Nightriders

Cover art of the series' first official entry, Battle of the Bands.

**Nightriders** is a series of stories created and written by American author and artist, AxlReigns. This is actually the very first entry in what started in a series of works, that would be formed into a franchise all set in the same universe created by the author known as the Anthro Gang metaseries. The series began its' fruition in late 2014, but it has actually begun in 2015.

The series involves the adventures of a heavy metal band with the titular name with the main lead being a lizard by the name of Axl Reigns. Him and the other members of the band not only try to keep their good publicity but they are also affiliated with Sharps as they play the roles of being heroes by thwarting the efforts of a devious underground society. The series was heavily inspired mostly by western animation from the 1990's in terms of writing and style.

The majority of the series was written AxlReigns himself, with various artists being involved with illustrations for some of the stories. The most prominent and most popular being British artist Bluepieces97 who was the official artist for the stories as she did three of them which are considered the "Main Trilogy" (Battle of the Bands, The Battle Continues and The Kidnappings). Other artists contributed as well and the first series of works lasted from 2015 to 2019, with six stories total from 2015 to 2019. With all stories published, gives a grand total of 191 chapters with each chapter having a unique illustration.

## Series overview

### First Series

#### Main Trilogy

This trilogy is the basis core of the series that consists of three stories. Battle of the Bands, The Battle Continues and The Kidnappings. The first story being 27 chapters, the second story being a whopping 63 chapters and the third story having 57 chapters. The trilogy was illustrated by Bluepieces97.

The second story was actually the very first one to be officially illustrated and its' first chapter being published on March 26, 2015. The first story's first chapter would then be published on May 7, 2015, almost two months later.

#### Nightriders: The Reluctant Marching Band

Nightriders: The Reluctant Marching Band is a short five chapter story in the series. This story was illustrated by Italian-American artist, BlueMario1016 using the Japanese Anime style for the characters. Despite that is less significant than the trilogy, it is canon and counts as having its' importance in the mainstream series. In chronological order, this actually takes place after The Battle Continues, but before The Kidnappings as some important characters were not introduced yet until the third entry of the trilogy.

#### Nightriders: Terror in the Swamp

Nightriders: Terror in the Swamp is a short 14-chapter story in the series. This story was illustrated by the-fire-prince using a much more toony style for the characters. Despite being less significant than the entries in the main trilogy, it is still canon and has its' importance to the mainstream series. In chronological order, this takes place after The Kidnappings, as Axl Reigns Jr. is seen in this story with a major role.

#### Nightriders: Revenge of the Sewer Rats

Nightriders: Revenge of the Sewer Rats is a 23-chapter story in the series. This story was illustrated by Randomthewolfskie that is slightly shorter than the first entry of the main trilogy and despite being less significant, it's still canon and has its' importance to the mainstream series. In chronological order, this also takes place after The Kidnappings, serving as an epilogue to the first series.

### Second Series

#### Nightriders: Phantom of the Celestial

Nightriders: Phantom of the Celestial is a brand new story that was announced by the creator himself on DeviantArt on January 24, 2021. The artwork illustrations for this story will be done by Aaron Thomason. Essentially, it's to be the start of a "second season" of the story series, after the first six were done and has been almost two years since The Kidnappings came to a close.

## Characters

### Sharps

* **Nightriders (Heavy Metal Band)**
	+ **Lead Vocalist and Guitarist:** Axl Reigns > Slade
	+ **Secondary Guitarist:** Rolf Steiner
	+ **Drummer:** Lonnie Leo
	+ **Bass Player:** Iggy Stiles
	+ **Vocalist:** Mac Manson
	+ **Security personal**: Brutus Crocker

* **Flame Heart (Heavy Metal Band)**
	+ **Lead Vocalist and Guitarist:** Lucinda Heart
	+ **Secondary Guitarist:** Melissa Heart
	+ **Bass Player:** Jan Stenson
	+ **Drummer**: Sabrina

* **Beach City Music Academy (allies)**
	+ Professor Grant
	+ Dr. Gimbles

### Falsettos

* **Leading members**
	+ Mr Bubbles
	+ Scornfious
	+ Captain Sabertooth
* **Warlocks of Apostasy ( Goth Metal Band) (Disbanded)**
	+ **Lead Vocalist:** Heathen/ Mac Manson(formerly)

#### **Backstreet Boys (Boy Band) (Now affiliated to Sharps)**

* Nick Neil
* Billy Parker
* Barry Brown
* Jimmy Ward
* Monty (bodyguard, formerly)

## Title in other languages

A big Nightriders fan and close friend of the creator has translated the title name of the series into numerous Non-Latin languages. Meanwhile, all languages that use the Latin script would have its' English title kept as it is (with a few exceptions such as Vietnamese for example).

### Alternative Title

In January 11, 2023, A new alternative Japanese title was given to the series to be more on-par of similar naming to a Tokusatsu or an Anime series, which is **Dobutsurakka Butai Nightriders** (literally meaning Animusician Unit Nightriders). This was done to avoid confusion with the very popular TV series, "Knight Rider" starring David Hasselhoff, which is actually the same as the Japanese Nightriders title without the "ズ" character, which is ナイトライダー as read. In most markets, it will still be titled "Nightriders" which includes most English-speaking regions. However, fans can also dub this as "Anthro Gang Nightriders" to not only be another way to avoid confusion, but also count it as part of being in a franchise with other works set in the same universe of the metaseries.

## References

1. ↑ There are rumblings for a new Nightriders story! by AxlReigns on DeviantArt. DeviantArt.com (2021-01-24). Retrieved on February 23, 2021.
2. ↑ Nightriders Anime Worldwide Logos by BlueMario1016 on DeviantArt. deviantart.com (2019-06-19). Retrieved on September 24, 2020.
3. ↑ Animusician Unit Nightriders logo JP-EN by BlueMario1016 on DeviantArt. deviantart.com (2023-01-11). Retrieved on October 4, 2023.