| “ | I am the Duke and Duchess's Private Engine, I take them everywhere. | „ |
| ~ Spencer Introducing himself. |
| “ | Hello, Sodor! What do you know? I'm here for the summer! I have a very important job to do: The Duke and Duchess of Boxford are having a new summer house built. It has to be finished in time for the Duke and Duchess' holiday. I'm very busy, no time to chat! | „ |
| ~ Spencer's first words in Hiro of the Rails |
| “ | That engine can't even puff properly! | „ |
| ~ Spencer's most famous quote as he mocks Hiro over his mechanical difficulties and struggles to move. |
| “ | You’re going to tell Sir Topham Hatt about that silly scrap engine. I’ll get there first to make sure your plan doesn’t work! That engine will be sent to the Smelter’s Yard, WHERE HE BELONGS! | „ |
| ~ Spencer's villainous breakdown as he races Thomas to Knapford to tell Sir Topham Hatt about Hiro. |
Spencer is a major antagonist of the Thomas & Friends franchise.
He is a big silver streamlined tender engine from the Mainland who is privately owned by the Duke and Duchess of Boxford. He often visits the Island of Sodor with his owners. His biggest villainous role is as the main antagonist of the 2009 film, Hero of The Rails, He is also the archrival of Thomas and Gordon, as well as the former archenemy of Hiro.
From Season 7 to Season 11, just like the other characters, he was voiced by the narrators, the late Michael Angelis and Michael Brandon. After switching to CGI, he was voiced by Matt Wilkinson in the UK and Glenn Wrage in the US.
Biography[]
During his first visit to Sodor, Spencer took the Duke and Duchess of Boxford on a trip around Sodor. He ignored Gordon's warnings about taking on water, and he ran out of water on Gordon's Hill. However, he blamed the incident on a leaky tank, and he had to rely on Gordon to take him to Maron.
Upon his next visit, Spencer challenged Edward to a race and maintained a lead for the majority of the race, but he vainly fell asleep while the Duke and Duchess stopped to take photos. Because of this, Spencer lost to Edward after the latter got onto the summer house branch line first.
Spencer has since developed a rivalry with Thomas, with the latter often trying to outshine Spencer. However, he has failed a few times.
Spencer returns to Sodor to help build a new summer house for the Duke and Duchess of Boxford, much to the annoyance of all the other engines. To make matters worse, he starts to insult the other steam engines. He also insults Thomas by calling him a "toy tank engine" and saying that he can't pull heavy loads. As a result, they have a competition of strength. However, Spencer neglects to build the new summer house when he becomes suspicious about Thomas, thinking that he's being a tricky tank engine. And then, he ends up getting slate down his funnel at the quarry after being tricked by Mavis. As a result, Edward and Henry have to take him to the Sodor Steamworks to have him repaired. Thomas and Percy need the parts to restore their new friend, Hiro, which are close to where Spencer was being mended. Fortunately, they were able to take the parts with help from Victor and Kevin when Victor noticed that Kevin's sudden speeds of dropping equipment made Spencer flinch and close his eyes, giving Thomas the opportunity to take the parts without Spencer seeing him.
The next day, Spencer was back on the rails, and he decided to do some investigations in the morning. When Spencer discovered Percy's mail cars in an abandoned siding (insisting that Thomas was hiding them from Percy), James and Toby puffed out of the forest to chase Spencer away from Hiro to make sure that he wouldn't get too close to him. Thomas came in from the junction that Spencer was on, and he stopped right in front of him, with James and Toby behind him, blocking him from both sides. As a result, he got into trouble with Sir Topham Hatt at Knapford Station, who thought that Spencer was the one who was hiding the mail cars. In actuality, Percy had left them in a siding while he assisted Thomas in restoring Hiro. Spencer tried to explain, but Sir Topham Hatt thought that he was making excuses. After being told to give the mail cars back to Percy, Spencer started to get mad at Thomas because he thought that he was still up to something.
Having long been suspicious of the engines’ activities, Spencer finally learned about Hiro, and he was disgusted by the fact that he was being restored. He then chased after Hiro in order to wear him down so much, that he literally fell apart, eager to scrap him. Luckily, Gordon happened to puff by at the right time, appealing Spencer's ego by racing him to Maithwaite Station, giving Thomas enough time to hide Hiro from Spencer into a siding with some tree groves for the time being. While Spencer’s efforts to scrap Hiro were thwarted for the time being, he set back the restoration effort significantly. When his owners, the Duke and Duchess of Boxford, arrived at Maithwaite in Gordon's express coaches for their holiday, they learned that Spencer had refused to do his work in favor of stalking Thomas. And then, they reprimanded him for needing to be helped by Thomas and not be let out of his sight, much to Spencer's anger.
Thomas departed the mostly completed summer house and headed to Knapford Station to tell Sir Topham Hatt about Hiro. Spencer, seeking revenge for being humiliated, chased after Thomas a second time, but he couldn't get in front of him. The chase lead past Marshland, as Thomas knew that it was the quickest way to Knapford. Spencer was closing in on Thomas. But unfortunately, he was too heavy to go over Marshland's wooden bridge, and he ended up derailing into the muddy marsh. As punishment for his behavior, he was left there for the entire time that Hiro was being restored. After being rescued by Hiro, Spencer apologized to Thomas and Hiro, and they all worked together to finish the summer house.
Sir Robert Norramby borrowed Spencer as his private engine during the restoration of Ulfstead Castle. He transported the Earl around, and much to his embarrassment, had to pull some stones for the job. During that time, he attempted to have races with Gordon. But when the two met Connor and Caitlin during one of their runs, they called off the race. After the restoration was complete, Connor, Caitlin, Gordon, and Spencer had another race from Ulfstead's grounds.
When Stephen needed to get to Ulfstead Castle quickly, Spencer pushed him. However, he sought to humiliate Stephen and pushed him so hard, that he nearly crashed upon reaching the castle.
Spencer brought a VIP from the Mainland to present Sir Topham Hatt with an award. But since he was showing off, he ended up on Edward's Branch Line. Once he finally arrived at Knapford Station, the Deputy Minister crossly announced that he wouldn't travel back to the Mainland with Spencer. Throughout the day, as the other engines were showing off, Spencer felt sorry for himself, and he wished that he had done his work properly. He learned from his mistake and successfully brought the Deputy Minister back to Sodor the following day.
One day, Spencer was traveling through Henry's Tunnel, and he almost ran into Thomas, who was hiding in the tunnel pretending to be a made-up engine called Geoffrey, so that he could trick Sir Topham Hatt. In winter, he had to stay on Sodor because the Vicarstown Bridge was blocked with snow. He teased Henry by telling him that he might see an abominable snowman. But when the two engines saw something covered in snow walking towards them, Spencer tried to run away. And then, his valves became blocked. Luckily, it was only Sir Topham Hatt, who had gotten into trouble in the snow. Later, Spencer had to take the Duke and Duchess to Callan Castle, when his valve gear had snapped and broke down. And then, Thomas, Bertie, and Harold had to take the Duke and Duchess to Callan Castle instead.
Spencer would then go on to participate in the the Great Railway Show where he served as a UK representative and competed in The Great Race event against Gordon and Flying Scotsman, as well as Axel and Etienne. He came in second place, narrowly losing to Etienne.
On New Year's Eve, Spencer was to take guests to Callan Castle. He decided to take Platform 1 and Gordon went on Platform 2, but they got the wrong coaches. The passengers got upset and Gordon and Spencer had to take the express passengers to the stations that they had missed. They later apologized and watched the fireworks together, seemingly putting an end to their bitter rivalry for good.
In one of James' dreams, Spencer tells him to stop showing off before he has another crash. In another dream, James helps the Duke and Duchess of Boxford while Spencer is on loan.
During the holiday season, Sir Topham Hatt, the Duke, and the Duchess were supposed to travel back to Sodor on Spencer, so that the former could greet the children as Santa Claus. But when Spencer got stuck on the Mainland, Harold had to take them to Sodor. Some time later, Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt borrowed one of Spencer's coaches, so that they could go to London to meet Queen Elizabeth II and her son, Prince Charles.
Personality[]
Spencer is very arrogant, snobby, selfish, greedy, egotistical, bossy, and pompous. He also considers himself to be above doing menial duties, such as shunting. He is very proud of his speed. Although the engines on Sodor were impressed by him when he first arrived on Sodor, due to the fact that he would later belittle them, the engines grew to hate him, especially Thomas and Gordon.
Spencer is notably the only steam engine in the series to be truly bad. Most steam engines have a sense of camaraderie because they have been replaced by diesels everywhere, except for Sodor. However, Spencer doesn't share their sympathy and is more than willing to scrap others of his own kind, as he believes he is better than them. When Hiro was discovered by Thomas, Spencer became obsessed with getting Hiro (and the others, if necessary) scrapped.
When he came to build the summer house, Spencer proved himself to be very nosy, sneaky, disobedient, and rather neglectful. He cared far more about getting petty revenge on Thomas than actually getting his work done, eventually abandoning his work entirely.
Gordon and Spencer strongly dislike each other. This is mainly because of his pompous behavior, which exceeds even that of Gordon's. Gordon doesn't let his ego completely consume him, but Spencer does. His arrogance has also shown that he isn't willing to take advice from other engines, which only results in him needing help from those he shrugs off.
However, he isn't completely without morals. He owned up when he realized his mistakes, especially when reprimanded by the Duke and Duchess or the Fat Controller for causing trouble. This side once came through when he helped Percy find his way home to Tidmouth Sheds. Despite his pompousness, he ultimately wants to be really useful just like all the other locomotives.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Sir Nigel Gresley (designer)
- The Duke and Duchess of Boxford (owners)
- Gordon (cousin)
- Flying Scotsman (cousin)
- Mallard (brother)
- Green Arrow (cousin)
- Ryan (cousin)
Allies[]
- Thomas (occasionally)
- Gordon (occasionally)
- Percy (occasionally)
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Sir Robert Norramby
- Mavis
- Whiff (occasionally)
- Hiro (attempted victim turned friend)
- Victor
- Kevin
- Stafford
- Connor
- Caitlin
- Flying Scotsman
- Axel
- Etienne
- Philip
Enemies[]
- Gordon (archrival)
- Thomas (second archrival)
- Edward
- Henry
- James
- Percy
- Toby
- Emily
- Mavis (formerly)
- Hiro (former archenemy and attempted victim)
- Sir Topham Hatt (boss; sometimes)
- Victor (formerly)
- Kevin (formerly)
- Whiff (sometimes)
- Stephen
Gallery[]
Quotes[]
| “ | Is this what you've been doing Thomas? Making a heap of scrap for the smelters yard? Because that's the only thing that this engine's good for, Sir Topham Hatt will make sure of that. | „ |
| ~ Spencer |
| “ | Thomas, I'm sorry I thought you were a tricky engine. And Hiro, I'm sorry I called you a heap of scrap. You are both fine engines and fine friends. | „ |
| ~ Spencer's last words and apology in Hero of the Rails. |
Trivia[]
- On the Steamies vs. Diesels DVD, Spencer is mistakenly called a diesel, even though he is a steam engine. This is because in the game, Spencer says that he doesn't have a whistle, but has a horn instead. However, his picture clearly shows him having a whistle.
- Spencer's whistle is a stock sound effect of a GWR whistle.
- Even though Spencer's tender wheels are black, most merchandise ranges have them blue-grey/metallic silver, excluding Tomy, TrackMaster, and Bachmann.
- Spencer's Hornby model incorrectly features him with black wheels. All other merchandise models have him with correct silver wheels.
- In his The Great Race Meet the Contenders promotional video, it states that he's the holder of the world speed record for steam locomotives. In the actual special, it's stated that he's a former world record holder.
- Spencer is the first steam engine to be the main antagonist in a special. The second being Vinnie, and the third being Hurricane.
- Spencer is also the first CGI villain who reforms in a special. In Hero of the Rails, he reforms when he apologizes to Thomas and Hiro at the end.
- In the CGI series of Thomas & Friends, Spencer is one of two villains who has two separate voice actors in the US and UK dubs. The other one is Diesel. But unlike the latter, Spencer's US voice actor stays the same throughout the CGI series.
- Not counting the diesels from Calling All Engines!, Spencer is the first villain who has caused confusion and delay in a movie special. This happened in the first CGI movie special, Hero of the Rails. However, the movie special showed Sir Topham Hatt thinking that Spencer caused confusion and delay by taking Percy's mail cars. This wasn't true because Spencer actually found Percy's mail cars near Hiro's hiding place, and the only bad things that he did were forcing Thomas to pull heavy loads and forgetting to finish the Duke and Duchess' summer house. Because of this, Spencer was actually the first and only villain who was blamed for causing confusion and delay.
- Despite doing nice things for the Duke and Duchess of Boxford, Spencer got in trouble with them a few times in the TV series. In the Season 11 episode, "Dream On", he got in trouble for not getting ready to take the Duke to the airport. In the CGI movie special, Hero of the Rails, he got in trouble for spying on Thomas instead of finishing the Duke and Duchess' summer house. As a bonus, the Season 21 finale, "Confused Coaches", shows Spencer and Gordon competing against each other. In the same episode, they get in trouble for taking the wrong coaches, and some of Spencer's passengers happen to be the Duke and Duchess of Boxford.
- Hero of the Rails and King of the Railway are the only movie specials where Spencer and Hiro interact with each other.
- At many Day Out with Thomas events, Spencer has Mavis' face.
- In the nineteenth series, he gained two LNER style headlamps.
- Spencer's design is based on an LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard.
- Spencer's classic theme is a musical variation of Coronation Scot's theme composed by Vivian Ellis.
- Spencer is one of only two characters to have bronze buffers, then gain silver ones. The other one is Emily.
- Fitting his position as a chauffeur, Spencer's name has been affiliated with several fictional characters with similar positions.
- Oddly enough, Spencer was unable to outrun Thomas. In real life, an A4 would be much faster than an E2.
- Ironically, Thomas wasn't able to outrun Spencer in the episode, "Dream On", but he could in Hero of the Rails. This is likely a plot armor or continuity error. Realistically, the only way that an E2 would stay in front of an A4 would be to stay on the same line in front of it.
External Links[]
- Spencer on the Thomas the Tank Engine Wiki
- Spencer on the Antagonists Wiki
- Spencer on the Heroes Wiki
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 Villains
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Island of Sodor Foreign Engines Rolling Stock Non-Rail Vehicles Humans | ||