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Cagalli Yula Athha (カガリ・ユラ・アスハ Kagari Yura Asuha?) is a character introduced in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and appears in the sequel series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny. Cagalli is the adopted daughter of Uzumi Nara Athha, Chief Representative and "Lion" of Orb Union. She is also Kira Yamato's twin sister, although neither sibling was aware of this until the First Alliance-PLANT War. Cagalli's birth name is Cagalli Hibiki. She is also well known for piloting the MBF-02 Strike Rouge during the First and Second Alliance-PLANT Wars, though she would later pilot the ORB-01 Akatsuki Gundam, only once to fight against ZAFT in their invasion of Orb and later giving it to Mu La Flaga.

Personality & Character

Although raised as a princess in Orb and taught to be proper, sophisticated, and elegant; Cagalli is far from it, for she is quite stubborn, rebellious, masculine, and often free-spirited. Cagalli is also shown to dislike being called a princess and when someone calls her one she instantly tells them not to call her that again. Despite rebelling against both her father and her responsibilities as a princess, she is quite loyal to her country and more than willing to give up her life to save it. In Destiny, Cagalli becomes the leader of her country in place of her father. However, she is shown to be reluctant in speaking against the pro-Alliance leaders of Orb and had trouble difficulty in handling situations when it involves her country's future. Eventually, she discovers that she is a capable leader and both her people and herself regained their trust in her.

Skills & Abilities

As the ruling Princess of Orb, Cagalli is shown to have competent diplomacy skills when dealing with foreign policy. While fighting with the Desert Dawn in Egypt, it is presumed that she is skilled in basic combat training and the usage of firearms. In MS combat, Cagalli is seen as a decent mid-range combatant but needed an AI program to assist her during her first sortie with the Strike Rouge. This is ironically in contrast to her lover Athrun Zala, who has a penchant for hand-to-hand MS combat. Although she is a Natural, Cagalli is capable of going into SEED mode in battle like Kira and Athrun, as evidenced when she avenges the deaths of M1 Astray pilots Asagi Caldwell and Juri Wu Nien, by destroying the Strike Daggers that took them out.[1] So far in the Cosmic Era, Cagalli is the only Natural to have gone into SEED mode.

Physical Aspects & Clothing

History

Background

Cagalli was born the twin sister of Kira Yamato and the daughter of Ulen and Via Hibiki. Kira was taken out prematurely and kept in a Artificial Womb for Ulen's experiment to create the Ultimate Coordinator, while Cagalli remained in Via's womb and was born naturally in May of C.E. 55. Sometime later, the Hibiki family's home in the Mendel Colony was attacked by the extremist group, Blue Cosmos. Via and Ulen were killed, however, Kira and Cagalli managed to survive, having been kept safe by their maternal aunt Caridad Yamato. Because the two remained targets of Blue Cosmos,[2] the decision was made to separate them, with Kira staying with Caridad, while Cagalli was given to Uzumi Nara Athha, who became her adopted father.[3]

First Alliance-PLANT War

Battle of Heliopolis

After learning that her nation was aiding the Earth Alliance in secret, she traveled to the Orb Union's Heliopolis space colony to see the evidence for herself. At the colony, she met Kira Yamato as the ZAFT's Le Creuset Team attacks the colony. She ran in search of the new mobile suits that were said to have been developed for the Earth Alliance by Morgenroete Inc., with a worried Kira trailing after her.[4] When she finally discovered the mobile suits, her legs cave in as she cried out loudly about how her father had betrayed them, while Kira merely stood to the side, baffled at her outburst. Afterwards, as they ran for cover, she was pushed by Kira into an evacuation shelter which only had sufficient space for one more person.[4] When the colony eventually collapsed due to the extensive battles inside of it, Cagalli remained in the shelter as it separated into a life boat.[5]

Desert Dawn Campaign

Sometime later on Earth, Cagalli, accompanied by Ledonir Kisaka (a guardian sent by her adopted father), arrived at the ZAFT-occupied Northern Africa and became a member of the Desert Dawn resistance led by Sahib Ashman. While there, she befriended Ahmed el Hosn and was nicknamed the "Goddess of Victory" because of the strong role she played within the group.[6][7]

She and the Desert Dawn forces then helped the Archangel fend off Andrew Waltfeld's TMF/A-802 BuCUEs after the ship accidentally landed in ZAFT territory after atmospheric entry. The next morning, Cagalli and Desert Dawn members met with the Archangel's crew, who clarified that they were members of the 8th fleet that was wiped out. Sahib, surprisingly, recognized Mu La Flaga and Cagalli also confirmed the authenticity of both the Archangel and the accompanying GAT-X105 Strike Gundam. Sahib offered cooperation if the ship's crew dropped their weapons, which captain, Murrue Ramius complied with. To Cagalli's surprise, the pilot of the Strike was none other Kira, and promptly slapped him.[8]

The Archangel is allowed to hide in Desert Dawn's base, and Mu asks for the identity of the resistance's "Goddess of Victory". Sahib merely refers to her as "Cagalli Yula". Cagalli later apologizes for hitting Kira, explaining that she was too surprised that the one that recklessly pushed her to safety would be a mobile suit pilot, and that she was concerned about what had happened to him after Heliopolis.

Later that night, she encounters Flay and Sai, the latter of whom is trying to talk to her, so she spies on them. When Kira comes by, Flay hides behind him, and reveals that she was in Kira's room the night before, to Cagalli's shock. She hides behind the rock before peeking out to find Kira tackling and restraining Sai when he goes after him before explaining what happened. As they did so, Waltfeld's BuCUEs attacked the town of Tassil, which housed both the families and supplies of the resistance. To everyone's surprise, the ZAFT forces had taken active measures against harming civilians and not a single life was lost despite losing several supplies. While Cagalli is outraged that the town was destroyed and its people left with nothing to live on, Mu believes this as an act of mercy since no one was killed. Nonetheless, the members of the Desert Dawn, including Cagalli, are too angered and chase after the ZAFT forces against Sahib's decision.

The resistance forces catch up to Waltfeld's BuCUEs the next day, but their inferior weaponry would do little damage, and several fighters were killed, including Ahmed, who confessed his crush on Cagalli as he succumbed. It is only thanks to the timely arrival of the Strike that causes Waltfeld's forces to withdraw, but Kira promptly berates the resistance members for launching a suicidal attack. Cagalli defends their decision to protect those close to them, but Kira slaps her and shouts that her ideals are meaningless if she doesn't have the power to defend them.[9]

The group later went to a nearby city which acted as Waltfeld's HQ for supplies, with Kira acting as Cagalli's bodyguard. Although Kira is taken aback by the peace, Cagalli shows him the hidden reality; a demolished building formerly holding those that opposed Waltfeld. The group splits as Cagalli and Kira buy supplies while Natarle Badgiruel and Sahim negotiate for water and military goods with a local figure, Al-Jairi. As Cagalli and Kira take a lunch break, Cagalli recommends putting chili sauce on kebab, but a stranger walks up and complains that kebabs should always be eaten with yogurt sauce. As the two argue, the restaurant is attacked by extremists from Blue Cosmos, and the stranger quickly kicks their table and use it for cover as other disguised soldiers engage and kill the terrorists.

The stranger soon reveals his true identity as Andrew Waltfeld, and forcefully invites the pair to his home, where Waltfeld's girlfriend, Aisha takes Cagalli away to be cleaned and dressed. Andrew has a conversation with Kira until Aisha brings in Cagalli in an elegant dress, much to Cagalli's dismay. A humorous exchange between Kira and Cagalli occurs when Kira states the obvious that Cagalli is a girl, while Waltfeld and Aisha laugh at their verbal battle.

As Andrew sits down with Kira and Cagalli, he compliments the latter for looking good in the dress, but Cagalli insults Andrew for his decision to evacuate a town before burning it or going about the town in disguise. In response to her outburst, Waltfeld asks her if she would prefer to be among the dead, and asks Kira for his opinion on how to end the war, as a mobile suit pilot. The pair are surprised by Andrew's accurate deduction. Pointing his gun at the pair, Andrew then made another accurate deduction about Kira being a Coordinator, much to Cagalli's shock. He then says he does not know why, as a Coordinator, Kira is fighting his own kind, but as long as he pilots the Strike, they are enemies. Having thoroughly enjoyed their talk, Waltfeld lowers his weapon and has Aisha escort the pair back to town; hoping to meet in the next battle.[10]

Cagalli later begins mobile suit training using the simulator in the Archangel. The next day, the Desert Dawn forces and the Archangel move in conjunction against Waltfeld, and Cagalli receives an unprocessed malachite from Ahmed's mother, something that the late Ahmed had wished to process and give to Cagalli one day. During the battle, Cagalli commandeers the spare FX-550 Skygrasper and engages the ZAFT forces as well; cutting off one of the Lesseps guns before she is shot down. Fortunately, Dearka Elsman's GAT-X103 Buster Gundam accidentally demolishes the factory in the way of the Archangel, allowing the ship to turn around and attack the Lesseps to win the battle.[11]

After the battle, the Archangel leaves Africa, heading for Orb. Cagalli and Ledonir accompany them. While traveling over the Indian Ocean, she comforts Kira, who is upset about the deaths of people he failed to protect, and Andrew, the first person he killed who he knew personally. Cagalli then asks Kira why a Coordinator like him would help the Earth Alliance, and Kira asks her opinion about them. Cagalli responds immediately that her treatment of others would not change merely if they were a Natural or a Coordinator. When Cagalli points out the genetic superiority of the Coordinators, Kira replies that Coordinators would still need to train and study to hone their talents like any other person.

First encounter with Athrun

Traveling above the Indian Ocean, the Archangel came under attack from Marco Morassim's forces. Cagalli is unable to sortie due to her Skygrasper's wing still being repaired. However, she was not needed as both Mu and Kira chased Morassim's forces off.[12] When Morassim launches another attack on the Archangel, Cagalli launches in her repaired plane, but her navigation module is damaged by an AMF-101 DINN and is ordered to return to the Archangel as her reckless flying placed her into Mu's line of fire repeatedly.

While trying to locate the Archangel, Cagalli notices a ZAFT transport vessel, and she damages the plane before being shot down and marooned near a small island. With her ration pack washed away and her Skygrasper not responding, Cagalli is forced to make her way towards the island. While investigating the island, she finds Athrun Zala and arms herself against the ZAFT pilot. Athrun hears movement near him and turns, spotting Cagalli reaching for her gun. Cagalli quickly shoots and grazes Athrun's right arm, forcing him to drop his gun and bag. He then hides behind a rock for cover as Cagalli approaches cautiously. As Cagalli moves closer, she spots Athrun and shoots, but he easily evaded the shots and hid in higher ground. Thinking he had escaped, Cagalli picks up Athrun's gun and is ambushed from behind by him. Before he can go for a killing blow with a knife, Cagalli screams; revealing she was a girl to Athrun, who ends up taking her prisoner instead.

After dealing with the awkwardness, Cagalli's wrists and ankles are bound by Athrun as he hurls her gun and magazine into the sea before sending a distress signal. While trying to get to Athrun's mobile suit in her tied up state, Cagalli accidentally ends up almost drowning in a small but deep puddle before being rescued by Athrun. An exchange of humorous banters is had between them that results in Athrun setting her free because she seemed like she couldn't be any serious threat to him, but he says he would kill her if she attempted to take his weapons. Because ZAFT had disrupted the airwaves, Athrun prepares a fire as they would likely have to spend at least a night on the island. When Cagalli attempts to blame the ZAFT forces for causing the disruption that prevented their rescue, Athrun justifies their decision due to the possibility of Alliance forces using nuclear weapons.

While waiting for rescue, the two talk about their respective and clashing viewpoints of the war. Cagalli reveals that she was in Heliopolis as ZAFT forces, including Athrun, attacked and led the colony to destruction. Athrun retorts that a "neutral" colony should've never manufactured weapons against Coordinators to begin with and that his team was equally surprised to find the units in the colony themselves. Cagalli bites back that the Earth Alliance only acts in such a way because of the growing meddling of Coordinators in Earth affairs. Athrun points out that several civilians, including his mother, were killed in Junius Seven, but Cagalli responds with the deaths of several innocents in the conflict against ZAFT.

Having grown tired of their argument, Athrun falls asleep. Cagalli takes advantage and attempts to steal his gun. Realizing this, Athrun wakes up quickly and takes his knife out against her. Cagalli expresses her true fear that the GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam will be used as a tool to kill even more people, but Athrun replies that she would have to kill him to take his machine. After a tense stand-off and remembering Waltfeld's words of the only way to end a war, Cagalli ultimately chooses to toss the gun aside. As she forgot to put the safety back on, Athrun tackles her down to cover her and is grazed by the gun again. As thanks, Cagalli bandages Athrun. The pair are eventually located by their respective allies and promise not to speak of the incident as they return. Cagalli is soon found by Mu, and Kira arrives aboard the Strike to rescue her.[13]

After this encounter, the Archangel is attacked by Athrun's team. The skirmish is put to a halt when it comes close to Orb waters. Despite the Orb forces announcing its intention to attack both parties, Cagalli urges captain Ramius to head straight for Orb. Cagalli then contacts the coast guards and reveals herself as Uzumi Nara Athha's daughter, but the coast guards, remaining true to their duty, attack the ship. Due to the extensive damage from ZAFT's assault, Ramius is left with no choice but to head for Orb anyway despite the coast guard's warnings.

To prevent an international fiasco, the ZAFT forces withdraw and the Archangel is ordered to dock as the crew's commanders parley with Uzumi. While docked, Cagalli is found by Myrna and forced to change attire before being escorted off the ship. Cagalli later joins Erica Simmons and Kira in one of Orb's mobile suit hangars containing the mass produced MBF-M1 M1 Astrays which were designed for the protection of Orb. Erica reveals that Uzumi was not informed of the mobile suit development at Heliopolis beforehand, yet had taken responsibility, but Cagalli retorts that as Orb's leader, her father was still accountable for the matter regardless. They later watch as Orb's pilots tried to control the M1 Astrays, with Cagalli pointing out that the machine's slow speed would doom them in actual battle. Erica then reveals her true intentions to Kira; that she wishes for his help in developing a support system OS for the M1 Astray.[14].

Cagalli later pays Kira a visit while he's working on the OS, and it turns out that she previously had a fallout with her father, and that she had decided to gain more knowledge of the world, which led to her joining the Desert Dawn. Cagalli clarifies that while it isn't her intention to fight, she will do so if it means ending the war. Kira tells her that while she isn't wrong, the war will never end if they fight alone.[15]

With the Archangel departing soon, Cagalli once again attempts to sneak away and join it but is found by her father. Cagalli responds that she is not attempting to fight as an Alliance soldier but as a means to help her friends, but Uzumi asks her if such a method is the way to end conflict. Uzumi soon breaks down the cycle of hatred; that if she killed someone, they would spite her, and if that person killed her, he would spite them. Cagalli acknowledges the truth in her father's argument but refuses to sit idly and act as if the world is fine.

Uzumi grabs his daughter and shouts that such overblown heroism is not the only solution, and he urges her to find the true causes of war instead of merely grabbing a gun and shooting. Cagalli reconciles with her father and sees the Archangel off. Learning that Kira refused to meet his parents during his stay, Cagalli points Kira to at least see his parents waving goodbye. Cagalli hugs Kira before the Archangel departs.

Second encounter with Athrun

Days later, Cagalli and Orb's coast guards learn of a battle between both the Archangel and ZAFT forces outside their territory, and she is mortified to learn that the wreckage of the Strike had been found on a nearby island alongside the remains of the self-detonated Aegis. She joins the investigation team and, to her horror, opens the hatch of the Strike's damaged cockpit to find it empty with only a melted seat. The other Orb soldiers soon find an unconscious Athrun, having been washed ashore from his battle. Athrun regains consciousness on the Orb transport ship, where Cagalli points a gun at him and demands to know what happened to Kira. Athrun confirms that he had defeated the Strike and killed Kira. As Cagalli tearfully talks about Kira, she is startled when Athrun reveals that they were best friends in their childhood.

Cagalli angrily demands to know why Athrun would think of killing his friend, but Athrun admits that he didn't know why either. Athrun firmly believed Kira should've been helping other Coordinators, but he fought against them instead, killing several of his friends. Since they were enemies, Athrun cried that they had no choice to but to kill one another, but Cagalli shouts at him for thinking that could've been the only solution. She and Ledonir later return Athrun to the ZAFT force, and Cagalli gives Athrun a red stone pendant as a good luck charm, saying she does not want anybody else to die.[16]

Following the battle of JOSH-A, the Archangel returns to Orb after defecting from the Earth Alliance, with Kira now piloting the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam, on board. Cagalli reacts very emotionally when she finds out Kira has survived and he recounts his side of the battle with Athrun. Captain Ramius and Mu inform Uzumi of the ulterior motives at Alaska to do away with several moderates in the Eurasian Alliance as well as new propaganda from the more extreme Atlantic Federation, which easily filled the gaps thanks to its extremist leader, Muruta Azrael, also the leader of the anti-Coordinator terrorist group, Blue Cosmos.

With countries now being forced to declare their allegiance to the Alliance or be branded as enemies, Uzumi fears that Orb will eventually be the site of conflict. While the Strike was secretly repaired and Cagalli volunteered to pilot the unit since Kira had a new mobile suit, it was passed on to Mu instead.[17]

Battle of Orb

Uzumi's fears finally come true when the Alliance lost its Panama Base and its mass driver spaceport. Now cut off from its units in space, Azrael was desperate to get his hands on Orb's Kaguya mass driver, and issued an ultimatum: Join the Alliance, or be considered a traitor that has sided with ZAFT. Since the terms was predictably egregious, Uzumi prepared both the military and a delegation for further negotiations. Cagalli has Ledonir at her side as she presides over the battle situation at Onogoro.

In spite of the Freedom, Strike and M1 Astrays taking the field, the numerically superior GAT-01 Strike Dagger alongside the new GAT-X131 Calamity Gundam, GAT-X370 Raider Gundam and GAT-X252 Forbidden Gundam overwhelmed the Orb forces.[18] However, thanks to the timely aid of Athrun in the ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam and Dearka's Buster Gundam, the Alliance forces are forced to retreat. Seeing the unexpected reunion of Athrun and Kira, a tearful Cagalli runs up to the pair as they meet face-to-face and hugs them.

She later listens to Kira and Athrun's discussion of their previous battle, with Kira mentioning that while they did not deliberately target their friends, their deaths pushed them to genuinely attempt to kill another. Lamenting at such a cycle of hatred, Kira confirms his wish to continue on fighting to find his own solution and urges Athrun to find his own way as well.[19]

The Alliance forces, rather than listen to Uzumi's attempt to negotiate, launch a preemptive strike as a response later that afternoon. With the fall of Orb becoming inevitable, Uzumi gathers Cagalli, members of the Archangel, and Dearka as well as Athrun, and explains that the situation had now developed into one where extremists like Patrick Zala and Muruta Azrael were now the leaders of their respective forces and they would not stop until one group was exterminated. He orders the remaining troops to flee to space to preserve their ideals and find their own future.

Uzumi grabs his daughter and drags her to the Kusanagi, ordering her to understand her role when she refuses to leave him. He then puts her under the care of Ledonir and passes her a photo of herself and Kira as infants, showing that they were actually the children of Via Hibiki. Cagalli then tearfully bangs on the Kusanagi's hatch as she is forcefully parted with her father. She can only watch from the Kusanagi as Uzumi and other Orb leaders detonate the Kaguya Mass Driver as a final act of defiance to Azrael, killing themselves in the process.[3]

Rise of the Three Ships Alliance

After calming down and being comforted by both Kira and Athrun, Cagalli met with other members of both ships to find a place to hide. Although Athrun suggests the abandoned but still functional facilities in a sector formerly occupied by ZAFT known as the Mendel Colony, Mu expressed concern for what may happen to Athrun as a soldier from ZAFT. Athrun responded that in spite of Patrick Zala's crackdowns, moderates in the PLANTs still existed and rallied behind Lacus Clyne, who had gone into hiding and was now a fugitive. Cagalli later showd the photo from her late father to Athrun and Kira. Although devastated and stunned by the truth of their identity, Kira told Cagalli that it didn't change the fact that she was raised by Uzumi and that he was her father regardless.[20] Athrun then left the Archangel in an attempt to convince his father to find a less extreme solution, but was nearly killed. Luckily, he was saved by Lacus' followers and brought onboard the stolen FFMH-Y101 Eternal that was being commanded by Andrew Waltfeld, who had surprisingly survived his encounter with Kira.

The members of the Archangel, Kusanagi, and Eternal then met and formed the Three Ships Alliance against the extremism of both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. Cagalli spent her time with Athrun after his escape, where she noticed Lacus speaking closely with Kira despite being Athrun's fianceé. Athrun responded by telling her that the two were no longer engaged.[21] She later found Athrun reflecting on recent events and scolded him for not attending the meeting with the others and discussing his concerns. She then urged him not to give up on his father as moping around would not solve the issue. Touched by these words, Athrun embraced Cagalli.

The Archangel was later found and attacked by another the Alliance's Dominion, the second Archangel-class ship. During the battle, Cagalli remained on the Kusanagi and ordered the ship to provide support for the Archangel. However, the ship quickly became immobilized by a cable from the nearby debris and was left vulnerable. While it came under attack from both the Forbidden and Calamity, Athrun pulled back to defend the ship.[22] Once the cable was finally cut, Cagalli ordered the ship to charge at the Dominion and successfully shot down several Strike Daggers in its way. The two ships were quickly informed that ZAFT forces were detected nearby and that the Strike and Buster had already left to engage the new enemy. After fighting off the Alliance forces, Kira left in the Freedom to aid the Strike and Buster, while Cagalli and Kusanagi remained in place for fear of the Dominion's return.[23]

Three of ZAFT's Nazca-class ships soon converged on the Eternal as the Dominion launched the Calamity, Forbidden and Raider to attack the Archangel again. Mu was revealed to have been injured while Kira regrouped with Athrun to engage the Dominion's mobile suits. Before ZAFT commander Rau Le Creuset launched his attack, he sent a public message catching the attention of both Cagalli and the Dominion of a hostage he wished to return. Cagalli and Lacus then lead the Kusanagi and Eternal respectively in repelling the ZAFT fleet, while the Archangel fought against the Dominion. Eventually, The Kusanagi and Eternal breakthrough the ZAFT fleet, sinking Le Creuset's flagship, the Vesalius, allowing all three ships push through the opening to escape. Kira, having failed to rescue Flay, later confided with Lacus in his room but iswasplagued with nightmares. Cagalli visited Kira to console him, and found he had a picture identical to hers of the two of them with their mother. Before she could ask about the photo, she was stopped by Athrun, who asked that she give Kira time to compose himself.[24]

Following the Earth Alliance's destruction of the ZAFT's heavily defended base of Boaz with nuclear missiles, the Three Ships Alliance moved to stop the EA, fearing the next target to be the PLANTs. To everyone's shock, ZAFT unveiled GENESIS, which wiped out half of the EA fleet in one shot and was now poised to target Earth. Facing superweapons on both sides, Waltfeld believed this to only be the beginning as, like a gun, people would only be uneasy for the first few times they shoot someone before they get used to it. While Lacus privately talked with Kira, Cagalli revealed to Athrun that she would also launch into combat in the newly-built MBF-02 Strike Rouge. Athrun was immediately concerned, but Cagalli assured him that she has gone through enough training. Cagalli stated that she will not allow Athrun or her brother to die, which led to a small banter between her and Athrun over who was the older sibling. Athrun hugged and kissed Cagalli before she rejoined the Kusanagi for the final battle.

True to Waltfeld's prediction, the Alliance forces send a second wave of nuclear missiles towards the PLANTs, and the Three Ships Alliance quickly intercept the attack.[25] Thanks to her unit's OS, Cagalli holds her own and is able to destroy several nuclear missiles and enemy units. Further enraged by the deaths of Juri Wu Nien and Asagi Caldwell, Cagalli enters SEED mode and begins destroying several more Strike Daggers. She is caught off-guard when she is targeted by the Forbidden Gundam but is saved by Yzak Joule, who shields her with the GAT-X102 Duel Gundam and dispatches the Forbidden with help from Dearka and the Buster Gundam.[25]

With both the Dominion and most of its nuclear arsenal destroyed, the Alliance forces are finally defeated, and Cagalli, Kira, and Athrun are ordered to head straight for GENESIS. Midway, Kira senses something amiss and pulls back to the Archangel, leaving Cagalli, Athrun and an unknown Orb pilot breach the superweapon's defense.

When they arrive in the control center, they find it in disarray as Athrun's father had been fatally shot by Ray Yuki. Rather than follow his father's wish to use the GENSIS to destroy life on Earth, Athrun decides to detonate his nuclear-powered Gundam inside the superweapon, destroying it before it can fire on Earth. Cagalli chases Athrun as she fears he is doing something reckless, but Athrun detaches the Justice's Fatum-00 to block Cagalli's path. Undeterred, Cagalli catches up to Athrun inside GENESIS's core and tearfully shouts that he not lose the will to live or escape by death. Cagalli finally persuades Athrun to also evacuate, and he boards the Strike Rouge as both the Justice and GENESIS are destroyed.

With their extremist leaders dead and their superweapons lost, both the Alliance and ZAFT finally open talks of negotiation. In the aftermath of the battle, Cagalli and Athrun find Kira floating in space with his damaged Freedom and rescue him in a tearful reunion.[26] After the ceasefire between the Alliance and ZAFT, Cagalli returns to Orb. She and Athrun later pay a visit to Reverend Malchio's orphanage where Kira and Lacus have settled down and are helping him care for the orphans.[27]

Second Alliance-PLANT War

Theft at Armory One and Junius Seven Colony Drop

By C.E. 73, Cagalli had taken her father's former position as Chief Representative of the Orb Union. in October of C.E. 73, she visited the new Armory One PLANT and meets PLANT Chairman Gilbert Durandal to discuss important matters, accompanied by Athrun. At the same time, three unknown individuals infiltrated and stole three new ZAFT mobile suits which triggered the Second Alliance-PLANT War.[28] Cagalli was injured during the battle and she and Athrun ended up on board the new ZAFT battleship LHM-BB01 Minerva.[29] They remained on board while the Minerva pursued and battled the thieves. There, Cagalli met Shinn Asuka, a refugee from Orb who was serving with ZAFT. Shinn openly expressed his anger at Cagalli and blamed her father and his policies for the death of his family in the First Alliance-PLANT War. This was one of many difficult situations Cagalli was placed in as she had to struggle with her father Uzumi's legacy, her own coming of age, and her own goals and desires.

During the "Break The World" Incident, Cagalli watched from the Minerva as Athrun aided the ZAFT forces to stop terrorists from dropping the Junius Seven Colony onto the Earth. At the battle's climax, the Minerva descended into Earth's Atmosphere to destroy the colony, resulting in all onboard to land on Earth and proceed to Orb.[30] When they arrived at Orb, Yuna Roma Seiran (her fiancé at that time) quickly came to her and gave her a hug just showing Cagalli and the public his concern to her. (But actually it is just for show and possibly to make Athrun jealous). Cagalli and Athrun had little time together as she was busy with official duties. Later, Athrun informed her that he decided to leave Orb for PLANT to met with Chairman Gilbert Durandal. Before he left, Athrun give her a ring and they kissed.[31]

Orb joins the Earth Alliance

Even though Cagalli knew perfectly well what kind of nation the Atlantic Federation was, she was still manipulated by her fiancee Yuna and his father, Unato Ema Seiran, to endorse an alliance between the Earth Alliance and Orb, and to go through with an arranged marriage to Yuna to finalize the agreement. Unable to contact Athrun, Cagalli sent his ring to her brother Kira, along with a note explaining she will be marrying Yuna. As the wedding began, Kira kidnapped Cagalli with his Freedom Gundam and took her to the Archangel.[32] At first Cagalli was angry with Kira, but he reminded her about all things her father said, and that Orb joining the Earth Alliance out of fear would only led to destruction for others nations. Upon realizing that she made a big mistake, Cagalli broke down and cried in her brother's arms.[33] Later, after Lacus left the Archangel to meet their allies in space, Cagalli assumed a bridge position, taking the communications role previously held by Miriallia Haw until her return.

Battle of Dardanelles

After leaving Orb, which was now Earth Alliance territory, the Archangel hid underwater outside the Kingdom of Scandinavia until the Battle of Dardanelles, where Cagalli in her Strike Rouge desperately tried to reason with the Orb forces and stop them from attacking the Minerva. However, Yuna refused to acknowledge Cagalli out of fear that the Earth Alliance would attack Orb if they bowed out of this fight, claiming that she was either an imposter or she was being brainwashed, and ordered the Orb forces to open fire on her. Kira jumped in front of her with the Freedom and destroyed the incoming missiles.[34] Cagalli continued to plead with the Orb units to stop fighting, but her words fell on mostly deaf ears. As Cagalli watched the fighting progress, she recalled a speech made by her father shortly before the Battle of Orb. Basically, her father repeated Orb's motto, "We will not attack another nation, we will not allow another nation to attack us, and we will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations." He elaborated on this and concluded his speech by saying that Orb will uphold these principles to the bitter end. This caused Cagalli weep bitterly because she initially did not have the strength to follow her father's example when Yuna and the other Orb ministers were pushing to join the Earth Alliance.

Meeting with Athrun

After the battle, freelance photographer Miriallia Haw arranged a secret meeting between Cagalli and Kira with Athrun, who by this time has rejoined ZAFT. Lunamaria Hawke spied on them during this meeting under orders from Captain Talia Gladys. Athrun and the others disagree strongly on many points. He told Cagalli that if she wanted Orb to stop fighting against ZAFT, she needed to return to Orb and get them to end their ties to the Earth Alliance. In return, Athrun was told that Coordinators had attempted to assassinate the real Lacus Clyne, meaning that Kira and the others do not trust Chairman Durandal, as he used an imposter to gain public support. However, Athrun retorted that Kira and the others are jumping to conclusions and they do not have enough evidence to make him doubt Durandal.[35]

Battle of Crete

With some encouragement from Lacus, Cagalli tries to stop the Orb fleet from attacking the Minerva again during the Battle of Crete. Although this also fails, a few Orb soldiers under the orders of the late Captain Todaka defect and join the crew of the Archangel after the destruction of the Orb fleet.

Cagalli later participates in the Battle of Berlin against the GFAS-X1 Destroy Gundam, helping protect civilians on the ground while Kira engages the massive mobile suit. When the Archangel is pursued by the Minerva, Cagalli does not fight directly, but uses her mobile suit to retrieve the injured Kira Yamato after his mobile suit, the Freedom Gundam, is destroyed by Shinn Asuka, using the ZGMF-X56S/α Force Impulse Gundam. While the Archangel was damaged, it was still able to escape back into Orb for repairs.

Ledonir Kisaka, Cagalli's former bodyguard, later brings Athrun and Meyrin Hawke who had been injured attempting to escape from ZAFT, to the Archangel, where Cagalli helps watch over Athrun. Athrun finally regain consciousness around the beginning of the Battle of Heaven's Base, and Cagalli quickly broke down in tears, with the Athrun simply affirming their previous commitments that led to the current scenario. When Athrun falls asleep again, ZAFT has already won the battle, leading Kira to believe that Orb will be the next target of invasion.

Shortly after, Lacus and the Eternal were found by ZAFT forces and came under attack. Kira then borrow Cagalli's Strike Rouge and departed to provide assistance to Lacus.[36]

ZAFT's Invasion of Orb - Operation Fury

True to Kira's expectations, ZAFT forces seeking the leader of Logos, Lord Djibril, come to Orb after it was revealed he was being sheltered by the Seirans. Cagalli receives the ORB-01 Akatsuki Gundam that was constructed for her on the orders of the late Uzumi. Cagalli soon arrives with a small Murasame detachment under Ledonir to provide support for the defense of Orb. Remembering Yuna's previous trick, Cagalli first has him acknowledge her as the genuine person, before finally taking back control of the military; ordering Orb's officers to arrest and interrogate Yuna in the hopes of finding Djibril. Cagalli's sudden return uplifts Orb's defenders, and they are able to launch a furious counter-attack.

Upon seeing the change in development, the Minerva soon arrives and dispatches Shinn's ZGMF-X42S Destiny Gundam to assist. Recognizing the unit from the broadcast of Heaven's Base, Cagalli engages Shinn but is quickly outmatched by him and loses one of the Akatsuki's arms. Before she can be finished by the Destiny's beam boomerangs, Kira and Lacus arrive from space aboard the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam and ZGMF-X19A ∞ Justice Gundam respectively, and Kira orders Cagalli to return to Orb's HQ to take control of the battle while he engages Shinn.

After taking back the military command, Cagalli learns of a rogue shuttle emerging. Believing this to be Djibril, Cagalli sends a team of Murasames to shoot the shuttle down, but they fail to reach it in time. Upon seeing the shuttle escape, and the loss of the flagship, St. Helens, Minerva captain, Talia Gladys, takes command and orders the remainder of ZAFT's forces to withdraw.

Subsequently, Cagalli presents a global television broadcast, opposing Chairman Durandal's decision to invade Orb. Cagalli is interrupted when Meer Campbell starts her own broadcast to attack Orb's decision to house Djibril and refusal to hand him over as the cause of the battle. Shortly thereafter, the real Lacus reveals Gilbert's duplicity on global television whilst refusing to defend Lord Djibril any further; essentially reverting Orb back to its neutral stance in the previous war.

Post-Invasion

Afterwards, Cagalli remains in Orb to tend to her responsibilities as Orb's leader, while the Archangel returns to space. Before they leave, Cagalli addresses the troops. Athrun is surprised to see she is no longer wearing the ring he had given her, and she leaves without speaking to him. Cagalli also lends Neo Roanoke the Akatsuki so he could fight in her stead. Cagalli doesn't go into space because she must be responsible as a Representative in Orb. She spends the remainder of the series coordinating Orb and watching the Battle of Messiah, which ends the Second Alliance-PLANT War.

In Gundam SEED Destiny "Final Plus", footage was added to the scene in episode 45 (episode 44 HD Remastered) where Cagalli had removed the ring Athrun gave her. Before departure for war in space, Cagalli hugged Kira and Lacus. Athrun is the only person with an intimate hug. After the war, Athrun went back to Orb (episode 50 HD Remastered), suggesting that he might have returned to Cagalli's side.

Relationships

Athrun Zala

The pair met as enemies and tried to kill each other after being stranded on a remote island, but came to a mutual understanding. They reunited after Orb forces captured Athrun and Cagalli was upset when she learnt that he had 'killed' Kira, but didn't pursue revenge and instead encouraged him. After Athrun betrayed ZAFT, they fought together on the same side. She was surprised when she learnt that Athrun was engaged to Lacus, but after seeing that Lacus was in a relationship with Kira she grew closer to Athrun and eventually they became a couple.

After the war, Athrun would remain in Orb as her bodyguard and proposed to her with a ring. They would however grow distant once Athrun returned to ZAFT, with Athrun being upset that she agreed to marry Yuna, not stopping Orb from joining the alliance and causing chaos in the battlefield. After Kira berated Athrun for not caring about Cagalli's pain, he started to reconsider his stance.

Kira Yamato

She respected Kira after he helped her get to shelter during the attack on Heliopolis, but was later upset when she learnt that he was with the Earth Alliance. Kira for his part berated her when she was involved in a reckless attack against Waltfeld. The pair grew closer as they spent time together, but would not become a couple as Kira was already in a relationship with Flay (and later with Lacus) while Cagalli grew closer to Athrun.

They would later learn that they were actually twin siblings, which came as a shock. They maintain a good relationship after this as brother and sister, with Kira choosing to interfere with her wedding in order to stop her from acting recklessly despite her initial protest. He would also go into battle against Orb, Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces in order to help her get what she wanted despite the risks.

Uzumi Nara Athha

Ledonir Kisaka

Lacus Clyne

Yuna Roma Seiran

The pair were engaged, something that was decided by their parents when they were younger. Cagalli trusted Yuna and took his political advice to heart, believing that he had her best interests in mind. This made it easier for Yuna to manipulate her, as she needed someone to lean on when it came to politics, and he would get her to agree to their marriage. Yuna saw her as naive and childish, not taking anything she said seriously and disregarding her feelings for Athrun as a childish fancy. He was very quick to cut her loose when he risked earning the ire of Neo and the Earth Alliance, ordering his soldiers to kill her and pretending she was an imposter. Cagalli would later learn that it was Yuna who tired to kill her when a soilder from Orb’s forces inform her that they were following Yuna order in the Battle of Crete. When Orb is invade by ZAFT after the Seiran refused to hand over Lord Djibril, Cagalli would trick Yuna into recognizing her which she order his arrest. When Cagalli finally confronted Yuna, she angrily hit Yuna and berated him for putting Orb endanger and demanded to tell her where is Dijbril which he answered truthfully did not know where. Cagalli then ordered the soldiers to take him away as she regain control over Orb.

Shinn Asuka

The two do not get along. Shinn feels bitterness and resentment towards the Athha family, blaming their ideology for the death of his family. He lashes out at Cagalli on multiple occasions, even trying to shoot her in battle, Cagalli for her part feels guilty about what happened to Shinn's family and it weighs heavily on her mind.

Quotes

Quote:Cagalli Yula Athha

Gallery

Character Designs

Anime

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny

Illustrations & Artwork

Games

Notes & Trivia

  • Before she finds out he’s her brother, she develops feelings towards Kira. This is similar to both Luke and Leia from Star Wars.
  • According to an interview with Mitsuo Fukuda, her name is derived after the Japanese word kagaribi (a watch fire or a bonfire).
  • Before knowing her true identity, both Kira and Athrun had been rough to her (Kira slapped her in the desert while Athrun tried to kill her on their first meeting).
  • Despite the fact that she and Kira Yamato are twin siblings, she insists that Kira is her "little" brother. This is most likely due to his meek nature in the first series. It should be noted that Kira was taken from his mother's womb early in his development and placed into an artificial womb while Cagalli was born as a Natural in her mother's womb, so the two could literally have been born at the same exact time. Although technically, since Kira was removed earlier on from their mother's womb, it can also be said that he was born first.
  • There are several references to "dawn" in groups/objects around her.
    1. Her love interest, Athrun Zala's first name means dawn or daybreak.
    2. The last mobile suit she pilots, the Akatsuki, means "dawn" in Japanese.
    3. The resistance group she joins is known as the "Desert Dawn".
    4. The disastrous counterattack after the ZAFT attack on Tassil took place at dawn.
    5. The company that built the original 5 Gundams, Morgenroete, is based in Orb. "Morgenroete" is German for dawn.
  • Also, she has links to the color red as well.
    • The "Rouge" in the name of her first mobile suit means red in French.
    • Her love interest, Athrun Zala, mostly pilots MS which were either red or pink. In addition, Athrun's name came from "Ἐρυθρόν", the Greek word for red.
    • Her image song is "Desert Rose"; roses are mostly known for being red.
  • The Director says that Akatsuki still belongs to Cagalli, and that she only lent it Neo to help end the war.
  • Cagalli is the only known Natural in the anime to have the SEED factor.

Behind the scenes

  • Cagalli's new voice actor, Nanako Mori, previously provided the voice of Hikaru from Cross Ange, a mecha anime produced by Fukuda. This is due too Cagalli's original voice actor Naomi Shindo not returning. Fans have speculated this is due too the rumored behind the scenes drama during SEED Destiny production. As Naomi has yet reprised her role as Cagalli in other media.

Other Media

  • Cagalli appears in the Extreme Vs. series as the pilot for her Strike Rouge Ootori Pack.

Appearances

Television Series
OVAs and ONAs
Movies
Manga

References

  1. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-49, The Final Light
  2. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-14, Within Endless Time
  3. 3.0 3.1 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-40, Into the Dawn Skies
  4. 4.0 4.1 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-01, False Peace
  5. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-03, Collapsing Land
  6. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-15, The Respective Solitudes
  7. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-16, Burning Sandstorm
  8. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-17, Cagalli Returns
  9. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-18, Payback
  10. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-19, Fangs of the Enemy
  11. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-20, On a Calm Day
  12. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-22, The Sea Dyed Red
  13. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-24, War for Two
  14. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-27, Endless Rondo
  15. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-28, Kira
  16. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-31, Grieving Skies
  17. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-37, Divine Thunder
  18. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-38, Decisive Fire
  19. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-39, Athrun
  20. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-41, Trembling World
  21. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-42, Lacus Strikes
  22. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-43, What Stands in the Way
  23. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-44, Spiral of Encounters
  24. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-46, A Place for the Soul
  25. 25.0 25.1 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-48, Day of Wrath
  26. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED PHASE-50, To a Future that Never Ends
  27. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED After-Phase Between the Stars
  28. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-01, Angry Eyes
  29. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-02, Those Who Call For War
  30. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-07, Land of Confusion
  31. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-08, Junction
  32. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-14, Flight to Tomorrow
  33. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-15, Return to the Battlefield
  34. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-23, The Shadows of War
  35. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-24, Differing Views
  36. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny PHASE-39, Kira of the Skies

External links

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