Anime / Mobile Fighter G Gundam

An epic tale of martial arts, Gundams, and awesomeness.

"This hand of mine glows with an awesome POWER! Its burning grip tells me to defeat you! Take this! My love, my anger, and all of my sorrow! SHINING FINGER!!!"

— Domon, Calling His Attack in the hammiest way possible

Airing from April 22, 1994 to March 31, 1995, Mobile Fighter G Gundam (Kidou Butouden G Gundam, lit. "Mobile Fighting Legend G Gundam") is the first Alternate Universe in the Gundam franchise. Notable as a significant departure from the normal Gundam saga - whereas every other series in the franchise before and since have essentially been the prime examples of the Real Robot Genre, G Gundam is more of a pure Super Robot show, and besides the name "Gundam" it has only a few mild relations to the other series. It also takes a lot of inspiration from the Shōnen genre. Part of this radical change is that Yoshiyuki Tomino set aside series director duties after being burned out on Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, and so they instead got Yasuhiro Imagawa (Giant Robo, Shin Mazinger Z, the first 3 episodes of Getter Robo Armageddon, etc.) to do the job. The result was a series less like traditional Gundam, and more like a classic super-robot series of yore. Bandai also demanded a Gundam tournament story in an attempt to increase gunpla sales, which were doing poorly at the time. This was also noteworthy as the first Gundam series made after the toy company Bandai bought Sunrise.

G Gundam is set in the Future Century (FC) in which The Federation, consisting of several colonies corresponding to Earth's nations, has held a robot-battling competition called the Gundam Fight every four years to determine which colony would gain control of the government. The show's story takes place in the year FC 60, the year of the 13th Gundam Fight, and follows Neo-Japan's Gundam Fighter, Domon Kasshu, as he not only fights to win the Gundam Fight but also searches for his missing brother and the Devil Gundam. As the series progresses, Domon fights his way through several powerful opponents, gains new allies and discovers the truth about his brother, the Devil Gundam, and himself.

The show completely embraced the aspects of the Super Robot Genre and featured, among many other things, a Gundam that not only looked like Sailor Venus, but in one episode GLOMPS◊ the main character's Gundam. It is impossible to accept this show without understanding Rule of Cool or Narm Charm, but what keeps this as a proud Gundam series is the nature of the Gundam Fight itself. Without the tournament, Earth would return to its previous habit of resolving conflicts... through war.

Compare and contrast Macross 7 (which premiered in the same year as G Gundam did) in terms of a franchise sequel that differs greatly from the source material. Or Hetalia: Axis Powers, which takes the National Stereotypes, audacity, and tone and runs with them.

In 2010, as part of a project to revive interest in the Alternate Universe Gundam stories, an updated manga retelling of the series titled Choukyuu! G Gundam began serialization in Gundam Ace. On the 45th anniversary of the Gundam franchise, a new project for G-Gundam's 30th anniversary was announced.

Is now available to watch online via Crunchyroll, and has a Recap page.

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Let's get things started! Gundam Tropes all set! Ready...GO!

• Adaptation Expansion: The 2010 manga is a retelling with some altered details and some expansion, such as having Ulube reference Domon's father during the Neo-France storyline.
• Ace Custom: Zigzagged. In most Gundam series, Gundams are considered this compared to most Mobile Suits. However in G Gundam, each country has its own Gundam and there may be more Gundams that appear compared to individual Mobile Suit models, making this one of the rare times where there are more Gundams than ordinary Mobile Suits. Because of this, G Gundam may actually have the most Gundams appear in it compared to other series, assuming that they are counted individually rather than by universe. On the other hand, the Gundams used in the tournaments are still this trope as they are usually tailor-made for the individual fighter's abilities and combat preferences.
• Action Girl: Rain can be quite the Action Girl herself sometimes. Perhaps even more of one than Allenby seeing as she defeats Allenby when the latter is rendered berserk and powered up with DG cells.
  • The second round of the Gundam Fight introduces Allenby Beardsley, the Gundam Fighter for New-Sweden. She proves to be one of the best fighters, even without using her Berserker Mode.
• Affably Evil: Prime Minister Wong, who eats pocky, invites the hero to his penthouse for a drink, and even cheers his victories in his first few matches.
• After the End: The Earth itself, but not the colonies.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The Devil Gundam, originally named the Ultimate Gundam, was intended to be used to restore the Earth after the damage it'd taken from the Gundam battles. All it takes is a simple mechanical malfunction for the thing to interpret this ultimatum as "wipe out all humans."
• Air-Vent Passageway: Played straight in Episode 2, where Domon sneaks through the ducts of Madison Square Garden and ambushes Chibodee's boxing opponent so he can take his place. Played for Laughs in the 2010 manga. He intends to go to Chibodee and challenge him, but ends up in the opponent's room because he got lost. He then tries to play himself off as an autograph hound. It doesn't work, and after knocking the guy out he decides to take his place.
• All There in the Manual:
  • If you do the math, you might notice that the "Gundam Fight every four years" thing doesn't quite line up with 13th Fight's date of Future Century 60, while the 4th Fight took place 40 years earlier, in FC 20. The official timeline reveals that after Neo-England's Gentle Chapman won three tournaments in a row, rising international tensions lead to the 12th fight being delayed another four years.
  • The information was first published in the "Gundam Fight Round 1 & 2" CD collection's booklet, though Bandai America later translated those details and posted it on the G Gundam portion of their gundamofficial.com site. Although that site is no longer operating, the information was archived on the Gundam Wiki's Future Century page.
  • The novelization goes into a good bit of detail about the "Finger" attacks. It's explained that the move was invented to adhere to Buddhist tenets of Thou Shalt Not Kill, and was originally intended to be used by a human. The user channels ki from his palm through his three middle fingers, which is then released into the opponent's head, where it interferes with their motor functions and temporarily disables them. Master and Domon's Gundams were specifically designed to replicate the move (and yes, all of their Gundams have it — even Master's Shuffle Heart and Kowloon Gundam, though we never see them outside of SD Gundam G Generation).
• All Your Powers Combined:
  • The Grand Master Gundam, created by the Devil Gundam near the end of the series for Major Ulube to use; it's quite literally Master Gundam (down to the waist) mounted on Grand Gundam's body, with Gundam Heaven's Sword's wings and a copy of the Walter Gundam attached to it, the whole thing held together with green DG Cell tentacles.
  • The Shuffle Alliance performs a five-man Combination Attack, the Shuffle Doumeiken, to defeat the Grand Master Gundam.
• Aloof Big Brother: Kyoji Kasshu to Domon, set up to be the Big Bad who betrayed Neo-Japan and made off with the Devil Gundam. Things turn out to be way more complicated.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: The pilots of Skull Gundam and Ashura Gundam have blue and red skin respectively.
• America Saves the Day:
  • Chibodee attempts to play this trope straight, and manages to pull it off more often than not, though he's more successful as a member of the Shuffle Alliance than he is solo.
  • When the Neo America military tries it at the climax, it doesn't work out.
• Amplified Animal Aptitude: Fuun Saiki, Master Asia's horse, pilots his own Gundam. And when he's not, he is somehow capable of operating a small boat with an outboard motor.
• American Robot: And a Japanese Robot, and a Chinese Robot, and a French robot, and a Russian Robot. To say nothing of a German Robot, a Swedish Robot, an Egyptian Robot...
• Anachronism Stew: Despite being set in the future a lot of nations seem to have have gone through a sort of Neo Classical phase. Neo-Japan, Neo-America, and Neo-Russia seem to be equal to their real-life equivalents, but in Neo-France everyone dresses like they're attending court during the reign of Louis XIV right down to having a monarchy again, Neo-Chinese characters look like transplants from the Qing Dynasty with even bringing back the Emperor, and Neo-Egypt does mummification like in Ancient Egypt. There's even a mummy piloting a Gundam. It's complicated.
• Ancient Conspiracy: The original Shuffle Alliance. They're a heroic example.
• Animate Dead: Devil Gundam can use its nanomachines to animate corpses, turning them into zombies to pilot Death Army mobile suits. It even brought back a previous champion who had been killed in a Gundam Fight 40 years earlier... as a mummy!
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: George seems to think that Chapman participating in the finals after being disqualified is more noteworthy than the fact that he came Back from the Dead.
• Artifact Title: Sort of. In the English translation, God Gundam is renamed Burning Gundam, but it's suggested that G Gundam stands for "Gundam of Gundams" (i.e., the winner of the Gundam Fight) instead.
• Artificial Gravity: Played much straighter than most Gundam series, where spaceships have some gravity but still involve a lot of floating around, and the colonies which do not have the standard round shape that spin to generate gravity. Ships and colonies both appear to have 1G. Most of the action takes place on Earth anyway.
• Artificial Human: Schwarz Bruder, at least in his current state.
• Ascended Fanboy: Subverted with Chang in Episode 27, who tries to steal Domon's Gundam only to get nearly killed by the Mobile Trace System.
• Asians Love Tea: Brought up in a condescending manner when Domon Kasshu, the Gundam Fighter for Neo-Japan, arrives in London to challenge Gentle Chapman, Neo-England's Fighter. Chapman brings Domon to his home and has his wife Manon pour them some tea. Domon is quietly if visibly angry over what he sees as a waste of time, but Manon suggests that Domon is put off because he would have preferred to have green tea. At this point, Domon slams his fist on the table, tells Chapman to Dispense with the Pleasantries and demands a fight.
• The Atoner: Domon enters the Tournament to atone for his family's supposed sins. However, the true atoner is Dr. Mikamura, who framed Domon's family and, after he comes to his senses, makes up for it by sacrificing himself.
• A Wizard Did It: Don't bother trying to make sense of most of the action scenes, the show is as Super Robotty as it can possibly get.
• Ax-Crazy: Michelo Chariot from day one. He's later joined in his murderousness by Gentle Chapman, a former noble champion who dies and is ressureted as a cold-blooded killer thanks to DG cells.
• Badass Bookworm: Kyoji is hinted to be one of these.
• Bait-and-Switch Credits: The first opening blatantly shows the Final Battle, except Domon is not fighting in his Mid-Season Upgrade. It also shows him catapulting himself using the laser ropes in the atmosphere, but, again, not using his Mid-Season Upgrade.
• Balkanize Me: The colony nations include some territories that aren't independent nations today (or weren't when the series was made), indicating that some of them gained independence sometime in the series' backstory. These include Neo-Hong Kong and the All There in the Manual Neo-Siberia.
• The Baroness: Though not evil, Natasha. She has much of the Sexpot type.
• Barely-Changed Dub Name: Neo-Sweden's Nobel Gundam is renamed the Noble Gundam in the English dub, losing the reference to famous Swede Alfred Nobel.
• The Berserker:
  • Allenby, when under the control of the eponymous Berserker System.
  • Domon shows traits of this when he uses anger to enter Shining Gundam's Super Mode.
• Big Bad: The Devil Gundam itself.
• Big Bad Ensemble: General Ulube and Professor Mikamura, who want to use the Devil Gundam for their own purposes and have been manipulating Domon from the beginning. Not to mention Master Asia and Chancellor Wong in season 2.
• Big Brother Mentor: Schwarz Bruder, who ends up being a clone of Domon's older brother Kyoji.
• The Big Rotten Apple: New York City is now this. (The Times is still in print, though!)
• Bilingual Bonus: A spoilery one that hints towards the character's true identity. Schwarz Bruder means "Black Brother" in German, and he's a clone of Domon's brother.
• Bittersweet Ending: Domon wins the Gundam Fight tournament and the Shuffle Alliance finally destroys the Devil Gundam once and for all. Along the way, however, Domon loses his mother, older brother, mentor, and a clone of his brother due to the fighting. He almost loses his friends, father, home colony and partner (now turned girlfriend) in the process as well.
• Blade Reflection: Variation in the opening: rather than reflecting Domon or an enemy, it instead reflects the other four main characters.
• Bodyguard Crush: Princess Maria Louise crushes like crazy on George, who may or may not love her back.
• Body Horror: Those controlled by DG Cells have bits of their skin replaced with metal in a hexagonal pattern.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Chibodee Crocket. Argo Gulskii also counts, but as a more serious version.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Saette, when under control of the DG cells. George, Sai Saici, Argo and Chibodee, during the Shinjuku arc, when also infused with the Cells. Allenby, during the Battle Royale in Lantau - she was under DG Cells AND Berserker System control.
• Broken Pedestal: Domon has a two-fer of this trope, thanks to his beloved older brother Kyoji stealing the Devil Gundam (and killing their mother in the escape) and his sensei Master Asia being the Devil Gundam's Dragon. Both pedistals get rebuilt, as it's revealed that Kyoji was brainwashed by the Devil Gundam (and still tried to help Domon by "creating" Schwarz to watch over him), and Master simply wanted to heal the damage done to Earth by excessive pollution and the Gundam Fight.
• Calling Your Attacks: As you'd expect from it being a Super Robot series. See page quote for one of the most extreme examples (in the series) ever.
• Canon Foreigner:
  • The SD Gundam G Generation series of games introduced the Devil Gundam Jr., which may be the missing link to the Turn X, and has yet to filter back into G Gundam proper.
  • The Choukyuu! manga has introduced a couple of new machines, including the JMF1337SD Shading Gundam^note an "evil" Shining Gundam that replaces the goofy-looking Fantoma mobile armor from the anime and the Maxter, Rose, Dragon and Bolt getting both Evil Makeover versions during their temporary possession in Shinjuku^note Mostly it looks like they have parts of the Death Army tacked on, with Spikes of Villainy and Eyes Do Not Belong There and full-fledged Mid Season Upgrades.
• Captain Ethnic: And how! However, unlike other examples out there, this does not stop anyone from being awesome. Hell, it would be offensive if it were less awesome. But just to illustrate:
  • America's Gundam Maxter is a Boxing Battler with six-shooters, a surfboard shield, and a football helmet, and its pilot constantly goes on about the American Dream. However, he's also a kind-hearted fellow who looks out for the little guy and is immensely loyal to his friends, believes in the American Dream because he's a Self-Made Man on top of being a total badass.
  • The Gundam from Neo Mexico wears a freakin' sombrero. A machine gun-laden sombrero, to be precise. With ten vulcan cannons in it. It also has a cactus shoulderpad and forearm guards and is named Tequila Gundam in the original Japanese (but was sadly renamed Spike Gundam in the English dub).
  • The Gundam for Neo Holland is a freaking windmill. That can reposition its blades beneath it to fly! The Nether Gundam embodied Neo Holland's... unique... strategy for the Gundam Fight. To avoid getting eliminated in the preliminaries, and thus qualify for the Finals, they decided to not fight at all. The Nether Gundam simply sat among a field of actual windmills for 11 months, going unnoticed and unchallenged, and thus undamaged.
  • The Gundam for Neo Canada is a lumberjack, Spain has a literal bull face on its chest (think Gurren Lagan), Neo Egypt has a pharaoh theme (for every tournament), Neo France uses flowers as an attack and has a Napoleon hat BUILT IN, the Gundam for Neo China uses Kung Fu and has dragon-head arms, and Neo Germany (one of the least cliche of the bunch) has a Stahlhelm (the Nazi helmet used by the infantry. Stay classy Japan) but is otherwise inexplicably ninja-themed. Viking Gundam and Zeus Gundam are Exactly What They Say On The Tin... except in Viking's case, it has an oar driven longboad instead of legs!
• Catchphrase:
  • Frequently overlaps with Calling Your Attacks, but Domon also has a habit of shouting "Rise, Shining Gundam!" and then snapping dramatically in order to summon his mecha from where ever he's hidden it that episode.
  • Who could forget "Gundam Fight! Ready...GOOOOO!!"
  • One of Domon's later Calling Your Attacks quotes ("This hand of mine is burning red! Its loud roar tells me to grasp victory!") is notable in that everyone in the Shuffle Alliance (and Allenby) ends up saying it at least once.
  • While Domon was still using Shining Gundam, the quote was much different ("This hand of mine glows with an awesome power! It's burning grip tells me to defeat you!).
• Cat Fight: Partially subverted with Rain's fight against Allenby. They're both in the skintight suits, but the battle is a very serious one.
• The Cavalry Arrives Late: Neo-Japan sends the Burning Gundam to Domon in the Guiana Highlands so he can fight the Dark Gundam, only for it to arrive after he achieved the Shining Gundam's true Super Mode and defeats it. It does come in handy for getting to Neo-Hong Kong from the Guiana Highlands in the following episode, though, as Shining Gundam was totaled in the fight.
• Char Clone:
  • Schwarz Bruder is a Type II clone, being a mysterious mentor figure to Domon and having his own agenda.
  • Ulube is a Type III clone who, compared to Master-Asia's somewhat antivillainous intentions, has no remorse whatsoever in corrupting everyone and everything into Devil Gundam drones.
  • Master Asia, whose motivation is similar to Char's in Char's Counterattack, and who is Domon's original mentor.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Apparently, one of the main teachings of the School of the Undefeated of the East is doing this. Even compared to other Gundam fighters, what this school does is beyond what normal humans are capable of.
  • THE SCHOOL OF THE UNDEFEATED OF THE EAST!; Master Asia is shown to be capable of destroying mecha with his bare hands (and scarf!), and Domon can block mecha-sized weapons with a rusty katana.
  • They punt a skyscraper that was buried several stories underground. Without their Gundams. And Master Asia had a sprained ankle at the time. This moment once provided the image for this very trope, and triumphantly at that.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Several seemingly one-episode characters either appear again or are mentioned, but most starkly Gentle Chapman and Michelo Chariot, who become major forces driving the plot, despite Michelo seemingly being defeated in episode 1, and Chapman dying. Andrew Graham is another seemingly one-episode character who turns up again, serving a very important role towards the end of the series, saving Argo's life at the expense of his fighting career and setting off the chain of events leading to Allenby's disappearance.
• Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: Neo France attempts to pull this off during George's match in the Finals with Domon, but George won't have it.
• The Chessmaster: Master Asia at first, before the Tournament Arc. Later Wong took this role, introducing a direct chess metaphor with a giant chess set representing the Gundam Fight final battle. He played everyone from Domon to the Devil Gundam itself like pawns.
• Chess Motifs: Prime Minister Wong's Gundam chess set with Gundam figures.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Domon Kasshu and Rain Mikamura, though everything initially points to a Just Friends ending... and then one of the most beautiful love confessions to be ever put on the screen happens.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Chibodee, who flirts with Rain gratuitously but only in good fun, and when it's needed is fiercely protective of her and his Four-Girl Ensemble.
• Chunky Salsa Rule:
  • Article 1 of the Gundam Fight rules states that a Gundam Fighter is disqualified if his/her Gundam's head is destroyed. Effectively nullified during the Finals, however, when Wong changes the rules to allow unlimited repairs (and even outright replacements) between matches.
  • Also note that nothing in the rules says that a Gundam has to win a set number of matches to qualify for the finals, just as long as the head is intact. Neo-Holland's Nether Gundam hilariously exploits this loophole to make the finals by disguising itself as an ordinary windmill and making the finals without fighting a single preliminary match. While the Nether Gundam gets trounced in every battle it faces in the finals, simply making it there greatly improved Neo-Holland in the world rankings over their pitiful 66th place finish in the 12th Gundam Fight.
• Color-Coded Characters: Not the Gundams themselves but the pilot's mobile trace suits
  • Domon - Black
  • Chibodee - Blue
  • George - Red
  • Sai - Yellow
  • Argo - Green
  • Rain - Pink
  • Allenby - Turquoise
• Combat by Champion: Essentially the whole concept of the Gundam fight.
• Combat Commentator: Practically anyone watching the matches, from little children to the authorities.
• Conveniently an Orphan: Most of the show's cast are orphans and a few have one parent. Can't be tough if you came from a happy family it seems.
• Cool Horse: Fuunsaiki, a horse so cool he gets his own Gundam.
• Crapsack World: Earth. After centuries of war and pollution, it was abandoned by the wealthy and powerful for space colonies and then completely written off by all but a few national governments. Conditions are so harsh in some places that people will do anything to get to the colonies. To make it worse, every four years they have to endure a load of giant robots tearing up the landscape in duels and there is absolutely no provision that they can't do this in population centers or natural landmarks (in fact, Gundam Fighters are legally protected from any responsibility for the damage they cause). Some countries hire criminals and outright killers as Gundam pilots, and others coerce fighters into the job. As a result, most locations in the series looks like they've been run over by a truck five or ten times.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Episode 2 shows Chibodee defeating the "Scud Gundam" in one punch; the 2010 manga expands on the battle but keeps it as this trope by having the Scud fire off a Worf Barrage Macross Missile Massacre. After the smoke clears, Chibodee says "Now It's My Turn" and, again, lays Scud out in one punch.
• A Day in the Spotlight: Some of the entourage characters get a few episodes focused on them.
• Dead Person Impersonation: To a degree, Schwarz. Let's say some serious cloning and a bunch of DG cells made it happen.
• Death Equals Redemption: Master Asia, after spending most of the series as an out-and-out villian, recants his dastardly deeds on his deathbed.
• Defeating the Cheating Opponent: During the Tournament Arc, Domon is paired up with Allenby against two other fighters, who rig the ring so that Allenby and Domon get hit with heavy Artificial Gravity and electric shocks, but the cheaters don't. It's not part of their Gundam abilities, and they're clearly cheating. The tournament organizers are ready to call it instantly, but Domon insists on fighting anyways. The end result is the two opponents stunned that Domon can keep moving, only trying to run away before Domon blasts them both with a Burning Finger. All of this was done at the behest of Wong, the head of the Gundam tournament who is trying to keep Neo Hong Kong in power. Wong rigged the fight because he thought that Domon was spying on him, when it was really Neo Germany's fighter Schwarz Bruder doing the spying; He just happened to jump over where Domon and Allenby were hanging out in his earlier escape.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Domon later has to defeat the other Shuffle Alliance members for real in the finals to get them to rejoin him to fight against the Devil Gundam (and to fulfill his promise to go through the finals undefeated).
• Denser and Wackier: This series ditches the usual war format seen in other Gundam series and instead hinges the fate of the planet on a Tournament Arc with giant robots, complete with hammy characters.
• Disappeared Dad: Chibodee's Missing Mom is seen in a flashback, but nothing is ever mentioned about his father.
• Distaff Counterpart: Noble Gundam looks suspiciously like a Magical Girl version of God Gundam, color scheme and all.
• Drunk with Power: Ulube, who waits about five seconds after Domon's won the tournament to pull a massive coup d'état, declare himself Dictator of the Universe, and ultimately become an overly-muscled freak. And this is the guy who spent the bulk of the series seeming like a decent person who was running interference for Domon against Chairman Karato.
• Dub-Induced Plot Hole: The Filipino dub is guilty of this.
  • Kyoji is renamed George despite the series already having a George de Sand, who is in turn renamed Joraque.
  • Speaking of Kyoji, Master Asia's reaction to Scwartz's first unmasking in Episode 23 was completed with him saying his name out loud (Ikaw si... George Kashu...! ^note While you're...! George Kashu...! See previous entry regarding the name change.), thus spoiling the twist way before it was actually revealed in both Episodes 40 and 44. In both the English and original Japanese, Master Asia simply gave a startled reaction (Why you're...! It can't be...!).
• Dub Name Change: Under orders from Sunrise, the English dub changes several of the mechas' names for various reasons. The most obvious are the God and Devil Gundams, renamed Burning and Dark respectively; this also goes for anything with "Devil" or "Death" in its name - DG Cells, Death Army, etc. Other changes may have been for more impressive-sounding names or to tone down the national stereotypes: Neo-Mexico's Tequila Gundam to Spike Gundam, Neo-Canada's Lumber Gundam becoming Grizzly Gundam, Neo-Hong Kong's Kowloon Gundam becoming Haow Gundam, Neo-Germany's Gundam Spiegel becoming Shadow Gundam. Perhaps strangest of all was Neo-Sweden's Nobel Gundam being changed to Noble Gundam, even though it was still pronounced Nobel. No personal names were changed.
• Eagleland: Neo-America. Its first episode takes place in New York City, and their Gundam is a surfing, six-shooting, football-playing boxer, piloted by a proud Self-Made Man. The actual space colony is shaped like a star, has a detachable combat section shaped like and named after Manhattan (which is operated by a guy who looks like every American general from a World War II movie) and its ultimate weapon is the Statue of Liberty cannon.
• Early-Bird Cameo: The Wing Gundam makes a brief appearance in the final assault on the Devil Gundam. It would be the main protagonist's mech in the next series.
• Ear Worm: On the drama CD "Gundam Fight: Round 3", even Domon finds the first theme song catchy.
• Earth Is a Battlefield: The Gundam Fight regulations state that "Earth is the ring", so fights can happen anywhere. It really shows.
• Earth That Used to Be Better: Earth was ravaged first by its endless wars and then by the Gundam Fight, which has no regard for the damage it causes to cities, towns, and wilderness. Cities are in disrepair and ravaged by crime and bandits. Everyone with money has moved to space colonies, leaving the poor to fend for themselves with what little resources remain; in fact, leaving Earth is a big part of Chibodee's Self-Made Man backstory.
• Eiffel Tower Effect: Numerous national landmarks are used to establish location—these landmarks are usually in a sad state of disrepair with even beloved cities such as Paris, Rome, and Kyoto wrecked from the constant fights. The Eiffel Tower itself, for instance, is bent over almost double.
• Eldritch Abomination: The Devil Gundam itself. It's three abilities make it nigh immortal, capable of extremely fast regenetation and able to spawn Devil Troops by the thousands.
• Elite Four: The Dark/Devil Gundam having four principal minions known as the Four Heavenly Kings, with three acting as leaders for the Devil Gundam's various forces (Grand Gundam leads the army, Gundam Heaven's Sword leads the air force, and Walter Gundam leads the navy) with Master Gundam as the overall leader.
• Empathic Weapon: The Gundams. They match whatever movement the pilot makes in the cockpit, but sometimes respond to what they're doing outside too. Justified, as they're controlled through a mix of voice commands and an elaborate motion capture system.
• Enemy Civil War: Master Asia and Prime Minister Wong start off as partners in crime, begin to distrust and snipe at each other, and by the end each is openly gunning for the other's death. Wong tries to bargain it into going full circle, but Asia openly admits at that point that he'd planned to double-cross Wong the entire time. And Asia would have disposed of Wong sooner if his worsening health hadn't acted up at the exact moment he got really pissed off at his nominal boss.
• Emotions Versus Stoicism: The Meikyou Shisui requires that the user be able to channel both sides at once.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Prime Minister Wong and Domon are equally horrified when Master Asia reveals his intent to let the Devil Gundam wipe out humanity.
  • Master Asia becomes increasingly frustrated at Wong's blatant disregard for fair play and meddling with the finals for his own amusement.
• Everyone Must Be Paired: The final scenes of the last episode show or imply all the surviving major Gundam Fighters getting paired: Domon with Rain, who he had finally admitted his feelings for, Chibodee with all four of the girls from his team, who had been implied to have been his girlfriends the whole time, George with Marie Louise, who he had a Courtly Love relationship with the whole series, Sai Saichi with Cécile, who he had dated in the one episode she appeared in before she dropped out of the series, Argo with Natasha, who had been shown warming up to him over the series, and one implied one that came completely out of nowhere, Allenby with Kyral.
• Evil Plan: A few people have plans that drive the plot and the heroes must fight against, but the most notable are Master Asia's well-intentioned plan to help the earth, and Ulube's plan to rule the colonies. At times it feels like the plans are hijacking each other.
• Everyone Looks Sexier if French: Look no further than Neo France's George de Sand.
• Evil Redhead: Michelo Chariot, subverted by the fact that he apparently dyes his hair that color.
• Evolving Credits: The rest of the core cast gets more screen time in the first opening after the Shining Gundam's Super Mode is introduced.
• Excited Episode Title!: G Gundam is one of the few series to feature these. As if to make up for it, almost every episode title is an example. For example, "Shocking! Shining Finger Defeated!" or "Fight, Domon! Earth is the Ring."
• Eye Scream: Not directly, but George uses his Rose Bits to shoot the enemy mobile fighter Grand Gundam in one of its eyes and the Mobile Trace System transfers the pain of the injury to the pilot to defeat them.
• Facepalm of Doom: The Shining Finger, Darkness Finger, and God Finger from G Gundam. It even got two Shout Outs in its franchise.
• Faked Food Contaminant: Sai Sachi meets Cécile when she stands up to three men beating up an old vendor for a bug in their food that they themselves put in.
• Fallen Hero: Gentle Chapman, who bows completely willingly to the Devil Gundam's bidding late in the show.
• Fanservice:
  • This Gundam series seems to have the tightest pilot suits ever to appear in the franchise. The suit-up sequence is regularly shown, and it involves a lot of Future Spandex tightening around a naked body- which is only made more surprising as we mostly see male pilots . There are exactly two female characters who are seen wearing the mobile trace suit. One of them^note that being Rain is shown to struggle more, even releasing some rather unusual moans.
  • In episode 19, Sai Saichi is eating in the wild when he happens to see Nastasha Zabikov as she's Skinny Dipping in a lake bellow. Both him and the camera become fixated on her, with a shot of her surfacing naked from the water with Toplessness from the Back and Sideboob. He gets so Distracted by the Sexy that he makes some the noise alerts her, and she immediately covers her chest with one hand while reaching for a gun with the other, immediately opening fire on him, chasing him away.
• Fantastic Fighting Style: The School of the Undefeated of the East.
• Fastball Special: The School of Touhou Fuhai's Chōkyū Haoh Den'eidan attack involves Master Asia turning himself into a living bullet and Domon launching him; while they can both do the attack solo, it's much more powerful when they team up.
  • During the final battle, Kyral's Mandala Gundam uses an attack called Mandala Enjin Gokurakuoju, which is essentially a mass version of the Den'eidan where he imbues multiple allied Gundams with energy before launching them at the enemy.
• Female Gaze: Domon Kasshu, making Super Robot fanboys everywhere vaguely uncomfortable since 1994.
• Fembot: The Nobel Gundam. Yes, a Gundam that looks like Sailor V and fights with a gymnastics ribbon and hula-hoop as it's primary weapon. Unusually enough, it's pilot, Allenby, is quite the Tomboy - Rain, the Girly Girl instead gets the Rising Gundam, which evokes the image of a Yamato Nadeshiko taking up arms (those being a heat naginata and beam-bow).
• Fighting Clown: The Neo-Portuguese Gundam Fighter is a very-literal one, complete with a clown-themed Gundam. Although he does like his psychological warfare and has the good luck to pull the main character with a trauma-fueled fear of clowns as his opponent in the finals, he's also shown to be a skilled and capable physical mimic who can copy his opponents' stances and even lesser techniques through mime.
• Fighting Fingerprint: Domon figures out that a cloaked stranger is Master Asia after he uses a piece of cloth for a weapon and strikes his signature pose.
• Fighting Series: The one and only in the wider Gundam canon (well, if you exclude the Build series because of kits rather than actual Mobile Suits being used). In fact, the radical departure from the previous War Is Hell formula (to which the franchise would return with the next AU series) is the factor why the series is so fondly remembered amongst Gundam fans.
• Finishing Move:
  • Shining Finger and its derivatives, those being:
    • The Shining Finger Sword for the Shining Gundam's Super Mode.
    • The Erupting God/Burning Finger for the God/Burning and Nobel Gundams (the Nobel version is the result of a hack of its energy systems).
    • The Darkness Finger for the Master Gundam.
    • The Rising Finger for the Rising Gundam (which only appears in a Gundam Evolve short).
  • Lampshaded in an episode where Marcelot angrily says to fighters also beaten by Domon that he wins by constantly using that "dirty technique."
• A Foggy Day in London Town: Episode 9 is set in London, and is foggy during the Gundam fights, although it's revealed that the fog is being manufactured deliberately to obscure the illegal use of dummy mobile suits to aid the aging Chapman in his fights.
• Four-Girl Ensemble: Chibodee's Angels, of course with Bunny, Shirley, Cath, and Janet. They're his maintenance team as well as assistants.
• Friendly Rivalry: The core five develops this after the aforementioned Defeat Means Friendship. In fact, only a number of Gundam fighters are Jerkasses.
• Future Spandex: All of the pilots wear skin-tight body suits as part of the interface for their mobile suits. The substance is sort of like spandex, but they have transformation sequences (not always shown) that make it look like plastic wrap. Nearly all of the pilots are male, but we do get to see Rain suit up a few times, and Allenby as well. The horse's suit doesn't cover as much as the human's but he still gets this trope even though the giant snake averts it for some reason.
• Gaia's Vengeance: "As the Devil Gundam saw it, the problem with the world was humanity, and eliminating mankind became its number one priority."
• Gambit Roulette: Ulube pulls a frighteningly good and convoluted one to have Domon and Rain doing his dirty work and use the whole Gundam Fight to his profit, even incorporating other people's evil plans into his own. All while appearing to be a good man who wasn't even a participant in the various villian's mechnations.
• Generation Xerox: Despite being a prequel, the manga Gundam Fight 7th plays like the TV series on fast-forward:
  • The Protagonist is Neo-Japan's Fighter in the 7th Gundam Fight, who befriends (through combat) the Neo-American, French, Chinese, and Russian Fighters.
  • All five of these fighters get schooled single-handedly by the Neo-German Fighter, which results in their training (the Japanese fighter going to the Guyana Highlands) and developing new Finishing Moves.
  • The fighters battle against evil, corrupt Gundam Fighters (including those from Italy, Greece, and India), Mecha-Mooks that look a lot like the Death Army, then save the planet from an insanely powerful machine intended to destroy the colonies.
  • If it wasn't already obvious enough, the ending reveals that this was the origin of Master Asia and his generation's Shuffle Alliance, as well as seeing the creation of the Sekiha Tenkyoken. There are a few important differences, however: Germany's fighter not only survives, but wins the Gundam Fight, while the five heroes were unable to make it to the Finals in time and are labeled traitors to their countries; this is why, despite being Neo-Japan's fighter, Master Asia is affiliated with Neo-Hong Kong as of the TV series.
• Generational Trauma: The wars that left Earth devastated and prompted the development of the various space colonies left their legacy in the form of the Gundam Fight: instead of full-fledged wars that would wind up destroying the very planet they want to rule, the Space Colonies instead send representatives to fight in a tournament with the victor's colony becoming ruler of Earth until the next Gundam Fight. However, Master Asia's Face–Heel Turn is triggered by his realisation that the Gundam Fight is generally just as destructive as a full war since the Gundam Fighters representing their colonies are cutting edge with all sorts of powerful weapons and techniques, meaning any fights can wind up devastating the surrounding area. Likewise, Gundam Fighters are generally feared and hated by inhabitants of Earth who get caught up in their Fights.
• Genki Girl: Allenby is very perky. Thought subverted since she's also a Berserker Tyke-Bomb and NOT happy about that.
• Gold-Colored Superiority: The Shining Gundam has a Turns Red Super Mode early on, but when it gets upgraded to the God Gundam, it instead gets a Golden Super Mode. This is much more powerful since it's powered by Inner Peace, while the original, red super-mode was just powered by Unstoppable Rage.
• Golden Super Mode: Hyper Mode. While originally only capable of being used by Domon after he completes his training in the Guyana Highlands, it turns out that the other members of the Shuffle Alliance managed to achieve this as well, as did Master Asia.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: Nearly every friend and foe throughout the series comes together to face the final threat of the Devil Gundam... including The original Gundam and the Wing Gundam, whose series hadn't even aired yet. There's slightly under a dozen cross-series Gundams that show up in the crowd scenes of episodes 48 and 49.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Domon has a cross-shaped scar on his face. Ulube uses his metallic mask to cover the one that the Devil Gundam gave him as a proof of their deal.
• Gossip Evolution: One of the drama CDs has a variant; in the movie the cast is watching, The Shuffle Alliance and Master Asia engage in the standard shouting match...except that Master is standing on Tokyo Tower's observation deck while the guys are at the tower's base. Because of this, the banter quickly degrades into confusion.
  Movie!Chibodee: I said, "After this, we're coming for you! Prepare yourself!"
  Movie!Master: What?! Did you say "crazy balding shitty old man"?!
• Government Conspiracy: Neo Hong Kong, and Neo Japan.
• Gratuitous English:
  • Chibodee Crockett in the Japanese version. Every so often he'll call Domon Japanese in a pretty unusual manner.
  • The deadly yet hilariously-named Walter Gundam. Apparently, they were going for "Water" — to contrast the Heavenly Sword's Air and Grand Gundam's Earth theme — but ended up with the name of a random guy.
• Gratuitous French: An unintentionally hilarious bit in episode 4: George tells Domon he understood the kidnapping was faked because he could never have written a note in French that good. The thing is, it is written exactly like a French note written by a Japanese guy would look like: pretty badly.
• Gratuitous Princess: Maria Louise of Neo France is considered a princess, despite the fact that the series was made well over a century since the last time France was a monarchy, and her father's title is President.
• Guns vs. Swords: According to the backstory, the world's nations will flip-flop between favoring melee and ranged combat depending on whichever won the last Gundam Fight. After Gentle Chapman won three Fights in a row, everybody started fixating on long-range sniping...only for Master Asia to dethrone Chapman in the 12th Fight using martial arts, which is why the 13th has such an emphasis on melee combat.
• Ham-to-Ham Combat: Just about every Gundam Fight match. And every non-Gundam fight, too.
• Handicapped Badass: Kyral Mekirel of Neo-Nepal. He was one of the world's top competitors in the 11th Gundam Fight, ranking very highly but losing in the finals when his opponent accidentally blinded him. He makes a comeback in the 13th Gundam Fight...by assassinating his opponents before the fights so that he can win by default. But this still requires a blind man armed with only a sword to take out world-class martial artists. After he fails to kill Domon before their scheduled match and is defeated in a fair fight, he changes his ways and proves that, even without his sight, he's still one of the world's top Gundam Fighters.
• Handshake Substitute: The greeting of the School of the Undefeated of the East ends with the most epic brofist in the entire franchise, if not the whole of Anime:
  Master Asia: ANSWER ME DOMON! THE SCHOOL OF THE UNDEFEATED OF THE EAST!
  Domon: The Winds of the King!
  Master Asia: ZENSHIN!
  Domon: KEIRETSU!
  Both: TENPA KYOURAN!!
  [Cue Epic Fist bump...]
  Both: LOOK! THE EAST IS BURNING RED!!!
• Healing Factor: The Devil Gundam's first Theoretical ability, self-recovery. Can bestow this power onto others via DG Cells.
• Heel–Face Turn: Though never a real villain, Natasha's change of heart at the end fits the bill quite nicely.
• Hero Insurance: Gundam Fighters blowing up a building during the course of a Gundam Fight is explicitly not a crime. The collateral damage that Gundam Fighters inflict over the course of each tournament and can't be held accountable for is a major reason why some people don't like Gundam Fighters very much.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: Neo-Holland's Nether Gundam made it to the Finals by hiding in windmill form for eleven months, surviving the first phase of the tournament with a 0-0-0 record. Becomes a Brick Joke when the Neo-Holland space colony is shown to be covered in windmills, and they turn out to all be Nether Gundams in disguise.
• Honor Before Reason: All the Shuffle Alliance fall prey to this trope now and again, but none more so than Domon. Particularly in the Finals, where Chibodee and George feel compelled to demonstrate their new finishing moves, Machinegun Punch and Rose Hurricane, to Domon before their fights, which allows him to develop the God Shadow and God Slash Typhoon specifically to counter them. Sai Saici, the youngest of the group by far, is ironically the one who has the sense to not show off his ultimate attack before his fight with Domon...not that it helps. (He almost shows it while sparring with Allenby, but he stops the fight before going through with it.) Argo also doesn't explicitly show off his technique to Domon, though Domon is able to witness him using it against Andrew in a match.
• Hot-Blooded: Everyone, even the French gentleman, the technician, and a horse.
• Hot-Blooded Sideburns: Many characters, though Master Asia's are particularly epic.
• How Do I Shot Web?: Domon initially has trouble adjusting to the Burning Gundam's controls. Mainly because he never attended the briefing meeting where his team was going to explain them to him.
• Humans Are Bastards: Master Asia's motivation for becoming a genocidal maniac. He gets better before dying.
• Husky Russkie: Slightly subverted with Argo Gulskii. While he's VERY big and possesses enormous strength, he's also remarkably mature and level-minded. Enough to be the only one in the Shuffle Alliance who did not show any signs of emotional trauma after being brainwashed via DG Cells
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • At one point, George starts berating Chibodee for being irresponsible enough to store whiskey in his Gundam's cockpit before quickly remembering that he does the exact same thing with champagne — while Giving Him The Pointer Finger with said bottle, no less. Hey, at least he picks the quality stuff.
  • George was more going on about the quality than the fact that Chibodee had alcohol at all - they both intended to save the drinks for after they had won the Gundam Fight, but instead pour one out before going toe-to-toe with the Grand Gundam, thinking they won't survive. They do, but barely.
• Idiot Hero: Domon. Oh so much. Chibodee and Sai Saici also have their moments, but they're nowhere as bad. The 2010 manga retelling enhances it a good deal.
• "I Know You Are in There Somewhere" Fight:
  • Domon does this thrice in the series. First, he tried it to snap his friends from DG Cell brainwashing in the Shinjuku arc, but failed. Second, towards the berserk Allenby during the Gundam Fight. And later, to Rain, who had been turned into the Devil Gundam's Seitai Unit by force during the final episode.
  • Rain tries to do this with Allenby when the latter is even worse of a berserk state, but it doesn't work. Rain uses her precision weapons to defeat her instead and has to do surgery to get rid of the DG cells.
• In Name Only: As the description implies, pretty much the only things it has in common with the Universal Century shows is that there are robots named Gundams with somewhat similar designs to the ones in the original. Much of the debate surrounding it is whether this is a good thing or not.
• Instrument of Murder: Chandra Sijiema has a blade hidden in his flute, which he attempts to use against Domon Kasshu to eliminate him before their scheduled Gundam Fight match.
• Insufferable Genius: If. Dr. Mikamura is to be believed, Domon and Kyoji's father was a prime example. He still didn't deserve what was done to him.
• International Showdown by Proxy: The premise of the Gundam Fight is that wars and elections have been replaced with a Rock'Em-Sock'Em Robot tournament played with Humongous Mecha.
• Invincible Hero: Domon will win unless he's fighting a mentor character for the purposes of an Aesop.
• I "Uh" You, Too: Domon has a few of these with Rain.
  • Defied by the ending, which finally has Domon shout an outright "I LOVE YOU!", to which Rain responds the same. What proceeds after that is one of the most awesome displays of The Power of Love to be put on television: the Sekiha Love-Love Tenkyoken, an extremely powerful variation of the Sekiha Tenkyoken that summons the King Of Hearts who then proceeds to drill a hole through the Devil Gundam. But not just any hole - a heart shaped hole. What a way to end an already phenomenally awesome anime.
• Japanese Ranguage:
  • Whenever Chibodee says something in English in the original Japanese dub. Also, in a rather hilarious oversight, when Chapman was locking onto George's Gundam with his rifle, instead of saying "LOCK ON", the HUD instead said "ROCK ON"!
  • The "ROCK ON" thing seems to be in just about every anime where that situation occurs, which leads one to conclude that they either did deliberately or they just don't care. This particular example, though, has become a bit of a meme among American fans - mainly because "Rock on!" is a hilarious Totally Radical phrase that's completely inappropriate in context.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Domon, a huge Jerkass at the beginning, but he does change with time and we still love him. Even in the first episode, it's pretty evident he's a heroic character, putting himself in harm's way to protect the innocent kids and mildly abusive cops from the Neros Gundam.
• Job Title: The Mobile Fighter in the title stands for Gundam Fighter, the actual term used in the series itself.
• Just in Time: Domon arrives in Neo-Hong Kong for the finals with only one second before the opening ceremonies began. Note that he didn't start traveling to Neo-Hong Kong until about an hour before the deadline thanks to the fight against the Dark Gundam and difficulty in booting up the Burning Gundam for the first time, and that the Guiana Highlands are 10,500 miles from Hong Kong as the bird flies.
• Ki Manipulation: Certain characters are capable of using energy blasts.
• Kick the Dog: Master Asia has several of these in the first half of the series.
• Kill All Humans: The Devil Gundam's top priority
• Killed Off for Real: Schwarz Bruder/Kyoji Kasshu and Master Asia. Dr. Mikamura as well.
• Large Ham: Nearly every character epitomizes this trope, but Master Asia and Domon take it to a whole new level. If it's possible for Charles Atlas Superpowers to enhance your hamminess Master Asia certainly figured out how and passed the technique onto Domon.
• Lady of War: Rain. She fights like a Yamato Nadeshiko (naginata and (beam) bow-and-arrow) while piloting the Rising Gundam. Also a rather rare example of an elegant lady played for fanservice - though this is less by her own choice and more by the fact the Trace Suit will inevitably turn the wearer into a source of fanservice, male or female.
• Lighter and Softer: Than all UC Gundam series and movies that proceeded it. Has an Earn Your Happy Ending where the main cast all get to live and The Power of Love is shown to conquer all.
• Loophole Abuse: The Gundam Fight Tournament rules are rather sparse, and mainly concern themselves with the conduct of Gundam Fighters towards other Gundam Fighters while both are in their Gundams. There is a frightening lack of rules in regards to attacking Gundam Fighters when they aren't in their Gundams, not to mention civilian bystanders, property damage, and sabotage from third parties who aren't officially part of a Gundam Fighter crew. There's no reason why they couldn't have applied some rule patches by now, after sixty years and thirteen tournaments, but it's pretty obvious that the people in charge just don't care.
• Lost in Translation:
  • One possible explanation for the unusual names of the Devil Gundam's Four Kings; each is linked to a specific environment, and Grand and Walter might be corruptions of Ground and Water, their respective elements. Averted by Heaven's Sword, and not really an issue with Master.
  • One explanation for the G in G Gundam is that it's short for the God in God Gundam, which was renamed the Burning Gundam in the English dub.
• Love Hurts: Averted for a Gundam series! By the end of the series most if not all the main characters have someone who could be called their significant other, the degree to which each is considered as such but both involved varies. Combined with a happy ending for Domon who manages to rescue Rain from being the organic core of the Devil Gundam.
• Low-Tech Spears: The series is based around each country having a representative in the form of a mobile fighter which often symbolizes their country in some way (e.g. Japan's Gundam has samurai and kabuki themes, America's a surfing gunslinger with football pads... it's a wacky show in a lot of ways). Neo-Kenya's Zebra Gundam is based on Kenya's indigenous Maasai tribe and thus has a distinctive shield and spear to fit the motif. Notably, the Gundam's spear is not an Energy Weapon like the weapons of the Five-Token Band main character's Gundams.
• Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: HUGE subversion: We all thought Domon was the Mad Scientist's Handsome Son, but he wasn't. THEN we thought he was the Psychotic Killer's Handsome Younger Brother, but he wasn't that EITHER. Rain, on the other hand... .
• Magical Girl Warrior: Takes many conventions from the genre. A group of friends must save the world from an evil monster, they go through a stock transformation sequence to gain incredible powers, eventually the power of friendship and love (literally) saves the day. One of the later additions to the main cast even uses a Gundam that looks like it wants to be a Sailor Moon character.
• Magical Security Cam: When Domon, Allenby and Wong meet for the first time, Wong starts summarizing Domon's life story while a holographic video screen pops up behind him. Said video screen not only plays a clip from one of Domon's flashbacks where he's in the wilderness with Master Asia and nobody else should've been around to record it, but it also opens with a clip from the series' first OP.
• Magitek: In this show, mechas are (if not, deliberately designed to be) capable of using Ki Manipulation.
• Make Games, Not War: The Gundam Fight Tournament, in which Gundam pilots from all around the world participate for the glory of their nation, exists to avoid the need for war.
• Male Gaze: Rain's suitup sequence involves a close up shot of her very shapely bum being tightened by the Trace Suit.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Prime Minister Wong. He always wears an impeccable business suit, lounges in a floating chair and sips wine while plotting his next evil plan.
• McNinja: Schwarz Bruder, the master of "German Ninjutsu".
• Meaningful Name: Schwarz Bruder is German for "Black Brother"
• The Medic: Rain, who is also the Wrench Wench.
• Meditation Powerup: Domon unlocks his true Super Mode by putting himself into a serene state of mind (which is always depicted with a falling water droplet). This is immensely superior to his Unstoppable Rage since he can actually think clearly.
• Merchandise-Driven: the Gundam Fight, each combatant having a unique and very distinct design, was created so that Bandai could sell a ton of models.
• Mid-Season Upgrade:
  • The eponymous God Gundam, the successor of the Shining Gundam.
  • The original manga gave Allenby the Super Nobel Gundam, though that one was more like an 11th-Hour Superpower.
  • The Choukyuu! G Gundam manga introduces upgraded versions of the rest of the heroes' robots: Maxter (Max Revolver) is turned into a full-fledged cowboy with twice the firepower, whose revolver-shaped shoulders can make tornado winds or amplify his punches, and has an alternate faster armorless mode. Rose (Versailles) trades his Rose Bits for flying rapiers which makes it seem like he multiplies, and can join them into rose bouquets that turn them into laser drills. Dragon (Double Dragon) can turn his legs into claws like Heaven's Sword, change his staff into Instant Chucks, and transform itself into the head of a giant energy dragon. Finally, Bolt (Bolt Crash), aside from being even bigger and stronger, gains electromagnetic powers and uses his ally Lumber Gundam as a massive axe.
• Mind Rape: Episode 6, when Domon is drugged and forced to watch a holographic re-enaction of his family's downfall to see if he can really use his Super Mode, which is supposed to be powered up through anger-fueled Heroic Resolve. Worse, much later we find out it was all a lie.
• Missing Mom: Chibodee's mom got kidnapped and maybe killed by clowns.
• Monster Clown: Romario Monini, the pilot of Jester Gundam. He's a complete Jerkass who goes out of his way to find psychological weak points and exploits the hell out of Chibodee's clown phobia by stalking him and freaking him out the night before their match.
• Mood Whip Lash: After the first several, very lighthearted episodes, we get to one where Domon is revealing what later turns out be a fabricated version of the events of the Devil Gundam incident, revealing that his brother went rogue with what was effectively a weapon of mass destruction and his mother died. Later in the series, we have another case; Chidobee is terrified of the circus and clowns (along with the episode the features the Jester Gundam, probably the silliest design in the series), This was initially comedic, but quickly starts getting serious when we find that he's terrified of laughing clowns because a gang of lunatics with machine guns dressed up as clowns and held him hostage, starting a riot that he lost his mother in. It was implied that she most likely died as a result of the incident.
• Motion-Capture Mecha: Using the Mobile Trace system. Also taken to a ridiculous extreme; you can dislocate your shoulder and the suit's arm will also dislocate.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The six-armed Ashura Gundam.
• Multinational Team: The new Shuffle Alliance. According to a supplementary manga, the original Shuffle alliance were this as well. Of the exact same nationalities.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: Neo Nepal, which opts out of sportsmanship in favor of sending their Gundam Fighter to kill the competition before the match. They have a Buddhist Monk chewing out their fighter for failing an assassination attempt.
• Mythology Gag: It wouldn't be a Gundam series without them.
  • In episode 2, Katejina can be seen at the boxing match in a shot right behind one of the men from the Department of Defense.
  • The thugs from episode 29 use a Jet Stream Attack against Domon.
  • In its most famous example, episodes 48 and 49 pit a Rain-powered Neo Japan-sized Devil Gundam against every other nation's Gundams in space, and then some. Among them include the original Gundam, the Zeta, GP01Fb and GP02, F91, Crossbone X-1, Victory 2, and Wing Gundam. Keep in mind that Gundam Wing wouldn't start airing for another few weeks yet.
    • Shout-Out: A few non-Gundam machines show up, like Zambot3, Daitarn3, Xabungle, Dunbine, L-Gaim Mk-II, and Layzner.
• Naginatas Are Feminine: The Rising Gundam, based off of Domon's Shining Gundam, is designed with a heat naginata rather than the original's beam sabers (as well as a Rising Arrow). It winds up being piloted by Rain Mikamura in a Designated Girl Fight.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye Rain and her close classmate Saette. Domon and his mother, but he does get to say goodbye to Kyoji and later gets his father back.
• Never Say "Die": In the dub. The fact that people are dead is acknowledged, but the characters go through varying degrees of verbal gymnastics to avoid the actual word: return from the grave, pass away, lose his life, etc....
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Arguably Domon in the Battle Royale arc, where he comes up with several attacks that are never used again to defeat his partners' various ultimate techniques.
  • No mention was ever made of the Rising Gundam before Rain hijacked it during the Battle Royale. Her sole fight in it also shows Rain using archery skills she had never been shown or stated to have before that point.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Taken to its absolute limit. For example: mecha-piloting cyborg zombies. One of them was a freaking mummy instead of a zombie. An Egyptian Cyborg Mummy Zombie.
• No Communities Were Harmed: The Russian island prison was designed off of a paper model of Alcatraz that Imagawa bought from the museum's gift shop.
• No Endor Holocaust: A Gundam Fight match frequently levels entire city blocks, and the world's governments simply accept this. This is pointed out by Master Asia in his Motive Rant about how everyone calls the Gundam Fight an "ideal war" even though stuff like this still happens.
• No OSHA Compliance: The closest thing to safety regulations in the Gundam fights is a single regulation preventing fighters from targeting their opponent's cockpit on purpose. There are no rules regarding damage to property or bystanders. Michelo Chariot abuses this rule to no end as he is allowed to cause as much damage as he likes, provided he remains a Gundam Fighter. George has trauma from his preliminary match where he nearly lost because his opponent kept positioning himself so that George couldn't attack without endangering the spectators until the judges disqualified the other man for his underhanded tactics, followed by the man opening fire and blowing up half the stands in a temper tantrum, but the real fault there should have been assigned to the officials of Neo-France who set up spectator stands next to a combat zone without any safety precautions in case of any shots going in that direction, accidentally or deliberately.
• Not Just a Tournament: The Gundam Fight occurs regularly every four years. However, in the 13th Fight we have the Devil Gundam getting loose and trying to destroy the planet, while several nations vie to find and take control of it for their own purposes.
• Objectshifting: Neo Holland's Nether Gundam transforms into a windmill. Neo Holland's Gundam Fight representative manages to make it to the tournament's finals by hiding in plain sight in windmill mode among a bunch of regular windmills during the preliminary matches and only leaving once all Mobile Fighters have to travel to Neo Hong Kong, thus avoiding fighting until then.
  • And then, as a Brick Joke, in the final battle, it is revealed that the Neo-Holland Space Colony is covered in windmills... and they are all Nether Gundams in disguise.
• Oddball in the Series: The Gundam series of animes was one of the pioneers of the Real Robot Genre, and has an underlying theme of War Is Hell. That theme is still present in G Gundam, but it throws the realism out the window in the name of a full-fledged Super Robot Genre show.
• Oddly Named Sequel: One of the very few Gundam series (along with ∀ Gundam and After War Gundam X) to not have Mobile Suit in the title. Unlike those two examples, this is because a Mobile Fighter is a distinct class of machine that is operated quite differently from an MS, which appear mainly in the hands of construction workers and military police.
• Offscreen Teleportation: It's a plot point at the end of the first season that any Gundam Fighter who doesn't make it to Neo Hong Kong before the official start of the Gundam Fight Finals is disqualified, with Domon having to fight the Dark Gundam alone because everyone else at the Guyana Highlands left earlier to make it in time. With a very narrow amount of time left after defeating the Dark Gundam, Domon only makes it in time because he gets the Burning Gundam to replace the ruined Shining Gundam, and has to pull a ridiculous stunt where he bounces off laser arena ropes in orbit to get the necessary velocity, and only makes it with seconds to spare. The following episode, Master Asia, who was also at the Guyana Highlands and didn't leave until after Domon powered up the Burning Gundam, is also at the opening ceremony, with no explanation given for how he made it from South America to Hong Kong in an even shorter timeframe.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Rain patches up both people and giant robots with the same level of skill.
• Once More, with Clarity: Through some of the flashback, were show that Kyoji deliberately took the (then) Ultimate Gundam intent on using it for his own purposes. Getting his mother shot in the process as she was trying to protect him but not even caring. When the android Kyoji tells the events, we see that Kyoji took the Ultimate Gundam to keep it out of Ulube's hands (in fact, his father even ordered him to do it) and indeed reacted appropriately when he saw his mother gunned down trying to protect him.
• Phenotype Stereotype:
  • There is a good lack of stereotyping for the human cast. Surprisingly, Domon, Rain, and Kyoji, the Japanese characters, all fall under this trope. The only one who sticks out more than the others is Allenby, the Swedish fighter with sea-green hair.
  • The Gundams themselves, on the other hand, play this trope painfully straight to a degree of hilarity. The sole exception may be the Nobel/Noble Gundam, which was simply designed as the Distaff Counterpart of the original RX-78-2 Gundam. The Nobel Gundam is feminine in appearance, though, in keeping with the stereotype of Sweden being the land of hot blondes.
  • While the Shining/God Gundams seemingly avert this trope, they're in fact riddled with many stereotypes as the rest, albeit more subdued: Shining's design is based on an armored warrior from old Japan (much like the RX-78-2 was based on an Ashigaru soldier) who wields two swords on a single side, and his super mode has traits of a Kabuki Theatre performer like bulky clothing or a Kurumabin wig ^note Most famously, the one worn in the main character of Shibaraku. Incidentally, Shining's front antenna looks like a Chikaragami headband worn by Aragoto-style heroes — likewise, his transformation was inspired by some Bunraku theater dolls' Gabu transforming gimmick. On the other hand, God Gundam keeps a few Kabuki elements and adds ones like a Hane-Dasuki sash-styled backpack, while reinforcing the samurai theme with a Kamishimo-style design. Rising simply recycles Shining's design with some traditionally feminine Japanese weapons like a naginata and a Yumi bow.
• Playing Card Motifs: The Shuffle Alliance. They're a quintet of Gundam Fighters who have playing card themed titles. Who chooses the Shuffle Alliance isn't clear; the current generation simply seemed to have the crests of their title appear on the back of their hands, and the old Shuffle Alliance knew they had to take over.
• Plucky Girl: All the females, in one way or another. Special mention goes to Cécile Holgar, a sweet-looking moeblob who stands up against punks in her very first scene and doesn't hesitate to bitchslap her boyfriend when he has an Heroic BSoD. And to Maria Louise, the blonde and frilly Tomboy Princess who handles Molotov cocktails and machine guns near the end of the series.
• Polyamory: Chibodee has four love interests.
• Power Copying: One specialty of Jester Gundam and its pilot, copying other characters special techniques (the other is apparently using psychological warfare against his opponent, as evidenced by his fight with Chibodee.)
• Power Dyes Your Hair: Hyper Mode turns your hair bright yellow, Super Saiyan-style.
• Power Glows:
  • "This hand of mine glows with an awesome POWER!" "This hand of mine is burning red!" And so on...
  • The Shuffle Alliance members and their Gundams take on a golden glow when they enter Hyper Mode.
• Power Incontinence: Domon's inability to control his Super Mode in the first half of the series.
• The Power of Friendship: Domon certainly didn't enter the tournament to make any friends, but he ends up doing so with the fighters destined to join him in the Shuffle Alliance, and when fighting together they can take on nearly any foe. Still, there are some situations where it's not enough, in which case Domon can call upon...
• The Power of Hate: Deconstructed and Defied. While the Shining Gundam's Super Mode is triggered by Domon's Unstoppable Rage, Schwartz clearly points out that fighting while angry causes a fighter to act impulsively due to very clouded judgments and focus, which is also the reason why he can't use it at will. In turn, he enforces fighting with Inner Peace. Doing so allowed Domon to finally gain control of it.
• The Power of Love:
  • Domon and Rain's Love Confession involves attacking the Devil Gundam with an attack so strong that the King of Hearts himself is summoned. Incredibly awesome and incredibly heartwarming at the same time.
  • In his first fight with Domon, Chibodee is about to give up before the cheers of his fellow New Yorkers rouse him to get his second wind.
• Power of the God Hand: Or rather, Power of the God Finger. Similar premise, however, as the God Gundam is so named because of its obscene power. Averted entirely in the English dub, which changes it to Burning Finger.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Schwartz, Ulube, Dr. Mikamura, Chibodee's Four-Girl Ensemble, Nastasha, and Wong are added in the second opening theme. Allenby doesn't count since she made her debut long after the opening theme changes.
• Protagonist Power-Up Privileges: Domon's Shining Gundam is the only one to have a Hyper Mode for the first half of the series. When the other Shuffle Alliance members unlock theirs, Domon gets the entirely new God (Burning) Gundam, and then proceeds to eliminate his teammates one by one during the Tournament Arc with relative ease.
• Protagonist Title: The titular God Gundam is The Hero's Mid-Season Upgrade.
• Punch Parry: Happens most often when Domon fights Chibodee, and all the time against Master Asia.
• Rage Against the Mentor: Most of the first half of the series, once Master Asia does his thing.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Usually between Domon and Master Asia, but Allenby and Chibodee do, too. George has rapid fire sword thrusts; Sai Saici and Michelo have rapid fire kicks; Schwarz Bruder has rapid fire shuriken and kunai throwing.
• Real Men Wear Pink:
  • George is a Bishōnen and loves roses, but can fight as well and as passionately as the others.
  • Chibodee has pink bangs and is a self-admitted Momma's Boy. Flashbacks imply that Chibodee's hair is naturally all-blue, meaning he purposely dyes his bangs pink. Not to mention that his title in the Shuffle Alliance is the Queen of Spades, something he embraces fully with no one ever doubting his heterosexuality. (It helps that his predecessor with that title was also male.)
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Subverted and later played straight with Karato. Starts out as very incompetent and leaving almost every matter to Ulube and Dr. Mikamura, but by the end of the series it's hinted that he does have the potential to become a true leader and intends to do so..
• Rebellious Princess: Maria Louise of Neo France. She looks cute and sweet, but isn't afraid of either plotting her own kidnapping to attract her Knight's attention, or using a molotov cocktail to aid said knight when he's in a pinch.
• Recruited from the Gutter: Chibodee Crocket recruited his entire support team this way; they were Street Urchins who'd been caught trying to stowaway on a spaceship just as he walked by. Apparently they had a glint in their eyes which reminded him of himself.
• Recurring Boss:
  • Master Asia, Gentle Chapman, Michelo Chariot, and the Devil Gundam itself have been fought more than twice. The last one is even the series' final enemy.
  • Likewise, Domon fights all members of his True Companions three or four times in the series.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: The Devil, Master, Neros, and John Bull Gundams are all heavily painted with the aforementioned colors.
• Red Baron: Master Asia was more commonly referred to by his alias "Undefeated of the East".
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Once Wong's glasses start to slip is the part when the audience realizes he's a villain.
• Red Herring: Early on, Karato and Dr. Mikamura seem more than a bit shady, as if they might have some villainous plan that they're worried Domon might get in the way of. Wrong. Ulube on the other hand seems like a Reasonable Authority Figure who seems to be looking out for Domon and for Neo-Japan's best interests. Way wrong.
• Redemption Equals Death: Dr. Mikamura, after plotting the fall from grace of the Kashuu family due to his intense jealousy, sacrifices himself to save its patriarch and his former friend.
• Removed from the Picture: The picture of Kyoji has Domon and their parents torn off.
• Rewrite: The 2010 manga version of Domon vs Chibodee is more even-handed than the anime version was. In the boxing match before the Gundam Fight, Chibodee dominates Domon; during the actual Gundam Fight, Domon has it won, but since he forced himself to fight through his earlier injuries, he's too roughed up and tired to finish Chibodee off, resulting in an actual draw. On the flipside, George gets it worse. In the manga, he rescues Princess Maria Louise from the Neo-Cubans and brings her into the Gundam Rose's cockpit, which messes with his synchronization. Eventually Domon lands the Shining Finger, and Maria leaps onto George, apologizing for causing all the trouble while herself getting hit with the feedback. Rain begs Domon to stop before the feedback harms the princess, which he does.
• Rivals Team Up: Domon eventually ends up doing this with all of his rivals (Chibodee, Argo, Sai Saichi, and George), in order to form the new Shuffle Alliance and battle the Dark Gundam.
• Robotic Undead: Any Gundam infected by the Dark Gundam's cells is "revived" under the Dark Gundam's thrall, along with the Gundam's pilot in a case of Came Back Wrong.
• Rogues Gallery: Michelo assembles a team of antagonists in Episode 32 on behalf on Wong.
• Rule of Cool: Oh damn, yeah. The series director explicitly said in a DVD interview that he decided early on not to worry about whether or not anything made sense as long as it looked cool.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • Amidst all the Rule of Fun thematic Gundams are the slightly more serious God and Devil Gundams. The Ultimate Gundam fell to Earth and became the Devil Gundam, turning into a many-headed monster that corrupted people. Rather than the Judeo-Christian God, the enlightenment-powered God Gundam's golden glow, mandala, and threateningly open hand evoke the statue of a Buddhist warrior deity.
  • The Dub name Burning Gundam picks up a lot of meaning once you realize how much the Mandala looks like wings, 6 wings, which are a trait of the Seraphim, also known as The Burning Ones.
• Sailor Senshi Send-Up: Neo-Sweden's Gundam — a giant Fembot with long blonde "hair" and a blue Sailor Fuku-like coloring — is pretty much Usagi/Sailor Moon herself in giant mecha form.
• Say My Name: "Raaaaaaain!" "Domoooooon!" "Chibodeeeeee! Geooooorge! Argoooo! Sai Saiciiiii!" "MASTER ASIA!", and of course the ever-so-popular KYOOOJIIIIIII!!!!!
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Wong lives for this trope. They even get recreated by the Walter Gundam's DG cells for his very brief return.
• Sequel Hook: The final shot of the series is a card announcing the 14th Gundam Fight Tournament. So far, no anime covering later Gundam Fights has been produced.
• Shout-Out:
  • The story begins (well, the second episode begins) with a narrator who never interacts with the characters, who tells you that he would like, if he may, to take you…
  • The Nobel Gundam looks a lot like a mecha Sailor V
  • A rather surprising Shout-Out for an anime: the name of the MS piloted by George's butler Raymond is "Butler Bensonmum". Similarly, the Neo-American MS is named "Murphy".
  • The Maxter's color scheme greatly resembles a certain other giant robot popular in America...
  • Neo-Japan's space ships have a design similar to the Enterprise, except with spherical main sections making them resemble the Olympic-class. Director Imagawa is an unabashed Star Trek fan, and even appears in the second opening in a TNG-era uniform: he's in the crowd during the shot of Argo.
  • The whole character of Saette, from his past background to even his name, is taken from a Turkish film that Imagawa saw and said that he personally felt touched by.
  • The Master Gundam is basically the Griffon with Type-Zero's extending claws.
  • Neo India's colony is a disc on top of four elephants, on top of a turtle.
  • Elements of the Devil Gundam's design, especially once it takes over Neo Japan, look similar to that of the Shin Dragon from Getter Robo Armageddon. Makes sense when you consider that the initial episodes of the latter were also directed by Imagawa before he left the project.
  • During Sai Saici's second fight against Domon, he uses - and calls out by name - the Shadowless Kick (无影脚, subtitled as "Muei Kyaku").
  • Devil Gundam is a massive demonic beast, whose much more humanoid top half grows out of its own giant face's forehead. In short, essentially Demon Lord Dante in mecha form.
• Shown Their Work: Imagawa put a ridiculous amount of effort into portraying Hong Kong realistically, even going there with the animation team so that they could experience themselves first. That strange drink Allenby had that he couldn't identify the taste? It was one Imagawa had while there.
• Sins of Our Fathers: Dahal Muhammad and his Pharaoh Gundam IV get revived by DG Cells and try to kill Sai Saici, because his grandfather Sai Feilong accidentally killed Muhammad during the 4th Gundam Fight. Subverted; Sai assumed Muhammad wanted revenge, but in reality he just wanted to have the Gundam Fight he was denied by his untimely death.
• Slouch of Villainy: Wong in his ridiculously awesome floating chair.
• Snooping Little Kid: Chang, the orphan who tries to steal Domon's Gundam in Episode 27.
• Someone to Remember Him By: Domon considers the God/Burning Gundam to be the Shining Gundam in a new form, after all they've been through together. And as tribute to the sacrifice the machine made.
• Spanner in the Works: Domon Kasshu throws huge wrenches into the plans of every major villain, from Master Asia, to Prime Minister Wong, and finally derailing Ulube's Evil Plan.
• Spared by the Adaptation: The 2010 manga has Marcelot, Romario, and Chandra survive, do a Heel–Face Turn, and join the World Gundam Federation in the climax.
• Speak in Unison: The two Shaolin monks that raised Sai Saici have a habit of doing this. When the rest of the members of the Shaolin temple show up during the finals, they all do this.
• Spin Attack: Master Asia and Scwartz Bruder's favorite move.
• Spoiler Opening: The Devil Gundam's final form and the Four Kings are shown in both of the opening themes despite not being relevant until late in the series. Likewise, the second opening reveals that Allenby is going to be a major character a few episodes before she even appears.
• Standard Power-Up Pose: Used often whenever someone entered their Super Mode.
• Street Urchin: Chibodee used to be one, as did his support crew.
• Stripperiffic: The Mobile Trace System does this to you. Surprising since most of the pilots are guys. Holy Stupid Sexy Flanders!
• Stupid Sexy Flanders: The majority of the Shuffle Alliance, who all get dressed up in extremely form-fitting outfits that leave less than nothing to the imagination. Especially true for Domon, who we see the most of and even appears to be naked for his transformation sequence. Doesn't help (or hurt?) that the camera zooms in on his butt while it's getting shrinkwrapped.
• Suck My Rose: George is called "The Red Rose Knight," and is often seen holding a rose. The Rose Gundam keeps up this theme with its "rose bits" — rose-shaped funnels that can shoot lasers, put up barriers and act as projectiles themselves.
• Suddenly Obvious Fakery: Among the show's Word of God-admitted tendency to defy logic for the sake of being awesome is a trend of Death Army troops managing to perfectly imitate any mobile fighter by copying a few of its armaments and adding a new headdress. Despite the individual units never adjusting their color schemes, face, or anything from the chest down (and even then, the only torso changes to expect are a new chestplate or backpack), both the characters and audience will see them as an exact duplicate of the imitated mobile fighter until the truth is revealed and it becomes obvious that they are just a Death Army trooper with two or three new parts slapped on.
• Sunglasses at Night: Wong, who wears his signature shades around in dimly-lit underground hangars and even the privacy of his own home. Rule of Cool, indeed. The DG Cells/Tentacles even form into sunglasses when he jumps into the Walter Gundam in the end.
• Super Robot Genre: Mobile Fighters, the Gundams, are, though there are Real Robot examples, such as the Death Army robots and the few Mobile Armors that are still being used.
• Super Mode: A Hot-Blooded hero cannot be without his Super Mode, its even called "Super Mode."
  • Domon and Master Asia have/gets a second one called Meikyou Shisui: Clear Mirror, Still Water.
  • Director Imagawa specifically says that while the Gundam's Super Mode is the machine at its full potential, the Meikyou Shisui/Hyper Mode is the pilot's full potential.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Allenby, who becomes 120% stronger when she goes nuts on the Berserker System. The downside is that she doesn't use any techniques in this mode, just brute strength.
• Sweet Tooth: Wong, whose passion for sweets rivals that of L from Death Note.
• Tattoo Sharpie: In a joke 4koma, Domon Kasshu's x-shaped Rugged Scar on his cheek is revealed to be a marker. During his Training from Hell under Master Asia, whenever Domon would make a mistake, as punishment, Master Asia would draw an X on his cheek. Domon in this gag series is even more of an Idiot Hero than canon, so he messed up enough that the mark became permanent.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: One of the few hard rules of Gundam Fights is that Fighters are not to intentionally target their opponent's cockpit, which ensures that even if the Gundam itself gets trashed, the pilot usually gets out alive. This gets slightly averted during the finals where targeting the cockpit is allowed. Except for Wong's goons against the main group, all the other contestants make an effort to not kill their opponents including Domon where his God Gundam's Heat End is aimed at the cockpit.
• Throwing Down the Gauntlet:
  • At the opening ceremonies for the finals in Neo Hong Kong, Domon boldly declares that he will win every single one of his matches, much to the surprise of his Shuffle Alliance friends, and the consternation of the rest of the Gundam Fighters. Naturally, this prompts Wong and Master Asia to pit Domon against only the most powerful opponents, including the rest of the Shuffle Alliance. Domon wins them all, of course.
  • The first time he meets George, Domon demands a Gundam Fight with him. The problem with that Gundam Rose is already engaged in a fight with Neo Cuba's Gundam at the time. George not only reminds Domon of the tournament rules stipulating one-on-one matches only, but expresses his disgust for Domon's rudeness, and initially refuses to fight Domon at all.
• The Tokyo Fireball: Tokyo is destroyed except for the area around a big government skyscraper by the Devil Gundam's Death Army.
• Took a Level in Badass: The Shuffle Alliance members all take a few levels before their final fights with Domon. Each is also able to achieve the same Hyper Mode as Domon by the time their final fights with him roll around in the Tournament Arc. Michelo Chariot takes one as well when he suddenly shows up for the finals, going from an easily-defeatable smug crook to putting up a good fight against God Gundam even before his Gundam transforms into one of the Devil Gundam's four Kings.
  • One of the more satisfying examples of a character becoming a badass in this series is Rain. She starts out as the Damsel in Distress doctor that also knows some basics of Mobile Fighter piloting (to do mechanical testing after repairs). That's okay. Then she takes the Shining Gundam out against some mooks when Domon wasn't able to do so... and stands up to them. Nice. But this is nothing compared to what happens near the end of the series: Rain steals the Rising Gundam, goes out to help a very much endangered Domon, and soundly trounces a Berserker Mode Allenby who was beating up Domon himself just a minute before that. HOLY. MOLEY. No wonder why Super Robot Wars games that feature G Gundam frequently have her playable.
• Too Long; Didn't Dub: Certain attack names are left untranslated in the English version.
• Tournament Arc: Almost the entire last half of the series, save the final four episodes, falls under this.
• Transforming Mecha: Some of the weirdest in giant robot history. Highlights include Mermaid Gundam (a fish), Mandala Gundam (a Buddhist Temple bell), Matador Gundam (a giant flying bull head) and the ever popular Nether Gundam, who, as befitting his Dutch origins, becomes a windmill: unlike the others, though, there was a point to this. Since all one had to do to qualify for the finals was survive until enough combatants had been eliminated from the tourney, hiding in plain sight to avoid being attacked, while not guaranteeing victory, was able to significantly increase the country's standing. Domon's Gundams may also count, being robots that turn into more powerful robots.
• Trash the Set: A major plot point. The Earth's increasingly Dystopian state caused by six decades of Gundam Fights is what drives several characters' actions.
• Underestimating Badassery: Domon is very cocky and will rush forward into any given fight, but when he first meets the team that would become the Shuffle Alliance each proves to him that they are not a casual opponent. When he fought Chibodee in the boxing ring it seemed he defeated him rather easily, but after the fight realised that Chibodee's glancing punch actually cracked a few of his ribs. And Sai Saishi was the only opponent to legitimately fight him to a draw, using his ponytail knife to incite a Mexican Standoff.
• The Unfavorite: Implied to be Domon, who left home at an early age because he was Book Dumb and couldn't measure up to his much older brother Kyoji, a Badass Bookworm, in his father's eyes. Subverted, since Dr. Kasshu isn't shown as evil towards his younger son, so Domon still cares for him more than enough to make his dad one of the causes why he's fighting. And the first time they talk in the series towards the end, when the old man is dethawed and tells Domon how proud he is of him, qualifies as one of the most heartwarming moments in the series.
• Unreliable Expositor: Used as a plot point. Domon is shown a simulation of the theft of the Devil Gundam, in which the authorities arrive to arrest Dr. Kasshu and Kyoji only for the latter to try to escape and showing no concern once his mother gets shot to shield him from gunfire. What really happened according to Schwartz is that Ulube came to steal the Ultimate Gundam so Dr. Kasshu ordered Kyoji to escape with it, and he was horrified to see his mother die.
• Unstoppable Rage: Subverted: Rage is eventually stoppable... calm is truly unstoppable. However, this does not mean "calm" cannot be Hot-Blooded. Yes, Hot-Blooded Tranquil Fury.
• Unwitting Pawn: Domon for Ulube's master plan.
• Vanilla Unit: The Kowloon Gundam is a completely vanilla Mobile Fighter with no special gimmicks or weapons (compared to Mobile Fighters with special weapons like the Rose Gundam's Rose Bits or Bolt Gundam's Graviton Hammer, or gimmicks like the Zeus Gundam's chariot or Nobel Gundam's Berserker System). However, it doesn't actually need them, since the Kowloon Gundam is utilised by Master Asia, the Undefeated of The East and World's Strongest Man. Master Asia can destroy Mobile Suits and Fighters with his bare hands, so the Kowloon Gundam didn't need anything particularly noteworthy to be effective.
• Villain Decay: Prime Minister Wong, in rather anvilicious fashion to make way for Ulube's last-minute reveal as the real threat.
• The Virus: DG-Cells. It also doubles as The Corruption for Gundam pilots, as the stuff also grants their mechs some of the Devil Gundam's regenerative abilities.
• War Comes Home: The finale of G Gundam takes place on the colony of Neo Japan, home colony of Domon Kasshu and Rain Mikamura. The Devil Gundam (known as Dark Gundam overseas) possesses it and turns it into the largest body for a Gundam (or any Mobile Suit generally speaking) to date, forcing just about every Mobile Fighter still functioning to battle it while Domon and the other heroes enter to destroy the core.
• War Is Hell: The Gundam Fight is meant as an alternative to warfare because it avoids the casualties (and Master Asia specifically calls it "an ideal war" at one point, during his physical and moral battle with Domon). What it doesn't avoid is the massive destruction to civilian areas, and we can see destroyed cities throughout the series ruined by the previous tournaments. The Devil Gundam and Master Asia plan to do something about it by getting rid of the race responsible for the destruction.
• The War of Earthly Aggression: Slightly inverted. The first episode all but states that it's the Colonies that rule Earth. They also abuse the planet rather freely.
• Warrior Therapist: Roughly half the point of the series. Asocial and bad dealing with people? No problem; just fight against them and the two of you will figure it out. Referred to as "communicating with your fists" in the series.
• Weaponized Landmark: The Statue of Liberty Cannon!: Part of the Manhatten Battle Zone! Both on the Neo-American space colony.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Devil Gundam - or rather, the Ultimate Gundam. It was built for the purpose of repairing the Earth's damaged ecosystem, but its AI was damaged when it landed on Earth and it decided the best way to heal the planet was to eradicate humanity.
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • In episode 9, Gentle Chapman's wife Manon is instrumental in his Gundam Fight matches and even gives a speech in the end on the fate of warriors. When Chapman is revived with DG cells later, she's nowhere to be found.
  • Also, Andrew Graham (and his feud with Argo), after he is sent to the hospital by Allenby, who is already brainwashed.
• Whole Costume Reference: The investigator in the first episode, Belcino, wears the same Iconic Outfit as Lt. Columbo.
• Worthy Opponent: Domon has a habit of becoming this for a lot of people, including the rest of the Shuffle Alliance members, Allenby and Master Asia. A running theme throughout the series, in fact, is how having one of these can lead to more satisfying battles and a fighter improving his own skills through battle, since it gives him/her something greater to strive for. Schwarz emphasizes this to Domon during his training, right after Sai Saichi and Argo's fight.
• The Worf Effect: There are several points where George or Argo get trounced by an opponent before Stalker's monologue to prove how hard it will be for one of the others to defeat him.
• World of Badass: Everyone in the Gundam Fight, and everyone close to the people fighting in said fight.
• World of Ham: Domon is incredibly Hot-Blooded, but he's far from the only example. EVERYONE is Hot-Blooded on this show, though only Master Asia is able to match Domon for sheer hamminess.
• World Tour: Domon Kasshu travels around the world to fight other Gundam Fighters.
• Wrench Wench: Rain, who is also the The Medic.
• Xanatos Gambit: Some strategies during the Gundam Fight. For example Kyral Mekirel decided to assassinate his opponents before the match. If he succeeds, great, he wins by default the next day. If he fails, he'll fight as normal with insight on how his opponent will react to his style.
• Zeerust: Critical data on the Devil Gundam is stored in a 3.5 inch floppy disk.

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Ready? GO!

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