| Gihren Zabi | |
|---|---|
| Mobile Suit Gundam character | |
The portrait of Gihren Zabi, art by Yasuhiko Yoshikazu. |
|
| First appearance | Episode 11, Icelina - Love's Remains |
| Voiced by | Banjō Ginga (Japanese) Hiro Kanagawa (English, MSG) Doug Stone (English, MSG I-III) Andrew W.K. (English, Gundam Rock Music Album) |
| Profile | |
| Nationality | Principality of Zeon |
| Notable relatives | Degwin Sodo Zabi (Father) Garma Zabi (Brother) Dozle Zabi (Brother) Kycilia Zabi (Sister) |
| Information | |
| Allegiance | Principality of Zeon |
Gihren Zabi (ギレン・ザビ Giren Zabi, also spelled Giren) is a fictional character, and antagonist from the universe of the Gundam anime series. He was voiced by the veteran seiyu, Banjo Ginga in the original Japanese version. In the English dubbed series and movie adaptations the character was voiced by Hiro Kanagawa and Doug Stone respectively.
American Rock musician Andrew W.K. dubbed a famous speech of this character in his cover album Gundam Rock released during the 30th anniversary of the Gundam franchise.[1][2]
"Many of your fathers and brothers have perished valiantly in the face of a contemptible enemy. We must never forget what the Federation has done to our people! My brother, Garma Zabi, has shown us these virtues through our own valiant sacrifice. By focusing our anger and sorrow, we are finally in a position where victory is within our grasp, and once again, our most cherished nation will flourish. Victory is the greatest tribute we can pay those who sacrifice their lives for us! Rise, our people, Rise! Take your sorrow and turn it into anger! Zeon thirsts for the strength of its people! SIEG ZEON!!! SIEG ZEON!!! SIEG ZEON!!!"
One of the heads of the Principality of Zeon, Gihren is the oldest son of Degwin Sodo Zabi, the ruler of Zeon and the instigator of the war with Earth. With the death of Degwin's favorite son Garma Zabi in battle, Degwin withdraws from day to day duties as Zeon's leader which effectively made Gihren the leader of Zeon. This was most evident in the speech Gihren gave at Garma's state funeral. This speech was notable for possibly being the debut of the trademark salute "Sieg Zeon!" (literally translated as "Victorious Zeon").
Giren was gifted with a high IQ (240) and ingenious oratory abilities. He and his sister Kycilia were constantly at odds with each other as both had similar political goals but different methods.
Although Gihren was successful in reducing his father's role to that of a figurehead ruler, he must still endure Degwin's criticisms and scorn. Degwin saw Gihren as little more than an updated version of historical dictator Adolf Hitler (a role that Gihren was all too happy to take to heart.)
Gihren's own father compared him to real life dictator Adolf Hitler, which may not be completely inaccurate. Like Hitler, Gihren appeared to believe in a "survival of the fittest" mentality and that the "Superior Race" should rule over the inferior ones (the superior race being Spacenoids from Side 3 and the inferior the Earthnoids). He also shared Hitler's gift for oratory and manipulation, taking the reins of power from his father behind the scenes the way Hitler did with the German president of his day.
Unluckily for Gihren, he also had a number of Hitler's personality flaws, such as an over-reliance on miracle weapons to turn the tide against numerically superior foes. By this logic, the assorted super weapons such as the MA-08 Big Zam and Apsalus Project Mobile Armors can be seen as analogies of the V1 and V2 rocket-bombs used by the Third Reich. Like Hitler, he also greatly overestimated the capability of his forces. This was shown during the final battle of the One Year War, when despite his claims of superiority his forces were overcome by those of the Federation.
In an effort to circumvent the Antarctic treaty (forbidding nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and colony drops on Earth), Gihren's most ambitious project was the Solar Ray cannon. This consisted of a hollowed-out colony cylinder rebuilt into a giant carbon dioxide laser with the ability to destroy entire fleets. Gihren learned that Degwin, tired of the war, decided to take his personal fleet to a designated area in space where he would meet the fleet of Earth Federation representative General Revill and discuss peace negotiations. Gihren arranged for a firing of the Solar Ray which destroyed Degwin and Revil's entire fleet. However, this may have cost Gihren one of his tactical advantages, as the aiming of the laser had to be toward a direction which can only destroy 1/3 of the EFSF fleet, instead of the most effective direction that can destroy 1/2. The laser had to be recharged and thus did not have the chance for a second firing before the EFSF decided to rush their attack, fearing the laser will wipe out their fleet if they delayed.
Kycilia, eventually learning that the death of her father was no mere accident, personally executes Gihren for the crime of patricide. As a result, she takes over during Battle of A Baoa Qu. This was said to have resulted in many Gihren loyalists withdrawing from the battlefield, however, the main of these withdrawal, where the Delaz fleet retreated, was actually before she officially took over and announced Gihren's death, Delaz retreated when the Dolos class ships sank. In the noveilzations by Yoshiyuki Tomino, Gihren did arrange an aiming of the colony laser that killed many friendly forces but Degwin (who apparently survived the war) was not among them. Gihren, however, was still killed by Kycilia for his treachery.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||