William Adama - Personality and Relationships

Personality and Relationships

A weary, battle-hardened man in late middle age, Adama demonstrated a powerful strength of character throughout the series, successfully leading and protecting what remained of humanity against the Cylon threat. Despite the greater age of his Battlestar compared to some of the other ships in the fleet at the time of the attack, Adama led the ship to victory against various Cylon threats, successfully coming up with strategies to defeat Cylon opponents despite their significantly superior numerical and technological advantage. His dedication to his ship earned him the loyalty of many, with Tigh once stating when Adama was injured that, as far as he was concerned, Galactica was Adama's ship until his death. A significant number of the crew participated in a mutiny led by Felix Gaeta, but Ronald D. Moore stated in the episode podcasts that the mutineers never had enough people to take complete control of the ship. A large number of the crew are seen joining Adama when he retook the ship, and several of the mutineers, including Aaron Kelly and several marines, switched sides during the battle.

Adama's hobbies include building model sailing ships by hand. "Here Be Dragons", the penultimate episode of the prequel Caprica, shows that he inherited this from his mother Evelyn.

In terms of his personal relationships, Adama's life was complicated at best. Although he tried to maintain a professional distance from his crew to prevent his emotions from clouding his judgement, he was nevertheless strongly devoted to them. For all the arguments between him and his son Lee Adama, he had more than once stated that he would never abandon Lee whatever his son did, attempting to reconcile with Lee even after Lee served as the defense counsel for Gaius Baltar during his trial. His affection for his ex-wife is also evident, setting aside the day of their anniversary each year to remember her despite how their relationship ended. He has also formed more than one father/daughter bond with some of the Viper pilots under his command, particularly Kara Thrace and Louanne 'Kat' Katraine, telling Kat once that he and his wife would have liked to have a daughter as well as their sons, stating that "Three's a good round number". Similarly, when Kara Thrace voiced her anxieties about her own identity when she returned from the dead, Adama reassured her by proclaiming "You're my daughter". Despite his vocal dislike of Cylons, Adama even managed to form a certain bond with the second Cylon Number Eight model he encountered, growing to trust her despite the fact that her 'predecessor' shot him. Adama also retained his strong friendship with Saul Tigh even after the latter is discovered to be a cylon. His relationship with President Laura Roslin has been particularly turbulent; although they have often disagreed over crucial decisions, such as when Roslin convinced Starbuck to return to Caprica to retrieve the Arrow of Apollo, or when she convinced the Agathons that their daughter Hera — the first human/Cylon hybrid — had died during the birth, they have also demonstrated a great affection for each other, Adama admitting after she was briefly captured by the Cylons that he cannot live without her. In Season Four, it is shown that they developed an intimate relationship. After her death, he placed his wedding ring on her finger and buried her outside the cabin he planned to build and live in solitude.