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This article is about a fictional weapon from the Universal Century timeline of the anime Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam metaseries.
Zeta Gundam The MSZ-006 Ζ Gundam (Zeta Gundam, codename: "ζ Gundam") is the sixth mobile suit built by Anaheim Electronics as the culmination of the Project Ζ. Originally built as three prototype MSZ-006-X1, MSZ-006-X2 and MSZ-006-X3. While these machines can transform, there is too much metal fatigue on the frame. This problem was corrected by Kamille Bidan, a Newtype teenager, incorporating innovations in that time such as the "movable frame" concept extracted by the AEUG from the Titans' RX-178 Gundam Mk-II project (headed by Franklin Bidan), and the Gundarium alloy used in the RMS-099 Rick Dias. This mobile suit is also one of the first variable-form Gundams televised, capable of transforming into a fighter like Mobile Armor called the Waverider. The Ζ's design was revolutionary in many ways(both in and out of the anime), and in the UC timeline looked very different than previous models of the Gundam type of Mobile Suit. The transformation ability and the suit's great speed is the Ζ's signature quality, as its transformation is fluid and integrated into its combat style often giving it grace unrivaled by most mecha. Design wise, its transformation at the time was also one of the most complex and detailed, rivaled only by The Super Dimension Fortress Macross's revolutionary VF-1 Valkyrie variable fighters. As for weapons, the Zeta is very well armed with an arsenal favoring beam weapons. It included standard Gundam type armament including head mounted Vulcan guns, dual beam sabers, and a high powered beam rifle. It also sported arm mounted grenade launcher's which could be given additional ammunition from detachable storage packs, and the grenade launcher could also house a grappling hook tool for various purposes. The Zeta's most prolific weapon however is without a doubt the Hyper Mega Launcher, a massive blue rifle used to great extent in the latter parts of the Gryps conflict and during the first Neo-Zeon war. This weapon fires very high powered beam shots capable of destroying even battleships with a well placed shot. Both the launcher and beam rifle could also double as a cunning melee weapon as the Launcher had a built in Beam Saber bayonette style called the long beam saber . The beam rifle and Hyper Mega Launcher could be used while in Waverider configuration as well, and the hip mounted Beam Sabers doubled as beam guns. Kamille Bidan became the designated pilot of the Ζ Gundam in the year UC 0087. Replacing Gundam Mk-II as his personal Mobile Suit, Kamille obtained the Ζ Gundam after returning to space from the Hong Kong incident involving Four Murasame. Screaming into battle, this sleek convertible Mobile Suit took all of the Titan's forces by surprise with its incredible performance and attack potential. Kamille led many successful missions against the Titans and the AEUG turned the tide of the war. Kamille in the Ζ was responsible for battling and ultimately killing Titan's leader Paptimus Scirocco, besting his massively powerful mobile suit, The-O. Unfortunately, this victory cost Kamille greatly, wherein he suffered a mind-crippling final attack from a dying Scirocco. The AEUG pilot Fa Yuiry later recovered the Ζ Gundam along with its pilot. After undergoing repairs, the Newtype Judau Ashta became the principal pilot of this mobile suit while the mobile suit MSZ-010 ZZ (Double Zeta) Gundam was still under construction by Anaheim Electronics. When Judau received the ZZ, Federation pilot Roux Rooka took control of the Ζ and used it to great success during the war against the Neo-Zeon. The Ζ Gundam continued being in operation until its destruction at the end of the First Neo-Zeon War, crippled by Puru-2's monstrous Quinn Mantha, although the Ζ got in one final crippling shot before being abandoned. An interesting feature of the Ζ Gundam is the incorporation of the mysterious Bio-sensor - a reduced-feature replica of the Psychic Communicator (PSYCOMMU) system devised by Murasame Newtype Laboratories to interface Newtype pilots to mobile suits. The bio-sensor allowed a Newtype pilot to temporarily increase the combat power of the mobile suit using psycho-kinetic energy inherently strong in Newtypes - its usage became more frequent during the last days of the first Gryps War between the AEUG and the Titans, even turning the Waverider into a deadly weapon (Kamille's attack using the Waverider to ram into Scirroco has been named the Waverider Crash in video games depicting the Zeta, such as the Super Robot Wars series.). The Ζ Gundam was an incredibly high performance machine that accomplished much, helping turn the tide of the Titans conflict and fighting against the Neo-Zeon afterwards. The Ζ however, was intricately tuned and built to Kamille's exact specifications and style, so once Kamille was out of the war while the Ζ could be piloted competently by other pilots, it could arguably no longer perform to its full potential without Kamille at the controls although it was still a highly formidable machine. Another Ζ Gundam, designated MSZ-006-3, was piloted by Karaba ace Amuro Ray in the later stages of the Gryps War although sources on this vary. Some deny this as merely propaganda similar to the story of the MSZ-006A1, while an equally large number of others state that Amuro did pilot this and fought many secret battles for tha Karaba during both the Gryps war and the Neo-Zeon war. Stories about these exploits are enthusiastically dreamed and discussed by fans, and the 006-3 was in fact confirmed by the 2001 short CGI film Green Diver's, where Amuro used the 006-3 to great success during the later stages of both wars. This essentially makes the 006-3 a canon machine. Little is known about Amuro's own Zeta Gundam, it did however look nearly identical to the prototype Z and was colored an unusual white color scheme with purple stripes. Anaheim Electronics planned to mass produce Ζ Gundam as MSZ-007 Mass Production Type Ζ Gundam which removed the transformation and replaced the head with one similar to the MSA-003 Nemo. However, this design turn out to be inferior to their other project, the MSR-100S (MSR-00100S) Hyaku Shiki Kai Mass Production Type and its development was halted upon mass production. Still, Ζ Gundam has been the basis for the design of later mass-production mobile suits such as Earth Federation's Ζ Plus mobile suit series and Londo Bell's RGZ-91 Re-GZ. Two additional Zeta Gundam units are set to appear in episode 9 of the CG series Gundam Evolve, alongside Amuro Ray's unit - this brings the total number of Zeta units to four. A design known as the MSZ-008 ZII also existed supposedly. This machine was originally designed as a successor to the Ζ and was even featured in various Super Robot Wars video games as a secret unit. This design however, supposedly lacked the variety and sturdiness of the original Ζ and was never used in any series or side story to date, although it was still a formidable unit in the said video game. MSZ-006 Ζ Gundam
MSZ-006-X Prototype Ζ Gundam
MSZ-007 Mass Production Type Ζ Gundam Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics Company Operator: Anti-Earth Union Group Unit type: prototype attack use mobile suit Dimensions: head height 20.4 meters Weight: empty 30.9 metric tons; max gross 48.3 metric tons Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 1830 kW Fixed armaments: 2 x beam saber, stored in recharge racks in hip armor, hand-carried in use Optional hand armaments: mega beam rifle, power rating unknown See Also | ||||||||||||
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