Rick Hunter

Infobox animanga character
name = Rick Hunter
series = Robotech


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first = Episode 1 - "Boobytrap"
last =
creator =
voiced by = Tony Oliver
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age = 19 in episode 1, 32 in , 54 in
gender = Male
species = Human
born = 1990
death =
nationality = American
class =
occupation = Veritech Fighter Pilot
title = Lieutenant (2009-2014), Major General (2022-2043), Admiral (2043-Present)
relatives = Lisa Hayes "(Wife)" (2022-Present)
Donald Hayes "(Father in law - Deceased)"
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:"This article is about the character from "Robotech". See Hikaru Ichijyo for the original inspiration for this character in "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross". See "Hunter", starring Fred Dryer, for the main character of that TV series."

Rick Hunter, voiced by veteran voice actor Tony Oliver, is one of the fictional characters in the "Robotech" anime television series. He begins the series as a naive and headstrong nineteen-year-old civilian pilot, having flown for his father "Pops" Hunter's world-class flying circus. Yet by the end of the series, he matures into a well-respected and experienced military commander.

Rick originally shares his father's pacifist view of war, until the alien race known as the Zentraedi attack the Earth. Rick then spends the series struggling to reconcile his personal feelings with the realities of war, and the need to confront the incredible alien threat.

First Robotech War

The first episode begins with Rick Hunter arriving as a visitor to Macross Island in 2009 to watch the launching of the Super Dimensional Fortress One. Visiting his "big brother," Roy Fokker, Rick is in the cockpit of one of the transformable Veritech fighters, and receives a crash course in piloting the strange craft from Roy in the midst of an all-out alien invasion. He is present when the SDF-1's accidental hyperspace-fold in the atmosphere takes the island and its inhabitants of Macross City all the way to Pluto, on the edge of the solar system.

During this encounter, Rick rescues and falls for a young girl, Lynn Minmay. The two find themselves trapped in a remote section of the giant ship and become very close during their time together. However, just as they are about to kiss for the first time (in a pretend wedding), the two are finally rescued. Although he is not initially open to the idea, the constant danger to the ship and the city it carries compels Rick to sign up with the Robotech Defense Force, and soon becomes an ace veritech fighter pilot, despite the fact that he is only 19 years old. During his time on the SDF-1, Rick has many dealings with Lisa Hayes, the disciplined and reserved second-in-command of the great ship. During the initial battle on Earth, Rick insults Lisa...thus, when he enlists into the military, she takes it upon herself to ride him a little harder than most new recruits. Due to the constant attacks by the Zentraedi, many veritech pilots are killed or injuried and Rick increasingly looks toward Minmay, who has now become a popular singer and New Macross pagent winner, as a source of inspiration and happiness. However, despite their inital closeness, the two gradually grow apart as Rick focuses on his military career while Minmay is constantly mobbed by fans who love her music.

After a mission to rescue Lisa from the soon-to-be-destroyed Mars Base Sara, Rick is awarded a medal, promoted to Lieutenant, and is given his own command (Vermilion Squadron) and two subordinates (Max Sterling and Ben Dixon). Throughout the course of the series, Rick matures and gains experience as the SDF-1 slowly travels back towards Earth while under constant attack from Zentraedi forces, such as learning to eagerly concede that Sterling is far and away the superior pilot compared to himself (and thus a prized wingman). Nevertheless, Rick is accounted as one of the most dangerous and accomplished Robotech warriors in all three series.

During a reconnaissance mission, Rick, Lisa and Ben are captured by the enemy Zentraedi and interrogated by Supreme Commander Dolza, Breetai and Exedore. Lisa, suspicious as to why Dolza doesn't just order his massive fleet to attack the SDF-1, yells that Dolza doesn't have the power to attack and that the SDF-1 is far superior to his "bucket of bolts." Dolza, infuriated, slams his hand on the table with enough force to cause the captives to lose their balance. Dolza then extends his hand and graps Lisa, lifting her up in front of her face. He orders her to tell him by what process humans become human-size. Lisa, defiant, refuses to respond, and Dolza tightens his grip around her until she screams in pain. Rick, fearing that Dolza will kill Lisa, yells at him to stop squeezing her and explains that humans are born, at their current size, when a man and woman love each other. When Breetai asks how "this love" is often expressed, Rick responds that it is often done by kissing one another. Demanding a demonstration, Dolza suggests that Rick and Ben kiss one another, but Rick refuses. As Dolza threatens to crush all of them if he doesn't see a demonstration, Lisa says she will demonstrate. After Dolza returns her to the table, Lisa orders Rick to kiss her, an action which shocks Dolza and the other Zentraedi present. This kiss, ironically, is the start of Rick and Lisa's difficult romance and the beginning of the love triangle between Rick, Lisa and Lynn Minmei. [ [http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/episodes/viewepisode.php?episode=12] ] After being rescued, Lisa shakes off the event and immediately returns to duty, but she cannot help the feelings she is now developing for Rick, and soon becomes jealous of his obsession with Minmei. Although neither realized it at the time, this kiss marked the start of Rick and Lisa's difficult romance that would take years to ultimately come to fruition, and only after many challenges and heartbreaks. Lisa and Rick's personal relationship would continue to mature, and would eventually progress into an uneasy friendship. Rick is initally uncomfortable around Lisa, not only because she is a superior officer but also because she is five years older than him. Rick remains fixated on Minmei, hanging her posters in his home, much to the dislike of Lisa. Yet despite Rick's feelings, Minmei's music career and her cousin Lynn Kyle, make their romance more and more difficult.

Even after reaching Earth, the crew of the vast ship are not safe. During a battle led by Miriya Parina to hunt down and destroy Max Sterling, Roy Fokker is killed. [ [http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/episodes/viewepisode.php?episode=18] ] A heartbroken Rick is given command of the Skull Squadron, and is issued Roy's VF-1S Veritech. Shortly thereafter, Rick is faced with another tragedy when his second wingman, Ben Dixon, is killed in the line of duty. [ [http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/episodes/viewepisode.php?episode=19] ] The loss of two of his closest friends devastates Rick emotionally, but he finds the strength to carry on.

Rick faces a challenge of a different sort when his wingmate and best friend Max falls in love with Miriya after she is micronized and infiltrates the SDF-1. Despite Miriya's initial intention to kill Max, she eventually realizes that the feelings Max had awakened in her were not of hate but of love, and the two decide to get married. Max soon meets with Rick to explain his plans to marry Miriya. Rick, after spitting out his coffee in surprise, initially objects to Max's plans and ridicules them as "silly idealism." Rick asks, aside from the fact that he and Miriya have only been on one date, what a human and a Zentraedi could possibly have in common. Max vigorously defends his plan to marry Miriya and introduces her to Rick. Rick, after seeing Miriya in a pink dress, is amazed at how beautiful she is and he suddenly changes his mind. Rick even agrees to help them with their wedding plans. That night, as he lies in bed, he thinks to himself how happy Max is to be married, despite that fact that Miriya is an alien for a hostile race. His thoughts soon drift to Lisa as he tries to sort out the love triangle between Lisa, Minmay and himself.

In the battle against he Zentraedi Grant Fleet, Rick, like the rest of the SDF-1 crew, is devastated as he watches the fleet fire on Earth and destroy almost all life on the planet. Rick fears for Lisa, who had been assigned to Alaska base after returning to Earth and being unable to leave. In the subsequent battle, Rick's fighter takes damage and he is temporarily knocked out. When he comes to, he picks up a distress signal from Alaska Base from Lisa Hayes. Despite the risk, Rick flies into the heavily damaged base and descends several miles until he reaches Lisa. The two run into each others arms before racing back to the fighter. As the base starts collapsing, Rick manages to fly his fighter out of the base and lands it on the planet's devastated surface. As Rick and Lisa stand together, wondering if anyone else survived, they look up and watch the SDF-1, although severely damaged from battle, land safely nearby, marking the end of the First Robotech War.

As the 70,000 survivors of the Zentraedi holocaust rebuild Earth, Rick once again becomes obsessed with Minmay, much to the dislike of Lisa who wishes that Rick could understand that she loves him. After Minmay and her cousin Kyle are kidnapped by Khyron, Rick leads a rescue operation to save her. Afterward, Rick and Minmay rekindle their love and share a kiss on Christmas Eve. Lisa is devastated and initially decides to resign her military commission as she feels she cannot serve beside Rick due to her feelings for him. [ [http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/episodes/viewepisode.php?episode=35] ]

When Khyron attacks New Macross City and the SDF-1 in January of 2014, Rick must tear himself away from Minmay's arms to attend to his duty. Minmay cannot accept that Rick must constantly risk his live in battle and begs him to leave the military, something that Rick could never do. Khyron eventually launches a suicide run at the SDF-1, killing himself and everyone aboard except for Lisa, who was pushed into an ejection pod at the last moment by Admiral Henry J. Gloval. In addition to Admiral Gloval, Lisa's close friends Claudia Grant, Vannessa Leeds, Sammy Porter and Kim Young are killed. As Rick realizes that Lisa is alive, the two run into each others arms as Minmay watches nearby. Rick and Minmay have already realized that they could never be together as he is dedicated to the military and she is dedicated to her music. Rick also realizes that his love for Minmay is based on euphoria while his love for Lisa is stronger and deeper than he had ever realized until now. [ [http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/episodes/viewepisode.php?episode=36] ]

During the war and its aftermath, Rick rises to become one of Earth's greatest heroes, commanding the SDF-1's fighter squadrons during the desperate battles of the First Robotech War. At the same time, he matures greatly as a person, growing from a brash teenager to a responsible and dedicated soldier. Rick and Lisa are two of the most influential surviving military figures of the human race, and together with the Zentraedi Commander Breetai, they construct the SDF-3, with which they intend to take humanity to its destiny in the stars.

Robotech Expeditionary Force

In December 2022, Rick, now at age 32 and a Major General of the fleet, prepares to join now-Admiral Lisa Hayes on the SDF-3, flagship of the Robotech Expeditionary Force, which is about to depart after eight years under construction. The mission's primary goal was to find the Robotech Masters and forge a peace in order to prevent another catastrophic war on Earth. On the day before the SDF-3 launches, Lisa and Rick are finally married in a huge wedding ceremony attended by all of their friends on board the Zentraedi Factory Satellite. The wedding ceremony can be seen in . Lisa's one-time rival for Rick's affections, Lynn Minmay, eventually makes peace with the officer well enough to volunteer to sing at her wedding. Dana Sterling, now aged 10, serves as a flower girl and Bowie Grant, Claudia Grant's nephew, serves as the ring bearer. Breetai, the former ruthless Zentraedi warlord turned ally, (who has now been micronized) gives away the bride, while Max Sterling is the best man. The wedding is the happiest day of their lives even though their honeymoon lasts only a few hours as they must be ready for the SDF-3 to launch early the next morning. Although they hoped the mission would be over quickly, events would keep the SDF-3 away from Earth for the next 22 years.

By the time of Robotech's third generation, some thirty years after the first generation, Rick is referred to as "Admiral Hunter," who appears to be in command of the Robotech Expeditionary Force that is attempting to liberate Earth from the Invid. (His experiences during the intervening years, as well as his relationship with now-wife Lisa Hunter, are chronicled in Jack McKinney's ' novels). The SDF-3, with Rick Hunter aboard, never arrives at Earth with the main REF fleet at the end of the original "Robotech" series. [ [http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/characters/viewcharacter.php?id=11] ] The quest to find the SDF-3, and Admiral Hunter and company, is a major plot thread in the ' feature film, and its forthcoming sequel(s).

An interesting development seen on "Robotech" discussion boards centers on a plot element of the original "Genesis Climber Mospeada", which became "Robotech"'s third generation. At the end of the war with the Invid, it is decided that if the Invid can not be dislodged, the planet Earth must be razed.

In the original "Robotech" saga, Rick Hunter is named as the originator of this order. Since many human civilians and troops are alive on Earth, and the imminent threat of the Invid to the rest of the universe is not clear to all, some fans allege that with this order Rick Hunter might be found guilty of numerous charges. These include conspiracy to commit war crimes, conspiracy to commit multiple-thousand counts of murder, conspiracy to commit multiple-thousand counts of assault, willful destruction of property on a global scale, treason, and others. Other fans, however, disagree that this could be possible, and argue that ordering the destruction of the Earth and all its inhabitants was a legally-correct and factually-prudent action, or that Rick Hunter's orders were prematurely executed as they were to be executed "only if everything else has failed" in the event of "our total annihilation."

Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles

In the comic , Rick and Lisa, still happily married, are expecting their first child. Lisa is an Admiral of the fleet while Rick is a Major General. The comic begins with Rick and Lisa facing the betrayal of the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) by T. R. Edwards, as he defects to the side of the Invid Regent. During the initial attempt to arrest Edwards, the Regent fires on the SDF-3, causing extensive damage and severely injuring Lisa. Later, Rick meets with Vince Grant and his wife, Dr. Jean Grant, on to ask about Lisa. Rick is happy when he is told that Lisa will survive and he states he is looking forward to her resigning her commission after she found out she was pregnant. However, it is then that Jean Grant, with a sad look on her face, says: "Rick... She lost the baby." Rick is overwhelmed and collapses in shock and sadness.

With Lisa facing a long recovery, Rick is promoted to Admiral of the REF. One year later, the REF has rebuilt and Rick oversees the christening of the newly refitted battlecrusier "Tokogawa", which is to be commanded by Vince Grant on a mission to Optera to find and stop Edwards. However, the tragedy one year earlier has taken its toll on Rick and Lisa. Rick's once black hair has turned gray and his face has aged considerably in appearance. Lisa remains in a wheelchair with braces on her legs. Both are still struggling with the death of their unborn child but manage to find the strength to carry on in their mission to stop Edwards and free Earth from the Invid. Rick, with the help of Vince Grant, is eventually able to track down and stop Edwards while seizing from him valuable technology that the REF can utilize to help free Earth from the Invid. However, Rick thinks little of Edwards' warning that a new threat is about to emerge.

At the end of the comic, Rick orders all available REF forces to assemble at Moon base ALUCE to prepare for a one final assault on Earth to dislodge the Invid with the use of the new shadow technology obtained from the Haydonites. Rick, now at the age of 54, looks and acts considerably different from the young man in the original Robotech series.

Reluctantly, Rick orders the use of the Neutron-S missiles, which will wipe out the Invid and most (or all) life on Earth, but only if the attack in unsuccessful. Rick's decision is criticzed by some of his officers who believe that the Neutron-S missiles should be used immediately. Like Rick, they are well aware that an attack against the Invid forces on Earth, even if successful, will likely result in very heavy losses to the REF. However, Rick refuses this request and orders that the missiles only be used as a last resort. Before the SDF-3 joins the attack, Rick asks Max Sterling to join him on the SDF-3 and appoints his daughter, Maia Sterling, to lead Skull Squadron in his place. Lisa, now fully recovered, also joins Rick on the bridge of the SDF-3. General Reinhardt, aboard the SDF-4 Izumo, is placed in command of the REF fleet and is entrusted to lead the attack against the Invid. Before joining the REF fleet, Rick orders a test firing of a Neutron-S missile in the Omicron sector. However, the test goes horribly wrong as the true power of the missiles become apparent.

The comic ends here and paves the way for the movie .

"Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles"

picks up where the comic left off with Admiral Rick Hunter, unaware of the destructive power of the Neutron-S missiles, orders a test-firing of one of the missiles in the Omicron Sector. The detonation of the missile creates a black hole. Despite being more than 800 million kilometres for the detonation, the SDF-3 sustains heavy damage and everyone, except the android Janice Em, is killed onboard the science vessel "Deukalion". Vince Grant, captain of the starship "Icarus", is dispatched to rescue the SDF-3 and Admiral Hunter. Because of hostile jamming by unknown forces, Captain Grant is forced to leave the SDF-3 behind, as Rick orders him to return immediately to the battle raging against the Invid near Earth to warn th REF that the Neutron-S missiles cannot be used on Earth under any circumstances. The SDF-3 is left drifting in space and its current status and location is unknown, as is Admiral Hunter's condition. At the end of the movie, it is stated that the SDF-3 may not have been destroyed as initally thought. The "Ark Angel" is ordered to begin search mission to try and reach the SDF-3 before the Haydonites do. It is believed by fans that Rick's fate will be revealed in a future proposed Robotech installment.

As in the Prelude comic, Rick's formerly dark hair is now white, and he has a prominent scar on the right side of his jaw.

References

External links

* [http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/characters/viewcharacter.php?id=11 (Rick Hunter Profile)] — Information on Rick Hunter