Kai Shiden
Kai Shiden was one of the supporting characters in the classic
anime TV series
Mobile Suit Gundam.
Kai's name is derived from the name of a World War II era Japanese fighter plane, the
Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden-Kai.
At the onset of the
One Year War in UC 0079, Kai Shiden lived in the space colony Green Oasis in Bunch 1 of
Side 7. Kai Shiden is tall and lanky in stature with a mop of gray hair, and his snarky and sarcastic personality often gets him scolded or slapped around. After surviving the
Zeon attack on Side 7, Kai evacuates to the Pegasus class assault carrier
SCV-70 White Base to make his escape. However, due to a shortage of crew and soldiers to staff the battleship Kai is asked to become a pilot to help defend the
White Base from the frequent Zeon attacks. Kai is assigned to pilot the
RX-77-2 Guncannon mobile suit, the unit he would remain in for the rest of the One Year War.
A natural coward, cynic, and pessimist Kai can often be found hiding on the sidelines making smart-alecky comments. His fighting style leans towards bombarding foes with the Guncannon's long range armaments, but when he gets in a fix he has shown that he is able to pull off hand-to-hand attacks with the Guncannon. However, Kai quickly becomes disenchanted with war and he decides to desert the
White Base when it is docked for repairs in Belfast, Ireland. Outside of Belfast Kai meets a young girl named Miharu Ratokie, and agrees to sneak her onto the
White Base and take her to the
Earth Federation headquarters, Jaburo, located along the Amazon River in South America. But unbeknownst to Kai, Miharu is actually a Zeon spy sent to infiltrate the
White Base and discover Jaburo's location.
During the
White Base's travels over the
Atlantic Ocean Kai begins to have feelings for Miharu. But a sudden Zeon attack on the
White Base over the Atlantic forces Kai to take desperate measures to protect the ship, and he and Miharu go out in a Gunperry transport plane. When the Gunperry gets damaged Miharu is forced to fire the planes missiles manually and is knocked from the Gunperry by the exhaust blast from the missiles and she falls to her death in the Atlantic Ocean. When Kai returns to the
White Base he is much more somber, torn apart on the inside by Miharu's death.
This causes a transformation in Kai. Realizing he can not stay depressed for the rest of his life Kai comes to understand that he has friends to fight for and protect if they are all to survive the war.
After the One Year War ends Kai Shiden becomes a freelance journalist and investigative reporter. In UC 0087, during the events of the
Zeta Gundam TV series, Kai begins to investigate the
Titans military organization. During a covert mission to discover why the Titans are evacuating their base in Jaburo, Kai meets
AEUG spy
Reccoa Londe who is scouting ahead of a coming AEUG attack force. However Kai and Reccoa are captured by Titans forces and imprisoned in Jaburo. Luckily they are not executed, but unbeknownst to them a nuclear bomb is set as a trap to destroy the coming AEUG forces attacking Jaburo. Fortunately AEUG pilot
Kamille Bidan discovers the bomb beneath the base and is able to release Reccoa and Kai in time. With the help of former
White Base pilot
Hayato Kobayashi the AEUG is able to escape from Jaburo before the nuclear weapon obliterates the base.
Throughout the remainder of the Gryps War Kai takes a minor role, co-ordinating messages between the AEUG and the
Karaba resistance group run by Hayato, as well as some slight information gathering.
