Kira Yamato

Kira Yamato is the protagonist of Gundam SEED and the tritagonist of Gundam SEED Destiny.

Personality
Kira's direct personality is that of a pacifist as while he dislikes war and conflict he is more than willing to fight if it means protecting his friends and loved ones. Due to his kind and sensative nature he is noted to be too soft for war, as the series progresses Kira becomes traumatized by the people he's killed and the ones he failed to protect resulting in him becoming somewhat obsessed with protecting the Archangel. After his fight with Athrun, Kira begins to wonder what needs to be done to end the war and then comes to realize that he needs to prevent as many tragedies as possible and while still continues to fight chooses not to kill his opponents unless he has to.

In Destiny, Kira's attitude has gone through a drastic change as he is far more quiet and sometimes can come off sotic but he is still kind and willing to protect. He as turned into a matured person and he is sometimes philosophical. He has shown to be respected by many soldiers in Orb's military due to his piloting skills and being the brother of Orb's ruler. An odd trait Kira possesses is that despite being viewed as a leader he can come off being somewhat hestiant this maybe due to Kira not viewing himself as a leader type.

Skills & Capabilities
While lacking any true form of military training, Kira's fighting ability has developed much as the series progresses along with his ability to go into SEED mode. In the original Gundam SEED series, Kira is shown to be inexperienced with handguns, preferring not to use them. He even has to be reminded by Mu to remove the safety on his gun in episode 44 while in pursuit of Rau on Mendel station, Then Gundam Seed Destiny, his handgun skills improve dramatically as seen in the second assassination attempt on Lacus Clyne. He is shown as a skilled unarmed fighter and is extremely effective with his mobile suit's artillery.

Crossfire at Heliopolis
Kira lives on the neutral colony Helipolis where he attends college with his friends Sai Argyle, Kuzzey Buskirk, Miriallia Haw, Tolle Koenig, and Sai's fiancee Flay Allster who he is attracted too. When Heliopolis is attacked by ZAFT forces, during the evacuation Kira follows a mysterious female stranger who later pushes into an evacuation shelter.

Kira eventually finds two mobile suits, the GAT-X105 Strike and the GAT-X303 Aegis, while Kira helps an Earth Alliance officer Murrue Ramius, he recognizes one of the ZAFT soldiers as his childhood friend Athrun Zala. The two friends are stunned by each other's presence Murre attempts to shoot Athrun but he captures the Aegis and escapes, while Murrue and Kira board the Stike.

During the battle Murrue faces Miguel Aiman in his ZGMF-1017 GINN Murrue is no match for Miguel, and after seeing his friends endangered Kira takes control of the Strike and forces Miguel to retreat. After the battle, Murrue tells Kira and his friends that they have stumbled upon an Earth Alliance military secret. Kira intially refuses to pilot the Strike again, but [[Mu La Flaga who acts as somewhat of a mentor in the series tells Kira that he is the only one capable of piloting it and that if he has the power to make a difference then he should. Kira later kills Miguel and Heliopolis collapses, Kira retrieves a lifepod, among them is Flay.

On the Archangel
After Heliopolis's destruction Kira conforts Athrun for the first time after it, Athrun tries to get him to join ZAFT but he refuses because he has people to protect on the Archangel.

A twist of fate lands the PLANTs pop idol Lacus Clyne, who is Athrun's fiancee onboard the Archangel Kira is instantly attracted to Lacus and the two become good friends. She is later used as a shield after ZAFT forces destroy the Earth Alliance fleet, killing Flay's father George Allster. With the help of his friends Kira returns Lacus to Athrun, Athrun once again asks Kira to defect to ZAFT but he once again refuses, neither Kira nor Athrun want to fight eachother despite this both declare to one an other that they will shoot to kill next time. Kira is court-martialed by the Archangel's senior staff, but all charges are dropped due to him being a civilian.

When Flay witnesses her father's death she blames kira for not being able to save him, Flay later apologizes to him believing that Kira will fight harder for her killing all Coordinators on her behalf from now on. Kira's fighting becomes more violent as shown when he enters SEED mode for the first time and damages the GAT-X102 Duel scarring the pilot Yzak Joule, Kira and his friens later enlist becoming Earth Alliance soldiers, during a battle that results in the destruction of the Alliance 8th fleet, a fleeting shuttle of civialians crosses a battle betwen Kira and a revengeful Yzak destroys it beiliving it contains soldiers, this event had a left a traumatic effect on Kira.

When the Archangel lands on earth Kira breaks down and cries he comforted by Flay he who then kisses him and eventually the two have sex. They later grow apart when Kira becomes obsessed with protecting the ship to the point he starts sleeping in Strike.

Enter the Desert Tiger
After the Archangel lands in North Africa, they are attacked by a ZAFT squadron lead by the Desert Tiger, Andrew Waltfeld. Due to Kira being inexperienced in combat in the desert, he could not pilot the Strike properly. He managed to again, reprogram the Strike's operating system to adapt to the environment. With the Desert Dawn intervening, the ZAFT forces retreat.Kira then is reunited with Cagalli Yula Athha, the girl he helped escape from Heliopolis, Cagalli has been worried about him and is shocked to see him piloting a mobile suit.

After a squadron of ZAFT's TMF/A-802 BuCUEs under the command of Andrew destroy the town of Tassil, Cagalli and other members of the Desert Dawn recklessly chase after them. Several resistance fighters, including Cagalli's friend Ahmed El Fasi, are killed, though Kira arrives in time to save Cagalli. Later, the two of them are sent to gather supplies. As Kira and Cagalli sit down for lunch, they meet a (poorly but effectively) disguised Andrew Waltfeld. Blue Cosmos terrorists attack, targeting Andrew. In the confusion, Kira saves Andrew from being shot in the back. Andrew thanks Kira, and he sheds the disguise, Cagalli realizes who he really is.

Andrew's girlfriend Aisha takes Cagalli to get cleaned, When Cagalli confronts Andrew, he pulls out a gun and asks Kira if a war will end when all of your enemies are destroyed. Andrew says he does not know why Kira is fighting his own kind, but as long as Kira pilots the Strike, they are enemies. He then puts the gun away stating that his home is not a battlefield and that Kira had saved him. Because of that, he lets Kira and Cagalli leave.Because they know each other, Kira and Andrew find it difficult to fight in the next battle, where Andrew pilots the new TMF/A-803 LaGOWE to face Kira personally. Kira asks Andrew to stop because the battle is over, but Andrew is determined to keep fighting until one of them is dead. Kira activates his SEED abilities and destroys the LaGOWE that Andrew is piloting. Kira cries after the LaGOWE explodes because he did not want to kill Andrew.

Flight over the Indian Ocean
While traveling on the Indian Ocean, Kira remembers his final battle with Andrew, the death of Flay's father, and the destroyed civilian shuttle and begins to cry. Cagalli hugs him and tells him everything will be okay, and finds herself holding his hand. She tells him not to get the wrong idea, as she simply wants him not to cry anymore.She asks why he is with the Earth Alliance when he is a Coordinator, he recalls being asked that many times.

Later, when the Archangel is undergoing repairs at Orb, Kira ends his relationship with Flay it is unclear whether he realized she was manipulating him or not. He also helps create a new OS for naturals to pilot for Orb's MBF-M1 M1 Astray. He also meets Athrun face to face, who is spying to see if the Archangel is in Orb. Although Athrun knows Kira is the Strike pilot, he does not reveal this to the others in his ZAFT team. Before he leaves Orb with the Archangel, Cagalli shows Kira that his parents are watching him depart. Kira asks Cagalli to apologize to them for him, explaining he cannot see them right now, especially when he might say things that he may regret. Kira tells her to be safe and thanks her. As he turns to go inside the Archangel, Cagalli embraces him and tells him not to die and to come back to see her again, which Kira promises.

Kira and Athrun: A tragic duel
While en route to the Earth Alliance Alaskan base JOSH-A, the Archangel is attacked by Athrun and his comrades. During the initial skirmish, Kira damages all of ZAFT's opposing mobile suits. However, Kira accidentally kills Nicol Amalfi, a close friend of Athrun's and pilot of the GAT-X207 Blitz, when Nicol tries to protect Athrun. Athrun realizes that Nicol's death could have been prevented by killing Kira, and he vows to do so the next time they meet. In their next battle, Kira's friend Tolle Koenig is killed when Athrun destroys the FX-550 Skygrasper he was piloting. Kira and Athrun (both activated their SEED abilities) try to kill each other to avenge their dead friends, and Kira winds up seriously injured when Athrun attaches the Aegis to the Strike and bails out before the Aegis self-destructs.

Acquiring the ZGMF-X10A Freedom
Although believed dead, Kira ends up in the PLANTs in the mansion of Lacus Clyne. The anime does not explain how he ends up in Reverend Malchio's garden, but makes it clear that Malchio had brought him to the Clynes.During this time, Lacus and Kira grow closer to each other. Lacus tells Kira that he is safe and that he can stay as long as he wants to. However, he overhears a message to Lacus' father Siegel Clyne, from Council member Eileen Canaver that PLANT chairman Patrick Zala lied about ZAFT's newest major operation and that the bulk of ZAFT forces are actually on their way to crush JOSH-A in Alaska, the main base of the Earth Alliance military and where the Archangel is currently stationed. Kira decides to leave PLANTs and save his friends onboard the Archangel. Lacus helps Kira enter a ZAFT base and gives him the ZGMF-X10A Freedom, then kisses his cheek. Kira then returns to Earth in his new mobile suit.

During the Battle of JOSH-A, Murrue warns Kira about the underground Cyclops system and Kira alerts both ZAFT and Earth Alliance soldiers of the impending danger. Yzak Joule refuses to believe him and attacks Kira with the Duel. Even though Yzak killed Elle and the other refugees, Kira refrains from killing him in return. Instead, he disables the Duel and saves Yzak from the Cyclops blast, keeping with his vow to limit casualties for any and all sides on the battlefield.

Later, Athrun decides that Kira is not his enemy. Using the ZGMF-X09A Justice, Athrun aids the Archangel during the Earth Alliance's invasion of Orb. After staving off the Earth Alliance, Athrun and Kira call a truce to discuss the situation. They acknowledge that Nicol and Tolle did not deserve to die, and that they had wanted to kill each other despite being best friends, in order to avenge the deaths of their comrades. Kira asserts something that was previously noted by Lacus about what they should be fighting for. Kira asks Athrun to join Orb, so they can eventually put an end to the war.

The Earth Alliance attacks Orb again. Uzumi Nara Athha gives Cagalli a photograph of her and Kira when they were infants and tells her that although she is leaving her father she will not be alone, for she will be with her brother. When Cagalli shows Kira the photo after the Archangel and the Kusanagi ascend into space, he is shocked, especially since the woman holding them is not Caridad Yamato, the only mother he has known.

The Mendel Colony conspiracy
Eventually the Archangel, the Kusanagi, and the Clyne Faction's stolen ZAFT ship Eternal (which is commanded by Kira's former adversary Andrew Waltfeld no less, form the Three Ships Alliance, supported by Kira's Freedom and Athrun's Justice mobile suits.

During the Battle of Mendel, Kira learns from Rau Le Creuset that Caridad and Haruma Yamato are not his biological parents. His true parents were Ulen and Via Hibiki. He also learns that he is the Ultimate Coordinator; his fetus was artificially developed outside his mother's womb, and all his genetic enhancements are exactly as they were intended to be. He is the only fetus to be successfully developed using the apparatus. Kira also learns that Cagalli is indeed his twin sister, who was born naturally and not genetically altered.

After this, Kira is shocked when he learns that Flay, whom he had believed was transferred from the Archangel along with Natarle Badgiruel before the Battle of JOSH-A, was in a nearby lifepod. In the lifepod, Flay says she has something that will end the war. Upon hearing Kira's voice again, Flay weeps with joy, since she thought he was dead. Unfortunately, Kira fails to retrieve her lifepod because the Freedom is beheaded by the GAT-X252 Forbidden and GAT-X370 Raider after Kira recklessly tries to get to Flay before everyone else does. Flay winds up onboard the Dominion instead. As Forbidden and Raider pilots Shani Andras and Clotho Buer continue their assault on Kira, he is saved by Athrun and Dearka Elsman. After making it back to the Eternal, Kira looks at Lacus, ends up seeing Flay instead and passes out. When he wakes up from this blackout, again he looks at Lacus and he imagines seeing Flay naked. Just as Cagalli is about to ask Kira about the photo of the two of them when they were babies, Athrun takes her outside, leaving Kira and Lacus alone together, Kira cries himself to sleep in Lacus' lap.

Battle at Jachin Due
Just before the final battle, Lacus helps Kira come to terms with his true origins and admits her love for him by giving him the ring that belonged to her mother. Kira responds with a thanks for her support and kisses her on the cheek.

In the final battle at Jachin Due, Kira fights both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance, assisting in the destruction of the Earth Alliance's Peacemaker Nuclear Taskforce's motherships. Kira later battles Rau Le Creuset, who now pilots the ZGMF-X13A Providence. While fighting Le Creuset, Kira again hears Flay cry out from an escape vessel and backs out of the fight in an attempt to rescue her. Instead of going after Kira, Le Creuset attacks the escape vessel. Kira stops Le Creuset's first attack and sees Flay, who has tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. While Kira is distracted, one of Rau's DRAGOONs fires from above and destroys the vessel, killing Flay. Kira cries out in anguish, realizing Flay's death could have been prevented if he had not lost focus on Rau. Flay's spirit briefly appears to thank and apologize to Kira, she also assures Kira that her true feelings will protect him.

Enraged over Flay's death, Kira activates his SEED mode and stops Le Creuset from destroying the Eternal and Kusanagi. Though the Freedom is heavily damaged in the renewed fight, he mortally wounds Le Creuset and the Providence is destroyed by the sabotaged ZAFT superweapon GENESIS. While Kira drifts aimlessly in space outside of the Freedom, it is revealed that he was wearing the ring Lacus gave him as a pendant on a necklace. He is later rescued by Cagalli and Athrun.

Gundam SEED Destiny
Kira has been living on a secluded island (one of the Marshall Islands in Orb territory since the end of the war. He and Lacus have spent the last two years after the war assisting Reverend Malchio and Kira's adoptive mother with his orphanage. The Junius Seven Colony Drop Incident, which triggers the Second Bloody Valentine War forces the group to move in with Murrue Ramius and Andrew Waltfeld at their shared mansion in Orb.

The mansion is destroyed by an unknown force of Coordinators trying to assassinate Lacus. The attempt on Lacus's life forces Kira to once again pilot the Freedom and participate in combat in order to protect his loved one, despite her reluctance in his taking up arms again. He still abides by his policy to limit casualties, by disabling the opposing mobile suits in SEED mode, though the pilots then self-destruct their machines briefly shocking him.

Orb joins the Earth Alliance, forcing Kira and Lacus return to the Archangel and take up secretive residence in the Kingdom of Scandinavia. Before leaving Orb, Kira kidnaps Cagalli from her arranged marriage to Yuna Roma Seiran, despite Cagalli's initial objections. He also helps Cagalli realize her mistake in letting Orb side with the Earth Alliance and helps her come to terms with her errors in judgement, despite her good intentions.

Return to the battlefield
After a period of being part of the Archangel crew, Lacus decides to go into space to investigate what is going on, although Kira initially objects as he would not be able to watch over her, she assures him she will be careful and holds him to reassure him. Lacus, Andrew, and the shuttle they have stolen are nearly shot down, but Kira protects them.

Kira continues to fight in the rebuilt ZGMF-X10A Freedom. His first sortie with the Archangel is in the Dardanelles, trying to stop the OMNI/Orb offensive against the ZAFT battleship Minerva. He destroys the Minervas main "Tannhäuser" cannon, causing severe damage to the ship, Kira then disarms several mobile suits on both sides of the skirmish.

Kira is blamed for causing the death of ZGMF-X2000 GOUF Ignited pilot Heine Westenfluss by the hands of ZGMF-X88S Gaia pilot Stella Loussier (both were trying to attack Kira and Heine got in Stella's way).

Kira, accompanied by Cagalli and Miriallia Haw, secretly meet with Athrun in Crete, where they are spied on by Lunamaria Hawke. Athrun says they will not end the war by their methods and Cagalli must return to Orb if she wants Orb to leave the Earth Alliance. Kira tells Athrun that he distrusts ZAFT's leader, Gilbert Durandal, since Lacus was targeted by a special ops team of Coordinators using newly designed ZAFT Mobile Suits. Though Athrun returns to ZAFT, both sides are affected by the other's words.

Kira intervenes again in the Earth Forces/Orb battle with the Minerva in Crete, where he saves the Minerva from a possible finishing blow. Kira confronts by Athrun in the ZGMF-X23S Saviour. Due to the situation around them, primarily his distraught twin sister, Kira declares that if Athrun thinks that the Archangel's presence in trying to stop the battle is pointless and that Cagalli is to blame for Orb's path, then that makes Athrun his enemy. Kira easily defeats Athrun this time, and dismantles the Saviour, taking care not to injure Athrun.

Freedom's last battle
Kira and the Archangel soon go to Berlin to fight against the monstrous GFAS-X1 Destroy, and are eventually joined by the Minerva, along with Shinn Asuka's Impulse. Kira kills Stella Loussier, the pilot of the Destroy. This saves the lives of many, including Shinn. Shinn, who was in love with Stella, plans to destroy Kira in revenge.

Soon after, PLANT Chairman Gilbert Durandal orders the destruction of the Archangel and the Freedom during the mission code-named "Operation: Angel Down". The Minerva participates reluctantly, but Shinn Asuka is eager for revenge.

Freedom is attacked by Shinn and his ZGMF-X56S Impulse, who has prepared for this battle. Taking advantage of Kira's unwillingness to kill and Impulse's ability to replace damaged parts on-the-fly, Shinn defeats Kira. Kira shuts down Freedom's nuclear reactor before losing consciousness and is retrieved from the ocean by Cagalli in the MBF-02 Strike Rouge.

ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom
Soon after, Athrun Zala and Meyrin Hawke defect from ZAFT after being framed by Rey Za Burrel and Gilbert Durandal. While they recover from being shot down., Lacus and her ship Eternal come under attack by newer ZAFT's Zaku and Gouf squadrons after investigating the remnants of the space colony Mendel for clues about Chairman Durandal's plans. Kira rushes into space in Cagalli's Strike Rouge mounted on booster rockets, but the Strike Rouge is seriously damaged from numerous attacks.

Andrew Waltfeld provides cover in a ZGMF-X88S Gaia and tells Kira to go into the Eternal to pick up his new unit. On the Eternal, Kira and Lacus are reunited and she presents Kira with the newly constructed ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom albeit with some hesitation. He uses his new mobile suit to disable the attacking forces.

Kira then returns to Earth with the Strike Freedom to help Cagalli defend Orb, which is under ZAFT attack because Yuna Roma Seiran and his father Unato had provided refuge for the Logos leader Lord Djibril. Lacus Clyne flies down in the ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice Gundam to deliver it to Athrun Zala.

Second Battle of Orb
Shinn in the Destiny tries to defeat Cagalli's ORB-01 Akatsuki, when Kira arrives to defend her. While Cagalli withdraws to deal with the political situation, Kira and Shinn battle. After Shinn has to withdraw back to the Minerva, Kira then disables many of the ZAFT mobile suits invading Orb. Shinn relaunches accompanied by Rey in the Legend. They double-team Kira until Athrun arrives in Infinite Justice, after which Kira faces off against Rey's Legend, while Athrun engages Shinn in melee combat.

After the ZAFT forces withdraw, Athrun loses consciousness. Kira, in Strike Freedom, catches the Infinite Justice in mid-air, preventing him from crashing. Back aboard the Archangel, Kira removes Athrun's helmet and flight suit, revealing that Athrun's wounds have re-opened and are bleeding profusely. Kira then orders a stretcher to bring Athrun to the Archangel's sick bay, where he recovers, tended to by Meyrin.

Return to space
Lord Djibril escapes into space during the battle. ZAFT forces withdraw from Orb and the Minerva is sent to reinforce the ZAFT Lunar Team's attempt to destroy the Earth Alliance's Lunar-Based Laser Cannon, Requiem which has fired and destroyed some of the PLANTs.

During that time, Kira is promoted to Admiral and appointed as the Commander of the Orb Space Fleet. The Archangel is also officially commissioned into the Orb Military Fleet and assigned as Kira's flagship. Archangel is ordered to the lunar city of Copernicus to gather intelligence on Durandal's operations. Cagalli stays in Orb to coordinate the recovery and lead the country.

The Archangel returns to space and docks at Copernicus City. Kira, Lacus, Athrun, and Meyrin attempt to gather intelligence under the guise of a shopping trip. There, they receive Meer Campbell's red Haro containing a message from Meer saying she is afraid of being killed. Athrun and Meyrin suspect it is a trap, but Lacus insists on meeting Meer.

It is a trap. Sarah, Meer's bodyguard, has organized a team of assassins to kill Lacus. Athrun, Kira, and Meyrin fight them off, protecting Lacus and Meer. Athrun requests backup from the Archangel which sends Mu La Flaga (Neo Roanoke) to aid them in the ORB-01 Akatsuki. After his arrival, the badly injured Sarah, makes a final attempt to kill Lacus, but Meer is mortally wounded instead.

Shortly after Meer's funeral, Durandal announces his "Destiny Plan" to the world and his vow to eliminate anybody who does not follow him. Orb, the Kingdom of Scandinavia, and the Atlantic Federation all denounce Durandal's plan. Orb orders their space fleet to stop Durandal from accomplishing the "Destiny Plan" and prevent the destruction of Orb.

Battle of Messiah: Assault on REQUIEM
In the final battle, Kira orders Athrun and the Archangel to disable the Requiem directly, while the Strike Freedom confronts Rey's ZGMF-X666S Legend. Kira tries to persuade Rey to stop fighting and supporting Durandal before disabling the Legend. After that, the Strike Freedom attacks the space fortress, Messiah, leading to its eventual destruction.

Kira then exits the Strike Freedom and searches for Gilbert Durandal in the command center of Messiah. While they are talking and pointing guns at each other Talia Gladys, the captain of the Minerva as well as Durandal's lover, and Rey Za Burrel, who has been Gilbert's most dedicated follower, also arrive and draw pistols. Rey shoots Durandal, he had been enlightened by Kira's words and dreams of a future, which would have been suppressed by Durandal's Destiny Plan. Before Kira leaves the Messiah, Talia Gladys asks Kira to tell Murrue Ramius, her Archangel counterpart, that she has a son and she wishes Murrue to meet him someday. Kira agrees and leaves the Messiah in Strike Freedom before it falls onto the moon surface and explodes. Talia and Rey stay with Durandal.

Aftermath
Afterwards, at the ravished Orb memorial previously visited by Shinn and Kira in episode 8, Athrun introduces Kira to Shinn as the pilot of Freedom. Shinn is stunned by the identity of the pilot whom he tried to defeat numerous times, and previously met before without that knowledge. Kira asks Shinn to make peace with him and asks Shinn to join him and Athrun in the fight for humanity's peace. A crying Shinn agrees.

In the ending credits of Gundam SEED Destiny: Special Edition, Kira is wearing a white ZAFT uniform reserved for important military officials. When Kira and Lacus saw each other in the PLANTs they immediately rushed towards one another and hugged each other, surprising most of the people present.

Other

 * Kira is currently the holder of the highest military career advance in Gundam, starting at the rank of Ensign and getting promoted to Admiral status without moving through any other ranks. This growth in rank surpasses even Char Aznable's record advance during the One Year War, in which he was promoted two ranks from Lieutenant Junior Grade to Lieutenant Commander after the Battle of Loum, and promoted two ranks again from Lieutenant Commander to Captain after joining the Mobile Assault Force.
 * The Astray X manga features mercenary Canard Pars, the only failed Ultimate Coordinator prototype known to survived. Canard, consumed by an inferiority complex and hatred towards Kira, and constantly thought fruitlessly searches for him with the intention to defeat him and become the true Ultimate Coordinator. During the course of the series he abandons this goal and finally comes to terms with himself. It is unknown whether Kira is aware of Canards existence.

Amuro Ray
Unlike Amuro Ray, Kira is more sociable than his Universal Century counterpart, he had many acquantances such as Tolle Koenig, Miriallia Haw, and numerous others (Amuro could only find comfort in creating machines such as Haro, and had few friends, as his father neglected him.) On the other hand, unlike Kira, Amuro was more of a traditonal soldier then Kira was and got inside the RX-78-2 Gundam's cockpit to fight the Zeon's out of revenge for killing civilians. Compared to Kira, who only reluctantly piloted the Strike Gundam; but in order to protect those who cared about him and for those who he cared about. But what made Kira noticeably different than Amuro, was that he refused to kill or harm anyone, even those who are attacking him were usually disarmed or disabled. Whereas Amuro understood the nature of warfare and always shot to kill no matter how reluctant the opposing pilot was about fighting him and the Gundam.

Also, unlike Amuro, who only defected against the Earth Federation during the events Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam after being put under house arrest by the Earth Federation due to them being wary of his 'dangerous' Newtype abilities; however, instead of defecting directly to the opposing side at the time (i.e. Neo Zeon) Amuro joined the Earth bound Karaba and served alongside his friend and fellow One Year War veteran Hayato Kobayashi. And once the war against the Titans ended Amuro was later accepted back into the Federation and would prove to be a key member in the less extreme Londo Bell taskforce.

On the other hand, Kira chose to join Lacus in the middle of the Bloody Valentine War after a battle left him badly injured and stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean. After being rescued and cared for by Lacus Clyne, he realized that the real cause of all the hardships did not fall on either side alone; the more radical members on each side were the one's to blame, not the soldiers themselves. His assumptions would be proven correct after he was reunited with the Archangel after the failed ZAFT attack on the Earth Alliance Alaskan headquarters; they were set up in order to draw as many experienced soldiers in one area in an attempt to eliminate them.

Loran Cehack
Although they seem to share very little in term of personalities, Kira's situation can relate to Loran most. Both are only pilot available on their faction and must fight against their own kind, and both are reluctant to shoot to kill for much of their respective series, with Loran's first "official" onscreen kill being a Zssan in his series' later episodes. At first, both are unsure about their part in the conflict and only fight to protect their friends. However, while Loran pretty much determine on his cause and reason to fight since early of Turn A Gundam, Kira remain hestitate throughout the first half of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and unable to made up his mind until he receive the Freedom. Both Loran and Kira also had a romantic relationship with a human girl (Sochie Heim and Fllay Allister) who's father was killed by their kind but fell out of due to different reasons. Both are also in a non-sexual romance with their princess like figures.