Wing Gundam Zero

The XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero (commonly abbreviated as either Wing Zero or simply Zero) is one of the fictional Gundam mobile suits appearing in the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing anime and derivative works (known collectively as the "After Colony era").

Wing Zero was designed in 1995 by Kunio Okawara, along with many of the other mobile suits appearing in the anime. Wing Zero was redesigned along with the other four 'second-stage' Gundams by Hajime Katoki for the 1997 OVA Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. The Katoki redesign of Wing Zero has proven to be immensely popular and has appeared in several models, toys, and videogames featuring the After Colony suits.

Wing Gundam Zero
Wing Zero's primary armament is the Twin Buster Rifle, a weapon capable of destroying objects several miles in size, like a space colony. When separated into two individual Buster Rifles, the rifles could destroy entire waves of targets. Like the Wing Gundam, Wing Zero is also capable of transforming into a flying machine, known as "Neo-Bird" mode, and allowing the suit to travel long distances at high speed.

The main feature of Wing Zero is the ZERO System, a combat computer/pilot interface installed in the cockpit. The ZERO system connects directly with the mind of the pilot, flooding him with combat data and possible outcomes. This overload of data could allow the pilot to achieve total victory, but places great mental and emotional stress on the pilot. Those exposed to ZERO (an acronym for Zoning and Emotional Range Omitted) System can become totally unstable, unable to tell the difference between friend and foe. Victims may even suffer mental breakdown or death. The latter occurred when an OZ soldier, obsessed with the capabilities of Wing Zero and the ZERO system, used it to challenge Duo Maxwell, the pilot of Deathscythe Hell, and eventually went insane and later died during the battle.

During Katoki's redesign for Endless Waltz, the design of Wing Zero is streamlined, with new armour and recolouring to almost solely blue and white. The main change was the addition of angel-like wing binders, which could also be used as a re-entry shield. The design changes eliminated the "Neo-Bird" mode. The wing binders were equipped with dozen of miniature vernier thrusters, granting the mobile suit unparalleled mobility in flight. The Endless Waltz Wing Zero is referred to as Wing Zero Custom by Bandai in its model kit releases, and also by fans. However, the latest official title of this MS has been finally determined to be "Wing Gundam Zero (Endless Waltz)". The Katoki re-design is considered to be canonical, the Endless Waltz movie makes the assumption that Wing Zero as well as the other Gundam re-designs have always looked as they do in the movie.

Gundam Ace magazine polls have placed the Wing Gundam Zero Custom design fourth in the top 30 Mobile Suits of all time

Gundam Lucifer and Gundam Seraphim
XXXG-00W0L Gundam Lucifer and XXXG-00W0S Wing Gundam Seraphim are two Gundams based on Wing Zero, but appearing solely in the semi-canon story Tiel's Impulse (ティエルの衝動), published in the Ultimate Playing Book (新機動戦記ガンダムW Endless Waltz 最強プレイングブック), a model kit magazine-book.

At a point prior to the end of Gundam Wing, the Romefeller Foundation used the data from the Gundams and used it to develop new mass-produced mobile suits. Lucifer was a test unit based on Wing Zero, and was used to trial an improved ZERO system, Zero 2.0. Although more powerful than the original system, ZERO 2.0 forced the pilot to take certain actions, as opposed to the original ZERO 'suggesting and urging' them.

Following these tests, Seraphim was designed. Its ZERO 2.5 reduced the side effects seen in ZERO 2.0, and the wing binders were moved from the back to the skirt of the mobile suit. Six Seraphims are seen as completed in Tiel's Impulse. Similar to its predecessor, the ZERO 2.5 was known to take control of the mobile suit

Background
When the Tallgeese prototype (the first mobile suit of the A.C. timeline) was completed, the five scientists who had supervised its design and construction rebelled and went into hiding. They collaborated to produce a new mobile suit, one which could outperform the Tallgeese, and which would be constructed from Gundanium alloy. This "Gundam," the Wing Zero, was developed to the blueprint stage but never constructed, as it was considered too powerful for any pilot. After its construction it can be considered the most powerful mobile suit in the A.C. Era, only closely rivaled by the OZ-13MS Gundam Epyon. Each scientist took a copy of the plans and used it to develop their own Gundams: the ones seen at the beginning of Gundam Wing.

Gundam Wing
The existence of Wing Zero is first revealed in episode 21, when Quatre Raberba Winner discovers a copy of the blueprints and begins work on the Gundam to replace his destroyed Gundam Sandrock. In the same episode, Quatre's father dies. The completed Wing Zero first appears in episode 24, with Quatre at the controls, driven mentally unstable from the combination of his father's death and exposure to the ZERO System. Heero and Trowa (working for OZ, the former unwillingly) are sent to take on Wing Zero. The pair are able to return Quatre to normalcy, although at the apparent cost of Trowa's life, and Heero and Quatre are captured. OZ soldier Trant Clark forces Heero to test the ZERO System, but he and Quatre escape and return to Earth in episode 26. It is worth noting that Heero is the only individual in the series to be shown glowing after exposure to Wing Zero. The effect to this day is utterly unexplained in any context and no other individual who has used the ZERO system has shown this reaction to Wing Zero. It is also notable that Quatre initially denies even using the cockpit system after discussing the matter with the other pilots when they are held together in captivity after Zero is brought in. He claimed only to be interested in the suit's massive amounts of firepower. This claim seems to be genuine, as Zero's unique 'golden glow' effect, seen when the ZERO system activates, did not activate at any time while Quatre initially piloted the machine, though the system DID activate in the Sandrock after having it manually activated by Quatre. As a result, none of Quatre's actions while using the suit can be attributed to Wing Zero itself, despite the guilt Quatre later displayed in his rampage while piloting it.

Trant retains the suit, testing it again with Duo Maxwell at the controls in episode 32. Duo attempts to escape, and Trant attempts to fight Duo's Deathscythe Hell with Wing Zero, dying in the process. Trant's body was never shown to be recovered after his death, however when OZ plans to destroy the Gundam in episode 34, his body is never shown or hinted to have been removed from the cockpit, however the suit is empty when Zechs Merquise sacrifices his Tallgeese in order to claim Wing Zero for himself. This may be a reference to the EXAM system from an earlier Gundam series, which saw the test subject for that system be absorbed by the machine. However, there is nothing to substantiate this theory. Presumably, OZ removed his body for the sake of Trant's family, and this would be why there is no corpse in the suit when they attempt to destroy the suit.

Zechs confronts Wufei in episode 35; he at first attempts to become the Gundam pilot's ally, but the effects of the ZERO system forces him into conflict. He then returns in Wing Zero to Earth in an attempt to prevent the dissolution of the Sanc Kingdom in episode 37, and fights Heero, who is piloting Epyon. At the conclusion of the battle, they exchange Gundams, leaving Heero with Wing Zero.

Heero and Wing Zero return to space in episode 41, and over the next two episodes Wufei and Trowa both pilot Wing Zero. During the final episodes of the series, Heero is shown at least twice speaking to Wing Zero as though it were alive and holding a conversation with him. The first is shown when Heero is preparing for the final battle against White Fang, preparing a copy of the ZERO system for installation into Quatre's Sandrock, and again in the very final episode of the series, as he asks the suit to help him, and the suit responds to the plea almost immediately. Heero uses the Gundam in another duel against Epyon, before using Wing Zero's Twin Buster Rifle to destroy the wreckage of the battleship Libra superweapon before it can impact with Earth.

Tiel's Impulse
Following the secret construction of Gundam-based mobile suits by the Romefeller Foundation, the prototype Gundam Lucifer is stolen by test pilot Karl Noembreux, who is under the influence of the ZERO 2.0 System. Following this, a group of civilians breaks into the colony where the Gundams are under construction. Their leader, Tiel Noembreux, steals one of the Seraphim Gundams, and heads out in the company of two others, in search of her brother.

Endless Waltz
Following the events of the series, four of the Gundams, including Wing Zero, are collected and sent towards the sun for disposal. When the Barton Foundation begins to perform the original Operation Meteor, Quatre sets out to retrieve the four Gundams, sending Wing Zero to rendezvous in space with Heero at the end of the second episode, following his efforts to prevent the de-orbiting of Colony L3 X18-999.

Heero uses Wing Zero to combat Wufei and Altron, who is on the side of the Mariemeia Army, the militia supported by the Barton Foundation. During the battle, Heero doesn't fight to his fullest extent, due to him believing the fight to be pointless, and Wing Zero receives heavy damage from both Altron and the re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. Eventually, Heero gives up the fight, claiming that Zero never gave him an answer to whether or not he and the other pilots had done the right thing, and causes Wing Zero to sink into the ocean. Sometime later however, Wing Zero re-activates on its own and convinces Heero to complete his mission. These are the third and fourth times, respectively, that the suit has behaved in a manner suggesting some form of artificial intelligence and possibly a low level form of sentience, as Heero continues to speak of and to the machine as though it was alive.

Wing Zero then arrives in the sky at Brussels, where the other Gundams are fighting, and Heero aims its Twin Buster Rifle at the shield-protected Presidential Building where Mariamaia and her troops are hiding in. Heero then fires the rifle three times, and succeeds in destroying the shields. However, due to the damage Wing Zero had received earlier, the recoil of the rifle, along with enemy fire from the compound below, proves to be too much for it handle, and Wing Zero is ultimately destroyed in a series of explosions, though the torso remains mostly intact, falling to the ground and allowing Heero to survive, although barely able to walk. After Mariemaia's surrender, the rest of the Gundams are also destroyed, along with all other weapons. It is interesting to note that Heero, despite his bond with Wing Zero, didn't seem too distraught over its destruction. This, however, is probably due to the fact that Heero knew his Gundam's time had come, as he had said to it in the aforementioned underwater scene.

Episode Zero displaces the end narrative, a mock-up of Wing Zero is created in order to fool some terrorists.

Other Appearances
Aside from the Gundam Wing anime series and the Endless Waltz OVA, Wing Zero appears in all of the official manga published in relation to the series.

In the Ground Zero doujinshi, the difference between the anime Wing Zero and the OVA Wing Zero are explained as Heero wanting to (and succeeding in) reconstructing the design of the Wing Zero based on an idea he wanted to see through. Duo compares this to "customizing a sports car". The plan to send the Gundams into the sun was revealed late in the manga.

In the Episode Zero story Preventer 5, set after Endless Waltz, a mockup of Wing Zero is created by the Preventer organisation, and is intended to be used to fool a group of terrorists holding members of the government hostage. The mockup is capable of little more than walking. How it affects the events is left unclear, as the story is deliberately left unfinished.

Wing Zero was the subject of the 7th short film released in the Gundam Evolve CGI series. The short film involves Heero's attempt to destroy a spaceborne weapon, before escaping in Wing Zero, and includes a monologue by Doctor J towards Relena Peacecraft.

Wing Zero is also one of the default playable mobile suits in Original mode of the video game Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, with Heero as its default pilot. Despite the Endless Waltz version now the declared canon design, the Okawara design was used for this game, possibly just to utilize its transformation ability.

Zero appears in Gundam Battle Assault 2 for the Playstation, and in Battle Assault featuring Gundam SEED for the Playstation 2, using the Endless Waltz design in both cases.

Wing Gundam Zero also has made appearances as one of the units in many of the Super Robot Taisen video games series as well as a playable unit in Another Century's Episode 2 and Another Century's Episode 3. It also appear as one of three playable character in Great Battle VI, depict as sentient robot. Unlike other character (Ultraman Powered and Kamen Rider Black RX), Wing Gundam Zero cannot perform charge attack. Its main attack is weak machine cannon and will switch to slighly more powerful beam saber when engage enemy at close range. However, when Wing Gundam Zero has collect power-up item, it will use powerful, long range twin buster rifle as main attack. He also pilot one of three Flash Jet fighters, which can combine into giant mecha, the God Flash.