Anavel Gato

Anavel Gato (アナベル・ガトー) is a character appearing in the anime OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, set during the Universal Century time line of the fictional Gundam universe. He is voiced by Akio Otsuka in the original Japanese and by Kirk Thornton in the English dub.

Personality and Character
Although Gato is the series' nominal antagonist, he is a man of honor and a soldier through and through who cares for his comrades, and seeks to vindicate the memory of his family and friends who died at the hands of the Earth Federation. Alongside, he is a charismatic leader, doing his part to rally the Zeon remnants, both in and outside the Delaz Fleet, to support Operation Stardust and fight one last crusade against the Federation (even if it meant dying in the process). The fact he is willing to fight alongside others on the frontlines only endears his men further, and while he holds nothing but hatred for the Federation, he still respects those who fight for it; in fact, he demonstratively sees his opponents simply as misguided, believing that they are sacrificing their lives for a corrupt regime, rather than objects of hatred. Alongside this, Gato will also recognize skilled and/or determined opponents as equals, as shown with his treatment of Kou Uraki after their duel at Solomon.

Unfortunately, for all of his heroism, honor and charisma, Gato is still an dedicated acolyte of the former Principality and so holds clear fanaticism toward Zeon's (i.e. Gihren's) ideals. Along with that Gato has no qualms committing wanton genocide against Earthnoids (which is one of Operation Stardust's focuses with its colony drop), even innocent citizenry, so long as its in the name of Zeon's "freedom" and "independence". In fact, much like Delaz, he is heavily biased in his claims for Zeon and against the Federation to the point of hypocrisy, such that he willingly ignores the late Principality's own atrocities during the One Year War alongside certain events, namely M'Quve's attempted nuclear missile attack at Odessa and the fact Side 3 held independence long before the One Year War. The former event is especially vexing for Gato's character, as it effectively invalidated Delaz's revelation that the Federation violated the Antarctic Treaty with the Physalis; beside the fact the treaty had become defunct after the OYW, Zeon violated the treaty first and when it was still active. Additionally, he looked down on Cima Girahu for carrying out colony gassings during the One Week Battle, all the while worshiping the man who gave the order.

Overall, it could be said that Gato represented the best and worst traits of Zeon soldiers. He holds both personal honor and nobility, as well as a clear dedication to his brethren in the Delaz Fleet and a willingness to lay down his life alongside theirs, even when granted an opportunity for a peaceful life alongside the woman he loved. Yet all the same Gato fought zealously in the name of an evil regime and its dictator, all the while refusing to recognize both its crimes against humanity (both Earthnoids and Spacenoids) as well as his own hypocrisy in fighting for its "glory" while condemning the Federation for the very same (as well as largely imagined) crimes.

Background
Anavel Gato is a member of the Principality of Zeon's elite palace guard unit, the 302nd Patrol Squad. During the One Year War, at the Battle of Solomon, Gato earns the nickname "Nightmare of Solomon" for singlehandedly holding off an Earth Federation pursuit force while Zeon forces retreat. Rumor has it that Gato was lured away from the main battle due to the misconception that the Gundam had been destroyed. During the Battle of A Baoa Qu he joins Aiguille Delaz's fleet, and withdraws with Delaz and his supporters after Gihren Zabi's assassination at the hands of Kycilia Zabi, his sister. At some point he became lovers with Nina Purpleton. He returns to the earth in October of 0083 UC to seize the RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis", and later uses this Mobile Suit's nuclear weapon against the Earth Federation's Naval Review.

"Anavel Gato"

- Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory

Gato is a skilled pilot and a man of few words. Throughout Operation Stardust, he repeatedly clashes with the Federation pilot Kou Uraki. At first Gato views Kou as insignificant, but develops a grudging respect for him after their second battle at Konpei Island. Gato is mortally wounded inside the captured colony cylinder as he reprograms the thrusters to enable the colony to fall on North America. At the conclusion of Operation Stardust, Anavel Gato orders the remaining Zeon troops to charge for the Axis Advanced Fleet. Although they fight bravely, most of the Zeon pilots attempting to break through Federation lines are killed, including Anavel, who chooses to kamikaze the AMX-002 Neue Ziel into one of the Federation's Salamis-class cruisers.

During Operation Stardust, Anavel Gato has command of his own fleet, which is centered around Gato's flagship, the Musai-class cruiser Peer Gynt. His fleet is destroyed at the conclusion of the operation.

Trivia

 * In the PS2 video game "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space", Gato's Gelgoog is depicted as using a unique prototype beam rifle which is longer and more powerful than the standard Gelgoog rifle. In the game, his English voice is provided by Ted Cole.
 * The prototype beam rifle also appears in various SD Gundam G Generation games.
 * In the PS2 video game "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space", after completing the first half of Mission 2 in Anavel Gato's Ace Pilot story, Char Aznable, "The Red Comet", will offer you support in the MSN-02 Zeong. If the player accepts, Gato will poke fun of the fact that the Zeong has no legs, and Char will simply reply, "According to the engineers, the legs were just for show."
 * In a "what-if" scenario in the PS2 video game "Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space", Anavel Gato engages Amuro Ray as one of the potential bosses in Stage 3 of the White Base campaign during the Battle of Solomon. Although the battle between the two ends in a stale-mate, Amuro comments that Gato could have finished him off if their battle had gone on longer.
 * Obviously this is quite apocryphal as Amuro was powerful enough at that stage to go against other Newtype pilots like Char and Lalah, whereas Gato, for all of his skill, was still an Oldtype along the same lines of Ramba Ral, the Black Tri-Stars and Dozle Zabi.


 * Gato's callsign "Walfisch" is the name of an uninhabited German island, in the Bay of Wismar in the Baltic Sea. Walfisch also means 'whale' in German.


 * Anavel Gato also appeared as a NPC in Dynasty Warriors Gundam, piloting his custom Gelgoog. He comes back as a playable character in Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, piloting the RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis".

アナベル・ガトー