Defenders of the Earth

Premise

Characters

Protagonists

• Flash Gordon — Leader of the Defenders of the Earth: a space pilot and the father of Rick Gordon.
• The Phantom — Essentially identical to Lee Falk's character, but differing from the original in that by chanting "By jungle law, the Ghost Who Walks calls forth the power of ten tigers", he momentarily receives superhuman strength. His real name is Kit Walker. His horse Hero and wolf Devil make brief appearances. The end credits describe this Phantom by saying "This is the 27th Phantom."
• Mandrake the Magician — A hypnotist and mystic capable of manipulating others' perceptions almost at will. He is often portrayed as a secondary leader of the Defenders, and sometimes the narrator of their decisions.
• Lothar — Mandrake's assistant and bodyguard, depicted as a powerful fighter, an able mechanic, and a master tactician. The action figure's packaging describes Lothar as a "Caribbean Ninja".
• Richard "Rick" Gordon — Richard is an impulsive computer genius and the son of Flash Gordon. Rick, along with many of the other teenagers of the show, attended Central High located in Central City. Rick Gordon was initially intended to be Kit Walker, the son of the Phantom.
• L.J. — Short for 'Lothar Jr.', L.J. is the street-wise martial arts-expert son of Lothar, and Rick's best friend. When in one episode, the Defenders locate a crystal which shows them their greatest desires, L.J.'s is to defeat the antagonist 'Octon'.
• Jedda Walker — Jedda is the daughter of the Phantom and displays telepathy and limited extrasensory powers, usually expressed by communication with her black panther Kisa. There is little-or-no mention of her mother, though in one episode she is the reluctant stepdaughter of Queen Hadea. Some installments imply a relationship with Rick Gordon. Jedda Walker was initially intended to be Jedda Gordon, daughter of Flash Gordon.
• Kshin — Kshin is an orphaned boy adopted by Mandrake and trained as his apprentice. His origins are revealed in the late season episode "The adoption of Kshin", where it is shown he was a young street orphan found by Mandrake after a gang of boys tried using him as a distraction in a failed pick-pocketing attempt. He is usually accompanied by the extraterrestrial "Zuffy", initially found by Rick Gordon on the planet Mongo.
• Dynac X — Dynac X is the central computer of the Defenders' Headquarters, whose operating system is stated to contain the psyche of Flash Gordon's wife. Though she is never addressed by name in the series, the comic book adaptation of the first two episodes identifies the slain "Mrs. Gordon" as Dale Arden. Diane Pershing is the only performer from the Filmation cartoon who reprised her role.

  Antagonists

• Ming the Merciless — A warlord or supervillain bent on exploiting Earth's natural resources, based on 'Ice Station Earth'. This version is made more grotesque than his traditional appearance to avoid racial stereotyping; a similar treatment would be used on the Mandarin in the Iron Man animated series and on Dr. No in James Bond Jr., in that all three characters received green skin and pointed ears.
• * Prince Kro-Tan — Ming the Merciless' son.
• * Princess Castra — Ming the Merciless' daughter.
• * Octon — Octon is an octopus-like artificial intelligence, equivalent to an 'evil version' of Dynac X, which advises Ming the Merciless of methods to conquer the Earth or defeat the Defenders. His name is derived from that of an opponent of Mandrake's in the latter's eponymous comic strip, wherein it identifies a crime lord also known as the 'Cobra'.
• * Garax — Garax is the leader of Ming's mechanical soldiers, the Ice Robots. He is the only one of these to recur, and the only given any distinction from the others, who are frequently slain en masse by the Defenders.
• * Mongor — Mongor is a giant serpent-like pet of Ming the Merciless.
• Kurt Walker — Aliased "N'Dama the Weather Demon", Kurt is the older brother of the Phantom. When competing in a trial with Kit for the right to become the next Phantom, Kurt won but was passed-over in favor of Kit due his father knowing that he had lied and cheated, as well as abandoning his brother after causing a rock fall that had injured him. This results in him being disinherited by their father, and the contempt he has for Kit. Kurt is specifically created for the series and has never appeared elsewhere.
• The Sky Band — A coalition of raiders depicted in the Phantom comics; here depicted as space-pirates.
• Queen Hadea — Hadea is the ruler of the subterranean 'Netherworld', where she is the latest in a dynasty of monarchs served by pale, deformed humanoids. In her first appearance, Hadea desires to take the Phantom as a consort. After later offering to heal the injured Jedda Walker, she displays a brief interest in assuming a maternal role in the girl's life. Her great ambition is to capture the powerful 'Necklace of Oros', which confers control of others in the user's presence.
• Graviton — The original owner of the Necklace of Oros, and implied to have dwelt among the Moai of Rapa Nui, Graviton is an extradimensional being of unknown origins, who seeks to recover the Necklace from Earth and establish himself as a dictator.

  Production

Episodes

Home releases

USA

Germany

• Defenders of the Earth – only German language – no extras
• Defenders of the Earth – only German language – no extras
• Defenders of the Earth – only German language – earlier release, no extras
• Defenders of the Earth – only German language – earlier release, no extras

  Australia

• Defenders of the Earth
• Defenders of the Earth, disc 7 features the film "The Story Begins" and disc 8 the film "Prince of Kro-Tan".

• Animated All-Stars collection
• The New Adventures of Flash Gordon: The Complete Series

• Defenders of the Earth—Complete Series Volume 1 33 Episodes
• Defenders of the Earth—Complete Series Volume 2 32 Episodes '''

  U.K.

• Defenders of the Earth—The Story Begins

• Defenders of the Earth vol 1
• Defenders of the Earth vol 2
• Defenders of the Earth vol 3
• *The above volumes include three episodes each, covering the first eight episodes of the series and the series finale, "Ming's Thunder Lizards".
• Defenders of the Earth Movie—"The Book of Mysteries"
• *"The Book of Mysteries" combines episodes 31–35
• Defenders of the Earth Movie—"Prince Kro-Tan"
• *"Prince of Kro-Tan" combines episodes 46–50
• Defenders of the Earth Movie—"Necklace Of Oros"
• *"Necklace of Oros" combines episodes 56–60

Sweden

In other media

Comics

Books

Action figures

Video games

Parodies

• A parody, called Protectors of the Earth, is made up of comic strip characters Dr. Rex Morgan, Mary Worth, Garfield and Mark Trail.
• Robot Chicken produced a sketch where Flash Gordon, Mandrake and the Phantom operated as part of a Neighborhood Watch.