Apollo (TOS)

Overview

Name: Apollo

Rank: Captain

Status: Widowed; formerly sealed to Serena

Children: 1; Boxey (adopted)

Siblings: 2; Athena and Zak (KIA)

Age: 20s-30s

Portrayed By: Richard Hatch (IMDB entry)

Captain Apollo was the Galactica's lead Viper pilot, leading Blue Squadron in the defense of the rag-tag, fugitive Fleet.

Biography

Biography being prepared.

Original Series

While leading a group of Cylons away from the Fleet, Apollo's viper ran out of fuel, causing him to crash-land on Equellas, a low-tech planet far removed from the Fleet's flight path. Marooned within an agrarian community, he befriended Vella and her son Puppis, joining with them in the fight against strong-arm man Lacerta. Apollo destroyed Lacerta's right-hand "man", Red-Eye, a marooned Centurion with memory problems, thus ending Lacerta's reign of terror. Although he was beginning to fall in love with Vella, Apollo nevertheless returned to the Fleet when Vella showed him another crashed viper, which had the fuel Apollo needed. (The Lost Warrior)

Apollo, accompanied by Boomer, piloted the shuttle which rescued Starbuck, who had become stranded on the planet Attilla. Apollo wisely suggested the use of a shuttlecraft, rather than a viper squadron, so as not to attract Cylon attention. (The Young Lords)

When the Galactica was severely damaged by suicidal Cylon Raiders, Apollo hatched the idea of modifying vipers to shoot fire-extinguishing boroton into the burning landing bay. When that failed to completely put out the flames, Apollo and Starbuck undertook a risky spacewalk to plant explosives on parts of the Galactica's hull, which successfully vented the fire out into space. While on the spacewalk, Apollo had the idea of placing mushies next to the ventilation duct on the bridge, in order to lure Muffit through the convoluted maze of ducts; the idea worked, saving the lives of Boomer, Athena, Boxey, and numerous other crewmembers stranded in the rejuvenation center. (Fire in Space)

"The Second Coming"

In the re-imagined BattleStar Galactica, Captain Lee 'Apollo' Adama is the son of Commander William Adama, the Galactica's commanding officer. He and his father are estranged due to the death of Lee's younger brother Zak in a piloting accident, for which Lee holds his father accountable. He is close friends with Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace, his late brother's fiance, though it is unrevealed how long the two have known each other.

The recently promoted Captain Adama was aboard the Battlestar Galactica to participate in her decomissioning ceremony, and was escorting Secretary of Education Laura Roslin home to Caprica, when the Cylons attacked the Colonies. He was flying his father's old Viper Mark II when a pair of Cylon raiders attacked Roslin's vessel, and though he managed to shoot their ordanance down and save the passenger ship, his Viper shut down in the blast. Roslin's vessel, the eventual Colonial One, picked up his drifting fighter, and Apollo assisted Roslin in gathering survivors and bringing them to rendezvous with the Galactica at Ragnar. Lee, being the senior surviving pilot now aboard the Galactica, shoulders the responsibility for being the Galactica's Commander Air Group (CAG), responsible for leading and commanding the pilots still surviving aboard the ship.

Once the Galactica and the convoy of refugees set off for Earth under the combined leadership of Commander Adama and President Laura Roslin, Lee is appointed by the President to be her military advisor. This causes some strain between Commander Adama and his son, who believes Lee has chosen Roslin over his loyalty to the military and his father. Eventually the two make some headway in healing the breach between them when it is revealed that William Adama was not the one at fault in Zak's death, as Lee had believed.

Lee's deep-seated belief in democracy and rule by the people, however, would bring him into further conflict with his father and the Galactica's military leadership. When Commander Adama tries to have Laura Roslin forcibly removed from office, Lee refuses to arrest her, holding a gun to Colonel Tigh's head in an effort to stop the arrest. This lands him in the brig alongside Roslin after his father is shot and Tigh assumes command of the fleet. Lee is unable to stomach Colonel Tigh's declaration of martial law, and assists in breaking Roslin out of the brig and smuggling her off the Galactica. A fugitive from the military, Lee remains at President Roslin's side hoping to return democracy to the fleet.

Notes

Handpicked and sought after by Glen A. Larson, Richard Hatch did not originally accept the Apollo role, finding the character to be too one-dimensional in the original drafts of Saga of a Star World. However, changes to the script were made and he accepted the role of Apollo, which has fueled his life and dreams ever since.

In early script drafts, the Apollo character was named "Skyler"; many believe the name was changed to "Apollo" to avoid similarities with "Skywalker".

Related

• Tom Zarek

Re-imagined Series definition: the senior pilot on a battlestar

Re-imagined Series definition: the senior pilot on a battlestar