Top Hat

"Well said, Ten Cents; he's a pain in the funnel!"
"The way he moves his head about, I'd say he's a pain in the neck!"

Top Hat

Affiliation: Star Fleet Number: 4 Type: Railway Tug

Top Hat is Captain Star's fourth tug, a railway tug. He is an uppity and snobbish character with a monocle, top hat and an Upper Class (Posh English) accent who looks down on everyone, both his friends and his foes, believing that he is the best tug in the Star Fleet.

Bio

Although he tries to avoid any job that will make his paint dirty, he is used for a wide variety of tasks around Bigg City Port, mainly distributing railway rolling stock with his barges Frank and Eddie. Like the rest of the Star Fleet, Top Hat is based on the tugs of San Francisco waters from the 1920's, although he also resembles John-A.-Dialogue-&-Sons-built New York Central Tugboat 13, which is also a railway tug, and his personality is based on Kenneth Williams. His name derives from his trademark hat. Despite his problem with dirty jobs, he is often used to tow Lord Stinker the garbage barge in episodes such as High Tide. In High Tide, he gained a great respect for the barge. Yet in other episodes he complains about the garbage itself, and often teases Warrior for his garbage smell.

Like O.J., Top Hat's whistle is very deeply pitched, but softened somewhat in comparison with O.J.'s - he is also fitted with a fog-horn as shown in the episode, Ghosts.

Aside from his snobbish personality, Top Hat's most distinguishing feature is his elevated wheelhouse - it's this feature that distinguishes him as a railway tug, as real tugs built to haul railroad rolling stock on barges had equally high wheelhouses to allow their pilots and crews to see over the top of their high loads. Unlike his real-world counterparts however, Top Hat can bob his wheelhouse up and down, giving his model an extra element of movement which was often used for dramatic or comedic purposes. Top Hat cares mainly about himself and saving his own neck. He may pretend to be cool and collected, but when he is actually faced with a threat or is placed in danger, he will panic and complain. This type of behaviour is shown in the episodes Ghosts and Regatta. He is often ridiculed by his companions, particularly Ten Cents and the villainous Z-Stacks. Despite his self-absorbed and arrogant demeanor, Top Hat has proven himself on numerous occasions and can cope fairly well in an emergency. He also cares for the rest of the Star Fleet, although he does not show it.

Appearances

Television

Books and Annual Stories

Trivia

His face masks (except his shocked face mask) were sold to Ryan of The Star Tugs Company (formerly The Star Tugs Trust), although the whereabouts of his model are currently unknown, making him the only Star Tug that hasn't been sold.
Top Hat is the only character who can raise his head (wheelhouse) up and down.