Mecha Character Profile: Setsuna F. Seiei

When a disillusioned child soldier was on the verge of death, an angel with a green halo descended to save him. And so that boy grew up to pilot a mechanical angel himself, vowing to wage a war against all wars. His codename is Setsuna F. Seiei – Celestial Being’s best Gundam Meister. He pilots the Gundam Exia to carry out armed intervention all around the world as part of a private paramilitary team with technology that far exceed even the current state-of-the-art mobile suits. In the end, he evolved to open the door to the future for humanity.

I. Background:
– Setsuna F. Seiei (刹那・F・セイエイ) is a teenager who is chosen to be Celestial Being’s Gundam Meister – the pilot of the GN-001 Gundam Exia. His real name was Soran Ibrahim and he was a Republic of Krugis’ civilian. Unfortunately, the land was plagued with a Holy War waged by religious groups, and Soran was brainwashed into being a child soldier by Ali Al Saachez – leader of the KPSA. He killed both his parents to prove his devotion to God and the KPSA and received military training. Soran and others his age were regularly sent on suicide guerilla missions, including terror attacks with low chance of survival. During one of the battles, Soran was almost killed by a Mobile Suit when the O Gundam descended and saved his life. The arrival of the Gundam left a deep impression on Soran as he stood awestruck as if a god has descended.

– Soran/Setsuna was born in 2291 A.D. Around 2302 A.D, when he was around 12 years old, Ribbons Almark recommended him as a Gundam Meister for Celestial Being through Veda. At the age of 14, Soran joined Celestial Being and became a Gundam pilot. He adopted the codename Setsuna F. Seiei then and was assigned the GN-001 Gundam Exia. He was stationed onboard the CBS-70 Ptolemaios – a carrier-battleship of CB, there he met three other Gundam Meisters: Lockon Stratos (Neil Dylandy), Tieria Erde and Allelujah Haptism.

– Setsuna and team revealed themselves for the first time in 2307 A.D, with the Gundam Exia descending upon a demonstration test of the AEU Enact. The Exia promptly disposed of the Enact and showed the world the strength of Gundams. The world also learn of Celestial Being’s existence and Aeolia’s message to humanity. Afterwards, Setsuna and the Meisters conducted various armed interventions all around the world, stopping conflicts with violence and redirected the world’s hatred towards them as the governments labeled them terrorists. Setsuna and Exia continued to carry out armed intervention whenever there are military conflicts around the world.

– During an on-foot investigation, Setsuna encountered Marina Ismail – the princess of Azadistan. Azadistan absorbed Krugis after winning the war against them. Setsuna half-threatened Marina that if the political conflicts in Azadistan doesn’t stop and lead to a civil war, the Gundams will have no choice but to intervene. This raised suspicion from Marina if Setsuna was a Gundam pilot. Seeing that he was extremely young but communicated in a mature and resolute manner, Marina was surprised and also scared. After Setsuna save a religious leader of Azadistan, Marina changed her views about Setsuna. The two continued to share an unusual relationship as Marina acted as a moral compass for Setsuna and he symbolises the changes that is happening to the world.

– Setsuna caught the attention of Graham Aker – a Flag pilot for the Union. Graham became obsessed with the Exia and Setsuna and formed a fervent rivalry with him. Graham actively sought Setsuna out on the battlefield and is adamant on defeating him. Setsuna always viewed him as annoying and an obstacle to his missions until the movie when Graham saved Setsuna from the ELS.

– During a mission in Azadistan, Setsuna re-encountered Ali Al Saachez and learned that he’s still warmongering as a mercenary. This enraged Setsuna as he was responsible for indoctrinating Setsuna along with countless other children in Krugis. This also caused a rift between him and Lockon Stratos – as the latter found out that the KPSA was responsible for the bombing that killed Lockon’s parents and sister. In the end, they didn’t clash. But Setsuna was prepared to receive anything Lockon throw at him, but he also affirm that he will not stop using Gundams to change the world. After the first Lockon’s death, Setsuna was affected very strongly, and he became even more determined to rid the world of conflict and change the world.

– After thwarting Alejandro Corner’s plan, the world seemed to have changed and a united military force was formed under the name A-LAWS. However, with the A-LAWS misusing their power and authority, Celestial Being once again became active to carry out armed interventions with the help of the resistance organization Katharon. Setsuna received the 00 Gundam and retired the Exia. Setsuna also met with Marina many more times while Feldt from the Celestial Being team develop affection towards him. Ultimately, he didn’t see Feldt in a romantic way.

– While not on mission, Setsuna has an apartment in Japan and is the neighbor of Saji Crossroad. He is not social and never really strike up conversations with Saji. No matter where, he always keep the Exia nearby in case there are missions to carry out.

– After the ELS invasion, Setsuna teleported to the ELS main body and fused with them, becoming a human-ELS hybrid. This grants him almost immortality and access to the ELS technology with the Qan-T. He returned to Earth to reunite with Maria after 70 years.

II. Skills & Abilities:
– Setsuna was trained as a child soldier from a very young age, so he knows hand-to-hand combat skills and guns/knives usage. He is also physically fit enough to be chosen as a Gundam Meister. It was shown that he has very good CQC and shooting skills. Despite being a teenager, he can knock out adult soldiers with ease.

– Setsuna is a very skilled MS pilot, especially melee combat. The Exia is almost entirely armed with melee weapons to fit Setsuna’s fighting style. Even so, he can still engage in ranged combat if need be. He display exceptional piloting skill not just with Gundam-level suit but also in other inferior suit such as the Flag. Even when the Exia was heavily damage, he can still fight on equal terms with military pilots. He prefers using his large GN Sword and dual-wield the two GN Blades or beam sabers. He also uses the short beam sabers as throwing projectiles.

– After getting the 00 Gundam and slowly evolving into a pure-bred Innovator, Setsuna’s senses were heightened and his battle instincts became extremely sharp. He’s able to preform unexpected maneuvers that catch his opponents off-guard. Through the use of GN Particles, Setsuna can expand his consciousness and communicate with everyone in the area affected by the GN Particles dispersed by the 00 Raiser. Through this ability, he and others can understand each other at an individual level and come to a resolution on their conflict. For Ribbons and his Innovades, this doesn’t work as they are hell bent on ruling the world.

– As part of Celestial Being’s training, Setsuna can perform basic electronic warfare tasks, but most of them have Veda’s assistance. Setsuna also has high endurance when he pilot the Exia without a pilot suit. He’s a very stoic and oblivious boy due to his past only know war and bloodshed. He rarely talks to other unless it’s about missions or when he asks for advice from Marina. He is also quick to get angry if something happened to innocent civilians or the people he knows, or when Gundams are being misused as tools for mindless killings. After one point, he came to believe that only Gundam can sever the twistedness of this world and believe he is a Gundam himself to carry out that task.

– After fusing with the ELS, Setsuna gained near immortality as his body became an organic living metal body. Even after 7 decades, he still looks young as he was. He can grant others ELS power as well if he wanted to. In the manga, he turned Marina young again using ELS power. In post-movie supplementary material, it was revealed that the ELS also saved Graham from his fatal injuries after Setsuna communicated with them.

III. Gallery: