SPOILERS BELOW. You have been warned.

Please note that this page covers all of the media in the franchise, not just the games, as all of it is officially part of the universe.

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Main Characters

Christoper "Maverick" Blair

Christopher "Maverick" Blair

Played By: Mark Hamill (III onwards), Freddie Prinze Jr. (film only)

Voiced By: Ken Demarest III (II), Mark Hamill (Academy)

This list is alphabetical, but it's appropriate that Blair be its first entry, as he is the Player Character for most of the franchise's entries and one of its most central figures overall. Heroic, earnest and originally nameless, although he received much more characterization in the later games.

The Ace: The most famous ace in Confederation history, responsible for ultimately ending the Kilrathi war.
Call to Agriculture: Blair retired to become a farmer after Wing Commander III. He wasn't much good at it, however, and couldn't turn down the call to return to active duty in the next game.
Colonel Badass: In Wing Commander III and Wing Commander IV.
Custom Uniform: In Wing Commander III and Wing Commander IV, Blair has his last name on the name tag on his uniform, while all other pilots have their callsign on the name tag.
Defector from Decadence: In Wing Commander 4 when he joins the Border worlds.
Drowning My Sorrows: in Wing Commander III, after the death of Vaquero.
Ensign Newbie: In the first game, as well as in Wing Commander Academy.
Four-Star Badass: Upgraded from Colonel Badass to this in Prophecy, where he even flies a mission on your wing before getting captured by the Nephilim.
Got Volunteered: Spirit of all people does this during a rescue mission briefing.
Knight in Sour Armor: In the second game, he's fairly bitter about his career being ruined because no one believed him, but is still willing to take risks and defy orders to do the right thing.
I Have Many Names: Bluehair, Blair, "The Coward of the K'tithrak Mang," "The Heart of the Tiger," "The Savior of the Confederation," "The guy from Star Wars"...
Leeroy Jenkins: For someone whose callsign of "Maverick" is an Ironic Nickname, he's not always "by the book.:
- In Wing Commander II, he disobeys orders to rescue Stingray and to attack the Kilrathi starbase at the end.
- From Wing Commander III:
  - After failing to defend the Behemoth, Prince Thrakhath appears and taunts Blair with a video of the violent death of his Love Interest, and challenges him to a personal duel. The player can choose to ignore the challenge and land before the Victory jumps out of the system that Confed is abandoning, or accept the challenge and become Trapped Behind Enemy Lines, even if he succeeds in killing Thrakhath. (In the original release you could defeat Thrakhath and return to the Victory in time with a full missile salvo and a bit of luck, though you still have to fight him in the final mission. This was patched out in the Kilrathi Saga version, the Victory will immediately jump out if Thrakhath is killed, leaving Blair behind.)
  - When The Mole flees the Victory to spill Confed's plans to the Kilrathi, Blair can go out and give chase, but this indirectly leads to Vaquero's death. (As per the novelization, this is the canon path.)
Legally Dead: In Prophecy, Blair is lost when the Nephilim wormhole gate he's seeking to shut down collapses, leaving his fate uncertain. In the sequel Secret Ops, background fiction for the game says that he was declared legally dead.
Military Maverick: "Maverick" is an Ironic Nickname, as Word of God claims he got his call sign as a sarcastic reference to his by-the-book flying style. However, on occasion he has fit the trope in a non-ironic sense.
Second Love: Angel is his first but after her death, he can take up with Flint or Rachel in Wing Commander 3. He, canonically, chooses to hook up with Rachel and they get married in the novels but she leaves him before the events of Wing Commander 4
Shut Up, Hannibal!: In the fourth game, when Tolwyn accuses him of having defected to fight for the Border Worlds, he says, "I fight as I always have, on the side of peace and honor." Later in the same sequence, if you choose to tell the Assembly about Seether and the Genetic Enhancement program, Tolwyn will rant about how superior Seether is to Blair, only for Blair to cut him off with, "He is dead," resulting in Tolwyn being rather shaken for a moment.
Took a Level in Jerkass: In Wing Commander I, he came off as a Nice Guy in the relatively little dialogue he had, but in Wing Commander II, he's significantly ruder and more abrasive. He has little patience for Stingray or Tolwyn, and even argues with Angel sometimes.
Tragic Monster: Depending on when you defect from Confed, in Wing Commander IV.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Maniac, eventually.
Working with the Ex: Downplayed example in Wing Commander Prophecy. Rachel is a crew chief aboard TCS Midway, the ship Blair is commanding. They don't have much interaction that the player gets to see.
You Are in Command Now: In Wing Commander IV, Blair is given command of the Intrepid when Eisen departs for Earth. Subverted in the novelization, in that a Navy lieutenant is the one to actually give the exact commands to carry out Blair's orders, but is too junior to be made Captain himself. However, Blair was already the CAG by Wing Commander 3, and was shown to have some command-experience from Wing Commander Academy so he wasn't quite as ill-prepared for command as is typical for this trope.

Todd "Maniac" Marshall

Played By: Thomas F. Wilson (III onwards), Matthew Lillard (film)

Voiced By: Kirk Winterrowd (II), Thomas F. Wilson (Academy)

One of the first wingmen you fly with in Wing Commander I. He's Blair's rival from the Academy, scoring second in their graduating class, and is also something of a Foil, the Red Oni to our Bluehair. Played by Thomas F. Wilson in the later games and animated show, and Matthew Lillard in the movie.

The Ace: He's almost as good as his Boisterous Bruiser ego says he is (while serving up a large slice of ham, particularly when Tom Wilson steps into the role in Wing Commander III). Maniac has the 14th highest kill score in the entire Kilrathi War, behind Blair's 11th Place spot. All the other pilots in the Top 20 are dead. However, he's next to useless when you fly with him, almost never follows orders and runs away at the earliest opportunity. He's quite the match when he challenges Blair to a duel in Wing Commander IV, though.
Born Lucky: How Maniac has managed to survive for so long, according to Blair. He goes on to tell Catscratch that "there's one on every ship, but only one".
Boisterous Bruiser: Especially in Prophecy where he doubles as a Sergeant Rock with a big slice of ham in his jaws at all times.
Defector from Decadence: Surprisingly, joins the Border Worlds against the Confederation. It's implied, albeit understated, that this is partially due to Dude, Where's My Respect?.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: Points out, repeatedly, his accomplishments rival everyone but Blair's but he's only a Major. This is due to his attitude, glory-seeking, and disobedience of orders which would have gotten him kicked out if not for his achievements.
Glory Hound: Generally with realistic consequences.
Guile Hero: one of his most fabled exploits was in coming across two Kilrathi destroyers whilst flying a dinky little patrol fighter. Through judicious taunts and dazzling flying alone, he was able to convince the two ships to smash into each other, with all hands lost. The Claw Marks manual that came with the first game says it's suspected he just managed it out of pure dumb luck, and was sleeping while autopilot was flying his fighter.
Hidden Depths:
- He's genuinely rattled by Vagabound's death, and surprisingly points out that certain actions that you can take in Wing Commander IV might not be entirely moral.
- Similarly in Prophecy he is shown genuinely disturbed when several of his wingmen end up getting killed when they emulate his reckless style, and he voluntarily steps down from wing commander position.
Hot-Blooded: "Ramming speed!!"
Hypocritical Humor: He mocks Flash for his hot dogging while flying the Excalibur, which is remarkable considering his own reputation for recklessness behind the flight stick.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He starts out as a plain-old Jerkass, but does slowly warm up in the later games, particularly once the series went to live action and Tom Wilson took over the role. However, it isn't until in the second half of Prophecy where he really developed his character by forging a friendly relationship with the protagonist after the latter became a more than competent pilot.
Leeroy Jenkins: He's uncontrollable in combat, and will charge a fully defended cruiser with all flak guns firing with ten bandits on his six and won't stop until either they or he is dead. The only time he obeys any orders other than "break and attack" is in the final missions of Wing Commander III, when the stakes are at their highest. One of the game manuals suggests the best tactic when using him as a wingman is to use him like a hand grenade: let him go and then roll in afterwards to clean up the mess.
Limited Advancement Opportunities: Maniac just can't seem to get and stay past Major. Mostly it's his own fault, though, thanks to his Leeroy Jenkins behavior and general jerkassishness.
Majorly Awesome: Mostly subverted. Maniac holds the rank of Major, but his tendencies towards immature behavior and erratic flying have prevented him from advancing any further. Still, he is almost as good as his ego.
Military Maverick: He's a Dirty Harry-style Deconstruction, with similar fatality rates among his wingmen and dazzled worshipers. He's so irresponsible he never keeps any promotions past Major. This contributes to his defecting to the Border Worlds.
Right Behind Me: Maniac falls for this in Wing Commander III in a discussion with Flint, going off at first Flash and then Blair, not realizing Blair is right behind him.
Maniac: The Colonel is a spineless...
Blair: I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you, Major.
Small Name, Big Ego: Exaggerated: Big Name, Bigger Ego.
Suicidal Overconfidence: He tends to get killed a lot for blindly charging at the enemy in the original game. Once he gets Plot Armor, this becomes a justified trope: he's just that good. The problem, again, is that nobody else is.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Maniac is loathed by everyone in-universe and out but the writers.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Blair, eventually.
Worthy Opponent: Maniac sees himself as this to Blair. To his credit, while he's obsessed with one-upping Blair, he absolutely insists that it must happen in a completely fair fight.
- Wing Commander IV begins the first flight mission with him offering a chance to duel with simulated weapons, with Maniac even saying "I know you've always wanted to take a shot at me." If you take him up on it you'll get a short dogfight before being interrupted by real hostiles.

Jeanette "Angel" Devereaux

Played By: Yolanda Jilot (III), Saffron Burrows (film)

Voiced By Denise Dee (II)

Originally introduced as a studious, somewhat nerdy Francophone Belgian in the first game, Angel was promoted ahead of Blair, serving as his squadron commander when Blair is assigned to the Claw as per The Movie. In between the second and third she serves under him in a different fashion. Played by Saffron Burrows in the movie, and Yolanda Jilot in Wing Commander III.

Character Death: She dies as soon as she's introduced in Wing Commander III, although the player doesn't learn of her death until much later, and this sets up the last mission as being one for revenge.
Colonel Badass: Her eventual rank.
Damsel out of Distress: Jazz gets an elbow to the face for trying to hold her hostage at gunpoint during the events of Wing Commander II and its add-ons, and even stands up to the Kilrathi when captured in Wing Commander III.
Gratuitous French: Frequently in combat.
I Am Very British: In the movie. In the movie her background is also changed from French to Irish, this is expanded in the follow-on novel, Pilgrim Stars.
Promoted to Love Interest: Starting in Wing Commander II, she goes from just another pilot to Blair's lover.
Reasonable Authority Figure: in the second game.
Right in Front of Me: From the movie: "I'm Commander Devereaux, Lieutenant. Your wing commander."
That's an Order!: She uses several versions of the trope phrase in the movie.

Geoffrey Tolwyn

Played By: Malcolm McDowell (III onwards), David Warner (film)

Voiced By: Marten Davies (II), Malcolm McDowell (Academy)

First introduced in Wing Commander II as a toxic combination of Obstructive Bureaucrat and Insane Admiral, Tolwyn appears to have something of a vendetta against Blair, believing wholeheartedly in the cowardist propaganda spread against him and resenting the need to take Blair aboard his flagship, the Concordia. Then the third game rolled around...

Big Bad: All of the attacks to which Blair is responding in IV are ultimately arranged by Tolwyn as part of a plot to manipulate the Confederation and the Union of Border Worlds into a conflict.
Driven to Suicide: He hangs himself the night before he is to be executed.
Evilutionary Biologist: In Wing Commander IV, he orders the creation of a bioweapon designed to weed out "weak genetic stock".
Fallen Hero: In his heyday, Tolwyn was undoubtedly one of the fleet's best pilots and commanders.
Four-Star Badass: In episode 6 of Wing Commander Academy, he runs a blockade by playing chicken with a Kilrathi ship, and again in episode 8 he makes a badass quote before climbing into a fighter himself.
General Ripper: He was a Space Marshall for all of five minutes, above even admiral, where some of his actions at the lower rank included genetic profiling and eradication of anyone who did not fit his mold through bioweapons.
He Who Fights Monsters: The near-destruction of humanity during the Kilrathi War led him to conclude that Humanity must evolve into a warrior race via the horrific culling of the weak and near-constant warfare.
Insane Admiral: While it was less pronounced in II and III, IV shows him clearly into this territory.
Jerkass: So much that he makes you miss the days of being with Colonel Halcyon back in Tiger's Claw.
Jerkass to One: He has it in for Blair due to being convinced that he's guilty of destroying the Tiger's Claw. The only other pilot he's nearly this harsh towards is Spirit, when the latter is suspected of being a traitor.
Knight Templar: Above all, he ultimately wants to save the human race. What he will to do so make him almost as great a threat to humanity as the Kilrathi were. Almost.
Large Ham: He certainly has his moments of this, particularly in IV.
Military Maverick: He is described as tactically brilliant but untrustworthy, too intent on fighting his own war to make a truly effective tool of Confed.
My God, What Have I Done?: In IV, albeit exclusive to the novelization; Tolwyn realizes that his master plan to genetically purify the entirety of the human race in preparation for war with its next enemy was in fact detrimental to his goal, and ironically would've only hastened humanity's destruction rather than position it to defend itself in the long run. Overcome with guilt, he hangs himself on the even of his execution.
Narrative Profanity Filter: In the novel Fleet Action, when the Kilrathi Baron Jugaka demanded humanity's surrender, Admiral Tolwyn said, "Direct your inquiry to President Quinson. I'm sure he will tell you to go perform a certain impossible anatomical act." When the baron specified he wanted the fleet's surrender, Tolwyn "replied with what he assumed the President would have said."
A Nazi by Any Other Name: He seeks to weed out humans who are not fit to fight through horrendous means and seeks dominance over the Border Worlds and the Kilrathi. Yep, that sounds familiar.
Rousing Speech: He's given his share of these; but perhaps his most notable one is as the leader of the treacherous Black Lance in IV, where he praises the renegade faction at length for its extreme tactics in safeguarding humanity.
The Social Darwinist: Becomes a Type 3 version of this in IV.
Veteran Instructor: Tolwyn is assigned to provide final training for the eponymous academy's students, in Wing Commander Academy, due to his being Reassigned to Antarctica.
We Have Become Complacent: Almost verbatim during the endgame of IV when you choose the right dialogues.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: in Wing Commander IV, albeit zigzagged between the game and the novelization. The game makes it clear that Tolwyn crossed the Moral Event Horizon, but the novel has characters wondering (after his death, to boot) if the ends didn't justify the means.

Lance Casey

Played By: Stephen Petrarca

The new Player Character in Prophecy and an Expy to Blair, Casey is the son of a legendary ace from the Kilrathi war.

The Ace: Casey eventually becomes every bit as good as his father was, perhaps even better.
Dead Guy Junior: The second coming of Iceman.
Ensign Newbie: How he starts in Prophecy.
Passing the Torch: Introduced as the protagonist of Prophecy, which was a "Next Generation" type of continuation of the series now that Blair had been doing his thing so long that he was now a flag officer. Several characters from previous games serve as the experienced veterans in comparison to Casey and his Ensign Newbie wingmen.
Right Behind Me: He starts bad-mouthing Commodore Blair, who inevitably appears. After being made aware of Blair's presence, he goes into full "recruit greeting a senior officer" mode.
Casey: "I must have heard everything about Blair." (lists off Blair's famous achievements, then pauses when he sees his audience stand at attention) "Except that he was onboard the Midway..." (muttered)
Someone to Remember Him By: was the "someone" in this case. The strategy guide gives the impression of a hastily-arranged wedding, which was just as well—Iceman still died before Lance was born.

Supporting Characters

Introduced in Wing Commander 1 and its expansions:

Peter Halcyon

Voiced By: Cam Clarke

Colonel Halcyon is the highest ranking officer seen aboard the Tiger's Claw in the first game and its expansions. It is unclear whether he is actually the captain of the carrier. He hands out assigns pilots to flight groups, gives mission briefings and oversees ceremonies for promotions and medals.

Reasonable Authority Figure: If Halcyon gives you a dressing down, you know you've really fucked up. The first time you abort a mission by ejecting and survive, he gives you in his office a stern but polite talk about how while pilots are their most valuable resource, ships should not be wasted needlessly.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Completely vanishes from the scene after I with no word on his fate after the Claw's destruction in II. Expanded material however suggests he was no luckier than anyone else on board his beloved ship.

Sam "Shotglass" Walker

The Bartender: Shotglass mans the bar in the break room, and is actually quite good at it. He has plenty of advice to give to a novice pilot about different wingmen and combat situations.
Post-Injury Desk Job: A variation, bartending seems to be all he does nowadays. Shotglass is a former pilot who suffered an unspecified injury which grounded him permanently.

James "Paladin" Taggart

Played By: John Rhys-Davies (III onwards), Tchéky Karyo (film)

Cool Old Guy: In the first game he's the oldest pilot in active duty, a friendly fellow and a skilled pilot.
General Badass: As a Brigadier General in III. His role in seeing the final completion of the Temblor Bomb proves instrumental in securing humanity's survival against the Kilrathi.
Guile Hero: In the second game he's officially retired to run a cargo hauler near the front lines, but is in reality working for military intelligence. This continues in the third game (minus the retirement coverup), and in the fourth game he has entered politics.
Reasonable Authority Figure: In the fourth game, he's willing to listen to Blair's testimony against Tolwyn, despite the latter's insistence on dismissing him as a traitor.
What the Hell, Hero?: In IV when Blair appears before the Assembly to out Tolwyn as the real instigator of the war with the Border Worlds. Paladin reacts to Blair's many revelations about as well as you'd expect, and he ultimately presides over the tribunal that finds Tolwyn guilty of crimes against humanity.

Mariko "Spirit" Tanaka

Voiced By: Eiko Nagata

Gratuitous Japanese: During her Heroic Sacrifice, she says "I will be waiting for you in Heaven" in Japanese.
Heroic Sacrifice: She rams her fighter into Heaven's Gate, destroying the station at the cost of her own life.
Japanese Honorifics: In the first game, she refers to Maverick as "Maverick-san" or "Blair-san," and Halcyon as "Colonel-sama."
Japanese Politeness: She's one of the friendliest and most approachable squadmates.
Spanner in the Works: A Terran traitor tries to paint her as one, blackmailing her with the life of her supposedly-dead fiancee to get her to cooperate.

Chen "Bossman" Kien

The Ace: A decorated veteran who is always cool under pressure. Often shared this position alongside Iceman and Paladin.
Heroic Sacrifice: He and Angel are ambushed by a vastly superior Kilrathi force while out on patrol; Bossman dies in the melee, but buys Angel enough time to escape back to the Tiger's Claw.
Tempting Fate: He muses the possibility of vacationing on Firekka with his family after having spent time with the locals there. He doesn't live to see it happen.

Joseph "Knight" Kumalo

Boring, but Practical: He's not the best pilot, but one of the more reliable ones, hence why many of his fellow pilots like having him a a wingman.

Michael "Iceman" Casey

The Ace: Pretty much everyone considers Iceman to be the pilot on board Tiger's Claw. His actual performance in the game reflects that, when Artificial Stupidity doesn't get in the way.
Clint Squint: Always has his eyes narrowed to a slit, and very badass.
Consummate Professional: The only times we see or hear about Iceman losing his temper is when someone unnecessarily endangers a mission.
Cruel and Unusual Death: In the novelizations, his remains were found completely cannibalized by the Kilrathi inside his ejection pod when recovered by the Confederation.
Sociopathic Soldier: Type 4. Iceman was a mediocre combat pilot until his family fell victim to a Kilrathi raid. After that it seems he made it his life goal to kill as many Kilrathi as possible before he dies. Even Maniac finds his dedication scary.
The Stoic: Iceman always appears calm and collected, even in the middle of battle.

Ian "Hunter" St. John

Awesome Aussie: Born in Brisbane, and a skilled pilot.
Cigar Chomper: Always biting down on one while off duty.
Heroic Sacrifice: In the novelizations, he dies on the mission to uncover the Hakaga fleet being amassed by the Kilrathi to destroy Earth.

Etienne "Doomsday" Montclair

A pilot of Maori descent, he carries traditional facial tattoos of his people. He constantly gives dour and pessimistic opinions of things, yet is regardless a capable and loyal pilot.

The Eeyore: Doomsday is, fitting for his name, probably the single most depressing person to talk to in any of the games. However, it seems he doesn't let this attitude get in the way of his piloting.
Irony: The pilot who's most convinced he'll end up dead sooner or later actually survives the war.

Introduced in Wing Commander 2 and its expansions:

Thrakhath bar Kiranka

Crown Prince Thrakhath nar Kiranka

Voiced By: Gilbert P. Austin (II), John Rhys-Davies (III), Kevin Schon (Academy)

Crown Prince of the Kilrathi Empire and the favorite grandson of The Emperor. He and Blair tangle quite frequently over the course of the franchise, and it is he who bestows on Blair his Kilrathi warrior name, "The Heart of the Tiger."

Ax-Crazy: A combination of this and Blood Knight. He is considered a bloodthirsty psychopath even by other Kilrathi.
Archenemy: To Colonel Blair.
Batman Gambit: He uses Angel's death as a bid to drive Blair into an Unstoppable Rage. In the novel, it gets worse.
The Dragon: In both Venegance of the Kilrathi and Heart of the Tiger, to the Emperor himself (who is never fought directly).
Dragon-in-Chief: He appears to lead a significant portion of The Empire's forces, possibly all of them by Wing Commander III.
Final Solution: Intends to implement one of these on the human race, even over the objections of other Kilrathi.
General Failure: To the point that, in the Expanded Universe novels, it's stated that the only reason he hasn't been assassinated is because he's the Emperor's heir.
- And not for lack of trying either. Thrakhath assigns those most likely to betray him to missions where they are most likely to die in battle.
- Lampshaded by Khasra, who questions why he is still in command.
- In Fleet Action, it's mentioned in passing that he has been unable to conceive an heir of his own, implying that he may be sterile, in addition to merely being impotent on the battlefield.
The Uriah Gambit: Threats to his position or authority tend to be assigned to missions that are believed to be one-way trips.
Worthy Opponent: Has this attitude to Colonel Blair, which is not really reciprocated.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Was planning on disposing of the Mandarins around the time Blair destroys Ayer's Rock.

Ralgha "Hobbes" nar Hhallas

Voiced By: Richard Goodman (II), John Schuck (III)

A defector from the Kilrathi empire, Ralgha nar Hhallas joins the Confederation and is even accepted into the Space Forces, eventually achieving the rank of Colonel. Of course, since he's a Cat, a lot of people mistrust him; as such it doesn't hurt him to be loyal to Blair despite his disgrace in the second game, but since the Kilrathi are a Proud Warrior Race, Hobbes' trust means something. In the third game he gets an even bigger role.

Adaptation Explanation Extrication: Inverted: The justification for Hobbes' Face–Heel Turn in Wing Commander III didn't make it into the original PC release, but did make it to the Playstation port and the novelization.
Crutch Character: Serves as this in Wing Commander III: he's an excellent pilot but each mission you use him on means one less mission to improve on the Relationship Values of the rest of the Squad. Lampshaded by Capt. Eisen if you pick Hobbes too often early on.
Deep Cover Agent: In Wing Commander III, of the Manchurian Agent variety.
Defector from Decadence: He is presented as this in Wing Commander II.
Fantastic Racism: Suffers a great deal of this from his comrades. It turns out to have been justified.
Face–Heel Turn: Has one halfway through III where he betrays the TCS Behemoth
Fake Defector: In the second half of III it is revealed that he actually was a Manchurian Agent for the Kilrathi Empire.
Memory Gambit: Wing Commander III revealed that Hobbes' defection to the Confederation was a Memory Gambit.
Number Two: Very briefly serves as the First Officer aboard the Victory, as none of the other pilots will fly on his wing. When Blair is assigned to command the Victory's wing, he insists that Hobbes be reinstated to the flight roster, and Rollins is promoted to replace him.
Token Heroic Orc: Even after his Manchurian Agent personality takes over, he is driven by honor to leave a message explaining himself to Colonel Blair.
Token Non-Human: Not all alien races are allied with the Kilrathi, but Hobbes is the only one you fly alongside.
Tragic Monster: What they were going for with the revelation he's a Manchurian Agent. YMMV whether they succeeded or not.
Vitriolic Best Buds: He's this to Paladin in Wing Commander II.
Worthy Opponent: After being outed, leaves behind a recording for Blair indicating his respect for him and regret that, in order to remain loyal to the Kilrathi, he must betray him.

Introduced in Wing Commander 3:

William Eisen

Captain William Eisen

Played By: Jason Bernard

Captain of TCS Victory

Big Good: Of the fourth game.
The Captain: Of Victory in 3, then of TCS Lexington, BWS Intrepid, and TCS St Helens in turn in 4.
A Father to His Men: Eisen tolerates no disrespect towards his crew from anyone.
Old Soldier: His naval career spans four decades and then some.
Reasonable Authority Figure: The Captain smells a rat in Confed's operations against the Union of Border Worlds in 4. He starts digging and soon uncovers a conspiracy to start a war of genocide.

Winston "Vagabond" Chang

Played By: François Chau

A pilot on the Victory. Vagabond is an avid card player with a happy-go-lucky personality and a past he doesn’t like to talk about.

Back for the Dead: The only wingman (other than Maniac, of course) from the roster of III to return for IV... and is promptly killed off in the game's first act. Chau even got himself a Promotion to Opening Titles out of the deal.
Character Tic: Whenever he's not flying, Vagabond is never seen without his deck of cards, either playing poker or idly shuffling his deck when he doesn’t have someone to play with.
Dark and Troubled Past: Was previously involved in some classified operations. At least one of them resulted in millions of civilian deaths as a result of a "demolitions test" gone wrong. When he finally opens up to Blair about it, Vagabond declares that he has a special place reserved for him in Hell.
Heroic Sacrifice: In IV, he protects Velina Sosa while raiding a Confederation comms station after having defected to the Border Worlds. He is fatally shot in the resulting firefight but buys Sosa enough time to escape with the intelligence they had sought.
Meaningful Name: Has bounced between dozens of assignments and specialties before landing on the Victory. He returns in 4 saying, "Hey, a man can do okay as long as he doesn’t stay in one place too long."
Stepford Smiler: His cheerful persona hides the guilt he feels over his Dark and Troubled Past.
Undying Loyalty: To Captain Eisen.

Rachel Coriolis

Played By: Ginger Lynn

Chief maintainer of TCS Victory's air group.

Double Entendre: Most of her dialogue has shades of this, even when she's not explicitly flirting with Blair.
Ms. Fanservice: She has a tendency to leave her coveralls unzipped, drawing a bit of Male Gaze. And her actress is porn star Ginger Lynn Allen.
Wrench Wench: She's in charge of fixing up fighters and bombers aboard Victory and later again on Midway in Prophecy.

Ted "Radio" Rollins

Played By: Courtney Gains

Communications officer and executive officer (or Comm Exec, as he puts it) of TCS Victory

Communications Officer: In this capacity, he detects unusually-coded transmissions originating from somewhere aboard the Victory. At the time, Admiral Tolwyn is onboard and Blair logically assumes that they're his, but Rollins is familiar with admiralty codes and insists they're not. (He's right — Hobbes is sending them to Thrakhath.)
Number Two: Executive officer of the Victory, despite his relatively low rank (Lieutenant). This affords him the privilege of attending all mission briefings, though he mostly just observes them in silence.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Rollins cares little for protocol, but he will twice salute Blair alongside Eisen before he departs, both times on his final mission (in alternate branching paths): either to destroy Kilrah, or in a futile attempt to defend Earth in humanity's last stand.
Properly Paranoid: Rollins suspects — rightly — that Confed is doing much worse in the war than they're letting on and are lying about it to everyone.

Introduced in Wing Commander 4:

Jacob "Hawk" Manley

Played By: Chris Mulkey

Blood Knight: Hawk believes that war requires getting your hands dirty. He wasn’t always this way; the death of his parents and family in a Kilrathi attack left him dead inside.
The End Justifies the Means: Hawk believes foreign civilian casualties are acceptable to achieve victory. He reasons that winning will save more lives in the long run.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Hawk lost everyone he ever loved to the Kilrathi, and utterly despises the cats. He barely accepts Teeth-Clenched Teamwork with them in 4. Having to do it again in Prophecy triggers a Heroic BSoD.

Robert "Pliers" Sykes

Played By: Richard Riehle

Chief maintainer aboard BWS Intrepid.

Cool Old Guy: A cantankerous old mechanic with a heart of gold.
Gadgeteer Genius: He can homebrew things like a cloaking device out of spare wire and whatever trash is handy, makes nonstandard mods to the fighters, and reverse-engineers captured Black Lance technology.
Mr. Fixit: He can put a space fighter back together with duct tape and empty beer cans, if he needs to.

Seether

"Seether"

Played By: Robert Rusler

A pilot whose official name is never established, he serves Admiral Tolwyn and is a member of the GenSelect program.

Artificial Human: As part of the Genetic Enhancement Program, his base genome was modified with a genetic template composed of some of the finest pilots in the Confederation.
Blade Enthusiast : One of his defining traits outside the cockpit is his love for a unique two-blade knife.
Blood Knight: He was literally bred for war, and gleefully participates in some of the most heinous atrocities of Wing Commander IV
The Dragon: In The Price of Freedom, to Admiral Tolwyn.
Duel Boss: He takes on Blair in the final showdown mano-a-mano to keep him from reaching Tolwyn and to finally prove he's the superior being to Blair. He fails in both endeavors.
Master Race: Between genetically modified as the ultimate warrior and being brought up with the propaganda by the project, he believes himself and his fellow Genetic Enhancement Program members to be superior to un-modified humanity.
Only Known by Their Nickname: His record was blanked by Confed, and the only person who recognized him by his Mine shockwave riding trick couldn't remember his real name, so his callsign of "Seether" is the only identifier.
Putting on the Reich: His uniform is not subtle.
Small Name, Big Ego: For all his talk about being superior and his zero tolerance for failure, he falls rather quickly in battle (probably because he doesn't have the advantage of technology anymore).
Sociopathic Soldier:
You Have Failed Me: Pulls this at the point of a combat knife on Captain Paulsen.

Introduced in Prophecy and Secret Ops:

Expanded Universe

Jason "Bear" Bondarevski

Originally appearing in an Expansion Pack to Wing Commander II, Bondarevski was adopted by author William Forstchen as the main character of his Expanded Universe novels. Bear, like Blair, eventually reaches flag rank and helps to strike a number of devastating blows against the Kilrathi war machine.

Ascended Extra: He went from a character in a minor subplot in Wing Commander II to becoming a major character in the novels.
Artificial Limbs: The Wing Commander IV novelization states he lost an arm during the conclusion of the Kilrathi War, which was replaced with a cybernetic substitute. As noted below, later he's offered an Unusual User Interface, but declines.
Running Gag: His name. Many attempt to say it, most botch it badly.
Unusual User Interface: In the novel False Colors, he's offered the chance to have his cybernetic replacement arm (mentioned above) wired so he's directly connected to his fighter's controls. He declines the offer.

Janet "Sparks" McCullough

Introduced in the second game in the same role Rachel was later given in Wing Commander III, she eventually transferred to the Expanded Universe novelizations along with Bondarevski.

Ascended Extra: After only a brief showing in the games, she becomes significant character in the non-novelization novels.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Her name is mentioned in dialog, but much of the time she was addressed by her nickname.
Official Couple: she and Bear.
Shipper on Deck: For Blair and Angel.
Wrench Wench: Her job aboard the carriers she serves upon is to maintain the spacecraft launching from their decks.

Kevin "Lone Wolf" Tolwyn

The nephew of the famous admiral, Tolwyn is a novel-only character (though they flirted with the idea of including him in one of the games). He starts out pretty much a Spoiled Brat, but after a bit of Break the Haughty (and surviving one of the toughest missions in the war) he matures into a capable and outstanding pilot.

Ace Pilot: One of the better pilots in the stories he participates in, maturing into an all-around excellent servicemember.
Glory Hound: He starts out as this in End Run, until it's pointed out that his seeking to kill a fighter, in End Run, left a wounded bomber open to an ambush, killing one of the bomber's crew members in the process.

Jukaga nar Ki'ra

Baron Jukaga nar Ki'ra

A Kilrathi character who is only in the Wing Commander novels, End Run, Fleet Action, and Action Stations. But his role in these three books almost makes them a trilogy centered on him.

Curiosity Causes Conversion: Baron Jukaga's dedicated study of the humans makes him admire them, leading him to betray his own side and prevent an annihilation bombardment of Earth, saving humanity's homeworld at the cost of his own life.
To Defeat Them, We Must Understand Them: In Action Stations, a young Baron Jukaga is instructed to study the humans in order to learn from and understand them better in order to defeat them in the future. By the time of Fleet Action, he has learned about humanity all too well.

Simon "McGoo" LeDuke

A character from the collectible card game.

Nerd Glasses: In the Wing Commander Collectible Card Game, his character card shows him wearing a pair of these.

Characters / Wing Commander aka: Wing Commander Academy

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