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List of Robotech characters

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This is a list of the major character's in Robotech, the American adaptation of three Japanese animated series: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada, as a single TV series. The series is divided into parts called "generations" which are subtitled The Macross Saga, The Second Generation, and The New Generation. A fourth series was planned but was canceled, with only a few episodes being produced which were later combined into a movie The Sentinels. In 2006, a new feature film was released called The Shadow Chronicles as well as a prelude comic Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles.

Backstory

This era concerns developments before the first episode of Robotech.

Zor

Zor Prime is a male Tirolian who was in fact a clone of the original Zor. The original Zor lived at the height of Tirol's civilization when he was responsible for discovering Optera and the Flower of Life. His studies of this miraculous plant in turn led him to develop a powerful energy source known as Protoculture which, in turn, developed a new science known as Robotechnology. Thus, Zor became the founder of this new science and the elite as well as corrupt members of his kind used it to declare themselves the Robotech Masters. Eventually, Zor rebelled against their corrupt rule and took the last known Protoculture Matrix where he hid it aboard his Battle Fortress known as the SDF-1. Whilst seeding the worlds with the Flower of Life, his forces came under attack from the now ravenous and vengeful Invid. Zor would send his ship on a course to an unknown planet before he died and his body was returned to the Robotech Masters who became desperate to find their lost power source. Thus, they dispatched their warrior race of clones known as the Zentraedi to locate the lost Battle Fortress. However, the Imperial Grand Fleet of Dolza was destroyed by the inhabitants of Earth which necessitated the Robotech Masters taking more direct action. As they plotted a course to retrieve the Protoculture factory, they began their biogenetic experiments in creating a clone of Zor. Numerous copies were made but known developed stability enough to be used. Eventually, however, once managed to form and this version became designated Zor Prime who became a loyal servant of the Robotech Masters. Aboard their Tirolian Motherships, the Masters eventually arrived at Earth where Zor Prime was deployed as a commander within the Bioroid forces. He would become involved in the events of the Second Robotech War where he engaged in numerous skirmishes with the Army of the Southern Cross. This battles usually saw him battle Dana Sterling of the 15th Alpha Tactical Armored Corps. When the Masters flagship crashed on Earth, they made preparations for their rescue by their kin. However, before their ship was taken back into orbit, they decided to insert a spy within the Micronian ranks. They ultimately decided to use Zor Prime and implanted a Neuro-sensor in his brain to monitor as well as control his actions. After which they would orchestrate events where he would be captured by the Human forces of the United Earth Government. Zor Prime would be studied by the Global Military Police but it was revealed that the alien pilot had no memory of his past. Thus, he was attached to the 15th Armored Tactical Corps under Lieutenant Sterling's care in order to restore his memories. However, all the time he was at Monument City, his actions were monitored remotely by the Robotech Masters who wanted to learn more about their foe. They were furnished with a great deal of tactical information in this manner about the United Earth Forces military deployments. But constant exposure to Dana Sterling and limited access to military briefings led to his observations being deemed unreliable. In this time, Dana became infatuated with Zor Prime though he would not show her the same amount of attention as she did to him. Eventually, an offensive was launched on the Robotech Masters flagship which Zor Prime participated in where his Human comrades fought against the new Bioroid Armored Fighters. Once they discovered the inherent weakness of the Invid Fighters, the Masters initiated control of Zor Prime and turned him against his Human comrades. Despite being mind controlled, Zor Prime's brain waves indicated a deviancy that indicated the awakening of a dormant racial memory and he eventually disserted his post. Thus, security forces were sent to apprehend him and he underwent a purging whereupon his body would be destroyed. In this time, the 15the Alpha Tactical Armored Corps would rescue him and Zor Prime would be free of the Masters control. Thus, he would aid them in the battle and was responsible for the destruction of one of the Motherships. Upon his return to Earth, he became increasingly erratic as he no longer trusted his own mind and became spiteful. This would lead him to betray his friends by notifying the GMP of Musica being smuggled to Earth. He would later follow her and Bowie Grant as they escaped to the ruins of the SDF-1. Once there, he would regain his memories completely as he recognised that the Flower of Life were responsible for turning him into a monster. He became fixated on gaining revenge against the Masters and aided his comrades infiltrating the Tirolian flagship. Once inside, he operated his Bioroid in fighting his way to the Masters chambers where he kill the ruling Triumvirate just when their ship was above the fallen Protoculture factory. Dana Sterling was dismayed as the Flower of Life had mutated and was sending spores to summon the Invid. Zor Prime, however, promised that nothing would happen to her people and kissed Sterling whereupon he sent her into an escape pod to Earth's surface. He, in the mean time, remained behind where he attempted to time the destruction of the Mothership to bury the Flower of Life and Protoculture Matrix to save the planet. Thus, he targeted the core of the ship and destroyed it along with himself. However, Zor Prime made a critical miscalculation as instead of destroying the Flowers of Life - he unintentionally allowed them to spread where they began to take route around the planet. Though the Second Robotech War ended, the Invid Sensor Nebula would detect the blooming of the Flower and notify the Regess who brought her entire race to the planet which led to the Third Robotech War.

The Macross saga

This era concerns the first two seasons of Robotech, adapted from the first Macross TV series, and related stories, otherwise known as The First Generation.

Rick Hunter

Rick Hunter, voiced voice actor Tony Oliver, is one of the character's in the Robotech anime television series. He begins the series as a naive and headstrong nineteen-year-old civilian pilot, having flown for his father "Pops" Hunter's world-class flying circus.[1]

The first episode begins with Rick Hunter arriving as a visitor to Macross Island in 2009 to watch the launching of the Super Dimensional Fortress One and to visit his "big brother", Roy Fokker. Although happy to see his old friend again, Rick is still resentful that Roy chose to stay in the military instead of coming back to the circus where they performed aerial stunts together. Rick is in the cockpit of one of the transformable Veritech fighters when the Zentraedi forces attack, and receives a crash course in piloting the strange craft from Roy in the midst of the all-out alien invasion. He is present when the SDF-1's accidental hyperspace-fold in the atmosphere takes the island and its inhabitants of Macross City all the way to Pluto, on the edge of the solar system.

During this encounter, Rick rescues and falls for a young girl, Lynn Minmay. The two find themselves trapped in a remote section of the giant ship and become very close during their time together. However, just as they are about to kiss for the first time (in a pretend wedding), the two are finally rescued. Although he is not initially open to the idea, the constant danger to the ship and the city it carries compels Rick to sign up with the Robotech Defense Force, and soon becomes an ace veritech fighter pilot, despite the fact that he is only 19 years old. During his time on the SDF-1, Rick has many dealings with Lisa Hayes, the disciplined and reserved second-in-command of the great ship. During the initial battle on Earth, Rick insults Lisa...thus, when he enlists into the military, she takes it upon herself to ride him a little harder than most new recruits. Due to the constant attacks by the Zentraedi, many veritech pilots are killed or injured and Rick increasingly looks toward Minmay, who has now become a popular singer and New Macross pageant winner, as a source of inspiration and happiness. However, despite their initial closeness, the two gradually grow apart as Rick focuses on his military career while Minmay is constantly mobbed by fans who love her music.

After a mission to rescue Lisa from the soon-to-be-destroyed Mars Base Sara, Rick is awarded a medal, promoted to Lieutenant, and is given his own command (Vermilion Squadron) and two subordinates (Max Sterling and Ben Dixon). Throughout the course of the series, Rick matures and gains experience as the SDF-1 slowly travels back towards Earth while under constant attack from Zentraedi forces, such as learning to eagerly concede that Sterling is far and away the superior pilot compared to himself (and thus a prized wingman). Nevertheless, Rick is accounted as one of the most dangerous and accomplished Robotech warriors in all three series.

During a reconnaissance mission, Rick, Lisa, and Ben are captured by the enemy Zentraedi and interrogated by Supreme Commander Dolza, Breetai, and Exedore. Lisa, suspicious as to why Dolza doesn't just order his massive fleet to attack the SDF-1, yells that Dolza doesn't have the power to attack and that the SDF-1 is far superior to his "bucket of bolts". Infuriated, Dolza slams his hand on the table with enough force to cause the captives to lose their balance. Dolza then extends his hand and grabs Lisa, lifting her up in front of his face. He orders her to tell him by what process humans become human-size. Defiant, Lisa refuses to respond, and Dolza tightens his grip around her until she screams in pain. Fearing that Dolza will kill Lisa, Rick yells at him to stop squeezing her and explains that humans are born, at their current size, when a man and woman love each other. When Breetai asks how "this love" is often expressed, Rick responds that it is often done by kissing one another. Demanding a demonstration, Dolza suggests that Rick and Ben kiss one another, but Rick refuses. As Dolza threatens to crush all of them if he doesn't see a demonstration, Lisa says she will demonstrate. After Dolza returns her to the table, Lisa orders Rick to kiss her, an action that shocks Dolza and the other Zentraedi present. This kiss, ironically, is the start of Rick and Lisa's difficult romance and the beginning of the love triangle between Rick, Lisa, and Lynn Minmei.[2]

After being rescued, Lisa shakes off the event and immediately returns to duty, but she cannot help the feelings she is now developing for Rick, and soon becomes jealous of his obsession with Minmay. Although neither realized it at the time, this kiss marked the start of Rick and Lisa's difficult romance that would take years to ultimately come to fruition, and only after many challenges and heartbreaks. Lisa and Rick's personal relationship would continue to mature, and would eventually progress into an uneasy friendship. Despite the bond that grows between them, Rick remains fixated on Minmay, hanging her posters in his home, much to the dislike of Lisa, who is too shy to tell Rick how she feels. Yet despite Rick's feelings, Minmay's music career and her cousin Lynn Kyle, make their romance more and more difficult.

Even after reaching Earth, the crew of the vast ship is not safe. During a battle led by Miriya Parina to hunt down and destroy Max Sterling, Roy Fokker is killed.[3] A heartbroken Rick is given command of the Skull Squadron and is issued Roy's VF-1S Veritech. Shortly thereafter, Rick is faced with another tragedy when his second wingman, Ben Dixon, is killed in the line of duty.[4] The loss of two of his closest friends devastates Rick emotionally, but he finds the strength to carry on.

Rick faces a challenge of a different sort when his wingmate and best friend Max falls in love with Miriya after she is micronized and infiltrates the SDF-1. Despite Miriya's initial intention to kill Max, she eventually realizes that the feelings Max had awakened in her were not of hate but of love, and the two decide to get married. Max soon meets with Rick to explain his plans to marry Miriya. Rick, after spitting out his coffee in surprise, initially objects to Max's plans and ridicules them as "silly idealism". Rick asks, aside from the fact that he and Miriya have only been on one date, what a human and a Zentraedi could possibly have in common. Max vigorously defends his plan to marry Miriya and introduces her to Rick. Rick, after seeing Miriya in a pink dress, is amazed at how beautiful she is and he suddenly changes his mind. Rick even agrees to help them with their wedding plans. That night, as he lies in bed, he thinks to himself how happy Max is to be married, despite that fact that Miriya is an alien of a hostile race. His thoughts soon drift to Lisa as he tries to sort out the love triangle between Lisa, Minmay, and himself.

In the battle against the Zentraedi Grand Fleet, Rick, like the rest of the SDF-1 crew, is devastated as he watches the fleet fire on Earth and destroy almost all life on the planet. Rick fears for Lisa, who had been assigned to Alaska Base after returning to Earth and being unable to leave. In the subsequent battle, Rick's fighter takes damage, and he is temporarily knocked out. When he comes to, he picks up a distress signal from Alaska Base from Lisa Hayes. Despite the risk, Rick flies into the heavily damaged base and descends several miles until he reaches Lisa. The two run into each other's arms before racing back to the fighter. As the base starts collapsing, Rick manages to fly his fighter out of the base and lands it on the planet's devastated surface. As Rick and Lisa stand together, wondering if anyone else survived, they look up and watch the SDF-1, although severely damaged from battle, land safely nearby, marking the end of the First Robotech War.

As the 70,000 survivors of the Zentraedi holocaust rebuild Earth, Rick once again becomes obsessed with Minmay, much to the dislike of Lisa, who wishes that Rick could understand that she loves him, but he remains uncomfortable around her due to the age difference and the fact that she is a superior officer. When Lisa gives Rick photos of her for his photo album in an attempt to compete with Minmay, he is not sure how to react. After Minmay and her cousin Kyle are kidnapped by Khyron, Rick leads a rescue operation to save her, further straining his relationship with Lisa, leading to a fight. The next day an agitated Rick cruelly lashes out at Lisa to stay out of his personal life and then tries to hurt her by flirting with Vanessa, causing Lisa to leave. Vanessa and her fellow operators become disgusted with Rick and try to make him understand that Lisa loves him. On his way home that night Rick realizes he was wrong to behave the way he did and, after thinking about Vanessa's words and the photos Lisa gave him, he starts to realize Lisa's feelings are true and tries to talk to her after finding her at Claudia's home. Shortly after that, Rick decides to ask Lisa out for a picnic, which she accepts, but Minmay calls him to have lunch with her, which he reluctantly agrees to hoping he can finish early enough to still meet Lisa, but the day is dashed by the interference of Kyle and a Zentraedi attack. When Rick finally does get to Lisa, who spends all day waiting for him at an outdoor cafe, he tries to salvage the day but Lisa learns he has been with Minmay and storms away from him in anger. Afterward, Minmay has a falling out with Kyle and goes out in search of Rick, rekindling their love during the holidays and sharing a kiss on Christmas Eve. Lisa is devastated and initially decides to resign her military commission as she feels she cannot serve beside Rick due to her feelings for him.[5] After spending more time with her during the holidays, however, Rick begins to realize that he cannot relate to Minmay anymore, as his experiences in combat have changed him from the person he was when they met, and that Lisa understands him better than Minmay does.

When Khyron attacks New Macross City and the SDF-1 in January 2014, Rick must tear himself away from Minmay's arms to attend to his duty. Minmay cannot accept that Rick must constantly risk his life in battle and begs him to leave the military, something that Rick could never do. Khyron eventually launches a suicide run at the SDF-1, killing himself and everyone aboard except for Lisa, who was pushed into an ejection pod at the last moment by Admiral Henry J. Gloval. In addition to Admiral Gloval, Lisa's close friends Claudia Grant, Vanessa Leeds, Sammy Porter, and Kim Young are killed. As Rick realizes that Lisa is alive, the two run into each other's arms as Minmay watches nearby. Rick and Minmay have already realized that they could never be together as he is dedicated to the military and she is dedicated to her music. Rick also realizes that his love for Minmay is based on euphoria, while his love for Lisa is stronger and deeper than he had ever realized until now.[6]

Lisa Hayes

Lisa Hayes is one of the fictional characters in the first Robotech anime television series.[7]

In February 2009, Lisa takes her position as First Officer with the rank of lieutenant commander aboard the SDF-1 as it prepares to launch approximately 10 years after it crashed on Earth. However, the sudden arrival of the Zentraedi in Earth orbit marks the beginning of the First Robotech War. In the initial battle, Lisa played a major role in the survival of the SDF-1, as it fought against Zentraedi forces. After a miscalculated fold maneuver transported the SDF-1 and Macross City past the orbit of Pluto, Lisa time and again saved the ship with her quick thinking and actions, as well as her continuous attention to detail and duty as First Officer. During a battle near Saturn, Lisa created the Daedelaus Maneuver as a means of attacking and destroying an enemy Zentraedi vessel.

When the SDF-1 was trapped on Mars by gravity mines, Lisa set the power generators of Sara Base to overload. The ensuing explosion took out the gravity mines, allowing the fortress to take off. Lisa doesn't expect to survive this operation, but she is rescued by Rick Hunter, whom she still regards as immature and brash. The rescue earns Rick a medal and he is promoted to Group leader, much to the initial dislike of Lisa.[8]

Lisa proves her physical, as well as emotional, strength when she, along with Rick Hunter and Ben Dixon, are captured by the enemy Zentraedi and interrogated by Supreme Commander Dolza, Breetai and Exedore. Lisa, suspicious as to why Dolza doesn't just order his massive fleet to attack the SDF-1, yells that Dolza doesn't have the power to attack and that the SDF-1 is far superior to his "bucket of bolts." Dolza, infuriated, slams his hand on the table with enough force to cause the captives to lose their balance. Dolza then extends his hand and grasps Lisa, lifting her up in front of her face. He orders her to tell him by what process humans become human-size. Lisa, defiant, refuses to respond, and Dolza tightens his grip around her until she screams in pain. Rick, fearing that Dolza will kill Lisa, yells at him to stop squeezing her and explains that humans are born, at their current size, when a man and woman love each other. When Breetai asks how "this love" is often expressed, Rick responds that it is often done by kissing one another. Demanding a demonstration, Dolza suggests that Rick and Ben kiss one another, but Rick refuses. As Dolza threatens to crush all of them if he doesn't see a demonstration, Lisa says she will demonstrate. After Dolza returns her to the table, Lisa orders Rick to kiss her, an action which shocks Dolza and the other Zentraedi present. This kiss, ironically, is the start of Rick and Lisa's difficult romance and the beginning of the love triangle between Rick, Lisa and Lynn Minmei.[9] After being rescued, Lisa shakes off the event and immediately returns to duty, but she cannot help the feelings she is now developing for Rick, and soon becomes jealous of his obsession with Minmei. Lisa and Rick's personal relationship would continue to mature, and would eventually progress into an uneasy friendship. Rick is initially uncomfortable around Lisa, not only because she is a superior officer but also because she is five years older than he is. Rick remains fixated on Minmei, hanging her posters in his home, much to the dislike of Lisa (who turns one of the posters upside down in annoyance). Yet despite Rick's feelings, Minmei's music career and her cousin Lynn Kyle, make their romance more and more difficult.

Before the battle against Dolza's grand fleet, Lisa returns to Earth to meet with her father and finds herself prohibited from returning to the SDF-1. During this time she is promoted to the rank of a full commander. Lisa is working as an operations/communications officer at the underground Alaska base when the battle begins. Although the base survives the initial bombardment, which devastates 95% of the surface, it sustains heavy damage, trapping Lisa deep inside. Furthermore, her father's attempt for a second firing of the Grand Cannon resulted in a massive explosion that killed him before Lisa's eyes while communicating with him. Rick, in his damaged but flyable Veritech fighter, leaves the battle in space after picking up Lisa's distress call. Rick flies deep into the base, despite the danger of energy blasts and structural collapses and reaches Lisa. The two run to each other's arms and hug before jumping back into Rick's fighter. The two barely escape and fly together in each other's arms to safe location and watch the SDF-1 land after its victory.[10]

In 2012, following the defeat of the Zentraedi fleet, Lisa settles down in New Macross City and works toward rebuilding Earth after the devastation from the war. However, Lisa continues to struggle with the feelings she has for Rick which are not returned as Rick continues to pursue Minmay, despite everything that he and Lisa have been through together. Lisa is frustrated that even though Rick knows how she feels about him, he continues to fixate on Minmay despite the fact that she barely spends any time with him. As her jealousy of Minmei grows, Lisa begins to realize just how lonely she truly is. In early 2013, while sitting at an outdoor cafe, she contemplates the love triangle between the three of them when she overhears two men talking about how women were "dealt all the aces" when it comes to relationships, to which Lisa says to herself "that's all you know...here's one woman who would trade every ace in the deck for one Rick Hunter." Lisa then spots her friends, Max Sterling and Miriya Parina Sterling, happily walking together while pushing a baby carriage. The Sterlings stop for a moment and Max, proudly smiling, reaches into the carriage and lifts little Dana Sterling, their new baby, into his arms while Miriya watches with joy. Max then makes a funny face and Dana smiles in response. Lisa thinks to herself "they look so happy, I can just imagine how it must be. If only Rick could understand" and momentarily, in Lisa's mind, she sees herself and Rick in place of Max and Miriya. Lisa's thoughts are then interrupted when she hears Minmay's songs on a portable radio being carried by two soldiers nearby. One of the soldiers states that he would give a month's pay just to meet her. Lisa gets up and walks away, thinking to herself "There doesn't seem to be any way I can escape you Minmei. I guess some women really were dealt all the aces."[11]

In June 2013, Lisa, newly promoted to the rank of captain, along with Rick, Max, Miriya and Claudia participate in an operation under Breetai to capture the last remaining Zentraedi Satellite Factory in deep space. During the mission, Lisa tries to talk to Rick about their troubled relationship but they are interrupted when Breetai's ship defolds near the factory. As a diversionary tactic, Breetai suggests that Rick and Lisa kiss on screen in front of the hostile Zentraedi (who have had no exposure to human emotions) to disorient them long enough for the rest of the plan to be executed. Rick initially refuses but Lisa forces him to kiss her, much to his dismay.[12] In the fall of 2013, when Rick rescues Minmei and Kyle after they are kidnapped by Khyron, Minmei runs to Rick's arms and the two embrace while Lisa, visibly upset, watches with anger and sadness and the two get into a fight. After a failed attempt at reconciling, Lisa then decides that Rick will never be with her due to his feelings for Minmei, and she gives up and decides to resign her military career after nearly suffering a nervous breakdown from the whole ordeal.[13]

In January 2014, Lisa would earn command of the Super Dimensional Fortress Two which would require her to leave Earth; before leaving Lisa stops by Rick's home to tell him of her promotion and tells him that, despite it all, she truly loves him. Unfortunately, this command would be short-lived, as the SDF-2 would be destroyed in a suicide run by Zentraedi renegade Khyron. Lisa is nearly killed in the crossfire as she tries to get to the SDF-2, but Rick comes to her rescue and helps her the rest of the way. The SDF-1 was also destroyed in this battle. Lisa is the only member of the Bridge crew to survive - Admiral Henry J. Gloval, Commander Claudia Grant, Lt. Vanessa Leeds, Lt. Sammy Porter and Lt. Kim Young die at their posts. Lisa only survives because Admiral Gloval pushes her into the only remaining functional escape pod.[6]

Following Khryon's final attack, Rick and Minmei's relationship is ended as Minmei begs Rick not to leave her during the battle. Rick tries to explain that his job as a soldier requires him to fight, something which Minmei cannot understand or accept and Rick must tear himself away from her to join the battle. At the end of the battle, Rick realizes that he could never be with Minmei and that Lisa, who shares his commitment to the military and the defense of Earth, is the one he loves. Minmei, although sad, accepts that she and Rick can never be together due to his dedication to his military career and her dedication to her music career.[6] Rick and Lisa, finally together, spend the next eight years overseeing the rebuilding of Earth and the construction of the SDF-3. Despite the long and rocky start, Rick and Lisa form a strong and lasting romance that lasts for the rest of the Robotech Saga. In Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles, (set in 2043–2044) the two are still in love, despite all the challenges they have faced during the last three decades.

Max Sterling

Maximillian Sterling, voiced by Cam Clarke (credited as "Jimmy Flinders" at the time), is one of the fictional characters in the Robotech anime television series. He is a young fighter pilot assigned to Rick Hunter's various commands (Black Group, Vermillion Team, and Skull Squadron) along with Ben Dixon. He is 19 years old at the beginning of the Robotech's "Macross Saga" and is easily recognized by his blue hair and glasses. His unassuming personality belies his deadly prowess as the SDF-1’s most renowned Veritech pilot. Max is preternaturally talented with near-perfect fighting judgment. He is widely recognized to be the most dangerous Veritech combat pilot in the entire Robotech universe.

Max wasted little time distinguishing himself among both his fellow RDF pilots and their Zentraedi adversaries, as he notched nine confirmed kills in his first combat sortie in his trademark blue VF-1. Max was recognized as a true aviation prodigy, and his potential earned the attention of Roy Fokker, the SDF-1’s air group commander, who then assigned both Max and Ben to the newly created Vermillion group under the command of Lt. Rick Hunter. In the course of the war, Max's skills were put to an ultimate test of survival during a reconnaissance mission that the Vermillion Group undertook to scout Zentraedi targets. After escaping capture by Zentraedi under the command of Breetai, he infiltrated Breetai's battleship in his Veritech and disguised it with a Zentraedi uniform. Max then helped Rick and Ben pilot a Zentraedi battlepod back to the SDF-1.

Max and Rick would become lifelong friends and would later serve together with the Robotech Expeditionary Force. His fighting prowess eventually gained the attention of Zentraedi Quadrano ace Miriya Parina, who then sought him out in a furious battle that found its way into the streets of Macross City. Unbeknown to Max, his defeat of the Zentraedi force’s finest pilot made him marked for death by Miriya, who becomes so obsessed with finding him that she has herself micronized to human size in order to infiltrate the SDF-1 in an effort to find him. After several near encounters, Max and Miriya finally confronted each other in a video game clash at an arcade. Max again defeats Miriya and Miriya concludes (correctly) that Max is the pilot who had bested her in real combat. As Miriya storms off in anger, Max grabs her wrist and asks her to go out with him on a date. Miriya accepts, although she secretly plots to kill him when they meet.[14]

Max, after consulting with his friend Rick Hunter about what he should wear, arrives at the park where he eagerly awaits Miriya's arrival. Hiding in the bushes, Miriya draws a knife and runs toward Max who, proclaiming in English a Zentraedi war cry: "Maximillian, prepare for your doom!" and throws the knife at him. Despite the surprise, Max is able to dodge Miriya's first attack and the knife buries itself in a tree. Miriya reveals that she is a Zentraedi warrior and that her mission is to take revenge against him, prompting Max to say "There goes our first date." Drawing a second knife, she continues to swing and thrust at Max, who struggles to dodge her attacks. Max manages to pull the first knife out of the tree and after a short fight, Max manages to disarm her and points the knife at her face while proudly proclaiming "I guess I win again." Beaten for a third time, Miriya becomes emotionally despondent and her anger and hatred give way to sadness. She falls to her knees, and asks a now shocked Max to kill her. Crying, Miriya believes she cannot live with the shame of being defeated and that her only option now to die by his hand. Yet despite all that has just occurred, Max puts his finger under Miriya's chin and says that he could never harm her because she is "so beautiful". Max and Miriya look into each other's eyes and Miriya realizes that the feelings that Max has awoken within her are not of hate but of love and the two, after seeming floating in air towards each other, passionately kiss. Max wipes a tear from Miriya's cheek and, although he admits it sounds crazy, asks Miriya to marry him. Miriya accepts, even though she has no idea what marriage is and despite the fact that the two have only been in love for a few moments.[15]

Later, Max meets with Rick Hunter to explain what has transpired as well as his plans to marry Miriya. Rick, after spitting out his coffee in surprise, initially objects to Max's plans to marry Miriya and ridicules them as "silly idealism". Rick asks, aside from the fact that he and Miriya have only been on one date, what a human and a Zentraedi could possibly have in common. Max vigorously defends his plan to marry Miriya and introduces her to Rick. Rick, after seeing Miriya in a pink dress, is amazed at how beautiful she is and he suddenly changes his mind. Rick even agrees to help them with their wedding plans.[15] The two former rivals, now completely in love despite their rocky start, are married the very same day, using the same knives they fought with to cut the cake at a huge ceremony attended by all their friends and broadcast on television across the SDF-1. Captain Henry J. Gloval even speaks at the wedding to congratulate the two lovers and to call for peace between the two races. Even the Zentraedi observe the wedding by way of intercepted television signals, and many, including Breetai and Exedore, watch with curiosity. Many Zentraedi, after watching the wedding and joy that it has brought to the two lovers, become even more attracted to the human way of life and further question their current austere lives as warriors.[15]

As the first marriage between a human and a Zentraedi, the union of Max and Miriya became an unlikely symbol of peace and understanding during the First Robotech War. The wedding is interrupted by a massive Zentraedi attack as Breetai is ordered by Dolza to send his entire fleet to destroy the SDF-1. Max and Miriya race off to battle, with Miriya insisting Max take her with him in his veritech fighter. Miriya shows Max how to disable Zentraedi power armor without killing the pilots, a tactic which is then utilized by the SDF-1's forces. This development, combined with their increased exposure to human emotions and culture (which was amplified by seeing Miriya, their greatest warrior, get married to a human) causes a wave of mutinies to spread through the Zentraedi fleet as soldiers refuse to fight and turn against their superiors, forcing Breetai to call a truce. Thus, Max's decision to spare Miriya's life not only led to his marriage to his former rival but also saved the lives of everyone aboard the SDF-1.[15] Afterwards, Miriya becomes Max's wingmate on duty, piloting a distinctive red VF-1 alongside Max's blue one. The two are almost always together, even in battle. In the final battle against Dolza's Grand Fleet, the two fight side by side in their veritechs. Despite the seemingly impossible odds they face, they smile at each as they engage the enemy fleet.[10]

After the Zentraedi Fleet that nearly destroys the earth is vanquished, Max and Miriya settle down in New Macross City and begin a new life together. In October 2012, Miriya gives birth to a daughter, Dana Sterling, the first child born from a Human/Zentraedi union. Max, now aged 22, becomes a proud and happy father, despite Dana's playfulness with his hair and her midnight feedings. In episode 28, "Reconstruction Blues", Max and Miriya are seen happily walking together while pushing a baby carriage. They stop for a moment and Max, proudly smiling, lifts little Dana out of the carriage and into his arms as Miriya watches with joy. Max then makes a funny face and Dana smiles in response. Max and Miriya's happy marriage and their baby daughter become the envy of Lisa Hayes and Claudia Grant.[11] With his new family, Max is happier than he has ever been before and Miriya, despite her previous life as a ruthless Zentraedi warrior, proves to be a happy and loving mother, who shows as much love and caring for her child as any human mother could. Both look forward to raising their daughter in a peaceful world, but the start of the Zentraedi rebellions in March 2013 and the reemergence of Khyron and Azonia forces Max and Miriya to resume their military roles as veritech fighter pilots as the dream of a peaceful world soon comes crashing down.

In June 2013, Max and Miriya take part in an important mission into deep space to capture the last remaining Zentraedi Factory Satellite. The mission proves highly unorthodox when Admiral Henry J. Gloval asks them to bring Dana (who is only eight months old) along. However, the plan soon becomes clear. After Breetai's ship defolds near the factory, Max and Miriya take off in their Veritech fighters and blast their way into the enemy command ship. Immediately surrounded by Zentraedi soldiers, Commander Reno orders them to surrender. However, Miriya calmly reaches into her fighter and lifts little Dana into view. Dana, cradled in Miriya's arms and wearing a tiny pink and white Dr. Denton's spacesuit is an object of terror to the hostile Zentraedi, who have had no exposure to human culture and have never seen a baby before. The surrounding Zentraedi soldiers recoil in shock and fear while Max smiles as Miriya explains that their child was "actually created inside my own body - but by both of us" as she indicates towards him. The hostile Zentraedi conclude Dana is a mutation who is contagious and flee in terror. This throws the command ship's crew into chaos which causes disorder throughout the enemy fleet, allowing the United Earth Forces to seize the factory.[12]

In December 2013, Max and Miriya join the in attempt to stop Khyron as he steals a protoculture matrix from New Macross City. However, after Khyron detonates bombs hidden throughout the city, they are forced to turn back to help rescue civilians from the resulting fires. Despite the misery that occurs so close to Christmas, Max and Miriya happily stand on their balcony later that night and watch the SDF-1 lit up with Christmas lights. Once again smiling, Max puts one arm around his wife and with the other lifts little Dana, who is initially startled onto his shoulder. Dana then starts pulling on Max's hair while giggling, causing Max to grumble in response.[5]

In January 2014, Max and Miriya again fight alongside Rick Hunter in the final battle against Khyron and rebel Zentraedi. However, despite their efforts, Khyron is still able to steer his warship in a suicide run against the SDF-1, destroying it and rendering New Macross City uninhabitable due to the radioactive fallout from the ships' destruction. Like Rick, Max and Miriya are devastated by the loss of their friends but find the strength to carry on. Both continue to serve as pilots during the remaining Zentraedi rebellions of 2014 and 2015.[6] Their child, Dana Sterling, would later become a leading figure in the Second Robotech War pitting the United Earth Forces, including the elite Army of the Southern Cross against the Robotech Masters when they arrive in Earth orbit in 2029. Like her parents, Dana proves to be a skilled pilot and plays a critical role in saving humanity from alien threats. Dana also inherits her parents' strength and perseverance, as well as their tactical instincts. Throughout the 35 years (2009–2044) that currently span the Robotech Saga, Max is portrayed as Rick Hunter's most trusted lieutenant through all of his commands and campaigns as well as his best friend. Max and Miriya are depicted as the perfect couple, always together and always in love and symbolize the best of both Humans and the Zentraedi in the numerous challenges they face.

In December 2022, Max and Miriya joined their friends Rick and Lisa Hayes-Hunter aboard the SDF-3 as part of the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF).[16] By this point Max has gotten his hair cut shorter, possibly because he didn't like his daughter Dana playing with it when she was an infant. Although difficult for them, they left a young Dana on Earth with her godfather, General Rolf Emerson and his wife Laura. Dana, the only child of a human/Zentraedi union, was deemed by Professor Lazlo Zand to be too scientifically valuable to risk going with the REF. Max and Miriya hoped that the mission would be over quickly but events would keep the SDF-3 away from Earth for the rest of Dana's childhood.[17] Dana eventually becomes one who first graduates from the Robotech Military Academy, following in the footsteps of her parents. During the mission, Max assumed Rick's former role as commander of the famed Skull Squadron. The REF expedition, which failed to return to Earth against the Robotech Masters, got caught in a war with the Invid on a number of planets, as chronicled in Robotech II: The Sentinels and was unable to send significant aid back to Earth during the Second Robotech War.[16] REF divisions were sent against the Invid following the invasion of Earth in 2031 but all failed against the Invid's superior numbers.[18]

Miriya Parina

Miriya Parina Also known as: Miriya Sterling Ace of the Zentraedi Elite Forces, Captain of the Quadrano Squadron The ace of the Zentraedi Forces, Miriya is a fearsome warrior who piloted the Zentraedi Power Armor. Upon discovering the combat talents of Max Sterling, Miriya takes it upon herself to hunt him down, but finds herself frustrated by the "micronian" ace in combat. Miriya infiltrates the SDF-1 to challenge Max and regain her honor but finds herself humiliated in a video game duel against him tries to kill him in a knife fight. Beaten for a last time, she suddenly finds herself in love and marries him in a historic wedding that unites the humans and the Zentraedi. Miriya sticks by Max's side through the war and helps rebuild Earth from the ashes left by Dolza's fleet Miriya Parina Sterling is a female Zentraedi who served as an ace pilot within the Imperial Zentraedi Forces before defecting to the Robotech Defense Force A born warrior, Miriya Parina eventually rose to become an ace within the Zentraedi Elite Forces and a Captain of the Quadrano Squadron. She was noted as being a fearsome combatant that piloted a Female Power Armor and entered into the First Robotech War as Commander Azonia's first officer. Miriya was tasked with the mission of leading several raids against the Human forces and retrieve the SDF-1. She was known to had belittled Khyron for his failures with the Backstabber stating that a Micronian ace was present on the battle fortress that she could not defeat. Intrigued, Miriya Parina led an assault on Earth against the SDF-1 during a battle that led to Robotech Defense Force pilot Roy Fokker being killed. However, Miriya was forced to retreat after her mecha was damaged at the hands of Max Sterling. After being defeated, Miriya was determined to find the pilot that had excelled her combat talents. She intended to get her revenge on him by hunting him down and micronized herself in order to infiltrate the battle fortress. Miriya spent sometime among the Humans while attempting to find Sterling with the intention of regaining her honor. Whilst endulging in video games, she managed to successfully encounter Sterling. She was defeated in the video game duel and later tried to kill Max in a knife fight at the park. However, she was defeated again and shocked to learn that Sterling was in love with her. She in turn found herself to experience love and later married Max Sterling in an event that marked the first union between a Zentraedi with a Human. Following the wedding, she stuck by his side and encouraged an end to the fighting between her people with Sterling's. She later piloted her own red colored Veritech fighter in battling Dolza's Grand Fleet. Afterwards, she helped keep the peace during the rebuilding of the planet and had a daughter with Max Sterling who was named Dana Sterling. Miriya during the pioneer expedition. With the end of the First Robotech War, Miriya joined her husband in the mission of preventing another Robotech War. This was because of the belief that the Robotech Masters would come to Earth to claim the secrets of Protoculture. Thus, the Robotech Expeditionary Force was assembled and the Pioneer Expedition was formed with the intention of traveling to Tirol to negotiate a peace. Miriya accompanied the mission but left her young daughter Dana behind on Earth where she would be safe and left her in the care of Rolf Emerson. Three years later, she gave birth to another daughter named Maia Parina Seeking the man that defeated her, ace UN Spacy pilot Max Sterling , she falls in love with him, becoming one of the first Zentradi to defect to the humans. She and Max marry and start a family together Miriya enters the First Robotech War as Commander Azonia's first officer and the leader of the Quadrono Battalion. Miriya is a female warlord and is considered the greatest warrior of all the Zentraedi. She is a fearsome warrior who pilots the Zentraedi Power Armor and she considered herself to be unbeatable in combat. When the Zentraedi attack the SDF-1 in 2009, Miriya leads several raids against the human forces; including one in which ace pilot Roy Fokker is killed. Miriya enjoys combat and takes great pride in the fact that she has never once failed to defeat a foe in combat. In April 2011, upon a challenge from Khyron that there was a "Micronian" [human] ace aboard the SDF-1 that even she could not best, who happens to be Max Sterling, though Khyron was actually referring to Rick Hunter. Intrigued, Miriya takes it upon herself to engage him in combat but finds herself frustrated as she cannot defeat him, a situation which she had never faced before nor did she think was possible. Determined to maintain her reputation, Miriya decides to be micronized to human form so she can infiltrate the SDF-1 to find the pilot and kill him. During the micronization process, Miriya's height is reduced from 8.55 metres (28 feet) to 1.78 metres (5.8 feet) and her weight is reduced from 6,250 kilograms (13,779 pounds) to 53 kilograms (117 pounds). After infiltrating the SDF-1, Miriya explores Macross City and marvels at human culture. At a video game arcade (which Miriya believes is a combat training facility), she again finds herself unbeatable at a combat simulation game until she is challenged to a duel by Max Sterling, who is the incredibly skilled pilot whom Miriya had dueled against in real combat. Max, who is attracted to Miriya, challenges her to a video game in the hope of getting to know her better. After a short game, Max defeats her, and Miriya concludes (correctly) that Max must be the ace pilot whom she faced in real combat. Miriya is furious that she has been beaten again but as she storms off, Max asks her out on a date. Miriya, still determined to defeat him, accepts, although she secretly plots to kill him. Max, after consulting with his friend Rick Hunter about what he should wear, arrives at the park where he awaits Miriya's arrival. Hiding in the bushes, Miriya draws a knife and runs toward Max who, proclaiming, in English, a Zentraedi war cry: "Maximillian, prepare for your doom!" and throws the knife at him. Despite the surprise, Max is able to dodge Miriya's first attack and the knife buries itself in a tree. Miriya reveals that she is a Zentraedi warrior and that her mission is revenge against him, prompting Max to say "There goes our first date." Drawing a second knife, she continues to swing and thrust the knife at Max. Max manages to pull the first knife out of the tree and after a short fight; Max manages to disarm her and points the knife at her face while proudly proclaiming "I guess I win again." Beaten for a third time, Miriya becomes emotionally despondent and her anger and hatred give way to sadness. She falls to her knees, and asks Max to kill her. Crying, Miriya believes she cannot live with the shame of being defeated and that her only option now to die by his hand. Yet despite everything that has just occurred, Max says that he could never harm her because she is so beautiful. Max and Miriya look into each other's eyes and Miriya realizes that the feelings she holds toward Max are not of hate but of love. The two, after seemingly floating in air towards each other, passionately kiss. Max wipes a tear from Miriya's cheek and, although he admits it sounds crazy, asks her to marry him. Miriya, with no idea what marriage is, accepts his proposal.[2] Wedding preparations soon begin, and the two are married in a historic wedding aboard the SDF-1. Max and Miriya are the first union of a human and a Zentraedi, which becomes an unlikely symbol of peace between the two races as their wedding raises hopes throughout the SDF-1 that peace with the Zentraedi is possible.[2] The wedding proves to be such a significant event that the Zentraedi also observe the wedding (which was broadcast on television). When Breetai, who is watching the event on his monitor, asks Exedore what Miriya is doing, Exedore states that she is "getting married" an further explaining that marriage is "a condition in which male and female live together." Breetai, despite his view that marriage is a "strange Micronian custom," nonetheless believes that Miriya is enjoying herself and he wonders aloud what he suspects: that Miriya, like previous Zentraedi defectors, has found the human way of life too enjoyable to resist. Exedore comments that human emotions are something which the Zentraedi seem to have no defense against. Breetai is subsequently ordered by Zentraedi supreme commander Dolza to launch a full-scale assault to destroy the SDF-1, but by now, Breetai, like many of the Zentraedi under him, is having second thoughts. The battle begins after the wedding ceremony and Miriya insists that Max take her with him in his Veritech fighter. Holding hands, the two race off to battle. During the fight, Miriya shows Max how to disable Zentraedi Battlepods without killing the pilots. This new tactic is then utilized by the rest of the SDF-1's forces. This development, combined with the Zentraedi's increased exposure to human emotions and the realization that the human way of life may just be more enjoyable (a feeling that was amplified by watching Miriya, their greatest warrior, get married to a human) causes a wave of mutinies to spread through the Zentraedi fleet as soldiers refuse to fight and turn against their superiors. Breetai, realizing that his forces can no longer fight, is forced to call a truce with the SDF-1, although by now even Breetai has accepted that the humans do not have to be his enemies.[2] Miriya initially has trouble adapting to life among humans and a culture that she never knew existed only a short time earlier. On their wedding night, her first attempt to cook proves disastrous (and humorous) as she mistakenly uses cooking oil in a coffee pot, which starts a fire in the kitchen. Max, after putting out the fire with an extinguisher, sighs and states that mornings are going to be rough without any coffee.[2] Despite the rocky start to their marriage, the two enjoy their wedding night. In the Jack McKinney novel Force of Arms (book five of the series) Miriya, who had never even heard of, let alone experienced, physical intimacy before, later reflects on this experience: "kissing was still an amazing thing to her; lovemaking left her at a complete loss for words." Miriya sticks by Max's side through the rest of the war. She proves herself an extremely skilled Veritech pilot and becomes Max's wingmate, piloting a distinctive red Veritech fighter alongside Max's blue one. In the final battle against Dolza's armada in 2011, Max and Miriya, after smiling at each other from their fighter cockpits, begin fighting side by side against the seemingly impossible odds. Both survive the battle which ends the First Robotech War.[3] After the war, Max and Miriya settle down in New Macross City, built around the ruins of the SDF-1, and begin a new life together. In October 2012, Miriya gives birth to a daughter, Dana Sterling, the first child born from a Human/Zentraedi union. Max and Miriya happily embrace their new role as parents, and can often be seen walking together holding arms in New Macross City while pushing a baby carriage. In episode 28, "Reconstruction Blues", Miriya watches with joy as Max proudly holds baby Dana in his arms. As a baby, Dana has seagreen hair and looks so much like her mother.[4] Miriya, despite her previous life as Zentraedi warrior, shows as much love for her child as any human mother could; and views it as a miracle that she could create life inside her own body. Miriya's happy marriage and her baby daughter become the envy of Lisa Hayes, who struggles with her feelings for Rick Hunter throughout the first Robotech Saga. Claudia Grant, whose lover Roy Fokker was killed in the First Robotech War, also envies Miriya and her family, as she was never able to have a child of her own with Roy. Like Max, Miriya is now happier than she has ever been before and looks forward to raising her daughter in a new and peaceful world. However, when Zentraedi rebellions begin to break out in March 2013 and Khyron and Azonia reemerge after two years in hiding, both are forced back into combat as the dream of a peaceful world comes crashing down. In June 2013, Max and Miriya take part in an important mission under Breetai into deep space to capture the last remaining Zentraedi Factory Satellite. The mission proves highly unorthodox when Admiral Henry J. Gloval asks them to bring Dana (who is only eight months old) along to serve as a diversion. After Breetai's ship defolds near the factory, Max and Miriya blast into the enemy Zentraedi command ship's control area in their veritech fighters. Miriya then proudly displays baby Dana, cradled in her arms and wearing a tiny pink and white Dr. Denton's spacesuit, to the hostile Zentraedi on board. The hostile Zentraedi, who have had no exposure to human culture and have never seen a baby before, recoil in shock as one soldier shouts "That thing is deformed!" Dana coos as she brings her hands to the faceshield of her helmet in an effort to rub her eyes, prompting another Zentraedi soldier to shout "It moves!" Miriya smiles and explains that "in the micronian [human] language, this is what is called an infant; actually created inside my own body. But by both of us," indicating towards Max. Miriya then declares that Dana is a symbol of protoculture and love and lifts Dana above her head in full view of all the Zentraedi in the area while declaring "Observe the power of protoculture! The power of love!" The Zentraedi become filled with terror as they conclude Dana is a mutation who is contagious and flee in fear. The resulting chaos aboard the enemy command ship causes disorder throughout the enemy fleet, allowing the United Earth Forces and their Zentraedi allies under Breetai to launch an attack that cripples the enemy forces and seizing the factory to assist in the rebuilding of Earth.[5] In December 2013, Khyron's forces launch an attack against New Macross City to steal a protoculture matrix to repower his warship. Max and Miriya join in the attempt to stop him but as his forces escape, he detonates bombs hidden throughout the city, causing extensive damage and injuries. Max and Miriya turn back to help fight the resulting fires and rescue survivors. Yet despite the misery so close to Christmas, Max and Miriya are later seen on their balcony with Dana, watching the SDF-1 lit up with Christmas lights. In January 2014, Max and Miriya join their friends in the Battle of New Macross as Khyron launches an assault in his repowered warship to destroy the SDF-1. Despite their efforts, Khyron launches a suicide run, destroying his own ship as well as the SDF-1 and newly completed SDF-2. Many of their friends, including Admiral Gloval, Claudia Grant, Vanessa Leeds, Sammy Porter and Kim Young die in the battle. Although devastated by the loss of their friends, Max and Miriya vow to continue to work to rebuild Earth and to take humanity to the stars. Robotech Expeditionary Force[edit] In December 2022, the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF), led by the newly completed SDF-3, departed from Earth on a mission into deep space to find the Robotech Masters' homeworld. Max and Miriya, along with Rick, Lisa Hayes-Hunter, Vince Grant and Jean Grant are among those who left on the mission in hopes of preventing another war on Earth. Max and Miriya reluctantly leave Dana, now 10 years old, behind with Major Rolf Emerson, a close family friend. Dana, as the only child of a human/Zentraedi union, had been judged by Dr. Lazlo Zand as being too valuable to risk going with the REF. Dana would eventually follow in her parents' footsteps and becomes one of the first graduates of the United Earth Military academy into the elite Army of the Southern Cross. Dana, who has her parents' military skills and instincts, becomes the leading character of the Second Robotech War when the Robotech Masters, having left their homeworld 15 years earlier, reach Earth to reclaim the protoculture in the ruins of the SDF-1 in 2029. Max and Miriya hoped that the mission would be over quickly, but events would keep the SDF-3 away from Earth for the rest of Dana's childhood. The mission would last 22 years, during which time Max and Miriya would have a second daughter, Maia Sterling, who would become the leader of Skull Squadron during the assault on Reflex Point towards the end of the Third Robotech War. In order to avoid infringing on the original designs for Macross characters designed by Haruhiko Mikimoto, Miriya, like other Macross characters was redesigned for later Robotech productions, including Robotech II: The Sentinels. In contrast to her long bright green hair in the original series, Miriya now sports a much shorter hairstyle with a darker green color. Unlike the rest of Robotech's surviving first generation characters, there is no mention of Miriya in the comic series Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles or the film Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles and her fate is presently unknown. Secondary Continuity[edit] For Miriya, the emotional changes she experiences during the series are profound. At the beginning of the series, Miriya is a ruthless Zentraedi warrior who has known nothing but war her entire life. In only two years, she becomes not only a loving wife but also a mother. This incredible transformation is expressed in the following passage from the decanonized Jack McKinney novel "Doomsday" (book six of the series): The baby was peacefully asleep on her breast, and just looking at her, it was all Miriya could do to keep from weeping for joy. A miracle, she told herself ten times a day: that she and Max could produce such innocent loveliness; that she, a former warrior, could feel this way about anyone or anything. Such unknown contentment and pure rapture. In the same novel, Rick Hunter writes, in reference to the operation against the factory satellite, that: "Love, like size, had lost all meaning - love was a battle maneuver ... The only one among us who seemed to know anything about that elusive emotion was Miriya, wedded to the infant she'd given birth to as much as she was Max." As Max and Miriya join in the subsequent battle against the now disorganized enemy Zentraedi fleet, Miriya pilots her fighter while holding Dana in her lap. As the battle rages, Miriya clutches Dana more tightly to herself, while Dana waves her arms joyously at the explosions going on all around her. The book states that Miriya fought with more fury than she even had before "as though the small life she held in her arms was a treasure more precious than any the universe could offer, a life worth preserving at all costs." In the decanonized book "Force of Arms" (book 5 of the series) by Jack McKinney, Miriya's giving birth to Dana is all the more extraordinary because nobody could figure out how Max and Miriya had been able to conceive a child since no Zentraedi male-female reproduction had ever been recorded. Explanations that were provided by scientists are that Miriya's consumption of human-style food (as opposed to antiseptic rations of the Zentraedi) and her exposure to emotions had caused subtle biochemical changes. Some even wondered if Dana was actually Max and Miriya's child at all but, as proved by exhaustive tests, Dana was indisputably their child. To Lisa Hayes, the only explanation that made sense (or mattered) was that Dana was the result of the love that Max and Miriya had for one another.

Claudia Grant

Claudia Grant Communications Officer of the SDF-1 As the SDF-1’s Chief Communications Officer, Claudia Grant bears a great many responsibilities aboard the SDF-1. In addition to facilitating the interaction between the some 15,000 crewmembers aboard the battlefortress, it’s Claudia’s responsibility to coordinate the various departments that keep operations running smoothly throughout the immense ship. Most of Claudia’s interaction is with her fellow bridge crewmates. Her relaxed, confident manner is in contrast with her friend Lisa Hayes, the SDF-1’s no-nonsense, by-the-book executive officer. She gets along well with Captain Gloval, who appreciates her professionalism if not her saucy attitude. The subordinate operations controllers Kim, Sammy, and Vanessa look up to her as a big sister, and it is a role that Claudia relishes. In addition, she has a strong bond with her younger brother Vince, who is among the Robotech engineers stationed aboard SDF-1.Claudia is a veteran officer, having joined the military following the SDF-1’s arrival. Her first duty station was at an air base in Wyoming, and it was there that she first met Roy Fokker. Their relationship was a tumultuous one that would be rekindled when the two were stationed on Macross Island. But by the beginning of the First Robotech War, Roy and Claudia were very close and dedicated to each other. Following Roy’s tragic death from injuries suffered in combat, Claudia looks after her friends even more. She becomes a close confidant not only to Lisa but also to Rick as the war continues. Claudia offers constant encouragement to her friend Lisa as her relationship with Rick deepens in the course of the series.Claudia joined the war effort of the Global War, and after initially being posted to an air base in Wyoming, she meet a then young Lt. Roy Fokker.Claudia became a bridge officer on the SDF-1 with the rank of lieutenant commander and was third in command after Captain Henry J. Gloval and Lt. Cmdr. Lisa Hayes when the SDF-1 launched in February 2009. Claudia was tasked with coordinating communications for the 15,000 crew members aboard the SDF-1. In 2014, at the last battle with Khyron, who launched a suicide run against the SDF-1, Claudia, Admiral Gloval, Lt. Vanessa Leeds, Lt. Sammie Porter, and Lt. Kim Young died at their posts

Lynn Minmei

Lynn Minmei
First appearanceEpisode 1 - "Boobytrap"
In-universe information
AliasLynn Minmay (stage name)
RelativesLynn Kyle (third cousin), Lina & Max (aunt & uncle; Lynn Kyle's parents)

Lynn Minmei (Japanese: リン・ミンメイ Rin Minmei, Chinese: 鈴明美/林明美 Pinyin: Líng Míngměi/Lín Míngměi) is a fictional anime character in the First Robotech Saga, which was adapted from the Japanese series The Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Minmei has become an iconic character of that series. Rebecca Forstadt voices Minmei under the alias "Reba West".

In Robotech, Minmei is the love interest of the main character Rick Hunter and becomes an idol singer and movie star on board the spacecraft SDF-1. Her songs, which cause confusion amongst alien Zentraedi soldiers, play a critical role in the First Robotech War against Dolza's Grand fleet.[19]

First Robotech War

Born in 1993 during the Global War, Minmei is distinguished by her long black hair and green eyes.

In 2009, Minmei is staying with her Aunt Lina and Uncle Max at the restaurant on Macross Island, where the SDF-1 had crashed ten years earlier and was about to be launched. The sudden attack by the Zentraedi results in Minmei being caught in the midst of the fight, only to be rescued by a young brash pilot named Rick Hunter. Both she and Rick are swept into space along with the SDF-1, Macross City, and a large portion of Macross Island when the SDF-1 initiates an emergency hyperspace fold. She and Rick find themselves lost on an unused hangar aboard the massive ship and spend several days together. Minmei, fearing that they will never be rescued, asks Rick to kiss her in a make-believe wedding. However, just as Rick is about to kiss her, they are rescued and Minmei goes back to her family in the newly rebuilt Macross City aboard the massive ship.

Minmei, who remains upbeat despite the circumstances, convinces her aunt and uncle to reopen their restaurant, an act which serves to inspire other refugees into returning to a sense of normalcy while on the long voyage back to Earth. Minmei also convinces Rick to join the Robotech Defense Force, which Rick excels at and soon becomes an ace pilot. The mayor of Macross City decides to enter Minmei into the Miss Macross Contest, where she becomes the unexpected winner. Minmei goes on to become a music star, with her songs becoming popular to all of Macross City.

However, Minmei's newfound fame and Rick's devotion to his new role as a veritech pilot cause their relationship to slowly split apart. In addition, Lisa Hayes, the first officer aboard the SDF-1, finds herself attracted to Rick, and Rick slowly finds that he has feelings for Lisa, who is almost the opposite of Minmei in many respects but shares his devotion to the military. As the First Robotech War rages on, Rick and Minmei continue to grow farther apart. Upon the SDF-1's return to Earth, the United Earth Government (UEG) denies permission for the civilians on board to be evacuated to Earth, as their knowledge of the alien threat (which has been kept secret by the military), could lead to panic among the population. However, permission is granted for Rick to take Minmei to her home town in Japan to visit her mother and father. However, her third cousin, Lynn Kyle, who feels that he must protect Minmei, returns with them to the SDF-1. Rick dislikes Kyle due to his pacifism and his hatred of the military. Following their return to the SDF-1, Kyle and Minmei star in the first movie filmed in space. Kyle, who is attracted to Minmei despite the fact that she is a distant relative, attempts to kiss her, but she pushes him away. Unfortunately, Rick witnesses this and decides that any romance they once had is over.

Minmei's fame continues to grow, and she sings at almost every important event on the SDF-1, including the wedding of Max Sterling and Zentraedi defector Miriya Parina, the first union of a Zentraedi and a human being.

Minmei's music turns out to be a powerful weapon against the Zentraedi, who have had no exposure to human emotions or customs. Minmei's music is enough to mentally incapacitate the Zentraedi, and thus she becomes a major force in the battle against Zentraedi Supreme Commander Dolza and his 4.8 million-ship grand fleet. Minmei becomes despondent after the Zentraedi Grand fleet blasts Earth, destroying 95% of the surface, and killing virtually all human life on the planet, including her parents. However, Minmei is able to sing "We Will Win" while the SDF-1 and the allied Zentraedi under Breetai launch an assault on Dolza's planetoid homebase. Her song incapacitate the Zentraedi commanders, throwing the fleet into chaos, allowing the SDF-1 to penetrate into the center of the base and launch its entire quantity of missiles. The base explodes and Minmei's song is the last thing Dolza hears before he is vaporized. The explosion of the base, combined with the firing of Earth's grand cannon, destroys virtually the entire Zentraedi fleet.

In 2012, following the war, Minmei resumes her singing career with Kyle as her manager. However, Minmei becomes increasingly uncomfortable with Kyle's drinking and his obsession with making money. Minmei tries to rekindle her relationship with Rick, who still has feelings for her despite his feelings for Lisa Hayes, who by now is in love with Rick and is increasingly upset about Rick's obsession with Minmei. In 2013, Minmei and Kyle are kidnapped by the rebel Zentraedi leader Khyron. Minmei infuriates Khyron by calling him an "overgrown clown", and Khyron loses his temper. Holding Minmei in his hand, Khyron tightens his grip around her, causing her severe pain before she loses consciousness. Khyron, who views Minmei as a valuable hostage whom he needs alive, releases his grip when he realized what he has done. He then pokes her with his finger until she revives and moans in pain. Although Minmei is not seriously injured, she is clearly shaken by the ordeal and becomes convinced that she will not survive. However, Rick Hunter again comes to her rescue by leading an operation, called "Starsaver", in which he blasts his way into Khyron's fortress in his Veritech fighter and rescues her and Kyle.

Later, after landing his fighter at a nearby base, Minmei runs crying into Rick's arms while Kyle and Lisa Hayes look on in anger and disgust.[13] Rick and Minmei rekindle their love, and a short time later, on Christmas Eve, they share a kiss. Kyle decides that he no longer belongs in Minmei's life and sets out on his own to an unknown destination. Lisa, who is devastated by her perceived rejection by Rick, decides to resign her military position after she concludes her feelings for Rick are too strong to allow her to serve in the military by his side.

In January 2014, when Khyron attacks the SDF-1 and New Macross City in his repowered warship, Rick must tear himself away from Minmei's arms to go into battle. Minmei begs Rick not to go as she cannot understand or accept that Rick must constantly risk his life in battle. When the battle is over, both Rick and Minmei realize that they cannot be together as Rick is dedicated to the military and Minmei is dedicated to her music. Rick realizes that his love for Minmei is based more on euphoria than on reality and that his love for Lisa is stronger than he had ever realized up until now. Rick and Lisa, finally realizing and accepting their love for each other, watch Minmei walk away and vow to work together to rebuild Earth.[6]

Rick and Lisa would eventually become senior officers in the United Earth Forces while Minmei goes on to continue her career as a famous singer who is beloved by fans across the globe.

Robotech Expeditionary Force

In 2022, on the verge of the launch of the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF), led by the newly completed SDF-3, Rick and Lisa are finally married and Minmei, despite her latent feelings for Rick, is able to sing with her new partner Janice at their wedding. Even so, she cannot help but feel sad as Rick and Lisa run off to their honeymoon, and she says to herself "Goodbye, Rick." This event can be seen in the pilot of Robotech II: The Sentinels.

Minmei and Kyle later stow away aboard the SDF-3 and travel with it on its mission to find the Robotech Masters' homeworld, which lasts almost twenty-two years.

In the Wildstorm comic, Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles, set in 2043, Minmei is kidnapped by Colonel T. R. Edwards, who has betrayed the REF to join with the Invid Regent. Edwards also kills her cousin Kyle, who had tried to protect her. Minmei is held hostage for over a year before she is rescued. Minmei was subsequently taken to Tirol, the Robotech Masters' homeworld which has been freed from the control of the Invid. She is not seen or mentioned in Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, although it is believed that she is still alive.

Henry J. Gloval

Henry J. Gloval
First appearanceEpisode 1 - "Boobytrap"[20]

Captain (later Admiral) Henry J. Gloval is a major character in the First Saga of Robotech (1999–2014). Although the Robotech television series reveals little about Gloval prior to the launch of the SDF-1 in February 2009, Wildstorm's Robotech comic series From the Stars provides considerable detail about Gloval's life and successes in the late 1990s and following the crash-landing of the SDF-1 in 1999. Details of Henry J. Gloval's personal life have never been revealed, although he never makes any mention of a wife, children or family and is depicted as being dedicated to his job and duties above all else.

During the Global War which raged on Earth in the late 1990s, American forces moved to stabilize an out-of-control political and military situation in the Asian Pacific. The Russian Navy was ordered to deter American forces, which pitted Gloval against former allies he had worked with during the hopeful days following the end of the Cold War.

It was while leading an American carrier task force on a chase across the Pacific Ocean that Gloval was caught up in the most important event in human history up until that point - the crash landing of an enormous alien battle fortress, later named the SDF-1 in July 1999. After surviving the initial shockwave, Gloval and the crew of his Oscar-class nuclear submarine, the Minsk, were the first humans to arrive on the crash scene and were responsible in securing the site before an international team of scientific experts could arrive to examine the wreckage. Knowing that his own government would not be able to control the site, Gloval defied orders and allowed an international team of experts to investigate the wreckage. This precedent helped to broker an international ceasefire, and eventually helped lead to the formation of the United Earth Government. Gloval became a leading figure among Earth's military, and his unblemished reputation allowed him to reach consensus among fellow military officers around the world. Among his key supporters was Donald Hayes, who had been both ally and adversary in the past. Hayes' daughter, Lisa Hayes, would become Gloval's first officer on the SDF-1.

For 10 years, Gloval marshaled the resources of the entire planet to rebuild the battle fortress. It was only natural that Gloval was appointed as commander of the Earth's first Super Dimension Fortress, now renamed the SDF-1. The now refitted SDF-1 was launched in February 2009 at a huge ceremony. Gloval's new bridge crew consists of First Officer Lt. Commander Lisa Hayes, Lt. Commander Claudia Grant, and bridge operators Lieutenant Vanessa Leeds, Lieutenant Sammy Porter, and Lieutenant Kim Young, all of whom are women and under the age of 25. Consequently, they regard him as a father figure and a source of advice and inspiration.

Gloval would immediately be thrust into combat as the Zentraedi arrive to reclaim their lost ship on the same day that the SDF-1 was launched. Gloval would guide the SDF-1 during the next two turbulent years of the First Robotech War.

Gloval commands the SDF-1 throughout the First Robotech War, leading the ship, and the people aboard, through numerous battles against the Zentraedi. Gloval routinely clashes with the United Earth Government (UEG) regarding their belligerent and uncompromising attitude toward the Zentraedi and their refusal to try and make peace. In addition, Gloval is visibly furious when the UEG refuses to allow the 70,000 civilians aboard the SDF-1 to return to Earth. In April 2011, Gloval makes a plea for peace with the Zentraedi as he speaks at the wedding of Max Sterling and Zentreadi defector Miriya Parina.[15] A short time later, Gloval helps facilitate a truce with Breetai and the Zentraedi under him and gain his support against Zentraedi Supreme Command Dolza.[21]

However, Zentraedi Supreme Commander Dolza, realizing the threat that human emotions and culture now pose to his command, orders his entire fleet to fold into Earth orbit to destroy the planet, the SDF-1 and all of the Zentraedi under Breetai who have rebelled. Although Gloval is unable to stop Dolza's Grand Fleet of 4.8 million ships from devastating Earth, he develops and commands an operation, utilizing the singing of Lynn Minmay and the Daedalus attack developed by Lisa Hayes, in a daring operation which ultimately leads to Dolza's defeat and the destruction of virtually the entire Zentraedi fleet.[10]

Gloval becomes an Admiral following the defeat of Dolza's grand fleet and oversees the reconstruction of Earth and the reestablishment of the United Earth Government (UEG). The challenges are immense: 95% of the Earth's surface has been devastated, with all major cities destroyed and most of planet's vegetation reduced to endless deserts. The population of the world is reduced from billions to only 70,000.[22] Yet despite the challenges, Gloval successfully leads Earth through its recovery. In 2013, new challenges emerge including Zentraedi rebellions, the military threat posed by Khyron's rebels and the capture of the Zentraedi factory satellite. Gloval provides leadership through all of these threats. He decides to appoint Captain Lisa Hayes, his second in command during the war, to command the newly built SDF-2 .

In January 2014, in the final battle against the rebel Zentraedi under Khyron, Gloval leads the bridge crew of the SDF-1 into battle despite the massive damage the ship sustained during the war. Using all of the SDF-1's remaining power, it is able to fire one shot which cripples Khyron's warship. However, Khyron is determined to have his revenge against Gloval and the SDF-1, even in death and rigs his warship for a suicide run at the SDF-1. The resulting collision destroys both ships. Admiral Gloval, along with Commander Claudia Grant, Vanessa Leeds, Sammy Porter, Kim Young and the rest of the crew aboard the SDF-1 die in resulting explosion. Gloval's last act before the impact is to push Lisa Hayes into the last functioning escape pod on the bridge.[6] Gloval becomes a celebrated hero, and even 15 years later (during the Second Robotech Saga), he and his crew are still held as examples for new military recruits to follow.[22]The Robotech Defense Force couldn’t have found a more capable person to command the SDF-1 than Henry Gloval. Resolute and determined, the veteran Russian naval officer was the consensus choice of the united Earth government to oversee the reconstruction of the immense alien battlefortress that crash-landed on Macross Island. Born Henryk Jozef Glovalsky to a Russian father and a Lithuanian mother,he distinguished himself as an officer in the Russian Navy.He served aboard both surface vessels and submarines and was a career military man.Through the upheaval of the late 20th Century leading into the Global War, Gloval remained a steadfast presence and was highly regarded among the men and women who served under him, as well as his fellow officers and superiors.This respect crossed over to his adversaries in other military forces.As American forces moved to stabilize an out-of-control political and military situation in the Asian Pacific,the Russian Navy was ordered to deter American forces.This pitted Gloval against former allies he had worked with during the hopeful days following the end of the Cold War.It was while leading an American carrier task force on a chase across the Pacific Ocean that Gloval was caught up in the extraordinary arrival of the alien battlefortress.Surviving the initial shockwave,Gloval and the crew of his nuclear submarine, the Minsk,were the first humans to arrive on the crash scene. Knowing that his own government would not be able to control the site,Gloval defied orders and allowed an international team of experts to investigate the wreckage.This precedent helped to broker an international ceasefire,and eventually helped lead to the formation of the United Earth Government.Gloval became a leading figure among Earth’s military,and his unblemished reputation allowed him to reach consensus among fellow military officers around the world.Among his key supporters was Donald Hayes, who had been both ally and adversary in the past.For 10 years, Gloval marshaled the resources of the entire planet to rebuild the battlefortress.It was only natural that Gloval was appointed as commander of the Earth’s first Super Dimension Fortress.When the Zentraedi arrived to reclaim their lost ship,Gloval launched the SDF-1into the Gloval’s leadership was crucial during the SDF-1’s voyage back to Earth.His experience and calm amid the unbearable tensions made him an inspirational leader for the thousands of soldiers and officers under his command.In particular,he emerged as an admired father figure among the all-female bridge crew.Gloval served in the Russian Navy during the Global War.In 1999, he was the commanding officer of the SSGN Minsk. After the formation of the United Earth Government Gloval joined its military and by 2006 was made the commanding officer of the SDF-1. Gloval became an Admiral following the defeat of Dolza's grand fleet and oversaw the reconstruction of Earth and the reestablishment of the United Earth Government (UEG). Gloval was killed in Khyron's final assault against the battle fortress. He died on the bridge of the SDF-1,defending her to the end.


The voice of Captain Henry J. Gloval was provided by Greg Finley.

Roy Fokker

Roy Fokker
First appearanceEpisode 1 - "Boobytrap"[20]

In the 1985 Robotech adaptation of the first Macross series, Roy's portrayal was toned down for American audiences by producer Carl Macek. He keeps his original name, but it was written as "Roy Fokker." His basic persona was the same in both series, though details differed. Episode 18 was renamed "Farewell Big Brother".[3] The Robotech version of the character was voiced by Dan Woren.

Wildstorm's 2002–2003 Robotech comic series developed a background story for this character that was different from the background in Macross. In this version, Roy was the chief test pilot in the VF-1 development program, and as a potential symbol for the nascent United Earth Government (renamed from the U.N. Government in Macross), was the target of a number of assassination attempts by the Anti-Unification movement, including at least two ambushes during his flight tests of the YF-1 (known as two separate vehicles in Macross, the VF-X and the VF-X-1). He survived both attempts on his life, including the crash of his prototype Valkyrie while testing the Guardian (known as GERWALK in Macross) configuration.

After his crash, the Valkyrie program was officially canceled in favor of Project Excalibur, a design project to develop Destroids (walking battroid/battloid tanks); however, the anti-unification hijacking of the "Armor-One" space carrier gave him the opportunity to prove the VF-1 Valkyrie's worth once and for all; he launched on the unofficial and highly illegal orders of Captain Henry J. Gloval, using the first production-model VF-1 (a VF-1S that would be his mount for the rest of his life), and ended the threat to the SDF-1 by destroying the bridge of the hijacked carrier and shooting down the reflex missile it had fired at Macross.[23]Roy Fokker Field Commander of the Veritech Fighter Squadrons The leader of the veritech fighter squadrons attached to the SDF-1, Roy Fokker was the premier fighter pilot in the Robotech Defense Force. Fokker first gained fame by shooting down 108 enemy planes during the Global War and subsequent conflicts. Fokker was called back to duty by Admiral Donald Hayes and became the top test pilot for Project Valkyrie, which led to the creation of the transformable veritech fighter. As commander of the renowned Skull Squadron, Roy maintained his reputation among his fellow pilots, as his squadron earned distinction in battle after battle with the Zentraedi forces. From an early age, Roy had a strong love of flying. His father Dan Fokker was a close friend and squadron mate of Mitchell Hunter during the final years of the Vietnam War. Dan was later killed in a classified mission for the Navy, and Mitchell Hunter assumed guardianship of Roy. From then on, Roy grew up with Hunter and his young son Rick and flew for their Flying Circus aerobatic team. The two boys grew very close. That relationship is severely tested when Roy leaves the Flying Circus to fight in the Global War, and later joins the Veritech development project on Macross Island.Roy inherited many of his father’s daredevil aspects, including a cavalier attitude towards women. A playboy for much of his early flying career, his life is changed when he meets a young air control officer named Claudia Grant. Roy tries to mend his relationship with young Rick Hunter by inviting him to the launch of the SDF-1 on Macross Island. When the First Robotech War breaks out, Roy influences Rick to join the Robotech forces and follow in his footsteps as a fighter pilot. A truly inspirational figure, Roy becomes a mentor to Rick and has leaves a lasting impression on many members of the Robotech Defense Force. Roy Fokker was a celebrated human fighter pilot of the Global War and First Robotech War. Roy was adopted by Pop Hunter after the death of his biological father Dan Fokker. A gifted pilot from youth, he flew in Pop's flying circus before joining the military during the Global War. However, after the Macross Incident, he joined the newly formed Robotech Defense Force in their attempts to discover the secrets behind the alien technology. He would go on to command the celebrated Skull Squadron and was part of the SDF-1's fighter pilot complement during its long transition from Pluto back to Earth. Not long before the SDF-1 returned to Earth Fokker was injured in battle and later succumbed to his injuries. Roy cries at the funeral of his father, as "Pops" Hunter comforts him Roy Fokker was a gifted and natural pilot, a skill he inherited from his father, Dan Fokker. Following his father's death, Fokker was adopted by Mitchell Hunter, a close friend of his father. It was at his father's funeral that Roy agreed to join the Hunter family, as well as treat Rick as his own brother At some point, Fokker joined Hunter's Flying Circus as a performer. Fokker's skills as a pilot lead him do things that other pilots could not, and his risky behaviour saw him clash with Pop Hunter over his recklessnessAround six months prior to the arrival of the SDF-1 Fokker enlisted into the United States Navy as a pilot. While he had no wish to kill other humans he saw it as his duty to respond to his nation's call to war. Rick was sad to see his big brother go but Fokker appeased Rick by promising to return to the circus once the war was over Fokker observes the immediate aftermath of the "Macross Incident".Fokker was assigned to the celebrated Skull Squadron where he would become the faster person in their history to reach double ace. While Fokker's skills saw him accrue kills quickly and allowed him to get through battles without a scratch he was not so lucky with his wingmen losing five in six months. During an engagement with unknown forces near Macross Island Fokker lost his sixth wingman but nearly single-handed destroyed an enemy squadron. As Fokker battled a bright light appeared in the sky heading towards him. Fokker realising the danger managed to get enough distance between him managed to put enough distance between him and the unknown object to prevent him meeting the same fate as the rest of the carrier battle group.Fokker was then assigned to Ontario base defending the Fifth Quadrant. During his service there he met Claudia Grant and started an intimate relationship with her. In 2005, Fokker returned to Pop Hunter's Flying Circus like he promised having resigned his commission in the miliary. However, his stay was very short lived as Admiral Donald Hayes offered him a new role in the United Earth Forces as a test pilot. Fokker accepted the offer, turning his back on his promise to return to the flying circus. Fokker was dispatched back to Macross Island were he joined in the secretive, Project Valkyrie. Roy was a stunt pilot who enlisted in the military after the Unification Wars dawned, instead of returning to stunt flying he continued to serve in the military in their war against the Zentradi. During his air circus years and UN Spacy years, he acted as a mentor and older brother figure (Senpai) to rookie.Now a hero of the unification wars, he is hounded by many women, but his lifestyle changes when he meets an officer named Claudia Grant. He and his girlfriend go out partying on the day before the SDF-1 Macross's launch, when the day comes Roy's fame means he's tasked with the job of making a speech while Max Sterling leads a team of the military's new fighters, the VF-1 Valkyries as a presentation. The audience are amazed by the abilities of the pilots. But Hikaru flies his aircraft and interferes with the presentation, frustrating Fokker, who Rick calls "Senpai", the audience (among them, Lynn Minmay) laughs at their conversation. Hikaru took Focker's request to fly to the SDF-1 quite literally. Rick follows the VF-1 Valkyries in his civilian aircraft and the audience are impressed even more including Roy who is simultaneously angry at Hikaru's stunt whom Roy actually taught Rick. Rick walks with Roy, who thinks he's cocky for winning the amateur pilot competition two or three times however Roy brushes it off as he shot down more than 180 planes during the unification wars,Rick jokingly calls him a murderer. Getting a cola together Rick tells Fokker that he promised Rick's dad to come back to his team after the war, Roy apologises and tells Hikaru that he must fly a fighter plane himself to understand. As the automated cola machine rolls away. They see Lynn Minmay and Kyle a little kid demanding the cola. Roy and Rick laugh. Wanting to fly one of the new fighters, Roy lets Rick check out a VF-1D Valkyrie.Rick sees the beam thinking it's a "flashy salute" and he prepares the take off with Roy Fokker guiding him but Roy decides to check the problem, telling Rick to stay right there. Roy Focker is an ace pilot and leader of the Skull Squadron as he was in Space War I, he gets captured by the Zentradi along with Rick, Lisa, Minmay and . During a Meltrandi attack led by ace pilot Millia Fallnya on Breetai Kridanik's ship, the humans take the opportunity to escape. Minmay and Kaifun remain captured and Roy dies, only Lisa and Rick leave the ship. Instead of being succeeded by Hikaru as leader of the Skull Squadron, the movie shows Max temporarily being the Skull leader until Rick returns from being MIA.

Ben Dixon

Ben Dixon is a character based on Hayao Kakizaki of the original Japanese series, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Ben, along with his best friend Max Sterling, become rookie wingmates under the command of newly promoted Lieutenant Rick Hunter, forming the Vermillion Squadron with Roy Fokker watching over them. While Max is quiet and shy, husky Ben is jovial, gregarious and fashions himself (or rather overrates himself) as a ladies man. He and Roy are fellow jokesters and often team up to tease Rick over the romantic circle he's involved in with Lynn Minmei and Lisa Hayes. Under the watchful eye of Roy, Ben, Max, and Rick became a tight-knit group during the early days of the war with the Zentraedi.

Out of the three, Ben seems to require the most repairs to his plane after a battle. Sadly, Ben's phenomenal luck runs out when, during a malfunction of the SDF-1's omnidirectional barrier system, the barrier explodes and Ben is caught in the blast. Following the recent loss of Roy Fokker, Ben's death comes as another painful blow to Rick, Max, and Lisa.[4][24][25]

While trying to write a letter to Ben's parents about his death, Rick thinks he sees Ben who tries to cheer him up. Member of the Vermillion Squadron Irrepressible and gregarious, Ben Dixon is a big bear of a man. As a member of Rick Hunter's Vermillion Squadron, Ben is a vital part of a fearsome combat squad of Veritech Fighters. Like everyone else of his generation, Ben grew up in the midst of the Global War. His parents struggled to maintain a sense of normalcy. He was also a childhood friend of a young war orphan named Max Sterling. Though their personalities were very different, the two complemented each other and Max became an unofficial member of the family. Ben and Max traveled to Macross Island to visit Ben's parents, who managed a dry cleaning business, and to attend the launch of the SDF-1. They became embroiled in a fight for survival as the Zentraedi launched their first attack in trying to reclaim their lost battlefortress. Ben was able to escape with his parents and reach the emergency civil defense shelters before the SDF-1 executed a hyperspace fold that swept both the battlefortress and Macross Island into space beyond the orbit of Pluto.Ben and his family did their best to adjust to life aboard the SDF-1. The Dixons reopened their laundry service, while Ben and Max participated in the efforts to reconstruct the city inside the confines of the battlefortress.With that monumental task completed, Max and Ben soon found themselves with little to do. Inspired to join the Robotech Defense Forces, both enlisted to become veritech pilots. Upon graduation from flight training, Ben and Max were assigned to the Vermillion Squadron, under the command of Rick Hunter. Even though Max and Rick always outshined his skills, Ben never developed a sense of inferiority. In fact, his loyalty and fearlessness in the face of danger serve him well during the many challenges of the Vermillion Squadron.Ben Dixon was a Robotech Defense Force pilot during the First Robotech War, as well as the long-term friend of Max Sterling. Ben, along with his best friend Max Sterling, become rookie wingmates under the command of newly promoted Lieutenant Rick Hunter, forming the Vermillion Squadron with Roy Fokker watching over them. While Max is quiet and shy, husky Ben is jovial, gregarious and fashions himself (or rather overrates himself) as a ladies man. He and Roy are fellow jokesters and often team up to tease Rick over the romantic circle he's involved in with Lynn Minmei and Lisa Hayes. Under the watchful eye of Roy, Ben, Max, and Rick became a tight-knit group during the early days of the war with the Zentraedi. Out of the three, Ben seems to require the most repairs to his plane after a battle. Sadly, Ben's phenomenal luck runs out when, during a malfunction of the SDF-1's Omni-Directional Barrier System, the barrier explodes and Ben is caught in the blast. Following the recent loss of Roy Fokker, Ben's death comes as another painful blow to Rick, Max, and Lisa. While trying to write a letter to Ben's parents about his death, Rick thinks he sees Ben who tries to cheer him up.

Khyron

Khyron
First appearanceEpisode 7 - "Bye-bye Mars"
In-universe information
NicknameKhyron the Backstabber
Khyron the Destroyer
SpeciesZentraedi

Khyron is the unconventional leader of the Zentraedi Botoru Battalion. He is known as Quamzin Kravshera in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, the series which was adapted into the first saga of Robotech.

Sometimes known as Khyron Kravshera or Lord Khyron, he was a brilliant but often insubordinate and mentally unstable Zentraedi commander during the First Robotech War. Khyron earned the nickname Khyron the Backstabber because of his habit of attacking his own men when angered or drunk.[8]

Khyron's Botoru Battalion was summoned to the Solar system by Commander Breetai, against the advice of Exedore, to assist in the capture of the SDF-1 Macross. While his unorthodox tactics kept the RDF off balance, he was often rebuked by both Commanders Breetai and Azonia for risking undue damage to the fortress. On one occasion, Breetai was forced to use the nebulizer in order to forcibly recall Khyron from an unauthorized attack while Azonia had to threaten him with being fired upon himself to force him to disengage from another attack. When Breetai's forces joined the SDF-1 in battle against Dolza's Grand Fleet, Khyron showed his self-serving nature by deserting.

Following the destruction of the Zentraedi Grand fleet in April 2011, Khyron's ship crashes in the arctic where he, Azonia and its crew remain dormant for almost two years. However, in July 2013, Khyron and Azonia steal a protoculture chamber from New Detroit which they use to resize the growing number of disaffected micronized Zentraedi back into warrior giants. Although many Zentraedi had been peacefully assimilated into Earth's surviving human population, many others were simply unable to overcome their natural desire to fight and destroy and they turn to Khyron as their leader.[26] In an effort to get their hands on a protoculture Matrix to repower their warship, Khyron and Azonia kidnapped Lynn Minmay and her cousin Lynn Kyle and attempt to ransom them for the SDF-1. During their capture, Khyron, who is holding Minmay in his hand, asks Minmay to sing. Minmay, whose music in the past has been able incapacitate Zentraedi, who have had no exposure to human culture or music, sings "to be in love". The surrounding Zentraedi become scared and paralyzed and even Khyron falls to his knees. However, although Khyron is initially overwhelmed, he is able to overcome the effects and closes his hand around Minmay to stop her singing. Khyron proudly declares that he is immune to Minmay's "magical witchcraft". Minmay, surprised that Khyron has been unaffected by her song, calls Khyron an "overgrown clown" and states she will not help him with his plans. Khyron loses his temper and tightens his grip on Minmay, who shrieks in pain as her body is squeezed tighter and tighter with a disturbing crunching sound. Azonia notices and yells at Khyron to be careful, causing him to regain his composure and he release his grip. However, Minmay is now deathly still and appears not to be breathing, and Khyron fears he may have killed her (which would ruin his plans). He repeatedly pokes Minmay with his finger and eventually she revives and moans in pain. Fortunately, Minmay escapes serious injury and Khyron remarks that micronians (humans) are "well-built little things." Eventually, a rescue operation led by Rick Hunter, dubbed Operation Star Saver, is able to free both Minmay and Kyle, and Khyron is forced to resort to even more brutal tactics.[13]

Throughout the second half of 2013, Khyron's forces continue to grow in size as more and more disaffected Zentraedi join him and other Zentraedi rebellions start breaking out all over the world, straining the United Earth Government's forces. Khyron, then restyled himself Khyron the Destroyer, takes advantage of these circumstances and, with his new forces, launches an assault on Macross City in December 2013 and manages to steal a protoculture storage matrix. As his forces escape with the matrix, Khyron detonates numerous bombs hidden within the city, which he coldly declares is a "Christmas present." The bombs cause massive damage to the city and inflict numerous civilian casualties which soon stream into overflowing hospitals. The damage is so severe that many people simply leave and move to other cities. Even a month later, much of the damage has not been repaired.[5]

Khryon uses the protoculture matrix to repower his warship but although he can simply leave Earth, he decides that he cannot leave until the SDF-1 is destroyed. In January 2014, Khryon and his forces launch a full-scale assault on Macross City. Firing his warship's main gun, a swath of New Macross City is obliterated and the SDF-1 takes a direct hit. Khyron also fires numerous missiles at the city, causing even more damage than his attack a month earlier. However, Admiral Henry J. Gloval and the bridge crew manage to regain control of the SDF-1 and launch it a short distance into the air. Using all of its remaining power, the SDF-1's main gun is able to fire one shot which cripples Khryon's warship.[6]

The SDF-1's final shot shears off an entire section of Khyron's ship, crippling its weapons, defenses and communications. Bleeding from a severe cut above his eye, Khyron sees that his top lieutenants, Grel and Gerao, have been killed but that Azonia is still alive. Despite the now critical situation, Khyron is still obsessively determined to destroy the SDF-1, even at the cost of his own life. Khyron, after realizing that his warship's navigation system is still operational, tells Azonia that they can still destroy the SDF-1, but then adds "It requires a sacrifice. Are you willing to face it with me?" Azonia joins hands with Khyron as says "It will be glorious!" Khyron then rigs his warship's navigation system for a collision course with the SDF-1. The SDF-1, drained of power, cannot defend itself as Khryon launches his suicidal run. All available mecha and veritech fighters throw everything they have against Khyron's ship but they cannot stop it. As the two ships collide, Khyron and Azonia, still holding hands, shout "Victory!" before they are vaporized. The collision and resulting impact and explosion destroys Khyron's ship, the SDF-1 and the newly completed SDF-2. There are no survivors of those aboard the SDF-1 except for Commander Lisa Hayes, who was pushed into the only remaining operable escape pod on the bridge at the last moment. The rest of the bridge crew, including Admiral Henry J. Gloval, Commander Claudia Grant, and bridge operators Vannesa Leeds, Sammy Porter and Kim Young, die at their posts.[6]

New Macross City is left in ruins by the battle and the radioactive fallout from the destruction of the three ships leads to the evacuation and sealing off of the entire area, with its survivors being relocated to the other cities, in particular, Monument City (which would later become the capital of the United Earth Government (UEG)). The remains of the three ships are buried under three giant mounds of dirt, but not before everything that can be salvaged out of the wreckage is removed to continue to rebuild Earth and to aid in the planned construction of the SDF-3.[22]

Khyron is held as a hero among the remaining rebel Zentraedi and their uprisings continue throughout 2014 and 2015 before the last rebels are defeated

In the Del Rey Robotech novels by Jack McKinney, Khyron's behavior was believed to be a side effect from ingesting the petals of the Invid Flower of Life. It was even indicated that this behavior led to his instability and madness and that he had not always been that way. Also it was suggested that Khyron's final assault on the SDF-1 was an inspiration to many Zentraedi during the malcontent uprisings in 2014 and 2015, although all are eventually put down.

At one point during the kidnapping of Minmay and Kyle, Khyron kisses Azonia to the shock of Minmay, Kyle and the surrounding Zentraedi, who realize that human culture as affected Khyron far more than they or even Khyron himself thought possible. In previous encounters, humans kissing one another has caused Zentraedi to recoil in fear and disgust, yet Khyron is able to embrace this human custom quite easily and with great pleasure. The irony, that Khyron possesses a burning hatred for humans but embraces elements of their culture that are completely foreign and repulsive to the Zentraedi, is apparently lost on him.

Khyron was voiced by actor Gregory Snegoff.

Bridge bunnies

The Macross operators — Vanessa Leeds,[27] Kim Young,[28] and Sammie Porter[29] were three minor fictional characters in the first Macross series (which was adapted as the first story arc of Robotech). They were attractive girls who managed the various functions of the SDF-1 Macross's bridge under Captain Gloval.

Dolza

Dolza
First appearanceEpisode 11 - "First Contact"
In-universe information
SpeciesZentraedi

Dolza is the Supreme Commander of all Zentraedi forces. Dolza was voiced by Michael Reynolds.[30]

Dolza is the supreme commander of all Zentraedi forces in the galaxy, commanding his fleet of over 4.8 million capital ships from his massive mobile planetoid homebase. Dolza is the second oldest Zentraedi (only Exedore is older) and is the largest of his race, standing 17.5 meters (57.4 feet) tall, although in the Jack McKinney Robotech novels, Dolza is described as being over 24.4 meters (80 feet) tall.

Dolza is ordered by the Robotech Masters to find and recover the lost spaceship that had crashed on Earth in 1999. The ship, stolen by the disciples of Zor, contains a vital component, a protoculture matrix, which the Masters desperately need to ensure the survival of their civilization.

Initial assaults on the SDF-1

Dolza assigns the task of locating the lost ship to his trusted subordinate and decorated warrior Breetai. On July 1, 2009, Zentraedi scouts locate the ship, which has now been rebuilt by the human inhabitants, who have dubbed it the SDF-1 Macross. This first encounter marks the start of the First Robotech War. Dolza remains removed from the initial conflict, preferring to let Breetai handle the situation. However, following the initial failures of Zentraedi forces to capture the SDF-1, Dolza orders the capture of some of its human occupants for interrogation.

Following the capture of Rick Hunter, Ben Dixon, and Lisa Hayes by Breetai and his forces, they are taken to Dolza homebase to be interrogated, during which Dolza demonstrates the power of the Zentraedi by having his fleet blast the surface of a planet to ashes and warns that he can do the same thing to Earth if he chooses to. Lisa Hayes, suspicious as to why Dolza does not just order his fleet to attack Earth, yells that Dolza does not have the power to destroy Earth and the SDF-1 is far superior to his "bucket of bolts." Dolza, infuriated by this slams his hand on the table hard enough to cause the captives to lose their balance. He then extends his hand and grasps Lisa, closing his hand around her body and lifting her up in front of his face. He then orders her to tell him how they became micronians (human-size) but Lisa refuses to respond. Dolza then tightens his grip on Lisa until she screams in pain. Rick, fearing that Dolza will kill Lisa, yells at him to stop squeezing her and explains that humans are born from their mothers at their current size and that this occurs after a man and woman fall in love. Breetai, who is also present asks how humans express love and Rick responds that it is done by kissing one another. Dolza, who like the other Zentraedi, have never heard of such things before, demands to see a demonstration of kissing and suggests that Rick and Ben kiss one another. Rick refuses and Dolza threatens to crush all of them, but Lisa states she will be the one to demonstrate by kissing Rick. After Dolza returns her to the table, Lisa orders Rick to kiss her, an action which shocks Dolza and the other Zentraedi present. This kiss, ironically, is the start of Rick and Lisa's long and difficult romance and the beginning of the love triangle between Rick, Lisa and Lynn Minmay.

Following the escape of Rick, Lisa and Ben, Dolza again orders Breetai to seize the SDF-1 through force, yet Breetai's forces are hindered not only by the skilled pilots of the SDF-1's veritech fighter squadrons but also by the effects that the exposure to human culture and emotions, which are causing more and more Zentraedi soldiers to rethink their austere life as soldiers. The situation grows worse for Dolza as Zentraedi soldiers, including ace pilot Miriya Parina, defect to the SDF-1. Dolza, realizing the situation and the threat that human emotions pose to his command, orders the SDF-1 destroyed but by now Breetai, Exedore and the entire Zentraedi force under their command, have changed sides due to "cultural contamination" by the humans' emotions, against which it is now clear the Zentraedi have no defense against. Breetai does this on the recognition that many Zentraedi, not just Miriya Parina have found the human way of life, too good to resist, and whom no longer want to fight for Dolza. Breetai himself, who has now had considerable exposure to human emotions and their way of life, eventually decides that the humans do not have to be his enemies and sends a micronized Exedore to negotiate a truce and an alliance against Dolza.

Final assault against Earth

After learning of Breetai's defection, Dolza quickly realizes that the entire Zentraedi military could be similarly affected by human emotions. Dolza decides to take decisive and brutal action, ordering the 4.8 million capital ships in the Zentraedi Grand Fleet, along with his planetoid homebase, to fold into Earth's solar system and destroy the SDF-1, the defecting Zentraedi forces, and the Earth itself to eliminate the threat of the humans once and for all.

After folding into Earth orbit, the Grand Fleet fires on Earth, causing horrific damage - cities, houses, soldiers and children are all vaporized as the 4.8 million ships fire relentlessly. No area of the planet is spared by the barrage. Dolza, watching on his computer monitor only smiles while the crew of the SDF-1 watches with horror and sadness as their homeworld is devastated. However, they find the strength to launch a plan with the allied Zentraedi under Breetai to end Dolza's threat.

Dolza orders the fleet to prepare to fire again but before the fleet can fire, the Alaska base, which survived the initial attack, fires the massive Grand Cannon which destroys a large portion of the Zentraedi Grand Fleet. The SDF-1, along with the allied Zentraedi under Breetai launch an attack against Dolza's massive planetoid homebase. Lynn Minmay sings throughout the battle and its broadcast causes the Zentraedi commanders throughout Dolza's fleet, who have had no exposure to human emotions, to become mentally crippled and unable to fight, causing disorder through Dolza's forces. The SDF-1, with the help of Breetai's forces, fights its way through the hostile fleet until it reaches Dolza's base. In a modified Daedalus attack, the SDF-1 launches a run against Dolza's base and punches right through the outer walls. Traveling through what seems like an endless sea of metal, the SDF-1 eventually penetrates into the hollow center. The SDF-1 launches its entire quantity of missiles at the base's weak point: its massive power source - the reflex furnace; before activating its defense shield. Dolza, who was smiling just a few moments earlier, suddenly wears a look of shock and fear as he realizes what is about to happen. Looking at his computer monitor, he watches Minmay singing "We will win," which is the last thing he sees before he is vaporized. The planetoid base explodes with enough force to destroy the rest of the Zentraedi Grand fleet.

Aftermath

Although Dolza and his Grand Fleet are defeated, the cost to Earth and human race is astronomical. Approximately 95% of the Earth's surface was "devastated" in the "Zentraedi Rain of Death."[5]

All major cities are reduced to ashes and most of the planet's vegetation and farmland is reduced to endless deserts. The population of the Human race is reduced from billions to only 70,000, most of whom only survive because they were on board the SDF-1. Yet, the survivors, with the allied Zentradi, pick up the pieces and begin the long task of rebuilding Earth.

Dolza's final attack on Earth not only resulted in his own death but also marked the end of the Zentraedi's once awesome galactic power. Between the firing of the massive Grand Cannon by the Alaska Base and the massive explosion resulting from the destruction of Dolza's planetoid base, virtually the entire Zentraedi military is destroyed. Of the nearly 4.8 million ships that comprised the Zentraedi military, only a few hundred survive the battle. Most of these ships are either destroyed or join Breetai and the humans in a subsequent operation against the last surviving Zentraedi Factory satellite in June 2013. The Zentraedi who later rebel against the human way of life, led by Khyron are ultimately defeated in January 2014, as are subsequent Zentraedi rebellions during 2014 and 2015.

However, Dolza's defeat does not mark the end of the alien threats to Earth. The Robotech Masters, after realizing that Dolza has failed to capture the SDF-1 and its protoculture matrix, begin a 15-year journey to Earth to retrieve it themselves, which sets the stage for the Second Robotech War. In 2029, the human race would again face a war for their survival, and peace would remain an elusive dream.

Donald Hayes

Admiral Takashi Hayase of the Macross series is also known as Admiral Donald Hayes in the English series.

The Admiral's wife died, leaving behind his only child, Lisa Hayes.[7]

In Episode 15 of the series, he tells Captain Henry J. Gloval to leave the earth with the SDF-1 Macross and not to allow the civilians on board to disembark. He also convinced that the Grand Cannon will be able to wipe out a Zentradi invasion force despite clear warnings of how powerful the enemy is.[20]

The character shares the same fate in both Robotech and Macross. During Dolza's attack on the SDF-1 Macross and the Earth, the Admiral uses the Grand Cannon but only manages to destroy 800,000 of the invasion forces' 4.8 million capital ships. The cannon is hit by enemy fire, and he eventually dies in the ensuing explosion. His daughter Lisa Hayes is saved by Rick Hunter.[6]

The second generation

This era concerns the second series adapted to Robotech (Southern Cross) and the movie adapted from Megazone 23, and is referred to as The Robotech Masters story arc.

Dana Sterling

Rolf Emerson

Rolf Emerson
In-universe information
RelativesBowie Grant (Godson)
Dana Sterling (Ward)

Rolf Emerson appeared during the Southern Cross segment of the series, which is also known as Robotech: Masters. This segment was originally the 1984 anime series Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross. Rolf Emerson is one of the handful of characters to retain their original name and name spelling for the Robotech adaptation. In Robotech, he was voiced by actor Michael McConnohie.

Primary continuity

Major General Rolf Emerson was Chief of Staff in the Army of the Southern Cross and a trusted adjutant to Supreme Commander Anatole Leonard. Gentle and compassionate, Emerson often sued for peaceful negotiations over the militaristic solutions that Leonard proposed. Emerson was known for his excellent tactical skills in battle, especially in contrast to Leonard's often rash and aggressive "throw everything we have at them" tactics. The two men often clashed over their philosophies but it was obvious that they deeply respected each other.

Emerson, and his wife Laura, were made godparents to Bowie Grant and Dana Sterling who were left under his care while their parents joined the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) in 2022. Bowie in particular cried inconsolably as his parents left and Emerson faced the difficult challenge of raising him. Emerson and his wife, who had no children of their own, took care of Dana and Bowie, who were both only children when their parents left with the REF. Both hoped that their parents return quickly but events would keep the Expeditionary forces away from Earth throughout their entire childhood. Emerson's decision to enroll both of them in the military had resulted in a divorce from Laura. Laura never understood his reasons; childless herself, Dana and Bowie had become her children, and she could never understand why her husband would choose to wish war on their adopted children.

In 2029, Dana and Bowie graduate from the United Earth Forces Military academy and are placed with the 15th tactical armored squadron of the Southern Cross. However, Emerson still does all he can to help them when their run afoul with their superiors. Bowie, having fallen in love with Musica, a young cloned citizen of the Master's race who, like Bowie, is a talented musician who finds music far more enjoyable than war. Bowie, determined to help her escape from the Masters, smuggles her to Earth. However, once Musica presence is discovered by GMP officer Nova Satori, Bowie and Musica flee from Monument city and take refuge in the ruins of the SDF-1. Bowie, becomes a fugitive for the latter part of the series, and Emerson believes that even his influence will not protect Bowie from the consequences. Dana, who strongly opposes Supreme Commander Anatole Leonard's treatment of captured bioroid pilots (in particular Zor Prime), openly disagrees with him, and it is only Emerson's influence that stops Leonard from taking serious disciplinary action against Dana.

Leonard, who grows tried of Emerson disagreeing with him over his refusal to negotiate with the Robotech Masters, eventually assigns Emerson to Moon Base Aluce, where he felt that Emerson would be most useful (and would be less of a thorn in his side). This was the first line of defense against the Robotech Masters. Because of this, several officers under Emerson were convinced that the assignment was essentially a death sentence because Emerson had continually opposed Leonard's policies. Emerson, against all expectations, survived a major battle with the Masters by carrying out a space warp maneuver.

Emerson eventually meets the Robotech Masters themselves after he and his crew are captured in space. Failing to persuade the Robotech Masters to consider peace, he dies protecting Bowie from a rifle blast fired by a Bioroid Terminator. Emerson dies in Bowie's arms, his last words a plea for peace between the two beleaguered races. Emerson's death is a blow for Dana and Bowie, who had regarded him as their father and friend.[31]

Emerson's wish for peace goes largely unfulfilled. The Masters are destroyed and the forces of the United Earth Forces (UEF) and the Southern Cross are decimated by the war. The subsequent collapse of the United Earth Government's power caused led to the fragmentation of the once united world, leading to the creation of city states that warred with each other. One year later, the Invid invade, the remainder of the UEF and the Southern Cross are destroyed.

Secondary continuity

In the Jack MicKinney novels (regarded as secondary continuity), Emerson is involved in several pivotal events between the time period of the first and second robotech wars while his history and a decidedly negative relationship with Anatole Leonard are expanded upon.

Originally a career officer in the RDF whose family perished during the Zentradi decimation of Earth's surface, Emerson resigned his commission sometime after the Zentradi Malcontent Uprisings and was eventually assigned the political position of Minister of Terrestrial Defense in the United Earth Government.

Sometime following his appointment and the departure of the SDF-3, Emerson launched an investigation into a string of suspicious and fatal accidents involving the REF Alpha fighter. Believing that the fighters had been the victims of deliberate sabotage and that Leonard, an outspoken opponent of the RDF, was secretly behind these efforts in order to discredit the RDF, Emerson assigned pilot Terry Weston to investigate. It was eventually uncovered that the sabotage had been conducted by operatives from a flight school known as the Gilles Academy which had been co-founded by Leonard's former adjutant Joseph Petrie. Also uncovered was a plot to assassinate Emerson himself at his home along with his then-partner Ilan Tinari, Dana Sterling and Bowie Grant by means of a remote controlled hovertank. Weston destroyed the tank a half-mile short of Emerson's home but the evidence detailing the plot and the sabotage attempts were destroyed before a subsequent raid on the academy could take place. Although Weston and Dana grew close during and after this operation, a rift formed between Emerson and Weston because a still underage Dana allegedly lost her virginity to Weston although it was at Dana's persuasion as she wanted her first sexual encounter to be with someone she cared for. Although she regrets putting Weston in such a position, she still cherished first experience with him, and they remained close. Also, eventually, Emerson chose to see Weston as the good man he was and the rift between them was healed before their deaths.

In 2022, a government accord was enacted to consolidate the Southern Cross and remaining elements of the RDF into a single military body but tensions between the two proved insurmountable and eventually escalated into open conflict by 2029 with Southern Cross forces under Leonard's command attempting a full-fledged coup of the existing government. Despite repeated prior invitations to join the conflict on the side of the RDF, Emerson refused believing that the conflict was weakening earth's forces.

Later that year, Emerson received information from civilian elements in Tokyo that Leonard had been secretly appraised of the imminent arrival of the Robotech Masters by Dr. Lazlo Zand and had used it to justify his attempted takeover of the United Earth Government. Looking to end the conflict Emerson confronted Leonard with a threat to go public with the information if he refused to abandon his coup attempt effectively negotiating a cease-fire between the two factions. Realizing that a joint defense force was unworkable, Emerson proposed that the two forces be allowed to exist separately with each acting as a check and balance on the other. Leonard acquiesced under several conditions including that Emerson agree to return to military service under the Army of the Southern Cross and that the moniker of the RDF be abandoned. Consequently, the remaining elements of the RDF were largely folded into the GMP.

Anatole Leonard

Anatole Leonard
First appearanceEpisode 37 - "Dana's Story"[22]
In-universe information
AliasEli Anatole Leonard/Anatole Westophal Leonard

Anatole Eli Leonard, voiced by Greg Finley, is derived from that of Claude Leon in the Japanese source animation The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross (ASC). He serves as the supreme commander of the Army of the Southern Cross and thus of all Earth defense forces following the departure of the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) from Earth in December 2022. Technically answerable to a relatively weak United Earth Government and subject to a degree of oversight from the autonomous Global Military Police (GMP), Leonard's authority and decisions are rarely questioned.

Leonard retains command of the Southern Cross until the last moments of the Second Robotech War, when he is killed along with most of the General Staff during the final attack on Monument City depicted in Episode 60, Catastrophe.

History and Significant Traits

Leonard is depicted differently in several non-canonical sources that detail his life prior to the events of the Masters saga of Robotech.

Wildstorm Comics

In the Wildstorm narrative, Leonard is introduced as the director of Earth's Destroid Project weapons program, intended to replace the veritech fighter program (Project Valkyrie) after the latter had been placed on hold due to several test pilot accidents. Distrustful of the growing United Earth Government, Leonard recruits a young T. R. Edwards to help secretly further sabotage other government-sponsored Robotechnology projects, a plan that fails due to the interference of Roy Fokker. Leonard bides his time and over the course of the years leading to a revised United Earth Government under the aegis of the United Earth Forces.

Eternity/Academy Comics and McKinney Novelizations

The Eternity/Academy and McKinney narratives depict Leonard quite differently. Here, he is shown as a religious fundamentalist, first active in the years following the Global Civil War opposing the rebuilding of the crashed alien ship that became known as the SDF-1 and engineering the kidnapping of Dr. Emil Lang's sister in the hopes that she would use her own celebrity status to speak out against Robotechnology. After these events, Leonard disappears but re-emerges years later as Governor of Brasília in South America during the Zentraedi Malcontent Uprisings that follow the First Robotech War. The limited resources of the Robotech Defense Force (RDF) provide him with a power vacuum to fill through the formation of his own force, the Army of the Southern Cross. In this role, the McKinney novels in particular would depict Leonard as a sexual deviant who practised sadomasochism as a form of religious self-punishment; he employed Zentraedi female Seloy Deparra as a dominatrix and became obsessed with her, forcing doctors to find a way to make their biologies compatible so she could father his child.

In this narrative, Leonard exhibits a strong dislike towards Robotechnology and advocates the development of Earth-designed power systems independent of protoculture. In practice, this proves impossible, but along the way he becomes a suspect in a string of suspicious flight accidents involving the VAF-6 Alpha veritech fighter being developed by the RDF. Though the accidents, which claim the life of pilot Amy Pollard, are later confirmed to be deliberate acts of sabotage and subsequently dubbed the Gilles Crimes after one of Leonard's aides, Leonard is never formerly implicated. While the development of satisfactorily capable mecha is ultimately found to require use of protoculture despite Leonard's misgivings, he relents, but determines to build an entirely distinct line of mecha for the Southern Cross rather than using any of the RDF designs slated to deploy with the Expeditionary Force.

After the departure of the SDF-3, an uneasy relationship between the RDF and ASC persists, culminating in an attempt to unify the two groups into a single Earth Defense Force that satisfies no one. In 2029, having secretly been appraised of the imminent arrival of the Robotech Masters by his scientific resource Dr. Lazlo Zand, Leonard and forces loyal to him attempt a military coup of the United Earth Government. The coup is halted when then-Minister of Terrestrial Defense Emerson discovers Leonard's knowledge of the Masters and threatens to reveal that he had deliberately concealed it from the Senate. Aware that both former RDF units and those elements of the military not aligned with his plans would unite against him if that occurred, Leonard grudgingly complies, demanding as concessions that his title be changed to that of Supreme Commander and that Emerson agree to serve in the Army of the Southern Cross.

This narrative is the only one that explains the ultimate fate of the Robotech Defense Force on Earth, reconstituting it as the Global Military Police specifically to provide oversight to Leonard's management of Earth's defense.

Second Robotech War

Full of bluster and bravado, Leonard's behavior during the Second Robotech War epitomizes the "shoot first, ask questions later" attitude characteristic of military stereotypes. Early on, he overrides the recommendations of General Emerson, who is by then serving as Chief of Staff, and orders a major attack on a Robotech mothership. The misstep leading to hundreds of pilots killed and ships destroyed with little to show for the effort, losses from which it takes the Tactical Armored Space Corps (TASC) considerable time to recover.

Leonard is not always so cavalier: when a more nuanced approach later succeeds in bringing down the mothership, he does approve a plan to send troops inside the ship on reconnaissance mission, and even takes the more rational view in a brief dispute with Emerson when the latter attempts to choose a force other than the 15th Alpha Tactical Armored Corps (ATAC) in which Emerson's godson Bowie serves as a private despite the 15th being the best qualified for the job. However, he shows little regard for the possibility that the Masters might be reasoned with, destroying the pilot of a captured Robotech bioroid over the objections of Lieutenant Dana Sterling. Later, after a disastrous assault in space by the Southern Cross fleet that shows neither battle cruisers nor the new Armored Gyro Assault Copters (AGACs) to be particularly effective, he rashly orders the deployment of a second assault wave for a repeat performance, and silences Emerson's protests with a statement that his attitude borders on being "treasonous."

Emerson and Leonard are shown to have a complicated relationship, balancing some underlying friendship on very different models of command and visions of success. Leonard relents and agrees to Emerson's plans for the clone Zor Prime despite initial opposition when he discovers that Emerson has kept the captured pilot secret, but he comes to see him as too much of a rival and appoints him to head the next offense against the Robotech Masters. From then until his eventual death in Episode 59, The Invid Connection, Emerson leads defense of the Earth from Space while Leonard retains command authority from his headquarters in Monument City.

As a military commander, Leonard shows little interest in strategic planning, preferring to throw strength against strength and see the outcome. Because the Southern Cross forces are more numerous but far less powerful than those of the Robotech Masters, this approach proves costly, and his misplaced rivalry with Emerson exacerbates the problem. The McKinney novelization deals with this most clearly, offering insight in Leonard's final moments that he recognizes that Emerson was always the better general. Even without that non-canonical perspective, however, viewers can affirm it for themselves—even as they acknowledge that for all of his faults, Leonard is no coward, staying in Monument City to see the final battle through to his own demise.

Lazlo Zand

File:Lazlo zand cartoon.jpg
The unnamed scientist from "The Robotech Masters", who author Jack McKinney would repurpose as Lazlo Zand. Note the all-black eyes.

Dr. Lazlo Zand was an original character created by the author of the Robotech novel series, Jack McKinney, and based upon a nameless scientist who briefly appeared in "The Robotech Masters", the twenty-ninth episode of the Robotech television series. This scientist (identified only as "Researcher A" in the original Japanese Super Dimension Fortress Macross version of the cartoon) sported the same marble-like all-black eyes as Emil Lang, and so McKinney repurposed the character as a protégé of Lang's who had helped in developing many of the second generation Robotech mecha such as Alpha and Beta fighters and Hovertanks. The design of the two scientists' eyes originated simply as a quirk of Macross character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto's art, but McKinney gave Lang's eyes much greater significance in his Battlecry novelization when he explained them to be a result of exposure to Protoculture.

File:Lazlo zand comic.jpg
Zand as he appeared in Robotech II: The Sentinels - Wedding Special #2 (top), and his revised character design from Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles (bottom)

In addition to his appearance in "The Robotech Masters" (adapted within McKinney's June 1987 novel, "Doomsday"), several references are made to Zand in passing throughout the first six novels, including quotes from the character that were used in the books' fictitious epigraphs. He later rises to prominence in the three novels which adapted the Robotech Masters portion of the Robotech cartoon (Southern Cross, Metal Fire and The Final Nightmare, released in July, August and September 1987, respectively), featuring in new scenes that were not part of the cartoon episodes upon which the books are based. These novels reveal that, after endowing himself with similar Protoculture powers to Lang in 2013 and gaining similar all-black eyes, Zand became obsessed with Dana Sterling, the only child of a human/Zentraedi union at the time. Zand believed that she was a key to the shapings of Protoculture, and experimented on her when she was a baby until her guardian, Rolf Emerson, rescued her from his clutches. He then proceeded to guide events surrounding Dana up to and throughout the year 2029, the "present day" of the novels, and finally, attacks Dana with a life-energy draining device at the conclusion of The Final Nightmare. The device backfires, and Zand is inexplicably transformed into a giant Invid Flower of Life.

When adapting the storyline of the aborted animated sequel series, Robotech II: The Sentinels, into comic book form in 1988, creators Jason and John Waltrip included a brief appearance by Zand in the second issue of the Wedding Special mini-series. The comic shoed him with a thinner jaw and with normal non-black eyes. This would not be the only contradiction in Zand's timeline, however; in 1994, Jack McKinney released another novel, The Zentraedi Rebellion, which expanded on Zand's history, detailing the jealousy over Emil Lang's popularity that drove him to his actions, and the extent of his influence over Dana and her parents. This novel described how Zand did not give himself Protoculture powers until after he began experimenting on Dana (specifically, by injecting himself with a blend of her blood, Zentraedi blood and Invid nutrient solution), contradicting both the cartoon and previous novels, which had shown him with black eyes five years beforehand.

Following the reboot of the Robotech universe in the 21st century that relegated McKinney's novels and any and all Robotech comics to a position of "secondary" continuity, free to be overwritten by new media, Zand made a surprise return in the Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles comic book mini-series, sporting another new look. Here, he is seen acting as scientific advisor to the rebellious T. R. Edwards, and is captured by the Robotech Expeditionary Force following Edwards's defeat. His death in McKinney's The Final Nightmare is alluded to, but no specific explanation is given for his return, save a comment by Rick Hunter that the reports were evidently "greatly exaggerated".

Bowie Grant

Bowie Grant is the gentle, introspective son of Vince Grant and Jean Grant and nephew of the late Claudia Grant. He is a sensitive, soft-spoken youth, who has yet to find his place in the world. Like his childhood friend, Dana Sterling, his parents left him in the custody of his god-father, General Emerson, while they joined the forces of the SDF-3 on their sojourn to the stars. Bowie and Dana are like brother and sister. When Dana entered the service, Bowie tagged along and eventually became her aid in the 15th squadron. Bowie is a skilled fighter, although he has no love for war or even physical sport. His true interest is in music. Bowie is a gifted piano player and a fair singer. With this in mind, it seems no wonder that he finds himself attracted to the alien, Musica. A mutual attraction that causes both Bowie and Musica to desert their posts in an attempt to avoid the insanity of war.[32]

Nova Satori

Nova Satori
First appearanceEpisode 37 - "Dana's Story"[22]

Nova Satori was adapted from Lana Isavia in The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross.

At 19 years old, Nova is the youngest military police officer in the Global Military Police (GMP). She is also the highest ranking female officer, and is the personal aide to Colonel Alan Fredricks.

By 2029, the GMP had considerable power and importance. Due to the feudal society that had evolved in the 15 years following the First Robotech War, the GMP constituted the only truly worldwide law-enforcement organization, and was a check and balance on those who had at their disposal the tremendous power of Robotechnology. As a result, the GMP was not merely a police force but also maintained its own war machinery, combat forces, and intelligence network. Nova, like others who sought a career in the GMP as a possible road to swift personal advancement, was forced to say farewell to all outside friendships due to the rigid doctrines that the GMP required.

Nova takes her duties very seriously and allows for no compromises regarding protocol and regulations. Her rivalry with 15th ATAC leader Lieutenant Dana Sterling can be viewed as a subtle game of "cat and mouse" or as a "fencing match". In the beginning of the series, Nova appears to be colder and less personable than TASC officer Marie Crystal. But as the story progresses, she is revealed to be even more of a romantic than Dana.

Initially, Nova repeatedly tries to root out possible traitors and spies from within Earth's military. But her interrogations of Zor Prime cause her to lose focus while reviewing several personnel files and negatively impact the record of TASC pilot Dennis Brown. When she apologizes to him, he surprisingly thanks her for helping him stay on Earth to keep an eye on an overzealous military leadership. The two later become romantically involved.

As the series progresses, Nova becomes frustrated at continually being outfoxed by Dana and the 15th ATAC squad. She tries to arrest Zor, lock up Bowie Grant, and capture Musica as a prisoner of war. However none of her plans come to fruition. Eventually, Nova's military training conflicts with her sense of justice, and she is forced to choose between her duty to the Southern Cross and her friendship with the 15th Squad. Realizing that the war has become one of survival and freedom from an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, Nova switches sides and joins the 15th in their mission to stop the Robotech Masters.

The Eternity and Academy comic book series Robotech: Invid War, has Nova acting as a liaison with various resistance groups during the Invid occupation. In the decanonized Jack McKinney novel "Rubicon" (book 17 of the Robotech series), all of the main characters who survived the Second Robotech War, except Nova Satori and Dennis Brown, acquire Jonathan Wolfe's ship, travel to Tirol, and meet up with the Robotech Expeditionary Forces in 2033, but there is no explanation of why Nova and Dennis were not with them.

The last page of the Jack McKinney Robotech Novel "Before the Invid Storm" (which is set during the period between the defeat of the Robotech Masters and the arrival of the Invid) also mentions Nova Satori and the Homunculi movement, although the novel gives no information on what this is or why. It also states that there is reason to believe that this Nova Satori is an imposter. The real Satori, however, was said to be secretly involved in the Reconstruction period following the Invid Invasion. In the Robotech Novel "The End of the Circle" (which is set after the Third Robotech War) there is a single mention of Nova Satori, who is apparently alive and serving as "the charismatic leader of the Homunculi Movement". However, since this book was actually written before "The Invid Storm", there is no mention of whether or not this is the real Satori or if she is an imposter.

With the redesignation of all non animated Robotech material to secondary continuity, her current status in the rebooted timeline, if still alive, is unknown. She is not mentioned at all in either Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles or Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles.

Marie Crystal

The third central female of the Southern Cross. Her rivalry with Dana can be viewed as a subtle game of "cat and mouse". In the beginning of the series, Marie appears to be colder and less personable than Dana. But as the story progresses, she is revealed to be even more of a romantic than Dana. Her military training eventually conflicts with her passionate emotions, and she is forced to choose between her duty to the Southern Cross, and her friendship with the 15th Squad. She slowly develops feelings for Shawn Phillips, and they later become romantically involved.

Robotech Masters

The Robotech Masters are a species of humanoids[33] who mostly appear as triumvirates, native to Tirol, a moon of the planet Fantoma. According to the Jack McKinney novelizations (which are not considered canon by some), a Tirolian scientist named Zor discovered the Invid homeworld, and the mysterious Flower of Life. This discovery led to the development of Protoculture, a source of tremendous power and unique qualities. Their imperial machinations lead them to turn their cloned Zentraedi miners into a formidable military force, used to steal the Flower of Life from the Invid, defoliate Optera and conquer the Local Group of star systems.[34][35]

Robotech Elders

The Robotech Elders were the governing triumvirate of the Robotech civilization during the Second Robotech War. Their power over both military and civilian matters was absolute.

Television series

In the television series, they are apparently clones, and are seen only briefly. They debate a plan for a first offensive against humanity, that would later result in the Second Robotech War. The series never mentions them again. It is implied that while they journeyed to Earth with the Robotech Masters, they remained observers, and did not participate in the conflict.

After the destruction of the Robotech Masters, their ultimate fate is unknown.

Novels

In the series of novels by Jack McKinney, the Elders are mentioned in more detail. Rather than clones, they were members of the original Tirolian race, and scientific contemporaries of the original Zor.

Their incredibly advanced technology led to the creation of two entire races of clones: the Zentraedi, and the Robotech Masters. Eventually, their desire for power and immortality led to the near genocide of their entire race by the Invid.

The third generation

This era concerns the third series adapted to Robotech (MOSPEADA).

Scott Bernard

Scott Bernard (Known as Stick Bernard in Genesis Climber Mospeada[36]) is a fictional character from the third Robotech Series: The New Generation. He is a young man, who is somewhat reluctant but a leader at best. He is a skilled pilot and was set to marry the woman he loved Marlene Rush. However, Marlene is killed in the battle with the Invid. Scott has a holographic medallion she gave him as a token of her love and he uses it to give him strength to continue the fight against the Invid.[37]

Scott Bernard was born in 2023 in outer space, less than a year after the Robotech Expeditionary Force, led by the SDF-3, left Earth to find the Robotech Masters' Homeworld in hopes of preventing another war on Earth. One of the first children born during the mission, Scott was part of the new generation of Earth's defenders.[38]

In 2042, Scott, now aged 19, served as a pilot in the 21st Mars Division, one of the advanced battalions trying to reclaim Earth from the Invid by destroying their base, Reflex Point. Prior to arriving on Earth he proposes to Marlene Rush, his then girlfriend and fellow Mars Division soldier who accepts his proposal for marriage. However, Scott's happiness is short lived as the Mars attack group is overwhelmed by the unexpected force that Invid can now muster. The entire division is destroyed and Scott is the only survivor.[39] After crashlanding on Earth, Scott is devastated by the loss of Marlene, but Scott decides to continue on his mission to reach Reflex Point. Believing that Admiral Rick Hunter will eventually return with the full strength of the REF to free Earth, Scott vows to do all he can to help weaken the Invid on Earth. Scott is joined on his mission by other freedom fighters as the series progressed. They were Rand, Annie "Mint" LaBelle, Rook Bartley, Jim "Lunk" Austin, and Lance Belmont. Along the way, the group also encounters a woman named Ariel who apparently has amnesia, so they decided to call her Marlene (after his fiance). As she traveled with them, Scott developed feelings toward her and Marlene/Ariel feels the same way. They fall in love with each other until Scott discovers that she is an Invid (who has a human body), at which point his feelings started to get mixed. In the end, Scott realizes that he is in love with Ariel but during the battle can not bring himself to admit it to her, or himself.

In the Battle of Reflex Point in 2044, Scott helps lead Earth resistance forces and REF commandos against the Invid forces in an attempt to reach Reflex Point and destroy it. Ariel manages to convince her mother, the Invid Regis to leave Earth lest both races be destroyed. The Regis converts her entire race to energy and flies off into the universe. As a concert plays nearby to celebrate Earth's liberation, Scott meets with Ariel, who has chosen to stay behind. Scott tells Ariel that he must leave Earth and his friends to rejoin the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) to search for Admiral Rick Hunter and the SDF-3, which is lost in space. However, he promises Ariel that he will return.[40]

Ariel

Ariel (known as Aisha in Genesis Climber Mospeada)[41] is a fictional character from the third Robotech chapter The New Generation and Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. She is voiced by Melanie MacQueen in the original series and by Kari Wahlgren in The Shadow Chronicles.

Ariel is the first of the Invid that had transmutated into humanoid form in April 2043. She was a simulagent sent to spy on Scott Bernard's group of freedom fighters, but she appeared to suffer amnesia when she was recovered by Scott's resistance group. In fact, Ariel was akin to a newly born human being due to the transmutation into human form and so her past life as an invid has been irrelevant, but now she has free will to live independently from the hive in this form, and this initially frightens her. The group took her in their company and Scott named her Marlene, after his fiance who was killed by the Invid. During their quest to the Reflex Point, Marlene becomes an integral part of the group as they fight the Invid. Initially, Marlene believes herself to be a human suffering from amnesia that can sense when the Invid are near.[42] During the journey to Reflex Point she develops feelings towards Scott. They both fall in love with each other until an encounter with the Invid on the outskirts of Reflex Point when the two young lovers discover that she is in fact an Invid. Scott questions his feelings for her throughout the final two episodes of the series until he realizes (thanks to Rand and Rook), in the end, that he is in love with Marlene/Ariel.

In 2044, when the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) launches a full scale offensive against the Invid on Earth, the battle slowly turns against the REF, who decide they have no option but to use the Neutron-S missiles, which will destroy the Invid but also wipe out most if not all of life on Earth (although their true power is not yet known). As the missiles are launched and travel towards Earth, Marlene confronts the Invid Regis, who is her queen and mother, and tried to convince her that what the Invid were doing was as wrong as what the Robotech Masters did to them. Together with Sera, she convinced the Regis to leave Earth. The Regis converts her entire race into energy and flies off into space to find a new planet on which to continue their evolution. The Regis grants Ariel's request to stay behind and, as a parting gift, she destroys the Neutron-S missiles.[43]

Marlene stayed on Earth, along with another Invid named Sera because she felt more human than Invid. Although she professed her love to Scott, he left her behind and as he went in search of the SDF-3 under the command of Admiral Rick Hunter. Ariel stayed with Jim "Lunk" Austin and Annie "Mint" LaBelle.

In Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles she receives a vision from the Regis concerning the Haydonites: that they will betray the REF as they are no longer useful to them. This prompts her to leave Earth and go to Scott Bernard's side with her teleporting abilities, with the intention of helping him and the Icarus crew fight the Haydonites in any way she can. However, she is imprisoned by Vince Grant's crew as she is an Invid, but is later released and becomes a prominent member of the Ark Angel crew.

Corg

Corg was one of four known Invid Simulagents created in humanoid form by the Invid Regess. The human form was determined through Invid genetic experimentation in the Genesis Pits to be the most fit vessel on Earth. As the Crown Prince of the Invid Race, he and his sister Sera, shared command of Invid Legions, and they were both given Invid Commander mecha to fly in battle.

With Sera, he pursued Lieutenant Scott Bernard’s freedom fighters in many battles. Being now in a humanoid form, he was also exposed to human emotions. While his two other Invid Sisters, Ariel and Sera, felt love and compassion, he was filled with anger and hatred. He nearly laid waste to New York City after deciding to commit genocide of the humans inhabiting the battered city.

He was a skilled pilot, despite failing to defeat Scott Bernard's band of rebels. He participated in the defense of Reflex Point from the Robotech Expeditionary Force where he killed many human pilots. His hatred got the best of him and he was killed in battle by Lieutenant Commander Bernard in the assault of Reflex Point.[40] Corg's counterpart in Genesis Climber Mospeada was named Batra.[44]

Rook Bartley

Rook Bartley
First appearanceEpisode 62 - "The Lost City"[45]

Rook Bartley appears in the New Generation storyline.

As a young teenager, Rook was a member of the Blue Angels biker gang along with her boyfriend, Romy, and other juveniles. When Romy decided to break up the Blue Angels because of pressure from a rival gang, the Red Snakes, Rook tried to take on the Snakes alone and was beaten and left for dead. Because of this, Rook ran away from home, leaving her mother and sister behind. She later joined a band of freedom fighters led by Mars Division Lieutenant Scott Bernard.[46]

It was revealed that Rook was the half-Zentraedi daughter of Kyle Bartley and the Zentraedi warrior Vala Norri. (Crystal Dreams 1: Crystal Dreams a comic for a cancelled game)

Rook is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant (as seen in the episode "Lonely Soldier Boy") taking on several thugs at one time.[47]

She is also an expert Cyclone Rider using VR-038 Bartley ("'38 Lite") cyclone. In the middle of the series Rook acquires a Red VFA-6Z Alpha Fighter & rides a VR-052 Battler Cyclone.

Over the course of the series she begins to develop feelings for Rand, but initially denies it. Toward the end of the series she admits her feelings to herself, and to Rand, and the two become a couple.[48][49] In the now de-canonized Robotech book "End of the Circle", it is revealed that Rook and Rand marry and have a daughter.

Lance Belmont

Lance Belmont
First appearanceEpisode 63 - "Lonely Soldier Boy"[47]
In-universe information
AliasLancer
NicknameYellow Dancer

Lance "Lancer" Belmont (Also known as Yellow Belmont in Genesis Climber Mospeada)[44] appears in the third season of the anime series. He joined the fight with Scott Bernard and his group to battle the Invid. Lancer is voiced by Jimmy Flinders, who also provided the voice of Max Sterling.

Lt. Lance Belmont was a pilot that was a part of the first attack wing that attempted to liberate the Earth from the Invid launched by the 10th Mars Division of the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) in 2038. He flew a non-transformable SA-8 Vampire but crash landed during the attack. The rest of the division was destroyed by the Invid forces. He was rescued by a young woman named Carla. To save Lancer from the townspeople who were assisting the Invid, Carla Morales disguised Lancer as a woman. Lancer took the name Yellow Dancer and passed himself off as a female singer, a role he originally created to avoid capture by the Invid. It was not until 2042 when Lt. Scott Bernard (of the 21st Mars Division), Rand and Annie arrived in the small town that "Yellow Dancer" was performing at that Lancer revealed that not only was she a he, but that he was a military trained special operative.

Lancer would stay with the group until the battle of Reflex Point.[40]

He fell in love with Sera, Princess of the Invid, and she with him. It was this relationship that largely led to Sera abandoning the genocidal tactics of her brother Corg and to her eventual break with the Regis. .[50]

The handsome youth is quick to make light of his peculiar situation. He's a good friend to have in times of trouble, a thoughtful advisor and a courageous, talented fighter. It's his ability to see beyond the obvious that helps bring about the tentative peace between the Invid and the humans at the end of the Third Robotech war. He falls for the invid princess, Sera, and helps her buy the Regess enough time to evacuate her people in the final assault.

The Robotech film Robotech: Love Live Alive goes further into his history before and after the war.

After the end of the Third Robotech war in 2044, he continues to do concerts as Lancer. At one point, he is interviewed by a news reporter named Kay, who he claims to that he and Sera went separate ways. After his concert that night he is reunited with Rook, Rand, Annie, Lunk, Marlene and Scott, who are all off to join the expedition to find Rick Hunter. Afterwards he returns to a small cottage, where Sera, who is expecting a baby, welcomes him.[51]

Novelizations

The Jack McKinney novels give many more details of Lancer's history. The cartoon itself does not explicitly state what military group Lancer was a part of; the detailed timeline of the Robotech Wars generated for the series in the 21st century makes it clear he must be a member of the Mars Division, as noted above, but prior to this, when the novels were written, they formulated a narrower timeframe that saw Lancer depicted as a member of the Army of the Southern Cross. Where the cartoon suggests Lancer and Carla are meeting for the first time when his plane crashes in her village, the novels have them as lovers for some time prior to this, with Lancer merely trying to reach her upon being shot down. Additionally, the novels suggest Lancer and Carla's relationship is an extremely non-traditional one in which his female impersonation skills played a role—skills that were not developed on the fly as a disguise, but rather were a long-standing ability of Lancer's that he developed during his time as a theatre actor, studying styles such as kabuki and budō.

The End of the Circle notes that at some point in the years following the Third Robotech War, Lancer was killed in an accident while flying a relief mission. As the novels, like all non-animated Robotech stories are now considered secondary canon, Lancer's fate in the show seems much different in light of Love Live Alive.

Sera

Sera was one of four Invid Simulagents created in humanoid form by the Invid Regess. As the Crown Princess of the Invid Race, she and her brother Corg, shared command of Invid Legions, and they were both given Invid Commander mecha to fly in battle.[18]

With Corg, she fought Lieutenant Scott Bernard's freedom fighters. Being now in a humanoid form, she was also exposed to human emotions.[52]

Like her sister Ariel, she fell in love with one of the human resistance fighters named Lancer (aka Lance Belmont). Together, they convinced the Invid Regess that further war would bring the destruction of both races, ultimately siding with the humans. Thus, when the Invid Regess and the rest of the Invid transcended their corporeal forms and left the earth, both Sera and Ariel were left behind.[49]

No mention of Sera was made in the 2006 animated sequel Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. Although, the first part of the film covers most of the same events of the last two episodes of the 1985 series, she was omitted along with all of the other supporting characters of the Mospeada/Robotech:New Generation segment.

Sera appeared in the Robotech OVA, Love Live Alive, where she is revealed to be pregnant with Lancer's child.

Sera's counterpart in Genesis Climber Mospeada was named Sorji (ソルジ).

The novel "The End of the Circle" by Jack McKinney stated that Sera was negatively affected by the Regess's departure from Earth, resulting in her eventually wasting away, and 'dying' in Lancer's bed in their home in New York City, disappearing and becoming one with the Regess; however, the Mckinney novels, like all non-animated Robotech stories are now considered secondary canon. Her official canon fate appears to now be quite different in light of "Love, Live, Alive".

Rand

A young and impressionable freedom fighter from Argentina, Rand is a self-taught survivor. He has managed to live off the land on his own and still avoid capture and slavery by the Invid. When he joins Scott Bernard, Rand begins a voyage of self-discovery. He becomes young Annie's protector. An orphan of the invasion himself, he understands Annie's situation from firsthand experience. Under Scott Bernard's guidance, Rand becomes an excellent combat soldier. When he falls in love with Rook Bartley, his commitment to her is total. His outgoing and affectionate nature is a perfect foil to Rook's independent nature.

Rand's counterpart in Genesis Climber Mospeada was named Ray.[44]

Annie "Mint" LaBelle

Annie was born in Panama, Central America. She is a free-spirited, talkative orphan looking to live life to its fullest. She is obsessed with finding herself a boyfriend, although has little luck with her outgoing ways. While not the most skilled of the freedom fighters, Annie provides the spirit and energy for the group. She is always willing to lend a hand, regardless of whether she actually can do the task. She is willing to take on the Invid single-handed, if that is what is required.[53]

Jim "Lunk" Austin

Jim Austin, more affectionately known as Lunk, is a biomaintenance engineer that returned from the expeditionary forces to fight off the Robotech Masters. While supporting a ground unit, he arrives in time to see his best friend (the only survivor of the unit) being hotly pursued by Invid. Jim loses his nerve and flees the scene leaving his friend to certain death. Jim is ashamed of his desertion and hides his past and assumes the nickname of Lunk.

When a local gang of bikers find out about his past, they begin terrorizing him and his friends. One day, while chasing Lunk and a friend, they cause him to crash. Lunk escapes, but his friend is not so lucky. While Lunk is about to run away again, Scott and Rook are ready and willing to go after the gang and rescue his friend. This reawakens Lunk's sense of duty, and he leads Scott to an old Alpha fighter he had been maintaining for years, just in case.

Lunk later attempts to complete his best friend's last request of returning a book to his father. When they reach the village where his friend's father lived, they find that the locals killed him when he tried to teach them that they could not fight the invid. As the series progresses Lunk slowly regains his self-esteem while he helps the group out and maintains their fighting mecha in optimal combat condition.

Lunk's counterpart in Genesis Climber Mospeada was named Jim Warston.[44]

The Invid

The Sentinels

This era starts by overlapping a portion of The Lost Generation. It continues parallel to The Second Generation, and interacts with the main storyline in The Third Generation by providing the forces of liberation. This era ends with the start of The Shadow Chronicles era.

Jonathan Wolfe

Colonel Jonathan Wolfe is a fictional character in the Robotech universe. Leader of a squadron dubbed The Wolf Pack, they were successful in annihilating many of the enemies encountered by Admiral Hunter's Robotech Defenders. Then the Wolfe Pack was sent to Earth, to do battle with the Robotech Masters. They survived the Invid attack, and have kept the hope of freedom lovers everywhere alive until Admiral Hunter returns. He had a memorable one-time appearance as a guest character in the 1985 series during the New Generation segment episode "Eulogy." He would have returned as a regular character in the aborted prequel series Robotech II: The Sentinels, which was later realized as a comic book series and a series of novels by Jack McKinney. In his animated appearances, including the produced Sentinels animation, Colonel Wolfe was voiced by Tom Wyner.[54]

T. R. Edwards

Jack Baker

A Varitech pilot candidate before the SDF-3 left Earth, he had a strong sense of duty and a "no-one-left-behind" mentality that caused him to fail the War Simulation exam; even trough Max was impressed for his ability and sense of duty, Rick disliked that Baker disobeyed strict orders. But the REF knew they needed all the Pilots they could have and they accepted Baker into the Robotech Expeditionary Forcealongside Karen Penn. Baker eventually became an important part of the REF and eventually the Sentinels in the War against the Invid Regent. Jack Baker later became Wolf Leader and was reassigned to the defense of Tirol.

Karen Penn

Karen Penn first appears in Robotech II: The Sentinels as a talented 17-year-old test pilot who is granted permission to join the REF on its mission the day before it is launched in 2022. In the Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles comic series, which is set in 2043, (at which point she is approximately 40 years of age) she appears briefly as a bridge officer. In the 2006 film Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, which is set in 2044, she is now a senior REF officer in command of an Ikazuchi-class Carrier. It is unclear whether or not she survives the battle with the Haydonites at Space Station Liberty.

Emil Lang

Dr. Emil Lang was briefly seen in episodes 5 ("Transformation") and 6 ("Blitzkrieg") of the Macross Saga. He would have had a much larger role in the aborted sequel Robotech II: The Sentinels.[55][56]

The storyline for this series was later realized as a comic book and novel series. Dr. Lang was Earth's chief Robotechnician and has been with Earth Robotechnology development since it was first developed from the crashed SDF-1. It was through his efforts that the SDF-1 was built from the crashed alien ship. He also helped in development of the Veritech fighter. Among his other innovations were the pinpoint barrier system, omni-directional barrier, Cyclone Armor, and the Shadow Fighter.

During his animated appearances in Robotech and The Sentinels, Dr. Lang was voiced by Greg Snegoff.

After the end of the First Robotech War, Dr. Lang was made leader of the Robotech Expeditionary Force. He would join Rick Hunter, Lisa Hayes, and the other heroes of the First Robotech War aboard the SDF-3. Dr. Lang was a popular and charismatic leader with the REF, a surrogate father figure to the young scientists and soldiers. He became close to cadet pilot Karen Penn, daughter of his friend and colleague, Harry Penn. Although Karen loved her father, she felt he was too overprotective. Despite Harry Penn's protests, Lang fully supported Karen's determination to be a Veritech pilot.

In addition to scientific research, Lang was also a shrewd politician and diplomat who served on the REF Plentipotentiary Council. Lang repeatedly demonstrated his ability to compromise and draw upon the strength of others as the key to diplomacy. He was instrumental in secretly foiling the plans of certain high-ranking REF members who exploited their positions. In this, he was assisted by Janice Em. On the outside, she appeared an ordinary young lady with a beautiful singing voice, but in actuality, she was an android that Lang built to act as a spy much like the Japanese kunoichi.

During the final phase of the Sentinel's campaign, Lang, Exedore, and Janice worked together to create Shadow Technology out of the notes left behind by the now renegade T. R. Edwards who had made significant breakthroughs using captured Invid technology.

As seen in the comic book miniseries Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles, during the final phase of the Third Robotech War, Lang, Exedore, and Janice were in the process of testing the Neutron S missiles that Admiral Hunter ordered used against the Invid's Reflex Point on Earth. Not realizing the power of these weapons, a test firing of the missile released destructive energy that not only disabled SDF-3 but according to Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, killed all aboard science vessel Deukalion with the exception of Janice. Lang, who supervised the test aboard the SDF-3, later disappeared along with the rest of that ship's crew.

The original print run of the Prelude comic had truncated art that didn't clarify whether Lang was aboard SDF-3 or Deukalion, leading readers to guess that Lang was among those killed aboard Deukalion. The trade paperback reprint restored the art making it clear that he was aboard SDF-3. Deleted dialog (seen in the DVD extras) in the Shadow Chronicles film also places him aboard SDF-3 desperately attempting to reestablish contact with Janice.

Original Macross version

Haruhiko Mikimoto was the character designer for Macross, the Japanese animated series that was adapted as the first 36 episodes of Robotech. In the original Macross character designs, the unnamed chief engineer in two episodes (later redesignated Dr. Lang in Robotech) was one of several Macross background characters drawn simply with small black eyes. The Macross chief engineer is credited with the modular transformation and pin-point barrier system of the SDF-1 Macross, but none of the other innovations credited to Robotech's Lang. In the original Macross, the eyes had no special reason for their appearance and is simply attributed to one of the trademarks of Mikimoto's artistic style. Characters with similarly drawn eyes have appeared in other anime on which he worked.

Another unnamed character with these eyes appeared in a conference scene in Episode 29 and was seen having a friendly argument with Rick Hunter. This character was retroactively identified as Lazlo Zand in the Jack McKinney novelization.

The reason for the black eyes has been established in the Dark Horse comics as a side effect of exposure to Protoculture.

The Sentinels version

The Macross character design was modified in Robotech II: The Sentinels animation produced where, in his updated character design, he was given normal eyes. Comic books have off and on reverted to the black marble like eyes without explanation, usually depending on the artist drawing the issue. The Jack McKinney novels have explained it as an indication of Lang's affinity with the protoculture and its Shapings, an aftereffect of Lang's near electrocution during the initial exploratory expedition of the crashed SDF-1 where he tried to access the onboard alien computer. The Sentinels comic (which uses his Sentinels character design) did show one instance of Lang's eyes turning marble black and of him subduing someone with greater than normal physical strength.

Secondary Continuity

In the Comico graphic novel and Jack McKinney novelizations, Dr. Emil Lang is part of the initial team of explorers into the recently crashed alien spaceship. Lang attempts to access what he believes to be an alien computer located in Zor's private quarters. In the novelizations, he is nearly electrocuted by what may have been an anti tampering defense installed in the computer. Lang quickly recovers to discover that his eyes were turned all black. Later novels add to the effects of this encounter by stating that Lang's IQ was also increased. Lang additionally suggested that he was given an affinity with the "Shapings", a protoculture-guided cosmic force that he would frequently referred to in the novels.

The Eternity/Academy comic book series Robotech: Return to Macross introduces Lang's younger sister, Nina, who is a rock star. Nina is used by Anatole Leonard and his anti-Robotechnology group, The Faithful in an attempt to generate bad publicity for the Robotech research group by having her openly speak out against her brother's research. This plan is derailed as Roy Fokker rescues Nina from a kidnapping by Leonard's agents. Nina, additionally appears at a press conference fully supporting her brother's work. Nina later shows an interest in Brian Bernard, an old friend of Lang's. The comic series ended before this was expanded on and although it is not known if anything came out of it.

The Shadow Chronicles

This era starts with the Prelude comic book and merges The New Generation and The Sentinels eras back together into one.

Vince Grant

Vince Grant
In-universe information
RelativesJean Grant (wife)
Bowie Grant (Son)

Vince Grant appears in Robotech II: The Sentinels, Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles and Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. Vince is voiced by Richard Epcar, who also provided the voices of Ben Dixon and Jim "Lunk" Austin in the original 1985 television series.

Vince is the brother of Claudia Grant, a bridge officer on the SDF-1. In October 2012, Vince's wife, Dr. Jean Grant, give birth to a son, who they name Bowie Grant. Born at nearly the same time as Dana Sterling, Bowie and Dana would become good friends and would later serve together in the 15th ATAC Squadron of the elite Army of the Southern Cross.

The Sentinels

Claudia dies at her post in January 2014 in the battle of New Macross City. Subsequently, Vince became very good friends with Rick Hunter, who also lost numerous friends in the battle. In December 2022, Vince and Jean leave earth about the SDF-1, the flagship of the newly created Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF). Unfortunately, due to health reasons, Bowie was unable to come with them and, like Dana, was left under the care of their godfather, General Rolf Emerson. Bowie was initially devastated at being left behind, and both Vince and Jean hoped the mission would be over quickly. However, the challenges soon faced by the REF would keep it away from earth for the rest of Bowie's childhood.

Vince and Jean continue to have prominent roles throughout the REF's 22-year mission. During Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles, Vince has become a captain within the REF and remains a close and trusted friend of Rick Hunter. Following the attack against the SDF-3 by the renegade forces of T. R. Edwards and the Invid Regent's supercarrier, Vince and Jean are forced to tell Rick that his wife, Lisa Hayes has suffered a miscarriage, causing Rick to collapse in shock and sadness.

In early 2044, Vince takes command of the newly completed Tokogawa, a heavy cruiser built for the purpose of tracking down and stopping Edwards. Although the Tokogawa is lost in a subsequent battle with Edwards' forces, Vince and Rick are eventually able to track down and stop Edwards' plan to seize control of the remaining forces of the Invid Regent for his own use. However, like Rick, Vince thinks little of Edwards' warning that a new threat is about to emerge that will threaten the REF, Earth, and even the Invid.

The Shadow Chronicles

In July 2044, Vince is placed in command of the Icarus, one of the REF newly completed Shimakaze-class Battlecruisers. When the SDF-3 fails to return from a test-firing of a super-weapon known as the Neutron-S missile, Vince obtains permission from General Reinhardt to try and find the SDF-3. Upon arriving in the Omciron sector after a fold jump near a newly created Black hole, Vince makes contact with the severely damaged SDF-3. Rick warns him that the Neutron-S missiles have a critical flaw (i.e. they create black holes) and that they cannot be used under any circumstances. After securing the disabled science vessel Deukalion, Vince attempts to take the SDF-3 into the Icarus fold sphere but an unknown ship attacks and rams the SDF-3, throwing it out of range. Vince is forced to activate the fold drive, leaving the SDF-3 behind.

When the Icarus returns to Earth, it comes under attack by several unknown fighters that were also transported by the ship's fold sphere. Scott Bernard, a resistance-fighter from Earth who was returning to Moon Base ALUCE in his veritech, is able to destroy both attackers, allowing the Icarus to land safely for repairs.

When Scott reveals that he has fallen in love with Ariel, the daughter of the Invid Regress but who has a human body, Vince and General Reinhardt are reluctant to believe his warning that a new threat is about to emerge. Both believe that the Invid are simply trying to drive a wedge between the REF and the Haydonites, the highly advanced cybernetic race that provided the REF with much of its advanced technology.

When Space Station Liberty comes under attack, Vince takes the Icarus to investigate. Among his newly assigned crew are Scott Bernard, Janice-EM, a robot hybrid built from Human and haydonite technology (who serves as a go-between), Maia Sterling, Marcus Rush and Alex Romero of Skull Squadron, and Louie Nichols, a tech-genius who served with Dana and Bowie during the Second Robotech War. Upon arriving at Liberty, Vince realizes how serious the situation is: a large fleet of unknown vessels are attacking, and REF ships are being destroyed with just one hit. Louie, after analyzing the situation, informs Vince that the attackers appear to be exploiting hidden weaknesses in the REF's new technology. Ariel (who can teleport herself over vast distances) appears on the bridge and repeats her warning that they are the threat that seeks to destroy all those who use Protoculture. It then becomes apparent that the Haydonites themselves are the attackers. As more REF ships are destroyed due to weaknesses in their syncro-cannons and shadow devices, Grant slams his fist as he realizes that every piece of technology the Haydonites have given to the REF is equipped with some kind of Trojan horse.

Realizing the Icarus which is equipped with shadow technology, is no longer a viable ship, Grant orders it to dock at Space Station Liberty and evacuate all personnel to the massive colony ship Ark Angel, which has no shadow technology installed. Vince and Scott then ride through Liberty on Cyclones until they reach the remaining supply of Neutron-S missiles in storage on the station. After rigging them for detonation, Vince and Scott board the Ark Angel and slowly depart from the station, causing the haydonites vessels to move in to attempt to destroy it. At the last moment, the Ark Angel initiates a fold jump; the Neutron-S missiles then detonate, destroying Liberty and the entire Haydonite fleet.

Back at Moon Base ALUCE, Vince is ordered to take the Ark Angel and search for the SDF-3, which may not have been destroyed as initially thought. Like the others, Vince can only hope the SDF-3 has survived and that if it has, that the Ark Angel can reach it before the Haydonites.

Maia Sterling

Maia Sterling
In-universe information
SpeciesHuman/Zentradi
RelativesMiriya Parina Sterling (Mother)
Max Sterling (Father)
Dana Sterling (Sister)

Maia Sterling appears briefly in the Wildstorm comic Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles and is a major character in the movie Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. Maia may have appeared briefly in episode 60 of the original Robotech series, The Robotech Masters; the young girl who appears in Dana's dream calls herself "the other daughter of Max and Miriya", and while there was clearly no deeper meaning to this at the time, it follows that the Shadow Chronicles storyline intended to draw from it.

Maia is strict like her mother and yet witty like her father, and like her parents, marks her fighter with her own personal colors - in this case, a combination of the standard blue paint scheme, and her own personal pink. Her personal flight suit uses a similar color scheme.

Maia Sterling is voiced by Edie Mirman, who also provided the voices of Miriya Parina Sterling and Nova Satori in the original Robotech television series.

Lieutenant Commander Maia Sterling is a daughter of Max Sterling and Miriya Sterling, and is Dana Sterling's younger sister. Like her sister, Dana, she is half human and half Zentraedi. She has short, pink hair, and appears to have adopted the color for use on her equipment. Unlike Dana, who was born on Earth, Maia was born in space during the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) mission to find the Robotech Masters' homeworld of Tirol. Before the Battle of Reflex Point, Maia, like the other young members of the REF who were born in space, have never seen Earth. Maia's exact age is not stated but she was presumably born shortly after the REF departed from Earth in December 2022. Since the events of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles occur in July 2044, her age is estimated to be approximately 20.

Prelude to The Shadow Chronicles

In the Wildstorm comic Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles, Maia is briefly seen towards the end of the last issue (Issue 5 of 5). On board Space Station Liberty, Maia discusses the upcoming offensive against the Invid with Commander Daryl Taylor of Wolf Squadron as well as Taylor's selection of pilots Alex Romero and Marcus Rush for his Squadron. As they are talking, Dana walks up to them. Maia simply says "Dana" and the two sisters look at each other intently for a moment before Dana walks off without saying a word, with a look of sadness on her face. Daryl states: "That was awkward Maia. She's still not talking, eh?" but Maia immediately changes the subject back to the upcoming offensive. It is clear there is tension between Maia and Dana, as judged by Dana's mostly non-verbal behavior but the reason for this tension is not known.[57] Fans have speculated that Dana is angry and resentful over the fact that while she was left behind on Earth by her parents, they then had another daughter and thus, in her mind, Dana feels that she had been "replaced" by Maia. Another reason that fans have suggested is that Miriya died while giving birth to Maia, which would also explain why there is no mention of Miriya in the comic.

The Shadow Chronicles

In Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, Maia, like her parents and her sister, proves to be a skilled pilot and warrior. Shortly before the REF launch a full-scale assault on Earth in 2044 to dislodge the Invid who have occupied the planet for 13 years, Maia is promoted to leader of the Skull Squadron, the same squad that her father led before being called by Rick Hunter to the SDF-3 to observe the test firing of a Neutron-S missile in the omicron sector.

During the battle of Reflex Point, Maia distinguishes herself by inflicting heavy losses on the Invid and saving the lives of a number of other pilots, including Marcus Rush and Alex Romero of Wolf Squadron. However, losses among the fighter squadrons are heavy, and among those killed is Daryl Taylor. Following the battle, General Reinhart decides to merge Wolf and Skull squadrons, which places both Marcus and Alex under her command.

Maia becomes annoyed after she overhears Marcus, who has lost both his sister and his commanding officer to the Invid, stating that all aliens should be wiped out. Maia tells him that she is half-alien and reminds him that if all aliens were wiped out, she would not have been able to save his life during the battle. Despite the awkward introduction, Marcus is clearly attracted to her, and the fact that Maia becomes visibly annoyed when Marcus is fascinated by the android, Janice Em, suggests that she is interested in him as well.

When the Haydonites, turn on the REF, Maia initially leads her squadron into battle, but is called back by Captain Vince Grant after it becomes clear that the technology the Haydonites gave to the REF, including the Syncro-Cannons equipped on their fighters, contain weaknesses that the Haydonites are exploiting. Unable to fight back, the squadron retreats but are pursued by Haydonite fighters. Alex Romero tries to engage them but his syncro-cannon, crippled by the Haydonite attack, malfunctions and his fighter becomes stalled. Despite the pleas of Maia and Marcus for Alex to eject, he flies into the enemy squadron as his fighter explodes, destroying himself and all of the enemy fighters. Maia is visibly upset by Alex's sacrifice while Marcus, who was Alex's best friend, is completely devastated.

After retreating to Space Station Liberty, Maia and her squadron acquire new super-shadow fighters which have not had shadow technology installed. Vince Grant orders Maia's and her squadron to hold the Haydonites long enough to evacuate Liberty's personnel to the massive colony ship Ark Angel and to prepare the Neutron-S warheads aboard Liberty for detonation. During the battle, Maia's fighter takes damage and she is forced to eject. Marcus grabs Maia's ejection pod and throws it towards the Ark Angel as it prepares to enter a spacefold. Marcus then launches a suicide run against the Haydonites to hold them off but just before the Neutron-S missiles detonate, Ariel uses her teleportation power to save him. Later on board the Ark Angel, Maia and Marcus console each other over the recent events. Marcus is despondent as he states that everyone he has been close to; his sister (Marlene Rush), his former commanding officer (Daryl Taylor) and his best friend (Alex Romero) have been taken by war. Maia is also despondent as she states that most of her family was aboard the SDF-3, which is lost in space and may have been destroyed (following the disastrous test firing of a Neutron-S missile in the Omicron sector.) Maia puts her head on Marcus' shoulder and the two look out a viewport as the Ark Angel flies over Earth's surface, which neither of them has seen until now.

Like the rest of the REF, Maia can only hope that the SDF-3 has survived, and that if it has, that the REF can reach it before the Haydonites do. The fate of the SDF-3 is left as an open plot thread which fans believe will be revealed in a future Robotech installment.

Continuity with original Robotech series

The other daughter of Max and Miriya was seen by Dana during a hallucinatory sequence in "Catastrophe", the final episode of the Robotech Masters segment (episode 60). This character gave rise to the Aurora Sterling character seen in the Jack McKinney novelization. Maia's characterization has nothing in common with Aurora as depicted in the novel and her hair is a different color. As the novels are secondary canon, one can reasonably expect that Maia replaces Aurora (who plays no functional role in the Sentinels saga except as a child of Max and Miriya) in that timeline.

Marlene Rush

Marlene Rush was an officer in the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) in the Third Generation of Robotech and Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. She has one sibling, a younger brother, Marcus Rush.

Marlene Rush was Scott Bernard's girlfriend and he proposed to her before he went into battle. In 2042, both were part of the 21st Mars Division of the Robotech Expeditionary Force which launched an attack against the Invid that had invaded 11 years earlier. The attack proves disastrous, as the Invid's superior numbers overwhelm and destroy the entire division. As Marlene's ship attempt to enter Earth's atmosphere and land on the planet, it comes under Invid attack and is destroyed, killing everyone aboard. Scott Bernard, who manages to land his veritech fighter on Earth, is devastated and is haunted by visions of Marlene. Before Marlene died, she gave a gift to Scott, a pendant that is able to show a hologram of herself, which Scott keeps with him as he joins a resistance movement against the Invid.[58]

Marcus Rush, who later becomes a pilot in the REF has his own pendent which is able to show a hologram of her and Scott Bernard together. Marcus carries this pendant with him all the time, and places a mark on it for each of Invid that he kills in battle. Her death results in him harboring a deep hatred of the Invid. At the end of The Shadow Chronicles, Marlene briefly appears to Marcus in a vision from beyond the grave to tell him that he must go on living, but that she will always be with him.

Marcus Rush

Marcus Rush appears briefly in the last issue of Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles and becomes a major character in the movie Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles as one of the main protagonists.

Marcus Rush is the younger brother of Marlene Rush. Like his sister, Marcus was born in deep space during the 22-year mission of the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) and has only seen Earth from space. Marcus carries a strong hatred of the Invid with him, stemming from the fact that his sister, Marlene, was killed during the failed assault by the 21st Mars Division against the Invid on Earth in 2042. After his sister's death, Marcus becomes a veritech fighter pilot to help continue the REF's mission to stop the Invid and free Earth from its occupation.

In Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, Marcus serves in Wolf Squadron during the Battle of Reflex Point in 2044. The battle is the final attempt by the REF to dislodge the Invid from Earth. During the battle Marcus is cornered by Invid fighters but is saved by Maia Sterling. However, the death of Commander Daryl Taylor during the battle and the heavy losses sustained by the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) during the battle, results in the merging of Wolf and Skull squadrons, which places Marcus and Alex under Maia' command. Later, as Marcus tells Alex that all aliens should be wiped out, Maia, who has overheard his remark, walks up to them. She tells them that she is half-alien (Maia's mother Miriya Parina Sterling, is Zentraedi) and that if all aliens were wiped out, she would not have been able to save his life. Marcus, who is attracted to Maia, tries to apologize in a bumbled manner. Maia, although not angry, simply warns both of them that she does not take lip from men under her command. Marcus now believes that his chances with Maia are sunk, although later, Maia becomes visibly annoyed when Marcus is fascinated by the android, Janice Em, which suggests that she is interested in him as well.

Scott Bernard, who was Marlene's fiancé, survived the assault in 2042 and formed his own resistance movement on Earth and arrives at Moon Base ALUCE following the battle of Reflex Point to meet up with the REF. Marcus recognizes Scott and is overjoyed to see he is alive. However, his joy at seeing Scott again is immediately tempered when Scott confirms that Marlene did not survive. Later in the mess hall, Marcus explains his hatred of the Invid to Scott and shows him the hologram pendent left to him by Marlene. He states that he uses the pendent to keep a running tally of the Invid that he's killed, placing a mark on the pendent for each kill. Scott, who unbeknownst to Marcus, has fallen in love with Ariel, the humanoid daughter of the Invid Regess, is visibly upset with Marcus' consuming hatred.

Ariel teleports to Moon Base ALUCE to warn Scott of a new threat to humanity, but they are interrupted when Marcus and Alex enter the room. Marcus, upon realizing that Ariel is an Invid (after she teleports out of the room), is furious when Scott reveals that he is in love with her. Marcus attacks Scott and probably would have seriously injured or killed him if Alex had not intervened. Scott tries to explain that Ariel chose to stay behind with him and that she is not the enemy but rather that she is trying to warn the REF that a new threat, "The Children of the Shadow", is about to manifest itself. However, Marcus refuses to believe him and maintains that all Invid are evil and must be destroyed.

When the Haydonites, who are later revealed to be the threat that Ariel warned of, turn on the REF, Skull Squadron is ordered to head to Liberty, and change to fighters that do not incorporate Haydonite technology but are pursued by Haydonite fighters. Alex Romero tries to engage them but his syncro-cannon, crippled by the Haydonite attack, malfunctions and his fighter becomes stalled. Despite the pleas of Maia and Marcus for Alex to eject, he flies into the enemy squadron as his fighter explodes, destroying himself and all of the enemy fighters. Maia is visibly upset by Alex's sacrifice while Marcus, who was Alex's best friend, is completely devastated. After arriving at Space Station Liberty, Skull Squadron acquires Super-Shadow fighters that have not had any Shadow technology installed yet. The squad immediately engages the Haydonites in hopes of holding them off long enough for Liberty's personnel to be evacuated to the colony ship Ark Angel and for Vince Grant and Scott Bernard to rig the remaining Neutron-S missiles on Liberty for detonation.

During the battle, Maia's fighter is damaged and she is forced to eject. Marcus uses his fighters' robotic arms to grab Maia's capsule and throw it towards the Ark Angel as it prepares to fold jump. Marcus, deciding he has nothing left to live for, holds down his weapon triggers and launches a suicide run against the Haydonites to hold them off long enough for the Ark Angel to activate its fold drive to escape. As the Neutron-S missiles detonate, Marcus comments that the light is so beautiful. In a vision, Marcus sees his sister Marlene, who tells him that it is not his time to die but that she will always be with him. Marcus pleads for her not to go but then awakens on board the Ark Angel as it travels through its fold jump, with Ariel (an Invid princess) kneeling by his side. Ariel reveals that she used her teleportation ability to save his life. Marcus, surprised to be alive, almost angrily asks Ariel why she saved his life as he tells her "You know I hate the Invid." Ariel, in a calm voice, responds that "hatred can only breed more hatred. It is not what we seek... any of us" and Marcus is left at a loss for words. Later, Scott tells Ariel that Marcus owes her his life, to which Ariel responds: "Perhaps now it will make him value the lives of others."

As the Ark Angel approaches the newly liberated Earth, Maia thanks Marcus for saving her life. Marcus remains despondent over the fact that everyone he has loved or befriended - his sister (Marlene Rush), his former commanding officer (Daryl Taylor), and his best friend (Alex Romero) - have been taken by war. Maia, who is also despondent as her family was aboard the SDF-3 (which is lost in space), puts her head on his shoulder. As the movie ends, the two look out a window as the Ark Angel flies over Earth's surface, which neither of them has seen until now.

References

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