Katrina Peacecraft

Queen Katrina Peacecraft was the co-ruler of the Sanc Kingdom alongside King Peacecraft and the mother of Milliardo Peacecraft (later known as Zechs Merquise) and Relena Peacecraft. A devoted pacifist who championed total non-violence, she was killed alongside her husband when the United Earth Sphere Alliance invaded the Sanc Kingdom in AC 182. Her death left their infant daughter Relena orphaned and their teenage son Milliardo traumatised, setting in motion the events that would shape both children’s paths through the conflicts of AC 195.

History

Queen of the Sanc Kingdom

Queen Katrina ruled the Sanc Kingdom together with King Peacecraft, championing the kingdom’s radical commitment to total pacifism. The Peacecraft royal family stood out in the Earth Sphere for their unwavering dedication to non-violence and peaceful coexistence, following ideals inspired by the colonial leader Heero Yuy (politician).

Together with the king, Katrina raised their children—including eldest son Milliardo, born in AC 165, and youngest daughter Relena, born fifteen years later in AC 180—within the pacifist philosophy that defined their kingdom. The Peacecraft family believed that total pacifism was not only morally correct but practically achievable, demonstrating this through their governance.

Death in AC 182

In AC 182, when Milliardo was seventeen years old and Relena was only two, the United Earth Sphere Alliance viewed the Peacecraft family’s pacifist ideology as a threat to their totalitarian rule. The kingdom’s very existence challenged the Alliance’s militaristic approach, and its philosophy had the potential to inspire resistance elsewhere in the Earth Sphere.

The Alliance launched a brutal invasion of the Sanc Kingdom. During the assault, both Queen Katrina and King Peacecraft were killed, and the royal palace was destroyed. Their deaths were part of the Alliance’s systematic elimination of the Peacecraft family and the destruction of the kingdom itself.

In the chaos of the invasion, seventeen-year-old Milliardo managed to escape the carnage. The infant Relena was rescued by Vice-Minister Darlian, a former Sanc Kingdom senator who had served the Peacecraft family loyally. Darlian fled the burning country with the baby princess, adopting her and concealing her true identity to protect her from those who had murdered her parents.

Personality

Based on her role as Queen of the Sanc Kingdom and mother to the Peacecraft children, Katrina embodied the ideals of total pacifism. Together with her husband, she worked to demonstrate that non-violence could serve as a practical basis for governance, not merely an abstract philosophical ideal.

As a mother, Katrina helped raise her children within the pacifist philosophy that defined the Peacecraft family. Her influence on young Milliardo would persist throughout his life, contributing to the guilt and internal conflict he experienced as a soldier fighting under the name Zechs Merquise. Though Relena was too young to remember her mother, the values Katrina championed would eventually become central to Relena’s own identity and political mission.

Relationships

King Peacecraft

King Peacecraft was Katrina’s husband and co-ruler of the Sanc Kingdom. Together they championed pacifist ideals and raised their children in this philosophy. They died together during the Alliance’s brutal invasion in AC 182, united in their commitment to their principles even in death.

Milliardo Peacecraft (Zechs Merquise)

Milliardo, Katrina’s eldest son and the kingdom’s heir, was seventeen years old when his mother was killed. The trauma of watching his parents die and his kingdom burn deeply affected Milliardo, who would adopt the identity of Zechs Merquise and become a soldier. Throughout his life, he would feel shame at having betrayed his mother’s and father’s pacifist teachings, even as he fought for causes he believed would ultimately bring peace.

Relena Peacecraft (Relena Darlian)

Relena, only two years old when her mother died, had no conscious memory of Katrina. She was rescued by Vice-Minister Darlian, who raised her whilst instilling in her the Peacecraft ideals, even without revealing her true identity. When Relena eventually learned of her heritage, she would take up her parents’ cause, becoming a powerful advocate for the total pacifism her mother had championed.

Legacy

Queen Katrina Peacecraft’s death, alongside her husband’s, created martyrs whose memory would inspire the pacifist movement within the Earth Sphere. Though the original Sanc Kingdom fell to violence in AC 182, the ideals Katrina and her husband represented would resurface through their children thirteen years later.

When Relena discovered her true identity and heritage, she chose to embrace her mother’s pacifist philosophy. During the Eve Wars of AC 195, Relena rebuilt the Sanc Kingdom and advocated for total pacifism on the political stage, carrying forward her mother’s vision. In doing so, she proved that Katrina’s ideals had not died with her—they had merely waited for the next generation to champion them.

Even Milliardo, despite his path as a soldier, was profoundly shaped by his mother’s teachings. His internal conflicts throughout the series stemmed from the contradiction between the pacifist values Katrina instilled in him and the violent reality of his life as Zechs Merquise. Ultimately, both of Katrina’s surviving children worked, in their own ways, to fulfil their mother’s vision of peace.

Notes

• Queen Katrina Peacecraft is mentioned primarily in flashback material and through her children’s recollections.
• She had at least four children: Milliardo (Zechs), Relena, and daughters named Sabrina, Naina, and Mille, though the latter three have minimal presence in the series.
• The fifteen-year age gap between Milliardo (born AC 165) and Relena (born AC 180) means Milliardo was old enough to remember his mother, whilst Relena had no conscious memory of her.
• Her death alongside King Peacecraft in AC 182 occurred seven years after the assassination of Heero Yuy (politician) in AC 175 and thirteen years before the main events of the series in AC 195.

References

Main article: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

• Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (referenced in flashbacks)
• New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Episode Zero