| “ | That engine can't even puff properly! | „ |
| ~ Spencer |
| “ | Is this what you've been doing Thomas? Making a heap of scrap for the smelters yard? Because that's the only thing that this engine's good for, Sir Topham Hatt will make sure of that! | „ |
| ~ Spencer |
Spencer is a major antagonist in Thomas & Friends. He was introduced as a minor antagonist in the original model series before appearing as the main antagonist of the film Hero of the Rails and a supporting character in the CGI series.
He was voiced by Matt Wilkinson in the UK and Glenn Wrage in the US.
Biography[]
During his first visit to Sodor, Spencer took the Duke and Duchess of Boxford on a trip around Sodor. He ignored Gordon's warnings about taking on water and thus ran out on Gordon's Hill; however, he blamed the incident on a leaky tank and had to rely on Gordon to take him to Maron.
Upon his next visit, Spencer challenged Edward to a race and maintained a lead for the majority of the race, but vainly fell asleep while the Duke and Duchess stopped to take photos and lost to Edward after Edward got onto the summer house branch line first.
Spencer has since developed a rivalry with Thomas, with the latter often trying to outshine Spencer - largely without success.
Spencer returned to Sodor to help build a new summer house for the Duke and Duchess of Boxford, much to the annoyance of all the engines. First, he insulted the other steam engines - especially Thomas by calling him a "toy tank engine", which as a result they had a competition of strength. However, Spencer neglected to build the new summer house when he became suspicious about Thomas, thinking he was being a tricky tank engine, and ended up getting slate down his funnel at the quarry after being tricked by Mavis.
When Spencer discovered Percy's mail vans (insisting that Thomas was hiding them from Percy), he got into trouble with Sir Topham Hatt, who thought that Spencer was the one hiding them. In actuality, Percy had left them on a siding while he assisted Thomas in restoring an old lost engine named Hiro.
Having long been suspicious of the engines’ activities, Spencer finally learned about Hiro and was disgusted that he was being restored. He chased after Hiro in order to wear him down so much that he literally fell apart. While Spencer’s efforts to scrap Hiro were thwarted for the time being, he set back the restoration effort significantly. When his owners arrived for their holiday, they learned that Spencer had refused to do his work in favor of going after Hiro, and they reprimanded him for needing to be helped by Thomas.
Thomas departed the summer house and headed to Knapford to tell Sir Topham Hatt about Hiro. Spencer, seeking revenge for being humiliated, chased after Thomas a second time, but was too heavy to go over a wooden bridge and ended up derailing. As punishment for his behavior, he was left there for the entire time that Hiro was being restored. After being rescued by Hiro, Spencer apologized to Thomas and Hiro and they all worked together to finish the summer house.
Sir Robert Norramby borrowed Spencer as his private engine during the restoration of Ulfstead Castle. He transported the Earl around and much to his embarrassment, had to pull some stones for the job. During that time, he attempted to have races with Gordon, but when the two met Connor and Caitlin during one of their runs, they called off the race. After the restoration was complete, Connor, Caitlin, Gordon and Spencer had another race from Ulfstead's grounds.
When Stephen needed to get to Ulfstead Castle quickly, Spencer pushed him. However, he sought to humiliate Stephen and pushed him so hard that he nearly crashed upon reaching the castle.
Spencer brought a VIP from the Mainland to present the Fat Controller with an award. Due to showing off, he ended up on Edward's Branch Line. Once he finally arrived at Knapford, the Deputy Minister crossly announced that he would not travel back to the Mainland with Spencer. Throughout the day, as the other engines were showing off, Spencer felt sorry for himself and wished he had done his work properly. He learned from his mistake and successfully brought the Deputy Minister back to Sodor the following day.
One day, Spencer was travelling through Henry's Tunnel and almost ran into Thomas, who was hiding in the tunnel pretending to be a made-up engine called Geoffrey, to trick the Fat Controller. In winter, he had to stay on Sodor because the Vicarstown Bridge was blocked with snow. He teased Henry by telling him he might see an abominable snowman. But when the two engines saw something covered in snow walking towards them, Spencer tried to run away, but his valves became blocked. Luckily, it was only the Fat Controller, who had gotten into trouble in the snow. Later, Spencer had to take the Duke and Duchess to Callan Castle, when his valve gear had snapped and broke down, so Thomas, Bertie and Harold had to take the Duke and Duchess to Callan Castle instead.
Spencer would then go on to participate in the the Great Railway Show where he served as a UK representative and competed in The Great Race event against Gordon and Flying Scotsman, as well as Axel and Etienne. He came in second place, narrowly losing to Etienne.
On New Year's Eve, Spencer was to take guests to Callan Castle. He decided to take platform 1 and Gordon went on platform 2, but they got the wrong coaches. The passengers got upset and Gordon and Spencer had to take the express passengers to the stations they had missed. They later apologised and watched the fireworks together, seemingly putting an end to their bitter rivalry for good.
Personality[]
Spencer is very arrogant, snobby, selfish, greedy, egotistical, bossy and pompous and considers himself to be above doing menial duties such as shunting. He is very proud of his speed. Although the engines on Sodor were impressed by him when he first arrived on Sodor, due to the fact that he would later belittle them, the engines grew to hate him, especially Thomas and Gordon.
Spencer is notably the only steam engine in the series to be truly bad. Most steam engines have a sense of camaraderie because they have been replaced by diesels everywhere except Sodor, but Spencer does not share their sympathy and is more than willing to scrap others of his own kind, as he believes he is better than them. When Hiro was discovered by Thomas, Spencer became obsessed with getting Hiro (and the others, if necessary) scrapped.
When he came to build the summer house, Spencer proved himself to be very nosy, sneaky, disobedient and rather neglectful. He cared far more about getting petty revenge on Thomas than actually getting his work done, eventually abandoning his work entirely.
Gordon and Spencer strongly dislike each other. This is mainly because of his pompous behaviour, which exceeds even that of Gordon's—whereas Gordon does not let his ego completely consume him, Spencer does. His arrogance has also shown that he is not willing to take advice from other engines, which only results in him needing help from those he shrugs off.
However, he is not completely without morals; he owned up when he realized his mistakes, especially when reprimanded by the Duke and Duchess or the Fat Controller for causing trouble. This side once came through when he helped Percy find his way home to Tidmouth Sheds. Despite his pompousness, he ultimately wants to be really useful just like all the other locomotives.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Sir Nigel Gresley † - designer
- Gordon - cousin
- The Flying Scotsman - cousin
- Mallard - brother
- Green Arrow - cousin
- Ryan - cousin
Allies[]
- Thomas (sometimes)
- Gordon (sometimes)
- Percy (sometimes)
- Mavis
- Whiff
- Hiro - Attempted victim turned friend
- Victor
- Kevin
- Stafford
- Connor
- Caitlin
- Flying Scotsman
- Axel
- Etienne
- Philip
Enemies[]
- Thomas - nemesis
- Edward
- Henry
- Gordon - arch-rival
- James
- Percy
- Toby
- Emily
- Mavis (formerly)
- Hiro (formerly) - Attempted victim
- Victor (sometimes)
- Stephen
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- On the Steamies vs. Diesels DVD, Spencer is mistakenly called a diesel, even though he is a steam engine. This is because in the game, Spencer says he does not have a whistle but has a horn instead. However, his picture clearly shows him having a whistle.
- Spencer's whistle is a stock sound effect of a GWR whistle.
- Even though Spencer's tender wheels are black, most merchandise ranges have them blue-grey/metallic silver, excluding Tomy, TrackMaster and Bachmann.
- Spencer's Hornby model incorrectly features him with black wheels. All other merchandise models have him with correct silver wheels.
- In his The Great Race Meet the Contenders promotional video, it states he is the holder of the world speed record for steam locomotives. In the actual special, it is stated that he is a former world record holder.
- Spencer is the first steam engine to be the main antagonist in a special, the special being Hero of the Rails.
- At many Day Out with Thomas events, Spencer has Mavis' face.
- In the nineteenth series, he gained two LNER style headlamps.
- Spencer's design is based on an LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard.
- Spencer's classic theme is a musical variation of Coronation Scot's theme composed by Vivian Ellis.
- Spencer is one of only two characters to have bronze buffers, then gain silver ones; the other is Emily.
- Fitting his position as a chauffeur, Spencer's name has been affiliated with several fictional characters with similar positions.
- Oddly enough, Spencer was unable to outrun Thomas as in real life, an A4 would be much faster than an E2.
- In the magazine's fact files, it is stated that Spencer and Gordon are cousins.
External Links[]
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 Villains
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