During the previous Killer Instinct tournament, Chief Thunder's brother, Eagle, was one of the combatants. When Eagle did not return, Thunder entered the next tournament hoping to either return or avenge Eagle.
Ultratech promised they would release Cinder from prison early if he would allow them to experiment on him. When their chemical weapons experiment failed, it mutated him into living flame. If he wants to become normal once more, he must defeat Glacius.
A prototype cybernetic soldier created by Ultratech. He was put into the Killer Instinct to test his abilities. If he proves effective, mass production will begin. He was killed by Jago in the tournament, but robots don't die that easily.
After the original's death, Ultratech builds a new, deadlier Fulgore. When Ultratech HQ is sent into the past, he is released with one order: kill Jago.
Death Is Cheap: Death doesn't stop this robot from returning in the sequel.
The Dragon: In the first game, he is always the second-to-last opponent.
An alien from who-knows-where captured by Ultratech and forced to fight in Killer Instinct, supposedly to prove aliens' inferiority. He eventually defeated Cinder and escaped to his homeworld.
But 2000 years in the past, the remaining combatants have been thrust back in time, and Glacius's ancestors are all trapped on Earth. One of them, also named Glacius, seeks to free them and return home.
Mr. Fanservice: His skintight and tastefully ripped outfit, showing off his lean muscles with about 1% body fat, were a blatant attempt at reaching for this.
Baleful Polymorph: Her finisher in which the fighter is turned into a frog and stomped on.
Brown Note / Death by Sex / You Can Leave Your Hat On: Her flashing finisher. Subverted when performed in a mirror match, as the other Orchid...just throws a temper-tantrum, really. She lacks this fatality in the second game where there are two other females.
It's Personal / You Killed My Father: All There in the Manual states that she, as a grown-up, saw the murder of her (and Jago's) parents during the events of 2, something which made her hatred of the Fulgore cyborgs to be extremely intense.
Butt Monkey: He got the crap beaten out of him in the tournament.
The Cameo: He's loosely based on a character of the same name, invented by Rare for a puzzle-platformer they had released for computers (and remade for the Game Boy Advance) known as Sabre Wulf.
Dem Bones: He's a sword-and-shield-bearing skeleton who effectively broke Nintendo's longstanding taboo against undead protagonists. He's rather unique with his magical attacks, some of which require the expenditure of a flaming skull; three encircle his body and they must be cast ahead of time. No other character has a mechanic like this.
Eye Pop: A totally ridiculous one if Orchid uses her flash No Mercy finisher on him.
Mega Manning: He could include copies of his current opponent's moves in his combo finishers.
Pirate: He was one 200 years ago. He even had a ship and a huge crew of fellow skeletons!
Bare Fisted Monk: Even though Jago is an actual monk, TJ fits this particular trope better as a heavyweight boxer and the only fighter without an obvious weapon or superpower. His arms contain cybernetic enhancements, but he's often overlooked in favor of the flashier characters despite his strengths.
Combat Pragmatist: His backstory shows that he uses cybernetic implants. He also has a Machine Gun!
Mr. Fanservice: Like Jago, he too is quite ripped in both muscle and clothing.
Expy: Of Balrog, Jerkass and everything. His movesets are also an expy of Guiletaken up to eleven, as EVERY move requires the player Charge back or forward (except the Super moves).
Sociopathic Hero: In the comic book, he's not above quite brutally maiming foes, threatening non-fighters to get what he wants and cheating in tournaments. He also reacts with confusion when he sees Jago choosing not to kill an opponent. He's one of the protagonists.
Eyedol
The Dragon: Ultratech likely sees him this way, since they freed him to fight in their tournament.
Shout Out: In the first part of his ending, a woman in purple approaches him claiming that he's her long lost son Billy, lost in a car incident. This is almost the same scene which mirrors the ending of Blanka. (Also note that Blanka's real name is Jimmy... Billy? Jimmy? Anyone?)
Guide Dang It: The only way to defeat him is to trigger the Stage Fatality. Otherwise, he'll just keep fighting at zero health and will even win if the timer runs out. Good luck figuring this out on your own.
