Commander Adama

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This page is about the original series Battlestar Galactica's Commander Adama, for other BG Commanders named Adama see Commander Adama (Battlestar Galactica)

Adama
Lorne Greene as Commander Adama in Battlestar Galactica
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Portrayed by	Lorne Greene
Rank	Commander
Colony	Caprica
Affiliation	Colonials

Commander Adama is a fictional character in the 1978 movie and subsequent ABC television series Battlestar Galactica. He was played by Lorne Greene.

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

He has a daughter Athena and son Apollo who feature in the series. His wife Ila and his second son, Zac were killed in the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies.

Adama is a native of the planet Caprica, which is where he graduated from military academy. Early in his career Adama was involved in a parapsychological research project at the Colonial Military Institute. 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.

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 battlestations drill and as a result the Galactica was the only battlestar to survive the Cylon sneak attack (another surviving Battlestar, the Pegasus, was later discovered; but it was quickly destroyed). 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.

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.

Unlike his remake counterpart, William Adama, the original Adama was as much a politician (he was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve) as a military commander. In addition, the Adama in the reimagined series is an atheist who is doubtful of the colonists' polytheistic religion.

Aside from the 1978 original incarnation, he was one of the few Galactica crewmembers to reappear in the sequel series Galactica 1980.

[edit] Popular culture

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In a Simpsons episode Treehouse of Horror X story Desperately Xeeking Xena, the Comic Book Guy, who has styled himself as a villain called "The Collector" is kicked into a vat of Lucite. He clambers out and barely has time to strike a "classic Lorne Greene pose from Battlestar Galactica" before the plastic hardens around him.