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 Need for Speed game The Need for Speed.
Being the first ever game of the entire franchise, The Need for Speed features a few known characters that would later define the future installments.
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Policeman
Car: Ford Mustang SSP (Gen.3)
Portrayed by: Michael St. John Smith
"Well, I do believe I got me my first UFO capture."
The unnamed police officer of the game and the very first of the entire franchise.
He'll issue you a ticket if he manages to capture you. Receive three tickets, and he will proceed to arrest you.
- By-the-Book Cop: Despite being seen wielding a shotgun, the policeman just simply arrests and handcuffs the player.
- Cool Car: His third-generation Ford Mustang police car. It was a trendy police sports car at the time being.
- Deadpan Snarker: He comes equipped with various sarcastic lines regarding the player's capture."Well, I do believe I've got me my first UFO capture. You better start turning green real fast, gizmo, or the National Enquirer ain't going to buy my story.""You're just crying out for some rehabilitation, aren't you?""Congratulations! You've just won an all-expenses-paid county vacation."
- Hero Antagonist: First game, first rule. Street racing, being the central theme of the game is illegal. That is why he's here waiting to bust you.
- Leitmotif: 90's rock music plays
whenever the policeman busts the player. - No Name Given: He has no other name than simply the Policeman.
- Suddenly Voiced: In the 3DO Version (as opposed to the PS1 and Sega Saturn version where it uses a static image◊), the policeman in the FMV is voiced, complete with his sarcastic pattern of speech.
- Weapon for Intimidation: He wields a shotgun when he goes to arrest the player, but otherwise doesn't do anything with it.
X-Man
X-Man / Opponent
Car: All the available cars in the roster: Click to view
Portrayed by: Brenan Baird
"You just turned a $200,000 car... into a $13 piece of scrap. Way to go, Gomer."
The X-Man (also known as Opponent) is the very first opponent of the entire franchise, and the only opponent that the player encounters in The Need for Speed. You will first encounter him, and is present, in Time Trial and Head to Head events. He is often seen in full-motion videos mocking and trash talking about you whenever you face him.
- All There in the Manual: The name X-Man was stated in the game's manual, where as the credits stated that he's called the Opponent.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: If you manage to defeat him three times, he briefly acts bitter about it, but recovers in a few seconds by acknowledging that he's character in a video game, stating that he will live forever by being digitally immortalized in the game, while you will die one day.note Opponent: I'm a bit bitter. But hey, I'll live. In fact, I'll live forever. Digitally immortalized! You, on the other hand, will die one day.
- Cool Car: He drives any of the available cars in the game. In fact, many of his FMV clips show all of the cars in one parking space (pictured above), likely showcasing his prized collection.
- Deadpan Snarker: Hoo-boy. This bastard's sarcasm surely does inspire Eddie, Caleb, Razor and Darius to be one.
- I Shall Taunt You: As part of his personality as an opponent, is his sequence of ridicules to the player.
- Jerkass: Yeah, admit it. What would you expect from the very first opponent who mocks you consistently or acting very bitter every time you win?
- Pet the Dog: He maybe a Jerkass, but there are a few times that he hypes and warms you up as well as acknowledging your victory or even give you props if you lose, making him more of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
- The Rival: The first ever rival of the franchise as a whole, predating everyone in the franchise.
- Shout-Out: If you wrecked the Lamborgini Diablo, the X-Man will sarcastically tell you, "Way to go, Gomer", after the famously clumsy character from The Andy Griffith Show.
- Trash Talk: The X-Man sure has compliments and conversations with his filthy mouth of his.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With the player. There are times he is sore of your victory, and trash talks a lot, but there are time he commends you for giving him a challenge.
- "X" Makes Anything Cool: Perhaps the reason why he's called the "X-Man".
