It's a common idea that a film’s protagonist should be flawed and that they should undergo character development through which they overcome those flaws. So, it makes sense that naval aviator Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) would be the protagonist of Top Gun; despite his skill as a pilot, he has the most to learn out of all his peers. He and his best friend Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards) are sent by their commanding officer to attend TOPGUN, an elite Naval Fighters Weapons School for the best pilots in the navy. At the school, his rival is top student Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer). Top Gun paints Iceman as an antagonist in Maverick’s story, and at the end of the film, it is Maverick who saves the day and gets all the glory. And yet Iceman is just as essential to the success of this final mission for which Maverick gets all this acclaim. Iceman, whose unmatched skill as a pilot can only be surpassed by his common sense and concern for his teammates, not only receives no credit for his heroism but is painted as an enemy by Top Gun’s plot. Compared to Maverick, Iceman is the more heroic individual, more admirable both as a pilot and as a character.
Iceman Is More Level-Headed Than Maverick
Though Maverick is also an excellent pilot, he is rightly criticized for being reckless and for flying as though he has something to prove. Meanwhile, Iceman is not only skilled; he is a cool, collected, teammate whom others can trust in the heat of battle. Maverick is talented, but he's not a team player: while his classmates admire his flying, they don't feel that they can trust him in a combat situation. Maverick does little to disprove this when, during a training flight, he leaves his wingman to chase his commanding officer, Viper's (Tom Skerritt), plane. The value of teamwork is shown when Viper maneuvers Maverick into a position in which Viper's wingman can shoot Maverick. Learning to be a team player is all part of Maverick’s arc as a character, and the film does not deny this weakness of his, instead making it part of his growth to overcome these flaws.
When Maverick does undergo his requisite character development, his personal growth is largely due to the fact that he becomes more like Iceman: During the final conflict, he stops himself from allowing his emotions to dictate his actions and becomes Iceman’s wingman when his first wingman is shot down. It would be one thing if Maverick acknowledged that part of his rivalry with Iceman was the knowledge that he actually did have something to learn from him. After all, we often resent people who highlight our greatest weaknesses–especially if they’re right about what those weaknesses are. However, the film never acknowledges any such feeling on Maverick’s part; instead, Iceman continues to be a competitor until Maverick rescues him in the end. When Maverick achieves those traits, he’s a hero; however, Iceman, who had them all along, is supposedly a bully.
Iceman's Resentment Towards Maverick Is Justified
Rather than being about who’s more skilled, Iceman’s beef with Maverick is that he poses a threat to his fellow pilots. From their first meeting, Iceman is rightly wary of both Maverick’s tendency to leave others in the dust and of his presence at TOPGUN after the spot was supposed to go to Maverick’s former wingman Cougar (John Stockwell)–a good friend of Iceman's in flight school. And to be honest, these two things in tandem are fairly suspicious. Tellingly, Iceman almost immediately brings up his regret over Cougar during their first conversation, additionally saying that he hears Maverick likes to work alone. In a class, Maverick brags about being in a 4G inverted dive with a MiG-28 plane. Afterward, Iceman tells Maverick “I’m curious… Who was covering Cougar while you were showboating with this MiG?” In light of the fact that Cougar turned in his wings after the mission, with the result that Maverick (however unwittingly) got his place in TOPGUN, Maverick’s response to Iceman that “Cougar was doing just fine” rings false.