Blaze and the Monster Machines is an animated children's television series. It premiered on Nickelodeon on October 13, 2014. The show revolves around Blaze, a monster truck, and his human driver, AJ, as they have adventures in Axle City and learn about various STEM concepts that help them on their way. Joining them is the human mechanic, Gabby and their monster truck friends: Stripes, Starla, Darington, and Zeg, as well as their rival Crusher and his goofy sidekick Pickle. Watts and Blaze's sister, Sparkle, join the main cast in Seasons 3 and 7.
Blaze and the Monster Machines ended its run on December 1, 2025, after nine seasons, 180 episodes, and 11 years of airing.
Plot The show focuses on Blaze, an orange-red monster truck, and his smart, young driver, AJ. They live in a world that is inhabited by sentient monster trucks called "Monster Machines", including primary characters Starla, Stripes, Zeg, Darington, Watts (as of Season 3), and Blaze's sister Sparkle (as of Season 7). Among the cast is Gabby, a talented mechanic who later befriends Watts and becomes her driver. Each episode also features Crusher, a sneaky blue tractor-trailer who cheats in races, but slowly evolves into a nicer character. Crusher is always accompanied by his comic relief sidekick, Pickle.
Format Each episode has Blaze and AJ go on various adventures and solve problems along the way, normally three per episode, with "assistance" from the viewing audience. Blaze might also transform into a different vehicle or artifact depending on the situation. Blaze may sometimes get a task done with the help of his special power, "Blazing Speed", which is usually used in the climax of an episode and is initiated by shouting "Let's Blaze!". In some episodes, Blaze, AJ and their friends race against Crusher. During the race, Crusher cheats, usually with the help of his gray robot parts. However, Blaze and AJ manage to get through his traps, and they always beat him in time. Not all episodes involve a proper race, but still have Blaze competing against Crusher, sometimes by racing against him to get an item. Other episodes involve helping a friend such as Starla, Zeg, Darington, Stripes, Watts, Sparkle, or even Crusher and Pickle. Each episode features two or three original songs, usually performed by Blaze and AJ off-screen, when they are setting off on their adventure or demonstrating the episode's STEM concept.
In many episodes beginning with Season 2, the main plot is alternated with a subplot featuring Crusher and Pickle, which rarely intersects with the main story but is loosely related to it. In the subplot, Crusher is trying to do something, but ends up in a series of mishaps, usually by not listening to Pickle or thinking ahead, and suffers a random joke on his receiving end.
Episodes
Characters Main
Blaze Blaze (voiced by Nolan North) is the main host of the series and central character as well as an orange-red monster truck who is good-hearted, loyal, and brave. He is based on the first generation 2010-2014 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor in the form of a trophy truck/pre-runner, judging from the coinciding orange-red color, and has a modified version of the older generation 2004-2008 F-150's grille shaping design, along with a 2007-2013 Chevrolet Silverado's horizontal bar. He is Axle City's number 1 racer, especially with help from his Blazing Speed which is initiated by saying "Let's Blaze!". At the beginning of Season 1, Blaze becomes a Monster Machine racer after winning the Monster Machine World Championships, Season 2 has him join the Axle City Fire Department, Season 3 sees him become King of Animal Island, Season 4 has him join the Axle City Police Department to help Officer Anna, and Season 7 has him join the Renewable Energy Team. In the Season 5 episode "The Blaze Family", Blaze reveals that he has a family: an unnamed mother Phoenix and father Flame, as well as a younger sister named Sparkle. Blaze and his friends also visit VelocityVille and Animal Island. As revealed in the Season 3 episode "Need for Blazing Speed", Blaze's Blazing Speed engine is not only what he uses to unleash his Blazing Speed, but it is also what allows him to drive around in general. On his tires, he has flame patterns, and on his sides, he has his signature flame decals. A standard F-150 where the SVT Raptor was introduced would be the 12th overall. Despite being supposedly based on the SVT Raptor, Blaze only has one row, when in reality the actual said vehicle always has 2. As a superhero, Blaze gets melting power, strength power, and flying power.
AJ AJ (speaking voices by Dusan Brown in Season 1, Caleel Harris in Seasons 1–3, Ramone Hamilton in Seasons 4–6, Jakari Fraser in Seasons 6–8, Ayden Elijah in Seasons 8–9, singing voice by Jacquez Swanigan in Seasons 1–2, Reed L. Shannon in Seasons 2–5, Artyon Celestine in Season 6, Judah Edwards in Season 7, and Leo Abelo Perry in Seasons 7–9) is the show's African-American main co-host and Blaze's human best friend and driver. He is a science and technology expert. Season 7 sees him join the Renewable Energy Team. AJ's racing suit technology includes his Visor View in his helmet which allows him to see things no one else can. When AJ activates his Visor View, the background usually turns orange in Season 1. From Season 2 and onwards, it doesn't do that anymore. He also has skywriting gloves which allow him to draw pictures in mid-air (which has been abandoned after the events of the Season 4 episode "Ninja Blaze") and a wrist-com video watch worn on his left arm to call others. His uniform can also undergo minor changes in appearance, such as when Blaze transforms into a race car, and when Blaze uses his speed lights. As the show progressed, AJ became the one to describe the STEM concept instead of Blaze in earlier seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.
Crusher Crusher (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) is the main antagonist of the series, though he slowly evolves into a nicer character, occasionally serving as an anti-hero. He is a deep blue tractor truck with a lighter blue lightning bolt motif who is Blaze's biggest rival, based on a large 18-wheeler cargo-truck, such as a 2005 Peterbilt 386 and/or 2012 Kenworth T680. He cheats in most episodes because he would get lampooned by Blaze in a fair race. He constructs various cheating gadgets from parts that he keeps in a bag on his chassis. In the episode "Blaze's First Race", it's revealed that Pickle seems to be the one to inspire Crusher's cheating, saying, "But Crusher, pressing the button would be CHEATING," and Crusher saying that he likes the sound of cheating. While he is known for his cheating and mischievous ways, he is not all bad and not really evil. In fact, Crusher is still good at heart at times. The episode "Catch That Cake!" reveals that he has moral limits when it comes to stealing food; he admitted that he would have respected Darington's birthday cake and not taken a piece without permission, despite his temptation. In addition, Blaze and his friends are even willing to help Crusher in some instances, such as helping him find his toy truck Little Trucky in "The Mystery Bandit", In "Gasquatch!," and Gasquatch saving him by sneezing away a thundercloud and bringing him down from the Mud Mountain. Crusher even tried to resist cheating in "Defeat the Cheat" when he was paired with Blaze during the second Team Truck Challenge. In the episode, Crusher (along with Blaze) finally scored his first ever win, and it's also the first time Crusher doesn't show disgust after crashing into something and getting mud or food on him, as shown when he crashes into an ice cream stand while celebrating and upon tasting, he giddily says "Tastes like winning!". Season 7 sees him join the Renewable Energy Team. On his tires, he has lightning bolt patterns.
Pickle Pickle (voiced by Nat Faxon) is a small, and green singing hatchback monster truck based on a 1975 AMC Pacer with darker green stripes and bumps on his sides, who is Crusher's sidekick despite Crusher's indifference towards him, although the two are known to be close friends most of the time. In the episode "The Pickle Family Campout", it's revealed that he has a family: 3 cousins Ben, Ken, and Sven, 5 sisters Baby Gherkin, Lilly, Milly, Tilly, and Frilly, and a Grandpa. He tends to look on the brighter side of things, is quite goofy, and has an extremely high pitch voice. Although he is by Crusher's side, Pickle is actually quite friendly towards Blaze and his friends. He took Bump Bumperman's place in "Defeat the Cheat", "Power Tires", and "The Great Pizza Race" when Bump Bumperman was busy with other stuff. Season 7 sees him join the Renewable Energy Team. In the episode "Blaze's First Race", it's revealed that Pickle met Crusher during his first ever race, and he seems to be the one to inspire Crusher's cheating, saying, "But Crusher, pressing the button would be CHEATING", and Crusher saying that he likes the sound of cheating. On his tires, he has wavy line patterns.
Gabby Gabby (voiced by Angelina Wahler in Seasons 1–3, Molly Jackson in Seasons 3–5, Luna Bella Zamora in Season 6, Kensington Tallman in Season 7, and Micaiah Chen in Seasons 7–9) is a human mechanic with light skin, blue eyes and purple hair in a ponytail held by a blue hair tie. She wears a white shirt with blue overalls, though she switches to a white-and-blue racing suit and helmet with goggles when either driving her ATV, riding with Blaze (with three exceptions being. In "Epic Sail" where she only wore her helmet when she, Blaze, AJ, Gabby, and Stripes went off to get the sail but later took off her helmet offscreen, "Axle City Grand Prix" when she wore her overalls when Blaze left the garage but later switched to her blue racing suit for the rest of the episode, and "Robots to the Rescue" when she was wearing her magenta racing suit in Blaze's passenger seat when Robot Blaze welcomed his friends to Robot Headquarters), or other unknown reasons. She fixes up the trucks when they are damaged and sometimes rides with AJ and Blaze to take part in some of their adventures and races, with her always doing this in the Special Missions miniseries. Season 7 sees her join the Renewable Energy Team. Gabby's outfit undergoes changes like AJ's uniform and helmet, but it only happens twice. Gabby also drives a purple ATV, but she no longer drives it anymore after "Light Riders", because starting with "Fast Friends", she is now a Monster Machine driver for Watts, but continues to work in the garage. This makes her the second character to become one and to be partnered with a Monster Machine, the first being AJ who partners with Blaze. When Gabby drives Watts, she almost always wears a white and magenta version of her racing suit, and her hair also undergoes some slight changes, such as having her ponytail being held by a magenta hair tie. She also often resembles a pickup truck intended to be a Mercedes X 360.
Stripes Stripes (voiced by Sunil Malhotra) is an orange bengal tiger truck with violet stripes and highlights on him, and the design based on multiple generations of a Jeep Wrangler. He has the abilities of a Bengal tiger, such as a high sense of smell and retractable spike-claws in his tires. He is good at jumping and climbing. In "Spark Bug," Stripes and Sparky in trouble from tree rock river. In Season 3's "Wild Wheels" episodes, when Blaze transforms into a Lion Monster Machine, he shares his engineering powers to transform Stripes into a bengal tiger named Super Bengal Tiger Stripes. In "Babysitting Heroes," it reveals that Stripes can babysit baby animals. His home is a treehouse in a jungle outside Axle City. On his tires, he has stripe patterns. In "The Monster Machine Christmas Extravaganza", he is an Axle City Caroler. As a superhero, Stripes has the power of any animal.
Starla