Introduction
To kick-off my 2026 with a tribute to Uma Musume to celebrate the Year Of The Horse would have been a clever pun, some may say. But I need money to supplement my new hyper-fixation; MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM!
(also, during writing, Cygames openly put up a job listing for an AI image generation expert.)
So, to prove my newfound intrigue in this property; I shall write a piece dedicated to the Mobile Suit whose Gunpla started it all for me.
Join me now as we go through the history of the OZ-06MS.
AKA, Leo.
Chapter 1:
“Talk to me, Tallgeese!”
First step to the Leo is the OZ-00MS Tallgeese.
“Wait, but it looks higher spec than the Leo!”
Yes, but also no. The Tallgeese prototype was designed by the same six boffins responsible for the Gundams of the series (Gundam Wing). The Tallgeese was armed with a mighty Dober Gun; a high-power beam weapon capable of quickly annihilating the standard Leo. (More on why the Leo is the measurement in a bit). The Tallgeese also came with a shield, within which were hidden two beam sabers for close quarters combat.
With high speed operation of the Tallgeese theoretically resulting in the pilots being reduced to paste from intense g-forces, the Mobile Suit was altered SIGNIFICANTLY so as to be put into mass production. The goal of the modifications was to dumb down basically everything that made the Tallgeese a high-speed death box and transform it… Into a Soldier.
Chapter 2:
“I Stand Here Right Beside You.”
After at least five prototypes, the OZ-06MS and two modifications; OZ-07AMS and OZ-07MS were entered into service with the UEFA as the backbones of their peacekeeping operations. These were, despite being fielded by Earthers, named after the constellations of Leo, Aries and Tragos respectively.
The irony of Earth Mobile Suits being named after constellations is lost on the UEFA, it seems, since their peacekeeping ops mostly consisted on subjugating the space colonies via occupation and puppet leaders. The Leo, the most mass-produced of the three, was so synonymous with the UEFA during this period that it became the standard by which the other UEFA Mobile Suits were measured (hence the above notation of the Tallgeese’s destructive capability measured with a Leo).
To briefly describe the Aries and the Tragos; the Aries is a long-distance flight-capable Mobile Suit meant to go where the Flight Leo can’t and engage with the likes of fighter jets. While the Tragos is meant to be a heavily armoured Mobile Suit capable of turning into a heavy artillery hover tank, it’s actually kinda useless; as it’s slower than the Basic Leo and its hover mode doesn’t contribute much at all. Also; Gundams don’t give a f*ck about armour.
Now, as for the Leo itself… Well, let’s go over its VARIANTS, YAY!!!
Chapter 3:
“We Stand Shoulder To Shoulder.”
As with your Sherman or Panzer IV tanks of WWII; there are MANY, MANY variants of the Leo that are deployed by the UESA and its offshoot factions.
First two variants, which appear most commonly beside the basic Leo, are the Flight and Space Leos. Each variant is denoted by the colour it’s been painted; with the basic Leo being moss-green, the Flight Leo being sky-blue and the Space Leo being deep-purple. There’s also Cannon variants of those three; which are literally just cannons mounted onto the shoulders.
Then we get the rarer types of Leo.
Such as…
- Mobile Doll System Experiment Unit
- Recon Leo
- G Leo and G Leo 02
- Leo Type II Chimera
- Leo Type III New Chimera
- Leo Type IV Greif
And lest we forget…
Chapter 4:
“The Stardust Knights”
As with Char’s and Johnny’s custom Zakus, the OZ Prize’s special squadron known as Stardust Knights, had their own modifications of the Leo with hints of Aries, Tragos and (maybe) even Tallgeese sprinkled amongst them. Essentially a bunch of aristocratic commandos, the Knights’ Leos are each indicative (for the most part) of the pilots’ appearance and dispositions. To keep it brief…
Piloting the caped OZ-06MS-SS1 “Leo S” is Roche Nattono, the leader of the trio. Unlike Revolver Ocelot’s engravings, the cape actually DOES provide a tactical advantage; as it’s treated in anti-beam coating to protect from Beam Weaponry.
Piloting the deceptively feminine OZ-06MS-SR2 “Leo R” is Kratz Silvy. The Leo R has the arms and legs of the Aries and a curvaceous design so as to emphasize high speed and mobility.
And piloting the mighty OZ-06MS-SN3 “Leo N” is… Broom Brooks? I know Mobile Suit Gundam has characters literally called Slim, Denim and Gene, but this is kinda pushing my suspension of disbelief. In any case; the Leo N is fitted with the arms and legs of a Tragos and even a FUNCTIONING HEAD-AXE so as to specialize in tanking hits and exceed expectations in close-quarters combat.
It should be noted that, all* of these Leos were destroyed by the end of the manga they were introduced in.
(there was also a fourth custom Leo, but I don’t feel like talking about it here).
Chapter 5:
“You Can’t Erase Us, You’ll Just Have To Face Us”
The Leo also has a notable appearance in Gundam Build Divers! It’s non-canon, but it’s still worth mentioning, because whether the original Leo or the NPD Leo; this machine is resolute and ever present! Which is why, in closing, I should mention that I left hints in most of the chapter titles to the song “Soldiers” by Otherwise, a song often associated with Clone Troopers from Clone Wars, the ODST from Halo and even Imperial Guardsmen from WH40K. My use here is in tribute to a tribute AMV dedicated to the Leo (which I saw a reupload of, since the original was long since removed from YT)
Closing:
“WE ARE SOLDIERS!”
In closing; The Leo was my first HG Gunpla and won’t be the last! I’m even toying with the idea of getting MOAR Leos and some decals to distinguish them from each other. I already have plans to get the Stardust Leos and I dearly wish the Aries and Tragos get their own HG kits in the near future! So, until then…
“Till our last breath, we’ll fight to the death, we are soldiers, WE ARE SOLDIERS!”
My Leo, circa 2026
Records of an Aspie 