Universal Century

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Universal Century is the English name for the original timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. It is also called "Uchuu Seiki", meaning "The Era of Space", in Japanese, but the official English name Universal Century is always used to tag along the Japanese kanji name and is often abbreviated as "UC".

The Universal Century starts after humans begin to populate space, after construction of the first space colony at Side 1 was completed. While many new Gundam stories are told in their own, independent timelines, giving them a greater degree of creative freedom, the original UC storyline continues to be popular for a variety of reasons. It established the series, and delivered many of its best moments, and nostalgia for the oldest of the Gundam shows (and Gundam's resulting status as a pop-culture icon in Japan) is still a major factor in its continuing success.

[edit] Universal Century Gundam Animated/Live-Action Works

Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO (January, UC0079)
Mobile Suit Gundam (September, UC0079)
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (October, UC0079)
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: A War in the Pocket (December, UC0079)
Gundam the Ride: A Baoa Qu (December, UC0079)
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (UC0083)
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (UC0087)
Gundam Neo Experience 0087: Green Divers (UC0087)
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (UC0088)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (UC0093)
Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (UC0123)
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (UC0153)
G-Saviour (UC223)

[edit] Universal Century Gundam Animated/Live-Action Works (in order of release):

Mobile Suit Gundam (TV: 1979; compilation movies: 1981–1982)
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (TV: 1985; compilation movies: 2005-2006)
Mobile Suit Gundam Double Zeta (TV: 1986)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (movie: 1988)
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (OVAs: 1989)
Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (movie: 1991)
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (OVAs: 1991; compilation movie: 1992)
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (TV: 1993)
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (OVAs: 1996, compilation movie: 1998)
Gundam the Ride: A Baoa Qu (amusement park ride movie: 2000)
G-Saviour (live action TV movie: 2000)
Gundam Neo Experience 0087: Green Divers (specialty format movie: 2001)
Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO (CGI movies: 2004; OVAs: 2006)

[edit] Chronology

Sample of official timeline in 1999

In a pre-production memo, Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino wrote that the first series takes place in 2066 AD, which would have the Universal Century calendar starting in 1988 AD. However, a "2079" date stamp in the first Gundam series's episode 26 and a "2087" date stamp in Zeta Gundam's episode 8 indicated a 2001 AD starting date. The date stamps were not included in the subsequent movie versions of these series, and these dates have since been contradicted by works not written by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Based on a dated newspaper shown in the last episode of the Gundam 0080 OVA series written by GAINAX's Hiroyuki Yamaga (Monday, January 14, 0080), the Universal Century can be pinpointed to begin in several specific years, including 2053, 2081, 2109, and 2149. In the Universal Century chronology, the last dated entry of the AD system was 2045 AD, leading to the common misconception that UC 0001 followed immediately afterwards. A few early unofficial sources even listed UC 0001 as 2046 AD (or even 2045, using bad math), but current official materials indicate the presence of a gap of years between the AD and UC calendar systems. Therefore the first year of the Universal Century calendar is deduced on the official Gundam website in North America as being 2053, 2081, 2109, or possibly later, meaning UC 0079 would correspond to 2131, 2159, 2187, or later.

Since the mid-1990s, new official Universal Century chronologies have avoided the inclusion of AD dates before UC 0001. The following are AD dates that were once published with Universal Century chronologies:

1957.10.04 AD: The Soviet Union successfully launches Humankind's first artificial satellite - Sputnik 1.
1961.04.12 AD: The Soviet Union successfully launches a manned artificial satellite - Vostok 1.
1969.07.20 AD: America successfully lands on the Moon's surface with Apollo 11.
1969 AD: Dr. G.K. O'Neill and others announce their space colony concept.
1990s AD: In every region of the world, border disputes and regional conflicts repeatedly erupt.
1999 AD: The Earth Federation government is established. The human space colonization program is announced.
2005 AD: The first solar generating satellite is successfully launched.
2009 AD: Earth Federal Forces is established.
2026 AD: The Jupiter Energy Fleet launches from Lunar orbit.
2045 AD: Construction of the first colony begins.