The Gundam Universe has a lot of powerful Mobile Suits, also known as Gundams. Some of those Mobile Suits can shoot a beam into space from Earth’s ground and some can even teleport. As powerful as those Mobile Suits are, what about the ones from Gundam SEED? If we disregard the pilots…
Which Mobile Suit is the strongest in Gundam SEED?
Keep reading to find out!
10. GAT-X103 BUSTER
The Buster or GAT-X103 Buster Gundam is one of the five GAT Mobile suits, developed by the Earth Alliance, inside of Orb’s space colony, Heliopolis. During the time of their deployment, their power had no comparison. It was very clear that the power of those five machines could bring a huge advantage to whoever could claim them.
That is to say, no other machine could match their power and defence if we are only talking about combats in space. The GAT-X103 along with its other GAT sibling Mobile Suits were designed as space type units. This means that although these Mobile Suits could operate very well in space, they could not operate with the same efficiency if they were to operate in Earth’s atmosphere.
These models could not fly in Earth’s atmosphere and their movement was drastically slow on Earth. However, the GAT units that ZAFT stole were fitted with gliders to help compensate for the lack of movement speed that these machines experienced in an Earth environment.
Among the five GAT Mobile Suits, the Buster was designed as the artillery support Mobile Suit. Using its large gun launcher and high-energy rifle, it can provide cover fire at a significant distance. It can also combine its both weapons in different ways to either do a burst of damage to enemy fleets, destroying multiple ships with one shot or to snipe an enemy target with a much greater range.
The Buster has no beam saber and has no shield. If an enemy gets close to the Buster, it could mean potential danger for the Buster. For its defence the Buster is equipped with phase shift armor and for close combat offense the Buster can use the barrel of its guns as swords but it would also mean that it would damage its main weapons. The Buster is also equipped with armaments for when an enemy gets too close for its long range weapons. Mounted on both of its shoulders are missile pods that shoot multiple missiles to destroy enemy mobile suits and armors before they can get too close to the Buster.
Here’s a YouTube video that showcases the Buster!
9. GAT-X102 DUEL
The Duel or the GAT-X102 Duel was the first of the GAT series to be developed. It was also developed in secret along with its sibling Mobile Suits in Heliopolis. The Duel was designed as a general use space type Mobile Suit. Compared to its sibling units, the Duel has no special features. The only thing it shares with them is the fact that all of them are equipped with phase shift armor.
Among the five of the first GAT series, the Duel is the most balanced Mobile Suit. It can fight mid to close range, it has a shield, it has a beam riffle/bazooka, and it has a beam saber. For mid-range fighting the Duel uses its beam riffle and can also be equipped with a minigun on its shoulders. For close combat, the duel uses its beam saber and shield.
Just like the rest of the first generation GAT series, the Duel cannot fly in Earth’s atmosphere and must rely on a glider to do so.
Although the Duel is not the most powerful of the first generation of GAT Mobile Suits, the Duel is the most balanced and that makes it a strong machine in the hands of a skilled pilot.
Check out this video to see the Duel in action!
8. GAT-X131 CALAMITY
Just like its sibling units and the former GAT series of the Earth Alliance, The Calamity was designed as a space type unit. It can move and fight efficiently in space but when it is in an Earth atmosphere, its mobility is significantly decreased. Being an artillery support type like the Buster, the Calamity is equipped with an arsenal of weapons that make it a deadly long range fighting machine.
Mounted on both of its shoulders are a pair of long range beam cannons. The calamity usually uses this as its main weapon. The Calamity also carries a hand held bazooka on its right hand that has a fairly good rate of fire and can easily destroy normal Mobile Suits.
Just like the Buster, the Calamity also has very poor close combat capabilities. It also has no beam saber but it does have a shield. It also has a high-powered energy cannon mounted on its upper torso. It is the same type of high-energy cannon that was mounted on the Aegis.
Although the range of this cannon is not as great as the ones that are mounted on its shoulders, it is much more powerful and the calamity can use this to ward off any enemy that comes too close to the calamity. If an enemy does come too close, the Calamity can defend itself with its shield. The shield itself is mounted with two small beam cannons that also have a good firing rate.
Here’s a video where we can see the power of the Calamity!
7. GAT-X370 RAIDER
The raider is one of the second generation GAT units developed by the Earth Alliance during the second half of the first Alliance-PLANT war. Compared to its sibling units, the Raider is the only second generation GAT unit that has an ability to transform. It can either be in a Mobile Suit form or in a Mobile Armor form. Its offense and defence capabilities are different with both forms it can take.
Its movement speed is also very different with both forms as the machine is much faster when it is Mobile Armor form. Both forms of the Raider can fly in Earth’s atmosphere. When in Mobile Suit form, the raider is a fairly strong mobile suit with a few weapons to defend itself and to destroy enemy targets. In this form, it can fight from mid-range to close range.
For mid-range fighting, it is equipped with two shell cannons, which are behind its shield, mounted on the left arm. They are the main weapon of choice for the raider in this form if the enemy is too far for melee combat. For close combat however, the Raider is equipped with a large flail that it can swing with great speed and power.
It can also spin the flail around so fast that it makes for a secondary shield. The Flail itself is also equipped with boosters to enhance its speed during attacks as to maximize the damage inflicted towards enemy targets. It can also defend itself when an enemy mobile suit is close by using its shield and firing its short range energy cannon that is mounted on its mouth.
When the Raider is in Mobile Armor form, it is equipped with two machine guns mounted on its shoulders and two plasma cannons on the middle portions of its claws for range attacks. It is also equipped with two claws for melee attack, and the short range high energy cannon for burst damage at close combat.
Check out this video to see how the Raider fights!
6. GAT-X252 FORBIDDEN
The Forbidden is another of the Earth Alliance’s second generation GAT Mobile Suits. Just like the Raider, this machine can fly in space and in Earth’s atmosphere. The design of the Forbidden is unique and is the only kind of Mobile Suit design we see in Gundam SEED.
For offense, it mainly uses a large scythe so physically destroy enemy mobile suits or ships and it also has a powerful beam cannon mounted in the middle of its torso. The beam cannon is also special as the Forbidden can control the direction of the beam by bending it.
For defence the Forbidden is equipped with two machine guns mounted on the head and two machine guns mounted on each arm. These machine guns are mainly for anti-missile. The most interesting feature about the Forbidden are the two huge shields that are mounted on its back.
The Forbidden can place the shields in front of itself and the shields will repel any incoming beams. This makes the Forbidden impenetrable to beams as long as the machine still has power. The repelling feature of the shields, however, does not work with rail guns and physical attacks.
Watch this video to see how the Forbidden fights!
5. GAT-X105 STRIKE
The Strike is the prototype for the four other GAT units that were stolen by ZAFT. Among the five GAT Mobile Suits, the Strike by itself is the weakest model. It has no shield, no beam saber, no beam riffle, and has very little manoeuvrability. However, the Strike has a special feature that it shares with no other GAT unit. The Strike has the ability to equip itself with Striker Packs. The Strike, equipped with a Striker Pack, has drastic change in both power and speed.
It has three Striker Packs to choose from, each with a different advantage. With the availability of the Striker Packs, the Strike is given a huge arsenal of weapons compared to the other GAT Mobile Suits. The Strike can either be a long range barrage type like the Buster, or a balanced Mobile suit type like the Duel, or a close combat type like the Aegis. All of these make the Strike the most versatile Mobile Suit of the GAT series. Additionally, all striker weapons are present in the configured Strike Gundam known as the Perfect Strike, which is mounted with the AQM/E-YM1 Multiple Assault Striker that allows for all striker pack weapons to be integrated in one Mobile Suit.
See the video below to see how awesome the Strike is!
4. GAT-X303 AEGIS
The Aegis is also a Mobile Suit from the first generation GAT series. It was designed as the command unit for the remaining GAT units. The Aegis, just like all the other first generation GAT Mobile Suits, is a space type unit. For combat, the Aegis can fight from mid-range to close range. For mid-range, it holds a hand held beam riffle and a shield. For close range, it is equipped with two beam sabers, and four beam blades on each limb of the machine.
The unique thing about the Aegis is that it is the only GAT Mobile Suit of the first generation to have transforming abilities. The Aegis has the ability to transform from Mobile Suit into a Mobile Armor and vice versa. When the Aegis is in Mobile Armor form, it is much faster than when it is Mobile Suit form.
When it is in Mobile Armor form, the four limbs of the Aegis become like claws that are mounted in front of the Mobile Armor that can grab enemy Mobile Suits. In front of the Mobile Armor, in the middle of the claws, is mounted a high-energy beam cannon. It is known as the scyla. It is the most powerful weapon of the Aegis and it is only accessible in the Mobile Armor form.
Although the Strike may have a large array of weapons to choose from because of its Striker Packs, the Aegis has power and speed all packed into one machine.
See how the Aegis is a terrifying force to be reckoned with in the battle field!
3. ZGMF-X09A JUSTICE
Developed secretly alongside the Freedom by ZAFT, the Justice was deployed as retaliation for the Earth Alliance’s use of Nuclear weapons. The Justice is a very powerful machine that very few can stand up against to. Unlike regular Mobile Suits, the Justice is equipped with an N-Jammer canceler or a Neutron-Jammer canceler. This means that the Justice can use Nuclear power, and it is. The Justice is powered by a nuclear reactor.
This nuclear reactor gives the Justice immense power, over four times the power that of the first generation of GAT units. The Justice was designed as a close combat type space Mobile Suit. For close combat, the justice is equipped with two beam sabers, a beam shield, and beam boomerangs. It can also use its back module as a support unit for when fighting in close combat.
Although it specializes in close combat, the Justice also has some weaponry that enables it to fight at mid-range. For mid-range battles, the Justice is equipped with a beam riffle that is more powerful that the ordinary beam riffles as it gets power from a nuclear reactor. It is also equipped with two beam boomerangs that it can throw at a significant distance and deal great physical damage to enemy targets.
Perhaps the most interesting and unique feature of the Justice is that its back module can be separated from the Justice and can be operated remotely by the pilot of the Justice. This back module, known as the Fatum-00, when attached to the Justice enables the Justice to go into HiMAT mode, giving the Justice speed much faster than average Mobile Suits. When it is detached, it can serve as a support unit for the Justice as it is mounted with four small machine guns, two large beam cannons, and two turret machine guns.
Check out this Crimson demon of a machine and why it’s able to defeat almost any who stand in its way!
2. ZGMF-X10A FREEDOM
The Freedom is one of the most, if not the most, iconic Mobile Suits in Gundam SEED. It was developed in secrecy along the Justice, Based on what we can see in Gundam SEED, the Freedom was designed to be the ultimate machine for long-range and mid-range combat or as the best artillery Mobile Suit during the time. Just like the Justice, the Freedom is also equipped with a Neutron-Jammer canceler and is also powered by a nuclear reactor.
In combat, the Freedom can boast great range, firing rate as well as great speed thanks to the HiMAT system. It also has a system that it shares with the Justice, and that is the multiple lock-on system. This allows the Freedom and Justice to lock-on to multiple targets at once.
Mounted on the shoulders of Freedom are two heavy-energy beams. These are powerful enough to destroy any average Mobile Suit with one direct hit. On each side of the waist of the Freedom are rail guns that are also very powerful and can penetrate water. These rail guns are similar to the valiants of the Arcanghel.
Utilizing the multiple lock-on system, the Freedom can fire all of its weaponry at once, hitting multiple enemies. This known as “Full Burst Mode” and is also applicable to the Justice. When the Freedom is in Full Burst Mode, it can easily wipe out an enemy fleet.
Have a look at the iconic Freedom in action!
1. ZGMF-X13A PROVIDENCE
The Providence was introduced at the ending arc of Gundam SEED. It is the last of the ZGMF Mobile Suit series developed by ZAFT with the Freedom and the Justice being the other ZGMF units. Despite its large and bulky size, the Providence is just as fast as the Freedom and Justice as it is also equipped with the HiMAT system. Adding to that speed is tremendous fire power.
Just like the other ZGMF Mobile Suits, the Providence is also equipped with a Neutron-Jammer canceler and is equipped with a nuclear reactor for power. The design of this machine makes it a very powerful and deadly machine but at the same time a very complex one to handle.
For offense, the Providence is equipped with a beam riffle that is large and more powerful than the beam riffles that the Freedom and Justice use. It is also equipped with two beam guns mounted on its back, and a large beam saber that is almost twice the size and length of a regular beam saber.
The Providence is one of a kind Mobile Suit in Gundam SEED and the thing that makes it one of a kind is its DRAGOON system. This is the main weapon of the Providence and is the most deadly weapon is has. The Providence boasts eight small DRAGOON pods, each one firing 2 beams, and three large DRAGOON pods, each one firing nine beams. That makes the total number of beams the Providence can fire up to forty four, including its hand held beam riffle.
The Providence is also equipped with the multiple lock-on system and it can use this to designate a target for each of its pods making the Providence one of the fastest, if not the fastest, fleet destroyers in Gundam SEED.
Check out for yourself why the Providence is a true beast when it comes to fighting!
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