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It seems that "pacifism" is misunderstood a lot by many fans - even myself, in a way. If I may, I'd like to explain a little.

A lot of people seem to think that Relena being pacifist means she's some kind of milquetoast loser who hates violence in all forms. However, if this were true, would she have allowed Noin to keep those Taurii and Leos for self-defense? Heck, would she have had fencing taught at the academy?

The dictionary definition of a pacifist is one who opposes the use of violence as a means of solving disputes. That means that, for example, a pacifist would protest wars, but would have no problem with someone practicing kung fu. In the series, Relena allowed the self-defense force but was still a pacifist because she wasn't planning on using the MS to fight and defeat Romefeller; they were just there to protect her people. A similar philosophy is espoused by the nation of Orb in the Gundam Seed series.

If a war were on, Relena would obviously do her best to resolve things peacefully, and she has done so even when it made her seem a bit foolish (in Super Robot Wars R, she attempted to negotiate with Killer the Butcher, the sadistic villain from Zambot 3; Killer's response was to throw her and her Federation-assigned bodyguard out of his mecha to test Earth's gravity. And yes, Heero swooped in and saved them both).

Regardless, if an enemy came along who was not going to accept negotiation in any way, form, or fashion, I could easily see Relena advocating a military solution. After all, she did it in Endless Waltz. She may be a pacifist, but she's no idiot.

while she was an important character, she was not important enough to be a mobile suit pilot. so no

I can't picture Relena ever piloting an ms or an md...and it's not just because she's a pacifist...it's because she never has...unless she did when I wasn't watching/reading/whatever...