Rey Za Burrel

Rey Za Burrel (レイ・ザ・バレル) is a character that appears in the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny television series.

Personality & Character
Rey is a quiet, calm, and polite soldier who keeps himself out of other people's way; he gladly follows his orders with stoic efficiency. He shows extreme loyalty to the Chairman of the PLANTs, Gilbert Durandal.

Skill & Abilities
Rey is an ace pilot of ZAFT. He also possess his own custom mobile suit, a white Blaze ZAKU Phantom. Rey is capable enough to stand against Neo Roanoke in his Exus, while also destroying two of the Exus's four gunbarrels. Later, after switching to the ZGMF-X666S Legend, he was also able to single-handedly fight and destroy at least one of the massive GFAS-X1 Destroy mobile suits. Able to maintain coolness in tough battles along with good situation analysis, Rey often assumes a leadership role to help keep a more hot-blooded Shinn calm while creating openings for his partner to attack. Apart from his skills as a pilot, Rey has been shown to be an adept piano player.

Background
Rey was one of Al Da Flaga's clones, younger than Rau Le Creuset. He went with Rau to the PLANTs where he met Gilbert.

Second Bloody Valentine War
At the Armory One base the Chairman of the Plants Gilbert Durandal was meeting the Orb Union's representative Cagalli Yula Athha, who was visiting the facility to discuss about ZAFT increasing its military power. Meanwhile, Phantom Pain forces infiltrated the base and stole ZAFT's newest mobile suits, the ZGMF-X24S Chaos Gundam, ZGMF-X88S Gaia Gundam, and ZGMF-X31S Abyss Gundam, as they heavily damaged the base during the infiltration.

Rey tried to stop the three stolen mobile suits from escaping with his white ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Phantom along with Shinn Asuka and his ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam. They then faced Neo Roanoke, the captain of the Earth Alliance Forces battleship Girty Lue, in his TS-MA4F Exus. During the battle, Rey showed a strange connection to Neo. The Minerva was sent in to an Extendeds' facility in Lodonia, the place where Extendeds were created and trained. During this event, Rey experienced a strange and unexplained reaction.

At the Battle of Crete, his ZAKU Phantom was severely damaged while defending the Minerva from Orb mobile suits. Later, when Stella Loussier was held hostage on the Minerva, Rey helped Shinn return her to the Earth Alliance. Both were confined as punishment and could have been executed but were released on Gilbert Durandal's orders.

Operation Angel Down
Later, Rey and Shinn devised a strategy to defeat the ZGMF-X10A Freedom which they successfully accomplished; but the pilot Kira Yamato survived. Afterward, Rey helped Gilbert Durandal frame Athrun Zala as a traitor, and detected Athrun's attempt to escape with Meyrin Hawke in a ZGMF-2000 GOUF Ignited. Rey accompanied Shinn in destroying the mobile suit, as his words urged Shinn to destroy it, leading to the apparent deaths of Athrun and Meyrin.

Hidden Secrets
After the departure of Athrun, he became the pilot of the ZGMF-X666S Legend Gundam which was originally intended for Athrun. The mobile suit was a direct improvement of the ZGMF-X13A Providence Gundam. Both mobile suit's model numbers have unfavorable connotations: 13. Providence's model number is considered unlucky in many cultures, and 666 is the "number of the beast" ("the devil's number"). In the battle at Heaven's Base, Rey worked with Shinn in his ZGMF-X42S Destiny to form a formidable team. Rey was then awarded the order of the Nebula; he and Shinn were then appointed as members FAITH. During Operation Fury, Rey faced the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam piloted by Kira Yamato, while Shinn faced the ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice Gundam piloted by Athrun. At the Battle of Daedalus, Rey devised a strategy for Lunamaria Hawke and her ZGMF-X56S Impulse to destroy the Requiem's control base, while Rey destroyed a squad of GFAS-X1 Destroy Gundam. Rey also killed Lord Djibril as he was trying to escape in the Girty Lue.

Later, Chairman Durandal unveiled "the Destiny Plan," a plan that would cause everyone to be governed by their genetic "destiny", therefore making war obsolete. Shinn hesitated, but Rey once again uses his words to convince Shinn that the "Destiny Plan" was the right thing to do. He went as far as even revealing his own origins and his "brother's", Rau Le Creuset's. He confided to Shinn that he was a clone, just like his "other self" Rau, among the several clones of the powerful and mysterious Atlantic Federation politician, Al Da Flaga. Rey mentioned that he was the "predecessor" to Kira Yamato, of sorts; the profits Ulen Hibiki made from producing these clones were used to fund research into his Ultimate Coordinator project, which ultimately produced Kira. Like Rau, he also suffered from pain that requires medication, due to the shortening of telomeres, a section on either end of strands of the DNA in his cells. This shortening was related to many of the effects of aging. Due to this, Rey knew that he did not have much of a future. However, he still passionately supported the "Destiny Plan".

Battle of Messiah
In the final battle, Rey was determined to destroy Kira because he was an obstacle in the plan. Kira points out that despite Rey being a clone, his life is his own and manages to sway him away from the plan. Kira then heavily damaged the Legend. Rey then took his badly damaged Legend to the space fortress Messiah, where he found Kira and Durandal in a standoff. Moved by Kira's words; Rey shot Durandal. Due to the damage the fortress sustained at the hands of Kira's Strike Freedom, the Messiah exploded. Rey chose to remain onboard and die with Durandal and Talia Gladys, whom he called "mother" at the very last moment.

Notes and Trivia

 * In SD Gundam G Generation series and Gundam Wars card game, due to a more user friendly setting he is listed as a Newtype instead of a different ability of spacial awareness. However, this is not the official story settings. Rey also made his debut appearance in the Super Robot Wars franchise as a playable character in Super Robot Wars Z for the PlayStation 2, where he can be convinced to join the player's side. This is also true for both Super Robot Wars K and Super Robot Wars L for the Nintendo DS.
 * Rey came in 10th place in the Anime Grand Prix 27th (2004).
 * In Super Robot Wars L, Rey is the only Minerva crew who does not betray ZAFT and join the Three Ships Alliance in the Battle of Messiah. Unlike in the show, he insists that Kira needs to die for Durandal's new world to be created after Kira tells him that he is his own person. However, if he is shot down by Shinn after he battles with Kira, (After which he reveals that he is a clone of Rau Le Creuset.) he can be convinced to leave Messiah and join the player in his Legend Gundam after the battle.
 * Several scenes and flashbacks show Rey playing the piano, a trait he shares with another tragically fallen ZAFT pilot.
 * Rey was nicknamed "White Baldy" by Neo Roanoke during their battles, Neo referring to his ZAKU Phantom's white color, and the fact it's top looks like a bald head.