RX-0 Unicorn Gundam (anime)

Model number: RX-0
Code name: Unicorn Gundam
Unit type: prototype full psychoframe mobile suit
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics
Operator(s): Vist Foundation; Londo Bell
First deployment: 7 April UC 0096
Accommodation: pilot only, in panoramic monitor/linear seat cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 19.7 meters (21.7 meters in Destroy mode)
Weight: empty 23.7 metric tons; max gross 42.7 metric tons
Armor materials: Gundarium alloy
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 3,480 kW ~ unknown (Destroy mode)
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: 142,600 kg total ~ unknown (Destroy mode)
Performance: unknown
Equipment and design features: sensors, range 22,000 meters ~ unknown (Destroy mode); full psychoframe; NT-D (Newtype Destroyer) System; intention automatic system; La+ Program
Fixed armaments: 2 x 60mm vulcan gun, mounted in head; 2 x beam saber, can function as tonfas, stored in recharge racks in forearms, hand-carried in use; 2 x beam saber, accessible only in Destroy mode, stored in recharge racks on backpack, hand-carried in use
Optional fixed armaments: see RX-0 Full Armor Unicorn Gundam; RX-0 Full Armor Unicorn Gundam Plan B
Optional hand armaments: beam magnum; hyper bazooka; 2 x beam Gatling gun; shield, features I-field generator, mounted on left forearm

Psychoframe technology made its dramatic debut in UC 0093 when Amuro Ray’s RX-93 v Gundam was able to convert human will into psychoframe energy to push the asteroid fortress Axis away from its collision course with Earth. The miraculous event was dubbed the Axis Shock, and Anaheim Electronics continued development of the mysterious psychoframe under the auspices of the secret UC Project to reorganize the Earth Federation Forces. The v Gundam and MSN-04 Sazabi only featured the psychoframe around their cockpits, and Anaheim created the MSN-06S Sinanju Stein to serve as a testbed for the implementation of a full psychoframe in the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam. The full psychoframe allowed for dramatically increased response time. Two unique elements lay at the heart of the Unicorn Gundam: the La+ Program and the NT-D (Newtype Destroyer) System. The La+ Program offered a path to unlocking the secret of Laplace’s Box that the Vist Foundation had guarded since the start of the Universal Century.

The NT-D System fulfilled the Unicorn Gundam’s role as a Newtype hunter. In normal operation, known as the Unicorn mode, the suit was armed with vulcan guns, beam sabers, a shield with a built-in I-field generator and the beam magnum, a weapon with much higher offensive power than a standard beam rifle. Its head featured a visor instead of human-shaped eyes, as well as an antenna that resembled a unicorn’s horn. However, the Destroy mode was activated when the presence of a Newtype was detected. The suit transformed and exposed the psychoframe, which could glow red or green. The head transformed to reveal a traditional Gundam face and V-fin. Two additional beam sabers became available after the backpack transformed. The cockpit’s linear seat also transformed around the pilot. The transformation to Destroy mode was automatic, and the suit was capable of moving without any physical input from the pilot. In Destroy mode, the Unicorn Gundam was capable of seizing control of enemy psycommu weapons. For the safety of the pilot, the Destroy mode could only be active for a few minutes. Additionally, the specialized pilot suit administered a drug to help blood circulation after the pilot experienced high G forces.

In April UC 0096, the Unicorn Gundam was undergoing testing at Industrial 7 when the colony was attacked by Neo Zeon following failed negotiations with the Vist Foundation over the Box. Civilian student Banagher Links was caught up in the conflict and is biometrically tagged as the Unicorn Gundam’s pilot as the dying act of his father, Cardeas Vist. After an initial battle with Neo Zeon, Banagher was picked up by the Londo Bell ship Nahel Argama. The hunt for the Box began as the La+ Program revealed coordinates to locations tied to UC history. The first stop was the ruins of the Laplace space colony, which was destroyed on the eve of the calendar switch from AD to UC. After descending to Earth, Banagher traveled to Australia’s Torrington Base, the starting point for UC 0083’s Operation Stardust. Upon his return to space, Banagher exhibited awakened Newtype powers and could not only control the activation of the NT-D System, but changed its psychoframe color from red to green. In the final stage of the conflict, Banagher was joined by Riddhe Marcenas’ RX-0[N] Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee Norn in a fight against Neo Zeon leader Full Frontal’s mobile armor NZ-999 Neo Zeong. The two Gundams then pushed their psycho fields to the limit to protect Industrial 7 from an attack by the Gryps 2 colony laser. With the colony saved, Zeon princess Mineva Lao Zabi broadcasted the truth about Laplace’s Box to the world. Following the Laplace Incident, the EFF labeled the Unicorn Gundam and Banshee Norn as Singularity One, signifying that they were technology that had gone beyond human comprehension. Officially, the two suits were dismantled and sealed away, but as of UC 0097, the Unicorn Gundam secretly remained fully intact and in the possession of Banagher and Mineva.

Pilot: Banagher Links
First appearance: Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (anime)
Original mechanical designer: Hajime Katoki
Note: Based on the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam from the Gundam Unicorn novels

Beam Gatling gun

Beam magnum

Beam saber

Cockpit hatch

Head transformation

Hyper bazooka

Linear seat (Unicorn mode)

Linear seat (Destroy mode)

Rear view (Unicorn mode)

Rear view (Destroy mode)

Shield