Yamato Kira

During the Bloody Valentine War, Kira lives on the neutral colony of Heliopolis where he attends a college with his friends Sai Argyle, Kuzzey Buskirk, Miriallia Haw, and Tolle Koenig. Kira is also attracted to Sai's fiancée, Flay Allster. Kira owns a robotic pet bird, Birdy (Torii in the Japanese version), which was given to him three years earlier by his childhood best friend, Athrun Zala, who built it.

In episode 1 of Gundam SEED, Heiliopolis is attacked by ZAFT forces. During the evacuation of civilians, Kira is separated from his friends and follows a mysterious female stranger, who he later pushes into an evacuation "shelter".

Kira eventually finds two prototype mobile suits, the GAT-X105 Strike and the GAT-X303 Aegis, and a battle taking place between Earth Alliance soldiers and the ZAFT special forces team in the factory. While Kira helps an Earth Alliance officer, Murrue Ramius, he recognizes one of the ZAFT soldiers as his old friend, Athrun. The two friends are stunned by each other's presence. Murrue attempts to shoot Athrun, but he captures the Aegis and escapes, while Murrue and Kira board the Strike.

Kira coins the nickname "Gundam" for the machine from an acronym in the name of the Strike's mobile suit operating system (the "GUNDAM" acronym also finds its way into subsequent mobile suit operating system names within the Cosmic Era timeline). The nickname sticks for similar high performance prototype mobile suits that use the GUNDAM operating system.

More on Yamato Kira here.