[SPLIT LIP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powerman293

So has there been an in universe reason why there are so many Mobile suit types and variations in the various universes?

The exact same reason there's so many variants of real guns and vehicles. They're modified and improved to match different circumstances and challenges. Every time one side makes a better suit, the other side makes an even better one, and so-on. There's also personal variants for pilots with specific skills, different companies making different versions, suits that are repaired and given new designations based on the amount of changes, etc.