Graham Aker
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| Graham Aker | ||
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| Graham (27, A.D. 2307) | ||
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| Graham (32, A.D. 2312) | ||
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| Mr. Bushido (32, A.D. 2312) | ||
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| Profile | ||
| Alias | Mister Bushido | |
| Nationality: | USA, Union | |
| Birthdate: | Sept 10, 2280 A.D. | |
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Captain Graham Aker (グラハム・エーカー?) is the Ace pilot for Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations and later the leader of the OverFlags squadron. After season 1, Graham joins Earth Sphere Federation's A-Laws as the only independent mobile suit pilot, Mister Bushido.
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Personality & Character
Graham is the Union's ace pilot and follows a strict code of honor. With a skill unmatched by any Flag pilot, Graham is eager to find an opponent worthy to fight. When Gundam Exia first appeared in the AEU exhibition and destroyed their new unit, the Enact, he grew completely interested in the Gundam's capabilities, as Billy Katagiri notes, he's "quite infatuated"[1] with the Gundams.
Graham's personality comes off as passionate when he pilots the Flag mobile suit and when fighting the Gundams, as he is eager to prove himself. He is also a proud self- proclaimed Flag Fighter, even swearing to a fallen comrade that he would defeat the blatantly superior Gundams with a Flag.
Graham has the apparently unique quirk of customizing all of his mobile suits to be "left-handed" (mounting a shield, if so equipped, on the right arm and carrying the main weapon with the left), because he is left-handed himself.
Skills & Abilities
Graham is a notably good pilot who has made several accomplishments throughout the series. Graham learned how pilot the Union Flag at a young age and was the first person to master the mid-air transformation in a mobile suit. This coined the phrase "Graham Special" referring to this move. Although Graham is a good shot in a mobile suit his forte is high speed melee mobile suit combat. He is known for being able to fight evenly against GN mobile suits while in an inferior mobile suit. This is evident when he manages to damage a Gundam while piloting a blatantly inferior Flag model. Graham's awesome piloting ability is evident by managing to fight off Dynames, Exia, and Throne Eins and dueling the 00 to a standstill. However he ended up losing to the world's first true Innovator because his suit was based off of the frame of a Flag.
History
Season 1
Graham Aker was born somewhere in the United States of America in 2280, where he came from a well educated background. He enlisted in the Union Army because of the thrill of fighting, and would eventually become an ace pilot. He became part of MSWΛD (Mobile Suit Warehouse and Development) mobile suit team with the rank of First Lieutenant.
First Encounters
While Graham and his best friend Billy Katagiri were witnessing the AEU's new Enact suit, which imitates the Flag's abilities, they noticed a mysterious mobile suit emitting a strange light coming down from the sky, disabling the Enact with ease. Graham grabs a pair of binoculars from a bystander, noticing the word "GUNDAM" on the suit's forehead. The Gundam then take off, as AEU units located on a secret hanger on the orbital elevator attempt to intercept, only to be sniped by Dynames.
After seeing the message from Aeolia Schenberg, announcing that Celestial Being will carry out armed interventions against any nations promoting conflict, Graham decides to meet and battle a Gundam. With his air carrier in proximity to Ceylon Island, where the Gundams were intervening, Graham took off in a Flag to engage Exia. He is able to outmaneuver the Gundam, only to be surprised by the beam saber it sported. He retreated and returned to Billy, informing him that he believes that the pilot of Exia is a child, because of his reactions during their fight.
The Flag Fighters
Because of his first encounter with the Gundam, Graham and Billy were assigned to the unofficial "Anti-Gundam Investigative Squad", with Professor Ralph Eifman as their chief MS designer and Howard Mason and Daryl Dodge as his teammates. The Professor is able to make a custom Flag for Graham, adding an anti-beam coating and a prototype linear rifle for Graham to fight the Gundams with.
When Kyrios attacked a plantation field in South America, Graham mobilizes to intercept, only to be stopped Eifman, who says that the plantations support narcotics.
Battle of Taribia
Determined to test his Flag in combat with a Gundam, Graham joined the attack fleet headed for Taribia, which had declared independence from the Union. Celestial Being appeared as predicted, but instead of attacking the Union forces, they instead attacked Taribia, determining them as a source of conflict. As a result, the Taribian Prime Minister had to call a state of emergency and ally with the Union, turning all eyes on the Gundams. Graham once again engaged Exia, only for it to dive underwater.
Azadistan Civil War
During a mission to protect Azadistan during its civil unrest after the disappearance of religious leader Rasa Massoud Rachmadi, Graham and his Flag Fighters noticed that the Azadistan forces near the solar antennae were fighting amongst each other. Suddenly, they were taken all taken out at long rang by Dynames. Just then, a cluster of missiles were launched from elsewhere, destroying the antennae. Graham is able to transform his Flag in mid-flight, which he then called the "Graham Special" and went to engage Dynames, evading its snipes. Graham drew Lockon Stratos/Dynames into close combat, forcing him to use his beam saber. Suddenly, Graham receives a message from headquarters about a suddenly coup d'eta being done by extremist conservatives, and then moves off to intercept. Howard and Daryl then join up to report that they don't know who fired those missiles, as the particles emitted by Dynames prevented them from finding out.[2]
While checking the scene in the day with Billy, Graham notices a young boy from behind the rocks. The boy claimed to be just curious, but Graham was suspicious and asked him about his opinions about Azadistan's political situation and let slip about a Moralian Enact that fired the missiles. Billy asked him why he revealed that; Graham said he doesn't even know, implying he knows the boy is Celestial Being.
After Exia rescues Rachmadi, and Celestial Being announces they will return him to the Azadistan palace, with Exia completely unarmed. The Gundam marched heedlessly into the palace grounds, delivering Rachmadi to Princess Marina Ismail and then takes off. The other Flag Fighters were adamant to go after Exia but Graham says if they did that, then the world would see them as villains.
Project G
The three superpowers soon had formed a secret coalition to do a joint training exercise in the Taklamakan Desert, which is reality is a plan to lure the Gundams and capture them. Graham is then promoted to the rank of Captain, with new transfers being added to the Flag Fighters, now officially called the "OverFlags", publically known as the the United States Of America 8th Independent Tactical Aviation Corps. One of the transfers, Joshua Edwards, doesn't think highly of Graham's skills. During the battle in the desert, Graham lead his squadron against Dynames. Joshua instead rushes into the fray, performing the Graham Special on his own but got destroyed by the Gundam. Eventually, the Flag Fighters wear Dynames down and capture it, only for many of their squadron to be shot at long range by Eins. With the suddenly losses, Graham had to order a retreat.
Vengeance
Team Trinity
After the sudden appearance of 3 additional Gundams, the world forces has been severely weakened and the anti-Gundam squadron has yet to effectively combat the additional threat. The Throne Gundams just attacked MSWΛD and Graham's squadron came to assist/defend the base. Billy informed Graham of Prof Eifman's demise and it infuriated Graham to go on the offensive. Graham's squadron attempted to take out Gundam Throne Zwei, but it resulted in the death of Howard Mason. Seeing how their forces can't take out a single unit, Graham had to pull back his squad.
While stationed at MSWΛD, he went to check the MS hanger and found Billy tuning his OverFlag. He thought it wasn't wise for Billy to work with such injuries, but Billy was adamant about his reasons for staying. Graham let him off and stayed around to talk with him. Billy thinks that the attack on MSWAD was no regular intervention, but a ploy to assassinate Prof Eifman over his investigation on Celestial Being. It was then an alarm went off to signal a Gundam attack. Gundam Throne Eins is attacking Iris Corporation's arms factory, Graham scrambled to intercept Eins.
Graham is still angered over what happened earlier to his comrades and pushed his OverFlag and his body to its limits. Graham engaged Johann/Eins in melee mobile suit combat and managed to relinquish Ein's beam saber in mid air. Graham/OverFlag quickly grabbed Eins' beam saber and used it to cut off Eins' right arm. Graham couldn't get his revenge as Eins retreated. As he frustrated over the limit of his vengeance for his fallen comrades, he coughed blood as the inertia and g-forces he used to engage Eins resulted internal injuries.
OverFlag Pride
Graham kept the GN Beam Saber and gave it to Billy in hopes it would give clues to GN Tech. While checking on Billy's progress over the beam saber, he told Graham that he discontinued the investigation and turned his focus on GN Drive and GN mobile suit development. Graham learned about the procurement of GN Tech from a Celestial Being traitor and that Union has 10 GN Drives at their disposal. After the formation of UN Forces and the deployment of GN-X's, he didn't want any part of the GN-X squadron. Graham wishes to honor Howard Mason's death with the pride of a Flag fighter pilot.
During the initial offensives between UN Forces and Celestial Being, Graham remained at MSWAD for his GN Drive T to be retrofitted into his OverFlag. Eventually Billy completed the necessary adjustments and reformatted his OverFlag into the first GN Flag. Graham then went into space with UN Forces to battle against Celestial Being, but appearance was late as the majority of Celestial Being was destroyed.
Vs Setsuna/Exia
While flying his GN Flag into space, he spotted Setsuna/Exia and engaged him in melee mobile suit combat. Their final blows resulted in a spectacular scatter of red and green GN particles in space. The battle appears to be mutual destruction, but Graham didn't die. He was recovered by UN Forces and healed from his injuries, but his face was badly scarred in the fight.
4 Years Later
During the 1 year anniversary of the Earth Sphere Federation, it's been revealed that Graham didn't heal his facial scars and wore a Japanese samurai mask to cover his injuries. He has since joined A-Laws and no longer uses his original name to identify himself, he calls himself Mister Bushido.
Season 2
Return of Gundams
5 years since his major battle with Celestial Being, Graham continues to maintain his Mr. Bushido identity with the Federation and has been given free reign to do whatever he pleases, a license. After hearing the return of Gundams, he felt excited for the chance to face them again. While on board a Federation MS sea carrier, Major Lindt requested Mr. Bushido to be part of their forces while they hunt for Ptolemy 2. While they began an undersea assault operation, Graham remained a silent observer.
While Major Lindt was handling his underwater operation against Celestial Being, Graham/Mr. Bushido Custom Ahead sortied on standby. Major Lindt's operation failed and 00 Gundam was about to destroy the carrier's command deck when Graham/Ahead intervened by ramming into 00 Gundam. Graham recognized the pilot's combat style and was happy he was fighting against Setsuna. Graham felt fortunate for a chance to redeem his honor through fighting 00/Setsuna. Graham's rematch was cut short with the sudden appearance of Kataron interference. Colonel Mannequin thought the situation was disadvantageous and he was ordered for a tactical retreat with their carrier.
Middle East Conflict
Eliminating Katharon
A-Laws received a reliable tip of the location of Katharon. Mr. Bushido along with a squadron of GN-X's went to destroy Katharon. While reaching upon their destination, Mr. Bushido expressed no interest in partaking in exterminating Katharon and flew off against his commanding officer's dismay. Even though Celestial Being appeared, Mr. Bushido never intercepted them. It was speculated that he either returned to the MS sea carrier or didn't care to intervene because Setsuna/00 was absent in the battlefield.
Honorable Duel
Celestial Being was discovered to be traveling outside borders of the Rub'al Khali desert. Mr. Bushido/Sakigake along with his GNX squadron went to intercept the Gundams. To Mr. Bushido's delight, he was given orders to handle 00 Gundam. As the Gundams engaged them in battle, Mr. Bushido/Sakigake charged in with his beam saber to face Setsuna/00. Mr. Bushido/Sakigake fared well against Setsuna/00, even feeling insulted that Setsuna/00 isn't going all out on him. After cutting down 00 Gundam's GN Shield, Setsuna/00 executed Trans-Am. Mr. Bushido was glad to see Setsuna/00 giving his best against him. Setsuna/00 used high speed combat to flank his position and chop off Sakigake's left MS arm. Mr. Bushido/Sakigake attempted to evade, but was about to be finished by Setsuna/00 when the Gundam broke down. Mr. Bushido/Sakigake didn't want to finish off a helpless opponent and left him off. His squad leader wasn't pleased with his actions, but he just ignored them.
Testing a New MS
While A-Laws was busy preparing an underwater assault against Celestial Being, Mr. Bushido headed off to MSWΛD. Graham came to congratulate Billy in his recent promotion to chief of MS development and interested in testing out his prototype twin drive MS. Billy asked for his preferences for the prototype and Graham asked for the greatest speed and sword. Billy was wondering why Graham wasn't part of his unit as they are about to take on Celestial Being, Graham said he wasn't interested in ship-to-ship battles.
Eventually, the prototype was complete, christened the GNX Masurao. Billy states that it bears resemblance to the Flag and tuned for high speed combat. Also, he had installed a new system based on handwritten notes from Eifman's home.
The Trans-Am Duel
When a number of renegade regular soldiers take control of the African elevator, Graham guessed that Celestial Being would be there. His gut proved right when Setsuna/00 Raiser turned up, believing that Ptolemy 2 would be there also. Graham/Masurao charged at his foe, though Setsuna didn't have time for this. Graham then revealed his secret surprise: Trans-Am. He charges again, only for Setsuna/00 Raiser to put up a GN Field before activating Trans-Am, pleasing Graham. They engage in a high speed duel, constantly clashing with each other. As they are engaged in a sword lock, a particle beam forces them break it off. Graham looks to his right and sees Ptolemy 2 and the other Gundams providing support. With his particles nearly spent, Graham swears that they will duel again.
Post-Break Pillar
Innovator Capture
Four months after the tragic Break Pillar incident, Graham's Marurao was upgraded with a new system called Aoii. He watched from afar as the Gundams capture Revive Revival. He was completely unimpressed with Setsuna's lack of passion for battle.
Eclipse Duel
Innovator leader Ribbons Almark later assigned Graham and Warrant Officer Louise Halevy to travel to colony Eclipse at L5. Lieutenant Andrei Smirnov requested to join them; Graham doubts he'd be able to keep up.
Once Graham arrived at Eclipse in his new Susanoo, which even more resembled the Flag, he held his sword to 00 Raiser, who was currently on standby with Saji Crossroad piloting when Setsuna returned, having gained the coordinates of Veda. This time, Graham fully revealed himself to Setsuna, who recognized him. He demands to Setsuna for an all-out duel, which he was forced to agree to. For the most part of their duel, Setsuna was mostly distracted by Louise/Regnant destroying the Gundam Throne Drei. After the Throne's destruction, Graham says that he had lived for this and acknowledged that he is only the Innovators' puppet, that his code of honour is all he has left. With their duel in a stalemate, they both activate their respective Trans-Am and engage in a high speed spiral. The sheer amount of GN particles from 00 Raiser brought Graham into a dream world. At first, he believed that he was experiencing nirvana but Setsuna informed him that they are in the place where the particles gather. He explains that he fully understand Aeolia's plan: to guide humanity towards innovation.
They then return to the real world, where Graham express his desire for victory. Graham/Susanoo disarms Setsuna/00 Raiser of his GN Sword IIs. But before he could finish his foe off once and for all, Setsuna/00 Raiser grasp his blade, breaking it before stabbing Susanoo with his beam saber, revealing its true form as the Flag. Coming out of his cockpit, Graham demands that Setsuna finish him off; the Meister refuses, stating that he's living for the future before soaring off. Graham soon considers suicide before remember Setsuna's words and hesitates.
A-Laws disbanded
When it was revealed to the world of the A-Laws' misuse of power, the Federation dissolves the corrupt organization and resolves to make many reforms. Graham, having given up his mask and alias as Mr. Bushido, meets up with Billy at an undisclosed lab.
Relationships
Celestial Being
Setsuna F. Seiei
Having seen Setsuna from Azadistan, Graham presumed him to be just a curious kid. But when he faced him in battle, he determined that the young boy is his greatest obsession to defeat.
UN Forces/Earth Sphere Federation
Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations
Billy Katagiri
Leif Eifman
A-Laws
External Links
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