| “ | Thomas is a tank engine who lives at a big station on the Island of Sodor. He's a cheeky little engine with six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler and a short stumpy dome. | „ |
| ~ The narrator introducing Thomas' character to the audience for the first time. |
| “ | Cinders and ashes! | „ |
| ~ Thomas' catchphrase. |
| “ | Little engines can do big things! | „ |
| ~ Thomas in "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" and "The Royal Engine". |
| “ | Diesel: Too bad, Thomas. You can't help your little friend now! Thomas: Yes I CAN, Diesel! |
„ |
| ~ Thomas showing his determination to help Luke to Diesel despite his attempt to undermine him in "Blue Mountain Mystery". |
Thomas the Tank Engine is the titular main protagonist of the long-running British animated series Thomas & Friends (formerly titled Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends), based on the popular series of children's books The Railway Series by Reverend Wilbert Awdry.
He is a cheeky, fussy, little blue LB&SCR E2 based tank engine who often gets into scrapes by being over-eager to do tasks that are best left to more experienced and more sensible engines. However, his chance to prove himself to be a Really Useful Engine came when a red tender engine named James had an accident with some Troublesome Trucks (named Foolish Freight Cars in the US version from series 1-5), and he helped him back on the rails with a breakdown train. As a reward for this heroic act, Sir Topham Hatt (a.k.a. The Fat Controller) gave him two coaches named Annie and Clarabel as well as a branch line of his own called the Ffharquar Branch Line.
In the CGI series, he was voiced by Ben Small from 2009-15 and John Hasler from 2015-21 in the original UK versions, while in the US versions, he was voiced by Martin Sherman from 2009-15 and Joseph May from 2015-21.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Admirable?[]
In General[]
- He shows remorse for most of his reckless actions.
- He cares deeply for his friends (including his own faithful coaches, Annie and Clarabel) on the Island of Sodor, and in general, he can be considered an all-loving hero.
His Heroic Deeds[]
- In The Adventure Begins, he helps Henry overcome his fear of the rain.
- By far his ultimate Goodness Zone crossing was when he tries to save James from getting into an accident (due to his brake blocks being on fire) with his goods train by connecting his coupling to the conductor's shovel from the brake van. He later helped James get back on the rails with the breakdown train after the latter had crashed with the Troublesome Trucks in the cow field. This act is significant because by doing so, he proved himself to be a "really useful engine" in Sir Topham Hatt's eyes.
- He, Toby and Terence the Tractor rescued Mrs. Kyndley from being stuck at home due to being snowed in despite his hatred of snow.
- Following Duck’s own accident at the barber shop in Crosby because of a runaway at the Main Line, Thomas and Percy clear away the trucks and help Duck out of the wrecked barber shop in one of the sidings.
- He, Percy, Harold and Terence helped out some villagers who were snowed under after a severe snowstorm.
- After a storm that hit Cranky the Crane in Brendam Docks, Thomas and Percy helped lift Cranky up, despite him being a jerk to them.
- What’s more is that because of Thomas and Percy, it allows Cranky to save Duck and the three Big Engines from the shed’s roof after a bad storm.
- He and Percy saved Old Slow Coach from being broken up.
- He stopped some runaway trucks from destroying the brand new station of Kellsthorpe Road on the main line.
- He delivered two flatbeds of diesel fuel drums to refuel the Devious Diesel, Mavis, 'Arry and Bert, and Salty, proving that steamies and diesels can be really useful.
- In Calling All Engines, after having a dream involving Lady the Magical Engine and Rusty the Little Diesel working together, he convinces Mavis, who in turn convinces the other diesels (including Diesel 10) that steam engines and diesel engines must work together in order to save the new airport.
- He saves Neville the New Engine from falling off a collapsing bridge and apologizes for being rude to him after hearing rumors that he was in cahoots with 'Arry and Bert.
- He stands up to Hector the Horrid, who initially refused to be loaded under the coal.
- In The Great Discovery, he helps Stanley restore the abandoned town of Great Waterton to its former glory.
- In Hero of the Rails, after finding a very ancient engine by the name of Hiro, he fights tooth and nail to save him from being scrapped.
- In Misty Island Rescue, he saves Diesel from falling off the unfinished bridge when he took the flatbeds of logs Sodor Search and Rescue Centre even when Diesel was told not to.
- In Day of the Diesels, he helps Percy stop Diesel 10 and the evil diesels from taking over the Sodor Steamworks. He also helps restore the Vicarstown Dieselworks, showing that he has abandoned his prejudice towards diesels.
- In Blue Mountain Mystery, he puts himself at risk by going on the Narrow Gauge engines' track to prove Luke's innocence when the latter accidentally knocked Victor into the sea, even though it is revealed Victor is alive and well.
- In King of the Railway, he rescues Stephen from an abandoned mine shaft.
- In Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, he stops Sailor John from stealing Sodor's lost treasure. Early in the film, he also saves Ryan from being blown up by a truck carrying dynamite, though unfortunately, it gets him in trouble as Sir Topham Hatt thought he was trying to cause chaos.
- In Journey Beyond Sodor, he saves James from being enslaved by Hurricane and Frankie and redeeming the both latters by fulfilling their insecurities of being overworked by suggesting that the Experimental Engines should help them out in the Steelworks despite claiming they are incapable of working.
- In Big World! Big Adventures!, he saves Nia from falling off the Himalayan cliff edge. He also shows remorse over making her think he wasn't her friend due to being toxically influenced by Ace.
- He saves Sonny from being a runaway, as well as Kenji from being kidnapped by both Baz and Bernie when they try to kidnap the futuristic plans from Ruth at The Technology Fair in Ulfstead Castle.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He has multiple moments of being mischievous and cheeky that are too much in line with his character, as demonstrated when he often likes to tease and play tricks on the other engines, namely Gordon.
- While this has lessened as the series progressed, this corrupting quality is never truly subverted.
- However, later seasons have him showing remorse and/or apologizing for his mischievous actions.
- While this has lessened as the series progressed, this corrupting quality is never truly subverted.
- Like some members of the Steam Team (excluding Toby and Edward), he has several moments where he can be a jerk, such as the season 2 episode "Better Late Than Never" where he berates Henry and James for his own passenger train being late, even though it was due to construction work being done on the viaduct in the Main Line, and most infamously in the other season 2 episode "Woolly Bear" where he calls Percy an "ugly, green caterpillar with red stripes" and later mocks him after seeing him covered in hay.
- What makes this even worse is that even though Percy is Thomas' best friend, Thomas had no qualms of abusing or insulting him from time to time.
- In one of his other infamous acts, he berates Henry for being a poor steamer and states that he's "too fat" (“slow” in the U.S. dub) and needs "exercise" when he comes in late with his passenger train when he was still in his old shape, even though Thomas was the one who took pity on him and helped him overcome his fear of the rain and yet Thomas took no pity on his other insecurities.
- Although he cares for Annie and Clarabel (his coaches), that doesn't stop him from mistreating them occasionally, especially when he does not listen to them when they try to warn him to go slow while on his Branch line while taking his passenger trains.
- Then again, his jerkish behavior is nowhere near as bad as Gordon, James, and to some extent, Henry (series 1 to 2, 5 only) for that matter.
- What makes this even worse is that even though Percy is Thomas' best friend, Thomas had no qualms of abusing or insulting him from time to time.
- He was extremely arrogant and egotistical in his early appearances, as he believed that no engine works as hard as he did. It was even worse when he was given his own Branch Line, as he constantly berates engines like Henry or Percy for being late.
- While this has diminished as the series progressed, he still slightly retained these traits from time to time, such as the episode "Thomas and the Billboard", where he wanted to have most of the spotlight.
- Additionally, he states that he doesn't always need advice from other engines or Sir Topham Hatt and thinks he knows better, which results in him causing disasters or get into accidents from time to time.
- He can be irresponsible and careless at times, such as in "Wonky Whistle" where he didn't wait to get his whistle fixed and rushed off immediately when the workers were still fixing it, almost injuring them and scares the animals away with his broken whistle.
- While he did start off being more mature and wise in the classic era (series 1-7) he lost most of his maturity as the series continued to the point he sometimes doesn't take his job too seriously when ever he's doing normal jobs (series 9-12 and the Miller Era).
- He is semi-hypocritical at times, as in Misty Island Rescue, he showed prejudice towards Diesel by xenophobically stating that he can't be useful because he's a diesel engine when the latter wanted to take the logs to the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre despite Diesel not posing a threat to him in any way.
- Although he did end up subverting this at the end of the film, this is far too hypocritical on his part considering he was nice to other diesels like Daisy, Mavis, and Salty for a matter, and even in one of the episodes before the film of him proofing the steamies and diesels can be useful together.
Trivia[]
- His Railway Series and All Engines Go counterparts do not qualify as Inconsistently Admirable due to them not having enough admirable acts to make them stand out.
- It's unknown if his TATMR and his upcoming Marc Forster film counterparts would qualify as Inconsistently Admirable as well.
- He is the only character in Thomas & Friends to be Inconsistently Admirable.
- He, Wonder Red and Ms. O are currently the only PBS kids characters to be Inconsistently Admirable.
External Links[]
- Thomas the Tank Engine on the Heroes Wiki
- Thomas the Tank Engine on the Love Exalted Wiki
- Thomas the Tank Engine on the Thomas the Tank Engine Wiki
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 Inconsistently Admirable
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Thomas the Tank Engine | Wonder Red | Horrid Henry | Ms. O | ||