I told you. You should've surrendered.

Greetings dear visitor, you have just stumbled upon empathie, a one-page dedication to the beautiful, inspiring, yet often underrated Quatre Raberba Winner, from the classic among classics of mecha anime, Shin Kidou Senki Gundam Wing (Gundam Wing). A fragile boy in appearance, but with strong determination and a big heart, that's him. He pilots the Gundam Sandrock and fights to create a bright future, despite him being a pacifist. This boy's kindness and growth throughout the series captivated my heart, to the point that I still adore him today, many years after the series was first broadcasted on TV.

This site has been created by Yamila, one of your typical rabid fangirls who finally decided to do something productive with her love for Q-chan ♥, as a part of the One Page One Month marathon at amassment. Any questions or concerns regarding this site should be directed to her. Thank you, and enjoy your visit! ☆ - July 31st 2010.

introduction to gundam wing

Year 1995, the historical Gundam franchise was not in its best moment. Sunrise, the company behind all its incarnations, was in need of a new boom, to revitalize the Gundam tradition in Japan. G Gundam, the previous series, had been successful for its catchy super robot theme. But fans were now looking for an epic, serious plot, and here is when the Gundam Wing legend started.

Shin Kidou Senki Gundam W (New Mobile Report Gundam Wing, its western name being Gundam Wing) was first broadcasted on April 7th 1995, and after a 49 episode-run, finished on March 29th 1996. On its way, a new classic was born, thanks to Sunrise's very well delivered move: making the anime appealing to both males and females. This was achieved with gorgeous mecha designs and exciting battles for men, and beautiful characters and lots of romance for women. The director was Masashi Ikeda (Inuyasha, Ronin Warriors), the writer was Akemi Omode (.hack, Toward the Terra), and the characters were designed by Shukou Murase (Gasaraki). Gundam Wing was so successful that it was the first one in its franchise to get sequels. In addition, the endless merchandising and broadcastings in western countries (where it was even more successful than in Japan) helped it become the great classic it's considered today.

The story has some reminiscences of the first Mobile Suit Gundam anime. Humanity has resorted to a new calendar after centuries of wars. It's 195 AC (After Colony), and with great effort, humans have built colonies in space and lived there for years. However, peace is uncertain between the Earth and colonies. This is due to United Earth Sphere Alliance, an organization who has the complete control of the planet, is now going for the colonies, taking one after another by force, in the name of justice and peace. To counter them, rebel colonies start Operation Meteor, sending mobile suits to the Earth disguised as shooting stars, to attack the organization. These mobiles suits are the five Gundams, piloted by five boys with incredible fighting and survival abilities. That's the basic premise anyways, since Gundam Wing is full of plot twists, surprising revelations, character switching sides, and the must-have for every Gundam anime, character deaths.

As mentioned above, Gundam Wing was followed by a sequel, in the OVA (Original Video Animation) format. These three episodes were called Endless Waltz, and featured redesigned machines and characters, and a new conflict after peace was supposedly achieved. GW has also spawned a great amount of manga adaptations, a total of eleven titles, being Episode Zero and Blind Target the best-known ones.

As a final note, 2010 is a year of revival for Gundam Wing: there's a new novel adaptation announced, called Shin Kidou Senki Gundam W: Frozen Teardrop, and a new manga to be serialized on the Gundam Ace magazine, based on Endless Waltz.

boy

Quatre Raberba Winner is 14-year-old at the beginning of the series. He's voiced by Ai Orikasa in the original version. Of Arabian ethnicity, he comes from a very powerful and wealthy family. He is very well mannered, calm and cheerful – a really nice boy, to put it in few words. Despite his aristocratic origins, Quatre is very humble and always puts others before him. He is also very keen of animals and is very kind to people. This kindness is remarked many times in the series – he has such a big heart that he apologizes before killing his enemies. He is the kind of person who will risk his life if that means protecting those he cares about.

He is protected by the Managacs, who are a group of forty men. They aid him in battles and Gundam Sandrock needs reparation. His leader is Rashid, who is also very fond of Quatre and gave him his trademark goggles. Their base is located in a desert. As an interesting fact, the forty of them survive the whole series.

fighter

In battle, he’s as skilful and gifted as the other Gundam pilots. He possesses incredible intelligence and his body is trained to go in the most dangerous missions. In addition, Quatre is an excellent strategist and battle leader, talent that Heero makes him put into use in the last battles in the series. But Quatre’s special ability is what he calls “Soul of the Outer Space”. This skill is pretty vague and not much described in any of the adaptations, but it allows him to hear what other people think or say in distant places, for example, or learn about others’ pasts.

looks

He is short and has a fragile complexion. He has platinum blonde hair and blue eyes (turquoise in Endless Waltz), and wears a pink shirt, purple vest and brown trousers for most of the series. The only time he is featured with different clothes is in the first opening sequence.

story - episode zero

As it's shown in the Episode Zero manga, Quatre was born in AC 189 in the colonies, where women had experienced abnormalities in their reproductive system and therefore couldn't give birth. Although this issue was solved when life in colonies stabilized, the women in the Winner family, who had been living in the colonies since their formation, still had problems. That's why Quatre's 29 sisters were all born from test tubes. However, Quatre was born naturally, but his mother died in the process. In her deathbed, she requested Quatre's father to never tell him about this, because it'd feel as a huge burden. In consecuence, Quatre believes himself to be born from a test tube, and doesn't give much consideration to his existence. He holds a grudge against his father for "having creating his sisters and him to suit the needs of the family". He doesn't love anyone, or even himself.

In AC 193, he's travelling on a ship towards the Earth, when it gets captured by the Managacs. This group took Quatre and the people in them as hostages in exchange for better conditions for the people working for the Winner family. He doesn't care much about it and goes straight to tell them that there isn't much they can get from him. At the same time, they are negotiating with Quatre's father. He asks to speak to his son, and their tense relationship comes to light, with Quatre expressing his resentment for being a "tool". In that moment, the leader of the Managacs, Rashid, slaps him, telling him to have more pride on himself. Turns out all the Managacs were test tube babies, but they take pride on it and live as a true family. Quatre is baffled with that revelation. Then he meets, in his own words, "a certified mad scientist", who we know in the anime as Instructor H. He talks to Quatre about having pride, and remarks that he is just as kind as the Maganacs. Just as he is leaving, Quatre overhears Judas Iskariote, a traitor in the terrorist group, revealing their position to the Federation. He ties this man and takes him to the rest of the Managacs, but he frees himself and shoots their leader. Thanks to Quatre's intervention, he wasn't injured in a vital point. This action leads Rashid to assign Quatre to his mobile suit, since they had to fight the Federation and he insisted on participating. He also gives him his trademark goggles.

Quatre leads the Managacs to victory and helps them escape to the Earth. He meets them two years later, when Operation Meteor starts.

story - gundam wing

Two years after his fated meeting with the Managacs, Quatre travels to the Earth as a part of Operation Meteor, now with his Gundam Sandrock, which Instructor H built using funds from the Winner family. In one of his first battles, he meets Trowa Barton, the pilot of Gundam Heavyarms. Quatre recognizes him as an ally at first sight and takes him and his Gundam to the Managacs' base in the desert. However, Trowa leaves after a short while. Later he learns of the existence of the other Gundams, and is convinced that the five of them should become allies. During another mission to hijack OZ's operations, Quatre meets them, and have a fierce battle against OZ's forces. However, OZ had a trap prepared: threaten to anhilate the colonies if the Gundams didn't surrender. With that situation, Heero auto-detonates his Gundam. In that moment, Quatre can feel what everyone involved in that battle are thinking, saying that his heart and soul are in pain. After this terrible battle, Quatre goes back to the desert, where he finds Duo and offers to help him.

They decide to go back to their colonies to fight OZ, who is starting to manipulate the colonies. Quatre is determined to show the world what they are doing, and also to get the five pilots together in space. However, the colonies, in the middle of their negotiations with OZ for "pacifism", turn their back on them and declare the Gundams as their enemies. Quatre's plan to gather all of them is successful and they all leave for space... but Quatre decides to cover for Duo and Wufei's escape, so he must sacrifice his Sandrock. He was going to die with it, but the mobile suit opens its door for him. Quatre then escapes to space, unconscious on a ship, where he's found by some workers around the colonies. He's taken to a hospital, and the doctor happens to be one of his sisters, Irea. He meets his father after a long time, and they still have a tense relationship. However, Irea tells him later that his father supports him too, only that he can't give up his pacifist beliefs. She also puts him up to date with the current situation: Duo's Gundam being destroyed by the colonies, and the colonies rejecting their family thanks to OZ's manipulation. In a desperate move to prevent OZ from using a resources satellite, Quatre's father destroys it. OZ's army assasinates him in front of Quatre and Irea's eyes. Here is when he swears that no one will ever forget what happened there.

After some episodes with no sight of him, a new Gundam makes its appearance: Gundam Wing Zero. This mobile suit is anhilating colonies' forces, and has a brutal power. Soon he learn that the one piloting it is no other but Quatre. Instructor H had left its design behind and Quatre found it after his father was killed. This mobile suit possesses the Zero system, which grants the pilot all the necessary information for the battle, but it causes insanity. Quatre is victim of this system - he is convinced that he must destroy the colonies. Heero and Trowa go fight him under OZ's orders (they are both working for them at the time), with the secret intention of using Zero's power against OZ once they meet. However, Quatre is determined to kill them if necessary. Then Heero battles Quatre. In the end, Trowa sacrifices himself to make Quatre go back to his senses, telling him to "go back to the nice guy he once knew". Both Heero and Quatre are saved by the Treize Faction, who are soldiers loyal to Treize Kushrenada (OZ has imprisoned him because he is against their actions). runs tests on Heero to try it, but he loses his mind over the Wing Zero system too. Quatre saves him using the Mercurius (another mobile suit developed by OZ). He also somehow reads into Heero's mind, probably thanks to his special ability, and learns that Heero wants to see someone who is in the Earth (Relena). Knowing this, both return to the planet.

After a while, they go to the Sanc Kingdom, where Relena is the ruler. Both join Noin to defend the pacific realm from OZ, masquearing as normal students at Relena's school. While they are there, Quatre expresses his regret for his actions, and how guilty he feels for what happened to Trowa. Later, Sanc Kingdom must surrender to Romeifeller Foundation/OZ. Quatre goes to the desert to pick his repaired Sandrock, then leaves for space with Noin. He puts his family's business to work once again, since all activities had stopped after his father's death. In these circumstances, he meets Duo. He expresses his wish for a peaceful world (just like the model of Sanc Kingdom), and his need to make up for his mistakes. Duo had met Trowa prior to finding Quatre, so he tells him about his location. Quatre is ecstastic to find him again in the circus, but Trowa is amnesic after their battle and cannot remember him. Catherine tells Quatre to go away even after he apologizes without stopping. Suddenly, that same colony is caught in OZ's line of fire, and Quatre goes to space to fight them. At that moment, even though Trowa has no idea of who Quatre is, says that "he can hear him crying", and remembers Heero's words about living following one's emotions, so he meets Quatre in space, to his surprise, and joins him and Noin.

Later, the five pilots gather in the Peacemillion ship. OZ has taken the people in a colony as hostage, precisely the one where Catherine and the circus are. White Fang, the new movement from the colonies lead by Milliardo Peacecraft, is threatening with shooting a huge laser cannon, aiming to that colony. The pilots are following the events on TV, and Trowa recognizes Catherine in the crowd of hostages. He decides to take the Wing Zero and fight. When the system takes control of his mind, Quatre arrives just in time to stop him and at the same time, Trowa's memories come back. So their deal is paid off.

Near the end of the series, the five pilots form a team, to fight in which has become in a war of all against all. Heero installs Zero's system in Sandrock, telling Quatre that he can actually control it and that he is the best leader. At the same time, Milliardo has adjusted his version of the Zero system for Dorothy Catalonia, so that she can control the mobile dolls (mobile suits which do not need pilots). This leads to a battle between Dorothy and Quatre's strategies, which results in the Gundam-Team's victory. With this, he overcomes his fears and successfully takes control of the Zero system.

Finally, the G-Team enters the Libra ship (White Fang's base), where Quatre has a fencing duel against Dorothy. He's in serious danger, until Trowa arrives and saves him. After Heero's final battle against Zechs, a midly injured Quatre in his Sandrock arrives to the conclusion that "the Soul of Outer Space is Heero".

In the Odd Numbers, Even Numbers special, Quatre is shown at a hospital bed after the battle. Trowa and Duo are visiting him, and fullfilling their promise of celebrating, they cheer with empty glasses, since they are minors and can't drink alcohol.

story - blind target

Another manga set after the end of the series. Relena and Quatre are both busy with negotiations after the war. An organization attempts against Quatre's life by detonating a bomb in a building, and in the beginning, he's declared dead. However, he saves his life by chance, since his comittee had car problems and didn't arrive on time.

He meets Duo, and Trowa afterwards. He feels guilty because of all the people who died in the building because of him, but Trowa tells him that he must keep his optimism up. Later, the person behind the attempt, Ralph, confronts him. Quatre tells him that they should have aimed to him directly, instead of killing so many people to get to him. After that, he goes for a walk and finds Wufei. He wonders why people hate, and Wufei says that it's because they are weak. But when Quatre reasons that he must be weak then, Wufei replies that he isn't, because he was chosen by his Gundam. By the end, the plan to kill Relena fails and everyone decides to get rid of the Gundams. Quatre is seen in Sandrock's cockpit, before saying goodbye to him.

story - ground zero

Ground Zero is a one-shot manga situated right after the end of the series, but it can easily be seen as an parallel universe, or non-canon. However it was written by the same authors of the canon mangas. Heero is having trouble adjusting to the new peace. In those circumstances, he receives an email saying that his Wing Zero has been captured. However, it ends up all being a plan by Quatre to find out why Heero did a refit in his Wing Zero now that the war is over. He is behind the scenes using the Zero system. The answer to this question is that Heero simply wanted to try it. At the end, they all agree to send the Gundams towards the Sun.

In the second story, Quatre goes visit Relena with Trowa and Duo, and is baffled at Duo's tactics to get Heero and Relena together.

story - endless waltz

One year has passed since the end of the anime, the world is in peace after great amounts of hard work. Quatre has had the idea of sending the Gundams in a cargo ship going towards the Sun, since they are not necessary anymore in this new peace period. However, when Mariemaia Khushrenada (Treize's daughter) declares war against the Earth, the Gundams must be recovered before they reach their destiny. Quatre, who feels responsible after taking the decision, goes with the Managacs to get them back, mission which he successfully accomplishes. Later the pilots learn that Mariemaia is actually controlled by a man called Dekim Barton, the leader of the Barton Foundation, which the original Trowa Barton (not the one we know) was a part of. In the end, he fights alongside Duo and Trowa against Dekim's forces, and after their victory, he auto-detonates his Gundams and sets to space with the Maganacs.

relationships

In this section, we will analyse Quatre's bonds with other characters from Gundam Wing.

heero yuy

Heero and Quatre don't interact directly until half-way the series, when Heero and Trowa try to stop Quatre in his insanity to destroy the colonies. While Trowa is confident on Quatre being their ally, Heero considers him an enemy, and he wasn't so wrong. After regaining his composture, Quatre can see into Heero's mind. He sees Heero's wish to see Relena. Both escape to the Earth after that, and spend time together at Relena's school. In the meanwhile, we can see that Quatre considers him a friend, and that Heero, even with all his stoic character and distrust of others, starts warming up to him, to the point of confiding him with the Zero system and make him the leader of the group by the end of the series.

duo maxwell

Both Duo and Quatre are the most cheerful and friendly among the G-pilots. They meet when Duo is trying to cross the desert, after Heero auto-detonates his Gundam. Quatre takes him to his base in the desert, and stay together for a good while. It's clear that in that time, they become really fond of each other, since Duo will try to help Quatre more than once later in the series, especially when they are back in space for the second time and Quatre is desperate to achieve peace. Duo's views are more drastic and realistic than Quatre's, but there's no wonder that Duo can cheer him up. Also, he tells him about Trowa's location, which shows that Duo knew about Quatre's guilty feelings over his supposed death. In Endless Waltz, both are together at the beginning and the end, bidding farewell to their Gundams.

trowa barton

Before starting, I have to make it clear: I am a huge supporter of the Trowa/Quatre pairing. In fact, they mean the world to me. So I'm apolozing beforehand, in case this section sounds too biased...

That said, from the very beginning in the series it's clear that their friendship is special. They meet in the middle of a battle, when Quatre realizes that they are not enemies, and comes out of his Gundam to surrender. In this moment, the opening theme, Just Communication, is heard on the background. He takes Trowa to the base in the desert. While they are there, they play musical instruments together. When he leaves, Quatre is already looking forward to meeting him again. Their next meeting is before OZ's trap takes place, when Quatre is making a reservation for a hotel and casually finds Trowa. Quatre cheerfully tells him to work together, but Trowa doesn't share the same wish. It isn't clear if both spend the night at the hotel Quatre had booked or not in the end.

Much later, when Quatre loses his sanity due to the Zero system, Trowa goes with Heero to join him. Trowa is sure that Quatre will be their ally, but sadly, Quatre has gone crazy and attacks him. Trowa sacrifices himself (or so it seems at this point) to make him go back to his usual self, which will mark Quatre for the rest of the series. He feels terribly guilty for having caused such damage to him, and is desperate to make up for that big mistake. So when he's thrilled when Duo tells him that Trowa is alive - when he meets him at the circus, he starts crying and wants to get closer, but Catherine doesn't allow him. Not to mention, he is amnesic. Quatre apologizes in every possible way to both him and Catherine, then leaves, leaving Trowa very confused. When OZ is near to destroy the colony, Quatre goes back to the circus and tells Trowa he's going to protect them. He goes to fight in his Sandrock, constantly saying Trowa's name. In that moment, and even if he can't remember anything, Trowa says he can hear Quatre crying, calling for him. He meets him at space. Later, Quatre helps him to recover his memory. He's very happy to finally correcting his mistake and finally being with the Trowa he once knew. In the end, he saves Quatre from Dorothy, and together they join Heero in the final battle.

It's clear that their relationship is special. In most of official work, they are shown together. The opening theme sounding when they meet is a clear indicator that it's an important event in the series. I dare say that among all the G-pilots, Trowa is the one that Quatre cherishes the most. He's his motivation to go on for a good while in the series, and even after, it's clear that they are very close.

wufei chang

Wufei and Quatre basically have no interaction in the anime or the OVA. To see how they see each other, we have to look at Blind Target. In this manga, they have a brief conversation, in which Quatre expresses his feelings of guilt over the people who have died because of him. Wufei tells, in his usual harsh manner, that people hate because they are weak, but that Quatre isn't because he was chosen by Sandrock, then leaves. In this way, Wufei shows that he holds a good amount of respect for him.

zayeed winner

Quatre has always had a bad relationship with his father, due to Quatre not knowing about his origin. He believes himself to be born from a test tube, so he considers himself a tool, created to serve his father's wishes. Also, Zayeed is a pacifist while Quatre is a Gundam pilot. However, as his sister Irea points out, his father values him a lot. Quatre is crushed when his father dies at the hands of OZ, and this event is what makes him lose his mind a bit, and build the Wing Zero Gundam to avenge for it.

lucrezia noin

When Heero and Quatre are in Sanc Kingdom working with Noin, Quatre confides some things to her, like his passion for music and his frustration and regret over Trowa's sacrifice. Later, they go to space together, and they often battle together, showing that they trust each other a lot.

quotes

• "I told you. You should have surrendered." - from Episode 1.
• (in a conversation with Rashid, talking about Trowa) "He could attack!"
  "I almost wish he would. Then at least I'd be able to see him again." - from Episode 5.
• "Other Gundam pilots like me? Wish I could meet them all." - from Episode 6.
• (a conversation with Rashid) "They're violent and dangerous, but they are all nice guys."
  "How can you be sure?"
  "The soul of outer space tells me so." - from Episode 9.
• "Thank you... my Sandrock" - from Episode 17.
• "You are afraid of dying, right? If so, why have you been fighting since the beginning?" - from Episode 24.
• "How strange... I am crying, but I'm not sad at all." - from Episode 24.
• "I finally understand it... the Soul of Outer Space is Heero!" - from Episode 49.

 

why

Motivation behind this site takes me back to 2002. I barely had any internet access, all the anime I watched was on TV, and I had never had an crush on any character. Gundam Wing had just been premiered on the local Cartoon Network. I didn't watch it from the beginning, but some months later. Quatre was instant love. First of all, because he fell into my cute blond boy fetish lol But then, the more episodes I watched, the more I fell for him. I think that, more than anything, what made me fall for him was his development. He starts as a talented but mentally weak boy, who goes through terrible things during the series, such as fighting a terrible war, the colonies he was fighting for turning his back on him, destroying a colony, almost killing a person he really cares about... even if he looks so fragile, he gets over all those difficulties and matures, and by the end of the series he's a fantastic leader and has a better understanding of the world around him.

Even now, 9 years later, I still love him with all of my heart. I'm so happy to finally give him the dedication he deserves. Thank you so much Quatre, for being in my life and introducing me into the world of bishounens and male x male pairings (yes, because Trowa/Quatre was my first die-hard OTP ever, thanks to the LA dub making certain changes in dialogues...), for making me happy so many times, and I hope that this shrine shows all the love and passion I feel for you. ♥

title

It may sound a bit obvious, but Empathie is French for Empathy. I chose this title because if there's something that Quatre has, that is a lot of empathy for others, thanks to both his power and his big heart. When he has those "Soul of Outer Space" moments, he can see what's in other people's minds and hearts, so that's why that I thought that the word Empathy would suit him. I translated it to French because Quatre's name is a French word, and also to make it sound cool!

layout

I got the most horrible of blocks while working on this layout! However, I am really happy with the way it came out. As I mentioned before, I named this site based on Quatre's empathic abilities. And if it's called "the Soul of Outer Space"... well, you get the picture :3 It doesn't work well on IE6 and below, by the way. Please use Mozilla or an updated version of IE to see it well.

The background was made from a stock image found at ebstock. The brushes are from moargh.de and PSbrushes. The glow/bokeh texture is from regularjane. The images used in this site are from Minitokyo, moe.imouto, and screenshots taken by me. Finally, the fonts used here are from DaFont, and Windows default ones.

link back

If you want to link back to us, please use one of these buttons!

 

affiliates

If you own a Gundam Wing related shrine or fansite, please do not hesitate to contact me for affiliation!

No affiliates, at the time.

Empathy (c) Yamila 2010. Made for the One Page, One Month marathon at Amassment. Quatre Raberba Winner and Gundam Wing are owned by Bandai Sunrise. No copyright infridgement is intended. This is merely a fan effort made just for fun.