Double Dragon (TV series)
Double Dragon is an American-Canadian-Italian animated series based on the video game series of the same name that ran for 26 half-hour episodes from 1993 to 1994. It was produced by DIC Animation City, Bohbot Entertainment and Italian studio Reteitalia, S.p.A., in association with Spanish network Telecinco.
Overview
The premise of the show is that the protagonist brothers are separated at birth. Billy is raised by an elderly martial arts master known as the Oldest Dragon, and his brother Jimmy is raised by the evil Shadow Master as his second-in-command, the Shadow Boss. As a result, the Lee brothers oppose each other as adults; but when Jimmy is betrayed by the Shadow Master, he renounces his evil ways and joins his brother as a Dragon Warrior. During the course of the series, the brothers recruit allies in their war against the Shadow Master and his henchmen. The futile search for their father, John Lee, is a subplot throughout the series.The plot of the pilot episode is loosely adapted from the NES version of the first Double Dragon game, with the episode's villains consisting of the mysterious Shadow Boss, and his henchmen Abobo and Willy. By the end of the second episode, Abobo and Willy are sucked into the Shadow Mural, never to be seen again, while Jimmy abandons his evil ways and reconciles with his brother to fight against the series' true antagonist, the Shadow Master. All of the characters introduced from the second episode onward are original creations made for the show, although most of the villains are also used in the Tradewest-produced , a competitive fighting game released for home consoles.
Cast of characters
Double Dragons
In the series, the Lee brothers are martial-arts instructors and police consultants, who assume superheroic identities at moments of escalated violence. They usually transform out of those forms by crossing swords again and saying in unison, "For Might! For Right! We are Double Dragons!", although several episodes show that heavy injury can deactivate their powers. Injury sustained by one is also taken by the other ; and if one has his powers deactivated by injury, so will the other. The brothers infrequently show an ability to sense when the other is in danger. They are the leaders of a small group of "Dragon Warriors" endowed with superhuman powers based on the use of a smokeless, green "dragon fire".- Billy Lee - The more calm and collected half of the Lee brothers. He regularly wears a blue outfit, and a red dragon mask when he transforms.
- Jimmy Lee - The more belligerent half of the duo. He regularly wears a red outfit, and a blue dragon mask when he transforms.
Dragon Warriors
- Col. Neil "Blaster" McReady - A retired U.S. Special Forces officer, who discovers his neighborhood is threatened by the Shadow Master's drug "Oblivion", and assists the Double Dragons to destroy its production. The third of the Dragon Warriors.
- Vortex - A boy trained by John Lee, and later orphaned by the Shadow Warriors, finally made a Dragon Warrior. It was later revealed he was illiterate, by reason of living in the streets after the Shadow Warriors killed his parents. The fourth of the Dragon Warriors.
- Kona "Tsunami" - A gargantuan Hawaiian Sumo Wrestler, trained in Chi by Su Lien; later made a Dragon Warrior who uses chi to fight. The first of the Dragon Warriors.
- Mike "Chop" Pollard - A former police officer who lost his right arm in a car accident and now works as mechanic, tricked by Shadow Master into making vehicles for the Shadow Warriors. Once he realizes his mistake, he makes the Dragon Cruiser for the Double Dragons, builds himself a robotic arm, and is made into a Dragon Warrior. The second of the Dragon Warriors.
- Kami - A vigilante martial artist capable of creating magical armor; initially desirous of petty revenge on the Shadow Master for her father's death, and later a disciple of Su Lien's.
- Daj - A mutant of the settlement of mutants known as "Undertown"; an ally of the Double Dragons. Later made a Dragon Warrior himself, and the caretaker of an underground Dragon Temple.
Junior Dragons
- Michael - A boy who trains at the Dragon Dojo. He is the most seen of the Junior Dragons.
- Jason - A student featured predominately in an episode where the Shadow Master sold plasma weapons to young street gang members. Jason bought such a weapon to get revenge for his sister's injury, but later relied on his martial arts instead.
- Daryl - A kid who initially wanted to become a Shadow Warrior and helped to trick Billy and Jimmy into a trap. He switched sides when he saw the Shadow Master almost kill Billy.
- Danny - A video game enthusiast, and the son of an archaeologist who uncovers artifacts for the Double Dragons.
Friends and allies
- Oldest Dragon - The original Master of the Dragon Dojo, who raised Billy Lee and reappears in subsequent episodes in spirit form, as an advisor.
- Marian Martin - A police officer who helps the Double Dragons; a major character during the first season, but a comparatively minor role in the second season.
- Su Lien - A tai chi chuan instructor who assists the Double Dragons in their quests. The Shadow Master has tried to capture her to learn her secrets.
- Fireball - A young pyrokinetic imprisoned after taking part in a street gangs' war; paroled into the custody of the Dragon Dojo, and implied to later become a Dragon Warrior.
- Marika - The wife of John Lee and the mother of Billy and Jimmy, she is also the Shadow Master's half-sister. She willingly lets herself be trapped by her half-brother inside the Shadow Dojo to spare Jimmy's life. In one episode, Billy and Jimmy find her, but cannot save her from the Shadow Master's clutches.
- Megabyte - A skilled computer hacker, who helps the Dragon Masters to travel the information superhighway, using virtual reality technology.
- Sashiko - An Interpol agent against cyber crimes, and Kona's girlfriend, who introduces the Dragon Warriors to Megabyte.
- Dragon Spirit - A spirit who inhabited a sword. When the sword is destroyed by the Shadow Master, Chop uses the left over metal in the Dragon Chopper. The Spirit of the Sword then inhabits the chopper and helps the Dragon Warriors fight. His original name was Dao Lung and he once belonged to Chen Long.
- Chen Long - Chen Long was once a Dragon Warrior who owned Dao Lung; presumed dead after his fight with the Shadow Monster, but later shown alive to fight it again.
- Jawbreaker - An enormous and monstrous pink-skinned mutant who was once a Shadow Warrior, capable of biting through almost any solid matter. In "Sight of Freedom", he turns against the Shadow Warriors after befriending the police commissioner's blind daughter.
Shadow Warriors
- Shadow Master - The leader of the Shadow Warriors. He has many powers which include shapeshifting and teleporting, and he is able to trap warriors who fail him in the Shadow Mural. He is the half-brother of Billy and Jimmy's mother.
- Shadow Boss - The second-in-command of the Shadow Warriors, he is actually Jimmy Lee's initial alter-ego until he abandons the organization and becomes an ally to his brother by the end of the second episode. As the Shadow Boss, Jimmy draws his powers from the Black Flame, causing his entire body to be clad entirely in black in a manner similar to the Shadow Master himself. In "Doom Claw", when the Shadow Khan causes the Dragon Warriors' greatest fears to manifest themselves, it is shown that Jimmy is haunted by his past self as the Shadow Boss.
- Shadow Prince - The second Shadow Boss. In "Over the Line", Billy is deceived into becoming the new Shadow Boss after suffering from memory loss, although he regains his memories with Jimmy's help and breaks free from the Shadow Master's influence, like his brother did in the past.
- Shadow Khan - Introduced in the beginning of the second season, he is a powerful sorcerer imprisoned in a shield by the Oldest Dragon. The Shadow Master uses the entrapped being to make himself more powerful, until Khan tricks Countdown into freeing him. He is able to control his victim's worst fears, and is followed by a set of "Terror Warriors" of similar power. Ultimately buried alive by Billy and Jimmy.
- Shadow Mechanizer - A variation of the Shadow Master found in a virtual reality world. He appears in "Virtual Reality Bytes" and "Superhighway Warriors".
- Icepick - A Shadow Warrior whose body appears composed entirely of ice. He is armed with a katana and a pair of daggers, sheathed under his skin.
- Sickle - A Shadow Warrior who specializes in disguises and is armed with two large red sickles.
- Trigger Happy - A large purple-skinned Shadow Warrior, who uses a hand-mounted directed-energy blaster.
- Countdown - A big Shadow Warrior who often serves as the organization's middle man. He is armed with shoulder mounted rocket blasters. In "Shadow Conned", the Shadow Khan manipulates Countdown into betraying the Shadow Master. As punishment for his betrayal, the Shadow Master traps Countdown in the shield that once imprisoned the Shadow Khan.
- Abobo - An immense blue thug with monstrous strength, who works for the Shadow Boss in the pilot episode. He is sucked into the Shadow Mural at the beginning of the second episode and is never seen again for the rest of the series.
- Wild Willy - A gunslinger who also works for the Shadow Boss. He is punished alongside Abobo in the second episode.
- Shadow Warriors - The Shadow Master's group of thugs. Their uniform consists of urban camouflage pants, gray body armor and a face guard covering the lower half of their faces. They are armed with energy blades generated by their gauntlets. Blade and Sekka from wear the standard Shadow Warriors uniform.
Others
- Hannibal - A huge dog-like monster appearing in only one episode, "Judgment Day".
- Little Brother - Daj's tame Western dragon; the mascot of Daj's underground Dragon Temple.
- Shadowmonster - A strange creature who appears in only one episode, "The Return of the Shadowmonster".
Voice Cast
- Jay Brazeau
- Donald Brown
- Jim Byrnes
- Garry Chalk
- Ian James Corlett
- Michael Donovan
- Terry Klassen
- Scott McNeil
- Wesley Morris
- Alvin Sanders
- French Tickner
- Cathy Weseluck
- Dale Wilson
Additional voices
- Julie Suzanne Chen
- Carol Alexander
- Kathleen Barr
- Randall Carpenter
- Babz Chula
- Raj Eriksen
- Saffron Henderson
- Mark Hildreth
- Cusse Mankuma
- Maxine Miller
- Jesse Moss
- Brad Swaile
- Tracey-Lee Smyth
- Jayleen Stonehouse
- Marcus Turner
- Louise Vallance
- Samuel Vincent
- Alec Willows
Episodes
Season 1
Season 2
Merchandise
In 1994, the tie-in video game , has been developed by Leland Interactive Media and published by Tradewest. The game was first ported to the Super NES, then it had a North America-only release for the Genesis, and the final port is the Jaguar which is the only console to have a Japan release of the game.Tyco Toys produced a set of action figures. The figures included: Billy Lee, Jimmy Lee, Blaster, Vortex, Shadow Master, Sickle, and Trigger Happy. Three vehicles were also made: The Cycle, Cruiser, and Shadow Raven.
Home video releases
United States
In 1994, Buena Vista Home Video through the DIC Toon-Time Video label released three VHS tapes of the series. The Legend Begins and Deadly Mutants, released on June 7, 1994 contained "The Shadow Falls" and "The Legend Continues", and "The Price of Oblivion" and "Judgement Day" respectively, while "The Shield of the Shadow Khan", released on November 11, 1994 featured the episodes "Shadow Khan", "Shadow Claw" and "Doom Claw" edited into a Feature-Length format.On August 13, 2019, Invincible Pictures released Double Dragon: The Animated Series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time in the country.
United Kingdom
In June 2004, Anchor Bay UK released a single DVD containing four episodes.Avenue Entertainment also released two DVDs containing two episodes each in July 2005.