Commander Cain

Cain
Battlestar Galactica character
Lloyd Bridges as Commander Cain
Portrayed by	Lloyd Bridges
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Title	Commander
Affiliation	Colonials

Commander Cain is a fictional character in the original Battlestar Galactica science fiction TV series, portrayed by the American actor Lloyd Bridges.

Commander Cain is the commander of the battlestar Pegasus, the father (by an unrevealed and, indeed, unmentioned wife, presumably deceased) of Lieutenant Sheba, and a former lover of Cassiopeia. He is one of the greatest heroes in the Colonial Service; his battle strategies are legendary throughout the fleet. However, he is also known to be rather impulsive and a maverick. He inspires near-fanatical loyalty amongst his crew on the Pegasus. Under his command, the Pegasus sortied to defend a human ally world, out of contact with the Twelve Colonies, with an expeditionary force (referred to as "The Fifth Fleet") that was destroyed by the Cylons; the Pegasus itself, however, escaped, and was spared destruction at Baltar's betrayal to the Cylons.

Cain appears in the original series two-part episode, "The Living Legend," where the Pegasus meets up with the Galactica, under the command of Commander Adama, and its refugee fleet. After a joyous reunion, Commander Cain's hope for an offensive against the Cylons is dashed: Although the Galactica and her fleet are suffering from critical and immediate fuel shortage, Commander Adama allows only a small raid against a Cylon tanker convoy. Cain desires much more and proposes the two battlestars attack the planet Gamoray (occupied by the Cylons) to capture all the fuel stores of the enemy on the planet. But Adama, more concerned with his quest for Earth and the protection of the refugees, refuses to agree to Cain's reckless plan.

When Cain succeeds in deliberately interfering with the fuel raid (by destroying captured Cylon tankers) to force the attack on Gamoray, Adama comes up with a last and most desperate plan: To distribute the Pegasus's fuel reserves amongst the refugee fleet in order to sneak away from the planet. The plan is desperate as the Pegasus's fuel is too little to supply the fleet and Adama has no idea where to find any other fuel. As Cain opposes Adama's plan publicly, Adama relieves Cain of his duties as Commander of the Pegasus. (This was intended to echo Harry S. Truman's dismissal of Douglas MacArthur from his command of the United States Army.) Cain's successor as authority of the Pegasus, Colonel Tigh, is ordered by Adama to distribute the Pegasus's fuel reserves amongst the refugee fleet as fast as possible.
The Pegasus crew members nearly mutiny at the treatment of Cain. Despite this, Cain does not support the mutiny attempts and even explicitly accepts Adama's superior rank, but the fleet is still perilously close to civil war.