History Characters / MobileSuitGundamSEEDMainCharacters

* NotSoAboveItAll: When they were kids, Athrun was the responsible one while Kira was the less mature one. Even so, Athrun isn't the one to turn down a video game challenge from Kira when asked.

* WhenHeSmiles: Not one to smile, but when he does, it's adorable. It is mostly shown to [[BestFriend Kira]] and [[LoveInterest Cagalli]].

-->'''Lacus:''' ''[[spoiler:Are you content with [[MortonFork that]]?]]''

** [[spoiler:In ''SEED Freedom'', one simple but particular one to Ingrid when the latter asked her why she refused to accept her destiny of being Orphee's partner, Lacus calmly replied with this, shaking Ingrid to the core.]]

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: She uses these the way the rest of the cast use physical weapons -- equally devastating. ''"Is it your intention to make this a battlefield in front of me, the national memorial representative? Can you not hear me?"'' does the trick with Rau in ''SEED''. She does it again to Athrun later.
-->'''Lacus:''' "What is it that you believe in and fight for, Athrun? Is it that medal you received? Or your father's orders? (...) If I am your enemy, ''will you shoot me,'' Athrun Zala, soldier of ZAFT ?"

* OfficialCouple: Lacus is part of the main couple of the Cosmic Era with Kira. She and Kira have well-nigh been this for sometime in ''SEED Destiny'', even if the most intimate they've been are [[ChastityCouple limited to mostly emotional embraces.]] [[spoiler:By the end of ''SEED Freedom'' though, Lacus' relationship with Kira is now on a [[BigDamnKiss whole]] [[VictorySex new]] [[RelationshipUpgrade level]], firmly cementing it.]]

* ShockAndAwe: [[spoiler:The Mighty Strike Freedom can emit powerful electrical waves that can neutralize an entire space fleet.]]

* HeartbrokenBadass: During the final battle of ''SEED'', [[ILetGwenStacyDie he fails to save Flay.]] [[UnstoppableRage He turns his sorrow into anger]] [[TheGlovesComeOff to take down the]] BigBad.

* HeartbrokenBadass: During the final battle of ''SEED'', [[ILetGwenStacyDie he fails to save Flay.]] [[UnstoppableRage He turns his sorrow into anger to take down the]] BigBad.

* HeartbrokenBadass: During the final battle of ''SEED'', he fails to save Flay. [[UnstoppableRage He turns his sorrow into anger to take down the]] BigBad.

* HeartbrokenBadass: During the final battle of ''SEED'', he fails to save Flay. He turns his sorrow into anger to take down the BigBad.

** In ''SEED Freedom'', Kira suffers a slow burning one that ultimately picks up when [[spoiler:the Foundation turns against Compass and it seems that Lacus has joined them. Athrun has to beat it out of him]].

* HeroWithBadPublicity: In ''SEED Destiny'', when Kira's interventions, while with good intentions, only earn him the ire of the Earth Alliance, ORB, and ZAFT for damaging their mobile suits, getting Heine killed, and getting Shinn to hate Kira more. Athrun even calls him out for it.

** He returns the favor in their next match by using Shinn's aggressive and heavy-handed fighting style against him; Using hit-n-run tactics keep out of his reach and provoke Shinn into making mistakes.

* ShootTheDog: In ''SEED Destiny'', he is forced to break his {{Technical Pacifis|t}}m to stop the Destroy from wrecking Berlin, killing Stella as a side effect of damaging the Destroy's WaveMotionGun, which exploded and mortally wounded her.

* FireWaterJuxtaposition: The WaterIsWomanly to Cagalli's TomboyPrincess fire and their personalities are quite opposite too (see TomboyAndGirlyGirl below). While Lacus and Cagalli don't evoke this image physically at first glance, this is refleted by their respective eye colors: Lacus has profound blue eyes while Cagalli has fiery amber/golden eyes, forming an OrangeBlueContrast. Unlike most instances of this trope, they become close friends after ''SEED'' and never have a confrontation with each other.

* FireWaterJuxtaposition: The TomboyPrincess fire to Lacus' WaterIsWomanly and their personalities are quite opposite too (see TomboyAndGirlyGirl below). While Cagalli and Lacus don't evoke this image physically at first glance, this is refleted by their respective eye colors: Cagalli has fiery amber/golden eyes while Lacus has profound blue eyes, forming an OrangeBlueContrast. Unlike most instances of this trope, they become close friends after ''SEED'' and never have a confrontation with each other.

* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Has gold hair and gold eyes.

* FireWaterJuxtaposition: The WaterIsWomanly to Cagalli's TomboyPrincess fire, completing their TomboyAndGirlyGirl dynamic and their personalities are quite opposite too (see TomboyAndGirlyGirl below). While Lacus and Cagalli don't evoke this image physically at first glance, this is refleted by their respective eye colors: Lacus has profound blue eyes while Cagalli has fiery amber/golden eyes, forming an OrangeBlueContrast. Unlike most instances of this trope, they become close friends after ''SEED'' and never have a confrontation with each other.

* FireWaterJuxtaposition: The TomboyPrincess fire to Lacus' WaterIsWomanly, completing their TomboyAndGirlyGirl dynamic and their personalities are quite opposite too (see TomboyAndGirlyGirl below). While Cagalli and Lacus don't evoke this image physically at first glance, this is refleted by their respective eye colors: Cagalli has fiery amber/golden eyes while Lacus has profound blue eyes, forming an OrangeBlueContrast. Unlike most instances of this trope, they become close friends after ''SEED'' and never have a confrontation with each other.

* FireWaterJuxtaposition: The WaterIsWomanly to Cagalli's TomboyPrincess fire, though they only speak in the brief interquel between ''SEED'' and ''SEED Destiny''. They do interact more later and become close friends too.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Overall throughout the entire main trilogy, Lacus is the GirlyGirl to Cagalli's {{Tomboy}} because of her feminine style of dress and desire to talk things out peacefully if possible. They are quite opposite too: Lacus is mainly a GuileHeroine and a non-combattant, always prefering using her words in a calm manner while Cagalli is an ActionGirl not afraid to go personally on the battlefield and very outspoken and HotBlooded. Even on the political field, their respective approach is different: Cagalli is always active, being the one who submitted the idea of Compass for example and Lacus accepting to lead it, only acting when needed, being more passive. Despite their very opposite personality traits, Lacus and Cagalli are close friends.

* CoolBigSis: Since she is the tougher and more emotionally mature of the duo, Cagalli insists up and down that she is Kira's ''older'' sister, in spite of the fact since he was grown in a vat seperate from her while she stayed ''in untero'', the reverse would more than likely be true. (They could very possibly have been "born" simultaneously). This is played straight with her secretary/page-boy Toyah Mashima in ''Gundam Seed Freedom", who looks up to and admires her as his OneeSama.

* FireWaterJuxtaposition: The fire to Lacus's water, though they only speak in the brief interquel between ''SEED'' and ''SEED Destiny''. They do interact more later and become close friends too.

* ObsessedWithFood: The Novella ''Escape for Two'' prequel of ''SEED Freedom'' shows Cagalli's love and obsession of eating food, justified as being her way to relax and get out of business. She's such a foodie that not only does she takes eating seriously, telling Athrun not to compare her to Waltfeld as the latter is "a man with no taste because they eat with yogurt sauce", referencing how they met during ''SEED'', she's also distraught when she finds out the restaurant she's been going to has staff who are secretly Orb security guards, as she just wants to relax without thinking about politics..
* OneeSama: Played with. While not ladylike or feminine in the traditional sense, by the time of ''Gundam Seed Freedom'', she is looked up to as a kind-and-caring big sister by her apprentice/secretary Toyah Mashima.

** [[spoiler:Cagalli has the Kusanagi under Amagi and some Orb ships sent to the Requiem to destroy it. The Orb fleet were also cloaked under a Mirage Colloid veil.]]

** Overall throughout the entire main trilogy, Cagalli is the tomboy to Lacus' girly girl given her more masculine manner of dress, speech, and more violent manner of problem solving. They are quite opposite too: Cagalli is an ActionGirl not afraid to go personally on the battlefield and very outspoken and HotBlooded while Lacus is mainly a GuileHeroine and a non-combattant, always prefering using her words calmly. Even on the political field, their respective approach is different: Cagalli is always active, for example proposing to create Compass, while Lacus only acts when needed, being more passive. Despite their very opposite personality traits, Cagalli and Lacus are close friends.

* EvenTheLovingHeroHasHatedOnes: A downplayed example in ''SEED Destiny''. No longer exactly the AllLovingHero, there's still nobody Lacus doesn't care about... almost. She has no time for Djibril and shed not a tear at Durandal's demise. She's far more concerned and forgiving than your average person or anybody else in the Cosmic Era, but she clearly has limits and shows more anger this time (particularly at Durandal after Meer's death). [[spoiler:Lacus becomes utterly disgusted at Orphee's behavior during ''Freedom'']].

* CoolBigSis: Since she is the thougher and more emotionally mature of the duo, Cagalli insists up and down that she is Kira's ''older'' sister, in spite of the fact since he was grown in a vat seperate from her while she stayed ''in untero'', the reverse would more than likely be true. (They could very possibly have been "born" simultaneously). This is played straight with her secretary/page-boy Toyah Mashima in ''Gundam Seed Freedom", who looks up to and admires her as his OneeSama.

* ElementalMotifs: Water and air. Neither of which are in space, ironically, but then, none of them are. Her [[Myth/TheLadyOfTheLake name means "lake"]] and her second (and what can be viewed as her image) song is called "Proof of Water", however, she's also a canon Aquarius ("water-bearer"... which is an air sign), and her first song is called "In This Quiet Night", seemingly associated with stillness and air. She also has heavy [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 mermaid]] and Franchise/DisneyPrincess [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent allusions]], which cover both.

* MeaningfulName:
** "Lacus" means "lake" in Latin, and she talks about giving Kira "a new sword". More than just a LadyAndKnight, she's Myth/TheLadyOfTheLake -- and just an EmpoweringLakeLady, in general.
** If you romanize her last name as "Klein", it means little or small... as in ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid''.

* ShoutOut: Visually, her main black/sleeveless with arm gloves/ponytail outfit in ''SEED Destiny'' was taken from an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}},'' [[https://youtu.be/dqfHXDxGpcY "Old Meets New"]], and makes a quick appearance in that show's second opening.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: While piloting the Rising Freedom in ''SEED Freedom'', his eyes turn red [[spoiler:due to being manipulated by the Foundation]].

* CharClone: Shares the other attributes of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam One Year War-era Char]] Le Creuset doesn't have, like piloting red mobile suits and a rivalry with the hero. After his HeelFaceTurn in ''SEED'', he begins to exhibit some traits from Quattro Bajeena. In ''SEED Destiny'', the parallels are more pronounced (he even wears large black shades at several points and briefly adopts a pseudonym: 'Alex Dino'). Athrun tries (and fails) to be a good mentor to the other pilots aboard the ''Minerva''. Ironically, he doesn't start to get remotely better at this until ''after'' he's defected back to his old crew and friends from ''SEED''. In ''SEED Freedom'', [[spoiler:as if piloting a red ''Gundam'' isn't enough, then a Gundam disguised as the CE version of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Char's Z'gok]] would do.]]

** Athrun is Arabic, derived from the Greek erythron, which means red. [[CharClone He is a CHAR]] after all.

** His [[PaperThinDisguise "Alex Dino" disguise]] wearing CoolShades is an [[CharClone obvious reference]] to Char Aznable's Quattro Bajeena persona in ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam''. And the one who revealed his identity? Gilbert Durandal, who shares [[Creator/ShuichiIkeda the same voice]] as Quattro/Char himself!

** [[spoiler:She sent Mu on a secret mission with her Akatsuki in space inside a Mirage Colloid Pod to damage the superweapon with the Zeus Silhouette and to reflect back a Requiem shot successfully, knowing that Mu will survive the blast aboard her Mobile Suit (and him having piloted it before makes him the logical choice for the mission [[note]]Presumably, Cagalli didn't go herself because her people needs her in case of defeat where they could regroup and fight another day.[[/note]]). The Akatsuki was damaged but still operational after the feat. This gave Compass and Orb more time to defeat the Foundation and destroy the Requiem, which they did.]]
** [[spoiler:She and Athrun devised the remote control plan to fend off the Accord's abilities and Cagalli applied it herself alongside her boyfriend but she stays far from the battlefield. This plan resulted in the defeat and death of Shura, arguably the strongest pilot of the Foundation.]]

** Worf had a fever rather than the flu this time. The drama CDs reveal he "only" came second in the marksmanship exam to Yzak was because he had a fever on the day and even with that, Yzak only won by a narrow margin.

* StraightForTheCommander: More like "straight for the strongest asset of the enemy" but same idea. This is Athrun's main role on the battlefield since "SEED Destiny", he will engage the strongest asset of the enemy to keep them occupied while Kira will do most of the damage to the rest of their forces. His Infinite Justice Gundam [[spoiler:(and its Type II version in ''SEED Freedom'')]] is equipped with multiple close combat weapons for forcing 1-on-1 duels. Examples of Athrun's targets include: Shinn in his Destiny Gundam in "SEED Destiny" [[spoiler:and Shura who has nearly killed Kira twice in ''SEED Freedom'']].

* TooManyBelts: His civilian outfit in ''SEED Destiny''.

** In ''SEED Freedom'', he becomes one for Orphee; both were birthed to be Accords, except only Orphee's conception was successful while Kira was a failure. Orphee stealing his girl Lacus makes the animosity even personal.

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Throughout the first two series, Kira was referred to as the "Ultimate Coordinator". It's revealed in ''SEED Freedom'' here that he isn't an "Ultimate Coordinator", but a failed Accord. However, it might just be a taunt from the Foundation's side, especially on Aura's part, as the novelization shows her to have a very jealous outlook on Hibiki, [[EveryoneHasStandards who rejected her ideals]] and she clearly is holding a grudge for it.]]

* SuicidalPacifism: Thankfully averted in most cases. Kira is very reluctant to kill but if someone is just too dangerous to others and can't be stopped with disabling tactics (Rau, Stella, [[spoiler:Orphee]] ) he'll do it. The only instance played straight in is Angel Down where despite Shinn completely shutting down his non lethal combat style and causing more and more damage to him, Kira adamantly refuses to kill him to the point where in their final clash when Shinn jams his blade straight into him, Kira only sets up a non lethal counter stab and scrams Freedom's reactor rather than risk it blowing up in Shinn's face even though Kira was looking at certain death (and based on his face, Kira knew it too) and only just managed to luck out on getting rescued at the last second. It was implied a combination of Kira knowing Shinn was misguided and Kira being more willing to chance his own death rather than bring more potential heat on Cagalli and Orb if Chairman Durandal got footage of him harming Zaft's ace for him to manipulate, given that Durandal had already done via editing the Berlin fight to make it look like Zaft singlehandedly saved the day there.