Tag Archives: Awesome Character

Awesome Character #3: Lisa Hayes (Misa Hayase)

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Lisa HayesFrom Macross to Robotech

Robotech is a localization of three separate Japanese anime series, pieced together so there would be enough episodes for American television in the 1980s. The first part of Robotech, known as the Macross Saga, was adapted from Super Dimension Fortress Macross (Macross) and is largely the same as its source material. The most significant changes were the names and ethnicity of some characters and removal of what folks deemed to be excessive violence, drinking, and nudity (today, none of that stuff would be cut).

The Japanese characters, Hikaru Ichijyo and Misa Hayase, were made Americans (not through immigration and naturalization) and we wound up with Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes. In terms of personality and action, Lisa and Misa is the same character.

A few years after the release of the TV series, Robotech was adapted into a novel series that expanded upon the story, adding a bit more depth.

By feats alone—

Lisa begins the series as a Lieutenant and the First Officer of the SDF-1, making her the second-in-command of the entire ship (the XO, if Robotech used American military designations). She gets promoted a number of times throughout the series. On more than one occasion, Lisa is responsible for saving the asses of thousands of people (e.g., the Daedalus Maneuver, and that time on Mars). By her feats alone, Lisa’s pretty impressive.

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Awesome Character #2: Podrick Payne

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Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne

Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne

Looks like I’m going with another dorky supporting character: first was lovable loser, Milhouse Van Houten of The Simpsons, and now, the equally awkward Podrick Payne of A Song of Ice and Fire (and Game of Thrones).

So, if you aren’t quite up to date with Game of Thrones, you may want to avoid reading this post due to the likely presence of *SPOILERS*.

A not-so-obvious choice

For this post, I wanted to find a character from GRRM’s series who isn’t obviously awesome, which sort of precluded a lot of characters whom I assumed would show up in most people’s lists of top ten favorites (e.g., Daenerys, Jon Snow, Arya, the Lannister brothers, Brienne, Bronn, the Hound).

Clearly, I wasn’t going to go with a character I’m not a fan of, either (e.g., Sansa Stark, Viserys, anyone with Bolton or Frey blood).

With the huge cast of characters in the series, there’s more than a few who are pretty cool but aren’t too popular, like the Blackfish (Catelyn Stark’s uncle), Jorah Mormont (whose popularity seems to have risen thanks to the HBO adaptation), and Syrio Forel.

Ultimately, I wound up choosing Podrick Payne.

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