1st-Lt. Paul Wang

Wang

Played by
Joel de la Fuente

Paul in a festive mood First Lieutenant Paul Wang is the 'Joker' in the pack, at least to begin with.
In the pilot episode, he is seen to be rather timid for a Marine, but he soon takes to the role - becoming as gung-ho as the rest of the squad.
He seems to have joined the Marines in order to escape from a life of little promise, although from various clues in show, he seems to have a close and loving relationship with his parents.
At first, he seems not to have any relationships with the opposite sex, but in the later episodes, he very briefly finds romance with two other members of the 'Toga's crew.

Paul Unfortunately, when the 'Cards are captured, Paul suffers at the hands of an AI who specialises in torture.
His spirit is broken, and he is made to record a war-crimes confession.
This soul-destroying event has a terrible impact on the young Marine, the effects of which worsen as time progresses, and at one point he actually asks "...why couldn't my body have broken before my soul?"
This once bright and breezy, easy going fellow becomes withdrawn and pre-occupied with what he sees as his betrayal of his friends, the Corps and Earth.

However, in the last episode, Paul finds a way to redeem himself. During the rescue of the Tellus survivors, and in order to give them a chance to reach safety, he sacrifices himself.
The last we see of Wang is him firing at Chig fighters calling out the names of all his dead comrades.
The last shot we see of his APC, is as it is destroyed by one of those fighters.
Paul Wang gives his life so that others may live.
(Though some of us believe he survived in a large piece of wreckage that was blown off - we may perhaps never know for certain).

On duty
Joel de la Fuente makes the character of Paul Wang completely likeable and believable to the end.
Mr. de la Fuente has appeared in many shows, both on stage and on the TV.
He has toured several countries with "The Peony Pavilion" - an experimental interpretation of an ancient Chinese Kun opera.
He has also guested on the popular medical drama series "ER" and played a crime boss in an episode of "Due South".
To find out more about Joel and his career you could visit either
his entry in the IMDB, or The Joel de la Fuente Web Site.