ThunderCats (2011 series)/Characters/Thundercats

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Characters from ThunderCats (2011 series) include:

Lion-O

Voiced by: Will Friedle

Lion-O is a prince, made Lord of the Thundercats due to the murder of his father, Claudus. In contrast to the 80's series, Lion-O is introduced as a brash, idealistic teenager.

Tropes exhibited by Lion-O include:
  • 24-Hour Armor: Always wears his cuirass
  • Adaptive Armor: When Lion-O obtains the Spirit Stone and places it in his claw gauntlet, it extends to cover his full arm.
  • Adorkable: He was always a little awkward, but it hasn't been noticeable since the Trials, and then in "Recipe for Disaster" it goes back up to eleven as he tries to court Pumyra.
  • Aesop Amnesia: It seems like every other episode is Lion-O learning the same lesson about listening to his teammates and not doing his own thing without their input.
  • All of the Other Reindeer: Popular opinion in Thundera is Lion-O is a Cloudcuckoolander for his obsession with technology, a Category Traitor for his Lizard advocacy, a Cultural Rebel and a thoroughly Inadequate Inheritor when compared to his brother.
  • Always Save the Girl: With a choice between saving Pumyraa and the Sword of Plunn-Darr, he picks Pumyra. He even flat out tells Mumm-Ra (and Pumyra) and abandoning her isn't even an option.
    • In "Recipe for Disaster" the first time Mumm-Ra attacks in his Sycorax form his initial reaction is to grab her and get to safety before counter-attacking. Later in the episode he saves her again when she's cornered.
  • Always Second Best: Though Lion-O is painfully aware of this already, his brother Tygra sees fit to loudly and explicitly inform Lion-O of this in front of a huge arena of people before roundly defeating him in a public sporting event.

Tygra: "When it comes to everything except the crown, you're always going to be second place."

Lion-O: *as he realizes he'll be dragged skyward* Maybe this is a bad ide-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

    • He later demonstrates long-term planning skills and more abstract thought while searching for the hidden Spirit Stone.
    • From "The Trials of Lion-O: Part 2" on he is far more mature and even-tempered, and makes full use of his tools and abilities.
    • In "Recipe for Disaster", he takes a much different approach with courting Pumyra than he did Cheetara (actively trying to talk to her about their relationship and feelings) and tries to make his affections known rather than just assuming she feels the same way.
  • Chekhov's Skill: Lion-O's much-ridiculed intense study of technology finally pays off when he figures out the user interface of a Black Box that he later uses to blow up a war mech
  • A Child Shall Lead Them: Lion-O is still young, and very green in his kingship.
  • The Chosen One: During a Rite of Passage, the Sword of Omens granted Lion-O a vision of the future, choosing him as the next king.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: His reputation among the Thunderians prior to Thundera's fall. Grune lampshades it, saying he "still [has] his head in the clouds." while Tygra has harsher words:

Tygra: That's your problem. You look at Lizards and see victims. You look at junk and see mythical tech.

  • Collector of the Strange: Actively seeks out Lost Technology, even if he has to turn to a Friend in the Black Market to get it.
  • Cool Sword: The Sword of Omens, naturally.
  • The Cuckoolander Was Right: Not that Lion-O feels much like gloating, since confirmation of Lost Technology's existence comes at a price, when the Lizards use it to destroy his kingdom. He even gets redeemed for his defense of the Lizards when one of them repays the favor. and slips him the key to his cell.
  • Cultural Rebel: Who needs to learn about how Cats Are Superior or Might Makes Right when there are machines to tinker with? And it actually seems wrong that those Alley Cats are beating up that poor Dog...
  • Deadpan Snarker: He can get pretty snarky and often matches Tygra wit-for-wit. Most of his lines in "Legacy" are wry observations on the situation.
  • Determinator: Lion-O doesn't give up easily, which has both gotten him into trouble, and out of it.
  • Did Not Get the Girl/Hopeless Suitor: For Cheetara.
  • Died in Your Arms Tonight: Lion-O holds his father while he dies. And his friend Emrick, in the palms of his hands.
  • Don't Call Me "Sir"!: After saving Pumyra's life in the mines, he asks her to call him "Lion-O" and not "Your Majesty."
  • The Emperor/The Good King: King of Thundera, and Lord of the Thundercats, for what it's worth...
  • Establishing Character Moment: Lion-O is introduced sneaking cloaked and hooded into the worst part of Thundera's slums, only to catch the eye of a gang of "Alley Cat" muggers who've just finished beating a hapless Dog. He manages to fight most off but has to be bailed out by Cheetara, to whom he reveals his reasons for being there: to find rare and obscure pieces of "technology," which everyone else believes to be a myth.
  • Everyone Can See It: Towards Pumyra, except for Pumyra.
  • Every Device Is a Swiss Army Knife: Lion-O's Claw Gauntlet does quadruple duty as scabbard, gauntlet, grappling hook, and buckler.
    • Adding the various power stones can upgrade it into armor.
  • Face Palm: Lion-O from Tygra's actions when the latter accidentally drank a love potion.
  • Fatal Flaw: Pride and overestimation of his skills gets him into trouble, he also struggles with self-doubt.
    • It's actually discussed in "The Trials of Lion-O." The whole prologue of the episode was Lion-O trying to prove to everyone that he's right and everyone should follow him. It leads to his Disney Death. During the actual trials, Lion-O fails to defeat Trial!Tygra, who mentions that deep down, Lion-O didn't believe that he'd be a worthy ruler.
  • Father, I Don't Want to Fight: ...Lizards my people have spent generations oppressing and enslaving.
  • Fiery Redhead
  • "Friend or Idol?" Decision: In "Birth of the Blades," Lion-O is faced with a Sadistic Choice: Save Pumyra from falling to her death, or grab the Sword of Plun-Darr before Mumm-Ra can? He chooses to save Pumyra, earning her gratitude and Undying Loyalty.
  • Genre Blindness: Lion-O sees a vision in the magic Sword of Omens, and Cannot Spit It Out, preferring to lie and claim he was distracted by two passing girls, since he assumes his father will think him a Cloudcuckoolander if he speaks up. Justified since Lion-O is selectively Culture Blind, neglecting his royal duties in favor of collecting and studying Lost Technology, a ridiculous hobby in a Magical Kingdom.
  • Grappling Hook Pistol: The Claw Gauntlet can fire the four fingers as anchors to surfaces.
  • Greater Need Than Mine: Lion-O will help others at great personal cost, this is what earns him Pumyra's Undying Loyalty in "Birth of the Blades" as he continues to fight for her even after she loses the Sword of Plundarr.
  • Grew a Spine: Though a Cultural Rebel, Lion-O was reluctant to share his radicalism with anyone but Snarf, and exploits his image as a Cloudcuckoolander to avoid disclosing a vision he saw in the Sword of Omens. But after hearing that "Sight is useless without action," from Jaga, he makes a Sudden Principled Stand, faces down an Angry Mob and convinces his father to pardon two Lizard prisoners.
  • The Heart: Arguably to all of Thundera. Lion-O immediately steps up to defend anyone, regardless if they're seen as enemies or not, proclaiming, "No one deserves to be treated like that."
    • He will also help anyone in need and expect nothing in return, it earns a lot of friends.
  • The Hero
  • Heroic Sacrifice: One of his personality traits and what earns him a second chance at life in "Trials Part 2"
    • It's what also changes Pumyra's opinion of him in "The Pit," he would rather die than hurt her or any of his subjects.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: The word "crazy" keeps popping up in discussions about what Thunderians think of Lion-O, to the point that he automatically anticipates this opinion from Cheetara.
    • Pumyra (and apparently the rest of the refugees) believe he abandoned them after the fall of Thundera.
    • Averted later on, in some cases...firstly from Pumyra herself after Lion-O proves he's worthy of the mantle of leadership, and also from an elderly cat-slave that Lion-O freed from rat slavers, who claims that he never lost faith that the Lord of the Thundercats would save them.
  • Heroes Prefer Swords: The Sword of Omens is his Weapon of Choice.
  • He's Back: "The Trials of Lion-O: Part 2"
  • Honor Before Reason/Too Dumb to Live: Lion-O suffers a fit of this while grieving for his father and his friend Emrick, invoking a recently-learned Aesop about living life fully to justify acting on his culture's (and inferentially, his father's) motto that "Thundercats never retreat." This leads him to impulsively charge into a battle so one-sided his entire group would have died were it not for a Deus Ex Machina. Inverted when the Elephant Village gets taken hostage and opts for a stealth approach considering the hostage situation. Firmly averted after his Trials where he thinks before he acts and will sometimes allow things he doesn't like to happen if it means the success of the greater mission.
  • Hot-Blooded: The destruction of Thundera and murder of his father has a negative effect on Lion-O's control of his emotions, naturally. As the series progresses he pretty much grows out of it.
  • How Do I Shot Web?: Up until "Sight Beyond Sight" he has great difficulty using the titular ability. After learning to view "the big picture," as per instruction from various gurus, he gains perspective, and becomes more able to use the Sword of Omens' Psychic Powers.
  • Humble Hero: This works both for and against him, as his humility gives him great compassion, but also undermines his confidence when he needs it most.
  • I Did What I Had to Do: Spoken word-for-word in "The Pit" when trying to turn Pumyra.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Zig-Zagged, in "New Alliances" he tells Tygra and Cheetara that he knows about their relationship and he's happy for the both of them, but privately calls Cheetara out for (unintentionally) leading him on.
  • Iconic Item: The Sword of Omens
  • Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: While Lion-O is very right about the existence of Lost Technology, he initially dreamily romanticizes it, not realizing its potential as a Forgotten Superweapon until witnessing the destruction first-hand. It's also quite jarring to his Noble Bigot sensibilities when a Lizard informs him His Species Doth Protest Too Much.
  • In the Hood: Lion-O travels The City Narrows of Thundera in a dark blue cloak.
  • Inadequate Inheritor: Pretty much everyone agrees that Tygra would be a better king than Lion-O. He doesn't even get much praise from his father until right before his death.
  • Indy Ploy: He's getting very good at thinking on his feet and he pulls off a series of these in "Birth of the Blades."
  • Instant Expert: Despite only tinkering and playing with mostly broken and non-functional trinkets, Lion-O is remarkably quick to pick up the workings of technology, and has no trouble at all sailing two hi-tech airships.
  • Jerkass: For all of one episode due to his rage and hate blinding him to everything else. He gets better at the end.
    • Took a Level in Jerkass: After "Between Brothers" through the end of "The Trials of Lion-O" due to not getting the girl, though he pretty much had every right to be angry...
    • By "The Trials of Lion-O" and onward, he seems to have gotten better.
  • Kid Hero: At seventeen [dead link], he's the youngest of his fellow nobles. Panthro dryly lampshades their lack of "adult supervision" before his arrival.
  • Kid Samurai/Young Gun: In the Cattle Punk/Wutai Swordsmans' Town, Lion-O is swiftly pegged as this by the Drifter, who warns him off, and the Duelist, who exploits Lion-O's naiveté for all it's worth, goading him into a Showdown At High Noon.
  • Kindhearted Cat Lover: Or... whatever his pet Snarf is. Anyway, he loves him.
  • King Incognito: Lion-O has a habit of walking the slums disguised as a peasant.
  • Knight in Shining Armor: Oh so much, his outfit even seems to be based on a medieval knight's jousting armor.
    • Even more so during moments when Pumyra shows obvious attraction to him for displaying these kinds of feats.
  • Last of His Kind: Lion-O is the last of the Lions, the Cats who constitute Thundera's royal bloodline.
  • The Leader: Of his Thundercats, much to Tygra's chagrin and Panthro's irritation (though Panthro does warm up, as does Tygra to some extent).
  • Leeroy Jenkins: Unlike many here, a genuine flaw of the Hot-Blooded young Lion-O, which Panthro has very little patience for.
  • Lonely Rich Kid: Despite being the prince, so far Lion-O's childhood looks like it may have been a pretty lonely one.
  • Love Makes You Dumb: all throughout the Sword of Plundarr arc he had been doing perfectly fine with Pumyra simply by speaking his mind and being there for her, but in "Recipe for Disaster" when he attempts to openly court her he stumbles over his words, gives her poisonous flowers, tries to slip her a love potion, and generally makes a mess of things between them. Averted through the rest of the episode as he still manages to keep a clear head in battle and his desire to protect Pumyra allows to him to pull off an attack that actually hurts a supposedly nigh-invulnerable Mumm-Ra.
  • Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Lion-O's Claw Gauntlet serves as a buckler, in a pinch.
  • A Man Is Always Eager: He has no problem using his ancestor's relationship with fellow rebellion leader Panthera to score a makeout session right before Mumm-Ra's ship crashes in his vision of the past

Lion-O: I am so dead... But at least I have a girlfriend!

    • Subverted later with Pumyra, when she starts flirting with him he just looks confused and vaguely disturbed, probably because he has been burned in the past, but also because she tried to kill him only a few hours earlier.
    • Then played straight again when he starts trying to court Pumyra, with his initial attempts proving...awkward.
  • Missing Mom: Lion-O's mother is nowhere to be seen. This is because of her Death by Childbirth, as revealed in "Native Son".
  • Multiethnic Name: The "-O" suffix seems to be a reference to the "ō" in Japanese names and titles meaning "king."
    • So that means he's the Lion King?
  • Must Make Amends: He puts up with so much from Pumyra because he feels personally responsible for her suffering (and that of the other refugees). That, and he likes her.
  • My Species Doth Protest Too Much: After listening to a Lizard explain how the Cats' oppression gives him few options in life, Lion-O is much less enthusiastic about his culture's endorsement of Might Makes Right or Fantastic Racism.
  • Named Weapons: The Sword of Omens
  • Nice Guy: You could count the number of beings in the series who are half as decent as him.
  • Noble Bigot: Begins as a Fantastic Racist, shooing Produce Pelting kids away from the stockades, but presuming the Lizards therein are otherwise entirely deserving of punishment... until they proceed to argue the point.
  • Noble Fugitive: Breaking out of dungeons, running to MacGuffins, away from the Lizards.
  • Nobody Calls Me Chicken: Appeals to courage or implications of cowardice are a sore point with Lion-O, culturally and personally, especially if his conduct is compared to his father.
  • No Guy Wants an Amazon: Averted with Cheetara, who's easily his rival in combat. This also applies to Pumyra, who fits the trope a little closer as a Hot-Blooded ex-gladiator who's handed his tail to him before with extreme prejudice (though this is because he flat-out refused to fight her).
  • Occult Blue Eyes: Blue-green eyes, a family trait he shares with his father, and part of the Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance that marks him as able to use the Sword of Omens' "Sight Beyond Sight".
  • Power Makes Your Voice Deep: Lion-O's voice gets deeper whenever he uses the Sword of Omens and shouts "ThunderCats, ho!"
  • The Power of Love: His affection for Pumyra and his desire to protect her end up allowing him to shoot blue lightning from the Sword of Omens for the first time.
  • A Protagonist Shall Lead Them: "For it was written that he would be born of fire, a king to lead his people to victory against ancient spirits of evil."
  • Rebel Prince: Reconstructed. It's made patently obvious early on that Lion-O really doesn't want to be king, but cannot pass it to anyone else as he was chosen by the Sword of Omens. It is the act of rebelling against his princely responsibilities that has put Lion-O in touch with the common slum-dwellers and Specific minorities, and connected him with Lost Technology, making him Thundera's Wise Prince.
  • Redheaded Hero
  • Reluctant Ruler: Initially Lion-O didn't want to be king and felt like he was being pushed into a life meant for someone else. Later he comes to accept his position and the responsibility that comes with it.
  • Requisite Royal Regalia: Lion-O wears a much less elaborate version of the cuirass and belt-mounted cabochon sported by his father.
  • The Resenter: Inverted. Lion-O is the hero of the narrative, but not of Thundera's people. They adore Tygra, and think of him as their ideal leader, while Lion-O is The Wrongful Heir to the Throne. Lion-O loathes this state of affairs.

Lion-O (in Sarcasm Mode): You're just so perfect, aren't you, Tygra?
Tygra: Why, thank you, Lion-O!

  • Retractable Weapon: The Sword of Omens retracts to dagger length for stowing inside it's scabbard, Lion-O's Claw Gauntlet. It extends fully when Lion-O performs his By the Power of Grayskull.
  • Revenge Before Reason: Hits this hard in "Ramlak Rising", choosing to disobey Jaga's demand that he find the Book of Omens in favor of hunting down Mumm-Ra, though his encounter with the similarly motivated Captain Tunar causes him to rethink his priorities.
  • Royal Blood: Lion-O is a Lion, which automatically confers the right to rule.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: Initially deconstructed, as Lion-O's hobbies, opinions and jaunts to the slums are seen as evidence that he's The Wrongful Heir to the Throne. Lion-O's Lizard advocacy even causes Claudus to label him an Unwitting Instigator of Doom when the Lizards invade, denying him the chance to join Claudus and Tygra on the battlefield. Then Lion-O takes matters into his own hands.
  • Seer: As The Chosen One, only Lion-O can use the Sword of Omens' "Sight Beyond Sight" to see visions of the future, hidden or far off objects, or metaphysical locations.
  • Shonen Hair: To be expected, as this reboot takes a nod from anime.
  • Skilled but Naive/Unskilled but Strong: Lion-O's weakness in technique with the Sword of Omens is that he prefers a straightforward, purely offensive barrage that relies on momentum and power, very effective in a large battlefield melee, but useless when opponents have guile and space enough to maneuver. The Drifter notes this, and instructs him in defensive evasion. This improves his technique greatly, but later episodes show that he can still be overpowered by opponents who are just plain physically stronger than him.
  • Socially Awkward Hero: Lion-o can fight the forces of Mumm-ra, but yet is unable to try and chat with Pumyra, as shown in "Recipe for Disaster". Notably he was perfectly able to speak honestly with her before he realized he liked her, see Love Makes You Dumb above.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Played straight for laughs with questionable usage of love potion in "Recipe for Disaster."
  • Still the Leader: Initially did not take Panthro's assertive Bald Black Leader Guy role well, despite being out of his depth during their shared mission. In a fit of pique, Lion-O pulled a Leeroy Jenkins that required Panthro's intervention, but Lion-O soon earned his respect and deference when he proved an effective wielder of the Sword of Omens. He also has to deal with Tygra (and later Pumyra) constantly questioning and criticizing his decisions, even after he starts making decent ones.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: Doubles as That Came Out Wrong.

Pumyra: "Aren't we supposed to be collecting firewood?"
Lion-O: "... Oh! Yeah! I, uh, heheh... I didn't just walk you out here to get you alone... ahahah... ahem..."

    • And later he attempts to give her a flower:

Pumyra: Is that supposed to be for me?
Lion-O: This? No! Yes... I-I just thought it smelled nice...

    • Later still when she has an allergic reaction to the same flower:

Lion-O: Lemme take a look I'm sure it's just-- (sees her swelled face and wheezes)!
Pumyra: What?
Lion-O: Nothing! It's fine, you can barely tell!

  • Surrogate Soliloquy: Lion-O makes a habit of using his Empathy Pet Snarf as a sounding-board for his thoughts.
  • Sword Beam: Lion-O can use the Sword of Omens to unleash surges of electricity; more often, however, this takes the form of a power scarlet energy beam fired from the Eye of Thundera set in the hilt.
  • Took a Level in Badass: The point of the Trials, not only to test his skills, but to force him to confront things about himself he doesn't like and hold him back.
  • The Unfavourite: His father much prefers his adoptive older brother Tygra.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Lion-O gets accused of this when the Lizards invade, with Claudus convinced that the Lizard invasion was accelerated by a show of weakness when they pardoned the Lizard scavengers. He's sidelined, forbidden to join Tygra and Claudus on the battlefield.
  • Warrior Prince: Even before his kingship, could hold his own as a Bare-Fisted Monk.
  • Whole Costume Reference: To the original, with some tweaks.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist
  • The Wise Prince: In stark contrast to his 80's Idiot Hero counterpart, Lion-O is very much a "bigger picture" kind of guy and rather than destroying his enemies would rather convert them to his side. However he does have his moments due to inexperience. This is more pronounced after his trials where he is more mature and level-headed, and sticks to his principles like glue.
  • Would Hit a Girl: He decked a female Catfolk mugger right in the face without a blink in the slums. In Thundera, strength matters above all else.
    • Subverted in his fight with Pumyra, but had nothing to do with her being a girl, he won't fight another cat pure and simple.
  • The Wrongful Heir to the Throne: So universally held is this opinion that Lion-O gets to hear from both Grune and Tygra how good a king Tygra would be, with Tygra outright claiming (only as a joke, of course) that he'd be better than Lion-O. It's so blatant even his father comes to his defense. He even worries about this himself, once pondering "Maybe the sword chose wrong..."
    • Lion-O's subconscious belief that this is true is so strong that he (supposedly) fails the Spirit Stone's trials in "The Trials of Lion-O".
  • You Are Worth Hell: In "The Trials of Lion-O", he failed against Tygra and so would die. To go save his comrades, he offers up his soul to be given until sun rise to save them knowing his soul would be doomed to live in Limbo for all time.
    • In "The Pit" he takes a brutal beating from Pumyra and refuses to fight back to prove that he would never hurt her or any of his people.
  • Youngest Child Wins: Despite being the younger, it is Lion-O who is first in line for the throne, because he is of the Lion bloodline, and because he was chosen by the Sword of Omens.
  • Zombie Advocate: Lion-O defends Lizards from a Vigilante Execution by an Angry Mob, which is seen as absurd by both the mob and his father.
    • He does it again when he spares the rat Mordax from being killed by Pumyra.

Tygra

Voiced by: Matthew Mercer

Tygra is the adoptive brother of Lion-O and has an active Sibling Rivalry against him, since he's often more skilled and resents his younger sibling's position as crown prince. He can be cocky and arrogant at times, and flirtatious as well.

Tropes exhibited by Tygra include:
  • 24-Hour Armor: Acquires a set after the siege of Thundera.
  • Adorkable: When he was younger, as revealed through a flashback to when he met Cheetara. He certainly wasn't as much of The Charmer as he is now.
  • Aloof Big Brother: At his worst, Tygra expresses utter disdain for his brother's idealism and dabblings in Lost Technology. He softened on the latter when said technology was revealed to be real.
  • Always Second Best: Tygra tries to be Always Someone Better because of a deep Inferiority Superiority Complex, and an abiding suspicion that as a mere Spare to the Throne, he will forever lose to Lion-O, a motivation underscored when Tygra bitterly rants about how Lion-O's taken away both his chance to wear the crown, and, he suspects, his chance to romance Cheetara, the Love Interest of their Sibling Triangle.
  • Always Someone Better: Tygra actively invokes this whenever able, out of a need to feel superior due to his resentment at being out of the chain of succession. He loves to show up his younger brother, and makes a point of "jokingly" telling his father with Lion-O in earshot, "I just would have been a better [king]."
  • Bare-Fisted Monk: Is quite capable unarmed, soundly defeating his brother in Thundera's games.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Despite all this, when Lion-O is in real trouble, Tygra supports and fights with him.
  • Big Brother Mentor: During shared reminiscences of their father Claudus, Tygra drops his usual resentful critiques when Lion-O expresses genuine insecurities at leading, telling him to believe in himself. This moment of bonding is brief, and Tygra's back to needling him a short while later.
  • Bishonen
  • Blue Blood
  • Broken Ace: Tygra is better than Lion-O. At everything. He's older, more skilled at fighting, more knowlegeable in military tactics, more popular with their people, father's favorite, and The Dutiful Son, but to his great resentment, his flaky Cloudcuckoolander kid brother gets to be The Chosen One and the king by dint of Royal Blood alone, and even gets attention from Cheetara, whom Tygra has pined for from afar.
  • Brown Eyes: Prone to winking.
  • Butt Monkey: After the Trials force Lion-O's Character Development to stick Tygra takes over whenever a character needs to be abused.
  • The Charmer: Tygra, who openly flirts with one of the clerics (actually Cheetara), during Lion-O's Rite of Passage, to Lion-O's shock.
  • The Chosen One: The reason why the Ancient Spirits of Evil chose him as a sacrifice is because he will be a thorn in their side.
  • Compassionate Critic: Towards his brother Lion-O, frequently criticizing his many deficiencies and failure to conform to Thunderian culture and their father's expectations.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • The Dutiful Son: And he knows it.
  • First Guy Wins: Cheetara chooses him, thus ending the Love Triangle.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: It's pretty obvious that he's extremely jealous of both his brother's position as leader, and Cheetara's apparent romantic interest in him.
  • Happily Adopted/Spare to the Throne: Tygra is an adopted member of the royal family, and the beneficiary of Claudus' Parental Favoritism. This development grew out of the original series' assertion that if anything should happen to Lion-O, Tygra would be next in line as ruler.
  • Honor Before Reason: "Thundercats never retreat!" Tygra complains when Lion-O orders him to do so. Later Lion-O takes the criticism to heart, getting them all into trouble.
  • Hot for Preacher: Tygra openly flirted with a Cleric in Full-Body Disguise. She turned out to be Cheetara, on whom he has a longstanding crush.
  • Hypocritical Humor: May not have been intentional by the creators, but for someone whose refused to admit technology existed, having a blaster as a weapon is kind of funny.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: He's a superb shot for having never seen anything like a gun before in his life. Justified, since laser guns have no recoil, it's a matter of point-and-shoot.
  • Instant Expert: After proclaiming technology a myth his entire life, he used a pistol for the first time during the invasion and now relies on it more than his whip.
  • Invisibility Cloak: Tygra can become temporarily invisible with the aid of his whip.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tygra loves to rub it in Lion-O's face that he's better then him "when it comes to everything except the crown," but his Big Brother Instinct comes through in the clutch, and he plainly states "I've got his back." to an Angry Mob Lion-O has challenged to Go Through Me.
    • The "gold" part is what allows Tygra to win Cheetara's heart at the end.
  • Jerkass: Was the jealous type to Lion-O concerning Cheetara, which then escalated in "Between Brothers" when fighting Lion-O in a jealous rage while ranting about how he supposedly "took everything from him".
    • In "Recipe for Disaster", Tygra told the others that Lion-O and Pumyra were out gathering firewood, then casually says that "Lion-O's just setting himself up to be shot down, again", in a tone that almost seems like he's bragging he got Cheetara and that Lion-O shouldn't bother with trying to find love anymore. Not cool, man...
  • The Lancer: Argumentative, snarky second to Lion-O's leader.
  • Last of His Kind: As of "Native Son", he's the last of the Tiger clan.
  • Love Hurts: The look on his face when Cheetara kisses Lion-O on the cheek for luck. However, this later leads to...
  • Love Redeems: And fulfills a prophecy of betrayal a few hours later, go figure.
  • Missing Mom:In "Native Son" his adoptive mother died giving birth to Lion-O.
  • Moses in the Bulrushes: He ended up in Thundera in a hot air balloon.
  • Multicolored Hair: White, orange brown and black striped.
  • Noble Bigot: He's internalized his culture's Fantastic Racism, since he is fairly dismissive of a Lizard prisoner's Screw You, Elves speech and sees little problem with the Lizards being lynched. Still, given the choice, he's willing to help his brother defend them. He's also readily amenable to taking on the Thunderkittens, who are of a lesser caste than he is.
  • Noble Fugitive: Like his brother, escaped the captivity of the Lizards.
  • Now or Never Kiss: In "The Curse of Ratilla," Charmer Tygra makes sure to spend his presumed last moments in the arms of Cheetara.
  • Out-of-Character Moment: Done very hilariously in "Recipe for Disaster" when he accidentally drinks a love potion, and LOOKED AT LION-O FIRST. Tygra began to act all giddy and happy, and commenting on how Lion-O is, and I quote: "...the bestest little brother a big brother ever had!" much to Lion-O's embarrassment. Lion-O actually meant for the love potion to be used on Pumyra.
  • Parental Abandonment: See Moses in the Bulrushes, Missing Mom and Tiger Sacrifice
  • Power of Love: cynical Tygra faces this lesson repeatedly. His capacity for this allows him to break and survive more than one curse. Lampshaded with sweeping orchestral music in "The Curse of Ratilla."
  • Pride: The recurring flaw in his clan's line. Tygra's ability to be humble and forgive his father for all his actions saves both himself and his clan's souls.
  • Ray Gun
  • The Resenter: The driving force behind his Sibling Rivalry with his brother is his resentment of Lion-O's right of succession by bloodline. Adding fuel to the fire is their Sibling Triangle with Cheetara.
    • Tygra gets over it after Lion-O dies (he gets better) and he briefly becomes king. He's grief-stricken and regretful of his past resentment. When Lion-O returns Tygra immediately proclaims his Undying Loyalty to him.
  • The Rival: Quite naturally plays this role to his brother in the course of their Sibling Rivalry, until throwing in with him when Lion-O faces down an Angry Mob, at which point he becomes a particularly testy Lancer.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: Can win sporting competitions, hold back Angry Mobs with his whip, and battle evil with the best of them.
  • Sarcastic Devotee: Often snarkily questions Lion-O's leadership.
  • Snark Knight: Tygra's cynicism and perfectionism get in the way of hatching an effective plan to liberate the Sword of Omens from Mumm-Ra in "The Trials of Lion-O Part 2."
  • Stalker with a Crush: Downplayed. As a boy, he developed a habit of watching a young Cheetara from afar, too shy to strike up a conversation.
  • Tall, Dark and Snarky: When not under the influence of love potion
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: Tygra spends 13 episodes watching how his younger brother steals his thunder (Although to be fair, he gave as good as he got), his right to the throne and even the woman he has loved since he was a little boy. To twist the knife on the injury, Tygra cannot get himself to get rid of Lion-O, even if he gets two perfect chances to do it and continues supporting him out of loyalty and brotherly love. Cheetara ends up chosing HIM instead of Lion-O. In fact, Cheetara had already chosen Tygra several years before Lion-O appeared, but never had the chance to confess that to him.
  • Tiger Sacrifice: His clan was plagued by a deadly, incurable disease. When his father asked the Ancient Spirits for help, Tygra was the price because of his destiny to become a Thundercat and fight them. His father could not kill him and sent Tygra away like Moses in the Bulrushes.
  • Tragic Keepsake: His birth father's whip.
  • The Unchosen One: He was passed over in favor of Lion-O as heir to the throne. Part of this is because despite being the elder he's adopted and thus not of the royal bloodline, but also because the Sword of Omens itself chose Lion-O, and he can't understand why.
  • Undying Loyalty: To Lion-O as of "The Trials of Lion-O" part 2.
  • Unexpected Successor: After Lion-O dies in "Trials of Lion-o", Tygra is hastily made the leader to beat Mumm-ra and his armies. Despite all his bragging that he'd make a better king than Lion-O, Tygra finds himself unable to lead the other Thundercats efficiently because of their situation and that he couldn't handle the pressure. He soon began to wonder how Lion-O was able to take on the roles of leader on a daily basis despite the situations.
  • Victorious Childhood Friend: With Cheetara
  • Warrior Prince: Is chosen over his brother to join his father on the battlefield during the siege of Thundera.
  • Whip And Gun
  • Whip It Good: Tygra's Weapon of Choice.
  • Wrestler in All of Us: Takes out a Lizard mook in "Into the Astral Plane" by sneaking up behind him and then suplexing him.

Panthro

Panthro is one of Claudus' most loyal soldiers. He was sent with his friend Grune to find the Book of Omens. However, their attempted search resulted with Mumm-Ra's release from imprisonment. Though he questioned Lion-O's ability to lead, Panthro eventually accepted him as the new king.

Tropes exhibited by Panthro include:

Wilykat: Busted!
Wilykit: Panthro's a big ol' softy!
Panthro: *Death Glare* Is that a problem?
Wilykit: *stiffens nervously* Nope.
Wilykat: It's cool.

Cheetara

Voiced by: Emmanuelle Chriqui

Cheetara is one of Jaga's Clerics. As a Cleric, she's gifted with Super Speed. She wields a staff in battle, but is also adept at fighting unarmed.

Tropes exhibited by Cheetara include:

The Thunderkittens

Voiced by: Madeleine Hall (Wilykit) and Eamon Pirruccello (Wilykat)

The Thunderkittens Wilykit and Wilykat start out as homeless pickpockets and beggars living in the slums. After the destruction of Thundera leaves them with nowhere else to go, they elect to tag along with Lion-O's party, for better or for worse.

Tropes exhibited by the Thunderkittens include:

Pumyra

Voiced by: Pamela Adlon

A refugee forced to fight as a gladiator in a city of dogs. She is initially very hostile towards Lion-O. but is slowly warming up to him. As a member of the team, Pumyra specializes in ranged combat with her wrist-mounted crossbow, and is quite agile.

Tropes exhibited by Pumyra include:
  • Action Girl: The Technical Pacifist from the first series is nowhere to be seen here. This time, Pumyra hands out butt-kicking in spades.
  • All Amazons Want Hercules: Not in the sense that she wants to be dominated by a stronger male, but that she is drawn to a male who can protect and defend her from harm. During a losing fight against Mummra, she notably spends the final parts of the battle behind Lion-O for safety.
  • Angel Face, Demon Face: In her first appearance she's angry and resentful so her design is more harsh and jagged, but as she calms down and gets to know Lion-O more her design softens to be a bit more cute and classically beautiful.
  • The Archer: Wears a wrist-mounted, collapsible crossbow from which she fires small pellets with incredible accuracy, and enough force to push back an opponent when fired in a barrage.
  • Ascended Extra: One of the least-developed characters in the old show, the producers have confirmed that she plays a bigger part this time and has multiple episodes written around her.
  • Badass: She's fought against opponents much larger than herself while she was a gladiatrix slave and remained undefeated.
  • Barefoot Cartoon Animal/Does Not Like Shoes: More than the other cats, anyway. Unlike the other Thundercats, who wear some type of footwear, Pumyra does not. Could be her preference or from her time as a slave. She doesn't even wear the spat-like thingies other cats have.
    • Foot Focus: "The Pit" and "Curse of Ratilla" included close-ups of her ankles, and "Recipe for Disaster" has a shot of her soles as she runs away.
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: They actually wrap around her face and connect to her facial markings to form...
  • Boobs of Steel: As one of the adult females in the group and a fierce warrior, this applies. It's not as obvious because Pumyra's dress covers more than Cheetara's top does (and because she's not quite as busty as her), but it's still there.
  • Broken Bird: Has some shades of this, if her initial reaction to Lion-O in "The Pit" and her rage at her former captors in "The Curse of Ratilla" is anything to go by. Subverted, however, in that she seems to be getting better through her interactions with Lion-O.
  • Character Development: When we first meet Pumyra, she has nothing but scathing revilement for Lion-O, who she thinks abandoned his people. Over the course of her debut episodes and the ones that follow, she develops growing respect and affection for the young king as he proves his worth and devotion to her. In "Recipe for Disaster," she even gives him a kiss on the cheek.
  • Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: She gets Lion-O captured when he tries to sneak her out because she (loudly) insists he get away from her.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Inverted. She's the one who defeats Lion-O, but he wins her over specifically because he refused to fight against his own kind.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Pumyra's been hardened and embittered from her life as a slave. Her interactions with Lion-O slowly break that down.
  • Determinator: Pumyra vowed to win her freedom from the Pit by winning a set amount of battles despite most of said matches not clearly being in her favor.
  • Damsel in Distress: Fantastic classical symbolism with Pumyra being tied to a rock in "The Birth of the Blades" like Andromeda of Greek mythology (but clothed.) Not threatened with being eaten by a beast as Andromeda was until later in "Recipe for Disaster"(while untied).
  • Era Specific Personality: Her 80's incarnation was a Technical Pacifist and much more of a Flat Character compared to the other 'Cats. This version of her, well... not so much.
  • The Glomp: She pounces on Lion-O at the end of "Recipe for Disaster" in order to kiss him.
  • Heroes Want Redheads: More specifically, Pumyra wants Lion-O.
  • Hidden Heart of Gold: Beneath that hardened exterior is a softer side. Lion-o mentioned this to her after she helped a baby winged-frog back into its nest, followed by her dry reminder that they were supposed to be searching for firewood.
  • Hot Amazon: Being a gladiatrix slave can do that for a girl. Even Lion-o calls out on this in "Recipe for Disaster".
  • Hot-Blooded: She's taken over this role from Lion-O.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: Case in point: In Birth of the Blades every single shot she fired was a headshot, and this is while she's also jumping and flipping around
  • Made a Slave: She started out in Ratar-O's mining pit, but was eventually sold as a fighter for the Pit.
  • Magic Skirt: All those acrobatics and she's never flashed anyone? Sorcery, surely.
  • The Medic: She's seen tending to Lion-O's wounds after they're freed. Granted, she inflicted those wounds...
  • Mini-Dress of Power
  • Ms. Fanservice: Much more fanservicey than her 80's counterpart.
  • Multishot: She's capable of firing multiple bolts at once from her crossbow.
  • Never My Fault: She has a bad tendency to blame Lion-O for everything, including things that actually her fault. The end of "Birth of Blades" suggests she may be aware of this and get better.
  • Oblivious to Love: In "Recipe for Disaster," her reaction to Lion-O's initial attempts at courtship range from oblivious to annoyed. Later, when he lands a daring attack on Mumm-Ra to protect her? Her reaction is MUCH more enthusiastic.
  • Nubile Savage: Very much in design if not quite execution.
  • Replacement Love Interest: For Lion-O. From the look of things, it seems to be working out.
  • Rescue Romance: Pumyra's heart is impervious to trivial things like flowers and compliments, but the ever classical rescue will melt the ice around it with instant rewards.
  • Revenge Before Reason: Her resentment-induced rage toward Lion-O alerts the guards and gets them both roped into a death match when she could have escaped with him, and then she berates him. Later she abandons their plan to rescue the Thunderan captives to attack a rat who was beating a slave.
  • Samaritan Relationship Starter: Textbook example.
  • She's Got Legs: Does she ever. It's emphasized by her miniskirt, and a garter that her bolo hangs onto.
  • Ship Tease: When Lion-O tells her about how he's come to terms with the resolution of the Love Triangle between him, Cheetara, and Tygra, Pumyra's got this little gem:

Pumyra: (Looking at him with a playful smirk) "Maybe it's time you move on to someone else." (Cue flustered double-take by Lion-O).

    • Which is lampshaded a few seconds later by an irritated Panthro:

Panthro: "Enough flirting; let's do something about those slaves."

    • Another example comes at the end of "Birth of the Blades:" after Lion-O saves her from Mumm-Ra, she apologizes for how harsh she's been to him, promising her Undying Loyalty. When he insists that she call him by name, she agrees while gently caressing his face.
    • In "Recipe for Disaster" Lion-O keeps trying to openly court her (and failing miserably). In the final battle he saves her (yet again) from Mumm-Ra, and she pounces on him with a Smooch of Victory, and then continues clinging to him after everything is over.
  • Sixth Ranger: The true Sixth Ranger (especially if you count the Thunderkittens together).
  • Smooch of Victory: To Lion-o upon the defeat of Mumm-ra's dragon form.
  • Sugar and Ice Personality: Abrasive and hot-blooded most of the time, but every now and then usually thanks to Lion-O proving himself as a king worthy of her respect, or if she sees someone or something in need, she shows a softer side.
  • Super Wrist Gadget: The gauntlet on her left wrist contains a collapsible crossbow, her primary Weapon of Choice.
  • Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Pumyra can be considered as such, even though she's short.
  • Tomboyish Ponytail: Combined with...
  • Trick Arrow: The pellets she uses as ammo for her crossbow boast a wide array of armaments aside from the simple metal bearings, including explosives.
  • Trying Not to Cry: She almost breaks down during her "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Lion-O, the first hint that there's something more under all her anger and bitterness.
  • Tsundere: Definitely a Type A. She's ready to kill Lion-O until she understands that he didn't just abandon his people, that he's been fighting as hard as anyone else against Mumm-Ra, and that he would lay down his life for any of his fellow cats. Afterwards, she warms up to him, even bandaging his wounds, and spends the next episode alternating between sparring and flirting with him.
    • "The Birth of the Blades" shows this aspect of her character even more. Pumyra berates Lion-O throughout the episode for failing to save his people when they were enslaved by the Rats, and also calls him out on some of his more reckless-seeming tactics even when they work. After he manages to fend off Kaynar and Atticus, then saves Pumyra from Mumm-Ra at the cost of losing the Sword of Plundarr, Pumyra softly praises Lion-O for his actions and berates herself for her lack of faith. When Lion-O admits that she had a good reason for that, she gently chides him to not get mushy on her...then gently strokes his cheek when he insists that she address him by name, and not "Your Majesty."
    • In "Recipe for Disaster" she's mostly unaware and annoyed at his attempts to woo her, but after he attacks Mumm-Ra (more specifically, Mumm-Ra inhabiting the body of a dragon/dinosaur) to save her from being eaten, she pounces on him and gives him an enthusiastic kiss on the cheek.
  • Undying Loyalty: Pledges this to Lion-O in "Birth of the Blades" after he repeatedly saves her even at cost to himself.
  • Waif Fu: Other than the Kittens she's the only Thundercat shorter than Lion-O and has a leaner build than Cheetara (probably because of her time as a mistreated slave). Her fighting style is highly acrobatic with lots of jumps and flips.
  • Weapon of Choice: A bola and wrist-mounted crossbow, essentially splitting her primary weapon from the original series in two.
    • As seen in "The Curse of Ratilla," she also has a small dagger sheathed to the back of her hips for close-quarters combat.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: She calls Lion-O out on leaving Thundera's survivors leaderless.
  • When She Smiles: Her voice softens as well, taking on a rather lovely purr. Goes well in hand with her being a Tsundere.

Snarf

Voiced by: Satomi Koorogi

Snarf is Lion-O's loyal pet and, unlike his previous incarnation, does not speak. [1]

Tropes exhibited by Snarf include:

Jaga

Voiced by: Corey Burton

Head of Thundera's Cleric warriors before sacrificing himself to ensure Lion-O and his group escape.

Tropes exhibited by Jaga include:

Jaga: ...and though omens foretold in the book would be ignored, the tragedy to come was necessary.

    • He also speaks with prophetic certainty where Lion-O is concerned: informing him that the Book of Omens predicted that Thundera's greatest king would have "sight beyond sight," because he's well aware Lion-O has had a vision.
  • Good Shepherd: Offers guidance and encouragement to Lion-O.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Attempts one to buy time for Lion-O and the others to escape. Except it's soundly averted, as the next episode he is sucked into a lantern making him look like the original ghost form he had.
    • He sacrifices himself again, later, making use of the fact that Mumm-Ra sealed him in a lantern.
  • Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge: His Kingdom and his King only believe in the Book of Omens and think it lost, so much so, they sent their best generals questing for years. Not only does he know it exists, he's always known its exact location.
  • Magic Knight
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard
  • Midnight Blue Eyes
  • Mister Exposition: He narrates the Opening Monologue and regularly explains things for Lion-O and the viewer.
  • The Obi-Wan: Fairly standard as the old mentor/quest giver.
  • Old Master: Quite impressive on the field of battle.
  • Old Retainer: "Be easy on [Lion-O], Claudus. Remember when you were his age, your father wasn't always pleased with you either."
  • Parental Substitute:
    • Has this kind of dynamic with Lion-O, defending him to Claudus, often being there with advice and support where Claudus is very much not.
    • Flashbacks show he's this towards an orphaned Cheetara as well.
  • Pimped-Out Cape: Moreso than his King, surprisingly
  • Sealed Good in a Can: He is sealed into a magical lantern that forces him to reveal the location of the Book of Omens...Although he does manage to lead Mumm-Ra's mooks around in circles for a time
  • Secret Secret Keeper: Is fully aware that Lion-O saw a vision in the Sword of Omens, and offhandedly mentions the existence of "Sight Beyond Sight" while convincing Lion-O to confide in him. Unfortunately, he decides to let Lion-O get back to a party and hear him out later.
  • Senseless Sacrifice: In his You Shall Not Pass he buys them all of five seconds. A rock wall blocks the path right as he's blasted, so he could have easily gotten away despite his earlier injury.
  • Shoulders of Doom: Tremendous white rounded pauldrons, with grey accents and gold edging, in common with his Clerics.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: Briefly, in an interesting example of toying with audience expectations.
  • Spirit Advisor/Virtual Ghost: Tells Lion-O what there is to know about the Book of Omens.
  • Staff of Authority: His crosier, which he uses to power up Lion-O's Claw Gauntlet.
  • Super Speed
  • Unreliable Narrator: His Opening Monologue is shot through with Half Truths, neglecting to mention that Third Earth's "peace and prosperity" belongs solely to Thundera's upperclass Cats, or that the ruler's "just heart" does not extend to other species.
  • You Shall Not Pass: After the fall of the city, Jaga stays behind to give Lion-O, Tygra, and Cheetara a few more minutes to escape.

Claudus

Voiced by: Larry Kenney

Lion-O's father and adoptive father to Tygra; he is murdered during The Siege of Thundera.

Tropes exhibited by Claudus include:

Lynx-O

A general of Thundera's army. Despite being blind, Lynx-O stands guard at the watch tower and uses his heightened senses to detect any danger that approaches the kingdom.

Tropes exhibited by Lynx-O include:

Back to ThunderCats (2011 series)
  1. Nor does he act like a neurotic 70 year old nanny.
  2. By Word of God this dynamic is a Shout-Out to Chewbacca and Han Solo, or R2-D2 and Luke of Star Wars