Mœlders (メルダーズ Merudāzu): supreme commander of the Black Nebula Empire's forces in the Large Magellanic Cloud, leading from his massive space fortress, the Autostar Gorba, which fights off both the Yamato and Desler's fleet. He is killed when Iscandar self destructs and he is caught in the explosion. General Moelders [even though he was merely a pawn] served as the main antagonist in the (1979) film "Yamato: The New Voyage".
History[]
Destruction of Gamilas[]
General Moelders is the supreme commander in charge of the Dark Empire's mining operations by the time the Yamato successfully defeats the White Comet Empire, sometime prior to the Year 2201. General Moelders is first seen when he receives word from Commander Deader aboard his Pleiades-class flagship, the Pleiades, who then tells Moelders that the attempt to strip mine the planet Gamilas has failed due to the planet being destroyed deliberately by the mining fleet in order to keep the Gamilons from reclaiming their dying world. General Moelders then asks Deader how is Gamilas twin sister planet Iscandar is doing, to which Deader quickly tells him the shockwave created by Gamilas destruction has knocked it out of orbit towards unknown space. Moelders then orders Deader to follow Iscander and to not return without the minerals that they urgently need to continue The Space Wars, to which Deader complies and sets a course with his fleet towards Iscandar. Unfortunately Deader didn't return, as his fleet was completely annihilated by the Gamilas Fleet and a new unknown enemy which came to their aide in defending Iscandar. ("Yamato: The New Voyage").
Meeting with The Great Emperor[]
Later, hidden in the dark depths of a Nebula, while aboard his personal flagship, General Moelders then apologizes and informs The Great Emperor Skulldart on what happened to Deader's fleet. The Emperor becomes greatly interested and curious upon hearing about this new enemy, to which Moelders tells him that he has already identified them as people from the planet Earth in the Sol System. The Great Emperor then orders Moelders to resume mining as soon as possible. Moelders complies and The Great Emperor tells him: "I look forward to your victory", before ending transmission, as Moelders bows respectfully. ("Yamato: The New Voyage").
Final Battle of Iscandar and Death of Moelders[]
Moelders eventually catches up to both the Yamato and Dessler's remaining forces and confronts them aboard his flagship Gorba, a massive, mobile, and heavily armed moon sized space fortress. Moelders then speaks to the crew of the Earthling ship Yamato, while congratulating them for their bravery, before demanding that they leave immediately or be destroyed. Acting captain Susumu Kodai, then asks Moelders who are they and why are they attacking Iscandar, to which Moelders tells both Kodai and Dessler that they desperately needed the minerals of both Gamilas and Iscandar in order to continue the Space Wars against whoever they're at war with currently. When Kodai refuses to allow them to mine Iscandar, Moelders then threatens to kill both Queen Starsha and Mamoru Kodai [Kodai's older brother] if they refuse, and General Moelders then asks Kodai if he really wants to still defy the Dark Nebula Empire. Moelders then gives Kodai and Dessler ten minutes to think it over, before stating that they will begin their attack on them if they still refuse. Aboard Dessler's flagship, Dessler consumed by grieve and anger at the loss of Gamilas at the hands of the mysterious Dark Nebula Empire, then recklessly orders his remaining ships and fighters to engage this new enemy, despite Kodai's concerns. Moelders then orders Gorba’s main weapons batteries to destroy the rebelling Gamilas forces, successfully taking out one of the carriers and remaining fighters in the process, while Dessler's Flagship in hit. Dessler unfazed then orders Talon to deploy the Dessler Cannon and prepares to fire at Gorba. Dessler fires the Dessler Cannon, unfortunately, it does not do any damage what so ever to Gorba. General Moelders then laughs evilly and taunts Dessler briefly, before turning his attention towards Iscandar. Moelders then tells the crew of the Yamato to watch closely as he then demonstrates Gorba's firepower by unleashing a powerful burst of energy that strikes Iscandar, that creates a large crater on one of the continents. Moelders then orders the weapons officers to turn Gorba's wrath towards Queen Starsha's palace, but Dessler then realizing that Queen Starsha's life is in grave danger, quickly order's his Flagship to ram the enemy's cannon barrel in an attempted suicide run. Realizing that the foolish Gamilions were gonna ram them, Moelders then calmly, yet urgently orders his weapons officer to destroy Dessler's Flagship, but it was too late, as Dessler's Flagship successfully manages to embed itself into the hull of the enemy fortress. Dessler feeling hopeless, then urgently orders Kodai to fire the Yamato's wave motion gun at him as it's the only way to destroy Gorba. Before Kodai could do so Queen Starsha intervenes and pleads with both parties to stop fighting. She then tells General Moelders that he can have Iscandar, much to his delight. Queen Starsha the tells the crew of the Yamato that she will willingly leave Iscandar. Gorba then leaves orbit towards Iscandar, while Dessler's Flagship frees itself. Queen Starsha willingly stays behind while saving both her husband and newborn child Sasha to Yamato aboard an Iscandar escape pod, while Gorba, flies right by them. General Moelders aboard his flagship smiles as he prepares to commence mining operations, while completely unaware that Queen Starsha was still on the planet. Queen Starsha then sacrifices herself by activating a self destruct mechanism which causes an explosion that quickly heads towards Gorba. General Moelders is caught completely off guard but is too late to do anything as he himself and Gorba are completely vaporized in the process, killing him and his crew, resulting in Iscandar's destruction as well. ("Yamato: The New Voyage").
Legacy[]
After General Moelders is killed, and Kodai and Dessler go their separate ways, the Dark Nebula Empire and their Emperor then secretly watches from the shadowed darkness of the Dark Nebula itself as they turn their cold eyes towards Earth intent on getting revenge for the deaths of both General Moelders and Commander Deader. ("Yamato: The New Voyage"/"Be Forever Yamato").
Personality[]
General Moelders, was a ruthless, yet calm, honorable, and to a degree a somewhat merciful individual as shown when he promise to give the crew of the Yamato and Lord Dessler, and his remaining forces ten minutes to withdraw before threatening to attack if they didn't do so, as well as a brilliant strategist and battlefield commander. He also ruthlessly laughed at and taunted Dessler's failed attempt to use the Dessler Cannon against Goruba. In the end his arrogance prove to be his own undoing when he decided to descend aboard his massive Flagship Gorba to Iscandar's surface in order to commence with the mining of Iscandar, not knowing that Queen Starsha sacrificed herself to destroy her own planet, which in turn resulted in his Flagship Gorba being caught in the blast, brutally killing him.
Trivia[]
- He is voiced by Japanese voice artist: Koji Nakata
- He is named after Luftwaffe pilot Werner Mölders (18 March 1913 – 22 November 1941) was a World War II German Luftwaffe pilot, wing commander, and the leading German fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War. He became the first pilot in aviation history to shoot down 100 enemy aircraft and was highly decorated for his achievements. Mölders developed fighter tactics that led to the finger-four formation. He died in a plane crash as a passenger.
- Genral Moelders became one of the most popular and well received Main Antagonists in the entire Space Battleship Yamato franchise that he was finally brought back in 2022 for "Space Battleship Yamato 2205: A New Journey".
- In the film "Space Battleship Yamato 2205: A New Journey", General Moelders is voiced by voice actor Takaya Kuroda in the reboot franchise.