History Film / WingCommander

* ThatManIsDead: Taken UpToEleven with Bossman, a recently-deceased veteran of the ''Tiger Claw'', who his own former squadron goes so far as to say ''never existed''. This is apparently in line with how they've treated the deaths of all their former comrades.

* AdaptationDistillation: Bossman is depicted as KIA before Blair could meet him where in the first Wing Commander ([=WC1=]) video game he flew as your wingman on several missions. [[spoiler:Commodore]] Taggart is captain of a civilian trader, when in [=WC1=] he was an elderly pilot flying with you on the Tiger's Claw and wasn't portrayed as a civilian until Wing Commander 2 ([=WC2=]). [[spoiler:Though similar to the movie, Taggart was also an intelligence officer in [=WC2=] using a civilian free trader ship as cover for intelligence operations against the Kilrathi.]] The TCS Concordia is depicted as existing in the same time period as the TCS Tiger's Claw, despite [=WC2=] showing the Tiger's Claw was destroyed by stealth fighters prior to the TCS Concordia's construction years later which carried a anti-ship cannon in [=WC2=] derived from a bigger version used by destroyed Kilrathi ship called the Sivar which fought against the Tiger's Claw in [=WC1=]: The Secret Missions 1 expansion (in the video game the Sivar was a "super-dreadnought" never seen before which destroyed the Goddard Colony with the [[{{BFG}} special Gravaton weapon]] and it was the Claw's job to hunt it down before it destroyed more Confederation colonies, while in the movie the Sivar was just a large battleship escorted by two destroyers which ambushed the Claw). The Skipper Missile that cloaks to avoid detection and decloaks periodically to reposition itself towards the ship it's targeting before recloaking wasn't introduced until Wing Commander 3, and at that point in the video game series both the Tiger's Claw and Concordia were both depicted as destroyed.

* AdaptationDistillation: Bossman is depicted as KIA before Blair could meet him where in the first Wing Commander ([=WC1=]) video game he flew as your wingman on several missions. [[spoiler:Commodore]] Taggart is captain of a civilian trader, when in [=WC1=] he was an elderly pilot flying with you on the Tiger's Claw and wasn't portrayed as a civilian until Wing Commander 2 ([=WC2=]). [[spoiler:Though similar to the movie, Taggart was also an intelligence officer in WC2 using a civilian free trader ship as cover for intelligence operations against the Kilrathi.]] The TCS Concordia is depicted as existing in the same time period as the TCS Tiger's Claw, despite [=WC2=] showing the Tiger's Claw was destroyed by stealth fighters prior to the TCS Concordia's construction years later which carried a anti-ship cannon in [=WC2=] derived from a bigger version used by destroyed Kilrathi ship called the Sivar which fought against the Tiger's Claw in [=WC1=]: The Secret Missions 1 expansion (in the video game the Sivar was a "super-dreadnought" never seen before which destroyed the Goddard Colony with the [[{{BFG}} special Gravaton weapon]] and it was the Claw's job to hunt it down before it destroyed more Confederation colonies, while in the movie the Sivar was just a large battleship escorted by two destroyers which ambushed the Claw). The Skipper Missile that cloaks to avoid detection and decloaks periodically to reposition itself towards the ship it's targeting before recloaking wasn't introduced until Wing Commander 3, and at that point in the video game series both the Tiger's Claw and Concordia were both depicted as destroyed.

* AdaptationDistillation: Bossman is depicted as KIA before Blair could meet him where in the first Wing Commander ([=WC1=]) video game he flew as your wingman on several missions. [[spoiler:Commodore]] Taggart is captain of a civilian trader, when in [=WC1=] he was an elderly pilot flying with you on the Tiger's Claw and wasn't portrayed as a civilian until Wing Commander 2 ([=WC2=]). The TCS Concordia is depicted as existing in the same time period as the TCS Tiger's Claw, with [=WC2=] showing the Tiger's Claw was destroyed by stealth fighters prior to the TCS Concordia being built years later carrying a anti-ship cannon in [=WC2=] derived from a bigger version used by destroyed Kilrathi ship called the Sivar which fought against the Tiger's Claw in [=WC1=]: The Secret Missions 1 expansion (in the video game the Sivar was a "super-dreadnought" never seen before and destroyed the Goddard Colony with the [[{{BFG}} special gravity weapon]] and it was the Claw's job to hunt it down before it destroyed more Confederation colonies, in the movie the Sivar was just a large battleship escorted by two destroyers which ambushed the Claw). The Skipper Missile that cloaks to avoid detection and decloaks periodically to reposition itself towards the ship it's targeting wasn't introduced until Wing Commander 3, and at that point in the video game series both the Tiger's Claw and Concordia were both depicted as destroyed.

* AdaptationDistillation: Bossman is depicted as KIA before Blair could meet him where in the first Wing Commander ([=WC1=]) video game he flew as your wingman on several missions. [[spoiler:Commodore]] Taggart is captain of a civilian trader, when in [=WC1=] he was an elderly pilot flying with you on the Tiger's Claw and wasn't portrayed as a civilian until Wing Commander 2 ([=WC2=]). The TCS Concordia is depicted as existing in the same time period as the TCS Tiger's Claw, with [=WC2=] showing the Tiger's Claw was destroyed by stealth fighters prior to the TCS Concordia being built years later carrying a weapon in [=WC2=] derived from a destroyed Kilrathi ship called the Sivar fought against by the Tiger's Claw in [=WC1=]: The Secret Missions 1 expansion (in the video game the Sivar was a "super-dreadnought" never seen before and destroyed the Goddard Colony with the special weapon and it was the Claw's job to hunt it down before it destroyed more Confederation colonies, in the movie the Sivar was just a large battleship escorted by two destroyers which ambushed the Claw). The Skipper Missile that cloaks to avoid detection and decloaks periodically to reposition itself towards the ship it's targeting wasn't introduced until Wing Commander 3, and at that point in the video game series both the Tiger's Claw and Concordia were both depicted as destroyed.

* AdaptationDistillation: Bossman is depicted as KIA before Blair could meet him where in the first Wing Commander ([=WC1=]) video game he flew as your wingman on several missions. [[spoiler:Commodore]] Taggart is captain of a civilian trader, when in [=WC1=] he was an elderly pilot flying with you on the Tiger's Claw and wasn't portrayed as a civilian until Wing Commander 2 ([=WC2=]). The TCS Concordia is depicted as existing in the same time period as the TCS Tiger's Claw, with [=WC2=] showing the Tiger's Claw was destroyed by stealth fighters prior to the TCS Concordia being built years later carrying a weapon in [=WC2=] derived from a destroyed Kilrathi ship called the Sivar fought against by the Tiger's Claw in [=WC1=]: The Secret Missions 1 expansion (in the video game the Sivar was a "super-dreadnought" never seen before and destroyed the Goddard Colony with the special weapon and it was the Claw's job to hunt it down before it destroyed more Confederation colonies, in the movie the Sivar was just a large battleship escorted by two destroyers which ambushed the Claw). The Skipper Missile that cloaks and decloaks to reposition itself wasn't introduced until Wing Commander 3, and at that point in the video game series both the Tiger's Claw and Concordia were both depicted as destroyed.

* AdaptationDistillation: Bossman is depicted as KIA before Blair could meet him where in the first Wing Commander ([=WC1=]) video game he flew as your wingman on several missions. [[spoiler:Commodore]] Taggart is captain of a civilian trader, when in [=WC1=] he was an elderly pilot flying with you on the Tiger's Claw and wasn't portrayed as a civilian until Wing Commander 2 ([=WC2=]). The TCS Concordia is depicted as existing in the same time period as the TCS Tiger's Claw, with [=WC2=] showing the Tiger's Claw was destroyed by stealth fighters prior to those events and the TCS Concordia was built years later carrying a weapon in [=WC2=] derived from a destroyed Kilrathi ship called the Sivar fought against by the Tiger's Claw in [=WC1=]: The Secret Missions 1 (in the video game the ship was never seen before and destroyed the Goddard Colony with the special weapon and it was the Claw's job to hunt it down before it destroyed more Confederation colonies, in the movie the ship was just a battleship escorted with two destroyers that ambushed the Claw). The Skipper Missile that cloaks and decloaks to reposition itself wasn't introduced until Wing Commander 3, and at that point in the video game series both the Tiger's Claw and Concordia were both depicted as destroyed.

* AdaptationDistillation: Bossman is depicted as KIA before Blair could meet him where in the first Wing Commander ([=WC1=]) video game he flew as your wingman on several missions. [[spoiler:Commodore]] Taggart is captain of a civilian trader, when in [=WC1=] he was an elderly pilot flying with you on the Tiger's Claw and wasn't portrayed as a civilian until Wing Commander 2 ([=WC2=]). The TCS Concordia is depicted as existing in the same time period as the TCS Tiger's Claw, with [=WC2=] showing the Tiger's Claw was destroyed by stealth fighters prior to those events and the TCS Concordia was built carrying a weapon in [=WC2=] derived from a destroyed Kilrathi ship called the Sivar fought against by the Tiger's Claw in [=WC1=]: The Secret Missions 1 (in the video game the ship was never seen before and destroyed the Goddard Colony with the special weapon and it was the Claw's job to hunt it down before it destroyed more Confederation colonies, in the movie the ship was just a battleship escorted with two destroyers that ambushed the Claw). The Skipper Missile that cloaks and decloaks to reposition itself wasn't introduced until Wing Commander 3, and at that point in the video game series both the Tiger's Claw and Concordia were both depicted as destroyed.

* AdaptationDistillation: Bossman is depicted as KIA where in the first Wing Commander ([=WC1=]) video game he flew as your wingman on several missions. [[spoiler:Commodore]] Taggart is captain of a civilian trader, when in [=WC1=] he was an elderly pilot flying with you on the Tiger's Claw and wasn't portrayed as a civilian until Wing Commander 2 ([=WC2=]). The TCS Concordia is depicted as existing in the same time period as the TCS Tiger's Claw, with [=WC2=] showing the Tiger's Claw was destroyed by stealth fighters prior to those events and the TCS Concordia was built carrying a weapon in [=WC2=] derived from a destroyed Kilrathi ship called the Sivar fought against by the Tiger's Claw in [=WC1=]: The Secret Missions 1 (in the video game the ship was never seen before and destroyed the Goddard Colony with the special weapon and it was the Claw's job to hunt it down before it destroyed more Confederation colonies, in the movie the ship was just a battleship escorted with two destroyers that ambushed the Claw). The Skipper Missile that cloaks and decloaks to reposition itself wasn't introduced until Wing Commander 3, and at that point in the video game series both the Tiger's Claw and Concordia were both depicted as destroyed.

* AdaptationDistillation: Bossman is depicted as KIA where in the first Wing Commander ([=WC1=]) video game he flew as your wingman on several missions. [[spoiler:Commodore]] Taggart is captain of a civilian trader, when in [=WC1=] he was an elderly pilot flying with you on the Tiger's Claw and wasn't portrayed as a civilian until Wing Commander 2 ([=WC2=]). The TCS Concordia is depicted as existing in the same time period as the TCS Tiger's Claw, with [=WC2=] showing the Tiger's Claw was destroyed by stealth fighters prior to those events and the TCS Concordia was built carrying a weapon in WC2 derived from a destroyed Kilrathi ship called the Sivar fought against by the Tiger's Claw in [=WC1=]: The Secret Missions 1 (in the video game the ship was never seen before and destroyed the Goddard Colony with the special weapon and it was the Claw's job to hunt it down before it destroyed more Confederation colonies, in the movie the ship was just a battleship escorted with two destroyers that ambushed the Claw). The Skipper Missile that cloaks and decloaks to reposition itself wasn't introduced until Wing Commander 3, and at that point in the video game series both the Tiger's Claw and Concordia were both depicted as destroyed.

* AdaptationDistillation: Bossman is depicted as KIA where in the first Wing Commander ([=WC1=]) video game he flew as your wingman on several missions. [[spoiler:Commodore]] Taggart is captain of a civilian trader, when in [=WC1=] he was an elderly pilot flying with you on the Tiger's Claw and wasn't portrayed as a civilian until Wing Commander 2 [=WC2=]. The TCS Concordia is depicted as existing in the same time period as the TCS Tiger's Claw, with [=WC2=] showing the Tiger's Claw was destroyed by stealth fighters prior to those events and the TCS Concordia was built carrying a weapon in WC2 derived from a destroyed Kilrathi ship called the Sivar fought against by the Tiger's Claw in [=WC1=]: The Secret Missions 1 (in the video game the ship was never seen before and destroyed the Goddard Colony with the special weapon and it was the Claw's job to hunt it down before it destroyed more Confederation colonies, in the movie the ship was just a battleship escorted with two destroyers that ambushed the Claw). The Skipper Missile that cloaks and decloaks to reposition itself wasn't introduced until Wing Commander 3, and at that point in the video game series both the Tiger's Claw and Concordia were both depicted as destroyed.

* AdaptationDistillation: Bossman is depicted as KIA where in the first Wing Commander (WC1) video game he flew as your wingman on several missions. [[spoiler:Commodore]] Taggart is captain of a civilian trader, when in WC1 he was an elderly pilot flying with you on the Tiger's Claw and wasn't portrayed as a civilian until Wing Commander 2. The TCS Concordia is depicted as existing in the same time period as the TCS Tiger's Claw, with Wing Commander 2 showing the Tiger's Claw was destroyed by stealth fighters and the TCS Concordia using a weapon in WC2 using a weapon derived from a Kilrathi ship fought against in WC1: The Secret Missions 2

** Despite being a civilian, [[spoiler:(though that's actually just a non-official cover for) Naval Intelligence Commodore]] Taggart is given a bomber and ordered by the Tiger Claw's captain to accompany a strike group to take out the communications ship. [[spoiler:In the original storyline, the Tiger's Claw captain Sansky was the traitor on board, and presumably ordered Taggart off the ship so a higher ranked officer wouldn't relieve him of command, once Taggart noticed Sansky was making some bad decisions in fighting the Kilrathi.]]

* BetterThanSex: Rosie claims that some hotdog flying with Maniac was better than sex. Angel calls "bullshit" on the claim, to which Rosie replies, "Well, sex with myself, anyway."
* CallingTheOldManOut: Blair calls Angel, his squadron[[note]]"wing" in the film dialog, a script editing error that was fixed in the {{Novelization}}[[/note]] commander, on her policy that pilots who died "never existed", as being unfaithful to those who have died in service.

* DelayingAction: The Tiger Claw's primary mission in the film, harassing and delaying the Kilrathi fleet by whatever means possible so Admiral Tolwyn can make up the few hours he needs to be in position.

-->It is my sad duty to inform you... that as of six AM this morning, [[ThisMeansWar we are formally at war with the Kilrathi]]. God help us all.

* IAmVeryBritish: Angel. Ironic as her character is supposedly Belgian.

* NomDeGuerre: Maniac, Maverick, Angel, Iceman, Paladin, etc. Most of the characters are fighter pilots, after all.
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Saffron Burrows' character Devereaux is Belgian. She doesn't attempt an accent however, just using her normal English one.

* OneHitKill: The shields of a Kilrathi destroyer do not seem to provide much protection, collapsing after a single hit during the [[spoiler:ambush of the Tiger Claw and the Confederation's ambush of the arriving Kilrathi fleet at the end]]

* PeopleInRubberSuits: The Kilrathi. However, Chris Roberts has never liked the appearance of ''any'' of the Kilrathi, from ''any'' source. Sources (i.e. rumors circulating on-line) say that the Kilrathi costumes [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome actually were very imposing]] when allowed to stand to their full height, but cramped sets meant they spent the movie hunched at the waist and shoulders, resulting in their [[SpecialEffectsFailure less-than-impressive final appearance]].

* RaceAgainstTheClock: With the loss of the Vega Sector Fleet, the door is open for the Kilrathi fleet to move on to attack Earth. Admiral Tolwyn's Enigma Sector Fleet, moving at top speed, will arrive a few hours too late to intervene. The Tiger Claw's mission is to delay the Kilrathi fleet to [[DelayingAction buy as much time as possible for Tolwyn to get in position.]]

'''Blair:''' No, it's just that I'm not used to getting combat advice from a [[WrenchWench grease-monkey]].\\

* SeeTheWhitesOfTheirEyes: Averted during the [[spoiler:ambush of the Tiger Claw]] where torpedoes are launched, and the perspective switches to the opposing force with the launching ship nowhere to be seen; played straight with the Rapiers whenever they engage with cannon, and even with missiles in multiple scenes.

* TakeAThirdOption: Suggested by Rosie, after Maniac introduces himself and Blair to ''Tiger Claw's'' pilots in the rec room. The first option is that the new pilots and the old pilots get into a brawl. The second option is that they instead share a friendly bottle of scotch. Rosie's proposed third option? Kick the new pilots' asses, ''then'' drink their scotch.
* ThatManIsDead: Taken UpToEleven with Bossman, a recently-deceased veteran of the ''Claw'', who his own former squadron goes so far as to say ''never existed''. This is apparently in line with how they've treated the deaths of all their former comrades.

New pilots Christopher Blair (Creator/FreddiePrinzeJr) and his best friend/rival Todd "Maniac" Marshall (Creator/MatthewLillard) are assigned to the TCS ''Tiger Claw'' [sic] as the Kilrathi fleet prepares to mount a massive assault on Sol Sector, using navigational information gained in a raid on a major Terran Confederation naval base. Time is short for Admiral Tolwyn (Creator/DavidWarner) to mount a defense, and the ''Tiger Claw'' is ordered to buy them more time. Whilst integrating with the ''Claw'''s flight wing, led by Jeannette "Angel" Devereaux (Saffron Burrows), Blair finds himself fighting some of the most crucial battles of the war--and trying to keep secret the fact that he's half "Pilgrim," a sub-species of humans subject to FantasticRacism.

* RealityEnsues: Maniac and Rosie's brinkmanship contest and choosing to [[BloodKnight engage enemy fighters against orders]] ends with Rosie's completely avoidable death, trashing the flight deck in the process.

* BetterThanSex: Rosie claims that some hotdog flying with Maniac was better than sex. Angel calls "bullshit" on the claim, to which Rosie replies "better than sex with myself".

* CanonImmigrant: The Pilgrims, a race of evolved humans who were never mentioned before in the games. Author Peter Telep, who also wrote the film's novelization, completed two sequel novels that would have fleshed out the Pilgrims and revealed why they never appeared in the games. Sadly the second novel was never published which left the series on a cliffhanger.
* CasualInterstellarTravel: Jump drive technology allows for interstellar travel, but can only be done from certain points and it can sometimes take days to reach a given destination when traveling at sub-light between jump points. It's implied the Pilgrim war and following Kilrathi war has resulted in the Confederation ceasing most exploration and sticking to safe jump points. Paladin demonstrates that ships can get around a lot faster if they're willing to jump things like pulsars and black holes, which is incredibly dangerous.
* TheCavalry: {{Subverted}}. Admiral Tolwyn's fleet manages to get to Sol System before the Kilrathi do, and take up orbit over Venus to await the Kilrathi arrival. When Blair arrives in Sol System [[spoiler: pursued by a Kilrathi Cruiser,]] Tolwyn can't send any ships to help Blair without tipping off the Kilrathi to the presence of the Enigma Sector Fleet in Sol System. Even considering that their non-intervention will [[spoiler: leave the Kilrathi cruiser free to [[DeathFromAbove open fire on Earth]]]], the cost of springing their trap early before the Kilrathi fleet had stepped into it would be much worse. [[spoiler: Blair's broadcasting the Kilrathi fleet's intended jump coordinates does allow Tolwyn to move his fleet into position to [[CurbStompBattle whale on the Kilrathi as they are forced to make the jump one ship at a time.]]]]

** [[spoiler: [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Beacon 147 ]]]] in the outer reaches of the Sol System.

* HollywoodEvolution: As told in the ''Confederation Handbook'' and hinted at during the OpeningMonologue, Pilgrims are a result of spacers who worked and lived in the less shielded outer sections of space stations, over generations mutating to have special powers.

* NomDeGuerre: Maniac, Maverick, Angel, Iceman, Paladin, etc. Most of the characters are fighter pilots after all.

* ShoutOut: Quite a few to ''Literature/TheOdyssey''-evidently the Pilgrims who named everything were fans of the Classics.

* AdaptationDyeJob: Maniac started out, in the game series, with darker hair. While the jump to FullMotionVideo kept close to that with Tom Wilson, in the movie he was depicted as blond.

* OneHitKill: The shield's of the Kilrathi destroyer collapse after a single hit during the ambush of the Tiger Claw [[spoiler:and the Confederation's ambush of the arriving Kilrathi fleet at the end]]

* OneHitKill: The shield's of the Kilrathi destroyer collapse after a single hit during the ambush of the Tiger Claw

* OneHitKill: The shield's of the Kilrathi destroyer collapse after a single hit during the ambush of the Tiger Claw [[and the Confederation's ambush of the arriving Kilrathi fleet at the end]]

* CoversAlwaysLie: The back of the film's DVD cover erroneously replaces the image of Tcheky Karyo with that of Jurgen Prochnow.

* SpaceNomads: The Pilgrims are a group of these, notable for their ability to navigate without the help of computers. They suffer from prejudice and persecution by most of the society, and previously went to war with the human government. It turns out Blair's mother was one. He keeps it quiet due to prejudice, but his abilities definitely come in handy during the film.

* ThatManIsDead: Taken UpToEleven with Bossman, a recently-deceased veteran of the ''Claw'', who his former squadron goes so far as to say ''never existed''. This is apparently in line with how they've treated the deaths of many of their former comrades.

* IAmVeryBritish: Angel.