Universal Century (UC) is the timeline of the original Gundam anime series. It starts with the migration of humanity to populate space, after construction of the first space colony at Side 1 was completed. By far the most proliferative background universe, Universal Century makes up the dominating majority of the entire franchise.
Many new Gundam stories are told in their own parallel universe with independent timelines, giving them a greater degree of creative freedom. Despite its age, the UC storyline continues to be extremely popular for a variety of reasons. It established the franchise, and delivered many of its best moments. Nostalgia for the oldest of the Gundam shows and Gundam’s resulting status as a pop-culture icon in Japan are major factors in the continuing success of the series.[1]
Timeline
Main article: Universal Century timeline
Although there are many series in the Universal Century timeline, these can generally be grouped under several main series, usually based on the events and the characters in the series. For example, Mobile Suit Gundam revolves around the crew of White Base during the One Year War. The Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin series is about the events before the War.
| Series | Year |
|---|---|
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Origin | UC 0068 to UC 0079 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO | UC 0079 January |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket | UC 0079 December to UC 0080 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt | UC 0079 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s | UC 0079 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory | UC 0083 |
| Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam | UC 0087 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ | UC 0088 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack | UC 0093 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn | UC 0096 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Twilight AXIS | UC 0096 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative | UC 0097 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash | UC 0105 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam F91 | UC 0123 |
| Mobile Suit Victory Gundam | UC 0153 |
| G-Saviour | UC 0223 |
Mecha
Main article: Universal Century mecha
The mecha designs in the Universal Century timeline has become icons of the Gundam series, with the RX-78-2 Gundam being two of the most recognisable mobile suits. Alternate universes regularly make tributes to or are inspired by the mobile weapons in the Universal Century. The trademark red, blue, yellow and white colour scheme of the RX-78-2 Gundam is often used by the main mobile suit of other series.
As the Universal Century is the most expansive universe, it depicts the gradual adoption of prototype technology into mass produced models. Mass production mobile suits in the later years easily surpasses early prototype models in performance. The use of psycommu systems featured prominently in experimental models. These were designed specially for Newtype characters.
Series & films
Main article: Gundam series and films
List of Universal Century Gundam animated series and movies and live-action films in the order of their release:
Manga
Main article: Gundam manga
List of Universal Century Gundam manga in alphabetical order:
| Title | Author(s) | Illustrator | Release Date(s) |
| Advance Of Zeta: The Flag of Titans | Bin Konno | Tatsu Mizuki | 2003-Present |
| Artificial Newtypes Story: Another Zeta Gundam Story | Kaoru Morishita | – | 1991 – 1992 |
| Artificial Newtypes Story: Mad Wang 1160 | Kaoru Morishita | – | 1994 – 1995 |
| Developers: Mobile Suit Gundam Before One Year War | Hosui Yamazak | – | 2002 – 2003 |
| Go! Go! Our V Gundam | Tsukasa Kotobuki | – | 1992 – 1994 |
| G-Saviour | Takuto | – | 1993 |
| Gundam Sentinel: The Day Before | Katoki Hajime | – | 1989 |
| Jupiter Mirage | Hitoshi Niki, Makoto Kobayashi, Masato Tanaka | – | 1989 |
| Magical Ensign Blaster Mari | Kei ikeda | – | 1989 – 1990 |
| Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam | Yoshiyuki Tomino | Yuichi Hasegawa | 1994 – 1997 |
| Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam Side Story: Skull Heart | Yuichi Hasegawa | – | 2003 – 2004 |
| Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam: The Seven of Steel | Yuichi Hasegawa | – | 2006-Present |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 | Kazuhisa Kondo | – | 1993 – 2005 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket | Shigeto Ikehara | – | 1989 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 Visual Comic | – | – | 1989 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Hero of Stardust | Masafumi Matsuura | – | 2000 – 2001 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory | Mitsuru Kadoya | – | 1992 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0084: Psi-trailing | Kenji Mizuhara | – | 1993 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam | Yu Okazaki | – | 1979 – 1982 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Almarya | Yuji Ushida | – | 1989 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack | Toshiya Murakami | – | 1987 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack | Koichi Tokita | – | 1998 – 1999 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Deleted Affair: Portrait Of Young Comet | Hiroyuki Kitazume | – | 2001-Present |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Ecole du Ciel | Haruhiko Mikimoto | – | 2002-Present |
| Mobile Suit Gundam F90 | Hiroshi Yamaguchi | Rei Nakahara | 1990 – 1991 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam F90 | Masahiro Kanda | – | 1990 – 1991 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam F91 | Daisuke Inoue | – | 1991 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam F91: Formula Report 0122 | Toshiya Iwamura | – | 1991 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam F91: Formula Report 0122 | Daisuke Inoue | – | 1991 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Lost War Chronicles | Masato Natsumot | – | 2002 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Moon Crisis | Masafumi Matsuura | – | 1993 – 1994 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: MS Generation | Rei Nakahara | – | 1989 – 1990 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO | MEIMU | – | 2005-Present |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Record of MS Wars | Masaya Takahashi | Kazuhisa Kondo | 1984 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam REON | Masafumi Matsuura | – | 1994 – 1995 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story 0079 (Vol. EFSF) | Tomohiro Chiba | Hideyuki Matsurioka | 1999 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story 0079 (Vol. Zeon) | Tomohiro Chiba | Tomotake Kinoshita | 2000 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Space, To the End of a Flash | Tomohiro Chiba | Masahito Natsumoto | 2003 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Silhouette Formula 91 | Hiroshi Yasuda | – | 1992 – 1995 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Silhouette Formula 91 in U.C. 0123 (Vol. Cluster Gundam) | Toshiya Iwamura | – | 1993 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny | Mizuho Takayama | – | 1997 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | – | 2001 – 2011 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: The Revival of Zeon | Kazuhisa Kondo | – | 1988 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ | Toshiya Murakami | – | 1986 – 1987 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ: Seaside Panic | Kenji Mizuhara | – | 1993 |
| Mobile Suit Variations: Ace Pilot Story | Masahiro Oda | Ken-ichi Ishibashi | 1984 |
| Mobile Suit Victory Gundam | Toshiya Iwamura | – | 1993 – 1994 |
| Mobile Suit Victory Gundam Side Story | Yuichi Hasegawa | – | 1993 |
| Mobile Suit Vor!! | Kazuhisa Kondo | – | 1988 – 1989 |
| Mobile Suit Vs. Giant God of Legend: Gigantis’ Counterattack (Gundam vs Ideon) | Yuichi Hasegawa | – | 1990 |
| Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam | Kazuhisa Kondo | – | 1985 – 1986 |
| Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam A New Translation: Heirs to the Stars | Hisao Tamaki | – | 2005 |
| Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam A New Translation II: Lovers | Kotoni Shiraishi | – | 2005 – 2006 |
| Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: Day After Tomorrow – From Kai Shiden’s Report | Tsukasa Kotobuki | – | 2005-Present |
| Night=Hawks! | Ayumi Konomichi | – | 1990 – 1991 |
| Operation Buran | Kazuhisa Kondo | – | 1990 |
| Outer Gundam | Masafumi Matsuura | – | 1990 – 1992 |
| Program Master | Masafumi Matsuura | – | 1989 |
| Record of MS Wars II | Kazuhisa Kondo | – | 1988 – 1994 |
| Stampede: The Story of Professor Minovsky | Masaya Takahashi | Hajime Oki | 1988 |
| Under the Gundam: Double-Fake | Yuji Ushida | – | 1989 |
| War in the Pocket | Kenji Mizuhara | – | 1994 |
| Zeta Gundam: Side Story | Kazuhisa Kondo | – | 1987 |
Novels
Main article: Gundam novels
List of Universal Century Gundam novels in order of release:
| Title | Published date |
|---|---|
| Mobile Suit Gundam Kidou Senshi Gundam | 1979-1980 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Kidou Senshi Gundam | 1980 |
| Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam | 1985-1986 |
| Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: Four Story – And to a soldier… Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam: Four Story – Soshite Senshi ni… | 1986 |
| Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: Four Story – And to a soldier… Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam: Four Story – Soshite Senshi ni… | 1986 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ Kidou Senshi Gundam ZZ | 1986-1987 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Hi Streamer Kidou Senshi Gundam: Hi Streamer | 1987-1988 |
| Gaia Gear | 1987-1989 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack – Beltorchika’s Children Kidou Senshi Gundam: Gyakushu no Char – Beltorchika’s Children | 1988 |
| Gundam Sentinel Gundam Sentinel: Alice no Zange | 1988-1990 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket Kidou Senshi Gundam 0080: Pocket no Naka no Sensou | 1989 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket Kidou Senshi Gundam 0080: Pocket no Naka no Sensou | 1989 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash Kidou Senshi Gundam: Senkou no Hathaway | 1989 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam F91 Kidou Senshi Gundam F91 | 1991 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory Kidou Senshi Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory | 1992 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory Kidou Senshi Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory | 1992 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Silhouette Formula 91 Kidou Senshi Gundam Silhouette Formula 91 | 1992-1993 |
| Mobile Suit Victory Gundam Kidou Senshi V Gundam | 1993-1994 |
| Look for Avenir Avenir wo Sagasite | 1995 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Secret Rendezvous Kidou Senshi Gundam: Mikkai – Amuro to Lalah | 1997 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny Kidou Senshi Gundam Gaiden: The Blue Destiny | 1997 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny Kidou Senshi Gundam Gaiden: The Blue Destiny | 1997 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story 0079 (Vol. EFSF) Kidou Senshi Gundam Gaiden: Colony no Ochita Chi de… (Renpou Hen) | 1999 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team Kidou Senshi Gundam: Dai 08 MS Shoutai | 1999 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team Kidou Senshi Gundam: Dai 08 MS Shoutai | 1999 |
| For the Barrel | 2000 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story 0079 (Vol. Zeon) Kidou Senshi Gundam Gaiden: Colony no Ochita Chi de… (Zeon Hen) | 2000 |
| G-Saviour | 2000-2001 |
| Zeonic Front: Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 Zeonic Front: Kidou Senshi Gundam 0079 | 2001 |
| Zeonic Front: Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 Zeonic Front: Kidou Senshi Gundam 0079 | 2001 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Lost War Chronicles Kidou Senshi Gundam Senki: Last War Chronicles | 2002 |
| Advance Of Zeta: The Flag Of Titans Advanced of Z: Titans no Hata no Moto ni | 2002 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Ecole du Ciel Kidou Senshi Gundam Ecole du Ciel: Tenku no Gakko | 2002 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Lost War Chronicles Kidou Senshi Gundam Senki: Last War Chronicles | 2002 |
| Advance Of Zeta: The Flag Of Titans Advanced of Z: Titans no Hata no Moto ni | 2002 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Ecole du Ciel Kidou Senshi Gundam Ecole du Ciel: Tenku no Gakko | 2002 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Space, To the End of a Flash Kidou Senshi Gundam: Utyu, Senkou no Hate ni | 2003 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Space, To the End of a Flash Kidou Senshi Gundam: Utyu, Senkou no Hate ni | 2003 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO Kidou Senshi Gundam MS IGLOO: Ichinen Sensou Hiroku | 2005 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO Kidou Senshi Gundam MS IGLOO: Ichinen Sensou Hiroku | 2005 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn Kidou Senshi Gundam Yunikon | 2007 |
Original design series
Due to the sheer popularity of the Gundam franchise, especially the mobile suit design, several original design series were published. These series are drawings and precise specifications for additional mobile suit units not found in the original animated material.
- Mobile Suit Variations (1983) – also known as MSV, the variations from the One Year War, considered to be official and canonical
- Mobile Suit X (1984) – also known as MSX, new models for a proposed but never produced new animation series, considered to be official and canonical
- Z-MSV – variations from the Zeta Gundam series
- ZZ-MSV – variations from the Gundam ZZ series
- CCA-MSV – variations from the Char’s Counterattack movie
- Kunio Okawara’s MS Collection (M-MSV) – Kunio Okawara’s personal reinterpretations
- F91-MSV – variations from the F91 movie
- V-MSV – variations from the Victory Gundam series
Video games
Main article: Gundam video games
Arcade
- Mobile Suit Gundam
- Mobile Suit Gundam: EX Revue
- Mobile Suit Gundam: the Card Builder
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Spirits of Zeon Dual Stars of Carnage
- Mobile Suit Gundam vs Series
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs Zeon
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs Zeon DX
- Mobile Suit Z Gundam: AEUG vs Titans
- Mobile Suit Z Gundam: AEUG vs Titans DX
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs Gundam
- Quiz Mobile Suit Gundam: Monsenshi
Microsoft Windows
- Universal Century Gundam Online
- Mobile Suit Gundam Network Battle
- Mobile Suit Gundam
Nintendo Entertainment System
- Mobile Suit Z-Gundam: Hot Scramble
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Cross Dimension 0079
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: Away to the Newtype
- Mobile Suit Gundam F91: Formula Wars 0122
- Mobile Suit Victory Gundam
Nintendo GameCube
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs Zeta Gundam
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Ace Pilot
Nintendo Wii
- Mobile Suit Gundam: MS Sensen 0079
Sony PlayStation
- Mobile Suit Gundam
- Mobile Suit Gundam v2.0
- Gundam Battle Assault
- Gundam Battle Assault 2
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren’s Greed, Blood of Zeon
Sony PlayStation 2
- G-Saviour
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs Zeon
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Lost War Chronicles
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The One Year War
- Mobile Suit Gundam Z: AEUG vs Titans
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs Zeta Gundam
- Gundam: Battle Assault 3 featuring Gundam SEED
- MS Saga: A New Dawn
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Climax UC
- Dynasty Warriors: Gundam
- Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2
Sony PlayStation 3
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire
- Dynasty Warriors: Gundam
- Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2
- Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3
- Mobile Suit Gundam Battlefield Record UC 0081
Sony PlayStation Portable
- Gundam Battle (series)
- Gundam Battle Tactics
- Gundam Battle Royale
- Gundam Battle Chronicle
- Gundam Battle Universe
- Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna
Sega Saturn
- Mobile Suit Gundam
- Mobile Suit Z Gundam: Kouhen
- Mobile Suit Z Gundam: Zenpen
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren’s Greed
- Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny Vol. 1
- Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny Vol. 2
- Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny Vol. 3
Dreamcast
- Gundam Battle Online
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs Zeon DX
- Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise From the Ashes
- Mobile Suit Gundam Gihren’s Greed – Blood of Zeon
Xbox 360
- Mobile Ops: The One Year War
- Dynasty Warriors: Gundam
- Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2
- Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3
References
- 機動戦士ガンダムは、同じくバンダイグループの（株）サンライズが制作し、1979年4月～1980年1月にテレビシリーズ第１作が放映されて以来、テレビシリーズ8作品、劇場用映画9作品などが公開され、20年以上にわたり人気を保っています。米国をはじめ、ヨーロッパ、アジアでも作品が放映され、各地で高い人気を得ています。 ↩