Character Relationship Map: Terminal Entry

Characters

• Bob (played by Patrick Labyorteaux) — protagonist

  A Caltech student who joins his friends in trying to access the password-protected game Terminal Entry. He discovers the password by recognizing numbers associated with Lady Electric, then unwittingly...

• Col. Styles (played by Yaphet Kotto) — supporting

  An Army officer working with Captain Jackson on the terrorist threat. He and Jackson brief General Stewart and request more men to protect the border. Styles is part of the anti-terrorism effort that...

• Capt. Danny Jackson (played by Edward Albert) — supporting

  An Army captain who works with Colonel Styles to report the terrorist situation and protect the border. He prevents an attempt on General Stewart while escorting him to a hotel, then helps the Army tr...

• Chris (played by Heidi Helmer) — supporting

  A Caltech student who is part of the group involved with the computer games and the weekend retreat. Gwen is identified as his friend and is invited to join the retreat. After the students access Term...

• Terrorist Commander (played by Kabir Bedi) — supporting

  The commander of the terrorist network, who watches a television interview with General Stewart and orders a hit on him. He coordinates the operation with his leader, while the Army tracks his communi...

• Dominique (played by Tracy Brooks Swope) — supporting

  A reporter who interviews General Stewart on television and is Captain Jackson's girlfriend. Her broadcast draws the attention of the terrorist commander, who orders a hit on the general. Jackson is l...

• Lady Electric (played by Barbara Edwards) — supporting

  A figure in Bob's daydream at the start of the film, where she and Bob are chased through a corridor and fall to their deaths in an elevator before he wakes. Later, the measurements she gave him provi...

• Gwen (played by Jill Terashita) — supporting

  A friend of Chris who is invited to join the students' weekend retreat. Back at the dorm, when the group is close to giving up on Dr. Fly, Gwen beats the game with a single command. She later joins th...

• Tom (played by Rob Stone) — supporting

  A member of the student group who suspects that Terminal Entry was set up by people at MIT. He decides to crack its password and play it during a planned weekend in the mountains. The group eventually...

• Hassan (played by Michael Saad) — minor
• Stewart (played by Paul L. Smith) — minor

  A general who receives a briefing from Colonel Styles and Captain Jackson about the terrorist situation. Initially unconvinced by their request for more men to protect the border, he decides to fly ou...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Capt. Danny Jackson → Dominique (Romantic Partner) — Their romantic relationship creates a personal cost within the counterterrorism plot.

  Dominique is identified as Captain Jackson's love interest. Jackson is distressed when he receives an order to have her assassinated.

• Col. Styles → Capt. Danny Jackson (Professional Military Partner) — Styles and Jackson coordinate the military response.

  Styles and Jackson jointly brief Stewart about the terrorist situation and request additional personnel to protect the border.

• Terrorist Commander → Hassan (Professional Network Associate) — Hassan is connected to the commander's terrorist communication network.

  The army unit impersonates Hassan after Hassan is killed, using his identity to infiltrate the terrorist communication network monitored by the comman...

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Col. Styles → Bob (Alliance Rescuer) — Styles's unit saves Bob and the students during the house assault.

  The anti-terrorist unit, led within the military response by Styles and Jackson, rescues the students from the terrorists and eradicates the threat.

• Terrorist Commander → Dominique (Conflict Assassination Target) — Dominique is targeted through the terrorist operation against Jackson.

  The army infiltrates the terrorist network, and Jackson becomes distraught after being ordered to have his girlfriend Dominique assassinated.

• Capt. Danny Jackson → Terrorist Commander (Conflict Enemy Officer) — Jackson opposes the commander's network through military counterterrorism operations.

  Jackson is part of the army unit tracking the terrorist communication network and later participates in the operation that defeats the terrorist threa...

• Col. Styles → Terrorist Commander (Conflict Enemy Commander) — Styles helps lead the effort against the terrorist commander.

  Styles participates in the anti-terrorism operation that locates and assaults the commander's warehouse command post.

• Capt. Danny Jackson → Stewart (Alliance Protector) — Jackson protects Stewart from the terrorist hit.

  Captain Jackson circumvents the commander's assassination plan while escorting Stewart to his hotel.

• Terrorist Commander → Stewart (Conflict Assassination Target) — The commander directs an assassination attempt against Stewart.

  After watching Stewart interviewed on television, the terrorist commander orders a hit on the general. Captain Jackson prevents the assassination atte...

• Bob → Terrorist Commander (Conflict Adversary) — Bob becomes an unwitting opponent of the terrorist command structure.

  The students unknowingly issue commands through the commander's terrorist program, while the commander assigns them control before escaping the wareho...

• Bob → Tom (Alliance Teammate) — They cooperate as members of the same hacker group.

  Bob and Tom are part of the student group that selects Terminal Entry and later plays it during the mountain vacation.

• Bob → Chris (Social Friend) — Bob and Chris belong to the same student gaming group.

  The students play computer games together, and Gwen is described as a friend of Chris who was invited to the weekend retreat with the group.

• Bob → Lady Electric (Narrative Imagined Guide) — Lady Electric functions as Bob's recurring imaginative guide.

  Bob initially experiences Lady Electric in a daydream. During the final attack, the voice in his head representing Lady Electric tells him to return t...

• Chris → Gwen (Social Friend) — Chris invites Gwen into the student retreat and gaming circle.

  Gwen is explicitly described as a friend of Chris and is invited to the group's weekend retreat.

• Bob → Gwen (Alliance Teammate) — Gwen becomes part of Bob's group during the central computer-game crisis.

  Gwen joins Bob and the other students at the weekend retreat, where they attempt to access Terminal Entry together.

Story Analysis

A student computer game becomes a terrorist command system, forcing hackers and military operatives into parallel struggles against an escalating attack.

Plot Progression

1. A Password-Protected Challenge — Bob and his friends struggle with computer games before selecting the password-protected Terminal Entry from the Outlaw BBS. Tom proposes cracking it during their mountain vacation.
2. The Military Counterstrike — Styles and Jackson warn Stewart about terrorism, while the terrorist commander targets Stewart after seeing a television interview. Jackson prevents the planned hotel assassination.
3. Networks And Hidden Orders — The army locates the terrorist bulletin board and impersonates Hassan to infiltrate it. Jackson is personally shaken when Dominique becomes an assassination target.
4. The Game Opens — At the mountain retreat, brute-force attempts fail until an accidental keyboard entry reveals the password. The students enter a complex program they mistake for a game.
5. Commands Become Terror — The terrorist commander escapes the warehouse assault after assigning the students control. Their commands produce real-world attacks, eventually placing the students themselves on a hit list.
6. Rescue Before The Final Entry — The students prepare to defend the retreat house when terrorists attack. The anti-terrorist unit rescues them, and Bob returns to the computer to claim victory while the military recognizes that the w...