Admiral Gul Ditz is an officer in the Great Imperial Garmillas Astro Fleet, and supreme commander of the fleet under Leader Abelt Desler. After being falsely accused of conspiring to assassinate the leader of the Greater Garmillan Empire, Ditz assumes a command position among rebel forces in the Garmillas Civil War, and eventually becomes a top figure in the empire's new provisional government.
History[]
Early Life[]
Gul Ditz was born into a family with a long legacy of service to the Garmillas military. As a father, he taught his own daughter, Merda Ditz, about that family history and the importance of honoring it ("Graveyard of the Universe").
Supreme Fleet Commander[]
In the year 2199, as one of the empire's highest ranking military officials, Ditz is invited to a celebration at the royal palace of the one thousand year anniversary of the founding of the empire. During the festivities, he openly challenges Field Marshal Herm Zoellik's boastful assessment that the empire is unbeatable, and urges caution in their war with the Gatlantis Empire. He informs Desler that in response to the "barbarian" threat from Gatlantis, he has dispatched the legendary Admiral Elk Domel to engage the enemy, which places his leader at ease ("Wish Upon a Star"). Soon afterward, though, Ditz faces political pressure and reluctantly recalls Domel to the Garmillan capital city of Baleras so that he may receive a medal from Desler ("A World I Once Saw").
Ditz remains loyal to the regime and carries out his duties, but he starts to become uncomfortable with aspects of life in the empire. After the ceremony honoring Domel, the admiral admits to Domel and Minister of Defense Welte Talan his discomfort with the political rivalries that have come to dominate Baleras, as well as the brutal tightening of control over the population being carried out by Director Hydom Gimleh and his Imperial Guard ("What Lies Beyond"). At a meeting of Desler's senior staff, Ditz is horrified by Gimleh's announcement that he has dealt with an uprising on one of the empire's subject worlds by wiping out its people and much of the planet, and he angrily criticizes the director for his extreme measures ("Point of No Return").
Prisoner and Rebel[]
Ditz, prisoner of the Desler regime.
Soon after learning shocking news that Desler was killed in a massive explosion aboard the flagship Deusura I, Admiral Ditz is arrested by the Imperial Guard on an incorrect suspicion that he was part of a conspiracy to assassinate the Garmillas leader. Gimleh argues that Ditz and Admiral Domel were the only two high-level officers aware of Desler's trip to the planet Balun, and therefore were the only ones in a position to have planned the ship's destruction. Like Domel, Ditz is convicted, stripped of his position, and imprisoned ahead of his execution. The real Desler eventually emerges from hiding and names the assassin as Ditz's rival, Field Marshal Herm Zoellik, who attempted to frame the admiral and Admiral Domel for the crime. Nevertheless, Desler continues to hold Ditz as a prisoner ("Point of No Return", "Out of the Forest of Memory", "Over the Black Light", "Prison Planet 17").
Unbeknownst to the admiral, a number of military officers plan to liberate him. After taking control of a warship, infiltrating the prison facility on Leptapoda, and arming the other prisoners for a riot, the admiral's own daughter Merda Ditz and two other officers enter his cell and provide him with a weapon and uniform. He assumes command of the rioters, and once the prison facility comes under their control, they come into contact with crew members from the Earth battleship Yamato who had recently been captured themselves. He allows the Yamato to land and use the facility's dry dock for much needed repairs. The admiral and another elite Garmillan prisoner, Elisa Domel, negotiate with Admiral Juzo Okita and other Yamato senior officers on ways that they could combat the forces of Abelt Desler together. Although they do not find much common ground, Admiral Ditz leaves his daughter aboard Yamato to serve as a liaison and guide. He departs the planet aboard the stolen Garmillan warship with Elisa Domel and the other rebels, intent on freeing prisoners elsewhere who could fight in the widening civil war ("Prison Planet 17", "The Planet That We Head For").
The New Garmillas[]
Members of the new provisional government.
Following the downfall of Desler's regime, Ditz is formally reinstated by the provisional government as the supreme commander of the imperial fleet. He orders the entire fleet to set course for the empire's homeworld, Garmillas. When a number of vessels refuse the recall order, Ditz dispatches one of his trusted subordinates, Lieutenant Wolf Flakken aboard the interdimensional submarine UX-01, to address the problem. He and Elisa Domel return to Garmillas and immediately meet with Princess Yurisha Iscandar, his daughter, and Minister Ghader Talan on the bridge of his warship ("The Forever War").
Peace with Desler and Garmann[]
Personality[]
Father and daughter, rebels and soldiers.
Ditz is a thoughtful individual, one who speaks and acts calmly in most situations, and who carefully considers all available information before making decisions, lending him a relaxed but sometimes skeptical temperament ("What Lies Beyond", "Prison Planet 17", "The Forever War"). He is also a moderate who supports a humane approach to leadership of the empire that he serves ("What Lies Beyond", "Point of No Return"). Together, these traits set him at odds with some fellow members of Desler's senior staff--including the brash Marshal Herm Zoellik and the brutal Imperial Guard director, Hydom Gimleh--but aligns him more closely with other moderates such as Welte and Ghader Talan, and with Elk Domel and Wolf Flakken in the lower ranks of the military ("Wish Upon a Star", "What Lies Beyond", "Point of No Return", "The Forever War").
The high regard in which he holds his family's long legacy of military service is evident in his relationship with his daughter. Gul has a caring but somewhat detached relationship with Merda; the two are not entirely open with one another, and occasionally rely on military protocol instead of expressing warmth toward one another ("Graveyard of the Universe", "What Lies Beyond", "Prison Planet 17").
Notes[]
- His name likely comes from Karl Dönitz, Nazi Germany's Supreme Commander of the Navy.
Japanese language information[]
ガル・ディッツ Garu Dittsu