Knightro

Knightro
Official Mascot of the University of Central Florida
University	University of Central Florida
Conference	The American
Description	Knight
First seen	October 21, 1994; 22 years ago (October 21, 1994)
Related mascot(s)	Citronaut (retired), Glycerin (Girlfriend; retired)

Knightro is the official mascot of the University of Central Florida, and its sports teams, the Knights. Knightro debuted in 1994, and appears at UCF sporting events and also appears at UCF-related functions. Knightro is often found walking around with swarms of women around him or bench-pressing 250+. He is an expert crowd surfer, insanely charismatic, and a professional on Heely's. He also occasionally uses a custom car designed and built by UCF Engineering students dubbed "Chariot II."

In 1994 a committee was formed to explore and develop a character mascot that would attend athletics events. A number of drawings were submitted by Trey Gordon. With Linda Gooch, Gordon and SGA commissioned Metropolis Graphics to sketch a knight. UCF's first mascot had been the Citronaut in 1969.

The first costume was made by Costume World, of Pompano Beach. Gordon filled the mascot position during that first season of 1994-95. At the start of the 1995-96 season, Trey recruited a freshman engineering student named Jay Lovelace to join him. Lovelace would fill the position of Knightro for four more years. In 1996, a new Knightro was created by a Disney character developer, and the female "Glycerin" was added. But after two years, the costumes had fallen apart.

In 1998, Dave Minichello, of Wizzards Production, created the molds for the third rendition of Knightro. In 2000, Glycerin was phased out and the glitter finish was added to Knightro's coat. In 2005-2006, a group of senior engineering students, as a part of their senior project, created a motorized car, called the Chariot II, for Knightro to use during the annual Homecoming Parade.

Today, Knightro is operated by the Team Knightro Mascot Squad, which consists of 8 students who perform in costume at all football games, men's and women's basketball games, other athletic events, pep rallies, and special events and appearances. The head coach for Team Knightro is Mike Callahan, a former member of Team Knightro.

The mascot was revised for the 2007 season, as part of the "Knights are Coming Home" campaign, where the athletics department dropped "Golden" from the team name, released new logos, and opened new on-campus venues (Bright House Networks Stadium and the new CFE Arena.) Knightro's look has been updated to closely resemble the new logo, this time with a fully enclosed helmet. The newest addition to Knightro includes his name spelled out on the back of his cape.