Defenders of the Earth
Defenders of the Earth is an
animated television series from the
1980s. In the year 2015,
Ming the Merciless is wreaking havoc on planet Earth and intends to take anyone in his way out. The only thing that stands in his way is a team of the world's greatest heroes; space explorer
Flash Gordon, "The Ghost Who Walks"
The Phantom,
Mandrake the Magician and his assistant the super-strong Lothar. They are aided by their children Rick Gordon, Jedda Walker, Kshin, and L.J. in their quest to stop Ming once and for all. The show lasted for 62 episodes; there was also a short-lived
comic book series published by
Marvel Comics.
''Defenders of The Earth!The series' lyrics was written by the legendary
Stan Lee, who also wrote a few Defenders of the Earth comic book stories.
(Defenders!)
Out of the sky, his rockets ignite,''Jets into battle flying faster than light!
Flash Gordon!
Lord of the Jungle, the hero who stalks,''The beasts call him brother, the ghost who walks!
Phantom!
Defenders of The Earth!
''Master of magic spells and illusion,''Enemies crumble in fear and confusion!
Mandrake!
Defenders of The Earth!
''His strength is a legend, his skills conquer all,''Armed with his power, we never will fall!'Lothar!
Defenders of the Earth!
With our new young heroes proving their worth,''Four become eight, defending the Earth!''Defenders of The Earth! ''(Defenders!)
Defenders of The Earth!Set in the year 2015, Defenders of The Earth is a classic '80s series uniting some of the greatest fantasy heroes: The Phantom, Mandrake The Magician, Lothar, and Flash Gordon. The Defenders are aided by their offspring: Rick Gordon (Son of Flash), Jedda Walker (Daughter of The Phantom), Kshin (Adopted son and apprentice of Mandrake), and L.J. ("Lothar Junior")
Together they defend the earth from the forces of Ming the Merciless, an intergalactic overlord.
The pilot begins with Flash Gordon and his son Rick escaping from Ming the Merciless. Ming has exhausted all the natural resources of his home planet Mongo and has set his sights on Earth. Flash's wife (
Dale Arden in the Marvel comic) is captured and Ming tries to brainwash her. She resists to the point of death.
Flash gathers Earth's greatest heroes (his old friends) to fight Ming.
Protagonists
*
Flash Gordon is the legendary space hero and leader of the Defenders of the Earth. He is an ace space fighter pilot and the father of Rick Gordon.
*
The Phantom is the legendary "Ghost Who Walks", and his true name is Kit Walker. According to a note in the end credits, this is the 27th Phantom. This version of the Phantom is different from how he is portrayed in the comics. By chanting "By jungle law, the ghost who walks calls forth the power of ten tigers" he is temporarily given superhuman strength. In the comics, the Phantom does not have any supernatural powers. In the show his horse Hero and his wolf Devil also make brief appearances too.
*
Mandrake the Magician is a cultured man of mystery who has magical powers and knowledge of the occult.
*Lothar is superhumanly strong and a close friend of Mandrake.
*Richard "Rick" Gordon is an impulsive computer genuis and the son of Flash Gordon. Rick along with many of the other teenagers of the show attended Central High located in Central city.
*Kshin is an orphaned Asian boy adopted by Mandrake, who is training him as his apprentice. As the younger of the group, he is always trying to prove he is worthy of being a true hero. Kshin has a pet alien called Zuffy - an orphaned Zuffoid found by Rick Gordon on the planet Mongo .
*L.J. (Lothar Junior) is the street wise martial arts expert son of Lothar, as well as Rick's best friend.
*Jedda Walker is the daughter of
The Phantom and displays telepathic and limited psychic powers. She has a pet panther named Kisa. Some episodes imply a romantic relationship between her and Rick Gordon.
*Dynak - Is the central computer based in the Defenders of the Earth's Headquarters, formerly Flash's wife and Rick's mother (though she is never referred to by name, it is presumed that she is Flash's longtime comicbook love interest
Dale Arden). In the first episode, Ming the Merciless kidnaps and attempts to brainwash her to reveal where
Flash Gordon is hiding, but the enormous physical and mental anguish ends up killing her. Before she dies, however, her "essence" is saved in a crystal that is eventually used to power the Defenders' computer.
Antagonists
*
Ming the Merciless has two children Prince Croton and
Princess Aura and is bent on world domination. This version is more alien like in appearance rather than his traditional Asian appearance to avoid racial stereotyping. In the show his hideout is Ice Station Earth located in the Arctic.
*Octon is a metallic
octopus like machine which advises Ming the Merciless on how to conquer the Earth or defeat Flash Gordon and Co.
*Garax is the leader of Ming's soldiers, the Ice warriors
*Mongor is a giant serpent-like pet of Ming the Merciless.
*Kurt Walker is the older brother of the Phantom. Kurt is a character specifically created for the series, and has never appeared in a Phantom comic book or comic strip story. However he does appear in issue #3 of the
Marvel Comics Defenders of the Earth mini-series.
*The Sky Band is one of the Phantom's oldest foes. In the series, they are space-pirates, while in the comic strips, they are airplane-pirates.
:
01 - '''Escape from Mongo:
02 - ''' The Creation of Monitor :
03 - ''' A Demon In His Pocket :
04 - ''' A House Divided :
05 - ''' Bits and Chips :
06 - ''' The Root of Evil :
07 - ''' Cold War :
08 - ''' The Sleeper Awakers :
09 - ''' The Revenge of Astra :
10 - ''' The Hall of Wisdom :
11 - ''' The Mind Warriors, Part I :
12 - ''' The Mind Warriors, Part II :
13 - ''' The Lost Jewels of Tibet :
14 - ''' The Evil of Doctor Dark :
15 - ''' Diamonds are Ming's Best Friends :
16 - ''' The Men of Frost :
17 - ''' Battleground :
18 - ''' The Panther Peril :
19 - ''' Fury of the Deep :
20 - ''' Family Reunion :
21 - ''' The Defense Never Rests :
22 - ''' Doorways into Darkness :
23 - ''' Deal With The Devil :
24 - ''' Terror In Time :
25 - ''' Ming's Household Help :
26 - ''' The Starboy :
27 - ''' The Gods Awake :
28 - ''' The Ghost Walks Again :
29 - ''' The Book of Mysteries :
30 - ''' The Future Comes But Once :
31 - ''' Kshin And The Ghost Ship :
32 - ''' The Carnival of Dr. Kalihari :
33 - ''' The Mystery of the Book :
34 - ''' Flash Times Four :
35 - ''' The Frozen Heart :
36 - ''' Rick Gordon, One Man Army :
37 - ''' The Rites of Zesnan :
38 - ''' Audie The Tweak :
39 - ''' Return of the Skyband :
40 - ''' Dracula's Potion :
41 - ''' One of the Guys :
42 - ''' 100 Proof Highway :
43 - ''' The Time Freezer :
44 - ''' The Prince Makes His Move (1) :
45 - ''' Prince Triumphant (2) :
46 - ''' The Prince Weds (3) :
47 - ''' The Prince's Royal Hunt (4) :
48 - ''' The Prince Is Dethroned (5) :
49 - ''' Lothar's Homecoming :
50 - ''' Suspended Sabotage :
51 - ''' The Call of the Eternals :
52 - ''' The Return of Doctor Dark :
53 - ''' The Deadliest Battle :
54 - ''' The Necklace of Oros :
55 - ''' Ming Winter :
56 - ''' The Golden Queen, Part 1 :
57 - ''' The Golden Queen, Part 2 :
58 - '''Flesh and Blood :
59 - ''' Drowning World :
60 - ''' The Adoption of Kshin :
61 - ''' Street Smarts :
62 - ''' Ming's Thunder Lizards
The only US DVD release to date is part of BCI Eclipse's
Animated All-Stars collection.The first episode of the series is included as a bonus on the BCI DVD relese of Flash Gordon The Complete Series.
BCI has announced the DVD release for the first 33 episodes (In Volume 1) for the Fall of 2006. The second volume containiong the remaining 32 episodes will be released at a later date.
Selected episodes are available in the UK, in compilations including
Defenders of the Earth: The Movie,
Defenders of the Earth: The Book of Mysteries,
Defenders of the Earth: Prince of Kro-Tan and
Defenders of the Earth: The Necklace of Oros.
The entire series can be purchased on the German version of
Amazon.com and is also available in a region 4 box set in Australia.
In addition to the four issue mini-series from
Marvel Comics, there were a number of books including
The Creation of Monitor,
A House Divided,
The Sun-Stealers and
Computer Checkmate.
A line of action figures was produced by
Galoob, including Flash, Mandrake, Lothar, the Phantom, Ming and Garax.[
1]
*
Toonopedia*
Internet movie database*
Tv.com - Defenders of the Earth
