Rau Le Creuset

Rau Le Creuset is a male anime and manga character who features in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.

Biography

Rau Le Creuset (Japanese: ラウ・ル・クルーゼ, Hepburn: Rau Ru Kurūze) was actually born as Rau La Flaga who was a direct clone of Al Da Flaga and one modified to be a Coordinator. His creation came as a result of Al Da Flaga considering his own son Mu Da Flaga as being 'nothing' due to being 'diluted' from inferior DNA from his mother. As a result, the powerful and wealthy Atlantic Federation politician came to conspire with Professor Ulen Hibiki in creating clones of himself. The first of these was Rau who was intended to be his heir and the superior of his 'brother' Mu in everyway with his natural born son intended to be disinherited. Such a move was risky as direct human cloning was considered illegal but Al Da Flaga used his wealth and influence to act above the law. Dr. Hibiki came to use the funds gained from the cloning experiment to finance his won research in the Ultimate Coordinator project. After Rau's creation, the cloned child was brought to the La Flaga home in order to be educated in a strict manner where during this time he came to meet Mu Da Flaga for the first time. It was only later discovered that Rau had the same shortened telomeres as his progenitor Al Da Flaga which meant that he suffered from a reduced lifespan. Thus, he was deemed a failure by his genetic donor who felt he could not serve as a successor and as a result looked to abandon him. Upon learning this, Rau was angered at this and decided to burn down the Flaga family mansion thus killing Al Da Flaga and his wife but this left Mu alive. Escaping, Rau felt he had no past or future where he felt nothing but a deep hatred for humanity which included both Natural and Coordinators as the result of the experiences of his origins.

On the Grimaldi Front, he came to be a high ranking officer within ZAFT forces at the time. Rau Le Creuset came to be assigned the then-still-experimental ZGMF-1017M GINN High Maneuver Type. The machine had yet to be formally test-flown with this event being his first sortie. Launching shortly before the end of the Battle at the Endymion Crater, Rau in the GINN was engaged by Mu La Flaga's TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero leading to the two fighting an intense duel that was prematurely ended by the detonation of a Cyclops System which destroyed the Alliance base. As a result, the battle had ended and the incident resulted in the destruction of most of the remaining forces on both sides. This encounter on the battlefield would mark the beginning of a rivalry between Le Crueset and Da Flaga. Shortly thereafter, he was assigned command of the Nazca-class Vesalius.

Early in the war, he became famous following his participation in the Battle of Yggdrasil where he used his ZGMF-1017M GINN High Maneuver Type mobile suit to destroy thirty-seven Earth Alliance mobile armors and six warships. This feat earns him the Order of the Nebula, a decoration awarded to ZAFT's most outstanding soldiers. After the Battle of Endymion Crater on the Moon, Le Creuset becomes the commander of the newly constructed Nazca-class destroyer, Vesalius. In this time, he took part in various operations but mostly stayed behind on the Vesalius. Under his command, the ZAFT vessels Vesalius and Gamow participated in an attack on the neutral colony of Heliopolis, where the military contractor Morgenroete has been constructing prototype mobile suits for the Atlantic Federation. The raid ended with ZAFT capturing four of the prototype G-weapons where the colony was destroyed due to the use of heavy weaponry by both sides of the conflict. ZAFT forces then attempted to try to capture or destroy the remaining G-Weapon that was the GAT-X105 Strike as well as the mobile suit carrier, Archangel. Apart from attempts to take down the "Legged Ship" (ZAFT's codename for the Archangel), he shares a strange connection with Earth Alliance mobile armor pilot Mu La Flaga and the two are shown to have a rivalry of sorts throughout the war.

His intentions almost come to fruition at the Battle of Jachin Due, but they are thwarted by Kira Yamato and the crew of the Archangel. His reputation is high enough that the ZAFT National Defense Committee Chairman, Patrick Zala, reveals to him the real plans for Operation Spitbreak. Le Creuset passes this information to the Atlantic Federation, then betrays Zala again by handing over confidential information regarding the nuclear technology behind the two Gundams, Freedom and Justice. This information is given to the Blue Cosmos Chairman, Muruta Azrael, who is also the director of the Azrael Conglomerate, the Earth Alliance's primary arms supplier. Neither Zala, members of the Supreme Council, nor ZAFT suspect Le Creuset of treason. Although Rau supposedly answers to Patrick Zala, it becomes quite clear that he is actually manipulating Chairman Zala.

In the final battle of the war, Rau pilots the ZGMF-X13A Providence, the final ZAFT Gundam. Rau cripples the Strike and the Buster and destroys an escape shuttle launched from the Dominion that contains Flay Allster. He then battles with Kira Yamato in the ZGMF-X10A Freedom. Rau damages the Freedom using the DRAGOON System installed in the Providence and yells out his beliefs of humanity and their need to be like Kira; however, Kira cripples the Providence with an attack that penetrates the cockpit and Rau and his mobile suit are destroyed by the self-destruction of GENESIS, dying with a smile on his face.

Overview

Personality and attributes

As a clone, he resembled La Flaga but when in public he covered his face with a unique mask to hide his features.

Rau believes that all people are selfish creatures who will do anything to "get ahead." He justifies this point of view by his very existence: he is the direct result of human hubris - cloning. While he believes that humanity will eventually wipe itself out, he is not satisfied with waiting for that to happen on its own and works towards making that end a reality.

In the ZAFT military, he was noted for being ruthless, enigmatic and mysterious.

He tended to treat the members of his team with a reasonable amount of dignity and respect. He was capable of being charismatic to persuade people for his own end.

In time, Rau eventually came to decide that both Naturals and Coordinators were unfit to live with him planning the destruction of the two races. This was despite his allegiance to ZAFT with Rau showing no loyalty to it, or anyone in particular. Rau's true aim was to put an end to humanity and what he saw as a 'world of endless desires'. He believed he could accomplish this through the nuclear arsenal of the Earth Forces and GENESIS, ZAFT's super weapon. Furthermore, he believed he was the person best suited to carry out the judgment and execution of humanity. Rau seemingly does not value human life in the slightest—not even his own.

Powers and abilities

Rau Le Creuset was born a clone of Al Da Flaga though one who was modified to be a Coordinator. As such, he was genetically engineered to be superior to base-line humans.

He was also skilled with firearms and tactics where he was capable of seeing through feints and decoys to determine the enemy's true plan.

Similar to his 'father' and 'brother', he possessed a high degree of spatial awareness that allowed him to be capable of controlling multiple remote guided weaponry. Creuset was a skilled pilot who was capable of operating a number of Mobile Suits with ease. Such was his skill that he was able to use the Providence's DRAGOON System to dominate Kira Yamato's Freedom Gundam for most of the fight.

Le Creuset was an elite ZAFT commander who was a skilled mobile suit pilot and an adept tactician with his abilities being greatly valued by the ZAFT leadership.

However, Rau had short telomeres within his DNA that caused him rapid aging problems. This was done intentionally so that Rau could catch up to Mu in age and replace him. Rau had to take a drug that stabilized his aging and he suffered intense pain if he went without the medication for too long.

He later came to pilot a new ZAFT created Gundam weapon that was designated as the ZGMF-X13A Providence.

Notes

• Rau Le Creuset featured in the setting of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.

Appearances

• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED:

External Links

• Gundam Wiki Entry

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