Is Jester a coward for diving below the hard deck during that first dogfight?

Yes. Not willing to take the L so he pusses out.

Jester should have been considered destroyed as soon as be broke the hard deck and Maverick awarded the points.

Jester had no chest.

No, Jester was not a coward. He tested Maverick’s response to a real life danger that has killed many pilots - getting fixated on their targets and losing situational awareness. There was no excuse for Maverick to go below the hard deck once Jester died by doing so himself. Maverick learned a valuable lesson that day.

Jester completely pussied out and Maverick was 100% correct in chasing that pussy below the hard deck and finishing him off. There ain't no hard deck in real combat!!

I always took it as they were testing Maverick’s ability to follow orders. They knew he could fly with the best of them, but could he be trusted to stick to the mission.

Technically, from what I've read, diving below the hard deck is the equivalent of slamming your plane into the ground.

Someone did a good write-up on it. Intentionally going below the hard deck is considered an automatic loss, but you get warnings if you get close and a lot of times they just reset the dogfight if it's unintentional.

Basically Maverick chasing him to the hard deck was a race to see who could slam into the ground the fastest.



That being said, they used the hard deck incorrectly - they state that "there will be no engagement below the hard deck", implying it's a safe zone. I guess that's technically true, as your opponent just kamikazed himself to avoid you getting the kill.

100%