Big Bad Beetleborgs

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BeetleBorgs
Genre	Action-Adventure-Comedy
Creator(s)	Haim Saban ea.
Starring	Wesley Barker Shannon Chandler Brittany Konarzewski Herbie Baez Billy Forester Vivian Smallwood Joe Hackett Blake Torney David Fletcher Christopher Cho Claudine Barros Kyle Jordan Marshal Hilton e.a.
Country of origin	United States  Japan
No. of episodes	88 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	25 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	FOX/UPN
Original run	September 7, 1996 – February 23, 1998
Links

Big Bad Beetleborgs (and later Beetleborgs Metallix) was a short-lived American television series produced by Saban. It aired for 88 episodes on FOX, and ran for two seasons between September 7, 1996 ending its run on March 2, 1998.

Reruns aired for a period on UPN, between the 1998-1999 television season.

The combat footage for the series was taken from the tokusatsu-series Juukou B-Fighter for the first season and B-Fighter Kabuto for the second.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Characters 2.1 Beetleborgs 2.2 Allies 2.3 Villains 3 Weaponry & Arsenal 3.1 Big Bad Beetleborgs 3.2 Beetleborgs Metallix 3.3 Assault Vehicles 3.4 Battleborgs 4 Production 5 See also

[edit] Synopsis

Set in the fictional town of Charterville, three typical kids, Drew, Jo, and Roland, enter the suposedly haunted Hillhurst Manor after accepting a dare from rich snobs Van and Trip. The house is revealed to be the home of real monsters when the kids accidentally bump a pipe organ, releasing a phantom named Flabber. He proves to be friendly, and in return for releasing him, offers to grant them one wish. They wish to become their comic book heroes, The Big Bad Beetleborgs. However, this also brings the Beetleborgs' sworn enemies to life: the Magnavores, led by the evil Vexor.

In the final episode of the first season, the Magnavores steal a picture of a new villain named Nukus. They bring him to life to enlist his help in destroying the Beetleborgs. Nukus assists them by planning devastating attacks on the city and creating Borgslayer, a hybrid of all the Magnavore monsters. Unbeknownst to the Magnavores, Nukus was actually plotting to get rid of them. Nukus tells Van and Trip how to defeat Borgslayer, and orders them to take the information to the Beetleborgs. They succeed in destroying Borgslayer, causing the Magnavores to be swept back into the comics. Nukus challenged the kids to one last battle and despite Art Fortune's warning that he is too powerful, they face him anyway. Nukus quickly wipes them out, and destroys their armor, weapons, and powers.

These events lead directly into the second season, Beetleborgs Metallix. In it Nukus has replaced the Magnavores as the Beetleborgs arch-enemy. Nukus discovers that his creator, (the one who drew him), is actually Art Fortune's incarcerated brother, Les Fortunes. Nukus busts Les out of prison, Les now serves him by creating new villains and monsters for him. In turn, Art creates new powers, armor, and weapons for the kids, they rename themselves Beetleborgs Metallix.

They are later assisted by the Astralborgs, four Beetleborgs created by Art Fortunes as a child when he and Les worked together on they're only collaboration, the Lost Comic.

Nukus formed his own evil group, named the Crustaceans.

Nukus and Vilor eventually gained upgraded Mega forms, To conteract this, the Beetleborgs were given an upgrade by Roboborg, who fused their Metallix powers with their original powers, creating the Mega Spectra Beetleborgs.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Beetleborgs

• Andrew "Drew" McCormick - The Blue Stinger Beetleborg, and later the Chromium Gold Beetleborg in the second season, leader of the Beetleborgs, he was granted the ability of telekinesis by Flabber, which he activated by pointing at an onject and nodding his head. Drew's Blue Stinger armor received a "Battlizer" like upgrade after he used the machine that powered Shadowborg on his original armor. His armor was modeled after a goliath beetle. He was portrayed by Wesley Barker.
• Roland Williams - The Green Hunter Beetleborg, and later the Titanium Silver Beetleborg in the second season, an African American, his family owns a local comic book shop named Zoom Comics. Where he, Jo, and Drew usually hang out. He was granted the ability of super speed by Flabber, which he activated by snapping his fingers. His armor was modeled after a stag beetle. He was portrayed by Herbie Baez.
• Josephine "Jo" McCormick - The Red Striker Beetleborg, and later the Platinum Purple Beetleborg in the second season, Drew's little sister, she was granted the ability of super strength by Flabber, which she activated by cracking her knuckles. Her armor was modeled after a flower beetle, and her Platinum Purple armor after a ladybug. She was originally portrayd by Shannon Chandler, and later Brittany Konarzewski.
• Josh Baldwin - The White Blaster Beetleborg, granted the ability of invisibility by Flabber, which he activated by dusting his hands. He was on the team for a very short period of time. The White Blaster Beetleborg was created after Shadowborg, an evil clone of the Beetleborgs, stole they're powers. He succeded in getting they're powers back. However, it was soon discovered that the White Blaster and Shadowborg were linked in a fashion of yin and yang, meaning if one was destroyed, the other would lose his power forever. Josh accopanied the Beetleborgs in the final battle against Shadowborg, where he transformed for the final time. Shadowborg was destroyed, taking the White Blaster powers along with him. At which point, Josh returned to a normal life. It was slightly hinted that Jo had a crush on him. His armor was modeled after a hercules beetle. He was portrayed by Warren Berkow.

[edit] Allies

• Flabber (Billy Forrester): As described above, Flabber is a phantom who was trapped inside a pipe organ, and was freed by the kids. Out of gratitude he granted their wish to become they're comic book heroes, the Big Bad Beetleborgs. Flabber was released by playing 3 notes. He acts as an advisor and best friend, he offers needed magic to the kids when fighting the Magnvavores, and later the Crustaceans. Althought his magic doesn't always work the way he would hope for it to. He is the head of the Hillhurst Mansion and is usualy the one to keep the house monsters in check. The producers of the show said that he was based on Elvis Presley, although he more closely resembles Jay Leno to some.
• Arthur "Art" Fortunes (Rigg Kennedy): Creator of the Beetleborgs comics, who shows up time and time again with new ways to help the kids.
• "Nano" Williams (Vivian Smallwood): Roland's grandmother, Aaron's mother, and Abbie's mother-in-law, Nano is one hip granny and a trained martial artist. When she's not running Zoom Comics, or practicing her moves, she's often seen riding her motorcycle. Nano often helps out the kids when they're in a jam. If nothing else, she enjoys teasing her son Aaron.
• Aaron Williams (Kim Delgado): Roland's father. He ran Zoom Comics full time and is often embarrassed by his mother's antics. Aaron was soon called away on business, leaving the shop in the hands of his wife.
• Abbie Williams (Channe Nolan): Roland's mother. She primarily works as a real estate agent. When her husband, Aaron, gone on business, she assumed running Zoom Comics. She and her mother in-law don't see eye to eye but she didn't really know how to run a comic book shop. With a little help from Flabber's magic, Abbie's heart opened up and rekindled fond childhood memories of a comic she once loved reading. She ran the shop for the remainder of the series.
• Heather (Elizabeth Z. Lund): Drew's crush. No matter what, Drew could never tell Heather what he really felt. She would sometimes help out at the comic shop, and she also enjoyed reading them. During the Shadowborg saga, she developed a crush on Josh.
• Trip & Van (Todd Hurst & Patrick Seaborn): the comic relief of the series, the brothers constantly pestered the kids daily lives by flaunting their wealth and self-accalaimed superiority. Trip was the smarter of the two, whereas Van was a bit slow. They often came up with get-rich-quick schemes, ways to humiliate the Beetleborgs, or simply to cause mischief; often dragging their unwitting chauffeur, Dudley, into their schemes. They were the one's who dared Jo, Roland, and Drew to enter Hillhurst, which led to them becoming Beetleborgs. During the Borgslayer fiasco, they skipped town, never to be heard from again.
• Frankenbeans (David Fletcher): Called "Frankie" for short, he is a strange, lumbering Frankenstein-type monster. He was once kidnapped by the Magnavores, and held by ransom in exchange for the Beetleborgs' Beetle Bonders. Dr. Baron von Frankenbeans, his creator, showed up in a few episodes.
• Mums (Blake Torney): Mums is a 5,000 year-old Egyptian mummy, but he can unwrap his bandages to reveal a "Grim Reaper"-like form under his bandages. He has 703 brothers and sisters. In one episode, two archaeologists came to return Mums to the crypt in which they found him in order to get rid of a curse placed on them.
• Count Fangula (Joe Hackett): Loosely modeled after Count Dracula, Count Fangula is a vampire, a not so good one, but a vampire nonetheless.
• Wolfgang "Wolfie" Smith (Frank Tahoe, voiced by Scott Page-Pagter): Wolfie is a werewolf and is treated more like a family dog than a monster at Hillhurst. Only Fangula can translate what Wolfie is saying most of the time. Probably the bravest and most cunning of the Hillhurst Monsters because he's the only one of the group who tangled with the bad guys at least once.
• Little Ghoul (Lina Godouse): A Jawa-like addition to the Hillhurst group in season two, she lives in the basement and rarely comes out. A niece of the Grim Reaper, she is a grim reaper-in-training who loves collecting. She also has a short temper, which scares the other monsters even more than her true appearance under her hood. She has little to no respect for anyone; she does, however, have a great deal of respect for the Astralborgs.
• The Pipettes (Traci Bellusci): A multicolor spirit-like trio of ladies who live in the pipe organ. They act as Flabber's back-up singers. They stop appearing midway through the first series.
• Ghoulum (voiced by Dan Letlow for one episode only): A living stone statue type monster that resides in Hillhurst Mansion who often had little to say or do other than what statues do best, stand in place. While not the most active monster of Hillhurst Mansion on rare occasions he would join in on the other monsters' mischief. In one episode, he was accidentally exposed to a 'Bad Potion' turning him evil and causing him to grow into a giant under Noxic's control.
  • Karato (voiced by Richard George) and Silver Ray: Two other comic book superheroes that the kids are fans of. When the Magnavores released an army of monsters while trying to kidnap Art Fortunes from a comic book convention, the Beetleborgs were afraid of being unable to beat them all by themselves. Flabber agreed to use his magic on just that one occasion to summon other superheroes from the comics to help.
• Astralborgs
  • Dragonborg (voiced by Doug Stone): Modeled after a dragonfly, leader of the Astralborgs. Had a voice reminiscent of Sean Connery.
  • Fireborg (voiced by Gene Holliday): Modeled after a firefly.
  • Lightingborg (voiced by Richard Epcar): Modeled after a cicada.
  • Ladyborg (voiced by Barbara Goodson): Modeled after a butterfly.

[edit] Villains

• Magnavores:
  • Vexor: (first played by Rick Tane and later by Kisu; voiced by Joey Pal): The leader of the Magnavores.
  • Typhus: (played by Kyle Jordan and voiced by Dave "Foots" Footman): Plant/Animal-like humanoid monster, prefers brawn over brain and his whale-like flattop is an extra mouth with which he eats.
  • Noxic: (voiced by Derek Stephen Prince): Android with coils for hair and white jacket. Can control machinery and other objects by removing his head and attaching it to them. Prefers to eat donuts all day long instead of doing Vexor's bidding. He has a older brother named Super Noxic, though technically Noxic was created first.
  • Jara: (played by Balinda English in U.S. Footage, and voiced by Rajia Baroudi): Female humanoid clad in red attire and white mask. She speaks with a Russian accent. Despite her face being remade 3-dimensional, she cannot consume junk food in the real world because the mouth on her mask could never open (she emphasizes this by saying that she has no mouth). She was bitten by Wolfgang in one episode and became a werewolf and enamored with Wolfgang, but by the end of the episode was returned to her normal form and retained none of her affection for Wolfgang.
  • Shadowborg (voiced by Tom Papenbrook): Black evil Beetleborg created by Vexor from ionic DNA and insectite material stolen from the Blue Stinger Beetleborg. Not only is Shadowborg created from the basic materials as Blue Stinger, but he is enhanced with some of the powers of the other Beetleborgs. Shadowborg can run faster than the Green Hunter, jump higher than Red Striker, and remain underwater for 51 minutes. Shadowborg's architectual armor is modeled after a longicorn beetle. With his Shadow Claw, Shadowborg can cut through any substance know to the planet. He was finally destroyed by the Blue Stinger Beetleborg in his "Battlizer" form.
    • Magnavore Jet Fighters: Air-borne, wasp-resembling machine jets. Summoned to attack the Beetleborgs on several occasions.
    • Scabs: Yellow-black goon squad. Unlike in most Saban adaptations, these grunt soldiers were barely used.
• Crustaceans:
  • Nukus: (Christopher Cho): A creation of Les Fortunes, the Triceratops-based Overlord of the 2nd Dimension. Hid away in Art Fortune's vault until the Magnavores took the picture and Vexor brought him to life. Nukus quickly set a plan to dispose the Magnavores and take over as the new villain. He broke Les out of jail to use the artist's skills to create deadly monsters that could be brought to life with the use of his sword. He had an advantage over the Beetleborgs as he destroyed both the paper he came out of and the copy Art Fortunes owned. Nukus also destroyed the Beetleborgs' original armor, weapons, and powers. He later gained a mega form, Mega Nukus, from touching Les Fortunes' transmographier device.
  • Horribelle: (Claudine Barros): Second in command of the Crustaceans, an insect-based sword-toting fighter and Nukus' right-hand woman. Like Nukus, she can summon a face-mask in battle. She also wields two swords that resemble mantis arms. She once rebelled against the Crustaceans by having Les Fortunes create the Astral Axe, so she could control its' powers. She has no mega form, unlike the main male villains.
  • Vilor: (played by Kyle Jordan and voiced by Dave "Foots" Footman): Third in command of the Crustaceans, a fish-based, trident-toting fighter. He briefly gains a second form, Super Vilor, when the Mantrons arrived, and later a brief mega form, Mega Vilor, after touching Les Fortunes' transmographier device, though he somehow reverted back to his normal state.
  • Lester "Les" Fortunes: (Marshal Hilton): The black sheep in the Fortunes family, Art's younger brother. He was in jail when Nukus recruited him to his cause. Despite creating all the Crustacean monsters and their arsenal, Les never gets any respect or credit for it. At the end of the series, he goes back to jail for some peace and quiet.
    • Dregs: Assorted monsters used as foot soldiers. Dregs came in two groups. One group was based off land animals and wore brown slacks and black boots (Spider Dreg, Stego Dreg). The other based off sea creatures and wore blue spandex pants and white boots (Fish Dreg, Jellyfish Dreg, Squid Dreg). Each group consisted of five different types of Dregs.
    • Worm Tanks: Giant worm like vehicles summoned to attack the Beetleborgs on several occasions.
    • Crustacean Jet Fighters: Air-borne machines based on the design of the Worm Tank summoned to attack the Beetleborgs on several occasions.

• Mantrons: Evil counterparts of the Astralborgs. Created by Les Fortunes as a child to rival Art Fortunes' Astralborgs in their only collaboration, the Lost Comic. They were there to aid Nukus in his plans to get Roboborg, who ultimately made it to the good hands of the Beetleborgs. In 'Roboborg' (part 8 of the Lost Comic saga), the Mantrons were finally sent back to the Lost Comic for good by the combined attacks of the Beetleborgs, Astralborgs and Roboborg.
  • Scorpix (voiced by Bob Papenbrook): Modeled after a scorpion, leader of the Mantrons.
  • Centipix (voiced by Lee Hondo Woodford): Modeled after a centipede.
  • Mantix (voiced by Ethan Murray): Modeled after a praying mantis.
  • Hornix (voiced by Bob Johnson): Modeled after a hornet.

Main article: List of Beetleborgs monsters

[edit] Weaponry & Arsenal

[edit] Big Bad Beetleborgs

• Beetle Bonders: The Beetleborgs' transformation devices. Once summoned, the kids transformed into the Beetleborgs with a cry of "Beetle Blast!".

• Sonic Laser Saber
  • Sonic Lasers: The Beetleborgs' fire-arms.
  • Pulsabers: The weapons that the Beetleborgs use to summon Gargantis. It can combine with the Sonic Laser to become the Sonic Laser Saber for more firepower.

• Beetle Battlers: The Beetleborgs' main weapons of their own design;
  • Stinger Blade: The Blue Stinger Beetleborg's weapon.
  • Stinger Drill: The Blue Stinger Beetleborg's more powerful enhanced Beetle Battler.
  • Hunter Claw: The Green Hunter Beetleborg's weapon.
  • Striker Blaster: The Red Striker Beetleborg's weapon.

• Thunder Stinger: More powerful than any Sonic Laser, only the Blue Stinger Beetleborg can use it. This weapon also helps transform Blue Stinger Beetleborg into the Mega Blue Beetleborg.

[edit] Beetleborgs Metallix

• "Bugging out" - in the first two episodes of Metallix (or the last two episodes of Big Bad BeetleBorgs), Drew and his teammates use Flabber's book of spells (or Phasm Handbook) to try and change him back to normal after Nukus traps him into a giant block of ice. One spell gives all three the power to change into somewhat larger versions of their respective insects (about the size of their fists), then revert back to human. By saying "Bug out!", they change into bugs. To become human again, they say "Bug back!" The trio are able to use this ability in either human or Beetleborg form, and will never lose it.

• Data Bonders: The Beetleborgs' transformation devices. Unlike the Beetle Bonders, the kids had to insert the Input Cards into the Data Bonders after they were summoned. The kids transformed into the Metallix Beetleborgs with a cry of "Beetle Blast!".

• Metallix Battlers: The Beetleborgs' main weapons of their own design;
  • Metallix Lancer: The Chromium Gold Beetleborg's weapon.
  • Metallix Grappler: The Titanium Silver Beetleborg's weapon. Much like the Hunter Claw, it could also grab an enemy.
  • Metallix Baton: The Platinum Purple Beetleborg's weapon.

• Sector Cycles / Mega Spectra Secter Cycles: The Beetleborgs' new bikes used when they need to get to another part of the city. When Roboborg arrived, he changed the cycles into the new Mega Spectra Sector Cycles by combining their old powers with their Metallix powers.
  • Chromium Gold Secter Cycle / Chromium Gold Mega Spectra Secter Cycle: Chromium Gold Beetleborg's Secter Cycle.
  • Titanium Silver Secter Cycle / Titanium Silver Mega Spectra Secter Cycle: Titanium Silver Beetleborg's Secter Cycle.
  • Platinum Purple Secter Cycle / Platinum Purple Mega Spectra Secter Cycle: Platinum Purple Beetleborg's Secter Cycle.

• Astral Sword: See Battleborgs - Roboborg.

• Astral Blaster: Combination of a Data Laser, Astral Laser, Astral Datadex & Astral Pulsar, usually held by Chromium Gold Beetleborg.
  • Data Lasers: The Beetleborgs' fire-arms.
  • Astral Laser: Laser weapon used by either Dragonborg or Chromium Gold Beetleborg.
  • Astral Pulsar: Hand-held weapon used by Platinum Purple to ruin or restore.
  • Astral Datadex: Weapon used by the Titanium Silver Beetleborg.

• Astral Bonders: The Astralborgs use this device to give the Beetleborgs new weapons to use in battle.

• Astral Arsenal: Weapons used by either the Beetleborgs or Astralborgs.
  • Astral Launcher: Arm-cannon used by Fireborg.
  • Astral Sabers: Long swords used by Lightningborg.
  • Astral Sonic Cannon: Weapon on Lightningborg's chest used to give his enemy ear aches, later involving a laser blast afterwards.
  • Astral Bazooka: Weapon used by Ladyborg.

• Astral Ax: See Battleborgs - Boron.

[edit] Assault Vehicles

• Attack Vehicles: The A.V.'s are the Beetleborgs' heavy artillery to use when the city is attacked by Magnavor Jet Fighters. Housed in the Beetle Battle Base, minus Gargantis.
  • Gargantis Mega Cannon: Combination of the Beetleborgs A.V.'s and Gargantis. It is their most powerful weapon of all.
    • Blue Stinger A.V.: Blue Stinger Beetleborg's A.V.
    • Green Hunter A.V.: Green Hunter Beetleborg's A.V.
    • Red Striker A.V.: Red Striker Beetleborg's air-borne A.V.
    • Gargantis the Attack Mobile Carrier: Most powerful attack vehicle the Beetleborgs had, it can open its back so the smaller A.V.s can ride atop of it for the Gargantis Mega Cannon. Gargantis ended up getting destroyed by the powerful Borgslayer at the end of the first season.

• Battle Vehicles: The B.V.'s are the Beetleborgs' heavy artillery to use when the city is attacked by Crustacean Jet Fighters & Worm Tanks. Housed in the Beetle Battle Station.
  • Chromium Gold B.V.: Chromium Gold Beetleborg's B.V.
  • Titanium Silver B.V.: Titanium Silver Beetleborg's B.V.
  • Platinum Purple B.V.: Platinum Purple Beetleborg's air-borne B.V.

[edit] Battleborgs

• Roboborg (voiced by Michael Sorich): Arrived on Earth when all eight of the Astral Coins were reunited with the Astral Sword. Roboborg is summoned when the Chromium Gold Beetleborg holds the Astral Sword in the air and shouts “Roboborg!”. It wields a weapon called Robo Sword, with which he can perform the Robo Cyclone.

• Boron (voiced by Y.I. Otta): Les Fortunes created the Astral Ax, the evil counterpart to the Astral Sword, and with it Roboborg's evil counterpart, Boron. Used by Mega Nukus to summon Boron, simply by shouting out, “Boron, Arise!”. In the battle against Repgillian, the Beetleborgs tricked the Crustaceans into giving up the Astral Ax so it could fall into the hands of Titanium Silver Beetleborg. Boron then switched to the side of good.

[edit] Production

It was not uncommon to see cardboard cut-outs and wall decorations of the Beetleborgs characters on the walls of Zoom Comics where the 3 kids worked. Other decorations used included the costume heads of King Sphinx of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the original head from the monster costume Kappa from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (The monster was used as "Parrot Top" in MMPR) which was used to create the costume Malevex. Toys from the Bandai Beetleborgs toyline could also be seen in various displays. Including the Special Edition Deluxe Shadowborg figure, in an episode which preceded Shadowborg's character ever appearing on the show.

Like other adaptations, some of the original source footage was altered for Beetleborgs. The Input Magnums, the original B-Fighter's guns, looked very realistic due to the black-and-silver coloring. In Beetleborgs, the gun's colors were changed to bright red and purple. However, the colors of the guns changed from time to time due to the blending in of the B-Fighter footage. Similarly, the American version of the toy was done in red and purple colors instead of the Input Mangum's black and silver coloring. In Metallix, the Input Cardgun colors remained unchanged (grey and black), but the toy line changed the weapons to a white-and-blue color scheme.

Big Bad Beetleborgs and Beetleborgs Metallix ultimately ended because the Saban crew were left with no more Juukou B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto footage to adapt. Their predecessor, VR Troopers also ended for the same reason. Ironically, B-Fighter Kabuto was also the last series of the Metal Hero genre to air on Japanese television in Japan.

• Various monsters from both Beetleborgs seasons were re-used as enemy monsters in The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. Some of them included Scorpix, Shellator, Emily the Seed of Evil, Fangula Bat Monster, and 3 monsters from B-Fighter Kabuto that were unused in this series (an ant monster, an anemone monster, and a porcupine/stingray monster).

• Five costumes were re-used in the power rangers wild force episode forever red as remnants of the machine empire, who would plan to reactivate serpentera

[edit] See also

• List of Big Bad Beetleborgs episodes
• List of Beetleborgs Metallix episodes

Power Rangers
Television series
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers  • Alien Rangers  • Zeo  • Turbo  • Space  • Lost Galaxy  • Lightspeed Rescue  • Time Force
Wild Force  • Ninja Storm  • Dino Thunder  • S.P.D.  • Mystic Force  • Operation Overdrive
Movies
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie  • Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie
Characters
Rangers • Zords • Villains • Enemy grunts • Monsters • Other Characters
Related series from Saban Entertainment
VR Troopers  • Masked Rider  • Big Bad Beetleborgs  • The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog  • Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation
Other related series
Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad  • Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills
See also
Fox Kids • ABC Kids • ABC Family • Toon Disney • Jetix • Saban • Disney • Super Sentai