Dungeons & Dragons (TV series)
The Dungeons & Dragons animated series was an animated television series made in the 1980s, based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The show was popular, and ran for three seasons. In the United Kingdom, satellite television channels were showing re-runs at least into the late 1990s.
Although aimed at a young audience as many animated series are, the show had distinctive plots, and was quite unique in children's television for the amount of ethical awareness and empathy displayed to and encouraged in the viewer. It was not unusual for members of the band to lose hope or break down in tears, only to be comforted by others, or reinvigorated through good works.
Premise
The general premise of the show was that a group of kids were pulled into the "Realm of Dungeons & Dragons" by taking a magical rollercoaster trip at a fairground. Invariably, the children just wanted to get home, but would often take detours to help people, or, especially, find that their fates intertwined with the fate of others.
After arriving in the Realm, the children were a little out of place, but the Dungeon Master (named for the role of the referee in the role-playing game) appeared, assuming the role of their mentor, and gave them each clothing and magical paraphernalia to suit their abilities.
Main Characters
The main characters of the show were the children, trying to find their way home. They were:
- Hank
- The oldest, and a natural leader. Hank was a Ranger, with a magical bow that shot magical arrows of glowing energy. Besides occasional fighting, Hank would often use these glowing arrows to simply light a room, to activate switches out of reach, or to span gaps, etc.
- Diana
- The acrobat. Diana had a magical kind of telescopic pole that could be used for vaulting, spanning gaps, etc. Diana was the least versatile character, and may have been added to the show as a Knight's armor and a magical shield. Despite his cowardice and reluctance, Eric sometimes agreed that the right thing should be done, rather than simply going along with it. At other times, he would save the whole group, naturally using his shield to save the band from a collapsing cave, for example.
- Presto
- The magician. Presto was the well-meaning, diligent, but hopeless magician in the show. His magical hat allowed him to pull all sorts of items from it, but usually not the ones he wanted, when he wanted them. Telephone handsets were produced in the heat of battle, for example.
- Bobby
- The barbarian. Bobby was the youngest member of the team, dressed in furs, a little like Conan, he had a magic club (weapon) so powerful that it could produce earthquakes.
- Uni
- Bobby's baby pet unicorn, which he discovered in the first episode, and became his companion throughout the show. Uni was cute and mostly helpless, and was became the victim in need of rescue in some episodes.
Other important and often-seen characters in the show included:
- Dungeon Master
- The group's friend and mentor, who provided important advice and help, but often in a cryptic way that would not make sense until the team had completed the quest of each episode.
- Venger
- The bad guy. Venger was an evil force in the show, comparable to the devil. He had one horn, powerful magic, and power in terms of minions etc., too. Importantly, though, he was far from invincible, and was often thwarted by the kids.
- Tiamat
- Venger's arch-rival. Strongly based on the legendary Tiamat, a Babylonian dragon with four heads and immense power, Tiamat was a fearsome dragon with a haunting, screeching voice, who was avoided by both Venger, and the children. In one episode, though, the children made a deal with Tiamat to thwart Venger.
Plots
Typical plots in the animated D&D involved:
- helping a fallen Celestial Knight named Dekion to restore his soul and re-take his place among the knights' order in Quest of the Skeleton Warrior
- the youngest child, Bobby, in a lone quest to save his companions, encouraging a fearful giant to make a stand against evil, in Servant of Evil
- saving the last unicorn from emasculation by a power-hungry wizard in The Valley of the Unicorns
- choosing the righteous, difficult path over the easy but potentially destructive path in, The Treasure of Tardos
- learning that power is a dangerous, corrupting thing that must only be used with balance and wisdom, when one of the children, Eric, gains the magical powers of the Dungeon Master in Day of the Dungeon Master
and many other stories of bravery, courage, and compassion, which seem deeply evocative in comparison to most other children's TV shows.
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