AMX-109 Capule – MechaBay | Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ

The AMX-109 Capule was a prototype amphibious mobile suit developed by Neo Zeon for terrestrial operations during the First Neo Zeon War.

The “AMX” in the model code indicated it was developed by Axis Zeon, which later became Neo Zeon. The “109” in the model code denoted that it was the one hundred and ninth mobile weapon design in the AMX series. The Capule was designed as a descendant of the amphibious mobile suits used by the Principality of Zeon during the One Year War.

History

As Neo Zeon launched its invasion of Earth during the First Neo Zeon War in UC 0088, they employed several new mobile suit designs built for terrestrial combat. One of these units was the AMX-109 Capule, which was an amphibious mobile suit based loosely on the old Principality of Zeon’s MSM-03 Gogg from the One Year War.

The AMX-109 Capule is a descendant of the amphibious MSM-03C Hygogg used during the One Year War. Its spherical body exhibits high water resistance and excellent mobility in water. The limbs are housed within the body during underwater travel.

However, the Capule seemed to have lost many of the lessons learned by the Principality of Zeon during its amphibious mobile suit development during the One Year War. As a result, the Capule proved to be an inefficient design and was highly unpopular with its pilots. Neo Zeon forces on Earth lacked confidence in the Capule and instead preferred the Federation-made RMS-192M Zaku Mariner.

First deployed in August UC 0088, the Capule was introduced during the First Neo Zeon War, where it was entrusted to a local fisherman named Taman by Neo Zeon forces sent to attack the Nahel Argama. The Capule remained in use with Zeon remnants and participated in attacks on the Earth Federation capital Dakar and Australia’s Torrington Base in UC 0096 during the Laplace Incident.

Design

The AMX-109 Capule featured a distinctive spherical design optimised for amphibious operations. The mobile suit was constructed from two-layered Gundarium alloy armor that provided both protection and water resistance. Its Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor generated an output of 1,840 kW.

The Capule’s spherical body housed a hydro-cooling system that allowed it to operate effectively both underwater and on land. The mobile suit had a relatively compact frame with a head height of 16.5 metres, making it smaller than most contemporary mobile suits.

Transformation capability

The Capule’s most distinctive feature was its ability to transform between mobile suit and mobile armor modes. The Capule’s arms could fold up inside its main body and its legs could fold back, turning the mobile suit into a mobile armor-like form that was faster and more streamlined when moving underwater. In its mobile armor mode, the Capule could also move along the water’s surface in a fashion similar to a hovercraft.

Armaments

Armed with eight missile launchers, a sonic blast weapon in its waist, and a laser beam eye on its small, flat head, this small mobile suit packed an enormous amount of firepower for its size, all cooled by a hydro-cooling system.

Laser beam eye

A beam cannon located in the cockpit hatch above the mono-eye sensor, thus nicknamed “beam eye”. The laser beam has a relatively low power output, but it is still sufficient to destroy the MS main camera; so, when it fires, the sensor would be covered by a protective filter.

Sonic blast

Located in the waist, the Sonic Blast could be considered a kind of mega particle cannon. Because of the seawater stored in the Capule’s double-layered armor being used in its cooling system and with the Capule having enough generator output to drive high-output beam weapons even on land, this resulted in the Sonic Blast being a formidable weapon.

Missile launcher

Mounted in the torso, each element of this 8-tube missile launcher can house several missiles. Due to the problems with precision guidance, they can be used only for ballistic attacks, hitting an area in the range of about 30 km.

Iron nails

These melee weapons consist of 3 large claws per hand, plus 2 small claws on the palm. Internally there is a movable frame structure, which allows enough strength to cut off even Gundarium armor plates. Its arm units are similar to the Hygogg and are armed with Iron Nails, which have become a standard weapon for amphibious Zeon mobile suits.

Known pilots

Taman

Behind the scenes

Original mechanical designers: Yutaka Izubuchi (principal design, Gundam ZZ version), Yoshinori Sayama (cleanup, Gundam ZZ version), Katoki Hajime (Gundam Unicorn version). The design was later updated by Hajime Katoki for its appearance in Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.

Relationship to Turn A Gundam

The AMX-109 Capule design was later adapted for the Turn A Gundam series as the AMX-109 Kapool. The Kapool’s appearance was nearly identical to the AMX-109 Capule from the Dark History. However, it was smaller in size, and capable of operating in space as well.

Appearances

External links

AMX-109 Capule on the Gundam Wiki
AMX-109 Capule on MAHQ