Episode 13--Mekkano, the Machine Master

This episode is, by the way, awesome in the imagination that shows in the design of Mekkano's machines and the fight choreography.

We actually get no new information about Amzot this episode--no new flora, fauna or locations are introduced, so the map and descriptions from the last post are still valid.

We do find out that Zandor apparently keeps in contact with whatever passes for galactic civilization and--despite largely eschewing technology--he does maintain a facility for launching and landing rockets. He is able to summon a rocket from the space prison and send Mekkano back there at the episodes conclusion. I'm torn about whether to include the rocket facility on the map, since it's not a natural part of Amzot. I'm assuming it would be located not far from the Herculoids' home--in the desert area near the edge of the jungle. That fits what we see, since we see jungle in the background while Zandor and family watch the rocket launch.

The episode does give us interesting speculations about Zandor and the nature of the Herculoids. We know that the Herculoids are smart, understand language, and implicitly have a low-level telepathic connection with each other & the humans. Gloop and Gleep have an actual language they can use.

They also often employ fairly complex tactics in their fights. This time, though, Tundra fires his energy rocks as if they were mortar rounds, accurately calculating range and angles to hit his targets. In other words, he instantly did complex math in his head. It's beginning to look like when Zandor created the Herculoids, he gave them human-level intelligence.

Zandor and the Herculoids have battled Mekkano in the past, which is why the villain breaks jail and seeks revenge. I have the impression (for no reason that I can put my finger on) that this original battle took place before Zandor & Co. came to Amzot. Perhaps it was fighting Mekkano that gave Zandor the idea for giving his Herculoids purpose in life by fighting evil, causing him to seek a home on Amzot and bring peace to that beleaguered planet.

Episode 12--Prisoners of the Bubblemen

The question raised by this episode is whether the titular Bubblemen are yet another native race of Amzot or from another planet.

It's also interesting that Zandor and Dorno both recognize the Bubblemen and know about their lab underneath the Western Sea, but Tara needs to have their identity explained to her.

I'm going to assume the Bubblemen are alien to Amzot, because their "home" is described as a lab and not a city or colony. Also, Zok blows the place up at the end. So either it was the lab of an evil scientist with his evil henchmen, or Zok just slaughtered a colony of mostly innocent Bubble-people and effectively committed genocide.

To explain this, we'll add a little more back-story. As previously discussed, Zandor brings his family and the Herculoids to Amzot to bring peace to the war-torn planet. Tara stays away for a short time while the others find a base of operations. During this time, Zandor and Dorno learn that the Bubblemen have set up a lab and are conducting horrible genetic experiments on the native fauna. So one of their first adventures on Amzot is stopping the Bubblemen. They believe the Bubblemen have fled Amzot and get distracted by dealing with the other problems besetting the world, so they never get around to dismantling the undersea lab or confirming that the Bubblemen have actually fled. so, in this episode, the Bubblemen have finished upgrading their own weapons and attack Zandor.

So I'm not including the Bubblemen in the list of fauna native to Amzot. The only new item to add to the map is the Western Sea.

AMZOT--GENERAL INFORMATION: Amzot is in the same solar system as the planet Zodan, both of which have breathable atmospheres and Earth-like gravity.

Amzot is tidally locked, with one hemisphere always facing the sun. But the solar system is near a nebula, which causes large clouds of cosmic dust to drift through the system. This dust occasionally eclipses the sun, causing "night" on Amzot's daylight side.

AMZOT—DAY SIDE

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The home of the fortunately rare Giant Vultures. The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

E—Endless Caves: On the surface, the terrain is very much like the desert area near the Herculoids' home. Underneath this is the domain of the Spider Men. These are four-foot tall insect-like humanoids. They are sentient, have a language, and have the technology to produce “web guns,” which fire blobs of sticky and very strong webs. They train large ants the size of small ponies to use as mounts. The Spider Men are a nomadic society, though their domain is largely underground in the huge and labyrinthian Endless Caves. They conduct raids on the Mole Men (traveling to the Mole Men domain via secret tunnels) and occasional raid the surface for slaves and/or resources. Because they are tribal, they have never banded together strongly enough to be the threat that the Mole Men and Parrot People are, but they are still dangerous.

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

BP—The Black Pool. A large lake of water that is laced with a chemical compound unique to Amzot. When struck with energy (such as Zok’s laser beams), the water is transformed into a thick, viscous solution in which creatures and vehicles are trapped and rapidly disintegrate. The lake will slowly revert back to water at a rate that depends on how much energy was added. The area north of the lake are home to giant snakes (about 30 feet long) and rhinoids—large dinosaur-like quadrupeds about the size of Earth elephants.

1. The Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Giant Vultures—These very large predatory bird/reptile hybrids are more reminiscent of pterodactyls than Earth’s vultures. They like to carry captured prey back to their nests while the prey is still living, then consume it there. Giant vultures are solitary, living alone when not in heat.

Giant Ants—Subterranean ants the size of small ponies that live in the Endless Caves. They  have the intelligence and capacity to be trained similar to ponies as well, being used as mounts by the Spider Men. They can run at very fast speeds for short distances.

NOT ON MAP: The Western Sea—a large sea located some distance to the west of the Herculoids’ home ground.

AMZOT—Night side.

One of Amzot’s hemispheres is in perpetual darkness.

1: The Stone Forest—an area in which many stone towers give the impression of having grown there like trees. Some of the small rocks are “flare rocks,” which generate bursts of light upon impact. This area also contains many cliffs and chasms. The following fauna lives here:

The Dorgytes—A sentient species of pygmy-sized humanoids with large eyes designed to allow them to see in the dark. In fact, Dorgytes can’t survive for lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight. They build huts in the “branches” of the towers in the Stone Forest and have limited technology.

Night Scarabs—Semi-sentient species of insect-people. The Scarabs are carnivores and lurk in the shadows in packs, leaping out at helpless and unsuspecting prey but running when danger seems to threaten.

Hooded Caterpillar—This creature is about 20 feet long. Able to fire the spikes that grow out of its body, it is carnivorous and very aggressive.

Armored Killer—About the size of an Earth pony, this four-legged carnivore is also aggressive. It is protected by a thick, spiked carapace.

Electro-Beetles—5-foot long insects able to fire energy blasts from their antenna. They are carnivorous and travel in packs, working together via instinct.

Ep. 11---The Defeat of Ogrun

On a personal note--this is one of my favorite episodes in terms of exciting and imaginative fight choreography.

I think this is the first time we've met invading aliens who DON'T know about Zandor and the Herculoids. We're never told why they want to invade Amzot, but access to the Energy Rocks is always a likely motivation.

The episode adds the Black Pool to known features of Amzot. This does present a puzzle. At first, the alien ship is hiding beneath the surface of the pool, but later the pool seems to suck down first Ogrun's fighting vehicle and then the mother ship to their respective dooms.

I think the explanation here comes from Zok firing his eye lasers into the pool just prior to Orgun crashing into it. Let's theorize the water of the lake is laced with a chemical compound--that--when energized--turns the water into a thick, viscous solution.

We also see a couple of skeletons of large monsters at the lake. One looks like it might be a giant snake--so I'm going to go with that. The other is a large skull with a single, curved horn at its nose. I'm going to call this a rhinoid. Since we never see living examples of these monsters, I'll place their usual habitat in an area north of the lake, well away from the Herculoids' home.

To the map below, I've added a preface containing general information about the planet.

AMZOT--GENERAL INFORMATION: Amzot is in the same solar system as the planet Zodan, both of which have breathable atmospheres and Earth-like gravity.

Amzot is tidally locked, with one hemisphere always facing the sun. But the solar system is near a nebula, which causes large clouds of cosmic dust to drift through the system. This dust occasionally eclipses the sun, causing "night" on Amzot's daylight side.

AMZOT—DAY SIDE

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The home of the fortunately rare Giant Vultures. The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

E—Endless Caves: On the surface, the terrain is very much like the desert area near the Herculoids' home. Underneath this is the domain of the Spider Men. These are four-foot tall insect-like humanoids. They are sentient, have a language, and have the technology to produce “web guns,” which fire blobs of sticky and very strong webs. They train large ants the size of small ponies to use as mounts. The Spider Men are a nomadic society, though their domain is largely underground in the huge and labyrinthian Endless Caves. They conduct raids on the Mole Men (traveling to the Mole Men domain via secret tunnels) and occasional raid the surface for slaves and/or resources. Because they are tribal, they have never banded together strongly enough to be the threat that the Mole Men and Parrot People are, but they are still dangerous.

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

BP—The Black Pool. A large lake of water that is laced with a chemical compound unique to Amzot. When struck with energy (such as Zok’s laser beams), the water is transformed into a thick, viscous solution in which creatures and vehicles are trapped and rapidly disintegrate. The lake will slowly revert back to water at a rate that depends on how much energy was added. The area north of the lake are home to giant snakes (about 30 feet long) and rhinoids—large dinosaur-like quadrupeds about the size of Earth elephants.

1. The Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Giant Vultures—These very large predatory bird/reptile hybrids are more reminiscent of pterodactyls than Earth’s vultures. They like to carry captured prey back to their nests while the prey is still living, then consume it there. Giant vultures are solitary, living alone when not in heat.

Giant Ants—Subterranean ants the size of small ponies that live in the Endless Caves. They  have the intelligence and capacity to be trained similar to ponies as well, being used as mounts by the Spider Men. They can run at very fast speeds for short distances.

AMZOT—Night side.

One of Amzot’s hemispheres is in perpetual darkness.

1: The Stone Forest—an area in which many stone towers give the impression of having grown there like trees. Some of the small rocks are “flare rocks,” which generate bursts of light upon impact. This area also contains many cliffs and chasms. The following fauna lives here:

The Dorgytes—A sentient species of pygmy-sized humanoids with large eyes designed to allow them to see in the dark. In fact, Dorgytes can’t survive for lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight. They build huts in the “branches” of the towers in the Stone Forest and have limited technology.

Night Scarabs—Semi-sentient species of insect-people. The Scarabs are carnivores and lurk in the shadows in packs, leaping out at helpless and unsuspecting prey but running when danger seems to threaten.

Hooded Caterpillar—This creature is about 20 feet long. Able to fire the spikes that grow out of its body, it is carnivorous and very aggressive.

Armored Killer—About the size of an Earth pony, this four-legged carnivore is also aggressive. It is protected by a thick, spiked carapace.

Electro-Beetles—5-foot long insects able to fire energy blasts from their antenna. They are carnivorous and travel in packs, working together via instinct.

Episode 10--The Android People

A race of androids arrive on Amzot, but unlike most invaders, they are not here to loot the planet's resources. Rather, they want to use Zandor as a model for building a perfect android warrior race and then conquer the galaxy.

This story gives us more fodder for expanding Zandor's back-story. He recognizes the Android People and knows their leader's name (Korvac). Have the Androids visited Amzot before, or did Zandor encounter them in a pre-Amzot adventure? Remember that we are theorizing that Zandor was a geneticist, who created the Herculoids and brought them to Amzot to give them purpose. To bring peace to a planet infested with dangerous fauna and being fought over by Parrot People, Spider Men and Mole Men would mean Zandor would have needed to already have experience as a warrior and leader even before arriving. In fact, by this episode, he apparently has a galaxy-wide reputation as a kick-butt warrior, which is why the Androids want to use him as a template for their own warriors.

So I think Zandor did have some adventures--either with or without the Herculoids--before coming to Amzot.

Also, Zandor flips over a piece of heavy equipment without apparent effort. It seems that he did some genetic tinkering on HIMSELF, since he has low-level super-strength.

As far as Amzot is concerned, I think this is the first episode that doesn't add any thing knew to our knowledge of the planet's native flora and fauna. So the map & list from the previous post are still current.

EDIT: But we do have a new element that adds some confusion about Amzot's rotation (or lack thereof). In "The Lost Dorgyte," it seemed to be established that Amzot is tidally-locked, with the Herculoids living on the side of perpetual daylight and nocturnal creatures such as the Dorgyte living on the "night side." But when THIS episode begins, the Herculoids are asleep and it appears to be night time.

So does Amzot rotate or not? I'm going to say it doesn't. My theory is that the solar system that includes Amzot is located near a nebula. Occasionally, bands of cosmic dust from the nebula drift through the system and temporarily block out sunlight, producing brief periods of "night-time" on Amzot's daylight side.

Episode 9: The Spider Man

Gee whiz, yet another violent sentient race on Amzot!

Like the Mole Men, the Spider Men dwell underground. I'm theorizing they are nomadic, with the Endless Caves that are identified as their home large enough to allow for that. They raid the surface for slaves and resources. They have technology, but aren't organized enough to produce anything other than their web guns. Not that the web guns aren't dangerous--if that webbing is strong enough to hold Torgo prisoner for even a short time, then it's pretty effective stuff.

With every episode, we get a better sense of how epic the battles and dangers to carve out a safe place on Amzot must have been when Zandor, his family and his genetically-engineered creatures first arrived. The Monkey People, Dorgytes and other peaceful peoples must have suffered for centuries before our heroes brought relative peace. This is a story that MUST someday be told.

AMZOT—DAY SIDE

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The home of the fortunately rare Giant Vultures. The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

E—Endless Caves: On the surface, the terrain is very much like the desert area near the Herculoids' home. Underneath this is the domain of the Spider Men. These are four-foot tall insect-like humanoids. They are sentient, have a language, and have the technology to produce “web guns,” which fire blobs of sticky and very strong webs. They train large ants the size of small ponies to use as mounts. The Spider Men are a nomadic society, though their domain is largely underground in the huge and labyrinthian Endless Caves. They conduct raids on the Mole Men (traveling to the Mole Men domain via secret tunnels) and occasional raid the surface for slaves and/or resources. Because they are tribal, they have never banded together strongly enough to be the threat that the Mole Men and Parrot People are, but they are still dangerous.

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

1. Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Giant Vultures—These very large predatory bird/reptile hybrids are more reminiscent of pterodactyls than Earth’s vultures. They like to carry captured prey back to their nests while the prey is still living, then consume it there. Giant vultures are solitary, living alone when not in heat.

Giant Ants—Subterranean ants the size of small ponies that live in the Endless Caves. They  have the intelligence and capacity to be trained similar to ponies as well, being used as mounts by the Spider Men. They can run at very fast speeds for short distances.

AMZOT—Night side.

One of Amzot’s hemispheres is in perpetual darkness.

1: The Stone Forest—an area in which many stone towers give the impression of having grown there like trees. Some of the small rocks are “flare rocks,” which generate bursts of light upon impact. This area also contains many cliffs and chasms. The following fauna lives here:

The Dorgytes—A sentient species of pygmy-sized humanoids with large eyes designed to allow them to see in the dark. In fact, Dorgytes can’t survive for lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight. They build huts in the “branches” of the towers in the Stone Forest and have limited technology.

Night Scarabs—Semi-sentient species of insect-people. The Scarabs are carnivores and lurk in the shadows in packs, leaping out at helpless and unsuspecting prey but running when danger seems to threaten.

Hooded Caterpillar—This creature is about 20 feet long. Able to fire the spikes that grow out of its body, it is carnivorous and very aggressive.

Armored Killer—About the size of an Earth pony, this four-legged carnivore is also aggressive. It is protected by a thick, spiked carapace.

Electro-Beetles—5-foot long insects able to fire energy blasts from their antenna. They are carnivorous and travel in packs, working together via instinct.

Episode 8--The Lost Dorgyte.

Apparently, Amzot is tidally-locked, with one hemisphere in perpetual darkness. I presume this means is orbits a smaller sun than Earth, since their sun isn't putting out enough energy to cook the day side.

We learn of the existence of a "Giant Vulture" in the desert area near the Herculoids' home. These big guys apparently like to carry their prey home alive to enjoy their meal in their own nest. It's a safe presumption that these creatures are solitary and rare--otherwise Zandor & Co. would have their hands full just dealing with them.

We visit the Night Side of the planet in this episode, meeting a friendly sentient race called the Dorgytes, as well as four species of large carnivores. The map descriptions below describe the various creatures in more detail. I will say that the Stone Forest (where the Dorgytes live) may well be the most dangerous place on Amzot. The poor Dorgytes are surrounded by very large and very aggressive monsters who want to eat them.

Since the Dorgytes don't move somewhere else on the Night Side of the planet, it's safe to presume that the entire Night Side of the planet is dangerous. The various carnivores almost certainly prey on each other as well as the Dorgytes, since it seems like far too large a population of meat-eaters to be supported by herbivore prey.

Is Amzot a failed ecosystem, in which the carnivores are wiping out their own food source and will eventually die out? Zandor ought to do something about that.

AMZOT—DAY SIDE

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The home of the fortunately rare Giant Vultures. The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

1. Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Giant Vultures—These very large predatory bird/reptile hybrids are more reminiscent of pterodactyls than Earth’s vultures. They like to carry captured prey back to their nests while the prey is still living, then consume it there. Giant vultures are solitary, living alone when not in heat.

AMZOT—Night side.

One of Amzot’s hemispheres is in perpetual darkness.

1: The Stone Forest—an area in which many stone towers give the impression of having grown there like trees. Some of the small rocks are “flare rocks,” which generate bursts of light upon impact. This area also contains many cliffs and chasms. The following fauna lives here:

The Dorgytes—A sentient species of pygmy-sized humanoids with large eyes designed to allow them to see in the dark. In fact, Dorgytes can’t survive for lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight. They build huts in the “branches” of the towers in the Stone Forest and have limited technology.

Night Scarabs—Semi-sentient species of insect-people. The Scarabs are carnivores and lurk in the shadows in packs, leaping out at helpless and unsuspecting prey but running when danger seems to threaten.

Hooded Caterpillar—This creature is about 20 feet long. Able to fire the spikes that grow out of its body, it is carnivorous and very aggressive.

Armored Killer—About the size of an Earth pony, this four-legged carnivore is also aggressive. It is protected by a thick, spiked carapace.

Electro-Beetles—5-foot long insects able to fire energy blasts from their antenna. They are carnivorous and travel in packs, working together via instinct.

Map of Amzot as of Episode 7

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

1. Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Ep. 7--The Mole Men

Gee while, Amzot was a veritable hell planet before Zandor and the Herculoids arrived! We've already met the Parrot People, an aggressive sentient race that had apparently fought Zandor before.

Now we meet the Mole Men, an aggressive sentient race that has apparently fought Zandor before. The Herculoids recognize them, while Zandor and Arkon (the Mole Men's king) know each other by name.

So when the Herculoids first came to Amzot, not only were the Parrot People enslaving the passive monkey people, but the Mole Men were apparently conquering the surface world as well. We can presume the two races battling each other for control of key areas--such as Energy Rock deposits.

Zandor's initial quest to bring peace to Amzot much have been truly epic.

Anyway, the Mole Men are small, but apparently physically resilient--Arkon survives having tons of rock dropped on him twice!  They are also more technologically advanced than the Parrot People, having energy weapons and advanced vehicles. We do meet on Mole Man who objects to Arkon's plans to re-invade the surface, so it was perhaps only internal dissension among them that kept them from simply curb-stomping the Parrot People in the pre-Herculoid days.

We also see what I will call a lizard-bird, a creature perhaps as large as a condor, which we can add to Amzot's native fauna.

I will update the map of Amzot, but it will be a day or so before I'll have it ready to post.

Ep 6--The Raiders

The bad guy in this episode is named Sta-Lak. He's not named this time, but will make a return appearance (so he apparently survives when his ship crashes at the episode's end) in which he is named.

It is this episode when the bad guy specifically gives Amzot's "riches" as the reason for attacking it. This statement can easily support my theory that the energy rocks are the most valuable resource on the planet.

Also, Zandor specifically calls them energy rocks. In a previous post, I did not consciously remember this and dubbed them energy rocks as if I were thinking up the name myself. Sorry about that.

We learn a little bit more about the Herculoids. Gloop (and presumably Gleep) has super-strength comparable to Igoo and is very heat-resistant. This is demonstrated when Gloop stands RIGHT IN THE EXHAUST OF A SPACE SHIP while temporarily holding the ship down as it attempts to blast off.

Also, it's obvious from this episode that the chattering of Gloop and Gleep is an actual language. I still think all the Herculoids share a low-level telepathic link and that all have reasonably high intelligence, but when Zandor (during his career as a geneticist) created Gloop and Gleep, he was in effect creating a new sentient race.

We don't learn a lot about Amzot. Most of the action takes place in the arid, desert-like area near the Herculoids' home. There is a reference to the White Cliffs and this includes a tar pit that Igoo unceremoniously falls in after dropping from Sta-Lak's ship. I'm placing this specific region on the north end of the desert.

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

1. Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophicticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Ep. 5--The Beaked People

Well, this episode adds quite a bit of knowledge to Amzot's fauna. We learn that there are at least two sentient (or in the case of the Monkey People) semi-sentient beings on the planet.

First, I think this lets us expand on the history of Zandor and his family. We've been theorizing he's a geneticist who brought the creatures he created to Amzot to give them purpose in defending the planet. We already know they have to defend it against frequent off-planet raiders who want to mine the energy rocks.

But now I think we can theorize that this wasn't the only problem plaguing Amzot. I think the Parrot people have a very war-like culture that was enslaving a large part of the planet. When the Herculoids arrived, they freed the slaves and contained the Parrot People to a very small area. This episode is the Parrot People's attempt to kill Zandor and regain their past glory.

The Parrot People are obviously sentient with a language and some technology--they depend on large clubs for weapons, but do have some understanding of textiles, since they wear clothes. They probably want slaves to work in their factories and free up more warriors for use in conquering other areas. I'm placing their home in a hilly area just because that feels right to me.

The Monkey People, on the other hand, are herbivores/insectivores who are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and no technology. They are very strong--one of them carries Zandor even though the human is bigger than he is. But they are (unlike their cousins in Oz) shy and unaggressive, making them easy prey for the Parrot People before the Herculoids showed up. I think the Monkey People had been reduced to largely a slave race before Zandor freed them.

A small detail we get is that one of the food sources for humans is a coconut-like fruit that Dorno (if I understood him) calls a Kona nut. Also, we know from Zandor's description of the Monkey People diet that Amzot's jungle includes snails, grubs and ants. I assume these are normal size ants--not the big ones we'll meet in a future episode.

We have to totally guess at directions in this episode. I'm placing the Monkey people in the jungle to the south of the Herculoid's home, with the Dark River flowing out of the south side of that jungle. Since Dorno didn't initially expect to find the Parrot People there when he arrived, I think their home is farther south still.

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional flora including Iron Trees)

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

1. Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle. 

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophicticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids. 

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut. 

Ep. 4--Mekkor

So not only do alien creatures and alien robots constantly try to invade Amzot, they always land right near the Herculoids' home. I'm going to add to my theory that Amzot is valuable because it is a source of the rare energy rocks. I think the thickest deposit of those rocks is located somewhere near the Herculoids' home.  That would be the reason Zandor choose this area as a home when he, his family and his creatures came to Amzot. It's both the most likely spot for invaders/raiders to arrive and it gives him access to the rocks himself to use for sling-shot ammunition.

Anyway, this episode doesn't add a lot to our knowledge of Amzot's ecology. The action takes place in a jungle area similar to the one we saw in the previous episode. But, based purely on the orientation of the Herculoids as they travel too and from this jungle, I think this is a different jungle area--located south of the Canopy Tree Home. Or perhaps its one big jungle that stretches from west to south of the home.

We also get further proof that Zandor is tech-savvy, since he deduces from watching the robots that they run off a central power source. I still maintain that Zandor is a geneticist, but he is knowledgably in other areas as well. Hey--Hanna Barbara was producing a Fantastic Four series about the same time. If we allow that to put the FF in the Hanna Barbara universe, then perhaps Zandor is a descendant of Reed Richards and as the same genius.

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional flora including Iron Trees)

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines)

C-Canopy Trees

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

ep 3--The Pod Creatures

There's no indication of why the pod robots try to capture the Herculoids. If we go with the theory that the energy rocks used by Zandor and his family as sling-shot ammo is a valuable resource found on Amzot, then they could very well have been trying to eliminate the threat of the Herculoids before strip-mining the planet.

We see the tree-home of the Herculoids in this episode. Judging from the directions of travel used by the characters during the cartoon, I place it at the Western end of the desert area, with Zandor patroling the jungle farther west (the same area where the action in the last episode took place), while Dorno and Igoo are ambushed in the desert area east of the tree-home. I've dubbed the trees "Canopy Trees."

We see Zandor using energy rocks as a weapon for the first time. Tundro fires off quite a lot of ammo from his horn. Still going with the theory that the Herculoids are genetically created creatures, I assume Zandor uses the energy rocks found on Amzot to periodically "reload" Tundro.

UPDATED MAP:

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional flora including Iron Trees)

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines)

C-Canopy Trees

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Episode 2--Sarko the Arkman

This episode gives lets us know that the Herculoids have quite a history protecting Amzot even before the cartoon episodes begin, since they've chased Sarko off Amzot before. (There will be further indications of past adventures in future episodes.)

We also learn that there is a jungle area near the desert we saw last episode, because it doesn't take that long for Gleep to get help. I'm also placing the jungle west of the desert, because Gleep ran from left to right to get help after Igoo, Tundro and Dorno are captured, while Zok is flying right to left to bring help.

The jungle is also one location for the rubber vines that Zandor uses to catapult himself and travel quickly.

This episode is where we learn that Zok is capable of interplanetary flight. In fact, he must travel very fast. We will place the planet Zodan in the same solar system so we don't have to give faster-than-light capability, but even getting from one planet to another in a relatively short time is quite impressive. Also, Zok can apparently generate a life-support field around himself and any passengers he;'s carrying. All this is further evidence that Zok and the other Herculoids are genetically created life forms.

Here's an updated map. I'm looking for a better online map-maker so that future maps will look a little less lame, but I haven't found anything good yet.

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional Iron Trees)
B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines)

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Map of Amzot (ongoing)

Here's a map of Amzot as of the first episode, so it is so far very small, showing just the desert area we saw in that episode. Also included are some of the things I surmised in that episode. I'll add to this map as I watch more episodes, which should make it more interesting as time goes by.

Desert (Mesas, cliffs, occasional Iron Trees *

*Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Ep. 1--The Pirates

Space pirates land on Amzot to bury their stolen treasure. This seems to be an unwise decision by the pirate captain, who knows Amzot is Zandor's planet. Since he and his crew are dead by the end of the episode, we have evidence that it is indeed an unwise decision.

We learn a little about both the Herculoids and the planet in this episode.

THE HERCULOIDS: I think the creatures might have some sort of low-level telepathic link with Zandor, Tara and Dorno. It's not just that they can understand the humans--but that they often seem to be able to communicate information back at them even though they can't themselves speak. (Though I suppose Gleep and Gloop's gibberish might be a language.) For instance, Zandor sends Zok, the laser dragon, back to Tara to tell her what's going on after encountering the pirates. Since Zok can't speak himself, this seems to be evidence of some level of telepathic communication.

We see that Zandor's shield can ward off energy bolts from the pirate's hand blasters. This might mean it's made of some high-tech alloy, but I have another theory about it that I'll get to in a minute.

AMZOT: The action presumably takes place near the Herculoid's home, since Zok flies to get Tara and returns relatively quickly even taking into account his flight. We don't see their home, but when we do get to see it in later episodes, the terrain is very similar to what we see here: cliffs, mesas and occasional large trees. So we have our first glimpse of this local ecosystem. It's an area similar to the American southwest.

The major difference is the trees, some of which are pretty large. That might mean the area gets more rain than the American southwest desert--or perhaps has underground water to feed the trees. On the other hand, the trees are spaced well apart and there's not much other vegetation.

I theorize that the trees have very, very deep roots that allow them to tap particularly deep water sources, allowing them to flourish in the desert environment when other flora can't.

Also, these trees have incredible strong bark. During the fight with the pirates, a one-man hovercraft used by the pirates (called space torpedoes by the captain) crashes directly into a tree without so much as denting it. That's one tough tree!

I think Zandor's shield is made from the wood of these trees, giving it the strength to deflect lasers without being damaged.

So we know the area near the Herculoids' home is desert, with mesas and cliffs, where tall, very strong trees use long, deep roots to find water.

We see no native animal life this time out.

THE PLANET AMZOT

The planet Amzot--home of the Herculoids--is a strange place. Home to a bizarre variety of flora and fauna (including several sentient or semi-sentient species), it is protected from raiders and space pirates by the Herculoids.

The blog is going to take a look at the original Herculoids cartoons--which aired on CBS from 1967 to 1969. I'll be watching those original cartoons in order. As I watch an episode, I'll post an ever-growing list here of the flora and fauna that seems to be native to the planet, then come up with theories involving how the heck the bizarre ecosystem of Amzot actually works. I'm doing this just for fun and anyone who wants to participate via the comment section is more than welcome to do so.

For the purposes of this blog, only those cartoons will be considered canon. Later cartoons, comic book appearances and so on will not count. This is not a criticism of the quality of those stories, which were often quite good. But I'm leaving other stuff out for several reasons:

1) The 1981 Space Stars series renamed the planet of the Herculoids "Quasar," which I take to mean it happened in a different continuity.

2) I don't own DVDs of the later cartoons anyways.

I am, of course, willing to listen to discussions that I SHOULD include the later cartoon and/or comic book appearances. Please comment politely on this in the comment section.

The next post will discuss the first episode. Since this is being done purely for fun, I won't promise how often I'll post. Sometimes, it will be frequently. Sometimes, there might be a few weeks between posts.

 But even before we begin with the actual episodes, we can theorize about the Herculoids themselves. Here are some assumptions I'm making:

1) I don't believe the creatures (Zok, Igoo, Tundro, Gloop and Gleep) are native to Amzot, since we never see or have any hints that other members of their species are present. Of course, it's possible that they are the last of their respective species or that others of their species live in a remote part of the planet we never see in the cartoon.

We also know that Zandor is tech-savvy. He flies a space ship in one episode and seems to have a solid understanding of advanced technology.

I'm going to theorize that Zandor is a geneticist and the Herculoids are his creations. That would explain their odd powers (how many animals have naturally-occurring laser eyes, for instance) and their relatively advanced intelligence.

At some point in his career, Zandor found himself with a desire to get back to nature. Or perhaps he had a moral epiphany about genetic tinkering and decided that he had to care for the creatures he had created. Or maybe his son Dorno was being bullied in school because he's named Dorno.

Whatever the reason, Zandor took his wife Tara and his son Dorno to Amzot and settled there with the Herculoids. He choose Amzot because he could use his creatures to do good--to defend the planet against the many dangers that threaten it.

Now exactly why is Amzot always in such great danger? Why do aliens keep invading the darn place?

One episode (I forget which--but I'll make a note of it when I watch it again) has the villain mentioning the great resources on Amzot that he wants to get. So the planet is resource rich.

What exactly are the resources that apparently make Amzot so valuable? Well, Zandor and his family have an apparently endless supply of energy rocks, which they use as ammunition for their slingshots.

So perhaps the energy rocks are found on Amzot and are a valuable resource. Let's take that a step further--those energy rocks are analogous to dilithium crystals in the Star Trek universe. Dilithium is required to power warp drives in Star Trek--they make faster-than-light travel possible.

Perhaps the energy rocks on Amzot serve a similar purpose. They are the power source for much of the technology of the galactic civilization. So it would be a valuable resource indeed and would be a temptation for any space pirate or mad scientist worth his salt.

So if we go with my theory, then we have NOT yet looked at the native life of Amzot when we look at the Herculoids themselves. We'll begin to do that in the next post, when we see what flora and fauna appear in the first episode.