Lightning McQueen/Relationships

The relationships of Lightning McQueen.
==Friends==
===Mater===
McQueen first met Mater while he was put in the impound by Sheriff, having destroyed Radiator Springs' main road. McQueen was afraid at first when seeing Mater, due to him being a rusty vehicle, but later tried to get Mater to take him out of the impound by suggesting a cruise around the town. When Mater later took him tractor tipping, McQueen was unimpressed at first, but then enjoyed it after being given a try, although they had to immediately leave when they caught the attention of Frank.
After seeing Mater show his ability of driving backwards, McQueen explained to him about the Piston Cup, but when he mentioned that winning it would mean he would no longer have a sponsorship that has no involvement with rusty cars, he tried not to hurt Mater's feelings by saying that he meant other vehicles, but liked Mater. McQueen then promised to give Mater a helicopter and upon hearing Mater says he sees McQueen as a best friend, McQueen looks touched. It was this moment that McQueen and Mater developed a strong bonding friendship.
After McQueen decided to stay in Radiator Springs to help the townsfolk, Mater is overjoyed to see that McQueen has stayed. However, as McQueen was soon transported away from the town by the press, he was hesitant to leave Mater and the others behind and when he arrived at his race, he could not stop thinking about Mater and the other Radiator Springs citizens he befriended. When Mater and some of the townsfolks from Radiator Springs came to be McQueen's pit crew and support him in the tie-breaker race in California, McQueen was happy to see Mater and gave a heartful laugh when Mater delivered his good-bye to him. When McQueen forfeited his chance to win the Piston Cup by helping the injured King cross the finish line, he was congratulated by Mater for his good sportsmanship. Later, McQueen asked Tex Dinoco to give Mater a ride in one of Dinoco's helicopters, fulfilling his promise to Mater, becoming best friends with him.
McQueen can sometimes get frustrated with Mater for several things, such as in Mater’s Tall Tales when he tells him stories about what he did in the past, to which McQueen would not believe, especially when they have himself suddenly participating, before seeing references to Mater's stories that suggest they are true. Despite this, McQueen works with Mater on several adventures and enjoys spending time with him.
In Cars 2, it is shown that McQueen's friendship with Mater has remained stronger than ever before where the two had a special handshake to greet each other, which according to Mack, their greetings get longer every year. However, McQueen had never brought Mater to any of his races, but he decided to take him along for the World Grand Prix after being given advice from Sally. However, McQueen had concerns about Mater still doing his regular behavior while outside Radiator Springs, and tried to get Mater to act different while in different places without hurting his feelings. He was later angered after Mater was thought to have leaked oil (which he was blamed by Miles Axlerod), which is the car equivalent of urinating, while in front of the press. During the first race of the World Grand Prix in Tokyo, Lightning had Mater work as his crew chief where Mater managed to get him in the lead after advising him to do one of Doc's tricks which McQueen thanked him for. However, McQueen got frustrated after losing the race in Tokyo when he heard Mater talking nonsense, not knowing that Mater was being directed by Finn and Holley away from the lemons who were after him for containing information on the lemons' mastermind.
Becoming fed up of what Mater had done, McQueen argued with Mater and, despite Mater offering to make things right, said that he did not want his help, which made Mater decide to go back to Radiator Springs and make sure he won’t cause any more trouble again. This left McQueen and his team saddened, as he did not actually want Mater to leave, but felt calm when knowing that Mater would be safe if he is back in Radiator Springs. However, McQueen continued to feel sad and guilty for hurting Mater's feelings where he did not join the festivities held by Luigi and Guido's family in Italy. McQueen's gets advice from Uncle Topolino who tells him that best friends will always get into fights and friendship is what’s important.
Before starting the second race in Porto Corsa, McQueen still feels sad and misses Mater, wishing he were watching him race. After winning the second race, when questioned by the press on why he'll be using in the Allinol in the last race despite it being banned by Allinol, McQueen explains his reasons on using Allinol and how guilty he feels in hurting Mater's feelings and how much he misses him, which makes Mater, who was watching his interview on TV, feel the same.
When he came into the pits while racing in London, McQueen was glad to spot Mater at his pit garage, but Mater tried to drive away. Not wanting to lose his friend again, McQueen went after Mater, telling him that what he said before did not matter anymore, and grabbed onto his tow hook. As soon as this happened, McQueen was pulled along when Mater used a pair of rocket boosters to keep away from him so he won’t get hurt, as the lemons had planted a bomb on him, which McQueen did not know about until the spies came to try and take it off.
When Mater explained that he was unsure about telling anyone who activated the bomb, McQueen told him to keep behaving his normal way anywhere and that anyone who are not taking him seriously would instead have to change. After the bomb was turned off by the lemons' mastermind Axlerod, McQueen declared to Mater that he is allowed to come to all of his races, remaining as best friends. While racing in the Radiator Springs Grand Prix, McQueen was joined by Mater after Finn and Holley allowed him to keep his rockets, and agreed to see him at the finish line by racing him as well.
===Doc Hudson===
McQueen was nervous at first when Doc first appeared, as he was wondering what was going to happen after he was accused for destroying Radiator Springs' main road. He was glad at first when Doc wanted him to leave the town, but when he changed his mind after Sally requested to have McQueen fix the road, he felt unhappy.
He did not get well with Doc for his quote of driving like he fixes roads, but upon later seeing that he had won three Piston Cup trophies, McQueen was impressed by the fact that Doc used to be a racer in the Piston Cup, although Doc was unhappy of him learning his past. McQueen was left wondering why Doc would quit, to which Doc revealed that he had a crash one year after winning his third Piston Cup. Doc wanted McQueen to finish the road quickly and leave, but McQueen stayed, wanting to help the residents. However, he was then taken away by Mack and the press after they got called by Doc about his location, preventing him to say goodbye to his new friends. Sally realized that Doc was the one who called the press and accused him of doing only what was best for him: in fact, as Lightning rebuilt the road, the residents's perception of him improved, and by the time he finished, he visited all their shops, being their first customer in the last 40 years, and they were all sad when he left. As Doc was left alone near the traffic light, he regretted of how poorly he treated McQueen and misjudged him.
Soon, while racing for the Piston Cup at the Los Angeles International Speedway, McQueen noticed that Doc was his crew chief, when seeing that most of Radiator Springs' residents have come to be part of his pit crew to cheer for him. Before he was about to win the race, he noticed that Chick had caused the King to crash, reminding him of what happened to Doc, to which he decided to give up his hopes of winning the race and push the King to the finish line, even noting about Doc telling him the trophy is "just an empty cup." Doc soon became McQueen's trainer and mentor, and they also became friends.
However, Doc soon died, leaving McQueen and Mater saddened. McQueen continued to mourn Doc and was often comforted by Mater who shared his grief. However, they both still remembered his trick about drifting, which is what McQueen used to take the lead of the World Grand Prix in Tokyo.
===The King===
While racing for the Piston Cup in his first year, McQueen was racing against the King, who was retiring at the end of the season, and aiming to get sponsored by the King's Dinoco team. After Chick bumped McQueen off the track at one point during the race at the Motor Speedway of the South, the King was far ahead, but McQueen was able to get ahead of the King and all the other racers after Chick caused a huge crash which McQueen managed to get through, and many of the racers came in for a pit stop, except McQueen, who stayed out on the track and built a huge lead over the King. However, after getting his rear tires blown, he tied with the King and Chick. After the race, the King told McQueen that he had great talent, but was still not very clever. It soon turned out that race officials had decided to have them both and Chick take part in a tiebreaker race at the Los Angeles International Speedway.
On the final lap of the race, McQueen got past the King and Chick by using a trick from Doc after Chick rammed him off the track, but he then noticed that the King had crashed after Chick rammed him off due to becoming angered of being stuck behind. Feeling concerned that the King would have a similar fate to Doc, McQueen gave up his goal of winning, and pushed the King across the finish line so to have him finish his final race.
McQueen and the King then become friends upon that moment of having the King end his racing career with a race finish.
=== Mack ===
Mack is Lightning's closest friend at the start of the first movie. Mack is Lighting's loyal transporter when Lightning is on his way to races around the world. At the very start of the first film, Mack is Lighting's only true friend due to others not liking him for his selfish side. Mack always supports Lighting and is extremely worried when Lightning gets lost. Once Mack finds Lighting in Radiator Springs, he promises never to lose him again and Lighting is happy to be reunited with his closest friend. At the end of the first film, Mack congratulates Lightning on deciding to help The King finish his last race and proud of him in his selfless ways to give up the Piston Cup.
In the second and third movies, Mack is still Lightning's transporter and they are still really good friends. Mack is still part of Lightning's pit crew and always cheers him on from the side-lines. By the end of the final movie, Mack is still Lightning's trailer, but now also Cruz Ramirez's, who Lighting trains. 
===Francesco Bernoulli===
Upon first meeting Francesco, McQueen started to form a huge rivalry with him, and attempted to beat him in the first World Grand Prix race in Tokyo. He managed to get past by using Doc's drifting trick on the dirt track section, when Francesco was struggling to drive on the dirt. However, he soon got overtook by Francesco after he thought Mater was giving him instructions, not knowing that one spy and another were guiding him out of the pits. He tried to get past Francesco once again, but he could not do anything about it before crossing the finish line, finishing in second place.
Francesco started talking to McQueen while they were preparing for the second race in Porto Corsa, saying that it is not easy while being away from his home. McQueen was thinking that Francesco was giving him an insult, to which Francesco then stated that it is not an insult, as stating that he would miss his mother when far away from home, but also adding that Porto Corsa is actually his home, with his mother being in the crowd. As a response, McQueen felt that he had been given the insult that he thought Francesco was missing. On the final lap, McQueen got past Francesco just before winning the race, and gave him a pose just before a couple of ambulances drove past. Wondering what had happened, McQueen and Francesco both felt shocked when they saw that the other racers had crashed after getting their engines blown.
By the end of Cars 2, McQueen and Francesco appear to have become more friendly to each other, while still holding a rivalry but in a good manner.
===Cruz Ramirez===
Lightning and Cruz met in Cars 3. He is introduced to her when he visits the Rust-eze Racing Center by Sterling. Cruz is tasked by Sterling to help train McQueen after he gets back into the racing world 4 months after a crash. However, Lightning isn't fond of Cruz at first because of her peppy attitude and methods of training. Cruz tries to learn some racing the same way Lightning did, on dirt rather than a treadmill and after the two get stuck in a demolition derby, Lightning lashes out at Cruz for everything and she tells him about her dream to be a racer because of him.
Lightning later apologizes and he allows Cruz to take over for him in what could be his final race before retirement. Since Lightning started the race and Cruz finished it for him, it means he can keep racing until he decides to stop. Several months later, Cruz and Lightning return to Radiator Springs where she is now part of Dinoco and he has become her new crew chief. The film ends with Lightning and Cruz racing around Willy's Butte.
==Romance==
===Sally Carrera===
McQueen first met Sally when he was accused by the townsfolk in the Radiator Springs Courthouse for ripping up the main road, and started to develop feelings for her. However, he was left unhappy with her when Doc decided to have him repair the main road because it was a request by her to make sure people can get to Radiator Springs.
While he was fixing the road with Bessie, Sally had got Red to wash pieces of cactus off of him, to which he did not understand why she had him do that. Sally explained that he needs to be clean if he wants to stay in the Cozy Cone Motel, and she was offering him to stay in one of the cones, to which McQueen started to realize that she was being nice to him.
The next day, Sally invited McQueen for a drive, which had them driving up toward the Wheel Well Motel. He learnt that Sally had originally spent her life in California, but it did not work out for her, so she decided to leave the state and keep on driving before breaking down in Radiator Springs, and was helped out by the townsfolk. McQueen was then informed by Sally that she never left the town because she fell in love with the view of Radiator Springs from Wheel Well, and seeing Interstate 40 in the distance, Sally explained to McQueen that before it was made, people came to visit Radiator Springs, but forgot all about it when it was bypassed to save more minutes.
By the end of the first film, McQueen and Sally were shown to have become a couple, as McQueen arrived at the Wheel Well to inform her that Radiator Springs had been put back on the map and that he is setting up a permanent racing quarters and making it his new forever home.
In Hiccups, when McQueen had received the hiccups, Sally managed to cure them by kissing him on the side, to which he thanked her.
In Cars 2, McQueen and Sally are excited to have some alone time together since his return to Radiator Springs, which is often ruined by Mater interfering. Sally supports Lightning during his upcoming race around the world and even convinces Lightning to take Mater along since he has never been to one of his races, but it ends horribly. Sally is also shown to have a celebrity crush on Francesco, making McQueen jealous at times and at the end, Sally and Lightning are shown to be very happy still and he even says he loves her after she claims that Francesco isn't even that attractive at all.
In Cars 3, Sally is among the rest of the Radiator Springs residents as they witness McQueen's crash, putting him in serious danger for future races, much like Doc. Months have passed and Sally convinces Lightning to try and race again as he has the chance to, whereas Doc didn't. Lightning agrees and they say "I love you" before he leaves for the race. Sally and their friends turn up to the race to support Lightning but is concerned as he is apprehensive about racing again. After McQueen wins a bet with the guy who asked him to retire, McQueen agreed to continue racing, Sally is there at the end of the movie to support McQueen with his decision.
==Enemies==
===Chick Hicks===
McQueen’s arch-nemesis is Chick Hicks, who is his sole nightmare. When McQueen is in a race with Chick, he would do anything to get past and win. However, Chick might try to get him out of a race or prevent him from winning, as first shown when Chick bumped him off the track and onto the infield while racing at the Motor Speedway of the South. McQueen was able to get going again, being in last place, but Chick still tried to prevent him from winning by purposely causing the other racers to crash. However, McQueen managed to get through the wreckage and ahead of Chick when he stayed out while all the other racers took a pit stop.
McQueen would sometimes tease Chick, such as when he nicknamed him "Thunder", as explaining about the fact that thunder is always heard after lightning. He attempted to make payback for Chick when being told that the first racer to California would be able to hang out with Dinoco, but while he was stuck in Radiator Springs fixing the road, he heard on a radio that Chick arrived before him and had been practicing on the Los Angeles International Speedway, making him fear that Chick would instead become Dinoco's sponsor. Soon, when he was being collected by Mack and the press, McQueen noticed on his plasma that Chick was being a copycat by stealing his "ka-chow" catchphrase by saying "Ka-chicka" to a couple of photographers.
During the race, McQueen was about to overtake Chick, who then bumped him again, but he was able to recover by driving backwards, having learned a trick from Mater. McQueen was still trying to keep in front of Chick, but then got his tire punctured by Chick, making him go to the pits and managing to get out before he could get lapped. On the final lap, Chick bumped McQueen off the track, but he was able to get in the lead by using a "Turn Right to Go Left" maneuver from Doc. However, when seeing the King having been damaged after Chick caused him to crash, McQueen soon stopped before reaching the finish line, and went back to help the King, allowing Chick to win the race. This also causes Chick to be booed and humiliated by the crowd for his actions.
McQueen currently holds a rivalry with Chick, due to his unfriendly behavior toward him and others, along with not doing clean racing. It is also noted that Chick somewhat acts like a bully toward McQueen when mocking him.
===Professor Z===
After the second race of the World Grand Prix, McQueen decided to use Allinol in the last race in London, Professor Z was contacted and ordered by his boss, Miles Axlerod to kill McQueen in retaliation which Professor Z willingly accepted to commit so the lemons can succeed in discrediting alternative oil and become wealthy for selling oil from their oil rigs. During the last race, Professor Z, along with the other head lemons, excitedly watch and wait for McQueen to be killed by Grem and Acer with the lemons' electromagnetic pulse emitter disguised as a camera on full power. However, McQueen does not explode, angering Professor Z as Sarge had secretly switched the Allinol in McQueen's fuel tank with Fillmore's organic fuel.
Professor Z and the others then resorted to detonating a bomb the lemons placed on McQueen's best friend, Mater to kill them both for ruining the lemons' plans. When Professor Z saw both McQueen and Mater in the pits, he sadistically prepared to detonate the bomb to kill them, only to be stopped when Mater drives away to save McQueen after discovering the bomb on him, angering Professor Z. When McQueen chases after Mater onto the racetrack, Professor Z recognized McQueen's care for his friend and evilly prepares to set the bomb off when McQueen comes close to Mater. However, when McQueen grabs onto Mater, Professor Z is unable to detonate the bomb due to it being out of range when Mater accidentally activates his rockets, angering Professor Z even further as he fruitlessly attempts to set the bomb off. After Mater informs him of the lemons' plan to kill him, McQueen finally meets Professor Z when Finn and Holley came to take the bomb off Mater, where Professor Z angrily asked McQueen why his death ray didn't kill him, leaving the latter shocked to hear the mention of a death ray as Professor Z was prevented by Finn from harming McQueen. McQueen then watches as Professor Z spitefully and cruelly allows the bomb on Mater to start ticking before he is tasered by Holley for his attempts to murder McQueen and Mater.
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===Miles Axlerod===
McQueen is one of the enemies of Axlerod in secret when he was thought to be a good guy. When McQueen was talking to Francesco, Axlerod was able to give him the offer of taking part in the World Grand Prix, having invited him before. In Tokyo, Axlerod stated to McQueen that he would be excellent in the competition, but also that Mater was in excitement.
When Axlerod made the decision not to have the last World Grand Prix race run on allinol, McQueen chose to use allinol for the race. This prompted Axlerod to tell Professor Z that allinol would be finished if McQueen was killed. While in London, Axlerod came to McQueen's pit stall to "thank" him for his decision, because of how the fans reacted to the race in Porto Corsa. He even hoped he win so that his creation will be given the popularity it deserved.
Soon, Axlerod was revealed by Mater to be an enemy after he exposed the latter's plot to sabotage the racecars and kill McQueen.
===Lemons===
For most of the movie, McQueen was unaware of who they were and didn't know they were the ones sabotaging the racers. With his decision to use Allinol in the final race, the lemons were very angered as they had planned to get wealthy from the cars going back to gasoline and made plans to kill him during the Grand Prix in London. They foiled Mater's attempt to warn McQueen and sent Ivan in his place as the latter gave McQueen a vague hint of his death, which confused McQueen. When they readied the death ray, they wanted Mater to watch his friend die but the ray failed (as Lightning didn't use Allinol). They switched to using a bomb which they placed on Mater so they could activate it and kill the two for ruining their plans.
When this plan failed, the lemons personally arrived in the square of the city to make sure the bomb goes off with him near it, as Lightning noted they are the ones who wanted him dead which they confirmed but stated it was not personal. Mater tries to talk them out of it though his explanation only further encourages them but luckily everyone from Radiator Springs show up and helps them defeat the criminals. As the remaining lemons try to flee the area, Sarge quickly appears with the British military who successfully take the villains into custody.
===Jackson Storm===
In Cars 3, Jackson Storm is the main rival of McQueen in the film. Storm makes it clear from the start that he wants McQueen out of the sport as he sarcastically calls him "Champ" and even brags that it takes all he has to beat him despite him beating McQueen with ease. During the Los Angeles 500, the final race of the 2016 season, Storm tells McQueen to enjoy his retirement which puts McQueen into shock and causes him to struggle to the point of crashing while keeping up with the Next-Gens.
Category:Relationships
Category:Cars relationships