The Wing Commander Academy press kit says that there were twelve cadets transferred to the Tiger's Claw. Can you name them all?
Alright, let's see if we can find them! We're looking for the original twelve cadets transferred to the Tiger's Claw's command school. So Victoria/Viking here and the veteran replacements from the Trafalgar who are added after Chain of Command don't count.
First up, the three leads. Christopher "Maverick" Blair played by Mark Hamill and designed from his live action appearances in Wing Commander III and IV (minus 19 years). Bios are from the series' press kit:
Todd "Maniac" Marshall voiced by Tom Wilson and also designed from his WC3 and 4 appearances (though a little bit more The Real Ghostbustersy).
And new character Gwen "Archer" Bowman played by Dana Delany! She voiced Louis Lane on Superman that same season and it sure feels like both character designs were influenced by the actress in slightly different ways.
Next: the secondary cast who show up pretty consistently through the show and occasionally get to be the focus of an episode. First is Hector "Grunt" Paz, the former Confed marine (voiced by Pat Fraley). In the show's original formulation he was Vaquero from WC3.
Lindsay "Payback" Price stars in Expendable and generally shows up as a foil for Archer. Performed by Lauri Hendler. The character was originally intended to be Cobra in the initial "WC3 babies" concept.
Last of the series regulars: Yulan "Hyena" Chang voiced by Kevin Schon. He survives the show... and his weird secret is that he's supposed to be Vagabond's brother!
Now the ones that show up as kind of 'guest stars'. They get mentioned on the PA and occasionally seen in crowds but generally have one moment. Alan "Blizzard" Getz (also voiced by Pat Fraley) is the show's first casualty in 'The Most Delicate Instrument'.
This is Emil "Easy" Zoharian. He's in the background a fair amount and is ultimately killed in 'Invisible Enemy', the first victim of the Strakha. He looks kind of like a larger, softer Maniac.
"Jazzman" is a weird one because he is a major part of the first episode but then doesn't appear again until he pops up in the finale (where he's killed in the attack on the dreadnought).
Ved "Pitchfork" Patel is cadet #10. He shows up in group shots eventually but you never really get a good look at his face. He's killed early in Chain of Command (prompting Pitchfork to swear revenge on the Kilrathi).
That's ten, two to go--these are the tough ones! This cool '90s-looking female pilot never speaks but she shows up in a LOT of background and group shots. According to internal materials her name is BULLDOG.
And here's the last one: WEASEL. He shows up only in group shots. He's yet another nod to WC3, though: Weasel is the redshirt who dies as you're taking off in the Tamayo scramble mission!
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