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“ | Your worthy Sir Topham Hatt thinks I need to learn. He is mistaken. We diesels don't need to learn; we know everything. We come to a yard and improve it. We are revolutionary! | „ |
~ Diesel showing his supremacy for diesels, "Pop Goes the Diesel", second season of Thomas & Friends. |
“ | My plan is to make you look like a truck, one of my trucks so that I look like I'm pulling a very, very heavy train all by myself! If The Fat Controller thinks I'm stronger than Henry, he'II take me to The Great Railway Show instead of him! (cackles) | „ |
~ Diesel revealing his plan to disguise Paxton, Den and Dart in crates as trucks to make the Fat Controller think he's stronger than Henry so that he can go to The Great Railway Show. |
Diesel, also known as Devious Diesel, is the main antagonist of the Thomas & Friends franchise.
He is a diesel shunting locomotive who constantly antagonizes the inhabitants of the Island of Sodor and causes trouble for the steam engines, primarily to prove that diesel engines are superior. His design is based on the British Rail Class 08. He is also Duck's arch-nemesis and Thomas' second archenemy after Diesel 10 despite appearing before him.
In the first twelve seasons, he was, like all characters, voiced by the narrator, a role assumed at various times by Ringo Starr, Alec Baldwin, Michael Brandon, the late George Carlin, and the late Michael Angelis. In the CGI series, he is voiced by Brandon in the US dub of seasons 13-16 and Martin Sherman (who also voices Thomas and Percy) in seasons 17 and 18. In the UK dub, he is voiced by Kerry Shale (who also voices Arry), whose voice was also used in the US dub of season 19 onwards.
In the reboot All Engines Go, he is voiced by Henry Harrison in the UK and Shomoy James Mitchell in the US.
Personality[]
Unlike many of the show's designated "antagonists", who were merely rude or bullying, Diesel was very much like a more traditional antagonist and was always thinking up ways to cause trouble for Thomas and his friends. He was also known to be Duck's archenemy in the original series as well as Thomas' in later series. Diesel likes to bully steam locomotives, which he hates and wants to become obsolete. He likes to talk to the Troublesome Trucks and tell them to do bad things. He also abuses the trucks sometimes.
Although Diesel wants to prove that diesel engines are better than steam engines and made them miserable, on occasion Diesel has been shown to help the steam engines. Despite his oily personality and malicious attitude, Diesel does want to prove he is a really useful engine. It appears Diesel has a good side in him but one would still have to look deep to find it.
In All Engines Go, Diesel is portrayed as a young engine, and his negative attributes are heavily toned down. He remains competitive, ill-behaved, and rude, but rarely (if ever) has genuinely bad intentions.
Biography[]
TV series[]
When Diesel first arrived, he was "on trial" and Duck had to show him around the island. Diesel boasted to Duck that diesels were revolutionary and didn't need to learn, so Duck left him to it. This boasting led to his own undoing when later that day, Diesel pulled the wrong trucks out of a siding, causing a great mess and was soon made of a laughing stock by the other trucks. Furious with Duck, Diesel began telling mean-spirited lies in an effort to get rid of him. He initially succeeded but was soon found out and sent away in disgrace.
In the TV series episode "Diesel Does It Again", much to the shock and dismay of Duck and Percy, Diesel returned, having been given a second chance by Sir Topham Hatt, to help them at Brendam Harbour. But the two tank engines refused to work with Diesel, forcing him to do all the work on alone, and as a result, the work piled up as the cargo and passengers were delayed on the quay. People soon started complaining about the railway. When Sir Topham Hatt confronted Duck and Percy, they explained their actions. Sir Topham Hatt told the two that he has to give Diesel a second chance as he was the only engine available and is trying to help Percy and Duck out by bringing him to the harbour. The two engines went back to work. However, Diesel started to cause trouble for the railway. After pushing some china clay trucks through a pair of insecure buffers and into the sea, that was the last straw. A very displeased Sir Topham Hatt scolded Diesel severely for the incident and was sent away again, leaving a content Duck and Percy to carry on with their work without further mishap.
Diesel returned as a last resort when Henry had an accident with some troublesome trucks. He tried to pull a long line of trucks from a siding only to snap the coupling and fly off into a barge. Sir Topham Hatt was furious and sent him away yet again.
Diesel returned to help Fergus at the cement works and told him that Sir Topham Hatt wanted him to work at the smelters yard. Diesel's plan did work but was not sent back this time round. Since then, it has been presumed that Diesel has become a permanent resident of the Sodor railway. Diesel has also been given more duties at the quarry. Diesel pushed Thomas under a hopper but then broke down when he took on some bad fuel and surprisingly thanked Thomas for his good deed. He told Gordon that he would be scrapped when Gordon started to squeak and rattle. But Gordon was repaired soon after.
Calling All Engines![]
In "Calling All Engines", Diesel, Arry and Bert were assigned to rebuild Tidmouth Sheds. However, they three were quite rude to Thomas and Percy, so Thomas (not knowing their important job) decided to play tricks on them, like giving Diesel bananas. As a result, the steamies had to sleep across the island, this caused the steam and Diesel engines to give each other the silent treatment and made Thomas said. When he was to shunt a bridge section into place, Diesel told Thomas he was too weak, but a determined Thomas proved himself and got the job done. Diesel, now furious with Thomas and jealous that he was getting all the good jobs, swore revenge on him. Thomas had to collect paint for the bridge but Diesel purposely banged into Thomas' paint cars which caused a big mess. This was the beginning of a huge fight breaking out out on the railway soon after and Sir Topham Hatt was cross with everyone. Knowing that important jobs were to be done, Thomas convinced the steam engines and diesels including Diesel, Arry and Bert to team up with the steam engines. Diesel was very surprised when Thomas decided to work with Diesel 10, once all the jobs were finished, everyone made amends.
Despite the fact that the diesels had made up with the steam engines, Diesel reverted back to his old ways after the movie. Diesel told Thomas about the curse of the cliffs to scare him out of doing an important job and when Diesel had to work with Thomas in taking flower to the bakery on Halloween night, Diesel made spooky noises to scare Thomas but was soon paid back when Thomas covered himself in flour and scared Diesel.
Once Gordon was given his very own special coaches but Diesel stole them out of revenge because no one know about his record of shunting more trucks in one day than any other engine on Sodor. Emily eventually tracked him down and saw that his engine was breaking down and gave him a new one. Diesel was surprised and apologized to Gordon and Emily soon after for the trouble he caused.
Thomas had to take some stinky cheese across Sodor and tried to avoid Diesel, Arry and Bert because he knew they would tease him about it. After arriving at the docks, Diesel called Thomas a stinky steamie but had to shunt the stinky cheese on the boat.
Diesel was taking part in being placed on a billboard but when the photographer asked him to move forward, Diesel rolled in front of Thomas by accident. Once Thomas saw this, he thought Diesel did it on purpose and tried to get the photographer to take another picture without Diesel. But Diesel found out about this and confessed that it wasn't his fault and Thomas apologized to him. This is one of the very few times Diesel is accused of something he didn't do. In a later episode of the same season, Diesel challenged Thomas to a race across the quarry going backwards only to cause chaos and work not to get done.
Diesel laughed at James when he was painted pink and stole special logs needed to build the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre, which resulted in Thomas chasing him down. Diesel found himself going towards the edge of an unfinished bridge putting his life in danger. Thomas soon caught up and saved him. Diesel thanked Thomas for his heroic act.
One morning after a storm, Diesel became jealous of the other engines because they all had important jobs to do. Diesel offered to do their jobs to make himself look good but was only useful when he ended up doing his own job.
When a new fire engine named Belle arrived, Thomas took an interest in her which caused Percy to get lonely. Diesel manipulated Percy to come to the Dieselworks and once there, Percy saw Diesel 10, who pretended to take Percy under his wing. Diesel was one of the many diesels who took over the Steamworks but once the Dieselworks was repaired, the diesels apologized for their wrong doings.
Diesel also teased Flynn for standing around doing nothing, told Percy a calliope would be sent for scrap and antagonized Gordon when he needed new buffers.
Blue Mountain Mystery[]
In "Blue Mountain Mystery", a young narrow gauge engine named Luke was hiding and Diesel found out about him. Diesel tried to have him sent away but was reprimanded by The Fat Controller for making false assumptions.
Diesel teased Stephen for being old, biffing and bashing Hiro with some Troublesome Trucks, played a trick on Paxton, tried to frame Thomas and Mavis for an accident with some Troublesome Trucks and teased Samson about how the tank engine got lost when he first came to Sodor.
Diesel tricked Percy into going to an old quarry so that he could do Percy's job of picking up the mayor to take him to a ceremony and get into the front picture of the newspaper and covered Paxton in a cloud of black smoke from his engine, leaving Paxton's face covered in black spots.
The Great Race[]
In "The Great Race", Diesel wanted to go to The Great Railway Show, but the Fat Controller was extremely hesitant and skeptical. To prove himself, Diesel had crates put over Den, Dart and Paxton so that they would resemble trucks and put them in a long train. When the Fat Controller was in the final stages of choosing who would go to the show, Diesel would then demonstrate how strong he was by pulling the train, while in reality, Den, Dart and Paxton would be doing most of the work. However, his unusual train was blocking any way into Knapford Station Yard. Thomas was coupled to the train both so that he could get into the station and so that he could prove himself worthy to go to the show by shunting. The diesels hear Thomas's whistle and thought it was Diesel's horn, so they began pushing, much to Diesel's horror.
Later, Diesel confronted his lackeys about the incident and nearly forced Dart off the Dieselworks turntable, but instead made Dart bump into Happy Hook, sending a crate down on him. Diesel later escaped to Brendam Docks and Den, Dart and Paxton continued to hunt him down, only for Cranky to load him onto a ship bound for the mainland by accident. He somehow managed to return to Sodor eventually.
Later, Diesel bumps Daisy, resulting in her springs being sprung and she had to go to the Dieselworks for repairs and every time he heard the engines talking about Daisy, he thought they're blaming him and got cross though they didn't know it. He later spread rumors between Daisy and Harvey about being more useful than each other due to their differences as a diesel railcar and a crane engine, though it backfired when they become friends after helping each other out, much to his fury, though it also got him rolling down the ramp and into the sea to which Harvey rescues him, despite his bad treatment. During St Valentine's Day, Diesel then bumps Rosie at the docks and embarrasses her and Thomas by teasing them of being romantically involved with each other, along with Bill and Ben.
Diesel tricked Rebecca, the newest member of The Steam Team into doing the other diesels' jobs badly to get them into trouble instead of him. She took Paxton's fruit and vegetables to The Blue Mountain Quarry instead of the market, took Sidney's steel to Ulfstead Castle, Philip's parts to Farmer McColl's farm and Norman's stone to Vicarstown. Despite that Diesel do his jobs without doing anything wrong all day, his trick is found out when Millie told Rebecca that the castle needs stone, not steel and Rebecca told The Fat Controller and the diesels about the mix ups which results The Fat Controller to get cross at Diesel for his trick. Foiled again, Diesel complains that he's in trouble again even when he hasn't done anything wrong today or so he thought. After hearing Nia and Paxton saying that he's not reliable, Diesel decided to pay them back by painting in green glow in the dark paint and get them to find him at the Blue Mountain Quarry, hiding in a tunnel, though Nia and Paxton soon find out his trick and use it against him by having the same glow paint on them and told him off for not doing his jobs for two whole days which makes Diesel fearfully agrees to do so, though when he finds out about their trick by overhearing Nia and Paxton doing spooky voices the next day, he was stunned and moans about being foiled again.
When a well tank engine named Sonny is being distrustful by the other engines because of his past as a thief with Baz and Bernie despite being given a second chance by The Fat Controller to stay on Sodor, Diesel took advantage of this by pretending to be his friend and trick him into doing his jobs for him. Thomas tries to warn Sonny that Diesel can't be trusted but he didn't believe him. Later on, however when he pull fish trucks to Ffarquhar, he overheard Diesel talking to Percy about his trick, making him realize that Thomas was telling the truth. He confronted Diesel for his actions and puff off. Diesel tries to follow him but accidentally derailed himself off the tracks and hang over a pit. Despite his trickery, Sonny change his mind and save Diesel from falling in, though derailing his fish trucks in the progress. The Fat Controller arrived and seeing the derailed trucks, plans to send Sonny back but Diesel admitted that the accident was really his fault and that Sonny saved him. Entreated by this, The Fat Controller told Sonny that looking after his fellow engines is more important than being Really Useful and by rescuing Diesel despite the trouble he caused, he has proven himself to be reliable and trustworthy and following his heroic actions, Sonny was officially accepted by the other engines.
When Thomas dressed up as a monkey, Diesel made fun of him, finding it very humorous which made Thomas feel embarrassed.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
- Diesel 10 - Boss and Leader
- Arry and Bert - Best Friends and Henchmen
- Sonny - Victim turned friend
- Daisy - Victim turned friend
- Harvey - Attempted victim turned friend
- Den and Dart (formerly) - Henchmen
- Paxton (formerly) - Unwilling Henchman
Enemies[]
- Duck - Arch-nemesis and victim
- Thomas - Arch-nemesis and victim
- Percy - Victim
- Henry - Rival
- Luke - Attempted victim
- Rebecca - Victim
Trivia[]
- Like in The Railway Series, Diesel was also the first diesel engine to be introduced in the television series.
- In some merchandise lines, Diesel is referred to as "Devious Diesel". It was not until the seventh series episode, Fergus Breaks the Rules that he was referred to by this name on-screen.
- Though on the Thomas & Friends bible pitch from March 2003, Diesel is incorrectly listed as two separate characters, Diesel and Devious Diesel.
- Between the thirteenth and sixteenth series, Diesel was the only character from the model series to still be voiced by the narrator in the CGI Series. However, this was only in the US dub.
- Diesel has travelled at well over his basis' top speed of 15 miles per hour on numerous occasions in the television series.
- Up until the thirteenth series, Diesel was female in the Greek dub.
- According to the magazines and the DVD Bingo game, it reveals that Diesel and Bulgy are good friends.
- Nathan Clarke did an audio sample for Diesel on his DAA Management Page.
- Not counting deleted scenes, the fifth series is the only series that Diesel does not appear in after his introduction in the second series,
- Diesel is Ringo Starr's favourite character.
- Diesel is frequently referenced as a metaphor for villains by the character, Lemon, in the 2022 action comedy film, Bullet Train.
External Links[]
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