Lynx

Overview:
The main character of the game. His face is never shown nor does he ever talk. It appears Lynx is his codename, as the squad chooses to use them during missions. Lynx's name is changed to Cheetah by his squad mates after he takes over as Captain. Cheetah is considered a superior and quite feared ace by the enemy, nicknamed the Black Cat because of the black cat painted on the back of the planes he flies. At the end of the game, Cheetah is called Teacher, suggesting that he is the character of the same name from the film.

Though the player is allowed to choose which aircraft to fly, it appears the canonical choice is either a Sanka or possibly a Suiga, as he is shown next to one at the end of the game. Assuming he did in fact defect, he switches to the Skyly J-5.

Personality
Lynx's personality is rather mysterious, but it can be assumed that he is a strong-willed, cool-headed pilot. As he gets promoted to squadron captain early in his career, he would most likely be a more caring, considerate leader who makes sure everyone in his squadron is alright and flying as a team. Given his presumably confident, boisterous attitude, it is likely that he comes from a simple background and has an interest in flying from an early age.

Yamasaki and Lynx also seem to become close to each other, given that the captain gives his younger protege special assignments during his early missions.

During his later missions, however, he is reputed to have become more somber and melancholy, not surprising since he has lost many of his fellow pilots in a very short time.

By the time of the movie and his defection, he appears to have become much colder. In the opening scene he strafes an ejected Rostock pilot.

Trivia

 * Although Lynx's exact age is never given, it is possible that he is around his late teens or early twenties, given his friendship with Kaida and one of the other pilots who says "Guess the new generation's taking over."
 * At the start of the game, the other members of the squadron call him "Lynx"; after he is named captain, the older pilots call him "Lynx" and "Cheetah" while the Kildren pilots call him "Captain". However, eventually, Orishina starts calling him "Cheetah" as well.
 * After the mission to destroy the Amoebic Cannon where he shoots down Lieutenant Kaida he and the remaining members of the squad, all of whom are Kildren, go on a mission into Mt. Tokatsu to destroy an enemy reserves base. When Hiroto attempts to speak to him he chooses to remain silent, which could imply that he's still really broken up about having to shoot down Kaida.
 * Various rumors can be found on the Internet that Cheetah is in fact the dreaded ace known as the Teacher from the movie. Given that the video game takes place a period of time before the movie, it's possible. If true, his defection is most likely the result of the losses of so many of his comrades in such a short time, and how the Rostock government thought little of them.
 * During the final battle, various unnamed pilots on both sides refer to him by name, either as "Cheetah" or "Black Cat", indicating that by this time his reputation as Rostock's best ace is wide spread.
 * He is basically a parody of the unnamed protagonists in Ace Combat, including Mobius One, Cipher, Blaze, Talisman and Gryphus One and garuda one