Max Sterling is a Veritech pilot from the Robotech/Macross series. His mecha is a VF-1J model; it has a blue paint scheme with white highlights. He has blue-green hair and wore glasses. He was never shot down in combat. He first appeared in Sweet Sixteen, episode number 8.
He and Ben Dixon were the two new recruit pilots assigned to Rick Hunter for his first command position. Their squadron was known as Vermillion Squadron. Max quickly demonstrated his mastery of piloting by scoring more kills on his first mission than any of his flight mates. However, his expertise was also noticed by the enemy Zentraedi.
After he defeated the Zentraedi ace Miriya in combat, she became obsessed with seeking revenge. She volunteered to be micronized and inserted into the SDF-1 as a spy. However, she secretly intended to seek out and kill the Micronian pilot that humiliated her. Max happened to run into her at a local arcade and defeated her in a game that simulated space combat. After this, she realized that this was the same pilot she sought.
Max found Miriya to be quite attractive and asked her out on a date. She agreed to meet him in the park, but laid a trap for him. When he arrived, she attacked him with a knife. He was able to subdue her, but instead of turning her in to the authorities, decided to fulfill the anime need for cookiness and proposed to her.
Their marriage was met with skepticism, but was a demonstration of how there was hope for peace between the humans and Zentraedi. They flew together on missions and had a child Dana Sterling who went on to become one of the main characters in the second installment of Robotech, the Robotech Masters, or Southern Cross as the original anime series was named.
After the defeat of Khyron, Max and Miriya joined the Robotech Expeditionary Force to seek out new technologies in order to defend the Earth from future alien invasions. They left Dana on Earth, but did have another daughter while in space.