Char Aznable

Char Aznable is one of the main characters from the Mobile Suit Gundam anime.

Char is one of the most feared pilots of the Principality of Zeon. During his first battle at Loum, Char was able to destroy five Federation Salamis-class ships on his own. He was given the title of "Red Comet" for his fast movements and his red colored Zaku II. Char's true intentions were to kill all the Zabi family members for killing his father the original Zeon leader, Zeon Zum Deikun.

Char had been following the White Base crew throughout the One Year War, U.C. 0079. He met with Amuro several times and engaged in many of the most epic battles in Mobile Suit warfare history.

Appearance
Char is a young man of average height, with short wavy blond hair, and blue eyes. He was always seen dressed in his red Zeon uniform (red being his favorite color), and most of the time, wore either a Zeon commander helmet with goggles or a large pair of sunglasses to conceal his identity. By U.C. 0087, Char grew a few inches in height and also let his hair grow to shoulder length, and by the Second Neo Zeon War, his hair was shorter and combed back, and he no longer concealed his identity as Casval Rem Deikun. Char also had a small, diagonal scar between his eyes, received from Amuro Ray in their sword duel at A Baoa Qu.

Personality
Char’s personality is a mix of passion, charisma, pride, vengefulness, and charm. Perhaps his most dominant characteristic is his charisma which makes him a genuine leader. Char’s skill as a pilot combined with his charisma cause many people to respect and willingly follow his command, while instilling fear in his opponents. The other defining trait of Char's personality is his tendency to hold deep grudges, seen most evident by his attitude towards the Zabi Family and Amuro Ray. Char’s desire for revenge is something that defines him for most of the series. His entire objective in Mobile Suit Gundamwas killing every single last member of the Zabi Family in retaliation for killing his father. The other prime example was his rivalry with Amuro, which at first was one of soldiers on opposing sides but became one of deep animosity after Amuro unintentionally killed Lalah Sune, Char’s object of affection. This drove Char to temporarily forget about his vendetta against the Zabi Family and focus solely on killing Amuro, until Sayla Massreminded him about his grudge against the former. Char's animosity with the two also revealed two other things about his character: his rivalry with Amuro highlighted Char’s pride as a soldier, as he repeatedly challenged Amuro with different mobile suits just for the satisfaction of defeating the young rookie pilot in battle, while with the Zabi's he showed that he could be very manipulative, having deceived them for years and influenced their battle plans without them ever questioning his loyalty.

By U.C. 0087, Char's personality changes drastically; with his revenge fulfilled he focuses all of his attention on helping defeat the corrupt Titans and follow his father’s teachings of humanity needing to move into space if it wished to progress further. Throughout the series, Char demonstrates his passion for following his father’s legacy, even going against the people of Zeon, refusing to follow their ideology of overturning the Federation and going so far as to fight against their forces in the final battle.

The epitome of Char's change is shown in episode 37 of the Zeta series when Char delivers his speech about the need for humans to leave the Earth, so that it could be restored to its natural state. This showed that Char truly does care about the Earth, and wants to help save it, also wanting what is best for humanity, touching upon the pointlessness of humans fighting amongst themselves. As an individual Char also improves from who he used to be; rather than share a rivalry with new protagonist Kamille Bidan, Char acts as his mentor and helps settle the boys tantrums, something the old Char would not have put up with. He also was able to let go of past grudges, as he willingly and cooperatively fought alongside his past enemies Bright Noa, Hayato Kobayashi, and even his archrival Amuro, with whom he could now even hold a conversation with and also take a smart remark from without fussing over it.

However, in Char's Counterattack, Char changes his attitude once again, this time for the worst. After being exposed to the people of Earth, he realized it was not only the Titans, but a great deal of humanity that was corrupted, and as a result became disgusted with humanity and sought out to change their ways. This culminated in him dropping asteroids onto the Earth, in the hopes of causing a nuclear winter, making the Earth uninhabitable, thus forcing humans to migrate into space. Though appearing evil at first, Char still cares for the Earth and still wants best for humanity by following his father’s plan, only now he is more focused on the outcome rather than worrying about the process, including disregarding human lives. Char is also now more forceful, as he was willing to drop asteroids on the Earth despite it still having people who did not evacuate and was determined to crush anyone who opposed him.

One drastic difference in characterization was his attitude towards the lone survivor of the Zabi family. Whereas during the One Year War, where he was perfectly happy to set up the death of his "friend" Garma Zabi for no greater reason than the original sin of being member of the Zabi family, Char displayed untempered outrage over Haman's conditioning of Mineva Zabi, suggesting genuine care for the innocent girl.

Despite all these changes, one of Char's traits has remained constant, his love and protection for those close to him. This was seen in each series that he appeared in: In MSG, when he tried to convince his little sister Artesia (at that time known as Sayla Mass) to leave the White Base multiple times (even giving her a suitcase full of gold bars to support herself), in Zeta when he guides and fights alongside Kamille, and his mature relationship with Nanai in Char's Counterattack.

An interesting fact about Char’s character is his influence over women who are younger than him, which remains somewhat of a constant over the course of the series. This was seen at multiple times: his relationship with Lalah Sune (whose age is 17, and, according to Tomino's novel Secret Rendezvous: Amuro and Lalah, was discovered by Char working as a prostitute), and Haman Karn, who was 14, as detailed in the manga Portrait of a Young Comet - Char's Deleted Affair. Char also swayed the disillusioned Quess Paraya (13 years old according to Gundam Official Guide) during the events of the movie Char's Counterattack, where Quess latched onto Char after being rebuffed by Amuro Ray in hopes of learning from famous Newtypes. Char, while certainly caring for these women, doesn't really show signs of romantic interest to any of these females, except Lalah and a few others such as Natalie Bianchi and Nanai Miguel.

Overall, Char goes from fighting to avenge his father to fighting for the ideology of his father. Throughout, Char tries to protect those he cares for and destroy those against him.

Abilities
As a mobile suit pilot, Char excels in land, air, and space combat. He will exploit the disadvantages of his foe and use it to his advantage. Char is also able to bring out the full potential of a mobile suit, and is able to hold his ground against the technologically superior RX-78-2 Gundam with commander versions of the Zaku, Z'Gok, and Gelgoog. His days at the Zeon Space Defense Military Academy helped him hone his combat skills as a foot soldier, such as using firearms, detonating explosives, and fencing. His bold leadership which he is well known for also developed at the military academy. Albeit being an excellent pilot, Char's abilities as a Newtype are far less than those of his archrival Amuro Ray. Char's Newtype abilities only developed as a result of long term training. Char is also a cunning strategist and tactician, managing to outsmart many of his enemies, even when he is not piloting a mobile suit. Char, like his father, seems to be a natural born orator, as his passionate speech denouncing the Titans in Dakar pulled the Earth Federation's support towards the AEUG.

Trivia

 * Char is partially based on Manfred von Richthofen, also known as the "Red Baron". Aside from the nickname, both were ace pilots known for their customized red vehicles.
 * Char's name was inspired by the French singer and songwriter Charles Aznavour (whose name is rendered in Japanese). Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino publicly confirmed this at Anime Expo New York 2002.
 * Char usually piloted red-painted (or, arguably pink-ish) mobile suits. An exception to this is the MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki, which is painted in bright gold-yellow colors; Gundam MK-II, which is painted white and black; and the MSN-02 Zeong, which was painted in a lavender-gray color scheme.
 * Char was never shown driving a car throughout his appearances within the anime.
 * By the time of Zeta Gundam, Char has had four different names: his birth name Casval Rem Deikun, Édouard Mass - the name given to him when he whisked away to avoid being targeted by the Zabi family, Char Aznable - the name he'd bear for much of his life, and finally, Quattro Bajeena which is ostensibly his fourth alias (quattro is Italian for "4").
 * In Mobile Suit Gundam 00 there is a feature used by the Gundams known as the Trans-Am System. When activated the Mobile Suits using it begin to glow red and are able to move three times faster than normal. The shift in color while in Trans-Am, as well as the tripled statistics, are a homage to Char Aznable and his Commander Zaku.
 * At the same time, Char's English voice actor, Michael Kopsa also voiced Aeolia Schenberg in Gundam 00; Michael's role as Aeolia marks his first role in a Gundam series after the originals, Aeolia's speech as heard in the first episode of Gundam 00, bears a resemblance to Char's speeches as heard in Char's Counterattack.
 * In episode 2 of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, there's a sign on a building that reads "Red Comet".
 * Char's tendency of being around younger women (Lalah, Haman during Char's deleted affair, Quess) has caused some fans to joke about him having a fetish despite his last love interest being of similar age.
 * Many US fans even today wonder the full reasons for Char's change of heart from Zeta Gundam to Char's Counterattack, with some assuming that the ending events of Zeta Gundam and ZZ Gundam as the cause. (such as how Federation politicians were quick to go along with Haman).
 * This factor has been referenced in some SRW games, stating as long as Quattro has hope for humanity, he will never go down the path he did in CCA.