Modo- Momma's Boy
Name: ModoAge: 24
Hair Color: N/A
Fur Color: Gray
Eye Color: Red
Bike: purple/blue lowrider
Mother: Rose
Father: Unknown
Siblings: Kathe (sister)
Other Family: Rimfire (nephew), Gossamer (niece)
Likes: motorcycles (duh), bar-room brawls, children, his mother, hot dogs, root beer, “Biker Knight” comics, rock n’ roll, Detroit, long walks on the beach, Lil’ Hoss, James Bomb movies
Dislikes: rats, being called a rat, cheese, Plutarkians, those annoying little ketchup packets, rust (on both himself and Lil’ Hoss>
If a girl were seeking to date a Biker Mouse with intention to marry and have a good life with, her best bet would be with Modo, the big gray-furred lug of a mouse who makes up the muscle of the Biker Mice from Mars. He may not have the flash of Vinnie or Throttle’s good looks, but you couldn’t ask for a kinder, gentler mouse.
Except when it comes to Plutarkians.
Modo is one of those characters whose charm is built on his idiosyncrasies. He’s the strongest of the Biker Mice, yet the gentlest; the eldest but the most child-like. In love with his on-the-road biker lifestyle, yet most likely to settle down and raise a family. Very empathic yet violently hateful of rats. Idealistic but.......uh......okay, I think we’re done with the ironic part.
The gray-furred goliath is, as said above, is the strongest of the Biker Mice, and is the most physically commanding. He’s a full head taller than Throttle, and dwarfs most of the humans he meets. From the top of his antennae to the tips of his toes, Modo has the physical stature of a body-builder (without those disgusting giant veins bursting out everywhere).
His bodily perfection, however, is marred by injuries he sustained during the Plutarkian War. During an attempt by the Freedom Fighters to destroy the Plutarkian Tug Transformer being installed in Tharsis Reyes volcano, a missile destroyed Modo’s right arm and at least one of his eyes.
Much to the idealistic young mouse’s horror, however, his arm was replaced with a mechanical/bionic version equipped with a laser cannon by the Plutarkian-employed Dr. Karbunkle. Although it earns the Biker Mice and their fellow Freedom Fighters their...uh, freedom after their capture, for a brief time, Modo despises the metal limb, calling it a “Plutarkian fin” and refusing to let his mother see it (or to let Rimfire touch it). But by the end of “Once Upon a Time On Mars”, Modo realizes how fortunate he is to have his bionic arm, and grows to appreciate it greatly.
Modo now knows just how vital the limb is to the Biker Mice (Vinnie refers to it once (more likely than not lying) as, “the Biker Mice’s secret weapon”), and respects the strength it gives him, as well as the power of his arm cannon. Curiously, he is often seen filing it. Whether this is necessary or not doesn’t matter: it looks cool.
The limb is not without his drawbacks. Modo complains of it being rusty (although it was only installed roughly two years ago). It’s a health hazard, as well--during the cliff-hanger opener of “The Verminator”, Modo is pinned to the ground by a magnetic device of Karbunkle’s and is nearly plowed over. And Modo still isn’t completely content with it, either: in “Steelfinger”, he finds himself hard-pressed to resist Lawrence Limburger’s offer of a job in exchange for a new bionic limb.
Modo is the most laid-back of the Biker Mice. Unlike Vinnie, and to a lesser extent, Bingo, the eldest Biker Mouse doesn’t need to be “on” 24/7. He can amuse himself with quieter pursuits, like reading comic books or fly-fishing.
Of course, Modo is subject to temprament changes, which seem all the more fantastic when compared to his usual laid-back nature. During a game of Chinese Checkers in “The Masked Motorcyclist”, he gets frustrated when Vinnie starts to win. First making the board shake with each jump, Modo then proceeds to break the table in half and start a fist-fight (none of which his bros seem to mind). He discards his relaxed attitude when long-time friend and mentor Stoker suddenly shows up on Earth (“Caveat Mentor”) at the prospect of revisiting the carefree days of the Plutarkian War (is that an oxymoron or what?). When the Biker Mice are up against Limburger’s goons or a supervillain, Modo joins in as heartily as anyone. He enjoys the extreme versions of normal sports he and his bros play (“A Scent, A Memory, A Far Distant Cheese”, “Motorcross Trap”--look, we’ll be here forever if I try to list them all) to no end. And when one of his ideals is challenged or broken, it can result in either violence (“Unforgiven Cheese”) or heart-breaking despair (“Modo Hangs It Up”).
As you can see, Modo is an emotional mouse. This stems from his upbringing,
and more importantly, from his mother. Rose, Modo’s mother, already had an eight-year old daughter when she gave birth to Modo. Suprisingly, Modo was born premature and very small and sickly. Because of his frail condition, Rose, a single mother, was forced to quit work and spend all her free time taking care of her infant son. Rose’s already strong motherly instincts were heightened by all the time she spent with him in those earliest days, and as a result, she continued to baby Modo even as he grew up. She never returned to work and became a stay-at-home mother.Through his formative years, Modo was taught hundreds of important moral concepts and a modernized version of chivalry. He took them to heart very strongly. Although he was poor in his schoolwork (and is still the slowest of the Biker Mice), Modo could remember every single word his mother said (as evidenced by his frequent quotations of Rose). Modo holds these ideals in the highest. He also gained a keen empathy for the feelings of others. These traits make him an almost quaint figure in the world today (especially when he adds, - “ma’am” to women’s names).
Modo developed another of his more famous traits, his love of children, in those early years. His sister Kathe became a teen mother when Modo was eight years old, and grew up with her children, Rimfire and Gossamer (fraternal twins). He took great pride in being their Uncle, even though he really wasn’t much older than either of them. By the time he was eleven, Modo was a competent baby-sitter and beloved by his niece and nephew. To this day, he would never hurt a child knowingly, and he once became deeply depressed when he thought he did (“Modo Hangs It Up”). This charm more than makes up for the fact that Modo isn’t terribly clever. At times, he can be downright dumb. At least once this was played out in a joke: during “Back to Mars Part One”, the Biker Mice try to figure out how to repulse a giant ice asteroid falling toward Chicago capable of flattening the city. While his bros and Charley work desperately with the machine, attempting to rewire it and other such complicated solutions, Modo notices the “Reverse” setting and simply pushes the lever up. Result? The asteroid is sent hurtling back into space thanks to a unlikely burst of genius from Modo.
Years later, while he was in the Freedom Fighters, Modo’s earnest farmboy/ ForrestGump charm caught the eye of the vivacious Haywire, who, at first, mistook him for her lover, Smoke (Modo and Smoke are practically identical). This was a problem, as, although both Modo and Haywire were extremely attracted to each other, Smoke was extremely posessive of his girlfriend and would kill anyone who even set foot near her.
Of course, Haywire was not Modo’s first love. That title belongs exclusively to his beloved bike, Lil’ Hoss. Modo fell in love with the big hog the day he saw her sitting in a neighbor’s yard with a FOR SALE sign taped to her rusted cowl. The little mouse, then nine, was unable to purchase the bike as money was tight in his family at the time. Against his mother’s wishes, Modo would sneak out at night and visit the bike. Eventually, her original owner gave her to Modo.
As Martian motorcycles are equipped with limited AI (artificial intelligence), these bikes and their riders are capable of forming strong attatchments with each other. But Modo and Lil’ Hoss’s bond is without equal. Modo dotes on the bike, polishing her to a mirror shine while his bros are relaxing (“A Mouse and His Motorcycle”) and showering her with attention. He puts his own life on the line to attempt to rescue the motorcycle in the same episode. Modo is unable to think of anything else when Limburger is in posession of his beloved bike. Perhaps due to this attention, Lil’ Hoss is the most independent and intelligent of all four of the Biker Mice’s bikes. She is extremely vocal (through honks and beeps) and clever. Her ability to remember an earlier statement of Limburger’s allows the Biker Mice to save a city park from demolition (“A Mouse and His Motorcycle”). And her personality mimics Modo’s: when Lil’ Hoss is exposed to polka music, she freaks out and wrecks havoc in Karbunkle’s lab (“A Mouse and His Motorcycle”).
As for the future, it would seem a shame if Modo never has children. He, obviously, would be a perfect father (if a little too doting). The question is, who will their mother be?
Modo’s Heroes: James Bomb, Stoker, his mother (Rose)
All-Purpose Quote: “Like my dear-old gray-furred Momma used t’say.....(insert nugget of wisdom here).”
Modo’s Advice: “Always listen to your Momma. No, wait. Not all Momma’s are that good. Sally Jessy’s definitely disproved that. Hmmm. Okay, ah got it! Always listen to my Momma. There we go.”
Animation Voice: King of Kick Ass Dorian Harewood (who is also an actor). I don’t know why I called him that, but it sounds good, doesn’t it?
