(Note: This blog has been updated and might get updated more from time to time.)
For my first blog of 2015, I want to share with everyone who I think are the best and worst characters in the Thomas series. First, I’ll go over my best characters list.
For this list, every character is eligible; whether they were only featured in the TV series, RWS, spin-offs or movies. Also, these are MY opinions. Please don’t complain about my choices.
Honorable Mentions:
- Gordon, James, Percy and Toby
- Duck
- Donald and Douglas
- Bill and Ben
- Diesel (My favorite villain in the series)
- BoCo
- Daisy
- Mavis
- Stepney
- Skarloey, Sir Handel, Peter Sam, Rusty, Duncan, Freddie, Duke, Mighty Mac and Luke
- Rosie
- Hiro
- Belle and Flynn (The latter may have been a disgrace to real firefighters in Seasons 15 and 16, but he was a lot better in Season 17)
- Paxton
- Timothy
- Gator
- Marion
- Stephen
- Toad (My favorite rolling stock)
- Stanley
- Stafford
- Jack (My favorite pack member)
- Trevor (My favorite road vehicle)
- Sir Robert Norramby (Yes, even human characters count)
Now, here’s the real list:
10. - Culdee
He is the best out of all the Culdee Fell engines and my favorite railway series-only character. His personality is similar to Skarloey. He’s careful, cautious and friendly; and he’s filled with good advice to give to the other engines. I think the new team should adapt the stories from Mountain Engines. They’re exciting and would make great episodes for the TV series. Plus, the mountain engines were only featured in one book, which is a shame because most of them could use a personality expansion (another reason why these stories should be adapted).
9. - Dennis
People say he’s a knock-off of Daisy, but he’s not really because Daisy was only willing to carry passengers and not trucks. Dennis wasn’t willing to do any work (freight or passenger). Also, it only took one episode for Dennis to realize that being lazy and lying your way out of work gets punished and being really useful is better, while it took Daisy two episodes (well, three if you count Bulls Eyes) to learn this. It’s shame that he only starred in one episode because he would have been a great character in some episodes and I also like his basis. However, with his twin, Norman in the series, there could be a chance for Dennis to return.
8. - Porter
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Porter is the kind of character who knows he’s different from others, but doesn’t let it bother him. And when others tease him, he just says “Water off a duck’s back”. It’s the kind of moral that’s good for people of all ages. Plus, he actually had a reason to come to Sodor – to help Salty out at Brendam Docks. Most engines introduced in the past couple years didn’t seem to have much of a purpose to come to Sodor. But that doesn’t necessarily make them bad characters. I think they just need more character development. Anyway, Porter is a great character and I hope he gets more big roles.
7. - Millie
I like Millie mainly because she was the first female narrow gauge engine in the series. Also, she’s a youthful, fun-loving, friendly engine who is full of spirit, and can be fiery when crossed, as well as fair-minded and never spiteful. I feel like that’s a good personality for a female character. All the roles she's had in the series (King of the Railway, The Switch, Millie and the Volcano, etc) have been great. I look forward to seeing her more in the future.
6. - Henry
It was a bit of a toss-up between him and Gordon. But I picked Henry for these things; The Flying Kipper, Henry’s Forest, Henry and the Elephant, Haunted Henry and Super Rescue. Yes, I really like a lot of Henry’s stories. Even some of his episodes in the Miller-era are pretty good, like Henry’s Happy Coal. He may have been arrogant at times (like when he refused to come out of the tunnel and when he went on strike with Gordon and James). But as the series went on, he seemed to become nicer and a bit of a nature lover. Overall, Henry is a great character and my second favorite tender engine.
5. - Rheneas
Gallant Old Engine is what made him my favorite narrow gauge. Rheneas was determined to get his passengers home even with a jammed value gear and he managed to do so. It’s shame that he and Skarloey were screwed up in Seasons 9-12. They’re supposed to be old and wise and yet, the writers made them look young and silly. But there were a few times that Rheneas seemed to be in character. In Missing Cars, he wanted to help his friend, Skarloey when he was tired. And he did seem to be seeking his old personality back in the CGI series. I really hope that he gets an episode sometime in the future.
4. - Oliver
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Some may prefer Duck over him, but I personally like Oliver better mainly because of his backstory. His backstory is about him escaping from scrap which makes him really brave. He also had the kind of personality where he let the other engines' responses to his courage, resource, and sagacity from his amazing recounts of daring escapes and adventures get to his smokebox and then became conceited, which lead him to not listening to the other engines’ warnings about freight cars. Then he learned the hard way about how troublesome they can be (his accident with the turntable well), which lead him to becoming a wiser engine. All this is what makes him a great character and my favorite great western engine.
3. - Edward
Edward, in my opinion, is the kind of character who should be on everyone’s favorite characters list. Why? Well not only was he the very first Thomas character very made, but also he’s kind, wise and was portrayed well in most of his episodes, especially in Edward’s Exploit. In fact, that episode is one of the main reasons why I like him. He even had a few decent episodes in the Miller-era (Edward the Hero and Salty’s Surprise). He’s a great role model for Thomas fans and a fantastic character.
2. - Emily
Emily has been a great character since her first appearance. Her Season 7 and 17-present personality make her a good role model for girls. She may have been bossy in Seasons 8-12, but she was seeking her friendly personality back in Seasons 13-16, and then re-gained it completely in Season 17. However, her bossy side did work in some episodes, like As Good as Gordon and Emily's Adventure, because they had good morals (like be patient and ask politely). I also like her basis. GNR G Stirling Single engines look beautiful to me. Overall, Emily is a great and beautiful character for the show and for the steam team as well.
1. - Thomas
Yep, the number one engine on the NWR is my all-time favorite character. Out of all the characters in the series, Thomas is the one I can relate to most of all. He’s cheeky, but good hearted engine and generally behaves well. And he can sometimes be a bit impatient. Plus, most episodes that I enjoy the most are the ones that he stars in. Examples: Trouble for Thomas, Thomas Saves the Day, Thomas and Bertie’s Great Race, Thomas Comes to Breakfast, Thomas Gets Bumped, Thomas and the Special Letter, Thomas to the Rescue, Thomas and the Birthday Mail, Not So Slow Coaches and Thomas the Quarry Engine. Even some episodes from the Nitrogen-era that he stars in are ones I enjoy (like Thomas and Scruff, Stop That Bus and Express Coming Through). He may have been portrayed as... well, an idiot during that era, but there were times throughout the whole series where he was a good role model. And no matter what, he will always be the character I like the most.
Okay, now I’ll go over my Top 10 worst characters list. These are characters that don’t interest me much or characters I despise.
Like the Top 10 best characters list, every character is eligible no matter where they’re from. And, again, these are MY opinions. So please don’t complain if your favorites aren’t mine. If you like these characters, I respect your opinions. All I ask in return is for you to respect mine.
Honorable Mentions:
- Charlie (As I said before, I lost interest in him after watching Ho Ho Snowman. However, the new team made him better in Season 17 (hence why he’s just an honorable).)
- Ferdinand (Out of all the logging locos, Ferdinand is the one I like the least because all he said about 2/3 of the time was “That’s Right” and leaving most of the talking to Bash and Dash. He should more than just that, which is the reason why I think the new team should use the logging locos.)
- Isabel and Dulcie/Alice and Mirabel (As I said, every character is eligible. The thing about Oliver and Duck’s auto-coaches is that they don’t have much personality. They didn’t even do much the Railway Series. I suppose that if they had made it to the TV Series, they would have been given big roles and personality expansions. But it looks like it’s too late for that to happen with Duck now having slip coaches in the series.)
- Owen/Merrick (Both these guys from the Blue Mountain Quarry didn’t really interest me that much. But I think it’s just that they aren’t really the kind of characters who should have episodes to themselves. They’re basically just the kind of characters who just have small speaking roles in episodes. However, I do prefer Merrick over another crane.)
Now, the real list:
10. - Jeremy
He hardly interested me when his first appeared. He didn’t have much personality and only had one speaking role. Though, I had been hoping that he would have more in the series. But I was disappointed when he only had non-speaking roles. Plus, he’s out of scale (he’s half the height of Thomas and the humans are almost as tall as he is when jet planes are much bigger) and, judging by his look, his pilot would not be able to see out in front. Some of Hit’s characters (even the one-offs) I find to be okay, but Jeremy isn’t really that interesting to me.
9. - Max and Monty
They are two of some villains that I despise. They are always bullying the other pack members and they fight with each other at times which get them into trouble. Even though they scolded by Miss Jenny at times, they still seem to be rude to everyone. I think they should have had the two reform during the Pack spin-off series and have them be good by the end of the series. If they had, they might not be my least favorite pack members.
8. - Burnett Stone
Some might say that he doesn’t really count; but like I said, EVERY character is eligible. This guy was just too depressed and boring throughout most of TATMR. His engine, Lady is okay to me; but Burnett Stone is just not interesting. Until he got Lady to run again, all he did in the movie was just mope about her. I know he's suppose to be upset about what happened; but someone is too upset, it's just not fun to watch. He’s pretty much my least favorite human character in the series overall.
7. - Sixteen
Sixteen just seems a bit of a knock-off of Godred. They’re both rude, they both don’t listen to everyone, they had accidents where they fell down and they were both sent to the sheds without being repaired. The only difference is that Sixteen was bought by some people and Godred was scrapped and his parts were used to mend the other engines. Also, Sixteen’s introduction seemed a bit of a re-write of Percy Takes the Plunge. They both feature an engine wanting to go pass a danger sign and they feature the engines (Sixteen and Percy) asking the trucks to help them. I don’t necessarily hate Christopher Awdry’s stories, but it almost seems to me that he wanted to write his own version of his father’s stories (Another example being Old Stuck-Up/Bowled Out).
6. - Colin
He’s just one of those characters who was only for one episode and isn’t very interesting. Also, it seemed pointless to introduce him, as well as Hank and Flora, in the Season 12 since it was the last season to use models. Couldn’t they have waited until the full CGI series to introduce them? That way they could have used the characters more. But, at least he appeared in another story. He was in the book, James Sorts It Out. If they bring him (and the wharf) back and he gets more screen-time, maybe I’ll reconsider.
5. - Ivo Hugh
Out of all the Railway Series characters, Ivo Hugh is the most pointless one of all in my opinion. Christopher Awdry should have made the whole book, New Little Engines about all about Ivo. But instead, he waits till the last story in the book to feature him and give him no dialogue or personality. What’s more, that was the last RWS book to feature the Skarloey Railway. I mean, if he was only going to appear in one story, why bother creating him? Say what you want about Freddie, but he has personality and way more potential than Ivo Hugh will ever have.
4. - Splatter and Dodge
These two are just goofy sidekicks who did nothing throughout TATMR. Henchmen are supposed to help their boss out with his/her plan. But they did absolutely nothing to help Diesel 10 in the movie. They also were a bit annoying at times. People can say what they want about Bash and Dash, but I actually find those locos to be interesting. Also, it’s never said what happened to Splatter and Dodge after the movie. Were they scrapped? Were they sent away? Did they become part of Sodor? Nobody knows.
3. - The Horrid Lorries
These lorries are villains that I despise the most. They’re rude to the engines and thought that they should be scrapped. Some people think might think we need characters like them, but I don’t because the show already had road vehicles who hate rails; Bulgy and George. And despite what they said about the engines, they’ve shown a good side of them in the series (Bulgy-Bulgy Rides Again and George-Calling All Engines). The Horrid Lorries, on the other hand, seem to go a bit too far with their rudeness towards the engines. And, like most characters, they’re just one-offs.
2. - Thumper
Thumper is a character with 4 nos; no dialogue, no personality, no potential and no backstory. He’s just for toys. And to make it worse, they made six models of him. SIX MODELS! There are plenty of characters who deserve to be in more merchandises than Thumper (like Bear, Pip and Emma, The Arlesdale Railway engines, etc). If they’re going to make merchandises of a character, it should be a character that at least had a decent amount of screentime and had dialogue in their appearances. Thumper didn’t have much screentime or any dialogue and that’s why he’s so pointless to me.
1. - Bertram
He’s yet another S5 character who’s only for toys. I already did a blog explaining my opinion on Bertram. So just see here for details. I’ll just say here that he is the most overrated and pointless character in the whole Thomas and Friends franchise.
Agree or disagree with either list? Leave your thoughts below.