Gator

"Being brave is not the same as not feeling scared. Being brave is about what you do even when you do feel scared."

- Gator, Tale of the Brave

   Gator   Gerald, better known by his nickname Gator, is a large tank engine who resembles an alligator.
 * Builder: Sentinel Wagons Works Ltd.
 * Configuration: 0-6-0+0-6-0T

Bio
Although Gator's real name is Gerald, he is known as Gator due to his resemblance to an alligator. He works high up in the mountains and is incredibly brave. He longs to travel and is excited about going to sea.

Gator once visited Sodor. He was pulling a train, and because it was foggy, Percy, who saw Gator, mistook him for a monster. Percy ran back toward the docks, scaring everyone else there into thinking Gator was a monster. After he introduced himself, he explained that he was not going to stay on Sodor; he was waiting for a ship. He told Percy all about being brave, making good friends with him. Gator ended up missing his ship, so to pass the time, he was asked to collect a train from Duck's Branch Line and bring it back to the docks after Oliver, who was pulling it, broke down. His lamp was broken and he couldn't see, concerning Toad the brakevan. During his journey, he met James at a junction. James, who did not know Gator yet, was frightened and puffed away as fast as he could, resulting in him crashing into a pond. When Gator nearly crashed due to being nearly blind in the dark, Toad decided to loan him one of his own lamps, and thanks to this spare lamp, they arrived at the docks on time. The next evening, Gator was heading to the docks to catch his ship, and was surprised to see Percy being loaded onto the ship too. Percy explained that he wanted to work with Gator and run away from his fears, which Gator did not think would have been brave, leaving Percy to reconsider his decision. As the ship left, Thomas rushed into the docks, urging Cranky to stop the ship, under the impression that Percy was onboard. Cranky stopped the ship, but he was nearly pulled off the docks, forcing the ship to turn around. To Thomas' shock, Percy was not in fact on the ship. Due to the mishap, the ship was delayed yet again. The next day, Gator was finally able to leave after bidding an emotional farewell to Percy. As the ship sailed away, the two engines knew they had each made a good friend, knowing they may never see each other again.

For a long time afterwards, Percy was still sad about Gator leaving and kept thinking about him. He was told to throw himself into his work in order to drive Gator out of his mind. When some trucks ran away from Percy and got lost in a mine, Percy remembered Gator's advice about being brave. Percy was able to rescue the trucks and realised that thinking about Gator can also make him feel happy.

Gator came back for Christmas, but there was a shipment of rock salt that needed to be delivered and the dock manager didn't know where it's needed to go since the writing on his paper was smudged up. So Gator decided to go around Sodor delivering where the salt needed to be. Along the way, he wanted to greet Percy, but he didn't seem to find, thinking he's forgotten about him. However, Gator finally met Percy, but was covered in rock salt after Percy bumped the trucks.

Persona
Gator has a calm, grounded personality and an adventurous spirit.

Basis
Gator is based on a Colombian Steam Motor locomotive built by Sentinel Wagons Works Ltd.

Livery
Gator is painted two-tone green with red lining.

Television series

 * Season 18 - Missing Gator, Toad's Bright Idea, and Long Lost Friend

Specials:
 * Tale of the Brave

Voice Actors

 * Clive Mantle (UK/US)
 * Paul Disbergen (The Netherlands)

Trivia

 * In the first trailer for Tale of the Brave, Gator's 3D Model had differences from his final one, these include;
 * Coloured rivets around his front funnel.
 * White, thin lining on his front end, compared to the final having thicker gold lining.
 * Gator has the same whistle sound as Charlie but with a deeper pitch.
 * In the Dutch dub of the series, Gator's real name is Gerard.
 * Gator's whistle on the Tale of the Brave minisite sounds different as opposed to his actual whistle from the special.
 * Gator has been modified to work on British railways, such as having buffers and loose couplings. He has also been rescaled to standard gauge, whereas his original basis was narrow gauge.

Merchandise

 * Take-n-Play
 * Wooden Railway
 * TrackMaster
 * Collectible Railway