Heine Westenfluss

Infobox animanga character
name = Heine Westenfluss
series = Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny


caption = Heine Westenfluss in "Gundam SEED Destiny"
first = "Gundam SEED Destiny" episode 19
last = "Gundam SEED Destiny" episode 23
creator =
voiced by = Takanori Nishikawa (Japanese)
Brian Dobson (English)
alias =
age = 21 [GSD]
born = September 19, CE 52
death =
nationality = PLANT [GS/GSD]
relatives =
paux1 name = Genetic type
paux1 = Coordinator
divider = yes
aux1 name = Allegiance
aux1 = ZAFT [GS/GSD]

aux2 name = Rank
aux2 = Red uniform [GS]
FAITH [GSD]
aux3 name = Mobile weapons
aux3 = YFX-600R GuAIZ Experimental Firearms Type [GS]
ZGMF-1001 Blaze ZAKU Phantom [GSD]
ZGMF-X2000 GOUF Ignited [GSD]

nihongo|Heine Westenfluss|ハイネ・ヴェステンフルス|Haine Vesutenfurusu is a fictional character from the anime series "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny".

Gundam SEED Destiny

Heine Westenfluss is a Coordinator ZAFT pilot, who piloted a ZGMF-1001 Blaze ZAKU Phantom before becoming the pilot of the ZGMF-X2000 GOUF Ignited. His last name, Westenfluss, is German for west river.

Heine joined ZAFT on February 21, CE 68Fact|date=June 2007 and was considered an ace pilot. In addition to wearing a red uniform, given to pilots who had graduated at the top of their class, he also wore FAITH insignia, indicating his membership in that unit; as a result, he reported directly to Chairman Gilbert Durandal. Prior to the events of "Gundam SEED Destiny", Heine fought in the Bloody Valentine War (in particular the Second Battle of Jachin Due) as a pilot for the Hawkins team, piloting the YFX-600R GuAIZ Experimental Firearms Type and battling against Earth Alliance ace Morgan Chevalier.

Heine first appeared in Episode 19 ("The Unseen Truth"), where he was there to escort Athrun Zala, Shinn Asuka, and Lunamaria Hawke to meet Chairman Durandal at Diocuia after the Battle of Gulnahan. However, it was confirmed that the orange mobile suit that appeared in the Battle of Aprilius One in Episode 9 ("Prideful Fang") was Heine's Blaze ZAKU PhantomFact|date=June 2007; his performance in the battle had been noted as exceptional, as he destroyed a great number of mobile suits and several battleships.

During the Battle of Dardanelles, Heine piloted the ZGMF-X2000 GOUF Ignited, which he used to battle Stella Loussier's ZGMF-X88S Gaia. (At one point during this battle, Heine ensnared Gaia's beam rifle with the GOUF's heat rod while shouting, "This is no ZAKU! No ZAKU!" This line and scene are in every detail, including camera positioning and background coloring, a homage to Ramba Ral's first fight against Amuro Ray in the original "Mobile Suit Gundam".) His GOUF Ignited's primary offensive functions were later disabled by the ZGMF-X10A Freedom, piloted by Kira Yamato. While attempting to counter-attack Kira, Heine and his GOUF Ignited were sliced in half by Stella as she tried to attack the Freedom, destroying the suit and killing him in the process.

In the manga "", Heine was shown to be involved in the Battle of Gulnahan, together with his team. During the battle, the team leader ordered his men not to retreat and to hang in there while Shinn Asuka made his way to the "Lohengrin" cannon. After the battle, his team was disbanded. Also, Athrun Zala used him as an excuse to get away from Meer Campbell during the night at Diocuia. The two FAITH pilots later went drinking. During this drinking session, Heine expressed his sadness that one of his men had died in their last battle together; he then said that he did not wish to get used to the feeling of not looking back when one of his own fell, and to march forward until the end of the battle.

Personality

Heine was decidedly an optimistic, but realistic, soldier who did not stand too much on ceremony, and was also quite talkative and earnest in his attempts to raise the morale of his fellow pilots. Despite considering himself an elite, Heine was respected by both superiors and subordinates as a capable pilot and officer. Although Heine was part of Athrun's squad after his transfer to the "Minerva", Heine was treated almost as a superior to Athrun by his peers, even by Athrun himself; the two got along so well that Athrun was very shocked to witness Heine's death, which led to some amount of anger being spilled over to Kira as a result.

In real life

Heine is voiced by Takanori Nishikawa (T.M.Revolution), who also voiced Miguel Aiman, the very first person ever killed by Kira Yamato, who dealt him the exact same fate as Heine by slicing him in half in "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED". Nishikawa sang the first opening for "Gundam SEED", "INVOKE", as well as the insert songs "Meteor" and "Zips" (in ""), the first opening for "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny", "ignited", and the insert song "vestige". Heine is the series' tribute to Nishikawa, and the character was designed to resemble the singer himself: Both have long blonde hair and share the same birthday (September 19). The character's name is a series of puns on Nishikawa's name and career: Both Westenfluss and Nishikawa mean "west river" in their respective languages, while "Heine" is a play on his nickname nihongo|Haine|灰猫| while he was part of the band Luis-Mary (the joke is more obvious in the original Japanese, as his name is rendered in katakana as nihongo|Haine|ハイネ. The designation of his final mobile suit, the ZGMF-X2000 GOUF Ignited, is most likely a reference to the song he sang for "Gundam SEED Destiny", "ignited".

Heine has continued to be a presence in "Gundam SEED Destiny" long after his death, not within the story, but rather the anime's media, particularly the openings and endings. He is seen in the third and fourth openings ("Bokutachi no Yukue" and "Wings of Words", respectively) and the "Final Plus" opening, "vestige", performed by none other than T.M. Revolution himself.