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Television
Film

"I love it when a plan comes together!"

- Hannibal's catchphrase.

Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith is the leader of the A-Team who appeared on the NBC-TV series The A-Team. He was played by actor George Peppard.

Biography[]

As a child, Hannibal enjoyed waiting on Christmas Eve even more than he enjoyed opening presents the next morning.[1]

The A-Team is a group of ex-United States Army Special Forces who were wrongly convicted of a crime during the Vietnam War. Managing to escape from the military police, they fled to Los Angeles, where, as fugitives, the A-Team work as soldiers of fortune, using their military training to fight oppression and injustice. Hannibal, along with H.M Murdock, B. A. Baracus, and Templeton "Faceman" Peck make up the A-Team.

Abilities[]

The skill that Hannibal is most famous for is his strategic ability. He nearly always has an equally crazy and brilliant plan that gets the goals of the mission done.

He styles himself a "master of disguise", though his skill lay not so much in how convincing his disguise was, but in his ability to assume any role and convince others that his role is genuine. Most episodes begin with the prospective clients coming to meet the A-Team, and instead, being introduced to one of Hannibal's comic aliases. Hannibal uses his various disguises to screen all the A-Team's potential clients to assure they were not fronts for the military—sometimes playing more than one at a time. Clients often make reference to a Mr. Lee, the owner of a Chinese laundromat who tells them where to meet the team.

Hannibal is also an aspiring actor, playing monsters in low-budget horror movies (being a fugitive, he can only choose roles in which his face cannot be seen). His many roles include "Gatorella", "Killgator" (Uncle Buckle-Up) and his most famous, "The Aquamaniac" (Mexican Slayride, Season 3 Breakout). Naturally, Hannibal secures his roles playing his own agent; somehow always 'eluding' the Producer of his true identity.

Hannibal knows how to drive a bus,[2] a semi,[3] and a motorcycle.[4] He knows how to parachute[5] and SCUBA dive.[6] He can communicate in Morse code.[7] He knows how to ride a horse.[8]

He can speak broken Spanish.[9]

Mr. Lee[]

The owner of a Chinese laundromat, who often makes use of clichéd Chinese proverbs. Mr. Lee only appears onscreen in the pilot episode "Mexican Slayride: Part 1". However, the alias of Mr. Lee is often referred to throughout the series by clients and by the team itself. Typically "Mr. Lee" is the first one to screen potential clients and then refers them to a second location to meet a second liaison on behalf of the team.

Romantic relationships[]

  • Dr. Maggie Sullivan (season 1 episode 6 Black Day at Bad Rock) - In an uncharacteristic moment in the series, it is Hannibal who is capable of seducing the episode's leading female role, rather than Face. The character of Maggie Sullivan returns in (Season 2 episode 21 Deadly Maneuvers), where Hannibal and the doctor still seem to care for one another.
  • Anne Sanders (season 3 episode 4 Fire!) - The A-Team is hired by a female firefighter who is capable of challenging Hannibal. The sexual tension between the two rises throughout the episode, and Hannibal gives into a short fling with the woman. She is not seen afterward again.

Memorable Quotes[]

Hannibal: "I love it when a plan comes together!"

Hannibal: Remember, it's always darkest just before it goes totally black.[10]

Hannibal: I'm a man who always goes against the stream.

Trivia[]

  • Hannibal survived one of Ho Chi Min's death camps.[11]
  • Frankie is the only character who refers to him as "Johnny".

References[]

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