Skeleton Warriors

*Skeleton Warriors* was a 13-episode cartoon series created by producer Gary Goddard and Landmark Entertainment Group that aired in 1994 on CBS.

## **Summary**

The story takes place on the fictional distant planet of "Luminaire". The conflict of the plot revolves around the need to control the Lightstar Crystal, which powers the great city of Luminicity. Baron Dark, the show's main villain, tried to steal the crystal in order to gain control over its incredible power. He only succeeded in obtaining half of the crystal, with the other half being obtained by Prince Lightstar. The half of the crystal that the Baron Dark managed to obtain turns him into a living skeleton. It also gives him the power to turn those with evil hearts into living skeletons for his army. Each episode involves Prince Lightstar, his siblings and Baron Dark attempting to obtain the other half of their respective crystals in order to gain control over the planet. Prince Lightstar forms part of the "Legion of Light." It consists of Justin Lightstar a.k.a. Prince Lightstar, Joshua Lightstar a.k.a. Grimskull, and Jennifer Steele a.k.a. Talyn. They also have been endowed with great powers through their half of the Crystal. They team together with their uncle Ursak (a.k.a. Guardian) to battle the evil Baron Dark. While Baron Dark is transformed into an undead skeleton and given the ability to transform other living beings into his Skeleton Warriors, the Legion of Light gains other fantastic abilities: Lightstar gains the ability to channel energy through his hands, Talyn gains the power of flight, and Grimskull is transformed into an undead creature similar to the Baron, but also has the power to travel through shadows.

Apparently, Gary Goddard got the idea to make *Skeleton Warriors*, not just to compete with toyetic cartoons like *Transformers* and *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*, after watching both the skeleton fight scene in *Jason & the Argonauts* and the *Conan the Barbarian* stunt show that used to be in Universal Studios Hollywood. His cartoon set out to take a much bolder tone than most animated shows of the day as it never talked down to children and explored the internal conflict of what side is worth taking in warfare. Character arcs were introduced to be expanded in later seasons, though *Skeleton Warriors* after airing only 13 episodes; due to low rating, competition from other kids networks, and being way too ahead of its time.

## **Action Figures**

The show is relatively forgotten in this day and age, though *Skeleton Warriors* managed to receive some official merchandise including a comic book limited series by Marvel Comics, a video game for the SEGA Saturn and PlayStation console that was developed by Neversoft, and for the sake of this article: toys.  Playmates did a line when the show first came out and October Toys made some figures for the 20th anniversary as part of a Kickstarter project, though they each have cancelled aspects that are further documented in the links down below:

* Playmates Series 2
* Unmet October Toys Kickstarter Goals

## **Reference**

1. ↑ *Who Is To Blame For The Epic Failure of Skeleton Warriors?* by Toy Galaxy/YouTube
2. ↑ *Skeleton Warriors* on Wikipedia