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      In the Gundam world, not all people are created equal. Amid the genocidal chaos of the One Year War, a new breed of human emerges, gifted with supernatural powers of awareness and intuition. But while the man who first prophesied their emergence predicted that this "newtype" species would usher in an era of peace and understanding, the powers that be see them only as weapons to be exploited for military advantage.

The NewType Theory NewType Psycho Waves
The Psycommu System
NewType Labs - Artificial Newtypes
Compact Psycommu Systems
Psycommu For The Common Man
The Next Generation
Exit The Newtype?
Angel Halo - The Ultimate Newtype Weapon 		Minovsky Physics Dawn Of Fusion
The Minovsky Partical
Applications Of The Minovsky Partical






The Newtype Theory
       The term "newtype" is first coined by political agitator Zeon Zum Daikun, the man who leads the space colonies of Side 3 to independence from the Earth Federation. Daikun predicts that, as humanity migrates into space, the need to communicate across vast distances will trigger the development of a new breed of human being. Over the generations, he expects, all space colonists will evolve into newtypes and transcend the greed and aggression of their terrestrial past.
      When the cataclysmic One Year War breaks out a decade after Daikun's death, the newtype prophecy is at first seen as little more than fodder for propaganda. The leaders of the Duchy of Zeon turn Daikun's prediction into a twisted ideology of spacenoid supremacy, while soldiers on both sides speculate that outstanding pilots like "Red Comet" Char Aznable may be examples of the mythical newtype. But Zeon's sharp-witted Major General Kishiria Zabi, unwilling to settle for rumors and fairytales, decides to sponsor a more thorough investigation...
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NewType Psycho Waves
       The first scientific exploration of newtype phenomenona is conducted by the Flanagan Agency, established in June of UC 0079 under Kishiria Zabi's personal supervision. Doctor Flanagan quickly discovers that newtype abilities are real and quite quantifiable. His test subjects manifest not only superb reflexes, but also rudimentary powers of empathy and telepathy - they can project their thoughts across space, and sense the presence of other human beings.
      The Flanagan Agency's research reveals that, in addition to electrical brainwaves, the human thought process produces another kind of emanation, which they call psycho waves. Newtypes are abnormally sensitive to these waves of mental energy, and in turn generate extremely powerful psycho waves of their own. After identifying this phenomenon, the Flanagan Agency swiftly proceeds to develop a practical application.
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The Psycommu System
       Just four months after the formation of the Flanagan Agency, its research results in the first newtype weapon system, the psycommu (psychic communication) system. This man-machine interface receives the newtype's powerful psycho waves and translates them into computer commands, allowing a newtype pilot to control a mobile weapon by thought alone. However, due to the system's bulk, it can only be installed in mobile armors or giant scaled-up mobile suits.
      The development of the psycommu system makes possible a deadly new combat tactic. Using the psycommu system to coordinate several remote weapons, the pilot can attack an enemy from multiple directions simultaneously - a technique known as an all-range attack. Since the Minovsky effect renders radio useless, the first newtype mobile armor, the MAN-03 Braubro, uses cables to transmit power and targeting commands to its psycommu-controlled gun turrets.
      Further refinement of the psycommu system yields a more elegant solution. The MAN-08 Elmeth is armed with wireless drones called bits, each of which includes a small fusion reactor to power its thrusters and mega particle cannon. Commands are transmitted to these remote weapons by the pilot's amplified psycho waves, which are unaffected by Minovsky jamming. This technique, however, is usable by only the most powerful of newtypes.
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Newtype Labs - Artifical Newtypes
       After the war's end, the victorious Federation examines the fruits of Zeon's newtype research and decides to continue the Flanagan Agency's work. In April, UC 0082, the Federal Forces establish several top-secret research institutes for this purpose. Collectively known as the newtype labs, these include Japan's Murasame Labs and North America's Augusta Labs, as well as a research facility at the Kilimanjaro base in East Africa.

Since natural newtypes are extremely rare, the Federation's researchers develop a process by which ordinary humans can be turned into artificial newtypes. Known as strengthened humans, these test subjects are enhanced both mentally and physically, with superhuman strength and endurance. However, the process robs these strengthened humans of their original memories and identities, and renders them mentally unstable (Heero Yuy was an artificial newtype).
      Preoccupied with manufacturing newtype pilots, the newtype labs produce only a couple of hardware innovations. One of these is the psyco control system, first used in the second unit of the MRX-009 Psyco Gundam, which allows the machine itself to be piloted remotely like a huge bit. The MRX-010 Psyco Gundam Mark II is equipped with an array of reflector bits, remote units which use localized I-field barriers to relay the mobile armor's beam weapon attacks around obstacles and corners.
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Compact Psycommu Systems
       Thus far, the psycommu system remains a bulky contraption that can only be installed in mobile armors and oversized mobile suits. As a substitute, the engineers of Anaheim Electronics develop a crude, compact form of psycommu system called a bio-sensor. Though rather unreliable, this mysterious device demonstrates surprising potential in the MSZ-006 Z Gundam, MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam, and PMX-003 The O.
      Meanwhile, the renegade Axis Zeons have been conducting their own newtype research. At the end of UC 0087, they complete the AMX-004 Qubeley, the first regular-sized mobile suit to sport a genuine psycommu system. The Qubeley is also equipped with new remote weapons called funnels, miniature bits whose beam cannons are powered by an E-cap instead of an onboard fusion reactor. The one drawback of these funnels is that they must return frequently to the host machine to refuel and recharge.
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Psycommu for the Common Man
       Like the Federation's newtype labs, the Axis Zeons find they have a dearth of natural newtypes to use all these fancy new weapons. A secret program of cloning and genetic engineering, begun even before the start of the One Year War, has produced a cadre of powerful but immature juvenile newtypes. The Axis Zeons also have access to the Federation's strengthened human technology, but the resulting artificial newtypes remain unstable and unreliable. Now both Axis and Federation researchers are trying to create a psycommu system that can be used by ordinary humans.
      This latter goal is ultimately accomplished by the Federation's Augusta Labs. Augusta's quasi-psycommu system actively scans the pilot's brain, rather than passively receiving commands via the powerful psycho waves of a genuine newtype. In Augusta's prototype mobile suits, this system serves to operate a remote weapon called an incom, a wire-guided device similar to a funnel. Augusta's quasi-psycommu and incom technology are subsequently used in the Axis Zeons' AMX-014 Doven Wolf, and in Anaheim Electronics's MSA-0011 Superior Gundam (I assume this is the Zero System also).
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The Next Generation
       The next significant advance in newtype weapons technology comes in UC 0093. The psyco-frame, developed by Char Aznable's Neo Zeon, surrounds the pilot's cockpit with miniature psycommu receivers to increase the system's sensitivity and responsiveness. First used in Char's MSN-04 Sazabi, the technology is leaked to Anaheim Electronics and applied to the RX-93 Nu Gundam. The Nu Gundam is also equipped with a set of fin funnels, a set of large remote weapons that not only sport powerful beam cannons but can also generate a defensive beam barrier. Like the Elmeth's bits, these fin funnels each contain a small fusion reactor and thus boast a much longer operating time than standard funnels.
      In the peaceful era that follows Char's rebellion, the pace of newtype weapons research slows somewhat. The next significant development is the bio-computer designed by the Federal Forces' Strategic Naval Research Institute, a complement to the psycommu system that allows the mobile suit's computer to transmit raw data, sensory impressions, and tactical advice directly into the pilot's brain. SNRI's F91 Gundam, the showcase for this bio-computer, is also equipped with a variety of exotic cooling mechanisms to dissipate the system's intense heat. The Crossbone Vanguard, meanwhile, develop a neo-psycommu system so advanced that a mobile armor can be operated by thought alone; indeed, the cockpit of the XMA-01 Rafflesia is completely devoid of manual controls (This is what I thought I had been original with. I called it the Zero Version 3).
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Exit the Newtype?
       A hundred years after Zeon Daikun first predicted a new stage in humanity's evolution, his newtype revolution has not yet come to pass. Natural newtypes remain rare freaks, and mobile suit developers have found ways to emulate their abilities through technological means. By UC 0153, when the upstart Zanscare Empire invades Earth, Minovsky control technology is widely used for communicating with remote units. However, a handful of specialized newtype mobile suits, such as Zanscare's ZMT-S28S Gengaozo and ZMT-S29 Zanneck, still use a psycommu system to control their remote devices.
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Angel Halo - The Ultimate Newtype Weapon
       At the conclusion of the Zanscare Empire's war of conquest, it unveils what is surely the ultimate newtype weapon. Angel Halo is an twenty-kilometer-wide psycommu fortress, made up of a series of concentric rings. These rings contain 20,000 psychickers, human batteries whose psycho waves are gathered and amplified by a ring psycommu system, then directed by a single newtype controller. Angel Halo is designed as a mass mind control device, capable of removing the enemy's will to fight - or, in the extreme case, nullifying their higher brain functions altogether. We can only hope that the destructive application of newtype powers goes no further than this!
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Minovsky Physics
       Almost all the high technology of the Gundam world derives from one underlying scientific miracle - the wondrous discipline of Minovsky physics. This wide-ranging field of study is named after its pioneer, whose name has been variously given as Doctor T.Y. or Y.T. Minovsky. Though at first glance you might be inclined to write off the entire subject as a bunch of hokum, twenty years of earnest effort by Gundam creators and fans have given us a surprisingly coherent theory to account for the manifold mysteries of Minovsky physics.
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Dawn Of Fusion
       The discoveries that lead to the field of Minovsky physics begin with an ambitious project to develop a practical nuclear fusion reactor. This effort is launched in UC 0047 by Side 3's Minovsky Physics Society, and after years of research Dr. Minovsky and his colleagues complete the Minovsky-Ionesco reactor. Unlike traditional fusion reactions, which emit neutron radiation that can only be shielded by several feet of concrete, the Minovsky-Ionesco reactor uses a "clean" fusion reaction that emits no neutrons:
2He3 + 1H2 -> 2He4 + p (energy released: 18.35 MeV)
      The reaction uses a rare isotope of helium known as helium-3, which fuses with deuterium atoms to form normal helium. The reaction also emits a proton, a charged particle than can be easily contained with magnetic fields.
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The Minvsky Particle
       In UC 0065, the researchers of the Minovsky Physics Society notice a strange electromagnetic wave effect within the Minovsky-Ionesco reactor that cannot be explained by conventional physics. Within a few years, they've identified the cause: a new elementary particle generated by the helium-3 reaction, which is named the Minovsky particle.
      The Minovsky particle has near-zero rest mass - though, like any particle, its mass increases to reflect its potential or kinetic energy - and can carry either a positive or negative electrical charge. When scattered in open space or in the air, the repulsive forces between charged Minovsky particles cause them to spontaneously align into a regular lattice structure called an I-field. The I-field creates an interference effect, called the Minovsky effect, that blocks low-frequency electromagnetic waves such as radio and microwave transmissions - even infrared radiation is affected, though not blocked entirely. The I-field itself is invisible, and can be detected only by its effects.
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Applications Of The Minovsky Particle
 Minovsky I-Field       In UC 0070, Zeon military researchers confirm that, by scattering large quantities of Minovsky particles, they can temporarily nullify radar and radio communications and reduce combat to visual range. Minovsky particle scattering is a standard feature of the Gundam world's space warships, though most mobile suits lack this capability. This is the i-field that makes gundams (like Deathscythe Hell's Cloaking Devise) all but invisible. Denser I-Feilds can deflect energy weapons based on Minovsky physics.
      In UC 0071, Zeon researchers create the super-compact Minovsky fusion reactor. Instead of the conventional magnetic field, this improved version of the Minovsky-Ionesco reactor uses an I-field to confine and compress the reactor fuel, triggering a fusion reaction. The Minovsky particles produced as a byproduct of the helium-3 fusion reaction are thus recycled to keep that reaction going. The Minovsky particles that form the I-field lattice also help catalyze the fusion reaction, in a process similar to the muon-catalyzed fusion investigated by real-world scientists during the 1950s. This super-efficient design is only a fifth as large as an equivalently powerful Minovsky-Ionesco reactor. Minovsky Anti-Gravity Effect       The Minovsky I-Field can be focused below a suit to allow it to push off from the ground and float, meaning it doesn't need to worry about terrain. Both the I-Feild and Anti-Gravity are found together in most suits because they are so similar in the way they are created. The Minovsky Mega Particle       The magical art of Minovsky physics has one more trick up its sleeve. Due to the repulsive forces between positive and negative Minovsky particles, large amounts of energy are required to compress an I-field lattice. If enough energy is applied, and the I-field sufficiently compressed, the Minovsky particles ultimately fuse into massive, electrically neutral mega particles.
      The energy used to create the mega particles is expressed as both mass and velocity. No longer subject to the electrical forces that maintain the I-field lattice, the particles burst out of the I-field. This stream of heavy, fast-moving particles, unlike a conventional charged-particle beam, cannot be deflected with magnetic fields. In UC 0070, Zeon researchers exploit this phenomenon to create the fearsome mega particle cannon.

These particles make up the Minovsky energy weapons, such as the Mega Particle Cannon or the Buster Rifle.

 Beam Sabres / Beam Weapons       The beam saber doesn't use mega particles. Instead, it emits high-energy Minovsky particles to form a blade-shaped I-field, and then fills this I-field shell with superheated plasma to produce a lethally effective cutting blade. The Minovsky particles are stored by E-cap in the beam saber's hilt, which is recharged by the mobile suit's reactor when the saber is returned to its socket. Thus, once activated, beam sabers don't rely on the mobile suit's reactor and can be thrown or discarded as decoys (as demonstrated in Gundam 0083).
      As the beam saber's I-field enclosure repels plasma, it not only keeps the blade's contents in but also keeps other blades' contents out, allowing one beam saber to block another. And, since the I-field can be formed into a variety of simple shapes, it's pretty trivial to create exotic variants like the beam tomahawk, beam sword, beam sword/axe, beam fan, beam mace, beam cutter and beam tonfa - glorified beam sabers, all. Here are a couple of less trivial spinoffs...
      The beam jitte attached to the RX-78GP01 Gundam's beam rifle is a specialized beam saber designed to catch enemy beam sabers, allowing the Gundam to ward off enemy blades on those occasions when there isn't time to draw its own full-sized beam saber.
      The whimsical beam flag used by the Crossbone Vanguard's command mobile suits is strictly for show. This uses beam saber technology to generate a customized symbol so that squadron leaders can be easily identified by their underlings. Beam Sabres As Propultion Systems       The sophisticated technology of the beam shield is eventually applied to create a combined defensive device and propulsion system. The beam rotor, developed by the Zanscare Empire around UC 0150, generates a shield using spinning beam blades rather than a solid plane of energy. As a side-effect, the rotating blades create lift in exactly the same fashion as a helicopter. This allows a beam rotor-equipped mobile suit to fly through the air without expending its finite propellant supply, while using just a fraction of the power required by a Minovsky craft system.
      A far more advanced use of beam weapon technology is the Victory 2 Gundam's incredible Minovsky drive system. Much like the ion drive contemplated by real-world physicists, this system uses the particle-acceleration technology introduced by the VSBR to boost Minovsky particles to relativistic speed. Now moving at a substantial fraction of the speed of light, the accelerated particles are redirected by an external I-field to create up to 20 gees of thrust in the desired direction. The "wings of light" generated by the Victory 2 Gundam's Minovsky drive units can also function as giant beam sabers or beam shields, and can be extended up to a kilometer in length! Back To Top