Gundam Facts
The fact sheet setting up the next Gundam series and games
Tags: Gundam Seed: battle Assault Categories: GBA News, News, PS2 News
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Jun 2nd, 2004
GUNDAM SEED BACKGROUNDER
Note: Official English spellings have yet to be established for most Gundam Seed terminology. Although we are pretty confident of the names of the mechanics and weapons since most of these are real English or German words, or proper names from various scientific fields. Some other terms, like ZAFT and OMNI, are acronyms which have been given English explanations. Most of the character name spellings are just working spellings, however….
STORY INTRODUCTION
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed is the newest installment of the Gundam saga (and the ninth Gundam television series). It takes place in a new universe unrelated to those of previous Gundam stories, in which time is reckoned by the Cosmic Era (C.E.) calendar. The story begins in February of the year C.E.70, roughly a year after the outbreak of war between the Earth Alliance and the rebel space colonists known as Zaft. Many of Zaft’s members are “Coordinators,” a new breed of genetically engineered humans, while the Earth Alliance’s population consists of unmodified “Naturals.”
In the early stages of the war, two radical new technologies gave Zaft the edge over the Earth Alliance. First, the space colonists employed advanced weapons called mobile suits, far superior to the Alliance’s crude mobile armors. Second, Zaft developed a device called the N-Jammer (Neutron Jammer) which suppresses nuclear reactions, thus nullifying not only nuclear weapons but also the fusion reactors and nuclear pulse engines used by the Alliance forces. Soon much of Earth was under Zaft’s control, and the Alliance began a desperate secret program to develop its own state-of-the-art mobile suits.
As Gundam Seed’s story begins, the Alliance has completed five prototype Gundam mobile suits, which have secretly been constructed at the neutral resource satellite Heliopolis. Learning of the Gundams’ existence, a team of elite Zaft soldiers attacks Heliopolis and seizes four of these prototypes. The fifth unit falls into the hands of a young engineering student named Kira Yamato, who now finds himself facing four-to-one odds in a battle of Gundam against Gundam…
MAIN CHARACTERS
Kira Yamato
A 16-year-old student who attends an engineering school at the resource satellite Heliopolis. Kira is one of the new breed of humanity known as “Coordinators,” and an old friend of Zaft pilot Aslan Zara. Nonetheless, after Zaft’s attack on Heliopolis, Kira becomes the pilot of the prototype Strike Gundam and joins the crew of the Earth Alliance battleship Archangel.
Mariu Ramias
A 26-year-old Earth Alliance lieutenant, who becomes acting captain of the battleship Archangel after her superior officer is killed in action. Mariu is a kind woman who fights to bring about a peaceful future.
Frey Alstar
A 15-year-old girl who attends Kira’s engineering school at Heliopolis, where she’s considered something of an “idol.” She likewise ends up as part of the Archangel crew.
Muu La Fraga
A 28-year-old Earth Alliance pilot who is assigned to the battleship Archangel. As the pilot of the mobile armor Zero, he supports Kira in battle and plays the big-brother role.
Natal Baziroule
A 25-year-old Earth Alliance ensign who serves as the Archangel’s combat commander. Coming from a military family, she is unfailingly professional and level-headed.
Aslan Zara
This 16-year-old Zaft pilot is an old friend of the hero, but the two now face each other as enemies. Aslan participates in the raid on Heliopolis, and becomes the pilot of the captured Aegis Gundam. Like all of Zaft’s Gundam pilots, he is one of the new breed of “Coordinators.”
Nichol Amalfi
A 15-year-old Zaft soldier who becomes the pilot of the captured Blitz Gundam. This young Coordinator regards Aslan as a brother figure.
Isaac Joule
A 17-year-old Zaft soldier who becomes the pilot of the captured Duel Gundam. Previously the top pilot of his unit, Isaac has now been displaced by Aslan.
Diakka Estleman
A 17-year-old Zaft soldier who becomes the pilot of the captured Buster Gundam. Diakka is clever and aggressive.
Rao Le Creuset
This mysterious 28-year-old masked ace serves as commanding officer to Aslan and the rest of Zaft’s Gundam pilots. He too is a Coordinator, and pilots a Cgue mobile suit into battle.
Lux Klein
Aslan Zara’s 16-year-old fiancee. Her favorite toy is a miniature, pink version of the pet robot Haro (from the original Mobile Suit Gundam), which was a gift from Aslan.
Kagari Yura Asuha
This 15-year-old’s father is the leader of Orb, the neutral nation which owns the resource satellite Heliopolis.
MECHANICS
GAT-X105 Strike Gundam
The Strike Gundam is one of five prototype Gundams secretly developed by the Earth Alliance. Designed for flexibility and adaptability, it can be fitted with a variety of equipment sets for different missions. The Strike Gundam’s basic configuration is armed with a high-energy beam rifle and a pair of “Armor Schneider” daggers. Other configurations include the Aile Strike Gundam, a booster-equipped space combat version equipped with a pair of beam sabers; the Launcher Strike Gundam, armed with a shoulder weapons pod and a long-range “Agni” superhigh-impulse cannon; and the close-combat Sword Strike Gundam, which sports a beam boomerang, a grappling anchor, and a huge anti-ship sword called the “Schwert Gewehr.”
GAT-X102 Duel Gundam
The Duel Gundam is one of the four prototype Gundams captured by Zaft. Its design is fairly orthodox – a general-purpose mobile suit armed with a beam rifle and a pair of beam sabers – but it’s later fitted with a set of Assault Armor which givs it greater firepower and protection.
GAT-X103 Buster Gundam
The Buster Gundam is one of the four prototype Gundams captured by Zaft. Designed to attack enemy units from long distances, it’s armed with a linear railgun and a high-energy rifle, which can be combined to form even more powerful long-range weapons. Missile pods are also installed in its shoulder armor.
GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam
The Blitz Gundam is one of the four prototype Gundams captured by Zaft. Designed for close combat on the ground, this stealthy mobile suit is equipped with screening devices which conceal it from enemy sensors. The Blitz Gundam is armed with a “Gleipnir” grappling anchor and a weapon-packed “Trikeros” shield.
GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam
The Aegis Gundam is one of the four prototype Gundams captured by Zaft. Capable of high-speed flight both in space and in atmosphere, it can transform into a fearsome mobile armor mode with huge grappling claws and a powerful central cannon. The Aegis Gundam is also armed with built-in beam sabers, and its shield and rifle can be stowed on its hip armor.
ZGMF-1017 Ginn
The Ginn is the standard mobile suit used by the Zaft forces. It’s powered by a battery rather than a fusion reactor, allowing it to operate even under the influence of the N-Jammer, and can be equipped with a variety of weapons for different missions.
ZGMF-515 Cgue
The Cgue is a command mobile suit used by high-ranking Zaft officers like Rao Le Creuset. Like the Ginn, it’s typically armed with a metal sword and machine guns rather than beam weapons.
MBF-P02 Gundam Astray
The Gundam Astray is a new model of Gundam developed by the neutral nation Orb based on data gathered from the Earth Alliance’s work at Heliopolis. It doesn’t actually appear in the Gundam Seed television series, but was instead created to star in a variety of spinoff comics, novels, magazine features, and model kits.
Mobile Armor Moebius
The Moebius, the standard mobile armor used by the Earth Alliance forces, is a simple space fighter that’s no match for Zaft’s mobile suits. Muu La Fraga pilots a customized model called the Zero, which can surround its targets with four wire-guided gun-barrels.
MS Carrier Battleship “Archangel”
The Archangel is the Earth Alliance’s newest space battleship, which is dispatched to Heliopolis to collect the prototype Gundams. After the Zaft attack, Kira and his friends join the Archangel’s crew.
Nazca Class High Speed Fighting Ship “Vesalius”
This Zaft battleship is used to carry out the raid on Heliopolis, during which Zaft soldiers seize four of the five prototype Gundams.
Laurasia Class MS Carrier Battleship “Gamow”
This Zaft battleship later becomes the mothership of the captured Duel Gundam, Buster Gundam, and Blitz Gundam.
CREDITS
Gundam Seed is directed by Mitsuo Fukuda (Gear Fighter Dendoh, Cyber Formula series). The character designs are by Hisashi Hirai (Wild Knights Gulkeeva, Infinite Ryvius), and the principal mechanical designs are by Kunio Okawara (Mobile Suit Gundam, Armored Trooper Votoms) and Kimitoshi Yamane (Vision of Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop). The series is copyright Sotsu Agency, Sunrise, and Mainichi Broadcasting System.
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Tags: Gundam Seed: battle Assault
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Jun 2nd, 2004 and is filed under GBA News, News, PS2 News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
