History Characters / MobileSuitGundamSEED

* [[Characters/MobileSuitGundamSEEDHeliopolis Heliopolis]].

!Earth Alliance (OMNI Enforcer)
A military alliance consisting of the nations who funded the construction of the [=PLANTs=], formed when the Coordinators living there declared themselves independent. Unlike ZAFT, they're essentially OnlyKnownByTheirNickname as the "Earth Forces", never formally as Oppose Militancy and Neutralize Invasion, OMNI, or OMNI Enforcer. Devastated by ZAFT's mobile suits, they develop the Gundams with the aid of neutral nation Orb in order to counter this. Initially presented as the more sympathetic faction of the war, they're still no barrel of laughs, conscripting several of the Heliopolis refugees to crew the ''Archangel''. As the series progresses, they become less and less sympathetic as the true nature of the leaders running it is revealed.

[[folder:Murrue Ramius]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/KotonoMitsuishi (Japanese), Creator/LisaAnnBeley (English), Creator/CarrieKeranen (English HD Remaster dub)
->''"It's becoming more and more difficult to understand who or what we're fighting for."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Murrue_Ramius_3140.jpg]]

A Lieutenant stationed on the ''Archangel'', she's forced to take command after the ZAFT attack on Heliopolis. Though uncertain of herself at first, she eventually grows to be a capable officer and a dangerous opponent to ZAFT. She keeping the ''Archangel'' in one piece through space, reentry, and all over Earth.

* BadassNormal: She's probably the best ship commander we meet in either show, capable of outmaneuvering both fellow Naturals and the genetically superior Coordinators.
* TheBigDamnKiss: Between her and Mu, in episode 38. Based on the reactions of the crewmembers who witnessed it, it was really something.
* TheCaptain: Of the ''Archangel''. She gains the title following her promotion.
* {{Expy}}: A young lieutenant who initially comes off as unfair and overbearing is forced to take over a brand new assault carrier. They gradually grow into the role of Captain and leader, eventually becoming one of the most respected officers in the fleet, while striking up a romance with one of their senior officers. Are we talking about Murrue Ramius, or [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Bright Noa]]? She's practically his DistaffCounterpart.
* FieldPromotion: Lieutenant to Captain.
* {{Gainaxing}}: You know the ''Archangel'''s taken a nasty hit when Murrue gets bouncy.
* TheGoodCaptain: She acts as the TeamMom and genuinely cares for her crew.
* HerHeartWillGoOn: [[spoiler: ''Twice.'' The second time was ultimately suvbverted in ''SEED Destiny'' when it was discovered Mu was alive.]]
* TheLeader: Of the ''Archangel'' crew, Type IV. Ramius is a capable officer and has the full respect of everyone working for her.
%%%%* TheMcCoy:
%%%%* HotTeacher:
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: With the ''Archangel'' crew whenever a time came when they would be reassigned, but they remained a team throughout the series with a few exceptions.
* LadyOfWar: She's calm, collected, feminine, and the best battleship captain in the EA Navy.
* MilitaryMaverick: Though kinder and gentler than most, Murrue doesn't hesitate to trample all over military regulations as necessary in order to protect the people on her ship. This causes problems for her with her NumberTwo, [[SergeantRock Natarle Badgiruel]].
* [[AFatherToHisMen A Mother To Her Men]]: Definitely shows her loyalty to subordinates, even dismissing Kira's Coordinator heritage and looking for Cagalli rather than leaving her as "Missing In Action" when she went missing in Phase 23 and 24.
* OfficialCouple: She starts a relationship with Mu La Flaga.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Murrue is supremely competent in her job as the caption of the ''Archangel'' and is willing to listen to her fellow subordinates.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: In episode 35, "The Descending Sword", Mu tells Murrue of the Cyclops System and what he believes is the Earth Alliance's big plan (which, to be fair, isn't hard to see). After hearing Mirialla's breakdown, Murrue decides that if the objective was to lure ZAFT closer to JOSH-A, then mission complete, let's get out of here. It's almost downright [[Film/StarTrekFirstContact Picard-ian]].
* ShootTheDog: Holds Kira and his friends at gun point and drags them aboard the ''Archangel'' due to them having witnessed the Strike, thereby making them a security risk to the Alliance war effort.
* ShoutOut: Murrue's story is a bit too similar to [[Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober another Captain Ramius]] in command of their military's latest, most advanced vessel who becomes disillusioned with their superiors and defects for their [[NamesTheSame last names]] to be coincidence.
* TeamMom: As the ''Archangel'''s commanding officer, she also steps in as the surrogate mother of the partly teenage crew of her ship. This means caring for them beyond her duties as an officer.
* TookALevelInBadass: As the show progresses and she gains both confidence and ability.
* TragicKeepsake: Her locket. It's [[spoiler:a memento of her previous boyfriend, a mobile armour pilot]].
* YouAreInCommandNow: La Flaga pushes her into command after the ''Archangel'''s commanding officers are killed in Le Creuset's surprise attack. He could have taken the position, as he has seniority, but Murrue is more familiar with the ship and better-suited to the position, while Mu, as the only available pilot other than Kira, is better off not tied to the bridge.

[[folder:Mu La Flaga]]
!!'''Main mecha:''' [=TS-MA2mod.00=] Moebius Zero, FX-550 Skygrasper, GAT-X105 Strike Gundam
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/TakehitoKoyasu (Japanese), Creator/TrevorDevall (English), Creator/TomWayland (English HD Remaster dub)
->''"I'm the man who makes the impossible possible."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mu_La_Flaga_476.jpg]]

One of the few mobile armour pilots to survive the war long enough to appear in the series, he's ''also'' lucky (and good) enough to survive the initial ZAFT attack on Heliopolis. Surprisingly laid back for a guy who's been on the brink of a messy death for months at a time, he provides much needed advice and experience for the ''Archangel'''s rookie crew. Provides support for Kira and Murrue most specifically -- he outranks them both, but having no experience as a ship's officer and being unable to pilot the Strike, he prefers to leave the lead roles to them. Has a rivalry with ZAFT commander Rau Le Creuset, which predates the beginning of the series.

* AbusiveParents: Al Da Flaga was an asshole, all right, and his mother seems to have been a relative non-entity.
* AcePilot: He was already "The Hawk of Endymion" when he survived the battle that wiped out the rest of his squad. Mu is both skilled and known to quite a few people.
* AlertnessBlink: Experiences a Newtype Flash whenever Rau Le Creuset is within a few kilometers. It's one of the few things that point to their having newtype-like abilities.
* AllYourPowersCombined: As of the HD Remaster, he's the first (chronologically anyway) to use a 'Combined' Striker Pack (the Perfect Strike).
* {{Archenemy}}: Serves as one for ZAFT AcePilot Rau Le Creuset, [[spoiler:his genetic dad.]]
* AttackDrone: Has four wire-controlled gun pods on his Mobius Zero.
* BadassNormal: Made even more badass by his status as a Natural in a series where most of the awesome is reserved for Coordinators. Occasional implications throughout the series that he has Newtype abilities may mean he's a subversion, but it's never entirely clear what the extent of those abilities are beyond his instinctive awareness of Le Creuset's presence, and being one of only a handful of pilots between the anime and the Astray who can use Mobile Suits/Armors with [[AttackDrone Attack Drones]] unassisted.
* TheBigDamnKiss: Between him and Murrue, in episode 38. Based on the reactions of the crewmembers who witnessed it, it was really something.
* BigBrotherMentor: Serves as Kira's, providing him with advice and support during the series.
* BrokenAce: A milder version than some, but his affable behavior conceals quite a bit of mental and emotional damage, which he willingly acknowledges.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: One of the most laid-back and goofy characters in the show, but still ''extremely'' competent at what he does.
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: He has a lot of violent conflict with Rau Le Creuset, his father's clone.]]
* CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest: Averted! He's clearly into Murrue from the beginning and boy does he make it clear.
* CatchPhrase: Of the BadassBoast variety. "I am a man who can [[WeDoTheImpossible make the impossible possible]]!"
* CharClone: Based off of Char's "[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Quattro Bageena]]" persona as a BigBrotherMentor and AcePilot.
* TheCharmer: Big time. Good-looking, easygoing, very, very affable, and good at getting people to like him, and it comes in handy. He periodically tends to say or do something inappropriate, shallow, or even annoying, and suffers nothing other than the most temporary annoyance for it.
* ComingInHot: Mu does this several times, with the Mobius Zero and the Skygrasper. He's in the middle of doing it with the Strike when [[spoiler:he intercepts Azrael's parting shot.]]
* CommandingCoolness: Literal. Mu is later [[FieldPromotion promoted to Lieutenant Commander]] and still remains one of the most relaxed officers.
* TheConfidant: He's the one Murrue often consults with about their various situations (e.g. being stranded in enemy territory and consorting with neutral factions) as well as the one she usually confides to on matters like crew morale and stress of being in command. They eventually get a RelationshipUpgrade.
* CoolPlane: When the ''Archangel'' moves to Earth, he switches to a Skygrasper fighter, which is compatible with the Strike Gundam's Striker Packs.
* DroneDeployer: The Moebius Zero.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: He meets his end blocking an anti-matter cannon aimed at the ''Archangel'''s bridge while invoking his catchphrase one more time.]]
* EntertaininglyWrong: PlayedForDrama. Yes, Mu, it makes sense to assume the unstable guy who hates your guts for some reason is lying through his teeth to you. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: he's not]]!
* {{Expy}}: He's basically a combination of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Sleggar Law]], [[CharClone Quattro Bajeena]], and [[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Jamil Neate]].
* AFatherToHisMen: Especially to Kira, but play as kind-figure to the younger crews.
* FamousLastWords: "Didn't I tell you [[CatchPhrase I'm the man who can make the impossible possible]]!" [[spoiler:[[NotQuiteDead Or so it seemed...]]]]
* HeroicSacrifice: During the final battle, Mu [[spoiler:takes a shot from the ''Dominion'''s Lohengrin ''antimatter cannon'' intended for the ''Archangel'']].
* FieldPromotion: Lieutenant to Lieutenant-Commander.
* LightningBruiser: The Perfect Strike is shown to be this in Episodes 36-38 when it destroys dozens of Earth Alliance units.
* LonelyRichKid: His childhood had him get rejected by his father [[spoiler:who went on to try to clone himself for his next son]].
* LoopholeAbuse: After his....[[BigDamnKiss bold declaration of his interest in her]], Murrue says she doesn't date mobile armor pilots. With his typical cockiness, he claims he is a mobile ''suit'' pilot [[note]] he received the repaired Strike earlier that day [[/note]]. It's clearly a joke on both sides because they kiss again immediately afterward, and longer this time.
* TheKirk: To Murrue's [[TheMcCoy McCoy]]. He's an experienced soldier who is at home with military regulations, but also understands that there are situations in which one has to look past regulations and make a more practical call. He tends to be the pragmatic midpoint between Murrue's idealism and Natarle's meticulous adherence to protocol, though overall he leans more toward Murrue's side.
* MidSeasonUpgrade: Both [[InvertedTrope inverted]] and PlayedStraight. When the ''Archangel'' touches down on Earth, he is no longer able to use his Moebius Zero due to the fact that it is a SpaceFighter and won't work in atmosphere, so he settles for a [[CoolPlane Sky Grasper fighter jet]] instead, which is a capable craft but lacks the AttackDrone capability of the Moebius. The trope is played straight later on, when after abandoning the Earth Alliance, he gets [[spoiler:to pilot the Strike Gundam.]]
* MildlyMilitary: Despite being the senior officer present for most of the beginning of the series, Mu's not really one for standing on ceremony.
* TheNicknamer: Not even specific ones, yet Mu prefers this. He calls Kira "kid" and both Cagalli and Miriallia "girl", or "missy". Cagalli snaps back at him about this, reminding him that she has a name, but he doesn't really listen. He also refers to an enemy target as a "kitty-cat", surprising her.
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: Loses his memories in the process and is captured (and brainwashed) by the Earth Alliance in [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Destiny]].]]
* NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay: The Strike was already heavily damaged but still came through.
* OfficialCouple: He and Murrue start a relationship.
* OnlyAFleshWound: Gets shot by Le Creuset and keeps chasing him.
* ParentalAbandonment: His father [[IHaveNoSon disowned him]] when he was a child, locked him in a BigFancyHouse and [[spoiler:had himself ''cloned'' in order to create a more satisfactory son]]. Then both his parents died in a fire.
* PurpleIsPowerful: Wears a purple pilot suit and is one of the most skilled pilots in the show.
* PsychicPowers: While it's never given any real focus, he's essentially the closest thing the Cosmic Era has to a Newtype. What this means within the setting is not entirely clear, but it does make him able to sense when Rau Le Creuset is nearby, and vice versa.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Played with when the ''Archangel'' arrives in Alaska and Mu receives a reassignment that will have him teaching pilot candidates instead of fighting on the front lines - ostensibly. We never find out if this was going to be his real assignment or was simply an excuse to have him leave JOSH-A before the Cyclops system is activated, since he abandons his orders and goes back to the ''Archangel''.
* RedBaron: The Hawk of Endymion.
* SoleSurvivor: Of his Mobius Zero squadron during the Endymion lunar campaign during his backstory, and of the Earth Alliance pilots during the attack on Heliopolis -- though neither really affects his personality much.
* SpaceFighter: His Moebius Zero is a space-use fighter plane with [[AttackDrone wired gun pods]].
* SuperPrototype: The Mobius Zero, which is vastly superior to the mass production Mobius in terms of armament and speed. {{Justified|Trope}} in that only a very few pilots had the level of skill and spatial awareness required to operate the Zero and its {{Attack Drone}}s effectively.
* SuperReflexes: His enhanced spatial awareness, an extremely rare ability among both Naturals and Coordinators, which allows him to control {{Attack Drone}}s.
* SympathyForTheDevil: A poignant scene towards the end of the series has Mu sympathizing with ''[[spoiler:Rau le Creuset]]'' in a conversation with Murrue; Mu is the only character who seems to fully consider what effect his past had on him. He does, however, state firmly that [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse what he's doing can't be excused.]]
* TakingTheBullet: The fact that it doesn't just [[spoiler:go straight through him and hit its target ''anyway'']] is thanks to Mu's raw badassery.
* TeamDad: Shares this role with Murdoch as he helps the Heliopolis students adjust to being on the ''Archangel'' and being a part of the chain of command.
* TemptingFate: "I'll be right back, with victory in hand." [[spoiler: His mobile suit is vaporized, and Murrue doesn't see him again for quite a while.]]
* TheUnFavorite: To his father, Al. Oddly for the trope, there is no favorite; Mu was an only child, but his {{Narcissist}} father felt he was "a fool" and didn't resemble him enough, ''despite still being a toddler''. [[spoiler:So Al cloned himself. And treated the clone like crap as well.]]

[[folder:Natarle Badgiruel]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/HoukoKuwashima (Japanese), Creator/SarahJohns (English), Creator/LisaOrtiz (English HD Remaster dub)
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Natarle_Badgiruel_6217.jpg]]

Originally an Ensign on the ''Archangel'', she graduates to Murrue's NumberTwo after the attack on Heliopolis. Harder and more pragmatic than Murrue, Natarle remains loyal to the Earth Forces, and is eventually named captain of the ''Archangel's'' EvilCounterpart, the ''Dominion''. A professional soldier, she buries any doubts she has behind her ironclad faith in the military, even when forced to work with [[TheSociopath Muruta]] [[FinalSolution Azrael]] and his [[AxeCrazy squad]].

* BadassNormal: In much the same vein as Murrue Ramius, proving that as a ship captain she's more than capable of taking on supposedly superior Coordinators.
* TheCaptain: She was briefly acting captain of the ''Archangel'', before passing the role to Ramius. She later becomes the actual captain of the ''Dominion''.
%%* CommissarCap:
%%* CommanderContrarian: Towards Ramius.
* ConsummateProfessional: Aims to be the perfect professional soldier.
* CryCute: In the ''second episode'', when she realizes she's the SoleSurvivor of her original crew.
%%%%% This doesn't say how she is this trope.
%%%%%* TheDarkChick: She and Flay play this role to Azrael and the Earth Forces after she becomes captain of the ''Dominion''.
%%* DefrostingIceQueen:
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:She ultimately rises up against Azrael, trapping him on the bridge of the ''Dominion'' with her after ordering the rest of the crew to abandon ship.]]
* EndearinglyDorky: Whenever she's placed out of her depth (aka out of regulations and military decorum) she immediately starts stuttering and even ''[[LuminescentBlush blushing]]'' at times.
* EveryoneHasStandards: She does end up caring for Kira despite herself, and is somewhat uncomfortable when Sutherland tries to blame Kira for Heliopolis (to say nothing of her disgust towards Azrael).
* FantasticRacism: Downplayed. She ''is'' leery of Coordinators but still doesn't buy into Blue Cosmos ideology (and she does care for Kira whether she wants to admit it or not.)
* FieldPromotion: From Ensign to Deputy Captain.
* GoingDownWithTheShip: Stays aboard the ''Dominion'' to make sure that Azrael goes down with it.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:See TakingYouWithMe below.]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: Most of her more abrasive moments are the result of having to make a snap decision in a moment of crisis, especially in regards to Murrue's early indecisiveness. There's also the moment after the crew rescues Lacus when she calls out Murrue's hypocrisy about not wanting to involve her due to Lacus being a civilian when she had already involved Kira and his friends.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She's very principled and by the rules, but often shows worry or sadness for those hurt or in danger. See her [[CryCute reaction]] to finding herself the (apparent) sole survival of the Heliopolis attack on the ''Archangel'' and her concern for Kira in episode 4 despite showing misgivings about him being a Coordinator and civilian just the previous eps. She also shows a soft touch for children in episode 18. [[spoiler: Her "caring commander" aspect is most probably why she turns on Azrael when he hurts Flay.]]
* MilitaryBrat: Natarle is mentioned to be a trained officer from a military background, and the loyalty and lifestyle seems to be all she's ever known.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: She visibly becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the actions of the Earth Alliance under Blue Cosmos, but remains a loyal military officer.
%%* NumberTwo: To Murrue at first.
%%* PowerHair
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: She turns on [[spoiler:Azrael, trying to save the ''Archangel'', just a little too late to save herself]].
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: She turns on [[spoiler:Azrael at the end, deciding that his orders conflict with what is right]].
* SergeantRock: She believes that military regulations and the mission take precedence over helping people. [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold She still cares about her subordinates, though.]]
* SenselessSacrifice: She saves Flay from Azrael....only for [[spoiler:Rau to murder her and the rest of the ''Dominion'' escapees to fuck with Kira]].
* SoleSurvivor: She is the only person who was supposed to be on the ''Archangel'''s crew. The others were killed.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: In ''Gundam SEED: Tomo to Kimi to Senjou'' you can save Natarle if you set her up with Arnold Neumann.
%%* StockingFiller
* SuddenPrincipledStand: After being a loyal OMNI soldier for much of the series, [[spoiler:she turns on Azrael after he assaults Flay.]]
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:She locks down the bridge of the ''Dominion'', trapping both herself and Azrael as it's destroyed]].
* TragicHero: [[spoiler: She h to side against the ''Archangel'' because she kept following orders, and was killed by it because Azrael wouldn't quit.]]
%%%%* WhiteShirtOfDeath: Complete with blood-stains.
* YouMonster: Said almost word for word to Azrael.

[[folder:Arnold Neumann]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/IsshinChiba (Japanese), Philip Pacaud (English), Creator/BenPronsky (English HD Remaster dub)
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Arnold_Neumann_8518.jpg]]

The soft spoken helmsman of the ''Archangel'', Mr. Neumann is one of the unsung heroes of the show. Taking on a leadership role among the ship's NCO's in times of crisis, Neumann's greatest contribution to the survival of the ''Archangel'' is without a doubt his insane piloting skills.

* BadassNormal: The best helmsman of the Cosmic Era, Natural or Coordinator.
* DoABarrelRoll: Neumann has pulled off some pretty sick maneuvers with the ''Archangel'', but arguably his crowning moment was when he pulled off an actual barrel roll with the hulking vessel. '''''Under gravity.''''' [[spoiler:This move later becomes instrumental in the ''Archangel'''s victory over the ''Minerva'' in the final battle of ''Destiny.'']]
* FieldPromotion: From Chief Petty Officer to Ensign.
* HiddenDepths: Neumann keeps to himself and rarely speaks, but when the ''Archangel'' is in lockdown aboard Artemis, he's the one who rallies the crew and organises the breakout. Supplementary materials suggest that he may have had a crush on Natarle Badgiruel as well.
* ImprobablePilotingSkills: Good Lord yes! This man flies a several thousand tonne battleship as though it were a freaking fighter plane. Doing a barrel roll to point the ship's guns down or circumvent an enemy battleship? No problem. Recovering from a botched atmospheric re-entry? Not even worth a mention. Dodging beams and guided missiles alike between the time they are fired and the time they reach his ship (many times maneuvering so quickly it looks like the crew would surely be turned to red paste against the walls)? All in a day's work.
* LoveHurts: In some of the video games based on ''SEED'' it is revealed that Neumann had a thing for the ''Archangel'''s NumberTwo, Lt. Badgiruel. This means that he had to [[spoiler:help kill her when Ramius ordered the ''Dominion'' sunk.]] Ouch.
* TheQuietOne: He mostly keeps to himself.
%%* TheStoic
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: His hair is blue.

[[folder:Kojiro Murdoch]]
!!!Voice Actors: Toshihiko Nakajima (Japanese), Creator/BrianDrummond (English), Creator/PatrickSeitz (English HD Remaster dub)

The chief mechanic of the ''Archangel''.

* TheEngineer: He's primarily responsible with coordinating maintenance and repairs to the mobile suits and mobile armors aboard the ''Archangel''.
* TeamDad: Shares this role along with Mu (whose more of a BigBrotherMentor), taking an unoffical parental role to Kira and his friends after they join with the ''Archangel'''s staff crew.

[[folder:Lewis Halberton]]
!!! Voice Actors: Naoki Tatsuta (Japanese), Richard Newman (English), Creator/MarcThompson (English HD Remaster dub)
-->''"Firing on retreating men? You're a damn disgrace, Le Creuset."''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Lewis_Halberton_9462.png]]

The commander of the EA's 08th Fleet, Admiral Lewis Halberton was the commisioner and mastermind behind the G-Weapons' project that created the Gundams. A capable battlefield commander, and a mentor Captain Ramius, Halberton is one of the few high-ranking OMNI officials to have any sympathy for the Coordinators, and Kira Yamato in particular.

* BadassBaritone: Courtesy of Richard Newman and Creator/MarcThompson's deep voice.
* BadassMoustache: Sports a very impressive moustache and is one of the EA's most renowned admirals.
* BadassNormal: Like all EA personnel not named Kira Yamato, he's a Natural.
* TheBrigadier: The first officer we meet to have any sympathy for the ''Archangel'', and one of the rare OMNI personnel to understand Kira's position.
%%* CoolOldGuy
* {{Expy}}: He's a more active take on ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'''s General Revil.
* AFatherToHisMen: Leads his troops in person from his flagship, the ''Menelaus'', and will not demand they make any sacrifices he isn't willing to make.
* FourStarBadass: A world-famous admiral who leads from the front.
* FrontlineGeneral: A fleet commander who puts his flagship in the thick of the action.
* GoingDownWithTheShip: Goes down with the ''Menelaus''.
* HeroicSacrifice: Sacrifices his ship to buy the ''Archangel'' time to escape.
* MeaningfulName: Not Halberton himself, but his ship, the ''Menelaus'', which is named after a Greek king, whose wife was kidnapped, starting a war. Given that ''SEED'' opens with the G-weapons that Halberton had built being stolen, it seems likely that this is more then a coincidence.
* TheMentor: To Captain Ramius, who was one of his students at the military academy.
* MentorOccupationalHazard: He acts a mentor to Ramius, and dies fairly early on in the series.
* MutualKill: With Captain Zellman of the ''Gammow'', as it and the ''Menelaus'' sink one another.
* OfficerAndAGentleman: He tries to be one anyway, and regards officers like ZAFT's Le Creuset as the lowest of the low.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He assists the ''Archangel'' crew, and is notably the only member of the Earth Alliance High Command to do so.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Most of the Earth Alliance's high-command consists of pretty messed-up people, but he is an exception who shows sympathy for Coordinators.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: He'ss killed during the same sortie that we meet him.

[[folder:Muruta Azrael]]
!!! Voice Actors: Creator/NobuyukiHiyama (Japanese), Creator/AndrewFrancis (English original series), Creator/ToddHaberkorn (English HD remaster)
->''"Misunderstandings create enemies, and when you have enemies, you shoot them."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Muruta_Azrael_1040.jpg]]

The leader of the anti-Coordinator terrorist group Blue Cosmos and a powerful figure in the Atlantic Federation. Boyish. Charming. Takes his evil UpToEleven. He joins the crew of the ''Dominion'' with his squad of modified soldiers, more or less subverting Badgiruel's position as captain.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: While he ostensibly acts as an observer on Natarle's ship he quickly assumes a captain-like role, only allowing her to make tactical combat decisions. The uncomfortable looks the bridge crew give him make it clear that he's not popular, least of all with Natarle or Flay. When Natarle [[spoiler:orders the crew to abandon ship, nobody even hesitates before abandoning Azrael to his fate]].
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: ''Nice'' is a bit of a stretch, but the Azrael that appears in SEED's manga adaptation isn't quite as overwhelmingly evil as his anime counterpart (however, he still manages to give Flay a HeelRealization by talking about Coordinator extermination). Part of it is CompressedAdaptation cutting out some of his more vile moments, but when he [[spoiler:shoots Natarle]] he's notably stunned and horrified by what he has done, stammering that he didn't mean to and she leaped out at him, unlike the anime Azrael who shows no remorse at all for it.
* AttackAttackAttack: He rarely considers a retreat. Justified after ZAFT fires GENESIS and he wanted his recuperating forces to keep fighting, before ZAFT fired on Earth.
* AxCrazy: You get hints about just how crazy he is throughout the show. Then the last few episodes hit and ''[[VillainousBreakdown holy]] [[BadBoss crap]]''.
* BadBoss: He controls Shani, Clotho, and Orga through drug addiction, and everyone else through fear. Really starts to show after his VillainousBreakdown.
* BigBadWannabe: A truly nasty--and very competent--one. He's the real leader of the Earth Forces and seems to be [[BigBadEnsemble heading the war opposite Patrick Zala]], is stated to have been responsible for the nuking one of the [=PLANTs=]. However, [[spoiler:Rau Le Creuset is really playing both of them]]. It's still worth noting that of all the contenders for this title in the series he is without a doubt the most evil.
* BigYes: When he receives the plans for the Neutron Jammer Canceler technology, enabling him to NukeEm once again. His ecstatic reaction has hit meme levels.
* {{Bishonen}}: Which accounts for his ridiculous popularity with the female fanbase.
* BloodKnight: To a much greater degree than his Coordinator counterpart, Patrick Zala. When nukes are obliterating Boaz he looks positively gleeful.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Azrael's motivation to kill all Coordinators stems from the fact that he was bullied by them as a child.
* DubNameChange: The HD Remaster dub changes his given name from "Muruta" to "Multa".
* DrivenByEnvy: Heavily implied by his backstory. He's less angry about the Coordinators being better than humanity than he is about them being better than ''him''.
* EvilIsPetty: A condescending sexist and all around jerk, as well as a genocidal madman. Better yet, even his genocidal intentions are rooted, not in ideology, but in childhood grudges. He's petty all through.
* EvilLaugh: Gives an epic one when he receives the plans [[spoiler:to ZAFT's defenses and N-Jammer Cancellers]].
* EvilVersusEvil: With Coordinator-supremacist Patrick Zala.
* {{Expy}}: While it is not as obvious as with Patrick, Azrael's charismatic personality, dynamic leadership, public popularity, and utter sociopathy are all derived from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'''s Gihren Zabi. They even share a passion for [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill overkill]] and WeaponsOfMassDestruction. In the meanwhile, his appearance, enthusiasm, excitableness, creepy interactions with women, and manipulation of the Extended, all call to mind Gihren's clone/bastard son [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Glemmy Toto]].
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: The page picture should nicely demonstrate both sides of that; a handsome face and shining blonde hair, but that sinister expression reflects something ugly.
* FantasticRacism: His motivation. Worst of all, he can't understand why everyone else doesn't feel the same way he does.
* FauxAffablyEvil: His polite mannerisms and excitable personality only serve to enhance how much of an [[SmugSnake arrogant]] [[TheSociopath psycho]] he is.
* FinalSolution: Plans to [[NukeEm nuke]] the Plants, ending the war, and killing every Coordinator in existence in the process.
* FreudianExcuse: The reason why Azrael wants to destroy all Coordinators is because he was bullied by them as a kid, and when he asked his mother why he wasn't born a Coordinator, he was slapped and told that she would never have her son to be a "monster" like them. It is inverted in that it is intended to make him ''more'' despicable, not ''less''.
%%%%* GreaterScopeVillain: In the ''Destiny'' spinoff, ''Stargazer'' where he, and then Djibril, take on this role vis a vis Sven Cal Bayan.
* HateSink: At the end of the day, Azrael is a psychopathic, misogynistic xenophobe with the personality of a murderous teenager. He's there to make Patrick Zala and Rau Le Creuset look sympathetic by comparison. This was even lampshaded by the director, who stated in the DVD commentary that he avoided exploring Azrael's background because he didn't want to make him look too much like Rau (and then he goes and gives us the guy's backstory ''anyway'' in the movies).
* HeManWomanHater: Has some aspects of this. He's openly contemptuous of Natarle after finding out she's a woman, condescends to her because of her gender ("Listen to me, woman!") and is the only character in-series to use the word "bitch" to describe a female character.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** Genetically modifying fetuses to create {{Born Winner}}s is evil! Using drugs and mental torture to create {{Super Soldier}}s out of children is not! It's also hinted that his hatred of Coordinators is a case of DrivenByEnvy, making him an even bigger hypocrite.
** He calls Coordinators barbaric monsters for the use of the GENESIS cannon. Not only is this the same person who killed thousands of Coordinators using nuclear missiles hours earlier but he also attempted to use them against space colonies full of civilians ''twice.'' Azrael also ordered the nuclear missile fired at Junius 7, causing the ''entire war.''
* ImprobableAge: He is a successful businessman, the head of a global terrorist organisation, and TheManBehindTheMan to the entirety of OMNI at the age of thirty.
* KarmicDeath: He dies knowing he's lost, at the hands of a woman he's just murdered, and another woman whose boyfriend he has killed. It doesn't get much more karmic then that.
* KickTheDog: [[EstablishingCharacterMoment His first scene is about how "unfair" it is that Orb claims neutrality in the war and how the "fair" thing to do is to push it off the fence or burn it to the ground]]. He kicks more dogs as the series continues.
* KnightOfCerebus: His appearance in the series kicks off a new level atrocities as he shows he will go to any lengths and destroy anything to get what he wants.
* LackOfEmpathy: Orb is neutral? Burn them to the ground for convenience sake. My super soldiers are in pain? Good, it'll convince them to fight better.
* TheLeader: Of Blue Cosmos in name and the Atlantic Federation (and therefore OMNI) in everything but. He's a Type Charismatic personality, ruling through charisma and fearmongering.
* LightIsNotGood: Has a [[ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming religious name]] and [[VillainInAWhiteSuit wears a white suit]], but he's a genocidal madman.
* TheManBehindTheMan: To the Atlantic Federation president. Think of him as a very powerful businessman and lobbyist... who just happens to head a combination KKK and Nazi Party.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: His fashion sense is one of his few redeeming qualities. Come to think of it, it's about his ''only'' redeeming quality. He does look good in that blue suit.
* MugglePower: His mom didn't make him a Coordinator, so no one gets to be one.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: He's named after the ''Angel of Death''.
** His first name, Muruta, brings to mind ''Project Maruta'', human experimentation carried out by the Japanese Army's Unit 731 on Chinese prisoners in World War II. Given that he created the Biological CPU and Extended projects, where Clotho, Orga and Shani ''[[BoxedCrook were prisoners on death row]]'', this makes a whole lot of sense.
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Here's a hint people--if it looks like a Nazi, and talks like a Nazi, and acts like a Nazi, chances are, it's a Nazi.
* NonActionBigBad: Toyed with. He's no fighter, but he's certainly willing to go to the front and place himself in the line of fire.
* NotSoDifferent: From Patrick Zala. It's lampshaded by Uzumi Nara Atha that they driven by the same ideals, i.e. "exterminate the other guy".
* NukeEm: Tries to fire nukes at the PLANTS ''twice''.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Calling female characters "bitch" [[HeManWomanHater purely for their gender]] is ''the least'' [[FantasticRacism of his problems]].
* ThePoliticalOfficer: Practically his role on the ''Dominion'', is to make decisions that further his agenda but make no sense on the battlefield, thus making sure his plans are fulfilled.
* PsychopathicManchild: Azrael's smarter then most characters of this type, but still has the attitude, reacting like a spoiled child when he doesn't get his way. "You'll pay for treating ''me'' like this!"
* PutTheLaughterInSlaughter: Azrael is taking a little too much enjoyment in watching people get nuked.
* RevengeBeforeReason: Prioritises destroying the Plants over stopping [[WaveMotionGun Genesis]], and you know, saving the human race.
* SharpDressedMan: Azrael's always dressed to kill.
* ShutUpKirk: Played with. When Natarle offers a surrender to the ''Archangel'', he mocks her for making such an attempt and says everyone's just better off shooting at each other.
* SkewedPriorities: Discussed. Upon acquiring the data for N-Jammer Cancellers he's eager to launch a nuclear attack against ZAFT. The OMNI board suggests using their regained nuclear technology to solve the energy crisis on Earth but Azrael shoots them down. His irrational hatred of Coordinators overrides any sense of priorities.
* SmugSnake: Ungodly arrogant, and self-assured to the point of suicidal overconfidence... and all while having no idea he's dancing like a puppet to [[spoiler:Le Creuset]]'s tune. It's worth noting that simply holding a conversation with him can be a trying experience for characters like Natarle.
* TheSociopath: He hits every requirement on the checklist. Heck, just read the page quote. He moves reeeaaalllly quick from "difference of opinion" to "murder".
* SoreLoser: Goes out ranting and screaming about how he always wins.
* StepfordSmiler: Type C. An odd example in that he's not hiding his evil (which is public knowledge), but just how [[AxeCrazy unstable]] he is.
* StrawHypocrite: It's heavily implied that Azrael's {{muggle power}} rhetoric is just that; his real motivation is jealousy and childhood grudges.
* StrawmanPolitical: Averted, refreshingly enough. While we the audience are shown ([[KickTheDog repeatedly]]) how evil Azrael is, he's still portrayed as human enough and complex enough to be more than just a caricature. Compare him to similar FantasticRacist villains from Western works (the ''ComicBook/XMen'' books are especially brimming with examples) and you can almost see why people in-universe follow the guy.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Why settle for defeating your enemies through strategy when you can just NukeEm? And then there's putting an entire magazine into [[spoiler:Natarle]].
* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: Does it to Flay. While backhanding her.
* ThrowingDownTheGauntlet: After mocking Natarle in her attempt to negotiate with the ''Archangel'', he declares war against it.
-->''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Calamity, Forbidden and Raider launch!]] [[BadassBoast Today we destroy the indestructible Archangel.]]''
* TheUnfettered: There is nothing Azrael won't do. He will start wars against countries populated by Naturals if he thinks it will aid his goals.
* UnwittingPawn: He didn't realize that he was being used by [[spoiler:Rau Le Creuset]] until it's too late.
* VillainousBreakdown: By the end he's a screaming, ranting mess.
-->''"I can still win. I '''always''' win!"''
* VillainHasAPoint: Despite his racism and fanaticism, Azrael's correct about the threat that GENESIS poses to Earth and he's not wrong in calling out ZAFT for condemning nuclear weapons as "barbarous" while being willing to use GENESIS. ''One'' shot from GENESIS can make most of Earth uninhabitable if it hits the planet due to sheer amount of heat and radiation, making it countless more times more devastating than ''their entire nuclear stockpile''.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Played with. His racism is well known and publicized, but in the Earth Forces, [[FantasticRacism anti-Coordinator sentiment]] is hardly uncommon. He's all but worshiped by the OMNI high command, and is a well-respected figure in the Atlantic Federation. What he's hiding from everyone is what an [[AxeCrazy utter]] [[TheSociopath psycho]] he is, and the fact that he [[LackOfEmpathy couldn't care less]] about [[WeHaveReserves individual Naturals]].
* VillainousValour: For all of Azrael's copious faults as a leader and as a person, no one can accuse the man of being a DirtyCoward. From the episode he's introduced he joins the troops on the frontlines, and even after faced with the overwhelming firepower of G.E.N.E.S.I.S. he refuses to retreat, correctly concluding that the ZAFT superweapon has to be destroyed ASAP if Earth is to be saved. Of course, he then goes on to target the PLANT colonies instead because valor doesn't necessarily equate to sanity.
* WeHaveReserves: Azrael doesn't give a damn about casualties, and goes so far as to classify Shani, Clotho, and Orga as equipment, rather than soldiers, making them totally expendable. After GENESIS is revealed, he still prioritizes destroying the colonies over stopping GENESIS and saving the world.
* WesternTerrorists: Blue Cosmos got its start as a terror group that assassinated prominent Coordinators, and despite Azrael's public legitimacy, he's still one of these at heart.
* WouldHitAGirl: Is putting it ''very'' lightly. He bitch-slaps Flay, tries to strangle Natarle, and then [[spoiler:empties his gun into her]].
* WouldHurtAChild: He's not above this either, as seen by his aforementioned treatment of Flay and his remorseless weaponizing of the druggie trio.

[[folder:William Sutherland]]
!!! Voice Actors: Creator/MinoruInaba (Japanese), Ron Halder (English original series), Creator/MikeMcFarland (English HD remaster)
--> ''"For the preservation of our blue and natural Earth!"''
[[quoteright:130:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/william_sutherland_41970_8118.jpg]]

A member of the OMNI General Staff and a card-carrying member of Blue Cosmos, Captain Sutherland is a key member of Azrael's network and provides his link to the upper echelons of the Earth Forces' military. The mastermind behind the use of the Cyclops system at JOSH-A, Sutherland sees to it that the worst of Azrael's proposals are made a reality by the military.

* ArmchairMilitary: Surprisingly, no. Sutherland is every inch the ObstructiveBureaucrat in terms of personality, but at the Battle of Jachin Due he's on the frontlines in the Earth Forces' flagship, ''The Doolittle''.
* TheCaptain: Though as a General Staff officer he wields far more authority than the title would imply. He becomes a more traditional example after taking command of the ''Doolittle''.
* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler:When Yzak destroys the ''Doolittle'']].
%%%%%%% So he does, but what does it mean?
%%%%* CommissarCap: As is typical for EA officers.
* TheDragon: He's the closest thing that Azrael has to one, being of the "detail-oriented administrator" variety.
* EvilGenius: As Blue Cosmos' strategist and a member of the General Staff he does double-duty as both this trope and TheDragon to Azrael.
* {{Expy}}: To Bask Om and Jamitov of Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam.
* FantasticRacism: He's a member of Blue Cosmos, and is part of Azrael's plan to exterminate the Coordinators.
* FinalSolution: He's the one who approves the use of nuclear weapons at Jachin Due; like Azrael he wants every last Coordinator reduced to radioactive ashes.
* GeneralRipper: Absolutely. He fully supports Azrael's [[FinalSolution agenda]] and works to make it a reality.
* InsaneAdmiral: He's quieter about it than say, Patrick Zala, but yeah, he's still a madman.
* KnightTemplar: The most charitable interpretation of his character. Unlike Azrael (who's DrivenByEnvy) he genuinely seems to believe that the Coordinators need to be exterminated in order to save the Naturals.
* MugglePower: Blue Cosmos is dedicated to wiping out Coordinators in order to "protect" the Naturals.
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: In the same way as his boss.
* NonActionGuy: He's a General Staff officer, so he doesn't become personally involved in combat. His willingness to go to the front captaining ''The Doolittle'' keeps him out of ArmchairMilitary territory though.
* NukeEm: Commands the nucelar attack on ZAFT.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: He acts as one during his initial appearance, where he heads the investigation into the ''Archangel'''s actions, and even after his InsaneAdmiral status is unveiled, clearly has the heart and soul of a pencil-pusher. The absolutely banal nature of his evil provides for a sharp contrast with his flamboyant boss; he's essentially Adolf Eichmann to Azrael's UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler.
* OhCrap: Immediately before being [[spoiler:blown up by Yzak]].
* ThePoliticalOfficer: Crossed with ObstructiveBureaucrat. He acts as Azrael's man on the General Staff and enforces Blue Cosmos' bigotry on everyone else.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: A racist jackass, just like his superior.
* RankUp: By the time of the last few episodes, he's been promoted to Admiral, as shown in Episode 47.
* SmugSnake: Much like his boss, though with less AxeCrazy and more ObstructiveBureaucrat.
* TheStrategist:: All those [[MoralEventHorizon horrific plans]] you see the Earth Forces implementing? Blame this jackass.
* VillainInAWhiteSuit: Wears a white EA uniform. We find out he's high up with Blue Cosmos.
* WeaponsOfMassDestruction: He's the one who decided to use the Cyclops system, and turns the key to activate it, while giving a little speech about preserving the Earth's purity.
* WeHaveReserves: Like his boss, Sutherland doesn't care too much about individual lives. At JOSH-A he deliberately sacrifices the lives of thousands of his allies in order to halt ZAFT ''and'' weaken Eurasia's influence.

[[folder:Clotho Bauer, Orga Sabnak, and Shani Andras]]
!!!Clotho's Voice Actors: Creator/HiroYuki (Japanese), Creator/AndrewToth (English original series), Creator/TonyAzzolino (English HD Remaster)
-->''"How should I know!? [[SoreLoser I only kill because otherwise I'll be killed]]! That's my ONLY reason!"''
->'''Main mecha:''' GAT-X370 Raider Gundam
!!!Orga's Voice Actors: {{Ryohei Odai}} (Japanese), Creator/TedCole (English original series), Creator/ChrisJaiAlex (English HD remaster)
-->''"It's really [[BloodKnight not much fun fighting the small fry]]."''
->'''Main mecha:''' GAT-X131 Calamity Gundam
!!!Shani's Voice Actors: ShunichiMiyamoto (Japanese), Creator/RichardIanCox (English original series), Creator/JonAllen (English HD remaster)
-->''"[[AxeCrazy Who's that guy taking a shot at me!?]]"''
->'''Main mecha:''' GAT-X252 Forbidden Gundam
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_691.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Right to left: [[AxeCrazy Shani]], [[PsychoticSmirk Orga]], [[NotAGame Clotho]]]]

Three "biological [=CPUs=]" brought in by Azrael to pilot his shiny new Gundams during the attack on Orb, Clotho Buer, Orga Sabnak, and Shani Andras are the Earth Alliance's most powerful weapons during the final weeks of the war. Fed a steady stream of drugs that are both performance enhancing and highly addictive, it's unclear whether this is what drove them nuts or if they were always that way. Regardless, the trio are capable of taking on Coordinators in superior mobile suits toe-to-toe and coming out on top more often than not, despite being completely and utterly psychotic. Clotho pilots the Raider; his primary hobby outside of battle is playing {{Shmups}}, and he's fond of shouting gaming-inspiring phrases like "game over!" in combat. Orga is assigned to the Calamity; outside of battle, he's usually found reading paperback novels. Shani pilots the Forbidden, and spends his downtime ignoring the rest of the world by [[HeadphonesEqualIsolation listening to music on his headphones]]. He cultivates his PeekABangs to hide his heterochromia.

* AscendedExtra: Clotho to an extent. He tends to get the camera focus in combat, actually manages to disable Kira one time, manages to outlive the other two and even Azrael for at least one episode, and is the only one of the trio to actually attempt to speak to Kira and Athrun. Granted all he really does is reiterate to Athrun that he's totally nuts but still.
* AxCrazy: At least in combat; outside of battle they tend to ignore everyone around them. Shani is probably the worst.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: The hell that Blue Cosmos put them through has left them unstable, psychopathic wrecks.
* BerserkButton: Okay, they're all pretty unstable, but Shani's even more likely to snap than usual if someone whom he considers weak tries to stop him.
--> "Who's that guy taking a shot at me!?"
* TheBerserker: Any one of them can snap at any time in battle if they get ticked off at the wrong moment.
* {{BFG}}: The Calamity is a flying artillery platform, and after the Buster, features the largest cannons seen in series.
* BloodKnight: Clotho treats war as a game and the other two just love destroying things.
* BoxedCrook: In their original backstory they were death row prisoners, offered a reprieve if they agreed to be experimented on.
* TheBrute: The three of them serve as Azrael's Brute squad, providing the Earth Forces with [[AxeCrazy vicious]], [[WeHaveReserves expendable]] muscle.
* CatchPhrase: Orga loves to say "Hey, hey, ''hey''!" when firing at MechaMooks.
* ChestBlaster: The Calamity's energy cannon.
* CreepyMonotone: Despite how AxeCrazy he is, unless he's ''really'' riled up, Shani's normal voice in battle is almost completely devoid of inflection.
* DeathFromAbove: The Raider and the Forbidden are both flight capable. Typically Clotho provides fire support, while Shani closes with the target.
* DeflectorShields: The Forbidden's shield which doesn't absorb [[EnergyWeapon beam damage]], but bounces it away at another angle.
* DragonTheirFeet: [[spoiler:Clotho outlives Azrael]] but he's left a broken, insane mess, who just gives one last ditch effort to kill the heroes before [[spoiler:dying himself.]]
* DramaPreservingHandicap: Shani's Forbidden has a field that deflects beam shots. This makes him a perfect counter for the new Freedom and Justice with their unlimited energy and powerful beam weapons since Shani is immune to it and can shield the other two preventing Kira and Athrun from just wasting them with firepower like they do most other enemies late in the series. [[spoiler:After Yzak finally kills Shani, Kira and Athrun are easily able to close in and destroy Orga without the former to shield him anymore]]
* DrugsAreBad: Psycho serum is, anyway.
* EpicFlail: The Raider features one in [[TransformingMecha mobile suit mode]].
* EvilLaugh: None of them are afraid to indulge in one.
* EvilRedhead: Clotho is a redheaded enforcer for a racist hate group.
* {{Expy}}: Not as individuals, but as the group the pre-Extended trio have a lot in common with the Cyber Newtypes of the UC era.
* FlawedPrototype: They manage to be this and SuperPrototype at the same time. While it's true that they have far superior combat skills to their successors in the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Extended]], they're also [[PsychoPrototype highly unstable emotionally]], cannot be trusted with any jobs outside of piloting, and have a two hour time limit on combat that is absolutely crippling when it comes to usability. The later versions essentially swap out the better piloting skills for increased loyalty and versatility, and a far longer time limit (they only have to be maintained once a day).
* HairTriggerTemper: They're all easy to set off, but for Clotho, that may as well be 'permanently enraged'. He even gets mad at Orga for requiring to ride on his flight-capable Gundam to escape from battle.
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: [[spoiler:Orga]] is bisected by Athrun.
* HorrorHunger: The withdrawal symptoms are fatal, and exceedingly painful.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:Shani]], courtesy of Yzak.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: A LaughingMad Clotho tries to attack the disabled Buster towards the end of the Jachin Due battle.
* LackOfEmpathy: All three have got it bad. Clotho views it all as some sort of real-life [[NotAGame video game]], Orga doesn't care who he mows down with his {{BFG}}s and Shani... Shani's an out-and-out ''[[AxeCrazy psycho]]'' who kills enemy soldiers for ''fun''.
* LaughingMad: [[spoiler:Clotho]] following the deaths of [[spoiler:Shani and Orga]] is left a laughing, EmptyShell.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe:
** Shani's Gundam, the Forbidden, in the form of a pair of shields attached to the superstructure that redirect beam weapons away from his Gundam.
** The Raider and the Calamity both have an arm-mounted shield with a built-in range weapon.
* MinorInjuryOverreaction: Shani does this for his ''Gundam'', going ballistic when it's damaged to the point where Orga has to cool him off.
-->'''Shani''': But... but that guy!
-->'''Orga''': We have to leave right now! Do you want to feel that pain again!?
* MysteriousPast: All records of their pasts have been erased from the EA's military database and the director stated in an interview that he never intended to reveal any of their backstories. The usual fan theory is that they were juvenile criminals who volunteered to be Boosted Men to escape execution, but there's no proof of that in any canon materials.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Calamity, The Raider, and The Forbidden? I think I'm going to be... somewhere else for a while.
** The three of them have the surnames of demons in the ''Ars Goetia,'' a tome of demonology. Clotho is based on President Buer, Orga on Marquis Sabnock, and Shani on Marquis Andras. Notably, Marquis Sabnock is a lion-headed soldier who constructs towers full of weapons, a reasonable description of the blond Orga piloting the Calamity, while Marquis Andras is far and away considered one of the most dangerous, unpredictable, and violent--pretty evocative of Shani.
* NightmareFetishist: Shani actually considers nuclear explosions to be dazzling, which he says in an awed voice, and later says they're too pretty while defending the Peacemaker forces carrying the nukes.
* NonUniformUniform: All three have customized their uniforms: Shani wears his top unbuttoned and with ripped jeans instead of the normal uniform pants, Orga's has no sleeves and a popped collar, and Clotho's looks more like a crop top than anything else.
* NotAGame: Clotho seems to have trouble understanding that he isn't playing a video game. He keeps right on killing, not out of patriotism or loyalty, but because he hates to lose.
* TheQuietOne: Shani's this outside of battle. During battle he's a cackling lunatic.
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: Substitute "quirky" for "psychotic and persistent" and you've got them.
* ThePawn: They're well aware Azrael is using them for his profit, but are happy enough to continue being [[BloodKnight Blood Knights]].
* PeekABangs: Shani's help to enhance his rather emo appearance when he's out of combat.
* PowerTrio: Orga's the Ego, being the group's leader; Shani's the Id, being the least restraint of all three of them; and Clotho's the Superego, being the only one of the trio who converses with the heroes and talks about his reasons for fighting. Although, all three of them are certifiably insane.
* PsychopathicManchild: Clotho and Orga both view fighting as nothing but a game; Clotho in particular also states that he only fights because he [[SoreLoser hates losing]], and has an [[HairTriggerTemper absolutely horrible temper]], while Orga seems to treat the whole thing as child's play.
* PsychoPrototype: It's revealed in [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny the sequel]] that they are the forerunners of the Extended program. The Extended might have issues, but compared to these three, they're pillars of stability.
* PsychoSerum: Used partly to increase combat performance and partly to ensure loyalty; the effects of withdrawal are ''fatal'', precluding any attempt at desertion.
%%* PsychoticSmirk: Orga often features one.
* PutTheLaughterInSlaughter: All of them, but especially Shani, love laughing in combat.
* RestrainingBolt: Their PsychoSerum serves as one. The effects of withdrawal are fatal, firmly anchoring their loyalty to Azrael.
* SanitySlippage: A little crazier with every episode as their PsychoSerum does its work on their minds.
* SayMyName: Shout each other's at regular intervals (typically because one of them has just tried to shoot the others).
* ScreamingWarrior: Clotho tends to yell constantly at the top of his lungs whenever he's fighting.
* SinisterScythe: Shani's Forbidden Gundam features the Nidhoggr Heavy Scythe, designed for slicing battleships and mobile suits.
* SlasherSmile: All three, but most frequently Shani have this mad battle lust grin.
* SlaveMooks: They're only loyal to Azrael because they will die without frequent doses of PsychoSerum.
* SociopathicSoldier: Type II. Despite being virtual slaves, hating their [[BadBoss boss]], and being designated as ''equipment'' rather than personnel, they still ''really'' enjoy their work.
* SoreLoser: Clotho, who rants about how much he hates to lose at one point. Clearly the boy has spent too much time around Azrael.
* SuperPrototype: To the Extended of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]''. They have a better combat record, but [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity with such mental liabilities]] that the Extended [[SanityHasAdvantages dialed it back]].
* SuperSoldier: Chemically-enhanced soldiers intended to take on the Coordinators.
* TeensAreMonsters: If you go off of their original backstory, they were already monsters long before they became {{Sociopathic Soldier}}s.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: None of them are team players, which occasionally devolves into them fighting ''each other'' instead of their enemy. Orga is rather careless about what he's shooting at, Clotho hates it when his teammates need to hitch a ride on his flight-capable Gundam, and Shani prefers to ignore his teammates' existence entirely during combat. Still, when they do cooperate, it really sucks to be the other guy.
* TransformingMecha: Raider switches between a normal MS mode and an almost bird-like flight mode, while The Forbidden features a retractable superstructure and deflector shields.
* UnfriendlyFire: On several occasions Orga comes very close to hitting his partners.
* VerbalTic:
** Orga's "hey, hey, hey!!"
** Clotho's fondness for shouting video game battle phrases.
* VillainousBreakdown: When they start to go through withdrawal, it gets ''ugly''. Clotho gets ''[[UpToEleven worse]]'' after [[spoiler:losing Shani and Orga]].
-->'''Clotho''': You know what...? I'm gonna...!
* VitriolicBestBuds: They may not like each other very much, but they hate the rest of the world far more, and are pretty dependent on one another for emotional stability. [[spoiler:When Shani dies, the other two freak]].
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The best pilots the Earth Forces have to offer, they've essentially traded in their emotional stability for the ability to fight at the same level as the Coordinators.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Clotho has orange hair, while Shani has light green.

!ZAFT
The Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty, representing the Coordinators living in the newly independent PLANT nation at L5. As its military arm, ZAFT is the primary antagonist at the beginning of the series. Fighting for independence from the Earth nations that built the [=PLANTs=] they live in, their fight is far more complicated than an idealistic crusade against tyranny. Their presentation changes drastically during the course of the series, managing to become both more and less sympathic at the same time.

[[folder:Rau Le Creuset]]
!!'''Main mecha:''' ZGMF-515 CGUE, AMF-101 DINN, ZGMF-600[=GuAIZ=], [=ZGMF-X13A=] Providence Gundam
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/ToshihikoSeki (Japanese), Creator/MarkOliver (English), Kevin T. Collins (English HD Remaster dub)
->''"Suspicion, ignorance, prejudice, the dark emotions directed at those who can be loved. If love is the brightest light, then are these emotions created from the shadow it casts? Things that are different, things we don't understand, differences that foster anxiety, leading to hatred, and ultimately...confrontation."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Rau_Le_Creuset_3030.jpg]]

Athrun's commanding officer and Patrick Zala's right-hand man, Le Creuset is a feared ZAFT ship captain and mobile suit pilot, renowned for his ability and his ruthlessness. He is assigned to hunt down the ''Archangel'', and is later given command of the assaults on Alaska and Panama, and the defence of Jachin Due. Always masked, Le Creuset is an enigmatic figure with a grudge against Mu La Flaga, and his own agenda, which he keeps entirely to himself. A very dangerous man.

Le Creuset is a spoiler-heavy character, so read with caution.

* AccentAdaptation: Gets a nice transatlantic one in English from Creator/MarkOliver to go with his formal manners and theatrical tastes (and a very fine dub performance).
* AceCustom: Flies several high-end mass production mobile suits, all of them painted silver. These include a GINN High Maneuver Type, a CGUE command suit, a flight-capable DINN, and one of the new production [=GuAIZ=]'s, which had just come off the line, and incorporates an OS based on the one in the stolen Gundams. The only exception to the rule is the SuperPrototype Providence Gundam.
* AcePilot: One of the few snipers in ''Gundam'', he fights all of his battles from a distance to lethal effect, and unlike other pilots who seem to focus solely on ranged battles, Rau is fully capable of taking on very strong Coordinators like Kira in close range combat provided his mobile suit could keep up.
* AffablyEvil: His courteous and thoughtful nature is real. [[spoiler: Considering he was likely raised to be exactly the opposite, it's both innate and his ''choice''. The darkness he throws himself into and the damage he causes are equally real.]]
* AlertnessBlink: Experiences a Newtype Flash whenever Mu La Flaga is within a few kilometers. It is one of the few things that point to their having newtype-like abilities. Interestingly he also receives it under other circumstances than Mu's arrival, suggesting that his Newtype powers are stronger than Mu's.
* {{Archenemy}}: To Mu [[spoiler:and later Kira.]]
* ArchnemesisDad: [[spoiler:Rau was cloned from La Flaga's father, and meant to serve as a replacement son, he could easily be seen as fullfilling either trope]].
* {{Attack Drone}}s: The Providence features the DRAGOON System, which is basically this trope. The Gundam possesses 3 large pods and 8 smaller ones, the former equipped with 9 beam guns each for a wideshot, the latter with 2 beam guns each for a normal shot. Together, the Providence carries a total of ''43'' beam gun nozzles.
* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:Post SanitySlippage. Given that his series-long plan of destroying all life is about to come into fruition, why hide it anymore?]]
* BadassNormal: [[spoiler:He may be a clone of Al Da Flaga, but that doesn't give him any special abilities- aside from the hints that he and Mu may be Newtypes (see AlertnessBlink above). Yet he is still good enough to fake being a Coordinator.]]
* BeamSpam: The Freedom's BeamSpam is so famous that it's easy to forget that Rau's Providence is the true king of spam in SEED. The suit itself has one oversized beam rifle and a pair of beam guns built into its shield, and is fitted with a DRAGOON system that lets it remote-control eleven {{Attack Drone}}s - three large, eight small. The small ones have two beam guns each, while the large ones have nine, giving the Providence a grand total of ''forty-six'' beam guns that it can fire from a dozen different directions at once. Most of the FinalBattle consists of Kira trying to find a way through Rau's curtain of beam fire without losing too many important parts of his suit's anatomy in the process.
* BerserkButton: Do not try to take off ([[spoiler:or ''shoot off'']]) his mask. [[spoiler:We're looking at ''you'', Mu.]]
* BetaTestBaddie: [[spoiler:He is essentially a byproduct of the Ultimate Coordinator project, created by Dr. Hibiki in order to secure the funding needed to produce Kira.]]
%%%%* BewareTheSuperman: Makes some comments to this effect where Kira is concerned.
* BigBad: [[spoiler: He's the one pulling both the strings of both Azarael and Patrick Zala, to drive them against each other in war of mutually assured destruction because he believes all life is meaningless and thus should be wiped out.]]
* BiggerStick: The Providence, which is from the same line as the Freedom and the Justice.
* BilingualBonus: It's very subtle, but there are a couple of linguistic things in Japanese that point to [[spoiler:Mu and Rau being related, even with the totally different personalities and without the bigger hints: they still both "Oi, oi" and "yare, yare" a couple of times, and there's Rau's "ojousan" versus Mu's "jouchan"]].
* {{Biseinen}}: His mask obscures it, but he is quite the pretty boy.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: The Providence's [[LaserBlade beam saber]] is built into its arm-mounted shield.
* BreakThemByTalking: Rau makes a habit of this -- particularly with Flay, Mu, and Kira. His effectiveness varies.
* BrokenAce: A villainous example, to say the least.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: He is not so much "quirky" as he tends to act on his own initiative more than his superiors might wish. There is also the whole "constantly wearing a mask" thing. Damned if he doesn't get results, though.
* CharClone: A blond AcePilot with an agenda, alias, and CoolMask who is also TheRival? Check! Gundam contractual obligations fulfilled.
* TheChessmaster: He beautifully orchestrates events so that the Earth Alliance will fire [[spoiler:nuclear weapons]] and ZAFT will fire [[spoiler:GENESIS]].
* CloneDegeneration: [[spoiler:Rau's telomeres are too short, leaving him effectively dying of old age at 25 years old. He is forced to take increasingly large doses of drugs to stabilise this, and is subject to seizures at irregular intervals as his body breaks down.]]
* CloningBlues: [[spoiler:More psychological than anything else, though see above. He believes that he has no real identity, and a result his sense of self-worth is more than a little damaged.]]
* CommandingCoolness: Like most ZAFT officers he holds the generic rank of "commander".
* CoolMask: He is a CharClone, after all.
* CulturedWarrior: Rau philosophizes like crazy, has the most skilled rhetoric in the show, and states he doesn't want to be mocked by future historians. He has a fierce intelligence and is clearly interested in more than being a soldier.
* CynicalMentor: To Athrun and Yzak. He's the opposite of idealistic, yet still rather sympathetic to unhappy, cynical Athrun and also saves hotheaded Yzak [[spoiler:from getting killed at Alaska]].
* DarthVaderClone: Well, aside from the [[spoiler:TrulySingleParent]], poor health, lethality, constant face covering, DragonWithAnAgenda and the fact that it means "dark father" (and the LukeIAmYourFather moment)... Both Rau and Anakin were perfectly willing to acknowledge, respect, and even love the good in the world. They just both ultimately believe that hatred is stronger. This even manages to spill over into the next series. Militarily, Le Creuset's commanding authority (and political position) is also comparable to Vader's zenith as Supreme Commander as of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.
* DarkIsEvil: As an iconic 'evil Gundam', his Providence uses a much darker version of the traditional red, white, and blue colour scheme (the red and blue stick, but the white is replaced a ''very'' dark grey). It makes a striking contrast with his earlier silver-gray suits, too - the fact that he starts piloting it shortly after being revealed as a [[spoiler:nihilistic OmnicidalManiac is almost certainly not a coincidence.]]
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:Wants to die, with the caveat that [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum everyone else goes first]].]]
* {{Dehumanization}}: An extension of his [[spoiler: CloningBlues above]]. [[spoiler: He's physically, mentally, and emotionally suffering from the consequences of the war as well as his own body breaking down — the scene where he needs his pills after Mendel makes him seem more animal than human — and in the end claims not to believe people will ever stop trying to kill each other. He also loathes Kira for several reasons, two major being getting to live without any comparable consequences and also that Kira's true existence IS likely to set off waves of greed and violence, just like George Glenn's — not to mention the dehumanizing and philosophically horrifying ramifications of being born "exactly how someone else wants you to be". It takes Lacus's countering kindness to keep Rau's initial BreakingSpeech to Kira from sticking]].
* DoubleAgent: Both Patrick Zala and [[spoiler:Muruta Azrael]] think he is working for them. [[spoiler: He is manipulating both to his own ends]].
* DissonantSerenity: Rau is perfectly happy to dole out cheerful {{Breaking Speech}}es in the midst of battle. [[spoiler:Particularly jarring in the last episode, but this may be due to his [[SanitySlippage questionable sanity]]]] at the time. Mu is fond of [[LampshadeHanging sticking lampshades]] ''all over'' this.
* DragonInChief: He acts as Patrick Zala's right hand man, though [[spoiler:he's really the series' BigBad]] and Patrick wouldn't have gotten anywhere without Le Creuset pulling his strings.
* DroneDeployer: The Providence's main feature are its numerous DRAGOON remote weapons.
* EleventhHourSuperpower: Upgrading to the Providence in time for the finale.
* EnigmaticMinion: To Patrick Zala. From the beginning it is clear that Le Creuset has his own agenda, but just what that agenda is remains a secret until the end of the series. He actually remains with Zala for a surprisingly long time, only leaving [[spoiler:after asking if he should kill Athrun, and [[TheUnfettered being told it didn't matter]]]].
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He's a complex guy so he gets a few.
** First is when he orders anti-fortress equipment used on Heliopolis, showing that he is both fine with and actively willing to destroy things.
** Then there's the point where he talks about Athrun returning sobbing with Lacus's dead body. Not only does it flash his dark side, [[spoiler:Athrun ended up doing exactly this in the sequel with ''Meer,'' [[ExactWords who certainly counts as "Lacus's" body]]]] -- Rau tends to be right about a lot of things...
** And then there's the famous moment he stops going after the ''Archangel'' after [[MoralityPet Lacus yells at him and tells him off,]] even though someone like him could (apparently) have easily brushed her aside. Even he has limits and a continued willingness to listen, however surprising those might be.
** Finally, the ClipShow he originally narrates has him thinking ''way'' more about [[ThePhilosopher people and why they are doing what they're doing]] than (possibly barring Lacus and certainly onscreen) any other character in the show. It's worth noting that [[WhatYouAreInTheDark unmasked and alone here,]] he is very sane and rather fond of the truth, despite later appearances.
* EvilCounterpart: To no fewer than ''three'' characters: Mu (as his [[spoiler:cloned "brother" and fellow {{Mentor}}]]), Kira (they're both results of [[spoiler:GeneticEngineering experiments]], with Le Creuset showing how badly Kira could have turned out if he hadn't been raised by the right people), and Lacus (on a purely philosophical level).
* EvilIsBigger: While it is the standard height for a military mobile suit, his Providence is the bulkiest Gundam in the show, with a backpack to emphasise its imposing build. Even its other weapons such as beam rifle and beam saber are larger than the standard, with [[{{BFG}} a beam rifle the size of a beam ''bazooka'']] and [[{{BFS}} an arm mounted beam saber that is as long as an anti-''ship'' sword]]. Even the Freedom and the Justice, which comes from the same line of Gundams, look positively delicate next to it.
* EvilIsHammy: Rau is rather understated at the beginning of the series; it is not until his real plans come out that he starts ChewingTheScenery.
* ExactWords: Overlapping with CassandraTruth, Rau is fond of these, seemingly because his Newtype abilities come with some unspecified level of PsychicPowers. Among others:
** Talking about Athrun's engagement at the beginning, he tells him "the blood of Committee Chairman Zala and the blood of Chairman Clyne will create a bright light for the future. I'm counting on you." By the end of the show, [[spoiler: Siegel and Patrick have both been murdered and GENESIS has created a very bright light thanks to exploding by Athrun self-destructing his Gundam, killing Rau]].
** Lacus tells ''him'' with a knowing look that "war results may be very important, but please do not forget about all the people who die along the way". He promptly and sincerely promises her that he will not.
** "Earth is going [[spoiler:to burn. And the tears and screams of the survivors will fuel the next war." Consider what happens post-ColonyDrop in the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny next show]]]].
** "The Chairman is having a hell of a time trying to get Lacus Clyne under control." Again, [[spoiler:see the following series]].
* {{Expy}}: So there's a guy. Constantly wearing a mask, having issues with his health and identity and the rest of the world since birth. Manipulating a couple of jerks, perfectly willing to use threats, psychological pressure, and violence, and the only thing that seemingly has ''any'' hold over him is a little soprano ingenue with a Scandinavian father... oh, yeah, and there's also the reasonably decent guy she's engaged to. Rau's dislike of copying is [[Literature/ThePhantomofTheOpera probably the only reason he didn't change his name to ''Erik''.]] He still makes a hell of a chandelier crash [[spoiler:shooting a light fixture at Mendel]]. [[note]]It's also worth noting "Christine" takes several levels of badass in this show and is more than a match for him. Also that ''her'' fiancé's name was ''Raoul''...[[/note]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: With Patrick Zala, [[spoiler:yet he ''still'' doesn't betray him to his face. To always speak so highly of "His Excellency" and only show infrequent internal signs of displeasure, means the former may not have been entirely an act. Also that Rau is a superlative StepfordSmiler. Downplayed]].
* FoeRomanceSubtext: Rau spends an awful lot of time privately thinking about or publicly praising (or actually listening to) Lacus, who has nothing to do with any of his work, goals, or machinations (and even very publicly stops him once). There's even a moment near the end of the show when Ezalia Joule calls upon "the people who love her" in Japanese, and the person we see... is Rau. Considering their characters have strong analogues to Erik and Christine Daäe in ''Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' or ''Franchise/StarWars''' Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, or Char Aznable and Lalah Sune from the original series, it's not even that strange.
* {{Foil}}: He shares a few things with [[Characters/GundamCharAznable Char Aznable]]: masked blond aliasing villainy. However, their personalities, goals, and methods are so different that it's ColorCodedForYourConvenience with a complete and total lack of Char's infamous red around Rau. [[spoiler: The sequel is both a surprise and another story, yet still foiling him against [[Creator/ShuichiIkeda the original Char]]]]. He and the [[spoiler:[[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Frost brothers]] would also have [[StrawNihilist a lot to talk about]]]].
** Mu. Rau's negative skepticism constantly plays off Mu's easygoing willingness not to question much. It's almost a case of [[spoiler:SiblingYinYang]].
** Athrun. Patrick Zala treats ''him'' like the favored son and shows Athrun what amounts to zero kindness. Due to his [[AbusiveParent own]] past and probably because of this, Rau's generally quite sympathetic to Athrun. He's also [[MoralityPet somewhat more interested in Athrun's fiancee]] than Athrun is...
** Both he and Lacus are ThePhilosopher with a knack for good manners and BreakThemByTalking. She's accused of being a traitor and a spy; he really ''is'' a DoubleAgent. Neither of them is at all happy with the current state of the world and each looks for channels outside conventional government and warfare to deal with it. Rau even [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience ends up with a pale-purple and white pilot suit]] that's very similar to her general color scheme. However, Lacus wants people to stop killing each other -- Rau no longer [[spoiler:believes they're capable of it]].
* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler:Rau was illegally cloned by an [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney irredeemable rich jerk]] of a businessman whose first words upon seeing his new son were "This is me, right?" Said biological template went on to [[ParentalAbandonment abandon]] and possibly abuse him. Add in his CloneDegeneration, and the fact that he is a dying man at twenty-five, and his actions become much more understandable, but not excusable.]]
%%* IcyBlueEyes: Beneath the mask.
* HatesEveryoneEqually: [[spoiler: As much FantasticRacism there already is with one side wanting to destroy the other, his hatred is focused on all sides of the conflict. In his own perspective, both Natural and Coordinator alike deserve what he believes to be their inevitable fate for all the crimes that they're capable of. [[StrawNihilist This is by no means a positive example.]]]]
* HeroKiller: Even when he doesn't pull the trigger he racks up quite a body count. [[spoiler:His manipulations lead to the deaths of both Mu La Flaga ([[OrwellianRetcon at the time]]) and Natarle and he directly kills Flay. He'd have killed Lacus and Dearka had Kira and Yzak not been able to intervene in time.]]
* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves: [[spoiler:Part of his philosophy; he believes he is just speeding up the process]].
* InsaneAdmiral: [[spoiler:He masks it well, but at the end Le Creuset is either this or doing a damn fine imitation.]]
* {{Keigo}}: Not constantly like Lacus, but Rau is essentially the runner-up; still a very formal person who uses a good bit of this, especially around or in reference to His Excellency (Committee) Chairman Zala, and who tends to default to proper speech, frequently.
* KickTheDog: He [[spoiler:kills Flay just to hurt Kira, though it's highly ambiguous as to whether he knew she was on the shuttle or was just trying to destroy the thing Kira was protecting. He's also the person mainly responsible for the gruesome Cyclops incident at JOSH-A, [[ALighterShadeOfBlack although that's de-emphasized due to the sadism, racism, and indifference of OMNI high command.]]]]
* KillAllHumans: [[spoiler:His goal is to destroy humanity, be it Natural or Coordinator.]]
* LargeHam: It's partly Mark Oliver's accent and performance in the Ocean Group dub, but considering Rau is basically Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera InSpace, he is fond of theatrical gestures and dramatic lines and monologues right from the get-go, with Mendel probably his best performance.
* TheLastDance: [[spoiler:The entire plot of the series is revealed to be winding down to his.]]
* LightIsNotGood: He [[VillainInAWhiteSuit wears white]], pilots mostly white mobile suits, has a name meaning "The Crucible", and eventually pilots The Providence. ''Definitely'' not a good guy.
* LukeIAmYourFather: Or rather, [[spoiler:Mu, I am your father's clone; Kira, this is all ''your'' father's fault for getting involved with the guy and you're the lab experiment my existence paid for]].
* MalevolentMaskedMan: Constantly wears a mask and is one of the worst people in the series.
* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:Beautifully manipulates ''everyone'', from his subordinates to his superiors to his enemies, to further his goals.]]
* MaskOfSanity: [[spoiler:Throughout the series seems to be a calm, efficient ReasonableAuthorityFigure who just happens to be working for the bad guys. This made the revelation of how seriously twisted he really is all the more shocking when he started ranting and raving in front of Kira and Mu. And then he goes right back to being calm and collected in public after said confrontation. Bonus points for actually wearing a mask all the time, and it only comes off when he's at the height of his crazy episode.]]
* MeaningfulName: "Le Creuset" is French for "crucible". [[spoiler:Doubly meaningful, as he chose the name himself once he discovered what he was.]]
* MercyKill: [[spoiler:Seems to believe he's performing one on the human species as a whole]].
* MidSeasonUpgrade: Le Creuset upgrades his suits throughout the show, starting with a Ginn High Maneuver Type, than flying a CGUE, a DINN, and the first of the new [=GuAIZs=]. It's not until the finale, however, that he gains a Gundam, in the form of the Providence.
* MightyGlacier: The Providence is pretty bulky and thus not as agile when compared to the Freedom and Justice, but the DRAGOON AttackDrones move with enough speed to counterbalance this defect, and as his sword fight with Mu and Kira shows, the suit's still quick where it counts.
* MisanthropeSupreme: [[spoiler:Firmly believes that HumansAreBastards, and therefore, need to die.]]
* MoralityPet: Lacus. He praises her effusively without an obvious reason, remembers words she said months later, and she's the only one he's ever shown to listen to, even when she does it by playing dirty and threatening a ThisIsUnforgivable in front of his whole command. [[spoiler:Her status to him as a sort of BarrierMaiden means he still tries to kill her to usher in the apocalypse, but even while in a manic state of homicidal rage, he also says he enjoyed her songs (even loved, if you go by the original Japanese)]].
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: At Alaska, Rau tipped off Mu [[spoiler:to the Cyclops System; Mu promptly went running to save the ''Archangel'' crew. Without Le Creuset, they would have been painfully vaporized]]. What keeps this from being straightforward is Rau later saying "I dearly hope the legged ship will make it out," meaning he wasn't just taunting Mu about a horrific realization, but ''did it deliberately''.
* OmnicidalManiac: [[spoiler:His life, such as it is, has left him thoroughly convinced that we've all got to go. He may only be trying to KillAllHumans, but it's quite omnicidal in context]].
* ParentalAbandonment: Briefly hinted at in the anime; brought up explicitly in the adaptations.
* ParentalSubstitute: Downplayed with Athrun, but he's still a more reasonable alternative to Patrick. Played straight and invoked on him by [[spoiler:Flay, who claims he has her father's voice at their RescueIntroduction. He ends up protecting her and looking after her for quite a while, before subverting this by using her as a courier of chaos and finally killing her at the end]].
* PetTheDog: He's kinder, more appreciative, and more understanding to Athrun than Athrun's father is, and saves both [[spoiler:Yzak's and Flay's lives in the battle of JOSH-A, even managing to restore Flay's equilibrium to a point where she's more stable than she ever was on the ''Archangel''. Subverted when he nonchalantly shoots her escape shuttle just to cause Kira grief, though it's unclear if he noticed she was inside the shuttle.]]
* ThePhilosopher: See StrawNihilist + BreakingSpeech + EstablishingCharacterMoment.
* PlayingBothSides: [[spoiler:Sells information to the EA while acting as one of ZAFT's top commanders.]]
* RageAgainstTheReflection: Catching sight of his reflection is enough to send Le Creuset into a murderous breakdown. [[spoiler:Seeing the face of the man you hate most does that kind of thing to you.]]
* RescueIntroduction: With [[spoiler:Flay. Since the choice was "bring her" or "leave her to die", it's not really a kidnapping. Despite still being quite afraid, her time with ZAFT is the first time in the entire show Flay begins to show things like calm, propriety, and concern for others, as well as getting over the worst of her FantasticRacism, so it doubles as an emotional rescue. Even Rau being responsible for her death doesn't change the fact that without him, she would have been equally dead without having accomplished anything]].
* TheResenter: Towards La Flaga[[spoiler:, Kira, and the entire human race.]]
* TheRival: To Mu at first, though Kira gets added eventually.
* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:In the last six episodes.]]
* SelfMadeOrphan: His flashbacks rather heavily imply that [[spoiler:the fire that burned down Al Da Flaga's home was ''not'' an accident]].
* StepfordSmiler: Rau's as polite and concerned as they come. While he ''does'' [[spoiler: give frequent vent to his internal pain and dark side, it's hard to know just how much he's really screaming unless you are Mu and Kira and trapped in a creepy lab.]] Lampshaded by this, when he goes from full-throttle rage and breakdown to smiling at [[spoiler:Flay]], in seconds, and earlier, when he goes from full physical breakdown to speaking pleasantly on the phone with Patrick, almost instantly.
* StrawNihilist: [[ZigZaggingTrope It's complicated]]. [[spoiler: His life has more or less convinced him that all existence is fundamentally meaningless, but he still sees that there are virtues in humanity such as kindness and loyalty. However, as would be shown in the sequel, Rau's disappointment in and hatred of humanity kept increasing because they kept proving his worldview correct until he decided [[OmnicidalManiac to do something about it.]]]]
* SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: [[spoiler:He wants to die, but he wants everybody else to go first]].
* TalkingYourWayOut: [[spoiler:Flay]] is once again pointing a gun at his head. Rau coolly shrugs it off, points out she'll die if she does do it, points out she's not really living much at the moment anyway, questions whether it's even loaded, and finishes [[BreakThemByTalking breaking her]] by gently and correctly pointing out that she's not really a soldier (so guns and killing aren't really her thing). It's so effective, it not only keeps him alive, her attitude begins to improve afterwards. Compare Lacus with Athrun the following episode.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Tall blonde and snarky anyway.
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: The ZGMF-X'''13'''A Providence.
* TheUnfettered: He wishes for [[spoiler:the extinction of the human race, and manipulates both sides of the war to do so.]]
* TheUnreveal: Done in the televised show whenever he's shown maskless, even when the protagonists get to see his face. Even in the CompilationMovie, his face is only ever shown in one shot, and for just a few seconds at that. There isn't even anything odd about his face, which is the point. [[spoiler:He only wears the mask to cover the face of the man he was cloned from, the man he despises most in the world.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: Inverted. [[spoiler:Previously calm and collected, Le Creuset suffers from some ''serious'' SanitySlippage in the final episodes, due to his belief that his plan has ''succeeded''. After all, if it's all going to end, why pretend to be sane anymore? It's also implied that his degeneration is causing him to break down biologically.]]
* VillainInAWhiteSuit: His uniform is white, he flies pale mobile suits and there's something very off about him.
* WhiteMaskOfDoom: That white mask doesn't signify anything good.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Le Creuset's been hurt so badly that he's convinced that we all gotta go.]]
* YoungerThanTheyLook: [[spoiler:Quite possibly. We don't know how much his condition has sped up his aging and maturation]].

[[folder:Fredrik Ades]]
!!!Voice Actors: Yasuhiko Kawazu (Japanese), Creator/MichaelDobson (English original series), Creator/RayChase (English HD remaster)

The captain of the ''Vesalius'', Ades is Le Creuset's right-hand man and a capable officer in his own right. Sometimes taken aback by Le Creuset's penchant for acting without orders, Ades nevertheless follows his superior's instructions loyally. Despite his secondary role on the ship, he seems to command the respect of the Le Creuset team's pilots.

* TheCaptain: She serves as the captain of the ''Vesalius''.
%%* CommissarCap
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Stands on the bridge, saluting Athrun, Yzak, and Dearka as the ''Vesalius'' is engulfed in flames.]]
* GoingDownWithTheShip: Stays aboard the ''Vesalius'' while the rest of his men make their escape.
* TheGoodCaptain: Ades seems like a pretty good guy, despite who he's working for, and gets along well enough with his crew.
* NumberTwo: Ades may command the ship, but it's Le Creuset who determines how the missions progress.

[[folder:Athrun Zala]]
!!'''Main mecha:''' GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam, [=ZGMF-X19A=] Justice Gundam
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/AkiraIshida (Japanese), Creator/SamuelVincent (English original series dub), Creator/ChrisHackney (English HD Remaster dub)
->''"I can't exactly fight a war with a big smile on my face."''
[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_835.png]]

Kira's ForgottenChildhoodFriend and one of ZAFT's elite pilots, he spends the first half of the show trying to capture Kira and the Strike. Much more cynical than Kira, he considers himself the realist of the two, and believes Kira is being manipulated by the Naturals. He too grow progressively darker and more bitter as the series progresses, culminating in a [[TheGlovesComeOff brutal fight]] between he and Kira in the middle of the series.

* AcePilot: Like Kira, he quickly reaches this status, he is in fact the only one who can match Kira toe to toe for most of the series. It's also worthy to note that he is the pilot with ''the'' most potent [[SuperMode SEED Factor]], being the only one who can activate it at will in ''SEED'', and has never even been defeated ''once'' he activates it.
* AntiVillain: Though not a bad person by any stretch, he's still trying to capture Kira and destroy the ''Archangel'', [[spoiler:until he joins the heroes later in the story]].
* ArmedLegs: In addition to the [[BladeBelowTheShoulder ones on his arms]], the Aegis has a beam saber mounted on each foot.
* ArrangedMarriage: With Lacus Clyne, as set up by their respective fathers. They both seem okay with the arrangement, even if it does [[spoiler:end up becoming a moot point when they both fall for other people]].
* AttackDrone: The Justice's Fatum-00 can be detached and function as an unmanned support unit.
* BattleBoomerang: The Justice has one mounted on each shoulder.
* BestFriend: Despite ending up on the opposite sides of the barricades, Athrun remains the closest friend Kira has ever had. [[spoiler:Whenever they team up, they move mountains together.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Le Creuset comments that Athrun is too soft for his liking and indeed it shows because Athrun never tried to fully engage Kira trying to talk with him to join the Coordinators instead. Until after the battle when [[spoiler:Kira kills Nicol, Athrun is able to effectively ground the ''Archangel'' and go one on one with Kira, and actually destroys the Strike.]]
* {{BFG}}: The Aegis's MA Attack Mode is essentially the Gundam's whole body transforming into a large cannon.
* BigDamnKiss: After being rather hesitant to kiss Lacus earlier in the show (and nicely doing it on the cheek), he initiates a zero-gravity one of these [[spoiler:with Cagalli, just before the final battle at Jachin Due]]. It's so damn big, it's gorgeously lampshaded with Earth in the background behind them.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: Rather than hand-held, the Aegis's primary beam sabers ignite direct from its forearms.
* CharClone: Shares the other attributes of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam ''MSG''-era Char]] Le Creuset doesn't have, like piloting red mobile suits and a rivalry with the hero. [[spoiler: Until he switches sides that is.]]
* CombiningMecha: The Justice is comprised of two units - the main Gundam and a glider unit backpack, which gives it full-flight capabilities in Earth's atmosphere. It is armed with two beam cannons and two pairs of machine guns and can be remotely deployed to attack enemies on its own. The Justice can ride on it for high-altitude flight, and Athrun loves to ram it directly on his opponent's face in combat.
* ConflictingLoyalty: His status as a ZAFT soldier and doing as his father wishes conflicts with his friendship with Kira and his desire of actually ending the war peacefully. [[spoiler:He sides with Kira when he saves the Freedom with BigDamnHero moment during the battle of Orb.]]
* TheCynic: Bitter, unhappy, and convinced things are only going to get worse.
* DeadSidekick: [[spoiler:Nicol, the only member of Team Athrun to show respect towards it's commander and a personal friend of his.]]
* DeathFromAbove: The Justice's backpack allows it to fly under Earth's atmosphere, and if it is riding on it, it can fly at even higher altitudes.
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: From the little we know of Lenore, she was apparently lovely, kind, intelligent, and supportive, with the only criticism from her son while she was alive being that she worked too much (which let him spend plenty of time at Kira's house). In contrast with the very-much-alive, cold and brutal Patrick, it's no wonder Athrun remembers his mother so fondly.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Easily the most important character after Kira.
* DisposableFiance: Ends his engagement to Lacus himself when he thinks she prefers Kira. Of course, he's had more chemistry with [[spoiler:Cagalli]] the entire time, and they become an OfficialCouple.
* DoubleWeapon: Although the Justice carries two beam sabers like other Gundams, Athrun almost always combines them together into a double-bladed beam saber.
* TheDragon: Is NumberTwo to Le Creuset for most of the series' first half.
* DualWielding: The Aegis features beam sabres in both wrists and both ankles, enabling it to not just dual-wield but also ''quad-wield''. Averted with the Justice as Athrun prefers to [[DoubleWeapon combine its beam sabers]].
* {{Expy}}: The purple haired son of the Zeon-expy dictator? He's clearly one for [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Garma Zabi]] with some elements of Char thrown in such as a predilection for red mobile suits and status as TheRival.
* ForeheadOfDoom: The [[BonusMaterial omake]] SuperDeformed Character Theatres even poke fun at it, in them he doesn't seem to mind though.
* ForgottenChildhoodFriend: Kira, downplayed. Athrun still has a bulletin board full of photos of Kira, but despite being his Childhood BestFriend, they haven't been in touch at all since Athrun returned to PLANT from the Moon a couple of years before. Kira doesn't know about Athrun's engagement or the death of his mother, let alone that Athrun's in an elite part of ZAFT. It causes some nasty shocks and drives much of the initial plot.
* GadgeteerGenius: Created the Haros and Birdy.
* GiantSquid: The Attack Mode Aegis vaguely resembles a mecha-cephalopod and its only accessible weapon in this mode, the "Scylla" Multi-phase Energy Cannon, is named after a Greek mythological sea monster.
* TheGlovesComeOff: Against Kira after [[spoiler:Nicol dies.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:After Lacus plants some doubts about ZAFT's (and, more to the point, his father's) end goals and practices in his head, he decides to see for himself what the proper course of action is to take. This ends with him joining Kira and the crew of the ''Archangel''.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Athrun ''attempts'' to do this when he plans to use the Justice's self-destruction to destroy GENESIS, but Cagalli talks him out of it. It's implied there's a bit of SinsOfTheFather in his actions.]]
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Downplayed. He makes no protest when Lacus apparently chooses Kira. However whether it's Lacus he wants to be happy or ''Kira'' is another story.
* JadeColoredGlasses: Athrun has [[MeaningfulAppearance meaningful]] bright green eyes and a very hard time seeing the best in other people. His father is a rather odd subversion, where Athrun desperately ''wants'' to believe Patrick is better than the monstrous GeneralRipper he seems to have become, and [[spoiler: ends up taking a bullet from him]] just to disprove his faint hope.
* KnightInSourArmour: Big time. He's bitter, cynical, and depressed, but he really does want to make the world a better place.
* TheLadysFavor: Cagalli bestows [[spoiler:her Haumea pendant on him, and he seemingly wears it for the rest of the series, as well as claiming that it saved him]].
* TheLancer: To [[spoiler:Kira, post-HeelFaceTurn]]
* LightningBruiser: With the Justice, which is optimized for close range combat, with two beam boomerangs to complement its arsenal.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Both the Aegis and Justice have large shields. The Justice's shield is a bit more practical as its laminated coating makes it's more effective in protection against beam weapons.
* MeaningfulName:
** Athrun is Arabic, derived from the Greek erythron, which means red. [[CharClone He is a CHAR]] after all.
** His surname is a pun of "Zara", the first heavy cruiser of its own class.
** "Zara" also means "dawn".
* MeetCute: With [[spoiler:Cagalli, alone on an island, despite the fact that ''they try to kill each other several times.'' He initially doesn't notice she's a girl, she accidentally flashes him to even ''more'' embarrassment, and they basically end up noticeably liking each other despite all the bickering, weapons, and violence. Even more noticeably, [[KnightInSourArmor Athrun]] [[WhenHeSmiles actually]] [[OOCISSeriousBusiness laughs]]]].
* MidSeasonUpgrade: The Justice.
* MilitaryBrat: His dad is the head of the ZAFT military.
* MissingMom: Killed in the Junius 7 incident. Her death forms a major part of his motivation.
* MoralMyopia: Athrun goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge on Kira after he [[spoiler:killed Nicol in self-defense]]. Kira had repeatedly told Athrun that he has friends and people he cares for aboard the ''Archangel'', the ship that ''he's'' been pursuing and had been trying to sink. He gets better after [[spoiler:Cagalli]] calls him out for it.
* MrFanservice: Makes the most of the shower and shirtless scenes that he's given.
* MutualKill: Narrowly averted during his and Kira's midseason throwdown.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: [[spoiler:Subverted. He thought he could just continue following orders until the war was over then realized that wasn't going to happen unless he made an effort to seek it out, which is why he joined Kira.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Though he "wins" the final fight against Kira and the Strike]] he was very shaken up by the event and it caused him to begin questioning what he was really fighting for. [[spoiler: Eventually, this leads to his HeelFaceTurn]].
* OfficialCouple: He ends up [[spoiler:falling in love with [[LoveRedeems and being saved by]] Cagalli]].
* PerpetualFrowner: Athrun rarely smiles.
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Said word-for-word [[spoiler:to Cagalli. Not because he's offended or upset, just highly embarrassed — like Cagalli immediately is]]!
* ProHumanTranshuman: Eventually comes around to this viewpoint.
* RammingAlwaysWorks: With the Justice's Fatum-00. A feint tactic Athrun likes to use is to charge the subflight unit at an enemy to briefly stagger them before derailing the backpack to let him or Kira follow-up with another attack.
* RedemptionEarnsLife: Survives the war after switching over the Three Ships Alliance.
* ReluctantWarrior: The quote says it all really. Though it needs to be said that in contrast Kira's vocal protests, Athrun generally opts to suffer in silence.
* RomanticFalseLead: For Lacus. ''Rau'' (of all people) lampshades this by being a lot more enthusiastic about her and calling him cold.
* TheRival: Kira's.
* SayMyName: Like Kira, he does this a lot.
* SkySurfing: When not attached to its back, the Justice rides its subflight unit like this.
* ShellShockedVeteran: He's quieter about it than Kira, but yeah. The war slowly wears away at the better aspects of Athrun's personality, and by the time the sequel comes along he is [[BrokenAce pretty damn broken]].
* ShootTheDog: [[spoiler:He reasoned that he had to kill Kira because he couldn't convince him to join his fellow Coordinators and Kira was killing his comrades.]]
* ShoutOut: He and Kira issue a plethora of IneffectualDeathThreats to each other in the first half of the show, [[spoiler:but it's Cagalli]] he coldly tells [[IllKillYou "Omae wo korosu"]], in [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Heero Yuy's]] famous {{Catchphrase}}.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: Repeatedly accuses Kira of being impressionable and idealistic, and refuses to believe that his and Lacus' idealism will solve anything in the long run. [[spoiler:This changes after the revelation that he's the one being used]].
* SuperMode: SEED mode, which he can even activate at will. Athrun is effectively invincible with it active.
* TearsOfRemorse: [[spoiler:When he cries over killing Kira because Kira killed Nicol.]]
* ThrowingYourShieldAlwaysWorks: During his final battle against the Strike, Athrun does this to destroy the Skygrasper [[spoiler:(and [[OffWitHisHead beheading its pilot, Tolle]])]] when it attempted to intervene.
* TransformingMecha: The Aegis can turn into a cruiser and attack mode because of its special frame.
* TrueCompanions: [[spoiler:With Kira.]]
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Shown in flashbacks and invoked by Lacus. The bitter and cynical Athrun we all know and love is rather different from the nice kid who believed Earth and the PLANTS would never go to war.
* WellDoneSonGuy: While he sincerely wishes to end the war with as few victims as possible, he also fights to earn the approval of his father, whose own agenda is [[FinalSolution much less benevolent]]. This clouds his judgement from time to time. [[spoiler:Lacus]] calls him out on it towards the end of the series.
%%* WhenHeSmiles
* WouldntHitAGirl: Athrun has killed a bunch of people as an elite ZAFT soldier, but [[spoiler:he can't stab Cagalli... or shoot his fiancée Lacus, although [[BreakingSpeech there's a bit more at work with the latter]]]].
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Athrun's hair is blue.

[[folder:Yzak Joule]]
!!'''Main mecha:''' GAT-X102 Duel Gundam
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/TomokazuSeki (Japanese), Creator/MichaelAdamthwaite (English original series dub), Daman Mills (English HD Remaster dub)
->''"Come out and fight, Strike! Or else this pain I feel will never go away!"''[[quoteright:295:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_367.png]]

A member of the Le Creuset team, he's the most bloodthirsty and callous of the group. He has little respect for anyone he considers weak, and absolutely ''zero'' respect for Naturals as a consequence. He's close friends with Dearka, who shares many of his views, and has a developing rivalry with Athrun. He has no particular hate for the Earth Alliance (just contempt) until he's wounded during a battle with the Strike. After the resulting [[PhysicalScarsPsychologicalScars scarring]], he develops a massive [[ItsPersonal hate-on]] for Kira. Extremely temperamental and impulsive, he's the member of the group most loyal to ZAFT as a whole and Le Creuset personally.

* AcePilot: Understated, but Yzak remains one of the best pilots in whole series (mostly held back by his lack of BiggerStick), particularly following the finale.
* AlwaysSecondBest: Back in his days in the military academy, he was this to Athrun. Implied to be the root of his hostility to him.
* AntiVillain: He's a {{Jerkass}}, but his worst KickTheDog moments aren't intentional, and he ''does'' really [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold care about his friends]].
* ArmourIsUseless: Averted. The Armour Shroud [[spoiler:saves Yzak's life during his final run-in with [[SuperSoldier Shani Andras]]]].
* TheBrute: Of Le Creuset's FiveManBand: he's the most aggressive and bloodthirsty of the team.
* CloseRangeCombatant: Subverted. The Duel is spec-wise a MasterOfNone, but Yzak's headstrong and aggressive nature means it sees a lot of melee action and was the most prone to engaging the Strike in beam saber-to-beam saber combat early on. After acquiring the Assault Shroud, which gave it ''far'' more weapon options, the Duel primarily shifted to mid-range combat until purging the armor in the final battle.
* DisappearedDad: In line with the rest of the Supreme Council kids (excepting Nicol), we only see one parent. We never see his father, and he's never mentioned.
* TheDragon: To Le Creuset, following [[spoiler:Athrun and Dearka's defections]].
* DualWielding: Didn't engage in this as often as one might think, but when he does, ''hoo boy'', Yzak is ''beast.''
* EleventhHourRanger: Though he remains loyal to ZAFT for the longest of the Gundam pilots he starts growing disillusioned and horrified by ZAFT's increasing fanaticism and genocidal intent as early as the Battle of Port Panama. In the FinalBattle [[spoiler:he eventually chooses to aid the Three Ships Alliance and starts fighting alongside Kira and Dearka rather than ZAFT]].
* EvenEvilHasStandards: While not very high standards, he still has them. He is ok with shooting down a fleeing enemy shuttle (after all, the enemy that runs away will come back to fight you another day), but shooting down the enemy when they are helpless and trying to surrender? That makes him frown.
* {{Expy}}: His character design bears a striking resemblance to Henri Claytor from another one of Fukuda's series ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'' (sans the red streak on the strand of the bangs). He's also got a lot in common with ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]''s Jerid Messa, in terms of his characterisation as a HotBlooded pilot who CantCatchUp, and has the personality of a stereotypical JerkJock. Also like Jerid, Yzak initially serves to remind us that his side are the villains with his aggressive, vicious behaviour, only for the situation to change so much that by the end, he's serving as a reminder that some of them are human beings.
* FantasticRacism: Probably the most racist of the Le Creuset team at the beginning, but starts to grow out of this near the end, especially after [[spoiler:Dearka's defection.]]
* [[GiveMeASword Give Me A Gun]]: [[spoiler:In the final battle, Yzak loses his beam rifle while protecting the disabled Buster and Dearka from a completely manic Clotho. Just as the Raider closes in to finish them both, Yzak grabs the Buster's {{BFG}} and, just under the wire, puts the crazed pre-Extended out of his misery.]]
--> '''Yzak''': ''Gimme that damn thing!''
* GrenadeLauncher: The Duel's beam rifle has a single-shot grenade under the barrel.
* HairTriggerTemper: He can go from calm to extremely angry at even the slightest provocation. He starts calming down after the Battle of Panama shows him the cost of war.
* HeelFaceTurn: Downplayed. He [[spoiler:aids the Three Ships Alliance]], but only against the Earth Alliance.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Dearka. This gets sorely tested [[spoiler:after Dearka defects and Yzak finds out]], but endures.
* HiddenHeartOfGold: Much of his attitude towards the rest of the team is this, especially as the show progresses.
* HotBlooded: Of a particularly vicious sort.
* HowDareYouDieOnMe: Towards [[spoiler:Nicol]]. Despite not having much respect towards him, he is still outraged that his comrade was killed.
* ItsPersonal: With Kira and the Strike.
* KeepingTheHandicap: He [[ScarsAreForever gets a rather nasty scar fighting against Kira and swears to keep it until he defeats the Strike Gundam]].
* KickTheDog: He has a few, such as mocking Nicol as a coward early in the series. His biggest is undoubtedly when he [[spoiler:destroys a shuttle full of refugees during atmospheric reentry]] for ''being in his way'', though in his (partial) defense, he didn't know [[spoiler:it was filled with civilians]]. WordOfGod is that he was [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone horrified]] when he learned the truth.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: The Duel features a shield. Yzak's not a big fan of it but [[spoiler:it saves his life during his encounter with Shani]].
* MagneticWeapons: The railgun attach on the Duel's shoulder. ''Astray'' supplementary material reveals that the Duel was also suppose to be equipped with a 350mm "Gáe Bulg" Rail Bazooka, but this weapon was taken from it during the Heliopolis raid and ends up being used by the Astray Gold Frame.
* MasterOfNone: The Duel Gundam has no specialized features and is the most ill-equipped of the GAT units because of it. ZAFT developed the [[MechaExpansionPack Assault Shroud]] to help improve its performance.
* MechaExpansionPack: The Duel is later equipped with an "Assault Shroud" armor that greatly increases its combat versatility.
* MightyGlacier: While the Assault Shroud gives the Duel more weapons and protection, there's a trade-off in decreased mobility, especially under Earth's gravity.
* MilitaryBrat: His mother Ezalia is a member of the PLANT Supreme Council.
* MurderByMistake: The reason behind his biggest KickTheDog moment. He thought the military shuttle he shot down was filled with fleeing OMNI personnel, not [[spoiler: civilians]].
* MyBelovedSmother: To a slight degree, though mostly {{justified|Trope}} by the fact that the few interactions we see between them is just after Yzak has returned from the front lines and will be heading back into combat soon.
* PragmaticVillainy: A possible interpretation of his EvenEvilHasStandards. After all, if you kill surrendering enemies, the rest will fight to the death, making your job much harder and costing you more casualties.
* PetTheDog: His reaction to [[spoiler:Nicol]]'s death helps to humanize him. He later yells at the Freedom and the Justice to [[spoiler:get out of the way of GENESIS's blast]].
* PhysicalScarsPsychologicalScars: He keeps his disfiguring facial scar to remind himself of his need for {{revenge}} on the Strike and its pilot.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He's certainly picked up some of his mom's FantasticRacism. Unlike Ezalia, however, Yzak's manifests more as contempt for the Naturals than out-and-out hatred, and when [[spoiler:he finds out about the FinalSolution she and Patrick Zala have cooked up]] he's less than happy.
* RedemptionEarnsLife: In ''Destiny''.
* ScreamingWarrior: Most often, epic instance when he defeats [[spoiler:Shani]].
* ShedArmorGainSpeed: [[spoiler:After immediately ejecting the Assault Shroud in the final battle, the Duel was able to disarm and impale the Forbidden before Shani even had a chance to react]].
* SociopathicSoldier: A borderline Type I. He TookALevelInKindness by the end.
* SourSupporter: Of Athrun. He hates the guy's guts, but he did accept Athrun's transfer to a more elite unit after defeating the Strike with an approving, if begrudging, handshake.
* TeensAreMonsters: Early on, before he realizes the true horrors of war.
* TookALevelInKindness: Seeing the horrors of war at the Battle of Panama shocks Yzak, at which point he starts noticeably calming down. Despite remaining loyal to ZAFT for most of the series he becomes far less hotheaded and impulsive, reacting to problems with annoyance rather than the outbursts that he was known for earlier in the series.
* UnknownRival: To both Athrun and Kira. The former seems to be unaware that Yzak heckles him out of jealousy, the latter knows him only as the pilot of the Duel.
* WeakButSkilled: Played with: The Duel on paper looks like the lowest-spec Gundam in the series, lacking any special role (Artillery, Stealth, Agility, Multi-Role), and its normal weaponry is basically the Aile Strike minus the maneuverability boost. However, the lack of gimmicks is due to the fact that it's the first of the Gundams ever produced, and is in fact Seed's version of the RX-78-2, and as a result of lacking special features and being a testbed for the other 4 suits, it both carries no weaknesses overall and is incredibly physically powerful in comparison to its siblings. [[note]]And the reason for it's limited armaments? It's main weapon (an incredibly powerful bazooka) was stolen by the pilot of the Gold Frame (who fired the aforementioned bazooka and not only tore open a hole in the colony, but tore off the Gold Frame's right arm in the process. Note this is something the Duel is built to be able to withstand firing repeatedly). And when the unit is upgraded with extra armor, it barely gets slowed down by the excess weight.[[/note]] Despite that it's clearly outclassed by its sibling units and becomes woefully underpowered during the course of the series, Yzak gives Kira no end of trouble in the first half of the series, and takes out two of the Alliance's {{Super Soldier}}s (the very same ones that could fight Kira and Athrun on even footing). The Duel eventually becomes the only one of the original five Gundams to survive the war in one piece.

[[folder:Dearka Elsman]]
!!'''Main mecha:''' GAT-X103 Buster Gundam
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/AkiraSasanuma (Japanese), Creator/BradSwaile (English original series dub), Creator/JohnnyYongBosch (English HD Remaster dub)
[[quoteright:223:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_59.png]]

A member of Athrun's team, he, along with Yzak Joule, formed the crueler half of the foursome. Nearly constantly snarky and condescending, Dearka still often has to act as his more impulsive best friend Yzak's conscience. An artilleryman at heart, he prefers to engage his opponents at range, while mocking their inability to touch him.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: We don't see Dearka's mom, and as a second-gen Coordinator he wouldn't have been deliberately engineered. We can presume she's a DarkSkinnedBlonde like him, since all his colleagues seem to resemble their mothers, but his dad Tad is unambiguously white.
* AntiVillain: Like the rest of his team. His main problem seems to be that he's forgotten that Naturals are people too. [[spoiler:When he's [[WhatTheHellHero reminded of this]], he makes a HeelFaceTurn]].
* {{BFG}}: The Buster is an artillery mech after all.
* TheBrute: He shares this role with Yzak in Le Creuset's FiveManBand (although he's more cocky rather than temperamental) [[spoiler:and later becomes [[TheBigGuy the heroic version]] in the Three Ships Alliance]]. With his {{BFG}} and heavily armoured mecha, Dearka is set to do some ''serious damage''.
* ComboRifle: The Buster Gundam is equipped with a beam rifle and a railgun, either of which can be powered up by plugging the other gun into its back -- the beam rifle becoming a beam SniperRifle and the railgun becoming an [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter anti-armor shotgun]].
* DarkSkinnedBlond: Dark skin, bright blond hair.
* DeadpanSnarker: Unfailingly surly and sarcastic, especially early on. He's still this after his HeelFaceTurn but it loses its edge.
* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Makes a cruel jibe about a boyfriend dying in war in front of Miriallia, whom he'd already specified was "always crying", without bothering to think that she might not be stable or what came out of his mouth ''might be true''.
* EndearinglyDorky: Surprisingly enough for such an [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold abrasive jerk]]. Once he and Miriallia become more cordial with each other he awkwardly stutters whenever he's around her. It seems all of Dearka's time in the military left him unsure of how to deal with girls.
* EveryoneHasStandards: When he realizes that Miriallia's boyfriend ''had'' just died even he's rather ashamed at how tasteless his crack about the "stupid Natural getting himself killed" was.
* FantasticRacism: He and Yzak were the blatantly racist ones of the Le Creuset team, though compared to his friend, Dearka seemed to have just forgotten that Naturals are people too. [[spoiler:He starts to realize this after Mirillia's FreakOut.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:He joins Athrun in his desertion of ZAFT, having similar doubts about ZAFT when he's told what they've been up to.]]
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: Seeing Miriallia's FreakOut followed by her saving him from Flay makes him realize what a tool he had been and that he doesn't really know what he's fighting for.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: It wasn't Dearka fighting on the front lines that almost got him killed, it was [[spoiler: his tasteless manners, inability to keep his mouth shut, and disregard for other people]].
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Yzak.
* JerkJock: With his high opinion of himself, low opinion of everyone else, willingness to make fun of everything, and tight partnership with fellow "mean guy" Yzak, was basically this before [[spoiler:his HeelFaceTurn]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's pretty nasty until [[spoiler: he almost dies not in battle, but in enemy captivity as a direct result of his big mouth]]. [[CharacterDevelopment Then he gets better]].
* LongRangeFighter: The Buster is basically a blunt instrument. [[CripplingOverspecialization It can obliterate opponents from a distance with its powerful long range weaponry but it suffers in close quarters combat or direct engagement with other mobile suits.]]
* AMatchMadeInStockholm: His relationship with [[spoiler:Miriallia has shades of this. She tried to stab him with a knife, but then seconds later had a MyGodWhatHaveIDone and saved him from getting shot by Flay. Once Dearka makes it clear that he wasn't the one who killed Tolle, they start warming up to each other.]]
* MightyGlacier: With the heavily armored, heavily armed, but slow-moving Buster, which often makes him an easy target for Mu in his more mobile Moebius Zero and Skygrasper.
* MilitaryBrat: His father is a member of the ZAFT Supreme Council.
* OhCrap: When [[spoiler:Miriallia almost stabs him when he's restrained, also when Rau turns all of the Providence's cannons on the Buster]] in the final battle. He lives through both, despite the Buster's extensive damage.
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: He has a hard time reading the situation and knowing when to keep his mouth shut. It nearly [[spoiler:gets him killed when he unknowingly insults the recently-deceased Tolle in front of a grieving and unstable Miriallia, prompting her to attack him with a surgical knife]].
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Though his racism largely extends to agreeing with Yzak's remarks. Once he meets some Naturals he starts to get over it.
* ProHumanTranshuman: After losing the worst of his racism.
* ShoulderCannon: The Buster has missle launchers on its shoulders.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: He's one of the tallest characters on Athrun's initial team and one of the tallest teen-aged characters. He's also always got a quip ready.
* {{UST}}: One possible interpretation of his relationship with [[spoiler:Miriallia post-HeelFaceTurn]].

[[folder:Nicol Amalfi]]
!!'''Main mecha:''' GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/MamiMatsui (Japanese series), Creator/RomiPark (Japanese {{Compilation Movie}}s), Creator/GabeKhouth (English original series dub), Casey Mongillo (English HD Remaster dub)
->''"Mother... my piano..."''
[[quoteright:269:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_498.png]]

The youngest and most sensitive member of the Le Creuset Team. He looks up to Athrun, but is often bullied by Dearka and (especially) Yzak. He pilots the Blitz, and pulls his weight in combat despite the fact that he's not as skilled as the rest of the team. A genuinely NiceGuy, Nicol's only real character flaw seems to be his belief in MyCountryRightOrWrong.

* AntiVillain: More so than the rest of the Le Creuset Team, even.
* BloodFromTheMouth: Gets a bad case while [[spoiler:being cut in half]] during the WhamEpisode. Ouch.
* TheDarkChick: On a team consisting of a ManipulativeBastard, a cynical [[TheStoic stoic]], a HotBlooded {{Jerkass}}, and a DeadpanSnarker, Nicol's a genuinely NiceGuy. Moreover, his caution, use of the Mirage Colloid, and reliance on planning and technology (which would normally make him the EvilGenius) leave him the odd man out on a team that isn't noted for its sense of tact.
* EvilCounterpart: Serves a very similar role to Athrun as Tolle does to Kira, though he's not "evil" in any meaningful sense.
* GeniusBruiser: Between the rest of his teammates, Nicol is easily the most rational and collected. His Gundam, the Blitz, was also constructed specifically to handle special equipment and [[MeaningfulName blitzkrieg tactics]] that require more strategic thinking and level-mindedness to be effectively utilized.
* GrapplingHookPistol: The Blitz is equipped with a large grapple launcher on its left forearm.
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: [[spoiler:The Sword Strike's sword slices through the Blitz's cockpit and cuts Nicol in half at the waist.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:He is killed attempting to draw away the Strike from finishing off Athrun.]]
* InvisibilityCloak: His Gundam's Mirage Colloid system.
%%* InTheBack: Tries it on Kira.
* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler:''Oh boy'' does he qualify as this. It's a particularly gruesome example of it too.]]
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Along with protection, the [[SwissArmyWeapon Blitz's shield houses a beam rifle, a beam saber, and three spear missiles]]. It's a borderline case of CripplingOverspecialization though, as losing this shield will deprive the Blitz of nearly ''all'' of its weapons.
* MeaningfulName: A somewhat convoluted example. His name comes from an obscure UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem game called ''Ai Senshi Nicol''. ''Ai Senshi'' is also the title of the second CompilationMovie of the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', which features several characters [[spoiler:making a HeroicSacrifice or otherwise dying in the Earth-arc]].
%%* MilitaryBrat
* NiceGuy: He lacks Yzak's brutality, Dearka's surly nature, and Athrun's bitterness, generally presented as the most even-tempered, pleasant kid on the team.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Subverted. The Blitz has a red-and-black color scheme with its Phase Shift on, but Nicol is very much an AntiVillain.
* StuffedIntoTheFridge: [[spoiler:Athrun decides that Kira must die after he kills Nicol.]]
* TheSoCalledCoward: Yzak calls him a coward and he's mostly quiet, self-effacing and unsure of himself as well as more reliant on technology than the others, but he soloed Artemis ''by himself''. Yes, he earned that red uniform.
* TokenGoodTeammate: He lacks Athrun's cynicism, Dearka's [[HiddenHeartOfGold snark]], and Yzak's anger issues, making him the only member of the team who's even remotely capable of being objective.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler:How Athrun thinks of him afterward.]]
* VillainsOutShopping: Nicol is an avid piano player and wishes to perform in a symphony one day. [[spoiler:It'll never come to pass.]]
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Green hair.

[[folder:Rusty Mackenzie]]
One of the elite pilots of Athrun's team, he only has a few minutes of screen time as he is killed in the first episode.

* BoomHeadshot: How he is killed.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: He goes in with several ZAFT Commandos and Athrun's team which he is a part of during their raid on the Colony of Heliopolis. He only has a few minutes of screen time and is killed by an Earth Alliance soldier, Athrun does avenge his death by killing said soldier however.

[[folder:Lacus Clyne]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/RieTanaka (Japanese), Creator/ChantalStrand (English dialogue, original series Dub), Creator/JillianMichaels (English singing, original series dub), Creator/StephanieSheh (English HD Remaster dub)
->''"I'd like you to inform them: from now on, Lacus Clyne will be singing the song... of peace."''

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a290abd3_8293_418e_86bd_ffa7c93161c4.gif]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Her classic look, with Pink-chan.]]

The civilian daughter of PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne, Lacus is an extremely popular singer and ceremonial figure for her country, and is Athrun's fiancée. Early in the series she is picked up by the ''Archangel'' and meets Kira, an event which will come to define the entire course of the war. The eventual leader of the "Clyne Faction" (those moderates who support her father's policies), Lacus is a pleasant, friendly, idealistic girl, who is a heck of a lot smarter than you'd think.

* OneHundredPercentAdorationRating: Lacus is so beloved in PLANT [[spoiler:that people are in agonies of confusion when she appears to be an OMNI spy and traitor. Rau discusses this when he points out how difficult she's making the lives of Patrick and Ezalia, telling Yzak and the rest of the team that's exactly why the opposition has her. In English he explicitly says "people believe she can do no wrong". It all ends up as quite a bit of {{Foreshadowing}} for the next series.]]
* AdrenalineMakeover: Twice. Her outfit at the theater to confront Athrun and her [[spoiler: ''Eternal'' commander look for the last act]] are completely different than her earlier, "normal" look, and both are done when she and everyone around her are in great danger.
* AllLovingHero: She holds no grudges and instead shows compassion to everyone.
* ArrangedMarriage: With Athrun Zala, only child of her father's best friend, before the war broke out, though in the end [[spoiler:it's rendered moot when they end up with different people]].
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: She uses these the way the rest of the cast use physical weapons -- equally devastating. ''"Is it your intention to make this a battlefield in front of me, the national memorial representative? Can you not hear me?"'' does the trick with Rau.
-->'''Lacus:''' "What is it that you believe in and fight for, [[spoiler:Athrun? Is it that medal you received? Or your father's orders?" Also "If I am your enemy, ''will you shoot me,'' Athrun Zala, soldier of ZAFT?"]]
* BadassLongRobe: She wears a sleeveless [[GoldAndWhiteAreDivine gold-trimmed white one]] [[spoiler: over her PurpleIsPowerful wrap minidress when commanding ''Eternal'', a foil to ZAFT's {{Badass Longcoat}}s]].
* BeautifulSingingVoice: As seen in InformedAbility, it's on display more than her actual career as a performer.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: She prefers to be friends with everyone, because you do not want to make an enemy out of her. See BreakThemByTalking. [[spoiler:Given how the show establishes her ability to engineer the collapse of murderous dictatorial regimes]], Rau was probably wise to be seen putting this into practice.
* BigFancyHouse: It's especially a sign of high status in the [=PLANTS=] which are man-made habitats.
* BigGood: Inherits the position after [[spoiler:her father is assassinated and she uses his power base combined with Orb's to TakeAThirdOption in the war between OMNI and ZAFT]].
* BreakThemByTalking: Does this to Athrun, very dramatically, and to the other master of this, Rau, in a much earlier and shorter fashion.
* CelebrityResemblance: Mitsuo Fukuda [[WordOfGod said in a 2003 interview]] that Lacus was based on Creator/AudreyHepburn.
* CommandingCoolness: She [[spoiler:hijacks and runs the ''Eternal'' in the last arc, and debuts [[DressCodedForYourConvenience her own purple outfit and white-and-gold long coat to go up against ZAFT]]]], as Rau's analog, though [[spoiler:Waltfeld is actually TheCaptain]].
* CryIntoChest: After [[spoiler:her escape from ZAFT and her father's demise]], she collapses in tears into Kira's chest.
* DangerousSixteenthBirthday: A slight variant. In PLANT, the age of majority is 15, and Lacus's 15th birthday prior to the series is also what's known as ''The Tragedy of Copernicus'' — a massive bombing on the Moon that killed most of the UN, would have killed her father if not for a delay, and generated OMNI. It kickstarted the war and provided the basis for the Bloody Valentine nine days later. Downplayed with her 16th birthday, which she spends in Earth Alliance custody onboard the ''Archangel'' — far from an ideal situation, although the day itself is uneventful.
* DisposableFiance: She becomes very close to Kira despite being engaged to Athrun, though it's shown her relationship with Athrun was friendly, but awkward and strained due to his misplaced patriotism and their general lack of chemistry.
* DissonantSerenity: Her calm and unruffled nature becomes this at a couple of points, notably [[spoiler:at White Symphony when people are being shot all around her, and she doesn't blink or flinch]].
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: A few early on.
** First, asking Mu if he knows who her father — a world leader — is because he mentioned his name, giving us the impression she is ditzy and a little ''too'' innocent. While persistently wandering around the ''Archangel'' may have also appeared ditzy and innocent, it also showed a subtle willingness to continually and casually break rules — and get away with it.
** [[StealthPun More revealingly]] is when she strips in front of Kira, showing that she also intimidates others with ease and basically produces the unexpected no matter what anyone thinks of her.
** Which means reprimanding ''Rau'' of all people later in the same episode for trying to start a battle isn't really surprising, since she already showed us that she [[ObfuscatingStupidity is more than she appears.]]
* ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter: She proves to be this despite her young age, in addition to being an inspirational political figure. Throughout the series, she has entrusted power to several unlikely individuals (most notably, Kira, a soldier who had fought against her country and her people), but has yet to experience a serious betrayal of her trust.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Lacus wears her normal RapunzelHair in giant pigtails [[spoiler: to [[BreakThemByTalking confront Athrun]] at the White Symphony theater, complete with a different hairclip[[labelnote:*]]though banners indicate this is a stage outfit she's worn at least once before[[/labelnote]]. Her command outfit for ''Eternal'' involves an elaborate ponytail with a braided crown, and we don't see her hair down again for the rest of the series]].
* {{Expy}}: The daughter of a high-ranking government official who espouses her family's pacifist beliefs, has a strong relationship with the lead character, and is an inspirational figure to the general public? She's a more idealized, active, and cunning [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Relena Darlian]], if Relena were also a popular singer instead of an actual princess.
** She's also the daughter of the local leader, tends to explore and "float" around a lot, has a BeautifulSingingVoice, something permanently in her hair, dresses which feature "fins" (as seen above), a big dramatic moment sitting on a rock, and another one after which we see ShesGotLegs. She has strong shades of ''Franchise/TheLittleMermaid'', and it continues in the sequel. She's basically a Franchise/DisneyPrincess in a Gundam show.
** It should be pretty obvious that her status as an idol-singer is more or less inspired by Lynn Minmay from ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', something Fukuda attested to.
** She's also the slightly mysterious military-outsider with the strongest emotional abilities in the show, who appears to be thinking of anything but war. Her introduction is a ShoutOut to Lalah Sune from the original series. Unlike Lalah, though, [[spoiler:Lacus is no follower and in fact quite the independent ringleader. She also survives]].
* FoeRomanceSubtext: Although he seems to think more highly of her than... anyone, how Lacus and Le Creuset know each other well enough for him to take orders from her (and be on a no-honorifics basis) is never elaborated. It's also noteworthy that unlike Zala or Azrael [[spoiler:or Djibril or Durandal in the sequel]], she actually speaks to him, which is a mark of favor. She also [[spoiler: has one of her only OhCrap moments when she deduces he's come after her at Mendel and ends up looking completely shocked and crying when he dies]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Orders Le Creuset of all people to stand down during her rescue, providing an early hint as to just how much steel she has in her.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Birds flock to her hands, both in her music video and while she's having tea.
* {{Geisha}}: Along with her YamatoNadeshiko side, as a highly-trained "arts person" who occasionally dresses sexy with her UnlimitedWardrobe, spends a lot of time in an otherwise all-male environment being persuasive, counseling, or convincing, or does other "daring" things outside ''yamato nadeshiko'' scope, she's this.
* GirlySkirtTwirl: Combines this with some AirplaneArms in the EyeCatch for some SpectacularSpinning.
* GivingThemTheStrip: Has to put on a spacesuit in order to escape the ''Archangel''. Which requires removing her elaborate multilayered dress. Which she nonchalantly does... [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl in front of Kira]]. Taking her clothes with her ended up getting her MistakenForPregnant.
* GracefulLadiesLikePurple: It tends to be overlooked in all the pink, but her iconic first outfit has multiple shades of this, her resistance dress appears purple-trimmed in dim light while she's broadcasting, she wears a purple hooded cape while she's in hiding, and [[spoiler:her Commander wrap mindress on ''Eternal'' is a pastel shade or two]]. Certainly also a case of PurpleIsPowerful.
* GuileHeroine: Lacus isn't a fighter, but she doesn't have to be. With her political connections, oratorical ability, and flawless public image she's set to completely upset Patrick Zala's agenda.
* HiddenDepths: She appears innocent, unfailingly kind, and a bit naive. [[spoiler:She really is that kind, but that naive exterior hides a sharp mind and an iron will that few see coming from her. The depths start when she has no problem taking her clothes off in front of a relative stranger, working the communications in a mobile suit she's never seen before, or ''exercising military authority'' [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking she isn't even faintly entitled to,]] and her hits just keep coming. She's less full of surprises than consists of them.]]
* HiddenEyes: Happened to her in the original version, when she told Kira [[spoiler: that her father was killed]]. Subverted in the HD Remaster.
* IdolSinger: Very popular in the PLANTS and she uses that popularity to her advantage.
* InformedAbility: Downplayed. She's said to be the most popular singer in PLANT. Although she does have a beautiful, professional, influential voice, she never performs for an audience, despite speaking of the first time she sang in public. [[spoiler: This gets defied to heck and deconstructed in the sequel with her imitator Meer]].
* TheIngenue: She ''seems'' sheltered and none-too-bright, at least at first, but [[SubvertedTrope there's more to her than that.]].
* {{Keigo}}: She's kind and has a noticeably offbeat and quirky side, but Lacus speaks incredibly formally, distantly, and deferentially in Japanese, period. The one exception is her brief monologue in her head at the end of the show. The first English dub attempted some of the same distant effect between her and other people by making her sound much younger.
* LadyAndKnight: She's the Bright Lady to Kira's White Knight. She's his chaste relationship and inspiration. She provides him [[spoiler:with a shiny new mobile suit like a medieval romance counterpart might distribute plate mail, although she calls it a "sword"]]. See MeaningfulName.
* TheLadysFavour: She gives Kira her mother's ring before the final battle.
* TheLeader: Charismatic Type to the Clyne Faction and [[spoiler:Three Ships Alliance.]]
* MagicSkirt: Despite having a ''very'' short skirt (in ''space'') at the end of the series, she only has a PantyShot in the CompilationMovie.
* MartialPacifist: She wants this war over ''now'', and if that means leading [[spoiler:her own army against ZAFT and the Earth Forces]], so be it.
* MeaningfulName:
** "Lacus" means "lake" in Latin, and she talks about giving Kira "a new sword". More than just a LadyAndKnight, she's Myth/TheLadyOfTheLake — and just an EmpoweringLakeLady, in general.
** If you romanize her last name as "Klein", it means little or small... as in ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid''.
* MissingMom: Unlike Athrun's, hers is simply never mentioned. Lacus does bring her up when consoling Kira in the compilation movies.
* MistakenForPregnant: An inadvertent PillowPregnancy, as a result of needing to stuff her clothes in her spacesuit. Sai makes the obvious "how far along is she?" bad joke.
* MythologyGag:
** In episode 20, Lacus draws a ''Anime/TurnAGundam''-like moustache on her navy-blue Haro.
** [[HomageShot Her exit from her escape pod]] at the end of episode 7 and the beginning of episode 8 was a nod to [[http://imgur.com/m6Zzm0u Lalah Sune's exit from Char's shuttle]] in episode 34 of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. Given how both characters appeared eccentric only to be ''far'' more than they appeared, this may have been foreshadowing.
* NervesOfSteel: She's perfectly calm and tranquil when she's introduced having wound up with the enemy forces after being shoved into a one-person life pod without a spacesuit, and she's not fazed [[spoiler:when Athrun tracks her down in her outlaw period with a DramaticGunCock, or when a rain of gunfire subsequently starts]]. Lacus is a ''very'' cool customer, especially for a civilian teenager with no apparent military training.
* NiceGirl: A pleasant and friendly girl, but BewareTheNiceOnes. She manages to be strikingly gracious and kind almost without exception.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: She certainly can make mistakes. [[spoiler:She wasn't wrong to take a stand against Patrick, but her life as an outlaw and, perhaps, never exonerating her father from it, inadvertently got him killed. Lacus is incredibly upset Siegel was killed, but we never really learn how she feels to have paid such a heavy price for her actions, or be directly responsible for provoking Zala's murderous rage. Even her ExactWords, "My father died", rather than "was killed" or "murdered" are a bit vague and distant.]]
* ObfuscatingStupidity: More like "Obfuscating Innocence", her biggest advantage is that virtually everyone underestimates her. While it's never stated, it's hard to believe that she didn't deliberately cultivate that image.
* TheOjou: Despite being the daughter of a democratically elected leader, she lives on an enormous fancy estate and is treated as if she were royalty, never using anything but {{Keigo}} herself. It helps that she's also a national celebrity in her own right.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: The only time Lacus is ever shown as angry in this series, she's about to get Rau to back off the ''Archangel'' (and not use her as a pawn, incidentally).
* PhantomThief: Fitting for her GuileHeroine status, Lacus is a kind, sweet, ''very'' well-bred young lady [[spoiler:who manages to mastermind the theft of ZAFT's newest mobile suit, a warship, and her ex-fiancé, surviving weeks of a nationwide dragnet in-between the first two. Unfortunately, her father was not so lucky]].
* ThePhilosopher: Her question "What ''is'' it that one should be fighting [for]?" is picked up by a number of other characters, and becomes largely the ArcWords of the series. She also has a very serious internal monologue brooding about humans, conflict, and bloodshed just before the end, which prompts her to go into SuperMode.
* PluckyGirl: Going into exile doesn't dampen her spirit. Though she understands the severity of the situation, she doesn't give up.
* PoliticallyActivePrincess: The ''de-facto'' princess of PLANT who can influence social events and high level politics with her voice.
* PrincessesPreferPink: So much that Mu La Flaga even calls her "The Pink Princess".
* ProHumanTranshuman: Lacus wants a peace treaty that's good for Natural and Coordinator alike.
* RapunzelHair: She has the longest hair of any major character. It changes a bit DependingOnTheArtist and medium, but usually starts below her hips. As you can see from the picture, she can easily sit on it.
* RescueRomance: Her relationship with Kira developed from this. In fact, both traded roles of ''rescuer'' and ''rescuee'' in some points.
* LaResistance: Fights the Zala dictatorship in PLANT and continues to coordinate the opposition when her homeland is no longer a place she can either recognize or accept. She's also the VoiceOfTheResistance, quite naturally.
* RobotBuddy: Her pink Haro, nicknamed "Pink-chan"/"Mr. Pink". In episode 20, Lacus has a collection of different colored Haros in her house, including the aforementioned navy-blue Haro. She refers to Pink-chan as her friend, and like Lacus herself, there's a bit more to him than meets the eye — he can unlock doors and later serves as a HastilyHiddenMacGuffin for Athrun.
* RomanticFalseLead: For Athrun. She's a lovely girl, they like each other fine and they're an important genetic match, but they both have stronger and easier feelings for other people.
* RoseHairedSweetie: She's innocent and naive (at first), and she's definitely nice and sweet. Bonus points for being engaged to blue-haired Athrun before the war.
* SecondLove: Unaware of Kira's relationship with Flay, Lacus expresses great affection for him, but [[spoiler:Kira is ultimately too traumatized to do anything other than gently return her earlier cheek kiss]]. Subverted.
* SexyBacklessOutfit: The animation opted not to focus on it, but merchandise makes it quite clear her "Mizu no Akashi" performance dress is this. It also has large slits in the skirt that foreshadow ShesGotLegs.
* ShamelessFanServiceGirl: While GivingThemTheStrip, she does it in front of Kira with absolutely no hesitation. Kira (on the other hand) is quite embarrassed.
* ShesGotLegs: After wearing long or relatively-long skirts for most of the show, she [[spoiler:breaks out a minidress to lead ''Eternal'' and the Three Ships Alliance]].
* SignatureHeadgear: Lacus has her distinctive and famous barrette.
* SilkHidingSteel: Despite her initially seeming to be TheIngenue, she's made of sterner stuff than most of the rest of the cast.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Her relationship with Kira, the knight in gundamium armor.
* SuperMode: [[spoiler:SEED Mode, though the seed-burst animation for her isn't shown, implying that it might be something even more mysterious.]]
* TakeAThirdOption: Runs the Clyne Faction and later [[spoiler:The Three Ships Alliance]] as a counter to Patrick and Azrael.
* TalkingYourWayOut: [[spoiler:Athrun]] once had her at gunpoint and she convinced him not to shoot or capture her.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: Point-blank tells Rau Le Creuset (and everyone else assembled there, using an open channel) [[AllLovingHero she will not forgive him]] attacking the ''Archangel'' "in front of" (and by using) herself, the national memorial representative. [[RefugeInAudacity It works.]] See OOCIsSeriousBusiness.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The GirlyGirl to Cagalli's {{Tomboy}} because of her feminine style of dress and desire to talk things out peacefully if possible.
* TomboyishName: Despite her GirlyGirl image, ''lacus'' is an unequivocally ''masculine'' word in Latin.
* {{Ubermensch}}: Begins her trek towards this status in ''SEED''. While everyone else tries to play by the cynical, realpolitik of the Cosmic Era, Lacus flat out rejects the premise, choosing instead to overhaul the series' morality and try for something better.
* UnlimitedWardrobe: Lacus has at least half-a-dozen outfits in the show. Not necessarily more than anyone else, but her style flair makes it seem like more. [[spoiler: It's really notorious when ''she changes on her way to hijack Eternal'']].
* VoiceOfTheResistance: Under the Zala regime, she sends out messages of hope and defiance. She's seen ushered to and from safe houses by subordinates a couple times.
* TheWonka: A female version. She's the only civilian in a cast full of military in a world at war, and tends to constantly astound, startle, and baffle everyone around her. While she operates almost entirely idiosyncratically and quite enigmatically, Lacus does make a lot of sense to people... [[spoiler:eventually. She actually becomes the voice of reason and the show's moral compass, if not quite the OnlySaneMan]].
* YamatoNadeshiko: Unfortunately for the villains, the Clyne family business that Lacus was very devoted to was not singing, but ''politics''. And Lacus '''will''' dare to use her wits if you are a warmonger like the leaders of both sides are.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre:
** She does this every time Kira hits an emotional breaking point in her presence. First when she encounters him wailing and screaming on the ''Archangel'' because of his difficult and loathed position as an OMNI soldier, and she reveals she knows Athrun and sympathizes that he and Kira are both good people and it does make the situation very sad, then after [[spoiler: recuperating at her mansion after his duel to the death with Athrun, and again after Rau reveals Kira's dehumanizing origins as the Ultimate Coordinator and his and Kira's NotSoDifferent status as indifferent and mistaken lab products from the same funding stream]]. The last is made more explicit in a scene in the compilation movies, where she expresses that [[spoiler:he has a right to exist and be himself, and she's been made happy by his existence and presence, thus he's his own person and more than Rau's negative summary]]
** This is also the gist of her [[BreakingSpeech Breaking Speeches]]. She gets both [[spoiler: Rau and Athrun to reconsider what they're doing and temporarily or permanently choose the more moral alternative]].
** She also does this with some success to the entirety of PLANT, repeatedly urging forgiveness and coexistence with the Naturals in speeches while she's underground.

[[folder:Patrick Zala]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/KinryuArimoto (Japanese), AndrewKavadas (English original series), Creator/MarcDiraison (English HD remaster)
->''"We Coordinators are very different. We should view ourselves as a completely new species. There's no reason to coexist with Naturals."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Patrick_Zala_2689.jpg]]

Athrun's father, Patrick Zala was one of the founding members of ZAFT alongside Siegel Clyne. At the beginning of the series, he's the head of ZAFT's armed forces. Patrick is a stoic but driven man, throwing himself into the execution of the war to the exclusion of all else -- including his son. Patrick's fanaticism comes from the loss of his wife Lenore in the Bloody Valentine tragedy, which has left him with a deep-seated hatred of Naturals. He believes that Coordinators are a new species, distinct from (and superior to) Naturals.

* AbusiveParent: [[spoiler:He shoots Athrun and tries to have him arrested.]]
* ArchnemesisDad: To Athrun by the end of the series.
* AlasPoorVillain: It's possible to feel some pathos for Patrick as he dies, unable to let go of his hate even in the end.
* BadBoss: Don't question Patrick's orders. It won't end well.
* BigBadWannabe: He's the leader of ZAFT and appears to be in a BigBadEnsemble opposite Blue Cosmos leader, Muruta Azrael but they're both really [[spoiler: being played by Rau Le Creuset]].
* BloodFromTheMouth: After being shot in the back.
* BrokenPedestal: For Athrun, as the full extent of his madness becomes clear.
* CastingGag: Arimoto was Mr. Winner in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', and here he gives a master class in "How ''Definitely'' Not To Treat Your Only Son After His Mother Dies". Athrun even calls him the rarer and extremely formal ''chichi-ue'', just to drive the point home.
* CycleOfRevenge: Throws himself into the war effort because of a nuclear attack that killed his wife, only to ultimately become desperat enough to order construction of technology to undo anti-nuclear defenses [[spoiler:and create a gigantic nuclear-powered doomsday weapon.]]
%%%* EvilerThanThou: With the Coordinator-bashing Muruta Azrael.
* {{Expy}}: He's a slightly more sympathetic [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Gihren Zabi]], right down to the [[PuttingOnTheReich outfit]], the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName politics]], and [[RousingSpeech oratorical skill]]. The only real difference is that Gihren's MasterRace philosophy is a facade, while Patrick's paranoia and bigotry is very real.
* FantasticRacism: He ''really'' hates Naturals.
* FinalSolution: He intends to fire Genesis at Earth, wiping out all the Naturals.
* {{Foil}}: Against his former BestFriend, the much calmer and more pragmatic NiceGuy Siegel Clyne.
* FounderOfTheKingdom: Started ZAFT as a political organization with Siegel Clyne and helped establish PLANT's breakaway.
* GeneralRipper: What happens when one of them becomes Supreme Council Chairman. Ironically, Patrick was less bloodthirsty and somewhat saner when he was ''just'' Defense Committee Chairman/in charge of ZAFT.
* TheGeneralissimo: He continues to appear in his uniform as Chairman, and effectively transforms ZAFT into a military dictatorship, using the army to suppress all dissent.
* GloriousLeader: He becomes closer and closer to the archetype as the show progresses and he becomes convinced that only he can save his people.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: When his BadBoss tendencies backfire on him. [[spoiler:He shoots one of his underlings for questioning his orders. Said underling, wounded but alive, draws his own sidearm and kills Zala with it.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: He rages at Naturals as barbaric monsters after Blue Cosmos orders a nuclear attack destroys the Boaz space fortress. ''Hours later'' he kills thousands of Naturals using the GENESIS cannon and was more than willing to fire it at Earth, which could have potentially wiped out all life on the planet. Furthermore Zala admitted previously that they had developed N-Jammer Canceller technology specifically to use Genesis against Naturals in the first place.
* InsaneAdmiral: CINC of the army and a genocidal GeneralRipper.
* InTheBack: Shot from behind by a man he failed to kill.
* JadeColoredGlasses: Like Athrun, literally. Patrick's green eyes and worldview are both much, much darker, however.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: They keep setting you up to think that Patrick's going to show his nice side, only to promptly disappoint you.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: First he runs against, and defeats, his old friend and former political ally for the position of PLANT Supreme Council Chairman. Then he [[spoiler:has said friend executed for believed treason]]. It only gets ''worse'' from there.
* KarmicDeath: Shot in the back by a wounded man he's just tried to murder.
* KnightOfCerebus: What we see of both sides of the war made both of them look sympathetic early in the series. When Patrick shows up, we start to see both sides are being led by genocidal lunatics who will settle for nothing less than the complete destruction of the other.
* KnightTemplar: Genuinely believes that only the most extreme methods can save his race.
* TheLostLenore: His appropriately named wife was killed in a nuclear attack. He is not over it.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: He keeps a picture of Lenore and a younger Athrun on his desk while he destroys everything around him in a search to regain some peace, [[{{Irony}} including his relationship with Athrun]]. Lenore would probably not be pleased by this, to say the least.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: His StartOfDarkness was his wife Lenore's death.
* MasterRace: UpToEleven. Patrick views Coordinators as a full on SuperiorSpecies, and sees the Naturals as deserving only of extermination.
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Brags about Coordinators being a MasterRace that deserves to rule the world? Plots the genocide of his Natural adversaries? Wins an election and then promptly suspends the democratic process? Why yes, he is a Nazi. Being Gihren Zabi's expy will do that.
* NeverMyFault: He blames Lacus and her father for his strategy to end the war failing, because he can't admit that Naturals outsmarted him. His pride won't even let him just blame the Naturals themselves.
* NonActionBigBad: Of ZAFT. Patrick may be a military man, but he's never in combat, is only ever shown in a command role and [[spoiler:fails to do a proper job the one time he tries to kill someone]].
* NotSoDifferent: He is just as bad as Azrael, the anti-Coordinator Natural. This is Lampshaded by Uzumi Nara Athha.
* TheParanoiac: From his birth and upbringing as a "hidden" illegal Coordinator in the Atlantic Federation to what we see of him on-screen, everything about Patrick seems to fuel this. From a character only needing three criteria to qualify (and revenge, suspiciousness and being a {{Jerkass}} are there from the start), Patrick may hit ''all seven'' by the end of the series. Unfortunately, one of the only people he trusts IS betraying him, [[spoiler:but it's Rau, not Siegel]]. So much for those secret late-night meetings...
* PerpetualFrowner: More so even than Athrun. In his time on screen Patrick never genuinely smiles. Not even once.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He is basically foaming at the mouth when he talks about the Naturals, and how terrible they are as a whole, and why all of them must pay for the crimes of a handful.
* PresidentEvil: The voters wanted a [[FourStarBadass hardline military leader]]. They got a [[GeneralRipper genocidal madman]].
* PropagandaMachine: He has one that's engaged in a constant battle with Lacus' VoiceOfTheResistance.
* PuttingOnTheReich: All of ZAFT does this, but it's most noticeable on Patrick.
* RememberTheAlamo: Invokes the Bloody Valentine on multiple occasions to justify his extreme militarism. That he lost his own wife in the attack only lends his arguments more gravitas.
* RousingSpeech: Gives a great one on the anniversary of the Bloody Valentine.
--> "Who exploits the Coordinators?!"
* SmugSnake: Fueled by his FantasticRacism and belief that Coordinators are a SuperiorSpecies.
* StartOfDarkness: He was Siegel Clyne's BestFriend for two decades prior to Lenore's death at Junius 7.
* SuperiorSpecies: He's convinced that Coordinators are far superior to "unevolved" Naturals.
* UnwittingPawn: Though less of a pawn than most, [[spoiler:Rau Le Creuset]] is using him to [[spoiler:help drive humanity to extinction]].
* VillainHasAPoint: Prior to the show and at the start of the war, Chairman Clyne already swore to resist the Alliance to the death. When Patrick reminds the Supreme Council members with a RousingSpeech that PLANT was oppressed, then attacked, innocent people died, they need to protect themselves, and they can't do that without fighting, even beleaguered Siegel has nothing to say.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Foils to Athrun and Kira, Patrick and Siegel were {{Best Friend}}s of more than twenty years. This is AllThereInTheManual because they fall out so fast in the actual show, this is nearly all that remains, and it's because of this that Patrick takes Siegel's perceived "betrayals" so hard [[spoiler:that he has him executed]].

[[folder:Siegel Clyne]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/YosukeAkimoto (Japanese), Creator/DonBrown (English original series), Creator/ChristopherSabat (English HD remaster)
->''"You still fail to grasp the underlying truth, Patrick. We [Coordinators] didn't evolve."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Siegel_Clyne_620.jpg]]

Siegel Clyne is Lacus's father. He helped found ZAFT with Patrick Zala, and is the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman at the beginning of the series. Leader of the moderate faction of Coordinators, he and his allies believe in coexistence with the Naturals, but they're steadily losing ground to the radical faction that favours all-out war. Eventually voted out of office and replaced by Patrick Zala, he attempts to remain a voice of reason, earning him the enmity of the radicals.

%%* BadassMoustache
* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler: Patrick's goon squad guns him down]].
* BeleagueredBureaucrat: Unlike Patrick Zala, he's a pure politician, not a soldier. His contribution to the war effort is to try to ride herd on the PLANT Supreme Council's rather quarrelsome members.
%%* BigFancyHouse
%%* CoolOldGuy
* FounderOfTheKingdom: Of the original ZAFT organization with Patrick Zala and the newly independent PLANT nation.
* TheHeart: Of ZAFT as a whole since he insists on diplomacy, cooperation and rational thinking as opposed to hatred.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Well, as far as harm goes. [[spoiler:The execution-style hit put out on him by Patrick is a little too similar to the killing of [[KosherNostra gangster Ben "Bugsy" Siegel]], who is loosely considered the founder of modern UsefulNotes/LasVegas. His best friend Meyer Lansky may or may not have been the one who ordered it]].
%%* NonActionGuy
* OnlySaneMan: The main representative of the Supreme Council faction that realizes how the war is escalating, how costly it has already become, and who are trying to moderate its foreseeable course.
* ProHumanTranshuman: Actually, he swore PLANT would fight the Naturals to the death after the Bloody Valentine. But a year on, he sees what escalating the war will cost the living Coordinators, and he's not interested in Patrick's FinalSolution, looking to TakeAThirdOption and co-exist in peace. He is, after all, the one that Lacus got it from.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He's the leader of the ''moderate'' faction for a reason.
* TheScapegoat: Patrick blames Siegel for [[spoiler:the theft of the Freedom. And has him shot without trial. Although Siegel fled with his daughter, we only see Lacus's part in the matter, and her resistance speeches which only fueled paranoid Patrick's hatred for his "traitorous" best friend more. Siegel's part in everything is quite murky, which makes him very much this trope and probably the SacrificialLion too]].
* SuperiorSpecies: Averted. He's not sure the Coordinators should even be there, and points out their falling birth rates to Patrick. Patrick isn't listening.
%%* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Siegel is both depressed and eventually angry about the steep decline of his relationship with Patrick, but he's not willing to go along with genocide and not afraid to stand up to Zala about it. [[spoiler:[[HonorBeforeReason It costs him his life]]]].

[[folder:Ezalia Joule]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/KotonoMitsuishi (Japanese), Alison Matthews (English original series), Creator/CindyRobinson (English HD remaster)
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ezalia_Joule_1373.jpg]]

Yzak's mother, and a member of Patrick Zala's faction on the ZAFT Supreme Council, Ezalia is his [[NumberTwo second-in-command]], and is even more ardent than Patrick in her belief that Coordinators are a new, superior species. Proud of her son's military service, Ezalia nevertheless worries about his safety, and can be quite controlling -- if well-meaning -- in her interactions with Yzak.

* DissonantSerenity: Patrick rants and raves about how the Naturals have to be exterminated. Ezalia takes it as a simple fact.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: It's her love for her son Yzak that humanises her and makes her less of a monster than her boss.
* EvilMatriarch: Her status as Yzak's mom is her one redeeming quality. It doesn't make her beliefs or plans a jot less evil, though.
* FantasticRacism: At times she's scarier than Patrick.
* FinalSolution: She fully endorses Patrick's plans for a Natural genocide.
* IcyBlueEyes: Ezalia's eyes are as cold as her personality.
* KnightTemplar: Only a Natural genocide can save the Coordinators!
* MasterRace: Fully endorses Patrick's agenda believing the Coordinators are this.
* MyBelovedSmother: To Yzak. Which makes her a damn sight better than Patrick.
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Her politics are of the same radical bent as Patrick's and she supports his policies wholeheartedly.
* NumberTwo: To Patrick Zala. From a political standpoint she's practically TheDragon.
%%* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain
* RousingSpeech: Gives one to the troops during Boaz, exhorting them to show the Naturals who the true MasterRace is.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: She's a GenderFlip of Yzak, without the scar.
* SuperiorSpecies: Share Patrick's belief that Coordinators are inherently superior to Naturals.
* UnwittingPawn: Like Patrick, she's a pawn of [[spoiler:Rau Le Creuset]].

[[folder:Andrew Waltfeld]]
!!'''Main mecha:''' TMF/A-802[=BuCue=], TMF/A-803 [=LaGOWE=]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/RyotaroOkiayu (Japanese), Creator/BrianDrummond (English original series dub), Creator/MattGiroveanu (English HD remaster dub)
->''"At what point do we put an end to [war]? When every single one of your enemies has been destroyed? Perhaps then."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Andrew_Waltfeld_603.jpg]]

Known as "the Desert Tiger", Waltfeld is a feared ZAFT commander operating in the Libyan desert. He serves as the first major opponent Kira faces other than Athrun and his team, and poses a serious threat to the ''Archangel'' and her crew, despite being a pretty decent guy. Meeting him forces Kira to further reevaluate his moral stance on the war.

* AcePilot: His piloting skills make him a feared ZAFT commander.
* AffablyEvil: It helps that he's more affable than evil.
* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:After his fight with Kira, he returns in the final arc of the series missing his right arm and left eye. He has a [[ArtificialLimbs prosthetic arm]] attached later on in ''Destiny''.]]
* AnimalMecha: Only pilots the nonhumanoid [=BuCue=] and [=LaGOWE=].
* AnimalMotifs: He takes his "tiger" nickname to heart, complete with orange and black striped pilot suit.
* AntiVillain: He treats all his enemies and opponents with tact and respect, has many interests outside of war, and is both genial and a fan of doing the right thing. He's just not on the protagonist's side...
* BattleCouple: He and Aisha are this in the [=LaGOWE=].
* BunnyEarsLawyer: He takes his food and especially his coffee very, ''very'' seriously. He is however, most effective.
* TheCaptain: He runs [[spoiler:''Eternal'' for Lacus and serves as her executive officer after helping her steal it. She calls him "Captain Waltfeld", so it's a definite switch from his former Commander title]].
* CommandingCoolness: Another ZAFT Commander, like his [[{{Expy}} model]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Ramba Ral]], he has many deeply loyal subordinates, including his ADC Martin [=DaCosta=], who is simultaneously baffled by and would do anything for him. Waltfeld's clever ''and'' easygoing manner ratchets him up to Very Cool.
* CoolOldGuy: Despite not being that old, he's this when compared to others in the cast, who are mainly teenagers. He has experience, wisdom and steel nerves that they lack.
* {{Expy}}: Of Ramba Ral, fulfilling a very similar role in terms of story and personality.
* EyeScream: [[spoiler:His battle with Kira cost him an eye.]]
* GoodScarsEvilScars: [[spoiler:After he turns up alive]], he has a very visible scar where his left eye used to be.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:He joins Lacus after his apparent death. It helps that he was shown to have a similar, or at least compatible, outlook on war to her own.]]
* ItGetsEasier: He discusses it with Kira and Cagalli. Unlike Mu, he considers it to be a negative thing.
* LastNameBasis: Only subverted by Aisha, who calls him Andy. No one else even calls him Andrew.
* MustHaveCaffeine: He is regularly seen drinking and/or brewing coffee. The only exception is inside his mobile suit.
* NobleDemon: Burns down a town ''after'' letting the civillians evacuate, leaves the areas he's conquered in relative peace, lets Kira and Cagalli escape when he could have captured them... it's no wonder he [[spoiler:couldn't stomach the Zala regime]].
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: What [[spoiler:Kira does to his mech kills Aisha but not him]].
* ProHumanTranshuman: He's not very prejudiced, and ends up siding with the Three Ships' Alliance.
* RedBaron: The Desert Tiger.
* ShoutOut: To [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Erwin Rommel]]. Has a nickname similar to "The Desert Fox", not to mention being courteous and honorable to his enemies. Bonus points for the fact he even gives the civilians of a town time to evacuate before leveling it, which is something Rommel would have done.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: There were many variations such as "Bartfeld" before the official romanization was clear.
* TrademarkFavoriteDrink: Coffee. Trying new brews is a running gag with him.
* TurnTheOtherCheek: When he meets with Kira again after their battle, he tells him he doesn't hold any ill will against him at all.
* VillainsOutShopping: He's constantly experimenting with different coffee brews.

[[folder:Aisha]]
!!'''Main mecha:''' TMF/A-803 [=LaGOWE=]
!!!Voice Actors: Music/VivianHsu (Japanese series), Creator/FumiHirano (Japanese {{Compilation Movie}}s), Creator/SaffronHenderson (English original series), Creator/MichelleRuff (English HD remaster)
->''"You're taking this rather well. This is difficult for you, isn't it? I can tell you're really fond of him."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Aisha_Gundam_Seed_370.jpg]]

Girlfriend of Andrew Waltfeld, the Desert Tiger, and a capable gunner in her own right. Just as sympathetic a character as Andy, she's rather friendly toward Kira and Cagalli when they encounter each other.

* ActionGirlfriend: Waltfeld's gunner in their unique two-seater [=LaGOWE=]. Aisha isn't even in ZAFT, but she still wants to fight together with the man she loves. She explicitly says that [[spoiler:she's okay with dying for it]].
* BattleCouple: With Andy, fighting with him in their own mobile suit.
* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler: She died in the battle with Kira.]]
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: She has orange streaks in her black hair because Waltfeld is the Desert Tiger.
* DeadpanSnarker: When she's not being sweet and understanding, she's making full use of her snarking abilities. Her best moment is probably her response to [[HotBlooded Yzak]]'s claim that he and Dearka have more experience against the Strike than she and Waldfeld do: "Losing experience doesn't count."
%%%
%%%
%%%%%% "Played for tragedy." is not context.
%%* DisposableWoman:
* {{Expy}}: She's the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Crowley Hamon]] to Andy's Ramba Ral - though [[spoiler:he ends up outliving her in a reversal from the original series]].
* ForeignFanservice: Subverted. Aisha is played by a non-native Japanese speaker, and looks appropriately 'exotic' as a Coordinator from PLANT [[note]]Vivian Hsu hails from Taiwan, and mastered Japanese as part of breaking out on the Japanese idol pop scene, big enough to still land this role ''years later''[[/note]], but the odds of Waltfeld finding a girlfriend who can pilot ZAFT mobile suits in the impoverished desert as opposed to bringing her from home are rather low.
* HimeCut: Long hair, sidetails and even bangs; yes she looks the trope and her sweet and understanding personality goes along with it.
* OnlyOneName: If she has one other than "Aisha", we don't hear about it.
* SatelliteCharacter: Her presence in the show revolves entirely around the Tiger.
* SexyBacklessOutfit: Aisha's regular outfit basically cuts out to the bottom of her ''spine'', although no one says anything or even stares.
* SheCleansUpNicely: The one doing the cleaning; she personally picks out a nice dress and jewelry for Cagalli and re-styles her hair. Waltfeld comments how much the temporary makeover suits her.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: A "natural" GirlyGirl, especially when compared to Cagalli, [[UnwillinglyGirlyTomboy who isn't thrilled to be stuck masquerading as one]], although Aisha is so skillful that Cagalli suits her changed look well.

[[folder:Martin DaCosta]]
!!!Voice Actors: Akira Sasanuma (Japanese), Brian Dobson (English), Robbie Friedman (English HD Remaster dub)

Waltfeld's ADC and second-in-command.

* BigDamnHero: He saves [[spoiler:Athrun from being arrested after confronting his father and essentially initiates him into the Clyne Faction. Prior to that, he also shows up leading a counterstrike force when Athrun and the outlaw Lacus are under heavy fire from a plainclothes unit sent for her by Patrick]].
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Joins the Clyne Faction along with Waltfeld.]]
* NumberTwo: To Andrew Waltfeld.
* UndyingLoyalty: Again, to the Desert Tiger. And also seemingly to [[spoiler:Siegel and Lacus]].

!Orb
An island nation in the Pacific, Orb has a high-tech industrial base but little in the way of resources; they built Heliopolis primarily as a way to mitigate this strategic weakness. A very idealistic nation, their stance in international politics is one of aggressive neutrality; though they will not attack others, they will vigorously defend themselves against any attacks. The war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT has strained this position to its breaking point, especially after the destruction of Heliopolis.

[[folder:Cagalli Yula Athha]]
!!'''Main mecha:''' FX-550 Skygrasper, [[spoiler:MBF-02 Strike Rouge]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/NaomiShindo (Japanese), VanessaMorley (English original series dub), Creator/CheramiLeigh (English HD Remaster dub)
->''"The things we can do, want to do, and should do... It's the same for all of us, right?"''
[[quoteright:264:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_705.png]]

The daughter and only child of Uzumi Nara Athha, former Chief Representative of the Orb Union, and head of one of the country's five ruling noble families, making her the equivalent of a princess in Orb. Also a rebel leader, guerilla soldier, and a capable, if brash, tactician. Hates ZAFT and distrusts the Earth Forces. She provides the military backbone of the Three Ships' Alliance.
----
* ActionGirl: Cagalli is a capable and determined fighter. She runs around, shoots things, leads a resistance cell and later [[spoiler:pilots a Gundam]]. She would love to be nothing more than this. Unfortunately her father and her duty to her home disagree...
* AllYourPowersCombined: [[spoiler:The Strike Rouge IWSP, notable for being the first 'Combined' Striker Pack. Subverted though as it doesn't make an appearance in the series, despite being repeatedly teased in the HD Remaster splash images.]]
* BadassAdorable: Just watch when she cries or gets angry. It's adorable. She also held her own in gun fights with Coordinators.
* BadassNormal: Despite being a Natural, she doesn't hesitate to take on Coordinators. Even when they're in mobile suits and the most heavily armed thing she has is a ''jeep''. [[spoiler:She is the only Natural seen going into SEED Mode.]]
* BatheHerAndBringHerToMe: A rare non-sexual example. Cagalli does end up being benevolently cleaned, put in a dress and having her hair fixed when she and Kira end up in the Desert Tiger's custody. She even accuses him of deriving some kind of perverse pleasure from it, but she did need a bath and he says the clothes were Aisha's idea. Mostly it's just to show SheCleansUpNicely.
* BathtubScene: Has one sitting in an elaborate bathtub in Waltfeld's residence blowing bubbles in the original series. It's changed to a ShowerScene for the compilation movies and Remaster.
* BerserkButton: She knows she's a girl, and she'll get hugely annoyed if you suddenly discover the fact. Or worse, do it more than once.
-->'''Cagalli:''' "That's right, I'm a girl! What ''is'' it with you guys?"
* {{Bifauxnen}}: Subverted. Cagalli is a {{Tomboy}} through and through, but she's not remotely elegant or stylish unless you stick her in a dress and make her behave. Many people thought she was a guy by sight alone, but no one swoons about how cool she is. Kira and Athrun manage to identify her as a girl after hearing her talk, which just annoys her. (Cagalli ''does'' have a developed, non-boyish figure, but the clothes hide it well.) It's flipped around by Waltfeld, who dubs Cagalli in a dress as "the perfect little lady... until she speaks".
* BigDamnKiss: With [[spoiler:Athrun just before Jachin Due]], as they'd been seen becoming steadily emotionally and physically closer before that. She manages to keep the promise she made prior to that, too. It's also both symbolic and very pretty with the juxtaposition of them floating in space in front of Earth.
* BoyishShortHair: Downplayed. Not even that short, but LongHairIsFeminine and she is not. Hers also has a lot of volume and tends to look quite messy, and it's highlighted when [[spoiler:she gets [[RomanticRain soaked in the rain]] in front of Athrun and her water-lengthened hair suddenly makes her look ''far'' more feminine]]. (Although Aisha being able to clip it up should have been a clue to Cagalli not playing this straight.)
* BrokenPedestal: Has a major case towards her father when she discovers the G-Weapon Project, believing he betrayed the ideals he upheld.
* ColorMotif: Under her red clothes, we see she wears green. The SimpleYetOpulent dresses she wears in show and the PimpedOutDress she wears in some ending sequences are also all pale green. The 3rd and 4th ED lampshade her switching from red to green.
* ComedicUnderwearExposure: PlayedForDrama, as she only drops the blanket she had covering her [[spoiler: to steal Athrun's gun, aiming to take the Aegis. Cagalli was so focused and full of adrenaline that she only realized what she had done ''after'' a very tense standoff, when Athrun then asked her to PleasePutSomeClothesOn.]] [[LuminescentBlush Turns out,]] she's ''not'' a ShamelessFanserviceGirl.
* CoolPlane: She becomes the (self-)designated pilot of the second Skygrasper until the ''Archangel'' reached Orb.
* CycleOfRevenge: Defied -- her father imparted this to her when she attempted to rejoin the ''Archangel'' and later passes it on to [[spoiler:Athrun]] after he confessed to (seemingly) killing [[spoiler:Kira]] because he killed his friend and comrade [[spoiler:Nicol]]. She gives [[spoiler:Athrun]] her Haumea amulet for his protection, not wishing for him to die even after what he did to [[spoiler:Kira]].
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: While not her first appearance, the first time she does anything meaningful within the series revolves around taking a man-portable weapon in a jeep against a ''lupine humongous mecha''. Things only ramps up when she actually gets a war machine of her own.
* {{Expy}}:
** Of Sayla Mass from the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', albeit with a healthy dose of Relena Darlian from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing''. In short, she's the two best known CharClone sisters mashed together. Though, in a twist, [[spoiler: she's actually related to TheHero Kira rather than to any of the resident [[CharClone Char Clones]] so she has some [[Franchise/StarWars Princess Leia]] in her as well]].
** From fighting in the desert with a rebel force, to fighting with her father about peace, to [[spoiler:screaming and sobbing when he's later blown up and having a custom-made Gundam built after that, to becoming very close to a guy she initially tried to kill and who threatened her with "omae wo korosu", to being born naturally at L4 with genetically engineered siblings and being unaware of it all]], she's the seeming twin, or at least GenderFlip, of Quatre Raberba Winner from ''Wing'', and would fit exceedingly easily as one of ''his'' sisters.
* FlowerMotif: [[spoiler:Strike Rouge has an emblem of an animal's head with a flower in its jaws]], and her image song is called "Precious Rose".
* FlowersOfNature: She has these in her PimpedOutDress outfit, along with other greenery. They're the "orange flowers" from the song "Akatsuki no Kuruma", as well as symbolizing she's the one from Earth.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Temperaments aside, Cagalli is unflinchingly kindhearted, best exemplified when she saw Kira grieving about having killed Waltfeld and gives him a CooldownHug -- a sharp contrast to most of their earlier more... ''abrasive'' interactions.
* HappilyAdopted: Her relationship with Uzumi is [[StealthPun turbulent]] but supportive, especially compared to what characters like Athrun and Mu have (had) to endure with their actual birth fathers. That being said, Cagalli had no idea she was adopted until [[spoiler:Uzumi tells her just before he dies]].
* HatesWearingDresses: Just this, although she has a pitched, physical battle with her old nanny Myrna about changing into one.
* HotBlooded: Cagalli is feisty, loud, passionate, and always ready to join in a battle. [[DeconstructedTrope Kira and Uzumi later call her out for thinking she can fight solely based on her emotions, or that violent combat is the answer.]]
%%%* JackOfAllStats: [[spoiler:The Strike Rouge]]
* TheLadysFavour: She gives [[spoiler:Athrun her Haumea pendant for protection, even after he snarks about wondering if she's destined to kill him. He later claims that it saved him from his father — which Cagalli ''herself'' certainly did after that]].
* LoveTriangle: Subverted. Despite ShipTease, there's nothing proving Cagalli's interest in and great concern for Kira was anything other than [[spoiler:sisterly. She has a rather different romantic relationship with Athrun, just to highlight it]].
%%%%* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: Averted. [[spoiler:See Kira's entry.]]
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Tough, brash Cagalli and the much gentler, calmer, choker-wearing Kira. She has shades of this with [[spoiler: Athrun as well, given how he's also (usually) [[SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl much calmer and more levelheaded and logical]], but she also {{Crush Blush}}es around and clings to him and generally acts just a touch more restrained and girly]].
* MeetCute: Alone on a small island with [[spoiler:Athrun, she goes from desperately trying to kill him to desperately not wanting to, snarking, sniping, crabs, RomanticRain, and ComedicUnderwearExposure along the way]].
* MightyWhitey: Cagalli the blonde-haired foreign princess is not only one of the best fighters and leaders in Desert Dawn, she's nicknamed their "goddess of victory" and known and liked by their families, despite canonically only being there for a few weeks.
* MissingMom: No one speaks of Cagalli ever having a mother; Erica Simmons goes as far as to say that "Lord Uzumi raised you with such loving care...". It may have contributed to her {{Tomboy}} personality. She [[spoiler:finds out about her birth mother from Uzumi shortly before he dies, though she doesn't actually know who the woman in the photograph is]].
* NiceGirl: Violent tendecies notwithstanding, Cagalli is the ''first'' person to be unambiguously kind to Kira in the series, without professional distance or ulterior motives; notably in the form of a ''much'' needed hug when he was on the verge of a suicidal breakdown. She is also consistently considerate, warm hearted, compassionate, and ''openly'' expresses kindness without consideration to maturity or social appropriateness.
* NomDeGuerre: Only goes by "Cagalli" or "Cagalli Yula" for half the show, since she's desperate (and under instruction) to avoid her full name and true identity getting out.
* OfficialCouple: She falls in love [[spoiler:with Athrun and saves him from dying in GENESIS at the end]].
* PolarOppositeTwins: Despite [[spoiler:sharing emotional natures and soft hearts, Cagalli couldn't be much more different than Kira]].
* PoliticallyActivePrincess: Subverted. Uzumi yells and begs her to become this rather than running off to fight violently again, which he sees as a waste. She does stay home, but we only see her supervising Orb's troops, rather than doing anything political. This ends up [[spoiler:haunting her next series]].
* PrincessesPreferPink: Generally averted. She hates both being addressed as a princess and pink, [[PinkMeansFeminine given how she wears none and her room is entirely blue]]. Downplayed with [[spoiler:Strike Rouge. Cagalli didn't pick the color, but also doesn't seem to care]].
* ProneToTears: [[spoiler:Like her twin brother]]. Cagalli cries very easily and very loudly, though more effectively, no one ever calls her a crybaby, and it never bothers her.
* RebelLeader: Leads [[LaResistance a cell of Arab freedom fighters]] against the Desert Tiger.
* RebelliousPrincess: Her father and country as a whole are strict neutral isolationists. ''She'' ran away to join a resistance cell halfway around the world.
* RedBaron: "The Goddess of Victory", to the Desert Dawn fighters.
* RedIsHeroic: Cagalli overlaps this with RedIsViolent, wearing a red shirt both for her time as a guerrilla and in her Orb uniform. She and [[spoiler:Athrun wear [[SignificantWardrobeShift matching red Morgenroete jackets]] for the last quarter, the Haumea amulet she gives him is red, and so is her standard-issue Orb pilot suit for the Strike Rouge]]. However, she has a second ColorMotif...
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]]. Cagalli firmly believes in this trope, and after personally travelling to Heliopolis to confirm the existence of the Gundams she throws her support behind a group of freedom fighters and later the ''Archangel'', taking an active role on the battlefield. However once she returns to Orb her father immediately points out all she's done is help to fan the flames of war, and that if she really wanted to help bring and end to the war she should have stayed in Orb, continued to learn how to rule, and leveraged her political influence as Orb's heir.
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: With [[spoiler:Athrun, who's startled and not too happy to learn she intends to take a mobile suit out to the final battle. Cagalli then shows some savvy with the page quote and by saving ''him'']].
* SeparatedAtBirth: [[spoiler:Kira is her brother and she never found out until the final stretch of the series.]]
* SheCleansUpNicely: Not that she was ever considered ''ugly'', mind you, but get her in a dress and not scowling about it and she goes from cute in a {{Tomboy}}-ish way to really beautiful (as the 3rd and 4th Openings show).
* SiblingSenioritySquabble: [[spoiler: When she tells Athrun she's glad to have Kira for a little brother, he teasingly asks her if he might not be her big brother instead. She grumpily insists that she was born first.]]
* SuperMode: [[spoiler:The only Natural to activate SEED mode.]]
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The tomboy to Lacus' girly girl given her more masculine manner of dress, speech, and more violent manner of problem solving.
* TomboyPrincess: Cagalli HatesWearingDresses and simply does not give a damn about looking like a PrincessClassic. She instead chooses short, messy hair and simple and practical clothes, such as cargo pants and t-shirts or [[TanktopTomboy tank tops]]. She is also well-versed in weaponry and battlefield tactics and feels at home at the controls of a fighter plane [[spoiler:or a Gundam, at the very end]]. In addition, her manner of speech is both quite blunt and rather strictly gender-neutral for Japanese, meaning she can sound more like a guy than a girl.
* {{Tsundere}}: She tends to act like this. She worries about Kira one moment and slaps him the next.
* {{Twincest}}: Subverted. [[spoiler:The Yamatos invoke this and worry she's getting too close to Kira for this reason, but they're informed they're brother and sister before anything else happens.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Uzumi Nara Athha]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/ToruOkawa (Japanese), John Novak (English original series), Creator/MichaelAlstonBaley (English HD remaster)
->''"We can't leave Orb, or this world, in the hands of those bastards."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Lord_Uzumi_3306.jpg]]

The leader of Orb and Cagalli's adopted father, Lord Uzumi is completely dedicated to maintaining Orb's neutral stance. This becomes ever more difficult as the war spirals out of control. Faced with increasing pressure to choose a side in the ZAFT-Earth Alliance conflict, he refuses to compromise his nation's ideals.
----
* AmbiguousSituation: What did he know about the G-Weapon Project? While Rondo Mina Sahaku initiated Morgenroete's involvement with the G-Weapon Project as established in Astray, how much he knew about it remains in question. Kisaka certainly claimed that Lord Uzumi was uninvolved but notably Uzumi himself never makes a definitive statement in private. He publicly claimed responsibility and stepped down as Orb's Chief Representative in any case. So whether he viewed the project as a NecessaryEvil to maintain Orb's neutrality in the face of ZAFT and the EA's technological advancement is left to the viewer.
%%* BadassBeard
%%* BigGood
* CycleOfRevenge: Expounds about this to Cagalli about how her belief in fighting enemies will bring unending hatred by others. [[spoiler: Also a {{Foreshadowing}} to the eventual deaths of [[TokenGoodTeamMate Nicol]] and [[NiceGuy Tolle]] that further fueled hatred between Athrun and Kira, and the escalation of the war in the show's last act.]]
* DefiantToTheEnd: When it became clear that Orb was going to lose its fight against the Earth Alliance, he chose to blow up the very resources the EA had come to the country to seize, rendering their invasion a waste.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: Igniting a self-destruct that blows up Orb's mass driver and himself in the process, effectively trapping the Earth Forces on earth.]]
* {{Expy}}:
** Uzumi bears a resemblance to [[Anime/MobilesuitGundamWing King Peacecraft]], with Orb playing a role similar to the Sanc Kingdom.
** In his active and explosive adherence to non-intervention and nonviolent solutions, his loving but abrupt approach with his wayward heir Cagalli, badass facial hair and [[spoiler:his ultimate fate]], he's a pretty close copy of Mr. Winner from the same show, although [[CastingGag the seiyuu there is now playing Patrick Zala]].
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:He shows no signs of panic or distress as he dies.]]
* FamousLastWords: ''"We can't leave Orb, or this world, in the hands of those bastards."''
* TheGoodKing: Or the Gundam Seed's equivalent; he kept the neutrality of the country even with the threat of invasion from Earth Alliance and actually treat his subjects--both Naturals and Coordinators--fairly.
* GoodParents: He is a loving and understanding father to Cagalli, but all the same knows when to be stern and upfront, especially when she gets particularly imprudent.
* MessianicArchetype: At times he's more this than Kira and Lacus put together because of his insistence on neutral, avoiding the cycle of revenge, preaching goodwill and understanding. [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} He even looks the part]]. [[spoiler: He also makes a heroic sacrifice.]]
* NonActionGuy: Politician, not a soldier.
* ParentalSubstitute: He adopted Cagalli when she was a baby.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Considering the amounts of GeneralRipper and ANaziByAnyOtherName in this show, his benign nature stands out.
* SoProudOfYou: To Cagalli. "I feel very fortunate to have been your father."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ledonir Kisaka]]
!!!Voice Actors: Isshin Chiba (Japanese), Adam Henderson (English original series), Creator/TJStorm (English HD remaster)

An officer in Orb military and bodyguard to Cagalli.
----
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Though he may have been from North Africa, but his Japanese last name and Russian first name leave his ethnicity up in the air.
* BadassNormal: He is comparatively understated but nonetheless just as capable of holding his own against Coordinators.
* BodyguardingABadass: He may bodyguard Cagalli, but she's not your average helpless VIP.
* ColonelBadass: He actually holds the rank in the Orb army.
* {{Expy}}: He's got a lot in common with Rashid Kurama from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing''.
* ImmigrantPatriotism: He is originally from North Africa but he is loyal to Orb.
* LaResistance: Part of Desert Dawn until he left for Orb.
* ShoutOut: His resistance outfit is based on Franchise/{{Rambo}}.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myrna]]
!!!Voice Actors:

Cagalli's nanny who has cared for her since she was a child.
----

* BrawnHilda: She's plump but quite strong; She one of the few people who can tame Cagalli.
* InsistentAppellation: "Cagalli-ojousama" ("Young Lady Cagalli") and "Hime" ("Princess"), much to Cagalli's annoyance and embarrassment.
* ParentalSubstitute: More or less the only mother figure in Cagalli's life, since there's nothing about Uzumi having been married.
* UndyingLoyalty: She is always ready to help Cagalli and her family overall.
[[/folder]]

!Others

[[folder:George Glenn]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/HideyukiHori (Japanese), Creator/MichaelDobson (English)
->''"I have a body capable of greater strengths and a brain capable of acquiring greater knowledge than a human being who was born naturally."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/George_Glenn_5350.jpg]]

The original Coordinator, he gained international fame and fortune excelling at basically everything ever (from professional sports to cutting-edge scientific research); he eventually revealed that his spectacular success was largely due to having been genetically engineered. He released instructions for his enhancement process to the public, inadvertently coining the term "Coordinator" at the same time. Eventually assassinated by Blue Cosmos.

In the ''[[Manga/MobileSuitGundamSeedAstray Gundam SEED Astray]]'' side stories it is revealed that his brain was kept alive inside the "GG Unit", a device resembling a very large futuristic boombox, which eventually came into the possession of the Junk Guild. Equipped with a holographic avatar to interact with the living, Glenn now serves as the captain of the salvage ship/Gundam carrier Re-Home.
----
* TheAce: A brief overview of the man's accomplishments: earning a [=PhD=] from MIT at 17, winning a silver medal at the Olympics, becoming a football star, an ace air force pilot, and a world-renowned aerospace engineer (in that order), travelling to Jupiter and back in a ship of his own design (releasing the information on how to make Coordinators to the public as he left), and designing the [=PLANTs=] during his free time on the trip. George Glenn is TheAce ''UpToEleven''.
* AlliterativeName: '''G'''eorge '''G'''lenn.
* BornLucky: Because he was engineered to be the best at everything during birth, you could say that his creator effectively rigged the genetic lottery in his favour.
* BornWinner: A main reason why he and all subsequent Coordinators are hated by "Naturals", as they would be given a head start many people born naturally can never have.
* BrainInAJar: More like Brain in a Capsule. When his body was killed, his mind was preserved, deemed too valuable to lose. Fortunately, the capsule contains a holographic projector and the ability for him to speak and see, averting a AndIMustScream situation.
* BrokenPedestal: George Glenn was Earth's greatest hero and has won the admiration of everyone. After his confession that he was a genetically-engineered human, many people were disgusted and look at him with contempt.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In the Astray series, Glenn expresses regrets over the events he started by revealing the process to make Coordinators. Resulting in racism, war and genocide. He also regrets that people took his term "coordinators" to name genetic engineered humans, since it was never meant to name a race but simply people who can lead humanity into a better future which is not related to their genes.
* PosthumousCharacter: In the main series, he has been dead for several years.
* RenaissanceMan: He was skilled at absolutely everything he tried, from Olympic level sports to [=PhD=] engineering to the no-doubt extremely complicated process that creates Coordinators like himself.
* RiddleForTheAges: Who were the scientists that created George Glenn and what happened to them after the revelation that he was a Coordinator?
* TooCoolToLive: An in-universe example. People were so pissed at how awesome he was that they ''assassinated'' him!
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: While he expected everyone to aspire to him and the subsequent Coordinator "race" as an example to lead into a better future, instead people resented him and all Coordinators for having a leg up in life that they, by their literal births, were denied.
* VirtualGhost: Though technically still alive, Glenn's only physical presence aside from the unwieldy life-support system containing his brain is an [[Series/RedDwarf Arnold Rimmer]]-style holographic projection of his old self in a captain's uniform, complete with goofy white skipper hat.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Reverend Malchio]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/KazuyaNakai (Japanese), Creator/BrianDrummond (English original series), Creator/EthanMurray (English HD remaster)

A blind monk who is one of the few individuals trusted by both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT, he acts as a mediator on the rare occasions that the two sides get along well enough to discuss anything. Among other things, he also maintains an orphanage on Earth. There is a fair bit more to him than meets the eye.
----
* EyesAlwaysShut: Is never seen without the look of serene bliss on his face.
* FriendToAllChildren: He took care of the orphans after all.
* GoodShepherd: He's one of many decent characters in the show and ran an orphanage on an island near Orb.
* HiddenDepths: In the exterior as a blind preacher, he is actually a powerful individual with connections and resources from all organizations (Junk Guild, PLANT, and EA).
* NonActionGuy: He never takes part in any battle and is often the first one to be hurried off if the conflict comes to him. This allows him to be one of the few mediators between the two sides, as everyone knows he does not have any violent motives.
* ParentalSubstitute: To a whole mess of orphans.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Al Da Flaga]]
!!!Voice Actors: Kozo Mito, Creator/ToshihikoSeki (Special Edition) (Japanese), Creator/MarkOliver (English)
->''"Laws can be broken after all. They're only made by humans."''
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Al_Da_Flaga_5725.jpg]]

Mu La Flaga's deceased father. He considered his son too weak to be his true heir, and is later revealed to have cloned himself in an effort to gain a more worthy successor. He went on to deny said clone [[note]]which grew up to become Rau Le Creuset[[/note]] any sense of identity, which ended with his death in a "mysterious" fire. Whoops.
----
* AboveGoodAndEvil: How he saw himself. If the few quotes we have from him are a fair representation, he honestly seems to have thought he was something more than merely human.
* AbusiveParent: Anyone who effectively disowns his young son because said son ''has his mother's genes'' is not going to win any Father of the Year awards, to say nothing of [[spoiler:his treatment of Rau]].
* ControlFreak: To the point that he disowned his own biological son for not having the ''exact same genes'' as him.
* DomesticAbuse: Cut Mu out of the will for sharing his wife's genetics. That probably qualifies him.
%%%* FinancialAbuse: Of Mu and his wife.
* {{Jerkass}}: Not ''evil'' per se, but definitely a colossal douche.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Is dressed in a suit and tie in all of his few appearances, such as [[spoiler: twisting Dr.Hibiki's arm into illegal cloning through the promise of funding.]]
* {{Narcissist}}: In fact his abusive style of parenting is what psyciatrists terms "narcissistic abuse." He disowned Mu for daring to be something more than a vehicle for his own ego, and upon seeing his [[spoiler:clone, the first words out of his mouth are "this is me, right?"]] Al seems to have been incapable of viewing people as anything more than extensions of his own personality, and that's without getting into his [[AboveGoodAndEvil delusions of]] [[{{Ubermensch}} grandeur]].
* ParentalAbandonment: Of ''both'' his sons, one after the other. Jackass.
* PosthumousCharacter: Dies years before the series begins, but is nontheless an enormous part of the plot, given that he not only inadvertently created the BigBad, but also funded the Ultimate Coordinator project, the process that eventually led to [[spoiler:Kira and Cagalli's births]].
* {{Pride}}: In addition to being a textbook narcissist, Al's hubris knew no bounds. Le Creuset calls him out on it posthumously in a rant to Mu.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: [[spoiler:Cloning humans]] is illegal. Al doesn't care.
* SmugSnake: In contrast to his sons who are respectively TheAce and [[spoiler:one hell of a MagnificentBastard]].
* {{Ubermensch}}: He certainly ''thought'' he was one, but at the end of the day he's little more than a rich creep with an ego the size of a planet.
%%* TheUnfettered
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ulen Hibiki]]
!!!Voice actor: EijiYanagisawa (Japanese), FredHanderson (English original series), Creator/CamClarke (English HD remaster)
->''"The urge to make things better has always driven progress, and then that is what brings about happiness."''
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ulen_Hibiki_1190.jpg]]

A very brilliant, very ambitious, and totally amoral scientist who was behind the Ultimate Coordinator project.
----
* AbusiveParent: How abusive? [[spoiler:When he needed a test subject for the project, he used ''one of his own soon-to-be-born twin babies''... Kira Yamato.]]
* DomesticAbuse: If you think that stealing your wife's unborn child for a science experiment qualifies you, then yes.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Whether it's this or PragmaticVillainy, he's still the one who points out to Al Da Flaga that [[spoiler:cloning him]] would be illegal. Implying that he only agreed to do so [[OnlyInItForTheMoney to receive the funding he needed]].
* EvilutionaryBiologist: Not only did he work on the Ultimate Coordinator project, but he is also the one who [[spoiler:cloned Rau le Creuset and Rey za Burrell.]]
* ForScience: His motivation is progress for its own sake.
%%* HotScientist
%%* MadScientist
%%* PosthumousCharacter
%%* SmugSnake
%%* TheUnfettered
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Via Hibiki]]
!!!Voice actor: Creator/HoukoKuwashima (Japanese), Creator/EricaSchroeder (English HD remaster)

Ulen Hibiki's wife, also implied to be his scientific partner. She ''does'' have standards, though, as she's horrified when he goes too far with his experiments.
----
%%* BrainyBrunette
* GiveHimANormalLife: [[spoiler:She tells her younger sister Caridad to take Kira and Cagalli in, before she dies alongside Ulen and Al Da Flaga.]]
* MotherlyScientist: Her scenes in the anime showcase her maternal concern for the subjects of the Ultimate Coordinator project, [[spoiler: beyond the one that happens to be her son. Incidentally, Kira was the only one to survive.]]
%%* PosthumousCharacter
%%* TenderTears
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Caridad Yamato]]
!!!Voice actor: Creator/KikukoInoue (Japanese), Creator/RebeccaShoichet (English original series), Creator/ErinFitzgerald (English HD remaster)

Kira's mother. Actually, his maternal aunt. She and her husband Haruma raised Kira, who has no idea.
----
* GoodParents: [[spoiler:Despite not being his real mother and father,]] Caridad and Haruma loved and treated Kira like their own and were understanding of his reluctance to see them during the ''Archangel'''s brief layover in Orb.
* ParentalSubstitute: [[spoiler:For Kira.]]
* YamatoNadeshiko: A very loving and caring mother for Kira, who doesn't seem at all stunned by the horrific war her boy goes through.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: [[spoiler: Which is one of the first tips she isn't Kira's biological mother. (Plus her husband's hair being black and neither of them having purple eyes.)]]
[[/folder]]

! Heliopolis
A space colony in the Moon's orbit at the L3 Lagrange point, Heliopolis is part of Orb territory, and is thus neutral in the conflict between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. Unfortunately for them, Heliopolis is secretly building mobile suits for the Earth Alliance, they're attacked by ZAFT in a raid to steal them, and the colony is eventually destroyed in an ensuing battle. A number of refugees end up on board the Archangel, and become Earth Alliance crewmen after later enlisting, despite being citizens of a neutral nation.

See [[Characters/MobileSuitGundamSEEDHeliopolis here]].

[[index]]

[[/index]]

[[Characters/MobileSuitGundamSEEDHeliopolis Here]]

!Heliopolis
A space colony in the Moon's orbit at the L3 Lagrange point, Heliopolis is part of Orb territory, and is thus neutral in the conflict between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. Unfortunately for them, Heliopolis is secretly building mobile suits for the Earth Alliance, they're attacked by ZAFT in a raid to steal them, and the colony is eventually destroyed in an ensuing battle. A number of refugees end up on board the ''Archangel'', and become Earth Alliance crewmen after later enlisting, despite being citizens of a neutral nation.

[[folder:Kira Yamato]]
!!'''Main mecha:''' GAT-X105 Strike Gundam, [=ZGMF-X10A=] Freedom Gundam
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/SoichiroHoshi (Japanese), Creator/MattHill (English original series dub), Creator/MaxMittelman (English HD Remaster dub)
->''"If you just did nothing because you thought it wouldn't help, than you'd end up doing less than nothing. Because nothing would change."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Kira_Yamato_183.jpg]]

The main character, who was attending a technical college on Heliopolis when the series began. Naturally, he ends up FallingIntoTheCockpit of the Strike Gundam. He's a [[BornWinner Coordinator]], which he attempts to hide at first, but it quickly comes out into the open. Kira undergoes the most CharacterDevelopment of anyone in the series; starting as a somewhat goofy but generally normal kid, he forces himself to become cold and nearly mechanical in order to deal with the realities of war, but eventually breaks out of this and becomes much more idealistic (but no less determined) before the series ends.

* TheAce: Several characters have noted that even amongst fellow Coordinators, Kira stands out as being on a level above them in talent, both in studies and in combat. [[spoiler:This is because he was intended to be this as the Ultimate Coordinator.]]
* AcePilot: He's the main character in a ''Gundam'' show. So of course he ends up achieving this status, and quickly at that. By the time he gets his hands on his first BiggerStick, he is among the most skilled pilots in the entire series, both in ''SEED'' and ''Destiny''.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: As a Coordinator, Kira is genetically modified to have faster learning abilities than Naturals. His most impressive feats using this trope are the battles in the desert, where he was able to adjust the Strike's settings for desert combat and execute impressive combat strategies against more experienced soldiers.
* BadassBookworm: Before he was a mobile suit pilot, he was an engineering student and he stills mainly relies on his brains in battle.
* BattleBoomerang: The Sword Strike has one mounted on its left shoulder armor.
* BeamSpam: The Freedom is equipped with a multi-lock targeting system, allowing Kira to make full use of all of its ranged weapons (a beam rifle, a pair of wing mounted beam cannons and another pair of hip-mounted railguns) at once. The spray of red, yellow and green beams this creates is one of the most iconic images in SEED.
* {{BFG}}: The Launcher Striker's 320mm Agni hyper impulse cannon and the Freedom's MMI-M15 "Xiphas" [[MagneticWeapons Railguns]] and M100 "Balaena" [[PlasmaCannon Plasma Beam Cannons]].
* {{BFS}}: The Sword Striker's anti-ship sword, which is over fifteen meters long.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Being a Coordinator, Kira's a lot stronger, faster, and more agile than he looks, so trying to pick a fistfight with him is a bad idea.
* BigDamnHero: Plenty of times, he swoops in like an angel to save someone, and he does this even more after receiving the Freedom.
* BigDamnKiss: Has a negative example at the start of his troubled relationship with Flay.
* BiggerStick: His Gundam, naturally. The Freedom in particular is a top of the line machine that won't be outclassed until the latter stages of ''Destiny''.
* BornWinner: Not just a Coordinator, but [[spoiler:the ''Ultimate'' Coordinator]], and also capable of activating [[SuperMode SEED mode]].
* BrokenAce: Despite being possibly the best pilot in the show, he isn't able to save everyone he attempts to save and experiences a lot of trauma because of it.
* CanNotSpitItOut: Deconstructed. His refusal to tell Flay about his feelings for her (she was already taken at first, but even after she began to manipulate him he still didn't say anything) results in pain for him, especially when they ''finally'' reunite [[spoiler:and Rau [[KickTheDog immediately kills her]] before Kira can say anything]].
* CategoryTraitor: Aside from the non-military Lacus, almost everybody Kira meets has something to say about Kira being a Coordinator fighting other Coordinators (and fighting for the people who range from not liking Coordinators to wanting them all dead), even though he emphatically does not want to join ZAFT, either. (Cagalli calls him out for being an Orb national fighting for the Atlantic Federation.) Kira is well aware of how fighting for "the other side" looks, and the desperation of his choice to protect the ''Archangel'' and his Natural friends, and it contributes to his unhappiness for the "Strike" part of the show. In effect, for much of the show and even the next, Kira's always felt alone and unwanted.
* CelebrityResemblance: Mitsuo Fukuda [[WordOfGod said in a 2003 interview]] that Kira was based on Tatsuya Fujiwara, the actor who played Nanahara Shuuya in the live-action film adaptation of ''Literature/BattleRoyale''.
* DeathFromAbove: The Freedom is the first Gundam shown to be capable of full-flight capabilities under the atmosphere in mobile suit mode in ''SEED'' (most {{Mook}}s and the first Gundams have to use sub-flight lifters).
* DualWielding: Although most Gundams in the series possess two beam sabers, Kira only really starts dual-wielding with the Freedom. The beam sabers can also combine into a DoubleWeapon, but Kira only does in the final battle.
* FallingIntoTheCockpit: Actually ''thrown'' in by Murrue Ramius in order to save his life during the ZAFT commando raid on Heliopolis.
* {{Foil}}: Of [[Characters/MobileSuitGundam Amuro Ray]], the original Gundam pilot. They're both technical geniuses, emotional characters, and protagonists, but where Amuro only had one real friend initially, Kira has several who are very important to him. Amuro infamously fought with his CO and deserted; Kira was nothing but supportive of Murrue and the AA and vice-versa. A distraught Amuro spent the series deciding against [[spoiler:a RelationshipUpgrade with his good friend Frau; a distraught Kira made the decision to sleep with his crush Flay very early on. Amuro also fully awakens into a powerful Newtype by the end of his series; Kira only starts to awaken into the Cosmic Era equivalent at the end of his, principally because his Ultimate Coordinator status is supposed to be a substitute or outweigh it]]. The vast difference in temperaments and reactions between them outweigh the few glancing similarities.
* {{Forgiveness}}: Forgives both Athrun and Yzak, even choosing to spare the latter (who shot down a shuttle full of civilians) in the middle of a battle.
* ForgottenChildhoodFriend: Athrun, downplayed. Kira has Birdy with him constantly, yet hasn't been in touch with Athrun at all since they saw each other a couple of years ago. He might not have been so surprised Athrun was in ZAFT, otherwise.
* TheGlovesComeOff: Against Athrun after [[spoiler:Tolle dies]]. One could make the case that it happens again when [[spoiler:Le Creuset guns down Flay in front of him.]]
* HappilyAdopted: [[spoiler: His parents are actually his aunt and uncle, but he doesn't find out until much later. Still, he seems quite happy with them and well adjusted before the war breaks him.]]
* HeartbrokenBadass: [[spoiler: During the final battle, he fails to save Flay. Despite it obviously effecting him, he goes on to take down the BigBad.]]
* TheHero: A kind-hearted young man who wants to protect his friends and bring peace.
* HeroKiller: To ZAFT, as he managed to kill several ZAFT aces (most notably, Miguel Ailman, Andrew Waltfeld, and Nicol Amalfi) as the Strike's pilot. In fact, Athrun gets the highest military award simply on the virtue of being the sole ZAFT pilot to have taken him down.
* HeroesWantRedHeads: In the beginning of the series, Kira has an obvious crush on Flay which later [[spoiler:blossoms into a full fledged sexual relationship]], but it just gets ugly from there. His final love interest has [[spoiler:pink hair]], which might or might not qualify their relationship for this trope.
* HeroicSafeMode: He lives one during the middle part of the series, as he shuts his emotions down in order to cope with the ravages of the war.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: During the series' mid-point it doesn't matter how good Kira is or how much the others praise him: he can't live up to the only person whose standards matter to him, namely, his own.
* HesBack: When he and the Freedom interrupt the Battle of JOSH-A, it signals that he has recovered from his HeroicBSOD as a new man (with a new suit of armor)
* HonorBeforeReason: He realizes that although stopping one's enemies without murdering them may be difficult, but doing otherwise would breed more hatred and thus not bring an end to war. [[JustifiedTrope Of course,]] [[ImprobableAimingSkills as his aim is so good]] [[BeamSpam and his arsenal so large]] [[TheAce that against anything other than a top ace]] [[MartialPacifist and the fact that he shoots to disable rather than destroy]] [[OneManArmy really makes no difference at all.]]
* IAmAMonster: In the added post-credits scene of ''HD Remaster'' of [[spoiler: the episode he learns of his origins as the Ultimate Coordinator, as expected, he begins to buy Rau's accusation of being a freak born of hubris like him, thinking he shouldn't have been born, making him feel even more alone and unwanted than being considered the CategoryTraitor for the first half of the show. Lacus lovingly assures him of his right to exist and be his own person, the person that has made her happy and wants to be with]].
* ILetGwenStacyDie: [[spoiler:Flay's death really hits him hard, and all the more so when she is killed right in front of him during battle. To a lesser degree, the shuttle that Yzak shot down also haunts him]].
* IronicName: "Kira" comes from the JapaneseRanguage pronunciation for 'killer'.
* ItsPersonal: With Athrun after [[spoiler:Tolle's death]] and Le Creuset after [[spoiler:Flay's]].
* JerkassBall: Grabs this to deal with Sai after sleeping with Flay, twisting Sai's arm behind his back and telling Sai he has no chance in a fight with him. (Remember Sai was a far better friend to him than Flay, originally.) Only somewhat justified given the major PTSD Kira was going through — as he said, Flay was the only one who was kind to him and held him.
* KnifeNut: The Strike's basic form is armed with two Armor Schneider knives, and nothing else. They come in useful a bunch of times though and some of his most critical victories with the Strike are made with them.
* LadyAndKnight: The White Knight to Lacus Clyne's Bright Lady; he is a noble individual who is fighting on her behalf in a suit of armor she gave him to protect others and bring an end to the war.
* TheLadysFavour: Lacus gives Kira her mother's ring before the final battle.
* LightningBruiser: The Freedom, which more or less combines two of the Strike's modes (not counting Sword) into one Gundam plus some.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Both the Strike and the Freedom feature a shield. Kira makes extensive use of both of them. The Sword Striker's shield has an added feature of being able to fire a [[GrapplingHookPistol grapple line.]]
* [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Mad Scientist's Handsome Son]]: [[spoiler:Averted. While his father, Ulen, is definitely a MadScientist, he didn't grow up with him; nor even know him, and thus never betrayed him.]]
* MartialPacifist: He'd ''much'' rather talk things out than fight over it. This being ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'', it doesn't work out that way.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Gentle NiceGuy Kira and the very boisterous, brash TomboyPrincess Cagalli. [[spoiler: Who are also fraternal twins]].
* MechaExpansionPack: The Strike, which is near-useless without one of its three Striker packs.
* MidSeasonUpgrade: The Strike is outclassed by the Freedom.
* MultiformBalance: The Strike. Aile Striker is more or less a JackOfAllStats, while the Launcher Striker is a MightyGlacier with heavier weaponry but less mobility, and the Sword Striker is a borderline LightningBruiser (not quite as fast as the Aile, but faster than the Launcher) balanced by the fact that it lacks ranged firepower.
* NiceGuy: Kira earnestly tries to do his best to help everyone, no matter the situation or how he's feeling.
* NotQuiteDead: To the ire of his enemies and the relief of everyone else is that he never dies even when he appears to.
* PolarOppositeTwins: With [[spoiler: the blunt and outspoken blonde Natural Cagalli]].
--> [[spoiler:'''Cagalli:''' Do you even know ''how'' to use a gun?]]
* ProHumanTranshuman: There's a few of these around, but Kira's the most notable example, fighting to protect his Natural friends from Coordinator soldiers from the earliest episodes of the show.
* ProneToTears: Kira cries a lot, sometimes very loudly. It extends from other people characterizing him as a crybaby to him discussing the matter with both Flay and Lacus.
* TheProtagonist: The main viewpoint of the series, with Athrun coming in second.
* PsychicPowers: Downplayed and subverted. He starts being able to [[spoiler: "sense" Rau the way Rau and Mu sense each other, but it's at the very end and really doesn't affect anything in this series. He also can't make any kind of emotional connection with Rau or hear Flay after she dies.]]
* ReluctantWarrior: He really doesn't like fighting, but if the alternative is letting innocents suffer, then prepare for ass-kickings.
* RescueRomance: His relationship with Lacus originated when the ''Archangel'' picked up her escape pod. In fact, they both traded roles of ''rescuer'' and ''rescuee'' in some points.
* TheRival: Serves as Athrun's rival [[spoiler:until after their reunion post-final Strike vs. Aegis fight where they become friends again]].
* RobotBuddy: Birdy/Torii, his robotic bird.
* SayMyName: Many, many fights he is involved in tend to have him shout the name of his opponent, usually [[TheRival Athrun's]]. Also happens after he witnesses a loved one die, such as [[spoiler:Tolle and Flay]].
* SeparatedAtBirth: With [[spoiler:Cagalli, his twin sister]].
* SecondLove: Subverted. [[spoiler: Lacus expresses fond feelings for Kira, even saying she wants him to stay with her, but [[RealityEnsues Kira is too traumatized from his relationship with Flay to reciprocate]]]].
* ShellShockedVeteran: The war has a very detrimental effect on Kira's mental health, causing him to hit rock bottom around the series midpoint. He recovers to a degree, but is still intensely dazed by the "Interphase" {{midquel}}.
* SiblingSenioritySquabble: [[spoiler: Unlike Cagalli, he does not seem to care which of them is the elder twin.]]
* SkilledButNaive: Like most ''Gundam'' protagonists, he starts out rather naive (in his case he follows HonorBeforeReason) but serves as the main reason the ''Archangel'' got as far as it did.
* SuperIntelligence: Most Coordinators are smart, but Kira rewrote the operating system for a complex war machine in under a minute, pushing him into this territory.
* SuperMode: SEED mode increases his combat ability by overclocking his mind.
* SuperReflexes: Like most Coordinators, Kira possesses reflexes that are notably superior to those of regular humans. This is one reason why he's able to operate the Strike better than pilots who trained for years to do it--he doesn't require the clumsy OS that would enable a Natural to operate the system.
* TechnicalPacifist: After getting the Freedom and going through a lot of soul searching, he aims to disable MS and spare the pilot, rather than destroying them outright. He will break this rule if he has to though, most notably against [[spoiler:Le Creuset]] who couldn't be stopped any other way.
* TeenGenius: As a Coordinator this is the norm; he has greater intellectual potential than Naturals and has developed it extensively for his age. [[spoiler: As the Ultimate Coordinator, he takes it even further than the norm.]]
* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: From Ep 31 of Seed HD Remaster: "I am sad."
* TheirFirstTime: Abruptly has one with Flay, which becomes an ongoing relationship.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: There are none, officially, and Kira tends to agonizingly suffer because of it. Downplayed, however, because Lacus effectively fills the role for him.
* TragicKeepsake: The origami flower he was given by a little girl he'd helped protect [[spoiler:and who was later shot down by Yzak]].
* TrueCompanions: Eventually the entire Archangel crew becomes extremely tight. [[spoiler: Athrun is included once they are on the same side.]]
* UnluckyEverydude: He starts the series doing piles of extra work for his college professor and with an unrequited crush on Flay. His fortunes do not improve.
* UnwittingPawn: He gets seduced by Flay and throws himself into working and fighting for her, and he never does find out her originally malicious intent for him. Kira eventually subverts this by ending the relationship.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Has Yzak at his mercy in Episode 35. He knows Yzak is the one who gunned down the civilians (which traumatized him greatly) and due to their positioning he can kill Yzak and no one will ever know it was murder. Instead he saves Yzak's life by sending him out of the blast radius.
* WorthLivingFor: In response to Rau's InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves speech regarding the world:
-->'''Kira''': So what!? This world is still worth protecting!
* WouldHitAGirl: Gives [[spoiler:Cagalli]] a pretty hefty slap after she took a swing at him and [[spoiler:kills Aisha during his battle with her and Andrew.]]

[[folder:Miriallia Haw]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/MegumiToyoguchi (Japanese), Creator/AnnaCummer (English original series dub), Creator/CassandraLeeMorris (English HD Remaster dub)
[[quoteright:251:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Miriallia_Haw_9716.jpg]]

One of Kira's friends from Heliopolis. Dates Tolle and serves in charge of communications on the ''Archangel''. Probably the most level-headed of the press-ganged civilians.

* AffectionateNickname: Tolle calls her "Miri".
* BetaCouple: With Tolle. They're the much more stable and sane foil to the Sai/Flay/Kira drama.
* BreakTheCutie: The death of [[spoiler: Tolle]] hits her hard, on top of the double whammy of [[spoiler: Kira's supposed death.]]
* CommunicationsOfficer: She works on the bridge of the ''Archangel'', CIC specifically, as the controller for the ship's pilots, launches, and mobile weapons.
* CustomUniform: OMNI [[DoubleStandard just happens to have colored miniskirts and thigh-highs around for its teenage female draftees]]. Miri's isn't quite in CustomUniformOfSexy territory like MsFanservice Flay, though.
* {{Expy}}: Takes some cues from [[Characters/MobileSuitGundam Frau Bow]] in general looks, temperament and job position, except [[spoiler: we see what it would have been like [[WhatIf if Amuro died]]]].
* {{Forgiveness}}: She forgives Athrun for his role in [[spoiler:Tolle's death]].
* FreakOut: After [[spoiler:Tolle's death]], though she recovers eventually.
* TheHeart: Plays peacemaker to the rest of the BridgeBunnies, and provides emotional support for everyone she can.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: After she tries stabbing Dearka because his words drove her fully into a FreakOut, she snaps out of it when Sai stops her. Which then allows her to see what she was about to become when Flay tries killing Dearka herself mere moments later.]] She spends the next episode in guilt over it before she and Dearka talk at the end.
* NiceGirl: Probably one of the nicest, which makes her FreakOut above even more scary.
%%* TeamMom: To her posse.
* ShipTease: One interpretation of [[spoiler:her relationship with Dearka, post FreakOut]].

[[folder:Sai Argyle]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/TetsuShiratori (Japanese), BillSwitzer (English original series dub), Creator/LucienDodge (English HD Remaster dub)
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sai-argyle-15695674d5_9334.jpg]]

A friend of Kira's and Flay's boyfriend. He seems to be the unofficial leader of Kira's social clique -- he's the cool, confident guy with the hot girlfriend. Between Flay's issues and Kira's rising importance, this is slowly {{Deconstructed}} over the first half of the series, though Sai's resilient enough to bounce back from it. During the second half of the series, he reprises his leadership role, acting as the unofficial first-among-equals for the bridge crewmen.

* AboveTheInfluence: After [[spoiler:Kira's apparent death]], Flay tries to rebound back with him, but Sai maturely rejects her.
* BridgeBunnies: He works on the bridge of the ''Archangel'' in various positions, usually on CIC with Miriallia.
* CoolShades: And by extension SunglassesAtNight.
%%* HollywoodNerd
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: He has a phase where he tries to be as special as Kira by piloting the Strike.
%%* TheLancer[=/=]TheSmartGuy: Among Kira's group of friends.
* LoveHurts: His "romance" with Flay doesn't do anything for him.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Soon after Flay dumps him, he attempts to steal the Strike. Being a Natural trying to pilot a machine tuned by and for a [[BornWinner Coordinator]], he can't even leave the hanger before the Strike topples over from his inability to properly use it.
* {{Megane}}: A male with glasses.
* MissionControl: He typically works with Miriallia in CIC.
* NiceGuy: Which is one reason so many people hate Flay for what she puts him through.
* NonActionGuy: Sai's not a fighter.
* TheResenter: Briefly has an intense dislike Kira due to Kira's greater ability. He gets over it fast.
* RomanticFalseLead: A more sympathetic one than usual. He was engaged to Flay, who Kira also has feelings for, then Flay starts seducing Kira as part of her desire to have him fight until he dies. This results in Sai getting dumped, and Kira grabs the JerkassBall because of Flay's manipulation and attacks Sai to cement that he has no chance with her.
* TookALevelInBadass: Following Kira's apparent death, Sai takes command of the bridge crew, tells Flay ''exactly'' where she can stick her issues, prevents she and Miriallia from killing Dearka, and essentially becomes one of the most important people on board the ''Archangel'', all without ever changing his rank or official job.

[[folder:Tolle Koenig]]
!!'''Main mecha:''' FX-550 Skygrasper
!!!Voice Actors: TakayukiInoue (Japanese), Creator/RichardIanCox (English original series dub), Colin [=DePaula=] (English HD Remaster dub)
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Tolle_Koenig_4910.jpg]]

One of Kira's friends. Dates Miriallia and looks up to Kira. The one to come up with the idea to join the ''Archangel'''s crew, he's always looking to make himself useful. One of the BridgeBunnies at first, he eventually spends enough time in the simulator to graduate to Skygrasper pilot, and begins to help Kira and Mu in battle.

* BetaCouple: With Miriallia who he's been dating since before the series started.
%%* TheBigGuy[=/=]TheLancer: Plays this role to Kira early in the series.
* BridgeBunnies: He's initially another member of the bridge crew. He primarily worked with Neumann on navigation.
* CoolPlane: He becomes the pilot of the ''Archangel'''s second Skygrasper after Cagalli disembarks.
* GoodCounterpart: To Nicol ([[AntiVillain who admittedly isn't villainous by any stretch]]); both are loyal friends that provide much needed moral comfort -- Nicol reminds Athrun of the peace they strive to fight for while Tolle joins Kira in battle on the bridge and later as the pilot of the second Skygrasper, helping Kira see that [[YouAreNotAlone he and the rest of his friends are truly with him]].
* HotBlooded: Tolle is certainly the most enthusiastic of the Heliopolis crew, and constantly pushes to improve himself. Over the course of the series, he goes from refugee, to bridge crew, to combat pilot!
* IronicName: [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Amuro Ray's]] voice actor is [[Creator/ToruFuruya ''Tohru'' Furuya]]. Koenig means "king" in German, like "Rey" does in Spanish. Tolle is a very loyal friend to Kira and tries to be a hero and [[spoiler:gets KilledOffForReal, ''very'' gorily and dramatically, and thanks to flashbacks, repeatedly]]. It's a pretty effective StealthInsult.
* NiceGuy: Perhaps the friendliest member of Kira's peer group, and the one who most readily rushes to the defense of the others.
* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler: The Aegis's shield ''decapitates'' poor Tolle as it hits the cockpit.]] [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath Yikes]].
* OhCrap: [[spoiler: When he sees the Aegis's shield flying right at him...]]
* StuffedIntoTheFridge: [[spoiler:Once Tolle is killed, Kira finally begins to fight Athrun with killing intent.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: He becomes the pilot of the second Skygrasper.

[[folder:Kuzzey Buskirk]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/YasuhiroTakato (Japanese), KeithMiller (English original series dub), Eddy Lee (English HD Remaster dub)
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Kuzzey_Buskirk_6056.jpg]]

One of Kira's friends, he's something of a minor character compared to the rest of the Heliopolis crew. He's the most average of the clique, lacking any outstanding quality comparable to Sai's confidence, Miriallia's warmth, or Tolle's determination. When the ''Archangel'' [[spoiler:deserts the Earth Alliance and returns to Orb]], he decides not to stay on.

* BridgeBunnies: He joins his friends as a part of the ''Archangel'''s bridge crew.
* CommunicationsOfficer: His primary role on the bridge.
* TheEveryman: His main role in the series is "the average guy" -- his response to things like TheReveal that Kira's a Coordinator stand in for the "normal" reaction.
* TheGenericGuy: He knows that nothing about him stands out.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Sees himself as useless.
* TheLoad: He considers ''himself'' this, though [[HeroicSelfDeprecation no one else seems to]]. He pulls his weight on the ''Archangel'', at least.
* NonActionGuy: As a member of the bridge crew.
* OptOut: He eventually accepts that he just isn't cut out for war and leaves the ''Archangel'' after their return to Orb.
* SatelliteCharacter: Has the least development out of Kira's friends and never gets any scenes to himself.
* SpacePeople: Kuzzey is the only one born on [[SpaceStation Heliopolis]] and definitely not used to life on Earth.

[[folder:Flay Allster]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/HoukoKuwashima (Japanese), Creator/TabithaStGermain (English original series dub), Creator/EricaMendez (English HD Remaster dub)
->''"Why didn't you save him? It's because you're a Coordinator, too!"''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Flay_Allster_4100.jpg]]

Living on Heliopolis at the beginning of the series, Flay is the daughter of the Atlantic Federation's Vice Foreign Minister, George Allster. She'd recently begun dating Sai at the beginning of the series, though Kira had had a crush on her for some time. A fairly air-headed type, the war is not kind to her.

* BeautyIsBad: Flay is very pretty and stylish and presented as anxiously vain and self-centered about it, then uses it as a weapon, and is not at all a nice person for most of the series.
* BecomingTheMask: Pretends that she loves Kira because she blames him for her father's death and wants to make sure he'll die as punishment, but later she finds herself really falling in love with him. Sai [[LampshadeHanging says it]] [[WhatTheHellHero to her directly]].
* BelatedLoveEpiphany: Flay and Kira share a very unhealthy relationship wherein she basically tries to manipulate him onto a path of self-destruction (blaming him for her father's death), but it's not until Kira [[spoiler:is seemingly killed by Athrun]] that Flay realizes she has [[BecomingTheMask fallen for him for real in the meantime]]. That particular subplot [[LoveHurts doesn't end well at all]].
* BigotWithACrush: She starts off as distrustful towards Coordinators and it gets worse from there, but she finds her false relationship with Kira becoming real.
* BridgeBunny: Gets upgraded to this [[spoiler:when she works with Natarle as a CommunicationsOfficer on the ''Dominion'']].
* BrokenBird: The poor girl has, politely speaking, '''massive issues''' due to her father's death.
* CharacterDevelopment: While her BecomingTheMask phase happens earlier on, the more obvious development happens ''very'' late in the series, after [[spoiler:Rau brings her to ZAFT and she spends time with him and Yzak, seeing the conflict from the other side]].
* ClingyJealousGirl: She really doesn't like Kira spending time with Cagalli, and huffs when one of Cagalli's caretakers walks her off the ''Archangel'' after putting her into a princess dress. Justified, since she's using Kira and doesn't want anyone interfering with her control over him.
* CustomUniformOfSexy: Grade A ZettaiRyouiki, and she even has a tank top instead of the standard t-shirt underneath. (Subverted later in the series, [[spoiler:when she no longer wears this and has the more modest standard ZAFT and OMNI uniforms instead]].)
* DaddysGirl: Flay speaks rather fondly about her father. [[spoiler:Also why she takes her father's death so badly]].
%%%%%%%%%% "Towards Azrael, following her coming aboard the ''Dominion''. Like Badgiruel, she quickly realizes just how mad he is." This says nothing about her role as a dark chick. It's only tangentially related.
%%%%%%* TheDarkChick:
* DeadPersonConversation: Played with, as [[spoiler: while there is a scene that invokes this trope, it's framed in a way that makes it clear Kira can't actually hear what she's telling him, so no true conversation is actually happening between the two. Subverted in the manga, where Kira and Flay do have a conversation.]]
* DontYouDarePityMe: She accuses Kira of pitying her for her father dying (he didn't go to visit his parents) and snaps back at him. There are two interpretations: that she doesn't want pity from Kira, and also that she cannot ''stand'' that he is still being so nice to someone like her. Or both.
* DramaQueen: Flay's hysterics (and whining, pouting, and death threats) are a recurring theme, especially because she's the only one having them. Even when [[spoiler: she encounters LargeHam Rau, in some ways her SpearCounterpart, he comes off as calm and rational and easily [[TalkingYourWayOut talks his way out]] and [[BreakThemByTalking breaks her by talking]]]].
* EnfanteTerrible: A downplayed example. Flay is an awful, bloodthirsty ''teenager'', but one who makes the most of her pretty and helpless appearance to the full. Also, despite being the worst, she is the ''youngest'' of all the Heliopolis students — which might play into it. She has nothing else to do with her traumatized self but connive.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Flay has a few of these moments, but most strongly in the DontYouDarePityMe scene with Kira above. It's what causes him to break up with her.
* EvilRedhead: When she tries to manipulate Kira hoping he'll die. More ''horribly messed up'' than evil, but she's not portrayed particularly sympathetically at all for the first three-fourths of the show, [[spoiler:before or after her father's death]].
* {{Expy}}: She appears to be a more sympathetic and less villainous version of [[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Katejina Loos]]. Her first kiss with Kira [[ShoutOut is deliberately photocopied]] from the one between Amuro Ray in ''Characters/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' and his similarly attractive and unpleasant girlfriend, Beltorchika Irma.
* FallenPrincess: From spoiled DaddysGirl to the PrincessInRags wreck she spends most of the series as; she eventually adapts enough to arrive here.
* FantasticRacism: She had issues with Coordinators even before the war, to the point that she agrees with Blue Cosmos' views on the issue. [[spoiler:Her father's death only made things worse.]] Finally overcomes it towards the end to the point where she's horrified seeing Azrael's genocidal mania.
* FilleFatale: She's only fourteen and already seducing Kira into doing what she wants.
* {{Foil}}: To both Lacus and Cagalli, with her general bitchiness, immaturity, and self-centredness contrasting with both Lacus' forgiving nature and Cagalli's insistence on joining the fighting. She's the PrincessInRags to Lacus' AllLovingHero and Cagalli's RebelliousPrincess.
* FreakOut: After her father's death, she goes into a downward spiral of depression and manipulation. It lasts for most of the show.
* GildedCage: [[spoiler:The time she spends with the Le Creuset team]]; even though she's a prisoner she's given a lot of privileges (she's allowed to attend military briefings, is given a uniform, and is implied to have regular quarters).
%%%%%%* HeelFaceTurn: Sort of, she gets somewhere between a full one and a HeelFaceDoorSlam before her RedemptionEqualsDeath moment.
* HeelRealization: It started around the time she realized she was really falling for Kira, then was even further developed during her [[spoiler: time as Rau's captive and saw what it was like from ZAFT's side.]] Meeting Azrael and seeing his [[KillEmAll plans]] firsthand cemented it. Notably in the manga adaptation Azrael asks her "The war will end when the Coordinators die. That's what you believe, isn't it?" Flay remembers her previous attempt to murder Dearka and breaks down in tears of disgust.
* IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: Takes her uniform jacket off and ties up her undershirt to divert Kira's attention away from Cagalli.
%%* ILetGwenStacyDie: To Kira.
* ItMeantSomethingToMe: Flay tries to deny this and ''Sai'' has to point out that, yes, she did (and does) have real feelings for Kira.
* ItsAllAboutMe: See LackOfEmpathy. Her self-absorption is a defining trait, ranging from mild or increasing vanity to the point where she immediately threatens to kill Lacus in desperation to save her father and really does try to kill [[spoiler:Dearka]], assuming because he's an enemy Coordinator that Miriallia must want him dead as well.
* JerkassHasAPoint: She angrily blames Kira for her father's death, believing he held back in the fight where it happened because he was fighting against other Coordinators. Kira was in fact not going all out, [[RightForTheWrongReasons though not for the reasons Flay believes]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While she spends the first portion of the series as a ManipulativeBitch and SpoiledBrat, she deeply cares about Kira and his friends.
* KickTheDog: She rebuts Sai's attempt to talk by revealing that she was sleeping with his best friend, and then is rather dismissive of him.
* LackOfEmpathy: Fuels things like her DontYouDarePityMe scene with Kira, whom she finally taunts for suffering. Flay isn't very capable of understanding or caring that especially since it's a war, other people are hurting just as badly as she is. She explicitly acknowledges this [[spoiler:after she dies, telling Kira she "couldn't understand anything before"]].
* TheLoad: Despite having volunteered, Flay has no significant role aboard the ''Archangel'', and while she does do things like laundry, she spends most of her time hiding in Kira's room, complaining about things like a lack of hair care products, and causing emotional trauma in Kira and Sai. She herself acknowledges this during her time on the ''Dominion'', where she insists on becoming a part of the bridge crew, and makes a genuinely heartfelt effort to be useful to Natarle.
* LoveHurts: Her feelings towards Kira; notably there's a scene when Birdy lands on Sai just like how he landed on Kira and Flay's visibly cringing at the comparison.
* LoveRedeems: It's growing genuine feelings for Kira that ultimately start her on the path towards redemption.
%%* MagicSkirt
* ManipulativeBitch: She pretends to love Kira because she wants him to die in battle as punishment for not being able to save her father. [[CharacterDevelopment She phases this trope out later on.]]
* TheMentallyIll: Flay's just ''this'' side of going completely insane. She starts to recover near the end of the series, though she's never able to fully rebuild herself.
* MsFanservice: Exploited. She's aware of her charms and uses them to seduce Kira as part of her plan to have him die in battle.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In the manga adaptation Azrael mentions how the war will be over when the Coordinators die and then asks "That's what you believe, isn't it?" This prompts Flay to remember her attempt to murder Dearka, and break down crying while saying "No, I don't."
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Her name is Flay as "flaying". The original kana is also a match for "fray", as in a fight, or "coming apart".
%%* TheOjou: In the beginning.
* ParentalAbandonment: Her mom died when she was a child, [[spoiler:then her dad George died in front of her]].
* PrincessInRags: Flay spends most of the show alternately denying, clinging to her cosmetic remnants of, and dealing very badly with trauma and the loss of her privileged life.
* PrincessesPreferPink: She wears a pink dress before wearing her Archangel crew uniform, and was something like an idol on Heliopolis.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Flay's attempt at doing the right thing comes too late in the series to save her.]]
* RescueIntroduction: She's saved at Alaska by [[spoiler:Rau. Flay has many, many regrets, but due to her massive DaddyIssues it's only after meeting him that she ''finally'' (eventually) calms down and starts acting like a better person]].
* RichBitch: Rich girl who acts like a SpoiledBrat and manipulates Kira because she wants him dead.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: Flay accuses Kira of holding back in the fight where her father got killed because he was battling against other Coordinators. Kira did in fact avoid going all out in the fight against another Coordinator but it was because said Coordinator was his ChildhoodFriend Athrun.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Tries to [[spoiler:warn the ''Archangel'' of Azrael's attack, despite being a member of the ''Dominion'''s crew, and Azrael having a gun trained on her and Natarle]].
* SignificantWardrobeShift: She stops wearing her pink OMNI CustomUniformOfSexy [[spoiler:when she stops using her sexuality and ItsAllAboutMe immaturity. Lampshaded by Rau about how it didn't suit her]], she never wears it after that.
* SixthRanger: She was a last minute addition [[spoiler:to the crew of the ''Dominion'']].
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Flay in North America, originally Fllay.
* SpoiledBrat: At one point they're in the desert ''and'' are low on water. Naturally, Flay wants Kira and Cagalli to buy luxury beauty products while they're shopping incognito for necessities.
* StepfordSmiler: Pretends to love Kira and be a supportive girlfriend; secretly wants him dead. Gets subverted when she both ends up really falling for him ''and'' breaking down and screaming.
* StockholmSyndrome: To [[spoiler:Rau Le Creuset]], who reminds her of her dead father, despite the fact that she tries to shoot him twice from fear. It's also played with, in that if she hadn't been abducted [[spoiler: she would have died in the activated Cyclops System at JOSH-A and no one would ever have known, so it's really a RescueIntroduction. Le Creuset also treats her perfectly politely, much better than a POW has a right to expect, and once he points out that she's ''not'' a soldier, she stops playing with guns, and has some exposure to Coordinators,]] Flay actually ends up much healthier and saner than she was on the ''Archangel''.
%%%%%%%% "It takes a while, but this is her eventual fate." this is not context.
* StuffedIntoTheFridge: [[spoiler: In the final battle, Rau notices that Kira is trying to protect a shuttle that is transporting Flay. He shoots it just to cause Kira grief.]]
* TokenEvilTeammate: Of the Heliopolis students. The show justifies it if you look closely enough: Flay is the daughter of a high-ranking Atlantic Federation official; all of the others are Orb citizens. Given what we see over the course of the entire show, ''of course'' she's going to be openly racist. [[spoiler:And not much of a token, given the rest of the Atlantic Federation...]] The rest of her bad attitude has nothing to do with politics, however.
* TheirFirstTime: Uses hers with Kira to subsequently try and control him.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Although the ''Archangel'' still has medical staff. She could have used one as badly as her boyfriend.
* TragicVillain: Despite being horrible, it is to be remembered that she's a scared kid who lost her dad. It becomes more pronounced when it's clear that she DID love Kira despite her protestations otherwise.
* TragicKeepsake: Granted it's only for a few episodes but during the episodes on the ''Archangel'' before being transferred she keeps Birdy around because he reminds her of Kira.
* UnwittingPawn: She has one in Kira, who has no idea of the depth of her dark side or how that plays into their relationship. She eventually becomes one for [[spoiler:Le Creuset]], who uses her to deliver the plans for the N-Jammer Canceller to Azrael.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Downplayed. Before ''anything'' happened, she was seemingly a normal, nice enough teenage girl who was the object of Kira's admiration. After the destruction of Heliopolis but before her father's death, she's portrayed as variously vain, shallow, spoiled, racist, airheaded and panicky, very much the TokenEvilTeammate – but still more sympathetic than the {{Yandere}} she becomes.
* VillainousBreakdown: Her emotional breakdown in episode 28 where she starts accusing Kira of pitying her; despite having seduced him to get him killed she unwittingly ends up falling in love with Kira for real; seeing Kira show her pity (or so she thinks) when she's trying to get him killed forces her to face her own cruelty, which prompts her to break down crying and screaming at "how can you pity me?"
* {{Yandere}}: She starts off using Kira, but comes to love him for real, which just makes her mental state ''worse''.

!Earth Alliance (OMNI Enforcer)
A military alliance consisting of the nations who funded the construction of the [=PLANTs=], formed when the Coordinators living there declared themselves independent. Unlike ZAFT, they're essentially OnlyKnownByTheirNickname as the "Earth Forces", never formally as Oppose Militancy and Neutralize Invasion, OMNI, or OMNI Enforcer. Devastated by ZAFT's mobile suits, they develop the Gundams with the aid of neutral nation Orb in order to counter this. Initially presented as the more sympathetic faction of the war, they're still no barrel of laughs, conscripting several of the Heliopolis refugees to crew the ''Archangel''. As the series progresses, they become less and less sympathetic as the true nature of the leaders running it is revealed.

[[folder:Murrue Ramius]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/KotonoMitsuishi (Japanese), Creator/LisaAnnBeley (English), Creator/CarrieKeranen (English HD Remaster dub)
->''"It's becoming more and more difficult to understand who or what we're fighting for."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Murrue_Ramius_3140.jpg]]

A Lieutenant stationed on the ''Archangel'', she's forced to take command after the ZAFT attack on Heliopolis. Though uncertain of herself at first, she eventually grows to be a capable officer and a dangerous opponent to ZAFT. She keeping the ''Archangel'' in one piece through space, reentry, and all over Earth.

* BadassNormal: She's probably the best ship commander we meet in either show, capable of outmaneuvering both fellow Naturals and the genetically superior Coordinators.
* TheBigDamnKiss: Between her and Mu, in episode 38. Based on the reactions of the crewmembers who witnessed it, it was really something.
* TheCaptain: Of the ''Archangel''. She gains the title following her promotion.
* {{Expy}}: A young lieutenant who initially comes off as unfair and overbearing is forced to take over a brand new assault carrier. They gradually grow into the role of Captain and leader, eventually becoming one of the most respected officers in the fleet, while striking up a romance with one of their senior officers. Are we talking about Murrue Ramius, or [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Bright Noa]]? She's practically his DistaffCounterpart.
* FieldPromotion: Lieutenant to Captain.
* {{Gainaxing}}: You know the ''Archangel'''s taken a nasty hit when Murrue gets bouncy.
* TheGoodCaptain: She acts as the TeamMom and genuinely cares for her crew.
* HerHeartWillGoOn: [[spoiler: ''Twice.'' The second time was ultimately suvbverted in ''SEED Destiny'' when it was discovered Mu was alive.]]
* TheLeader: Of the ''Archangel'' crew, Type IV. Ramius is a capable officer and has the full respect of everyone working for her.
%%%%* TheMcCoy:
%%%%* HotTeacher:
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: With the ''Archangel'' crew whenever a time came when they would be reassigned, but they remained a team throughout the series with a few exceptions.
* LadyOfWar: She's calm, collected, feminine, and the best battleship captain in the EA Navy.
* MilitaryMaverick: Though kinder and gentler than most, Murrue doesn't hesitate to trample all over military regulations as necessary in order to protect the people on her ship. This causes problems for her with her NumberTwo, [[SergeantRock Natarle Badgiruel]].
* [[AFatherToHisMen A Mother To Her Men]]: Definitely shows her loyalty to subordinates, even dismissing Kira's Coordinator heritage and looking for Cagalli rather than leaving her as "Missing In Action" when she went missing in Phase 23 and 24.
* OfficialCouple: She starts a relationship with Mu La Flaga.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Murrue is supremely competent in her job as the caption of the ''Archangel'' and is willing to listen to her fellow subordinates.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: In episode 35, "The Descending Sword", Mu tells Murrue of the Cyclops System and what he believes is the Earth Alliance's big plan (which, to be fair, isn't hard to see). After hearing Mirialla's breakdown, Murrue decides that if the objective was to lure ZAFT closer to JOSH-A, then mission complete, let's get out of here. It's almost downright [[Film/StarTrekFirstContact Picard-ian]].
* ShootTheDog: Holds Kira and his friends at gun point and drags them aboard the ''Archangel'' due to them having witnessed the Strike, thereby making them a security risk to the Alliance war effort.
* ShoutOut: Murrue's story is a bit too similar to [[Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober another Captain Ramius]] in command of their military's latest, most advanced vessel who becomes disillusioned with their superiors and defects for their [[NamesTheSame last names]] to be coincidence.
* TeamMom: As the ''Archangel'''s commanding officer, she also steps in as the surrogate mother of the partly teenage crew of her ship. This means caring for them beyond her duties as an officer.
* TookALevelInBadass: As the show progresses and she gains both confidence and ability.
* TragicKeepsake: Her locket. It's [[spoiler:a memento of her previous boyfriend, a mobile armour pilot]].
* YouAreInCommandNow: La Flaga pushes her into command after the ''Archangel'''s commanding officers are killed in Le Creuset's surprise attack. He could have taken the position, as he has seniority, but Murrue is more familiar with the ship and better-suited to the position, while Mu, as the only available pilot other than Kira, is better off not tied to the bridge.

[[folder:Mu La Flaga]]
!!'''Main mecha:''' [=TS-MA2mod.00=] Moebius Zero, FX-550 Skygrasper, GAT-X105 Strike Gundam
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/TakehitoKoyasu (Japanese), Creator/TrevorDevall (English), Creator/TomWayland (English HD Remaster dub)
->''"I'm the man who makes the impossible possible."''
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mu_La_Flaga_476.jpg]]

One of the few mobile armour pilots to survive the war long enough to appear in the series, he's ''also'' lucky (and good) enough to survive the initial ZAFT attack on Heliopolis. Surprisingly laid back for a guy who's been on the brink of a messy death for months at a time, he provides much needed advice and experience for the ''Archangel'''s rookie crew. Provides support for Kira and Murrue most specifically -- he outranks them both, but having no experience as a ship's officer and being unable to pilot the Strike, he prefers to leave the lead roles to them. Has a rivalry with ZAFT commander Rau Le Creuset, which predates the beginning of the series.

* AbusiveParents: Al Da Flaga was an asshole, all right, and his mother seems to have been a relative non-entity.
* AcePilot: He was already "The Hawk of Endymion" when he survived the battle that wiped out the rest of his squad. Mu is both skilled and known to quite a few people.
* AlertnessBlink: Experiences a Newtype Flash whenever Rau Le Creuset is within a few kilometers. It's one of the few things that point to their having newtype-like abilities.
* AllYourPowersCombined: As of the HD Remaster, he's the first (chronologically anyway) to use a 'Combined' Striker Pack (the Perfect Strike).
* {{Archenemy}}: Serves as one for ZAFT AcePilot Rau Le Creuset, [[spoiler:his genetic dad.]]
* AttackDrone: Has four wire-controlled gun pods on his Mobius Zero.
* BadassNormal: Made even more badass by his status as a Natural in a series where most of the awesome is reserved for Coordinators. Occasional implications throughout the series that he has Newtype abilities may mean he's a subversion, but it's never entirely clear what the extent of those abilities are beyond his instinctive awareness of Le Creuset's presence, and being one of only a handful of pilots between the anime and the Astray who can use Mobile Suits/Armors with [[AttackDrone Attack Drones]] unassisted.
* TheBigDamnKiss: Between him and Murrue, in episode 38. Based on the reactions of the crewmembers who witnessed it, it was really something.
* BigBrotherMentor: Serves as Kira's, providing him with advice and support during the series.
* BrokenAce: A milder version than some, but his affable behavior conceals quite a bit of mental and emotional damage, which he willingly acknowledges.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: One of the most laid-back and goofy characters in the show, but still ''extremely'' competent at what he does.
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: He has a lot of violent conflict with Rau Le Creuset, his father's clone.]]
* CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest: Averted! He's clearly into Murrue from the beginning and boy does he make it clear.
* CatchPhrase: Of the BadassBoast variety. "I am a man who can [[WeDoTheImpossible make the impossible possible]]!"
* CharClone: Based off of Char's "[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Quattro Bageena]]" persona as a BigBrotherMentor and AcePilot.
* TheCharmer: Big time. Good-looking, easygoing, very, very affable, and good at getting people to like him, and it comes in handy. He periodically tends to say or do something inappropriate, shallow, or even annoying, and suffers nothing other than the most temporary annoyance for it.
* ComingInHot: Mu does this several times, with the Mobius Zero and the Skygrasper. He's in the middle of doing it with the Strike when [[spoiler:he intercepts Azrael's parting shot.]]
* CommandingCoolness: Literal. Mu is later [[FieldPromotion promoted to Lieutenant Commander]] and still remains one of the most relaxed officers.
* TheConfidant: He's the one Murrue often consults with about their various situations (e.g. being stranded in enemy territory and consorting with neutral factions) as well as the one she usually confides to on matters like crew morale and stress of being in command. They eventually get a RelationshipUpgrade.
* CoolPlane: When the ''Archangel'' moves to Earth, he switches to a Skygrasper fighter, which is compatible with the Strike Gundam's Striker Packs.
* DroneDeployer: The Moebius Zero.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: He meets his end blocking an anti-matter cannon aimed at the ''Archangel'''s bridge while invoking his catchphrase one more time.]]
* EntertaininglyWrong: PlayedForDrama. Yes, Mu, it makes sense to assume the unstable guy who hates your guts for some reason is lying through his teeth to you. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: he's not]]!
* {{Expy}}: He's basically a combination of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Sleggar Law]], [[CharClone Quattro Bajeena]], and [[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Jamil Neate]].
* AFatherToHisMen: Especially to Kira, but play as kind-figure to the younger crews.
* FamousLastWords: "Didn't I tell you [[CatchPhrase I'm the man who can make the impossible possible]]!" [[spoiler:[[NotQuiteDead Or so it seemed...]]]]
* HeroicSacrifice: During the final battle, Mu [[spoiler:takes a shot from the ''Dominion'''s Lohengrin ''antimatter cannon'' intended for the ''Archangel'']].
* FieldPromotion: Lieutenant to Lieutenant-Commander.
* LightningBruiser: The Perfect Strike is shown to be this in Episodes 36-38 when it destroys dozens of Earth Alliance units.
* LonelyRichKid: His childhood had him get rejected by his father [[spoiler:who went on to try to clone himself for his next son]].
* LoopholeAbuse: After his....[[BigDamnKiss bold declaration of his interest in her]], Murrue says she doesn't date mobile armor pilots. With his typical cockiness, he claims he is a mobile ''suit'' pilot [[note]] he received the repaired Strike earlier that day [[/note]]. It's clearly a joke on both sides because they kiss again immediately afterward, and longer this time.
* TheKirk: To Murrue's [[TheMcCoy McCoy]]. He's an experienced soldier who is at home with military regulations, but also understands that there are situations in which one has to look past regulations and make a more practical call. He tends to be the pragmatic midpoint between Murrue's idealism and Natarle's meticulous adherence to protocol, though overall he leans more toward Murrue's side.
* MidSeasonUpgrade: Both [[InvertedTrope inverted]] and PlayedStraight. When the ''Archangel'' touches down on Earth, he is no longer able to use his Moebius Zero due to the fact that it is a SpaceFighter and won't work in atmosphere, so he settles for a [[CoolPlane Sky Grasper fighter jet]] instead, which is a capable craft but lacks the AttackDrone capability of the Moebius. The trope is played straight later on, when after abandoning the Earth Alliance, he gets [[spoiler:to pilot the Strike Gundam.]]
* MildlyMilitary: Despite being the senior officer present for most of the beginning of the series, Mu's not really one for standing on ceremony.
* TheNicknamer: Not even specific ones, yet Mu prefers this. He calls Kira "kid" and both Cagalli and Miriallia "girl", or "missy". Cagalli snaps back at him about this, reminding him that she has a name, but he doesn't really listen. He also refers to an enemy target as a "kitty-cat", surprising her.
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: Loses his memories in the process and is captured (and brainwashed) by the Earth Alliance in [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Destiny]].]]
* NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay: The Strike was already heavily damaged but still came through.
* OfficialCouple: He and Murrue start a relationship.
* OnlyAFleshWound: Gets shot by Le Creuset and keeps chasing him.
* ParentalAbandonment: His father [[IHaveNoSon disowned him]] when he was a child, locked him in a BigFancyHouse and [[spoiler:had himself ''cloned'' in order to create a more satisfactory son]]. Then both his parents died in a fire.
* PurpleIsPowerful: Wears a purple pilot suit and is one of the most skilled pilots in the show.
* PsychicPowers: While it's never given any real focus, he's essentially the closest thing the Cosmic Era has to a Newtype. What this means within the setting is not entirely clear, but it does make him able to sense when Rau Le Creuset is nearby, and vice versa.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Played with when the ''Archangel'' arrives in Alaska and Mu receives a reassignment that will have him teaching pilot candidates instead of fighting on the front lines - ostensibly. We never find out if this was going to be his real assignment or was simply an excuse to have him leave JOSH-A before the Cyclops system is activated, since he abandons his orders and goes back to the ''Archangel''.
* RedBaron: The Hawk of Endymion.
* SoleSurvivor: Of his Mobius Zero squadron during the Endymion lunar campaign during his backstory, and of the Earth Alliance pilots during the attack on Heliopolis -- though neither really affects his personality much.
* SpaceFighter: His Moebius Zero is a space-use fighter plane with [[AttackDrone wired gun pods]].
* SuperPrototype: The Mobius Zero, which is vastly superior to the mass production Mobius in terms of armament and speed. {{Justified|Trope}} in that only a very few pilots had the level of skill and spatial awareness required to operate the Zero and its {{Attack Drone}}s effectively.
* SuperReflexes: His enhanced spatial awareness, an extremely rare ability among both Naturals and Coordinators, which allows him to control {{Attack Drone}}s.
* SympathyForTheDevil: A poignant scene towards the end of the series has Mu sympathizing with ''[[spoiler:Rau le Creuset]]'' in a conversation with Murrue; Mu is the only character who seems to fully consider what effect his past had on him. He does, however, state firmly that [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse what he's doing can't be excused.]]
* TakingTheBullet: The fact that it doesn't just [[spoiler:go straight through him and hit its target ''anyway'']] is thanks to Mu's raw badassery.
* TeamDad: Shares this role with Murdoch as he helps the Heliopolis students adjust to being on the ''Archangel'' and being a part of the chain of command.
* TemptingFate: "I'll be right back, with victory in hand." [[spoiler: His mobile suit is vaporized, and Murrue doesn't see him again for quite a while.]]
* TheUnFavorite: To his father, Al. Oddly for the trope, there is no favorite; Mu was an only child, but his {{Narcissist}} father felt he was "a fool" and didn't resemble him enough, ''despite still being a toddler''. [[spoiler:So Al cloned himself. And treated the clone like crap as well.]]

[[folder:Natarle Badgiruel]]
!!!Voice Actors: Creator/HoukoKuwashima (Japanese), Creator/SarahJohns (English), Creator/LisaOrtiz (English HD Remaster dub)
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Natarle_Badgiruel_6217.jpg]]

Originally an Ensign on the ''Archangel'', she graduates to Murrue's NumberTwo after the attack on Heliopolis. Harder and more pragmatic than Murrue, Natarle remains loyal to the Earth Forces, and is eventually named captain of the ''Archangel's'' EvilCounterpart, the ''Dominion''. A professional soldier, she buries any doubts she has behind her ironclad faith in the military, even when forced to work with [[TheSociopath Muruta]] [[FinalSolution Azrael]] and his [[AxeCrazy squad]].

* BadassNormal: In much the same vein as Murrue Ramius, proving that as a ship captain she's more than capable of taking on supposedly superior Coordinators.
* TheCaptain: She was briefly acting captain of the ''Archangel'', before passing the role to Ramius. She later becomes the actual captain of the ''Dominion''.
%%* CommissarCap:
%%* CommanderContrarian: Towards Ramius.
* ConsummateProfessional: Aims to be the perfect professional soldier.
* CryCute: In the ''second episode'', when she realizes she's the SoleSurvivor of her original crew.
%%%%% This doesn't say how she is this trope.
%%%%%* TheDarkChick: She and Flay play this role to Azrael and the Earth Forces after she becomes captain of the ''Dominion''.
%%* DefrostingIceQueen:
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:She ultimately rises up against Azrael, trapping him on the bridge of the ''Dominion'' with her after ordering the rest of the crew to abandon ship.]]
* EndearinglyDorky: Whenever she's placed out of her depth (aka out of regulations and military decorum) she immediately starts stuttering and even ''[[LuminescentBlush blushing]]'' at times.
* EveryoneHasStandards: She does end up caring for Kira despite herself, and is somewhat uncomfortable when Sutherland tries to blame Kira for Heliopolis (to say nothing of her disgust towards Azrael).
* FantasticRacism: Downplayed. She ''is'' leery of Coordinators but still doesn't buy into Blue Cosmos ideology (and she does care for Kira whether she wants to admit it or not.)
* FieldPromotion: From Ensign to Deputy Captain.
* GoingDownWithTheShip: Stays aboard the ''Dominion'' to make sure that Azrael goes down with it.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:See TakingYouWithMe below.]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: Most of her more abrasive moments are the result of having to make a snap decision in a moment of crisis, especially in regards to Murrue's early indecisiveness. There's also the moment after the crew rescues Lacus when she calls out Murrue's hypocrisy about not wanting to involve her due to Lacus being a civilian when she had already involved Kira and his friends.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She's very principled and by the rules, but often shows worry or sadness for those hurt or in danger. See her [[CryCute reaction]] to finding herself the (apparent) sole survival of the Heliopolis attack on the ''Archangel'' and her concern for Kira in episode 4 despite showing misgivings about him being a Coordinator and civilian just the previous eps. She also shows a soft touch for children in episode 18. [[spoiler: Her "caring commander" aspect is most probably why she turns on Azrael when he hurts Flay.]]
* MilitaryBrat: Natarle is mentioned to be a trained officer from a military background, and the loyalty and lifestyle seems to be all she's ever known.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: She visibly becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the actions of the Earth Alliance under Blue Cosmos, but remains a loyal military officer.
%%* NumberTwo: To Murrue at first.
%%* PowerHair
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: She turns on [[spoiler:Azrael, trying to save the ''Archangel'', just a little too late to save herself]].
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: She turns on [[spoiler:Azrael at the end, deciding that his orders conflict with what is right]].
* SergeantRock: She believes that military regulations and the mission take precedence over helping people. [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold She still cares about her subordinates, though.]]
* SenselessSacrifice: She saves Flay from Azrael....only for [[spoiler:Rau to murder her and the rest of the ''Dominion'' escapees to fuck with Kira]].
* SoleSurvivor: She is the only person who was supposed to be on the ''Archangel'''s crew. The others were killed.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: In ''Gundam SEED: Tomo to Kimi to Senjou'' you can save Natarle if you set her up with Arnold Neumann.
%%* StockingFiller
* SuddenPrincipledStand: After being a loyal OMNI soldier for much of the series, [[spoiler:she turns on Azrael after he assaults Flay.]]
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:She locks down the bridge of the ''Dominion'', trapping both herself and Azrael as it's destroyed]].
* TragicHero: [[spoiler: She h to side against the ''Archangel'' because she kept following orders, and was killed by it because Azrael wouldn't quit.]]
%%%%* WhiteShirtOfDeath: Complete with blood-stains.
* YouMonster: Said almost word for word to Azrael.