Char Aznable is one of the best antagonists to come out of the Gundam universe. The character is enduring because of his charisma, as well as the sheer amount of screentime we get with him. Appearing as a major antagonist in Gundam, then as a mentor figure in Zeta Gundam before his last appearance in Char’s Counterattack, we get more time with him than we ever got with Amuro, which is probably why people tend to prefer Char more.
For this list, we’ll be looking into more about Char Aznable, from Tomino’s meaning behind his name to how and why he joined the Zeon forces and became such a magnificent bastard. Here are 10 things about one of anime's most famous villains that only true fans would know.
10 HE GOT HIS NAME FROM A FAMOUS FRENCH SONGWRITER
In the case of Char’s rival Amuro, Tomino tried hard to come up with a name that didn’t actually exist. Unfortunately he wasn’t terribly successful, as Amuro was the name of an island. But in the case of Char, he went the totally opposite direction: the character was named after Charles Aznavour, a French singer, diplomat, and activist.
Often thought of as the most popular French singer ever, Aznavour was even referred to as Entertainer of the Century by CNN. This is a fitting level of celebrity for one of the most popular anime characters ever.
9 THE REASON FOR HIS MASK
Aside from it making him stand out as a primary antagonist, there’s a reason Char has always gone around with a mask that covers his face. Char’s origins involved him losing his previous life as a member of the Zeon royalty when his father was murdered by the Zabi family, who wanted to usurp power.
Afterwards, Char was forced to live life under various secret identities so he could avoid being killed because he was heir to the Zeon lineage as the son of Zeon Zum Deikum. Casval Deikum would become Edouard Mass, who would eventually become Char Aznable, the Red Comet. The iconic mask has helped him hide his identity on more than one occasion and it also builds up the mystique of Char.
8 HE MURDERED HIS BEST FRIEND
Because of his frustration with the Zabi family, Char would eventually go on to set up the death of his closest friend Garma, purely because of his relation to the Zabi family.
Garma was someone he met long after his parents were killed and was too young to have anything to do with their deaths. Still, he misinforms Garma about the location of White Base, leading to his entire fleet being wiped out.
7 HE INSPIRED MANY CHAR CLONES
Char’s responsible for some of the most enduring memes not merely within the Gundam franchise, but within anime itself. To begin with, his mask would become a staple in many of the main villains or rivals of most primary Gundam series that followed the original show.
Within the Universal Century, his status as a leader of Zeon forces makes people want to emulate him, but even in the other universes there still tends to be a major character hiding their identity — like Rau Le Creuset from Gundam SEED, Zechs Marquise from Gundam Wing, Mr. Bushido from Gundam 00.
6 "THREE TIMES AS FAST!"
Another meme that Char’s responsible for is the red mecha. Though the original Zaku the Zeon are known for is colored green (the color most of their army identifies with), Char's Zaku is colored red so that it could stand out as the primary villain.
Supposedly, it’s specced much higher than your average Zaku to match with Char’s piloting abilities, making it “three times as fast” as a normal green one. Char would go on to pilot multiple other mecha over Gundam and Char’s Counterattack, all of which were red. This would eventually lead to a joke in anime where merely painting something red would result in it being “three times faster."
5 CHAR IS A LATE NEWTYPE
Part of what made the clash between Amuro and Char so entertaining was the differences between them. Char was supposed to be merely a talented ace pilot, while Amuro was an inexperienced teenager who only kept up with Char due to having a superior suit and being a NewType.
Eventually, Char’s own latent NewType powers awoke, but there’s a limit to Char’s abilities. This made him rank far behind Amuro, let alone someone like Kamille or Judau. This made it much more difficult later on to battle against both the Titans as well as Amuro once the experience gap closed.
4 CHAR HAS MANY DIFFERENT ENGLISH VOICE ACTORS
Most anime protagonists and antagonists of Char's stature tend to be voiced by a single person--someone that makes them instantly recognizable as a certain character. But because much of Gundam occurred long before the Western anime boom, that isn't quite the case here. Char actually has five different voice actors if you count Karen Strassman, who voiced the Young Char in Gundam: The Origin.
Before that, in Mobile Suit Gundam and Char's Counterattack, it was Michael Kopsa, ironically also the voice of Aeolia Schenberg, another guy who thought attacking Earth with giant machines was a good idea. Tom Edwards voiced the character in Zeta Gundam when he was Quattro Bajeena, and the legendary Steve Blum did the character for the film trilogy of Gundam. Most recently, the adult Char was voiced by Keith Silverstein, who's also voiced Hisoka in Hunter x Hunter.
3 CHAR IS THE HEAD OF ZEON
Watching Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam, or the recent Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin would paint Char as someone who lost his role as the future leader of Zeon and that’s that. But the truth is, in the aftermath of the events of ZZ Gundam, Char would come to lead the forces of the Neo-Zeon army for Char’s Counterattack.
And even after he died, remnants of that Neo-Zeon army would be led by Full Frontal, a NewType who’s altered to look like Char himself and have the memories of Char. Ultimately his role in galvanizing the troops becomes so important this happens again in Tomino’s novel Gaia Gear.
2 CHAR IS A MASTER MANIPULATOR
One thing that becomes clear over the course of Char’s appearances in Gundam is his ability to manipulate people into doing what he wants. He convinces Lalah Sune to become devoted enough to him to sacrifice her life when he’s about to be killed by Amuro.
Then later on, we see him get Quess Paraya to work for him after she abandons Amuro because he spurns her advances. He promises to help her hone her NewType abilities and that’s all it takes for her to basically defect from the Federation.
1 CHAR WENT INSANE
In the end, Char doesn’t only become what he despised by stabbing so many people in the back, but he seems to have lost his mind. Rather than continue to try to help people like he does in Zeta, he seems to have lost any semblance of control by the time of Char’s Counterattack.
He seems to be hearing voices and having continuous flashbacks to the One Year War, a conflict he believes he’s still embroiled in. After his attempt to fade into the background in Z Gundam fails, Char’s attempt to lead the Zeon forces results in him planning to drop asteroids on humanity, believing this planetary genocide will somehow help make them into NewTypes.