History Main / VehicleBasedCharacterization

** During the credits, Sans rides a tricycle faster than Papyrus riding a car. This little detail shows his CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass personality.

*** This can often apply to the entire factions; with the Autobots and Decepticons generally favoring contrasting themes for their vehicle modes (and the Decepticons generally choosing forms that are more aggressive). For instance, in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', the core team of Autobots are all various EmergencyServices ground vehicles, while the main Decepticons (with the exception of Blackarachnia, who is stuck with a beast form instead) are airborne military machines. In the ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'' (at least the first film), it's civilian vehicles versus heavy-duty military and police hardware.

* The presenters on ''Series/TheGrandTour'' once discussed that they believe Jaguar owners are {{Lovable Rogue}}s. They can "borrow" hotel towels, get out of a speeding ticket by exploiting their passport, etc. and get away with it because they own a Jaaaaaag...

* RiceBurner: A car equipped with (often tacky) modifications.

* {{Itasha}}: An {{otaku}}'s car is decked out in anime decals.

* ''{{Series/Firefly}}'': The ship ''Serenity'' is battered and has seen better days, just like Mal, her broken-down ex-soldier captain.

* ''Series/TedLasso'': Sam Obisanya drives a Tesla Model S, the electric car befitting a staunch environmentalist like him.

*** The various incarnations of Warpath often transform into some sort of tank, reflecting his function as Autobot heavy artillery. This is atypical for an autobot, among whom military vehicle modes are rare.

*** Knockout from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' is notable among the Decepticons for having a sports car alternate mode whereas the rest of Decepticon High Command all transform into aircraft. He explicitly explains he chose his alternate mode because he found it stylish.

* WhatAPieceOfJunk: When someone deliberately keeps a CoolCar looking like TheAllegedCar so others don't know what it's really capable of.

** Papyrus is a dreamer, keeping a car even while living in the Underground (where there is nowhere to ride), in hopes of getting to the surface one day. Papyrus is also eccentric, shown by him sleeping in this car.

Tying in with the Annoying Dog's nature as a trolling AuthorAvatar for Creator/TobyFox, it first appears in the flesh driving a toy car at a ludicrously fast speed, enough to instantly KO Kris.

** Lancer is a child who wants to look cool and edgy, so he sets his bike on fire.
** The Annoying Dog is an AuthorAvatar of Creator/TobyFox. The fact that he is a comedic character is emphasized by him driving a toy car. The fact that he is omnipotent is highlighted by him knocking Kris down with this car and then reviving them.

*** [[WesternAnimation/BeastWars Beast Megatron]] chose a Tyrannosaurus Rex as his alternate mode due to viewing it as the most powerful of the alternate modes available and thus most worthy of his choice.

*** Several of the ''Beast Wars'' cast explicitly renamed themselves to match their new forms. Examples include Cheetor (who transformed into a cheetah) and Rattrap (a rat).

* ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal'': A few vehicles have drivers with personalities to match, but this isn't always the case. The [[BadHumorTruck ice cream truck]] is driven by a serial MonsterClown, TheGrimReaper rides on [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels a motorcycle]], and the hearse has been driven by morbid individuals such as a mortician and a goth girl.

[[folder:Live-Action Television]]

[[folder:Franchise]]

*** The various incarnations of Warpath often transform into some sort of tank, reflecting his function as Autobot heavy artillery.

* HummerDinger: Someone, likely with TestosteronePoisoning or CompensatingForSomething, drives a huge SUV.

* The '70s LighterAndSofter anime adaptation of ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' makes Akira a biker as a shorthand for his strong, rebellious nature, since it couldn't show him reveling in violence like his manga counterpart.

** Papyrus is a dreamer, keeping a car even while living in the Underground (where is nowhere to ride), in hopes of getting to the surface one day. Papyrus is also eccentric, shown by him sleeping in this car.

* ''Anime/TheBigO'': The two Megadeuses that Beck pilots demonstrate how inflated his ego is. The first one, the Beck Victory Deluxe, is plated gold, and has a ridiculous-looking crown on its head. The second one, Beck the Great [=RX3=], is a gaudy-looking CombiningMecha that wouldn't look out of place in a SuperRobot setting. Both are easily destroyed by Roger's Big O with little effort.
* The 70's LighterAndSofter anime adaptation of ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' makes Akira a biker as a shorthand for his strong, rebellious nature, since it couldn't show him reveling in violence like his manga counterpart.

*** Several incarnations of Bumblebee (except for his movie counterpart) transform into fairly innocuous vehicles, helping his function as a spy. Examples of this include the Volkswagen Beetle mode he originally started out with, while in the ''Alternity'' toyline he updated into the ubiquitous Suzuki Swift (a car that's a familiar sight on many roads in Japan and other parts of Asia).

*** When the Dinobot Grimlock was given a car mode as part of the ''Alternity'' toyline, his alternate mode was a Ford Mustang. This reflected his "brute force" mentality, as the Mustang was viewed as a powerful muscle car compared to the other characters like Starscream with his sleek super car mode or the aforementioned Bumblebee and his unassuming Suzuki Swift form.

* ''Series/Stingray1985'' features a hero-for-hire known only as Ray that aids those caught in the crossfire of villainy. Ray drives a black 1965 Corvette Stingray that's sleek, fast, powerful, and stealthy, much like the covert detective work Ray performs.

** ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'': The SU-32 that Mihaly flies is a state of the art aircraft equipped with the latest technologies such as thrust vectoring that not only reflects his determination to fly, but also his skill as a fighter pilot. [[spoiler:The X-02 Strike Wyvern that he flies in his final showdown with Trigger further demonstrates his drive to keep flying, as its much more advanced than the SU-32, and is even equipped with a railgun that Mihaly uses to good use.]]

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'': The three protagonists, by default, own vehicles that reflect their vastly different lifestyles. Wealthy family man Michael drives a Tailgater, an upper-class sedan. Franklin, a repo worker and street racer, drives the sporty Buffalo S; he also ends up taking ownership of a green Bagger motorcycle, which befits his association with the Families gang. Then there's Trevor, a meth head who runs a drug and gun enterprise out in the desert, who owns a rugged Bodhi pickup truck. Incidentally, the Bodhi's alleged history as a military vehicle complements Trevor's past service in the air force.

** ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'': The U.S.S. ''Defiant'', which is assigned to Sisko and [=DS9=] in Season 3, is not a conventional multipurpose starship, but rather a PintSizedPowerhouse warship. Not the kind of thing Kirk or Picard would appreciate, but for a KnightInSourArmor like Sisko, it's a match made in heaven.

** Papyrus is a dreamer, keeping a car even while living in the Underground (where there is nowhere to ride), in hopes of getting to the surface one day. Papyrus is also eccentric, shown by him sleeping in this car.

* BadassBiker: Bikers can strongly independent and capable of holding their own in a fight

* 70's LighterAndSofter anime adaptation of ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' made Akira a biker to use it as a shorthand for hist strong, rebelious nature, since it couldn't show him revel in violence like his manga counterpart.

* ''Anime/TheBigO'': The two Megadeuses that Beck pilots demonstrates how inflated his ego is. The first one, the Beck Victory Deluxe, is plated gold, and has a ridiculous-looking crown on its head. The second one, Beck the Great [=RX3=], is a gaudy-looking CombiningMecha that wouldn't look out of place in a SuperRobot setting. Both are easily destroyed by Roger's Big O with little effort.

* ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'': Pod racing on Tatooine approaches WackyRacing levels of diversity, as there's little commonality among the podcraft. One outstanding case is Ben Quadinaros, a four-armed alien whose pod is powered by four engines rather than the usual two. Presumably, these engines can be individually controlled, as Ben has four arms: one for each engine. This hardly matters, as at the start of the race, his power couplings fail, sending the four engines careening wildly while Ben sits in his pod immobile.

*** Drillhorn of ''Anime/TransformersVictory'' transforms into a DrillTank. He has "drill" in his name and while officially his function is strategist he's also the Decepticon siege expert. Additionally, one of his noted weaknesses is that once he's set on a course of action it's very difficult to get him to change direction: the same problem one would have with a drill

* ''ComicBook/{{Archie}}'' Andrews is a typical American teenager, with lots of ambition but not much funding. His jalopy is the cheapest possible automobile that borders on TheAllegedCar, the perfect vehicle for a StarvingArtist musician playing local gigs for pittance or charity.

* {{Discussed}} in ''All The Other Things I Really Needed To Know I Learned From Watching Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. Author Dave Marinaccio comments on how cars say who the driver is and isn't and comments on how silly the concept is. He says how Creator/GeneRoddenberry focused on the character of the ''Enterprise'' crew members instead of giving them cars to judge them by.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain Walter White]] drives a gray-green [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Aztek Pontiac Aztek]], a "sport recreational vehicle" that became an infamous flop. Practical yet forgettable, it matches the mild-mannered family man he is at the beginning of the series.

* {{Invoked}} in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', where Gerald buys a Prius and becomes a smug, holier-than-thou prick who begins to hand out tickets for polluting before relocating his family to San Francisco for a more open-minded community. In order to get Kyle back, Stan convinces the town to all buy Priuses, causing all of them to turn smug and cause an ecological "smug" disaster in the process.
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[[folder:Anime/Manga]]

* ''Animation/{{Oddbods}}'': Each of the main seven Oddbods have a vehicle that supports their personalities:

* ''ComicBooks/{{Archie}}'' AndrewsAndrews is a typical American teenager, with lots of ambition but not much funding. His jalopy is the cheapest possible automobile that borders on TheAllegedCar, the perfect vehicle for a StarvingArtist musician playing local gigs for pittance or charity.