Heero Yuy (Gundam Wing)
Author: Nayla
Spoilers: Oh yes -- all the series, the Endless Waltz OVA and the Episode Zero manga. And, still aside from the Episode Zero manga, this essay is 100% based on the anime and the OVA. I shamefully admit having no knowledge of the manga. ^^; All dialogue transcriptions are copied off the DVD subbed version of the anime.
Also, I am a day late in posting this essay. I lay the blame on the internet Gods for depriving me of connection this past week. -_-
When I first came across Gundam Wing three years ago, I was neither really a big fan of mecha nor of shounen anime. And Gundam Wing is all about mecha. And boys. No romance, none of all those sweet and fluffy little details that makes for good shoujo anime.
So how did I actually get sucked in? Because of the characters. More specifically -- Heero Yuy.
Brief introduction to Gundam Wing
Gundam Wing takes place in a far-off future where men have built and settled in outer space colonies.
The series starts off in the year After Colony 195 -- the space colonies are under control of the United Earth Sphere Alliance, an oppressive military force from Earth. To counter the Alliance’s tyranny, rebel colonists decide to bring a new arsenal of weapons to Earth in order to dismantle the organization from the inside, disguising them as shooting stars. Thus begins Operation Meteor.
The truth is, Heero’s orders when he’s sent off to Earth are to destroy the Alliance, but, more specifically, a cell within the Alliance -- OZ -- with Treize Khushrenada at its head. Indeed, according to the rebel colonists’ information, OZ has a secret agenda, and Heero must annihilate them before they carry out whatever plan it is they have brewing. He also doesn’t know that 4 other Gundam pilots -- all equally unaware of the others’ existences -- are being sent to Earth, with the exact same orders as his.
As it is, they all finally meet -- albeit the hard way.
Treize tricks the Gundam pilots into assassinating a group of Alliance leaders in favor of peace treaties with the colonies -- leading them to beleive at first that the target was holding a group of OZ leaders when in fact it was the group commonly known as The Doves of Peace. At the same moment, OZ is staging a succesful coup d’état at Alliance bases all around the world. They announce that the Gundams’ murder of the Alliance pacifist leaders is an act of hostility on part of the colonies and therefore war is declared.
First Encounter with Heero Yuy
Gundam Wing was first aired in France three years ago on a hype French music channel. It was heavily advertized, so out of curiosity, I decided to check it out.
[“I thought our mission was to bring in the weapon. But the real target is obviously the fighter pilot inside.”
Zechs Merquise, Ep1. ]
When we first see Heero, he’s inside his Gundam and is headed to Earth, which is his initial mission. But the Alliance catches onto his presence. Heero is also informed that the space craft after him is carrying mobile suits and that he must destroy them. He accepts the mission, turns around and attacks them. As he blows away two enemy mobile suits in one shot -- which awes Lieutenant Zechs Merquise, OZ’s and the Alliance’s champion -- he bursts out into a manic, psychotic laughter. That is what did me in. Well -- that and his totally cool, I-Don’t-Give-A-Fuck-What-Anyone-Thinks attitude of his. He was quiet, cold and no-nonsense -- and man was he capable of causing mayhem in that Wing Gundam of his! Totally kickass.
But when you look a bit closer, there’s much more to Heero than just that.
His past
First off, there is very little information on Heero prior to Operation Meteor. We know that, as a little boy, Heero was raised by an assassin by the name of Odin Lowe. He accompanied him on various jobs, posing as Odin’s son -- occasionally even helping him out.
At 7 years old, Heero knows how to use a gun.
When Heero’s 8 though, Odin dies during a job, leaving young Heero to fend for himself. Very little is known about this particular period of Heero’s life, other than he wandered the streets until one day, he meets Dr J who gives the little boy the opportunity to come with him. He teaches the boy a wide range of combat strategies, training him to be an assassin. Which shouldn’t be too difficult for him, given his past. In doing this, Dr J must have certainly also made him aware of the political situation in the colonies -- highlighting the wrongdoings the colonists have been subjected to under the Alliance’s tyranny, in order for the boy to have a reason to fight for, and showing him how good a reason his is. Which is what leads me to think that Heero is deeply idealistic, and that he beleives in the cause he is fighting for. If only for that it gives him a reason to exist.
Indeed, this is a boy who has been deprived of identity. Heero Yuy isn’t his real name. As it is, Heero was never given an actual name. Odin, the man who first takes care of him as a child simply dubs him ‘Kid’ and later on, Dr J calls him ‘Boy’. The first time he is called anything even remotely resembling a name is seconds before he’s about to leave L1 -- when Dr J decides that the boy’s codename will be Heero Yuy. In homage to the ideal of total pacifism proned by the man who ruled all of the colonies twenty years prior to when the series starts -- the original Heero Yuy. This man was known as a legend among the colonists, being a fervent advocate of total pacifism and a wise ruler under which the colonies were living in an era of stability and peace, until he was assassinated. From then on, communication ceased between the colonies and it became an excuse to fortify the Alliance Military. After all, isn’t ‘To divide for a better reigning’ a well-used strategy?
To have suddenly a name with such heavy symbolism to bear, the hopes of all the colonists bestowed upon him in such manner must have fueled his determination to fight for them, IMHO. Not only that but the fact that he must have had very little sense of his own worth, having been left alone at such a young age. This is only speculation on my part -- but where Duo’s childhood in the streets is often mentioned, because we are given actual visual evidence of the fact in the Episode Zero manga -- Heero’s own is blotty and thus open to speculation. Which I do gleefully.
Being a child, knowing no one due to his nomad life with Odin, Heero had no one to turn to, nowhere to go. My supposition is that he -- like Duo -- lived in the streets, just without the help and protection of a gang of orphans like himself. Which, in my eyes, would explain the extent of his antisocial-ness. I beleive that Heero has had very little in the way of social interaction. Or even of human contact in general. The first time he ever exchanges a handshake with someone is with Zechs when they are about to face off in Antarctica. That, and the fact that having been left completely alone, and not actually existing in the eyes of someone else must have made him feel pretty useless and left him wondering just what the hell was his purpose in life. Until someone came along and gave him a reason to be. And that would be the foundation for Heero’s wish to fight for the colonists’ freedom, of his devotion to the cause.
And why he views himself as expendable and easily replaced if he dies. His own safety, compared to the colonists’, isn’t even an issue as far as he’s concerned. Unless the colonies are at stake -- which is why he threatens to kill Relena on various instances. She’s a danger, she knows he is a Gundam pilot, and therefore could jeopardize his mission by revealing his identity to someone else.
At least, it is what I like to think.
An efficient, emotionless soldier
Not the way I see him.
As it is, Heero follows what he preaches. His famous words are “To live a good life, you must act upon your emotions”. And that is exactly what he does. Indeed, whenever Heero goes in for a mission with some sort of plan, more often than not does he end up deviating from it -- falling back on gut instinct more than anything else. For example when he goes in to get Duo out of an OZ prison in ep19, his first intention is to kill him in order to silence him once and for all. That doesn’t happen. Instead, when Duo -- who’s fully aware of why Heero is here for him in the first place -- asks him if he’s going to shoot him or not, Heero answers “Only if you want me to” before asking if his right hand’s okay and tossing him a gun. Then he blasts his way out of the OZ facility, a beat-up Duo in tow.
He is emotionally scarred. He has made mistakes during missions -- terrible mistakes -- and he bears heavy guilt for them. In Endless Waltz, we are treated to one of Heero’s sleep induced flash-backs in which Heero is remembering one of his very first missions wherein a little girl and her puppy were involved and how terribly wrong it had gone. Also, after having healed from his wounds caused by his self-destructing stunt in his Gundam, Heero actually tracks down and confronts Sylvia Noventa, Marshall Noventa’s -- one of the Alliance’s Doves of Peace -- granddaughter, reveals himself to be the one responsible for the man's death and hands her a gun, offering his own life in exchange for the Marshall's. [“This is the only thing I can do for you right now. I can’t undo my mistake. I hope the anger felt by the Marshall’s loved ones...and the regrets of the Marshall’s soul...can be somewhat eased if you pull that trigger.”]
What, in my eyes, makes Heero such a good agent is his ability to adapt to circumstances. He’s not terribly good at infiltration, because more often than not does he stick out like a sore thumb, but he’s able to overcome most -- if not any -- obstacles whatever they may be. He’s a young man full of resources. For instance, if he has his mind set on getting somewhere, he’ll find a way into it. For example when he manages to get into the guarded battleship Libra before his actual scheduled face to face battle with Zechs. Or the way he finds his way into the colony Duo’s incarcerated in -- he distracts a guard with a cabbage before knocking him unconscious. He’ll also find his way *out* of anything.
Also a small note that sort of amused me. Often, Duo comes across as the character who likes big, fiery explosions the most, and it is often stated that he is the bombs expert. But, upon watching Gundam Wing obsessively for the 35994754th time, I couldn’t help but notice that beneath his cool, calm and quiet demeanor, Heero is actually the one who enjoys big, fiery explosions more often than not and has been the author of quite a few of those throughout the entire series....
The thing is, Heero is able to compartmentalize his feelings. In ep 7 for instance, while it’s true that all 4 Gundam pilots present are tricked into believing that they’re about to kill OZ leaders, not the Alliance’s pacifists, it’s nonetheless Heero who gives them the final blow. After he finds out that he’s actually murdered the Doves of Peace, mistaking them for OZ leaders, he has a moment where he kinds of spaces out. He seems in deep shock. But as soon as Sally calls out to him, asking him to deactivate missiles that had been set to destroy the base where he, Quatre and Duo are, he responds without hesitation. He sets off to where the missiles are and manages to deactivate them in the nick of time. [“A failed mission means death, but my card isn’t up yet!”]
In the same vein, for Heero, there is a time for everything. Even a time to relax. During Heero and Quatre’s time together on Earth, there’s a moment where we see them on a beach, and Heero is playing with dogs while Quatre is brooding.
[“Don’t you want to play with the dogs? We’re not fighting now, so it’s okay to play.”]
This also reminds us that Heero, in the end, is just a kid trying to deal in the way he’s been taught to.
Personality traits
He’s a very quiet, soft-spoken and calm boy. He never shouts, screams or gets angry. Except at himself. The only times where we get to see Heero actually upset are the times when he disappoints himself. I.e, when he repeatedly fails to kill Relena, even though she represents a danger to him since she knows that he’s a Gundam pilot; or when he realizes the horrible mistake he made when he killed the Doves of Peace. But other than those instances, he’s always very reserved.
It’s not that Heero doesn’t speak much. It’s that Heero doesn’t speak often. If he has something to say though, he’ll say it. He always answers when asked his opinion on something. Even if he has no particular one on the subject broached.
He is opinionated. And he isn’t afraid to let people know what he thinks. At one of the school he enrolls in to maintain his cover, he introduces himself by delivering a long -- and what seems to be very controversial, since he is stopped in the middle of it -- speech about war and peace.
He’s very intense and not only is he fiercely dediacted to the colonists cause, but he’s also terribly independant. Because I believe that Heero chooses his missions as information is sent to him (after all, he does say “Mission accepted.” whenever he is sent a mission. Which, to me, implies that he can just as well say “Mission refused.”) He’s not a controlled puppet. He decides on what actions to take as things happen. He acts on his own, as evidenced when the 5 Scientists responsible for Operation Meteor -- of which Dr J is a part of -- and the construction of the Gundams are brought into OZ custody, taking upon himself to retrieve them on the Lunar Base in order to eliminate them before OZ can use them to design more powerful weapons of mass destruction.
He has a sense of humor - a very dry, deadpan one - but a sense of humor nonetheless. For instance when he tells Trowa that dying “hurts like hell”, when he realizes that Trowa is planning to follow Heero’s example by self-destructing in his Gundam for his next mission. But this trait of Heero’s is most often demonstrated in what we see of Heero’s relationship with Duo. They have this little game of taunts going on between them. Heero likes to tease Duo, in a way. And Duo likes to challenge Heero.
Heero’s relationships with the other characters
Heero and Duo
The first time Heero and Duo meet, Duo shoots Heero to protect a Relena, whom Heero is threatening with a gun. Twice. As a result, Heero is transported to a hospital under Alliance surveillance, from which Duo later bails him out. He brings the injured pilot along with him to where he is currently stationed and offers to repair Heero’s damaged Gundam. Heero thanks him by stealing parts off Duo’s Gundam, and later on, busting him out of an OZ prison. All the while teasing and challenging each other -- Duo in his boisterous, loud manner, and Heero in his more subdued, subtle style. But these two appreciate each other, and Heero definitely acknowledges Duo as the excellent pilot he is.
[Duo: “How’s this for some shuttle maneuvering?” (as they fly unscathed through a hostile zone where they’re being attacked by mobile dolls)
Heero: “I was counting on those skills right from the beginning.” Endless Waltz OVA]
Heero and Trowa
Heero’s first encounter with Trowa is when he wakes up from a month long coma during which Trowa nursed him back to life. They spend a lot of time together, supporting each other without ever really interfering in one another’s business. Trowa even helps Heero in his little journey in search of some form of atonement for his mistake. It seems to me, even though Trowa and Heero have this quiet understanding and respect for one another, that Trowa seems to look up to Heero a great deal. ["Should I be following your example?” (in regards to Heero’s decision to self-destruct when the rebel colonists accepted to surrender to OZ)] In fact, Trowa respects Heero enough to actually lend him his Gundam Heavyarms for his battle against Zechs in Antarctica, since Heero's Wing is still being repaired. Same thing when they meet in space aboard the Peacemillion spaceship -- Heero doesn’t even twitch when he realizes that Trowa has run off to fight with his Wing Zero (the Zero system enhanced version of his Gundam).
Heero and Quatre
Heero and Quatre both have a great deal of respect for one another and a deep understanding -- even though their views differ quite drastically sometimes. Where Heero views himself as a tool, a weapon, even acting so most of the time, and believes that the idea of a country without weapons such as the Sank kingdom in these times of war -- advocating total pacifism when all of the Earth and the space colonies are torn between ceaseless battles -- is absurd and will only make the Sank inhabitants vulnerable to belligerent nations. Whereas Quatre has been raised as a pacifist and believes in the Sank kingdom at a time where Heero doesn’t. But this doesn't stop Heero from recognizing Quatre’s skill as a tactician, even going so far as to trusting him to master the Zero system, regardless of Quatre’s first disastrous experience with it - and lead the other Gundam pilots to victory over Whitefang’s army of mobile suits.
Heero and Wu Fei
There’s very little to say about Heero and Wu Fei’s relationship from what we see in the anime. They interact very little, although from what we *do* see, there seems to be -- here too -- a great deal of respect. Wu Fei even goes so far as to say, when they’re all gathered on Peacemillion and Heero has just taken off to retreive Relena on Libra, that he’d "figured Yuy for the sanest one among [the Gundam pilots]".
Heero and Relena
Heero’s relationship with Relena doesn’t start off too well. At first, she’s just a civilian who knows a bit too much and must be eliminated before becoming a threat to his safety. And honestly, at first, Heero doesn’t seem to see anymore in her. I think that had Duo not intervened that day on the docks, Heero might have possibly killed Relena. Later on, he realizes who she really is and she informs him that she’s met Dr J. Knowing that, it is possible that Heero might have felt a little more relaxed about her, seeing as how Dr J had deemed her worthy enough of information. Which might be an explanation for why he can’t bring himself to kill her when given the occasion, seeing as how she’s now no longer a potential threat, but an innocent now, too. There’s also the popular idea that Heero sees in Relena a reflection of the Little Girl and her Puppy that he accidentally killed during a mission gone wrong (per the flash-back dream in Endless Waltz). Which would make sense, too. But there’s no doubt that towards the end, he has come to admire Relena greatly and feels a deep affection for her.
[Relena: “Heero, you really are amazing.”
Heero: “Look who’s talking.”
Relena: “Nonsense. You’ve given me the hope and strength to live. I’m sure you make others feel the same.”
Heero: “Don’t make me repeat myself. I’m nothing compared to you.” ep 46]
Heero and Zechs Merquise/Milliardo Peacecraft
Milliardo Peacecraft (Relena's long lost brother who worked for the Alliance and then OZ under a secret identity -- aka Zechs Merquise) is Heero’s Rival -- with a big ‘R’. His nemesis, even. They hardly need to speak to understand each other, and when Heero announces that he will kill Zechs to thank him for reparing Wing, Zechs looks pleased. These two have the same kind of soldier mentality and deal with each other as equals. Along with this silent understanding thing they have going on, there is the constant itch to beat each other, even though most of the time it’s a draw between them, as seen during their fight -- Heero inside Epyon, Zechs inside Wing Zero. They could have gone on and on forever had exhaustion not taken over -- proving their equality in combat.
But in the end, Heero is the one who truly wins out because, unlike Zechs, the Zero system with its ability to calculate the future has not warped Heero's view of the world (whereas Zechs kind of lost it, wanting to destroy the Earth because he'd come to the conclusion that the Earth itself was source of all wars and meaningless battles). Eventually, during their last fight, Zechs comes to his senses, shaked by Heero's determination and finally disappears in a grand deed of redemption, trying to prevent a piece of the now crumbling battleship Libra from entering the Earth's atmosphere, therefore causing some sort of terrible cataclysm.
Alas, Zechs's gesture isn't enough, as there is one more piece of metal threatening the Earth. Heero rushes in its direction with his Gundam's beam cannon and blasts the offending piece of metal into oblivion. Having saved the Earth from destruction, he then flies off into space, until he and his comrades are needed a year later. Once again, Heero comes in to save the world and the colonies from any warmongers threatening to opress the people. Once again, he risks his life but overcomes this last obstacle to his ideal of peace.
And once all is settled, he disappears amidst the crowd, a small smile on his lips. His job is done. He can start living for himself, now.
Fanfiction recommendations
mookiegatto's fanfiction, archived @ GW Addiction, in the fanfiction section, under the pen name Mookie. She writes mostly Heero-centric fics, with a neat inclination for 1x2x1, even though she has also dabbled in 1x4x1 and 1x6x1. My personal favorite, though, amongst all her fics is Just Like the Rain, a get together, lemony 2x1 fic. She writes a deeply contemplative Heero, her style abounds with symbolism and her writing is all around a treat.
natea2x1's fanfiction. Also archived at GW Addiction in the fanfiction section, under the pen name Natea. Same here, writes mostly Heero-centric fics of the 1x2x1 persuasion. My personal favorite is Thanatozoe, a ficlet with a 2x1 flavor. Natea captures Heero's voice wonderfully, as far as I'm concerned. Like Mookie, she writes him deeply contemplative and poetic.
merith writes essentially 1x2x1 fanfiction, and her fics can be found at the Shinigami & Wing archive. Merith writes a very poetic Heero. A very human one, too. I'd best describe her writing as -- as she puts it -- a representation of a small slice of life -- a forkful of chocolate cake. My personal favorite is her Good in Little Things arc.
Spoilers: Oh yes -- all the series, the Endless Waltz OVA and the Episode Zero manga. And, still aside from the Episode Zero manga, this essay is 100% based on the anime and the OVA. I shamefully admit having no knowledge of the manga. ^^; All dialogue transcriptions are copied off the DVD subbed version of the anime.
Also, I am a day late in posting this essay. I lay the blame on the internet Gods for depriving me of connection this past week. -_-
When I first came across Gundam Wing three years ago, I was neither really a big fan of mecha nor of shounen anime. And Gundam Wing is all about mecha. And boys. No romance, none of all those sweet and fluffy little details that makes for good shoujo anime.
So how did I actually get sucked in? Because of the characters. More specifically -- Heero Yuy.
Brief introduction to Gundam Wing
Gundam Wing takes place in a far-off future where men have built and settled in outer space colonies.
The series starts off in the year After Colony 195 -- the space colonies are under control of the United Earth Sphere Alliance, an oppressive military force from Earth. To counter the Alliance’s tyranny, rebel colonists decide to bring a new arsenal of weapons to Earth in order to dismantle the organization from the inside, disguising them as shooting stars. Thus begins Operation Meteor.
The truth is, Heero’s orders when he’s sent off to Earth are to destroy the Alliance, but, more specifically, a cell within the Alliance -- OZ -- with Treize Khushrenada at its head. Indeed, according to the rebel colonists’ information, OZ has a secret agenda, and Heero must annihilate them before they carry out whatever plan it is they have brewing. He also doesn’t know that 4 other Gundam pilots -- all equally unaware of the others’ existences -- are being sent to Earth, with the exact same orders as his.
As it is, they all finally meet -- albeit the hard way.
Treize tricks the Gundam pilots into assassinating a group of Alliance leaders in favor of peace treaties with the colonies -- leading them to beleive at first that the target was holding a group of OZ leaders when in fact it was the group commonly known as The Doves of Peace. At the same moment, OZ is staging a succesful coup d’état at Alliance bases all around the world. They announce that the Gundams’ murder of the Alliance pacifist leaders is an act of hostility on part of the colonies and therefore war is declared.
First Encounter with Heero Yuy
Gundam Wing was first aired in France three years ago on a hype French music channel. It was heavily advertized, so out of curiosity, I decided to check it out.
[“I thought our mission was to bring in the weapon. But the real target is obviously the fighter pilot inside.”
Zechs Merquise, Ep1. ]
When we first see Heero, he’s inside his Gundam and is headed to Earth, which is his initial mission. But the Alliance catches onto his presence. Heero is also informed that the space craft after him is carrying mobile suits and that he must destroy them. He accepts the mission, turns around and attacks them. As he blows away two enemy mobile suits in one shot -- which awes Lieutenant Zechs Merquise, OZ’s and the Alliance’s champion -- he bursts out into a manic, psychotic laughter. That is what did me in. Well -- that and his totally cool, I-Don’t-Give-A-Fuck-What-Anyone-Thinks attitude of his. He was quiet, cold and no-nonsense -- and man was he capable of causing mayhem in that Wing Gundam of his! Totally kickass.
But when you look a bit closer, there’s much more to Heero than just that.
His past
First off, there is very little information on Heero prior to Operation Meteor. We know that, as a little boy, Heero was raised by an assassin by the name of Odin Lowe. He accompanied him on various jobs, posing as Odin’s son -- occasionally even helping him out.
At 7 years old, Heero knows how to use a gun.
When Heero’s 8 though, Odin dies during a job, leaving young Heero to fend for himself. Very little is known about this particular period of Heero’s life, other than he wandered the streets until one day, he meets Dr J who gives the little boy the opportunity to come with him. He teaches the boy a wide range of combat strategies, training him to be an assassin. Which shouldn’t be too difficult for him, given his past. In doing this, Dr J must have certainly also made him aware of the political situation in the colonies -- highlighting the wrongdoings the colonists have been subjected to under the Alliance’s tyranny, in order for the boy to have a reason to fight for, and showing him how good a reason his is. Which is what leads me to think that Heero is deeply idealistic, and that he beleives in the cause he is fighting for. If only for that it gives him a reason to exist.
Indeed, this is a boy who has been deprived of identity. Heero Yuy isn’t his real name. As it is, Heero was never given an actual name. Odin, the man who first takes care of him as a child simply dubs him ‘Kid’ and later on, Dr J calls him ‘Boy’. The first time he is called anything even remotely resembling a name is seconds before he’s about to leave L1 -- when Dr J decides that the boy’s codename will be Heero Yuy. In homage to the ideal of total pacifism proned by the man who ruled all of the colonies twenty years prior to when the series starts -- the original Heero Yuy. This man was known as a legend among the colonists, being a fervent advocate of total pacifism and a wise ruler under which the colonies were living in an era of stability and peace, until he was assassinated. From then on, communication ceased between the colonies and it became an excuse to fortify the Alliance Military. After all, isn’t ‘To divide for a better reigning’ a well-used strategy?
To have suddenly a name with such heavy symbolism to bear, the hopes of all the colonists bestowed upon him in such manner must have fueled his determination to fight for them, IMHO. Not only that but the fact that he must have had very little sense of his own worth, having been left alone at such a young age. This is only speculation on my part -- but where Duo’s childhood in the streets is often mentioned, because we are given actual visual evidence of the fact in the Episode Zero manga -- Heero’s own is blotty and thus open to speculation. Which I do gleefully.
Being a child, knowing no one due to his nomad life with Odin, Heero had no one to turn to, nowhere to go. My supposition is that he -- like Duo -- lived in the streets, just without the help and protection of a gang of orphans like himself. Which, in my eyes, would explain the extent of his antisocial-ness. I beleive that Heero has had very little in the way of social interaction. Or even of human contact in general. The first time he ever exchanges a handshake with someone is with Zechs when they are about to face off in Antarctica. That, and the fact that having been left completely alone, and not actually existing in the eyes of someone else must have made him feel pretty useless and left him wondering just what the hell was his purpose in life. Until someone came along and gave him a reason to be. And that would be the foundation for Heero’s wish to fight for the colonists’ freedom, of his devotion to the cause.
And why he views himself as expendable and easily replaced if he dies. His own safety, compared to the colonists’, isn’t even an issue as far as he’s concerned. Unless the colonies are at stake -- which is why he threatens to kill Relena on various instances. She’s a danger, she knows he is a Gundam pilot, and therefore could jeopardize his mission by revealing his identity to someone else.
At least, it is what I like to think.
An efficient, emotionless soldier
Not the way I see him.
As it is, Heero follows what he preaches. His famous words are “To live a good life, you must act upon your emotions”. And that is exactly what he does. Indeed, whenever Heero goes in for a mission with some sort of plan, more often than not does he end up deviating from it -- falling back on gut instinct more than anything else. For example when he goes in to get Duo out of an OZ prison in ep19, his first intention is to kill him in order to silence him once and for all. That doesn’t happen. Instead, when Duo -- who’s fully aware of why Heero is here for him in the first place -- asks him if he’s going to shoot him or not, Heero answers “Only if you want me to” before asking if his right hand’s okay and tossing him a gun. Then he blasts his way out of the OZ facility, a beat-up Duo in tow.
He is emotionally scarred. He has made mistakes during missions -- terrible mistakes -- and he bears heavy guilt for them. In Endless Waltz, we are treated to one of Heero’s sleep induced flash-backs in which Heero is remembering one of his very first missions wherein a little girl and her puppy were involved and how terribly wrong it had gone. Also, after having healed from his wounds caused by his self-destructing stunt in his Gundam, Heero actually tracks down and confronts Sylvia Noventa, Marshall Noventa’s -- one of the Alliance’s Doves of Peace -- granddaughter, reveals himself to be the one responsible for the man's death and hands her a gun, offering his own life in exchange for the Marshall's. [“This is the only thing I can do for you right now. I can’t undo my mistake. I hope the anger felt by the Marshall’s loved ones...and the regrets of the Marshall’s soul...can be somewhat eased if you pull that trigger.”]
What, in my eyes, makes Heero such a good agent is his ability to adapt to circumstances. He’s not terribly good at infiltration, because more often than not does he stick out like a sore thumb, but he’s able to overcome most -- if not any -- obstacles whatever they may be. He’s a young man full of resources. For instance, if he has his mind set on getting somewhere, he’ll find a way into it. For example when he manages to get into the guarded battleship Libra before his actual scheduled face to face battle with Zechs. Or the way he finds his way into the colony Duo’s incarcerated in -- he distracts a guard with a cabbage before knocking him unconscious. He’ll also find his way *out* of anything.
Also a small note that sort of amused me. Often, Duo comes across as the character who likes big, fiery explosions the most, and it is often stated that he is the bombs expert. But, upon watching Gundam Wing obsessively for the 35994754th time, I couldn’t help but notice that beneath his cool, calm and quiet demeanor, Heero is actually the one who enjoys big, fiery explosions more often than not and has been the author of quite a few of those throughout the entire series....
The thing is, Heero is able to compartmentalize his feelings. In ep 7 for instance, while it’s true that all 4 Gundam pilots present are tricked into believing that they’re about to kill OZ leaders, not the Alliance’s pacifists, it’s nonetheless Heero who gives them the final blow. After he finds out that he’s actually murdered the Doves of Peace, mistaking them for OZ leaders, he has a moment where he kinds of spaces out. He seems in deep shock. But as soon as Sally calls out to him, asking him to deactivate missiles that had been set to destroy the base where he, Quatre and Duo are, he responds without hesitation. He sets off to where the missiles are and manages to deactivate them in the nick of time. [“A failed mission means death, but my card isn’t up yet!”]
In the same vein, for Heero, there is a time for everything. Even a time to relax. During Heero and Quatre’s time together on Earth, there’s a moment where we see them on a beach, and Heero is playing with dogs while Quatre is brooding.
[“Don’t you want to play with the dogs? We’re not fighting now, so it’s okay to play.”]
This also reminds us that Heero, in the end, is just a kid trying to deal in the way he’s been taught to.
Personality traits
He’s a very quiet, soft-spoken and calm boy. He never shouts, screams or gets angry. Except at himself. The only times where we get to see Heero actually upset are the times when he disappoints himself. I.e, when he repeatedly fails to kill Relena, even though she represents a danger to him since she knows that he’s a Gundam pilot; or when he realizes the horrible mistake he made when he killed the Doves of Peace. But other than those instances, he’s always very reserved.
It’s not that Heero doesn’t speak much. It’s that Heero doesn’t speak often. If he has something to say though, he’ll say it. He always answers when asked his opinion on something. Even if he has no particular one on the subject broached.
He is opinionated. And he isn’t afraid to let people know what he thinks. At one of the school he enrolls in to maintain his cover, he introduces himself by delivering a long -- and what seems to be very controversial, since he is stopped in the middle of it -- speech about war and peace.
He’s very intense and not only is he fiercely dediacted to the colonists cause, but he’s also terribly independant. Because I believe that Heero chooses his missions as information is sent to him (after all, he does say “Mission accepted.” whenever he is sent a mission. Which, to me, implies that he can just as well say “Mission refused.”) He’s not a controlled puppet. He decides on what actions to take as things happen. He acts on his own, as evidenced when the 5 Scientists responsible for Operation Meteor -- of which Dr J is a part of -- and the construction of the Gundams are brought into OZ custody, taking upon himself to retrieve them on the Lunar Base in order to eliminate them before OZ can use them to design more powerful weapons of mass destruction.
He has a sense of humor - a very dry, deadpan one - but a sense of humor nonetheless. For instance when he tells Trowa that dying “hurts like hell”, when he realizes that Trowa is planning to follow Heero’s example by self-destructing in his Gundam for his next mission. But this trait of Heero’s is most often demonstrated in what we see of Heero’s relationship with Duo. They have this little game of taunts going on between them. Heero likes to tease Duo, in a way. And Duo likes to challenge Heero.
Heero’s relationships with the other characters
Heero and Duo
The first time Heero and Duo meet, Duo shoots Heero to protect a Relena, whom Heero is threatening with a gun. Twice. As a result, Heero is transported to a hospital under Alliance surveillance, from which Duo later bails him out. He brings the injured pilot along with him to where he is currently stationed and offers to repair Heero’s damaged Gundam. Heero thanks him by stealing parts off Duo’s Gundam, and later on, busting him out of an OZ prison. All the while teasing and challenging each other -- Duo in his boisterous, loud manner, and Heero in his more subdued, subtle style. But these two appreciate each other, and Heero definitely acknowledges Duo as the excellent pilot he is.
[Duo: “How’s this for some shuttle maneuvering?” (as they fly unscathed through a hostile zone where they’re being attacked by mobile dolls)
Heero: “I was counting on those skills right from the beginning.” Endless Waltz OVA]
Heero and Trowa
Heero’s first encounter with Trowa is when he wakes up from a month long coma during which Trowa nursed him back to life. They spend a lot of time together, supporting each other without ever really interfering in one another’s business. Trowa even helps Heero in his little journey in search of some form of atonement for his mistake. It seems to me, even though Trowa and Heero have this quiet understanding and respect for one another, that Trowa seems to look up to Heero a great deal. ["Should I be following your example?” (in regards to Heero’s decision to self-destruct when the rebel colonists accepted to surrender to OZ)] In fact, Trowa respects Heero enough to actually lend him his Gundam Heavyarms for his battle against Zechs in Antarctica, since Heero's Wing is still being repaired. Same thing when they meet in space aboard the Peacemillion spaceship -- Heero doesn’t even twitch when he realizes that Trowa has run off to fight with his Wing Zero (the Zero system enhanced version of his Gundam).
Heero and Quatre
Heero and Quatre both have a great deal of respect for one another and a deep understanding -- even though their views differ quite drastically sometimes. Where Heero views himself as a tool, a weapon, even acting so most of the time, and believes that the idea of a country without weapons such as the Sank kingdom in these times of war -- advocating total pacifism when all of the Earth and the space colonies are torn between ceaseless battles -- is absurd and will only make the Sank inhabitants vulnerable to belligerent nations. Whereas Quatre has been raised as a pacifist and believes in the Sank kingdom at a time where Heero doesn’t. But this doesn't stop Heero from recognizing Quatre’s skill as a tactician, even going so far as to trusting him to master the Zero system, regardless of Quatre’s first disastrous experience with it - and lead the other Gundam pilots to victory over Whitefang’s army of mobile suits.
Heero and Wu Fei
There’s very little to say about Heero and Wu Fei’s relationship from what we see in the anime. They interact very little, although from what we *do* see, there seems to be -- here too -- a great deal of respect. Wu Fei even goes so far as to say, when they’re all gathered on Peacemillion and Heero has just taken off to retreive Relena on Libra, that he’d "figured Yuy for the sanest one among [the Gundam pilots]".
Heero and Relena
Heero’s relationship with Relena doesn’t start off too well. At first, she’s just a civilian who knows a bit too much and must be eliminated before becoming a threat to his safety. And honestly, at first, Heero doesn’t seem to see anymore in her. I think that had Duo not intervened that day on the docks, Heero might have possibly killed Relena. Later on, he realizes who she really is and she informs him that she’s met Dr J. Knowing that, it is possible that Heero might have felt a little more relaxed about her, seeing as how Dr J had deemed her worthy enough of information. Which might be an explanation for why he can’t bring himself to kill her when given the occasion, seeing as how she’s now no longer a potential threat, but an innocent now, too. There’s also the popular idea that Heero sees in Relena a reflection of the Little Girl and her Puppy that he accidentally killed during a mission gone wrong (per the flash-back dream in Endless Waltz). Which would make sense, too. But there’s no doubt that towards the end, he has come to admire Relena greatly and feels a deep affection for her.
[Relena: “Heero, you really are amazing.”
Heero: “Look who’s talking.”
Relena: “Nonsense. You’ve given me the hope and strength to live. I’m sure you make others feel the same.”
Heero: “Don’t make me repeat myself. I’m nothing compared to you.” ep 46]
Heero and Zechs Merquise/Milliardo Peacecraft
Milliardo Peacecraft (Relena's long lost brother who worked for the Alliance and then OZ under a secret identity -- aka Zechs Merquise) is Heero’s Rival -- with a big ‘R’. His nemesis, even. They hardly need to speak to understand each other, and when Heero announces that he will kill Zechs to thank him for reparing Wing, Zechs looks pleased. These two have the same kind of soldier mentality and deal with each other as equals. Along with this silent understanding thing they have going on, there is the constant itch to beat each other, even though most of the time it’s a draw between them, as seen during their fight -- Heero inside Epyon, Zechs inside Wing Zero. They could have gone on and on forever had exhaustion not taken over -- proving their equality in combat.
But in the end, Heero is the one who truly wins out because, unlike Zechs, the Zero system with its ability to calculate the future has not warped Heero's view of the world (whereas Zechs kind of lost it, wanting to destroy the Earth because he'd come to the conclusion that the Earth itself was source of all wars and meaningless battles). Eventually, during their last fight, Zechs comes to his senses, shaked by Heero's determination and finally disappears in a grand deed of redemption, trying to prevent a piece of the now crumbling battleship Libra from entering the Earth's atmosphere, therefore causing some sort of terrible cataclysm.
Alas, Zechs's gesture isn't enough, as there is one more piece of metal threatening the Earth. Heero rushes in its direction with his Gundam's beam cannon and blasts the offending piece of metal into oblivion. Having saved the Earth from destruction, he then flies off into space, until he and his comrades are needed a year later. Once again, Heero comes in to save the world and the colonies from any warmongers threatening to opress the people. Once again, he risks his life but overcomes this last obstacle to his ideal of peace.
And once all is settled, he disappears amidst the crowd, a small smile on his lips. His job is done. He can start living for himself, now.
Fanfiction recommendations
mookiegatto's fanfiction, archived @ GW Addiction, in the fanfiction section, under the pen name Mookie. She writes mostly Heero-centric fics, with a neat inclination for 1x2x1, even though she has also dabbled in 1x4x1 and 1x6x1. My personal favorite, though, amongst all her fics is Just Like the Rain, a get together, lemony 2x1 fic. She writes a deeply contemplative Heero, her style abounds with symbolism and her writing is all around a treat.
natea2x1's fanfiction. Also archived at GW Addiction in the fanfiction section, under the pen name Natea. Same here, writes mostly Heero-centric fics of the 1x2x1 persuasion. My personal favorite is Thanatozoe, a ficlet with a 2x1 flavor. Natea captures Heero's voice wonderfully, as far as I'm concerned. Like Mookie, she writes him deeply contemplative and poetic.
merith writes essentially 1x2x1 fanfiction, and her fics can be found at the Shinigami & Wing archive. Merith writes a very poetic Heero. A very human one, too. I'd best describe her writing as -- as she puts it -- a representation of a small slice of life -- a forkful of chocolate cake. My personal favorite is her Good in Little Things arc.