Descartes Shaman (デカルト・シャーマン Dekaruto Shāman?) is a fictional character in Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Descartes is humanity's second confirmed Innovator, and is the pilot of the GNMA-Y0002V Gadelaza featured in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer.
Personality & Character[]
Descartes has been shown to be an arrogant and egotistical person - not unlike Ribbons Almark - due to his status as an Innovator. He believes that his being an Innovator has placed him above other people in the ESF, who he simply views as "inferior creatures". In most of his interactions, he speaks in a condescending and arrogant manner, shown and exemplified during his encounters with Kati Mannequin, Billy Katagiri, and Mina Carmine. Descartes is even arrogant enough to override the commands of Kim (six ranks his senior), and he does not hesitate to voice his discontent at being a mere "lab rat".
Although he is dissatisfied with his situation, he still faithfully carries out his mission. However, when he is riding his own new MA, Gadelaza, he goes on a rampage as if to vent his frustration.
Skills & Abilities[]
Descartes is presumed to be a quite talented pilot, having been assigned to the sole Gadelaza unit revealed to exist (though it could possibly be due solely to his Innovator status). His quantum brainwaves enhance his natural piloting abilities, allowing him to maximize the performance of his mobile unit. He is also capable of fighting huge numbers of enemies using the Gadelaza's built-in weaponry along with controlling a massive number of GN Fangs, hinting that his capabilities are quite extraordinary for him to be able to actively pilot the Gadelaza whilst utilizing that many remote weapons.
History[]
Formerly a soldier of the A-Laws, his awakening was triggered when he was exposed to highly concentrated compressed particles released by the GN-0000+GNR-010 00 Raiser's Trans-Am Burst during the Battle of L2. His abilities have been recognized by Veda, and he can be said to be one of the possible new forms of humanity's future that was opened up by Setsuna F. Seiei. He's a Captain of the ESF Army, but he's being used as a guinea pig for the military in order to search for more people with these abilities, and he himself hates being used as a "lab rat".[1] He is the first Innovator that has been officially acknowledged by the Earth Sphere Federation.[2]
Intercepting Europa[]
Whilst they were on board the Celestial Being, Descartes was greeted by Brigadier General Kati Mannequin and her husband Patrick Colasour. Previously, the ESF had detected an old ship, known as the Europa leaving Jovian orbit. Three Baikal-class ships were sent to intercept the adrift space vessel with missiles, but Descartes predicted that it wouldn't work. Surprisingly, the missiles had no effect on the trajectory of the ship as it suddenly changed course for Earth. In shock, Kati remarked that the three ships had enough missiles to destroy the adrift space station, and Descartes volunteered to go. Speaking to Kati (and presumably reading her mind), Descartes told her,
| “ | I'll go. You want to see what an Innovator can do, don't you. Of course, I'll take the new unit just like you hoped. | ” |
A team of GNX-803T GN-XIVs led by Andrei Smirnov also attempted to destroy the space station, but Descartes launched in the GNMA-Y0002V Gadelaza and arrived on the scene. Descartes deployed the Gadelaza's numerous GN Fangs to cut the space station apart and then destroyed it in one shot with the GN Blaster. But unknown to him and everyone else, the ship was infected by an alien life-form later dubbed Extraterrestrial Living-metal Shape-shifter, who fell to Earth disguised as debris and began to assimilate anyone who had the potential to become an Innovator.
After Europa[]
After seeing Descartes and the Gadelaza in action, Kati Mannequin had it made clear that Descartes should be treated "more like a Captain", which was his rank in the ESF Army. Descartes was later seen wearing an Earth Sphere Federation Army uniform when he was summoned to the command center of the Celestial Being to meet Billy Katagiri and Mina Carmine. Mina, referring to him as "Mister Innovator", asked him if he had read the materials she had sent along concerning a change in the Jupiter Radio Waves. Initially refusing to comment beyond suggesting Mina overestimated his abilities, it was only when Billy stated that he hoped Descartes would help them understand the ELS that the Innovator revealed that he felt a "cry" from Jupiter. Having stated that it was Billy's and Mina's job to find out what this "cry" was, he excused himself from the group. Afterwards, alone in an elevator, Descartes stated that normal Humans were "inferior creatures" just before he was thrown into pain from the ELS' telepathic cry, which affected many Quantum Brainwave users.
Death[]
Once the activities of the ELS were realized, Descartes started feeling headaches. The ESF soon began to notice an entire ELS armada emerging from Jupiter's red spot and set to arrive at Earth within 95 days. To understand the ELS's intentions, the ESF Army led by Kim sets out to the Mars space sector to intercept the ELS. Descartes sorties against the enemy in an attempt to figure out their intentions and at best, attempt to lure them away from Earth with his QBWs. The initial plan works as a group of ELS charged towards Descartes, but he was able to deploy the GN Fangs and missiles to destroy the ELS probes. However, the plan went downhill as a team of GN-XIV's and eventually the Nile-class flagship and two Baikal-class ships are assimilated. Not wanting to die in space, Descartes fired on the assimilated ships with the GN Blaster, destroying them. He didn't count the hits as friendly fire since they were already dead. Descartes traveled through the smoke with a group of ELS chasing him. More of the fangs were assimilated, and Descartes suffered another mental assault. A large ELS emerged from the same cloud and was above Gadelaza. In desperation, Descartes fired at the large ELS, but it wasn't enough as it soon grabbed Gadelaza and began assimilating the mobile armor. The head pain increases dramatically as the ELS created a spherical formation around Gadelaza. The Gundams arrived, and Setsuna contacted Descartes, telling him to eject. He cannot hear Setsuna, and was killed in the assimilation process.
Gallery[]
.png "Shaman \"Chained\" 01 (00 Movie).png (2.15 MB)")
.png "Shaman Pilot Suit 01 (00 Movie).png (2.45 MB)")
Notes & Trivia[]
- Descartes Shaman is partially named for the famous French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes.
- Descartes wears a special pilot suit that amplifies QBWs, similar to the one worn by Soma Peries.
References[]
- ↑ Descartes Shaman's gundam00.net Official Japanese Profile as of 12th May 2010; Direct Link [1]; profile translation link [2]
- ↑ A Wakening of the Trailblazer August Trailer