, born Casval Rem Deikun and also known as Édouard Mass, is a fictional character from the Gundam franchise. He is originally one of the main antagonists in Mobile Suit Gundam working for the Principality of Zeon, named after his late father Zeon Zum Deikun, with the honorary title of "The Red Comet" during Gundam's One Year War. Despite having opposed Earth Federation soldier Amuro Ray several times, in the sequel Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam he becomes Quattro Bajeena, an Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG) pilot fighting alongside the series' main characters against the elitist Titans. In his final appearance in Char's Counterattack, he assumes leadership of the Neo Zeon movement, and becomes the titular antagonist of the film.
Char became one of Gundam's most iconic characters, often overshadowing Amuro's popularity. He also appeared as the most popular male anime character in s Anime Grand Prix poll as well as in several other polls highlighting his popularity in the Gundam franchise. His role in the original has often been praised alongside his rivalry with Amuro.
Char Aznable was based on historic fighter-pilot Manfred von Richthofen who shared a similar nickname, "Red Baron". As a result, many of Char's actions were similar to Richtofen's during World War I since Tomino wanted to illustrate the chaos produced by wars in Gundam. Amuro was introduced as an ordinary man in contrast to his rival the "Red Comet". This made Amuro hard to write as he was meant to oppose Char whom Tomino found more interesting. Furuya had fun in his work as during recordings of the series, he befriended Char's voice Actor, Shuichi Ikeda. However, he was not close to Tomino. Originally, Tomino did not want to include Amuro in Zeta Gundam and when trying to kill him, he failed to do it. As a result, he decided to put Amuro on a friendly relationship with Char. Furuya said that while Amuro also had popularity, he could not surpass his rival, Char, a common trait he sometimes find common in anime where there are rivalries.