Heine Westenfluss

He’s being assigned to the Minerva comes as a shock to everyone, including himself. He later surprises the Minerva pilots by insisting that they call him by his first name, since pilots of any rank are all equals on the battlefield.

Heine Westenfluss is a ZAFT pilot who originally piloted the orange mobile suit Blaze ZAKU Phantom, and later the orange mobile suit ZGMF-X2000 GOUF Ignited. Heine Westenfluss is considered an ace pilot of ZAFT, not only wearing the ZAFT red uniform, given to pilots who have graduated at the top of their class, but also with the FAITH insignia on his uniform, indicating that he’s of the FAITH detachment and reports directly to Chairman Gilbert Durandal. Heine first appeared in Phase 19, where he was there to escort Athrun Zala, Shinn Asuka, and Lunamaria Hawke to meet Chairman Dullindal at Diocuia after the Battle of Gulnahan. However, it has been suggested that the orange mobile suit that appeared in the Battle of Aprilius One in Phase 9 (Prideful Fang) is the Blaze ZAKU Phantom piloted by Heine Westenfluss; his performance in the battle has been noted as exceptional, as he destroyed a great number of mobile suits and several battleships. He also fought previously in the Bloody Valentine War (in particular the Second Battle of Jachin Due), as the pilot of the YFX-600R GuAIZ Experimental Firearms Type, and fought against Earth Alliance ace Morgan Chevalier.

Heine was decidedly an optimistic, but realistic, soldier who didn’t stand too much on ceremony, and was also quite talkative and ernest in his attempts to raise the morale of his fellow pilots. Despite considering himself an elite, Heine was respected by both superiors and subordinates as a capable pilot and officer. Although Heine was part of Athrun’s squad after his transfer to the Minerva, Heine was treated almost as a superior to Athrun by his peers, even by Athrun himself. During the Battle of Dardanelles, Heine’s GOUF Ignited’s primary offensive functions were disabled by ZGMF-X10A Freedom, piloted by Kira Yamato. While attempting a counter-attack on Kira, he got into the way of the ZGMF-X88S Gaia, piloted by Stella Loussier, who sliced Heine in half as she tried to attacked Freedom.