Mobile Suit Gundam: The Strongest (And Strangest) Newtypes

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The word "Newtype," which inspired the magazine of the same name, comes from Gundam characters with psychic or supernatural powers. Meanwhile, “Oldtypes” are people like you and me who live on Earth and have to rely on boring skills like instinct and experience to get by.

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Enough about those boring people. Newtypes are fantastically talented, but they come in a lot of variations and differing abilities. Some of these people are really overpowered. Some are made with bioengineering. One is a dolphin. It's complicated!

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Newtypes are introduced in 1979's Mobile Suit Gundam. Protagonist Amuro is one, and it is heavily implied that his opposer, Char, is too. More powerful than Char or Amuro, however, is the woman over whom they are rivals in love, Lalah.

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We first meet Lalah close to the climax of Mobile Suit Gundam, when she is introduced as Char's most promising ensign. In the additional background we get in Gundam: The Origin, we discover that Char lucked out, since he originally rescued Lalah as a child from an Indian brothel, and she is fiercely loyal to him as a result. This connection falters when she meets Amuro, but what's fascinating is that she and Amuro have only met in person once, instead deepening their connection through mental communion on the battlefield.

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What makes Lalah especially amazing is that her long-distance telepathy isn't limited to within her lifetime. Long after Lalah sacrifices herself in order to save the two men she loves, her spirit returns again and again to haunt Char and Amuro into doing the right thing. Lalah remains the Universal Century's most pervasive spectre, making cameos from beyond the grave all the way into Gundam Unicorn, which takes place 17 years after her death.   

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Starring in one of Yoshiyuki Tomino's darkest Gundam shows, it's no wonder that Zeta pilot Kamille Bidan believes himself to be emotionally stunted after all the horrors he's witnessed. However, for a self-identified “autistic child” who claims to be unable to cope with interpersonal relationships, Kamille has an uncanny ability to draw on the emotions of people around him.

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Over the course of Gundam Zeta, Kamille sees a lot of people who are important to him die, often tragically during or after an argument so there was never a chance to make amends. All is forgiven in the end though, when Kamille's Newtype abilities strengthen to the point where he can tap into the Zeta Gundam's “Bio-Sensor.” Combined with Kamille's strong emotions while battling, the Bio-Sensor picks up the power of Kamille's closest friends turned war casualties. The mental energy is enough to kill antagonist Scirocco and badly scar Kamille, who proves to have the stronger mind simply by surviving this surge of psychological power.

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Kamille is a prickly person, quick to act on his emotions, but his ability to absorb the strength of all the people he lost during the war shows that he made bonds with friends, family, and a lover that were powerful enough to withstand whatever conflicts they may have had in life.