Awesome / Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny

• FLAWLESS. FUCKING. VICTORY. Kira, Athrun, Neo, and the rest of the Three Ships Alliance/Orb/Terminal, manage to defeat Shinn, Rey, Luna, Durandal, and the rest of ZAFT without taking a single casualty in the finale. ^note  Granted, Archangel lost one of its Gottfried turrets right before it and the Justice blasted the Minerva into the moon, but there weren't any casualties. .
• Shinn Asuka's own moment comes right at the end of the very first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny.
• For those who don't like Kira, it was when he stabbed Freedom with Impulse's BFS. At the Super Robot Wars Z promo, this got one of the biggest cheers of the preview.
  • Mini-CMoAs include throwing his Gundam's shield in order to bounce a beam off it and hit the Freedom from an unexpected angle, splitting his mobile suit in half to avoid a saber strike by Kira, and when Kira does his signature move of chopping off the enemy's head and gun/sword arm, Shinn simply detaches the chest flyer, has it ram the Freedom, and then blows it up. Finally, there's the simple fact that Shinn pretty much called out the show's resident Invincible Hero.
    Shinn: I'm the one who's going to defeat you! Here! Today!
    • Bandai themselves acknowledged this CMoA in Gundam Vs Gundam, where all the Impulse's attacks come from this episode - the shield bank-shot, the Open Get evasion move, the Chest Flyer bomb, all reproduced faithfully.
• Kira's return to pilot Freedom was pretty much awaited. Unlike his reluctant younger persona from SEED, Destiny's Kira requests to fight to protect Lacus. He single-handedly defeats all Coordinators sent to assassinate Lacus before they all kill themselves.
• Episode 23. Kira disables several mobile suits (including minor and major characters') in his Freedom and uses all tactics in the book against most enemies while defending the Archangel. The thing is that he doesn't kill any of his enemies. Had he gone for the kill, half of the cast would have died.
• Kira does something similar in the battle at Crete. He goes to defend Cagalli when she is being attacked by Shinn which causes Athrun Zala to defend his underling. The two best friends once again start fighting but are interrupted by Sting Oakley. As soon as Sting attacks them, Kira gets close to him and destroys his Chaos Gundam using just Freedom's sword in few seconds. The same happens later when Kira defeats Athrun in a melee fight and destroys the Saviour in the process. He didn't even feel depressed for doing it unlike his younger self!
  • Kira saving Lacus and Andy from the ZAFT base troops in episode 26 wasn't too impressive really (nobody was there who was even close to standing a chance so it was just another day at the office for him). However it's one of the only times we see Kira in action from afar, without dynamic camera shots tracking him and making his actions easy to follow. Kira bounces around like a pinball, making it impossible for the viewer to track him. None of the ZAFT forces having time to blink let alone try to dodge him. Suddenly those scenes where it seems like the enemies are just sitting there letting Kira hit them makes sense. It's not random plot stupidity making them sit there wide open, they literally have no time to react before he's hit them.
  • Although the "Cagalli is crying" line is a contentious and memetastic line, the speech in general that Kira gives to Athrun is pure, What the Hell, Hero? in its finest form. Ever since the Break The World Incident, Athrun has been wallowing in a self-pitying quest to prove he can right Patrick Zala's wrong all by himself. Even making it clear to both Cagalli and Kira that he needed to do it by himself, otherwise it wouldn't mean anything. And yet, all that has lead to Athrun is pushing those who actually care about him away so that they can't interfere with his quest to fix the world's problems, not realizing that that is exactly what Cagalli wants as well. That all Cagalli wants is to fix the mistakes that have led up to this moment, even though it was utterly out of her hands... and all Athrun has to say is that it can't be helped. And keep in mind, Kira in their previous argument and in this one agreed that Athrun might have been right, but Athrun refused to see that Kira's point might have validity to it. And worse, that Athrun can't just stop for one second to see that Cagalli, who Athrun gave an engagement ring to and swore to protect, breaking down as everything she worked for falls apart? And worse, is actively keeping Kira from protecting her as she rushes to try and stop an extremely dangerous and enraged SEED user so he can self-righteously do exactly what he's condemning them for doing? Kira at this point has to be utterly livid at Athrun, yet he just calmly makes it clear that he's had enough of Athrun's crap, goes into SEED Mode and utterly thrashes him just for the chance it might finally get his head out of his ass! And best part is that Athrun has nothing to say about this because he knows Kira is absolutely, 100% right in his assessment of Athrun's motivations and mindset.
• As someone who did like Kira, and thought Shinn needed to grow up a little, I will always believe that Shinn (and the rest of the ZAFT team) got their CMoA during the Battle at Heaven's Base. It's one of the few times in series where Shinn is one hundred percent, no questions asked in the right (face it: it's tough not to be in the right when you're fighting Blue Cosmos, a group that's somewhere between the Nazis and the KKK). And what happens? He, Rey and Luna go after five Destroys. Luna takes one out on her first flight in the Impulse. Shinn and Rey take down two apiece, and Shinn in the process, finally settles the score with Sting, probably the least sympathetic and most genuinely evil member of the Extended. And on top of it, we get to see Djibril's face as he realizes that it's all over. Beautiful, just beautiful.
• Episode 12. A massive mobile armor has apparently disabled Shinn's mobile suit, has blocked everything the Minerva can throw at it, and is now moving in for the kill, backed by an entire fleet. It looks like the Minerva is pretty much boned...until Shinn wakes up. Flying into an Unstoppable Rage, Shinn rejoins the battle, destroys the mobile armor and proceeds to sink six of the enemy ships, using only swords.
• Right after Kira acquires the Strike Freedom and launches from the Eternal, he faces a few ships and numerous mobile suits. He proceeds to defeat and disarm 25 of them without taking any damage. In two minutes.
  • Another Strike Freedom CMOA was Kira's move during his fight with Shin in the Destiny at ORB. Shin readies his BFS, and goes to bisect Kira's MS Vertically, and Kira CATCHES it, with his HANDS. Badass indeed.
• Neo Roanoke has been sulking around the Archangel for several episodes when, preparing to do battle with the Minerva, Murrue gives him a Skygrasper and drops him off on land, explaining that keeping him on board any longer would just be needlessly endangering him. In the midst of the following ship-to-ship battle, what should appear out of nowhere to assist the Archangel but that same Skygrasper with Neo at the controls, shocking Murrue by dropping Mu's old Catchphrase: "make the impossible possible."
  • In fact you can pretty much just say everything Neo does after his Heel–Face Turn; his first meeting with Murrue ends with him giving her a pimp pickup line.
    • In particular using the Akatsuki to block the Minerva's Positron Blaster cannon, in a repeat of Mu's Heroic Sacrifice... Minus the sacrifice part this time.
    • When Neo is battling the ZAFT soldiers in space to take down Durandal in Episode 49, he unleashes his DRAGOON laser pod targeting system on nearly a dozen soldiers' mobile suits, simultaneously wiping them out without a sweat. His line while doing it is awesome.
    Neo: They got a lot of guys, yup...
    [Neo unleashes his DRAGOON lasers and wipes out several ZAFT mobile suits, killing them all at once]
    Neo: ...but, you need more than just numbers!
    • And even before his Heel–Face Turn Neo gets some amazing moments. Taking on Shinn and Rey at once? In just a Mobile Armour? And not only surviving, but fighting them to a draw? The Neo persona may be pure evil, but there's no denying how badass he is!
• Lacus gets one in episode 43 when she interupts Meer, who is pretending to be Lacus and making a broadcast that had interupted Cagalli's broadcast about the war with Logos. The look on Durandal's face when he sees the real Lacus is priceless.
  • Meer's own Moment of Awesome overlaps with Tear Jerker, when she saves Lacus's life by Taking the Bullet meant for her.
• Stella is mainly known for being childlike, but it's worth remembering that when she isn't acting adorable, she's a Tyke-Bomb Super-Soldier. The best example of this has to be the first episode, where she leaps into a group of six ZAFT soldiers, holding a knife in one hand and a submachine gun in the other. She's killed five of her opponents by the time the first one's body hits the ground.
  • In episode 31, Stella gains her full pedigree as Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds when she's given the Destroy Gundam. A massive ZAFT force, including dozens of mobile suits and a land battleship, sortie and lob everything they have at her. Stella brings up the Deflector Shields and all their railgun slugs, missiles and particle beams splatter against the barrier like snowballs. Stella's turn: she fires one shot with the Destroy's big guns, atomizing the battleship, the ZAFT mobile suits and a large chunk of the city behind them.
  • Stella's teammate, Sting, proves that the Destroy in general is awesome. During the battle at Heaven's Base, the EA are getting their backsides handed to them by ZAFT. Than Sting and his new team sortie in five Destroys and proceed to reduce the entire fleet to rubble. Only the arrival of Shinn, Luna and Rey saves ZAFT from total disaster.
• Meyrin Hawke has a more subtle but effective one when she indy ploys Athrun's escapade, resorting even to a Modesty Towel to make sure her idol and friend wouldn't be caught in her house.
  • An explanation is needed for this one. The aforementioned Meyrin Hawke is a Bridge Bunny Naïve Everygirl, who is suddenly caught in a situation way over her head when Athrun comes up to her room and asks her for help since he's being targetted by assassins. She doesn't hesitate to hide him in her bathroom, wraps self in a towel and go face the soldiers seeking for Athrun, who could perfectly throw her around and go check on her living space. And yet she manages to convince them to not do so, fooling them into thinking she's alone and just fresh outta the shower. For a teenager who's more often than not in the sidelines, that's pretty badass.
    • Also Athrun's escape deserves more attention. This is a single man trapped on ZAFT's largest surface base on high alert (and it's in flipping GIBRALTAR), targeted by ZAFT MPs, and with only Meyrin helping him out, he succeeds. (Yes, he does get downed by Shinn, but that was after Athrun had escaped.)
    • Even Athrun being shot down is an awesome moment for him. He's in a Mook Suit that he has no experience in (granted it's a bit more powerful than the average Mook Suit but it's still one that tends to get demolished every time one faces a Gundam) facing down the Destiny and the Legend, two NUCLEAR-powered Gundams. And on top of this he can't pull a lot of risky maneuvers because he has Meyrin as a passenger. He manages to hold them off for a good chunk of the episode (37 if you're interested) and even inflicts minor damage such as destroying the Destiny's beam rifle. By the time he get's shot down Shinn is in SEED Mode and has whipped out the Destiny's Arondight sword and Athrun still manages to keep both himself and Meyrin alive. There's a reason I think that if it weren't for Kira's status as the Ultimate Coordinator then Athrun would be the best pilot in the show.
• During the battle to prevent Junius 7 from being dropped on Earth in Episode 6, Yzak, Dearka, and Athrun manage to severely tear up Chaos, Abyss, and Gaia with their ZAKUs, putting the other characters who were fighting them to shame.
  • Even better; by the time the Extended show up, Junius 7 is in the process of plummeting to Earth. Neither ace even devotes their full attention to the trio; they casually slice the Chaos apart when Sting is stupid enough to get between them and the renegade ZAFT forces that are the real threat of the episode. It's as funny as it is awesome and doesn't take them a minute to put them on the run.
• Episode 42 (41 in the Remaster). How did Cagalli prove that her Chickification days were a thing of the past? By going to Yuna, the main culprit who brought damage to her country, and socking him in the face. WELCOME BACK, Lioness of Orb!
  • And to get there, she goes on a rampage through the ZAFT lines, survives Shinn (well, she stays alive long enough for Kira to get there) and essentially turns the battle around by herself. Goodbye to The Load, hello Action Girl. Did we mention that she's a Badass Normal to boot?
  • Kira's Big Damn Heroes moment is awesome in its own right. From Shinn's near panic attack at seeing the Strike Freedom, to the way that he and Cagalli practically turn the battle around, it is epic.
  • Athrun launching in the Infinite Justice for the first time moments later. He helps Kira and Cagalli protect Orb from ZAFT, including the crew of the Minerva, ably fending off Shinn and the Destiny. The kicker? He had a bigass chest wound at the time. Hell, he even passed out when he landed!
• Anything Gilbert Durandal does in the series is awesome, but his personal CMOA would probably be calling out LOGOS on international television. After spending episode after episode getting angrier and angrier at Djibril, it's just awesome to see how Durandal's speech nearly gives him epilepsy
• Lord Djibril's demise. Especially when he spotted Legend Gundam upon his escape. Even moreso when Chairman Durandal commented about it.
  Chairman Durandal: Thank you, Djibril. Goodbye and good riddance.
• Any of the few scenes with Yzak and Dearka back on the battlefields. Between their epic tag-team moves, and destroying Gundams and Mobile Armors in epic Mook Suit, some custom, the viewers can't help but to grin as they are reminded why these two guys have always been awesome. Even Shinn comments in agreement during the Battle of Junius 7.
  • Not to mention their last minute Heel–Face Turn wherein they completely screw over Durandal by not only defecting, but taking a huge portion of the ZAFT fleet with them.
• ZAFT's response to the advance of the "Peacemaker" force on their homeland? They deploy the Neutron Stampeder, which blasts the entire attack force and their supporting ships to bits with their own nukes.
• In Stargazer we have former EA major Edmond Du Clos taking out a GINN Insurgent Type in one on one combat. With a tank. It's the only time in the franchise that it's ever happened, and it's awesome. There's also the final showdown between Selene and the Stargazer and Sven and his Strike Noir, in which Selene, who had seemed like a Damsel in Distress up to this point, manages to battle Sven, Ace Pilot and killing machine to a draw.
• The very first episode where Stella, Sting and Auel are activating their stolen Gundams with the violin music playing in the background.
• Remaster has the new episode 39 where Kira saves the Eternal with the Strike Rouge (now sporting the remaster's new Ootori pack). Where as originally he only fired a few shots and then was disabled trying to block a cannon shot, causing Andy to grab his rifle and tell him to go get the Strike Freedom (leading many to assume his skills have grown weak and he was only effective with a powerful Gundam) here he disables a Zaku before being in visual range (originally he just distracted it) uses missiles as a smoke screen to get past the fleet. Tosses Andy his rifle (as opposed to Andy taking it) and proceeds to unload with the Ootori's cannons. When the shot that disabled him originally is taken, instead of tanking it himself he ejects the pack into the shot, after drawing the anti ship sword and proceeds to pin the Zaku with vulcan fire before disabling it, and managing to block a surprise shot from behind which only destroys his shield and arm, before tossing the sword through the Zaku's head. Then he goes to get Strike Freedom as he's out of weapons but it was a much better end to the Strike (which is never shown again) than it originally had, AND it shows Kira's skills are still sharp. To be honest it kind of upstaged the SF's debut, which was unchanged.
• Episode 13 was a good showing for both Andrew Waltfeld and Murrue Ramius. Having rewatched the episode in the Remaster version, it was obvious to me that the special forces that were attacking were caught by surprise. They expected civilians who were asleep and thus have a quick "no muss, no fuss" surgical strike, killing Lacus and leaving no evidence that she was killed. Imagine to their surprise that not only were people awake, but that they were armed former military who had preparations for being attacked. Andy himself comes off as somewhat crazy prepared with a bullet proof table for cover and a gun hidden in his prosthetic left arm. Murrue was very impressive against one particular foe. He approached the corner, seemingly expecting the target he was shooting at to have fled only to show a pretty good Oh, Crap! face as Murrue's foot slams into it.
• Episode 49: Athrun and Kira reforming the Bash Brothers and destroying Station One together.
• Episode 50: Athrun attempts to talk Shinn down, once again, during their fight, but proceeds to defeat Shinn in an instant, after Shinn nearly kills Luna in a fit of rage.
• Lacus's trio of former ZAFT Aces and their DOM Trooper MSs in episode 42. managing to be pure unmitigated awesome literally within ten seconds of their arrival on the battlefield. Extra points for the amount of "WTF?" faces they caused on the ZAFT forces.
• Similar to Kira's return to piloting the Freedom in the episode before, episode 14 establishes the Archangel's own legendary status after the first war. The Archangel makes its first appearance after two years in hiding and enters the second war when Kira "kidnaps" Cagalli from her wedding to Yuna. Instead of attacking as Yuna orders, the Orb fleet commanders let the Archangel escape and salute out of respect as it submerges into the ocean.