RGUniversal Century

RX-0[N] Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee Norn

The Unicorn's black twin, shrunk to RG scale and still packing a full transformation gimmick.

MechaGrade Score

4.2/5

Unicorn Gundam · 1/144 · 2018

GradeRG

Scale1/144

Released2018

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is one of the best transforming kits in the RG line, full stop.

Bandai took everything that made the RG Unicorn Gundam good and layered on a second silhouette, a lion-faced Destroy Mode with its own psycho frame reveal, without the kit ever feeling like an afterthought reissue. It is small, it is dense with small parts, and the head articulation takes a real hit from that gold neck collar, but the engineering under the surface is genuinely clever.

Best for: RG collectors and Unicorn/Banshee fans who want the definitive small-scale Banshee Norn with a working Destroy Mode transformation

The full review

What it is

The Banshee Norn is Bandai's RG take on Riddhe Marcenas's black-toned Unicorn, and it carries the same Advanced MS Joint frame and clear psycho-frame parts that made the original RG Unicorn Gundam a hit, just recolored and reworked around a lion motif. Building it, I kept catching myself grinning at how the Armed Armor XC folds and rotates into that mane-like Destroy Mode silhouette. It comes loaded, beam magnum with a revolving launcher, four beam sabers split between the forearms and the armor units, and the Armed Armor DE shield that clips on with its own mega cannon and thrusters. For 1/144 scale, that is a serious weapons loadout, and transforming the suit between Unicorn Mode and Destroy Mode never once felt like a gimmick I had to fight with.

The catch

Head articulation is the real weak point. The gold spiked collar around the neck physically blocks the head from turning far, so a lot of dynamic face-forward poses just are not available the way they are on kits without that collar geometry. This is a small kit with correspondingly small, fiddly parts, especially around the V-fin and the Armed Armor XC hinges, and I would go slow with tweezers rather than fingers on those. The hip joints can pop if you are rough with wide leg poses, and while most nub marks hide well in the dark colorway, the joint-accent stickers are the kind of thing you either commit to applying carefully or skip entirely.

Who it's for

If you already have or want the RG Unicorn Gundam and like the idea of the matching Banshee Norn standing next to it, this is close to a must-buy, the shared engineering means the pair display beautifully together and the price point is the standard RG range, not a premium tax for the second color scheme. Newer builders who want a forgiving first kit should look elsewhere, the small scale and dense part count reward patience. But if you have a completed RG or two under your belt and want a transforming UC-era suit that rewards the extra care, the Banshee Norn is worth the tweezers and the extra hour of build time.

The build story

What the build is actually like, and the engineering worth knowing about.

Runner cleanup is typical RG-small: lots of thin, easily stressed parts, but most nub marks disappear into the dark plastic once trimmed. The metallic joint stickers and the foil sheets for the Armed Armor XC's wing-like gold sections are worth the patience since foil actually reads better than paint at this scale, though the plain sticker decals are skippable if you would rather keep the surface clean.

The frame reuses the RG Unicorn Gundam's Advanced MS Joint system, link-and-lock construction that keeps both Unicorn Mode and Destroy Mode locked into shape rather than sagging under the extra armor weight. Color separation off the runners is strong for 1/144, minimal paint needed to get a display-ready result, and the sheer part count funneled into a kit this size is what makes the transformation gimmick and full weapons loadout feel like real value rather than a marketing bullet point.

Lore & trivia

01The Banshee Norn is piloted by Londo Bell officer Riddhe Marcenas in Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, and unlike the original Unicorn Gundam it can be used by pilots without Newtype aptitude thanks to its upgraded NT-D system.
02In Destroy Mode, the Armed Armor XC rotates open to expose more of the psycho-frame and gives the suit its distinctive lion-like head silhouette, a deliberate visual contrast to the original Unicorn's unicorn-horn motif.
03The Armed Armor DE shield mounts a mega cannon and six thrusters, and when combined with the Armed Armor XC it grants the Banshee Norn Base Jabber-comparable speed within the show's own lore.
04This RG release shares its Advanced MS Joint inner frame architecture with the earlier RG RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, letting both kits display side by side with consistent engineering and proportions.