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Carozzo Ronah (カロッゾ・ロナ Karozzo Rona?), better known as Iron Mask (鉄仮面 Tetsukamen?), is the main antagonist of Mobile Suit Gundam F91.

Personality & Character[]

Iron Mask was a true believer in his father-in-law's philosophy of "cosmo-aristocracy", exceeding even Meitzer's own zeal for the concept. In his efforts to realize Cosmo Babylonia, Carozzo drove his wife, Nadia, into the arms of another man, as she desperately sought to escape the family. Furious and grief-stricken at the betrayal, Carozzo became obsessed with rationalism and a human race that ruled, rather than was ruled, by its emotions, with the highborn at its head. Sealing himself, and his emotions, away behind a face of metal, he took the name Iron Mask.

Though Iron Mask cultivates an emotionless persona and addresses his duties in a cold and uncaring manner, he is exceptionally capable of rousing and manipulating the emotions of others. He is a skilled orator with a commanding voice that conveys a sense of humanity and eloquence, and he has charisma befitting the head of a military organization. While he can be icy in private, his public persona is bold and inspiring, turning every attack upon him or setback encountered into a motivational call to arms, none more commonly than the very shame that lead him to don his namesake mask.

Having promised never to remove his mask until he has accomplished his goal and founded his new empire, Iron Mask uses his anger and self-pity to inspire others and fuel his crusading zeal. In fact, Carozzo continuously speaks about his disgrace and the weakness that allowed him to become a cuckold to those aware of it, citing it as the catalyst that inspired him to don the mask. His self-loathing second only to his rage at being spurned, Iron Mask proves a controlling misogynist, still consumed by his feelings of weakness, tolerating Theo Fairchild only as long as it takes to return both his wife and daughter and lashing out at them all as soon as the situation allowed.

Given control of the Crossbone Vanguard and Cosmo Babylonia's military forces, Iron Mask is a canny and secretive commander, raising an army, leading them to great success, and using the chain of command to hide the true horror of his plans from the rest of his troops. Seeking not only to bring Meitzer's vision to life, but to usurp him and take control of the empire, Iron Mask devises a plan to cull the human population by 90% using Bugs, drones specifically designed to track and murder civilians. He seems to value hierarchy and obedience, keeping the Bugs' existence secret by entrusting the particulars only to those directly below him, his second in command Gillet Krueger even insisting that it is classified above his station when directly confronted about the program.

Skills & Abilities[]

In order to realize his goals, Carozzo undertook the "Rafflesia Project", turning him into an artificially enhanced Cyber Newtype. These experiments included significant mental and physical enhancements. His body, strengthened by the latest technology of the 0120s, is both super-humanly strong and durable. Carozzo has been seen to shrug off a bullet to the face with the help of his mask, lift a man by the throat, and even to operate in space without normal suit.

His information processing and Newtype abilities have also been expanded far past human norms. Carozzo's leadership skills are compounded by his ability to instantly analyze people's psychological state, allowing his voice to instill maximum loyalty or fear. He was also focused enough that he could have his finger shot off at point-blank range and ignore it. It has even been speculated that Iron Mask even has the ability to kill a man with his mind, as seen with Theo Fairchild. These abilities prove even more intense in combat. Iron Mask was able to not only pilot the massive mobile armor Rafflesia by himself, but to control its numerous weapons (including its 125 articulated Tentacle Rods) and to do so through a wired, thought-control interface, without manual controls. However, even his multitude of enhancements did not allow him to fully process the sheer bulk of information created by the Rafflesia's complexity and the "Metal Peal-Off Effect" of the F91 Gundam F91, nor to ignore his own rage, and he was killed by his own weapons as they focused solely on killing Seabook Arno.

History[]

Iron Mask was born Carozzo Bigenzon, to a family that included descendants of European nobility. Mobile Suit Gundam F91 Crossbone VanguardHe used to be a bio-computer researcher, but became enamored with Meitzer Ronah's ideas of cosmo-aristocracy, and married his daughter, Nadia Ronah. However, Nadia refused to live as a noblewoman and left with their daughter, Berah Ronah. After his brother-in-law's Hauzery Ronah assassination in 0118, Carozzo spent a year "strengthening" himself, and the following year, he launched the "Rafflesia Project". Returning as Iron Mask, he was given command of the Crossbone Vanguard by Meitzer. In his instructions to his troops, he confesses that their true purpose is to "purge the people who have been captured by the old system," in other words, to massacre them as the spearhead of the construction of Cosmo Babylonia. Mobile Suit Gundam F91 Prequel

In order to achieve his vision of cosmo-aristocracy, Iron Mask secretly funded the development of the Bugs, drones specifically designed to track and murder civilians. Knowing that even Meitzer would not condone this plan, Iron Mask entrusted the program only to his closest subordinates and utilized the military chain of command to keep even his own troops from knowing the full extent of his plans.

On March 16, 0123, Iron Mask led the suppression of Side 4 Frontier IV colony, and on March 26, gave a speech at a ceremony held in front of the Frontier IV government building. During the speech, he survived an assassination attempt and murdered his assailant before finishing. On the 30th, the Bugs were tested in Frontier I, indiscriminately slaughtering the people inside the colony. Confident that the results would silence any critics within his ranks, Iron Mask prepared to unleash the Bugs on Earth and to force Meitzer into hiding. However, the Bug's control ship was sunk and Carozzo then wiped out the Federation reinforcements from the Moon using the XMA-01 Rafflesia. Engaged by the F91 Gundam F91 and the XM-07 Vigna Ghina, Iron Mask held off both enemies, not only dominating both mobile suits at once, but actually leaving his Mobile Armor to tear open the Vigna Ghina's cockpit with his bare hands and throw his rebellious daughter into space. But when Seabook Arno activated the "Metal Peal-Off Effect" afterimages of the Gundam F91, Iron Mask could not keep up with the afterimages and ended up attacking his own cockpit with a Tentacle Rod, destroying the Rafflesia and killing himself in the process.[1]

Gallery[]

Character Designs[]

Animation[]

Mobile Suit Gundam F91[]

Gundam Build Fighters[]

Manga[]

Mobile Suit Gundam F90: Fastest Formula[]

Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (Manga)[]

Illustrations & Artwork[]

Games[]

Notes & Trivia[]

  • Iron Mask design is a nod to Darth Vader from Star Wars franchise.

References[]

External Links[]

Gundam F91 characters
Earth Federation Seabook Arno | Cecily Fairchild | Leahlee Edaberry | Birgit Pirjo | Monica Arno | Gruce Erras | Nanto Roos | Manuela Panopa | Cain Sohn | Jessica N'guro | Manu Sofu | Dina Jyok | Kaynee Hahhah | Bardo | Cosmo Eigesse | Elm | Minmi Editoh
Crossbone Vanguard Iron Mask | Cecily Fairchild | Meitzer Ronah | Zabine Chareux | Dorel Ronah | Annamarie Bourget | Gillet Krueger | Theo Fairchild
Civilians Reese Arno | Dwight Camry | George Azuma | Sam Ehrug | Dorothy Moore | Leslie Arno | Nadia Ronah | Bertuo Rodriquez | Migen Maujin | Leah Mariba | Kochun Hein | Arthur Jung | Roy Jung | Robar | Chris
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