Roy Focker
Encyclopedia
is a fictional character
from the Japan
ese anime
science fiction
series Macross
(which was loosely adapted as the first story arc of Robotech
) and the prequel
OVA Macross Zero
. He is voiced by veteran seiyuu Akira Kamiya
in the original Japanese TV anime series and by Brett Weaver
in the 2006 ADV Films English dub.
Roy Focker is an American
who was born and lived in the United States in the late 20th century. During his college school days he had interest in prehistorical civilizations and archeology studies, and was in a relationship with his senior Aries Turner. However, after being left by her, Roy dropped his studies and became a stunt pilot in the air circus led by Hikaru Ichijyo
's father. Some time later he decided to join the U.N. Spacy
after most of his friends died in the U.N. Wars. His flight instructor during this time was D.D. Ivanov.
During the war Roy became a talented and strong-willed fighter pilot, known for his love of women and alcohol. Focker was selected later as one of the first test pilots for the development of the variable fighter
s by the U.N. Forces. In 2008 he is deployed as a squadron commader with the Skull Team aboard the stealth carrier CVN-99 Asuka II on a secret mission in the South Pacific and flies the VF-0 Phoenix in battle against the SV-51
s of the Anti-U.N. Forces. The work done on the VF-0 helps the coinciding development of the VF-1 Valkyrie
.
Despite his long absence during the U.N. Wars and the death of Hikaru's father, Hikaru still remained a close friend to Roy and considered him his sempai (upperclassman/big brother figure). After the end of the U.N. Wars, Focker involved himself in the VF-X development project flying both the VF-X and the VF-X-1 (non-transformable and transformable flight test prototypes of the VF-1 Valkyrie), and his flight experience earned him the command of the VF-1 Skull Squadron aboard the super-large-scale semi-submersible attack aircraft carrier CVS-101 Prometheus.
During Space War I Roy Focker is still a smoking, drinking womanizer who constantly defies death and, when not on another desperate mission, enjoys life and its pleasures to the fullest. He has a relationship with Claudia LaSalle
, an officer stationed on the SDF-1 Macross
bridge.
Roy dies in episode 18 ("Pineapple Salad"), from wounds sustained while defending Macross from Milia Fallyna's force of Queadluun-Rau battle suits
. Instead of going to the hospital to treat his wounds, he chooses to play the guitar while waiting for Claudia LaSalle
to finish her pineapple salad; while she's cooking for him, he collapses from a sudden internal bleeding and passes away few minutes later. To Hikaru's chagrin given his then shaken self-confidence in his flying skill in war, he is promoted as the new leader of Roy's squadron, using his mecha as well.
In The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?
1984 film adaptation of the original TV series, the character Roy Focker dies aboard an alien Zentradi
ship while fighting Quamzin Kravshera
. In the movie Roy sacrifices himself to let both Hikaru Ichijyo and Misa Hayase
escape.
aircraft company, and its founder Anthony Fokker
who built the Fokker E.I
, the Fokker Dr.I
and Fokker D.VII
fighter aircraft during World War I. In flashback sequences, Roy flies a reproduction Fokker D.VII, and gives Hikaru a model of one as a "get well" gift. Furthermore, although several possible scenarios regarding his death abound, the Red Baron (for which the Fokker Dr.I was most famous) was possibly shot down in combat by a Canadian pilot called Roy Brown
, the origin of Roy Focker's first name.
The colors on Roy's VF-1S Valkyrie are similar to those of the VF-84 Jolly Rogers unit that flew the F-14 Tomcat
, a plane that inspired the basic design of the VF-1 Valkyrie.
, the leader of the Frontier fleet's S.M.S. Skull Squadron is Ozma Lee. Like Roy, he shows elements of the same personality and becomes a mentor figure to series protagonist, Alto. In addition, food involving pineapples (in this case, pineapple cake) appears to have nearly lethal effects - Ozma is badly wounded on the day he promised to prepare pineapple cake for Ranka with Cathy's recipe, and the evidence of his injury produces a similar shock with SMS groundcrew as that produced after Roy Focker's final flight. Breaking the fourth wall
, Michel notes that if Ozma had died, it would have been "The most moving scene ever!".
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series Macross
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
is an anime television series. According to story creator Shoji Kawamori, it depicts "a love triangle against the backdrop of great battles" during the first Human-alien war....
(which was loosely adapted as the first story arc of Robotech
Robotech
Robotech is an 85-episode science fiction anime adaptation produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. and first released in the United States in 1985...
) and the prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
OVA Macross Zero
Macross Zero
is an anime prequel OVA to The Super Dimension Fortress Macross released for the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Macross franchise during 2002 in Japan...
. He is voiced by veteran seiyuu Akira Kamiya
Akira Kamiya
is a Japanese voice actor. He has been represented by Theater Echo, Aoni Production, and others. He is currently represented by Saeba Shoji.-Career:Kamiya made his debut on Mahou no Mako-chan in 1970 while working for Theater Echo...
in the original Japanese TV anime series and by Brett Weaver
Brett Weaver
Brett A. Weaver is an American voice actor working with ADV Films, Funimation Entertainment, OkaTron 5000, and Seraphim Digital. He is known for his roles in the English-language dubs of anime series. He currently lives in Austin, TX with his wife, E.K...
in the 2006 ADV Films English dub.
Fictional Character Biography
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
who was born and lived in the United States in the late 20th century. During his college school days he had interest in prehistorical civilizations and archeology studies, and was in a relationship with his senior Aries Turner. However, after being left by her, Roy dropped his studies and became a stunt pilot in the air circus led by Hikaru Ichijyo
Hikaru Ichijyo
Hikaru Ichijyo is one of the main fictional characters of the Macross Japanese anime series. His voice actor was Arihiro Hase in the Original Japanese version and Vic Mignogna in the English dub by ADV Films in January 2006...
's father. Some time later he decided to join the U.N. Spacy
U.N. Spacy
The U.N. Spacy is the fictional military arm of the Earth U.N. Government from the Japanese anime series Macross.-Fictional Organization Background:...
after most of his friends died in the U.N. Wars. His flight instructor during this time was D.D. Ivanov.
During the war Roy became a talented and strong-willed fighter pilot, known for his love of women and alcohol. Focker was selected later as one of the first test pilots for the development of the variable fighter
Variable fighter
A Variable Fighter is a series of fictional transforming aerospace fighter mecha primarily designed by Studio Nue's Shoji Kawamori for the animated series The Super Dimension Fortress Macross and later related projects...
s by the U.N. Forces. In 2008 he is deployed as a squadron commader with the Skull Team aboard the stealth carrier CVN-99 Asuka II on a secret mission in the South Pacific and flies the VF-0 Phoenix in battle against the SV-51
SV-51
The SV-51 is a fictional transforming aircraft from the Macross Zero anime science fiction series. It was designed by anime mechanical designer Shoji Kawamori.-Fictional Design:The SV-51 was the only variable fighter developed by the Anti-U.N. forces...
s of the Anti-U.N. Forces. The work done on the VF-0 helps the coinciding development of the VF-1 Valkyrie
VF-1 Valkyrie
This article is about a fictional vehicle; for the fighter squadron see VF-1.In the fictional Macross Japanese anime series and its English adaptation Robotech, the first mass-produced variable fighter or veritech fighter is called the VF-1 Valkyrie.-Background:The VF-1 was created by the...
.
Despite his long absence during the U.N. Wars and the death of Hikaru's father, Hikaru still remained a close friend to Roy and considered him his sempai (upperclassman/big brother figure). After the end of the U.N. Wars, Focker involved himself in the VF-X development project flying both the VF-X and the VF-X-1 (non-transformable and transformable flight test prototypes of the VF-1 Valkyrie), and his flight experience earned him the command of the VF-1 Skull Squadron aboard the super-large-scale semi-submersible attack aircraft carrier CVS-101 Prometheus.
During Space War I Roy Focker is still a smoking, drinking womanizer who constantly defies death and, when not on another desperate mission, enjoys life and its pleasures to the fullest. He has a relationship with Claudia LaSalle
Claudia LaSalle
is a fictional character in the Macross animated science fiction universe. She debuts in the first episode of the first series, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross...
, an officer stationed on the SDF-1 Macross
SDF-1 Macross
The SDF-1 Macross is a fictional interstellar transforming spacecraft from The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, an anime science fiction series that aired in Japan in 1982–1983, and its American adaptation Robotech...
bridge.
Meltlandi
In the fictional Macross setting, Meltlandi or Meltlan is the term for female Zentradi, a giant humanoid alien warrior race segregated by gender....
. Instead of going to the hospital to treat his wounds, he chooses to play the guitar while waiting for Claudia LaSalle
Claudia LaSalle
is a fictional character in the Macross animated science fiction universe. She debuts in the first episode of the first series, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross...
to finish her pineapple salad; while she's cooking for him, he collapses from a sudden internal bleeding and passes away few minutes later. To Hikaru's chagrin given his then shaken self-confidence in his flying skill in war, he is promoted as the new leader of Roy's squadron, using his mecha as well.
In The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?
, also known as The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? or Super Spacefortress Macross , is a 1984 Japanese animated movie based around the Macross television series.The movie is a film adaptation of the original Macross series, with new animation...
1984 film adaptation of the original TV series, the character Roy Focker dies aboard an alien Zentradi
Zentradi
The are a fictional, militastic race of alien, humanoid giants and often the main antagonist in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross anime series and its Robotech adaptation....
ship while fighting Quamzin Kravshera
Quamzin Kravshera
In the fictional Macross universe, Quamzin Kravshera or Kamjin/Kamujin is a brilliant but mentally unstable Zentradi commander during Space War I....
. In the movie Roy sacrifices himself to let both Hikaru Ichijyo and Misa Hayase
Misa Hayase
is one of the central fictional characters of the Macross Japanese anime series. Her voice actress was Mika Doi in the original Japanese TV version, in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? movie adaptation, and in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012 OVA...
escape.
Additional Notes on the Character
Roy Focker was named in honor of the FokkerFokker
Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names, starting out in 1912 in Schwerin, Germany, moving to the Netherlands in 1919....
aircraft company, and its founder Anthony Fokker
Anthony Fokker
Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker was a Dutch aviation pioneer and an aircraft manufacturer. He is most famous for the fighter aircraft he produced in Germany during the First World War such as the Eindecker monoplanes, the Fokker Triplane the and the Fokker D.VII, but after the collapse of...
who built the Fokker E.I
Fokker E.I
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Boyne, Walter J. The Smithsonian Book of Flight for Young People. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1988. ISBN 0-689-31422-1....
, the Fokker Dr.I
Fokker Dr.I
The Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...
and Fokker D.VII
Fokker D.VII
The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...
fighter aircraft during World War I. In flashback sequences, Roy flies a reproduction Fokker D.VII, and gives Hikaru a model of one as a "get well" gift. Furthermore, although several possible scenarios regarding his death abound, the Red Baron (for which the Fokker Dr.I was most famous) was possibly shot down in combat by a Canadian pilot called Roy Brown
Roy Brown
Roy Brown may refer to:*Roy Brown , English professional footballer who was the first black player to play for Stoke City.*Roy Brown , English footballer...
, the origin of Roy Focker's first name.
The colors on Roy's VF-1S Valkyrie are similar to those of the VF-84 Jolly Rogers unit that flew the F-14 Tomcat
F-14 Tomcat
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental program following the collapse of the F-111B project...
, a plane that inspired the basic design of the VF-1 Valkyrie.
Video games
- In any rendition of the famous RPG crossover of Super Robot WarsSuper Robot Warsis a series of tactical role-playing video games produced by Banpresto, which is now a Japanese division of Namco Bandai. The main feature of the franchise is having a story that crosses over several popular mecha anime, manga and video games, allowing characters and mecha from different titles to...
involving Macross, Roy Focker constituted a major character in the overall story, and did not die as per the scenario of Macross. In these games, Focker was fighting alongside many other robot anime icons, especially those voiced by his seiyu Akira Kamiya (e.g. Ryoma Nagare of Getter Robo, Akira Hibiki of Reideen, Kazuya Ryuzaki of Daimos, and Sanshiro Tsuwabuki of Gaiking).
Legacy
In the sequel series Macross FrontierMacross Frontier
is a Japanese animated science fiction space drama that aired in Japan on MBS from April 3, 2008 to September 25, 2008. It is the most recent Japanese anime television series set in the Macross universe. Animated by Satelight, premiered Japan on MBS on April 3, 2008...
, the leader of the Frontier fleet's S.M.S. Skull Squadron is Ozma Lee. Like Roy, he shows elements of the same personality and becomes a mentor figure to series protagonist, Alto. In addition, food involving pineapples (in this case, pineapple cake) appears to have nearly lethal effects - Ozma is badly wounded on the day he promised to prepare pineapple cake for Ranka with Cathy's recipe, and the evidence of his injury produces a similar shock with SMS groundcrew as that produced after Roy Focker's final flight. Breaking the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
, Michel notes that if Ozma had died, it would have been "The most moving scene ever!".
External links
- Roy Focker (entry in the Macross Wiki)