GN-005 Gundam Virtue

GN-005 Gundam Virtue (aka Gundam Virtue Particle Type') is the heavy-artillery Gundam in season one of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. The unit is piloted by Tieria Erde.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
A 3rd generation heavy arms Gundam made for its Innovade pilot, Tieria Erde. Unlike the other Gundams, Virtue was designed to be an anti-ship combat mobile suit as opposed to an anti-mobile suit one. The current adaptation of Virtue is also known as the "Particle-Type" which contrasts another variant design considered that is known as the Physical-Type, distinguished by the their main type of armament. One of the main reasons for the development of Virtue was to keep its true form, GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh away from the front lines.

Initially, the Physical-Type was the preferred type for the final design due to impart of the lack of particle weapons of the blocs as well as the fact that the condenser technology development at the time was not sufficient enough to allow Particle-Type's heavy usage. Due to this and other factors, the development of both Virtue Types were the slowest. At some point, both Virtue types went through much combat testing with other Gundams and in the end, Veda made the decision to choose Particle-Type as the final form of Virtue mainly due to its compatibility with other Meisters in the data.

This decision was not well received by the technicians who preferred the Physical-Type due to its ability to fight betrayers (likely with GN Field ability) with its physical weapons and put much more urgency on the completion of the solid GN blades as well as Exia's pilot with the role of fighting traitors. The idea of using both types via changing of equipment was considered but ultimately rejected by Veda due to insufficient manpower as well as the possibility of the common point (Nadleeh) of both equipment types being spotted by the enemy.

The cockpit's interface allows Tieria to communicate with Virtue via quantum brainwaves primarily to discard its armor and use the Trial System as the Gundam Nadleeh; it's unclear if there are additional abilities that Tieria can utilize in its Virtue form. At more than twice the armor volume of any other Gundam, Virtue's firepower and defenses are unmatched among its contemporaries. Virtue relies on its overwhelming firepower to destroy its enemies from mid-to-long range, with almost no capabilities in melee combat. Because Virtue's GN Bazooka requires a recharge time after each shot, it depends on its armor and GN Field for protection while recharging.

Should opponents attack Virtue while recharging, it can still attack using its dual GN Cannons; these same countermeasures are also Virtue's greatest weakness. While the GN Bazooka can be fired through the GN Field, the GN Cannons can't, requiring Virtue to drop the field while it fires. Its bulky mass, heavy armor, and weaponry also makes Virtue a liability in close-range or high-speed combat. When overwhelmed by a formidable unit(s), Virtue can purge its armor to become GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh for more general purpose combat. In addition, Nadleeh also doubles as an escape mechanism as is the norm for the Plutone lineage.

Armaments

 * GN Bazooka
 * The single most destructive beam-based armament currently employed by the Gundam Meisters. The double grips can be removed from their rotatable docks and function as wireless controllers. An additional grip dock beneath the weapon body can be used when resting the back end on the mobile suit's shoulder as per standard firing position, and grip position can be altered as the situation requires. When even more firepower is required, Virtue can be equipped with an additional GN Bazooka, carrying one in each hand.


 * GN Beam Saber
 * Because Virtue was intended as a heavy ranged assault unit, it lacks the agility for effective melee combat. However, in case of an emergency, Virtue can make use of the GN Beam Sabers stored in the knees of the Nadleeh to defend itself.


 * GN Cannon
 * Should opponents attack Virtue while recharging, it can still attack using its dual GN Cannons as the Cannon's firepower is less than GN Bazooka. However, while the GN Bazooka can be fired through the GN Field, the GN Cannons can't, requiring Virtue to drop the field while it fires; the main body of the GN Cannons are some of the primary GN-Field emitters of Virtue and could not activate GN-Field while using the cannons.

System Features

 * Burst Mode
 * In "Burst Mode," the chest plate of Virtue opens, exposing the GN Drive core. Virtue attaches the GN Bazooka to the GN Drive and the Bazooka extends an inner barrel, making the weapon almost twice as long. GN Particles are directly vented and compressed into the GN Bazooka for firing. The resulting firepower of "Burst Mode" is so great that Virtue wrestles with the weapon to maintain firing stability. The fired beam itself is 2-3 times larger when usually fired and can extend at greater distances for surprise attacks. "Burst Mode" can be only be used after a short particle charge and drains most of Virtue's particles although in Trans-Am it has more leftover particles for other usages.


 * GN Field
 * Trans-Am System
 * Only available after the GN Drive is unlocked via the system trap.

Variants

 * GN-005/PH Gundam Virtue Physical

History
Most of GN-005 Gundam Virtue's history and exploits can be found on Tieria Erde's page.

Notes & Trivia

 * The name of the unit is derived from Greek, Virtues - which is referrence to the fifth rank angel.
 * Virtue's armor ejection is of a similar style to Kamen Rider Kabuto's cast off animation.
 * Virtue's GN Bazooka, when used for Burst Mode, is similar to the one used in the MSN-00100 (MSN-100, MSN-001) Hyaku Shiki in Zeta Gundam episode 10.
 * In the early concept stages, Virtue was codenamed "Rook Gundam". Like Virtue, Rook was a heavy bombardment type machine. The idea of the armor cast off in Virtue actually came in a "castling" concept that King Gundam would use, in which a totally different unit would emerge from within Rook Gundam, however the idea was not used in Virtue (who in the end got a cast off ability) and was given to Alvatore instead. The Rook Gundam also had large storages of energy within it and had the ability to transfer this storage into its allies, however only the former was used while the latter concept was given to the Throne units instead.