History Anime / MobileSuitGundamSeed

** As for Lacus Clyne:
*** She's the daughter of the local leader, tends to explore and "float" around a lot, has a BeautifulSingingVoice, something permanently in her hair, dresses which feature "fins" (as seen above), a big dramatic moment sitting on a rock, and another one after which we see her legs. She has strong shades of ''Franchise/TheLittleMermaid'', and it continues in the sequel. She's a Franchise/DisneyPrincess in a Gundam show.
*** It should be pretty obvious that her status as an idol-singer is more or less inspired by Lynn Minmay from ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', something Fukuda attested to.

* ContrivedCoincidence: The events at Heliopolis become more contrived as the story goes on. Okay, Kira just happens to [[FallingIntoTheCockpit fall into the cockpit of the Strike]] when he's likely the only person on Heliopolis who can pilot it. A little contrived, but acceptable since otherwise there's no story. Oh, he just happens to be childhood friends with the leader of the ZAFT thieves? And also [[spoiler:runs into his LongLostSibling who is a princess of Orb during the scuffle? Okay, that's a bit much.

* CharClone: A different approach in this series then the rest. There are ''three'' main Char clones, each one representing a different incarnation of the original Char Aznable: Athrun Zala as TheRival, Mu La Flaga as the BigBrotherMentor, and Rau Le Creuset as the MalevolentMaskedMan.

* ContrivedCoincidence: The events at Heliopolis become more contrived as the story goes on. Okay, Kira just happens to [[FallingIntoTheCockpit fall into the cockpit of the Strike]] when he's likely the only person on Heliopolis who can pilot it. A little contrived, but acceptable since otherwise there's no story. Oh, he just happens to be childhood friends with the leader of the ZAFT thieves? And also [[spoiler:runs into his LongLostSibling who is a princess of Orb during the scuffle? Okay, that's a bit much. Wait, the CharClone commanding the attack on Heliopolis is from the cloning project that eventually led to Kira's creation]] Really?

* MaskPower: Rau Le Creuset, as befitting a CharClone.

The list below includes all of the tie-in media that comprises the ''SEED'' sub-franchise:

* GrandTheftPrototype: Happens twice; in the first episode, when Athrun & co. steal the Earth Alliance prototypes from Heliopolis, and later when [[spoiler:Kira, with Lacus's help]] returns the favor by stealing the Freedom Gundam from a ZAFT base.

*** The specificity that her distant [[spoiler:and eventually-dead]] father is from the "Kingdom of Scandinavia" to go with her engagement, professional singing career, and an [[FoeRomanceSubtext ambiguous relationship]] dealing with a ruthless man in a mask all seem to be these to Christine Daäe of ''Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''.

* AwesomeButImpractical: Averted with the Freedom and Justice's weaponry. The battery powered [=GuAIZ=] Experimental Firearms Type in ''SEED MSV'' is equipped with Phase Shift Armor, the Justice's backpack, the Freedom's railguns and their shared beam saber and rifle but can only fight for 5 minutes. This is why the nuclear reactor is required so that both Gundams can use their energy intensive weapon to its fullest potential alongside its Phase Shift Armor.

* AwesomeButImpractical: Averted with the Freedom and Justice's weaponry. The battery powered GuAIZ Experimental Firearms Type in ''SEED MSV'' is equipped with Phase Shift Armor, the Justice's backpack, the Freedom's railguns and their shared beam saber and rifle but can only fight for 5 minutes. This is why the nuclear reactor is required so that both Gundams can use their energy intensive weapon to its fullest potential.

* EleventhHourRanger: [[spoiler:Yzak Joule]], who doesn't join up until most of the way through the FinalBattle.

* BornWinner: Coordinators, which must be created in vitro, though the offspring of a pair of Coordinators is also a Coordinator.

* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: [[spoiler:Andrew Waltfeld]] survives his [=LaGOWE=] blowing up around him, though [[spoiler:his co-pilot and lover Aisha doesn't, and]] he earns some permanent injuries in the process. Kira Yamato survives [[spoiler:Aegis' SelfDestructMechanism to the face]] with only several severe burns, though he's out of commission for some time afterward.
** [[FridgeBrilliance However]], it was explained very early on in the shows run that Coordinators can heal from injuries and illnesses faster than Naturals and both incidents were foreshadowed in episode 15 when Kira survives atmospheric re-entry despite being hot enough in the cockpit to kill a normal person.

** Out of the Archangel's chain of command, Murrue is the Nice as she is more gentle and willing to break the military rules if it means helping out others in need. Natarle is the Mean although this is more because that she is very by the book rather than malicious as she has plenty of PetTheDog moments. Mu La Flaga is definitely the Nice too as a BigBrotherMentor but is also the In-Between as he is the most aware of the realities of war being the most senior and experience member onboard.

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The story premise matches the standard ''Gundam'' fare by featuring a conflict between Earth and Space, but introduces an original twist in the form of widespread use of LegoGenetics. Genetic modification of humans is illegal on Earth, but the space colonies are populated almost exclusively by an artificially enhanced breed of humanity known as Coordinators. Most of Earth falls under the authority of the Earth Alliance, which funded the construction of the [=PLANTs=] (huge, hourglass-shaped space colonies meant for use as orbital manufacturing and R&D centers); however, the Coordinators now living on the [=PLANTs=] seek independence from the Earth Alliance via the formation of a militia group called ZAFT. This basic conflict of interest, combined with the FantasticRacism between the genetically engineered [[BornWinner Coordinators]] and the unenhanced [[PunyEarthling Naturals]], eventually sparks a war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT, that opens with a nuclear assault on a PLANT and only gets worse from thereon out. Meanwhile, the nations on Earth not falling under the umbrella of the Earth Alliance are forced to take sides or else risk the ire of both opposing factions.

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* TheSoCalledCoward: Nicol Amalfi. Yzak even straight up calls him a coward, but in reality he is a pretty decent pilot, especially considering he made it to the Red Coats. A more accurate description is that he's more naturally cautious than his wingmen, such as pointing out that a proposed operation has a narrow window of opportunity before their target is reinforced and therefore is risky, while Ysak cockily claims that ten minutes is more than enough time for them to shoot down the Archangel and Strike and be on their way (which it isn't).

** Mu's Moebius Zero, which is a SpaceFighter equipped with wired "gunbarrels" (essentially self-contained gun pods mounted with thrusters to allow them to move independently), is the forerunner of the various AttackDrone units used in the CE timeline.

During the opening ceremony for the life-size Freedom Gundam statue in UsefulNotes/{{Shanghai}}, Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment announced the ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PROJECT ignited'' initiative for ''SEED''[='s=] [[MilestoneCelebration 20th Anniversary]], which consists of the previously mentioned movie, titled ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDFreedom'' as of July 2, 2023 (which premiered on January 26, 2024), a manga ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED ECLIPSE'' which began in 2021 and a currently untitled video game project.