Template:Infobox/Mobile Weapon Ver.2 The ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warrior is a ZAFT Armed Keeper of Unity series Mobile Suit used by ZAFT in the Cosmic Era universe.
Technology & Combat Characteristics
A mass production mobile suit created after the first war, the ZAKU Warrior's performance is superior to the GAT-X series fielded by the Earth Alliance during the war. Developed from the nuclear-powered ZGMF-X999A ZAKU Mass Production Trial Type which was cancelled as it violated the Junius Treaty's prohibition of military use of Neutron Jammer Cancellers, the Zaku Warrior runs on conventional battery system to comply with the treaty. The Phase Shift armor used in the ZAKU Mass Production Trial Type is dropped, but the ZAKU Warrior's armor is robust and can withstand atmospheric entry with help from its shoulder shield.
Besides the shoulder shield, the Zaku Warrior also has a beam tomahawk stored in the shield for close combat, a beam assault rifle for ranged combat, and four mobile suit sized hand grenades which are available in different types. It can also use the same handheld armaments as the ZGMF-1017 GINN. To deal with the limit on mobile suit numbers per superpower imposed by the Junius Treaty, ZAFT also designed the ZAKU Warrior to mount Wizard Packs to adapt to different combat and even non-combat roles. Commanders and ace pilots are usually assigned the higher performance variant, the ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Phantom.
Armaments
- Shoulder Shield
- A distinctive shield mounted on the left shoulder, leaving both hands free to hold weapons. Large enough to protect the torso, the shield has an anti-beam coating and three spikes for use in melee combat. The shield's back has hardpoints for mounting two spare magazines for the beam assault rifle. It also stores the beam tomahawk, which slides out of a slot near the top of the shield when deployed, grip first.
- MA-M8 Beam Tomahawk
- An axe-shaped weapon that emits a curved beam blade, it is the ZAKU Warrior's primary close combat weapon and can also be thrown.
- MMI-M633 Beam Assault Rifle
- The primary ranged weaponry of the ZAKU series, this beam firearm's design emphasizes destructive power and rapid-fire capabilities. Its accuracy is lowered somewhat as a result, but the scattering of its beam shots allows for simultaneous attack of multiple targets. Unlike most beam rifles, it does not draw power from the mobile suit's battery. Instead, the rifle is powered by the energy stored in a replaceable drum-type magazine. When not in use, this weapon could be stored on the back waist armor.
- Hand Grenade
- Four hand grenades are stored on the suit's side skirt armor. Several different types can be carried, including fragmentation, high-explosive, and smoke grenades.
- M68 "Cattus" 500mm Recoilless Rifle
- First used by the GINN, the "Cattus" is similar in design to a bazooka and can fire various types of rounds depending on the magazine used. Typically, the "Cattus" is reserved for larger more heavily armored targets such as battleships. This weapon is used by pilots in aquatic combat, since beam weaponry is ineffective underwater.
Special Equipment & Features
- The key feature of the ZAKU Warrior is its ability to equip additional equipment in the form of Wizard packs. Each Wizard pack is designed to outfit the suit with the equipment needed to fulfill specific combat roles or non combat roles with maximum efficiency.
History
After the end of the first war and the signing of the Junius Treaty, a new generation of mobile suits was needed by ZAFT to cope with the technological and numerical restrictions placed on the superpowers as part of the treaty. To that end, a competition was held to determine the first MS in the "New Millennium Series" of next generation mass production MS, the ZAKU series's ZAKU Warrior participated and defeated the ZGMF-XX09T DOM Trooper Original Spec Type and the initial GOUF Ignited design. Despite fielding many ZAKU Warriors and its higher performance sibling, the ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Phantoms, in the second war, older machines like GINNs, CGUEs, DINNs, BuCUEs, and ZGMF-601R GuAIZ Rs were still widely used.
ZAFT's policy allows for certain elite pilots to paint their ZAKUs in their own custom color schemes. Examples of this include Lunamaria Hawke's red ZGMF-1000/A1 Gunner ZAKU Warrior and the ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Phantoms of Rey Za Burrel, Yzak Joule, Heine Westenfluss, Dearka Elsman, and Riika Sheder, painted white, blue, orange, black, and purple, respectively. In addition, one ZAKU Warrior has been specially painted in a distinctive pink color scheme as the "Live Concert Version", for use as a stage prop in Meer Campbell's concert tour. This particular unit was later deployed for combat during the the Battle of Messiah.
Variants
- ZGMF-1000/A1 Gunner ZAKU Warrior
- ZGMF-1000/M Blaze ZAKU Warrior
- ZGMF-1000/K Slash ZAKU Warrior
- ZGMF-1000/AAL Noctiluca ZAKU Warrior
- ZGMF-1000 Hospital ZAKU Warrior
- ZGM-1000/R4 Command ZAKU CCI
- ZGMF-1000 Kerberos ZAKU Warrior
Gallery
.png "ZAKU Warrior (Meer).png (430 KB)")
.jpg "ZAKU(bazooka).jpg (768 KB)")
Gunpla
_Cover.png "HG Zaku Warrior (Live Concert Version) Cover.png (297 KB)")
Notes & Trivia
- The Zaku Warrior is the Cosmic Era parallel to the Universal Century's MS-06 Zaku II, with the main armaments having slightly similar appearances but significantly different properties. (i.e. the Zaku II's M-120A1 is a shell-firing machine gun, whereas the Zaku Warrior's MMI-M633 is a beam weapon)
- In Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Battle Destiny, a mission the Another arc called "ZAFT's Protectors" entails battling waves of regular Zaku Warriors including the Live Concert version (who imparts auto hyper mode to all allies whenever Meer Campbell starts singing). Ace pilots with custom colored Zaku Warrior and Zaku Phantom units (Yzak, Dearka, Heine, Rey, and Lunamaria) will also appear later on, with their entrance paying homage to a Super Sentai group intro scene.
- In SD Gundam G Generation games, the Live Concert Zaku Warrior fights by summoning a group of regular Zaku Warriors.
References
External links