William Adama

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This article is about the character from the reimagined version of Battlestar Galactica. For the original character see Commander Adama. For other uses of this name and rank, see Commander Adama (Battlestar Galactica).

William Adama
Edward James Olmos as William Adama
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Portrayed by	Edward James Olmos
First appearance	Miniseries
Callsign	Husker
Rank	Commander (seasons 1-2) Rear Admiral (seasons 2-3)
Colony	Caprica
Affiliation	Colonial Fleet

William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series.

1 Character biography
2 Trivia
3 See also
4 External link
5 References

[edit] Character biography

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Early life

William Adama was born on the Caprica colony, the son of Joseph Adama, a civil liberties lawyer and Evelyn Adama, an accountant.^[1]

Adama was a gifted Viper pilot in the Colonial Fleet during the later stages of the first Cylon War.^[2] He scored his first kill during his first mission, for which he received a commendation.^[1] On account of his gravelly voice, his aviator call sign was "Husker".^[3]

Adama was aboard the Battlestar Galactica during the last week of the war, when a Cylon boarding party attempted to kill the crew by depressurizing the ship. Adama later recalled that "two thousand men bought the farm."^[2]

After the war ended, Adama married his first wife, Carolanne, by whom he fathered two sons, Zak and Lee.^[4] Adama later relates to Captain Louanne "Kat" Katraine how, during both her pregnancies, Carolanne was convinced that she was carrying a daughter, and was surprised by the arrival of a son. Adama himself would have liked a daughter, saying that "three's a good round number".^[5]

Adama's military career floundered after the war. Like many servicemen after the end of a conflict, he was discharged. He found himself serving on a commercial freighter on the Caprica-Tauron run, where he met a fellow former Viper pilot, Saul Tigh.^[6] The pair forged a lasting friendship, and Adama arguably saved Tigh from his most self-destructive impulses.^[2]

[edit] Return to the Fleet

During this period, Adama used his wife's family's connections in the Defense Council to get himself re-instated in the Fleet at the rank of Captain. Once he had been promoted to the rank of Major, he secured Tigh's re-instatement in the Fleet as well.^[6] He later divorced Carolanne, who was in turn engaged to marry again at the time of the Cylons' devastation of the Twelve Colonies.^[3]

As a Major, Adama served on the Battlestar Atlantia,^[1] where he had an ongoing feud with that ship's landing signal officer that inspired a flatulent celebration of his thousandth landing.^[4] He later served as the executive officer of the Battlestar Columbia, presumably as a Colonel, before earning his own command, the Battlestar Valkyrie. Adama brought his old friend, Saul Tigh, with him as his XO.^[1] At some point during this phase of his career, Adama either served aboard or visited a Mercury class battlestar.^[7]

Approximately three years before the Destruction of the Twelve Colonies, the Colonial Admiralty ordered Commander Adama and the Valkyrie to test the Cylons' military disposition with a covert (and illegal) surveillance mission across the Armistice Line. The Stealthstar reconnaissance craft was discovered by the Cylons and damaged; Adama ordered the Valkyrie's weapons batteries to shoot it down to prevent its capture. These events precipitated his transfer to the aging Battlestar Galactica as a graceful swansong to his career before returning to haunt him three years later.^[1]

Both William Adama's sons chose to follow in their father's footsteps and become Viper pilots. While Lee went on to become an accomplished pilot, Zak was not a natural in the cockpit. While in training, Zak began a secret relationship with Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, his flight instructor. Zak would have failed basic flight training had Kara not passed him based on her feelings for him (he had recently proposed to her). During an operational flight, Zak's Viper crashed and he was killed. This tragedy drove a wedge between Adama and his surviving son, Lee, who blamed his father for pushing Zak into military service. It was also during this time that William Adama met Kara, sparking a father-daughter relationship.^[4]

[edit] After the Cylon attack

Two years after Zak's death, Adama is put to the ultimate test. The fifty-year-old Galactica is nearing the end of its service, destined to be converted into a museum ship. On the morning following the ship's decommissioning ceremony (Caprica City Time), the Cylons launch a surprise attack on the Twelve Colonies, bombarding the colonies with nuclear weapons and destroying the majority of the Colonial Fleet. The Fleet is unable to mount an effective counterattack due to Cylon infiltration of the Colonial ships' Command Navigation Program.^[3]

As an older ship from the first Cylon War, and due to Adama's strict ban on any networked computers being used on board, Galactica is not susceptible to being crippled through Cylon infiltration of its computer systems. Much of Galactica's more modern fighter complement is not as fortunate, however, and is lost early in the attack. Fortunately, as part of its museum display, the Galactica has forty older Mk II Vipers on board, including Adama's personal fighter. Since Galactica has been disarmed in anticipation of its decommissioning, Adama takes the ship to Ragnar Anchorage to rearm. While there, the Galactica encounters a ragtag fleet of civilian vessels bearing around 50,000 survivors, including the new President of the Colonies, Laura Roslin, who implores Adama to abandon his plan to fight the Cylons and instead lead the survivors to safety. After some deliberation, he complies, deciding that the survival of the human race is more important than prosecuting a counterattack against the Cylons. Galactica and her rag-tag fleet jump beyond the "red line" (the imaginary boundary of known FTL jumps). It is presumed he leaves his second wife, Anne, behind.^[3]

After an incident on the hangar deck that resulted in the deaths of several pilots, Adama becomes aware of the true details of his son Zak's death, after Thrace lets the whole affair with Zak cloud her judgment again by being too harsh on the replacement trainees. Adama is barely able to restrain himself upon learning of the cause of Zak's death from Thrace.^[4] Events following the revelation lead Adama and his surviving son Lee to commit a similar act of allowing feelings to cloud judgment, after Thrace is shot down and stranded on an inhospitable planet. After Adama is compelled to abandon Thrace by President Roslin, Thrace miraculously rescues herself and returns to Galactica aboard a captured Cylon Raider. Adama forgives Thrace for her indiscretions concerning Zak. The incident also cements the father-son bond between William Adama and his surviving son: Lee questions how long his father would search for him, were he missing, to which the elder Adama responds, "if it were you... we'd never leave."^[8]

Soon after Galactica and the Colonial fleet discover the lost planet Kobol, Adama is shot by a Cylon agent, which places him in mortal jeopardy.^[9] Although he survives this assassination attempt, the brush with death changes him somewhat: some say that his more emotional leanings are a post-traumatic reaction to the shooting, but Adama jokes to Roslin that he thinks that he is "just a wuss."^[10]

After the Battlestar Pegasus joins the fugitive fleet, Adama comes into conflict with Admiral Helena Cain, commander of the Pegasus, over the treatment of two Galactica crew members, Lt. Karl Agathon and Chief Galen Tyrol. Admiral Cain and Commander Adama come to the brink of firing on one another's vessels.^[11] Each makes plans to have the other assassinated following the successful conclusion of a joint operation to destroy the Cylon Resurrection ship. Neither plan is carried out, although Cain is subsequently killed by the Cylon agent Gina.^[12]

With the death of Admiral Cain, President Roslin promotes Adama to Rear Admiral. Adama is surprised and touched: by this point in his career, he had given up hope of attaining flag rank; he encourages Roslin, battling breast cancer, to remain hopeful of a recovery. There was also a brief, sweet kiss between the two, initiated by Adama, which Roslin smiles at afterwards.^[12]

[edit] New Caprica and the Second Exodus

After the discovery of New Caprica, Admiral Adama appears reluctant to establish a permanent settlement on the planet, but is over-ruled by President Gaius Baltar.^[13] In the months that follow, his attitude slowly softens, and he begins to allow military personnel to muster out and settle on New Caprica.^[14]

When the Cylons locate New Caprica after a year of no contact with the human race, Admiral Adama is forced to reluctantly flee with only a handful of ships,^[13] two thousand civilians and the Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus at half-strength.^[15] Undaunted, Adama sets about formulating a rescue plan for the humans trapped under Cylon rule. His unorthodox strategy (he even goes so far as to jump the Galactica into the atmosphere of New Caprica) is successful, and he is lauded as a hero.^[16]

Three years after the incident at the Armistice Line, Galactica recovers Lieutenant Daniel "Bulldog" Novacek, the pilot of the recon vessel that Adama ordered shot down when in command of the Battlestar Valkyrie. Adama's guilt over the incident and suspicions that he may have provoked the Cylon attack on the Colonies lead him to tender his resignation from the Fleet: however, President Roslin refuses to accept his resignation. Moreover, in an attempt to improve fleet morale and reward Admiral Adama for his continual military service in ensuring the survival of the fleet, President Roslin awards Adama with a Medal of Distinction in recognition of his 45 years of service to the Colonial Fleet. Colonel Tigh is the one who saves Adama when Bulldog attacks the Admiral, seeking revenge for his capture, and this marks a turning point in the Adama-Tigh relationship: after the award ceremony, the two friends finally sit down to share a drink and talk about the events on New Caprica, and Ellen Tigh's death in particular.^[1]

Adama is initially supportive of the "ranks dropped" boxing competition held on Galactica with Colonel Tigh as referee, seeing it as a useful means of allowing the crew to vent their frustrations and prevent them growing into feuds and grudges. However, when he sees that some of the crew have taken to enjoying the competition over tending to their professional duties, he is reminded of how he himself softened during the year above New Caprica. He takes on Chief Galen Tyrol in the ring; although he is beaten by the younger man, his actions and words afterwards remind the crew of their solemn duty to guard the civilian fleet.^[14]

As the fleet prepares to make a hazardous journey through a highly radioactive stellar cluster, Tigh finally returns (a little self-consciously) to the Galactica CIC. Although Adama does not join the applause for the Colonel, he cannot hide a small smile. After the stellar cluster has been negotiated, he visits Captain Louanne "Kat" Katraine on her deathbed after she receives a fatal dose of radiation guiding civilian ships through the cluster. He comforts her, telling her that her shady past life is irrelevant to him: he is interested only in her bravery and outstanding qualities as a leader, for which he returns her to the position of CAG. ^[5]

[edit] Public image

Adama is greatly loved by the crew of Galactica and is often affectionately called "the Old Man", though not to his face. His popularity among the civilian population of the Colonial fleet is probably not as great. This is because Adama has made a number of decisions that are controversial at the very least, such as staging a brief coup against President Roslin, and concealing the fact that some Cylons can pose as human beings.

[edit] Military service

Admiral Adama's Military service record is shown in the dossier prepared for Laura Roslin by Billy Keikeya. It listed the following events in his service history:^[1]

D6/21311 - First commission: Battlestar Galactica fighter squadron
E4/21312 - Commendation for shooting down Cylon fighter in first combat mission
D5/21314 - Mustered out of service post-armistice
R6/21317 - Served as Deck Hand in merchant fleet and as common [...] aboard inter-colony tramp freighters
D1/21331 - Recommissioned in Colonial Fleet
D6/21337 - Major: Battlestar Atlantia
R8/21341 - Executive Officer: Battlestar Columbia
C2/21345 - Commander: Battlestar Valkyrie
C2/21348 - Commander: Battlestar Galactica

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

Edward James Olmos has brown eyes, but he wears contacts when playing William Adama that make Adama's eyes blue. This is done so that Olmos and Jamie Bamber, who plays his son, Lee, will resemble each other more. Reciprocally, Bamber dyes his hair darker to match Olmos' colouring.