Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
It is always a sad duty to report on the death of someone associated with the Wing Commander universe but even inside that rubric there are some deaths we fear learning of more than others. Today is one of those: TMZ has reported that beloved actor Richard Riehle has died at age 78. It's hard to decide exactly what Richard Riehle was best known for; since 1977 he had earned over 400 screen credits. Many headlines are highlighting his turn as the prickly Tom in Office Space, the inventor of the Jump to Conclusions mat. Others choose his regular role as the grandfather on the television show "Grounded for Life". Star Trek fans know his multiple guest appearances as three different characters across five episodes in three different shows! But Wing Commander fans will always remember him as Chief Tech Robert "Pliers" Sykes in Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (1996). You can find a more complete writeup of his career at Entertainment Weekly.
By his very nature, Chris Roberts has never been one to second guess his creative decisions once they've been made. But in 1995, as Wing Commander IV came into focus, there seemed to be one decision he was giving second thoughts to: Heart of the Tiger's romance mechanic. He had developed the idea as a showcase for what interactive video could do: choosing between two potential partners which meant two sets of decisions that could be played in any number of orders and which would have a significant impact on the rest of the story of the game. It was technically perfect… but a fair number of reviewers responded that it felt inappropriate to the game's story and was perhaps 'immature' compared to the rest of the Star Wars-pastiche with the giant cat puppets. But with that feedback in mind, he resolved that the fast-approaching sequel would not have the player chase any beautiful women. And seemingly to add an exclamation point to that, he replaced Ginger Lynn Allen's bubbly, flirty mechanic with a new and distinctly opposite character: Pliers. The script description:
And luckily for Chris Roberts, "friendly grandpa to… gruff, sour old fart" was exactly dead center in Richard Riehle's range! Pliers was imagined as a grizzled but effective tobacco-chewing veteran mechanic who had served in the Kilrathi War and was now certain he knew a little bit better than anyone else when it came to 'his' machines. Pliers was simultaneously a Scotty-style miracle worker and a prickly father figure to the player, expertly providing both well worn wisdom and some genuine comic relief. Pliers' role turned out to be surprisingly important to Wing Commander IV. He realized the character with aplomb and made nearly instant lifetime fans to anyone that encountered him in the bowels of the Intrepid.
Beyond his often-hilarious appearances in a dozen plus cutscenes, he was also a major aspect of the game's mechanics. The player was asked to maintain Pliers' morale through their decisions and that morale value would then impact later missions. Show your appreciation and a happy Pliers would offer the players unique upgrades and improved weapons to play with; disregard his suggestions and ignore his work and an unhappy one would freeze you out and make the game harder. You can read about the full set of mechanics here. Pliers also appeared regularly on the comms in missions to direct the player, operated the search and rescue shuttle that would rescue you if you ejected and offered information and lore about the various ships and weapons player over the screen as you ran through the options. You can find a sound bank of those audio lines here.
One of Riehle's best remembered scenes in Wing Commander IV is the short "doesn't go boom" sequence in which he removes a flash-pak from a Black Lance fighter and then, non-challantly drops it on the Intrepid's flight deck to see if it explodes.
As mentioned above, Richard Riehle was also a welcome fixture in 1990s Star Trek productions. He was the rare character actor capable of playing multiple, unrelated roles in the same world without anyone noticing… or when they did, without anyone complaining! He played Captain Picard's friend and confidante Batai in his alternate life in the acclaimed The Inner Light (season 5, episode 25), one of the Voyager's holographic villagers in Fair Haven (season 6, episode 11) and Spirit Folk (season 6, episode 17) and then a genetic scientist turned hostage in the Enterprise two-parter Cold Station 12 and The Augments (season 4, episodes 5 and 6). Other genre credits include episode of Quantum Leap, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Visitor, Tremors and The Legend of Korra.
Members of the Wing Commander movie club will also remember the sheer delight we had upon seeing Riehle appear as a corrupt Union quartermaster in Gettysburg (1993). He had a special on screen presence that just made you want to see more Richard Riehle , no matter the role. He also appears in the upcoming movie club film The Fan (1996).
We are sorry to have to say this again so soon: the Wing Commander Combat Information Staff would like to express our condolences to Mr. Riehle's family, friends and fans. We count ourselves firmly in the latter group.
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Original update published on October 19, 2026
By his very nature, Chris Roberts has never been one to second guess his creative decisions once they've been made. But in 1995, as Wing Commander IV came into focus, there seemed to be one decision he was giving second thoughts to: Heart of the Tiger's romance mechanic. He had developed the idea as a showcase for what interactive video could do: choosing between two potential partners which meant two sets of decisions that could be played in any number of orders and which would have a significant impact on the rest of the story of the game. It was technically perfect… but a fair number of reviewers responded that it felt inappropriate to the game's story and was perhaps 'immature' compared to the rest of the Star Wars-pastiche with the giant cat puppets. But with that feedback in mind, he resolved that the fast-approaching sequel would not have the player chase any beautiful women. And seemingly to add an exclamation point to that, he replaced Ginger Lynn Allen's bubbly, flirty mechanic with a new and distinctly opposite character: Pliers. The script description:
And luckily for Chris Roberts, "friendly grandpa to… gruff, sour old fart" was exactly dead center in Richard Riehle's range! Pliers was imagined as a grizzled but effective tobacco-chewing veteran mechanic who had served in the Kilrathi War and was now certain he knew a little bit better than anyone else when it came to 'his' machines. Pliers was simultaneously a Scotty-style miracle worker and a prickly father figure to the player, expertly providing both well worn wisdom and some genuine comic relief. Pliers' role turned out to be surprisingly important to Wing Commander IV. He realized the character with aplomb and made nearly instant lifetime fans to anyone that encountered him in the bowels of the Intrepid.
Beyond his often-hilarious appearances in a dozen plus cutscenes, he was also a major aspect of the game's mechanics. The player was asked to maintain Pliers' morale through their decisions and that morale value would then impact later missions. Show your appreciation and a happy Pliers would offer the players unique upgrades and improved weapons to play with; disregard his suggestions and ignore his work and an unhappy one would freeze you out and make the game harder. You can read about the full set of mechanics here. Pliers also appeared regularly on the comms in missions to direct the player, operated the search and rescue shuttle that would rescue you if you ejected and offered information and lore about the various ships and weapons player over the screen as you ran through the options. You can find a sound bank of those audio lines here.
One of Riehle's best remembered scenes in Wing Commander IV is the short "doesn't go boom" sequence in which he removes a flash-pak from a Black Lance fighter and then, non-challantly drops it on the Intrepid's flight deck to see if it explodes.
As mentioned above, Richard Riehle was also a welcome fixture in 1990s Star Trek productions. He was the rare character actor capable of playing multiple, unrelated roles in the same world without anyone noticing… or when they did, without anyone complaining! He played Captain Picard's friend and confidante Batai in his alternate life in the acclaimed The Inner Light (season 5, episode 25), one of the Voyager's holographic villagers in Fair Haven (season 6, episode 11) and Spirit Folk (season 6, episode 17) and then a genetic scientist turned hostage in the Enterprise two-parter Cold Station 12 and The Augments (season 4, episodes 5 and 6). Other genre credits include episode of Quantum Leap, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Visitor, Tremors and The Legend of Korra.
Members of the Wing Commander movie club will also remember the sheer delight we had upon seeing Riehle appear as a corrupt Union quartermaster in Gettysburg (1993). He had a special on screen presence that just made you want to see more Richard Riehle , no matter the role. He also appears in the upcoming movie club film The Fan (1996).
We are sorry to have to say this again so soon: the Wing Commander Combat Information Staff would like to express our condolences to Mr. Riehle's family, friends and fans. We count ourselves firmly in the latter group.
--
Original update published on October 19, 2026
