Left to right, second row : Team Cold Kings, Team Sirens, Team Starfish, Team Mirages, Team Bees, The Tao Twins, and Team Pirates. Front Row : Team Tikis. Top : Wyatt Whale and Neptune.
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Droner teams
Introduced in Season 1
Team Tikis
- Absent-Minded Professor: Enki gets lost in his thoughts all the time. He's still very good at his job.
- Ace Pilot: Corto. She's The Hero after all.
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Adorkable: Enki appears as such to Flora: Geeky, always slightly off-beat, but kind, caring and passionate.Flora: He's nice, but… weird ! - All Girls Want Bad Boys: Subverted. Corto begins to fall for Manta only after he mellows a bit and helps her by giving her lessons about how to pilot through glacial surroundings for a race against his Arch-Enemy Pavel. She gets to know him better and their session ends in an assumed friendly chase. But once Manta has reached her and after they had a playful battle, they make eye-contact, both blushing awkwardly. They stay stuck in this pose until Mouse calls them via hologram.
- A later episode shows she indeed has a good influence on him, interestingly not directly from their mutual budding feelings, but rather each time they have to cooperate and build a trustful alliance. For some kind of festival, they have to mix their drones and fly together the resulting machine in a Love-themed race. He displays his abrasive persona and pushes towards agressive racing, but Corto calls him out on it and he agrees on trying to win the race Corto's way. He also sincerely compliments her during and after the race.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Mouse is the youngest member of Team Tiki and the youngest overall participant for the tournament.
- Badass Pacifist: Team Tikis is the only team whose drone has no offensive ability or attack of any kind, and they show strong concern about winning fair and square by piloting, mechanic and engineering skill alone. Any time the possibility to mount a weapon on Maroro is even considered, it stirs up conflict within the team and either is ultimately rejected, or ends badly. Though they do engage in using Loophole Abuse in the second season, such as modifying Maroro with a blade to be used as a "deterrent" from drone attacks, or glue bombs to immobilize drones without damaging them.
- Berserk Button: Wrongfully accusing her fellow Shorescrubbers will get Mouse upset.
- Blue Is Heroic: Oro and Maroro are blue, and Corto wears a significant amount of blue. Enki and Mouse, however, are an aversion.
- Child Prodigy: Mouse is only six years old, and already the Team's Mecanix. The other two characters are preteens and qualify as well, but Mouse really takes the cake.
- Comically Missing the Point: Enki's second specialty.
- Daddy's Girl: Played with in Mouse's case. She's the daughter of Big Moe of clan Ruto, one of the most powerful Shorescrubber clans in the archipelago. They really love each other, but tend to come at odds because Big Moe wishes to teach Mouse everything she needs to take the lead of the clan after he retires, while all she wants is to be a Mechanix for her drone racing team. Still, they have much more in common than Mouse thinks.
- Exposed to the Elements: Played with in season 2, in which the Tikis' light clothes (appropriate for the warm climates they're used to) prove very inadequate on Tortuga's frozen sections. However, Manta trains Corto and teaches her how to ignore the cold when racing just like Polaris pilots do. After that, while Corto still dons a coat in extreme cold or when not on the track, she sheds it to race.
- Gender-Blender Name: Corto (meaning "Short" in Spanish and Italian) is typically a boy's name. It befits Corto's tomboyish persona regardless, and might be a shout-out to Corto Maltese.
- Goggles Do Something Unusual: Mouse's welding goggles also double as a VR headset for drone flying.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Enki claims he's got an "Aqua-pony" session to get out of a meeting with Flora. note
- Improbable Taxonomy Skills: If a weird animal or plant appears, expect Enki to instantly identify it and start spurting facts about it.
- Improvised Armor: Enki had to improvise during a race against Kass Krane, and invented the Oromos shells armour in a pinch. It's been used a couple of times already, but while practically indestructible it considerably slows Maroro down, and thus is only used when absolutely necessary.
- Innocent Bigot: Corto, unusually for the hero in a children's show, holds several very common prejudices about shorescrubbers, even if one of her friends is one. She gets better eventually.
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Lawful Good: Most "good" teams would apply, but the Tikis care the most about winning fair and square with skill alone, with no cheating, no weapons and as few tricks as possible. - Love Interest:
- Sun for Corto.
- She gets troubled by Manta of all people in S2, launching a downplayed Love Triangle, as the two boys rarely interact.
- Flora for Enki.
- Sun for Corto.
- Tomboy: Corto is female, but has a male-sounding name and eschews pretty much any codes of femininity. She is actually called a tomboy in the manga, and does not seem to be offended by it.
- Mistaken for Thief: How Corto and Enki met Mouse in the prequel manga. Corto, having wrecked her delivery drone in a race, was preparing for a huge scolding from her father when Mouse took the drone without asking, fixed it up and gave it back before Corto's dad could know anything happened.
- Mythology Gag: In the prequel manga "Tales of Nuï", the main artist decided to give a nod to early concept art of Corto, re-using her previous haircut and goggles.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: Mouse remains barefoot despite being a mechanic.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Heavily downplayed with Enki. Wildlife specimens that people will find disgusting or scary, he finds cute and/or fascinating and will endlessly nerd about.
- Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: Corto never backs down from a challenge, which can put her at odds with her team from time to time – especially when her opponents knowingly use this to lure her into traps.
- Official Couple: Enki and Flora share their first kiss in Season 2.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Corto often gets herself in trouble by just speaking her mind without thinking of the consequences. Enki is also terrible at keeping secrets due to substandard understanding of social cues.
- Open Secret: The fact that Oro is an Aqua is supposed to be a secret, but by the season 1 finale Neptune, Wyatt, Gavinda Teach, Kass Krane, Adam and every other team's mechanix know. Dialogue implies that several of them have known it for much longer. However, it's possible Mouse got them to keep the secret, since in season 2 Manta is genuinely surprised to see that Oro can survive underwater.
- Stock Shōnen Hero: Minus the fighting part since the cartoon is about racing. Apart from that, Corto ticks every box : she's Hot-Blooded, not especially bright or far-sighted, but good-natured and a naturally gifted pilot who refuses to ever give up even when everyone else urges her to.
- Token Trio: An inversion. Corto is the sole white, and Enki the sole male.
- Youthful Freckles: Enki sports them.
Team Pirates
- Badass Longcoat: Shark is usually seen sporting one, but sometimes it's passed onto Max, and in fact indicates whoever is currently the Team's Pilot.
- Big Damn Heroes: Being on very friendly terms with Team Tikis, they come to their aid at just the right moment at least three times in season 1.
- Chaotic Good: Among the "good" teams, they are the most likely to exploit loopholes or grey areas in the rules, and season 2 shows they know their way around the Shorescrubber underworld. They also regularly get in trouble with authority.
- Delinquent Hair: Shark sports a long and sharp pompadour.
- Face of a Thug: Despite Shark's intimidating appearance, he has proven to be a good person, encouraging Mouse to help Team Tiki despite her wanting to support Team Pirate's cause, and even reluctantly making a Deal with the Devil in order to save an important sanctuary for an old lady.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: Their pilot cape/longcoat, which has an epaulette on one shoulder and Patch's container on the other.
- Friendly Rivalry: With the Tikis. It helps that Mouse is a Shorescrubber and stood by them several times when everybody else ostracized them. After a few episodes, and unless they're flying against each other on a track, the Tikis and the Pirates are basically always on the same side.
- Friendly Shopkeeper: In season 2. They didn't manage to qualify for Rotor Punch, so instead they open a spare parts and repair shop on Tortuga Island. Members of the Tikis are regularly seen hanging out there, even if the shop does sell parts to whoever wants to buy them.
- Mighty Glacier: Klaww is not especially fast, but much sturdier than the average drone.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: All the team members stay barefoot.
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: They have yet to be seen doing any pirating. It may openly be a purely aesthetic name and choice in costumes, because pirates are cool. Still, they're shorescrubbers, which means they're probably used to scavenging parts from wrecks, possibly not very legally. After all, their drone is built with mix-and-match parts.
- Scavenged Punk: Definitely. Their drone is blatantly made from mix-and-match parts.
- Tornado Move: Klaw has access to such a move, but rarely uses it.
Team Bees
- Beehive Barrier: Fittingly, Bumblebee is equipped with a powerful Deflector Shield with a Hexagonal pattern.
- Big Damn Heroes: They come to help team Tikis twice, just when the time is right : first in the Eole Crash Race, then in the Season 1 finale.
- Deep South: In the English dub, they all speak in light southern US accents.
- The Dividual: Buzz and Fuzz look and behave nearly identical, and they're never seen apart from each other. Functionally, they are the same character.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: In the French dub, Flora doesn't display any particular accent, but her Raven Hair, Ivory Skin physique and the fact she brings homemade oromos onigiris to her picnic with Enki, a way of eating oromos only the Tao Twins also display, point towards some Japanese-themed elements.
- The holist society of Japan has also been more than once compared to the one of the eusocial insects in France, for better or for worse.
- Global Warming: Flora states that global warming causes a lot of issues on her island and disorients the bees, who get lost when trying to go back to their beehives.
- Love Interest: Flora is one for Enki. They upgrade to Official Couple in "The Tortulibris race", sharing their first (off-scren) kiss at the end.
- Mighty Glacier: Bumblebee is a repurposed bee-tending drone and is not built for speed. However, it's sturdy with powerful defensive abilities, and also very agile in cramped terrain.
- Nature Hero: Flora is very conscious of environmental issues and is knowledgeable on many things animal and plant related. This is one of her major bonding point with Enki, as this makes her able to put up with Enki's Attention Deficit... Oh, Shiny! moments and even go along with them.
- Nice Girl: Flora's very determined to win for her cause and won't unconditionally be friends with everyone, as she shows visible annoyance with Team Starfish's antics when they're paired up, but she is for the most part a gentle soul.
- Ramming Always Works: "Hornet Battering Ram" is apparently a legitimate enough technique that they outright call it that.
- Scary Stinging Swarm: Subverted. Bumblebee doesn't summon any kind of swarms in races, and instead has abilities to communicate with bees and calm them when they get agressive. Flora uses that to help Enki who disturbed a swarm of bees.
- Shipper on Deck: Both Fuzz and Buzz seem to support the budding romance between Enki and Flora, and at the same time, they love to tease Flora about it.
- Somewhere, an Entomologist Is Crying: Flora and her people cultivate a bee theme, understandably since beekeeping seems to be a major pillar of their island's economy and culture. Yet when it comes to their drone, they pretty much lump bees, bumblebees, wasps and hornets all together. This can be handwaved by noting all these bugs display a black and yellow color scheme, and above all, are eusocial flying Hymenopterae, more closely related between themseleves than with ants.
- Southern-Fried Genius: Downplayed on the « Southern Fried » part, but Flora speaks in a southern US accent and built Bumblebee, a very advanced prototype beekeeping drone, all by herself. She hopes her design will impress Whale enough that he'll consider building more.
The Tao Twins
The enigmatic Tao Twins entered the tournament for reasons comparable to the Tikis: saving their island. Since their goals are so similar, they regularly team up with them or at least act respectfully, even if they make it clear that they still fully intend to win because they just have to. They return for Rotor Punch in season 2.
- Always Identical Twins: Downplayed. They are almost identical in physical features (same build, hair color, and facial features) except for their eyebrows. Sun's brows are thin lines but Monk's are two ovals above his eyes.
- Betty and Veronica: In season 2, Sun is the Betty and Manta the Veronica.
- Blinded by the Light: Their Drone's signature move is a "Solar Flare" which temporarily blinds pilots and G.En.I.Es alike.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Subverted. Sun starts off as this in the Pocamourus Race when he sees that Corto warms up to another guy – Manta of all people, but at the end of the episode Sun apologises, admitting that Corto can frequent whoever she wants and that he has no right to intervene in her social life.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: In The Third Eye Race in season 2, Sun uses a new undertested technique against Corto. Unfortunately, he overdoes it and she ends up blind for the whole episode, so he teaches her how to fly with a Third Eye like he does to make up for it.
- Dragons Up the Yin Yang: Lotus looks like an eastern dragon, Wushu has parts that look like Yin Yang sigils,
- Eyes Always Shut: Sun's eyes are always shut because of his blindness.
- Friendly Rivalry: Sun and Corto regularly train together, and exchange friendly banter. When facing each other on a circuit, they act competitive but remain friendly. Also, they absolutely have a crush on each other.
- Downplayed at the beginning of season two, where Sun warns her that his island's situation has gotten dire and he has order to give no quarter in any race, including Corto. Their romance takes a stepback.
- Handicapped Badass: Sun is blind (as confirmed in episode 20) and the bindi on his forehead is actually a device connected to his brain that allows him to mentally pilot his drone and gives him a sense of sight. If it's compromised, he cannot see.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: Sun is distinguishable from Monk because he is blind, perpetually has his eyes closed and wears a bindi on his forehead. They also have distinct colorings to their otherwise identical outfits: Sun's outfit is mainly orange with white trimming, black socks, gloves, and undershirt, and white sandals. Monk's outfit is mainly black with orange trimming, white socks, gloves, and undershirt, and black sandals.
- Love Triangle: In season 2, Sun grows a little distant towards Corto and she warms up to Manta, resulting in a Love Triangle.
- Nice Guy: Both of them tend to act aloof, but they are well-intentioned and polite.
- Psychoactive Powers: When Sun and Monk get into an argument and split, both are so upset that Lotus can't maintain his connection to Sun and outright shuts down. As soon as they forgive each other and reunite, the connection is mended.
- Shipper on Deck: Monk mostly approve the budding romance between Sun and Corto, even teasing her saying that they'll become family one day.
- Shout-Out: Now where could we possibly have seen a Monk-like character dressed in orange, with forehead markings and a "Solar Flare" attack ? Lotus also sports the same six little circles as Krillin on his forehead !
- Sibling Rivalry: Mostly averted, they get along quite well, but Monk secretly feels like he does most of the hard work for none of the recognition while Sun gets things handed to him because of his handicap.
- Successful Sibling Syndrome: Sun is the star pilot who wins races despite being blind. Monk is the hard-working Enginerd and Mechanix whom nobody ever mentions.
- Superior Twin Teamwork: When they split after a series of argument, they significantly underperform each in his domain of expertise. Once reunited, they reach their usual level again.
- Thought-Controlled Power: Sun is able to command his drone by thought alone, and trains that ability every evening. When actually racing, he uses paddles like everyone else, but no doubt that this ability gives him finer control over the drone. Since he's blind, he also forgoes goggles.
- Wonder Twin Powers: Lotus has a Heroic BSoD after the twins drive each other apart, to the point he can't even maintain his connection to Sun who's left helpless and blind again. Once they make amends, the connection is instantly restored.
Team Starfish
- The Big Guy: Deejay is the biggest and tallest participant for the tournament. The oldest too, at 17 years old.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: Deejay is the big guy and Debbie is a little girl.
- Breaking the Fellowship: Debbie once left Team Starfish for Team Tiki after she felt that her work was unappreciated.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: A main problem for Debbie.
- Dumbass DJ: Downplayed. Deejay's a poor pilot, not exceptionally bright, has delusions of grandeur, and lost all of his races against the Tikis, yet he's shown to be rather popular, and a good enough DJ and musician.
- Gale-Force Sound: Sound-based propellers equip the drone, as well as a sound-based blastwave attack.
- Genki Girl: Debbie is probably the most energetic of the cast.
- Girlish Pigtails: Debbie sports them.
- Heroic BSoD: Deejay became depressed when Debbie temporarily left Team Starfish for Team Tiki.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Deejay may appear to be a glory hog and self-entitled person but he does care for Debbie and appreciates her efforts, even declaring that he's a fan of her.
- Mad Scientist: Debbie can get weird and obsessional if she's scorned, complete with maniacal laughter.
- Make Some Noise: Their drone Aqua Blaster uses sonic technology to move and attack.
- The Roadie: It's implied Debbie fulfills this role when they tour.
- Selfie Fiend: Deejay takes selfies very often, even during a race.
- True Neutral: During the Whale Cup, they fit neither with the "good" or "evil" teams, and mostly keep to themselves. During the Rotor Punch cup, Debbie works with White Tiger a.k.a. Manta gone rogue – still not exactly a nice guy, but much friendlier than in season 1 and starkly against obeying the new villains' orders.
- Unusual User Interface: Instead of a pair of handheld paddles, DJ uses a hovering digital turntable — the same one that he uses for actual DJ-ing.
Team Sirens
- Alpha Bitch: Mainly Mina, with Victoria being her Beta Bitch. Manipulative, haughty, and vain, Mina is bossy around everyone and absolutely convinced of her superiority.
- Big Beautiful Woman: Downplayed (since this is a children's cartoon) with Laurel, who is short, plump and cute as a button.
- Big Ego, Hidden Depths: Despite looking like a typical privileged entitled girl, Mina was an underdog on her home island and she had to work hard to earn her position which still isn't completely secure. Her superior attitude is rooted both in her fear of loosing what she's earned, and in her feeling that her position is one-hundred per cent her own merit and doing.
- British Accents: In the English dub, Mina and Victoria (as well as Lavinia) speak in a fairly standard RP while Laurel is meant to sound Londonian and working-class.
- Character Development: It appears that their home island Maelstrom's society is highly codified, and both Mina and Victoria suffered from not living up to what their society expected of them.
- Victoria is perfectly fine with her role as an Enginerd, for which she is very competent. This puts her at odds with her mother Lavinia, who insists that since she was a pilot and team captain herself, Victoria deserves no less, even though piloting is clearly not where Victoria shines.
- Mina's family isn't as prestigious as Victoria's, which means Mina had to work hard to earn her title as pilot and team captain where other young pilots could take it for granted. She's also obsessed with finding the legendary lost submarine Aquanaut, believing it is one of Maelstrom's national treasures.
- Compelling Voice: See Siren Song below.
- Divide and Conquer: Mina, upon seeing how well Corto and Sun get along, decides to exploit Corto's crush on Sun, drive her jealous, and ultimately have them work against one another in a three-participant race.
- Evil Redhead: Calling her evil is a tad exaggerated, but Mina remains a haughty, scheming Alpha Bitch. Her redness of hair is only rivaled by her unpleasantness of character, perhaps only surpassed by Manta.
- Good Powers, Bad People: Unlike the other two "villain teams", they use a regular G.En.I.E-powered, environmentally-friendly drone. They still play dirty, however.
- A Handful for an Eye: continuing with the squid theme, Nautilus can squirt ink to temporarily blind an opponent. The Season 1 finale reveals it also has ink-filled torpedoes, though they're never seen used in a race – understandably so, since the rules allow weapons but forbid directly targeting an opponent.
- Heel–Face Turn: the Sirens join Corto and Hannah in their Last Stand against Gavinda Teach in the season 1 finale.
- If It Swims, It Flies: Like all drones, Nautilus can fly and go underwater. Unlike most drones, it fares better under the surface.
- Meaningful Appearance: It's really hard to tell if Mina wears Thigh High Boots or a variation of Proper Tights with a Skirt with a short instead of a skirt. She has hit puberty after all, and her emphasis on being cool and elegant would point to the former, while being a young teen from a straight-laced society may point to the latter.
- My Beloved Smother: Victoria's mother, Lavinia von Gondelhoff, who promotes her daughter to team captain against her will and threatens to kick Mina out if she protests.
- Prone to Sunburn: Invoked by Victoria in one episode, where she states that Laurel is "starting to look like a grilled lobster" from staying under the sun too long. This might explain why she is usually seen in full working garb even in hot weather.
- Ship Out of Water: Nautilus flies fine, but really excels when underwater.
- Shout-Out: They fly a drone named Nautilus, powered by a G.En.I.E. named Nemo.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Mina has red hair and green eyes. Given how rare that combination is, it's very likely one of the things that boosts her ego.
- Siren Song: Going with their theme, Nemos is able to influence underwater fauna by singing.
- Token Good Teammate: Laurel looks like she's a fine person, not very at ease with her teammates' scheming. However, she stays loyal to the team and does her part in said scheming. She can be seen cheering and worrying for Team Tiki on some occasions. She also defuses tensions between Mina and Victoria should them arise.
- Villain Team-Up: They teamed up with the Cold Kings in an unofficial, no-holds-barred race between the latter and the Tikis, to provide Manta with an advantage. It backfired.
- Your Makeup Is Running: In the opening of the show, Mina gets splashed by Mouse riding Frog at the beach, which smudges her eye makeup into black tears.
Team Mirage
The Mirages are one of the two TeachTech-endorsed teams, and thus don't have a G.En.I.E. At first glance, they look like they want to win like everyone else, but their actual mission is to spy on Wyatt Whale for Gavinda Teach and "unveil the secret of G.En.I.Es". However, Hannah's competitive spirit might come at odds with actually completing their mission.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Adam. He acts polite and courteous, with the occasional joke around Team Tikis and especially his fellow Enginerd Enki, but is really only keeping a facade to spy on them. Hannah is less concerned with spying than winning, and doesn't bother keeping a nice facade.
- Brother–Sister Team: Hannah confirms that Adam is her brother. We don't know if they're Half-Identical Twins as well.
- Build Like an Egyptian: They use pyramid shapes in everything, complete with little stylised eyes that are remindful of Eyes of Horus. Their clothes, makeup, and jewelry may count as well in pushing that visual theme. Season 2 indicates that this is their homeland (called the "Sun Empire")'s general aesthetics.
- Confound Them with Kindness: Adam's main method of social interaction. He acts very friendly and none of it is sincere.
- Delinquent Hair: Hannah sports an undercut of dreadlocks that obscures her left eye, and an otherwise completely shaved head with what appears to be cranial tattoos. Adam's cut is more conventional, though still tattooed.
- Enemy Mine: If there's one thing Hannah and Corto can agree on, it's that both of them really despise Manta.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Hannah disobeyed direct orders from her boss and refused to cheat several times, on the grounds that she doesn't need that to win. She lost the race, but stood by her decision. Adam the Enginerd can be seen apparently cheering for Team Tikis from time to time, but this is rather inconsistent.
- Guyliner: Adam wears almost as much eyeliner as Hannah.
- Heel–Face Turn: Hannah gets fed up with Teach's methods and abuse in the season 1 finale, and puts her neck out to help the heroes. Adam sticks by Gavinda's side, however.
- Makeup Is Evil: They're almost the only characters who wear makeup, and they're not really on the good side.
- Subverted for Hannah, who pulls a Heel–Face Turn in the season 1 finale.
- Master of Illusion: It's their main gimmick and Signature Move. Their drone Fatamorgana is able to project holograms that confuse opponents, help avoid danger, and can also be used for more questionable purposes.
- Noble Demon: Out of all the "bad teams", they're the one that show the most redeeming qualities. Hannah at least has something resembling a sense of honour, even if it's very flexible, they have sometimes reluctantly teamed up with the Tikis, and Adam can be seen cheering for them in the audience during one race against the Cold Kings.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Played straight in Episode 14 for the Sync race : Corto and Hannah have to fly together and are not pleased. Downplayed within team Mirage itself : they're both spies for Gavinda Teach, but while Adam cares about the mission, Hannah has trouble putting her pilot's pride aside and is especially unwilling to loose races just to complete an objective
- The Rival: from episode 14, Hannah slowly grows into this in regards to Corto. While far from being friends, they respect each other's piloting skills ever since they were forced to team up for a 2 vs 2 Sync race.
- Villain Team-Up: Joined the Cold Kings in their unofficial face-off with Team Tiki, to provide them with an advantage with their illusions. After the Cold Kings lose the race, they leave Manta on the spot without even looking at him.
- Worthy Opponent: The end of Episode 14 "Out of Sync" implies this is how Corto and Hannah start to view each other.
The Cold Kings
The other TeachTech-endorsed team, hailing from the cold, barren Island of Polaris, the Cold Kings' ambition is only equal to their eagerness to use every dirty trick in the book to win. Since they use TeachTech drones, they have no G.En.I.E, but couldn't care less, believing them to be useless.
- Always a Bigger Fish: The Polaris race introduces Pavel, Manta's superior from the academy who constantly bullied him. At first, Manta obeys him but rebels when Pavel states his intention of replacing and evicting Manta from the team. The Tikis outright state that even Manta is more bearable than Pavel.
- Bad Boss: Manta, the pilot.
- Blood Knight: Manta again. He loves to pick up a fight and his drone is equipped with an actual Freeze Ray. His goal is to win the race so he can become Wyatt Whale's apprentice, and more importantly convince him to start producing war drones.
- Blue Oni, Red Oni: Shino is cold, rational, and composed. Manta is loud, brash, and easily gets carried away.
- Chaotic Evil: Manta is mean, brash, easy to anger and his main motivation to become Wyatt Whale's assistant is so he can convince him to start producing war drones. He also likes destroying stuff just for the sake of it, which makes him verge into the realm of...
- Chaotic Stupid: During the Païpaï race, Shino designs a special cold ray to neutralize the carnivorous plants that act as the circuit's hazard. Manta has so much fun freezing every last plant that he forgets about the race and gets far behind Corto. In general, he's much more prone to doing things For the Evulz against common sense than any other team.
- Delusions of Grandeur: Manta is convinced not only that he's the best pilot in the competition, but a mastermind and a good team leader as well. Shino patiently and silently bears with it and only calls him out when he's very clearly about to mess up... not that Manta would listen anyway.
- Enemy Mine: in the Polaris race, he reluctantly helps Corto win the race against his superior Pavel – but makes it clear he does it because that way, he can keep his job as the team's pilot and get back at the guy who bullied him in the academy.
- Exposed to the Elements: Zig-zagged. Even on a tropical island, Shino keeps his warm garb and Manta his warm boots and bottoms, which would be an inversion. However, Manta also always goes around in a tank top, even in the Team Quarters that are set to freezing temperatures.
- Season 2 reveals that the people from Polaris are so used to the cold, they make a point of racing on frozen tracks with little to no cold protection.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Team Sirens and Team Mirage may have teamed up once or twice with the Cold Kings, but even they don't like the pair.
- Hated by All: Nobody really likes the Cold Kings. Even Shino, at times, can hardly bear with Manta.
- Heel–Face Turn: The Cold Kings join Corto and Hannah in their Last Stand during the season 1 finale, even though they had no explicit reason and seemed the least likely to do so.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Manta has an extraordinary ability to always have his own advantages blow up in his face.
- Manta overuses his Freeze Ray on the carnivorous plants during the Païpaï race. It wakes up the Mother Plant, which resists the ray and gobbles up his drone in a matter of seconds.
- During their unofficial, no-holds-barred face-off with Team Tiki, Manta asked the Sirens and the Mirages for some help – more accurately, that they help him cheat. Unsurprisingly, almost every other team sided with the Tikis as soon as they realized that "no-holds-barred" went both ways, and they were slightly more numerous. At the end of the race, Manta loses in a spectacular way and his allies walk away in disdain.
- In the same race, Manta aimed to exploit Corto's pride and usual recklessness, by making the race track pass through a giant fan. The idea (His idea !) is that she will wreck her drone and is not supposed to succeed because no one is, and indeed Corto only manages to pass because Enki and Mouse found a way to make the fan run slower for a split second. When Manta's turn comes, even Shino tells him to give up, but Manta passes anyway and lacking any means to slow the propeller down, he wrecks his drone as it was supposed to happen.
- In the Hood: Shino usually wears a hood that covers most of his head.
- Karmic Butt-Monkey: For all his bravado and constant mocking of others, Manta always loses a race every time he's on-screen.
- Never My Fault: Whenever he's beaten, Manta throws tantrums and rationalises it as dumb luck. Although to be fair, Corto does that too when she loses.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: According to Mouse, the people of Polaris constantly wage wars with each other. Shino doesn't (visibly) fit the stereotype, but Manta very much so and Pavel even more. The Polaris race episode gives some more info on that : Polaris' society is strongly hierarchized and militarized, and failing or refusing to follow the chain of command is not socially acceptable.
- Voice of Reason: Shino is calm, rational, reasonable, and very competent. It's frequently of no use because Manta is usually too dumb and/or arrogant to take any advice.
- When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Manta believes weapons are all that a pilot needs. Indeed, the Cold King's drone Sub-Zero relies almost entirely on its weapons, and since Manta is not that good a pilot they tend to underperform whenever offensive power is not what they need. Even Shino, when discussing a plan with other Enginerds, has only one proposition : freezing stuff.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Manta's hair is nearly white, and he's a very violent and unpleasant person.
Introduced in Season 2
After the end of the Whale Cup, season 2 introduces us to the Rotor Punch competition on Tortuga Island, with some well-known teams returning, some not making it past qualifications, and some new ones altogether entering the race. The Blizzard Bosses
Left: Pavel. Right: Cold.
A two-men team hailing from Polaris, composed of Manta's former superior Pavel and Cold, the masked enginerd and mechanix. They fly the drone Gungnir and are especially at ease on frozen tracks.
- Bad Boss: Pavel frequently disregards Cold's advice or outright belittles him. When one race turns out to be a cooking match, Pavel downgrades Cold to pelting potatoes, then to janitor.
- The Brute: Pavel prefers to play dirty and agressive, won't hesitate to use his huge buit to threaten or taunt fellow pilots, and is not the brains of his team, despite being the pilot. He's NOT Dumb Muscle though.
- Cool Helmet: Cold's face is entirely concealed under a daft punk-styled helmet that emotes for him, and also disguises his voice.
- Flipping the Table: Like most characters, Pavel will toss his paddles and goggles to the ground when he loses a race. Unlike most characters, he can also effortlessly flip a heavy table after loosing a cooking match.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Pavel sports a diagonal scar upon his face. Not especially disfiguring, but he's the sole pilot to have one.
- Hidden Depths: Pavel may look like a brutish, arrogant, mean jerk, but underneath he is… a brutish, arrogant, mean jerk who's also an excellent cook.
- Jerkass Has a Point: In "The Tortulibris race", Pavel takes things in hand after Maroro's attempt to drive away an infuriated tortulibri fails. He goes《the hard way》against the big animal, using the electric weapon of Gungnir to drive away the rampaging beast, despite the protests of the Tikis and Flora. He succeeds,while no one could do anything effective before.
- Lawful Evil: They take the helm as the most evil team in the competition. And since this is no longer a Whale-endorsed race, and no holds are barred, the Blizzard Bosses have all the freedom they want to use every dirty trick in the book, plus some of their own.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: They basically occupy the same narrative niche as Season 1's Cold Kings : Two-guys team of thugs from the cold Island of Polaris, with a heavily armed, non-G.En.I.E.-powered (as far as we know) Drone optimised for combat and equipped with a Freeze Ray. The pilot is violent and deliberately sadistic, with a more level-headed and much more discreet technician who gets little to no respect. AND Pavel even has a history with Manta!
- Tantrum Throwing: Like almost all losing teams. But Pavel stands out in that he is able to break his paddles afrer a defeat simply by squeezing them. He feels kinda stupid after it though.
- This Is a Drill: Gungnir is equipped with an energy drill which can cut through Drones' hull and terrain like a warm knife through butter. It also channels a few other powers such as a tractor beam and Polaris' signature freeze rays.
The Pack
Manta as White Tiger
Debbie's new look
A mysterious drone fights champion, nicknamed White Tiger, is revealed to be Manta who got fed up with following orders and went solo. He kept Shino, and hired Debbie as a second Enginer/Mechanix and to manage his public image through social media. Manta entered the Rotor Punch competition next to his already very successful pit fight career, and flies the drone Jaws.- Animal Motifs: "White Tiger" (be it the name or the costume) both evokes the terrestrial animal, the white shark, and the tiger shark. Given the kind of fauna we've seen in that world, a white tiger shark with actual feline elements existing doesn't seem that improbable. Additionally, Debbie now wears a Kitsune mask and Shino has ears on his coat that seem to resemble that of a wolf, following on the "Pack animals" theme.
- Dating Catwoman: In the second episode of Season 2, Manta and Corto are paired by Mr. Whale. In practice, they learn to appreciate each other and develop the beginnings of a romance.
- It's Personal: Against Pavel. Manta makes a point of getting back at his former superior, and is rather peeved every time other people make him miss a chance of beating and humiliating the Blizzard Bosses.
- Love Triangle: Between Manta, Corto and Sun in season 2.
- Start My Own: After the Whale Cup, Manta dissolved the Polaris affiliated Cold Kings team and went solo. He kept Shino and hired Debbie as a second Enginerd/Mechanix to form The Pack.
- Threatening Shark: Jaws is shaped like a stark-white tiger shark. It is fast, very at ease underwater, has a powerful biting attack and hides a freeze cannon in its maw.
- Took A Levelin Kindness: While he's still abrasive and as brash as he was in Season 1, Season 2 shows him changing from a hot tempered and rude Blood Knight to a firm and more sensible Noble Demon.
The Falcons
Left: Lila. Center: Hilal. Right: Hannah.
After defecting from Teach, Hannah joined a new team with two new team-mates from her homeland (the Sun Empire) and a new drone called Horus, while Wyatt Whale provided her with a G.En.I.E. in the person of Kami.- Friendly Rivalry: Hannah and Corto are now friends, but still bicker with each other when it comes to racing in a less hostile manner than before.
- Guy Liner: Per Sun Empire fashion, everyone sports a solid amount of eyeliner and Hilal is no exception.
- Immune to Fire: Almost. Their drone is explicitly covered in a highly heat-resistant alloy, to the point that it can easily survive being dipped in molten metals.
- Queer Establishing Moment: In "The Pocamourus Race", Hannah gets a kiss on the cheek from a girl and blushes happily, confirming her to be sapphic.
- Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Since cutting ties with Teach and joining a new team, Hannah has gotten far more genial and polite with others, which she credits to her partnership with her G.En.I.E. Kami.
- Voice of Reason: Hilal tries to be this, but Hannah still has issues putting her pride aside.
- Villain Team-Up: Despite being both mostly reformed, Hannah teams up with Manta in the Race Royale and they proceed to wipe the floor with nearly all other participants. Corto outright calls it "an alliance forged in hell".
The Zealots
Ifa and Squeal
Left: Saatchi, Ifa's big sister. Right: Baba.
The Rust Queen, ruler of Tortuga Island, has her own official team called the Zealots, which is composed of members of her family. They fly the drone Squeal, shaped like a Mantis Shrimp.
- Berserk Button: People love to call Ifa "Little guy", knowing perfectly well that it never fails to anger him.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Baba is an overall weird and quirky person to be around, who speaks in an incomprehensible shorescrubber patois and can seemingly without reason, or just fall asleep where he stands. He is nonetheless a true Mechanix and a well of Shorescrubber knowledge.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Baba again.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Main problem for Ifa. While he acts confident and loud, he's very focused on trying to impress his grandmother, and feels like he fails at it (Especially in the episode "The Forbidden Race", where he risks his life while trying to commit an act of bravery in order to impress her).
- No Social Skills: Baba knows things, but he often struggles to convey them in a way that people will understand – even Ifa often dismisses Baba's useful advice as rambling from a senile old man.
- Praetorian Guard: It's not dwelled upon, but the Zealots are not only a racing team – they also act as the Rust Queen's personal guard and agents, as she outright refers to them as her "Zealot guard".
- Snot Bubble: Baba sports one whenever he falls asleep, which is often and at seemingly random moments.
- The Unintelligible: Ifa's grandfather (?) Baba speaks complete gibberish… but everyone in his family seems to get everything he says. Mouse reveals that it is in fact a shorescrubber dialect, which she can speak too.
- Voice of Reason: Saatchi to Ifa.
The Planktons
Left: Scylla. Right: Lemanja.
A two-person team of "Genius Enginerds", who fly the highly-advanced drone Platypulse. Their G.En.I.E. is named Luska. They are in fact a team of Aquæ sent on a reconnaissance mission, whose captain was captured by the Rust Queen and locked in her personal treasure room. They hope winning the Rotor Punch will let them retrieve their leader.- Attack Pattern Alpha: Lemanja invokes an "Attack Pattern A12". Oro, despite having lost his memories, is able to instinctively follow it, meaning that he wasn't just any Aquæ but a member of their military.
- Berserk Button: When Oro tells Lemanja that she can't understand how homesick he is, she gets highly aggravated and the race turns into a no-holds-barred fight. Everyone, including the Planktons, agrees that this is nothing like their usual courteous and easygoing selves.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: They are very creative and have a lot of excellent ideas, but their odd mannerisms and terrible understanding of social cues makes it hard for them to convey them.
- Butt Cannon: Rather a cloaca since it's mimicking a monotreme, but it does let out bombs.
- Chameleon Camouflage: Their drone is capable of this.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Lemanja has often weird ideas, is always cheerful, a bit too enthusiast when it comes to friendship and very touchy-feely. Both with Scylla they can be socially awkward and inexplicably shy away from what should be mundane social interactions. It's a hint at their ignorance of proper human etiquette since they are Aquæ in disguise.
- When there is a meeting between several teams at the Tikis', since Mouse asked for the visitors to bring something (implied: to eat or drink), the Tao twins come with onigiris and oromos, Pavel as the rude Jerkass he is brings nothing and takes a drink in the fridge without asking for permission. And the Planktons...bring tractor wires. Even moreso, when Mouse points out she was talking about something to eat, Scylla proceeds to take a chunk from his tire and chew it with a smile, all the while displaying no difficulty nor disgust doing so. He even makes a "thumb up" gesture at the end.
- Dramatic Irony: Hinted at in a few episodes, including "Trial by Track"; When Enki states that there could be Aquas living among Terras and camouflaging with Terrasuits, the camera pans over to see The Planktons eavesdropping and running away in panic at this statement, alluding to their true identities.
- Foreshadowing: Since the beginning there is something off with their behaviour.
- "The Secret of the Planktons", where The Reveal occurs, also gives physiological clues before it properly happens later in the episode. Namely, despite not having followed the Polaris training, the Planktons don't seem to suffer from the cold. They also don't radiate heat, as seen through the thermal camera of Admiral Antaboga.
- Mini-Me: Platypulse can deploy miniature versions of itself.
- Mythology Gag: Lemanja was one of the preliminary designs for Enki, and character designer Bill Otomo liked her so much he found a way for her to come back into the show.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The one episode where Lemanja gets really angry is also the one featuring The Reveal and crucial elements for the Season Finale and global Myth Arc.
- Proj Egg Tile: Platypus is able to drop tricked-out artificial eggs that deploy blades or simply detonate.
- The Reveal: The aptly named episode "Secret of the Planktons" reveals that Lemanja and Scylla are Aquæ from the military of the hidden Aquæ Abyssal Kingdom in Terraduits. They are on a reconnaissance mission to see if resuming contact with the surface is worthwhile. Luska of course is also an Aqua.
- The Stoner: Luska evokes it. His "hair" looks like dreadlocks that hide half of his face, he has a relaxed and nonchalant attitude and sometimes shows inappropriate calm in front of normally terrifying situations.Luska (Right after Platypulse got gobbled by a giant carnivorous plant) : Dude, I'm inside the plant ! Far out !
- Token Black: The sole characters with indisputably African phenotypes. Ironically, these are just disguises.
Other characters
Wyatt Whale and Neptune
- Back in the Saddle: The comeback race has him come back to droning after decades of retirement, and with an outdated drone, with initially predictable results.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Wyatt Whale can have his eccentric moments and gets childish sometimes, but he's nonetheless wise and a competent Enginerd and scientist.
- Cool Old Guy: Corto sees him as one once she learns he was a droner champion in his youth, and he shows that he's still got some skill in the Comeback Race.
- Cuckoolander Commentator: Very much so. He'll get serious instantly if he suspects someone is cheating, but otherwise he'll get carried away often enough that Neptune has to straighten him up.
- Graceful in Their Element: Moby's greatest strength is its secret move, which can only be used underwater. See Super Mode below.
- Large Ham: Wyatt frequently fails to keep his cool and gets very enthusiastic when the race gets heated. He also loves doing little dances when presenting information.
- Moby Schtick: Wyatt Whale transparently references a White Whale ; he dresses all in white, his general body shape evokes a cartoonish whale with a large trunk and even his beard is reminiscent of baleens. Finally, his drone Moby is outright shaped like a white sperm whale.
- Old Shame: Zig-zagged and averted. Neptune is initially alarmed when an old picture of them during their droning years leaks, but neither of them is really ashamed. Neptune is just worried the droners may want to challenge them and that they'd fall short of expectations, while Wyatt is very eager to see if he's still got it.
- Power Makes Your Hair Grow: When submerged in water, Neptune grows into her true form, which has sharper-looking and much longer fins and flippers.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Both of them. Wyatt might be a little too eager to give the benefit of the doubt when one team is very clearly cheating, but he's also the one who decided not to pressure Corto and let her choose between his technology and Teach's.
- She's a Man in Japan: Neptune is male in the English dub and female in the French one.
- Still Got It: In the comeback race, Neptune keeps trying to dissuade Wyatt from racing against the young droners, arguing they're too old and out of practice. Indeed, both Wyatt, Neptune and their drone Moby are very rusty. Though Corto manages to put them back into something of a shape ; combined with Wyatt and Neptune's secret ace-up-their-sleeve, they manage to win the race.
- Super Mode: Actually Neptune's true form, to which she reverts when Moby lets water flow through it. It greatly boosts the drone's power, and lets Wyatt fetch a win in the final section of the comeback race.
- Top-Heavy Guy: Long, thin legs, thin arms, tiny waist, and a large chest that's only rivaled by his beard in volume.
- The Workhorse: Downplayed with Moby. It's big, cumbersome, clunky and outdated, but in the right circumstances it can still perform really well despite its age, and Wyatt manages to win at least one race against younger pilots with much more modern drones.
Gavinda Teach
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: So much so that her plan to steal the secrets of the G.En.I.Es was so she can blow up Whale Tech HQ, and after that fails, the entire island, with an Aqua Titan, just to knock Whale out of the competition.
- Evil Brit: In the English Dub.
- Knight of Cerebus: She's the one antagonist who's simply evil and raises the stakes of the show considerably.
- Manipulative Bastard: She is very good at using temptation and intimidation to get her way.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: Her personal transport pads and the Drone she lends to Corto are shiny black with red lights. She's also unscrupulous, cynical, manipulative, a Consummate Liar, and makes use of very environmentally harmful technology that is only thinly veiled as being nuclear in nature (albeit with an artistic license).
- The Sociopath: Again, she tries to blow up an island just to eliminate her competitor.
- Toxic, Inc.: Her technology is very harmful to the environment. It's unclear how exactly, but the main hypothesis would be that it makes use of radioactive fuel.
- Walking Wasteland: Well, not her specifically, but her drones use harmful Nucleum ore as fuel. The drone she lent to Corto made plants slowly wither and die everytime it passed by them. She also used magnetic corals to poison Oro.
Lavinia von Gandelhoff
- Evil Brit: Downplayed. She's more of an arrogant and condescending jerk (a category in which she outweights even Mina), who speaks in a caricatural RP accent.
- Family Honor: She considers the fact that Victoria is not team captain a dishonour to her family, regardless of the fact that Victoria is not suited for the role and doesn't even want it.
- It's All About Me: Believes herself to be the best pilot in history, and will make sure that her daughter lives up to her ideals whether she likes it or not.
- My Beloved Smother: She believes that the position of Enginerd is unbecoming of her daughter, and that nothing short of pilot and team captain is acceptable – Victoria's opinion on the matter is secondary.
- Narcissist: Boasts to be no less than the best pilot of all times. When we see her on th track, however, she doesn't live up to it.
- The Proud Elite: As a former team captain and pilot, Lavinia acts like this, but doesn't display the Hidden Depths often tied in the part.
Big Moe
- Cool Boat: His personal boat looks like a giant motorized conch, and is large enough to apparently hold tents.
- Green Aesop: One lesson that he teaches Mouse is how to follow a specific kind of fish to find precious scraps of tech, but also to give them something in exchange for what he takes.
- Like Parent, Like Child: He was a drone Mechanix in his youth just like Mouse (his daughter) is now.
Fugu
A Paroan resident who owns a parts shop. He's a recurring character in most episodes that involve shorescrubbers and/or Kass Krane.
- You Owe Me: The plot of the Droners Express Episode. Because of Shark purposefully loosing a race, Fugu lost a lot of money and chases him so he can repay him.
Chef Otaqua
Chef Otaqua in concept art
A Tortuga resident who owns the Pit Stop seafood restaurant. He appears in several episodes, with roles of varying importance.- A Day in the Limelight: His appearances are mostly anecdotic, but one episode makes him much more prominent, where he acts as the judge in a cooking-themed race.
- Angry Chef: His main two settings are grumpy and irate, with occasional satisfaction and extremely rare moments of absolute bliss.
- Caustic Critic: He judges meals prepared by each droners team in his dedicated episode, and doesn't exactly mince words.Chef Otaqua: It's… unedible. […] Since I must choose at least two teams, I'll choose the Blizzard Bosses, who were the only ones to cook a ''decent'' meal, and the Tikis whose meal had an ingredient that tasted… bold. I couldn't even identify it.
- Perpetual Frowner: It is very rare to see him smile.
- Shout-Out: A rather obscure one, his name evokes French-speaking youtuber Le Chef Otaku.
- Supreme Chef: Corto certainly thinks he is so. Although his restaurant doesn't look that out of the ordinary, he is apparently famous across the whole island and considered a first-class citizen by the queen, to the point that she organises a whole cooking-theme race in his honour where he acts as the judge.
- When He Smiles: When he smiles, he goes all the way complete with Bishie Sparkles and twinkles in his eyes.
Kass Krane
- Artificial Limb: His left arm is an Aquæ tech prosthetic. It's replaced with a Teachtech-made one in the season 1 finale, and an Aquæ-based Arm Cannon in Season 2.
- Evil Mentor: He briefly provides Corto with advice in the season 1 finale, when she believes she's having hallucinations. Most of it is false information, and only to further Teach's goals, but there really is a shortcut that she can take inside the Crab Titan.
- Harpoon Gun: His drone includes a built-in harpoon cannon complete with a chain. It can be used for various purposes, such as staying anchored, making sharper turns, and shooting at the opponent.
- Mighty Glacier: His drone is built according to that principle : Slow, but practically indestructible. It serves him well because he usually uses it for either pit fights, or races on a specific circuit where speed is less important than plain survival.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "Kahss-Kreine" doesn't sound that intimidating, but in the French dub it's pronounced "Kahs-Krahn", which sounds exactly like French for "Skull-crusher".
- Spikes of Villainy: His drone's shell is covered in spikes, with red eyes and a skull-evocating paint job to boot. Kass Krane's scruffy beard and hair also evoke a spiked shell.
- You Break It, You Profit: This is how Paroan Shorescrubber auctions work : wreck the "seller"s drone and you get whatever they proposed as a prize. Get yours wrecked and the "seller" gets whatever's left of it. Kass Krane's drone is entirely built for the purpose of such auction.
Scarlett "The Rust Queen" and Basuki
- Cool Old Lady: In-universe, Corto and several other characters regard her as this. She is a stern and intimidating ruler, but also a former adventurer and drone racing champion who hasn't lost her edge.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: To Corto. Scarlett is initially very skeptical of Corto but progressively sees more and more of herself in the young pilot, eventually teaching her a thing or two. That doesn't mean she'll hesitate to Corto punish whenever she causes trouble – which is at least once a week.
- Intergenerational Friendship: She progressively strikes one with Corto, albeit in secret as a public friendship would be bad for optics.
- Intergenerational Rivalry: She, Wyatt and Lavinia are known as the "Boomers" (Thusly named because all of their races ended in explosions, and possibly because their drones tended to detonate). When Corto declares that the old generation is no match for the younger, Scarlett organises an intergenerational race to settle the debate, with herself and Corto being the last two finalists.
- Kids Vs Adults: Scarlet organises the "Boomer Race" between 3 pilots of an older generation (Wyatt, Lavinia and herself), and one from the younger (Corto).
- Signature Move: Scarlet was known as "The Tornado" in her youth thanks to her signature "Cyclone" move. Corto recognises it and identifies Scarlet as the Aquæ Knight.
- Staff of Authority: She carries a long staff whose head sort of looks like a crab pincer. Despite claims of the contrary, it is a powerful Aquæ relic.
- Still Got It: Unlike Wyatt who clearly can't fly as well as he did in his youth and struggled to win one race, Scarlett still partakes in illegal drone races under her Aquæ Knight persona, and remains mostly undefeated. She also dominates during most of the Boomer Race, and eventually wins it.
Admiral Antaboga
- Big Bad: He takes this role in the Season 2 finale, replacing Teach who remains to be seen.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Pavel, Cold and Kass Krane were the main serious antagonists for most of season 2. Once they meet Antaboga however, he completely outclasses them and they strike a deal with him instead. Given the amount of destruction he can inflict once he seizes control of the Titan again, he takes the lion's share of villainy and the others are relegated to being his minions.
- Insane Admiral: Antaboga decided to go on a destructive spree with a massive war machine all on his own before Scarlett and Basuki managed to stop him.
- Knight Templar: His hatred of Terræ knows no bounds and he is fully convinced that exterminating them is for the greater good. The fact that his own commandment sent Basuki to stop him doesn't change anything : to Antaboga, anyone who opposes him is either an enemy or a traitor.
- No-Sell: Manta is a receiving end of this when his Freeze Ray is completely useless against Antaboga's armour. Antaboga explains that he's fought countless Polaris fighters in the past and knows very well how to counter their ice-based attacks.
- Still Fighting the Civil War: Decades after the war, Antaboga is still just as bent on fighting the Terræ, and has gone rogue even from his own commandment.
