Centurions is an American science fiction animated television series produced by Ruby-Spears and was animated in Japan by Nippon Sunrise's Studio 7. The series began in 1986 as a five-part mini-series and was followed with a 60-episode series. The series was story edited by Ted Pedersen and written by several authors, including prolific science fiction writers Michael Reaves, Marc Scott Zicree, Larry DiTillio and Gerry Conway.
The series theme and soundtrack were composed by Udi Harpaz. There was also a line of tie-in toys by Kenner and a comic book series by DC Comics.
The show revolves around the conflict between Doc Terror's cyborgs and the Centurions - who wear a combination of exoskeleton and mecha.
Contents
Premise
The cyborg mad scientist Doc Terror seeks to conquer the Earth and turn its inhabitants into robot slaves. He is assisted by his cyborg companion Hacker and an army of robots.
At each turn, their evil plans are thwarted by the heroic Centurions. The Centurions are a team of men consisting of Max Ray, Jake Rockwell, and Ace McCloud, dressed in specially created exo-frames that allow them (upon shouting "PowerXtreme") to fuse with 'incredible' assault weapon systems, becoming what the show calls man and machine, Power Xtreme! The result is a weapons platform somewhere between a hard-suit and a mecha. The exo-frames can also be equipped with space gear or diving gear.
The Centurions are based on an orbiting space station called Sky Vault whose operator, Crystal Kane, uses a transporter to send the Centurions, and the requested weapon systems, to where they are needed. To monitor the global situation there are relay stations such as Ice Castle, Sand Castle and Fire Castle. Crystal is always in the company of either Jake Rockwell's dog Shadow or Lucy the orangutan. Shadow is usually more involved with the Centurions' battles than Lucy and sports a harness with dual missile launchers. Crystal suggests tactics and sends equipment as required. The Centurions also have a hidden base in New York City called Centrum. Its entrance is hidden in a bookstore and must be reached via an underground railcar. Centrum serves as the Centurions' land base of operations and also has a beaming pod for rapid transport to Sky Vault. In addition to Sky Vault and Centrum, there is also a Centurion Academy whose location is kept completely secret and only seen in the last 5 episodes. All weapon systems are manufactured by a submersible aquatic Sealab.
Characters
The Centurions
The main protagonists. There were originally three but two more were added later on in the series.
Original Team:
Max Ray – A commander in sea operations and the de facto leader of the team. He uses a green exo-frame suit and weapon systems suited for underwater missions.
Cruiser – A sea assault weapon system that is used in and out of the water and includes hydro thrusters, and a keel-fin radar unit. Its weapons include two re-pulsars and a missile launcher.
Tidal Blast – A sub-surface attack weapon system with two hydro-powered keel-fins used for above and below the water that has battle modes such as cruise, subsonic speed, and rear attack. Its weapons include a re-pulsar lesion cannon and missiles.
Depth Charger – A mini-sub with two pontoon thrusters and two mobile directional aqua fins. Its weapons include two cannons, deep-sea torpedoes, and a hydro mine.
Sea Bat – A sea assault weapon system that includes a bat-wing thruster unit, a chest hydrofoil unit, and multiple flexi-hose connectors attached to a deep sea scope. Its weapons include barracuda missiles, an explosive depth charge, and heat-seeking harpoons.
Fathom Fan - A submersible assault weapon system resembling an airboat with hydrofoil launcher missiles and a small laser in the chest.
Jake Rockwell – A land operations specialist who uses a yellow exo-frame suit. A passionate idealist with a strong moral compass, he has a short fuse that often puts him at odds with the cocky and casual personality of Ace. His weapon systems have the most firepower and are best suited for land missions.
Fireforce – A land assault weapon system that includes back-mounted launcher, twin laser cannons and a rotating plasma re-pulsar. It is waterproof for submerge underwater.
Cyborgs
Doc Terror - A scientist whose main goal is to conquer Earth and turn its inhabitants into robotic slaves to suit his purposes.
Hacker - Terror's right hand-man. He was originally an ordinary criminal before he was persuaded by Terror to be the first human in his experiment of being a cyborg.
Syntax and Legion - Two computer systems who are respectively bound to Terror and Hacker. They can separate from their hosts at will and merge into a powerful machine called Uniborg.
Doom Drones Traumatizers – The most commonly seen drones are walking robots with laser blasters for arms.
Doom Drones Strafers – A flying robot armed with missiles and lasers capable of spaceflight.
Groundborgs – A land-based robot armed with lasers that move on big wheels.
Seaborgs – A ship-based robot armed with lasers for sea battle.
Cybervore Panther – A robotic panther.
Cybervore Shark – A robotic shark.
Supporting characters
Crystal Kane - The operator of the space station Sky Vault who gives the Centurions their missions and transports them, and their requested weapon systems, to the needed location.
Shadow - Jake Rockwell's dog who occasionally helps out with their missions.
Lucy - Crystal's pet orangutan and companion on Sky Vault.
Amber - Doc Terror's daughter who is a mistress of disguise and often helps her father in his plans.
Format
A typical Centurions episode was 22 minutes in length. The main storyline, usually involving the Centurions foiling a new Doc Terror plan, would take up the majority of the episode, however, the last few minutes were sometimes dedicated to an educational segment in which one or more Centurions characters would break the fourth wall to teach the audience about how the episode's themes apply to the real world. For example, in the episode 'Day of the Animals', in which Doc Terror creates a device which controls animals and gives them powers, the ending segment highlights real abilities of animals, such as the ability of sharks to detect magnetic fields.
Cast
Main voices
Michael Bell – John Thunder
Jennifer Darling – Amber
Vince Edwards – Jake Rockwell
Ron Feinberg – Doc Terror
Pat Fraley – Max Ray, Dr. Wu
Ed Gilbert – Hacker
Diane Pershing – Crystal Kane
Bob Ridgely – Rex Charger
Neil Ross – Ace McCloud
B. J. Ward – Cassandra Cross/Lilith Cross
William Woodson – Narrator
Additional voices
These actors are listed at the end credits of each episode, but their roles are not listed.
Dick Gautier – Sukuma (in "Cyborg Centurion")
Dan Gilvezan – Colonel Chuck Bates (in "You Only Love Twice")
Tress MacNeille – Isabelle (in "Tornado of Terror")
Mona Marshall – Pharaoh (in "The Mummy's Curse"), Madame Arpeggio (in "Whalesong")
Bill Martin – Captain Newman (in "Malfunction"), Demon (in "The Road Devils"), Neutron (in "Sungrazer"), Dr. Damon Zemo (in "Sungrazer")
Mea Martineau – Mei Lee
Stacy McLaughlin – Gina (in "Child's Play")
David Mendenhall – Randy Chang (in "Let the Games Begin")
Alan Oppenheimer – Professor Storm (in "Tornado of Terror"), Dr. Gates (in "Double Agent")
Patrick Pinney – Jimmy (in "Child's Play")
Peter Renaday - Merlin (in "Merlin")
Peter Cullen - Casca (in "Film at Eleven")
Stanley Ralph Ross – Claw (in "To Dare Dominion")
John Stephenson – Dr. Sayer (in "Counterclock Crisis")
Frank Welker – Dr. Kent (in "An Alien Affair"), Zorg (in "Found: One Lost World"), Lunex (in "Operation Starfall"), Terry (in "Operation Starfall"), Dr. Lucas Yates (in "The Chameleon's Sting"), Chameleon (in "The Chameleon's Sting")
Episodes
Development
The series originated as a tie-in to a 1986 Kenner Toys line, whose interchangeable exo-suit components directly informed the on-screen "Power Xtreme" transformations. The show was eventually cancelled due to the failure of its marketing strategy of high-end action figures, which were too expensive for the 80s market.
Comic book artists Jack Kirby and Gil Kane contributed to the design and concepts of the show, along with fellow comic book artist Doug Wildey, while Norio Shioyama did the character designs. Mitsuo Fukuda was also credited for his involvement in the show as an assistant director.
Media
Books
In 1986 Golden Books released two illustrated books with cassette stories entitled Vacation on Terror Island and Terror for President, written by Dwight Jon Zimmerman and illustrated by Gene Biggs. Another illustrated book, Centurions Power Extreme Annual 1988, was published in 1988 by World International Limited.
Comics
In 1987, DC Comics released a 4-part comic book tie-in, written by Bob Rozakis.
Games
A board game called Centurions: Jake Rockwell's Battle to Stop Dr. Terror Game was released by Parker Brothers in 1986.
A video game called Centurions Power X Treme was published by AriolaSoft for Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC in 1987. It was met with mixed positive to average reception by critics.
Home media
On December 6, 2011, Warner Home Video released The Centurions: The Original Miniseries on DVD in Region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the US. On July 21, 2015, Warner Archive released The Centurions: Part One on DVD in Region 1 which contains the first thirty episodes of the regular series. On March 15, 2016, Warner Archive released The Centurions: Part Two on DVD, which contains the remaining thirty episodes of the series.
Reception
In The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, the show is described as an early animated example of tropes used by the cyberpunk-genre (the integration of human and machine), with its exoskeleton-based modular weapons systems that anticipating later developments in mecha design.
