Cars: Mater-National Championship - TV Tropes (2025)

Voiced by: Luciano Palermi

Basis: 2002 Lamborghini

An Italian Racer competing in the Mater-National. He's a fan of Lightning, who inspired him to become a racer.

• Final Boss: Non-malicious example. He's the last racer players will go up against in the game proper.
• Friendly Rival: Compared to Lightning's other rivals in the films, Giovanni is way more amicable.
• Good Is Not Nice: A modest racer who acts friendly towards his competition, although he shows them no mercy when out on the track.
• Moveset Clone: He has similar stats to Lightning, with slightly worse traction.

Basis: 2004 Audi A4 DTM

A German Racecar with a rockstar attitude and competitive nature.

• Deadpan Snarker: When Sheriff tried to give him a speeding ticket, he just signed his name on it like being asked for an autograph.
• Moveset Clone: His stats are identical to Lightning's in every way, with both characters having an emphasis on high acceleration and turning but average boost and traction.
• My Girl Back Home: Has a girlfriend back in Germany named Jenny. Lightning convinces him to get her a nice gift so he won't be so fixated on racing and take the time to see Radiator Springs... and to keep him out of trouble with Sheriff.
• Shout-Out: He's competed in Le Cars, a 24 hour consecutive race, which is based on the French rally race Le Mans.

Voiced by: Ivar Brogger

Basis: Volvo 240

A Swedish rally car with an impressive set of headlights.

• Big Fun: The biggest of the racers, and loves racing.
• Ghost Story: In the end cutscene for his introductory race, he tells Lightning about the Haunted Hook, a scary story from his youth. When he and Mater first meet, they mistake each other for the Ghost Light and the Haunted Hook respectivly.
• Nice Guy: Fair and friendly with a good sense of humor, always keeping a cheerful attitude whenever he meets a new challenger.

Voiced by: Cricket Leigh

Basis: 2008 Renault Mégane Coupé

A British Rally Racer competing in the Rustbucket Races.

• The Cameo: Is playable in the DS and PSP versions of Cars: Race-O-Rama.
• Dude Magnet: All of Mater's cousins are immediately smitten with her when they see her practicing. Mater himself falls in love at first sight.
• Implied Love Interest: She's built up as a sort of love interest for Mater, being his main rival in the Rustbucket races that he falls in love with at first sight. They even get a Crash-Into Hello right before the final race, and the end cutscene has Mater showing her around town in what's implied to be a date. However, nothing is definitively confirmed, and Mater would later get a canon love interest in Holley Shiftwell, so it's unlikely to be followed up on.
• The Smurfette Principle: The only female racer introduced in the game.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She's a rough-and-tough rally racer who competes in the Rustbucket races against worn-down, rusty cars, but she has a bright, girly pink paint job with butterflies on it, and is fairly soft-spoken and polite.

Voiced by: Masi Oka

Basis: Nissan 350Z

A Japanese Drift Racer who only speaks Japanese.

• Gratuitous Japanese: Only speaks in Japanese and not English, though the DS version of the game shows players his cutscene in English.
• Language Barrier: Because he only speaks Japanese, no one knows what he's saying, save Mater (or so he claims).

Voiced by: Joe Smith

Basis: 1949 Jaguar XK140 coupé

A British tourist visiting Radiator Springs, and an avid fan of Lightning and Doc.

• Ascended Fanboy: Is ecstatic when he meets Lightning and Doc on his first day in town, and manages to get to race with them.
• Non-Player Character: One of the two new characters in the game not to be playable, alongside Yuri. But game data suggests he was intended to be playable during production.

Voiced by: Mark Ivaner

Basis: Volvo 142

• Flat Character: Only appears in a few races, isn't playable and doesn't even get an introductory cutscene.
• Non-Player Character: One of the two new characters in the game not to be playable, alongside Philip. Though unused playable data and sound clips suggest he was intended to be playable and appear in the hub world at some point during production.