Joseph Adama

For other people with the same or similar first name, see: Joe (disambiguation).

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Joseph Adama
Name	{{{name}}}
Age
Colony	Born on Tauron
Birth place	{{{birthplace}}}
Birth Name	{{{birthname}}}
Birth Date	{{{birthdate}}}
Callsign	{{{callsign}}}
Nickname	{{{nickname}}}
Introduced	The Hand of God, Caprica pilot
Death	Within 20 years prior to the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, based on Romo Lampkin's assumed age and apprenticeship
Parents	William Adama †
Siblings
Children	Tamara Adama William Adama
Marital Status	Married to Shannon Adama
Family Tree	View
Role	Civil liberties/Mob lawyer
Rank
Serial Number	{{{serial}}}
Portrayed by	Esai Morales
Joseph Adama is a Cylon
Joseph Adama is a Final Five Cylon
Joseph Adama is a Human/Cylon Hybrid
Joseph Adama is an Original Series Cylon
Related Media
		@ BW Media
Additional Information
[[Image:|200px|Joseph Adama]]

Joseph Adama was the husband of Shannon, father of William and Tamara Adama, and a well-known, notorious civil liberties lawyer on Caprica ("Litmus", "The Son Also Rises"). He is also a mob lawyer for the Halafa (a Tauron-based criminal organization that has outward similarities to the Cosa Nostra, Yakuza, Bratva and a myriad of other organized crime outfits on the Earth of 150,000 years in the future), but he is seeking to get out from under their influence.

Biography

Adama was originally a Tauron who emigrated to Caprica and assumed the more Caprican sounding surname "Adams" because of the traditional prejudice against Taurons (additionally, the proper Tauron pronounciation of his first name is "YO-seef"). He became an influential defense attorney with ties to either (or both) Tauron's or Caprica's organized crime underworld. His wife and daughter were killed in a suicide bombing. It can be assumed that later in his life he went back to his original family name.

Further, Adama's education was apparently paid for by elements of the Caprican criminal underworld.

His son William Adama remarked that he thought Adama was a better father than he ever was (The Hand of God). Adama's grandson, Lee Adama, would repeatedly visit the elder Adama during his youth, sneaking a peek at Joseph's various law books (A Day in the Life). Joseph would repeatedly wave Lee over, telling him "Lee, be a good boy. Just don't be too good." (The Son Also Rises)

During his tenure, defense attorney Romo Lampkin was one of Adama's students, likely meeting him while working in one of Caprica's civil litigation offices. Though Lampkin claims to have hated the man "because he was right" about the law, Lampkin also admits to learning everything he knows about the law from Adama, and even carries a worn copy of Law and Mind: The Psychology of Legal Practice with him. After first meeting Lee Adama, Lampkin claims that he looked like his grandfather (The Son Also Rises). Another book written by Adama is Trial Tactics and Strategies (Crossroads, Part I).

The notorious lawyer

Joseph Adama's silver lighter (The Hand of God).

Adama believed that law was a way of exorcising everyone's demons, a belief that lead him to defend "the worst of the worst". Lee Adama remembered reading about how Joseph let "murderers go free", though never understanding why Joseph put himself through the abuse. In a discussion with Lampkin, it is revealed to Lee that Adama sought to understand the motivations that cause people to cheat, why people reward their enemies, go to war, and why people build machines to correct their flaws and shortcomings (The Son Also Rises).

Adama always carried a silver lighter during his cases; he considered it good luck, and claimed he only lost a case when he left it at home. He later gave it to his son William, who, after the holocaust, loaned it to his own son as a token of luck for a crucial mission, which was returned to him after the mission's success (The Hand of God).

Before going to trial, Adama would aways break pencils before entering the courtroom as a reminder to "break preconceptions" and "work with what you had." He would then ask to borrow a pencil from the clerk. Adama's son recounted this ritual to Laura Roslin before her upcoming Presidential debate, leading her to try it herself (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I).

Development of the Cylons

According to the basic storyline for the proposed Caprica TV series, Joseph Adama, a central character in the series, is a civil liberties lawyer and political opponent of the Graystone Family, owners of the corporation that constructed the original robotic Cylons on the colony of Caprica. While Adama's position in the controversy is uncertain, much of the political controversy surrounding the Cylons involved their slavery.

Spoiler follows, highlight to read.
Adama bonded with Daniel Graystone, a wealthy computer engineer whose daughter was killed in the same suicide bombing in which Shannon and Tamara died. Joseph reluctantly agreed to help Daniel recreate robotic versions of their daughters by stealing technology from Tomas Vergis, a Tauron developer, but he is eventually appalled by the robot version of Tamara.

Family tree

William Adama Sr. †

Isabelle Adama †

Larry

Sam Adama

Evelyn Adama

Joseph Adama

Shannon Adama †

Carolanne Adama †

William "Bill" Adama

Tamara Adama †

William "Willie" Adama †

Zak Adama †

Lee Adama

Anastasia Dualla †