MSN-02 Zeong

Model number: MSN-02
Code name: Zeong
Unit type: prototype Newtype use mobile suit
Manufacturer: A Baoa Qu Mobile Suit Factory
Operator: Principality of Zeon
First deployment: 31 December UC 0079
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in head
Dimensions: head height 17.3 meters
Weight: empty 151.2 metric tons; max gross 231.9 metric tons
Armor materials: super hard steel alloy
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 9,400 kW
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: 187,000 kg total
Equipment and design features: sensors, range 81,000 meters; psycommu system; detachable head, can be operated without main body
Fixed armaments: 2 x wire-guided 5-barrel mega particle gun, barrels mounted in manipulator fingers; 2 x mega particle gun, mounted in torso; mega particle gun, mounted in head

The MSN-02 Zeong was a Newtype use mobile suit manufactured by the Principality of Zeon. Developed late in the One Year War, the first Zeong prototype unit was still under construction at the Principality of Zeon’s A Baoa Qu asteroid base when Kycilia Zabi ordered ace pilot Char Aznable to sortie with it in a last ditch effort to stop the invading Earth Federation Forces. Although only “80 percent complete,” the Zeong was actually at 100 percent combat capacity, not needing its cosmetic legs for a space battle. The Zeong was unique in many respects. It was the only mobile suit at the time to have a psycommu system, allowing its Newtype pilot to effectively use its remote-controlled, wire-connected arms, each of which mounted five beam guns in the hands’ fingers. Additional beam guns were mounted in the torso, and a powerful beam gun was also mounted in the head. Another unusual aspect of the Zeong was its cockpit, which was placed in the head instead of the traditional torso location (a fact that RX-78-2 Gundam pilot Amuro Ray found out the hard way). In the event of major damage to the body, the Zeong’s head could also be separated from the body to continue operating and fighting independently. Both the Zeong and the Gundam were destroyed in battle, but Amuro and Char survived, continuing their battle on foot inside A Baoa Qu. At the same time, an EFF special forces team raided the fortress and discovered a mobile suit production facility where three additional Zeong units were under construction. Their capture gave the EFF access to Zeon’s psycommu technology, which was significantly more advanced than the EFF’s research into Newtype-based weapons.

Pilot: Char Aznable
First appearance: Mobile Suit Gundam
Original mechanical designer: Kunio Okawara

Rear view