Shinn Asuka

Shinn Asuka
General Info
Affiliation	Axis Zeon (formerly) The Knights
Mech Piloted	M1 Astray Impulse Gundam Destiny Gundam
Allies	Mashymre Cello Lunamaria Hawke (close friend, later girlfriend) Rey Za Burrel (best friend) Meyrin Hawke Kamille Bidan Usagi Tsukino Lorelai Heinrich Atros Tobikage Elpeo Puru Puru Two
Enemies/Rivals	The Knights (formerly) Axis Zeon Glemy Faction Guild of the Multiverse
Personal Info
Series of Origin	Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
Species	Human (Newtype)
Gender	Male
Age	18
Relatives	unnamed father (deceased) unnamed Mother (deceased) Mayu Asuka (younger sister, deceased)
Original Voice Actor	Kenichi Suzumura (Japanese) Matthew Erickson (English)

Shinn Asuka is a character from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny and is a major character in The Knights of the Multiverse, introduced in Season 2. Originally serving in Axis Zeon alongside he and his close comrades Lunamaria Hawke and Rey Za Burrel to serve justice to the Multiverse, he and Luna would go on to join The Knights when he felt that the group had gone too far. He's the pilot of the Impulse Gundam and later the Destiny Gundam.

Personality

In his youth, Shinn was a cheerful, energetic boy, who spent much of his time playing with his younger sister. However, after witnessing his family's death first-hand, he has become jaded and more withdrawn. He's often impulsive, hot-headed and somewhat arrogant, which often puts him at odds with his superiors. He is also short-tempered, and harbors an intense hatred for the Federation and Titans for the death of his parents and sister, and other monarchies, government bodies, and any other ruling parties that .

At the same time though, deep down, Shinn is that kind and gentle young man raised on Side 6. Having suffered a great deal himself, he chooses to fight in order to prevent others from suffering as he has. He is therefore highly protective of his friends, especially Lunamaria and Rey, whom he has known since joined the military.

History

Pre-Series

Shinn Asuka was born in Side 6, and much of his life was spent in peace in the colony. He attended school, where he did reasonably well, though even in those days he had a stubborn streak that sometimes landed him into trouble. His greatest joy was spending time with his younger sister Mayu, three years his junior. Like his parents, Shinn was largely unconcerned by the goings-on outside the borders of their little colony, trusting in a small group of Zeon remnants who had survived the war and dedicated themselves to protecting their new home from any Federation treachery, several of whom Shinn and Mayu managed to make close friends out of, to keep them safe.

Then on June 15th, U.C. 0086, everything changed when the Federation, or more specifically, the Titans, attacked. After an evacuation was ordered, Shinn and Mayu fled as their parents lead them down towards the port, where several ships were waiting to take on evacuating civilians. As they ran for their lives, Mayu's cellphone fell from her purse, and Shinn leapt down the bank to retrieve it. Unfortunately, as he did so, a stray shot from the battle between the Titans and the Zeon remnants struck the hillside above. Shinn was thrown off his feet and tumbled down the cliff, just a few feet away from an evacuee ship. And sadly, Mayu and their parents were killed instantly. In shock and swelling with tears, he was quickly hurried onto the ship. He had nothing left except his sister's phone and the pictures it contained.

Skills

Shinn is a very talented pilot. He tends to favor close range combat, though is still quite good in medium and long range combat which come in handy due to both of his mobile suits capabilities to handle any form of combat. Despite his talents and natural abilities though, he does suffer a great deal from constantly grieving for the loss of his family to the previous war, to prevent the tragedy that causes the sorrow he experiences is the main driving force behind his reason to fight. Later on though, by tapping into the anger stemming from his loss of his family, Shinn is able to awaken his Newtype abilities, which causes his fighting style to become even more aggressive making him an unstoppable force to just about any pilots with exception of other highly skilled pilots like Haman and Kamille.

Relationships

Mayu Asuka

Mayu was the closest person in Shinn's life, practically being his best friend. As one could imagine then, her death during the evacuation absolutely broke Shinn, leaving him a broken husk for a long time. Her death is also what motivated him to become a pilot, so he could protect others when he couldn't protect her. He still carries her cell phone on him, just so he knows a part of her is always with him.

Notes

Shinn and his team's inclusion in KotM, let alone being the only characters from the Cosmic Era to have a large part in the series, is really to give them the character development they (well, Shinn and Luna, anyway) deserved in their home series, akin to how they were treated in the Super Robot Wars Z series of games, and other subsequent SRW games they've appeared in. Parts of this development are actually inspired by Shinn's co-star in the original SEED Destiny, Athrun Zala.

Since this incarnation comes from the Universal Century and not the Cosmic Era, he obviously loses his status as a Coordinator and his SEED Factor. So naturally, he's been made into a Newtype, which also helps the connection between the other pilots from the Universal Century, especialliy Kamille.