Iok Kujan (イオク・クジャン Ioku Kujyan?) is one of the antagonists that appears in the second season of the Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS television series.
Personality & Character
| “ | I took precautions so this wouldn't happen. Iok Kujan, how foolish you can get? | ” |
—McGillis Fareed to Iok's recklessness, Stained Wings | ||
The head of the Kujan family, one of the Seven Stars. He is responsible for part of the Arianrhod Fleet. Though he has command authority over his unit, he sometimes enters the battlefield himself as a pilot.
He is reckless and impulsive in his conduct, often acting without thinking carefully and end up endangering the life of himself and his men. He zealously holds onto the Kujan family motto; to crush the enemy with all his might. Despite caring about his subordinates and be burdened by their sacrifices, he completely ignores that it was his recklessness that got them killed in the first place and blamed Tekkadan for their deaths despite the latter having nothing to do with it.
He looks up to Rustal Elion as a role model and is constantly trying to do whatever he can to please and impress the latter. To gain Rustal's attention, he is willing to go to extreme lengths and use underhanded tactics such as framing the Turbines as an illegal organization and using the illegal Dainsleif railguns on their civilian ships to ensure that there are no survivors while ignoring their attempts to surrender. Iok has shown a callous disregard for his own actions against the Turbines, having a celebratory disposition despite acknowledging the fact that his actions were completely unethical.
Skills & Abilities
Iok's passion and frankness have the power to move those around him, and that seems to be why Rustal Elion allied with him. Although not a great mobile suit pilot, Iok is a somewhat effective sniper in his customized Reginlaze.
History
Iok was first seen in a meeting of the Gjallarhorn's Seven Stars in P.D. 325. He was later dispatched as part of the Arianrhod fleet to fight the pirate group known as Dawn Horizon Corps to stop McGillis Fareed's forces from accomplishing the deed first.
When the Dawn Horizon Corps was located, Iok was surprised to see the pirate group fighting with a ship from McGillis' Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Fleet as well as two civilian ships. Iok was unaware that the civilian ships belonged to Tekkadan, and asked Julieta Juris about the ships' identity, but she was unaware as well. He then sortied in his custom commander type Reginlaze, accompanied by his subordinates. During the battle, Iok managed to destroy the weapon of a Hugo but was unable to hit the Gundam Barbatos Lupus from afar, frustrating him. He was further irritated when Julieta asked him to focus on the Gundam rather than support her.
Sometime later, Iok and several of his men were sent down to Mars to investigate the mobile armor found by Tekkadan, as well as McGillis' motive for being there. His reckless actions while on Mars led to the reactivation of the mobile armor, Hashmal, and its sub-units, the Plumas. Iok's team were quickly attacked by these machines, and to protect Iok, his subordinates gave up their lives. Eventually, Iok was rescued by Julieta and Vidar. He then placed the blame for his subordinates' death on Tekkadan and swore to avenge them. To that end, he worked with Jasley Donomikols to frame the Tekkadan's ally, the Turbines, with possession of the illegal Dainsleif railgun, which allowed him to attack the latter group.
After his assault on the Turbines led to the organization's disbandment, Iok received a call from Jasley, who revealed he had managed to anger Tekkadan to the point of action. They then discuss their battle plan where Iok's forces would support Jasley's, and attack Tekkadan from behind. Jasley also requested Iok to arrest McMurdo Barriston if their battle is successful. Unfortunately, Rustal Elion had made a deal with McMurdo, and Iok could not support Jasley as promised. [1] For his actions during the assault on the Turbines, Iok was placed under house arrest, but he was later released to assist Rustal in the fight against McGillis Fareed's coup.[2][3]
Iok Kujan was then sent to Mars as part of the Arianrhod fleet deployed to surround Tekkadan's Mars HQ. When McGillis launched in Gundam Bael to act as a diversion allowing Orga, Ride and Chad to sneak away to Admoss Company where they could contact others for help, IoK Kujan in his custom Graze Commander Type charges McGIllis completely unarmed in order to give his forces the excuse to attack. McGillis plays along with the charade and heavily damages his mobile suit, but barely misses killing him.
After the Arianrhod fleet's space forces launched an orbital Dainsleif bombardment, Iok pilots a standard Graze and urges his fellow soldiers not to be afraid of the damaged Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex and Gundam Gusion Rebake Full City. He then attacks the Gundam Gusion Rebake Full City, and when he believed victory is his, he announces his name, but unbeknownst to him, this actually helped the Gundam's pilot, Akihiro Altland, to regain his fighting spirit. Akihiro had recognized Iok as the person responsible for Naze and Amida's death and partially for Lafter's death. Iok was then caught off guard by Akihiro and seized by the Gundam's Scissor-Variable Rear Armor. Although Iok's allies rushed forward to save him and even dealt the Gundam a fatal blow, they failed to save Iok who was still crushed to death.
Relationships
Quotes
| “ | Strike every enemy with all your might. That's the Kujan's family percept. | ” |
—Iok Kujan, Lit by a Blazing Sun | ||
| “ | ...how grand. | ” |
—Julietta Juris | ||
Notes & Trivia
- Iok Kujan is voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki (島﨑信長, Shimazaki Nobunaga), who previously voiced the male Avatar in the Fire Emblem Fates and also voiced Guan Xing in the Dynasty Warriors series.
- Due to Iok's incompetent and distasteful actions in the anime during the Mobile Armor incident and against the Turbines, he is among the most hated characters in the Gundam franchise and fans even created and signed a petition, hoping that this character would be killed off in future episodes, which happened in the 50th Episode.
- Meanwhile, two Twitter hashtags called "イオクがどんな死に方したら満足か考える (Let's think of the satisfying ways to kill Iok)" and "イオク・クジャン殲滅部隊 (Iok Kujan Annihilation Squad)" is created by the Japanese fans after the airing of episode 40.
References
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS Episode 42, Settlement
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS Episode 43, Revealed Intentions
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS Episode 44, The Man Who Holds the Soul