McGillis Fareed / Montag
Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese, adult), Natsumi Fujiwara (Japanese, young), Steve Staley (English, adult), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English, young)
Click here to see him as "Montag"
Main mecha: EB-05s Schwalbe Graze (blue), VO8-1228 Grimgerde, EB-06rs Graze Ritter Commander Type (Blue), ASW-G-01 Gundam Bael
A young Gjallarhorn officer from Earth, visiting Mars on an inspection tour. He is the illegitimate son of Iznario Fareed, the leader of Gjallarhorn's Fareed Family. He later adopts the masked persona "Montag" to advance a secret agenda. After the death of Carta Issue, McGillis becomes the commander of Outer Earth Orbit Joint Regulatory Fleet and is trying to resolve the distrusts towards Gjallarhorn. His influence increases gradually by participating in the Seven Stars senate as the representative of House Fareed.
open/close all folders
A-D
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: His two most treasured possessions are the Gundam Bael's pair of arming swords, which are made out of an incredibly hard golden variant of the alloy used in Gundam frames that lets them be sharper than any other known weapon without compromising their durability. They let even a single-reactor suit cut through nanolaminate-coated armour like a knife through butter.
- Ace Custom: As one of Gjallarhorn's top pilots, he gets a couple:
- A rare example of one of these that is also a Super Prototype - his first suit is a Schwalbe Graze (a fast and agile but difficult-to-handle prototype of the standard Gjallarhorn Graze that was given to a select number of elite pilots) painted in his personal blue. Unlike Gaelio's, though, it doesn't appear to have anything that makes it special apart from the colour scheme.
- The Graze Ritter he receives as head of the Outer Earth Regulatory Joint Fleet is considerably more special. The standard Ritter is already the pinnacle of current-gen suit technology, a 'ceremonial' machine that marries the EB-06 Graze's ease of handling with extra armour, extra thrusters, and a more versatile and better-engineered melee weapon. His, like Carta's, is an EB-06rs, the commander variant, with even more armour on the chest and shoulders, and is painted in his personal colours (blue and yellow), but he hasn't stopped there - the hardware and software is tweaked and enhanced for maximum mobility when fighting in atmosphere, and it carries an extra sword to suit his fighting style. The end result is a current-gen machine that's almost a match in performance for the next-gen EB-08 Reginlaze, and is a surprisingly small step down in performance from his secret weapon, the deadly Grimgerde.
- Ace Pilot: A strong contender for the best pilot in the series. He's one of only two characters in the show to have killed a Gundam, and the only one to have done it while flying a single-reactor suit with a manual control system. Not only that, but he can reliably keep up with the other guy, Mikazuki, in combat (whether as an ally or an enemy) despite the aforementioned disadvantages.
- Affectionate Nickname: Almiria, his young fiancee, calls him "Macky", highlighting both her youth and her fondness for him. The fact that he allows her to call him that without a hint of complaint shows that he's dedicated to making the relationship work, even if he's not particularly enthused by it.
- Alas, Poor Villain: For all the thing's he done throughout the series, one can't help but feel sorry for him as he's slowly bleeding to death and dying in his former friend Gaelio's arms.
- All There in the Manual: "Montag" is actually his birth surname, according to side material.
- Ambiguously Evil: What McGillis really wants is only known to himself. Despite his cold working relationship with Tekkadan, McGillis has shown a certain degree of sympathy towards them mostly because they share similar backgrounds. At first glance his ideal of reforming Gjallarhorn sounds noble but his methods to achieve them can alienate supporters. Many characters throughout the show have differing opinions of him, depending on what relationship they share. By this point, calling him good or evil might be irrelevant.
- Anti-Hero / Anti-Villain: McGillis straddles the line between both, making it difficult to determine which one he fits into more. During his introduction as a Gjallarhorn officer, he acts as a decent, honorable and chivalrous man; he loathes the corruption that has taken over Gjallarhorn, and though he fights against the protagonists, he doesn't show any antagonism towards them besides strictly military goals. Later in the series, he actually makes contact with Tekkadan under his alias "Montag" and aids them against Gjallarhorn, both in combat and with his political connections, as part of his plan to reform Gjallarhorn. He's also perfectly fine with betraying people who trust him — including his own family, and people he's been friends with since childhood — making it hard to call him a "hero" even when he's ultimately helping the protagonists, however.
- Arch-Enemy: He's this for two characters.
- Rustal Elion is his political rival among the Seven Stars and the one most in opposition to his proposed reforms.
- Vidar aka Gaelio directly opposes him and sees him as an usurper who needs to be stopped. McGillis's final battle ends up being with him.
- Arranged Marriage: He's betrothed to Gaelio's younger sister, who's nine. It's not made clear what he really thinks about it.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: His goal is to make Gjallarhorn work this way — he wants to destroy the corrupt and nepotistic Seven Stars and replace Gjallarhorn's command structure with an extreme meritocracy, where your ability to get results is the only criteria used to judge people.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Within seconds of seeing Mikazuki fight Gaelio, McGillis determines the Barbatos' weaknesses and becomes the first character to actually put up a decent fight against Mika.
- Badass Normal: He's one of the finest pilots in the show, despite his lack of cybernetic enhancement, and a bona-fide Master Swordsman. He even manages to defeat a Gundam in a straight duel while piloting a single-reactor suit, something nobody else in the show manages (except Julieta on a technicality).
- Bastard Bastard: Being the son of a mistress, he's initially ostracized by the other noble families as a child and seemingly regarded as dangerous as a young man, at which point he's put into an arranged marriage to a young girl specifically to limit his political power. He's even willing to sacrifice his childhood friends (trueborn children of their respective Seven Stars families) to accomplish his goals. The bastard part turns out to be a subversion later on, when it's revealed that he's adopted.
- Batman Gambit: His plan to get Carta Issue killed involved playing on her pride to get her to confront Tekkadan again and betting that she would be too incompetent to escape death a third time. He's proven right.
- The Beautiful Elite: He's a member of Gjallarhorn's Fareed Family and has the face of an angel.
- Becoming the Mask: He tells Orga, who knows that he is McGillis, that "Montag" is his true name.
- Big Good: While he's really only nominally "good", in Season 2 he's the only member of the Seven Stars openly pushing for reforms and Tekkadan's key ally in Gjallarhorn.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Both of his Season One suits have this as a secondary function for their weapons:
- The claw of the Schwalbe Graze's forearm-mounted Grappling-Hook Pistol can be used to parry and stab when attached to the suit.
- The Grimgerde's swords are stowed beneath its two shields when not in use, and can be flipped around in their mounts to become these.
- Blue Blood: The Fareed family is one of Gjallarhorn's Seven Stars. Even though McGillis is a bastard, his family name accords him a lot of respect. Though later it's revealed that he was adopted off the streets, and when this is publicly revealed he's stripped of his rank and position.
- Boring, but Practical: The Gundam Bael doesn't have any flashy weapons like giant maces, giant lances, stinger tails, drill knees, railguns, or scissor shields. All it has are two swords. But in the hands of a skilled pilot like McGillis, Bael's two swords are all it needs to fight evenly with a mobile suit as powerful as the Kimaris Vidar.
- Broken Ace: He's an exceptionally skilled mobile suit pilot and analytical to the point where it only takes him a few minutes to figure out Mikazuki's fighting style and counter it, as well as a charismatic speaker and a very intelligent organizer. At the same time, although he doesn't show it, the abuse his suffered as a child clearly left its mark on him and warped his worldview to where he believes he can only trust himself.
- Broken Bird: Rare Male example. After surviving a horrific childhood, McGillis dedicated himself to tearing down the institutions that inflicted it on him, even at the cost of the few good things in his life. He himself says that he doesn't really understand what happiness is.
- Broken Pedestal: Downplayed example for Mika. He originally admired Mika's pure power, believing it to be what he wanted to finally fix the world. He's disappointed when he realizes that Mika is aimless, meaning that despite his great power he can't and won't change the world.
- Celibate Hero: McGillis never shows romantic interest in any women, and the girl he's closest to is his child bride Almiria, whom he maintains as a platonic relationship given the circumstances. Considering he was a victim of sexual abuse as a child, he may be turned off from sex altogether.
- Character Tic: Fiddling with a strand of his blonde hair any time he's deep in thought.
- Char Clone: A blond, morally-ambiguous antagonist with a complicated family history who eventually ends up donning a mask and flying a red mobile suit. It appears to be a Good Costume Switch, signifying his alliance with Tekkadan against the corrupt Gjallarhorn. However, this puts him in direct opposition to his friends and allies, who he continues to work with face-to-face, making hard to cheer for him as he arranges their downfall.
- If anything, McGillis takes after the novelization version of Char the most. The latter actually worked with the Pegasus (the novel version of the White Base) in moving to overthrow the Zabis and take over Zeon for himself (even for the same reasons McGillis wants to take over Gjallarhorn - to free it from the Zabis' corruption). On that end, it should be noted that one of the first things Char did after taking over Zeon was to turn on the Pegasus crew as well as reengage the war with the Federation. Alongside, his rivalry with Amuro was notably less intense here, such that Amuro nearly defected to Char's side at A Bao A Qu (and even implored his comrades on the Pegasus to follow him), but was gunned down by one of Char's subordinates before he could.
- This also unsurprisingly extends to the Grimgerde—whose performance, speed and body structure borrows from a majority of the iconic red custom suits in the franchise (such as the Zaku and the Gelgoog, the Sinanju, and even the Gerbera Tetra). However, it's profile and movement are more reminiscent of the units piloted by Graham Aker, another Char clone, from his design mostly seems to derive.
- In a bit of irony, he does meets post CCA "The Atoner" Char in Super Robot Wars 30, alongside the most famous non-Gundam Char clone, Lelouch vi Britannia. Both don't disagree with his goals but is quick to tell him his means are problematic.
- The Charmer: McGillis is very good at persuading people and getting them to like him, while keeping the darker aspects of his personality under a Mask of Sanity. There's a reason neither Gaelio nor Carta anticipated him trying to backstab them.
- The Chessmaster: Zig-zagged. He runs impressively complex plans over long periods of times, but random happenstance and miscalculations also undercut his efforts at times.
- Cool Sword: The Grimgerde's signature Valkyrie Swords are the two coolest blades in the show - razor-sharp, comprised of a rare ultra-hard alloy that gives them their unique golden sheen, and capable of being flipped around in their mounts beneath its two shields to serve as arm-blades. While they disappear with the Grimgerde's refit, he retains these two swords and equips them to Gundam Bael. Bael's model kit instructions reveal the swords to be part of Bael's traditional loadout, making it altogether very likely that McGillis got them in the first place specifically because of his life-long fixation on the mobile suit.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Episode 43 reveals that McGillis used to be poor, and would kill just for food, even if the food was rotting. Due to his good looks, he was picked up as a child prostitute, where he met his future adopted father, Iznario Fareed. Sadly Iznario was a pedophile who adopted McGillis just to have regular sex with him.
- Dark Messiah: Sets himself up as one after gaining control of Gundam Bael, declaring himself the inheritor of Agnika Kaieru's legacy.
- Death Glare: He delivers a terrifying glare to Isurugi when he interrupts McGillis comforting Almiria over the revelation that McGillis was the one who "killed" Gaelio.
- Determinator: Once McGillis starts his Enemy Civil War, he becomes determined to see it through to the end. Displays this last badass credential in episode 49. The Bael gets trashed, he's got a hunk of metal in his side, but he manages to bash into Rustal's ship, sneak on board, and attempt to complete the mission on foot.
- Diabolical Mastermind: He uses his status as one of the Seven Stars and control over the Montag Company to influence Earth Sphere political affairs in pursuit of his desired putcome, using the latter as cover to assist Tekkadan.
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: If he'd only been able to resist Evil Gloating to Gaelio as he betrayed him, he wouldn't have left any spanners in his plan. Although Gaelio is his friend and someone he respects, so he likely at least wanted to give him some explanation for what was happening.
- Didn't Think This Through: After an entire series of Manipulative Bastard moves that had almost everyone dancing to his tune, his plan of seizing Gundam Bael to force a symbolic victory over Gjallarhorn doesn't exactly work as he planned. Rustal honestly doesn’t give a damn about the symbolism, and destroys McGillis's carefully cultivated heroic image by revealing that Gaelio survived, and it was McGillis who had tried to murder him. Soon after, Gjallarhorn throws all of their power at Tekkadan and McGillis. Rustal's sheer pragmatism allows him to crush the attempted revolution, though McGillis certainly gets a few counters in before Gaelio kills him.
- Dramatic Unmask: Does this when he's about to fight Gaelio in Mikazuki's place in Episode 24.
- Dual Wielding: His Grimgerde is highly unusual for being able to do this with its two swords: most suits only have one melee weapon, or else such large, heavy ones that using two at once would be highly impractical. As the Grimgerde is so light and high performance by design compared to many other suits from and beyond it's era, it uses these weapons to deadly effect by manipulating them along its center of gravity. When he is promoted to command of the Outer Earth Regulatory Joint Fleet, he equips the Graze Ritter that's a symbol of his office with two swords as well, and while they don't have any of the Valkyrie Swords' fun gimmicks, he's still extremely effective with them. And he equips Bael with the very same swords he used in the Grimgerde.
E-L
- Empowered Badass Normal: He was one of the best pilots in the solar system before he got an Alaya-Vijnana implant and boarded a Gundam. As soon as he gets it, he becomes a force of nature who manages to effortlessly carve through dozens of suits and fight one of the two most powerful machines in the show, the Kimaris Vidar, to a draw.
- Enemy Mine: He plotted one with Tekkadan in order to ensnare the corruption within Gjallarhorn, as well as eliminating the heirs of House Issue and House Bauduin.
- Entertainingly Wrong: In episode 49, during the final battle with Gaelio, he believes that Rustal's troops were stunned in awe of Bael's pure power during said battle, but in reality, Rustal ordered them to not interfere.
- Establishing Character Moment: He gets several early on, but the most notable comes in episode 4 when, after Gaelio nearly runs over Cookie and Cracker by accident, he gives each of them candy and offers to cover their medical bills should they go to get a checkup.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Actually shown to genuinely care about Almiria to some degree. He wasn't simply mocking Gaelio when he promised she would have a happy life.
- His relationship with Carta and Gaelio is explored in detail across the first season and it's shown that he grew up with them as his only friends. He even admits privately that he does value them as both looked past his low birth and showed him genuine affection. However it's that geniune affection that he uses to successfully manipulate and send them to their deaths to further his own ambitions. In spite of his cruelty these betrayals are some of the few things he seems to look at with a kind of regret.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He has serious problems with wrapping his brain around trust, loyalty, friendship, and altruism as motivators. It results in him burning bridges he never needed to burn by backstabbing people who like and trust him in order to achieve his goals.
- Expressive Mask: His golden domino mask has tiny, motorized shutters inside the eye holes that allow it to blink with him.
- Expy: A cynical man who is willing to do anything to further his goals even if it hurts somebody and causes chaos in the process while also hurting the closest thing he got to a Best Friend? Are you sure we aren't talking about Herbert West?
- The Extremist Was Right: Zigzagged. In the end, despite dying and his coup failing miserably, McGillis's actions did cause a revolution in Gjallarhorn. The Seven Stars get disbanded in favor of a Democratic Leadership. A Commoner-born Julieta is being prepped to take over the leadership, and the corruption has all been phased out. Unlike his own ideal, however, it's done by prioritizing the laws and people already part of Gjallahorn rather than creating his ideal of one based on power.
- Face Death with Dignity:
- When Almiria confronts him with a dagger, he kneels down to willingly allow her to stab him. When she turns the dagger on herself, he stops her from stabbing herself.
- He spends his actual final moments perfectly calm, confessing to Gaelio he always thought of him as a friend deep down shortly before passing.
- False Friend: Manipulates and betrays the two people who loved him most, Gaelio and Carta, though he states after killing Gaelio that he was the only person he considered a real friend in his life.
- False Reassurance: Gives it to Carta in episode 23, in order to convince her to fight Tekkadan again so she'll be killed off.
- Fatal Flaw: His Lack of Empathy leads him to assume people will act only in immediate self-interest, which means he betrays and alienates people that he may have been able to win to his side by appealing to friendship and personal loyalty. If they survive his opening move against them, they tend to become bitter, devoted enemies.
- Foil:
- To Orga. While Orga views Tekkadan as his family and depends as much on them as they do on him, McGillis views his friends as hindrances to his goal and attempts to have them killed, especially since their deaths would be politically advantageous for him. He remains emotionally distant from his revolutionary followers.
- He's one to Mikazuki as well. Both are Ace Pilots and One Man Armies, but while Mikazuki possesses no real goals of his own beyond a desire to protect his friends and family, McGillis is a man driven purely by ambition and is perfectly willing to throw longtime friends under the bus to achieve it.
- Freudian Excuse: McGillis had a horrific childhood. He grew up as an orphan on the streets and at one point killed someone for some food before being taken in by Iznario, who treated him less as an adopted son and more like a personal Sex Slave that he abused on a regular basis. It's all but stated that his motivation to bring down Gjallarhorn's regime is in part from the circumstances of his upbringing.
- Friend to All Children: McGillis is especially good at dealing with kids, and seems to have a particular fondness for them, likely as a result of his own awful childhood.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: McGillis' Dark and Troubled Past casts this for him. Starting his life as a lowly Street Urchin to become a "Child Escorter", and eventually rising through the ranks of society as the ambiguously proclaimed bastard son of Iznario Fareed; one of the Seven Stars that rules Gjallarhorn and heir to the Fareed Family. With ambitions to rise even higher than that.
- Game-Breaking Injury: In his first real outing in the Gundam Bael he ends up being unable to use it properly due to the injury to the hand he sustained from Almiria.
- Gold-Colored Superiority: The Grimgerde's Valkyrie Swords are that odd golden color for a reason - they're made out of an ultra-hard alloy that lets them be ridiculously sharp without compromising their durability. They are sharp enough to leave gashes on nano laminate armor (and are the ONLY bladed weapons seen capable of doing so until the end of season 1) just by striking, and can cut through MS frames like butter, but their true value lies in the fact that they're so ridiculously hard and sturdy that they can bat away other mobile suits like they were flies, which is demonstrated once on a Graze and repeatedly on the Kimaris. Valkyrie Frames may not have the brute strength of Gundams, but with weapons like these, they don't need it, and now those very same swords are equipped to Gundam Bael. Season 2 indirectly reveals that the reason why these swords are so strong is because they were originally meant to be used against Mobile Armors, and considering how sturdy the Hashmal was, it's no surprise that the blades can easily slice through nanolaminate armor like it was wet clay and smack around other Mobile Suits.
- Gratuitous German: Montag is German for "Monday".
- Heroic Bastard: Is the bastard son of Iznario Fareed, and yet his final goal is to reform Gjallarhorn. He may cross over into Bastard Bastard as his methods become more extreme, however. Episode 33 reveals that there's a rumor that he's not actually a blood relation of Iznario at all, and the next episode confirms that he was adopted.
- Hero-Worshipper: He idolizes Agnika Kaieru, the founder of Gjallarhorn.
- Hidden Depths: The calm, charming, friendly Gjallarhorn heir who pushes Gjallarhorn and the Seven Stars to live up to the lofty ideals they claim to respect — who is actually a traumatized and emotionally stunted survivor of horrific child abuse who wants to burn the system to the ground and rebuild it with himself as its uncontesed ruler.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: McGillis's habit of backstabbing allies with the potential to become threats to his plans is sometimes a self-fulfilling prophecy — they only turn against him because he backstabbed them.
- In-Series Nickname: Mikazuki called him "the Chocolate Man" when facing him in combat after their encounter on Mars (when McGillis apologized for a traffic accident involving Cookie and Cracker by giving them chocolate). His fiance calls him "Macky".
- Internal Reformist: He realizes that Gjallarhorn is corrupt and wants to expose the corruption. He is aware of the fact that Gjallarhorn is an advocate for bionic modification, yet they hide the truth to the outside. In order to reveal the disorder to the public, he used the Graze Ein as a living proof, having him cause havoc in Edmonton when the election was being held, and should Togonosuke become the prime minister of Arbrau, the collusion between Iznario and Henri Fleurs will be brought to the surface and Gjallarhorn will lose the trust of the other powers.
- Karmic Death: He's killed by Gaelio, the best friend he betrayed.
- Kick the Dog: McGillis later reveals his crimes to Gaelio, with full intent of killing him, though not before reminding him that his little sister is still engaged to McGillis and he plans to take good care of her.
- Kill the Ones You Love: Before sending Carta off on a mission against Tekkadan where he fully expects her to die without accomplishing her goals — which will further his plans quite nicely — he has a conversation with her that includes a reminder that they've genuinely been good friends since childhood. Later, McGillis murders his only friend in cold blood in Episode 25. At least until season 2 reveals he's alive. It's also subverted, as Gaelio points out that McGillis was never really friends with Gaelio.
- Knightly Sword and Shield: Whenever he gets to choose his suit's loadout, he'll go for a pair of plain, lightweight, and very sharp arming swords
, just like his hero, the Calamity War Gundam pilot Agnika Kaeru. - Lack of Empathy: Zigzagged. On the surface, he's friendly and charming, but in reality he's willing to murder his "friends" in cold blood if doing so advances his goals. It eventually comes out that he forced himself to act that way. They were genuinely his friends and he did genuinely care for them, but he showed them no mercy regardless, because he judged his goals more important than their happiness — or his own.
- Last Stand: With him and his fleet pushed to Mars, McGillis does a suicide charge on the Arianrhod Fleet and makes a final attempt to kill Rustal, before ultimately being killed by Gaelio.
- A Lighter Shade of Grey: To Rustal in Season 2. However ruthless or power hungry McGillis may be, he's not nearly as malicious and corrupt as Rustal is.
- Lightning Bruiser: Valkyrie-class suits like his Grimgerde approach this from a different direction than their Calamity war design rivals, the Gundam brigade. They don't have Alaya-Vijnana control systems to boost their agility or twin Ahab reactors to boost their strength, speed, and durability - instead, they're simply ultra-minimalist designs made out of the lightest, toughest materials possible, letting them squeeze far more performance out of their standard reactors than any other suit without compromising their durability. While this means they have to rely on their center of gravity to do any significant damage with this melee weapons, this makes them absolutely deadly in melee combat due to the amount of force this allows them to put behind their blows while moving around incredibly quickly.
- The Bael naturally falls into this as well, its wing thrusters affording it amazing agility and even a little bit of atmospheric flight, combined with all the raw power we've come to expect out of Gundam Frames. This allows McGillis to easily weave through the battlefield cutting down enemy Mobile Suits and dodging most attacks.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Dons a white-haired wig in his masked persona.
M-R
- Make Sure He's Dead: Delayed example. After meeting Vidar, McGillis asked Isurugi to double-check what happened to Gaelio after the battle at Edmonton. According to Isurugi, he was recovered but ultimately perished and then cremated.
- Manipulative Bastard: His Lack of Empathy means that he tends to see other people as little more than tools for his purposes, and will use manipulation and deceit as a first resort because he literally cannot imagine other ways to convince someone to help him.
- Episode 25 hammers this trope home. He brags to Gaelio how he plans to use Ein as an example of what happens when Gjarllarhorn allows one of their own to push oneself into abomination territory to achieve terrifying power, used both Carta and Gaelio to further his own objectives and plans to use Gaelio's sister as a stepping stone for himself.
- In season 2 McGillis forms an alliance with Tekkadan, in which if they help him overthrow the Seven Stars, he would leave Mars in complete autonomy, with Orga as their leader. Sounds good on paper, but during the Mobile Armor crisis it comes out that McGillis' true motive is to make Tekkadan completely dependent on him and doesn't view their alliance as an "equal partnership."
- Master Swordsman: The single finest swordsman in the series, possibly rivaled only by the cybernetically-enhanced Mikazuki. While most mobile suits are equipped with massive, brutal melee weapons, he prefers to load his out with a pair of relatively small swords, and then effortlessly carve through the enemy with them, whether they be bodged-together Mook Mobiles or Lightning Bruiser Gundams. (This is further emphasized when Episode 43 reveals he actually has his own AV implant like the Tekkadan boys. He just doesn't bother using it because he's that good—and apart from the fact that Gjallarhorn outwardly looks down on it.)
- Mask of Sanity: He's a traumatized child abuse survivor who is largely incapable of empathy and has a dangerous obsession with destroying not merely the people, but the entire social order that presided over his suffering, but in public he's a charming, popular, and dutiful member of the upper crust.
- Mysterious Past: He's rumored to be unrelated to Iznario, but Iznario had some reason for adopting McGillis and claiming him as an heir. Episode 43 reveals it to be a particularly-distasteful one: he was a child prostitute who Iznario adopted to become his regular Sex Slave.
- Near-Villain Victory: While he's not exactly a villain, he came dangerously close to winning the battle against the Arianrhod Fleet through Tekkadan. If Shino had hit Rustal's flagship with shot, the Arianrhod Fleet would have lost its leader and McGillis likely would've won. It's only through a split second intervention by Julieta that the shot misses and Rustal survives. Even after that, his final engagement with Rustal's fleet, he managed to board Rustal's flagship and came surprisingly close to reaching him, only being stopped by Gaelio.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He's not really a hero either, but he's seizure for power with Gundam Bael leads to him dragging Tekkadan into a destructive Civil War that ends in the destructive of both McGillis's fleet and Tekkadan, and his political rival Rustal taking full autocratic control of Gjallarhorn.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Yes, he manages to pull this simultaneously with Nice Job Breaking It, Hero. While his rebellion ends in failure, it does push Rustal into a corner where he has to implement most of the reforms McGillis was pushing for and weed out the corruption in Gjallarhorn.
- Not So Similar:
- He tries to use a "Not So Different" Remark towards Mikazuki since they are both very skilled Gundam pilots and both grew to greatness from poor beginnings. However, towards the end he realizes that he and Mikazuki aren't as similar as he thought. He, McGillis, is a schemer with plan after plan he wants to carry out with his strength. Mikazuki however has no real goals or plans. He is basically a wild dog to be directed by whoever has his leash.
- He tries to invoke this towards Vidar. Both being near unstoppable and powerful enough that the mooks are terrified of interfering, and they are a solitary existence that relies on power. Gaelio defies it, however, as he works in unison with the spirit of Ein in Type-E Alaya Vijiyana, meaning he isn't alone, and defeats McGillis by giving his all to the spirit of someone he considered a friend.
- Not So Stoic: During his suicide run on the Arianrhod Fleet, he's visibly excited and starts Chewing the Scenery, then suffers a breakdown as everything he's done falls apart..
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: It's continuously brought up that McGillis is an ambitious man and that his view of the future Gjallarhorn exists around himself as it's leader. However the narrative has him blur the line between this trope, Well-Intentioned Extremist, and a Knight Templar. His Might Makes Right rhetoric is clear but the end goal he aims at a better world free from the abuse and corruption of the current administration. In-Universe, however, this trope becomes the main narrative that Rustal and his forces use to paint McGillis's rebellion.
- Officer and a Gentleman: A high-ranking member of Gjallarhorn, and a member of the Fareed family, one of the Seven Stars that originally founded Gjallarhorn and still exerts considerable influence over it. He fits the bill in terms of behavior, as well, working against the corruption in Gjallarhorn while maintaining a disciplined and dignified demeanor.
- Oh, Crap!: A brief look of panic crosses his face when he hears Vidar's voice for the first time as it's Gaelio's voice.
- Old Man Marrying a Child: Downplayed. Though McGillis is a mature adult and his fiancee is a young girl due to their Arranged Marriage, she seems genuinely fond of him and he's respectful and polite to her in return. His backstory is also a darker version of this: his adoptive father Iznario retained him as a bed-warmer.
- One-Man Army: He's an exceptional combatant who's obsessed with personal strength above all else, and can and will take out entire squads all on his lonesome. After getting the Bael, he becomes even more dangerous and even more confident in his abilities, culminating in trying to take on the mightiest fleet in the solar system single-handed. He gets impressively far, but it's soon revealed that Rustal (a firm disbeliever in one-man armies) was deliberately luring him in so he'd have nowhere to run when Vidar came for him.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- In the second season, he easily spots a ploy to wear down his forces in a war of attrition, makes a move to resolve it himself, then realizes Tekkadan is involved and sees a chance for a voice of reason to be heard - until he realizes that he's up against one of the Human Debris kids previously with the Brewers and stationed on earth, who would have no idea that he's allied with them. By which time he's forced to kill Aston and his Graze Ritter is already in a deadlock. This is literally the first Oh, Crap! we've gotten out of him in two seasons.
- Being a reserved and polite person in almost all situations, him shouting at Iok (who is attacking him on Mars) not to come close really emphasizes how dangerous Hashmal is to everyone, should it be activated by approaching Mobile Suits.
- During the fight between the Barbatos Lupus and Hashmal Mobile Armor, he is visibly in silent shock during the whole fight. A testament to just how berserk and unrelenting the former was in finishing off the latter.
- In his one man charge on the Arianrhod fleet in episode 49, he finally drops his stoic attitude and starts screaming and smiling like a manic as none of Arianrhod's forces can touch him.
- Out-Gambitted:
- At the end of Season 1 he exposes his father's crimes, allowing him to reap the benefits of Iznario's plans while getting him out of the way and taking his seat on the Seven Stars.
- He managed to thwart the proxy war Rustal had arranged in Arbrau using Tekkadan as guerrillas by stepping in after a month to put down the conflict personally.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Mikazuki sees through it in an instant. Downplayed in that only Mikazuki recognized him behind a mask and wig combo and they don't explain HOW the boy noticed in the first place besides the implication of Mikazuki's trademark oddness.
- Perpetual Frowner: Everytime we see McGillis as a child, he has the same creepy grimace. Given how horrific his past was, it's hard to blame him for never smiling.
- Pet the Dog: He gets a few moments.
- In the third episode, after he and Gaelio nearly run over Cookie and Cracker, McGillis gives the girls candy and recommends they go in for a medical checkup, offering to pay the bill if it's too expensive for them.
- At his engagement ball, when he sees Almiria is distraught at a ball for him spending time with an adult woman instead of her, he stops what he's doing and goes to dance with her on the balcony.
- When Almiria tries to kill herself after learning the truth about her brother's (supposed) death and McGillis's role in it, McGillis blocks her from stabbing herself and promises to keep making her happy once he returns from his battle with the Arianrhod Fleet.
- When Orga backs of of their deal he accepts this without problems and offers himself as a diversion so Orga and some others can escape to Chryse
- Playing Both Sides: As McGillis, he seeks to capture Kudelia to put an end to her revolution and he convinces Gaelio to convert Ein into a cyborg so he can use the full power of a powerful mobile suit against Tekkadan. As Montag, he warns Kudelia of Nobliss's plans and acts like he genuinely supports her. When Mikazuki calls him on this, McGillis claims that that he's using Kudelia to reform Gjallarhorn into a free and non-corrupt organization. Ultimately his endgame is to overthrow the Seven Star family, but for what goal he pursues this remains ambigious.
- Poor Communication Kills: In season two, despite having secretly declared common cause with Tekkadan, his official duties with Gjallarhorn force him into conflict with them when Arbrau and the SAU go to war. Not having any way to let the frontline pilots know that he's on their side, he's forced to fight in earnest as they do their best to kill him.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Type C: He's very intelligent and capable of formulating impressive plans, but his horrific childhood means he has serious trouble understanding the feelings of others and often fails to consider the consequences of his actions. It's very telling that the person he gets along the best with is his nine-year-old fiancee.
- Rape as Backstory: He was sexually abused by his adoptive father Iznario, and before that worked as a child prostitute. His obsession with Agnika Kaieru began as a form of Escapism from all of this.
- Rebel Leader: Heads the Revolutionary Fleet that rises up to take control of Gjallarhorn. Although he frames himself as the legitimate leader of Gjallarhorn given his possession of Bael and casts Rustal and the Arianrhod Fleet as the usurpers.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Bael is unique among any observed Gundam Frames in that its optics are red by default, and it is no less powerful or dangerous than any of its "brothers".
- Red Is Heroic: In most shows, a Char Clone in a red suit is very, very bad news. Problem is, red is strongly associated with our heroes, Tekkadan, in this one. As a result, McGillis does battle with them in a blue uniform and mobile suit, and fights alongside them against Gjallarhorn by donning the iconic Char Clone mask and jumping into a sinister-looking red Super Prototype, the Grimgerde. Ultimately, the "heroic" part is subverted; he has no qualms about setting up Uriah Gambits for his unfortunate allies.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's very calm and composed compared to his impulsive comrade Gaelio.
- Rules Lawyer: His grand plan to take control of Gjallarhorn is to become Gundam Bael's pilot, as an archaic rule states that whoever pilots Bael shall be leader of Gjallarhorn.
S-Z
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: When Coral tries to bribe him, McGillis responds that if Coral continues, he will be forced to arrest him.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Invoked. He claims the Gundam Bael for himself and tries to use Gjallarhorn's own rules, stating that the pilot of the Gundam Bael has absolute authority over Gjallarhorn, to force the other Seven Stars to submit to his rule. It's a desperation move attempting to counter Gaelio's revelation that McGillis tried to kill him. It's partially successful — McGillis's existing friends and allies side with him, while his enemies under Rustal and Iok declare open warfare against him, but the neutral families decide to stay out of it until the issue is decided one way or another.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Wears a white tuxedo when not on duty as an inspector or when attending formal occasions like parties.
- Sherlock Scan: McGillis quickly identified that there were no problems with the aiming system as he deduces that Barbatos Gundam has natural agility in space. He also figured out that the only thing that isn't well-armored is the thrusters.
- Shirtless Scene: Goes shirtless for the first time in Episode 43 revealing that he has what appears to be a more advanced version of the Alaya-Vijnana system installed on his back.
- Simple, yet Awesome: The Gundam Bael is equipped with a pair of swords and nothing else, though McGillis proves that with its agility and capability for atmospheric flight, that's really all it needs.
- Social Climber: This is something he's very adept at. He starts off the illegitimate son of one of the Seven Stars, but through a combination of his own intelligence and combat prowess, he's able to work his way up to a prominent position with Gjallarhorn. He later takes advantage of his father's machinations to usurps control of the Fareed Family by exposing his father's crimes and becomes one of the Seven Stars, while claiming the Issue Family's holdings in the process after killing off Carta. He also turns his arranged marriage to Almiria to his advantage by taking out Gaelio, leaving him as heir to the Bauduin Family. The result is McGillis ending up with leverage over three of the families in the Seven Stars.
- The Sociopath: Aside from being a Manipulative Bastard, according to Gaelio, McGillis always saw his friends as mere means to an end of fulfilling his ambitions, which is why he had no qualms about sacrificing Gaelio and Carta. McGillis himself admits that the only emotion he feels is anger.
- The Starscream: Plots to usurp his father's seat on the Seven Stars, as one step in his plan to reform Gjallarhorn. He succeeds at the end of Season 1 after helping to expose his father's crimes.
- Stealth Mentor: Plays this role to Tekkadan in Season 1, providing aid to them as Montag while using his position within Gjallarhorn to set up foes for them to triumph over.
- The Stoic: McGillis is a very calm person who almost never lets his emotions show. In the first season, the only time his stoic veneer cracks is when Tekkadan delivers a half-naked Todo to him.
- Super Prototype: Both of his suits and Bael:
- The Schwalbe Graze is a high-mobility prototype of the standard Graze that was deemed too difficult and dangerous to handle for general adoption. His use of it is a badge of honour by his organisation for his piloting skills.
- The Grimgerde takes this back even further - it's one of the last survivors of the Valkyrie-class, a Simple, yet Awesome Calamity War design that was built alongside Gjallarhorn's Gundam brigade and became the basis of the only fully modern suit of the present era, the Graze. Needless to say, the Lost Technology of the Calamity War means it's considerably deadlier and more advanced than its cheap-and-cheerful mass-produced offspring, and while it may be less durable, nothing is even able to so much as graze it.
- ASW-G-01: Gundam Bael: the very first and oldest of the original 72 Gundam Frames that parttook in the Calamity War, and is ultimately what all of the other 71 Gundam Frames are based off of. Agnika Kaieru; its' original and first Pilot trusted only in his piloting skills and his twin swords to achieve victory against the Mobile Armors. 300 years later, with improvements to both Mobile Suit technology and weaponry, Bael still stands as a formidable opponent on the battlefield even going against the heavily-upgraded ASW-G-66 Gundam Kimaris and fighting it to a draw in its last sortie.
- Taking You with Me: In Episode 49, he launches a suicide attack on the Arianrhod Fleet in a last ditch effort to kill Rustal. When he confronts Gaelio in Rustal's ship, he fires at Gaelio in a split second after the latter fired at him. Unfortunately, Gaelio kills him before he can succeed, and McGillis' shot is blocked by Gaelio's mask.
- The Men First: In episode 49, he dismisses the crew of his Halfbeak before attempting to solo the entire Arianrhod Fleet. It's genuinely unclear whether it's because of this trope, or because he really believes his own hype about personal strength that much, and thinks they're an unnecessary burden.
- This Cannot Be!: When Gaelio maims the Bael, McGillis is utterly shocked, never imagining that he could have possibly lost against the friend he betrayed.
- Token Evil Teammate: As 'Montag', he's a reliable, helpful, and alarmingly ruthless ally to Tekkadan in the later parts of Season One.
- He continues this role to Tekkadan for Season 2, now more openly via having them ally with his Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet.
- Token Good Teammate: For the Seven Stars in Season 2, in addition to (ironically) being the Token Evil Teammate of Tekkadan and their allies. Of the Seven Stars we see get developed, McGillis is the only we see who's not elitist and who appears to legitimately believe in rooting the corruption out of the organization.
- Tragic Keepsake: In Season 2, McGillis pilots a Graze Ritter like Carta did, ostensibly to honor her memory. Despite the fact that he was the one who deliberately sent Carta to her death, this may be a sincere gesture, given that he later tells Gaelio that he and Carta were the only real friends he ever had.
- Tritagonist: For Season 2, after spending the first season 1 a prominent character on the villain side. He's Tekkadan's new employer, gets a substantial amount of focus, and is connected (either directly or indirectly) to most of the big shakeups that happen to the setting in that season.
- The Unfettered: Will do anything to rid Gjallarhorn of corruption. Even kill his best friend.
- Unscrupulous Hero: Bordering on Nominal Hero. McGillis wants to reform Gjallarhorn, he's just not above betraying everyone close to him and manipulating and disposing of his allies in his pursuit of it.
- Uriah Gambit: Feigns respect and confidence in Carta to get her to go fight Tekkadan again on her own, knowing full well she'll likely be killed off.
- Villainous Valor: He's not afraid to risk his own life in mobile suit battles to further his own agenda. It helps that he's an Ace Pilot with high performance mobile suits.
- Especially evident in Episode 46, where he fights Gaelio in the heavily armed and upgraded Kimaris Vidar with the unmodified Bael almost to a stalemate. And this is despite his heavily outnumbered forces being decimated and in retreat.
- Again in Episode 49, rather than run and hide, he singlehandedly decides to take on and hopefully wipe out the Arianrhod Fleet by himself.
- Villain Has a Point:
- While he's no saint either, everything he accuses Rustal Elion of in regards to his corruption and dirty dealings is true.
- Yes, he may not exactly be the most trustworthy person, but he probably wasn't wrong in questioning Gaelio's becoming a hypocrite by Episode 46.
- Villainous Breakdown: A slow and drawn out example, in several stages. When it becomes clear that his forces cannot defeat Rustal's and Iok's on their own and that Tekkadan is going to go to ground in an attempt to survive rather than fight to the end, McGillis decides to attack Rustal's fleet by himself in an attempt to kill Rustal himself. In the process he completely lets loose, ranting about how great men such as himself and Gaelio are the only ones who can change history. It's unclear how much of his are his true feelings and how much is an act for posterity. Once he's lost that fight and he's dying in Gaelio's arms, he becomes much calmer and speaks of more intimate, personal things, like his genuinely valuing Gaelio's friendship despite having tried to kill him.
- Villain Respect: He compliments Tekkadan and Mikazuki quite a few times. Especially when they are working together. In season 2, he joins forces with Tekkadan. While both sides are wary of one another, McGillis actually goes out of his way to hold back against members of Tekkadan's earth branch (he recognized them from their movements), only fighting back when his Graze got damaged, swiftly killing Aston in self defense. Orga in turn makes sure McGillis makes it out of the conflict unscathed, and afterwards he and Mika are seen amicably speaking to one another, with McGillis offering Mika chocolate (which he accepts), and comparing him favorably to the founder of Gjallarhorn.
- Walking Spoiler: He's the series's main Char Clone, and those are usually both mysterious and extremely plot-important.
- The War of Earthly Aggression: Representative of it, as a visitor from Earth inspecting the Earth forces on Mars.
- We Have Reserves: When McGillis tells Orga that casualties in the final battle against Arianrhod are inevitable, Orga punches him in the face for treating Tekkadan like Orga's soldiers and not Orga's family. To his credit, he does apologize immediately afterwards.
- Despite this and despite Vidar's insistence that he cares nothing for his men and is just using them all as sacrifical pawns He goes out of his way to make sure Isurugi survives and is disapointed when Isurugi dies despite that. And he tells his remaining men to save themselves in the final charge against Rustal while he goes it alone. It's unclear if he's playing some kind of complex game with that or if Gaelio is wrong and he's not as detached and heartless from his allies as they seem to think.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He's willing to kill fellow Gjallarhorn soldiers and sacrifice his friends to reform Gjallarhorn. Gaelio believes that McGillis is a subversion: after spending the inter-season timeskip investigating McGillis, Gaelio determines that McGillis's reform rhetoric is just an excuse to claim power for himself.
- Wild Card: McGillis' true allegiance is to his ideals, and he's willing to sacrifice his friends and allies to see them achieve. This makes him especially hard to determine the actual sincerity in what he says or his actions.
- World's Best Warrior: McGillis is quite probably the best fighter in Gjallarhorn, marrying his exceptional piloting skills with an analytical and quick-thinking mind that lets him come up with strategies to counter his opponents in the heat of battle. Vidar had to utilize the AV Type-E system to fight on par with him, and even then he was able to end their final fight in a draw, and that was after he'd been worn down from taking on the entire Arianrhod Fleet. Because McGillis and Mikazuki end up on the same side in season 2, we never get to find out which is the best warrior in the whole series, so it's anyone's guess as to which of them would win if they ever fought.
- Worthy Opponent: He considers Gaelio as this when Gaelio reveals he's using the remains of Ein's Alaya-Vijnana and brains as a system in Gundam Vidar.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: McGillis seems convinced he's a Stock Shōnen Hero in a Super Robot anime and is a firm believer in individual strength over large armies. This is why he allies with Tekkadan, as they have several One-Man Army pilots who McGillis views as kindred spirits. His nemesis however is Rustal Elion, an unscrupulous military commander who leads the strongest fleet in the Earth Sphere and is capable of employing strategies which mobilize his fleet's power to the fullest, to the point where even McGillis and his fellow One Man Armies can't surmount it.
- You Have Failed Me: Actually quite averted. When Tekkadan fails to help him win against Rustal, and Orga backs out of their deal, he's disapointed in misjudging their resolve but accepts this with no issue. He even goes out in Bael to help cover their escape while Orga and some others flee from their base to the city. He claims he's just trying to escape himself and is just coincidentally being of use of them in the process but he maintains his attack until he sees Orga is clear then salutes and bids him farewell so he clearly genuinely wanted to aid them.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: The Gjallarhorn Revolutionary Fleet views McGillis as The Chosen One come to reform Gjallarhorn and purge it of its corruption. His opponent, Rustal Elion, by contrast casts him as a delusional usurper and a would-be tyrant. Thanks to Rustal's media connections, the latter interpretation becomes the prevailing narrative.
