Sayla Mass

Sayla Mass (セイラ・マス) is a fictional 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.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin
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 politician 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 from her, and thus Sayla goes along with the pilot of the Gundam, Amuro Ray, aboard the White Base, and become the ship's communication officer at first, as they take flight from Side 7 and en route to Earth, while they constantly try to fight off Zeon troops along the way, especially against Char Aznable, the Red Comet himself.

Once the White Base destroys Garma Zabi's fleet along with Garma himself, and as Ramba Ral keeps harassing the White Base in pursuit, Sayla believes that someone from Zeon might have some important information about her brother. Hence, she commandeers the Gundam from Amuro in her attempt to get closer with Zeon troops (on her pretense of proving herself a worthy pilot as much as Amuro), but instead, she gets hammered very badly under fire by Ramba Ral and his troops. Fortunately enough, Amuro arrives timely in the Guncannon to bail her out. Consequently, as a result of her reckless actions, Sayla faces 3 days solitary confinement as her penalty. Nevertheless, Bright Noa and the crew of the White Base recognize Sayla's skill as a pilot, so subsequently, Sayla becomes an alternate backup pilot of the Gundam, next to Amuro. Later, she becomes the pilot of Core Booster, and shows great promises throughout numerous battles, especially with her newfound Newtype skills. She and Amuro grow steadily close with each other as well, as they both keep facing countless battles alongside with each other.

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. Hence, Ramba then orders a retreat, since Artesia is on board, and kills himself by exploding a grenade, while jumping into the Gundam's hand. Sayla is both shocked and saddened by his death. Likewise, she feels exactly the same way with the crew of White Base, as she watches some of her close comrades falling in battle one after another, especially Ryu Jose, Lieutenant Matilda Ajan, and Lieutenant Sleggar Law, as they each try to protect the White Base from deadly destruction and devastation. The death of Lieutanent Matilda Ajan is particularly hard for Sayla to accept, because she feels helpless and guilty for unable to save her life as a pilot.



Throughout the rest of the series, Sayla attempts to contact her brother. They encounter each other again in the Federation military headquarters of Jaburo, and he asks her to leave the Federation Forces, but she refuses. They meet again at the Texas Colony, where Char explains his true origins, and that he's 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 and confesses to White Base captain Bright Noa that Char is actually her brother. In return, Sayla sincerely requests Bright to distribute the gold bars and share them with the crew of White Base, since she's become attached to them like a family by that time.

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 (Core Booster in the Movies), allowing Amuro Ray to cut off his Gelgoog's arm and nearly kill him, but his protege Lalah Sune takes the blow for him and dies from Amuro's piercing beam saber by accident. 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 in mortal combat. 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 with him. Sayla escapes the fortress alive, as does Amuro soon after.

The Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin manga expands on Sayla's role during the Battle of A Baoa Qu. Instead of the G-Fighter or the Core Booster, Sayla launches from the White Base piloting a customized GM mobile suit. During the battle, Sayla eventually encounters a Braw Bro piloted by Simus Al Bakharov and after an intense close-quarters battle kills her by shooting the Braw Bro's cockpit at point blank range with her beam rifle. The resulting explosion leaves her GM heavily damaged and Sayla ejects via the Core Pod, eventually crash landing at A Baoa Qu.

While traveling inside the base, Sayla is captured by Zeon security troops and taken prisoner. While she is bound and interrogated, she reveals to the interrogating officer that she is really Artesia Som Deikun, turning the tables on her interrogator. The stunned Zeon officer then reports to his commanding officer of the security company, Captain Matogurosu, about this new development. Captain Matogurosu himself goes down to the interrogation room to investigate, and upon seeing Sayla, realizes that she is in fact Lady Artesia. To Sayla's surprise, Captain Matogurosu renders a crisp military salute, orders her unbound, and pledges himself and his military forces to her.

During this time, Kycilia just assassinated Gihren and have taken control of all Zeon military forces. Captain Matogurosu's security company is mustered and upon seeing Sayla, realizes that Artesia Som Deikun has been alive and well all this time. Furious at the Zabi's actions and willing to revolt against Kycilia, the Zeon soldiers cheer the name of Deikun and pledge their loyalty and their lives to Sayla, who accepts their pledges with a heavy heart, wishing that her brother was there to see this moment.

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 Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. She is shown listening by radio to Char's speech at the Federation Assembly in Dakar. At the end of A New Translation she is sunning herself by a pool when approached by Kai Shiden who thanks her for summoning him and tells her he has questions about Quattro Bajeena who at this point has recently become missing in action.

ZZ Gundam
Sayla makes a surprise appearance in Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ 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.