What An Idiot / Gundam

Gundam is a series known for showing that War Is Hell (with a few exceptions), as well as complicated politics, large scale wars between factions of humanity, and heavy military themes. Normally, combatants on both sides have a good enough grasp on common sense, but there are some moments where that's not the case.

Universal Century

• Mobile Suit Gundam:
  • In the very first episode, a squad of three Zakus are sent on a reconnaissance mission to the Federation's Side 7 Colony. Two of the Zakus enter undetected, where they see the Federation's prototype Mobile Suits, including the RX-78-2 Gundam.
    • You'd Expect: That they'd quietly leave the colony and report their findings to their captain Char Aznable. From there, they can plan an attack using their new intel and maybe call in a few Zeon warships to prepare a larger force to invade the colony, destroying their enemy's new weapons before they ever get a chance to use them.
    • Instead: One of the Zaku pilots, Gene, breaks orders and launches an unauthorized attack on the colony. The sudden assault causes tremendous damage and leaves many innocent civilians dead. Although Gene manages to kill several enemy officers and some of their prototype weapons, he fails to get the Gundam or the White Base.
    • The Result: One of the survivors, teenager Amuro Ray, hijacks the Gundam, using it to kill Gene and his superior officer. From there, he and his friends take refuge in the White Base and become valued members of its crew, setting off the events that would lead to Zeon's eventual defeat.
• Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam:
  • Kacricon Cacooler and Jerid Messa are pursuing Quattro and Kamille Bidan, and the 4 begin re-entering the Earth's Atmosphere.
    You'd Expect: Kacricon to wait until after they finish re-entering the Earth's orbit before going after Kamille/Quattro again, and focus on just re-entering safely in the meantime. Even Jerid Messa, who is the more impulsive and hot-headed of the two, is smart enough to do this.
    Instead: He chooses to try and take out Kamille. The Ballute^note the parachute that is designed to allow mobile suits to re-enter the atmosphere automatically deploys, and it's destroyed when Kamille passes him in the Waverider, causing him to burn up in the atmosphere.
    Even Worse: Kacricon himself knew the dangers of re-entry into Earth and even warned Jerid about it. But he just had to grab the Villain Ball at the very last second, which ends up getting Kacricon killed.
  • Hayato Kobayashi.
    • On the way to a safe location in Japan, Frau Bow, now Kobayashi (along with her three children) has an intense reunion with her best friend and First Love Amuro Ray. In the process, she helps him to escape Federation military surveillance.
      You'd Expect: The meeting was Frau's idea. Or possibly Amuro's.
      Instead: Her husband Hayato later reveals it was his. It's not like he's always been The Resenter to Amuro or runs a paramilitary organization whose major strength is transport or anything...
    • Amuro joins Hayato's Karaba organization accompanied by a young and reckless Katz Kobayashi.
      You'd Expect: Katz would stay with Karaba and get his fighting urges out under his adoptive father's watchful eye. Amuro would mentor Katz... like Hayato said he wanted.
      Instead: "But children do what they want, without regard for their parents' wishes." Without much reasoning, Hayato then lets Katz go to Space and join the AEUG under the oh-so-trustworthy eye of Char Az— I mean, Quattro Bajeena. It ends badly.
  • When Katz meets the enemy Fake Defector Sarah, he's immediately attracted to her. All the adults he talks to warn him about trusting her, because they're still unsure of her intentions and she's still being vetted to find out if her information and intent are for real. When a battle starts, she offers to teach him how to pilot her mobile suit (because he's frustrated with not having his own), which of course means letting her out of the brig and taking her to the mobile suit bay.
    You'd Expect: That he would, you know, not do that.
    Instead: He does what she asks, and she promptly takes her mobile suit back and escapes.
  • Jamitov Hymen, who is the leader of the Titans, tries to negotiate to get the Axis fleet commanded by Haman Karn to support him in supressing the AEUG. This is after the first time he tried to negotiate with her, when she tried to assassinate him. He also brings Paptimus Scirocco, a man he doesn't trust.
    You'd Expect: Him to take extra precautions against assassination, such as having other guards, or disarming Scirocco, or having a mobile suit nearby. Hell, maybe even not talk with Haman since she stated she was basically only at earth to kill him.
    Instead: The talks turn violent and in the confusion, Scirocco assassinates him and blames it on Haman.
  • In the final episode, Kamille has followed Char, Haman, and Scirocco into the theater on the Gryps Colony Laser. After waxing philosophic, they all leave.
    You'd Expect: Kamille would seize the chance to destroy or sabotage Haman's Qubeley and Scirocco's The-O while they are unoccupied. That way, both enemy pilots would lose their only means of escape and be vaporized when the Colony Laser fires, ensuring the deaths of the leaders of both the Titans and Axis.
    Instead: He doesn't destroy them, and all pilots barely escape the laser before it fires. In the battles following, Haman defeats Char and escapes relatively fine. Kamille kills Scirocco, but not before he gets severely Mind Raped by him. The Titans are all but wiped out, but Axis Zeon still thrives under Haman, leading to several more wars down the UC Timeline.
• Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ:
  • During one battle, AEUG Pilot Roux Louka was able to successfully sneak up behind Neo Zeon Officer Glemmy Toto, who has done nothing but be a nuisance to the crew of the Argama (especially fellow AEUG pilot Judau Ashta), and has repeatedly professed his love for her (even to the point where he asks Roux if she's piloting the Zeta after she sneaks up on him, and doesn't even ask one of his subordinates to help him) - feelings that she does not return. She practically has a beam saber pointed at his neck, and is in a prime position to strike him down.
    You'd Expect: Roux to say something along the lines of "You can take comfort in knowing that the one you love killed you!" before slicing Glemmy's mobile suit in half. Not only would this get rid of someone who was a major nuisance to her, but it would also make the Argama's journey easier.
    Instead: She hesitates, allowing Glemmy to escape.
    Result: A good chunk of the problems that happen in the second half of the series - sure, they'd still have to deal with Haman, but as she has shown an attraction to Judau (which he doesn't entirely reject), and since she doesn't have the highest opinion of Glemmy, getting rid of Glemmy surely would've made it easier to talk Haman into seeing their side.
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack: Okay, Char, you have lost in all of your TV series, but you are popular enough to have your own movie. You now have the chance to win this fight against Amuro.
  You'd Expect: Finally defeat Amuro and fulfill your desire.
  Instead: He gives technology to Amuro known as Psycoframe to improve his Gundam and fight fair and square. Amuro defeats Char and uses the Psycoframe to save the world. Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!
• Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory:
  • The Federation is going to test a Gundam designed to carry a Nuclear Warhead as part of its new mobile suit project.
    You'd Expect: The warhead would only be armed when the test was ready, and the base security would be on high alert for saboteurs.
    Instead: Not only is the warhead loaded and ready to go hours before the day the test is meant to take palce, but the hangar is completely unguarded and to make matters even dumber, the GP02A itself isn't even locked. In fact, the area is supposed to be off limits but when someone DOES catch unauthorized personnel hanging about the place, they don't even call for security. Result: Gato nabs a nuke-capable mobile suit and Operation Stardust can get very much underway.
  • Gato has successfully stolen Unit 02.
    You'd Expect: Gato to use the shiny new Gundam he just nabbed to destroy Unit 01 just in case, kill every last engineer and security personnel in the hangar at present, and/or basically completely trash the place beyond repair before leaving.
    Instead: Gato just cuts and runs, leaving an intact 01 for Kou to use so he can dog Gato's footsteps for the rest of the OVA.
  • Zeon remnants have a stolen Gundam with an incredibly powerful stolen nuke. They know it's in space somewhere but aren't too sure where. They've also publicly announced that they will be gathering almost the entire Federation fleet at a single location for a fleet review.
    You'd Expect: They'd cancel their review, disperse the fleet so that it isn't such an obvious target, and hunt the damned Gundam down.
    Instead: They hold the review as normal, and they don't even bother with ANY security. The Gundam basically sails right through the fleet with only a few ships trying to shoot him, and then proceeds to nuke it.
• In Mobile Suit Gundam F91, the bad guys invading the space colony at the beginning of movie. One of their mission objectives was to bring back the female lead, Cecily, who we later find out is their boss's granddaughter.
  You'd Think: They'd send someone into the colony ahead of the troops to locate and collect the girl, and only commence the invasion after receiving confirmation that she was safely removed from what will soon be the combat zone.
  Instead: They go into the colony guns blazing, immediately turn it into a war zone, and damned nearly kill the girl several times during the battle.
  Keep In Mind: This is their boss's granddaughter we're talking about, and he would have every right to be pissed off at them if tragedy befell her as a result of their recklessness.
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash: Terrorists hijack a space shuttle and take a full cabinet of ministers hostage. The terrorist leader orders everyone to shut their mouths and obey their orders.
  You'd Expect: As a hostage, your best bet is to keep quiet and not draw attention to yourself, especially at gunpoint. Your own status as a politician has no authority whatsoever over trigger-happy terrorists. Your life is at stake here.
  Instead: One minister decides to stand up and give a lecture to the terrorist leader. This pisses him enough to shoot the minister dead.

Future Century

• Mobile Fighter G Gundam:
  • Courtesy of Domon Kasshu, and here's one of the more egregious ones: Schwarz Bruder has been teaching Domon how to unlock the true potential of his Super Mode by achieving a serene state of mind, rather than the Unstoppable Rage that leads Domon to accidentally activate it. Master Asia arrives before Domon's training is complete and goads Domon mercilessly to get mad and use his Super Mode to fight.
    You'd Expect: Domon to listen to Schwarz and not rise to Master Asia's bait. Master Asia is very definitely Domon's enemy and every action he's taken since revealing his Face–Heel Turn has been against Domon. If he's telling Domon "Get mad! Get mad! Get so mad it drives you mad!" while Schwarz is desperately pointing out exactly what Master Asia is doing and that Domon needs to keep his cool, Domon really should listen to the latter.
    Instead: Domon gets mad and activates his supermode. Master Asia then completely curbstomps Domon, forcing Schwarz to go Big Damn Heroes and incur serious injury.
  • Prior to the series, the King of Neo-France organises a battle between George de Sand and Mirabeau to determine who should represent Neo-France in the upcoming Gundam Fight. The fight takes place in a live arena where spectators are allowed to watch in-person.
    You'd Expect: The King would set up a barrier so that onlookers are safe from any accidental damages that may occur from missed attacks. Gundam Rose has its Rose Bits that shoots lasers while Mirabeau's Mirage Gundam's weapons are almost exclusively all long-range weapons which includes a Macross Missile Massacre attack where one miss of these ranged attacks will spell out countless casualties to the audience. Alternatively, the battle can take place in an area where there are no people or property around so that the fight would not pose a risk to anyone.
    Instead: The King does not set up any precautions or safety to anyone in the arena, including himself.
    The Result: Mirabeau exploits this lack of barrier or safety and positions his Gundam in front of the crowd, preventing George from attacking him. While the King gives George the victory by default due to Mirabeau's repulsive tactic, he fires his missiles aimed at the King but they all get (unintentionally) redirected at the audience when George defends the King.
  • Another shiner from Domon. After the tag team match with Argo, Graham, and Allenby ends in disaster, medivac crews are called in. Domon tells Rain to stay with Allenby, but the EMTs brush her aside and take off without her, in full sight of everyone present. When they visit the hospital later, Allenby has vanished.
    You'd Expect: That Domon would ask Rain to search for her and enlist the help of the Shuffle Alliance. Just that. That's all he had to do.
    Instead: He flips his lid and blames the entire thing on Rain, bawling her out in the middle of the hospital and saying she's worthless as a doctor and a crewmate. Even though, as mentioned, he saw everything as well.
  • Not surprisingly, Rain feels horrible after this and, having been told that she not worthy of being on Domon's crew, resigns from his crew. Unfortunately, the next match is against Schwarz Bruder, who nobody has beaten.
    You'd Expect: That Domon would realize what a jerk he was and go apologize to Rain.
    Instead: He's utterly dumbfounded that she would leave the crew and treats it as a huge betrayal (even before she turns up in a German flag mask) and sulks like a five-year-old, refusing to work with Rain's replacement Akino, a person who has absolutely nothing to do with all of this melodrama. This results in a key flaw in God Gundam going undiagnosed until the middle of the match, when it's too late to do anything. Luckily, Schwarz set up a Batman Gambit to get Domon to realize what a moron he was being and Rain is able to fix the Gundam, but it still ends with Schwarz nearly dead. Again.

After Colony

• Mobile Suit Gundam Wing:
  • In the episode "The Treize Assassination," the Gundam pilots have been tricked by Treize into destroying a shuttle full of pacifist Alliance leaders, guaranteeing a vacancy and justification for OZ to lead a takeover and escalate hostilities. They retaliate, and Wufei reaches Treize's civilian ship first to see Treize waiting with a fencing foil.
    You'd Expect: That Wufei would toast the guy.
    Instead: He gets out of his Gundam to fight a duel with swords, gets beaten, and flees back into his Gundam. The episode ends with him sinking into the ocean to brood. Also, Trowa fails to finish the job, leaving Treize free to pursue his agenda.
    Bonus points for this incident being a Gambit Roulette on Treize's part. The novelization made it clear that if any other Gundam pilot reached Treize, they would just fulfil the episode title right there. Which would have caused OZ to fall into chaos without its leader and make the war even worse.
  • When Quatre flips his lid and starts attacking satellites and colonies with the Wing Gundam Zero, Trowa (who is undercover as an OZ pilot) and Heero are sent out to stop him. When Trowa and Heero reach him, Quatre has annihilated a resource satellite and a civilian colony. Heero warns that he might not be an ally right now. Quatre is ready to destroy a third one and warns Trowa to stay away or he'll shoot.
    You'd Expect: That Trowa wold be cautious about the situation, since the Gundams were built to protect the colonies and not nuke them out of the sky. Plus, the new Gundam is insanely powerful.
    Instead: He continues to assume that Quatre is still the same nice guy he's always been and ignores Quatre's warning. Quatre proceeds to blast half of his mobile suit off.
• Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz:
  • It's just after the boys had defeated both Oz and White Fang and everything seems peaceful for now..
    You'd Expect: They'd put the Gundams away somewhere safe just in case they're ever needed again.
    Instead: Four out of the five load their Gundams in a rocket and launch it towards the sun. Meanwhile, a new group of bad guys pops up, takes Relena hostage, and starts wrecking havoc. On top of that, the one Gundam pilot who didn't go along with the hair-brained idea to launch them into the sun, JOINS THE FREAKING BAD GUYS!
  • Even better is the fact that after realizing that even if they defeat all the enemies they know, there may be more enemies hidden and they may need the Gundams to fight again...
    You'd Expect: They would have learned from the lesson they just finished receiving and put the Gundams away somewhere safe just in case they're ever needed again like they JUST WERE.
    Instead: They go through with their initial plan and self-destruct all their Gundams. Not even another "slowly toss them into the sun" thing like last time that was the sole reason they could get them back, they just blow them up right away. The only guarantee we're given that another group didn't throw down before the next Christmas is the narrator claiming that "weapons called mobile suits, including the Gundams, were never seen again." Guess which series got an official sequel in 2010?

After War

• After War Gundam X:
  • In the beginning, Garrod doesn't know how to do teamwork. He spaces out while helping to load cargo and someone gets injured, which he feels terrible about.
    You'd Expect: For him to realize he's not working solo anymore and resolve to pay more attention to his crewmates' safety.
    Instead: He goes haring off on his own to "make up" for it... to raid a defunct nuclear reactor. He does no scouting beforehand, even though reactors are good targets for Vultures due to the valuable material they have. Ennil El's crew is already there and they get into a fight, so Jamil has to come bail him out. The reactor goes off like a bomb, resulting in injury to Jamil.
  • After this, Garrod feels even more terrible and Sala thoroughly chews him out.
    You'd Expect: That he would realize doing reckless things on his own is both foolish and unnecessary so he should try to figure out how to be a good crewmate and not pull any more stupid stunts.
    Instead: Not only does he bail on the crew, he decides to sell the Gundam. The amazingly powerful Gundam with a Wave-Motion Gun that everyone unsavory wants and which should not fall into the wrong hands on account of its ability to turn cities into glass. What makes it worse is that he's smart about how he sells it, ensuring that he can't just be murdered for it, without realizing what a stupid idea it is in the first place!
  • Garrod auctions the Gundam, and the highest bidder winds up being Ennil El. They have dinner and drinks together as they discuss where and when Garrod will hand over the Gundam. As they speak, Ennil finds herself becoming quite taken with Garrod, and she feels quite sympathetic for him after learning he's now all alone and has nowhere to go and no one to support him.
    You'd Expect: That Ennil would wait until the transaction is complete and she has the Gundam and Garrod has his payment before she offers for him to join her crew, so that Garrod would know her offer is sincere and she's not trying to trick him.
    Instead: She sneaks into his hotel room in the middle of the night while she thinks he's asleep. Naturally, Garrod was only pretending to be asleep and pulls a gun on her when she gets close, fully (and justifiably) believing she came to kill him in his sleep or steal the Gundam's control lever.
    You'd Then Expect: Ennil would back off and try her luck after the transaction is complete.
    Instead: She goes ahead anyway despite the gun pointed in her face, and acts like she's trying to seduce him, which only makes Garrod mad and he fires a warning shot at the wall behind her. Ennil backs off, but she's now screwed herself out of both Garrod and the Gundam, as he decides to return with the Gundam to his old crew the next day.
    You'd Then Expect: Ennil would lament her poor choice of action, and return to her crew and resume her usual Vulture activities. Maybe try to apologize, explain herself, and try again to convince him to join her if she ever sees him again.
    Instead: Furious over being "rejected", Ennil takes her crew to pursue and attack Garrod and his crew, who, need I remind you, have a Gundam that can turn everything in front of it into a glass floor. Ennil miracuously survives the encounter, but the entire rest of her crew isn't so lucky, leaving her alone and homeless with nothing else she can do but pursue Garrod and his friends as a recurring nusiance.

Cosmic Era

• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED:
  • The Archangel is the Earth Alliance's most advanced ship, and the Strike its only mobile suit. It has more firepower than basically a whole fleet of regular Alliance warships and mobile armors.
    You'd Expect: Earth Alliance forces to employ the Archangel against ZAFT to improve their odds of victory when ZAFT forces attack.
    Instead: Earth forces commanders tell the Archangel to run away, or keep it out of the fighting. And when they do have it fight, it's in a hopeless battle where they intend for it to be destroyed.
  • The Archangel enters Earth's atmosphere but instead of landing at JOSH-A Base in Alaska, winds up in North Africa, which is ZAFT held territory. They need to get to JOSH-A so they can deliver the Strike and their mobile suit data to the Alliance headquarters.
    You'd Expect: During their planning they would select a route that would lead them toward the nearest friendly territory so they could get resupplied and make a relatively safe approach to Alaska with military escort. North into Russia and across Siberia would've been perfect, or hell, across Germany and Canada.
    Instead: They elect to head south across the Indian Ocean into ZAFT territory, where they will be alone and unsupported, and constantly harassed by attacks from the enemy for weeks as they attempt a mad dash to Alaska. Which seems to happen only to give them an excuse to head to Orb.
  • The Blitz Gundam has Mirage Colloid which allows it to be invisible at the cost of having to lower its Phase Shift Armor.
    You'd Expect: Nicol use the Mirage Colloid to perform more melee attacks similar to how Duo does with his Deathscythe. The beam rifle would be the worst weapon choice as at the time, only the five G-Project Gundams had handheld beam weaponry. It also would be quite easy to figure out where the Blitz shot from and that it was the Blitz in the first place as the other Gundams cannot turn invisible. The beam saber against the Strike at point-blank range would be a wiser option while using the lancer darts or Gleipnir claw would be equally viable against ordinary foes.
    Instead: The few times he fought while invisible was to shoot enemies with his beam rifle, the glow and trajectory giving away his approximate location.
    Result: Natarle was easily able to find his location through estimates of where the beam rifle shot from as the ammunition the Blitz shoots are not invisible and Nicol never fights while invisible ever again.
  • During the battle at ORB's border, Kira disarms Nicol and kicks him off his flying ride and throws him into the ocean leaving the Blitz completely helpless except for his mirage colloid and a dart lancer. By the time Nicol gets back to the battle, the first thing he sees is that Kira has defeated Athrun and his sword pointed at the Aegis Gundam whom is lying on the ground out of power.
    You'd Expect: Nicol to cloak the Blitz and impale the Strike from behind, or stay out of the fight since it's clear that they have lost the battle. Granted, since the dart lancer is a physical weapon, it likely won't be able to pierce the phase shift armor of the Strike, but he can still provide valuable support by knocking Kira away and using the chance to take Athrun away to safety.
    Instead: Nicol runs toward the Strike, screaming on top of his lungs and decloak, removing his only advantage. Kira reacts defensively with his sword and slice the Blitz in half, killing Nicol. The HD Remaster version makes this scene even worse. Kira tries to dodge the Blitz instead, but Nicol still end up getting killed, making him even more stupid.
  • Flay is being evacuated with Natarle out of JOSH-A on a submarine, while the base is under fire from ZAFT massive forces.
    You'd Expect: Flay to go along with the program. Better to be safe on a submarine than dying right?
    Instead: Flay ran away from Natarle and tried to return to the Archangel. Not knowing her way inside the base, she got lost and got captured by Rau Le Creuset. Her kidnapping will eventually lead to Le Creuset's schemings, resulting in near annihilation of the Earth Sphere and ultimately, her own death.
  • The Earth Alliance launches its final assault on the PLANTs, with the intent of launching hundreds of nuclear missiles at the colonies to wipe out the Coordinators. Then all of a sudden, ZAFT leader Patrick Zala pulls out his trump card and decloaks the Genesis particle cannon. Genesis fires and wipes out half the EA fleet, and the beam destroys the lunar base on the moon.
    You'd Expect: The Earth Alliance leadership to realize this big honking laser needs to be destroyed NOW and to launch every nuke they have at it.
    Instead: The fleet's commanders Muruta Azrael and William Sutherland are blinded by Fantastic Racism and decide to proceed with their original plan... which is to use their nukes to hit the colonies instead of the big space laser cannon.
  • Bonus points for Azrael originally intending to do exactly that, going so far as to convincing a near-mutinous Natarle to re-mobilize the fleet by making more or less the exact argument presented here: that even if they're outmatched, Genesis is just too flipping dangerous to be left alone and the only hope for Earth's survival is for their forces to destroy it ASAP. Then they get to the fighting and the world's fastest case of Motive Decay kicks in as Azrael's reaction to a second shot being fired.
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny:
  • Protagonist Shinn Asuka and his family are attempting to escape the Orb Union when the Earth Alliance is attacking it back in the original Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. In the process, the cell phone his sister Mayu has slips out of her back and down a hill. She stops and demands to get it back.
    You'd Expect: Mother dearest to smack some sense into the kid and keep running.
    Instead: Shinn goes down to fetch it, the family standing there as an attack by the Calamity Gundam and Freedom Gundam obliterates them, thus causing Shinn's hatred of Orb.
  • The Three Ships Alliance wants to maintain Orb's proper ideals, in light of the Alliance-Orb pact, and Cagalli and Kira are unhappy that Jona Roma Seiran has taken over Orb - and sent their forces out to hunt the Minerva at sea in the Dardanelles and Crete. Bear in mind, Cagalli and Murrue think strongly of the Minerva's crew for trying to save the Earth. At the same time, they don't want the Orb soldiers to die in battle.
    You'd Expect: That Murrue and Kira target only the Orb fleet and disable it ahead of the Minerva firing their cannons or deploying their pilots. That way, casualties can be minimized and Orb has an excuse not to participate, thanks to the Freedom. The Minerva now has less of a reason to target the Archangel.
    Instead: Kira and Murrue work overtime attempting to disable both sides.
    As A Result: They waste time and effort drawing enemy attention - and leaving the Orb fleet wide open for Shinn to slaughter them all in Crete.
  • Djibril is unhappy that even with ORB's assistance, he is losing bases on the ground, and is at a stalemate with ZAFT in space. However, he knows that his Destroy mobile armor is complete, and his Extended underling Stella is safely returned to Alliance hands, where she can then pilot the Destroy.
    You'd Expect: That Djibril order the Destroy to attack the bases in Gibraltar and Carpentaria, or even go on another offensive in the Mediterranean to sink the Minerva. At best, he'd push out the ZAFT presence on the Earth, and intimidate the Eurasians into siding with him thanks to the Destroy's firepower. Even if the Destroy was felled, there won't be as much friendly fire towards fellow Alliance member nations, due to being in ZAFT-controlled territory.
    Instead: He attacks his own allies in Western Eurasia just to vent his anger, causing massive loss of innocent lives, prompting not only ZAFT to intervene, but also the Archangel's crew as well, which ultimately stops the Destroy's rampage and kills Stella in the conflict.
    As a Result: Durandal manipulates footage of the incident to galvanize the people of the Earth into hunting down him, his LOGOS enemies, and siding with Durandal instead, where he is ultimately cornered in space and killed! Goodbye and good riddance to your own downfall indeed, Djibril!
  • Lunamaria has just seen Shinn shoot down the mobile suit her crush Athrun and her sister Meyrin were on. She then witnesses Durandal claim that they evidence that the two of them had been giving information to the Earth Forces. Lunamaria was the one who assigned to follow Athrun and record his actions, so she knows that he was actually trying to convince Kira and the crew of the Archangel to stay out of the fighting. Also she should know that Durandal's claims don't match anything that she knows about Athrun or Meyrin or anything she's ever seen them do.
    You'd Expect: Her to do something. Anything. Straight out tell Shinn this, reconsider her loyalty to a government clearly willing to frame and murder people or even just mope that her government appears to be far more corrupt than she realized.
    Instead: She throws herself into Shinn's arms (the guy who apparently killed her crush and her sister) and cries about how Athrun and Meyrin must have been tricked.
  • The Extended are weaker but more reliable versions of the Biological CPUs which can be controlled by using their block word. Using the block word will cause them to freak out and can temporarily incapacitate them in case they get too aggressive.
    You'd Expect: The Alliance uses words that are either very rarely used or in an entirely different language altogether. This is so their allies, enemies or random people do not unintentionally use the words during communication or conversations.
    Instead: Whoever came up with the block word idea used very common words that can come up in ordinary conversations, Auel being "mother", Sting being "dream" (which is only revealed in tweets from Fukuda) and Stella being "death". Stella has the worst of it as the word death is as common as water in a military environment during a large-scale war.
    As a Result: Auel not only triggers Stella's block word but also his own in the process. This triggers a series of events that leads to Stella leaving for Lodonia without permission to save Auel's "mother", get temporarily captured by ZAFT and the Alliance permanently loses the Gaia Gundam.

Anno Domini

• Gundam 00:
  • The Trinity siblings have been indiscriminately killing civilians in their attacks and even worse, Nena Trinity bombed a wedding party twice out of pettiness. People think that this was done by Celestial Being.
    You'd Expect: Some kind of statement by Celestial Being that while they are essentially terrorists trying to end war by bombing the hell out of the world's armies, they aren't that crazy, and for them to put a bounty on the Trinity siblings.
    Instead: Although Celestial Being does try to attack the Trinitys, they make no such statement leading to the nations of the world uniting against them. They reason that this might have been the ultimate plan of their founder, and so while slightly troubled, think that this is a valid way of getting world peace.
  • While on the subject of the wedding, Louise Halevy, the Sole Survivor of the attack sees a large crater with all the casualties, including her parents.
    You’d Expect: Louise to run the hell away the moment the first laser hit the chapel.
    Instead: She runs towards the crater to see her parents’ bodies.
    The Result: She loses her left hand in the incident and ends up hospitalized. It only gets worse from there.
  • Kinue Crossroad has been invited by Ali Al-Saachez under the alias Gary Biaggi to get into his car.
    You’d Expect: Kinue to decline. Yes, she wants to know everything about Aeolia’s plan, but going into a stranger’s car, especially someone she doesn’t know about despite his connections, is anything but rational.
    Instead: She hops in.
    The Result: She gets killed for it.
  • The Trinities have been hunted left and right throughout the whole season. Eventually, they see a machine who says they mean no harm in morse. Said pilot? Ali Al-Saachez.
    You'd Expect: The Trinities to stay in their Gundams. Everyone's been hunting them and they should stay safe in an actual fighting machine. Even if it doesn't mean much, it's still a safe bet. Ali may be a far superior pilot but there is no way he would win in a Mook suit against three Gundams with unique weaponry to counter him in close-combat, ranged-combat and electronic warfare.
    Instead: Johann orders Nena to get in hers while he and Michael talk with the pilot.
    The Result: Ali gets out, shoots Michael, restrains Johann, deciding he'd pick up an interesting "fight", before killing Johann himself using Michael's Gundam. Had Setsuna not arrived, Nena would've also died right then and there.
  • Following up from the above when Ali kills Michael.
    You'd Expect: Nena immediately squashes Ali like a tomato. She has no qualms killing innocent people unrelated to her mission on-foot with her Gundam so why suddenly not do so to someone who killed her own brother?
    Or: Immediately carry the Throne Zwei with her own Gundam. Biometrics or not, it is safer to take the Gundam with you than risk it being stolen by enemy factions like in the Cosmic Era where it happens every second day.
    Instead: Nena does nothing to protect the Gundam or even Johann who gets beaten down by Ali.
    The Result: Ali receives a machine with weapons and an intended fighting style that fits like a glove, easily killing Johann in the process. Nena devotes the rest of her life in revenge against him but is ultimately unable to do so.
  • Billy Katagiri regularly gives out info to Leesa Kujo, better known as Sumeragi Lee Noriega.
    You’d Expect: Billy at one point to suspect there might be an ulterior motive behind what Sumeragi is doing. At the very least, twist it so Sumeragi can’t pinpoint it since Billy is a military man.
    Instead: He does no such thing and keeps giving out info about what’s going on in his military.
    The Result: Billy inadvertently helps Celestial Beings throughout the first season and is unsurprisingly shocked when Setsuna spills the beans on him at the beginning of the second.
  • When Setsuna arrives at Sumeragi and Billy's door, he calls the former by her code name.
    You'd Expect: Billy to now get the memo.
    Instead: Billy remains confused even after everything's made apparent.
    The Result: Setsuna needs to clarify and it results in Billy going on a rampage against Sumeragi throughout the second season, only stopping when she apologizes in the end.
  • Nena is after Wang Liu Mei and has just killed Hong Long. Liu Mei finds Setsuna whom offers her safety.
    You’d Expect: Liu Mei to agree to hop in with Setsuna who has the most advanced Gundam in tow to protect her. She's being targeted by someone who wants her dead and if Setsuna's there, she won't have to worry. Even if Nena found them, the 00 Raiser would easily shred Nena's outdated Throne Drei. Graham Aker in the Susanowo might have been outside but knowing his personality, he would have likely destroyed the Throne Drei himself if Nena interfered in the duel between himself and Setsuna.
    Instead: She rejects his offer and goes into a space shuttle with no defense capabilities.
    The Result: Nena catches up to Liu Mei and kills her without anyone to defend her.
  • As Big Bad Ribbons Almark talks with Setsuna, Ali decides to shoot the latter.
    You'd Expect: Ali to shoot Setsuna by the head. Problem solved and the end.
    Instead: Ali shoots Setsuna's arm.
    The Result: Setsuna becomes the first True Innovade as the season goes by essentially causing Ribbons' and Ali's downfall. Nice Job Fixing It, Villain doesn't even begin to cut it.
  • Ribbons makes it apparent he doesn't trust Regene Regetta.
    You'd Expect: Ribbons to get someone to keep a close eye on Regene. He can also control him, as shown with Anew.
    Instead: Ribbons mostly lets Regene do what he wants.
    The Result: Ribbons takes action too late when Regene seemingly kills him as after Ali kills Regene back, he ends up controlling VEDA.
  • Patrick Colasour.
    • Despite having fought the Gundams about 10 times by the end of season 2 and survived blowing up, getting left behind in a desert with pure uranium under the sand and blowing up in space, he still hasn't learnt anything by the time the ELS attack in the movie.
      You'd Expect: Patrick stays in formation with the rest of the GN-X IV's and carefully destroys the approaching ELS:
      Instead: Patrick breaks formation as the first pilot and charges at the ELS, shouting "THIS IS FOR MY COLONEL!". This ends with him charging right into an ELS, thus getting his GN-X IV assimilated, but not before Gundam Zabanya rips Patrick out of his cockpit and leaves him drifting around in a pilot suit in the middle of the battlefield.
    • As expected of Patrick, whenever he talks to his wife, Kati Mannequin, he keeps saying "Colonel". Every time he says this in season 2 and the movie, Kati corrects him.
    • In the Movie, when Kati is looking at some intel on the ELS late at night, Patrick joins her. She eventually says she has no idea what the ELS are, and Patrick suggests they could be "Evil Space Aliens". Kati responds kiddingly by saying "You idiot. With you, even serious things sound stupid!"
    • Already a bit after half-way through season 2, when he is piloting the plane with Kati onboard.
      Patrick: "Why can't I get to pilot a Mobile Suit?"
      Kati: "They say you're immortal, right? I want to make use of that."
      Patrick: "ALRIGHT!"
    • In season 1, when Patrick arrives a bit too late and gets slapped by his new superior, Kati, for being late. He immediately falls in love with her, despite what one might expect.
  • Allelujah's mind is vulnerable to Soma Peries's quantum brainwaves, making him a liability.
    You'd Expect: Sumeragi being a master tactical forecaster, counter this by having Celestial Being research a fix or steal it from the HRL.
    Or: Keep Allelujah onboard the Ptolemaios to estimate the approximate range it takes for him to be vulnerable to quantum brainwaves and identify which enemy it is that makes him vulnerable. This way, measures can be made so that Allelujah can complete missions and the chance to escape if Soma appears again.
    Instead: Nobody does anything and Allelujah becomes incapacitated in more than one battle with Soma.
  • In Season 2, Liu Mei has given Nena shelter after Ali massacred Johann and Michael.
    You'd Expect: Liu Mei to be very careful with Nena. If her poor treatment goes too far, Nena won't have a problem betraying her and is notoriously known as being Ax-Crazy. She can suppress her disdain and give Nena what she wants and then betray her if she has the right cards.
    Instead: She makes it open she doesn't give a fuck about Nena without even considering that Nena might get tired of the abuse and betray her.
    The Result: Nena does just that.
  • Lyle knows there's something wrong with Anew, the Manchurian Agent onboard. She's been used by Revive to track where the Ptolemios is.
    You'd Expect: Lyle to get Tieria to try and break the connection Anew's on. It might not work, but it gives everyone the idea that Anew shouldn't be left alone.
    Instead: Lyle keeps it to himself, thinking everything might work out if he gives a Love Confession.
    The Result: Anew goes rogue after Revive is held onboard, betraying the group unwillingly, and after Lyle tries to reach to her, Ribbons takes control. This ends with Setsuna having to Shoot the Dog and Lyle resents it.
  • Nena witnesses the wedding Louise is at and decides to briefly separate from her brothers.
    You'd Expect: Johann to tail her and ask that she stops before she does anything reckless.
    Instead: Johann doesn't object and only calls out Nena after everything's been said and done.
    The Result: Everyone ends up after them and they frame Celestial Being as terrorists. This ends with Johann and Michael's deaths while Nena also dies five years later because Louise was so hellbent on revenge.
  • Nena has an unexpected guest as she does work. It's Ali, whom she remembers for murdering her brothers.
    You'd Expect: Nena to let him off for the time being. There's no way she could actually beat Ali and wait for another time to strike, preferably when she has the advantage.
    Instead: Nena attempts to shoot him.
    The Result: Ali restrains her immediately and warns her if she does it again, she dies. Ultimately, she doesn't get a chance as Louise kills her first.

Advanced Generation

• Mobile Suit Gundam AGE:
  • The Unknown Enemy has in their ranks a young boy with extremely rare precognitive abilities in battle, known as an X-Rounder. He is, however, as capricious as one would expect a young child to be and with a nastily sadistic streak to boot.
    You'd Expect: They keep a close eye on him, educate him in the art of war, and send him out with either a babysitter or a remote switch on his Mobile Suit if he gets out of hand.
    Instead: They make him a battle commander, where he orders a retreat from a certain victory because he got bored. And then they put him in charge of the second X-Rounder that they conscript. He uses her recklessly in battle and accidentally kills her. It's only after that when he seems to lose his authority.
  • When Asemu was about to steal the Vagan X-Rounder helmet (which can give normal people X-Rounder abilities), Dique appeared.
    You'd Expect: That he would make sure Asemu left first and locked the door behind him.
    Instead: He puts it back to the glass case and.... leaves Asemu in the room. Cue sound of something breaking.
  • As a child, Arabel Zoi sees Grodek Ainoa gun down his father. Grodek tells him that doing so was his only purpose in a shattered life, and that Arabel is destined to follow the same path.
    You'd Expect: That Arabel would not accept the life philosophy handed to him by a stranger who murdered his dad and do something else, if only to spite Grodek.
    Instead: He devotes his life to getting revenge on Grodek and ends up as an Unwitting Pawn to the Federation in the process. Right after knifing Grodek in the kidneys, he himself is shot by Federation agents.
  • After Kio Asuno spends time in the Vagan colony, he decides he doesn't want to kill anymore—well and good. His Mid-Season Upgrade is conveniently equipped with a precision weapon that lets him non-lethally detach the head-mounted cockpits of Vagan mobile suits. Unfortunately, this approach doesn't work with enemies like Fram Nara or Girard Spriggan, whose suits are configured differently (and also, they also have funnels and better skills to boot).
    You'd Expect: That Kio would use some funnels for defense and a few to gradually cut off each limb so they can fight funnel-a-funnel and he can defeat them by degrees, after it becomes clear that talking them down isn't working.
    Instead: He fights a defensive, losing battle against them while repeating over and over that they need to understand each other, despite them telling him explicitly that they're beyond that point. Even after Girard goes spectacularly psychotic and nearly kills him, Kio is still mad at his grandfather for making the kill shot (the one that saved his life).
  • Another Kio "classic" moment happens in Episode 38. At that point, Kio is captured by the Vagans and placed under surveillance while he is shown around their home colony. During his stay, he is left to go on his own and eventually comes across a Vagan girl named Lu Anon. After being made aware of her illness and her own desire to live a normal life for however long she can, he asks Ezelcant, the Vagan leader, for something to relieve Lu's suffering. He agrees, on one condition: that Kio gives them the password for the AGE Device in order to complete the Vagans' own Gundam model, reverse-engineered from the AGE-3 Orbital.
    You'd Expect: The AGE Device has been handed down by each generation of the Asuno family up to this point. As a result, Kio should have fought tooth and nail to keep the device away from the enemy. Or, at the very least, he should have extensively negotiated with Ezelcant before he even began to consider giving this invaluable piece of technology up.
    Instead: Kio quickly accepts Ezelcant's deal. By revealing the secrets that created war-winning machines, he essentially screwed any advantage his side might have had over the Vagans... at a time when the Vagans are already invading Earth itself. The blood from every life that Ezelcant (and later Zeheart) took with the Gundam Legilis is on Kio's hands because of his idiocy, and, the Gundam fanbase (one that is notoriously broken beyond all comprehension) unanimously agrees that his actions are among the stupidest any Gundam protagonist has ever done in the history of the franchise.
    Even Worse: Lu dies in the same episode. Congratulations, Kio. In exchange for giving up the most valuable device, all you get in exchange is a handful of pills that do nothing to cure Lu's disease except hide the symptoms. So much for Puppy Love...
    

Regild Century

• Gundam: Reconguista in G
  • "Genius" pilot Klim Nick notices that the Mysterious Waif Raraiya Monday has some obvious connection to the G-Self, a mobile suit that very few have the ability to operate.
    You'd Expect: That he investigate this during a relatively safe moment. Granted, they're targets for the Capital Army, but he could have tried. At the moment she seems to have the mental capacity of a kindergartner, given that he's able to persuade her by saying her pet goldfish wants her to pilot it.
    Instead: He has her try to pilot it in battle. She can operate it all right, but unsurprisingly she panics and flails all over the place. It's almost a disaster and Bell has to swoop in to salvage the situation.
  • Guile Hero Bellri lets his prisoner, Aida, back into the G-Self he captured from her and lets her pilot it.
    You'd Expect: That he would knock her out realizing that where she will be going to.
    Instead: Gets carried to the base of the pirates, becomes completely shocked by this, then quickly starts piloting for them.
  • While fighting with Kia Mbeki, Bell positions himself near the Ocean Frame to keep from being fired on. His Amerian allies had already used similar tactics, positioning themselves in front of holy sites nobody wanted to fire at, and in this case firing would break open the ocean that the Venus Globe colonists rely on.
    You'd Expect: Kia Mbeki, who is from Venus Globe, to either pull back and find another way to get at Bell, or to at least start picking his shots better to make sure he'll hit the G-Self and not his own colony.
    Instead: He keeps fighting like a Blood Knight and ends up punching a hole in the bottom of the ocean, which begins gushing into space. Not only does this threaten lives, it lets Bell's friends get in and crook a number of high-powered mobile suits. In the end, Kia has to plug the hole that he created with a mobile armor and dies in the process.

Post Disaster

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans:
  • Biscuit's brother betrays him and Atra, telling members of Gjallarhorn that he has captured Kudelia Aina Bernstein, in order to prevent them from massacring civilians that live in the area. He intends to hand Kudelia over to Gjallarhorn.
    You'd Expect: That the soldiers Gjallarhorn sends over would have some way to identify someone as important as Kudelia - a photo, a physical description, etc. There's been nothing so far to suggest that her face is a mystery to the public.
    Instead: They don't, trusting the word of a complete stranger.
    You'd then Expect: For the Gjallarhorn soldiers to notice that Atra appears to be too young to be Kudelia, and realize that Biscuit's brother is lying to them.
    Or: At the very least, get a bit suspicious that there weren't more people guarding her when they captured.
    Instead: They don't, and even confuse Atra for Kudelia - which Atra takes advantage of, telling them that SHE is Kudelia.
  • Carta Issue, a Gjallarhorn officer has encountered with Tekkadan and lost to them twice (and not to mention that her squad once did a ceremonial pose to introduce themselves only to have her subordinate shot down by Akihiro), she was given a one last chance to restore her honor.
    You'd Expect: She'd blow up the train to stop Tekkadan from advancing to Arbaru and act more like a competent officer. Hell, she wouldn't even need to stick around after blowing up the tracks; she could probably coordinate an orbital bombardment with some of the other members of Gjallarhorn after blowing up the tracks. Problems solved.
    Or: At the very least, bring along more than 2 other mobile suits with her. Given that she's good friends with Gaelio Bauduin, chances are that if she asked him to help her, he'd be more than happy to bring his Gundam Kimaris along - it should be noted that the Gundam Kimaris is the only mobile suit that has fought the Gundam Barbatos multiple times and survived.
    Instead: She chooses to duel Mikazuki instead of learning from her mistakes, given that she has killed Biscuit, she was immediately subjected to a Roaring Rampage of Revenge delivered by Mika and was killed by the later in a slow, brutal manner instead of giving a quick kill as usual.
  • Season 2 gives us Iok, who seems to be the replacement for Carta. When Rustal learns that Tekkadan has discovered a Mobile Armor buried near a half-metal mine, he sends a small force including Iok. Iok, wanting the glory for himself, launches ahead of the other 2 notable pilots in the taskforce, Julieta and Vidar^note who, it should be noted, is piloting a Gundam - a machine specifically designed to take out mobile armors, and orbitally re-enters the atmosphere of Mars piloting his mobile suit.
    You'd Expect: Him to immediately open fire upon the mobile armor as soon as he sees it - while it's true that he has demonstrated his poor aim, to say the least, hitting a stationary target shouldn't be that hard, especially since he pilots a mobile suit made specifically made for ranged combat. Plus, he was sent there to stop McGillis from destroying the armor itself, so doing this would let him accomplish his goal without having to risk combat.
    Instead: He walks as close as possible to the dormant mobile armor... waking up the mobile armor, and leading to his bodyguards getting killed, as well as leading to his mobile suit being trashed.
    You'd then Expect: Him to retreat, either leaving the glory for the other members of the task force he's a part of and sit the rest of the mission out, since his bodyguards made the ultimate sacrifice to keep him alive.
    Or: At the very least, retreat to the nearest Gjallarhorn base and come back with a new mobile suit.
    Instead: Not only does he keep on pursuing the mobile armor, he even shoots at the armor after seeing his MS's weapon has no effect on it. To top it all off, he ends up throwing more wrenches in Tekkaden's plans to stop the mobile armor.