Billy (Thomas & Friends)

Billy the Orange Engine is a tank engine whose sole appearance is the thirteenth episode "Don't be Silly, Billy" from season 11 of Thomas & Friends. He is an orange tank engine that was brought by Sir Topham Hatt to help with the workload on the Island of Sodor at the time. He has been hated by fans and critics of Thomas and Friends for his rude behaviour, and for being a one-shot character.

Why He's Intentionally Really Useless

 * 1) He is another one of those one-off characters in the HiT model era who was only made for merchandising.
 * 2) He is very rude to Thomas just because he was telling him to get some coal and water.
 * 3) He is very irresponsible, impulsive, and always wants everything to go his way.
 * 4) His line "Stop telling me what to do, Thomas! You're a very bossy engine!" gets really repetitive and annoying really fast, especially since he said it five times throughout the episode.
 * 5) * In addition, this line can come off as hypocritical, as he bosses and demands Thomas to stay out of his way.
 * 6) His face design looks rather ugly.
 * 7) His bio even says that he and Charlie are brothers, and that's definitely saying much!
 * 8) He runs off and leaves his trucks/cars behind every time Thomas tells him to take on coal and water.
 * 9) He teaches the moral that "it's okay to disobey orders".
 * 10) He is very spoiled and annoying.
 * 11) Much like Brimmy from South Park and the rest of the characters from seasons 9-12, he is the textbook definition of a filler (to a lesser extent), one shot, and rejected character.
 * 12) Considering that he only appeared in one episode, like with most HIT-era characters, his only purpose was to sell nothing more than toys and merchandise.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Billy has a neat design.
 * 2) Unlike Charlie, Billy received karma for his actions as he ran out of water after a while.
 * 3) The idea behind Billy is interesting as he is meant to be like a hillbilly-like engine.
 * 4) His voice by Michael Brandon, while inconsistent, shows he, unlike Angelis, is trying and can actually be funny.
 * 5) At least he has a personality unlike Molly, Neville, Mighty Mac, Proteus, Jeremy, Colin, Flora, and Hank.
 * 6) The toys that were made of him were cool; however, there wasn't a complete set of him.
 * 7) He's most likely intended to be hated, so there isn't much there to be worried about.
 * 8) His facial design can be cute and funny depending on your view.

Trivia

 * Billy is based on a Manning Wardle L Class 0-6-0ST. Charlie, another infamous character in the series, is another engine of this basis.