* Behold Clifford "Kip" Russell, TheDeterminator in its finest form.
** As a first, relatively minor example, his efforts to win the Skyway Soap contest.
** He then goes the extra mile to get Oscar completely space worthy, even to the point of stocking the onboard first aid kit's drug supply.
** Marching for forty miles across the Lunar surface, with Mother Thing riding piggyback inside his suit, while keeping Pee Wee going (and alive) despite her woefully inadequate tourist suit wins him full marks for effort, even if they do get recaptured at the end of the trek.
** Walking out into an impossibly cold Plutonian night and nearly freezing to near-death to try and retrieve the Mother Thing and finish her task helps.
** Not to mention how Kip deals with a wounded Wormface, ''squish''.
** And when Kip learns he's been given amnesty if they decide to destroy Earth, he insists on going back before they carry out the sentence.
** When he gets back to Earth, in true Heinlein fashion, Kip denies doing anything heroic, chalking it up to luck and help from others. Pee Wee's dad sets him straight.
* [[BadassAdorable Mother Thing]], she didn't even bother wearing a spacesuit when going out on Pluto's surface.
* You've gotta love Centurion Iunio. The man is a total JerkAss, but that's ''why'' you cheer for him. His shining moment comes when he loses his temper and lets his javelin fly. It missed of course, but it no doubt beat all the Olympic records.
--> '''Iunio''': I'll make a funeral pyre of you! I'll temper my blade in your guts! I who am about to die, will show you a Roman's grave-piled high with Caesar's enemies!
** And if that quote didn't convince you how awesome he is, he says this little gem as he's being dragged off to an unknown fate[[labelnote:*]]Safe transport back to his own time, but ''he'' doesn't know that[[/labelnote]], smiling all the while.
--> '''Kip''': Goodbye Iunio!
--> '''Iunio''': (''[[NotSoAboveItAll spots the kids and smiles]]'') [[DefiantToTheEnd Farewell, boy! They're cowards!]]
** Of course, this all happens as Kip and Peewee cheer for him unashamedly.
* The Three Galaxies council asks who will 'speak' for humanity. Mother Thing speaks up (heartwarming, but no surprise.) Then a random creature, a sort of green space-monkey, stands and says, essentially, "Their species seems immature, aggressive, and unpredictable. But so did mine once, and so did all of yours. I say they get their chance to grow up."
* The story finishes with Kip [[FoodSlap throwing a milkshake in the local bully's face.]]
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