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Raleigh Becket/Uprising contains plot and/or ending details of Pacific Rim: The Black and all its related media. Proceed at your own discretion.
Raleigh Becket is the younger brother of Yancy Becket, and the former co-pilot of the late Secretary-General Mako Mori. Born in 1998 to Dominique and Richard Becket, Raleigh is one of the witnesses of the first Kaiju attack in August 2013. Once a Ranger in the Pan Pacific Defense Corps, he and his older brother pilot of Gipsy Danger until Yancy's death in 2020. Five years following the death of Yancy, Raleigh is recruited by Stacker Pentecost for final operations against the Kaiju. He was partnered with J-Tech officer Mako Mori in Gipsy Danger and played a crucial part in the end of the Kaiju Wars.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Raleigh Becket was born December 11, 1998 in Anchorage, Alaska. He is the middle child of Dominique, and Richard Becket, a hydraulics engineer.[6][7]
While staying in Budapest, Raleigh helps his brother create a cape for his superhero persona, and the two spent their days exploring an abandoned warehouse with a lighter and flashlights.[6] At the age of fifteen, Raleigh and his brother watch the Trespasser attack in San Francisco on television.[3][4]
Pan Pacific Defense Corps[]
Joining the Academy[]
Raleigh is eighteen years old when he and a twenty-one year-old Yancy decide to join the Pan Pacific Defense Corps's PPDC Pilot Academy. The two pass the physical and mental requirements necessary to become pilots, and are thereon mentored by Stacker Pentecost. Raleigh and Yancy excel in the program as partners in simulated battles against the Kaiju. However, their partnership is almost torn apart when the two meet a Jaeger fangirl named Naomi Sokolov. Though they share a mutual interest in Naomi, Raleigh is certain she'll go out with him over Yancy.[3]
Weeks later, Raleigh discovers that Yancy went out with Naomi during a simulated battle, and they fail the test run. He storms out of the academy and retreats to a bar. When Yancy finds him he tries to defuse the situation, Raleigh accuses Yancy of being jealous of him and the situation escalates into a fight. The two are disciplined by Stacker, who berates them for the lack of respect they show for the bond created in the Drift. They apologize and are dismissed from Stacker's office.[3]
Early Combat history[]
Raleigh and Yancy are stationed in the Anchorage Shatterdome, assigned to the Mark-3 Jaeger Gipsy Danger in 2017.[2] During their careers as Jaeger pilots, the two of them earn four Kaiju kills; among their kills was a Category III Kaiju named Yamarashi, initially one of the largest Category III Kaiju to emerge from the breach at the time. In at least one instance the two accompany Australian pilot Herc Hansen on a mission to Manila.[4]
Anchorage Attack[]
In 2020, Raleigh and Yancy are deployed off the gulf of Alaska to intercept a Category III Kaiju codenamed Knifehead. Though are warned by Stacker Pentecost to ignore a civilian vessel nearby, Raleigh and Yancy go against his orders and move the fishing boat out of immediate danger following the emergence of Knifehead.[4]
The battle against the Kaiju appears to go in their favor when they fire on Knifehead using Gipsy Danger's I-19 Plasmacaster, however, the Kaiju feigns its death and emerges from the water in an ambush attack. Knifehead tears the arm from the Jaeger's body, and tears a hole in the Conn-Pod, killing Raleigh's brother.
While suffering the effects of losing his co-pilot, Raleigh barely manages to kill Knifehead on his own. He returns to shore in the damaged Jaeger and collapses in front of an Old Man and child who seek immediate help for him.[4]
Pacific Rim[]
Joining the Resistance[]
Following the death of his brother and the Pyrrhic victory against Knifehead, Raleigh leaves the Pan Pacific Defense Corps. For the next five years, he would begin working on the Anti-Kaiju Wall, a political measure against the Kaiju when the Jaeger Program begins to fail. He works at the highest and most dangerous parts of the wall for the most Ration Cards.
When Mutavore attacks the city of Sydney, Australia in 2025, Raleigh, working in Sitka, Alaska, is visited by Stacker Pentecost. Stacker offers Raleigh an opportunity to rejoin the PPDC, but Raleigh rejects the offer, unwilling to bond with another pilot after the death of his brother. Stacker presses the issue, this time appealing to his pride, and asks him where he would prefer to die.
Raleigh returns to the Hong Kong Shatterdome with Stacker, and meets his adopted daughter, Mako Mori - the woman responsible for the restoration of Gipsy Danger. Mako, assuming Raleigh does not speak Japanese, remarks to Stacker that he isn't what he wasn't she was expecting. Raleigh asks her if his impression upon is good or bad in Japanese, and Mako apologetically compliments his record as a Ranger.
Entering the Shatterdome's elevator they meet K-Science officers Newton Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb. Newton immediately offends Raleigh when he begins gushing about the Kaiju, and Hermann apologizes on his partner's behalf. Raleigh assures Newton that he never wants to come face-to-face with a Kaiju as he so purports, and departs.
Inside the Shatterdome, Stacker reintroduces Raleigh to the inner-workings of the Shatterdome, and the surviving Jeagers and their pilots. Stacker also reintroduces him to Herc, who he worked with once in Manila. When Raleigh asks how Stacker intends to attack the Breach, given how previous attempts failed, Stacker assures him that the new plan to attack the Breach will work with the help of the Russian Jaeger pilots, Sasha and Aleksis Kaidonovsky, who could procure anything for them.
Mako shows Raleigh to his room and he queries her about her desire to become a pilot when she admits that she is not among the candidates chosen to be his co-pilot. Mako expresses that she doesn't think he's fit to carry out the mission with the rest of the pilots because of his recklessness. Raleigh accepts her honestly, and tells her he's still living with the consequences of his actions.
During the tryouts, Raleigh beats every single cadet that he is pitted against. However, Mako criticizes his performance, considering it less than acceptable. His pride bruised, Raleigh challenges Mako to fight him, taunting both Stacker and Mako when Stacker rejects the challenge initially. Stacker obliges Raleigh's challenge and allows Mako to spar with Raleigh. Mako and Raleigh are evenly matched during their fight until Mako gains the upper-hand and catches Raleigh in a leg lock. Raleigh decides that Mako should be his co-pilot. However, despite her performance, Stacker continues to refuse to allow Mako to pilot a Jaeger.
After she leaves the Kwoon Combat Room, Raleigh catches up to her and tries to get Mako to go against Stacker's orders when he realizes they are drift comparable. Mako, appreciative of Raleigh's support, chooses not to go against Stacker out of respect, but Raleigh sees it simply as her obeying his word. In the mess hall, Raleigh encounters Herc Hansen and his son Chuck. Though he tries to make friends with them, Chuck antagonizes him, making it clear that he considers his mistakes one of the reasons why the Jaeger Program failed.
Co-Piloting with Mako[]
On the day of the test run with Gipsy Danger, Raleigh learns Mako is his co-pilot when she enters the Conn-Pod. When the neural handshake is established between them, Raleigh and Mako learn to work together controlling Gipsy Danger. During the test, Raleigh's mind wanders and he relieves the memory of his brother's death.
Losing focus throws him out of alignment with Mako. Raleigh rights himself, but Mako gets lost in the Drift and begins to relieve the memory of Onibaba's attack on Tokyo. Raleigh follows her into the memory and tries to snap her out of the moment, but fails. Mako, trapped in the memory, accidentally activates Gipsy Danger's Plasmacaster and almost destroys the Shatterdome. Tendo Choi and the other officers observing the test run are able to disconnect them from the Jaeger after some trial and error. With the neural handshake broken, Raleigh tries to comfort Mako, who is still reeling from the memory.
Outside Stacker's office, Raleigh gets into an fight with Chuck Hansen when he insults Mako and calls her a bitch. Raleigh demands that he apologize to Mako, but Chuck refuses. The fight is ended by the arrival of Stacker and Herc, who separate the two. In Stacker's office, Stacker grounds Mako, while Mako accepts the decision, Raleigh declares that he's making a mistake. Stacker leaves his office, but Raleigh peruses him and continues to insist that he is holding Mako back. Stacker warns Raleigh mind his business and stick to piloting. Raleigh catches up with Mako again and the two reconnect in the Shatterdome's bay. They discuss Raleigh's last experience in the Drift with his brother Yancy, and the strength of their connection in the Drift.
During the Double Event, Raleigh and Mako are inadvertently given the opportunity to prove themselves to Stacker when Leatherback, a Category IV Kaiju, uses an electromagnetic pulse to disable Striker Eureka. They arrive in the Victoria Harbour in time to save Striker Eureka from certain destruction and engage the Kaiju when it charges them. Leatherback sends the Jaeger flying across the harbor into the Port of Hong Kong.
Raleigh and Mako improvise weapons against Leatherback during their fight. When Leatherback rushes them, they arm Gipsy Danger's Plasmacaster and fire on the Kaiju until they sever its arm from its body, damaging its chest. Though it falls over in apparent death, Raleigh and Mako fire on Leatherback several more times to confirm its death.
They enter the city to apprehend Otachi, who burrows through the street into a Anti-Kaiju Refuge to kill Newton Geiszler. Dragging a freight ship behind them, they draw the Category IV Kaiju away from the shelter. They attack Otachi with the freight ship several times before its ripped from their grasp. Otachi knocks Gipsy Danger down, allowing it to escape. Raleigh and Mako scan for its whereabouts when they're ambushed by Otachi through the buildings.
During the altercation, they're able to rip its acid sac from its throat and break its tail using Gipsy Danger's coolant system. An injured Otachi pounces on their Jaeger and takes flight, taking them high above the atmosphere. Raleigh believes that they won't be able to defeat Otachi, however, Mako activates Gipsy Danger's GD6 Chain Sword and they cut Otachi in half. Gipsy Danger plummets from 50,000 feet in the air with no hope of surviving the crash. With instruction from Stacker, the two are able to right Gipsy Danger's fall and crash in a nearby stadium unharmed.
Battle of the Breach[]
Raleigh learns from Stacker that he was recruited for the mission to the Breach as a failsafe because he was able to survive piloting Gipsy Danger on his own. Stacker, who is dying from cancer caused by his radiation poisoning sustained from his solo pilot in Coyote Tango, decides to co-pilot Striker Eureka with Chuck Hansen, as Herc Hansen was injured in the fight with Leatherback.
Gipsy Danger and Striker Eureka are dropped near the Marinas Trench and begin their approach to the Breach. Upon reaching the Breach they are blockaded by two Category IV Kaiju, Scunner, and Raiju. The emergence of Slattern, the first Category V Kaiju they encounter, distract Mako and Raleigh long enough for Scunner to blindside them.
The two combat the Kaiju in an effort to reach Striker Eureka, who is being overpowered by Slattern, but Raiju attacks from behind, tearing the right arm and Chain Sword from Gipsy Danger's body. Scunner tears at Gipsy Danger's right leg, damaging its walking capabilities. Using the left Chain Sword, they spear Scunner and hold its head over one of the underwater geysers that burn its face. Raiju attempts to ram them head on, Raleigh and Mako bisect the Kaiju.
Slattern and Raiju surround Striker Eureka, and Raleigh and Mako attempt to reach them. Stacker orders them to make for the Breach and destroy it using Gipsy Danger's nuclear reactor. Reluctantly, they follow his orders. They brace themselves against the nuclear explosion when Stacker and Chuck set off the bomb on Striker Eureka's back. Temporarily knocked off balance by the resurgence of water that had been separated by the blast, Raleigh and Mako reach the edge of the Breach and are blocked by a injured Slattern.
They tackle the Category V Kaiju and fall into the Breach. They are able to kill Slattern with the surviving Chain Sword, but not before it cuts Mako's life support. Raleigh sends an unconscious Mako to safety in an escape pod, and descends into the Breach on his own. Arming the self-destruct on Gipsy Danger, Raleigh sends himself up in an escape pod moments before the Mark-3 Jaeger explodes, destroying the factory creating the Kaiju.
Raleigh reaches the surface a few moments after Mako, and is unconscious. Mako swims over to his pod and assumes he's dead when she can't find a pulse. Raleigh comes to in Mako's arms and tells her that she's squeezing him too tight. A relieved Mako and Raleigh float on his escape pod and embrace each other as helicopters arrive to pick them up.
Pacific Rim: The Black[]
Post-War Life[]
Following the end of the Kaiju Wars, Raleigh retired from the PPDC. He is recognized by the organization as one of three pilots out of seventy one that survived piloting a Jaeger without the presence of a co-pilot.[8]
Role in Pacific Rim Uprising[]
In an earlier version of Steven S. DeKnight's Pacific Rim Uprising, Raleigh remained with the Pan Pacific Defense Corps with Mako, and would go on to train cadets in the academy.[9] He pilots Gipsy Avenger in the capacity of a patrolman, and chases Amara Namani down. DeKnight states that the script was similar to the final product, and retaining the fights with Obsidian Fury, Drone Jaegers, the death of Mako, and the third act in MegaTokyo.[9]
Because Charlie Hunnam was unavailable[10], Executive Producers Guillermo del Toro, and Mary Parent suggested giving Stacker Pentecost a son as a replacement for Raleigh in the sequel.[9]
Raleigh's role was rewritten late in production so that the character was killed off-screen.[11] According to the prequel novel, Pacific Rim Uprising: Ascension, and The Art and Making of Pacific Rim Uprising, Raleigh and Mako were diagnosed with cancer following their return from the Anteverse, but only Raleigh succumbed to the disease.
DeKnight filmed a scene explaining his death, but later thought the scene was a "cheap" way of sending the character off and removed it from the film.[note 1] With the removal of the scene, Raleigh's fate was left vague as way of reintroducing the character and Hunnam back into a potential third film.[11]
Trivia[]
- In an interview with Yahoo Movies[12], Charlie Hunnam stated he would not return for the sequel because of scheduling conflicts with the remake of Papillon.[13][14][15]
- In an interview with IGN.com John Boyega stated that Raleigh died with Stacker Pentecost during the events of Pacific Rim.[note 2] He likely confused Raleigh for Chuck Hansen (who died with Pentecost at the climax of the film), or was referencing the scrapped story thread where Raleigh died of cancer.[16]
- In a 2020 interview with Collider promoting Jungleland, Hunnam stated he was not involved in the production of Pacific Rim: The Black, or aware of Netflix's announcement.[17][note 3]
Notes[]
- ↑ DeKnight: “There was a version that was shot where what happened to him was explained and talked about. We tested it, and people had more questions with it in than without. We also decided we didn’t want to lock ourselves into anything like, ‘Oh, Raleigh’s dead,’ or ‘Raleigh’s retired,’ which seemed a little cheap. We wanted to leave it open for the third installment of the movie in case we needed Charlie Hunnam back. The only reason Charlie Hunnam’s not in this movie is a scheduling problem. He had his dream project, a remake of Papillion—we had just finished the script with him in it, and it was announced he was doing Papillion, his passion project, and unfortunately the dates were exactly the same as ours, right in the middle of when we would shoot. So very sadly he couldn’t be a part of this one, but hopefully in a future installment he will be.”
- ↑ John Boyega: “As you know, Pacific Rim 1 ended with Stacker Pentecost [played by Idris Elba] dying, and Raleigh [played by Charlie Hunnam] dying as well, and they feel like they’ve closed the Breach, but unfortunately the enemy has grown more intelligent and has other ways of doing things, and we are met with a rogue character.”
- ↑ [...]"HUNNAM: This is breaking news to me. I didn’t even know they were doing it. No, nobody ever asked. When I didn’t do the sequel, I think that probably closed that chapter for me."
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Info taken from: Pacific Rim: Man, Machines & Monsters, pages 20-23
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Pan Pacific Defense Corps: Shatterdome
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Pacific Rim
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pacific Rim: The Official Movie Novelization
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Pacific Rim: Drift Space (BluRay Feature)
- ↑ Travis Beacham: Mr. Becket
- ↑ Pacific Rim: The Black, "Escaping Bogan"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Steven DeKnight Went From Pacific Rim Fanboy to Pacific Rim Uprising Director
- ↑ Charlie Hunnam Won’t Be Back For ‘Pacific Rim 2’ Because Of ‘Politics’
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 ‘Pacific Rim Uprising’: What Happened to Raleigh Becket and What It Means for ‘Pacific Rim 3’
- ↑ Charlie Hunnam Talks 'Pacific Rim'
- ↑ Why Charlie Hunnam Isn't In Pacific Rim 2
- ↑ CHARLIE HUNNAM WON'T BE RETURNING FOR PACIFIC RIM 2
- ↑ Charlie Hunnam Won’t Be Back for ‘Pacific Rim 2’ But A Lot of the Original Cast Will Be
- ↑ Pacific Rim Uprising’s John Boyega Teases Kaiju, Jaeger Upgrades
- ↑ Charlie Hunnam on 'Jungleland,' the Status of 'Shantaram,' & Why He Didn't Do 'Pacific Rim 2'
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