Anavel Gato

Anavel Gato (アナベル・ガトー Anaberu Gatō) is a character appearing in the anime OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, set during the Universal Century time line of the fictional Gundam universe. He is voiced by Akio Otsuka in the original Japanese and by Kirk Thornton in the English dub.

Background
Anavel Gato is a member of the Principality of Zeon's elite palace guard unit. During the One Year War, at the Battle of Solomon, Gato earns the nickname "Nightmare of Solomon" for singlehandedly holding off an Earth Federation pursuit force while Zeon forces retreat. Rumor has it that Gato was lured away from the main battle due to the misconception that the Gundam had been destroyed. He joins Aiguille Delaz's fleet late in the war, and withdraws with Delaz and his supporters after Gihren Zabi's assassination at the hands of Kycilia Zabi, his sister. He returns to the earth in October of UC0083 to seize the RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis", and later uses this Mobile Suit's nuclear weapon against the Earth Federation's Naval Review.

"Anavel Gato"

- Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory

Gato is a skilled pilot and a man of few words. Throughout Operation Stardust, he repeatedly clashes with the Federation pilot Kou Uraki. Gato is mortally wounded inside the captured colony cylinder as he reprograms the thrusters to enable the colony to fall on North America. At the conclusion of Operation Stardust, Anavel Gato orders the remaining Zeon troops to charge for the Axis Advanced Fleet. Although they fight bravely, most of the Zeon pilots attempting to break through Federation lines are killed, including Anavel, who chooses to kamikaze the AMX-002 Neue Ziel into one of the Federation's Salamis class cruisers.

During Operation Stardust, Anavel Gato has command of his own fleet, which is centered around Gato's flagship, the Musai class cruiser Peer Gynt. His fleet is destroyed at the conclusion of the operation.

Although Gato is the series' nominal antagonist, he is a man of honor and a soldier through and through who cares for his comrades, and seeks to vindicate the memory of his family and friends who died at the hands of the Earth Federation. He believes in the ideals Zeon is fighting for. Gato proves right about the intentions of the Earth Federation, whose corruption emerges in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.

Trivia

 * In the PS2 video game "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space", Gato's Gelgoog is depicted as using an unique prototype beam rifle which is longer and more powerful than the standard Gelgoog rifle. In the game, his English voice is provided by Ted Cole.


 * In the PS2 video game "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space", after completing the first half of Mission 2 in Anavel Gato's Ace Pilot story, Char Aznable, "The Red Comet", will offer you support in the MSN-02 Zeong. If the player accepts, Gato will poke fun of the fact that the Zeong has no legs, and Char will simply reply, "According to the engineers, the legs were just for show."
 * In a "what-if" scenario in the PS2 video game "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space", Anavel Gato engages Amuro Ray as one of the potential bosses in Stage 3 of the White Base campaign during the Battle of Soloman. Although the battle between the two ends in a stale-mate, Amuro comments that Gato could have finished him off if their battle had gone on longer.


 * Gato's callsign "Walfisch" is the name of an uninhabited German island, in the Bay of Wismar in the Baltic Sea. Walfisch also means 'whale' in German.


 * Anavel Gato also appeared as a NPC in Dynasty Warriors Gundam, piloting his custom Gelgoog. He comes back as a playable character in Gundam Musou 3, piloting the RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis".

アナベル・ガトー