Lego Squadron Poses for Group Photo (February 4, 2011)

[ChrisReid]

Here's a look at the full cast of Mr. Lee's nifty Lego project. What a sharp bunch! Can you name each of the Tiger's Claw pilots and crew depicted below? The same challenge has been posted to our Facebook page. Who can do it first? Hit the Discuss link and find out!

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Original update published on February 4, 2011

 

[Chaosbringer]

From left to right: Paladin, Hunter, Spirit, no idea, knight?, Halcyon, Blair, Angel, no idea, no idea, Maniac?, Iceman?, Shotglass.

 

[ChrisReid]

Good start. Look closely at your Maniac, Hunter and Iceman again.

 

[DaveO]

My guess on the crew is: Paladin, Hunter, Spirit, Bossman, Knight, Halcyon, Blair, Angel, Doomsday, Iceman, Jazz, Maniac, Shotglass.

 

[Mash]

Paladin, Maniac, Spirit, Bossman, Knight, Halcyon, Maverick, Angel, Doomsday, Iceman, Jazz, Hunter, Shotglass

 

[ChrisReid]

Mash has it! The key difference are those sideburns on Hunter.

 

[Red Baron]

This SO needs an animated movie ala Star Wars Cantina.
Too bad the original doesn't have much movement to begin with.

 

[-danr-]

Although it's a Lego creation, seeing all the characters from WC1 together makes me sad, as it kinda gets me thinking:

Most of the people in the image are dead, a bit like if you like at a world war II squadron photograph - realities of war I guess.

Hunter: Killed in combat.
Bossman: Killed in combat.
Halcyon: Presumed killed in raid on K'tahtrak Mang (unconfirmed?)
Angel: Killed by Thrakath
Iceman: Killed by Kilrathi mutilation
Jazz: Killed by Blair
Blair: Killed (either by Nephilim, or as I prefer, he shot that bug, but the wormhole collapsed on him anyway).

Leaving:
Shotglass (probably died on Claw)
Doomsday we know about, alive and well flying for the Landreich
Maniac: *still* a major on Midway by 2681 (is he mentioned in S*S?)
Paladin: Senator.

Kind of shows you the depth of the tale to come, the storywriting really was awesome.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Halcyon: Presumed killed in raid on K'tahtrak Mang (unconfirmed?)

Yes, he was still aboard according to the Wing Commander I & II Ultimate Strategy Guide. He's also on Blair's list of Jazz's victims in the 'losing' ending of Wing Commander II (of course, so is Hunter...).

Blair: Killed (either by Nephilim, or as I prefer, he shot that bug, but the wormhole collapsed on him anyway).

There's always hope! Actually, as problematic as the Lafong stuff can be you can also argue that *someone* was around twenty-five years after Wing Commander Prophecy to write Blair's autobiography...

Shotglass (probably died on Claw)

Probebly, although there is a strange reference to him in Voices of War--the unnamed human narrator mentions a set of wings that Shotglass gave him "after K'Tithrak Mang".

Maniac: *still* a major on Midway by 2681 (is he mentioned in S*S?)

Yes! There's an advertisement for his newly published book... which is itself a reference to Origin's Official Guide to Wing Commander Prophecy, which claims that (at the start of Prophecy) he is finally eyeing retirement and planning to write his memoirs. The the Prophecy Gold manual has a letter explaining what various characters are doing during Secret Ops--Maniac and the CAG are helping Paladin argue for military preparedness in the Senate.

Paladin: Senator.

He mentions in his letter to Blair in the ICIS manual that there's talk of bringing him out of retirement for the Nephilim crisis... although that hasn't happened as of Secret Ops.

Kind of shows you the depth of the tale to come, the storywriting really was awesome.

I remember thinking Wing Commander Academy's cast was a funny selection for a kids show, set on a doomed ship with lead characters who we already know end up with a lot of baggage (... two of the three leads end up committing genocide, one bothered by it and the other not... and the other one will be in an asylum a year after the shows).

... and, as is so often the case, you forgot Knight. His status is debatable as well. He's mentioned as one of Jazz's victims in the losing version of WC2's ending... and he's supposed to die in the movie... and Secret Missions 2 is certainly written to foreshadow his death (with him crediting Blair for convincing him to stay on the 'Claw)... but in spite of all that it just doesn't quite fit the story. With every fighter in space and everyone spread so thin that Blair couldn't have a wingman, Knight *shouldn't* have been on the carrier when it was destroyed.