Best Villain Characters in Gundam Anime

Summary

• The Gundam series spans over 30 series and explores the effects of war.

• Gundam's fascinating villains blur the lines between right and wrong.

• Characters like Char Aznable and Gihren Zabi lead the conflicts.

The Gundam series has been around for over five decades and grew out of the brilliant mind of Yoshiyuki Tomin with the original anime, Gundam mobile suit. The original series created multiple universes that explored different eras of war and its effects on humans. With over thirty series across different timelines, Gundam is the most successful Mecha franchise in history, alongside Transformers.

Gundam tells stories of cataclysmic conflicts involving massive war machines called Mobile Suits. Both sides push each other to the edge until a pilot takes the plunge to bring peace to the world through compassion or force. The villains of these stories are also incredibly fleshed out characters who display magnetic charisma as they push for total victory. The writing of many Gundam series can blur the line between right and wrong by how well their antagonist is written.

8

Kyoji Kasshu / Dark Gundam

The puppet and its master

Kyoji is the brother of the main protagonist G Gundam mobile fighterDomon Porridge. In the series, Domon tries to track down his brother who stole a highly advanced Gundam while participating in a Gundam Fight tournament.

However, Kyoji was infected by the Dark Gundam's AI and used the power source. It was a Dark Gundam artificial intelligence that sought to save Earth by destroying all human life and used its Dark Gundam cells to take over organic hosts to do its bidding. Dark Gundam is one of the few non-human villains in the Gundam universe, and one of the scariest.

7

Marquise Zechs

A masked strategist

Zechs first appeared in Gundam Wing mobile suitone of the most famous Gundam series in the West. It served as a weapon for the OZ Corporation and first encountered the Wing Gundam piloted by Heero Yuya during Operation Meteor.

Throughout the series, Zechs is a thorn in the side of all Gundam pilots due to his superior strategic foresight and pristine piloting skills. While Zechs was just a tool for the collaboration he served, he was an excellent tool and a cold and calculating villain in the execution of his duties.

6

Prosperous Mercury

Burning the whole universe for love

IN Gundam Mobile Suit: Witch of Mercurythe plot started out as a lighter story than most Gundam titles. But when the curtain fell and the whole picture was revealed, it became a tragic series of discrimination, loss and greed.

Prospera Mercury fulfilled the “man or woman in a mask” trope on the show and seemed to be the backstage puller. It was revealed that her goal after creating an AI based on her deceased daughter's mind was to create a world where she and the other AIs could live normally. The problem would be that by using the data storm, Propspera would then have dominant rule over the entire Earth with enforced peace.

5

Rau Le Creuset

A force of nature without a past

Rau serves as the masked man Gundam Seed mobile suit and the remaining antagonist of the series. Rau's real name is Rau La Flaga; he is a clone of Mu La Flaga's father, meant to replace him due to his father's superiority complex. Unfortunately, Rau was considered a defective product and abandoned. This created an immense hatred that forced him to end the existence of humanity as a whole.

Due to his dominant military abilities, Rau was able to quickly rise through the ranks of the ZAFT organization and implement a plan to wipe out all of humanity with a nuclear arsenal. Rau had no loyalty to any cause or faction; he sought to end the constant war by ending everything else and bringing the universe to permanent peace.

4

Gihren Kill

Charismatic warmonger and enemy of peace

If Char Aznable was the sword of the Principality of Zeon, Gihren Zabi was its guiding hand. As the eldest of Zabia's children, Gihren was also the most gifted in terms of intelligence and physical ability.

Gihren was able to inspire the passions of the people of Zeon and turn them towards his cause, which allowed him to wield so much power as both masthead and supreme leader. Gihren's achievements were matched only by his cold lust for power and overconfidence. Gihren may have been the driving force between Earth's forces and the Zeon conflict, but his goal was far more sinister at heart as he sought all-out war between all factions.

3

Full front

Red Comet Reincarnation

IN Gundam Unicorn mobile suitFull Frontal was the main antagonist of the series, serving as the ace pilot for Neo Zeon and the leader of the organization. He was first portrayed as a mysterious masked man who would lead Neo Zeon to victory.

Full Frontal was a direct copy of Char Aznable enhanced with cybernetics and genetically modified to be perfect. When he was on the battlefield, he had no competition and almost succeeded in his plan to subvert economic power for his people. Fate drew him to leave his despair.

2

Haman Karn

The youthful prodigy of Ne Zeon

Haman Karn was only sixteen when she became the supreme leader of the Axis Powers after the death of her father. Hoping to restore the Zabi family to its former glory, Karn waged war against Earth's forces, hoping to conquer the colonies and Earth with her at the head of the table.

Haman Karn was a brilliant politician who knew how to harness the hopes and wishes of his people and use them as a weapon. No task was too inhumane for Karn as long as it meant victory for her and her people. Her ambition and endless ruthlessness were ultimately her undoing.

1

Char Aznable

The Red Comet And Zeon's Savoir

One could argue that Char Aznable is more than just a villain, but one of the foundations of the Gundam universe, and not good or evil. However, Char was the cornerstone of the conflict between Earth and Zeon, serving as the antagonist in the original Gundam mobile suit anime in the Universal Century main timeline.

Char wanted humans to evolve and think Newtypes were superior and wanted to leave Earth and send humanity to the stars. To achieve this, Chr did unspeakable things and tried to cause a nuclear holocaust to achieve his goal.