Canard Pars (カナード・パルス?) is a character from Gundam SEED X Astray. He was a member of the Earth Alliance and Eurasian Federation and pilot of the CAT1-X1/3 Hyperion Unit 1 until the ending stages of the First Alliance-PLANT War. After the war, Canard became a mercenary and piloted the YMF-X000A/H Dreadnought H.
History
Canard was a failed prototype of the same "Ultimate Coordinator" project that produced Kira Yamato, and the only one who had survived. To prove that he was not such a failure after all, he went on a quest to kill Kira. Although he is a failed Ultimate Coordinator clone, his abilities are much higher than regular Coordinators.
Canard was found by a group of scientists and brought to a research facility, where the scientists tried to find information on his abilities by torturing him and doing other cruel tests. They often used word "failure", which left behind multiple scars in Canard's soul.
When Canard was young he had escaped from the research facility once. During his escape he met a mysterious man with black hair and sunglasses, and this man told him about the existence of Kira Yamato. He also told Canard about the research facility up in the Mendel space colony and how he is a failure.
Gundam SEED X Astray/SEED Destiny Astray
From words of Artemis commander Gerard Garcia, it is actually hinted that Canard was found by members of the Eurasian Federation which then made him a special operative and saving his life on this way.
In battle, Canard was known to use his Hyperion Unit 1's "Armure Lumiere" beam barrier to turn his mobile suit into an indestructable target that would distract the enemy, allowing his comrades to take them out using their TS-MA2 Moebius mobile armors (which under normal circumstances were easy prey for ZAFT's mobile suits).
When the Earth Alliance acquired the Neutron Jammer Canceller technology, Canard was determined to upgrade his mobile suit with it, so that he would have no constraints on his "Armure Lumiere" beam barrier. He fought against Al Da Flaga clone Prayer Reverie, pilot of the YMF-X000A Dreadnought Gundam, trying to obtain the N-Jammer Canceller several times. Canard later destroyed Hyperion Unit 2, piloted by Balsam Arendo when he deserted the Alliance. He then refitted his Hyperion Unit 1 with a N-Jammer Canceller and nuclear engine that he got from the Ptolemaeus lunar base.
In the end, Canard was defeated by Prayer, but did not die; Prayer protected him from the explosion of Hyperion's overloading reactor and apparently died shortly after due to flaws in the cloning process. Shortly after the end of the First Alliance-PLANT War, Canard finally saw Kira Yamato at Reverend Malchio's orphanage. As Canard rushed towards an unaware Kira, finally being able to fulfill his goal of killing him, he suddenly stopped, looked into Kira's eyes, turned around and walked away, finally deciding to abandon his quest and move on with his life.
Later, Canard reunites with his special forces comrades (who had deserted the Eurasian Federation alongside him) to form Mercenary Unit X. He now pilots the rebuilt Dreadnought Gundam, the YMF-X000A/H Dreadnought H.
Gundam SEED VS Astray
He first appeared in Chapter 10 of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED VS Astray, interfering with the fight between ND HE and Rondo Gina Sahaku. He demanded from them the location of Prayer Reverie and intends to kill him as he know this Prayer is a fake. After defeating ND HE, he was brought to the base where the carbon human clone of Prayer was present. Canard then learns about the true motives of the clone along with Gai and Lowe, they then jointly defeated him in a battle. After the battle, Canard tried to kill the clone, which was what the clone wanted, but was stopped by Lowe, who then suggested a better way out for the clone.
Notes & Trivia
- Canard Pars was voiced by Souichiro Hoshi in the video game Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: Generation of CE, which is fitting since both of Hoshi's roles, the other being Kira Yamato, are the only surviving products of the Ultimate Coordinator project.
- Canard appeared and met directly with his fellow Ultimate Coordinator, Kira Yamato, in Super Robot Wars W. At first, Canard considered Kira as his enemy, however, the player is given the option of convincing him to join the Neue Wärter (the player faction). In the ending of the game, if he was convinced, Prayer Reverie gives him his Dreadnought Gundam. If he was not convinced, Prayer asks Kazahana Adja to deliver the Dreadnought to Canard for him.
- Canard's rivalry to Prayer Reverie is analogous to the rivalry between Kira Yamato and Rau Le Creuset/Rey Za Burrel, as both pairs share the same origin of being either Ultimate Coordinators or Clones.
- Some fans speculated that mysterious man with black hair and sunglasses who told Canard about Kira is Gilbert Durandal in disguise. This has never been confirmed officially.
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