Anavel Gato (アナベル・ガトー Anaberu Gatō?) is a character appearing in the anime OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, set during the Universal Century time line of the fictional Gundam universe. He is voiced by Akio Otsuka in the original Japanese and by Kirk Thornton in the English dub.
Personality and Character
Although Gato is the series' nominal antagonist, he is a man of honor and a soldier through and through who cares for his comrades, and seeks to vindicate the memory of his friends and family who died at the hands of the Earth Federation. He is a charismatic leader, doing his part to rally the Zeon remnants, both in and outside the Delaz Fleet, to support Operation Stardust and fight one last crusade against the Federation (even if it meant dying in the process). The fact he is willing to fight alongside others on the frontlines only endears his men further, and while he holds nothing but hatred for the Federation, he still respects those who fight for it; in fact, he demonstratively sees his opponents simply as misguided, believing that they are sacrificing their lives for a corrupt regime, rather than objects of hatred. Along with this, Gato also recognized skilled and/or determined opponents as equals, as shown with his treatment of Kou Uraki after their duel at Solomon.
Background
Anavel Gato is a member of the Principality of Zeon's elite palace guard unit, the 302nd Patrol Squad. During the One Year War, at the Battle of Solomon, Gato earns the nickname "Nightmare of Solomon" for singlehandedly holding off an Earth Federation pursuit force while Zeon forces retreat, Gato would provide support for many retreating Zeon forces including coming to the aid of the Zeon regiment Marchosias when they were about to be overwhelmed by Federation ships. Rumor has it that Gato was lured away from the main battle due to the misconception that the Gundam had been destroyed. During the Battle of A Baoa Qu he joins Aiguille Delaz's fleet, and withdraws with Delaz and his supporters after Gihren Zabi's assassination at the hands of Kycilia Zabi, his sister. At some point he became lovers with Nina Purpleton. He returns to the earth in October of 0083 U.C. to seize the RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis", and later uses this Mobile Suit's nuclear weapon against the Earth Federation's Naval Review.
| “ | For the rebirth of the ideals of Zeon. For the success of Operation Stardust! Solomon I have returned! | ” |
—Anavel Gato, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory | ||
Gato is a skilled pilot and a man of few words. Throughout Operation Stardust, he repeatedly clashes with the Federation pilot Kou Uraki. At first Gato views Kou as insignificant, but develops a grudging respect for him after their second battle at Konpei Island. Gato is mortally wounded inside the captured colony cylinder as he reprograms the thrusters to enable the colony to fall on North America. At the conclusion of Operation Stardust, Gato orders the remaining Zeon troops to charge for the Axis Advanced Fleet. Although they fight bravely, most of the Zeon pilots attempting to break through Federation lines are killed, including Gato, who chooses to kamikaze the AMX-002 Neue Ziel into one of the Federation's Salamis-class cruisers.
During Operation Stardust, Gato has command of his own fleet, which is centered around Gato's flagship, the Musai-class cruiser Peer Gynt. His fleet is destroyed at the conclusion of the operation.
Gallery
![Anavel Gato as seen on Gundam: Char's Deleted Affair [C.D.A] ~ Portrait of Young Comet](/wiki/File:Qpage120.jpg "Qpage120.jpg (206 KB)")
Notes and Trivia
- Gato's call sign "Walfisch" is the name of an uninhabited German island, in the Bay of Wismar in the Baltic Sea. Walfisch also means 'whale' in German.
- Gato's Japanese voice actor, Akio Otsuka, also voiced Elmer Snell in Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front.
- Gato appeared as an NPC in Dynasty Warriors Gundam, piloting his custom Gelgoog. He returns as a playable character in Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, piloting the RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis".
- Kirk Thornton reprises his role as Gato in the game's English dub, though he is credited using the pseudonym "Clair Ramsay".
- In the PS2 video game Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space, Gato's Gelgoog is depicted as using a unique prototype beam rifle which is longer and more powerful than the standard Gelgoog rifle. In the game, his English voice is provided by Ted Cole.
- The prototype beam rifle also appears in various SD Gundam G Generation games.
- In Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space, 40 seconds into part 1 of Mission 2 in Gato's Ace Pilot story, Char Aznable "The Red Comet", will offer you support in the MSN-02 Zeong. If the player accepts, Gato will poke fun of the fact that the Zeong has no legs, and Char will simply reply, "According to the engineers, the legs were just for show."
- Gato is one of the two Zeon Pilots who stole a Gundam from the Earth Federation ,the other one is Nimbus Schterzen.
- In a "what-if" scenario in Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space, Gato engages Amuro Ray as one of the potential bosses in Stage 3 of the White Base campaign during the Battle of Solomon. Although the battle between the two ends in a stale-mate, Amuro comments that Gato could have finished him off if their battle had gone on longer.
- Obviously this is quite apocryphal as Amuro was powerful enough at that stage to go against other Newtype pilots like Char and Lalah, whereas Gato, for all of his skill, was still an Oldtype along the same lines of Ramba Ral, the Black Tri-Stars and Dozle Zabi.
- In the Super Robot Wars games, Anavel Gato often follows the series canon, always being introduced via the GP-02 hijack. However, some games not only allow him to either be an ally, either temporarily or permanently, they also alter his role in the plot.
- In SRW3, it's possible to have Gato not only as a temporary ally, but also as a permanent cast member. To have him as a temporary ally, the player must come to his aid when Gates Capa attempts to kill him in one level. If the player is successful, Gato will acknowledge the courtesy and leave without further incident, though when he later discovers the Divine Crusaders (whom he was a member of, since the Zabi family was it's leaders) are secretly planning to ally with the alien invaders known as the Inspectors, he will fire the nuclear warhead of the GP-02 into their ranks, substantially thinning them out for the player before disappearing, citing disgust with how the DC has abandoned its ideals. He can later join permanently, as while he's still loyal to the ideals of Zeon, he cannot abide how the DC has corrupted them and allies with the rest of the playable cast and Kou Uraki especially to deal with their mutual foe, though this route is not canon.
- He can be eligible as a guest reinforcement but not playable in SRW Alpha 1. However, he returns as an antagonist in Alpha 2, working with CCA-era Char Aznable to drop Axis, and canonically dies in this game.
- The much reviled scene towards the end of 0083 involving Nina betraying Kou for Gato is always averted in some manner, and the connection between Gato and Nina is more clearly spelled out as them have once been in a relationship, with Gato assuring Kou that was in the past if he joins as an ally in SRW3.
References
External Links
Template:Universal Century characters