Characters / Vigilante 8

The characters from Vigilante 8 and its sequel.

Vigilantes

Convoy

• Big Badass Rig: In all games. He even gets a trailer to boot in Vigilante 8: Second Offense, and has the best armor in this game.
• Big Good: He's the leader of the Vigilantes.
• Cool Old Guy: One of the oldest characters in the series, and the leader of the heroes.
• Cowboy: Not specifically, but he wears the hat and the boots, uses the lingo, and even speaks with a noticeable Southern drawl.
  This cowboy's still got it.
  I ain't ready for Boot Hill!
  Circle the wagons, here I come!
• Disney Death: In the second game, he is killed by Slick Clyde, but resurrected when Houston goes back in time to turn the tables.
• Happily Married: To Houston as of the second game.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Sheila's in-game biography in 2nd Offense mentions that her uncle Convoy "ruled the household with an iron fist."
• Visual Pun: Convoy dresses, talks, and acts like a stereotypical cowboy and drives a big rig truck in all his appearances. This essentially makes him an "Asphalt Cowboy" (a slang term for a trucker).

Houston 3/Tanyah

• Action Girl: One specifically based on the Blaxploitation heroines of the decade, albeit as a Cyborg. She was a Dark Action Girl in the first game before her Heel–Face Turn.
  <robotic voice> I may be half-human... <normal human voice> ...but I'm all-woman!
• Afro Asskicker: In both games, the one constant in her appearance is her giant afro.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In the first game.
• Energy Weapon: Her special weapon in the first game is a turreted laser cannon.
• Cyborg: Her body has been reinforced using OMAR tech.
• Heel–Face Turn: After she removes OMAR's wristband, she joins the Vigilantes and marries Convoy.
• Ms. Fanservice: Her outfit in the first game is a black leather catsuit with the sleeves and pant legs cut off that's been unzipped past her breasts. 2nd Offense tones it down considerably, giving her overalls instead.
• Sassy Black Woman: Her characterization in the first game is pretty much "robo-Pam Grier". In the second game, she drops the robo part.
• Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: Her Heel–Face Turn in 2nd Offense sees her swap the tight leather for more modest overalls.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Her ending in 2nd Offense has her kill Dallas XIII and go back in time to save Convoy.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: According to the backstory of 2nd Offense, Houston suffers nightmares as the result of her brainwashing and mind control from her time as an OMAR mercenary.
• The Reveal: Her real name is Tanyah, and she's the long-lost sister of the Flying All-Star Trio.
• Trapped in Villainy: In the first game, when she's a brainwashed and mind-controlled mercenary for OMAR. It's also kind of lampshaded by her victory quote in the first game.
  <robotic voice> Program complete, baby. <normal human voice> Why am I doing this?
• Wrench Wench: In 2nd Offense, she's become a mechanic.

Flying All-Star Trio

• Badass Biker: They're a motorcycle stunt team who use their bike as their vehicle of choice.
• Cool Bike: They drive a motorcycle painted like Evel Knievel's bike, which shoots homing fireworks from its attached sidecar.
• Fatal Fireworks: The Blazing Glory Rockets, which are homing fireworks that deal massive damage.
• Glass Cannon: They have the weakest armor in the game, but the single most powerful special weapon.
• Kid Hero: They are 15 years old.
• Sibling Team
• Theme Twin Naming: The two brothers are named Tomey and Romey. Their sister's name is Leilah, which matches with the name of the Trio's older sister, Tanyah.

John Torque

• Afro Asskicker: While not as big as Houston's, his hair is still in a rather large afro.
• Dating Catwoman: With Nina Loco as a downplayed example at the end of Second Offense (or at least implied based on Convoy's ending).
• Earthquake Machine: His special weapon in the first game, the Bass Quake, is a stereo system so loud it shakes the Earth.
• Expy: Of Lando Calrissian as well as John Shaft.
• Mr. Vice Guy: He's addicted to gambling.
• Number Two: To Convoy.
• Shockwave Stomp: His Bass Quake weapon in the first game.
• Shoot the Dog: Implied. Torque's in-game biography from Second Offense vaguely hints that he is the one who killed Sid Burn after the events of the first game.
  "It's a good thing Sid wasn't coming back for his money. Torque made sure of it, though he would never admit to anything."

Sheila

• Action Girl: A rebellious teenage girl seeking to prove herself as a Vigilante. By the end of the second game, she's become an FBI agent.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Or niece, in this case. She believes she should be a member of the Vigilantes despite her uncle's misgivings. Her special weapon is even called the Tantrum.
• Gatling Good: Her special weapon, the Tantrum.
• Ms. Fanservice: Her outfit in 2nd Offense is a crop top and booty shorts.
• Taking Up the Mantle: Sheila takes Chassey's car and becomes an FBI agent after Chassey runs off with Chase.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: She joins the Vigilantes against her uncle Convoy's will, hoping to prove herself to him.

Chassey Blue

• Action Girl: The main law enforcement character in the series, and also a blonde bombshell who, in the first game especially, is evocative of the cast of Charlie's Angels.
• Friend on the Force: Played with. In the first game, Chassey is an FBI Agent whose mission is to join the Vigilantes and stop Sid Burn. Incidentally, the opening intro from the first game shows Convoy and Chassey signaling to each other to coordinate an attack on the Coyotes at Site 4.
• Happily Married: To Agent Chase at the end of the second game.
• Kill Sat: Her special weapon in the second game, a satellite with a limited range that drops a very powerful laser beam on enemies.
• Ms. Fanservice: Her outfit in 2nd Offense is a body-hugging, low-cut minidress.

Dave

• Aliens Are Bastards: His special weapon summons UFOs to attack enemies. It is one of the most annoying attacks in the game.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: How his followers see his getting taken up by a UFO.
• New-Age Retro Hippie: He's a hippie dude who's out searching for the truth about aliens.
• Shag Wagon: His vehicle in the first game is a big, full-size van.
• Taking Up the Mantle: Dave's Cultsmen replace him in the second game.

Dave's Cultsmen

• Aliens Are Bastards: They have the same annoying special weapon as Dave from the previous game, albeit only half as powerful this time around.
• Dummied Out: Files for a potential Quest for Dave's Cultsmen were found within the game's data, but their Quest was cut before release.
• New-Age Retro Hippie: Much like Dave, they're hippies searching for aliens.
• No Name Given: Two of the Cultsmen don't have names. The other one is named Dorkiel.

Coyotes

Sid Burn

• Big Bad: Of the first game.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He gets a hefty cash reward from OMAR in his character ending, but he's out of gas and, thanks to his terrorist actions, he's 100 miles from the nearest gas station. John Torque then captures and presumably kills him.
• Land Down Under: Sid is (apparently) from Australia. He uses the phrase "shrimp on the barbie" when he wins a match in the first game.
• Pyromaniac: His special weapon is a flamethrower.
• Western Terrorists: Sid's a terrorist-for-hire and he's (apparently) from Australia.

Slick Clyde

• Big Bad: Of the second game, now going by Lord Clyde.
• Chain Lightning: Literally the name of his special weapon in the second game, and it shocks every car within range.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Clyde doesn't appear at all in Vigilante 8: Arcade. Quite jarring considering he was a very crucial part of the plot for the first game and an even more crucial part of the plot for Second Offense.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: In the second game, he's risen to become the leader of OMAR.
• Evil Mentor: Took in two orphans, Keiko and Darius, and had them trained as his personal mercenaries.
• Face–Heel Turn: He joins (and takes over) the Coyotes after putting on Houston's mind control armband.
• Lightning Can Do Anything: His special weapons all involve lightning.
• Rhymes on a Dime: Most of his character quotes in 2nd Offense.
• Token Evil Teammate: In the first game. If the loading screen expositions are anything to go by, it's safe to say that Clyde wasn't a very nice guy to begin with. At one point, he even thinks about overthrowing Convoy and taking over the Vigilantes. And mind you, this is before he puts on Houston's mind control armband and becomes a villain for real.

Keiko "Obake" Uzumi

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Her special weapon is a blade fixture that goes on her car's nose. When activated, it rockets her through other cars at the speed of light.
• Awful Truth: Her mentor Lord Clyde was the one responsible for murdering her father and disposing of her partner and friend Darius.
• Conveniently an Orphan: Her father's death is what led her into Lord Clyde's employ.
• Cool Bike: Her vehicle is some sort of futuristic motorcycle/hoverbike...thing.
• Dark Action Girl: A lethal female assassin who serves as a key henchwoman of the Big Bad.
• Dead Partner: She spends a lot of time reflecting on her missing partner and friend Darius. Finding out what happened to him drives her to turn on Lord Clyde.
• The Dragon: To Slick Clyde. Becomes a Dragon with an Agenda after her Heel–Face Turn.
• Heel–Face Turn: At the end of the second game.
• Heel Realization: The main reason she was evil in the first place is because Lord Clyde obfuscated a lot of the evil deeds he did while she was under his employ.
• It's Personal: After discovering that Clyde killed her father to take over his conglomerate and then had her best friend Darius roboticized into the bio-bot Dallas XII, Obake vows to kill Clyde herself.
• Token Good Teammate: She works for Lord Clyde because he's her foster father and she doesn't know how evil he really is. When she finds out, she switches sides.

Dallas XIII/Darius

• Brain Uploading: Has Darius' brain and thus a databank of his memories.
• Cattle Punk: He's styled as a robot cowboy, complete with a hat and a pose that makes him look like he's reaching for a pair of six-shooters.
• Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: His human memories continually interfere with his performance, with Lord Clyde making more and more extensive changes to him in order to keep him in line.
• Energy Weapon: His special weapon.
• Evil Counterpart: He's basically what Houston was shaping up to be if she never broke free from OMAR's control. Straight down to the flashes of humanity that interfere in his programming. His car is even from the same model that Houston used during her tenure, the Palomino.
• Killed Off for Real: Ends up as scrap after his final run-in with Houston.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Delivers one to Houston in his ending, only to have it served right back to him when Houston gets a Heroic Second Wind.
• Unwilling Roboticisation: Dallas was originally an orphan named Darius that Clyde adopted alongside Obake to be his bodyguard.
• You Have Failed Me: After badly botching a mission, Clyde had Darius roboticized as punishment.

Nina Loco

• Dark Action Girl: A sexy arms dealer who works for the Coyotes.
• Fiery Redhead: Has a big mane of bright red hair.
• Heel–Face Turn: At the end of the second game.
• Interface Screw: Her special weapon causes every other tracking weapon to follow it to its target - very useful when up against characters such as Padre or Dave's Cultsmen.
• Jack of All Stats: Good acceleration, mediocre avoidance (that goes up to 100% avoidance when her special weapon is in use), decent top speed and armor.
• Only in It for the Money: She joined the Coyotes because she grew up poor and couldn't pass up a cool million dollars. Even as she realizes what the Coyotes are doing with all those weapons, she initially tries to tell herself that the money is worth it.
• Price on Their Head: She's an arms smuggler who's wanted by the FBI, John Torque, and the Mexican mob.
• Spicy Latina: Her personality is very much this, with shades of Femme Fatale.

Boogie

• Beware the Silly Ones: At first, Boogie comes across as a silly, disco-dancing comic relief character (which he kind of is). So it's easy to forget that he's a actually a dangerous criminal who is in cahoots with an Australian terrorist.
• Bumbling Sidekick: To Sid in the first game. It's also kind of Played With since Boogie comes across as a silly comic relief character, yet he's still a dangerous criminal.
• Disco Dan: A literal example whose main characterization is that he's a disco fan who wants to be Tony Manero.
• The Dragon: To Sid.
• Lethal Joke Item: His special weapon, "Disco Inferno", is an inflatable disco ball that shoots fireworks and explosives. It is actually quite powerful and can actually "trap" other drivers for a few seconds if they get too close (similar to Dave's UFO attack).
• The Napoleon: As his mugshot from the first game reveals, Boogie is apparently only 4 1/2 feet tall and is a member of the criminal/terroristic Coyote gang. One of his victory/defeat quotes in the first game seems to also hint at his occasionally aggressive personality as well:
  "Ha! I'm feeling 10 feet tall, tough guy!"
  "Hey, what? You think I'm funny?"
• "Staying Alive" Dance Pose: True to his Disco Dan persona, Boogie does this pose at the character/car select screen in the first two games.

Molo

• Big Bad Wannabe
• The Bully: He was a schoolyard bully before he stole a school bus and joined the Coyotes.
• Butt-Monkey: Not even his fellow Coyotes respect him.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: In his ending from the first game, after proving himself and earning a spot on the Coyotes team, what's Sid's first task for him? Washing everyone's cars.
• Fat Bastard: Very chubby and very much a snotty asshole. Downplayed in Second Offense but then ramped up even higher for his redesign in Arcade.
• Jerkass
• Lethal Joke Item: His special weapon, which is actually the most powerful in the game in terms of damage per second. Backing into an enemy and then unloading the toxic smog from the tailpipe can easily cripple even the toughest vehicles.
• Mighty Glacier: His bus has the best durability of the whole roster in the first game, and the third best in the sequel. His special weapon deals massive damage (especially in the first game, where it can destroy any opponent in one clip).
• Series Mascot: The buses Molo drives.

Beezwax

• Bee-Bee Gun: Beezwax's special attack.
• Grumpy Old Man: Clearly an elderly man and clearly he's not very nice.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He gets blown up after one of his bees sets off a nuke.
• It's Personal: He joined the Coyotes because government nuclear tests mutated his bees.
• Scary Stinging Swarm: Again, his special attack.

Loki

• Cloud Cuckoolander: He's a deranged ex-pilot obsessed with flying, who speaks like a fighter pilot even though he's driving a car.
• Recursive Ammo: His special weapon, the Scatter Missile, splits into several, smaller missiles before hitting their target for a good chunk of damage.

Oil Monopoly Alliance Regime (OMAR)

• Greater-Scope Villain: They're the ones backing the Coyotes.
• MegaCorp: They're an oil company, or a cartel of such, seeking to monopolize the oil industry. The second game reveals that they succeeded in pulling this off, albeit with the United States as the only country free from their grip due to their embrace of nuclear and renewable energy.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: They're a fictionalized version of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, the organization that sparked the 1973 oil crisis. The main difference is that, while the real-life OPEC in The '70s was an organization dominated by the Middle Eastern petrostates (and the oil crisis was caused by their attempt to punish the West for their support for Israel), OMAR's nationality is left ambiguous barring the sequel revealing that they're not American.
• The Unfought: You never actually fight them in the first game, only their hired guns. In the second, however, their CEO himself travels back in time with two of his henchmen in tow and serves as the main antagonist. Obake does successfully bring them down in her ending.

Drifters

Garbage Man/Y the Alien

• Ascended Extra: Became a playable character in the sequel after being an unlockable character in the first game.
• Flying Saucer
• Interspecies Friendship: He develops one with Bob O.
• Lightning Bruiser: His Luxo Saucer from the first game qualifies as this. It is the only vehicle that can fly, it is lightning fast, it has the third best durability in the game, and its special weapon is an enhanced version of Houston's Death Ray that deals double damage (but doesn't track other cars as well). The Saucer's only drawback is its poor avoidance rate, but its other attributes more than make up for this deficiency.
• Kill All Humans: His goal in the first game, since his friends were dissected by scientists.
• Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: He considers himself this, since most people view him as a creepy hermit. He's actually collecting garbage to find parts to repair his saucer with.
• Take This Job and Shove It: One of his death phrases.
• Tomato Surprise: He is revealed to be Y the Alien in Second Offense.
• Turnthe Other Cheek: Downplayed. In the first game, Y's goal was to Kill All Humans as payback for dissecting his friends. In Second Offense, he seems to have abandoned that goal and now seems focused on simply repairing his spaceship so he can go back home. At least that's how it seems for the moment...
• Walking Spoiler: Mostly concerning the fact that he's actually Y the Alien from the first game.

Astronaut Bob O.

• Ax-Crazy
• Cloud Cuckoolander
• Interspecies Friendship: At the end, he befriends Y and accompanies him back to his home planet.
• Tomato Surprise: At the end of Second Offense, he is revealed to be a chimpanzee.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Bananas and oatmeal, hinting at his true identity.

Agent Chase

• Dogged Nice Guy: To Chassey Blue.
• Time Police: A federal agent sent back to the past to apprehend Lord Clyde.
• Time Stands Still: People caught within the blast radius of his Hard Time special attack end up frozen in time for a few moments. While it doesn't cause any damage by itself, it makes getting Whammy Combos all too easy.
• Turn in Your Badge: Chase ends up quitting the Time Police force after falling in love with both Chassey and the 1970s.

Padre Destino

• Bolt of Divine Retribution: He gets vaporized by a fireball from heaven after trying to bring about The End of the World as We Know It via a cult ritual.
• The Fundamentalist
• To Hell and Back: His special weapon opens a portal to the underworld, which then shoots his vehicle out of the ground from underneath the targeted car.
• Stripped to the Bone: What happens to Destino after the Bolt of Divine Retribution mentioned above.

Dusty Earth

• Badass Pacifist
• Blow You Away: His special attack has his pet falcon summon a tornado to lift up and batter his opponents.
• Magical Native American: Strongly implied.
• You Fight Like a Cow: One of his victory quotes: "You fight like a one-legged buffalo".