Characters / Thomas And Friends The Steam Team

Thomas & Friends character index
The Steam Team | Little Western and Arlesdale | Skarloey Railway | Foreign Engines | Secondary Characters | Non-Rail Characters | Rolling Stock | Humans

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The Steam Team as a whole

Top: the seasons 8-21 Steam Team. Bottom: the season 22-24 Steam Team

• Adaptational Personality Change: Mainly for the characters originating from The Railway Series, but compared to their more grounded book counterparts, the engines of the television series tend to let their flaws get the better of them in rather childish and cartoony ways and are generally more insecure.
• Affectionate Nickname: In the UK version they all call Sir Topham Hatt, "The Fat Controller", but they never call it to his face, and that goes double for foreign visiting engines who haven't proven themselves.
• Aesop Amnesia: Very frequently; due to Depending on the Writer, parts of their Character Development are rendered nil and they end up committing the same mistakes over and over again. Gordon, James, and especially Thomas himself are the worst offenders, with the first two having the most Break the Haughty moments yet never really learn from their mistakes.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The three female members as of the Big World! Big Adventures! Era seem to fit this - Emily is the Beauty, Nia is the Brains, and Rebecca is the Brawn.
• Chromatic Arrangement:
  • James is colored red (though he was once black before his accident); Thomas, Edward, and Gordon are colored blue; and Henry, Percy, and Emily are colored green (though the last one is colored in a much darker shade of green). This leaves out Toby, who is colored brown.
  • The colour arrangement gets expanded in Season 22, adding Nia and Rebecca, who are colored orange and yellow respectively.
• Colour-Coded Characters:
  • Blue — Thomas, Gordon and Edward
  • Green — Percy, Henry and Emily (albeit the latter is a darker shade)
  • Red — James
  • Brown — Toby
  • Orange — Nia
  • Yellow — Rebecca
• Ensemble Cast: While Thomas is the main character, all of them regularly get A Day in the Limelight throughout the series and even otherwise are often prominent characters. This is partially due to the fact that The Railway Series the show is adapted from didn't have a set protagonist, though even in later seasons that branched far from the books and used Thomas more intrinsically, this Character Focus is often kept to some degree.
• Era-Specific Personality: For the original characters at least, their personalities evolved often with each directional change in the series. The initial Railway Series inspired stories tended to stick true to their original characters, though as the show branched into its own original material, they started to display different personality traits, which were often Flanderized during the HIT produced seasons. The CGI-made seasons generally aim for a balance of the old and new characterisations, especially in the Brenner-made seasons.
• Everything's Better with Rainbows: The Big World! Big Adventures! Era Steam Team, which has the following lineup - Red (James), Orange (Nia), Yellow (Rebecca), Green (Percy, Emily) and Blue (Thomas, Gordon). The intro also depicts the group puffing steam in a rainbow formation.
  • Rebecca even had an Imagine Spot with them forming a train pyramid and leaving a rainbow streak in "Confusion Without Delay".
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Even in a group as close as they are, they have those engines. Gordon and James are the most prominent examples due to their collective narcissism and Jerkass behavior, but Thomas was also this in the early episodes, being a cheeky Bratty Half-Pint who wanted attention; while Character Development kicked in, that didn't stop him from falling into his old ways time and time again, to a degree.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: Most of the Steam Team have had an episode together within the long run. However, Edward and Emily have had very little interaction. They finally get interaction in "Emily's Best Friend", although Edward is off the Steam Team by then. Edward also rarely interacts with Toby (Though they did interact briefly in Season 2's "Cows/A Cow on the Line", and during Season 19's "The Truth About Toby"), likely due to similarities in character (and even being flanderized in a similar manner).
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Of the four original steam engines; James is Sanguine, Gordon is Choleric, Henry is Melancholic and Edward is Phlegmatic.
• Gender-Equal Ensemble: Comes close to this as of Big World! Big Adventures! (Season 22), with the group having four males (Thomas, Gordon, James and Percy) and three females (Nia, Rebecca and Emily).
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In "Goodbye, Fat Controller", all of them started working earlier than usual, to the utter befuddlement of the Fat Controller. Their motive is out of their (false) belief that the Fat Controller is leaving Sodor because of their constant mistakes, so they're doing everything they could to convince him otherwise. When that failed, they decide to miss work instead by going on strike. Fortunately, it was all a misunderstanding; the Fat Controller just needed to get his office refurbished.
• Power Trio: Thomas, James and Percy for most of the marketing.
• Rainbow Motif:
  • The “Big World! Big Adventures!” Steam Team fits this theme, with Red (James), Orange (Nia), Yellow (Rebecca), Green (Percy and Emily, albeit different shades) and Blue (Thomas and Gordon).
  • The intro from S22 has the group puffing rainbow-coloured steam in this arrangement - Red (Gordon), Violet (Rebecca), Indigo (James), Blue (Thomas), Green (Percy), Yellow (Emily) and Orange (Nia).
• Red Is Heroic: They have at least some red (with James easily having the most) and are all heroic.
• Town Girls: Rebecca is Butch, Emily is Femme, and Nia is Neither.
• True Companions: While they tease and rip each other frequently, if one of them's in trouble, they'll haul trucks and chug-chug across mountains to help their friend out.
• Undying Loyalty: To Sir Topham Hatt. While they may sometimes disobey orders in ill-sighted plans, they hate doing anything to displease the Fat Controller. Epitomised in "Goodbye, Fat Controller" where they take any measure possible to prevent his supposed retirement.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Just almost all of the engines tease each other and have their quarrels from time to time, but they prove that are good friends and help each other out when the chips are down.
• With Friends Like These...: Gradually phases out as the series goes on however, but in the early seasons, the engines could be so nasty towards each other and would regularly turn on and sabotage each other for the most petty and selfish reasons imaginable, that it was a wonder how any of them were still on speaking terms with each other. Justified, as this was back when the series adapted many of its stories from the much darker story books, and long before the Audience Shift.

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Introduced in The Classic Series

Thomas the Tank Engine

"Hello, everybody! Welcome to the Island of Sodor!"

Voiced in English by: Edward Glen (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Ben Small (UK; Hero of the Rails - Series 18), Martin Sherman (US; Hero of the Rails - Series 18), John Hasler (UK; The Adventure Begins - Series 24), Joseph May (US; The Adventure Begins - Series 24)

Voiced in Japanese by: Keiko Toda (Series 1 - Series 8, Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Kumiko Higa (Calling All Engines! - Series 24)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Víctor Ugarte (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Irwin Daayán (Thomas and the Magic Railroad, TV version), Javier Olguín (Hero of the Rails - The Great Race), Héctor Ireta de Alba ("Thomas the Babysitter", Series 20 - "Ace's Brave Jump"), Marc Winslow ("Nia's Bright Idea" - Series 24)

Number: 1, Originally 70

Basis: London, Brighton and South Coast Railway E2 0-6-0T

Built: 1915

A tank engine, the main character and namesake of the series, and the first engine to be purchased for the Fat Controller's railway. Thomas spent his time shunting coaches for bigger engines, and he longed to see the world. After helping to rescue James after an accident, he was dubbed a "Really Useful Engine" and was going down given his own branch line, along with two coaches, Annie and Clarabel. Thomas is occasionally cheeky and overly excitable, but always intends to help the Fat Controller and his many friends.

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• Acquired Situational Narcissism:
  • He became more arrogant after being given his own branch line. He tamed a bit after a few Break the Haughty moments.
  • This gets repeated on occasions later on (i.e., he gets conceited after his driver jokes about him going without him in "Thomas Comes to Breakfast" and when he thinks that a statue is him on it in "Thomas and the Statue").
• Adaptation Deviation: In the Railway Series, Thomas was given the number "1" because he was the first engine for the North Western Railway. But "The Adventure Begins" explains that he was given the number as it used to belong to Glynn who worked on the Ffarquhar Branch Line. This also foreshadows on Thomas getting the line afterwards.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Played with. Thomas makes his debut in the same story he did in the books ("Thomas & Gordon"). However, the order has been shifted around a bit, as "Thomas & Gordon" was originally in the second book, whereas in the show, it's adapted for its first episode, meaning unlike the books, he appears from the very beginning of the show's run.
  • Averted in the retelling of "The Adventure Begins", as he is the latest arrival on the Island.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Ultimately went through this as the show diverged from the books, and more prominent in episodes that were more loosely adapted, but compared to his book counterpart, the Thomas of the television series is generally far more friendly and less of a Deadpan Snarker. Depending on the Writer though, some of his book counterpart's rougher elements can be shown in original episodes, but overall, he's a far nicer go-getter character.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: As the series diverged from the books, both him and Percy have a very close friendship with mutual respect for one another which is different from their relationship in the books (and the earlier seasons that adapted from it) where both argue and tease each other quite a lot.
• Aesop Amnesia: He suffers this a lot at the beginning of season 8. His impatience is recurrent as well as his dislike for wearing his snowplough.
• All-Loving Hero: Around season 3, he grows out of being the Bratty Half-Pint and becomes this. After season 7, this snaps back, though he still often displays shades of this.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Initially in season 1, although this is justified since he was a cheeky engine who plays tricks on the other engines.
• Ascended Extra: While Thomas has always been a Breakout Character from his debut, he was still treated largely as another member of the large Ensemble Cast in the original books and was never given any particular importance if he wasn't the main focus of the story or book (of which there were only a few of). In the TV show however, Thomas has gone from being one of the main characters to becoming the main character and is far more prominent compared to the novels, appearing in most of the episodes of the show in one way or another, even in those that don't focus on him.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Seems to be a prominent shortcoming in later episodes.
• Attention Whore: In the first few episodes until he was given his own branch line. This became a big plot point in The Great Discovery. Played for laughs in Flash, Bang, Wallop!.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Annie and Clarabel may complain about Thomas going too fast and he may tease them incessantly, but the three absolutely adore each other, hating to be separated from each other; Thomas has even chased down other engines that have taken them.
• Berserk Button:
  • Don't ever be late for Thomas, he will chew you out!
  • Woe betide any engine that he sees pulling Annie and Clarabel without his consent.
    Thomas: Those are my coaches! Give them back!
  • Hector found out the hard way that you should never frighten Rosie in front of Thomas.
• Big Brother Instinct: Though it's sometimes hidden beneath his egotism or childishness, Thomas is shown to look out for younger engines a lot, particularly Percy. This is particularly evident in later episodes, where he is more experienced so is often charged with helping newer engines out. He also loses his wheels if said newer engines, such as Rosie, are bullied by others.
• Big Brother Mentor: He serves as one for the younger engines in the newer series.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Has the most unique brow shape - triangular ones.
• Blue Is Heroic: Justified, since he's the central character.
• Bratty Half-Pint: How he started out in the series. Size-wise, he's nearly as small as Percy, who is often The Baby of the Bunch, and in the early episodes, he was very cheeky, mischievous, and clamored for attention, exactly how a child would act. This earned him some scorn from the other engines.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Starting in Season 22, he now tells the story of the episode from his perspective, replacing the usual narrator role.
• Breakout Character: In the original books, Thomas wasn't as heavily focused on; Awdry had plenty of other parts of Sodor to write about. However, Thomas connected with the younger audience, and when the television series was launched, he was cast as the main star. Expands into both the show and the books since the release of the former led for publishers to insist for more Thomas-centric stories from the latter to tie in.
• Break the Haughty: In the earlier episodes when he was arrogant and conceited. In "Old Reliable Edward", he manages to do this on Gordon by helping Edward teach him a lesson in gratitude.
• Bring It: Claims Gordon can't go faster than him in "Old Reliable Edward". The next day, he proves it...but not quite how you'd think.
• Bully Hunter: In later episodes. Hector found out the hard way not to pick on Rosie. He can also be very sharp with James and Gordon for mocking the weaker engines.
• Character Catchphrase: "Cinders and ashes!" and "Bust my buffers!"
• Character Development: Started as a Bratty Half-Pint in season one. Then became a less bratty but more arrogant character in season 2. In season three, he had matured into a really cool big brother type to Percy. Reset with season 8.
• Character Focus: Just how nominal a lead character Thomas is varies from season to season. In Seasons One or Thirteen, for example, he ranges from leading to key supporting character in nearly every episode, while in Seasons Three or Eighteen, he has only a marginal amount of spotlight over the other engines, with many episodes he is limited to cameos or doesn't appear at all.
• Cheerful Child: He is the second-youngest engine out of the Steam Team, prior to Nia and Rebecca’s introduction.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Leans as this in later episodes. He often causes problems due to his excitable and easily distracted tendencies, however he just as often solves problems devising a rather eccentric plan, and has frequent moments of insight that prove very helpful to the other engines.
• Composite Character: A subtle method of sneaking Thomas into earlier episodes adapted from The Railway Series was to give him the role of a generic or unadapted engine from the original story.
• Cool Big Bro: The television series quickly evolved him into such for many of the smaller engines, especially Percy.
• Depending on the Writer: He is either a rather arrogant Deadpan Snarker with nice qualities, a naive Cloudcuckoolander bordering on Idiot Hero, or friendly but immature Mr. Vice Guy.
• Dreadful Musician: Played with. As shown in "Too Loud, Thomas!", his attempts at opera singing are beyond horrible. However, as shown when he sings in The Great Race, Journey Beyond Sodor, Big World! Big Adventures!, and Steam Team to the Rescue, he is great at singing, just not at singing opera.
• Era-Specific Personality: A self-important Bratty Half-Pint under Awdry's pen, before becoming Older and Wiser in Mitton's original stories, and then a well-meaning Cloudcuckoolander under Miller's pen. Brenner's run seems to be attempting for a compromise of all efforts so far, with him being cheeky and intelligent again, but still childish and easily distracted.
• Establishing Character Moment: Whistling rudely at Gordon, waking the express engine up and telling him to do hard work rather than rest. Of course this was before he mellowed out.
• Everyone Has Standards: As demonstrated in Misty Island Rescue, Thomas' rivalry with Diesel reaches very vitriolic levels bordering on Fantastic Racism, but Thomas doesn't want Diesel dead, and rather frantically rescues him when he nearly plummets off an unfinished bridge.
• Fatal Flaw: The earlier seasons focused on his impatience and arrogance getting him into trouble. The later seasons focus more on his tendency to be easily distracted.
• Freudian Trio: Originally was one with Percy and Toby. Formed one with Percy and James in King of the Railway. The marketing for the "Big World! Big Adventures!" Series has him as one with Nia and Rebecca.
• Friendly Rivalry: With James, Bertie, and his female Chinese counterpart Hong-Mei.
• Full-Name Ultimatum:
  • In Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, Thomas gets yelled out his full name by The Fat Controller after he thinks Thomas was endangering Ryan with the trucks full of dynamite when he was really saving him.
  • He gets yelled at by his full name again in The Great Race, right after being announced a winner of the shunting challenge along with Ashima.
  • Happens a third time in "Unscheduled Stops", after Sir Topham Hatt confronts him after finding out about the titular unscheduled stops.
• Green-Eyed Monster: In the older seasons, he can be initially jealous of other engines (Toby in "Thomas in Trouble", Duck in "The Runaway", and Stepney in "Thomas and Stepney") but he became good friends with each of them. This was played a lot straighter with Stanley in The Great Discovery, but like the previous three, they became friends. Repeated with even greater vigour against Ryan in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, though again he eventually repents.
• The Hero: Of the whole franchise. His number 1 lampshades this.
• Hollywood Tone-Deaf: As learned in "Too Loud, Thomas!", he has a terrible singing voice.
• Honor Before Reason: Thomas is usually loyal and hard-working, but will sometimes abandon his work or disobey the Fat Controller when he believes he must help someone else. He is often rebuked for this, though the Fat Controller sometimes overlooks it if it is for the better rather than "causing confusion and delay".
• Idiot Hero: Occasionally, he tries to get the job done...except sometimes, what he does isn't always the correct way and he tends to overlook a few things. Hero Of the Rails, for instance, has him try to help Hiro, rallying his friends to save him from Spencer's smarmy antics while keeping him away from the Fat Controller's eye, fearing he would get Hiro scrapped. When he finally comes clean, Sir Topham Hatt is more than happy to have Hiro repaired, but asks why he didn't tell him earlier.
• "I Am" Song: "Really Useful Engine" from the third season, which shows he's the number 1 and the best.
• It's All About Me: Like Gordon and James, he can sometimes be self-important and care more about his interests than other people's problems, especially in the early seasons which often proves to be his undoing. He sometimes comes through and helps them, though.
• "I Want" Song: "Streamlining" from The Great Race.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In the earlier seasons before taking a level in kindness. He's cheeky, fussy, and sometimes arrogant, but he also has a good heart.
• Just a Kid: Thomas often gets teased by bigger engines for his small size and big ambitions. Spencer even called him a "tiny toy tank engine". Ironic, given the fact he's actually older than most of them. He does prove his worth to them from time to time, however.
• Just Friends: In the Valentine's Day Episodes Rosie is Red, Thomas (with Luminescent Blush on his face) admits he does like Rosie, but no more than the other engines. At the end of the episode, Thomas narrates that he's glad that he became a good friend to her.
• Kid-Appeal Character: The second-smallest member of the Steam Team, and his cheekiness earned him lots of fans.
• Meaningful Name: The etymological origin of the name "Thomas" is Aramaic for "twin". In a way, this could be a nod to Thomas's Big Brother Instinct personality and also how he shares his blue color with other engines.
• "I Am Great!" Song: The reprise to James's "Somebody Has to Be the Favorite" that happens later has Thomas singing it, as he tries to prove himself to be better than James.
• Leeroy Jenkins: He can be very impatient at times, especially in the newer seasons.
• Loved by All: Bullies/villains like Spencer aside, Thomas is adored by every engine on the show. Even foes/disagreeable characters like Diesel and Cranky respect him from time to time.
• Miles Gloriosus: In season 2.
• Mr. Imagination: He has quite a vivid imagination and often gets into surreal, detailed imagine spots in the BWBA era.
• Mr. Vice Guy: Thomas is enthusiastic and altruistic, but also lacks patience and has a recurring problem keeping focus on one task at a time. He also has an evident daydreaming problem as shown in season 22.
• Never Tell Me the Odds!: Word of God states that he's always trying to do jobs best left to bigger, stronger, faster and smarter engines, with predictable results.
• Nice Guy: Becomes more of a kinder engine in Season 3, especially in "Trust Thomas", where he forgives James for his prank and when being carted to the works he takes the opportunity to remind Edward about sending the tar to mend Bertie's roads.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He seems to have these moments in the later series due to his eagerness in doing jobs. In Calling All Engines where he unintentionally moved the trucks off the rails, knocking down the water tower. Also in The Great Discovery where he gives Stanley too many trucks that resulted in the trucks crashing into the newly-built Great Waterton tower.
• No Sympathy: In the earlier seasons, he can be dismissive of other engines' reasons for being late for his passenger trains (i.e., Henry in "Thomas and the Guard" and Percy in "Woolly Bear"). Henry was the most frequent recipient of this, until "What's the Matter With Henry?" where Thomas' apathy actually causes the already ill Henry to break down. Thomas was deeply sorry over this, and him learning to take Henry's health more seriously is among the few Aesops that has stuck with him for most of the series.
• Older and Wiser: The first original stories for the show made Thomas more mature and gentle. He slowly became childish again (if not more so) in later seasons, though still occasionally acts as a competent Big Brother Mentor.
• Primary-Color Champion: Thomas is painted blue with red stripes (and a red bufferbeam), and has a yellow number 1 logo on each side (and yellow highlights on his window). He is also the main protagonist of the series.
• The Prankster: How much of one varies Depending on the Writer, but he is established as such from the very first episode.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Zigzagged; Thomas is usually a Red Oni, though there are exceptions. He is usually a Blue Oni to James and Gordon. In his relationship with Toby, he is still usually the Red Oni, but sometimes more relaxed as a contrast to Blue Oni Toby's dithering.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Usually, if he doesn't disobey out of childishness, then it's out of his desire to help out a fellow engine. In Hero of the Rails, he keeps his discovery of Hiro a secret from the Fat Controller out of fear Hiro will be taken and scrapped, so he and his friends pull out all the stops to repair Hiro themselves until he looks presentable. The secret-keeping attracts Spencer, which eventually leads to Hiro being exposed, but luckily, Gordon enters the scene in time. The Fat Controller was reasonable enough to overlook Thomas's behavior and help him get Hiro repaired when he finally reveals everything, but had Thomas simply come clean about Hiro earlier, a lot of trouble would've been avoided.
• Serious Business: In the earlier seasons, he views running his branch line as this.
• Simple-Minded Wisdom: Thomas isn't dumb, but he can be rather scatterbrained and ditzy. He still proves surprisingly intelligent or insightful at times though, especially if a friend is in need of it.
• Singing Voice Dissonance: John Hasler's UK voice for Thomas sounds more older-sounding than Joseph May's US voice, but whenever Thomas is singing, his voice becomes smoother and softer, sounding almost similar to May.
• Slow "NO!": He screams one in "Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure" as he is falling into the cavern. He screams another in "A Cranky Christmas" after he screeches to a halt and watches his delivery fly through the air.
• Small Name, Big Ego: In his earlier episodes, he thought he was the most hard-working engine ever (which simply isn't true).
• Spell My Name with a "The": As the Full-Name Ultimatum demonstrates above, his full name is indeed "Thomas the Tank Engine".
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Despite the show being named after him, he became the focus or nearly every episode starting in Season 8. This toned down at the start of Season 17 after Brenner took over. Though this seems to be coming back in season 19 where he is featured in a number of episodes centered around the other characters. Starting in Season 22, he is now forced into every episode regardless of being the main role due to him being the narrator.
• Sympathy for the Devil: He feels sorry for Frankie during her Villainous Breakdown.
• Tempting Fate: Played for Laughs; in the beginning of Journey Beyond Sodor, Thomas is chugging along and, noticing how beautiful the day is, wants to sing... only for James to rush in and steal the show.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: Very much the later seasons due to his impatience causing more trouble than usual (i.e., "Wonky Whistle"). This was gradually averted in Season 17.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: He's exceptionally petty and insecure in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, blaming others for his accidents or ignoring their warnings of danger. After he tricks Ryan into taking bad coal, the sparks nearly set off a load of dynamite. Thomas manages to dump it down the cavern he fell into earlier in the film, but during the panic to get rid of it, endangers Ryan, and is scolded by the Fat Controller for doing so. This finally reins him back in. That, and the danger Sailor John poses.
• Took a Level in Kindness: While Thomas' childish and accident prone personality returned, his nicer more altruistic qualities were mostly kept. And he's far less arrogant and rude than he was in the stories from the original books (aside from isolated Jerkass Ball moments).
• Tsundere: A sweet, male example after taking a level in kindness; while Thomas is generally nice, he does have his moments of this. It's especially around Ashima; in The Great Race he tries to act like he doesn't like her, despite obviously having a crush on her.
• Troll: Whenever Annie and Clarabel complain about his speed in "Not So Slow Coaches", he deliberately adjusts too far in the other direction.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: In his earlier stories, which often focused on him being arrogant and needing to be knocked down a peg. Later stories focused more on his altruistic qualities, though he can still be arrogant every now and then.
• Vocal Evolution:
  • Ben Small's voice for Thomas has gotten somewhat more nasal and helium pitched in later UK episodes.
  • His US voices have changed a lot. In Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Eddie Glen gives him a youthful English accent and sounds like a young man.
  • Martin Sherman gives him a slightly higher voice, which sounds more like that of a pre-teen.
  • Joseph May gives him a slight rasp with a very high pitched voice.
• What, Exactly, Is His Job?: Despite being assigned to his own branch line like in the books, his main character status in the TV show often leads to him getting assigned to jobs all around the railway with little explanation. In some episodes he even reverts back to his initial role as station pilot.

Edward the Blue Engine

"I will do it, I will do it."

Voiced in English by: Keith Wickham (UK; Hero of the Rails-Series 24), William Hope (US; Hero of the Rails-Series 24)

Voiced in Japanese by: Yasuhiro Takato (Series 1 - Series 8), Nozomu Sasaki (Calling All Engines! - Series 24), Kan Tanaka ("An Engine of Many Colors"), Kumiko Higa (Series 23)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Herman López (Hero of the Rails, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure excluding Tale of the Brave), Javier Olguín ("Victor Says Yes", "The Missing Christmas Decorations"), Daniel Abundis (Series 20 - Series 24), Gabriel Juárez ("A New Arrival")

Number: 2

Basis: Furness Railway K2 'Larger Seagull' 4-4-0

Built: 1895

One of the oldest engines on the Fat Controller's railway, and the first character developed by the Rev. W. Awdry. Edward is a mixed-traffic engine with his own branch line. He's kind but firm, serving as a mentor for younger engines, though he is often teased about his age. In the Big World! Big Adventures! series, he is replaced in the main cast by Nia.

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• Adaptational Jerkass: While the engines are generally snarkier in the books, in an attempt to create some flaws for Edward, the original episodes tried to make him more arrogant and nastier at times, and in some episodes where he has no major role, tends to deliver remarks that would fit more with Gordon or James. While Edward could sometimes deliver some harsh lessons, he was easily one of the nicest engines in the books.
• All-Loving Hero: Edward is usually infallibly kind and patient to others. The later seasons give him more arrogant moments, though these are still rare.
• All of the Other Reindeer: He often gets talked down upon for his old age by Gordon, Henry, and James.
• Beware the Nice Ones: In "Old Reliable Edward", he finally shows an limit to his patience and gets swift revenge on Gordon for expressing his lack of gratitude. He shows a similar Karmic Trickster mentality towards Bill and Ben in "Hunt the Truck".
• Big Brother Mentor: Often to the younger engines, mostly Bill and Ben.
• Blue Is Calm: Appropriately, Edward is a calm-minded and kind-hearted Cool Old Guy. He especially contrasts well with James.
• Blue Is Heroic: He's painted blue and is a very kind engine.
• Broken Ace: Later episodes Lampshade his Cool Old Guy image, giving him more insecurities about failing at a new task or losing the other engines' respect.
• Butt-Monkey: Not as much as Gordon or James, but if an episode focuses on him, something will go wrong.
• Character Exaggeration: Some original stories would try to maintain Edward's nicer side, but make him more meek and error prone and insecure of his older build. While this was to some degree true of his character originally (the other engines bully him to tears in the first story and he was worried about being called a strike-breaker in Troublesome Engines), his novel counterpart shortly afterwards was conveyed as a very thick-skinned and competent engine. The Brenner-made seasons onwards tend to reverse this back though.
• Comedic Sociopathy: In his introductory episode "Edward & Gordon", he delighted in scaring the trucks by bumping them hard into each other.
• The Comically Serious: Seems to have taken this role in the CGI series due to his Odd Friendship with Charlie.
• Compressed Vice: Started falling victim to these so to work into later seasons' Aesop structure (most infamously his Fantastic Racism towards Rocky in "Edward Strikes Out"). Later episodes seem to settle for making him self-conscious.
• Cool Old Guy: Episodes like "Old Iron", "Edward's Exploit", and "Edward The Hero" show he doesn't feel his age and can pull off various feats.
• Demoted to Extra: In seasons 4-6. Given a bit more screentime later on, at the cost of his classic personality. Happened again in Big World Big Adventures, due to his slot in the main cast being taken by Nia for gender balance. The demotion isn't quite as immediate as Henry, with him still a regular in Season 22, though is full effect in the last two seasons where he makes only a couple token appearances.
• Depending on the Writer: He is either a wise and respected Cool Old Guy who isn't afraid to snark, a weak aging figure who everyone looks down on, or a borderline Grumpy Old Man.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: As observed with the tropes above, the show made several attempts to make Edward more flawed and define some sort of trademark foible for him, often for the purpose of allowing him to drive stories or appear in plots without his overly lucid personality breaking the conflict (the original novels resolved this by having him be Demoted to Extra after a while, with the show ultimately doing the same with Big World Big Adventures).
• Fatal Flaw: The Hit seasons tried to define one for Edward, but couldn't keep a consistent grasp on him. The CGI episodes settle for making him self conscious and somewhat too good-natured, with the latter remaining during the Brenner-era.
• Flat Character: Unlike most of the other highly flawed engines, there isn't much to Edward outside being a somewhat old and polite engine. The Hit seasons attempted to remedy this by giving him a more flawed personality, with mixed results as these episodes tended to focus solely on the flaw.
• Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: The Gleeful to James' Grumpy; he is kind, patient, and doesn't mind what work he does.
• Honor Before Reason: The CGI series reverts to his kind persona, albeit to a fault, with many of his personal dilemmas caused by having problems prioritizing helping others or doing his job. Fails to be Good Is Dumb however since most of the time he knows things probably won't end well for him as a result.
  • "The Adventure Begins" provides a backtrack example, revealing he let Thomas take his goods train without proper consent in "Thomas And The Trucks" and got reprimanded for it.
• I Choose to Stay: At the end of “A Shed For Edward”, he decides to stay with Philip at Wellsworth. In the following season, Nia takes his place at Tidmouth Sheds.
• Immune to Slapstick: Since he’s kind and responsible, he’s one of the very few engines who never caused a humiliating accident or crash for himself in the original The Railway Series inspired seasons, and when something did happen, like in "Edward's Exploit", it wasn't played for laughs and wasn't his own fault. The streak was finally broken in "Edward’s Brass Band" however.
• It Belongs in a Museum: The big engines (particularly Gordon) think he's such an old engine that he should be preserved or retire, but Edward would often prove them wrong.
• Jerkass Ball: Has a tendency to grab this in since the show branched away from the books. Episodes such as "Edward Strikes Out" and "Harvey To The Rescue" are stand out examples, and they usually arose more while he was part of the Steam Team.
• Loved by All: Edward is universally beloved. Though he's often teased about his age, his detractors are always proven wrong and start to respect him instead. In fact, despite teasing him in the past, Gordon had a full-on meltdown when Edward left Tidmouth Sheds. It says a lot that Edward is the only engine that the Troublesome Trucks respect.
• Nice Guy: The kindest engine on Sodor.
• Not So Above It All: Aside from his various out-of-character portrayals in Sharon Miller's tenure as head writer, Edward has shown he still isn't above a bit of taunting and sarcasm. As proven in "Old Reliable Edward."
• Only Sane Man: When paired with haughty engines like James. He also didn't have his first accident until Season 7's Edward and the Brass Band, and even then he wasn't to blame.
• Out-of-Character Alert: He was one of the engines who laughed at Thomas' funny funnel in "Slippy Sodor". Thomas' responding glare to him was more angry than embarrassed with the others.
• Out of Focus: The writers obviously don't find him very interesting. He was hit particularly badly by this in Season 23, where he only appears in 2 episodes for the entire season with his only dialogue being as part of a song.
• Primary-Color Champion: Edward is painted blue with red stripes (and red bufferbeam) and has a yellow number 2 logo on each side of his tender and yellow highlights on his window. He's also a kind and wise engine.
• Put on a Bus: Moves from Tidmouth Sheds to Wellsworth in “A Shed For Edward”. In Season 22, Nia takes his place, though he still makes the occasional appearance.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue oni to James whenever they're paired together.
• The Spock: Very logical and knowledgeable of how to get duties done right, especially if they involve pulling troublesome trucks.
• Team Dad: To Bill and Ben. According to Duck, Edward is the only engine to keep the mischievous twins in order.

Henry the Green Engine

"The rain will spoil my lovely green paint with red stripes!"

Voiced in English by: Kevin Frank (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Keith Wickham (UK; Hero of the Rails-Series 24) Kerry Shale (US; Hero of the Rails-Series 24)

Voiced in Japanese by: Ryō Horikawa (Series 1 - Series 8, Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Kenji Utsumi ("James and the Trouble with Trees", first half), Jun'ichi Kanemaru (Calling All Engines! - Series 24), Nozomu Sasaki (Day of the Diesels), Kenta Miyake ("Edward the Hero")

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Jesús Cortés (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Luis Alfonso Padilla (Thomas and the Magic Railroad, TV version), Ricardo Silva (Hero of the Rails - The Great Race, excluding Series 20), Arturo Mercado Jr. (Series 20 - Series 24, excluding The Great Race)

Number: 3

Basis: London, Midland and Scottish Railway 'Black Five' 4-6-0

Built: 1919

A much larger mixed traffic engine, Henry started off as a poorly built engine bought by the Fat Controller when he was desperate for engines. He once infamously stranded himself in a tunnel and was bricked up, until Gordon's express failed, when he came out and showed his worth. He required special Welsh coal to steam properly until his Flying Kipper accident, where he was completely rebuilt into a much more reliable (if still occasionally neurotic) engine. In the Big World! Big Adventures! series, he is replaced in the main cast by Rebecca.

---

• Adaptational Nice Guy: While he still ultimately developed more into the sane engine of the three big engines in the books, Henry was primarily characterized as a Grumpy Old Man, complaining quite a bit and being as much of a headstrong Deadpan Snarker as the other big engines. His television counterpart however, is primarily characterized as soft and insecure, which comes with him being a far nicer character.
• Adaptational Wimp: A small one, but still. In the original books, Henry stopped needing special coal after being rebuilt. But for a lengthy duration here, after his rebuilt, his need for special coal was revived. However, this was retconned back to normal later.
• Ambiguously Jewish: He has a large nose, is The Finchy One, he complains a lot, and the US dub of the CGI series gives him a faint New York accent. However, he celebrates Christmas with everyone else.
• Big Damn Heroes: In "Henry's Hero", he manages to push both a heavy train of iron girders and a broken-down Hiro up Gordon's Hill all by himself, despite taking on bad coal earlier in the episode.
• Character Exaggeration: While Henry did have shades of being neurotic in the books and earlier episodes, he was generally conveyed as being an overconfident and temperamental engine who spoke his mind. From the Hit produced era onwards, Henry is generally conveyed as rather meek and nervous and prone to superstition. Even retroactively, The Adventure Begins rewrites Henry's hatred of rain as more a phobia, while in the original story and adaptation, he was merely vain about his paint being spoiled.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: In the books, he was originally green until he got a blue coat of paint after staying in a tunnel for awhile. The reason he got his old color back is because the Rev Awdry was fed up with people confusing him with Gordon in the book illustrations, when he was painted blue.
• Colour Motif: Green symbolises envy and calmness, both of which were character traits of his. Later on, green also serves to symbolise his connection to nature.
• Demoted to Extra: No longer part of the main cast as of Season 22, due to the introduction of Nia and Rebecca in order to allow for more female members. His slot is replaced by Rebecca.
• Depending on the Writer: Ranges from a grumpy jerk to a Gentle Giant to a Lovable Coward.
• Determinator: He often tends to prove others wrong and refuses to give up, even if something goes wrong.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: He once blew steam at The Fat Controller. He got shut-up in a tunnel later for it.
• Dirty Coward: He was one in "The Sad Story of Henry" where he refused to leave the tunnel because he was afraid the rain will ruin his paint and didn't care about taking the passengers to their destination.
• Divergent Character Evolution: In early stories, he mostly played the role of another arrogant tender engine similar to Gordon and James. Later stories made him more sensitive and neurotic while adding Hidden Depths such as his love of nature.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Before his new shape, his requiring "special coal" in order to keep him healthy and functional parallels someone having to take medication for a chronic illness.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: At least in the earlier seasons.
• The Eeyore: He starts to show this in Coal, where there is a problem with him that is seemingly unfixable. It turns out that he had been given the wrong coal, and that the type he really needs to keep him going is Welsh coal. This works tremendously, and so does his Emergency Transformation in the following episode. His Eeyore-ish tendencies are pretty much nonexistent from then on up until Thomas and the Magic Railroad, where he reverts back to how he was before his rebuild.
• Emergency Transformation: His rebuild in The Flying Kipper.
• Fatal Flaw: In early episodes, he was pompous and stubborn like the other tender engines. In later episodes, he is more insecure and prone to worry over details.
• The Finicky One: Best shown after his tubes are mended in one episode. He then proceeds to complain about his other parts that aren't doing so well, at least according to him.
• Flawed Prototype: Originally. He was a botched attempt from an unknown company at building their own LNER A1/A3 through stolen plans, and was then sold to the Topham Hatt who was under the pretense he was buying an Atlantic. He was rebuilt following his serious accident in The Flying Kipper. Yet despite this rebuild, he still looks like a hybrid of LNER and LMS design, but now finally having the speed and grace of Gordon.
• Freudian Trio: Originally the Ego of one with James and Gordon.
• Friend to All Living Things: Depending on what season. Particularly Henry's Forest in Season 3.
• Gentle Giant: He may be a big and strong engine, but he is very caring when it comes to the environment and his friends. He also has more sensitive feelings toward others.
• Green and Mean: A downplayed one in Seasons 1-2, as he's a non-villainous Jerk with a Heart of Gold. He starts growing out of the "Mean" part afterwards, however.
• Hypochondriac: When not genuinely ill, he is often moaning about not being tended to. A probable reason the other engines often don't take his ill bouts seriously.
• I Hate Past Me: In Blue Mountain Mystery, Henry looks at his past, arrogant self with disdain.
• Literal Metaphor: In "Henry's Forest", Henry's love of his nature and his coat of paint makes him quite literally, a green engine.
• Inspirationally Disadvantaged: His need for "special coal" sometimes conveys him as this.
• Jaded Washout: Can be quite cynical and can sometimes perform as well as Gordon but often falls ill too easily.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In the original stories, where he was usually the nicer-natured of the Terrible Trio than Gordon and James. In later episodes, he is less conceited.
• Lovable Coward: He's an awkward, nature-loving engine with many fears.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: His rebuild in The Flying Kipper.
• Nature Lover: Starting from "Henry's Forest".
• Nice Guy: Especially post Season 3, where his personality changes to being more kindhearted and sensitive.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: His American voice in the CGI series is reminiscent of Woody Allen's.
• No Sympathy: In regards to his illness where the other engines (most evident with Thomas chewing him out for making him late and James berating him for not working hard enough). As soon he was better, he soon got the last laugh at the others. On later occasions, when he was sick, the engines now showed him genuine concern.
  • Repeated in "What's The Matter With Henry" when Henry feels ill again, the other engines (bar Emily) scoff at this and even give him their own workload as a prank. They are remorseful when he breaks down as a result, explaining they thought he was just being melodramatic again.
  • He'll give this to other engines. In "Something in the Air", after Thomas explains that his lateness was due to some fish falling into his boiler and the high tide damaging the rails, Henry brushes off this reason and rudely orders him to attach the other vans to his Flying Kipper. He does apologize to him for this in the end, however.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Staying in a tunnel to avoid the rain spoiling his paint. He lampshades this in "Percy Takes the Plunge":
  Henry: No one will ever let me forget the time I wouldn't come out of the tunnel in case the rain spoiled my paint.
• Out of Focus: Like Edward and Toby, he also gets less attention from the writers. He cops it extremely badly in Season 22, being limited to only two speaking roles in the entirety of the season, with his other appearances being mostly cameos. It got worse the following season when his only dialogue was laughing with a group of engines in one episode and part of a song in another.
• Put on a Bus: In “Forever and Ever”, he leaves the group and is transferred to Vicarstown Sheds in order to take up a new job which involves him making more frequent trips to the Mainland (at least what fans believe). In the following episode, Rebecca takes his place.
• The Rival: Had a few bouts with Percy in the first few seasons, somewhat mirroring Gordon's rivalry with Thomas.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to both Gordon and James' Manly Men.
• Super Prototype: His TV series incarnation may be implied as one, due to his changes in appearance after his rebuild being more minor compared to the Railway Series. His TV series design is more freelanced and simplified compared to his rebuilt version’s real basis, the LMS Class “Black 5” 5MT. While the Railway Series plays his change of class straight, the TV series instead retains his same body, but with Black 5 elements added, such as the addition of a top feed on his boiler and supports added to the smokebox, along with his tapered firebox design being changed to a Belpaire design. The fact his boiler, running board, and tender get retained imply that said parts were not damaged as badly, and that the change in firebox kept elements of his original design, but now with the strength and speed to match Gordon.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: He has a number of moments of being unintelligent at the start of season 8, "Henry's Magic Box" being a common example, where a box he delivered is replaced with trees and he thinks the box has gone missing rather than realizing it was simply unloaded.
• Took a Level in Kindness: "Henry's Forest" sees him change his personality slightly, becoming more kindhearted and caring. Starting in Season 8, Henry was softened, becoming far less pompous and rude. In Blue Mountain Mystery, he looks back at his arrogant behavior with utter disdain.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Had a phobia of water initially.
• What, Exactly, Is His Job?: Has this in common with James being a mixed-traffic engine, he sometimes pulls trucks, sometimes pulls the express if his system will let him. The most common job of his, and his most famous one, is pulling the Flying Kipper fish train, though late in the series he moved to Vicarstown, as he now primarily does more goods work than passenger runs.

Gordon the Big Engine

"Express coming through!"

Voiced in English by: Neil Crone (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Keith Wickham (UK, Hero of the Rails- Series 24), Kerry Shale (US, Hero of the Rails- Series 24)

Voiced in Japanese by: Kenji Utsumi (Series 1 - Series 8), Kenta Miyake (Calling All Engines! - Series 24)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Salvador Nájar (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Jorge Roig (Thomas and the Magic Railroad, TV version), Dafnis Fernández (Hero of the Rails - Series 24)

Number: 4

Basis: London and North Eastern Railway A1/A3 4-6-2

Built: 1922

A big, powerful express engine whose main job is to pull the railway's express. He thinks very highly of himself and is quick to criticize others, though his delusions of grandeur are often what land him into trouble.

---

• Adaptational Early Appearance: According to Wilbert Awdry's history on the Railway Series, Gordon arrived on the island not long after his birth in 1922 after Thomas and Edward. While it's never stated if he came to Sodor before or after Edward, "The Adventure Begins" shows he was on the island before Thomas.
• Aesop Amnesia: Just when you'll think he's learned a lesson in humility, he'll be just as arrogant and pompous as before.
• Aloof Ally: He's not the warmest of engines and tends to be very haughty, but he will pull through for a friend.
• Anti-Hero: He's pompous, arrogant, and looks down on other engines, but is still a part of the Steam Team.
• Baritone of Strength: Has a deep whistle and typically a deep, posh voice. He's also the largest and strongest of the main characters, and the trucks have never tried to crash him.
• Berserk Button: Please don't make Gordon pull trucks. He'll stall himself or crash.
• Big Damn Heroes: In Hero of the Rails, he pulls this to save a broken-down Hiro from potentially being taken by Spencer to be scrapped, by suddenly thundering down the line and challenging Spencer to a race, knowing he can't resist to prove himself. This not only gets Spencer into an accident, he also gets in trouble with the Duke and Duchess.
• The Big Guy: The largest and strongest of the main characters. He's even described as "Gordon The Big Engine".
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Has very thick lines over his eyes.
• Blue Is Heroic: He can fit this trope if episodes don't center around him being haughty.
• Break the Haughty: What happens in every episode centered on him. Also, he's not immune to dishing it out to other engines as well; he gets sweet revenge on Thomas in the very first episode for example.
• British Stuffiness: Particularly in the UK version, where Keith Wickham gives him a deep and haughty voice.
• Character Catchphrase: Many.
  • "Oh, the indignity!" (especially when he's subjected to a humiliating situation)
  • "I'm the fastest/strongest and the best and I pull the Express!"
  • "Express coming through!"
  • In the earlier seasons, he used to say "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
• Clashing Cousins: He and Spencer are LNER engines of different classes (Gordon is an LNER A1/A3 class while Spencer is an A4 class) and both have a rivalry with each other.
• The Comically Serious: His seriousness lends to funny moments, particularly when he flusters over being insulted by the other engines.
• Control Freak:
  • In "Gordon Takes Charge", he delights himself in teaching Percy how to manage coaches just to show off.
  • He appears to be extremely apprehensive towards radical changes. In Season 22’s "Forever and Ever", he protests to Sir Topham Hatt over Edward and Henry leaving the group.
• Deadpan Snarker: He has some funny dry lines, "What's this, educate Gordon day!?", in Tender Engines.
• Depending on the Writer: Ranges from Jerk with a Heart of Gold to an outright Jerkass.
• Doesn't Trust Those Guys: In "Gordon and the Famous Visitor", he doesn't have a high opinion on City of Truro for his lack of dome and said "Never trust domeless engines. They aren't respectable." This led to him losing his dome at the viaduct.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: So much that Season 9's Respect for Gordon is based entirely around this.
• Fatal Flaw: Mostly his pompousness, which gets him into trouble.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Thomas in "Down The Mine". Later referenced in "Paint Pots & Queens". Also with Nia and Rebecca, due to the two newcomers replacing Edward and Henry in the group. He became friends with Nia after she assured him that Edward and Henry will still be his friends, and he became friends with Rebecca after she defended him from Flying Scotsman's teasing.
• Foil:
  • To Rebecca, due to them both being large Express engines. While Rebecca is optimistic, Gordon is usually grumpy.
  • He's also this to Henry in the later series. Both are big tender engines. While Henry is a sensitive Gentle Giant, Gordon is pompous and gruff, but shows his soft side every now and then.
• Freudian Trio (with James and Henry): Superego.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Other engines often get annoyed with his egotistical and pompous attitude.
• Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: The Grumpy to Rebecca's Gleeful, perhaps best exemplified in "Gordon and Rebecca, Coming Through!"; he has worked on Sodor for a very long time, loves going fast, hates pulling goods trains, and is sometimes bossy to the other engines, especially if they're on his tracks.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: It's not hard to get him angry. Especially when ordered to pull trucks.
• Humble Pie: Despite his prideful nature, Gordon often displays huge bouts of humility and is understanding to engines who end up the same.
• The Hyena: In "Gordon Gets the Giggles", he laughs so much despite trying to hide it from the others.
• "I Am Great!" Song:
  • "Ode to Gordon"
  • Much later, he received "The Shooting Star is Coming Through!", which he sings himself. Unfortunately...
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Gordon always wants to prove himself, feeling his importance is threatened if any other engine rivals or surpasses him. He's visibly distraught when he bursts his safety valve in Edward, Gordon and Henry and the Fat Controller is ashamed of him.
• Insulted Awake: By both Thomas and Henry.
• It's All About Me: He has a massive ego and sees himself as better and more important than the others.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Has his moments.
  • For example, his strength is sometimes called on to help with the goods work, Gordon will complain at great length. But he's right, he wasn't designed to pull freight trains.
  • Related to that, he can be quite mean to Edward but he isn't wrong when Edward wont be able to push the express by himself as "Edward, Gordon and Henry", proved.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He may be pompous and always looks down on other engines, but Gordon will always put aside his pride and prove that he can be a kind and helpful engine and that he cares about his friends.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He tends to think he knows more than he does.
• Large and in Charge: Definitely believes in this.
• Large Ham: He's easily the biggest and fastest out of the Steam Team; he also brags about his importance quite a lot and his whistle is the deepest.
• Last of His Kind: Gordon and Flying Scotsman are the last of the LNER A1-A3 Pacific type trains who are still active. Most of their siblings have been already scrapped, as mentioned in The Railways Series.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: He has more or less eighty siblings and all of them based on real life LNER A1-A3 Pacific locomotive.
• No-Respect Guy: At times. The key plot point of "Respect For Gordon".
• Out-of-Character Moment: This gem from Season 16's "Thomas and the Sounds of Sodor":
  Thomas: "What are you doing here, Gordon? You're supposed to be on the main line!"
  Gordon: "I thought I'd take the pretty track."
• Perpetual Frowner: Most of the time, he displays a scowl due to thinking highly of himself, or when he looks down on the other engines. Their tendency to tease him doesn't help at all.
• Primary-Color Champion: Gordon is painted blue with red stripes (and a red bufferbeam) and has a yellow number 4 on each side of his tender (and yellow highlights on his window). He can have moments of heroism in spite of his ego.
• Red Baron: Averted. He changes his name to "The Shooting Star" in The Great Race, but most people end up calling him Gordon anyway. He ended up giving up the name at the end of the Great Railway Show.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the red to Rebecca's blue, as seen by the friendship they developed.
• The Rival:
  • To Thomas in season 1 (with occasional Friendly Rival moments in later seasons).
  • He later becomes this to Spencer from season 7 onward, since the latter, as a modern engine, can give his speed a run for his money.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Manly Man, along with James, to Henry's Sensitive Guy.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He loves to think he's more important than he really is.
• Smile of Approval: In the end of The Adventure Begins, he gives one to Thomas after saving James from his accident, citing his respect for him after looking down on him initially.
• The Social Darwinist: He believes that coaches are more important than trucks, despite the fact that passengers are just about as equal as goods.
• Super Mode: He gets streamlined for the Great Railway Show, to increase his speed even further for the Great Race. Unfortunately, he leaves the Steamworks before being inspected, resulting in his safety valve not being assembled properly, which in turn causes his boiler to take heavy damage.
• Tempting Fate:
  • In "Confused Coaches", Gordon attempts to score a jab at Spencer by teasing him about always being in the No. 2 station while he's always "No. 1". This leads to problems when Spencer transfers himself to the No. 1 station... which leads to both him and Gordon getting the wrong coaches, and then getting scolded by both the passengers and the Fat Controller himself.
  • In Season 22's "Forever and Ever", he attempts to do a huge protest due to Edward and Henry leaving the group (Edward moved close to his job, while Henry moved to the other side of Sodor due to his new job as a regular Mainland traveller), coupled with other drastic changes to the railway. This causes him to get punished.
• Toxic Friend Influence: He's a terrible influence on Henry and James, as hanging out with him causes them to become snobbish, haughty jerks. In the HIT era, Gordon and James were collectively toxic influences on Emily, who went from a sweet engine to a bossy, self-righteous know-it-all after joining their clique.
• Tsundere: A male one, and a harsh type. He'll insult and belittle engines he deems beneath him, but deep down he has a huge heart.
• Tuckerization: Named after a rude boy that lived on Christopher Awdry's street in his childhood.
• Ungrateful Bastard: He has a few moments of using this trope, although in other episodes, he does show gratitude in spite of his large ego.
  • In "Edward and Gordon", Edward helps him up the hill after the trucks held him back. He didn't thank him.
  • Averted in "Edward The Really Useful Engine", where he thanks Edward and apologises to him at the end of the episode.
  • In "You Can Do It, Toby!", Toby helps him push the Express train up the hill. He neither thanked him nor did he apologize for insulting him earlier on.
  • Edward finally complains about him being this in "Old Reliable Edward", and with Thomas' help, gets Gordon to show some respect.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: In episodes centered around him.
• Upper-Class Twit: In the later seasons, due to the Flanderization of his ego.
• When He Smiles: Gordon is usually grumpy, but as said by Hiro in Hero of the Rails, when he smiles, it changes his whole face.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: All together now: "Oh, the indignity!"

James the Red Engine

"I'm a really splendid engine."

Voiced in English by: Susan Roman (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Keith Wickham (UK; Hero of the Rails - Series 20), Kerry Shale (US; Hero of the Rails - Series 18), Rob Rackstraw (US; The Adventure Begins - Series 24, UK; Series 21- 24)

Voiced in Japanese by: Katsuji Mori (Series 1 - Series 8), Masashi Ebara (Calling All Engines! - Series 24)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Uraz Huerta (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Eduardo Garza (Thomas and the Magic Railroad, TV version), Mario Castañeda (Hero of the Rails - Series 24)

Number: 5

Basis: Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Class 28 2-6-0

Built: 1912/13

A mixed traffic engine, James was riddled with issues when he first arrived, but later proved to be Really Useful by pulling the Express when Gordon failed. James can be called upon to perform virtually any duty, though he prefers coaches. Like Gordon's ego, James's vanity and admiration for his red paintwork often gets him in trouble.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: Zig-zagged; in the novel version of "Thomas and the Breakdown Train", James was painted black when he first came to Sodor, but was painted red after Thomas rescued him from a field that the Troublesome Trucks pushed him into. In the TV series adaptation of the story, James retains his red livery even before the Troublesome Trucks push him into the field. In The Adventure Begins, which is a CGi retelling of the first two Railway Series books, true to his book counterpart, James spends most of the special in his original black livery, only appearing in his red livery near the very end.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: In the books, James' first appearance is in "Thomas and the Breakdown Train" where he is explicitly identified by the narrator as a new engine. The TV series has him appear in group shots and make background appearances since the first episode, though the narrator for "James and the Coaches" erroneously says his crash was from his first day (due to the narration being lifted straight from the book). The Adventure Begins doubles down on this and has him get into banter with the cast long before his crash, and was a part of the railway before Thomas was.
• Aesop Amnesia: Almost all of his spotlight episodes revolve around his vanity in some way. No matter how often he's humbled, he's back the next episode, pompous as ever.
• Ambiguously Gay: His voice (especially with Alec Baldwin's narration and when voiced by Kerry Shale) and his being The Dandy say it all. In fact a lot of people in the community actually headcanon him as gay too, mainly through stereotypes and ships, mostly James x Gordon, James x Thomas, and James x Edward. This is not the case of his original incarnation of the books, who was generally more characterized as a generally unpleasant Jerkass and complainer after Character Development brought him down to earth...eh, somewhat, but at the very least his flaws began to stem more from a rude attitude than vanity.
• Anti-Hero: He's arrogant, rude, and boastful to other engines, but is still part of the Steam Team.
• Attention Whore: Likes being center of attention, and doesn't take it well when the other engines pay none of it to him.
• Berserk Button: Never, ever remind James of the time with the bootlace, or any other of his accidents. Also don't threaten to paint him blue.
• Big Ego, Hidden Depths: Despite his voice inflated ego, deep down, he's a genuinely hard worker who cares about his friends, especially during a Redemption Arc like "Troublesome Trucks", or "No Joke for James".
• Break the Haughty: Happens to him in any episode involving him trying to be important.
• Brooklyn Rage: George Carlin gives him a New York accent in the US dub of the earlier episodes.
• The Bully: He bullies Phillip in "Apology Impossible", although he was hit with the Jerkass Ball.
• Character Catchphrase:
  • He constantly boasts about being a "splendid engine" or any of the sort.
  • At the start of season 20, he'll always shout "Here's James!" whenever he arrives in a show-offy manner, likely as a Shout-Out to a certain scene from The Shining.
• Character Development: A subtle one, but following the events of "James the Second Best", James no longer looks down on Edward and even feels upstaged by him when Edward gets selected for a railway poster. After they make peace at the end of the episode and Edward assures him he is useful, James is far more respectful to Edward, a rare Aesop that actually sticks for most of the series.
• The Chew Toy: If he's playing a role in an episode, expect something bad to happen to him.
• Color Motif:
  • In the early days, James was painted black, an ominous color. True to form, in "Thomas and the Breakdown Train", he gets into a brutal accident with the Troublesome Trucks (with "The Adventure Begins" depicting his wooden brakes catching on fire).
  • After his accident, James was given a shiny red coat of paint. Red represents anger and violence, and James is often depicted as the Steam Engine with the biggest temper.
• The Dandy: He loves his red paint and hates it when it gets dirty.
• Deadpan Snarker: Not as much as Gordon, but he still is able to outsnark some of the others and be very dry.
  Gordon: I seem to know the right line by instinct!
  Later
  Gordon slowly puffs into the station after being switched on to the wrong tracks and having to loop back to the station
  James: Hello Gordon? Is it tomorrow?
  James: Did you lose your way Gordon?
  Gordon: No it was lost for me. I was switched off of the main line onto the loop. I had to go all around and back again.
  James: Perhaps it was instinct?
• Depending on the Writer: Ranges from Jerk with a Heart of Gold to an outright Jerkass.
• Determinator: So much, he actually has a variant of his original Leitmotif for such instances.
• Divergent Character Evolution: James seems to have gradually become more mischievous and cheerful than curmudgeonly Henry and Gordon as the show branched from the books.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: His CGI render is far taller than his model, with the former coming after the latter (the series started with moving models but later started using CGI for its animation).
• Era-Specific Personality: In his first book (and the episodes that adapted it) James was more like a troubled, temperamental, but well-meaning character. After that, he quickly became a Small Name, Big Ego. Miller's era toned James down into a Mr. Vice Guy, being vain but otherwise friendly and rational. Afterwards Brenner's era turned James into a sly, obnoxious prankster.
• Ex-Big Bad: A non-villainous one. While not a villain in Tale of the Brave, James does serve as a source of conflict. It's especially when he scared and tricks Percy. He also survives the special and doesn't act as a Big Bad in any later specials.
• Fatal Flaw: His temper was one in the books and early episodes. Later, his vanity became one of his most popular traits.
• Fiery Red Head: Well, "Fiery Red Engine" in his case. Out of the engines in the Steam Team, James is more likely to lose his wheels, especially when he's insulted.
• Flanderization: As the show began to diverge from the books, more emphasis was placed on his pride and vanity with his paintwork. His book counterpart, by contrast, grew past this (becoming just more of a general The Friend Nobody Likes from his grouchy and headstrong attitude), as while he still didn't enjoy pulling goods trains, he still put up with them, and his hatred of them stemmed more from how tedious they could get versus passenger duties ^note As an example, slow goods trains require an engine to pick up and drop off trucks at various stations, resulting in much starting and stopping to rearrange the train, which can get heavier and heavier as time goes on.
• Foil: To Edward. Both tender engines are the same size, but while Edward is humble, kind, patient, and doesn't mind what work he does, James is vain, temperamental, snarky and hates doing jobs that are dirty and prefers pulling coaches. They're even colored blue and red, respectively.
• Freudian Trio: The short-tempered and vain Id to Henry's cautious Ego and Gordon's aloof Superego. In King of the Railway and some Season 5 episodes, he forms one with Percy and Thomas.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: While several engines on the railway get this response, James gets this from the other engines most of all for his vain and boastful attitude.
• Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: The Grumpy to Edward's Gleeful; he is vain, temperamental, loves pulling coaches, and hates doing dirty jobs.
• Glory Seeker: Loves taking special jobs to make himself feel important. Thomas calls him out for it in one episode.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: In many occasions, he can get angry easily when things don't really go his way or when the other engines insult him. It doesn't help that his color is red, which symbolizes anger.
• His Own Worst Enemy: Most of his problems are caused by his arrogance, short fuse, and by extension his impatience and vanity.
• Hypocritical Humor: Occasionally. In "Philip to the Rescue" for example, James complains about how much Philip shows off and talks about himself despite that he himself does it a lot. Not that he was wrong about Phillip being a braggart.
• "I Am Great!" Song:
  • His early season Leitmotif is later extended to a song about him.
  • Gets another in Journey Beyond Sodor, "Somebody Has to Be the Favorite".
• Inconsistent Spelling: His name in the French dub of the model series is "Jacques" (the French spelling of his name), but it's otherwise spelled as "James".
• I Just Want to Be Beautiful: He really wants to constantly look good.
• Incoming Ham: His very first line in the series has him screaming "HELP! HELP!" as he is being pushed by freight cars with his brakes on fire.
  • In the beginning of "Journey Beyond Sodor", he literally rushes in to steal the show, just after Thomas expressed his desire to sing a song, much to Thomas's chagrin. The accompanying lyrics sell it.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Far worse than Gordon. James will have a tantrum if he's not the center of attention from the passengers. On the other hand, he is often shown taking his mistakes or fall-outs with others rather badly. He actually cries after causing the bootlace incident.
• Insufferable Imbecile: A downplayed one. Idiot Balls aside, James is more cocky and impulsive than stupid. However, he's usually rude and arrogant.
• It's All About Me: Like Gordon, he is very self-important, believes he should do the jobs only he likes to do, thinks he's the best engine on Sodor and constantly brags about his red paintwork. He even sings "Somebody Has to Be The Favorite" with him thinking he's the favorite.
• Jack of All Stats: Of sorts. As a mixed-traffic engine, James can do a several jobs. He'd much rather pull coaches however.
• Jerkass Ball: Doubles as a Jerkass to One of the "Crueler to One" variety. Most of us know James is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. But in "Apology Impossible" he acts even more jerkish than ever, namely to Phillip.
• Jerkass Has a Point: He can make valid statements. In "Ding-a-Ling" for instance, he states bicycle bells are important and Mr. Percival's new bike needs one. Not that he did anything about it, other than condescendingly telling the nearby engines to get one.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: After pulling Gordon's coaches (and started hanging around him and picking up his attitude), James became a vain, rude, and sometimes dishonest engine. He can also be nice sometimes and a good friend when he wants to be.
• Karmic Butt-Monkey: He cannot catch a break, from ridicule from his accidents, to ruining his red paint and even getting peed on by a dog. Though considering his ego, his brings it on himself. Pride before a fall...
• Keet:
  • Both Katsuji Mori and Rob Rackstraw's voices make him sound energetic. Katsuji Mori helps since he played energetic characters before.
  • His current Japanese voice can also count in the later seasons.
• Large Ham: While not as hammy as Gordon, James does like to brag and put on airs when chronicling his splendidness. The hamminess increases when he's given a special job or finds a way to prove himself. Coupled with his No Indoor Voice and catchphrase of "Here's James!", there are times when he gives Gordon a run for his money!
• Leave Me Alone!: In "James to the Rescue", he constantly refuses Toby's continuous advice to get Rocky to help a derailed Gordon, getting more irritated but still politely turning him down. This has predictable results.
• Manipulative Bastard: While not to Devious Diesel's levels, James occasionally can fool some characters like Percy.
• Marquee Alter Ego: As the Rail Rocket. It was actually Rocky's fault, as it is not a mask. it's tar.
• Miles Gloriosus: Especially when claiming he'd just push a tree aside only to get shocked when a tree actually appeared in front of the track.
• Never My Fault: In "Apology Impossible", he keeps blaming Philip for his mistakes.
• Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: Calling him scared will make him do anything to prove otherwise.
• No Indoor Voice: Particularly in Michael Angelis' narrations, emphasised by his enthusiastic Liverpool accent.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Very downplayed; James' whistle is positioned above his cab, instead of in front of his cab.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: There has been one occasion where James has had no concern for his paint job. In "James the Second Best" James feeling jealous of Edward because Edward was selected to be on a poster advertising the railway when he wasn't, goes out of his way to prove he's just as good as Edward among this is him getting covered in coal dust to prove he can get "down and dirty" like Edward. This ends up backfiring when James is forced to get a washdown causing him to fall behind schedule.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • The horrible accident with the Troublesome Trucks. In the original episode, James's face was locked in Oh, Crap! mode the entire time until the crashing. "The Adventure Begins" has him outright panicking.
  • In "Old Iron", James attempts to answer Thomas and Percy's challenge and prove that he can out-run Edward... only to realize he has no driver in his cab and ends up a runaway engine.
  • In Hero of the Rails, James, Hiro, and Toby share a brief moment of this the second they hear Spencer whistling by Hiro's hiding place. Then, James and Toby immediately haul ass and work together in driving Spencer away.
  • In "Spencer's VIP", his face says it all when he makes a sudden stop at the station and realizes he bumped his coaches together in the process.
• Oop North: When Michael Angelis was narrating the UK version, his scouse accent was most noticeable when voicing James. Somewhat fitting, given his basis would've worked around Liverpool, and fanworks often portray James as scouse.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: The bootlace incident, to the point where mentioning it becomes a Berserk Button for him.
• Playing Sick: In "Trust Thomas", he took Gordon's advice in playing sick to avoid shunting trucks, and Thomas agreed to do his jobs instead. This led to an accident with the trucks, and James and Gordon apologized to Thomas for their trick.
• The Prankster: Especially under Andrew Brenner's pen; he tends to write James as this (both his televised episodes and magazine stories revolve around him playing tricks on the other engines).
• Red Is Heroic: While all of the other Steam Team members have some red on them, James is the reddest as he's a red engine and is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold when not being antagonistic.
• Red Ones Go Faster: What he claims.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Both figuratively and literally, to almost every engine, usually Edward or Toby, and even the more conservative Gordon early on.
• The Rival: Had one with Gordon early on. When he shares an episode with Percy or Thomas, there are usually rivalries between them too.
• Scary Stinging Swarm: He gets attacked by a swarm of bees in Season 3's Buzz, Buzz.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man, along with Gordon, to Henry's Sensitive Guy.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Becomes this after he helps Gordon pull his coaches. Since he often hangs around Gordon, he probably picked up his bragging habits.
• Smug Snake: A rare, non-villainous example. While James sometimes can sway some characters, he's egotistical, overconfident, and not as smart as he fancies himself as. For instance, he tricks Thomas into giving him Gordon's express coaches only to found out and disciplined by the Fat Controller (which he didn't seem to consider could happen), not to mention his plot to frighten Percy and make him look like a cowardly fool via Flaw Exploitation was clever. However, he botches it via leaving "The Scrap Monster" (a monster-like scrap pile James used to scare Percy) out on the main line; it ultimately causes Thomas to figure out his plan.
• The Social Darwinist: Like Gordon, he believes that coaches are more important than trucks, but on a lesser scale since he is a mixed-traffic engine and will pull goods trains on occasion.
• Sticky Situation: In "Dirty Objects", he ends up crashing into some tar wagons and being covered all over in sticky tar, after calling Toby and Henrietta "dirty objects" for most of the episode.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Although she's a Manipulative Bitch, James sympathizes with Frankie during her Villainous Breakdown.
• Third-Person Person: "Here's James!" is one of James' catchphrases in later seasons. He also sometimes talks like this in "James the Super Engine" as Rail Rocket.
  James/Rail Rocket: Rail Rocket is here to protect you!
• Took a Level in Jerkass:
  • In his earlier appearances, James wasn't a dishonest and condescending braggart. After pulling Gordon's coaches however, not so much.
  • While James is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, some Brenner-era stories put more emphasis on the "Jerk" part (e.g. when he bullies Percy in Tale of the Brave).
• Toxic Friend Influence: Gordon is arguably this to him. James became a lot more vain and pompous after "James and the Express".
• The Unapologetic: In "Apology Impossible", he refuses to apologize for picking on Philip. He does apologize to Philip and the other engines at the end of the episode, though.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: In episodes centered around him.
• Vocal Dissonance: In Magic Railroad, he is voiced by Susan Roman, which makes him sound too feminine for an adult male locomotive. Interestingly, like Percy, he was originally going to be voiced by Michael Angelis, the UK narrator of Thomas & Friends at the time, but test audiences thought he sounded too mature for him.
• Vocal Evolution:
  • Keith Wickham emphasizes James' cockney accent a lot more in the later UK episodes.
  • Masashi Ebara's voice became higher since "The Adventure Begins".
• What, Exactly, Is His Job?: James, as Gordon once lampshaded, tends to be the "odd-job" engine of the mainline, rarely shown with a consistent train like the other engines have (though he sometimes pulls the Express in Gordon's absence). This is somewhat fitting however, given he is a mixed traffic engine designed for several purposes.

Percy the Small Engine

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

Voiced in English by: Linda Ballantyne (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Keith Wickham (UK; Hero of the Rails - Series 18 and Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure), Martin Sherman (US; Hero of the Rails - Series 18), Nigel Pilkington (UK; Series 19 - 24), Christopher Ragland (US; Series 19 - 24)

Voiced in Japanese by: Chisato Nakajima (Series 1 - Series 8, Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Chie Kōjiro (Calling All Engines! - Series 24)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Diana Santos (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Gabriel Gama (Thomas and the Magic Railroad, TV version), Javier Olguín (Hero of the Rails - The Great Race), Héctor Ireta de Alba (Series 20 - "James the Super Engine"), Armando Guerrero (Rest of Series 24)

Number: 6

Basis: Unknown, but is said to be a combination of a few industrial types. 0-4-0ST

Built: c.1900

A small, cheeky green engine purchased by the Fat Controller while Gordon, James and Henry were on strike. Nobody knows where he really came from or who built him. Percy currently works on Thomas's branch line. Considered a junior member of the Steam Team, Percy enjoys being given important jobs and is earnest and sincere, if also somewhat naive.

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• Acquired Situational Narcissism: Boasts about his bravery with the rain in "Percy Takes the Plunge", until plunging into the water.
• Adaptational Personality Change: While already noted in the general tab, this perhaps applies to Percy most of all when comparing him to his book counterpart. His cheeky and headstrong side that was present in the original books all but vanished over time, and nowadays he's characterized as much more of a soft, naive, child-like worrywart, traits that he never displayed in the books.
• A Day in the Limelight: You'd think one of the 8 main characters wouldn't invoke this trope, but he's the main focus of Day of the Diesels and Tale of the Brave, even pushing out the other members of the Spotlight-Stealing Squad.
• Aesop Amnesia: Despite learning about being brave in Tale of the Brave, he goes back being scared in "Henry in the Dark", "Three Steam Engines Gruff", and "Panicky Percy".
• The Baby of the Bunch: Not so much when you consider his basis, which was actually built some time before most of the basises for the other engines in the main cast, but personality-wise, definitely. Percy has the most youthful and innocent personality of the main cast and is therefore looked upon by most as the youngest of the Steam Team.
• Berserk Button: "Thomas, Percy and the Squeak" features the other engines (who were discussing about the arrival of coloratura Alicia Botti and who gets to take her) calling him "Dirty Percy" to his anger.
  Percy: DON'T CALL ME DIRTY PERCY!!!
• Big Damn Heroes: Gets a moment in Tale of the Brave, when he saves James from a rockslide.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Similar to Thomas, he was often shown teasing the other engines in his earliest appearances. The first half of "Percy and the Signal", for example, is basically Percy harassing the big engines (barring Edward).
• Break the Cutie: Day of the Diesels, full stop.
• Bully Hunter: Usually the pivot for this, but occasionally stands up for other engines himself too. He gets quite indignant when Gordon or James mock Edward for example.
• Butt-Monkey:
  • He has the most accidents out of any other train in the series...and just about all of them involve getting covered in something sticky. He's also a target to the other engines' teasing in several episodes due to his naivety; usually Gordon and James are the main ones who pick on him.
  • Lampshaded and Deconstructed in "Percy's Lucky Day".
• Cartoon Creature: While most other characters are based on real locomotive classes, Percy is a heavily hybridized mix of several other steam engine designs. Supplemental materials for the original books would eventually explain that this was due to his original industrial work, which changed out many of the parts of whatever locomotive class he was originally part of.
• Cheerful Child: He is the youngest engine of the Steam Team, before Nia and Rebecca joined. He is often the most cheerful and naive.
• Chekhov's Gun: Percy's mail trucks in "Hero of the Rails". Percy left them in a hidden siding in order to help Thomas deliver some mechanical parts for Hero, and later forgets where he put them. Later, Spencer finds Percy's mail trucks while he's snooping around, which gets him caught by James and Toby, leading to the Fat Controller assuming Spencer had stolen Percy's mail trucks and scolds him for it. This was able to keep Spencer from finding out about Hiro, at least for the time being.
• Color Motif: Green stands for youth and naivety. Percy is the smallest of the Steam Team and a fresh addition, and is often cheeky and naive.
• The Cutie: Percy is the smallest and cutest of the Steam Team.
• Depending on the Writer: Either cheeky and headstrong, or somewhere in the range from The Ditz to Genius Ditz.
• Determinator: Percy's Promise has him brave a flood all to keep a promise to Thomas.
• The Ditz: Throughout the series, Percy has always had a clumsy and slow-witted streak, but it was not quite as prominent in the earlier episodes, where he was primarily characterised as being headstrong and cheeky. His more clueless side gets played up a lot more after Season 4, giving him moments of not being able to pronounce complicated words correctly and taking what others say a bit too literally.
• Exact Eavesdropping: In "Goodbye Fat Controller", he overhears some workmen talking about the Fat Controller leaving, which is what he repeats to the other engines. This results in everyone believing that the Fat Controller is leaving Sodor for good, causing a chain of events that leads to the engines going on strike to make him not leave. The Fat Controller is actually leaving his office, because it was being refurbished.
• Fatal Flaw: In early episodes, he was impudent and arrogant like Thomas. In later seasons, he's usually naive and fearful.
• Freudian Trio: Originally was one with Thomas and Toby. In "King of the Railway", he fell into one with Thomas and James.
• Friend to All Living Things: Becomes such by the end of "Percy's New Friends", to the point animals are clinging to his bufferbeam in masses.
• Gender Flip: Percy is a woman in "Salaryman Thomas".
• Genius Ditz: Say what you will about his frequent misunderstandings and his inability to pronounce complicated words, but he's in charge of the mail train and does a fantastic job, to the point where Edward is the one coming to him for advice in "Edward and the Mail".
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He can easily become angry when other engines bully him or when he was overworked, especially in Season 5 when he's put through the wringer in "Put Upon Percy", and, "A Surprise For Percy".
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Thomas.
• Idiot Ball: Ignoring what happened in Sharon Miller's tenure, he tries so hard to forget about Gator in "Missing Gator" that he does some extremely brainless things towards the end, right down to saying he needs to keep busy so he won't think about anything. ANYTHING.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Toby, and later Stephen.
• Jerkass Ball: There are a few occasions where he grabbed it such as in "Harvey to the Rescue" where he along with the other engines (except Thomas) initially ostracized Harvey for being different from them, and in "Salty's Stormy Tale" where he and Thomas tease Salty for his stories.
• Just a Kid: Similar to Thomas, he often gets picked on by the bigger engines for being small.
• Kid-Appeal Character: He is popular with the target audience of children due to his cheekiness, naivety, and adorable design.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: Despite being somewhat slow on the uptake, he is very well-intentioned and tries his best to be helpful.
• The Klutz: Has a lengthy number of accidents. He also often has similar idiotic moments as Thomas in modern episodes.
• The Lancer: The best friend variant to Thomas.
• Literal-Minded: Lampshaded by James in "A Better View for Gordon":
  Percy: I can't see any. Where are they?
  Gordon: Any what?
  Percy: Ideas above the station. The sky is empty.
  James: Like your smokebox, Percy!
• Nice Guy: Generally upbeat and friendly when not being cheeky.
• The Pig-Pen: He has managed to get covered in lime, flour, chocolate, fruit pulp (twice!), mud, treacle and dirt (too many times to count).
• Pointy-Haired Boss: Was temporarily in charge in "The Green Controller", but got things mixed up.
• The Prankster: In the earlier seasons, he loves tricking the big engines, especially in "Percy and the Signal".
• Prone to Tears: He often tends to get upset rather easily.
• Simple-Minded Wisdom: Similar to Thomas, Percy can be rather insightful despite his occasional cluelessness.
• Sixth Ranger: In season 1, even in a literal account since his number is 6.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Especially in seasons 3, 5 and 6.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: Following Hit's takeover, Percy's childlike attitude was exaggerated heavily. Seems to be getting downplayed as of recently however (or at least isn't much worse than the other engines).
• Unwitting Pawn: To the diesels in Day of the Diesels who wanted to befriend him while Thomas was ignoring him, only for them to take over the Steamworks.
• Verbal Tic: In the older seasons, whenever he speaks to the Fat Controller, he often repeats "sir" after every sentence.
• Vocal Dissonance: In Magic Railroad, he is voiced by Linda Ballantyne, despite being a male locomotive. While it makes sense for him to be voiced by a woman due to him being the youngest of the Steam Team, he still sounds too feminine. Interestingly, like James, he was originally going to be voiced by Michael Angelis, the UK narrator of Thomas & Friends at the time, but test audiences thought he sounded too mature for him.
• Vocal Evolution: In Seasons 3-5, Michael Angelis gives him a voice that is fairly close to his own. From Season 6 until the end of the model era, however, he often gives him a louder and more high-pitched voice. It fits his more young and childish characterisation from that era.

Toby the Tram Engine

"I can't waste time playing Hunt the Trucks with you! Take them yourself!"

Voiced in English by: Colm Feore (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), Ben Small (UK; Hero of the Rails - Series 18), Rob Rackstraw (UK; Series 19 - 24), William Hope (US; Hero of the Rails-Series 24)

Voiced in Japanese by: Yasuhiko Kawazu (Series 1 - Series 8, Thomas and the Magic Railroad),Tomohiro Tsuboi (Series 9 - Series 24)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Rolando de Castro (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), César Arias (Thomas and the Magic Railroad, TV version), Herman López (Hero of the Rails - Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, excluding "Thomas the Babysitter"), Joaquín López ("Thomas the Babysitter", Series 23), Osvaldo Trejo ("A New Arrival"), Emmanuel Bernal ("The Inventor's Special Bridge")

Number: 7

Basis: London and North Eastern Railway J70 0-6-0T

Built: 1914

An elderly tram engine, Toby is unusual as his body's made of wood and he barely resembles a typical steam engine. He once worked on his own railway with his faithful coach Henrietta, until the line was closed down. Thankfully, the Fat Controller, who had visited the railway, brought him to his railway. Since then, Toby's old branch line has seemingly been reopened, where he is often seen working. Toby is wise and experienced, if somewhat easily unnerved.

---

• The Ace: One of the most skilled and knowledgeable branch line engines, and trained both Daisy and Mavis. According to the Fat Controller, "What Toby doesn't know about branch lines isn't worth knowing." However, much like Edward, he's become more feeble and insecure in later seasons.
• Adaptational Personality Change: Toby in the books was a level-headed engine who knew his work and had a surprisingly tough attitude at times to match, which helped set him apart from Edward. His television counterpart became far more fragile by comparison, especially when he has the lead role, stammering in situations where his book counterpart would set his wheels down and set the record straight.
• Berserk Button: In his first appearance, he was quite offended when he was called "electric" by The Fat Controller's granddaughter, Bridget.
• Big Brother Mentor: To Mavis and sometimes to Percy.
• Companion Cube: His coach, Henrietta, before she gained a face.
• Cool Old Guy: An old and wise engine that serves as a good mentor to new engines.
• Demoted to Extra: He's gone through this two-fold.
  • While always a persistent presence in the show, Toby's most notable spotlight came from the initial Awdry stories and many of the original Mitton ones. However, whilst originally part of a Freudian Trio with Thomas and Percy, as the show continued to move past the original Ffarquhar line-up that they were a part of in the books, Toby was excluded from this and the trio became a duo. His solo episodes in the succeeding eras were very few and far-between, and he was more of a supporting character as a result.
  • Later on, he was deemed to no longer be part of the main cast in Season 22 due to the introduction of Nia and Rebecca, in order to allow more female members in the main cast. He was still retained in the Engine Roll Call song though, and Word of God adds confusion to this by stating that he is still in the Steam Team, but he was still absent from all the marketing for the season.
• Depending on the Writer: He can be either a Cool Old Guy who laughs at the mistakes of others or a Lovable Coward who worries about everything.
• Distressed Dude: In "Toby and the Flood", he gets trapped on a bridge that breaks free and floats helplessly down the flooded river before becoming endangered by an upcoming waterfall.
• The Ditherer: Has a tendency for this in later episodes, shying from daunting tasks and prone to panicking under pressure. A partial reason no one trusts him around Knapford Junction in "Signals Crossed", though in that case he is proven correct.
• The Eeyore: In the later Hit seasons. He has occasional somber moments early on, but is usually more positive. Reversed as of Season 17.
• Fatal Flaw: The later seasons try to give him the vice of timidness and low self esteem.
• Flanderization: His meekness started off a subtle extra depth in the Mitton seasons, owing to him being in more dramatic situations than in the Awdry stories, before he became increasingly superstitious and fearful of everything in the Hit seasons, to the point his intellect became an Informed Attribute, if not removed outright. The Brenner episodes attempted to tone the trait back down, but could never quite revert Toby back to his Cool Old Man personality and it returned in full force during the Big World Big Adventures era.
• Freudian Trio: Originally was one with Thomas and Percy before the latter two were pushed as the main duo and Toby was Demoted to Extra.
• Friend to All Living Things: Shows up at times. He loves birds for example.
• Foil: To Edward, both Toby and Edward are Nice Guy engines as well as The Smart Guy but whilst Edward is stricter with Bill and Ben arguing, Toby has a more Pass the Popcorn attitude to Thomas and Percy arguing. Edward is more likely to ignore insults from the big engines whilst Toby is more likely to put his wheel down, especially in "Cows", when he sticks up for Edward after Gordon and Henry tease him.
• Grumpy Old Man: He has some occasional moments of grumpiness in the early seasons, especially when he lost his patience.
• Immune to Slapstick: Like Edward, Toby didn't cause a lot of accidents for himself originally (his first appearance even notes he hasn't suffered one in years), though he became more clumsy later on.
• Implied Love Interest: He is heavily implied to be in a relationship with Henrietta as of season 18, but nothing has been confirmed just yet, although their interactions in "Hasty Hannah" nearly make it canon.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Mostly with Percy and Thomas, the youngest of the Steam Team. Later on forms one with Phillip.
• It Belongs in a Museum: Poor Toby gets this thrown at himself non-stop, to the point it's more or less become his Trauma Button.
• Lovable Coward:
  • Season 8-16 episodes make him rather fearful and insecure about his older build, leading to a self esteem Aesop.
  • A minor, but understandable case in Signals Crossed, where he's shown to be very cautious and nervous around Knapford junction due to how busy it is and how confused he is over the signal gantries. Once Thomas clears up which signals correspond to his tracks, he gets over it.
  • Another justifiable return to this occurs in Hasty Hannah, where his new Genki Girl coach bumps him recklessly across the track and nearly causes accidents. While he does try to put his foot down at first, after multiple near misses, poor Toby is a Nervous Wreck.
• Nice Guy: One of the nicer and sensible engines along with Edward. He has also never held a Jerkass Ball, even in the HIT era.
• Non-Standard Character Design: He is the most unique Steam Team member as he's a steam tram, is brown, and of course, square.
• Out of Focus: Like Edward and Henry, he gets less attention by the writers than the other Steam Team members, especially due to being the only member not located at Tidmouth. He inevitably suffered this Big World Big Adventures as well, though not as badly as the former two. Word of God says he is still in the Steam Team, and he is still kept in the Engine Roll Call and gets the occasional limelight episode, and yet he is practically nonexistent in the marketing for season 22.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Usually a Blue Oni (especially in later seasons due to his meeker personality), most often with James.
• Shrinking Violet: In later episodes.
• The Smart Guy: In earlier seasons. It became less prominent as the show drifted from the books, though has slowly returned to focus.
• Stronger Than They Look: In "You Can Do It Toby" he served as banker engine to Gordon, and in "Toby Feels Left Out" he gets through the workload of at least half the Steam Team without much fuss. This is to some degree Truth in Television, as his class, the J70, were actually very strong engines despite their humble design.
• Trauma Button: Even entertaining the idea of Toby becoming a museum piece leaves him in a panic. This makes sense since the Fat Controller had narrowly saved him from retirement and spending the rest of his days in a shed.

Emily the Stirling Engine

^{Emily painted with her number 12}

"I bet it won't last."

Voiced in English by: Teresa Gallagher (UK; Hero of the Rails-Series 24), Jules de Jongh (US; Hero of the Rails-Series 24)

Voiced in Japanese by: Yuka Shioyama (Series 7 - Series 8), Erina Yamazaki (Calling All Engines! - Series 24)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Diana Pérez (Hero of the Rails - Series 24)

Number: 12 (as of Season 24)

Basis: Great Northern Railway Stirling Single 4-2-2

Built: 1894/95

A Stirling Single engine, and previously the only female member of the Steam Team. When she first arrived on Sodor, she mistakenly took Thomas's coaches, to the shock of the other Sodor engines. However, after Emily saved Thomas and Oliver from an accident and apologized, they became close friends, and she was given her own coaches. Emily sports a very enthusiastic, though occasionally haughty personality.

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• Acquired Situational Narcissism: It is demonstrated in the HIT era episodes that Emily garnering the approval of the tender engines, who are seen as the popular in-crowd on Sodor, causes her to become self-important and bossy just like them, most notably Gordon and James. However, after season 12, she doesn't hang out with them as much anymore.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The Beauty to Nia's Brains and Rebecca's Brawn. She has the most beautiful physique of the three female Steam Team members.
• Big Sister Instinct: Has moments of this, often when one of the engines picks on another. She gets exceptionally annoyed with James' bullying of Percy in Tale of the Brave.
• Break the Haughty: This happened to her during her season 8-16 flanderization where her bossiness, arrogance and impatience got the best of her and landed her in trouble.
• Canon Foreigner: Was not in any of the original Railway Series stories, and purposely added to include a female character to a predominantly male cast.
• Characterization Marches On: In Season 7, Emily played more of a Team Mom role, and was more mature and sensitive about helping the other engines. Season Eight onwards establishes Emily's more childish, bossy personality that often causes as many problems as she solves. As with many of the other engines, the Brenner headed seasons take the middle road.
• Control Freak: Especially in "Thomas, Emily, and the Snowplough" where she gets every opportunity to tell Thomas what to do.
• Cool Big Sis: She is the oldest engine in the Steam Team, being older than even Edward, and she often tends to comfort the others.
• Depending on the Writer: She's either a wise Nice Girl or a bossy Tsundere. She tends to slip into the former category since Season 17 and King of the Railway, however.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: "Emily To The Rescue" (her final limelight episode in the series), ends with her saving a broken bridge from collapsing on Gordon. Her reward is to finally get her own individual job (as rescue engine in charge of fetching Rocky) as well as her own number painted on like the others (she gets number "12").
• Expy: One member of the HiT team stated that Emily's bossy Miller-era persona was inspired by that of Lucy Van Pelt.
• Fatal Flaw: Her self-righteousness, leading her to cause problems by being rather pushy or stubborn to other engines.
• Flanderization: Starting from Season 8 to Season 16, she became less kind, thoughtful, and mature and more mean-spirited, bossy and impatient. Though, she eventually regained her Season 7 personality as of Season 17, albeit with a bit of pride remaining to pepper her character.
• Genki Girl: At times, especially in later episodes.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Later episodes maintain a little of prideful personality, but usually moderated by this. Most cases this happens are usually instigated by one of the other engines picking on her or her feeling she isn't appreciated. Naturally when this leads her to make a mistake, she's usually very sorrowful.
• Innocent Innuendo: She has "big wheels". And proud of it too!
• Jerkass Ball: As of Season 8, she has her mean moments, especially in episodes such as "Don't Tell Thomas" where she rudely told Thomas to figure out his surprise on his own and in "Emily's Adventure" where she has to learn to be nice to the other engines.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Her Seasons 8-16 personality has her tend to act rude and bossy, but will do her best to put things right upon realizing what she did wrong.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Starting Season Eight, she has a habit of trying to do things her way or give advice that goes horribly wrong.
• Larynx Dissonance: Before they switched to individual voice actors for each character.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: Her head shape resembles that of a "woman's head with black hair", which is also very appropriate for her due to her being the most girlish of the female engines.
• Motor Mouth: Enjoys running her mouth and boasting about her knowledge and skills.
• Nice Girl: Depending on the Writer, but if the writers are up to writing her as such, she's depicted as kind-hearted and sensitive about the feelings of others.
• Out of Focus: Seems to be suffering from this in Season 22, only having a few minor appearances here and there. Even Edward, who was demoted from the group for Nia, has made more appearances than her. The last two seasons afterwards downplay this by giving her Character Development.
• Rule of Symbolism: She's the only engine of the Steam Team without a number. A small character arc in Big World Big Adventures involves her feeling unremarkable against the others. Her final limelight episode culminates in her finally earning her own individual job and number after she performs a heroic act.
• Shout-Out: In the UK dub, she speaks in a Scottish accent, to reflect the origin of her designer Patrick Stirling, who is Scottish.
• Sixth Ranger: While the rest of the Steam Team was introduced in Season 1, Emily's first appearance wasn't until Season 7. Additionally, Emily is the only member of the Steam Team not to have been adapted from the Railway Series, along with Season 22 debutants Nia and Rebecca.
• Small Name, Big Ego: She's more self-righteous and well-intentioned than pompous, but she clearly has a high opinion of herself at times.
• Snap Back: Returned to her Nice Girl personality in Season 13 (albeit retaining a bit of her haughty, more childlike nature).
• Team Mom: Tends to try to act as a voice of reason to the other engines, though it doesn't always work out.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: The only female Steam Team member to avert this, due to not having feminine eyelashes or lips like Nia and Rebecca do.
• The Smurfette Principle: The only female member prior to Big World! Big Adventures!, which introduces Nia and Rebecca.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly girl to Nia, Rebecca and Rosie’s tomboy.
• Tsundere: Which type varies depending on the episode; seasons 8-16 tended to have her harsh side be the default with her kinder side coming out when she realizes what she did wrong.
• Violent Glaswegian: In the UK version at least, though only when her Berserk Button gets pressed.
• Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: Episodes like "Thomas, Emily, and the Snowplough" and "Emily Knows Best" revolve around her trying to give (unintentionally) terrible advice and the others reacting accordingly.
• What, Exactly, Is Her Job?: Like James, Emily spent most of the show working on the main line, doing many jobs but never having a consistent train. This changed as of "Emily To The Rescue" when she is assigned as the "rescue engine" who collects Rocky when an accident occurs.
• Women Are Wiser: Her original persona, before her bossiness became more emphasized. She still frequently holds the Sanity Ball however, especially in Season 21 and episodes such as "Dowager Hatt's Busy Day" and "Emily in the Middle".

Introduced in Big World! Big Adventures!

Nia the Helpful Engine

"Two engines are better than one, Thomas!"

Voiced in English by by: Yvonne Grundy (Big World! Big Adventures! - Series 24), Patricia Kihoro (singing voice in Big World! Big Adventures!)

Voiced in Japanese by: Yoshino Aoyama (Big World! Big Adventures! - Series 24)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Stephanie Gándara, Romina Marroquín Payró (singing)

Number: 18

Basis: Kenya-Uganda Railway ED1/East African Railway 11 class 2-6-2T

Built: 1926-1930

Nia is a Kenyan tank engine introduced in the special Big World! Big Adventures! as Thomas meets her during his world trip as he travels to Kenya during his journey through Africa from Dakar to Dar es Salaam while trying to follow Ace. She later joins the main cast at Tidmouth Sheds in Season 22, replacing Edward.

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• The Ace: She is good at almost everything, as shown in "Counting on Nia".
• Aesop Enforcer: Is there to enforce the moral of "everybody needs a little help from their friends" in her debut movie.
• Affirmative Action Girl: Along with Rebecca, she was created in order to add more women to the main cast.
• Ascended Extra: Originally the Deuteragonist in Big World! Big Adventures!. In Season 22, she is promoted to the main cast.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The Brains to Emily's Beauty and Rebecca's Brawn. She is the Brains due to her tendency to not be afraid to speak her mind, and often coming up with fresh ideas.
• Canon Foreigner: Like Emily, she was not originally created by Awdry.
• Distaff Counterpart: Serves as one to Edward; Nia not only takes his place in the main cast, but she has a high-spirited wise and kindhearted personality in a similar matter to him.
• Fatal Flaw: As shown in "Counting on Nia", she doesn't know how to read numbers, causing her to suffer an accident.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Gordon. He initially hated her for replacing Edward.
• Foreshadowing: At the end of “A Shed For Edward”, after Edward leaves the group, the others were wondering who would take Edward’s place. This was likely hinting towards Nia joining the main group.
• Friend to All Living Things: Coming from Kenya, a country plentiful with wild animals, she is clearly this when it comes to wildlife.
• Genki Girl: She is very cheerful.
• Little Miss Badass: She is surprisingly very strong for a tank engine. Even more when you consider her real life counterpart is narrow gauge and even smaller.
• Meaningful Name: Her name means “purpose” in the Swahili language, and was introduced to the series to add representation for women and people of colour.
• Nice Girl: Very kind.
• Not Drawn to Scale: Her basis is the narrow gauge KUR ED 1 locomotive, but Nia herself is larger than the real loco due being retooled to standard gauge.
• Sassy Black Woman: Fits this trope since her personality shows signs of sassiness, along with her African nationality fitting the "black" part.
• Shout-Out: Her number, 18, is a reference to 2018, the year her series debut Big World! Big Adventures! was released.
• Sixth Ranger: Joins the main cast in Season 22 alongside Rebecca, in order to fix a gender gap. She takes Edward’s place.
• Sucksessor: In Gordon's eyes anyways, as he initially hated her for taking Edward's place. She overall averts it, being a hardworking engine like anyone else on Sodor, so the trope as a whole is averted.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Serves as one to Ashima. Both are friends to Thomas, have exotic liveries, come from a non-white country, and Thomas acts rude towards them when they first met.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Has thick wing-shaped eyelashes, and visible lips.
• Token Minority: The only member of the Steam Team to be of a nationality other than British, coming from the African country of Kenya. Also applies to the voice actors, since her voice actress Yvonne Grundy is black, while the other members are voiced by Caucasian-skinned actors.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The tomboy to Emily and Rebecca’s girly girl.
• Walking Spoiler: Due to her being announced as Edward’s replacement in the main cast before Big World! Big Adventures! was released, it was clear from the start that she would move to Sodor and join the North Western Railway. In-universe, it is because she revealed to Thomas that she is homeless due to her shed being destroyed, leading Thomas to invite her to live on Sodor, and moves into Tidmouth Sheds, taking over the spot vacated by Edward.
• What, Exactly, Is Her Job?: Like Emily, Nia spends most of the show until Season 24 doing random tasks around the railway. After helping deal with an unruly elephant she gets a more consistent job of taking trade for the Sodor animal park.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: She's only a young engine, but she's notably wise and high-spirited for her age.
• Women Are Wiser: She's a female engine who is just as wise as Edward, but unlike her predecessor, she is more optimistic, open-minded and tries to deliver a positive influence on the others.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Her old shed in Kenya was destroyed, leaving her with nowhere to go.

Rebecca the Happy Engine

"I'm slowing down! Hello, sir, and err sorry, sir. I miscalculated how long it would take me to stop!"

Voiced in English by: Rachael Louise Miller (Series 22 - Series 24)

Voiced in Japanese by: Maki Uchiyama (Series 22 - Series 24)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Vanessa Olea, Mara Brenner (Thomas' Magical Birthday Wishes, The Sodor Springtime Parade)

Number: 22

Basis: Southern Railway West Country class 4-6-2

Built: 1945-1951

Rebecca was introduced in Season 22 of Thomas & Friends following the special Big World! Big Adventures!. She is a large yellow Express engine originally from the Mainland. She joins the main cast at Tidmouth Sheds to replace Henry, who left the group in order to take up a new job.

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• Achievements in Ignorance: In season 23, she's given a long train of troublesome trucks to deliver to the other side of the island, who tease her with singing and try bumping her off the rails. Having no idea what they're trying to do, she joins in with the singing and goes faster. It works, leaving the other engines and the trucks baffled.
• Affirmative Action Girl: Along with Nia, she was created in order to add more women to the main cast.
• All-Loving Hero: She always loves to see the positive side in everyone, as seen in "What Rebecca Does". At the end of the episode, she realises that it's her special "gimmick". Unfortunately used against her when she takes pity on Diesel in "Diesel Do Right".
• Always Someone Better: Often has a tendency to worry about being inferior to the other engines, notably due to her faulty brakes.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: In “What Rebecca Does”, she is often in awe towards those with a unique “gimmick”, namely Harvey, Belle and Marion.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The Brawn to Emily's Beauty and Nia's Brains. While far from gruff or aggressive, she is the biggest and strongest of the Steam Team's female trio, clearly making her the Brawn.
• Blessed with Suck: She has the speed, strength and size to match engines like Gordon and Henry, but her brakes are very prone to failing. Her brakes often cause her to crash into other engines unintentionally.
• Break the Cutie: Normally a sweet and innocent engine, but in "What Rebecca Does", she has a moment of this after seeing Harvey, Belle and Marion's special features, causing her to become worried that she isn't special.
• Bully Hunter: Sticks up for Gordon when his brother Flying Scotsman bullied him. This leads to her and Gordon becoming friends.
• Canon Foreigner: Like Emily and Nia, she was not originally created by Awdry.
• Cartoon Creature: Based on the unrebuilt, streamlined version of the SR West Country class tender engines, but her tender design is modelled off the one used on the rebuilt version. Her wheels are also different from the ones on the real loco, with her larger wheels being the same design as Hiro’s, and her smaller wheels having no spokes.
• Cheerful Child: Despite her huge size, she loves to have a giggle. Further fits this since going by the years their basis was built, she is the youngest engine in the Steam Team. Her voice is also more higher-pitched than the other female characters.
• Chest Insignia: Her tender has the lettering “N.W.R.”, which stands for North Western Railway.
• Cloudcuckoolander: She often tends to get so excited that she sometimes forgets what she is doing. In her debut appearance, she screwed up a passenger run by getting to the station too early and accidentally taking Flying Scotsman’s passengers. In "What Rebecca Does" she becomes so awestruck by the other engines that she considers a Frankenstein-level rebuild.
• Colour Motif: Yellow is a colour associated with happiness, and Rebecca always has a positive spirit, such as trying to impress others or see the positive side in everyone.
• Cool Shades: Dons some in her fantasy sequence from “What Rebecca Does”.
• Crash-Into Hello: When she is introduced to Thomas, Percy, Nia and Emily in "Confusion Without Delay", her brakes malfunction, causing her to crash into Winston and knock over Sir Topham Hatt.
• Didn't Think This Through: In her debut episode “Confusion Without Delay”, she arrives on Sodor much earlier than she was supposed to, along with also taking Flying Scotsman's passengers by accident. She even claims she miscalculated how much time she took to stop when she crashed into Winston due to her brakes slipping.
• Distaff Counterpart: A slight one to Henry (the character she replaced). Both are based on popular mixed-traffic British locomotives, having a tendency to be shy and nervous, and both having mechanical imperfections (Henry often having steaming problems that needs special coal, and Rebecca having faulty brakes).
• Does Not Know His Own Strength: She tends to underestimate her capabilities.
• Dumb Blonde: Is often clumsy due to her brakes failing, and her yellow colour scheme (coupled with voice actress Rachael Miller having blonde hair) fits the "blonde" part of the trope.
• Fatal Flaw: Her braking problems. Personality wise, she's often rather naive and prone to self-doubt.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Gordon, who hated her initially for taking Henry’s place.
• Foil: She serves as one to Gordon, Sodor's other main express engine, perhaps best exemplified in "Gordon and Rebecca, Coming Through!". Gordon has been working on Sodor for a very long time, loves to go fast, hates pulling goods trains, and is sometimes bossy to the other engines, especially if they're on his tracks. Rebecca came to Sodor much later than Gordon, loves to travel at her own pace, doesn't mind pulling goods trains, and is very polite to the other engines, often letting them go ahead of her.
• Foreshadowing: In "Forever and Ever", after Henry leaves the group to take up a residency at Vicarstown Sheds, Nia tells the others a new engine will be taking his place, obviously hinting towards Rebecca joining the group in the following episode.
• Genki Girl: She is very cheerful and loves to have a giggle.
• Gentle Giant: She may be a large engine, but she is very friendly.
• Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: The Gleeful to Gordon's Grumpy, perhaps best exemplified in "Gordon and Rebecca, Coming Through!"; she came to Sodor much later than Gordon, loves to travel at her own pace, doesn't mind pulling goods trains, and is very polite to the other engines, often letting them go ahead of her.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: While not exactly hair, her yellow colour scheme and her streamlining looking much like "hair" when viewed from the front fit this. She is also very friendly. Also extends to her voice actress Rachael Louise Miller, who has blonde hair herself.
• Horrible Judge of Character: In "Diesel Do Right", she fails to realize that Diesel is a Manipulative Bastard until she's already fallen for his scheme.
• The Hyena: She always loves to laugh, according to her bio in the 2019 Annual.
• I Just Want to Be Special: In the episode "What Rebecca Does", she is worried that she doesn't stand out due to not having a special feature like Harvey's crane, Belle's water cannons, or Marion's digger. In her fantasy sequence, Rebecca has all these fitted on her, along with Diesel 10's claw.
• The Klutz: Has a tendency to crash or bump into other engines due to her brakes failing.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: Her streamlining resembles long hair when viewed from the front.
• Mecha Expansion Pack: Her fantasy scene in "What Rebecca Does" depicts her fitted with Belle's water cannons, Harvey's crane, Marion's digger and Diesel 10's claw. This is also incorporated into her forthcoming Trackmaster model, which is also her first official release in the toy lines.
• Morality Pet: Gordon's softer side is much more prevalent than usual with her.
• Naïve Newcomer: The newest member of the railway, and fumbled up with her first passenger run. Her line in the updated Engine Roll Call also references her being the newest member of the group ("Rebecca is new and lots of fun").
• Nice Girl: She is very sweet and kindhearted, and likes to see positivity in everyone.
• Primary-Color Champion: Her livery is mostly yellow, but also incorporates red and blue highlights.
• Prone to Tears: Due to her being nervous as a new engine on Sodor, she's often easily upset, especially if she feels that she is inferior or doesn't have anything special.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: She's the blue to Gordon's red, as seen by the friendship they developed.
• Shout-Out: Her braking problems was also a trait on her real-life counterpart, the SR West Country class. Her number, 22, is also a clear reference to Season 22, the season she debuted in.
• Shrinking Violet: She is very shy, and worries that she doesn't feel special. She also doesn't like being viewed as inferior. This trope is further justified due to her puffing violet-coloured steam in the S22 intro.
• Sixth Ranger: Joins the main cast in Season 22 alongside Nia, in order to fix a gender gap. She takes Henry’s place.
• Socially Awkward Hero: As the newest engine on Sodor, she was worried about fitting in on her first day.
• Speed Stripes: She has red and orange ones painted on her. They extend all the way to her tender.
• Sucksessor: While not as evident as with Nia, Gordon was initially aloof around her for taking Henry's place, only warming up to her when she defended him from Flying Scotsman's banter.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Serves as one to Molly, due to both being female yellow engines with a Shrinking Violet personality.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Has thick eyelashes that split into two points, as well as visible lips.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly girl to Nia’s tomboy, and the tomboy to Emily’s girly girl.
• Unwitting Pawn: Ends up one for Diesel prank on the other diesels in 'Diesel Do Right". She then unknowingly botches the whole scheme by explaining Diesel's instructions to a very angry Fat Controller.

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