MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam



This article is about a fictional weapon from the Universal Century timeline of the anime Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam metaseries.

Zeta Gundam
The MSZ-006 Ζ Gundam (Zeta Gundam, codename: "ζ Gundam") is the sixth mobile suit built by Anaheim Electronics as the culmination of the Project Ζ according to Gundam Sentinel list of Anaheim Gundams. The design served as the first TMS in real life, and the concept served as the basics of various mobile suit designs later in other Gundam series, including a simplified transformation of XXXG-01W Wing Gundam according to the model instruction manual of Wing Gundam.

Originally built as three prototype MSZ-006-X1, MSZ-006-X2 and MSZ-006-X3. While these machines can transform, there is too much metal fatigue on the frame. This problem was corrected by Kamille Bidan, a Newtype teenager, incorporating innovations in that time such as the "movable frame" concept extracted by the AEUG from the Titans' RX-178 Gundam Mk-II project (headed by Franklin Bidan), and the Gundarium gamma alloy used in the RMS-099 Rick Dias. This mobile suit is also one of the first variable-form Gundams televised, capable of transforming into a fighter form called the Waverider. The Ζ's design was revolutionary in many ways (both in and out of the anime), and in the UC timeline looked very different than previous models of the Gundam type of Mobile Suit. The transformation ability and the suit's great speed is the Ζ's signature quality, as its transformation is fluid and integrated into its combat style often giving it grace unrivaled by most mecha. Design wise, its transformation at the time was also one of the most complex and detailed, rivaled only by The Super Dimension Fortress Macross's revolutionary VF-1 Valkyrie variable fighters. In the story of Gundam Sentinel, when S Gundam Booster Unit approaches the Base of Pezun, a commander replied there shouldn't be Mobile Suits like Zeta Gundam everywhere that have such high acceleration of a Mobile Armour but of the size of a Mobile Suit. While ironically, two MSZ-006 Zeta Plus, a.k.a mass production Zeta Gundam units, are approaching behind S Gundam as a demonstration of how technological advances quickly shifts the form of war.

As for weapons, the Zeta is very well armed with an arsenal favoring beam weapons. It included standard Gundam type armament including head mounted Vulcan guns, dual beam sabers, and a high powered beam rifle. It also sported arm mounted grenade launcher's which could be given additional ammunition from detachable storage packs, and the grenade launcher could also house a grappling hook tool for various purposes. The Zeta's most prolific weapon however is without a doubt the Hyper Mega Launcher, a massive blue rifle used to great extent in the latter parts of the Gryps conflict and during the first Neo-Zeon war. This weapon fires very high powered beam shots capable of destroying even battleships with a well placed shot. Both the launcher and beam rifle could also double as a cunning melee weapon as the Launcher had a built in Beam Saber bayonette style called the long beam saber. The beam rifle and Hyper Mega Launcher could be used while in Waverider configuration as well, and the hip mounted Beam Sabers doubled as beam guns.

Kamille Bidan became the designated pilot of the Ζ Gundam in the year UC 0087. Replacing Gundam Mk-II as his personal Mobile Suit, Kamille obtained the Ζ Gundam after returning to space from the Hong Kong incident involving Four Murasame. Screaming into battle, this sleek convertible Mobile Suit took all of the Titan's forces by surprise with its incredible performance and attack potential. Kamille led many successful missions against the Titans and the AEUG turned the tide of the war. Kamille in the Ζ was responsible for battling and ultimately killing Titan's leader Paptimus Scirocco, besting his massively powerful mobile suit, The-O. Unfortunately, this victory cost Kamille greatly, wherein he suffered a mind-crippling final attack from a dying Scirocco. The AEUG pilot Fa Yuiry later recovered the Ζ Gundam along with its pilot. After undergoing repairs, the Newtype Judau Ashta became the principal pilot of this mobile suit while the mobile suit MSZ-010 ZZ (Double Zeta) Gundam was still under construction by Anaheim Electronics. When Judau received the ZZ, Federation pilot Roux Rooka took control of the Ζ and used it to great success during the war against the Neo-Zeon. The Ζ Gundam continued being in operation until its destruction at the end of the First Neo-Zeon War, crippled by Puru-2's monstrous Quinn Mantha, although the Ζ got in one final crippling shot before being abandoned. The unit was recovered but never used again and is said to have stored away along with all the other MS belonging to the Gundam team on Argama and Nathel secretly by Karaba, an anti federation resistance group, in the design notes of Re-GZ.

An interesting feature of the Ζ Gundam is the incorporation of the plot device, a mysterious Bio-sensor - a reduced-feature replica of the Psychic Communicator (PSYCOMMU) system devised by Murasame Newtype Laboratories to interface Newtype pilots to mobile suits. The bio-sensor allowed a Newtype pilot to temporarily increase the combat power of the mobile suit using psycho-kinetic energy inherently strong in Newtypes - its usage became more frequent during the last days of the first Gryps War between the AEUG and the Titans, even turning the Waverider into a deadly weapon (Kamille's attack using the Waverider to ram into Scirroco has been named the Waverider Crash in video games depicting the Zeta, such as the Super Robot Wars series.). The Ζ Gundam was an incredibly high performance machine that accomplished much, helping turn the tide of the Titans conflict and fighting against the Neo-Zeon afterwards. The Ζ however, was intricately tuned and built to Kamille's exact specifications and style, so once Kamille was out of the war while the Ζ could be piloted competently by other pilots, it could arguably no longer perform to its full potential without Kamille at the controls although it was still a highly formidable machine.

Other units
Another Ζ Gundam, designated MSZ-006-3, was piloted by Karaba ace Amuro Ray in the later stages of the Gryps War. Some deny this as merely propaganda similar to the story of the MSZ-006A1 since the Zeta Plus A1 in question was stated as Amuro Type but the Master Grade model confirmed it was only tuned to fit Amuro's piloting skills, while it was only used for training new pilots for the A1 type Zeta Plus. It is in fact confirmed by the 2001 short CGI film later Green Diver's, where Amuro used the 006-3 to great success during the later stages of both wars. This essentially makes the 006-3 a canon machine. Little is known about Amuro's own Zeta Gundam, it did however look nearly identical to the prototype Z and was colored an unusual white color scheme with purple stripes.

Two additional Zeta Gundam units are set to appear in episode 9 of the CG series Gundam Evolve, alongside Amuro Ray's unit - this brings the total number of Zeta units to four.
 * "White Zeta" (Zeta Gundam 3A Type) - Amuro Ray's Zeta unit, and piloted by him (codename "White Unicorn"). By all appearances it is a standard unmodified Zeta unit, aside from its purple striping on white colour scheme.
 * "Yellow Zeta" (Zeta Gundam 3B Type) - Piloted by former Zeon ace Shin Matsunaga (codename "Grey Wolf"), who calls it "Buster". For the most part the unit itself has the appearance of a standard Zeta, but for two differences: The tail binder, instead of lying down the back in Mobile Suit mode, instead splits into two horizontal airfoils behind the head; and the thrusters on the lower leg have three small exhausts in place of the standard two. It's shield is considerably wider, covering a greater portion of the unit's underside in Waverider mode, and has two rapid-fire beam guns built in. The shield no longer serves as the unit's nose - instead, an oversize heavy bean gun is mounted in its place, which detaches and is hand-carried in Mobile Suit mode. The unit is equipped with the same beam-deflection coating as the Hyaku Shiki, which gives it its yellow colour - much to the chagrin of its pilot, who wanted it to be a grey colour.
 * "Red Zeta" (Zeta Gundam 3C Type) - Piloted by Yurii Ajissah (Codename "Red Snake"). The unit's original pilot was named Johny Ridden, but he was replaced by Yuuri for unknown reasons. The most radically different of the three, Red Zeta's armour sports a heavily 'spiked' look. This is especially noticeable in the tail binder, which is spiked and points upwards in mobile suit mode. It's rifle also bears spikes. In addition, Red Zeta may be equipped with an I-Field generator, although the I-Field-like effect seen could be explained by Yuuri's Newtype power, as Kamille Bidan was once able to psycho-kinetically manifest an I-Field-like barrier around his Zeta unit. Red Zeta's most radical feature is its cockpit. Equipped with what at first glance is a standard panoramic cockpit & linear seat, the seat and manual controls can retract leaving the pilot free-standing (or floating, in zero-g environments), their head in a hollow transparent hemispherical device, and a number of cables attach from the seat into the back of the pilot's flight suit. In this mode, the movements of the unit follow the pilot's own movements (similar to the Mobile Trace system from G Gundam). It is unclear if this requires a Newtype pilot. It is implied that this system allows the pilot to psychically interfere with other Newtype weaponry (as seen when Yuuri takes control of the enemy mobile armour's flying hand, and move it using the movements of her own hand), as well as allows the pilot itself to be interfered with (as seen when the enemy mobile armour's pilots somehow 'disable' Yuuri's mind).

All three units can be equipped with a (colour-matched) single-stage booster system, allowing them to make orbit otherwise unassisted.

While some of the Gundam Evolve shorts simply showcase events not seen in the series they are based on and could therefore be canon, others show alternate versions of events, conflicting with the series. Therefore, it is not known if these additional Zeta Gundam units are canon machines.

MSZ-006-X Prototype Z Gundam
As mentioned above, there are three faulty prototypes of the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam. Technically, all three units are the same machine, but each unit has a different head design. The MSZ-006-X1 has a head similar to the MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki, MSZ-006-X2 featured a head borrowing it's look from the RMS-099 Rick Dias's head and MSZ-006-X3 used a head similar in comparison to the MSA-003 Nemo's head.

MSZ-007 Mass Production Type Ζ Gundam
Anaheim Electronics planned to mass produce Ζ Gundam as MSZ-007 Mass Production Type Ζ Gundam which removed the transformation and replaced the head with one similar to the MSA-003 Nemo. However, this design turn out to be inferior to their other project, the MSR-100S (MSR-00100S) Hyaku Shiki Kai Mass Production Type and its development was halted upon mass production. Still, Ζ Gundam has been the basis for the design of later mass-production mobile suits such as Earth Federation's Ζeta Plus mobile suit series and Londo Bell's RGZ-91 Re-GZ.

MSZ-008 ZII
A design known as the MSZ-008 ZII also existed. This machine was originally designed as a successor to the Ζeta Gundam and was even featured in various Super Robot Wars video games as a secret unit. While supposed to be a successor machine of the Ζeta Gundam, it uses the a simplified frame similar to that of the MSA-005 Methuss instead of the Ζeta Gundam's, which was deemed too complicated. The machine focuses on space use, thus the ZII's mobile armour mode lacks the waverider's ability of atmospheric re-entry and flight on Earth. However, it's mobile armour mode has higher acceleration and maneuverability. The ZII is armed with a pair of beam sabers and a mega beam rifle, which has firepower equal to the Ζeta Gundam's hyper mega launcher. It also lacks the Bio-sensor which was featured in the Ζeta Gundam and it's later successor, the MSZ-010 ΖΖ Gundam. While the manufacturing costs were lowered, the Anaheim Electronics design team were forced to focus more on the ZZ for AEUG and rejected the ZII design. Had it have been built Its name would be pronounced as "Z-Two" instead of "Zeta-Two".

Appearance and designer
The three Prototype Zeta Gundams, Mass Production Type Zeta Gundam and ZII appear as part of Zeta Gundam Mobile Suit Variations, design by Kazumi Fujita.

Zeta Gundam first appear in Mobile Suit Z Gundam and design by Kazumi Fujita.

MSZ-006 Ζ Gundam
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics Company Operator: Anti-Earth Union Group Unit type: prototype attack use transformable mobile suit Dimensions: mobile suit mode: overall height 19.85 meters, head height 18.7 meters; waverider mode: overall length 24.32 meters, wingspan 18.61 meters Weight: empty 28.7 metric tons; max gross 62.3 metric tons Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 2020 kW Special Equipment: bio-sensor system; birdlime launchers in hands Fixed armament: 2 x 60 mm vulcan gun, fire-linked, 600 rounds per gun, mounted in head; 2 x 2-tube grenade launcher, 2 rounds per tube, mounted in forearms; 2 x beam saber, power rated at 0.65 MW, stored in recharge racks in hip armor, hand-carried in use, sabers double as fire-linked beam guns in waverider mode with power rated at 1.3 MW total for both Optional fixed armament: grenade launcher cartridge, 18+1 rounds, serves as extended ammunition magazine for grenade launcher; shield, mounted on left forearm Optional hand armament: (BOWA) XBR-M87A2 beam rifle, power rated at 5.7 MW, powered by replaceable e-pac, doubles as large beam saber, can be mounted on storage rack on back to use in waverider mode, 2 spare e-pacs stored in shield; hyper mega launcher, power rated at 8.3 MW, powered by replaceable e-pac, doubles as large beam saber Pilot: Kamille Bidan, Reccoa Londe, Apolli, Judau Ashta, Roux Louka, Fa Yuiry, Astonaige Medoz, Iino Abbav, Beecha Oleg, Elle Vianno, Mondo Agake



MSZ-006-X Prototype Ζ Gundam
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics Company Operator: Anti-Earth Union Group Unit type: prototype attack use transformable mobile suit Dimensions: head height 19.6 meters Weight: empty 29.9 metric tons; max gross 52.1 metric tons Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 1790 kW Fixed armaments: 2 x beam saber, stored in recharge racks in hip armor, hand-carried in use Optional hand armaments: beam rifle, power rating unknown



MSZ-007 Mass Production Type Ζ Gundam
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics Company Operator: Anti-Earth Union Group Unit type: prototype attack use mobile suit Dimensions: head height 20.4 meters Weight: empty 30.9 metric tons; max gross 48.3 metric tons Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 1830 kW Fixed armaments: 2 x beam saber, stored in recharge racks in hip armor, hand-carried in use Optional hand armaments: mega beam rifle, power rating unknown



MSZ-008 ZII
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics Company

Operator: Anti-Earth Union Group

Unit type: prototype attack use transformable mobile suit

Dimensions: mobile suit mode: head height 18.3 meters

Weight: empty 31.1 metric tons; max gross 69.7 metric tons

Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 2130 kW

Armament: 2 x beam saber, mega beam rifle