Pete "Maverick" Mitchell

Lt. (later Captain) Pete Mitchell, callsign "Maverick", is the main protagonist of the 1986 movie Top Gun, directed by the late Tony Scott, and its 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick, directed by Joseph Kosinski.
He was portrayed by Tom Cruise, who also played Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible films, Charlie Babbitt in Rain Man, John Anderton in Minority Report, Ray Ferrier in War of the Worlds, Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth of July, Daniel Kaffee in A Few Good Men, David Aames in Vanilla Sky, Nathan Algren in The Last Samurai, Jack Harper in Oblivion, Major William Cage in Edge of Tomorrow, Jack Reacher in the films of the same name, and Nick Morton in The Mummy (2017).
==Biography==
===Top Gun===
Maverick is an F-14 Tomcat pilot for the United States Navy. After a mission to intercept some MiGs ends with Maverick helping Cougar land his plane on the carrier, Cougar turns in his wings from the Navy and Maverick and Goose are sent to Top Gun at Miramar. The reason behind Maverick's reckless flying is because of the death of his father, Duke Mitchell, on November 5, 1965, when his plane was shot down in a dogfight during the Vietnam War.
While at Top Gun, Maverick falls in love with flight instructor Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood and becomes a rival with another pilot, Iceman, who considers Maverick to be dangerous. At the same time, Maverick's reckless flying annoys and impresses Jester simultaneously which is shown when he defeats Jester in combat, while violating two rules of engagement the process.
In another flight, Maverick leaves his wingmen Hollywood and faces off against Viper, the "finest pilot in the world". However, Jester manages to defeat Maverick before Maverick can take Viper down. Then, tragedy strikes when during a training exercise, Iceman breaks off formation and Maverick flies through the jet wash of Iceman's F-14, causing his plane to suffer a flameout and to go into a flat spin. While Maverick ejects from the plane, Goose is ejected into the canopy, colliding on impact and killing him. Although the board of inquiry clears Maverick, Maverick is feeling guilty over the death of Goose and is unable to concentrate.
He is thinking about quitting until he talks with Viper, who reveals that he had flown with Maverick's father. In the climax, Maverick, Iceman, and Hollywood are to mount a rescue mission to help a disabled communications ship known as the SS Layton. Maverick is partnered up with Merlin, and during the mission, Hollywood is shot down by the MiGs and Hollywood and Wolfman eject safely. When Maverick flies into the battle, Maverick flies through one of the MiGs' jet wash but retains his control. After recovering, Maverick and Iceman manage to shoot down four of the MiGs as well as force the others to flee.
Maverick tosses Goose's dogtags into the ocean, and Maverick and Iceman finally become friends. When Maverick is offered to return to Top Gun, he decided to become an instructor. Maverick is last seen meeting Charlie at the bar while "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'" plays.
===Top Gun: Maverick===
34 years later, having to avoided promotion, Maverick continues serving as a test pilot. One day, Rear Admiral Chester Cain shuts down the Darkstar scramjet program to put more funds into drones. To protect the careers of his colleagues, Maverick flies the prototype to its test objective, but pushes it even further to Mach 10.4, destroying it. Cain intends to punish Maverick for his recklessness, but instead sends him to NAS North Island to be a TOPGUN flight instructor, as an order by Iceman, now the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet. 
Maverick is ordered to train a group of Elite Top Gun graduates to bomb an unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant before it becomes operational in less than three weeks. The plant sits in a deep depression at the end of a canyon and is defended by surface-to-air missiles and fifth-generation fighters operating from a nearby air base. Maverick plans an attack with two pairs of Super Hornets, which will fly through a canyon and destroy the plant. The aviators initially rebuff Maverick, particularly the self-confident Lieutenant Jake "Hangman" Seresin and Lieutenant Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, his surrogate son and Goose's biological son. During the training the pilots are told to work together to shoot down Maverick or whoever gets shot down first has to do 200 push ups (per a bet suggested by Lt. Reuben "Payback" Fitch).
Hangman and Rooster go at odds for the former's indifferent attitude and the latter's caution, this briefly escalates into a physical fight after Hangman discovers and callously reveals Maverick and Rooster's relationship. The pilots reassess Maverick's skill and swarm him, but he defeats them easily. Meanwhile, Maverick reunites with former girlfriend Penny Benjamin, and they share parental struggles about trust. Maverick reveals that before Rooster's mother died she made him promise to keep her son from flying after the death of his father, so Maverick blocked Rooster's naval application, setting his career back four years, and Rooster still resents Maverick for it. He then reunites with Iceman who's suffering from throat cancer and communicates by typing. Iceman reassures Maverick about teaching the team before his eventual passing. With Iceman dead, Cyclone removes Maverick as mission trainer and grounds Maverick permanently and sets new parameters that are less risky on approach but riskier on exit. Regardless, Maverick makes an unauthorized test flight of the simulated course with the original parameters, proving that it could be done, convincing the reluctant Cyclone to appoint Maverick as strike leader.
Maverick pairs with Phoenix and her WSO Bob and Rooster pairs with Payback and his WSO Fanboy. Hangman and the remaining pilots, known as the Dagger Squadron, set off of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier while the Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired to destroy the base, braving the surface-to-air missiles and taking on two Su-57 Felons. Maverick sacrifices his jet to protect Rooster and ejects. Believing Maverick to be killed in action, the remaining aircraft return to the carrier. Against orders, Rooster turns back and saves Maverick from an Mi-24 helicopter gunship, but is shot down by another surface-to-air missile and ejects nearby. The two reunite and head towards the destroyed airbase, where they steal a F-14 Tomcat and head back to the carrier. Maverick and Rooster shoot down two intercepting Su-57s, but a third arrives as they run out of ammunition and countermeasures. Hangman arrives from standby to shoot down the Su-57, and the planes return to cheers on the carrier, where Maverick and Rooster reconcile.
Afterwards, Maverick and Rooster work on a P-51 Mustang at a hangar near the test facility where Maverick was previously stationed. Penny arrives with her daughter Amelia, and Maverick takes her for a ride in the P-51. Rooster walks to a photo board and acknowledges a photo of their mission's success, alongside a photo of his late father and a younger Maverick.
==Quotes==
*Good morning, aviators. This is your captain speaking. Today's exercise is dogfighting. Guns only, no missiles. We do not go below the hard deck of 5,000 feet. Working together as a team you have to shoot me down, or else.
*They want Mach 10, let's give 'em Mach 10.
*It's one of life's mysteries, sir.
*I have to admit, I wasn't expecting an invitation back.
*With all due respect, sir, I'm not a teacher. I just want to manage expectations.
*I’m going to train you to take your aircraft to the breaking point.
*What the enemy doesn't know is your limits. I intend you to find them, tesst them and push beyond. Today we'll start with what you only think you know. Show me what you're made of.
*The answer to that question will come down to the pilot in the box.
*Here we go. In three… two… one.
*No, ready to forget the book! Trust your instincts! Don't think, just do! You think up there, you're dead! Believe me!
*Fights on! Lets turn and burn!
*An F-14 against 5th generation fighters?
*I'm sorry. I'm sorry Goose.
*Thank you for saving my life.
*Leaving your wingman? There's a strategy I haven't seen in a while.
*Lights out, Coyote.
*All right, Hangman, time to teach you a lesson. You're out, Phoenix.
*Go see Hondo about your push ups.
*You see me now? Come on. Lets get it over with.
*You can't save it! Eject! Eject!
*Talk to me Goose.
*We can't outrun this guy. We got to eject. We need altitude. Pull the ejection handles the second I tell you. ROOSTER THERE IS NO OTHER WAY!
*EJECT EJECT! ROOSTER PULL THE HANDLES EJECT!!!
*Why are they dead?
*What happened?
*Why are you dead? You're team leader up there. Why are you, why is your team dead?
*And superior enemy aircraft intercepted you on your way out!
*Against 5th generation fighters?
*In an F-18?
*Exactly!
*I'm not a teacher, Ice, I'm a fighter pilot. A Naval Aviator. It's not what I am, it's who I am. How do I teach that? Even if I could teach it, it's not what Rooster wants. It's not what the Navy wants. That's why they canned me the last time. The only reason I'm here is you. If I send him on this mission, he might never come home. And if I don't send him... he'll never forgive me. Either way, I can lose him forever.
==Trivia==
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