General Revil

Infobox animanga character
name = General Revil
series = Mobile Suit Gundam


caption = "General Revil captured after the Battle of Loum"
first =
last =
creator =
voiced by = Masaru Ikeda (Japanese)
Michael Dobson (English, MSG)
Tony Pope (English, MSG I-III)
alias =
age =
born =
death =
nationality = Earth Federation
relatives =
divider = yes
aux1 name = Allegiance
aux1 = Earth Federation
aux2 name = Rank
aux2 = Lt General of the E.F.A.
Commander-in-Chief
of The E.F.S.F.
aux3 name = Mobile weapons
aux3 = Magellan class "Ananke"
Magellan class "Phoebe"

In the original "Mobile Suit Gundam" anime, General Revil ("Also referred to as" Admiral Revil) is one of the leading Federation's Space Force commanders. He is mentioned often, but does not make any personal appearances until the latter half of the series.

Known for his personal courage and popular with his troops for joining them on the battle line (albeit aboard a Magellan battleship), he is well-regarded by the protagonists of the original Gundam anime (i.e. the crew of the White Base). This is partially due to the fact he is their patron and takes an interest in their unit's well-being.

In the original series and many games based upon said series, Revil displayed some instances of Newtype abilities and this makes him one of the oldest persons to be considered one. He is also notable as being one of the few sympathetic Earth Federation commanders. In some of the Gundam franchise media, it is suggested that had he survived the One Year War, many of the following conflicts (e.g. Operation Stardust of Gundam 0083 and the Gryps War of Zeta Gundam) could have been avoided.

While often simply referred to as Revil-shogun (レビル将軍, literally General Revil) throughout most of the Gundam franchise's history, the recent strategy video game "SD Gundam G Generation Spirits" recognises the full name given to him in the manga "Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin" as Johann Abraham Revil.

Biography

Before his appointment as head of the Earth Federal Space Force he was a Lieutenant General from the Earth Federation Army. Revil's biggest claim to fame was being captured by the Zeon's Black Tri-Stars after his flagship "Ananke" was sunk by Zeon's Mobile Suit Corps during the Battle of Loum. Shortly thereafter, Revil, aided by Federal agents and Zeon traitors, escaped to Side 6 and returned to the Federation. Broadcasting from Luna II, he made his famous speech "Zeon is Exhausted!" from what he saw in Zeon during his capture. This speech boosted the morale of the Federation Forces, caused the Federation to toughen their stance, and resulted in the rejection of the terms of their surrender (it was said that Kycilia Zabi smashed the table in rage after hearing the news). Although this, both sides agreed to a ban on nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons by signing the Antarctic Treaty.

Since then, Revil become a key icon inside the Federation military, being the most prominent figure to look up to for those kept on fighting. He was one of the few officials within Federation ranks who did not abandon the inexperienced crews of the warship "White Base" when the ship was struggling from Zeon pursue deep inside enemy territory. The "Medea" supply convoy led by Ensign Matilda Ajan (under Revil's direct order, with his personal blessing) was a god-send that gave the severely battered "Pegasus" carrier a much-needed hope of survival. The "White Base" would later become the most famous warship during the One Year War, as the 13th Autonomous Fleet repeatedly knocked out heavyweight Zeon aces, commanders and their forces, although merely serving as a decoy to draw Zeon's attention away from space mobilization of the main Federation Forces.

Revil was also the main architect and chief commander behind Federation's first major counteroffensive, Operation Odessa, which spelt the beginning of Zeon's defeat. While the Zeon commander M'Quve threatened to bomb the oncoming Federal forces with nuclear weapons (in violation to the Antarctic Treaty), Revil simply ignored the threat and pressed on his attacks, at the same time ordering the crews of "White Base" to intercept the warhead. "White Base" successfully disarm the nuclear attack, and Operation Odessa ended in a total victory for the Federation.

Later, while preparing an assault on the Zeon space stronghold A Baoa Qu, General Revil's fleet met with Sovereign Degwin Sodo Zabi, who personally came in secret to negotiate the terms of a peaceful Zeon surrender. Unfortunately, while both were mediating a peace, Gihren Zabi's ambition got the best of him and he ordered Zeon's superweapon Solar Ray to fire at the rendezvous point, killing both General Revil and Degwin and eliminating most of the Federation's Revil fleet. With the loss of Revil and his command ship, the "Phoebe", the remaining Federation ships in the Revil fleet regrouped around the "White Base" and/or the "Luzar" before desperately launching the last battle of the One Year War: the Battle for A Baoa Qu.