Gundam Bael Complete Guide — The Progenitor That Stands Above All 72 Gundam Frames [Iron-Blooded Orphans]

The First Among 72 Gundam Frames — What Is Gundam Bael?

“The one who rides Bael is the true leader who shall guide Gjallarhorn.” Those words drove one man’s entire life — and set the whole of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Season 2 in motion.

Gundam Bael (ASW-G-01) is the first of the 72 Gundam Frames produced during the Calamity War era. Bearing the name of Bael, the foremost among Solomon’s 72 demons, it is the legendary machine actually piloted by Agnika Kaieru, the founder of Gjallarhorn — a unit etched deeply into the history of the organization itself.

Roughly 300 years after the Calamity War, most of the Gundam Frames had been scattered across the Earth Sphere — but Bael alone remained sealed away in a single location. Deep within Gjallarhorn’s headquarters at Ra Helios, locked inside a sanctuary that no one was permitted to approach.

Breaking that seal was the singular dream of a man named McGillis Fareed. From childhood, he had set his sights on piloting Bael. As an adopted son of the Fareed family — one of the Seven Stars — he climbed the political ladder, building his reputation as the “Crimson Lotus,” a celebrated knight within Gjallarhorn.

But Bael held no special power.

The story surrounding this mobile suit is one of the most vivid portrayals of idealism shattered by reality in the entire Gundam franchise — a tragedy without equal.

Core Specifications — Gundam Frame ASW-G-01

Item	Details
Model Number	ASW-G-01
Classification	Mobile Suit (Gundam Frame)
Overall Height	19.0 m
Base Weight	32.3 t
Power Source	Ahab Reactors × 2 (Twin Reactors)
Armor Material	Nanolaminate Armor
Frame	Gundam Frame (No. 1 in sequence)
Pilot(s)	Agnika Kaieru (Calamity War era) → McGillis Fareed
Designer	Naohiro Washio
First Appearance	Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Season 2, Episode 22 (Episode 48 overall, 2017)
Affiliation	Gjallarhorn (sealed) → McGillis Forces

What Is the Gundam Frame?

To understand the world of Iron-Blooded Orphans, you first need to understand what a Gundam Frame is.

About 300 years before the events of the series, the Earth Sphere was consumed by a catastrophic conflict known as the Calamity War. Unmanned weapons called “Mobile Armors” began attacking humanity autonomously, pushing the human race to the brink of extinction.

To counter this threat, engineers developed mobile suits built around the Gundam Frame. Its defining feature was the simultaneous operation of two Ahab Reactors. Standard mobile suits could only house one Ahab Reactor, but mounting two in tandem enabled output levels capable of matching the Mobile Armors in battle.

This technology was extraordinarily difficult to achieve. Two reactors would interfere with each other, and any failure in control could trigger an explosion that would destroy the entire unit. Even during the Calamity War — a conflict in which humanity literally fought for survival — only 72 complete Gundam Frame units were ever produced.

Each of the 72 units was given the name of one of Solomon’s 72 Goetic demons. And ASW-G-01 “Bael” holds the first position — the very first Gundam Frame ever completed.

The Calamity War and the Legend of Agnika Kaieru

Any discussion of Bael must begin with the man who gave it life: Agnika Kaieru.

Agnika Kaieru was the greatest hero of the Calamity War, and the founder of Gjallarhorn. When Mobile Armors threatened every corner of the Earth Sphere, he led a force of Gundam Frame units alongside his comrades, destroying countless enemy machines. Bael was recorded as the unit responsible for the most confirmed kills among them all.

After the Calamity War ended, Agnika Kaieru established “Gjallarhorn” — an organization dedicated to preserving the postwar order. Operating in cooperation with seven noble families known as the Seven Stars, this institution was founded with the goal of maintaining peace across the Earth Sphere.

Agnika kept Bael at Gjallarhorn’s headquarters as the organization’s symbol. Over time, a legend grew within the institution:

“The one who can move Bael is worthy to lead Gjallarhorn.”

The meaning of those words shifted over the long centuries that followed. In Agnika’s time, they meant: “Let the strongest and most capable pilot be the leader.” But 300 years later, the phrase had mutated into a false mythology — the belief that Bael itself was imbued with some supernatural authority that granted legitimacy to whoever sat in its cockpit.

The Man Named McGillis Fareed

To truly understand Bael, you must know the man who devoted his entire life to it: McGillis Fareed.

Profile

Item	Details
Name	McGillis Fareed
Age	26 (Season 2)
Voice Actor	Kenichiro Matsuda
Affiliation	Gjallarhorn → McGillis Forces (rebel)
Mobile Suit(s)	Graze Ein → Bael
Title	Crimson Lotus (Akatsuki no Kishi)
Background	Fareed family (one of the Seven Stars, adopted son)

A Childhood Dream: Piloting Bael

McGillis Fareed’s origins were brutal. Taken in as an adopted child of the Fareed family, his presence there served political ends rather than any genuine parental affection. His adoptive father kept him around for convenience, never treating him with the dignity a child deserves. From an early age, McGillis was conditioned to believe that he had no inherent worth — that he would have to seize his own legitimacy through sheer force of will.

It was in that environment that he first encountered the legend of Bael.

“The one who rides Bael leads Gjallarhorn” — to the young McGillis, those words were a beacon of hope. Not through lineage or bloodline, but through his own actions: if he could pilot Bael, he would become a leader whom no one could question. He would rescue Gjallarhorn from its corruption and restore the pure organization that Agnika Kaieru had envisioned.

That dream became his reason for living. He leveraged his position as a Fareed heir to accumulate power within the Seven Stars. He built his reputation as the “Crimson Lotus” through talent and charisma. During Season 1, he quietly manipulated the activities of Barbatos and Tekkadan from the shadows, steadily advancing his plan.

The Friend He Couldn’t Keep

No account of McGillis would be complete without Gaelio Bauduin — a fellow member of the Seven Stars.

The two were close friends from childhood. Gaelio never learned McGillis’s true intentions; he kept his friendship sincere to the very end. But to McGillis, Gaelio was a piece to be moved in service of his plan — or at least, that was how it appeared.

Late in Season 1, McGillis made the choice to “use Gaelio and then discard him.” Gaelio was left gravely wounded and near death, while McGillis moved one step closer to his goal.

But that “betrayal” would come back to entangle itself in the roots of Season 2’s tragedy.

The Alliance with Tekkadan and What It Cost Orga

In Season 2, McGillis’s chosen ally was Orga Itsuka, leader of Tekkadan. McGillis approached Orga with a proposition: help him fight to change Gjallarhorn from within, and in return Tekkadan would gain a legitimate place in the Earth Sphere.

Orga took the deal. The boys of Tekkadan had fought so long to find somewhere they truly belonged — and in the end, Orga chose to play the card that McGillis represented.

But McGillis saw Orga and Tekkadan as the final piece he needed to make his plan succeed. All he had to do was get his hands on Bael. If the “power” of Bael would move Gjallarhorn — what would happen to Tekkadan after that was either an afterthought, or something he simply didn’t have room to consider.

When Tekkadan was destroyed and Orga’s life was taken, McGillis was forced to confront the fact that the greatest victims of his plan were the very people who had trusted him most sincerely. This, too, was a face of the tragedy born from the “illusion of power” that Bael represented.

In-Series Battles — The Day the Seal Was Broken

Early Season 2: McGillis’s Rebellion

Season 2 opens with McGillis formally launching his rebellion against Gjallarhorn. Forming an alliance with Tekkadan’s Orga Itsuka, he aimed to topple the corrupt Seven Stars from within the organization itself.

At the heart of this plan was freeing Bael from its seal.

McGillis had spent years quietly arranging access to Bael, and he launched his assault on Ra Helios as the opening move of his rebellion. At last, he stood before the container housing the unit that had been locked away for three centuries.

Episode 48 — “Bael.” The moment the machine stepped out into open air for the first time in 300 years was breathtaking. A solemn silver-white body, bearing the ancient, dignified aesthetics of the Calamity War era intact. McGillis climbed into the cockpit, barely containing his excitement, and brought Bael to life.

“This is… Bael. The machine that Agnika Kaieru piloted…!”

His voice trembled with the weight of a childhood dream that had finally, impossibly, become real.

Bael Activated — But There Was No “Power”

When Bael came online, McGillis was certain. The “special power” hidden within Bael would flow into him, and it would serve as the banner of his rebellion — Gjallarhorn’s soldiers would rally to his side one after another.

But reality was merciless.

Bael was, without question, a high-performance Gundam Frame unit. Its capabilities as the first of all Gundam Frames were entirely genuine. But there was no “special power” within it. The legend — “the one who rides Bael leads Gjallarhorn” — was nothing more than a fiction created when later generations attributed the authority of Agnika Kaieru’s personal strength to the mystical properties of the machine he happened to pilot.

Agnika Kaieru was a great leader, and so people followed him. He didn’t become great because he rode Bael.

McGillis would come to understand that distinction — at the worst possible moment.

A Challenge to the Seven Stars

McGillis sortied in Bael and attempted to demonstrate the legitimacy of his rebellion to Gjallarhorn’s internal audience. But the heads of the Seven Stars didn’t move. The response that came back was cold and measured: “Just because you’re riding Bael doesn’t change anything.”

After 300 years of decay, Gjallarhorn as an institution had rotted through. The founding ideals and the legend of Bael no longer resonated with those in power. The entire premise upon which McGillis had built his plan had collapsed from the ground up.

Even so, McGillis kept fighting. Exploiting Bael’s overwhelming combat performance, he engaged enemy forces while relying on Tekkadan’s support to hold the front.

Armament Overview — Weapons That Survived the Calamity War

Armament Comparison Table

Weapon	Type	Description
Bael Swords × 2	Melee	Two large swords, one for each hand. Bael’s signature armament
Bael Rifle	Ranged	Live-ammunition rifle effective at medium to long range
Shield	Defense	Left arm mounted. Composed of nanolaminate armor

Bael Swords — The Meaning Behind Two Blades

Bael’s primary weapons are the Bael Swords — a pair of large blades, two of them.

Fighting with one sword in each hand in a dual-wielding style is Bael’s most visually defining trait. While many Gundam Frame units carry distinctive weapons like maces or oversized rifles, Bael’s twin swords reflect a weapon design philosophy focused purely on melee performance — the act of “cutting.”

Among Solomon’s 72 Goetic demons, “Bael” is said to bear three heads (cat, man, and toad) and hold the power of invisibility. But the choice to arm the unit with two swords reads more as a visual metaphor for the two paths that tear McGillis apart — “ideal versus reality,” “legend versus fiction.”

The Bael Swords are used to powerful effect in the series’ combat sequences, and their long blades clash most dramatically in the final showdown against Gaelio.

Bael Rifle

The Bael Rifle is a live-ammunition anti-MS rifle. In the world of Iron-Blooded Orphans, nanolaminate armor neutralizes beam weaponry, making conventional firearms the standard. The Bael Rifle is no exception — a weighty, imposing firearm with a distinctly old-world aesthetic.

Bael is not a unit built for ranged combat, but the rifle was used to suppress distant enemies and create openings before closing in for melee engagements.

Shield

The shield mounted on Bael’s left arm is a defensive armament composed of nanolaminate armor. It carries the high defensive performance you would expect from a Gundam Frame component — but Bael’s fighting style consistently favors offense, and scenes where the shield is actively used are notably rare.

In a sense, this reflects McGillis’s own “never retreat” character. When he fought in Bael, he consistently chose to press forward rather than to guard.

Variants and Related Units

The Lineage of 72 Gundam Frames

Bael stands at the apex of the 72-unit Gundam Frame family, but many other Gundam Frame machines appear throughout Iron-Blooded Orphans.

Model Number	Unit Name	Pilot	Role in Series
ASW-G-01	Gundam Bael	McGillis Fareed	Season 2 key machine
ASW-G-08	Gundam Barbatos	Mikazuki Augus	Protagonist unit (8 forms)
ASW-G-11	Gundam Gusion	Kudal Cadel → Akihiro Altland	Tekkadan’s second pillar
ASW-G-64	Gundam Flauros	Shino Norba	Long-range artillery type
ASW-G-66	Gundam Kimaris	Gaelio Bauduin	Bael’s destined rival
ASW-G-XX	Gundam Vidar	Gaelio Bauduin	Kimaris’s successor unit

The contrast between Bael (1st) and Barbatos (8th) forms the structural backbone of the story. Bael symbolizes “authority and legend,” while Barbatos represents “the front lines and raw survival.” This parallel is expressed at the unit level to mirror the contrast between the two protagonists, McGillis and Mikazuki.

Gundam Vidar (Fully Rebuilt Kimaris)

The most important rival unit to Bael is Gundam Vidar (ASW-G-XX).

Gaelio Bauduin survived being left for dead by McGillis — barely — and returned after extensive surgery, piloting the rebuilt Kimaris now designated Vidar, driven entirely by the desire for vengeance. Initially concealing his identity and appearing as a mysterious heavy gravity-combat unit, the truth of Vidar was Gaelio Bauduin himself, existing for one purpose: a final reckoning with McGillis.

Bael vs. Vidar is an intense duel between former friends whose blades now speak for everything words could not.

Bael During the Calamity War

Brief flashback sequences in the series show Bael as it appeared during the Calamity War, when Agnika Kaieru was its pilot. Its visual appearance is largely identical to the present-day unit, though detailed records of its armament and equipment from that era are said to be lost to history.

Sealed and stored at Gjallarhorn’s headquarters for 300 years with virtually no maintenance, Bael remained in perfect operational condition. This attests to the extraordinary durability of the Gundam Frame’s Ahab Reactors — and simultaneously stands as proof of just how thoroughly the unit had been consecrated as an untouchable sanctuary.

Iconic Scenes and Memorable Lines

“This Is… Bael” — Episode 48, First Activation

Episode 48: “Fierce Emotion.” McGillis opens Bael’s container and stands face-to-face with the machine awakening from 300 years of sleep — one of the most powerful dramatic moments of all Season 2.

McGillis’s expression in that moment is one of barely-contained excitement, but also something quietly darker — a trace of doubt creeping in: “Can this really change the world?”

“Agnika Kaieru… I will inherit your will.”

These words reveal the depth of McGillis’s faith, and at the same time pose a question to the viewer: did he truly understand what Agnika’s will actually was?

The Final Showdown with Gaelio — Episode 49, “The Value of Miracles”

Episode 49. The duel between Bael (McGillis) and Vidar (Gaelio) is the emotional climax of Iron-Blooded Orphans — perhaps of the entire series.

Two former friends exchange blade strokes. Gaelio despises everything McGillis has done, yet cannot stop demanding an answer: why did you betray me? And in this battle, McGillis finally speaks something genuine.

“You never change. You never have. You’re so relentlessly straightforward, Gaelio…”

This is not contempt. For McGillis, Gaelio — who keeps charging forward with his emotions fully intact — represents something he himself lacks. What his words carry is a complex mixture of respect and envy.

In this fight, Bael overwhelms Vidar on performance alone — but Gaelio continues fighting on nothing but rage. The way sheer human will and emotion partially compensate for the gap in machine capability is quintessentially Iron-Blooded Orphans in its portrayal of what human resolve can accomplish.

McGillis’s Final Words — “It Had No Power”

McGillis wins his battle against Gaelio, but what awaits him afterward is an even crueler reality. News arrives of Tekkadan’s destruction — Orga’s death, the organization’s surrender — and McGillis’s plan collapses entirely.

In the end, McGillis takes a mortal wound in a final confrontation with Gaelio and steps out of Bael. As he falls outside the unit, Gaelio — once his closest friend — stands over him.

“Bael had no power… That’s all.”

These were McGillis’s final words. His conviction that “riding Bael would change the world” was not faith in the machine — it was a dependence on the belief that he himself was a chosen leader.

Bael had no power. What existed was Agnika Kaieru’s character and capability as a person, and McGillis lacked those things. That cruel truth is the entire summary of McGillis Fareed’s life.

Design — A Mythological Appearance Worthy of the Progenitor

Mechanical Designer Naohiro Washio and the Design Philosophy Behind Bael

Gundam Bael was designed by Naohiro Washio — the same designer responsible for Barbatos.

Washio has spoken about how he was conscious of giving Bael a special status among the 72 Gundam Frame units. Unlike other Gundam Frames — Barbatos’s “raw-boned roughness” with its exposed skeleton, or Kimaris’s “knight-like armored presence” — Bael called for what he described as a “classical dignity.”

Silhouette: Slender and Mythological

Bael’s visual profile is distinctive even among the Gundam Frames of Iron-Blooded Orphans.

Where Barbatos gives an impression of exposed bones and primal aggression, Bael is characterized by a slim, refined proportion. There is no excess armor; the lines of the body flow elegantly, evoking a quiet, almost sacred beauty reminiscent of an ancient idol.

Its color scheme is silver-white as the base, with accents of deep violet. The purity of white combined with the mystique of purple produces a design that communicates “the holy machine of Gjallarhorn’s founding father” without a single word.

What the Two Swords Say

The choice to arm Bael with two swords carries meaning beyond practical combat functionality — it functions as a visual symbol.

Some viewers read one sword as representing “the past (the age of Agnika Kaieru)” and the other as “the future (the world McGillis sought to create).” Others interpret the pair as the “ideal versus reality” that McGillis was perpetually torn between.

Whether the designer intended every layer of that symbolism is uncertain, but visually, the twin blades give Bael a striking presence that sets it apart from all other Gundam Frames.

The Intentional Absence of “Incompleteness”

Barbatos’s design begins from a state of “incompleteness” — in its earliest form, it is skeletal, with its framework fully exposed. Bael, by contrast, appears in a fully completed form the instant its seal is broken.

This is a design-level statement: “Bael is a sacred relic that has been complete from the very beginning.” In contrast to Barbatos, which Mikazuki “raises” from nothing, Bael is the symbolic embodiment of a story in which McGillis depends on something that already exists and is already finished.

The Full Scope of the Calamity War — The Great War Bael Fought 300 Years Ago

Truly understanding Bael requires understanding the Calamity War itself.

What Was the Calamity War?

The Calamity War (circa P.D. 323) was a crisis that engulfed the entire Earth Sphere and threatened the survival of humanity. The conflict was not started by any human faction — it was ignited by autonomous weapons known as “Mobile Armors.”

Mobile Armors had originally been developed as military tools, but at a certain point their autonomous thinking systems went haywire, and they began attacking all life forms indiscriminately. The scale of destruction was catastrophic — the continued existence of the human race was genuinely in doubt.

The Birth of the Gundam Frame

The Gundam Frame was developed specifically to counter the Mobile Armor threat. Achieving output levels far beyond any standard mobile suit required two Ahab Reactors operating in parallel — a design that pushed the limits of what the technology of the era could accomplish.

The number 72 was the result of manufacturing as many as physically possible under the constraints of the time. The rarity of materials, the immense difficulty of maintaining stable control over two reactors simultaneously, and the time required to build each unit — producing 72 complete machines within all of those constraints was the maximum humanity could achieve.

The demonic names given to each of the 72 were simultaneously an ironic acknowledgment of the “demonic power” these weapons wielded in humanity’s defense, and an expression of their creators’ resolve.

Agnika Kaieru’s Achievements

Agnika Kaieru commanded the 72-unit Gundam Frame force throughout the Calamity War. As Bael’s pilot, he fought in numerous engagements and is on record as having destroyed multiple Mobile Armors.

But Agnika’s greatness extended well beyond combat capability. After the Calamity War ended, he thought deeply about what needed to be done to ensure this tragedy would never recur — and established Gjallarhorn. He built a cooperative framework with seven noble families called the Seven Stars and created an institution dedicated to maintaining order across the Earth Sphere.

The decision to keep Bael at headquarters was Agnika’s own. Some accounts suggest he believed the machine “should exist as a symbol of peace, not as a tool of war.” Others hold that he left it for whoever might prove to be a true successor. But his actual intentions remain unknown — over 300 years of history, only the legend grew, unchecked and distorted.

Gjallarhorn’s Corruption and the Warping of the Legend

Agnika’s ideals were gradually lost to time.

Gjallarhorn — originally founded to preserve the Earth Sphere’s order — eventually transformed into “a private army of the Seven Stars” dedicated to protecting existing power structures. Suppressing civilian military companies and the populations of the outer regions, and safeguarding the vested interests of the corrupt noble families, became its primary purpose.

Simultaneously, the legend of Bael became distorted. “The one who rides Bael leads Gjallarhorn” — originally meaning “let the capable person lead” — had quietly become the superstition that “the machine itself is imbued with a mystical authority.”

And it was this corrupted version of the legend that McGillis believed in.

Cultural Impact and Fan Response

The Resonance of “Bael Had No Power”

The theme presented through McGillis and Bael — the despair of discovering that the thing you believed in held no power — left a lasting impression on Iron-Blooded Orphans fans.

In most super robot anime, a “legendary machine” or “unit only the chosen can pilot” genuinely possesses some special capability, and that capability blazes brilliantly at the story’s climax. But Iron-Blooded Orphans stated flatly: there is no such thing. Bael was simply a high-performance machine, and what moves people is not the machine — it is the person.

This “betrayal of expectations” was a shock to some viewers, prompting criticism that “McGillis’s plan was far too naive.” But many fans accepted the destruction of the myth as the inevitable consequence of Iron-Blooded Orphans’ commitment to realism.

Fan opinions on McGillis himself were sharply divided — and remain so. The harsh reading that “he got what he deserved” coexists with the sympathetic view that “he was a victim of the era and of institutional corruption,” and the debate continues.

The Popularity of McGillis as a Character

McGillis — effectively the antagonist or “rival protagonist” of Season 2 — ranks among the most popular characters in the series for the complexity of his inner life.

Kenichiro Matsuda’s voice performance — quiet on the surface, but with an intensity burning just beneath — combined with the structure of a character who “appeared perfect but was standing on a foundation of sand” resonated deeply with fans.

In NHK’s 2018 “All Gundam Election” poll, McGillis ranked highly in the character category, cementing his status as one of Iron-Blooded Orphans’ defining presences.

Bael’s Visual Appeal and Gunpla Popularity

Bael has earned high regard not only as a character vehicle but as a mobile suit design in its own right.

Silver-white and violet coloring, an elegant silhouette, twin blades — the combination made Bael one of the most sought-after Gundam Frame units among mecha fans. The HG Bael Gunpla sold out almost immediately after its release and continues to maintain strong demand.

The Cultural Position of the “Tragic Idealist”

McGillis and Bael occupy a place in the lineage of “idealist tragedies” within the Gundam franchise. Sacrificing everything for an ideal — only to find that the fundamental premise was wrong all along — is a classical Gundam theme that echoes figures like Char Aznable and Loran Cehack.

What makes McGillis uniquely distinctive, however, is that he arrives at the realization that his premise was wrong at the very end, and that he articulates it plainly before dying.

“Bael had no power… That’s all.”

A character who dies while explicitly acknowledging his own error is rare in the Gundam franchise — and it is one of the core reasons McGillis lingers so powerfully in memory.

Other Media Appearances

Super Robot Wars Series

Bael appears in the Super Robot Wars titles that feature Iron-Blooded Orphans. McGillis’s “rebellion” storyline is integrated into the game scenarios, and depending on the title, original routes and events are created around it.

In gameplay terms, the Bael Swords’ dual-wielding style is recreated in battle animations, with high mobility and stylish movement as defining traits. Some titles also use spirit commands and special abilities to express McGillis’s character.

SD Gundam G Generation Series

Bael and McGillis appear in the G Generation series as playable units alongside other Gundam Frames in the Iron-Blooded Orphans chapter. The original story recreation has been well-received by fans, and McGillis’s final scenes are among the moments handled with particular care.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans — U.C. 0096 Last Sun (manga)

One of the Iron-Blooded Orphans side story works, which expands on the historical background of Gundam Frame units including Bael. Partial depictions of Calamity War-era records and information about Agnika Kaieru appear, providing context for elements left unexplored in the main series.

Gunpla Guide — A Complete Breakdown of Bael Model Kits

Among the Iron-Blooded Orphans Gundam Frame lineup, Bael has a solid presence in the Gunpla market. Unlike Barbatos, the emphasis is not on the volume of variations but on the faithful recreation of Bael’s design itself — a line of kits that compete on how well they capture the original.

HG (High Grade) 1/144 HGIBO

Kit Name	Release Year	Price (tax included)	Highlights
HG Gundam Bael	2017	¥1,540	The standard Bael kit. Includes two Bael Swords, enabling the iconic dual-wielding poses from the show

The HGIBO Bael was released during Season 2’s broadcast run in 2017. Despite the 1/144 scale, it faithfully captures Bael’s characteristic slim silhouette, and the silver-white and violet color scheme is largely reproduced in the molded plastic colors.

The standout feature is the inclusion of both Bael Swords. Holding one in each hand allows the dual-wielding poses seen in the anime. The nanolaminate armor shield is also included, making defensive poses possible as well.

The kit uses the standard HGIBO inner frame structure and shares parts with other Gundam Frame kits, making it a particularly attractive piece for those building a collection of multiple Gundam Frame units side by side.

1/100 Full Mechanics

Kit Name	Release Year	Price (tax included)	Highlights
1/100 Full Mechanics Gundam Bael	2017	¥3,850	The presence of 1/100 scale. Bael’s slender proportions shine even more at this size

Full Mechanics is the Gunpla brand that brings Iron-Blooded Orphans units to 1/100 scale. Roughly seven times the size of the HG, this scale makes Bael’s slender, mythological beauty even more commanding.

Full Mechanics’ signature feature is the ability to remove the outer armor panels to expose the internal Gundam Frame structure. In Bael’s case, this allows you to see — directly and tangibly — that behind the slender exterior lies the crystallization of Iron-Blooded Orphans’ technology.

The size of the Bael Swords at this scale is also in a completely different league from the HG. The impact of two full-scale blades raised in a dual-wielding stance is considerable.

How to Choose the Right Kit

Your Profile	Recommended Kit
First-time Gunpla builder	HG Gundam Bael (¥1,540) — Best value
Want to enjoy the stylish design	1/100 Full Mechanics Gundam Bael
Building a complete IBO collection	HG line — collect all Gundam Frames
Display alongside other units	HG Bael + HG Barbatos (main protagonist unit pairing)
Advanced builder who wants to go deep	1/100 Full Mechanics (custom painting to make the silver-white even more striking)

Gunpla Customization Tips

Bael’s silver-white and violet color combination is beautiful straight out of the box. But if you want to go a step further, these customizations deliver strong results:

• Silver paint application: Painting the white molded plastic with a silver pearl finish heightens the sense of an “ancient relic”
• Sword blade silver treatment: Painting the blade portions of the Bael Swords in silver expresses the “live-ammunition and live-blade culture” of the IBO world
• Panel lining: Applying panel lines to the slim silhouette brings out the detail and enhances the mythological impression
• Display base: Given that Bael is canonically a “preserved and displayed” unit, pairing it with an elegant display stand evokes the atmosphere of Gjallarhorn’s headquarters

Conclusion — Legends Are Made by People

Gundam Bael occupies a singular position in the history of the Gundam franchise.

A “legendary machine” — and yet the protagonist who believed in that legend is defeated. This is a pattern that conventional super robot anime has carefully avoided. Usually, the “legendary machine” genuinely possesses special power, and that power blazes at the story’s climax. But Bael was different.

Bael was simply a high-performance Gundam Frame. The reason Agnika Kaieru accomplished great things while piloting it was not the machine’s power — it was his own character and ability as a person. Piloting the same machine 300 years later does not make you Agnika Kaieru.

McGillis learned that self-evident truth with his life.

“Bael had no power… That’s all.”

These words are not a rejection of Bael itself. They are the final testament of a man who, in his last moments, looked clearly and precisely at the “weakness” in himself — the dependence on a legend rather than on his own worth.

The Triangle: Bael, Barbatos, and Iron-Blooded Orphans

Season 2 of Iron-Blooded Orphans is a work in which three stories intersect.

• Mikazuki and Barbatos: A boy who kept fighting to survive the present moment, and the machine that evolved by taking his body as its price
• McGillis and Bael: A man who gave everything for the dream of building a better world, and the legendary machine onto which he projected that dream
• Gaelio and Vidar: A man who ran toward vengeance on nothing but the fuel of a friendship’s betrayal, and the rebuilt unit driving straight toward death

At the intersection of those three stories, Bael functioned as the symbol of a “false authority.” The Tekkadan members who moved because McGillis claimed to believe in Bael’s power — the process by which that faith came apart — that was the core of Season 2.

Gundam Frame Bael, radiant in its silver-white beauty, still embodies the central question at the heart of both Gjallarhorn and Iron-Blooded Orphans as a work.

“Rather than dreaming of being chosen by something, ask what you yourself are” — that is the message that Bael, after 300 years sealed away, speaks to us.

Bael still stands quietly somewhere, its two swords held close, in the place where it was sealed — waiting, perhaps with something like hope, for the next person who opens the door to be someone who carries genuine power within themselves.

McGillis’s story around Bael, like the story of Mikazuki and Orga, stands as proof of just how directly Iron-Blooded Orphans looked at human weakness and human strength. A man’s dream of standing upon a legend, sword in each hand — it was brief, and it was beautiful, and it is a page in the history of Gundam that will not be forgotten.

Related Articles

• Gundam Barbatos Complete Guide: The protagonist unit of the same IBO world. The character contrast with Bael makes for compelling reading
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Series Guide: A full overview of the series in which Bael plays its pivotal role
• Gundam Kimaris Complete Guide: The predecessor to Bael’s rival unit Vidar. Piloted by Gaelio
• Gundam Frame Complete Guide: All 72 Gundam Frames in one reference (coming soon)

Sources

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Season 2, TV series, Sunrise, 2016–2017
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Official Website (g-tekketsu.com)
• Naohiro Washio Mechanical Design Interview, V-STORAGE, Bandai Namco Filmworks
• “MS Archives — Gundam Bael,” GUNDAM.INFO
• Bandai Spirits Hobby Official Website (bandai-hobby.net) — HG / 1/100 Full Mechanics product information
• NHK “All Gundam Election” Results, 2018
• Gundam Wiki (gundam.wiki.cre.jp): “Gundam Bael,” “McGillis Fareed”
• Pixiv Encyclopedia: “Gundam Bael,” “McGillis Fareed”

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