Michael Garibaldi
Michael Garibaldi
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Michael Garibaldi

Michael Garibaldi is a lead fictional character in the universe of the science fiction television series Babylon 5, played by Jerry Doyle.

During most of Babylon 5's five seasons, Garibaldi is the Chief of Security on board the space station Babylon 5. He holds the rank of Chief Warrant Officer. During the fourth season he suddenly resigned as Security Chief; he then begins working for Edgars Industries on Mars, one of the largest corporations on the planet. During the fifth and final season of Babylon 5 he was the Director of Covert Intelligence, a post similar to the present-day CIA Director, for the new Interstellar Alliance. Although friendly with the other crew members, he is very much his own man.

This independence leads him into great danger numerous times during the series. Like most of the characters on the series, Garibaldi is a complex person. On the positive side he is loyal, trustworthy, brave, shrewd, thorough in his job duties, and a tough and skilled soldier with small arms, in hand-to-hand combat, or in the cockpit of a Starfury fighter. He possesses a lively sense of humor, enjoys watching old twentieth-century cartoons such as "Daffy Duck" (Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century) who is referred to as a "household god of frustration" for Garibaldi in a conversation between Zack Allan and G'Kar, loves twentieth-century motorcycles, and generally has an easygoing, laid-back personality when he's not on duty.

However, he can also (ironically, given his suspicious nature) be too trusting of close friends and aides, and his tendency towards alcoholism and self-destructive behavior is a constant struggle for him throughout the series. Of the major characters on Babylon 5 Garibaldi is in many ways the most "down-to-earth" and "ordinary"; he often sides with the working-class humans on the station and in turn is considered by them to be a kindred spirit. He loves Italian food and often cuts secret deals with Babylon 5 dockworkers to bring expensive Italian foods onto the station. The deals are secret because of the disapproval of Dr. Stephen Franklin, B5's medical chief and a close friend of Garibaldi. Dr. Franklin disapproves of Garibaldi's love of fatty foods, although on at least one occasion he agrees to eat an Italian meal (bagna càuda) cooked by Garibaldi.

Michael Alfredo Garibaldi was born in the Bronx, New York, Earth. He was the son of Alfredo Garibaldi, who was an EarthForce infantryman, who retired at the rank of sergeant-major. Garibaldi was raised in the Catholic church; he would later say he was "raised a good Catholic boy". Later in life he became an agnostic but always maintained respect for the church. His grandmother was a Boston cop. Garibaldi inherited her Smith & Wesson .38 Special police revolver.

Garibaldi was an honest man. This honesty, and his refusal to "play along" with policies and actions he knew were illegal, got him into difficulties with corrupt officials on more than one occasion. During one incident, a landing pad had been rigged to explode; when it did, a close friend of Garibaldi's died. His friend's daughter blamed him for many years, and Garibaldi retreated into alcoholism.

During the bloody Earth–Minbari War Garibaldi was an infantryman (called "groundpounder" or "gropo") in EarthForce. He participated in a number of ground battles against the Minbari and managed to survive the war, a considerable accomplishment. However, his experiences led to a certain amount of distrust and dislike of pompous high-ranking officers, a fact which often got him into trouble with his superiors. However, his naturally suspicious and rebellious nature made him an excellent investigator and security officer. His alcoholism may also have been a coping mechanism stemming from some form of PTSD that he acquired during the war. Because of his bouts with alcohol & PTSD, he's often seen as a sympathetic character to fellow veterans of the war, giving them wide latitude when they commit minor infractions on his watch as B5 Chief of Security.

Garibaldi continued to have problems with alcoholism for a number of years, which got him fired from several jobs. Eventually he was able to bring his alcoholism under control. While piloting Jeffrey Sinclair over the surface of Mars, their shuttle malfunctioned and crashed. Garibaldi and Sinclair then had to trek across the planet's surface for several days in order to make it back to civilization, during the trek the two men became friends.

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