Anime Discussion Thread - Page 1669

The main villain from the original Mobile Suit Gundam is one of the most iconic characters in anime. It wouldn't be a stretch so say that Char Aznable is even more iconic and popular than the main hero of the show, Amuro Ray. This has earned made him a favorite character to man fans (on TL this includes Kaal and Gecko). The character was such a hit that in nearly every single Gundam show (and many Sunrise shows in general) has had a "Char Clone" character in the show. But I want to talk about the character himself, how he evolved, and see how he turned out. Also I want to troll Kaal.

Char Aznable


Char originally appeared in MSG as an enemy ace pilot. He was smart, talented, good looking, and even had his own custom Red Zaku. He would become the MC's primary rival in the show, but he was also shown to have his own agenda. Char was actually the son of Zeon Deikun, the former leader of Zeon who was assassinated by the Zabi Family (who now runs the show). Char would plot his revenge against the Zabi Family. He even befriended Garma Zabi, a Zabi Prince, earned his trust, and eventually used that trust to get Garma killed. By the end of the series, the Zeon had lost the war, and Char had gotten his revenge.

Char made his return in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, pretending to be a man named Quattro Bajeena. In this he would be on the side of the AEUG, who are the protagonist in the story. His role is was to be a mentor character for Kamille, who was the MC of Zeta. Eventually it is revealed who he is (although no one was surprised lol), and he even fought long side his old rival, Amuro, for the greater good against the Titans. In the very final battle, Char's mech was practically destroyed, and Char went missing. He wouldn't return until CCA.

Char returns in CCA, this time as the political leader of Neo Zeon. Char apparently became fed up at the Earth Federation Government due to events in ZZ Gundam, and intended to destroy it and force everyone to move up into space to become "Newtypes". The idea was originally created by his father, in that when mankind moves into space, they will evolve into Newtypes, and be able to truly understand one another. Char intended to force that change by dropping a giant Asteroid into the Earth, causing an Ice Age that would force mankind off the planet. In the final battle, Char is defeated by long time rival Amuro, and he pushes the Asteroid that Char intended to drop away from the Earth. Both Char and Amuro go missing during the last moment, and are assumed dead (or maybe not, watch Unicorn).


Now thats all and good, but did you know that after the events in Zeta Gundam, Char must have gone absolutely batshit insane? Perhaps he suffered brain damage. That also seems likely. Or maybe he was always full of shit and wanted to show the Zabis just how its done in killing lots of people. I will explain. First, read the following. Its parts of a speech Char himself made in Zeta Gundam, to the Federation Assembly:
This gives a good idea of what alot of Spacenoids in UC believe, and is considered one of the most important speechs in Gundam. It sounds good, doesn't? Char made himself out to be a warrior environmentalist, who also advocated humanities advancement into space.

Now, remember what I said about CCA? Char tries to drop a fucking Asteroid on Earth. Now how the hell does that line up with the above speech? Sending it into an Ice Age. An environmentalist who wants to destroy the planet and end all life on it. Thats pretty cool. Axis, the asteroid in question, isn't the only thing he wants to drop. He actually did drop another, smaller Asteroid onto Earth Federation HQ in Tibet just as the movie starts.

People praise Char later on for being a good politician. All he had going for him is charisma, to get people to follow him, to create his Neo Zeon. He was also good enough to trick Federation leaders to actually GIVE him Axis in exchange for "disarmament", which he tricked them over. But lets look at stuff that might not be as obvious. First, lets assume that he doesn't want to go the mass-murderer Gihren Zabi way. Did Char really have the resources in place to try and evacuate millions of people on the Earth up into Space after he dropped Axis? No, not even close. It doesn't look like he even intended to try. And we KNOW Char wasn't counting on the Federation for it, judging on him being pissed off at the Dublin Colony Drop. So basically, he was going to fuck over everyone on Earth, with no back-up plan.

Well, fuck'em, what about his own people in Space? Did he have a back-up plan for Neo-Zeon? He ended up exhausting pretty much all of Neo Zeon's resources in the final battle, and even if he had survived, the Federation would have simply crushed him and remained in power. Not to mention he would have driven countless people from their homes into space, who all see Char as a villain who destroyed their planet. The Federation would have grown much more popular after that, especially considering they did try to stop it! Char's fate in CCA was also a direct result of his own arrogance (or stupidity). The Nu Gundam that Amuro defeated Char with in CCA was provided to him virtually by Char himself, since he placed settling things in a "fair" match with Amuro above his cause, above Neo Zeon, above everything. And it fucked him over as Amuro would lay waste to the Neo Zeon fleet, and then Char himself.

Finally, the vast majority of resources in the Earth Sphere comes from the Earth. Even if, somehow, Char won, and Neo Zeon didn't collapse, and he didn't become the object of everyone's hatred, there would be a big problem. There would be an unparalleled economic depression. The vast amounts of resources on the Earth that people used would now be gone to them. It isn't incorrect to think that the depression the destruction of Earth would cause would kill even more people than the One Year War.

Oh yeah, he was pretty much a second rate pilot too. In the original Gundam, he started out as one of the best. But Amuro had surpassed him in skill by mid-way through the show, and only got better. Amuro, Kamille, Judau, Haman, Scirocco, and Lalah were all easily better pilots than Char, not to mention stronger Newtypes. Even Oldtypes like Yazan and the Black Tristars were better pilots.

Char, he was a cool rival in the beginning, and then was a cool mentor... And then his character was assassinated due to brain damage and he became a 3rd rate politician. Sup Kaal.