This list…is impossible.
This is like asking me to choose who my favorite child is…if I had kids,
which I don’t (whew). As strong of a
draw as the Gundams themselves are, it’s the pilots behind them who give them
their true memorable moments. I haven’t
seen every Gundam series in existence but ive seen enough to know I love a crap
ton of pilots…and in retrospective should have done this as a two part list so
some of them can get their due as well.
Well you know what? I’m going to do something a bit
different. This might be a lengthy one
but it should be if im beginning to close out Gundam Month Mark II with this
kind of entry. Ok, yeah, let’s do
this. This weeks Top 5 Wednesday is
officially a double sized one, so TOP 10…Gundam Pilots…
#10: Roux Louka
(Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ)
Funny enough, I don’t know much about this purple haired
cutie outside of a few factoids. I know
she took over as the pilot of the Zeta Gundam following Kamille Bidan being
taken out of action (not dead but not great either). I know she’s a snazzy dresser in full on 80’s
gear. And she’s a lot of fun in Dynasty
Warriors Gundam 3. Roux looks and sounds
tough and bad ass and since piloting a Gundam can sometimes be seen as a “Guys
Only” club, it’s nice to see cute girls like her stand out in the crowd.
#9: Zechs Merquise
(Mobile Suit Gundam Wing)
Long before I knew about Char, there was this man in the
mysterious mask. Zechs was the first big
rival character in Gundam for me, able to match wits with Heero in both combat
and philosophy. And while he may be
better known for his skill with the legendary grand daddy of Mobile Suits, the
Tallgeese, he’s on this list because he did get to pilot two Gundams. He gained the Wing Zero in a botched attempt
by OZ to kill him before he traded it to Heero for the Treize built Gundam Epyon…and
it was one of the smartest moves he ever made.
#8: Setsuna F
Seiei (Mobile Suit Gundam 00)
Child soldier, assassin, hero, Innovator, legend. Setsuna can be seen as the far off child of
Heero Yuy with many of these traits (save for the Innovator bit). He’s cold and detached in the cockpit of a
Gundam, which gives him the ultimate edge.
He’s also got Heero’s knack for playing with the hearts of women around
the world…but mostly Marina Ismail.
Setsuna sort of threatens to kill her but she doesn’t become his
stalker. Rather it’s Setsuna who finds
something missing in his life being around her.
Plus Setsuna’s got two of the coolest Gundams in existence, the Gundam
00 Raiser and the Gundam 00 QT and man can he make them dance the dance of
death well.
#7: Heero Yuy
(Mobile Suit Gundam Wing)
My first Gundam pilot.
His iconic intro scene from Gundam Wing set the standard that other
pilots had to follow. From his cool
exterior to that slightly psychotic laugh to his infamous “ill kill you” line
to Relena, Heero is one of the key definitions of cool in the Gundamverse. Sure he may seem like a robot (and I actually
thought he was for a little bit when I first saw the show). But that’s just Heero being Heero and you
just wish you were as cool as he was.
Women from around the world would follow you just to see if you’d carry
out that death threat…well ok maybe just Relena, that girls got some issues.
#6: Anavel Gato
(Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory)
Yeah, this guy is basically one of the key reasons I
enjoy Gundam 0083. He has the respect
and admiration of his troops. He leads
through inspiration rather than fear.
And he has his own Darth Vader style Gundam to kick the Federations ass
across the galaxy. I sometimes think of
Gato as the spiritual successor to Char in this series, just without a lot of
Char’s emotional baggage or questionable philosophy. Gato is straightforward: cripple the
Federation and give his people hope for the future. And damn anyone who gets in his way,
including a snot nosed rookie who thinks he’s his equal.
#5: Lockon Stratos
(Neil Delandy) (Mobile Suit Gundam 00)
This guy is the big brother every Gundam team needs. Lyle has some stand out moments in Season 2
but it’s Neil who set the bar his character had to live up to. I talk/joke about Heero and Setsuna being
ladies men but Neil is the quintessential one.
Strikingly handsome with a snipers eye, both with a rifle and a Mobile
Suit. Plus he actually tries to keep the
peace between his fellow Meisters and is a strong voice of reason all across
the board. He’s just the definition of
cool…at least when it comes to Gundam 00.
#4: Tierria Erde
(Mobile Suit Gundam 00)
It’s funny, I did not like Tierria when I first watched
Gundam 00. That stuck up, hollier than
thou attitude always pissed me off. But
leave it to 00’s sharp character writing, following Lockon sacrificing himself
to protect him, Tierria changed dramatically.
He learned to value not just his own existence but that of his team as
well. I never imagined Tierria would
become the closest thing Setsuna had to a best friend. I could go on about how he’s got Gundam’s
with bazookas. But it’s his ever growing
and endearing character arc that puts Tierria so high on my list.
#3: Christina
Makenzie (Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket)
Chris may only be in one Gundam series but she leaves the
best impression. She’s the girl next
door with amazing looks that any guy would crush on. Oh and she can pilot a Gundam that was
originally intended for Amuro Ray himself.
Not that she would brag about that, so we all have to do it for
her. If there’s one female Gundam pilot
I wish we could see more of in another story, it’s Chris. There have been plenty of kick ass female in
the Gundamverse…but Chris will always be the one I love the most.
#2: Amuro Ray
(Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s
Counterattack)
Sure he starts out like a whiny brat. But one of the perks of being in three
consecutive Gundam features is that one gets to grow as a character, hopefully. And Amuro does just that. He is a far different person in UC 0093
(Char’s Counterattack) than the boy he is in UC 0079 (Mobile Suit Gundam). That’s 14 years of straight story right that
where one can change a lot. Amuro is a
bad ass as an adult and even gets better by the end of the original
series. By the time we see him in Char’s
Counterattack, he’s more than earned the right to sit in the cockpit of the Nu
Gundam he designed himself. Many have
come after him, but, love him or hate him, we wouldn’t have a wide roster of
awesome pilots if it weren’t for Amuro Ray.
#1: Duo Maxwell
(Mobile Suit Gundam Wing)
“THE GOD OF DEATH IS BACK FROM HELL!!!” Duo is my boy. From the moment he first appeared with his
Gundam Deathsythe, I learned the meaning of “Men want to be him and women want
to be with him.” The ponytail was
awesome, the priest inspired look stood out, plus he had a cool voice courtesy
of Scott McNeil. And did I mention
Deathsythe and Deathsythe Hell are like THE coolest Gundams out there? When Wing debuted in late middle school for
me, Duo was the one we all wanted to talk about, the one we cared the most
about and we all had looks of horror on our faces when the original Deathsythe
went down. Duo was the friend I really
wanted in school and, in a way, he became one of my first Anime heroes…and
still is up there to this day.
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