Dungeon Review: SDGF Zero the Winged Knight

Defender of Lacroa

Continuing on our journey through Superior Defender Gundam Force, we arrive at our first extradimensional guest star, Zero the Winged Knight! Zero hails from the world of Lacroa which is like if you populated a Dragon Quest game with cute Gundams. Zero’s world is occupied by the sinister Dark Axis so he leaves his home on a desperate mission to find help in other dimensions, leading him to help defend Neotopia against the invading Dark Axis forces.

Each of the two parallel dimensions in SDGF pull their stable of occupants from existing alternate-universe Gundam anime. In Lacroa’s case it’s New Mobile Report Gundam Wing, known in the U.S. to many as “Gundam.” Zero is directly based on the XXXG-01W Wing Gundam which you can see especially in the design of the green gem on the chest and the surrounding golden vents.

Like Captain Gundam Zero feels extravagantly designed for a the type of toyline it was designed for. He has a multitude of paint applications which just like on Captain are susceptible to scraping and wear.

The design itself feels like Wing Gundam by way of a Dragon Quest protagonist with medieval knight elements like the cape, flared pauldrons, and a forehead design that resembles the raised visor of a sallet helm. Instead of a traditional V-fin Zero has an ornate wing-like crest that calls to mind his title of “winged knight.” (Despite this title, Zero doesn’t usually sport wings.)

I also let mine sit too close to a window for a while so the back of it has started to yellow.

Articulation

Articulation is basically the same as Captain Gundam and par for the line, so no joints at the knees but joints pretty much everywhere else. Zero does feature a swivel at the waist but it is tied into his action feature.

The cape is made of rigid plastic and the hip skirt doesn’t move so don’t expect to get any nice sitting poses out of this toy.

Accessories and Gimmicks

Zero comes with his magic sword “Vatras” and a shield, both lavished with paint applications. The sword is made of a pliable material and is very susceptible to paint wear. The shield is decorated with the Super Dimensional Guard emblem which is basically the same design as the emblem of the Earth Federation Forces from the Universal Century Gundam series.

Vatras can stow inside Zero’s shield, perhaps a nod to how the Wing Gundam can store its beam sabers inside its shield. For Zero, this will also eventually cause the paint to rub off on the edges of the blade.

Zero can wield his sword nicely and can achieve some fancy sword-swinging poses. It would have been nice if his fist were molded at an angle to let him point his sword out but that wasn’t the design goal here.

Instead Zero has an action feature where if you twist his waist his right arm swings up and down for a sword-slashing action. It’s very easy to click the arm past the motion gear so this doesn’t hinder any action pose you might want to achieve.

Conclusion

I really liked how SDGF incorporated the various Gundam AUs by way of interdimensional transport and how each one had their own special aesthetic theme. Like Captain, Zero joined many of my toy adventures. We often used magic systems like those seen in Final Fantasy in our games which meant Zero was right at home with the various optional super-bosses populating our worlds.

The toy is utterly delightful in its simplicity and fun especially now that I have a better appreciation for the types of Gundam toys that were being made now and then.

How do you like Zero? Leave a comment!

— Video Dracula