AWACS Bandog

AWACS Bandog is a supporting character in the video game Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. He is an air control officer assigned to Osean penal units, most notably the Spare Squadron. He is very harsh towards his prisoners and will not hesitate to sacrifice them to complete the mission.
He is voiced by Kenichiro Matsuda in Japanese and by Kevin M. Connolly in English.
== Biography ==
During the Lighthouse War, AWACS Bandog operated alongside the Spare Squadron composed of Osean prisoners, under the command of Colonel D. McKinsey. During the Erusean raid on a fake Osean air base, Spare Squadron had to keep the enemies from discovering the base's true nature without using weapons, but when Bandog realized that this could result in McKinsey's death, let the pilots fight back without consulting with his superior. During the fight, he bet on the new pilot Trigger crashing and cursed him out when he survived.
Bandog eventually discovered that one of the Spare Squadron pilots, Full Band, was illegally examining Osean intelligence, and tried to intimidate him into stopping doing so. During one mission, Erusea used drone planes disguised as OADF forces, and as Spare Squadron grouped around Trigger to avoid friendly fire, Bandog marked everyone except Full Band as friendlies. As a result, Full Band was shot down by Count alongside Erusean drones. Count felt resentment towards Bandog for this, believing that he marked Full Band as hostile on purpose, but the AWACS insisted that he did so accidentally.
Bandog also assisted Trigger and Count in escorting McKinsey to Bulgurdarest, but what happened to him afterwards is unknown.
== Personality ==
Bandog is a cruel person, caring little for the lives of convicts under his supervision. Much like McKinsey, he is ready to use them as cannon fodder and perform operations possibly conflicting with international law in order to keep the regular troops' hands clean, but unlike his superior he understands that sometimes providing the convicts with more than bare minimum to survive is necessary to complete the mission. He also shows respect to those who he believes deserve it, admitting that Trigger was like a gulp of fresh air to him.
== Trivia ==
* Bandog's threats to put anyone arguing with him into solitary have become a meme among Ace Combat fans.
* Like with other Skies Unknown AWACSes, Bandog's aircraft never appears on-screen.
* Despite Bandog insisting that him causing Full Band's death was an accident, there's in-game evidence that suggests he had him killed deliberately:
** Full Band investigating Osean intelligence could've compromised future operations if he kept talking about them or even leaked information for money, which is why Bandog warned him to stop looking into intelligence, but to no avail.
** Erusean drones were of the same model as Full Band's plane, giving Bandog plausible deniability.
** Additionally, Bandog specifically asks for Full Band's position while marking planes in the air, and Full Band isn't marked as hostile on Trigger's interface, suggesting that only Count saw him as a bogey.
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