Chick Hicks

"You want thunder? You want thunder? KA-Chicka! Ka-Chicka!"

- Chick stealing Lightning's catchphrase.

Chick Hicks (also known as Thunder) is the main antagonist of Cars and a minor character in Cars 3. He is a green race car who appears as the rival of Lighting McQueen.

In Cars, he was voiced by the Academy Award nominated actor, Michael Keaton, who later played Ken in Toy Story 3. In Cars 3, he was voiced by the Pixar employee, Bob Peterson, who also played Dug and Alpha in Up.

Personality
Although highly talented and gifted at racing (he would not have maintained #2 spot as long as he had if he wasn't), Chick Hicks is extremely rude, arrogant, conniving, self-centered, and manipulative on himself and winning, like McQueen himself.

However, these traits are more exaggerated in Chick Hicks, and often make him more argumentative, ridiculous, and obnoxious. Chick always brags about winning, and he is also very sarcastic, unpleasant, treacherous, intimidating, and formidable. Having lived all of his career in the shadow of The King has made him bitter and devoid of any sense of fair-play.

Chick largely serves as a parallel to McQueen. They are both racers who dream of getting at Dinoco, which represents the peak of success. However, McQueen learned to accept that helping others is more important than fame and fortune. Neither of them won the Dinoco sponsorship.

Chick, on the other hand, failed to learn the error of his ways and let his anger be his downfall. Chick serves as an example of what McQueen would become if the latter had allowed his anger and arrogance to consume him.

Chick Hicks is a racing veteran with a chip on his shoulder, a ruthless and aggressive competitor who has cheated his way into more second-place finishes than any other car. He has been counting down the seasons to The King's retirement so that he can take over the coveted Dinoco sponsorship, but he never expected such fierce competition from hot shot rookie Lightning McQueen.

Cars
"Hey, McQueen, that was some really nice racing out there... BY ME!!!"

- Chick Hicks taunts McQueen. In the Dinoco 400, Chick Hicks and his rival The King tie with Lightning in the Piston Cup championship, forcing the three racers to compete in a tiebreaker race. Chick later mocks McQueen on winning the Piston Cup and sponsorship of Dinoco. Lightning retaliates by nicknaming Chick "Thunder" due to the fact to t thunder always comes "after" lightning, much to Chick's intense annoyance.

When Lightning McQueen disappears when McQueen's driver Mack arrives at the Los Angeles International Speedway without him, Hicks befriends the women from Dinoco and steals some of McQueen's fans. When McQueen is found in Radiator Springs, Hicks is revealed to have ripped off one of McQueen's signature poses and even finds his nickname "Thunder" to be quite commercially appealing.

At the final Piston Cup Race, McQueen finds himself unable to maintain focus, his mind slipping back to his time in Radiator Springs, allowing Chick the advantage. Fortunately, Doc Hudson arrives as McQueen's new crew chief and brings in several residents of Radiator Springs to help as McQueen's new pit crew. This allows McQueen to properly focus on the race and avert Chick's dirty moves before the final lap on the fourth turn, allowing McQueen to finally take the lead.

Just as McQueen is about to win the Piston Cup, Hicks tries to catch up and intentionally sideswipes The King as he refuses to come in last place behind him again, making The King spin out of control and crash. When Lightning sees what has happened to The King, he stops just before the finish line and goes back to help The King finish his last race. Although this does allow Chick to finish first, the audience cheers Lightning for his sportsmanship and turns on Chick by booing him off the stage when he arrives to accept "his" Piston Cup. Outraged, Chick is forced to make a quick getaway with the trophy in disgrace and is subsequently denied the Dinoco sponsorship, which Tex Dinoco offers to Lightning instead.

Cars 3
In Cars 3, Chick has since retired from racing and is now an announcer for RSN and hosts his own TV show, Chick Picks, where he introduces Jackson Storm along with special guest Natalie Certain. When Storm wins the Gears and Glory 450 at the Heartland Motor Speedway, Chick accompanies him on the winners podium. Later, McQueen watches on Mack's television where Chick and Natalie give a report on Storm beating the record for fastest lap in Piston Cup history at the Florida International Speedway and the possibility of McQueen's retirement. He is not seen again afterwards

Cars: The Video Game
In Cars: The Video Game, Chick hired the Delinquent Road Hazards to steal Lightning's racing gear out of Mack's trailer during the 2006 season. Lightning confronted Chick at the fourth race, but Chick claimed to know nothing about it. He was later beaten out by McQueen, and lost the season. Chick returned to Radiator Springs to train for the next season, and once again made some new friends who he used to taunt McQueen. Lightning beat Chick at the final race, and he fled back to his hometown.

Cars: Radiator Springs Adventures
In Cars: Radiator Springs Adventures, Chick is one of the speeders in Speed Trap. After you win the event, you unlock the Legends Race secret for Chick.

Cars Race-O-Rama
In Cars Race-O-Rama, he returns as the main antagonist. He tells McQueen that he and some of his friends are here to win the Race-O-Rama series to shut down the Doc Hudson Racing Academy which he calls pathetic. If he does, everyone would want to come to his racing academy where they will probably learn to cheat. However, McQueen, having some modifications, won the Race-O-Rama series, and Chick leaves in shame after swearing revenge.

Disney INFINITY
In Disney INFINITY, he is the main antagonist of the Cars Play Set. After the "Calibrate GPS" mission is completed, Chick comes into Radiator Springs and stops at Flo's V8 Cafe. He then asks if this is Radiator Springs, before Flo asks if she can get anything for him. Chick asks to start with some jumper cables, and that the town is putting him to sleep. He later leaves after Flo suggests to keep rolling if he won't order anything. He then challenges the player to race against him. After you win, he says that he wants a rematch.

He later competes as a random opponent in the races. Before the start of the Radiator Springs International Race Invitation held by Luigi, Chick says to the other racers that he is plotting to win the race and that it will be the "last time you'll be seeing my grill." Francesco Bernoulli, however, states to The King that he almost likes Chick and that he would have said it better. Finn McMissile then states that something suspicious has happened since Chick arrived, saying that Fillmore's fuel has gone missing right before the big race. Chick then replies saying, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. We gonna get this race started or what?" After the player wins the race, Chick appears with smoke coming out of him. When he asks if he had won, Finn says to him that he's through and will be sent to the impound lot. Ramone, however, explains that he has been looking for a perfect wreck to fix up for "Detail My Dents", and that Chick is "the worst looking car I've ever seen". Flo then agrees with Ramone to paint Chick red with lightning bolts, before they both drag him away. Shocked at being painted like McQueen, Chick asks them to take him to the impound instead.

When the Cars vault is opened by having all four characters interact with it, a toy of Chick can be unlocked for use in your toy box worlds.

Quotes
"I am NOT coming in behind you again Old Man!"

- Chick before sideswiping The King.

"What's wrong with everybody?! Ow! Huh? Hey, What this thing thrown at me? Where's the happiness?! Hey, this is the start of the Chick-era!"

- Chick Hick's last words before his getaway

Trivia

 * Chick makes his team wear "mustache" grilles to represent him.
 * According to the 2009 Die-cast Collectors Guide, Chick Hicks has 334 decals on him.
 * On Chick Hicks' decals, He has sponsors that didn't sponsor racers in Cars, And that includes: Sludgee, YUM, Marshy-Marshmallows, Texas Tea, Motor Oil, E, Motor Oil 300,0 and Varoom.
 * Chick Hicks wants to end up in first place and hates ending up in second place.
 * Chick is a 1979 Shyster Cremlin, a car that does not exist. It is designed after a 1987 Buick Grand National.
 * Chick's number "86" could come from 1986, the year that Pixar was established and when Luxo, Jr. was released. "86" is also slang for "destroying" or "to get rid of".
 * Even though Chick didn't appear in Cars 2, he can be obtainable via downloadable content in Cars 2: The Video Game.
 * On his right door, there is a picture of the Marshy-Marshmallows logo. This is mostly the same company which was seen in A Bug's Life under the name of "Joel's Marshy Marshmallows".
 * In the Polish version, his name is Marek Marucha. Ma rucha means "He has speed".
 * Chick's primary sponsor is the Hostile Takeover Bank (htB).
 * Chick should have been disqualified even before the events of the movie because of PIT'ing and aggressive driving but for the convenience of the plot, he was kept as a racer.
 * Chick had the same personality in the third film, only his alignment was changed from bad to neutral.