List of Tugs characters

Star Fleet

• Ten Cents works as a switcher tug on a wide variety of tasks around Bigg City Port and is the Bigg City Port's number 1 tug. Ten Cents is one of the younger, and he is one of the braver Star Tugs. He has a tendency to be somewhat cheeky at times, but is strong-willed, and it takes a lot to break him. He is quick-witted and takes action swiftly without hesitation. He never lets other tugs bully him, never fails to stand up for others, and is always willing to set aside his own safety for the sake of others. He has a bit of a short temper, but he is also smart enough to listen to the advice of the older, more experienced tugs. He speaks with a teenage East End Cockney accent. Ten Cents was the first model built for the series, according to modelmaker Chris Tulloch; his face was modeled after that of Mickey Rooney.
• Big Mac is a harbour tug who speaks with a Scottish accent and is the Bigg City Port's number 2 tug. He can come across as a rude and stubborn tug, but he has a heart of gold, despite his tendencies to be macho, gruff and tough at times. He is very much willing to set aside his own safety for the sake of others, and usually remains level-headed when undergoing a strategy. Big Mac works mainly with Warrior, and the two tugs have a very close friendship. Even though Warrior's clumsiness and thick head occasionally frustrates him, he still respects and cares for him. He also stands up for Warrior if anyone makes fun of him. As opposed to his gruff personality, he is fitted with a rich and melodic chime whistle. In Salty's Lighthouse, he was named Big Stack.
• O.J. is the sole remaining paddle-driven harbour tug in Bigg City Port and is the Bigg City Port's number 3 tug. He can be described as "slow, but versatile". As Captain Star once said in "Quarantine", "He had given many years of good service, but time was catching up on him". He is indeed capable of a variety of tasks, but is sometimes restricted by his age and mechanical condition. He speaks with a South Welsh accent. His basis is that of Eppleton Hall. Chris Tulloch noted that the O.J. model used in the series was one of the most reliable. Other models, which had internal machinery, would often threaten to "turn turtle" and would have to be fixed firmly to a chassis. After the production of Tugs was shut down, his model was passed on to the sister series Thomas & Friends to be converted into "Lakesider lll", seen on the Skarloey Railway on Series 4. His model was later sold to The Star Tugs Trust along with his original head, wheelhouse, smokestack, and glasses. In Salty's Lighthouse, he was named Otis. He is also the only Tug seen with a red waterline on his hull.
• Top Hat is a railway tug with a top hat and monocle and is the Bigg City Port's number 4 tug. He is very uppity and snobbish and tends to look down on most tugs, especially the Z-Stacks. He also believes he is the best tug in the Star Fleet. Despite his self-absorbed and arrogant demeanor, he means well, works hard and despite rarely showing it, he cares for the rest of the Star Fleet. He speaks in a posh English accent. He proved his ability in a crisis when he averted disaster in the episode "High Tide". After the filming of Tugs ended, Top Hat's model was presumed to be lost, but in 2025, his model was revealed to still exist. And was on display by TUGS: The Exhibition on April 5 and 6 on loan from his private owner. He is one of the two Tugs characters from the Star Fleet who has not been sold to The Star Tugs Trust, along with Grampus. Top Hat's basis is New York Central Tugboat 13; his design was inspired by English character actor George Sanders.
• Warrior has a large face and blue flat cap, and speaks with a burly London accent and is the Bigg City Port's number 5 tug. He usually works with Big Mac and sometimes, Top Hat. He is often clumsy and rather dimwitted, but tries not to mess up. He is known only to get in the way of the Z-Stacks. He is extremely hardworking, despite the fact that his inherent clumsiness often leads to problems. He is loyal, strong-willed, and determined, and never gives up. Despite Warrior's shortcomings, he has proved himself to be a valuable member of the Star Fleet with notable examples being when he helped put out the fires, saved Izzy Gomez and stopped the logs that were flowing from up the river.
• Hercules is an ocean-going tug who is tasked with escorting large vessels to port, or answering distress calls at sea and is the Bigg City Port's number 6 tug. He is in charge of large operations and important contracts. Hercules is a cool-headed fighter. He speaks with a clear, soft tone and received pronunciation, but his words are often hard. Although he can be strict and serious with his comrades, he also displays a gentler side and a sense of humor on occasion. Nothing can break him and not even the antics of the Z-Stacks and Bluenose can set him back. He is held in high regard by most of the tugs in the harbour, and even Zorran knows that he cannot win a confrontation with Hercules. He is not as seen as often as the other Star Tugs, mainly due to him being on his own missions. Hercules is famously known for referring to his colleagues as "m'dears", "old darlings", and "sweetheart". Because Hercules is an ocean-going tug, he was only seen in a few episodes. There were plans for a Hercules-centred episode set out at sea, but this episode was never filmed. Hercules' basis is that of Hercules ; his face and persona were inspired by Errol Flynn.
• Sunshine is a small salvage tug who performs various tasks and is the Bigg City Port's number 7 tug. Sunshine can be occasionally cheeky at times, but he is very strong willed nevertheless. He is quick-witted and takes action swiftly without hesitation. He is generally level-headed and cheerful, and takes on most jobs with little complaining. He also appears to have a slight crush on Sally Seaplane. Sunshine speaks with a Geordie accent. In Salty's Lighthouse, Sunshine was the sister of Ten Cents.
• Grampus is a small submarine who formerly worked for the Navy and is the Bigg City Port's number 8 submarine. He appears for the first time in the episode "Pirate", in which he helped to prove Ten Cents' innocence. In the episode "Regatta", he saved Lillie Lightship from sinking by plugging the hole in her side with his front. Later, he was nearly blown up by Bluenose having been branded as 'too old' for further service and was out of commission. He was thankfully swiftly rescued by the Star Tugs Ten Cents, Big Mac, O.J., and Top Hat. On the same day, he was bought by Captain Star and joined the Star Fleet as their first Star submarine. He speaks with a Central English accent. Grampus also has a tendency to squirt water in the tug's faces, most prominently at Bluenose in "Regatta" and at Top Hat while he was sleeping in the episode "Ghosts". According to model maker Jeremy King, Grampus is a Plunger-class submarine and named after the decommissioned USS Grampus. Spike Knight fashioned Grampus in fiberglass by looking at old Grampus photos. He used a "parallel lifting version of the tugs' pull along trolleys so he could surface." His model is one of two Star Tugs characters that has not been sold to the Star Tugs Trust, along with Top Hat, his face masks are currently the only part that is last left of him, if Grampus's model is found in the future, his model may have his thrilled face mask.
• Captain Star is the owner of the Star Fleet. He narrates the series in the past tense. He is quite obviously a veteran sailor, and owns and cares for the Star Fleet. He always appears as a loudhailer in the window of the Star Dock building. He takes great pride in his fleet. He is usually very strict if something does not go as shipshape as it is supposed to, though he does display traces of humour in his narration. In Salty's Lighthouse, Captain Star is a female character.

  Z-Stacks

• Zorran is Captain Zeros first tug, and the fleet leader of the Z-Stacks and is the Bigg City Port's number 1 tug. He is a harbour tug who hatches various devious schemes against the Star Fleet. Zorran is looked up to in fear from most of the other tugs. However, though being able to generally get what he is looking for, Zorran is depicted as a very pragmatic tug, who will be devious only as far as common sense and necessity allows. The majority of the episodes portray him as a leading antagonist in some way. Although he is undoubtedly the most intelligent Z-Stack, his plans usually end up backfiring: either through the incompetence of the other Z-Stacks or his own overconfidence. Zorran has shown to regularly employ switchers Zip and Zug to carry out his operations, which more often than not results in adverse consequences. His design was inspired by the face and persona of Lee Van Cleef.
• Zebedee is Captain Zeros second tug. He performs a variety of tasks around Bigg City Port and is the Bigg City Port's number 2 tug. Like the other Z-Stacks, Zebedee is based on the NYC Moran Fleet tugs from the 1920s. His personality resembles Shemp Howard. Zebedee is one of the more complex Tugs characters, an easy going tug who winds up the Star Fleet for a reason or another, mean and vindictive on the outside, but on the inside there is much to his personality. Beneath his tough exterior is the only Z-Stack to have a conscience. Zebedee was the focus of the only episode that centred on a Z-Stack, "High Winds" In this episode "High Winds", Zebedee is bullied into helping an evil tramper, but he feels guilty about it, and his guilty conscious leads him to help the Star Tugs on a couple of occasions. Ten Cents suggests he joins the Star Tugs but he refuses. Zebedee's lighter side was never examined again in the series, but it was in another form of media which stated his owner was Captain Star, meaning it would have been expanded on in Season 2. In Salty's Lighthouse, his name was pronounced "Zee-Bee".
• Zak is the third member of the Z-Stacks and usually works with Zebedee and is the Bigg City Port's number 3 tug. Like the rest of the Zero Marine, Zak is based on the Moran Fleet tugs from the Roaring 20s. Zak has been seen as a second-in-command to Zorran. His role is not as prominent as the other Z-Stacks- the only episodes in which he plays a major role are "Munitions" and "High Tide". He also has two non-speaking appearances, in "Warrior" and "Bigg Freeze". He is quite a sinister character- he relishes the idea of blowing up any Tug who gets too near him in "Munitions", and in "Jinxed", he offers to sink Boomer.
• Zug is the fourth tug in the Z-Stacks and is the Bigg City Port's number 4 tug. He is a harbour switcher that tows barges and works on liner docking operations. He mainly works with Zip, and likes to think of himself as the intelligent one. He comes up with devious plans for him and Zip to use. Zug's capabilities range from the towing of barges to liner docking operations. Like the rest of the Zero Marine, Zug is based on the Moran Fleet tugs of the 1920s. He is sneaky, cowardly and he needs the other Z-Stacks around for courage. Zug is a scheming sort of tug, though his plans rarely if ever work as planned. Zug is intimidated by the main Z-Stack Zorran and has a tendency to be somewhat nervous and jittery around him. Zug's most prominent appearances were in the episode "Trapped", when a tramper he was towing accidentally got jammed across the river, and in the final episode "Bigg Freeze", when he and Zip trapped Ten Cents and Sunshine in a gully, mistakenly believing they were going to steal a fuel contract from Zorran. He speaks with a Central European accent reminiscent of Peter Lorre.
• Zip is the second harbour switcher in the Z-Stacks fleet and is the Bigg City Port's number 5 tug. He works alongside Zug on minor contracts such as the freighting of quarried boulders. Zip is often described as 'Zug, only worse'. His head is often in the clouds, and he is well known for being a coward. He is easily scared and sometimes speaks out of turn, as well as being quick to back down when engaging in an argument, and is easily dominated.
• Captain Zero is the owner of the Z-Stacks. Unlike Captain Star, he is a devious and scheming sailor. He is known to have criminal connections and was originally affiliated with Johnny Cuba before something happened between the two. He is also known to be quite bad tempered. Like Captain Star, he is never seen – his voice is heard through a loudhailer. Zero only speaks in a few episodes. His megaphone is seen in "Jinxed", but his dialogue was cut.