It is the far future - the distant year of 1994 - and the remains of civilization fight for survival, besieged by skeletal warriors: nigh invincible, their bones knitting back together after the most grievous of injuries: reforming, standing again, and pressing ever on. The resistance is slowly losing ground - hampered by lack of fuel, lack of leadership, lack of cohesion: and it seems only a matter of time before dark forces are able to reform the Lightstar Crystal - harnessing its power for evil.
Mount up on your hover-cycle and lock and load your bracelet rocket launcher.
Are you a bad enough dude to help the Legion of Light save the planet?
N-Spiration: Skeleton Warriors
About the Show
The brain-child of producer Gary Goddard, Skeleton Warriors is an action-adventure cartoon with elements of science fiction and horror, its target audience being 1994's kids at home burning the time with the television on a Saturday morning. In synopsis, the futuristic city of Luminaire - following the death of the king - descends into civil war as the main antagonist, the aptly named Baron Dark, tricks his way into the chamber of the Lightstar Crystal - a semi-magical artifact powering the city. As a consequence of his betrayal - the Lightstar Crystal is damaged - broken - imparting its power into four: turning Baron Dark into an evil skeleton capable of turning humans into evil, nigh-invincible skeleton warriors (the namesake of the show) and imparting the three royal children - Prince Lightstar, Grimskull, and Talyn - with super-heroic powers.
Will the leadership and talents of the royal children, guided by their uncle, Guardian, be enough to overcome the machinations of Baron Dark and his minions?
For those curious, Skeleton Warriors is available on:
- Amazon Prime
-
Apple TV
(via Amazon?)
...but if you search for it, it appears the entire series is also available
freely elsewhere.
Why Skeleton Warriors?
First and foremost: Skeleton Warriors is gonzo fantasy adventure. Your typical party - roving overland to pierce into the lairs of the skeletons - is comprised of the energy-sword wielding prince; his sister - gifted with the power of flight and a falcon as her companion; uncle Guardian, who looks and handles suspiciously like Doom Guy; and Grimskull, with power over the shadows and an ear into the minds of the undead. Skeleton Warriors rides on the wave of the last gasp of American animation - before the dark times that began after the millennium. There is plenty of 80s hair left over, plenty of V-shaped He-Men in the ranks - but at the same time, the animation is smooth and intentional: almost as though the studio wanted the show to succeed. This conscious effort to make a visually appropriate product pays off in both world building - showcasing the varied and interesting overland, cities, and underworld in which the story takes place; pays off in character building, where you can read the emotions (admittedly over-acted and melodramatically written) in the faces and poses of the characters; and in the action sequences - where explosions don't look to have been copy/pasted from one scene to the next. To that end - Skeleton Warriors presents constant science fantasy action: with each episode following a format similar to a fantasy adventure game adventure: conflict or objective identified, conflict or objective pursued, resolution - for good or ill - affected. Skeleton Warriors knows it only has half an hour to tell the story; as such, it doesn't muck around: getting straight to the point and leaning heavily into the action-adventure theme to appeal to its viewer.
What else do you need?
There are science fiction elements in Skeleton Warriors. Energy shields
protecting towns, flying vehicles, advanced weaponry - but none of it is too
over the top and all of it seems feasible. Some episodes center around the
maintenance or acquisition of parts for the technical elements: these items
serve as McGuffins, the target of interest and the center of the action for
that episode. Skeleton Warriors - in this regard - doesn't go
overboard. At no point did I feel like I was watching science fiction: it
remained in the comfortable gray area where fantasy, horror, and science
meet.
Lastly - it actually finishes. There is no cliffhanger. The authors set out to tell a story, the story arc builds, different pieces unconnected at first fit together, the characters (both the skeletal and the still human) learn more about the strange skeleton-izing effect brought on by the breaking of the Lightstar, and - by the final episode - a climax is reached. An apex occurs. The showdown between good and evil is framed - and then plays out. Many cartoons which delve into the adventure or fantasy genre suffer a fate of premature cancellation - they begin their story, they begin to expound on the world, but then the ratings (Gargoyles) or the budget (Pirates of Dark Water) or the whims of an executive (Thundarr the Barbarian) put a stop to them - Skeleton Warriors does not suffer this fate.
Could it have continued? Probably - new villains, new challenges, new stories:
adapting to the world they'd created in the civil war that 13 episodes brought
us through. But for whatever reason, it did not - but that's OK: as it didn't
have to, as it had ended on an ending - a reasonable conclusion and honorable
cancellation.
What's Not to Like?
Truth be told - it is without doubt or question a children's show. The
violence is not particularly violent - there are plenty of explosions, but few
casualties - and the skeleton warriors, themselves, bearing the brunt of it,
re-assemble themselves after having been struck with missiles, grenades,
dismembered by axes or staves, etc. Additionally, while the voice acting is
good - it's over-acted: the dialog can be stilted, as the writers attempt to
simulate depth and imply
Behold my nipple armor!
*Not a quote from the actual cartoon.
relationships and emotion while fitting within a 20 minute runtime: allowing 5
for the theme and credits and 5 for anticipated commercial breaks. While I
personally find the Shatnerian dialogs amusing - I recognize it's not for
everyone: and if you're looking for an
adult production, it may be that you need to look elsewhere.
Additionally - the prime setting is that of science fantasy. There are laser
blasters, energy shields, and hover bikes against a backdrop of a fallen
civilization. For more gonzo campaigns, there will be more inspiration -
however, for more traditional campaigns, there will be less. While I am by no
means a scholar, I don't know how well the Skeleton Warriors tech level
would slot in to the Forgotten Realms. Knowing that - and considering what
you'll see - may inform whether or not this series would add value to your
preferred milieu.
For Further Consumption
In addition to the obvious toys that arose from any children's show - then or
now - for those who liked the concept and wanted to follow the story, a
limited run comic book series
was released in 1995. They are technically collectable - though reasonably
priced: so, perhaps to a limited set of collectors - though I have not been
able to find scans or PDF versions online. As such, I have not read the comics
- I have seen the covers on image searches or advertisements of the comics for
sale (the art is better in the comics than on the series, it would appear!),
so I can't vouch for the quality or content - but it would be remiss in the
review not to include a reference to it in the event that the reader sought to
seek them out.
In Conclusion
Watching the show years ago during a binge of cartoons from my favorite era of American animation - and re-watching a handful of episodes in order to better inform this review - the Garimeter reading for Skeleton Warriors as it pertains to inspire your OSR campaign is 2.
Skeleton Warriors is silly but fun - packed with action and filled with
over-acted drama. It mixes melee with missiles - mystic powers against mundane
ingenuity - and likewise periodically introduces fantastic elements and
creatures from the deep and the beyond. The production is good, the acting is
OK, and the writing is typical of cartoons for its audience and of its era -
placing it in my heart as a guilty pleasure as much as it is a romp. It's full
of moments that wouldn't pass a literary critic, but that absolutely would
pass at a gaming table. I enjoy the series, and though it's not for everyone,
it's got some good ideas that would fit seamlessly into your game - and
because it's episodic, you'll know in no more than 20 minutes or so, one
running episode, as to whether it's right or not for the tone you want to
establish.
Delve on, readers!
Skeleton Warriors and all imagery thereof is property of Landmark
Entertainment Group and Graz Entertainment Incorporated and is included in
this article for review purposes under US Code Title 17, Chapter 107.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and all imagery related to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is property of Wizards of the Coast and is likewise referenced and used under US Code Title 17, Chapter 107 as a combination of review and parody.
The slide-in of Gary... I got from a meme.
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