Re: [gundam] Char discussion

[shin matsunaga]

from old archives @Gundam.com(taken from Gundam Officials Encyclopedia): Char's unluckiness comes from his 1st-rated vision being coupled with only a 2nd-rated ability. To have been a person with a top-class ability with a second-class vision, wouldn't have led to such a tragedy. The reason? It is your vision that leads to your opinion on your choices of action. Char was never felt a difference in the actions based on ability with a person of second-class vision. It is easily recognized that Char was a person who suffered greatly internally. Char himself, recognized that he had a great vision, but not the top-class ability that was needed to fulfill that vision. His peers didn't recognize this fact, and forever appealed to him to be a leader he could never be. The Char Aznable of the end of the One Year War to the Char Aznable of Char Revolution(CCA), lived a life of hell as he tried to fulfill an impossible duty. The ability we speak of here, is of course that of the New Type. Char was born in Universal Century 0059, soon after the independance call of Side 3, as the eldest son of Jion Daikun. As to the exact birthdate, most people know it as November 17th. However, there is speculation that it was actually September 27th. Also though only speculation, Char was of AB blood type. His name at birth was Casbel Remm Daikun(novel version was Casbel Daikun). His younger sister, Altesia Somm Daikun, was born in 0062(novel version Altesia Daikun). UC0068, after Jion Daikun's death, the New Jion Daikun group and the Zabi group met head on for the right to rule the Side. Jion Daikun's great friend, Jinba Ral sent the two children to Earth so they could escape the madness. To escape the eyes of the Zabi spies, Jinba Ral gave both of them new names. Casbel was to go by the name "Edward Mass", and Altesia was to be "Sayla Mass", this was to hide the fact that both were the children of Jion Daikun. Jinba Ral, is well known as Ranba Ral�fs father. However, he was also known as one of the "true" Jion Daikun faction members. He never strayed nor changed his mind on joining the Zabi faction; he died as one of the greatest Daikun supporters. Jinba Ral was also the one who suspected that the death of Jion Daikun was directly linked to Degin Zabi. He had made sure that Casbel and Altesia knew who their father's killer was, before sending them to safety. Casbel was known to reflect on his younger days (in his adulthood), in his younger days Jinba Ral had taught him much of what he had learned. After the OYW, Char was known to speak out against the educational style Haman Khan took in teaching the young Mineva Zabi. He strongly felt that Haman�fs teaching of the adult opinion of things, and the hatred that she tried to input in Mineva was definitely wrong. This may be due to the fact that Jinba Ral had told him about Degin Zabi killing his father, and the hatred it built within him. He felt that this strong feeling of hatred was not something a child like Mineva should have to experience, and thus often met head on with Haman. When Jinba Ral died in UC0075, Casbel returned to his homeland. This was all planned ahead of time by Jinba Ral, to enact revenge on the Zabis. That same year, Casbel changed his name to Char Aznable and attended high school, only to transfer to the military school soon after. It was at this time that Char first met with the youngest Zabi, Galma. There is no known data as to how Casbel was able to attain the Char Aznable name, there are many stories, but no proof of which was true. One common version of the story says there was a real youth by that name, and Casbel took over his identity and citizenship. Another version says the Mass family had him entered into the Aznable registry beforehand, so he could return home incognito. As said before, the truth is still unknown� Whenever Char is mentioned, many people bring up the image of him in his mask. During the OYW, it was rumored that this was because he had a burn on his face, and the mask was to cover/protect his skin. However, during military school, he had no mask. He only began to use it after entering the Army. There was rumor that Kisiria had seen videos of Char & Galma together during their military school days, though she didn�ft recognize him as Casbel Daikun. She had once taken care of Casbel when he was 4 years old, however since the image of Casbel and Char were so different she hadn't noticed that he was one and the same. It was however well known within the intelligence division, that Char had been a man who had originally come from Earth. A year and a half later in UC0077, due to the special wartime laws, the military school graduated the classes it had in session. At this time, Char stood at the top of his class. After graduating, Char Aznable entered the Army. He was placed in the Instructed Mobile Battalion, and trained to pilot the new weapon that had just been completed, the Mobile Suit. Soon after, he was placed in the Space Offensive Army, in the 6th Mobile Battalion. During the One Week War, he rode in a MS-06C Zaku II C-type. His rank was Lieutenant (中尉). Continuing on, during the Battle of Loum, due to his record of battle from the OWW, Char was allowed to use the MS-06S ZakuII S-type (there is also rumor that he had been given the MS-06S during the OWW). He decided that his personal color was to be red, and had his MS painted in that scheme. He was known to have utilized the hit-and-away tactic to sink 5 battleships. With his record, he was given a promotion of two ranks up, to Major(少佐), though there is also rumor he was promoted to Major during the OWW. During the Battle at Loum, Char was known for his hit-and-away tactic, aptly named the "5-ship jump"(if at this point he was already a Major, then it would have been called "Major Aznable's 5-ship jump"). His tactic was, right after he sunk a Magellan, he'd kick off the battleship, give his thrusters a full blast to the next target, then proceed to sink that target. By doing this, he was able to sink 5 battleships in one run, almost instantaneously. Since the EF had no MS during the opening days of the war, sinking 5 ships was equal to a Ship Ace, which then translated to Ace Pilot. If this theory is true, Char was able to make Ace rank in just one run! Soon after, the EF high rank officers feared the red-colored MS, choosing to run rather than face this monster. Logically speaking, with Char's reputation, it was in their better interest/survival that they ran to fight another day. Char's MS-06S was often rumored to be 3 times faster than the normal MS. In actuality, the S-type had only 20~30% more propulsion than that of the MS-06F ZakuII F- type. The reason his MS was rumored to be 3 times faster was due to his technique for his "5-ship jump". It was due to Char's technique and piloting skills, which created this myth among the EF soldiers. The reason for Char's ZakuII's 3x speed was actually once theorized. Looking back, it could be explained that even if Char hadn't awaken his dormant NT powers until later, it is possible that he was able to tap into part of that power to up his skills in times of need. Char developed the ability to read the enemy's movements before they actually reached the destination. He was able to tell where the enemy was, and determine the closest route to intercept the target. It was through these skills that the enemy felt Char was able to move 3x faster than normal pilots. It was through his quick hit-and-run tactics, and the red-colored scheme that earned Char the nickname "the Red Comet". However upon closer inspection, this too was somewhat false. Char's "red" was actually closer to a pinkish-red. Whether this nickname was started from the EF's side or from the Zeon side is still unknown. However what is known is that in most cases, when Char appeared, he was referred to as "the Red Comet" or "the Red Comet Char". It wasn't only the MS that Char had that was colored red; it was commonly known among the Zeon soldiers that he often wore a red uniform. It was common knowledge that ranking officers above sergeant major were allowed to wear special uniforms. However it was rare to see someone wear a loud (colorful) suit as Char did. With his uniform of choice, his mask, and his reputation, Char often caught the attention of his peers. Char also used the same color scheme for his normal suit (space uniform). However, it was rare for him to go out wearing the suit, especially when he rode in a MS, entering the cockpit. When implored to wear the normal suit by his 2nd in command Mulligan during his stay with the Mad Angler team, he responded "When I ride in a MS, I have the whole intent of coming back alive and intact. That is the reason I don't use the normal suit or the battle suits when I go out to battle." Due to his statistics from the One Week War and Battle of Roum, Char was able to gain the trust of Space Offensive Commander Lt. Gen. Dozul Zabi. One rumor is that the Musai-class ship Fanmel that Char had utilized until the middle of the OWY was actually given to him from Lt. Gen. Dozul Zabi. Also, this Fanmel was said to have been the one which Dozul himself had been using until that point. The event, which forever changed Char's life, came 9 months after the war had begun, on September 18th. After finishing a mission on clearing out some guerillas, Char on his way to return to Solomon in his Fanmel, caught a hold of the rumored V-Sakusen (V-plan) in motion. His team had found the White Base (part of the EF's new V-Sakusen), and followed them to Side 7. It was here that his men, who entered the colony, had the first MS vs. MS battle in the OYW. This event was referred to as the "Side 7 Encounter [Battle]". Having heard the news from his subordinates, Char decided he needed a personal look at what was in the report. He snuck into the colony, and it is there that he was reunited with his younger sister, Altesia Daikun (Sayla Mass), after a 4-year separation. She had moved to Side 7 to study nursing, and was now a citizen living there. However, both of them failed to recognize each other at the time, they were simply shocked at the possibility of seeing the other at that point and time. Soon after, Char left the colony, and battled the new EF MS RX-78-2 Gundam, with his MS-06S ZakuII. The pilot was a civilian, Amuro Rei, who had encountered his 2nd battle (1st one was against the subordinates of Char inside colony). Char was quite impressed by the high quality and the ability of the new EF MS, as it withstood all of his attacks. Unable to defeat the new MS, he was forced to pull back to recover. This battle was known as the "Side 7 Escape[Battle]". He continued his observations on the new EF units, and followed the White Base to Earth. It was here that Char decided to attempt another attack, right before the WB entered the Earth�fs atmosphere. This battle was the first of its kind, and was logged as the "Earth Atmospheric Insertion/Re-entry [Battle]". However, Char's plans ended in failure due to the ability of the White Base and the RX-78-2 Gundam, and all except the most miniscule plan of changing the White Base's course to North America failed. On Earth, Char met up with his former classmate at the Military Academy, Galma Zabi. Galma originally was under his older sister, Kisiria's Mobile Offensive Forces command. However with the opening of the new position (commander of the Earth Offensive Forces) on Earth, Galma was soon promoted to Colonel, and put in charge of the North American division. (there are different versions of what areas Galma was actually in charge of, but in this version, we will go with the most common position, as Commander of North America.) Though Char was technically under the command of Dozul (Space Offense Forces Commander), he was allowed to "assist" in the chase of the White Base. After battling it out with the WB team a few times, on October 4th, Galma Zabi was reported "Killed In Action" after a skirmish in New York(Newark, NJ?). Dozul Zabi, reprimanded Char for being there, but not being able to protect the life of his Field Commander (Galma), and was thereafter released (there are also versions where he has been assigned to a "lesser appointment" for his failure, and one where he was dismissed from the Army for his actions.) Among other pilots, this "mistake" was quite "Unlike the Red Comet we all know", and many different rumors began. The death of Colonel Galma seemed to be a set up by Char, in many a soldier's view. Another rumor was that "maybe Char has something personal against the Zabi family?" However such rumors soon dissipated. Just as Dozul had tried to prove, Char was not as good as first thought, the WB team began to take down more skilled pilots, and more newly developed MS. (The WB team began to be referred to as the EF's NT team by many Zeon soldiers.) A little before this, Char was sent to Side 6, taking along a young girl (Lalah Soon) who had been found in the battlefield. Their destination, Professor Flanagan's Experimental Laboratory. Kisiria Zabi, sent Char & Lalah, as well as other "possible NT candidates" to Dr. Flanagan's laboratory. She also began checking into Char's background, since she suspected something about him. It was then that she found out his true identity, Char was indeed Casbel Daikun. It is very likely, that Kisiria wanted to keep Char around, for he would prove very advantageous in many possible scenarios. Char was the Daikun's son in blood, making him a savior in many a spacenoid's eyes. Also, she knew in order to overthrow her own brother Giren, she would require Char's assistance. She quickly put him under her own Command, and promoted Char to Cmdr. (one below Col.). Char's military ID is commonly known as PM0571977243S, however this was his ID only after he had joined under Kisiria's command. It could also be viewed that, if he had stolen his original ID# and took the place of the soldier, then that is why he had a different ID# before (i.e. His old one wasn't his, but his new one was). ** end of file ** i think i had a bit more, but unable to find my .doc w/the rest. the total index for Char is like 32pages. this covers approx 11 pages or so. shin PS: if you follow Yas's Gundam the Origin, you see a lot of the gaps covered there in the manga.