Centurions - The 1986 sci-fi animated series

December 13 2020

Centurions is a cartoon series produced by Ruby-Spears, animated in Japan by Nippon Sunrise's Studio 7. The animated series is on the science fiction genre and has had exceptional character designs such as the famous cartoonists Jack Kirby and Gil Kane, while Norio Shioyama has created character designs. The series began in 1986 as a five-part miniseries and was followed by a 60-episode series. The series was curated by Ted Pedersen and written by several authors, including prolific science fiction writers Michael Reaves, Marc Scott Zicree, Larry DiTillio and Gerry Conway.

The series theme and soundtrack were composed by Udi Harpaz. There was also a Kenner toy line and a DC Comics comic series. Starting in 2021, Ramen Toys is doing a pre-ordered revival of Max, Ace and Jake.

The show revolves around the conflict between Doc Terror's cyborgs and the Centurions (a combination of suit and mecha).

History

In the near future of the 21st century, the mad cyborg scientist Doc Terror tries to conquer the Earth and turn its inhabitants into robot slaves. He is assisted by his fellow cyborg Hacker and an army of robots. There were many types of cyborgs:

Doom Drones Traumatizers - The most commonly seen drones are walking robots with laser blasters instead of arms. The toy for the Traumatizer was exclusive to the Sears store. The Traumatizer Leader was colored red.
Doom Drones Strafers - A flying robot armed with missiles and lasers. Doc Terror and Hacker are able to fly by swapping their purely robotic half for a Strafer.
Groundborgs - A laser-armed ground robot that moves on tracks. No toys were made of Groundborg.
Cybervore Panther - A robotic panther. Introduced later in the series. Could combine with the Cybervore Shark. A Cybervore Panther toy was designed but never released.
Cybervore Shark - A robot shark. Introduced later in the series. Could combine with the Cybervore Panther. A toy was designed for the Cybervore Shark, but was never released.

Later, a wheeled drone with a large screen and cannons was added, as well as an underwater drone. They are joined on many occasions, starting with the first episode, the daughter of Doc Terror, Amber.

At each turn, their evil plans are thwarted by the heroic Centurions. The Centurions are a team of men dressed in exo-frame specially created that allow them (to the cry "PowerXtreme") to merge with "incredible" assault weapon systems, becoming what the show calls man and machine, Power Xtreme! The end result is a weapons platform somewhere between armor and mecha. Originally, there are three Centurions but later two more Centurions are added:

Original team:

Max Ray - 'Brilliant' maritime operations commander: the leader de facto calm and collected team, wearing an exo green jumpsuit and sporting a nice mustache. Her toy card said she swam regularly from California to Hawaii and back for exercise. Its weapon systems are best suited for underwater missions, some of which are as follows:
- Cruiser - A maritime assault weapon system used to enter and exit the water that includes hydro thrusters, a keelfin radar unit and a missile launcher. Max wears it with a green helmet that matches his exo frame.
- Tidal Blast - A powerful surface-to-surface attack weapon system with two hydro-electric keel fins used above and below the water which has battle modes such as cruise, subsonic speed and rear attack. Its weapons include a repulsar injury cannon and two rotating and firing shark missiles. As a Cruiser, Max wears it with a green helmet.
- Depth magazine - A deep water weapon system used for deep diving missions. It is a mini submarine with two rotating pontoon thrusters and two movable directional aqua fins that has attack modes such as diving, full fire and deep water. His weapons include two rotating water cannons, deep sea torpedoes and a hydromine.
- Sea Bat - Released in the second stage of toy release.
- Fathom Fan - Released in the second series of the toy release.

Jake Rockwell - “Robust” Ground Operations Specialist: wears a yellow exo-frame suit. A passionate idealist with a strong moral compass, he has a short fuse that often puts him at odds with Ace's arrogant and easygoing personality. Its weapon systems have the greatest firepower and are best suited for ground missions, some of which are as follows:
- Fireforce - A powerful ground-based assault weapon system that includes twin laser cannons and a rotating plasma repulsar. Jake wears it with a yellow helmet that matches his exo-frame.
- Wild Weasel - A motorcycle-style armored armored assault weapon system with head shield and protective back shell for dangerous missions such as heavy forest or rocky terrain. It has battle modes including tracking, anti-aircraft, high-speed travel, and ground attack. His weapons include two ground lasers and a front assault module for storing accessories.
- Detonator - A heavy artillery weapon system for maximum firepower. It has many battle modes including air strike and ground assault. His weapons include sonic beam pistols and freezing beam blasters. Like Fireforce, Jake wears it with a yellow helmet.
- Hornet - An assault helicopter weapon system used to assist air missions which has battle modes including surveillance, high speed assault and sneak attack. Its weapons include four sidewinder missiles and a spinning freeze cannon.
- Swingshots - Released in the second stage of toy release.

Ace McCloud - “Bold” Air Operations Expert: Wearing a blue exo-frame suit, he's a brave but arrogant womanizer who is sometimes at odds with Jake. Its weapon systems are best suited for aerial missions, some of them are as follows:
- Skyknight - A powerful aerial assault weapon system featuring two turbo thrusters. Its weapons include stinsel missiles, laser cannons and laser bombs. Ace wears it with a blue helmet that matches his exo-frame.
- Orbital interceptor - An advanced compressed air weapon assault system with internal atmospheric thrusters that can also be used in space. It has battle modes including cruise, pursuit and power blast. His weapons include two particle beam deflectors and a particle beam missile. Ace wears it with a life support helmet.
- Skybolt - An aerial reinforcement weapon system that has two booster stabilizer pods, radar detection wings and modular reversible wings with battle modes including recon, backfire and anti-attack. Its weapons include galactic missiles and two backfire missile launchers for front and rear attacks. Like Skyknight, Ace wears it with a blue helmet.
- Strike layer - The toy for Strato Strike was designed, but never released.

Extended team (later additions):

Rex Charger - "Expert" energy programmer. She wears a red and light green exo-frame dress.
- Electric charger -
- Gatling Guard -
John Thunder : commander of the “specialist” infiltration. It has a black exo-frame with exposed leather.
- Silent arrow -
- Thunder Knife -

The Centurions are based on an orbiting space station called Sky Vaults where its operator, Crystal Kane, uses a teleporter to send the required Centurions and weapon systems where they are needed. Crystal is always in the company of Jake Rockwell's dog Shadow or Lucy the orangutan, or in most cases both. Shadow is usually more involved in Centurion battles than Lucy and sports a harness with dual missile launchers. Crystal suggests tactics and sends required equipment. The Centurions also have a hidden base in New York called "Centrum". Its entrance is hidden in a library and must be reached via an underground car. “Centrum” serves as the Centurion's land base of operations and also has a teleport pod for quick transport to “Sky Vault”. In addition to "Sky Vault" and "Centrum" there is also a "Centurion Academy" whose location is kept completely secret and only seen in the last 5 episodes.

Much like the additions of Black Vulcan's Super Friends, Apache Chief, Samurai and El Dorado to introduce racial diversity to the series, The Centurions saw the addition of Rex Charger , the energy expert, e John Thunder , the Apache infiltration expert.

Technical data

Original title Centurions
Original language English
Country United States
Studio Ruby Spears
1st TV April 7, 1986 - December 12, 1986
Episodes 65 (complete)
Duration 30 min
Episode duration 30 min
Italian network Italy 1, Odeon TV, Italy 7
Italian episodes 65 (complete)
Duration of Italian episodes 24'