- For the Sparks that served with General Gunther Reinhardt during the end of the Third Robotech War, see Sparks (Dark Finale)
Sparks was the name of a flight-control coordinator during the Second Robotech War. Sparks was also once put in charge of the control of missiles — these two occupations meant that, by complete coincidence, Sparks saw the beginning of the first and last attacks of the war. It is unknown if he survived the conflict or the Invid Invasion of Earth.
History[]
During the first Earth-bound-battle of the Second Robotech War, Sparks was on the Earth behind the controls of a series of missiles. He notated the approach of the enemy Masters ship and its activity, as well as waited for orders to strike from United Earth Command. His stressed and fearful superior Maury Komodo eventually pushed him out of the way, taking hold of the controls and firing the missiles against orders. (Macross Saga: "False Start")
Sparks later worked at United Earth Command. After an unknown object defolded near the Earth, Sparks found an incoming message, which he played for Rolf Emerson. The unknown object revealed itself to be Recon One, a Spaceship from the Pioneer Mission which was attempting to liberate the Earth from the Robotech Masters. (Macross Saga: "Outsiders")
Sparks detects a message from the Robotech Masters. (Masters Saga: "The Invid Connection")
During the final battle of the Second Robotech War, Sparks was serving underneath Anatole Leonard. He was able to discover a message sent to Command from the Robotech Masters, telling Leonard that they had the power to destroy all of Earth easily, and ordering the Southern Cross to evacuate the planet. Instead, Leonard chose to attack, as their orders were impossible. (Masters Saga: "The Invid Connection")
Behind the Scenes[]
While Sparks has a notable enough a character design for the creators of Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross to continuously place him into scenes throughout the series, it was a subtle enough touch that it was missed when dubbed into Robotech. This means that in his multiple appearances throughout the show, he has a drastically different voice in each occasion. However, he was only named once, in False Start, leaving room to interpret him as the same character.
Notably also, he shares the name with another non-primary character that is more recognizable to most fans -- that of Sparks from "Dark Finale." While it could be speculated that the two characters are one-in-the-same, this has never been confirmed.