XXXG-01W Wing Gundam

XXXG-01W Wing Gundam (aka Wing Gundam or Gundam Zero-One) is the titular mobile suit of Gundam Wing. It was developed in the L1 colonies by the engineer Doctor J as a tool to take revenge on the OZ organization for the assassination of the pacifist leader of the colonies, Heero Yuy. Wing Gundam was used mainly in missions against OZ and the Romefeller Foundation. The unit was primarily piloted by the series' main protagonist Heero Yuy (a teenage boy who was code-named after the martryed pacifist).

Technology & Combat Characteristics
Out of the five original Gundams created for Operation Meteor, Wing bears the closest resemblance to their common ancestor, the XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero. It boasts incredible speed and can transform into a high-speed aircraft form known as "Bird Mode," enabling it to fly within Earth's atmosphere. Though most of its weapons are relatively standard, its buster rifle is an exceptionally powerful beam rifle, capable of taking out a large group of mobile suits or a battleship in a single shot. Though it can adjust its output, the buster rifle can only fire three times at maximum output before needing to recharge. In every respect, Wing is a scaled down version of the Wing Zero. This was done possibly to reduce the strain placed on the pilot by the ZERO System and the superior capabilities of the Wing Zero. Wing's weapons are also considerably less powerful than those found on the Wing Zero, as Wing was designed to be "strong," but not "overpowering" like its ancestor. The Gundam's wings are the reason behind its speed.

Armaments

 * Buster Rifle
 * Wing Gundam's signature weapon, which can fire either a narrow beam akin to that of a beam rifle or a huge blast like that of a beam cannon; a particle weapon capable of destroying multiple enemies in one shot. Its energy supply allows only three shots in the latter mode. The power of the buster rifle creates a 150 metre diameter of high heated energy, and also an electromagnetic field effect. The rifle can be reloaded with extra E-pacs through a break-action similar to a double-barrel shotgun.


 * Beam Saber
 * Used for close combat and capable of cutting through even the toughest Gundanium Alloy. It is stored within the Gundam's shield when not in use.


 * Vulcan Guns
 * Mounted within the Gundam's head; are used as a secondary long-range weapon.


 * Machine Cannons
 * Mounted on the clavicle section of the Gundam; are also used as a secondary long-range weapon and have higher power than the vulcans.


 * Shield
 * Made of high strength Gundanium Alloy. It can also be used as a ramming weapon.

Special Features

 * Bird Mode
 * When transforming into its aircraft form, the Gundam's head and waist rotate backward simultaneously, the legs fold up with the feet pointing backward, the hands retract inside the forearms, the talons fold over the forearms, and the shoulder pads fold close. Finally, the buster rifle and shield attach themselves onto the Gundam's back and its wings spread open. In this form, the Gundam is capable of flying anywhere at high speeds, as along as it is within Earth's atmosphere. The Gundam is also capable of transforming into Bird Mode without its buster rifle.


 * Search Eye
 * A focus of data gathering. When the antennas and main cameras do not suffice, the Gundam's secondary eye is used to gather visual and radio-wave data.


 * Self-Destruct System
 * In extreme cases of emergency, the Gundam is equipped with a self-detonation device, in order to prevent the suit or any of its data from being obtained by the enemy.

Variants

 * Wing Gundam Ver. Ka/Ver. EW
 * To hold with the designs seen in Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, Hajime Katoki redesigned the five original Gundams from the beginning of the series, including Wing. The redesigned Wing is still capable of transforming into Bird Mode and looks significantly more similar to the redesigned Wing Zero. In addition to cosmetic change, Katoki's version of Wing can hold spare energy capsules for the buster rifle in each forearm, increasing buster rifle usage to nine shots in single sortie.

History
After being built in outer space, Wing Gundam was sent to Earth with Heero to begin Operation Meteor. During Wing's descent to Earth however, it was detected by an United Earth Sphere Alliance assault carrier commanded by OZ's Zechs Marquise. Heero destroyed two of the carrier's Aries suits with Wing's buster rifle, but Zechs used his Leo suit to grapple with and weigh down the Gundam. Wing then crashed into the Pacific Ocean and Heero abandoned it.

After leaving Wing at the bottom of the ocean, Heero enlisted as a student at the St. Gabriel Institute in order to disguise himself. He later stole several underwater torpedoes from an Alliance naval base, in order to destroy his Gundam before it fell into enemy hands. However, Wing had already been found by Duo Maxwell, pilot of the Gundam Deathscythe. Wing was set to self-detonate, but Duo deactivated the device. Duo caught up with Heero as he raised both of their Gundams out of the sea. Heero then fired the missiles at the two suits, which badly damaged them both, but did not destroy them.

After Duo later recovered both Gundams, Heero repaired Wing by stealing parts from Deathscythe (much to Duo's dismay) and he began using it for numerous missions. These missions included destroying an enemy carrier transporting Gundanium Alloy and taking out OZ's North Pacific Ocean supply base. When OZ sent mobile suits to attack the St. Gabriel Institute with the intent of killing Relena Darlian, Heero used Wing to repel the attack, believing that OZ had discovered where he was hiding out.

During Heero's mission to the New Edwards Base, all five of the Gundam pilots were united, thinking they were about to destroy OZ once and for all. However, Heero destroyed an OZ carrier with Wing's beam saber before he found out that it held the pacifistic leader of the Alliance military, Field Marshall Noventa. OZ's leader, Treize Khushrenada, had tricked the Gundam pilots, and the ramifications were clear when OZ took over the world unopposed. Later, when Heero was allerted to OZ's plan to self-detonate the New Edwards Base's missiles in order to eliminate the Gundams, he used Wing to break into the missile silo and disarm the explosives.

Wing's next major mission was in Siberia. Here, OZ was preparing to send its Taurus suits into space, and four of the five Gundams arrived to stop the launch. Wing went into single combat with Zechs' Tallgeese suit, as the other Gundams tried to stop the Taurus suits from reaching their launch site. However, OZ's Lady Une set her trap when she threatened to destroy the colonies if the Gundam pilots did not surrender their suits. In response to this, Heero self-detonated Wing, nearly killing himself as well. The Gundam was essentially destroyed.

Wing fell into the hands of Zechs, who took the Gundam's remains with him from Siberia and began to rebuild it. However, OZ's parent organization, Romefeller, ordered Zechs to have the suit destroyed. Zechs tricked Romefeller by simply destroying a copy, and had Wing taken to Antarctica to be rebuilt for a re-match with Heero.

Wing was mostly rebuilt in Antarctica, but its highly-calibrated inner systems were completely destroyed in its self-detonation, leaving it at a disadvantage. Wing was left in the base as Zechs and Heero had their re-match, as Heero had chosen to use Trowa Barton's Gundam Heavyarms instead. During the battle, Trowa used Wing to prevent any enemies from interfering and later warned Heero and Zechs that Romefeller was coming to arrest Zechs for disobeying their order. Trowa then converted Wing into its Bird Mode and picked up Heavyarms, allowing Trowa and Heero to escape.

When the five Gundam pilots returned to space to stop OZ from taking over the colonies, Heero left Wing behind on Earth, due to its inability to fully function in space combat and also because Heero knew he wouldn't be able to keep himself hidden from OZ as easily with it by his side. Some time later, Wing was found underwater by Sally Po, who eventually turned it over to Lucrezia Noin after the two recovered it while Sally was temporarily imprisoned by OZ. Noin then brought the Gundam to the rebuilt Sanc Kingdom's underground hanger. After Heero returned to Earth with Quatre Raberba Winner, they eventually arrived at the Sanc Kingdom as well, where Heero was reunited with his Gundam. After much convincing from Noin and Quatre, Heero used Wing to defend Relena's pacifist nation from the Romefeller Foundation for some time.

However, when Heero assisted the Treize Faction in defending their base in Luxembourg from Romefeller's army of Virgo mobile dolls, Wing's right leg was damaged during the battle and it was later blasted into a building, disabling the Gundam completely. Heero subsequently abandoned Wing for the last time and eventually replaced it with the more powerful Wing Zero (after piloting the Gundam Epyon for a brief time in between the two). The abandoned Wing was later captured by OZ and taken to a base on the grounds of a military hospital for repairs. During this time it was equipped with booster rockets, allowing it to fly in space.

Wing was used once more when one of the hospital's patients, Lady Une, awoke from a coma and launched the suit into space. Wing pushed Trieze's Tallgeese II suit out of the way of a devastating laser beam from the White Fang's battleship Libra, and the Gundam received massive damage from the blast. Wing's remains were last seen floating in space, after Lady Une left it to reunite with Treize, and it was presumably never repaired again. However, after surviving destruction as many times as Wing Gundam has, it's impossible to be sure.