William Adama

Living... on the battlestar Galactica. It’s one of the few spaceships to survive a massive nuclear attack led by a race of artificial intelligence known as the Cylons. The surviving humans from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol escape in a ragtag fleet, with Galactica as their command ship and Adama as their military leader.

Profession... battleship commander. Though Adama was planning to retire after a long and illustrious military career, the Cylon attack leaves him as the highest-ranking officer in the fleet. That means Adama must lead the remaining members of the military while protecting the civilians left homeless after the attack. 

Interests... collecting art and books, building model sailboats, and being a father. There’s little time for hobbies onboard Galactica, but Adama does like to build model sailboats in his few off-duty moments. His office is decorated with the fine art and rare books he collected before the attack. Mostly, however, he’s interested in looking out for his son, Captain Lee “Apollo” Adama, as well as Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, the pilot he thinks of as a daughter.

Relationship Status... divorced. Though Adama’s former wife was killed in the Cylon attack, he continues to wear his wedding ring in memory of her. In this dire apocalyptic future, Adama can’t afford to think about romance. Although he does spend a lot of time butting heads with, and slowly befriending, civilian president Laura Roslin.

Challenge... protecting the fleet and finding the mythical 13th colony, Earth. Though Earth is merely a legend, Adama pretends to know its location in order to give the fleet hope. But should anyone actually discover evidence of Earth’s existence, Adama would do anything in his power to get the fleet there. Until then, it’s his duty to protect what’s left of humanity from dwindling supplies and Cylon attacks.

Personality... stoic, resilient, disciplined, and compassionate. Though Adama cares deeply about his crew, as a top military leader he believes he can’t show emotion (or weakness) in front of them.  He once explained, “We're at war! And we don't have the luxury of academic debate over these issues.” Thrust into an impossible situation, Adama is adamant about maintaining militaristic order. In private, however, he can be warmer and gentler than his crew might expect.