-->''It is [[AlternativeCalendar the year 0079 of the Universal Century]]. A half-century has passed since Earth began moving its burgeoning population into gigantic orbiting space colonies. A new home for mankind, where people are born and raised.''

-->''And die.''

The original {{Gundam}} show, started in 1979 as a planned 52-episode series but cut down to 43 due to the show pulling in horrible ratings. However, the merchandise for the TV show sold rather well, allowing the series to go straight into syndication, where it found its audience. A three film clip-show compilaton trilogy later and Mobile Suit Gundam eventually spawned a massive franchise. Though there are now a large number of sequels, spinoffs, and [[AlternateContinuity Alternate Continuities]], the original ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' remains the most popular show of the franchise.

The series follows OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Amuro Ray, opening in the midst of a stalemate in the war between the [[TheFederation Earth Federation]] and the [[TheEmpire Principality of Zeon]]. Though the Earth Federation has (or, rather, ''had'') superior numbers and resources, the Zeon military has annihilated much of the Federation's population with [[DepopulationBomb chemical weapons]], decimated their fleet with their new [[HumongousMecha mobile suit]] technology, nearly ended the war in a stroke with a ColonyDrop, and follow up by invading Earth.

While fighting a losing battle on Earth, the Federation stepped up its R&D program to develop its own mobile suits, resulting in the SuperPrototype "Gundam". While doing final tests on the Gundam in a [[DoomedHometown remote space colony]], they are attacked by a small Zeon force led by [[TheRival Char]] [[AcePilot Aznable]]. Amuro ends up FallingIntoTheCockpit in order to save the colony, and from there is pulled into the war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. But, of course, things aren't as simple as they appear to be...

The original RealRobot series, ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' literally [[GenreLaunch created a genre]], and eventually spawned numerous sequels and side stories. Its direct sequel is ''ZetaGundam'', and there are also a trio of {{OVA}}s set in the same time period as ''MobileSuitGundam: The08thMSTeam'', ''{{Gundam 0080}}: War in the Pocket'' and MS IGLOO.
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This program provides examples of:

* AdaptationDistillation (Many fans consider the {{Compilation Movie}}s to be better than the original TV series)
* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs (Twice during the series; [[WorthyOpponent Ranba Ral]]'s assault on the White Base, and the Zeon's attack on Jaburo.)
* AloofBigBrother (Char, most famously. Bright also shows some traits before he gets his CharacterDevelopment)
* AlternativeCalendar (The Universal Century)
* ANaziByAnyOtherName (SIEG ZEON! HAIL ZEON!)
* AntiVillain (Just about every Zeon character except Cassilia, M'Quve and Giren - notably Ramba Ral, the Zeon soldiers in the episode "Time Be Still," and the three Zeon soldiers who at one point help some of the White Base refugees.)
* AnyoneCanDie (The series was, after all, created by a man who was ''nicknamed'' KillEmAll)
* BigBrotherMentor (Ryu Jose, to a degree Bright)
* BigDamnHeroes (General Revil escaping from captivity to give his "Zeon is exhausted!" speech)
* BigScrewedUpFamily (The Zabi family; the Deikuns aren't far behind.)
* BittersweetEnding ([[spoiler: Amuro defeats Char, but is about to let himself die until he hears his friends' voices and is able to reunite with his adoptive family. Char survives, finishes his "revenge" by killing Princess Kycilia and escapes, but is separated from his beloved sister Sayla forever]])
* BridgeBunnies: Mirai as White Base's pilot, Sayla as Communications Officer [[spoiler: Later Fraw Bow]], plus two male navigators who play no role in the plot outside of navigating.
* CharacterDevelopment: What set it aside from several other HumongousMecha shows of its time, aside of the RealRobot aspect.
* CombiningMecha (The Gundam is formed from three separate parts; later in the series, even more optional parts are added.)
* CompilationMovie: Three of them
* CrowningMomentOfFunny:
---> '''Zeon Soldier''': Lieutenant! It's a new Feddie weapon!\\
'''Ramba Ral''': Don't panic! It's called lightning!
** JustifyingEdit: To be perfectly fair, the Zeon soldier had presumably never been on Earth before, and logically would have no knowledge of weather.
*** We know ItMakesSenseInContext. It's ''still'' hilarious.
* CyberCyclops (The ZAKU series of mobile suits.)
* {{Darwinist}}/NietzscheWannabe (Gihren, who takes being compared to Hitler as a ''[[InsultBackfire compliment]]'')
* DeadPersonImpersonation ("Char Aznable" wasn't [[TheRealRemingtonSteele just]] an alias. (This only occurs in the manga ''Gundam: The Origin'', though))
* DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight: General Revil's "Zeon is exhausted!" speech.
* DoomedHometown (Side 7)
* DownerEnding: In the novelization of the series, Amuro [[spoiler:is actually [[ShootTheShaggyDog KILLED by a random beam bazooka blast from behind]] during the Battle of A Baoa Qu.]] The novelization differs in several other points (such as actual use of the G3 Gundam), but this is the most shocking change.
** So much so, SuperRobotWarsAdvance actually uses the novelization Amuro's fate as part of the AlternateUniverse plot.
** [[spoiler:And of all things, ''SD Gundam G Generation DS'' used THAT DownerEnding to set up the Villain Route.]]
* EnergyWeapons
* FallingIntoTheCockpit (Amuro, even when his dad was the one who built the Gundam itself. To a lesser extent, the entire ''White Base'' crew; at age 19, Bright was the most junior officer of the White Base's original crew until the Zeon attack left him acting captain.)
* {{Fanon}}
* TheFederation (Some are evil, some are good)
* FullNameBasis (''Everyone'' calls him "Ramba Ral". Nobody calls him just "Ramba" or "Ral". It's ''always'' "Ramba Ral". Also Challia Bull, and often, but not always, Fraw Bow.)
* GeniusBruiser (Prince Dozle Zabi is 7' feet of pure Zabi muscle and leads his troops in person heroically in the Battle of Solomon. Might be a bit of a GentleGiant, since [[PetTheDog he truly cared for his family]] (namely his little brother Garma, his wife Zenna and his daughter Minerva. )
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan (Now THIS is where the infamous Bright Slap comes from. We also have Sleggar and Ryu mastering this technique)
* TheGwenStacy [[spoiler: {Lalah)]]
* HeroicSacrifice (From both throwaway and major characters. [[spoiler: Poor Matilda, poor Ryu, poor Michelle, poor Woody, poor Lalah...]])
* HumongousMecha
** RealRobot (Started the genre.)
* IconicCharacters (Char Aznable has been oft-imitated, both in the ''Gundam'' franchise itself and in other shows)
* InsultBackfire (Giren takes it as a ''compliment'' when his father compares his world view with that of Adolf Hitler.)
** Though he'd never heard of Hitler before Degwin made the comparison onscreen, and Gihren didn't hear very much detail about Hitler. In this sense it's almost an Insult Backfire Backfire.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: (Kai Shiden, who starts as a DirtyCoward)
* LadyOfWar (Princess Kycilia)
* LatexSpaceSuit (Pilot suits)
* MaskPower (Char, of course. Also, Kycilia)
* MeaningfulName (Zaku comes from the Japanese word for {{Mooks}}, ''zako'', which, incidentally was what they were actually called in ''SDGundamForce''.)
* MemeticMutation (Besides the whole [[LawOfChromaticSuperiority red thing]], there's the infamous line ''Once the Big Zam in mass produced'')
* MidSeasonUpgrade (Averted in the anime, played straight in the novels with the Gundam getting destroyed and replaced with the G-3 Gundam)
* MinovskyParticle (Trope Namer)
* MerchandiseDriven
* {{Mukokuseki}} (Mostly averted: Mirai Yashima, the one with more direct Asian heritage, looks noticeably more Asian than the rest. Amuro is an aversion, since he's ButNotTooForeign (his mother is either American, Canadian or Mexican, depending on the canon you follow))
** One of the games gives Amuro's birthplace as Prince Rupert in northern BC, Canada.
***That would be "Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2".
* NuclearWeaponsTaboo (Averted: [[spoiler:when about to lose, M'Quve tries to drop a nuke on the advancing Federation forces.]])
* TheOjou (Iserina Eschenbach is a very tragic version of the trope. Mirai is technically one, but she tries her best to not let her family connections interfere)
* PsychicPowers (Newtypes)
* RealRobot (TropeMaker)
* SelfMadeOrphan ([[spoiler:Gihren kills his father via [[WaveMotionGun Solar Beam]], and then his younger sister offs ''him'']])
** The novelization has [[spoiler: Kycillia forming an alliance with the White Base, and Gihren getting shot in the crotch with a beam rifle, causing him to explode. Kycillia orders Char to lift her up so she can proclaim herself Zeon's leader...at which point he flips his Rick Dom's hand, causing her to go splat. Kai Shiden, the only survivor of the White Base test pilots at that point, realizes he REALLY hates Char.]]
* SeriesFranchise
* [[{{StabTheSky}} Shoot The Sky]] (the Gundam's "[[{{FanNickname}} Last Shooting]]" in the final episode)
* SnipeHunt (The Federation forces trick Zeon into thinking the White Base and the Gundam is a greater threat than it really is by requiring it to get back to Jaburo as soon as possible. Thanks to that, Zeon forces along with many of their aces are pulled away from important battles, they lose a tremendous amount of resources, and in the end this was all just to buy time so the ''GM'' can turn the tides via ZergRush)
* StockFootage (Mostly involving the Gundam launching or combining with its various parts.)
* SuperPrototype (The Gundam)
* SuperRobotWars (as it is the original Gundam series it does appear in quite a few of the games)
* SuperweaponSurprise (More than one, and used by both sides.)
* SwordFight (With mobile suits, and between Char and Amuro in person during the final episodes!)
* TankGoodness (Guntanks)
* TeamDad (Bright Noah, after his CharacterDevelopment)
* TeamMom (Mirai. She's even referred to in canon as "the mother of the White Base" [[spoiler: and marries the TeamDad]])
* TelepathicSpacemen (Newtypes)
* {{Understatement}} (In the novels, Tomino mentions that Japan "technically" lost WorldWarTwo.)
** Like Hirohito said, the war situation developed "''not necessarily'' to Japan's advantage."
*** If you consider that Japan's economy received a massive boost from WorldWarTwo due to US influence, Tomino is actually dead on; they lost and won at the same time.
**** Tell that to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
* WaifFu (Lalah Sune is waifish and soft-spoken, but is also a fearsome pilot. Too bad she got caught in one really screwed up love triangle with her savior and her soulmate)
* {{Wangst}} (Amuro can get pretty whiny at times. He has his reasons, of course, but even so.)
** And it should be noted that he stops his petulant whining about two-thirds of the way through the series.
**Still, that's two whole thirds of the dang series full of whining.
* WarriorTherapist (Char and Amuro tend to talk a lot while they're fighting)
* WeakButSkilled (Initially the reason that Char can keep up with Amuro. [[LensmanArmsRace Later on it's the reason Amuro can keep up with Char.]])
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse (More like Amuro's ''dad'', who never actually got a death scene even though he ''did'' die at Side 6)
** Only in the series; the CompilationMovie adds a scene where he falls down some stairs and breaks his neck. The whole thing comes off as rather arbitrary, really.
* WorldHalfEmpty
* YouAreInCommandNow (This is the setup for the series.)
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