Characters / Thomas & Friends

The character sheet for Thomas & Friends. If you're looking for the character sheet for the original books, click here. If you're looking for the character page for Thomas and the Magic Railroad, click here. If you're looking for the character sheet for All Engines Go, click here.

Subpages:

• The Steam Team^{Click to expand}Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby, Emily, Nia, Rebecca. Edward and Henry were replaced by the latter two in Big World! Big Adventures!.
• Little Western and Arlesdale^{Click to expand}Duck, Donald, Douglas, Oliver, Toad, Slip Coaches, Rex, Bert, Mike
• Skarloey Railway^{Click to expand}Skarloey, Rheneas, Sir Handel/Falcon, Peter Sam/Stuart, Rusty, Duncan, Duke, Bertram, Fearless Freddie, Mighty Mac, Proteus, Luke
• Foreign Engines^{Click to expand}Spencer, Hiro, Stepney, The Logging Locos (Bash, Dash, Ferdinand), Connor and Caitlin, Gator, Samson, The Flying Scotsman, Ashima, Rajiv, Yong Bao, Shane, Hong-Mei, Beau, Kwaku, Natalie, Tamika, Noor Jehan, Shankar, Raul, Raul, Gina, Gabriela, Gustavo, Stefano, Lorenzo, Carlos, Frieda, Axel, Etienne, Vinnie, Ivan, Kenji, Sonny, Duchess, Marcia and Marcio
• Secondary Characters^{Click to expand}BoCo, D261/The Diesel, Smudger, Harvey, Fergus, Arthur, Murdoch, Molly, Neville, Rosie, Whiff and Scruff, Billy, Stanley, Hank, Flora, Charlie, Winston, Stafford, Philip
• Non-Rail Characters^{Click to expand}Bertie, Terence, Trevor, Caroline, Bulgy, George, Bulstrode, Horrid Lorries, Thumper, Elizabeth, Jeremy, Madge, Colin, Owen and Merrick, The Pack (Nelson, Jack, Alfie, Oliver, Max, Monty, Kelly, Byron, Ned, Isobella, Patrick, Buster, Darcy, Brenda), Reg, Skiff, Ace, Emerson, Isla, Cleo
• Rolling Stock^{Click to expand}Annie and Clarabel, Henrietta, Hanna, Troublesome Trucks/Foolish Freight Cars, The Spiteful Brake Van, S.C. Ruffey, Hector the Horrid, The Scrap Monster, Bradford, An An and Yin-Long, Dexter, Lei, Beppe
• Humans^{Click to expand}The Fat Controller/Sir Topham Hatt, Lady Hatt, The Ffarquhar Policeman, The Barber, The Stationmaster and Family, Dowager Hatt, Alicia Botti, The Thin Controller/Mr. Percival, Sir Lowham Hatt, Jenny Packard, Sir. Robert Norramby, Sailor John, The Thin Clergyman (Wilbert Awdry), The Small Controller/Fergus Duncan, Reverend Charles Laxey, Charubala, Ruth, Baz and Bernie, Little Thomas

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Harwick Branch Line

Daisy

"Feeble, feeble, feeble!? Let me-!"

Voiced by: Teresa Gallagher (SLOTLT and TGR only) Tracy-Ann Oberman (Season 20-present),

Number: D1

Basis: British Railways Class 101 Bo-Bo

Built: 1960

A feisty diesel railcar brought in to help out while Thomas was being repaired. She became the prominent engine to take passengers of the Harwick line after being completed.

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• Adaptational Jerkass: Reconstructed. Even after supposedly changing her ways in "Percy's Predicament", many stories afterwards in the TV series convey her as rude, lazy and snobbish as ever. After relearning these lessons however, Season 21 brings her more or less to the same level as her novel counterpart, being genuinely more helpful and friendly, if still extremely vain.
• Aesop Amnesia: Despite being called out for her laziness, she reverts back to her old ways upon her reintroduction in Season 20. Seems to be averted in Season 21, where relearning from her vices has stuck a little better this time round.
• Asshole Victim: Yea, Annie and Claribel made rude remarks towards her in "The Railcar and the Coaches". However, she's also a snob who bullied them and didn't even try to apologize.
• Berserk Button: Daisy doesn't like being referred as "feeble".^note Her response (shown above) is literally one of the few times in the series that a locomotive has physically threatened a human.
• Cartoon Creature: She is based on the British Rail Class 101, but like in the Railway Series she is a singular rail car whereas the class at least requires two diesel power cars.
• Character Catchphrase: "I'm highly sprung!", "It's bad for my swerves!"
• Character Development: She came to the island as a Spoiled Brat and Lazy Bum, refusing to do any more work than she had to, and being incredibly rude to everyone at Ffarquhar. It wasn't until after Percy's accident with the quarry trucks and a stern lecture from the Fat Controller that she began to become nicer and less lazy. Even when said laziness resurfaced during her transfer to Harwick, she was much less bratty. By Season 21, she's developed into a far friendlier, if still up-in-the clouds character, with the same grit and determination expected of the Fat Controller's engines.
• Determinator: In "Springtime for Diesel", Daisy continues to take the passengers to the station despite her damaged spring thanks to Diesel bumping her.
• Fantastic Racism: Daisy is not particularly nice to coaches. In her debut episode, she calls Annie, Clarabel, and Henrietta rubbish. She also says a lot of rude things about Annie and Clarabel in "The Railcar and the Coaches", which inspires them to say rude things about her in retaliation.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: Despite being allocated to Thomas' branchline originally, Daisy and Thomas almost never interacted. Ironically only after she moved to Harwick did they start being shown together frequently.
• Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: The Grumpy to Ryan's Gleeful. She spends a lot of her time resting in her shed, prefers to do just what work she chooses and no more, does not like pulling coaches or trucks, and is particularly rude to coaches like Annie, Clarabel, and Henrietta.
• Gratuitous French: Has started saying French words despite this not being a French series ever since "The Way She Does It". The other engines don't really understand her.
• Jerkass Has a Point: In "The Railcar and the Coaches", Daisy substitutes for Thomas on his branch line while Thomas has to work at the quarry. Daisy is rude to Annie and Clarabel, Thomas' coaches, at one point saying that as a diesel railcar, she can go wherever she wants whenever she wants, whereas they are coaches, who can't move by themselves and have to wait for an engine to pull them. While Annie and Clarabel are offended by what Daisy said about them, they do realize she's right about it.
• Lazy Bum: She started off as one as she she refuses to pull a milk tanker and uses her "fitter's orders" excuse to avoid pulling it. until The Fat Controller calls her out on it. Then as of "Ryan and Daisy", she reverts back to this. Averted in Springtime for Diesel however, where she carries on with her work after suffering genuine damage to her springs.
• Makeup Is Evil: She does have makeup, but while not evil, she is rather vain, lazy, and snobbish.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Of the three diesels introduced in Season 2, she's the In-Between to BoCo's Nice and Diesel's Mean. She's pompous and high-maintenance, but still willing to help her friends when they need it.
• Not a Morning Person: In "Ryan and Daisy", she doesn't like waking up early, claiming early mornings to be bad for her swerves. This results in Ryan having to do her work as well as his own. Near the end of the episode, Daisy reluctantly gets up early to do Ryan's work after Sir Topham Hatt scolds her for not doing her work.
• Odd Friendship: Develops one with Harvey in Season 21.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Ryan. They live together, but they're just friends. She has Ship Tease with Diesel anyways.
• Quickly-Demoted Woman:
  • The last episode dedicated to her was back in season 4, and she made a brief non-speaking role in season 8.
  • Subverted in the books; while she did disappear for the tenure the show adapted, she later reappeared with plenty of stories in the modern novels revolved around her. She also made more frequent appearances in the magazine series.
    • She finally returns in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, being transferred over to the Arlesbergh Harbor-Harwick branch line for passenger duties. After that, she got four spotlight episodes in Season 20, and was seen in several other episodes as a supporting character.
• Spoiled Brat: She loves to be treated fairly to the point that she prefers not to pull trucks, let alone a single milk tanker, and will lash out when things don't go her way. She grows out of this later on.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Her eyelashes and lipstick.
• Took a Level in Kindness: While still very pompous and high maintenance, she's noticeably less rude and self-centred in Season 21, making friends with other engines easier, and actually tending loyally to her passengers even when she suffers damage.
• Toyless Toyline Character: Oddly lacks a TrackMaster/Plarail toy. She also hasn't had any merchandise since 2009, which is odd considering how much she appears in the CGI series. However, Daisy was later added to the Bachmann HO-scale range.
• Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: Often deems herself too good for the other engines in her earlier appearances.

Ryan

"My name is Ryan, and I'll be your engine today!"

Voiced by: Eddie Redmayne (SLOTLT only), Steven Kynman (S20 - present)

Number: 1014

Basis: Great Northern Railway Class N2 0-6-2T

A violet tank engine that arrives in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure. After helping to construct it, he now works on the Arlesburgh-Harwick Branch Line as a goods engine. Enthusiastic and kind, he works hard and wants to be liked by everyone.

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• All-Loving Hero: Is friendly to everyone, even Thomas, who only treats him coldly in response. Even so, Ryan greets and bids farewell to him with friendly remarks, and doesn't even care when Thomas reveals he could have stopped the dynamite incident. This continues throughout Season 20, when he takes on Daisy's jobs, albeit while doing his own, which exhausts him, as well as taking out Judy and Jerome after hearing how they've never been used for a long time.
• Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: Finally decides to help Thomas in the climax and starts heading up to Knapford, but as soon as the pirate ship comes into view, he immediately starts reversing and screaming. And keeps doing that even when he gets roped into helping.
• Butt-Monkey: Somehow keeps getting wrapped up in crises out of nowhere. In addition, Thomas hated him at first, but Ryan himself had no idea why.
• Extreme Doormat: To Daisy in "Ryan and Daisy", where she makes him do her jobs.
• Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: The Gleeful to Daisy's Grumpy. He is a cheerful and hard-working tank engine who is kind to everyone he meets and doesn't mind what work he does.
• Lovable Coward: As brave as he would like to be, Ryan has a tendency to panic in a crisis.
• Nice Guy: Isn't even angry at Thomas for not warning him about something which nearly got them killed by an explosion. He also doesn't hold it against Daisy for exhausting him when she tries to pass off her work onto him.
• Platonic Life-Partners: He and Daisy live together, but they're just friends.

Jerome and Judy

Judy (left) and Jerome (right)

Voiced by: Tim Whitnall (Jerome), Teresa Gallagher (Judy)

Basis: Cowans Sheldon 30t Breakdown Crane

Two breakdown cranes that help out with maintenance work and recover engines and trucks after accidents. They debut in The Adventure Begins, when Thomas uses them to rescue James.

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• Anthropomorphic Shift: They take up the roles of the Breakdown Train cranes from the original story, which were not sentient.
• Identical Twin ID Tag: Their name plates.
• Motor Mouth: Both talk rather fast, being rather talkative themselves.
• Out of Focus: Deconstructed. They were never used that much since Rocky and the Rescue Centre appeared, which they lament to Ryan. Sir Topham Hatt finds out about this after Daisy has an accident and realizes that Rocky isn't the only crane to be used all the time.
• Single-Minded Twins: They both know the same things and react at the same time, such as Thomas waking them up to bring them over to a derailed James.
• Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: They're neither mentioned nor merchandised prior to the film's release.
• Sleepy Head: The moment they're not needed, they fall asleep.
• Suddenly Voiced: They're an adaptation of the original Breakdown crane, which was not sentient or a character at all.
• Theme Twin Naming: Both names start with "J" and are two syllables.

Ffarquhar Quarry

Mavis

"If we use the teensiest bit of Toby's line, we can save all this bother."

Voiced in English by: Teresa Gallagher (UK; Hero of the Rails - present, US; Season 17 - present), Jules de Jongh (US; Hero of the Rails - Blue Mountain Mystery)

Voiced in Japanese by: Nao Nagasawa (Series 3), Ryō Horikawa (Series 5), Yuka Shioyama (Series 6 - Series 8), Kumiko Ito (Calling All Engines! - Series 13), Sakura Yoshioka (Series 14 - Series 24)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Irina Índigo (Series 13 - Series 24)

Number: Ffarquhar Quarry 1

Basis: British Railways Class 04 0-6-0DM

Built: 1962

A feisty diesel that works at the quarry. She started off as a cheeky young engine who thought she knew what was right, but matured into a kinder and more motherly engine over time.

• Ascended Extra:
  • Only got a few stories to herself in the books, but has plenty of focus in the television series.
  • She ends up playing an important role in Hero of the Rails. In an effort to prevent Spencer from finding out about Hiro, Thomas and Percy send him to the quarry and Mavis guides him to back up right underneath the operating slate hopper so he had to be taken for repairs at the Steamworks.
• Character Development: She became more of a Nice Girl in season 6.
• The Confidant: Plays this role to Salty in "Salty's Secret", where he tells her about how he feels he isn't fit to work at the quarry and longs for the sea.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Started off as this in her debut season.
• Mouthy Kid: Started off arrogant and refused to follow Toby's orders. She tamed after her re-innovations to how things worked caused serious problems.
• Nice Girl: She eventually became this. She's also one of the most kind-hearted diesels.
• Ship Tease: With Salty in his debut episode. Unlike Bill and Ben, she treated him with kindness, and served The Confidant to him regarding his desire to be at sea.
• The Smurfette Principle: Until the movie, she and Daisy were the only female engines, neither of whom appeared very often.
• Team Mom: Was this occasionally with Bill and Ben, but now plays this role with most other engines.
• Tomboy: Compared to the other female engines, she's not feminine at all. In fact, the only feminine things about her appearance are her cowcatchers and sideplates, which kind of resemble a skirt or a dress.
• Token Good Teammate: She serves as one of the nicer diesels on Sodor.
• Took a Level in Kindness: The show mellowed her out significantly so she is often the prime White Sheep of the diesel ensemble.
• White Sheep: She is easily the most kind-hearted diesel on the show currently.
• Younger Than They Look: Compared to her later Team Mom persona. Especially noticeable in the Japanese dub, where she has a rather high pitched and childlike voice.

'Arry and Bert

"Got you this time, Stepney. You'll make very fine scrap indeed. Buffer 'im, Bert!"

Voiced in English by: Kerry Shale ('Arry, Series 14 - Series 21; Bert, Series 14 - Series 16), William Hope (Bert, Series 17 - Series 21)

Voiced in Japanese by: Moriya Endo ('Arry, Series 5), Yuki Sato ('Arry, Series 6 - Series 8), Keiji Hirai (Bert, Series 6 - Series 8), Shinichi Namiki (both, Calling All Engines! - Series 21)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Jorge Roig (Series 14 - Series 16), César Soto (Series 20 - Series 21)

Basis: British Railways Class 08 0-6-0DM

Built: 1952/1962

Also known as the Smelter Twins, 'Arry and Bert work at the scrapyards and are bullies to all steam engines. Multiple times, they have threatened and shown desire to smelt down the steam engines for good.

• Affably Evil: Over the years they've become less evil, but remain bullies toward the steam engines.
• The Bullies: Like Diesel, they are obnoxious hecklers to the steam engines.
• Co-Dragons: They play to role to Diesel, in the HIT Entertainment episodes anyways.
• Creepy Twins: Played this role in Stepney Gets Lost, but have been toned down later on.
• Demoted to Dragon: They often tend to work alongside Diesel in the Hit episodes.
• Demoted to Extra: They appeared far more sporadically following Sharon Miller's leave as head writer.
• Fantastic Racism: Like Diesel, they seem to dislike steam engines, even trying to scrap Stepney.
• Identical Twin ID Tag: Bert has stubble, while 'Arry's clean-shaven.
• Jerkasses: They're terribly rude, rough, and antagonize the engines just as much as Diesel does.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: They have their moments. For example, they enjoyed Diesel's ducklings in "Diesel and the Ducklings", and in "Springtime for Diesel", they seemed genuinely concerned when they heard that Daisy might have to be scrapped if she can't be repaired.
• Karma Houdini: In their earliest appearances, they actually got away with harassing the other engines and getting them into trouble. Usually subverted in later seasons, though like Diesel, they sometimes still get a free pass for petty heckling, especially towards an equally obnoxious engine.
• Perma-Stubble: Bert.
• Pet the Dog: They seem to at least care about fellow diesels. They are sincerely horrified when it looks like Daisy might get scrapped in "Springtime For Diesel". They also apparently share Diesel's Cuteness Proximity for ducklings.
• Single-Minded Twins: They think the same thing each other is thinking and often go along with each other.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Splatter and Dodge from Thomas and the Magic Railroad. The latter were in fact re-paints of their original models.
• Where It All Began: Their friendship with Diesel started in "Fergus Breaks The Rules", when the Fat Controller tells Fergus Diesel will be sent to work at the smelters, which is the main work station for Arry and Bert.
• Villain Decay: In "Stepney Gets Lost", they take great glee in almost scrapping Stepney. This murderous depiction was never seen again in the series proper, which instead reduced the characters to mere bullies.

Sodor Steamworks

Victor

"You've come to the right place, my friend."

Voiced by: David Bedella (US; Hero of the Rails - present / UK; Blue Mountain Mystery - present), Matt Wilkinson (UK; Hero of the Rails - sixteenth season)

Number: 1173 (originally)

Basis: Minaz No.1173

A Cuban narrow gauge engine, Victor transports parts all through the Steamworks, as well as giving orders and helping diagnose problems with engines who come in. As the only narrow gauge engine owned by the Fat Controller, Victor can sometimes leave the Steamworks to help the Skarloey Railway engines.

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• Cartoon Creature: While he's based on a real-life standard gauge engine, he is re-scaled and modified to the same narrow gauge as the Skarloey Railway engines.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Deconstructed in "Victor Says Yes"; his good heart and reluctance to say "No" results in him accepting anyone who comes in, and ends up taking too long to fix everyone, leaving him unable to tend to those who have more important problems such as blocked valves and broken boilers. The Fat Controller eventually calls him out on this.
• Dark and Troubled Past: While being sent to Sodor with Luke, the chains holding him to the ship came lose. As he didn't speak English at the time, nobody could understand him when he tried to warn them. So when Luke was being lifted off the ship, Victor was knocked into the sea.
• A Day in the Limelight: "Victor Says Yes", Blue Mountain Mystery (which focuses on how he got to Sodor).
• Dashing Hispanic: He's pretty handsome for a steam engine.
• The Medic: Of sorts to the steam engines. While the other engines do their jobs, Victor is at the Steamworks fixing broken engines.
• Mr Fix It: If there's anything that needs fixing, he can do it. That's why everyone comes to him.
• Nice Guy: He can be snarky at times, but otherwise is rather pleasant and tolerant of the other engines he helps.
• Red Is Heroic: A deep red engine who oversees the repairing of any broken engine and diesel, and is a nice guy to boot.
• The Smart Guy: He knows more about engine and diesel parts than anyone on Sodor; he has to be, in order to repair everyone properly.
• Token Minority: The only Hispanic engine on Sodor.

Kevin the Crane

"Sorry, boss. It was a slip of the 'ook."

Voiced by: Kerry Shale (US), Matt Wilkinson (UK)

Basis: Ransomes & Rapier 6t crane

A mobile crane and Victor's assistant. Kevin is faster than Victor at delivering parts, except Kevin is extremely clumsy.

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• Ascended Fanboy: Kevin always wanted to work with Cranky, and gets the chance in "Kevin's Cranky Friend".
• Bumbling Sidekick: To Victor.
• Captain Crash: Lampshaded. He tends to crash a LOT and gets reprimanded by Victor whenever he does.
• Character Catchphrase: "Slip of the hook!" in the US, "Slip o' me 'ook!" in the UK.
• Drives Like Crazy: Kevin's maneuvering skills leave much to be desired. The mobile crane he was based on wasn't much better, either.
• Hero-Worshipper: Toward Cranky.
• The Klutz: Every time Kevin appears, he's always dropping or crashing into something, which gets him a reprimand from Victor. However, in Hero of the Rails, Victor exploits it when he notices the noise Kevin makes is very distracting for Spencer, allowing Thomas to get some spare parts for Hiro.
• Plucky Comic Relief: He continues to help Victor as much as he can despite his constant screw-ups. Sometimes his screw-ups are what makes things funny.
• Shown Their Work: The real life mobile crane Kevin was modeled after was also known for being rather cumbersome and clumsy to operate.
• Youthful Freckles: Has freckles on his face, which highlight how young he is.

Vicarstown Dieselworks

Diesel

"Your worthy Sir Topham Hatt thinks I need to learn. He is mistaken. We diesels don't need to learn, we know everything. We come to a yard and improve it. We are revolutionary!"

Voiced in English by: Michael Brandon (US; Series 13-16), Martin Sherman (US; King of the Railway - Season 18), Kerry Shale (UK; Series 13 - 24, US; Series 19 - 24)

Voiced in Japanese by: Daisuke Gōri (Series 2 - Series 8, excluding Series 6), Hisao Egawa (Series 6), Ken Sanders (Calling All Engines! - Series 24), Shinichi Ishihara (singing voice)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Jorge Ornelas (Series 13 - Series 24)

Basis: British Railways Class 08 0-6-0DM

Built: 1952

The first diesel to visit the Island of Sodor, Diesel believes that diesels are better than steam engines, and wanted to "revolutionize" Sodor. He left and came back several times before becoming a permanent part of the railway.

• Adaptational Early Appearance: In the books, he came on Sodor just after City of Truro left. Here, Diesel appears before Truro visited.
• Adaptational Villainy: In the books, Diesel was merely a pompous bully, and, after one return to Sodor, managed to redeem himself. In the series, he returned permanently, though proved as nasty as ever, and gleefully bent on having all steamies sent to the scrapyard. He tamed closer to the books' version in the HiT seasons.
• Aesop Amnesia: No matter how many times he learns about being nice to other engines, he'll soon return to his bullying ways.
• Alliterative Name: His name in the marketing, Devious Diesel.
• Anti-Hero: In rare instances, he's portrayed as an engine that wants to do good work and be recognized for his talents, but doesn't know the right way to do so and ends up hurting or upsetting others.
• Arch-Enemy: Though antagonistic to almost everyone, he seems to direct most of his enmity and rivalry towards Thomas in the HIT seasons. His main enemy in his initial appearances was Duck.
• Arc Villain: Of the three-episode arc with Duck as the main protagonist: "Pop Goes the Diesel", "Dirty Work", and "A Close Shave", though he doesn't appear in the last one.
• Ascended Extra: He appeared in one novel of The Railway Series and a standalone story by Christopher Awdry. In the show (especially in later HIT seasons), he makes regular appearances and is a key antagonist.
• Attack Hello: At least in "Springtime for Diesel", his way of saying "hello" is by deliberately bumping into other engines.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He isn't above pretending to be a Nice Guy, especially when he's in the manipulative mood. In his debut episode "Pop Goes the Diesel" for instance, he effortlessly charms the other engines into believing he's a Nice Guy. He soon then reveals his true colours, though.
• The Bully: What he becomes in the new series. He gets enjoyment of heckling and harassing other engines, especially steam engines.
• Card-Carrying Jerkass: Hidden Heart of Gold and Pet the Dog moments aside, Diesel proudly admits in "Diesel and the Ducklings" that he's a Jerkass.
  Emily: Stop being so horrid Diesel.
  Diesel: I'll be just as horrid as I like.
• Card-Carrying Villain: He admits he's a bad engine during "I'm Full of Surprises" and once stated there's a reason he's called Devious Diesel.
• Character Development: Subtle example. From the early Hit episode "Thomas To The Rescue", Diesel drifts from being a Dark Messiah bent on scrapping steamies to more just a petty Jerkass who can show some begrudged respect for steamies like Thomas. The CGI series increasingly conveys Diesel as more just an insecure bully who wants recognition but can't let go of old grudges.
• Dark Messiah:
  • In his first episode, he comes to Sodor preaching the diesel revolution.
  • Touched on lightly again in Blue Mountain Mystery where after hearing of Luke's Dark and Troubled Past, he convinces Paxton that Luke is dangerous and must be gotten rid of.
• Depending on the Writer: Either a Manipulative Bastard or a brutish bully, with his methods being either out of unsympathetic spite or because he felt he was wronged.
• Devil in Plain Sight: He's the most Obviously Evil character among the recurring cast, is willing to ruin jobs for glory or petty revenge, and any hint of possible reformation is gone by the next episode, yet he's still is allowed to live and work on the railway.
• Disproportionate Retribution: When not picking on engines for mean laughs, he's often committing this. As he lampshades in "Springtime For Diesel" the steam engines aren't particularly nice to him either, but what meanness they can give he can surpass ten fold. The most iconic being in his first appearance where, after Duck let him humiliate himself for being a pompous kiss-ass, Diesel spread Malicious Slander to try and get him booted off the railway.
• Does Not Know How to Say "Thanks": In "Disappearing Diesels". He settles for a friendly smile instead.
• A Dog Named "Dog": A diesel named Diesel.
• Establishing Character Moment: In his introductory episode, in which after smoothly flattering all the other engines, he says the above quote to Duck about how diesels "don't need to learn" and are "revolutionary".
• Even Evil Has Standards: Diesel is no saint himself, but even he was repulsed in "Blue Mountain Mystery" after he learnt that Luke seemingly killed another engine.
• Evil Brit: In later seasons of the U.S. dub, Diesel speaks in a bit of a Cockney accent. There's also a good reason they call him devious.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • He's just as iconic as Thomas in the show, but for all the wrong reasons and sees the blue tank engine as his Arch-Enemy.
  • He even sings a warped version of the BWBA theme during his Imagine Spot where he imagines him doing a Hostile Show Takeover.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He couldn't understand why Paxton would help him after one of his pranks, nor could he comprehend Daisy and Harvey's Odd Friendship (Which he himself instigated)
• Evil Is Petty: He's fond of minor acts of dog-kicking and Disproportionate Retributions, never mind his Fantastic Racism. However, Diesel can restrain himself, at least when the Fat Controller is nearby.
• Evil Wears Black: He has black paint and is one of the most malicious characters in the series.
• Fantastic Racism: Not initially, but after the Classic series, it's made clear Diesel thinks lowly of steam engines.
• Flanderization: Diesel saw diesels as revolutionary originally, but it was not his main vendetta against the steam engines, and he was rather shrewd and manipulative in his antics. Shortly into the TV made episodes however, Diesel became a more outspoken bully and exaggeratedly racist towards steamies. The current episodes seem to be toning him back down, even if he is still a much more obnoxious heckler than initially.
• Freudian Excuse: He discusses it in "Springtime for Diesel", saying how he doesn't feel that he should be nice to engines who aren't nice to him; evidently, on some level he's very well aware of how unfriendly he is, but is hurt by the fact that the other engines don't give him a chance to redeem himself, so he continues being mean since that's apparently what they expect of him.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: What was Daisy's response to learning about Diesel's Freudian Excuse? No Sympathy.
• The Heckler: Sure to be found making fun of whatever the spotlighted engine is doing, often triggering their insecurities, particulary Gordon in, "Respect For Gordon".
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Played with in "Diesel and the Ducklings". He thinks that diesels should be rough and tough, but shows his soft side towards some ducklings.
• It's All About Me: He often chooses to do things based on his own selfish desires, while ignoring how his fellow engines will be affected by it.
• Jerkass: The most prominent one of the show as he is rude, bullying, and manipulative.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Heavy on the "Jerk" part as he's a rude, manipulative, selfish, and devious Fantastic Racist. Still, he tends to get a softer moment roughly Once a Season (e.g. "Diesel's Special Delivery", and in the Arc-animated episodes "Diesel and the Ducklings" and "Springtime for Diesel") and he shows Villain Respect when he feels like it. It's also implied in "Disappearing Diesels" that he simply doesn't know how to be nice, even if he tries.
• Joker Immunity: A G-rated example. In contrast to his Railway Series counterpart (who was sent packing the moment the Fat Controller could deduce he was the one spreading lies in the yard), Diesel is never sent away again or receives any severe punishment, despite all of the trouble he causes with no sign of reformation.
• Karma Houdini: A Played With one. Diesel usually gets hit with Laser-Guided Karma whenever he does something bad. However, he's still allowed on Sodor despite his terrible track record (and having been sent away multiple times).
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Sometimes Diesel's heckling is directed towards haughty engines or even ones that bite first. Fantastic Racism is a prominent issue among many steamies and diesels, Diesel's just one of the worst cases.
• Kindness Ball: In "Diesel's Special Delivery", he's inexplicably nice and doesn't brag about his superiority over steam engines.
• Manipulative Bastard: Renowned for this, most infamously in his debut, he tells jokes about the big engines to the trucks, and tells them that Duck shared them with him. Once the trucks starts laughing at the other engines, they're convinced Duck had been spreading nasty jokes about them. Despite being found out and punished, he still somehow manages to smooth talk engines into trusting him (eg. convincing a lonely Percy into helping the Dieselworks in "Day Of The Diesels", or sweet talking Mavis into doing odd jobs in "Thomas The Quarry Engine"). He notes the other engines distrust of newcomer Sonny, and manipulates him into doing his jobs as he pretends to be friendly with the new engine.
• Meaningful Name: Devious Diesel, befitting of his conniving persona.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Diesel has experienced this several times. For example, he is sincerely remorseful when he thinks he damaged Daisy beyond repair after giving her a teasing biff in "Springtime For Diesel".
• Mythology Gag: Though the TV series never adapted Thomas and the Evil Diesel proper, the premise of Diesel becoming an occasional Friendly Enemy to Thomas got used recurrently from the HIT era onwards.
• Never My Fault: Hates being reprimanded for his mistakes, and will always find a way to shift the blame onto other engines. This gets especially bad in season 23's "Diesel Do Right" where after he's punished by the Fat Controller for not doing his job correctly, rather than own up to his failure and work harder, he decides to trick Rebecca into doing the other diesels' jobs wrong.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Of the three diesels introduced in Season 2, he's the Mean to BoCo's Nice and Daisy's In-between. He's bullying and manipulative and plotted to have Duck sent away from Sodor.
• Obviously Evil: In the Mitton directed seasons anyway. While the books left it more imagination, the show version's devious smile, sinister Leitmotif and shady voice over from the narrator leave little doubt from the first time he's shown that he probably isn't a Nice Guy.
• Offscreen Karma: In "A Close Shave" where the Fat Controller found out about his lies about Duck telling names about the other engines and sent him away to the other railway. Averted in "Diesel Does It Again" and most later episodes where Diesel is seen getting his comeuppance for causing trouble.
• Out-of-Character Moment: "Diesel's Special Delivery", in which Diesel broods over not getting clapped and cheered by children as much as James does.
• Pet the Dog: One episode per season, before he snaps back into his usual devious and abrasive personality.
• Psychotic Smirk: His default expression whenever he's up to no good is an evil-looking smirk. He's even doing it in one of the above pictures.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: He's got red buffers, black paint, and a malicious nature.
• Red Baron: In promotional material, he is often referred to as "Devious Diesel". Within the show itself, this nickname is rare, but not completely unheard of.
• Ship Tease: He has some with Daisy in season 21. In "Springtime for Diesel", he feels guilty about bumping her and admits that he likes her while she's (pretending to be) asleep at the Dieselworks, and made a genuine effort to become her friend. At one point in "A Most Singular Engine", he blushes as he says her name.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He's extremely egotistical, cocky and strongly believes that the diesels are far superior than the steam engines.
• Smug Snake: Especially in later CGI episodes. While Diesel is a fine schemer and Manipulative Bastard, he is quite cocky and not as clever as he thinks he is. The original version of the song "Troublesome Trucks" even indirectly calls him out on the latter. Special note goes to "Diesel Glows Away" in which he underestimates Nia's intellect. Also, she and Paxton trick him into falling for his very own trick (although he at least later deduced that they tricked him).
• Team Rocket Wins:
  • Sometimes gets to pull specials and look splendid at last. "Diesel's Special Delivery" for example.
  • "The Railcar and the Coaches" also ends with him temporarily taking over Thomas' branch line after Annie and Clarabel trick Daisy.
  • Perhaps the most pronounced example is "The Big Freeze", where the lack of coal means diesels are left taking over jobs on the railway. For an extra touch Diesel finds Thomas has stranded himself at a station out of carelessness. In a surprising case of What You Are in the Dark however, rather than savouring his dream of overthrowing the steamies, Diesel goes and gets the delivery of coal and is treated as a hero.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: In a few cases, including his first appearance, Diesel will make a halfway attempt to be friendly and helpful, but either his bad reputation or oily manner of doing so will lead him to get brushed off, and him to usually revert back to his old nasty habits in retaliation. As he sulks in "Springtime For Diesel" he doesn't feel the need to be nice when he doesn't feel anyone is nice to him.
• Ungrateful Bastard: When Duck stands up for Diesel when the trucks were singing a rude song, he blames Duck for, ahem, 'making the trucks laugh at him'.
• Villainous Breakdown: While they vary in intensity, Diesel is prone to losing his cool whenever his plots fail, of note is his "Hugh, GURR, SMOOOARR", growling in Pop Goes The Diesel.
• Villain Respect: He occasionally displays some begrudged respect for some engines, like Thomas.
• Villain with Good Publicity: He managed to get James, Gordon, and Henry on his side in "Dirty Work" when he spread lies about them to the Troublesome Trucks and pinned the blame on Duck. Diesel had made a good first impression on them by complimenting them when he first visited Tidmouth Sheds in his debut episode, "Pop Goes the Diesel".
• Visionary Villain: Started off as one, with it returning every now and then.
  Diesel: "Your worthy Sir Topham Hatt thinks I need to learn. He is mistaken. We diesels don't need to learn, we know everything. We come to a yard and improve it. We are revolutionary!"

Diesel 10

"I can do whatever I want! I'll get him, too! With Pinchy!"

Voiced in English by: Keith Scott (Thomas and the Magic Railroad, workprints only), Neil Crone (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Rupert Degas (Misty Island Rescue and Day of the Diesels, original cut only), Matt Wilkinson (Misty Island Rescue - Series 17)

Voiced in Japanese by: Ginzo Matsuo (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Kiyoyuki Yanada (Calling All Engines), Takaya Kuroda (Misty Island Rescue), Ryota Yamasato (Day of the Diesels), Yohei Nishina (Series 17)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Luis Alfonso Padilla (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Miguel Ángel Ghigliazza (Thomas and the Magic Railroad, TV version), Gerardo Reyero (Misty Island Rescue - Series 17, excluding Day of the Diesels), Eduardo Garza (Day of the Diesels)

Basis: British Railways Class 42 'Warship' with non-regulation hydraulic grappling claw.

The main antagonist of Thomas and the Magic Railroad and Day of the Diesels. A large warship diesel with a mechanical claw on his roof, he was out to destroy Lady and Mr. Conductor, but was defeated thanks to Thomas. He has returned several times in the show's run as a permanent part of the railway.

• Affably Evil: By the time of Day of the Diesels where his evil ways are mostly put on the wayside in favor of him being rude and vicious-tempered, but just trying to look out for his diesel brethren, whom he sees as neglected.
• Bad Boss: Is a mild example of this. In Thomas and the Magic Railroad, he tries to put Splatter and Dodge in their places by teaching them "how to stop being stupid", only to get coal dumped all over him.
• Big Bad: Diesel 10 is this in both Thomas and the Magic Railroad and Day of the Diesels.
• Brooklyn Rage: In The Movie, Diesel 10 speaks in a rough and angry New York accent. He also caused Lady to crash, unapologetically tries to kill James, Lady and Thomas, and he nearly dropped Mr. Conductor off a viaduct. This oddly contrasts to his much smoother Evil Brit voice in later appearances.
• The Brute: Along with being the Big Bad of at least two features, Diesel 10 is this among the diesels; being a very large and very strong Class 42 Warship locomotive with a dangerous hydraulic claw arm.
• Butt-Monkey: He gets his immediate comeuppance in at least three scenes of Magic Railroad; one in which his claw malfunctions, another where he gets coal dumped all over him, and finally being defeated by falling off a collapsing viaduct into a barge full of old boiler sludge.
• Cartoon Creature: While he is based on a real locomotive type (albeit shortened in length), Diesel 10's hydraulic claw is purely a fantasy creation with little-to-no practical use.^note The "Warship" class is big and tall enough as it is, and the claw is pretty much sitting right on top of the engine compartment, taking up valuable space for the engines. Not only that, but it would completely throw off Diesel 10's centre of gravity, to the point that if he tried to pick up anything heavier than a couple thousand pounds, he'd go toppling off the rails. In fact, such a modification is actually a breach of regulations, since not only is it illegal to modify locomotives with additional moving parts, but it would also make him unable to fit through standard-height tunnels.
• Cheated Angle: In the model series, his nose is tilted more towards his left eye. This was averted when the CGI series came, which moved it more to the middle of his face.
• Demoted to Extra: He has disappeared from the series after season 17's "The Missing Christmas Decorations", for reasons unknown. Although, Pinchy does appear in an Imagine Spot in season 22's "What Rebecca Does", and Mattel still sees him as a lucrative character, seeing as he's merchandised to death despite not being on the show all that often.
• Depending on the Writer: He's either an evil, dieselist brute who is out to destroy all steam engines, or simply a rude Jerk with a Heart of Gold who doesn't like "steamies" all that much but is still willing to help out when it counts; and moreso when he can get something out of it for himself, or for the other diesels.
• Devil in Plain Sight: The steam engines all can tell he's clearly evil, but the Fat Controller keeps him around for reasons unknown. Downplayed in the series, where he is still a devious schemer, but his attitude leans more towards Jerkass/Jerk with a Heart of Gold than than just outright evil.
• Disney Villain Death: Not a death per se, but his defeat in Magic Railroad is brought around by falling off of a collapsing viaduct; though he's saved by falling into a passing barge full of boiler sludge.
• A Dog Named "Dog": He's a diesel whose name is Diesel, but he has a number to distinguish himself from the other two Diesels. Thomas lampshades said number in Magic Railroad by describing him as "Ten out of ten for devious deeds and brutal strength".
• The Dreaded: Right from his first appearance, Diesel 10 has this reputation among the other engines. Even when his villainy is considerably toned down later on, Thomas is terrified at the prospect of asking him for help in Calling All Engines!, and most of the other diesel engines firmly answer to him.
  Gordon: (shuddering in fear) D-Diesel 10's back!
  Thomas: Yes, ten out of ten for devious deeds and brutal strength. The blast from the past who hates steam engines!
• Establishing Character Moment: In The Movie, he roars through as station, kicking up dust shouting "Get outta my way! I have unfinished business here and I wanna finish it FAST!". He also leaves Gordon, of all engines, shaking in fear.
• Evil Brit: In the US dub of the television series, he speaks in a smooth, sinister British accent due to him keeping his voice from the UK series.
• Evil Counterpart: To P. T. Boomer in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, who serves as the Shining Time counterpart of Diesel 10. However, the two are both evil.
• Evil Laugh: Has an impressive one, but it tends to be subverted due to it often ending with him getting into a coughing fit from his own diesel fumes.
• Faux Affably Evil: Diesel 10 is firmly this in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, where he often strikes up conversations in a faux-friendly tone with his would-be victims as he's attacking them. One good example of it is when he captures Mr. Conductor with Pinchy and threatens to drop him off a high viaduct if he doesn't tell him where the magic buffers are in short order:
  Diesel 10: Hello, Twinkle Toes! Remember me? Fat Hatt won't have much use for you looking like that. (laughs cruelly) Ah, I see you forgot to bring the sugar. How careless of you! (grabs Mr. Conductor as he tries to flee) Say hello to Pinchy!
• For the Evulz: Dumping sneezing powder all over Tidmouth Sheds Yards has got to be this.
• Gambit Roulette: His plans in Day of The Diesels rely on circumstances he could have hardly picked out.
• Graceful Loser: His reaction to falling into a barge of sludge?
  Diesel 10: (slowly realises he's okay) Huh. Ah, well... nice time of year for a cruise. (chuckles to himself sadly)
• I Call It "Vera": He calls his hydraulic claw "Pinchy".
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Diesel 10's characterization in Calling All Engines. It's also evident to a lesser extent in his later appearances; he's still a bullying troublemaker who maintains his reputation as The Dreaded, but he cares a lot deep down for his diesel brethren — whom he sees as neglected compared to the steam engines — and commits a good portion of what he does for their benefit.
• Large and in Charge: He is the self-elected head of the diesels by Day of the Diesels, and he's a particularly big and powerful Class 42 "Warship" diesel. The hydraulic claw probably helps, too.
• Large Ham: In both The Movie and Season 17.
• Laughably Evil: Diesel 10 occasionally has his humorous moments (even when he was a legitimately threatening villainous sociopath in The Movie) such as when he sung "Old Mac Diesel Had a Plan" or whenever he gets his comeuppance.
• A Molten Date with Death: In one of his most evil moments in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Diesel 10 traps James in the smelters and nearly succeeds in shoving him backward into a vat of molten metal. He's only saved by Mr. Conductor warping him away with the Gold Dust at the literal last second.
• Never My Fault: He tries lying to Splatter and Dodge when Mr. Conductor escapes his grasp. Unfortunately for him, Splatter and Dodge aren't convinced.
• The Nicknamer: He calls Splatter and Dodge collectively "Splodge", because he "ain't got time to say both names". He calls his claw "Pinchy", Thomas "Puffball", Toby "Teapot", the rest of the steam engines "Tin Kettle", and Mr. Conductor and Sidney "Twinkle Toes".
• Noodle Incident: Dialogue between Thomas and Gordon imply Diesel 10 used to work at Sodor before, but was sent away. It is never clarified why he was sent away, only that it was bad, hence Thomas' description of "ten out of ten for devious deeds and brutal strength," though his history with Lady means it was possibly due to his wrecking her.
• Obviously Evil: Besides his drab olive hazard-stripe livery, bad-tempered bullying nature and the fact he's an enormous diesel locomotive, Diesel 10 also has a menacing hydraulic claw on his roof, that he affectionately names "Pinchy". Put them together, and even if he's no longer outright evil as he was previously, it isn't hard to tell that Diesel 10's not one to be messed with.
• Silence, You Fool!: When his entourage are bickering in Day of the Diesels, he shouts them quiet. Also prominent in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
• The Stinger: Diesel 10 appears right at the end of Misty Island Rescue, hinting at his reappearance as the main antagonist of Day of the Diesels, ominously looking down from a bridge — where an earlier chase took place — at the steam engines attending the grand opening:
  Diesel 10: You'll be laughing on the other side of your boilers soon, silly steamies.
• Surrounded by Idiots: His henchdiesels, ranging from Splatter and Dodge to Den and Dart, who are never anywhere near as vicious nor as smart as he is. He even frustratedly ditches the former two in his first appearance to go after Thomas and Lady himself.
• Too Fast to Stop: What ultimately defeats him in Thomas And The Magic Railroad. While Diesel 10 is faster and stronger than both Thomas and Lady, they're small enough to cross the collapsing viaduct while he can't due to his bigger size and weight. This also means he's unable to slow down in time to avoid falling.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Compared to the actual series, where most of the bad guys were kept in order with relative ease by the Fat Controller, Diesel 10 in The Movie with his plans of destroying all steam engines is much more dangerous. Dialled back in later televised appearances, where he's more just a trouble-making bully with legitimately good intentions deep down.
• Villainous Breakdown: Diesel 10 has several of these, like when he loses his composure and is forced to flee when Mr. Conductor threatens him with sugar. He also has one when he goes off the collapsing viaduct during the final chase sequence, reduced to futilely yelling insults at Thomas and Lady before he falls.
  Diesel 10: Whoa, whoawhoawhoawhoaWHOA! (grabs onto one of the broken rails with Pinchy) ARGH! PUFFBALL! TEAPOT! (the broken rail snaps, causing Diesel 10 to plunge into a boiler sludge-filled barge far below) TIN KEEEEEETTLEEEEE!
• Weaksauce Weakness: Apparently, pouring sugar in Diesel 10's tank will prevent him from ever working again. And before you ask, yes, that is a legitimate weakness.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Essentially the motivation for his actions in the CGI Series, he just wants the diesels to receive more attention since they always appear to be neglected, and he seems to apologize if he's made a mistake; for instance, giving the Steam Engines their own decorations, since he ruined theirs thinking that the Dieselworks wouldn't have any decorations.

Dennis

"...I'm a really lazy engine..."

Voiced in Japanese by: Tsutomu Densaka

Number: 11001

Basis: Bulleid No. 11001 0-6-0DM

Built: 1949

A diesel who is lazy. He takes advantage of Thomas by letting him do his work for him, but after he reversed into a ditch, he learns his lesson, and with the help of Thomas, he gets his work done, and promises to be a Really Useful Engine. He has a twin named Norman.

• Bad "Bad Acting": Dennis playing sick.
  Dennis: Heelllp.....heelllp....
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Unlike Norman who wants to be useful but breaks down, Dennis can work perfectly fine but can't be arsed.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He has not been in an episode since season 9 and The Great Discovery, but is mentioned to be Norman's twin.
• Deep South: In the US dub.
• It's All About Me: The narration describes him as such.
  Narrator: "He didn't care about the tiles. He didn't care about Thomas. All he cared about was getting far away from his work."
• Lazy Bum: His main personality trait is his lazy work ethic.
• Polar Opposite Twins: Him and Norman. Norman wants to be Really Useful, but breaks down often. Meanwhile, Dennis works fine but is incredibly lazy. Dennis also has two eyebrows, while Norman has only one.
• The Slacker: As mentioned earlier, he's lazy despite his systems working perfectly.
• Taking Advantage of Generosity: Exploits Thomas who is having a day off to avoid his own work.

Den and Dart

Den (left) and Dart (right)

"Me, sir? But, um... not... by myself..."

"What he means is, we're a team, sir! We work together!"

Den voiced by: Keith Wickham (UK/US; fifteenth season onwards)

Dart voiced by: Rupert Degas (UK/US; Day of the Diesels - sixteenth season), Steven Kynman (UK/US; seventeenth season onwards)

Built: Den 1959/1971, Dart 1961

Bases: 4DH Sentinel Diesel-Hydraulic (Den) Bagnall No.3207 "Leys" (Dart)

A pair of diesels that work at the Dieselworks.

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• Big Guy, Little Guy: Den being the Big, and Dart the Little.
• Characterisation Marches On: In their earliest appearances, they sometimes joined the more antagonistic diesels if it fit their cause (though with implications they were still softer and less willing than Diesel or Diesel 10 who usually ran things). By Season 16 they are nearly always on good terms with the steam engines.
• A Day in the Limelight: Season 19's "Den and Dart".
• Dumb Muscle: Downplayed. Den is the bigger and stronger one of the two, but struggles to get his thoughts into words.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Especially shown in "Den and Dart", where they can't stand being separated from one another.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Den saves Toby from a runaway truck, he scolds the trucks in a full sentence.
• Orange/Blue Contrast: Den's color scheme.
• Phrase Catcher: Den struggles to finish what he's trying to say, so other engines finish his thoughts for him, with "What you/he mean/s is..."
• Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic: Averted with Den, who mumbles, stutters, and loses his train of thought.
• Shorter Means Smarter: Dart is the smaller and weaker of the pair, but is quick-witted and able to figure out what Den's trying to say.
• Those Two Guys: Are regularly a double act. Their limelight episode "Den and Dart" lampshades this when a job separates them.

Paxton

"Hi, Stephen. Thomas lost his puff, and I'm trying to find it, and... well, I thought that might be... the lost puff... up there..."

Voiced in English by: Keith Wickham (Day of the Diesels), Steven Kynman (Blue Mountain Mystery, Series 23)

Voiced in Japanese by: Koichi Sakaguchi (Day of the Diesels), Kunihiro Kawamoto (Blue Mountain Mystery - Series 23)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Kaihiamal Martínez (Day of the Diesels - Series 23)

Basis: British Railways Class 08 0-6-0DM

Built: 1952/1962

A soft-natured, if somewhat ditzy diesel who works with the Narrow Gauge engines in Blue Mountain Quarry. Friendly towards steamies, but tends to hang with a bad crowd.

---

• Ascended Extra: He started out as a background character who didn't speak, but Blue Mountain Mystery gave him a voice and personality. Since then, he's been a recurring supporting character and has even been granted his own limelight episodes.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Even worse than Thomas. Look at that duck!
• Big Damn Heroes: In Blue Mountain Mystery, just as Diesel rats out Luke to the Fat Controller, Paxton arrives with Victor, who clears up everything.
• Characterization Marches On: In his earliest appearances, Paxton was a background associate of the other diesels and often joined in heckling or tormenting other engines. "Blue Mountain Mystery" onward, his meek kindly persona is established.
• Chromatic Arrangement: Of the three diesel engines introduced in Day of the Diesels, he's the Green to Norman's Red and Sidney's Blue.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Usually spacey, though he has occasional moments of clarity. He tries to warn Gordon to have his leaking boiler checked in "Gordon Runs Dry" for example.
• The Ditz: He is easily distracted.
• Extreme Doormat: Though he will often ultimately draw the line when pushed into callous acts.
• Foil: Both him and Diesel are both Class 08's, and Paxton is simply the kind, yet ditzy counterpart to the callous and manipulative Diesel.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: He is ditzy, but is one of the kindest diesels around.
• Minion with an F in Evil: To Diesel in "Blue Mountain Mystery". Also to Diesel 10 in "The Missing Christmas Decorations".
• Nice Guy: "Blue Mountain Mystery" onward, he's shown to be a pleasant and kind-hearted fellow; even Cranky gets along with him.
• Token Good Teammate: Like Boco and Mavis, he serves as one of the nicer diesels.
• Toxic Friend Influence:
  • Hangs around with other more antagonistic diesels. Diesel in particular has been shown able to manipulate him into doing immoral deeds.
  • Ends up playing this himself in "The Lost Puff" when he convinces Thomas to play on the damaged tracks. He is horrified when it causes an accident however.
• Windmill Crusader: Seems to be a recurring pivot in his limelight episodes, Comically Missing the Point in some way or other and going on a wild goose chase, be it for "lost puffs" or disappearing diesels.

Norman

Voiced in English by: Kerry Shale (Day of the Diesels - Series 15), Keith Wickham (Series 17 - Series 23)

Voiced in Japanese by: Ken Sanders (Day of the Diesels), Nobuaki Kanemitsu (Series 17), Kunihiro Kawamoto (Series 20 - Series 23)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Juan Alfonso Carralero (Series 17 - Series 23)

Basis: Bulleid No. 11001

An orange-red Diesel and is Dennis's twin.

• Ascended Extra: Somewhat in The Great Race, where he nearly has a collision with Thomas.
• Big Ol' Unibrow: He has one.
• Chromatic Arrangement: Of the three diesel engines introduced in Day of the Diesels, he's the Red to Sidney's Blue and Paxton's Green.
• Out of Focus: He was introduced as a Merchandise-Driven character in Day of the Diesels, and was promptly banished to background appearances with no speaking roles shortly afterwards. Like Paxton and Sidney, he started appearing more often during Brenner's run as writer, though unlike them, he has yet to have A Day in the Limelight proper.
• Nice Guy: In comparison to his twin, he is much kinder and more of a hard worker. He's even nice to the steam engines.
• Polar Opposite Twins: Him and Dennis. Unlike Dennis who works fine, but is very lazy, Norman wants to be Really Useful, but breaks down often. While Dennis has two eyebrows, Norman has only one.
• The Reliable One: To the point The Fat Controller outright considers it O.O.C. Is Serious Business if Norman screws something up.

Sidney

"What about me? I'm a decoration!"

Voiced in English by: Kerry Shale (Day of the Diesels), Bob Golding (Series 17 - Series 23)

Voiced in Japanese by: Shoto Kashii (Series 17, The Great Race), Ken Sanders (Series 18 - Series 23)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Andrés García (Series 17 - Series 18), Geno Sánchez (Series 20 - Series 23)

Basis: British Railways Class 08 0-6-0DM

Built: 1952/1962

• A Day in the Limelight: In Sidney Sings and The Case of the Puzzling Parts.
• The Alleged Car: Downplayed in that he was apparently otherwise functional, but he spent a good two years non-functional, stuck on a locomotive hoist without wheels of his own.
• Ascended Extra: He was promoted to the recurring cast in season 20, starring in his own episode, and has made many appearances since then.
• Butt-Monkey: He spent two years on a hoist before getting new wheels.
• Chromatic Arrangement: Of the three diesel engines introduced in Day of the Diesels, he's the Blue to Norman's Red and Paxton's Green.
• Forgetful Jones: Sidney's known for being forgetful, even forgetting how long he's gone without his wheels.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: He's not exactly the smartest engine in the shed, but he is one of the nicest engines on the island, even when he is up on a hoist.
• Minion with an F in Evil: Much like Paxton, he seems pretty docile and somewhat simple, despite hanging around with the other more antagonistic diesels.
• Token Good Teammate: Like Paxton and the other friendly diesels, he serves as one of the nicer ones.
• The Pollyanna: Despite his bad memory and luck, he tends to remain jolly and positive. He quite merrily waited two years hoisted up in the Dieselworks before finally getting his new wheels fitted.
• Put on a Bus: He hadn't been seen in any episodes between "Day of the Diesels" and "The Missing Christmas Decorations", spending two whole years unable to move because he lacked wheels.

Sodor Search and Rescue Team

Belle

Voiced by: Teresa Gallagher

Number: 6120

Basis: British Railways Standard Class 4MT 2-6-4T

Built: 1951/56

A large tank engine with two water canons fitted on top of her tanks. Belle is the only girl on the rescue team, and the only steam engine.

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• Awesome, but Impractical: The water cannons on her tanks. Her appearance in Day of the Diesels even emphasizes this: she uses them to put out a fire, and has no water left to move under her own power. In real life, they wouldn't be allowed at all, as they would give her issues with steaming properly. Though there are some engines in real life (like the LB&SCR D1) that do have water cannons during WWII.
• Blue Is Heroic: She has blue livery, and is a member of the Search and Rescue team.
• Blue Oni: She's the Blue Oni to Flynn's Red Oni. Belle is far more level-headed and calm than he is.
• Cartoon Creature: An engine version of this trope. While her basis is a real engine, and there have been engines fitted with water cannons before, Belle's additional modifications and bright paintwork make her look cartoonish compared to the rest of the cast.
• Friendly Rival: With Flynn.
• Meaningful Name: Her name clearly refers to her bells.
• Nice Girl: She's so nice, that even Cranky likes her.
• Odd Friendship: With Toby; the only reason she started talking to him was that they both have bells.
• Ship Tease: With Flynn, as shown in "Buckled Tracks and Bumpy Trucks".
• The Smurfette Principle: While not the only girl in the show, she's the only one in the rescue team.
• True Blue Femininity: Subverted with her. She has blue livery, but is not all that girly.
• Women Are Wiser: Belle doesn't let her emotions or fears get to her in terms of her fire-fighting duties, while Flynn's far more emotionally vulnerable.

Butch

"Ready for action!"

Voiced by: Glenn Wrage (US), Matt Wilkinson (UK), Rupert Degas (UK; fifteenth season)

Basis: Scammel Pioneer/Constructor hybrid

A big, strong breakdown truck. Before joining the rescue team, he did odd jobs around the Island.

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• A Day in the Limelight: In "Stuck on You".
• Ascended Extra: He was originally meant to be a major character in season 5, but due to poor planning, he ended up only as a background extra. In season 15 he finally got an episode, Stuck on You, and has made several appearances since.
• The Blank: Ironically, the only time he was named before Series 15, his model had no face.
• Cartoon Creature: His design pulls from several Scammell vehicles, but isn't based on any one in particular.
• Character Catchphrase: "Ready for action!"
• Early-Bird Cameo:
  • He appears briefly in the first episode of the fifth season before being introduced in the following episode.
  • He appears briefly at the end of Misty Island Rescue, hinting his return.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Butch was originally faceless early in the fifth season until later on.
• The Heart: Of sorts to the Search and Rescue Team.
• Perma-Stubble: He has some stubble on him.
• Recurring Extra: Until season 15.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: Upon joining the Search & Rescue team, he has the logo painted on his cab.
• Suddenly Voiced: In season 15, ten seasons (a span of 13 years) after his debut.
• Vanity License Plate: BRK 03.

Captain

"Full speed ahead!"

Voiced by: Keith Wickham

Basis: RNLI Liverpool-class Motor Lifeboat

A life boat who came to Sodor during the construction of the rescue center.

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• Big Damn Heroes:
  • In Emily Saves the World, a massive globe falls into the sea, and is too far for Cranky to pick up. Captain shows up and pushes it back toward the harbor.
  • He also gets a moment of this when he shows up with the police to arrest Sailor John in "Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure".
• Character Catchphrase: "Full steam ahead!"
• Demoted to Extra: He has done nothing of value since his introduction in Misty Island Rescue.
• Humble Hero: Despite his bravery, he isn't made egotistical about it and thinks nothing of it.
• Recurring Extra:
  • He's guaranteed at least a cameo if the Search and Rescue Center is ever visited.
  • This was even lampshaded in "Rocky Rescue", where a Running Gag was Captain saying "Don't forget about me!"

Flynn

Voiced by: Rob Rackstraw (nineteenth season - present), Ben Small (seventeenth - eighteenth seasons), Rupert Degas (fifteenth - sixteenth seasons)

Built: 1964

Basis: Oshkosh W800 ARFF Fire Engine with added road-rail unit for railway travel

A big, American red fire engine brought to Sodor based on Belle's suggestion. He has specialized wheels under his frame that allow him to travel on rails as well as the road.

---

• Broken Ace: He's pretty efficient and charismatic under the right circumstance, however he is often harbored with insecurities and bumbling moments as much as every other engine on Sodor.
• Drives Like Crazy: After spending so much time on the rails, Flynn has trouble getting used to the road again.
• Eagleland: A mix of Boorish and Beautiful, having the tech to go on both rails and roads, while being a Broken Ace.
• Friendly Rival: With Belle.
• Heroic BSoD: Undergoes this in Too Many Fire Engines. Butch helps him snap out of it though.
• Idiot Ball: He grabs this in the infamous "Fiery Flynn" and "Race to the Rescue" episodes.
• Large Ham: Super loud and very, very emotional. His dramatic speech even sells this point.
• Miles Gloriosus: His own insecurities have prevented him from doing his job properly on at least two occasions. Diesel has even called him out on not doing much rescuing.
  Diesel: You're never busy. You just stand around looking fancy!
  Flynn: ...I'm...I'm...''waiting'' to be busy!
• Red Is Heroic: He is painted red and is a hero.
• Red Oni: The Red Oni to Belle's Blue Oni. Flynn is more, well, fiery and emotional compared to her.
• Ship Tease: With Belle, especially in "Buckled Tracks and Bumpy Trucks".

Harold the Helicopter

"I think railways are slow. They're not much use and quite out of date."

Voiced by: Kerry Shale (US), Keith Wickham (UK), Kevin Frank (Thomas and the Magic Railroad)

Built: 1949

Basis: Sikorsky S-55 with amphibious floats

Harold is owned by the coastguard on Sodor and lived at Dryaw airfield by Thomas' Branch Line before becoming part of the rescue team. When Harold first met Percy he stated that railways were "slow and out-of-date", but was proven wrong when Percy later beat him in a race.

---

• Character Development: He got more mature as time went on.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: In "Harold and the Flying Horse", Harold wishes he could go to the Vicar's party like his friends, but he has to patrol the island, and nobody seems to need his help at first. When Pegasus wanders into a ditch, he needs to be saved. Harold saves him and takes him to the party, and as a result, he gets to go to the party after all, where he is praised as a hero.
• Fantastic Racism: Towards the railway whom he thinks is "slow and out-of-date".
• Friendly Rival: To Percy, usually.
• Heel–Face Turn: Was something of an antagonist in his first episode, but would later help rescue Thomas in The Runaway and helped Percy in Percy's Promise, and has since been portrayed in a positive light.
• It's All About Me: He had this mentality at first, but it eventually went away.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At first glance, Harold can come across as very blunt and vain. He always goes out of his way to help the engines however.
• Large Ham: Loudly gloats over his abilities when he first meets Percy.
• Small Name, Big Ego: The reason for his rivalry with Percy initially.
• Token Flyer: As with his Railway Series counterpart, Harold is the only series regular to fly. While there were two planes in the forms of Tiger Moth the Bi-plane and Jeremy the Jet Plane, both characters only appeared in a handful of episodes before vanishing.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Percy.

Rocky

Voiced by: William Hope (US), Matt Wilkinson (UK)

Basis: Ransomes & Rapier 45t steam crane

A large, red steam crane. Rocky was thought of as "new-fangled nonsense" by Edward when he first arrived, but proved his worth after lifting Gordon back onto the rails after a serious accident.

---

• A Day in the Limelight: Season 19's Rocky Rescue.
• The Drag-Along: A sometimes literal case, since he sometimes gets used by a careless engine who doesn't operate him properly.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Edward; he thought Rocky to be "newfangled nonsense" when they first met, but teamed up to rescue Gordon after an accident.
• Gentle Giant: A huge crane with a soft, caring personality to his members.
• The Leader: Something of one to the Rescue Team. He has a radio built into his cab that lets him hear orders from the Rescue Center and give orders to the rest of the team.
• Red Is Heroic: He is painted red and is a part of the Rescue Team.
• Team Dad: Plays this role to the less mature Rescue Team members.

Brendam Docks

Salty

"Reminds me of a story."

Voiced by: Keith Wickham

Number: 2991

Basis: British Railway Class 07 0-6-0DM

Built: 1962

A friendly dockyard diesel that works at Brendam Docks. Salty has lived through a lot in his life and has plenty of stories of his life at sea.

---

• A Day in the Limelight: "Salty's Secret", "Salty's Stormy Tale", "Away from the Sea" and "Salty All at Sea".
• Ascended Extra: The CGI series uses Salty quite prominently as a supporting character, due to Brendam Docks being a commonly used backdrop from plots.
• Establishing Character Moment: In his introduction episode "Salty's Secret", he single-handedly organizes an entire quarry while singing pirate songs to the trucks.
• Friendly Pirate: Salty acts like a pirate captain, calling other characters "captain", "matey", and "me hearties". He spends most of his time working at Brendam Docks and telling tales of the sea to the other engines. He is one of Sodor's friendlier diesels, having no animosity towards steam engines. He even becomes friends with a tank engine named Porter when the latter arrives on Sodor, and the two share in their work.
• Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: The Gleeful to Cranky's Grumpy. He is a cheerful diesel who enjoys working by the sea and telling tales of the sea to the engines who visit Brendam Docks.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Porter.
• Historical Domain Character: 2991 is a real engine, and is actually still in-service today◊ (renumbered 07007 under the TOPS scheme).
• Iconic Sequel Character: Salty was introduced 18 years after the show came out and is one of the most prominent characters in the series.
• Shipper on Deck (Heh): He seems to ship Cranky/Carly as of season 21.
• The Storyteller: Well-known among the other engines for his tall tales.
• Talk Like a Pirate: As a dockside diesel, he knows a lot of nautical slang and puts it to use.
• Trauma Button: Dooonn't take him away from the sea, boooooyyys....
• White Sheep: One of the few diesels that are outwardly friendly towards steam engines.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?:
  • According to a magazine story, Salty is ironically terrified of meeting real pirates.
  • He also fears traveling by ship, as shown in "Salty All at Sea".
• Younger Than They Look: Much like Mavis. He actually seems to know more about Sodor than most of the steam engines.

Porter

Voiced by: David Menkin (US), Steven Kynman (UK)

Basis: H.K. Porter 0-6-0 Saddletank

Built: c.1917

A tank engine who works alongside Salty. He originally came to the island to help out when Salty needed to get repaired.

---

• Brooklyn Rage: Downplayed but in the US dub Porter speaks with a Brooklyn accent as a reference to where his basis was created.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Salty.
• Instant Expert: Subverted. Salty is worried he'd be this and take over his job. Instead, Porter takes the time to stop and ask Cranky about how things operate at the docks, and becomes an expert gradually.
• Named After Somebody Famous: His name comes from his basis, H.K. Porter.
• Nice Guy: He's very kind and affable, even helping Harvey get over Bill and Ben's teasing in "Gone Fishing".
• The Perfectionist: Can be this at times.

Cranky the Crane

"You must've known my arm can't reach you there!"

Voiced by: Glenn Wrage (US), Matt Wilkinson (UK)

A harbor crane who rarely gets any sleep and has a nasty attitude. He bullied Thomas and Percy when he first arrived, but after an accident involving a ship knocking him over, his attitude has (relatively) improved.

---

• Ascended Extra: Much like Salty, Cranky gets very frequent appearances in the CGI seasons, where Brendam Docks is a common backdrop.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Carly as shown in season 21.
• Berserk Button: Being rushed or told what to do by engines is the easiest way to irritate him.
• Big Damn Heroes: When Carly is about to topple over, Cranky spares no time in grabbing her and trying to pull her back up.
• Cartoon Creature: He's inspired by harbor cranes from the 1920s through the 50s, but not based on any specific design.
• Deadpan Snarker: If there's an engine ever talking at the docks, Cranky typically chimes in to knock them down a peg.
• Feeling Their Age: Starts to worry he might be getting old when he starts making terrible creaking sounds. Completely gets over it when the new crane, Carly, makes the same creaks on her first day.
• Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: The Grumpy to Salty's Gleeful. As his name implies, he is a cranky harbor crane who works both day and night, never getting a rest (which actually becomes a plot point in "No Sleep For Cranky"), and he doesn't particularly enjoy listening to Salty's stories.
• Iconic Sequel Character: Like with Salty, Cranky was added after the series created new characters and is one of the most prominent characters in the series.
• The Insomniac: One of the reasons why he is so cranky is because he works both day and night, never getting a rest, which becomes a plot point in "No Sleep For Cranky". Not even when work at the docks gets delayed due to a fallen shed does he get a break, due to having to listen to the stories that Salty tells to him, Bill, and Ben all night.
• Jerkass: Especially in his debut. He tones it down in later appearances, but he's still quite cynical and blunt. Probably justified, since he rarely gets any rest from his work.
• Jerkass Has a Point: In "Diesel's Ghostly Christmas", Cranky is struggling to load a tree onto a flatbed, but the tree is so big and heavy that he has a hard time getting it under control. Salty wants to help him, but is unable to since his fuel line is frozen and he has to wait for his crew to fix it. When Devious Diesel arrives, Cranky orders him to push the flatbed underneath him, but Diesel refuses, saying he has enough jobs to do without helping him and Salty with theirs. By the time Salty's fuel line is unfrozen, Cranky is unable to hold the tree any longer and it falls, landing on Salty. Cranky then tells Diesel off, saying it wouldn't have happened if he had bothered to help him with the flatbed.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: According to Salty, anyway. Finally seen when Cranky saves Kevin from falling into the sea, and stands up for him to the Fat Controller.
• Meaningful Name: He's called that because of the long hours he works.
• Never My Fault: When he and Carley get their hooks tangled, he is quick to blame her without taking account of his actions that led to it.
• Perpetual Frowner: Pre-CGI, he hardly smiled. Post-CGI, he somewhat improved.
• Power Trio: Forms one with Carly and Big Mickey in Season 21.
• Sour Supporter: Amongst the rest of Brendam, he's the only grumpy member.
• Two Guys and a Girl: He and Big Mickey are the two guys to Carly's girl.
• Vocal Evolution: Matt Wilkinson originally gave Cranky a nasally, Squidward-esque voice in the UK dub. From Season 19 onwards, his voice became more gruff sounding.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Has a fear of elephants.
• Would Harm a Senior: While he didn't derail Edward in "Edward's Brass Band", he DOES mock him for his predicament.

Carly

"Ey up, chuck!"

Voiced by: Lucy Montgomery (Series 21-24), Jenna Warren (All Engines Go, US;)

Basis: Xinxiang Kehao Machinery Equipment Co. four-link portal harbor crane

A new, modern gantry crane brought to assist Cranky.

---

• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Cranky. They compete to see who can get the most work done, and then end up getting their cables tangled. They improve when they learn to work together, though. Oh, and Salty seems to ship them together.
• Character Catchphrase: "Ey up, chuck!"
• Damsel in Distress: In Steam Team To The Rescue, a heavy crate causes her to topple over and she's dangerously close to falling into the Sea with only Cranky holding her up.
• Foil: To Cranky when comparing their behavior and work during their first days. Cranky was nothing but rude to the engines and made their work more difficult than it needed to be. Carly, in contrast, enthusiastically greets them and gets her work with relatively little fuss barring her competition with Cranky later on in New Crane On the Dock.
• Genki Girl: Far more energetic than the grumpy Cranky and quiet Big Mickey.
• Power Trio: With Cranky and Big Mickey.
• The Smurfette Principle: The only named female character of the docks, and the first female crane in the series.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Her eyelashes.
• Two Guys and a Girl: She's the girl to Cranky and Big Mickey's two guys.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She was indirectly responsible for the events of "Steam Team to the Rescue", as she called out Salty to bring some flatbeds to her even though Cranky was still using them. If it wasn't for that, Salty wouldn't fall into the sea and had to go to the Dieselworks. Not only that, but some of the seaweed Salty had left over caused Den to slip and broke a lever that shut down the doors of the place, causing more delays.

Big Mickey

Voiced by: Rob Rackstraw

Basis: USN 20t Tower Crane

A harbor crane who has been at Brendam longer than Cranky. He was originally a character from TUGS and brought over as a prop, but became named and voiced in season 21.

---

• The Big Guy: The biggest and strongest crane of the docks.
• Power Trio: After finally speaking to the other characters, he forms one with Cranky and Carly.
• The Other Darrin: His original voice actor from TUGS, Timothy Bateson, passed away in 2009. Rob Rackstraw gives a much older-sounding voice, albeit with the same accent.
• Suddenly Voiced: He's been around since season 3, and it took until season 21 for him to have a face and voice.
• Transplant: His model originated from Thomas' short-lived sister series, TUGS, and he has remained at Brendam Docks even after the transition to CGI. He retains his name from TUGS as well.
• The Quiet One: Cranky claims he hasn't spoken for years until Season 21. Big Mickey's response is that Cranky never talked to him either.
• Two Guys and a Girl: He and Cranky are the two guys to Carly's girl.

Sodor China Clay Pits

Bill and Ben, the China Clay Twins

"You had a cough in your smokebox yesterday, it's your fault the diseasel came.

It isn't!

It is!"

Voiced by: Jonathan Broadbent (Seasons 17-19), Rasmus Hardiker (Bill, Season 22 - present), Matt Wilkinson (Ben, Big World! Big Adventures! - present)

Number: Sodor China Clay 1 (Bill) & 2 (Ben)

Built: 1948

Bases: Bagnall 0-4-0STs "Alfred" and "Judy"

A pair of twin tank engines that work on the quarry of Edward's branch line.

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• Adaptational Early Appearance: In the books, they appeared in " Main Line Engines". But they appeared eariler in the show as they took over the roles of Percy's friends in "Percy Takes the Plunge".
• Argument of Contradictions: They get into these arguments a lot.
• Bratty Half-Pint:
  • Both of them are very obnoxious and keep getting on each others' nerves if they're not driving the other engines crazy. It's best lampshaded by BoCo in "One Good Turn".
  BoCo: Here comes trouble.
  • Best seen (and heard) in the Japanese dubs; Bill and Ben's voice actors make them sound very young.
• Composite Character: They took the role of Percy's friends from the Mainland in "Percy Takes the Plunge".
• Feud Episode: In "One Good Turn", they end up on the same line and collide into each other buffer to buffer, causing them to go against each other until Edward and BoCo formulate a plan to get them to work together and reconcile.
• Gossipy Hens: They smear BoCo's name in "The Diseasel", stating that diesel is a "car stealer".
• Identical Twin ID Tag: Their name plates.
  • Bill's whistle is of a higher pitch than Ben's.
  • The Fat Controller tried to give them a more obvious one and have Bill painted blue. It doesn't work. The next day, Ben (pretending to be Bill) tricks Kevin into having him painted blue as well.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The twins may be mischievous and bratty little engines, but they do have their moments of behaving well.
• Karmic Trickster: They both like to think of themselves as this, but really, most engines they play tricks on under this impression starts from a misunderstanding and ends badly for the two.
• Never My Fault: They insist on blaming each other, or Timothy, when things go wrong.
• She's a Man in Japan: In the first Polish dub, the twins were female.
• Sibling Rivalry: Constantly bickering with each other. Especially prominent since their reintroduction in Season 17.
• Single-Minded Twins: There's hardly any difference in the twins' personalities as both are cheeky and mischievous.
• Theme Twin Naming: Both names start with the letter "B" and are one syllable.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: They've become considerably nastier since their return in Season 17. This is especially noticeable in their treatment of Timothy.
• Trickster Twins: Much to the irritation of the other engines.
• Twin Switch: They didn't switch, just pretend that they are one engine instead of two. All they have to do is remove their names and numbers.

Derek

Basis: British Railway Class 17

Built: 1962/65

A diesel who was sent to help Bill and Ben. He was initially known for his "teething troubles", where his cooling system would malfunction and he'd overheat.

---

• All There in the Manual: His name is only known by The Merch.
• Butt-Monkey: Much like Henry, who suffered from a debilitating flaw himself, Derek's debut episode revolves around his repeated engine failures.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Never came back after a brief appearance HIT era.
• Long Bus Trip: Derek first appeared in season 5 (and wasn't even referred to by name), and was last seen in a brief cameo in Calling All Engines.
• Shown Their Work: Derek's basis is the BR Class 17, which was notorious for its poor cooling system.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Steep hills. They overload his faulty cooling system, making his engine overheat.

Timothy

Voiced by: Tim Whitnall

Basis: Bell Open Cab Oil Burner

A small, oil-burning engine introduced in Tale of the Brave.

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• All of the Other Reindeer: Bill and Ben mock him for running on oil instead of coal. Turns out to be incredibly useful when Bill and Ben run out of coal and strand themselves.
• Butt-Monkey: To Bill and Ben. If something goes wrong for them, they blame him.
• The Dog Bites Back: In season 19's No Help At All, when Timothy finds out Bill and Ben recommended him for filling in at the docks because he's "no help" at the clay pits, he refuses to come back when they come begging for him.
• Establishing Character Moment: Bill and Ben pull a trick on him and Thomas. He brushes it off and finds humor in it.
• The Finicky One: Bill and Ben see him as this and complain about his lack of a sense of humor. He does have one, just not theirs.
• The Heart: Of the Sodor China Clay team. In season 19's No Help At All, he's sent to work at the Docks in place of Salty, and with Bill and Ben's antics left unchecked, it's not long before the clay pits fall into complete disarray.
• Iron Butt Monkey: Literally and figuratively.
• Nice Guy: A very friendly engine who doesn't mind Bill and Ben's prankster antics.
• Only Sane Man: Of the clay pits, anyway.
• Ping Pong Naïveté: He seems to be aware that Bill and Ben play tricks on him more than anyone, but keeps falling for them anyway.
• Ship Tease: With Marion, as she's the only one at the clay pits that respects him.
• Snipe Hunt: Bill and Ben send him out to find a "rainbow truck". He finds one - a truck loaded with garbage and splattered with paint. He brings it to them anyway.
• Team Dad: Despite being constantly bullied by the twins, he tries to rein them in and keep them focused on their work.

Marion

Voiced by: Olivia Colman

Basis: Marion Model 40

A self-propelled steam shovel introduced in Tale of the Brave.

---

• Alas, Poor Yorick: She does a fairly humorous rendition when holding the dinosaur skull: "Alas, poor dinosaur!"
• Ascended Extra: Plays the secondary character role to Thomas during Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Can get easily taken off her duties upon noticing something, such as noting of a "magical forest while on her way to work on building a new railway in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure
• Big Damn Heroes: Gets her moment when she saves Percy from a boulder during a landslide.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Hoo, boy. See Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!. It's basically her getting lost in her thoughts and opinions whenever she's distracted.
• Cutting the Knot: In Marion and the Pipe, she had to move a boulder off Gordon's line before he hit it, but the boulder would slip out of her bucket. She eventually resorts to striking it like a golf ball.
• A Day in the Limelight: The season 18 episode Marion and the Pipe.
• Establishing Character Moment: Absentmindedly swings her shovel in front of Thomas, then cheerfully unleashes her Motor Mouth onto him, catching herself twice.
• Forehead of Doom: Has a huge forehead.
• Genius Ditz: She's knowledgeable about digging (and is exceptionally good at it), as well as ancient artifacts she's dug up, but her Motor Mouth tends to get in the way of this.
• Genki Girl: Highly energetic and fun loving.
• Gentle Giant: Overall, she's friendly to all folks.
• Grenade Hot Potato: She does this with Jack, Alfie and Oliver (the excavator) with a box of lit dynamite in Sodor's Legend Of The Lost Treasure. Nobody gets hurt though.
• Meaningful Name: Her name comes from the company that designed and built her, the Marion Power Shovel Company.
• Mighty Glacier: Being a steam shovel, she's built for strength, not speed.
• Motor Mouth: Her defining trait.
• One-Steve Limit: She once thought that Oliver the engine and Oliver the excavator were the same vehicle.
• Ship Tease: With Timothy.
• Team Mom: Acts as this to Bill and Ben, in place of Mavis.

Ulfstead Castle

General

• Commonality Connection: Despite being built at a different age, both Glynn and Stephen are old, small, and like talking about the golden days.
• Cool Old Guy: Both Stephen and Glynn are old engines and are rather amiable.
• Chromatic Arrangement: Stephen is yellow, Millie is blue, and Glynn is red.
• Freudian Trio: Stephen is Superego, Millie is a cross between Ego and Id, and Glynn is Id.
• Miniature Senior Citizens: Stephen and Glynn, despite being very old engines, have small builds compared to most of the newer ones.
• Old Master:
  • While Stephen is nowhere near strong or fast enough to handle modern workloads, his teachings are time-tested.
  • Subverted for Glynn. While he seems to be portrayed as this, the Railway Series lore says they weren't very reliable and had a bad habit of coughing up dirty brown water. Similar to Stephen however, Glynn is quite insightful and sagely personality wise.
• Two Guys and a Girl: Millie is the only girl in the trio.

Stephen

Voiced by: Bob Golding

Basis: Stephenson's Rocket

An old and wise engine who the Earl had restored, and now works at the castle. Introduced in King of the Railway.

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• The Ace: Was able to go very fast and pull four trucks in his heyday.
• Big Brother Mentor: Aids and teaches Percy to help him regain his self-confidence in "Percy's Lucky Day".
• A Day in the Limelight: "The Afternoon Tea Express" in season 17, and "Slow Stephen" in season 19.
• Feeling Their Age: In King of the Railway, he spends a day trying to prove himself useful to the railway. Being unable to handle essentially any task he's given hits him hard.
• Good Luck Charm: His lucky horseshoe.
• Green-Eyed Monster: He gets jealous at Glynn after being restored, and thinking he'll be the Earl's new favorite. He challenged Glynn to a race to see who will be the best favorite, though became good friends afterwards.
• In-Series Nickname: "The Rocket".
• Miniature Senior Citizens: His smaller, less robust design makes him much smaller than the more modern steam engines.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After he finds out that Millie had supposedly ran away, Stephen immediately feels bad for making fun of her earlier in "Runaway Engine".

Millie

"Bonjour!"

Voiced by: Miranda Raison

Basis: Decauville No.8069 "Tabamar"

A narrow gauge tank engine owned by Earl of Sodor, introduced in King of the Railway. She lives on his estate, which connects to the Skarloey Railway.

---

• Country Mouse: Is trying to adjust to her life living on two lines, one within Norramby's estate and the Skarloey Railway.
• Remember the New Guy?: She explains that the Earl kept her locked in her shed while he was away, but she's been living on Sodor for years. Lampshaded by the other engines, who are surprised when they hear about her and say they've never met her before.
• Ship Tease: With Luke, especially in "The Switch".
• The Smurfette Principle: The first female narrow gauge engine, and the only female engine on the Earl's estate.
• Token Minority: The first French speaking engine.
• True Blue Femininity: She is painted blue and is feminine.
• Women Are Wiser: Often tries to teach uppity engines a lesson.

Glynn

Voiced by: Keith Wickham

Number: 1

Basis: Head Wrightson & Co Ltd. Type 1 "Coffee Pot No. 1"

An old vertical boiler locomotive, one of the many that initially built the North Western Railway. After he's rediscovered, the Earl has him restored and sent to work on his estate. He's the original engine that worked Thomas' branch line, and passes down both the line and his number to him. Debuted in The Adventure Begins.

---

• Advertised Extra: He was given a toy and mentioned to be an important character in Thomas' past. In The Adventure Begins, he gets three lines and 20 seconds of screen time at the very end.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Has thick eyebrows.
• Canon Foreigner: Averted - He's one of the "Coffee Pot" locomotives mentioned in the Railway Series expanded lore, and the only one to make the jump to the animated series.
• Expy: He shares similarities with Skarloey: Old red colored engines with the #1 and share the same voice.
• Foreshadowing: After Thomas gets repainted, Gordon mentions the last #1 was a "coffee pot", and Edward says one might still be on a siding somewhere.
• In-Series Nickname: Thomas and Percy call him "Mr. Coffee Pot".
• Last of His Kind: He appears to be the only Coffee Pot engine to have survived scrapping. Though he was rotting away in The Adventure Begins, he's fully restored in season 20.
• Meaningful Name: His nickname comes from him vaguely resembling a coffee pot.
• Mellow Fellow: He's completely unfazed by Stephen's competitiveness and boasting.
• Passing the Torch: To Thomas. "Look after the branch line, Thomas, and wear that number with pride!"
• Reluctant Retiree: His retirement wasn't his own decision; he was gradually phased out as growing workloads became too big for him to keep up. By the time Thomas takes over his line, he's rotting away in a siding.

The Steelworks

General

• Big Bad Duumvirate: Frankie and Hurricane both are the main villains of Journey Beyond Sodor.
• Big Damn Heroes: Merlin, Theo and Lexi come to save Thomas and James when Frankie and Hurricane trap them at the Steelworks. Later, Merlin comes back and saves Hurricane from melting in the molten steel.
• Evil Virtues: Both Frankie and Hurricane are genuinely hard-working, before and after their Heel-Face Turns.
• Heel–Face Turn: At the end of Journey Beyond Sodor, Frankie and Hurricane get redeemed.
• Karma Houdini: Heel–Face Turn and motivations aside, Frankie and Hurricane get no comeuppance for forcing Thomas and James to stay and work at the Steelworks.
• Two Guys and a Girl: Merlin and Theo are the two guys to Lexi's girl.

Frankie

Voiced by: Sophie Colquhoun

Number: 4002

Basis: MSC No. 4002 "Arundel Castle"

Built: 1958

A diesel shunter, and one of the leaders of the Steelworks engines, next to Hurricane.

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• Alas, Poor Villain: Not only does her plan to force Thomas and James to work at the Steelworks completely fall apart, but Hurricane's badly damaged by the end of it all. She explains how they only wanted help as no other engines were available, prompting Thomas to take pity on her.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Despite her kindness to Thomas when they first meet, she refuses to let him (and later James) leave the Steelworks, doing everything she can to keep them there.
• Distaff Counterpart: She's one to Diesel; both are petty, manipulative diesel locomotives with false charm.
• Evil Is Petty: Despite her official profile stating she isn't mean at heart, Frankie callously subjects Thomas to Malicious Misnaming.
• Green and Mean: She's got green paint and is a petty Manipulative Bitch.
• Heel–Face Turn: Undergoes this at the end of the film.
• Informed Attribute: According to her official profile, Frankie isn't mean at heart. However, she indulges in Evil Is Petty, namely via subjecting Thomas to Malicious Misnaming.
• Malicious Misnaming: Persists in calling Thomas "Little Tank Engine". After Thomas points out he has a name, she repeats the referral with punctuation.
• Manipulative Bitch: She tricks Thomas, and later James, into working at the Steelworks.
• Token Minority: Of the Steelworks engines, she is the sole diesel.
• Villainous Breakdown: She has several of these, especially when she throws a fit after Hurricane's wheels get melted.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: The reason she forces engines to work at the Steelworks is because no engine legitimately wants to work there, yet she and Hurricane can't handle the huge workload themselves. Unfortunately for her, forcing engines to work there only made the problem worse.

Hurricane

Voiced by: Jim Howick

Number: 20

Basis: Great Eastern Railway Class A55 Decapod 0-10-0WT

Built: 1902

A massive tank engine with ten driving wheels.

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• Affably Evil: He sincerely cares about the other engines that work there. Oh, but he will make sure they stay there, willingly or not.
• Artistic License – Engineering: His wheelbase is tighter than his real-world counterpart. This was done to make it easier to portray him inside the Steelworks, which has tighter curves than his basis could handle.
• The Brute: The bigger, more aggressive engine between him and Frankie. Ironically between the two, he is the most sincerely affable.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He shunts Thomas out of the way of the molten steel, but gets trapped in it himself. Luckily, Merlin pushes him to safety, though his wheels are destroyed.
• The Kindnapper: While Frankie slowly begins to bully Thomas and treat him more like a commodity, Hurricane is often shown to genuinely care about Thomas despite also forcibly keeping him at the Steelworks, even pulling a Heroic Sacrifice when he risks getting trapped in molten steel.
• Obviously Evil: Every promotional image of him has him sneering deviously.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: His livery is comprised primarily of red, black, and maroon in between.

Merlin

Voiced by: Hugh Bonneville

Number: 783

Basis: Southern Railway N15 "King Arthur" Class 4-6-0 Sir Gillemere

Built: 1925

One of the experimental engines, Merlin is a gray tender engine with three funnels.

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• A Day in the Limelight: In "Seeing is Believing".
• The Bus Came Back: He returned in the season 22 episode "Seeing is Believing", where he comes to Sodor to deliver steel pipes to Brendam Docks, and meets Thomas' friends.
• Calling Your Attacks: "Invisibility...on!"
• Cloudcuckoolander: Genuinely believes he can turn himself invisible.
• Ink-Suit Actor: His face closely resembles Hugh Bonneville's, even before he was acquired to voice him.
• Invisibility: He believes he has this power. In reality, he just makes a lot of steam around himself.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Thomas takes too long to rescue James, Merlin panics and tries to sneak into the Steelworks to help. He's spotted by Frankie and Hurricane, who realize something's going on and go after him.
• Shown Their Work: His belief in being able to turn invisible comes from his basis, SR No. 783, which was modified with two additional chimneys during World War II to make it harder to be seen by German aircraft.
• Smoke Out: What his "invisibility" actually acts as.
• Visible Invisibility: Merlin believes he can turn himself invisible, but in actuality, it all turns out to be the effects of smoke and reflective silver paint. Lexi and Theo are nice enough not to tell him that he isn't really invisible.
• You, Get Me Coffee: When they go to rescue James, Thomas assigns Merlin to keep watch.

Lexi

Voiced by: Lucy Montgomery

Basis: NPCRR No. 21 "Thomas Stetson"

A cab-forward tender engine.

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• All of the Other Reindeer: Because of her unique configuration, she doesn't feel like a proper engine.
• Character Tics: She's constantly changing her tone of voice and accent.
• Genki Girl: She's always cheerful.
• Large Ham: She is very hammy.
• True Blue Femininity: Subverted. Despite her blue paintwork, she's blatantly unladylike, covered in rust and grime.
• Unexplained Accent: She has a Scottish accent despite her basis being American.

Theo

Voiced by: Darren Boyd

Basis: Modified Aveling & Porter TJ Class rail traction engine

An experimental traction engine with a unique gearing system on his side.

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• Brutal Honesty: He has a very blunt and direct way of speaking, which can sometimes come off as this.
• Cartoon Creature: While he's inspired by the Aveling & Porter TJ traction engine, he's comprised of parts of several different designs.
• The Cutie: Just look at him!
• Character Tics: He is always trembling.
• Lovable Coward: His lack of self esteem makes him this when pulled into a rescue mission.
• Nervous Wreck: Not confident of himself and is always seen trembling.
• Speech Impediment: He has a lisp.

Beresford

Voiced by: Colin McFarlane

Basis: Stothert & Pitt Rolling Gantry Crane

A rolling gantry crane that works at the riverside harbor just before the Steelworks.

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• Character Tics: Has a habit of swinging his arm around, except the hook often swings back and hits him in the nose.
• Chekhov's Gunman: His introduction come out of nowhere and seems to have no real importance besides emphasizing how much of an outsider Thomas is on the mainland. But later, when Thomas escapes the Steelworks, Beresford helps him hide from Frankie and Hurricane when they come looking for him.
• Didn't Think This Through: When he blocks Thomas's path, he doesn't consider blocking the line running right below him as well.
• Hates Being Alone: In the "Who's Thomas?" song, he laments that engines are always rushing about, leaving him isolated where he is.
• Unexplained Accent: He has a Jamaican accent despite being a British crane.
• Vocal Range Exceeded: In the latter half of the "Who's Thomas?" song, he tries to carry a high note, but stops once he notices Thomas and his trucks cringing.

Merchandise Tie-In

Logan

Basis: S & DJR Sentinel

The 2014 merchandise tie-in character. Logan is a small, squat steam shunter that distributes coal in the yards.

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• But Now I Must Go: After helping on Sodor for a while, he and Sam leave together for the mainland.
• Cartoon Creature: While he's based on a real Sentinel shunter, he has a number of unique modifications, including a more pronounced funnel.
• Flat Character: Given very little characterization in his book and promotional videos.
• Gonk: His face has more detail than engines' faces tend to have.
• Leeroy Jenkins: When he can't tell Gordon and Edward apart, instead of stopping to ask, he rushes and shunts the wrong trains to each engine.
• Perpetual Smiler: Though this is mainly because the book is comprised primarily of modified vector images instead of unique illustrations.

Sam

Voiced by: Rob Rackstraw

Basis: Virginian Railway Class AG

The 2015 merchandise tie-in character. Sam is a massive American locomotive that's sent to help with the construction of a new museum.

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• America Saves the Day: In Sam and the Great Bell. he rescues both Percy and the Sodor Museum's new bell on his first day.
• The Big Guy: The biggest locomotive ever to visit Sodor.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Has really big eyebrows.
• The Bus Came Back: He makes a brief appearance in Big World! Big Adventures!.
• But Now I Must Go: After helping on Sodor for a while, he and Logan leave together for the mainland.
• Eagleland: The "Beautiful" variant.
• Gentle Giant: He is described as having a "big heart" in "Welcome to the Island Of Sodor Sam!". In "Welcome to the Island Of Sodor Sam!", when Thomas says that Sam "must be a very useful engine", Sam returns the compliment, saying that they're "all really useful engines, Thomas, we all have our own strengths."
• Meaningful Name: His name comes from Uncle Sam.
• Mighty Glacier: While he can haul massive trains without assistance, his top speed is only 45mph.
• Super-Strength: Can pull massive, heavy trains unaided, unlike the Steam Team's engines which need at least two of them to pull heavy loads.

Dustin

Basis: Oregon Short Line No.762 Rotary Snowplow

The 2016 merchandise tie-in character. Dustin is a snowplow locomotive that comes to help during a blizzard.

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• Cartoon Creature: An interesting variant; superficially he is a dead-ringer for an Oregon Short Line Rotary Snowplow, but he is able to move under his own power, whereas his basis required a locomotive to push it from behind.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Him being designed solely for clearing snow means he has no use outside of winter.
• Flat Character: He doesn't have much personality.
• Mighty Glacier: He's very strong, but not fast.

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