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{{InfoBoxCharacter
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| name =
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| died = 20 April [[3027]]
| othernames =
| affiliation = [[Federated Suns]]
| rank =
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| position =
| profession = [[Arena Gladiator]]
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}}
'''Billy Wolfson''' was an early [[thirty-first-century]] [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] in the [[Solaris VII]] arenas. His age was not given, but he was still considered a relatively young hotshot by 3027. Despite this he seems to have been a particularly successful and notable gladiator as he is named among the "immortal MechWarriors who have fought there" alongside icons like [[Gray Noton]], [[Justin Xiang Allard]] and the O'Bannon sisters [[Tanya O'Bannon|Tanya]] and [[Elizabeth O'Bannon|Elizabeth]].<ref>''Solaris VII: The Game World – Player's Book'', p. 6</ref>

==Character History==
As of February 3027 Wolfson was a member of the "[[Capellan Mafia]]", as up-and-coming champion [[Philip Capet]] called the group of [[House Davion]]-affiliated MechWarriors he had assembled around himself, though Wolfson fought for Lord Brighton's (unnamed) stable. He was noted to be a crowd puller in the arena.<ref>''Warrior: En Garde'', ch. 17</ref>

On 20 February 3027 Wolfson piloted a ''[[Hermes II]]'' from Lord Brigton's stable in a rigged arena fight against a ''[[Vindicator]]'' supposedly piloted by [[Fuh Teng]]. Expecting an easy victory, Wolfson was surprised to find the ''Vindicator'' was really piloted by then-unknown gladiator [[Justin Xiang Allard]] in what was Allard's first fight in the [[Solaris Games]]. This was possible because the fight was legally scheduled between the two [['Mech]] models, without stipulating specific pilots. Allard dealt a humiliating defeat to Wolfson, destroying the ''Hermes II''.<ref>''Warrior: En Garde'', chs. 17–18</ref>

Following Allard's defeat (and killing) of [[Peter Armstrong]], another "Capellan Mafia" associate, Wolfson allowed himself to be lured into challenging Allard.<ref>''Warrior: En Garde'', ch. 23</ref> Their grudge match took place in [[The Jungle]], the [[House Liao]] arena, on 20 April 3027. Allard piloted his custom ''[[Centurion (BattleMech)|Centurion]]'' (''[[Yen-Lo-Wang]]'') while Wolfson piloted a ''[[Rifleman]]''. During the fight, Allard's [[Autocannon/20]] jammed but he nevertheless managed to down the ''Rifleman'' by exploiting its weak rear armor with a physical attack (using the titanium nails he had fitted on ''Yen-Lo-Wang''), causing a fusion engine explosion that utterly destroyed Wolfson's 'Mech. Wolfson was killed in the explosion.<ref name=EG36>''Warrior: En Garde'', ch. 36</ref>

Despite his loyalty to House Davion, [[MIIO]] head [[Quintus Allard]] felt that all six Davion-affiliated gladiator MechWarriors Justin Xiang Allard had killed by the time of his report to [[Hanse Davion]] (including Wolfson) had been "problematic" characters, and he was happy to be rid of them. This implies Wolfson was either a criminal, a troublemaker, or otherwise considered a liability to House Davion.<ref name=EG36/>

==Notes==
*The name Billy Wolfson for a character in the novel may have been inspired by Barry Wolfson, a real-life person. Billy Wolfson appears in [[Michael A. Stackpole]]'s debut [[BattleTech]] novel where [[Maximilian Liao]] also makes an appearance. Within the "About the author" section in the back of the book, Stackpole writes he based Maximilian Liao's character on real-life politician [[w:Evan Mecham|Evan Mecham]], a controversial governor of [[w:Arizona|Arizona]] from 1987 to 1988. One of Mecham's more prominent scandals involved failing to report a $350,000 loan from real estate developer Barry Wolfson, whose name may thus have been the inspiration for the name of Billy Wolfson's character in the novel.

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Solaris VII: The Game World]]''
* ''[[Warrior: En Garde]]''

[[Category: Federated Suns Characters|Wolfson, Billy]]
[[Category: Solaris Games Characters|Wolfson, Billy]]
[[Category:Solaris Games MechWarriors|Wolfson, Billy]]

Billy Wolfson - Revision history

imported>Madness Divine: number format, link, citation