Percy the Small Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic steam
engine from The Railway Series of children's books written by the Reverend
Wilbert Vere Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. Percy also appears in the
spin-off television series Thomas & Friends.
Percy lives on the Island of Sodor with many other
locomotives, including Thomas the Tank Engine, Gordon the Big Engine and Henry
the Green Engine. He is the smallest, youngest and probably cheekiest, of the
principal steam engine characters. He carries the number 6 on his bunker.
The Fat Controller brought him to Sodor when there was an
engine strike due to a shortage of shunting engines. The bigger engines
initially tried to bully him, but Percy soon showed that he was more than capable
of standing up for himself. After a few years of shunting at the Big Station,
the Fat Controller promoted him to goods traffic on Thomas' branch line. When
not pulling trucks, he can be seen pulling the post train or even taking Annie
and Clarabel when Thomas is busy. Percy's best friends are Thomas and Toby. He
is also known to have a great respect for Edward ever since his first
appearance.
He is reasonably experienced, but can still occasionally be a
little naive and overconfident. In that sense, he is the perfect foil for
Thomas – who can be just as headstrong.
