Maniac and Blair

[frostytheplebe]

Over the games and movie, it seems that Blair and Maniac's "friendship" has changed. In WCM they were the best of friends by the looks of things... I can't really speak to what they were in WC1 as the story really didn't delve into personal affairs much. In WC2 SM2, Maniac is just all around boastful. He still seems ok with Blair, but I don't know for sure.

In the WC1/2 guide, at the very end, we see Maniac laid up due to injuries. Next thing you know he starts blaming Blair for everything, like a total attitude change. In his mind at this point he seems to feel Blair held him back somehow... which was later confirmed in WC3 when Maniac accuses Blair of pitting Tolwyn against him from the start. To this Blair simply says he did nothing, Maniac's flying style ruined his chance for promotion.

In WC4 they seem at least more tolerant of each other... at first.

Finally in WC Prophecy Blair actually has something decent to say about Maniac, but the only time they seem to exchange words is when Maniac volunteers to fly on Blairs wing, Blair makes a snide comment and Maniac mouths some kind of obscenity.

Is there any other source or backstory that could explain the deterioration in thier friendship?

 

[Delance]

Is there any other source or backstory that could explain the deterioration in thier friendship?

What deterioration? Maniac is a total ass to Blair on the first ep of WC Academy, and they are friends on WCP. They threat to kill each other on WC3, and are best buddies on WC4. If anything their friendship improved.

 

[Kilrathikiller]

Personally, they never seemed to hate each other. They have always seemed to get along fine. Just a relationship were they like to mess with each other or a competitive relationship.

 

[Dundradal]

They have a friend/rival relationship that ebbs from friendship to rivals, to at some points to a pretty strong dislike/hatred although hate might be a bit too strong.

Also the Search function is very useful frostytheplebe, I remembered this discussion happening a while back and it explains a lot of things pretty well. There are some great threads to be found, not saying don't start new threads, but instead showing you another part of the library

 

[Ricochet]

I I always liked that continuity, but i don't understand a couple of things:
Why did they have to insist on constantly making maniac a comic relief?
And after 4th part, where they went through a lot together and grow fairly fond of each other, why do they act like they almost don't know each other in prophecy? same goes for Hawk...
And why is maniac still a major in the prophecy, i really think that he did deserve promotion...

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Why did they have to insist on constantly making maniac a comic relief?

It's his lot in life. The character was doomed the minute the proto-internet reacted to the 'permission to shoot Maniac' scene in the original Wing Commander.

And after 4th part, where they went through a lot together and grow fairly fond of each other, why do they act like they almost don't know each other in prophecy? same goes for Hawk...

I never really saw this. It's more that they just didn't have any scenes together - the manual has an interview with Maniac where he explains his history with Blair, and Maniac even mouths 'I love you' to Blair after he volunteers to go board the gate at the end of the game.

As for Hawk, he doesn't really know Blair - they served together for a matter of days in Wing Commander IV and never really got along.

And why is maniac still a major in the prophecy, i really think that he did deserve promotion...

Comic relief. He does get made a Lt. Col. at the end of the WCIV novelization... who knows what happened to that.

 

[Death]

I I always liked that continuity, but i don't understand a couple of things:
Why did they have to insist on constantly making maniac a comic relief?

Maniac was always comic relief, going back to WC1. The degree of CR may have varied over the years, but a person who never changes isn't really much more interesting than a cardboard cutout.

And after 4th part, where they went through a lot together and grow fairly fond of each other, why do they act like they almost don't know each other in prophecy? same goes for Hawk...

Blair hardly even sees Hawk or Maniac in Prophecy (I don't recall, offhand, them seeing one another at all, really, beyond in the briefing room when Blair volunteers to fly as Casey's wingman), so it's a little difficult to tell how they view one another.

And why is maniac still a major in the prophecy, i really think that he did deserve promotion...

Maniac was a Colonel at the end of WC4, but being Maniac it's entirely possible (but not directly stated) he screwed the pooch enough to get busted down again. As per the beginning of the WC4 novelization, Confed has an "up or out" policy not-dissimilar to the current US military, so even ignoring the end of WC4N he had to have been given a higher rank at some point, to reset the timer.

 

[Ricochet]

Well, i really believe that people that fly together(hawk, blair) would make some sort of relationship. It's not like we see all of there interaction in movie sequences. It is natural to assume that. I don't mind maniac being a comic relief, i mind doing it at expense of plausibility. Like in the end of wc4 when blair says finally something good about maniac, and than maniac doesn't remember saying that. It wasn't even funny though it was meant to be... *shrugs*

 

[Dundradal]

As LOAF already said though Hawk and Blair literally served together for days and during that period Blair was his superior for a fair portion of it. They know more of each other because of their reputations. Blair initially recognizes Hawk and Panther by their last names. Serving together also does not mean that they have to have a great band of brothers style relationship. I can't really see Hawk and Blair being good friends because of their differences in beliefs and personalities.

 

[Peterson]

As LOAF already said though Hawk and Blair literally served together for days and during that period Blair was his superior for a fair portion of it. They know more of each other because of their reputations. Blair initially recognizes Hawk and Panther by their last names. Serving together also does not mean that they have to have a great band of brothers style relationship. I can't really see Hawk and Blair being good friends because of their differences in beliefs and personalities.

They'd have probably got more pally if the canon story had played out like the 'evil Blair' ending where Hawk appears to be his right hand man.

 

[Delance]

I can't really see Hawk and Blair being good friends because of their differences in beliefs and personalities.

Was even Spider a good friend of Hawk? He pretty much give a speech on WCP about how Hawk was long dead.