Gundam
| ガンダム | |
|---|---|
| Gundam | |
| Other names | The White Devil |
| Featured in | Mobile Suit Gundam |
| Known Pilots | Amuro Ray Ryu Jose Sayla Mass |
| Subpilot(s) | None |
| Affiliation | Earth Federation Forces |
| Manufacturer | Earth Federation Forces |
| Model Number | RX-78-2 |
| Length | ? |
| Width | ? |
| Height | 18.5 meters |
| Weight | 43.4 tons 60 tons when armed |
| First Appearance | Super Robot Taisen (Game) Episode 1 (Anime) |
The Gundam is the first mecha from the popular mecha franchise Mobile Suit Gundam. Unlike most mecha from its time, it focused on having realistic proportions and militaristic weaponry introducing a subcategory of mecha called realistic robots. While there were actually multiple Gundams made, ultimately it would be the Gundam RX-78-2 piloted by Amuro Ray that would be legendary as his piloting skills would invoke fear into Zeon soldiers as the Federation's White Devil and provide the Earth Federation with data that would improve future mobile suit designs.
Mech Background
The Gundam would serve as a test bed to collect data on an ideal mobile suit able to fight in both land and space utilizing cutting edge Federation technology. The Gundam was fitted with luna titanium alloy armor which was able to easily withstand the force of bullets from a Zaku machine gun. It is also equipped with powerful experimental weapons for mobile suit combat. Its generator output easily outclassed Zeon mobile suits as it was able to power the Gundam's beam sabers and even provide enough thrust to propel the Gundam to great heights under gravity.
The Gundam mobile suit and future Gundam-types developed in the future usually share similar traits. These traits usually include white exterior paint and a aesthetic horn on its helmet that is dubbed as a V fin by Gunpla builders despite not every Gundam using the V shape. Its design was inspired by samurai as the helmet and its V fin is shaped to resemble a samurai helmet. Originally, the Gundam was supposed to be metal colored and not have any sort of paint design, but there was external pressure from Bandai to add a color scheme to the Gundam to make their Gunpla model kits more appealing for sales.
Service History
The Gundam is the 2nd experimental mobile suit created by the Earth Federation as a part of Operation V, a plan to quickly develop mobile suits and carriers suited for mobile suit warfare due to continuous losses at the hands of the Republic of Zeon and their new mobile suit technology. Slowly losing control in Space and Earth to invading Zeon armies, the Earth Federation initiates Operation V and secretly overhaul their R&D with a focus on mobile suits. The task to developing the mobile suit would be left to Tem Ray, the father of Amuro Ray who would eventually pilot the Gundam during the One Year War. While the Gundam was originally developed on Earth, it was eventually moved to Side 7 for tests in space. However, the Republic of Zeon manages to obtain information about Operation V and initiate operations of their own to stop the Federation from having any working mobile suits. However, the intervention of Amuro Ray prevents the Gundam from being destroyed and his combat data would eventually be used for developing a mass production unit based on the Gundam called the GM. The Gundam continued to fight in the One Year War until it was destroyed in a decisive duel against Char and his Zeong during the Battle of A Bao A Qu. The Gundam's legacy would live on in future mobile suit designs as many of them retained features of the original Gundam.
Mech Data
Weapons
The Gundam is equipped with the following weapons:
- Beam Rifle - A beam rifle which utilized state of the art Federation technology. The output of a Federation warship's main beam cannon was miniaturized and concentrated into the beam rifle, making this weapons extremely deadly and revolutionary for its time.
- Beam Saber/Javelin - A beam saber that utilized plasma energy to cut through objects. The beam saber utilized Minovsky particles contained in an I-field to create a sword shape. The beam saber is capable of easily cutting through metal and repelling heat weapons used by Zeon mobile suits. The Gundam has two beam saber handles connected to its rear reactor backpack that can also be combined to form a higher output Beam Javelin for extended range.
- Gatling Vulcans - Two 60 mm Gatling guns mounted on the Gundam's head.
- Gundam/Hyper Hammer - A flail consisting of a chain and a spiked ball. An upgraded version called the Hyper Hammer outfitted the ball with extra veriners for higher velocity and more destructive damage.
- Hyper Bazooka - A rocket launcher capable of damaging heavily armored units. While the projectile speeds may not be as fast as the beam rifle's, the destructive force of the missiles are much more potent against armor and unit with beam protection.
Special Systems
The Gundam utilizes a Core Block System, which made its cockpit block able to separate from the Gundam into a Core Fighter during emergency situations. These Core Fighter blocks are also interchangeable with other mobile suits made from Operation V such as the Guntank and the Guncannon. The Gundam also housed a learning computer used to collect data and even suggest improvements for the Gundam. The Gundam is also capable of independent atmospheric entry when utilizing its shield. These features allowed the novice Amuro Ray to pilot the Gundam at the level of a veteran. While the initial fights were won mainly due to the Gundam's features, the conclusion of the war would won through Amuro's skill as eventually he would reach the point where even the Gundam itself could not keep up with Amuro's reflexes and demands. A magnetic coating would later be applied to the joints of the Gundam in order it reduce the amount of time it would take to make movements and compensate for Amuro's Newtype reflexes.
The original Gundam concept from the anime had even more features such as the ability to dock into support units and even transform into a mobile armor when combined with its supporting units. However, these concepts were taken out when the Mobile Suit Gundam series was adapted into the film trilogy by the series creator Tomino in favor of more realism. The trilogy also took out the beam javelin and the Gundam hammer since both of these weapons were also deemed to not be realistic enough or practical.
Gundam in Super Robot Wars
Depending on the game, the Gundam usually serves a temporary unit until an upgraded unit is available. Despite this, the Gundam is still a rather formidable unit for support characters although it still lacks features players would want from a late game realistic robot. The Gundam's implementation in video games have been problematic as both the anime series' and the movie trilogy's interpretation of the Gundam have been used interchangeably in the past. However, the general perception today is that the movie trilogy's Gundam is canon and players can expect to see the trilogy's version of the Gundam with some of the original anime features as an occasional Easter Egg.
Super Robot Wars Appearances
The Gundam appears in the following games:
