Hayato Kobayashi (ハヤト・コバヤシ Hayato Kobayashi) was a character who first appeared in the anime TV series Mobile Suit Gundam.

Hayato was one of Amuro Ray's neighbors on Side 7. Short and stocky and with a tendency towards insecurity, Hayato often measured himself against the his friend Amuro's accomplishments. After surviving the attack on his Side 7 home, Hayato eventually started co-piloting the Guntank alongside Ryu Jose , acting as the cannon operator while Ryu acted as pilot.

After Ryu's tragically heroic death saving Amuro from Hamon Crowley, Hayato had to pilot the Guntank modified for use by one pilot, even during the latter part of the story in which the White Base joins the main Federal fleet up in space.

In the last part of the second compilation movie, Soldiers of Sorrow, Hayato was assigned to a second Guncannon which he piloted all the way through the third movie, Encounters in Space. It's at this part of the story that Hayato confessed his hopeless struggle to be as good of a pilot as Amuro is to Fraw Bow, which serves as a precursor scene to the two becoming slightly more romantically involved as the final part of the story played out.

In Zeta Gundam, Hayato had married Frau Bow, who was pregnant by this time, and adopted the White Base's kid mascots Katz, Letz and Kikka. He was also the leader of the Earth-based Anti-Federation group, the Kalaba, and the owner of the Kennedy Space Museum. After Katz was killed in the Battle of Gryps while fighting as a member of the AEUG, the Kalaba's main ally and space equivalent,

Hayato was eventually killed in Double Zeta Gundam by Neo Zeon ace Rakan Dakaran while assisting the AEUG, who were attempting to stop the Colony Drop on Dublin.