Last Revision: July 16, 2003


When does Gundam take place?

The multiple worlds of the Gundam saga are futuristic space ages, a century or more in the future, in which new calendar systems have been adopted in place of the modern-day A.D. (Anno Domini) calendar. We can distinguish these worlds by the calendar systems they use; for example, the original Mobile Suit Gundam series and its sequels use the Universal Century calendar, while the world of G Gundam uses the Future Century calendar, and the events of Gundam Wing are recorded using the After Colony calendar.

The use of different calendar systems makes it hard to state with certainty how these future worlds are related to our own era - or indeed, if the claims of one recent series are true, to each other. (See "Is there more than one Gundam world?" for more on this subject.) However, while the aforementioned series depicts all the Gundam worlds as simply different phases in a single history, it also indicates that the Universal Century is the first of these space ages and the direct successor to our own A.D. era.

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When does the Universal Century begin?

The Universal Century setting of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series appears to lie in the relatively near future. In many of the U.C. timelines published over the years, it's claimed that the construction of the first orbital space colonies begins in the year A.D. 2045. (This claim is echoed in the opening narration of the G-Saviour television special.) However, this is a distinct date from U.C. 0001, the year in which actual migration to the space colonies begins. By most estimates, decades of construction work would be required before these colonies were ready for habitation.

The correspondence between A.D. and U.C. calendars is further constrained by evidence from the official timelines (which establish that U.C. 0088 is a leap year) and the animated series (in Gundam 0080, we see a newspaper dated "Monday, January 14, 0080"). Of the years following A.D. 2045 which might correspond to U.C. 0001, only a handful produce the correct combination of leap years and weekdays, among them the A.D. years 2053, 2081, 2109, and 2149. Thus, depending on the time elapsed between colony construction and actual migration, the U.C. 0079 setting of the original Mobile Suit Gundam might correspond to A.D. 2131, 2159, 2187, or even later. The safest conclusion might be that the original series is set sometime in what we would call the 22nd Century.

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Where does Gundam take place?

The scope of the Gundam series is largely limited to Earth, the moon, and the hundreds of artificial space colonies that orbit the planet - a system collectively described as the "Earth sphere." Some side stories range further out into the solar system to depict events at the asteroid belt, Mars, and Jupiter, but all the animated features to date have taken place within the confines of the Earth sphere.

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What are space colonies?

Space colonies are one of the Gundam saga's trademark elements, appearing in every series except Turn A Gundam. These are descendants of modern-day space stations, designed for permanent habitation by thousands or even millions of people. Most Gundam series deal, at least in part, with the social tensions created by the separation of the human race into Earth-dwellers and space colonists.

The space colonies used in the Universal Century world are based on the Island Three design proposed by Princeton professor Gerard K. O'Neill in the 1970s. This type of colony is an immense metal cylinder, 20 miles long and four miles in diameter, which generates artificial gravity by rotating about its lengthwise axis. The artificial terrain inside the cylinder can house millions of people in an Earth-like environment.

In the Universal Century series, we see two variants of this Island Three design - an "open" type which reflects sunlight into the cylinder interior via giant mirror panels, and a "closed" type which uses an internal lighting system. We also see a handful of Island One colonies, smaller spherical models which house roughly ten thousand people and are used as movable construction shacks.

The After Colony world of Gundam Wing uses wheel-shaped space colonies, 11 miles in diameter and 2.5 miles wide, each of which houses roughly 1.5 million people. In the Future Century world of G Gundam, advanced technology has enabled humanity to create whimsical space islands of all shapes and sizes, which reflect the national heritage of their inhabitants. And in the Cosmic Era setting of the new Gundam Seed series, the genetically-engineered space settlers known as Coordinators live in hourglass-shaped constructs called PLANTs.

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Where are the space colonies located?

Although the various Gundam worlds use different styles for their space colonies, their locations are the same in each case. The space colonies are organized into clusters at the five Lagrange points, which are regions in Earth orbit where the gravitational forces of Earth and the moon combine to create a stable balance.

Since these regions are created by the interactions of Earth and its satellite, their positions are fixed relative to the moon. Lagrange point 1, or L1, is in front of the moon, and L2 is behind it. L3 is on the other side of Earth, 180 degrees opposite the moon. L4 and L5 are likewise located along the moon's orbital track, 60 degrees to either side of the moon. In some Gundam worlds, the colony clusters are identified by their respective Lagrange points. In the Universal Century, L4 and L5 each contain two separate colony clusters, so there are a total of seven of these clusters, or "Sides."

In addition to space colonies, all the Gundam worlds also feature lunar cities or bases. The moon's low gravity makes it unsuitable for long-term habitation, but it's a convenient site for resource mining and military operations. In the Universal Century world, the moon's population of "Lunarians" are considered a third social category in addition to the planet-dwelling "earthnoids" and the "spacenoids" who live in the orbital colonies.

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