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"Ready to step into my head, kid?"
—Yancy to Raleigh[6]

Yancy Becket is the older brother of Raleigh Becket.[11] He was a Ranger in the Pan Pacific Defense Corps and one of the pilots of Gipsy Danger before his death in 2020.[6]

Biography

Early Life

Yancy and Raleigh lived a relatively comfortable life in Anchorage with their younger sister, Jazmine, and mother and father, Richard and Dominique Becket. Their father is a hydraulic engineer who works on dams.[12] Their parents would often take them on trips, traveling to such places as Munich and Budapest.[5] Yancy dreamt of becoming a superhero. His love for comic books inspired him and his ten year old brother to create an armored costume with a cape during their time in Budapest. They patrol an abandoned factory in Budapest, brandishing a lighter and flashlight they took from their mother's purse in an attempt to keep "evil at bay".[5][7]

On August 2013, Yancy and Raleigh were among the millions who witnessed Trespasser's attack on San Francisco as it was broadcast on television. Some time afterward, their mother is diagnosed with cancer. Despite her illness, she continued to smoke cigarettes until her death at an unknown point. After she was buried, their father abandoned them.[5] Yancy and Raleigh decide to forgo their general education to join the Jaeger Program.[5]

Tales from Year Zero

On June 21, 2016, the two head to the Jaeger Academy on Kodiak Island to enlist into PPDC. Impressed by the turnout, Raleigh assumes that the people around them are far more serious about becoming Rangers than either he or Yancy is. His older brother is inclined to agree with him.[1]

Yancy brushes his nervousness off on the belief that they’ll never get past the first cut. However, both he and Raleigh manage to surpass their own expectations and are among the few who survive the demanding training requirements implemented by the Academy. They excel in the simulated battles against Kaiju and manage to make the second cut of the Academy. During their time off, Yancy and Raleigh meet Naomi Sokolov, a Jaeger pilot groupie. She flirts with both brothers, gives Raleigh her number and asks that they call when they have free time.[1]

Yancy is the first to note that Naomi’s interest stems solely from their status as Jaeger pilots in training. Despite this, Yancy takes Naomi up on her offer and goes out with her. He doesn’t tell his brother and during a combat simulation, Yancy loses focus and Raleigh discovers what he did with Naomi.[1] Enraged, the two lose the simulation and Yancy tries to explain himself as his brother storms off. Later, Yancy finds him in a bar and tries to explain himself again but ended up fighting Raleigh again.

Raleigh accuses him of being jealous of everything he wants for himself; Yancy calls him out in turn for never acting on what he wants. Their argument escalates into a fight and lands them in trouble with Stacker Pentecost, who warns them that the disregard for their bond over a dispute would get them and others killed. Their pending active duty status is the only thing keeping them from being kicked out of the Jaeger Program. The two apologize for their behavior and are dismissed from his office.[1]

Pan Pacific Defense Corps.

Yancy and his brother are stationed in the Anchorage Shatterdome in Alaska, with orders to defend against incoming Kaiju attacks. Prior to 2020, Yancy and Raleigh are deployed in at least four different locations around the Pacific Rim piloting Gipsy Danger. In 2017, their first mission is outside Anchorage in Los Angeles against a Kaiju named Yamarashi[5]. The two are forced to take point in the mission when their partner is unable to stop the Kaiju from entering the city any further.

They fight the Kaiju back toward the harbor where they behead it with a cargo crane wire. Their Conn-Pod is nearly compromised by Kaiju blood before they reach the Los Angeles Shatterdome to be hosed down. The second and third are Puerto San José, Guatemala in 2018 and San Diego in 2019, where they fight Clawhook.[5] December 19, 2019, they are accompanied by Horizon Brave and Hercules Hansen in the Lucky Seven to Manila where they fight and kill a Category IV Kaiju.[5][13]

Anchorage Attack

Yancy and Raleigh 2020

Yancy and Raleigh before deployment in 2020.

Yancy is roused from sleep by Raleigh, who informs him they're being sent out against Knifehead, the biggest Category III Kaiju recorded so far, approaching Anchorage's coastline. Yancy, baffled the attack is occurring at two in the morning, warns his brother, albeit jokingly, not to get cocky.

After being prepped in the Drivesuit Room, the two are deployed in Gipsy Danger to head the creature off. Noticing a fishing boat is still out on the water, Yancy wants to remove it from the area. Pentecost, however, reminds them they are the only thing standing between the Kaiju and a city of two million people. A single boat is inconsequential to the larger picture. Yancy acknowledges Stacker's orders to ignore the boat, but two brothers decide to save the fishermen regardless.

Yancy and Raleigh arrive in time to save the fishing boat from Knifehead. Knifehead attacks Gipsy Danger, but only succeeds in damaging its wrist before the brothers gain the upper hand in the fight. They fire Gipsy Danger's Plasmacaster, Knifehead is sent hurling back into the ocean, seemingly dead from three shots to the abdomen.

Yancy before death

Yancy realizing the Conn-Pod has been compromised by Knifehead's claw.

Both Yancy and Raleigh assume they've killed the creature when Pentecost berates them for disobeying orders. Their guard down, they are taken by surprise when Knifehead attacks them under the water and attempts to bite the Conn-Pod. Raleigh tries to charge the left Plasmacaster, but Knifehead grabs hold of Gipsy Danger's arm, preventing a clear shot. It rams head into Gipsy's left shoulder, amputating its arm. Raleigh, connected to the arm, feels the damage sustained by the Jaeger.

As Knifehead tears into the Conn-Pod, Yancy is in the midst of trying to tell Raleigh what to do next. Knifehead tears through Gipsy Danger's head and rips Yancy out of the right side of the cockpit. Yancy is hurled into the sea to his death, the latter of which Raleigh experiences through the Drift when he fights and kills Knifehead on his own. Yancy's death would have a considerable physiological toll on Raleigh, who would quit the Jaeger program for five years following his brother's demise.

Personality

Of the two brothers, Yancy is described as the "natural" Jaeger pilot.[14] He was generally considered to be better at many things than Raleigh.[15] Despite this, he shares a strong bond with his younger brother and the resulting relationship makes them drift compatible despite the lack of a pedigree. Yancy is willing take chances in situations where he believes brother is slow to act.[1] Their shared interest in a particular person or thing tends to create friction between the two, Yancy frustrated by catering to his brother.[1]

Yancy and Raleigh shared a relatively close relationship with their younger sister, Jazmine. Memories from Yancy's Drift with Raleigh reveal that Yancy and Raleigh did many things together as children growing up. They were particularity fond of playing monkey in the middle with Jazmine.[5][6]

Even headed, Yancy is willing to follow the orders of his authority figures at the same time he is willing to disobey them if he agrees with his brother in regard to battle strategies. Yancy is not immune to the rise to fame shared by Raleigh during the height of the Jaeger Program; both ultimately underestimate Knifehead’s strength. Their inability to adapt to the situation and follow orders costs him his life.[6]

Known Inconsistencies

  • According to Pacific Rim: Man, Machines & Monsters, Raleigh has no next of kin after Yancy dies. The novelization cites that Yancy and Raleigh's parents died some time during the Kaiju War, but lists their sister Jazmine among Raleigh's surviving kin.[14][5] In the Drift Space featurette, their uncle Charles and sister Jazmine Becket are among the his next of kin.[7]
  • According to the novelization, when the Beckets visit Budapest, Yancy is eleven years old and celebrating his birthday. However, Drift Space states that Raleigh was ten when he helped his brother create his superhero costume in Budapest. Yancy would be thirteen years old at the time.
  • Yancy states that Knifehead was shot twice with the Plasmacaster, the film shows the Kaiju being shot three times in the abdomen before falling.[6] However, the sequence may have used the "repeat take" technique.[16]

Trivia

  • According to Drift Space, Yancy is fan of comic books and wanted to be a superhero as a child.[7]
  • Drift Space, describes Raleigh and Yancy as "scrappy fighters".[7]
  • Yancy's name is written on the elastic band of his underwear.[note 2][17]
  • Diego Klattenhoff was given a Striker Eureka extra's (Gareth Moyse) jacket during the filming of a Drift sequence with Charlie Hunnam.[note 3][18]
  • Travis Beacham speculated that if Raleigh had died instead of Yancy, Yancy would've stayed on with the Pan Pacific Defense Corps. in some capacity.[19][note 4]
  • Because Yancy and Raleigh were still connected, Raleigh knows what Yancy intended to say before he was killed.[20]
  • During early production of Pacific Rim, Raleigh and Yancy's last name was "Antrobus".[21] However, Guillermo del Toro thought the name was too strange and it was changed to "Becket".[note 5][22]
  • On account of his travels with their family, Raleigh and Yancy are able to understand and speak different languages.[23]
  • Prior to the release of Pacific Rim on DVD, Travis Beacham confirmed that Jazmine existed in his "world bible" but would not discuss any further details.[24]

Gallery

Pan Pacific Defense Corps Logo An image gallery is available for
Yancy Becket

Notes

  1. According to Travis Beacham, Yancy is three years older than Raleigh.
  2. "The name “Yancy” is written inside the elastic band of the boxer briefs."
  3. "The drift sequences were intentionally shot with a monochromatic look, and the costume consists of various pieces all colored in shades of grey. A workman’s jumpsuit, with ‘Diego’ written on the tag. Two t-shirts, one labeled ‘D. Hero’ (size large), the other labeled ‘Yancy’ (size medium). A Striker Eureka bomber jacket with ‘SE’ on the back and a PPDC patch on the arm (a tag says ‘Gareth Moyse’ because costumers used a Striker Eureka ground crew actor’s jacket on Diego for this shot.) A pair of grey socks, grey work gloves, and grey work boots (size 10½)"
  4. jkeats: What would (if anything) Yancy have done differently if he had lived and Raleigh died? :3
    Beacham: That’s an interesting question. I can imagine Yancy perhaps remaining in PPDC in some official capacity.
  5. del Toro: "Travis is truly a genius at world creation and naming. He came up with Jaeger and kaiju. We shared robot names - I put half, he put half - but Hercules Hansen? That’s a fucking name! Stacker Pentecost. He had something weird for Raleigh, I changed it to Raleigh Becket. It was originally Raleigh Antrobus. What a fucking name! It sounded like a suppository."

References

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