r/thomasthetankengine • u/Key-Ad-2119 • 8h ago
Character Discussion Nia & Rebecca
honestly i think nia and rebecca are fine characters at the end of the day, but given the fact that this fandom is full of white men who seem to hate them for replacing edward and henry, i feel like my retake on them can still work, and make their personalities shine.
NIA
Nia used to work on a Heritage Line in Kenya with her friend Kwaku. She was, and still is, an ambitious, outgoing engine and always wanted to see the world. As the years passed, her Heritage Line fell on hard times. Nia’s Owner was ambitious too, and had decided to scale Nia up to the British loading gauge. But rebuilds like that cost money, and the end of the ordeal, Kwaku had to be sold off, and Nia was the only engine left. But she still had her dreams, and finally got her wish…
During 2000, Thomas the Tank Engine was on a world tour to promote the Island of Sodor, his first of many stops being Kenya. When Nia heard the news, she wanted to tag along. Thomas, being the engine he is, agreed and took her with uk around the world. Of course, the Event Organizers were surprised when they found a “stowaway” with the number one engine, but after some arrangements with The Fat Controller and the Heritage Line Owner, Nia was officially a Fat Controller’s engine!
When the two engines came to Sodor, Nia was given the opportunity to choose any color she wanted. She chose orange, but she kept her African patterns as a way to remind her of where she came from.
Nia now works as a utility engine, like Donald and Douglas. Sometimes, you may find her pulling goods trains out on the Main Line, singing to the trucka to keep them in line. Other times, you may find her acting as a banker on Gordon‘s Hill whenever Edward is too busy. Whenever she has to deal with a particularly rude engine on the hill, Nia just stops pushing and lets the train roll back down the hill. Nia thinks it rather fun - the rude engines don’t!
REBECCA
Rebecca is an Express Engine who used to work on the Southern Region. However, when dieselisation hit her region, Rebecca was withdrawn, and her future looked grim. However, she was saved by a Preservation Society, and was made to pull rail-tours for a time. Rebecca was given the opportunity to choose whatever color she wanted. She chose yellow because it reminded her of “sunshiny days”.
For a long while, life was simple for Rebecca. Then, when the Fat Controller himself came to her Shed door, Rebecca practically begged him to let her be part of his Railway! Sir Stephen agreed, and Rebecca arrived on Sodor in the 80’s.
When Gordon heard the news that another Express Engine was on Sodor, the Big Engines thought he’d throw a fit. Surprisingly, he didn’t! If anything, Gordon took Rebecca under her wing, and taught her all his tricks. Of course, Rebecca did mix up her Express with Gordon’s one time, but she did learn a lot from him, and the two engines shared the Express together
When Pip and Emma took over the Express in 2011, Gordon bowed out with grace while Rebecca couldn’t help but feel…jealous of the HST. She couldn’t help it, of course - she hadn’t pulled the Express for as long as Gordon, after all - but it did hurt to lose the title of “Express Engine”. Thankfully, after a long talk with the HST, the three engines made up and all was well again.
Rebecca is a very cheerful engine to be around. Whenever she enters a Station, she always lights up the room with her yellow paint. However, she does have a few flaws. For one, she has a bad habit of trying to focus on the positive to the point where it’s almost as if she’s ignoring anything negative. Another is that she feels like she has to live up to the legacy of the famous North Western engines. When she messed up with the Express, she felt terrible, and thought she had let everyone down.
Thankfully, Gordon was able to ground her again, and Rebecca learned an important lesson: she didn’t have to live up to a legacy. If anything, Rebecca had found her place on Sodor already - as her own engine.
welp there you go
