Kycilia Zabi
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In the fictional Mobile Suit Gundam series, Kycilia Zabi (or Kishiria Zabi) (キシリア・ザビ) was the only daughter of Degwin Sodo Zabi. Sources disagree as to whether she was second-eldest after her brother Gihren Zabi or next-to-youngest before her brother Garma Zabi.
Kycilia was quick to adapt to the changing technology of the One Year War, and was equally proficient in gathering intelligence for use against the Federation. She was in charge of the Principality's Mobile Suit Forces, and was responsible for their use against the Federation. In addition, she was responsible for the creation of numerous elite Mobile Suit units, including Char Aznable's 300th Independent Corps (aka Char's Newtype Corps), the hand-picked Chimera Corps, and the Midnight Fenrir covert ops team.
She is portayed ambiguously during both the main series, and the various side stories surrounding the One Year War, with her motives often open to question. On the one hand, she is shown to be fiercly loyal to the people of Zeon, and to the men under her command. Many of her actions, however, can also be interpreted as those of a charismatic, but utterly merciless manipulatrix of the highest order, preparing for a military coup.
Story
Not much is known about Kycilia's youth, but she is known to have grown up on Side 3, where she first met Johhny Ridden.
During the Battle of Luom, she ordered her fleet to withdraw as soon as the main engagement was over, allowing her brother's fleets the "glory" of mopping-up the Federation's retreating troops while preserving the lives of the men under her own command. A veteran of the battle, Lt.Cdr Gerhart Schmeisser (who had been too seriously wounded in the fight to continue active combat piloting), approched her during the Antarctic Treaty cease-fire with a proposal for the formation of a small covert-operations unit, to be named the Midnight Fenrir corps. She immediately approved.
Template:Spoilers In the latter half of the One Year War she took Char Aznable under her wing after Dozle Zabi dismissed Char from his regiment for failing to protect Garma. With her support, he proceeded to form the 300th Independent Corps, gathering Newtypes from Zeon-held territory and prototype Mobile Armors from the Flanagan Institute.
When Degwin attempted to negotiate a peace with the Federation's General Revil, Kycilia was enroute to the location with her fleet in case the negotiations failed. Her fleet's sensors picked up the IR signature of the firing of the Colony Laser, but she was unaware of the death of her father until Gihren told her, also claiming that the firing of the Laser was an accident.
As the opening shots of the Battle of A Baoa Qu were fired, however, Gihren Zabi finally confessed to Kycilia that he killed their father, Degwin. Kycilia promptly executed Gihren with a single shot to the forehead, and took control of all Zeon forces during the battle. As the defenses began to falter, she gave the order for the Zeon forces to retreat, and for the defenders of A Baoa Qu to surrender 15 minutes after her escape. Just before she left, however, Char Aznable decapitated her with a rocket launcher through the window of the Chimera, her flagship. The ship was destroyed only moments later, the crew unable to communicate Char's treachery to the fleet. Without her leadership, the Zeon fleet rapidly fell into disarray, with individual commanders recovering what suits and pilots they could, then fleeing; others fighting to the death, believing their commander to still be alive but unable to escape.
There is some debate as to the nature of her relationship with ace pilot Johnny Ridden, however, they appear to share a courtly love. He refers to himself as as her knight, and uses the symbol of a unicorn as a dedication to her. Immediately before his sortie at A Baoa Qu, Ridden hands her a hand-carved amulet of a unicorn, an heirloom from his grandfather, which she accepts as a token and secures to her pistol. When she shoots Gihren, however, she is seen discarding the amulet - perhaps in the belief that she is no longer "pure" and worthy of her Unicorn.
Video Game appearances
Kycilia often plays a more visible role in Gundam video games than she did in the series, as she is the ultimate commander of Zeon's most elite commando teams. These same elite MS teams provide, of course, perfect fodder for arcade games.
In the squad-based shooter Zeonic Front all simulator results are personally reviewed by Kycillia, and her responses vary from grudging admiration to utter scorn.
In the strategy video game Gihren's Greed: The Blood of Zeon, a bonus scenario is available in which Kycilia (shortly after the death of her father) defects from the Principality of Zeon and leads her own faction, the "Legitimate Zeon" to depose Gihren for his corrupt handling of the war as well as continue the war against the Earth Federation on her own.
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Sources
Aces in the One Year War vol. 1: Crimson Lightning Johnny Raiden