Kara Thrace

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This article is about the character from the reimagined version of Battlestar Galactica. For the original character, see Lieutenant Starbuck.

Kara Thrace
Katee Sackhoff as Kara Thrace.
Race	Human
Gender	Female
Portrayed by	Katee Sackhoff
Callsign	Starbuck
Rank	Lieutenant (seasons 1-2) Captain (seasons 2-3)
Colony	Caprica
Affiliation	Colonial Fleet

Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace is a fictional character in the television series Battlestar Galactica, a reimagining of the classic series of the same name. She is portrayed by actress Katee Sackhoff. The original Starbuck was male, and the decision to make Starbuck female caused controversy for some fans when news of the series first came out. The controversy cooled when the show premiered.

[edit] Character history

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Kara was bound for glory as a professional Pyramid ball player until her knee gave out and sent her onto a military path. Kara is able to find a sense of family within the military, earning the respect and honor that her childhood seemed to lack. This is because of an apparent case of child abuse, which is made clear during the episode The Farm, when the Cylon Simon points out the fact that every one of her fingers on both hands are broken in exactly the same place. Simon says that she might not want to have children because of that, due to fears of passing the abuse on to her children. There was a strong reaction from Kara, but there has been no further clarification on this topic in her past.

Being one of the best Colonial Viper pilots in the fleet, she was named Flight Instructor at the Colonial Flight School; here she met Zak Adama. The two fell in love and eventually became engaged. During this, Zak told her that he did not want any special treatment from her or his father, Commander William Adama; however, he was a mediocre pilot and failed Basic Flight. Kara could not find it in herself to fail him so, against her better judgment, she gave him a passing grade.

Kara's mistake cost Zak his life when he was killed in his first Viper mission. The death of Zak led Commander Adama to Kara. Upon learning of her and Zak's engagement and love for one another, he brought her under his command as a Lieutenant. It was also Zak's death that created a wedge between Commander Adama and his other son, Lee "Apollo" Adama. Lee blamed his father for Zak's death and after the funeral broke off all contact with him, as well as with Kara.

Kara became like a daughter to Commander Adama; she was his only surviving link to Zak since Lee's absence. Galactica's XO, Colonel Tigh, and Kara were constantly at odds with one another. He considered her an insubordinate hothead, and she regarded him as a mentally weak alcoholic. Adama kept the peace between the two for quite some time.

Loud and boisterous, Kara was an avid card player and drinker. In one particularly heated card game, Kara taunted Tigh about his unfaithful wife; when he flipped the table over, she punched him in the face. He sent her to the brig, promising that her career was over. This was immediately before Galactica's decommissioning ceremony, when the Adamas and Kara were reunited for the first time in 2 years. Soon after, the Cylons attacked the 12 Colonies, making Kara too valuable an asset to waste in the brig.

Kara kept her secret about Zak buried inside until after the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies. Soon after, when Kara feared she and the rest of humanity might be wiped out by the Cylons, she confessed her mistake to Lee. He was devastated and would later confront Kara about it when she was chosen to train new Viper pilots aboard Galactica after more than half of its pilots were killed in a freak accident. Kara, blinded by guilt, washed all the pilots out for minor flaws. She then admitted her secret to Commander Adama who was furious and heartbroken (and ordered her to reinstate the trainees).

Not until Starbuck was thought lost and dead on a nearby moon- she had been shot down after making an almost suicidal attack- did Commander Adama realize Kara's importance to him and his love for her. He ultimately expressed his forgiveness once she was safely back aboard Galactica.

Kara broke her knee during her time on the moon. She was able to pilot a downed Cylon raider back to Galactica and soon after began physical therapy. After bed rest, Kara was put on crutches and quickly started walking with a cane. She was removed from flight status until her knee was good enough to withstand the G-Forces of piloting a Viper in combat. Always impetuous, she wanted to be returned to duty immediately, but Adama demonstrated the stupidity of this by simulating G-Force by piling weights onto a leg press.

Despite her often crude exterior, Kara had a deep-seated faith in the gods. As a result, President Laura Roslin asked her to carry out a dangerous mission: return to Caprica and retrieve the Arrow of Apollo, a religious artifact that supposedly pointed the way to Earth. She took the Cylon Raider she had captured, leading Adama to declare that Roslin had suborned mutiny; he sent a detachment of Marines to terminate her presidency.

During her time on Caprica, Kara encountered Number Six (who beat her soundly); met up with Karl Agathon and the Sharon Valerii copy pregnant with his child; and met a fellow pyramid player named Samuel Anders. He led a resistance group that had been waging guerilla war against the Cylons. Kara fell in love with him and promised to return and rescue him and his band. She ended up in a Cylon "egg farm," part of their experiments to create human/Cylon hybrids. One of her ovaries was surgically removed before she escaped.

Soon after her return, she became emotionally unstable (mostly about her relationships with Lee and Anders) and almost suicidal. During the heat of battle, she realized she had something to live for, and gave up a kill to another pilot, who was trying to take her place as Top Gun. This was a huge step for her, though she suffered backsliding when she accidentially shot Apollo during a hostage crisis.

It was soon after returning from the planet Kobol that the Battlestar Pegasus, commanded by Admiral Cain, was discovered. It was during this reuniting that Admiral Cain, now the highest-ranking military officer in the fleet, promoted Starbuck to Captain and CAG (Commander, Air Group) of the Pegasus. Cain was eventually killed by a rogue Cylon agent, but Starbuck's promotion stayed as Commander Adama was promoted by the President of the Twelve Colonies to Admiral.

After Lee Adama's promotion to Commander of the Battlestar Pegasus, Kara transferred back to the Galactica and assumed the role of Galactica's CAG.

At the end of season 2 she had married Anders and settled on New Caprica. She even ended up respecting Tigh. When the Cylons invaded New Caprica, a Leoben model Cylon came looking for her. Shortly afterward, she was imprisoned inside a house, where the Leoben model tried to convince her that they were destined to be lovers. For four months Kara denied his advances, even killing him several times despite knowing he would be back. Then she was presented with a young girl named Kacey that Leoben claimed was their daughter, created with the ovary that was removed when she was in the egg farm. Initially she refused to believe it and wanted nothing to do with the girl, but when Kacey was badly injured in a fall down a staircase, she called on Leoben for help and seemed to grow more attached to both of them.

In the episode Exodus Part 2, it was revealed that Kacey was not Starbuck's child; the Cylons had abducted her. Kacey and her real mother were reunited on the Galactica's flight deck after the flight from New Caprica (although some fans have challenged this view, believing that Kacey may indeed be Starbuck and Leoben's child, and that the mother may be a cylon agent attempting to regain control of the hybrid).

After her situation on New Caprica and the truth about Kacey, she became distraugt and self-destructive toward herself and the rest of the crew, almost killing herself in a Viper training exercise. After being removed from flight status by Major Adama, she takes up residence in the pilot's mess along with Colonel Tigh, drinking and lowering morale of Galactica's pilots by attempting to draw divisions between New Capricans and those who stayed with the fleet. Admiral Adama gave her an ultimatum; either straighten up and act like an officer, or get the hell off his ship and find another ship to live on. Kara changed her attitude after that physical confrontation with Admiral Adama, who literally knocked her on her rear after she thumbed her nose at him.

Unbeknownst to her shipmates, Kara has a strong artistic streak. Her apartment on Caprica is covered with paintings and poetry (though her water was sometimes shut off because she failed to pay the bills).

Spoilers end here.

[edit] External links

Kara Thrace (Battlestar Wiki)

Preceded by: Cole Taylor	CAG of Battlestar Pegasus (season 2.5)	Succeeded by: unknown
Preceded by: Lee Adama	CAG of Battlestar Galactica (seasons 2.5-3.0)	Succeeded by: Louanne Katraine