Digital Woman Review: Spirit of Wing Commander

[Circe]

WG member <a href="http://www.womengamers.com/members/bio.php?handle=RogueSpear">Roguespear</a> analyzes the female lead character <a href="http://www.womengamers.com/dw/spirit.html">Spirit</a> from the game Wing Commander.

"Spirit is a skilled fighter pilot who just wants to end the war and has reached a high rank in the Space Force. Her professionalism is unquestioned, never becoming outspoken or full of herself, or antagonistic like some of the people she works with. "

[DPX]

I loved the Wing Commander series, although as far as female characters go, I think I preferred Angel. Maybe that was because the main character developed a romance with her, but she also acted as the TCS Concordia's CAG, so she wasn't there as merely the love interest either. She was a tough Belgian woman who could show her feminine side, and reached the rank of Colonel, one grade higher than Spirit, who only made it to Lieutenant Colonel.

One of the more interesting things in the WC games revolves around the ranks themselves. In the books, the authors can't decide whether or not to give pilots Army/Air Force/Marine or Navy ranks. In retrospect, it would make more sense for the pilots to use naval ranks as this would make them naval aviators, not unlike today's pilots who take off from and land on aircraft carriers.

In the games as well, the ranks change, but this time in look. In the first two WC games, the Terran Confederation uses rank pins that look just like the US military, with the slight exception of the pin for Space Forces Captain. In WC it's gold, whereas in the Army/Air Force/Marines, it's silver. In the latter three WC games, they use a confusing array of geometric symbols to display ranks, using gold to denote Space Forces and silver for Navy. Why they went for this, I'm not sure--perhaps Chris Roberts felt it gave the series a more "sci-fi" feel. Honestly, I preferred the more "realistic" rank pins, at least I could easily tell who was what rank at a glance.

I did think it was funny how there were never any Navy captains and Space Forces captains together at the same time. In WC 1 and 2, there were many pilots who held the ranks of captain, yet no naval officer was seen who was the captain of the Tiger's Claw or the Concordia. Admiral Tolwyn was around, who probably acted as the captain of the Concordia, but he did not hold the rank of captain. In WC 3, 4, and Prophecy (5), we never saw a pilot again with the rank of captain, but we did see some Naval captains (the most common rank this time was Lieutenant, and then they skipped right to Major where Maniac was seated), most notably Captain Eisen. I believe they did this to avoid confusion between the differences between the two grades of captain, as they are not at all equal--just like in the real navy and the other military branches.

In the US Army/Air Force/Marines and the WC Space Forces, a Captain is a fairly low rank. It sits right above the ranks of Second and First Lieutenant, and beneath Major. It is equal to that of Naval Lieutenant. In the US and WC Navy, a Captain is a high rank; in fact, it is the highest one can go before reaching a grade of Admiral. Navy Captain is equal to Colonel in the other branches.

[Shipgate]

Panther in Wing Commander 4 really struck a chord with me. She's sexy because she's smart and willing to help people and always willing to do what saves more lives. I wonder what else that actress is in? Hmm.

[iceVic]

I personally like Sparks, the crew chief of TCS Concordia.

It is interesting to note that all the crew chiefs of WC Confed flagships are women:

WC2: TCS Concordia: Sparks
WC3: TCS Victory: Rachel Coriolis
WC4: BWS Intrepid: "woman with glasses"
WC5: TCS Midway: Rachel Coriolis (now played by adult star Ginger Lynn)