Chara Soon

Chara Soon was a Neo Zeon mobile suit pilot and commander known for her erratic behaviour and mental instability during the First Neo Zeon War. She served as an observer and later replacement captain for Mashymre Cello aboard the Endra, and was later enhanced as a Cyber Newtype before her death defending Haman Karn in the final battle of the war.

Biography

Early service

Chara Soon was originally sent by Haman Karn as an observer to monitor Neo Zeon officer Mashymre Cello, who commanded the Endra-class vessel Endra. Cello’s repeated failures against the AEUG ship Argama led to concerns about his effectiveness as a commander. After a series of defeats at the hands of Judau Ashta and the AEUG, control of the Endra was handed over to Chara Soon as its new captain.

Capture and imprisonment

During one of her operations against the Argama, Chara Soon was captured by the AEUG. To her considerable disgust, she was forced to serve as a cleaning lady aboard the ship under the supervision of two children, Shinta and Qum. Despite her humiliating circumstances, she attempted to use her “feminine wiles” to escape, trying unsuccessfully to seduce both Judau Ashta and Captain Bright Noa. She eventually managed to escape when the ship docked at the lunar city of Granada.

Cyber Newtype enhancement

After her escape, Chara Soon returned to Axis where she oversaw mining operations on an asteroid near the fortress. During this period, she apparently underwent Cyber Newtype enhancement, significantly improving her abilities as a mobile suit pilot. This enhancement process may have further exacerbated her existing mental instability.

Final battle

In January UC 0089, during the climactic battle between Haman Karn’s loyalist forces and Glemy Toto’s rebel faction, Chara Soon played a crucial role in defending Haman. When remnants of Glemy’s forces, consisting of approximately six AMX-004G Qubeley Mass Production Types, attempted to kill Haman, Chara intervened in her AMX-015 Geymalk. In an impressive display of skill and the Geymalk’s overwhelming firepower, she destroyed all six enemy units. However, her mobile suit exploded after crashing into the last Qubeley Mass Production Type, killing her in the process.

Personality & traits

Chara Soon was characterised by severe mental instability and extreme mood swings that made her unpredictable both in and out of combat. Her personality could shift rapidly between innocent and shy behaviour to aggressive, confident, and unpredictable conduct, particularly during mobile suit battles. These mood swings were so severe that she sometimes lost control completely during combat.

When interacting with men, she often employed what she termed “feminine wiles” to achieve her objectives. A notable example was when she allowed Mashymre Cello to grab her breasts, then recorded his verbal confession of the act on tape for potential blackmail purposes. This manipulative behaviour demonstrated her willingness to use any means necessary to gain advantage over others.

Her mental instability predated her Cyber Newtype enhancement, suggesting that the psychological conditioning and surgical modifications only worsened an existing condition rather than causing it. Despite these issues, she remained a capable and dangerous mobile suit pilot, though her tendency to “play” with opponents in battle sometimes gave skilled adversaries like Judau Ashta opportunities to exploit her overconfidence.

Skills & abilities

Mobile suit piloting

Chara Soon was an exceptional mobile suit pilot, capable of handling the most advanced machines in the Neo Zeon arsenal. Her skills were particularly evident in close-quarters combat, where she demonstrated remarkable proficiency with the AMX-104 R-Jarja. Despite her mental instability affecting her tactical judgement, her raw piloting ability was formidable enough to pose a significant threat to experienced pilots.

Cyber Newtype abilities

Following her enhancement as a Cyber Newtype, Chara Soon gained artificial Newtype abilities that allowed her to operate advanced psycommu systems. This enhancement enabled her to effectively pilot the AMX-015 Geymalk and control its complex remote weapon systems, including 28 child funnels and two mother funnels. Her final battle performance, where she single-handedly destroyed six enemy mobile suits, demonstrated the significant boost in capability that the Cyber Newtype process provided.

Relationships

Mashymre Cello

Chara Soon’s relationship with Mashymre Cello was complex and manipulative. Initially sent to observe him, she gradually undermined his authority and eventually replaced him as captain of the Endra. She demonstrated her manipulative nature by allowing him intimate contact for her own purposes, showing little genuine affection despite his feelings. Their relationship represented the cold pragmatism often displayed by Neo Zeon officers in their pursuit of military objectives.

Haman Karn

Chara Soon remained loyal to Haman Karn throughout her service, ultimately dying in her defence during the final battle of the First Neo Zeon War. This loyalty was characteristic of many Neo Zeon officers who served under Haman’s leadership, though the exact nature of their personal relationship remains unclear.

Judau Ashta

As an AEUG pilot, Judau Ashta was one of Chara Soon’s primary adversaries. Their encounters typically involved her attempting to psychologically manipulate him whilst engaging in mobile suit combat. Despite her superior experience and equipment, Judau’s piloting skills and the performance of his mobile suits often forced her to retreat from their battles.

Mecha

AMX-104 R-Jarja

The AMX-104 R-Jarja was Chara Soon’s primary mobile suit during the early stages of her service with Neo Zeon. This prototype mobile suit was designed for high-ranking officers and inherited design concepts from the Principality of Zeon’s YMS-15 Gyan. The R-Jarja specialised in close-quarters combat and was equipped with a beam rifle with heat bayonet, a customised beam saber, and two variable shields mounted on the shoulders.

Chara Soon used the R-Jarja in multiple missions against the Argama and its crew. On one notable occasion, she coordinated with Mashymre Cello and his AMX-103 Hamma Hamma to severely damage Judau Ashta’s MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam. However, her mental instability often led her to toy with opponents rather than finish them quickly, giving skilled pilots opportunities to turn the tables on her.

The last recorded use of her R-Jarja was during a battle at the Moon Moon colony, where she abandoned conventional weapons and attempted to grapple directly with Judau’s MSZ-010 ΖΖ Gundam. This unorthodox tactic demonstrated both her unpredictable nature and her overconfidence in close combat situations.

AMX-015 Geymalk

During the final phase of the First Neo Zeon War, Chara Soon piloted the AMX-015 Geymalk, one of the most powerful mobile suits ever developed by Neo Zeon. This massive machine was specifically designed for Newtype use and featured an unprecedented weapons loadout, including over twenty beam weapons and a sophisticated remote weapon system.

The Geymalk’s most distinctive feature was its dual-tier funnel system, consisting of two mother funnels that each carried fourteen child funnels, for a total of 28 remote weapons. Chara Soon’s Cyber Newtype abilities allowed her to control this complex system effectively, demonstrating the machine’s full potential in her final battle.

Her performance in the Geymalk during the climactic battle against Glemy Toto’s forces was remarkable. Single-handedly engaging six AMX-004G Qubeley Mass Production Types, she destroyed them all using the Geymalk’s overwhelming firepower and her enhanced abilities. This final action demonstrated both the peak of her skills as a pilot and her unwavering loyalty to Haman Karn.

Behind the scenes

Chara Soon was designed as one of the antagonists for Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, representing the unpredictable and dangerous nature of Neo Zeon’s officer corps. Her character design drew inspiration from 1980s pop culture, particularly Cyndi Lauper’s distinctive hairstyle from her album She’s So Unusual. Her original hair colour was depicted as blonde in manga appearances, with the pink colouring being added later.

The character served as an example of the psychological toll that enhanced military service could take on individuals, with her mental instability being present long before her Cyber Newtype conversion. This aspect of her character highlighted the darker themes present in the later Universal Century timeline, where the pursuit of military advantage often came at significant human cost.

Voice acting

Chara Soon was voiced by Maya Okamoto in the original Japanese version of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ. Okamoto, born on 3 February 1967 in Tokyo, was an established voice actress known for her work in anime and video games. In the English dub, she was voiced by Candice Moore, a Scottish voice actress based in Hong Kong with formal training from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London.

Appearances

• Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ – episodes 10, 12, 14-16, 19, 21
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Deleted Affair: Portrait of Young Comet (manga)
• Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Define (manga)

External links

• Chara Soon on the Gundam Wiki
• Chara Soon Voice on Behind The Voice Actors