Characters

When you are talking about penguins in videogames there is only really one name: Pentarou. Justly famous from the Parodius series of shooting games, he is the son of the penguin referred to as just "Penguin" who originally appeared in Antarctic Adventure. Penguin had a chequered career with a short stint as a professional table tennis player, then a spell working a desk in an office filled with typewriters led to a ballooning weight problem.

His girlfriend Penguette even considered dumping him for another penguin named Ginji. But thankfully this romantic hurdle was overcome and a son and heir was eventually produced. Pentarou also acquired a mate in the Parodius series; a female penguin named Hanako, meaning “little flower”, and every garland he receives for his athletic prowess during New International Track and Field is dedicated to her.

• Age: 12 (they only live to 15/20
• Home: Antarctica
• Likes: Fish
• Dislikes: Octopus
• Event: Focus
• Title: Perodius

The hero of the Metal Gear game series created by Hideo Kojima, Solid Snake is a deadly combination of spy and special operations agent who works for the FOXHOUND special forces unit. Time and time again Snake is called upon to disarm and destroy the latest incarnation of Metal Gear, a giant mecha armed with nuclear capabilities. Solid Snake always acts alone in the battlefield, supported via radio by an odd-ball cast of commanding officers and specialists. He begins each stealth mission armed with his wits, his codec, and a pack of cigarettes, and must acquire all additional equipment (such as his signature cardboard box disguise) by using his sneaking techniques on site. These very same infiltration skills will be next to useless in the stadium of athletic excellence that is New International Track & Field, but somehow, Snake always prevails.

• Age: Classified
• Home: Classified
• Likes: Classified
• Dislikes: Classified
• Skill: Agility

Hailing from the mean streets of Tokyo, Yoko is the quintessential Asian teen; hip, cultured, cute and punk. She’s got attitude in spades, but she’s not spiteful. Immensely competitive, she does her best in every endeavour, often rising to the top of the pile on her attitude alone (though her Dad is rumoured to be a Yakuza, which may have something to do with her success).

When she’s not competing, she’s the bass player in ‘Rocket Ass Go!’, an all-girl electro-punk band that are currently courting controversy as Japan’s loudest band ever – one recent gig saw the venue collapse after Yoko played her first chord. The audience loved it!

Her best events are the ones that demand a high level of concentration, where she can prove her brains are just as desirable as her cool hair cut.

• Age: 15
• Home: Japan
• Likes: Punk Rock
• Dislikes: The Man
• Skill: Concentration
• Rival: Oolong

Sparkster is an opossum knight from the game Rocket Knight Adventures who fights an army of robots and pigs, many of whom are piloting mechanical vehicles. Sparkster is armed with a sword that can project energy over a short distance and a rocket pack that allows him to fly in the skies of Erehwon, a world of warriors, magic and machinery. Within this world is a kingdom known as Zebulos where an elite fighting force was formed to protect against the threat of Axel Gear. Known as the Rocket Knights, they protect and serve the kingdom and its people. The leader of the Rocket Knights is Sparkster and he competes in New International Track and Field for the Kingdom of Zebulos and for the honour of opossums everywhere.

• Age: 2 (oldest ever opossum was 3...)
• Home: Rocket Knight Garrison, Zebulos
• Likes: Extreme propulsion
• Dislikes: Axel Gear
• Skill: Speed

Pyramid Head is the ‘nickname’ of the most fearful creature from a small town called Silent Hill. Recently back from a brief but highly enjoyable killing spree in Hollywood, Pyramid (to his friends) loves nothing more than to strangle or wield his ‘Great Knife’ at anything living! His identity completely anonymous, Pyramid’s only language is the grunts and moans that emanate from inside his helmet. A fearful competitor and a very sore loser, Pyramid Head has been sent from the depths of the hell to compete against mankind and show that demons can go for gold!

• Age: Timeless
• Home: The depths of Nightmare
• Likes: Torment and Execution
• Dislikes: Everything you hold dear
• Skill: Strength

Simon is the definitive hero of the Belmont lineage and the most prominent protagonist in the Castlevania game series. His adventures began when Count Dracula awoke in 1691 and started terrorizing the people of Transylvania.

They sought out Simon to fulfil the Belmont legacy and to defeat Dracula. However, Dracula was not so easily vanquished and would return to Transylvania to terrorise and terrify the locals. Simon has earned his reputation by appearing in more titles than any other of the series' hero characters.

Typically in each game Simon will use a devastating whip to defeat hordes of evil creatures in Dracula’s haunted castle, however, the enemies in New International Track and Field are time and distance and they will not be so easily bent to his will.

• Age: 38
• Home: Transylvania
• Likes: Light and Truth
• Dislikes: Bloodsuckers
• Event: Focusr
• Title: Castlevania

A feared masked wrestler from the Rumble Roses games who is known for her very rough tactics, Evil Rose's origins are shrouded in mystery. She has super human reflexes and agility, which she uses to full advantage while torturing her opponents. Yet, for some reason, she always appears when Reiko Hinomoto is in trouble. -Spoiler- She fights to stop the voices of her lost memory speaking to her in her head. In fact she is really Reiko's sister. The DNA of their mother Kamikaze Rose was used to create the evil wrestling cyborg Lady X, and the repressed memory of this tragic event causes her constant headaches. No-one can say why she has turned up for the New International track and Field competition, but she is certain to take a big bite out of her opponents now she is here.

• Age: Unknown
• Home: UK
• Likes: Lemons
• Dislikes: Words
• Skill: Power

Kang is the wild man of the Track & Field competitors. His temper is legendary, as is his inability to speak quietly. The man-mountain has made a living for years by wrestling livestock and pillaging remote villages, which has formed a unique training ground for his Track & Field skills, which are mainly concerned with power

He was raised the son of a Bearded Lady and a Dog Boy in the gypsy caravans of a travelling Carney, initially finding fame as stubble faced child. In more recent years, his lumbering frame has become a popular pinup in Eastern Europe, where he enjoys considerable fame and adulation from all quarters.

• Age: 42
• Home: Eastern Europe
• Likes: Throwing Goats
• Dislikes: Trying to pick up pins.
• Skill: Power
• Rival: Helga

Smoother than silk, Dirk slid onto the international athletics scene three years ago, and since his arrival, he has been causing a ruckus with the ladies both on and off the track – they find him almost as desirable as he does. It has been a long held belief that the secret to his Samson-like strength is in his ‘finger guns’.

Never one to hide his pride, Dirk likes nothing more than to admire himself, pumped and proud. He grew up on a Beach Gym in true Californian style and his brains have always played second fiddle to his brawn.

With a Hollywood smile and oily demeanour, Dirk is the poster boy for good looks and charm, much to the chagrin of his rival male competitors.

• Age: 22
• Home: USA
• Likes: Girls
• Dislikes: Boys and Swimming
• Skill: All Rounder
• Rival:Claudia

The most famous frog in gaming, Frogger first hopped into the world in the arcade game of the same name. His goal is simple, to leap back to his home and avoid all the hazards along the way. Frogger will dodge cars; jump on logs and alligator backs while avoiding snakes, otters and other threats. When he moved onto console Frogger's life became more complicated, firstly he was called upon to stop an evil force that threatened his home, Firefly Swamp, and the nearby kingdom of Bunnington Hollow, then he uncovered a plot by a crocodile to resurrect the evil forces that used to live in the swamp. But now, Frogger has seen a brand new opportunity to show the world what jumping is really all about at the very highest level in New International Track and Field.

• Age: 4 (can live up to 5 years in captivity)
• Home: Firefly Swamp, USA
• Likes: Girls
• Dislikes: The Man
• Skill: Speed

Claudia is the quintessential spoilt child. Papa buys her everything she wants, Ma’am is her constant companion and she completely ignores anything that she doesn’t agree with. She hates to lose and will bite back if bitten. Absolutely loaded, she enters tournaments solely to rub the dirt in her competitor’s faces; she’s a winner but more importantly everyone else is a loser.

Privately tutored on the estate, the tragedy is that she has never had any genuine friends, just servants, so this is how she treats people. Her skills are at their best when the events pertain to the pastimes of the manor and a graceful poise– shooting and diving. If only show jumping was on the agenda…

Not warm hearted by any means and nicknamed ‘Frosty’ by her T&F team mates, she will never be popular, but she’ll always be rich.

• Age: 28
• Home: UK
• Likes: Cash
• Dislikes: Common People
• Skill: All Rounder

Known as Wu to his friends, Oolong is so ancient that all his friends are mummies. Growing up in isolation amidst the sprawling tundra of the Mongolian wastes, Oolong gained renown in the 15th century for bringing Martial Arts to Europe.

The ranks of his fan-base soon grew, and throughout history this Mage of meditation and sinew has had a profound effect on the way we view the world; he has been present and acted out a key role in many major events, including the first (real) moon landing in China, via manned fireworks in 1423.

Throughout his long life, he has fathered many children, not least of all Genghis Khan, tyrant and military leader of the Mongol Empire from 1192 – 1227. He has also caught an inordinate number of flies with his chopsticks.

There’s life in the old goat yet.

• Age: Unknown; several centuries old
• Home: Irrelevant. Oolong is everywhere
• Likes: Lemons
• Dislikes: Modern Life
• Skill: Concentration
• Rival: Yoko

Helga is a troglodyte. Having recently emerged from a cave-dwelling life of exile in Middle Europe, Helga is a misshapen she-beast that can only communicate in grunts and snorts. This, however, does not disguise her passion for power events and trying in vain to light fires with flint and tinder.

Rumour has it that she was once the beautiful daughter of a Czech landowner, who had her imprisoned in the caves to save the rest of humanity from her sheer distracting beauty. This is a tragic story, and obviously a lie. He hid her there because she’s so damn ugly.

Her skills are covered by a narrow spectrum of expertise. She can lift rocks and throw them. This makes her particularly gifted at the power events.

• Age: 33
• Home: Baltic States/Western Russia.
• Likes: Fresh Meat
• Dislikes: Words
• Skill: Power
• Rival: Kang

Men have often said that Kiko is l’amour personified. Hailing from Paris, France, it is rumoured that her Father was Cupid, and her mother was Venus. Boys are entranced by her beauty and happy demeanour, not to mention her huge eyes and constantly batting eyelids. Girls hate her for effortlessly melting the hearts of their men. Either way, Kiko is bouncy, fun, squeaky and busty.

The experience she received in the schoolyard, continually having to run away form boys wanting to play kiss chase, has made her particularly adept at speed events.

She has a great sense of humour, loves to laugh and seeks similar.

• Age: 20
• Home: France
• Likes: Pink, World Peace
• Dislikes: Nothing – everything has a good side if you look for long enough.
• Skill: Speed
• Rival: Ashley

Growing up on the streets of Harlem, Ashley has always been a big fan of basketball. The son of a famous basketball player, he has always been long legged, lithe and keen to marry his natural physique and exuberant good humour with a love for (and desire to) funk. He’s the all-round, super-charged, brightly lit NY sportster.

His weakness is the nightlife – he loves to get down and dirty on the dance floor of a discotheque, attributing many of his skills to the practice he gets in the dance halls.

In recent years, much of Ashley’s energy has been spent on growing out his Afro, of which he is particularly proud, insisting that it is responsible for his current position as one of the world’s most respected athletes.

Indeed, Ashley’s afro appears to have a life of its own. Many curious objects have been seen to drop from the wilds of his curly mound, and with a swift nod of his head, Ashley can often find himself winning a race before he’s even left the starting blocks.

• Age: 20
• Home: USA
• Likes: Basketball and Afro Combs
• Dislikes: Casual wear
• Skill: Speed
• Rival: Kiko

In the far away lands of forgotten China, there is a range of magical mountains called the JingGang. The central peak is so tall that it is circled by a ring of lilac clouds, and no living creature can breathe the notoriously thin air. The sound of pan pipes and the gentle tinkle of wood chimes is all that can be heard for miles around.

Amidst this haunting reverie, Ming Ming hatched from a liquorice egg ten years ago, slowly making her way downhill to civilisation and organised sporting events.

Because of her inherited ability to breathe thin air, her skills on the track and in the field are world championship material. This keeps her schedule so packed that she often has to fly in to an event just before it begins in order to save as much time as possible; sometimes even landing her Pandaplane right next to the track, just for effect.

• Age: 10
• Home: China
• Likes: Bamboo
• Dislikes: Custard
• Skill: Power and Concentration

Hailing from the land of the rising sun, Pawapuro has earned incredible notoriety in his home land through the success of the Powerful Pro Baseball series. Tiny in stature, but a giant on the diamond, Pawapuro is the ultimate little guy.

He and his pals reside squarely in the wheelhouse of every game – so much so that now the rest of the world is finally sitting up and taking notice. Pawapuro is included as a wildcard; an unexpected champion of Track and Field and appears as an icon for grit, determination and sporting victory.

Often overlooked because of his diminutive size and cute profile, it’s time to take the little guy seriously; he might just be the bravest and boldest competitor that New International Track and Field has ever seen.

• Age: Unknown
• Home: Japan
• Likes: Success
• Dislikes: Cheats
• Skill: All Rounder
• Rival: Josh

First rising to fame in 1983 at the age of 21, the moustachio’d icon of Track and Field has built his career on huge sporting success and a pair of legs that send the old ladies crazy. There is no one more expert at New International Track & Field than The Ref.

Hailed as a God among men, this twisted mass of muscle and sinew is well disguised beneath his sedate and mature visage.

With his competition days behind him, the Ref now enjoys a relaxed life of fishing and sweet confection. However, on occasion he has been known to be persuaded out of retirement if the competition is strong enough.

A game old boy, the Ref has a reputation for being firm but fair but he’s a proud man, and won’t take a beating laying down…

• Age: 46
• Home: Milton Keynes, UK
• Likes: His moustache, bashing buttons, the wrestling.
• Dislikes: Daley Thomson
• Skill: All-Round Athletic GOD!