The heroes of the show, the Lightning Knights are interdimensional superheroes/policemen who guard the Sixth Dimension from evil. Their authority spreads to other worlds when Ace Lightning chases Lord Fear to Earth. While only five members are introduced in the series, the show's creator revealed that there were more Lightning Knights, some of which are stronger than Ace and Random Virus combined.
Ace Lightning
The titular character and main protagonist alongside his sidekick Mark. A superhero Lightning Knight from the Sixth Dimension, Ace Lightning follows Lord Fear and his gang to the real world to capture the villains and restore the broken Amulet of Zoar. However, his time on Earth alters his original programming, and dates Lady Illusion, as well as gaining unstable human emotions.
Brainwashed and Crazy: In Episode 13, Ace is turned into a zombie by Googler's sockpuppets. He goes a bit loopy when he first gets his unstable emotions in the second season.
Brought Down to Normal: In Episode 7, Ace's superpowers are removed by Zip and Snip, and he has to walk around disguised as a masked police officer.
Catch Phrase: The code of the Lightning Knights: "Do right and fear not."
Characterization Marches On: Ace starts off as a wisecracking and heroic superhero, but over time he becomes more human during his experiences in the real world.
In Season 2, Ace's original, already faultering programming is destroyed when Lady Illusion gives him real human emotions, making him undergoe a variety of changes.
Chaste Hero: Ace admits he's never flirted before. And he's a 32-year old. However, this can be justified since he is a video game character and his programming likely didn't involve romance.
Dating Catwoman: Ace dates Lady Illusion, although it is in secret for most of the first season. It is hinted from a line by Ace to Lady Illusion ("Still wanna brag about you power, playmate?") that the two characters spent time together as children.
Fish out of Water: Ace is bamboozled by Earth, often fiddling with technology in Mark's house and destroying it. He also gates a hatred for garden gnomes, although this stems from an encounter with living gnomes in the Sixth Dimension. Ace again fits this trope when he experiences his new emotions in the second season.
Heroic BSOD: Ace literally has one when he is frozen in place when a virus interrupts a data transfer. Lady Illusion snaps him out of it with their First Kiss.
Lightning Gun: Ace has two "wrist cannons" which can fire his electrical attacks.
The Nicknamer: He often gives nicknames to the villains, although this is shared with Lord Fear who gives nicknames to his own minions.
Ring of Fire: Subverted. In the second season, Ace gains an ability called "Ring of Flame" which projects small rings of fire.
Running Gag: Ace often breaks objects in Mark's house, usually out of curiosity although some cases he thinks he has done wrong and breaks them. Mark's parents never learn how the objects break and blame "shoddy American construction." Such victims of Ace's curiosity include a blender, Mark's backdoor, the handle of a fridge, Mark's bedroom window, and a running machine owned by Mark's mother Fiona. Ace also destroys several garden gnomes, and a hand dryer in the school.
Shock and Awe: Ace uses lightning in all of his battles and can even turn it into multiple forms - including spears, a lasso, an energy ball, and can create a wall of electricity which envelopes Ace and causes him to disappear.
What the Hell, Hero?: Ace goes a bit crazy when he first gains his emotions - he shouts at Mark, attacks Random Virus after he came to help him, and even accidentally shoots Chuck with a lightning bolt although he survives.
Mark Hollander
The viewpoint character of the series (most of the time) and the Narrator. Mark is a teenage British kid who moves to Conestoga Hills, USA and is at first a Fish out of Water. His house is struck by lightning and characters from his favourite video game come to life, and is enlisted by Ace to be his sidekick, his life now falling between being a superhero and a normal kid.
Apocalyptic Log: Mark talks to his friend Pete via a webcam usually in every episode.
Badass: At first he hides during early battles but then confronts Random Virus repeatedly, fights Zip and Snip, and Pigface, and Fred separately with a metal bar, and is even willing to fight Lord Fear.
Big "NO!": In the final episode where Mark thinks Ace as been wounded by Lord Fear, but it is revealed to be Lady Illusion in disguise.
Lightning Gun: Gets his own wrist cannon in the second series which fans have affectionally called "The Super Glove of Doom". It does have a strong resemblance to the Power Glove.
Refusal of The Call: Mark repeatedly refuses to become a superhero, at one point quitting the superhero business all together after Sparx insults his abilities as one.
Reluctant Warrior: Mark keeps saying throughout the series that he is not a hero or a Lightning Knight.
Sadistic Choice: Mark nearly has one in Episode 26 when he's given the tedious decision whether or not to delete the game from his computer, which would delete all the character too. He doesn't go through with it, of course.
Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World: That's pretty must the jist of this show - with video game characters. Mark even appears to acknowledge this in Episode 2 - "First save the world, then be home in time for dinner."
Chuck Mugel
Mark's nerdy, jolly best friend who is completely Genre Savvy around Ace Lightning. He is often bullied, but is quite brainy and later becomes the tech guy for the Lightning Knights.
Bedsheet Ghost: In Episode 15, Chuck is covered in a bedsheet and unintentionally chases Dirty Rat out of Mark's house.
Comic Relief: Pretty much the funniest character in the show. His habit of being sick is often used as a Running Gag, and his tendency to overreact to events.
Rebel Leader: Chuck rallies the students to rise up against Mr. Cheseborough in Episode 25 after he finds out the food budget has been cut in the school cafeteria.
Superpowers For A Day: Chuck gains superhuman strength after being struck by a deflected lightning bolt.
The Smart Guy: Despite being bullied, Chuck is quite intelligent, building is own robot with help from Mr. Cheseborough and spends time at a computer camp.
Vomit Chain Reaction: Chuck has a nasty habit of being sick. In the first episode he comments how he threw up on a bus and it caused pandemonium. This trope really comes into play in Episode 4 where Chuck hurls after finding a pea in his dessert, causing other people in the room to throw up and flee the cafeteria.
Sparx
Ace's former sidekick, Sparx is a Fiery RedheadAction Girl whose cocky attitude can often get her into scrapes with the villains. She is a master gymnast and swordswoman, but has no superpowers. She flies using a hovercraft called the Lightning Flash.
Sword Sparks: Sparx can fight lightning from her sword. Sparks (no pun intended) have flown when Sparx and Lord Fear have duelled.
Random Virus
A 35-year old Lightning Knight, Random Virus was mortally wounded by an accident long ago and now is a Cyborg, but he mental state has created a Split Personality between a good and an evil side which interswitch. He lives in Conestoga Hills' junkyard to avoid harming others.
Artificial Limbs: Random lost much of his body in an offscreen accident, resulting in the loss of his legs and his right arm. He now has caterpillar tracks and a large claw instead.
Badass: Perhaps the most badass character in the show.
Big Damn Heroes: Random repeatedly comes to save the day when Ace is haivng his ass handed to him.
Chained to a Rock: Lord Fear chains Random up when he tries to join the villains.
Villainous Breakdown: Random somewhat has one in Episode 26 - "I'M NOT WEAK! I'M STRONG!"
The Carnival of Doom
The bad guys of the series, also known as the Evil Gang but often called the Carnival of Doom. The villains are a group of freakshow-esque characters who live an Amusement Park of Doom. Lord Fear, The Big Bad of the series, leads the carnival with the plan to conquer the world using the Amulet of Zoar's powers. The villains can suffer Disney Villain Deaths, morphing into locations around the carnival to rest and recover until their next appearance. The carnival is later taken over by Kilobyte.
Lord Fear
Ace's arch nemesis, an undead Evil Sorcerer hellbent on taking over the world. Crippled accidentally by Ace, Lord Fear seeks revenge on Ace. He now walks with a permanant limp, but is a masterful strategist in his plans to destroy Ace and capture the pieces of the Amulet.
Affably Evil: Despite being the Big Bad, Lord Fear is very polite, intelligent and has hobbies like playing the pipe organ and miniature golf.
All Part of the Show: Lord Fear tries to gain the final piece of the Amulet during the school's performance of The Phantom of the Opera, but sees the audience applauding him and he joyfully sits down and plays a pipe organ. Mark decides to include him as the Phantom since Chuck (who played the Phantom and wore a Lord Fear-styled) threw up and is offstage.
Limp And Livid: Lord Fear limps thanks to Ace, using Staff Head as support.
The Nicknamer: Lord Fear often gives his allies and enemies nicknames. These include "Totem of Terror" for Staff Head, "Muscle-Bound Minion" for Anvil, and "Grinning Ghoul" for Googler.
Ominous Pipe Organ: He is a master of the pipe organ and never actually had a lesson.
Villainous Breakdown: Lord Fear has one in Episode 26, collapsing to his knees and pleading Lady Illusion for her help, only to be flat out denied, revealing her true loyalties.
Staff Head
Lord Fear's sidekick, weapon, walking stick and advisor all in one. He is a winged talking frog who perches on the end of Lord Fear's staff. He is loyal to Lord Fear, but very pompous and rude to everyone else. He can fire laser blasts from the glass orb he carries.
Blackmail: Staff Head learns Lady Illusion's relationship with Ace, he blackmails her to aid Lord Fear or he will spill the beans to His Lordship.
You Don't Look Like You: Staff Head got a re-design in the second season, appearing from frog-like and can actually move around on the staff, and can fall right off.
Lady Illusion
Initially The Dark Chick, Lady Illusion is a shapeshifting dark elf who originally is programmed to be Lord Fear's mistress. However, she ends up falling in love with Ace and the two go into a Dating Catwoman situation for most of the series. Her loyalties to Ace and Lord Fear are tested throughout the series.
You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Lady Illusion doesn't have a unique hair colour - she has a spider for her hair.
Kilobyte
The secondary Big Bad to appear, Kilobyte is known as the Cyber Stalker. Created by The Master Programmer to exact his revenge on the Lightning Knights, Kilobyte is a merciless and downrighy creepy villain who thinks like a hunter, seeing Ace as prey and plans to destroy him slowly and painfully. Kilobyte's tentacles can drain enemies of their powers, and he can upgrade characters too. He morphs into the carnival's ferris wheel.
Author Avatar: Kilobyte is the avatar for Rick Hummel, the Master Programmer.
Ax Crazy: After being freed from the Master Programmer's control.
Bald of Evil: His head is bald and covered in tattoos.
Executive Meddling: Kilobyte's original design had him called "Scrambler", and he had six tentacles and hair. Due to the limited budget and the limitations the CGI crew had, Kilobyte's design was altered.
Power at a Price: Kilobyte upgrades Lady Illusion to give Ace unstable emotions, briefly causing her to turn into a bitter and cruel individual. This doesn't last long.
Running Gag: Kilobyte punches Dirty Rat in each episode.
Villain World: Kilobyte plots to trap humanity in the video game world and bring all of the Sixth Dimension's villains to replace them.
Villainous Breakdown: He is completely gobsmacked when Lord Fear reveals he has sided with Ace to defeat him.
Dirty Rat
Lord Fear's flying rat spy, Dirty Rat is a sneaky and deceptive critter who is pretty much a Dirty Coward and out for himself. He has enhanced senses, adding to his role as a spy. He can create bombs like Lady Illusion's. Dirty Rat usually follows whoever is the strongest person in the carnival, interswitching between Lord Fear and Kilobyte's leadership. However, he is made the desginated Starscream in the first season's final episodes, mostly due to being Lord Fear's Butt Monkey. He morphs into a gargoyle.
Affably Evil: Dirty Rat can be a decent guy when he's not being a coward or a jerk.
The Starscream: In Episode 25, Dirty Rat starts a rebellion against Lord Fear but it ends when Lord Fear gets his hands on all of the pieces of the Amulet. Lord Fear offers Dirty Rat the chance to rejoin him or die, and the rat joins him without any punishment.
The Dumb Muscle of the Carnival of Doom, Anvil is a large anthropomorphic rhinoceros with a short temper and an iron anvil in place of a right hand, hence his name. He enjoys fighting Ace, but is terrified of the dark.
Anvil On Head: Anvil has an actual anvil on his arm and has used it to bash a few people around, and has actually dropped it on Random Virus' head once.
Hurl It into the Sun: Ace throws Anvil around a couple of times in the series, once tossing him right out of the Thunder Tower, and dropped him into a dumpster. Random has also done the same thing.
Medieval Moron: He's from the Dark Ages and not too bright.
Rhino Rampage: He is easily angered and participates in a lot of fights. It is only once that he actually charges, and runs straight into a dumpster. Ouch.
The secondary choice of The Brute, Pigface is a warthog-like minion who is forever hungry and is quite grose. He has the ability to digest anything, and despite his weight he is quite strong and agile. Nt very smart and easily angered, Pigface gets into the most battles in the series out of the villains but is always the first to be defeated.
Big Eater: You'll often find Pigface raiding the carnival's trashcans.
The Brute: Shared with Anvil. The two are best buddies.
The first newcomer to the series beyond the original character lineup. A Monster Clown imprisoned in another dimension by Ace, he is freed by Lord Fear and allowed to wreak havoc upon the Lightning Knights. Googler has his own minions, in the shape of a pair of evil talking sock puppets named Zip and Snip. The two may be an extension of Googler's mind, as they share his love for madness. The two can remove Ace's superpowers, bite right through materials, and even turn Ace into a zombie once.
Early-Bird Cameo: Googler chases Ace and Sparx around in the video game world at the start of Season 2, but doesn't return to the show until Episode 35.
Kick the Dog: Googler smacks Ace and Sparx around a lot.
Monster Clown: Googler is a jester. That counts, right?
An undeadcowboy introduced in Season 2. Rotgut is Laughably Evil and useless. He is more concerned with keeping his limbs in check than doing evil, and hates it when he is referred to as a zombie and prefers to be called the "Walking Dead". He develops a liking towards Chuck and plots to zombify him, at one point possessing Chuck's body.
Kilobyte's giant mutant pet wasp, Fred is used by transport. Originally a normal wasp, Fred stung Kilobyte and took on his powers, becoming a giant wasp. He does not speak aside from screeches.
Cute Mute: Despite being a giant mutant wasp owned by a nutcase, Fred is pretty cute.
Hypocritical Humor: Fred's odd name is questioned by Duff, and later Chuck who comments that he would've called him "Braincrush", only for Mark to scoff at the suggestion.
Mark's first girlfriend, Samantha is a popular girl in school and spends the entire series as the lead female character, but is oblivious to Mark's second life. She has an on-and-off relationship with Mark and eventually moves away to a boarding school in Season 2.
Put on a Bus: Shadia Simmons, who plays Samantha, had conflicting schedules and became a supporting character. Samantha moved to a boarding school and ended up dating a guy named Jeremy.
Rollerblade Good: Samantha has rollerskates but she never uses them.
Unresolved Sexual Tension: After she and Mark part ways, Samantha shows a look of regret, perhaps having not given up completely on Mark.
Kat Adams
Introduced in the second season to replace Samantha, Kat Adams becomes Mark's third girlfriend. A spunky, outgoing girl she shows great skills in basketball and becomes co-editor of the high school newspaper, making it her goal to discover the secrets of the Carnival of Doom.
Action Girlfriend: She more outgoing than Samantha, playing basketball and rides a quadbike at one point.
Mark's Black Best Friend, Pete appears mostly on webcam-recorded messages since he is in the UK. Pete acts as Mark's Mission Control, often giving him advice on how to deal with his superhero and normal lives.
Chase Scene: Wayne chases Chuck around a couple of times, and then gets involved in a chase scene involving Mark and Lord Fear.
Cowardly Lion: He is terrified of Lord Fear, and yet goes looking for him at the start of Season 2 after he vanishes. Getting onto the haunted house ride at the carnival, Wayne looks for Lord Fear and Staff Head only for them to pop up behind him and scare him off again.
Jerk Jock: He's goalkeeper on the middle school football (soccer) team.
Samantha's best friend, Heather is a preppy girl who finds Mark attractive and becomes his second girlfriend after Samantha splits up with him. A cheerleader, fashion expert, a gossip girl, and a fan of martial arts films, Heather is a very bossy and strong-willed girl and is less forgiving than Samantha when Mark skips their dates to aid Ace. In the second season, Heather becomes a Alpha Bitch, a dislikable, venom-spewing little monster wishing to seemingly destroy Mark and dates Brett.
Alpha Bitch: She becomes a real jerk in the second season, hating Mark and Kat, somewhat hating Samantha and treating Brett like a slave. Thankfully she gets a well deserve comeuppance in the last episode where Pigface sprays her with snot.
I Know Karate: Heather takes judo lessons and invites Mark along to one session. She breaks his arm in the process.
Brett Ramirez
Samantha's first boyfriend, Brett is a skateboarder and soccer player. He maintains strong friendships with Mark and Samantha and has an on-and-off relationship with Samantha. He ends up dating Heather, but he becomes her Butt Monkey.
Butt Monkey: He is Heather's butt monkey until the last episode of the show.
Jerk Jock: Thankfully avoided. After splitting up with Samantha, Brett is seen sitting with Wayne. However, he still spends time with Mark and Samantha and supports their relationship.
Nice Guy: He becomes Mark's romantic councilor in the second season.
Mark's science teacher, Mr. Cheseborough has little faith in his students and often insults and begrudges them, often taking pleasure in failing them. He encounters the villains early on when they kidnap him in one of their plans, causing him to believe they are aliens. He becomes slowly paranoid and crazy over the series.
Cloud Cuckoolander: His repeated encounters with the "aliens" leave Mr. Cheseborough quite crazy, and in the final episode he pretty much flips out and is declared a public nuisance by the authorities.
The Cuckoolander Was Right: Subverted. Mr. Cheseborough's claims of alien abduction is technically true - he was abducted by inhuman creatures from another world.
Horrible Judge of Character: Lord Fear and Duff trick Mr. Cheseborough into believing the villains are good aliens and Ace is evil, and to help Lord Fear kill him.
Not My Lucky Day: Mr. Cheseborough has numerous bad days. One in particular results in Ace crashlanding on his beloved car, and his briefcase is run over by the villains' ice cream truck.
Room Full of Crazy: Mr. Cheseborough has an alien abduction support meeting in the high school with people just as crazy as he is, but Ace crashes through the window and the group flee out of the school screaming hysterically.
Sadist Teacher: Mr. Cheseborough is incredibly nasty towards his students. In Episode 3, he marks student quizzes and deliberately marks a correct answer incorrectly. He becomes temporary head teacher at one point and turns the school into something out 1984.
Duff Kent
The owner of the Kent Bros. Carnival, turned into the Carnival of Doom by the villains, Duff is a middle-aged man who ends up becoming Lord Fear's slave. Very much the Innocent Bystander, Duff dislikes working for the villains but goes along with it for most of the time. He befriends Dirty Rat, Rotgut, Pigface and Googler (sort of), and at times gets on well with Lord Fear. He also drives an ice cream truck as a secondary job, but the villains use it to get around.
Appearing as an ordinary computer store owner, Rick Hummel is a grouchy shopkeeper who bosses Chuck around and spends much of his time in his backroom, his "Fortress of Solitude". Really the Master Programmer, creator of Kilobyte, and programmer of the Ace Lightning game.
Mark's British parents. Both are oblivious to their son's double life as a superhero, and blame Ace's breakages on shoddy American craftsmanship. Simon is 45 years old, an accountant and tries to adapt to American life, speaking American catchphrases and tries out various gadgets with hilarious outcomes. Fiona is more down-to-earth and likes to remind her family they are still British, and often cooks British food and loves garden gnomes. She is a real estate agent.
Adults Are Useless: They are oblivious to their son's life as a superhero, and never directly encounter the video game characters. The closest they came to that was meeting Ace who was dressed as a motorcyclist at the time.
Berserk Button: Do NOT mess with Fiona's gnomes or her garden. Simon's berserk button is when someone insults his son.
Bob From Accounting: Simon mentions numerous fellow accountants but only himself and Bud Ratburn are shown onscreen.
D.I.Y. Disaster: Simon often tries out new gadgets, some of which are broken by Ace beforehand. Simon also tries out a rideable lawnmower which he demolishes Fiona's garden with.
I Am Very British: Fiona tries to never forget her British origins. She keeps garden gnomes in the "proper English garden", and cooks British food for Mark's Halloween party.
Invisible to Adults: Ace, Lord Fear and co. are never seen by Simon and Fiona - whilst pretty much every other adult character in the show encounters one or more of the video game characters.
Lethal Chef: Simon displays his inability to cook, turning sausages into charcoal. Ahsley wisely avoids eating them.
Our Gnomes Are Weirder: Fiona loves garden gnomes. Ace not so much. The video game has deadly garden gnomes as enemies, which Ace gains his hatred from and he deliberately destroys multiple garden gnomes.
Ashley Hollander
Mark's little cousin, Ashley is the third human to learn of Ace and co. She promises to keep it a secret and becomes a recurring character. She has a pet hamster named Chika, which Ace finds adorable, and in her first episodes has a thing for cuddly toys. Ashley and Chuck get on like a house on fire, and enjoy horror films.
Little Miss Badass: Ashley is pretty awesome in her own right. She lays a trap for the Tooth Fairy, which is later set off by Chuck and used to scare off the villains.
Chuck's girlfriend and Wayne's cousin. A nerdy girl who is just a fan of Ace Lightning as much as Chuck is, the two start dating. Jessica wants best out of their relationship, which makes it tricky after Chuck finds out about Ace.
Beautiful All Along: In Episode 26, Jessica arrives late for the school prom and removes her hairband and glasses to reveal her true beauty.
Blackmail: Jessica pulls this off on Wayne to let her spend time with Chuck, revealing his mum called him "Boogerbox" when he ate his bogeys.
The middle-aged dinner lady at the middle school, Mrs. Kutcher is a bit of a disgruntled employee believing no one appreciates her cooking aside from Chuck. She mostly provides Comic Relief, but acts motherly towards Chuck and occasionally Mark.
