Bright Noa

Bright Noa (ブライト・ノア) is a renowned commander within the Universal Century era of the Gundam series, often leading the protagonists' factions. His namesake is the Biblical narrative, Noah's Ark, which echoes his early role in the series.

Only six months into his military career, Bright is one of the military personnel who is present during the invasion of Side 7, the space colony home of the then fifteen year old Amuro Ray. With his superiors suffering injuries and the colony in ruins, Bright coordinates the rag-tag group of survivors on the starship, White Base. In spite of eventually reaching an ally satellite in hopes of granting the civilians safety, his request is denied and he is given orders to continue his military service with the same people on board. His leadership and commanding abilities on White Base won him and his crew a famed reputation, as they become the driving hope of the Federation during the One Year War. From his conversations with Sayla Mass, he learns Char Aznable's past, which lead to a trusting relationship with the latter during Zeta Gundam.

Bright marries the main pilot of White Base, Mirai Yashima, after the One Year War and fathers two children, Hathaway and Cheimin. Though his career often tears his family apart, he treasures them from afar and sees his duty as a way to keep them safe. As the oldest consistent crew member aboard White Base, Bright is the "father figure" of sorts for keeping their members united. Though he doesn't think himself as such, many fans consider Bright for a similar role in his following appearances.

Mission Mode
Resembling his Official Mode counterpart, Bright randomly appears as a starship commander during conflicts involving the Federation or AEUG.

In Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2, he may invite players to join the Earth Federation if they have a moderate friendship rating with him and the other crew of White Base (Amuro, Fraw Bow, Kai Shiden, Hayato Kobayashi, and Sleggar Law). Should the player accept, their character's friendship rating with him, Amuro, and Fraw will rise. After completing the missions with this faction, they will be contacted again by Bright within the Terminal. He offers his thanks and asks what the player intends to do if they part ways: either continue fighting for Earth's peace or live the way they please. Picking the latter option boosts their friendship rating with Bright significantly, as he agrees with their sentiments for individual choice. Finishing the Earth Federations missions rewards players permission for the GM Part 4's. Amuro and Bright's portraits from the first series will also be unlocked for appearances during Mission Mode.

A Zeta Gundam Bright may approach the player via Terminal to fight against the anarchistic Titans group, provided the player's character has a moderate friendship rating with him, Char, Kamille Bidan, and Henken Bekkener. Accepting the offer will increase the character's relation with the crew of Argama (the aforementioned members as well as Torres) and unlocks a Collection Mission for related MS models. Clearing these missions will boost the character's friendship ratings with him and Henken. As a token of his gratitude, Bright and company unlocks the ability to acquire the GM II Part 4's and his Zeta Gundam counterpart will randomly enter stages within Mission Mode.

Alternatively, he may also invite the player to join the second crew of Argama if they have okay friendship ratings with Judau Ashta, Roux Louka, and Elpeo Puru. His involvement with this particular series of events is minimal, appearing in the Terminal a second time to thank the player for ending a long conflict. Judau and company thank the player by allowing them to collect Part 4's for Nemo.

While Amuro is the one to contact the player to join Londo Bell, a decent friendship with Bright is needed to trigger the Terminal event. Accepting the entry and completing the following missions unlocks permission for Re-GZ's Part 4's.

Personality
Bright is a stringent man of discipline who carries several years of successful war campaigns under his belt. A by-the-book man of military teachings, he is an inspirational and cultured leader of his crew. He is focused on the war front and maintaining protection of his entire crew whenever possible, knowing when and how to take risks for the greater good. With this responsibility, he often has to wrestle with the dexterous yet peevish younger Gundam pilots to get them to follow his orders. At dire times, he gives into frustration and is known to smack them if they get too cross with him. In spite of his patronizing, he genuinely cares for the safety of each Newtype pilot and realistically sees them as unfortunate children being sent out into war.

Though reputed by the crew for his seemingly stick-in-the-mud personality, Bright is actually considered a wily enigma with those in the military. He has first-hand experience with Newtypes on White Base -and even married one, protesting when his superiors consider them as nothing more than a new military weapon. His humanistic views are at odds with the general fear shared among his superiors, which lead to his prompt demotion after the One Year War. Bright has been known to be disillusioned with his career and will disobey orders when he feels the risks are too severe for anyone's benefit.

Humorously stiff around women, Bright remains faithful to Mirai and loves his family. In spite of his marriage, he is something of a ladies man during Gundam ZZ. This is played up for laughs when Roux and Emary Ounce "defend him" from the flirtatious prisoner, Chara Soon. Emary confesses her feelings for him at one point, even though she is aware of his family.