The Chief comes in second as my favorite character in Battlestar Galactica, and it was actually a pretty close race. A good portion of my love for Galen Tyrol comes from my adoration of his actor, Aaron Douglas, who has such a natural approach to acting, but honestly, the character is just so wonderful and complex. He’s a reluctant yet effective leader, proving it time and time again as the deck chief aboard the Galactica, as the head of a union* on New Caprica, and then as a high ranking member of the resistance during the Cylon occupation of the planet. His compassion for his crewmates is seen as early as the miniseries, where he is distraught over the deaths of 85 of his men, and he is bothered by then-Commander Adama’s support of Colonel Tigh’s decision that resulted in those deaths. This difficulty in detaching from those under his command continues throughout the rest of the series, and honestly, I identify with that more than I’d like to admit. It’s hard enough deciding which food to get the cats that I can’t imagine what it would be like making choices that affect an entire mass of people.