- "What's devious is what's necessary to make an honest living in these days of corruption and bad business ethics!"
- — Captain Zero, Sunshine
Captain Zero is the devious and scheming owner of the Z-Stacks and the business rival of Captain Star. He is known to have criminal connections and was previously affiliated with Johnny Cuba before something happened between the two. He is known to be quite temperamental.
Bio
In Sunshine, he is determined to sabotage the Star Tugs' ocean liner contract, and so Zorran carries out the plans. Thinking no-one has seen him push Sunshine into the Duchess, Zorran and the others tell the captain and he congratulates Zorran and Zak. Soon, the truth is out, and he yells at four of his tugs for failing to snag the contract. In Pirate, he works with Captain Star when barges mysteriously disappear. This shows he is capable of working with the Star Tugs if he needs to. In Jinxed, Boomer works for Captain Zero until a munitions barge explodes due to Boomer's jinx. The furious Captain has had enough and dismisses Boomer from his fleet. He makes cameos in Quarantine, High Winds (speaks in a deleted scene in High Winds), Ghosts, and High Tide. He is mentioned throughout the majority of the series by the narrator and the Z-Stacks.
Although the accidents caused by his fleet are mainly their fault, Captain Zero has also been known to be a cause of their actions leading to accidents in some cases. For example, in Warrior, his ordering his tugs not to help the Star Tugs prevented Zip and Zug from helping the Star Tugs rescue Izzy Gomez, causing them to lose the Rock Contract. Another possible example is in High Tide, where Zebedee and Zak took a shortcut through the canal when competing for a Steel Contract. The high tide prevented Zebedee's tall load from going under the Railway bridge, resulting in its collapse. Their failure to realize the high tide would prevent their plan from working may have been because Captain Zero did not warn them about the tide.
Whenever he speaks to his tugs, the captain's megaphone sways violently as he speaks (which could be due to his temper). He has a yellow and black striped megaphone, that can be seen out of the rundown, wooden dock-building that he works in (The Zero Dock). He does not care for his tugs but forces them into working hard and reliably. His favourite is assumed Zorran, as he is #1, follows his orders precisely, and is the smartest and most devious of the Z-Stacks. This is why Zorran is usually in charge of the Z-Stacks and their operations during certain tasks (such as in Munitions), where a delivery of explosives were to be towed across the port to Big Mickey.
He has five tugboats in his fleet. They are as follows: Zorran (1), Zebedee (2), Zak (3), Zug (4), and Zip (5).
Appearances
Episodes
Books and Annuals |
Trivia
- It is believed that he speaks with an Orcadian accent, but not confirmed. It could also be regarded as neutral Scottish.
- Captain Zero's final speaking role was in Pirate, but his last full appearance was in Jinxed. He was also meant to have a speaking role in High Winds, but it was cut from the same episode.
- In Salty's Lighthouse, he was portrayed as being friends with Captain Star.
- It is unknown why Captain Zero had fewer speaking roles than his crew, despite him being the leader of his fleet. This may be due to most of his appearances being cut due to run time and a lack of focus on the Z-Stacks.
Merchandise
- Port Set (discontinued)