Level Up (American TV series)

Level Up
Genre	Fantasy, comedy, adventure
Created by	Derek Guiley David Schneiderman
Starring	Gaelan Connell Jessie T. Usher Connor Del Rio Aimee Carrero Lonny Ross
Opening theme	"The Bomb" by Pigeon John (used in network promos)
Composer	Paul Robb
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	28 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Derek Guiley David Schneiderman Peter Murrieta Brian A. Miller and Mark Costa (for Cartoon Network Studios) Gregg Goldin, Nick Weidendfeld and Rob Sorcher (for Cartoon Network)
Producers	Peter Lhotka Karen Mayeda-Vranek (co-producer)
Cinematography	Philip Linzey
Camera setup	Film; Single camera
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Alive & Kicking Productions Cartoon Network Studios
Original release
Network	Cartoon Network
Release	January 24, 2012 – present

Level Up is a live-action television series that is broadcasted on Cartoon Network. A film with the same title, which served as a pilot for the series, premiered on November 23, 2011. The series premiered on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 8 p.m. ET/PT..

It is one of the only Cartoon Network shows outside of Adult Swim to have the U.S. rating of TV-PG-V (the others being Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ben 10: Alien Swarm, Tower Prep and Unnatural History). Its rating in Canada for most episodes is "G", or else "PG".

Plot

Main article: Level Up (film)

After high schoolers Wyatt (Gaelan Connell), Lyle (Jessie Usher), Dante (Connor Del Rio) and Angie (Aimee Carrero) unwittingly open a portal from a video game called Maldark: Conqueror of All Worlds into the real world, characters from the game and the Internet start leaking into the real world of the four teenage characters. The group consequently finds itself balancing the everyday lives of its members with the extraordinary things that show up in their town from the virtual world which always resorts to NeverFail to send the monsters back into the game by "barding" them.

Characters

Heroes

• Wyatt Black (played by Gaelan Connell) - Wyatt is a brilliant "techno-geek" character who attains perfect grades at school. He is often shown to be a know-it-all and cannot stand when someone bests him at anything he is good at. As seen in the movie, he created NeverFail as well as organizes all the missions and leads the team in battle. He is the captain, and only competent member, of his quiz bowl team. His game avatar is "Black Death," a strong warrior with a bronze right arm. Wyatt's weapon in the game is a "Blast-a-Ton".

• Lyle Hugginson (played by Jessie Usher) - Lyle plays American football and is the high school quarterback. He's a charming, popular "jock" who purposefully conceals his love of online fantasy games from other people. Lyle loves to shout "Huzza!" when something goes right. He owns a red Chevy Camaro that he often uses to transport himself and the others. It is also shown that he will go to any means to repay a debt; even selling his car. His video game avatar is a Dread Orc named "Wizza" and his weapon in the game is a "Thunder Pole".

• Dante Ontero (played by Connor Del Rio) - Fearless and impulsive, Dante is the rebellious member of the group. He loves causing trouble to get attention as well as eating junk food or anything gross. He frequently engages in dangerous stunts on his skateboard in order to make internet videos. He has a poor relationship with his mother who he refers to by her first name Barbara. His video game avatar is a Shiny Knight called "Sir Bickle." Dante's weapon in the game is a "Skull Cracker".

• Angie Prietto (played by Aimee Carrero) - Angie's is portrayed as a smart, spunky, and tenacious character, but her inquisitive nature occasionally results in problems for the female teenager. Angie does not have an avatar as she does not play the game, but her weapon from the video game is the "Fist of Schoolage".

• Max Ross (played by Lonny Ross) - Max Ross created the online fantasy game Conqueror of All Worlds. He's an eccentric multi-billionaire with a taste for conspiracy theories. Following the events of Maldark's attack, Max has become an associate to the kids. Lonny Ross replaced Eric André as Max Ross in the series.

Villains

• Maldark (played by John Novak) - The main antagonist of the series. He's a ruthless and narcissistic sorcerer from the "Conqueror of All Worlds" video game whose sole mission is to seek out new worlds and either destroy them or conquer them. Wyatt, Lyle, Dante, Angie, and Max were able to defeat Maldark. Of course Maldark still plans to take over Earth by sending some of his minions to fight Neverfail and find a portal for him to get to Earth.

• Hideo Nojima (played by James Rha) - A Japanese multi-billionaire game designer of the fictional cell phone game "Mystery Puzzle Puncher". He is the rival of Max Ross whose rivalry has gone on since early career in game designing, college, and elementary school. He came to Daventry Hills to destroy Max Ross with his business. He finds out about the town's leaks after his game character leaks out due to Max's server hacking his. He then sends out his own leaks and swears to ruin Max. After his Leak counterpart was defeated by Max and his counterpart, Hideo plans to have his revenge on Max and NeverFail.

Leaks

Some of the Leaks are creatures from "Conqueror of All Worlds" that have leaked into Earth. There were also other Leaks that come from anything associated with the Internet. The following are listed in order of appearance:

• Holiday Orcs - A group of Christmas-themed orcs. They were "barded" by the male Mountain Barbarian.

• Mountain Barbarian - The Mountain Barbarians are human warriors that have curiosity and strength. After the male Mountain Barbarian (Mark Gibbon) helped to defeat the Holiday Orcs, Dante and his friends had the male Mountain Barbarian pass off as an exchange student named Bob Arian when they are unable to send it back into the game. The Mountain Barbarian's wife leaked onto Earth and managed to get the Mountain Barbarian back into the game.

• Morthorn Worm - A creature from the "beta" version of the game. Its home was deleted by Max which caused it to break through to the real world and make wormholes.

• Bicyclops - A cyclops with a second eye above its one eye. The Bicyclopes have poor vision and must wear special glasses that can read people's emotions, feelings, and thoughts to see. If a Bicyclops loses its glasses, it will keep respawning until it reclaims its glasses.

• Silversmith Dwarf -

• Scorcaling Forest Goracal -

• Exploding Meemees -

• Fewards of Flail Land -

• Hampire (played by Andy Nez) - A creature that is part vampire, part hamster. The Hampire has the appearance of a vampire and can turn into a hamster. He was created by Maldark and sent to the human world to spy on the NeverFail clan in his hamster form.

• Rainbow Rider - A high-speed rainbow sprite.

• Snotling Goggler -

• Hanabañero Dragon - A Lvl. 72 dragon who is the boss of Scofield Dungeon.

• Max's Profile - A dating profile of Max Ross that leaked out from the Internet. If you change the profile in any way, he changes into what ever the profile says. For example, when Wyatt had it changed to him being afraid of tablecloths, he ripped the tablecloth off of the table with all of his and his date Barbara's food on the floor. When the gang deleted the profile, he disappeared.

• Dupligänger - A two-headed monster with one side of its body being red while the other side of its body is yellow. It needs to be attacked with two weapons simultaneously or else it will split into two.

• Trash Troll - A troll who will trash anything. They resemble Swamp Trolls, but have mud, dirt, and green splatter all over them. He is known for stealing everything from players he beats in the game, and putting the people themselves inside his sack.

• Jack (played by Morgan Roff) - The main character from Jack and the Beanstalk who leaked out of Dante's eBook. At first, he seams like a good guy and Dante's friend. But afterwards, they find out that he steals many things form the Giant, NeverFail, and Angie. Jack just claims that he was just "borrowing them". After NeverFail got Jack to listen to reason upon bringing out the Big Bad Wolf, Dante manages to get Jack and the Giant to work on their aggression by using foam bats.

• Giant (played by John DeSantis) - A giant from Jack and the Beanstalk who leaked out of Dante's eBook. Dante always thought of him as a bad guy, but after he finds out that Jack is a thief, he realizes that the Giant has a reason to hate Jack. Dante manages to get Jack and the Giant to work on their aggression by using foam bats.

• Snow White (played by Kendra Anderson) - The titled story book character who leaked out to help negotiate with Jack.

• Sherlock Holmes (played by Tariq Leslie) - NeverFail leaked him out in order to help find Jack.

• Big Bad Wolf - NeverFail had to bring out the Big Bad Wolf in order to negotiate with Jack.

• Jester - An odd humanoid creature with a bugle for a mouth. It rewards players for completing its fetch quest.

• Woodland Fairy -

• Acid-Spitting Mini Dragon - A miniature dragon of blended purple-red color that flies and spits acid. Their weakest spots are their wings and that is how you defeat them.

• Sir Guy (played by Christopher Gauthier) - An NPC nobleman who needs Dante's help to complete a side quest so he can level up. The quests involve catching frogs and defeating an elite Five-Armed Blood Marauder that was terrorizing his village.

• Five-Armed Blood Marauder - A marauder with five arms. Dante had to help Sir Guy into fighting an elite Five-Armed Blood Marauder that was terrorizing Sir Guy's village. Dante managed to successfully bard the Five-Armed Blood Marauder.

• Skunkbear (played by John DeSantis) - A humanoid creature that is part skunk, part bear. They can emit smelly odors from their armpits.

• Bounty Hunter (played by Jud Tylor) - A female shapeshifting bounty hunter with horns who leaks from the game because Angie accidentally pastes a photo of Wyatt on a wall of wanted people in the game. Because of this, she wants to hunt him down. She can go without being found out about as shown when he appears on Wyatt's leak-detecting app, but not when anyone else beside Wyatt looks at it. She blended in with the humans by assuming the form of a substitute teacher named Ms. Lindenlooper. Once she was seen by the Angie, Dante, and Lyle, they helped Wyatt to bard the Bounty Hunter.

• Merchant - The 10th evilest character in "Conquerer of All Worlds". He was purposely leaked by Max Ross to promote his new expansion pack. To get control of him during the promotion, Max had the Merchant wears a shock collar. Until it is removed while he is working, the Merchant then sets out to prove he can be the number 1 villain in "Conquerer of All Worlds" by taking over all of the business in the area. He is barded in the end by NeverFail.

• Swirling Giver (played by Tony Alcantar) - Also known as "Swirly", the Swirling Giver is a leak that hands out gold and in return demands to be paid back. Usually with gold, favors, or hanging out with someone till he annoys them. When angered, he gives them a swirly then eats their face off. Lyle is one of his victims who offers his services until he is ordered to capture Dante.

• Invizio (played by Nolan Presad) - A ghost who leaks into the high school. He lived in a ghost town until NeverFail brought all the ghosts back to life. Invizio wanted revenge on them for that action. When Lyle managed to bring him back to life, Wyatt defeats him in order to bard him back into the game.

• Courtesy Cat (played by Brian McCaig) - A talking humanoid cat wearing a blue sweater who offers helpful advice to people. When angered from his warnings being ignored, he turns into the Heckfire Tiger (played by Paul Lazenby) which is a humanoid masked wrestler wearing a tiger face paint and blue wrestling tights. When Courtesy Cat first appeared, it was mistaken for the Crosstown Cougar mascot of Crosstown High School. When apologized to, Heckfire Tiger weakens and turns back into Courtesy Cat. NeverFail used this tactic to defeat Heckfire Tiger and barded Courtesy Cat back into the game.

• Asp (played by Laura Soltis) - Half-woman, half-snake. She is one of Maldark's servants who searched for a weakspot in order to get Maldark to get to Earth while posing as Vice-Principal Asp of Crosstown High School. When she infiltrated NeverFail's base to look for a weakspot, she manages to Dante and Lyle trapped until Wyatt and Angie freed them. NeverFail then proceeded to bard Asp and thwart Maldark's plot.

• Vomit Varmit - A small purple troll that emits blue vomit.

• Glamazons - A group of Amazonian warriors who seek out and challenge the strongest people called "The Glamazonian Death Challenge". The challenge consists of three events that involve speed, hand to hand combat, and accuracy. The winner receives a prize, while the loser loses their head. The prize is to be sacrificed to Rhea the Gorgon. Once Rhea was defeated, the Glamazons were freed from Rhea.
  • Glamazon Queen (played by Karen Holness) - The Queen of the Glamazons.
  • Grinella (played by Sharon Taylor) - Member of the Glamazons.

• Rhea (played by Karin Konoval) - A Gorgon that the Glamazons have been menaced by. She often accepts sacrifices that involve giving up the winner of the Glamazon Death Challenge to her. Wyatt, Lyle, and Dante tried to stop Rhea, but she turned to stone. With help from Grinella, Angie used the mirror to turn Rhea's powers against her enough for her to be sent back into the game and undo the effects of her petrifying gaze. Rhea's petrified form then disappeared back into the game.

• Dwarven Butler - A dwarf butler who wears 16th Century/Steampunk-based attire.

• Potions Wizard (played by Jay Brazeau) - A wizard who makes potions that leaked out of the game and gave Dante a free potion in exchange for not leaking him. His plan is to put everyone sleep with sleep powder and to shrink the Earth like he's done with several other planets. He was barded by Lyle.

• Wachupa - A small reptilian creature in the game that's based on an fictional urban legend. In the game, it is a pet created by Max Ross to be a pet that reviews constant love and attention. If it doesn't receive love and attention, it will explode.

• Moo Man (played by Patrick Sabongui) - A man with bull-like hooves, horns, and tendencies (such as charging at the color red) that wears a nose ring. The Moo Men are known to attack villages and take breaks in their attacks by grazing in the fields. One was bombarded by another leak from the game who happened to be Hugo Vegosauro. Another Moo Man arrived looking for his son Hugo in order to bring him back. Hugo convinced his father to let him stay and Hugo's father is barded into the game by Wyatt.

• Hugo Vega Soro (played by Reinaldo Zavarce) - A leak that felt like an outcast in his world due to him being the son of a Mooman. He left the game to live a peaceful life. Hugo eventually became an author of Wyatt's favorite comic book "The Peaceful Prince," a book based off his life in the game. He is befriend by Wyatt. After dealing with Hugo's father, NeverFail allowed Hugo to live in the real world and act as their "leak on the street."

• Dante Jr. - A web cartoon created by Dante that leaked out of the game and went on a rampage. He kidnapped Dante's history teacher after giving a Dante a bad grade.

• Thomas Jeffer: "Son of Frankenstein" - A Frankenstein's Monster-themed 18th Century revolutionary who was another web cartoon created by Dante as a part of a history class assignment. He was leaked out to take on Dante Jr. by using his non-sensual creativity and genius. At the end, Max decided to put him in "Conqueror of All Worlds."

• Puzzle Puncher Boxer (played by Darcy Hinds) - A boxing character from "Mystery Puzzle Puncher".

• Mystery Puzzle Cube - A puzzle cube leaked out by Hideo.

• Evil Hideo (played by James Rha) - A leak designed by Hideo in his own image as a wizard. He was barded by Max and his Laserbot.

• John (played by Sean Tyson) - A blacksmith that was leaked out by Dante to pose as his dad. He was known to feud with Nessus who was in love with John's horse Cinnamon. Once John and Nessus were in the same area, Lyle barded both of them.

• Nessus (played by Matt Ward) - A centaur who once sold his magic horseshoe to Lyle. He has been in love with a horse named Cinnamon and was hunted by John Blacksmith. Once John and Nessus were in the same area, Lyle barded both of them.

• Ochi (played by Alex Zahara) - An Orc that was the former right-hand man of King Okavango. He cleaned up NeverFail's hideout and worked as their servant. NeverFail took him for granted and Ochi ended up being an unwitting pawn in King Okavango's revenge when King Okavango leaked onto Earth. When King Okavango wanted Ochi to finish off NeverFail after they ended up in King Okavango's trap, Ochi instead barded King Okavango. Once Max had freed NeverFail, he managed to trap Ochi on a dangling hook as Dante bards him.

• King Okavango (played by Mark Acheson) - An Orc King that was overthrown by NeverFail in the game. King Okavango later leaked onto Earth where Ochi partook in King Okavango's revenge on NeverFail. When King Okavango wanted Ochi to finish off NeverFail after they ended up in King Okavango's trap, Ochi instead barded King Okavango.

• Titocona (played by Mig Macario) - An NPC zen monk that Lyle had taken pacifist lessons from. Titocona leaked out of the game in order to set Mr. Cochrane straight. He chased after Mr. Cochrane until he was barded by Angie. Afterwards, Mr. Cochrane believed that Titocona's attack was part of Prank Week.

• Cactus Kaiser (played by Andy Thompson in a German accent) - A humanoid cactus that comes from the Doitch Desert. The quills of the Cactus Kaiser are poisonous. Lyle acted as a pacifist around the Cactus Kaiser where they talked about the Cactus Kaiser's fight with the Moist Monsters for 92 minutes. Cactus Kaiser takes up Lyle's advice and goes back into the game to negotiate peace with the Moist Monsters. The Cactus Kaiser later returned where he told NeverFail that Lyle's advice worked and is now marrying a Moist Monster.

Other characters

• Principal D. Storms (played by Lorne Cardinal) - The Principal of Daventry Hills North High School.

• Vice-Principal Elmhurst (played by Sarah Strange) - The vice-principal of Daventry Hills North High School.

• Coach Farber (played by Kurt Evans) - The football coach of Daventry Hills North High School.

• Barbara (played by Chelah Horsdal) - The mother of Dante who calls her by her first name. She and Dante have a poor relationship.

• Teddy Black (played by Tobias Slezak) - The father of Wyatt.

• Mayor Hugginson (played by Peter Bryant) - The father of Lyle and the Mayor of Daventry Hills.

• Big Joe (played by Kurt Ostlund) - Big Joe is the school bully who picks mainly on Wyatt.

• Reggie (played by Sunee Dhaliwal) - Reggie is on the football team and is Lyle's friend.

• Weird Karl (played by Albert Ageman) - Karl is a creepy-looking kid who makes his own choices, and is suspicious about Wyatt and his friends.

• Gus (played by Erik McNamee) - Gus is an awkward acting boy who has a major crush on Angie though she doesn't return the feelings.

• Philbert - Philbert is a daredevil who is always seen with Dante or Wyatt, and is Angie`s crush.

• Natalie (played by Chanelle Peloso) - A overachieving school girl with a lisp. She is suspicious of the gang and also runs the "Conspiracy Club" a club dedicated to solving the town's conspiracy aka the Leaks (including the recent Skunkbear sightings) and come close until her group is discredited on live TV.

• Ginger (played by Siobhan Williams) - Ginger is the know-it-all, sassy member of student council and Wyatt's Quiz Bowl Team.

• Leroy - Lyle's old friend who moved back to town he is aware that Dante hangs out with the guys and loves to play "Conquerer of All Worlds." He enjoys pranking and goes completely overboard such as wrecking the running man in HQ, framing Wyatt for using a freeze ray, ruining Lyle's quest in game, and standing up Angie. He ends up getting payback after a run in with a leak, but the gang plays it off as a joke. Leroy is suspicious and swears vengeance.

• Joaquin Prietto (played by Isaiah Lehtinen) - Angie's little brother who is a prodigy at every he does as the guys are jealous when their talents are outdone. He befriends the guys when they babysit him and is also a fan of "Conquer of All Worlds." He's somewhat suspicious of what they do and he came close to their secret in "Heckfire Tiger," but believes that they are secretly LARPers.

• Mr. Cochrane (played by Panou) - A strict teacher who had previously left to attend an anger management class. He was so strict that even Principal Storms was afraid of him. When Lyle finally stood up to him, Titocona attacked and chased after Mr. Cochrane. After Titocona was barded, Mr. Cochrane believed that the experience was part of Prank Week..

Episodes

Main article: List of Level Up episodes

Home media

Region 1

DVD title	Aspect ratio	Time length	Bonus features	Release date
Level Up: The Movie	1.78:1	90 minutes	A never before seen episode of Level Up titled "Wanted" and a music video from the series.	May 1, 2012

Conqueror of All Worlds

Following the success of the "Level Up" film, Cartoon Network had established a "Conqueror of All Worlds" on their website so that fans of the film can play the game.

Reception

Level Up has been universally panned by critics and Cartoon Network fans alike. Most fans seem to show a marked dissatisfaction and annoyance with the show, with common complaints being bland characters, mediocre CG effects, a seemingly lazy plot, and a misrepresentation of the gamer subculture through marking them as "nerds" in the show's usage of stereotypical cliques. In addition, there is a shared agitation between fans with Cartoon Network airing a live-action show on what is supposed to be a 'cartoon-only' network

External links

• Official website
• Level Up at IMDb