Robert Everton

Captain Robert Everton was the captain of the marine towing vessel Sea Star and the owner of Sea Star Marine Towing. After losing a barge full of lumber during Typhoon Leiah, Everton pondered suicide, until his crew discovered the derelict Russian science vessel Akademik Vladislav Volkov. Everton and the crew immediately decided to claim the ship for salvage. Upon discovering a survivor, the crew was informed of an extraterrestrial intelligence that could control all electrical devices upon the ship.
While attempting to evade the mechanised corpses of the Volkov's crew, crewman Richie Mason attempted to call for help using the radio. Everton destroyed the radio to keep from losing the salvage, and was removed from command by ship's navigator Kelly Foster. Subsequently, Everton chose to align himself with the intelligence and was voluntarily converted.
Everton was ultimately destroyed with a thermite hand grenade, and his remains sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
==Weapons and Abilities==
===Armaments===
*Firearms
**Webley Mk VI Revolver: Everton considered using his personal revolver to commit suicide.Virus - IMFDB - Retrieved 12 April 2021 (FILM: Virus)
==Notes==
*Everton was portrayed by Canadian actor Donald Sutherland.Virus - IMDB - Retrieved 12 April 2021Donald Sutherland - IMDB - Retrieved 12 April 2021 First-time director John Bruno was excited at the prospect of being able to cast Sutherland in the part. Bruno sent the makeup design to Sutherland, who agreed to appear in the film. Sutherland's two caveats were that he wouldn't shave his beard, and that he was only willing to go through the seven-hour long makeup process once, necessitating all the scenes involving the makeup to be shot in a single day.Viral Agents - Bill Florence - Starlog Volume 1 #259 - Page 53 - Retrieved 13 April 2021
*Sutherland's performance was at the time highly criticised upon the film's release, with several reviewers believing he had taken the part only for the money.VIRUS SYMPTOM: FATAL STUPIDITY - Todd Anthony - 19 January 1999 - South Florida Sun-Sentinel - Retrieved 13 April 2021 Confusion was generated by Sutherland's poorly received attempt to use an accent.'Virus': A Germ Of an Idea Runs Amok - Stephen Hunter 16 January 1999 - The Washington Post - Retrieved 13 April 2021Virus - Joe Leydon - 17 January 1999 - Variety - Retrieved 13 April 2021Virus - Jeff Vice - 18 January 1999 - Deseret News - Retrieved 13 April 2021Virus - MaryAnn Johnson - 18 January 1999 - Flick Filosopher - Retrieved 13 April 2021Sue Me! I Love Virus (1999) - Eoin - 17 September 2020 - The Action Elite - Retrieved 13 April 2021
*As noted by reviewers, Sutherland's accent wavers throughout the film, ranging from Irish to Scottish. The accent could also conceivably be an attempt at a Newfoundland English accent.The flag hung in Everton's quarters is the Bermudan flag,Bermuda - Flag Identifier - Retrieved 13 April 2021 an advertisement with a Cuban flag hangs in the ship's engine room, and the Sea Star's logo as rendered on the wheelhouse reads "Sea Star Port Kembla".American Tug boat Sea Star from movie Virus 1999 - Tony_Birdman - 31 March 2017 - ShipSpotting - Retrieved 13 April 2021
*The novelisation gave him the added backstory of having been a deckhand at seventeen, a helmsman by the age of twenty, and a wife whom he had proposed to on the Pacific Ocean and had honeymooned with off the coast of New Zealand. Sarah Everton had been killed by a drunk driver nearly 30 years before the events of the film.Virus - S. D. Perry - Tor Books - Published 1998 - Page 14 - Retrieved 6 May 2021 It also established that he had owned a home in Guam before selling it to help fund what would be his final voyage.Virus - S. D. Perry - Tor Books - Published 1998 - Page 35 - Retrieved 6 May 2021 Everton had also spent enough time in New Zealand to pick up some words of the Māori language and recognise prayers.Virus - S. D. Perry - Tor Books - Published 1998 - Page 68 - Retrieved 6 May 2021
==Appearances==
*Virus (first and final appearance)
== See also ==
* Matthew Bennell
==References==
Category:Humans
Category:Villains
Category:Murderers
Category:Criminals
Category:Cyborgs
Category:Ship's captains
Category:Sea Star Marine Towing
Category:Alcoholics
Category:Business owners
Category:Traitors to their species
Category:Deceased Characters
Category:Film characters
Category:Characters played by Donald Sutherland
Category:Bermudan characters
Category:Characters killed by grenades
Category:20th century deaths
Category:Science fiction characters
Category:Science fiction villains