While the Unicorn Gundam has a fairly standard design, there’s now multiple variants and kit variants on the market – this post will help you decipher the differences and pick out the right kit for you.

Unicorn Versions

There are 3 main versions of the Unicorn that exist in Gundam media today: the base version, the Full Armor Unicorn, and Perfectibility – with some other minor variations thrown in.

Base Unicorn

Gundam Unicorn was originally a light novel series with the first volume published in 2006, 4 years prior to the premier of the OVA in 2010. Thankfully, the core design of the Unicorn is the same between the novel and OVA, so there’s no need for slightly different designs like what we see with the Banshee’s kit releases.

When the Unicorn first premiered – it offered a very different take on the main hero suit for a Gundam series – gone was the the ubiquitous Gundam-like face, v-fin, and red/blue/white color scheme. We were left with a fairly plain looking design, yet with enough hints of what was hiding beneath to catch attention and interest.

Even when the true nature of the suit was revealed, we were still left with a very unique take of a design that managed to remain intriguing and convey a sense of power just from the simplicity of it’s design.

Since it’s premier in the Gundam UC light novel, it’s exploded in popularity and has now become a staple of Bandai’s marketing and model kit series.

Full Armor Unicorn

The most common Unicorn variant that you’ll see outside of the base Unicorn is the Full Armor, which was featured in the novel and last couple episodes of the OVA. While the base design of the Unicorn is the same, a large multitude of additional weapons and large boosters have been mounted on the suit to extend it’s operating time. One other difference with the Full Armor design is that it’s most commonly shown with green psycho-frame instead of the red color the Unicorn initially featured.

To turn the Unicorn into Full Armor mode, several different pieces of equipment are added to the base suit. To start, two large rocket booster units are attached to the back of the suit to give it enhanced range and speed to cover large distances. While the Full Armor retains the beam magnum used by the base Unicorn, rather than the single shield of the base unit the Full Armor upgrades to 3 shields, each with dual beam Gatling guns. In Destroy-mode, each shield is able to operate independently and remote from the suit itself – giving the Full Armor significantly improved combat abilities over the base Unicorn.

To further equip the Unicorn for extended battle, the Full Armor also mounts a pair of hyper bazookas, a pair of grenade launchers, multiple racks of grenades and anti-ship missile launchers. This all goes to make the Full Armor Unicorn a very imposing sight, and helps make the already large suit even larger.

Perfectibility (Full Armor Plan B/Divine)

The last, common Unicorn variant that you’ll now frequently see is the Unicorn Perfectibility. The Perfectibility is a non-canon design that did not appear in the light novel or OVA, but has become popular as a P-Bandai/Gundam Base exclusive kit that’s available in every grade.

The origin of the Perfectibility lies in an alternate take on the Full Armor Unicorn – the Full Armor Unicorn Gundam Plan B. Instead of equipping the Unicorn with multitudes of conventional weapons, the Plan B equips the Unicorn with every Armed Armor available. From the Banshee it gains the Smartgun (BS) and Vibro Claw (VN), from the Norn it gains the XC which improves generator output and psycho-wave capability, and from the Phenex it gains a pair of enhanced shield booster units (DEs). In addition, the Plan B also gains a brand new armed armor – a large beam javelin – the Armed Armor HJ.

The distinction between the Full Armor Plan B and the Perfectibility is very simple – the Perf adds the tail stabilizers to the Armed Armor DEs just like the Phenex Ver NT.

The last variation on the Plan B/Perfectibility is the Perfectibility Divine. The Divine is all the weapons and equipment from the Perfectibility – alongside some of the equipment from the regular Full Armor. With the Divine, the Perfectibility adds the 2 large rocker boosters, hyper bazooka, grenade launchers, a pair of Gatling guns, and a pair of beam magnums from the regular Full Armor.

Other Distinctions

Unicorn-Mode Vs Destroy-Mode

As with any RX-0 Unicorn unit, the Unicorn features two modes: it’s normal operating mode (Unicorn-mode) and and enhanced performance mode where the suit’s NT-D system has activated (Destroy-mode).

In Unicorn-Mode, the Unicorn’s armor conceals the psycho-frame material that the inner frame of the suit is built out of, giving it a more simple appearance. The Unicorn’s horn/v-fin also rejoins to a single piece and the face transforms to mask the traditional Gundam face of the suit.

In Destroy-Mode, the Unicorn’s armor expands to reveal the psycho-frame material of the inner frame – and the psycho-frame begins to glow with energy. The Unicorn’s horn/v-fin is split into a more traditional Gundam v-fin design, and the face transforms to reveal the suit’s traditional Gundam face.

Final Battle Versions

One other distinction for Unicorn versions (and kit releases) is the color of the psycho-frame of the suit – either a red color or a green color. The red psycho-frame color represents the base or regular version of the Unicorn that is seen when the suit first makes an appearance. The green psycho-frame color represents the version of the Unicorn that appeared in the final battle when Banagher had mastered the Unicorn and awakened it’s full potential – hence being called the “Final Battle Version”.

Gunpla Kit Releases

PG Kits

Kit Name	Design Ver	Frame Color	Release Type	Notes
Unicorn Gundam	Base	Red	Retail	Requires separate LED kit for lighting
Unicorn Gundam Final Battle Ver	Base	Green	P-Bandai	Requires separate LED kit for lighting
Full Armor Unicorn Gundam Expansion Set	Full Armor	N/A	P-Bandai	Parts-only expansion to depict Full Armor Unicorn – requires PG Unicorn kit
Unicorn Gundam Perfectibility	Perfectibility	Blue	P-Bandai	Requires separate LED kit for lighting. Can recreated Full Armor Plan B by leaving off the tail stabilizers from the Armed Armor DEs.
Perfectibility Divine Expansion Set	Divine	N/A	P-Bandai	Parts-only expansion to depict Perfectibility Divine – requires PG Perfectibility kit

MGEX Kits

While the MGEX Unicorn may at first appear to just be the regular MG Unicorn with a light kit – it is in fact entirely new molds. In addition to the LED strip that runs throughout the kit – the kit features enhanced detail and improved stability – it’s essentially a Ver 2.0 of the MG Unicorn with added LED gimmicks.

Kit Name	Design Ver	Frame Color	Release Type	Notes
Unicorn Gundam	Base	Clear – LED reproduces Red and Green Versions	Retail	Includes lots of extra parts including the cage from the earlier HD Color kit and 3 shields and stands to recreate scenes from Episode 7 of the OVA

MG Kits

For Master Grade kit releases of the Unicorn, regardless of the exact version all kits share the exact same molds for the base mobile suit – the only differences are slightly different color shades and in some cases more included accessories.

There were originally differences in some parts of the Ver Ka molds and Ver OVA molds – the OVA molds included fixes for some issues with the Ver Ka. However, subsequent printings of the Ver Ka included the OVA modifications and the Full Armor Ver Ka also makes use of the OVA molds. Bandai has stopped printing the Ver Ka release and now only releases the Ver OVA of the base Unicorn.

Kit Name	Design Ver	Frame Color	Release Type	Notes
Unicorn Gundam Ver Ka	Base	Red	Retail	Very first MG Unicorn release. Included some issues with mold – molds were updated but kit no longer printed.
Full Armor Unicorn Gundam Ver Ka	Full Armor	Green	Retail	Easiest way to get a Final Battle MG Unicorn release. Can also build the Type-94 Base Jabber alongside the base Unicorn using components from the Full Armor pieces.
Unicorn Gundam Ver OVA	Base	Red	Retail	Includes fixes for initial mold issues. Superseded Ver Ka release.
Unicorn Gundam HD Color Ver + HD Cage	Base	Red	Retail	Special recolor that used extra glossy plastics. Also included a mobile suit cage frame to depict the Unicorn as it appeared when Banagher was given the suit. Rarely reprinted – essentially superseded by MGEX Unicorn.
Full Armor Unicorn Gundam Ver Ka (Red Psycho-Frame)	Full Armor	Red	P-Bandai	Exactly the same as the retail Full Armor release, only with red psycho-frame instead of green.
Unicorn Gundam Perfectibility	Perfectibility	Blue	Gundam Base	Only available at Gundam Base locations or thru pop-up sales at Expo events. Can recreate Full Armor Plan B by leaving off the tail stabilizers from the Armed Armor DEs.

RG Kits

Kit Name	Design Ver	Frame Color	Release Type	Notes
Unicorn Gundam	Base	Red	Retail	N/A
Full Armor Unicorn Gundam	Full Armor	Green	Retail	Currently only way to get Final Battle RG Unicorn Release.
Unicorn Gundam Perfectibility	Perfectibility	Blue	Gundam Base	Only available at Gundam Base locations or thru pop-up sales at Expo events. Can recreate Full Armor Plan B by leaving off the tail stabilizers from the Armed Armor DEs.

HG Kits

Unlike every other grade (other than SD), High Grade Unicorn kits are non-transforming, so kits are sold only in Unicorn-mode or Destroy-mode.

Kit Name	Design Ver	Frame Color	Release Type	Notes
Unicorn Gundam (Destroy Mode)	Base	Red	Retail	N/A
Unicorn Gundam (Unicorn Mode)	Base	N/A	Retail	N/A
Full Armor Unicorn Gundam (Unicorn Mode)	Full Armor	N/A	Retail	N/A
Full Armor Unicorn Gundam (Destroy Mode)	Full Armor	Green	Retail	N/A
Full Armor Unicorn Gundam (Destroy Mode) (Red Psycho-Frame)	Full Armor	Red	Retail	Exactly the same as the retail Full Armor release, only with red psycho-frame instead of green.
Unicorn Gundam Perfectibility	Perfectibility	Blue	Gundam Base	Only available at Gundam Base locations or thru pop-up sales at Expo events. Can recreate Full Armor Plan B by leaving off the tail stabilizers from the Armed Armor DEs.

SD Kits

Like HG kits, Super Deformed Banshee kits are non-transforming.

Kit Name	Design Ver	Frame Color	Release Type	Notes
BB Senshi Unicorn Gundam (Destroy Mode)	Base	Red	Retail	N/A
BB Senshi Full Armor Unicorn Gundam (Destroy Mode)	Full Armor	Green	Retail	N/A
SD EX-Standard Unicorn Gundam (Destroy Mode)	Base	Red	Retail	N/A
SD Cross Silhouette Unicorn Gundam (Destroy Mode)	Base	Red	Retail	N/A
BB Senshi Unicorn Gundam Perfectibility	Perfectibility	Blue	Gundam Base	Only available at Gundam Base locations or thru pop-up sales at Expo events. Can recreate Full Armor Plan B by leaving off the tail stabilizers from the Armed Armor DEs.