GNX-609T GN-XIII, pronounced 'Jinx Three', is the Earth Sphere Federation's general-purpose mass-production suit of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 season two (2008, A.D. 2312). It descends from the GNX-603T GN-X through the GNX-607T GN-XII, runs on a GN Drive Tau, and around a thousand were built for the Federation Forces and the autonomous peacekeeping unit A-Laws.
What it does in the story
The A-Laws fought with GN-XIIIs in numbers, sending them alongside a smaller group of GNX-704T Aheads against Katharon and then against the rebuilt Celestial Being. When Federation personnel who objected to A-Laws methods formed a coup faction, they used the same suit in ESF colours on the other side, fighting beside Katharon and the Gundams. Later machines were converted into the GNX-803T GN-XIV, though GN-XIIIs were still in service when the ELS arrived.
What makes it different
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The option of a real GN Drive was deleted.
The GN-X and GN-XII could be fitted with an original GN Drive if one could be obtained. The GN-XIII drops that provision because the Tau version had caught up in performance, and its chest and waist particle generators are smaller again than the GN-XII's.
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It is a parts upgrade as much as a new machine.
Older machines in the GN-X series can be brought to a later standard by swapping components, so a share of the GN-XIII force began life as GN-XIIs.
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The lance shoots as well as it cuts.
The GN Lance has a rifle built into it and switches between Lance Mode and Rifle Mode, so the main weapon covers both ranges without a second firearm. The Advanced GN-X adopted it first.
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Two colour schemes, one machine.
ESF Type and A-Laws Type differ in paint and nothing else; the specification states their basic performance is identical. The Federation eventually placed its own forces under A-Laws command, which put both types on the same battlefields.
How big is it?
- Head height: 19.0 m according to Bandai's official spec
- Weight: 69.8 t empty
- 1/144: roughly 13.2 cm
- 1/100: roughly 19 cm
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Frequently asked questions
1. Does the GN-XIII have a GN Drive?
It has a GN Drive Tau, the reproduction unit that runs on a limited particle supply rather than a true drive. The design no longer includes provision for fitting an original GN Drive, because the Tau's output had reached the level of the drives used by Celestial Being's third-generation Gundams.
2. What separates the ESF Type from the A-Laws Type?
Paint. Both are stated to share the same basic performance, so the difference comes down to which unit operated the machine rather than to anything in the airframe.
3. Who else operated the GN-XIII?
The Colony Public Corporation bought several from the Federation Forces with armament restrictions and used three of them in an attempt on Marina Ismail's life. Machines also served on both sides of the coup, since the faction opposing the A-Laws was made up of Federation personnel.
4. Which kits of the GN-XIII exist?
1/144 HG00 releases of the A-Laws Type in 2008 and the ESF Type in 2009, and 1/100 Master Grade versions of both colours as P-Bandai exclusives in 2018.
Background sources: GNX-609T GN-XIII — Gundam Wiki
