#ugh#i’m trying to come up with some in-universe context for this#but#like#what would even make chuck smile like this#maybe mako showed up for a surprise visit early in the renovations for GD#so she could observe while they were running a simulation to look for ways to improve the pilot interface#and she was the last person chuck would have expected to come walking in#so he had no chance to puff himself up into CHUCK HANSEN SUPERSOLDIER#and instead got chuck the boy who once stole extra jello from the mess hall to cheer her up#chuck who asked if she had said hello to max on her way in#chuck who doesn’t know why she’s there yet and can’t work himself into a tizzy over the idea of recommissioning a retired jaeger#chuck who is secretly happy to see her because they parted on bad terms#and wants to show off for her#and prove he’s become the man he said he was going to be#(she doesn’t get a chance to say a proper goodbye before she leaves)#(it stings and he swears he’s not going to let her get under his skin ever again) (via yesmissmori)
prompt? what if Chuck hadn't been let into the Jaeger program at that ridiculous age to become a pilot but a tech? Say Scott didn't do whatever it was he did to get kicked out of the program and stayed around. How would the story go when Raleigh gets called back? (how would his path cross with the Stryker tech who spars with Mako/is Mako's training dummy?)
Charles “Chuck” Hansen is a prodigy.
He gets his name from the clamps, because there’s no-one as steady and as fearless as Charles. He’ll hold anything and no matter how close you get to his fingers they’re always steady. He’s utterly fearless. He’s unwavering and dedicated and when push comes to shove he’s the man you want on your team. Most of the time that team is Striker Eureka, the Jaeger piloted by his ass of a father and his Uncle.
According to the pacrim wiki, Coyote Tango was the first jaeger the program lost. By that time, Pentecost and Tamsin were not piloting anymore. It was June, 2016.
The order of pre-knifehead fallen jaegers is:
- Coyote Tango. Destroyed in combat against Itak. On its second set of pilots. June, 2016.
- Victory Alpha. Destroyed in combat against Raganarok. The pilots survived. July, 2016.
- Tacit Ronin. Abandoned because its pilots died of neural overload. July, 2016.
- Lucky Seven. Abandoned because one of its pilots was decommissioned. 2019.
Following this pic from the wiki:
We know that the first jaeger was launched in 2015 (Brawler Yukon) and the last in 2019 (Striker Eureka).
The golden age of the jeager program was from 2017 to 2019, three years of gaining more than they were losing. The peak was in 2019, with 20 active jaegers. The bottom was in 2025, with no jaegers left.
2024 was the year with more deaths, with 8 j-pilots going KIA. Then 2025, with 7 deaths between the Double Event that killed both Cherno and Crimson, and Operation Pitfall, who claimed Pentecost and Chuck.
Between 2019 and 2023 there were 9 KIAs.
Which means Yancy was the first jaeger pilot to die on combat. It makes sense, given the reaction of Penecost to hearing that they had lost Gipsy's signal (and Yancy was dead).
It marks:
- 2019-20: 1 lost jaeger, 1 pilot KIA.
The list of fallen jaegers Post-Knifehead:
- 2020-21: 2 lost jaeger, 1 pilot KIA.
- 2021-22: 3 lost jaegers, 2 pilots KIA.
- 2022-23: 2 lost jaegers, 3 pilots KIA.
- 2023-24: 8 lost jaegers, 2 pilots KIA.
- 2024-25: 0 lost jaegers, 8 pilots KIA.
- 2025: 4 lost jaegers, 7 pilots KIA.
Let's compare all this info with the following Kaiju War Timeline from the wiki:
A) 2013-2014: The Feral Burst. There were no jaegers yet to defend humanity against the 3 kaijus that invaded the world.
B) 2015-2019: The Long Game, Part I. There were 24 jargers up around this period, with a total of 13 kaijus making contact.
Special mention to the Beckets, who got an impressive mark of 5 kills during those years. It means they helped killed more than a 1/3 of those bastards during the golden era of the jaeger program. For what I see, Raleigh is the only pilot who had ever abandoned the jaeger program because he wanted to, not because he was hurt or kicked out.
C) 2020-2023: The Long Game, Part II. The amount of kaijus who invaded in those three years equals the amount of kaijus who made contact within the first 6 years of the war. It means the precursos sent as many kaijus in half the time. Humanity went into this phase with 19 jaegers. By the end they had 4.
2024 reports 13 kaiju attacks. It makes sense that they lost 8 jaegers and 10 pilots more or less in that year. With 12 jaegers active, it is more than a 1vs1 situation. Something tells me that most of Striker Eureka's kills were during this phase.
Special mention to the Hansen, btw. *During Chuck active years, he participated in almost third of the kaiju killings that happened then. I don't know Lucky Seven's score in this race, but *Herc's win amount to a 1/4 of the whole kaiju fights during his active time.
*The count stops at Mutavore. It does not include the Double Event or Pitfall.
If we include Post-Mutavore but not their participation/assistant at killing Leatherback:
- Chuck: 11 kills, 35 kaiju appereances during his active career (almost a 1/3).
- Herc: 12 kills, 44 kaiju appearances (not counting 2016 and adding at least 2 kills of the Lucky Seven era; around a 1/4).
Yet again, if by statistics alone, Mako is the most winning jaeger pilot of the movie. In her active years there had been 5 kaijus and she has helped kill 4. It's worth mentioning that her debut was on a double event followed by a triple event, with the only Category-5 ever saw. Impressive, to say the least.
On the other hand, Raleigh has helped kill or killed himself almost half of the kaijus that had appear on his active years.
Here: (ratio is 19-20 kaijus, 9 kills).
- 2025: 6 kaijus, 4 kills.
- 2015-2019: 13-14 kaijus, 5 kills.
The Hansens record is impressive just in the sheer size of their killing count, which is still not complete given I don't have the info on Lucky Seven. Meanwhile, Raleigh and Mako are impressive for the efficiency record.
Of the 51 kaijus that invaded the Earth, Gipsy and Striker combine to 20 kills. That means 2/5 of the total.
The last three j-pilots hold the best or most insane records of the program. Herc with the most wins, Mako with the best efficiency and Raleigh fucking Becket who had solo piloted twice and explode a jaeger in another world.
I love the Pacific Rim fandom on Tumblr with all my heart, by the way. Love all the little fics and headcanons and art and the kind people full of passion and joy for this movie.
“Hansen, what the fuck do you want from me? Really?”
Chuck literally bites his tongue, because he could feel a retort sitting at the back of his throat, at the ready. Raleigh was an ass, but with reason. This Raleigh was just a cocktail of personal issues and irrationality. Funny, because that sounds a damn lot like Chuck Hansen, PPDC Ranger. The same one who died at the blast underneath the Pacific. The same one who found himself bobbing along the shore of what he soon realized was a beach in California–one that has not seen the terror of the kaiju war. He soon realizes the entire world never did. At least this version of it.
Chuck presses his lips in a tight smile, because he’s nervous, like all the nerves of steel he garnered from piloting died along with that part of him. “A second chance.”
Raleigh looks like he doesn’t understand, because second chance for what, when there hasn’t been even a first, but the fist in Chuck’s shirt and the dragging pull towards his personal space tells Chuck that maybe it doesn’t matter.
This is his life now. And this time around, he thinks, as his hands work on belt buckles and leather jackets, he won’t screw it up.
AU: Chuck Hansen is saved, but in a different way.
You know Chuck was right to be mad 'cause he was indeed getting replaced with Raleigh.
Which doesn't mean Chuck had the right to be an asshole to Raleigh, since it was not his fault at all, but he had the right to be angry at how people were treating him.
He is the front runner of Operation Pitfall. He's part of the j-pilot duo that will blow up the Breach, strapping a bomb to their backs in a suicidal run. He's the youngest ranger to ever graduate the Academy, he has 5 years of active service with the best kaiju killing score in history and he pilots the only ever Mark-5, fastest jaeger out there.
But despite what others might think of him, including Herc and Pentecost, Chuck is not asking for fame or fishing for compliments. He knows his the best, he knows that he is an amazing ranger, okay? He's a bastard in his personality and he sucks in any sort of social interaction, true. That's the problem, isn't it? It doesn't matter how good at his job he is, if he's not charismatic, people would completely pass from him.
That's the fight Chuck had with Herc on the deleted scene. Herc wants him to be a better person and gain the respect of his peers, but Chuck is angry at how people won't respect him unless he's well-likes or behaved. He has an strictly professional view. They are not his family, they are not his friends, all they are is co-workers. Isn't he good at his job?
Why isn't it enough?
When Raleigh arrives, suddenly no one cares about his flaws and even if they do, they can quickly forgive him because Raleigh is that likeable. Golden boy. Which ends up being a nasty lie because Raleigh is just as awkward now, after 5 years of barely interacting with others. But he is openly sad and his smile is soft and he is assertive, won't get no for an answer, gets what he wants even from the Marshall himself.
To Chuck's eyes, Raleigh gets praised over doing the barely minimum under the excuse of his trauma. Praised by Herc himself, who stares at Raleigh like he's very proud, not like he is a disappointment, not like he should be doing better, not like he expects more. Chuck was there during the worst five years of the jaeger program, he killed more kaijus than anyone, made it twice as far in half the time and now, now he is the one who will end it.
So where is the people proud of him?
He arrives to see Pentecost touring Raleigh himself and Herc rushing to shake his hand like a fan and Mako walking next to him like a secretary. Every other pilot are twisting their necks to stare at him on the messhall and his dad is giving him is inviting him to the table after going to pick his food for him and--
He is the superstar. He was gone for 5 years as they suffer and returns to be the hero.
Chuck is already angry at the spectacle when Raleigh sits to eat with them, but then when Chuck's asks him what he's been doing from 5 years that's so important? And Raleigh just answers "construction"? Chuck's slowly going insane. Everyone starring at Raleigh Becket like he's the solution but he hasn't pilot in 5 years because he was in construction.
Chuck is a professional, if anything else. He's dead serious about his job. In his asshole way he tells Raleigh that the rest the program has blind faith in his ability but not Chuck. And if he is there to be a liability, even if the rest of them want to play the sad dog rescuer with Raleigh, Chuck won't. Either he works or he doesn't, but he's not gonna ruin this chance.
Again, he's being cruel but he's not wrong.
Later, Chuck points out that maintaining the neural handshake is nothing impressive, but the bare minimum needed to fight. It proves nothing. He's still on edge, thinking about the operation. So when Herc snaps at him and tells him to be respectful because Raleigh is an amazing pilot, Chuck gets angry. Herc is correcting him like an insolent child in front of everyone.
His dad is effectively taking Raleigh's side.
Again.
Before the drift effectively collapses, almost killing everyone if it wasn't for the ones who stayed on the bridge. Everyone runs except Chuck, Tendo, Herc and I think Pentecost. Everyone scatters to save their lives, except them. Even if it didn't happen, it almost did.
Chuck is furious. What can no one else see how dangerous it is? Why everyone acts like Raleigh can do nothing wrong? Like Mako's not piloting for the first time? Why did they have to wait until a disaster almost happened to see the risks they were taking?
This time Chuck is not making a point but actually picking out a fight with Raleigh. He is angry and confused. Not at Raleigh per se, which he doesn't seem to comprehend, but at how people treat him. Chuck is scared and worried. He wants a perfect mission, to come back alive, to save the world, but it feels like he's the only one considering the importance of the moment.
Raleigh kicks his ass and it might be the first real interaction they have with no one else in between. This time when Chuck accuses him and puts him to the test, Raleigh shows him how good he is. Chuck is mad 'cause he got his ass kicked, okay? But at this point, they are for the first time in equal ground. Raleigh and Chuck both lose their composure in that fight, marking them as equal fools. But not one over the other. Even when Raleigh won, it was a way of establishing himself on the conversation next to Becket.
Then the Double Event came.
And doesn't it speak louder than words that Chuck was cheering for G. Danger when they got deployed? He was not mad, he was not jealous, his ego was totally forgotten. He was happy to see them. For the first time in the movie, he held the same faith as the others. Maybe he was worried since his words were "Kick his ass!", maybe he was asking for them to not fuck it up. But after it? Chuck dropped his anger once and for all.
Herc never spoke for Chuck in the movie 'til that moment. He apologized to Raleigh for the way he raised Chuck, yes, but he never lie about what Chuck was thinking or feeling. Herc says "my son will never admit out loud how thankful he is for you having saving us". But when they show Chuck's face, there is more than gratitude there. If Chuck was the arrogant bastard everyone says, he would have hide or at least put on a respectuful blank face and leave it at that. He didn't tho. He stares intently at Raleigh and looked for his face when he arrived and he lowered his chin, gave him a defeated soft smile, made it clear how he was feeling.
A freaking apology would have been less.
Still, when they went to die, all Chuck got was his boss telling him that he was arrogant and had daddy issues. Chuck was sacrificing it all for the cause. During the Double Event, he had done basically the same Raleigh did with Yancy years ago. Had climbed on top of a jaeger to fire flareguns at a kaiju not even knowing G. Danger was on its way. He was leaving his dad behind, he was going to pilot with a man who wouldn't survive the mission anyway. 5 years of absolute devotion and the best career someone could ask for.
To be told you're arrogant with daddy issues but it's okay, at least you're your father's kid and I am such a good pilot I could drift even with you.
Even when people ignored Raleigh's trauma through the movie in favor of idolizing him (and effectively dehumanizing him by doing so), he got Herc to acknowledge his pain and Mako to listen to him and share his burden.
But what did Chuck get?
Not a friend. Not the respect of his superiors or co-workers. Only an apology from his dad and a reminder he did love him and he was proud of him, given before Chuck was sent out to die. We got Chuck kneeling before his dad and saying goodbye before the shot of Raleigh smiling at Mako and saying he was finally looking forward to the future again.
It was Chuck who in the end was respectful of Pentecost ("It was a pleasure serving with you, sir") and the one who directed the final words between the Hansens (by implying he wanted to do the correct thing so he's dad could be proud of him, so he would be and act like his father's son). But that was it.
The only moments of glory Chuck got was at the beginning of the movie and at the end. That is, when people celebrated Mutavore's death and announced for the first time that he was going to die on the bridge and when he finally blew up himself, finally respected not in life but as a martyr.
So while people are celebrating that it is over and Raleigh is alive, we get to see the grief on Herc's face. His son helped save the world as his said he would-- and now he's dead.
You might notice why I don't agree when people points out that his just an entitled brat who likes to be cruel. Or that I very much think that he was disrespected and mistreated during the whole movie. Because to me, well, the movie is about hope and love and second chances, unless you are Chuck.
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