“ | "Oh really? Is it because they're neutral? That's just not right, now is it? Not when all the others are risking their lives fighting against Mankind's enemy." | ” |
—Muruta Azrael's opinion on neutrality in war, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Decisive Fire |
Muruta Azrael (ムルタ・アズラエル Muruta Azuraeru?) is a character introduced in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. He is the leader of Blue Cosmos during the First Alliance-PLANT War.
Personality & Character[]
At first glance, Muruta Azrael appears to be a pleasant and calm individual. However, underneath is a man who is willing to go to any lengths to destroy all Coordinators. As the leader of the Blue Cosmos terrorist group, Muruta has no concern for the ideals held by the nations of Earth, neutral or not, believing it was their responsibility to fight against the Coordinators, whom he views them as humanity's "enemies", for the sake of a "blue and pure world" - that is, a world without Coordinators.
Muruta's desire to eliminate Coordinators can cause him to act crazed and malicious, even to his allies. For example, during the Second Battle of Jachin Due, Azrael's maniacal obsession led him to disregard the threat of GENESIS in favor of destroying the PLANT Colonies to cause as many civilian causalities as possible, to which after she turned on him, Natarle Badgiruel commented that Azrael was a "monster". Furthermore, he holds little regard for his subordinates, especially the three Biological CPUs who served under him, as evidenced during the Battle of Mendel, when he told Natarle that since their mobile suits are equipped with Trans-Phase armor, he didn't care if they were hit by friendly fire.[1]
Skills & Abilities[]
Azrael possesses of a high level of charisma, able to convince the upper leadership of the Earth Alliance to disregard the sovereignty of Orb Union to seize its mass driver or to use Neutron Jammer Canceller technology to create nuclear weapons instead of solving Earth's energy crisis.
Physical Aspects & Clothing[]
Muruta Azrael is an adult male with blond hair, blue eyes and pale skin. His normal attire consists of a light blue suit with a purple shirt and a lavender tie.
History[]
Early Life[]
Muruta was born on May 8, 41 C.E. to the wealthy Azrael family in the Atlantic Federation. As a child, Azrael was bullied by Coordinator children, who flaunted their abilities towards the Natural Muruta.[2] He later confronted his mother over why he wasn't a Coordinator, but was slapped in the face as she told him she would never have a child be "a monster" like that.[2] These events led Azrael to develop a deep hatred of Coordinators, that would only continue to grow.[2] His hate led him to join the Anti-Coordinator terrorist group, Blue Cosmos, which he eventually became the leader of.[3][4]
In the following years, Muruta became a significant individual within the Atlantic Federation, obtaining money and influential power through his military corporation, the Azrael Conglomerate and later the Director of the Earth Alliance's National Defense Industry Association.[2]
First Alliance-PLANT War[]
Following the Tragedy of Copernicus and the declaration of war by the Earth Alliance against PLANT, Azrael arranged for Blue Cosmos members to supply the Agamemnon-class carrier Roosevelt with nuclear missiles, prior to its deployment to the Junius colonies for a show of force. On route, Azrael gave the order to fire a nuclear missile at Junius Seven, causing the Bloody Valentine Incident.[5]
On April 1, C.E. 70 ZAFT launched Operation Uroboros and deployed countless Neutron Jammers across Earth and space. With the option of launching further nuclear attacks no longer available, Azrael forwent an active role for the rest of the first year of the war, instead focusing on the Biological CPU program run by Blue Cosmos to develop enhanced soldiers to counter Coordinators.[6] Around this time, Azrael had established a secret communication with ZAFT Commander Rau Le Creuset, who supplied him with information on ZAFT's future actions.
After receiving information from Rau Le Creuset on the true target of Operation Spitbreak,[7] he and his subordinates arranged to place a Cyclops System beneath the JOSH-A base. They also arranged to leave Eurasian Federation troops for base "defense", while the Atlantic Federation personnel were transferred to Panama Base. The remaining personnel left for "defense" were to convince ZAFT forces to move closer to the base so that they would be destroyed by the Cyclops system, crippling ZAFT's fighting strength. The destruction of Eurasian Federation troops also allowed Blue Cosmos (which Azrael controlled) and the Atlantic Federation to dominate the Earth Alliance.[8]
Azrael was later present at a meeting of the Earth Alliance Council, whose officials were extremely disappointed that the Alliance's victory at JOSH-A had become minuscule following the loss of the Panama mass driver, threatening to deplete the stores at their lunar bases. Azrael convinced the Alliance leaders to "request" the Orb Union for use of their mass driver, since it was the only remaining one not under ZAFT's control.[6] He lead the attack on the Orb Union when Uzumi Nara Athha, as he had hoped, refuses their "offer". During the Battle of Orb, he deployed the new GAT-X131 Calamity Gundam, GAT-X252 Forbidden Gundam, and GAT-X370 Raider Gundam, as well as massive numbers of the mass-produced GAT-01 Strike Dagger. Despite the interference of the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam and ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam, Azrael's forces eventually overwhelmed the Orb defenses. Seeing how much resistance Orb was putting up, Azrael commented that it would be better if they just "disappear". Ultimately, Uzumi Nara Athha ordered all remaining Orb forces into space before destroying the mass driver to prevent the Earth Alliance from using it, killing himself and many Orb officials in the process, giving Azrael nothing but another Pyrrhic victory.[3]
Azrael soon took an interest in the Freedom and Justice Gundams, suspecting that they ran on nuclear energy when he notices that the power they displayed was greater than other mobile suits. After the Earth Alliance recaptured the mass driver at Victoria Base, Azrael decided to go into space on board the Dominion with his three Biological CPU pilots to capture either the Freedom or Justice for the Earth Alliance. He met with the Dominion's captain, Natarle Badgiruel, who was previously the XO of the rogue Archangel. Azrael saw that her familiarity with the ship would enable them to destroy the Archangel.[4] They attacked the Archangel at the Battle of Mendel, but were driven back by the two Gundams and the arrival of the Kusanagi.[1]
Azrael took interest in a life pod Le Creuset sent to the Earth Alliance after its occupant, Flay Allster, mentioned that she had the "key" which would end the war. After the Calamity Gundam retrieved the pod, Azrael discovered that the "key" was in fact a data disk containing schematics ZAFT's Neutron Jammer Canceller technology allowing him to exit the battle with his primary objective fulfilled.[9] He convinced top Earth Alliance officials to use nuclear weapons with N-Jammer Cancellers to end the war by eradicating all of the Coordinators, instead of using the technology to solve the Earth's energy crisis, leading to the destruction of the ZAFT fortress Boaz. The Alliance forces then mobilized for the final battle against ZAFT. The bulk of the Alliance fleet engaged the primary ZAFT defense forces stationed at Jachin Due, while the Biological CPU units protected the mobile armors carrying the missiles. However, all missiles were intercepted by the Freedom and Justice.[5]
As the war entered its final stages, Azrael become increasingly desperate to accomplish his goal of genocide, especially after witnessing the destructive power of GENESIS and give the orders to target the civilian PLANTS to inflict the maximum casualty rate to eliminate the threat to Earth. When Natarle objects to these orders, Azrael pulled a gun on her, frightening the other Dominion crew into submission. When the Archangel came into view, he ordered Natarle to destroy the "ship full of traitors" once and for all. However, Flay alerted the Archangel of the impending danger as the Dominion prepared to fire on it. When Azrael prepared to shoot Flay, Natarle intervened, restraining him and ordering the rest of the crew to abandon ship. Azrael shot Natarle during the struggle and prepared to destroy the Archangel himself. When he fired the "Lohengrin", however, the Strike Gundam's pilot Mu La Flaga took the full force of the blast and saved the Archangel, seemingly perishing in the process. In response, the Archangel destroyed the Dominion, vaporizing Azrael and Captain Badgiruel in the process.[10]
Relationships[]
William Sutherland[]
Natarle Badgiruel[]
Boosted Men[]
Rau Le Creuset[]
Quote[]
Gallery[]
Anime[]
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED[]
NOTE: Most of the screencaps on this gallery are the original 4:3 aspect ratio versions of the TV Anime, while some other screencaps, such as the Special Edition/HD Remastered Versions, are either newly animated or featured some additional details. |
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73: STARGAZER[]
Games[]
Notes & Trivia[]
- Muruta Azrael's Japanese voice actor, Nobuyuki Hiyama, is famous for his work in various animated Gundam series, including Shiro Amada in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Papa Sydney Lewis in Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front, as well as Hayato Kobayashi in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation movie compilation.
- A comment made in SEED episode 47 revealed that Azrael was in fact the one who ordered the nuclear missile fired at Junius 7 causing the Bloody Valentine Incident, thus making Azrael (and by extension, Blue Cosmos) responsible for the entire war.[5]
- Gundam SEED Destiny episode 33 reveals that he has a relative named Bruno Azrael, who is a military industrialist belonging to the conglomerate Logos, an entity that functions in principal for Blue Cosmos.
- Azrael is the Hebrew and Arabic name of the angel of death.
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Special Edition provided a basis for Azrael's loathing of Coordinators. As a child, he was beaten up by an arrogant Coordinator of similar age, and when he asked his mother why she didn't make him a Coordinator, she slapped him.
- This flashback was later added to the HD Remaster version of Trembling World.
- Azrael made a cameo appearance in the SEED Destiny ONA, C.E. 73 Stargazer, one of which was in Sven Cal Bayang's flashback of being in an anti-Coordinator training camp. Here, Azrael oversaw the training of Sven and others, but apparently came into conflict with Sven's training officer.
- In the GBA game, Gundam SEED Destiny: Battle Assault, the player may encounter Azrael as the shop keeper rather than Lacus, selling every boss unit (Providence Gundam, Gundam Astray Gold Frame Amatsu Mina, Freedom Gundam, Justice Gundam, and Astray Red Frame) for 10,000 points. He appears randomly at a very small chance, but if the player wants to encounter him, they can keep going in and out of the shop and will eventually see him.
- Murata Azrael's role is a combination of Gihren Zabi and Jamitov Hymen where as William Sutherland takes on the role of Bask Om due to their affiliation with Earth.
- In the english dub of the HD Remaster, his given name, ムルタ, is rendered as "Multa," possibly from the italian word for fine/sanction.
Appearances[]
- Television Series
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
- PHASE-32, In the Promised Land
- First Mentioned
- PHASE-34, Seen and Unseen
- Mentioned only
- PHASE-38, Decisive Fire
- First Appearance
- PHASE-39, Athrun
- PHASE-40, Into the Dawn Skies
- PHASE-41, Trembling World
- PHASE-42, Lacus Strikes
- PHASE-43, What Stands in the Way
- PHASE-44, Spiral of Encounters
- PHASE-45, The Opening Door
- PHASE-46, A Place for the Soul
- PHASE-47, The Nightmare Reborn
- PHASE-48, Day of Wrath
- PHASE-49, The Final Light
- Decease
- PHASE-32, In the Promised Land
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
- PHASE-01, Angry Eyes
- Flashback(s) Only
- PHASE-20, Past
- PHASE-01, Angry Eyes
- OVAs and ONAs
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73: STARGAZER
- Episode 2, STAGE 2
- Flashback(s) Only
- Episode 2, STAGE 2
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-44, Spiral of Encounters
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-41, Trembling World
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-40, Into the Dawn Skies
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-43, What Stands in the Way
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-47, The Nightmare Reborn
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-38, Decisive Fire
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-34, Seen and Unseen
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-35, The Descending Sword
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-46, A Place for the Soul
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-49, The Final Light