The Herculoids

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The Herculoids
The Herculoids title card
Genre	Animated series
Creator(s)	Alex Toth
Starring	Mike Road Virginia Gregg Ted Eccles Don Messick
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	48
Production
Running time	9 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 9, 1967 – September 6, 1969 1981 − 1982
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Herculoids was a Saturday morning animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The show debuted on September 9, 1967, and aired on CBS until September 6, 1969. Eleven new episodes were created in 1981 as part of the Space-Stars show. The plotlines were rooted in science fiction, and had story direction and content similar to Jonny Quest and Space Ghost. This series takes place on a far-away planet named Quasar in the land of Amzot.

1 Characters
2 The Herculoids in other languages
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Characters

There were eight regular characters:

Zandor (voiced by Mike Road)

Humanoid protector of the planet Amzot/Quasar.

Tarra (voiced by Virginia Gregg)

Zandor's wife.

Dorno (voiced by Ted Eccles, then by Sparky Marcus in 1981)

Zandor and Tarra's son.

Five creatures of the planet:
- Zok, the flying dragon (voiced by Mike Road)

He emitted laser beams from his eyes and tail. His eyes also produced a "nega-beam" that could neutralize certain energy attacks. Zok could survive in space unaided, was capable of interstellar travel, and could breathe fire.

- Igoo the rock ape (voiced by Mike Road)

An extremely large and powerful simian. He had extremely dense skin and was nearly invulnerable to harm.

- Tundro the ten-legged rhino-triceratops (voiced by Mike Road)

Tundro

He shot explosive energy rocks from his cannon-horn (Zandor, Tarra, and Dorno also occasionally shot similar rocks with slingshots). His natural armor-plating was exceptionally strong, similar to Igoo's rock skin. His legs had the ability to extend to a remarkable length, somewhat like stilts. He could also spin his head at blinding speed, allowing him to drill through solid rock.

- Two protoplastic creatures named Gloop and Gleep (both voiced by Don Messick)

They could assume any shape or form that they chose. They could also subdivide themselves into multiple smaller units, which moved more or less in unison. Gloop was the larger of the two, while Gleep seemed to be a juvenile and was often paired off with young Dorno.

The five creatures did not speak -- the voice actors provided appropriate animal sounds for them.

In the 1981 revived series, there was also a sixth creature in close association: Saju, an enormous Godzilla-like animal whose size was only matched by her enormous strength. She was not considered a member of the group in canon, and did not travel with them on their various remote adventures.

Together, the Herculoids battle to defend their planet from several menaces on Quasar and from outer space. All of the Herculoids displayed human-level intelligence and could clearly understand human speech.

[edit] The Herculoids in other languages

Brazilian Portuguese: Os Herculóides
Spanish: Los Defensores Intergalácticos or Los Herculóides
Hungarian: A Herkuloidák
Japanese: 怪獣王ターガン Kaijû Ô Tâgan (Monster King Targan)
- The characters' names in Japan were Targan (Zandor), Marmi (Tarra), Kane (Dorno), Maryû (Zok), Rikira (Igoo), Tangurô (Tundro), Hyûhyû (Gloop) and Bôbô (Gleep).