“ | Remember, a rotten seabream is still a seabream, but a rotten soldier... is worse than a stray dog. | ” |
—Monique Cadillac reveals to her thoughts on Demeziere Sonnen's self-degradation to Oliver May.[1] |
Monique Cadillac (モニク・キャディラック Moniku Kyadirakku?) is a main character from the OVA Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO.
Background[]
Cadillac is an officer who belongs to the Peenemünde Agency within Zeon's Supreme Commander Office governed by Gihren Zabi.[2] She was dispatched to the support Jotunheim as the political officer for The 603rd Technical Evaluation Unit. Being an officer of Supreme Commander Office, Cadillac holds the rank of Special Operation Captain, which is two ranks higher than regular Zeon military and is equivalent to a Lieutenant Colonel.[3]. As such, she is on equal footing with Jotunheim's captain Martin Prochnow, and occasionally overrule the latter in matters related to the 603rd's operations.
Personality & Character[]
Cadillac is brash and high-spirited, believing she would be able to to fulfill the evaluation mission of QCX-76A Jormungand battle cannon given by the Supreme Commander's Office during the Battle of Loum, and she intimidates the Jotunheim crew at first. However, once she realizes the Jormungand evaluation was a cover for Zeon's mobile suits force for the battle and the 603rd was not taken seriously from the start, Cadillac begins to integrate with the Jotunheim crew and works diligently for subsequent evaluation missions.
Cadillac is also sarcastic and sharp-tongued, likening the Jotunheim to a pencil case much to the chagrin of Prochnow who has been a long-serving captain of the space cargo ship.[4] She spares no kind words to 603rd's test pilots, either, labeling Demeziere Sonnen "worse than a stray dog" due to his self-degradation,[5] and calling Jean-Luc Duvall "a clown" for hiding the true intent of EMS-10 Zudah's evaluation as Zeon's propaganda war.[6]This is because Cadillac holds high standard in her work, and she does not tolerate any tarnishing of Zeon Military's reputation.
In addition, Cadillac is not afraid to make bold decisions which is critical to the fortunes of Zeon forces as well as Jotunheim crew, as evidenced by her call for an impromptu re-evaluation of Zudah[7] aiming to save as many stranded Zeon soldiers at the Earth orbit as possible from E.F.F.'s attack and later, confronting Col. Herbert von Kuspen to face the reality of Zeon's defeat at A Baoa Qu and to sortie and support the Kuspen Battalion at the E-Field,[8] which ultimately saved the lives of many Oggo pilots as well as Oliver May, the 603rd's weapon evaluator and test pilot of Big Rang mobile armor.
Skills & Abilities[]
Cadillac's bureaucratic ability is manifested by her military rank attained at a relatively young age. Being from Gihren Zabi's Supreme Commander Office, Cadillac has prior knowledge of Zeon's military operations, including Operation British.[9]
Cadillac is also a skilled mobile weapon pilot, evidenced by her piloting of the Komusai during the 603rd's re-evaluation of YMT-05 Hildolfr in North America, as well as piloting a reserved unit of Zudah to rescue Zeon forces returned from Odessa and stranded at the Earth orbit. During the Battle of A Baoa Qu she sorties in the reserved Zudah unit once more and provides support for Oliver May and the Big Rang mobile armor to fence off E.F.F.'s attack in the E-Field. Despite her Zudah was severely damaged, she is able to rescue May and return to the Jotunheim safely.
History[]
The Hidden One Year War[]
"The Vanishing Serpent of Loum"[]
Monique Cadillac was assigned to the Jotunheim as the 603rd Technical Evaluation Unit's political officer. She immediately showed disdain towards the ship, mockingly calling it a "pencil case". Being a member of the office of the Supreme Commander, she was the only member of the ship who knew about Operation British beforehand, justifying it by saying that surprise attack is a tried-and-true strategy. She is utterly disappointed when the Jormungand evaluation was overshadowed by waves of Zeon's mobile suits as the main force in the Battle of Loum.
"Howls Stained in Dusk"[]
Monique expressed strong disdain towards Demeziere Sonnen, whom she knew during his days as a tank instructor, disappointed at his self-degradation after he failed to become a mobile suit pilot.
During the drop to the 67th Supply Depot in Arizona, North America, Monique Cadillac pilots a Komusai with Oliver May transporting the YMT-05 Hildolfr along with Sonnen. The Komusai was attacked by the Zaku IIs being stolen and used by E.F.F.'s Semovente Corps. In order to prevent the Komusai from crashing, Sonnen told Oliver May to airdrop the Hildolfr onto the enemy so that he may engage them. After Sonnen was killed in the ensuring battle, Cadillac, despite her harsh words toward Sonnen earlier, still expressed sadness at his death.
"Dance of the Orbital Ghosts"[]
The Jotunheim responds to the distress call of Earth orbit-stranding Zeon forces retreated from Odessa, and Cadillac sorties in a Zudah reserve unit to engage the incoming Federation forces along with Jean Luc Duvall and Hideto Washiya. Duvall and Washiya take on the RB-79 Balls while Monique helps a J Type Zaku to reach safety. At the same time a squad of RGM-79 GMs open fire on the Jotunheim. Duvall then flies around them and leads them away from the HLVs. May tells Cadillac to bring back Duvall and keep an eye on her Zudah's engine, but she tells him she doesn't have time for that. Duvall pushes his Zudah's engine to the limit, forcing the GMs to push themselves to the limit to keep up. One of the GMs falls back due to engine problems, and Cadillac's Zudah shoots and destroys it before her Zudah's engine reaches the limit and she shuts it down. The three remaining GMs overload and explode, followed by Duvall's Zudah overexerts and explodes in the Earth orbit.
Apocalypse 0079[]
In the Skies of Jaburo, I Saw the Sea[]
Cadillac was irked by the unruly behavior of 2nd. Lt. Werner Holbein, the test pilot of the Mobile Diver System with its core unit MSM-07Di Ze'Gok. Believing the Zeon Marine is unreliable, Cadillac did not hold much hope of the Ze'Gok's evaluation missions until its third and final mission, when the Ze'Gok destroyed all five E.F.F.'s space battleships ascending from Jaburo headquarter. At the request of Prochnow, Cadillac investigated Holbein's past and revealed the latter's oft-mentioned grandfather actually died at a hospital in Side 3 instead of died at the sea on Earth while hunting sharks as told by Holbein.
"Cross the Path of Light"[]
Upon arriving at A Baoa Qu, the Jotunheim is visited by Col. Herbert von Kuspen who immediately tries to assume command of the ship as Kuspen Battalion's commander but meets resistance from both Cadillac and Prochnow. The Kuspen Battalion is then reinforced with some of the "Principality's elite soldiers" — which turns out to be a group of teenage cadets. To Cadillac's shock, her own younger brother Erwin was part of the group. At Granada airspace they run into a small E.F.F. force, and Erwin leads a squad of three MP-02A Oggos to engage in combat. The fierce fighting ends with Erwin's Oggo and a RB-79 Ball remaining with both pf their weapons malfunctioned. Though Edwin managed to convince the Ball pilot to surrender, an errant shot from a Salamis-class killed them both. Cadillac breaks down and cries at her brother's death.
"Spirits Returning to Thunder"[]
When the Jotunheim encounters a vanguard detachment of the E.F.F. fleet at A Baoa Qu's E-Field, Cadillac and Kuspen sortie in their mobile suits to assist Oliver May, who pilots the Big Rang mobile armor. Despite their combined efforts inflicted heavy casualties on the first wave of E.F.F. attack, the Kuspen Battalion was eventually overwhelmed with the destruction of Big Rang and Kuspen being killed. As the retreating Jotunheim crew mourn the loss of their colleagues, a small group of surviving Zeon mobile weapons approaches, among them is Oliver May being rescued and held by Cadillac's Zudah.
Operation Stardust[]
After the war, Monique Cadillac, along with Hideto Washiya and Oliver May, escaped to the asteroid base Axis. She continued her job as an engineer, helping to transport the AMX-002 Neue Ziel from Axis. She explained that because Axis had a treaty of neutrality with the federation, the asteroid and Neo Zeon would be unable to help the Delaz Fleet - despite the fact that "a great many" endorsed the fleet's actions. She claimed that she still supported the cause of spacenoids.[10]
Monique Cadillac, upon hearing that Nina Purpleton was onboard, was intrigued by an Anaheim engineer and sought her out. [11] Nina and Poral Guilish had ended up on an Axis Zeon cruiser while seeking out Anavel Gato, and Cadillac mistakenly believed that they had joined to collaborate with Neo Zeon. Discussions with Nina Purpleton on the Neue Ziel indicated that the mobile armor couldn't contain its reactor output, but that it could be repaired at an Anaheim Electronics facility.[12] This turned out to be La Vie en Rose. Cadillac and Purpleton boarded La Vie En Rose and convinced the staff to allow them to use the facility as a manner of "humanitarian aid to improve the Neue Ziel. This was done in secrecy as at the same time, the Federation arrived to take control of RX-78GP03S Gundam "Stamen".
In the aftermath, Nina requested Monique take her to Gato. Monique refused, citing that Nina was a civilian.
La Vie En Rose came under attack by Delaz Fleet forces , and Gato retrieved the Neue Ziel. Monique ordered the rest of her team to collect as much data as possible about from the Neue Ziel's combat and return it to Axis, in order to better develop weapons for Neo Zeon. May, Cadillac, and Washiya stayed with Delaz after the delivery and first sorties in order to continue gathering data on the Ziel.[13] Cima Garou's seizure of the Gwaden complicated their mission, as the three weapons-testers were part of Axis and forbidden from intervening, but Oliver May recommended that they stay on to continue gathering data.[14]
Monique felt great discomfort seeing a colony drop, even though she agreed with the ideals of Neo Zeon. Monique felt extremely troubled; she felt that the longer she worked as a soldier, the more desensitized to death she became. It scared her, and made her think about losing her brother.[15]
After witnessing the destruction of the Neue Ziel and the colony drop, Monique, Washiya, and May returned to Axis with the data, seeking to develop ever-larger mobile armors for Neo Zeon. Cadillac, however, had fostered a growing relationship with Kurena Hacksell during her visit to La Vie en Rose, and was eager to have Anaheim Electronics's collaboration going forward. Cadillac would propose a joint mobile suit development project with Anaheim Electronics, one which would eventually yield impressive results for Neo Zeon.[16]
Gallery[]
Lineart[]
Anime[]
Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO: The Hidden One Year War[]
Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO: Apocalypse 0079[]
Novelization[]
Manga[]
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 Rebellion[]
Games[]
Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren's Greed[]
Gundam War[]
Mobile Suit Gundam Card Builder[]
SD Gundam G Generation Genesis[]
Gundam Breaker Mobile[]
Notes and Trivia[]
- According to the novelization, Monique Cadillac's personality was modeled after the dog of MS Igloo director Takashi Imanishi. Her last name was derived from the American automobile brand.
- Despite being a military officer, Monique's uniform closely assembles to that of Cecilia Irene, the personal secretary of Gihren Zabi, Zeon's wartime Supreme Commander. This may explain Monique's origin as a high ranking official from Zeon's Supreme Commander Palace.
Reference[]
External Links[]
- ↑ Howls Stained in Dusk
- ↑ (December 2009) 機動戦士ガンダム MS IGLOO Mission Complete (in Japanese). 竹書房, 120. ISBN 9784812440933.
- ↑ The Vanishing Serpent of Loum
- ↑ The Vanishing Serpent of Loum
- ↑ Howls Stained in Dusk
- ↑ Dance the Orbital Ghosts
- ↑ Dance of the Orbital Ghosts
- ↑ Spirits Returning to the Cries of Thunder
- ↑ The Vanishing Serpent of Loum
- ↑ Stardust Rebeelion 10, p 4
- ↑ Stardust Rebellion 10, p48
- ↑ Stardust Rebellion 10, p78
- ↑ Stardust Rebellion 11, 150
- ↑ Stardust Rebellion 12
- ↑ Rebellion 14
- ↑ Rebellion 16, 135