Glo Friends

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Glo Friends are small glow-in-the-dark toys in the shape of insects and other small creatures that were made by Playskool in Britain and were produced in the mid 1980s. Books were also made by Ladybird to accompany each Glo Friend. There was also a TV Show based on the Glo Friends´toy-line, originally aired in 1986 as a segment of My Little Pony 'n Friends, that only lasted one season (26 episodes were made in total). The show was made by Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions. It featured the Glo Friends as a community of small insects that live in a magical place located in the middle of the forest called Glo Land, where they build their homes and they stock the Moondrops in the Glo Pond, the substance that makes them able to glow in the dark and live.

The main villain in the TV series was Starnose, leader of the Moligans, a group of mole-like creatures that were fired of their homekingdom (called Moleslavia) by their King. Since that moment, the Moligans look for gold and fortune, living in underground tunnels. According to the Glo Friends released books (such as the Ladybird ones, see above), they are short-sighted, and because of that, they want to use the Glo Friends as slaves and lanterns to find the gold of their mines.

[edit] List of Glo Friends

Baby Glo Worm is the youngest member of the Glo Friends´community. She is seen spending most of her time along Glo Grannybug (see below). She is quite curious and often giggles. In the debut episode of the Glo Friends TV show entitled Baby Glo Worm goes Bye-Bye, she escaped of her bed while the other Glo Friends were trying to sing a lullaby to make her sleep, and consequently got lost in the Moligans´Tunnels, putting the other Glo Friends into trouble when they set off to find her.

Garden Ant spends his time taking care of his plants and flowers. He cultivates vegetables for the Glo Friend community, and has a vast knowledge about them. His best friend is Bunny Rabbit. He can't tolerate seeing the Moligans eating the roots of a tree, as seen in the episodes Forest Brigade(in which he protects his personal tree) and even in Easy Money Part 2, when a Moleslavia villager is selling "Root dogs" (like Hot Dogs with roots instead of sausages). He is a regular character in the TV series. His house is a sort of pumpkin located in Glo Land.

Glo Bashfulbug, as her name indicates, is a female Glo Friend that doesn´t know what to say in certain moments. Sometimes, she shows an attraction for Glo Worm, one of the bravest and smartest Glo Friends. In more than one moment, she said to Glo Worm that being brave is hard. She is a regular character in the TV series.

Glo Bedbug is the laziest of the Glo Friends. The only things he usually wants to do is eating and sleeping.

Glo Bonnie Beetle is another female Glo Friend. According her description, she is very sweet. She doesn´t appear in the TV series.

Glo Bopbug is an eight-legged Glo Friend that wears a top hat and shoes , and uses a cane. He is a regular character in the TV series. He likes to dance. In the Spanish dub of the show, he was called "Abuelete", literally translated as "Granddaddy"

Glo Butterfly carries all the moment a magic wand. She believes that she can do magic tricks, although she actually can´t. In the episode entitled Make no mistake, it's magic, the other Glo Friends said that it is better not to tell her that her "magic tricks" are just coincidences, in order to keep her happy.

Glo Bug is sometimes considered the bravest of the Glo Friends. He is not afraid of danger. For example, in the first part of The Quest, he can´t tolerate that Rook and the Red Ant army are destroying the forest and for that reason, without wasting time thinking, he dares to run into Rook and face him. For some reason, in the TV series and in his Playskool-Hasbro figure, his hat is pink, while in other media, such as the Ladybird books, his hat has multicoloured strips.

Glo Cappy loves going to explore the forests riding in his friend Country Mouse and acts as a reporter of Glo Land. He informs the others about the dangers or anything worth to mention. He and his friend wear a blue cap.

Glo Clutterbug is a clumsy insect that usually messes up the situation, and puts the other Glo Friends into trouble. He often falls into traps.

Glo Doodlebug loves art. He often gets frustrated when he feels that his artworks or his painting style are not appreciated. In the episode entitled The Masterpiece, he decides to leave Glo Land in order to go to a cave (accompanied by Snugbug) that he uses as a personal studio. He is a regular character in the TV series.

Glo Firefly has a name that has double-meaning: his job is being a fireman, and he is a firefly. He doesn´t appear in the TV series.

Glo Flutterbug's figure was only available through mail order as Glo Prayerbug. He doesn´t appear in the TV series.

Glo Grannybug is the wisest and oldest Glo Friend. She lives in the biggest treehouse of Glo Land. She often tells stories to the other Glo Friends and she is often seen taking care of Baby Glo Worm. She also loves celebrating parties with homemade food at the Full Moon Days, in which Moondrops falls to the Earth, as seen for examples in the episode entitled Beware the tales of Gold.

Glo Prayerbug is a blue mantis-shaped Glo Friend that, as her name indicates, prays when something goes wrong. She appeared very few times in the TV show (only in the 10-part adventure entitled The Quest and in The Glo Friends save Christmas special) and she had only very few lines. About her toy figure, it was only available in the US and Canada by mail order.

Glo Shuttlebug is a skypilot that rides on his best friend Dragonflyer, that acts as a plane. He is a regular character in the TV series.

Glo Skunkbug is a stinking Glo Friend with purple nose (Most of the other Glo Friends have a red nose). He is a very close friend of Glo Clutterbug.

Glo Sluggerbug wears a baseball cap and always carry a stick. His best friend is Bullyfrog. He is very brave and in several moments he and his frog friend have excellent ideas when fighting against their enemies. He is a regular character in the TV series. The only moment in which he was seen playing a baseball match with the other Glo Friends was in the episode entitled Bean Ball.

Glo Sniffles Snail has a constant cold. He doesn´t appear in the TV series.

Glo Snugbug is a pink caterpillar-shaped Glo Friend. She is not a regular character in the TV series. She only appeared during the 10-part episode entitled The Quest and The Masterpiece, in which she seemed to show feelings for Glo Doodlebug. She tends to hug all his friends.

Glo Waterbug is a sailor insect whose best friend is Dipper Duck. Both of them guard the Glo Moondrops Pond.

Dipper Duck looks similar to a toy bath duck; he even has a sailor hat on. He is modelled on a duckling.

Glo Worm is the unofficial leader of the Glo Friends. He is quite brave and smart. He wears purple pyjamas, like the original Glo Worm toy from 1982 made by Hasbro.

[edit] Villains

The main Moligans:
- Starnose, the leader of the Moligans. He is physically tough and it is mentioned that he is able to scare anyone who tries to ignore his orders. In the Spanish dub of the Glo Friends TV Show, he was called "Narizotas", literally translated as "Big Nose".
- Nails is a selfish and egocentrical Moligan lady that only worries about her physical appearance or anything in her own benefit. She likes valuable and shining body complements (such as rings, necklaces, earrings, etc.) and she doesn´t tolerate that anyone calls her an "ugly witch" (or similar attributions).
- Excavator is a scientist that usually remains in his personal laboratory doing chemical experiments or inventing new mining artifacts such as the Bi-Pedal Turbo Tunneler (seen in two episodes of the TV show). In the Spanish dub of the TV series he was called "Inventor".
- Old Moldy, as his name indicates, is the oldest Moligan in the group. He needs to use a cane. Since he was young, his main dream was to melt a piece of gold to turn it in a huge river of gold. In the episode entitled Caverns of Mystery, his old mine was seen.
- Brasher is a tall and intellectual Moligan. It is said that he has the best ideas about how to get the gold and the Glo Friends, but Starnose hears and takes them as they were of his own to consider himself as the "main brain of the Moligans".
- Smasher is Brasher's brother, and unlike him, he is (or acts as) stupid and dumb. Physically, he is tall and tough. He feels the need of "smashing" at least one Glo Friend (during the 10-part episode entitled the Quest, he is seen several times trying to damage the Glo Friends in order to force them to work for the Moligans).