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A whim, a thought, and more is sought!
May 2004: Visionaries is now out on DVD in the UK!
This is the first time I've written one of these pages after an official release has come out! Like other shows I've covered here, old Visionaries tapes have been out on eBay from time to time and I've had the intro taken from one of those tapes on the site for a while. Having the entire series on two DVDs makes grabbing some images much easier and makes putting information together much easier, so without further ado, here's a run-down on the series for you to whet your appetite for the DVD!
The basic premise of the series is that following a solar conjunction (remember the Dark Crystal?) technology on the world Prysmos fails. Following a period of turmoil civilisation returns in a feudal fashion, along with the magic arts. Two groups of feudal lords take on a challenge set by the wizard Merklynn (left) to gain magical powers - including the power to reactivate technology.
The show features quite a large cast of regulars, split between the Spectral Knights and the Darkling Lords (good guys/gals and bad guys/gals respectively). Each has a magical totem animal on their chest plate which they can transform into, but can only hold for so long. In addition, most have either a magical power staff or the ability to reactivate technology which the others can then also use. As the DVD has all the scripts I don't really have any excuse for not including the rhymes used to activate the staffs here as well, so here's the full rundown of the characters, their totems and additional powers.
Spectral Knights
Leoric, Spectral Knights' Leader
Totem: Lion
Staff: Wisdom - "Whispered secrets of a shattered age, I summon you, renew this sage!"
Cryotek, Bruiser
Totem: Bear
Staff: Strength - "Three suns aligned pour forth their light and fill the archer's bow with might!"
Witterquick, Speedster
Totem: Cheetah
Staff: Light Speed - "Sheathe these feet in the driving gale, make swift these legs, o'er land I sail!"
Arzon, Flyer
Totem: Eagle
Staff: Knowledge - "A whim, a thought, and more is sought... awake, my mind... thy will be wrought!"
Feryl, Hunter
Totem: Wolf
Ability: Technology
Ectar, Strategist
Totem: Fox
Ability: Technology
Galadria, Swimmer
Totem: Dolphin
These are the Spectral Knights' staff entities:
Wisdom
Strength
Light Speed
Knowledge
Darkling Lords
Darkstorm, Darkling Lords' LeaderTotem: Mollusk
Staff: Decay - "By what creeps, what crawls, by what does not, let all that grows recede and rot!" and to revert back "Power of rot, obscuring truth, what once was old, restore to youth!"
Cravex, Scavenger
Totem: Phylot (vulture-type scavenging bird)
Staff: Fear - "O mist-filled pits, dark dank, unclear, touch all before me with frost-fingered fear!"
Cindarr, Bruiser
Totem: Gorilla
Staff: Destruction - "By nature's hand, by craft, by arts, what once was whole now fly apart!"
Lexor, Coward
Totem: Armadillo
Staff: Invulnerability - "The arrows turn, the swords repel, let nothing pierce this mortal shell!"
Mortdredd, Bootlicker
Totem: Beetle
Ability: Technology
Reekon, Spy
Totem: Lizard
Ability: Technology
Virulina, Swimmer
Totem: Shark
These are the Darkling Lords' staff entities:
Decay
Fear
Destruction
Invulnerability
In case you're wondering, apparently in the comics the ladies were given shields that were like the staffs but in the cartoons they had neither staffs, or the ability to make vehicles go. And speaking of vehicles, time for a quick run-down of them. The Darkling Lords salvage all these vehicles early in the series at the same time that they figure out what the non-staffers can do, but the Spectral Knights later "borrow" a couple to make a getaway.
The Dagger Assault contains a compartment which can remove the magical totems of the characters, and so it's a major plot device as the Spectral Knights get captured, get freed, then have to get their totems back! Also has a catapult and a flying craft on board.
The Dagger Dart launches off the top of the Dagger Assault and is used as a high speed shuttle and independent assault vehicle.
The Sky Claw is an air fighter which has built-in magical dragons in its wings!
The Capture Chariot is a ground vehicle, but it has 2 separable units which can launch out for air assaults, including throwing magical thunderbolts! This is a Spectral Knights vehicle, liberated from the Darkling Lords.
The Lancer Cycle is another liberated Spectral Knights vehicle, a one-man ground attack vehicle which features a magical defence system.
There were, as you might expect, toys associated with this series. It will come as no suprise that I owned one. The chest plates and staffs used holograms very neatly. I've no idea whether they're worth anything or even easily findable these days, but if they're out there eBay is of course the place to find them...
For, ah, "technical reasons" (!) in order to watch the clip you'll need to right click on the link, select "save target as" and rename the file so that it ends in .wmv rather than .sfxb. The video format is Windows Media Video which modern versions of Windows Mediaplayer will play.
Downloads:
Visionaries intro video, WMV format - remember to rename! (1MB)
Links:
Merklynn's Visionaries Website
The Visionaries.co.uk Website
Feel free to discuss the show on the forum.
Last updated 14 December 2013
