Reltak

**Reltak** (Japanese: レルタック) is the name of two popular television series in the *Collectionverse*. The first was released in 1989 from Japan, and the current series was released in 2016.

## External history

### Old Reltak

Reltak was given its name as a joke by its creator, Akihiro Matsukaze.

### 2016 reboot

The 2016 reboot, **Reltak Reborn**, has a slightly different setting with sleeker technology and better graphics. It also comes with impressive combat scenes, surreal slapstick, and quarrelsome love-triangles to amuse its fanbase of young adults and teenagers. The series is also known for using classical music instead of pop music like its predecessor. It was produced by the Norwegian-American studio, Palsen Studios.

One of the writers, Alex Bergsen, is a Norwegian Romani who was a huge fan of the old Reltak. He used to be a manga artist who wrote webcomics inspired by Reltak and other science fiction works, hence two of the characters -- Leander and Timbo -- based on his own experiences. Alex was also inspired by Katarina Taikon, a Romani activist from neighbouring Sweden.

At the end of the 13th season on April 2019, Reltak's team had a fight against Black Nova. Although they managed to destroy Black Nova and incinerate her soul, Pallondo was severely injured, and Tamara was killed. As Pallondo rested to heal from his wounds, Sarona chose to become the Tetragram's next captain.

The ending is quite happy, with Sarona and Pallondo ruling together as Queen and King of the renewed world of Notelia. Originally, Sarona was to be killed during the final battle against Emperor Meeralg, but because most of the fans objected, the plot was changed so she and Pallondo survive together.

## Setting

It is set in the near future, when the most powerful nations on Earth carefully handle extra-terrestrial threats using several large warships built with alien technology. One of those vessels is known as the Grand Construct, or the Tessarect for its shape. Its symbol is a golden sun, rising halfway on the horizon. It is the symbol of the Grand Construct, and it appears at its left and right sides.

### 2016 reboot

Unlike the nearly-utopian future of the Japanese Reltak, this reboot's Earth is divided between several spacefaring blocs, some of which are at war with each other. The world is rebuilding from the ruin of World War III.

Between America and Europe lie the circular islands of East Atlantis, a federal monarchy founded by refugees from all over the world. In spite of its high standard of living, the ten warlords occasionally invade East Atlantis and nearby lands to create their own empires, and three of them are associated with the Charonian or Kobekian Empires. The islands of East Atlantis are ruled by ten kingdoms, each who elects a high king or queen every twenty years.

America is split into five countries, and Europe is divided between five blocs: the diversity-worshipping Atlantic League, the Germanic Union, the Slavic League, the European Alliance, and the Mediterranean Federation. All of them are assaulted by militants and rogue armies, seeking to dominate any or all five of the blocs either in the name of fascism, Soviet communism, or authoritarianism.

The Galaxy is divided between the Charonian Empire (a nation of pirates) and the Kobekian Empire.

## Synopsis

### Reltak

While hiking, Cristobal and his friends uncover an ancient ship, which brings them to a lonely fortress in the middle of space. Guided by four aliens, they learn to use it to fight against the Kobekian Empire, joining forces with several other groups to battle them and other threats to the human civilisation.

### Reltak Reborn

In the future, the nations of Earth have reorganised themselves into blocs, many of which cooperate with each other as they develop better technology and explore the Milky Way. Explorers from all over Earth and Mars built their own vehicles to explore the stars.

On the island of Oneirus in the western Mediterranean, Pallondo and his friends build their own vessel, the Grand Construct. They fly it to West Oneirus, where it is registered as a member of the European Interstellar Guard. While exploring a ruined mine within the asteroid belt, they find a band of survivors, including Sarona, Phaeresos, and Kuviarnis, who reveal to Pallondo that they fled from Emperor Kobek's invasion of their homeworld of Noten Sentido.

Later on, Pallondo is joined by several other members. Initially, his group consisted of himself, Tamara, Cristobal, Leonid, and Hugo; followed by Sarona and her attendants Phaeresos and Kuviarnis. Then, later members of the team consisted of Tristan, Yvaine, Balamed, and Leander, so the ship had to be expanded. Leander, a friend of Pallondo during their teenage years, joined the Tessarect because he wanted to explore the Galaxy.

However, their journey is often interrupted by dimensional rifts. Occasionally, absurd and surreal things happen due to the Kobekians and the Charonians abusing dimensional music to build superweapons and go on monster hunts in the Abyss.

#### Arcs

Among the many arcs of this series include:

* Cristobal exploring a jungle ruin
* Balamed meeting Iskaron and learning about
* Exploring the Golden Mart
* The Golden Temple of Thordian
* The seven beasts of the Kobekian Empire
* Leonid, Hugo, and Pallondo being rivals
* Reltak getting a new ship for its other members
* The team being split over the Dark Crystal
* A huge rift appearing over Earth, with an alien fleet demanding the Earthlings to surrender a great generator
* Helping five nations along the Milky Way form an alliance to resist the two galactic empires. They also try to make sure the Earthlings do not attempt to conquer the new alliance, and defend them from attacks.
* Leander being a diplomat, and Balamed becoming a wanderer.
* The Death of Emperor Kobek, and hundreds of new rifts appearing.
* The Chinese and Brazilian space navies
* The discovery of Sarona's lost people, and how the Grand Construct with their friends helped them evacuate, (whereas the European and Brazilian authorities refused to help)
* The Ten Warlords of East Atlantis
* Victor's death and the division of the European Interstellar Guard between three factions, and how the members of the Grand Construct tried to fight back against a fascist warlord who wanted to take over the world. They also defend Oneirus from a warlord who seeks to conquer the island to control the remainder of the EIG.
* The European Interstellar Guard pressuring them to stop being adventurers, forcing the Tessarect's crew to quit and wander the Galaxy. Tristan, Yvraine, Hugo, and Cristobal leave the group.
* The Kobekian invasion of Earth, stopped by the Charonian Empire's corsairs.
* Reltak is being attacked by Black Nova, who seeks to make them into his puppets. Although they managed to destroy Black Nova and incinerate her soul, Pallondo was severely injured, and Tamara was killed. As Pallondo rested to heal from his wounds, Sarona chose to become the Tessarect's next captain.
* The rediscovery of Notelia, which was moved by Black Nova as a conduit for her sorceries. As it was located far away from the Kobekian-Charonian War, Sarona tries to help her people reach the ruins of Notelia, and fights back against Charonian raiders.
* Pallondo and Sarona managed to find a way to infiltrate into Emperor Meeralg's superweapon. They sabotage the superweapon, and are almost killed by the emperor until Timbo saves them and helps them defeat Meeralg and escape. The two empires collapse as more worlds break away and free themselves from slavery and pirate raids.

In the end, Sarona invites Pallondo to rule with her as king of Notelia. With the Galaxy saved from monsters and tyrannies, the Tessarect becomes the first of Notelia's own fleet of Grand Constructs. Leander and Balamed travel around the Galaxy looking for more knowledge.

## Characters

### European Interstellar Guard

#### Tessarect/Grand Construct and crew

* Pallondo - the captain of the Grand Construct. From Italy.
	+ In the 2010's remake, he is the main protagonist. His family were immigrants who moved to Oneirus from Cuba.
* Sarona - the navigator of the Reltak's crew. From Portugal.
	+ In the 2010's remake, she is shown to be a dark-skinned, brown-haired artist from the alien planet of Noten Sentido. She also becomes Pallondo's girlfriend and the next captain of the Grand Construct.
	+ Although she would have been killed off in the 2010's remake's finale, a last-minute intervention from the whole fanbase "saved" her. In the aired version, Sarona and Pallondo defeat Emperor Meeralg of the Kobekian Empire together, and the series ends with their wedding.
	+ Her birthday is February 14.

* Phaeresos - Sarona's bodyguard, and a skilled interpreter of various galactic languages. He was added in the 2010's remake.
	+ It was he who taught Leander to read alien languages.
* Kuviarnis - Sarona's assistant. She was added in the 2010's remake.

* Tamara - a teammate of Pallondo who piloted the Tessarect's right turret. An immigrant from the ruins of East America who lives in England.
* Cristobal - a teammate of Pallondo who becomes his rival, and the protagonist of the 1980's series. From Spain.
	+ In the 2010's remake, he is still from Spain.
* Leonid - a sturdy teammate of Pallondo who knows a lot about alien civilisations and their technology, and a friend of Hugo. A child of refugees from Ukraine who lives in Austria.
	+ In the 2010's remake, he comes from Mexico.
* Hugo - a teammate of Pallondo who piloted the Tessarect's left turret. Uses alien artifacts as his weapons, such as a black glove that shoots beams of dark energy or plasma. From Spain.
	+ In the 2010's remake, he is from Mexico, and he and Leonid are brothers.

#### Later members

* Tristan - Yvaine's brother. From England.
	+ In the 2010's remake, he comes from Germany.
* Balamed - The Reltak team's advisor who fights with a Crusader's sword protected with a laser blade. From Malta.
	+ In the 2010's remake, he comes from Lebanon or Syria.
* Yvaine - Tristan's sister. From England.
	+ In the 2010's remake, she comes from Germany.

* Leander Alaric - An eager young man who wanted to explore the stars. He is of Romani descent, and he is the younger brother of Timbo Alaric. Out of his desire to learn more, he becomes a diplomat and an interpreter. He was added in the 2010's remake.
	+ As part of his culture, he doesn't eat horse-meat. He is also very tidy, and he likes taking showers.
	+ His family came from the northwestern border of an eastern European country. They happened to live under an improving time, when the locals started to trust them and see them as reliable neighbours, after they understood that the Romani villagers were honest and hardworking. This led to nearby villages beginning to accept local Romani residents, although it led to occasional attacks by angry hooligans who accused the villages of "treason".
	+ His father, Florin Alaric, was a schoolteacher. It was through him that the villagers began to learn that their Romani neighbours were not dangerous.
	+ His mother, Daniela Alaric (nee Oncea), was a baker. She has a thing for rainbow cupcakes.
	+ He and Timbo have two sisters, and both are younger than them. Both of them work in the sleek cities of East Atlantis, where they enjoyed learning about the diverse cultures of its cosmopolitan realms and admiring their beautiful architecture.
		- The older of the two, Carolina Alaric, was a scientist gifted with a high amount of intelligence. Her high grades led her to become one of the coordinators of the Grand Construct within the European Interstellar Guard. Carolina's success inspired her siblings, especially Leander, to pursue higher careers and fulfil their dreams.
		- The younger of the two, Sorina Alaric, works as a cafe waitress. She also does part-time painting.
	+ The Alarics had to leave their hometown as their father was wrongly mistaken for a thief and beaten up by vigilantes. They were lucky that they escaped before the "border war", which would had killed Mr. Florin, anyone from the family, or all of them, including young Leander. They were brought to the island of Oneirus where they recovered: but because of what they had been through in the past, they only referred themselves as Romanians, only revealing their real heritage to their closest friends and the other Romani neighbours.
		- Because they were refugees, their new neighbours tried to support them as they started their new home. The neighbours were especially saddened by Mr. Florin's injuries, that they sent him to a hospital, where he was healed by its advanced machines. But Mr. Florin never forgot the pain that he suffered under, so even as he made new friends, sometimes his family tried to comfort him when he had occasional trauma.
		- Later, while Leander and Timbo continued in their work in the Grand Construct, they later found out that their former home was liberated from the invaders. He was also glad to hear that many of his friends who loved his family survived, especially because their Romani neighbours protected them and help them drive out the invaders.
	+ His knowledge of three languages (from a Romani librarian known as Papa Petru) and his desire to break away from worsening conditions drove him to seek out more knowledge, especially languages and history, which he enjoyed the most. This made him as intelligent as his sister Carolina.
	+ He later has his own spin-off series, which is about him learning more about the Milky Way. He tries to convince the two empires to stop attacking Earth, but the Kobekians tried to keep him as a prisoner, and he barely escaped with the help of his brother Timbo. However, because wandering the Galaxy reminds him of the persecution his people suffered under, he prefers to have his own simple seaside house at Oneirus Island.
	+ One factor that made him popular was that he is a well-written Romani character who became the hero of his own story, whether it was a great arc or his own spin-off. It was also because he and many other Romani characters were not stereotypical, but ordinary and successful enough to be relatable and inspirational.

#### Other members

* Iskaron - An explorer who brought with him a lot of information about the Kobekians. From Greece.
	+ In the 2010's remake, he comes from Afghanistan, and he is later revealed to be a descendant of Alexander the Great.
	+ In the 2010's remake, Iskaron leads the crew in finding a mystical artifact that helps the crew defeat Meeralg.
* Victor - The commanding officer of the EIG. He comes from Sweden.
	+ In the 2010's remake, he comes from Poland. When he was killed in battle, Martin of Slovakia took his place.

### Chinese Space Force

* San Jiu - Cristobal's boastful rival. Pilot of the Qing Long, a spherical vehicle.
	+ In the 2010's remake, he is instead a bounty hunter for the Usrinoi.
* Wan Mei -
* Lian Cheng -
* Cheng Gao -
* Wu Shi - The strong member of the team.

### Brazilian Navy

Brazilian Grand Constructs are small enough to fit a single member, and instead of being a geometric shape, each of them is shaped like a mythological animal.

* Orlando - another competitor for Sarona's affection. Pilots a Tessarect that is shaped like a gryphon. He is of African descent in both versions.
* Ronaldo - Orlando's friend, and a slayer of energy monsters. Pilots a Tessarect that is shaped like a hippogriff.

### Charonian Navy

Charonians look somewhat like Minoans.

In the original series, they were a federation of pirate fleets. In the 2010's series, they are the other of two empires that battled for domination of the Milky Way.

* Kaderros and Kimberros - two competing brothers. While they were the earlier major antagonists, their ambitions later split the Charonian Navy in later seasons.
* Remade in the 2010's series into two princes of the Charonian Empire: Kaderros sought peace with the Kobekians as part of his oath to the gods for much knowledge, while Kimberros wanted war against the Kobekians to fulfill his oath to the gods for infinite power.

### Kobekian Empire

* Emperor Kobek
* Emperor Meeralg

### Wila-walwin

* Dark Nova - an evil spirit made from dark matter

### Other characters

* Timbo Alaric - an engineer who is Pallondo's childhood friend. Even though he helped build the Tessarect, he refused to be a member of his crew, but he wanders the Galaxy as a scholar and an archaeologist to learn more about technology. He is of Romani descent. He was added in the 2010's remake.

## Trivia

* Reltak was inspired by Voltron: Legendary Defender, and Beast King GoLion's American remake.
* Reltak-kens have a bitter rivalry with Kalendricans, fans of a tabletop wargame from Britain, for "stealing" attention away from them. The Reltak-ken fandom also became more divided due to:
	+ dissatisfaction with the writing of the current episodes,
	+ the (guessed) romantic relationships of the characters,
	+ and the staff's attempts to appease fans of the 80's series by adding more shout-outs instead of focusing on the more recent fans.
	+ Alex Bergsen, one of the co-authors of Reltak Reborn, strongly condemned the rivalry as going against the spirit of the show. His attempts to befriend Kalendrican fans angered the more-obsessed fans of his own franchise, who were then kicked out for their aggressive behaviour escalating into violence.

* TCG Amber Championship
* Juan Alberto Stephano, a certain future president of America, was a huge fan of Reltak because he considered its protagonist Pallondo to be relatable. He even pretended to be Pallondo on some of his working days by raising the pitch of his voice and being more relaxed.
* As they wanted to see their franchise displace Kalendrica as the most popular meme in 2016, fans of the new series adopted the Grand Construct's crew's green flag as their unofficial symbol when fighting or competing against the Kalendrican fans.
	+ Some fans instead paint the flag with rainbow colours or purple-pink colours, perhaps to mock their rival fandom or to support certain romantic fans. It usually happens every June.
* The author considered starting a novel based on 2010's Reltak on July 2021. He wanted to challenge the poorly-written series finale of Voltron: Legendary Defender to see if his writing will be better.
	+ In late October 2021, the author also expanded Leander's backstory, because he thought that the Romani stereotypes of Leander's people (that appeared in almost every Romani character in Western pop culture) were rather unnecessary. He was also considered seeking a Romani author or artist to help him.

## See also

* Raunonto and Lashvansh, two other similar ideas
* Sharada, Silkor and Korsil, and Losoi, more characters inspired by Voltron

## External links

* This is what you'll hear in a typical 2010's Reltak episode.