Defenders of the Earth

When Ming the Merciless leaves Mongo to invade Earth, his old enemy Flash Gordon and the latter's son, Rick, join forces with six others - the youngest a pre-teenaged boy named Kshin - to form the Defenders of the Earth.

Aided by Flash's Krell allies, the Defenders begin building their base. But Ming has learned of their existence and resolved to put an end to them.

Some boys try to pick a fight with Kshin so, rather than break the Defenders' Code of Honour, he reads up on summoning spells - against Mandrake's orders - and calls forth a demon named Shogoff (sp?). But Shogoff isn't content with just beating up a few pre-teenaged bullies and starts causing havoc in Central City; at one point, Mandrake collapses on stage when he senses the demon's presence. Kshin, meanwhile, is faced with a dilemma - should he let Shogoff continue his rampage or confess to his part in the trouble and risk expulsion from the Defenders?

When Africa suffers a sudden and unexplained climate change, the Phantom and Jedda head there to investigate. In the process, the Phantom learns that his estranged brother, Kurt - whom he has never mentioned to Jedda - has (courtesy of Ming) acquired the power to control the weather.

When the Defenders receive an invitation to pit Dynak-X against a chess-playing computer, they little suspect that it is part of Ming's plot to implant an electronic maggot into Dynak's circuits in order to turn her against them and ultimately give Ming access to the world's weapon's systems. When Mandrake learns of the maggot's existence, he shrinks Rick, LJ, Jedda and Kisa (Jedda's panther friend) to microscopic size (using Rick's new Microniser ray rather than magic) so they can get inside Dynak and track the creature down.

Dr. Whitestead's plant food formula goes haywire--spilling on him and turning him into a plant! Ming seizes the scientist, the fomula, and his daughter. Lothar and Mandrake use their skills to save Whitestead, and the defenders must stop Ming from using the forumla to transform the whole planet into plants.

Ming needs Rick Gordon's ring to complete a weather control machine, and having caught Flash in a battle, uses him as bait to lure the impulsive Rick to Ice Station Earth. It is up to the remainging defenders to escape the fearsome Mongor, and rescue Rick and Flash.

Eaons ago, a giant robot crash landed on Earth. Ming learns of The Annihilator, which now sleeps beneath Central City, and distracts all but one of The Defenders long enough to activate the robot.

The vengeful space princess Astra creates an army of clay soldiers. The daughter of Princess Aura, Astra is convinced by Ming that Flash Gordon was behind her mother's death. She uses blue clay from the Bandar village to create her army.

The incredible Hall of Wisdom pays its-2000-year, 24-hour visit to the Galaxy. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Ming to get his hands on the dreaded Quasar Weapon, with which he can conquer the Earth.

Ming lures Kshin to Ice Station Earth by kidnapping Zuffy, then probes the dark side of Kshin's imagination to create fearsome warriors capable of destroying the Defenders. While the heroes work diligently to dismantle the Doomsday Warhead, a device left in the universe from an earlier holocaust, they are invaded by RADIAN, BI-NINJA, RIPPER, ZALZAR, JAMMER HEAD, and NEUTRON MAN, all products of Kshin's mind. Two of the evil warriors recapture the Doomsday Warhead and transport it to Ming's asteroid base, while the rest stay on to finish off the Defenders. Meanwhile, the young Defenders fly to Ice Station Earth to rescue Kshin. With the help of Dynak Y the super heroes trick the mind warriors into thinking they're dead. With Kshin free and the Doomsday Warhead moments from being launched against Earth, Kshin uses the good side of his imagination to make all the Defenders even stronger, enabling them to defeat the mind warriors and reset the guidance controls in the Doomsday Warhead, thereby blowing up Ming's asteriod base and saving Earth.

The Defenders add a new twist to the Battle Simulation Room--a Thought-Transference Cap. It transmits the wearer's imagination directly into the simulation; Kshin loves to use it to scare the other Defenders the best he can. But Ming the Merciless has found a way to tap into the Room. Using his ghastly power source, he can use his own evil thoughts and intensify them into reality! What starts out as a thrilling simulation under Kshin is taken over by Ming and turned into a terrible fight to the death in the all-too-real Haunted World. While the older Defenders fight monsters, harpies and skeleton warriors, the desperate young Defenders destroy the simulator and end the horror.

Ming is seeking the Jewels of Power, but a female archeologist named Atuskedero is also after them and travels to Tibet with Lothar and Mandrake (the latter worked with her in his pre-Defender days) to find the Jewels before Ming's forces do. But, when the trio discover the Jewels, it becomes clear that they have the power to hypnotise anyone who touches them. Can the remaining six Defenders reach their two companions in time to prevent an ancient legend - which predicts that the Dragon of Vengeance will appear if the Jewels are ever disturbed - from coming true?

Mandrake's old enemy, Damian Dark, and the latter's Psychic Warrior cohorts escape from jail and join forces with Ming's troops to search for the legendary Well of Essence.

Ming enlists the aid of the ruthless Beastmaster to create an army of Crystal Soldiers, beings grown from diamonds and invulnerable to everything except an extremely rare mineral called Orcite.

For Ming's plan to blanket the earth with a veneer of frost to be successful, the satellite requires the strength of a Starblue Crystal, of which only three exist. During a ceremony in which Mandrake donates his Starblue Crystal to the Central City Museum, the Defenders fight off an invasion by Ming's forces and capture two of his Men of Frost, Elgar and Zikry. Rick makes good use of a new invention which re-humanizes Men of Frost and Elgar tells the Defenders of Ming's plan to conquer earth. Zikry however, remains loyal to Ming and sabotages Dynak X before our heroes discover his true "evil" side. When Ming locates the last remaining Starblue Crystal he launches the satellite. It appears that it may be too late to stop Ming, but the Defenders fly out in their battle ships, engage Ming's roboships in an outer-space dog-fight, and explode the satellite with seconds to spare.

Ming's forces travel to the planet Grubor, where they use his freeze-ray weapon to capture six Cave Slugs- invincible alien creatures the size of semi-trucks who can and do eat anything, including rock, metal and laser beams. They are harmless unless provoked, whereupon they counterattack with tremendous force. The Merciless One deploys his first Cave Slug in a mine tunnel beneath Monitor, and as the alien munches its way towards the Defenders headquarters, Kshin and Zuffy stumble upon it and must be rescued by the Defenders. At the time the Cave Slug breaks through the top of the Volcano and heads to Central City, Ming places the five other Cave Slugs in major cities all over the world. The Defenders make the costly mistake of attacking the Cave Slug, sending it on a rampage until Jedda uses her animal telepathic contact abilities to make peace with the alien monster. Infuriated, Ming decides that if our heroes won't provoke the creatures, he will; however, his attack on the earth is crushed when the Cave Slugs counterattack Ming's forces. The misunderstanding settled, the Defenders happily transport the Cave Slugs back to Grubor.

When the famous explorer Andrew Huxley encounters the wrath of Ming the Merciless while on expedition in Africa, he immediately calls in the Defenders. Ming kidnaps the Chief of the Bandar tribe after destroying their village, and forces him to lead the way to the hidden Temple of Pantheria. Before the Defenders depart for Africa they confine Kisa in a forcefield- for her own, as well as the other's, safety- leaving the key card with Kshin, under strict orders not to let Kisa out or give the key card to any-one else, especially Jedda. A short time later Kshin, disobeying direct orders, hands over the card to Jedda, who lets Kisa free. Meanwhile Ming reaches the Temple of Pantheria, locates the sacred tooth and with its powers orders Kisa to attack and destroy the Defenders. Kisa obeys, wreaking havoc all over Central City. Rick and Jedda track Kisa down and just as Rick is about to shoot her, the Defenders locate Ming in Africa and, with the help of Mandrake's illusory power, wrest control of the sacred tooth. He reverses Ming's orders just in time to save Kisa and our heroes.

Ming's attack on an oil platform, to capture a main computer containing the earth's entire energy network, is foiled by the Defenders, but all is not lost as he spots oceanographer Maurice Quiston using a brainwave transmission helmet to communicate with sea creatures. Ming appeals to Quiston's love of the sea world and convinces him to join forces in battling the ocean-destructive forces of modern society. With Qusiton operating out of Ice Station Earth, all the ocean's inhabitants obey his orders, joining together to attack oil tankers, undersea food farms and sewage systems all over the globe. Meanwhile the Phantom, and old friend of Quistons, finds the oceanographer's floating sea-platform vacant, while Falsh, Lothar, Jedda and Mandrake try to save the food farm from destruction. Quiston discovers that Ming has double-crossed him when the Evil One destroys his sea platform. He joins forces with the Phantom to stop the ocean life's attacks and then blows up his brainwave transmission helmet and computer in the control room of Ming's Ice Station Earth.

Ming captures the Phantom and Jedda as they return from the race against N'Dama (really the Phantom's brother Kurt Walker) for the Jewel of Zandoon. Once again his old self, Kurt Walker stows away on Ming's ship, and back at Ice Station Earth he watches as Ming places the Phantom in the Deep Freeze Chamber. Small Fry, a monkey the Phantom and Jedda picked up in Africa, sabotages the wiring of the Freeze Chamber, buying the Phantom more time and allowing Jedda and Kurt to escape into the corridors of Ming's hideout. Jedda saves Kurt's life more than once before he finds the Golden Chamber and turns himself back into N'Dama; however, he refuses to help Jedda save the Phantom until she promises to reject the Phantom's birthright and becomes his protege. Using his skull ring the Phantom escapes the Freeze Chamber and is horrified to find Jedda in the uniform of the Weather Demon. N'Dama steals the valuable mineral Thalacitrate, which will allow him to remain N'Dama forever, from Ming. The Phantom and Jedda, poised for take-off from Ice Station Earth, benevolently save N'Dama's life, prompting the Spirit of the Winds to restore her birthright before he disappears in a mysterious flash of light.

The Defenders fly into space to investigate a mysterious comet and discover, too late to break from the tractor beams dragging them toward the comet, that in reality it is an Ilyrian spaceship. Inside the ship the Defenders are informed that they will be tried as the greatest criminals in the galaxy, with Ming as the accuser!! In exchange for his irrefutable evidence against the Defenders, the Evil One receives, under the pretense of "tools to rebuild the Earth", an anti-gravity device, a space warp drive, a machine to quadruple food harvests, and an energy shield to make all weapons obsolete, but these "tools" will actually serve to help Ming conquer the world. When the evidence is presented in court- film of the Defenders (actually Ming's Android Clones)- committing heinous crimes against the people of earth, things look bleak for our heroes. Rick, L.J. and Jedda manage to escape and invade Ice Station Earth, where they locate the androids and uncover Ming's plan. Back on the Ilyrian ship the Defenders are found guilty and sentenced to banishment to a galaxy 300 light years from earth, however just prior to their transport the young Defenders burst into the courtroom with the androids and save the day.

Ming's estranged daughter, Aura, crash lands her ship on Monitor and informs the Defenders of her father's latest scheme to enslave the population of earth with his Mind Neutralizer. Flash, an old friend of Aura's who once saved her and her husband, Barin, from destruction at the hands of Ming, immediately sets out for Grand Junction with Aura, Rick, Jedda and L.J. Upon arriving they discover that all the city's officials are already under Ming's hypnosis and that Aura's motivation is revenge- pure and simple. As Mandrake, the Phantom and Lothar rush to the rescue, the Defenders escape and convince Aura that she is an unwitting dupe in Ming's evil scheme. Briefly captured but now free, Mandrake and Lothar, with the Phantom set to work on reversing the polarity of Ming's neutralizer before he hypnotizes the entire world, while Flash, Rick, L.J., Jedda and Aura fly to an alien planet to rescue Barin. Seconds before Ming's scheme enslaves the world Dynak X completes the reversal, and all those previously under Ming's spell are once again free-thinkers.

At the dedication ceremony for a new courthouse built in honor of our heroes, 13 year-old Earl Sump, bespectacled and dressed in a homemade superhero suit, captures two pick-pockets in the crowd. His reward- a day spent at Monitor with his idols, the Defenders of the Earth. Immediately Earl's overzealous nature endangers our heroes --he almost causes the Defender ship to crash, and when the Defenders fly out to a distant planet to investigate some strange behavior, Earl stows away, his antics on board causing Flash's ship to run aground and nearly be destroyed. Back on Monitor Earl locks Jedda in a storage compartment and hijacks a ship which he pilots to Ice Station Earth. Unintentionally he rewires Octon, turning the evil computer into his amicable sidekick, and brings him back to Monitor. Earl then plans a day of celebration in his honor, inviting all of Central City to take part. This all invokes the wrath of Ming, who invades the party. Earl unintentionally turns Octon back into his old self, and it looks as if Ming will destroy the residents of Central City, however the Defenders arrive in the nick of time to drive Ming away and save the populace.

Deep in Africa Ming locates an anti-energy source enabling him to open the Nightgiant Doorway and unleash 7-story tall nightgiants to destroy the earth. Flash flies out to space to destroy a Ming satellite, but his ship is immoblized by the Merciless One's roboships, while the Phantom goes to Africa to terminate Ming's activities in the Forgotten City. As the nightgiants terrorize various parts of the globe Rick intercepts a transmission from Ming to Garax and discovers that a transport invertor will eliminate the monsters. Mandrake, Lothar, Rick, L.J., Jedda, Kshin and Zuffy take on two nightgiants outside of Central City while racing to the stadium to retrieve the saving invertordevice. As they recover the device, Rick is captured by one of the creatures. Jedda departs for Africa, where her father will use the transport invertor to close the nightgiant doorway, while the other Defenders save Rick. Out in space Flash finally fights off all of Ming's minions and blows the satellite. Jedda delivers the transport invertor to the Phantom and they battle Ming's troops before employing the device and sending the nightgiants back to their own world.

While captives in Ming's jail, Rick and Jedda overhear Octon and Garax's plans to revolt against Ming. In exchange for their freedom, the Defenders offer to help in the scheme. When the uprising begins, Octon contacts Monitor in a plea for help, however Flash and the other Defenders recognize this as another in a long line of Ming's vile attempts to destroy the Defenders. Rick, L.J. and Jedda disagree and with Kshin and Zuffy as stowaways, the three fly off to Ice Station Earth to help defeat Ming. They arrive at Ming's devastated headquarters to discover that it is indeed another of Ming's schemes- the Three Sorcerers Of Teros created the illusion of a battle torn command center explicitly to lure the young Defenders there so that Ming can probe Rick's mind for the plans to Monitor's defense system. When Flash, Mandrake, Lothar and the Phantom arrive to rescue the kids they engage the Sorcerers in combat. Flash uses his sonic-ray blaster to destroy the crystals encircling the Sorcerers, while Mandrake and Lothar unstrap Rick from Ming's mind-draining device. United with Jedda and L.J., the Defenders of the Earth destabilize the shifting ice flow under Ice Station Earth before mounting their ships for the flight back to Monitor, once again victorious in battle- but yet to win the war.

After retrieving a vat of deadly mutant slime from Ming's laboratory, six of the Defenders (LJ and Kshin do not appear in this episode) are chased through a time warp and go back to the days of King Arthur. There, they meet and join forces with Prince Valiant who tells them that his wife, Alita, is being held prisoner by the evil Warlock who has stolen the fabled Eternity Stone. And, to further complicate matters, the mutant slime - which has already infected Mandrake - escaped from the Shuttle when the Defenders crashed into the sea and begins to spread.

The household helper robot, designed by Ming the Merciless in another of his evil schemes, is the hottest selling item on the market, deployed in over one million homes worldwide- including Monitor. Ming plans to use a space satellite to direct a hypno-beam through the robots to hypnotize their owners and make them slaves of the evil emperor. At the behest of Jedda, Rick examines his robot and discovers the plot, alerting the Defenders. When Flash flies out to space to destroy the satellite, he discovers Ming has a few tricks up his sleeve- a tractor beam renders his ship powerless and drags him towards Ice Station Earth!! Splitting up, Lothar, Mandrake and the Phantom penetrate Ming's fortress to save Flash. While Ming captures the Jamaican and the Magician, the Phantom wreaks havoc on the robot production lab. Ming activates his hypno-beam and sets the final stages of his plan into motion, however back at Monitor Rick mobilizes his frequency inhibitor, overloading the household helper robots and rendering them useless. Back at Ming's fortress, Mandrake uses telekenesis to overload the main generator, enabling he, Lothar and Flash to escape with the Phantom. As the robot production lab blows, Ming evacuates safely- surviving to return and fight another day.

While transporting Starchild, a child-like alien who has landed on earth, through the woods around Monitor, the young Defenders encounter two alien scouts who attempt to destroy their new acquaintance. With the help of the elder Defenders the scouts are run from the planet, but not before identifying the alien as an evil monster and promising to return. Back at Monitor, Dynak X informs our heroes that an armada of 200 alien ships are on their way to Earth, prompting Flash, Mandrake, Lothar and the Phantom to fly into space to investigate. Meanwhile, Starchild blasts his way out of Monitor and rampages through Central City, with the young heroes on his trail. Amongst the stars, the senior Defenders talk to Roarke, a reptile-like alien, who tells them that Starchild is a genetically engineered being created by the great scientist Shoar Koron, and he has limitless powers- which he has previously used to wipe out entire civilizations. The aliens intend to destroy Earth, thereby ridding the galaxy of the child. The young Defenders learn that Starchild is not really evil, but like any child he requires love and attention. Mandrake impersonates Koron to explain to Starchild that he must use his powers for good, not bad, and the little alien makes peace with all the space ships, before streaking away into the star system.

When statues of ancient gods mysteriously come to life the Defenders are summoned to the Himalayas by Mandrake's old magic teacher, Theron. Our heroes learn that Ming and a mystic are behind the bizarre occurances, another element in a plan to recover a sacred dorje which will bestow upon Ming the power to rule the world. When Ming gains control of the sacred dorje, Mandrake tries to warn him about the danger of his mystic collaborator, but to no avail. The mystic snatches the dorje from Ming and uses it to turn himself back into Shiva- the destroyer god- who was banished from his dimension of Bodhidarma ages ago. As Shiva proclaims "Let the time of destruction begin" and he fades into his other dimension, Mandrake must follow. Ming, true to his cowardly nature, flees the scene, leaving the Defenders to amend the world-threatening situation he brought about. In the other dimension Mandrake battles valiantly against Shiva, however it appears his efforts are not enough to defeat the god, until an image of Theron appears and informs Mandrake that in Bodhidarma his illusory powers are REAL, not products of his imagination. Mandrake uses this nifty piece of information to conquer Shiva, and Lothar manages to open up the portal back to our earthly dimension just in time for Mandrake to slip through- with the powerful dorje.

When industrial tycoon/hypochondriac Kent Madden's plan to buy a magic health elixer from Partha, son of Chief Ajuna of the of r ican Fallu tribe, goes awry, he makes a deal to obtain use of Ming's forces to steal the potion. The Phantom and Jedda learn of the plot and immediately fly to Africa in the skullcopter. On the way the Phantom is shot out of the sky by Madden and is believed killed. The Fallu implore Jedda to take up where her father left off- as Phantom, protector of their tribe- and after some heavy soul searching she does just that. As Madden and Ming invade in full force, Jedda valiantly leads the Fallu in counter-attack. Unbeknownst to her, the Phantom raises himself from the jungle- he is alive- and must call forth the strength of ten tigers just to muster the power to fly the skullcopter. With the father-daughter team together again Ming and Madden flee for their lives. The Fallu people are saved, however the sanctity of their location is violated, forcing them to abandon their obscurity and join civilization.