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First Neo Zeon War

Major conflict between Neo Zeon forces led by Haman Karn and the Earth Federation and AEUG remnants.
Jenxi Seow Published 17 Jun 2025 Updated 17 Jun 2025
First Neo Zeon War

The First Neo Zeon War, also known as the Haman War, was a major armed conflict that occurred from 3 March UC 0088 to 17 January UC 0089 between the Axis-based Zeon remnants led by Haman Karn and the remaining forces of the AEUG, Karaba, and the Earth Federation following the devastating Gryps Conflict. It was the first of several Neo Zeon movements that would plague the Earth Sphere during the late UC 0080s and UC 0090s.

Prelude

The origins of the First Neo Zeon War lay in the aftermath of the Gryps Conflict, which had ended on 20 February UC 0088 with the Battle of Gryps. This civil war had effectively destroyed the Titans and severely weakened both the Earth Federation Forces and the AEUG. The only major military force to emerge relatively intact was Axis Zeon, led by Haman Karn, which had strategically withdrawn from the final battle to preserve their strength.

Haman had spent years consolidating power within the Axis survivors whilst using Mineva Lao Zabi, the last surviving member of the Zabi family, as a figurehead to legitimise her authority. In reality, Mineva was merely a puppet, with Haman serving as the true leader of the Zeon remnants. With both their main opponents weakened, Haman saw an opportunity to fulfill her long-held ambition of reviving the Principality of Zeon.

On 3 March UC 0088, just eleven days after the conclusion of the Gryps Conflict, Haman formally renamed her forces “Neo Zeon” and declared war on the Earth Federation, beginning the First Neo Zeon War.

Course of the war

Initial Neo Zeon advance

The war began when the AEUG’s battle-worn assault carrier Argama arrived at Side 1’s Shangri-La space colony for supplies and repairs. Haman considered the remaining AEUG forces an obstacle that prevented spacenoids from joining Neo Zeon’s cause, so she dispatched the Endra, commanded by Mashymre Cello, to pursue and destroy the Argama.

During this initial engagement, a group of local teenage junk dealers led by Judau Ashta became involved in the conflict when they attempted to steal the damaged MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam, whose pilot Kamille Bidan had fallen into a vegetative state after his final battle with Paptimus Scirocco. Judau and his friends’ repeated theft attempts inadvertently led to them joining the AEUG crew and forming what became known as the “Gundam Team”.

Neo Zeon forces achieved early success by securing several locations in Africa with minimal resistance, aided by remaining Principality of Zeon sympathisers on Earth. The Federation forces in Africa had been severely weakened during the Gryps Conflict, leaving them unable to mount effective resistance against the Neo Zeon invasion.

Dublin Colony Drop

On 8 August UC 0088, Neo Zeon forces temporarily captured the Earth Federation Assembly at Dakar, though they were forced to retreat when AEUG and Karaba forces launched a counterattack.

The most devastating action of the war occurred on 31 October UC 0088, when Neo Zeon conducted the Dublin Colony Drop. As a show of force and intimidation against the Earth Federation, Haman’s forces dropped a colony on Dublin, Ireland. Neo Zeon deliberately cut off all escape routes for civilians to maximise casualties and demonstrate their resolve.

Despite the horrific nature of the attack, many Federation officials chose to remain silent, with some even stating it would be better to lose civilian lives than the government. The AEUG and Karaba, led by the recovering Kamille Bidan and his caretaker Fa Yuiry, mounted a desperate rescue operation. Using Karaba’s Audhumla transport, they managed to evacuate some civilians before the colony impact. However, Hayato Kobayashi, the One Year War veteran and leader of Karaba, sacrificed his life during the operation when his transport was destroyed.

The Dublin Colony Drop caused massive civilian casualties and had the desired political effect. Fearing further colony drops, the Earth Federation government ceded Side 3 to Neo Zeon, formally granting them control of Core Three.

Neo Zeon civil war

Despite Neo Zeon’s apparent success, internal divisions emerged within the organisation. On 25 December UC 0088, Glemy Toto, a young officer who claimed to be a member of the Zabi bloodline, declared the foundation of his own Neo Zeon faction and launched a rebellion against Haman’s leadership.

Glemy’s motivations were complex, combining genuine idealism with personal ambition. Unlike other Neo Zeon soldiers, he was noted for his honour and chivalry, but he had grown disillusioned with Haman’s increasingly ruthless methods. His rebellion was also fueled by his belief that he, as a supposed Zabi descendant, had a greater right to lead than Haman.

The civil war split Neo Zeon’s forces at a critical moment. Whilst Haman was establishing her new base of operations at Core Three, Glemy staged an uprising at the main Neo Zeon base of Axis and seized control. He then launched an attack on Core Three to eliminate Haman once and for all.

The Battle of Axis

The climactic Battle of Axis saw a three-way struggle between the AEUG, Haman’s loyalist Neo Zeon forces, and Glemy’s rebel faction. The AEUG and Haman’s forces temporarily cooperated, recognising Glemy as the greater threat due to his control of powerful mobile suits including the AMX-014 Döven Wolf and the massive NZ-000 Queen Mansa.

During the battle, Judau Ashta in the MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam proved instrumental in turning the tide. The battle was complicated by the presence of Elpeo Ple and her clone Ple Two, cyber-Newtypes who had been manipulated by both factions. Ple’s death protecting Judau from Ple Two became a turning point, as her “spirit” convinced Ple Two to stop fighting and join the AEUG.

Roux Louka ultimately killed Glemy Toto by destroying his Queen Mansa with the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam’s beam rifle. As a final act of spite, Glemy ordered his forces to ram both Axis and its satellite asteroid Moussa into Core Three, effectively destroying both remaining Neo Zeon fleets.

In the aftermath of Glemy’s death, Haman Karn engaged Judau Ashta in a final one-on-one duel using her AMX-004 Qubeley against his enhanced MSZ-010S ZZ Gundam. Despite her skill and experience, Haman was ultimately defeated. When Judau offered to let her come with him, she refused and chose to end her own life rather than face capture, stating she was glad to have met “such a good kid”.

Aftermath

With the deaths of both Haman Karn and Glemy Toto, and the revelation that the real Mineva Lao Zabi had mysteriously disappeared (having been replaced by a body double since the end of the Gryps Conflict), Neo Zeon formally surrendered to the Earth Federation on 17 January UC 0089.

Following Neo Zeon’s surrender, both the AEUG and Karaba disbanded and their surviving members rejoined the Earth Federation Forces. Some former AEUG and Karaba personnel, including Bright Noa, became part of a new elite counter-insurgency task force called Londo Bell, specifically created to prevent future uprisings like Haman’s movement.

Some surviving members of Haman’s Neo Zeon later joined Char Aznable and his Second Neo Zeon movement in UC 0093, even providing mobile suit technology that became the basis for the AMS-119 Geara Doga. Other remnants refused to surrender and continued guerrilla warfare against the Federation, particularly in Africa, where they later supported the Sleeves during the Third Neo Zeon War in UC 0096.

Legacy

The First Neo Zeon War marked a significant shift in mobile suit technology. Neo Zeon, though numerically inferior, introduced several high-performance machines that pushed technological boundaries, including advanced psycommu and quasi-psycommu systems. In response, the Earth Federation changed its development strategy from creating advanced mobile suits to producing economical units like the RGM-86R GM III that could be manufactured quickly to leverage their numerical superiority.

The war demonstrated the ongoing appeal of Zeon ideology among spacenoids and highlighted the continued instability in the Earth Sphere following the One Year War. The conflict also established the template for future Neo Zeon movements, showing how charismatic leaders could rally Zeon remnants and pose serious threats to Federation stability.

Most significantly, the war introduced Judau Ashta as a new type of Gundam pilot—younger and more optimistic than his predecessors, yet capable of tremendous growth and displaying some of the strongest Newtype abilities ever recorded. His victory over both Glemy and Haman helped establish the pattern of young pilots serving as the key to resolving major conflicts in the Universal Century.

Behind the scenes

The First Neo Zeon War serves as the primary setting for the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, which aired from 1986 to 1987. Unlike other major Universal Century conflicts, this war is unique in being covered primarily by a single television series, giving it a more focused narrative treatment than conflicts like the One Year War or Gryps Conflict.

The war’s depiction intentionally showed the consequences of prolonged conflict on both military forces and civilian populations, with the Dublin Colony Drop serving as one of the most horrific acts in Universal Century history. The internal division within Neo Zeon reflected themes about the dangers of unchecked ambition and the corrupting nature of power.

Appearances

See also