Diesel (character)

## **Diesel**

55 feet (Silver)

22.8 meters / 75 feet (Millennium)

??? meters / ??? feet (Reiwa)

49 tons (Silver)

61 tons (Millennium)

??? tons (Reiwa)

Wario (*Super Mario*)

Waluigi (*Super Mario*)

"**Devious**" **Diesel**, as his name implies, is a black diesel locomotive dinosaur who is a common antagonistic character in *Sodor Monsterverse*. He was established as the second-in-command figure of the Diesel Family. Often portrayed as one of the most notoriously destructive monsters encountered on Sodor, Diesel is often recognized a prominent and violent adversary of the Steam Team dinosaurs as well as the "B-team" to some extent.

## General information

### **Design**

Diesel is a very humanoid monster whose head and limbs are rectangular. His scales are obsidian black, but show brownish undertones when exposed to certain light. His central stomach area, upper arms and legs are rather tubular and have a "segmented" appearance, somewhat. He sports a speaker or gem-like component on his chest, dark plates that resemble shoulder guards, a small "headlight", and two pairs of small silver horns on the corners of his head. Diesel's spines are jagged, arranged in pairs and resemble those of a stegosaurus. His eyes are a vivid red color. Diesel's body structure varies depending on the era, but generally he is shown to be fairly stocky. His Showa and Silver era-iterations depict him as more slim Overall, his design influenced many of the common traits in the other diesel shunter dinosaurs.

### **Roar**

Many of Diesel's roars and growls derive from the noises of real life diesel engines in short bursts. His sounds are often recycled and adjusted in pitch respectively for several of the other diesel monsters.

### **Abilities**

#### **Physical capabilities**

Diesel most often prefers to fight at close range. His fighting style is very reminiscent to traditional boxing and wrestling maneuvers. Often, he possesses the sheer power to knock down skyscrapers and displays being capable of holding his own against even highly durable, heavyweight monsters. He is given an inherent advantage in battles taking place in densely-packed cities.

#### **Energy capabilities**

##### Explosive flame

Diesel's breath weapon is a flammable, oil-like substance. It is usually ignited by an electrical spark of sorts after being fired and can create explosions of varying radius and intensity.

### **Weaponry**

Diesel proved to be an exceptionally fast learner at using advanced weapons and technology with skill. Even in his first few tries, he showed no hesitation while holding them and was readily prepared for any kind of violent confrontation.

### **Weaknesses**

One of Diesel's most common downfalls (especially in the Showa and Silver eras) was his lack of careful planning in the battlefield. He tended to struggle against tougher or smarter opponents until the Heisei and (especially) late-Millennium eras, where his physical strength became virtually just as prominent as his pride and devious intellect. Due to his stocky frame, Diesel is susceptible to pressure from faster monsters, though his mobility remains average across all iterations. Unless he can rely on a powerful device or weapon in his hands, Diesel also shows that he has difficulty adapting to unusual battle conditions.

### **Personality**

Diesel is traditionally portrayed as cold, conniving, and vicious. Since his introduction, he is shown to be hostile and discriminatory towards steamers, usually looking down upon them for their supposed "weaker" prowess and age in comparison to his own and the other diesel monsters, although the usual reception from the former is being unimpressed. He developed a loathing especially towards the likes of Duck, whom despises him equally due to being falsely framed for sending the trucks to initiate an attack on the "big dinosaurs". In addition, Diesel demonstrated being manipulative towards Edward, exploiting him and framing him of murder to the point where he begged for much-needed help.

In battle, he frequently prefers to attack within close quarters, and doesn't usually dwell on learning particular, niche strategies to defeat his enemies aside from the fact that he likes to keep in mind of how physically strong he is. He consciously enjoys the thrill of destruction. In 1960, Diesel revealed that he can be somewhat of a coward. He made an attempt to retreat as soon as he realized Diesel 10 had gotten outmatched by the Steam Team monsters. He also seems to have a heavy fixation towards modernization, and isn't hesitant on using newer technology in order gain the upper-hand quickly. There are moments where Diesel had displayed incompetence, as his heavy reliance on powerful weapons as well as leaning on the bare minimum in terms of strategic and effective hand-to-hand combat makes him somewhat less of a formidable opponent than usual.

## Trivia

### Development

* When Diesel was first drawn, he originally did not have horns.

### General

* Diesel's portrayal in *SM* is more likely intended to reflect his "rough and tough" personality in the 17th-21st season of *Thomas and Friends*.