The series was originally going to be named PowerBoy but was renamed Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad to avoid confusion with Saban Entertainment's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The series development mirrored the creative construct established earlier with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The master toy licensee - Playmates Toys - funded the series, interpolated American development via toy licensing rights, and did a commercial buy-in on the Fox Network, where Haim Saban had established a kids block of time with other programs like "Power Rangers."
Playmates called upon the development team at DIC (which coincidentally was in league with Pangea Corporation, who assisted in the development of DIC's "New Kids on the Block," and Playmates earlier phenomenon, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"). DIC, Pangea and Playmates' marketing group created an ensemble of character names, traits and profiles, which were spun into a most ambiguous series offering. More than anything else, this was a quick-to-market slam dunk to capitalize on the upsurge in popularity of imported Japanese monster-robot shows which could be adapted with new, regionalized live action footage.
Description
- Format : Action / Adventure, Science fantasy
- Created by :
* Tsuburaya Productions,
* James Rowley,
* Jymn Magon,
* Mark Zaslove - Directed by : N/a
- Runtime : 20 minutes
- Starring :
* Matthew Lawrence,
* Glen Beaudin,
* Troy Slaten,
* Rembrandt Sabelis,
* Kevin Castro,
* Robin Mary lorence,
* Jayme Betcher,
* John Wesley,
* Diana Bellamy,
* Kelli Kirkland - Country of origin : United States
- Preceded by : N/a
- Followed by : N/a
- No. of episodes : 53
Meanwhile Malcolm Frink, another student from Sam's school, is designing monsters on his home computer when Kilokahn (an escaped military Artificial Intelligence presumed dead in the power surge) visits Malcolm via computer screen. Kilokahn strikes a Faustian deal with Malcolm and turns his digital monster into a Mega Virus Monster who is not only capable of corrupting electronics, but is also capable of affecting the real world.
Sam (now as Servo) must enter the digital world and stop Malcolm's and Kilokahn's Mega Viruses. Sometimes, when Servo was unable to handle a virus by himself, he would call on the help of his friends using his Arsenal Programs. The Arsenal Programs could fight the viruses solo, transform (with the help of other Programs) and attach to Servo as armor. Since Team Samurai consisted of only 3 people at any one time (excluding Sam), only 3 vehicles were available at any one time. When Servo linked up with these Programs as armor, he changed his name to either Phormo or Synchro (when he combined with Drago or Xenon, respectively).
Characters
Team Samurai
- Sam "Servo" Collins - The star of the series. He is the frontman and guitarist of his band, Team Samurai. He was always willing to help anyone in need or be their friend, and often vies for the attention of cheerleader Jennifer Doyle, having been in and out of relationships with her, sometimes even competing with Malcolm Frink for her affections. He has even gone so far as to try to be friends with Malcolm, although Malcolm never returned the favor. He also loves his (unseen) little sister, Elizabeth, though oftentimes felt pestered by her shenanigans. He is portrayed by Matthew Lawrence.
- Tanker - The band's drummer and a stereotypical jock. He was particularly adept at school sports, especially football. He had a crush on fellow Team Samurai member Sydney, especially admiring her for her intelligence. He always seemed to have a large appetite, and as evidenced in the episode "A Break in the Food Chain", he would go crazy if he didn't eat anything for a period of time. He also held a particularly strong dislike for Malcolm Frink. In Syberspace, Tanker's uniform was a black biker suit with a black helmet and a see-through visor. He is portrayed by Kevin Castro.
- Sydney "Syd" Forrester - The brains of the group, Sydney is the band's keyboard player. She is also a good singer, as shown in "His Master's Voice". She is one of North Valley High's brightest students, and often displayed a caring personality. She is the object of Tanker's affection, and the two enjoy being together. Sydney's Syberspace uniform was a pink biker suit with a gold helmet and a see-through visor. She is portrayed by Robin Mary Florence.
- Amp Ere - Amp is the team's so-called "space cadet" and the band's bass player. He became the band's bass player after revealing to the gang that his brother (who was originally intended to join them instead of Amp) was going back to college. His intelligence was curious, as he was either clueless to his surroundings, or displayed unusual intellect. He had an unorthodox way of performing tasks, such as writing in a notebook using his toes, or studying by eating book pages with milk and sugar. To enter Syberspace, he always used a different phrase to be humorous. Amp's uniform consisted of a helicopter helmet and leather jacket. It is later revealed that Amp is really an alien and returns to his own planet with his parents offscreen. He is portrayed by Troy Slaten.
- Lucky London - Lucky is a surfer and was Amp's replacement in Team Samurai. His attitude was often laid-back, sometimes to the dismay of Principal Pratchert. In Syberspace, Lucky's uniform consisted of a red and white jetski helmet with a black visor and Life Jacket. He is portrayed by Rembrandt.
- Kilokahn: Kilometric Knowledge-base Animate Human Nullity - A military artificial intelligence program who unleashes computer viruses to attack major computer systems. He derisively refers to humans as "meat-things." Kilokahn considers himself the ruler of the digital world and also wishes to take over the real world starting with the world's computer network. He is voiced by Tim Curry.
- Malcolm Frink - A loner who dresses in black garb and also attends North Valley High School. He only finds companionship in Kilokahn. Using a special program, he designs the Mega Virus monsters which are brought to life by Kilokahn and sent into a specific electronic object. Sam sees that Malcolm is alone and tries to strike up a friendship with him, but Malcolm rejects his offers stating that he likes being alone. Malcolm has a very strong dislike of Tanker. Malcolm derives enjoyment out of hurting other people with his computer viruses, which he creates and Kilokahn brings to life. In spite of Kilokahn regularly betraying him, lacking any other 'friends' Malcolm always comes back to him. He even purposely restores Kilokahn to his sociopathic self after he is temporarily rendered harmless. He is portrayed by Glen Beaudin.
- Jennifer "Jen" Doyle - Sam's on-again/off-again girlfriend and a cheerleader at North Valley High, Malcolm tries to compete for her affections. She is portrayed by Jayme Betcher.
- Mrs. Cha-Cha Rimba Starkey - The cafeteria lunchlady, who often cracks jokes relating to the poor quality of the food she serves, enjoys her hobby of riding her motorcycle, and was married multiple times. She also seemed to have an affinity for Dennis Quaid, as mentioned in a few episodes. She is portrayed by the late Diana Bellamy.
- Principal Pratchert - The school principal who is usually strict, particularly when dealing with Sam Collins and Malcolm Frink. When his daughter lost the student council presidency to Malcolm, he initially refused to recount the votes when Malcolm commented it would make the Education Board suspect he was playing favorites and only could do so when he agreed that Malcolm could use his parking space should he remain victor. In "Pratchert's Radical Departure", it was revealed that Pratchert used to be a hippie when he was younger. Malcolm used this to his advantage by creating a virus that made Pratchert think he was a hippie again, much to the delight of Lucky London (at least until the virus was destroyed by Servo). He is portrayed by John Wesley.
- Yolanda "Yoli" Pratchert - The principal's daughter and Jennifer's closest friend. She's North Valley High School's student councilpresident, a position she temporarily lost in "The President's a Frink" when Malcolm cheated his way into office (with the help of a virus) but she regained it when Principal Pratchert recounts the votes after Servo defeats the virus sent to change the results. In the episode "What Rad Universe!," an alternate dimension version of Yolanda found companionship in Kilokahn making her that dimension's version of Malcolm Frink while the Malcolm Frink of that dimension was a good person much like the real Yoli. She is portrayed by Kelli Kirkland.
- Elizabeth "Liz" Collins - Sam's "unseen" kid sister, who communicates with her brother off screen through a vent connected from the upstairs. She always plays pranks on her older brother, usually dropping things on top of him through the vent. She is voiced by Kath Soucie.
The episodes "Don't Reboot 'Till Christmas" and "Kilokhan Comes To Town" were aired after Troy Slaten departed and was replaced. However Amp Ere was still in the cast in this episode and there is no mention of Lucky or the events regarding Amp's departure. These episodes may have been filmed prior to the departure, but leaving a continuity gap in the characters.
Arsenal Programs
Xenon Program
- Xenon: A powerful humanoid robot created when Vitor, Tracto, and Borr combine. It's fists can be fired as missiles, as in the battle against Kord, which it almost singlehandedly defeated on its own.
- Borr: An orange and black tank with twin drills that can fly or burrow underground; its driver is Sydney. Once it was piloted by Amp, who had problems driving it. Also, a famous basketball player—Charles "High Jump" Johnson—was dragged along to fight a Mega Virus Monster as a temporary driver for Borr when the band used the vehicles to escape the locked high school (in the episode "Syber-Dunk"). Borr forms Synchro's gauntlets and shoulder armor; and Xenon's torso and upper legs.
- Tracto: A blue mini tank with lasers; its driver is Tanker. Tracto forms Synchro's boots and Xenon's legs.
- Vitor: A red fighter jet armed with lasers, missiles and a rig to restrain monsters; its pilot is Amp (and later by Lucky). On one occasion it was piloted by Sydney, who had trouble flying it. Vitor forms Synchro's helmet and body armor; and Xenon's head, arms, and chest.
Drago Program
- Drago: A mechanized Dragon formed when Jamb and Torb combine. It was almost always piloted by Tanker, and occasionally by Sydney. Later in the series, Jamb and Torb would just appear as one single jet fighter and was piloted by either Sydney or Tanker and eventually just transform into Drago. Neither Amp or Lucky have piloted Drago during the series run. While Tanker and Syd were the default pilots for the "Drago Jet," Mrs. Starkey did pilot the vehicle in one episode ("Starkey in Syberspace").
- Jamb: A dragon head mini-jet which also acts as a bazooka type flame thrower, known as the Dragon Cannon, which is used by Servo. Its main pilot is Sydney.
- Torb: A giant jet with various weaponry. Its main pilot is Tanker.
Battle Calls
Main characters
- Sam : "Let's Samuraize, guys!" (strums his guitar or presses on his wrist communicator)
- Tanker : "Let's kick some Giga-Butt!" (knocks his drumsticks together)
- Sydney : "Pump up the power!" (jumps on one leg and raises her fist into the air)
- Amp : His battle calls and poses always varied. Some of them included: ["Two for a Dollar!", "Three for a Dollar!", "With a Cherry on Top!", "And Side Order of Fries!", "Shake Well Before Using!", etc.]
- Lucky : "Surf's up!" (does a surfer's pose)
