Gaia Gear is a novel in the Gundam series, later adapted into a radio drama, taking place in the year U.C. 203, 124 years after the original Mobile Suit Gundam. Created before the conception of Mobile Suit Gundam F91 and Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, those series have since pushed this novel into Alternate Continuity (although not to the same extent as other Alternate Universe Gundam series).
The novel is centered around the conflict between the Man Hunting Attachment (MHA), an extension of the tyrannical Earth Federation, and a group of rebels known as Metatron. In order to improve their chances of winning, Metatron creates a memory clone of one Char Aznable. Said clone, a man known as Afranche Char. After discovering his origins, Char takes command of Metatron, commanding the organization as the pilot of a mech known as Gaia Gear.
This novel provides examples of:
- Canon Discontinuity: As noted above, due to F91 and Victory Gundam, this isn't considered canonnote , but in particular, it's pushed into this specifically by, of all things, G-Saviour showing a different future than what's depicted in this novel. Although it's worth noting that Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn did give this series somewhat of a Call-Forward (possibly) by having ECOAS/The Manhunters shown, as well as the fact that, outside of one cameo by the titular mech from G-Saviour in Gundam Build Fightersnote , Sunrise doesn't exactly like to talk about G-Saviour, it's possible that some version of it happened (and given that Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash got a similar treatment to Gaia Gear before it got a movie trilogy, it's possible that Sunrise might be moving to change the canon status of Gaia Gear).
- Design Preservation Villain: Afranche Char is a clone of Char Anzable who leads a terrorist organization against a Police State Earth Federation and initially pilots a mobile suit with a red color scheme, the Zorin Soul, which is a retrofitted, mass-produced version of Char's Sazabi from Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack.
- Continuity Nod:
- One of the mobile weapons possessed by Metatron is the ORX-005 Gaplant.
- The Zorin Soul was based on a mass produced MSN-04 Sazabi prototype.
- The Federation: The Earth Federation is still around in the UC 0200s, though it's a shell of its former glory. It's devolved into a corrupt dictatorial regime that's dependent on the Manhunters/MaHa to keep the Earth Sphere in line.
- Humongous Mecha: What else are you expecting from an entry in this franchise?
- A Mech by Any Other Name: The mechs in this series are called Man Machines.
- Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: Despite being a Gundam story picking up on threads from the original series, Zeta and Char's Counterattack, it's notable for being one of two UC Gundam stories that lacks "Mobile Suit" in it's title, and doesn't even have "Gundam" in the title either. This is mainly because it was
Screwed by the Lawyers, originally it was planned to be called Mobile Suit Gaia Gear: Char's Counterattack. - Official Couple: Afranche Char and Everly Kay are in a relationship from the start of the story.
- Skinny Dipping: Afranche and Everly are shown in one art to embracing eachother at the beach waters in the nude.
