Setsuna F. Seiei

Setsuna F. Seiei (刹那・F・セイエイ Setsuna Efu Seiei) is the main protagonist of the story in Mobile Suit Gundam 00. He is a Gundam Meister of the paramilitary organization Celestial Being and is humanity's first Innovator. In season 1, he pilots GN-001 Gundam Exia and he pilots GN-0000 00 Gundam and co-pilots its upgrade, the GN-0000+GNR-010 00 Raiser with Saji Crossroad in season 2. He pilots the GNT-0000 00 Qan[T]in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie -A wakening of the Trailblazer-.

Profile
Having grown up as a child soldier, brainwashed to murder his own parents, and later cast away when he was no longer deemed useful, Setsuna became taciturn, introverted, and wholeheartedly against war at a very young age. He believes deeply that there are key disturbances that prevent the world from coming together in peace and harmony, to the point of developing a habit of labelling specific people and/or forces as sources of conflict towards the world's path to peace. He has little tolerance for diplomats and politicians, believing that their negotiations only prolong wars and cause more strife. He has got a vendetta to settle and his past battle experiences stir up old bitter feelings, increasing his combat potential as a beneficial side effect. Though a self-proclaimed atheist, he often questions the motivations of God with people and worldly events.

Having been saved by a Gundam when he was about to be killed as a child, he came to view the Gundams as the manifestation of the idea of salvation itself. He idolizes the Gundams so much that he wants to embody the Gundam himself, a means to eradicate all conflict. Ever since being saved and recruited into Celestial Being, he has devoted his being to realizing the organization's ideals and would not hesitate to fulfill them. However, Setsuna notes the irony of him being someone who is good at nothing but dishing out violence, despite his earnest yearning for peace nonetheless.

Setsuna is notable for his relationship with Princess Marina Ismail; one of mutual admiration and intrigue, with him finding her total devotion to peace through peaceful means and ability to easily bond with others to be admirable, while she finds his ability to make hard choices and execute them firmly to be strong. As a result, both lingered in each other's thoughts often and like to know each other better. Their interaction however, is easily confused by others around them to be romantic. In a letter to the princess, Setsuna revealed more of his feelings and thinking. Setsuna wanted to understand the lesser aspects of humanity. He wanted to know why the world is filled with people with innate dark intentions and inconsiderate of other people's suffering. He wanted to know why did people keep fighting to live in such a violent world. He wanted to find these answers along with his Gundam in hopes to bring mutual understanding and peace.

After a 4 year hiatus, Setsuna has taken an unofficial role as the leader of the Gundam Meisters. He is now able to assert and express his feelings to people without reservation. Setsuna's ideals are still the same, but his recent experiences have led him to believe in the importance of self-change and the need to fight for a better and brighter future, rather than merely go about eradicating sources of conflicts. His determination and strong self-confidence motivates and inspires people around him. He becomes more understanding and compromising, but he is also capable of making hard-but-necessary decisions that would lead people to dislike him. He has no problems making life-defining decisions for other people when they can't make the choice and would kill if necessary.

After Setsuna became an Innovator, he once again became withdrawn and closed his heart to people once again. The crew members had trouble dealing with his change in attitude, but they did their best to adjust to him because they believe he'll eventually turn around. Sumeragi reasoned it was probably because he had become different from the others among the crew and was confused with his Innovator abilities, which later proved to be true. After the ELS Conflict, Setsuna had since become a friendlier and warmer person in his eternal mission to promote mutual understanding.

Story
See Also: Setsuna F. Seiei/History

Crossover Appearance
Chou Super Robot Wars

Setsuna appears, piloting the 00 Qan[T], one of the many playable mecha in both the game's Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 versions.

Cross Maximum

Setsuna F. Seiei/Gundam Exia/00 Raiser/00 Qan[T] appears as one of the characters from Gundam side.

Cross Maximum 2: Exceed Sky

Setsuna F. Seiei/00 Qan[T] Re-appears as one of the characters from Gundam side.

Super Robot Wars TRI

Setsuna appears, piloting the 00 Qan[T], one of the many playable mechas.