MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam


 * This article is about the Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. For the anime series this is named after, see Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.

The Zeta Gundam is the titular Mobile Suit of the series Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. Though the unit itself had many pilots throughout Zeta and Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, it was most famously piloted by its designer, Kamille Bidan.

Combat Characteristics
In terms of weaponry, the Zeta is very well armed with an arsenal favoring beam weapons. It includes standard Gundam type armament including head mounted Vulcan guns, dual beam sabers, and a high powered beam rifle. It also sported arm mounted grenade launchers which could be given additional ammunition from detachable storage packs, and could also house a grappling tool for various purposes. The Zeta's most prolific weapon however is without a doubt the Hyper Mega Launcher, a massive rifle used to great extent in the latter parts of the Gryps conflict and during the first Neo-Zeon war. This weapon fires very high powered beam shots capable of destroying even battleships with a well placed shot. Both the launcher and beam rifle could also double as a cunning melee weapon as the Launcher had a built in Beam Saber bayonette style called the long beam saber. The beam rifle and Hyper Mega Launcher could be used while in Waverider configuration as well, and the hip mounted Beam Sabers doubled as beam guns.

History
The MSZ-006 Ζ Gundam (Zeta Gundam, codename: "ζ Gundam") is the sixth mobile suit built by Anaheim Electronics as the culmination of the Project Ζ according to Gundam Sentinel list of Anaheim Gundams. The design served as the first TMS in real life, and the concept served as the basics of various mobile suit designs later in other Gundam series, including a simplified transformation of XXXG-01W Wing Gundam according to the model instruction manual of Wing Gundam.

Originally built as three prototypes, MSZ-006-X1, MSZ-006-X2 and MSZ-006-X3. While these machines can transform, there is too much metal fatigue on the frame. This problem was corrected by Kamille Bidan, a Newtype teenager, incorporating innovations of that time such as the "movable frame" concept extracted by the AEUG from the Titans' RX-178 Gundam Mk-II project (headed by Franklin Bidan), and the Gundarium gamma alloy used in the RMS-099 Rick Dias. This mobile suit is also one of the first variable-form Gundams televised, capable of transforming into a fighter form called the Waverider. The Ζ's design was revolutionary in many ways (both in and out of the anime), and in the UC timeline looked very different than previous models of the Gundam type of Mobile Suit. The transformation ability and the suit's great speed is the Ζ's signature quality, as its transformation is fluid and integrated into it's combat style often giving it grace unrivaled by most mecha. In the story of Gundam Sentinel, when the MSA-0011 S Gundam approaches the Base of Pezun, a commander replied there shouldn't be Mobile Suits like Zeta Gundam everywhere that have the high acceleration of a Mobile Armour but of the size of a Mobile Suit. While ironically, two MSZ-006 Zeta Plus, a.k.a mass production Zeta Gundam units, are approaching behind S Gundam as a demonstration of how technological advances quickly shifts the form of war.

Kamille Bidan became the designated pilot of the Ζ Gundam in the year UC 0087. Replacing Gundam Mk-II as his personal Mobile Suit, Kamille obtained the Ζ Gundam after returning to space from the Hong Kong incident involving Four Murasame. Screaming into battle, this sleek convertible Mobile Suit took all of the Titan's forces by surprise with its incredible performance and attack potential. Kamille led many successful missions against the Titans and the AEUG turned the tide of the war. Kamille in the Ζ was responsible for battling and ultimately killing Titan's leader Paptimus Scirocco, besting his massively powerful mobile suit, The-O. Unfortunately, this victory cost Kamille greatly, wherein he suffered a mind-crippling final attack from a dying Scirocco. The AEUG pilot Fa Yuiry later recovered the Ζ Gundam along with its pilot. After undergoing repairs, the Newtype Judau Ashta became the principal pilot of this mobile suit while the mobile suit MSZ-010 ZZ (Double Zeta) Gundam was still under construction by Anaheim Electronics. When Judau received the ZZ, Federation pilot Roux Louka took control of the Ζ and used it to great success during the war against Neo-Zeon. The Ζ Gundam continued being in operation until its destruction at the end of the First Neo-Zeon War, crippled by Puru-2's monstrous Quinn Mantha, although the Ζ got in one final crippling shot before being abandoned. The unit was recovered but never used again and is said to have been stored away along with all the other MS belonging to the Gundam team on the Argama and the Nathel secretly by Karaba, an anti federation resistance group.

An interesting feature of the Ζ Gundam is the incorporation of the plot device, a mysterious Bio-sensor - a reduced-feature replica of the Psychic Communicator (PSYCOMMU) system devised by Murasame Newtype Laboratories to interface Newtype pilots to mobile suits. The bio-sensor allowed a Newtype pilot to temporarily increase the combat power of the mobile suit by using psycho-kinetic energy inherently strong in Newtypes - its usage became more frequent during the last days of the first Gryps War between the AEUG and the Titans, even turning the Waverider into a deadly weapon (Kamille's attack using the Waverider to ram into Scirroco has been named the Waverider Crash in video games depicting the Zeta, such as the Super Robot Wars series). The Ζ Gundam was an incredibly high performance machine that accomplished much, helping turn the tide of the Titans conflict and fighting against Neo-Zeon afterwards. The Ζ however, was intricately tuned and built to Kamille's exact specifications and style, so once Kamille was out of the war while the Ζ could be piloted competently by other pilots, it could arguably no longer perform to its full potential without Kamille at the controls although it was still a highly formidable machine.

Variants

 * MSZ-006-X Prototype Ζ Gundam
 * MSZ-006 Zeta Plus
 * MSZ-007 Mass Production Type Ζ Gundam
 * MSZ-008 ZII
 * MSZ-010 Double Zeta Gundam
 * MSZ-016ZIII ZIII Gundam
 * MSZ-006-3A Zeta Gundam 3A Type ("White Zeta")
 * MSZ-006-3B Zeta Gundam 3B Type ("Grey Zeta")
 * MSZ-006-P2/3C Zeta Gundam P2/3C Type ("Red Zeta")
 * MSZ-006 (MSZ-006-3) Zeta Gundam "Strike Zeta"