Classic Era: The Need for Speed | Porsche Unleashed
Black Box Era: Underground (1 and 2) | Most Wanted (2005) | Carbon (Main Version | Own the City) | ProStreet | Undercover
Autolog Era: Shift (Shift PSP version and Shift 2: Unleashed) | Nitro | The Run | Rivals
2014 film adaptation
Ghost Games Era: (2015) | Payback | Heat
New Criterion Era: Unbound
The characters of the Need for Speed game Need for Speed: Nitro.
This Denser and Wackier installment features five of the top street racers from around the world, each representing their home nation's diversity and culture.
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Top Racers
In General
All of the 5 top racers during the loading screen.
A collective term for top-ranked street racers in different countries. Each driver has three cars with three different classes.- Badass Driver: Natch.
- Boss Subtitles: Every
top racer has this, also stating in the title as the #1 Racer (in their respective country's language). All in graffiti. - City of Adventure: The races they go for take place in capitals, aside from Singapore which is a city-island nation. Also, Dubai and Rio are the first and second-largest cities in their countries respectively.
- Cool Shades: All the bosses sport some nice-looking sunglasses. Except for Omar. Thiago only takes his specks off during the Loading Screen as pictured here.
Thiago
Piloto no 1
Car: Volkswagen Type 2 (Bronze Cup), Dodge Charger R/T (1969) (Silver Cup), Dodge Challenger SRT8 (Gold Cup)
"Rule number one: You've got to be fast."
The Top Racer in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
His culture represents the affinity for soccer, which reasons why he displayed his excellent soccer skills with his sandal.
- Badass Driver: In the opening intro of Nitro, Thiago shows some improbable drifting techniques. He even drifted through the roadblock without a scratch!
- Black and Nerdy: He is big into soccer.
- Camera Abuse: Thiago kicks his sandal like a football towards the screen.
- The Glasses Come Off: Because he wore sunglasses in the opening scene, the glasses were taken off during the Loading Screen.
- Improbable Sports Skills: In his opening scene, he plays with his sandal using his foot, just like a football.
- Macho Latino: Brazilian and very buff.
- Phenotype Stereotype: A stereotypical olive-skinned Brazilian football-addict street racer.
- Unusable Enemy Equipment: His Dodge Challenger in the Gold Cup is the only car that can't be unlocked and used in Arcade and Career mode.
- What a Piece of Junk: For the Bronze Cup, Thiago uses an old Volkswagen Type 2 kombi.
Omar
1الراسرة
Car: Volkswagen Beetle 1200 (Bronze Cup), Porsche Cayenne Turbo S (957) (Silver Cup), Lamborghini Gallardo (2006) (Gold Cup)
"You think you're fast? Then you haven't been to Cairo."
The Top Racer of Cairo, Egypt.
His culture represents the good creativity and adaptability in the extremely hot weather, which reasons why he makes use of his car as an improvised electric fan to cool him off.
- Big Fun: He looks fat, but fun.
- The Engineer: He fixes his old Volkswagen Beetle for races.
- Foil: To Jawad. Both are of Middle Eastern origins, but whereas Omar is a Big Fun who does have creativity in fixing old cars, while Jawad is an Eccentric Millionaire who's prideful of his own.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Need to say more?
- Stout Strength: He may be fat, but he is skilled behind the wheel, with his weight showing no effect. Just imagine Neville as an Egyptian.
- Unusable Enemy Equipment: Like Thiago, Omar's Lamborghini Gallardo in the Gold Cup is the only car that can't be unlocked and used in Arcade and Career mode.
- What a Piece of Junk: For the Bronze Cup, Omar uses an old Volkswagen Beetle. As mentioned above, it makes a fancy makeshift fan, showing that the Beetle sure has its capabilities.
Luis
1er Corredor
Car: Hummer H2 SUT (Bronze Cup), Shelby GT500 (1967) (Silver Cup), Audi R8 4.2 FSI Quattro (42) (Gold Cup)
"When the policía gets on my case, I don't sweat it too much."
The Top Racer of Madrid, Spain.
His culture represents the elegance, perfection and style, which reasons why he was showing off some striking matador poses.
- Bird-Poop Gag: While striking a nice matador pose in his opening scene, a crow off-screen takes a dump on the bonnet of his Audi R8. He immediately washes it off... in style.
- Dashing Hispanic: He is Hot-Blooded and hails from Spain.
- Gratuitous Spanish: That one liner he said from the quote above injected one Spanish word.
- Hummer Dinger: He has a Hummer for Bronze Cup.
- Narcissist: An elegant racer who is also The Perfectionist? Natch.
- Toros y Flamenco: A stereotypical Spanish matador street racer.
Zarinah
#1 Racer
Car: Toyota Corolla GT-S (AE86) (Bronze Cup), Nissan 370Z (Z34, 2009) (Silver Cup), Ford GT (Gen 1.) (Gold Cup), OTHERS*
"You drift around the corner, hit the Nitro and bam! You own it, baby!"
The Top Racer of Singapore.
Her culture represents the good life in the bustling city, which reasons why she shows off her tech and her stylish clothes.
- Asian and Nerdy: She's quite a knowledgeable office lady and a street racer.
- Cool Car: Her signature car is a modified Nissan 370Z. She later switches to the Ford GT for the Gold Cup.
- Instant Costume Change: Her opening has her shutting down her laptop and immediately changes from her office attire into an attractive looking racing gear.
- Ms. Fanservice: Zarinah is very attractive, especially her showing off her beautiful red dress.
- Pink Means Feminine: Not just Zarinah herself dressed in pink, but even all of her cars are painted in pink (with some purple accents which is also another color of femininity.)
- Rich Bitch: Downplayed. Zarinah lives in a country with one of the highest GDP per capita, despite not displaying the much arrogance, as oppose Natalia Nova in Payback.
- The Smurfette Principle: The only female character among the four other street racers.
- What a Piece of Junk: She drives an AE86 Corolla if you go for Bronze Cup.
Jawad
1الراسرة
Car: Tesla Roadster (2006) (Bronze Cup), Porsche Cayman S (987) (Silver Cup), Lamborghini Reventon (Gold Cup)
"You're here for the money? Take all you want, but you'll never take my championship title!"
The Top Racer of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
His culture represents the wealth and power of the country, which reasons why he throws money towards the screen as a symbol of Pride.
- Beard of Evil: More like Beard of Arrogance.
- Camera Abuse: As a way of showing his arrogant pride, Jawad first drives his Reventon towards the screen and performs some donuts that covers it with dusty smoke. The icing of the cake was Jawad emerging from the dust and showering cash money in front the screen.
- Crystal Spires and Togas: He lives in Dubai, which is this trope.
- Green Aesop: Drives a Tesla Roadster if you pick the Bronze Cup.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Ryo Watanabe of ProStreet. Both are cocky, arrogant racers of Asian origins whom the players face in respective games, but while Ryo is a Hot-Blooded Jerk Jock who taunts Ryan Cooper at the beginning of the game, Jawad is an Eccentric Millionaire who constantly brags himself about his fortunes, and also partakes in illegal street racing, unlike Ryo's sanctioned racing paths.
- Emerging from the Shadows: Perhaps "emerging from the dust" is much more appropriate. Jawad rises from the clouds of smoke after performing several donuts with his Reventon.
- Foil: To Omar. Both are of Middle Eastern origins, but whereas Omar is a Big Fun who does have creativity in fixing old cars, while Jawad is an Eccentric Millionaire who's prideful of his own.
- Improbably Cool Car: Natch, you'll face his Lamborghini Reventon in Gold Cup. In a plus, the Reventon is his signature car.
- In the Hood: He wears a keffiyeh, displaying his arrogance.
- Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: He's a rich Arabian, but he's arrogant.
