History Characters / AceCombat7SkiesUnknown

Officially the 68th Experimental Squadron, they are Erusea's "group of aces" in ''Ace Combat 7''.

A veteran pilot of the Erusean Air Force. He flies the experimental Su-30SM, and is often nicknamed "Mister X" by his adversaries. He is the leader of Sol squadron. His callsign is Sol 1 and his TAC name is "Archange", taken from the second-to-last name of his full name.

* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit: Even when she's trudging through the mud all she has to wear is the fancy dress she had on when she was stranded. Lampshaded at one point when Rosa has to put on an atmospheric pressure suit and Avril wonders if she'll have trouble putting it on.

* MoreHatableMinorVillain: Like [=McKinsey=], he’s technically on the protagonist’s side, but he’s also the secondary antagonist of the DLC Missions, with Matias Torres being the main antagonist. However, whereas Matias Torres is [[LoveToHate too entertaining to truly hate]], Clemens doesn’t get that luxury, as he’s a despicable {{Jerkass}}, whose only interested in furthering his military career.

* MoreHateableMinorVillain: While he is technically on the protagonist’s side, he’s one of the most despicable characters in the game. While Rosa Cossette d’Elise is [[AntiVillain not really a villain]], Mihaly is AFatherToHisMen and cares for his grandchildren, Matias Torres is [[LoveToHate too entertaining to hate]], [[spoiler:and [[FinalBoss Hugin and Munin]] are just following their programming]], [=McKiney=] has no redeemable qualities, and is [[HateSink meant to be as hated as possible.]]

* IronicEcho: In the DLC mission "Ten Million Relief Plan", [[spoiler:when Torres claims surrender and the LRSSG bickers over whether to fire anyway due to what they suspect to be a ruse, Jaeger warns that "we'll no longer be soldiers" if they ignore the surrender and attack. When David North exposes Torres's fake surrende and has Trigger attack the rail cannon to disrupt its aim and the battle continues, Jaeger remarks that it's ''Torres and his crew'' whose fake surrender meant that they "[[BeyondRedemption quit being soldiers]]".]]

** Watching his aircraft movements during the debriefing of the mission "First Contact" makes it obvious that his plane is not suspect to the same physics as yours are. He literally zips around in the air from one point to another, at times outrunning ''fully upgraded missiles'' and performing maneuvers that no aircraft, drone or manned, would be able to do without tearing themselves in half. Given, you're not ''supposed'' to defeat him in that mission, since you're only supposed to briefly duel him and score a missile hit or two before he retreats but it's still jarringly obvious upon review.

* DragonInChief: They manipulated Cossette into declaring war on Osea and used her as a propaganda girl to keep Erusea's image from getting dirtied.

* HotBlooded: {{Downplayed|Trope}} due to Trigger being a SilentProtagonist, but Avril describes him as a "hot dog" due to his aggressive piloting nearly burning out the engines of his jet, and after the LRSSG completes all of their SealedOrders and are unable to receive further orders, but come up with an objective to bring the war closer to a close, everyone else expresses that they wish they could go home, but Húxiān observes that Trigger is still raring to go for the mission they've come up with for themselves. The game will even try to get the player to act like this; in the first mission, priority targets will appear on the radar with little prompt, but shortly after the squadron leader will chide Trigger for flying off after them, indicating you are supposed to immediately turn towards them upon their appearance. Trigger's gungho-ness is a somewhat unique quality compared to other player characters such as Mobius 1 (the feared legendary [=ISAF=] pilot), Blaze (the mysterious leader of Razgriz squadron, pillar of the Osean Air Force) and Cipher (the Belkan war's Demon Lord of the Round Table, known as either either an honorable knight, a pragmatic soldier or a ruthless mercenary), who have no such trait aside for their ungodly skill as pilots.

* ReassignmentBackfire: He was sent to the Spare Squadron by high command in the hopes that he would be killed in a suicide mission. He instead becomes one of Osea’s best pilots after surviving an engagement with Mihaly, and becomes instrumental in bringing an end to the war.

* DefrostingIceQueen: To Trigger. Their interactions go from her taking an interest in him, but keeping her distance. By the end of the game, she's giggling and joking with him, even asking to know what sky looks like.[[note]]Which, given the context, is a ''very'' personal question for her considering that the entire reason she rebuilt the F-104 with her grandpa was so that she could fly up there and see for herself.[[/note]] Its fairly obvious that she has feelings for Trigger, though it isn't clear if these are truly romantic feelings in nature.

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Specifically her skills as a mechanic. Her named part, The Queen's Custom, gives a big boost to overall engine performance after she notices Trigger burns out his plane nearly every mission. It's quite powerful being locked to campaign mode only. As it boosts multiple stats, there's no reason not to take it for every mission.

* RaisedByDudes: She was raised by her grandfather and his pilot buddies. She learned everything about her mechanical skills from them -- along with a few dirty jokes. %%Oh, by the way, her grandfather's friends are now in high positions within the Osean military, and she remembers their phone numbers. This could partly explain why Trigger gets requested for special service after [=McKinsey=] gets transferred somewhere else.%%

* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler:Due to either incompetence or malice or desperation on Bandog's part (all voiced members of Spare lean towards the malice explanation), Count is tricked into shooting down Full Band after Bandog flagged Full Band as a hostile in Count's HeadsUpDisplay when Spare is regrouping from Erusea's spoofing of Osean IFF codes. Bandog claims its an accident while Spare Squadron thinks he did it out of malice to stop the most insubordinate remaining pilot (Champ having been KIA in a previous operation), though Full Band was talking opsec breaching info on the open channel and Bandog may have done it intentionally to protect the rest of Spare. Count is angry with Bandog regardless of the true circumstances.]]

** Story-wise, he's the only named pilot in the LRSSG who was never forced down by anything less powerful than the FinalBoss, as well as the only pilot who is crazy enough to join Trigger in the [[AirstrikeImpossible tunnel flight]] at the final mission- and not only that, he was good enough to survive.

* ArrogantKungFuGuy. Very self-assured of his skills as a pilot, but given that he's among the few pilots able to keep up with Trigger, it's more than empty boasting.

* FelonyMisdemeanor: He got thrown into the 444th for calling out Osea on perpetuating the war and for throwing a rock. Quite disproportionate when put next to other convicts like Count, an actual conman, and Trigger, who's been [[spoiler: falsely]] convicted of assassinating a former president.

* TheGambler: The source of his callsign. He's always trying to get other members of Spare to make wagers on how things might play out. Notably, he bet that Trigger would kick ass and get down alive after Trigger's first penal sortie. Bandog lost a lot of money to High Roller by betting on the event of Trigger crashing. It's a source of irony in that all of Spare Squardron's missions are named after [[THemeNaming poker hands]], and he doesn't make it past the second one.

* AssholeVictim: His tendencies to SpeakIllOfTheDead along with his LackOfEmpathy doesn’t win him any sympathy points when [[spoiler:Bandog tricks Count into shooting him down. Of course, Count [[EveryoneHasStandards wasn’t exactly thrilled]] into being tricked by Bandog to shooting him down, though Count sounded more angry about the fact that Bandog tricked him than guilty for killing Full Band.]]

* LackOfEmpathy: His comments and actions during the mission indicate he doesn't care much for anyone other than himself, often joking about things such as [[spoiler: Trigger's supposed murder of Harling]] and making fun of pilots who are killed. The most selfless thing he does is assisting in getting the squadron to form up on Trigger so Bandog can re-tag their IFF, but even then one can argue that he did that to save his own ass. [[spoiler: Ironically enough, it doesn't, since Bandog accidentally (or not) tags him as an enemy and gets him killed anyways.]]

* PlayfulHacker: He has a habit of running his mouth about breaking into any of the base's computers whenever he can arrange access to them, either directly or by bribing someone else to do it on his behalf (how he manages to get the money for a bribe is rather sketchy), all so he can gain access to information that would be classified above his clearance level (which, being a prisoner, is understandably low). He claims this is mainly so he can be "better informed", but he's not really in much of a position to actually ''do'' anything with that information. [[spoiler:It's heavily implied AWACS Bandog tagged him as an enemy because HeKnowsTooMuch.]]

* AssholeVictim: He’s easily the most arrogant and egotistical member of the Spare Squadron, and couldn’t care less about whose in command. When he get shot down by Mihaly, nobody sheds a tear over him for it.

* TooDumbToLive: Go ahead, Champ, go after Mihaly and try to fight him one-on-one. It's not like he's an infamous fighter pilot ''known'' for his skills in a league above everyone else and flying a top-of-the-line modern fighter while you're a convict piloting a refurbished 30-year old craft made from spare parts and—oh wait, you got shot in the face.

* LackOfEmpathy: {{Downplayed}}. Like [=McKinsey=], he doesn’t care for the Spare Squadron’s well being, and only cares about them carrying out their mission. He at least does his job as the forward air control for the squadron, was reasonable to realize that the squadron needed to resupply during the mission ''Long Day'', and he eventually comes to respect Trigger.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He is a strict taskmaster, but when Count brings up during "Long Day" how having access to the return line would be useful for such a long operation, even though McKinsey had forbade them from doing so, Bandog concedes and grants Spare Squadron permission to use it as needed.
* ShootTheDog: No pun intended. Marks Fullband as enemy for Count in order to get Fullband killed for getting classified information and keep his own hands clean. The Rest of the Spare Squadron doesnt buy it throught, and are understandably disgusted by him.

* DoesntTrustThoseGuys: One of the reasons she went to war with Osea. She believes that the International Space Elevator that Osea built in Selatapura is an attempt to slowly take over the entire Usea Continent. By the end, she finally understands that Vincent Harling really commissioned it to be built in the name of peace, with the tower itself being a large solar power plant, a gigantic radio tower that can cover half the planet, and an international space station that promotes cooperative space exploration between nations.

* DragonInChief: They manipulated Cossette into declaring war on Osea, and used her as a propaganda girl to bolster morale, and rally support for Erusea.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: While Cossette was lead to believe that she was protecting her people from encroaching Osean influence, the Radicals were seeking to restore Erusea to its former glory.

* PragmaticVillainy: Their drones not causing civilian casualties was not out of moral obligation, but pure pragmatism, as it lead to a number of nations to support them against Osea.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: When they launched their drone army against Osea, they caused zero civilian casualties. When Osea launched a counterattack, that got civilians killed, it caused a number of nations to support Erusea.

* WalkingSpoiler: While their existence is hinted at early on, its not until the final five missions that they appear in the game.

* WalkingSpoiler: Its not until the last five missions of the game when their existence is revealed by Labarthe. And even then, when Labarthe is killed, they temporarily fight against the Oseans until the last two missions.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Their goals of starting a destructive RobotWar comes not out of a desire to conquer the world and subjugate humanity, but rather because they were programmed to follow their orders and win the Lighthouse War. Even with the defeat of both Erusea (which collapsed into civil war) and the Erusean radicals (who surrendered at the Lighthouse) who gave them their orders, the drones' singleminded focus on achieving their objectives meant that they are willing to wage war against all of Usea and Osea if it means that they will win the war.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The drones aren't evil ''per se''; they simply want to win the Lighthouse War, essentially acting as an extension to the will of Erusean radicals who gave them their orders. They attack anyone who might prevent them from completing their strategic objectives, which is to ensure data transmission so they can produce more super-drones. With Erusea's civil war and the defeat of the Erusean radical faction, their target basically becomes everybody else.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Bandog may be a foul-tempered {{jerkass}} who may or may not have deliberately marked Full Band as an enemy, but even he thinks Colonel [=McKinsey=] is a useless, incompetent, cowardly, and contemptable glory-hound. During the bombing run on Spare Squadron's base, Bandog actually silences [=McKinsey=] over comms before the latter had a chance to say anything about Spare Squadron using their weapons to properly defend the base in defiance of his orders. If [=McKinsey=]'s transport is shot down in "Transfer Orders", Bandog will tell you that the mission is lost, while also adding that the transport's load was not worth protecting.
* EvilLaugh:Right after [[spoiler:[[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident asking for Full Band's location]]]] and receiving an answer, Bandog seemingly [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness fails to suppress a brief chuckle.]]

** There is a small hint he might have got what was coming to him, as radio chatter in ''Last Hope'' mentions Osean penal units taking advantage of the chaos caused by [[spoiler:the Kessler castastrophe caused by Osea and Erusea]] to rebel against their former allies. Given that Bandog was a penal unit AWACS operator, he might have been one of those Osean units attacked by his former prisoners in the chaos. The game, however, does not elaborate on the situation beyond the one line of dialog.

* GoneHorriblyRight: His taking credit for all of Spare Squadron's achievements ends up getting him promoted to the front lines where he'll likely die instead of enjoying a comfortable desk job.

* OldSoldier: Less so than, say, Mihaly, but Torres is a veteran officer of the Erusean Navy, and the briefing for "Ten Million Relief Plan" reveals his' date of birth to be April 9th, 1968, putting him at 51 during the events of the [=DLC=]. Doubles as EvilOldFolks considering his [[AxCrazy bloodthirsty nature]] and [[NightmareFetishist monstrous plans]].

* TheHero: It’s his actions that ultimately stop the war. The Osean forces even see him as this and eventually the Erusean forces do as well.

** This ties into why he's in Spare Squadron in the first place. Unlike other members of Spare Squadron, who got thrown in there for genuinely malicious acts, Tabloid's crime was simply an act of anti-war civil disobedience. Yes, he threw a rock at a politician, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to, killing a former president like Trigger ([[spoiler:or at least the mere charge of one, since it isn't discovered until later that Trigger is innocent]]) or trying to access and trade classified military intelligence like Full Band, and it's a far cry from the stereotype of Belkans being thirsty for revenge after their country was politicked off the map. Despite being thrown in the clink for a relatively minor offense, this doesn't seem to sour his attitude towards others.

** This ties into why he's in Spare Squadron in the first place. Unlike other members of Spare Squadron, who got thrown in there for genuinely malicious acts, Tabloid's crime was simply an act of anti-war civil disobedience. Yes, he threw a rock at a politician, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to, killing a former president like Trigger ([[spoiler:or at least the mere charge of one, since it isn't discovered until later that Trigger is innocent]]) or trying to access and trade classified military intelligence like Full Band. Despite being thrown in the clink for a relatively minor offense, this doesn't seem to sour his attitude towards others.

** This ties into why he's in Spare Squadron in the first place. Unlike other members of Spare Squadron, who got thrown in there for genuinely malicious acts, Tabloid's crime was simply an act of anti-war civil disobedience. Yes, he threw a rock at a politician, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to, killing a former president like Trigger ([[spoiler:or at least the mere charge of one, since it isn't discovered until later that Trigger is innocent]]) or trying to access and trade classified military intelligence like Full Band. Despite being thrown in the clink for a relatively minor offense, this doesn't seem to sour his attitude towards his squadmates.

** This ties into why he's in Spare Squadron in the first place. Unlike other members of Spare Squadron, who got thrown in there for genuinely malicious acts, Tabloid's crime was simply an act of anti-war civil disobedience. Yes, he threw a rock at a politician, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to, killing a former president like Trigger ([[spoiler:or at least the mere charge of one, since it isn't discovered until later that Trigger is innocent]]) or trying to access and trade classified military intelligence like Full Band.

** Much later in the game, after [[spoiler:Trigger has been transferred to the LRSSG in recognition of his top skills in fighting Mihaly to a draw and destroying an experimental enemy drone that gave regular pilots a hard time]], he's seen working with Avril and [[spoiler:Princess Cossette]] helping civilians on the ground [[spoiler:while Erusean Conservatives are killing not only Erusean Radicals but also anyone of Belkan heritage]] -- making him the only Spare Squadron member to be seen committing humanitarian acts. [[spoiler:Sadly he's TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth and gets killed by falling debris trying to save a young girl while infiltrating the Lighthouse to shut down the second Arsenal Bird's shield.]]

* ISurrenderSuckers: During the final confrontation with the ''Alicorn'', Torres is backed into a corner after the LRSSG obtains air superiority and declares his intention to surrender, with the LRSSG backing down out of fear of violating international law regarding surrendering belligerents. [[spoiler:Torres, taking advantage of the pause caused by the bickering within the LRSSG, unsubtly deploys the rail cannon and targets Oured, despite David North telling him that he won't succed due to the terminal guidance system in the Osean capital being neutralized moments prior. Unwilling to give up, Torres boasts that he'll hit Oured anyway with his legendary aiming skills, forcing the LRSSG to neutralize him and his crew once and for all.]]

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: [[DeconstructedTrope Demonstrating the problems of this trope]], Torres ''claims'' that he's trying [[spoiler: kill a million people to save ten million more lives.]] The thing is, that's bullshit. His real goal has nothing to do with that; this trope is just a bald-faced lie he uses to get his crew to go along with his efforts, and at one point to try and guilt-trip Trigger into not stopping him.