Shinns Piloting abilities

[Mafty]

So in Seed Destiny how good of a pilot is Shinn naturally?

Spoiler

Durandal gives him more upgraded units and promotions because he is a valuable pawn, and after the war Shinn's demoted.

Given the above , Shinn clearly had talent, but how much of his career trajectory was based on that?

[Seto Kaiba]

So in Seed Destiny how good of a pilot is Shinn naturally?

Considering the Cosmic Era is the Gundam AU that's memetically infamous for its extreme reliance on Plot Armor, I'm not sure that's a question with an actual answer beyond the obvious one...

Shinn's ZAFT uniform is red. That means that he was one of the top 20 students in his graduating class at the ZAFT military academy.

(Of course, as a second-generation coordinator, Shinn's abilities aren't exactly natural either...)

But really, any attempt to pin it down beyond "somewhere in the vast gulf between 'cannon fodder' and 'Kira'" is open to debate.

Given the above , Shinn clearly had talent, but how much of his career trajectory was based on that?

Aside from noting that Shinn did graduate near the top of his class from the military academy as evidenced by his red uniform, he seems to have been singled out by Durandal as a probable SEED candidate and supported accordingly.

[False Prophet]

Considering the Cosmic Era is the Gundam AU that's memetically infamous for its extreme reliance on Plot Armor, I'm not sure that's a question with an actual answer beyond the obvious one...

Shinn's ZAFT uniform is red. That means that he was one of the top 20 students in his graduating class at the ZAFT military academy.

(Of course, as a second-generation coordinator, Shinn's abilities aren't exactly natural either...)

But really, any attempt to pin it down beyond "somewhere in the vast gulf between 'cannon fodder' and 'Kira'" is open to debate.

Didn't the SEED Freedom prequel novel show that Shinn was really bad as a mobile suit trainee, and only got a bit better after he learnt his lesson to not always charge at the enemy? How could he be one of the top 20 students? Though that novel was narrated by Agnes, whose prejudice toward Shinn might well have colored her narrative.

The impression I got from watching SEED Freedom that Shinn's instinct as a pilot (and his spatial awareness ability too) has been sharpened to the point even if he doesn't think, he can still beat the majority of pilots. Plus he now has got Stella's spirit acting as his guardian spirit. Could he beat either Kira or Athrun though is a different question.

(Though Fukuda really went out of his way to solidify Shinn's new position as everyone's favorite punching bag. Poor boy.)

[Seto Kaiba]

Didn't the SEED Freedom prequel novel show that Shinn was really bad as a mobile suit trainee, and only got a bit better after he learnt his lesson to not always charge at the enemy? How could he be one of the top 20 students?

Having not read the novel, I couldn't tell you why the novel says what it says... it may be a plot hole, or the light novel may simply be non-canonical as many such things are.

Official materials for the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny TV anime explain the signifiance of the different colors of the ZAFT duty uniform and pilot suit. Red uniforms and pilot suits are the mark of the elite soldiers who were ranked 20th or higher in their class at the time they graduated from the military academy. The text explaining the regular green uniforms and pilot suits actually explains them as being for soldiers who ranked below 20th in their academy class to drive the point home.

On that basis, it can be very safely said that Shinn Asuka was about as far from a "bad trainee" as it's possible to get. He had to have been in the Top 20 in his academy's graduating class to be given the red uniform he wears throughout SEED Destiny.

Mind you, because that's based on grades at ZAFT's military academy the red uniform is more a sign that the wearer is expected to be a badass not confirmation that they are one. Mock battles and simulated combat are not perfect prepration for the real thing after all... and the main thing that's colored Shinn's performance in live combat is his personal psychological damage.

[yazi88]

The Seed Freedom tie in is a story about Shinn, Rey, Luna and Agnes academy days. Shinn was initially having trouble as he was behind in grades, but Rey gave him pointers along with emotional support and Shinn made it to top of the class after studying and training, even surpassing Rey. So it still fits in with his red coat status from the TV show.

[Mafty]

Another factor is that Shinn was actually assigned to pilot the Impulse Gundam from the beginning ( as opposed to the standard falling into the cockpit trope).

To be assigned a Gundam (not just a customized unit, though those are for aces not just top 20's), Shinn must have had even better abilities than usual (though again who knows what Durandal had a hand in).

[Kuruni]

Another factor is that Shinn was actually assigned to pilot the Impulse Gundam from the beginning ( as opposed to the standard falling into the cockpit trope).

To be assigned a Gundam (not just a customized unit, though those are for aces not just top 20's), Shinn must have had even better abilities than usual (though again who knows what Durandal had a hand in).

More so than usual, the point of Impulse, according to Dsstiny Astray, is to lets one ace fight in any situation. And Chaos, Abyss, and Gaia are stopgaps suppoerters to fill the roles Impulse's silhouettes aren't good enough. Being chosen as Impulse s pilot mean Shinn is Gil's trump card.