The A-Team

Just don't ask what the B-Team is like.

"I love it when a plan comes together."

—Hannibal

The A-Team is a U.S. action series, showing the exploits of framed former soldiers trying to do good while evading the government.

The Canon

Television Series

The A-Team is a TV show that ran from 1983 till 1987. It sits in the tradition of other Reagan-era TV shows where violence is the answer. The heroes of the show are four Vietnam veterans. Three of them were arrested at the end of the war for "a crime they did not commit" and were sent to a military stockade. They escaped, went underground and survived as soldiers of fortune. The fourth member of the Team had snapped a little earlier and was sent to a psychiatric hospital. A recurring theme on the show is breaking him out to go on missions.

The Characters

Hannibal

Lieutenant-Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith is the leader of the Team. He's the man with the plan and often seen clenching a cigar between his teeth; when not on a mission he's an actor in B-movies. He also loves to dress up and disguise himself to check whether people contacting them are legitimate or whether they've been sent by the military police. Though the audience can usually see through Hannibal's disguises, the characters on the show never do.

Murdock

Captain H.M. "Howlin' Mad" Murdock is the Team's pilot and by his own admission can fly anything that has wings. Helicopters don't appear to be a problem either. Murdock's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder seems to manifest itself in alternative personalities for himself and/or assigning personality to inanimate objects. It's unclear whether his insanity is an act or real—despite his quirks, he functions very well within the Team and on missions.

Murdock has shown some ability to notice and—even after being neuralyzed—remember agents who PPC A-Team fics. At one point, he was deputized by Agent Allison Carter (who was later disciplined for doing this).

A sampling of common A-Team tropes. A) A vehicle. B) An explosion. C) A vehicle that causes explosions. Bonus points for falling.

Face

Lieutenant Templeton "Faceman" Peck is the con man of the Team. He can organize anything from anyone. He's the pretty boy with the smooth talk. The ladies' man. The man the bad guys like to punch most.

B.A.

Sergeant Bosco "Bad Attitude" Baracus is a big man with a mohawk and forty-five pounds of gold around his neck. The King of Bling, before bling became a pop-culture reference. He's the Team's mechanic and driver.

Amy Allen

Amy is a journalist that tracked the Team down and got caught up in their cause. She often accompanied the Team on missions until she was written out of the show.

Tawnia Baker

Also a journalist. Short-lived replacement of Amy.

Decker

Lieutenant-Colonel Roderik Decker is a member of the military police. His mission is to capture the A-Team. He often fails and when he doesn't the Team still manages to escape. Hannibal knew him in Vietnam and wasn't too impressed with his methods then.

Stockwell

General Stockwell made the Team work for him after they were saved from a firing squad.

Frankie

Frankie "Dishpan" Santana is a Special Effects man that was added to the Team in the fifth season of the show.

Movie

Moving the action to the 21st century, this 2010 movie tells the story of how the Team got together, how they got accused of a crime they did not commit, and how they escaped and became fugitives. In short, the movie tells the story that was only mentioned in the TV show.

Aside from updating the war the A-Team fought in (Iraq, where previously, it was Vietnam), a few other changes have been made, too. The Team are no longer Special Forces, but Rangers, and Lynch is a CIA man that's after them, not a colonel in the military.

The characters of the Team are a good deal the same in movie and TV show, except updated for the new era.

The A-Team in Badfic

The Team always help out the underdog: people (often with small businesses) that are harassed by local bullies. In a way the A-Team are the protectors of the American dream. This gives Sues access to the Team in two ways:

The Victim

Victim!Sue hires the Team to help her. Additionally, the Sue can be a family member or an old friend of one of the Team, usually Murdock. A few of these Sues have displayed fighting skills and ingenuity to degrees such that the Team shouldn't have needed to rescue them at all.

The New Team Member

New Team members come in many forms. Often they are military women that are forced on the Team or asked to join by the Team. On occasion a Victim!Sue is made a Team member so she can be better protected. One time the new member was Murdock's six year old daughter. Often the new member will get romantically involved with Murdock.

Slash

Slash stories often involve Face and Murdock: Murdock professes his love for Face and Face suddenly realizes he likes Murdock that way, too. Less common is slashfic involving Hannibal and Face, which has the added bonus that fanon sees Hannibal as Face's (surrogate) father, and Hannibal/Murdock. Still less common is slash involving B.A. But B.A. also gets very little love from the Sues.

In the movie's fandom, Face is somehow shipped even more than his TV counterpart.

The A-Team in the PPC

Minis from the A-Team TV series are called mini-Deckers. Agent Trent started out as a child under the (neglectful, abusive) care of a very OOC A-Team, and now cares for the mini-Deckers.

Missions in this Continuum

Note: All missions take place in the television canon unless otherwise stated.

• Agents Allison Carter and Tasmin Haynes (DMS - Rare Fandoms)
  • "The Unexpected Family" (alternative links)
  • "Past Meets Future" (alternative links)
  • "How can this happen to me" (alternative links)
  • "A life I never had" (alternative links)
  • "The Darkest Night" (alternative links)
  • "Dragon's Eye" (alternative links)
  • "Deserved Payment" (alternative links)
  • "A Few Glitches" (set of alternative links)
  • "Revenge isn't so Sweet" (alternative links)
  • "Deception," Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 (alternative LiveJournal links; alternative fanfiction.net links)
  • "Say 'Uncle'" (alternative links)
  • "You are my Sunshine" (alternative links)
  • "A Chance for a New Life" (alternative links)
  • "Angel's Lullabye" (alternative links) (crossover with General Hospital)
  • "More Glitches" (alternative link set)
  • "Beware of Darkness" (alternative links)
  • "A Bad Dream" (alternative link set)
  • "New Recruits" (alternative links)
  • "You Lift Me Up" & "Flying Lessons" (alternative links)
  • "A Night To Remember" (alternative links)
  • "Penny and Sky King" (alternative links)
  • "Loose Ends" (alternative links)
  • "Over the River" (alternative links)
  • "Please Don't Ever Leave Me" (alternative links)
  • "Viva Las Suckas" (alternative links)
  • "Love Never Dies" (alternative links)
  • "BA the Mechanic" (alternative links)
  • "The Look Of Love" (alternative link)
  • "A Little Loony Girl" (alternative link)
  • "After the Sunset" (alternative link)
  • "Cleaning This Gun" (alternative link)
  • "Loyalty" (alternative link)
  • "Winners No Matter What" (alternative link)
  • "The Back Up Team" (alternative link) (movieverse), Allison with Agent Trent