Classic Era: The Need for Speed | Porsche Unleashed
Black Box Era: Underground (1 and 2) | Most Wanted (2005) | Carbon (Main Version | Own the City) | ProStreet | Undercover
Autolog Era: Shift (Shift PSP version and Shift 2: Unleashed) | Nitro | The Run | Rivals
2014 film adaptation
Ghost Games Era: (2015) | Payback | Heat
New Criterion Era: Unbound
The characters of the 2015 installment of the Need for Speed video game series.
As an overall Genre Throwback to the tuning-era Need for Speed games, 2015's Need for Speed had an overall light-hearted story, which is reflected in its characters, who wishes to meet and greet the driving icons of their dreams.
For Eddie and Melissa from Eddie's Challenge, see the Need for Speed: Underground characters sheet.
Travis's Crew
Car: Ford Mustang GT (Gen. 3), player's choice
The main protagonist of the 2015 game.
A rookie driver who races in Ventura Bay. After impressing Spike during a one-on-one race through the streets of Burnwood, he's invited to a party at Travis' garage. After meeting with Travis and the other members of his crew, the player sets out to help them impress the Driving Icons, their various driving heroes.
- Ambiguous Gender: Averted; the player's gender is stated to be male (Spike refers to the player as "bro", and Travis refers to the player as a guy when he mentioned he gave Magus Walker's phone number to the player), which is justified as it is the target market for the Need for Speed games.
- Badass Driver: Their talents behind the wheel impress Spike enough to present them to Travis's crew.
- Blank Slate: The player is stated to be relatively a rookie (while already talented enough to impress Spike), who builds up their abilities alongside Travis's crew and the Driving Icons.
- Drives Like Crazy: While it's natural for you to drift or drive around Ventura Bay at high speed, it would also be Enforced in relation to Outlaw Missions, where you break the law with the VBPD to progress through the storyline.
- Experienced Protagonist: The player is already skilled on the wheel by the time the game starts, as hinted by the player's unnamed friend who is impressed by their driving.
- The Faceless: The game's cutscenes are shown from their point of view, so their face is never seen. It appears that it's going to be subverted when the ending involves the player taking part in a group photo, but they put on a fox mask and their face remains unseen.
- Handshake Substitute: While the player doesn't speak, they still interact with others via fist bumps, which no one has a problem with.
- Heroic Mime: While calling them "heroic" might be questionable (street racing being illegal and all that), the player is still the protagonist, and they seem to communicate primarily through fist bumps. This is lampshaded in an early cutscene when Spike admires the player's ability to keep "his mouth shut and his eyes open".
- No Name Given: They're simply the player. That is all. Although, the player's name is the PSN/Xbox Live/Origin username from the leaderboards.
- Player Character: They're the character through which you play the game.
- Villain Protagonist: Street racing is illegal, so the player qualifies as this.
- The Voiceless: The player doesn't ever speak at all.
- What a Piece of Junk: The player starts the game already having a car, which would be A Taste of Power... except for the fact that it's a pokey, bone-stock black Gen. 3 Ford Mustang GT (aka a "Foxbody Mustang"), not exactly the most imposing generation of Mustangs. However, the player was still able to impress Spike with it, and in fact, to start your career afterwards you are offered three cars: either a Subaru BRZ, a Honda Civic Type R, or... a red Foxbody Mustang.
Travis@TopDogTravis
Car: Nissan Fairlady 240ZG (as the Outlaw), Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (C10)
Portrayed by: Leo Gregory
The leader of the player's crew.
Travis was introduced by Spike after the latter's recommendation to the player to be invited to his crew. Travis later offers the player their starter car. As leader, he keeps watch of his crew members and encourage them to impress the Driving Icons. Travis usually hangs out at the Diner, where the player can meet up.
As an Outlaw specialist, Travis anonymously offers the player Outlaw Missions, encouraging them to cause trouble around Ventura Bay, such as vandalism and engaging in cop chases in order to get the attention of Morihoshi-san.
- Affably Evil: He's an outlaw who indulges into illegal street racing, vandalism and making the VBPD look like sitting ducks, but he speaks in a friendly and calm manner.
- Clark Kenting: Travis at one cutscene would wear a different set of clothes when posing as an Outlaw. Spike and the gang didn't even recognize him.
- Continuity Nod: In the game's Legends Update, it's revealed that Travis has a rivalry with Eddie of the Eastsiders from Underground, helping the player enter Eddie's Challenge.
- Drives Like Crazy: Well... as as a representation for Outlaw, Travis sure shows his recklessness around the city by causing lots and lots of trouble around Ventura Bay and giving the VBPD lots of headaches.
- Eat the Camera: As the Outlaw, his Bl@h avatar is a close-up image of his mouth.
- Face of a Thug: Travis looks pretty intimidating (and is in fact revealed to be the anonymous sender of the Outlaw Missions), but is actually an affable guy and a good leader of his crew.
- Hero Stole My Bike: Subverted. More like "Outlaw Stole My RWB Porsche", where amy think Travis stole Nakai's RWB Stella Artois out from the blue. Turns out Nakai-san called Travis after seeing Amy's work and granted him permission to borrow his Cool Car to show a what an example of a master build really is.Amy: No, no, no, Travis, you stole Nakai-san's car?!
Travis: You said you wanted balance, flawless bodywork? Here it is.
Amy: [shouting] You stole his car!
Travis: Hey-hey, I am no thief. After he saw your work Nakai hit me up. - The Leader: He's the leader of his own crew, of which the player is a member of as part of the game.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: As the Outlaw, his name in the leaderboard is just simply referred as... the "Outlaw".
- Secret Relationship: In the game's Legends Update, Travis mentions in the beginning that he had some sort of relationship with Melissa, though he stops just short of saying whether he was actually dating her.Travis: Has this killer girlfriend with Melissa, that I used to...well... you know.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: Well, if you find cars to count as a wardrobe. As the Outlaw, he drives a black 1971 Nissan Fairlady 240ZG that looks straight out of Wangan Midnight. Once he outs himself as the Outlaw and drives "as himself" so to speak, he drives in a white Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R (C10) instead.
- What a Piece of Junk: He drives two classic Nissan cars, which can still outclass any high-end car in the game.
Spike@SuperSpeedSpike
Car: BMW M2 (F87)
Portrayed by: Adam Long
The first character the player meets at the start of the storyline.
Spike invites the player to the club after being impressed by the player's skills. He introduces the player to Travis's crew one-by-one, who is then welcomed in. Spike usually hangs out at The Longhorn, where the player can meet up.
As a Speed specialist, Spike offers the player Speed Missions, encouraging them to beat numerous time records of Magnus Walker in order to get his attention.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Of all of Travis's crew, he is the youngest among others.
- Butt-Monkey: Poor Spike. He's clearly the punching bag amongst the members of Travis's crew who gets frequently mocked and teased by his friends. Amy and Robyn are the worst offenders.
- Cool Car: Spike's BMW M2 alone is a Cool Car enough. Other than that, it's painted in a custom wine red finish and topped off with a carbon-fiber hood.
- Cowardice Callout: At he beginning, he calls the unnamed friend "Baby!" in a trolling manner.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Spike starts to gradually become more jealous when Magnus recognized and phone calls the player. It should've been him, not you.
- Heroic BSoD: Spike loses his cool when he gets into beef with the player for getting the attention to Magnus Walker instead of him. He gets better when Travis (and even Magnus Walker himself) convinces him that if the player gets noticed, Spike also gets noticed, as part of a "package deal". Spike acknowledges it immediately and apologizes for his actions.Manu: Yo, what's your beef, dude?
Spike: Magnus offered this guy... a drive, in one of his own 911s no less. How'd he even get your number, man? Huh?
Robyn: What did you do?
Manu: Hey, is that right?
Travis: I gave it to him. Relax?
Spike: Relax?! Relax? That was my ride, I earned that!
Robyn: C'mon. We're all on the same side here. Travis is just pushing you because he wants you to be great.
Spike: I don't need his help. And that new guy over here is getting all the credit. Yeah? What? Huh?
Travis: [grabs Spike] Come 'ere. Come here. [calmly] Seriously? This is what you wanted. You're on Magnus's radar! One of us gets noticed, we all get noticed. It's a package deal. Alright? [Spike nods] Right. It's cool.
Spike: [to the Player] I'm sorry man. I just want this so badly, y'know? We good. (sigh in relief) Now let's get out there and do this, man. - Loony Fan: Subverted. To Magnus Walker, who is desperately determined to meeting him so badly. He finally gets what he bargained for at the end.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After spending most of the screen time being the punching bag, Spike finally earns his happy ending when he gets noticed by his idol Magnus Walker. After all, it seems Travis's "package deal" really pays off.Magnus: Travis speaks highly of you.
Spike: Thank you, man, that really means a lot.
Magnus: You deserve it. - Well-Trained, but Inexperienced: Spike is the least experienced racer in the crew, which is why he was mocked by other members, despite the fact that he shows some good skills behind the wheel and a strong determination to meet his racing idol, Magnus.
Amy@AmyUnderTheHood
Car: Nissan 180SX (S13), SPOILER CAR*
Portrayed by: Faye Marsay
The crew's mechanic.
Amy works on cars for her crew at her own tuning shop which would hopefully get noticed by her idol, Akira Nakai. Amy usually hangs out at her garage, where the player can meet up and offer them full access to it, which they can store all their cars (up to 10 cars note ), as well as access to upgrading and customizing them.
As a Build specialist, Amy offers the player Build Missions, encouraging them to upgrade their cars as much as possible and get the attention of Nakai-san.
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: Downplayed in that she's mostly just goofing around and it's still a friendly race, but she's certainly on an ego trip after she gets her hands on Nakai-san's Porsche and challenges you to a race in it.Amy: Take your place... so I can run circles around you.
- Curse Cut Short: When Amy gets surprised that Travis stole Nakai-san's RWB Porsche.Amy: Holy sh—
Travis: Surprise! - Deadpan Snarker: She has a specialty of sarcastic quips, especially towards Spike.
- The Engineer: Uh, mechanic to be exact. Which is why she's a Build specialist.
- Fighting Your Friend: While most of the races in the 2015 game have you in friendly races alongside your friends from Travis's crew, "A Legend's Wheels" really puts emphasis on this (while still friendly): It's you against Amy... except that instead of her trusty Nissan 180SX, she uses Nakai-san's Porsche.
- Flipping the Bird: Amy occasionally gives the middle finger to her own mates. She gives one to Spike when she's first introduced, and later to Travis for teasing her.
- In-Series Nickname: While Amy is already her name, at times, her mates and even herself refer to Amy as "Ames" during in-game phone calls.
- The Gadfly: Trolling Spike is on her list of kicks.
- The Shut-In: Subverted. Unless street racing is involved, Amy usually stays in the garage. It's actually less because she cannot leave and more because her speciality is working on cars (hence her Build specialization).
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The crew mechanic Amy is the tomboy in comparison to the girly girl Robyn, the crew's social butterfly.
- What a Piece of Junk: Downplayed; her Nissan 180SX Type X S13 could be hardly called "junk", but for a car of its range, it's still able to easily outrun Lamborghinis. She must be really good at tuning, despite that her car has barely any visual modifications.
- Wrench Wench: She's the female mechanic of her crew.
Robyn@DevilishRobyn
Car: BMW M3 (E46)
Portrayed by: Christina Wolfe
Robyn is one of the crew members of Travis's crew, but also hangs out with other crew members throughout Ventura Bay. Robyn usually hangs out at her trailer, where the player can meet up.
As a Crew specialist, Robyn offers the player Crew Missions, encouraging them to work together during races and get the attention of the Risky Devil.
- Batter Up!: Her response to Risky Devil's pig mask prank?note Grab a baseball bat and swing at them.
- Big Eater: When the crew goes to the diner, she complains about having eating dinner only once... that night. Also, when the player goes to her to get the attention of the Risky Devil, she will start looking for a pepperoni pizza, and will profusely thank the player for finding it. Lampshaded by Amy, who wonders where everything that she eats goes, considering her lithe physique.Amy: Seriously, where does it go? You [points at Robyn] eat like he [points at Manu] should.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: While she's the girly girl by default in comparison to Amy, she still has some tomboyish qualities or interests. Besides the obvious one (her interest in street racing), she's also portrayed as a Big Eater.
- The Heart: She's the moral center of the crew, acting as mediator whenever tensions rise within the group. Appropriately enough, she's the Crew specialist.
- The Social Expert: She is clearly the crew's social butterfly (especially in comparison with Amy, who most of her time in the garage), and is also the one who mediates whenever tensions rise within the group.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The more social Robyn is the girly girl in comparison to the tomboy mechanic Amy, who spends most of her time in the garage.
- Tomboyish Name: Well, nickname; some other characters tend to call her just "Rob."
- Trashy Trailer Home: She lives in a trailer inside her house, and it's messy with lots of junk and pizza boxes scattered around her place.
- What a Piece of Junk: Her gray E46 M3 looks like it came fresh from the junkyard, as it looks bone-stock other than the CSL front bumper, Zilla stickerbomb front left fender and decals scattered around the window.
Manu@EmanuelKnowz
Car: Mazda MX-5 (NA)
Portrayed by: Howard Charles
Emanuel, or just simply Manu, is the crew's drifting specialist. Manu usually hangs out at his bunker, where the player can meet up.
As a Style specialist, Manu offers the player Style Missions, encouraging them perform sick tricks like drifting and air time moves and get the attention of Ken Block.
- Drives Like Crazy: As a man who specialized drifting and other sick tricks behind the wheel, Manu is definitely one.
- Gentle Giant: While he sure has such a huge build and a height as Samson, Manu is still definitely a friendly guy.
- In-Series Nickname: His actual name is Emanuel, but most of the time, he's referred in-game as Manu.
- Lazy Bum: It appears that whenever he isn't getting involved in street racing, he prefers to lounge himself in the comfy sofa inside his bunker. Spike even lampshades this.Spike: You don't sit on a comfy-ass mat "getting present" before a race man.
Manu: No? - Manly Facial Hair: Words can't describe Manu's bushy stubble that goes well with his hairstyle.
- Rice Burner: Manu's MX-5 comes fully decked with a large wing.
- Wrestler in All of Us: When Spike attempts to pull a prank on Manu, the latter anticipated where he was and pulled a judo throw on him.Manu: You have much to learn, young Grasshopper.
Spike: How'd you know I was there, man?
Driving Icons
Shinichi Morohoshi (諸星伸一) / Morohoshi-san
Car: Lamborghini Diablo SV (1999)
Affiliation: Yakuza
A Real Life Lamborghini tuner from Kabukicho, Tokyo who also is a member of the notorious Yakuza.
Morihoshi-san in-game represents as an icon for Outlaw, which focuses on criminal activities such as property damage, reckless driving and police pursuits.
- Cool Car: Being a Lamborghini aficionado, his 1999 Lamborghini Diablo SV is a huge example.
- Drives Like Crazy: As a representative for Outlaw, getting attention of the cops is his best thing, which also applies in Real Life.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Morohoshi-san can be already seen in the background throughout the Outlaw cutscenes
before he was properly introduced. - Gratuitous Japanese: In an English-speaking game, Moroboshi speaks Japanese the whole time. But he does have one line in English:Morohoshi-san: (in Japanese) The other pitbulls here... (in English) ...we welcome you.
- Neighborhood-Friendly Gangsters: Very polite and friendly, from one who have links with the Yakuza.
- Pimped-Out Car: Morohoshi's pink Lambo comes with pink neon and even pink LED strobe lights a-la Knight Rider.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Not him or his outfit. His car itself, painted in pink. Even the rims are pink too!
Kenneth Paul "Ken" Block
Car: Ford Mustang Hoonicorn RTR, Ford Fiesta ST (Gen.6) (No Limits)
Affiliation: Hoonigan Racing Division
The late Real Life American professional rally driver who competed in several events such as the World Rally Championship, Global RallyCross Championship and Rally America.
Block had been extremely notable for his gymkhana races.
Block in-game represents as an icon for Style, which focuses on skillful maneuvers such as drifting, air time and donuts. He appears alongside Vaughn Gittin Jr. (who previously appeared in Shift 2: Unleashed)
- Ascended Extra: He made an appearance in one of the special events in No Limits before becoming one of the Driving Icons of the 2015 game.
- Badass Driver: Being a gymkhana legend, Block indulges the most stylish and skilled trick, like drifting and donuts.
- Brick Joke: When Manu meets Ken for the first time, they talk about tacos, with Ken saying that he's more focused on racing than tacos ("I'd rather have a little fun than eat tacos"). In the end of the Style path, there is a taco truck that shows up on the background.
- Call-Back: Ken Block mentioned in the menu's quote "Hooning is not a crime", referring to the terminology used back in DIRT 3. This term would be used as decals in-game.
- Cool Car: The Hoonicorn, a modified '65 Mustang, is no slouch! His rallycross-spec Ford Fiesta in No Limits also counts.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Before he became a Driving Icon in the 2015 game, Block once appeared in No Limits in one of the special events. His iconic Hoonicorn Mustang (along with the Ford Fiesta) also made an appearance.
- Nice Guy: In-game, he's very affable to the whole crew.
Akira Nakai (中井啓) / Nakai-san
Car: Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 2.8 (RWB "Stella Artois")
Affiliation: RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF
Nakai-san is a Real Life Japanese tuner and is the founder and owner of RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF (RWB), an aftermarket tune shop that specializes in wide body kits and engine swaps for air-cooled Porsche 911 models and formerly Toyota AE86 models.
Nakai-san in-game represents as an icon for Build, which focuses on the car's performance capabilities, such as 0-60 acceleration, reaching maximum speeds and performing a long nitrous burst.
- Arc Words: "Self expression is what brings us together. But no two cars are the same. Each build is different."
- Badass Teacher: A Badass Driver who also acts as a mentor to Amy when it comes to inspiring car builds.
- Cool Car: His masterpiece RWB 911 that closely resembles Tatsuya's Blackbird. His company RWB (previously just Rauh-Welt at that time) also had sponsorships for the anime adaptation of Wangan Midnight. You and Amy get to try out his car in the missions "Javelin" and "A Legends Wheels" respectively.
- The Engineer: Mechanic to be exact. His RWB builds help serve an inspiration for Amy and the player.
- Gratuitous Japanese: Like Morohoshi-san, Nakai's lines consist of nothing but Japanese. Amy on the other hand appears to understand what he says which is justified that she's somewhat fluent to the language, acting as their translator.
- I Call It "Vera": He dubs his 911 Carrera RSR "Stella Artois". Truth in Television, he named it that after a popular beer he usually drinks. Also in Real Life, he dubs other of his masterpieces such as the "Rotana" and "Ramintra" for the 993 models.
Magnus Lucien Titus Bennett Walker
Car: Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 2.8 ("277")
Affiliation: Urban Outlaw
Nicknamed the "Urban Outlaw", Walker is a Real Life classic Porsche aficionado and custom car collector from the United Kingdom who later lived in the The American Dream.
Walker in-game represents as an icon for Speed, which focuses on fast and smooth maneuvers, such as high speed, slipstreaming behind opponents and clean driving.
- Cool Car: Being a classic Porsche collector, he drives an old Porsche 911. Unlike Nakai-san who uses riced RWB kits, Walker's on the other hand uses his trademark aero that strongly resembles the earlier 911 models. You get to try out his car during the final Speed mission.
- I Call It "Vera": He calls his Porsche 911 the "277" for some reason.
- Time Trial: Being on behalf of Spike, Walker's mission are all based on setting new records for certain tracks.
- Warding Gestures: He tends to throw in the "horns" hand gesture a lot which serves as his signature tic in Real Life.
Risky Devil (AJ, Cook, Fish, Stevie, Tim)
Car: Subaru BRZ (AJ and Fish), Nissan 180SX (S13) (Cook), BMW M3 Evolution II (E30) (Stevie), Toyota Supra SZ-R (Tim)
A notorious Real Life street racing team from Chicago formed in 2007.
The team consists of five drivers: Andrew "AJ" Gillett, Alexander Cook, Richard "Fish" Fisher, Steven "Stevo" Ostojic and Tim "T2" Turaklov.
The entire team in-game represents as an icon for Crew, which focuses on teamwork-based maneuvers, such as drifting closely to another drifter in a form of a drift train and matching the speed to nearby opponents.
- Badass Crew: They particularly stand out among the Driving Icons in that rather than just one Badass Driver, they are a whole crew of Badass Drivers.
- Cool Car: Each member sports a retro tuner ride.
- Color Motif: All the members of Risky Devil (except Fish) painted their cars red, while the members itself wear black shirts.
- The Leader: Fish is their representative on the game's cover art.
- Red Is Violent: Obviously, their red-cladded cars (again, except for Fish) take part in illegal street racing.
- Unusable Enemy Equipment: Unlike the previous four icons, none of their cars can be purchased from the garage.
Other Characters
A Real Life Norwegian Formula Drift series racing driver, also known as "The Norwegian Hammer". Since winning the 2010 Formula Drift Rookie of the Year award, Aasbø has become very well-known in drift racing, thus winning the Formula Drift championships in 2015, 2021 and 2022.
He appeared in the 2015 game as a celebrity cameo, occasionally being seen hanging out with Manu.
- Back for the Finale: He appears once more during the Group Photo Ending.
- The Cameo: He appears in the 2015 game as a cameo, seen occasionally hanging out with Manu.
Car: Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec (R32)
A minor character that only appears in two of Spike's missions.According to Spike, Bryn gets the attention to the player and demands a rematch after losing in the previous race.
- Friendly Rivalry: Appears to be a friendly racer who challenges the player in the mission "Turbo Ducking".
- Lighthearted Rematch: In a game with No Antagonist, Bryn challenges the player to a friendly rematch, just for fun.
Portrayed by: David McKell
Spike: Relax, they're blocks away, at least.
Player's Friend: You ain't on probation. I'm out.
A minor character that only appears at the beginning of the game.
A man who accompanied the player as the latter did stunts across Ventura Bay, impressing Spike with their skills in the process. Just as Spike approached the player to congratulate them, police sirens were heard in the distance, scaring the man. Despite Spike assuring him that they were blocks away, the man implied that he was on probation and ran away, never being seen in the game again.
- No Name Given: His name isn't mentioned; he's only called "Player's Friend" here as a placeholder because he was with the player while they raced through Ventura Bay.
- Noodle Incident: When Spike reassures the man that the police sirens they're hearing are still blocks away, he implies that he's on probation, telling him "You ain't on probation", but he doesn't elaborate on how he got into it.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After he hears some police sirens after racing alongside the player, he decides to call it quits and leaves the player. Spike isn't amused.Spike: [to the Player's Friend, as he runs away] Baby! Ha!
- Spear Carrier: A textbook example. He shows up in a scene, says a few lines, and leaves. He's basically just there to immediately give his place as the player's friend to Spike.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: His screentime lasts only under 10 seconds before he leave. He's never seen again throughout 99.9% of the story.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He isn't seen again after leaving the player, and what happened of him afterwards isn't known.
