GN-001 Gundam Exia

GN-001 Gundam Exia, aka Gundam Exia, is a mobile suit featured in both seasons of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. The unit is piloted by Setsuna F. Seiei.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
Exia, also known as the Gundam of Seven Swords is the close quarters combat specialist of Celestial Being's armed intervention team consisting of Dynames, Kyrios, and Virtue/Nadleeh. Although Exia and Dynames are closely related designs, the final results are worlds appart. The Gundam that would eventually fall to Setsuna F. Seiei was built to be the tip of Celestial Being's spear. While its fellows operate in primarily supporting roles, Exia takes the fight to enemy. Setsuna would repeatedly use the speed and stealth granted by the GN Drive to rapidly close with and decimate enemy forces, but speed and stealth alone would be useless without offense.

To that end, Exia carries the Seven Swords System. A mix of seven different melee weapon systems. The GN Sword's rifle mode provides Exia with a single mid-range, mid-power weapon. The overall performance is comparable to Dyanmes' GN Pistols. GN Vulcans on each wrist can be used for point defense or to engage soft targets. The rest of Exia's weapons are pure melee. Small beam blades, GN Beam Daggers are used as throwing weapons or when an enemy gets too close for anything else. Virtually weightless GN Beam Sabers allow Exia to match faster opponents, who might otherwise evade a physical blade.

The true reason for Exia's creation is the GN Long Blade, GN Short Blade, and the GN Sword. Physical blades coupled with a layer of GN Particles along the cutting surface(s) are almost as devastating as a beam blade. Despite their anachronistic nature, these weapons are critical to Aeolia Schenberg's overall plan: he foresaw the day when his GN technology would fall into the hands of those who would use it for selfish ends. In preparation for that day he ordered the creation of Exia and its three GN Particle-charged physical blades, which were made specifically to cleave through a GN Field. Setsuna was educated in combat by Ali Al-Saachez (trained in a unidentified form of martial arts), training reflected in Exia's combat style. When facing overwhelming numbers and firepower such as the GN-X, Exia can dock with the GNR-001 GN Arms to drastically enhance its firepower, or use its Trans-Am System to increase its speed far beyond anything that can match it.

GN Sword
A solid blade attached to a miniature forearm shield, which serves as the Exia's primary weapon -- the longest blade amongst the Seven Swords. The cutting edge is lined with GN particles, allowing it to easily split MS armor. The sword can be vertically folded along the forearm, exposing the muzzle of a short-range, high-speed beam rifle concealed behind the shield. A single shot can destroy a conventional enemy unit. The sword can also be used as a physical blade to pierce/negate GN Fields.

Seven Swords System
The Seven Swords System is a semi-official name referring to the wide array of blade-derived weapons that Exia can carry. While redundancy and flexibility were built into the weapons selection, Aeolia Schenberg's fear that Gundam would one day battle Gundam drove the inclusion of physical GN blades. The sheath of GN Particles surrounding the blade interact, interfere with, and ultimately cancel out the particles of a GN Field. Even the seven GN Tau Drives of Alejandro Corner's GNMA-XCVII Alvatore could not create a GN Field immune to the blades of Exia and the GN Arms Type-E.

History
The Exia's history & exploits can be found on Setsuna F. Seiei's page.

Variants

 * GN-001/hs-A01 Gundam Avalanche Exia
 * GN-001/hs-A010 Gundam Avalanche Exia Dash
 * GN-001 + GNR-001 GN Arms Type-E
 * GN-001RE Gundam Exia Repair
 * GN-001REII Gundam Exia Repair II