Alright, time for another Gundam proposal, this time from Gundam Wing.
What is the work?[]
Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz is a three-episode OVA series serving as an epilogue to the Gundam Wing TV series.
Gundam Wing takes place in a future where the entire Earth is governed under a global government called the United Earth Sphere Alliance and where a large part of humanity's population have been sent out into space to live in colonies. As a result, a lot of animosity exists between the colonists in space and the citizens of Earth. It's something akin a retelling of UC Gundam, but set in a different timeline with different characters and political dynamics overlaying the same basic setting.
Endless Waltz begins a year after the conclusion of the TV series, after world peace was achieved between Earth and the colonies. However, a new threat soon emerges in the Mariemaia Army led by Mariemaia Khushrenada, the daughter of late series main antagonist Treize Khushrenada, who seeks to conquer the Earth Sphere to fulfill what she believes to be are her late father's ideals.
Who is the villain?[]
Dekim Barton, the wealthy head of the Barton Foundation and benefactor of the Mariemaia Army, as well as Mariemaia's maternal grandfather. Dekim seeks to use Treize's ideology to conquer the Earth Sphere, with Mariemaia as his figurehead.
Dekim was once an aide to Heero Yuy, a poltician who advocated peace between the colonies and Earth (and whose name was later taken by Wing's hero), but after Heero was assassinated by OZ, Dekim faked his own death and secretly began to enact his own scheme to conquer the Earth Sphere by building an army and financing a project by five scientists to build superior combat mobile suits, the Gundams.
What does he do?[]
Operating under the pretense of avenging the late Heero Yuy's death, Dekim and the Barton Foundation began developing their own army of mobile suits to invade Earth with and conquer it for the Bartons. To accomplish their invasion, Dekim devised "Operation Meteor" a plan to pave way for an invasion of the Earth by dropping the X-18999 colony on the Earth, which would devastate the planet and kill off two billion of the planet's population.
However, upon hearing of this plan and realizing Dekim's darker ambitions of despotism over the Earth Sphere, the five scientists he had funded revolted against the Bartons and allowed the Gundams to be taken by other colonial revolutionaries. During this time, Dekim went underground and began biding his time for the conflict in the Earth Sphere to be over.
After the war between the Earth and the colonies ended and total pacifism was installed in the Earth Sphere, with nearly all mobile weapons disabled, Dekim made his move. Using his granddaughter Mariemaia as his figurehead, Dekim recruited former soldiers loyal to Treize and other ex-soldiers who wished for more combat into the "Mariemaia Army", which purported to seek to attain the ideals of the late Treize when in fact it was little more than a vehicle for the Bartons' desires of world conquest.
With the largest military in the Earth Sphere under his command, Dekim instigated a new war by having the Mariemaia Army invade Earth and kidnap ESUN Foreign Minister Relena Darlian. When the Preventers, an armed organization established to keep the peace on Earth, retaliated against the Bartons, Dekim threatened to go through with the original Operation Meteor colony drop and kill off two billion of the planet's population unless they surrender. Luckily, the Gundam pilots foil Dekim's plan by disabling the X-18999 colony's thrusters, but Dekim is able to buy himself enough time to flee and leave his men to be destroyed by Zechs in the Tallgeese.
Returning to Earth, Dekim and the Mariemaia Army occupy ESUN's capital in Brussels, Belgium and effectively conquer the planet. However, the citizens of Earth soon begin to revolt against the Bartons and their rule. As the Gundam pilots close in on Dekim and Mariemaia's bunker, Dekim attempts to put down the unrest by handing Mariemaia, who is still a child, a gun and having her kill Relena. However, Mariemaia has some sense slapped into her (quite literally) by Relena and refuses to shoot her, causing Dekim to decide to shoot and kill Relena himself. When Mariemaia gets in the way to shield Relena and Dekim shoots her instead, Dekim is unconcerned about his granddaughter's wounds and goes on a mad rant about how the Bartons are the rulers of Earth and how he can always find another Mariemaia to be his puppet. Dekim tries to shoot Relena again, but before he can kill her he is shot and killed by a soldier loyal to Treize, who realized that Dekim was twisting Treize's ideals.
Heinous Standard[]
Dekim masterminded a scheme that would have ended the lives of two billion people on Earth, which he later uses to threaten people into submitting to him. Besides that, he also exploited his own granddaughter to use as his puppet, attempted to force her to kill someone and shot her when she got in his way. The manga adaptation adds further implications to his crimes by implying that Mariemaia wasn't Treize's daughter at all and instead a homeless girl Dekim took in and brainwashed. Either way, Dekim's actions classify him as scum of the lowest variety and definitely a contender for the most vile character in Wing.
Mitigating Factors[]
While his initial operation to invade Earth was done under the pretense of avenging Heero Yuy, Dekim's son Trowa Barton plainly admits that the Bartons do not have any real desire to avenge Heero and instead seek simply the total domination of the Earth Sphere for their own benefit. It's likely that even when he was assisting Heero Yuy he was simply supporting his beliefs for his own benefit. Either way, Dekim is shown to be a master at twisting noble beliefs to suit his despotic desires and any claims of him having good intentions should be taken with a grain of salt.
Besides that, Dekim shows no love for his family, even his own 7 year old granddaughter who he sees as little more than an expendable figurehead and openly admits he can replace her.
Final Verdict[]
Definitely a yes. Dekim is the closest thing Wing has to an equivalent to Gihren Zabi and deserves a spot as Pure Evil.