Mecha Character Profile: Judau Ashta

Gundam series often have protagonists with dramatic personalities who seem like trainwrecks. However, after Zeta Gundam, there was this new approach to making the protagonists for the audiences back in the day, which aimed to be more funny and less serious in some ways. Judau Ashta from ZZ Gundam was the first one that gave Universal Century a new feeling.

I. Background:
Judau Ashta was born around the Universal Century U.C. 0074 and ran a junk shop in Side 1 Colony at the age of 14. He lived with his younger sister, Leina Ashta, whom he adored the most. Because his father went missing and his mother worked away from them, Judau wanted to gather enough money for his sister to study in private schools and have a better future.

– On a faithful day, Judau found Yazan Gable — one of the Titans’s survivors from the Gryps War who forcefully used Judau and his friends, leading him to attack the Argama-class carrier of the Anti-Earth Union Group or AEUG faction, which was coincidentally stationed in the port of Side 1 at the time. Judau then broke free and stole one of the top Mobile Suits from the ship itself – the Zeta Gundam in an attempt to sell it for money, but instead, he always ended up helping Argama all the time until he and his friends finally befriended its crew and joined the AEUG and became one of the Gundam Team members. Anaheim Electronics later equipped him with ZZ Gundam.

– His skills improved over time, but his reasons to fight eventually became personal when the Neo Zeon kidnapped his sister. He always goes against orders, which leads him to infiltrate Neo Zeon’s Axis to save his sister, but he also meets Elpeo Ple – one of the female friends he made there, and Haman Karn – Neo Zeon’s leader, who becomes interested in Judau because he has Newtype powers hidden. Ple also defected to AEUG with Judau thanks to their good connections. Later, when Neo Zeon invaded Earth, Judau mentally suffered when he thought Leina was killed, and Ple sacrificed her life fighting her clone – Ple Two. He also met Haman multiple times during skirmishes, and she always tried to recruit him. Her attempts failed, but their deep discussion on philosophies and life made Judau feel a bit of sympathy towards her, too; she is also the one who awakened Judau’s Newtype abilities when she harmed Leina. Both fought one-on-one in mobile suits near the end of the First Neo Zeon War until Haman was defeated and when Judau offered her to come with him, she refused and ended her own life in the process. After the conflict, Judau and his friend Roux Louka quit AEUG and went on to join the Jupiter Energy Fleet to start their new life.

II. Skills & Abilities:
– Judau is a cheerful and charismatic boy but somehow greedy because of his wishes to help his sister gain more money for school. Judau knows how to talk his way out of things and is not afraid to speak out loud about anything. Judau disliked war and blamed adults for it, although his experiences with the AEUG made him more adult and friendly towards the Argama’s crew, including Captain Bright Noa.

– Physical and combat are not Judau’s specialties but rather his sneaking. He is often able to slip through enemies, avoiding detection at times, and even able to disguise himself as a woman due to his appearance.

His real powers can be found when he is piloting mobile suits. He may be sloppy at first, but he quickly improves over time, especially when he gets ZZ Gundam. He can also pilot several other mobile suits, such as Zeta Gundam and Hyaku Shiki, and he is able to fight stronger enemies that his friends cannot defeat.

– Judau Ashta is also a Newtype; his abilities awakened when Haman Karn hurt his sister. According to Haman herself, he is said to be as strong as Char Aznable. He can use his powers to communicate with his sister – Leina, and also enhance his combat abilities too such as predicting the enemy’s next move and boosting ZZ Gundam’s powers as well. During the final battle with Haman’s Quebeley, he can also combine his powers with other Newtypes to overboost ZZ Gundam.

III. Gallery: