Cyberchase

***Cyberchase*** is an animated educational children's television series on PBS Kids. The series focuses around three children from Earth: Jackie, Matt, and Inez. They were brought into Cyberspace, a digital universe, in order to protect the world from the villain Hacker. These kids are able to prevent Hacker from taking over Cyberspace by means of problem-solving skills in conjunction with basic math, environmental science, and wellness. In Cyberspace, they meet Digit, a "cybird" who helps them on their missions.

*Cyberchase* was created by Thirteen and debuted on January 21, 2002. In 2010, after the season eight finale, *Cyberchase* went on hiatus, but it returned in 2013 for a ninth season, followed by a tenth season in 2015. The eleventh season premiered on October 23, 2017, and the twelfth season premiered on April 19, 2019.

## Plot

When three ordinary kids, Jackie, Matt, and Inez, accidentally allow the Hacker access to Motherboard, the supreme ruler of Cyberspace, she becomes severely weakened by a virus from Hacker. The kids are brought into Cyberspace and join forces with Digit, in an effort to protect the world from the Hacker and his clumsy, semi-intelligent assistants, Buzz and Delete, until they can recover the Encryptor Chip, a device stolen by Hacker that can nullify the virus and bring Motherboard back to full strength.

Motherboard is the "brain of the giant computer system that oversees all of Cyberspace". Her technician computer scientist, Dr. Marbles, kept her functioning properly. Dr. Marbles created Hacker as an assistant, but Hacker turned against Motherboard. Digit was Hacker's assistant and witnessed him stealing the Encryptor Chip. After Dr. Marbles drained Hacker's battery and banished him to the Northern Frontier, Digit was able to escape from Hacker's grasp. Eventually, Hacker was able to find a way to recharge himself, build Buzz and Delete, and formulate a plan to launch a virus that would attack Motherboard. When Jackie, Matt, and Inez interacted with a library map, this opened a door for Hacker to infect Motherboard with the virus.

Cyberspace consists of planet-like bodies called Cybersites which are based on themes such as Ancient Egypt, the American Old West, Greek mythology, and amusement parks. The Cybersquad travels to many of these locations in order to protect Cyberspace from Hacker. Each inhabited Cybersite has their own type of Cybercitizen. They are meant to represent the diversity of websites on the Internet, and reflect the many ecosystems and neighborhoods of today's world.

## Characters

### Main

* Matthew "Matt" (voiced by Jacqueline Pillon) is an 11-year-old Irish-American boy who likes skateboards and collecting things. He is impulsive, impatient, tells jokes, and has a great interest in sports. He has shaggy orange hair and usually wears a long-sleeved lime-green T-shirt, a red backpack, neon blue jeans, and red hi-tops. He has a pig named Sherman on his family's farm. Matt's red backpack contains his many yo-yos, which he is very good at using and often plays with one whenever he's thinking hard about something. He frequently calls Inez by the nickname "Nezzie", much to her annoyance. It is also shown he can be quite protective of her at times.
* Jackie (voiced by Novie Edwards) is an 11-year-old African-American girl who loves to keep things neat and organized in order to figure things out. She has black hair worn in a bun, and she wears a yellow sweater with a sky blue denim skirt, red jewelry, and dull lavender hi-tops. Jackie's biggest pet peeve is slimy and icky stuff like bugs and many other "gross" things. Like Inez, she was very fond of Slider. In a running gag in Seasons 1–4, Jackie freaked out when in crisis, pacing while trying to figure out a solution, saying "Make room, I gotta pace!"
* Inez (voiced by Annick Obonsawin) is a 9-year-old Hispanic-American girl who has an excellent vocabulary (and who knows a large collection of quotes) for which the others often tease her. She has shoulder-length brown hair and mostly wears a pink long-sleeved T-shirt with a yellow star on the front, teal shorts, a purple hooded vest, a pair of square glasses, and high blue boots. Despite being the youngest human member of the gang, she is the smartest one. Whenever she's thinking up a solution, Inez has a habit of doing handstands to help her concentrate. Inez's biggest pet peeve is when anyone calls her "Nezzie", though she is fine with Slider calling her that. When asked why by Matt, she replies, "he's different", implying that she likes Slider.
* Digit LeBoid (nicknamed Didge by various people and Didgey by Delete, voiced by Gilbert Gottfried) is a "cybird" (portmanteau of "cyborg" and bird), who works for Motherboard and is the kids' best friend. He and the kids protect Cyberspace and Motherboard from Hacker. Digit was created by Hacker and worked for him along with Buzz and Delete, but escaped after learning of Hacker's evil doings. He became one of Motherboard's helpers, serving as Dr. Marbles' assistant. Digit can fly by spinning his tail feathers in a helicopter-fashion or flapping his wings. However, he has a fear of heights and prefers to walk. He is a cook and wrote his two popular cookbooks *The Cyber Chef* and *Cookin' with the Didge*. He carries many objects in his chest, including Widget. He can turn his beak into just about anything and bends it on occasion. He also can disguise his voice very well.

### Villains

* Hacker (voiced by Christopher Lloyd), also known as The Hacker, is the main antagonist of the series and a mad scientist bent on taking over/creating ultimate chaos for Cyberspace, but he is almost always thwarted by the Cybersquad. He is characterized by a barrel chest with disproportionately small legs, green skin, a bicolored cape, a black wig, and a pointy chin of which he is vain. Hacker was originally created by Dr. Marbles to assist Motherboard, but he rebelled and was exiled to the Northern Frontier. Nevertheless, he does have the potential to become good again, as shown in two episodes where he became a peaceful artist (temporarily) and when he helped the Cybersquad protect the trees in the Northern Frontier. He has two cyborg lackeys, Buzz and Delete, whose reliability is quite variable; sometimes, he gets very peeved when he has to do things himself that Buzz and Delete can't.
* Buzz (nicknamed "Buzzy", voiced by: Len Carlson (2002–2006) and Phillp Williams (2006–2020) is one of Hacker's henchmen, a small spherical cyborg with a large mouth and scrawny limbs, but he seems to think he is a big tough guy; however, he can be kind at times and loves doughnuts.
* Delete (nicknamed "DeeDee", voiced by Robert Tinkler) is the skinnier and taller one of Hacker's henchmen. He is loyal to Hacker for the most part but has occasionally helped the Cybersquad. Unlike Buzz, who is rougher around the edges, Delete is softer and more vulnerable to trickery and deceit. He cares deeply for three things; Buzz, whom he has a brotherly friendship with, his desired pet bunny George (and pets and bunnies in general), and Zanko, his fairy borg father.

### Recurring: Team Motherboard

* Motherboard (voiced by Kristina Nicoll) is the benevolent ruler of Cyberspace and mentor to Jackie, Matt, Inez, and Digit. Her former assistant was Hacker who put a virus in her, but because her firewall was not fully uploaded before the virus hit, she was only left weakened. The Cybersquad tries to recover the Encryptor Chip and keep Motherboard safe from Hacker.
* Dr. Marbles (voiced by Richard Binsley) is a smart and brilliant inventor who serves Motherboard. He is responsible for creating Hacker to help and defend Motherboard, although Hacker would later rebel against Motherboard and try to destroy her. A guilty Marbles would then downgrade Hacker's power and banish him to the Northern Frontier for his wrongful actions, right after Hacker vowed to return to finish Motherboard and Marbles off before taking over Cyberspace.
* Widget (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried) is a small likeness of Digit. His hat, tail feathers, and bowtie are not screwed on properly. He is younger than Digit and helps Digit when it is necessary.
* TW "Teeny Weeny Parallini" is a small square girl. She is not scared of Hacker, and despite the fact that her mother would not let her help the Cybersquad, she does help them find Diamond Joe.
* Fluff (voiced by Austin Di Iulio) is a penguin that plays hockey, which is hard in Cyberia. He is logical and does not buy into advertisements. Fluff is determined to follow in his father's footsteps and to make his family proud. He helped the Cybersquad with the Hacker's challenge.
* Creech (voiced by Sugar Lyn Beard) is the young ruler of the Cybersite Tikiville. She became the apparent Big Kahuna (the term for their rulers in Tikiville) after competing in a race with other Tikiville-inhabitants as well as Hacker. Creech is in some ways similar to Inez, helping the two to become friends easily. Both have a fairly similar outlook: optimistic until something goes completely wrong, and they both have a large vocabulary. She also is the person in charge of Tikiville's Egg of Benedicta.
* Jules (voiced by Scott McCord) was first seen as a cave guard in episode 507, and is a good friend of the Cybersquad, but is often timid. He appears again in episode 607, where Hacker tricks him into pressing the nose of the Jam Master, causing Matt, Jackie, Creech and himself to get sucked into the chamber of Jimaya. After that he appeared in 801 where he helped in Hacker's challenge. He is often trying to find a job, but Hacker continuously tries to ruin it for him.
* Slider (voiced by Tim Hamaguchi) is a serious and James Dean-style 13-year-old skateboarder in Radopolis who builds and repairs skateboards and bikes. Since season three, he has been a recurring character in the series. According to Slider, his father Coop had abandoned him when he was younger because Hacker had hunted Coop for many years. However, in the episode "Measure for Measure" he finds out that his father abandoned him to protect him, and to make sure Hacker does not get an interface card that would allow Hacker to transform into whatever he wishes. If such were to happen, Hacker could cause immense chaos and even rule cyberspace.