Quess Paraya

Quess Paraya was a thirteen-year-old Newtype pilot who served with Neo Zeon during the Second Neo Zeon War in UC 0093. Originally the daughter of Earth Federation Vice-Foreign Minister Adenauer Paraya, she defected to Char Aznable’s Neo Zeon movement after becoming infatuated with Char’s anti-Earth rhetoric and his powerful Newtype abilities.

Biography

Early life

Quess Paraya was born in UC 0080, the daughter of Adenauer Paraya, the Earth Federation’s Vice-Foreign Minister. She grew up in luxury in a mansion near Lhasa, Tibet, which housed the headquarters of the Earth Federation Forces. Despite her privileged upbringing, Quess developed a rebellious nature and had a strained relationship with her father’s mistress Katherine, whom she openly disliked.

Quess associated with a group of youths, including a woman named Christina who taught her about Newtype philosophy, focusing on the spiritual aspects of Newtype evolution rather than the “esper-like” qualities typically emphasised. Her father disapproved of these associations, viewing them as a negative influence on his daughter.

Escape from Lhasa

On 3 March UC 0093, Char Aznable’s Neo Zeon sent the asteroid Fifth Luna on a collision course with Lhasa, marking the beginning of the Second Neo Zeon War. Adenauer had local police locate and retrieve Quess from the city so they could evacuate. At the spaceport in Hong Kong, Katherine decided to remain on Earth rather than continue to endure Quess’s hostile treatment.

By chance, Adenauer encountered Mirai Noa, Cheimin Noa, and Hathaway Noa, who were attempting to travel to space. As Adenauer had commandeered three seats but Katherine was staying behind, he allowed Hathaway to board their shuttle to Side 1 as a favour to a Federation official.

Meeting Amuro Ray

En route to Side 1, their shuttle accidentally drifted into a battle between Londo Bell and Neo Zeon forces. During the battle, Quess was jolted from her seat while trying to get a better view of the combat and was caught by Hathaway. After the battle concluded, their shuttle was rescued by the Londo Bell ship Ra Cailum.

Aboard the Ra Cailum, Quess stubbornly entered a restricted area and immediately became infatuated with Amuro Ray, the legendary pilot of the original RX-78-2 Gundam. She ignored the romantic advances of Hathaway, focusing entirely on trying to understand more about Amuro and his Newtype abilities. However, when she discovered that Amuro was romantically involved with engineer Chan Agi and was subsequently rebuffed by him, Quess felt betrayed and began looking elsewhere for the father figure she desperately sought.

Defection to Neo Zeon

At Side 1’s Londenion colony, Quess spent time with both Amuro and Hathaway whilst her father conducted secret peace negotiations with Char Aznable. When Char was confronted by Amuro after the talks, Quess witnessed their argument and was deeply moved by Char’s passionate speech about how human souls were weighed down by Earth’s gravity.

Sensing her receptiveness to his philosophy, Char asked Quess to come with him—an offer she immediately accepted. Her relationship with Char eventually caused tension between Char and Nanai Miguel, who oversaw Char’s Newtype programmes and was romantically involved with him. Quess saw Char as both a romantic interest and the father figure she had been seeking, whilst also causing jealousy in Gyunei Guss, who had developed feelings for her.

Service with Neo Zeon

Recruited into Neo Zeon, Quess assumed the identity “Quess Air” and was assigned a custom MSN-03 Jagd Doga painted in red and pink livery. In her first battle, during the fake disarmament proceedings at Sweetwater, Quess inadvertently killed her own father when she destroyed the bridge of his ship with funnel attacks. Adenauer had been moments away from reaching an escape pod when the explosion occurred. It remains unclear whether Quess was aware of her father’s presence on the ship or if his death was accidental.

After demonstrating exceptional Newtype abilities in combat, Quess was assigned to pilot the massive NZ-333 α Azieru mobile armor. However, the rapid development of her powers and the psychological trauma of warfare caused her mental state to become increasingly unstable. Quess remained unaware that Char viewed her as expendable and was using her primarily for her abilities rather than any genuine affection.

The final battle

During the climactic battle at Axis, when Char attempted to drop the asteroid base onto Earth, Hathaway stole a RGM-89 Jegan and entered the battlefield hoping to reach Quess and convince her to stop fighting. By this time, Quess’s Newtype powers had spiralled out of control, and her mental state had deteriorated significantly.

Despite Hathaway’s attempts to reason with her, Quess continued attacking, unable to distinguish between friend and enemy. During the battle, Chan Agi, piloting a severely damaged RGZ-91 Re-GZ, fired a missile that destroyed the α Azieru. In her final moments, Quess pushed Hathaway to safety before taking the full force of the attack, dying as the mobile armor exploded around her.

Personality and traits

Quess was characterised by her emotional volatility, selfishness, and desperate need for attention and approval. As a privileged teenager, she was accustomed to having her demands met and believed she was entitled to anything she desired, regardless of whether it belonged to her. Her rebellious nature put her at odds with authority figures, particularly her father and his mistress.

Despite her negative traits, Quess possessed considerable intelligence and was capable of learning quickly. Her naive and love-obsessed personality made her vulnerable to manipulation by older figures like Char Aznable, whom she viewed as both a romantic interest and a father figure. She craved the attention of powerful Newtype figures, first becoming infatuated with Amuro Ray before transferring her obsession to Char.

Quess occasionally demonstrated genuine care for others’ well-being, but her emotional instability and lack of proper guidance often overwhelmed these better impulses. Her need for validation and her immature understanding of relationships made her easy prey for those who would exploit her abilities.

Skills and abilities

Quess was born as a latent Newtype, possessing extraordinary psychic abilities that were fully awakened during her time with Neo Zeon. Her Newtype powers proved to be exceptionally strong—even greater than those of Char Aznable himself. She demonstrated natural proficiency with Psycommu systems and funnel weapons, mastering their use despite having no formal mobile suit training.

Her abilities allowed her to control multiple funnels simultaneously with devastating effectiveness, and she quickly adapted to piloting both the MSN-03 Jagd Doga and the massive NZ-333 α Azieru mobile armor. However, her powers manifested too rapidly for her young mind to cope with, leading to psychological instability and an inability to properly control her natural talents.

The premature awakening of her abilities became a significant drawback, as she lacked the emotional maturity and psychological training necessary to handle such powerful Newtype capabilities safely.

Relationships

Adenauer Paraya

Quess had a complicated relationship with her father, Adenauer Paraya, the Earth Federation’s Vice-Foreign Minister. Whilst she enjoyed the privileges that came with being the daughter of a high-ranking official, she resented his authority and often clashed with him over her associations and behaviour. Their relationship was further strained by her dislike of his mistress Katherine. Tragically, Quess inadvertently killed her father during her first battle with Neo Zeon, though whether this was accidental or intentional remains unclear.

Hathaway Noa

Hathaway Noa developed strong romantic feelings for Quess after meeting her on the shuttle to Side 1. Despite his genuine affection and attempts to protect her, Quess showed little interest in him, viewing him as merely a friend. Hathaway’s unrequited love led him to pursue her even into the final battle, where he attempted unsuccessfully to convince her to abandon Neo Zeon. Quess’s death whilst saving Hathaway from Chan Agi’s attack would later drive him to form the anti-Federation terrorist group Mafty.

Amuro Ray

Quess became immediately infatuated with Amuro Ray upon meeting him aboard the Ra Cailum, drawn to his legendary status and powerful Newtype abilities. She viewed him as both a potential romantic partner and a father figure, constantly seeking his attention and approval. However, Amuro recognised the danger in her emotional instability and rejected her advances, particularly after discovering she was involved with Chan Agi. His rejection devastated Quess and contributed to her decision to join Char Aznable.

Char Aznable

Char Aznable became the focus of Quess’s obsession after her rejection by Amuro. Char deliberately manipulated her emotions and exploited her desire for a father figure, using her powerful Newtype abilities for his own purposes whilst maintaining emotional distance. Though Quess believed she had found love and acceptance with Char, he viewed her as merely a useful tool and considered her expendable. This manipulation ultimately led to her death, as Char had no genuine concern for her welfare.

Mecha

MSN-03 Jagd Doga

Upon joining Neo Zeon, Quess was assigned a custom MSN-03 Jagd Doga painted in a distinctive red and pink colour scheme. The Jagd Doga was specifically designed for Newtype pilots and featured a psycoframe cockpit for controlling six funnel weapons stored on shoulder-mounted pod shields. Unlike previous funnel-equipped mobile suits, the Jagd Doga could not recharge its funnels and had to discard them once their power was exhausted.

Quess’s custom unit was armed with a mega gatling gun rather than the beam assault rifle used by Gyunei Guss’s unit. She demonstrated exceptional skill with the mobile suit despite her lack of formal training, using its funnels to devastating effect in her first battle. The Jagd Doga served as her primary mobile suit until she was assigned to the α Azieru.

NZ-333 α Azieru

After demonstrating her exceptional Newtype abilities, Quess was assigned to pilot the NZ-333 α Azieru, one of the largest and most powerful mobile weapons ever constructed at that time. The massive mobile armor was equipped with nine large funnels, wire-guided mega arms, and a devastating mega particle cannon capable of destroying multiple mobile suits with a single shot.

The α Azieru’s cockpit was located in the head unit and featured a panoramic monitor system similar to that used by the MSN-04 Sazabi. Under Quess’s control, the mobile armor proved devastatingly effective against Londo Bell forces, though her deteriorating mental state made her increasingly erratic in combat. The α Azieru was ultimately destroyed by Chan Agi, killing Quess in the explosion.

Behind the scenes

Quess Paraya was created by director Tomino Yoshiyuki for Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack. In the original script draft, the role that Quess filled was instead occupied by Beltorchika Irma, Amuro’s partner from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. However, concerns were raised about whether it was appropriate for a robot anime to feature a married main character, leading to Beltorchika’s removal and the creation of both Quess and Chan Agi to fill different aspects of her original role.

The character was designed to represent the tragic consequences of war on children and the dangers of manipulating young Newtypes for military purposes. Tomino wanted to show how someone with extraordinary abilities could be corrupted and destroyed by the adults around them, making Quess both a victim and a tragic antagonist.

For the voice cast, director Tomino personally auditioned over 80 voice actors for the new characters in the film. Maria Kawamura was selected to voice Quess in Japanese, with Tomino providing strong acting guidance during the three-day recording session. Kawamura’s performance captured both Quess’s childish petulance and her underlying vulnerability.

In the English dub, Jocelyne Loewen provided Quess’s voice. Loewen, a Canadian voice actress born in 1976, was known for her roles in various anime series and brought a similar blend of innocence and instability to the character.

The character’s normal suit design incorporated elements of special effects heroes at Tomino’s request, giving her a distinctive appearance that stood out from standard Federation uniforms.

Appearances

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack - Beltorchika’s Children (novel and manga)
• Gundam Evolve #5
• Dynasty Warriors: Gundam series
• Super Robot Wars series
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash (mentioned)