Mobile suit

For a list of mobile suits see List of Mobile Weapons.

Mobile Suits are humanoid weapon systems in the Gundam anime series. Mobile suits were the first in a class of what are known in the Gundam fandom as mobile weapons. Other mobile weapons are the Mobile Armor, the Mobile Pod, the Mobile Bit, the Mobile Fighter, and the Mobile Doll. Petit, Hobby and Junior mobile suits are partial-scale derivatives produced after the One Year War. There are also the Mobile Worker which are use for construction purpose, though the term Worker-use Mobile Suit seem to be more common.

The name 'mobile suit' is believed by some to be a reference to the terms 'Mobile Infantry' and 'Powered Suit' in the Robert A. Heinlein book, Starship Troopers. Although some would say that 'mobile suit' (a humanoid giant robot) would be compared to a normal astronaut spacesuit, called a 'normal suit' in the Gundam universe.

Universal Century

In the Universal Century timeline, two main technological advancements led to the creation of the mobile suit: the AMBAC or Active Mass Balance Auto Control, and the Minovsky particle. The original AMBAC prototype only had two large limbs (instead of the four that later suits would have), but moving those limbs allowed it near-thrusterless manueverability in space by changing its center of mass. This led to a revolution in space warfare tactics. Another revolution would follow the development of a type of nuclear fusion reactor designed by Dr. Y.T. Minovsky. Not only could his nuclear reactor be shrunk down to the size of a quartet of refrigerators, but it also produced a unique subatomic particle called the Minovsky particle. These particles could block out certain types of radiation, including radar and radio signals. This would hamper space combat over large distances and force modern combat back down to the visual range. The first prototype mobile suit would be the MS-01, while the first mass produced model would be the MS-05 Zaku I.

The most famous mobile suit is the second prototype model RX-78–2 Gundam piloted by Amuro Ray in the first series, Mobile Suit Gundam.

Mobile suit design in the UC universe follows two lineages – the Gundam line and the Zaku line. Zaku type mobile suits are "fatter" than Gundam type mobile suits, though neither is necessarily faster or more maneuverable than the other; it's largely a matter of body styling and design. Zaku-derived mobile suits tend to have a mono-eye sensor and a more bulky, "slouchy" design than Gundam-derived suits; more of a "soldier" appearance to the Gundam's "superhero" look. This is due to a difference in design philosophies – Zeon manufacurers designed mobile suits by creating an external shell, and then fitting components within, while the Federation designed mobile suits by creating an internal skeletal structure and then fitting components and armor to the support structure, a philosophy eventually fully realized in the creation of mobile frame construction.

Future Century

In 1994's Mobile Fighter G Gundam, mobile suits are a fact of life much as airplanes are in the early 21st century. Its development began even before mankind left the Earth for Space Colonies. However, what is special about G Gundam's timeline is the presence of advanced mobile suits called mobile fighters. Using the mobile trace system, these mobile fighters mimic the movements of their pilots, making them very effective for close-ranged martial arts combat.

After Colony

In 1995's New Mobile Report Gundam W, the first mobile suit was the OZ-00MS Tallgeese, a high-powered prototype unit built in After Colony 170. This prototype unit was considered too powerful for mass production (and for most pilots to handle), and was later redesigned into the more average-performing mass-production OZ-06MS Leo. The researchers who worked on the Tallgeese then defected to the Space Colonies, designing a mobile suit that would outperform the Tallgeese on all levels: the XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero. However the project was canned not only because it was deemed too powerful due to its Twin Buster Rifle, which at full power could destroy a colony, but due to its operating system, codenamed the ZERO system, which could turn a pilot into the perfect pilot by sampling their thoughts and giving them visions of possible outcomes. It would however decrease mental stability, making the pilot insane, and only a truly skilled pilot could handle the system. The five scientists believed the type of power the Wing Zero had wasn't necessary to attain peace. With each taking a copy of the plans of the Wing Zero, each of the researchers fled to a different colony, and developed each of the five Gundam suits independently that were based off the plans.

Another line of mobile suit in After Colony era is G-UNIT. Develope at MO-V, base on information gather from the first five Gundams. G-UNIT Gundam look like basic mobile suit when compare to the five Gundams, but that make them much more versalite. G-UNIT Gundam also able to equiped with addition parts to improve their performance. Another feature that apply to G-UNIT Gundam is PX system that would increase the machine performance and also force pilot's brain to produce hormone such as Adrenaline to increase his combat ability. These mean PX system can be use only for short time before it start to damage both mobile suit and pilot. The first G-UNIT Gundam are OZ-GU01A Gundam Geminass 01 and OZ-GU02A Gundam Geminass 02.

After War

In 1996's After War Gundam X, mobile suits were the main weapons of both the Old Earth Federation and the Space Revolutionary Army. After the 7th Space War ended with a massive colony drop, which brought the Earth to a post-apocalypse state, a large number of these mobile suits remaine on Earth and many are taken by civilians for personal use. These includes powerful Gundam type mobile suits used by the Earth Federation during 7th Space War, which are rare and highly value machines.

In addition to the mobile suits from the 7th Space War, new mobile suit models continue to be developed by the Space Revolution Army and the newly formed New Earth Federation.

CC (Seireki)

In 1999's Turn A Gundam, the technology on Earth has regressed back to that of early-20th century, and in some cases, even to pre-industrial levels. The Militia, which is Earth's defense against the invading Moonrace, had biplanes and jeeps as its main war vehicles. However, in certain locations of the world, called mountain cycles, ancient mobile suits are buried, protected from deterioration and decay by regenerative nanomachines called nano-skin. These mobile suits are said to be relics from the Dark History, and when the first Militia mobile suit, the Turn A Gundam, is uncovered from a statue called the White Doll, the Militia begins searching through these mountain cycles and discovering more and more mobile suits. These uncovered mobile suits become the backbone of the Militia and allow the war between it and the Moonrace, which has never lost its mobile suit technology, to proceed on a more even scale. Later, the Moonrace also begins searching through mountain cycles on both the Earth and the Moon, and a menagerie of both low-tech and high-tech mobile weapons from various ages of the lost past are eventually fielded by both sides.

Cosmic Era

In the Cosmic Era timeline, the first mobile suit, the YMF-01 Proto GINN, was rolled out in Cosmic Era 65, while the first production mobile suit, the ZGMF-1017 GINN, entered production two years later. The Earth Alliance begins mobile suit development in CE 69 with the "G Series" (the Gundam mobile suits), and development culminates with the rollout of five Gundam prototypes on 20 January CE 71. The first Earth Alliance mass-production mobile suit, the GAT-01 Strike Dagger, rolls out late in the war just before the Battle of Porta Panama. The Orb/Aube Nation, in order to defend themselves against both the Earth Federation and ZAFT, aids the Federation in the development of their mobile suits with the express purpose of stealing the technology behind the machines (the process was somewhat successful – Orb was able to learn of and steal the design of the Alliance's beam weaponry, but not the secrets behind Phase Shift armor.) Orb then proceeded on mobile suit development of its own, code named Astray. Three prototypes were developed (Red Frame, with an OS designed to allow Naturals to fight at the same level as Coordinators; Blue Frame, with an OS designed to allow for modules to be grafted onto the mobile suit to extend its capabilities; and Gold Frame, equipped with power interfaces for both Earth Alliance and Orb beam weapons), and the data from the three prototypes was then used to create Orb's mass-production mobile suit, the MBF-M1 Astray.

Postwar MS development continues apace on both sides, with the Alliance developing the stopgap Dagger L and advanced Windam mobile suits and ZAFT continuing to develop its GuAIZ and ZAKU lines. Both sides heavily utilize Striker Pack technology after the war, which allows a single mobile suit to fulfill multiple roles. In addition, ZAFT made several breakthroughs in the design of transforming mobile suits, developing MS that are capable of transforming between an all-purpose mobile suit form and a specialized mobile armor form.

Special mobile suit technologies of the Cosmic Era: Phase Shift, Trans Phase and Variable Phase Shift armor, Mirage Colloid cloaking devices, Energy drain weapons

See Also

List of Mobile Suits