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Let's chill out for a bit, I got some pocky here if you want some. |
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Lamar Roland Williams is a major character in Meta Runner and the first member of MD-5 that Tari and Theo meet. He is a member of MD5 who was picked up by Masa along the way. As part of the team he is the one who is considered the best driver since he is usually the one seen driving the most out of anyone.
He usually has good relationships with others and he can usually synergies well as long as he does not despise them. Lamar always looks out and keeps his positivity over his friends especially looking out for Tari. However, he does however express paranoia and distrust towards Lucks and anything affiliated with TASCorp.
He is voiced by Anthony Sardinha aka AntFish.
Appearance[]
Lamar is an African-American man who has an average build, and is slightly taller then Tari.
He has lightish brown hair, sharp eyebrows, green eyes, a faint small moustache and goatee.
Lamar wears a black beanie with 2 yellow stripes and red triangle. which is likely its brand's logo, a black and yellow tank top with a hood, grey pants, a black belt with a silver buckle and some logos on it and black shoes. In season 2 not much has changed except extra detail on his jacket and the hair darken
His Meta Runner arm is on his left, while his right is organic, with yellow and green wristbands.
Personality[]
Lamar is an otaku. A running gag is that he has a new body pillow in almost every episode he's featured in, each based on a character from Nova Explorers. This makes him seem like somewhat of a comedy relief, but he is intelligent and hates risks, shown from his disdain of Operation: Silent Demon.
Despite the risks he has to take, he is laid-back and doesn't seem to mind the life he has chilled out in the MD-5 base.
History[]
At some unknown point in time during the one year time span Lamar was recruited into MD5.
Season 1[]
As Theo was looking and getting sad at Tari being captured, Lamar show up alongside Theo to reassure he will save Tari. In Sequence Break Theo hitched a ride in Lamar’s car as they then ram into the TASVan where Tari was imprisoned. As Tari was picked up Lamar then decided to dip from the area with Tari in tow.
When Lamar had picked up Tari, Lucks and Belle started to chase after them. Lamar expressed concern as he was dodging and driving through the rifle shots. He was about to make it past home until the barrier was put up which caused him to have to give up as there were no other pathways to escape.
Tari then picked up the controller from Lamar as Lamar was like unsure what to make of it. As Tari executed an amazing maneuver to go past the barrier Lamar heavily praised Tari as he then gets the controller back. He leads Tari to an abandoned Ramen Restaurant as to which he introduces Tari and Theo to Sofia and Masa. He tells Tari that they were spying on Lucks and just managed to notice Tari and Theo there.
As he wants to accept Tari and Theo, Masa becomes very stubborn as he wanted to challenge Tari. Lamar expressed a bit of discontent to Masa doing this but Tari accepted the challenge anyways. Lamar then tried to vouch for her skills in his own way of describing in what happened with the maneuver towards the barrier. However Masa was still skeptical and still wanted to challenge Tari.
Along the way Lamar said to Theo he would play with him though expressed concern to Theo’s constant words about death. Once Theo entered the game he went to question how he was not there and then congratulating Tari for a match well done when she and Theo warps out. However when Theo glitches out Lamar also expresses concern in his own way basically as he wants Theo to get into the cartridge for Theo’s own health.
Though as soon as Theo was booted out of the cartridge Lamar was so shocked that he shouted Nani as to why Theo was booted out. As Sofia talks about why he was booted out Lamar was wondering what else they could do until Masa suggested Operation Silent Demon. This causes Lamar to react distastefully to the operation since it was really dangerous to the point he was grilling Masa on how dangerous it was.
As Lamar’s grilling was not being taken seriously he just went to sleep for the next day. During the next day he goes to eat ramen along side with his Satsuki Chan body pillow, Tari, and Theo. Sofia and Masa come in as Sofia brings up the holographic map as to which they all talk about Operation Silent Demon. Once the explanation for Operation Silent Demon was done Lamar fully explains to Tari as to why it was dangerous and how difficult it was.
Sofia then explains to Tari the game to Tari which is Tempest as to which Masa tells her to go and train with them. Lamar reluctantly agrees as he then turns off Ramen Bot to put it back into the closet. They all then go to train in Tempest as at one point in Tempest Tari accidentally threw a fireball at Lamar causing him to get demolished. Tari apologizes heavily but Lamar respawns and tells her it is all good.
Masa and Sofia then give a massive advice and blurb to Tari as they tell her about Tempest’s mechanics. Lamar then shows her a nice spell which is called the Windbursts as he demonstrates the spell to Tari. As Tari tries it out she is told to go to the mountain as to where Lamar and the others went ahead to wait for Tari. After Tari went to the top of the mountain she executes the glitch with Sofia’s help as she was falling through to which Lamar makes a pun about her being a shooting Stari to which everyone rolled their eyes.
When Tari executes the glitch she was told to try to execute the glitch again as to which there were many attempts and during one of those attempts Lamar expressed concern prompting him to ask if she wanted to take a break and watch Crunchyroll with him. However Tari was determined and kept on practicing. At one point Lamar then decides to sleep with his Nova chan body pillow. He then only woke up shocked as soon as Tari exclaimed she has completed the glitch as he then congratulated her as well too. Masa however expressed that she still needed to learn how to play Tempest to which they went back to playing the game to practice even more.
After training came the day of the competition as in One Shot Lamar, Tari, Masa, and Theo enter into the competition as he sets down the bag where Theo was stuffed in with a lot of duel cards. They all configure their Meta Runner arms as they then start the game. However since Tari was knocked out at the start of the game Lamar had to protect the team by picking up a spell called the Force Shield.
Once Tari woke up they all gave Tari the details on what was going on as he told everyone to stay under his spell since it was the only they had at the moment as they traversed through the game. At one point Masa picked up a spell which gave them a fighting chance as he and Masa teamed up to take out other players as they demolish them and the team got more new spells.
Lamar picks up a scroll which allows them to teleport and seemed like he needed to use it soon since there were four players who were really overpowered hunting for them as the others were struggling to defend Lamar as he is activating the scroll. After defending a bit Lamar teleports the others in the nick of time before they could get damaged as they teleport to the cliffside.
As they teleport after Masa complains about the spot they were teleported to Lamar wanted to ask Tari what was her deal and wanted to make sure she was alright which became into an argument there. It was cut short however as Theo pointed out that there were players about to attack them. As a player aimed for Lamar he dodged but Tari got hit there. Lamar presumably went to defeat the other players and take some of their spells as he then rescued Tari from the other four ganging up on her.
In The Run him, Tari, and Theo were facing off against the other three as Masa is holding back the ringleader. Lamar then goes to face two of the ringleader’s members as he takes out one with the help of Theo in the Orochi formation. However Theo was taken out by one of them as well too as Lamar was struggling to keep up with the other player. After Tari defeats the player that she was having trouble with she helps Lamar regain his footing which allowed him to outright demolish the player he was having trouble with. Then he, Tari, and Masa square up to face against the ringleader as to which the ringleader fled.
As the ringleader fled Lamar, Masa, and Tari then climb up the mountain and as they go up the mountain he and Tari have a little moment where he comments how beautiful the sight was. Masa then tells her to execute the glitch as to which Tari then starts to focus however she detects a fireball which causes her to dodge but Lamar however could not dodge in time as he got hit and was taken out of the game.
Lamar was surprised that he got taken out of the game as he goes to Masa’s screen to check out what is going on. However he gets terrified as he sees it was Belle all along and expressed desire to take Tari out of the game and dip for safety. However Masa expressed the desire to stay as to which he fights against Belle but loses in the end as Lamar is feeling more and more terrified and wanted Tari to dip there.
In Shutdown he yelled at Masa to take her out as Belle is torturing her but Masa wanted to keep her in. As Theo gave words of encouragement Tari then does the near impossible as she gets out of the glitch as Lamar then expresses absolute excitement telling Masa and the others that’s his girl right there doing the impossible. And as the glitch happens an emergency evacuation happens as Lamar checks to see the escape route. When Tari wakes up Masa praises Tari there to which Tari was happy about though Lamar expressed urgency for them to leave to which the four of them start to leave.
Lamar and the others were trying to find there way as TASGuards were everywhere to which they were getting cornered. He gets surprised with the others Lucks is here too as they then try to run away but gets cornered instead. And as Lucks points the gun at Masa he expressed concern but gets shocked alongside with Theo and Tari. During the fight between Masa and Lucks, Lucks shoots Masa’s arm off which made Lamar shout out what sort of psychopath he is there. And just before Lucks was about to kill Masa Sofia shows up to give Lucks the laptop.
As Sofia reveals that she wanted to know what happened to her sister Lamar tells Tari that Lucinia is Sofia’s sister. When Belle shows the clip both Sofia and Masa were outright questioning and doubtful of Tari there while Lamar was upon Tari’s side questioning the legitimacy of the video.
Though there was no way to prove it as Lucks has the upper hand and they cannot do anything now. He was about to be thrown into the holding cell with the others until Tari decides to make a deal with Lucks. This came at a cost however as Lucks reveals that he was spying on them by using Theo’s eyes there to which Lamar comments on how messed up that was. Lucks brushes that aside as he then gives Tari a collateral which is that he crushes Theo’s cartridge and takes Theo hostage much to Lamar’s horror there.
As Lucks makes the final deal and takes Tari, Lamar in a heartfelt goodbye tells Tari that he and his friends will never forget her at all. Lamar then gets escorted along with the others back to their hideout defeated and lost but he never gave up hope at all.
Season 2[]
During the six months it is implied that Lamar and Sofia were out to search for Masa who left them. In Hard Reset however he and Sofia pulls up within a poverty stricken area as then walk through it to find Masa. As he walks through with Sofia they then stumble upon Masa who just finished up playing a game and winning against someone. Lamar tries to challenge Masa and greet him but Masa goes and leave.
This causes Lamar and Sofia to go after Masa as they try to convince him. Lamar talks and convinces Masa that there is a chance as Sofia’s phone still has the server data. This intrigues Masa as he is convinced and also takes them to his apartment room.
In the apartment room they converse though at times the annoying neighbor barges in and interrupts them. However the neighbor stops for a while as he lets them talk about their plans. As they talk Lamar talks about getting Tari and Theo out as he tries to convince Masa who was hesitant there.
He tells Masa that the Masa he knew would never break his promises and more as he manages to convince Masa that Tari and Theo are their beloved friends there. Then he and the others talk about the plan as Sofia then suggests to go to the Rustworks to which Lamar and Masa agrees with.
What Unreal Engines showed was that Marco greeted Lamar and Masa as Marco was fawning over Lamar’s special meta runner there. Lamar then tells Marco to focus on him instead of his arm. Sofia tries to make a deal with Marco but fails to do so as he gives no special treatment for the entry fee there. This prompts Lamar to propose a deal that he can get his meta runner arm as an entry fee. Marco accepts as Masa and Lamar are able to join in to play Turbo Crash 9.
Lamar was on wheels as Masa was on the turret as Lamar tried to make sure to help Masa. The match starts at Lamar and Masa were fighting their way through the game. It comes to the point that only Lamar, and Masa are left against Marco. It is looking bleak as Masa tells Lamar to go to the trap area to which Lamar just follows Masa’s orders. As Lamar could not move anymore he was able to lure Marco into a trap as Masa was able to capitalize to defeat Marco.
Marco was unsatisfied because he thought Masa cheated and was about to grill him until Sofia told him off. So Lamar and the others go back to their car with the parts to build Masa’s arm. They all breathe a sigh of relief as Lamar congratulates and wanted to hi five Masa. However Masa does not do so though Lamar dismisses it although he starts to question as too if Masa cheated. Though Masa replied with a kind of no as to which Lamar just accepted. Lamar then just drives the car to the apartment where Sofia rebuilds Masa’s arm.
In Heart to Heart it shows that Masa’s arm is finished to which Lamar commented that it looks good and could use some decals and more. Masa just shrugs it off as he goes straight into talking about the plan there. As Masa keeps on talking periodically Lamar keeps on getting Pocket Gakusei notifications as to which Lamar was told to pick it up. To Lamar’s surprise the notification was from Tari as to which he picks up.
Lamar then talks to Tari as the others start to talk to Tari there and at one point he brings up more mobile devices so that Masa and Sofia could join in. As they join into the game they then start to talk about the plan. At one point when Tari was taken out of the game Lamar and the others expressed concern. Though Lamar was the one who was the most worried there as he paced back and forth. When Tari came back he and the others were relieved but were shocked as Tari revealed she was talking to Belle. Lamar and the others came back to talk to Tari about Belle as he was not eager to accept her but accepted it anyways as Tari convinced Masa there. They then started to talk the plan once more as they all prepare.
During the day of the competition in Hack and Slash, Lamar was by the crowd as he communicated with Sofia and Masa as he donned a disguise. The disguise was to be of a TAScientist uniform as he tries to infiltrate as the bot boy however realizes he does not have an ID. He could not go to help as the bot boy would not let him pass without a verified ID. However as a blackout happened the bot boy got someone to help as Lamar got the chance to switch the cartridge. He then goes back to meet up with Masa as to be competitors for Hidden Heroes.
The game then starts as he protects Tari within the game as an archer. Throughout the game he works with Masa to take out the enemies though at one point Masa gets taken out as it is only him and Tari left to fight in the game. After a tense battle against Evelyn, Tari and Lamar win the game as they were able to have the data transferred to the cartridge.
He then tries to go out to meet with Tari but there were issues as to which Masa causes a distraction as to which Lamar calls in for the distraction as he thanks Sofia. He then meets up with Tari who was hesitating to take the cartridge since Theo was not out yet. Lamar tells Tari that they need to dip soon otherwise they will get caught as to which Tari reluctantly agrees as she goes with Lamar.
Lamar then drives as he goes to meet up with Sofia as he tells her a status update. After a heartfelt reunion between Sofia and Tari and despair over the situation of Lucks having hostages, Tari tells them about a plan to be able to beat Lucks. Lamar and Sofia then gain hope as they give their full support to Tari.
For the next part of the plan Lamar takes Tari to the car as he lets her warp into the server as he watches over her. Once Tari saves Theo and warps back out Lamar expresses joy and relief that Tari is safe. He then moves on to the next phase of the plan where he armors up his car and starts to speed up. The car then rams into Lucks car though unbeknownst to Lamar the TASVans were more armored there then last time as he passes out.
The whole sequence of Lucks exposure and Masa disarming him is not seen by him since he passes out. He also missed a bit of Lucks explanation but quickly catches up as he wakes up. As Lucks is done Lamar is not swayed by Lucks as he says he is not needed for Lucinia to revive giving Tari his full support. While the cops were nearing Lamar wanted to get out of there with the others though Masa was contemplating whether to shoot him or not. Lamar and others all try to convince Masa to not shoot him to which they succeeded. Lamar then breathes a sigh of relief along with the others.
However this was cut short as Masa’s arm was hacked as he then pulls the trigger there and shoots Lucks. This causes him and the others to be extremely shocked as everyone panics as he urges everyone to have to run away there. He stays with Tari to try to convince her as Belle then tells them to go as to which they have a melancholic goodbye as Lamar and Tari run away.
As he and Tari catches up with Theo and Sofia they try to find the exit safe from the police. Though they were cut off as Marco shows up to give them a ride to which Lamar, Tari, Sofia, and Theo are looking shocked there.
Trivia[]
- In the episode Bad split a message can be seen by Lamar warning Tari and Theo to escape. The message reads" seriously my man get out of there". The message can be recognized as Lamar's by his AnimeKing20 username (mentioned in the episode Heart to Heart).
- Lamar originally had a blue color scheme on his shirt and hat, before it was changed to black, possibly to make said color scheme less similar to Tari's.
- On the wallpaper of his Meta Runner arm's UI, he has 3 anime girls, which are references to Monika, Natsuki and Yuri from the visual novel/psychological horror video game Doki Doki Literature Club!.
- His name may be a reference to the music artist by the same name (link is here).
- His otaku nature may explain why Fishy Boopkins was chosen to be his counterpart in SMG4's Meta Runner spoof, considering they both are anime fans.
- Lamar is the only character in the whole series with a middle name.
- Lamar is also the only character in the whole series that is never shown without a beanie.
- His Pocket Gakusei and Tempest outfits don't count.
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