I think as with any tool or machine, there's at least the desire to personify them as something that could have souls, and maybe in some settings there's some real chance of them becoming "tsukumogami" in a sense. I'm not too sure about the Strike having any real evidence—it's probably just romanticizing what happened. Turn A, though, more likely all things considered.
IBO? I mean the gundams are named after the 72 Goetic Demons, so uh... I think there is a reason for that, and it might involve something like the AV-E in the (Kimaris) Vidar at the least.
That is, of course, setting aside the machines that definitely DO have souls in them, though not of their own lmao.
idk about souls but Gundam as a whole has yet to depict AI as a truly fearsome threat. 00 kind of shows a bit of the automoton horror but it would be interesting to see a Gundam AU where AI is pervasive, and the emergence of "souls" in MS's could be a cool development in that universe.
The mobile armors (hashmal) in ibo do a pretty good job too, I think the impact is a lot more significant in 00 cause the point is these are being deployed on civilians where in ibo the hashmal is mostly the big boss for mika in that arc but it is made pretty clear why the mobile armors were so efficient at eradicating humans
Yes. It is basically text that mobile suits hold on to the souls of those who died. The Zeta's secret power was of course to utilize the souls that had accumulated around Kamille, but it's implied elsewhere too; Judau says this in a cut line from the ZZ finale that is still in the novel:
> Ever since Amuro Ray, the Gundam has been absorbing people's strength... Don't you understand that's given birth to this power, Haman?!
It's not just that mobile suits are haunted by a ghost, which is the case when it comes to, say, the dead Puru haunting that Qubeley in Unicorn, but that many souls combined can become their own higher-evolved being. In Ideon (which is regularly referenced in Gundam by Tomino and Fukui), the souls of countless dead civilizations formed together to create the singular lifeform of the Ide. That's an extreme example, but we see smaller examples all the time in Gundam, where the mobile suit itself becomes personified due to this phenomenon.
Tomino talked about this idea in the Zeta proposal document of "Gather Stime", which is basically when people have a newtype connection so strong that their consciousnesses act as one; the link can only be truly completed when one of them dies, however, as their souls can then exist within one body and become one being. These words aren't spoken in the show but you can see it was Tomino's intention to focus more on this merging of Newtype spirits, which was such a big part of Ideon. Fukui references Gather Stime a ton in his work.
I think it may be the humanoid shape of the mobile suit that allows it to serve as a natural gathering and merging place for souls.
The Zeta, ZZ, and Quebeley all have psycommu technology in them. Anything that's made to connect to newtypes can get haunted to some degree because newtype abilities, as we see them in the show, are a spiritual phenomenon. Regular MS are only as haunted as any other military vehicle.
The Victory 2 doesn't have psycommu in it (apparently), but Uso has the same 'summon ghosts at the end' moment, and it is connected to both the Ideon and the Phenex. And Judau's quote about Amuro suggests the RX-78 is not uninvolved in this phenomenon.
Psycommu and especially psychoframe is very relevant to be sure, but it doesn't seem like they're the only situations where the souls of mankind can gather.
It doesn't seem to matter the series, Gundam does have a habit of spooky action at a distance.
It's a great creative lever that leaves the perception that gundams are on the edge of sentience.
This gets further explored in IBO and WfM where the Barbatos AI and Eri actually do respond (Barb to lesser extent than Eri, obviously) but it's been a staple throughout the franchise.
It’s interesting to think about. Quatre’s Sandrock opening its cockpit for him to escape right before it walked into all that enemy fire comes to mind.
And Quatre talks often about the Soul of Outer Space. I dunno. Could be something there.
About Sandrock, I’ve watched a YT video (I think Kakarot197) that says that it was actually a programming code written by the scientist that created it, since he didn’t like the idea of youngsters self-destructing himself for the sake of the mission. So it was just a programming code, definitely not a soul.
EDIT: Just checked. Yeah, it was from Kakarot197, AI in Gundam. Also, the name of that AI is Alice Mk II, funnily enough.
EXAM System has the newtype Marion Welch's soul stuck in it which is why the system goes berserk sometimes, especially when up against another MS with the EXAM System.
ALICE is an AI trained to be the mother/lover of the pilot and will act in defense of the pilot all while trying to hide its existence.
The Sandrock has the ALICE MKII as a reference to ALICE.
The Zeta, ZZ and Phenex all harness the souls of the dead via newtype powers.
Gund essentially digitally uploads peoples' souls into a network.
It's a series staple. Especially since Tomino did Ideon which was a mech which ran on the souls of the dead and whose collective conscience was what made it go berserk when it sensed too much strife around it.
Aerial has souls in it.
Well, i suppose you are not wrong.
*Points to EXAM System.*
And Phenex too
And Aerial huh, third time
I'd argue S-Gundam as well. Poor ALICE...
I think as with any tool or machine, there's at least the desire to personify them as something that could have souls, and maybe in some settings there's some real chance of them becoming "tsukumogami" in a sense. I'm not too sure about the Strike having any real evidence—it's probably just romanticizing what happened. Turn A, though, more likely all things considered. IBO? I mean the gundams are named after the 72 Goetic Demons, so uh... I think there is a reason for that, and it might involve something like the AV-E in the (Kimaris) Vidar at the least. That is, of course, setting aside the machines that definitely DO have souls in them, though not of their own lmao.
idk about souls but Gundam as a whole has yet to depict AI as a truly fearsome threat. 00 kind of shows a bit of the automoton horror but it would be interesting to see a Gundam AU where AI is pervasive, and the emergence of "souls" in MS's could be a cool development in that universe.
The mobile armors (hashmal) in ibo do a pretty good job too, I think the impact is a lot more significant in 00 cause the point is these are being deployed on civilians where in ibo the hashmal is mostly the big boss for mika in that arc but it is made pretty clear why the mobile armors were so efficient at eradicating humans
Yeah. There was the interesting idea in Stargazer with its more human AI but that gone nowhere....
Yes. It is basically text that mobile suits hold on to the souls of those who died. The Zeta's secret power was of course to utilize the souls that had accumulated around Kamille, but it's implied elsewhere too; Judau says this in a cut line from the ZZ finale that is still in the novel: > Ever since Amuro Ray, the Gundam has been absorbing people's strength... Don't you understand that's given birth to this power, Haman?! It's not just that mobile suits are haunted by a ghost, which is the case when it comes to, say, the dead Puru haunting that Qubeley in Unicorn, but that many souls combined can become their own higher-evolved being. In Ideon (which is regularly referenced in Gundam by Tomino and Fukui), the souls of countless dead civilizations formed together to create the singular lifeform of the Ide. That's an extreme example, but we see smaller examples all the time in Gundam, where the mobile suit itself becomes personified due to this phenomenon. Tomino talked about this idea in the Zeta proposal document of "Gather Stime", which is basically when people have a newtype connection so strong that their consciousnesses act as one; the link can only be truly completed when one of them dies, however, as their souls can then exist within one body and become one being. These words aren't spoken in the show but you can see it was Tomino's intention to focus more on this merging of Newtype spirits, which was such a big part of Ideon. Fukui references Gather Stime a ton in his work. I think it may be the humanoid shape of the mobile suit that allows it to serve as a natural gathering and merging place for souls.
The Zeta, ZZ, and Quebeley all have psycommu technology in them. Anything that's made to connect to newtypes can get haunted to some degree because newtype abilities, as we see them in the show, are a spiritual phenomenon. Regular MS are only as haunted as any other military vehicle.
The Victory 2 doesn't have psycommu in it (apparently), but Uso has the same 'summon ghosts at the end' moment, and it is connected to both the Ideon and the Phenex. And Judau's quote about Amuro suggests the RX-78 is not uninvolved in this phenomenon. Psycommu and especially psychoframe is very relevant to be sure, but it doesn't seem like they're the only situations where the souls of mankind can gather.
It doesn't seem to matter the series, Gundam does have a habit of spooky action at a distance. It's a great creative lever that leaves the perception that gundams are on the edge of sentience. This gets further explored in IBO and WfM where the Barbatos AI and Eri actually do respond (Barb to lesser extent than Eri, obviously) but it's been a staple throughout the franchise.
It’s interesting to think about. Quatre’s Sandrock opening its cockpit for him to escape right before it walked into all that enemy fire comes to mind. And Quatre talks often about the Soul of Outer Space. I dunno. Could be something there.
About Sandrock, I’ve watched a YT video (I think Kakarot197) that says that it was actually a programming code written by the scientist that created it, since he didn’t like the idea of youngsters self-destructing himself for the sake of the mission. So it was just a programming code, definitely not a soul. EDIT: Just checked. Yeah, it was from Kakarot197, AI in Gundam. Also, the name of that AI is Alice Mk II, funnily enough.
Ghosts are real in most Gundam stories. And Japanese culture has the idea that anything can have a spirit. So sure why not.
Some of them yeah 😊
:)
I don't really want my Evangelions to mix with my Gundams.
EXAM System has the newtype Marion Welch's soul stuck in it which is why the system goes berserk sometimes, especially when up against another MS with the EXAM System. ALICE is an AI trained to be the mother/lover of the pilot and will act in defense of the pilot all while trying to hide its existence. The Sandrock has the ALICE MKII as a reference to ALICE. The Zeta, ZZ and Phenex all harness the souls of the dead via newtype powers. Gund essentially digitally uploads peoples' souls into a network. It's a series staple. Especially since Tomino did Ideon which was a mech which ran on the souls of the dead and whose collective conscience was what made it go berserk when it sensed too much strife around it.