Prince Heinel

This article is about a/an villain in Chōdenji Machine Voltes V.

Prince Heinel
Aliases	The Prince
Relatives	Kentaro Goh (father), Lozaria (mother), Emperor Zu Zambajil (uncle), Kenichi Goh (half-brother), Daijiro Goh (half-brother), Hiyoshi Goh (half-brother)
Affiliation	Boazanian Empire
Physical description
Species	Boazanian
Gender	Male
Eye color	Brown
Background information
Series	Chōdenji Machine Voltes V
Seiyū	Osamu Ichikawa

Prince Heinel is the leader of the Boazanian attack force on Earth and the secondary antagonist of Chōdenji Machine Voltes V. He is the son of La Gour and Lozaria, and the half-brother of Kenichi, Daijiro and Hiyoshi. Heinel's battleship is Scar Rook.

In the Super Robot Wars series, Heinel pilots Godol.

Personality

On the outside, Heinel is crude, violent, cunning and ruthless. However, this is all a facade he keeps to hide his feelings of inferiority and shame of being the son of a traitor. Due to being told that his father betrayed the Boazanian race, Heinel disavows him and exercises all his effort into Boazanian nationalism and leading the empire to glory, despite being reviled by the Emperor and his delegates. In episode 8, when Duke Zaki berates him and humiliates him by tossing wine on his face, Heinel later recounts to Katherine that he used to being humiliated.

While Heinel is depicted as a typical main villain who murders, destroys and blackmails others for fun and sadism in earlier episodes of the series, in later ones, he starts to show more honorable qualities, such as caring for his soldiers, giving credits for those who deserve it, and wanting to die honorably rather than live as a coward. Even in the final battle, when his side is losing, he still continues to fight the Voltes team instead of surrendering.

He clings to a great sense of pride due to being a Boazanian, combined with his high rank as the nephew of the Emperor. When Gilgon informs him that Kenichi has Boazanian blood, he grows enraged and calls him a liar. This pride is shown to be fatal at times, such as him being angry at Katharine and Jangal suggesting that General Bergan was sent by his uncle to assassinate him in episode 24.

Despite his ruthlessness, he has a streak for mercy, as he forgave Bergan for trying to assassinate him and offered him a chance at being his general. However, Heinel greatly despises traitors, and when Zuhl tried to have him disposed, Heinel set up multiple schemes to have him executed, from secretly planting a bomb in his staff to ordering a firing squad to execute him, on top of burning all memories and records of him in episode 22.

Appearance

Heinel has shoulder-length thick ginger/blonde hair, pale skin, brown eyes, and 2 long horns on either side of his head. He wears a dark blue long coat with white cuffs and frill. The inside of the coat is yellow. Heinel also wears a red bodysuit with a dark blue collar and star emblem on the chest. His pants and boots are red while his belt is white.

Biography

Early years

Heinel was born to the disgraced crowned prince of Boazania, La Gour. Being labeled as a traitor's son, he was shunned and bullied throughout his childhood, and Zu Zambajil secretly despised him, only reluctantly appointed him a position in the royal court. Only his maternal grandparents showed him genuine love. Unbeknownst to Heinel, his father had fled to Earth, immigrating with humans as Professor Kentaro Goh and had three children there: Kenichi, Daijiro and Hiyoshi. Knowing that he had very little chance among the ruling class, Heinel decided to earn others' respect through military. He graduated as the top cadet at the Boazanian Institute of Military Sciences and Warfare and became a proud warrior.

Voltes V

Years later, Zu Zambajil sends Heinel to lead an invasion against Earth with legions of fleets. In truth, he wants to send Heinel away to remove a perceived threat for his rule. To ensure Heinel's death, Zu Zambajil sends his chief inspector Duke Zaki and Zuhl to pretend aiding Heinel, but in truth to kill him if necessary.

Boazania's forces easily slaughter Earth's forces and destroy many cities, while survivors retreat. Kenichi, Daijiro and Hiyoshi, alongside Ippei Mine and Megumi Oka, are then summoned by Professor Hamaguchi and Mitsuyo Goh (Kentaro's wife) to pilot Goh's greatest invention, the giant robot Voltes V, forming the Voltes team. Ever since then, the team has caused a lot of troubles for Heinel, and he also becomes their greatest enemy. Halfway through the war, Ri Katherine exposes a plot of Zaki and Zuhl to send Heinel to his death, allowing Heinel to kill Zaki. Zuhl is eventually executed in a later plot to betray Heinel. Zu Zambajil then sends general Do Bergan to keep an eye on Heinel. Later on, Do Bergan and General Gururu betray Heinel and try to blow up Earth with a Magmite Bomb, but this once again fails, foiling Zu Zambajil's plan to have Heinel killed. Bergan then tries to finish off Heinel by leading Voltes V to his secret base. Heinel prepares to fight them, but Katherine realizes it is futile and begs him to stop, telling him he will die. Heinel retorts that he has to do it for his honour, and before he can charge into battle, Katherine shoots him with a sedative, and directs the base to her ancestral home in Boazania.

Eventually, Voltes V and Big Falcon reach Boazania and free Professor Goh. The Voltes team then convince the Boazanians about Zu Zambajil's tyranny. As a result, the Boazanians rebel against the Emperor, while his loyalists desert en masse to save their own skins. With the Boazanians' help, the Voltes team manage to defeat Zu Zambajil's men.

When Heinel wakes up, he asks Katherine where he is, who explains that she took him to Boazania and that Voltes V has defeated Zambajil. Once again an enraged Heinel vows to get revenge on Voltes V to restore Boazanian horror despite Katherine's pleas. As he exits her home on his horse, he yells at Katherine to save herself.

Heinel makes his way to the castle, where he berates Boazanian nobles for defecting and threatens to kill anyone who abandons Zambajil. As a result, he is shot at by one with a gun, but Katherine takes the hit for him and dies. Heinel holds her and begs her not to die, but she passes away, after telling him she loves him. A weeping Heinel realizes he loves her as well and vows to get revenge for her death.

While he is at the castle, Heinel prays to the statue of the Boazanian hero Godor. To prove his "purity of intent" to him, Heinel jumps into the flames. As he plunges, he lands in a cockpit, and realizes that the statue was actually a giant mecha, and an automated message plays saying that he grants his power to anyone who wishes to defend Boazania. Heinel then locates Voltes V and engages in a battle, which eventually results in Voltes V toppling over Godor. The Voltes V team are shocked to discover that Heinel was the one who had been piloting it. However, he then tosses a sword at Kenichi and challenges him to a fight, despite Kenichi telling him the fight is pointless. The two engage in a swordfight, and as they both break their swords, Heinel yells that the fight isn't over yet and pulls out a dagger. Kentaro instantly recognizes it and asks Heinel where he got it, to which Heinel responds by saying that it doesn't matter and he can't distract him. Kentaro then says it does matter because it is the dagger he gave to his first wife, and says it has twin doves on it. Horrified, Heinel looks at the dagger, notices the twin doves, and realizes that Kentaro is right. He feels ashamed that he had been participated in a meaningless war against his family.

Just then Zu Zambajil appears, having tried to escape with a load of riches and a grenade. Once he realizes that he is cornered, he attempts to shift the blame to Heinel, saying that the earthlings should hate him since it was his idea to invade Earth (even though it wasn't). Angered, Heinel yells "What?! I thought you were on the side of good, but you're just a materialistic bastard! DIE!!!" and flings the dagger at him, killing Zambajil. Unfortunately, Zambajil accidentally drops the grenade in the process, causing it to explode and engulf the castle in flames. Heinel then saves Kenichi from the fire and willingly accepts his death, but not before biding a farewell to his newfound family, depsite Kenichi screaming "brother" at him and trying to save him. Kentaro also acknowledges Heinel as his son before the flames swallow him whole.

Relationships

Katherine

Katherine loves Heinel, but he doesn't know it. Heinel is convinced from his traumatic childhood that he is unworthy of love, and instead pays attention to superficial things such as royal titles. As a result, he is oblivious to Katherine being sweet to him, and only focuses on her rank as his underling. When he saved Katharine from mortal danger, he justified it by saying that it was because she would disgrace Boazanian nobility if she were to die before an Earthling.

Katherine herself is shown to be devoted to Heinel. In their first interaction, she did not move when Heinel brought hsi sword to her head, stating that she was willing to bear any punishment from him for the sake of his conquest. As a result, Heinel praised her. Katherine always indulges his plans without question and when she gets the opppurtunity to be in charge of guiding Beastmen, she eagerly takes it. She is also violently protective of Heinel due to the multiple assassination attempts he faces due to his position, though this could also be from a place of possessiveness. Much like how Heinel prides himself in being a Boazanian noble, Katherine prides herself in being his right hand. She constantly praises him and encourages his aspirations to colonize the earth. When she learns that Zuhl planned to kill Heinel, she sadistically laughed at the thought of strapping a bomb to him without his knowledge and detonating it.

Katherine is also the only person Prince Heinel confessed his traumatic and humiliating backstory to, something he never did to anyone else. Throughout the series, it is shown that out of all his allies, Heinel trusts her the most.

When she hears that Heinel was sent a new assassin by the Emperor, Bergen, she becomes upset and asks Heinel if he thinks she and Jangal are of no use to him, implying feelings of jealousy/insecurity. Heinel reassures her that he does not.

When she sacrifices himself to save him and confesses her feelings, he realizes that he loves her as well.

Jangal

Jangal is Heinel's general. Heinel places heavy expectations on him, and once punishes him for failing by locking him up in a dungeon. Despite Heinel's treatment of him, Jangal is fervently loyal to him. His loyalty is why Heinel entrusts him with piloting beast fighters against Voltes V. In episode 36, when Zambajil announces that he is no longer supporting Heinel, which leads to most of his forces deserting him, Heinel tells Jangal and Katharine to leave if they want, as he will fight Voltes V with or without them. Both refuse to leave.

In episode 37, Jangal challenges the Voltes team to a duel, which ends with him losing his sword. Upon realizing that he is defeated, he asks Kenichi to give him his sword, which he humours despite Daijirou's protests. Jangal then stabs himself with it, telling Kenichi that Boazanian general would rather face death than surrender. His last words are "Prince Heinel, I give my life to you!". Both Heinel and Katharine cry upon seeing him die, with Heinel confessing "Jangal! You were an excellent warrior! I shall never forget your dedication! Your death won't be in vain!".

Zuhl

Zuhl is Heinel's subordinate, and while he was initially loyal to him, in episode 8, once he was told by Duke Zaki that Zambajil plans to have Heinel killed, Zuhl eagerly agreed to it, hoping to take Heinel's position once he was gone. He was oblivious to Katherine eavesdropping on the conversation, and when Zaki mentioned that the beast fighter they planned to send Heinel in had a weak spot (the armour on the side was unstable), she told Heinel off-screen, which resulted him in adjusting it. This angered both Zuhl and Zaki, the latter's being short-lived as he died shortly after when Heinel's beast fighter accidentally bit it while it was overloaded with energy. Zuhl would continue to try and assassinate Heinel in later episodes. Though Heinel respected Zuhl to a degree, he once had him tortured for failing to defeat Voltes V.

In episode 22, it is revealed that Zuhl has an arsenel full of weapons ready to take out Heinel. While browsing security footage, he notices an unfamiliar figure, and has him shot. Upon examining his corpse, Zuhl realizes that he is an imperial investigator, implying that Heinel is aware of his assassination plot.

The scene cuts to Heinel slamming his fist, saying he doesn't believe it. When Katherine reads the investigator's message and tells Heinel there's clearly an assassination plot against him, Heinel groans angrily and says that Zuhl doesn't have the means to do it. He tells Jangal to bring Zuhl so he can interrogate him, but Katherine tells him that it is pointless because Zuhl could just deny it. She then says she has another plan, which is to use a truth serum on him. Heinel laughs and agrees. As they talk, Zuhl surveils them through a secret passage in the walls, and realizes he must strike tonight or he'll be found out.

That night, as Heinel was asleep in his bedroom, Zuhl entered through a secret passageway hidden behind a painting of Zambajil. Upon his arrival, Heinel woke up and noticed him, causing Zuhl to knife him through his bedsheets. However, his expression didn't change. Zuhl continued to stab Heinel, and in frustration, pulled off his sheets. He was then greeted with the sight of ripped pillows, and a model of Heinel's head. He realized that he had been tricked with a robot model of Heinel. Jangal then emerges from the same passageway and presses a sword to Zuhl's cheek, and Heinel and Katherine arrive with several armed soldiers. Heinel tells Zuhl he knew about the passageway long before he did, and Katherine tells him it was her idea to let him overhear their conversation. As Zuhl begs for mercy, Jangal announces that he should die, but Heinel stops him. As Zuhl calls Heinel compassionate and thanks him, Heinel kicks him and tells him he will only forgive him if he kills all of the members of the Voltes team. Zuhl is unsure, but when Heinel tells him his life depends on it, he agrees.

In the next scene Zuhl arrives at Big Falcon with shackled legs and a large, round weight. Though the guards originally assume he is an old man, the Voltes team recognize him as Zuhl. Zuhl begs for their mercy and tells them Heinel wants him dead.

Zuhl is then taken to their emergency room while a welder tries to dismantle the weight chained to his legs. Zuhl tells the Voltes team that Heinel always tortured him and one day, threw him in a cell. While Kou, Hiyoshi, Daijirou and Megumi listen intently, Ippei calls it "bullshit" and asks how he escaped so easily. Zuhl replies that he was helped by Boazanian rebels.

Back at their spaceship, Katherine praises Heinel for his plan of secretly attaching a bomb in the weight around Zuhl's leg, and Heinel remarks that Zuhl should be honoured to die in the line of duty. They laugh amongst each other.

After the weight is dismantled, Tako hears a ticking sound from it, and throws it outside of Big Falcon, saving them and Zuhl from its explosion. The Voltes Team laugh, but an angered Ippei confronts Zuhl and accuses him of setting them up to be killed. Despite Zuhl inisting that he is innocent, Ippei lifts his staff and says he ought to shaft him. However, Ippei then realizes the staff is ticking too. He realizes it is another bomb and throws it outside. Like the first bomb, it explodes.

Zuhl then realizes that Heinel hid bombs all over him without telling him, and swears to have Heinel killed. He tells the Voltes team where the Boazanian underground base is located. However, when they arrive, they are greatly outnumbered by Heinel's forces. However, they cannot leave as Ippei exited his machine to attack Zuhl for leading them into an ambush.

Heinel enters the room, and states that if anyone moves, Ippei dies. He then thanks Zuhl for bringing the Voltes team to him. Upon realizing that he can weasel into Heinel's good graces, Zuhl claims he deliberately led the Voltes team here, and Heinel tells him he will be rewarded. When Zuhl thanks him, Heinel angrily screams "Idiot! Do you think I can't see through your scheme? Zuhl! You led the Voltes team so you can kill them and use Voltes V against me! You traitor!".

Heinel then reveals that they aren't in the Boazanian base, and Zuhl deliberately misled them. Zuhl then pulls a knife from his clothing and hides it behind his back, before pleading for another chance. When Heinel rejects it and orders for Zuhl to be taken away, he throws it at him, only for Heinel to unsheath a short part of his blade, causing it to ricochet into the ground. Zuhl is then shot by Heinel's guards. While they're distracted, Ippei returns to his vehicle. The guards try to shoot the Voltes team as well, but they manage to escape. On their way out they cross paths with another beast fighter and win.

Afterwards, Heinel says death is too lenient of a sentence for Zuhl as he has dishonoured them. He then orders for the destruction of every memory of him, including his belongings and pictures of him. The guards oblige.

Zambajil

Zambajil is Heinel's uncle. He despises him as Heinel is the true heir to the throne, being the son of La Gour, while he is the son of the Emperor and a mistress. Their relation is technically first cousins once removed, though Heinel calls him "uncle" as their fathers are brothers.

Throughout the series Zambajil tries to repeatedly get Heinel killed, and repeatedly humiliates him by sending him assassins and at one point even sends a robot of La Gour and convinces him it is real. According to Duke Zaki, Zambajil thinks Heinel leading the earthern invasion was a mistake, and regularly mocks him behind his back by calling him "stupid" and "a failure". When Heinel survives, Zambajil is angered, and then exiles him. In the series finale, Heinel urges him to stop the fight, but when he refuses and tries to pin the blame on him, Heinel kills him with his dagger.

Kenichi

Heinel viewed Kenichi as a sworn enemy due to him being the leader of Voltes V, though the two fought rarely fought one-one.

Their first direct confrontation was in episode 30, when Katherine ambushed him and Heinel went to save her. Heinel and Kenichi then had a swordfight duel. At first Heinel initially seemingly won by knocking the sword out of Kenichi's hand, until Kenichi tackled him by siliding across the ice and knocking him to the ground. When Kenichi touched Heinel's horns, Heinel became enraged and swore to kill him. The two continued to spar until they fell into the sea, after which Katherine rescued Heinel and took him back to their secret base.

When Heinel learns Kenichi identifies as Boazanian he grows enraged and swears to have his head for "humiliating" him. He continues to deny his Boazanian heritage until Jangal proves that he does in Episode 37. In episode 40, once he finds out that Kenichi and him share the same father, he grows remorseful and is ashamed to have been fighting against his own blood. He dies saving Kenichi.

Relatives

On September 30, 1979, the bi-monthly Japanese magazine OUT (published by Minori Shibou) released an issue titled "Rendezvous" that contained Heinel's genealogy. Though the article is in Japanese, it has been translated here.

Prince Heinel's family tree

---

                        Wife 
                         |
     |───➝ 123rd Emperor of Boazania
     |                   |───➝ Zambaji
     |                Concubine
     |                   
 ────|
     |
     |
     |                Lozaria
     |───➝ La Oral       |───➝ Heinel
               |───➝ La Gour 
             Wife         |───➝ Kenichi
                          |───➝ Daijirou
                          |───➝ Hiyoshi
                      Mitsuyo Go
                                                                              

Development

According to director Tadao Nagahama, Prince Heinel's character was created because Akinori Watanabe was worried that the plot will be too depressing to viewers and wanted to avoid viewers crying all the time. He based Heinel on one of the actors in Takarazuka Revue.

Heinel's horns are reminiscient to that of a water buffalo's. However according to Tadao Nagahuma, he is based on a unicorn.

Skills

• Commanding: In episode 8 Zuhl tells Zaki that Heinel was chosen to command the invasion to earth because no one else was as qualified as him. When Zaki proposes murdering him, he tells him it will be difficult because he is gifted at his craft.
• Swordfighting: Heinel owns a sword which he uses to break things when he loses his temper. He is a skilled swordfighter and defeated Kenichi in swordfighting duels twice, for the first time in episode 30 and the second time in episode 40.
• Piloting: Heinel graduated as the top cadet at the Boazanian Institute of Military Sciences and Warfare. In episode 8, when he piloted a beast fighter against Voltes V, he brought them to their knees and only lost as Professor Hamaguchi ordered the Voltes Team to exploit a flaw in the design of his beast fighter (overloading from absorbing too much power). In episode 40 he serves as a forbidable enemy to Voltes V while piloting Godor, though he loses.
• Horse-riding: He knows how to ride a horse and did so in episode 40.

Other appearances

Manga

In the manga "Episode 41: Aristocrats who Strike Back" (in the Super Robot manga Super Electromagnetic Robocon Battler V Super Electromagnetic Machine Voltes V Tosho Daimos, edited by Futabasha), it is said that Heinel barely survived, and resumed life as a citizen without horns and a citizen with horns", As a person who stands between the nobility and the commoners, he folds one horn and calls himself "Knight Monohorn". Wearing armour that resembles Godor, he becomes an ally of Kenichi and the Voltes team. Heinel also appeared in the second part of "Super Electromagnetic War Victory Five". He died at the end of the same work, but in the sequel set several decades later, he is resurrected by Barao, the Demon Emperor.

However, this is not canon to the anime.

Books

According to the Roman Robo Anime Climax Selection, Katherine and Heinel were foster siblings and her mother was his wet nurse/nanny. After Heinel's grandparents died, the Ri family raised him alongside Katherine. It also states that as children, Katherine saw Heinel being bullied and felt protective of him. She is also older than him. However this is never touched on in the anime, and the anime implies otherwise as Heinel explains his backstory to her (something which would have been unnecessary if they grew up together since she would already know that). By it's nature, the Roman Robo Album takes a lot of liberties with the canon of Voltes V.

Heinel has a section dedicated to him in the Animage August 1978 Prince Heinel memorial special titled "Prince Heinel Forever".

Shin Super Robot Wars

Heinel appears in Shin Super Robot Wars as the secret character. Unlike the anime ending, Heinel and Katherine survive. To recruit Heinel, once must ensure that they do not kil Jangal, or it will earn his ire.

Once Zuhl and the Skullrook is eliminated in an Earth Route scenario, Heinel decides to go on a little journey, on which Katherine insists on accompanying him. Kazuya figures that the two of them will be happy together.

Super Robot Wars Alpha

Heinel invades earth after Zambajil orders him to, but if you discover the hidden elements, he can make it to the final scene.

2nd Super Robot Wars Alpha

Heinel claims to be fighting for redemption and will aid Kenichi, acknowledging him as a brother. He tells him to care for La Gour and the Go brothers acknowledge him as their elder brother. He also saves Richter.

3rd Super Robot Wars Alpha

Heinel saves Richter (depending on the choices). In addition, in the sub-scenario "Under the Flag of Justice", he is depicted fighting alone.

Super Robot Wars A

After the decisive battle at the Underground Castle, even if Godor is destroyed, he still retaliates and tries to fight, but he is put to sleep with a tranquilizer gun by the hands of Katherine who does not want him to die. I is presumed that he fled with Katherine to some distant star. He never learns that the Gou brothers are his half-brothers.

Super Robot Wars R

After Heinel pilots Godor, Katherine escapes with him in a spaceship provided by Leria.

Super Robot Wars J

He looks down on Grados just like the Earthlings. He realizes his defeat when he learns of his half-brothers and accepts death.

New Super Robot Wars

Heinel appears as a potential ally to defeat Zulu and disappears with Katherine. He is one of the game's more stronger characters due to piloting Godor.

Super Robot Wars DD

Heinel appears as a background character with Katherine.

Trivia

• Heinel's name was chosen because it sounds like "your highness", a formal style used to address or refer to certain members of a reigning dynasty.
• Heinel served as an inspiration to Char Aznable - interestingly, Yoshiyuki Tomino worked on Voltes V before Gundam. The two characters debuted a year apart (Heinel in 1977, Char in 1978).
• Heinel's astrological star sign is Aquarius.
• Heinel often speaks in a formal manner, as expected of one in nobility. In the final episode, he refers to Kentaro as "dad" instead of "father" in Japanese, signifying that he no longer cares about being formal. However, this was lost in English subs and dubs of Voltes V.
• Heinel's laugh ("HAUGH-HAUGH-HAUGH-HAUGH-HAUGH-HAUGH-HAUGH-HAUGH!") is known as the "Ojou laugh" in anime, and is more common amongst female characters than male ones. Katharine herself has a similar laugh.
• Heinel has a pet horse.
• Heinel has a tendency to use insects as a means to insult others - in the first episode he calls humans "worms" and in the final episode he calls them "hornless bugs". In the Japanese version of the series finale, he Zambajil a "maggot".
• Heinel enjoys sunbathing and often did so from the dome on Scar Rook.
• Heinel's name was changed in various dubs of Voltes V:
  • In the English dub, he was known as Zardoz.
  • In the Italian dub, he was known as Sirius.
• According to writer Sechiro Hayakawa, at the time of broadcasting, director Tadao Nagahama received many fan letters from female fans regarding Heinel. His article also notes Heinel was popular among children as well.
• Heinel has a great physical resemblance to Dio Brando in the first Jojo anime.
  • In concept art, Heinel had curlier hair and resembled Griffith from Berserk.
• When Heinel enters Godor, Tadao Nagahama voices the message he hears upon sitting down.

Gallery

• Prince Heinel/Gallery

Further reading

• Prince Heinel on the Villains Wiki. (Spoilers for supplementary material and video games)