Gundam/Narm

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The Gundam multiverse has been running for many years, with many, many series. And it deals with serious themes of philosophy and politics, all with animated mechas. It stands to reason that things will go hilariously wrong from time to time...

  • From the original Mobile Suit Gundam series: Ryu's Heroic Sacrifice is turned into Narm when the whole crew is awkwardly crying over how it's all their fault he had to die.
    • Rectified in the compilation trilogy, where this is replaced by Amuro & Hayato savagely beating each other because each blames the other for Ryu's death. Very dramatic.

"My own father never hit me like that."

    • In the English dub of the movies, nobody quite got the pronunciation of some names, so Amuro is the pilot of the Gundamn Also, "Sha Znable".
    • The subplot from Sayla's Agony where the White Base is dangerously low on SALT! The chef is clearly worried about the loss of salt, and Frau tells Amuro that salt is as important to the human body as water.
      • To be perfectly fair, not getting any sodium in your diet is a rather bad thing, especially when traveling through a desert region (it helps the body retain moisture), as the White Base was at the time.
  • After War Gundam X brings us Garrod Ran, the boy who says, "TIFFA! I BELIEVE IN GOD!" Not a bad line, given the context; but the voice acting is so hilariously overexuberant that it inspires laughter.
    • Also, when firing off his BFG (pick either version of the Satellite Cannon), he screams the word "HA SHAAAAA!!!!!" in a hilariously high-pitched voice.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory has Kou Uraki's infamous cries of "GATOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
    • Honestly? Gato's surname. The word "gato" means "cat" in Spanish, and Gundam has fans in Spanish-speaking countries...
    • The game Encounters in Space had another voice actor do that cry and manage to make it sound awesome as well as Narmy.
  • "I WILL BECOME SUPER ASIA".
    • That's Narm Charm.
    • Asia's horse has its own mobile suit.
    • Most of the Gundams look like bizarre stereotypes. Neo Mexico may be the worst. It's piloted by a guy named Chico, wears a sombrero, has a mustache, is apparently part cactus, and is named Tequila Gundam.
    • And finally, just to show that G Gundam doesn't fuck around when it comes to its narm, this is how the last battle ends.
  • Gundam 00. To begin with, 00 has its characters state a person's full name when talking to or about them in a serious fashion. In the development of the Allelujah/Marie relationship, Al says to her:

"Marie... Marie... MARIE... MARIE PARFACY!!!"

    • The subplots between Tieria and Veda are narm. There is an entire subplot in which Tieria tries to become more human; a second subplot is Tieria treating the supercomputer like a lost lover who's been kidnapped. Imagine if Sunrise made a subplot between Nina from Code Geass and the Table.
      • This series does badly with relationships. Not only is Marie/Soma and Allelujah narm, but so also are Setsuna and his Gundam, Lockon and Anew, and Billy and Sumeragi. The creators of Eureka Seven and Gurren Lagann would Face Palm if they saw how poorly 00 does in the romance department.
    • "You have control desu!" from episode six of the second season made a fairly serious Gundam launch hilarious. Allelujah's follow-up, 'I HAVE CONTROL,' didn't help.
      • Ironically, a real pilot would say "I have control" or words to that effect to confirm that catapult control belonged to them. Then again, it's usually in their own language, and Allelujah spoke in Gratuitous English....
    • Ribbons and his group are Serious Business, yeah. But their fashion sense? Not so much. Come ON, you guys... pastels and chest windows? And what was Ribbons wearing in the party? Nice frills! And then there's Hilling Care in a tux...
    • With names like the ones the Innovators possess, it becomes that much harder to take them seriously (try saying "FUCKING RIBBONS!" with a straight face).
      • Revive Revival is a particular offender. You'd really think they had someone on the production team who spoke English, because their names are, for the most, part real words. The fact that they made such goofy names for these guys is just beyond me.
      • Two words: Bring. Stabity.
      • Anew Returner. Seriously, is there anyone, anyone named Anew?!
    • Episode 14 has visual narm. After Setsuna is shot by Ali and tries to fight him off while wounded, the attempts to make him look like he's in pain only make Setsuna look like he's tripping balls.
    • The clone army of Bring Stability and the other guy, because there's nothing funnier than a clone army of jobbers all standing around.
    • The face Ribbons makes after getting a bullet to the head.
    • In episode 23 of the first season, the little robot's repeated cries of "Lockon! LOCKON! Lockon! LOCKON!" ruined the tragedy of the scene.
      • Speak for yourself; many people found the little robot's cries increased the drama as everyone slowly realised what had happened. C'mon, even Haro is sad!
    • The Pixie Dust scene near the end of season two which solves the mental problems of several characters, primarily because only Louise had a difficult problem. The other two have ridiculous problems that could have been solved by just talking it out. One of them is nothing more than Sergei never explaining his actions to his son. Using Pixie Dust to solve that is overkill bordering on Karma Houdini.
    • Graham Aker's transformation into Mr. Bushido, in which he wears a ridiculous samurai outfit that wouldn't be out-of-place in G Gundam, sadly this is played entirely straight, without any tongue in cheek scenes.
      • That's only true in the first season. When Billy meets Graham for the first time in season 2, Billy points out how everyone calls Graham Mr. Bushido now. Graham replies, "It's just the name they've given me, to be honest it's quite bothersome". So, while they don't show it, everyone does seem to consider Mr. Bushido a skilled pilot with a ridiculous outfit and persona.
    • Graham gets crazier over time. The more generous interpretation of this is it being a Deconstruction -- "the guy who acts like a G Gundam character is a madman". If this is true, then everything before was on purpose; if not, then we may have Character Derailment.
    • At the end of episode 18 of the second season, everyone is calling out people important to them. Then we get Tieria's and Setsuna's calls...
    • Speaking of dear Setsuna... He would like you to know that "He is Gundam." except when "He is not Gundam."
      • Worse is when in the dub he says "I am...Gundam." The problem is that he's voiced by Brad Swalie, so most likely what you'll be hearing in your mind instead is "I am...Kira!"
      • Which is doubly ironic, given that he's voiced by Mamoru Miyano in Japanese as well...
    • The scene where the Gundam Meisters all take off while saying the names of their loved ones. Setsuna says "Gundam."
    • One episode of the English dub had Daryl Dodge screaming "YOU DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!" at another character; if memory serves, it was Patrick. The delivery of the line broke the emotional tension.
      • Daryl is full of unintentional humor in the English dub because Scott McNeil (his English VA, who also voices Ali-Al Sacheez) gives him a hilariously bad stereotypical black guy voice. For the record, Scott McNeil is a white man from Australia.
    • Allelujah's transformation into Hallelujah during episode 5, complete with his hair flipping sides by itself and over-the-top screaming.
    • Honestly, it's kind of hard to take a lot of scenes seriously when suddenly the female characters' breasts take up the whole screen. Especially Sumeragi and her, um, "outfits."
    • Wait, we haven't mentioned the memorable seconbd season scene in which Allelujah is shown in a straitjacket and with a face mask on? Hannibal Lector vibes, people?
  • Katz's death in Zeta Gundam: death by asteroid pinball.
    • When Kamille and Katz were away from their mobile suits during a fight in a city, Katz gets knocked over by a nearby explosion during the fight. The scream he makes while falling is so hilarious that it's hard to take the scene seriously.
    • The sheer number of times people start spontaneously beating each other in this show. Seriously, it's like punching people replaced a simple "hello" somewhere along the line.

BRIGHTO SLAPPU!

    • Kamille for almost no reason (Jerid was surprised that Kamille was a boy because of his name) decides to take on about five Titans, screams "I'M A MAN", proceeds to get his ass kicked, and ends up unconscious when Jerid lightly taps Kammile's forehead with a kick.
    • Char Aznable's Paper-Thin Disguise. Did Char really think that calling himself Quatro and wearing '80s sunglasses was going to fool anyone into thinking that the AEUG's Ace Pilot was not the famed Red Comet?
      • This was so bad that Gundam SEED Destiny parodied it: Athrun tried to disguise himself as "Alex Dino," but is found out very quickly because all he did was put on a pair of sunglasses.
    • Quattro Vagina, er, Bajeena. What the HELL was Tomino thinking?
    • Bask Ohm. The guy has no motivation mentioned In-Universe for any of the atrocities he commits, and he wears Swimming Goggles at all times.
    • Kamille's idea of snapping Emma out of her Heroic BSOD after Katz, Captain Heinken and the Radish crew are killed involves opening his helmet while in outer space.
  • General Septem from Gundam Wing has a hilariously awful dub voice that is scratchy and poorly acted.
    • Septem is ejected out of a plane and then shot just in case he survives falling out of a plane.
    • Here's a clip of the greatness that is General Septem. One of the commentors put it best when they described it as the type of voice you would see in an Abridged Series.

"ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF ME, DAMN IT?!!"

"NOOOO IT'S THE GUNNNNNDAAAAAM!"

    • One character is named Dr. J. It's nearly impossible to keep from chuckling through any conversation involving him.
    • From the very first episode:

"No machine-gun for him!"

    • The name "Mobile Doll".
    • In one of the earlier episodes, it seems like almost every character adds 'in space' to almost everything they say.
    • Duke Durmail looks like the bastard child of George Washington and Colonel Sanders. Everyone else from the Romefeller Foundation looks like they just came from a Society for Creative Anachronisms convention.
  • Every scene Stellar is in after she meets Shinn in Gundam SEED Destiny. The most hilarious is when she dances right off a cliff. When did it seem like a good idea to keep putting a retarded person into a powerful giant robot?
    • Speaking of which, this Youtube gem exposes just how narmtastic Shinn is, especially during Stella's demise.
    • Shinn and Lunamaria's hooking up, which takes place one episode after Shinn blew up a mecha with Athrun and Luna's sister still in it. Accepting or forgiving a man for killing your sister, when you know that she's a traitor, is one thing. Jumping into his arms is another.
      • As someone else on this very wiki said:

"Shinn, you killed my sis and boyfriend...HOLD ME!"

    • What makes this part even funnier currently, is that Kenichi Suzumura and Maaya Sakamoto, Shinn's and Luna's VAs, respectively, have married in real life in 2011.
    • Any scene with Shinn screaming for extended periods of time, including the mental breakdown scene where you basically go inside Shinn's head and see how screwed up he is, especially the Mayu message.
    • A bit of dub-specific Narm. During the fight between Shinn and Kira, Shinn is charging the Freedom Gundam with a BFS. In the Japanese, Kira makes a noise that, while difficult to describe, could be called a verbal flinch (the subtitles translate it as "What!?" but it's hard to say if he's saying "nani" or just making a similar noise). In the dub, however...

Kira: "NOOO!!!"

  • Applicable to the original Japanese-language versions of both Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny: Kira Yamato's soul-rending attempts at crying, which produce a sound that words cannot describe. It's seriously wince-inducing. This seems to be a problem with Soichiro Hoshi in general, since it's also present in his work as Keiichi in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.
    • This trope noticed a considerable difference between the crying from the Gundam vs. Series, he has less of a gargling pitch.
    • It's toned down, but it's still hard to take seriously, and to avoid wincing over something that can easily be mistaken for gargling, gagging, and choking. It is especially jarring when he breaks down after a WIN.
    • Sai tried to hijack the Strike to no discernible end. Since he didn't know how to fly the thing, it fell over. The kicker was when it bellowed, "WHYYYYYYYYYY????"
    • The frequent Lull Destruction caused by Haro bouncing around and exclaiming silly phrases in Gratuitous English.
    • Just try saying the name Mu La Flaga with a straight face. You will utterly fail!
  • The name Full Frontal in the generally more serious UC setting. Try not to chuckle at the name: it's supposed to signify his favorite kind of attack... no, not that kind!
    • The hero's name is Banagher Links, which would make an awesome name for a golf course.
    • Full Frontal also sports a curled mullet, which looks ridiculous in a sci-fi setting. How were we supposed to take this character seriously?
      • The show gives Eighties Hair to everyone. Given how some scenes have a sense of weightlessness to them, this can get crazy for those bearing a massive 'do. Micott Bartsch has quickly risen to meme status due to this.
    • The English cast's difficulty in pronouncing Mobile Suit names is back in Unicorn, with such gems as "JAY-GAN" (Jegan), "RESEL" (Re ZEL), and "SEE-NANE-JUU" (Sinanju). The only name they manage to pronounce right is Khsatriya's!
  • Arguably, the reasoning (or lack thereof) behind Yurin's forced Face Heel Turn and death in Gundam AGE. She allows herself to be captured by the Vagan, who strap her into a remote-controlled Mobile Suit for the sole purpose of acting as an amplifier for Desil's Psychic Powers. She does this knowing full well that the Vagan will likely use her to kill Flit, the boy she loves. Her reason for doing this? They told her she'd never see him again. Depending on who you ask, this flimsy, stupid reasoning can be responsible for turning her resulting death scene into... well, this.
    • And we shall not forget that the Mobile Suit in which Yurin gets stashed and then sent off to her death is... pink. "Hello kittymare", anyone?
    • Also, the Strider mode of the AGE-2. It's hardly the first time a Gundam has been able to transform into a fighter, but, unlike previous transformable Gundams, the AGE-2's head sticks out right on top. Way to be subtle, Asemu.
    • Arguably, the reunion of Asemu, Zeheart and Romary in episode 24 thanks to bad writing. When Zeheart offers to continue their friendship on the condition of Asemu abandoning the Earth Federal Forces, he rejects because he has nothing else in his life. Zeheart then pulls out his gun and says "If you're in the battlefield, I can't be myself." Add Asemu looking like he's about to go Super Saiyan and Romary cranking a Nina Purpleton, and you got one of the franchise's most unintentionally hilarious scenes yet.
  • Because this show is Darker and Edgier, the unintentional humor in Victory Gundam is even funnier. Of note is a scene in episode 23, wherein the mobile armor Sandhoge grabs hold of the Victory Gundam and begins bludgeoning it with one of its mechanical limbs. This would be fine, except the mobile armor is basically kicking the Victory in the crotch. We have this action, repeated over and over, all while sad music is playing in the background. How did nobody realize how funny this was?
  • Every English dub for every Gundam series has Narm. This is because Sunrise uses Ocean Group for the dubbing, which is brings Hey, It's That Voice! Up to Eleven.
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