History Main / AcePilot

** He got the ''Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds'', the only man who got that.

* [[TheATeam Howlin' Mad Murdock]] was most certainly one of these: he flew a small jet, a jumbo jet, a biplane, many small passenger planes, and untold numbers of helicopters over the course of the series. Other characters (especially the colonels and general chasing after the A-Team) acknowledged Murdock's [[IncrediblyLamePun mad]] skills. Whether he's a Steamroller, a Bushwhacker, or a Plugger [[DependingOnTheWriter depends on the episode]]. Given his [[CrazyAwesome craziness]], it makes (relative) sense for him to be all three.

* Various {{Gundam}} series.
* The main of {{Gundam 00}}, Setsuna F. Seiei, is pretty much a decided Steamroller in the first season, what with even being willing to throw any of his seven blades at the enemy to get a chance at them. He's arguably mixed with a Bushwhacker in the second season, but still retains his 'suicidal attack' method.

*** Lucrezia Noin is also incredibly notable in this category. She's a Plugger, through and through, yet is often [[strike: implied]] almost outright stated to have been holding back whenever Zechs is around. Combined with the fact that she's always a tech level or three below the enemy[[hottip:*:In an Aries when the enemies are Gundams, in a Taurus when everyone else around her are in Gundams or brand-new-generations-ahead-mobile-suits]], and the fact that Noin always ''survives without being taken out of the fight''[[hottip:*:Beyond her first apperance, anyhow]]... and you have a pilot who might as well be ''the most skilled character in the damned show''.

** ''[[GundamIGLOO MS IGLOO 2]]'' has Herman Yandell display Ace ''tank gunnery (and command)'', although his Ace status might be in question as he's mstly known around [=EFSF=] tank battalions as a SoleSurvivor, but it counts as he's the only one to ever return from fighting "The White Ogre" Elmer Snell, who's a Steamroller. Yandell's tactics put him as a Bushwhacker, as he's shown to take advantage of a previous battlefield's environment and its remains, make full use of the tank's loadout and even use his own allies to trick the enemy.

* In ''InfiniteSpace'', you'll find a few recruitables with ace piloting skills, and you'll notice how they can turn the tide of a battle when used right. Most notable of these come in Act 2, since only Gadina has the skills in the first act while Johano Sceptro and Brava Soneto only have some close stats.

-->-- [[XWingSeries Corran Horn]], of his [[BadassNormal non-Force-Sensitive]] [[WingMan wingmates]].

->"''Did you know? There are three kinds of aces. Those who seek strength, those who live for {{Pride}}, and those who can read the tide of battle.''"
-->-- '''Solo Wing Pixy''', ''AceCombat Zero''

** There is a theory that he was able to achieve such a killcount only due to amphetamines -- which were invented by Germans specially for the military pilots -- due to him being on the front only for a relatively short time, but having a ''very'' tight schedule. His logs show as many as ''[[[BeyondTheImpossible eight]]'' sorties on a certain day. While each sortie in WWII rarely lasted longer than a couple of hours, those planes didn't really have "power steering", and air combat ''is'' one of the most tiring activities known to man. Two sorties per day was the par for the course, three were somewhat tiring, four were a chore, five a burden and six a nigh impossible. Eight sorties are widely considered achievable only by using stimulators.

** It's widely believed that he and the ''second best'' Allied ace of WWII, Alexander Pokryshkin, have much higher real kill counts due to the way soviet scoring system worked. Soviet pilots, ironically for a socialist country, received significant money bonuses for their victories, so to fight overclaiming and thus overspending, the confirmation rules were intentionally ''very'' strict, requiring, for example, the confirmation by the ground team, which automatically excluded any kills made behind the enemy lines, even if witnessed by other pilots. Porkyshkin also reportedly had many of his early kills not registered due to his bad relations with his superior officer.

** ''GundamWing's'' title probably has to be given to [[FanNickname Rent-a-Char]] Milliardo Peacecraft. Though he loses to main character Heero, he is pretty awesome and has earned the title Lightning Baron in countless battles.
*** Lucrezia Noin is also incredibly notable in this category. She's a Plugger, through and through, yet is often [[strike: implied]] almost outright stated to have been holding back whenever Zechs is around. Combined with the fact that she's always a tech level or three below the enemy[[hottip:* :In an Aries when the enemies are Gundams, in a Taurus when everyone else around her are in Gundams or brand-new-generations-ahead-mobile-suits]], and the fact that Noin always ''survives without being taken out of the fight''[[hottip:* :Beyond her first apperance, anyhow]]... and you have a pilot who might as well be ''the most skilled character in the damned show''.

** The original ''MobileSuitGundam'' of course had Amuro Ray and Char, as well as a succession of other Zeon aces such as Ramba Ral and the Black Tri-Stars, though UC finale movie [=~Char's Counterattack~=] made pretty clear Char wasn't enough of a [[TheRival rival]].

* Saburo Sakai, the highest-scoring surviving ace of the Japanese Navy, had a career filled with [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfAwesome Crowning Moments of Awesome]]. One was his 800-mile flight, in a damaged plane, [[OnlyAFleshWound a bullet inside his head]], which blinded one eye and paralyzed half of his body. Another was surviving a dogfight with sixteen American planes, better than his own, without a single bullet in his aircraft. And a third was the time a terrified enemy pilot bailed out before Sakai had even fired a shot.

* Saburo Sakai, the highest-scoring surviving ace of the Japanese Navy, had a career filled with [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfAwesome Crowning Moments of Awesome]]. One was his 800-mile flight, in a damaged plane, blind in one eye and half blind in the other. Another was surviving a dogfight with sixteen American planes, better than his own, without a single bullet in his aircraft. And a third was the time a terrified enemy pilot bailed out before Sakai had even fired a shot.

** Sylvie Gina in ''Macross 2''

**** Wedge's first silhouette is because he attacked the place and lived to tell about it, something that can only be claimed by three people (the second being [[TheHero Luke Skywalker]] and the third [[HeroOfAnotherStory Keyan]] [[X-Wing Farlander]]). When you've got only three survivors, propaganda demands you canonize them, regardless of whether they deserve it.

** There are plenty of other pilots, but those four illustrate the styles best. Another EU book, ''DeathStar'', makes it clear that Darth Vader, as a pilot, is doesn't really fit any category, except perhaps the double-secret probationary [[ImprobablePilotingSkills Sniperollbushplugwhacker]]. He was able to make the ''second'' best Imperial pilot, pictured above, who is good enough to make a decent protagonist pilot feel like a child who can barely walk trying to keep up with a champion distance runner, look like a clueless farmboy. Casually. And without using a targeting computer, which, the protagonist believes, is outright ''impossible''. The Force--and to be completely accurate, thirty-plus years of experience and ageless cybernetic components--helps pilots, clearly.

In {{real life}}, an ace is technically a pilot with five or more kills. This is more impressive than it sounds; even in conflicts like WorldWarII, were aerial combat occurred on a vast scale, the typical fighter pilot had zero confirmed kills. The term is most commonly associated with aircraft pilots, but other types, such as tank aces, also exist. Ace pilots are common in fiction, most prominently in [[HumongousMecha mecha]] shows. They tend to be more prominent in RealRobot shows, where the mecha themselves are fairly equal and the pilot's skills are more important, than SuperRobot shows, which place more emphasis on the power of the mecha and heroic [[HotBlooded hot-bloodedness]].

*** Well, Wedge Antilles one ups Luke: He has ''two'' Death stars on his plane. [[WallBanger Despite having only a supporting role in destroying the first one.]]

** In an odd case of "Unstopable force meets Immovable Object", Suzaku Kururugi is as much, is not more so, of a steamroller to match Kallen. Where she doesn't have a reason to skimp on aggression, he has a suit that is built for something more well-rounded in combat. But Suzaku, being Suzaku, simply fails to capitalize on this in area's that his opponents lack... unless he's on a mission. This is particularly telling with any battle where he and Kozuki clash, save when emotions get in the way.

[[quoteright:399:[[XWingSeries http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Baron_Soontir_Fel.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:399:I heard a rumor that [[StarWars Vader]] had his [[AceCustom TIE prototype]] made to stop this guy from vaping him in simulator battles.]]

In {{real life}}, an ace is technically a pilot with five or more kills. The term is most commonly associated with aircraft pilots, but other types, such as tank aces, also exist. Ace pilots are common in fiction, most prominently in [[HumongousMecha mecha]] shows. They tend to be more prominent in RealRobot shows, where the mecha themselves are fairly equal and the pilot's skills are more important, than SuperRobot shows, which place more emphasis on the power of the mecha and heroic [[HotBlooded hot-bloodedness]].

*** This is referenced in the last mission of master asia's storyline in Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2, in which he disparages Kira's reliance on strike gundams power. and then pulverizes him.
** ''GundamX's'' BigBad duo, the Frost brothers, often serve the role as ''Pluggers'' of all things.

*** Not supported in-story. Anyway, the big dividing line for piloting isn't sync ratios, it's temperment. The first time Shinji tries to take the lead, he freezes and ends up trapped. Which leaves Asuka up a building (because she didn't freeze and improvised), and feeling guilty for putting that idiot up to it.

** In an odd case of "Unstopable force meets Immovable Object", Suzaku Kururugi is as much, is not more so, of a steamroller to match Kallen. Where she doesn't have a reason to skimp on aggression, he has a suit that is built for something more well-rounded in combat. But Suzaku, being Suzaku, simply fails to capitalize on this in area's that his opponents lack... unless he's on a mission. This is paticularly telling with any battle where he and Kozuki clash, save when emotions get in the way.

** That said, the Millennium Falcon is often referenced as one of the better in the galaxy, it looks like a scrap heap because Han believes functionality is more important than looks.

*** Well, Wedge Antilles one ups Luke: He has * two* Death stars on his plane.

** Wes Janson - Definite Sniper. He's a sniper with pretty much ''any'' ranged weapon, in or out of the cockpit.

* [[TheATeam Howlin' Mad Murdock]] was most certainly one of these: he flew a small jet, a jumbo jet, a biplane, many small passenger planes, and untold numbers of helicopters over the course of the series. Other characters (especially the colonels and general chasing after the A-Team) acknowledged Murdock's [[IncrediblyLamePun mad]] skills. Whether he's a Steamroller, a Bushwhacker, or a Plugger [[DependingOnTheWriter depends on the episode]].

*Kallen Stadtfeld from CodeGeass is a definite steamroller, and in her case its mostly because her mecha is limited to close range attacks only, which means that she has to be aggressive in order to survive.