Starbuck (TOS)

Lieutenant Starbuck is the fumarello-smoking, womanizing, smart-aleck Colonial Warrior. He's also one of finest pilots.
Starbuck was born on Caprica in the agro settlement of Umbra. He was orphaned when a Cylon raid destroyed the settlement .
== Biography ==
=== The Peace Conference ===
En route to the peace conference, Starbuck allows an eager Zac to take his spot on the reconnaissance patrol. His winning hand at the pyramid game amounts to nothing when the alarm sounds, signaling the beginning of the Cylon Ambush. Starbuck is left behind with the other s when breaks off to attempt to save the colonies. The Vipers manage to hold their own until Galactica returns with the news that the colonies have been destroyed.
=== Post Cylon-Attack ===
The lieutenant helps to inspect the ships in the Fleet, and process all of the civilians. Aboard the freighter Gemini Starbuck helps rescue Cassiopeia.
Apollo volunteers Starbuck (along with ) to help lead the Fleet through the minefield of the Straits of Madagon. He is part of the initial landram team that discovers the Ovion resort on Carillon. He is selected to receive the Gold Cluster for his efforts in the Straits, as part of a ploy by Sire Uri to disarm the Fleet. After rescuing Boxey, Muffit, and Cassiopeia from the Ovions, Starbuck sets fire to the tylium mines beneath the surface of Carillon. Using deceptive radio communications, Starbuck and Apollo force the Imperious Leader's basestar into the atmosphere as the fires in the tylium mine finally detonate the planet .
Starbuck and Apollo discover, and are nearly lost in, a magnetic void. As one of the two Viper pilots not infected by the mysterious illness, Starbuck helps to train the female shuttle pilots to fly Vipers . Starbuck tries to take over a mission for Apollo and Serina, and ends up being captured by the Cylons. He meets aboard his basestar. Baltar releases Starbuck, who meets up with the crew down on . He joins in the ensuing battle, helping to drive off the Cylon s .
Lieutenant Starbuck desperately wants to help Apollo when he is chased off by Raiders during a recon mission, but is ordered to hold back in order to avoid giving away the Fleet's position. Boomer and Starbuck later pick up Apollo's transmissions and guide him back to Galactica after his ordeal .
Starbuck is the first to test pilot an experimental reconnaissance Viper. Being the test pilot earns him a dining slot on where he ends up trying to juggle simultaneous dates with both and Cassieopeia. During his test flight he encounters a Sixth-millennium starfighter attacking a shuttle and intervenes. The pilot of the shuttle ends up stealing Starbuck's Viper, and Starbuck is captured when he flies off with the shuttle. He is taken to a prison where the prisoners are named for the crimes of their ancestors, and are all descendents of criminals. He incites a prison revolt, just in time for Apollo and Boomer to show up (along with Starbuck's missing Viper). Starbuck helps the two of them defeat their Raider pursuers. In the process of destroying the Raiders Starbuck accidentally destroys the vast stores of ambrosa that the prisoners had made, dashing his dreams of making a fortune off of it .
The lieutenant is part of a patrol that encounters the Ravashol pulsar. Starbuck is adamant about trying to save Cree, who is captured by the Cylons during their initial encounter with the pulsar. He rigs the computer to include his name on the mission to Arcta . Starbuck helps to destroy the pulsar, rescues Cree, and makes some interesting friends .
Starbuck joins the mission to Serenity, where he ends up accidentally winning the constable's badge (and thus the position) in a game of Pyramid. Rather than following the example of previous constables, Starbuck instead bargains with the Borays. Starbuck's bargain leaves Nogow the constable, Serenity free of attacks, and Siress Belloby free .
Damage to his Viper forces Starbuck to force down on the marsh planet of Attila. Starbuck ends up helping some children defeat a Cylon garrison to free their father. Starbuck manages to find time to flirt with the eldest daughter, as well as teach them on how to time an attack by signing verses, as taught by his old flight instructor .
Apollo and Starbuck discover while out on patrol. Starbuck feels threatened by Commander Cain's past ties with Cassiopeia . Starbuck joins the commando mission that parachutes down onto Gamoray. He manages to make a pass at Sheba while preparing for the drop. He and Boomer destroy the command center for the planetary defense systems. Later he and Apollo break off of their assigned escort duty to help Pegasus by disabling some of the weapons of the basestars. They witness the destruction of the basestars, but are unsure of the fate of Pegasus .
On Viper patrol, Starbuck tries but fails to intercept all of a group of suicidal Raiders. The impact of the Raiders causes a fire aboard Galactica. Starbuck goes on a spacewalk with Apollo, helping to set charges on Galactica. Starbuck saves Apollo as the charges detonate, and the vacuum extinguishes the fire .
Starbuck is among those who first encounter Count Iblis and when Iblis kills Apollo. He transports his body back towards Galactica. The shuttle is intercepted by the Beings of Light, and Starbuck has a chance to interact with them. Apollo is resurrected, and they return to Galactica with directions towards Earth .
Starbuck meets his father, Chameleon, while gambling aboard Rising Star. Starbuck ends up saving his father from the Borellian Nomen that are pursuing him. Chameleon asks Cassiopeia not to reveal the results of the tests confirming him as Starbuck's father, allowing Starbuck to believe that he is not his father .
After being framed for the murder of a rival Triad player. Apollo and Boomer help prove Starbuck's innocence, implicating the actual murderer .
On the expedition to Paradeen, Starbuck helps Sarah Fowler and Michael reach their destination. Starbuck ends up lost in the catacombs of Paradeen city. After he is rescued he helps to overpower and capture the Eastern Alliance soldiers that had captured Sarah .
Starbuck helps Apollo with the situation on Terra. Starbuck's warning to Galactica allows her to intercept the Eastern Alliance missiles, preventing the destruction of the Nationalists and countless millions of lives .
An old love interest prompts Starbuck to make a trip to the Celestra. As luck would have it, part of the crew mutinies while he is onboard, including his old flame. He joins the shuttle mission to transport the mutineers to Galactica when their shuttle is nearly cut off from the fleet. After the mutineers locate the Celestra, Starbuck and company retake the ship and capture the guilty party. Starbuck returns to Galactica and patches things back up with Cassiopeia .
Despite Cassiopeia's misgivings, Starbuck helps Apollo fly Baltar's Raider onto a basestar. After successfully infiltrating the basestar they manage to disable the ship's sensors, and escape. Their sabotage allows Galactica to get the drop on the basestar and destroy it .
== Notes ==
* The original choice for Starbuck was Don Johnson, Edward James Olmos Miami Vice co-star. It was the intervention of Glen A. Larson that ultimately had Dirk Benedict cast; Johnson was too short for the role and didn't fit in to the cast as Larson envisioned.
* The ABC Network had warned the show producers that if Benedict had smoked any more of the "small cigars" a.k.a. fumarellos he would be fired. They rapidly reversed the order as female admirers sent in many cigars to the studio and Benedict. 
* Starbuck is one of only five characters in the Original Series to be featured in every episode, and appears in one episode of Galactica 1980.
== Gallery ==
 
Image:Starbuck Autograph.jpg
Image:Starbuck Portait.jpg
Image:Starbuck Space Battle.jpg
Image:Four portrait.jpg
Image:Starbuck and Boomer.jpg
Image:Athen On Bridge.jpg
Image:Starbuck portrait 2 - Realm Press.jpg
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