Elve Onegell

Elve Onegell was an OZ cadet who served alongside Zechs Merquise during their early military careers. He is notable for discovering that Zechs’s true identity was Milliardo Peacecraft, the heir to the Sanc Kingdom throne, and for harbouring hatred towards the Peacecraft family despite promising not to expose his “war buddy’s” secret. Both soldiers disappeared during a battle at the lunar Marius Plant and would not resurface for several years.

His name may derive from “eleven”, following the After Colony series’ tradition of naming characters after numerals, though the connection is less direct than most other characters.

History

OZ cadet

Elve Onegell trained as a cadet in the Organization of the Zodiac alongside the soldier who called himself Zechs Merquise. During their time as fellow cadets, the two developed a working relationship as “war buddies”, though the extent of their friendship remains unclear.

Elve possessed keen observational skills or access to intelligence that allowed him to discover what Zechs had carefully concealed from OZ: that the masked “Lightning Count” was actually Milliardo Peacecraft, the son of King Peacecraft and Queen Katrina, who had been killed when the United Earth Sphere Alliance destroyed the Sanc Kingdom in AC 182.

Discovery at Marius Plant

When a revolt erupted at the lunar Marius Plant, both Elve and Zechs were called to service to help suppress the uprising. During this mission, Elve revealed to Zechs that he knew his true identity as Milliardo Peacecraft.

Whilst Elve promised not to expose Zechs’s secret to OZ command, claiming he would protect his “war buddy”, he also revealed that he harboured hatred towards the Peacecraft family. This admission created a tense and potentially dangerous situation for Zechs, who was operating under an assumed identity precisely because of the threat posed by those who opposed his family’s pacifist ideology.

The reasons for Elve’s hatred of the Peacecraft family were never fully explained, though they likely stemmed from political opposition to the family’s radical pacifism or personal grievances related to the Sanc Kingdom’s policies. His willingness to both protect Zechs’s secret whilst openly expressing hatred for his family suggested a complex mix of personal loyalty and political resentment.

Disappearance

During the ensuing battle at the Marius Plant, both Elve Onegell and Zechs Merquise disappeared. The specific circumstances of their disappearance remain unclear, though both soldiers survived and would eventually resurface years later.

Whether Elve maintained his promise not to expose Zechs’s identity, or whether the secret simply remained concealed through other circumstances, Zechs was able to continue his career in OZ under his assumed name. The fate of Elve Onegell after the Marius Plant incident and whether he ever crossed paths with Zechs again remains unknown.

Personality

Elve Onegell demonstrated a complicated character defined by conflicting loyalties. His willingness to keep Zechs’s secret suggested personal honour and loyalty to a fellow soldier, adhering to a code of conduct that valued the bonds formed between comrades in arms.

However, his simultaneous hatred of the Peacecraft family revealed deep-seated political resentment or personal grievances. This contradiction—protecting someone he claimed as a “war buddy” whilst despising that person’s family and heritage—suggests Elve was capable of separating his personal relationships from his political beliefs, at least to some degree.

His decision to reveal his knowledge to Zechs directly, rather than simply reporting it to command or keeping silent entirely, indicates a desire for honesty in their relationship, even if that honesty created an uncomfortable situation. This suggests a personality that valued directness and perhaps expected the same from others.

Relationships

Zechs Merquise (Milliardo Peacecraft)

Elve and Zechs served together as OZ cadets and described themselves as “war buddies”. However, their relationship was complicated by Elve’s discovery of Zechs’s true identity and his conflicting feelings—personal loyalty to his comrade versus political hatred for the Peacecraft family. The promise not to expose Zechs’s secret hung between them as both a bond and a potential threat.

Legacy

Elve Onegell’s knowledge of Zechs Merquise’s true identity represented one of the few instances where someone within OZ definitively knew that the Lightning Count was actually Milliardo Peacecraft. His promise to keep this secret, if honoured, allowed Zechs to continue his military career and eventually play a crucial role in the events of AC 195.

The character’s disappearance at Marius Plant left the question of his ultimate fate unresolved, though the fact that Zechs’s identity remained concealed within OZ suggests either that Elve kept his promise or that circumstances prevented him from revealing what he knew. This unresolved tension added an element of uncertainty to Zechs’s position throughout his time in OZ.

Notes

• Elve Onegell appears primarily in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing flashback material related to Zechs’s past.
• His name may derive from “eleven”, though this connection is less clear than most other numerically-named characters in the After Colony timeline.
• The character’s fate after disappearing at the Marius Plant battle is never definitively resolved in the series.
• Elve represents one of the few people shown to have discovered Zechs’s true identity before the events of AC 195, highlighting the precarious nature of Zechs’s assumed identity.

References

Main article: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

• Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (flashback sequences)