FA-78 Full Armor Gundam (Thunderbolt Ver.)

Piloted by Io Fleming, the FA-78 Full Armor Gundam (Thunderbolt Ver.) is a mobile suit that appears in the manga Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt and its OVA version.

A mobile suit similar to the Gundam, but far more agile and well armored, that the Moore Brotherhood uses. The FA-78-1 was a separate model of Full Armor Gundam with a similar number, but it was equipped with various details and machinery. The "Full Armor Operation" was responsible for developing both mobile suits, and the reasons for their discrepancies were trials and errors with different tools and systems.

Compared to other mobile suits of the era, the Full Armor Gundam possessed a lot more firepower, a massive backpack, and multiple sections of body armor. The Full Armor Gundam, like other mobile suits of the Moore Brotherhood, was equipped with a big backpack and unique joint seals to shield it from the debris that drifted across the Thunderbolt Sector. It was armed not just with ordinary beam sabers but also with a massive beam cannon, a twin beam rifle, five rocket launchers, a six-tube missile pod, and a number of missiles housed in different types of body armor.

The machine could wield up to four shields at once using the two sub-arms on the big backpack, significantly enhancing its defensive capabilities. Thrusters and apogee motors were mounted on the mobile suit's shoulders, legs, and huge rucksack to minimize the weight of the additional equipment from limiting its mobility. Two rocket boosters were also installed in the big backpack, and the Full Armor Gundam's total thrust was compared to that of a mobile suit with high mobility.

To cut down on dead weight, the Full Armor Gundam's extra body armor, its massive backpack, and majority of its armaments could be removed should they became damaged or unnecessary. The MS-06R Zaku II High Mobility Type (Reuse "P" Device) was sent in by Zeon's Living Dead Division, which was operating nearby, in response to seeing the power of the Moore Brotherhood's Full Armor Gundam.

History

As the conflict draws to a close, Io Fleming, a pilot in the Moore Brotherhood unit engaged in combat with Zeon in the Thunderbolt Sector, the ruins of Side 4, is given command of the Full Armor Gundam. This was only because Io, having survived the destruction of his RGM-79 GM (Thunderbolt Ver.) and taken down an MS-09R Rick Dom (Thunderbolt Ver.), was the closest thing the Brotherhood had to an ace pilot. The Living Dead Division witnessed one of the Full Armor Gundam's earliest raids, during which the robot mercilessly destroyed an MS-06 Zaku II (Thunderbolt Ver.) in order to establish his menacing presence whenever jazz music was heard.

Using the Gundam's superior firepower, Io would sortie to confront the snipers who had earlier easily dispatched the GM team. He would destroy every Zeon mobile suit, with the exception of Daryl Lorenz's MS-05 Zaku I (Thunderbolt Ver.), which he drove off with a cracker grenade, sacrificing his left forearm in the process. The Living Dead Division transformed Daryl to operate the MS-06R Zaku II High Mobility Type (Reuse "P" Device) in order to battle the Full Armor Gundam, which terrified them.

After a battle among the ruins of Moore, Daryl emerged triumphant, disabling the Full Armor Gundam and taking the Brotherhood prisoner. After the Battle of A Baoa Qu, the wounded Full Armor Gundam was turned over to the Living Dead Division, whose head and external armor pieces were eventually used to create the Perfect Gundam (Thunderbolt Ver.).

GunPla Entries

There were a few GunPla entrants in the High Grade and Master Grade Ver. Ka lineup for the FA-78 Full Armor Gundam (Thunderbolt Ver.). One example of this is the Full Armor Gundam, which was released in 2013 and had a box art designed by Yasuo Ohtagaki, the title's artist, to match its novel version. A subsequent 2016 re-release of the same mobile suit, which has a slightly altered mold for several of its components, including its twin beam rifle, was created to commemorate the successful launch of the ONA in 2015.

A Master Grade Ver. Ka entry also made its way in 2016. Featuring new molded parts and of course, Katoki Hajime designed decals to complete the experience!

Original Net Animation (ONA) screenshots

Sunrise's 2015 ONA Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt is based on the manga of the same name. Release dates for the first season were December 25, 2015, and April 8, 2016. Release dates for the second season were March 24, 2017, to July 14, 2017.

The show was first offered digitally through an electronic sell-through mechanism, allowing customers to download the episodes after making a payment.

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky, a compilation film of the first season, was released in 2016, followed by the Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower, a compilation film of the second season, in 2017.

First Season

"Thunderbolt Sector" is a shoal zone on the former Colony Side 4 "Moore" where the Earth Federation and Principality of Zeon fight a bloody combat during the One Year War in U.C. 0079. Ace Federation pilot and jazz fan Io Fleming takes possession of the newest Gundam prototype after breaking into Zeon's sniper field.

Second Season

The Federation is engulfed in post-war unrest eight months after the One Year War ends. The Psycho Zaku has been taken over by the South Seas Alliance, a newly formed group. Ensign Io has been sent to operate the newest Federation prototype, the Atlas Gundam, in an effort to either secure or destroy it.

In the meantime, the Principality of Zeon's surviving members are still fighting for freedom. The former Psycho Zaku pilot, Daryl Lorenz, has left to join the Zeon remnants on Earth and has been assigned the mission of gathering information about the Psycho Zaku. Still scarred from the war, the Australian continent serves as the new front in the three-way conflict.