Highlights
- Gundam Virtue from Gundam 00 is the most peculiar Gundam ever made due to its bulky design and dual roles as both heavy artillery and a peacekeeper with the Trial System.
- It is equipped with powerful beam cannons and a massive GN Bazooka, making it capable of continuous bombardment and incinerating enemies instantly.
- What sets Gundam Virtue apart is its 2-in-1 feature, where it can shed its bulky armor to reveal GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh, a stripped-down Gundam with the ability to take control of machines connected to Veda and prevent betrayals.
Every major Gundam series has its own unique Gundam designs and abilities that are different from the other series. While it’s interesting to talk about powerful Gundams with striking appearances (Gundam Seed/Seed Destiny, Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphan, Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, etc.), it’s actually a lot more fascinating to talk about strange Gundams, both in terms of the design and the abilities (Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Gundam Wing, etc.).
Contrary to popular belief, however, the title of the most Peculiar Gundam ever made actually belongs to one of the mobile suits from the Gundam 00, the bulky and beefy Gundam Virtue. Here are the reasons why.
GN-005 Gundam Virtue
Gundam Virtue is one of the four main Gundams introduced in Gundam 00. Virtue, along with the other main Gundams in this series (Exia, Dynames, and Kyrios), are the brainchild of one of the most influential scientists of his time named Aolia Schenberg, and his team of brilliant scientists. The basis of these Gundams are two of Aeolia’s greatest inventions, the Artificial Superintelligence called Veda, and a revolutionary energy source called the GN Divers.
Aeolia would also create a private paramilitary organization called the Celestial Being with the sole purpose of eradicating war through armed interventions. The Gundams mentioned above, including Virtue, are the advanced mobile suits that are used to make that vision come true. All four Gundams have their own distinct specialization. Virtue is responsible for the Heavy Artillery. In the simplest term, Virtue’s main job is to provide continuous bombardment and blast the enemies with powerful beam cannons.
Compared to the other Gundams, not only in this series but throughout the franchise as a whole, Gundam Virtue is without a doubt one of the bulkiest Gundam ever made. Aesthetic aside, this utilitarian design is actually crucial to fulfill Virtue’s role as the heavy artillery. Its bulky armors are the storage for on-board missiles, beam lasers, and other weapons. Furthermore, its overall beefy body allows it to use bigger and more powerful weapons, such as the massive GN Bazooka that can instantly incinerate tons of enemies.
What Makes Gundam Virtue So Peculiar
While it is certainly interesting to talk about Virtue’s unique capabilities and how the unique design reflects Virtue’s main roles in the team, those are not the thing that makes Gundam Virtue so peculiar. Virtue has one other interesting feature that does not exist in any other major Gundam series. And that is the fact that Virtue is actually a 2-in-1 Gundam. That means, there is another Gundam inside Virtue’s bulky exterior. Its name is GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh.
Gundam Virtue may have tons of firepower under its bulky armor, but just like any other weapons, there is only so much ammunition that it can carry. And once it blasts all of that firepower onto its opponent, Virtue will become nothing more than a bulky Gundam with limited range of movement.
When such a thing eventually happens, Virtue’s pilot, Tieria Erde, has the option to shed Virtue’s exterior armor. This includes the armor on its body and limbs, and even some parts of the head, that are mainly used as a storage for Virtue’s weapons. When all of those bulky and unnecessary armors come apart, what lies inside is a thin and bare mobile suit called GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh.
GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh
Unlike its other self, the bulky and highly weaponized Gundam Virtue, Gundam Nadleeh barely has any weapon on board at all. Nadleeh looks like a prototype Gundam that hasn’t been equipped with little to no armor or weapons. The only notable feature of Nadleeh is the strands of hair-like red chords that are used to transfer the GN particles from Nadleeh’s GN Drive into the massive armor of the Gundam Virtue. Other than that, it is basically a Gundam stripped bare.
Rather than weapons or armors, Gundam Nadleeh is equipped with a unique system called the “Trial System”. When activated, Nadleeh will generate a massive force field known as the Trial Field, with a radius of around 100 kilometers wide. Any machine that is connected to the Artificial Super Intelligence “Veda”, which is basically any machine created by the Celestial Being, will be taken over by Nadleeh. It can then forcefully shut down the machines, or temporarily take control of it. Since the Trial System can only be used on machines that are connected to Veda, this means this system is actually meant to prevent and punish any kinds of betrayals, insubordinations, or any situations where Veda’s machine is used for bad things.
So to summarize, Gundam Virtue is unique because it has two bodies and two roles at the same time. In its bulky Virtue form, it is a Gundam that is armed with heavy weaponry that can decimate a swarm of enemy’s mobile suits in a matter of seconds. In its stripped-down Nadleeh form, it is a Gundam that can use the Trial System in order to prevent anybody that uses Celestial Being’s machineries to betray Aeolia Schenberg’s values and visions. These dualities are the reason why Gundam Virtue deserves the title as the most peculiar Gundam ever made.
Gundam 00 is available to stream on Crunchyroll.