GN-000 0 Gundam

The GN-000 0 Gundam (pronounced Oh-Gundam), is the first mobile suit to be equipped with a GN Drive in seasons 1-2 of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. It is the original prototype MS that lead to the development of all current Gundams in Celestial Being. The unit was piloted by Ribbons Almark and later by Lasse Aeon.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
0 Gundam was developed during the Solar Energy Wars 15 - 20 years prior to the revelation of Celestial Being (CB). The unit is the first prototype mobile suit (MS), created by CB's Krung Thep engineering team. Being the first generation Gundam, 0 Gundam is highly experimental; it utilizes untested weapons and equipment as a testbed for future MS development. Although a prototype, 0 Gundam was the most advanced MS of its time.

For weapons and combat, 0 Gundam was built and equipped as a general-purpose MS. It has the basic complements for most forms of combat: a Beam Saber, Beam Gun, and Gundam Shield. For long-ranged combat, the unit would deploy its gun and shield for shoot-and-block tactics. For close-ranged combat, a beam saber could be pulled directly from its backpack for shield-and-strike tactics.

When first tested, 0 Gundam's experimental GN Drive system produced excessive GN Particles, creating an angelic wing-like effect known as GN Feathers. By releasing large amounts of GN Particles, together with controlled by the Clavicle Antenna, 0 Gundam can form huge "wings of light." It provides stability to the unit in mid-air while disrupting and jamming enemy radar. The wings of light combined with 0 Gundam's overwhelming power and presence creates a powerful mesmerising effect on those who witness it. ; the wing's enormous output was considered to be too inefficient and was not used in the development of later generation Gundam units. After additional fine-tuning and modifications, the unit produced GN particles normally, thus the GN Feathers was no longer necessary and removed.

After the completion of the 2nd Generation Gundams, 0 Gundam was put into storage within one of its resource satellites until AD 2312. During AD 2311, CB engineers revisted 0 Gundam and decided to give the unit a systems overhaul and update; 0 Gundam's systems were modernized and upgraded to modern specifications. Because there are limitations to increasing its battle-strength, CB engineers created external power-up components, specifically the Full-Armor system. Because its own GN Drive had been transferred to GN-0000 00 Gundam, it was refitted with a GN particle storage tank. 0 Gundam was also recolored with a red, blue and yellow scheme; the new scheme prompted engineers to give 0 Gundam an extended name: 0 Gundam A.C.D. (Actual Combat Deployment). Although 0 Gundam wasn't used often in combat, 0 Gundam's data and technology would pave the wave in GN Mobile Suit development.

Armaments

 * Beam Gun
 * A basic beam gun. Unlike the design of most future beam weapons, it possesses no GN Condensers on it. It instead draws compressed particles directly from the GN Drive.


 * Beam Saber
 * One beam saber is visibly stored at the backpack of 0 Gundam. The beam saber is capable of increasing its beam strength for stronger attacks.


 * Gundam Shield
 * The defensive armament for the 0 Gundam. In order to increase its effectiveness, GN Field properties were added onto the actual shield. This GN Field device is heavier than ones of the later-generation GN Shields, and as such there are instances of the shield being discarded when more focus is needed on speed.

System Features

 * GN Feathers
 * The GN Feathers was an unintended by-product of high particle generation through its drive. 0 Gundam releases large amounts of GN Particles (together with control by the Clavicle Antenna) to form huge wings of light. In addition to midair stability and radar, it can also be used as a defense mechanism. Due to its inefficiency, the system was not re-used for later generation Gundams. Because the Type ACD used either a different Large GN Condenser or 00 Gundam's cone as its propulsion unit, this trait was no longer present on it.


 * Trans-Am System
 * Trans-Am wasn't available for the unit during its earlier use due to the system still being locked. It is presumably available to the unit later on after the Type ACD acquired an unlocked GN Drive but the system was not seen to be used.

Variants

 * GN-000FA Full-Armor 0 Gundam

Intervention in Republic of Krugis
The 0 Gundam's first known sortie was an intervention mission in the Republic of Krugis in 2301 AD (however since the 0 Gundam was seen in Gundam 00P, it can likely be assumed that this was not its only intervention). The pilot of 0 Gundam, Ribbons Almark, was suppose to kill all the combatants in the area; however, upon upon seeing the awed young Soran Ibrahim (who would later grow up to be Setsuna F. Seiei), Ribbons perceives the boy's look to be one of utter admiration and worship, and lets him live. Afterwards, he went and tampered with Veda's files (something that Tieria Erde would eventually pick up on) in order to make Soran a Gundam Meister by replacing Exia's original pilot Eco with Setsuna.) He would later commented as a "momentary impulse... but also a sort of mercy."

Gundam 00P
0 Gundam did appear in the 00P side story, although it wasn't stated who piloted it. In one of the Dengeki Hobby Magazine, it was stated that 0 Gundam carried the helpless GNY-001 Gundam Astraea, while it was also mentioned that Grave Violento sortied in the GN-XXX Gundam Rasiel with another unknown pilot along with 0 Gundam.

Shadow Interventions
After the development of second generation GNY-Gundams, 0 Gundam's solar furnace was removed and given to Fereshte to operate their Gundams as the shadow group behind the Ptolemy group. With only a single GN Drive, the solar furnace was often swapped between all four GNY-Gundams and piloted primarily by Fon Spaak in their shadow armed interventions mostly one-by-one.

Resisting Team Trinity
During their armed interventions, Fereshte encountered the Gundam Throne Meisters who tried to claim 0 Gundam's GN Drive. They claimed that it was orders from Veda itself and demanded Fereshte to stand down their operation and relinquish control of their only true solar furnace. Fon Spaak used the Gundam Plutone to resist the Trinity's attempt to confiscate the GN Drive. Upon being informed of Fon's disobedience by Johann Trinity, Veda then detonated Fon's explosive collar. Fon would have died of internal bleeding, save for the intervention of Hanayo who took remote control of Gundam Plutone. She scuttled the mobile suit's body and escaped with the GN Drive and Spaak in Plutone's core fighter. The GN Drive was later transferred to one of Celestial Being's resource satellites (L1 or L3) for maintenance.

Four Year Aftermath
Nearly four years after "Operation Fallen Angels" and the near destruction of Celestial Being, Wang Liu Mei and Hong Long visited one of Celestial Being's secret asteroid bases to oversee the recent developments (L1 or L3 satellite). She wanted to see the first Gundam and Ian Vashti opened the container doors for her to see 0 Gundam. Ian Vashti commented that 0 Gundam's GN Drive has been temporarily removed for an overhaul on 0 Gundams systems. The GN Drive was later moved onto 00 Gundam for testing.

Twin Drive Testing
Ian Vashti removed 0 Gundam's GN Drive and adapted it to 00 Gundam's Twin Drive System. He wanted to test out the synchronization and compatibility of dual GN Drives with little success. All combinations of the GN Drives failed and he hoped that Exia's GN Drive would fare better. When Exia returned to Celestial Being, compatibility tests resumed with only a 73% (needs to be 80%) synchronization rate. When A-Laws attacked Ptolemy II, Setsuna risked Trans-Am in attempt to level out the synchronization of 00. Setsuna managed to synchronize the Twin Drive System at 87% and defeated A-Laws opposition. With 0 Gundam without a solar furnace, the unit was placed in indefinite storage.

Return to Battle
0 Gundam was eventually moved to an alternate Celestial Being resource satellite, Lagrange 5. With the war against the A-Laws and the Innovators building to a climax, Celestial Being rallied every mobile suit they could in their arsenal. 0 Gundam was considered for reactivation for battle. Without a GN Drive, Linda Vashti and her engineers retrofitted the otherwise powerless 0 Gundam with a large GN particle storage tank. The Gundam was given a new paint job (hallmark colors of the original RX-78) and armed with its original GN Beam Rifle and Shield. Lasse soon sortied in 0 Gundam, to protect the Ptolemy crew and Gundam Meisters from kamikaze Innovator clone units, Gaga Forces. Despite a valiant effort, Lasse depleted all of 0 Gundam's supply of particles, forcing him to abandon the mobile suit. Due to Ptolemaois II movements, 0 Gundam drifted out of the hanger until Ribbons, in his damaged Reborns Gundam, found it and fitted 0 Gundam's original GN Drive onto the 0 Gundam, which he had stolen earlier from 00 Raiser. Ribbons then boarded his original mobile suit to engage in combat against Setsuna. 0 Gundam was ultimately defeated in the final confrontation; Ribbons fate is unknown. It's unclear if 0 Gundam was ever recovered and restored.

Notes & Trivia

 * The fact that 0 Gundam resembles the RX-78-2 Gundam and Ribbons being its pilot made it a considerable in-joke, as Ribbons shared that same Japanese voice actor of Amuro Ray, the pilot of the RX-78.


 * Ribbons Almark was first revealed as the pilot in the novel, which was then confirmed in S2 Ep. 14.


 * Despite being GN based weapons, the 0 Gundam's gun, saber and shield do not have "GN" in their names. This is unusual based on the naming conventions of other GN weapons in the series.


 * The new paint job which the 0 Gundam features in S2 Ep. 22 is the same as the one of the original RX-78-2 Gundam.


 * The role of the 0 Gundam is reflected from the RX-78-2 Gundam, in which the former was the precursor to all Gundams of Celestial Being, and the latter is the first Gundam mobile suit in the metaseries.


 * The second color scheme of the 0 Gundam also appears as the last boss in the SD Gundam G Generation Wars video game. Unlike other GN drive powered Mobile Suits, it automatically activates it's GN field when attacked. It's GN field is also much more powerful than other MS, completely nullifying MAP weapons and reducing damage from all other attacks by 70%. After beating the game once, the player may purchase a weaker version of it which can be combine with every units in game.


 * The 0 Gundam also has the same head height as the RX-78-2.


 * Based on visual comparison, the final version 0 Gundam may have inherited certain visual traits from the older concept Exia, such as the enlarged rear cone or the sterile white color scheme, although it is unconfirmed whether this is actually the case at the moment.


 * In the early concept stages, the 0 Gundam was known as the "King Gundam" which acted as a command unit for the team that can predict battle situations. It was loaded with a powerful quantum computer to help it with it's analysis and tactical roles. Like the king in chess, its did not have any offensive ability whatsoever. It's role in the storyline was that of an important older unit that was important in the beginning of the series (which may have been kept in some form based on the 0 Gundam's symbolic importance role for Setsuna/Celestial Being in the series). Later on, the quantum computer idea would be developed into Veda, while the tactical center idea developed into Ptolemaios. The pilot was also initially stated to be a "Sumeragi type" tactical character that eventually appeared although the initial concept character in question was a man rather than a woman.
 * Along with Exia R2, 0 Gundam did not appear in Super Robot Wars Z2 Saisei-hen, included in the final scenario of Gundam 00 scenario, where they were supposed to replace the role of 00 Raiser and Reborns Gundam. According to the rumors, the lack of funds of the developer is the reason of their absence in the game.
 * It's far more likely that they were cut to save on space and the sake of gameplay (losing the 00 Raiser at this point would not have been taken well by players) as the game had other signs of space concerns.