Robotech: Macross Saga

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The Robotech/Macross Saga is one my favorite cartoon series and my appreciation for this series has endured. It has an almost timeless quality to it. It is an epic space opera with action, transforming robots, love stories, terrible pop songs, and main characters that die and stay dead. I have recently rewatched this series; I generally have a Robotech marathon at least twice a year. Interestingly enough, the series has characters of favorable dispositions across all of the quadras.

For those not familiar with the series, it involves a strange alien battleship that lands on earth, which triggers the Unification Wars. Following the Unification Wars, the alien battleship has been retrofitted for humans. On what was to be the maiden voyage of the Super Dimensional Fortress (SDF-1), an alien race known as the Zentradi have traced the ship back to earth and begin a battle to capture the SDF-1. The SDF-1 tries to make an atmospheric jump to the Moon, but instead teleports to Pluto and brings the city of Macross with it. Macross city is rebuilt inside of the SDF-1 and the SDF-1 has to fight the Zentradi on their way back to Earth. Although the Zentradi have more than enough arms to destroy the ship, their unfamiliarity with Earth culture instead makes them harass, monitor, and slow the SDF-1’s slow trip back to Earth. Furthermore, the show does not just deal with the war with the Zentradi forces, but also the war’s grim aftermath. The story follows Rick Hunter, who was previously an amateur pilot for a flying circus, as he slowly matures as well as his love triangle with pop star Lynn Minmay and his commanding officer Lisa Hayes.

Rick Hunter: ILE
Lisa Hayes: EIE
Lynn Minmay: IEI
Roy Fokker: SLE
Claudia Grant: IEI
Capt. Henry Gloval: LSI
Max Sterling: EII
Ben Dixon: SEI
Breetai: ESI
Exedore: LIE
Khyron: SLE
Miriya Sterling: LSE

Rick Hunter: ILE
Rick Hunter is the principle protagonist for the story and begins as a amateur stunt flyer who was invited to the maiden flight of the SDF-1 by his “big brother” Roy Fokker. Through a misunderstanding, he is ordered as a civilian into combat during the first battle with the Zentradi by Lisa Hayes. He rescues Minmay, who later convinces him (along with Fokker) to join the military so he can continue his passion for flying, but also to impress Minmay. Rick Hunter is highly infatuated with Minmay since she provides him with a sense of euphoria, but he never knows where he stands with her in their relationship since she is a bit flighty. After an enemy capture, Rick forms a strong friendship with Lisa Hayes, that gradually becomes romantic with time, though he is terribly slow to recognize as such and slower still for him to act on these feelings. The two did not start off on the best of terms, since he called her a bossy old woman. He often clashes with Lisa Hayes over her orders and bossiness, in a somewhat Fe/Ti fashion.

Rick is an atypical anime sci-fi hero. Despite some early personality clashes with his female superior officer Lisa Hayes, Rick is a rather humble and jovial type of person, in contrast to the usual hotheaded type of heroes of other mecha series (SEE, SLI). He displays leadership abilities early on and has a deep sense of responsibility and duty. However, unlike most lead characters, he concedes that his subordinate, Max Sterling, is the best in battle. His personal feelings tend toward two women: his friend-turned-idol Japanese-Chinese girl Lynn Minmay, and Lisa. Being a shy person, he seems incapable of defining what he really feels for each of them, creating a tense love triangle. Rick Hunter best fits as an ILE. What is most apparent in Rick Hunter is weak Fi and him having a Fi PoLR is easy to see, since he is also blind to the strength of his relationship with Lisa Hayes. Rick Hunter is driven by the passions that he enjoys. A common Alpha theme is maturation of the individual in the world, which Rick Hunter exemplifies.

Lisa Hayes: EIE
Coming from a family with over a one hundred year military tradition, Lisa Hayes is a career military professional. She serves as the First Officer and is responsible for most combat orders aboard the SDF-1. In complete contrast with Minmay, Lisa is a mature, no-nonsense, strong-willed, down-to-earth, by-the-book woman. But behind her stern confidence, she is somewhat emotionally insecure since her devotion to her military career leaves her unable to start or maintain relationships. Her relationship with Rick Hunter begins incredibly rocky, as each continually harassed the other as officer to subordinate. She also initially viewed Rick as being immature and brash, but following a friendship started when they were captured by the enemy, the friendship slowly turned more romantic. But Lisa became continually frustrated with Rick, as he was still infatuated with Minmay and seemed unable to realize his own feelings for her or her feelings for him. Although she appears to be something of an LSI, it actually appears that she an EIE who uses the military to provide and recreate the structure that she needs in her life. Although she is in control of her emotions, Lisa is often prone to emotional outbursts when angry, so her emotional states are fairly apparent, which is closer in behavior to an EIE. Her relationship with Rick is most similar to Benefactor and Beneficiary, since Rick usually fails at upholding his end of the relationship at times, though the relationship finally becomes concrete in the end.

Lynn Minmay: IEI
The young Lynn Minmay was on Macross Island visiting her aunt and uncle who run a Chinese restaurant and for the maiden voyage of the SDF-1. It was during the initial attack that she met and was saved by Rick Hunter. She was then trapped with Rick Hunter for two weeks in decks of the ship, where the two began a strong friendship as well as an uncertain relationship. Aboard the SDF-1 in Macross City, she quickly finds herself becoming the ship’s pop icon following a beauty pageant as she builds her singing career. Her budding music career as well as Rick Hunter’s military career leads to their gradual drifting apart, despite continued romantic tension between the two. Her music would also become instrumental in the downfall of the Zentradi forces. Minmay is Fe creative and with what appears to be a Te PoLR. She does not always look after her most practical interests and almost seems to get lost in her own various fantasies and is a perpetual romantic, which would suggest Ni leading over Si.

Roy Fokker: SLE
Roy was a pilot in Rick’s father’s flying circus before becoming an ace pilot in the Unification Wars and later a test pilot for the VT-1 veritech fighter. Roy acts as Rick Hunter’s big brother and role model. He is the captain of the ace Skull Squadron and sees to helping Rick Hunter’s involvement in the military by taking him under his wing. He is a renowned womanizer, drinker, and playboy with a fairly big ego. He has a strong relationship with Claudia Grant that started to a rocky start before the series began (later revealed in flashbacks) due to his womanizing. It is later revealed that his ego and playboy attitude are just devices he uses to cope with constantly facing his death in combat. Roy displays characteristics of both SLEs and SEEs, but his use of Se to try and provoke Fe as well as being of a more merry nature suggests that SLE is his type. Although he is a friend with Max Sterling (EII), the two do seem to be of completely different natures and values.

Claudia Grant: IEI
Claudia serves as the navigations and ships weapons officer aboard the SDF-1 bridge. In contrast with Lisa Hayes, Claudia is more laidback, relaxed, and somewhat flirtatious. She maintains good relations with everyone on the bridge with Capt. Gloval being something of a father figure and acting as the big sister to the bridge bunnies. Claudia has a strong relationship with Roy Fokker, which started off rocky due to Claudia being upset with Roy Fokker’s persistent playboy attitude. But after Fokker explained himself and expressed genuine interest in Claudia, the relationship strengthened considerably. The two enjoyed going out drinking and partying late into the night. Claudia also continually offers her best friend, the emotionally confused Lisa, with relationship advice. Her type as IEI is something of a guess since not much else really fits. She has her head on straighter and is far more mature than Lynn Minmay (IEI), but still has her share of similarities.

Captain Henry Gloval: LSI
Henry Gloval is the captain of the SDF-1 and was one of the first people to discover the SDF-1, and his unblemished record as well as respect from other military officials around the world led to his instatement as the SDF-1’s captain. Capt. Gloval mostly keeps quiet though he is fairly quick to give an order when the need calls for it. His authority is never called into question as he is well respected by the crew. He is pragmatic in his command, but occasionally finds himself blind-sighted by the enemies’ strategies (similar in some respects with Breetai) until after the fact, but is adept at readjusting his strategies. He works extremely well with Lisa Hayes in what appears to be a seamless relationship of sorts, since Capt. Gloval strongly trusts the advice, strategies, and input from Hayes and vice versa. What is most apparent in Capt. Gloval is that he is a thinking rational type. LII can be fairly quickly ruled out. Capt. Gloval does, however, seem to be of an IJ temperament and his unblemished record and pragmatism fits with the LSI. Furthermore, Capt. Gloval as an LSI makes sense due to his conflict-free interactions with Lisa Hayes (EIE) more so than if Capt. Gloval was an LIE or LSE.

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Max Sterling: EII
Although he is assigned to Rick Hunter’s command as a rookie, Max Sterling is by far the greatest flying combat ace in Robotech and a true combat pilot genius. Despite this, he is quite humble about his achievements, though occasionally he openly strokes his ego in jests with his friends. Rick Hunter is his closest friend and confidante. He is mostly quiet and fairly unassuming in his attitude. Max Sterling later makes history by following in love and marrying the Zentradi ace pilot Miriya, who incidentally set out to kill him on their first date. Max does not value Se and is not ambitious, despite recognizing that he will most likely rise fairly quickly in the ranks due to his skills. He has an IJ temperament, is Ne ego, and is quite aware of his emotional connections. As such, Max’s type is a clear EII.

Ben Dixon: SEI
Ben Dixon is one of the two pilots (along with Max Sterling) who are assigned as Rick Hunter’s subordinates. He was a good friend with Max, who both went through training together, but they both became quick friends and trusted of Rick’s. Ben is of a highly jovial nature and always seeks to liven up the group dynamics while occasionally involved in hedonistic pursuits. He is merely an average fighter pilot who is somewhat reckless and whose fighter always comes back in worse shape than either Rick’s or Max’s fighter. Ben Dixon is an obvious Alpha and SEI.

Breetai: ESI
In the Zentradi hierarchy, Commander Breetai is second only to Supreme Commander Dolza. Breetai is one of the chief initial antagonists of the series who is responsible for pursuing and capturing the SDF-1. After realizing that he and his fleet has been “contaminated” by human culture and threatened with extermination by the main Zentradi forces, Breetai becomes the SDF-1’s chief ally. Breetai repeatedly proves himself to be a military commanding genius who shows both power and restraint in his command while being stern, which explains his rise through the Zentradi ranks. He relies on Exedore’s knowledge before he makes his command decisions. He is not afraid to fight and get his hands dirty. He does not have weak Se, and he does not seem to value Si, nor does he value Fe, but instead is all about his work. LSI or ESI are the most likely types, but his reliance on Exedore for Te as well as what appears to be Gamma values makes ESI a fit for Breetai.

Exedore: LIE
He is the principle advisor to Zentradi Commander Breetai. He is a record keeper, archivist, and acts almost like a walking encyclopedia for Breetai by providing important information that would prove useful for combat purposes. Exedore keeps to the facts and is quick to offer Breetai sound advice, though his ignorance of human culture leads to at times erroneous interpretations of human behavior, but he is quick to learn. As such, he exemplifies a Te ego with Gamma being a most likely Quadra, but Fe does not seem to be his vulnerable function.

Khyron: SLE
Amongst the Zentradi forces, Khyron is a self-serving and loose canon commander who was called in to support Breetai’s forces. He is known as Khyron the Backstabber due to his violent tendencies against his own allies when his temper flares. He is somewhat reckless, as shown in his debut when he lost a bet that his forces would only hit two ships at the most by jumping their forces in the middle of Breetai’s. Despite being a brilliant commander, he is often insubordinate to Breetai (and later Azonia) in an attempt to take down the SDF-1 as part of what he perceives as his personal vendetta since he “hates to loose a fight”. Khyron belongs to either Beta or Gamma quadra with a clear Se value. Although EIE was considered, him being a leading Se type (SLE or SEE) makes the most sense. The nature of his conflicts with Breetai (ESI) and Exedore (LIE) probably indicates that SLE is a better fit than SEE.

Miriya Sterling: LSE
Amongst the Zentradi, there is no ace pilot of greater renown than probably Miriya. She is a overly-cocky ace pilot, who was undaunted by Khyron’s taunting of an invincible ace pilot amongst the SDF-1 forces. Miriya is later disappointed when this pilot (Max Sterling) defeats her in combat, and so she seeks to redeem herself by sneaking aboard the SDF-1 to kill him. She is then defeated in a video game combat simulation to Max, is invited to date where she tries to kill him in a knife fight only to loose again. But instead of killing her, Max instead proposes to her due to his infatuation with her, to which she agrees, thereby becoming the first human-zentradi marriage and defecting to the SDF-1. Miriya does not value Fe, has strong Se, but at the same time she takes on the caregiver role in her relationship with Max, though to unintended disastrous results due to her ignorance of human domestic life. She has a fairly clear dual relation with Max. While in some ways she is atypical of an LSE, it does appear to be the best fit for her.

[munenori2]

Sounds interesting. My only exposure to all this was reading a Robotech book when I was younger. Liked it, but never sought out more for whatever reason. I'll have to check this out though.

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It's an anime classic and for many Americans in the 80s Robotech was their first exposure to anime. But the entirety of Robotech was actually a refitting of three completely, and largely unrelated, animes. They were three series that dealt with transforming armors and done by the same production company and with similar designs. Harmony Gold, however, wished to reach some level of syndication with the series in America, and so they combined the three series of Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA into three story arcs and called it all Robotech. While Robotech is still great for nostalgia factor, it is blatantly obvious to see the faults in this combined storyline. Several years ago, ADV actually released the original Macross story and that has been fun to watch. Apart from name changes (Hikaru Ichiyjo to Rick Hunter) as well as other plot points (Protoculture, Supervision Army) the story and characteriziation is pretty much the same, though there were some cuts in the American version (Fokker checking out Minmay's ass, etc.).