Magical Athlete

Are characters who cross the finish line safe from other characters?

How would you folks play these situations:

One character finishes the race first. The next character in turn order is the Merchant. Can the Merchant change places with the other character and thereby finish first instead? That would mean the Merchant always finishes first, so I'm assuming he can't do this.

Here's another example. One character finishes first. The next character is Siren, who is one space behind. Does Siren's ability move the finisher back one and thus allow the Siren to win first instead? I find last minute upsets hilarious, but I'm curious to know how the rest of you would play it.

I think it's not even debatable that characters who are finished neither affect nor are affected by other characters' powers.

Yeah, I can't imagine that a racer isn't safe once they cross the finish line, as you said, if not that makes certain racers way over powered.

I cross-posted at BGG, but for those who don't check that forum:

"No.

I have the original Japanese version, so my rulebook might be a little different, but page two says:

"The character who reached the goal cannot use his special abilities anymore nor can it be target of any special ability of other characters."

Also: "The race is over at the moment when the first two characters reached the goal."

No need to see everybody to the finish - game'd be too long if you were to see every character to the end. "