Lord Fear

For the antagonist of the same name featured in Knightmare, see Knightmare.

Lord Fear is a fictional character and a primary antagonist from the BBC television programme Ace Lightning.

Character Outline
Acting as the primary antagonist for the first season, and a secondary for the second, Lord Fear is portrayed as being the nemesis to the show's protagonist, Ace Lightning. A 352-year-old skeletal mastermind and villain, Lord Fear leads a small band of villains, their homebase located within the gloomy Carnival of Doom. Lord Fear's aim is to conquer all dimensions by gaining the powers of the Amulet of Zoar, but after a battle between him and Ace Lightning, the Amulet was shattered and opened a portal to Earth, where the events of the series take place. Lord Fear is not without his weaknesses, crippled with a limp in his right leg which he gained after being accidentally injured by Ace. Lord Fear holds a personal grudge against Ace for this, as well as previously imprisoning him in the Sixth Dimension. Lord Fear battles with Staff Head, a winged frog creature perched on a staff who can fire energy blasts. Lord Fear is very wise and intelligent, but has very little knowledge of Earth's cultures.

Abilities
Lord Fear has a Mister Fantastic-like ability, allowing him to stretch his limbs to great lengths, and wrap them around his foes and suffocate them in a move like a boa constrictor. Lord Fear appears to have impressive skills in both organ playing and golf, having never taken a lesson in either talent. Staff Head, Lord Fear's loyal weapon, can fire energy blasts from the orb on his head at foes. In the video game adaptation, Lord Fear has the power to revive his defeated minions at will.

The Doom Wagon
After achieving to convince science teacher, Mr. Cheseborough, to help him destroy Ace Lightning, Kilobyte rewards him with by creating the Doom Wagon. The Doom Wagon is a demonic motorcycle-like vehicle, created from a cart of one the Carnival of Doom's rides. It has the properties of a motorcycle including the front and wheels, but is bulky and has a coffin built into it. A pair of rocket boosters are built into the back of the Doom Wagon, and two skeleton models act somewhat as figureheads armed with a chainsaw. Lord Fear uses it as transport, in replacement of Duff Kent's ice cream truck. Fear first uses it to chase Mark Hollander during his first Driver's Ed test, attempting to saw the car to pieces. He was stopped by Ace, who is does have enough strength to halt the Doom Wagon. The Doom Wagon can move at great speeds on the road, and also has flight capabilities, acting as a rival and threat to Sparx's Lightning Flash vehicle.

Personality and Relationships
An immensely proud and quite insecure individual, Lord Fear has a variety of forms in his personality, although his usual one displays him as an intelligent schemer who speaks with long words and alliteration to his minions (e.g. Totem of Terror). He does have a fiery temper however and will frequently lash out at his minions when enraged. While Fear is intent on destroying Ace, he does enjoy his comforts such as playing golf and watching the television, as well playing the organ in the Haunted House. The pipe-organ is frequently employed by tortured villain characters as a way of venting their frustration with the world, an example being Davy Jones. Lord Fear doesn't take betrayal or defeat well and often takes ages to recover from a defeat, although he never has recovered from Lady Illusion's treachery. His most consistent relationship is with Staff Head, who he sees as a friend. They do have the odd fight but Lord Fear is always supported by Staff Head. He also had a close relationship to Lady Illusion, and they appeared to be in love, but this turned into a deep hatred in Season 2. However Fear is deeply paranoid and doesn't seem to trust anyone. He largely looks down on everyone around him and so his relationship with the minions is limited, but he seems to have admiration for Googler. Anvil is treated like a large pet at times (as seen in Episode 5 when Lord Fear pets him, and also a friendly but brief placement of loyalty in Episode 26). He thinks little of Pigface, Rotgut and Dirty Rat. As for Kilobyte, he deeply hates him although at times they agree on things, and Kilobyte is even kind enough to give Fear the Doom Wagon. Fear is a vicious and formidable opponent who even intimidates Ace at times although he is somewhat cowardly and is not above begging for his life or attacking his opponents when their attention is turned.

Staff Head
Staff Head is Lord Fear's loyal servant and apparently only friend, also doubling as a weapon and a walking stalk. Staff Head is fanatically loyal to Lord Fear and resembles a fat winged toad perched on a bone-shaped stick carrying a glass orb in his hands. He can fire energy blasts from this orb during battle. His stiff wooden body can also move about like a snake's, although this ability to removed in Season 2, when Staff Head's physical appearance is altered to look for realistic.

Staff Head is a rather proud person and something of a boot-licker to Lord Fear who usually agrees with him but does occasionally snap at Staff Head when angry. Staff Head seems to look down at the rest of the villains and also seems to have a hatred for Lady Illusion. He often insults Duff Kent and Dirty Rat, who are usually the primary targets of Lord Fear's rage. Staff Head apparently has a cousin named Benny, who he compares to a tree branch when in a forest.

Staff Head arrives on Earth with Lord Fear and his small band of villains, Staff Head tripping up Ace so Lord Fear can wound him. Staff Head immediately expressed signs of superiority to Duff upon first meeting, which led to him making empty threats to Duff (e.g. "Speak to Lord Fear only when spoken to, understood?"). Staff Head's role was limited in the first season, often being in "sleep mode" where he didn't seem to be alive, only as a figurehead on Lord Fear's staff. Staff Head eventually learnt about Lady Illusion's affair with Ace Lightning when he spotted her kissing a frozen Ace. He revealed he knew of it and blackmailed Lady Illusion into doing his dirty work, otherwise he'd spill to Lord Fear. Lady Illusion had no choice but to comply. On Fear's day of triumph, Lady Illusion got so agitated with Staff Head that she strangled him right in front of Lord Fear who didn't seem particularly bothered. Staff Head was the first of the villains to die when Mark located and destroyed the Amulet.

His role was initially the same as Season 2, although he had many more appearances and often encouraged Lord Fear to torture Lady Illusion, despite the fact Lord Fear seemed to not wish to at times. Staff Head fled with Lord Fear and Dirty Rat at the end of Season 2 after he wounded and killed Lady Illusion. In the cancelled Season 3, he was to hide out with Lord Fear, Dirty Rat and Mr. Cheseborough, who was to help Lord Fear release his minions without use of the Amulet.

History
Lord Fear's life before the beginning of the first season is a mystery, but he was friends with Ace Lightning until the latter accidentally crippled him. Lord Fear stole the Amulet, but was captured along with his minions and imprisoned in the Sixth Dimension by Ace, but repeated his actions by escaping prison and the Sixth Dimension all together, escaping through the Datastream to Conestoga Hills. Lord Fear lost the Amulet as it split into pieces, so he and his minions settled in the Kent Bros. Carnival owned by Duff Kent, now named the Carnival of Doom. Throughout Season 1, Lord Fear creates various schemes to capture the Lightning Knights' pieces of the Amulet, gaining all the pieces over the course of the series, with some help from Lady Illusion and Dirty Rat. On the night of the final battle, Lord Fear and his minions were destroyed by Mark Hollander, who discovered the Amulet hidden in the carnival's haunted house and shattered, sending the villains except a defected Lady Illusion back to the Sixth Dimension.

Lord Fear and Staff Head returned at the beginning of Season 2 to get revenge on the Lightning Knights, Lady lllusion for betraying them, and to continue their campaign to conquer the world. Lord Fear's reign of terror ended when Kilobyte arrived and took control, Fear becoming rather disrespected and his victory stolen. He received the Doom Wagon from Kilobyte when he fooled Mr. Cheseborough into helping the villains. Lord Fear attempted to repeatedly kill Lady Illusion for her betrayal, although this was generally because of repeated goading from Staff Head, but he missed his chance at every turn. In the last episode, cast aside, Lord Fear devised a cunning plan to eliminate all of his enemies in one go. He joined forces with Ace and Mark to defeat Kilobyte, wiping out his own minions and then assisting in blasting Kilobyte to the Sixth Dimension. Moments later, Lord Fear blasted Ace and mortally wounded him, but it was revealed that this Ace was really Lady Illusion is disguise. Lord Fear then took a hasty retreat with Staff Head and Dirty Rat in tow. In the cancelled Season 3, Lord Fear was to be in hiding with his surviving minions and Mr. Cheseborough, who was deemed a madman at the end of Season 2.