Captain N: The Game Master


Captain N: The Game Master is an American animated television series that aired on NBC from 1989 to 1991 as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. Produced by DIC Animation City, it incorporated elements from video games of the time by Japanese company Nintendo. There was also a comic book adaptation by Valiant Comics.
The series was also part of an hour-long block with The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 in Season 2 and a half-hour block with Super Mario World in Season 3.

Premise

Kevin Keene, a teenager from Northridge, California, and his dog Duke are transported to the world of Videoland after being sucked into the Ultimate Warp Zone, a vortex that formed in his television.
To fulfill an ancient prophecy, Kevin is destined to become the hero Captain N and save Videoland from Mother Brain and her forces, who operate from the floating world/fortress of Metroid. When Kevin and Duke arrive in Videoland, Mother Brain has nearly succeeded in capturing the Palace of Power and conquering Videoland. They appear before the N Team, consisting of Princess Lana, the acting ruler of Videoland in the absence of her father, the King, Simon Belmont, Mega Man, and Kid Icarus, who are not confident in Kevin's abilities. When Lana is kidnapped by the enemy shortly after Kevin's arrival, they put aside their differences to rescue her, during which he proves himself to them. In Season 2, Game Boy, a human-sized supercomputer, joins the N Team.
In most episodes, the N Team's enemy is a group of video game villains, usually led by the boisterous and loud Mother Brain and her minions, the Eggplant Wizard from Kid Icarus, the thuggish King Hippo from Punch-Out!!, and the scheming Dr. Wily from Mega Man. In episodes set in a particular video game, the villain is instead a "villain of the week", such as Malkil of Wizards & Warriors. Other characters make recurring appearances, including Donkey Kong, The Count from Castlevania, and Dr. Light from Mega Man. The cast of the Legend of Zelda cartoon reprise their respective roles for several guest appearances throughout the series.
The show is primarily an action-adventure derived from the featured video games, with comic relief derived from the characters' interactions, quirks, and catchphrases, as well as the various worlds and their loose interpretations of the laws of reality that apply in Videoland.

Characters

The N Team

  • Kevin Keene : The titular protagonist of the series, who arrived in Videoland through the Ultimate Warp Zone and is destined to save it from Mother Brain. Upon arriving in Videoland, he is a reluctant hero and is often at odds with the rest of the N Team. He wears a varsity jacket with a varsity letter "N" and is armed with a belt and holster containing a Power Pad, a device shaped like a NES controller that can stop time, allow him to leap over objects, or give him super speed over short distances. He also wields a gun resembling a NES Zapper gun that "de-digitalizes" enemies and can shoot ice shaped like Tetris blocks. His use of these tools, along with his friendly, yet competitive, demeanor eventually earns the trust of the team, who address him as Captain N, though Princess Lana addresses him by his first name. In most episodes, he plays a big-brother role to characters as he helps them with their problems.
  • Duke : Kevin's dog, who jumped into the Ultimate Warp Zone after Kevin was sucked in and ended up in Videoland, serving as his companion. Though intelligent, he is prone to canine behavior. In the live-action sequences, Duke is shown to be a Golden Retriever, though in the animated sequences appears to be a beagle.
  • Princess Lana : The current regent of Videoland after Mother Brain banished her father, King Charles, to the Mirror World, who rules over the worlds of Videoland from the Palace of Power. Though kind, she accompanies the N Team in their adventures, serving as a mediator between them, and is not afraid of conflict, having been trained to defend herself from a young age. Both Kevin and Simon compete for her affections, but she seems to prefer Kevin over Simon, as she kisses him on several occasions.
  • Simon Belmont from Castlevania : An arrogant and vain vampire hunter from Castlevania, who, until Kevin's arrival, regarded himself as Princess Lana's highest-ranking servant. He enjoys courting and complimenting Princess Lana, openly declaring his romantic interest in her despite her rejections, and taking care of his appearance and physique. Despite this and his competitive nature, as he sees Captain N as a rival for Princess Lana's attention, he cares for the members of the N Team. He wields a whip that can de-digitalize enemies and carries a backpack with a seemingly endless capacity of items. His appearance was partially based upon his voice actor, Andrew Kavadas.
  • Kid Icarus from Kid Icarus : A diminutive angel from Mount Icarus who is loyal to and protective of Princess Lana, and courageous despite his small stature and childlike nature. He is the only member of the team who can fly, and his quiver contains regular arrows that can de-digitalize enemies, as well as various specialized gadget arrows. He often ends words with the suffix "-icus". His appearance in season 3 is similar to his sprite and box art from Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters.
  • Mega Man from Mega Man : A robot, who, along with his creator Dr. Wright, is from Megaland and is protective of Princess Lana. Despite his size, he is strong, durable, and agile, and wields two forearm-mounted energy blasters that function like Captain N's Zapper. He occasionally begins his words with the prefix "mega-". He is upset with the fact he is a nonliving robot and becomes human, but still possesses his robotic abilities.
  • Game Boy : A human-sized supercomputer sent by King Charles in his place to help Captain N when the portal to Mirror World opens. Despite describing himself as being "programmed to play games", he is capable of rising to the challenge when needed. He can extend his arms and hands from his casing and use his display to materialize things, including objects and monsters, and has an onboard computer that can analyze substances and track enemies.

    Main villains

  • Mother Brain from Metroid : The main antagonist of the series, she is a power-hungry and vain brain-like alien in a giant glass tank who comes from Metroid, from which she and her forces operate, and uses a "computer mind mirror" to spy on the N Team and find weaknesses to exploit. By the beginning of the series, she and her troops attack the Palace of Power and she has banished King Charles to the Mirror World on Excalibur. Though proud of her form and presence, she is not above using subterfuge to achieve her goals. She has retractable prehensile tentacles she uses to attack or to electrically shock her minions to encourage them to do better.
  • Eggplant Wizard from Kid Icarus : A one-eyed human-sized eggplant from Mount Icarus and the main enemy of Kid Icarus, who is often the target of Mother Brain's abuse due to his incompetence and has the ability to conjure vegetable-themed gadgets. He is a foil to King Hippo, as they usually appear together. Unlike King Hippo, Eggplant Wizard can take the initiative with his schemes and is not above turning against Mother Brain.
  • King Hippo from Punch-Out!! : A heavyweight boxer from Punch-Out, he prefers brawn over brains and is cruel, with most of his ire directed towards his counterpart, the Eggplant Wizard.
  • Doctor Wily from Mega Man : A mad scientist from Megaland who is loyal to Mother Brain and among the most competent of her main henchmen. He uses his genius to build gadgets as part of his schemes to defeat the N Team, such as using a mind-reading device to learn their greatest fears and sending his Robot Masters to attack.

    Minor villains

  • Donkey Kong from Donkey Kong : A giant gorilla from Kongoland, who is quick to anger and must be appeased with food. Except for the Videolympics, where he joins Mother Brain's team, he is independent and solitary, not wanting visitors in his jungle.
  • The Count from Castlevania : A vampire from Castlevania, who can control the undead and transform into a bat. Except for the Videolympics, where he joins Mother Brain's team, he works alone.
  • Alucard : The Count's son, a rebellious teenager.
  • Dragonlord from Dragon Warrior : A giant red dragon from Dragon's Den, who seeks to rule over it and its inhabitants. Though intelligent, he is somewhat gullible.
  • Ganon from The Legend of Zelda : A pig-like warlock and Link and Zelda's greatest foe, who seeks to conquer Hyrule. After Link recently defeated him, he lost most of his power until drinking a potion of power that King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard gave him.
  • * Rebonack from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link: A silver armored knight who serves Ganon, he rides a mechanical horse and wields a lance.
  • Malkil from Wizards & Warriors : An evil, gnome-like wizard from Excalibur, who also appears as one of the primary villains in The Power Team.
  • Medusa from Kid Icarus : A gorgon and the Goddess of Darkness, who comes from Mount Icarus and can turn others to stone with her gaze. She tries to use her beautiful voice to trick people into looking at her.

    Other characters

  • King Charles : The original monarch of Videoland and Lana and Lyle's father, who is kind and compassionate, putting the needs of others before his own. Prior to the events of the series, Mother Brain captured and banished him to the Mirror World, though he sends Game Boy to aid the N Team when the portal opens.
  • Prince Lyle: Princess Lana's brother, who left home after feeling out of place and came to live in the world of Tetris, where he guards the Sacred Square. Despite his lineage, he displays few leadership skills or heroism and considers himself to be clumsy despite his good intentions. Lana and the N Team help to convince him to believe in himself and that people will have confidence in him as a leader.
  • Princess Zelda from The Legend of Zelda : The ruler of Hyrule and protector of the Triforce, who aids the N Team and is a friend of Princess Lana, having known her before Mother Brain attacked Videoland.
  • Link from The Legend of Zelda : A young and heroic warrior who serves Zelda and protects the Triforce and Hyrule alongside her. He is Kevin's idol and favorite video game character. Though friction develops between them when Zelda compliments Kevin on his skills and intelligence, causing Link to be jealous of and resent him, they reconcile after working together to defeat Ganon. Unlike his appearance in the Legend of Zelda cartoon, Link is older and portrayed as being more mature, as he is no longer obsessed with trying to steal a kiss from Zelda.
  • Wombatman: A cynical anthropomorphic wombat and parody of Batman, who portrays the titular character in a TV series filmed at the Marblopolis Studio World. Kid Icarus idolizes him because they both use various gadgets, but is distraught to learn that he does not perform his own stunts. When his girlfriend Nikki is held captive, Wombatman reluctantly helps Mother Brain capture the N Team before Kid Icarus convinces him to aid the N Team, after which he decides to do his own stunts.
  • Mayor Squaresly : The mayor of Tetris, who loves holidays and enlists the N Team in stopping the Puzzle Wizard, who is turning Tetris' citizens into Tetris blocks.
  • Bayou Billy West from The Adventures of Bayou Billy : The titular character from the video game, which Kevin was unable to beat. He has a pet alligator Loafer for a pet and rides in a buggy-like vehicle. Bayou Billy helps Captain N find Duke while training him in the ways of bayou tracking, which help him fight Doctor Wily's swamp creature.
  • Prince Plenty: The monarch of Kongoland, who invented a machine that feeds Donkey Kong fruit and keeps him away from the city.
  • Doctor Wright : A genius scientist from Megaland who built Mega Man and Mega Girl and helps the N Team fight Dr. Wily and Mother Brain. He is the Captain N incarnation of Doctor Light.
  • Mega Girl : A female robot who resembles Mega Man, but with pink and white armor. Though she wants to be friends with him, she is initially turned away as she reminds him that he is not human. She is the Captain N incarnation of Roll.