History Characters / ObanStarRacers

* FromNobodyToNightmare: His past isn't shown, but given what the "Ultimate Prize" entails, he was once just another mortal alien chosen to race decades ago. Now his very presence makes the supposed most powerful being in the universe "tremble".

A pilot from Alwas, one of the three planets that host the Great Race's preliminary matches. Somewhat arrogant and not quite as good as he seems; the judges fix the races for him, since he's the home-town favorite. He and his gunner, Marcel, pilot the ''Flying Fortress''; a green star-racer that resembles a steam-powered train or tugboat.

* BloodKnight: At times he seems way to eager to shoot things in his role as the Whizzing Arrow's gunner.

* HeroesWantRedheads: She has a crush on the redheaded Aikka. She's also the Redhead as fellow Hero Jordan has a crush on her.

A 17-year-old rambunctious army soldier who is hired by Don Wei to be the gunner for the ''Whizzing Arrow''. He eventually [[HeroesWantRedheads develops a crush on Eva and later falls in love with her]].

* HeroesWantRedheads: Molly develops a crush on Aikka almost immediately.

* TheDreaded: Very few are aware of his existence, but the few who are quite justifiably terrified of his presence. If you aren't, he'll be happy to rectify that.

* EqualOpportunityEvil: Somewhat ironic for a monster like him, Canaletto is one of the few characters who never berates or undermines Eva for being a girl pilot or a mere human. In fact, he seems to have a degree of [[VillainRespect admiration for her resolve]] and has complete faith in her as his pawn. Compare that to say, [[SoreLoser Groor]], or [[SmugSnake General Kross.]]

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Horrifically averted. Canaletto is aware of Eva's love for her parents and uses Maya's death to ''motivate his pawn.'' He also knows she is one of the most selfless pilots, and thus the one least likely to jump at the chance to be Avatar. In fact, he even states that her fiery passion to be like Maya and make her dad proud is what brought her all the way through the trials of the race.
* EvilCounterpart: To the Avatar. While the Avatar generally appears as a being made of light with a multi-limbed HolyHalo behind them, Canaletto is the opposite, appearance-wise, and his sigil is a dark perversion of the Avatar's. He also went against the Avatar's purpose as protector of the galaxy by seeking to obliterate ''everything'' save for himself.
* EvilIsBigger: In person, he's almost as large as the average star-racer, though its unknown whether this is because of his nature as an ex-Avatar or if his race is naturally this huge.

* ArmchairMilitary: He personally directs the counter attack on the Crog fleet surrounding Earth from his seat at the government building. This proves to be a very rash decision.
* BaldOfEvil: Downplayed. By the time of the series he's bald in the middle, and while he's (debatably) not evil, but he's still a power-mad, corrupt KnightTemplar who doesn't give a crap about collateral damage in his vision of uplifting humanity.
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Crosses this hard when he realizes the Crog Imperium is sweeping aside Sol's defenses, all because he decided to launch a preemptive attack and thus violate the ceasefire of the Great Race. When Don contacts him the final time, he finds the President in an almost catatonic state, surrounded by apocalyptic pleas for help from military channels, mumbling that the Crogs were untrustworthy and that humanity had no choice but to attack first.]]
* {{Foil}}: Ironically for a leader of humanity, [=McMullen=] serves as one to both Kross and Canaletto, the main villains. While these two are literal monsters seeking to KillAllHumans, [=McMullen=] is an upstanding human leader who nonetheless believes in supremacy over alien lifeforms just as they do. While Kross and Canaletto want to become Avatar, [=McMullen=] plans to use the Avatar through a human champion. Furthermor, Canaletto is using Eva as his pawn to regain power, while the President himself is also using her to give Earth it's Avatar.
* GovernmentConspiracy: Decades ago, [=McMullen=] was minor member of a council of government officials during the Crog invasion of Earth. When the Avatar appeared before them and set the cease-fire in place in exchange for Earth's participation in the upcoming Great Race of Ōban, the council [[TheMasquerade chose to keep the Avatar's intervention a closely-guarded secret from the rest of humanity]]. Unfortunately, this had the side-effect of leaving humanity rather underprepared for the tournament, and [=McMullen=] (now the leader of the Earth Coalition) basically had to order Don Wei to claw together a team at the last second. [[spoiler:At the end of the series, the same conspiracy forces the surviving human protagonists to [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold swear to lifelong secrecy about Ōban and their adventures]].]]
* HateSink: [=McMullen=] is a reasonable man at the start of the show, but as the race reaches it's climax he becomes a smug, condescending, war-mongering hypocrite. Not only does he shrug off the idea of forcing the universe's greatest position on a 15 year old, but he's actively planning on using the Avatar as a weapon for Earth supremacy. He later orders an attack on Crogs territory, nearly plunging humanity into war on the [[InsaneTrollLogic notion that the Crogs might've attacked first.]] It blows up in his face when the Crogs predictably fire back.
* KarmaHoudini: [=McMullen=] faces no consequence for forcing the Earth Team to risk their lives and Eva nearly to sacrifice her mortal life for Earth, as well as launching a paranoid attack on the Crogs in the midst of a ceasefire, and in the end he gets a human Avatar after all. That said, it's implied his disastrous attack plan humbled him a great deal.

** When he learns that the ultimate prize is [[spoiler:ascension to Avatar-hood]], [=McMullen=] immediately decides that [[spoiler: a human Avatar would be perfect for enabling human supremacy in the galaxy]], and urges Don to continue participating in the tournament at all costs. [[spoiler:This is exactly what General Kross had in mind, minus the latter's additional desire to become a GodEmperor.]]
** In the same scene, the President indicates that the Coalition hopes to [[spoiler:use an Avatar to not only wipe out the Crog Imperium completely, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters but also destroy anyone else in the galaxy who would threaten humanity or stand in their way]].]]

* NeverMyFault:[[spoiler: He seems to be in severe denial about his role in the Crog counterattack, as he's mumbling how "they couldn't be trusted", even as the screams of dying soldiers fill his comm screens.]]

* SmugSnake: He dismisses Don Wei's concerns about forcing Molly to keep racing [[spoiler:after learning the prize won't bring her mother back]] with a "that's too bad" sense of smug indifference, as by that point he had decided that the ultimate prize was far more important than any of the Earth Team's concerns.

* WeHaveReserves: All but tells Don that the Avatar's power matters more than the lives of him and his team, and later orders a surprise attack on the Crog fleet, completely willing to throw away his men's lives just to get an edge on Earth's enemies.

* AssholeVictim:[[spoiler: He's killed by the same monster he fanatically worshipped. While it demonstrates Canaletto's callousness, it's hard to feel sad since the Mad Scrub caused Rick's accident and was knowingly helping in his master's plan to wipe out the universe.]]

* SmallRoleBigImpact: He's only a minor character, but he is the one who sabotaged the ''Whizzing Arrow I'' and caused Rick's crippling nervous damage, which allowed Eva to replace him as the Earth Team's pilot. [[spoiler: He also serves as an introduction to [[BigBad Canaletto]].]]

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* TheBabyOfTheBunch: Eva/Molly is the youngest Earth Team member -- making her the most inexperienced as well. [[TookALevelInBadass She quickly learns, however]].

* BadassBiker: Spent ages gradually assembling a hover-bike to use in her escape from the boarding school. When the ''Whizzing Arrow'''s adult-sized pilot seat proves too large for her to operate effectively, she removes it and grafts the bike into its place as a jury-rigged control system, effectively turning the ''Arrow'' into a massive jetbike.
* BadassFamily: Eva is a skilled pilot just like her Mom and while not shown, Don mentions he was one in his youth as well.
* BadassNormal: Eva is just a plucky young human girl and her opponents are all powerful alien warriors, most of whom have superpowers of some kind. She's able to get by on just spirit and determination alone.

* BoyfriendBlockingDad: After he finds out Molly is his long-lost daughter Eva and Jordan has feelings for her, Don gets a little hostile when he sees them getting too close.

* BreakTheCutie: Good lord, Eva's had it rough. Her father abandoned her in a hellhole of a school and tried to ''forget'' about her completely, she's routinely picked on for her perceived weakness by both her fellow teammates and the other racers, [[spoiler:she finds out the Ultimate Prize ''cannot'' in fact bring back the dead, and to top if off she discovers her life has been controlled by an eldritch monster who wants to use her to destroy the world.]]
* BreakThemByTalking: [[spoiler:Canaletto does this to her when they finally meet in person, by revealing the AwfulTruth - that she's been an UnwittingPawn her entire life and that he was the one who killed Maya and crippled Rick. The existential horror of it all overwhelms Eva, leaving her vulnerable to Canaletto's hypnotic sorcery.]]

* DelinquentHair: Dyes the top part of her hair red.

* FutureBadass: If [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5y95w9UwAAsnt2.jpg this promo image]] is to be believed, Eva's racing days are far from over, and she's got a new look, with some old friends.
* GenkiGirl: Generally quite peppy and excitable, but of course she hides a lot of sadness beneath that spunk.

* GoodIsNotSoft: Make no mistake, Eva's a great girl. She also has no patience for anyone giving her shit, and in some cases will run you down if she's ''especially'' pissed.

* TheHeroine: The story follows her journey to win Ōban.

* IJustWantToBeLoved: Eva's main motivation throughout the series is to gain the love and appreciation from her father. Something she hasn't had in ''ten years''.

* InTheBlood: Eva's mother was a champion pilot and her father her mom's coach. Naturally, she carries on the legacy at the tender age of 15.

* LikeParentLikeChild:
** Besides the looks, Eva/Molly also shares a lot of characteristics from her mother, especially her mom's headstrong attitude and recklessness.
** While Eva/Molly does share more of her mother's quirks, there's no denying that the girl gets her short-tempered nature and stubbornness from her father.

* LoveAtFirstSight: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. It's more like "crushing at first sight" towards Aikka.

* PluckyGirl: She's small, feisty, and can worm her way out of a lot of tense situations.

* RedIsHeroic: At 15, Eva/Molly has red dyed hair and dark red eyes, which highlight her fiery spirit.

* ShipTease: With Jordan and Aikka. Also could qualify as a LoveTriangle as well.
* SleepCute: With Jordan. [[BoyfriendBlockingDad Don Wei was not fond of it]].

* WeakButSkilled: She's quite small(hence the nickname, "Little Mouse") and doesn't have much physical strength, but Eva is a force in the pilot seat and is good at maneuvering around larger foes.

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* LastKiss: [[spoiler:Gives one to Molly right before assuming his role as Avatar.]]

* ShipTease: With Eva/Molly.

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* BrokenBird: A male example. All of his {{jerkass}}ery is to hide his deep grief and self-hatred over Maya's death.

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Eva's distant father Don Wei was once a successful and happy man who managed one of the biggest racing companies on earth and was HappilyMarried to the pilot Maya. Then his world came crashing down when Maya was killed in a racing accident. Sinking into despair, Don began to doubt his ability to raise a child, which led to him abandoning his daughter at a miserable boarding school. After some time as a drifter with no purpose, he soon grew into a cold,hard man who distanced himself emotionally from everyone. When Eva confronts him about this, she furiously tells her father of all the ''years'' she waited for him to come back, that she was just as hurt by Maya's death as him, and that he never made an attempt to even contact her. What's more, Don eventually ''did'' find a successful team, and he still could never find the time for his daughter, to the point where he didn't even recognize her when she showed up again. Don himself admits he can't blame Eva for hating him after his utter carelessness.

* GoodParents: To Eva before Maya's death [[spoiler:and after they return to Earth]]. He was a caring and devoted father to his only child.

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!!!'''Koji is voiced by:''' Alessandro Juliani (English), Creator/YoshinoriFujita (Japanese), Vincent Latorre (French)

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[[caption-width-right:350:Koji (left) and Stan (right)]]

[[WMG:Tropes that apply to both:]]

[[WMG:Tropes that apply to Koji:]]

[[WMG:Tropes that apply to Stan:]]

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->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KirbyMorrow (English), Hiroaki Miura (Japanese), Rémi Caillebot (French)

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* PosthumousCharacter: Dead for ten years by the time the series begins, Maya is only mentioned, seen in flashbacks, or appears in illusions/dreams.

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* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Given he was formerly the guardian of the universe, he's still nonetheless a force of sheer power against anyone foolish enough to challenge him. Sul finds this out the hard way when he turns down Canaletto's offer for partnership.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Yep.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: His disposal of Sul is callous (as is everything he does) but Sul himself is a SmugSuper who is only in the race out of boredom, mocks Molly for trying to warn him of danger, and shows zero sympathy to the ones who have legitimate stakes for competing. Although it's downplayed by the fact that Canaletto is way, WAY worse by comparison.

* AllForNothing: By the end, no one involved in the race gets what they fought for. The "Ultimate Prize" cannot revive the dead as Eva and Muir hoped, and even Canaletto, who manipulated events for thousands of years, has victory ripped away when Jordan becomes Avatar.

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->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/PaulDobson (English), Creator/BanjoGinga (Japanese), Mathieu Barbier (French)

* HateSink: Much like Groor and his own successor General Kross, Toros' whole characterization is being an insufferably smug, [[FantasticRacism xenophobic]] brute who thinks he's way cooler than he actually is. He demonstrates just why it'd be a very, ''very'' bad thing if the Krogs won. Furthermore, he has the gall to taunt Rush about the damage the Krogs did to his planet, just to give himself an advantage.

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* StarfishAlien: Disregarding the fact that he [[VoluntaryShapeshifting is his own racing vehicle]], he looks pretty close to human, doesn't he? [[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YEiUDcWYZ-U/hqdefault.jpg Nah.]]

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->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RichardNewman (English), Creator/KenjiNomura (Japanese)

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->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MichaelDobson (English), Hitoshi Horikawa (Japanese), Laurent Maurel (French)

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->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/BrianDobson (English), Creator/JinHorikawa (Japanese), Omar Yami (French)

* MechanicalLifeforms / AmbiguousRobots: He appears to be some kind of steam-powered automaton who plugs his cable like arms to pilot his vehicle. However he doesn't act any different from a living creature, meaning he's either a cyborg of some kind or it's just a suit that helps him adapt to different climates.

* PokemonSpeak[=/=]SayMyName: In the English dub at least, he has a habit of shouting his own name in a {{Kiai}}-esque fashion when angry or moving in to strike.

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->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KirbyMorrow (English), Takeshi Maruyama (Japanese)

* MindManipulation: His music puts Eva into a hypnotic sleep, where she experiences a psychedelic vision of the Mong civilization and nearly loses control of the ''Arrow''. Rick breaks the trance by turning on her CD-player just before she walks off a ledge in the dream.
* MagicMusic: He quite possibly ''does'' wield ancient magic. As described above, his flute can put people in a trance-like state and somehow projects a vision of the Mong homeworld into their minds.

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->'''Voiced by:''' Jocelyn Loewen (English), Creator/YuriShiratori (Japanese), Johanna Menuteau (French)

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->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KeijiFujiwara (Japanese); Brian Dobson (English)

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->'''Ning is voiced by:''' Creator/JillianMichaels (English), Creator/AiOrikasa (Japanese)
->'''Skun is voiced by:''' Colleen Wheeler (English), Tomoko Hiratsuji (Japanese)

* BattleCouple: Both in love and particularly fierce opponents on the Oban track.

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->'''Voiced by:''' Don Brown (English), Tetsuo Gotō (Japanese)

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->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/BrianDobson (English), Creator/ShozoIizuka (Japanese)

* ArcVillain: Serves as the primary antagonist of the Ōban Cycle.

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->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TrevorDevall (English), Hideo Watanabe (Japanese)

* NatureLovingRobot: Despite initially being seen as an insufferable machine who hates organics, he actually ''admires'' them and cares for several small animals. His desire is to become a living creature so he can experience emotion.

* ShootTheShaggyDog:[[spoiler: He came this far to win the Ultimate Prize and experience emotion like his beloved pets. He's deactivated by Aikka near the race's end and is never heard from again. It's not clear if he was destroyed but if so, it's definitely a case of this. Even worse,[[FridgeHorror his pets were left alone as Oban was being ravaged.]]]]

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->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RichardNewman (English)

* TheBadGuyWins:[[spoiler: Well, he's not technically a villain but he is definitely not a good man, and by the end he gets his human Avatar in the form of Jordan. One can only ''hope'' he's learned his lesson after the disastrous attack on the Crogs.]]

* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: Eva was only ever happy at the Stern Boarding School with the hope that her dad would come back. It's overall a harsh, unwelcoming place, especially for a free spirit like her.

* WalkingSpoiler: You can't talk about the Mad Scrub without revealing that he caused Rick Thunderbolt's CareerEndingInjury in the first race against Grooor, [[spoiler:or his nature as a Canaletto cultist]].

* RookieRedRanger: Eva/Molly doesn't really know a lot about star racing.

* SleepCute: With Jordan. [[BoyfriendBlockingDad Don Wei was not happy]].

%%* ShipTease: With Eva.

* HateSink: Much like Groor and his own successor General Kross, Toros' whole characterization is being an insufferably smug, [[FantasticRacism racist]] brute who thinks he's way cooler than he actually is. He demonstrates just why it'd be a very, ''very'' bad thing if the Krogs won. Furthermore, he has the gall to taunt Rush about the damage the Krogs did to his planet, just to give himself an advantage.

* AmbitionIsEvil: He plans to use the Ultimate Prize for galactic domination. [[spoiler:When the prize of the Great Race is revealed to be ascension to Avatar-hood, Kross calls up his people and outright demands to have [[GodEmperor full control over the Imperium once be becomes Avatar]].]]

* HateSink: While Canaletto is the bigger threat, Kross is if anything more odious personality-wise, as he's a cruel, smug overbearing bully of a general who delights in hurting his opponents. He's also a cheater of the highest order, holding Aikka's parents hostage to give himself an advantage in the race. Kross also brushes off the implied execution of his predecessor and is motivated more by a desire to have the Imperium bow to him than actually leading them to victory. By the end, everyone else on the track has to team up to take him out before he can achieve his selfish goals. His death in the final lap against Eva is both anticlimatic and ''totally'' well-deserved.
* IHaveYourWife: He forces Aikka to help him by threatening his parents.

* OhCrap: [[spoiler:His last words are to gasp "By Crog!", seconds before his trident fighter crashes and explodes.]]

A 17-year-old rambunctious army soldier who is hired by Don Wei to be the gunner for the ''Whizzing Arrow''. He eventually [[HeroesWantRedheads develops a crush to Eva and later falls in love with her]].

An ambitious 15 year-old Earth girl who escapes from her harsh boarding school to find her father, Don Wei, but when he doesn't recognize her she ends up landing a job as a mechanic for his company. Lacking in self-confidence and intimidated by his harsh demeanor, Eva is unable to tell Don Wei who she really is, and assumes the name "Molly" after reading it on a conveniently placed poster. Eva soon becomes the pilot of the ''Whizzing Arrow II'' for the Earth Team after their star, Rick Thunderbolt, is injured during the first race. She wants to win the ultimate prize to bring her mother back to life.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: With Rick Thunderbolt as mentor/student friendship. And later romantically with Jordan, who while not as big as Rick, is still muscular and tall compared to the tiny Eva.

* WellDoneDaughterGirl: Deconstructed. Eva's motivation for most of the series is to get back the love Don Wei denied her for ten years. The irony is that Don doesn't know she's his daughter at all, and acts as a MeanBoss to her until well into the latter half of the series. When he ''does'' finally realize the truth, rather then lead to a tearful, happy reunion, it just pisses her off. [[CallingTheOldManOut Eva proceeds to chew him out over his neglect]].

A 17-year-old rambunctious army soldier who is hired by Don Wei to be the gunner for the ''Whizzing Arrow''. He eventually [[HeroesWantRedheads falls in love with Eva]].

* FantasticRacism: Jordan is intensely distrustful of aliens. He '''hates''' the Crogs because they attacked his grandfather, William J. Wilde. He also doesn't like the Nourasians [[AssociationFallacy because of their alliance with the Crogs]]... or so he thinks. This aspect ''does'' fade as he gets to know legitimately friendly aliens like Rush [[spoiler: and witnesses one alien pull a HeroicSacrifice to save the heroes. By the end he's fully embraced his role as guardian of the universe and presumably abandons his resentment altogether.]]

* HotBlooded: Jordan's always ready to jump into action and isn't afraid to stand up to monstrous brutes like Groor and Kross.

* ShipTease: With Eva.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Rick is arrogant for sure, but he has a decent heart, especially around Eva/Molly who becomes a surrogate younger sister.