Starbuck

File:Bsg-starbuck-1.jpg

Kara Thrace (credit: Sci-Fi Channel)

Overview

Full Name: KARA THRACE

Rank: Lietenant

Age: 28

Marital Status: Single

Children: None

Current position: Pilot Battlestar Galactica, formerly part of the 75th Battlestar Group (Water)

Played by: Katee Sackhoff

Biography

Background

Kara Thrace is a gifted pilot - and knows it. This has tended to give her an attitude that has at times thwarted her career advancement.

Following an unhappy childhood, in which she was so frequently beaten by her mother, she came to accept pain and a way of life (Flesh and Bone), Kara left home to join the military. On graduating from Colonial Flight School, she undertook a period of active duty before returning to flight school - as an instructor.

It was in this role that she broke her cardinal rule of flying - and fell in love with a young recruit, Zak Adama. Despite Zak's mediocre performance as a pilot, Thrace's love for him - and the fact that she could see emulating his father was so important to him - caused her to pass him on his final flight examination, even though he flunked 3 of the required manoeuvres (Act of Contrition).

Already engaged to Zak at the time she passed him for flight status, she was unable to marry him - Zak was killed during a routine mission shortly after graduating. At the time, Lee Adama, Zak's elder brother, blamed their father for Zak's death, and Kara did little to alter this idea. She did, however, meet William Adama shortly after the accident, and the two struck up a rapport - so much so that they stood together at Zak's funeral (Act of Contrition).

Following the funeral, Kara resigned from flight School as a instructor and transferred as an operational pilot aboard the Battlestar Galactica under the command of William Adama, where she served for some two years prior to the Cylon attack on the 12 Colonies.

During her time aboard the Galactica, Kara's flying skills proved her to be one of the best pilots in the fleet, but her attitude quickly ran her afoul of other senior officers on-board ship, notably Colonel Saul Tigh, the Galactica's Executive officer. Tigh and Thrace seemed to take an instant dislike to each other, perhaps each seeing a similar level of failure in the other: Tigh with his drink problem, and Thrace with her arrogance born of once having been wrong. Whatever the reason, they both found it hard to mask their mutual dislike of one another, to the point where blows are eventually exchanged, and Thrace ends up in the brig (Mini-Series).

Post-Cylon Attack

Following the Cylon attack on the 12 colonies, Thrace is returned to flight status, where she quickly proves her worth as a remarkable pilot - right down to using her own Viper to rescue Lee Adama when his ship is disabled in a firefight (Mini-Series). This action brings her grudging respect from Colonel Tigh, but she is unable to accept his offer of the olive branch - an act that will have repercussions for her later.

After the Galactica suffers a drastic loss of water reserves due to an act of sabotage (Water), a hostage situation errupts on a prison transport ship, involving Lee Adama (Bastille Day). This leads Kara into putting together a rescue mission, in which she surprisingly gets the backing of Tigh himself. Following the successful mission, she tries to build a bridge between herself and the XO, only to have her overtures rejected.

Having partially admitted her role in Zak Adama's death to Lee Adama (Mini-Series, Kara is forced to confront her past head-on when a freak accident on the Galactica's hanger deck kills seven of her pilots and puts and further 13 in the sickbay. Charged with finding and training new pilots - or nuggets in the Colonial slang - Thrace has to face up to past mistakes, and eventually admit her secrets to William Adama himself, an act that brings their close friendship almost to breaking point (Act of Contrition).

Shortly after this, Kara engages a flight of Cylon Raiders while leading a training flight from Galactica, and is forced to eject from her critically-damaged Viper after it makes a forced entry into the atmosphere of a small moon (You Can't Go Home Again). The crash prompts a system-wide search for her, leader by Adama and his son - both reacting to their own guilt at their reactions to her. While the search and rescue operations place the fleet at extreme risk, they nevertheless keep the fleet in the star system long enough for Thrace - nursing a broken leg - to repair a downed Cylon Raider and get it flying again before using it to return to the Galactica - and provide Adama with vital intel on Cylon systems.

Taken off the active duty role as a result of her injured leg, Starbuck has seen her role become more desk-bound, helping to plan important missions (The Hand of God) and also undertake the interrogation of Cylon prisoners (Flesh and Bone). The tactcial planning role is not something she relishes (The Hand of God), and she is frequently shows resentment towards others for her condition (The Hand of God).

The interrogation of Leoben Conoy is a task that she does not particularly wish for, especially when the situation - a nuclear device allegedly hidden on one of the ships in the fleet - pushes her into some drastic acts to try and extract the information from him (Flesh and Bone).

Off-duty, Kara maintain her cock-sure personna by playing cards and gambling for money. Her devil-may-care attitude brings her to the attention of Doctor Gaius Baltar, whom she is initially intrigued by (Water), but whom she quickly comes to despise. However, the devil-may-care approach hides the fact that deep down, she is religious, and frequently turns to the Lords of Kobol - particularly Aphrodite and Artemis - in times of need (Mini-Series, Flesh and Bone) - even if it is sometimes half-joking (You Can't Go home Again).

--Colonial Archivist 17:21, 6 Jan 2005 (EST)