Mobile Suit Gundam

"It is the year 0079 of the Universal Century. A half-century has passed since Earth began moving its burgeoning population into gigantic orbiting space colonies. A new home for mankind, where people are born and raised... and die."

– The opening narration for the original Gundam 0079

Giant Robots have been a staple of media east and west since the 1950s. But it was only in 1979 that Japanese animator and all-around madlad Yoshiyuki Tomino chose to use them to tell a tale of war and the costs of war, of the use of giant robots as weapons no different from tanks and planes. From such seeds would be borne not only an Anime franchise, but an entire genre that would go on to redefine not just Anime, but tabletop wargaming, video games and much, much more.

Basically, Gundam is to Japan what Star Wars is to the United States. A tentpole of popular sci-fi media, a property that has grown and changed with generations and shows no signs of slowing down. Its influence can be felt everywhere, especially in the Traditional Games sphere where everything from Battletech to the Tau owe at least something to Gundam.

The Gundam Multiverse

Because Gundam is a "theme" more than it is a strictly defined setting in the conventional sense, this has led to a lot of different experiments with that core theme, telling and retelling the basic concept in many ways and birthing its own universe, some branches of which have gotten multiple explorations via multiple anime series and/or OAVs. Now, obviously, we're not going to fucking handhold you through all the differences, but we will be nice and give you a very basic rundown of the different Gundam realities.

Universal Century

This is the original, OG Gundam setting, the Prime Material Plane from which sprang the entire multiverse of Gundam we know today. As a result, there are more series and OAVs set in this continuity than in any other.

It all begins in the Year 0079 of the Universal Century (from whence this timeline gets its name). Decades ago, humanity united under the Earth Federation and then colonized the local Earth-Moon system with a series of free-floating country-sized space stations. However, some of those space colonies have united to form the power-bloc known as the Principality of Zeon, which desires nothing less than to be formally recognized as an independent sovereign nation, free of the Earth Federation's control. When the Federation wouldn't give it to them, Zeon responded in a calm, level manner.

...By which we mean they invented Mobile Suit technology, wiped out half of Earth's population with a combination of mass-scale nerve gas attacks, nuclear weaponry and crashing at least two space colonies into the Earth. They were surprised when the Federation refused to surrender, and now the war is raging on both Earth and in space.

The story of the Universal Century truly begins on a Federation-allied space colony, which has secretly begun production of two new super prototypes for the Federation military; an assault carrier spaceship called the White Base, and an ultra-advanced Mobile Suit, the titular Gundam. Zeon gets wind of these and goes after the colony, which leads to it being destroyed and the colony's survivors fleeing to Earth aboard the White Base, with a young prodigy named Amuro Ray piloting the Gundam to protect them. Thus begins the long, long bloody conflicts to follow...

The Universal Century is famous (or perhaps infamous) for its efforts to try and present both sides as morally ambiguous. The Principality of Zeon draws very heavily from Nazi and Imperial Japanese trappings and ideology, right down to viewing "spacenoids" (humans conceived and born in zero-gravity) as a superior race, and atrocities are practically their go-to tactic in war; gassing neutral colonies to scare others into signing up with them, launching nuclear bombardments, dropping colonies and meteors on Earth... seriously, the amount of war crimes that Zeon commits over the course of these series is ridiculous. And yet the Zeon officers we see tend to be noble, principled, efficient and genuinely idealistic, with a minority of raving bloodthirsty madmen (such as the founders of the movement). In contrast, the Earth Federation tends to be our nominal protagonist side, as well as the recurring victim of Zeon's onslaughts, and yet the people in charge of the whole shebang tend to be venal, self-centered, short-sighted and appallingly corrupt and astonishingly incompetent.

One of the few non-"Real Robot" elements of this dimension is the concept of Newtypes, which are basically spacenoids who have vaguely defined psionics, largely centering around extra-sensory perceptive skills that make them super-deadly Mobile Sit pilots, with some telepathy thrown on top.

The original 0079 was cut short during its run due to low ratings, yet was rescued by the efforts of a devoted fanbase that ensured that it sold enough toys to warrant a sequel. Said sequel, Zeta Gundam cemented the show's core themes and popularity and would become a benchmark upon which future entries would be judged. The followup ZZ Gundam was considered divisive for having a jarring tonal shift towards the lighthearted and comedic following the dark and brutal ending of Zeta. The capstone of that particular story arc was the film 'Char's Counterattack' that concluded the rivalry between original protagonist Amuro Ray and Char Aznable.

The Darth Vader of Japan.

A note should be made about Char, who is to Japan what Darth Vader is to America. A morally grey and complicated figure who has been the rival in 0079, the mentor in Zeta and the big bad in Char's Counterattack, he has inspired legions of clones, copies and expies both within Gundam and beyond it. He has even advertised McDonalds in Japan. Hell, even the grim darkness of the far future has a Char clone of their own.

• Mobile Suit Gundam (1979-1980 TV series)
• Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985-1986 TV series)
• Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (1986-1987 TV series)
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (1988 movie)
• Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (1989 OVA)
• Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (1991 movie)
• Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991-1992 OVA)
• Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (1993-1994 TV series)
• Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (1996-1999 OVA)
• G-Saviour (2000 live-action movie)
• Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO (2004-2009 OVA)
• Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (2010-2014 OVA)
• Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (2015-2018 OVA)
• Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt (2015-2017 ONA)
• Mobile Suit Gundam Twilight AXIS (2017 ONA)
• Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative (2018 movie)
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash (2021-ongoing movie trilogy)
• Mobile Suit Gundam Cucuruz Doans Island (2022 movie)

Future Century

Generally summed up as "Gundam's take on a Super Robot" show, though even Neon Genesis Evangelion would laugh at how low-powered the Gundams are.

In this dimension, most of Earth's population have abandoned their mother planet to settle on a series of nation-based (and heavily stylized) space colonies, leaving the planet to the impoverished and unwanted. To resolve disputes amongst themselves, and to elect temporary federal leaders, the colonies have created the Gundam Fight: a ritualized combat held every four years. Each colony deploys a single warrior in a Mobile Suit to Earth, and these warriors seek each other out and battle until just one remains standing - killing is prohibited, and a fighter is eliminated if the head of their Gundam is destroyed. Whichever country is represented by the winning Gundam becomes ruler of the space federation, until the next Gundam Fight.

We are introduced to Future Century in the year FC 60, the year of the 13th Gundam Fight. This tournament is different, however. Neo-Japan's Gundam Fighter, Domon Kasshu, has a secret mission: to hunt down the Devil Gundam (or "Dark Gundam", as the English Dub called it); a gigantic, AI-controlled, nanomachine-backed monstrosity that was originally supposed to reconstruct Earth after all the damage it has taken from the last twelve Gundam Fights, but which has gone haywire and now wants to annihilate humanity with the aid of its ever-growing army of Mobile Suit drones controlled by nanotech zombies.

G-Gundam is famous (or infamous) for how its Gundams are based on Japanese national stereotypes of countries around the world. These can range from the humorous to those that are borderline offensive. The Neo-Mexican Tequila Gundam with its massive sombrero and Guitar and the Dutch Windmill Gundam with an actual windmill in its chest are two famous examples.

• Mobile Fighter G Gundam (1994-1995 TV series)

After Colony

This timeline can be crudely summed up as "What if Zeon actually was a bunch of heroic freedom fighters and not a bunch of self-righteous Space Nazi douchebags?" Less crudely it's a story about child soldiers, guerilla and drone warfare, and the political (and literal) backstabbing that occurs when world leaders start talking about military disarmament.

In the year After Colony 195, the United Earth Sphere Alliance rules over the collective peoples of Earth, the Moon and the space colonies with an iron fist. Five colonies unite in secret to rebel against this dictatorship and commence with Operation Meteor: sending 5 super-powered Mobile Suit prototypes, the Gundams, to Earth to carry out a guerilla campaign against the UESA's military. These five Gundam pilots are our heroes, even as the villains shift, betray, absorb, and backstab each other.

Widely considered to have been the series that got women interested in mecha series or even anime as a whole due to its cast of prettyboy protagonists.

Wing was the second Gundam to air in the west, and because it was a key entry in the early Toonami lineup it was the first Gundam to make it big. For many, it was Wing that introduced them to Gundam and it remains a pivotal entry as far was Gundam's western popularity goes.

• Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995-1996 TV series)
• Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (1997 OVA)

After War

Remember how Zeon really likes to drop big things on Earth? Yeah, this series shows a more realistic look at what that'd actually do to the planet.

The year is AW 0015, and Earth is a mangled wasteland after a war between the Earth Federation and the Space Colonies wiped out 99% of the human population in the solar system. A group of "Vultures", people who scavenge the ruins of civilization for salvage, inadvertently discover the Gundam X, the last and most powerful Mobile Suit invented for the war, and inadvertently become caught up in efforts to promote an entirely new war.

Notable as the first continuity after Universal Century to feature Newtypes, and one of the more idealistic series in the franchise, with a very upbeat and optimistic tone to itself.

• After War Gundam X (1996 TV series)

Correct Century

Many Gundam-verses are Post-Apocalyptic to some extent or other. This one takes that idea a lot further.

It is the turn of the 20th century, and humanity is at peace. What they don't know is that they are not the first iteration of humanity; they are the ignorant inheritors of a world that has healed since it was devastated in a cataclysmic event long ago. And not all of their precursors were wiped out. In fact, a vast stasis vault exists on the moon, and this "Moonrace" intends to reclaim the world they once lived on. And if the natives don't like it? Tough.

As the series begins, the Moonrace begins an open invasion of Earth, only to find themselves stymied by one of their own, a scout named Loran Cehack, whose years on Earth ahead of the invasion have caused him to go native. When he discovers an ancient, ultra-powerful Mobile Suit buried in the earth, he becomes the last defender of Earth's heirs against the Moonrace - and in time will learn the dark secret history that even the Moonrace doesn't know.

One of the very few Gundam animes to never receive an English dub, the Correct Century has one of the most ambitious core concepts in Gundam's meta-history, as its creator officially proclaimed it to be the canonical future for every single other Gundam continuity, up to its release (SEED, which was released after, was shown in an official release to progress into its own independent timeline, and it is assumed all latter series do so as well). Fans, however, largely reacted by calling "bullshit", whether from the obvious continuity problems that this causes or from sheer emotional disgruntlement at the grimness this retcons into the happy endings of Gundam-verses like Future Century and After War. That hasn't stopped various writers from referring back to the Black History, as it is known, in oblique ways or in more obscure manga spin-offs.

• ∀ ("Turn A") Gundam (1999-2000 TV series)

Cosmic Era

Often considered an attempt to update and remake the Universal Century timeline.

In the Cosmic Era, Earth has largely united under the world-government known as the Earth Alliance, with some stand-out nations. Early in the Cosmic Era, advances in genetic modification led to the creation of a new breed of human, augmented on the DNA level in-utero to be faster, stronger, healthier, and especially smarter than baseline humanity. Who took that about as well as you'd think. The EA's other major achievement was the creation of the PLANTs; huge, hourglass-shaped space colonies meant for use as orbital manufacturing and R&D centers. Almost all Coordinators now live on the PLANTs, both because the first generation fled there to escape prejudice from the "Naturals" on Earth below and because the PLANTS universally lack the law on Earth that prohibits gene-boosting unborn babies. This has led to a growing PLANT-independence movement, calling itself "ZAFT", but the Earth Alliance is not exactly interested in giving up one of its major sources of technology, resources and wealth.

So ZAFT decides to pull a Zeon, cross-pollinating their PLANT independence movement with Coordinator supremacist and anti-Natural movements and deciding to launch a full-scale war, with plenty of war crimes on top. This leads to both ZAFT and the EA pressuring the neutral nations represented both on Earth and in space to join their side.

Our story begins in Heliopolis, a PLANT founded and maintained by the neutral nation Orb. Heliopolis is secretly developing two new superweapons to protect itself against attempts by either the Earth Alliance or ZAFT to force its hand; a super-battleship called the Archangel, and a superior new Mobile Suit model called the Gundam. When ZAFT attacks Heliopolis, the colony is almost destroyed and the survivors are forced to flee aboard the Archangel, with a young Coordinator prodigy named Kira Yamato conscripted to pilot the Gundam to defend the ship as it makes the long journey back to Earth.

... You can see where the idea that this verse is a reboot of Universal Century came from, huh?

This is the only timeline other than the Universal Century to get into more of a "generational war" motif, leading to the full-fledged sequel series. This one revolves around a new cast of teen pilots, predominantly a traumatized ex-Orb native named Shinn Asuka, and... well, let's just say that this was generally considered the worst Gundam series, hands down, until it was dethroned by Iron-Blooded Orphans.

Its sidestory, Gundam SEED Astray, is both more long-lived than the main series, and famous for featuring some of the most stupidly fucking cool ideas the franchise has seen, like a Gundam piloting an honest-to-God Power Loader from Aliens scaled to Gundam size, or a one hundred and fifty meter katana with an anti-fortress gun mounted on the pommel.

• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002-2003 TV series)
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED MSV Astray (2004 OVA)
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (2004-2005 TV series)
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED CE.73: Stargazer (2006 ONA)

Anno Domini

It is the year AD 2307 (hey, look at that; a Gundam-verse without a made-up calendar!) and the nations of Earth have coalesced into three super-powers:

• The Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations (or "Union,") composed of North and South America, Australia, and Japan.
• The Human Reform League (or "HRL,") composed of Southern/Eastern Asia (primarily half of Russia, China, India, and the surrounding nations).
• The Advanced European Union (or "AEU,") composed of essentially the modern European Union, and possibly some, if not all, of Africa.

Due to the near total exhaustion of Earth's supplies of fossil fuels, humanity has turned to solar power, constructing a vast ring-shaped orbital solar collector array in orbit around the equator, with each of the three super powers controlling one of the three "Orbital Elevators" that allows humanity to access the energy harvested from above - Union's in South America, HRL's in the Pacific Ocean, AEU's in Africa. Despite having cooperated to build and maintain the thing, this has done nothing to negate humanity's warlike nature, with war having become almost a game as each of the super powers uses military actions to make power plays over the three Orbital Elevators.

Enter the shadowy cult known as Celestial Being, who have come up with a totally ludicrous plan: to eliminate war by attacking all three forces indiscriminately, making themselves an enemy that will force humanity's collective unification before destroying that same collective military might and squashing humanity's stomach to war. To achieve this plan, they deploy four super-advanced mechas called "Gundams" to wage their terrorist campaign: the pilots of these four machines are our protagonists.

Basically, if Cosmic Era is a revamped Universal Century, then Anno Domini gives the same treatment to the After Colony timeline.

Made in the mid 2000s, 00's first season practically vibrates with the atmosphere of the War on Terror. There are multiple parallels, and even a direct copy of the Wech Baghtu wedding party airstrike. However this spooked the higher-ups at Bandai, who forced the second season of 00 to become a rote copy of Gundam Zeta with its own expy of the Titans. Then the movie happened, which is to-date the only time actual Aliens have been a part of a Gundam entry.

• Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007-2009 TV series)
• Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer (2010 movie)

Advanced Generation

AKA "Gundam does Robotech". Seriously. The basic concept here is that we follow a literal Hundred Year War fought with mecha, focusing on three generations of pilots; Flit Asuno, his son Asemu Asuno, and his grandson Kio Asuno.

It all starts when a mysterious hostile force attacks the Earth Federation from space. Dubbing their foes simply "The Unknown Enemy" (though they will later reveal their identity as the Vagan), they hire Flit Asuno, a young cybernetics and engineering progidy, to build them the ultimate weapon to counterattack the UE; the Gundam AGE-1. When its designated pilot is injured in a UE attack, Flit is drafted to pilot his creation instead. The destruction of his second home colony lands him on the battleship Diva, piloted by a rogue captain who is determined to battle the UE in defiance of the Federation's sluggish response to the threat. Flit uses the Gundam to protect colonies from the UE and in general to be a savior for humanity. It ends in tragedy and a dark revelation about the true nature of the Federation, and Flit embarks on a lifelong path of vengeance.

The second generation starts twenty-five years later and follows Flit's son, Asemu. He is given the Gundam as a sort of coming-of-age present by Flit on his seventeenth birthday, befriends Zeheart Galette in his last year of school, and is devastated when Zeheart turns out to be a Vagan agent. Although he is kind-hearted by nature, Asemu joins the military to follow and impress his father. Their relationship becomes increasingly strained as their viewpoints on war diverge and Asemu struggles with his continued friendly feelings towards Zeheart.

The third generation follows Kio, Asemu's son and Flit's grandson, who is only thirteen when he inherits the Gundam. The Vagan reveal their Earth-based sleeper agents on the anniversary of their first attack on the Federation and quickly turn Earth into a battlefield. Flit unveils the AGE-3 and puts Kio into it, having secretly trained him with flight simulators, and the Diva is brought out of mothballs to fight the new threat on Earth before returning to space.

• Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (2011-2012 TV series)

Regild Century

Our first continuity to be distinctly linked to another continuity, at least if you don't count the vague handwave of the Correct Century being the distant future of all the previous Gundam-verses.

It is Regild Century 1014, more than a millennium since the Universal Century ended. Bellri Zenam is a cadet of the Capital Guards, charged with protecting the Space Elevator called the Capital Tower, mankind's most important link with space and source of the priceless photon batteries. Suddenly, the Tower is attacked by space pirates and Bellri encounters an unknown mobile suit called the G-Self, piloted by one of the space pirates, Aida Rayhunton. Somehow, Bellri is able to operate the G-Self, which is supposed to be operated only by a select few. Bellri ends up joining the space pirates to fight the emergent Capital Army and an unknown threat from space. Through his adventures he will learn about the mysteries shrouded in the Regild Century, including his own history.

Notable for having some of the most out-there character, Mobile Suit and weapon designs on the franchise (seriously, one of the units shoots GIANT TREES made of beams...), with its visuals being quite similar to Overman King Gainer and Eureka Seven. Also, cockpits are confirmed to have toilets built into the seats.

• Gundam: Reconguista in G (2014-2015 TV series)

Post Disaster

It is the year Post Disaster 323, that is, over three hundred years after the Calamity War which brought destructive change to Earth's government. Mars has long been colonized, but suffers under crippling poverty, and now some of its colonies are seeking independence.

The Martian city of Chryse is a hotbed of the independence movement, spearheaded by Kudelia Aina Bernstein — the young daughter of an upper-class family. Mars is under the iron-fisted control of Gjallarhorn, the Earth-sponsored state police who monopolizes arms production and Mobile Suit manufacturing. Enter Chryse Guard Security, a PMC company based off of Mars. CGS's Third Group — made up entirely of Human Debris (orphans taken off the streets and children of extremely poor families) — is given a special assignment: escort Kudelia to Earth to begin informal talks between the Earth government and the Martian independence movement. However, before they can even leave for Earth, CGS is attacked by Gjallarhorn. The adults of CGS's first group order the Third Group to Hold the Line against the attack... while the First Group flee to safety, leaving the Third Group behind as Cannon Fodder.

The leader of the Third Group, Orga Itsuka, is not prepared to take this lying down. He orders Mikazuki Augus, his most loyal supporter and the Third Group's Ace Pilot, to enter the fray with the ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos — an ancient mobile suit from the Calamity War era, used by CGS to provide power to their base. Armed with this ancient machine, Mikazuki fends off Gjallarhorn and saves the Third Group. The First Group's casual sacrifice of the Third Group is the last straw in a long line of abuse, and Orga begins taking steps to ensure that the Third Group won't have to suffer such treatment again...

Iron Blooded Orphans is famous for how the series went off the rails in its second season, with the Director and Lead Writer at war with one another leading to a 'kill 'em all' ending where the villains win thanks to the 'heroes' dropping the idiot ball on multiple occasions thanks to spamming a broken-af weapon made up halfway through season 2.

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (2015-2017 TV series)

Ad Stella

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (2022)

This timeline represents the single biggest shakeup in the Gundamn formula since Future Century, dropping the futuristic war stories for more of a high school hijinks with giant robot duels motif, albeit set against the traditional Gundam backdrop of shady dealings and political power plays. At least until the final episode, where Gundam's traditional formula once more returned center stage with a bang, proving that good setup can make for a better payoff.

Set in the year 122 of the Ad Stella (A.S.) calendar, a timeline that can best be described as 'the future Jeff Bezos/Elon Musk wish to build', AKA a corporate capitalist dystopia where a multitude of corporations have entered space and built a huge economic system, leaving the Earth and the people on it to rot. Making it an inversion of most Gundam Timelines where it is the Earth oppressing the people of space. Suletta Mercury, a lone girl from the remote planet Mercury, transfers to the Asticassia School of Technology, run by the megacorp conglomerate Beneritt Group which dominates the mobile suit industry. This school, being predominantly for mobile suit pilots, has the interestesting policy that duels can be used to solve any problem. No, seriously; you have a complaint, or something you want? Wager it in a mobile suit duel; you win, you get whatever it is you wanted.

The key technology in this setting is Permet, a material that enables humans to interface with machines; the Gund-Arm format was introduced, originally to allow for seemless prosthetics, but then turned into a weapon that burned out its user because the Permet-induced feedback would be too much for the human body. The Gundam format was banned by Delling, and he sent an attack force to slaughter everyone who worked on the project, the only survivors being Elnora ("Lady Prospera") and Ericht, who escaped on the Gundam Lfrith (Aerial), which had not yet reached its full potential, being unable to interface with the cyborg-but-unmodified-earthborn Elnora, but able to with 4-year old, spaceborn Ericht; the young Ericht managed to interface with the Gundam because an old hag convinced her to share her birthday party with the gundam. Ericht unlocking the Lfrith's potential allowed her to casually wipe a squad of other mechs like it was nothing, all while her dad dies holding the reinforcements back and her horrified mother watches (so really, s1ep12 isnt that surprising). While we don't (yet) know what happened between the Prologue and the main series, we know that the real Ericht ended up being uploaded into the Aerial, and this could have even been intentional, as Ericht's existence in the cloud Permet-enabled "Data-Storm" lets her shut down other machines and use Gundams to their full potential.

Also, you may have noticed the obvious Shakespeare and magic references (modified humans built with permet to allow interfacing are called witches). How much the series actually takes from the Tempest, we don't know, but it's pretty obvious that Lady Prospera is out for revenge, and is using her daughter and her gundam to get it.

Notable, and not always in a welcoming way, for being a) the first series with a female lead, and b) the first series with an explicit no-take-backsies 100% real no "they're just friends going through a phase" homosexual relationship. Y'see, in the very first episode (Or second if you're not counting the prologue episode), we're introduced not just to our protagonist, Suletta Mercury, but also to our secondary protagonist, Miorine Rembran, daughter of the ultra-wealthy and all-around abusive jerk Delling Rembran. Miorine is initially engaged against her will to an asshole named Guel Jeturk, and Suletta steps up to defend her by offering to fight Guel in a mobile suit duel. Being the protagonist, of course she kicks his ass, whereupon she's informed she didn't so much annul Guel's engagement as take his place as Miorine's fiancée. It bears mentioning that Suletta herself doesn't initially seem too thrilled to be engaged to another girl, but she's just gently laughed at for "being so old-fashioned" in universe, the rest of the series shows them developing feelings for each other, and she became a yuri icon out of universe, so of course that's never going to be important. This particular scenario was ripped straight from one of the most infamous and influential Anime and one famous for its queer nature, Revolutionary Girl Utena. It just so happens that G-Witch's writer got his start writing Utena fiction. Muchh like how the After Colony timeline became associated with yaoi fans, so too is Ad Stella developing a reputation as "the Gundam for yuri fans".

That being said, even without the Yuri element, Suletta is also probably one of the most genuinely endearing Gundam main characters in a while, being socially anxious to the point of slice-of-life adorability. Especially endearing to /a/nons after the emotionless wooden plank of Iron-blooded Orphans (motherfucker literally just asked to have sex (and had it) with absolute deadpan delivery because he only thought of it in the purely reproductive sense)

This is still a Gundam property however, and the final episode of Season 1 had Suletta remind the new audience (and poor Miorine) of that. Violently. And then Guel learned the same lesson in Episode 15, followed by Suletta herself in Episode 17.

Due to a quirk in the (Permet) bonding process, the device retains an imprint of each of its former pilots' personalities clones

Notable Mobile Suits

There is a fucking fuckload of different mobile suits across the different timelines, so we are not going to be crazy enough to list every single Mobile Suit and Mobile Armor. That would be ridiculous. Go look at a fucking Gundam wiki for that info. Instead, we will simply cite some of the cooler, or at least memeier, suits here that've caught out attention.

Universal Century

• RX-78-2: The OG Gundam, the mascot and namesake of this series. While future mobile suits have way better stats and way cooler looks, few can ever be as iconic as the Grand-daddy of them all, least of all to the point where Japan built a literal walking statue in Yokohama that's size-accurate. Being used by the protagonist Amuro Ray, it's got a lot of OP crap when compared to stuff like Zakus with stuff like armor that's immune to conventional MS firearms, beam swords that are super portable, and plasma firearms when the standard up until this point was conventional SP guns and superheated melee weapons.
• GM: It's pronounced "Jim", if anyone asks. The closest thing to a mass-production Mobile Suit for the Federation during the original show, making it about on par with the Zaku, but better by equipping some of the Gundam's beam weaponry. Also like the Zaku, there are many, many variations of it.
• Zaku: The OG Mobile Suit, the Zaku hails from the Universal Century and is the first Mobile Suit we are ever introduced to in Gundam as a meta-series. The initial base model Mobile Suit used by Zeon's forces, the Zaku is the most basic-bitch Mobile Suit you can imagine, with its famous cyclopean design simultaneously making it memorable and also showcasing how primitive it is, though examples like main antagonist Char Aznable's Zaku being being three times faster simply because it's painted red can prove how dangerous it can be. Also noteworthy as the foundation of one of Gundam's earliest memes, starting from when Amuro Ray fights his first "higher ranked" Mobile Suited opponent, who gets a close up shot as he triumphantly screams about how "This is no Zaku, boy! NO ZAKU!" whilst he temporarily has the upper hand over the rookie. Every series past the first one tends to have an expy of sorts of this suit, sometimes even referencing its model number (MS-06), with the exception being SEED/Destiny (instead, they straight up copied tons of UC designs into the verse, turning their names into acronyms).
• RX-178 Gundam Mk-II: An improved model of the RX-78, the Mk II has a reputation in-universe as a loser, already obsolete at the start of Zeta and swiftly outclassed by newer and better models of Gundam. Late-war had to be docked with a support system brought by the G-Defenser, which added mobility and a larger beam cannon, but it was STILL outclassed by opposing suits.
• MSZ-006 Z-Gundam (aka ZETA): The AEUG's high-performance front-line MS, was capable of transforming into a jet-like Waverider mode. Though it was designed by a Newtype, it did NOT feature anything that took advantage of this, which increasingly became an issue late into the war once it started to face Newtype and Pseudo-Newtype piloted suits. Was finally installed a "bio-computer", an experimental tech that no one really knew WHAT did, but eventually showed that it could turn psychic emanations into motive force. It came back for ZZ Gundam, with the added "bonus" of it gaining semi-sentience due to its previous pilot being such a powerful psychic.
• MSN-10 ZZ-Gundam (aka Double Zeta): Heavy front-line suit and successor to the Zeta, the ZZ features a lot of things that only make sense in a "hey wouldn't this look cool on a model kit" kind of way. It was armed with a fsk-huge particle cannon on its head, a twin-linked beam cannon on one arm, and could transform into a single jet-like form OR split apart into 3 pieces that could be piloted or controlled remotely. Also comes with the Biosensor from Zeta, which allows it to do some of the psychic BS despite (again) not being a Newtype=specific suit.
• RX-93 ν Gundam (aka Nu Gundam): Amuro Ray's Gundam in the kickass movie Char's Counterattack, this slick Gundam is big, fast, and hits hard from multiple directions thanks to its unique Fin Funnel beam weapon array.
  • RX-93-2 Hi-ν Gundam: The print version of the abovementioned machine, appearing in the CCA novelization Beltochika's Children, and usually appears as an upgrade from the regular Nu in video games. Has two versions: the original, chunkier purple-gradient painted version, and a more streamlined blue and white redesign done to rationalize model-making.
• MSN-04 Sazabi: Piloted by Char Aznable and built from the ground up to try and be the best suit the Neo-Zeon dictator could dream of, where the ν Gundam was fairly slim looking the Sazabi was thicc and had its own suite of semi-hidden weapons like a beam cannon in it's belly (near where a cockpit typically would be found).
  • MSN-04 Nightingale: Char's ride in the CCA novel Beltochika's Children, it's essentially an upgraded Sazabi that is much chunkier due to it being more like a Mobile Armor than a conventional suit.
• RX-0 Unicorn Gundam: Another iconic Gundam with plenty of marketability if you look at how much damn merch is available of it. Its basic look is pretty standard, looking like a plain white Gundam with a horn on the head, but once it transforms into its "Destroy Mode", it becomes way more mobile and way deadlier via direct interfacing with certain pilots with a unique mental signature.

After Colony

• Wing Gundam: The mascot of Gundam Wing and one of the few actual Gundams in this series, making it quite powerful. Its most iconic ability is being able to transform into a bird-like jet, allowing for long-range movement. Was replaced by the...
  • Wing Gundam Zero: Has most of the Wing Gundam's abilities as well as an operating system that improves its' combat effectiveness to guarantee "absolute victory" at the expense of the pilot's physical and psychological well-being (projecting a predictive algorithm that calculates your victories and defeats directly into your brain will do that to you). Equipped with two beam rifles which can combine into a single more powerful one. The variation used in the Endless Waltz story is also pretty iconic for being more angelic than bird-like with wings that look like feathers (and complete with actual feathers as SFX).
• Gundam Deathscythe: A Gundam that reeks of edgelordery. I mean, its paint scheme is primarily black, its primary weapon is a literal beam scythe, and it even has jamming systems that fuck with cameras and sensors so you can add Ninja (or just regular stealthy assassins) to the list of edgy. Ironically, it's piloted by a rather chipper dude voiced by none other than Scott McNeil in the dub.
  • Gundam Deathscythe Hell: Now with an even edgier name and giant bat wings that double as a shield. Oh, and now it has a fucking DOULE SCYTHE as a weapon. Yes, a scythe with TWO blades mounted one on top of the other.
• Gundam Heavyarms: What happens when you try to find the answer to the question "Is there ever such a thing as enough Dakka?" and make it a Gundam. Seriously, it's got gatling guns in the chest, missile launchers in the extremities, and even a gatling gun mounted on an arm, with the only melee weapon being a tiny little arm-mounted knife. The Endless Waltz version takes this shit even further with even MORE guns and missiles everywhere and now capable of toting a double-gatling gun on each hand. Why yes, this can delete entire armies.
• Gundam Epyon: Built by the absolute chad that is Treize Khushrenada and designed on the chivalric ideal of being a Gundam all about one on one dueling. As such it has only one range weapon (some shitty vulcan cannon guns which basically just annoy other mecha when used) but sports a segmented heat whip weapon and a huge beam saber. Also it makes you see the enemy pilot die in real time, because of another of Treize's strange and grimdark obsessions.
• Gundam Sandrock: Much like Epyon (but preceding it), the Sandrock has almost no real range weaponry, instead sporting two fucking massive sickle swords that slice, dice and CRUSH (when combined with it's shield to form a giant claw). Even it's updated version for space (and then for the Endless Waltz OVA/movie) keeps to this, gaining a small machine gun which is basically never used. Then again, it doesn't really need ranged weapons when its pilot literally commands his own small army with enough firepower to take out a small nation.
• Tallgeese: Imagine if the Wright Brothers plane went supersonic (and killed Wilbur with the G-forces). The very first mobile suit in the After Colony timeline and the prototype model for Wing's Gundams (but not a Gundam itself) the Tallgeese is gotta-go-fast tier. But since they didn't know how to build mobile suits yet its handling characteristics are punishing for even the most skilled pilot, usually resulting in broken bones and internal bleeding.

Future Century

• Shining Gundam: Main protagonist Gundam for G Gundam. Mostly memorable for the overly hammy performance of pilot Domon and its memetic Shining Finger, a move so powerful that its burning grip tells all to quote the line. For those who haven't seen it, the Shining Finger technique basically has the Shining Gundam's hands shift armor plating to reveal powerful short-ranged energy emitters, allowing the Shining Gundam to basically melt off an enemy Gundam's head with a touch - which is useful, since that instantly disqualifies the opponent that Domon hits with it. According to the novelization, the Shining Finger is a mechanical emulation of a non-lethal take-down technique invented by Buddhist martial artists, where the user channels ki through their palm and into three fingers and then uses it to temporarily short out a foe's motor functions by touching their head. As a result, all of the Gundams built for use by Domon and his martial arts sensei, Neo-Hong Kong's Master Asia, are capable of doing it.
  • God Gundam: Called "Burning Gundam" overseas in places where calling it "God" might trigger censors. Replaces the Shining Gundam halfway through the series due to the show operating on Tokusatsu logic. This logic also means that this Gundam is considerably more powerful, complete with more super modes than there are Saiyans.
• Devil Gundam: Aka "Dark Gundam" in the West. Created by Domon Kasshu's father as a means to repair the ecological devastation caused by using Earth as a stomping ground for the Gundam Fights, the Devil Gundam (originally dubbed the "Ultimate Gundam" in-universe) was outfitted for this role with an internal nanotech production plant, so it could create infinite swarms of microscopic robots to rebuild broken shit, clean up toxic byproducts, etcetera. Why this meant it needed to look like a giant disembodied Gundam head with a smaller (but still stupidly big) Gundam's upper body growing from the forehead on a metallic tendril is anybody's guess. Programmed to be capable of "self-recovery, self-replication, and self-evolution", it unfortunately went nuts and in classic super AI fashion decided that humanity was the problem and exterminating it the only solution.

Correct Century

• ∀ Gundam: Found buried in a mountainside, the ∀ Gundam or Turn-A Gundam for those who can't write the ∀ is THE most powerful Gundam in all the Gundam entries with the most bitching moustache that inspires envy from even Lord General Castor. Its ultimate weapon is called the Moonlight Butterfly, which is a Nanobot storm which has the power to destroy all technology and basically bring about the end of all civilization. Also the cockpit concept is taken quite seriously in that it is located where the Gundam's dick would be (if it had one of course). Funnily enough, it is used for a plethora of mundane tasks by its pilot in the main series, up to washing/drying clothes and carrying cows inside its missile silos.

Cosmic Century

• GAT-X105 Strike Gundam: The Cosmic Era's take on the RX-78-2, it shared the same design philosophy and idea, but changing up some of its traits: rather than being built of a near-indestructible fictional alloy, it had "Phase Shift armor" that made physical weaponry useless (which was also used to justify the colors of the mech), instead of a nuclear reactor it was battery powered (since ZAFT had technology that let them completely stop nuclear fission), and rather than having a single set of weapons, it instead used a number of weapon packs that could be unplugged and replaced whenever needed, with the Aile pack giving it the look most similar to the OG Gundam, bar the huge winged backpack (the base machine doesn't even have the regular beam sabers, just a bunch of knives). Was later busted up, but not destroyed, allowing it to come back a few more times under another pilot before being completely blasted. It's main pilot, meanwhile, would switch to...
  • ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam: Kira Yamato's upgrade suit, this one IS nuclear thanks to having tech that negates the tech that negates nuclear fission, which means it has plenty of power to spare for its insane amounts of ranged weapons. Still ends up reduced to only a torso and an arm in the fight against the crazy psycho asshole villain at the end of SEED, is rebuilt for SEED/Destiny before being blown up by the protagonist of THAT series, and finally replaced with the "Strike Freedom", which has EVEN MORE guns, and basically acts as a huge cheat button for Kira.
• GFAS-X1 Gundam Destroy: Hailing from the Cosmic Era, the Gundam Destroy is one of the biggest Mobile Suits in the Gundam Metaverse, to the point it can literally step on regular Mobile Suits like they were bugs. Built to almost literally burn swathes of destruction across continents, the Gundam Destroy is capable of shifting between a "walking fortress" Mobile Armor mode that looks like a flying saucer on legs, and a conventional Mobile Suit form, which it achieves by rotating its lower half 180 degrees, lowering the arms and flipping the saucer-shaped "backpack" to the back. The saucer/backpack part is outfitted with two twin barrel high-energy beam cannons, 20 thermal plasma composite cannons mounted around the backpack's circumference, and four 6-tube multipurpose missile launchers. The "body" of the Gundam Destroy makes do with a head-mounted 200mm energy cannon and four 75mm CIWS, three chest-mounted 1580mm multi-phase energy cannons, and two detachable arms each equipped with a beam cannon and 5-barrel hand beam gun. The detachable arms function like DRAGOON pods, allowing the suit to attack its target at any range, regardless of obstacles standing in the way. Aside from its vast array of offensive weaponry, the Destroy also carries defensive equipment in the form of three positron reflector shields, one in the backpack and usable only in MA mode, and two on the detachable arms.

Anno Domini

• GN-001 Gundam Exia: The Gundam-wannabe's Gundam. Has a big focus on melee combat, to the point of having seven fucking swords to use in fights, and even its main gun is also a huge sword. It's pilot, Setsuna F. Seiei (birth name, Soran Ibrahim) was an actual Jihad child soldier that almost died in the battlefield, only to be saved by Celestial Being's first Gundam, which instilled into lil' Soran a borderline fanatic desire to "become Gundam" once he was recruited by Celestial Being.

Post Disaster

• ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos: the 8th Gundam Frame in its timeline and mount of Murderhobo Mikazuki. Notable for being one of the very few mainline Gundams to never equip any beam weaponry whatsoever, to the point of eschewing the customary rifle-and-shield loadout and replacing it instead with an XBAWKS-HUEG mace with a pile-bunker on the tip. Its base form is continuously altered throughout the run, either due to cannibalizing equipment from enemy suits, or modifications done by the heroes after they finally get some money and stop being poor orphans (at least in the monetary sense). Rather fittingly for a machine named after a demon, Mikazuki repeatedly seems to offer up parts of himself to the Gundam in return for more power: every time he unlocks the limiter on Barbatos' systems, the kid loses motor functions on a part of his body, down to losing control over the entire right half of his body, thus dooming him to a life of only being a tool for violence. It also grows progressively more demonic in appearance as the show goes on, with its final form, the Barbatos Lupus Rex, being almost dinosaur-like in appearance, and wielding an even BIGGER mace.
• ASW-G-01 Gundam Bael: The Excalibur of Gundams, and the very first Gundam Frame built in the Post Disaster Era, it was piloted by the founder of Gjallarhorn, a crazy hotblooded motherfucker who chose to fight an army of giant machines of genocidal death with nothing but two really sharp swords. Is said to be haunted by the soul of said founder, and ownership of it (aka, being able to pilot the thing) is said to grant you automatic leadership of Gjallarhorn. Unfortunately when Gjallarhorn pilot McGillicus attempted to try this for himself and take control of the Bael, he found out the hard way that myths don't always play out in the real world, as the fellow leaders of Gjallarhorn told him to eat shit and the Bael was destroyed by a newer and more powerful Mobile Suit. 'Muh Bael' has become a meme as a result of Macky's stupidity.

Ad Stella

• Gundam Aerial: A Girl Gundam for the first girl Gundam Protagonist (who treats the machine like its family, calling it her sister), Aerial works using the GUND system, a mental link that connects the pilot to the machine. Said link can have dangerous consequences if the Permet Score is raised too high, though Aerial seems unusually resilient to the negative effects of this. Aerial's use of Gunbits (Or funnels as they're called in other Gundam entries) makes it one of the most powerful Gundam initially, more akin to the Gundam Unicorn than the RX-78.
  • Permet is an exotic material that allows for distant, unconnected matter to interact with each other (think quantum entanglement). Modified humans, be they clones or "witches", can have permet integrated into them which allows them to interface with machines. Gundams are so complex, though, that the sensory overload will eventually kill the pilot. But Suletta and Aerial are, for some reason, the exception to this.
  • Considering that Suletta, the Aerial's pilot, considers the Gundam to be family, and when combined with her mother's inscrutable, almost manipulative, nature, there was speculation that the Aerial isn't wholly mechanical, which has now been confirmed: Aerial houses the consciousness of Ericht Samaya, who died due to Neuralink her consciousness being uploaded into the cloud "data storm". A data storm is basically a Permet-enabled cloud that allows her to override and control other Permet enabled tech around her, an ability that allows her sister(clone?) to beat the shit out of other Gundams and enhanced humans by just shutting down their machines. Not just that, any machine that uses Permet(every machine), can be taken over, not just Gundams.
  • This is further taken advantage of by Quiet Zero, a gargantuan Mobile Armor/Mobile Fortress/Ship (Gundam terminology is BS) shaped like a coffin, with glowing skulls running down the central segments on each side, and likely at least a kilometer in length that has Aerial at its core, and with the Bit-type MS known as Gundnodes can create a massive Data Storm, which was used by Prospera to slaughter an entire fleet within the span of a few minutes.

Gunpla

What made Gundam a success was in large part through the sales of model kits of the various Gundam and Mobile Suits. Gundam Plamo, shortened to Gunpla, are model kits of the many Mecha that have appeared in Gundam shows down the years. Over time the quality of these kits has risen to the point where Mythbuster's Adam Savage has praised the engineering that has gone into certain Gunpla Kits. Gunpla Kits are modular and use an internal skeleton that allows kits to be combined and kitbashed together to create multiple combinations and allows for a lot of creativity on the part of skilled modellers. Gunpla is often a gateway drug to both military modelling and wargaming in general, as the skills required to build Gunpla are the same skills used to make a Games Workshop kit.

Influence on TTRPGs

Gundam, being as old as it is and with a lot of lore to boot, has had a good bit of influence on tabletop RPGs over the years. For one, there is an actual Gundam RPG built on the framework of Mekton but, sadly, has yet to be translated into English despite years of fans in the West pleading for it and promises from R. Talsorian.

Even without the official RPG, it's influences can still be felt in other games, such as Battle Century G (though it does admittedly pull more from "Super Robot" rather than "Real Robot" anime), Jovian Chronicles, and the mecha you can play with in BESM. There are also numerous fan hacks for other systems such as Genesys RPG and FATE.