Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad

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Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad was a 1994 syndicated television series distributed by DiC Entertainment based on the Japanese tokusatsu series Denkou Choujin Gridman produced by Tsuburaya Production. The series aired both on ABC Saturdays and syndication simultaneously. It was one of the alternatives to the extremely popular Mighty Morphin Power Rangers which was also based off of a Japanese tokusatsu series.

Contents 1 Series overview 2 Team Samurai 2.1 Samuraize Phrases 2.2 Team Uniforms 3 Vehicles 4 Trivia 5 Episodes 6 Mega-Virus Monsters 7 Cast

[edit] Series overview

Matthew Lawrence starred as Sam "Servo" Collins, a teenager who was sucked into his computer when it was hit by a massive power surge, causing him to become the cyber-avatar Servo, a computer defense program designed to travel cyberspace fighting computer viruses. Lucky for him, Sam was able to transport back to the real world and soon gained the ability to travel back and forth between reality and cyberspace when necessary. To get into cyberspace, Sam uses an electric guitar attached to his computer which he strums to create a power surge similar to the one that sucked him into his computer the first time. If the guitar isn't available, he also has a wrist device that he can strike that serves the same purpose.

Tim Curry provided the voice of "Kilokahn," a military artificial intelligence program who unleashes computer viruses that are usually drawn by his human acquaintance, Malcolm Frink, to attack major computer systems. Malcolm Frink is a loner and goes to the same high school as Sam and only finds companionship with Kilokahn (even though Kilokahn derisively refers to him as "meat thing"). While Malcolm derives enjoyment from hurting other people with his computer viruses, Kilokahn wishes to take over the world with them, starting with the world's computer network. Malcolm also tries to compete with Sam for Sam's love interest, Jennifer Doyle.

Sam, as Servo, fights Malcolm's Mega Virus Monsters with the help of his Team Samurai bandmates. Sam's friends, Tanker, the band's drummer and a stereotypical jock; Sydney "Syd" Forrester, a brainiac and a good singer and keyboard player; Amp Ere, the team's so-called space cadet and the band's bass player; and Lucky London, a surfer and Amp's replacement, are also able to enter cyberspace to pilot their individual attack vehicles. These vehicles can transform and attach with Servo to upgrade Servo's offense and defense. Unfortunately, the show failed to attract audiences and was abrubtilly cancelled after only one season. However, ironically, this show was more popular than its Japanese counterpart.

[edit] Team Samurai

[edit] Samuraize Phrases

• Sam - "Let's Samuraize, Guys!" (most times, spoken in unison by the whole team and the he proceeds to strum his guitar. If his guitar was unavailable, Sam would instead press on his wrist communicator)

• Tanker - "Let's Kick Some Giga-Butt!" (most times he would knock his drumsticks together when saying the phrase)

• Sydney - "Pump Up The Power!" (most times she would jump up in the air, pumping her fist with her raised arm)

• Amp - different phrase every time, meant to be humorous (e.g. "Three For a Dollar!", "With a Cherry on Top!", "With a Side of Fries!", "Shake Well Before Using!", "Over the Lips, Past the Gums, Look Out Virus....Here We Comes!", etc. His poses vary too)

• Lucky - "Surf's Up!" (most times he does the surfing pose)

[edit] Team Uniforms

• Tanker - Black Biker Uniform and a Black Helmet with a see-thru visor

• Sydney - Pink Biker Uniform and a Gold Helmet with a see-thru visor

• Amp - Helicopter Helmet & Leather Jacket

• Lucky - Red/White Jetski Helmet with a black visor & Life Vest

[edit] Vehicles

• Vitor: An attack jet armed with laser beams and a capture ring used to restrain monsters; it was first piloted by Amp and later by Lucky. On one occasion it was piloted by Sydney.
• Tracto: A mini tank; its driver is Tanker.
• Borr: A drill tank that can burrow underground; its driver is Sydney. Once it was piloted by Amp.
• Xenon: A powerful humanoid robot created when Vitor, Tracto, and Borr combine. When it combines with Servo, they form Servo's upgrade, SYNCHRO, which is armed with a pair of shoulder drill missiles.
• 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. Later in the series, Jamb and Torb would just appear as one single jet fighter (in the Japanese version, it was referred as Dragon Fortress) and was piloted by either Sydney or Tanker and eventually just transform into Drago.
• Drago: A mechanized Dragon formed when Jamb and Torb combine. It was almost always piloted by Tanker, except for on a couple of occasions when Sydney piloted it. When it combines with Servo, they form Servo's upgrade, PHORMO, which is armed with a pair of laser gauntlets.

[edit] Trivia

• Neither Amp or Lucky have piloted Drago even once during the series.
• When mentioned that Tanker and Syd were the default pilots for the "Drago Jet;" the Cafeteria Lady, Miss Starky, did pilot the vehicle in one episode ("Starkey in Syberspace"), as did a famous basketball player — Charles "High Jump" Johnson — who was dragged along to fight a Mega Virus Monster when the band used the vehicles to escape the locked high school (in the episode "Syber-Dunk").
• There were four American settings used, not including the Japanese footage; they were the Basement (Sam's room), The High School Hallway, The High School Cafeteria, and Malcolm's room.
• Compared to other American adaptations of Japanese Tokusatsu series, SSSS actually kept more plot points from Gridman than series adapted by Saban (Such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Masked Rider). One of the major differences, however, was that Zenon and Drago did not have pilots in Gridman, and instead were "Helper Programs" which aided Gridman in battle. Furthermore, Naoto (Gridman's human "host") always entered the computer world with his changing brace, known "Accessor," while Sam rarely used this brace and instead struck his guitar. Due to the greater computer theme in Gridman, there was no need for the guitar.
• SSSS actually was 19 episodes longer than Denkou Choujin Gridman, which lasted for only 39 episodes. However, episodes 54-58 had never aired in the U.S.
• In two episodes where the virus caused televisions to shut down, footage from the opening of Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors was playing on TVs when they deactivated.
• Other than the time Malcolm was turned into a virus (in the episode Mal-Kahn-Tent), only 4 other different viruses in the show's history could actually speak. The most famous of those would have to be the one known as Skorn, deemed to be maybe the smartest of viruses, who was voiced by Neil Ross. Skorn was used on 4 different occasions (though he only spoke in 3 of those, while on one other he was silent). Ross would actually also provide the voice for the Stupid Virus (from Cheater, Cheater, Megabyte Eater), and Jess Harnell provided the voice of the Rock n' Roll Virus (from Rock n' Roll Virucide). Also (in "Pride Goeth Before a Brawl"), Sydney's virus could also actually speak, but no voice actor or actress was credited.
• In Japan, Tsuburya and Terebi-Kun Magazine had an article concerning Gridman Sigma with Takeshi Todo becoming Sigma; unfortunately, it wasn't a second season series. In the series, Malcom Frink almost became Servo when Kilokhan attacked Sam. However, he was only able to send Sam's soul into the computer. This is noted to be interesting because if Tsuburya did create Gridman Sigma, it would be quite evident that Syber Squad would have a second season and Malcom Frink would take up the role of Sigma and making him a protagonist in the series.
• A trailer for SSSS can be seen on several VHS copies of The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and the movie version of the first five episodes of Gargoyles

[edit] Episodes

1. To Protect and Servo
2. Samurize
3. Samurize, Guys!
4. Out of Sight, Out of Time
5. Some Like it Scalding
6. Money For Nothin' and Bits For Free
7. His Master's Voice
8. Lights, Camera, Action
9. The Cold Shoulder
10. Amp Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
11. Que Sera Servo
12. An Un-Helping Hand
13. A Break in the Food Chain
14. Mal-Kahn-Tent
15. Ashes to Ashes Disk to Disk
16. Hello Darkness, My Old Friend
17. Pride Goeth Before a Brawl
18. To Sleep, Perchance to Scream
19. Just Brown and Servo
20. Rock n' Roll Virucide
21. Born With a Jealous Mind
22. Cheater, Cheater, Megabyte Eater
23. Stiff as a Motherboard
24. Sweet and Sour Kilokahn
25. Romeo and Joule-Watt
26. The Taunt Heard Round the World
27. Hair I Stand, Head in Hand
28. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Virus
29. Water You Doing?
30. My Virus Ate My Homework
31. Little Ditch, Big Glitch
32. Over the River and Through the Grid
33. Starkey in Syberspace
34. Tanks For the Memories
35. Love Me Don't
36. Syberteria Combat
37. Hide and Servo
38. Hasta La Virus, Baby!
39. Give 'Til it Megahertz
40. The President's a Frink!
41. Beep My, Beep My Baby
42. Forget You!
43. Loose Lips Sink Microchips
44. It's Magic
45. Pratchert's Radical Departure
46. Foreign Languages
47. Truant False
48. Lucky's Unlucky Adventure
49. What Rad Universe!
50. Syber-Dunk
51. Take a Hike
52. Do Not Reboot 'Til Christmas
53. Kilokahn is Coming to Town
54. Malcolm's Secret Unveiled
55. Servo's Makeover, Part 1
56. Servo's Makeover, Part 2
57. When Push Comes to Shove
58. The Final Adventure

[edit] Mega-Virus Monsters

These are viruses that are drawn up by Malcolm and brought to life by Kilokahn, who sends them into different electronic devices, computer systems, etc. Most of them are dinosaur-like and all are very similar to Kaiju eiga monsters.

• Volcano Virus (first appearance: "To Protect and Servo") - This is the very first virus that Servo ever fought. This virus was a creature who mostly crawled on four legs (though once during the battle he was up on two), and he had a shell with two volcano holes built into it, from which he could erupt powerful fireballs. Servo eliminated him with his finisher, the Grid Power Punch.
• Blink (first appearance: "Samurize") - a knight-like warrior with skilled fighting techniques. He was sent into the police files in order to create a false arrest. He wielded dual metal combat sticks with pointy ends. When he proved to be too much for Servo, Tanker boarded Drago and went into the system to aid Servo. By combining him with Drago, they became Servo's upgrade known as Phormo. During this part of the battle, Blink took his two sticks and merged them into one long combat stick. It would do him no good in the end though, because he ended up getting taken out of the picture by Phormo, who used a special Grid Power Fire Stream that erupted from the gem on Phormo's chest.
• Trembulor (first appearance: "Samurize, Guys!")
• Krono (first appearance: "Out of Sight, Out of Time")
• Plexton (first appearance: "Some Like it Scalding") - a fire virus. He appeared a few different times. He first appeared in the school's thermostat to make the temperature scorching hot. Servo fought him and later the virus retreated from battle. He later appeared alongside his sister, the ice virus Gramm, and battled Servo. Servo tricked the two monsters into attacking each other, causing them to turn on each other and it seemed that Plexton had the upperhand in their sibling rivalry. They were taken down by Servo's sword which had some Grid Power to it while the two monsters were distracted. He then appeared with an armor upgrade and went inside Sam's blow-dryer. After getting blasted by the Dragon Cannon, he was knocked out this time by Servo's main Grid Power. Servo met him once more in "Hide and Servo", and after the battle, the virus again retreated.
• Chronic (first appearance: "Money For Nothin' and Bits For Free")
• Skorn (first appearance: "His Master's Voice"; voiced by Neil Ross) - deemed as perhaps the smartest of viruses, and one of the only few who could actually talk. His combat skills were similar in technique to both a samurai and a ninja and were up to par with Servo's, and he wielded different weapons in battle, such as a sword, and a pair of nunchakus (which he also turned into a Bo). On one occasion he was taken out by Phormo's Lightning Grid Power, and on the other he was killed by Servo when Servo launched his shield/sword combination through Skorn. In the latter appearance, Skorn also had the ability to create multiple clones of himself.
• Kord (first appearance: "Lights, Camera, Action") - a giant, four-legged monster who was responsible for trapping Sam inside a video camera. He was at first killed by Servo who used a Grid Power slicer, which he launched at the virus, slicing him up before turning orange and disintegrating. He was later given some upgrades by Malcolm. This time he had blinding floodlights built into his back, and also had the ability to suck out Servo's main power. Eventually, with the help of Xenon, Servo was able to defeat Kord with his Grid Power punch.
• Gramm (first appearance: "The Cold Shoulder") - an ice virus, the sister of Plexton. She was sent into Sam's air conditioner, causing Sydney, Tanker and Amp to turn cold against one another. She was destroyed when Servo thrusted his sword through the gem on her chest. She later teamed up with her brother against Servo but was tricked into attacking each other causing the two of them to fight. Servo then took this opportunity to destroy them.
• Sucker Virus (first appearance: "Amp Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!") - a virus with a large mouth (with coils built into it) that was sent to suck in all the power from every nuclear power plant. In battle he tried to suck Servo inside of him until Sydney rushed in with Borr and bailed him out. However, Sydney took some damage, but Tanker and Amp turned the tide by coming in on Tracto and Vitor, respectively. They all merged with Servo to create Synchro, who then proceeded to wipe out the virus with a Grid Power Punch.
• Skeleton Virus (first appearance: "Lights, Camera, Action") - this virus had armor that seemed to resemble a skeleton, as well as two large horns on his head, and he had something of a loud howl. In "Amp Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!", Kilokahn sent him to damage all the communication networks. The damage was shorting machinery circuits everywhere, jamming TV signals, and created an earthquake in the high school. Sam went into the digital realm as Servo to take this menace on. Servo had his way early on, but was sent reeling by fireballs that the virus shot from his mouth. Sydney sent Servo his Battle Shield to protect him from the fiery projectiles. Unfortunately, the virus had another trick up his sleeve - he also had arrows built right into his armor, which he then proceeded to shoot right at Servo! Then, following another fireball attack, Servo's damage levels overloaded to the point that he was sent out of SyberSpace and the next second, Sam was back in his basement again! This time, Sam and Sydney, as well as Tanker and Amp, all went in to confront the virus again, and using Tracto, Borr and Vitor, they quickly merged with Servo to make the Synchro program. Synchro gave the virus a good thrashing, and neither the virus's fireballs nor arrows could faze Synchro. Synchro then used his Shoulder Drill Missile attack on the virus, and afterwards (in a move similar to the finisher that Phormo executed on Blink) finished off this virus by using the Grid Power Fire Stream from the gem on his chest. Servo later encountered this virus in the episode "Forget You!" (where he was the cause of widespread amnesia in the real world), and again came out the victor by using his Synchro powers. NOTE: While this virus was introduced in "Lights, Camera, Action", he had no formal introduction as the team fought him at the beginning of the episode. Plus, that battle was mirror-imaged.
• Unnamed Virus #1 (first appearance: "Que Sera Servo") - This virus was sent into the fortune-telling game that would turn everyone into the opposite of what their future would be. While fighting a cowardly Servo (as a result of Sam becoming a coward because of the spell), he used a spell that turned Servo evil. Xenon came in to attack them both but was sent out of Syberspace by the virus. After the game was smashed by Amp, Servo turned good (and brave) again and turned the tide of the battle back in his favor. He then used a powerful Grid Power kick on the virus, which caused him to actually go right through, and ultimately destroy, the virus.
• Hock (first appearance: "A Break in the Food Chain") - a deadly virus indeed. This green aardvark/dinosaur-type virus had tough armor and was armed with a pair of sword gauntlets on both arms. He was able to block Servo's Grid Power punch, but as the battle was turned back in Servo's favor, the virus retreated. Servo took him on again in "Sweet and Sour Kilokahn", and the virus again retreated. He later reappeared (in "The Taunt Heard Round the World") with some upgraded armor and was redubbed "The Hockinator". He had a target system in one eye and threw powerful boomerangs at Servo that would knock out at least 12% of his power per hit. After Sydney sent him the Dragon Cannon, Servo used it to turn the tide of the battle back in his favor, and then soon afterwards, Hock was finally eliminated by Servo's Grid Power. The normal Hock did appear again in the episode "Truant False", inside the school's computer, but was destroyed by an anti-virus system. Then in the episode "What Rad Universe!", Sam, who was in an alternate dimension, became Servo with the help of Malcolm (who in that dimension was a nice guy and a computer whiz) to fight against the Hockinator once again (who was brought to life by Yolanda Pratchert, who was this dimension's Malcolm Frink), and defeated him again with the Grid Power.
• Sybo (first appearance: "Mal-Kahn-Tent"; voiced by Glen Beaudin, uncredited) - when Kilokahn took over Malcolm's body, he stuck Malcolm inside this virus, who still had Malcolm's voice. He tried to break out of Syberspace but he was stopped by Servo and was destroyed by his Grid Power. After that Malcolm was back in his old body again. Some episodes later Servo fought and defeated this virus again (but obviously without Malcolm attached to him). Later, this virus was re-designed by Malcolm with some upgraded armor and a mace ball on his tail. He was destroyed by the Grid Power of Synchro this time.
• Troid (first appearance: "Ashes to Ashes Disk to Disk") - a virus with pterodactyl wings who had the ability to fly and attack from the air. He first appeared inside Jennifer's Pom-Poms, causing whoever held them to be trapped inside SyberSpace, to be stored on floppy disks. After a battle with Servo, he retreated. Servo fought him again at the beginning of "My Virus Ate My Homework", and it was very much the same battle, only this time, Servo destroyed him with his Grid Power Punch.
• Unnamed Virus #2 (first appearance: "Hello Darkness, My Old Friend")
• Sydney's Virus (first appearance: "Pride Goeth Before a Brawl") - As Kilokahn decided he no longer wanted Malcolm creating viruses for him, he decided to enlist the aid of another computer user; that being Sydney. He was able to coerce her to make a virus, which looked like nothing more than a peach-colored, timid creature who wasn't exactly evil. Servo went in to face her, but she wasn't in a fighting mood and apologized for the rampage. Later, Kilokahn showed Malcolm what Sydney created, and Malcolm made the virus truly evil this time (giving her an upgrade in the form of a black, rhinoceros-like face), and Servo would struggle against her this time. Sydney, feeling responsible, offered to pilot Drago in Tanker's place (to which Tanker agreed) and combined Drago with Servo to bring in Phormo. Towards the end of the battle the virus tried to apologize again, but to no avail - she was eliminated by Phormo's Lightning Grid Power Punch.
• Nightmare Virus (first appearance: "An Un-Helping Hand")
• Rock n' Roll Virus (first appearance: "Rock n' Roll Virucide"; voiced by Jess Harnell)
• Smog Virus (first appearance: "Born With a Jealous Mind")
• Stupid Virus (first appearance: "Cheater, Cheater, Megabyte Eater"; voiced by Neil Ross)
• Manfu (first appearance: "Stiff as a Motherboard")
• Nixtor (first appearance: "Water You Doing?")
• Thorned Virus (first appearance: "Out of Sight, Out of Time")
• Chronic II (first appearance: "Romeo & Joule-watt")
• Unnamed Virus #3 (first appearance: "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Virus")
• Unnamed Virus #4 (first appearance: "Starkey in Syberspace")
• Krono II (first appearance: "Love Me Don't") - this virus wasn't officially named on the show but because he very much resembled Krono, he could be considered as Krono II. This version of him had a light bulb on his head. Sam, who reluctantly agreed to save Malcolm from Mrs. Starkey (who was under the love spell that came from the music box that the virus was placed into), went in as Servo and made short work of the monster, tossing him about, breaking the light bulb on his head, and destroying him with his Grid Power. This was also the virus featured in "Take a Hike" (that time he would be used to knock out all the electricity in the world), and as Sam was not present, Tanker had to become Servo to take this virus on. He did, and he manhandled the virus (Sydney remarked that Tanker fights viruses like he plays football) before destroying him with the Grid Power. NOTE: The fireball and Grid Power attacks in these battles only had different animation than the regular one taken from the show's Japanese counterpart.

[edit] Cast

• Matthew Lawrence as Sam "Servo" Collins
• Glen Beaudin as Malcolm Frink
• Troy Slaten as Amp Ere
• Kevin Castro as Tanker
• Robin Mary Florence as Sydney "Syd" Forrester
• Jayme Betcher as Jennifer Doyle
• Diana Bellamy as Mrs. Cha-Cha Rimba Starkey
• John Wesley as Principal Pratchert
• Kelli Kirkland as Yolanda "Yoli" Pratchert
• Tim Curry as the voice of Kilokahn
• Rembrant as Lucky London

Power Rangers
Television series:
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Alien Rangers - Zeo - Turbo - Space - Lost Galaxy - Lightspeed Rescue - Time Force
Wild Force - Ninja Storm - Dino Thunder - S.P.D. - Mystic Force - Operation Overdrive
Movies
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie - Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie
Select episodes
Day of the Dumpster - Green with Evil - The Wedding - Ninja Quest - Hogday Afternoon Chase Into Space - Countdown to Destruction - Forever Red - Legacy of Power Back in Black - Lost and Found in Translation - Fighting Spirit - Mystic Fate
Characters
Rangers - Zords - Villains - Enemy grunts - Monsters - Other Characters
Related series from Saban
VR Troopers - Masked Rider - Big Bad Beetleborgs - The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog
Other related series
Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad - Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills
See also
Fox Kids - ABC Kids - ABC Family - Toon Disney - Jetix - Saban - Disney - Super Sentai