| Amuro Ray | |
|---|---|
| Mobile Suit Gundam character | |
 Mobile Suit Gundam illustration featuring Amuro Ray | |
| First appearance | Mobile Suit Gundam Episode 1: "Gundam Rising" (1979) |
| Created by | Yoshiyuki Tomino |
| Voiced by | Japanese
English
|
Amuro Ray (Japanese: アムロ・レイ, Hepburn: Amuro Rei) is a fictional character introduced in Sunrise's 1979 anime series Mobile Suit Gundam. As the first protagonist in the franchise, Amuro is a mechanic who becomes the pilot of the mecha known as RX-78-2 Gundam to protect himself from the Zeon forces invading his space colony during the war. He becomes an Earth Federation pilot in the war as well as the first Newtype, a type of human with special awareness which gives him great skills when fighting. The Gundam franchise explores Amuro's involvement in the wars piloting the titular mecha. He returns in the sequel, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam as an older retired soldier afraid of his past, and the 1988 feature film Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack where he takes part in new conflict against his rival Char Aznable. The character was present in several adaptations related to Gundam as well as video games.
Amuro was created by director and writer Yoshiyuki Tomino as a teenager meant to appeal to the young demography of Mobile Suit Gundam with the trait of a supernatural trait known as Newtype meant to make him stronger in fights to balance his characterization. He was often written as a common man meant to contrast Char's popularity. He is voiced by Tōru Furuya in Japanese while several actors provided their talent for the English adaptations of several Gundam works including Amuro.
Amuro's character became very popular in Japan, earning high ranks in popularity polls involving Gundam characters as well as anime characters in general. Critical reception to the character has also been positive with comments revolving around his work as a soldier which contrasted super robot heroes and instead came across as a more realistic teenager getting used to the war.