Chick Hicks

Chick Hicks (also known as Thunder, or simply Chick) is the main antagonist of the 2006 Disney/Pixar animated film, Cars. He is a racer who likes cheating. After winning the Piston Cup, Chick apparently lost his career.

Personality
Even to his own minions, Chick is extremely rude, arrogant and centered on himself and winning like Lightning McQueen was at the start of the film; however, these traits are more exaggerated in Chick, and often make him more ridiculous or obnoxious. Chick always brags about winning, and he's also sarcastic and intimidating. Having lived all his career in the shadow of the King has made him bitter and devoid of any sense of fair-play which resort in cheating his way into knocking other racers out of the race.

Chick largely serves as a parallel to McQueen. They are both racers who dream of getting at Dinoco, which represents the peak of success. McQueen, however, learned to accept that helping others is more important than fame and fortune. Chick, on the other hand, failed to let his selfishness go and let his arrogance be his downfall. Chick serves as an example of what McQueen would have become if the latter had gone too caught up in his arrogance and desperation.

Cars
Hicks is in a three-way tie with the King and Lightning McQueen and is attempting to win the Piston Cup. His nickname is "The Runner-Up", as he seems to always lose to the King. He also has the reputation of not racing fairly:

"Chick Hicks is a racing veteran with a chip on his shoulder, a ruthless competitor who has cheated his way into more second-place finishes than any other car. He's 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."

"In Lightning McQueen's worst nightmares not only does Chick Hicks win the Piston Cup, but he wins over Dinoco as well."

Chick's primary sponsor is the Hostile Takeover Bank (htB). His car number is 86, which refers to the year Luxo, Jr. was released.

Determined to do whatever it takes to win the Piston Cup, Chick will frequently ram other cars on the track or use the PIT Maneuver in an attempt to cause a crash for his own benefit.

Chick ties with the King and 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 that thunder always comes after lightning, much to Chick's intense annoyance. However, he later shows off with this new nickname after Lightning disappears in Radiator Springs, wooing his fans and stealing Lightning's catchphrase. He makes numerous attempts to force Lightning out of the final race, such as mocking him, only to be outrun by him in spite of it. He intentionally sideswipes the King with the PIT Maneuver during the final lap, making him spin out of control and crash. When Lightning sees what has happened to the King, he stops before crossing the finish line and goes back to help the King across the line. Although this allows Chick to win first place and the Piston Cup (though for what he did to the King with his illegal move, he didn't deserve it), nobody cheers him on once he does because they're sick of his dirty tricks, and instead cheer on Lightning for helping the King. The fans then turn on Chick, boo him off the stage, and throw things at him, causing him to make a quick getaway with his trophy and making him realize the "Chick era" just ended as soon as it started.

It is unknown what happens to Chick afterwards, but it appears that he has been denied the sponsorship by Dinoco as Tex instead tries to offers it to Lightning for his good sportsmanship.

Cars 3
Chick Hicks reappears in the sequel, being voiced by Bob Peterson, since Keaton was unable to reprise his role, possibly due to him being busy with Spider-Man: Homecoming. When Jackson Storm wins the Gears and Glory 450 at the Heartland Motor Speedway, Chick accompanies him on the winners podium. Additionally, McQueen is watching Chick on Mack's television, where Chick is giving a report on the possibility of McQueen's retirement. Unlike the first film, he isn't seen throughout the rest of the film.

Cars: The Video Game
In Cars: The Video Game, Chick hired a gang of punk cars 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, Chick Hicks returns as the main antagonist. He plans to beat Lightning in the Race-O-Rama series to shut down the Doc Hudson Racing Academy and bring in more cars to come to his racing academy where they will probably learn to cheat. He also plans to take over Radiator Springs and send Lightning packing. Along the way, Chick introduces Lightning to his proteges: Candice, El Machismo and Stinger. However, McQueen, having some modifications, is able to beat all of them. Before the final race, Chick decides to get himself modified and reveals to Lightning that he was only using Candice, El Machismo and Stinger to learn how to beat Lightning. However, Lightning still wins the race and Chick drives away, vowing his revenge.

Disney INFINITY
In Disney INFINITY, Chick 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 the player wins, 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 the toy box worlds.

Disney Parks
In Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Chick hacks into Lightning McQueen's racing simulator presentation to humiliate him and challenge him to a virtual race to settle their score.

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.
 * Chick Hicks wants to end up in first place and hates ending up in second place, which is similar to Randall Boggs from Monsters, Inc..
 * Chick actually was a warning to Lightning about what he would've become if he was still a jerk.
 * Chick is a 1979 Shyster Cremlin, a car that does not exist. It is designed after a 1987 Buick Grand National.
 * 86, Chick's number, could come from 1986, the year that Pixar was established.
 * Even though Chick didn't appear in Cars 2, players can download him for Cars 2: The Video Game.
 * On his right door, there is a picture of the Marshy-Marshmellows logo. This is mostly the same company which was seen in A Bug's Life under the name of "Joel's Marshy Marshmellows."
 * In the Polish version, his name is Marek Marucha. Ma rucha means "He has speed."
 * A 1:55 scale die-cast of Chick Hicks, along with Lightning McQueen and Brush Curber, appears in one of the exhibit elements at The Science Behind Pixar.
 * Michael Keaton voiced Chick in Cars and later returned to Pixar to voice Ken in Toy Story 3. However, by unknown reasons, he was replaced by Pixar animator Bob Peterson in Cars 3. The exact reason is still unknown, but it could be possibly that Keaton was not available to record any lines for Chick due the filming of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
 * In the Latin Spanish version of Cars 3, Chick jokes after supposing that McQueen will retire that instead of "Ku-chau!" (the Latin Spanish translation to "Ka-chow!"), this time will be "Chau-Chau!" (as Chau is a Latin Spanish term to say goodbye to people), making the joke most funny to Latin Spanish spectators.