*The following post contains spoilers for the finale of Mobile Suit Gundam G-Quuuuuux*
And now for something completely self-indulgent
Wait, but aren’t all these posts self-indulgent?
Anyway:
I love this image.
Because it just sets the mind going with so many what-ifs. What if X had happened, what if Y had happened? So I figured I’d do a post rambling on about all my personal headcanons, and how each what-if might play out.
Context: during the finale of MS G-Qux, it is revealed that (a version of) Lahlah, sleeping in the Rose of Sharon (Elmeth) is dreaming of all these ways to avoid Char dying at the hand of the Gundam, and the world of Gqux is essentially one of her dreams, in which in order to avoid Char’s death at the hands of the Gundam, Lahlah used her Newtype abilities to manipulate events such that Char ended up in the Gundam’s cockpit. Shuji, who’s essentially Lahlah’s minder/another Newtype that was drawn to Lahlah’s attempts to save Char, notes that this is hardly the first attempt she’s made, and mentions that each previous attempt (the above picture) ended with char dying at the hands of the Gundam.
So now that we’ve established that, what might have changed for Char to end up in each of the mobile suits shown above?
A quick disclaimer just before starting however:
We’re obviously never gonna get “canon” statements on how these went anyway, so feel free to disagree with me here.
I’m gonna assume that Char is just the same character throughout this - the Char we see in Gqux is essentially unchanged in personality from MSG-0079 Char, so I’ll just assume that’s true for each of the other What-if’s.
It’s specifically noted that each iteration of Char met his end “at the hands of the Gundam”. So for each of these I’ll be assuming char dies in battle with the Rx-78-2 specifically.
From the bottom to the top, we have:
1. The MS-07B Gouf
First deployed in July 0079, approximately five months into Zeon’s Earth Invasion Campaign. My thoughts on this one are two-fold; Either Char chose to swap to the Earth-specialist Gouf during his pursuit of the White Base through Asia (à la his High-Mobility Zaku in the Origin Cucurz Doan Movie), which backfired somehow during his battle with the Gundam - the Gouf is a very cqc-focused design, and is possible that this led to its demise against the Gundam, which can fight well at all ranges.
Or
Char ended up taking the place of Ramba Ral - he may have been part of Garma Zabi’s Earth Attack Force as opposed to Dozle’s Command as he is in canon, and thus he would’ve been sent to Earth. Given that the Gundam was the first Federation Mobile Suit, he may have been caught completely unaware by its frightening land speed, leading to his demise. Alternatively, he may have faced a far better equipped White Base, given that he was not around to harry them in their “escape” from Side 7. Indeed, it’s even possible that the Project V materials were extracted from Side 7 without incident, leading to a far better outfitted Federation (and possibly even an extra Gundam, depending on the fate of the Rx-78-1).
2. The EMS-10 Zudah
The EMS-10 Zudah was only supplied to the 603rd Technical Evaluation unit in October 0079 - it’s likely that more were supplied to other forces (since some Zeon Remnants make use of them and the GM Camouf seems to be in some way derived from the EMS-10), but it’s unclear to what extent. Therefore, it’s possible that in this What-If, Char was assigned to the 603rd Technical Evaluation Unit, in much the same way as Jean-Luc Duvall or Herbert Von Kuspen was - an Ace pilot to either act as a propaganda boon (Duvall), or as a political officer to ensure loyalty to the homeland (Von Kuspen). Given that the 603rd were eventually deployed at A Baoa Qu, it’s not hard to imagine how Char could have met his end - the Zudah is fast, no doubt, but it takes more than speed to match up against something like the Rx-78. Char originally fought it in the Zeong and scraped a mutual kill, so it’s hardly likely the Zudah would improve upon his chances. It’s also likely that his battle with the Gundam would cause him to push the Zudah to its limits - which typically ends in fatal consequences for its pilots.
Alternatively the EMS-04 Zudah (below) was one of several competing designs to the Zaku I (Early Production Type) for adoption as Zeon’s Mainline Mobile Suit. It lost out due to the Zudah’s famously self-detonating engine, and also due to the Zudah being 80% more expensive to produce than the Zaku I. It’s possible that in this What-If, the Zudah’s engine troubles were fixed, leading to widespread adoption in the principality. However, it’s unlikely this scenario would have significantly changed matters regarding the original series (Or I can’t really extrapolate out that far, at least).
3. The MA-05 Bigro
A little trickier here - there were only around 14 Bigro units produced in the one year war and they were very widely deployed. They were however, noted as excellent ship-killers. As such I’d guess that either Char (one of Zeon’s most notable ship-killers) took to piloting one as they became available, or commandeered Tokwan’s (who piloted it in the original series). This doesn’t really tell us where Char might’ve met his end - it could’ve been in his first battle with the Gundam or later. However, it does mean that Char would’ve likely been able to carry out most of his actions in the first half of MSG-0079 as he did in the original series.
However, that’s pretty boring, so let’s talk about an MSV pilot instead.
Robert Gilliam was a pilot in Zeon’s mobile assault force during the OYW, and was the 7th highest performing Zeon Ace of the entire war. He’s also the closest thing we have to a Bigro Ace, since he was assigned one of the three MS-05R Bigro Ruf’s, which were upgraded versions of the regular MS-05 (though admittedly he didn’t actually pilot it).
So, What-If Char Aznable and Robert Gilliam’s positions had been switched? What if Robert had been the one to lead the attack on Side 7 and the Hunt for White Base? Interestingly, in MSV-R Robert Gilliam is depicted as a member of the Mobile Assault Force and as a Gihren Zabi Loyalist. Wouldn’t it be an interesting path for Char to take, cosying up to Gihren while preparing to strike? Given Gihren’s patricidal (and likely fratricidal) tendencies, it wouldn’t be too difficult for Char to effectively strike at Degwin and Kycillia, which would in turn clear the path to Gihren himself. It’s a good angle, though admittedly perhaps not a likely one.
4. The MA-08 Big Zam
You all know this one - “What-If the Big Zam had been Mass-Produced?” - and indeed we see limited production during the events of G-Quuuuuux itself. Given Char’s prestige as an ace, it’s not inconceivable that he would’ve been selected as a pilot for one of those Mass-produced Big Zam’s, leading him into conflict with the Gundam. Alternatively, he may have chosen to join Dozle in defence of Solomon - likely in an attempt to lower his guard for Char’s eventual betrayal - but this backfired when the Big Zam turned to not be quite as invulnerable as hoped.
Admittedly, Char in a Big Zam is one of the odder ones - Char typically doesn’t like piloting large mobile armours because he can’t dodge effectively when piloting them.
This is shown in Char’s Deleted Affair, where he pilots the Zero-GR (essentially a prototype to the Neue Ziel seen in 0083), where he’s able to effectively take on a squad of Gelgoogs and then an enemy fleet. But Char is still uncomfortable piloting it due to its low mobility. Notably, it’s stated that the Zero-GR was originally supposed to be assigned to Char by Dozle, until Garma’s death moves Char out of Dozle’s command. So it’s also possible that in this What-If, Char ends up assigned to a Big Zam both because the Zero-GR wasn’t ready (or wasn’t available), and because Garma doesn’t die (if Char remains in space with Dozle, he won’t have the opportunity to betray Garma).
The final thought I have on Char in a Big Zam is that the Big Zam was originally designed to attack Fortresses - specifically the Earth Federation HQ in Jaburo and the Federation Military Asteroid base Luna II. So it’s possible that Char could have piloted a Big Zam during an attack on one of those bases - during which he was slain by the Gundam.
5. MS-17 Galbaldy Alpha
The Galbaldy Alpha was produced at Zeon’s Pezun Asteroid base as one of numerous “next-generation” mobile suits for Zeon. It saw very limited deployment during the last days of the war - odd sightings here and there and some units assigned to Zeon’s homeland defence forces - which consequently saw rather little action. The design, like many of the Pezun units, would be taken by the Earth Federation at the end of the war and reproduced to fill holes in their own forces - resulting in the Galbaldy Beta seen during Zeta Gundam.
How Char might’ve ended up in one isn’t particularly difficult to to presume - changing war situation could have lead to earlier deployment, Char could have been assigned to Pezun as opposed to the 6th Mobile Battalion, he could even have appealed to Gihren for one during the battle of A Baoa Qu (as occurs in the Origin Manga) - there’s already one reported sighting there, so we simply swap Char out with whichever Zeon ace was originally piloting the thing.
However.
It is only ever stated that “Char is killed by the Gundam”. Not “Char is killed by the Gundam during the one year war” and we do see two Galbaldy Alpha high mobility types in Anaheim Laboratory Log, set shortly before the events of Zeta Gundam. So putting aside the possibilities of Char’s differing deployments, perhaps we should consider What-If the Gundam had survived the one year war?
Indeed, several of the Gihren’s Greed games do just that, so it’s not inconceivable that a post-OYW Char in a Galbaldy Alpha could have had an encounter with the Titans Gundam (I’m using art of the RX-78T, a Gundam unit developed exclusively for the titans, but in this scenario it would simply be a repainted Rx-78-2, similar to how the Pale Rider DII is encountered in Anaheim Laboratory Log). It’s even possible this occurred during an earlier confrontation with Axis Zeon, perhaps representing if the war had persisted past Side 3, or if the White Base had survived A Baoa Qu and been deployed during Char’s time at Axis.
6. MSN-04 Sazabi (Ikuto Yamashita design)
Did I make this entire post just so I could use this image? No. I honestly don’t know a whole lot about the details on this one - this is a version of the Sazabi that appeared in Cyber Comics Vol. 9 in 1987, a full year before the release of Char’s Counterattack (1988) - though this illustration is from 2013. Based on that…….. I honestly don’t know? I’d assume that Char’s Counterattack progressed much the same as we saw it in the movie - with the noted exception that the Rx-78-2 must have been present somehow.
That said, if the gMS-Alpha Red Gundam can mount bits slated for the Elmeth, then there’s no reason the Ikuto Yamashita Nu Gundam couldn’t incorporate parts (or even a whole frame) of the original Rx-78-2.