Character Cameo: Commodore Terrance

Commodore Terrance taunting her enemies

 

Ever fall in love with a character unexpectedly? One you thought would be unimportant, even one you thought you might kill off? Commodore Amanda Terrance is that character for me.

Terrance was originally going to be a man, and was originally going to die fairly early on. I decided there weren't enough strong women in the comic yet, so I invented Commodore Terrance. A strong woman - she is that. She is one of those six-foot-tall Nordic women who somehow manage to be both beautiful and to look like they could snap your neck with their pro wrestler muscles.

She wouldn't hesitate to. She has some sadistic tendencies, and enjoys the prospect of destroying the rebel fleet just a bit more than professionalism requires. I like to say that there are no good guys in the comic but they all have reasons for doing things that seem right to them, and that nothing is black and white in it, but she definitely has a touch of the villain to her. At the same time, she is exceedingly honorable and loyal, especially to her superior Admiral Linden who is temperamentally her opposite.

She is not a monster, she is very loyal to the Union of Planets and has very little patience with those who are not. And... yeah she loves to kill and dominate in what she considers to be a good cause. Arguably she is less of a monster than another character that has yet to be introduced but who will become very important, Admiral Hiro of the Space Navy of the Republic. Terrance follows rules and respects the authority over her, so while she may become very cruel and vindictive, she won't (readily) commit crimes against humanity as an officer with as much power as she has might be able to.

If she has one shortcoming as an officer, it is that she is so convinced of both the rightness of her cause and the almighty power of the Union Navy that she considers her enemies just foolish insects to be crushed underfoot, incapable of significantly disrupting her prospects for total victory. However her killing instincts and overwhelming numerical superiority usually make up for her lack of foresight and contingency planning.

Her disrespectful attitude towards Commodore Burnson is mostly down to his lack of military decorum. He is Admiral Linden's "staff geek," a brilliant strategist and intelligence officer, but often partially out of uniform and perhaps a tad disheveled. He is Linden's "brains" as versus Terrance's "brawn" and the two don't get along very well.

I harbor the impression that Terrance actually does have a sweet side. Assuming she dates, I can imagine her making sweet yet awkward gestures like baking brownies and touching up stains on a beau's lapel.

It is a side of her, that her unfortunate enemies will never ever see.