Renée Minkowski

**Renée Yvonne** **Minkowski** is the commander and navigations officer of the U.S.S. Hephaestus.

## Biography

### Early life

Minkowski was born in Warsaw, Poland, to Polish astrophysicist Andrei Minkowski and a French diplomat mother. When Minkowski was 11 years old, her family relocated to Northern California, where her father worked as a college professor.

Dreaming of becoming a NASA astronaut, Minkowski entered the Air Force Academy. She proved herself to be an incredibly skilled pilot, earning one of the highest flight exam scores the Academy had seen in years. Minkowski proceeded to serve three years as a squadron leader, and four years as a flight instructor for the Air Force.

While on a furlough in Paris, she met newspaper correspondent Dominik Koudelka, who would become her husband.

Minkowski applied to, and was rejected by the NASA flight program five times before being hired by Goddard Futuristics as a deep space mission commander.

## Personality

Renée Minkowski is incredibly determined and disciplined. She has a deep desire to prove herself as a commander and to feel in control. Minkowski also has a secret soft-spot for musical theatre.

## Relationships

### Doug Eiffel

Early in their mission, Minkowski thinks of Eiffel as incompetent and annoying, while Eiffel finds Minkowski overbearing and uptight. Despite the friction between them, Minkowski has a deep sense of duty as his commanding officer. She risks herself to rescue Eiffel when he is blown off the side of the Hephaestus during a solar storm, despite Dr. Hilbert's objections. Their relationship begins to shift after Hilbert's mutiny. She and Eiffel have only each other to rely on, which strengthens their bond. Over time, they become close friends who often rely on one another for aid in a crisis. They each risk their lives for each other on multiple occasions.

Eiffel, despite his boorish behavior, is often a moral compass and emotional balance to Minkowski. Though he is thrilled that Minkowski was "going rogue" in "Fire and Brimstone", he ultimately stops her from killing Dr. Maxwell. In Desperate Times, Eiffel again steers Minkowski away from murder when she was willing to use Lovelace and Dr. Hilbert's stash of napalm on Kepler, Jacobi, and Dr. Maxwell. Though she is furious after discovering that Goddard Futuristics had told their families they were dead, Eiffel makes her laugh, and this reminds her who she is.

### Hera

Minkowski and Hera have serious disagreements early on, including an intense argument in "The Sound and the Fury". After Hera is rebooted, Minkowski often criticizes the amount of trouble Hera's having running the station, resulting in tension between the two until Lovelace's arrival and the events that follow drew their attention away.

### Dr. Alexander Hilbert

Minkowski initially considers Dr. Hilbert to be a reliable second in command, and the two hold each other in relatively high esteem, despite a few rough patches. After his betrayal, Minkowski's relationship with Dr. Hilbert becomes tense and she mostly communicates with him for information or when an extra set of hands is needed for repairs. Following the arrival of the SI-5 crew, she aids Lovelace and Dr. Hilbert with their plan to overthrow Kepler and take control of the Urania. Despite the trust issues caused by Hilbert's betrayal Minkowski is still distraught by Hilbert's death as well as by the other events resulting from the stand off with Kepler.

### Isabel Lovelace

At first, Lovelace and Minkowski's relationship is rocky, and they do not trust each other. Even before Lovelace makes her reappearance, Minkowski seems unimpressed by Lovelace's messages that had been encoded in the Hephaestus. After the arrival of the SI-5 crew she and Lovelace begin to trust and rely on each other more and work together to overthrow Kepler. During the funeral for those that died in the stand off with Kepler, Minkowski expresses her regret and grief over Lovelace's death. After Lovelace is resurrected, Minkowski gives over command of the Hephaestus to her under the belief that Lovelace is more capable of running the ship.

### Dominik Koudelka

Notably, Minkowski is the only member of the Hephaestus crew to be married. She was presumably on good terms with her husband when she left, and sent him messages regularly.

## Trivia

* Minkowski's surname is a reference to the German mathematician Hermann Minkowski.
* English is her fourth language. She knows Polish, French, and Russian as well.
* Her weapon of choice is a harpoon.
* She knows at least most of the lyrics to "Modern Major General".
* Has had at least two toes amputated as result of an incident involving Eiffel and a helium tank.

## Gallery

* Minkowski's character bio from the Wolf 359 website
1/1
## External links

* Character biography from wolf359.fm
* Minkowski - Once In a Lifetime, character playlist by wolf359radio

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Character biography, Wolf 359 - Characters
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 *Wolf 359* mini-episode 6: "Once In a Lifetime."
3. ↑ *Wolf 359* episode 17: "Bach to the Future."
4. ↑ http://personalinsanitymoment.tumblr.com/post/130728183273/another-name-question-cause-im-a-big-ol-nerd
5. ↑ *Wolf 359* episode 21: "Minkowski Commanding."
6. ↑ *Wolf 359* episode 8: "Box 953."
7. ↑ *Wolf 359* episode 6: "Super Energy Saver Mode."