An informal title given to pilots who destroy five or more enemy vehicles. The term itself dates back to the dawn of aerial combat during World War I. In the Universal Century, pilots usually fight in mobile suits rather than aircraft, and it's not clear whether enemy fighters and tanks should be counted towards an ace's victory tally.

The psycommu system, which permits instantaneous mind-machine communication, enables a Newtype pilot to control multiple gun turrets or remote weapons and perform a simultaneous coordinated attack. This tactic, in which the target is assaulted from multiple directions at the same time, is known as an all-range attack.

The first machine capable of performing this all-range attack is the MAN-03 Braw Bro, which uses cables to relay control signals and electrical power to its wire-guided mega particle cannons. More sophisticated examples include the MAN-08 Elmeth, which can deploy a complement of wireless attack drones called bits, and the AMX-004 Qubeley, which can perform an all-range attack with its funnels.

A treaty between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon, signed on January 31, U.C. 0079, in the neutral territory of Antarctica. This treaty establishes basic rules of warfare in order to end the carnage that characterized the One Year War's opening month. It prohibits the use of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, poison gas, and colony drops; guarantees the safety of neutral parties like the lunar cities, Side 6, and the Jupiter Fleet; and establishes rules for the treatment of prisoners.

When the Principality is dissolved at the end of the One Year War, the Antarctic Treaty becomes officially defunct. However, most of its provisions are enshrined as international law with the signing of the Granada peace accords.

The largest space battle of the One Year War, which takes place at Side 5 - also known as Loum - on January 15, U.C. 0079. The battle begins when the Principality of Zeon invades Side 5, intending to launch a second Operation British colony drop, and meets fierce resistance from an Earth Federation space fleet led by General Revil. Dozle Zabi, the commander of the Principality forces, soon abandons the colony drop and instead directs his forces to attack the Federation fleet directly.

In the ensuing fighting, the Principality's mobile suits demonstrate their true potential for the first time. Char Aznable earns the nickname "Red Comet" for destroying five Federation battleships, while the Black Tri-Stars team captures General Revil himself. The Earth Federation Space Force is virtually wiped out in this engagement, and the space colonies of Side 5 are reduced to ruins. [Gundam]

The positions that the crew of a military vessel are assigned to during combat. Aboard the warships of the Universal Century, there are three distinct levels of combat readiness, which are announced at the captain's orders.

An announcement of level 3 battle stations indicates the possibility that combat may occur. All combat personnel should be on alert, but the activities of non-combatants are unrestricted.

Level 2 battle stations is a more urgent condition. The movements and activities of non-combat personnel are restricted as long as the alert is in effect.

The declaration of level 1 battle stations indicates an actual combat emergency. At this point, all available pilots and gunners are required to stand by at their assigned locations, and prepare to engage the enemy.

A mobile suit pilot team made up of Gaia, Ortega, and Mash. The Black Tri-Stars are among the Principality's most famous ace pilots, renowned for their capture of the Earth Federation's General Revil during the Battle of Loum, and for their devastating "Jetstream Attack." [Gundam]

As part of the continuing cleanup from the One Year War, the Earth Federation decides to relocate lightly-damaged space colonies from war-ravaged Sides to the overcrowded Side 3. The first phase of the program is carried out in U.C. 0082, and the second begins on November 1, U.C. 0083, as two colonies begin their voyage from Side 1. [Gundam 0083]

During the One Year War, the Principality of Zeon and the researchers of the Flanagan Institute conduct pioneering research into Newtype phenomena, developing the mind-machine interface known as the psycommu system and special weapon systems for use by Newtype pilots. After the war, the Earth Federation Forces obtain information on the Principality's technology from captured enemy facilities, and establish a network of Newtype Labs to continue this research. In addition to psycommu hardware, these organizations also address the "software" side by discovering a way to artificially enhance normal humans into so-called cyber-Newtypes.

These cyber-Newtypes receive numerous physical and mental enhancements, including organ transplants, biotechnological modifications, and chemicals that increase their reaction speed and radiation resistance. They are also subjected to extensive hypnotic conditioning, in which their personalities and memories are manipulated to make them into more effective soldiers. However, this process has the unfortunate side-effect of rendering the cyber-Newtype mentally unstable.

An elite Principality of Zeon special forces team, commanded by Lieutenant Steiner Hardy. In the last weeks of the One Year War, the Cyclops Team is assigned to locate and destroy the RX-78NT1 Gundam. While its base of operations is the lunar city Granada, headquarters of the Mobile Assault Force, the Cyclops Team carries out missions both on Earth and in space. [Gundam 0080]

A nickname used for people who live on Earth, as distinct from spacenoids and lunarians.

A development program launched by SNRI, whose goal is to provide the Earth Federation Forces with a line of next-generation mobile suits to replace the antiquated RX series. The first product of the Formula Project is the prototype F90 Gundam, a highly compact model which can be adapted to a wide variety of combat situations using optional mission packs.

In U.C. 0111, the Federation Forces selects the F90 as the basis for its next-generation mobile suit development. Using this machine as a testbed, SNRI goes on to develop the F90 series of fighter mobile suits, the F80 series of general-purpose mass production units, the F70 series of support types, and the F60 series of specialized close-combat models. Only a handful of these mobile suits, including the F71 G-Cannon and the experimental F91 Gundam, are deployed prior to the Crossbone Vanguard's attack on the Frontier Side. [Gundam F91]

The conflict which begins on March 2, U.C. 0087, when the AEUG resistance group launches an attack on the main headquarters of the Earth Federation's Titans taskforce. The space colony Green Noa 2, where the Titans are based, bears the codename Gryps, so the ensuing events are generally referred to as the Gryps Conflict. The fighting between the AEUG and the Titans subsequently escalates to involve the rest of the Earth Federation Forces, the Republic of Zeon, and even renegade soldiers of the defeated Principality. [Zeta Gundam]

A top-secret mobile suit development program launched by the Earth Federation Forces in October of U.C. 0081. As part of their post-war rearmament, the Federation Forces commission Anaheim Electronics, a civilian corporation, to create a series of experimental mobile suits based on the RX-78 Gundam. The first prototypes produced by the Gundam Development Project are completed in September of U.C. 0083. [Gundam 0083]

A maneuver used by the Black Tri-Stars, in which the team's three members line up and then attack at high speed, one following another in a lethal triple assault. While the Jetstream Attack was originally devised for space combat, the remarkable hovering speed of the MS-09 Dom allows the Black Tri-Stars to replicate this tactic on the ground as well. [Gundam]

An area of gravitational stability created by the interactions of a planet and its satellite. (See Maps of Earth Sphere.) These points are named after Joseph Louis Lagrange, the mathematician who first predicted their existence. There are five such regions in the Earth-moon system, referred to as L1 through L5, which make ideal sites for space colonies. The contents of these Lagrange points orbit Earth at the same speed as the moon, so their positions appear more or less fixed in relation to it.

The space colonies that orbit Earth are clustered into seven Sides, distributed among the five Lagrange points. The majority of these colonies are located at L4 and L5, which lie along the moon's orbital path, 60 degrees to either side of the moon itself. These regions are more stable than L1, L2, and L3, which respectively lie in front of, behind, and 180 degrees opposite the moon.

A nickname used for people who live in the lunar cities, as distinct from earthnoids and spacenoids.

A type of human gifted with amazing powers of insight. The emergence of Newtypes is predicted by Zeon Zum Deikun, who believes that living in space will usher in a new stage of human evolution. During the One Year War, the researchers of the Principality of Zeon confirm the existence of people with superhuman powers of intuition and awareness, and learn to use these abilities for military purposes. In the following years Newtypes come to be seen as living weapons, a perception that they must somehow overcome if they ever hope to bring about the human revolution that Deikun predicted.

As the researchers of the Principality's Flanagan Institute discover, Newtypes have an unusual ability to transmit and receive the thoughtwaves, or psycho-waves, generated by human mental activity. This enables Newtypes to communicate with machines via thought alone, and their sensitivity to the thoughtwaves of other humans allows them to react to the hostile intentions of enemy pilots with superhuman speed. These abilities make Newtypes lethally effective in combat.

The nickname of Anavel Gato, who is stationed at the asteroid fortress Solomon during the One Year War. Gato earns this alias during his devastating sorties against the Earth Federation Forces. [Gundam 0083]

Not everyone welcomes the notion that humanity is evolving into a new form. Those who hate and fear Newtypes, and cling to the notion that humanity belongs on Earth, are sometimes referred to as Oldtypes.

The first seven days of the One Year War, from January 3 to January 10 of U.C. 0079. Three seconds after its formal declaration of war against the Earth Federation, the Principality of Zeon launches simultaneous surprise attacks on Sides 1, 2, and 4. Using nuclear weapons and poison gas, the Principality forces massacre millions of civilians along with the Federation soldiers stationed in the space colonies, and some 2.8 billion innocent spacenoids are wiped out in the carnage.

After this first wave of attacks, the Principality launches Operation British, whose target is the Federation Forces headquarters on Earth. Though the falling colony misses the Jaburo base itself, it wreaks immense damage on the planet. More than 200 million lives are lost in the initial impact, and countless more due to the ensuing environmental disruption. In addition to these civilian casualties, both sides lose much of their fighting strength during the heavy fighting of the One Week Battle.

The devastating war waged between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon during the year U.C. 0079. Since it begins on January 3 and ends on December 31 of this year, the conflict is later called the One Year War. This is the setting of several stories in the Gundam saga, including the original Mobile Suit Gundam, The 08th MS Team, and Gundam 0080.

A major offensive in which the Titans seize control of Von Braun, the largest lunar city. The Titans anticipate that the capture of Von Braun - of which it is said that whoever controls it, controls all of space - will give them both a strategic advantage and a major propaganda victory. The operation is carried out on August 10, U.C. 0087, by a Titan fleet assisted by auxiliary forces from the Republic of Zeon. Six days later the Earth Federation Assembly, duly impressed by this show of force, decides to place the entire Federation Forces under Titan command. [Zeta Gundam]

After attacking Sides 1, 2, and 4 at the start of the One Year War, the Principality of Zeon attempts to bring the war to a swift conclusion by destroying the headquarters of the Earth Federation Forces. Forcing a depopulated Side 2 space colony out of orbit, the Principality sends it falling towards the Federation's Jaburo base in South America, in a maneuver codenamed Operation British.

For three days the Federation Forces launch continuous attacks on the runaway colony, but are unable to break through the Principality fleets that surround it. At last the Federation Forces withdraw, and the colony enters Earth's atmosphere on January 10, U.C. 0079, only to break apart over the Persian Gulf. The fragments of the colony scatter across Australia and North America, failing to strike Jaburo but wreaking immense havoc on the Earth and its environment.

The codename for the Earth Federation Space Force's assault on the asteroid fortress Solomon, which is the forward base of the Principality of Zeon's space forces. The campaign is officially launched on December 14, U.C. 0079, and concludes with the capture of Solomon ten days later. Having occupied Solomon, the Federation then uses it as a staging area for Operation Star One, the final assault on the Zeon homeland. [Gundam]

On February 2, U.C. 0088, the AEUG attempts to seize control of the Gryps 2 colony laser, which has been captured by the renegade Principality of Zeon forces based at the asteroid Axis. During the operation, the AEUG's warships continually circle the Axis fleet, firing into the center. This maneuver creates the impression of a giant whirlpool, hence the operation's codename. [Zeta Gundam]

The Federation Forces' first major terrestrial counteroffensive, targeting the Principality of Zeon's Odessa mining facilities. The final assault on Odessa is launched on November 7, U.C. 0079, and ends in a Federation victory after two days of intense battle. Though a handful of Federation mobile suits participate in the fighting and in the subsequent mopping-up operations, for the most part the battle is won with conventional tanks and attack planes. [Gundam, 08th MS Team]

In the last week of the One Year War, the Earth Federation Space Force launches its final offensive against the Principality of Zeon, codenamed Operation Star One. Using the asteroid fortress Solomon as a staging area, the Federation now plans to capture the asteroid A Baoa Qu and the lunar city of Granada, before proceeding into the Zeon homeland of Side 3. However, the war ends with the Battle of A Baoa Qu on December 31, U.C. 0079, and Operation Star One is never completed. [Gundam]

The Delaz Fleet's master plan, a campaign of retaliation against the Earth Federation which is launched in October of U.C. 0083. Operation Stardust is intended to weaken the reconstructed Federation Forces, and inspire others to resist the Federation's rule. [Gundam 0083]

The Federation Forces' top-secret mobile suit development program, launched in April of U.C. 0079. The RX-78 Gundam, RX-77 Guncannon, and RX-75 Guntank are all prototype designs created as part of Operation V. The project also led to the creation of new types of spaceships designed to carry mobile suits, such as the Pegasus-class assault carrier. [Gundam]

A secret mobile suit development project launched by Anaheim Electronics around the start of the Gryps Conflict. Project Zeta's goal is to develop high-performance transformable mobile suit with revolutionary new capabilities. Its first great success is the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam, which is capable of undergoing re-entry and then flying unassisted in Earth's atmosphere. [Zeta Gundam]

Commonly referred to as thoughtwaves, these are signals similar to regular brainwaves, which are generated by human mental processes. The minds of Newtype emit particularly strong psycho-waves, which can be received and interpreted by mechanical interfaces like the psycommu system. Unlike normal brainwaves, these signals are not electrical in nature and their transmission is unaffected by Minovsky particle interference. This phenomenon enables Newtype pilots to control remote weapons via psycho-wave signals, which are relayed through the psycommu system.

This codename encompasses a variety of research and development projects conducted by the Crossbone Vanguard commander known as Iron Mask. The products of the Rafflesia Project include the anti-personnel robots known as Bugs, the mobile armor XMA-01 Rafflesia, and the advanced neo-psycommu system which Iron Mask uses to control the Rafflesia itself. [Gundam F91]

The nickname of Char Aznable, which he earns by destroying five Federation battleships at the Battle of Loum. The "Red Comet" alias refers to the scarlet colors Char uses on his personalized mobile suit, and the amazing speed with which he rockets through the battlefield. [Gundam]

The space colonies that orbit Earth are grouped into seven clusters called Sides, which are located at gravitationally stable Lagrange points. Each Side is made up of roughly 35 to 40 colony cylinders and, at least until the devastation of the One Year War, they house more than a billion people apiece. Each Side is a distinct administrative unit, and a couple of them even form their own political identities, distinct from that of the Earth Federation. (See Maps of Earth Sphere.)

At the dawn of the Universal Century, a massive space settlement program is launched to address Earth's energy, environmental, and population problems. Huge space stations are constructed in Earth orbit to house the emigrants, and by U.C. 0050, these space colonies are home to 80% of the human race. Each colony can support millions of people, and they're grouped into clusters called Sides, each made up of between 35 and 40 colonies and housing a billion or more people.

These space colonies are enormous metal cylinders, twenty miles long and four miles in diameter, which rotate every two minutes to create artificial gravity. Most colonies use an open design, with external mirrors which reflect sunlight into the interior through giant window panels, but the colonies of Side 3 use a closed design in which illumination is provided by an artificial lighting system that runs down the axis of the colony cylinder. Each colony is ringed by manufacturing plants, agricultural modules and solar power arrays, which make it more or less self-sufficient.

The raw resources required for colony construction are initially extracted from the moon, and delivered to the construction area via mass drivers installed on the lunar surface. In later years, asteroids like Luna II, 5th Luna and Solomon are placed in Earth orbit to serve as movable resource mines.

A nickname for people who live in the space colonies, as distinct from earthnoids and lunarians.

The new calendar system used in Mobile Suit Gundam and its sequels, which is adopted at the start of the space settlement program. It's not known precisely which A.D. year corresponds to U.C. 0001.

The preferred term for the One Year War among the Principality of Zeon's soldiers.

The visionary politician who leads Side 3 to independence from the Earth Federation. Deikun believes that humanity's destiny is to migrate into space, and that a new stage of human evolution will begin as a result. In U.C. 0052 Deikun moves to Side 3 to spread his views, going on to found the independent Republic of Zeon. Side 3's beloved leader expires in U.C. 0068 under what could charitably be described as suspicious circumstances, and his successors borrow his name for their own Principality of Zeon.