Graham Aker

Infobox animanga character
name = Graham Aker
series = Mobile Suit Gundam 00


caption = Capt. Graham Aker
first = Episode 1, Celestial Being
last =
creator =
voiced by = Yuuichi Nakamura (Japanese) cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8190|title="Mobile Suit Gundam 00" (TV)|publisher=Anime News Network|accessdate=2007-10-10]
Paul Dobson (English) [http://gundam00.bandai-ent.com/news/index.php?article_id=33]
alias = Masked Man (Season 2)
age = 27 (Season 1)
31 (Season 2)
height = 180 cm
weight = 62 kg
Blood type = A
born = September 10, 2280
Ethnic Origin =
divider = yes
aux1 name = Allegiance
aux1 = Union
A-Laws
aux2 name = Rank
aux2 = First Lieutenant
Captain
A-Laws
aux3 name = Mobile weapons
aux3 = SVMS-01 Union Flag
SVMS-01E Graham's Union Flag Custom
SVMS-01O Flag
SVMS-01X Union Flag Custom II (GN-Flag)

Captain nihongo|Graham Aker|グラハム・エーカー is a fictional character in the Gundam series, "Mobile Suit Gundam 00". He originally piloted a SVMS-01 Union Flag, the Union's current main mobile suit, which he later had upgraded into the SVMS-01E Graham's Union Flag Custom. He then switched to the SVMS-01O Flag upon the creation of the Overflag squadron, and in the last episode he pilots the SVMS-01X Union Flag Custom II (GN-Flag). Whether or not he still pilots a Flag in 2312 A.D., the beginning of the second season, is unknown. He is a primary antagonist of the series.

Graham's last name, Aker, may be a reference to the Egyptian God of the same name.

Outline

First Season

Originally on the MSWΛD (Mobile Suit Warehouse and Development) mobile suit team with the rank of First Lieutenant, he was promoted to Captain, and transferred to the Anti-Gundam Investigative Squad called "OverFlags", publicly known as the 8th Independent Tactical Aviation Corps, as its commanding officer, calling his teammates "Flag Fighters".

He is an excellent mobile suit pilot while being a major antagonist. One thing to take note is that he was the first pilot to deal significant damage to a Gundam. Moreover, he is able to perform very skillful maneuvers and has the ability to fight the Gundams to a standstill with inferior units. His skills are best displayed in Episode 18 in which he overpowered Gundam Throne Eins with his Over Flag despite the huge performance gap between the two units. In that battle, he actually managed to deflect Throne Eins' beam saber out of its grip by using merely the Flag's Sonic Blade. After that, he swiftly grabbed the Gundam's beam saber and slashed off its right arm(which is equipped with beam rifle) even before Johann Trinity (pilot of Throne Eins) manages to fire the beam rifle. His skills and quick reaction made the swift performance of this series of extreme maneuver possible.

His signature move is to transform his Flag in mid-flight to evade his enemy's attacks, a maneuver which became known as the "Graham Special"Episode 12 - Graham Aker: "People call this a Graham Special!"] . While fellow OverFlags pilot Joshua (who was tremendously jealous of the captain and hoped to prove himself by capturing one of the Gundams) did indeed manage to replicate his feat by performing a mid-air transformation, he was quickly shot down by Lockon Stratos during Celestial Being's armed intervention in the Taklamakan Desert"Episode 15 - Joshua: "How much longer did you think you could keep this trick to yourself?"] .

With Celestial Being continuing their armed intervention activities with the Gundams, he wonders if what Setsuna and the others are doing is bringing the world to its end, something Ralph Aifman thinks is a very real possibility.

He harbors deep feelings for the Gundams. During his battles with Exia in the second and last episodes of the first season, he told Setsuna that "his heart was stolen by the Gundams' "overwhelming abilities", a feeling he described as true love. "But," he continues, "if you transcend love, it becomes hatred, similar to the way faith gone too far triggers war." Due to the fact that his GN-Flag was not re-engineered to be compatible with the GN drive (due to time constraints), it was poor in performance and weaponry, forcing the pilot to experience an excess of 12Gs during acceleration (refer to the GN Flag page via the previous link for details); constantly coughing up blood as a result to the damage to his organs during battle. After Setsuna defeats Alejandro by activiting Exia's Trans-Am System, Graham engages him in a final battle to avenge his fallen comrades. The two exchange blows escalating the battle to its heated conclusion, when Graham sacrifices his GN-Flag in order to destroy the Gundam.

Four years later, he is seen alive wearing a Carozzo "Iron Mask" Ronah like mask and the uniform of the United Earth Federation's Peacekeeping Army.

econd Season

However, in the official website, he is seen wearing that mask as well as the uniform of The A-Laws and is known as the 'Masked Man'. In an opening sequence, he is seen piloting a custom Ahead unit. Graham makes a brief appearance in the first episode while wearing his mask, and like Ribbons Almark, he too expresses his pleasure at the reappearance of Celestial Being and its Gundam units. [http://mahq.net/animation/gundam/00/g00s2ep1.htm]

Personality

Graham is the Union's ace pilot and follows a strict code of honor. With a skill unmatched by any Flag pilot, Graham is eager to find any worthy opponent. When the Gundam Exia first appeared in the AEU exhibition and destroyed their new unit, the Enact, he was captivated by its abilities and eager to fight it, or, as Billy Katagiri notes, he's "quite infatuated" "See Episode 3:"Changing World"] with the Gundams.

Graham's personality comes off as somewhat obsessive when he fights the Gundams, as he is eager to prove himself, even at the cost of his personal safety. As such, his piloting can be described as 'reckless'Episode 18 - Graham Aker: "I'll break through your reasoning with my recklessness!"] , if not outright suicidalEpisode 25 - Graham Aker: "The world is of no consequence to me. Only my will matters!"] .However it is shown in episode 12 that he also has a strong sense of responsibility. In that episode he finally had the chance to fight a Gundam after a long wait, but before he could finish the battle, he had to leave the battlefield to handle the coup d’état launched by the ultraconservative elements in the Azadistan Army. In the end he still decided to give up the battle with Dynames.Episode 12 - Graham Aker: "I'm not my own man"] .

The Gundams again test his patience in episode 13. In the Kingdom of Azadistan, where he was sent knowing that Celestial Being would intervene the war-torn state, he saw the Gundam Exia arriving at Azadistan's palace and noticed that it was, surprisingly, unarmed, and witnessed the Gundam take fire from several MSER-04 Anf. After the Gundam finished dropping off the Imam, Massoud Rachmadi, in the Palace of Azadistan, Graham has to let it go knowing that if he attacked it, public opinion would turn against him. He became visibly frustrated at missing that perfect opportunity.

In episode 17, the Overflags' base was attacked by Team Trinity's Throne Gundams, and after hearing from Billy Katagiri that Professor Ralph Aifman was killed, Graham engaged the Thrones out of hate, but the ensuing battle resulted in the death of Flag Fighter Howard Mason. After Team Trinity left, Graham became bitter at the loss of both Professor Aifman and Howard.

After Howard's death, Graham swore to defeat the Gundams using a Flag, turning his infatuation into a thirst for revenge. As such he refused to be a pilot of the new GN-X, instead asking for a GN Drive to be attached to his Flag. Because of the time needed to prepare Graham`s new GN Flag he was unable to fight along Daryl and fellow Alliance pilots against Celestial being during the first phase of the battle against Celestial being in Lagrange Point 1, only being able to find Exia after Setsuna had destroyed Alejandro Corner`s Alvatore.

It has been hinted at by Joshua in episode 14 that Graham was involved in an incident of friendly fire a few years ago, during which he accidentally killed his senior officer with a shot in the back, during a mock battle. He even remarks that his promotion to captain with the formation of the OverFlag squad might have been yet another event of killing a superior. When he noticed Joshua was talking about this matter, Graham states that he doesn't care what he thinks and that he will prove the rumors to be wrong and that he will redeem his name on the battlefield. "See Episode 14:"Dawn to Determination"]

According to the second Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Drama CD, Graham was an orphan who dreamed of fly through the sky day in and out. Because he did not have the money to become a civil plane pilot, he joined the military. Upon entering the Union Air Force, he became the test pilot for the new Union high-spec transformable mobile suit, the Flag, and managed to transform it in mid-air on his first test flight - all that without even having read the Flag's instruction manual. Originally, Graham's former superior officer had offered Graham to marry his daughter, but he declined as he didn't think he was good enough for her. In a simulation battle, Graham fought him and emerged victorious, but his superior's mobile suit crashed, killing him. "See "Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Another Story - Road to 2307 Drama CD, "Union Flag" disc"]

References