These are the characters from the original animated series ThunderCats (1985).
NOTE: Please place tropes related to the 2011 version in the Thunder Cats 2011 Character sheet.
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The Thundercats
Lion-O
Voiced by Larry Kenney
Lord of The ThunderCats.
Tropes associated with Lion-O:
- The Ace: Invoked in a mini-series arc: To officially claim his title of Lord of the ThunderCats, he has to beat each of them in a contest at whatever they're best at. He manages it by cleverness or exploiting a weakness. (For instance, Cheetara can only maintain Super-Speed over a short distance race, not a marathon.)
- Character Development: He matures from One of the Kids and an Idiot Hero into the Big Good over the course of the series.
- Hot-Blooded: He's a very impulsive one.
- Large and in Charge: As an adult, Lion-O is easily the largest of the Thundercats. Model sheets give his height as 6'9" (though in actual practice, when comparing him to the other Thundercats, his height as drawn in the actual series might be more like 6'5" or 6'6" or so).
- Idiot Hero: Well, he is very naive due to being a kid in an adult's body.
- The Leader: First a Type IV; he's only the leader because he's the prince. Later matures into a type II, becoming responsible and taking his role more seriously.
- Magical Incantation: The Sword of Omens has two.
- "Thunder, Thunder, Thunder...Thunder Cat HO!"
- "Sword Of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!"
- Missing Mom: We see his father twice in the series, but his mother is never even mentioned.
- Plot-Relevant Age-Up: He's a child when we first see him, but he ended up being aged into an adult because his stasis pod didn't completely halt the aging process.
- Powers via Weapon: Lion-O's Sword of Omens grants him the ability to spot impending danger or allies that are in trouble.
- Surveillance as the Plot Demands: "Sword Of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!"
- Younger Than They Look: Lion-O is actually around the same age as the Thunderkittens. The only reason he looks so much older is that his suspension pod broke during the escape from Thundera, causing him to age in his sleep while the others all remained the same. He spends most of the (early) series learning to be a mature and responsible leader.
Panthro
Voiced by Earle Hyman
Tropes associated with Panthro:
- The Big Guy: Panthro is a Class V hands down. Not only the physically strongest member of the team, but he also built every piece of technology the ThunderCats use, starting with the Thundertank.
- Practically spelled out in the first episode, when the Mutants attack:"Hahaha! If you guys were as mean as you were ugly..." *effortlessly blocks and crushes a Mutant's mace with one hand* "...then maybe you'd be trouble!"
- Interestingly, while Panthro is the strongest of the Thundercats, at 6'2" (his height as given on model sheets) he's actually the shortest of the adult male Thundercats.
- Practically spelled out in the first episode, when the Mutants attack:
- Epic Flail: His battle sticks, aka nunchucks, which he could load with tricks like high pressure bubbles... or compact flamethrowers for a fight.
- Furry Baldness: He has the appearance of baldness even though his body's completely covered in blue fur.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He was able to build the Thundertank using components that he salvaged from the ThunderCats' wrecked ship.
- Genius Bruiser: He's strong in addition to being the team's tech expert.
- Magical Negro: Falls into this trope with his Black American accent & being the wisest member of the Thunder Cats and the one Lion-O goes to for advice.
- Mr. Fixit
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red Oni to Tygra's Blue Oni.
- Scary Black Man: Even though he is not the biggest one out of the thundercats due to his muscular build and facial expression he does have a intimidating appearance and he plays into this by having an African American accent.
- Tough Spikes and Studs: Panthro is physically the strongest of the Thunder Cats. He wears a studded wristband and a spiked vest.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He's afraid of bats, and in one episode admits that he hates spiders, too.
Tygra
Voiced by Peter Newman
Tropes associated with Tygra:
- Chick Magnet: To a degree. When the Thundercats have to split into groups, he's frequently paired with Cheetara and, later, with Pumyra; in a number of episodes he's paired with Willa of the Warrior Maidens. Also, he's pretty popular with female fans (amusing, given that in "Crystal Canyon" he says he's always been shy).
- Designated Victim: If someone has to get mind-controlled, captured, or otherwise endangered, it's probably going to be him.
- Invisibility Cloak: His whip.
- The Lancer
- Master of Illusion: It Only Works Once. Tygra has the ability to create realistic and convincing illusions. "The Tygra clan of Thundercats," Panthro explains, "have always had a special gift for it." The strain of creating these illusions is so great, it is further explained, that it's a gift he seldom uses—he in fact never used it before "Lion-O's Annointment Trials, The Fourth Day: The Trial of Mind Power" nor ever would again (as Tygra is the most intelligent of the Thundercats, one imagines the writers were stuck for a challenge that both utilized that trait and could make for a compelling episode, so they struck upon the mind-power conceit, which is at least in the right ballpark).
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue Oni to Panthro's Red Oni. He's usually the calmest and most reasonable of the Thundecats (in the episode "All That Glitters," when Lion-O has to risk his life to reforge the Sword of Omens, he names Tygra as his successor should he fail to come back). Developmental materials describe Tygra as "authoratative but warm," and indicate he's one of the few people who can talk Panthro down from a rage. The Marvel Comics series went so far as to say the two had been Fire-Forged Friends on Thundera.
- The Smart Guy: Tygra is the architect of Cat's Lair, and repeatedly demonstrates his considerable abilities as a scientist and chemist. According to the first episode of "Thundercubs," Tygra is also the designer of all the machines Panthro builds.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Early on, he couldn't swim unless he was invisible (ironically, tigers are one of the few cats who don't hate water).
Cheetara
Voiced by Lynne Lipton
Tropes associated with Cheetara:
- Action Girl: She's a highly skilled fighter, and gets to save the day after everyone else is defeated on several occasions.
- Amazonian Beauty: Cheetara is noticeably lean and muscular rather than busty and curvy, which is appropriate for a character who is based on a cheetah and whose primary power is speed, but rare for a woman on an 80's cartoon show (who, if not curvy, were usually slim and willowy). Preliminary designs of her character have her looking even more chiseled.
- Blessed with Suck: She specifically calls her sixth sense a curse, as using it tends to nearly kill her.
- Fragile Speedster: She can move too fast to be seen, but she's not great at taking punishment.
- Leotard of Power: Her outfit is an orange swimsuit in all but name, fitting for an athletic Action Girl who heavily relies on speed.
- Psychic Powers: Their use is somewhat limited, as they take quite a toll on her whenever used.
- Super-Speed: Much like cheetahs, she is capable of moving with astounding speed, but can only maintain it for short bursts or distances.
- Team Mom: She's definitely The Heart of the team, and tries to look after the various other members. In particular, she's something of a Parental Substitute towards the Thunderkittens.
- Telescoping Staff: Her staff's abilities include getting as long or short as she requires it to be.
The Thunderkittens: WilyKat & WilyKit
WilyKat voiced by Peter Newman, WilyKit voiced by Lynne Lipton
Tropes associated with the Thunderkittens:
- Curious as a Monkey: More like curious as a kitten. Ancient tombs, Death Trap-filled towers, spooky caves, whatever; if it's ominous and likely to be dangerous, they're going to poke around in it.
- Idiot Ball: The plot would occasionally get started because they decided it'd be fun to, say, open up an ancient tomb or "borrow" the others' weapons without permission.
- Older Than They Look: According to
Word of God (namely, show developer and head-writer Leonard Starr) Wilykit and Wilykat were at least originally conceived to be adults whose particular Thundercat clan simply didn't get any larger; this explained why Lion-O grew to adulthood in his suspension capsule and they apparently did not. Starr went on to say that, despite this, the show's writers kept portraying them as kids and having the other characters treat them as such, so the notion was quietly abandoned fairly early on. - Parental Abandonment: No explanation is ever given for who the twins' parents were or what happened to them.
- Sibling Seniority Squabble: In the Wildstorm comics, at least. Wilykat does not like being called "Little Brother."
- She Is All Grown Up: In the comic miniseries ThunderCats: The Return, puberty is very good to them
◊. - Trickster Twins: Most of their weapons and tactics rely on misdirection, blinding opponents, etc.
Snarf (AKA Osbert)
Voiced by Bob McFadden
Tropes associated with Snarf:
- The Beastmaster: Can communicate with various creatures of Third-Earth, which comes in handy.
- Beware the Silly Ones: In an early episode he picks a fight with a rhino-like creature at least ten times his size... and wins!
- Embarrassing First Name: Snarf hates his real name and berates Snarfer any time he uses it.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: He is immune to most forms of mind control and possession. Jaga explains that his species is incapable of having evil in their hearts.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: He can actually prove to be a valuable member of the team when needed. On one occasion he even saved the others from being captured in Mumm-Ra's pyramid.
- Lovable Coward: He's not a brave being, but he means well and is often concerned about Lion-O's well-being.
- Team Pet: A different species from the others, serves as the pet to the team. Utterly useless in a fight except against the weakest of minions, and tends to serve as weak comedy relief. Subverted only slightly in that Snarf is actually the nanny for Lion-O before he wakes up all grown-up on Third Earth. Occasionally subverted — but those occasions also meant that Cats who should have known better didn't.
Jaga
Voiced by Earl Hammond
Tropes associated with Jaga:
- Big Damn Heroes: As a ghost, he saved the day because he was the only character who could hit Grune The Destroyer.
- Cincinnatus: Lion-O's father was blinded in a battle against the Mutants, so he turned power over to Jaga until Lion-O would be ready to claim the title of Lord of the ThunderCats.
- Cool Old Guy: He's much older than the Thundercats and he guides them to escape the destruction of Thunderra.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: If not the Sword of Omens then a regular long sword.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He chose to pilot the Thundercats' ship while the others were in stasis even when aware that he was too old to survive the entire journey.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After he defeated Ratilla the Terrible, he tried to depose of the Sword of Plundar in Thundera's molten magma. Instead of being destroyed, the sword destabilized the planet and eventually caused it to explode.
- Spirit Advisor: After his death, he occasionally appears before Lion-O as a ghost to give him advice and to warn him when he's making rash decisions.
Lynx-O
Voiced by Doug Preis
Tropes associated with Lynx-O:
- Disability Superpower: He seems to have a radar sense similar to Daredevil.
- Eyes Always Shut: Due to blindness via burned eyes.
- Handicapped Badass: Despite being blind, he fights (and often wins) without a weapon and he can even fly a plane using a special board and his radar sense!
- Heroic Sacrifice: How he loses his sight in the first place, protecting Bengali and Pumyra.
- Pressure Point: Part of his fighting style.
- Team Dad: Due to being the oldest. Moreso with Pumyra and Bengali than with the rest of the Cats.
Pumyra
Voiced by Gerrianne Raphael
Tropes associated with Pumyra:
- Animal Eyes: Subverted, she's the only Thundercat with round, human-like pupils.
- In a Single Bound: She can jump higher than the other Thundercats.
- Out of Focus: She appears in the fewest number of episodes and disappeared almost completely near the end.
Bengali
Voiced by Peter Newman
Tropes associated with Bengali:
- The Blacksmith: He's one of the few individuals capable of repairing the Sword of Omens.
- Great White Feline: Bengali is based on a white tiger and is one of three new Thunder Cats introduced in season 2. His skill as a blacksmith proves useful when the Sword of Omens gets broken again.
- Hot-Blooded: After Lion-O spends the first half of the series learning to keep a cool head.
- Unrelated Brothers: He and Tygra often refer to each other as brothers, probably because they are both tiger-based Thundarians.
Allies
Hachiman
Voiced by Peter Newman
Tropes associated with Hachiman:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: As Monkian describes, "Did you see that!? He chopped through solid stone!"
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Fights two of the Ancient Spirits of Evil in armed combat and shatters them. While a temporary defeat and the statues soon reformed, it was notable that when an infuriated Mumm-Ra transformed after that to deal with Hachiman himself, he didn't feel as strong as usual and his powers were reduced.
- Empathic Weapon: His katana, "Thunder-Cutter," which will not come out of its scabbard if Hachiman tries to use it to perform an act of evil (like say, any order by Mumm-Ra), knowingly or not.
- Honor Before Reason:
- The villains offer him a lift in a vehicle, but he refuses, saying samurai do everything on their own, so he'll walk and find the ThunderCats himself.
- Oh sure, just keep hacking away at the narrow bridge over the near-Bottomless Pit you and Lion-O are both standing on until he agrees to backtrack and let you pass. You might both fall to your death, but at least you'll maintain your pride as a samurai! (Not that Lion-O was behaving any better at the time, mind you.)
- Horrible Judge of Character: Come on, he was fooled by Mumm-Ra twice even though he wasn't using any disguises or anything.
- Katanas Are Just Better: His sword is apparently on the same level of power as the Sword of Omens and Excalibur.
Queen Willa
Voiced by Lynne Lipton
Tropes associated with Queen Willa:
- The Power of Acting: She was once able to trick the bad guys into thinking she had gone over to The Dark Side, so she could surprise them. It was quite convincing.
Nayda
Voiced by Lynne Lipton
Tropes associated with Nayda:
- Number Two: She's Willa's second-in-command.
Snowman of Hook Mountain
Voiced by Earl Hammond
Tropes associated with Snowman:
- Cool Horse: Snowmeow, a huge cat who serves as Snowman's mount.
- An Ice Person: He can create weapons out of ice.
Mandora the Evil-Chaser
Voiced by Lynne Lipton
Tropes associated with Mandora:
- The Faceless: In the form of Hidden Eyes due to a One-Way Visor on her helmet. She never takes it off.
- Not So Stoic: A no-nonsense by the book cop, and that's putting it lightly. However, she does care deeply for her friends. When space marauders were about to dismember the reformed pick-pocket Quick-Pick unless she surrendered, she suddenly broke her formality and yelled at them to stop before giving herself up. Lion-O later rescues her and gets captured so Quick-Pick can escape with her. Upon regaining consciousness, she urges Quick-Pick not to lose the pirates' ship or they may never see Lion-O again.
Dr. Dometone
Tropes associated with Dr. Dometone:
- The Faceless: Hidden Eyes due to One-Way Visor googles.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Between him and Wilykit.
Mumm-Rana
Tropes associated with Mumm-Rana:
- By the Power of Grayskull!: "Ancient Spirits of Goodness, transform this gentle form to Mumm-Rana, the Ever Good."
- Distaff Counterpart: To Mumm-Ra.
- Good Counterpart: Mumm-Ra's, as she serves the opposite number of the Ancient Spirits of Evil.
- Story-Breaker Power: She's extremely powerful and most of her fights are Curbstomp Battles in her favor (with the exception of her fight with Mumm-Ra, but she didn't know who he was and got sucker punched). As such, she rarely ever appears.
- Weak-Willed
Enemies
Mumm-Ra
Voiced by: Earl Hammond
Tropes associated with Mumm-Ra:
- Achilles' Heel: He can only leave his sarcophagus for 24 hours at a time.
- Ancient Evil: He is old enough to remember when his world was First Earth, with later comics portraying him as an Ancient Egyptian.
- As Long as There Is Evil: "As long as evil exists, Mumm-Ra lives!"
- Bad Boss: He's not very nice to the Mutants.
- Big Bad: He's the main villain.
- By the Power of Grayskull!: (Villain variant) "Ancient Spirits of Evil, transform this decayed form to Mumm-Ra, the Ever... LIVING!!!" He also has an even more powerful variant with "Grant me the Super-Strength of all your wise and wicked wizardry, and transform Mumm-Ra, the Ever Living into Mumm-Ra, the All... POWERFUL!!!"
- Card-Carrying Villain: As glaring an example as they come, even by Eighties cartoon standards.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Well, he does occasionally honor his bargains. It's the times he chooses to screw you over you have watch out for.
- Dystopia Justifies the Means: His primary goal is not stealing the Eye of Thundera and destroying the Thundercats. These are but a means to an end, is maintaining Third Earth as a post-apocalyptic wasteland as this is what his masters, the Ancient Spirits of Evil, desire. He himself may well be responsible for Third Earth being a post-apocalyptic wasteland in the first place.
- Evil Laugh: He does this in EVERY SINGLE EPISODE.
- Evil Plan: The source of most conflict in the series are his plans to defeat the Thundercats.
- Evil Sorcerer: Egyptian sorcerer and immortal due to his service to higher powers.
- Large Ham: "..transform this decayed form to MUMM-RA, THE EVER-LIVING!!!"
- Let's You and Him Fight: Invokes this a lot.
- Master of Disguise: Most of his plots involve disguising himself as an innocent or an ally and luring the ThunderCats into a trap.
- Master Swordsman: Faced off against Lion-O with a form and sword identical to his and clearly had his number.
- Mummy: He's covered in bandages. (Although in terms of powers and status he comes across as more of a Lich.)
- One-Winged Angel: By invoking the Ancient Spirits of Evil, he can assume the form of Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living, which is far more physically adept than Mumm-Ra is. He also turns into an even-more powerful version called Mumm-Ra the All-Powerful in one episode.
- Orcus on His Throne: Spends most of his time lurking in his tomb in his pyramid. Justified because he can only survive outside of his coffin for 24 hours and he needs to keep the chamber where he invokes the Ancient Spirits of Evil protected, lest someone steal their power from him.
- Our Liches Are Different: He looks more like a mummy and can transform into more life-like super-powered form.
- Perpetual Smiler: He always seems to be smiling no matter what mood he's in.
- Pet the Dog: Toward his actual pet dog, Maa-Mutt. He's genuinely horrified when Ma-Mutt is exiled in "The Last Day", and at the end of "Ma-Mutt's Confusion" he frantically digs him out of the wreckage of his destroyed Weapon of Mass Destruction and apologizes for abusing him earlier.
- Second Episode Introduction: He is introduced in the series' second episode, as the first sentient inhabitant of Third Earth encountered by either the Mutants or the Thundercats.
- Suddenly Shouting: Most of the time he speaks, it's in hard to understand mumbling, but when he's agitated, or he's transforming into Mumm-ra, the ever-living, he shouts and screeches.Mumm-ra:"Ancient spirits of evil, transform this decaying form to MUMM-RA, THE EVER LIVING!!! YAAAARRRGGHHHH!!!!"
- Surveillance as the Plot Demands: His pool can show images at any location.
- Time Abyss: "I remember when this was first Earth."
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: He can use his magic to change his form.
- Weaksauce Weakness: His own reflection. Eventually, the Ancient Spirits of Evil got rid of this weakness, making him much more dangerous.
The Ancient Spirits of Evil
- Bad Boss: Their chief servant, Mumm-Ra, gets away with being chastised or zapped for failure whereas other minions are either left to their own fate or disintegrated without a word.
- Berserk Button: Mumm-Ra learns the hard way that they do NOT take kindly to being taken for granted.
- Deal with the Devil: Mumm-Ra mentioned having to pay a price for leaving his tomb and that no one should learn about it.
- Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: Warned Mumm-Ra that continuing his scheme to unlock the secrets of the Book of Omens will spell the end of their evil powers on New-Thundera.
- Eldritch Abomination: Cheetara nearly suffered a breakdown when her sixth sense detected a dark activity, The Eye of Thundera also warned of something out there but would not show Lion-O the source of it.
- Cheetara: It can't be! So evil!!
- Greater-Scope Villain: An overwhelming evil force that relies on others to carry out its will.
- Kick the Dog: To demonstrate the punishment in-store for Mumm-Ra should he fail this time; they condemn Ma-Mutt to eternal exile in space much to his master's grief.
- Knight of Cerebus: Any scene with them immediately loses the show's more cheerful side and they display no comical traits whatsoever unlike the other villains.
- Pet the Dog: Even the powers of evil and wickedness have their off days: Lost in the ruins of his pyramid on New-Thundera, a distressed Mumm-Ra can only communicate with his home on Third Earth through the cauldron telling his saddened dog how much he misses him. The Ancient Spirits of Evil reunite him with his beloved pet. After rescinding his exile from "The Last Day" they also bother to bring back Ma-Mutt. Finally, after Mumm-Ra's many failures, they admit to him that they may have underestimated the Thundercats and provide him with help rather than punishment.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The eyes of the beast statues in the black pyramid light up whenever they become involved (transforming/resurrecting Mumm-Ra) or are angered. Examples for the latter are when Lynx-O and Cheetara entered the pyramid's inner sanctum, when Mumm-Ra declared he had no need for them anymore, and most jarringly when the Thundercats destroyed the black pyramid and left without noticing the furious glowing eyes amongst the rubble.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: One of the man-beast statues has a crocodile's head. (The others are a bull, a boar, and a vulture.)
Grune the Destroyer
Tropes associated with Grune:
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Has the power to become a physical giant while in ghost form.
- Back from the Dead: In his final appearance, Mumm-Ra restores him to flesh and blood. It is short-lived, as Lion-O defeats him and seals him back in his tomb.
- The Brute: Even without his size-shifting abilities, when Grune is resurrected, he's twice as tall as Mumm-Ra and Lion-O.
- Carry a Big Stick: His weapon of choice is a large, metal mace. As a ghost, he gives himself an edge against the Thundercats by wielding one made of Thundranium.
- The Dreaded: When he was alive he was the terror of Third Earth, so much so that long after his death he is still widely feared, and natives can still identify him on sight or even just from descriptions of him.
- Evil Counterpart: To all the Thundercats somewhat, as he shows what an evil Thundercat could be, but especially to Jaga, who was once his friend and comrade in arms.
- Evil Former Friend: He and Jaga were once good friends and allies, until Grune's Face–Heel Turn.
- Face–Heel Turn: In the backstory. He was once Jaga's ally and friend, until greed and a lust for power drove him to rebel against the Thundercats.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: He's initially recognized by virtue of only possessing one saber tooth.
- The Juggernaut: Every single time Grune shows up, he turns out to be nigh-invincible. And both times, he's only stopped because the Sword of Omens' Deus ex Machina powers seal him away.
- Kryptonite Factor: Inexplicably averted. Thundranium weakens Thundercats, even ghosts like Jaga, but Grune is completely immune to the effects.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Anybody nicknamed "The Destroyer" is probably not the cuddly sort.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Even compared to the other major ghost in the series—he can manipulate people and physical objects like a poltergeist, he isn't tinted blue, and he's able to wield a mace made of thundranium like it was nothing.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: After he died on a Third Earth, a magical symbol was placed on the door to his tomb to seal his spirit there and prevent it from ever terrorizing the land again.
- Takes One to Kill One: As a ghost, nothing living can harm him, not even the Sword of Omens, while he can harm them. Only Jaga, a ghost himself, can fight him.
Safari Joe
Tropes associated with Safari Joe:
- Catchphrase: "Safari Joe does it again!"
- Didn't See That Coming: He would have beaten Lion-O, but he didn't know about Snarf, who sneak attacks and distracts him at a crucial point.
- Dirty Coward: When he is cornered and disarmed, he cowers before Lion-O and begs for mercy.
- Egomaniac Hunter: All he cares about is hunting the most exotic prey across the galaxy.Safari Joe: Big cats, aqua cats, sky cats... I've hunted them all!
- High-Class Glass: He has a monocle, after all.
- The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: Lion-O turns the tables on him by luring him into Cat's Lair, allowing Lion-O to stalk and corner him. Safari Joe yells, "I'm supposed to be hunting you, not the other way around!"
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: He doesn't care that the ThunderCats are humanoid and can talk, he still wants to hunt them.
- I Lied: While fighting Lion-O, he offers to release his friends from their cages if Lion-O throws down the Sword of Omens. When Lion-O does, he reneges and opens fire on him. Lion-O goes, "Now we know, you are a liar!"
- Large Ham: He shouts almost every line.
The Demolisher
Tropes associated with The Demolisher:
- Always Someone Better: Lion-O warns that he will run into this sooner or later rendering his whole life a waste.
- Blood Knight: The only thing that gives his life meaning is battle.
- Combat Pragmatist: While muscular and fierce, he will still use any means to win a battle. For example, he attacks while his opponents are distracted, uses all kinds of weapons, and when Lion-O starts to get the upper hand, he remote controls his spaceship to shoot at him.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: He defeats Mumm-Ra in combat.
- Ignored Epiphany: For a brief moment after receiving a speech, he breaks the bravado and begins to question his compulsive lifestyle but does not follow through.
- Jerkass: For a self-proclaimed renowned fighter, he lacks any courtesy or charisma, being gruff and thoroughly condescending.
- Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: Mumm-Ra shows him Lion-O as a new challenger. He dismisses Lion-O as weak and turns to go, but changes his mind when Mumm-Ra accuses him of being afraid.
- Pet the Dog: Did offer to spare Lion-O when he thought he had him at his mercy, if he would just admit defeat.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: He dedicates himself to maintaining his undefeated battle streak, a title which only has value to himself, and should he run into his better he will lose what he based everything on and have nothing else to show for all his efforts.
- Underestimating Badassery: He dismisses Lion-O as weak and pays for it.
- Worthy Opponent: Lion-O acknowledges this and regrets that he didn't join them.
Mongor
Tropes associated with Mongor:
- Badass Boast: "I am the power of everything you fear. I am in everything you see. I am all around you, above you, beneath you. I am Mongor!"
- The Dreaded: Mumm-Ra describes him as one of the most feared beings on Third Earth.
- Emotion Eater: Fear makes him stronger and enlarges him to the size of a titan.
- Mind over Matter: He can move things with his mind, using it to trap the Thundercats with their own weapons.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: He takes a laser blast without flinching.
- Playing with Fire: He can create and control flames and fire cannot harm him.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: He was sealed in a tomb until the Thunderkittens accidentally released him. He is sealed back in the end.
- Sinister Scythe: He wields a huge scythe that can fire energy beams.
- Verbal Tic: He draws out the "a"s in his words. For example, "Thundercaaat".
- Weaksauce Weakness: If his opponent doesn't look directly at him or otherwise isn't afraid of him, he weakens.
The Driller
Tropes associated with The Driller:
- Punch-Clock Villain: He works for anyone who can provide the diamonds he needs to keep his drills sharpened.
Ta-She
Tropes associated with Ta-She:
- God Save Us from the Queen!: She was an Egyptian queen.
- Hypnotic Eyes: Only women and Mumm-Ra are immune to her all-consuming beauty.
- Related in the Adaptation: Implied - in the Star Comics adaptation of "The Doom Gaze", Mumm-Ra refers to her as "Sister Mumma-Ra".
Captain Shiner
Tropes associated with Captain Shiner:
- The Captain: As implied by his name, complete with his own spaceship and crew.
- High-Class Glass: Wears a monocle.
- Only in It for the Money: Captain Shiner's chief motivation.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Shiner was motivated more by making money than by evil. He wasn't without principle as he did help Lion-O, Panthro and Snarf escape a black hole.
Captain Cracker
Tropes associated with Captain Cracker:
- I Have Your Wife: He gets Mandora to leave his ship by threatening to take apart Quick-Pick.
- Pirate Parrot: He has a robotic one.
- Verbal Tic: Makes an "eeeeeee" sound during his dialogue.
The Mutants of Plun-Darr
Ssslithe
Tropes associated with Ssslithe:
- Bad Boss: Downplayed. Despite being overbearing and insulting, he personally takes on harder tasks and will aid his comrades when in danger.
- Big Bad —> The Dragon: Early on, he was the Big Bad if the mutants were the main enemy that episode. Eventually he became Dragon with an Agenda to Ratar-O.
- Characterization Marches On: Starts off as very cunning and level headed with a calculating, serpentine voice. Mid season 1 his voice and personality become more vicious and prone to violence.
- Verbal Tic: "Yessss?"
- Only Sane Man: The other mutants are often idiots, and Ssslithe frequently shows immense frustration with them.
- Would Hurt a Child:Ssslithe: Now boy, give me the sword.
Young Lion-O: You shall not have it while I live!
Ssslithe: (snickers) That would suit me just fine.
Jackal Man
Tropes associated with Jackal Man:
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Despite his cowardice and lean frame, he is cunning and no slouch in combat.
- The Dragon: Early on he was Ssslithe's go-to-guy (if an extremely crappy one). By the time Ratar-O showed up he'd lost this status.
Monkian
Tropes associated with Monkian:
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Hidden from himself most of all. In "Monkian's Bargain" he attacks the Thundercats with an unlikely confidence after gaining new powers. Thing is, he only really displayed them when dealing with Lion-O's Sword of Omens, having pretty much outfought and out-skilled the rest of the Thundercats with little more than weapons similar to theirs. Justified as the Thunderian nobles were only introduced to melee weapons en route to Third-Earth while Monkian is highly experienced in using a variety of arsenal.
- Deal with the Devil: Made one with Mumm-Ra in "Monkian's Bargain". Note to self: Always read the fine print.
- Even Evil Has Standards: If "Trouble With Time" is anything to go by, he's against gender discrimination, calling Slithe a "chauvinist reptile" for suggesting that only women can cook.
Vulture Man
Tropes associated with Vulture Man:
- Insufferable Genius: Always receives plenty of praise and recognition for his brilliance - only thing is it all comes from himself, and he's often the only one left to hear the end of it.
- Remember the New Guy?: Literally appeared out of nowhere a few episodes into the series as another mutant.
- The Starscream: Every plot with Vultureman involved him trying to wrest control of the Mutants from Ssslithe.
- Ultimate Job Security: Despite obviously being a traitor, Ssslithe almost never kicks him out for it. Of course, considering Mutant culture, maybe treachery is expected.
Ratar-O
Tropes associated with Ratar-O:
- Mind over Matter: One of the powers of his twin sais is to encase his opponents in energy and have them crushed or battered around. Requires concentration though snapping an iron band on his target makes it easier.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: He steals command of the Mutants from Ssslithe, much to the latter's consternation, and starts running the gang like a Drill Sergeant Nasty. The only problem? Under Ratar-O the Mutants actually start winning.
- Villainous Valour: Takes on an entire army of Tuskas, though in his opinion they are the ones being brave.
Ratilla the Terrible
- Large and in Charge: The largest mutant shown, towers over Jaga and greatly outbulks him.
- My Death Is Just the Beginning: Warned Jaga to slay him now lest all of Thundera pay for his defeat. Unable to comply due to the code of Thundera; Jaga sentenced him to life in exile and deprived him of the evil Sword of Plundarr by tossing it into the deepest volcano and trapping it within the core of Thundera, an act that eventually doomed the planet itself.
- Predecessor Villain: Appears to be an ancestor of the mutant warlord Ratar-O.
- Villainous Legacy: Ancient commander of the Mutant forces, and original wielder of the legendary Sword of Plundarr. Although defeated long ago, his actions revealed the existence of the treasures of Thundera to later villains, and he was indirectly responsible for Thundera's destruction.
The Berzerkers
- Cyborg Vikings: In their episode debut, Hammerhead leads a band of Badass Normal vikings.
Cruncher
Tropes associated with Cruncher:
- The Big Guy: The biggest of Hammerhand's crew.
- Super-Strength: One of the physically strongest characters. Able to punch incoming catapult stones into powder.
Hammerhand
Tropes associated with Hammerhand:
- Killed Off for Real: And was brought back by Mumm-Ra. By way of possessing Panthro clone, which he transforms into his original body.
- Power Fist: His namesake metal fist.
Ram Bam
- Lightning Bruiser: Has a wheel in his chest that turns him into a living battering ram.
- Real Men Wear Pink: His outfit is red and pinkish.
Top Spinner
Tropes associated with Top Spinner:
- Fashionable Asymmetry: One side of his helmet has a horn, the other doesn't.
- Spectacular Spinning: His main ability.
The Luna-Taks
Luna
Tropes associated with Luna:
- Sleep-Mode Size: Most of the time, she looks like a shriveled little imp with hair that wouldn't look out of place on Jem and the Holograms. Her true form is taller with even bigger hair... and that's about it.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: She looks like her ancestor, also named Luna. This Luna's taller form resembles how her ancestor used to be.
Amok
Tropes associated with Amok:
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: In one episode, he gets revenge on Luna for pushing him around one too many times.
- Dumb Muscle: Although when Luna tosses him aside after retrieving her magic belt, Amok shows he's not so dumb after all.
- Extreme Doormat: Though he's not above getting revenge on Luna when she goes to far.
- The Dog Bites Back: Luna learned the hard way, Amok does NOT like being taken for granted and abandoned.
- Undying Loyalty: He faithfully serves and protects Luna despite the way she treats him. Even after he got revenge on her the one time she abandoned him, he never tried to harm her directly. Indeed, all Luna had to do was say she was sorry and Amok instantly forgave her.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Luna abandoned him after becoming taller.
Chilla
Tropes associated with Chilla:
- Choke Holds: A unique version where Chilla was fond of freezing people's throats.
- Playing with Fire: She doesn't use this very often.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Salt. Her body seems to be made of ice.
Red Eye
Tropes associated with Red Eye:
- Infrared Xray Camera: Makes invisibility useless against him.
Alluro
Tropes associated with Alluro:
- Catchphrase: "You don't stand a chance!" Uttered with his Compelling Voice.
Tug-Mug
Tropes associated with Tug-Mug:
- Gravity Master: He can increase people's weight to pin them to the ground or decrease it to leave them floating helplessly in the air.
- Heavy Worlder: Used to explain his strength and leaping ability.
- Super-Strength: He snapped the Sword of Omens in two with his bare hands.
Other Third Earth Inhabitants
The Nether-Witch
Tropes associated with the Nether-Witch
- Dark Is Not Evil: While few would dare venture into her cave, she is still regarded as someone who can be sought for help. Lion-O is given exactly what he asked for without anything in return and is even warned of the consequences. Oddly, despite the revelation, there was no trickery involved in the deal, though it was hinted that an ancient sorcerer of good was deceived in this manner and banished to the astral plane to remove him as a potential rival.
- Hot Witch: Beauty with an elegant and formidable aura, befitting a sorceress of her reputation.
- Mood Whiplash: Very soft spoken when describing how she can help and what it entails. Lion-O's mere attempt to discuss it is suddenly met with a violent, almost possessed, expression as she screams that the deal's terms are final if accepted, then reverting just as quickly to her previous calm demeanor.
Canon Foreigners
Characters who never appeared in the series
Doberlord
- Asshole Victim: In ThunderCats: Dogs of War, Lion-O tries to get him court-martialed for intergalactic war crimes, only for Mumm-Ra to stab the latter through the chest from behind. When you consider how the mad dog enslaved and or massacred millions, if not billions, universal-wide, it'd be impossible for you to have any kind of sympathy for him.
- Beware of Vicious Dog: An anthropomorphic Doberman who is a violent galactic conqueror.
