History Manga / MobileSuitGundamThunderbolt

* ArtifactTitle: The manga (and the second season of the ONA) retain the title ''Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt'' despite no longer being set in the Thunderbolt sector.

''Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt'' (or ''Kidou Senshi Gundam Thunderbolt'') is a {{Seinen}} manga set in Universal Century of the Franchise/{{Gundam}} universe, written and illustrated by Yasuo Ohtagaki. The manga takes place concurrently with ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''.

In 0079 during the One Year War, Moore Brotherhood, once citizens of thriving colonies in the past, fight to reclaim their homeland with their effort backed by the Earth Federation. As the main front moved closer to ''A Baoa Qu'', Thunderbolt Sector became more important than ever for the Zeon forces protecting the supply lines to the headquarters. In the middle of it all, charismatic and talented Ensign Io Fleming of the Brotherhood and calculating sniper Chief Petty Officer Daryl Lorenz of Zeon's Living Dead division, two young hotshots with drastically different music genre of choice and personal drive, became embroiled in a war not entirely their own.

-->''"This is Thunderbolt Sector, [[BlatantLies no border no war!]]"''

* InfantImmortality: [[{{averted}} Nope]], not on your life. A Zeon soldier finds his 6-month old baby son under a bunch of rubble. This series has no mercy.

* MoreDakka: Moore Brotherhood and the Living Dead lacked technology compared to their respective main armies, so they have to make do with copious amount of spare parts and weaponry. [[spoiler: Psycho Zaku]] is a great example of this, having ''three'' spare MS Bazookas, several machine guns and lots of external boosters.

-->''"This is Thunderbolt Sector, [[BlatantLies no border]] [[WarIsHell no war!]]"''

-->''The Universal Century began with mankind moving its burgeoning population into outer space. In U.C.0079, the colonies furthest from the Earth, Side 3, proclaims itself the Principality of Zeon and declared independence from the Earth Federation government. War was waged.''

-->''Now, nearly a year has passed since that war broke out. In a debris cluster known as [[TitleDrop Thunderbolt Sector]], the remains of many space colonies and battleships destroyed by the war, circle. Here, a violent struggle is played out by the Zeon forces that seized control of the sector and the Federation forces whose mission is to regain it... ''

* TookALevelInBadass: After years of being mocked by fans for being weak and pathetic, the Acguy series [[MoreDakka receive several upgrades to its weapons]], from additional warheads to melee blades. Combined with competent and skilled pilots, the Acguy wiped the floor of squads of Dahles on ground and in water without a single loss.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: Both Moore Brotherhood (Earth Federation) and Living Dead unit (Zeon) have sympathetic and villainous moments. However, Moore Brotherhood's WeHaveReserves mentality and their JerkAss pilot tend to put the Living Dead on ALighterShadeOfGrey.

In 0079 during the One Year War, Moore Brotherhood, once citizens of thriving colonies in the past, fight to reclaim their homeland with their effort backed by the Earth Federation. As the main front moved closer to ''A Baoa Qu'', Thunderbolt Sector became more important than ever for the Zeon forces protecting the supply lines to the headquarters. In the middle of it all, charismatic and talented Ensign Io Flemming of the Brotherhood and calculating sniper Chief Petty Officer Darryl Lorentz of Zeon's Living Dead division, two young hotshots with drastically different music genre of choice and personal drive, became embroiled in a war not entirely their own.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Graham, who looks like he's supposed to be Native American, or possibly some kind of Pacific Islander. Also, while Darryl himself is relatively pale, he has some features, most notably his hair, which suggest he may have some mixed ancestry. Oddly, he's the only member of his family who looks that way.

* ArtificialLimbs: Zeon's Living Dead unit is entirely composed of soldiers with cybernetic limbs. Its ace pilot, Darryl Lorentz, got cybernetic legs. [[spoiler: In order to pilot the Psycho Zaku, he also had his arms replaced.]]

* {{BFG}}: The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Big Gun]] is a humongous beam sniper rifle operated by a Zaku II or Rick Dom.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Flemming family is certainly this in spades, and the Flemming siblings all ''despise'' each other for various reasons. One would say it is no wonder that Io isn't the most sane person around. [[spoiler: This can possibly be attributed to their father's suicide.]]

* UnexpectedCharacter: The Zanni, an early prototype GM made mostly from salvaged Zaku parts that previous only appeared in an obscure ''VideoGame/StarCraft''-clone PC game known as ''Gundam Tactics: Mobility Fleet'' turns up in the hands of the South Seas Alliance (rechristened the Dahle in the anime version, possibly due to rights issues with the game's publisher).

* DeathByAdaptation: Sean Mitadera's (apparent) death scene is ''much'' more graphic in the OVA version, making an animated version of his spinoff manga about post-war salvage contractors unlikely at best.

** Like ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket'' before it, ''Thunderbolt'' features customized MS sporting design features that would become commonplace in the ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' era and beyond, such as sub-limbs and comically oversized droptanks. The RPD itself seems to be a forerunner of the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamF91 Rafflesia]], integrating with its pilot's nervous system via cybernetics.

* CompilationMovie: The ''December Sky'' movie, which compresses episodes 1-4 into one movie while adding new footage.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Io. To his enemies, he's a complete jerkass and PoliticallyIncorrectvillain. [[spoiler: Having survived a near-fatal sniper shot to his GM and putting a bullet through a Zeon pilot's head as he hijacked his mobile suit, he proceeded to gleefully taunt the dead pilot's comrades in the video feed (including Daryl) on their disabilities and taste in music. They were forced to watch the whole scene take place. Daryl, needless to say, did not take his comments on his prosthetic legs lightly.]] He's also rude and impolite to his superiors and several other Federal soldiers. On the other hand, to those he cares about he's much more reasonable, cares about his mother, and is rather friendly towards some of his comrades. His attitude toward Zeon is unsurprising, given that they were the ones who destroyed Side 4 and show their customary self-righteous attitude and breathtaking lack of self-awareness about their hypocrisy, while fighting among the mass graves of their victims no less!

* TooLongDidntDub: In the second arc of the manga, Viz left several terminology untranslated such as the BigBad's title "Sōjō" (High Priest) and his faction "Nanyang (South Seas) Alliance".

* CallForward: [[spoiler: Bishop Raven Fuu's control of South Sea Alliance through Newtype Power]] act as an in-universe prediction to Zanscare Empire being run by a Newtype named Queen Maria, albeit under manipulation of [[EvilChancellor Fonse Kagatie]], in Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam.

->''The Universal Century began with mankind moving its burgeoning population into outer space. In U.C.0079, the colonies furthest from the Earth, Side 3, proclaims itself the Principality of Zeon and declared independence from the Earth Federation government. War was waged.''

->The Universal Century began with mankind moving its burgeoning population into outer space. In U.C.0079, the colonies furthest from the Earth, Side 3, proclaims itself the Principality of Zeon and declared independence from the Earth Federation government. War was waged. Now, nearly a year has passed since that war broke out. In a debris cluster known as [[TitleDrop Thunderbolt Sector]], the remains of many space colonies and battleships destroyed by the war, circle. Here, a violent struggle is played out by the Zeon forces that seized control of the sector and the Federation forces whose mission is to regain it...

** The Gelgoog get's a chance to shine near the end of the first Thunderbolt where it's clear that its performance is above that of a normal grunt suit.

* FullFrontalAssault: At the very end of Thunderbolt arc [[spoiler: Io's cell where he's been stripped and tortured is opened due to an enemy attack. He then proceeds to kill the rest of the Zeon guards and free the other captives, and never bothers getting dressed]].

* HannibalLecture: Io gives a scathing one to Daryl after [[spoiler: being captured, imprisoned, and tortured, making Daryl question what he's done for the sake of the war]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Io. To his enemies, he's a complete jerkass and PoliticallyIncorrectvillain. [[spoiler: Having survived a near-fatal sniper shot to his GM and putting a bullet through a Zeon pilot's head as he went with his [[GrandTheftPrototype Dom-jacking]], he proceeded to gleefully taunt the dead pilot's comrades in the video feed (including Daryl) on their disabilities and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking taste in music]], who were forced to watch the whole scene take place. Darryl, needless to say, did not take his comments on his prosthetic legs lightly.]] He's also rude and impolite to his superiors and several other Federal soldiers. On the other hand, to those he cares about he's much more reasonable, cares about his mother, and is rather friendly towards some of his comrades. His attitude toward Zeon is unsurprising, given that they were the ones who destroyed Side 4 and show their customary self-righteous attitude and breathtaking lack of self-awareness about their hypocrisy, while fighting among the mass graves of their victims no less!

* MoreDakka: Moore Brotherhood and the Living Dead lacked technology compared to their respective main armies, so they have to make do with copious amount of spare parts and weaponry. [[spoiler: Psycho Zaku]] is a great example of this, having ''three'' spare MS Bazooka, several machine guns and lots of external boosters.

* PyrrhicVictory: During the final battle for the Thunderbolt Sector, [[spoiler:the timely arrival of the Siren Fleet ensures a Zeon victory, with the the Brotherhood fleet wiped out, the Gundam destroyed, and the survivors captured. However, in return, the entire Living Dead unit is essentially wiped out as well and their SuperPrototype Zaku is destroyed and are forced to leave the sector to the Federation.]]

* SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder: Vice Captain Graham and his ilk repeatedly send Io Fleming into dangerous mission in hopes that he will die and be a martyr for the rest of Moore Brotherhood, nevermind Claudia's consent. Partly because they blame the 'incompetent elites' for the occupation of Site 4 by Zeon forces. [[spoiler: Io Fleming didn't die as they expect. In the end, it's the other way around...]]

* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: [[spoiler:During their last meeting Io claims that Darryl sacrificed his humanity to be able to defeat the Gundam but though the Zeon sniper still comes off as more human than his rival, the ending montage shows that the final amputation eliminated much of the remaining piloting ability he took for granted when he still had one natural limb.]]