Lightning

Rudolph "Lightning" Jackson, labeled, was a camper and one of the finalists of in Total Drama: Revenge of the Island as a member of the Toxic Rats. He later returned as a contestant for Total Drama All-Stars as a member of the Villainous Vultures.

Personality
Lightning is an ultra-competitive jock who values winning above everything else. He is vain and egotistical to a ridiculous extent, constantly referring to himself in the third person and often shown kissing his biceps. He is also quite selfish and always puts his own interests above everyone else's. Such an example is when he betrays Cameron on the agreement they make in Eat, Puke and Be Wary, because he was slowing him down. Another is when he was more focused on winning in the finale than rescuing the others from the dangerous mutant animals, which had accidentally been unleashed into the stadium. Unlike Tyler, Lightning is actually very good at sports, showing he can somewhat back up his boasting. However, despite his athletic prowess and physical strength, he isn't very smart and is quite stubborn. For example, in Evil Dread, he is adamant about digging wherever he wants, even shoveling up Lake Wawanakwa to find pieces located on the beach. Lightning also possesses an inability to recognize the genders of contestants like Jo and Cameron, even if they tell him otherwise. This lack of intelligence makes him easily manipulated by contestants such as Jo and Scott.

Total Drama: Revenge of the Island
Lightning first appeared in Bigger! Badder! Brutal-er!, where he pushes Mike and Zoey to flex his muscles when he is introduced by Chris. When he is one of the first to make it to Chris, he is put on the Toxic Rats, suggesting that the team name should be changed to "Lightning Squad". When he fails to climb the tree and to cut down the totem pole, he states in the confessional that tree climbing is not a recognized sport, and that Chris will fail at making him look bad (saying all of this to tend to his huge ego). He is often seen talking about, or eating his DPA (Daily Protein Allotment), starting from Truth or Laser Shark. Having the super competitive drive that he does causes him to get extremely frustrated with others when they do not perform up-to-par in challenges, as he complainsabout his team, declaring that he should be on a team of his own, and even to the point where he will aggressively chase others to attack them.

His relationship with Sam gets even worse in Ice Ice Baby as they were forced to work together by Scott to retrieve the flag from the other team. After being knocked out by a snowball, he awakes to Sam being on top of him after they already lost the challenge (unaware to Lightning), so he continues the challenge, only to fall into a hole of cold water, turning into ice. He votes off Sam because he mocked him after he fell into the hole during the challenge. Lightning does not perform well in Finders Creepers, as he attacks a squid (who already captured Sam) to get the clue, only for the latter to be let go, and for himself to be taken out of the challenge. His dislike for his teammates continues to grow as Sam continues to perform poorly, Brick's alarm disturbs him, and Dawn "steals" his protein powder. With the help of the other men of the team, he ostracizes Sam for not being "enough of a man" because he focuses on video games instead of physical activity, and gets along with Brick and Scott for most of the episode (usually to the expense and failure of Sam). When Sam is eliminated, he demands Brick to not say goodbye to him.

The Toxic Rats are reduced to three members after Jo is switched on the team during the last episode, proud that they are still a team of "all guys". His confusion of Jo's gender continues in A Mine Is a Terrible Thing to Waste, as he refers her as a "him" to her and to others countless times. When they are in the mine, Brick ends up running off without them, and Jo sticks a jar on top of him (he was being attacked by fireflies) for light, leaving it being just the two of them for the majority of the episode. They make small talk, and realize that her badge is orange, which panics the both of them. She then whines, not wanting to die before having her first kiss with a guy, causing him to confuse her sexuality, and tells her that he does not judge. Joe then plants seeds of doubt about Brick into Lightning, saying that he (referring to Brick) thinks he is large and in charge, and wants to take him (referring to Lightning) out next, which causes him to form a "guys alliance" to vote Brick off. He captures the idol, only for Ezekiel to attack him and take it, which played a part in the team losing the challenge. Lightning was spared from elimination when he received the final marshmallow over Brick. With the team just being him and Jo in the final episode of the teams, they work together extremely well during the challenge, knowing that they desperately need the win, which they received by the end of the episode. Things seemed to be going well between the two of them when the merge was announced, to the point where they formed an alliance with one another, but things quickly turn sour between the both of them. The two of them end up captured in a cell (that is being watched by Fang), and after Lightning bends the bars of the cell for them to escape, he is pushed by her into Fang while she escapes. Fueled by revenge, he used Fang to help him finish the challenge, tagging the final milestone (which ended up being false), and demanding for Jo to leave, only for Chris to tell him that he technically did not win the challenge. He goes out of his way in the next episode to make sure that Jo loses, and is relieved when she is voted off. Jo drops a bomb on him before she leaves, calling him an idiot for not being able to tell that she was a girl, leaving him in shock.

In Brain vs. Brawn: The Ultimate Showdown, Lightning is seen taunting Cameron multiple times now that he gets to battle him in the finale. During his video chat with his father, he said he'd bet all his champion rings that his son would win. Lightning then becomes worried with the big stress now on him. At the battle arena, he gets quick to work on building his armor for the challenge, with the help of Jo giving him advice on what to use. He finally finishes with his armor being scraps of metal, a pot for a helmet, and a mannequin leg with spikes. He then makes fun of Cameron as he doesn't seem to have anything, until he reveals his robotic suit. The two then fight with the occasional mutant animal getting in the way. But when Lightning tries to defend himself from Cameron's blasts, he hits one towards Chris' throne and remote. The remote then malfunctions causing all the mutant creatures to appear. When Cameron's friends are in trouble, he tries to help them. But Lightning uses this to his advantage and hits him while he tries to save them. Eventually, Cameron can't take anymore and drains his battery to give off a magnetic charge towards Lightning. Everyone is stunned on what just happened as Cameron no longer has power to fight. Lightning then tries to attack until all his metal starts to rumble on his body. Cameron then tells him he turned him into a giant magnet, causing everything metal in the arena to surround him. An actual lightning then strikes him, causing everything to fly off of him and his hair to turn white. He then falls down, with Cameron falling soon after. After three seconds, Cameron then is announced the winner of the fourth season. In Lightning's ending, Lightning is paralyzed after getting struck, while Cameron finally gives out and falls, with Lightning falling soon after. Chris then announces he won, with Jo being the only one who seems to be happy. At the dock, he is tossed the million dollar case, he then says he plans on using the money to buy a stadium for football season. But Chris warns him otherwise showing his X-rays. Lightning doesn't listen and takes one more step, only for him to fall down and injure his leg.

Total Drama All-Stars
Lightning returns in Heroes vs. Villains as one of the competing contestant for the new season and is placed on the Villainous Vultures. Lightning is the first person to dive off the cliff and easily retrieve a key. On the way to the Spa Hotel, Jo, tries to convince Lightning that the two of them should be allies since they are the strongest member in their team. Once they reach the Spa Hotel, the key does not work, which frustrate Lightning. His team later wins the challenge thanks to a returning Alejandro. At the elimination ceremony, Chris ask a volunteer from the Vultures and Lightning immediately come up, believing that Chris is giving out a special prize. Instead, Lightning is required to stay at Boney Island where he had a chance to find the McLean-Brand Chris Head hidden there.

In Evil Dread, while Lightning is away for exile, Jo starts a campaign to eliminate Lightning, arguing that he is too strong of a contestant. Lightning returns to the Camp Wawanakwa before the challenge starts. While he fails to find the idol, Lightning believes that he can continue the competition without it. Throughout the challenge, he spends most of his time admiring his muscles as well as boasting about his greatness. Lightning digs up the most puzzle pieces but miscounts the amount found, angering Jo and the rest of the Vultures, and destroys the puzzle which ends up costing his team the challenge. At the elimination ceremony, he and Jo reach the bottom two, and he was shocked upon his elimination. He is flushed away before being able to curse at Jo. In the exclusive clip, the Flush of Shame sends Lightning to France, though he believes he is in Germany. A nearby mime tries to warn him to swim away but Lightning is unable to understand him and mistakenly thinks that the mime wanted Lightning to show him his muscles. As he is about to flex, a swan boat carrying Blaineley and Bruno rams him from behind.

Despite being eliminated in the previous episode, Lightning is mentioned several times by Heather and Jo in Saving Private Leechball. While Heather is angry that voting Lightning off was a bad idea, Jo denies it, stating that he was useless. During the challenge however, Jo begins to have second thoughts after finding out that she is the last member of her team standing. To her surprise, Lightning has left her a pre-recorded message for Jo before he left, taunting her that eliminating him was a bad idea.

Lightning is mentioned in Zeek And Ye Shall Find by Cameron who realizes he can no longer trust anyone and is now a lone wolf, making him the "new Lightning".

In The Final Wreck-ening, Lightning can be seen in one of the balloons. However, he floats away with the rest before an intern can get him down.

Appearances
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Total Drama: Revenge of the Island

 * 4x01 - Bigger! Badder! Brutal-er!
 * 4x02 - Truth or Laser Shark
 * 4x03 - Ice Ice Baby
 * 4x04 - Finders Creepers
 * 4x05 - Backstabbers Ahoy!
 * 4x06 - Runaway Model
 * 4x07 - A Mine Is a Terrible Thing to Waste
 * 4x08 - The Treasure Island of Dr. McLean
 * 4x09 - Grand Chef Auto
 * 4x10 - Up, Up And Away In My Pitiful Balloon
 * 4x11 - Eat, Puke and Be Wary
 * 4x12 - The Enchanted Franken-Forest
 * 4x13 - Brain vs. Brawn: The Ultimate Showdown

Total Drama All-Stars

 * 5.1x01 - Heroes vs. Villains
 * 5.1x02 - Evil Dread
 * 5.1x03 - Saving Private Leechball (video)
 * 5.1x13 - The Final Wreck-ening (inside a balloon) }}

Total Drama Reloaded
Lightning's design was almost completely unchanged in body shape and design. The only clear difference is that his shirt was originally light blue and had no designs on it, but has changed to being dark blue with several yellow and white stripes on the sleeves and in the middle of the shirt. He also didn't have his Lightning bolt necklace until his confirmed design. His hair was shorter, his earring was a darker color, and his legs appeared to be shorter than his current design. Also, in the original character lineup, his name was actually spelled "Lightening."

Audition tape

 * View this video for Lightning's audition tape.

Both Lightning and Cameron's audition tapes contain reused audio from their first confessionals, with Lightning's being a combination of two of his confessionals. However, Lightning's in particular is rather strange because he speaks as if he is already on the show. Throughout the clip, he is sitting on a tackling dummy in a football field. He says that Chris should have let him be a team of one, and that he's used to carrying his teams back home, but they know how to play the game. He adds that his fellow contestants are "a bunch of losers" and that if Chris is trying to make him look bad, he can think again. He says he never gives up or surrenders, and ends his tape exclaiming, "Sha-Lightning!"

Comparisons

 * Lightning is the second contestant overall (and the first male contestant) in Total Drama to win in the United States but not in Canada, the first being Heather.
 * Lightning is one of the few characters who possess more than one main design, with his original design with black hair, and his later design with white hair. Other characters include: Heather, Ezekiel, Mike, Dakota, Sierra and Scarlett.
 * Lightning is the second newcomer to have a conflict with one of the veterans with the first being Cameron who had a conflict with Izzy.
 * Lightning is one of five contestants who are known by their nicknames, the others being DJ, Blaineley, B, and Samey.
 * Lightning, Chef Hatchet, Justin, Cameron, B, and Leonard are the only males to have prominent lips.
 * Lightning is one of the nine contestants whose full name has been revealed (Rudolph Jackson, with "Lightning" being a nickname), the others being DJ, Harold, Cameron, Cody, Alejandro, Blaineley, Brick, and Dakota.
 * Lightning is the second contestant in Total Drama history to win the reward of choosing who will be eliminated next, as he did so in The Enchanted Franken-Forest, with the first being Scott.
 * Lightning is the first male runner-up of a season in Canada.
 * He's also one of only two male runner-ups in Canada, with the only other being Shawn.

Miscellaneous

 * Lightning had a friend nicknamed Thunderbolt but they stopped being friends because they were tired of people yelling "Mamma Mia." Their names and "Mamma Mia" is a reference to the song Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.
 * Lightning is the only one whose full name has been revealed by a staff member, not via the show.
 * According to Lightning's Total Drama: Revenge of the Island biography, his favorite colors are yellow and blue.
 * Also stated in his biography, Lightning's favorite food is protein shakes.
 * Segments of Lightning's speech in his audition tape is an extract of a confessional he did in Bigger! Badder! Brutal-er! and another in Truth or Laser Shark.
 * This explains why, in his audition tape, he speaks as if he's already on the show.
 * Lightning has trouble telling the difference between some contestants' genders.
 * He called Cameron a girl in Bigger! Badder! Brutal-er! and Brain vs. Brawn: The Ultimate Showdown.
 * It becomes a running gag for Lightning to think Jo is a male throughout the season, until her elimination in Up, Up And Away In My Pitiful Balloon.

Competition

 * Counting Owen's ending, Lightning is the only contestant to become the highest ranking member of his team in a season, and then become the lowest ranking member of his team in the next.
 * However, in Gwen's ending, he is the second person, as in her ending, Gwen was the highest ranking member of her team but the lowest in Total Drama Action.
 * Lightning is the only member of the Toxic Rats who made it to the merge that did not change teams.

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