The character page for the 2017 reboot for Wacky Races. For the character page from the original series, click here.
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Main Racers
Dick Dastardly
Dick Dastardly
Voiced by: Peter Woodward
The racer of the Mean Machine. Known for his attempts at cheating, the keyword being attempts.
- Alliterative Name: Retained from the original series. Also applies to his supervillain persona, the Purple Puppeteer in "Super Wacky".
- Brilliant, but Lazy: He's a very competent and skilled racer constantly wrecking his own efforts with various complex traps and schemes. He admits in "Do Over Dastardly" that he'd rather win through cheating because it's just more fun, whereas trying to apply himself to win fairly would be like work.
- Character Catchphrase:
- As in the original series, "Drat, drat and double drat!", or some variation.
- "Muttley, this is all your fault!", derived from his appearances in Yogi’s Treasure Hunt.
- Dastardly Whiplash: Obviously, being the Trope Namer.
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: Again, he's THE Trope Namer. Also gets a Lampshade Hanging multiple times, as it's often pointed out he could actually win a race more often if he just focused on racing... and if he didn't have such a self-destructive obsession with cheating his way to victory.
- Ignored Epiphany:
- "Race Against Time": Thanks to I.Q.'s temporal shenanigans, Dastardly's reformed future self appears before him and explicitly points out how he keeps losing because he keeps cheating. This appears to give the present Dastardly pause, as he turns to think about how he could win if he just gave up cheating. He then loudly declares that cheating is fun.
- "Purple Who Need Purple": In a parallel universe where everyone behaves like he does and suffers for it, a frustrated Dastardly shouts that they'd win if they put more effort into racing than they do cheating. He suddenly freezes up and finds himself in the Epiphany Room, a place inside his psyche where he can interact with aspects of his personality. The part representing his logic goes over what he shouted point for point to highlight what this means, ultimately declaring that it's all obviously Muttley's fault.
- Legacy Character: The episodes "Mother Drives Best" and "Grandfather Knows Dast" make him out to be the son of the Dastardly from the original Wacky Races, and his grandfather is the Dastardly from Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines.
- Not Me This Time: Spends a good part of "Cold Rush" insisting that the various traps on the track are not his. Even falling victim to one alongside the other racers doesn't grant him the benefit of the doubt, but he really is innocent this time.
- Oblivious to His Own Description: On a few occasions, even he has lampshaded Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat, just only when other characters do it. He questions how anyone could repeatedly self-sabotage like that but somehow expect a different result.
- Sadistic Choice: Parodied in "Sister Twister" when his bet with Peter means he has to be nice throughout the entire race. The effort to be nice works too well, and he finds himself struggling to be mean when he wants to be. The choice comes when Dastardly can only cross the finish line first if he crashes through a stand full of cute babies and adorable bunnies, and he has no idea what to do. Dastardly ultimately hits the brakes rather than risk hurting anyone, and this results in him getting a good sportsman trophy.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: While he is generally shown to be on good terms with the other racers, none of them (barring Penlope) seem to mind the idea of Dastardly leaving, even being confused as to why it would be a problem.
- Team Rocket Wins: He still doesn't win a race very often because of his obsession with cheating... with the very few instances where he's actually won turning into Pyrrhic victories at best note , but he's won a bet with Peter Perfect on two separate occasions.
- Villainous Lineage: The rest of his family is shown to be as bent on being as underhanded and, well, dastardly as he is. Also, they all look like him to a very notable degree.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: On those occasions where Dastardly's about to win a race, something usually goes sideways for him. For example, in a "Fantastic Voyage" Plot, he did technically cross the finish line first, but since the miniaturized racers had ended up inside his body before then, they crossed when he did and so it's technically a tie.
Muttley
Muttley
Voiced by: Billy West
Dastardly's not-so-loyal lackey.
- Alliterative Name: His supervillain persona, the Sonic Snicker in "Super Wacky".
- Angrish: "Rassamfrassamrassam"
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Towards Dastardly, as unlikely as it seems.
- "Peter Imperfect": He is deeply affected by Dastardly's change of personality, even letting out a Howl of Sorrow. Penelope later points out that no one wanted Dastardly back to normal more than Muttley did.
- "Muttleys Are Forever": Muttley surrenders to Dr. Doomsdoctor rather than letting Dastardly be blown up (despite having been fired mere moments earlier) and opts to stay by Dastardly's side after the world is saved.
- Canine Companion: Naturally this to Dastardly.
- Character Catchphrase:
- His Angrish Tendencies.
- Also, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!"
- And of course, his wheezing snicker, often at Dastardly's expense.
- Dinosaur Doggie Bone: In one scene, Muttley dreams about gleefully chewing on a brontosaurus skeleton.
Peter Perfect
Peter Perfect
Voiced by: Diedrich Bader
The racer of the Turbo Terrific who does his best to be the perfect racer and role model. His looks don’t quite fit his intelligence, though.
- All-Loving Hero: Consistently nice and charitable to everyone, even Dastardly. His reputation as this is why the owner has him do so many endorsements and promotional appearances.
- Alliterative Name: Retained from the original series.
- Attention Whore: When Peter thinks Dick is ignoring him, he becomes distraught and admits that he needs to be the center of attention.
- Berserk Button: Spends "Off Track" getting hassled by his smug older brother, but when Paul starts insulting the other racers, Peter finally asserts himself.
- Celebrity Endorsement: Parodied. In his spare time, Peter has advertised everything from Steakasaki to Wacky Wear to ridiculously unhealthy chips.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Despite his lacking intelligence being a recurring theme, Peter isn't completely without common sense, such as pointing out that many of Dastardly's traps, such as posting a detour sign on a closed-circuit course, is blatantly nonsensical.
- Dumb Muscle: Peter is very muscular and has a Heroic Build, but is the dumbest character in the show.Even when offering himself up to a hoarde of zombies to let his friends escape, the hungry zombies simply walk right past him.
- Medium Awareness: For as lacking as his intelligence is, he also seems to be the most aware of the idea that he’s a character in a TV show. This could explain why his admirer once disguised herself as a studio executive.
- Social Media Before Reason: In "Unlicensed to Drive", Peter is constantly looking at his phone during the driver’s ed class and answers "update my social media page!" to anything he’s asked.
Penelope Pitstop
Penelope Pitstop
Voiced by: Nicole Parker
The southern belle racer who's every fanboy's dream.
- Action Girl: Penelope takes part in a lot of athletic events in her spare time; "Peter 2.0" opens with a scene of her casually skydiving.
- Adaptational Badass: Penelope is more athletic, quick-witted, and focused on racing than she was in the original series.
- Adaptational Curves: She has a more curvy appearance compared to her relatively slimmer look in the original show and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop.
- All Girls Like Ponies: In one scene, Penelope dreams she's riding a unicorn.
- Alliterative Name: Retained from the original series. Also applies to her superheroine persona in "Super Wacky", the Pink Protector.
- Butt-Monkey: Penelope isn't completely immune to Amusing Injuries and awkward situations.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Noted to be popular In-Universe for her looks and kind nature.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: She has them here, unlike the 1968 series and Perils.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Her light feminine to Pandora's dark feminine.
- Mood-Swinger: In season 3, she feels a lot more negative rather than bubbly like she was at the start of the series.
- Ms. Fanservice: One of the more attractive racers, a sentiment shared in-universe by many fanboys. She has an Impossible Hourglass Figure and wears plenty of outfits throughout the series that show it off.
- Parental Neglect: "Wack the Halls" implies that Penelope’s childhood was a very rough one, with her parents being too preoccupied with arguing to ever pay attention to her.
- Pimped-Out Dress:
- "Guru My Dreams" sees her getting one while she gets a princess makeover while commenting on Dastardly's dreams. It's decked in pink with puffy short red sleeves, purple skirt sashes with heart-shaped decors, and a pink skirt.
- "Uncle Dicky's Happy Sunshine Children's Hour" sees her in a princess dress similar to the previously mentioned episode, albeit with the white trimmings replaced by a pink dress with magenta sleeves.
- She also obtains one that's very similar to the previous one with a purple waist belt during the Disney-esque song sequence in "Little Pink Riding Hood" with the animals helping her make it, tiara and all, though the fairy wings don't actually work.
- Pink Means Feminine: Her outfit and car.
- Southern Belle: A kind and beautiful lady with a Southern accent. She gets very upset when a TV executive thought Peter fit the role better than her.
- Women Are Wiser: In comparison to the other racers, but she’s still pretty wacky in her own right.
I.Q. Ickly
Voiced by: Jill Talley
Young boy genius racer with a talking, robotic car and all sorts of gadgets up his sleeves.
- Cool Car: Cara, complete with tech and A.I.
- Child Prodigy: I.Q.’s the type of person who knows all the digits of pi off the top of his head and constantly gets invitations to show off his tech to the world.
- Does Not Drive: Yes, in a show about racing, he technically doesn't drive, because he's just a kid. Instead his car drives itself while he issues orders. When in once episode the characters start to change bodies he immediately loses control of Peter Perfect's car.
- Gadgeteer Genius: For starters, he once invented a 30-second time machine.
- Nonhuman Sidekick: Cara is this to I.Q.
- Parental Neglect: I.Q.'s mother runs her own lab and oversees various experiments. On one occasion where the racers' mothers were invited to take part, she was too busy working, so she sent a hologram version of herself to accompany I.Q. instead.
- Punny Name: A two-fer: I.Q. and in intelligence, and Q. Ickley as in "quickly."
The Gruesome Twosome
The renamed brother duo, who drive the monster truck known as the Doombuggy.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: Tiny's head is bigger than Bella's whole body.
- Dark Is Not Evil: They're macabre monsters, but generally friendly with the other racers when not competing.
- Daywalking Vampire: Bella doesn't seem to have any trouble in the sunlight.
- The Ditz: Tiny, complete with Hulk Speak.
- Gender-Blender Name: The male vampire is named Bella
. Most likely a Shout-Out to Bela Lugosi. - Gentle Giant: Tiny is a simpleton, but he wouldn't try to hurt anyone, at least intentionally.
- Frankenstein's Monster: Tiny.
- Hulk Speak: Tiny is the burliest racer and usually speaks in broken English.Tiny: Big hole in ice.
- Ironic Name: "Tiny" is a Frankenstein's Monster and the tallest racer.
- Monster Mash: "Backseat Drivers" reveals their extended family is composed of werewolves, zombies, a mummy, the Headless Horseman, Gill-man, and the like.
- Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: When Dastardly ends up in some kind of trouble, Bella is typically the only racer to question why they should help someone who regularly causes them a great deal of trouble and annoyance. No one ever has an answer for him, and he gets roped into helping, anyway.
Villains
Pandora Pitstop
Pandora Pitstop
Voiced by: Nicole Parker
Penelope's Evil Twin, who like Dastardly, is willing to cheat to win, but unlike him, she knows how to pull off underhanded tactics.
- Distaff Counterpart: To Dick Dastardly, being a purple-clad racer who is willing to cheat to gain victory.
- Evil Brunette Twin: A stark contrast from her Goody two-shoes, blonde twin sister Penelope.
- Evil Twin: And younger - by 12 seconds.
- Freudian Excuse: A lifetime of being outdone by Penelope and perceiving any advice over the years as just being bossed around have left her with a chronic desire to outdo her twin by any means necessary.
- Green-Eyed Monster: She's jealous of Penelope for being seen as the better twin, while Pandora was left in the dust.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Her dark feminine to Penelope's light feminine.
- More Deadly Than the Male: More competent than Dastardly when it comes to cheating.
- Sixth Ranger: To the main racers. Pandora is a recurring character and sometimes take part in the races.
Scrappy-Doo
- Freudian Excuse: He's shown to take pleasure in pranking Dastardly (without Dastardly realizing it), but it's also shown that the omniscient network executives have a bone to pick with him.
- The Gadfly: This version of Scrappy's one real defining characteristic is enjoying screwing with Dastardly.
- Rebellious Spirit: If one gets the unenviable number one spot on the Network's black list, one has to participate in a series of "wholesome" programming in order to regain their position. Scrappy went off the grid, and switched spots with Dick.
- Small Role, Big Impact: In Uncle Dickie's Happy Funshine Hour, it's shown that someone switched the listings with Dastardly to make him number two. Said someone has paws like Scrappy.
- Tragic Villain: We see first and in "Uncle Dickie" how disastrous it is for whoever is at the top of the Exec's naughty list. Even being at number two must have felt like a breather. The poor guy only dared move up to number two, and that was after being at the top of the naughty list for years.
- Villain Protagonist: Since he has limited screentime, it's hard to tell just how evil this version is. On one hand, he's up against Dastardly, an iconic heel, though that was assisting a Cute But Psycho little girl (and Dastardly's only fan, who had been successful in winning over everyone else with her cute little girl status). Most of his deeds are just destructive pranks (which all have considerable collateral damage, though we don't see his reaction to these).
The Hooded Claw
This recurring villain who originated in The Perils of Penelope Pitstop wants nothing but to take Dastardly down a notch and realize the errors of his ways.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Gets taken down by Dastardly in all his appearances, despite wanting to pose as a legitimate threat to the racers.
- Hypocrite: The argument he makes against Dastardly in "The Trial of Dick Dastardly" states that his show should be cancelled because of his gratuitous slapstick not being suitable for the viewing audience. A few episodes later in "From Dast to Worse", Hooded Claw spends the entire episode trying to thwart his plans despite making a case against it earlier.
- Poor Man's Substitute: In-universe, no matter how hard he tries to differentiate himself, he’s seen as this to Dastardly. Gets lampshaded in "Unlicensed to Drive" when the driving teacher believes that Dastardly is the Hooded Claw.
Others
Brick Crashman
Brick Crashman
Voiced by: Christopher Judge
The narrator of the Wacky Races.
- Ascended Extra: The original series had an Interactive Narrator; in this version, the narrator is a new character.
- Deadline News: He doesn't die, but it increasingly becomes a Running Gag that the events of each episode injure or screw him over during his broadcasts.
- Mr. Exposition: Some of the alternate universe episodes open up with him discussing the time period the episode takes place in.
- Token Minority: He is the only black character in the show.
Sunny Manners
Sunny Manners
An old lady in charge of standards & practices for the show. Prone to calling out violence whenever she sees it and restraining the racers.
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: One of the weapons she offers the racers in "Racer Roundup" is a foam boomerang.
- Double Standard: Her restrictions are built on this. She can allow the racers to kill a robot with a bunny but as soon as a racer isn’t wearing their seatbelt, the gloves are off.
- Media Watchdog: Parodied. As one of the people in charge of the show, she takes her job as a censor a bit too far and forces the racers into unfavorable situations.
- Strawman Has a Point: In-Universe. She admits, along with the other racers, that letting Dastardly write an episode of the show was an awful idea in "I, Racecar".
- Trash of the Titans: Her room is full of rejected scripts on fire and scenes she had to force out of the show.
