T5W#399-Top 5 Conflicts in Gundam’s Universal Century

“War, war never changes.”  While Ron Pearlman definitely said it best in Fallout, it’s Mobile Suit Gundam that has been teaching that life lesson for almost 44 years.  Conflict has been at the heart of this franchise since the beginning and no matter what timeline you cross into, there’s always some kind of squabble going on that escalates into something big.  Nowhere is this more evident than in Gundams original timeline, the Universal Century: where peace never seems to last more than a few short years it seems.  To celebrate the franchise turning 44 on Friday (perfect timing for The Witch from Mercury to finally kick off its highly anticipated Second Season), Top 5 Wednesday will be counting down the Top 5 Conflicts in Gundam’s Universal Century.  Quick note: Only wars with definitive conclusions featured on screen will be included on this list.  So if you’re a fan of Hathaway’s little rebellion in Gundam Hathaway or, less likely, a fan of the Crossbone Vanguard Incursion in Gundam F91, sorry neither of those have had official recorded conclusions (actually I’m not sure if the Crossbone Gundam Manga counts as an official Gundam F91 continuation…still it wont be on this list).

 
#5-The First and Second Neo Zeon Wars (UC0088-Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ & UC0093-Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack)

While I think one has more of an impact than the other, I’m including both Neo Zeon Wars for a few reasons.  The first one was in the making ever since the end of the One Year War and Haman Kahn knew exactly when to put it into action: When the AEUG and Earth Federation had crushed each other so much at the end of another war that the Zeon’s of Axis would have no trouble swooping in to take over.  Haman was a pretty commanding force herself and is still one of the only lead female villains in the Gundam franchise.  She also did the unthinkable and caused another colony drop that wiped out Dublin, Ireland, along with original White Base crew member Hayato Kobayashi.  Yes, I know Gundam ZZ treats the first war with kid gloves but the second half returns to its serious war roots.  As for the Second Neo Zeon War, well that deserves recognition solely based on who led the rebellion, or counterattack: Char Aznable himself.  Seems fitting that the original son of Zeon would be the one to led his people against the Earth Federation, even if his reasons were a bit murky.

 
#4-The Delaz Conflict (UC0083-Mobile Suit Gundam 0083-Stardust Memory)

I place this ahead of the Neo Zeon Wars because this event was kicked off almost out of nowhere.  You knew Zeon would retaliate for losing the One Year War but while there was steady build up with the Titans and Neo Zeon, the Delaz Fleet pulled off a helluva opening salvo by launching a sneak attack on the Federation’s Torrington Base and stealing the GPO2A Gundam, armed with a nuclear warhead.  While I don’t think it ever reaches the all out scale of the One Year War, the Delaz Conflict, aka Operation Stardust, is pretty damn epic and features some of the best looking action and mecha in all of Gundam.  This was also where the more corrupt and sinister elements within the Earth Federation saw their chance to strengthen their influence and assert their own power and dominance.  The Delaz Conflict was a wake up call that Zeon was still around and could return at any moment.  Despite their intentions to stick it to the Earth Federation, Delaz, Anavel Gato, and their forces actually set the stage for something arguably far worse than Zeon to emerge right afterwards but we’ll come back to that.

 
#3-The Zanscare Invasion (UC0153-Mobile Suit Victory Gundam)

Ignoring the rightfully ignored G Savior and Reconguista in G, this is the furthest time period explored in the Universal Century and man oh man, what a bloodbath this war was.  The Zanscare Empire of Side 2 is basically a bunch of brainwashed religious zealots who believe it’s their right to not only retake the Earth for themselves but also recreate it in their own image.  Psychic Super Weapons, Ships with Vehicles to literally plow across the planet, they even hold public executions with a guillotine.  And what’s worse, the Earth Federation was in such terrible decline by this point that they basically sat aside and let the Zanscare forces occupy much of Earth in no time at all.  Even with the League Militaire taking up the fight, this little Holy War of Zanscare was still a total nightmare that devasted an already devastated Earth.  I wonder if we’ll see what happens next for the Universal Century past this point…and frak Reconguista in G, that doesn’t count in my head cannon.

 
#2-The Gryps War (UC0087-Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)

The main conflict of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam flipped the script on everything from the One Year War: The Earth Federation was now the enemy and former Zeon and Earth Federation elements joined together to oppose them as the Anti Earth Union Group (AEUG).  The Titans proved to be just as ruthless, if not more than Zeon.  While they were formed to keep another Zeon level threat from emerging (an end result of the Delaz Conflict), the Titans went to extreme lengths to do so, including pumping deadly gas into a colony to kill the entire population for what they saw were the sins of only a few.  While this began with small scale skirmishes between the AEUG and Titans, it wasn’t long until it was all out war between the two factions and by the time we got to the final battle at the Gryps Laser, things became near apocalyptic.  The Titans were destroyed but the AEUG suffered tremendous casualties as well, including its star Gundam pilot, Kamille Bidan, whose mind was fried beyond repair in the final battle with Titans leader Paptimus Scirocco.
 

#1-The One Year War (UC0079-Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin; Mobile Suit Gundam; Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08^th MS Team; Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket; Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt)

Many have stepped up the scale and bloody mayhem but the One Year War that kicked off this franchise is still a historic Anime milestone.  For one, it was the first to tackle the subject of mecha being used in a human civil war instead of against an Alien invasion.  This war also saw the emergence of said mecha, Mobile Suits, into the Universal Century, in particular the Zeon Zaku and the titular Mobile Suit Gundam itself.  Colony drops, colony lasers, sneak attacks in neutral colonies, assassinations, the rise and fall of legendary pilots, the One Year War has it all and is still a timeless epic.  It’s also been explored far beyond the original Mobile Suit Gundam series with 08^th MS Team, 0080: War in the Pocket, Thunderbolt  and The Origin expanding on military campaigns and civilian life in other areas of the Earth Sphere during the war that would change the course of the Universal Century for decades to come.