ZGMF-X42S Destiny Gundam
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This article is about a fictional weapon from the Cosmic Era of the anime Gundam metaseries.
The ZGMF-X42S Destiny is, at the end of SEED Destiny, ZAFT’s most technologically advanced mobile suit. Built under the orders of Gilbert Durandal specifically for Shinn Asuka, the Destiny is "tuned" with Shinn's combat data from his time piloting the ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam and its systems are first tested on a Silhouette for said unit. It is powered by a Hyper Deuterion Nuclear Reactor, a new form of technology that incorporates a Nuclear Fission Reactor along with a Deuterion Energy Battery for power storage.
The Destiny's armament includes a high-energy beam rifle and head-mounted CIWS as well as more unique weaponry such as “Palma Fiocina” palm-mounted beam cannons, "Flash Edge 2" variable beam boomerangs (which double as short beam sabers), a long range high-energy beam cannon behind the left shoulder and a large “Arondight” anti-ship sword behind the right. From its loadout it can be seen that it is designed to handle the task of all three of the Impulse's primary Silhouettes' functions. For defense purposes it is equipped with a small mobile shield that can be extended into a slightly larger one and the more effective "Solidus Fulgur" wrist-mounted beam shields.
The Destiny's most prominent feature is its “Wings of Light” which serves as a propulsion system that allows the Destiny to reach fantastic speeds. When used in conjunction with a form of Mirage Colloid technology they enable the Destiny to leave a trail of visible after-images which can be used to disorient the enemy.
It should be noted that while the Destiny is ZAFT's "trump card" and their strongest suit it is never shown to be more powerful than the ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice or ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom and vice versa. It has been stated however that, combined with Shinn Asuka’s skill, the Destiny Gundam has unlimited potential, though it may have been just an act of flattery by Gilbert Durandal.
The ZGMF-X42S Destiny uses the Gunnery United Nuclear-Dueterion Advanced Maneuver operating system.
The Destiny is personally presented to Shinn Asuka by ZAFT Chairman Gilbert Durandal and first enters combat against a defecting Athrun Zala in a ZGMF-2000 GOUF Ignited. It then goes on to participate in Operation Ragnarok, the invasion of Heaven's Base in Iceland, and is instrumental in the ZAFT-EA Defectors victory by leading the assault on the base's GFAS-X1 Destroy defense squad.
It participates in the attack on the nation of ORB where it is confronted first by Cagalli Yula Athha in the ORB-01 Akatsuki, Kira Yamato in the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom and finally Athrun Zala in the ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice.
Afterwards, Destiny leads the assault on the REQUIEM control station on the moon, and is again instrumental in the ZAFT victory. Defeating numerous Mobile Suits and Mobile Armors, Shinn is able to successfully buy enough time for Lunamaria Hawke to infiltrate and destroy the command center with her ZGMF-X56S/γ Blast Impulse.
During the final battle of the series the Destiny is defeated by ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice piloted by Athrun Zala and the Destiny is left heavily damaged on the moon but Shinn survives.
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[edit] Specifications
[edit] ZGMF-X42S Destiny
Manufacturer: Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty (ZAFT)
User: Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty (ZAFT)
Unit type: prototype general purpose mobile suit
First Deployment: Cosmic Era 74
Overall height: 18.08 meters
Weight: 79.44 metric tons
Special equipment: Variable Phase Shift armor, "Hikari no Tsubasa" (Wings of Light)
Powerplant: Ultracompact Hyper-Deuterion Nuclear Fission Reactor
Armament: MMI-GAU26 17.5 mm CIWS x 2, MX2351 "Solidus Fulgur" beam shield generator x 2, RQM-60F "Flash Edge 2" beam boomerang/saber x 2, MMI-714 "Arondight" folding anti-ship sword x 1, M2000GX folding high-energy long-range beam cannon x 1, MMI-X340 "Palma Fiocina" palm beam cannon x 2, MA-BAR73/S high energy beam rifle x 1, mobile shield x 1
Pilot: Shinn Asuka
[edit] Trivia
- Destiny's head crest displays the text "X-42S DUE", which means "Second" in Italian and is a reference to Destiny's series number.
- The Destiny is, like many but not all main Gundams, named after the series' title.
- Chief mecha designer Okawara Kunio stated that Destiny is actually based on an amalgamation of the Strike's Striker Packs rather than the Impulse's Silhouettes, and this is evident by the color and storing positions of its armaments.
- Destiny Gundam is often thought of as a "collection" of MSes as it has many "famous" systems and features which resemble previous Gundams:
- The Destiny mounts a pair of beam shields, first seen in the late Universal Century starting with Mobile Suit Gundam F91 and also featured in Mobile Suit Victory Gundam and chronogically first used by the Gundam F90 VSBR Type.
- The general color scheme is very remiscent of the Zeta Gundam from Mobile Suit Z Gundam, particularly the red and black of the wings in contrast to the primary scheme. Also, like the Z Gundam, the Destiny lacks the traditional pair of vents on its mouthplate.
- The Palma Fiocina is comparable to the Shining, Master and God Gundams' special attacks from G Gundam, the Shining, Darkness and God Finger respectively.
- The Wings of Light are visually similar to a feature present on the V2 Gundam from Mobile Suit Victory Gundam.
- The after-image trails are visually similar to a feature on the F91 Gundam from the feature film Mobile Suit Gundam F91.
- The Destiny Gundam's concept is somewhat of a leftover from SEED's initial production. Chief designer Okawara Kunio had been charged with designing the original Freedom Gundam as a mobile suit with compact, "always-on" versions of the original three Striker Packs. Several rough designs of this concept have been released in official materials and it is evident that in early attempts the result would have been simply too cluttered and (presumably) difficult to animate, hence the drastically different final design of the Freedom. However, this concept obviously made it through for the second try as the Destiny Gundam features compact forms of the first three Impulse Silhouettes (which are nearly identical in function and design as the three Striker Packs) as standard weaponry. This is a rather ironic footnote to the fact that Destiny Gundam and Freedom Gundam are made complete opposites in the storyline.
- The S in its model code stands for "Second Stage"
