Athrun Zala is one of the main characters from the anime series Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, set in the Cosmic Era timeline of the Gundam universe.

Athrun Zala is a Coordinator, and a member of the elite Rau Le Creuset ZAFT special forces team, which consists mostly of young elite pilots, known as 'Reds'. They wear the special red uniform that meant that they had graduated at the top of their military cadet class. Athrun joins the ZAFT militia mainly for vengeance for his mother's death in the Bloody Valentine Incident, which was caused by the Earth Alliance.

He is engaged to ZAFT pop idol Lacus Clyne through parental arrangements, and does have an honest friendly affection for her.

As Earth Alliance develops five secret mobile suits to counter against ZAFT's superior military technology, ZAFT plans and executes a raid to steal these five new suits, located in a secret military base on the neutral colony, Heliopolis. During the raid on the base, Athrun, along with three other ZAFT pilots, successfully steals the mobile suit that he will pilot during the first half of Gundam Seed, the GAT-X303 Aegis. During the raid he meets with his childhood friend, Kira Yamato, a Heliopolis civilian. Kira is forced to pilot the GAT-X105 Strike to protect his friends and other civilians from the ZAFT attack. Having seen and piloted the new secret units, Kira and his friends are forced to embark on the Earth Alliance Archangel ship and enlist in their military, thus engaging Athrun several times.

Athrun is often seen to be in turmoil over the fact that he must fight Kira. He even attempts to convince Kira to join ZAFT, using the reason that Kira is also a Coordinator and should not fight his own kind. In his final clash with Kira, Athrun, madden with grief over the death of his comrade Nicol Amalfi at the hands of Kira, seizes the Strike with his Aegis and self-destructs the Aegis, destroying the Strike with it. Both Kira and Athrun survive the explosion, and Athrun is taken in by Orb princess Cagalli Yula Athha for medical treatment.

After being released back to ZAFT, Athrun is then chosen to be under the direct command of the ZAFT Supreme Council and is assigned to pilot the newly developed ZGMF-X09A Justice. He is ordered to track and retrieve the stolen ZGMF-X10A Freedom, which had been stolen by a fully recovered Kira Yamato.

During the Earth Alliance attack on Orb, Athrun joins Kira in battle against the Earth Alliance's three new Gundam suits. Following the battle, he defects from ZAFT to the newly formed Clyne Faction headed by Lacus, after learning the truth about his father.

As the war progresses, Athrun and Cagalli draw closer to each other.

Along with Kira and the Archangel crew, Athrun is instrumental in ending the Bloody Valentine War. He personally desttoys the GENESIS superweapon, by detonating the nuclear-powered Justice inside it.

After the war, Athrun leaves ZAFT and moves to Orb. There acts as Cagalli's bodyguard, under the pseudonym "Alex Dino".

In the Armory One Incident he is present in PLANT as Cagalli's bodyguard, and gets involved in the fighting to retake the stolen units. He later joins the new battleship Minerva and helps fighting against the terrorists in the Junius-7 Colony Drop. He and Cagalli then desembark Minerva at Orb.

In the turmoil preceding the declaration of the Second Bloody Valentine War he returns back to ZAFT to understand the motivations of ZAFT. Here he meets Chairman Dullindal, who enlists him back into ZAFT forces, and appoints him with the highest elite-force assignment, FAITH. Athrun has also assigned the new unit ZGMF-X23S Saviour, and given total freedom of action.

With Saviour he returns to Earth and joins Minerva in the battle against the Earth Alliance, now allied with Orb.

Athrun has a talent for mechanical tinkering, and has created numerous robot pets for his friends and acquaintances. The multitude of multicolored Haros that fill the Clyne residence are Athrun's creations, as is Kira's mechanical pet, Tori.

Personal Data

Genetic type: Coordinator
Age: 15 later 16 (18 at the start of Seed Destiny)
DOB: Cosmic Era October 29 55
Blood type: O
Height: 170 cm
Mobile Suits: GAT-X303 Aegis, ZGMF-X09A Justice, ZGMF-1000/M Blaze Zaku Warrior, ZGMF-X23S Saviour