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RMS-108 Marasai

Mass production general purpose mobile suit developed by Anaheim Electronics.
Jenxi Seow Published 20 Jun 2025 Updated 20 Jun 2025
RMS-108 Marasai

The RMS-108 Marasai was a mass production general purpose mobile suit developed by Anaheim Electronics for the Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG) and later used by the Titans. It was one of the earliest second-generation mobile suits ever created.

The “R” in the model code meant it was a Federation model1 and the “MS” designated it as a mobile suit. The “108” in the model code denoted that it was the eighth machine developed at the Granada base. The Marasai was originally designated as the “MSA-002” when developed for the AEUG.

History

During the Anti-Earth Union Group’s uprising against the Earth Federation Forces’ corrupt Titans force, civilian contractor Anaheim Electronics found itself caught in the middle, despite the fact that the company was a secret AEUG supporter. One of the mobile suit designs developed by Anaheim for the AEUG was the RMS-108 Marasai, which followed the EFF’s successful RMS-106 Hi-Zack and RX-107 Rozet units.

The Marasai was originally developed by Anaheim Electronics for the AEUG as the “MSA-002”. However, Anaheim soon came under the scrutiny of the Titans, and provided the Marasai design to the Titans in a gesture of goodwill to keep the Titans from taking action against them for their support of the AEUG. It was formally adopted and put into mass production as the “RMS-108”.

The Marasai saw heavy mass production during the Gryps War, where it served as one of the primary mobile suits for the Titans. Many Earth Federation and Titans pilots used the Marasai following its introduction, most famously Kamille Bidan’s rival, Jerid Messa. Other notable pilots included Kacricon Cacooler, Sarah Zabiarov, Siddeley, Jonathan, Ewen Bader, Hewitt Reines, Ernest McGuire, Yahagi Franziback, Shelly Page (aka Olga Timoshenko), and Kamuna Tachibana.

The Marasai was also used by Neo Zeon during the First Neo Zeon War in UC 0088, and later on by Zeon remnants in an attack on Australia’s Torrington Base in UC 0096.

Design

The Marasai was based on and developed as an all-around improvement of the RMS-106 Hi-Zack. Designed around principles utilised by the Principality of Zeon, the Marasai featured several characteristics of the Zaku Series, including external power pipes around the head and torso, and a mono-eye sensor.

The Marasai featured several new technologies pioneered by the Earth Federation, including a movable frame and Gundarium alloy, which greatly improved its overall defence, manoeuvrability, and sensor range. The Marasai also featured a new large backpack with high-power thrusters, granting it increased acceleration, as well as atmospheric flight under gravity for a short period of time.

Alongside its technological improvements, the Marasai was also several tonnes lighter than the Hi-Zack when measuring its empty weight. The mobile suit had a standard cockpit in its torso with a panoramic monitor and linear seat. The Marasai mounted the latest Gundarium armor and was equipped with a higher output generator than the Hi-Zack, making it capable of using beam weapons and slightly better in terms of speed and manoeuvrability.

The Marasai, like its Hi-Zack predecessor, was easy to pilot and maintain. The Marasai did not have as large a weapon selection as the Hi-Zack however, because the Hi-Zack was often equipped with older weapons used by Zakus, such as machine guns and heat hawks, while the Marasai used only advanced beam weapons.

Armaments

The Marasai’s standard weapons were a beam rifle for ranged attacks, two beam sabers for melee combat, and two head-mounted vulcan guns for point defence.

Beam rifle

The Marasai’s primary ranged weapon was a beam rifle powered by rechargeable energy cap and capable of firing concentrated mega particles. The beam rifle was powered by a rechargeable energy cap system and had a power rating of 2.2 MW. A shot could damage most armor not treated to resist beam attacks.

The beam rifle drew its rounds from energy capacitors (E-caps), clips of charged Minovsky particles. Minovsky particles broke down matter at a molecular level, allowing the beam rifle bolts to penetrate even the thickest armor. This meant that a single shot could destroy a mobile suit.

Beam sabers

The Marasai carried two beam sabers for melee combat, stored in recharge racks in the right shoulder shield. The beam sabers had longer handles compared to standard Federation beam sabers and were hand-carried in use.

The beam sabers used an I-field to contain Minovsky particles within the shape of a blade. Minovsky particles broke down matter at a molecular level. This meant that the beam saber could cut through almost any material. Each beam saber had a power rating of 0.4 MW.

Minovsky particles were channelled into the saber through an E-cap attached to its hilt. The E-cap recharged with Minovsky particles from the mobile suit’s reactor when the saber was stored in the recharge dock.

Vulcan guns

A pair of vulcan guns were mounted on the Marasai’s head. These shell-firing weapons had a high rate of fire but little power and were generally ineffective against mobile suits, though they could damage lightly armored areas such as the sensors. They were ideal for shooting down small, lightly armored targets such as missiles, small vehicles, and aircraft.

Shield

The shield was a thick sheet of armor designed to take severe punishment that would normally destroy a mobile suit. The Marasai’s shield was mounted on the left forearm and was treated with an anti-beam coating to withstand several beam shots before the coating wore off. The shield also served as storage for the beam sabers when not in use.

The shield also featured a spiked pauldron design that could potentially be used as an offensive weapon in close combat situations, though its primary function remained defensive.

Known pilots

Variants

  • RMS-108M Assault Marasai

Behind the scenes

The original mechanical designers were Makoto Kobayashi (principal design, Zeta Gundam version) and Kazumi Fujita (cleanup, Zeta Gundam version).

The Marasai’s performance was equal to that of the MSA-003 Nemo and rivaled the RMS-099 Rick Dias. These factors led to the Marasai becoming one of the most successful mobile suits of the Gryps Conflict.

Appearances

See also

Footnotes

  1. Federation in Japanese is renpou, hence the use of “R”. ↩