William "Willie" Adama
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Background
- William Adama (named after his deceased grandfather) was born in 69 BCH on Caprica, the son of Joseph Adama and Shannon Adama and raised in Qualai, a small coastal community (CAP: Pilot; TRS: "Hero"). His father was a Tauron immigrant and an attorney specializing in criminal defense and civil liberties with ties to the criminal underworld (TRS: "Litmus", "Hero"; CAP: Pilot). His mother was an accountant (TRS: "Hero"). Both his mother and his sister, Tamara, died in a suicide bombing on the Maglev 23 when he was 11. He was still in school when the First Cylon War started (TRS: "Razor Flashbacks," Episode 1). During his childhood, he was considered small for his age and would often be beaten by his peers (TRS: deleted scene, "Exodus, Part II"). Because of anti-Tauron prejudice, Adama's father assumed the more Caprican-sounding surname Adams, but eventually the family reverted to the original Tauron name after 58 BCH (CAP: Pilot).
- After the death of both his mother and sister, Adama becomes estranged from his father, who is indirectly involved with the creation of the Cylons after his uncle, Sam Adama, violently secures the meta-cognitive processor (CAP: Pilot, "Know Thy Enemy"). As a result of this estrangement, Sam assumes a parental role in Adama's life, much to his father's chagrin, and as a result becomes rebellious (CAP: "Rebirth", "The Reins of a Waterfall", "There is Another Sky"). His grandmother, Ruth, encourages Adama's pursuit of his Tauron culture, even offering him uncharacteristically chilling advice in the process (CAP: Pilot, "Gravedancing", "There is Another Sky").