Quatre Raberba Winner

Quatre Raberba Winner (カトル・ラバーバ・ウィナー Katoru Rabāba Winā?, derived from French quatre, lit. "four") is the pilot of Gundam Sandrock, one of the five Gundams sent to Earth in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. He is a central character of the anime and several of the derivative works that make up the After Colony universe.

Personality & Character
Quatre is of Arab descent. His last name Winner (written in Arabic as Fayez), suggests he is of a Jordanian origin because its one of the most known families in Jordan. The first name (Quatre) is French and means the number four. His middle name suggests a Berber heritage, which would partially explain his appearance as some Berbers are known to carry European DNA. His mother, Quatrine, appears to be platinum blonde, suggesting that she may be of European descent. This would make Quatre of half Arab and European descent.

Out of all of the Gundam Pilots, Quatre seems the most well-adjusted of the group, generally displaying a kind, humble personality. As a firm believer in the ideal of pacifism, he is a reluctant soldier who often expresses sorrow whenever he is forced to kill his enemies.

Quotes

 * "To outer space, every one of us!"
 * To a group of soldiers: "You're afraid to die, aren't you guys? Well then you shouldn't be fighting at all!!!"
 * "They should have surrendered."
 * "You and I shouldn't be fighting each other."
 * "They're violent and dangerous, but they're really nice guys."
 * "We can't die yet!"
 * "What's this? Are you... are you trying to tell me to get off? Thank you, Sandrock."
 * "I think it's time for us to return to space, with our Gundams."
 * "That [champagne] sounds great... as long as it's non-alcoholic."

Possible character reference
The character of Quatre, from appearance (blonde hair, European features, eye-gear) to penchant for long speeches involving peace for the colonies, is highly reminiscent of Quattro Bajeena, also known as Char Aznable. Furthermore, their names are similar, both being derived from the generic sound of the word for the number four in the Romance languages. Char also means "four" in Persian.

However, Zechs Merquise is generally considered the stronger Char archetype of the series, and references to Quatre's particular kindness and sensitivity, even to an extrasensory level; black-and- "white mobile suit" and engineering ability allowing him to easily design himself a second; scene struggling adrift in the desert and troubled reunion with his father all strongly hint at the protagonist of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series himself, Amuro Ray, in addition to Amuro's later ν Gundam.

The character of Quatre may have been devised as a thinly-veiled reference to one of the Gundam series' best-known characters. However, his appearance, general temperament, and role as the very unexpected leader of a group of rebel Arabs could also possibly allude to T. E. Lawrence.

Skills & Abilities
Quatre is also implied to have a form of extrasensory perception or something similar, which he refers to as the "heart of outer space" ("uchuu no kokoro" in Japanese). This ability remains largely unexplored throughout the series, leaving many fans to speculate as to its depth and overall usefulness. Much of this debate is rooted in episode 10, which seems to imply that the "Space Heart" is a form of limited telepathy or empathy- possibly a Newtype ability. In another case, in episode 26, he appears to be able to read Heero's thoughts (of 'the person on Earth': Relena) by touching his heart. However, this discussion is further complicated by a cryptic remark made at the end of the series, in which Quatre states that: "I understand now. The space heart is him [Heero]." Ironically enough, this would seem to imply that, for most of the series, even Quatre remains largely ignorant as to the exact nature of his abilities.

Quatre plays the violin and the piano, and confides to Lucrezia Noin that music relaxes him. He also seems to have a fondness for animals and distaste of alcohol. Despite his rather small stature, he has the highest level of endurance of the five Gundam pilots, which he demonstrates by walking for hours in a Middle Eastern desert without any water, drifting in outer space for days with limited oxygen, and continuing to fight in his Gundam despite holding a bleeding stab-wound.

Episode Zero
In this manga story it is revealed that when the colonists first arrived into space, pregnant women had problems giving birth to newborn babies. This resulted in artificial reproduction, with babies gestated in test tubes. This problem was later solved, except within the Winner family, who had been in space since the formation of the colonies. However, unknown to Quatre, he was born naturally, although his birth mother died during childbirth. His twenty-nine sisters were all test tube babies.

Originally, Quatre did not feel loved and saw himself as an artificial person Mr.Winner, his father, could easily replace. In the year After Colony 193, he allowed himself to be taken hostage when the Maganac Corps commandeered MO-III intent on negotiating for the employees to return to see their families on Earth. When the Maganacs allowed for Quatre to talk to his father, Quatre accused Mr.Winner of creating him artificially to be a servant for the convenience of the Winner family. Rashid Kurama, leader of the Maganacs group, slapped Quatre and urged him to be more prideful. Also on the resource satellite was Instructor H, who told Quatre to live a life worth being proud of, like the Maganacs.

Later, when Quatre overheard Yuda, a treacherous member of the group (whose name and codename "Iscariot" allude to Judas Iscariot), sending their coordinates to United Earth Sphere Alliance troops, Quatre captured him and tied him up. However, he failed to secure the ropes properly allowing Yuda to break free and try to shoot Rashid. Quatre knocked Rashid out of the way and took a bullet to his arm but couldn't prevent Rashid from taking a bullet too. Yuda was quickly killed by Maganac lieutenant Auda.

With the Alliance surrounding and about to attack and Rashid unable to lead his men, Quatre took command after Rashid gave him permission(even donning Rashid's goggles). With his leadership skills, Quatre helped hold off the Alliance's mobile suits, enabling the Maganacs to get to Earth safely. Forever indebted to Quatre, the Maganac Corps now considered him one of them and asked him to descend to Earth with them but Quatre declined, not wanting to flee his problems.

Quatre would return to the Winner colony with Instructor H and the scientist eventually convinced him to become a Gundam pilot as part of Operation Meteor. This led to the relationship with his father becoming even more strained due to Mr.Winner's pacifist beliefs. Not wanting Quatre to carry out the massacre Operation Meteor originally called for, Instructor H had Quatre simply target OZ.

Gundam Wing
Quatre descended to the Earth with his Gundam Sandrock and fought alongside the Maganac Corps against OZ in the Middle Eastern areas, assisted by the Maganac Corps. A common mission at the Corsica Base with fellow Gundam pilot Trowa Barton led to the two of them developing a friendship of sorts. Trowa took refuge in the Maganac headquarters briefly and his Gundam Heavyarms was repaired before he left. En route to a mission in California to assassinate what the public believed was a meeting of top OZ officials at the New Edwards Base, Quatre ran into Trowa again. Despite the latter's initial unwillingness to form a partnership, the two worked together in the attack on the New Edwards Base(where in fact Alliance leaders were holding a meeting and advocating peace with the colonies). During the mission Quatre and Trowa met fellow fellow Gundam pilots Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell and the pilots seemingly succeeded in their objective after Heero destroyed a plane carrying Alliance officials. However, the fifth Gundam pilot Chang Wufei arrived and informed them the plane was carrying Alliance pacifists and that OZ leader Treize Khushrenada had purposefully leaked false information to the world. That same day, OZ launched Operation Daybreak(a massive worldwide coup d'état) to overthrow the Alliance. At the behest of Alliance Major Sally Po, Quatre assisted Heero in deactivating missiles OZ forces had set to self-detonate before leaving New Edwards.

Quatre would meet his fellow Gundam pilots again several weeks later during a mission that called for them to destroy Taurus mobile suits being transported to a Siberian base. Quatre, the Maganac Corps and Duo Maxwell fought fiercely along OZ's decoy route until OZ colonel Lady Une threatened a satellite missile attack on the colonies if the pilots didn't surrender and hand over their mobile suits. After Gundam pilot Heero chose to self-destruct his Gundam and had his body carried away by Trowa, Quatra, the Maganacs and Duo fled towards the Middle East. Escaping detection from OZ, Quatre and Duo took refuge in the Maganac's Corps home village(featuring an underground base). However, OZ soon tracked them there and Quatre and Duo were forced to escape again while the Maganacs covered their retreat.

Over a month later, after OZ began liberating the colonies from the Alliance's control and despite Colony Area D denouncing the Gundams, Quatre and his four comrades flew into space intent on stopping OZ's plot(Quatre would be forced to self-detonate Sandrock to escape). Quatre drifted in space barely conscious for two days until Alliance remnants found his shuttle and were attacked by OZ space forces. The leader of the Alliance remnants took Quatre's place in the shuttle, placing his in a Leo and was soon killed along with the rest of his fleet by Alliance. Quatre drifted through space for six more days and by chance, was recovered outside the Winner resource satellite. His nurse, Irea, who unbeknownst to him was one of his sisters, treated his injuries and the two went their home on the Winner Resource Colony where Quatre's father berated him for taking part in Operation Meteor. That same day Quatre's father was voted out of his office over disagreements concerning the colony becoming armed and control of the colony was handed over to OZ. Not wanting to see weapons manufactured on his satellite, Mr.Winner separated it from the colony. After another vote, the Winner Resource Colony fired it's beam cannon's on the satellite, destroying it and killing Mr.Winner as Quatre and Irea watched from a shuttle.

Consumed by grief, Quatre used the resources of the Winner estate and blueprints left by Instructor H to construct the Wing Zero, a powerful mobile suit the five Gundam engineers designed fifteen years prior. Intent on ridding outer space of all weapons, Quatre was unprepared for the mental stress caused by the Wing Zero's neural interface, Zero System; it drove him to the point of insanity and he destroyed an OZ-occupied resource satellite and an evacuated civilian colony. During a second assault on a colony, Trowa managed to bring Quatre back to his senses by sacrificially blocking Wing Zero's attacks with his OZ-13MSX1 Vayeate and seemingly perishing in an explosion.

Quatre and Heero were taken to the Lunar Base and were temporarily freed by the Treize Faction and taken to the Gundam engineers who were hiding with the base. However, OZ officer Trant Clark was able to corral them again and forced Heero to test Wing Zero's Zero System. Twisted by the system, Heero began rampaging through the base until Quatre engaged him in the OZ-13MSX2 Mercurius and brought him back to his senses.

Quatre and Heero then returned to Earth and after Heero briefly fought the Romefeller Foundation as a Treize Faction mercenary, the two were taken to the Sanc Kingdom by Lucrezia Noin where Relena Peacecraft was advocating and building support for total pacifism. uatre befriended Noin, a former OZ pilot instructor, now defending the Kingdom and joined her as part of the Kingdom's defense force. Growing tensions between the Sanc Kingdom and Romefeller led to Quatre traveling to the Maganac headquarters to retrieve the newly-rebuilt Sandrock. He returned to the Sanc Kingdom with the Maganacs and fought to defend it from the invading Romefeller Foundation. Not wanting to see her people suffer any longer, Relena surrendered the nation and gave herself up as a hostage to Romefeller. With no options, Quatre returned to space.

Rather than continue to fight, Quatre returned to his home colony and took his place as owner of the Winner Corporation. He was sought out by Duo who informed him Trowa was still alive and his whereabouts. Quatre found the amnesiac Trowa at the circus but his friend's protective sister, Catherine Bloom, refused to let her brother return to the battlefield. As Quatre prepared to leave the colony, a battle between colony the rebel group White Fang and OZ spread into the area and Quatre defended the colony. Trowa flew out to him in a shuttle and the two were joined by Noin. Traveling through the debris of destroyed colony, they were attacked by an OZ unit who believed them to be White Fang members. A battle ensued and the three were saved by Duo. Hiding in the colony wreckage, Qautre, Trowa, Duo and Noin were found by Duo's fellow Sweeper Group member Howard who was commanding the massive space battleship Peacemillion. The four joined Howard and Quate's Sandrock was upgraded to fight in space.

After the White Fang initiated a battle with OZ outside of the space fortress Barge, Quatre, Trowa and Duo intervened, siding with neither organization and witnessed White Fang leader Zechs Merquise(now going by his birth name Milliardo Peacecraft) single-handedly sunk Barge swinging the balance of power in space in the White Fang's favor. Upon taking in Heero, Wufei and Sally, the pilots were forced to liberate the colony Trowa's circus troupe was on after the OZ Space Force took the residents hostage and demanded the space battleship Libra(which the White Fang had seized) be returned to them. Although Trowa would regain his memories during, the pilots watched in horror as Libra fired it's destructive main cannon on Earth.

Determined to stop Milliardo Peacecraft and the White Fang more than ever, the Gundam pilots engaged in a sortie with attacking White Fang Mobile Dolls. Their suits damaged and the pilots exhausted, the pilots returned to Peacemillion and at Heero's request, Quatre installed a modified Zero System into Sandrock to lead Trowa, Wufei and Duo(though initially hesitant, fearing that he would lose control). Quatre was forced to use the system the next sortie with former Sanc Kingdom student and Romefeller Foundation spy Dorothy Catalonia controlling the White Fang's Mobile Dolls also using a modified Zero System. With Quatre besting Dorothy in a battle of tactics, the Gundam pilots won the skirmish. After the battle, Quatre decided he no longer need the System and decided to remove it from Sandrock.

The next skirmish, Quatre and his comrades battled Zechs briefly before the former OZ ace fled the battle. In a desperate move, Peacemillion was rammed into Libra, disabling the latter's main cannon. Quatre, Trowa and Duo boarded Libra and Quatre was able to locate Libra's Mobile Doll control room where Dorothy was waiting for him. She challenged him to a rapier duel and questioned his motives for fighting before stabbing Quatre through the side. Trowa eventually found them disabled the Mobile Doll system and helped Quatre return to his Gundam.

Quatre, Duo and Trowa then attempted to destroy a block of Libra that had broken off and was falling toward Earth. They were joined by the Maganacs and destroyed part of the block before Wufei delivered Wing Zero's buster rifle to him, allowing him to destroy the block and bring an end to the war.

Endless Waltz
With the Gundams no longer needed, Quatre devised a plan to dispose of them by sending them into the sun on a disposal block. Trowa, Duo and Heero sent their Gundams to him but Wufei didn't. A day after Mariemaia Khushrenada declared war on the Earth, Quatre and the Maganac Corps left to retrieve the Gundams. After successfully modifying the engines, Quatre sent the disposal block back towards Earth and at Heero's request, send Wing Zero on a different course. After a rendezvousing with Duo and Trowa, the three descended to Earth and fought the Mariemaia Army in Brussels alongside Zechs and Noin. Amazingly, the Gundam pilots, Zechs and Noin disabled the Serpent of Mariamaia's amy without killing any of the soldiers. Eventually, Heero destroyed Brussels Presidential Residence blockade, Mariamaia was accidentally shot by Barton Foundation leader Dekim Barton and Dekim was promptly killed by a Treize loyalist, bringing an end to the conflicts.

Alongside, Trowa and Duo, Quatre self-detonated Sandrock with their suits. Afterwards, he and the Maganacs lead in the efforts to finish the construction of Colony X-18999.