Todd Marshall
Callsign:Maniac

Homeworld:Leto
Born:2637
Status: Active
Rank:Major

Appearences:WC1, SM1, SM2, SO2, WC3, WC4, WCP
"How would you like to...... *slap*"

Most information taken from The Definitive Guide to the Wing Commander Universe

Ah, Maniac. If ever there was a person I'd like to slaughter, this would be the one. During the first two games, receiving Maniac as your wingman is like getting a slap across the face. He's abrasive, insubordinate, and a pain in the ass. Oh, did I mention he often turns on you? Every chance I've gotten, I've "accidently" left his corpse by a Kilrathi cruiser. If at all possible, send the little bugger home at the first opportunity.

Major Todd Marshall, who comes from the fourth planet of the Proxima Centauri System, has often been described as a legend in his own mind. But his cocky and arrogant exterior belies the fact that the legend is not so far from the truth. He is the only other top-40 ace (besides Christopher Blair) to enlist after Custer's Carnival (before which the war was more bloody and kills easier to obtain), making him one of the best pilots of his generation, and played key roles in the Vega, Victory, and Kilrah Campaigns, and the Border Worlds Conflict, among others.

Todd Marshall was born to Captain Arnold "Boomer" Marshall, a star college athlete who was drafted into the Confed Marine Corps during the early days of the war. Boomer Marshall rose to platoon leader before a debilitating shoulder injury ended his military career and any chance at professional sports, and he instead became assistant coach of a minor-league football team. He fathered four sons, the youngest of whom was Todd.

To say that the Marshall household was competitive was being charitable, and the fact that Todd Marshall was the youngest of four brothers exacerbated it. This meant perfect grades and top athletic ability, and entrance into the Academy on an athletic scholarship for Todd. There, Todd's intelligence and ability quickly made him stand out, even as fellow cadet Christopher Blair's more unassuming nature faded him into the background. Other than a few demerits for borderline insubordination, and an incident of undue boastfulness at a faculty evaulation, Marshall's academic record was pretty much perfect; it was his seat-of-the-pants flying style that earned him his callsign of "Maniac", a style that was often as dangerous to fellow wingmen as to the enemy, and caused Marshall to come closer to failing than any misdemeanour might have. It was only because his marksmanship and simulator scores were the highest in the class that he was allowed to graduate at all.

For his first tour of duty, Todd Marshall was assigned to the TCS Tiger's Claw together with his best friend and rival, Christopher Blair. As fate would have it, the attack on Pegasus would thrust the pair of rookies right in the midst of battle; not that Marshall and Blair were strangers to fighting -- during a routine training exercise they surprised and destroyed a blockade runner, no mean feat considering the superiority of their foe. With the successful repulsion of the Kilrathi invasion group, Marshall continued his assignment in the Vega Campaign on board the Tiger's Claw. It was during this tour of duty that Marshall's rivalry with Blair intensified, as Blair's efficient flying challenged him in the only score that mattered: the killboard.

In WC1 he appears confident and brash, yet flys like a turkey. As the weeks of battle passed, however, the indomitable Maniac began to falter. Following the Vega Campaign, the pressures of first flying deep behind enemy lines, and then going up against the entire Kilrathi Navy proved too much of a strain for Marshall, and his mental health began to suffer. He suffered from nightmares, and was even grounded for a period of time for psychiatric evaluation. When Marshall accidentally destroyed a Confed ship and killed 16 people, it was the last straw. Despite being cleared of any fault, Marshall suffered a nervous breakdown, his confidence shattered. He was hospitalised for several months, during which time the Tiger's Claw was destroyed en route to K'Tithrak Mang.

Upon his discharge from hospital, rather than be sent home, Marshall was placed back on active duty. Confed could not afford to lose pilots of Marshall's calibre at that stage of the war, even if damaged, and Marshall was assigned to a test pilot unit. As a test pilot, Marshall simply excelled, and he was soon placed back on active duty as a fighter pilot, where he showed none of his previous fragility. His flying was more stable and confident, and his tactics were innovative, albeit maniacally so. His most incredible exploit occurred during a routine patrol in the Deneb Sector, when his wing of light fighters unexpectedly encountered two Kilrathi destroyers. With no bombers available, Marshall, through sheer flying alone, managed to induce a collision between the two capital ships and bring about their destruction. Until this day, tacticians still watch the flight tapes in wonder, unable to decide if it was absolute brilliance or dumb luck. And so the legend of the Maniac grew.

Over the next decade, Marshall constantly rotated between test pilot positions and combat tours. In 2667, Major Marshall became commander of the Wild Eagles Squadron, a group of test pilots in charge of Confed's latest fighter, the Morningstar. Following the bombing of Concordia's flight deck and the theft of two Morningstar fighters, Marshall joined a Special Ops team headed by Colonel Taggart to seek out and destroy the main headquarters of the Society of Mandarins.

When we meet him in WC3, however, Tom Wilson takes this character to new heights of laughter. Suddenly, Maniac is a man constantly on the prowl for females and felines. He is also suddenly a hotshot pilot who kicks ass and flys exactly the way we do. And he finally starts racking up the kills he often brags about. Story-wise, though, he doesn't do much except piss Blair off and read Playboy (still not 3d?).

When Marshall was assigned to the TCS Victory in 2669, he also saw it as punishment at the hands of Admiral Tolwyn. It was only when the Behemoth Project was revealed that the true intent of his assignment was made clear. When the Behemoth was destroyed, Marshall became part of the Temblor Bomb team that flew to Kilrah. The last of Colonel Blair's wingmen to fall, Marshall engaged Kilrathi forces and provided Blair with crucial cover before finally ejecting. He was retrieved by a Kilrathi dreadnought and interrogated viciously for several hours before news of Kilrah's destruction and the end of the war finally reached the Kilrathi crew, at which time they gave Marshall medical treatment and a ceremonial release.

With the signing of the Torgo Treaty, Marshall went back to combat tours and test piloting, though he favoured test piloting over the less exciting peacetime patrols. When the Border Worlds Conflict flared up, Marshall approached Admiral Tolwyn personally for another chance at a combat tour. It was during this time that he defected, together with Captain Eisen and Colonel Blair, to the Border Worlds Union, in an effort to uncover the Black Lance conspiracy. Maniac beats Vagabond at cards for the first time in living memory, and when Vagabond dies soon after he feels responsible for his death, feeling he lost the will to live because he lost to Maniac as cards. Not that that affected him for long. Soon after he begins teaching the ways of the Maniac to Catscratch, who nearly kills himself when he employs Maniac's "dumb luck" strategy whilst recovering an information satellite. But he does do his part and shoots where he is told to, and saves a few lives and in the end helps a bit in preventing the war.

The following eight years saw Marshall taking on combat tours and test piloting posts once more. Thanks to the numerous pirates, smugglers, and rebels that came out of the former Kilrathi Empire, Marshall was able to increase his lifetime kill total by several dozen Kilrathi. When the TCS Midway was completed, he joined her fighter crew as a personal favour to Senator Taggart, placing him in the perfect position to take on the Nephilim in the Kilrah Campaign. It is interesting to note that while Marshall is practically famous for complaining about less senior pilots getting promoted over him, he has also resisted, even outright rejected, offers of advancement that would have taken him out of the cockpit he loved so much. "Maniac" Marshall was always his own man, and would continue to be so. During the Kilrah Campaign, he was made squadron leader of Black Widow Squadron, only to be relieved of command shortly after. Somehow, his flying style was simply not compatible with a command position. He escorts Blair to the Wormhole gate in the final mission and covers him whilst he brings down the gate and saves the human race - again.

Presently, Major Todd Marshall has thoughts of possibly retiring from active duty to become a consultant and test pilot for a civilian defence contractor. And perhaps find time to work on his memoirs, entitled (working title) "Me: The Life and Battles of 'Maniac' Marshall". He has been married twice -- once for three years, the other for twenty-two days -- and he has no children.

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