V08-1228 Grimgerde

The V08-1228 Grimgerde is a mobile suit featured in the Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS television series. It is piloted by McGillis Fareed.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
Produced at the end of the Calamity War, the Grimgerde is one of the mobile suit models that used the Valkyrie Frame. The Valkyrie frame was easy to use, lightweight, and compared to the other Calamity War era machines, its design was simple with minimal energy loss. In terms of specifications, the Valkyrie Frame had the capabilities to be the main combat machine on the battlefield. However, as it was developed at around the same time as the Gundam Frame, not many people were aware of its existence. Based on remaining data from the Calamity War era, the overall production number for Valkyrie Frame-based mobile suits was small, with a theory that less than 10 units were produced. There was also not much information regarding their combat record.

The Grimgerde was made to be lighter and more mobile compared to other mobile suits of the time. This translated into high mobility when in space, while on the ground, it is nimble as the effects of gravity are minimized. The main disadvantage of the design is that when the suit is in close combat, control of its center of gravity is important, and any piloting mistakes can lead to attacks with little power that will just bounce off the enemy's armor.

After the Calamity War, the performance of the Valkyrie Frame was examined and Gjallarhorn decided to use the frame and Grimgerde as the base for their mobile suit development, resulting in the Graze Series. As a result, the Graze inherited the design concept of the Valkyrie Frame and the basic structure of the Grimgerde.

Armaments

 * Valkyrie Shield
 * Mounted on the forearm, the pair of shields are part of Grimgerde's basic armor. Each shield stores one Valkyrie Blade on the underside.


 * Valkyrie Blade
 * A close combat sword-type weapon designed for the Grimgerde, its blade has a goldish color because it is made from special super hard metal. This rare metal is tougher than the material used in the Gundam Frame, but there is not enough to make a single MS body; currently, the technology to make this weapon is lost. The pair of Valkyrie Blades can be held in hand when in use, or be deployed directly from the Valkyrie Shields by rotating forward from their stored positions.


 * 110mm Valkyrie Rifle
 * A rifle that was designed with the Valkyrie Frame's weight balance in mind. A drum magazine is adopted as it allows for high ammunition capacity.

Special Equipment & Features

 * High Sensitivity Sensor
 * A high sensitivity sensor is installed in the suit's head; a camera above the head's green vertical sensor is revealed when analyzing the target's data. This seems to evolve into the Head Sphere Sensor used by the Graze series.

History
The Grimgerde was one of the few Valkyrie Frame using mobile suits produced at the last stages of the Calamity War, but they were ignored despite their good capabilities due to the appearance of the Gundam Frame. After the end of the war, Gjallarhorn re-examined its data and decided to use the Grimgerde and its Valkyrie Frame as the base for their new mobile suit series, the Graze.

In P.D. 323, a Grimgerde was used by McGillis Fareed when he adopted the alias 'Montag' and presented himself as the representative of the Montag Company. It was first used to assist the ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos against a team of EB-06r Graze Ritters as the Tekkadan tried to land on Earth. On Earth, the Grimgerde was used in the battle outside Edmonton against Gaelio Bauduin and his ASW-G-66 Gundam Kimaris Trooper. During the battle, McGillis revealed that he had been manipulating his own allies (including Gaelio, Ein and Carta) for his own plan, and subsequently attacked the Gundam Kimaris Trooper's cockpit, presumably killing Gaelio.

Notes & Trivia

 * Its name and model number references Richard Wagner's Die Walküre. Specifically, Grimgerde is the 8th out of 9 Valkyries that appear in the opera. Thus, there is fan speculation that there are 9 mobile suits using the Valkyrie Frame.
 * The Grimgerde is a fitting name for McGillis' mobile suit as the Valkyries chose who lived and died in battle according to Nordic mythology, and McGillis is also very manipulative and careful of choosing who lives and who dies in his plans to rid Gjallarhorn of corruption, similar to a Valkyrie.