MMS-01 Serpent

MMS-01 Serpent
MMS-01 Serpent (MMS-01~Mariemaia Army, OZ-17MS~United Earth Sphere Alliance サーペント)
Unit Type
Mass Production Heavy Mobile Suit
Profile
Developed from	OZ-06MS Leo
Produced Units	500
First Seen	December, 196 A.C.
Manufacturer	Barton Foundation
Operator	Mariemaia Army Coalition of Volunteers
Known Pilots	Trowa Barton
General Characteristics
Head Height	16.6 meters54.462 ft <br />653.543 in <br />
Empty Weight	8.6 metric tons
Power-plant	Ultracompact Fusion Reactor
Power Output	2998 kW4,020.384 hp <br />
Pilot Accommodations	Pilot only (in cockpit in torso)
Armor	Neo-Titanium Alloy
Movement
Rocket Thrusters	72030 kg158,798.923 lb <br />79.399 tons <br />
Equipment
Standard	Storage Rack
Optional	Parachute
Standard Armaments
Fixed	2 x 8-tube Missile Launcher
Handheld	Double Gatling Gun Bazooka Beam Cannon
Real World
Mechanical Designer	Hajime Katoki
Appearances*
Television	GBF GBFT GBD
Movie	Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz
Manga	Wing: EW(M)

MMS-01 Serpent is a mass-produced mobile suit used by the Mariemaia Army and was introduced in the OVA/movie New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz.

Technology & Combat Characteristics

A direct successor to the OZ-06MS Leo, the MMS-01 Serpent was designed with the intention of being usable both on Earth and in space without having to switch equipment, as the importance of space combat became much more apparent after the appearance of the Operation Meteor Gundams. The only fixed armament of the Serpent were a pair of shoulder-mounted 8-tube missile launchers. The suit could also carry a variety of hand weapons, including a bazooka, a beam cannon, and a double Gatling gun similar to the ones carried by the XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Custom EW. However, the Serpent lacked any close combat weapons, putting it at a disadvantage if any enemy was able to come into close proximity. Defense wise, the Serpent was built using an alloy known as Neo-Titanium, a material that is half the weight and twice as strong as conventional Titanium alloys. The Serpent's cockpit is identical to the Leo's aside from enhanced targeting and lock-on systems, allowing its pilot to better make use of the suit's weapons.

Armaments

• 8-tube Missile Launcher

Medium-sized missiles equipped on both shoulders. When not in use, the shoulder armor closes up, concealing the missiles. It is the only fixed armament installed on the mobile suit. They possess enough power to destroy a OZ-06MS Leo-class MS.

• Double Gatling Gun

A double-barreled Gatling gun nearly-identical to the ones used by the XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Custom EW. When not being used, it is attached to the storage rack on the back of the mobile suit. Unlike the Heavyarms Custom EW, most Serpents only carried one Double Gatling Gun. It was originally intended to be equipped with another firearm, but the production line was changed by the transition to the Barton Foundation.

• Bazooka

A weapon of destructive force that is held over the shoulder of the Serpent when firing. It is stored on the storage rack on the back of the mobile suit when not being used.

• Beam Cannon

A handheld beam weapon, it is stored on the storage rack on the back of the mobile suit when not being used. While it does not have a high rate of fire, the cannon makes up for it with sheer power. It was derived from the beam cannons of the OZ-13MSX1 Vayeate and OZ-02MD Virgo (or the mega beam cannon of the OZ-00MS2B Tallgeese III, according to earlier sources). The round parts at the back of the cannon is the generator.

Special Equipment & Features

• Storage Rack

An easy-to-reach storage rack placed on the back of the mobile suit. It holds the double gatling gun, bazooka, and the beam cannon when they are not needed in battle.

• Parachute

Optional equipment used for atmospheric descent, attached to the back.

History

After the appearance of the Gundams, the United Earth Sphere Alliance began developing the Serpent at the L3 colony of X-18999 and prepared to mass produce it there as well, an effort apparently funded by the Barton Foundation. However, when the war ended in A.C. 195, its development was halted. Taking advantage of the post-war chaos, the Barton Foundation took over the production lines. Since then, the Barton Foundation began secretly mass producing the Serpent with the reconstruction budget of X-18999, to be used in an attack on the now-pacifistic Earth Sphere Unified Nation. 500 Serpent units were produced in total.

Trowa Barton briefly piloted a Serpent while infiltrating the Mariemaia Army, although he abandoned it in favor of his Gundam after escaping X-18999. In Brussels, the Tallgeese III and Noin's Taurus, as well as three Gundams (Deathscythe Hell, Heavyarms, Sandrock) fought a hard battle against more than four hundred Serpents. The Gundams and the Preventer mobile suits managed to disable most of the Serpents, leaving only around fifty, before exhausting their energy and ammunition. Following the death of Dekim Barton, the remaining Serpents dropped their weapons and surrendered.

After the end of the rebellion, Quatre mentioned that the Winner Family planned to melt down all remaining Serpents into Neo-Titanium and use them to reinforce colony walls.

Gallery

Linearts

Front and rear view (Color)

Front view (Black & White)

Rear view (Black & White)

8-tube Missile Launcher

Bazooka

Beam Cannon

Animation

Close up (Endless Waltz OVA 1)

Aiming Double Gatling Gun (Endless Waltz OVA 1)

Firing Double Gatling Gun (Endless Waltz OVA 1)

Lauching Missiles (Endless Waltz OVA 2)

Firing Beam Cannon (Endless Waltz OVA 3)

Firing Bazooka (Endless Waltz OVA 3)

Opening missile launchers

Giant Musha Gundam with Serpent (left) (from Gundam Build Fighters Try)

Illustration & Artwork

Serpents landing in Brussels (Gundam Perfect File)

Games

Trowa's Serpent from Gundam War card game

As featured in SD Gundam G Generation World/Overworld

As seen in Super Robot Wars Z3 Tengoku Hen

Fan Art

Equipped with Double Gatling Gun

Equipped with Bazooka

Equipped with Beam Cannon

CG rendered

Gunpla

1/144 HG Fighting Action MMS-01 Serpent Custom (1998): box art

1/144 HG Fighting Action MMS-01 Serpent Custom Special Edition (1998): box art

1/100 HG MMS-01 Serpent Custom (1998): box art

1/100 HG MMS-01 Serpent Custom featured in Model Graphix magazine

1/100 HG MMS-01 Serpent Custom (Model Graphix)

1/100 HG MMS-01 Serpent Custom (Model Graphix)

1/100 HG MMS-01 Serpent Custom (Model Graphix)

1/100 Serpent　Second (non-canon) model conversion based on 1/100 HG MMS-01 Serpent Custom

Notes and Trivia

• The origin of the Serpent is unclear. In Endless Waltz, Mariemaia referred to them as "Christmas presents" entrusted to her by Treize, implying that it was developed by OZ. The Endless Waltz novelization seemingly supported this by stating that Neo-Titanium, the Serpent's armor material, was developed by the Romefeller Foundation. However, the No Grade 1/100 Serpent instruction manual explicitly stated that it was developed by the United Earth Sphere Alliance military.
• The Serpent's name is derived from "Serpentarius" which is a reference to "Ophiuchus" being the thirteenth Zodiac sign, which is recognized by astronomers but not used in astrology.
• The Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Technical Manual mentions that the Serpent has a beam saber, however, they were never seen using it, and this was not mentioned in any other sources. The Serpent is only seen using the beam saber in several Super Robot Wars games.
• Super Robot Wars W is a very rare case where the Federation uses the Serpent after they are confiscated from the Mariemaia Army. The Serpent’s are primarily used by the Eurasian Federation from Gundam Seed.
• In Super Robot Wars W the player may buy the Serpent for their own use. It’s pilotable by Gundam Wing Characters only. Super Robot Wars Z3 Jigoku-hen has the Serpent as a secret unit after certain requirements are met. After being met the player MUST buy the Serpent; like in W it’s pilotable by Wing Characters only. In its sequel Tengoku-hen the Serpent is already a unlocked unit.

References

Gundam Perfect File data