Planeteer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Planeteers were the five teenage characters of the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers. A globally diverse group, they were entrusted with five magical rings that gave them control over the Classical elements (as well as "Heart"). Using the rings, they sought to protect the planet from environmental destruction. When they used the rings in conjunction, the Planeteers could summon Captain Planet himself.
The Planeteers were loosely based on the characters from a short-run Marvel Comics series Psi-Force, who had similar abilities. Marvel Comics published the Captain Planet comic book series.
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[edit] Gi
Gi was the Planeteer whose ring allowed her control over "Water". She was from Asia (presumably Japan, due to her occasional use of the Japanese language and the ethnic background of her voice actress, Janice Kawaye). However she might have been Thai.
Predictably, Gi gained the power of water, enabling her to control water in a telekinetic manner, so long as it is clean enough to be affected by her ring.
Gi, presumably the oldest of the Planeteers (she was the first pilot of the Planeteers' primary aircraft, the Geo Cruiser, which means she at least (by American standards) has a driving license and makes her at least 16 or 17 years old), tends to be the most scientifically informed of the planeteers and is usually the authority on technology.
While Gi is rather intelligent, she can sometimes get carried away with her feelings, such as when she discovered the invention of the garbage-eating microbe. Gi is calm spirited at heart and takes the well being of underwater life very seriously.
[edit] Kwame
Kwame was the Planeteer in charge of "Earth". He was voiced by LeVar Burton of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Roots and Reading Rainbow fame.
Kwame is from Ghana (It is a name given to a boy born on Saturday in the Akan tribe of Ghana), where he spent much time working to help keep the land from becoming a desert by planting trees. One day, as he pulled his staff from the ground after inserting a seed into the soil, he found a ring on its end with a golden band and a green symbol of earth upon it.
Kwame became the planeteer who could control the power of earth, able to manipulate the ground to create earthquakes, landforms, and craters, though only to a certain extent.
Kwame can be considered the leader of the planeteers when they are in action. Though he has no established authority, he bears typical qualities of leadership and usually makes decisions that the others follow. When summoning Captain Planet, Kwame always starts the procedure by stating "Let our powers combine."
Another trait of Kwame is his ability to make what seem to be humorous comments without changing his voice or facial inflections in the least, making his character somewhat difficult to read and more desirable for some to connect to.
[edit] Linka
Linka was the Planeteer with the power of "Wind". She is from Russia, which at the time of the series's creation was part of the Soviet Union — this was generalized in the beginning opener as "Eastern Europe" after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. She was voiced by Kath Soucie.
Linka was particularly interested in birds, learning to play their songs and songs for them on her keyboard. It happened that an injured bird that she helped was carrying a golden ring with the symbol of wind in its beak.
Linka joined the planeteers as the mistress of winds, able to create powerful gusts, small tornados, and even fly; though the concentration required to levitate was very tiring, and she rarely flew with the exception of emergency situations. She was typically one of the most logical and compassionate planeteers, which several times got her in trouble for seriously misjudging people.
She was the romantic interest of Wheeler, usually to her annoyance due to his pushy nature and her own skittishness. However, Linka did care for Wheeler, even if she wasn't willing to openly admit it. One episode even had a dream sequence where they were married and had several children. When other girls showed interest in him (like Teresa, a young, homeless, girl whom Wheeler befriended) she'd openly show jealousy towards them. Linka was also one of the more intelligent planeteers, and her wind powers compare well with her quick thinking.
[edit] Ma-ti
Ma-ti was the Planeteer of "Heart". From the Amazon jungles, he was voiced by Scott Menville.
Ma-ti is the 12-year-old son of an Amazon leader and a part of an Amazon Caucasian race who pursued peace between the two cultures. When conflict resulted in Ma-ti's parents' apparent deaths, he ended up living with his grandfather, the shaman of the tribe in the rainforest. On one particular day, Ma-ti discovered a trapped monkey, a jaguar advancing on it; he jumped between them and with but a gesture sent the cat away. Ma-ti freed the monkey, who presented him with a ring with a heart upon its stone.
Ma-ti became the planeteer of Heart, able to communicate with others telepathically and feel and convey emotions directly. Though not powerful in the way of action, Ma-ti's power is considered by some to be the most important, for it keeps the planeteers together and helps them to be in tune with not just nature, but the people with whom they interact. Ma-ti's power can also influence the feelings of others, enabling him to draw aid from creatures in the surrounding area. (This should not be confused with mind control; Ma-ti's powers can only influence behavior by drawing out what kindness already exists in a being's heart; as such, most villanous people are barely influenced by the power, and it has no effect at all over beings of pure evil, such as Zarm). His power was also necessary to call Captain Planet in his full power, but there was an instance in which Captain Planet was summoned in a lesser form without using Heart while some of the Planeteers were in space.
Ma-ti is the most compassionate and sensitive of the planeteers. While he is both wise and learned about the ways of nature, some of the more modern forms of entertainment can consume him, such as an episode in which he was so obsessed with mystery novels that he began treating missions like mystery stories.
The monkey that Ma-ti rescued from the jaguar stayed with him after joining the planeteers and was named Suchi. For the most part, Suchi's role in the series is rather small, though on occasion he may serve a role in the movement of the plot or some sort of comic endeavor.
Many of the show's critics often cite his power as being "useless" due to its title of heart where as all the other Planeteer powers are elemental.
[edit] Wheeler
Wheeler Sloane was the Planeteer who had control over "Fire". From the United States of America, specifically the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, he was voiced by Joey Dedio. He is somewhat aware of martial arts and other techniques for handling tough situations, primarily from movies and television. He is also the only Planeteer to have a definite origin to how he obtained his power ring.
One night, Wheeler happened to notice a couple of thugs mugging a helpless bystander. Wheeler jumped into the conflict and was able to force the thugs away. While Wheeler was trading congratulations and thanks with the person he had saved, a pillar of fire erupted from a nearby garbage can. As the tongue of flame curled towards him, it flung a silver-banded ring bearing a flame symbol onto his hand. Wheeler had become the Planeteer with the power of fire. While the others were chosen for their environmental attitudes, Gaia chose Wheeler for his short temper and attitude, the fighting spirit of the team.
With his powers, Wheeler is able to fire projectiles of flame and create fires nearby, though his powers are limited. They represent Wheeler's hot nature; typically small and effective, though they can end up raging out of control and consuming everything in the area. For the most part, however, Wheeler is rather sensible, his action-readiness not over emphasized.
Wheeler has an apparent romantic interest in Linka, although Linka at first does not seem to share those same feelings towards Wheeler at all. However, Linka does later care for Wheeler, even if she isn't willing to openly admit it. It is later revealed that in the past, he had close ties with Trish, one of those who followed the leadership of Verminous Skumm during his time as a ganglord. Wheeler has also had conflict with his father, "Nick" who was disappointed in his life as a Planeteer, considering it a good thing to do, but no real job or way to live. This situation was visited in the fourth season of the series, when they finally patched things up. By this time, Wheeler's father had suffered severe liver problems due to a lifetime of drinking. Little is known of his mother.
Wheeler was often portrayed as the cynic of the team, as well as the one who would often know the least about environmental issues, a trait which critics of the show like to point out, saying that Wheeler's actions give the impression that most Americans are apathetic about environmental issues until said issues directly affect them. However, by the time of the New Adventures episodes, these qualities were eliminated, showing Wheeler to be smarter than before.
It should also be noted that Wheeler was a wannabe surfer in the early episodes before Turner took over production. He particularly liked windsurfing, as seen in episodes such as The Predator, Last of Her Kind and Population Bomb. The phrase "wannabe" is justified by a few things, such as in The Population Bomb when he decides to keep windsurfing despite a big storm, which nearly gets him killed and destroys his sail broad. Also, just about every time he went surfing, he managed to wipe out. The one exception was in the The Predator, where after he and the other Planeteers crash in the GEO cruiser, he uses his “wind surfer” better known as a “sail broad” to get everyone to safety. Wheeler did do some standard surfing at least once in The Blue Car Line and once again managed to wipe out. It is not clear as to how Wheeler learned to surf or wind surf. It's implied in The Population Bomb that Gi may have been teaching him. While Wheeler was living in New York his family clearly could not afford to purchase such expensive surfing gear, so it is likely he started after he arrived at Hope Island. Later, Wheeler took up basketball, which is more logical for an inner city kid than surfing.
[edit] Hope Island
The Planeteers were based on Hope Island, a decently-sized island where Gaia must stay. Hope Island featured several small huts, a boat dock, and a central, larger hut where Gaia slept. The central hut was also the location of Planet-Vision, a computer-like crystalline device which could instantly view any location on Earth - typically to zero in specifically on ecological disasters. The Planeteers' vehicles were also stored here.
While never specifically shown, Hope Island generally contained basic living quarters, as the Planeteers ate, slept, and bathed all on the island. Each had their own hut. While a clean island, the Planeteers were responsible for the general upkeep of the island itself, raking leaves and other cleaning. All clothing and food is provided on the island. The island also had its own power supply (likely solar), as the Planeteers kept televisions, radios, and other electronic equipment on hand for personal use(the island may have also had a powerful antenna array, as the island was too remote to pick up basic radio signals).
[edit] Resources and tools
The Planeteers main vehicle was the Geo-Cruiser, a large flying vehicle. The Geo-cruiser was a rounded, yellow craft with two large solar panel wings. The craft had six seats (one pilot and five passengers- though more people could be fit in if needed), an internal flight console/computer, fire suppression system, and internal solar batteries for night use. A winch inside allows for rescue operations and cargo transport. there was also cargo room which contained a small emergency boat.
Occasionally, the Planeteers would also see use of their other vehicles. The Eco-Sub was an underwater equivalent of the Geo-Cruiser, which also operated on solar power (likely with larger batteries as it was meant for underwater use). The Sub optionally featured two large grabber arms on the front as well as two TRID launchers (small missiles useful for clearing debris or other such obstacles), though weren't used often.
Earlier seasons also saw use of the Eco-Copter, a standard helicopter which also ran on a solar battery. However, it had no solar panels and had to be recharged on Hope Island. It was mainly used as a secondary flight craft to the Geo-Cruiser. There were also five Eco-cycles, small solar-powered motorcycles. These did not see much use given the need to transport them in first.
Where Gaia obtained these vehicles is never stated, nor is it said why she has such advanced technology on the island when she went to sleep in the 1800s. One possibility (given the time travel seen in later episodes) is that the technology was from the future, likely sent by Planeteers of the time. Another, given Zarm's space travel, could be an alien origin. Both could explain why Gaia never provided the technology to the Earth for mass production of "clean" fuel sources(ie, they would be beyond modern technology's ability to replicate). However, both are speculation as nothing was ever stated officially.
While the Planeteers were not generally paid for their work, they did carry money, often to buy food or other necessities in the field. Gi may have also had a credit card, as she once rented a Jeep(she was also the only one stated to have a driver's license).
[edit] Toys
The Planeteers had decent releases within the Captain Planet toy line from Tiger toys. Gi only had one toy, Linka, Ma-Ti, and Kwame each had 2 versions, and Wheeler had 4 (these totals do not count minor paint variants).
First series:
- Gi with water-squirting backpack
- Wheeler with sparking action (early versions shot sparks out of the chest. Later versions saw the chest sealed with a translucent piece)
- Linka with helmet and parachute backpack
- Ma-Ti with hip pack, staff, and Suchi
- Kwame with binoculars, backpack, and actual working compass
Each came with a life-sized replica of their rings
Backpack series:
- Wheeler with Tread Pack
- Ma-Ti with Rescue Pack
Talking series:
- Wheeler with eco-commands voice clip backpack
- Linka with eco-commands voice clip backpack
Misc:
- Wheeler with launching grappling hook
- Ma-Ti and Kwame 2-pack(had the rings, but no other accessories)
- Ma-Ti and Kwame 2-pack redeco(vastly different colored clothes)
Vehicles:
- Geo-Cruiser
- Eco-Cycle with helmet
- Eco-Sub with two TRID missiles
- Planeteer Copter with launcher
- Eco-Jailer
The Eco-Cycle, Eco Jailer and Planeteer Copter were to scale with the toys. The Geo-Cruiser and Eco-Sub were not, however, each only holding one figure.
