Mobile Suit Gundam SEED/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


This is the character sheet for the Gundam series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.

Heliopolis

A space colony in Earth's orbit, Heliopolis is part of Orb territory, and is thus neutral in the conflict between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. Unfortunately for them, they're attacked by Rau Le Creuset none the less, and the colony is eventually destroyed. A number of refugees end up on board the Archangel, and become de facto Earth Alliance crewmen despite being citizens of a neutral nation.

Kira Yamato

Voice Actors: Soichiro Hoshi (Japanese), Matt Hill (English)

"If you just did nothing because you thought it wouldn't help, than you'd end up doing less than nothing. Because nothing would change."

The main character, who was attending a technical college on Heliopolis when the series began. Naturally, he ends up Falling Into the Cockpit of the Strike Gundam. He's a Coordinator, which he attempts to hide at first, but it quickly comes out into the open. Kira undergoes the most Character Development of anyone in the series; starting as a somewhat goofy but generally normal kid, he forces himself to become cold and nearly mechanical in order to deal with the realities of war, but eventually breaks out of this and becomes much more idealistic (but no less determined) before the series ends.

  • A Man Is Not a Virgin: The first Gundam hero who has sex mid-series.
  • Ambiguous Disorder: Kira has a lot of Amuro's personality traits, including social awkwardness, skill with machinery, and a tendency towards trying to do everything himself and losing himself in his work. If there's a difference between the two of them, it's that Kira lacks Amuro's deliberately antisocial behaviour—he wants to interact with others, he's just not that good at it.
  • Badass: He doesn't want to be kicking twelve different kinds of ass, but that won't stop him from doing it if he has to.
  • Beam Spam: With the Freedom.
  • Betty and Veronica: Lacus and Flay
  • BFG: The Launcher Striker's 320mm Agni hyperimpulse cannon.
  • BFS: The Sword Striker's anti-ship sword, which is over fifteen meters long.
  • Big Damn Hero: Plenty of times, even moreso after receiving the Freedom.
  • Bigger Stick: His Gundam, naturally.
  • Born Winner: Not just a Coordinator, but the Ultimate Coordinator, and also capable of activating SEED mode.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Towards Flay. Deconstructed later on.
  • Death From Above: The flight capable Freedom.
  • Dual-Wielding: With the Freedom's beam sabres.
  • Expy: Of Amuro Ray.
  • Falling Into the Cockpit: Actually thrown in by Murrue in order to save his life during the ZAFT commando raid on Heliopolis.
  • Forgiveness: Forgives both Athrun and Yzak, even choosing to spare the latter (who shot down a shuttle full of civilians) in the middle of a battle.
  • Good-Looking Privates: Not to the same degree as Athrun, but still he ain't hard on the eyes.
  • Happily Adopted
  • The Hero
  • Heroes Want Redheads: In the beginning of the series, Kira has an obvious crush on Flay which later blossoms into a full fledged sexual relationship, but it just gets ugly from there.
  • Heroic BSOD: He pretty much lives one during the middle part of the series, as he shuts his emotions down in order to cope with the ravages of the war.
  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: During the series' mid-point it doesn't matter how good Kira is or how much the others praise him: he can't live up to the only person whose standards matter to him, namely, his own.
  • Honor Before Reason: Sometimes. Not so much during the mid-part of the series.
  • I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Flay, and to a lesser degree, the shuttle that Yzak shot down.
  • It's Personal: With Athrun after Tolle's death and Le Creuset after Flay's.
  • Knife Nut: The Strike's basic form is armed with two Armr Schneider knives, and nothing else. They come in useful a bunch of times though.
  • Lady and Knight: The Knight to Lacus Clyne's Lady.
  • Lightning Bruiser: The Freedom, which more or less combines all the Strike's modes into one Gundam.
  • Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Both the Strike and the Freedom feature a shield. Kira makes extensive use of both of them.
  • Mad Scientist's Handsome Son: Averted. While his father, Ulen, is definitely a Mad Scientist, he didn't grow up with him.
  • Martial Pacifist: He'd much rather talk things out than fight over it. This being Gundam, it doesn't work out that way.
  • Mecha Expansion Pack: The Strike, which is near-useless without one of its three Striker packs.
  • The Messiah: Starts to develop these sorts of traits partway through the show.
  • Mid-Season Upgrade: The Strike to the Freedom.
  • Multiform Balance: The Strike. Aile Striker is more or less a Jack of All Stats, while the Launcher Striker is a Mighty Glacier with heavier weaponry but less mobility, and the Sword Striker is a borderline Lightning Bruiser (not quite as fast as the Aile, but faster than the Launcher) balanced by the fact that it lacks ranged firepower.
  • Nice Guy: Which makes the horror show he's thrust into all the sadder.
  • Not Quite Dead: To the ire of his haters and the relief of everyone else.
  • The Protagonist
  • Purple Eyes
  • Reluctant Warrior: He really doesn't like fighting, but if the alternative is letting innocents suffer, then prepare for ass-kickings.
  • Rescue Romance: His relationship with Lacus developed from this. In fact, both traded roles of rescuer and rescuee in some points.
  • The Rival: Athrun's.
  • Say My Name: Happens a lot.
  • Separated at Birth: With Cagalli
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: The war has a very detrimental effect on Kira's mental health, causing him to hit rock bottom around the series midpoint. He recovers to a degree, but is sporting one hell of a Thousand-Yard Stare by the time Destiny roles around.
  • Skilled but Naive: The naivety is wrung out of him after some really harsh experiences.
  • Technical Pacifist: After getting the Freedom, he aims to disable MS and spare the pilot, rather than destroying them outright. He will break this rule if he has to though, most notably against Le Creuset who couldn't be stopped any other way.
  • Teen Genius
  • Tender Tears: He can be a bit weepy early in the series, though only when he's alone. Note, however, that he only does this after a battle—he's not crying for himself, he's crying for the men he's killed.
  • Tragic Keepsake: The origami flower he was given by a little girl he'd helped protect and who was later shot down by Yzak.
  • Twincest: With Cagalli. Averted just in time.
  • Unlucky Everydude: He starts the series doing piles of extra work for his college professor and with an unrequited crush on Flay. His fortunes do not improve.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: By mid-series you will be thinking this. He gets it back. Mostly.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Gives Cagalli a pretty hefty slap after she took a swing at him and kills Aisha during his battle with her and the Tiger.

Miriallia "Miri" Haw

Voice Actors: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese), Anna Cummer (English)

One of Kira's friends from Heliopolis. Dates Tolle and serves as Kira's Mission Control, Miri is probably the most level-headed of the press-ganged civilians. After Tolle dies, she goes through a period of growing instability before getting over it and eventually ending up in a relationship with Dearka.

Sai Argyle

Voice Actors: Tetsu Shiratori (Japanese), Bill Switzer (English)

A friend of Kira's and Flay's boyfriend. He seems to be the unofficial leader of Kira's social clique—he's the cool, confident guy with the hot girlfriend. Between Flay's issues and Kira's rising importance, this is slowly Deconstructed over the first half of the series, though Sai's resilient enough to bounce back from it. During the second half of the series, he reprises his leadership role, acting as the unofficial first-among-equals for the bridge crewmen.


Tolle Koenig

Voice Actors: Takayuki Inoue (Japanese), Richard Ian Cox (English)

One of Kira's friends. Dates Miriallia and looks up to Kira. The one to come up with the idea to join the Archangel's crew, he's always looking to make himself useful. One of the Bridge Bunnies at first, he eventually spends enough time in the simulator to graduate to Skygrasper pilot, and begins to help Kira and Mu in battle. During the mid-series Wham! Episode, he is killed by Athrun while attempting to help Kira.

Kuzzey Buskirk

Voice Actors: Yasuhiro Takato (Japanese), Keith Miller (English)

One of Kira's friends, he's something of a minor character compared to the rest of the Heliopolis crew. He's the most average of the clique, lacking any outstanding quality comparable to Sai's confidence, Miriallia's warmth, or Tolle's determination. When the Archangel reaches Orb, he decides not to stay on.

Flay Allster

Voice Actors: Houko Kuwashima (Japanese), Tabitha St. Germain (English)

"Why didn't you save him? It's because you're a Coordinator too!"

Living on Heliopolis at the beginning of the series, Flay is actually the daughter of the Atlantic Federation's Vice Foreign Minister, George Allster. She'd recently begun dating Sai at the beginning of the series, though Kira had had a crush on her for some time. A fairly air-headed type, the war is not kind to her. After having the misfortune to witness her father's death, she... reacts badly. Using her feminine wiles, she manipulates Kira emotionally and sexually, in the hopes of getting him to die in battle, after taking as many fellow Coordinators with him as possible. Separated from the Archangel's crew at Alaska, she ends up in Rau Le Creuset's custody, where he uses her to bring the N-Jammer Canceller to the Earth Alliance. Assigned to the crew of the Dominion, she escapes its destruction but is killed by Rau during his Final Battle with Kira.

Earth Alliance

A military alliance consisting of the nations who funded the construction of the PLANTs, formed when the Coordinators living there declared themselves independent. Devastated by ZAFT's mobile suits, they develop the Gundams with the aid of neutral nation Orb in order to counter this. Initially presented as the more sympathetic faction of the war, they're still no barrel of laughs, conscripting several of the Heliopolis refugees to crew the Archangel. As the series progresses, they become less and less sympathetic.

Murrue Ramius

Voice Actors: Kotono Mitsuishi (Japanese), Lisa Ann Beley (English)

"It's becoming more and more difficult to understand who or what we're fighting for."

A Lieutenant stationed on the Archangel, she's forced to take command after the ZAFT attack on Heliopolis. Though uncertain of herself at first, she eventually grows to be a capable officer and a dangerous opponent to ZAFT. Keeping the Archangel in one piece through space, reentry, and all over Earth, she defects after the Earth Alliance betrays the Archangel at Alaska.

  • The Captain: Of the Archangel. She actually gains the title following her promotion.
  • Expy: A young lieutenant who initially comes off as unfair and overbearing is forced to take over a brand new assault carrier. They gradually grow into the role of Captain and leader, eventually becoming one of the most respected officers in the fleet, while striking up a romance with one of their senior officers. Are we talking about Murrue Ramius, or Bright Noa? She's practically his Distaff Counterpart.
  • Field Promotion: Lieutenant to Captain.
  • Gainaxing: You know the Archangel's taken a nasty hit when Murrue gets bouncy.
  • Good-Looking Privates: You had better believe it.
  • Her Heart Will Go On: Twice.
  • The Leader: Of the Archangel crew, Type IV. Ramius is a capable officer and has the full respect of everyone working for her.
  • The McCoy: Albeit in a primary leadership role; Mu is her Kirk, although Natarle (who rounds out the Power Trio in the superego role) only marginally qualifies as The Spock.
  • Hot Teacher: Well, she was before she became a military officer.
  • Lady of War: Calm, collected, feminine, and the best battleship captain in the EA Navy.
  • Military Maverick: Though kinder and gentler than most, Murrue doesn't hesitate to trample all over military regulations as necessary in order to protect the people on her ship. This causes problems for her with her Number Two, Natarle Badgiruel.
  • Official Couple: With Mu La Flaga.
  • Team Mom
  • Took a Level in Badass: As the show progresses and she gains both confidence and ability.
  • Tragic Keepsake: Her locket. It's a memento of her previous boyfriend, a mobile armour pilot.
  • Woman in White
  • You Are in Command Now: La Flaga pushes her into command after the Archangel's commanding officers are killed in Le Creuset's surprise attack. He could have taken the position, as he has seniority, but Murrue is more familiar with the ship and better-suited to the position, while Mu, as the only available pilot other than Kira, is better off not tied to the bridge.

Mu La Flaga

Voice Actors: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Trevor Devall (English)

"I'm the man who makes the impossible possible."

One of the few mobile armour pilots to survive the war long enough to appear in the series, he's also lucky (and good) enough to survive the initial ZAFT attack on Heliopolis. Surprisingly laid back for a guy who's been on the brink of a messy death for months at a time, he provides much needed advice and experience for the Archangel's rookie crew. Provides support for Kira and Murrue most specifically—he actually outranks them both, but having no experience as a ship's officer and being unable to pilot the Strike, he prefers to leave the lead roles to them. Has a rivalry with ZAFT commander Rau Le Creuset, which precedes the beginning of the series. Pilots first the Mobius Zero mobile armour, then the Skygrasper, and finally the Strike. He is apparently killed during the climatic battle with the Dominion.

Natarle Badgiruel

Voice Actors: Houko Kuwashima (Japanese), Sarah Johns (English)

Originally an Ensign on the Archangel, she graduates to Murrue's Number Two after the attack on Heliopolis. Harder and more pragmatic than Murrue, Badgiruel remains loyal to the Earth Forces, and is eventually named captain of the Archangel's Evil Counterpart, the Dominion. A professional soldier, she buries any doubts she has behind her ironclad faith in the military, even when forced to work with Muruta Azrael and his squad.

Ensign Arnold Neumann

Voice Actors: Isshin Chiba (Japanese), Philip Pacaud (English)

The soft spoken helmsman of the Archangel, Mr. Neumann is one of the unsung heroes of the show. Taking on a leadership role among the ship's NCO's in times of crisis, Neumann's greatest contribution to the survival of the Archangel is without a doubt his insane piloting skills.

  • Field Promotion: From Chief Petty Officer to Ensign.
  • Hidden Depths: Neumann keeps to himself and rarely speaks, but when the Archangel is in lockdown aboard Artemis, he's the one who rallies the crew and organises the breakout. Supplementary materials suggest that he may have had a crush on Natarle Badgiruel as well.
  • Improbable Piloting Skills: Good Lord yes! This man flies a several thousand tonne battleship as though it were a freaking fighter plane. Doing a barrel roll to point the ship's guns down or circumvent an enemy battleship? No problem. Recovering from a botched atmospheric re-entry? Not even worth a mention. Dodging beams and guided missiles alike between the time they are fired and the time they reach his ship (many times maneuvering so quickly it looks like the crew would surely be turned to red paste against the walls)? All in a day's work.
  • Love Hurts: In some of the video games based on SEED it is revealed that Neumann had a thing for the Archangel's Number Two, Badgiruel. This means that he had to help kill her when Ramius ordered the Dominion sunk. Ouch.
  • Man in White
  • The Quiet One: Looks and acts like an older Athrun actually.
  • The Stoic
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Muruta Azrael

Voice Actors: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Japanese), Andrew Francis (English)

"Misunderstandings create enemies, and when you have enemies, you shoot them."

The leader of the anti-Coordinator terrorist group Blue Cosmos and a powerful figure in the Atlantic Federation. Boyish. Charming. Takes his evil Up to Eleven. He joins the crew of the Dominion with his squad of modified soldiers, more or less subverting Badgiruel's position as captain. Killed when the Dominion is destroyed in combat with the Archangel.

  • Ax Crazy: You get hints about just how crazy he is throughout the show. Then the last few episodes hit and holy crap.
  • Bad Boss: Controls Shani, Cortho, and Orga through drug addiction, and everyone else through fear. Really starts to show after his Villainous Breakdown.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: A truly nasty—and very competent—one. He's the real leader of the Earth Forces and would be The Big Bad if Rau Le Creuset weren't in the story. It's worth noting that of all the contenders for this title in the series he is without a doubt the most evil.
    • Big Bad Ensemble: Subverted. It appears that the plot is coming down to the war between him and Patrick Zala but in reality they're both Unwitting Pawns of Rau Le Creuset.
  • Bishonen: Which accounts for his ridiculous popularity with the female fanbase.
  • Blond Guys Are Evil
  • Blue Eyes
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Huh. So you wanted to kill all Coordinators because some of them bullied you when you were a kid?
  • Driven by Envy: Heavily implied by his backstory. He's less angry about the Coordinators being better than humanity than he is about them being better than him.
  • Eviler Than Thou: With Coordinator-supremacist Patrick Zala.
  • Evil Is Petty
  • Evil Laugh: Gives an epic one when he receives the plans to ZAFT's defenses and N-Jammer Cancellers.
  • Fantastic Racism: His motivation. Worst of all, he can't understand why everyone else doesn't feel the same way he does.
  • Faux Affably Evil: His polite mannerisms and excitable personality only serve to enhance how much of an arrogant psycho he is.
  • Final Solution: Plans to nuke the Plants, ending the war, and killing every Coordinator in existence in the process.
  • Freudian Excuse: See above. Subverted in that it is intended to make him more despicable, not less.
  • He-Man Woman Hater: Has some aspects of this. He's openly contemptuous of Badgiruel after finding out she's a woman, and is the only character in-series to use the word "bitch" to describe a female character.
  • Hypocrite: Genetically modifying fetus' to create Born Winners is evil! Using drugs and mental torture to create Super Soldiers out of children is not! It's also hinted that his hatred of Coordinators is a case of Driven by Envy, making him an even bigger hypocrite.
  • Kick the Dog: It's his life's work!
  • Lack of Empathy: Couldn't find it with a compass and a road map.
  • Light Is Not Good: Has a religious name and wears a white suit, but...
  • The Man Behind the Man: To the Atlantic Federation president. Think of him as a very powerful businessman and lobbyist... who just happens to head a combination KKK and Nazi Party.
  • Man of Wealth and Taste: His fashion sense is one of his few redeeming qualities. Come to think of it, it's about his only redeeming quality. He does look good in that blue suit.
  • Muggle Power: His mom didn't make him a Coordinator, so no one gets to be one.
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast: He's named after the Angel of Death.
  • A Nazi by Any Other Name: Here's a hint people—if it looks like a Nazi, and talks like a Nazi, and acts like a Nazi, chances are, it's a Nazi.
  • Non-Action Villain: Toyed with. He's no fighter, but he's certainly willing to go to the front and place himself in the line of fire.
  • Not So Different: From Patrick Zala. Lampshaded by Uzumi Nara Atha.
  • Nuke'Em: Tries to do this to the PLANTS twice.
  • Playing Against Type: Nobuyuki Hiyama is not known for this kind of role.
  • Politically-Incorrect Villain: Ya think?
  • The Political Officer: Practically his role on the Dominion, making sure his plans are fulfilled.
  • Put the Laughter In Slaughter: Azrael is taking a little too much enjoyment in watching people get nuked.
  • Revenge Before Reason: Prioritises destroying the Plants over stopping Genesis, and you know, saving the human race.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man
  • Smug Snake: Ungodly arrogant, and self-assured to the point of suicidal overconfidence. It's worth noting that simply holding a conversation with him can be a trying experience for characters like Badgirel.
  • The Sociopath: Hits every requirement on the checklist. Heck, just read the page quote.
  • Sore Loser: Goes out ranting and screaming about how he always wins.
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Why settle for defeating your enemies through strategy when you can just Nuke'Em? And then there's putting an entire clip into Natarle.
  • This Is for Emphasis, Bitch: Does it to Flay. While backhanding her.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Of Rau Le Creuset. He never suspects a thing.
  • Villainous Breakdown: And how! By the end he's a screaming, ranting mess.

"I can't lose. I never lose!"

  • Villain with Good Publicity: A curious example. His racism is well known and publicised, but in the Earth Forces, anti-Coordinator sentiment is hardly uncommon. He's all but worshipped by the OMNI high command, and is a well-respected figure in the Atlantic Federation. What he's hiding from everyone is what an utter psycho he is, and the fact that he couldn't care less about individual Naturals.
  • We Have Reserves: Azrael doesn't give a damn about casualties, and actually goes so far as to classify Shani, Cortho, and Orga as equipment, rather than soldiers, making them totally expendable.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Would totally hit a girl. Or shoot her about a dozen times.

Captain William Sutherland

Voice Actors: Minoru Inaba (Japanese), Ron Halder (English)

"For the preservation of our blue and natural Earth!"

A member of the OMNI General Staff and a card-carrying member of Blue Cosmos, Captain Sutherland is a key member of Azrael's network and provides his link to the upper echelons of the Earth Forces' military. The mastermind behind the use of the Cyclops system at JOSH-A, Sutherland sees to it that the worst of Azrael's proposals are made a reality by the military.

Shani Andras, Clotho Bauer, and Orga Sabnak

Top to bottom: Orga, Clotho, Shani

Three "biological CPUs" brought in by Azrael to pilot his shiny new Gundams during the attack on Orb, Clotho Buer, Orga Sabnak, and Shani Andras are the Earth Alliance's best weapons during the waning weeks of the war. Fed a steady stream of drugs that are both performance enhancing and highly addictive, it's unclear whether this is what drove them nuts or if they were always that way. Regardless, the trio are capable of taking on Coordinators in superior mobile suits toe-to-toe and coming out on top more often than not, despite being completely and utterly psychotic. Orga is assigned to the Calamity; outside of battle, he's usually found reading paperback novels. Clotho pilots the Raider; his primary hobby outside of battle is playing Shmups, and he's fond of shouting gaming-inspiring phrases like "game over!" in combat. Shani pilots the Forbidden, and spends his downtime ignoring the rest of the world by listening to music on his headphones. He cultivates his Peek-a-Bangs to hide his Mismatched Eyes.

  • Ax Crazy: At least in combat; outside of battle they tend to ignore everyone around them. Shani is probably the worst.
  • Being Tortured Makes You Evil
  • Berserk Button: Okay, they're all pretty unstable, but Shani's even more likely to snap than usual if someone whom he considers weak tries to stop him.

"No one takes a shot at me!"

  • BFG: The Calamity is a flying artillery platform, and after the Buster, features the largest cannons seen in series.
  • Blond Guys Are Evil: Orga.
  • Boxed Crooks: In their original backstory they were death row prisoners, offered a reprive if they agreed to be experimented on.
  • The Brute(s): The three of them serve as Azrael's Brute squad, providing the Earth Forces with vicious, expendable muscle.
  • Death From Above: The Raider and the Forbidden are both flight capable. Typically Clotho provides fire support, while Shani closes with the target.
  • Drugs Are Bad
  • Epic Flail: The Raider features one in mobile suit mode.
  • Evil Laugh: None of them are afraid to indulge in one.
  • Evil Redhead: Clotho.
  • Expy: Not as individuals, but as the group the pre-Extended trio have a lot in common with the Cyber Newtypes of the UC era.
  • Fan Nickname: "The Druggies", for obvious reasons.
  • Flawed Prototype: They manage to be this and Super Prototype at the same time. While it's true that they have far superior combat skills to their successors in the extended, they're also highly unstable emotionally, cannot be trusted with any jobs outside of piloting, and have a two hour time limit on combat that is absolutely crippling when it comes to usability. The later versions essentially swap out the better piloting skills for increased loyalty and versatility, and a far longer time limit (they only have to be maintained once a day).
  • Freudian Trio: Orga's the Ego, Clotho's the Superego, and Shani's the Id, although all three are absolutely certifiable.
  • Half the Man He Used To Be: Orga is bisected by Athrun.
  • Horror Hunger: The withdrawal symptoms are fatal, and exceedingly painful.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Shani, courtesy of Yzak.
  • Kick Them While They Are Down: A Laughing Mad Clotho tries to attack the disabled Buster towards the end of the Jachin Due battle. He's annihilated by Yzak for his trouble.
  • Killed Off for Real: All three of them, eventually.
  • Lack of Empathy: All three have got it bad. Clotho views it all as some sort of real-life video game, Orga doesn't care who he mows down with his BFGs and Shani...Shani's an out and out psycho who opens fire on his own teammates (or redirects blasts towards them) and gets off on killing enemy pilots.
  • Laughing Mad: Clotho following the deaths of Shani and Orga is left a laughing, Empty Shell.
  • Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me/Deflector Shields: Shani's Gundam, the Forbidden, incorporates both, in the form of a pair of shields attached to the superstructure that redirect beam weapons away from his Gundam.
  • Minor Injury Overreaction: Shani does this for his Gundam, going ballistic when it's damaged. "Did you see what that guy did?!"
  • Mismatched Eyes: Shani.
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast: The Calamity, The Raider, and The Forbidden? I think I'm going to be...somewhere else for a while.
  • Not a Game: Clotho seems to have trouble understanding that he isn't playing a video game. He keeps right on killing, not out of patriotism or loyalty, but because he hates to lose.
  • Peek-a-Bangs: Shani's help to enhance his rather emo appearance when he's out of combat.
  • Psycho Prototypes: It's revealed in the sequel that they are the forerunners of the Extended program. The Extended might have issues, but compared to these three, they're pillars of stability. Arguably an example of a Super Prototype as well given their better combat record.
  • Psycho Serum: Used partly to increase combat performance and partly to ensure loyalty; the effects of withdrawal are fatal, precluding any attempt at desertion.
  • Psychotic Smirk: Orga often features one.
  • Put the Laughter In Slaughter: All of them, but especially Shani.
  • The Quiet One: Shani's this outside of battle. During battle he's a cackling lunatic.
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad: Substitute "quirky" for "psychotic and persistent" and you've got them.
  • Restraining Bolt: Their Psycho Serum serves as one. The effects of withdrawal are fatal, firmly anchoring their loyalty to Azrael.
  • Sanity Slippage: A little more with every episode.
  • Say My Name: Shout each other's at regular intervals (typically because one of them has just tried to shoot the others).
  • Second Place Is for Losers/Sore Loser: When asked why he continues to fight for people who are just using him, Clotho responds with "All I know is that I hate to lose. That's good enough for me."
  • Sinister Scythe: Shani's Gundam features one.
  • Slasher Smile: All three, but most frequently Shani.
  • Slave Mooks: They're only loyal to Azrael because they will die without frequent doses of Psycho Serum.
  • Sociopathic Soldiers: Type II. Despite being virtual slaves, hating their boss, and designated as equipment rather than personnel, they still really enjoy their work.
  • Sore Loser: Clotho, who rants about how much he hates to lose at one point. Clearly the boy has spent too much time around Azrael.
  • Super Prototypes: To the Extended of Gundam SEED Destiny. See Flawed Prototype & Psycho Prototype, above, for more details.
  • Super Soldiers
  • Teens Are Monsters: If you go off of their original backstory, they were already monsters long before they became Sociopathic Soldiers.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: None of them are team players, which occasionally devolves into them actually fighting each other instead of their enemy. Orga is rather careless about what he's shooting at, Clotho hates it when his teammates need to hitch a ride on his flight-capable Gundam, and Shani prefers to ignore his teammates' existence entirely during combat. Still, when they do cooperate, it really sucks to be the other guy.
  • Transforming Mecha: Raider switches between a normal MS mode and an almost bird-like flight mode, while The Forbidden features a retractable superstructure and deflector shields.
  • Verbal Tic: Orga's "hey, hey, hey," and Clotho's fondness for shouting "Game over!"
  • Villainous Breakdown: When they start to go through withdrawal, it gets ugly. Clotho gets worse after losing Shani and Orga.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: They may not like each other very much, but they hate the rest of the world far more, and are pretty dependent on one another for emotional stability. When Shani dies, the other two freak.
  • With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Clotho has orange hair, while Shani has light green.


ZAFT

The group representing the Coordinators living in the PLANTs, its military arm is the primary antagonist at the beginning of the series. Fighting for independence from the Earth nations that built the PLANTs they live in, their fight is far more complicated than an idealistic crusade against tyranny. Their presentation changes drastically during the course of the series, managing to become both more and less sympathic at the same time.

Rau Le Creuset

Voice Actors: Toshihiko Seki (Japanese), Mark Oliver (English)

"The dove is a symbol of peace. It's not born with the sharp beak or claws that can inflict a fatal attack, so they say if these two birds were pitted against each other it would undoubtedly be a long, gruesome battle."

Athrun's commanding officer and Patrick Zala's right-hand man, Le Creuset is a feared ZAFT ship captain and mobile suit pilot, renowned for his ability and his ruthlessness. He is assigned to hunt down the Archangel, and is later given command of the assaults on Alaska and Panama, and the defence of Jachin Due. Aways masked, Le Creuset is an enigmatic figure with a grudge against Mu La Flaga. He is eventually revealed to be a clone of Mu La Flaga's father, created to be a perfect "son". This doesn't work out very well; he inherits a serious case of Cloning Blues, manifesting physically as premature aging due to shortened telomeres. This eventually leads him to decide that he is in a uniquely objective position to judge humanity as a whole. He finds them wanting, and decides that he will engineer the self-destruction of the entire human race, a goal he has been working towards since the start of the series. A very dangerous man, Rau originally pilots a series of Elite Mook mobile suits, but eventually upgrades to the Providence.

Athrun Zala

Voice Actors: Akira Ishida (Japanese), Samuel Vincent (English)

"I can't exactly fight a war with a big smile on my face."

Kira's former best friend and one of ZAFT's elite pilots, he spends the first half of the show trying to capture Kira and the Strike. Much more cynical than Kira, he considers himself the realist of the two, and believes Kira is being manipulated by the Naturals. He too grow progressively darker and more bitter as the series progresses, culminating in a brutal fight between he and Kira in the middle of the series. Afterwards he slowly recovers, pulls a Heel Face Turn, and ends up dating Kira's sister, Cagalli. Pilots the Aegis and then the Justice.

Yzak Joule

Voice Actors: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese), Michael Adamtwaite (English)

"Come out and fight, Strike! Or else this pain I feel will never go away!"

A member of the Le Creuset team, he's the most bloodthirsty and callous of the group. He has little respect for anyone he considers weak, and absolutely zero respect for Naturals as a consequence. He's close friends with Dearka, who shares many of his views, and has a developing rivalry with Athrun. He has no particular hate for the Earth Alliance (just contempt) until he's wounded during a battle with the Strike. After the resulting scarring, he develops a massive hate-on for Kira. Extremely temperamental and impulsive, he's the member of the group most loyal to ZAFT as a whole and Le Creuset personally. Pilots the Duel.

Dearka Elsman

Voice Actors: Akira Sasanuma (Japanese), Brad Swaile (English)

A member of Athrun's team, he, along with Yzak Joule, formed the darker half of the foursome. Snarky and condescending at times, he eventually defects to the Three Ships Alliance after being captured mid-show, when he realises that Naturals are people too. Pilots the Buster.

Nicol Amalfi

Voice Actors: Mami Matsui (Japanese series), Romi Paku (Japanese Compilation Movies), Gabe Khouth (English)

The youngest and most sensitive member of the Le Creuset Team. He looks up to Athrun, but is often bullied by Dearka and (especially) Yzak. He pilots the Blitz, and pulls his weight in combat despite the fact that he's not as skilled as the rest of the team. A genuinely Nice Guy, Nicol's only real character flaw seems to be his belief in My Country, Right or Wrong. He's eventually killed by Kira before his climatic battle with Athrun.

Lacus Clyne

Voice Actors: Rie Tanaka (Japanese), Chantal Strand (English dialogue), Jillian Michaels (English singing)

"I'd like you to inform them: from now on, Lacus Clyne will be singing the song... of peace."

The daughter of PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne, Lacus is an extremely popular Idol Singer and political activist, and is engaged to her friend Athrun. Early in the series she is picked up by the Archangel and meets Kira, an event which will come to define the rest of her life. She eventually abandons ZAFT after her father's assassination, waging a propaganda war (and then a physical one) against Chairman Zala. The public face of her father's moderate political stance, the "Clyne Faction", and later the Three Ships Alliance, Lacus is a pleasant, friendly, idealistic girl, who is a heck of a lot smarter than you'd think.

Patrick Zala

Voice Actors: Kinryu Arimoto (Japanese), Andrew Kavadas (English)

"We Coordinators are very different. We should view ourselves as a completely new species. There's no reason to coexist with Naturals."

Athrun's father, Patrick Zala was one of the founding members of ZAFT alongside Siegel Clyne. At the beginning of the series, he's the head of ZAFT's armed forces. Patrick is a stoic but driven man, throwing himself into the execution of the war to the exclusion of all else—including his son. Patrick's fanaticism comes from the loss of his wife Lenore in the Bloody Valentine tragedy, which has left him with a deep-seated hatred of Naturals. He believes that Coordinators are a new species, distinct from (and superior to) Naturals. He eventually replaces Siegel Clyne as the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman, at which point he has Clyne assassinated and enacts his plan to wipe out the Naturals entirely. At the end of the war, he is killed by an underling to prevent him from destroying Earth.

"Who exploits the Coordinators?!"

  • Smug Snake: Fueled by his Fantastic Racism and belief that Coordinators are a Superior Species.
  • Start of Darkness: It's implied that he was a warmer father figure and a better human being prior to Lenore's death at Junius 7.
  • Superior Species: Convinced that Coordinators are far superior to "unevolved" Naturals.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Though less of a pawn than most, Rau Le Creuset is using him to help drive humanity to extinction.
  • "What the Hell?" Dad: Patrick treats Athrun like any other subordinate, except when he's making sure that Athrun lives up to his high standards. Athrun seems to hold him no ill will, however; it may be that he was a warmer father figure prior to the Bloody Valentine tragedy.

Siegel Clyne

Voice Actors: Yosuke Akimoto (Japanese), Don Brown (English)

"You still fail to grasp the underlying truth, Patrick. We [Coordinators] didn't evolve."

Siegel Clyne is Lacus's father. He helped found ZAFT with Patrick Zala, and is the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman at the beginning of the series. Leader of the moderate faction of Coordinators, he and his allies believe in coexistence with the Naturals, but they're steadily losing ground to the radical faction favoring all-out war. Eventually voted out of office and replaced by Patrick Zala, he is soon thereafter assassinated by his successor.

Ezalia Joule

Voice Actors: Kotono Mitsuishi (Japanese), Lee Lau (English)

Yzak's mother, and a member of Patrick Zala's faction on the ZAFT Supreme Council, Ezalia is his second-in-command, and is even more ardent than Patrick in her belief that Coordinators are a new, superior species. Proud of her son's military service, Ezalia nevertheless worries about his safety, and can be quite controlling—if well-meaning—in her interactions with Yzak.

Andrew Waltfeld

Voice Actors: Ryotaro Okiayu (Japanese), Brian Drummond (English)

"At what point do we put an end to [war]? When every single one of your enemies has been destroyed? Perhaps then."

Known as "the Desert Tiger", Waltfeld is a feared ZAFT commander operating in the Libyan desert. He serves as the first major opponent Kira faces other than Athrun and his team, and poses a serious threat to the Archangel and her crew, despite being a pretty decent guy. Meeting him forces Kira to further reevaluate his moral stance on the war. Apparently killed in combat with Kira, an event that pretty much pushes the kid over the edge, he eventually resurfaces as the captain of Lacus's ship, the Eternal, and pulls a Heel Face Turn.

  • Affably Evil: It helps that he's more affable than evil.
  • Animal Motifs: He takes his "tiger" nickname to heart.
  • Anti-Villain: He's about as sympathetic as they come.
  • Artificial Limbs: After his fight with Kira.
  • Battle Couple: With Aisha
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: He takes his food and especially his coffee very, very seriously. He is however, most effective.
  • Colonel Badass: Or Commander at least. He is modeled on Ramba Ral after all.
  • Cool Old Guy: Despite not being that old, he's this when compared to others in the cast.
  • Expy: Of Ramba Ral, fullfilling a very similar role in terms of story and personality.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: After he turns up alive, he has a very visible scar where his left eye used to be
  • Heel Face Turn
  • It Gets Easier: He discusses it with Kira and Cagalli. Unlike Mu, he considers it to be a negative thing.
  • Must Have Caffeine
  • Noble Demon: Burns down a town after letting the civillians evacuate, leaves the areas he's conquered in relative peace, lets Kira and Cagalli escape when he could have captured them... it's no wonder he couldn't stomach the Zala regime.
  • No One Could Survive That: What Kira does to his mech.
  • Red Baron: The Desert Tiger
  • Shout-Out: To Erwin Rommel. Has a nickname similar to "The Desert Fox", not to mention being courteous and honorable to his enemies. Bonus points for the fact he even gives the civilians of a town time to evacuate before leveling it, which is something Rommel would have done.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Coffee

Aisha

Voice Actors: Vivian Hsu (Japanese series), Fumi Hirano (Japanese Compilation Movies), Saffron Henderson (English)

"You're taking this rather well. This is difficult for you, isn't it? I can tell you're really fond of him."

Girlfriend of Andrew Waldfeld, the Desert Tiger, and a capable pilot in her own right. Just as sympathetic a character as Andy, she's rather friendly toward Kira and Cagalli when they encounter each other. She's killed in action by Kira.


Orb

An island nation in the Pacific, Orb has a high-tech industrial base but little in the way of resources; they built Heliopolis primarily as a way to mitigate this strategic weakness. A very idealistic nation, their stance in international politics is one of aggressive neutrality; though they will not attack others, they will vigorously defend themselves against any attacks. The war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT has strained this position to its breaking point, especially after the destruction of Heliopolis.

Cagalli Yula Athha

Voice Actors: Naomi Shindo (Japanese), Vanessa Morley (English)

"That's right, I'm a girl. What is it with you guys?"

The adopted daughter of Uzumi Nara Atha, Chief Representative of the Orb Union. Also a rebel leader, guerilla soldier, and a capable, if brash, politician. Hates ZAFT and distrusts the Earth Forces. Eventually revealed to be Kira's twin sister. She provides the military backbone of the Three Ships' Alliance. Pilots a Skygrasper and then the Strike Rouge.

Lord Uzumi Nara Attha

Voice Actors: Tohru Ookawa (Japanese)

"We can't leave Orb, or this world, in the hands of those bastards."

The leader of Orb and Cagalli's adopted father, Lord Izumi is completely dedicated to maintaining Orb's neutral stance. This becomes ever more difficult as the war spirals out of control. Faced with increasing pressure to choose a side in the ZAFT-Earth Alliance conflict, he refuses to compromise his nation's ideals. In the end, he commits suicide in the process of self-destructing Orb's mass driver to keep it out of the Earth Alliance's hands.

Others

George Glenn

Voice Actors: Hideyuki Hori (Japanese), Michael Dobson (English)

"I have a body capable of greater strengths and a brain capable of acquiring greater knowledge than a human being who was born naturally."

The original Coordinator, he gained international fame and fortune excelling at basically everything ever (from professional sports to cutting-edge scientific research), he eventually revealed that his spectacular success was largely due to having been genetically engineered. He released instructions for his enhancement process to the public, inadvertently coining the term "Coordinator" at the same time. Eventually assassinated by Blue Cosmos.

In the Gundam SEED Astray side stories it is revealed that his brain was kept alive inside the "GG Unit", a device resembling a very large futuristic boombox, which eventually came into the possession of the Junk Guild. Equipped with a holographic avatar to interact with the living, Glenn now serves as the captain of the salvage ship/Gundam carrier Re-Home.

  • The Ace: A brief overview of the man's accomplishments: earning a PhD from MIT at 17, winning a silver medal at the Olympics, becoming a football star, an ace air force pilot, and a world-renowned aerospace engineer (in that order), travelling to Jupiter and back in a ship of his own design (releasing the information on how to make Coordinators to the public as he left), and designing the PLANTs during his free time on the trip. George Glenn is The Ace Up to Eleven.
  • Alliterative Name
  • Born Lucky
  • Born Winner
  • Brain In a Jar
  • Hair of Gold
  • Posthumous Character: In the main series.
  • Too Cool to Live: An in-universe example. People were so pissed at how awesome he was that they assassinated him!
  • Virtual Ghost: Though technically still alive, Glenn's only physical presence aside from the unwieldy life-support system containing his brain is an Arnold Rimmer-style holographic projection of his old self in a captain's uniform, complete with goofy white skipper hat.

Reverend Malchio

Voice Actors: Kazuya Nakai (Japanese), Brian Drummond (English)

A blind monk who is one of the few individuals trusted by both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT, he acts as a mediator on the rare occasions that the two sides get along well enough to discuss anything. Among other things, he also maintains an orphanage on Earth. Responsible for smuggling Kira into the PLANTs after his climatic battle with Athrun, he turns out to be a staunch ally of the Clyne faction.

Al Da Flaga

Voice Actors: Mark Oliver (English)

"Laws can be broken after all. They're only made by humans."

Mu La Flaga's deceased father. He considered his son too weak to be his true heir, and is later revealed to have cloned himself in an effort to gain a more worthy successor. He went on to deny said clone (Le Creuset) any sense of identity, which ended with his death in a "mysterious" fire. Whoops.

  • Above Good and Evil: How he saw himself. If the few quotes we have from him are a fair representation, he honestly seems to have thought he was something more than merely human.
  • Abusive Dad: Anyone who effectively disowns his young son because said son has his mother's genes is not going to win any Father of the Year awards, to say nothing of his treatment of Rau.
  • Blond Guys Are Evil: Indeed.
  • Blue Eyes
  • Control Freak
  • Domestic Abuser: Cut Mu out of the will for sharing his wife's genetics. That probably qualifies him.
  • Financial Abuse: Of Mu and his wife.
  • Jerkass: Not evil per se, but definitely a colossal douche.
  • Man of Wealth and Taste: Is dressed in a suit and tie in all of his few appearances.
  • Narcissist: In fact his abusive style of parenting is what psyciatrists terms "narcissistic abuse." He actually disowned Mu for daring to be something more than a vehicle for his own ego, and upon seeing his clone, the first words out of his mouth are "this is me, right?" Al seems to have been incapable of viewing people as anything more than extensions of his own personality, and that's without getting into his delusions of grandeur.
  • Parental Abandonment: Of both his sons, one after the other. Jackass.
  • Posthumous Character: Dies years before the series begins, but is nontheless an enormous part of the plot, given that he not only inadvertently created the Big Bad, but also funded the Ultimate Coordinator project, the process that eventually led to Kira and Cagalli's births.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Cloning humans is illegal. Al doesn't care.
  • Smug Snake: In contrast to his sons who are respectively The Ace and one hell of a Magnificent Bastard.
  • Ubermensch: He certainly thought he was one, but at the end of the day he's little more than a rich creep with an ego the size of a planet.
  • The Unfettered

Dr. Ulen Hibiki

Voice actors: Eiji Yanagisawa (Japanese), Fred Handerson (English)

"The urge to make things better has always driven progress, and then that is what brings about happiness."

A very brilliant and very ambitious scientist who was behind the Ultimate Coordinator project. He also cloned Al Da Flaga and created Rau Le Creuset (And Rey Za Burrel. And other cloned kids, who ultimately died). And then we see that the subject of the Ultimate Coordinator project... was one of his kids.

Via Hibiki

Voice actors: Houko Kuwashima (Japanese)

Ulen Hibiki's wife, also implied to be his scientific partner. She does have standards, though, as she's horrified when he goes too far with his experiments -- especially if they involve their own babies...


Caridad Yamato

Voice actor: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese), Rebecca Shoichet (English)

Kira's mother. Actually, his and Cagalli's maternal aunt, since her older sister was Via Hibiki. She and her husband Haruma raised Kira, while Lord Uzumi of Orb raised Cagalli.

  1. ↑ except in the Compilation Movie
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