History Characters / ThunderBirds

* DistressedDamsel: From day one. She's been one of the rescuees in no less than six episodes, plus "Thunderbird 6".

* ColourCodedCharacters: The pilots wear unique pastel-coloured sashes and belts as part of their uniforms:
** Scott: light blue
** Virgil: yellow
** Alan: off-white
** Gordon: orange
** John: lilac
** Lady Penelope: pink (seen in promotional photos only)
** Brains: bronze (in ''Film/Thunderbird6'')
** Jeff: gold (in an ad for the charity Barnardo's)

* DependingOnTheWriter: Either a cool, collected badass who takes no shit from anyone, or a spoiled, pompous NeutralFemale who panics as soon as she fears she might get her hands dirty. Most episodes have her lean toward the first, fortunately.

* {{Bishounen}}: He's exceptionally pretty, although he still has the [[LanternJawOfJustice Tracy jawline]].

* BadassBaritone: Peter Dyneley, his VA, had one by default.

* BadassBaritone: Out of all the Tracy brothers, his voice is the deepest. As far as badass goes, he handles the heavy lifting.

* OverprotectiveDad: A strange example for a man who routinely sends his kids into danger. Explored in "[[Recap/ThunderbirdsS2E1AtlanticInferno Atlantic Inferno]]", when he goes on vacation and temporarily hands leadership over to Scott. Scott does well enough, but he can't stop himself from constantly worrying and meddling.

* FashionModel: In both major incarnations she is a fashion-model. Thus she has a groovy 1960's fashion sense (right down to [[CoolCar her pink Rolls-Royce]]), as well as give her reason to pop up anywhere in the world whenever the Tracy family needs her assistance in a mission. She just happened to be attending a show or gala nearby.

* AerithAndBob: Jeff Tracy's sons are named Scott, John, Gordon, Alan... and Virgil. All of them are named after the original US astronauts, the Mercury Seven, but fans of the Space Race will know Virgil Grissom better by his nickname: Gus.

* TheChick: Very much plays the role of the caring one. She is always trying to calm and reassure everyone.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Tin-Tin is no more Asian than Kyrano.

* ChristmasCake: Supplementary material usually give her age as late twenties or early thirties.

* BaldOfEvil: The Hood, the recurring villain of the show. While the Tracys developed their technology to help others, the Hood tries to steal it purely for power and profit. He does not care how many innocent lives are put in danger by his efforts and is even willing to torture his own brother, Kyrano, using his psychic powers to get the secrets of International Rescue. And the only time he has a hair on his head is when wearing one of his many disguises.

Voiced by: Ray Barrett (series and ''Thunderbirds Are Go''), Keith Alexander (''Thunderbird 6''), Jorge Lapuente (Latin American Spanish dub, series), Luis Alfonso Mendoza (Latin American Spanish dub, movie); Played by: Lex Shrapnel

Voiced by: Ray Barrett (series and ''Thunderbirds Are Go''), Gary Files (''Thunderbird 6'') , Gabriel Pingarrón (Latin American Spanish dub, movie); Played by Creator/BenKingsley

Voiced by: Ray Barrett

Voiced by: Ray Barrett

Voiced by: Ray Barrett

* CrossDressingVoices: Both Sylvia Anderson and Christine Finn couldn't find a good voice for the character. Ray Barrett asked if he could have a go. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity Ensued]].

Voiced by: Ray Barrett

Wilson voiced by: Ray Barrett

Voiced by: Ray Barrett

* AmbiguousSituation: His identity -is he the Hood or not? Confusingly, he is actually a Hood puppet with hair, but he's voiced by Gary Files, not Ray Barrett. On the commentary for Thunderbird 6, Sylvia Anderson refers to him as "Hood Jr.", but in context it's not clear if this a joke about his {{Expy}} status or a literal truth.

* CatchPhrase: Yes, m'lady.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: The part he plays.

* NonIdleRich: Like Jeff, she poses as a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob, but goes on plenty of adventures.

* BlueBlood: She comes from a line of aristocrats.

* BadassCrew[=/=]BadassFamily: Each one of the Tracys have a background specialising in the roles they play in a rescue.

* BaldOfEvil: He's the only bald character ever to appear in the series.

* TheAtoner: He was a master thief and a criminal in his past.

* ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: The fact alone that Jeff and his whole family live in a mansion on their personal South Pacific island would be impressive enough. That they can afford to research several technologies that no one else can replicate, then build, run and maintain a fleet of bleeding-edge rescue vehicles is off the chart. What kind of Fortune 500 company is Jeff running behind the scenes?

* AcePilot: All of them are aces at manning their own vehicles. They are skilled enough to fly each other's if need be, such as Alan piloting Thunderbird 1, Virgil piloting Thunderbird 3 and Scott piloting the Fireflash, a plane that isn't even part of the International Rescue fleet.

* AlwaysOnDuty: There are no shifts on Tracy Island. Each son is assigned his own Thunderbird, and if his is needed for a given rescue, day or night, he will jump into it and fly to help.
** Special mention to whoever is manning the radio on Thunderbird 5, who must be ready at all times to answer an emergency call. It strains belief that we only see poor John's sleep disturbed once in all the episodes.

* AerithAndBob: Jeff Tracy's sons are named Scott, John, Gordon, Alan... and Virgil. All of them are named after the original US astronauts, the Mercury Seven, but you might know Virgil Grissom better by his nickname: Gus.

* ActionGirl: As the organisation's secret agent, she is never afraid to put her life on the line to further a rescue operation and is ready to use lethal force to protect International Rescue's secrecy. Taken UpToEleven in the live action movie where she shows some serious martial arts prowess.