Gundam For Dummies: Mark III

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Since this article first premiered in May 2000, many readers have found it to be helpful in explaining the complexities of the vast Gundam saga. With so many things having developed since the second update in 2001, it's time for yet another update. Get ready for Gundam For Dummies: Mark III!

The Universal Century & The One Year War

The majority of the series in the Gundam saga are set in the Universal Century (UC) timeline. With more 'UC shows' arriving in the U.S. now, it is helpful to know what the background for this extensively developed universe is. In the new Universal Century calendar, humanity began a space colonization program to ease overcrowding on Earth. After living in space for decades, 'Spacenoids' began to thirst for independence from 'Earthnoids'. In the year UC 0079, after years of tension, the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon at the Side 3 colonies went to war. Hoping to end the war in one attack with Operation British, the Zeon attempted to drop a colony on the Federal Forces headquarters in Jaburo, South America. The colony was knocked off course and instead impacted on Australia and destroyed most of the country. The use of nuclear weapons combined with the colony drop seriously altered the environment. In the first week of the war, over four billion people were killed.

The Federation and Zeon quickly sign the Antarctic Treaty, which outlaws the use of mass destruction weapons. Following this, the war enters months of stalemate. It is during this stalemate that the Federation began Project V to develop mobile suits to combat the powerful Zeon Zaku II. This period of the war is the setting for the original 1979 Gundam series as well as 1996's The 08th M.S. Team and 1989's Gundam 0080. The 08th M.S Team examines the One Year War from the perspective of a Federation mobile suit team fighting the Zeon in a vicious ground war in Southeast Asia. Gundam 0080 focuses on the neutral colony of Libot and a young boy's chance encounter with Zeon soldiers that changes his life forever. Towards the end of UC 0079, the Federation uses combat data from Amuro Ray's Gundam and creates the GM, their first mass produced mobile suit. With the GM they are able to turn the tables on the Zeon. They eventually push the Zeon off of Earth and take the battle to space, emerging victorious on January 1, 0080 at the Battle of A Baoa Qu.

Post One Year War & The Gryps War

Following the war, the Principality of Zeon was disbanded and became the Republic of Zeon once again. In UC 0083, Zeon rebels led by Aiguille Delaz and Anavel Gato attempted to revive Zeon by starting their own rebellion. This story is explored in the 1991 OAV series Gundam 0083. After stealing a nuclear-equipped Gundam, they expose the hypocrisy of the Federation. As a show of force, they drop a colony on North America and make most of it uninhabitable. Their terrorist actions cause the Federation to create the Titans task force to seek out all Zeon rebels. Unfortunately, the Titans are commanded by the devious Jamitov Hymem and his lackey Bask Om. The Titans quickly evolve into a fascist organization that slowly takes control of the Federal Forces. By UC 0085, the Titans are committing atrocities such as gassing millions of colony citizens at Side 1's 30 Bunch Colony who opposed them. It was because of these atrocities that Federation officers and others formed the Anti Earth Union Group (AEUG) to fight them. The story of the Titans and AEUG is chronicled in the series Z Gundam, which aired from 1985-1986. As the Gryps War begins in UC 0087, civilian Kamille Bidan has a hatred for the Titans and joins the AEUG. He uses his emerging Newtype powers and the Zeta Gundam to fight the Titans. During the latter half of the series, the Axis Zeon led by Haman Karn enter the war to carve out their own kingdom and resurrect the Zabi dynasty. In early UC 0088 the Titans are wiped out, but the AEUG loses most of its pilots, including Char Aznable, who vanishes in the last battle. Another casualty is Zeta Gundam's pilot Kamille Bidan, who is mentally crippled by Titans leader Paptimus Scirocco's Newtype powers.

The Neo Zeon Wars

Though the Titans are gone, the Axis Zeon remain. Renamed Neo Zeon, they begin to appease citizens of the colonies to join their effort in Gundam ZZ, which aired from 1986-1987. The AEUG again recruits citizens to fight for their cause, this time Judau Ashta and several of his loser friends. Like Kamille Bidan before him, Judau develops his Newtype powers and uses the and the powerful Double Zeta Gundam to fight the Neo Zeon. The Neo Zeon begin their campaign of conquest by invading Earth and occupying the Federation capital in Dakar, Africa. The AEUG is involved in a running fight from Dakar to Dublin, where the Federation brass hands over Side 3 to Haman. To speed up negotiations, she steals a colony from Side 4 and drops it on Dublin, which annihilates the city. After returning to space, Haman is pursued by Judau and his friends. As the war nears its end, Glemy Toto begins a rebellion against Haman, with the AEUG caught in the middle. The first Neo Zeon War ends in UC 0089 with the deaths of Haman and Glemy. Afterwards, the AEUG soldiers are reincorporated into the Federal Forces and become part of Londo Bell. Londo Bell's mission is the same as the Titans, but they do not use the same cruel methods. After years of peace, the threat of war returns in UC 0093 from Char Aznable, who has formed his own Neo Zeon group. He plans to bring humanity to its next evolutionary level and make everyone a Newtype. His plan for doing this involved dropping asteroids on Earth to force Earthnoids to migrate to space. The final part of his plan is to drop Axis on Earth, which will make the planet uninhabitable. He is stopped by his rival Amuro Ray, as seen in the 1988 film Char's Counterattack. The conflict between the Zeon and the Federation is at last over.

Late Universal Century

The last parts of the UC saga take the story far to the future. After 30 years of peace, Earth is threatened again in UC 0123. The 1991 film Gundam F91 is the story of the Crossbone Vanguard, the private army of the wealthy Spacenoid Ronah family. Much like the Zeon, they believe that Spacenoids are superior to Earthnoids, and they plan to create a utopia named Cosmo Babylonia. Opposing them is Newtype Seabook Arno with his Gundam F91. Unfortunately, the movie is a retooled version of a never filmed TV series that does not complete this storyline. A continuation can be read in the manga series Crossbone Gundam. Jumping ahead to UC 0153 provides the setting for the last animated UC series, V Gundam. In this series, which aired from 1993-1994, Earth has been left almost uninhabited to allow it to heal from humanity's abuse of it. Now that it has healed, the religiously fanatic Zanscare Empire plans to make it their sanctuary. With the Federation divided and incompetent, only the civilian rebel group League Militaire stands in the way of the Zanscare Empire. Young Newtype Uso Evin joins the League and pilots the Victory Gundam and V2 Gundam in his fight against the Zanscare. Ultimately, the Zanscare Empire attempts to use a psychic battle fortress named Angel Halo to mentally slaughter the citizens of Earth. Fortunately, Uso and the League foil their plans and end the war. Seventy years later in UC 0223, the Federation has collapsed and is replaced by the Congress of Settlement Nations (CONSENT). However, CONSENT is just as bad as the Federation and attempts to control the colonies. In the live action movie G-Saviour, Gundam pilot Mark Curran uses the title mobile suit to fight them and save an invention that could feed the starving masses under the oppression of CONSENT.

The Future Century timeline

Aside from the UC saga, there are many Gundam series that are set in alternate universes, each with their own calendar and history. These series were created by Bandai to draw in more fans and sell new merchandise. Following after V Gundam, the first alternate universe series is G Gundam which aired from 1994-1995. This universe uses the Future Century (FC) calendar, where elitist colony citizens use ravaged Earth as a battleground in the Gundam Fight to decide who the new leader of the colonies will be. In FC 60, the 13th Gundam Fight begins when Neo Japan pilot Domon Kasshu wins a battle. Throughout the year, Domon searches for his lost brother, who was experimenting with nanotechnology to restore Earth. After a terrible accident, the nanotech transformed the Ultimate Gundam into the gigantic and evil Devil Gundam. With his mother dead and his father in cryogenic freeze, Domon wants to find his brother, for revenge. As the Gundam Fight continues, Domon meets four Gundam Fighters who are fated to join his quest. He also encounters his mentor Master Asia, who has become a servant of the Devil Gundam. After the Gundam Fight ends, the final battle begins in space. With the help of his God Gundam and his friends from the Shuffle Alliance, Domon destroys the Devil Gundam and is reunited with his love Rain Mikamura. This series is set to air in the U.S. beginning in late summer 2002.

The After Colony timeline

Everyone is familiar with Gundam W, which aired in the U.S. in 2000 and originally aired in Japan from 1995-1996. This second series uses the After Colony (AC) calendar. In AC 175, a colonial independence leader named Heero Yuy was assassinated by the mysterious OZ organization. For the next two decades, the colonies begin to resent the control of the oppressive United Earth Sphere Alliance. This resentment leads to the creation of Operation Meteor in AC 195. Five young Gundam pilots are sent to Earth to fight a guerilla war against the United Earth Sphere Alliance. Over the course of the conflict, the UESA is destroyed from within by OZ, which is backed by the aristocratic Romefeller Foundation. As OZ makes overtures to the space colonies, Gundam pilots Heero, Duo, Trowa, Wufei and Quatre find that their homelands have rejected them. Still, the Gundam pilots continue to fight off OZ and the Romefeller foundation. As an internal conflict splits OZ, the space colonists decide to fight back and create a rebel army named White Fang. Judging White Fang to be too dangerous, the Gundam pilots fight them off during what becomes known as the Eve Wars. Following the Eve Wars, the Earth Sphere United Nation is created, and nearly all mobile suits are destroyed. However, just one year later war begins again with the attack of the Mariemaia Army in the 1997 OAV series Endless Waltz. The Gundam pilots return one last time to wipe out the enemy and bring a lasting peace to Earth.

The After War timeline

The next alternate universe series is 1996's Gundam X, which uses the After War (AW) calendar. This series poses a 'what if' on the end of the Universal Century's One Year War and uses it as a springing board for a new story. After a terrible war between the Earth Federation and the Space Revolutionary Army, the SRA drops dozens of colonies on Earth and kills nearly all Earth's inhabitants. In the post-apocalyptic wasteland, there is only chaos. Renegade mobile suit pilots terrorize civilians, and scavenger groups known as Vulture look for old weapons for their survival and profit. In this chaotic world, the New Earth Federation and the SRA are secretly rebuilding their power for an eventual confrontation. In AW 0015, a young boy named Garrod Ran is drawn into this conflict when he rescues a young Newtype girl named Tiffa Adill, finds a Gundam X and joins Vulture. Constantly harassed by the villainous Frost brothers, the Vulture ship Freeden journeys around the world in search of Newtypes. As the New Federation begins to re-conquer Earth to reunite it, Garrod steals the powerful new Gundam Double X. The New Federation moves the conflict into space and picks up the war where it left off. After discovering the true secret of Newtypes, Garrod uses his Double X to defeat the Frost brothers and end the war. Peace is finally restored between both sides, and Garrod lives happily ever after with Tiffa. Unfortunately, this series was moved into a bad timeslot and canceled 10 episodes short of its intended 49 episode run.

The Correct Century timeline

As part of the Gundam Big Bang 20th Anniversary celebration, creator Yoshiyuki Tomino returned after six years to create the series Turn A Gundam, which ran from 1999-2000. This alternate universe follows the Correct Century (CC) calendar and takes place in CC 2345. More than 2000 years have passed since mankind began space travel. Led by Queen Dianna Soriel, the Moonrace want to establish their own nation on Earth due to overcrowding and a lack of resources on the Moon. However, because of the Dark History the Earth has degenerated in these millennia to the technological level of World War I. The key to this war is the discovery of entombed ancient Turn A Gundam, used by Moonrace defector Loran Cehack. As the Earth Militia fights back with its crude weapons, the discovery of entombed mobile suits and the spaceship Willgem puts them on a more level playing field with the Moonrace. As the Militia takes the conflict to space, it is revealed that not all support Dianna's rule. Furthermore, it is revealed that the Turn A itself was responsible for the destruction of all technology on Earth. As the conflict winds down, Loran fights against the traitorous Gym Ghingnham and his powerful Turn X mobile suit. The conflict ends with the destruction of Gym's forces and the cocooning of both the Turn A and Turn X.

The Cosmic Era timeline

Following the conclusion of Turn A Gundam in 2000, the next TV series is 2002's Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. The series is currently in production and will begin airing in October. This series uses the Cosmic Era (CE) calendar and takes place in the year CE 70. In this universe, a new type of human has evolved and is known as a Coordinator, while regular humans are known as Naturals. The Coordinators live in space colonies called Plants, and their desire for independence causes a war to break out. As the Earth Alliance develops five secret prototype Gundam mobile suits, ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty) conducts a raid and steals four of the Gundams. A 16-year-old student named Kira Yamato is drawn into the conflict when he discovers that his old friend Aslan Zara is a ZAFT pilot. From what little information is available, this new series seems to be an updated retread of the original series.