Commander Adama (original Battlestar Galactica)

This article is about the original series Battlestar Galactica's Commander Adama. For other BG Commanders named Adama, see Commander Adama (disambiguation).

Adama
Battlestar Galactica character
Portrayed by	Lorne Greene
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Colony	Caprica
Affiliation	Colonials

Commander Adama is a fictional character in the 1978 movie and subsequent ABC television series Battlestar Galactica and its continuation series, Galactica 1980.

Adama is the commander of the great military vessel Battlestar Galactica, commander of the refugee fleet, and military commander of the evacuees of the Twelve Colonies. He is also the spiritual leader of the surviving colonists, leading the quest for Earth.

Adama was played by Canadian actor Lorne Greene.

In the 2004 re-imagined series a similar character, named William Adama and nicknamed "Husker", commands the Galactica. William Adama is portrayed by actor Edward James Olmos.

Adama's family and origins

Adama is a native of the planet Caprica, which is where he graduated from the military academy of "The Colonial Service." In a novelization based on an episode of the series, an excerpt from his journal says he served aboard the Battlestar Cerberus in his younger years and named his son Apollo after a friend who died fighting the Cylons.

Adama was married to Ila. The two had a sea-side house on a hill on the planet of Caprica. However, Adama spent most of his married life in space fighting the Cylons, leaving Ila behind on Caprica.

They had three children:

• The oldest son Apollo (fighter pilot based on the Galactica)
• A daughter Athena (bridge crew member of the Galactica, fighter pilot, teacher)
• A younger son Zac (fighter pilot)

Both his wife Ila and his son Zac were killed in the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies.

Soon after the destruction of the Twelve Colonies Apollo married Serina near the planet Kobol. So Adama became step-grandfather of Boxey. Serina died on Kobol.

Adama considers Starbuck (who is an orphan) as member of his family.

Battlestar Galactica (1978 series)

Adama is central to the story arc of the series, and in some ways the saga revolves around him.

He flew with his executive officer Colonel Tigh in their younger days, and later served with Commander Kronus aboard the Battlestar Rycon.

As well as being a career military officer, Commander Adama is also a member of the Council Of The Twelve, the governing body of the Colonies. He was as much a politician as a military commander; evidently, the Colonial Service Academy offered courses in political science and diplomacy as well as military training.

From the start, Adama was mistrustful of the Cylons at the time of the Peace Conference to end the Thousand Yahren War. He was the only battlestar commander to keep his ship on battle-stations drill, and as a result, the Galactica was the only battlestar to survive the Cylon sneak attack. (Another battlestar, the Pegasus, was later discovered to have survived, and to have raided Cylon outposts for a year after the destruction of the colonies. However, it appeared in only two episodes before it mysteriously disappeared, its fate ambiguous.) Despite the destruction and great personal loss, Adama was able to organize the survivors in an escape from the Cylons and lead them on the search for Earth. In fact the word Adama means Earth in the Hebrew language.

Adama is a fair and beloved leader, with almost unquestioned authority. He is a deeply religious man, and his visit to the planet Kobol and the Fleet's encounter with the Ship of Lights strengthened his belief that someday Earth would be found.

In the episode "War Of The Gods," it is revealed that Adama has been trained in telekinesis as part of a military parapsychology study at the Colonial Military Institute early in his career. In this episode, Count Iblis can read minds, so Adama also mentions that he has received training in clouding his mind with other thoughts, suggesting that he was involved in experiments in telepathic communication. However, there is no further reference to this in the remainder of the series.

He appears briefly in the Maximum Press Battlestar Galactica comics published in the 1990s, having been put in cryogenic suspension after contracting a terminal illness common to Capricans.

Galactica 1980

Adama was one of the few Galactica crew members to reappear in the sequel series Galactica 1980. His appearance was much the same as in the original miniseries with the addition of a full beard.

Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming

A hologram of Adama appears in Richard Hatch's sequel short film Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming.

Richard Hatch novels

Richard Hatch's relaunch novels are set considerably after the end of the TV series. E.g. a child of Starbuck and Cassiopeia that did not exist in the series is almost of age at the beginning of the novels. Also the Boxey from the series has grown up and has become a Colonial warrior like his step father (although in this continuity he is also called Troy as an adult, he is not intended to be the same Troy from Galactica 1980).

The novels begin with the death of Adama: "Adama was dying".

External links

• Adama (TOS) at the Battlestar Wiki
• Adama (1980) at the Battlestar Wiki