Sit back a moment and think about Quatre Rabera Winner.

    First off, I’d like to ask where we got “ra-ba-ba” out of “Rabera”, but with a name like “Routhier” I know better!

    When I first started watching Gundam Wing, I sort of zipped over him as a character. I was busy trying to figure out which one was Trowa and which one was Heero (because I jumped in right after Heero self-destructed for the millionth time…) so I totally missed Quatre.

    Then, once I figured out that Trowa was the one with the extended brush-over, I started paying attention to Duo who was making the best smart remarks (and since I was still confused over the plot, that was fine with me!). After I got the plot figured out, I spent most of my time screaming, “What the heck is up with Dorothy?!?!”

    Finally, however, I got around to Quatre, the little Arabian boy who makes even me look tan!

    I imagine that in his free time he sharpens pencils and chucks them at the ceiling of the cockpit of his Sandrock to see how many he can get to stick up there (like Mulder in X-Files). I’m sure Rashid has to climb in there any chance he can to pull the pencils out for fear that they will all fall down during a battle and poke Master’s eyes out… Somewhere, Quatre also has a stash of Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC CDs. But they’ve all got koRn songs burnt over the original tracks (this is so that Duo doesn’t steal his stash). Why, I’m sure there’s a whole flock of odd treasures that Rashid runs into while trying to pull all the pencils out!

    Why, I bet when the animators aren’t looking, Quatre is busy running around getting Duo in trouble. I mean, he’s been the brunt of 39 (or more?) sisters’ teasing for years, he needs an outlet and Duo is the perfect candidate!

    Of course, stanch Quatre supporters are now staring at this and going, “That’s not Quatre at all! Quatre’s a wonderful pilot! Routhier must be thinking of someone else!” Well, alright, let’s see what else we can get that seems more Quatre-like… Ah, there’s always the easy argument on what the deal is between him and Trowa, but we can’t possibly get into something so… so… so unfunny! (Well, funny, but do I dare get onto sacred argument ground?)

    Quatre, in front of the camera anyway, is the loving caring fighter who is always there for all the pilots (Even Heero. But Wufei???). He’s the topic of many a fanfic where the authors wonder, “When does he vent?” (Most authors say, “He vents to Trowa” but I said I wasn’t going there.) (Not yet anyway…) He’s always the one in the fanfics that the others hold up on a pedestal (Next to Heero who they all say, “The Ultimate Soldier” about). Yes, he’s certainly a fanficer.

    But still, being me, I have to think he’s not really like this. I bet he sits there on the ‘net reading this stuff while laughing madly, “They don’t know me at all!” while Duo is getting yelled at for the sillystring incident (which he has no idea how it got into the Wing Zero in the first place, but he certainly thinks it was a good idea anyway…).

    But, if you prefer a much more glorious role for Quatre, may I suggest a fanfic? It’s exceptionally sad and terribly wonderful and it certainly makes you think a little harder about Quatre (But most of you do that too much now!) (You know who you are girls!) http://jadahome.tripod.com/insick.txt