Rocket Racer

Rocket Racer, also known as Ricky Rocket,LEGO.com - Ricky Rocket is a recurring character in the LEGO Racers series of video games. Originally a video game-exclusive character, he appears in Minifigures Series 18 as the Race Car Guy, who was alluded to as a redesigned Rocket Racer by designer Austin William Carlson,21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay: Designer interview with Milan Madge & Austin William Carlson while he makes his first explicit appearance as a physical minifigure in the City Stuntz theme.60298 Rocket Stunt Bike product description
==Background==
===LEGO Racers===
thumb|right|Rocket Racer's opening in LEGO Racers
Rocket Racer is faced in the 7th and final circuit in LEGO Racers, on the track Rocket Racer Run. After the player beats him, he happily congratulates them and presents them with his car set to use and build custom cars with.
===Rocket Racers===
Rocket Racer appeared as a brick-built statue and in the queue line for Rocket Racers, an arcade style game based on the first LEGO Racers located at LEGOLAND Windsor. A portrait of him could be seen hanging on the wall in the queue line, along with the other LEGO Racers bosses. In the queue line's video, he had a few brief speaking roles, and drove a version of Brad Speedo's car recolored to resemble his original car from LEGO Racers. The brick-built statue of him was on a winner's podium along with Captain Redbeard, with the #1 spot available for guests to take photos.https://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=50119 However, he did not appear in the game itself.
===LEGO Racers 2===
thumb|right|The LEGO Racers 2 intro
In LEGO Racers 2, Rocket Racer returns as the final boss, this time on the planet Xalax. Once beaten, he congratulates the player and awards them with the trophy for their new title as galactic racing champion, but tells them to look after it, saying he'll be back for it sooner or later.
===LEGO Adventures! Magazine===
LEGO Adventures! Magazine Issue 6 contains a comic (Magma Moon Marathon!) based on the premise for LEGO Racers, where a bored Rocket Racer tells Veronica Voltage that he has beaten every good racer in LEGOLAND. To remedy this, Veronica uses her time machine to bring Basil the Batlord and Captain Redbeard from the past to race Rocket Racer. He beats them both and then challenges the reader to a race.
Likewise, the December 2001 issue has a comic based on LEGO Racers 2, especially the game's intro animation, where Rocket Racer goes from Sandy Bay to Xalax and participates in a race. Only the Russian version (Холодно, но весело!) of this issue of the magazine has been scanned and uploaded online, but a rough English translation ("Cold, but fun!") can be found here.
===Drome Racers===
Drome Racers features a character named Rocket, a retired racer who gives the player character Max Axel tips, offers practice, and coordinates one-on-one challenges with other racers. 
===Minifigures===
The Race Car Guy in Minifigures Series 18, while not explicitly referred to as Rocket Racer, is considered to be Rocket Racer's first appearance as a physical minifigure. Once again, his outfit has changed, though he still retains his logo, and his name is on his belt. This minifigure was further alluded to be Rocket Racer when mentioned in an interview with Austin William Carlson, a graphics/minifigure artist at LEGO responsible for creating several revamps of classic characters.
===Stuntz===
Explicitly making a physical appearance as a minifigure in the City Stuntz theme, Rocket Racer drives the flywheel-powered Rocket Stunt Bike and performs in the Ultimate Stunt Riders Challenge. His minifigure combines the overall appearance of his LEGO Racers design with the color scheme of his LEGO Racers 2 design. He also appears as a character in the LEGO City Adventures TV series and in the Your City. No Limits series. His personality varies between the two series, with LEGO City Adventures portraying him as calm, levelheaded, and analytical and No Limits depicting him as a brash and cocky showman.
===2K Drive===
Rocket Racer is available as an unlockable playable character in LEGO 2K Drive, using his 2021 Stuntz design. As is the case with other Stuntz characters in the same game, he is not referred to by name and instead generically called the Rocket Stunt Driver (Helmet).
==LEGO Description==
==Gallery of Variants==
=== Non-Physical Variants ===
==Appearances==
*71021 Minifigures Series 18 
*60298 Rocket Stunt Bike
*60361 Ultimate Stunt Riders Challenge
===Comic Appearances===
* Magma Moon Marathon!
* Холодно, но весело!
===TV Series Appearances===
* LEGO City Adventures
* LEGO City No Limits
===Video Game Appearances=== 
*LEGO Racers
*Rocket Racers
*LEGO Racers 2
* Drome Racers
* LEGO 2K Drive
==Behind the Scenes==
Early concept art and renders for LEGO Racers depict Rocket Racer with brown hair and a lighter colored outfit. This early design was also used for a large brick-built version of him and his car displayed at E3 1999.
Rocket Racer's new outfit and car design in LEGO Racers 2 are based on famous stunt performer Evel Knievel's motorcycle jumpsuit. Originally, he was intended to serve as the player's mentor, but The LEGO Group preferred to keep Rocket Racer as the final opponent instead of Baron Rosso.Research Mega Dump
While nothing in the Drome Racers game itself explicitly states the "Rocket" character is Rocket Racer, the game's writer Ian Mayor confirmed the connection:
In an early mockup of what character selection in the game may have looked like, Rocket is present, and an unused driver texture for him can be found in the game data. However, the game's writer had no recollection of plans to play as Rocket.Conversation with the writer for Drome Racers The artwork of Rocket in the character select mockup was never ultimately used elsewhere, but bears slightly more resemblance to the original design, with a wide smirk, while the in-game character model has a more neutral expression.
In a 2020 interview, Austin William Carlson commented on redesigning classic characters such as Rocket Racer. Since this predates Rocket's debut in Stuntz, it is implicitly referring to the Race Car Guy and confirming his identity.
==Notes==
*LEGO Stores gave out Rocket Racer stickers for a period of time.
*In the Circuit 7 intro cutscene, Rocket Racer's right arm is red and his left arm is blue. But in all other appearances, his right arm is blue and left arm is red.
==Gallery==
D gbaRvWkAA-XzA.jpg|Work-in-progress designs
RR screen.png|Rocket Racer in LEGO Racers (With arm colour error from above)
Racer set.png|The final scene in LEGO Racers, where he gives the player his car
Rocket Racer manual front.png|Rocket Racer in the LEGO Racers manual
Rocket Racer manual trophy.png|Rocket Racer in the LEGO Racers manual
Rocket Racer manual render.png|Rocket Racer in the LEGO Racers manual
Rocket racer beta.png|An early render of Rocket Racer for LEGO Racers, with various design differences
RR.jpg|Concept art of Rocket Racer for LEGO Racers
Rocket Racers Rocket.jpeg|Rocket Racer in the queue line for Rocket Racers
RR's white car'n'suit.jpg|Rocket Racer's car in LEGO Racers 2
Rocket racer gba.png|Rocket Racer in the GBA version of LEGO Racers 2
Drome Racers Rocket 1.png|Rocket in Drome Racers
Race Car Guy 1.jpg|The Race Car Guy without his car accessory, showing the name on his belt
60298m.png|Rocket Racer's 2021 Stuntz minifigure
Get Ready For Action-Packed Adventures With The New LEGO City Stuntz Sets!-2
==References==
Category:Racers minifigures
Category:City Minifigures
Category:Minifigures introduced in 1999
Category:Minifigures first introduced in Video Games