Hardie Steiner (ハーディ・シュダイナー Hādi Shudainā?, alternatively written as Steiner Hardy) is a character from Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. He is the captain of the Principality of Zeon's elite Cyclops Team.
Personality & Character[]
Steiner has a strong and calm personality, and even exudes a sense of greatness. He is also a skilled conversationalist, posing as a harmless civilian for the sake of the mission, and his professionalism shines through as he puts the mission ahead of his pride as a Zeon citizen. He does not like to kill needlessly, but he is also cold-hearted enough to use even children to accomplish his mission.
History[]
Steiner is an experienced Zeon soldier and the captain of the Cyclops Team. On November of 0079, he and the rest of the team were sent to retrieve Accountant Major Gordon as well as several Zeon youth forces that had been captured by the Federation. Posing as a Federation soldier to infiltrate the base while the rest of the team boarded their mobile suits, Hardy would successfully find the tortured Gordon and would successfully free his target once the base's commander took her leave. Due to the execution of several Zeon youths in order to torture Gordon, Hardy eventually relents to Gordon's pleas to not let the matter slide, and the pair confront the base commander instead of making an immediate escape.
Once all of the Federation soldiers in the vicinity are killed the Cyclops Team's mobile suits, Steiner hands his service pistol to Gordon, allowing him to take revenge but at Steiner's warning of never being able to go back from his actions. Once the team and the rescued captives escape, Steiner refuses to take back his pistol from Gordon, as it would serve as an eternal reminder to the latter of his actions. Following Gordon's rescue, the group are sent with the new Hygogg-E's and Z'Gok-E's in order to stop a key Federation transport following the failure to secure the Federation's experimental mobile suit, the G-IV.
Unfortunately, his best friend and fellow teammate, Andy Strauss, was killed during the assault on the Earth Federation's Arctic base. He later obtains information on the RX-78NT-1 Gundam NT-1 from his old friend Charlie, a Zeon spy and also manager of the Pink Elephant bar in Ribo, Side 6. Shortly thereafter, Lt. Col. Killing assigns Hardy's team to execute Operation Rubicon. In spite of Hardy asking for another veteran to take the late Strauss' place, Killing instead gives the rookie, Bernard Wiseman, as he had also obtained pictures of the suspicious activity within Ribo. Steiner eventually realizes that his team is not expected to succeed at capturing Gundam "Alex," but are merely pawns in Killing's larger plans.
Steiner has Bernard transport parts for their MS-18E Kämpfer to Ribo through a battlefield posing as a construction worker. He and the rest of the Cyclops team later rejoin Bernard at Ribo's security checkpoint, and they are able to enter the colony without incident. Upon taking the Kämpfer's parts to their factory, a young boy named Alfred Izuruha reports their shady activities to the police. Although, Gabriel Ramirez Garcia wishes to kill the officer and Alfred, Steiner warns him against it, and Alfred immediately senses the danger of the officer and claims that Bernard was his long-lost brother, causing the annoyed officer to leave. When Bernard and Alfred are ordered to explain themselves, it is revealed that Bernard's pictures were actually taken by Alfred, in the hopes of being able to help Zeon. In response, Steiner hands Alfred a Zeon badge, making him an honorary member of Zeon, and asks Bernard to monitor Alfred. In reality, this move was made to prevent Alfred from snitching on them, as well as keeping Bernard away from the rest of the team. While meeting Charlie and venting his frustration of being given Bernard, being sent on a suicidal mission and the inevitable defeat of Zeon, he remarks that Ribo is a rather peaceful colony, and wonders if he would be able to simply settle down here once his mission was complete.
When the Kämpfer is ready and the Alex's hangar is found, Steiner and rest of the Cyclops team meet with Charlie to get their costumes to infiltrate Ribo's base, with Mikhail Kaminsky acting as the team's decoy. Unfortunately, Bernard flubs the questions given by the base's officers, exposing them and leading to a firefight inside. Hardy is mortally wounded inside Ribo's E.F.F. base during, and Bernard Wiseman is soon ordered by Garcia to take the wounded captain to safety before making a vain attempt to plant bombs on the Alex. Ultimately, the Alex's pilot is able to board the Gundam and uses it to dispatch Kaminsky. Thanks to the chaos, Bernard is able to barely escape with his captain to a nearby forest.
Upon regaining consciousness, Hardy immediately inquires of the Alex's fate. Bernard lies and assures him that Kaminsky had dealt with the Alex, but Steiner sees through Bernard's attempt to put some peace in his mind. Nonetheless, he eventually succumbs to his wounds and passes away. Bernard later crafts a make-shift grave marker for his captain right beside his damaged MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai.
Gallery[]
Anime[]
Illustrations & Artwork[]
Games[]
Appearances[]
- OVAs and ONAs
- Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
- Episode 1, How Many Miles to the Battlefield?
- Episode 2, Reflections in a Brown Eye
- Episode 3, And at the End of the Rainbow?
- Episode 4, Over the River and Through the Woods
- Episode 5, Say it Ain't So, Bernie!
- Flashback
Notes & Trivia[]
- In Super Robot Taisen OE's version of War in the Pocket, the complete Cyclops Team, including Andy Strauss, who had outlived his original death, attack the Alex with all of their respective mobile suits. Surprisingly, Amuro arrives to reinforce the Alex alongside members from the 08th Mobile Suit Team to surround the Cyclops team. Just then, Char's squadron comes to aid of the Cyclops team. Despite this, Steiner's team and Char's forces are pushed to retreat, with Bernie being the last one standing. The defeated Steiner soon urges Bernie to stand down and surrender. Steiner's survival and Chris demand for Bernie to surrender averts his death, and Chris later reveals that the nuke targeting the colony had been intercepted successfully and the danger was gone.
- In the OVA, he is only referred to as Steiner (シュダイナー?), even in the credits.
- The name "シュダイナー・ハーディ" was used in early video game appearances such as 3rd Super Robot Wars. Early English sources officially translated this as "Steiner Hardy" including:
- Animerica Gundam: Official Guide
- The now-defunct GundamOfficial website.
- With "Steiner" being a real surname, newer sources use "ハーディ・シュダイナー" with the official English translation being "Hardie Steiner":
- The Official Gundam Fact File
- Mobile Suit Illustrated 2013
- Gundam Breaker Mobile
- Gundam.Info
- The official Japanese website for the 0080: War in the Pocket.
References[]
External Links[]
War in the Pocket characters
| ||
---|---|---|
Earth Federation | Christina Mackenzie | Stuart | Richard Lumunba | |
Principality of Zeon | Killing | Von Helsing | Charlie | Rugens | Carioca | |
Cyclops Team | Bernard Wiseman | Hardie Steiner | Gabriel Ramirez Garcia | Mikhail Kaminsky | Andy Strauss | |
Civilians | Alfred Izuruha | Chay | Telcott | Dolores Hayes | Mrs. Mackenzie | Mr. Mackenzie | Michiko Izuruha | Ems Izuruha |