Mummies Alive!

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Mummies Alive! was an animated television series from DIC Entertainment.

In ancient Egypt, an evil sorcerer, Scarab, kills the pharaoh's son, Prince Ramses, so he can use the boy's soul to become immortal. Entombed alive for his crime (Rapses' body was also never found), Scarab revives in the modern world and begins his search for Rapses' reincarnation, a San Francisco-dwelling boy named Presley Carnavon. Rapses' bodyguards, Ja-Kal, Rath, Armon, and Nefer-Tina, rise from the dead to protect him from Scarab. Each of the mummies is aligned with the power of an Egyptian god and are able to call upon it for magical armor and powers to fight superhuman evildoers, although once their strength is exhausted they must rest in their sarcophagi to regain the ability. The mummies also have the power to make a horrifying face, usually employed to scare away nosy bystanders.

In addition to Scarab, the mummies often had to contend with gods and spirits from Egyptian myth summoned to the modern world, including Anubis, Set, Geb, Apep, Bast, Sekhmet and Bes, usually as part of one of Scarab's schemes that went out of his control.

There was one season of forty-two episodes. (The last two episodes link together to end the show, as it appears episodes 38-40 were the finale of the first season.)

1 Characters
2 Episode List
- 2.1 Season One
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Characters

Presley Carnovan - voiced by Bill Switzer

A 12 year old reincarnation of Prince Rapses (an ancient pharaoh). He soon finds this out when the Mummies introduce themselves as his guardians. He lives in San Francisco with his mother. His incarnation's name, Rapses, is based on that of Ramses.

Ja-Kal - voiced by Dale Wilson

The leader of the Mummies. In his transformed state, his armor resembles a falcon and also allows him to fly. His weapon is his razor sharp talons/claws and a bow that can shoot out flaming arrows. In ancient Egypt, Ja-Kal was a hunter who had a wife named Tia and a small baby son named Padjet.

Rath - voiced by Scott McNeil

The most intelligent of the Mummies (but also the most arrogant). When he transforms, a golden cobra wraps around him and serves as armor. His weapon of choice is a sword that can transform into a snake but he is also able to perform magical incantations. He also designed and built the Mummies' vehicles. Rath's voice was done by Scott McNeil.In the past he served as the young Prince's tutor.

Armon - voiced by Graeme Kingston

Armon is huge and eats very often. He is very strong even when he has not transformed. He is missing his right arm, and when he transforms he obtains a golden arm that weighs a ton and is used as his weapon. His armor resembles a ram. In Ghouls' Gold it was explained that Armon lost his real arm fighting in the Pharaoh's army. The pharaoh then gave him his golden arm.

Nefer-Tina - voiced by Cree Summer

She is the only female of the Mummies. She is an expert with her whip, has great agility, and is extremely proficient at driving the Hot-Ra - the Mummies' dragster-like vehicle. When she transforms, her armor is like a cat. Back in ancient Egypt, she had to hide the fact that she was a girl or she would not have been allowed to drive chariots. She was known to everyone as Nefer. Only Prince Rapses knew her true identity during that period of time. Ja-Kal and the other members were shocked to find out about the revelation. Armon then comments that it "explains" why Nefer never took a bath with them. Out of the group, she is the only one who is absolutely willing to try anything modern, such as driving a car; and constantly learns under Prestley. She also travels the modern world in disguise to try new things. Nefer-Tina's name was based on Queen Nefertiti.

Scarab - voiced by Gerard Plunkett

The Pharoh's adviser, who later sucked the life force from Prince Rapses for youth and immortality. However the effects were not permanent, and started to wear off after a few centuries. Now with Prince Rapses reincaranted as Prestley Carnovan, he will stop at nothing to steal the prince's lifeforce again. When Scarab transformes, his body is covered in golden armor, resembling that of a scarab beetle and possessing the power of flight. He also possesses a magical talking snake named Heka (voiced by Pauline Newstone) that acts as his magical staff from time to time, much to her dismay. He is also Ja-Kal's brother.

[edit] Episode List

[edit] Season One

Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra: The first show explains how everything came to be. The mummies also find out that Nefer-Tina is a girl.
Sleep Walk Like an Egyptian: Scarab spits out a "living nightmare" scorpion. He gets his shadow to deliver it onto Presley. Presley falls into a dreamlike state, joined through dream with Prince Rapses 3500 years ago.
Pack to the Future: Presley's mom takes Presley camping at Yosemite. Scarab calls for "the Trackers of Souls", made up of Set, a bulldog and Anubis, a jackal, to track down Presley for him.
The Gift of Geb: Scarab summons Geb, the Spirit of the Earth to draw Presley out. Geb demands to know who wakened him, and Scarab says it was Presley. The Mummies meet Geb in the San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island.
Desert Chic: Apep, the Serpent of the Desert, and his four sidekicks (a Turtle, a Crocodile, a Scarab, and a Scorpion) reform themselves to look like the members of a biker gang known as the "Desert Prince". Known as Pep in the lead biker's body, Apep and Nefer-Tina who knew each other 3500 years ago admire each other's driving ability and they start to fall in love.
High Nuhn: Scarab calls upon Nuhn, the Spirit of the Waters, and says he will free the spirit if he can bring Presley to him.
Dead Man Walking: Rath smashes into a wall and loses his memory. Rath cannot remember his name, but calls himself Ace after some thugs call him that. Four homeless street people (Theo, Rosey, Wilcox, and Max) find him and give him clothes and take him in. Meanwhile, Scarab is using a life-force absorption gate to add to his life span. Every year of life it takes out of its victim increases Scarab's life by an hour.
Good Bye Mr. Cheops: The Mummies fight off Scarab at his Beefy Burger trap, and in the process destroy Presley's science project, a shortwave radio. Rath repairs the radio, adding an obelisk that makes it much more powerful. When Mr. Huxley turns it on, he gets thrown through the Western Gate back to ancient Egypt.
Body Slam: Scarab plants an amulet on Armon that drains his power. Armon starts getting weaker without realizing that it is being caused by the amulet. When Presley throws Armon during an Egyp-Tsu lesson, Armon is upset. He needs to prove to himself that he is still a great fighter, so he enters "The World's Toughest Gladiator Contest".
Paws: Presley's mom gives a tour of an exhibit honoring Bastet, the Cat Goddess. When Nefer-Tina is near it, she accidentally triggers some signal to Bastet and brings the goddess to the present. Nefer-Tina turns into a cat and all the cats in the city including the lions and tigers at the zoo come under Bastet's power.
The Curse of the Sekhmet: Scarab has a bad cold and calls upon Sekhmet, the goddess of sickness and health, to get rid of it. Sekhmet goes on a destroying kick. She brings about a bunch of plagues. First heat, next locusts, and then in Presley's science class, he, Elaine, Mr. Huxley, and the rest of the class look out the window to see it raining frogs.
Dog Bites Mummy: The 7th grader Elaine wants to be a famous reporter. She thinks Presley might be connected to the Mummies. Meanwhile Set and Anubis are still after revenge on the Mummies. They capture Elaine to lure the Mummies to them.
Reunion: It is Father's Day. Scarab uses a Griffin to help make the Mummies believe that Pharaoh Amenhotep, the father of Prince Rapses, has returned to be reunited with his reborn son. The spirit of Prince Rapses inside Presley comes out for the first time in this show. It turns out that Amenhotep was just Scarab in disguise.
The Prince and the Presley: Scarab steals a scroll that can open the gates of time. He is able to bring the real Prince Rapses from the past to the present. In so doing, the spirit leaves Presley. Rapses and Presley meet and look like twins. Scarab tries to get Rapses but the two boys and the Mummies fight him off.
The Egyp-Tsu Kid: A carnival comes to town. Scarab and Heka host a freak show tent. Meanwhile, Tiny Turner who is the school bully and his punk friend Chuck clobber Presley. The Mummies decide Presley needs self-defense training, and Armon teaches him Egyp-Tsu moves.
The Face In The Mirror: Set and Anubis appear on the day of an alignment of the planets, which only takes place once every 3500 years. They bring forth the Eye Of Darkness who takes over Presley's body. When finally defeated by the Mummies, the Eye Of Darkness pulls Set and Anubis back with him.
Miscast: Scarab has his Shabti trying to recast Talos at the City Junk Yard, but the Mummies destroy that operation. Rath takes some of the magical material, and back at the Sphinx creates his own 12 inch tall Talos. It obeys their every command. Presley sneaks away with the miniature Talos, and uses it to clean his room for him. Talos gets hit on the head and remembers who he is. He breaks out of Presley's house and starts absorbing metal from everywhere and growing.
Sleight of Hand: Scarab dares the Mummies to face him in the Challenge of the Maze. This is an ancient challenge where the winner gets the right to be the Pharaoh's protector. The Mummies faced a lot of these challenges in the past and had never lost. No magic is allowed, but Scarab uses the "magic of technology" to aid him.
Missing Ja-Kal: Scarab decides to try to get rid of Ja-Kal. By doing so, he figures the Mummies without their leader will fall into disarray. Scarab uses a ceramic falcon idol to attack Ja-Kal's animal sign. Scarab's plan starts to work when Ja-Kal takes off and "the three stooges" fight for leadership
Ghouls' Gold: Scarab has gone broke trying to fight the Mummies. So he brings out a bunch of spirits of dead goldminers from the graveyard to acquire gold for him, but they are uncontrollable and go after all the gold that they can find for themselves. They steal the Hot-Ra that is made of gold and will not be satisfied "until they have taken it all". They take Presley's amulet, his mom's ring, and gold from everywhere around the city. The Mummies lure the ghosts to the cemetery with Armon's golden arm, but they rip it right off Armon and steal it.
Tempting Offer: Chontra returns. She makes a deal with Scarab to bring Presley to him in exchange for some of the eternal life in the Prince's spirit. Chontra transforms into a young girl, calling herself Cheryl, and makes sure that Presley becomes interested in her. This is not to Elaine's liking. Meanwhile, the Mummies spend most of the show acting as service people so they can watch over Presley's mother.
Loss of Face: Scarab makes a potion to make him look young and handsome. The potion accidentally ends up on Nefer-Tina, and turns her beautiful. "Wow, she looks 3000 years younger", Armon says. Nefer-Tina goes to a nightclub. Everyone is amazed by her beauty. A girl from the Fad modelling agency is there, and almost overnight Nefer-Tina becomes a fashion marvel.
Kid Scarab: Scarab turns himself into a kid with a purple backpack and a purple baseball hat that he wears backwards. Heka hides in his backpack. Meanwhile, the Mummies are acting as chaperones for a Community Center field trip to tour the Acme Bakery. Scarab casts a spell on the dough and it turns into an oversized dough-boy.
Married to the Geb: A strange series of earthquakes take place, emanating from the Twin Peaks Park. The Mummies and Presley go there and find it is Geb, the Spirit of the Earth, who is saddened because he and his wife Net, the Spirit of the Sky, are in the midst of bad husband-wife fight. The Mummies try to help get them together again. Ja-Kal suggests he gives Net a bird as a present. Nefer-Tina tells him to give her a flower. Rath suggests words of poetry. And Armon sculpts Geb's body to try to make him irresistible.
"Water, Water, Everywhere: ... and not a drop to drink (unless they pay me)" says Scarab. Scarab summons Nuhn who starts drying up the city's water supply. With the city out of water, Scarab is able to sell water at $100 a bottle and bring in lots of cash. The Mummies put Kahti in one of the bottles to lead them to Scarab.
A Dark and Shrieky Night: the show begins with the Mummies in battle with Scarab and his Shabti. After the battle, they find themselves far away from their Sphinx needing to re-energize. Without any power left to transform, they have to cross town on foot and have many interesting close-encounters with various city people. This show is notable in that Presley does not make an appearance.
Pepped With Good Intention: Nefer-Tina wishes on a star for someone to love her. Somehow that wish brings Apep back through the Western Gate. He is in the same human form known as Pep as he was in Desert Chic, and again wants Nefer-Tina to be his queen. Nefer-Tina still has her affection for Apep, but says she is sworn to protect Rapses. Apep then delivers Presley to Scarab, with the hope of double-crossing Scarab in order to please Nefer-Tina.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Huxley: Presley and the Mummies are at school to get the stone obelisk that brought Chontra in Good Bye Mr. Cheops. Presley gets stopped by Mr. Huxley, who tries out this "science project" and gets changed into "Milton the Magnificent". He gets laser powers and a whole new personality. Ja-Kal accidentally gets zapped by the obelisk and becomes "Jeky the Great".
Monster Truck Mania: The Monster Truck Rally of the Century is taking place, and Bubba Baxter, Presley's race-truck driver friend is entered. Geb is taking a mud bath nearby, and when the trucks are splashed with it they come to life and run wild. A second splash returns them to normal.
Eye of the Beholder: Mr. Huxley and his class (including Presley) are touring the Fisherman's Wharf. Chontra terrifies them with spirits and leaves a cat statue that the Mummies take back to their Sphinx. Chontra uses the statue as a gateway to get to the Sphinx. Her goal is revenge on Rath, so she distracts the other Mummies by changing into people in their thoughts. Ja-Kal thinks back to his wife Tia and their baby son, and Chontra becomes Tia. For Armon, she changes into his mother and brings him food. She then becomes Nefer-Tina's friend Kenna, who never knew she was a girl.
Tree O'Clock Rock: Scarab believes the Tree of Life can make him younger again, so he hires Bes to get the Tree for him. Bes uses magic and a tree moving machine to move the Tree of Life, but never said anything about promising delivery to Scarab. With the Tree of Life removed, every living thing gets old.
Object of His Affections: Talos is back, and he is in love with San Francisco's famous Statue of Victory and he takes the statue. Scarab offers to bring his "girlfriend" to life if Talos would bring Prince Rapses (Presley) to him. So Talos goes after Presley. The Mummies cannot stop him, and let him take Presley back to find Scarab. Nefer-Tina hides and pretending to be the voice of the statue, convinces Talos that Scarab has lied to him.
The Bird-Mummy of Alcatraz: Presley and the Mummies go on a tour of Alcatraz. Armon takes a side trip to the dining hall and the Mummies and Presley lose the group. Scarab uses Shabti to make the tour guide believe everyone is back on the tour boat, and the boat leaves. Ja-Kal becomes separated from the others and Scarab locks him in a prison cell.
Honey, I Shrunk the Mummies: Rath is trying an incantation to invoke the power of a Talisman (a bug-like amulet). Rath translated the incantation incorrectly into: "By the spirit that guides us all, make me as the beetle strong" and it does not work. When Armon reads it, he says it correctly where the last word is "small" and not "strong". Instantly all four Mummies shrink to the size of cockroaches. In their quest to reverse the spell, Ja-Kal gets swatted by Presley; Nefer-Tina almost gets swallowed by Presley; and Armon gets stepped on by him. Kahti tries to eat the Mummies and swats Nefer-Tina and Armon.
True Believer: The Mummies buy clothes to better blend in with the people. Ja-Kal and Armon look great in their suits. Rath looks "common" in his muscle shirt (number 6) and red baseball hat he is wearing backwards. Nefer-Tina gets a red cape at the Naxx store. Her nerdy sales clerk, Bix Bingsley, becomes infatuated with Nefer-Tina and asks her out. Nefer-Tina is flattered. Outside the Shabti attack. The sales clerk gets injured and the Mummies take him to the hospital.
Who's Who: A Chinese fire-breathing dragon comes to life. Joe and Bob's policecar go up in flames. It is the handiwork of Bes. Bes changes identities: First Ja-Kal with Nefer-Tina, then Armon with Rath, and then Scarab with Ammut (right when Scarab as Mr. Harris Stone is making a speech where he starts barking and howling like a dog). Heka's reaction to Scarab in Ammut's body is priceless. Next Presley is exchanged with Kahti, and finally in the middle of battle, Armon who is in Rath's body exchanges bodies with Heka.
My Dad the Hero: Presley's father arrives unexpectedly for the weekend. Presley is delighted to see him. Presley's father is not the most honorable man. He secretly picks up a rock and gives it to Presley calling it a magic rock to ward off evil spirits. He takes Presley to the amusement park and cheats to help Presley ring the bell. He continuously lies about the great expeditions and battles he's been involved in. But worst of all, he steals the museum's Crown of Ramses the Great, to sell to Scarab.
Family Feud: Part 1 - Brother's Keeper: A new exhibit is featured at the museum. Two mummy cases are included, and the Mummies note that one is labeled "Kimas" and the other "Scorpion". When Ja-Kal opens a case, Set and Anubis attack him. They were stealing the mummies and the sarcophoguses for Scarab. They escape, and head back to Scarab's lair.
Family Feud: Part 2 - New Mummy in Town: Scarab now calls forth Kimas' spirit. Heka tells Kimas about the modern world and he takes a skateboard and goes out to explore. Nefer-Tina and Armon see Kimas in trouble, but he easily mummyhandles the bunch of goons attacking him. Not knowing who he is, Nefer-Tina and Armon take Kimas first, to Beefy Burger, and then to a dance hall. Scarab and his Shabti attack, and Nefer-Tina and Armon learn that Kimas is a mummy and teach him to transform.
Family Feud: Part 3 - The Heart's Arrow: Ja-Kal contemplates about Kimas, about his own son, and about his duty. Rath realizes that if they destroy Arakh's scorpion charm, then Arakh's scorpion suit will be sent back through the Western Gate forever, taking Arakh with it. But Arakh had lost the scorpion charm at the museum exhibit, and the exhibit was being taken away in a truck. The Mummies catch up to the truck just as Scarab in his helicopter also reaches it. The helicopter takes the exhibit crashing back to Scarab's lair due to Heka's inexpert flying. Arakh finds his charm. The Mummies meet with Kimas at Beefy Burger. Kimas leads Ja-Kal into a trap at Fort Point, but finds out that his own father was the one lying. Kimas defends Ja-Kal from Arakh and destroys the charm sending himself and Arakh back through the Western Gate.
We've Got One: While the Mummies are fighting Scarab, Rath crashes into Bob the policeman, and they are both knocked unconscious. Together, they get taken to the hospital. Joe is excited, thinking Rath is a genuine space alien, but he is soon pushed aside by Federal Investigator Phillips who takes over. Phillips analyzes Rath with the intent of turning him over to "the General" so that he can get "promoted out of this backroom deskjob to where the real action is". When "the General" finally arrives, Phillips' efforts are to be rewarded with a transfer to Antarctica.
Show Me the Mummy: The final episode. Joe has become intent on finding out who and what these Mummies are. He hosts a KKIM radio broadcast asking to hear from those who have had run ins with the Mummies. Many clips from previous episodes including:

The fight with the dough monster in Kid Scarab.

The championship fight between Armon and Talos in Body Slam.

Armon saving a hotdog cart in A Dark and Shrieky Night. This is the hotdog merchant calling.

The costume dance in Missing Ja-Kal.

Fighting the huge Scarab in My Dad the Hero.

Fighting Nuhn in High Nuhn.

At Golden Gate park, fighting Apep's gang and then fighting Scarab and the Shabti in Desert Chic.

The Mummies' performance in the Chinatown club in A Dark and Shrieky Night.

Last is Bix Bingsley's story: He kissed one! Three scenes from True Believer.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Presley's last name, Carnavon, is based on Earl of Carnarvon. The Fifth Earl accompanied Howard Carter and discovered King Tut's Tomb.
Several allusions are made connecting Presley to Elvis Presley, most obviously the sharing of the name Presley. Also, Presley's identity as a former pharaoh from Memphis, Egypt is similar to Elvis' identity as "The King" from Memphis, Tennessee.
A second season of the show was planned, but due to bad ratings, it was cancelled. After its first and only season, repeats continued to air on local stations across the country.
Originally the show was geared towards adults, but during production it was changed to a children's show.
Eric and Julia Lewald, writers/producers for Mummies Alive!, were also head writers for the now, non-canonical series, Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles. Numerous common plot elements between the two shows (a group of warriors from the past awaken in the present to fight a wealthy, immortality obsessed, enemy; the use of mythological figures in numerous episodes; and a recurring femme fatale antagonist) made Mummies Alive open to criticism that it was little more than a Gargoyles clone.