GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh is the machine hidden inside the GN-005 Gundam Virtue in the first season of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007, Anno Domini 2307). Celestial Being built it at the colony Krung Thep as one of its third-generation Gundams, and Tieria Erde pilots it. Its name comes from a Navajo spirit rather than from the angelic ranks the others use.
What it does in the story
Virtue's armour was only meant to come off if someone inside Celestial Being turned traitor, because the machine underneath carries the Trial System. Tieria had to purge it early, in the tenth episode, to escape a fight the armoured form could not win. He used the system in earnest in the nineteenth episode, stopping the Gundam Thrones in place before the effect was overridden.
What makes it different
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The Trial System is why it exists.
It throws up an invisible Trial Field, and any machine inside it that is linked to the quantum computer Veda can be seized and shut down. That was built as a guard against the Gundams themselves being captured, which is why the suit was kept secret.
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It doubles as Virtue's escape unit.
The idea goes back to the GNY-004 Gundam Plutone, whose Core Fighter was too small to survive a battle that had already beaten a Gundam. The escape unit was therefore made a full mobile suit, which also gets two combat roles out of one GN Drive.
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The red cords in its hair feed the armour.
Those strands carry GN Particles up into Virtue's outer plates, and most attach at the head and centre chest, which is what holds those pieces on. With the armour gone it also loses the GN Field.
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Most kits of it come inside a Virtue box.
The 1/100 from 2008 and the Master Grade 1/100 from 2021 both build the Nadleeh from the same box as the armoured suit. A standalone 1/144 High Grade came in 2008, and a Gundam Base Limited Master Grade Nadleeh followed in 2023.
How big is it?
- Head height: 18.1 m according to Bandai's official spec, with a base weight of 54.0 t
- 1/144: roughly 12.6 cm, which covers the HG00 kit
- 1/100: roughly 18.1 cm, for the Nadleeh built from the Virtue boxes
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Frequently asked questions
1. Can the Nadleeh be built without the Virtue armour?
In the 1/100 and Master Grade Virtue boxes the inner suit is a complete model, so the armour can be left off or put back on. The 1/144 High Grade builds only the unarmoured machine.
2. How far does the Trial System reach?
The field is deliberately short-ranged, and extending it is what the Akwos equipment from the 00V material was designed to do. That limit made the system a last resort rather than a routine weapon.
3. What does it carry once the armour is off?
Two GN Beam Sabers in the knees, plus the discarded GN Cannons, which can be picked up by hand through fold-out grips. Launched alone, it swaps those for a GN Beam Rifle and GN Shield.
4. Is the Nadleeh the same as the Seraphim Gundam?
No. The GN-009 Seraphim is its second-season successor and carries a wider version of the same Trial System, but the two are separate machines of different sizes.
Background sources: GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh — Gundam Wiki · 機動戦士ガンダム00シリーズの登場兵器（第3世代ガンダム）— 日本語版 Wikipedia
