He’s gone by many names in his life, Casval, Édouard, Quattro, the Red Comet, but the one he’s most known for is Char Aznable. How did this man in a mask rise in the ranks of the Zeon military? Why does he wear the mask to begin with? Let’s find out!
Casval Rem Deikun was born to Zeon Zum Deikun and Astraia Tor Deikun in the year 0059 UC (Universal Century) in the space colony of Side 5. Raised with his sister, Artesia Som Deikun, Casval would have a happy youth, even if he was always rather stern, like his father. Zeon dreamed of spacenoid, space colonists’ name for themselves, freedom from earthling control. Casval would often hear his father struggle with his speech writing about said cause; Casval would watch as his father’s words would garner a following.
One such set of followers were the Zabi family, who also believed in spacenoid freedom from Earth. Unknown to Casval or his family, the Zabis would orchestrate the death by heart attack of Zeon. Casval, Astraia, and Artesia would be taken away by those loyal to Zeon, none of them believing his heart attack was natural. Casval was only nine when this all happened, an already mature child had to grow up even faster now.
Realizing that the Zabis were responsible for his father’s death, Casval was ready to seek vengeance against them when he could. His mother would have he and his sister sent to Earth to live with a family friend; he would never see his mother again. Taking the name of Édouard Mass, along with his sister who was now Sayla Mass, he would live in hiding. Édouard would learn that the Zabi had formed the Autonomous Republic of Zeon, for their separatist desires, in honor of his father. Disgusted, Édouard’s plans would slowly begin to form.
Years would pass with the Mass family moving to Side 5’s Texas colony where they would live with the Aznables. The strangest coincidence, the Aznable’s son, Char, was nearly identical in looks to Édouard. Only their eye colors could set them apart, Char’s being brown and Édouard’s being blue. Édouard had spent his time in hiding studying and training his mind and body. When Char announced he was going to be enlisting in the Zeon army, Édouard supported him.
The two young men would go to the airport to go their separate ways, Char to the academy and Édouard to university. Things were going fine until Char’s paperwork was missing and he would miss his flight to the academy, but Édouard had an idea: the two would wear sunglasses, switching places, and allowing Char to go under the guise of being Édouard. Unfortunately, the Zabi had realized Édouard was actually Casval, so they’d rigged the ship to explode when they saw that a man calling himself Édouard was stepping on board. To the world at large, Édouard Mass was dead, only a blue-eyed Char Aznable remained.
Claiming he’d had cosmic radiation poisoning so his eyes were now sensitive to light, requiring the need of sunglasses, Char Aznable was still believed to be brown-eyed under his shades. Char would excel in his training at the academy, even befriending a member of the Zabi family, Garma, who was a fellow cadet. Char would talk Garma into leading a take over of the school, showing off his own skills and killing anyone who may have learned his true identity. It was during this rebellion that Char would get his first mask to keep his eyes hidden, a look he’d adopt for years to come.
While the rebellion was eventually reigned in, Char was seen by the higher ups as a worthy soldier and noted his name for their mobile suit program that was secretly under way. After graduating, Char would work construction for a time, where he would meet a young woman with precognition, Lalah Sune who would fall in love with Char, he did not reciprocate but saw the usefulness in such a relationship.
By 0079 UC, Zeon was ready to launch their attack against the Earth Federation, so Char had enlisted in the military so he could be one step closer to vengeance. Char would get to test-pilot the Zaku I mobile suit, the deadliest mobile suit for warfare at the time. He was even able to get it in his favorite color, red, where most were green. As Zakus developed into the Zaku II model, Char’s would be customized to have its limiters taken off, allowing him to go three times faster than other Zaku units. This speed and color gained him the nickname the Red Comet.
His skills as a mobile suit pilot had him rising in the ranks of the Zeon military, allowing him to get that much closer to the Zabi family. As the One Year War raged on, Char would get closer and closer to exacting his revenge against the Zabi. He still had to deal with the war though, along with its own famed Gundam pilot, the White Devil, the teen soldier, Amuro Ray.
There you have it! There’s much more to Char Aznable’s story. He has many twists and turns in his journey, sometimes fighting at the side of, or against, Amuro Ray. Char Aznable is one of Gundam’s most iconic characters and nearly every Gundam series since has had a masked villain in a red mobile suit to contend with the protagonists. See you next time!
Suggested Reading
Mobile Suit Gundam: 0079
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: Define
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack
Char’s Daily Life
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
