Cranky

**Cranky** is a tall, olive green tower crane (hence his name) who lives and works at Brendam Docks.

## Bio

Cranky bullied Thomas and Percy by delaying their loads and calling them "bugs". He later got his comeuppance after a tramp steamer crashed into him and had to be rescued by the two tank engines. Afterwards, he promised never to insult them. However, he still teases the engines, such as when Percy complained that there was too much work and when Henry arrived at the Docks in a barge full of fish.

Despite his lack of sleep, Cranky works very hard. But his working attitude makes the engines cross whenever they think that Cranky is too slow - as a result of their insults, Cranky can cause accidents.

Although he is naturally grumpy, Cranky has shown that he has a kind side too. Once he helped Thomas out of trouble when he and Percy were playing "Hide and Peep" by finding Percy in the dry dock.

He has befriended a seagull that often visits him and has named it, rather fittingly, Seagull. Cranky is not fond of all animals though and is shown to have a fear of elephants.

Cranky has an intense dislike for Salty's stories and Charlie's jokes. According to one of Salty's tales, Cranky is "the Monster of Brendam".

In the seventeenth season, Cranky needed some help, so Kevin was sent to help him. However, Cranky refused the help, leading Kevin to fall into the sea. Cranky rescued Kevin, and apologised for being so mean. He later called Charlie silly when he told him about the elephant on the line, and warned Thomas about the icy tracks.

In Tale of the Brave, Cranky attempted to stop a ship that Gator was on, after Thomas thought that Percy was on board the ship. However, this resulted in Cranky breaking, forcing the ship to turn back.

Cranky was later unloading a crate from a ship at Brendam, but accidentally dropped the crate to the ground. Fearing the contents inside of the crate were broken, Cranky hid the crate out of sight, though it was later found and taken to the Town Hall.

In the twentieth season, Cranky teased James while he was pouting by saying he looked crankier than himself.

In The Great Race, Cranky accidentally loaded a crate with Diesel in it into a boat after the devious diesel shunter's plan to enter the Great Railway Show was foiled.

In the twenty-first season, Cranky believed he would be replaced with a big new fancy crane and so he began working hard all through the night. Unfortunately, the resulted in him making several mistakes. This led The Fat Controller to buy a big, new, shiny crane named Carly. Although liking Carly at first, Cranky believed she was competitive as she had unintentionally left him with no work to do as Carly was doing all of it. Cranky frantically tried to outdo her until their hooks became entangled and they found themselves stuck fast and unable to move. After Salty told a story of a two-headed monster that worked together, he and Carly started working together.

## Personality

As his own name would imply, Cranky is extremely grumpy because he is initially kept working day and night without rest. Although nowadays he is able to sleep properly, he still maintains his cranky attitude. Cranky loves teasing the engines and has an intense dislike for Salty's stories. He rarely pays attention due to his perpetual bad temper. According to Big Mickey, throughout all the years he has been at the docks, Cranky has never said a single word to him.

However, Cranky has at times shown a bit of kindness, such as when he sympathised for Percy after Thomas went missing on Misty Island and also when he used a large reflective mirror to show Henry his glowing paint. He has started to become friends with the engines working at the docks. Although Cranky is now easier to befriend, he still doesn't take criticism well, and grew insulted when Professor Friedrich opted to check the Blastbooster-7 after he unloaded it, despite taking all the care in the world to unload it safely.

## Trivia

* Cranky along with Bulgy, Bulstrode and George are best friends with Cranky Doodle Donkey.
* Cranky meet Skipper Stu, Russ, Harry and Hamish in episodes.
* Cranky has two seagull friends called Seagull and Stuart.
* Cranky was the first non-Awdry character introduced to the TV series who was not Railway Series-related.
* Cranky can be dismantled and shifted to different locations, despite it never being mentioned or shown, however, there are some cases where Cranky has not been seen at Brendam.
* Before the script cut, Cranky was to have a much larger role in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
* In the aforementioned movie, he was located in the yards at Knapford Station rather than Brendam Docks.