GIJE ZARAL

First Appearance: Episode 1 - "Ideon Resurrected"
Final Appearance: Episode 38 - "The Space Runaway"

Gije served personally under Doba Ajiba, and was entrusted (along with Damido Pechi) with ensuring the safety of his daughter Karala during the research visit to Logo Dau. He clearly had feelings for her (though they don't seem to have been reciprocated) and after she was taken onboard the Solo Ship made several rescue attempts, seemingly oblivious to Damido's attempts to get him out of the way. Eventually Gije realised Karala didn't want to be rescued, and after Abadede's death the newly-arrived Harulu withdrew him from the theatre, instead sending him on a research mission to Logo Dau while she took over the pursuit of the Solo Ship.

While there, Gije discovered Donovan particles which he hoped would inhibit the Ideon. After some initial success, the robot soon adapted to these, and Gije was left defeated once more. Harulu dismissed him from the front line, but Daram knew a good pilot when he saw one, and recruited Gije for the Ome Foundation. Gije once more tried to destroy the Ideon, and once more failed at every attempt. By the time of the battle over Earth's moon, Daram ran out of patience, and abandoned him when his Galbo Jick was destroyed.

This was something of a turning point for Gije. He sneaked onboard the Solo Ship after saving Sheryl, and became obsessed with seeing an invocation of the Ide. He remained onboard in secret until Daram's desperate suicide plan drew him out of cover, and Gije killed his erstwhile superior. He was immediately imprisoned by the colonists for his previous actions against them. Shortly afterwards, Moera was killed in battle and, after much lobbying with Sheryl, Gije was given control of the Ideo-Nova. His first mission was a little awkward, as Lotta was assigned to point a gun at him the whole time - it was also probably a bit too soon to fool his former comrades by pretending to be a spy among the colonists, but Gije's piloting skills greatly improved the effectiveness of the Ideon units.

As his good motives became apparent, he developed a romance with Sheryl and was rapidly accepted by the rest of the crew. For his part, Gije became more relaxed in the informal society onboard the ship, and it would seem to be one of the happiest parts of his life. However, after Sheryl's sister Lin was killed on Ajian, he seemed unable to cope with her grief. Shortly afterwards he was fatally wounded piloting the Ideo-Nova on Star Steckin, having left himself exposed saving Kasha.

His spirit was immediately reunited with that of Sheryl after her death.

It should be noted that Gije suffers more than any other character if you're watching the films alone - early on he's a fairly generic bad guy who has a very sudden change of heart, with the colonists similarly quick to accept him. To cap if all off, his death is covered in the start titles of "Be Invoked"...