Character Profile: Peacecraft Milliardo

Wearing a mask to conceal his face, Zechs Merquise is one of the most reputed pilots in the United Earth Sphere Alliance, rising to the rank of Colonel despite his youth and earning his fearsome moniker: "Lightning Count". When he encountered the Gundams, however, he knew that his skill alone would not be enough to stop them, so he sought a way to even the stakes...and he found it in an infamous Gundam prototype named Tallgeese: a mobile suit notorious for killing many of its pilots in the strain. It nearly killed him, and it took quite some time for him to master it, but it gave him the edge he needed to meet the Gundam pilots as an equal. The Tallgeese was constructed in the days before Gundanium was readily available, so it has titanium for armor. It also has two beam sabres and a cannon called the Dobergun.

In reality, he is Milliardo Peacecraft, one of only two Peacecrafts to survive the fall of the Sanq Kingdom (also spelled Cinq Kingdom). Not knowing what else to do, he chose to avenge his fallen family from within...but when he once more stepped into the palace in Sanq, he knew that he was not fit to rule: his hands too stepped in blood from countless battles. But he knew someone else who could, so he told his closest friend, Lucrezia Noin, to find the one who could take up the throne he was unqualified to accept: his sister, Relena.

In the meantime, Zech kept fighting an OZ which now saw Zechs as a traitor. His only other friend, OZ leader Treize, did what he could. Zechs fought them off, and with the help of Howard escaped into space. He began approaching the colonies as Milliardo Peacecraft, ambassador to the Sanq Kingdom, in an attempt to stem what he knew was the growing drive for war in the colonies, but he was forced to abandon his impromptu ambassadorial role when he was discovered...and when OZ changed tactics.

So Zechs was fighting again, growing ever more skilled with each battle...even too skilled for the Tallgeese. Then he located the Wing Zero that Quatre had abandoned. He climbed in and strapped on...and he was in for an even wilder ride as the ZERO System put even the legendary Lightning Count to the test.

From the first time they met in battle, Zechs has had a macabre interest in Heero Yuy, even going so far as to rebuild the Wing Gundam after Heero self-detonated it and offering it back...just so they could fight. The two have fought on several occasions. None have been decisive. The last time the two met face to face, Zechs had returned to Earth in the Wing Zero and Heero had recently acquired the Epyon from Treize. The two fought their fiercest fights...and each suit's combat system was overwhelmed. The battle was once again a draw. Left alone to talk, the two of them agreed to switch Gundams. It would be Zechs who would become the devil...and Heero who would be the angel.

But Zechs became lost as the fighting began to stop under the influential words of Relena, his own sister. Tapped into Epyon's ZERO-like combat system, though, he saw several possibilities ahead of him. He took up one...and returned to space to join and eventually lead the White Fang formed by Quinze. If he was to be the devil, then he would make sure it would count. He would give the Earth one last reason to cease fighting...and bid goodbye to his blood-soaked past.

But as we see in Endless Waltz, Milliardo resurfaces whenever war rears its head. Joining the Preventers under the codename "Wind," Milliardo will rejoin his close and loyal friend Noin for one last fight for the peace of the Earth Sphere.

NOTE: Those familiar with the universe of Mobile Suit Gundam will probably notice that Zechs bears a great resemblence to a character from the original series: Char Aznable.

Zechs decided to work for the military after his home the Sanq Kingdom was nearly destroyed in a war. He decided to seek revenge for his home kingdom by fighting in modle suti combat under the discuise of Zechs Marqise.

Zechs decided that he wasn't fit to rule a nation with "blood soaked hands." So he thought that his sister Relena Peacecraft was fit to be the true ruler of the Sanq Kingdom.