Knight Rider/Characters

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Characters from the original Knight Rider series include:

FLAG

Michael Knight

Played by David Hasselhoff.

Michael Arthur Long is an undercover Las Vegas police detective who, while on a case, is shot in the face and nearly killed. Wilton Knight, creator of FLAG, directs his doctors to save Long's life and reconstruct his face. With his new identity, "Michael Knight", Long is provided with high tech crime-fighting equipment, most notably the car nicknamed KITT.

Tropes exhibited by Michael Knight include:

• Adult Child
• Berserk Button: Threatening to (or actually managing to) harm KITT or Bonnie will usually elicit this response.
  • Killing Stevie sure pushed it.
• Big Damn Heroes: He and KITT do that sort of thing a lot.
• Chick Magnet: Try naming one episode when he didn't have a girl by the ending.
• Despair Event Horizon: In the episode Junk Yard Dogs, after he watches KITT being pulled up from the toxic waste pool with all his paint bleached off and his insides eaten out.
  • The episode The Scent of Roses was, if possible, even worse for him with the death of Stevie.
• Determinator
• Hero Secret Service
• Leeroy Jenkins: What some fans think of him. Many think KITT's the real star.
• Made of Iron: Well, part of his head's got a metal plate. Does that count?
• Platonic Life Partners: With KITT.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Bonnie.

K.I.T.T.

Played by a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am, voiced by William Daniels.

KITT ("Knight Industries Two Thousand") is the artificial intelligence of the autonomous car with whom Michael Knight is partnered. KITT was designed by the late Wilton Knight, a brilliant but eccentric billionaire and founder of the Foundation for Law and Government or (FLAG).

Tropes exhibited by K.I.T.T. include:

• Battle Butler
• Cool Car: He is the cool car.
• Insufferable Genius: He knows how remarkable he is, to the point that he's undeniably proud, sometimes vain, and even a little stuck-up (though he'll put aside his ego to get a job done.)
• Heroic BSOD: He was pretty badly traumatized for a while in Junk Yard Dog.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick
• The Jeeves: To Michael.
• Undying Loyalty: To Michael and Bonnie.
• Logical Weakness: Not many things can stop KITT, but his being a car does give him a few weaknesses. For example, there's one episode in which the bad guys stop him by putting him on a car lift.
• Made of Indestructium: His "molecularly-bonded shell."
• Meaningful Name: The Knight Industries Two Thousand.
• Nigh Invulnerability: Only a very few things can damage him.
• No Hero to His Valet
• Robot Buddy: Robot-car-buddy.
• Servile Snarker: He doesn't snark too much, but he does snark Michael pretty good.
• Vanity License Plate: His reads KNIGHT.

Devon Miles

Played by Edward Mulhare.

The leader of FLAG, who appears in nearly every episode to provide mission details to Michael and KITT. He's also the spokesman for FLAG whenever it came under scrutiny.

Tropes exhibited by Devon include:

• Benevolent Boss: He's willing to put up with a lot of Michael's antics with a good attitude.
• British Stuffiness
• By-The-Book Cop: He prefers to follow the rules, unfortunately Michael doesn't always go by the book.
• Cool Old Guy
• Deadpan Snarker: In a gentlemanly way, of course.
• Foil: To Michael. He's well-mannered, level-headed, intellectual, and tends to stay out of the action, contrasting Michael's young and cowboyish personality.
• Gentleman and a Scholar: Extremely intelligent. Extremely proper.
• Heroes-R-Us: Head of the, Foundation for Law And Government.
• Non-Action Guy
• Non-Action Snarker
• Mission Control: He's often found in the FLAG truck.
• The Conscience

Dr. Bonnie Barstow

Played by Patricia McPherson.

She serves as KITT's chief technician and serves as romantic tension for Michael. She left for a year to pursue graduate studies, claiming she'd gotten fed up. She was replaced during that time by April Curtis, another Knight Industries System Engineer.

Tropes exhibited by Bonnie include:

• Badass Bookworm
• Brainy Brunette: You need an expert engineer? You got it.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Michael. She's just too proud and stubborn to admit it.
• Hot Scientist
• Magical Database: Her computer always seems to have what's needed at the right time.
• Not So Above It All: She can be nice to Michael, when she wants to be.
• Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
• Techno Babble
• Team Mom: Especially to KITT.
• Tsundere

April Curtis

Played by Rebecca Holden.

The chief mechanic for KITT in Season two. She temporarily replaced Bonnie Barstow, who claimed she'd never come back to the Foundation. Of course, she did eventually.

Tropes exhibited by April include:

• Always Someone Better: Nobody seemed to care that Bonnie pretty much kicked her out of the office when she got back.
• The Chick
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome
• Faux Action Girl: Even more so than Bonnie.
• Hair of Gold
• Hot Scientist
• Put on a Bus: And never heard from again.
• Satellite Character
• Sexy Secretary
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The nice Bonnie.

Reginald Cornelius the III (a.k.a. RC3)

Played by Peter Parros.

Introduced in Season Four, He became the new Driver of the FLAG mobile unit and the occasional Sidekick for Michael and KITT.

Tropes exhibited by RC3 include:

• Black and Nerdy: Boy, is he nerdy!
• The Engineer
• Gadgeteer Genius: He and his gang were able to rebuild KITT practically from scratch.
• Genius Ditz
• Grease Monkey: Comes from working on motorcycles all the time.
• Mr. Fixit
• Heroic Wannabe: Wanted to "clean up the streets" when he was younger, even came up with the superhero name Street Avenger and carried around a rubber assault rifle to scare crooks.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Sometimes he can be a bit too plucky, crossing over into "just plain annoying".
• Smart Guy
• Teen Genius: Dispite all his eccentricities, RC3 is a genuine mechanical genius.

Memorable Villains

Most of the series villains where One-Shot Characters do to the lack of any kind of over-arcing storylines for the series. Here are some villains who actually did pop up more than once.

K.A.R.R.

Played by a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am, voiced by Peter Cullen.

KARR ("Knight Automated Roving Robot") is the prototype version of KITT, originally designed by Wilton Knight and built by his company Knight Industries. Upon completion of the vehicle, KARR's CPU was installed and activated. However, a programming error made the computer unstable and potentially dangerous. The project was put on hold and KARR was placed in storage until a solution could be found. Unlike KITT, whose primary directive is to protect human life, KARR is programmed for self-preservation, making him a ruthless and unpredictable threat.

Tropes exhibited by K.A.R.R. include:

• A.I. Is a Crapshoot
• Back from the Dead: Explained in K.I.T.T. VS K.A.R.R.
• Darker and Edgier
• Death Is Cheap: Pops up in the episode K.I.T.T. VS K.A.R.R. without a scratch on his paint job.
• Evil Is Hammy
• Faux Affably Evil
• Manipulative Bastard: Always seemed to have a knack for knowing exactly what to say to people.
• Meaningful Name: A car named KARR, get it?
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: In K.I.T.T. VS K.A.R.R.
• Shadow Archetype: To KITT

Garthe Knight

Played by David Hasselhoff.

Wilton's biological son, at the time of Michael's surgery, Garthe was imprisoned in Africa. Believing that his son would never be seen again, Wilton had Michael's face modeled after Garthe's.

Tropes exhibited by Garthe include:

• Acting for Two: Look! It's David Hasselhoff, with a very cheesy looking goatee!
• Black Sheep: He thinks his father made Michael into the son he wanted.
• Beard of Evil: His goatee.
• Cliché Storm: The man is a WALKING TALKING CLICHÉ! Even for the eighties!
• Criminal Doppelganger: It's funny when you think about it, Michael is actually Garthe's Doppelganger.
• Evil Counterpart
• Evil Gloating: He just loves his monologueing... perhaps a bit to much.
• Revenge Before Reason
• It's Personal
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Just like with the gloating, way to much.

Others

Wilton Knight

Played by Richard Basehart.

A self-made millionaire and the founder of the Foundation for Law And Government (FLAG). After Michael Long is shot in the face, Wilton Knight rescues him and has his doctors save his life and give him a new face and the new identity as Michael Knight. Wilton was always a firm believer of the philosophy that "One Man Can Make Difference".

Tropes exhibited by Wilton Knight include:

• Big Good: Founder of the, Foundation for Law And Government.
• The Chooser of the One: He gave Michael the new identity, and the new car.
• Cool Old Guy
• Death by Origin Story: He died just after giving KITT to Michael.
• Knight in Shining Armour
• The Obi-Wan
• Parental Substitute: More like Michael was his "Child-Substitute".
• Sins Of Our Sons: Garth, was a very bad son.
• Take Up My Sword: Asked Michael to continue his work in helping "the little guy".
• We Help the Helpless: The Foundation.

Elizabeth Knight

Played by Barbara Rush.

Wife to Mr. Wilton Knight, and mother to Garth and Jennifer Knight. She secretly helped her son Garthe who had been imprisoned in Africa, while serving three life sentences to escape back to the U.S. She wanted to kill Michael Knight for trying to take her son's place and destroy FLAG for not helping her son. ...In all honesty, this lady showed be in the villians section!

Tropes exhibited by Elizabeth include:

• Almighty Mom: For what ever else she is, she's one mom I'd never want to cross.
• Alpha Bitch
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She's got a really nasty smile, you should see it!
• Doting Parent: To Garthe.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Again, Garthe.
• Femme Fatale
• Manipulative Bitch: MAN is she ever!
• Pimped-Out Dress: Always wore gaudy outfits just to show how rich she was.
• Put on a Bus: Unlike her son. Garthe indicated that she may have passed away.
• The Unfettered: Oh, I have to kill a few people to make my son happy? No problem.

Jennifer Knight

Played by Mary Kate McGeehan.

Wilton Knight's daughter. She seems to have been in charge of Knight Industries' more profitable operations since her father passed away. Little is known about her except that she's always been afraid of her brother and mother, with good reason.

Tropes exhibited by Jennifer include:

• Broken Bird
• Dark and Troubled Past: It's looks like Garthe's never going to win the "Brother of the Year Award".
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Towards Michael.
• Freudian Excuse: With a mother and brother like hers who could blame her?
• Heel Face Turn: After Michael saves everyone, including her. She warms up to him, even calling him a brother.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Not So Stoic: She claims that firing Michael and ending FLAG will cut down costs. When she's really just plain scared of Michael turning out to be like Garthe.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat
• Spoiled Brat: She certainly comes across as one.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: FLAG costs to much money? DOWN WITH FLAG!

Stephanie "Stevie" March Mason

Played by Catherine Hickland.

The woman who was once a close friend to Michael Long, Stevie - as she's known - was once engaged to Michael, unfortunately Stephanie thinks he's dead. She eventually discovers the truth, and the pair eventually marry in the episode "Scent of Roses" on the same day she's killed.

Tropes exhibited by Stevie include:

• Ascended Extra: One of the very few love interests who actually makes more than one appearance in the series.
• The Bus Came Back
• Cartwright Curse
• Damsel in Distress: How she's first introduced.
• Flat Character: Other than being Michael's former fiance, there isn't much else to say.
• Happily Married: Again, very briefly.
• The Heart
• Official Couple: With Michael, very briefly.
• Too Happy to Live

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