| Not to be confused with his A.I counterpart.. |
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"So... you are behind this. Hm. Well played." |
” | —Lucks' final words right before getting shot in the forehead by Masa’s hacked Meta Runner Arm. | ||
Derek Lucks is the main antagonist of the 2019 Glitch Productions science fiction-animated webseries Meta Runner.
He was the C.E.O. of the morally corrupt and abusive gaming company TAS Corp. and intending to capture Tari so he could exploit her abilities to warp into video games. He is also the former boss and archenemy of Masa Shimamoto. In Shutdown, he successfully makes Tari "his" after MD-5 fails to expose TAS Corp. to the public and she surrenders herself for their freedom. To ensure Tari's loyalty and prevent MD-5 from attempting to take her back, he crushes Theo's cartridge and traps him in the TAS Corp. server as "collateral". Six months later, he prepares to introduce Tari into the main lineup of TAS Corp.
Runners alongside Evelyn Claythorne, only to once again realize that MD-5 has returned to expose his illegal activities to the public and this time, is unable to stop them due to Belle having betrayed him upon finding out he lied to her about Lucinia's "death". In Fatal Error, he meets his fate, as MD-5 successfully expose him and his company for what it really is and has an arrest warrant issued for him. However, this doesn't come to be as he is unintentionally shot point-blank by Masa after his arm is hacked by James Sheridan to get his former employer out of the picture so he can take his place, while using Masa as his scapegoat since he would have the biggest motive to take out Lucks. In Season 3, he is replaced by an A.I. of the same name, created by James Sheridan as his personal assistant/slave.
Both Lucks and his AI counterpart are voiced by David J.G. Doyle.
History[]
Not much is known about Lucks' past prior to the start of the series, but it is revealed that he invented the titular Meta Runner arm which is used as the most influential and powerful gaming enhancement in Silica City, which is likely how he obtained his massive funds.
However, Sheridan later revealed that this was a lie in META RUNNER - Global Testfire // Final Season: Ep 6 since he was the one who actually created it. He stated that Lucks only slapped the TAS Corp logo onto it and took all of the credit for it's creation from Sheridan.
He became an insanely popular CEO of the world-renowned gaming tool production company, TAS Corp.. He was even associated with authorities and mercenaries. However, he was secretly performing illegal acts into becoming rich and powerful.
He had his own team of Meta Runners manufactured by his company, led by Masa Shimamoto, and includes a range of people including Belle Fontiere and Lucinia Porter. He also had scientists working on other products, one of them being James Sheridan, who struggles the most.
On the day after a conference with his two most popular mainline runners, Lucks and the others notice Lucinia has disappeared and declares her missing.
Eventually, he discovered an explosion taken place in Sheridan's lab, believing that the scientist wanted to coverup his failures and when searching the laboratory with his scientists, they discover the critically wounded Lucinia, infuriating Lucks as he realized Sheridan to be responsible for her disappearance/current state. He then ordered his medical team to recover Lucinia and nurse her back to health.
Masa suspected that Lucks was behind her (possible) death, and hacked into his files. Masa was eventually caught and decommissioned from TAS Corp.
For the following year, Lucks, Belle, and his team have been fighting a rebellion led by Masa, that consists of Lamar Williams and Sofia Porter, two of which's lives were "destroyed" by him.
Season 1[]
One day, he was disappointed at Belle's failure in the speedrun tournament on Ultra Jump Mania. He and Belle later discover Tari's ability to transport her conscience into video games. he orders the TAS Corp. scientists into the room for experimentation. He attaches a controller into the game and plays as a discolored Theo. He tries to make conversation with Tari about her greatness while having a tracker placed inside her Meta Runner arm. Despite putting her in pain, he chose to keep going forward, saying that pain is an obstacle.
He accidentally causes Tari to break herself out of the game and bring Theo to life. He tries to apologize to Tari, but she refuses and walks away, with Theo calling him a final boss that would be killed later. A guard attempts to block the path, only for Theo to throw a coconut in his face.
I want HER
He later tracked Tari and Theo down at The Hive and sent Belle and a few soldiers to capture them. He drives after the transport van that holds Tari and witnesses Lamar Williams crash his car into it. A car chase is initiated as he allows Belle to drive with a Bluetooth controller. At one point, she accidentally crashes the car, much to Lucks' frustration. When the police are about to get them, he contacts the police chief to call of their duty, revealing his connections to other authorities. He witnesses Tari's ability to evade a barrier of TAS Corp. soldiers. That's where he says "I want HER", vowing to gain Tari's power.
He later instructs Belle to find information about Project Blue at the laboratories, since Tari has a similar logo. Meanwhile, since he can't track Tari down anymore, he uses Theo's cartridge to hack into the latter's eyesight. Belle, traumatized, reveals to Lucks the footage she found, showcasing the incident of Dr. Sheridan and Lucinia. Later on, he finds out about the plans of MD-5.
At the big Tempest competition, he had his team of Meta Runners log into the server to prevent MD-5 from performing the glitch. While the others have failed, Belle has succeeded in killing most, including Masa. Instead of finishing Tari off as Lucks asked her to, Belle removes her speaker and begins to torture and question Tari about Lucinia. Later, Tari was able to fend her off and execute the glitch.
Lucks turns furious at Belle's missed opportunity but later chooses a backup plan. He manages to corner the group into a circular room and has his soldiers beat them down. He bargains Masa's life for the sake of Sofia to give in her phone, even going so far as to breaking Masa's meta runner arm. Sofia tearfully gives away the phone, and the soldiers delete the hacked information. Belle reveals the "truth" to Sofia about her sister. Lucks further reveals that he used Theo as a spy. As he and his soldiers were about to have the group imprisoned, Tari offers her membership in return for her friends' freedom. Lucks makes sure of this by crushing Theo's cartridge, holding the boy's conscience hostage.
It's later revealed that he has been experimenting on a person in a lab, who might be Lucinia considering the feminine silhouette in the human pod.
Season 2[]
Six months after the events of Shutdown, Tari works for Lucks and competes in exhibition tournaments with Belle and the new addition, Evelyn Claythorne. Lucks also has Theo on the TAS Corp. server and researchs the sentient game character with empty promises that he can get him back into his cartridge. Despite this, Theo is able to escape the containment room twice and make his way into the company server, the second time on Belle's instructions to find out information about Lucinia.
Realizing the containment room can't hold Theo, he decides to place him inside of his glitchd out cartridge with its data bleeding into the company's server which reduces it to a nightmare world full of glitches as to hold him.
Unbeknown to Lucks, Belle successfully snuck away with the footage from the server in Heart to Heart after having Theo find a secret file containing information on Project Blue and Lucinia. It shows Lucks finding Lucinia in Sheridan's lab and orders a medical team to retrieve her, making Belle realize that Lucks lied to everyone about Lucinia for the past two years, enraging her and gives her the incentive to betray Lucks and join with Tari to take down him and TASCorp.
Ten days later, the showmatch to publicize Tari and Evelyn's promotion to TASCorp's main lineup at the Horizon Stadium with Lucks hosting the event, not realizing that MD-5 has secrelty infiltrated once again. Despite the "bizzare accidents" involving a short power loss, the showmatch proceeds as planned with Tari and Evelyn playing Hidden Heroes in a 2 vs. 50 match.
However, Evelyn notices Tari speaking to someone on the enemy team and informs Lucks, who realizes that MD-5 has returned and intends to activate security protocols to stop them, only for Sofia to stop him. He proceeds to give Evelyn a signal to take out Tari and end the match ASAP to prevent Sofia from hacking the server.
Evelyn attempts to end the match prematurely, but due to Lucinia's presence in Tari, she is defeated and Sofia is able to download the TASCorp. server. Realizing he's on thin ice, Lucks attempts a full lockdown of TASCorp. headquarters and receives word that Belle was found in Sheridan's lab before being tackled by Masa who socks in him in the eye to give Tari a chance to get away with Lamar.
The security team brings Masa and Belle to the vans as prisoners while Lucks demands a media blackout and confronts his former employees, sarcastically remarking that the old team was back together. When questioned by them on covering up Lucinia's disappearance, he tells them that he did what he had to do to protect the company, which included both of their betrayals, only for Masa to brush it off since they had the server and one way or another, their long-lasting fued would come to an end tonight.
Realizing that berading them was pointless, Lucks turns his attention to tracking down the remaining members of MD-5 only for Sofia to interrupt by calling and making threats towards Lucks, who was able to trace the call and capture Sofia in the process, but was unable to find the server data before realizing that Tari and Lamar were missing with the former using the cartridge as a backdoor into TASCorp's server to rescue Theo from the glitched game.
He races back to TASCorp. headquarters to stop Tari but realizes that he can still use Evelyn to slow Tari down by offering her a chance at revenge against Tari for ruining her showmatch, to which she gleefully agrees. Despite this, Tari ultimately overcomes Evelyn and successfully breaks Theo out of the game and Lucks realizes that he has lost, making him panic before the van is suddenly rammed by Lamar's car.
Lucks holding Masa gunpoint in trade for the server cartridge.
Stumbling out, he notices Tari in the passenger's seat and angrily demands she gives him the cartridge, leverging Masa's life against her while berating them for repaying his "generousity" with betrayal. However, he is too late as suddenly every channel across Silica City reveals that the illegal activites of TASCorp. have been revealed to the public with an arrest warrant issued for Lucks who is attacked by Masa as he manages to get the gun out of Lucks hands and forces his security team to stand down.
Begrudingly accepting defeat, Lucks asks Masa what he wants now that he's finally bested him. The latter gives his demands of TASCorp. being shut down for good and Lucks going to prison while the world learns that he was responsible for Lucinia's death. However, Lucks laughs upon hearing this and explains that there is one problem with Masa's plan:
Lucinia is still alive.
Sofia is shocked at this and despite Belle's claims that Lucks is lying again to save himself, he ponders that why despite all the evidence, they never found Lucinia's body. He explains that when he discovered her in Sheridan's lab, she was wounded but not bad enough that his medical team couldn't save her and when asked by Sofia on why he's been hiding her for the past two years, Lucks reveals it was because she couldn't wake up despite being completely healed.
He then explains his theory: when Sheridan's experimental A.I. caused the incident that ended Project Blue, Lucks believed that it shattered Lucinia's conciousness and left her an empty husk. He then told them by that finding Sheridan's A.I. and retrieving Lucinia's fragments, she could be revived only for Belle to ask why he hasn't been able to find it after two years but Lucks retorts that he did in fact and that she is standing next to them.
Everyone realizes he is referring to Tari who reveals that she discovered the truth about herself after saving Theo: she wasn't the host that Sheridan uploaded his A.I. into, she is the A.I. that was uploaded into Lucinia, who was the real host of the experiment. After explaing that Lucks is telling the truth, Lucks mocks Masa for fighting him for so long without realizing that he was trying to save Lucinia and that he should've simply remained loyal.
However, Belle stops him and calls him out for trying to make himself the victim by constantly lying and threatening others, and that what happened to Lucinia was his responsibility since she was his employee and he was aware that Sheridan's project was dangerous, but allowed it regardless. Then, when Lucinia was hurt because of it, instead of taking responsibility for his mistakes, he instead tried to cover it up and threatened all of them to save himself.
With nothing left to say, he asks Masa if he's happy that he finally got what he wanted but Masa is worried that Lucks may find a way to get out of going to jail like always and begins to consider that shooting Lucks may be the only way to stop him for good. However, the others reassure him that no amount of money or influence can get Lucks off scott-free anymore and he ultimately decides to listen to them, only for his arm to suddenly begin to malfunction.
Lucks' death
Despite his best attempts, Masa is unable to control his arm as it points the gun directly at Lucks, who instead of being afraid, realizes that he has been behind all of this and congratulates his former employee of outsmarting him right before he is shot point-blank, sending him to the ground lifelessly.
Legacy[]
After his death, his appearance was then used for his A.I. version of himself and he is referenced constantly throughout the season.
Appearance[]
Lucks was a Caucasian male with blue eyes, slicked-back blonde hair, brown eyebrows, and light beard stubble. His usual outfit was a blue business suit with a white undershirt and black tie. In Season 2, his suit had more of a teal color and his eyebrows changed to match the color of his hair.
Personality[]
On the surface, Lucks appeared to be a man very much in control of his emotions. No matter the situation, he always spoke with an even keel whether it's giving orders or threatening a subordinate. Just beneath that, however, he possessed some strong anger issues and had no problem with making others suffer for his goals.
Right before his fate, however, he chuckles as he manages to sarcastically congratulate "him" for his outplaying him, showing no fear at all of his imminent demise, proving that despite being paranoid of his true nature being revealed, Lucks is not a coward and can show genuine bravery even in the face of death.
Lucks proved himself to be an opportunist as he saw almost anything as an opportunity in some kind of way and seeked to take advantage of it. This led to moments of obsession, such as his desire to make Tari "his". He never cared who he hurt or what gets destroyed along the way as long as it suited his goals. He did have some measure of self-restraint, taking precautions not to raise attention when possible.
It can be seen, however, that he would go to extreme lengths when necessary to achieve his goals, such as when he shot Masa's Meta Runner arm off or entrapped Theo in a comatose-like state after destroying his game cartridge, as 'collateral' to keep Tari loyal to TAS Corp and dissuade MD-5 from retaliating. Later, when his leverage against MD-5 is endangered when Tari warps into Theo's game to rescue him, Lucks took advantage of Evelyn's hatred for the former and gave her connection to the game to stop Tari.
Criminal Record[]
- Intimidation: When Belle disappoints Lucks in the speedrunning tournament on Ultra Jump Mania, Lucks threatens to decommission her. Lucks once again threatens her when Belle tries to speak up for Tari after she tries to bargain. According to Belle, he's also threatening all of his employees to cover up her fate so that TASCorp can thrive.
- Theft: In Season 1, Lucks said that he invented the Meta Runner Arm. However, in Season 3, Sheridan dismisses this as a lie by saying that he was the one that invented it, and not Lucks. In this way, Lucks steals Sheridan's credit of the arm.
- Torture: On Lucks' orders, a TASCorp scientist drills into Tari's arm in an attempt to get her out of the game, causing lots of pain for Tari. It is implied that Lucks tortured more Meta Runners as well.
- Manipulation: After getting Tari out of the game, Lucks tells Tari that he'll help her discover who she really is, when in the inside, Lucks wants Tari's abilities for TASCorp. During an interview, Lucks also manipulates an interviewer in believing how good TASCorp is. Although Lucks claims to be helping Theo stop his glitching, he's most likely manipulating him as well.
- Kidnapping: On Lucks' orders, Belle kidnaps Tari from the streaming pods. Lucks also throws Masa, Belle, and Sofia into his van. Even him using TASCorp server drones to get Theo back into his room earlier counts as him kidnapping.
- Property Damage: On Lucks' orders, the TASCorp gunman tries to shoot at Lamar's car. But when he misses, he shoots at another car's tires instead, causing heavy damage on that car.
- Abuse of Power: Lucks calls off the chief of police when they catch him trying to shoot down somebody's car. He also has the power to bring legal action on journalists that write about what happens in Tari's showmatch.
- Attempted Murder: By having a gunman try to shoot Lamar's car down, he's also seems to be attempting to kill them.
- Reckless Driving: By attempting to shoot someone on the road AND speeding, Lucks doesn't seem to care about the consequences of improperly driving on the road. It is implied that Lucks has been involved in car accidents.
- Lust: After seeing what Tari's abilities are, Lucks creepily says that he wants Tari in TASCorp.
- Mayhem: At first, it was implied that the way TASCorp decommissioned Meta Runners was painful. But then, it's made clear when Lucks shot off Masa's arm.
- Organized Crime: It is implied that Lucks organizes crimes by doing business with other criminals.
- Complicity: Lucks knows about Sheridan and Project Blue, but he allowed Sheridan's lab to blow up and had no care about what the consequences were for him. He didn't even seem to care about Lucinia. Lucks also was fine with TASCorp scientists throwing someone with no place to go outside and letting him suffer.
- Weapon Abuse: On Lucks' orders, TASCorp scientists tase Tari, Lamar and Theo.
- Assault: Lucks scars Masa when he tries to take the gun from him.
- Criminal Threat: Lucks threatens Masa's life when he discovered that he entered the tournament just to allow Tari to do the glitch and Sofia to hack into the servers. He once again threatens his life when his remaining Meta Runner betrays him, this time, without hesitation.
- Property Destruction: Lucks destroys Theo's cartridge, causing Theo to glitch out of the real world.
- Child Murder & Abuse: By destroying Theo's cartridge, Lucks lets Theo disappear from the real world. In the next season, it is revealed that Lucks has been keeping Theo in TASCorp's servers, only to torture him.
- Lying: Lucks denies the fact that he shot off Masa's arm and destroyed Theo's game cartridge by telling Tari that TASCorp isn't so bad after all. Lucks also lies to all of his employees about what truly happened to Lucinia, causing tension between him and Masa and (eventually) Belle.
- Neglect & Captivity: Lucks has hardly been shown to genuinely care about Tari or Theo. For Tari's case, all she gets is a bedroom with nothing but a bed, drawer, and TV. For Theo's case, he's in a white box with nothing but his Elder Tomato to tell him one story. He also doesn't seem to care too much about Lucinia.
- Disparity: Lucks doesn't treat everybody fairly. Although Evelyn worked hard to get into the main TASCorp lineup, Lucks immediately recruited Tari just for one skill she has.
- Harassment: Lucks ruthlessly shoves one of his scientists off of his chair in an attempt to find Theo in the TASCorp servers, presumably giving him an injury.
- Conspiracy: Lucks seems to be obsessed with Project Blue, Tari's abilities to warp, and Theo's glitch.
- Murder: It is implied that Lucks has fatally shot some of his employees.
Trivia[]
- Lucks seemed to have an enormous amount of power and influence in Silica City; his company TAS Corp had seemed to be #1 in the production of gaming tools and enhancers, and even had the Chief of Police in his pocket. However, he loses this power when his crimes are finally exposed.
- Despite being formerly head of one of the biggest gaming corporations in the city, Lucks is noted as having no skill with video games whatsoever.
- Lucks was originally listed as “Lux” in the official trailer description on YouTube.
- Lucks went through a redesign since his appearance in the trailer, this was because the team felt it would better fit his character.
- He is the first character of the series to have been killed, as Lucinia and Sheridan were revealed to have survived the explosion.
- In addition, his death was the most brutal display of violence in the series, getting a headshot which splattered blood all over his unintentional killer, Masa. This was later one-upped by his actual killer, James Sheridan, who was viciously electrocuted to death by Marco using a cluster of his own taser nodes.
- In Lucks' final words, he seems to be aware of whoever is manipulating events behind the scenes, soon after revealed to be Dr. Sheridan.
- He is the second major antagonist in the Glitch Productions brand to be permanently killed off at the end of the story, being preceded by Francis and succeeded by Sir Benedict Cumbersnatch and Niles.
- As revealed in the animatics of the Deleted Scenes from Meta Runner Season 1 video, he was originally voiced by Kevin Lerdwichagul and he originally sounded like Shigeru Miyamoto, but in the show he's voiced by David J.G. Doyle.
- Lucks’ death is kind of ironic, as he was shot in the head by his own gun at the hands of one of his old employees’ hacked Meta Runner arm (which was his own creation by the way). And to add insult to injury, Sofia at one point even mentions that TAS Corp. employees have been connected to fatal gunshots, which means Lucks died in the exact same way some of his employees did.
- Lucks, Evelyn, and TASCorp Scientists are the only main villains that stay bad throughout the whole show.
- Despite never redeeming himself, Lucks denounces Sheridan before his death, meaning that he could've escaped prison just to take him down if his life was spared.
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