The MS-14A Gelgoog (ゲルググ, Gerugugu) was the last mass-production mobile suit fielded by the Principality of Zeon during the One Year War.
Technology & Combat Characteristics
A high-performance mobile suit produced by the Zeonic Company, the MS-14A Gelgoog is the result of Zeon's attempt to field a mass-production unit that can rival the performance of Earth Federation's RX-78-2 Gundam. It was equipped with a full-sized shield, a twin beam sword (also referred to as a "beam naginata") and a beam rifle, a first for a Zeon mobile suit. The Gelgoog has superior specifications in every aspect to the MS-06F Zaku II and even the MS-09R Rick Dom.
Armaments
- Twin Beam Sword
- The twin beam sword, also known as a beam naginata, is the MS-14A Gelgoog's main close combat weapon. Its handle is about the length of two beam saber hilts and has a beam emitter at both ends, allowing it to generate two beam blades by containing and shaping plasma via an I-Field. The weapon can cut through most armor not treated with anti-beam coating. It can also generate only a beam blade on one end. When not in use, it is stored on the back.
- Beam Rifle
- The MS-14A Gelgoog is the first mass produced Principality of Zeon mobile suit to be equipped with a beam rifle. It was developed by incorporating the Federation's technical data on Energy CAP technology that Zeon obtained via Side 6. Its power rivals the beam rifle used by the RX-78-2 Gundam.
- M-120A1 120mm Machine Gun
- Also referred to as a "rifle" by Zeon soldiers, Zeonic was contracted to develop this weapon. Its internal development code is "ZMC38III". It can switch between semi-automatic and automatic fire. Although useless against Luna Titanium Alloy, it can still destroy weaker armor material with multiple shots.
- Prototype Beam Rifle
- One of the prototype beam rifles developed in parallel with the Gelgoog. It has a unique cooling system for the generation of a high output beam so as to reduce the beam attenuation effect in the atmosphere. Although powerful, its energy conversion efficiency is poor, requiring time to recharge. Since it was intended to be used on the ground, it is prone to overheating when used in space.
- H&L-GB05R/360mm Giant Bazooka
- A large bazooka originally used by the MS-09R Rick Dom. The bazooka is fed by a 10 rounds magazine, and a single round can blow the torso off of an enemy mobile suit.
- 380mm Giant Bazooka
- Utilized by a refurbished Gelgoog operated by the Blue Team of the African Liberation Front in U.C.0088. This large bazooka is originally used by MS-09G Dwadge. It is fed by a 5 rounds magazine, and a single round can blow the torso off of an enemy mobile suit. Its barrel is fitted with a thermal covering to reduce distortion due to heat.
- 360mm Bullpup Rocket Cannon
- A short barrel bullpup-style rocket cannon, it is magazine-fed and launches rocket-propelled shape charges.
- Beam Machine Gun
- A hand-carried beam weapon originally used by the AMS-119 Geara Doga, it is powered by a replaceable e-pac. The beam machine gun was used by The Sleeves' Gelgoog.
- Large Beam Machine Gun
- A weapon that is more powerful than a regular beam rifle. It is possible to fire a pulsed beam, and the destructive power is prioritized over the penetration force. In the case of a single shot, the target can be destroyed with high accuracy because the kinetic energy of the beam is less likely to decay. The sights are also exceptional.
- Shield
- The shield is a thick sheet of armor designed to take severe punishment that would normally destroy a mobile suit, and has an anti-beam coating to protect against beam attacks. Typically, physical shields can only take so much damage before they succumb to the pressure and break. The Gelgoog's shield is arm-mounted and can be stored on the back when not in use.
- Guardian Shield
- Wielded by a trio of Gelgoogs in episode 12 of Gundam Build Divers, it is the same shield as used by the RGM-79HC GM Guard Custom. The guardian shield is composed of five layers of composite armor made of four different alloy materials. The shield also has anti-beam coating on its surface to defend against beam weaponry. To increase the guardian shield's combat effectiveness, it also mounts a pair of vulcan guns.
Special Equipment & Features
- Sand Hose
- Used by Masai N'gava's Gelgoog, the sand sprayed from this large hose blinds the enemy, making it difficult to close in and attack, even from range.
History
One Year War
By the middle of the One Year War, the Principality of Zeon was well aware that the Earth Federation Forces was researching and developing mobile suits to counter the Zeon's army of mobile suits. Despite Zeon's advanced mobile suit technology, the appearance of the RX-78-2 Gundam with its beam rifle technology followed by the mass production RGM-79 GMs equipped with the beam spray gun quickly negated Zeon's advantage.
The Zeonic company decided that it needed to incorporate the vastly superior beam weapons into its mobile suit designs. So, when the plans for the new mobile suit (MS-11 Gelgoog) showed up, they redesigned the plans to be able to use beam weapons. The project utilized development data from the MS-06R-2 Zaku II High Mobility Type, which lost to Zimmad's MS-09R Rick Dom as Zeon's mainstay space combat MS. The plans for the original "MS-11 Gelgoog" only allowed it to use ballistic weapons like the machine gun, and its power output was unable to handle beam weapon. This problem was solved after some redesigning. Removing the designation "MS-11" and shifting it to the Pezun Project's MS-11 Action Zaku, they redesignated the new mobile suit "MS-14", but retained the name. The initial production Gelgoog is known as the YMS-14 Gelgoog. The United Maintenance Plan was implemented during production of the Gelgoog.[1] The Gelgoog was mainly produced at Granada and A Baoa Qu, with some documents describing the overall number of units being 738.
While the Gelgoog was the most powerful production-type MS of the One Year War by a considerable margin, matching or slightly exceeding the Earth Federation's RX-78-2 Gundam unit, it was never produced in the numbers required to counter the sheer numbers of RGM-79 GMs that walked off the production lines before the end of the war. Full deployment of the Gelgoog was delayed due to full-scale production of the new beam rifle, resulting in only 67 machines participating in the decisive battle of A Baoa Qu.[2]
The last major problem with the Gelgoog was that it had mainly rookie pilots inside the cockpits, as most of Zeon's more experienced pilots had been killed in earlier battles. These novice pilots had seen little or no combat before the Battle of A Baoa Qu, and could not use their Gelgoogs effectively enough to counter the Federation's less powerful GM models, piloted by skilled veterans of the Battle of Solomon. One customized unit was operated by Erik Blanke, unfortunate for Erik he would have an encounter with the Federation's White Devil and his Gelgoog would be damaged, before he could be killed however, the pilot would disengage the battle with him, to pursue the MSN-02 Zeong.
After the war, some units were taken by the Federation to serve as high-performance aggressor trainer units, while others escaped into deep space with various Zeon remnants. Some examples of old MS-14 Gelgoog units survived postwar in museums.
Gryps Conflict
In U.C. 0087, an abandoned Gelgoog was discovered aboard a derelict Gwazine by the crew of the Argama during a battle with Titans pilot Yazan Gable and his mobile suit, the ORX-005 Gaplant. The Gelgoog was boarded by Katz Kobayashi, who quickly hotwired the controls just enough to fire off a single shot from its beam rifle. The Gelgoog's beam naginata was later taken by Yazan's Gaplant to fight against the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam, but proved inferior to the latter's beam saber. The Gelgoog was eventually salvaged and refurbished using internal parts from an MSA-003 Nemo, but its appearance remains the same as a normal Gelgoog. Although it was unfit for battle, the Gelgoog was used by AUEG pilot Reccoa Londe as a reconnaissance unit, and also to power the FHA-03M1 Mega Bazooka Launcher.
First Neo Zeon War
In U.C. 0088 one refurbished unit was used by the Blue Team of the African Liberation Front rebel group, and painted in their distinctive light blue-on-blue colors.
Third Neo Zeon War
In U.C. 0096, a number of these mobile suits were used by Neo Zeon remnants, "The Sleeves" . These unit were repainted in a new color scheme and given the distinctive markings featured on many of the mobile suits used by the group.
Variants
- MS-14A Gelgoog (Stutzer)
- MS-14B Gelgoog High Mobility Type
- MS-14C Gelgoog Cannon
- MS-14D Desert Gelgoog
- MS-14F Gelgoog Marine
- MS-14G Gelgoog Ground Type
- MS-14Jg Gelgoog Jäger
- MS-14A Gelgoog Rainer Cziommer Custom
- A customized Gunpla built and operated by Rainer Cziommer, its painted in his personal colors and equipped with the MRC-F20 SUMO's flight booster.
Gallery
Lineart
.jpg "MS-14(HERBERT VON KUSPEN´S GELGOOG).jpg (966 KB)")
Anime
_Close-Up_01_(0083_Ep1).png "Gelgoog (Gato Colors) Close-Up 01 (0083 Ep1).png (2.73 MB)")
.png "Gelgoog Being Rebuilt with Nemo Parts 01 (Zeta Ep28).png (8.41 MB)")
.png "Gelgoog Full Body 01 (Zeta Ep28).png (6.37 MB)")
Illustrations & Manga
Games
Gunpla
_Ver.2.0.jpg "MG Gelgoog (Anavel Gato Custom) Ver.2.0.jpg (41 KB)")
Action Figures
Notes and Trivia
- At one point during Mobile Suit Gundam's production, the Gelgoog was named the Gyan.[3]
- Different sources listed the model number of Gato's Gelgoog as MS-14A, MS-14S, and YMS-14. Also, the one-shot manga Gundam 0079 - Nightmare of Solomon (included in Go! Go! Our V Gundam!!) has Gato piloting a Gelgoog of the same color but with a blade antenna, called MS-14H Gelgoog (Prototype Beam Rifle Equipment), during the battle of Solomon. While the prototype beam rifle later appeared in various model kits, the model number of Gato's Gelgoog remained as MS-14A.
- Though the prototype beam rifle depicted in the manga had a unique design, it was retconned into the same type of beam rifle used by the MS-14G Gelgoog Ground Type in the Master Grade model kit. The original beam rifle was included in the Robot Damashii kit for Gato's Gelgoog.
References
- ↑ 1/100 MG MS-14 Gelgoog Ver. 2.0
- ↑ HG 1/144 Regelgu manual
- ↑ http://gundam.aeug.org/archives/1999/01/1156.html
See Also
External Links
