The future of humanity is among the stars.
From: Mobile Suit Gundam and Gundam Wing (Sunrise)
The "Red Comet" is the greatest commander and pilot produced by the wars between Earth and its colonies. His soldiers are utterly loyal, even in their rare experiences of defeat, and even his enemies admire and fear his prowess in battle. The generals to whom he is assigned count him both among their assets and among their liabilities because of his shadowy, though fierce ambitions. Women and men alike tie their lives to his, even though he plainly keeps his heart and his counsel to himself.
Yet, despite these enviable accolades, both Char Aznable, and his alternate-universe doppelganger, Zechs Merchise, are consumed by the need to fulfill a dead father's dream. That dream described the necessary evolution of humanity into a space-dwelling race, and the profound, wondrous changes that would come about. However, the migration of humans into space that began with the first colonists has halted, yielding a tenuous balance between those already living in space and those remaining on Earth.
To shatter that illusory balance and pursue humanity's future among the stars, Char and Zechs have alternately used conflict and diplomacy, naked force and guile, and exploited or destroyed countless people and nations.
Despite the unshakable motivations shared by Zechs and Char, their oftimes brutal plans have failed utterly, even within sight of victory. The source of that failure tends to be found among allies as often as among enemies. The people of Earth and of the colonies alike are typically loathe to see Earth abandoned or destroyed altogether.
Faced with such an outcome, betrayal and sabotage become attractive options. Moreover, within organizations of monolithic, even fanatical, purpose, individual thought and action can derail even the most inexorable schemes.
In the final analysis, it is humanity itself that thwarts Char (and Zechs), as his years of duplicity and manuvering prevent him from understanding and predicting the personal ambition and eruptive passions of those around him. Emotional, erratic behavior alternately plagues and strengthens humans, even those as gifted as the "Newtypes" Char resembles and nurtures. Self-sacrifice and compassion are nearly alien concepts to him, perhaps because he has found it so easy and so necessary to manipulate others. On every scale, and at every turn, he forges a path away from human empathy, but all the while he believes himself to be pursuing humanity's gloriously interconnected future.