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| Gene Hunt | |
| Series: | Life on Mars (US) |
| Rank: | Lieutenant (neural-stim) Major |
| Aliases: | The Gene Genie George Bush Uncle Gene |
| Significant others: | Mrs Hunt (neural-stim) Angela Venezia |
| Actor: | Harvey Keitel |
| UK equivalent: | Gene Hunt |
| Spanish equivalent: | Joaquín Gallardo |
Lieutenant Gene Hunt was the ageing leader of the Homicide Division at Precinct 125 of the NYPD, and the superior officer of Det. Sam Tyler and his colleagues in 1973. He was often very corrupt and at times reveled in it. He also often went with his gut feeling rather than evidence. In reality, he was the father of Sam Tyler, Major Tom Tyler - one of the Aries Project astronauts who had been integrated into Tyler's virtual reality of 1973.
Personality[]
His only interest is keeping the streets safe by any means. He has little patience for procedure, and works on gut instinct. He drives a black 1972 Dodge Coronet Custom. It being the 1970s, he tends to disregard most of the rules and does whatever he sees fit to capture criminals and make sure they spend a good amount of time in jail. However, he does begin to change his ways slowly (in some cases) after working with Det. Sam Tyler. It is he who saves Sam from Vic Tyler, his "dad", in the series' finale.
In reality, "Gene Hunt" is actually "Major Tom" Tyler, Sam's real dad and one of five astronauts on board the Hyde 1-2-5 spaceship in the year 2035. His name in Sam's 1973 virtual reality world was based on the fact that the astronauts of the Hyde spaceship were heading to Mars on a mission to try to find genetic DNA for possible cures for cancer. In other words, they were on a hunt for genes (a "gene hunt"). That gave him his idea for "Gene's" name.
Trivia[]
- Major Tom is the name of a fictional spaceman created by David Bowie for his song "Space Oddity", who has entered into mainstream popular culture. The character was later referenced in the Bowie song "Ashes to Ashes" in 1980 and "Hallo Spaceboy" in 1996.
| Characters of Life on Mars (US) |
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      Det. Sam Tyler / Lt. Gene Hunt / Annie Norris / Det. Ray Carling / Det. Chris Skelton / Maya Daniels |