TV-Series
Description
Clotho Buer is a fictional character from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam Seed. He is introduced as one of three pilots known as Biological CPUs, or Boosted Men, assigned to the Earth Alliance's special forces. As a Natural, a person born without genetic modification, Clotho was subjected to secret military enhancement programs to allow him to fight on equal terms with Coordinators. At eighteen years old, he stands at 165 centimeters tall with red-orange hair and blue eyes. His personal history is largely erased from official records, but it is implied he was trained at the Earth Alliance's Lodonia Laboratory.
Clotho's personality is defined by volatility and confrontation. He is talkative and quarrelsome, frequently engaging in arguments with his teammates, Orga Sabnak and Shani Andras. Despite this friction, he operates the high-mobility GAT-X370 Raider Gundam as part of their dedicated unit. In combat, he displays a psychotic and proud demeanor, often shouting video game-inspired battle cries as he fights. This behavior is a direct result of the mental conditioning and drug regimen used to create Biological CPUs. Between missions, Clotho obsessively plays a portable game system called the Great Wonder Swan XXX, using it to perfect his simulated shooting skills.
The core of Clotho's motivation is not loyalty to the Earth Alliance, but survival and dependency. As a Boosted Man, he relies on regular doses of the performance-enhancing drug Gamma Glipheptin. Without this drug, his nervous system begins to collapse, causing severe withdrawal symptoms. The Alliance uses this addiction to ensure compliance, effectively making him a disposable asset. His violent boastfulness in battle often masks the desperation of his condition. He fights not for a cause, but because his biology forces him to, a point he makes clear when asked by an enemy pilot why he resists so fiercely.
In the story, Clotho and his team are deployed as the Earth Alliance's trump card during the latter half of the war. Their first major sortie is during the invasion of the neutral Orb Union, where they engage the Freedom Gundam and Justice Gundam. Clotho acts as a chaotic foil to the more composed protagonists. His key relationships are strictly professional and dysfunctional; he shares a bond of mutual annoyance with Orga and Shani, frequently complaining about his comrades' tactics, such as when the Calamity Gundam uses the Raider as a transport. He answers directly to the fanatical Blue Cosmos leader Muruta Azrael, who treats him as expendable hardware.
The character shows a tragic form of development, not through growth, but through degradation. As the war reaches its climax at the Second Battle of Jachin Due, the stress and prolonged combat cause his stability to deteriorate. After witnessing the deaths of his comrades Shani and Orga, Clotho enters a frenzied state. Lacking self-preservation and suffering from drug withdrawal, he continues to attack the Duel Gundam and Buster Gundam despite his mobile suit running out of power. His end varies by adaptation. In the original television series and HD Remaster, Clotho is killed when Yzak Joule uses the Buster Gundam's rifle to destroy the Raider Gundam. In the Special Edition compilation films, he is killed by Dearka Elsman immediately following Orga's death.
As a pilot, Clotho possesses notable abilities that rival Coordinators, though his skill is hampered by his recklessness. He starts with average performance but improves over the war, learning to utilize the Raider Gundam's transformation into Mobile Armor mode for high-speed assaults. His combat style is aggressive and relentless, relying on the heavy firepower of the Raider to overwhelm opponents. However, his reliance on the Gamma Glipheptin drug ultimately undermines his effectiveness, causing his judgment and coordination to fail precisely when he needs them most.
Clotho's personality is defined by volatility and confrontation. He is talkative and quarrelsome, frequently engaging in arguments with his teammates, Orga Sabnak and Shani Andras. Despite this friction, he operates the high-mobility GAT-X370 Raider Gundam as part of their dedicated unit. In combat, he displays a psychotic and proud demeanor, often shouting video game-inspired battle cries as he fights. This behavior is a direct result of the mental conditioning and drug regimen used to create Biological CPUs. Between missions, Clotho obsessively plays a portable game system called the Great Wonder Swan XXX, using it to perfect his simulated shooting skills.
The core of Clotho's motivation is not loyalty to the Earth Alliance, but survival and dependency. As a Boosted Man, he relies on regular doses of the performance-enhancing drug Gamma Glipheptin. Without this drug, his nervous system begins to collapse, causing severe withdrawal symptoms. The Alliance uses this addiction to ensure compliance, effectively making him a disposable asset. His violent boastfulness in battle often masks the desperation of his condition. He fights not for a cause, but because his biology forces him to, a point he makes clear when asked by an enemy pilot why he resists so fiercely.
In the story, Clotho and his team are deployed as the Earth Alliance's trump card during the latter half of the war. Their first major sortie is during the invasion of the neutral Orb Union, where they engage the Freedom Gundam and Justice Gundam. Clotho acts as a chaotic foil to the more composed protagonists. His key relationships are strictly professional and dysfunctional; he shares a bond of mutual annoyance with Orga and Shani, frequently complaining about his comrades' tactics, such as when the Calamity Gundam uses the Raider as a transport. He answers directly to the fanatical Blue Cosmos leader Muruta Azrael, who treats him as expendable hardware.
The character shows a tragic form of development, not through growth, but through degradation. As the war reaches its climax at the Second Battle of Jachin Due, the stress and prolonged combat cause his stability to deteriorate. After witnessing the deaths of his comrades Shani and Orga, Clotho enters a frenzied state. Lacking self-preservation and suffering from drug withdrawal, he continues to attack the Duel Gundam and Buster Gundam despite his mobile suit running out of power. His end varies by adaptation. In the original television series and HD Remaster, Clotho is killed when Yzak Joule uses the Buster Gundam's rifle to destroy the Raider Gundam. In the Special Edition compilation films, he is killed by Dearka Elsman immediately following Orga's death.
As a pilot, Clotho possesses notable abilities that rival Coordinators, though his skill is hampered by his recklessness. He starts with average performance but improves over the war, learning to utilize the Raider Gundam's transformation into Mobile Armor mode for high-speed assaults. His combat style is aggressive and relentless, relying on the heavy firepower of the Raider to overwhelm opponents. However, his reliance on the Gamma Glipheptin drug ultimately undermines his effectiveness, causing his judgment and coordination to fail precisely when he needs them most.