What is the Plot of Gundam Wing?

Short Answer: Gundam Wing’s plot revolves around a war between the military alliance of Earth and the people of the space colonies. Within the war, five young soldiers from the space colonies, equipped with special Mobile Suits called Gundams, fight against the military alliance of Earth for the sake of freedom and peace in their homeland.

Throughout their mission, they learn more and more on how twisted and wicked the human heart can become. Amidst all the destruction, they find hope and a certain woman who faces the flames of war with nothing but her words and kindness. Little by little, this woman, along with the help from the Gundams, her actions manage to make the world a better place but little does she know that although her words may be kind and true, her greatest challenge has yet to face her and that her challenge was actually her brother.

Want to more details about the plot of Gundam Wing? Keep reading and let’s find out!

Before we dive in, let’s first talk a little bit about mecha for those who don’t know what it is and why it’s awesome.

What is the Mecha Genre about?

If you are new to the world of Mecha, let me give you a quick tour about it. The Mecha Genre usually centers around a war between the people of Earth and the people of space. It usually takes place in the future and may involve child soldiers that pilot giant robots called Mobile Suits. However, sometimes these Mobile Suits can be made from a different alloy as well as equipped with special weapons. These special Mobile Suits are called Gundams and they are tougher and more powerful than the average Mobile Suit. With their speed and power, the Gundams can turn the tides of war for good or evil.

Unlike other genres in anime, Mecha is very serious and comedic scenes are rare but if you like action that keeps you on the edge of you seat, then give Mecha a chance and prepare for an amazing journey!

What exactly is a plot?

Since we are talking about plots, let’s have a quick view of what a plot is. The plot is a series of events that progress the story around the characters through many events.

Although there are many kinds of plots, we are going to discuss some of the major ones that we get to see in our favorite shows and movies.

The types of plots

• Tragedy
  • In the Tragedy plot, the main character ends up going through a traumatic experience like the murder of a beloved one. This plot uses tragedy to develop the protagonist’s character. In simple words, the protagonist is driven by it through the whole series.
    
• Hero’s journey
  • The Hero’s Journey plot compels the protagonist to experience an adventure. In this case, the protagonist leaves his hometown to fulfill promises or to bring prosperity to his hometown. On his journey, he also faces many challenges and threats. This plot shows how an ordinary protagonist turns into a hero.
    
• Rags to riches
  • Rags to Riches plot features the sudden change in the fortune of the protagonist. The change can either be positive or negative. This plot tends to give the character a tremendous change in life to craft a story.
    
• Overcoming the Monster
  • Overcoming the Monster is probably the most common plot we get to see in fantasy shows. The protagonist is challenged constantly in such a plot. The opponent is always more powerful, which helps in creating an interesting storyline.
    

With that being said, let’s now head over to Gundam Wing and go over in detail where exactly does Gundam Wing’s plot fall under!

Gundam Wing’s Plot In Detail

As you may have guessed, Gundam Wing’s plot falls under Hero’s journey. The reason behind this is because of the five brave child-soldiers of the space colonies who left their home to fight off the oppressive military of Earth, specifically the elite division of Earth’s military known as OZ, and a promise to bring peace to homeland, the space colonies. Heero Yuy, the main protagonist, is one of these five brave child-soldiers. Throughout his mission, he faces countless challenges. It makes sense as he’s just a teenager who’s facing an entire military force.

The challenges he faces are so great that any normal person would give up. From being shot down from space to forced suicide, he goes through all of it without even a second thought and incredibly survives all of them. As amazing as Heero is, he is still human though and can still feel emotions, there have been numerous times where Heero decided to kill himself but a certain woman persistence kept him going. Her name is Relena Peacecraft, the last female successor of the Sanc Kingdom and the younger sister of the antagonist, Milliardo Peacecraft (aka Zechs Merquise).

Throughout Gundam Wing, she plays an important role as she allows Heero Yuy to develop as a character. It was Relena who kept Heero alive as Heero was always able to appreciate Relena as a whole, as not only she was always there for him but also gives him the feeling of warmth in his heart.

Because Heero was a soldier and a assassin, he removed all his emotions and all he knew was war. Relena, however, was make him see the value and meaning of life through her love and kindness. Although she’s not a soldier, Relena fights the war as hard as any soldier in her own way, total pacifism.

Her faith in total pacifism is so absolute that when she meets Lady Une again in space, Lady Une actually offers Relena her life as atonement for the death of her father.

I am like a body that has lost its soul. Now is your chance to take revenge for your father’s death.

-Lady Une to Relena Peacecraft

Relena walks up to Lady Une and replies with

Let’s put an end to this, the revenge and the battles.

-Relena Peacecraft to Lady Une

How amazing is that? Any normal person in Relena’s shoes would at least punch Lady Une for killing their father but Relena puts all that behind her and looks towards a better and more peaceful future for everyone.

Relena believes that peace between Earth and the Colonies can be achieved by understanding one another. Little by little, Relena got through to the hearts of people and she was also able to unite them with her words of pacifism. So much so that they decided to make her their queen. In truth however, the people in power were only using her for her name and her influence. She was also quite popular at this point that she would prove to be quite troublesome if left unchecked. Later on though, her brother, declares war on the Earth. She tries to reason with him but is instead imprisoned and Treize Khusrenada takes her throne and is declared the king of the world.

Another important character is Treize Khushrenada. He was the leader of the OZ organization and was the primary target of all the Gundam Pilots in the first half of the show. One of his encounters with Wufei chang is particularly significant as when he defeated Wufei in a sword duel, he decided to let him go free. This shamed Wufei but later made him grow as a character to see beyond his defeat and look forward with his own sense of justice. Later on in the show though, the Romefeller Foundation, an oragnization that funds the OZ, decides that the future of the Earth military should be the Mobile Dolls. Everyone loved the idea of fighting in a war where you wouldn’t need to risk the lives of the soldiers. Treize on the other hand sees it as an insult to the essence of battle itself. He firmly believes that battles should be fought where humans lives are put on the line as that is what brings the beauty of battle, or so he says. He then hands over the leadership of OZ to the Romafeller foundation and leaves Earth’s military as well. After his abdication, Treize designed the Gundam Epyon but gave it to Heero Yuy, as he lacked the mental capability to pilot it. Heero, who now is in possession of the Epyon felt a dark and sinister feeling in him growing. It was as if the Epyon itself telling him to kill them all. Heero however, was able to break free of this trance and later on was able to control it.

He also moved the plot as the king of the world by deciding to answer Milliardo Peacecraft’s declaration of war by sending out his army to fight in space. With this command, the final act of Gundam Wing was started and an epic war takes place.

Speaking of giving away Gundams, the gentle-hearted Quatre, is actually another character who moved the plot of Gundam Wing. When he lost his father, Quatre fell into despair. In his depression though, he found the blueprints of the Wing Zero and decided to build the Gundam himself. Life hit him so hard that he wanted to destroy everything that caused war and suffering, and with his new Gundam, the Wing Zero, he was determined to do it. Little did he know though that the more he used it, the more it corrupted his pure and gentle mind and heart. Just like Heero when he piloted the Epyon, Quatre fell into a trance where he couldn’t care less anymore what happens to him, all he wanted was revenge. All he wanted was for the fighting to finally stop. Only when he shot his friend, Trowa barton, with the twin-buster rifle was he able to come back to senses.

However, now that the Wing Zero was in the war, it fell in the hands of two other people, namely Zechs Merquise and Heero Yuy. When they piloted the Wing Zero, they both felt the immense power, as if nothing in the world could stop them. Although Relena Peacecraft was able to change Heero’s heart, she was unable to do so with her brother and actually ends up facing him as her final obstacle towards peace.

As he’s such a big name in the show, let’s talk a bit about Milliardo Peacecraft. In the first half of the show, he goes by Zech’s Merquise, the masked soldier of OZ. An excellent Mobile Suit pilot who people would fear to have him as their enemy. However, in one his fights, his masks breaks and he decides to return to his true identity as Milliardo Peacecraft. Although he’s the rightful heir of the Sanct kingdom, he says his hands are too tainted with blood to succeed the throne.

Instead, he proclaims himself as the person who will bring peace towards the space colonies by declaring war on the Earth. He wants to get revenge on the world government for destroying they the Sanc kingdom but his ultimate goal is bring total peace to the world. His methods for achieving it are to destroy everything that can cause war and fighting. He planned to smash the giant space battleship, libra, into the earth.

Certain conditions must be met for total peace. First all weapons must be eliminated and second, the desire to fight must be erased from people’s minds.

– Milliardo Peacecraft

In a final attempt to make his goal a reality, Milliardo Peacecraft valiantly fights Heero Yuy in order to stop him from stopping the descent of Libra on the Earth. In the end he loses and you would think that Heero, being the main character would be the one to save the day but Milliardo actually steals the spotlight one last time. With honor in his heart, he destroys the power generator of the Libra block before Heero can do so.

This sets of a giant explosion that destroys the Epyon. Miraculousy though, Heero manages to survive. The last scene of Gundam Wing shows us a scene where Heero leaves a teddy bear and a letter for Relena on her seat.

When she sees them, she frantically searches for him and when she does, she tears up the letter in front of him and she says he should give it to her in person. From saying the words “I’ll kill you.” to leaving a letter and a gift, how Heero has grown. Although the aftermath of the war was not discussed in the final episode, based on the last scene, we can say that peace was finally achieved.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out our other articles for all things gundam!