Many fans recognise the portmanteau that makes the name "Gundam" as "gun" and "freedom," but this is just half the tale. While it was the original notion, and how the authors arrived to "Gundam," they finally chose "Gundam." Yoshiyuki Tomino, one of the series' animators who helped conceive the concept, imagined the Gundam as a robot brandishing a pistol so strong that it would hold back foes like a dam holds back water.