SilverHawks
Silverhawks is an animated children's television series. It was developed by Rankin/Bass in 1986. In total, 65 episodes were made. It was created as a space-bound equivalent to their more popular series, Thundercats.
Overview
Rankin/Bass follow-up to their successful Thundercats was this series about a team of human heroes in the 25th Century who were given metal bodies and hawk wings to stop organized crime in the Limbo galaxy.
Bionic policeman Commander Stargazer recruited the SilverHawks to fight the evil Mon*Star, an escaped alien mob boss who transformed into an enormous armor-plated creature with the aid of Limbo’s Moonstar. Joining Mon*Star in his villainy was an intergalactic mob: snakelike Yessman, blade-armed Buzz-Saw, bull-headed (literally) Mumbo-Jumbo, weather controller Windhammer, shapeshifter Mo-Lec-U-Lar, robotic card shark Pokerface, weapons-heavy Hardware, “and the musical madness of Melodia!”
Quicksilver (formerly Jonathan Quick) led the SilverHawks, with his metal bird companion TallyHawk at his side. Twins Emily and Will Hart became Steelheart and Steelwill, the Silverhawks’ technicians and strongmen. Country-singing Bluegrass played a sonic guitar and piloted the team’s ship, the Maraj (pronounced "mirage" on the series, but given that spelling on the Kenner toy). Rounding out the group was a youngster “from the planet of the mimes,” Copper Kidd, a mathematical genius who spoke in whistles and computerized tones. At the end of every episode, Copper Kidd was quizzed (along with the home audience) on various space facts.
Launching from their satellite base, Hawk Haven, the SilverHawks flew into battle five days a week for one season.
Characters
The Silverhawks, and other Good Guys:
- Commander Stargazer, a tough policeman, with bionic capabilities. He captured Mon*Star several years ago and had him imprisoned. Somewhat older than the other Silverhawks, he always talks about returning to Earth, but never does so.
- Quicksilver, formerly Jonathan Quick. He was the former head of the Interplanetary Force H, and is the current leader of the Silverhawks. Has a cyborg/bird companion called TallyHawk.
- Steelheart & Steelwill, Twin brother and sister pair Emily and Will Hart. They are the technicians and designers of the team. They share a link in that when one feels something, the other feels it also. They are the only Silverhawks who had real steel hearts implanted during their transformation.
- Bluegrass. The pilot of the group and a cowboy at heart. He is the only Silverhawk who can't fly, but he is the one that flies the team vehicle, the Maraj. He likes to play his weapon/guitar, which he calls "Hot Licks".
- Copper Kid. A mathematical genius from the Planet of the Mimes. He speaks only in tones and whistles. At the end of each episode, he was quizzed in several astronomy lessons.
- Hotwing. A gold-plated Silverhawk of African-American heritage who was added mid-season. A magician.
- Flashback. A Silverhawk from the far future. He comes back to the other Silverhawk's present to save their lives. Flashback decides to stay with them eventually.
- Moon Stryker. With no wings, he propels himself through space by a powerful cyclone he can form around his body.
- Condor. An old ally of Commander Stargazer. He calls him "Gaze".
- Seymour. The show's comic relief, he's a space cabbie with the quote "You know what I mean?"
- Zeek the Beak. Seymour's pal, he's a green bird like alien. He oftentimes accompanies Seymour on cab rides.
Mon*Star and his gang, or the Bad Guys (the Mob):
- Mon*Star. An alien mob boss that escaped from his cell at Penal Planet 10. He uses the power of Limbo's Moonstar to transform into an armor-plated, spiked creature with rocket boosters in his elbows, rides a giant "space-squid" called Sky-Runner, and has a 'pet' bat named Sky Shadow. He has some back history with Stargazer, and that's why he hates the Silverhawks.
- Yess-man. He's a snake-like creature that is basically Mon*Star's slave henchman.
- Hardware. A lizard-like creature that carries a huge backpack full of weapons and equipment.
- Melodia. A musical mistress that's a counterpart to the Silverhawks' Bluegrass. Goes around with a synthethizer as weapon.
- Buzz-Saw. A robot bad-guy equipped with cutting blades.
- Windhammer. He had the ability to control the weather with a huge tuning fork.
- Mo-lec-u-lar. A creature with the ability to shift into any shape or form. He was Mon*Star's master of disguise.
- Zero the Memory Thief. A long-nosed shady character that steals memories using a cattle prod-like weapon and records them on cassettes.
- Mumbo Jumbo. A minotaur that's basically the grunt for the Mob.
- Poker-Face. Owner of the Starship Casino who has slot machines for his eyes and carries a cane with playing card suits decorated on it.
- Timestopper. A cocky young teen, he is able to freeze time for a minute.
- Bounty Hunter. Was imprisoned by Commander Stargazer for 200 years. He is broken out by Mon*Star and now wants revenge.
Action Figures
The Silverhawks action figure line by Kenner was based on the animated television series and was first released in 1987. Each figure was packaged with a companion bird and had an action feature of some type. The second series of figures are generally harder to find than the first with Ultrasonic Quicksilver being the most difficult. The MonStar with Laser Lance, Copper Kid with Laser Discs and the Copper Racer vehicle were not produced but were shown in the 1988 Kenner toy catalog. The series 1 Hawk Haven Fortress was never produced either due to the high production costs it would incurr.