Short Answer: Relena likes Heero as he is the guy who gives excitement, joy, solace, and inspiration to her life. He gives her the strength to continue and the boldness to break the walls that block her from accomplishing her objectives.
Here we have the beautiful character from Gundam Wing, Relena Darlian. Though she appeared first as a pampered rich young lady in the series, she shows great character development after facing her past and becomes a mature,
courageous, and charismatic woman. A noble lady who strives for peace. A wealthy girl who has everything she could ask for. So how in the world did she suddenly fall in love with an emotionless war-freak teenager named Heero Yuy?! Well, let’s go and find out why…
Relena’s Background
Relena Darlian who is originally known as ‘Relena Peacecraft’, is the last female successor of the Sanc Kingdom and the younger sister of the antagonist, Milliardo Peacecraft (aka Zechs Merquise). When United Earth Sphere Alliance attacked the Sanc Kingdom, the baby Relena got separated from her brother but was saved and later adopted by her current father, Vice-Minister Darlian, the former senator of the Sanc Kingdom, and a trusted person by King Peacecraft.
After witnessing the death of her adoptive father, she learns the truth behind her past. She then decided to carry on the pacifistic works of her real parents, hence becoming passionate about being a good leader who will guide and usher her people to find peace, serene, and love in their world.
Heero’s background
Heero Yuy, just like how it is pronounced as ‘hero’, is our beloved, determined, quiet, and stoic main
protagonist of Gundam Wing. The lucky guy who received Relena’s affection. Some might say that he
looks cruel and expressionless but deep within, he hides a kind heart. Heero believes that being emotional
on missions or battlefields will only result in heartbreak and failure, that’s why he always seems so heartless.
Prepared as a professional killer since the time he was a youngster, he was outfitted with the abilities of a
veteran and killer instincts in fights. He was then found by Doctor J, who later turned into his coach and gave
him the code name ‘Heero Yuy’.
He is the pilot of the XXXG-01W Wing Gundam and is also known as the “The Perfect Soldier”. It is also seen in the anime that Heero seems to have suicidal tendencies. On the first meeting between him and Relena in the Gundam Wing series, Heero tried to kill himself when he learned that he failed to complete his mission. Trying to commit suicide through a bomb, he was met only with a small explosion that didn’t kill him. Many attempts of Heero murdering himself or Heero facing death-like situations are seen on the series but failed or was saved due to Relena’s interruption.
How they met
Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is the first meeting of our two protagonists. You would probably think that after meeting each other, they would become friends and then get to know each other, developing into pure romance. Unfortunately, they only met for a short amount of time. But fret not my friends! The plot makes it more intriguing and exciting. They even get to have an intimate meeting.
When Relena’s 15th birthday approaches, she finds an injured boy lying on the beach and called an ambulance. Interested in knowing who he is, she took off his helmet and was shocked to learn that he was the same age as her. Though by the time she finds out his identity, he woke up and fled by stealing the ambulance car. But as though faith likes to bring them together, she meets the boy at her school the next day. Discovering that he was a new student called ‘Heero Yuy’, she attempts to invite him to her birthday party but to her disappointment, got rejected. She saw him tear up her invitation letter in front of her and threaten to kill her. Yes, you thought it right. He said the words, “I’ll kill you”. Um, it’s not romantic but hey! At least it’s something you won’t forget.
Then the story proceeds to them, meeting and clashing with each other as you further watch the anime.
How they affect each other
Relena finds Heero’s presence as a comfort and an inspiration to her life. Every time she sees Heero having the strength to act on what he does, it motivates her. This gave her the courage and inner strength to become the Queen of the world. She tries her best to lead people into not giving up their hopes and dreams and wanted to inspire others as well, like Heero, to keep on living. Heero has saved Relena multiple times from the OZ’s ambush and at the same time, Relena kept Heero from killing himself. As they continue to get closer, Heero can stop his suicidal tendencies and can face life freely and happily.
Their Goals
Relena Darlian – having the ideals of a pacifist, Relena wants to stop wars and conflicts. She wants the world to achieve peace and love for each other.
Heero Yuy – his goals were to defeat the ‘The Organization of the Zodiac’ (OZ), prevent the block of Libra from colliding and destroying the earth, and just like Relena, end the war and violence.
How they see each other
At first, Relena sees Heero as an interesting person who will give her the excitement of her life. While our serious ‘Heero’ considers her as a potential risk and a target to kill due to her witnessing the death of her adoptive father. But as they continue to learn something more about each other, they slowly build up their relationship and feelings for each other. Relena was able to see Heero as a person full of determination and confidence in his mission in life. She was able to understand Heero as she also knows the feeling of sacrifice, war, and the terrors it brings to people. Heero was also 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. Being the person to stop him from meeting his demise, you could see that Heero was able to recognize and value the meaning of life through her.
Interesting Fact!
Another interesting couple we can find in Gundam Wing is Milliardo Peacecraft and Lucrezia Noin. That’s right! We have here the older brother of Relena Peacecraf, who was introduced as Zechs Merquise in the anime, and the most loyal and faithful, tomboyish yet matured woman, Lucrezia Noin.
Zechs Merquise is the main antagonist and the rival of our leading man, Heero Yuy. It was known that his name was Milliardo Peacecraft, the prince, the legitimate heir of Sanc Kingdom, and the biological older brother of our heroine, Relena Peacecraft (aka Relena Darlian in the Gundam Wing series).
Proud, conflicted, and full of self-hatred, he carries his life as a soldier but then later fails to follow in the footsteps of his father in being a pacifist making him believe that he is unqualified of his family name.
Lucrezia Noin is an intelligent and impressive mobile suit pilot but doesn’t like to fight and even detest war. But at crucial moments, she is the type of woman to put everything on the line to protect those she cared for and loved. Being a Peace Million soldier, Noin should have clashed and fought Zechs Merquise. But because of her deep infatuation and feelings for him, she tries to avoid battling with him and even helped him in his acts.
It was later discovered that she has been already in love with Zechs at an early age in the military academy. Noin is shown to be very loyal to Zechs and becomes his subordinate. Then later becomes his best friend, guide, companion, and lover.
What can we say! Even antagonists have their own romantic stories. I love their faithfulness and their deep affection for each other. Other than the main pair of Gundam Wing, Milliardo Peacecraft x Lucrezia Noin gives me the thrill and romantic excitement a couple should have.
If you like the love stories so far, check out the Gundam SEED’s love story on why Lacus Choose Kira instead of Athrun.
Final Thoughts:
Despite the bumpy and complicated relationship, the development of their feelings for each other and the connection they have, clearly shows how great of a couple they are. Relena as a young wealthy lady seeks excitement and joy in her life, and those feelings are found in a certain boy, named Heero. The longer she spent time with him, the deeper she fell into the pit called love. As the person who provides comfort and motivation in her life, she finds true colors in her world with him. He gives her the strength to carry on and the courage to break down the boulders that block her from achieving her goals. Finally, in the end, she attained something her heart has been yearning for and that is marrying her true love.
Thank You for reading!
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out our other Gundam articles!