BotP and Gatch Personality Differences

Well, here are my two cents worth, based on my memories of BotP (which I hope to be refreshing soon) and a bit heavy on the Gatch. Enjoy!

Of the two, Mark is the calmer, the wiser and the more team-oriented. He seems to be the restraining influence on the others, the one who seems to have it all together. As a result, he's picked up a bit of a "goody-two-shoes" reputation. Ken, on the other hand, has a hotter temper and more of a tendency to run off on his own. Due to this temper and a definite weakness where his father is concerned, he makes more mistakes than Mark, but luckily, realization soon dawns and he either uses his skills as a strategist to outwit his enemies or he gets lucky. Ken is far more likely to settle things with his fists than Mark. He's also more willing to pull rank.

While Mark warms up to Princess occasionally, Ken is ignorant to the idea of a relationship with Jun--he has a job to do. Although the occasional bit of body language implies heat between the two, he treats her like a teammate and nothing more. Or does he? Tatsunoko milks this implied relationship throughout the series. ;-)

What happened to Mark's family is very unclear. The death of his father, even though those episodes made it into BotP, is still vague. And apparently, Mark also had a brother. Ken's father disappeared to turn up later as the Red Impulse captain (who later died to counteract the V2 Plan), and Ken's mother died of a wasting illness.

Jason has a rough time in BotP. Since he's labeled the impulsive, hot-headed bad boy, it seems like the others are busy trying to stomp him down before he has a chance to live up to this reputation. He seems younger and less experienced than Joe, but in some cases, he also seems happier than Joe. Probably because he doesn't have Joe's desire to avenge his parents' deaths. We don't know what happened to Jason's parents--only that he was an orphan--and Jason doesn't recall his family with any bitterness.

Joe seems older, quieter, grimmer, and burns hotter. Jane Lebak had written an interesting passage in a crossover story called "The River Divided." In it, Ken described Joe as someone who "Did everything in high gear. When he fought, he fought totally. When he raced, he raced totally. When he had time off, he played totally. When he was dying, he was going to die in high gear too." On the other hand, Joe often played devil's advocate to Ken's plans ("If you do that, the ship could explode.") When Ken flew off the handle, he talked sense into him, and not kindly.

Which brings up team relations: Jason seems more the loner who begrudges Mark his leader's position and possibly thinks he can do better. Jason is more willing to quit the team, whereas Joe never did--he ran off alone only when he became sick and his chief fear was getting retired from the team. Joe advocates teamwork, is equally willing to praise what he thinks are good decisions from Ken (he doesn't want Ken's job--he just wants Ken to do it *right*), and appears protective of his teammates. This is tough love, though, as Joe, like Jason, is not terribly careful with his words or how he mocks someone. He can be a real jerk. Both Joe and Jason have been guilty of uttering some truly hokey jokes or slang.

Where Jason seems more vulnerable, Joe communicates his hurt with the vendetta. He wants revenge for his parents' deaths, and if anyone on the team should die, he'll set up an all-new and even nastier vendetta in his or her name.

Here, Princess has the advantage of being a stronger character, willing to stand up for herself and see the team as equals. Jun fights a neverending battle against "female stereotype syndrome," and often loses. There's a lot of "What do we do now, Ken?" "Oh, how pretty!" and "EEEEEK!" lines that Princess is, luckily, not saddled with. This is not to say Jun is not good at her job, though. Every once in a while, the feminine facade slips and we see the steel beneath. Jun can verbally rip a teammate to ribbons when she wants to, and she wields a lightning backhand (much to Jinpei's chagrin) or elbow to the ribs (much to Ryu's). Princess has the same strength, but that strength is much more obvious.

The relationship between Princess and Mark is stronger as well, as it's something both have verbally confirmed. Jun has never admitted to a relationship with Ken, but she likes to try to get him alone into romantic surroundings. She's often foiled by Jinpei or by Ken's denseness.

The main difference between the two is the stuttering: Keyop does it. Jinpei doesn't. Jinpei uses more foul language and smart talk, and has more obviously adopted the rest of the team as a second family. He uses a casual, almost gang-like slang to refer to Ken and Joe as "aniki" ("big brother") and "oneechan" ("big sister"). One interesting note: of all the expressions the team uses in crisis (the most popular being "Shimatta!"), only Jinpei uses "Kamisama!" ("Oh god!")

Tiny is the only member of G-Force with a last name: Harper. In Gatchaman, Jun and Jinpei are the only ones who don't have last names. Tiny is an orphan who has a friend/mentor named Captain Jack. Ryu is the only team member with surviving family--his father and a little brother. We don't know what happened to Ryu's mother--she's never shown. In terms of personality, both are the same, though Ryu seems to be more hot-tempered than Tiny. Ryu is also saddled with a regional dialect, which, had it been translated into English, might have given him a heavy "country" or New York accent.