King Peacecraft

King Peacecraft, also known as Marticus Rex, was the ruler of the Sanc Kingdom and father of Milliardo Peacecraft (later known as Zechs Merquise) and Relena Peacecraft. A devoted pacifist who championed total non-violence following the ideals of the colonial leader Heero Yuy, he was killed along with Queen Katrina when the United Earth Sphere Alliance invaded the Sanc Kingdom in AC 182. His death set in motion the events that would profoundly shape both of his surviving children’s lives and the conflicts of AC 195.

History

Rule of the Sanc Kingdom

King Peacecraft ruled the Sanc Kingdom, a small nation that stood out in the Earth Sphere for its radical commitment to total pacifism. The kingdom championed complete non-violence and peaceful coexistence, following ideals inspired by the colonial leader Heero Yuy (politician), who had advocated for colonial independence through peaceful means before his assassination in AC 175.

Together with Queen Katrina, King Peacecraft 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, and they worked to demonstrate this through their governance.

Assassination by the Alliance

In AC 182, the United Earth Sphere Alliance viewed King Peacecraft’s pacifist ideology as a threat to their totalitarian rule over the Earth Sphere. The kingdom’s very existence challenged the Alliance’s militaristic approach to maintaining order, and its philosophy had the potential to inspire resistance elsewhere.

The Alliance launched a brutal invasion of the Sanc Kingdom. During the assault, both King Peacecraft and Queen Katrina were killed, and the royal palace was destroyed. Their seventeen-year-old son Milliardo managed to escape the carnage, whilst their infant daughter Relena, only two years old, was rescued by Vice-Minister Darlian, a former Sanc Kingdom senator who had served the Peacecraft family.

The king’s death marked the end of the Sanc Kingdom as an independent pacifist nation. The Alliance’s destruction of the kingdom demonstrated their intolerance for any challenge to their authority, even one based on non-violent principles.

Personality

King Peacecraft embodied the ideals of total pacifism. He genuinely believed that peaceful coexistence was achievable and worked to demonstrate this through his governance of the Sanc Kingdom. His commitment to non-violence was absolute, even when it made his kingdom a target for those who saw such ideals as threatening or naive.

As a father, King Peacecraft instilled these pacifist values in his children, particularly in young Milliardo, who would grow up to struggle with the contradiction between his father’s teachings and his own path as a soldier. The king’s influence on his children would persist long after his death, with both Milliardo and Relena eventually working, in their own ways, to fulfil his vision of peace.

His relationship with the broader political landscape of the Earth Sphere appears to have been idealistic. He believed that demonstrating the viability of pacifism through the Sanc Kingdom’s example would inspire change, even amongst those who opposed such ideals. This optimism, whilst noble, ultimately contributed to his downfall when the Alliance chose to eliminate the threat his ideology posed.

Relationships

Queen Katrina Peacecraft

Queen Katrina was King Peacecraft’s wife 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 invasion in AC 182.

Milliardo Peacecraft (Zechs Merquise)

Milliardo, the king’s eldest son and heir, was seventeen years old when his parents were killed. The trauma of their deaths and the destruction of the kingdom deeply affected Milliardo, who would adopt the identity of Zechs Merquise and become a soldier—directly contradicting his father’s pacifist teachings. Throughout his life, Zechs would struggle with shame over betraying his father’s ideals, even as he fought for causes he believed would ultimately bring peace.

Relena Peacecraft (Relena Darlian)

Relena, only two years old when her parents died, was rescued and raised by Vice-Minister Darlian, who instilled in her the Peacecraft ideals even whilst concealing her true identity. When she eventually learned of her heritage, Relena would take up her father’s cause, becoming a powerful advocate for total pacifism and working to establish peace in the Earth Sphere following the Eve Wars.

Heero Yuy (politician)

King Peacecraft was inspired by the colonial leader Heero Yuy, who had advocated for peaceful colonial independence before his assassination in AC 175. The Peacecraft family’s pacifist philosophy followed Heero Yuy’s ideals, and this connection would later prove significant when Relena’s path crossed with that of the Gundam pilot who had adopted the martyred leader’s name.

Legacy

King Peacecraft’s death, rather than ending his ideals, ultimately ensured their survival through his children. Both Milliardo and Relena would spend their lives grappling with their father’s legacy—Milliardo through his conflicted path as a soldier who ultimately fought for peace, and Relena through her direct advocacy of pacifist principles on the political stage.

The destruction of the Sanc Kingdom in AC 182 demonstrated the Alliance’s intolerance for alternative political philosophies, but it also created martyrs whose memory would inspire others. When Relena eventually rebuilt the Sanc Kingdom and advocated for total pacifism during the Eve Wars, she was carrying forward her father’s vision, proving that his ideals had not died with him.

King Peacecraft’s influence extended beyond his immediate family. His example demonstrated that pacifism could be more than abstract philosophy—it could be a practical basis for governance. Whilst the original Sanc Kingdom fell to violence, the ideals it represented would resurface at critical moments during AC 195, ultimately contributing to the eventual peace that followed the Eve Wars and Mariemaia Incident.

Notes

• King Peacecraft is also referred to as “Marticus Rex” in some source materials, though this name is used less frequently.
• He 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) is significant to the plot, as it meant Milliardo was old enough to remember and be affected by his parents’ deaths, whilst Relena had no memory of them.
• King Peacecraft’s pacifist ideals directly parallel those of the historical figure Heero Yuy, whose assassination in AC 175 occurred seven years before the king’s own death.

References

Main article: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

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