Sym-Bionic Titan

Sym-Bionic Titan
Genre	Action
Created by	Genndy Tartakovsky Paul Rudish Bryan Andrews
Voices of	Kevin Thoms Brian Posehn Tara Strong Don Leslie John DiMaggio Tim Russ
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	20, (11 aired) (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	22 minutes approx.
Production companies	Orphanage Animation Studios Cartoon Network Studios
Original release
Network	Cartoon Network
Release	September 17, 2010 – present

Sym-Bionic Titan is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network. The series focuses on a trio made up of an alien princess, a rebellious soldier, and a robot that can combined together to create the titled Sym-Bionic Titan. A preview of the series was first shown at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International, and further details were revealed at Cartoon Network's 2010 Upfront. The series premiered on September 17, 2010.

Cartoon Network initially ordered 20 episodes; Tartakovksy hopes to expand on that.

Summary

Billed as "an exciting hybrid of high school drama and giant robot battles", Sym-Bionic Titan features "the adventures of three beings from the planet Galaluna who crash-land on Earth while attempting to escape their war-torn world." The series follows the lives of Ilana, Lance, and Octus, two alien teens and a robot in the form of humanoids who arrive on Earth, an "identical" planet to Galaluna, while fleeing an evil general who has taken over their home planet with the help of monstrous creatures called Mutraddi.

The three main characters include Ilana, princess of the royal family; Lance, a rebellious but capable soldier; and Octus, a bio-cybernetic robot, all of whom must now blend into everyday life in Sherman, Illinois. Posing as high school students, Lance and Octus work to conceal Princess Ilana from General Modula and his hideous space mutants sent to kill the sole heir of Galaluna. When called into battle, the Galalunans are outfitted with individual armor that provides more than ample protection. It's when the gravest of danger appears that Octus activates the sym-bionic defense program and he, Ilana, and Lance unite "Heart, Body and Mind" and come together to form the spectacular cyber-giant Sym-Bionic Titan.

Characters

Galalunians

• Princess Ilana (voiced by Tara Strong) - Ilana is the only heir to the throne on the wartorn Galaluna. She struggles to fit in on Earth as a normal teenager due to her many alien quirks. She is also described as smart, compassionate, and outgoing. She earns a label as a "doofus" in school for her many moves on the student body to try and "unite them as one" as if she were still looked upon as a Princess. Her go-getter attitude may clash with other teens, but Ilana is quite the force to be reckoned with, since she sticks with her opinions and choices whether in battle or everyday life. When in danger, she activates the Corus armor system; a lightweight, fast, and heavily armored robot with laser-like weapons such as repulsors, force fields, and other more energy based attacks. Ilana and Corus represent the "heart" of the Sym-Bionic Titan, and comprise defensive attributes like abilities to form a force field around the robot's perimeter and to activate a knight-like shield.

• Corporal Lance Lunis/ Sharkman (voiced by Kevin Thoms) - Lance is a member of the Royal Elite Guard from Galaluna that was sent to Earth with Octus and Ilana to protect the latter. His slacker attitude, laid back feel, bad boy look, and a demonstration of martial arts skills has instantly earned him the admiration of every girl in the school, short of Ilana. His unfamiliarity with Earth customs and social norms, combined with a life in the Galaluna military, has made him extremely overprotective over Ilana. Leading him to mistakenly see almost everything as a threat; from children crying in the street to barking dogs. He is one of the most capable Galalunian soldiers, but is not promoted beyond Corporal due to his rash battlefield decisions, and the fact that he has trouble working with others. His Manus armor is a heavy duty giant (though still dwarfed by the Titan), able to materialize short range weapons and fire long range explosive missiles. Lance and Manus represent the "body" of the Sym-Bionic Titan, and comprise the offensive aspects of the giant robot. Such as commands that cause the robot to materialize various types of melee and missile weapons as the combat situation dictates. In previous episodes it is shown Lance had a troubled childhood, mostly starting from the time his father, Edward, "died" in an attempt to test the Rift Gate technology, and then continuing on to his time in the Academy.

• Octus (voiced by Brian Posehn) - Octus is a bio-cybernetic robot with a synthetic see-through body who was sent to Earth with Lance and Ilana to protect the latter. When he goes to Sherman High School, he coats his body with a hologram known as "Newton" (named after Sir Issac Newton), a blocky shaped humanoid that takes on the physical appearance of a nerdy teen. When they are to have company over at the "Lunis" Home, he uses another hologram to disguise himself as Lance and Ilana's father with the "Dad" Hologram. He is both fascinated with, and confused by, Earth's culture, particularly in high school life. He is quiet and incredibly smart, demonstrated when he answered a complex math question on the board with a single glance in under a second. Physically, his robot body has tremendous strength and durability, run at speeds too fast for the eye to see, can fly at incredible speeds, change shape, and expand in size. He represents the "Mind" of the Sym-Bionic Titan, and possesses the sym-bionic defense program that can unite himself, Lance, and Ilana into the Titan. Although he is a robot, he shows the ability to consume and even taste food, such as ice pops and the disgusting cafeteria food. In "Lessons of Love", "Newton" gets asked to tutor Kimberly for a test, and later both characters develop as a couple.

Sym-Bionic Titan

The Sym-Bionic Titan (referred to as "Titan" by humans) itself is the combined form of Lance's Manus armor, Ilana's Corus armor, and Octus's body, the result of the sym-bionic defense program that Octus possesses. Its interior structure is the combined Manus and Corus armors and its transparent exterior armor is Octus's outer shell. It is capable of flight and can create weapons and defenses in response to the pilots' thoughts. The Titan is controlled by Ilana and Lance's thoughts, with Octus focusing on more technical matters such as weapon systems. Octus implies in the series premiere that there are hidden subroutines in his programming that even he doesn't know about, which will presumably allow the Sym-Bionic Titan to access even more powers in the future.

Villains

• General Modula (voiced by Don Leslie) - Modula was once a decorated Galalunian war hero. However, after a mission with Ilana's father, the King, he was apparently killed. Not only did he survive his supposed death, but because he was "left behind" by the king, he not only had to tame the Mutraddi beasts which lived there, his harbored grudge against Ilana's father boiled over. In an act of revenge, he later used the Mutraddi creatures to conquer Galaluna and began sending them to Earth to kill Princess Ilana and eliminate any threat of "rebellion" against him. Even without his beasts he is an extremely strong warrior, able to defeat a squad of armed soldiers or shut off two Manus armors with his bare hands, as well as agility and/or unnatural speed. He is shown to be sadistic, notably when he crushed a rebel's neck slowly, and when he vaporized one of his own henchmen. . So far, he is the main antagonist of the show. He is connected to Lance's past as well.

Mutraddi

The Mutraddis are monsters used by General Modula in his plot to conquer Galaluna and kill the princess. Their homeworld is a damaged planet called Mutradd. So far, only a few Mutraddis are known to be able to speak. Among the featured Mutraddis are:

• Fire Monster - The Fire Monster is the first Mutraddi that General Modula sent to Earth to destroy the princess. It is really a rock monster, but is capable of using fire as a weapon and flying. When it came to Earth, it landed outside the city of Sherman, and the military was unable to stop it as it entered downtown. It was then attacked by Ilana, Lance and Octus, and for the first time, the three formed the Sym-Bionic Titan. During the battle, the monster devastated a lot of the city, but eventually, the Titan pushed it into a nearby lake and sliced it in half.

• Robot Hydra - The Robot Hydra is the second Mutraddi that General Modula sent to Earth to destroy the princess. It is a robotic five-headed dragon that can fly, shoot laser beams, and can track signals of Galalunan armor systems. When it came to Earth, it landed in Egypt, but it caught a signal of Lance's armor and followed it to Sherman. After facing Ilana and Lance downtown, they formed Sym-Bionic Titan with Octus. The monster almost defeated the Titan, but Lance had it revert back to Ilana, Octus and himself and let the beast swallow him so he could destroy it's power core.

• Storm Creature - A fragment of the Fire Monster was probably recovered by General Julius Steel. But when he tried to cut it open, it turned into a cloud of massive electrical power, but the Titan stopped it by flying into it and redirecting the Creature's own power back into it.

• Xeexi (voiced by Vanessa Marshall) - Xeexi is an intelligent squid/cockroach-like Mutraddi creature, the third Mutraddi that General Modula sent to Earth to destroy the princess and one of Modula's high ranked troopers. He can enter humanoid bodies (and possibly more) to cause massive stress, pain, and is even able to make said humanoid spill information. His only appearance (so far) was in "Phantom Ninja", where he gained information from the King that Ilana was "not alone," and then invaded Earth for Modula's bidding. He attempted to track them, and caught a signal of Lance's armor and successfully captured him, and forced him to reveal Ilana's location, which also succeeded. Lance, however, eventually escaped and regrouped with Ilana and Octus to form Sym-Bionic Titan. When the Titan was formed, Xeexi was surprised to see the Galalunan secret weapon. As Xeexi was retreating (as his mechanical vehicle was a small bug compared to the Titan), he initially recorded the Titan and successfully sent a probe back to Galaluna, only for his vehicle to be crushed by the Titan. Despite his possible death, he succeeded in his mission. It is unknown whether Xeexi died or not. Being an invertebrate, he could have survived being smashed by the Titan. For a spilt-second he can be seen inside his vehicle when the Titan smashed it.

• Long Limb Monster - The Long Limb Monster is the fourth Mutraddi that General Modula sent to Earth to destroy the princess. It is a monster with long arms and legs. When it came to Earth, it landed in the lake near Sherman and interrupted Lance's driving test. After Lance joined up with Ilana and Octus, they formed Sym-Bionic Titan and fought the monster before injuring it severely and throwing it back into the lake to drown.

• Dark Shaman (voiced by Tony Todd) - The Dark Shaman is the fifth Mutraddi that General Modula sent to Earth to destroy the princess. He carries a staff and has powerful magic over fear and can make his victims experience what they fear most. He came to Earth in a mysterious tower. When Lance, Ilana and Octus formed Sym-bionic Titan to investigate, they were zapped with energy upon contact with the tower. From then on, the Dark Shaman had complete control over Lance and Ilana (except for Octus who isn't organic) and made them experience their worst fears, but thanks to Octus, they found out and re-formed Titan to escape, but the Shaman returned to his tower (which turned into a giant six-armed stone tiki robot) and attacked Titan. They fought in an industrial complex, but again, the Shaman made Ilana and Lance experience their greatest fears, but this time, Lance overcame his fear and helped Ilana overcome hers. After that, the Shaman's power had no effect on Ilana or Lance and they defeated him by throwing a spear through the stone robot, destroying both it and the Shaman.

• Blob Monster - The Blob Monster is the sixth Mutraddi that General Modula sent to Earth to destroy the princess. It is capable of shape shifting, regeneration and multiplication. After it is defeated by Sym-Bionic Titan downtown, it invades Sherman High, trapping Lance, Ilana, Octus, and the students and staff inside, but Octus found out that the only thing that could destroy the creature was a certain frequency from all of the students' cell phones, and once Ilana told everyone this over the school P.A. system, the students were able to use the frequency on their cell phones to kill the monster.

• Duraak (voiced by John DiMaggio) - A Mutraddi scientist. Modula came to the Mutraddi homeworld in hopes to find a "special" creature since the ones given to him were failures. Dirrak presented a giant creature who had scales withstanding unmeasurable force and had poisonous spikes that shot out like missiles, but did not catch Modula's interest. He then presented a giant frog-like creature that could emit lightning and fire, but he told Modula it was not the most special. Finally, he presented Tashy 497, who could perform an explosion powerful enough to destroy an entire planet. However, when Tashy 497's vital signs boosted but it did not explode, Durrak was killed due to his failure.

• Tashy 497/Mushy/Tarax/497 - The seventh Mutraddi sent to Earth. It has the physical appearance of a cute, harmless alien, but in fact, has unstable power from within. If expires, it creates a massive explosion that is powerful enough to destroy an entire planet. Modula had interest of this creature and had dispatched it to Earth in a large rocket so it can explode when it crash-landed, but Sym-Bionic Titan managed to stop the rocket. Lance, Octus and Ilana then found Tashy inside the rocket's "warhead". Ilana adored the creature and took it with her since Octus stated they could not leave any alien life form for the army to discover. Ilana named it Mushy, Lance named it Tarax, and Octus called it 497. When Octus analyzed a piece of its skin, he discovered the creature's intent and the atmosphere of earth caused it to deteriorate. It was then agreed that they would send it out to space so it would explode. It was later discovered that the creature had created a cosmic formation, and was named Tashy 497.

• Electric Monster - The Electric Monster is the eighth Mutraddi sent to Earth. It is a creature whose upper body is shaped like a Manta Ray and has electrical and electromagnetic powers. When it came to Earth, it landed in an area in downtown Sherman, causing a power outage in the area. It then made its way to where Ilana and Lance were having a night on the town. Because the monster's powers also affected their armors, they couldn't activate them and fight the monster, but Octus solved the problem by adjusting their armors' frequency to match his own internal frequency, which the monster's powers had no effect on. They then formed Sym-Bionic Titan and fought the monster evenly before blowing it up.

Other strange Mutraddi exist including the standard Mutraddi which are grey, stupid, and strong. Modula has these in Hordes. Another is a strange drill creature that is impervious to most attacks. Also, there are other intelligent Mutraddi besides Xeexi, such as a humanoid frog that seems to serve as a courier for Modula.

Earthlings

• Solomon (voiced by Tim Russ) - Solomon is the leader of the Galactic Guardian Group, more commonly known as G3, an independent group dedicated to handling alien threats, which he initially sees in both the Sym-Bionic Titan and the monsters it fights. He knows the identities of Ilana, Lance, and Octus since he saw surveillance videos of Lance wielding his Manus armor and had them confiscated. He appears to have an understanding of "Titan's" good intentions as shown when he allowed Titan to flee when it defeated the fire monster and smiling when Octus played the friendship song. Solomon stated that he is tracking General Steel's actions and warns him not to mess with foreign species, in which Steel ignores. However, his true motives are currently unknown. In "The Fortress of Deception", he captures Lance and Ilana and outruns Octus. He later assumes a false name "Kane" as a prisoner who is an ex-worker of G3. Kane later guides the group to their armor, and later, Octus comes and forms Sym-Bionic Titan. He secures Titan, reveals his identity, and demands answers, Titan manages to escape. He also has a fighting style similar to Lance's, but, even though G3 uses Galalunian-like technology, he still appears to have no knowledge of the Galalunians and their purpose. He also secretly works for a currently unknown individual with a metal hand.

• General Julius Steel (voiced by John DiMaggio) - General Julius Steel is in charge of many of the armed forces, and is portrayed as the stereotypical "shoot first, ask questions later" soldier. He too sees the Sym-Bionic Titan and the monsters it fights as a threat, but he also hates Solomon due to their competition of dealing with alien threats. He stated in an interview that the Titan was the one who brought the monsters to Earth, and would intend to destroy it so that more monsters would not appear (which is true in some way, given the fact that Modula is sending them to Earth to destroy the princess). His desire to destroy the Titan may be an obsession, demonstrated when he completely ignored safety protocols to cut open a mysterious rock, which resulted in a cloud of destructive power. Even after the Titan stopped it, Julius still seems to be obsessive over the destruction of the Titan.

• Barb (voiced by Audrey Wasilewski) - Barb (short for "Barbara") is the neighbor of the "Lunis" family. She has a crush on Octus's "dad" program and her actions are considered strange to the team. The suggestive humor associated with this character contributed to the TV-PG rating of the program.

• Mike Chan (voiced by Brian Tee) - Mike Chan is a jerkish Asian American teenage troublemaker known as "The White Dragon." He owns a red car with a white dragon painted on the sides. The police have been tried to arrest him many times to no avail. While Lance, Ilana, and "Dad" were driving to Sherman High, Mike zoomed by with the police and Detective Blutosky on his heels. Ilana criticized his behavior, Octus observed how powerful Mike's car is, and Lance approved. As an escape, Mike rammed someone's car off the road, causing the detective and the cops to swerve and crash. At school, after Ilana runs off to class, Lance and Newton observe Mike pulling into the parking lot. Both Lance and Newton are impressed and excited by the car, but Mike argues with Lance over his looking at the car. Lance is saved by the bell. As Mike leaves, Newton (now dubbed "Soccer Mom" by Mike), observes that Mike has extremely high testosterone levels. Later, Mike comes up to Lance at lunch and smashes the Popsicle stick car Lance and Newton were working on. Lance and Mike begin to fight, but Ilana breaks them up, saying fighting is not allowed. Later, Octus and Lance obtain the car that Mike destroyed and fix it in the garage. As Octus goes to eat Popsicles, Lance takes the car for a test drive despite Ilana telling him earlier he needed a driver's license. On the road, Mike challenges Lance to a street race, where he cheats and nearly kills Lance, only to drive off and leave Lance in the custody of Detective Blutosky. Ilana bails Lance out, and Lance goes to get a driver's license as Ilana won't have Octus just make him one. During his test, Mike drives up to him and his instructor, and tries to taunt Lance into a race. Then, to add to Lance's stress, The Long Limb monster shows up and starts destroying the highway. During the monster's rampage, Mike drives into a deep hole. When he climbs out, Detective Blutosky helps him out of the hole, and then arrests him. Later after the monster's defeat, Lance drives by and Mike swears revenge, but Detective Blutosky says that it won't be for at least five to ten years.

• Detective Blutosky (voiced by John DiMaggio) - The detective that has been after Mike Chan for a long time. He is even willing to ignore some of the rules to find him, as he is caught by Ilana keeping Lance in custody for over two hours. He eventually succeeds in catching Mike Chan. Detective Blutosky later appears investigating a car crash following Octus' pursuance of the Galactic Guardian Group when they captured Lance and Ilana.

• Kimmy (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) - Kimmy (short for "Kimberly") is a student at Sherman High and the Cheerleading Squad's Captain. She first appeared in "Showdown at Sherman High", where Ilana tried out for cheerleading but had sabotaged her, causing her to fail her attempt at doing "the Pyramid". Throughout the episode, Kimmy insults and mocks Ilana regardless of her trying to assist them and lead them to safety. Not wanting to tolerate anymore of her insults, Ilana said that Kimmy was a horrible person, and that she feels sorry for her. Kimmy realizes her actions and agrees to help Ilana through the remainder of the episode. When Lance asked if Ilana was bothered by Kimmy's actions, she responds that they mean nothing to her. In the episode "Lessons of Love", Kimmy went to the Lunis' house to study under Newton's aid, as she had received an F on a math test but was given a chance to make up her grade, otherwise she would be kicked off the cheerleading squad. Throughout the episode, Kimmy finds studying under Newton difficult and tries to simply have him do her test for her, which Newton ultimately denied even after her dance routine. Saying that everyone has a role to play in the social life, Kimmy tried to convince herself that she was the stupid type, but Newton explained that all she had to do was dedicate herself to her work like she does with cheerleading, and it would all become clear. Eventually Kimmy became infatuated, and began to develop strong feelings for Newton, and ended up sharing a kiss with him, which confused and shocked Lance and Ilana. At the end of the episode, Kimmy receives an A, and thanks Newton for all of his doing, claiming that she couldn't have done it without him. Kimmy kindly greeted the confused Lance and Ilana, and asked Newton to walk her to class, holding each other's hands.

Other Galalunians

• The King (voiced by John DiMaggio) - The King is Ilana's father, and the thought of his death utterly terrifies Ilana, as exploited by the Dark Shaman. He sent Ilana, Lance and Octus to Earth using a type of hyperspace called a Rift Gate. It is also highly probable that he is in some way responsible for the creation of the Sym-Bionic Titan. Thus, he is currently kept in custody by Modula, who keeps torturing him for information about Titan, Ilana, and the "two others" who are with her. Meanwhile, his soldiers plot rebellions, only to be utterly destroyed by the Mutraddi and/or by Modula.

• Edward (voiced by Richard McGonagle) - Edward was Lance's father, Galaluna's best scientist and was good friends with the King and Modula. He disappeared through the prototype rift gate to an unknown location when Lance was just a boy. Lance fears this moment most, a fact which was exploited by the Dark Shaman. Lance loved his father very much, and keeps a broken picture of him by his bed on Earth. His father's last words to Lance were that everything would be all right. There is some speculation that the mysterious being Solomon serves is, in fact, Edward.

• Baron (voiced by Evan Sabara) - Baron was Lance's arch-enemy when he was in military academy. He bullied Lance and his roommate Arthur, where Lance would often get in fights with Baron. He first met Lance when he came to the school and said his father was crazy, which angered Lance as he really loved his father. He then got him in trouble by placing him in his nightwear in the middle of the school and made Arthur leave Lance as he tried to stand up to him. In the War Games, Baron and his cronies try to defeat Lance, but Lance defeated them and won the Games, earning him the medal of excellence. Eventually, Baron swore revenge against Lance and tried to kill him. Lance got in a Manus armor (which would be his armor in the future) and Baron got in another armor, and they both fight, destroying most of the school and almost hurting innocent people. Eventually, Modula shuts down their armors and both of them were sent to juvenile hall. Baron was last seen being bailed out by his father, and it is unknown if he and Lance are still enemies.

• Arthur (voiced by Zachary Gordon) - Arthur was Lance's roommate at military academy. He is obese, but knew quite a lot about the academy. He was also bullied by Baron when he was new at the school. He befriended Lance, but later turned him down after Baron and his cronies trashed Arthur and Lance's room when Lance stood up to Baron. He bares smoewhat a resembelance to Dexter from Dexters Laboratory.

Episodes

Main article: List of Sym-Bionic Titan episodes

Production

Tartakovksy drew inspiration from many sources. He grew up with mecha anime series from the 70's and 80's like Speed Racer, Robotech and Voltron and states: "For whatever reason, I have always loved the idea of kids driving giant robots." His biggest influence were John Hughes movies like Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, but the relationship between the two teenage leads was also inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky.

He came up with Octus and the high-school setting first and then later together with co-creators Paul Rudish and Bryan Andrews added Ilana and Lance as protagonists. The creators of the show took a long time to develop the female lead, Princess Ilana. "A positive strong female character is something I've always wanted to create", Tartakovksy said.

Tartakovksy calls Sym-Bionic Titan "the most challenging project I have ever done."

External links

• Sym-Bionic Titan at Cartoon Encyclopedia
• Sym-Bionic Titan at IMDb