Sayla Mass

Sayla Mass (セイラ・マス) is a character from Mobile Suit Gundam. She is a member of the White Base crew and is Char Aznable's younger sister, although the crew is not aware of this. Sayla herself is also not entirely clear about her origins since she was so young when the events necessitating her identity change occurred.

Biography
Sayla was born as Artesia Som Deikun (アルテイシア・ソム・ダイクン), only daughter and youngest child of influential philosopher and politican Zeon Zum Deikun and the younger sister of Casval Rem Deikun (Char Aznable). When her father died, Artesia and Casval were whisked away from Side 3 by family friend Jimba Ral in order to avoid a purge of Zeon loyalists by Degwin Sodo Zabi. They were sent to Earth with the help of the Earth Federation and placed under the care of the rich Don Teabolo Mass, who renamed them to help avoid detection - Casval was named Edward Mass and Artesia was named "Sayla Mass". Jimba constantly reminded Casval about the Zabi family's betrayal of his father, but Artesia was too young to be told such things.

After a failed assassination attempt (which killed Jimba), Artesia and Casval were moved to the Texas Colony under the watch of the colony's chief manager, Roger Aznable, but they were still under Mass' care. Casval and Roger's son, Char Aznable, both left the colony to join Zeon's growing army. However, Casval's shuttle heading to Side 3 exploded and everyone believed him to be dead. As the years passed, Sayla decided to go to medical school at Side 7.

Mobile Suit Gundam
During the One Year War, when the Zeon attacked Side 7, Sayla is evacuated onto the White Base with a large group of other refugees. She volunteers to search for other people in the colony before White Base departs and encounters a masked Char Aznable, discovering that he is really her brother Casval in disguise. He manages to escape and Sayla goes back to the White Base, becoming a communications officer and eventually the pilot for the G-Fighter (Core Booster in the movies and most other supplementary material), fighting alongside her brother's rival, Gundam pilot Amuro Ray. She and Amuro eventually grow very close.

When White Base is boarded by Ramba Ral and his troops, Ramba immediately recognizes Sayla as Artesia, since he is Jimba's son. Sayla then remembers meeting Ramba as a child, but their reunion is cut short when he is shot by Ryu Jose. Ramba orders a retreat since Artesia is on board and kills himself by exploding a grenade while jumping into the Gundam's hand. Sayla is saddened by his death.

Throughout the rest of the series, Sayla attempts to contact her brother. They encounter each other again in the Federation capital of Jaburo and he asks her to leave the Federation Forces but she refuses. They meet again at the Texas Colony where Char explains her true origins and that he joined the Zeon army to get close to the Zabi family in order kill each member to avenge their father. He wants Sayla to avoid war, so he sends her a briefcase full of gold bars intended to help her start a new life on Earth. Sayla soon admits to White Base captain Bright Noa that Char is her brother.



Sayla is almost killed by Char during a skirmish between his troops and the White Base prior to the Battle of A Baoa Qu, but he hesitates when he recognizes her as the pilot of the G-Fighter, allowing Amuro Ray to cut off his Gelgoog's arm and nearly kill him, but his protege Lalah Sune takes the blow for him. During the Battle of A Baoa Qu, Sayla crash lands into A Baoa Qu and finds Amuro and Char, their Mobile Suits destroyed, fighting with swords. She intervenes and begs them both to stop. When he sees Sayla, Char is reminded that the Zabis are the real enemy, and he heads off to finish his revenge, telling his sister to leave with Amuro and have a good life. Sayla escapes the fortress alive, as does Amuro soon after.

Relationship with Amuro (Novelization of Mobile Suit Gundam)

The novelization of Mobile Suit Gundam is even more obvious about a romance between Amuro and Sayla. Some time after they are both assigned to White Base, Amuro asks Sayla out to dinner. The two of them eat and chat, and discuss what it's like to be Newtypes. Later, Sayla visits Amuro in his quarters after-hours and the two of them share a night of love-making, thus starting a very intense romantic relationship between them. When Amuro is killed by Char's mobile suit forces at the end of the story, Amuro's mind takes one last moment to reach out to Sayla's and expresses his love for her, along with his regret at not being able to spend his life with her. Sayla returns the affection and later tells her brother that he killed the man she loved. At the end of the war, Sayla communicates to Amuro's consciousness, and he tells her that he is with her.

Zeta Gundam
Sayla has a brief cameo in Zeta Gundam. She is shown listening by radio to Char's speech at the Federation Assembly in Dakar.

ZZ Gundam
Sayla makes a surprise appearance in ZZ Gundam as the person who saved Judau Ashta's younger sister, Leina. How she saved Leina is never revealed, so some fans consider her cameo to be merely fan service. In a brief conversation with her old captain Bright Noa, she is certain that her missing brother is alive somewhere, waiting on the sidelines for the right time to emerge again (foreshadowing the events of Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack). She remarks that his ambitions are dangerous and that his death may be the only solution for peace.