Gundam: All You Need to Know About The Universal Century (2025)

The Mobile Suit Gundam franchise is almost 50 years old. With dozens of anime series and movies, manga, video games, and Gunpla model kits, it's one of Japan's biggest IPs. Among all the different series in the franchise, only one gets the benefit of continuing since the start of the anime with dozens of different stories taking place in one timeline: the Universal Century. This is Gundam's main timeline and by far the most famous and iconic.

Taking a look at the list of series that are included in it may seem intimidating, but if given the chance, the story of the battle between the Federation and Zeon will surely captivate everyone. If you've ever wanted to take a look at the Universal Century of Mobile Suit Gundam, here's all you need to know before diving in and believing in the possibility of a better future.

The Universal Century, Gundam's Icon

There's no Good vs. evil, Only Ideologies

The Universal Century begins at 0001 UC. After the human population has surpassed 9 billion, humanity has finally colonized space and left Earth. A new dawn for the species lies among the stars. The Universal Century is declared with a change in the calendar, signifying a new stage of human history. A new space station called Laplace is built and in it, Prime Minister of the Earth Federation, Ricardo Marcenas, conducts a ceremony to celebrate the calendar change and the new era. A group of terrorists uses solar-powered explosives and destroys the station during Marcenas' speech, leaving no survivors except for one of the terrorists, a young man named Syam Vist. Syam stumbles upon the Universal Century Charter, a signed statement from all the current world leaders. He takes it with him and goes into hiding.

Humanity builds 7 space colonies called "Sides", and people progressively migrate to these. At some point, the people living in these colonies are known as "Spacenoids" and eventually, they find a leader in the politician and philosopher Zeon Zum Deikun. Zeon comes up with the "Newtype Theory", in which he speaks of how living in space will eventually unlock humanity's full potential, allowing them psychic abilities that will create a new era of understanding. During an important speech, he suffers a heart attack and dies. It is believed he was poisoned by his allies, the Zabi Family. He leaves behind a wife and two children: Casval Rem Deikun and Artesia Som Deikun.

After his death, the blame is set on the Earth Federation, who the Spacenoids have conflicted with for years. The Spacenoids found a new space nation, seeking independence from the rule of the Federation: The Principality of Zeon. Degwin Zabi is appointed as the new ruler of the nation and continues Zeon's efforts towards independence. With the help of Dr. Minovsky, Zeon develops a new weapon of war, a humanoid giant mechanized suit: the mobile suit. And they have developed the first-ever mobile suit: the YMS-05 "Zaku".

Zeon produces the Zaku in preparation for a war against the Federation. Eventually, Degwin's son, Gihren Zabi, launches one of the space colonies out of its orbit and sends it onto Earth, landing on Australia, completely destroying the country and changing the planet's climate. This is known as the Colony Drop. And with this, the One-Year War begins. Zeon Deikun's son enlists in the Zeon army and climbs the ranks, adopting the name of Char Aznable. Because of his extremely fast and powerful red Zaku, he's given the name "The Red Comet".

The Federation takes Dr Minovsky's research and with Dr Tem Ray begins the RX Project, a secret operation to develop a new mobile suit to defeat Zeon. During the war, the project produced a new state-of-the-art mobile suit, beyond anything Zeon ever created: The Gundam. During a Zeon attack on Side 7, a 14-year-old boy named Amuro Ray finds the Gundam and pilots it to defeat the invading Zaku. And with this, the events of the first Mobile Suit Gundam series begin.

Anime in the Universal Century

Here's Your Watch List

The Universal Century includes dozens of different anime series, OVAs, and movies. As well as manga, novels, and even games. Here's the animated media in chronological order in-universe:

• Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin: The story of Char Aznable with modern animation, although its canonicity is debatable.
• Mobile Suit Gundam 0079: The very first series was released in 1979. It tells the story of Amuro Ray and the crew of the White Base in their battle against Char Aznable and Zeon.
• Mobile Suit Gundam MS Igloo Movie Trilogy: A Different Side of the One Year War following the crew of the Jotunheim.
• Mobile Suit Gundam 08th MS Team: OVA showing the 08th MS Team led by Shiro Amada on Earth in their battle against Zeon's new weapon.
• Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket: A Zeon team investigates the development of a new Federation mobile suit on Christmas.
• Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory: The battle between Kou Uraki and the relentless Anabel Gato and their two powerful Gundams.
• Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: The successors of the Zeon leaders continue their fight with the Federation.
• Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ: Neo Zeon resorts to horrific crimes in their quest for victory and independence.
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack: The culmination of the rivalry between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, changing the landscape of the Universal Century.
• Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn: The Zeon remnants seek the Laplace's Box as a new Gundam like no other brings a new era for humanity.
• Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative: The direct sequel to Unicorn, the battle against Neo Zeon continues.
• Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: Years later after Char's Counterattack, a boy changed by that conflict begins his revolution.
• Mobile Suit Gundam F91: Much later in the timeline, humanity can't escape the cycle of conflict.
• Mobile Suit Victory Gundam: The farthest point in the timeline, beyond the Federation and Zeon, the Gundam still exists.

While the Universal Century may seem daunting to even start, it has some of the best the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise has to offer. Clash of ideologies, political warfare, sci-fi action, and enthralling characters that stand the test of time. The Universal Century tells the legend of the Gundam and the unending quest for understanding.

Mobile Suit Gundam