Gundam Protagonist you Consider the Best

[yazi88]

While I do know that he is a very controversial character in Gundam Fandom, I really like Shinn Asuka. After seeing the tragedy with his parents and how much crap he has to deal with pretty much no moral support from anyone (Athrun being a douche half the time) along with the powerful emotions he carries with honesty helps matters and the absolute potential that he had in Seed Destiny for character development before Kira stole the spotlight really put him in my favorites list as a character.

It also really helps that in SRW Z he had a very central (and very well written) role along with being bros with Kamille, the female real protagonist Setsuko and his counterpart Eiji (also voiced by Suzumura) from Gravion.

Generation of C.E had a quick snippet of likely scenerios in case he WAS still the main character before the show was hijacked by team Yamato.

[HellCat]

I pretty much like all the protagonists but I think I side mainly with Domon and Setsuna. Most likely because I can relate to their issues and limitations. Domon for instance is a smart and caring guy but is often let down by his temper. Setsuna is focussed on most of the same questions about human existance as I am, so seeing him trying to make sense of the flaws in our society and why they're considered acceptable speaks to me. Both of them go on a journey and they don't come out of it the same person they started as but are clearly better for it. Other protagonists do this but I can't buy into their journey as much. I liked what AGE had going with Asemu but his latest appearance doesn't seem to follow any of his previous development. Likewise I can admire someone like Judau who goes from a delinquent to a champion of the good in humanity but I'm just not as taken with his story.

[schwarz ritter]

HellCat, you couldn't have said it any better. I give thee the Caesar Salute, the highest honor a non-Roman can receive.

Same goes to you, yazi88. May Zeus bless you.

[Kratos]

Schwarz, I'm interested as to why you have such a hate-on for Banagher.

I won't know whether he ranks among my favourites until Unicorn ends, but as I've mentioned elsewhere, I find that he has thus far been written very well. I've seen you accuse him of being a Mary-sue, but he isn't one; his insecurity and indecisiveness gets people killed on several occasions, and Mary-sues do not screw up by definition. He develops from an awkward Newtype teen to a boy completely sure of what his role in the conflict unfolding around him is, and what's more, we get to watch this change happen. We get to see him encounter Newtype feelings for the first time, we get to see him become co-opted by the Unicorn and get to witness the suffering it causes within him, and then we get to see him gain an understanding that he, and his Unicorn, can be above all that. The quality of his development is only really hampered by episode four, the rushjob on which made it so that we kinda had to take its word that he felt that connected to Loni.

Yeah, Banagher's sensitive. No, he's not a bad***. But in terms of character growth and development, among UC's Newtypes, he's top-notch.

Concerning the thread, though, my personal favourite protagonist is Amuro, for similar reasons as to why I like Banagher: we get to see him grow and develop, and as an awkward 15-year-old boy, he's actually quite believable in the role. I'm also a fan of Bernie and Al (as a duo), and I always liked Setsuna's whole "I AM GUNDAM!" thing. I felt it really speaks to who he is and why he's with Celestial Being, and ties his character to that awesome first scene of 00 really nicely. I'm not sure where he goes, because I haven't finished 00, but I think that aspect of his deserves mention.

[schwarz ritter]

I'm glad you asked Kratos. Time for the usual, long-paragraph stuff I love to write here:

So Banagher was indeed promising. I looked at him and thought of him as some sort of blend of Amuro and perhaps Setsuna. But Fukui and Sunrise tricked me: they instead made a UC version of Kira Yamato. A pseudo-Mary Sue, if you may add, because his logic is always right. Whereas the other characters in the story have something that makes them stand out, like Zinnerman, who is like a family man but yet at the same time isn't a perfect goody doody man who is self-conflicted and still must learn on what path to take.
Banagher...he's always right. Nobody can prove him wrong. He had the perfect life, he hasn't suffered squat, and yet he wants people to think the same way he does. His logic is flawless and he's basically a saint. Heck, they even call him the Ultimate Newtype. Yes, just like Kira, the Ultimate Coordinator. Now why is that? That's because he can supposedly understand people better than others.
His positive aspects overweight whatever negative aspects he has, if any. Like I said, he's always right. I view his philosophy as "Live in harmony or I'll impale you with my Unicorn's horn!", like Kira.
He's just so overidealized, that he reminds me of that good-awful character, Wesley Crusher, from Star Trek TNG. Yes, Wesley Crusher, whose moral was never wrong, even when the situation clearly showed it wasn't. Remember what happened to Marida? Yeah, that's unforgivable.
And his logic just makes no sense: he expects the conflict to be over by just satisfying both sides. Banana, the conflict won't stop until one side is left standing and the other is defeated. Get real.


Of course, there's nothing worse than Judau Ashta, the guy who needs to use little girls as shields to protect himself


In that case, Amuro is the best written Newtype. Not only is he sensitive, but he's badass. No need to be separate these two.

And I also agree with Setsuna. He has his mind made up and is no nonsense (well...usually).

[J-Lead]

I rather like Banagher. He tends to be pretty angsty, but when he gets a better perspective on what he needs to do, he wastes no time stepping up to the plate. There's also the fact that he's not some piloting prodigy that can down a squad of Gearas on his own in half a minute; outside of the NT-D, he's actually a pretty average pilot, which I think makes him a bit more relatable (and also speaks against the notion that Newtypes are naturally awesome pilots, an age-old misconception both in-universe and out.) I think a lot of people tend to not give him enough credit for the things he does do because of his behavior in the second half of ep 4 (not that he could have done much to stop Loni, either way.)

"Live in harmony or I'll impale you with my Unicorn's horn!"

Considering he's, more often than not, doing whatever he can to reign in the Unicorn Gundam's power rather than fight with it, I'd say that's a pretty gross misinterpretation of the character. The Kira comparison falls pretty flat in that regard. He's less Kira Yamato and more Loran Cehack, I'd say.

That said...my favorite protagonist would probably be Kamille. The way I look at him, he's one of those kids that, had the war not given him an outlet for his anger, he might have ended up doing something drastic, like shoot up his school or kill his parents or something (I mean, he WAS disenfranchised enough to punch a space gestapo in the face, steal a prototype military weapon, and run away with a bunch of people basically labeled as terrorists, all without a second thought.) With that in mind, getting involved with the AEUG was the best thing that could have possibly happened to him, Scirocco-induced space-autism not withstanding. The war gave him a place to direct his rage, and through the people around him, he slowly, but noticeably becomes a much better person. Out of all the Gundam protagonists, Kamille Bidan is probably the one that developed the most from the start of the series to the end.

[Kratos]

I have a few counter-points, if you don't mind; I think it's unlikely we'll end up agreeing, but what's a message board for, if not response?

A pseudo-Mary Sue, if you may add, because his logic is always right. Whereas the other characters in the story have something that makes them stand out, like Zinnerman, who is like a family man but yet at the same time isn't a perfect goody doody man who is self-conflicted and still must learn on what path to take. Banagher...he's always right. Nobody can prove him wrong. He had the perfect life, he hasn't suffered squat, and yet he wants people to think the same way he does. His logic is flawless and he's basically a saint. Heck, they even call him the Ultimate Newtype. Yes, just like Kira, the Ultimate Coordinator. Now why is that? That's because he can supposedly understand people better than others.
His positive aspects overweight whatever negative aspects he has, if any. Like I said, he's always right. I view his philosophy as "Live in harmony or I'll impale you with my Unicorn's horn!", like Kira.

Banagher is an idealist. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, in and of itself; the world has a lot of idealists. That idealism is indeed often seen as coming with a cushy upbringing, because it's very hard to be idealistic about the world if you've had to bear its hardships. But the thing is...Banagher has had to bear some hardship. His mother died when he was young, he grew up not knowing his father at all, and while he never had to live on the streets or anything, his Newtype-ness has led to him being largely isolated from others. Look at his interactions with his classmates: only Takuya and Micott are really close to him at all. The others aren't exactly unfriendly, but they all seem to be much more a cohesive group - a group that Banagher largely exists on the periphery of. He's frustrated, because he can't connect with people like that. Banagher's a lonely kid. So, right there, not a perfect life.

As for the accusations of his logic being always right, well...it isn't. He intially dislikes fighting and thinks killing is bad, but let's be real, here: those are both perfectly reasonable positions to take, especially in his world, where there was a war that killed half of humanity. He isn't a soldier, he doesn't have to worry about the realities of the battlefield...until, of course, he's thrust into it. And what does he do then? He just lets the Unicorn take care of everything. He says one thing, and does another; like Angelo says, he's a hypocrite, if only by inaction, and that hypocrisy gets people killed. Hell, even his initial unwillingness to fight Loni has deadly repercussions.

But beyond all that, Banagher is a necessary character, because there needs to be a Newtype that represents the hope born from Deikun's philosophy. Banagher can gain perfect understanding, through the Unicorn, but does anybody else have that power? Certainly not, and that right there is what sets him apart from Our Lord Jesus Yamato: Banagher doesn't push his ideals on others, and his ideals aren't presented as being an end-all solution - quite the contrary, as evidenced by Loni's death. Understanding only works if everybody has it. No, Banagher's necessity lies in his existence as proof that Newtypes aren't just a crackpot theory, that there is hope for the concept if mankind can get its head of its asses about it.

Now, if Banagher's encounter with, say, Riddhe had played out like "RIDDHE STOP WE CAN JUST UNDERSTAND" and Riddhe had been all "OH OKAY YOU ARE RIGHT" and had had his mind changed forever afterwards, then I would take issue with that. But so far, his "way" has brought about more suffering than not, and the series really highlights this - which would be my counter to your Wesley Crusher point.

I don't know if that made any sense; Banagher, as a character, makes a lot of sense in my head, but it never seems to make as much sense when I write it out :/

Remember what happened to Marida? Yeah, that's unforgivable.

I'm not really sure what you're referencing, here; Marida's past has nothing to do with Banagher, and he hasn't done anything particularly heinous to her in-series.

And his logic just makes no sense: he expects the conflict to be over by just satisfying both sides. Banana, the conflict won't stop until one side is left standing and the other is defeated. Get real.

I'd agree, except Banagher never seeks to satisfy both parties. He knows Neo Zeon can't get their hands on the Box, and actively keeps the coordinates from the Federation. His motivation is simply "protect Audrey". In the actual conflict itself, Banagher is a largely passive element, working mostly towards his and Mineva's survival.

[schwarz ritter]

I have a few counter-points, if you don't mind; I think it's unlikely we'll end up agreeing, but what's a message board for, if not response?

Of course! Otherwise, this wouldn't be interesting at all. n_n

A pseudo-Mary Sue, if you may add, because his logic is always right. Whereas the other characters in the story have something that makes them stand out, like Zinnerman, who is like a family man but yet at the same time isn't a perfect goody doody man who is self-conflicted and still must learn on what path to take. Banagher...he's always right. Nobody can prove him wrong. He had the perfect life, he hasn't suffered squat, and yet he wants people to think the same way he does. His logic is flawless and he's basically a saint. Heck, they even call him the Ultimate Newtype. Yes, just like Kira, the Ultimate Coordinator. Now why is that? That's because he can supposedly understand people better than others.
His positive aspects overweight whatever negative aspects he has, if any. Like I said, he's always right. I view his philosophy as "Live in harmony or I'll impale you with my Unicorn's horn!", like Kira.

Banagher is an idealist. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, in and of itself; the world has a lot of idealists. That idealism is indeed often seen as coming with a cushy upbringing, because it's very hard to be idealistic about the world if you've had to bear its hardships.

Funny that you mention idealism, because there's a certain Code Geass character called Suzaku Kururugi (which Fukui basically ripped off to create Banana, mind you), who turned from stupid, annoying, Wesley Crusher-clone idealist to badass, heroic bastard who pretty much defied destiny, set aside his hatred for Lelouch and executed the Ultimate Plan. I can assure you: BANANA IS NOT SUZAKU KURURUGI. He lacks that evolution into badass.

But the thing is...Banagher has had to bear some hardship. His mother died when he was young, he grew up not knowing his father at all, and while he never had to live on the streets or anything, his Newtype-ness has led to him being largely isolated from others. Look at his interactions with his classmates: only Takuya and Micott are really close to him at all. The others aren't exactly unfriendly, but they all seem to be much more a cohesive group - a group that Banagher largely exists on the periphery of. He's frustrated, because he can't connect with people like that. Banagher's a lonely kid. So, right there, not a perfect life.

Was Banana a child sex slave? Was Banagher forced into war as a child? Was Banana's mother executed by Zeon soldiers right before his eyes? No, I don't think so. If you ask me, he hasn't suffered enough to truly earn his happy ending.

And who cares if your classmates don't care about you? Its not like you're gonna talk to them when you're all grown up. If he's really so frustrated by that, well, he really has no imagination whatsoever to make up for that "lack" of communication or whatever.

As for the accusations of his logic being always right, well...it isn't. He intially dislikes fighting and thinks killing is bad, but let's be real, here: those are both perfectly reasonable positions to take, especially in his world, where there was a war that killed half of humanity. He isn't a soldier, he doesn't have to worry about the realities of the battlefield...until, of course, he's thrust into it. And what does he do then? He just lets the Unicorn take care of everything. He says one thing, and does another; like Angelo says, he's a hypocrite, if only by inaction, and that hypocrisy gets people killed. Hell, even his initial unwillingness to fight Loni has deadly repercussions.

Perhaps I wasn't clear: Banana's logic doesn't necessarily have to work all the time. He has epically failed numerous times. But the problem is that, instead of learning from that, he continues spouting the same nonsense over, and over, and over, and over, and over again, until it really gets old and annoying. That's why I agree with you that he is a complete hypocrite and well...and "idiot" like House would put it.

But beyond all that, Banagher is a necessary character, because there needs to be a Newtype that represents the hope born from Deikun's philosophy. Banagher can gain perfect understanding, through the Unicorn, but does anybody else have that power? Certainly not, and that right there is what sets him apart from Our Lord Jesus Yamato: Banagher doesn't push his ideals on others, and his ideals aren't presented as being an end-all solution - quite the contrary, as evidenced by Loni's death. Understanding only works if everybody has it.

You're saying he doesn't push his ideals on others? Then tell me why he let himself be consumed by the NT-D at Palau, all because Marida didn't agree with him about supposedly ending it all by letting him get away. That's practically a Kira for me.

No, Banagher's necessity lies in his existence as proof that Newtypes aren't just a crackpot theory, that there is hope for the concept if mankind can get its head of its asses about it.

Newtypes are an illusion! People, watch Gundam X! There, you'll realize everything that happens in UC has been completely pointless.

Now, if Banagher's encounter with, say, Riddhe had played out like "RIDDHE STOP WE CAN JUST UNDERSTAND" and Riddhe had been all "OH OKAY YOU ARE RIGHT" and had had his mind changed forever afterwards, then I would take issue with that. But so far, his "way" has brought about more suffering than not, and the series really highlights this - which would be my counter to your Wesley Crusher point.

Unless my memory is worse than that of a 90-year old, Wesley Crusher nearly causes a huge crisis between the Federation and the Cardassians because he thought that giving up a planet that belongs to some Native American-like people was wrong. That sounds pretty Banana to me.

I don't know if that made any sense; Banagher, as a character, makes a lot of sense in my head, but it never seems to make as much sense when I write it out :/

For me, he neither makes sense in the head nor in paper. The fact that it doesn't really make much sense to you when you write it pretty much makes my point that Banana is just pointless babble.

Remember what happened to Marida? Yeah, that's unforgivable.

I'm not really sure what you're referencing, here; Marida's past has nothing to do with Banagher, and he hasn't done anything particularly heinous to her in-series.

I was hoping I did not need to use these, as it is cheap, but here they go (yes, I'm still butthurt over that):

Spoiler

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... 02fdfd.gif
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... 6_uc_4.jpg

Make what you will from that. I won't say anything further.

And his logic just makes no sense: he expects the conflict to be over by just satisfying both sides. Banana, the conflict won't stop until one side is left standing and the other is defeated. Get real.

I'd agree, except Banagher never seeks to satisfy both parties. He knows Neo Zeon can't get their hands on the Box, and actively keeps the coordinates from the Federation. His motivation is simply "protect Audrey". In the actual conflict itself, Banagher is a largely passive element, working mostly towards his and Mineva's survival.

He has switched sides about, what? Three times now? Four? All so that "Audrey" can be safe. He should either make up his mind, or create a Three Ships Alliance of his own if he's really all into "protecting" Audrey. Of course, I find the whole "romance" between these two as forced as AnakinxPadme.

[ShadowCell]

uh

what the hell does Banagher have in common with Suzaku Kururugi? Suzaku was a borderline masochist who threw himself into shame and agony for a cause greater than himself from day one, because of something horrible he did as a child for which he felt he had to atone. as time went on he slowly turned into the very monster he fought against, and it took a very long time and a whole lot of suffering for him to realize that the system he served was corrupt and his idealism was misguided. Banagher has done, like, nothing like that. if any character in Unicorn is anything like Suzaku, it's Riddhe, and that's still a terrible comparison.

seriously, wtf, i don't even like Banagher but that entire post makes no sense

[J-Lead]

Was Banana a child sex slave? Was Banagher forced into war as a child? Was Banana's mother executed by Zeon soldiers right before his eyes? No, I don't think so. If you ask me, he hasn't suffered enough to truly earn his happy ending.

I didn't really read a whole lot of that because a lot of it seemed kinda silly but this...stood out to me. Your criteria for a character deserving a happy ending involves them being a child soldier, having his parents get batmanned, and getting raped repeatedly during childhood?

I'm pretty sure he's kind of got the first two covered, at least. He better get to work on hanging a price tag out of his pants zipper, I guess.

[HellCat]

I think the thing with Banagher is there will never be any change unless someone takes the first step. That seems to be a concept appearing alot in Japanese fiction in the last few years, the idea that it's wrong to say "I'll stop killing after I kill these certain people" and the need to say "Revenge killing is a cycle. I'm willing to be the one who lives with the hate and tries to escape it, rather than sink into its depths". It's the difficult first step into the great unknown. Obviously as viewers we know Banagher trying to cause lasting change is useless since groups like Crossbone Vanguard and Zanscare Empire are to come within a century but obviously he doesn't know that. Whilst Banagher faction hopping can be seen as bad writing, none of the leads who came before him in UC did it. They all basically chose a faction and fought to protect their allies within it. Banagher instead has gone from being a civillian to helping the Federation to helping Zeon and now is working with elements of both. That's perhaps significant itself.

[schwarz ritter]

Was Banana a child sex slave? Was Banagher forced into war as a child? Was Banana's mother executed by Zeon soldiers right before his eyes? No, I don't think so. If you ask me, he hasn't suffered enough to truly earn his happy ending.

I didn't really read a whole lot of that because a lot of it seemed kinda silly but this...stood out to me. Your criteria for a character deserving a happy ending involves them being a child soldier, having his parents get batmanned, and getting raped repeatedly during childhood?

Not necessarily those, and not necessarily those together. But yes, a character must earn his/her happy ending through "harship and suffering". Perhaps I'm a sadist, but Banana hasn't suffered enough.

I'm pretty sure he's kind of got the first two covered, at least. He better get to work on hanging a price tag out of his pants zipper, I guess.

THAT...made me lol a bit. Insensitive me

HellCat....finally, someone who knows what I mean.

[ShadowCell]

he's, uh, actually disagreeing with you

[schwarz ritter]

I meant on the faction hopping

[Kei Katsuragi]

Well I came here to talk about sweet Gundam protagonists, but apparently that's already derailed

[schwarz ritter]

Yeah, that's my fault. Apologies...

Feel free to rerail this discussion, Kei.

[Kei Katsuragi]

Loran Cehack wins by a long shot for me. Zero angst, and always fought for the right thing. He developed but was level headed and headstrong about what he believed was right from beginning to end. His almost zero kill count is also very impressive as well.All these traits are apart of him despite having to fight his own people. Really well written and strong, Loran is amazing in every way

[J-Lead]

I think the thing with Banagher is there will never be any change unless someone takes the first step.

There's a lot of ways to take the first step forward, though, not all of them necessarily involve taking another person's life. Banagher took that first step the second he took the Unicorn Gundam out of it's hanger at Industrial 7. Banagher's motivation lies in two places; 1. Protect Audrey, but more importantly 2. He wants find out what's in Laplace's box and find meaning in his father's words regarding it and what it can do for the world. His goals don't lie with either faction, and he doesn't harbor hatred for either, thus he has no reason to kill anyone on either side, contrary to other protagonists, who often had a very clear enemy from their own perspective. Through his actions and determination, he inadvertently becomes sort of a living example of the potential (the "possibility" theme comes in pretty strong here) the future of UC has. It's a shame it was never fully realized, but it's also not his or Mineva's responsibility to realize that potential; it's the world's.

Not necessarily those, and necessarily those together. But yes, a character must earn his/her happy ending through "harship and suffering". Perhaps I'm a sadist, but Banana hasn't suffered enough.

I disagree, I think happy endings are earned through determination and sticking to your convictions and what you believe is right.

Banagher, for all his hesitation and trouble figuring out what to do, has that in spades.

[Dark Duel]

First off, I will say that I agree 100% with what yaz said at the top of this page.
Second, and one that unlike Shinn wasn't the poster child for wasted potential, the Gundam character that I personally find most interesting and all around the best would have to be GARROD RAN.
For all kinds of reasons, not the least of which is seeing how he matures over the course of the series - especially in his interactions with Tiffa and, in my opinion just as interestingly, his more limited interactions with Ennil El(another one of my favorite characters in the series) as well as with other characters like Captain Badass.
Plus, as far as making his début goes, his was pretty awesome.
And then he only gets better from there.
But most interestingly of all, he's not this unbeatable super-pilot who insta-pwns anything the moment he gets into a mobile suit...he's actually a pretty mediocre pilot for most of the beginning of the series, albeit with the occasional flash of brilliance. But overall, Witz and Roybea are significantly better pilots at first, and once he gets over his cockpit phobia, Jamil himself is orders of magnitude beyond even them. Garrod only very gradually starts getting better as time goes on, and I LOVED that about X as compared to both its predecessors and many of its successors.

[Kratos]

Was Banana a child sex slave? Was Banagher forced into war as a child? Was Banana's mother executed by Zeon soldiers right before his eyes? No, I don't think so. If you ask me, he hasn't suffered enough to truly earn his happy ending.

See, this is interesting, because the pasts of characters like Marida and Angelo has garnered criticism from some as being excessive. Anyways, it doesn't matter to what degree Banagher has suffered; your original point was that he hasn't faced ANY hardship, and that just flat-out isn't true.

And who cares if your classmates don't care about you? Its not like you're gonna talk to them when you're all grown up. If he's really so frustrated by that, well, he really has no imagination whatsoever to make up for that "lack" of communication or whatever.

First of all, he's 16. At that age, belonging and acceptance are very, very important. Second, it more points to feelings of isolation in general, to a loneliness that would very likely pursue him into adulthood. That's hardship, especially at his age.

Perhaps I wasn't clear: Banana's logic doesn't necessarily have to work all the time. He has epically failed numerous times. But the problem is that, instead of learning from that, he continues spouting the same nonsense over, and over, and over, and over, and over again, until it really gets old and annoying. That's why I agree with you that he is a complete hypocrite and well...and "idiot" like House would put it.

Well, you said that his logic was right all the time in your original post. That aside, what he says isn't nonsense, unless you actually want to argue that "killing is bad" and "these wars are pointless" are incorrect positions to take. No, he just doesn't know put his ideals into practice on a place like the battlefield, and as such just does what he feels is expected of him (fight, and surrender himself to the NtD). But he isn't a soldier, and that's not the purpose that the Unicorn was made for, and as such letting himself be used by the power it has is the wrong choice and leads to death. Banagher's development is not in a changing of perspective; instead, it's growing into an understanding of how he can use his perspective to protect the ones he loves.

You're saying he doesn't push his ideals on others? Then tell me why he let himself be consumed by the NT-D at Palau, all because Marida didn't agree with him about supposedly ending it all by letting him get away. That's practically a Kira for me.

See above. He was still going through character development at the time. He's only a hypocrite so long as he uses the Unicorn for violence and destruction.

Newtypes are an illusion! People, watch Gundam X! There, you'll realize everything that happens in UC has been completely pointless.

Well, no, they're not entirely an illusion in X - Tifa, after all, is very much a true-blue Newtype. But even the fatalistic word on Newtypes that X provides is only one interpretation, and it's not the final word (especially since it's only very tenuously UC). To be honest I'm quite happy that Unicorn is taking the concept seriously. It's a far bigger challenge to to tackle Newtypes than to just dismiss them as freak accidents.

Unless my memory is worse than that of a 90-year old, Wesley Crusher nearly causes a huge crisis between the Federation and the Cardassians because he thought that giving up a planet that belongs to some Native American-like people was wrong. That sounds pretty Banana to me.

Yeah, but the difference is that Wesley Crusher is shown to be in the right (if I'm following you criticisms of him, here), whereas the situation at Torrington is made out to be an actual tragedy that, again, is partially Banagher's fault. Had he used the Unicorn's more violent abilities, maybe he could have defeated the Shamblo, but as far as Riddhe was concerned he wasn't seriously trying - and that, ultimately, is what gets Loni killed. Banagher tries to reason with her, but does it in a way that ignores his surroundings and the others present. He's in the wrong, or is at least partially so, and the show portrays him like that. So, no, not Wesley Crusher

For me, he neither makes sense in the head nor in paper. The fact that it doesn't really make much sense to you when you write it pretty much makes my point that Banana is just pointless babble.

Alright, so I worded that wrong. I don't actually doubt that my understanding of Banagher is correct - I have far too much faith in my ability to analyze and dissect characters for that, and I've given QUITE a bit of thought into Unicorn. That others have presented my own thoughts in a much more succint fashion prior to this response only reinforces my ideas on Banagher as a character.

I was hoping I did not need to use these, as it is cheap, but here they go (yes, I'm still butthurt over that):

Spoiler

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... 02fdfd.gif
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... 6_uc_4.jpg

Make what you will from that. I won't say anything further.

Spoiler

Is that her death? If so, I will refrain from commenting, as I haven't seen nor read that part of the series.

He has switched sides about, what? Three times now? Four? All so that "Audrey" can be safe. He should either make up his mind, or create a Three Ships Alliance of his own if he's really all into "protecting" Audrey. Of course, I find the whole "romance" between these two as forced as AnakinxPadme.

He doesn't switch sides. At no point does Banagher fight for Neo Zeon, ever; in fact, the closest he comes to fighting a Federation suit is the Banshee. Now, that's obviously set to change, and he'll be in more direct conflict with the Feds next episode, but not in support of Zeon. Banagher has never flip-flopped his allegiances, which are more people-centered than faction-centered anyways.