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''Wing Commander Academy'' was an American animated series released in [[The Nineties|the 1990's]] as part of the [[USA Network]]'s [[Saturday Morning Cartoon]] lineup. Based on the ''[[Wing Commander (
Character info can be found on the [[Wing Commander
{{tropelist}}
* [[
* [[The Anime of the Game]]
* [[Artifact Title]]: Strictly speaking, the title only accurately describes the show for ''one episode''. While they are cadets through the entire course of the show, the Academy itself only appears in the pilot episode before they are transferred to the ''Tiger's Claw''.
* [[Asskicking Equals Authority]]: The Kilrathi.
* [[Authority Equals Asskicking]]: Commodore Tolwyn. See [[Back in
* [[Back in
** Also [[Inverted]] in at least one episode, where Tolwyn has Maverick stay aboard the ''Claw'' and supervise from the bridge while the rest of the fighter wing goes to fight the Kilrathi, in order to teach the cadet what it [[An Aesop|means to be in command]], knowing that [[The Chains of Commanding|others might die following your orders]].
* [[Badass Boast]]: Upon being informed during a briefing that they will be going up against a Kilrathi Dreadnought, which nobody in Confed has been able to defeat in combat yet, Maniac declares ''"If the Kilrathi can find a way to build it, we can find a way to blow it up!"''
* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]: Maniac and Archer seem to make quite a few abortive attempts to get each other to open up. Almost universally results in them bickering, or on one occasion, Maniac getting ''tossed across the room'' by a woman who must have been half his size.
* [[The Brigadier]]: Commodore Tolwyn, also a [[Four
* [[Calling the Old Man Out]]: In the final scene of the series, towards Tolwyn, who everyone has [[Broken Pedestal|come to see as a]] [[Blood Knight]] with a vendetta against Prince Thrakhath. {{spoiler|Of course, they don't know that Tolwyn is himself dealing with a chain of command who refuse to give him reinforcements and who keep sending the ''Tiger's Claw'' into high-risk operations alone.}}
* [[The Chains of Commanding]]: Several episodes focus on the weight and responsibility of leading people in combat, and the certainty that some will die following your orders. This trope is also used to give Commodore Tolwyn some [[Character Development]] to balance against what we see of him in the games.
** To clarify on how the trope affects Tolwyn: Most of the cadets see him as an all-powerful flag officer who makes things happen by ordering them to be so, when in reality he is just as restricted by the orders his superiors hand him as the cadets are by his orders. So when he requests reinforcements for a major operation and is told they can't be spared, the cadets simply see him as a [[The Ace|glory hound]] willing to [[We Have Reserves|sacrifice their lives]] to achieve his goals. This leads to a [[Medal of Dishonor]] moment when Blair refuses a medal since he is outraged to learn he was used as bait on a suicide mission.
** In another episode Tolwyn explains this problem to Blair. He then tells Blair that his decision to ram the enemy flagship, which was blockading the jump point, was not a bluff. It was the only chance for escape and if the flagship had not moved then both ships would have been destroyed.
* [[Character Development]]: Several characters, but especially Gwen "Archer" Bowman's arc where she starts hesitating in combat after having to shoot down another cadet. On the other side, Kilrathi captain Garahl nar Hhallas gradually grows disillusioned with his Prince's motives for prosecuting the war.
** Also, outside of the books, the series is the source of almost all of Admiral Tolwyn's character development.
* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: The payoff to a [[Running Gag]] where Maniac keeps wanting to try and attack the Kilrathi carrier by [[Suicidal Overconfidence|flying into its hangar bay and gut it from the inside]]. {{spoiler|Turns out, Maniac really is that good. [[Big Bad|Prince Thrakhath's]] [[Cool Starship|dreadnought]] is crippled when Maniac finally gets to try this.}}
* [[Continuity Nod]]: The Battle of Repleeta gets depicted in a flashback. Repleeta was occasionally referenced in the manuals as being a particularly drawn out and brutal battle over a planet nobody really wanted, both sides fighting simply to spite the other side and keep them from gaining it.
* [[Cross Through]]: The USA Network's 1996 Saturday morning cartoon lineup had a storyline on November 16 about "The Warrior King" (voiced by [[Star Trek|Michael Dorn]]), a man chasing an "[[MacGuffin|Orb of Power]]" through various dimensions. After an expository intro, he confronted M. Bison in ''[[Street Fighter (
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Dr. Kyle, of the medical ship ''Pleiku''. Commodore Tolwyn as well.
* [[Dead Star Walking]]: {{spoiler|Blizzard, Ragitika as well.}}
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* [[Dramatic Irony]]: Due to its original conception as a tie-in of sorts to ''Wing Commander III'', we already know the fates of several of the characters, and how their relationships will develop. That is to say, Maniac and Blair will become even more antagonistic towards each other, and Tolwyn's respect and mentoring of Blair won't last past the intro of ''Wing Commander II''.
** Most particularly, players of ''Wing Commander IV'' know that Tolwyn and Blair will end up {{spoiler|as enemies on opposite sides of a war.}}
* [[Dramatic Space Drifting]]: One episode focuses on a pilot who went renegade and his squad. The squad gets wiped out towards the end of the episode, leaving shattered wreckage floating in space, including a destroyed helmet.
* [[Drill Tank]]: In a flashback scene involving Grunt's time as a Marine on Repleeta, the Kilrathi use one to dig up into human rear areas.
* [[Early
* [[Enemy Mine]]: Subverted. Sometimes, the other guy just plain hates you and will stab you in the back after you help him out.
* [[Everyone Went to School Together]]: [[Justified]], as the show is about the characters still technically being ''in'' school.
* [[Expy]]: Garahl nar Hhallas, who's basically the same as the games' Rhalga "Hobbes" nar Hhallas prior to defecting.
* [[Fake Irish]]: Maya McEaddens, complete with being a [[Green Eyes|green-eyed]] [[Heroes Want Redheads|redhead]] with a brogue. Played by Lauri Hendler, an American. [[Ink Suit Actor|A green-eyed redheaded American.]]
* [[Foe Yay]]: An occasional element of Maniac and Archer's UST.
* [[Genre Savvy]]: Grunt.
{{quote|
'''''Tolwyn:''' Spoken like a true veteran.''
'''''Grunt:''' Oh, thank you, sir!'' }}
** [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]]: Karnes.
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* [[Ironic Nickname]]: Maverick, who is in fact notorious for being a stickler for the regs and knowing them inside and out.
* [[Irony]]: Pretty much the ''only'' time Archer doesn't hesitate to kill a Kilrathi pilot {{spoiler|was when she unknowingly killed [[Defector From Decadence|Bokh Nar Ragitika]], who Blair was on the verge of turning to the Confederation. The only Kilrathi she faced that she ''shouldn't'' have killed.}}
* [[Jerk
* [[Large Ham]]: Maniac.
* [[Let's You and Him Fight]]: [[Justified]] and [[Invoked]] by Commodore Tolwyn in he first episode. Maverick and Maniac are very competitive with each other, so they are chosen to lead opposing teams in a combat simulation. [[Subverted]] by [[The Mole]], who sabotages the fighters, giving them full-powered weapons and reprogramming the flight computers not to register shield damage.
* [[Loose Lips]]: The Confeds might not have figured out why the Kilrathi were on Oasis if a Kilrathi warrior hadn't slipped up and invoked [[I Know You Know I Know]] and decided to just dispense with the falsehoods altogether. Maniac knew they were up to ''something'', and figured he could get the Kilrathi to get mad and slip up by, well, being [[Jerkass|Maniac]].
* [[Love Confession]]: Blizzard to Archer. Because of the epic levels that he takes being [[The Stoic]] to, his low-key, understated stating of his affections for her is ''correctly'' interpreted by Archer as being a complete emotional breakdown on his part, leading her to realize that there is something wrong with him.
* [[Military Academy]]: The show being titled ''Wing Commander Academy'' [[Exactly What It Says
* [[Military Maverick]]: Maniac is infamous for this. Tolwyn's liberal interpretations of his orders and criticism of his superiors are what got him his [[Reassigned to Antarctica|current assignment]]. Amusingly enough, [[Ironic Nickname|Maverick]] is very much ''[[Averted Trope|not]]'' an example.
* [[Nakama]]: Blair and Maniac really don't like each other that much, but they make a hell of a team when the going really gets tough.
* [[Nom De Guerre]]: Maverick, Maniac, Payback, Archer, Jazzman, Viking, etc.
* [[One-Hit Kill]]: [[Discussed Trope]] in the first episode. The Kilrathi warship can destroy a Scimitar fighter in one hit. [[Justified]] in that, well, it's a full-on warship and carries more powerful weapons than the smaller fighters can.
* [[Plot
* [[Pragmatic Adaptation]]: The show's original premise was basically how [[Everyone Went to School Together|everyone in]] ''[[Everyone Went to School Together|Wing Commander III]]'' [[Everyone Went to School Together|went to school together]]. Many of the character changes (quite a few Expies popped up) were likely to avoid the [[Fridge Logic]] that would happen with a Lieutenant Colonel in the games being revealed to have been in the same academy class as a pair of lieutenants.
* [[Ramming Always Works]]: Bizarrely, ramming always works when you use an ''[[Ejection Seat]]'' to ram the ship with. It just seems to completely throw the Kilrathi off their game. Probably because they [[Wrong Genre Savvy|assume]] that the humans have packed the ejection seat full of explosives or something that might actually ''harm'' their ship, and thus freak out and get themselves killed in some other fashion.
* [[Reassigned to Antarctica]]: The reason that the famed Commodore Tolwyn is babysitting a bunch of cadets on their middie cruise.
* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Payback and Archer (Red and Blue), as well as Maniac and Maverick to a lesser degree.
* [[Rewarded
* [[Running Gag]]: Maniac ''really'' wants to try that hangar-bay attack, but nobody will let him.
* [[Semper Fi]]: Grunt, a former [[Space Marine]] who became a [[
* [[Shout
* [[Shown Their Work]]: You do have to hand it to the production team, some real effort was made to be true to the source material.
** The major characters were played by their original actors, when getting some unknown soundalikes would have been cheaper and even almost expected in [[Western Animation]].
** Confed uniforms resemble those from the games
** Ship designs were close enough to the in-game ones that you could recognize Hellcats, Broadswords, Scimitars, and Dralthi fighters.
*** As well as Arrows, Longbows, Sabers, and numerous other ships used in minor roles, giving the idea of a military that used a wide variety of ships rather than the small handful the heroes appear to be checked out on. The Kilrathi similarly use a wide variety of fighters from the games, with the Dralthi (AKA the "[[Fan Nickname|Flying]] [[In-Series Nickname|Pancakes]]" being only the most easily recognized.
** Cockpit instrument panels resemble the ones from the games closely enough that a regular player could assess the characters' tactical situation from the instruments
** The cadets flew Scimitar medium fighters. At first this would seem an odd choice. Shouldn't cadets get light fighters or even dedicated training craft to fly? But many who have played Wing Commander believe that the Scimitar was [[Your Mileage May Vary|by far the worst fighter in the game]], so most in-universe pilots would probably spurn them, making them the only fighter in plentiful supply for cadets to train in.
* [[The Shrink]]: A mix of all three Types, actually, but mostly a [[Subverted]] Type 2. The cadets don't like him, and given his personality, they probably wouldn't like him even if he ''didn't'' have the ability to get them dropped from the pilot program due to a bad eval, but he ''does'' have considerable authority in regards to pulling them from combat duty, and has the ear of their commanding officer regarding matters of morale. In short, obviously he cares about the cadets and the ship's crew, but the rest of them don't particularly care for him.
** He also shows shades of being an [[Open
* [[Standard Female Grab Area]]: Inverted. When an argument between Maniac and Blair is about to escalate to Maniac throwing a punch, [[The Chick|Archer]] restrains ''Maniac'' this way. Before ''[[She Fu|throwing him]]'' across the room. Worth noting, Maniac is pretty much the biggest human character on the show, appearing to be close to twice Archer's mass and considerably taller than her. After he lands, he snarkily comments that [[Foe Yay|she must be fun on a date.]]
* [[They Called Me Mad]]: [[The Mole]] states his reason for treason was he washed out of the academy after failing a psych evaluation for being "unstable". He rants and raves and really gives the impression his evaluators were on to something when he admits this.
* [[This Is Reality]]: "[[Leaning
* [[Thrown Out the Airlock]]: What happened to {{spoiler|[[The Mole]], above.}}
* [[Title Drop]]: Maniac to Blair, "Oh come on, you know you wanna be Wing Commander"
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* [[Veteran Instructor]]: Commodore Tolwyn
* [[War Is Hell]]: As much as a mid-'90s cartoon could portray, anyway. The show is not at all shy about the death and occasional moral ambiguity of war, on both sides.
* [[We Have Reserves]]: [[Subverted]]: The cadets gradually begin to think that Tolwyn looks at them this way. While he tries to look after the cadets, he ''is'' a commander in time of war and recognizes that some of them will die in combat.
* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Several, aimed at several different characters throughout the series.
** Archer gets one from Maniac and Payback because she always hesitates before pulling the trigger, out of fear that she will [[Heroic BSOD|unnecessarily take an innocent life]] ([[What Measure Is a Mook?]] hits her ''hard'' after being forced to kill a comrade who had gone insane, humanizing ''all'' of her potential enemies in her eyes). They rightly point out that in a dogfight, if she hesitates, even for a second or two, she or one of her wingmen could be killed by an enemy who ''[[Combat Pragmatist|will not]]'' hesitate.
** Payback meanwhile gets one from Blair because of her excessive [[Blood Knight]] tendencies, wanting nothing more than to kill as many Kilrathi as possible, at one point violating direct orders and endangering herself and Blair on a recon mission.
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* [[What Measure Is a Mook?]] and [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]]: Viking and Archer both become extremely uncomfortable with taking a life in combat. Viking drops out of the Academy and leaves the military after [[The Mole]]'s sabotage nearly causes her to take the life of a classmate. Archer finds herself hesitating in combat after circumstances force her to ''intentionally'' [[My God, What Have I Done?|take the life of a classmate]] to save the ''Tiger's Claw''.
* [[Wing Man]]: A given, since it is a show about fighter pilots. Maniac and Maverick have an ongoing argument over who gets to be whose wingman.
** In one episode, nobody is willing to fly with Archer because of her hesitation to kill the enemy. When the ''Claw'' is attacked with very few pilots aboard to defend her, [[Back in
** In a later episode, Maniac's wingman is taken out by a prototype Kilrathi [[Stealth in Space|stealth fighter]]. Everybody accuses him of abandoning his wingman in combat. Maverick ends up teaming up with him to hunt the stealth fighter later on when he is similarly disgraced.
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