"You and I are opposite sides of the same coin. When we face each other, we can finally see our true selves. There may be a resemblance, but we never face the same direction."
- The first mission to the Round Table (Mission 3). After shooting down numerous planes, a squadron of enemy aces suddenly shows up and puts up one of the most difficulty fights in the entire game (especially if you're still using the default F-5 Fighter). If you manage to survive the hard encounter, Pixy then poignantly says "Yo, buddy. Still alive?"
- The mission 'Diapason' from Ace Combat Zero. After five missions of relatively minor battles against the enemy army, it comes time to liberate the player's capital city of Directus from the occupying Belkan army. It starts out awesome right from the get-go, with inspiring battle music
underscoring the fight. The Moment of Awesome begins when the citizens of Directus decide they've had enough and rise up and fight the Belkan Army, who up to this point had crushed your nation's army with no difficulty whatsoever. Through the radio conversations, you can hear shouts of "The Belkans are running!" and "Get the hell out of our city!" Soon, the citizens of Directus more or less take back the entire city by themselves. For that final bit of awesome, they then take control of the anti-air guns and start helping you shoot down Belkan fighters."Ring the bell! The Bell of Freedom!" - Mission 09 has you taking down Excalibur. At first everyone's desperate and wondering if they even have a chance, but as you slowly take it apart piece by piece, people begin believing that victory is assured for the sole reason that YOU'RE THERE. And then you actually DO take it down, and your commander explicitly states that the entire military has recognized you as "an indispensable component in this war" for being the man who pulled out Tauberg's sword. Pixy's line sums it up best.Yo buddy, you've got everyone fired up and believing in miracles!
- Another crowning moment is mission 10, the second visit to the Round Table; it's right after you've destroyed Excalibur, and as such the Belkans have begun to fear your abilities, not to mention that you essentially turn the battle around on your own. To top it all off? This is mission where you first become the Demon Lord.
- "Galm's not fighting alone! Let's show 'em what the Osean Air Force can do!"
- The final four missions of the game show just how deadly the Demon Lord of the Round Table really is, and define him as a hero.
- First is the Hresvelgr attack. You're just having a regular mission briefing when suddenly, your base gets attacked and the screen goes all screwy. You then have to take off from the base as its being bombed to hell... after which you take down the Hresvelgr and all of her escorts.
- You then pay another visit to the Round Table, where you're greeted by another enemy squadron. You mow through them so badly that years later, one of ace pilots interviewed still craps his pants at the thought of it.
- Special notice goes to the version of the mission that pits Galm Team against Sorcerer Squadron, since the latter is a team of pilots, each with an F-15 S/MTD. In other words, assuming the canon F-15C is used, Cipher defeated a squadron of eight ace pilots each flying what should be (and is, according to in-game stats) an upgraded version of what he's flying.
- The attack on Avalon shows just how much of a Hope Bringer you are. The allies have you fly low through the canyon, where going above means getting blasted with flak. They're pulling their weight too, distracting the rest of the forces as you go do your job. They sound so desperate, but the moment you make it through, they immediately get fired up and basically run into enemy fire for the sole purpose of keeping you alive. You then prove them right doing a tunnel flight and destroying every V2 launch site. Which then makes way for the final mission...
- The absolute crowning Moment of Awesome of the game (and what's arguably the Signature Scene of the whole franchise), Zero. It's just you and your old friend Pixy, Air Jousting in the snowfall of Avalon as a V2 nuke threatens to destroy the world to the greatest BGM in the friggin' world (as pictured above). Just watch and see for yourself. Also, "Demon Lord of the Round Table" is a MOA for the player.
Pixy (upon defeat): Come on!!!- At first you were merely Galm 1, according to AWACS Eagle Eye, then you were Cipher. In the final mission? "Demon Lord of the Round Table, I pray for your success." The usual "MISSION START" doesn't appear until after that line.
- If we were to take the story realistically, Galm 1 mowed down an entire squadron of AWWNB aces, blitzed the tunnel flight against nuclear apocalypse countdown AND faced off against the an insane super prototype fighter jet all in one sitting without actual rest.
- While non-canon, the Gauntlet mode give you a pretty neat awesome moment. It has a nasty surprise in Ace difficulty: Mobius 1 in his trademark F-22 as the surprise final boss. If you defeat him, you'll earn a ton of points, but when you think about it... All the other player aces in the Ace Combat games save for Nemo (who does not count since he's a simulation) rely on their teammates to help them win. Mobius 1 toppled the whole Usean war as a one-man squadron and later broke the Erusea remnants in Operation Katina, once again by himself. Defeating him means that you outdid a pilot whose skill was greater than a whole wing of fighters. Also, like the titular final mission, "Zero" plays in the gauntlet too.
