Who is the best pilot in Macross universe

[Isamu test pilot]

Perhaps is a nonsense topic, but I really want to know your favorite pilot in the Macross Universe...

I do not know how to make a poll, but this is only to sénd a fun time

For me, the best is Isamu, follow by Roy, Max, Millia, Hikaru

Please le tme know waht do you think...

[UN Spacy]

Maximillian Jenius

/thread

[valkyrie13]

Max and Roy on a par... but then again, Roy died and Max survived. Max should have an upper hand.

Isamu is good but he hasn't seen combats like the first generation did.

Let's not forget Quamzin although I think his skills don't match up to "Ace" Milia.

[miriya]

Is the question favorite or best?

[Warmaker]

The best pilot in all Macross? As far as Aces go?

Easy. Max.

He was cool, calm in demeanor during combat. He flew with all 3 VF modes fluidly with no real breaks in combat. The only time I can recall him being surprised in combat is against Millia. Plus, he flew and proved himself (and survived) in a catastrophic era for Earth and the UN military, SW1.

Personally, I tend to place the pilots who flew in the massive conflicts on a higher level. That includes Max, Roy, Hikaru, etc (naturally that counts out Kakizaki. Poor Kakizaki). Space War 1 was definitely massive in every way.

Roy was great but not as great an Ace as Max. But Roy was more "rounded" in that he was a squadron commander, showing his ability to lead.

Hikaru I put in the same category as Roy (by the end of SDFM), but not on the same level as his predecessor as an Ace and unit leader.

Edited October 12, 2007 by Warmaker

[elintseeker]

yhap, i will vote for max as well...

[USCOLMRNE]

yhap, i will vote for max as well...

Yeah Max has the best abilities and all but he has not flown drunk , I bet it would take great skill to fly a VF-1 under the influence. My vote is Roy

[Keith]

Basara 100%

[eugimon]

basara was outright clumsy in gerwalk mode but he was pretty talented in fighter/battroid.

But as for best pilot, I'd have to go with Roy. He might not have the same leve of genius that max had but roy had better situational awareness and he brought up everyone else's game while max on occassion would let the larger battle get away from him while he pursued his own targets.

[Morpheus]

I vote for Roy, he could taken out enemy battlepods while he's drunk, even Max couldn't do that

[Sumdumgai]

I vote Max Genius.

Survived Space War I with buttloads of kills. Had a long piloting career leading up to his eventual promotion to Captain and leader of the Macross 7 emigration fleet. Then there's these two bits from M7 (I put a spoiler tag since I remembered not everyone's seen it).

And he managed to complete the objective of Operation Stargazer in a matter of seconds, while most of the elite pilots that volunteered for the mission were killed or held up in combat and unable to advance. Plus he was able to survive combating multiple protodevlin at the same time in the last episode.

Roy was a great pilot. He got unlucky and bit it.

Ivanov must have been quite the pilot himself, considering that he gave younger Roy a LOT of trouble.

While Isamu is a good pilot, I don't think he's as good as Max or Roy.

From the test results we saw during Project Super Nova, Guld seemed rather average in the things they were testing, and I doubt that he would have been piloting that well without the BCS and BDI.

[Mog]

I was about to say both M&M. But then I remembered that Millia got PWN'ed!!11! by Max a couple of times.

Roy may be able to fly drunk. But let's not forget: ol' Max is shooting lights out while wearing eyeglasses. That's gotta be a pain in the butt keeping 'em in place and praying they don't fog up in the heat of battle.

Plus, did Roy ever manipulate his Valk into a Zentradi uniform?

[Ratchet]

Max..definitely. I'd rank Millia and Roy tied for 2nd place, and 3rd for Isamu and Guld. Hikaru would be the last wingman.

Edited October 12, 2007 by Ratchet

[Ratchet]

I was about to say both M&M. But then I remembered that Millia got PWN'ed!!11! by Max a couple of times.

Roy may be able to fly drunk. But let's not forget: ol' Max is shooting lights out while wearing eyeglasses. That's gotta be a pain in the butt keeping 'em in place and praying they don't fog up in the heat of battle.

Plus, did Roy ever manipulate his Valk into a Zentradi uniform?

Just think if Max underwent LASIK's.

[Roy Focker]

Depends what we are measuring "best" by. If by the number kills it would have to be Roy. Best pilot in General in my opinion would be Max. Basara would be up there too. I can put in order best in the series.

MTV: Max > Milia > Roy > Kamjin = Hikaru.

M7 Max > Milia > Basara > Gamlin.

M+ Isamu > Guld.

But if we go by Kawamori he is a little vague but it. He did mention that during the end of Guld's fight with the Ghost, Guld for that moment of time was the best.

[Jeremy007]

Max is an ace for sure.

My second pick is Hikaru

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Kakizaki!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No it's Guld by far. R.I.P you legend.

[Mr March]

Best:

• Max
• Milia
• Roy
• Isamu
• Guld

Hikaru, Basara, DD Ivanov, Nora Polyansky, Gamlin, Gavil, Shin Kudo, Kinryu, Docker, Kamjin and Gigile in that order.

Worst is probably a tie between Kakizaki and Physica

Edited October 12, 2007 by Mr March

[Exsedol]

Max ofcourse

[jenius]

I think Roy is getting dismissed too easily because he died. He was around quite a while before that. I also would give him credit as one of the pilots that made the jump from non variable crafts and Hikaru should get that same nod. Max started variable and ran with it in a big way. Also, Max was entirely too sober. I suppose I give it to Max in the end but a Roy in his prime vs. Max fight to the death would have been something to behold!

[emajnthis]

basara was outright clumsy in gerwalk mode but he was pretty talented in fighter/battroid.

But as for best pilot, I'd have to go with Roy. He might not have the same leve of genius that max had but roy had better situational awareness and he brought up everyone else's game while max on occassion would let the larger battle get away from him while he pursued his own targets.

I agree, I think Max was by far the more talented in terms of his piloting skill is concerned, but Roy would make for a far superior pilot in terms of being well rounded and team morale.

[Mr March]

I can't speak for others, but I don't think I'm underrating Roy Focker at all. It's been made clear by Kawamori from day one that Max is in a league of his own. He's the genius, the supernatural prodigy that not even the Zentradi's most skilled ace pilot can defeat. Roy Focker is a very accomplished ace pilot as well, but he's far more realistic in terms of skill than Max. Roy is extremely talented and highly experienced, but he's no legendary Einstein.

As for Focker's death, I don't see any issue. It took no less than three Q-Raus attacking him simultaneously just to get a hit of Focker. Focker survived then flew his damaged VF-1S back for a safe landing. He accepted that it was his time and died like a man. We'd all be lucky to have such a meaningful life and worthwhile death, IMO.

As far as Max versus Roy, Roy would likely put up as much as fight as Milia, but couldn't win. Roy does have the advatage of much greater experience than Max, but that wasn't enough of an advantage for Milia either.

Edited October 13, 2007 by Mr March

[vermillion01]

IMHO

Max = Best technical pilot

Roy = Best overall (he was the skull squadron daddy afterall)

Isamu = everyones favourate underdog Maverick (from topgun) type hero

Basaru = dooshbag.

[mikeszekely]

Best:

• Max
• Milia
• Roy
• Isamu
• Guld

Hikaru, Basara, DD Ivanov, Nora Polyansky, Gavil, Gamlin, Shin Kudo, Kinryu, Docker, Kamjin and Gigile in that order.

Worst is probably a tie between Kakizaki and Physica

You're putting Gavil ahead of Gamlin, even though Gamlin repeatedly shot Gavil down?

The answer is obviously Max. Roy was good, and may have been the better squadron commander, but the facts speak for themselves. Milia killed Roy in combat, and Max repeatedly beat Milia. And late in M7, he shows up with his VF-22 and blows everyone away with his skills.

I'm actually going to put Gamlin up there. Not as good as Max, Milia, or Roy, but up there. Sure, he begins the series as merely above average, but he grows a lot during the series, and truly deserves the title of "Ace." Hikaru was an exceptional pilot, probably also deserving to be called an ace, but he was shot down enough that we know he probably wasn't as good as Gamlin or Roy, and definitely not on the level with Max and Milia. Similarly, Isamu was probably a good pilot, but the VF-11 could have outstripped the Zentraedi power armors he was fighting. There's nothing to indicate that he was really an ace. And Guld took down the Ghost, big deal. Aegis shot down three at once in VF-X2. As for Basara, Gamlin's even talked about him being a good battroid pilot. But he's proven clumsy in gerwalk, and he rarely stays in fighter mode long enough to demonstrate if he's good or not. Plus, we've seen Basara take plenty of hits. I think the fact that he comes back alive all the time is more a testament to the VF-19 than Basara... if he was flying a cannon-fodder VF-11, he'd have been space dust before Fire Bomber landed their recording contract and the Macross 7 fleet would still be a Spiritia Farm for the Protodeviln.

[Godzilla]

Hands down, undeniably Maximillion Jenius is the best ace in the Macross universe, bar none.

[Mr March]

You're putting Gavil ahead of Gamlin, even though Gamlin repeatedly shot Gavil down?

Hmmm, I must have got the two confused. I meant to put Gamlin ahead of Gavil. I'll edit.

If we consider Roy's final flight being shot down, then technically Max was also shot down (DYRL). I'm not really concerned all that much with being shot down as I am concerned with survival, kills and displayed ability in the series. It's clear Hikaru had an incredible amount of latent talent early in the series (facing off with Kamjin even as a newb, his skills on Mars) and grew into an absolutely first rate pilot in the latter third of SDF Macross where he was regularly owning dozens of enemies simultaneously.

Isamu and Guld are definitely aces. Macross Plus clearly told us this in the very little amount of time the series had to tell it's story. They both pulled top assignments, even the screw up Isamu, and had extensive combat records. The YF-19 went through no less than 7 test pilots that couldn't handle it and Isamu outstripped them all. Both Isamu and Guld are also highly cunning and improvisational pilots, each devising a different way to defeat the planetary defense grid on Earth. And though it cost him his life, Guld did defeat the X-9 Ghost, the most lethal enemy mecha any pilot in Macross has ever faced, IMO.

Edited October 12, 2007 by Mr March

[bongcp45]

Most definitely Basara...

Who else could have survived flying into a hot zone, gotten shoot at, sing a few songs & yet survived without shooting back(intently)?

I'll bet even Max can't pull off such a stun.

[jenius]

Let's not forget Max & Milia's VF-1D flight of only disabling enemies... that's pretty impressive! Also, Hikaru says "I could do that!" when Max shows off in DYRL so I think some members may also be dismissing Hikaru more than they ought (easy to do since he seemed so awkward out of a mech). The story is also intentionally written as to have Hikaru removed when Miria comes looking for the ace as to leave it open to speculation whether Hikaru could be just as good as Max. I always got the feeling much of Max's genius has to do with flash but in the end Hik was smoldering and Max didn't have scratched paint. I certainly would put Hik ahead of Isamu. Ya know, the more I think about it, the more I think they did everything they could to leave this question as open as possible... except for Gamlin, clearly he sucks.

[striderhiryu]

I think that D.D. Ivanov should be above roy in terms of skill, after all he did shot down roy and the only damage he ever received was loosing his rigth hand during the raid against the U.N fleet. Also he could read roy's moves and always was one step ahead. The only reason he died was because he lost it after watching Nora die in front of him.

[bigkid24]

Also, Hikaru says "I could do that!" when Max shows off in DYRL so I think some members may also be dismissing Hikaru more than they ought (easy to do since he seemed so awkward out of a mech).

Yeah, Hikaru says that but then he proceeds to do it very awkwardly barely dodging enemy fire.

[mikeszekely]

Most definitely Basara...

Who else could have survived flying into a hot zone, gotten shoot at, sing a few songs & yet survived without shooting back(intently)?

I'll bet even Max can't pull off such a stun.

As I pointed out, the Fire Valkyrie took plenty of hits, and the reliability of the VF-19 gets some credit for Basara (unfortunately) not getting killed.

Max is to Macross what Chuck Norris is to the internet. Max could have flown into a hot zone, got shot at, sang some songs, had some coffee and read the morning paper, not fire a single shot back at the enemy, and not only survive but somehow come back with a dozen kills and more bullets in his gunpod then when he started. In a VF-1.

[JB0]

Most definitely Basara...

Who else could have survived flying into a hot zone, gotten shoot at, sing a few songs & yet survived without shooting back(intently)?

I'll bet even Max can't pull off such a stun.

If I recall, Max himself said Basara was ALMOST as good as he was in his prime.

Of course, in his prime Max tended to downplay his abilities. He didn't seem to recognize at the time that he was "special."

So his memory of the old days is colored by that perception that he wasn't really all that special.

Max and Millia are VERY close, though. Who comes out on top may wind up being conditional.

In their first encounter, Millia was playing. She didn't really BELIEVE there was someone as good as her in the galaxy, just someone that might last for a little while before she killed him. Then Max actually HIT her, and that threw her off. She hadn't believed it was possible. And really, either one of them could have taken the shot in that final standoff.

In the video arcade, Max beats her. Barely.

Millia also lets her LAST fight with Max intrude on her game, and psyches herself out. But then, this is also the only one of their battles that Max isn't taking seriously.

In the knife fight of eye-melting, Millia has completely lost all rationality and perspective. She's not even PRETENDING to keep a level head. She's just running around swinging her sharp pointy thing wildly.

I think DYRL is the only time they've shown a fight on even footing. And both mechs were apparently disabled in the end.

[jenius]

Yeah, Hikaru says that but then he proceeds to do it very awkwardly barely dodging enemy fire.

I'd have to rewatch the scene but i thought Hikaru shrugs off (kinda jealously) Max's maneuvers but then immediately finds himself in another fight... I didn't get the impression he was actually trying to do anything Max had done. Hikaru then, of course, smokes some bad guys and comes out unscathed (even if barely so).

[ghostryder]

Max and Millia are VERY close, though. Who comes out on top may wind up being conditional.

I give the nod to Max only because he defeats her repeatedly in a VF-1 vs. a Q-rau. To me, a non-FP VF-1 against a Q-rau should be toast, assuming equal piloting skills. Too bad we never see them match up in the same mech and in the same state of mind.

EDIT - all his 1-on-1 victories that I remember were in atmospheric fights... maybe the story would have been different in space?

Edited October 12, 2007 by ghostryder

[Ratchet]

How can you guys have Isamu ranking higher than Guld? I know Isamu can make dynobird clouds with his YF-19, but Guld CAUGHT UP WITH A Ghost fighter with his YF-21 and rammed it ala what the Russians used to do againsts the Germans back in WW2. It's not like Isamu even scored hits with his fighter's bullets/missiles during their aerial encounter.

Isamu and Guld are tied skill wise.

Basara??????????? *lol*

I would not take that character into battle. He would be too busy with his stupid guitar rather than focusing on the task in hand and I don't care how good of a pilot he is. Hikaru, Max, Millia, Roy, Guld, and Isamu are the kind of pilots you want on your team. ROY WOULD BE THE FLIGHT LEADER OF COURSE.

Basara should have been cast in a Macross type Greenpeace organization than actually pilot a military plane.

Edited October 16, 2007 by Ratchet