In Defense of Quatre’s Innocence
There really isn’t much for me to say about Quatre, since most people seem to have a good grasp on his character. There’s really not much to screw up about it—he’s fighting for peace against his father’s wishes, he’s got an army of Maganacs willing to die for him, he has the power to unite the Gundam pilots. He’s sensitive and caring to the needs of others, and would rather spare an enemy’s life than just kill.
However, there is one very substantial event in the show that forces the watchers to wonder about the poor boy’s sanity—this being, of course, the incident with Gundam Wing Zero. This does not mean that Quatre is crazy or sadistic or evil or any of those other accusations I’ve seen. In most cases, he’s too kind for his own good.
From the beginning, what do we know about Quatre?
Quatre is, as everyone already knows, the only son of the Winner family—probably the wealthiest family around. He has twenty-nine elder sisters, all of which being borne from artificial means (test tube babies, for lack of a better term). As is shown in the Episode Zero comic, Quatre believes that he was also created this way, and therefore has a very limited sense of self worth. He even goes as far as to accuse his father of creating his daughters as “loyal employees.” Needless to say, the two of them do not get along. Quatre resents his father for caring only for his company, and standing by idly as the weak suffer. However, though Quatre is unaware of it, he did have a real mother who died shortly after giving birth to him. He is the only natural born child of his father.
In Episode Zero, we see a Quatre that is emotionally wasting away. He even arranged for his own kidnapping while traveling through space: the Maganacs attacked his ship….????????
Throughout the show Quatre proves again and again that his highest priority is peace in the colonies. Though he accepts the help of the Maganacs in his missions, he tries to do as much on his own as possible to avoid them being injured or killed (ep 9). He has a great sense of trust in all of the Gundam pilots, and often advocates teamwork among them. In short, he is selfless, trusting, and loyal to his friends.
Quatre also has a special gift he refers to as the “Space Heart” or the “Soul of Space” (Uchuu no Kokoro). Though it is uncertain exactly what the Soul of Space is or how he came to have it, it can best be described as the center of some empathic ability. It could be said to resonate especially with those honestly seeking peace—mostly with Heero, at the time of his self-detonation, and the end of the show.
So why was Quatre so eager to meet the other pilots?
In the beginning Quatre expresses a great wish to meet the other pilots, and even says he wouldn’t mind fighting Trowa again if only for the sake of seeing him. I don’t want to get into any couples’ discussions now, but this behavior can easily be explained by Quatre’s personality.
Quatre grew up in a rich house, with a father he resents and no mother. He probably wasn’t around children his age very much, or any children for that matter. He’s used to feeling alone and useless. When he became a Gundam pilot, he suddenly had a cause to fight for, a purpose. Doubtlessly the Maganacs helped him with that as well. However, still Quatre is surrounded by people older than him, and I doubt most of the Maganacs understand exactly how much pressure Quatre is under. He’s fighting to validate himself, to prove his worth to his father, to live up to the Doctor’s expectations, to gain peace for the colonies—there’s a lot of pressure on a young child. No matter how many helpers he has, he is still the most important person in a very fragile and crucial position. In heading to Earth for the first time Quatre must have felt very much alone with all that responsibility hanging over him.
When Quatre meets Trowa, suddenly he realizes that he is not alone. There is someone who has the same mission as him, feels the same pressures and carries the same ideals. Even more importantly, they’re the same age—anyone feels better in a room of strangers when there is at least one person like them suffering the same. And with the thought that there’s at least one person that can understand comes the hope that there will be others. Quatre has the chance to make friends for the first time; of course he wants to meet everyone.
Quatre’s crazy—he flipped and destroyed the colonies he’s supposed to be protecting!
It’s true that Quatre shorted out for a while. Given the circumstances, however, I’m not surprised. First, Quatre is betrayed by those he wanted to protect—the colonies. The first friends he’s ever had have been separated and turned into outlaws. He’s lost a lot of his purpose; everything he suffered on Earth was worthless. Soon afterwards he loses his father, again to the people he’d been fighting to help. Quatre has lost not only the one reason he had to keep living, but his old life as well, leaving him with nothing. It’s not surprising that a teenage boy, having been so severely betrayed, would want some kind of revenge. Combined with the mind-altering effects of Wing Zero, his injustice and outrage became the perfect tool.
It’s not fair to hold the actions of the pilots while they were piloting Wing Zero against them. ALL of them freak out to some degree, often times in very destructive ways. Quatre went as far as he did because he was allowed to do so unchecked. When each of the other pilots have their chance in Wing Zero, they are not alone—someone is there to pull them out of it. Had Quatre been confronted with Heero and Trowa before he reached the colonies, they would not have been destroyed. Each and every one of the others was capable of doing what Quatre did, were they given the opportunity and the motive.
Quatre…the dominatrix?
*sigh* I’m sick of people that make Quatre out to be a demon, rapist, dom, vampire, sadomasochist, whatever. Quatre is not like that. He only has one instance of intended violence, under the influence of a brain-warping machine. He’s just a boy that has had a few too many hard blows. He’s a very caring and intelligent person, and it’s unfair to assume so much. Also, it’s been stated that before the start of the show Quatre has had no ABC experience. As the son and heir to the Winner fortune, it would be surprising if a few young girls didn’t try to go out with him (or get set up by their parents). But Quatre’s never kissed anyone. As the richest boy out there this could not have been from a lack of willing people, which implies he wasn’t interested in anything purely physical. The poor boy does have some integrity.
There are other aspects of Quatre that I’d like to discuss, but most of those are in relation to the other pilots, and so I’ll refrain in this section.
Interpretation of Quatre’s Image Songs
Quatre’s image songs are pretty straightforward—they talk about how in the past he felt lost, but now he has resolution and hope.
In Conclusion
There really isn’t too much to say about Quatre. Though he starts off from the beginning being very focused on others, by the end of the series he has learned to trust in his own abilities as well. He’s caring and smart, allowing him to unite all of the Gundam pilots during battle. Though everyone looks up to Heero for his skill, he never tries to order the others around. He leaves that work to Quatre, who does an excellent job of it.
