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Zanscare Empire (ザンスカール帝国 Zansukāru Teikoku?) is the name adopted by Spacenoids rising against the Earth Federation, after queen Maria Pure Armonia and the Gattle party established the Empire in the late U.C. 140s on Side 2 colony Amelia. It is featured in Mobile Suit Victory Gundam.

History[]

Leading a life of extreme poverty, a young Maria Pure Armonia discovered her supernatural ability to heal people. Maria used her profits gained operating as a healer to open a consultation bureau at Albanian colony in Side 1 (L5). As her popularity spread rapidly, she was elevated to an almost sacred status. Maria began to propagate her ideas that most social crises are caused by male leaders and advocated the establishment of a matrilineal society. A Maria group formed and petitioned the Albanian colony government to form a political party, while her staff published Maria’s teachings. In U.C. 0145, Maria met Fonse Kagatie, formerly of the Jupiter Fleet, and he supported her politically. The Maria group became radical and the Gattle Party was formed as its political extension, becoming the third party in the government assembly of the Amelia colony in Side 2 (L4). In a show of force, a group of corrupt ministers were executed on the guillotine and the Gattle party rapidly took the power in Amelia.

Zanscare War[]

In U.C. 0149, the establishment of the Zanscare Empire is proclaimed at Side 2 (L4). During the events of Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, Fonse Kagatie reveals that the real purpose hidden in the war against the Earth Sphere was to destroy all of humanity with the ultimate Newtype superweapon, the Angel Halo. By the end of the devastating last battle on June 23, U.C. 0153, nearly all key members of the Zanscare Empire were killed, including Fonse and Maria. The Zanscare Empire collapsed soon afterwards, and the Earth Federation took back the Zanscare-held colonies. 

Organization[]

The capital of the Zanscare Empire is the Side 2 colony Amelia. In theory, the Empire is ruled by the Newtype queen Maria Pure Armonia, but the actual leader is Fonse Kagatie, also secret president of the Jupiter Republic Alliance. Fonse Kagatie, as leader of the Gattle party, takes most of the military decisions and uses Maria as a figurehead. Their mobile weapons are provided by BESPA, formerly a Side 2 branch of SNRI. Some of the Empire ace pilots include Cronicle Asher, Arbeo Pippiniden and the League Militaire defector Katejina Loos.

The Zanscare Empire is known for their tendency to use execution as a form of punishment, most notably, the guillotine. Another method is the release of the condemned into the vacuum of space, causing the person to die through starvation or asphyxiation. It is also notable that Zanscare's own soldiers are not exempt from execution, and failure on the battlefield can result in immediate condemnation. This is most likely used to motivate other officers within Zanscare through intimidation and generally to keep them in line.

Comparison to Zeon[]

Due to the Zanscare Empire being a Spacenoid nation forming out of dissent against the Earth Federation, it’s compared by some Gundam fans to be the spiritual successor of the old Principality of Zeon , with them being both space, attempting to take over Earth and known for their extreme brutality in their fight for conquest (Zeon with gassing dissent colonies, colony drops and colony laser, Zanscare with medieval-style punishment and executions). However, there are conflicting fundamentals between the old Zeon and Zanscare: Zeon believed that they fought for space independence under the ideas of Zeon Zum Deikun, or even the Zabi corrupted version of those ideas, while Zanscare believed in Maria-ism, the idea which believed that the suffering of the late Universal Century era was due to the old patriarchy system held by the elites of Earth Federation and hence replacing them with the ideas of the holy matriarchy under Maria. Zanscare never fought for the independence of Spacenoids but the brutal rule under their ideas of Maria-ism taking over both space and Earth. Unlike Zeon, however, due to the supposed equal treatment under the matriarch Maria-ism, some Earthnoids who believed in it expressed their interest in joining the Zanscare while Zeon only recruited Spacenoids from Side 3 (Spacenoids from other Sides were given their own divisions and treated vary depending on trust, and their divisions were most of the the time reserves for the main Zeon forces) and only took Earthnoids whom they viewed valuable or defected to Zeon forced or voluntarily.

It’s interesting to note that just like how the Principality of Zeon never had full control over Side 3, especially during the closing days of One Year War, with some colonies openly revolted against the Zabi family after Solomon fell, Zanscare Empire never had full control over Side 2, as some colonies unswayed by Gattle party’s radical Maria-ism were moved by the Federation to Side 5, and the colonies under Zanscare had underground anti-Zanscare movement cells resisting against the empire’s brutal rule and idealism.

Notable Members[]

Gallery[]

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