just so neat. Them being beam weapons is pretty great too, since it’s a technical upgrade, but visually they still look so very Zeonic. I love the inclusion of the larger beam rifle and beam guns - it really sells the idea of this being a ranged specialist Zaku, and it also make it feel like the heavy weapon specialist of the design tree. The beam machineguns - I don’t hate them, but they just don’t have the design charm of the original MMP Machine Gun for me. I like the colour scheme too - a two-tone of green, with red and light gray for details, breaking up this blocky aesthetic with sharp touches that are framed by the rest of the design. I also love all the design features that feel like evolutions of the Man Rodi - the arms, the hands. Even the odd leg proportions feel like they’re referencing that design, since it basically just had thrusters instead of feet. It’s just this wonderful blend of the Man Rodi and the old Zaku II. I also love how greebled it is (though that essentially counts for all of Ippei Gyoubu’s designs).
The Geara Doga - okay, so the Geara Doga is (probably) my favourite grunt suit design, and is most definitely in the running for one of my favourite mobile suit designs period, so I will obviously be completely biased here. There’s just so much character to it in my opinion - obviously it’s still got that ever-expressive monoeye, but a small detail I like is how the yellows draws your eye to the thruster bells - it emphasised the mobility because it’s got them in so many places. The commander types (the ones with antennas) even resemble mini-sazabi’s, so there’s this lovely of throughline of design with the rest of Char’s forces. Armament-wise, it can be armed with one of two types of Beam Machine Gun (one of which has a built-in grenade launcher), has a beam sword/axe for melee, incorporates a shock-anchor and has a shield on which up to four sturm faust’s may be mounted. It’s a very tight loadout, focused on versatility and any other roles can be taken by one of the Geara Doga’s variant units (various environmental specialists, plus Newtype test units, melee specialists, and even a good old fashioned Kai unit. Honestly I could probably do an entire post just on them alone) . I also love how angled the helmet is and I think the leg detailing’s just lovely. It’s got bulk, but it doesn’t feel sluggish, which is a lovely midpoint.
In-universe, the Geara Doga’s were manufactured by Anaheim Electronics for use by Newborn Neo Zeon (headed by Char Aznable). Emphasis was placed on reliability and ease of production and repair - it’s not particularly cutting-edge, but it’s so well-balanced it doesn’t really need to be. This also allows Anaheim to use it as a basis when constructing their next commissioned mobile suit, the Messer.
And, Lastly, the Geara Zulu. I’ve got conflicting opinions on this one, which I can divide into three main points:
I do love the design - I’ll admit a preference for the Guards Type, since that takes more influence from the Geara Doga, but the standard Geara Zulu is still very nice. It feels like a modern interpretation of the Zaku II - the form’s very much the same, with its slim physique and resembling a human soldier. I think it’s got good weapon variety and I do love the modern stylings on the legs. It’s detailed, but not so much that it doesn’t look good when there’s multiple of it, which is a quality you want in a grunt suit. It retains a lot of the Zaku’s strengths as well - it’s instantly recognisable and the monoeye means that it’s very expressive. The sleeves filigree is present, but it’s not excessive, so it’s clearly signified as a foot soldier as opposed to anything more complex. It has a handful of variants - the aforementioned guards type, the Aquatic Zee Zulu and Angelo’s various units, which are all pretty nice.
It is facist as all heck. Which yeah, obviously it’s a Zeon suit, but it just takes it so much further than any real previous design. It’s a look I’m not really comfortable with for obvious reasons, but I’m just rather lost as to why it looks like this. Original Zeon was this blend of WWI and WWII Germany through a sort of late-70’s Japanese sci-fi/tokusatsu lens, where the fact that there’s real, fairly human people piloting these things is the big difference (or at least that’s how I’ve always looked at it). The Geara Zulu might work if The Sleeves were presented as this sinister remnant of evils past, a cautionary tale of the spectres of old conflicts hiding in our society, but they’re just kinda not. Honestly I find the Neo Zeon presented in Unicorn to be one of the softest takes on Zeon in the franchise - they’re all largely humanised, they’re completely outmatched by the Earth Federation whenever they meet in open combat and even their attack on Torrington (which has numerous civilian casualties) is still presented as this rather desperate thing, where the tide turns on them when the Federation is able to bring actual modern ms to bear. I suppose it could be to mislead the viewer? So we expect Neo Zeon to be this sinister force and when they turn out to have rational goals it’s a surprise? But Gundam’s has the whole gray-on-gray morality going for a while so I can’t imagine that’d be it. It could be that the Mecha Designers and Story Writers didn’t communicate much, but again that feels unlikely. Also, (and this is less of a problem with the Geara Zulu and more with Unicorn’s Design ethos as a whole) I’m not really a fan of its beam rifle being based off the real-life StG-44 Assault rifle used by Germany in WWII. Like, yeah gundam’s had real-world influences before, and I can understand leaning towards the military aficionado demographic (both in messaging and finance), but it just feels so odd. “Watch this show about the horrors of war, with realistic designs from the military-industrial complex!”. Again, the Geara Zulu isn’t the only unit in Unicorn that does this (and I don’t even think it’s the worst offender), but it is a criticism I have of the design. But because of these issues, the Geara Zulu can’t really escape feeling like mixed messaging at best.
So, that’s the my opinions on the Geara Zulu in a nutshell: I really like the design - I’m just not too fond of some of the implications. I would still recommend Unicorn however - I think it says and does a lot of good things, even if I have several aesthetic criticisms.
In-universe, the Geara Zulu was a commission design by Anaheim Electronics on behalf of the Sleeves, who lacked the capacity for mobile suit manufacture of their own. It’s seen as a solid, sensible and reliable upgrade to the Geara Doga, hence it being the organisation’s mainline unit.
Closing
And that’s all of what I would consider the main units in the Zaku lineage (plus a few extra’s for my own satisfaction). It’s nice seeing how the different designs are iterated on, and how they reflect the technological developments and practical needs of the organisations utilising them (and I suppose out-of-universe design philosophies). I particularly like how the Zaku III and IV encapsulate fourth-generation design ethos, and how the Geara Doga and Geara Zulu represent the need practical capabilities coming off that high of Newtype tech during the Neo Zeon War. (I did consider doing the RF Zaku at the end, but honestly I don’t have an awful lot to say on it).
Feel free to mention any of your favourites!
Mobile Suit Generations in the Universal Century
Alright, another lineage post, kinda (I will finish that 00 one eventually).
Now in my post about how the Zaku series changed over time, I mentioned briefly that I don’t really see the Universal Century Gundam series as being much of a lineage, primarily because it’s an absolute mess. However, I do want to do a post talking about the Gundam “line” in some more detail at some point. So I thought I’d make this post beforehand as a sort of preliminary excercise. Because it’s rather difficult to talk about Gundams in universal century without talking about Mobile Suit Generations themselves.
So, What are Mobile Suit Generations?
In brief; as mobile suit technology in Universal Century developed, there were a number of concepts that would revolutionise the entire field, and lead to mobile suit design being completely different as time went on. New technologies, new theories, new design ethos, that sort of thing. And because Gundam units were so often cutting-edge, these new ideas would typically be applied to them. A new generation represents a massive leap forward for the technology, meaning that development occurred very quickly. I’ve thrown around the terms before, typically when talking about fourth-generation mobile suits, but I figured I’d do a post outlining the different mobile suit generations, what their characteristics are, give some examples and talk about any noteworthy oddities.
Disclaimer: as it ever is with UC, there’s a lot that doesn’t divide cleanly here. Some mobile suits are easier to categorise than others, and there can be a lot of overlap between the generations, so I’ll be looking more at broad trends than categorising everything. I’m also gonna skip over a lot of detail here in the name of this post actually being of reasonable length.
First Generation Mobile Suits
Named retroactively and also the easiest to categorise. First-Generation mobile suits encompasses every mobile suit built prior to the Gryps War - Zaku’s, GM’s, RX-78’s, Pale Riders, the Gundam Development Project - all First-Gen mobile suits. First-Gen’s a broad category because it’s every suit on both sides of the OYW, and because mobile suits were still a very new technology there was an absolute range on design ethos and styles. First-Generation mobile suits really only share a timeframe of manufacture, there isn’t really much else to tie them together.
Second Generation Mobile Suits
The only (technically) Mobile Suit Generation to straight-up replace its predecessor and also one of only two generations to incorporate actual definitions (at least as far as I can tell). While the later generations tended to focus on one aspect of mobile suits, Second-Generation mobile suits were an all-around improvement over the second generation. They were characterised by three main features:
The movable frame - rather than just providing structure as was the case previous, the movable frame incorporates all the critical components required to actually move the unit, with the weapons armour and propellant tanks being externalised. This allows for easier maintenance, greater mobility and improved energy efficiency.
360-degree panoramic cockpit and linear seat - technically two improvements, but a “better cockpit” in a nutshell. The 360-degree panoramic cockpit allowed for a much greater field of view for the pilot, especially when compared to the old, cramped cockpits of the OYW, while the linear seat helped reduce the effect of g-forces on the pilot (and also made it easier to eject in the case of being shot down).
Gundarium y alloy - one of several refined versions of the original Gundarium used in the RX-78 series, Gundarium y was lightweight and durable, making it the armour of choice for second-generation mobile suits, allowing them to shrug off blows that would be lethal to earlier models, while remaining manoeuvrable enough that they could dodge such blows.
The most famous Second-Generation mobile suits would be the Gundam Mk-II and the Rick Dias, despite the fact that they each lacked one feature from the above list (the Mk-II had the older titanium alloy ceramic composite armour, whereas the Rick Dias lacked a movable frame). As previously mentioned, Second-generation mobile suits became the benchmark going forwards, and this wasn’t changed until the advent of miniaturised mobile suits in the U.C. 110’s. The Jegan, which would be the mainline mobile suit for the federation for over sixty years, was a Second-Generation mobile suit, typically likened to a mass-produced Gundam Mk-II.
Which brings us to our first oddity I want to talk about - the Dowas Custom. The original Dowas was the final production unit of the Zeon’s Dom line during the One Year War. The precise shakedown of their use and deployment is unclear - the Dowas is derived from the Rick Dom II, which was part of the latewar United Maintenance Plan, but there are reports of Dowas Desert types conducting operations in the wake of the Battle of Odessa - they could be early prototypes, or the Desert units came first and were later refined into the regular Dowas, or the Pezun Dowadge doesn’t count because it wasn’t a production unit…….
Anyway, at least one Dowas unit was brought to Axis by Zeon remnants fleeing A Baoa Qu, where it would be refined and upgraded with Axis’ latest technologies, and then supplied to the nascaent AEUG. That unit was the MS-09SS Dowas Custom, seen in Anaheim Laboratory Log. I won’t spoil the precise details of the hand-off, but you can probably guess from the colour scheme that it involves a certain individual who’s never heard of this Char Aznable fella, dear me no.
But the reason I’m talking about the Dowas Custom here is that it would be reverse-engineered in order to create the Rick Dias, one of the first Second-Generation Mobile suits. But where does that leave the Dowas Custom? Is it First-Gen, or Second-Gen? Well, it’s got Gundarium Alloy Armour (presumably y, since it’s the best one), however we know it doesn’t have a movable frame - neither the original Dom, nor its successor the Rick Dias incorporate one, so it’s very unlikely it has one. So then we come to the cockpit, and I’ve genuinely no idea what kind it employs. So I tend to consider it as an in-between, generation wise.
Third-Generation Mobile Suits
Transformable mobile suits, in a nutshell. Transformable mobile suits were considered an huge advantage during the gryps war, as they allowed for faster deployment, increased scouting range and, in many cases, were able to be transferred from Earth to space more easily than standard mobile suits. The latter half of the Gryps War and early stages of the First Neo Zeon War (Zeta Gundam to ZZ Gundam), are typically considered the golden age of Transformable mobile suits, with such luminaries such as the Zeta Gundam, Bawoo, Messala and Gabthley. Due to the aforementioned advantages, Third-Gen suits continued to develop after this period, giving rise to the Rezel and Delta Plus seen during Unicorn.
Interestingly, what is technically the first Third-Generation mobile suit, the Delta Gundam, was laid down during the early stages of the Gryps War but never built, simply because Anaheim couldn’t figure out how to make the frame work until Kamille Bidan managed to fix the problems with the Zeta, at which point Anaheim was so busy with other projects (like the Zeta Project) that they didn’t have time to review the Delta Gundam until after the war.
However, it is nice to have at least one generation with the relatively simple description of “if it transforms, it’s probably a third-generation suit”
Right?
If it wasn’t for this fucking thing.
Cards on the table, I really like the Gundam Mk-V. It’s nice. But, maddeningly, it’s also one of the only suits that we have an actual, in-universe definition for which mobile suit generation it falls into - “A third-generation mobile suit with the firepower of a fourth”. So it’s a third-generation mobile suit that doesn’t transform. What. Also, It’s the only thing that’s like this - The Gaza-C is a third-gen, because it can transform - The Jegan is a second-gen, because it doesn’t fit into third or fourth-gen categories. Why is a non-transforming suit a third-gen? Very annoying. Based on this, I’m led to conclude that what qualifies a suit as a member of the Third-Generation *has* to be something to do with frame structure, not necessarily transformation, given that the Mark-V doesn’t transform (Or it’s an error on the part of whoever wrote the description).
Fourth Generation Mobile Suits
Speaking of, I should really define fourth generation mobile suits, shouldn’t I? In one word: firepower. Fourth-Generation mobile suits were a product of greatly improved generator output, plus several noteworthy developments in Newtype tech. Any Newtype-specialist mobile suit after the gryps war is most likely part of the Fourth-Generation. The best-known fourth-generation mobile suits would be the ZZ Gundam, S Gundam and Döven Wolf. Axis was a major leader in Fourth-Gen tech, with such units as the Hamma-Hamma and, of course, the Qubeley. Several of these mobile suits were also combiners, such as the aforementioned Gundam’s, though this was later dropped as it led to compatibility and maintenance issues. Fourth-Generation mobile suits were also comparatively rare compared to those of earlier generations - likely due to the rarity of the newtypes that were typically their favoured pilots. The Döven Wolf has the distinction of being one of the few mass-produced Fourth-Generation mobile suits, likely because Axis had the resources to devote to it. Fourth-Generation mobile suits are also unique in that we (arguably) see an upper limit to the technology - the Gundam Unicorn, which is pretty goddamn scary.
Fifth-Generation Mobile Suits
A very easy one here, a) there’s only two mobile suits classed as fifth-generation at present - the Xi Gundam and the Penelope; and b) it’s got a nice, simple definition - fifth-generation mobile suits are equipped with a Minovsky craft system, allowing for unrestricted flight within the atmosphere.
The Minovsky Craft system is essentially how Gundam deals with all those horribly un-aerodynamic flying mobile armours - they incorporate minovsky craft systems, allowing for flight within the atmosphere (like the Psycho Gundam and the Adzam). The Xi Gundam and Penelope however, are actually light and aerodynamic, meaning that they can function more as mobile interceptors as opposed to flying city blocks. Honestly, I don’t have much more to say on this one.
Miniaturised Mobile Suits
Not really a generation per se, but I figured I’d cover my bases here. Miniaturised mobile suits were pioneered by SNRI, the Earth Federation’s in-house weapon development team, in around the UC 90’s to UC 100’s (such as the Loto and Heavygun). It eventually became standard practice after SNRI development data was stolen in UC 116, allowing other manufacturers to develop miniaturised mobile suits.
The main distinctions between miniaturised mobile suits and their forebears is, well, they were smaller. The Gundam F90 stood at only 14.8 meters tall compared to the original RX-78’s 18 meter height. This was due to a miniaturisation of the thermonuclear reactor used in mobile suits, and the development on new armour materials that allowed the armour and mobile frame to be made lighter without compromising its structural strength. Miniaturised mobile suits also used less resources than traditional ones to construct, allowing militaries to get more bang-for-their-buck, as it were (though given the prevalence of large mobile armours in late UC, being able to spend those resources elsewhere may also have something to do with it).