Stork (Storm Hawks)

Stork is the carrier pilot of the Storm Hawks, and as such does not actively fly with the rest of the squadron, nor does he wish to for that matter. He states in the pilot that his tenure with the Storm Hawks will only last "until something better comes along." Although it is said that Stork is in his early twenties, in a Q&A Andy Poon states he is 17-18. These sources conflict with what the creator Asaph Fipke states in another Q&A. Stork is a Merb, a species of green or brown-skinned humanoids that inhabit Terra Merbia, an environment where natural disasters are constantly occurring, possibly accounting for Stork's personality. Stork seems to have an above average intelligence, being able to memorize every known thing that can hurt or kill him.
== Appearance ==
== Personality ==
Apparently a product of his home, Stork is paranoid of everyone and everything that could potentially harm him and the squadron. As such, Stork expects doom from every encounter to the point that, in his first battle, he begins filling out his own will, only to discard it upon realizing that all his possessions are on board the ship and thus would be destroyed along with him. Stork's paranoia results in extreme pessimism, as he often disregards any possibility of survival or finds the most depressing way in which to express the odds of surviving an encounter. He's also a hypochondriac, often complaining of an apparently growing yet never visible rash or some other ailment. It is hinted that he is not a very good cook in "Absolute Power" when Stork is put on cooking duty, and the food in fact explodes.
Stork's paranoia does have benefits, however, since he's a brilliant inventor. His devices, though never used as intended, are often incredibly useful or life-saving. For example, he invented a pair of x-ray binoculars, which he had designed to locate brain tumors. Stork also displays extreme ingenuity and resourcefulness during "The Code", in which he builds a versatile motorcycle from a pile of scrap within moments. He also has numerous traps set up about the ship, which the others criticize; they inevitably turn out useful, further validating Stork's paranoia. Stork's paranoia may be due to having lived in the Wastelands for half of his life. In "Origins", Stork says he escaped from Terra Merbia when the Cyclonians took it over.
Stork apparently feels much more at home in the Condor than anywhere else to the point that he dislikes leaving it if at all possible. It's also where he retreats to at the first opportunity. He's much more confident while on the ship, enough so to single-handedly fight the Raptors when they boarded it using the onboard traps. In the second season, Stork started to become braver, leaving the Condor and flying with the others.
In "Scouts' Honour" Stork shows a surprisingly softer side, when he is entrusted with taking three younger children from his home Terra camping. After initially having a panic attack and consequently passing out at the thought of camping outdoors, he gives in and, reluctantly, takes the three young Merbs. When they accidentally land on the hostile Terra Gruesomus, it is up to Stork to keep them safe and unharmed because, as the children put it 'The scout leader always has a plan'. He proceeds to even try and make them wait behind a tree for safety, while he goes to "stop the bad guys!". After a whirlwind adventure, he confesses, although he didn't have to, he's agreed to take the three camping 'next month...because SOMEONE has to teach them about dangerous animals'.
Stork has shown surprising selflessness in episodes such as "Calling All Domos" in which he is held hostage by the Murk Raiders, the Captain offering the Merb's life in exchange for the crystal Finn was sent to retrieve to save Terra Vapos. Instead of pleading or whimpering when Finn seems conflicted, yet obviously willing to help his friend, Stork yells, 'Don't do it Finn! They're going to plunder Vapos!', though afterwards adding, 'And besides...I'm doomed anyway'.
When the Condor is swallowed whole by a terra-sized creature in the episode "Leviathan", Stork suffers from a condition known as Sky Shock, going through a number of strange phases before taking on the personality (and stereotypical accent) of a pirate and fighting to free the ship, only to suffer the final phase of memory loss after doing so.
In "Payback", Stork showed that he will go to the extremes to save what he loves, being his team or the Condor. Even though he does not fight, he does very well in hand-to-hand combat, stealth and resourcefulness. He could take on all the Raptors by himself in fact he did once, claiming that it would be very unfortunate for the Raptors if they got on board the Condor in "Fire and Ice".
== Relationships ==
== Abilities ==
Stork is a gifted pilot, capable of pulling off precision maneuvers with the Condor. For example, in the pilot episode he is able to successfully fly the Condor through the Wastelands, a stunt considered crazy to do for single pilots, much less an entire carrier.
Throughout the series, Stork has been revealed to have skills in stealth and resourcefulness. He is a skilled inventor, able to build a versatile motorcycle (equipped with very loud engine boosters), and has furnished the entire Condor with booby traps, which prove to be very useful against unsuspecting enemies despite what Stork's teammates say otherwise. He also built specialized goggles that enables a wearer to see in the dark, and a unique kind of X-ray binoculars that not only lets the user see at far distances, they can also see within the depths of the human body, which can let doctors locate tumors and other illnesses (Stork originally intended the binoculars to be able to detect mindworms, but it is unknown whether mindworms actually exist or it is just that he's being very paranoid.). And being a Merb, Stork is able to sneak into enemy lines undetected and discover what they are up to or attack enemies by surprise, as exemplified in episode "Payback", although he would rather be helping his friends behind the scenes piloting the Condor.
Whenever the Condor is threatened in some way, Stork's confidence boosts up temporarily. It is during these periods that he does things that a typical Merb would not do. In "Leviathan" he is able to face a terra-lookalike monster head-on and was able to jump into its mouth with Radarr (while being in the mental state of a Moby Dick-esque pirate leader). He also took on Repton of the Raptors from Terra Bogaton by himself, displaying hand-to-hand combat on a surprisingly high level that would equal or surpass Piper's own skills in Sky Fu martial arts.
== Equipment ==
=== Ride ===
Stork also invented his own personalized ride, the Stork-Mobile, for the Storm Hawks' excursion into the Forbidden City. The Stork-Mobile features numerous safety implementations of Stork's own design, including but not limited to: a booby-trap detector, indestructible tires, roll bars, parachutes, anti-lock brakes, 52 independent external airbags, and an ejector seat (Stork insists "you always need an ejector seat" which, like all his inventions, turns out to be useful). Despite its appearance, the Stork-Mobile can fly: the front wheels form two secondary rotors, the main rotor emerges from a compartment behind the seat, and the two rear wheels form the tail rotor.
== Trivia ==
* Stork is voiced by Scott McNeil, who served as a voice actor for other TV shows made by Nerd Corps., such as Dragon Booster as henchman Cain and as childish supervillain Voltar in League of Super Evil. Scott McNeil was also a voice actor for anime Fullmetal Alchemist as Van Hohenheim, and as Ken Masters and Blanka in the US cartoon Street Fighter.
* Stork is named after the bird stork. His legs resemble that of the stork bird.
* Stork appears to have skills in poetry, as the supposed "depressing" poetry he writes were able to impress two producers in "Terra Neon".
* Stork might even be stronger than Snipe - proof being in "Forbidden City", Snipe jumped at Stork, ripping off the Storkmobile's top and swinging his mace at Stork, full force. Stork, however, was able to hold off the mace and actually push it back up against Snipe.
* Stork likes Swamp Baths.
* Even though he claims that he became a member of the Storm Hawks "until something better comes along" in the pilot episode, it becomes apparent through the series that Stork has grown to and truly loves his team a lot, seeing them as a surrogate family in place of the one he had lost. Due to this, Stork would on occasion risk his life to keep them safe.
* Stork is allergic to chocolate; it gives him hives.
* When Stork is angry, sick, relaxed, or frustrated, his ears go down.
* Stork can leap 20 times his height.
* Stork is revealed to be wearing pale blue boxers with skulls on them when his pants aren't there.
* The X on Stork's chest is a control pad device used to summon the Condor.
* Stork has crippling stage fright in episode "Terra Neon", but he overcomes this in order to save his friends from two heckling producers, whose bodies are connected to the body of a large, tentacled monster. It is unknown whether Stork's stage fright is cured or if it will return, being the paranoid Merb that he is.
* While afraid of almost everything, he, for unknown reasons, loves dangerous and deadly pets like the spider in "Second Chances" and the venomous cricket in "Energy Crisis" when he insists on buying another cricket, since the escaped one was "still on board the ship".
* When Stork feels sick, he turns a shade of blue, as seen in "Terra Neon", after seeing Junko and Finn gorging on the 'all you can eat buffet'.
* He is very similar to Rattrap. A maximal from the CGI cartoon "Beast wars". Who is also voiced by Scott McNeil.
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