Pilot (Farscape)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Farscape character
Pilot
Title	None
Homeworld	Unknown (Seen in "The Way We Weren't")
Race	Pilot
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Moya
Portrayer	Team of Puppeteers; Voice of Lani Tupu

Pilot is a fictional character and one of two regular animatronic puppet characters on the television science fiction series Farscape. Pilot is operated by Sean Masterson, Tim Mieville, Matt McCoy, Mario Halouvas and Fiona Gentle. His voice is provided by Lani Tupu (who also plays the character Captain Bialar Crais on Farscape).

Pilot is a member of a race known to viewers as simply Pilots, who bond with the organic Leviathan spacecraft and become their navigator, companion, and liaison to passengers. Once bonded Pilots can survive only a brief period of time of separation from their Leviathans, and only when travelling in something made of a Leviathan's components (as in a transport pod). Moya's pilot is only known by his species' name, which also doubles as a description of his role on the ship. His real name, if he has one, is unknown.

Pilot is at least the second Pilot that Moya has had. The previous pilot was removed by the Peacekeeper scientist Valorek, who seduced Pilot with the promise of being bonded despite the fact that the Elders had denied Pilot already. Pilot was initially artificially bonded, which caused him great pain until, during the series, he was separated from Moya out of grief for his involvement in the death of the first Pilot. After he came to terms with it, Pilot and Moya began a long and difficult natural bonding process.

Pilot's gentle nature and immobility have at times brought him suffering. In one of the most shocking scenes in the series (DNA Mad Scientist), fellow crew members, not including Crichton and Aeryn, cut off one of his arms in exchange for a way to return home (though it would eventually regenerate). The crew later apologised for this.