Mashymre Cello

Mashymre Cello was a Neo Zeon officer known for his intense devotion to Haman Karn during the First Neo Zeon War. He served as captain of the Endra-class cruiser Endra and commanded numerous mobile suit operations against the AEUG.

Biography

Early service with Neo Zeon

Mashymre first met Haman Karn when she challenged and defeated him in a mobile suit simulation battle that he had been on a winning streak before. This encounter left a profound impression on him, beginning his obsessive devotion to her. When Haman was chosen as Mineva Lao Zabi’s regent following the battle with Earth Federation forces attacking Axis in UC 0080, Mashymre was present at the private ceremony. During the public parade on the asteroid Moussa, Mashymre ran after Haman’s car and gave her a rose, an act that would define his character for years to come.

Command of the Endra

In UC 0088, Mashymre was assigned as captain of the Neo Zeon Endra-class vessel Endra. He was always seen wearing a garnished rose that Haman Karn had given to him, which he had preserved through special procedures to prevent it from withering. As an optimistic young officer, he often found himself in comical situations among his own crew, but his dedication to Haman never wavered.

Mashymre led numerous operations against the AEUG forces aboard the Argama. However, after a series of defeats at the hands of Judau Ashta and his crew, control of the Endra was handed over to Chara Soon. This demotion marked a significant turning point in Mashymre’s military career.

Dublin Colony Drop

During Neo Zeon’s invasion of Earth, Mashymre was responsible for the Dublin Colony Drop, a devastating operation that demonstrated how far he had fallen from his earlier idealistic concepts. By this point, he had largely abandoned his pacifistic views, with other characters suggesting this change may have resulted from psychological conditioning and attempts to turn him into a Cyber Newtype. He had adapted a colder, more ruthless outlook towards battle whilst maintaining his unwavering loyalty to Haman.

Battle of Axis and death

Mashymre fought for Haman at the Battle of Axis against the rebel forces of Glemy Toto. Piloting his AMX-011S Zaku III Custom, he engaged Ple Two’s NZ-000 Queen Mansa and nearly scored a hit with his beam saber before being intercepted by a group of AMX-014 Döven Wolf units led by ace pilot Rakan Dahkaran.

In the ensuing battle, the more advanced Döven Wolfs trapped Mashymre’s Zaku III Custom. Facing overwhelming odds, Mashymre displayed an impressive amount of Newtype powers and detonated his mobile suit whilst shouting “LONG LIVE LADY HAMAN!” as his final words. His sacrifice destroyed one Döven Wolf and severely damaged the others. Many were impressed by this display of power, including his beloved leader Haman Karn. Despite this, Haman coldly commented that all it really meant was that the number of resources available to her had decreased by one, showing her complete lack of genuine care for his devotion.

Personality and traits

Mashymre was characterised by his intense, almost obsessive devotion to Haman Karn. He possessed a chivalrous nature and romantic idealism, often adhering to an outdated code of honour that sometimes compromised his tactical effectiveness. His narcissistic tendencies occasionally interfered with his battle performance, as he was more concerned with presenting himself as a noble knight than achieving purely practical military objectives.

Initially optimistic and somewhat naive, Mashymre served as comic relief among his crew through various mishaps and overly dramatic gestures. However, his experiences during the war, combined with possible psychological conditioning to enhance his Newtype abilities, gradually transformed him into a colder, more calculating officer whilst preserving his fundamental loyalty to Haman.

His most distinctive feature was the preserved rose he always wore, a gift from Haman that symbolised his devotion. This rose underwent special preservation procedures to prevent it from withering, demonstrating the depth of his obsession.

Skills and abilities

Mashymre possessed considerable mobile suit piloting skills and demonstrated competent leadership abilities as captain of the Endra. His tactical acumen was somewhat compromised by his romantic idealism and tendency towards theatrical gestures, but he proved capable of conducting complex military operations.

As the war progressed, Mashymre developed Cyber Newtype abilities, possibly through psychological conditioning or artificial enhancement. These abilities manifested most dramatically during his final battle, where he displayed impressive Newtype powers that allowed him to resist the overwhelming firepower of multiple Döven Wolf units and mount a devastating counterattack.

His Newtype abilities included enhanced spatial awareness, improved reaction times in mobile suit combat, and the capacity to sense enemy intentions. However, the artificial nature of these enhancements may have contributed to his psychological deterioration over the course of the war.

Relationships

Haman Karn

Mashymre’s relationship with Haman Karn was entirely one-sided, characterised by his obsessive devotion and her complete indifference to his feelings. Their first meeting, when she defeated him in a mobile suit simulation, established the dynamic that would define their relationship. Mashymre’s gift of a rose during her public parade and her subsequent gift of a preserved rose to him represented the extent of their personal interaction.

Haman viewed Mashymre purely as a military resource, appreciating his loyalty and skill whilst remaining completely unmoved by his sacrifice. Her cold dismissal of his death as merely reducing her available resources by one demonstrated the tragic futility of his devotion.

Chara Soon

Chara Soon replaced Mashymre as captain of the Endra following his series of defeats against the AEUG. Their relationship was professional but tense, with Chara’s erratic personality contrasting sharply with Mashymre’s romantic idealism. Both served under Haman, but their different approaches to leadership and combat created friction within Neo Zeon’s command structure.

Glemy Toto

Mashymre viewed Glemy Toto as a traitor to the Zeon cause and to Haman personally. During the Neo Zeon civil war, he fought fiercely against Glemy’s rebel forces, seeing the conflict as a test of his loyalty to Haman. His final battle was directly against Glemy’s faction, making his death a symbol of his unwavering allegiance.

Illia Pazom

Illia Pazom served alongside Mashymre as one of Axis Zeon’s young officers. They shared a professional relationship within Neo Zeon’s military hierarchy, though their individual personalities and approaches to duty differed significantly.

Mecha

AMX-011S Zaku III Custom

Mashymre’s signature mobile suit was the AMX-011S Zaku III Custom, which he piloted during the final phase of the First Neo Zeon War. Despite being referred to as a custom unit, it was essentially the basic AMX-011 Zaku III equipped with various optional equipment selected by Mashymre himself.

His customised unit featured heavier and more stylised armor, a new head mounting a pair of vulcan guns instead of the standard head beam cannon, optional left shoulder armor with a hide bomb dispenser, a large backpack with powerful thrusters and ejectable external propellant tanks, and an enormous rear skirt armor plate. These modifications reflected both practical combat requirements and Mashymre’s preference for dramatic visual impact.

During the Battle of Axis, Mashymre used this mobile suit to engage Ple Two’s Queen Mansa and later fought against Rakan Dahkaran’s Döven Wolf team. The superior performance of the enemy units forced him to rely on his Newtype abilities and ultimately sacrifice both himself and his machine.

Full mecha list

• AMX-101 Galluss-J – Early mobile suit used during initial AEUG encounters
• AMX-103 Hamma Hamma – Heavy assault mobile suit
• Geze – Reconnaissance mobile suit
• AMX-011S Zaku III Custom – Final mobile suit, heavily customised
• AMX-102 Zssa – Multi-role mobile suit
• MS-14J ReGelgu – High-performance mobile suit

Behind the scenes

Mashymre Cello was voiced by Kenyu Horiuchi in the original Japanese version of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ. In the English dub, he was voiced by Russell Wait. Horiuchi reprised the role in subsequent video game appearances and Super Robot Wars titles.

The character serves as both comic relief and a tragic figure, representing the dangers of blind devotion and the corrupting influence of war. His transformation from an idealistic young officer to a cold, calculating soldier reflects broader themes in the Universal Century timeline about the psychological costs of conflict.

Patrick Colasour from Mobile Suit Gundam 00 can be considered a reference to Mashymre, as both characters serve as comic relief whilst also functioning as competent pilots within their respective factions. Both are also obsessively devoted to their female superior officers.

In Super Robot Wars X, Mashymre appears as a character who has been driven mad and brainwashed through his artificial Newtype powers. If certain requirements are met by the player, he can return to normal and join the protagonist crew, retaining his Cyber Newtype abilities whilst regaining his sanity. Humorously, in this scenario he becomes a rival of Kamille Bidan’s for Fa Yuiry’s affection.

Appearances

• Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Deleted Affair: Portrait of Young Comet
• Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ Side Story: Mirage of Zeon
• Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Define
• Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 Card Builder
• Super Robot Wars X
• Mobile Suit Gundam UC Engage