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- Let's be honest with each other. Since both our lives are so cheap.
- —Enhanced Person Number 5 to Norea Du Noc, after the latter attempted to stab him,
Episode 18: "Our Empty Selves"
5Nore is the het ship between Elan Ceres (Enhanced Person Number 5) and Norea Du Noc from the Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury fandom.
Canon[]
Enhanced Person Number 5 is a body double of Elan Ceres, the future CEO of Peil Technologies. After the mobile suit duels over Miorine Rembran began at the Asticassia School of Technology, Peil needed somebody to fight the duels in Elan's place. As such, they utilized the Enhanced Persons; human guinea pigs implanted with resistance to the data storms created by Gundams. These people also had their memories wiped and faces surgically altered to resemble Elan. Following Enhanced Person Number 4's execution by Peil, Enhanced Person Number 5 was assigned as a replacement with the goal of seducing Suletta Mercury and stealing the XVX-016 Gundam Aerial. According to the Peil CEOs, he was assigned to this task because of his twisted personality, similar to the real Elan.
Norea Du Noc, on the other hand, was an Earthian who harbored an intense hatred of Spacians for their abandonment and destruction of Earth through war and resource extraction. She was recruited by the Anti-Spacian terrorist group Dawn of Fold and trained as a Gundam pilot alongside Sophie Pluone. After the group's failed assassination of Delling Rembran at Plant Quetta, Norea and Sophie infiltrated Asticassia as part of a larger operation by Shaddiq Zenelli to seize control of the Benerit Group.
Despite having starkly contrasting personalities, with Elan acting charismatic and effusive while Norea appears detached and taciturn, they both utilize these outward behaviors to mask their shared fear of dying due to their status as expendable Gundam pilots.
"Elan" and Norea first encountered each other during Asticassia's open campus event. Norea expressed her disgust at the beauty and cleanliness of the campus whilst sketching images of the decay on Earth in her sketchbook. As she left, Elan remarked at how they would get along well, then realized his student notebook had gone missing, it having been stolen by Norea. However, he made no attempt at reseizing it.
Following Norea and Sophie's failed theft/destruction of the FP/A-77 Gundam Pharact, she returned Elan's notebook to him after interrupting his attempt at seducing Suletta. He remarks that he can always try again, only for Norea to rebuke him by asking if Gundam pilots could count on second chances and remarking at how Peil has him under their complete control. Elan then points out her eyes, which he says remind him of somebody he once knew, a "pitiful guy" who ended up dying alone (likely Enhanced Person Number 4). She coldly responds by calling him annoying before he cheerfully calls her the same.
Later that day, both her and Sophie launch an attack with their Gundams, the EDM-GA-01 Gundam Lfrith Ur and EDM-GA-02 Gundam Lfrith Thorn, alongside remote-controlled EDM-GB Gundvölvas during the Asticassia Rumble Ring, killing a student and causing extensive damage to the school's outer wall. As Sophie fought against Suletta, Norea and Elan faced off as she tried to spur him into raising the Pharact's Permet Score. He replied that he had no intention of dying in vain after having his face changed. Once the operation's goal of kidnapping Sarius Zenelli was accomplished, Norea tried to get Sophie to disengage, however Sophie would die after prolonged data storm exposure. Her death would go on to greatly affect Norea.
Peil Technolgies, dissatisfied with Elan's performance during the attack, ordered Elan to obtain the Aerial or face execution. Strongly wishing to avoid the latter, he made a final attempt at seducing Suletta before threatening her with a taser. However, he was stopped by Guel Jeturk and retreated to Grassely House. There, he found Norea and Dawn of Fold confidant Nika Nanaura being kept as prisoners and invited himself into their company. Norea responds to this by attempting to stab him with a pencil and telling him to go die in a Gundam. Elan again states that he would rather live than be killed by her or a Gundam.
As they remain captive, Norea passes the time in a corner atop some boxes, sketching in her book. Elan inquires what she is drawing, only for her to dismiss him. He reassures her by claiming he is no threat and has not spoken of the Dawn of Fold's connections to Grassely House. Nika then points out his drastically different personality compared to before, and he goes on to explain about the real Elan Ceres, the Enhanced Persons and how piloting a Gundam means certain death for its pilots, with Suletta being the mysterious exception. Norea sardonically compliments his oversharing skills and Elan proceeds to ask her about her reason for piloting Lfrith Thorn. Bluntly, she claims of having no reason, but Elan states that she is hollow and merely convincing herself that she is doing it for the sake of Earth. Norea then responds by lunging at him with a pencil and the two end up in a clinch hold. He then claims that she does not actually want to pilot a Gundam, but she angrily tells him to shut up. Unfazed, Elan says that they should be more open, since their lives are so expendable.
Later, Norea's mental state begins declining and she takes to mindlessly scribbling in her sketchbook whilst continually muttering "die". Upon throwing the sketchbook, Elan picks it up and is entranced by the sketches inside, particularly a well-detailed sketch of a lake. When Norea notices this, she becomes furious and tries to snatch it back, resulting in the two finding themselves on the floor. She then thrashes about, shouting that she wants all Spacians to die and how she was scared of being left alone after Sophie's death before breaking down sobbing. Nika, having witnessed all, frightfully asks what just occurred, but Elan somberly remarks that she would never understand while he holds Norea's hand.
When news broke of the attack on Quinharbor, Norea once again becomes furious and her murderous resolve returns. After Shaddiq orders the prisoners released and the door opens, Norea runs out to board her Gundam, dropping her sketchbook. Elan quickly pursues her in an attempt to stop her, but to no avail. She boards the Lfrith Thorn and activates the Gundvölvas to comit a massacre of Asticassia's population. As she rampages, Elan boards the Lfrith Ur in a final attempt to quell her rage, but she lambasts him for cowardly running from everything, unlike Sophie. He reasons that, while he isn't Sophie, neither is she: afraid of dying and scribbling to escape the fear. He then tells her to come with him, and his desire to live alongside her. Moved by his words, Norea stops the Gundvölvas from attacking, but pushes him away. Deciding that her death via Gundam is inevitable, she asks to know Elan's real name and smiles for the first (and last) time before being killed by a beam projectile fired by Dominicus security forces. Overwhelmed by grief, Elan temporarily hijacks the Gundvölvas with his own data storm before retreating from the now ruined Asticassia campus.
Three years afterwards, Elan is shown to be traveling around Earth to visit the locations Norea sketched in her book.
Quotes[]
- “Sounds like we'll get along well.”
- — Elan remarking to himself after meeting Norea, Episode 13: Envoys from the Earth"
- Norea – “You're an irritating fellow.”
- Elan – “You're pretty annoying yourself!”
- — Episode 14: "What They Wish For"
- “Come with me! If you don't know how to live, I'll search for that with you. If you're scared, I'll be at your side! If you don't want to run, take me to the places in your drawings! The rest can come later... Let me prove it!”
- — Elan confessing his feelings to Norea to stop her rampage, Episode 20: "The End of Hope"
- “Tell me later... your... real name—”
- — Norea's last words to Elan immediately before her death, "The End of Hope"
Fanon[]
The ship is considered somewhat rare among the G-Witch fandom, thanks to the extreme popularity of SuleMio eclipsing nearly every other pairing. However, it does have its supporters, with a sizeable amount of fan content. It is the most written ship for both Enhanced Person Number 5 and Norea on AO3. Fans began speculating their possible relationship and dynamics as early as Episode 13, and growth was slow but steadily increasing as more of their character was revealed. The ship's popularity and subsequent amount of fan works escalated significantly after Episodes 19 and 20 aired. Many of these works present a canon divergence where Norea survives, with her and Elan journeying to Earth to visit the locations in her sketchbook. Some works also explore more of their inner personalities and their resulting vulnerability and intimate connection; an aspect that was mostly glossed over in the show. Regarding his name, most fans refer to him as "El5n" to distinguish him from the other Elans. In fanfiction, writers might refer to him as Elan, Five, or give him an entirely original name.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Elan Ceres | Enhanced Person Number 5/Norea Du Noc tag on AO3
Trivia[]
- A relationship between the two was not planned in the initial story; it was their first interaction in Episode 13 that inspired a deeper exploration of the two.[1]
- In the promotional image for Season 2 where all of the characters are reaching towards Miorine, Elan and Norea are glancing at each other.
- The pairing shares many similarities with other tragic Gundam romances, such as Kaiharu, Kamifour, Shinnstella, and Lylanew.
- In addition, several fans have pointed to additional similarities between 5Nore and Kamifour. Norea bears a striking resemblance to Kamile alongside his sudden outbursts of anger, while the Enhanced Persons share many traits with the Cyber-Newtypes of the Universal Century like Four. The Fifth's precursor was even called "Enhanced Person Number Four".
Gallery[]
Official Art[]
References[]
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| Gundam Ships • Gundam Characters | ||
| SHIPS | het | 5Nore • Allemarie • Lylanew • SajiLouise • Shinnstella |
| femslash | SuleMio | |
| non-binary | Locktie | |