Ace Lightning

*Ace Lightning*
Ace Lightning
	File:Tv ace lightning google video.jpg Various scenes from Ace Lightning
Created by	Jim Corston
Starring	Thomas Wansey; Marc Minardi; and Michael Riley
Country of origin	UK, Canada
No. of episodes	39 (2 seasons)
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC
Release	2002 –; 2004 (2005 in the UK)

Ace Lightning is a children's television show that has appeared in several different countries. It was filmed in Canada but the programme was set in America.

Story

Ace Lightning follows the story of Mark Hollander, a boy who moved to Conestoga Hills, America with his parents. One a stormy night, while playing a computer game "Ace Lightning and the Carnival of Doom", a lightning bolt strikes the satellite dish on Mark's house and the characters from the game come to life. Ace Lightning, the superhero, enlists Mark to help him find the pieces of the Amulet of Zoar, and then send Lord Fear and his gang of villains back to prison in the Sixth Dimension.

Human Characters

Mark Hollander: An English boy moved to America who serves as Ace's sidekick, and has to deal with ordinary teenager problems in addition to fighting evil. In the second season he gets his own wrist cannon so he can help Ace fight.

Chuck Mugel: Mark's best friend and president of the town's Ace Lightning fan club. A computer expert as well. Called "Upchuck" by the school bullies because he vomits easily. At the end of season one, he dates Wayne's cousin, Jessica. He meets Ace when he use a microchip from the Amulet in season two, helps him with new upgrades and brought back Sparx from the Sixth Dimension.

Samantha Thompson: Mark's first girlfriend in season one. She was always suspicious of Mark in the first series and split up with him eventually. In season two she is in a boarding school and later get a new boyfriend named Jeremy.

Kat Adams: A new girl in school and become's Mark's third girlfriend. She finds out about Ace and the other characters.

Wayne Fisgus: The head bully of the school. He calls Lord Fear "Boneman".

Ashley: Mark's cousin, and until the second season the only other person who knows about Ace and the Evil Gang.

Mr. Cheseborough: A science teacher who's a frequent incidental victim of the battles between Ace and the Evil Gang. He thinks Mark and the video characters are aliens. In the secon season, he gets trapped in the game but gets out thanks to Chuck. But when he was released, he went insane trying to tell everyone that "aliens" were attacking. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Duff Kent: The carnival's original owner, but when Lord Fear appeared on the scene, he became a slave to the villains. He is good friends with the Rat and can give good advice to Lord Fear. He usually just complains about living with the villains and drives them to places outside the carnival in an ice cream truck.

Fiona and Simon Hollander: Mark's cheerful parents. Fiona loves garden gnomes, while Simon is into the fancy gadgets of America, like leafblowers. Simon is often a source of comic relief, but a competent fellow when the chips come down, as when he takes charge during a video villain attack.

Rick, The Master Programmer: The creator of Ace Lightning. He was mocked by his fellow programmers after creating a programme which brought the characters to life. Before he left, he put his program into an ordinary game. He created Kilobyte, but Kilobyte betrayed him and trapped Rick in the game.

CGI Characters

The video-game characters all are created using CGI and special effects. Each character breathes, eats and sleeps, as do humans. The Lightning Knights each have a inbuilt information screen in their programming (as seen by Ace during the early episodes) which includes a map, the location, and a health bar (a la a POV from someone playing the game). If a Lightning Knight is harmed, they will be weakened and flicker, until the point where they are destroyed and sent back to the game, seen when Sparx is destroyed by Zip and Snip. This now appears to apply to Lady Illusion as in the final episode where she is destroyed by Lord Fear, she flickers before she disappears.

The villains are destroyed frequently is the series, but instead of returning to the game, they all morph into various items around the Carnival of Doom. All the villains except Lady Illusion and Fred are known to morph into an object. All the villains except Fred have been sent back to the game. No character has been destroyed for good, or what the fans call "deleted". Below is a list of what the villains morph into:

Lord Fear/Staff Head - Skeletons.
Kilobyte - Ferris Wheel
Dirty Rat - Gargoyle
Pigface - Bin
Anvil - Test-Your-Strength Machine
Googler - Puppet Theatre
Rotgut - Mini-Golf Course

The Lightning Knights

The Lightning Knights are the heroes of the video game who protect the Amulet of Zoar. If they suffer damage or overtax their powers, they must absorb electricity ("power up") to recover. When they are weakened in such a fashion, their images flicker with static.

Ace Lightning

The hero of the series. Foremost of the Lightning Knights, and the leader of the war against Lord Fear. Brave, strong and sometimes a bit clumsy (evidence of his clumsiness can be seen when he breaks stuff in Mark's house), Ace fights nobly against the forces of evil. Ace can fly and has super strength. He fires lightning bolts from his wrist cannons in various forms, or he can use the Lightning Lance in the same way. The Shield of Justice can deflect powerful attacks back at the user. Ace emplous Mark to be his sidekick in the battle against Lord Fear, much to Mark's protests. In Season 2, Kilobyte gives Ace human emotions, which believes will destroy him. Kilobyte's plan backfires when Ace and Lord Fear form a truce and with help from Mark, blast him into the game.

Sparx

Sparx is an energetic and the only known female Lightning Knight. She is somewhat a sidekick to Ace and has a crush on him. Sparx cannot fly like Ace, so she uses the Lightning Flash to travel. Her weapon is the Sword of Jacob, which can fire lightning bolts like Ace's wrist cannons. Sparx made her debut in Episode 11, where she criticizes Mark for being small and he quits his role as the Knight. Sparx starts to like Mark after he saves her from Ace when he becomes a zombie. Sparx is then destroyed by Googler in Episode 16. She comes back from the game later on the series and helps Ace, Mark and Random Virus in the final battle against Lord Fear. In Season 2, Sparx is trapped in the game for six episodes, but is freed by Chuck.

Random Virus

Random Virus is a cyborg who is a Lightning Knight with two programmes, one good and one evil. Random's past is mysterious, but it says he has been a cyborg for six years in the official Ace Lightning Yearbook. How he got his metal parts is unknown but fans speculate it that he got his parts after being caught in an explosion. Random hides out in a junkyard away from others so he doesn't harm them. His evil side has taken over many times to try and destroy Ace Lightning. He has a robotic claw that can deflect energy beams or smash almost anything, and has a rarely-used power to mentally control machines. Random is one of the only two CGI characters who has not returned to the game.

The Villains

The villains inhabit the Kent Brothers Carnival, because of its similarity to the Carnival of Doom which is their headquarters in the game. They can be blasted into nothingness by the Lightning Knights, but in true video game villain fashion will keep coming back for more until the heroes are able to win the game. Upon being defeated they return to a carnival fixture to recover and soon return. On the official Ace Lightning site they were called "the Evil Gang," but are not given a group name in the series.

Lord Fear

Ace's arch enemy. Lord Fear is a warlord who owns the Carnival of Doom. Being over 300, it is no wonder Lord Fear is a skeleton. Evil, ruthless and sometimes incompetent, Lord Fear's life goal is to destroy Ace and get the Amulet of Zoar so he can conquer the world. After being crippled in an earlier battle by Ace, Lord Fear now has a limp which slows him down, so he needs Staff Head as a walking stick. Staff Head is really a deadly weapon if used in the right hands. Lord Fear can extend his limbs, and strangle his foes in a boa constrictor type move. In Season 2, Lord Fear learns how to play golf, and is kicked out of the carnival by Kilobyte. In the last episode, Lord Fear teams up with Ace and defeats Kilobyte, but he then destroys Lady Illusion, before fleeing the carnival.

Kilobyte

Kilobyte is Season 2's main villain. Created by the Master Programmer to destroy Ace Lightning, Kilobyte makes his debut in Episode 29, but only as a silhouette. In the following episode he is fully revealed. Kilobyte has tentacles that can drain energy from opponents, upgrade characters or strangle foes. Kilobyte starts his domination by overpowering Lord Fear, promise Lady Illusion powers beyond her wildest dreams and giving Ace human emotions. Kilobyte then allows a wasp to sting him and it becomes a giant mutated monster named Fred. Throughout the series, Kilobyte eventually escapes the Master Programmer's grasp and plans to imprison the human race in the game, so he can rule the world. In the end, Ace and Lord Fear form a truce and defeat Kilobyte, sending him to the game where the Master Programmer is imprisoned.

Lady Illusion

An ex-villain and a shapeshifter. She also can create bubble-shaped projectiles that either release gas or can trap Lightning Knights, and at least in the video game can control giant spiders. Lady Illusion was once Lord Fear's girlfriend, but she fell in love with Ace and they secretly became a couple. Half way through the first season, Staff Head discovered their affair and blackmailed Lady Illusion into doing Lord Fear's dirty work. In Season 2, Lord Fear forces Lady Illusion to collect the pieces of the Amulet, Mark has hidden in his house. Mark found out about her and Ace chased her away, but not before she given Ace human emotions. Lord Fear accidentally blasts her at the second season finale, as she had disguised herself as Ace, and she disappears. It is unknown if she is alive.

Staff Head

Lord Fear's weapon and crutch all in one. Staff Head resembles a frog on a stick. The orb he holds can fire powerful beams of energy which can damage foes badly. In Season 2, Staff Head is redesigned to look more like a frog. He has a cousin named Benny.

Dirty Rat

Lord Fear's sneaky and deviously cunning spy. He is a winged rat dressed in a clown suit. He can also throw bubble-shaped projectiles just like Lady Illusion. Dirty Rat loathes Lord Fear and in one episode takes over the carnival. When at rest, he morphs into a gargoyle outside the haunted house. In Season 2, Rat is like a mosquito flying about Kilobyte and gets repeatedly punched away by Kilobyte in each episode.

Anvil

Anvil is the dim-witted muscle of the evil gang. Anvil is a humanoid rhinoceros with an anvil attached to his arm. Very stupid, but also equally hotheaded. Anvil morphs into a strength-testing machine at the carnival. Anvil is incredibly strong and can lift up a car with ease. In Season 2, Anvil is good at cracking jokes, but can be defeated much easily.

Pigface

A minion of Lord Fear, resembling a humanoid wild boar. Large and fat, Pigface is capable of eating practically anything, from golf clubs to science beakers. Between battles Pigface recovers his energy morphed into a garbage can at the carnival. Pigface is very grotesque minion and has bad habits, including farting, belching and picking his nose. In Season 2, Pigface has a new attack which results in him firing a blast of snot from his nose.

Googler

A maniacal jester able to roll into a spiked ball. His glovepuppets, Zip and Snip have very sharp teeth and can spew venom into enemies, turning them into zombies. Googler was imprisoned in White-Hot Oblivion by Ace, but he was freed by Lord Fear. Googler first drained Ace's powers in his first appearance, but Ace got them back. Googler's major role was when he left the carnival to kill Mark, but killed Sparx instead. In Season 2, Googler gained an ability to make the heroes "bleed" data until they return to the datastream.

Rotgut

Rotgut is an undead cowboy zombie. He has a problem keeping his body together and usually is distracted from his missions when his hand crawls away. Rotgut dislikes being called a zombie and prefers being called the "Walking Dead". He is also very sensitive and has once attempted to hug Mr. Chesebrough at a farm. Rotgut did not make a very good impression on Lord Fear, who treated him like dirt. In Episode 36, Rotgut takes over Chuck's body, turning him into a zombie, but Mark defeats him. We also find out that Rotgut likes ribs. In the last episode, Ace says to Rotgut "Get back to your dirt hole, you walking dead guy!" and Rotgut believes Ace is calling him the Walking Dead. He goes to his grave a happy zombie.

Fred

Fred is Kilobyte's giant mutant wasp and the only character not to talk. Originally a normal wasp, Fred stung Kilobyte and absorbed some of his powers, transforming into a giant wasp. Fred flies Kilobyte around and helps him capture Ace and Sparx in some episodes. Fred is also the character that Kilobyte only shows emotions of love towards.

Candy Floss

Candy Floss is a character that may appear in a third series of the show. She is a woman dressed somewhat like a goth and is armed with a bow and arrows. Her appearance may be altered as she looks very gothic, has no proper hair and some of her clothes a tiny bit revealing.

Buzzbeast

A character who may appear in a third series. It is a vicious-looking raptor with a circular saw built right into its head, and a smaller one in its tail.

Scrambler

Scrambler is a character who may appear in a third series. Fans have suggested that he might be an original concept drawing of Kilobyte, an upgrade for Kilobyte or even a prototype character of the Cyber Stalker the Master Programmer has created.

Video Game Characters

Footage from the games have been shown in the second series, whereas in the first season footage supposedly from the game was actually created just for the show. The CGI characters believe that the game is the Sixth Dimension, except Ace who discovers that it is really a video game. Chuck, Rick and Mr. Chesebrough have all become 3D characters, after being sucked into the game. Characters seen in the game include Giant George Wayne, an enormous cowboy golem, and a series of zombies and circus creatures.

Season 1 Episodes and Synopsis

Mark Hollander, a 13 year old from England, has recently moved to America with his parents. His life is suddenly turned upside-down when one night he is playing his favourite video game, Ace Lightning and the Carnival of Doom, when a lightning bolt strikes his house and Ace Lightning and a gang of villains come alive! Ace drags Mark into his war against Lord Fear and his gang of villains, conisting of Staff Head, Lady Illusion, Dirty Rat, Anvil and Pigface. The two enemies seek the missing pieces of the Amulet of Zoar. If Ace gets the Amulet, he can send Fear back to the Sixth Dimension, but if Lord Fear gets it, he can destroy Ace and rule the world! The individual pieces, when joined, summon more characters from the Sixth Dimension into the real world.

Mark tries to cover up his second life, to protect his family and friends. Upon arrival, Lord Fear takes over the Kent Bros. Carnival and makes its owner, Duff Kent, his slave. Mr. Chesebrough, Mark's science teacher, also encounters the villains and believes they are aliens. Lady Illusion, Lord Fear's trusted ally, falls in love with Ace and the two become an item. In Episode 7, Googler, a maniacal jester joins Lord Fear's gang. Soon after, Rat steals Ace's and Lord Fear's pieces of the amulet and summons Random Virus to Earth, but the cyborg hides away.

There are several confrontations between the heroes and villains and when things go downhill for Mark, he quits his secret life. He has no choice but to join the war again, after Googler turns Ace into a zombie and he goes to kill Sparx. Sparx is destroyed by her own sword, and Lady Illusion, disguised as Mark, breaks up with Samantha, Mark's girlfriend. Heather, Sam's friend, become's Mark's girlfriend, but he neglects her throughout the remainder of the series.

In the finale, Sparx is summoned back to Earth. Chuck falls for Jessica, who is actually Wayne's cousin. Rat finds the last piece of the amulet and takes over the carnival, but Lord Fear soon gains all the completed Amulet and starts to drain the Lightning Knights' powers. Ace, Sparx and Random fight Lord Fear's super strong minions in a final battle, but outnumbered and outpowered, are defeated. Duff and Lady Illusion turn on Lord Fear. Mark finds the Amulet and shatters it, banishing Lord Fear and his underlings to the Sixth Dimension.

Note: When broadcast in America, the episodes were shown out of order, which sometimes resulted in severe continuity errors. For instance, "Tunnel of Love" was shown before "Once Upon a Hero."

The Game Begins: Ace Lightning and Lord Fear come to life and the game begins.

The Trap is Set: Lord Fear plans to kill Mark and Samantha.

The Substitute: Lady Illusion kidnaps Mr. Chesebrough and replaces him in a disguise.

Face the Music: Mark must face Lady Illusion at school, with a little help from Ace.

There's No Place like Home: Ace is nearly destroyed by Anvil and Lord Fear.

Opposite Attraction: Ace and Lady Illusion fall in love, but Lord Fear come with a vengeance.

Only Human: Fear summons Googler to Earth, and he absorbs Ace's superpowers, making him mortal.

Behind the Mask: It's Halloween, and Pigface thinks Chuck is Ace.

Once Upon a Hero: Dirty Rat steals Mark and Lord Fear's amulet pieces, and uses them to summon Random Virus.

Knights Undercover: Ace and Mark go undercover to protect Samantha from Googler.

Tunnel of Love: Mark's love life is in jeopardy, but so is Random Virus.

Nobody's Hero: Mark's life is going down hill and he quits being a Lightning Knight.

Ace's Wild: New arrival Sparx must flee from Ace who has become a zombie.

The Field Trip: Mark's class go to the carnival, where Lord Fear traps everyone.

Not Alone at Home: While Lady Illusion keeps the Lightning Knights busy, Mark, Chuck and Ashley are attacked at home by the baddies.

Unidentified Flying Superhero: Chuck thinks Sparx is an alien, but she is destroyed by Googler.

A Friend in Need: Pete comes to America, and Mark's jealousy of Pete's popularity with his friends is getting between them.

The Last Laugh: Lady Illusion, disguised as Mark, ruins his personal life with Samantha.

Download Disaster: With Ace running himself ragged to fight the villains alone and failing to get Random's help, Mark tries to help Ace cope by downloading new powers for him. Unfortunately, his computer crashes at the critical moment, petrifying Ace.

Daffy Duff: In this clip show, Duff sees a psychiatrist to deal with the stresses of living with Lord Fear.

The Unlikely Hero: During a battle, one of Ace's bolts ricochets into Chuck, giving him temporary superhuman strength that makes him the star of the soccer team and making Lord Fear think he's a new Lightning Knight.

The Not So Great Outdoors: Mark, Brett and Chuck go camping. Ace and the villains go after them; Ace because he has another amulet piece to bring Sparx back, and the villains to get Mark's amulet piece when Ace isn't around to protect him.

The Biggest Fan: Mark doesn't know whether to go on a date with Heather, or help Chuck with his Ace Lightning fan club.

The Play's the Thing: The final piece of the Amulet is in the hands of Sam, but who will get it at the school play?

The Rat Turns: Rat has the final fragment and makes the villains turn against Lord Fear. Lady Illusion steals Mark's piece of the Amulet and Lord Fear gains the complete Amulet!

Game Over: The knights are in trouble as they are losing their powers and they must battle Lord Fear one more time. Mark is in a spot of bother: whether to help Ace or go to the school dance. Mark does both and helps Ace destroy Lord Fear.

Season 2 Episodes and Synopsis

Mark goes to Britain for three months, and then comes back to find Ace and Sparx are planning to take Random back into the game, but they leave him behind. Lord Fear somehow returns and with help from Lady Illusion, who believes Ace abandoned her, starts to rebuild his army. He summons Anvil and Dirty Rat back, and also Rotgut, an undead cowboy. Mark and Chuck are now in high school, with Wayne, Brett, Heather, Mr. Chesebrough and new arrival, Kat Adams, who later becomes Mark's third girlfriend.

Sam has gone to a boarding school and gets a new boyfriend. The Master Programmer, an evil human who was actually a member of the company that made the Ace Lightning game, creates Kilobyte, an evil eight-limbed villain who takes over the carnival and infects Ace with human emotions that he believes will bring Ace down.

Kilobyte mutates a wasp into a giant monster and names it Fred. Chuck, who recently discovered Ace was real, is sucked into the game and comes out with Sparx. Random is losing to his evil side and even joins Kilobyte once. Lord Fear tricks Chesebrough into helping him try and destroy Ace by creating a special formula which drains Ace's powers and powers up the villains. Kilobyte rewards Lord Fear with a hovercraft-styled motorbike called the Doom Wagon.

Kilobyte finds another piece of the Amulet and summons Pigface back to Earth. In the following episode, Sam returns to see Mark, and reveals to him that she has a boyfriend. Mark and Kat become a couple. Lady Illusion rejoins the villains and Googler returns to Earth.

Rotgut reveals what power he has when he takes over Chuck's body and Googler injured Ace and Sparx. Both villains are defeated. Chuck then finds a secret floppy disk which is about Kilobyte. The two find out that Rick is the Master Programmer, and he plans to destroy the knights and rule the world. But a thunderstorm causes Kilobyte to free himself from Rick's grasp.

Kilobyte traps Mr. Chesebrough and later Rick in the game, and kidnaps Sparx and Random. In the season finale, Kat discovers that the game characters are real. Ace discovers the Sixth Dimension is just a game. Ace and Lord Fear join forces and defeat each minion one by one and then take on Kilobyte with help from Mark, who has got his own wrist cannon. Kilobyte gets the Amulet, but can't use it as he is blasted back to the game by Ace, Mark and Lord Fear. Lord Fear then betrays Ace and shoots him with a new upgraded orange blast. Ace turns out to be Lady Illusion in disguise, and Ace chases Lord Fear and Dirty Rat out of the carnival. Lady Illusion bids farewell to Ace and "dies". It is unknown if she is dead or in the game. Rick and Kilobyte await in the game, and Mr. Chesebrough is considered to be a madman.

Note: Due to the poor reception of the first season, this season was not aired in the United States.

Upgrades: Three months on, Ace and Sparx return to the game, but Lord Fear returns to Earth somehow and starts rebuilding his army, with the return of Lady Illusion and the new arrival of Rotgut.

The Game's On: Chuck releases Ace from the game and the two go to the carnival, where Lord Fear and the recently-returned Anvil await them. Mark quickly comes to the rescue and Lord Fear has to retreat.

Uninvited Guest: Mark's house is turned upside-down when bratty Heather fakes a party there, leaving Mark in trouble. Meanwhile, Lord Fear manages to resurrect Dirty Rat, and Ace gains a new fire attack. But all the while, the Master Programmer has downloaded Kilobyte into the world.

A Secret Life: Kilobyte takes over Lord Fear's domain and upgrades Lady Illusion. Lady Illusion gives Ace human emotions to make him a nervous wreck. Ace nearly kills Chuck and he flees in terror.

Welcome to the Nightmare: Mark, Chuck and their class go to Friendship Farm with Mr. Chesebrough. Kilobyte, Rotgut, Rat and Duff chase them there and Kilobyte creates Fred, a giant wasp.

The Search for Sparx: Chuck is sucked into the game to find Sparx. Makr and Ace and captured by the villains and held hostage in the junkyard. The two fight against the villains and Random, Sparx and Chuck assist in their victory.

Bound to Fail: Lord Fear manages to convice Mr. Chesebrough to help them in their fight against Ace. As a reward, Kilboyte creates Lord Fear a vehicle named the Doom Wagon.

Formula for Disaster: Kilobyte and Dirty Rat go hunting for another fragment of the Amulet. Wayne is framed for trashing the science lab, but Mark did. Pigface returns and Ace decides its time to battle Kilobyte face-to-face.

Choices: Samantha's back in town, but Mark is trying desperately to convince Kat that he and Sam are not a couple. Lady Illusion joins Kilobyte again, after she thinks Ace has abandoned her.

Rotgut Rides Again: Rotgut shows his nasty side when he takes over Chuck's body. Mark must protect Chuck, as well as Ace and Sparx from the even more deadlier Googler.

Putting it Together: Mark and Chuck put together the clues of Kilobyte's arrival and discover that Rick is the Master Programmer. But a lightning storm destroys Rick's control over Kilobyte!

Kilobyte Bites Back: Kilobyte starts eliminating the Lightning Knights and captures Random Virus. He and Lord Fear then go after Rick and Chesebrough. Rick escapes, but Chesebrough is captured and put in the game.

The Master Plan: Kat learns the truth about Ace Lightning, but is captured by Kilobyte. Sparx and Rick are captured, Rick being put in the game. Ace and Lord Fear team up and with help from Mark, blast Kilobyte into the game. Lord Fear then blasts Ace, who reveals to be Lady Illusion. The real Ace scares Lord Fear and Dirty Rat away. Lady Illusion sadly dies, and Kilobyte swears to get revenge on Ace.

Season 3

Season Three was in the planning stages but was sadly cancelled due to BBC not investing enough money from the merchandise and so had to cancel the third season. Known facts of the third season include that Lord Fear and Dirty Rat would live Mr. Chesebrough for a limited time, while Lord Fear figured how to get Anvil, Pigface, Googler and Rotgut back out of the Sixth Dimension without the Amulet; Kilobyte and Rick would escape from the game, Rick somehow becoming half-human, half-animated; Lady Illusion to return at some point, and new character Candy Floss would be introduced. It is possible that a third series will be developed but at the moment it is only an idea.

External links