Background The character Kara Thrace had intended to be a professional Pyramid ball player until her knee gave out. She eventually joined the military, where she found more acceptance than she had felt at home as an abused child.[4] Although Kara's mother, Socrata Thrace, had served as a Marine Sergeant Major in the First Cylon War, Kara was the first person in the family to become a commissioned officer. Socrata was not content with her daughter's military record, however, claiming she was not disciplined enough, and she was wasting her natural talent for flying. Kara's father, Dreilide Thrace, was a piano player. He left the family when she was a child.