The lonely warrior
Stringfellow Hawke is a man defined by loss and solitude. Orphaned young when his parents drowned in a boating accident, he was raised in part by his father's old friend, Dominic Santini. He flew helicopters in Vietnam, where his brother St. John Hawke went missing in action — a wound that never healed and the engine of nearly everything Hawke does.
By the time we meet him, Hawke has retreated from the world. He lives alone in a remote mountain cabin beside a lake, with only his dog Tet and a view of the wilderness for company. He flies stunt work for Santini Air, refuses to let anyone close, and guards his privacy as fiercely as he guards his secrets.
Soldier and artist
What makes Hawke unforgettable is the contradiction at his core. He is a warrior who would rather not fight — a man capable of flying the deadliest aircraft ever built, who comes home to play the cello and study priceless paintings. His remote cabin hides a small fortune in fine art, and his music is the one place his grief is allowed to speak.
That duality runs through the whole series: the machine and the man, the mission and the melody, duty and the longing to simply be left alone.
The deal for Airwolf
When the brilliant, unstable scientist Dr. Charles Henry Moffet stole Airwolf — the Mach-capable supercopter he had designed — it was Hawke who recovered the aircraft. But rather than hand it back, Hawke hid Airwolf away and struck a bargain with the government agency known as the Firm: he would fly missions for them, but only in exchange for their help finding his brother St. John. His contact and uneasy ally in that bargain is the white-suited spymaster Archangel.
In Hawke's own world: the cabin, the cello, the dog, the missing brother and the hidden helicopter aren't background detail — they're the whole point. Airwolf is the story of a man who has every reason to disappear, choosing again and again to answer the call.
Played by Jan-Michael Vincent
Hawke was brought to life by actor Jan-Michael Vincent, whose brooding, understated performance gave the character his quiet intensity. Hawke led the series through its first three seasons; the fourth season shifted focus toward the search for — and discovery of — his brother St. John.