Graham Aker
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| Graham Aker | |
|---|---|
| Mobile Suit Gundam 00 character | |
 Capt. Graham Aker |
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| First appearance | Episode 1, Celestial Being |
| Voiced by | Yuuichi Nakamura |
| Profile | |
| Age | 27 31 (after time skip) |
| Date of birth | September 10, 2280 |
| Information | |
| Allegiance | Union |
| Rank | First Lieutenant Captain |
| Mobile weapons | SVMS-01 Union Flag SVMS-01E Graham's Union Flag Custom SVMS-01O Flag GN-Flag |
Captain Graham Aker (グラハム・エーカー?) is a fictional character in the Gundam series, Mobile Suit Gundam 00. He originally piloted a SVMS-01 Union Flag, the Union's current main mobile suit, which he later had upgraded into the SVMS-01E Graham's Union Flag Custom. He then switched to the SVMS-01O Flag upon the creation of the Overflag squadron, and in the last episode he pilots the GN-Flag. Whether or not he still pilots a Flag in 2312 A.D., the beginning of the second season, is unknown. He is a primary antagonist of the series.
He is voiced by Yuuichi Nakamura [1].
Graham's last name, Aker, may be a reference to the Egyptian God of the same name.
[edit] Outline
Originally on the MSWΛD (Mobile Suit Warehouse and Development) mobile suit team with the rank of First Lieutenant, he was recently promoted to Captain, and was transferred to the Anti-Gundam Investigative Squad called "OverFlags", publicly known as the 8th Independent Tactical Aviation Corps, as its commanding officer, calling his teammates "Flag Fighters".
He is an excellent mobile suit pilot while being a major antagonist. One thing to take note is that he is the first pilot to deal significant damage to a Gundam. Moreover, he is able to perform very skillful maneuvers and has the ability to fight the Gundams to a standstill with inferior units. His skills and skillful maneuvers are best displayed in Episode 18 in which he overpowered Gundam Throne Eins with his Over Flag despite the huge performance gap between the two units. In that battle, he actually managed to deflect Throne Eins' beam saber out of its grip by using merely the Flag's Plasma Sword. After that, he swiftly grabbed the Gundam's beam saber and slashed off its right arm(which is equipped with beam rifle) even before Johann Trinity (pilot of Throne Eins) manages to fire the beam rifle. His skills and quick reaction made the swift performance of this series of extreme maneuver possible. By "snatching" Throne Eins' beam saber and destroying its right arm which is equipped with beam rifle, he forced Johann to retreat as the Gundam lost much of its combat potential (although it still had a second beam saber).
His signature move is to transform his Flag in mid-flight to evade his enemy's attacks, a maneuver which became known as the "Graham Special"[2]. While fellow OverFlags pilot Joshua (who was tremendously jealous of the captain and hoped to prove himself by capturing one of the Gundams) did indeed manage to replicate his feat by performing a mid-air transformation, he was quickly shot down by Lockon Stratos during Celestial Being's armed intervention in the Taklamakan Desert[3].
With Celestial Being continuing their armed intervention activities with the Gundams, he wonders that what Celestial Being is really doing is bringing the world to its end, which Leif Aifman thinks is a very real possibility.
He harbors deep feelings for the Gundams. During his battle with Exia in the second and last episodes of the first season, he told Setsuna that "his heart was stolen by the Gundams' overwhelming abilities.", a feeling he described as true love. "But if you transcend love, it becomes hatred, similar to the way faith gone too far triggers war". Due to the fact that his GN-Flag was not re-engineered to be compatible with the GN drive (due to time constraints), it was poor in performance and weaponry, forcing the pilot to experience an excess of 12Gs during acceleration (refer to the GN Flag page via the previous link for details); constantly coughing up blood as a result to the damage to his organs during battle. After Setsuna defeats Alejandro by activiting Exia's Trans-Am System, Graham engages him in a final battle to avenge his fallen comrades. The two exchange blows escalating the battle to its heated conclusion, when Graham sacrifices his GN-Flag in order to destroy the Gundam.
Four years later, he is seen alive wearing a Char-like mask and the uniform of the United Earth Federation's Peacekeeping Army.
[edit] Personality
Graham is the Union's ace pilot and follows a strict code of honor. With a skill unmatched by any Flag pilot, Graham is eager to find any worthy opponent. When the Gundam Exia first appeared in the AEU exhibition and destroyed their new unit, the Enact, he was captivated by its abilities and eager to fight it, or, as Billy Katagiri notes, he's "quite infatuated"[4] with the Gundams.
Graham's personality comes off as somewhat obsessive when he fights the Gundams, as he is eager to prove himself, even at the cost of his personal safety. As such, his piloting can be described as 'reckless'[5], if not outright suicidal[6].However it is shown in episode 12 that he also has a strong sense of responsibility. In that episode he finally had the chance to fight a Gundam after a long wait, but before he could finish the battle, he had to leave the battlefield to handle the coup d’état launched by the ultraconservative elements in the Azadistan Army. In the end he still decided to give up the battle with Dynames.[7].
The Gundams again test his patience in episode 13. In the Kingdom of Azadistan, where he was sent knowing that Celestial Being would intervene the war-torn state, he saw the Gundam Exia arriving at Azadistan's palace and noticed that it was, surprisingly, unarmed, and witnessed the Gundam take fire from several MSER-04 Anf. After the Gundam finished dropping off the Imam, Massoud Rachmadi, in the Palace of Azadistan, Graham has to let it go knowing that if he attacked it, public opinion would turn against him. He became visibly frustrated at missing that perfect opportunity.
In episode 17, the Overflags' base was attacked by Team Trinity's Throne Gundams, and after hearing from Billy Katagiri that Professor Leif Aifman was killed, Graham engaged the Thrones out of hate, but the ensuing battle resulted in the death of Flag Fighter Howard Mason. After Team Trinity left, Graham became bitter at the loss of both Professor Aifman and Howard.
After Howard's death, Graham swore to defeat the Gundams using a Flag, turning his infatuation into a thirst for revenge. As such he refused to be a pilot of the new GN-X, but instead asked for a GN Drive to be attached to his Flag.
It has been hinted at by Joshua in episode 14 that Graham was involved in an incident of friendly fire a few years ago, during which he accidentally killed his senior officer with a shot in the back, during a mock battle. He even remarks that his promotion to captain with the formation of the OverFlag squad might have been yet another event of killing a superior. When he noticed Joshua was talking about this matter, Graham states that he doesn't care what he thinks and that he will prove the rumors to be wrong and that he will redeem his name on the battlefield. [8]
[edit] References
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This article contains Japanese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji or kana. |
- ^ Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (TV). Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
- ^ Episode 12 - Graham Aker: "People call this a Graham Special!"
- ^ Episode 15 - Joshua: "How much longer did you think you could keep this trick to yourself?"
- ^ See Episode 3:"Changing World"
- ^ Episode 18 - Graham Aker: "I'll break through your reasoning with my recklessness!"
- ^ Episode 25 - Graham Aker: "The world is of no consequence to me. Only my will matters!"
- ^ Episode 12 - Graham Aker: "I'm not my own man"
- ^ See Episode 14:"Dawn to Determination"
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