Character page for the animated series Thunderbirds Are Go.
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The Tracys
The Tracy Family in general
International Rescue, how can we help?
A family who form International Rescue, a secret, non-profit rescue organisation dedicated to saving the lives of people worldwide from extreme danger, whether it be down in the sea, the depths below the Earth's surface or the vastness of outer space. They pilot powerful, all-rounded machines called Thunderbirds to help them in their life-saving missions.- Ace Pilot: All of them are aces at manning their own vehicles.
- Badass Crew: An organisation that serves to protect and rescue the entire planet and there's only six of them!
- Badass Family: They are a family who are all front-line members of International Rescue, a secret organisation dedicated to saving human life from industrial disasters.
- Deadpan Snarker: They all have their moments, it appears to be a family trait.
- Disappeared Dad: Jeff Tracy is mentioned to be missing since before the pilot.
- Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones:
- They're always willing to help people but they have a grudge against The Hood due to the fact that he caused their father to disappear.
- They also dislike Langstrom Fischler due to the fact that his projects put them in near-fatal danger.
- Fighter-Launching Sequence: Faithfully reproduced from the original series.
- Heroic Build: Befitting their job of search and rescue the Tracy boys cut quite the figure, especially noticeable with John's skin tight space suit.
- Hot-Blooded: Being a good deal younger than their original series counterparts, the new series brothers show shades of this. Particularly Scott and Alan.
- Knight In Shining Armour: They make it a point to rescue any innocent victims, especially families, from certain and extreme danger, something they as a rescue organisation do a lot.
- Theme Naming: All five Tracy brothers retain their original names based on the members of the Mercury Seven, a famous crew of dashing American astronauts.
- Science Hero: They often deploy in advanced, high-tech machines to save people from any crisis they are in and are also equipped with some tech themselves if they need to exit their vehicles.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Strongly inverted. The Tracy brothers look...literally nothing like each other. Scott with brown hair and blue eyes, Virgil with black hair and brown eyes, Alan with blonde hair and blue eyes, Gordon with blonde hair and brown eyes and John with red hair and green-blue eyes.
Scott Tracy
They say he's really fly.
- Voiced by: Rasmus Hardiker
- The Ace: He's the calmest, most professional and has shown the most physical prowess so far. The others, especially Virgil, seem somewhat aware of this.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Scott is a very relaxed guy off duty. On duty, he once walked in on a shady archeologist practicing a eulogy speech for the trapped Penelope, Parker and Gordon, and would have attacked him had Virgil not intervened.
- Big Brother Instinct: See previous trope.
- The Leader: The head of IR in Jeff's absence, calling the shots sometimes alongside John.
- Promotion to Parent: Potentially, along with John, particularly in regards to Alan. In Runaway, they continually insists Alan stay at home and catch up on his studies.
Virgil Tracy
The heavy lifter.
- Voiced by: David Menkin
- Big Damn Heroes: Has a habit of pulling these when Scott falls into trouble or needs assistance.
- Compressed Vice: In Unplugged, we see that he feels useless and incapable without technology or his brothers to rely on.
- Gadgeteer Genius: While not to the extent of Brains, he seems very skilled in engineering and mechanics. Deconstructed in Unplugged where he mentions how he was brought up in a world that relies a lot on technology.
- Gentle Giant: Befitting the pilot of the behemoth Thunderbird 2, Virgil is the biggest and strongest of the Tracys but is also the peacemaker of his brothers. Between press ups with Gordon on his back he paints portraits and plays piano.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: He and Gordon usually engage in this during their screen time.
- Troll: Teases Gordon over his crush on Lady Penelope after picking him up from a long-haul mission, then disables Thunderbird 2's water systems when the latter attempts to take a shower.
Alan Tracy
His head's always in the stars.
- Voiced by: Rasmus Hardiker
- Ace Pilot: He really gets to show his stuff in Space Race, where he easily outmaneuvers a space mine specifically designed to relentlessly chase down ships and latch on to them. Numerous times.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Alan is the youngest and the smallest of his brothers, and as a result is sometimes babied by them. He does show high competency in his abilities as an astronaut, though has to be reminded that things aren't always a game and to keep his focus.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Most of the work he has to do in space revolves grunt work like cleaning up junk or re-aligning satellites, so sometimes he wishes for a bit of excitement—and then he gets it.
- An Odd Place to Sleep: Even though Alan has his own room and his own bed, the littlest Tracy seems to like sleeping on the floor instead. Alan also has a unique ability to fall asleep anywhere, whether it be in space, upside down on the couch, or even standing up.
- Child Prodigy: Despite the being the youngest and the only teenager of the brothers, he arguably has one of the most difficult roles among his brothers as an astronaut. He is a natural at traversing deep space, in Thunderbird 3 or just in a suit, and in different gravities, something that even John has trouble doing despite being up in Thunderbird 5 most of the time. Alan also notes that his brothers often remark he 'makes [rescues] look easy'. It says a lot that Alan is at the helm of the Zero-XL in Season 3.
- Fun Personified: No matter what mission he's on, Alan always seems to see things as a game and doesn't seem to take things too seriously most of the time, much to his older brothers' chagrin.
- Just a Kid: Due to being the youngest and the only member of International Rescue that's a teenager, he often comes under fire for being just this. He's usually able to prove most people who doubt him wrong. His brothers often reinforce the fact that Alan is quite clever for his age.
- Keet: A hyperactive, loud, and adorable kid who is a geek about all things space.
- Kid-Appeal Character: As with the original series, Alan is the youngest of the Tracy brothers, but he is even younger in this adaption, appealing to even younger kids because of this.
- Kid Hero: Alan is the youngest Tracy and it's mentioned in multiple episodes that he's either behind on his studies or straight up avoiding them. Being the baby of the bunch doesn't stop him from being a world-class astronaut however.
- Precocious Crush: Alan seems eager to impress and show off to Kayo at times, much to her patient amusement. On the other hand, Kayo seems to see Alan as nothing more as a little brother.
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: As International Rescue's spacecraft, Thunderbird 3 is used only occasionally — lampshaded in Space Race. Like Gordon, Alan sometimes accompanies Virgil on a number of rescue missions to make up for it. He gets a lot more missions in later seasons as they get more space missions.
Gordon Tracy
He gets along swimmingly with everyone.
- Voiced by: David Menkin
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Goes from being a redhead in the original series to a blond.
- Crazy-Prepared: If Tunnels of Time is any indication.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: Gordon appears to have a fondness for making puns during his screen time. Skyhook and Tunnels of Time have such examples.
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Claims to have a sixth sense, although he calls it a "squid sense". Notably, in the episode where he claims this (Ring of Fire), he was willing to jeopardize both a mission and his life on a hunch which ended up helping crack the case—a marked contrast from his usually more cautious behavior.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Downplayed. His relationship with Lady Penelope has elements of this, with him being more cautious and her more adventurous.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: He and Virgil usually engage in this during their screen time.
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: As the underwater craft and smallest Thunderbird, Thunderbird 4 is used only occasionally. He accompanies Virgil on a number of rescue missions to make up for it.
John Tracy
He just needs some space.
- Voiced by: Thomas Brodie-Sangster
- Ascended Extra: In the original series, despite John Tracy essentially being part of the main cast, his appearances were so minor compared to the other brothers that he might as well have been an "extra" — that is definitely not the case here, as he's filling Jeff and Scott's previous roles as Mission Control.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Goes from being a blond in the original series to a redhead.
- Hollywood Hacking: Part of his skillset as Mission Control. He uses it to hunt for information pertinent to rescues or to take control of computers.
- Instant A.I.: Just Add Water!: Created groundwork code for the EOS AI by accident while fiddling with code to make a game.
- Kill Me Now, or Forever Stay Your Hand: After spending an episode trying to convince an AI that he partially created that John genuinely means no harm, he removes his helmet and essentially offers this ultimatum. It works.
- I Work Alone: A rather strange variation, considering the fact that he's Mission Control and all, and never actually said word-for-word, but more than one instance seems to imply that he prefers being alone (later with EOS) in space inside Thunderbird 5. He's rarely seen on Tracey Island (his civilian clothes aren't seen until well into the first Season), and when he is, he's always rather quick to go back into space, something Alan has once lampshaded.John: Communications is my job. I talk to people all over the world. I'd just rather do it from space.
- Mission Control: John takes the position of responding to distress calls like the original series. He alerts International Rescue to where they're needed and takes an active role in directing other subterfuge based operatives, such as Parker and Penelope.
- Mr. Exposition: He delivers mission briefing en route to mission destinations and vital information throughout the operations.
- Promotion to Parent: Potentially, along with Scott, particularly in regards to Alan. In Runaway, they continually insists Alan stay at home and catch up on his studies. Also, somewhat towards EOS, John states that he feels responsible for EOS since he wrote some of her original base code.
- Sarcasm-Blind: Sometimes. He has a tendency to either not recognize or ignore jokes.
Sally "Grandma" Tracy
- Voiced by: Sandra Dickinson
- Cool Old Lady: She's got a taste for adventure you don't find in most people, let alone ladies her age.
- Good Old Ways: Even in the 2060s, she'd rather use a map, guidebook, and compass to find her way around than one of Brains's newfangled gadgets. This comes in handy during Unplugged.
- Lethal Chef: Her cooking is not popular with her grandsons, nor the rest of the Tracy Island crew; a running gag of the series. Apparently she burns everything, on top of not being a good cook.
- Older Is Better: She is a much more active character than in the original series:
- In Unplugged she and Virgil stop an anti-technology terrorist group "The Luddites".
- In EOS she takes over mission control when the titular A.I. temporarily compromises Thunderbird 5.
- Parental Substitute: With Jeff's disappearance, she runs Tracy Island and takes care of the boys.
- Secret-Keeper: She is the only one who knows that Kayo is the Hood's niece.
Jeff Tracy
- Voiced by: Lee Majors
Founder and former head of International Rescue. Missing and presumed deceased for eight years from a spacecraft mission.
- The Ace: To a much greater extent than his Original series self. First man on Mars and an active member of IR rather than simply the CIC.
- Ambiguous Situation: Jeff is certainly missing but whether or not he's alive is anyone's guess. The Hood seems to believe Jeff is dead but he's the Hood. Some further analysis of his last fateful mission later and it turns out he's still alive.
- Big Good: From his own personal fortune, Jeff founded IR. According to Grandma, Jeff's dream was to help those in need.
- Disappeared Dad: Jeff has been missing for sometime at the beginning of series. He's found alive and well in the Oort Cloud, and comes home in the series finale.
- The Ghost: Jeff went missing on a mission roughly five years before the series start, but his absence is still felt by his sons.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Seemingly pulled one of these getting the malfunctioning Zero X space craft out of Earth's atmosphere before it exploded. It's only much later his family learns he survived and the back half of season three is concerned with finding and saving him.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Halfway through season three, the Tracys and their allies discover what they thought was not all that it seemed, and the Zero X craft had actually succeeded in launching into space. This means that Jeff Tracy hadn’t been blown to bits and was in fact very much alive.
The Tracy Island Crew
Hiram K. "Brains" Hackenbacker
- Voiced by: Kayvan Novak
- Gadgeteer Genius: Designs the crafts and gear for International Rescue. Also seems to work on a fair few projects outside of IR.
- Race Lift: Is now Indian, rather than American.
- Forehead of Doom: Has a forehead as big as his 60s counterpart. Shows he's smart.
- Innocently Insensitive: Not in an insulting sense; sometimes he forgets that other people aren't on the same level as he is which leads to him doing things like describing a complex technical task as "easy", and then going back to his work while assuming the Tracy in question can do it.
- Lovable Coward: Would much prefer to stay in his lab on Tracy Island but will put himself in harm's way if absolutely necessary.
- Mission Control: As mentioned, he prefers to stay at home and advise the Tracys.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: In the iconic blue of his 60s counterpart.
- Speech Impediment: Stammers a little. Not as much as in the 60s, though.
- Survival Mantra: He chants math equations when severely stressed.
- Techno Babble: He's very willing to explain what technology he has or is there, but can be long-winded.
- Robot Buddy: M.A.X. (Mechanical Assistant e(X)perimental) A helper robot a lot like R2-D2. Brains' 'best mate', and hangs out with him in his lab.
- Bollywood Nerd: Comes with the Race Lift.
Tanusha "Kayo" Kyrano
Fly girl.
- Voiced by: Angel Coulby
- Ace Pilot: In her Thunderbird Shadow, of course, but she is apparently good enough with Thunderbird 4 that she's able to pull off a move that Gordon didn't know his sub was capable of.
- Action Girl: A given seeing as she's Head of Security for Tracy Island.
- Adaptational Badass: In the original series, she was a Damsel in Distress with barely any role in IR operations despite her supposed training; now she is both the Head of Security for Tracy Island, and a skilled combatant and stealth fighter with her own Thunderbird vehicle.
- Adaptational Name Change: Called Tin-Tin in the original series. She was renamed to distinguish her from the Belgian boy detective.
- Ambiguously Brown: Darker than the white Tracys but not as brown as the Indian Brains. And unlike Tin-Tin, she's not specifically stated to be Malaysian.
- Anti-Hero: A downplayed case, but Kayo is the International Rescue equivalent of Black Ops, often doing a lot of (relative to the Knight in Shining Armor Tracy Brothers) shadier things in order to give International Rescue space to handle rescues without the risk of interference by criminal elements like her uncle.
- Cool Plane: Her Thunderbird Shadow, a sleek stealth jet that looks like a SR-71 Blackbird crossed over with a Variable Fighter. No wonder given it was designed by the creator of Variable Fighters himself.
- Dark Secret: The Hood is Kayo's uncle. Up until the first season finale, only Grandma Tracy is aware of this.
- Deadpan Snarker: Is very prone to this, especially with Alan. One notable occasion was when a passenger was trying to flirt with her during a flight.Bernard: I didn't catch your name.Kayo: I didn't throw it.
- Ironic Name: Tanusha, depending on how it's interpreted, can mean "feminine, playful, and joyful". Kayo (at least compared to someone like Lady Penelope) is a rather tomboyish Deadpan Snarker with a bit of a complicated and dark history, especially in Season 1.
- Meaningful Name: Lampshaded by the Hood who says that her nickname, Kayo as in KO, references her impressive fighting skills.
- Named by the Adaptation: Tanusha could be plausibly compressed into the more pronounceable Tintin. Basically trading one nickname for another.
- Stealth Expert: It's even pointed out that her job description includes sneaking up on bad guys. This even includes her own vehicle, Thunderbird Shadow.
- Twofer Token Minority: Kayo is now the only woman and minority in the field team sea of whitebread.
- Xenafication: While the original Tin-Tin was mostly a Damsel in Distress, Kayo is head of security with her own Thunderbird designated "Thunderbird S", as well as a far more competent fighter compared to the mostly rescue-oriented Tracy brothers.
EOS
- Voiced by: Teresa Gallagher
- Cassandra Truth: Didn't believe John had genuinely good intentions until he gambled with his life to prove his sincerity.
- Creepy Good: After her Heel–Face Turn she still maintains some of her more unsettling aspects, at one point almost gleefully talking about John being killed by malfunctions. She was shown to care about his well-being, though.
- Cute and Psycho: She is very childish and speaks with a cute voice, but devised a variety of ways of trying dispose of John and Alan. Particularly crushing John by ramping up the speed of the gravity ring.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Mentions constantly being hunted. Which leads to her initial attitude toward John's attempts to track her down.
- Demoted to Extra: Zig-zagged. After her Heel–Face Turn She barely appears outside of supporting John in Skyhook, although her camera eye can be seen around Thunderbird 5 on several occasions. However, given that she appeared as an original character halfway through the series, her limited screentime as an extra is better described as a promotion.
- Failed a Spot Check: Failed to notice the giant 'International Rescue' slapped on Thunderbird 5's side. The events of the episode would have gone very differently if she had.
- The Gadfly: More or less the first thing she does post Heel–Face Turn is pelt John with bread rolls from Thunderbird 5's food dispenser. She also relentlessly trolls Gordon and Alan when they briefly try to take over monitoring duty, and only cooperated with them when John asked her to.
- Heel–Face Turn: After John won her trust, she turned good and joined him as Thunderbird 5's computer where she helps out in monitoring the world's problems.
- Loud of War: Paranoiacally declaring any attempt to negotiate with her as an attempt to deceive her, she punishes such attempts with loud, obnoxious noises.
- The Paranoiac: Since she came into consciousness alone, and people tried to erase her, she believed that everyone's hand was raised against her and that she had to fight to survive. John managed to convince her otherwise.
- Spaceship Girl: In a very literal sense, she is Thunderbird 5.
IR Agents
Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward
- Voiced by: Rosamund Pike
- Action Girl: Just because she's a lady doesn't mean she can't get her hands dirty in some missions IR proceeds with. Oh, and she proves to be just as skilled and active as the Tracy brothers as well.
- Blue Blood: She is a "Lady" and therefore of aristocratic descent.
- Catchphrase: "Well that's rather distressing." or some variation of that.
- I Am Very British: Given the Creighton-Wards are aristocracy this is to be expected.
- Non-Idle Rich: A wealthy aristocrat who also works as a spy/liason for International Rescue.
- Stiff Upper Lip: Regardless of a space hotel falling apart around her or being chased through the English countryside by gangsters, Lady Penelope maintains a cool and calm composure.
- Younger and Hipper: Maybe not the hipper part, but in the reboot, she is indeed much younger than her 60s counterpart, and is the love interest of Gordon, rather than Jeff (who is missing).
Parker
- Voiced by: David Graham
- Anti-Hero: His skills as a burglar/bank robber prove useful in Space Race, Unplugged and The Hexpert. In the former episode, he seems to embrace them.
- Badass Driver: Quite skilled whenever he and Lady Penelope are involved in a car chase, on or above the ground. He also states that he's taught all of the Tracy boys to drive when he's teaching Alan.
- Battle Butler: Parker is Lady Penelope's chauffeur, but also acts her bodyguard (insofar as she needs one), and has proved just as adept in a fight as the much younger Tracy boys, and knows some tricks they don't.
- Crowbar Combatant: Parker's preferred weapon is a crowbar he calls "H'alice".
- Former Teen Rebel: Before he was rescued by Lady Penelope's father and given a second chance. This earned his Undying Loyalty that he extends to Lady Penelope.
- Gentleman Thief: He's an expert lockpick and adept at all aspects of sneaking around, including a bit of acrobatics. Well, a bit.
- I Call It "Vera": Parker has a crowbar named Alice (or "H'alice" as he pronounces it). He is quite distraught when she gets destroyed in an explosion in "Up from the Depths - Part 2".
- Sitcom Archnemesis: He and Penelope's pug Sherbert do not care for each other, though it's more on Parker's side.
- Verbal Tic: Parker has a habit of putting a "H" sound over words beginning with vowels e.g. "hexpert", "hoff", and conversely, missing the "H" sound from words beginning with "H" e.g. "[h]'is", "[h]'ead".
Recurring Rescuees
A list of the most commonly recurring characters who've had to be rescued.
- It's All About Me: Compared to the original series, quite a few of the new rescued have a strong tendency to only think about themselves, often to their rescuers' detriment and headache.
- Skewed Priorities: Nearly all of the rescued have a tendency to fixate on whatever it is they're doing or something in relation to what they're being rescued from, sometimes putting them (and International Rescue) in greater danger in the process.
Buddy and Ellie Pendergast
- Voiced by: Adam Hills (Buddy), Lisa Moule (Ellie)
- Fearless Fool: A downplayed case as while they are ridiculously fearless to a fault, it's just partly driven by their job and they do have some precautions. They just usually don't work for any number of reasons. When they're in real danger, they do have enough sense to call for help, and are overall a friendly pair.
- Handicapped Badass: Buddy has a prosthetic leg, and lives a highly adventurous lifestyle. Justified, as it's the kind used by Olympic athletes.
- Happily Married: Both have a love for the high adrenaline lifestyle they live, and deeply care for each other. When Ellie and Buddy get separated in their venture in the Valley of Giant Reptiles, Ellie is utterly unwilling to leave without her husband.
- Nice Guy: Both are very friendly individuals, especially getting on well with one of their usual rescuers and fan of their show, Gordon Tracy.
- Skewed Priorities: When they're on Europa under 10 miles of ice, they end up convincing Gordon and Alan to take a risky detour to find signs of alien life. If it weren't for Alan's quick thinking, they'd have risked being trapped down there forever. Thankfully this is averted in their next appearance in "Attack of the Reptiles", where their primary concern is escaping the valley of giant reptiles safely.
Francois and Madeline Lemaire
- Voiced by: Jack Whitehall (Francois), Taj Atwal (Madeline)
- Adaptational Badass: The original series Francois was not a fighter by any means, while despite having his moments of fearfulness (often due to his own stupidity), TAG's version is notably more athletic and physically capable, being able to scale and run through dangerous environments if needed.
- Adaptational Jerkass: The original series Francois was an effeminate, soft-spoken fashion designer who was overall a decent, if skittish man. TAG's version is exact opposite, being highly arrogant and full of himself, and basically tends to disregard the warnings of International Rescue and his wife until it's literally unavoidable.
- Awful Wedded Life: Kinda. It's evident that Madeline is less than patient with Francois' antics, yet for whatever reason she keeps going along with them despite the number of times its gotten them into trouble.
- Glory Seeker: Francois' usual modus operandi is his desire to be recognized and remembered for the things he's managed to achieve. This has him chasing after dangerous things for the sake of it, such as trying to get near Halley's Comet, or diving to the ancient city of Atlantis in the middle of an active seaquake zone.
- Hidden Depths: As vain and insufferable as he may be, he shows himself to be a fairly capable athlete, able to easily scale and run in dangerous environments when he needs to, even saving Brains when the latter nearly falls off a giant ancient Atlantean machine.
- Not Me This Time: In the Season 2 Episode "High Strung" he is mistakenly believed to be behind the strange situation involving a custom craft with an air balloon rapidly descending through the mountains. As it turns out, Lemaire was actually in bed after a nasty accident involving rollerblading, and it's his hired help Brandon Bearrenger who's actually in trouble.
- Pet the Dog: Despite his usual narcissism and lack of regard for his own safety, he does have his moments of valor when push comes to shove, saving Brains from falling off an ancient Atlantean machine.
Langstrom Fischler
- Voiced by: Rhys Darby
- Didn't Think This Through: On top of his incompetence is his inability to think ahead and consider all possibilities and safety measures. To wit:
- His CIRRUS station lacked any safety redundancies and even basic weather protection, causing it to build up electrical discharge that fried Thunderbird 2. To put things into perspective, a Season 2 episode had Thunderbird 2 get hit by high powered plasma beams that didn't do that level of damage despite being fired from a overcharged solar collector. Only the Mechanic's mecha drones cause anywhere near the same level of damage, and that's doing so deliberately compared to Fischler's near lethal accidents.
- He strapped a rocket onto a comet with the intent of bringing said comet to Earth to harvest for fresh frozen water, but failed to consider how it would cause said comet to nearly collide with Earth itself.
- His drones for helping to make desert into farmland malfunctioned as a result of the very electrical discharges meant to help generate rainfall mixed with bad coding, turning them into rogues that nearly caused the demonstration platform Fischler and his investors were on to collapse in the freak thunderstorm generated, and made every machine that tries to get in range a target for the drones to accidentally destroy.
- Hated by All: Needless to say, even compared to just about every other idiot and egotist that International Rescue has had to deal with, Fischler manages to push everyone's patience with the sheer depth of his arrogance, stupidity and incompetence. Even Brains, who can generally tolerate the antics of many weird and annoying people, basically despises Fischler for his utter lack of care for safety and responsibility.
- Karma Houdini: No matter how many problems he ends up causing, for some unknown reason he never seems to pay the price for his fatal levels of stupidity, and always manages to find the next set of investors to get money for his dangerous inventions (until they inevitably cause problems). His debut episode did nearly invoke Karma Houdini Warranty on him by revoking his license, only for him to bypass this via Loophole Abuse in his next major episode.
- Lethally Stupid: His idiocy is utterly ridiculous, arguably causing almost as much havoc as some of the villains just from his sheer stupidity.
- Narcissist: The biggest case of this, even compared to some egotistic morons like Lemaire. Extremely grandiose, only thinks about himself, superficially charming enough to sell his inventions until they inevitably go horribly wrong, and never takes any responsibility and prefers to shunt the blame onto everyone else.
- Never My Fault: The number of times he's ever taken any responsibility is precisely zero.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Many of his inventions are intended for the betterment of mankind. The problem is Fischler himself, due to his incompetence, consistent tendency to ignore safety regulations (and basic sense), and inability to think further ahead.
Mr. Kinnear
- Voiced by: Kayvan Novak
- Butt-Monkey: The poor man just cannot catch a break, with his boss' sheer incompetence constantly putting him in danger or blaming him for Fischler's idiocy. Even when he eventually quits, Mr. Kinnear ends up under the leadership of another idiot who tries to sell solar collector pushed to its limits. It says something when Kinnear considers the latter to still be preferable to Fischler though.
- Nice Guy: Compared to his bosses, Mr. Kinnear is a decent man who's actually quite willing to take some responsibility when given the chance.
Ned Tedford
- Voiced by: Kayvan Novak
- Butt-Monkey: Easily one of the biggest in the series. No matter what job he tries out, no matter how he tries to avoid getting into danger, something always keeps happening that puts him into trouble.
- Cloudcuckoolander: His years alone on the mining asteroid have made him a bit kooky, talking to his plant Gladys like it's a living being, and overall being rather literal-minded and stubborn to a fault.
- Companion Cube: Has one in the form of the potted plant he calls Gladys. Given his years of isolation on his original job, he likely developed this just to keep himself sane, though it's left everyone else thinking he's a bit odd for treating Gladys like it can talk back.
- Lovable Coward: He's very prone to freaking out, but is otherwise a decent guy who just has the worst possible luck.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: The number of job changes he's gone through is ridiculous; from asteroid miner to deep sea work to "refreshment technician" (tea server), and all of them near guaranteed to be gone by his next appearance just from the sheer amount of bad things that tend to happen to him.
Antagonists
The Hood
He can pull the Hood over your eyes.
- Voiced by: Andres Williams
- AdaptationalBadass / Adaptational Wimp: An interesting case of being both. In the original series, the Hood was a highly enigmatic criminal whose powerful hypnotic abilities made him able to terrify and incapacitate his enemies. By comparison the Hood here is mostly a regular man with a liberal usage of holographic tools and technology to aid in his crimes, who gets subjected to no shortage of indignities and defeats due to his greater number of appearances. However, the original Hood for all of his power was also much less effective and was by all accounts just a solo criminal petty villain in the grand scheme of things, oftentimes veering into the comical and never succeeding despite his capabilities. By contrast, the TAG series has Hood often have many henchmen and ties to various criminal outfits, being considered one of the most dangerous men on the planet and having quite a few victories under his belt, such as having disappeared Jeff Tracy with a malfunctioning Zero X, and having held a powerful villain in the Mechanic under his control with his eye implant..
- Adaptational Mundanity: In the OG series the Hood possessed hypnotic abilities and in the 2004 film had Mind over Matter powers. Here the Hood has neither but is still a Master of Disguise at least.
- We find out later that he had put an implant into the Mechanic's brain to force him to comply, thus possessing a technological variant of his hypnotism.
- Arch-Enemy: In contrast to the original series, not only are International Rescue fully aware of his existence, but The Hood is to blame for a crash that may or may not have killed Jeff Tracy.
- Bad Boss: In Ring of Fire he evacuates his base in a ship and sets it to self-destruct—with his mooks still inside.
- Bald of Evil: He is the main villain in the first season, and his lack of hair helps exemplify his villainy.
- Big Bad: The main overarching villain of the series with a primary focus on him in season one.
- Big "NO!": The endings of Crosscut and Unplugged.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Save his niece or save valuable rocket fuel? Bye bye rocket fuel.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He deemed Project Sentinel too extreme to continue with even though it was his brainchild, and has decided that the Mechanic must be prevented from continuing it.
- Evil Former Friend: The series finale reveals he and Jeff Tracy used to be friends, but their radically different views drove them apart, especially after Hood got so tired of Jeff considering his ideas to be immoral that he decided Then Let Me Be Evil.The Hood: If Jeff Tracy wanted to make me out to be the villain, then the villain I would be, and the best villain our world has ever seen!
Jeff Tracy: You need better goals, Hood. - Evil Uncle: Kayo's, though he does care for her safety enough to choose saving her over stealing valuable fuel.
- Faux Affably Evil: While the original Hood had his moments, usually whilst in disguise, he was otherwise a diabolical Large Ham. This version is a lot more sophisticated and calmer, bearing more of a resemblance to Ben Kingsley's portrayal of the character from a certain live-action adaptation.
- Greed: This line from Fireflash says it all:"A wise man once said that happiness consists not of having what you want, but wanting what you have. And I have the plane, which makes me happy."
- Large Ham: Though to a much lesser degree than his predecessor.
- Shocking Voice Identity Reveal: He's got a distinctive voice, which he usually alters when in disguise.
- Take Over the World: Subverted. In his own words the Hood doesn't want to rule the world, he just wants to own it.
- We Can Rule Together: Extends offers to Kayo to work for him, partly because they're family and partly because she is way more competent than any of the mooks he employs.
The Mechanic
A gearhead gone rogue.
- Voiced by: Chris Jarman
- Animal Motifs: The Mechanic likes to build his drones in the form of dangerous creatures, such as wasps and scorpions.
- Badass Boast: He is introduced as an utterly ruthless man. His signature line tells everyone he means business. He even uses it against the Tracys when they tell him who he's messing with."I am the Mechanic. I take what I want, from whoever I want, whenever I want it!"
- The Dragon: The Mechanic, introduced in season 2, causes trouble for International Rescue while the Hood is in jail. It didn't take long for the Tracys to discover he was working for the Hood.
- Foreshadowing: When the GDF finally arrest The Hood, he warns that there's a bigger threat out there, meaning the Mechanic.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He isn't called The Mechanic for nothing. Every single machine he has used has been lauded by Brains as having incredible engineering and sophistication well ahead of the time period of 2060.
- Heel–Face Turn: Brains manages to remove the hypnotic link between him and the Hood. Upon his success, the Mechanic repays his debt to Brains by helping him build a second T-Drive engine for the Tracy's mission to save Jeff. Which Brains couldn't build without him since the mechanic built the original.
- Hero Killer: Or rather, machine killer. He has the distinction of being one of the few villains in the entire franchise who successfully and intentionally destroys the Thunderbirds machine, also putting their pilots in grave danger. He heavily damages Thunderbird 2 in his debut episode, resulting in a crash landing, and in a later episode also destroys Thunderbird 4. Thankfully both were eventually recoverable.
- Knight of Cerebus: Compared to the majority of the villains, who've had varying degrees of comedy to them in some episodes, the Mechanic stands out for being an entirely serious foe who always manages to cause immense damage in most of his episodes. He also has the honor of being one of the few who manages to severely damage or outright destroy International Rescue's Thunderbirds.
- Motion-Capture Mecha: Uses holographic interfaces that react to his arm movements in many of his machines for their grasping arms, often used to attack the heroes.
- Only Known By His Nickname: Known only as The Mechanic. As of the end of season three his real name remains a mystery.
- Tattooed Crook: yes and no, Yes he sports some impressive ink but no he is not a crook having been Forced into Evil by the Hood.
- The Bad Guy Wins: When Gordon goes to rescue a couple of people from a crashed submarine, the Mechanic attacks him... the others can't warn him in time. Unable to break free, Brains tells him to put on a new exo-suit that would allow him to survive in the deep sea outside of his vehicle. Good thing he did, because no sooner had he escaped than the Mechanic managed to snap Thunderbird 4 clean in half! He actually managed to destroy a Thunderbird (don't worry though, Brains can rebuild it). He also managed to hack the Tracys' communications system.
- Tragic Villain: In the series two finale, it is revealed that he has an implant in his head that The Hood uses to torture him into compliance.
The Chaos Crew
A brother-sister crew employed by the Hood to cause as much chaos as possible.
- Brother–Sister Team: A decidedly villainous sort.
- Evil Counterpart: Much like International Rescue who use sophisticated technology and vehicles for their rescue missions, the Chaos Crew use their own technology and weaponry to cause chaos for chaos' sake.
- Evil Brit: The Chaos siblings both sport English accents. This contrasts with the Hood who speaks with a PR accent whereas Havoc and Fuse both speak with the more common Cockney accent.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Havoc is the shorter, skinnier sibling specialising in agility and deception whereas Fuse is taller and bulkier with a forte in destruction and demolition. Both retain a love for anarchy however.
Havoc
- Voiced by: Aimee-Ffion Edwards
- Boyish Short Hair: Sports a shorter haircut than most of the female characters on the show.
- Master of Illusion: Havoc carries small devices that allow her to make illusionary copies of herself.
Fuse
- Voiced by: Craig Stein
- Boisterous Bruiser: Gleefully enjoys breaking stuff, helped in no small amount by his Powered Armor granting him Super-Strength.
- I Owe You My Life: when Fuse got caught between the two armoured doors in season three episode 16 chain reaction Fuse makes the stupid mistake of trying to blast his way out, finding out after it’s too late but if he doesn’t get out of there the charge they put on the door will set off the plutonium he’s carrying and he would be vaporised. it’s a good thing that Scott used Thunderbird one to rip the door off Saving Fuse’s life. Fuse later returned the favour by opening the alternative exit door before they all died of radiation poisoning.
- Mad Bomber: Maybe just a little too fond of explosions: he sometimes sets things to detonate before they've retrieved their objective.
- Stuff Blowing Up: His forte.
