Characters / Top Gun: Maverick

The characters of Top Gun: Maverick.

For the characters of the first film, see here.

All spoilers are unmarked.

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TOPGUN Instructors

Maverick

Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell

Played by: Tom Cruise

See here.

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TOPGUN Mission Training Group / Dagger Flight Group

Rooster

LT Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

Rooster in the 2020s.

Young Bradley in the 1980s.

Played by: Miles Teller (adult), Aaron and Adam Weiss (child)

Dubbed in Japanese by: Mamoru Miyano (adult)

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Alan Bravo

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Manolo Rey (adult)

The son of Nick "Goose" Bradshaw (Maverick's late RIO and best friend) and his wife Carole. Against his mother's wishes, he followed in his father's footsteps and became an F/A-18E pilot.

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• Big Damn Heroes: After Maverick is shot down and stranded on enemy territory, a Hind-D helicopter spots him and promptly fires at him, until Rooster arrives at shoots it down.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: At the start of the final battle, Rooster tells Maverick, "Don't think, just do", just before Mav promptly brings down the first 5th gen fighter.
• Character Catchphrase: "It's not the plane, it's the pilot."
• Embarrassing Nickname: Implied. A Rooster is a type of cocky but flightless bird. Specifically a chicken. Worth noting, chickens are predators, and roosters are associated with blood sport for a reason.
• Et Tu, Brute?: His relationship with Maverick became strained after Maverick, acting on Rooster's mother's Dying Wish, pulled some strings to keep him from being admitted to the Naval Academy.
• Fire-Forged Friends: He and Maverick become friends in the end, after surviving the Airstrike Impossible Suicide Mission. He also gains a new respect for Hangman as well after Hangman saved his and Maverick's lives from an enemy plane.
• Foil: To Hangman. Rooster is the conservative Consummate Professional who puts himself in the line of fire during training to save his wingman from an interception from Maverick. Contrast that with Hangman's Glory Hound attitude and the fact that he abandons his wingman to Maverick's mercies in an attempt to earn an easy kill against his instructor (a strategy that doesn't work, as it happens).
• Freudian Excuse: Given that he lost his dad at a young age, it's not hard to see how he grew up to have such a chip on his shoulder.
• Generation Xerox:
  • He became an elite pilot like his father Goose, chose a bird-themed callsign and sports a similar mustache. He even learned how to play the piano and performs "Great Balls of Fire" at the bar like his father did.
  • Despite his role of being the official wingman (in his own craft) during the mission to destroy the uranium depot, he is shot down after saving Maverick, and while stealing the F-14 fighter from the enemy base, functions as Maverick's co-pilot, in a direct reprise of the roles Maverick and Goose had three decades and a half prior.
• Guy in Back: When Maverick gets the idea to steal an old F-14 from their enemy's airbase, Rooster ends up becoming Maverick's RIO. Unsurprisingly, he has little idea on how the controls of the older aircraft work, at least at first.
• He Is All Grown Up: He hasn't grown unattractive, particularly as far as his Shirtless Scene during the beach football match is concerned.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Seemingly does this to rescue Maverick by going back into enemy territory when the latter is shot down near the uranium facility, being blown out of the sky himself in the process. Luckily, he survives the crash, though Maverick gives him flak afterwards for taking an unnecessary risk.
• Honor Before Reason: Tactically, it was suicidal for him to turn around to save Maverick, as he had run out of countermeasures in an area full of SAMs and with a pair of Su-57s coming in hot. He knew it, his wingmen knew it, his commander knew it, even Maverick knew it, but he did it anyways, as he took Maverick's advice to heart: "Don't think, just do."
• Improbable Aiming Skills: After Fanboy is unable to designate the target in time due to a critical equipment malfunction, Rooster decides to aim for the target himself and actually succeeds in dropping a bomb precisely on target, a feat that only Maverick managed to pull off during the training.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Rooster doesn’t know why Maverick held his papers back and kept him out of the Naval Academy. His mother and Iceman does. By the midpoint of the film, Maverick is the only remaining living person who knows the true reason.
• Mr. Fanservice: The beach football scene is a good showing of his physique.
• No One Gets Left Behind: More than anything else, Rooster prides himself on never losing a wingman. When Maverick gets shot down, Rooster turns back to save him even though it was tactically suicidal.
• Pornstache: A glorious one just like his father had.
• Properly Paranoid: During the mock dogfight training, Rooster is the only one who takes Maverick completely seriously, most likely knowing what he's capable of from the stories his parents used to tell him about. While Payback and Fanboy are just messing around challenging Maverick, Rooster is shown putting his oxygen mask on and telling Payback not to get too cocky and Fanboy to keep an eye out for Maverick. He still loses in the end, but points for being the only person who truly knows who he's up against.
• Skilled, but Naive: He's actually a pretty good pilot, almost as good as Maverick when he's able to focus himself properly. He actually keeps up with Maverick for a long while during one of their training sessions when Maverick challenges him personally. Rooster's flaw, however, is that he's unfocused and often gets carried away by personal emotions, which leads to him being too cautious and not taking chances even when there's an opportunity. This allows Maverick to get the better of him during training and is what Hangman criticizes about him. He learns to get over this eventually, though, by following Mav's advice of "don't think, just do" during the mission itself.
• Strong Family Resemblance: As an adult, he's the splitting image of his father. Just seeing Goose in the TOPGUN class of 1986 photo is what allows Hangman to make the connection between Rooster and Maverick.
• Technician Versus Performer: The Technician to Maverick's (and to a lesser extent, Hangman's) Performer. He's noted to be an excellent stick-and-rudder man, but too cautious and conservative with a tendency to overthink. Maverick tries to encourage him to be more of a Performer so he can reach his true potential.
• The B Grade: After Maverick blocked his nomination to the Academy, Bradshaw went to University of Virginia for his undergraduate degree, resulting in his career in the Navy being delayed by four years. Justified in that Annapolis-educated officers generally have the inside track in the Navy for promotions and career advancement over officers from other educational institutions.
• True Companions: From their banter, it's clear that he and Phoenix are close friends and brother/sister-in-arms with a great deal of trust in each other. It's likely that they have been deployed together in the past.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Technically it's not for his actual dad, but it's heavily implied that deep down Rooster just wants to prove to Maverick that he is a capable pilot and get his approval for his career choice.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gives one of these to Maverick when he finally confronts him on sabotaging his applications to attend the Naval Academy and setting his career back.
  Rooster: Why'd you pull my papers at the academy? Why didn't you stay out of my way?!
  

Hangman

LT Jake "Hangman" Seresin

Played by: Glen Powell

Dubbed in Japanese by: Yūichi Nakamura

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Irwin Daayán

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Felipe Drummond

An F/A-18E pilot and mission candidate notable for being the only American pilot with a confirmed air-to-air kill in the 21st century. He's a rival of Rooster.

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• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: The fighter pilot version. He's one of the best in the training group (if not the best, based on raw ability), damn well knows it, and never fails to let anyone else know, either. Also the only one other than Maverick to have confirmed enemy kills, and is the only trainee whom he praised — somewhat tongue-in-cheek — as 'good' in equal machinery. Somewhat deconstructed, in that while his individual skill is beyond question, that's not enough to succeed in a mutually-supportive mission structure. Phoenix even underlines this at one point, snarking that he got his callsign because "he'll always leave you hanging."
• Badass Boast: He pretty much has it as a Catchphrase.
  Hangman: I am good, Rooster. I am very good.
• Big Damn Heroes: After Maverick and Rooster use up all of their weaponry and countermeasures shooting down two enemy Felons, the first one by surprise and the second one in a dogfight, they are confronted by a third and final Felon which nearly shoots them down, only to be blown away by Hangman, saving the day.
• Break the Haughty: He's well-aware of his skill and isn't afraid to let everyone else know it too, and is not above using his wingman as bait, making it satisfying when Maverick effortlessly cuts him down to size in their training exercises. To his credit, Hangman acknowledges Maverick's skill and heeds his every word thereafter.
• Chekhov's Gunman: During the mission to destroy the uranium depot, he stays behind in reserve, having not been chosen to fly with the active team, and can be seen sitting anxiously listening to comm chatter from the mission. He also requests permission to engage early on when the two enemy fighters are detected, but he is not permitted. During a critical moment, just when it looks as though Maverick and Rooster will be blown out of the sky by the remaining enemy fighter, Hangman appears to shoot it down just as the latter craft fires its missile towards the F-14.
• Cool Helmet: While other naval aviators also have custom-designed helmets showing their nicknames, Hangman's uniquely is spelled "H_NGM_N" as a play on the folk game.
• Defeat Means Friendship: They had already grown together as a team, but after Rooster beats him for a spot on the mission, Hangman makes a point of wishing him well.
• Embarrassing Nickname: While his callsign sounds badass, it's revealed to be an insult due to his unreliability as a wingman. For further insult, the other aviators usually call him "Box Man."
• Establishing Character Moment: Maverick first sees Hangman throwing darts in the bar, where he throws three bullseye in a row even with Coyote covering his eyes on the third dart.
• Ironic Name: Phoenix says they call him 'Hangman' because he always hangs his wingmen out to dry. He lives up to this name during the training exercises. He's also the one who saves Maverick and Rooster at the end when they're both out of ammo and cards to play.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's arrogant and isn't above pushing Rooster's Relative Button, but he has a lot of respect for Maverick (especially after Mav serves him a heaping slice of humble pie in their mock dogfights) and even takes it gracefully when Rooster is picked for the mission over him, telling Rooster to "give 'em hell!" He also cheers in his cockpit when Rooster bullseyes the target blind. Ultimately he saves both men at the end of the film and develops a respectful dynamic with Rooster similar to Maverick's with Iceman.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While Hangman prodding Rooster for failing the training course by invoking his father's death was uncalled for, he isn't wrong when he calls him out for not listening to Maverick's explanations for why the time limit is necessary and that Rooster flies way too cautiously and indecisively for a mission that will require exact timing and split-second reflexes.
• Laser-Guided Karma: His arrogance and doubt that Maverick can teach him anything lasts for all of the few minutes it takes in the movie between meeting him for the first time and Mav "shooting" him down during a mock gunfight.
• Mr. Fanservice: Like with Rooster, the beach volleyball scene made a good showing of his physique.
• "Not So Different" Remark: His abilities and personality are almost identical to Maverick in the first film. Maverick even snarks upon it after Hangman pulls a similar move that he did during a training exercise.
• The Rival: What Iceman was to Maverick back in the first film, he is to Rooster.
• Smug Smiler: As he is the guy who believes himself the best, and has no problem showing it.
• Sweet and Sour Grapes: While he's not selected to be part of the mission's active team and has to stand by in reserve, he accepts the situation and it winds up working out for everyone as it puts him in position to save Maverick and Rooster at the end and earn another combat kill for his record.
• Thought They Knew Already: The way he reveals the reason for the tension between Maverick and Rooster. To be fair, the information was never classified and so Hangman stumbled upon it, but no one in TOPGUN ever made the connection.
• Troll: During the first dogfight, he does this with Bob by sarcastically saying his name stands for "Baby On Board". Phoenix tells him to not take the bait as this is where Hangman gets his name from. He also deliberately provokes Rooster by pressing his Relative Button about his father.

Phoenix

LT Natasha "Phoenix" Trace

Played by: Monica Barbaro

Dubbed in Japanese by: Maaya Uchida

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Mireya Mendoza

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Jeane Marie

An F/A-18F pilot and mission candidate. Her WSO backseater is Bob.

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• Always Someone Better: She is the one who points out TOPGUN students are already among the best pilots in the US Navy, and wonders just how good their new flight instructor would be.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: While she's not as boastful as Hangman, she's still very confident in her abilities and underestimates how hard Maverick is going to push the trainees.
• The Bait: When she flew as Hangman's wingman against Maverick during dogfighting exercise, Hangman abandoned her as bait to try to defeat Maverick. It doesn't work and Maverick "killed" them both. The exasperated glare that she gave to Hangman afterwards while she was doing her 200 punishment push ups said it all.
• Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: She's one of the two token female members of the TOPGUN Mission Training Group, and she's seen wearing a sports bra and shorts during Dagger's excursion to the beach.
• Character Development: She starts off quite confident in her flying abilities and expresses skepticism that Maverick could teach her anything new. She's quickly proven wrong once the training begins. Eventually, she gains new respect for Maverick and strives to become an even better pilot herself as well, which leads to her being selected as Maverick's wingman on the mission. In the end, she's the one who reminds Hangman that Maverick now has five confirmed kills under his belt, making him a fighter ace.
• Deadpan Snarker: Trades barbs with Hangman on a regular basis, especially disliking his habit of using his wingmen to bait enemy pilots (even though a version of this was the basis for the US Navy's successful "Thach Weave" tactic during World War II, actually leaving one's wingman in the lurch to gain a more advantageous shooting position is frowned upon).
• Meaningful Name: A phoenix is a mythical bird rising from the ashes. Natasha is the only pilot who crashes during training, but is one of the few later selected to fly the mission.
• Ms. Fanservice: While most of her male teammates do their push-ups in their flight suits, she does hers in a tank top with her flight suit half-removed. At the beach, she wears a sports bra and shorts while Halo - the other woman in Dagger flight group - wears a tank top and leggings.
• Near-Death Experience: During one of the training sessions, her F/A-18 suffered a bird strike that knocked out the engines and then the flight controls, spinning out of control in a way that's very reminiscent of how Maverick and Goose lost control of their F-14 in the first film. Fortunately, she and Bob managed to safely bail out with no fatal incident.
• Nerves of Steel: Essential part of being a fighter pilot, but put on perfect display during Phoenix's bird strike accident. After sucking a bird into the engines, she quickly reacts and executes the proper procedures to shutdown the damaged engine and attempt recovery. She remains calm even as more systems begin to malfunction and the jet rapidly lose altitude. Once it becomes unrecoverable, she gives the ejection command, and punches out after her WSO Bob has ejected. Her professionalism and cool during stressful situations is likely a big factor why Maverick chose her as one of the pilots for the mission.
• One of the Boys: Part of a male-dominated group, they do not treat her as an outsider, and she easily engages in their banter.
• Prim and Proper Bun: As per regulation, since she is military personnel without short hair.
• The Smurfette Principle: One of the only two female TOPGUN graduates who got selected to be trained for the mission, and the only one picked to participate in the mission itself.
• The Squadette: Once Maverick picked the team for the mission, she becomes this.
• True Companions: From their banter, it's clear that she and Rooster are close friends and brother/sister-in-arms with a great deal of trust in each other. It's likely that they have been deployed together in the past.
• Unkempt Beauty: Considering her on-screen appearances are as a pilot without feminine clothes or makeup, she still manages to look pretty good.
• Wingman: Eventually picked as one of the pilots to participate in the mission as Maverick's wingman, with her WSO Bob acting as a Target Spotter for Maverick.

Bob

LT Robert "Bob" Floyd

Played by: Lewis Pullman

Dubbed in Japanese by: Shunsuke Takeuchi

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Arturo Castañeda

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Yang Gesteira

An F/A-18F Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) and mission candidate. He's Phoenix's WSO backseater.

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• Actor Allusion: Like father, like son. The actor's father, Bill Pullman, also played a character that flies in an F/A-18 in the 1996 film Independence Day.
• Aerith and Bob:
  • A literal case. While all of the other pilots have more traditional call signs, his is just the common nickname for his first name.
  • Also, Tom Cruise has the strange habit of having someone or something named "Bob" in most of his movies for the past 20 years or so. It fell on this character.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's quite shy and doesn't speak much, but there's a reason why he's a TOPGUN graduate: he's an effective WSO for Phoenix and his job on the mission involves painting a target for Maverick to drop his bomb accurately. He also seems to be quite good at beach football if the scene of his teammates cheering him on is any indication.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Upon meeting him at The Hard Deck, Phoenix is dismayed that such a shy, awkward guy is going to be her WSO. However, once the training commences, Bob shows her and everyone else why he's a TOPGUN graduate and selected as a mission candidate.
• Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments, particularly when it comes to Hangman. After Hangman makes fun of his callsign, Bob later joins his frontseater Phoenix in calling Hangman "Bagman." He later calls out Hangman after the latter makes a comment that slightly offends Phoenix during a debriefing session.
  Hangman: A man flies like Maverick, or a man does not come back. (turns to Phoenix with a cheeky expression) No offense intended.
  Bob: Yet somehow you always manage.
• Fun with Acronyms: According to Hangman, perhaps as a joke, his call-sign "Bob" stands for "Baby On Board".
• Guy in Back: Is this for Phoenix.
• Near-Death Experience: During one of the training sessions, the plane he and Phoenix are in suffered a bird strike that took out the engines and the flight controls, forcing them to eject. Fortunately, both of them survived the incident.
• Nerd Glasses: He's the most nerdish, socially awkward of the mission candidates, and he wears glasses.
• Nerves of Steel: Although he sounds more audibly panicked than Phoenix following the bird strike, Bob continues to monitor their aircraft's deteriorating systems and relays information to her up to the moment that he receives the eject command.
• Odd Name Out: His callsign, and it really is "Bob."
• Sarcasm-Blind: In his introduction at the bar, where the other TOPGUN graduates didn't realize he was there, Hangman and Coyote jokes that Bob's a literal stealth pilot, which Bob corrects them on his actual position.
  Hangman: The man's a stealth pilot.
  Coyote: Literally.
  Bob: Weapons systems officer, actually.
  Hangman: With no sense of humor.
• Shirtless Scene: Averted. During the beach football scene, he keeps his shirt on, mirroring how Goose wore his during the volleyball scene in the original.
• Socially Awkward Hero: He's considered one of the best TOPGUN graduates in the Navy and proves his skills during training. Out of the cockpit, he's a wallflower and doesn't speak much in social situations.
• Target Spotter: For Maverick on the mission.
• Undying Loyalty: Once he's paired with Phoenix, Bob proves to be a loyal and supportive partner who's even willing to stand up to Hangman on her behalf.

Payback

LT Reuben "Payback" Fitch

Played by: Jay Ellis

Dubbed in Japanese by: Subaru Kimura

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Alejandro Orozco

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Rodrigo Oliveira

An F/A-18F pilot and mission candidate. His WSO backseater is Fanboy.

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• Those Two Guys: He and Fanboy are always seen together both in the air and on the ground.
• Underestimating Badassery: In the first training session, Payback cockily challenges Maverick that whoever loses the mock dogfight will have to do 200 push-ups. Maverick happily agrees with the idea. The rest of the montage then shows every single candidate all losing to Maverick and ending up having to do the push-ups per Payback's idea. Some like Rooster ended up going through it several times, too.
• Wingman: Eventually picked as one of the pilots to participate in the mission as Rooster's wingman, with his WSO Fanboy acting as a Target Spotter for Rooster.

Fanboy

LT Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia

Played by: Danny Ramirez

Dubbed in Japanese by: Yūma Uchida

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Alan Fernando Velázquez

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: João Cappelli

An F/A-18F Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) and mission candidate. He's Payback's WSO backseater.

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• Guy in Back: Is this for Payback.
• Target Spotter: For Rooster on the mission. However, when the time comes for their attack run, Fanboy's laser targeting system malfunctions and cannot recover in time, forcing Rooster to aim for the target by himself.
• Those Two Guys: He and Payback are always seen together both in the air and on the ground.
• Trekkie: His flight helmet has his callsign written in a Star Trek: The Original Series font, which is most likely the origin of his callsign in the first place.

Coyote

LT Javy "Coyote" Machado

Played by: Greg Tarzan Davis

Dubbed in Japanese by: Kenji Sugimura

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Héctor Emmanuel Gómez

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Marcos Souza

An F/A-18E pilot and mission candidate.

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• Black Dude Dies First: Subverted. Coyote is the first of Maverick's trainees to almost perish even before the actual mission, and is saved by Maverick at the last second.
• Dream-Crushing Handicap: He's an excellent pilot, but he doesn't get picked for the mission because his body can't withstand the g-forces the pilots will have to face.
• Near-Death Experience: Suffers a G-LOC blackout during the mission training, and wakes up just in time to avoid becoming a stain on the mountainside, thanks to Maverick using a missile lock to cause alarms in Coyote's cockpit to wake him up out of the G-LOC blackout.

Other U.S. Navy Personnel

Iceman

See here.

Warlock

Rear Admiral Solomon "Warlock" Bates

Played by: Charles Parnell

Dubbed in French by: Frantz Confiac

Dubbed in Japanese by: Taiten Kusunoki

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Idzi Dutkiewicz

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Garcia Júnior

A friend of Maverick's and the commander of Naval Aviation Warfare Development Command.

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• Bearer of Bad News: He's the one who informs Maverick of Iceman's death.
• Mr. Exposition: Spends most of his screentime briefing Maverick, Cyclone, or the pilots on details about the upcoming mission, updates on casualties or deaths of loved ones, and ongoing activities of both the US Navy and the unnamed enemy military.
• Old Friend: Warlock and Maverick are old friends and likely deployed together before going in different career paths. Unlike Cyclone, who refers to Maverick by his rank, Warlock refers to him by his callsign, and is quietly supportive of him.

Cyclone

Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson

Played by: Jon Hamm

Dubbed in French by: Jérémie Covillault

Dubbed in Japanese by: Yasuyuki Kase

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Raúl Anaya

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Milton Parisi

The commander of the U.S. Naval Air Forces, who (reluctantly) conscripts Maverick to help train a group of pilots for a dangerous mission.

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• Anger Born of Worry: He does do a lot of barking and shouting, but it becomes clear — especially by the end — that his driving motivations are worry for the success of the mission and the safety of his men. When he calls off SAR and Hangman's request for a rescue flight, his gut-wrenching explanation is an anguished "We are not losing anyone else today!!"
• Brutal Honesty: He doesn't hold back from letting Maverick know exactly what he really thinks of him and that his assignment as an instructor is only due to Iceman.
• Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: From Dagger's perspective, Cyclone is the Captain Smooth to Maverick's Sergeant Rough. He's greatly concerned that not only are Maverick's training methods too dangerous to the pilots, but that they're also so insanely rigorous that Maverick is actually making the pilots lose confidence in their skills rather than improving them. After sacking Maverick once his benefactor Iceman passes away, Cyclone loosens the mission parameters to make the pilots' training slightly easier.
• The Chains of Commanding: He clearly wants to send CSAR after Maverick is shot down over enemy territory, but is determined not to lose anyone else on the mission. He also denies Hangman's request to take off and assist for the same reason. However, since Hangman shows up to save Mav and Rooster on their way back after Rooster's GPS starts transmitting again, he clearly changed his mind once evidence of their survival and viable return was presented.
• The Comically Serious: His stern, stoic and yet ultimately benign behavior when facing Maverick's shenanigans carry some straight-laced hilarity and make him endearing.
• Composite Character: He's essentially what you'll get when you put Iceman in Viper's position. Like Iceman, Cyclone works rather closely by-the-book and dislikes Maverick's unpredictable attitude. He also graduated at the top of his TOPGUN class just like Iceman did, and per Cyclone's own words, Iceman is someone he deeply admired.
• Four-Star Badass: According to Warlock, Cyclone graduated at the top of his own TOPGUN class - a feat that even Maverick didn't achieve due to losing out to Iceman while he was dealing with Goose's death. In the climax, he personally oversees the mission from the USS Theodore Roosevelt after risking his own career by putting Maverick in command of the strike team.
• Jerkass to One: The only person he's actually a jerk to is Maverick and it's mostly because his by-the-book nature and desire to keep all of the mission candidates safe conflict with Maverick's loose cannon attitude.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Seems just a typical blunt Obstructive Bureaucrat, but the mission itself reveals his coldness is due to being chiefly concerned with getting the pilots home alive, something Maverick's seemingly reckless teaching doesn't seem to be doing much to help. Once Maverick shows the attack run is possible by doing it himself, he appoints him flight leader to ensure the mission's success, though he's obviously less than thrilled about it.
• Not So Above It All: He demands to know what the students are doing on the beach instead of training, Maverick explains they're playing Dogfight Football. Cyclone then wants to know who's winning.
• Promotion, Not Punishment: Maverick's demonstration that the canyon run and destruction of the depot was possible (in 2:15, no less) might've broken rules and wrecked a plane, but it also forced Cyclone to admit that instead of discharging him, he needs to instead endanger his own reputation putting Maverick as the mission leader.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Whilst rather hard-ass, Cyclone is there to do a job and part of that job involves maintaining discipline amongst his crew. He clearly doesn't like Maverick, but he never lets his personal feelings about Mav's loose cannon tendencies get in the way of doing what's best for the mission and for his crew. He avoids countermanding Maverick's authority in front of the students (even while rebuking him extensively in private), he approves Mav's requests in spite of his own objections (such as allowing a lowering of the hard-deck right after both Mav and Rooster have violated it), and supports his decision to spend a day of training playing games as a team-building exercise in spite of the extremely tight deadline. He even promotes Mav to team lead at the risk of his own career when his behaviour should have led to him being drummed out of the military and court-martialed
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He more-or-less tells Maverick in his introductory scene that he never would have called the latter up for such a sensitive and critical mission — but the intervention of Iceman (as a personal favor) convinced him otherwise.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Coupled with O.O.C. Is Serious Business, he eventually comes to realize that Maverick's reckless (and unauthorized) run to accomplish the simulation in 2:15 means that the latter is the only one who is capable of leading the mission. Cyclone reluctantly does so, putting his own reputation on the line, with the understanding that he's making Maverick the leader because he knows it will potentially save the lives of the other pilots in the process — and he's proven right by the climax.
• What the Hell, Hero?: He makes it very clear to Maverick in their first conversation together that the latter is insubordinate and should have been drummed out years earlier, and that he only brought him onboard to teach the new pilots in deference to Iceman. As the events of the film continue, he doesn't change his tune, repeatedly calling out the latter for his teaching style and (apparent) lack of progress — until later events prompt him to give Maverick Promotion, Not Punishment, as noted above.
• What You Are in the Dark: He puts Maverick on the mission even though he doesn't like him or the way he does things because Maverick proves his attack plan for the mission can in fact be accomplished by beating the training simulation himself. He realizes Maverick being mission leader is the best chance the other pilots under his command have to come back from the mission alive and stakes his career on it, which is exactly the call a good officer would make.

Hammer

Rear Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain

Played by: Ed Harris

Dubbed in Japanese by: Takayuki Sugo

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Carlos Segundo

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Guilherme Lopes

A high-ranking military officer overseeing the development of the Darkstar prototype test program, which is designed to reach hypersonic speeds.

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• Anti-Hero Substitute: He serves almost the same role narrative-wise as Cdr. Tom "Stinger" Jardian, Maverick's superior in the first film: a bald high-ranking officer who gives Maverick a rough dressing down for going against orders before grudgingly informing him that he's being reassigned to TOPGUN due to a fortunate circumstance. However, Stinger is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who does appreciate what Maverick had done and wished him well before parting, and even comes back near the end and is noticeably much nicer to him. Meanwhile, Hammer has nothing but contempt for Maverick's antics and wants to ground him forever, and never changed his mind about Maverick unlike Cyclone, who eventually warms up to Maverick later in the film.
• The Cameo: He's in it just long enough to give Maverick some choice words about his reckless nature and give him some new orders in the first fifteen minutes — and then completely disappears for the rest of the film.
• In-Series Nickname: He's derisively nicknamed "The Drone Ranger" by the Darkstar project team due to his insistence on replacing human pilots with drones.
• New Era Speech: Hammers the point that humans pilots will be unnecessary sooner than later and their jobs done by drones.
• No-Sell: When the prototype jet Maverick is piloting rockets past the security checkpoint Hammer is standing in front of, the roof nearly rips off the checkpoint — but he stands still, barely moving despite the gale force winds ripping past him.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Like Cyclone above, he makes it crystal-clear that he doesn't think highly of Maverick, and all but orders him to get out of his sight, criticizing his reckless maneuvers and ordering him out of the test facility via military escort.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Despite his very short screentime, he delivers crucial exposition about Maverick's career since the first film, and sends Maverick to his last assignment in San Diego.
• Villain Respect: Downplayed. He's not really a villain, just someone who opposes strongly to Maverick's, well, maverick attitude, but when Maverick - after reaching Mach 10 in the Darkstar just as the program intended - decided to push even further beyond that, even Hammer can't help but grudgingly offer Maverick some respect for that.

Hondo

Warrant Officer 1 Bernie "Hondo" Coleman

Played by: Bashir Salahuddin

Dubbed in Japanese by: Kenta Miyake

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Dan Osorio

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Márcio Dondi

Maverick's friend and a member of the Darkstar program team.

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• Best Friend: It's implied that he and Maverick go way back. Maverick risks his career in the Navy to launch an unauthorized test run of the Darkstar to prevent Hondo and his fellow teammates from going out of jobs. Hondo, in turn, sticks with Maverick all the way and helps prepare his plane when Maverick is selected to lead the strike team in an Airstrike Impossible mission.
• Casual Sports Jersey: Wears a football jersey while playing the game during Dagger flight group's beach excursion.
• The Gadfly: He monitors the mission candidates when they do their punishment push ups and snarks at them all the while.
• It Has Been an Honor: Said as such to Maverick as he is about to embark on an Airstrike Impossible and possibly a Suicide Mission.
• Mission Control: Serves as this for the Darkstar program.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Similar to Goose, he serves as the Blue to Maverick’s Red, acting as the voice of reason to keep him grounded when necessary.
• Single Tear: After Rooster is shot down trying to save Maverick, he can be seen shedding a tear from his cheek.

Civilians

Penny

Penelope "Penny" Benjamin

Played by: Jennifer Connelly

Dubbed in Japanese by: Takako Honda

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Erica Edwards

Dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese by: Priscila Amorim

The daughter of an admiral, a single mother who owns a bar, the Hard Deck. She is also a former love interest of Maverick.

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• The Bartender: She bartends at the Hard Deck, her bar which is located in NAS North Island near San Diego and caters to Navy personnel and their dates. Whenever someone doesn't abide by the bar rules, she rings a bell and said person will have to pay A Round of Drinks for the House. This is Truth in Television in bars and clubs on base, believe it or not.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Though she certainly has fun messing with Maverick (and playfully having him tossed out of her bar) and they do plenty of lively flirting, she is also a true confidante to him in his darkest moments, and it is made abundantly clear that their relationship is based on a deep mutual love and respect, not just physical attraction. The scene where he confides in her about being taken off the training mission and she gently reminds him of his own sense of duty and devotion is crucial to inspiring him to "get back in the saddle" and prove to Cyclone that he really is the best man for the job.
• Chekhov's Gunman: She was mentioned early on in the original film as the "admiral's daughter" Maverick had a fling with, causing no amount of hassle from his Commander (and some choice words from Goose and Carole). She finally appears in the flesh here, and is established as Maverick's longtime on-again, off-again Love Interest.
• Facial Dialogue: She and Maverick can communicate almost entirely in long, loaded looks, with words sometimes being utterly superfluous, thanks to their long history and deep emotional relationship.
• First Girl Wins: Her relationship with Maverick began before he met and fell for Charlie in the first movie. Over thirty years later, they rekindled their romance and finally got back together for good.
• First-Name Basis: She's the only character in the film to casually refer to Maverick by his real name, Pete.
• Guy in Back: Unauthorized, too. In her dialogue, it's revealed that Maverick's antics, which landed him in deep trouble, included taking Penny on joyrides in the back of an F/A-18. The film ends with her taking another joyride with Maverick in a fighter plane, this time on Mav's personal P-51 Mustang ^note which is owned by Tom Cruise in real life.
• Military Brat: She was an Admiral's daughter, and is implied to have spent most of her life living and working in Navy towns.
• Ms. Exposition: Through her flirtations with Maverick, she reveals what he's been up to since the events of the first film in 1986: being deployed to Bosnia (presumably as part of Operation Allied Force in 1999) and to the Middle East "both times" twice (presumably as part of Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and Iraqi Freedom in 2003).
• Older Than They Look: Given that she already had a fling with Maverick before 1986, she would at the very least be in her mid 50s. Jennifer Connelly, her actress, was in her late forties at the time of filming and looks at least half a decade younger than that.^note Connelly is, however, only eight years younger than Tom Cruise, and her mature beauty makes for a believable onscreen match with him in terms of appearance.
• Old Flame: Maverick and her have had some history together before he met Charlie. According to Penny's daughter, Maverick left her "heartbroken."
• Parent with New Paramour: Her husband is long gone, and she eventually renews her connection with Maverick — much to the chagrin of her daughter, Amelia. The film ends with them seemingly deciding to stay together for good this time.
• Saloon Owner: She owns the Hard Deck, a bar near Miramar, the site of the US Navy's former TOPGUN air training center in San Diego. The bar itself is a near-perfect recreation of the I-Bar, NAS North Island's actual club.
• Your Door Was Open: While she still had feelings for Maverick, she declined to get into a physical relationship with him as soon as he showed up, in deference to her daughter. When they would return from a date, she'd close her front door after her. After realizing that Maverick had changed, she finally leave the door open for him. Unfortunately, Amelia came home earlier than expected.

Amelia

Amelia Benjamin

Played by: Lyliana Wray

Dubbed in Japanese by: Inori Minase

Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Regina Tiscareño

Penny's daughter.

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• Deadpan Snarker: She immediately cuts Maverick down to size when she learns he's still a Captain, and isn't impressed when he clarifies that he's a highly decorated Captain.
• Disappeared Dad: Her father (Penny's former husband) is established as having remarried and now lives with his new wife in Hawaii.
• Military Brat: Her mother was a Navy Brat, and if Amelia's Disappeared Dad was not a naval officer himself, Amelia is at least familiar with Navy culture from growing up in a Navy town.
• Nice Girl: She seems to be a well-adjusted girl, and she wants her mother to be happy (considering how she tells Maverick how he broke her mother's heart).
• Primal Scene: Subverted as she doesn't walk in on her mom and Maverick doing the deed... just catching the latter sneaking out as Penny didn't want to "set a bad example." Amelia just gives a Disapproving Look and tells Maverick not to break her mother's heart again.

Sarah

Sarah Kazansky

Played by: Jean Louisa Kelly

Iceman's wife.

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• Happily Married: She seems to have had a happy married life with Iceman. All the more heartbreaking when he gets diminished by illness and eventually passes away.

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