How to Understand Timelines in the Mobile Suit Gundam Universe
Image Source: Plex
The Mobile Suit Gundam franchise is a series that has thrived over the decades, continuously reinventing and re-imagining the mecha genre, delivering countless shows and movies with different stories, settings, characters, and, of course, Mobile Suits. But within the franchise’s 45-year history, it can be hard to keep track of all the different timelines within this sprawling universe, and what shows, comics, books and movies are attached to each. This is how to understand the major timelines in the Mobile Suit Gundam Universe.
Universal Century
Image Source: TMDB
The timeline that started it all, the Universal Century, also known as the UC, is the home of major events such as the One Year War between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon, and the rise of factions such as Neo Zeon, the Sleeves, and Mafty. The Universal Century makes up the majority of Gundam media, with decades of different shows, movies, OVAs, and light novels.
This classic timeline has a wide variety of iconic characters with fleshed-out story arcs, such as OG Gundam protagonist Amuro Ray, Char Aznable, Artesia Deikun, Commander Bright Noa, his son Hathaway Noa, Banagher Links, and more. The Universal Century gave birth to a new type (get it?) of mecha anime that continues to set and raise the bar of what mecha anime can be.
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While there is a massive slate of projects that make up the UC, here is a brief rundown of the key shows, OVAs, and Movies that make up the Universal Century in chronological order:
Mobile Suit Gundam (1979-1980)
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985)
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (1986)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack (1988)
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (2010-2014)
Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway (2021)
The Universal Century does give birth to alternate universes every so often, though the most notable example is the 2025 series Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, which takes place during the time period of Zeta Gundam, but is set in a world where Zeon wins the One Year War instead of the Earth Federation.
The next mainline UC project is a continuation of the Hathaway’s Flash storyline, titled The Sorcery of Nymph Circe, which is set to release in 2026.
After Colony
Image Source: Gundam.info
One of the first non-UC continuities, After Colony, or AC, shakes up the status quo, turning the iconic Gundam into a symbol of resistance, the mobile suits of space colonies against the United Earth Sphere Alliance, the new powers that be. It’s in this timeline that we meet protagonist Heero Yuy in the year AC 145, in this timeline’s two projects: the 1995 anime Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, and its sequel film, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz.
Correct Century
Image Source: TMDB
The Correct Century, or CC, is something of an enigma among the individual timelines, in that despite having no direct connection to other timelines at first, it goes out of its way to acknowledge the Universal Century as part of this world’s ‘Dark History,’ roughly 2300 years before its own story takes place.
The Correct Century is the time period of the 1999 anime Turn-A Gundam, which presents a world that’s regressed over the millennia since prior series, with Earth having reached a new industrial revolution in a Victorian time period. The series raises questions about whether ancient tools of war can become tools for peace when the mysterious Moonrace launches an invasion on Earth, and the eponymous Gundam lands in the hands of pacifist Loran Cehack.
Cosmic Era
Image Source: TMDB
The Cosmic Era, or CE, is the second-largest continuity within Gundam lore, having birthed a whole universe of stories beyond one-off stories like the Correct Century and After Colony. This is a timeline born from an Earth devastated by war and disease, and its contents focus on an ongoing war between the Earth Alliance and PLANT, the ruling power in Space.
The story of the Cosmic Era is comprised of two shows, a movie, a handful of OVAs and shorts, two video games, and many manga one-shots exploring different corners of this new universe. Here are the core projects for understanding the Cosmic Era:
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002)
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (2004)
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom (2024)
Anno Domini
Image Source: Scifi Japan
Said to be a quiet precursor to the Cosmic Era, Anno Domini, or AD, brings things to a more familiar perspective, with its calendar and time period being rooted within our own time, predicting what a Gundam series might look like if set 300 years from now.
Anno Domini is the time of the 2007 series Mobile Suit Gundam 00, as well as its sequel film, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: The Wakening of the Trailblazer, which sees Earth falling apart, and a new war being waged that brings about the introduction of Gundams in this universe.
Post Disaster
Image Source: TMDB
Post Disaster’s timeline sets a rather different stage, with Gundams no longer being the pinnacle of modern mecha, but instead are somewhat obsolete, yet incredibly lethal war relics left behind in the aftermath of the Calamity War, a conflict between the Earth Sphere and Space.
Post Disaster is the universe of the 2015 series Iron Blooded Orphans: Mobile Suit Gundam, which is set 300 years after the Calamity War, focusing on the conflict between the martian mercenaries known as Tekkadan, and the ruling faction Gjallarhorn.
A spinoff film, titled Iron Blooded Orphans: Urdr Hunt, was announced in late 2023. No release date has been revealed.
Ad Stella
Image Source: Rotten Tomatoes
Ad Stella is the most recent original timeline in the Mobile Suit Gundam universe, and is a timeline where colonies in space are effectively ruled by corporatocracies amid an arms race, where their common ground for testing and showcasing their mobile suits and technology is a prestigious high school.
Ad Stella is the time of the 2022 anime Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, which introduced the concept of the Gundam to a new generation of fans. The series also has a spinoff manga and light novel, though these have not yet released internationally
Super Deformed
Image Source: Plex
Last, and most certainly not least, Super Deformed, or SD is a collection of manga and animated shorts bringing characters and mobile suits from different timelines together for comedic spoofs, parodies, and reimaginings of storylines from different shows, movies and OVAs. There is a massive slate of SD Gundam shorts, but a full series released in 2003, titled SD Gundam Force, is the most notable.
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