CB-002 Raphael Gundam

CB-002 Raphael Gundam (aka Raphael Gundam, Raphael), is the successor unit to the GN-008GNHW/B Seravee Gundam GNHW/B, featured in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie -A wakening of the Trailblazer-. The unit is piloted by Tieria Erde.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
Raphael is classified as a 5th Generation Gundam and is the product of compiled Innovators and Celestial Being MS technology. It was produced by Veda and Gundam Meister Tieria Erde for the latter's own personal use within Celestial Being's MS factory. Technical and combat data from GNZ-003 Gadessa and GN-008GNHW/B Seravee Gundam GNHW/B were used as its basis, resulting in a hybrid heavy assault unit. However, Raphael is different than its predecessors.

Raphael is a departure from its predecessors as it is the first heavy assault Gundam without heavy body armor. Its overall presentation has been inverted from its lineage, as all Gundams previously piloted by Tieria Erde had the primary combat unit as a heavily armored assault unit, with a hidden second high-mobility unit as a final countermeasure. This inversion allows Raphael greater mobility and flexibility in combat; it reduces its defensive capabilities as a result, both being moreso than Raphael's predecessors, the GN-008 Seravee Gundam and GN-005 Gundam Virtue.

Raphael's overall appearance carries aesthetic design elements from both the GNZ-series and Seravee Gundam. The MS frame was built from the Innovators' leftover Gadessa components and salvaged parts from Seravee. Like its predecessor, Raphael's backpack contains a hidden second Gundam. The true form of the Raphael's backpack is actually a redeveloped variant of Seravee Gundam, GN-008RE Seravee Gundam II. Unlike Seraphim (which was directly piloted by Tieria when deployed), Seravee II is an unmanned combat unit which receives commands from Tieria's quantum brainwaves. As with its predecessors, the unit is only revealed as a final measure.

In terms of systems, some of the the most defining and useful features used in the previous versions of Tieria's Gundams was either omitted or made less useful in Raphael. The cockpit of Raphael is also derived from the GNZ-series, but the original escape pod and its emergency ejection system were omitted during its completion. It was made this way to make room to fit Seravee II, although it meant that Tieria had no means of escape if either MS were compromised in battle. Tieria felt it was unnecessary as his consciousness could re-download itself back into Veda after the death of his Innovade body. The Trial System that was also integral to Nadleeh and Seraphim, but it appears to be not present in Raphael.

Like its predecessors, Raphael is a high-particle-consuming Gundam. A significant difference is that Raphael is the only Gundam in CB's possession that does not possess a true GN Drive. Instead, Raphael draws power from 3 GN Drive Taus. All three Drives are located in Seravee II (one in both GN Big Cannons each and one in the main body). The Seravee II being equipped with 3 Tau Drives rivals the power of original drive mobile suits as exemplified by its ability to support the GN Big Cannon. Once Raphael separates from it, it will have to run on its own particle reserves presumably.

One weakness of Raphael is that its shape and weight distribution makes it less effective and harder to use under gravitational environments like Earth. Thus for combat on land and within gravity, a variant of CB-002/GD Raphael Gundam Dominions was made, in which the Seravee II on the back is re-purposed into armor parts instead.

The attached drives give the remote cannons great speed and power, as well as giving them greater operating time by acting as the cannons' own dedicated power source. When greater firepower is needed, Raphael can also detach its backpack-mounted GN Bazookas for more firepower. However, in a unusual engineering decision, Raphael isn't capable of creating bazooka/cannon combinations like Seravee. The GN Bazookas originally had a hollowed bottom, allowing both ends of the bazookas to connect and form more varying kinds of blasts to adapt and apply for different combat situations. Unfortunately, no reasons were given for this alternation.

Overall, Raphael is a formidable unit of great firepower, but limited in combat time as it no longer contains its perpetual energy system, the GN Drive. While Twin Drive technology was omitted for the ESF, Tieria had Raphael secretly constructed, but didn't apply the technology to Raphael. Although using the inferior GN Drive Tau in place of an original GN Drive, Raphael is still able to match CB's other Gundams in terms of combat performance for a limited time. It's overall systems can be enhanced with the Trans-Am System. Because there are 3 GN Drive Taus, depending how it is executed, Trans-Am can be used in sequence: Trans-Am for 3 times or a unified execution for greater particle usage. As a final measure, Raphael can self-destruct by overloading its Trans-Am.

Armaments

 * GN Bazooka
 * A pair of GN Bazookas are attached to the backpack of Raphael. They're derived from the Seravee's GN Bazooka II, and can be adjusted for rapid fire or for high power shots. . Much of the design remains the same, but they have been reconfigured to adapt onto the backpack of Raphael.


 * GN Beam Rifle
 * Raphael's GN Beam Rifle is similar in design to the rifles used by the Plutone and Nadleeh. In fact, it was built from the recycled GN Rifle of the GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh, and was improved with updated crystal sensors. From this, it can be presumed that the beam rifle of the Raphael also has the beam bayonet function of Nadleeh's Beam Rifle. Its exact power rating is unknown, although the power output and size of the beam is less than that of its GN Cannons.


 * GN Big Cannon/GN Big Claw
 * On Raphael's backpack, the unit contains a pair GN Claws with built-in cannons. It's an enhanced version of Virtue's and Seravee's GN Cannons and it can fire up large beam saber like cannons while undergoing Trans Am System(similar to GN-0000+GNR-010 00 Raiser "Raiser Sword" and its predecessors Bazooka/Cannon Combination) called GN Big Cannons Hyper Burst Mode, also each GN Big Cannon is much powerfull than the GN Bazooka II, GN Bazooka, Large GN Cannons and GN Cannons. The GN Big Cannons are hidden underneath the claws. Differing from its lineage though, the cannons have their own GN Drives and are detachable, capable of autonomous movement that gives them an unrestricted field of fire and greater range of movement. This is the most particle-consuming weapon on Raphael, capable of depleting a large amount of particles with only one shot. The GN Claw was designed to intercept and/or anticipate a target before Raphael could. The claws were designed to grab enemy units and can tear the target apart, crush it, or remove it from the combat zone. It also serves as a rescue tool to rescue and/or salvage friendly units in trouble.

System Features

 * Bit Control System
 * Quantum Brainwave Control System
 * Trans-Am System

Variants

 * CB-002/GD Raphael Gundam Dominions

History
Please visit Tieria Erde's profile for the full history of the Raphael Gundam

Notes & Trivia

 * Raphael is the name of an archangel of Judaism and Christianity who performs all manner of healing.
 * The Raphael Gundam share the same ability as the angel Israfel from Neon Genesis Evangelion: both of them can separate their bodies to create two individuals and they also share the same name except different translations. Whereas Raphael is the Christian and Judaic archangel of Christianity, Israfel is the Islamic name for Raphael.
 * In the early trailers, Raphael was showcased using original GN Particles as a traditional Celestial Being Gundam normally would but in the later trailers and the final movie, Raphael was using Tau Drive/Particles. On an interesting note, the released HG boxart still depicts Raphael using the pink and green particles showcased in some of the early trailers.
 * The first concept of Raphael showcased in the first movie trailer had Raphael sported a color scheme much similar to Seravee. Also, Raphael's GN Big Cannons/GN Claw were attached to the backpack by thick wires.
 * In the 2nd trailer for the movie, Raphael performed a move similar in appearance to the Wing Gundam Zero's iconic "Rolling Buster Rifle" maneuver, where the Wing Zero's pilot Heero Yuy would split the twin buster rifle into two rifles, aim them to either side of the mobile suit and fire whilst rotating the mobile suit. Like certain early trailer scenes of Zabanya and Harute, it was also not in the final movie however.
 * The model number of Raphael Gundam follows that of others that are of the CB series, such as CB-0000G/C (Reborns Gundam), CB-001(1 Gundam) and CB-001.5(1.5 Gundam).
 * Raphael Gundam's name is not mentioned in any dialogue of the movie. The name only appears on Raphael's head during the early part of the movie.