Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Characters from Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team include:

The 08th Team

Shiro Amada

A rookie ensign newly assigned to the 08th Team, Shiro is idealistic but inexperienced. Doing his best to do what he thinks is right, his perceptions of what the right thing to do is shifts over the course of the series.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Karen Joshua

The 08th Team's most experienced pilot, she's the de facto leader prior to Shiro's arrival. With a cynical attitude and a no-nonsense demeanor, she's a capable soldier who gets the job done with a minimum of drama.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Terry Sanders Jr.

An experienced pilot, he's rescued by Shiro during a mission gone bad in the first episode, and ends up joining the 08th MS Team at the same time as Shiro does. Haunted by his previous experience in the war, it takes him some time to adjust to life in the 08th Team.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Ambiguously Brown: Dark skin, dreads...there's a pretty good chance he's supposed to be black.
  • The Big Guy: He's an experienced MS pilot, and his loyalty to Shiro is unquestionable, yet his anxieties about his new team keep him from assuming a command position, and he largely serves as their muscle.
  • Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Does this to Michel when the latter flips out on Shiro.
  • Grim Reaper/Shinigami: Nicknamed this.
  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: Initially he's very negative about his own abilities, largely due to the deaths of his previous teammates.
  • I Owe You My Life: The source of his loyalty to Shiro.
  • The Jinx: Has had two previous teams shot out from under him, and is terrified he'll do the same to the 08th, prompting him to try and resign at one point.
  • Mecha-Mooks: Flies the same mass-production mobile suits as the rest of the squad.
  • Scary Black Man: Presents this way but is actually pretty cool. In fact he's one of the more positive portrayals of black people in Japanese television (assuming that he's meant to be).
  • Sole Survivor: And very bitter about it
    • Survivor Guilt: His previous two teams were massacred. Terry is more than a little screwed up from this.
  • Tessho Genda

Eledore Massis

The 08th Team's resident sensor tech, he accompianies the team into battle in the hovertruck, providing battlefield intel rather than fighting directly. He tends to be more interested in his fledgling music career than in being a good soldier, which tends to put him at odds with Karen. His frequent flirting probably doesn't help, either.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Michel Ninorich

A replacement sent to the 08th MS Team along with Shiro, Michel ends up working primarily as Eledore's goffer. Somewhat timid, he spends much of his time writing to his girlfriend. Not a particularly effective soldier, and he knows it painfully.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:


Other Earth Federation

Lieutenant Colonel Kojima

The commanding officer of the Kojima Batallion, and thus the 08th MS Team's immediate superior. Somewhat out of favor with high command, he spends most of his time trying to keep things running rather than leading on the battlefield.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Captain Ethan Ryer

Kojima's superior, he shows up late in the series, during the Federation's offensive against Ginias. He considers the men under him resources rather than human beings; expendable as long as it gets the job done.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:


Zeon

Aina Sahalin

A Zeon test pilot and Ginias' little sister, she encounters Shiro in the first episode. When the resulting battle leaves them both stranded in space, they work together in order to get rescued. Her repeated encounters with Shiro shape the overall course of the story, gradually leading both of them to question their roles in the war.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Ginias Sahalin

The head of the Apsalus project, Ginias is part nobleman, part scientist, and part military commander. Suffering from Soap Opera Disease, he's prone to neglecting his health, forcing Aina to watch out for him instead. He doesn't adjust well to the events taking place over the course of the series.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Norris Packard

A soldier with ties to the Sahalin family, he is protective of Aina specifically. Tangling with the 08th Team on several occasions, the man is a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Yuri Kellarny

A Zeon commander roughly equivalent to Ginias in rank, he's an actual battlefield commander as opposed to Ginias' R&D type. Thrown into conflict with Ginias when he becomes a threat to the Apsalus project by retreating to Ginias' base late in the series.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:


Civilian

Kiki Rosita

A civilian girl living in the area where the show takes place, she is a member of the local guerilla forces that oppose both the Earth Federation and Zeon. Initially antagonistic, she eventually warms up to Shiro when it becomes clear that he actually cares about the wellbeing of the locals. She eventually invites herself onto the team, tagging along even when they range far from her home village.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Mobile_Suit_Gundam:_The_08th_MS_Team/Characters?oldid=1887888"