50 Fun Facts About Gundam

Which teenage civilian mechanic becomes the pilot of the RX-78-2 in the original 1979 series Mobile Suit Gundam?

Amuro Ray first climbs in only to protect himself when enemy forces invade his space colony. His battle record later earns him the enemy nickname White Devil.

Which American designer, famous for his Blade Runner concept art, designed the title mobile suit of Turn A Gundam?

Syd Mead made the Turn A the first Gundam mecha designed entirely by a foreigner. He coined the job title "visual futurist" for his own Blade Runner screen credit.

Which Japanese toy company launched Gunpla, the plastic model kits of Gundam mobile suits, in 1980?

Bandai sold over 100 million of the kits between 1980 and 1984 alone. Their success, together with reruns, rescued a series that had been cancelled for low ratings.

By which nickname is masked Zeon ace Char Aznable known, earned by flying his custom mobile suit at breakneck speed?

Red Comet is the title Char earned at the Battle of Loum, where he destroyed five Federation battleships single-handed in a mobile suit painted in his signature colour.

Which Japanese city hosted an 18-metre Gundam that actually moved, at a harbourside attraction opened in 2020?

Yokohama's Yamashita Pier was home to the moving giant from December 2020. Due to close in 2022, the attraction was extended twice and finally shut in March 2024.

Which Cartoon Network programming block made Gundam Wing a mainstream hit with North American viewers in 2000?

Toonami premiered the series in March 2000, and for a time it was the highest-rated show on the whole channel. An uncut version aired after midnight.

Which mass-produced mobile suit is the basic unit of the Zeon forces at the start of Mobile Suit Gundam?

The Zaku II proved so popular with model builders that designers kept inventing new variants, including one for underwater combat. Commanders fly a faster custom version.

Which ball-shaped talking companion, built as a hobby by the first Gundam pilot, became the franchise's mascot?

Haro is basketball-sized and can even detect its owner's brain waves. Its popularity has led to a whole series of robotic toys.

Mobile Suit Gundam is credited with pioneering which mecha subgenre, where machines run low on energy and break down?

Real robot stories treat the machines as military hardware with realistic mechanics rather than invincible heroes. The 1979 series set itself apart from the fantastical shows before it.

Which director, who once drew storyboards for Astro Boy, created Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979?

Yoshiyuki Tomino picked up the fan nickname "Kill 'Em All Tomino" for the number of characters who die in his shows. He started out at Osamu Tezuka's studio in 1964.

Which animation studio, founded by former staff of Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production, has made Gundam anime since 1979?

Sunrise credits its original stories to Hajime Yatate, a collective pen name for its rotating staff rather than an actual person. The studio also made Code Geass and Inuyasha.

Which Earth Federation assault carrier, nicknamed the Trojan Horse, is the heroes' mothership in Mobile Suit Gundam?

White Base was ranked by a Japanese magazine as the sixth most recognisable fictional spaceship, just behind the likes of the Millennium Falcon and the Enterprise.

By what name is the war of independence that Zeon launches against the Earth Federation in Mobile Suit Gundam known?

The One Year War begins in the year 0079 of the Universal Century, when a cluster of space colonies declares independence. Later side stories such as The 08th MS Team are set during it.

Which mechanical designer proposed the samurai-inspired machine that became the original Gundam in the 1979 series?

Kunio Okawara's first sketch was refined by the animation director, who covered its mouth with a mask and changed its colours. He was left free to design the enemy machines.

Which character designer of the 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam later retold its story in the long-running manga The Origin?

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko serialised The Origin for ten years, from 2001 to 2011. He had dreamed of becoming a manga artist before he ever worked as an animator.

Which Federation medical student turned pilot is secretly Artesia Som Deikun, the younger sister of Char Aznable?

Sayla Mass is the daughter of Zeon Zum Deikun, the founder whose name the enemy nation carries. She starts the war as a communications officer before flying in combat.

Which family takes over Zeon after the death of founder Zeon Zum Deikun and turns it into a principality?

Zabi patriarch Degwin was once one of Deikun's trusted allies but apparently masterminded his death. He in turn loses power to his own son Gihren, who has him killed.

Which studio, best known for the Rebuild of Evangelion films, co-produced the 2025 series Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX?

Khara had lent a hand before, on the last episode of Gundam Unicorn, but this was its first co-production. Its creative leads once worked at Gainax on shows such as FLCL.

Which young ensign takes command of the Federation mothership in Mobile Suit Gundam when its officers are incapacitated?

Bright Noa takes over from the wounded captain simply because he has the highest seniority left on the ship. His helmswoman Mirai becomes his trusted deputy.

Which troubled teenager, the estranged son of two mobile suit developers, is the protagonist of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam?

Kamille Bidan strikes the officer who mocks his name, setting off events that end with him stealing a prototype mobile suit. He later designs the Zeta Gundam himself.

Which elite Earth Federation task force, formed to hunt down Zeon remnants, becomes the corrupt enemy in Zeta Gundam?

The Titans are opposed by a rebel movement, the Anti-Earth Union Group, which is secretly funded by the weapons maker Anaheim Electronics.

Under which alias does Char Aznable return as a pilot for the AEUG rebels in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam?

Quattro Bajeena is literally his fourth name, since quattro is Italian for four. In this guise he mentors the show's young hero against the Federation's oppressors.

Which asteroid, once home to Haman Karn's Zeon remnants, does Char Aznable try to drop on Earth in Char's Counterattack?

Axis began as a mining asteroid before Haman's faction took its name. In the 1988 film Char wins control of it through a sham peace treaty, then sets its course for the planet.

Which personal mobile suit of Haman Karn in Zeta Gundam attacks with remote weapons known as funnels?

The Qubeley's funnels are a simplified version of the mind-controlled "bits" seen in the original series. Flying it, Haman defeats Char in the final battle of the war.

Which teenage junk collector, the hero of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, finally defeats Haman Karn in a duel?

Judau Ashta starts out as a scrap dealer who is incredibly poor at combat in his first battle. He ends the series beating the Neo Zeon leader in the Double Zeta.

Which mobile suit does Char Aznable pilot against his old rival in the 1988 film Char's Counterattack?

The Sazabi is beaten in the final duel, and its pilot's escape pod is taken captive. A novel version of the story replaces it with a machine called the Nightingale.

Which masked Neo Zeon leader in Gundam Unicorn, pilot of the red Sinanju, is described as the second coming of Char?

Full Frontal looks exactly like Char once the mask comes off, apart from a large scar. Even the story's young hero has to ask whether the two are the same man.

Which Gundam OVA, the first not directed by the franchise's creator, follows a young boy living on a neutral colony?

War in the Pocket was made to mark the franchise's tenth anniversary. As its subtitle suggests, it is a small, personal story about a child learning the true meaning of war.

Which Zeon ace steals a nuclear-armed Gundam prototype from a Federation facility in the OVA Stardust Memory?

Anavel Gato was already known as the Nightmare of Solomon for his exploits in the previous conflict. He later fires the stolen nuclear bazooka at a Federation naval review, devastating the assembled fleet.

Which playing-card crest marks Domon Kasshu as a member of the Shuffle Alliance in the series G Gundam?

King of Hearts is a crest Domon inherits from the teacher who trained him for ten years. The other four members carry a queen, a jack, an ace and a black joker.

Which winner of the 12th Gundam Fight leaves the Shuffle Alliance and sides with the Devil Gundam in G Gundam?

Master Asia grew disillusioned after his victory and left the Shuffle Alliance, handing his title to his pupil. His other name means Undefeated of the East.

In the English version of G Gundam, which word replaced God in the name of Domon Kasshu's God Gundam?

Burning replaced God for the English release, just as the villainous Devil Gundam became the Dark Gundam. Shining was already taken by the hero's first machine.

G Gundam, built around a martial arts tournament between nations, drew on the popularity of which 1990s video game?

Street Fighter II and other fighting games were newly popular when the show was conceived. It abandoned the franchise's military roots and aimed at younger viewers to boost toy sales.

Which Shuffle Alliance fighter in G Gundam pilots the Gundam Rose and bears the Jack of Diamonds crest?

Georges de Sand comes from one of the few noble families left on Earth and travels with his butler. At first he clashes with Chibodee, a boxer raised on the streets of New York.

Which Gundam Wing pilot uses the name of a pacifist colony leader who was shot dead by an assassin?

Heero Yuy is only an alias, borrowed from the martyred leader of the colonies' peace movement. The character was a late choice as lead, replacing Duo Maxwell.

Which Gundam Wing mobile suit, a stealth machine its engineer calls the ultimate work of art, is piloted by Duo Maxwell?

Deathscythe suits a pilot who calls himself the God of Death, a nickname the edited American broadcast softened to the Great Destroyer.

Which masked Gundam Wing ace is really Milliardo Peacecraft, the lost son of a pacifist family?

Zechs Merquise claims the mask hides a facial deformity. He has a trusted friend discreetly look after his little sister Relena, who does not know who he is.

Which codename is given to the colony scientists' plan for revenge against OZ that opens the story of Gundam Wing?

Operation Meteor nearly gave the show its name: the series was originally going to be called Gundam Meteor.

Which student on the neutral colony Heliopolis takes control of the Strike to protect his friends in Gundam SEED?

Kira Yamato soon discovers that his childhood friend is fighting for the other side. At their last meeting the friend had given him a robotic pet bird.

In Gundam SEED, what are the genetically enhanced humans who emigrate to orbital colonies to escape persecution called?

Coordinators are resented for their abilities by ordinary people, who are known as Naturals. Almost all of them flee into space to live on colonies of their own design.

Which carrier battleship, built at Heliopolis for the Earth forces, carries the Strike and its pilot in Gundam SEED?

The Archangel is almost sacrificed by its own side, which plans to wipe out an attacking army by destroying its Alaska stronghold with the ship still there.

Which private military organisation in Gundam 00 fields four advanced mobile suits to end war by armed intervention?

Celestial Being's superior technology forces the world's three major powers to unite against it. Unusually for the franchise, the story uses our own calendar and is set in 2307 AD.

Which mobile suit specialised in melee combat does Setsuna F. Seiei pilot in the first season of Gundam 00?

Exia is left severely damaged, and its power plant is later combined with another machine's to drive its successor, the twin-engined 00 Gundam.

Which codename is used in turn by twin brothers Neil and Lyle Dylandy as pilots in Gundam 00?

Lockon Stratos is first the name of Neil, who joined up after a terrorist bombing killed his family. When he dies, his younger twin takes over the title and flies the Cherudim Gundam.

Which mobile suit with a sniping scope trigger is piloted by Neil Dylandy in the first season of Gundam 00?

Dynames passed its sniper mode and its rifle-shaped cockpit scope on to its successor, the Cherudim Gundam, flown by Neil's twin.

Which legendary mobile suit, hastily repaired, does the orphan Mikazuki Augus pilot in Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans?

Barbatos was drawn to look like an industrial workhorse. Its equipment keeps changing through the series to show the heroes scavenging and adapting to survive.

Which colonised world is home to the child soldiers who found the company Tekkadan in Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans?

Mars has been terraformed in the story but stays poor and dependent on Earth. Tekkadan, whose name means Iron Flower, forms when the boys overthrow the adults who betrayed them.

Which transfer student, pilot of the Aerial, became the first female protagonist of a televised Gundam series in 2022?

Suletta Mercury leads The Witch from Mercury, set at a school where students duel in mobile suits. The model kit of her Aerial became the best-selling Gunpla of 2022.

Which young woman, loyal to Char Aznable for saving her life, dies during one of his battles in Mobile Suit Gundam?

Lalah Sune's death turns a rivalry between two ace pilots into fierce personal hatred. She had been a key test subject in the development of mind-controlled weapons.

Which Tokyo district displayed a full-size RX-78-2 statue built for the Gundam franchise's 30th anniversary?

Odaiba's giant was taken down in 2017. A full-size statue of the Unicorn Gundam was then put up on the same spot.