Terry Sanders Jr.

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Terry Sanders Jr.

Terry Sanders Junior is a fictional character in the anime OVA Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team. The character is voiced in Japanese by Tesshō Genda and in English by Steve Kramer.

Terry Sanders Jr., often referred to as Sanders by his teammates, was a member of the 08th Mobile Suit Team. He was 29 years old during the events of the series. Unlike Federal Forces pilot Reed Wolf, he detested his nickname "Shinigami".

[edit] Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Sanders was a veteran Earth Federation Space Forces test pilot long before he joined the 08th Mobile Suit Team, and one of the first Federation mobile suit aces. On October 10, UC 0079, Sanders and his team engaged an experimental Zeon MS-06RD-4 Zaku II Prototype mobile suit and its escorts. But during the battle all of Sanders' teammates were killed and Sanders' own RGM-79[E] GM Type-E was slightly damaged and ran out of ammunition. However, Sanders was saved by Shiro Amada who attacked the experimental Zaku II Prototype in a measly RB-79K Ball K Type, allowing Sanders to retreat to a waiting shuttle.

With all of his old team dead, Sanders was transferred to the 08th Mobile Suit Team under the Kojima Battalion in South-East Asia, placed under the direct command of Shiro Amada, the young man who had just saved his life. Sanders would pilot the RX-79[G] Gundam Mass Production Ground Type unit 083, and he would quickly prove his worth as a heavy weapons user.

However, all was not well with Sanders. As the 08th Team received additional missions he would become more unconfident with himself and Sanders began to get into fights with the other mobile suit teams as rumors of the circumstances of his past team-mates' demise spread throughout the other squads. It turns out that every one of Sanders previous unit had been annihilated on their third mission, leading to the rumor that Sanders was a curse of bad luck. Due to this notorious reputation, Sanders earned several nicknames such as the "God of Death", "Team Killer", and "The Reaper" among the other mobile suit teams of the Kojima Battalion, and they all waited for the 08th Team to meet the same fate as all of Sanders' past teams.

However, Shiro Amada refused to believe in the rumor, rejecting Sanders' request for a resignation before their third mission. On their third mission the 08th Team encountered the massive Apsalus I mobile armor, but although the units all came out of the fray damaged, all of the pilots were still alive. Sander's jinx was broken and he would continue to be a valuable member of the 08th Team until the unit was disbanded in December of 0079 and Sanders was sent back to space.