Captain N: The Game Master

"When my father disappeared, and Mother Brain tried to take over Videoland, our only hope lay in an ancient prophecy that a great warrior from another world would come to our rescue. I admit, I was a little skeptical when Kevin showed up, but now I don't know how we'd ever get along without him."

—Princess Lana in the opening theme of Season 2

"When I got picked to be Game Master, I couldn't believe I was really in Videoland. But ever since I got here, it's been one exciting adventure after another. Maybe I'll never go home. What can I say? I'm hooked."

—Kevin Keene/Captain N in the opening theme of Captain N & The New Super Mario World

Captain N: The Game Master (alternatively presented in other video game cartoon packages as Captain N & The Adventures of Super Mario Bros 3, Captain N & The New Super Mario World and Captain N & The Video Game Masters) is a cartoon that ran on NBC from 1989 to 1991. It featured characters & elements from many video games whether they were from the Nintendo library (Kid Icarus, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Punch-Out) or games merely distributed on the NES (Mega Man, Castlevania, Final Fantasy).

The premise of the show involved teenager Kevin Keene being sucked into the Ultimate Warp Zone to become Captain N, The Game Master. As Captain N, he led a team of heroes into battles against Mother Brain and her minions on a regular basis to keep Videoland safe. Several episodes saw the N Team having to travel to Dragon's Den, which was based off Dragon Quest (known as Dragon Warrior at the time the show aired).

Characters

From Dragon Quest

• Dragonlord - Sought to conquer Dragon's Den on several occasions and allied with Mother Brain. He was voiced by Don Brown.[1]
• Blue dragon - Alerted The Dragonlord to Princess Lana & Mega Man's arrival at Castle Charlock. (Episode 7: "Three Men and A Dragon")
• Slime - A group of Slimes pursue the N Team upon their second trip to Dragon's Den. (Episode 23: "The Trojan Dragon")
• Axe Knight - Guarded several treasures in his cave, only to lose them to Captain N. (Episode 23: "The Trojan Dragon")

From Other Games

• Simon Belmont - From Castlevania.
• Pit - From Kid Icarus. (Though the character is referred to as Kid Icarus in the show.)
• Mega Man - From Mega Man.
• Link - From The Legend of Zelda. (Episode 23: "The Trojan Dragon")
• Zelda - From The Legend of Zelda. (Episode 23: "The Trojan Dragon")
• Mother Brain - From Metroid. (Episode 7: Three Men & A Dragon)
• King Hippo - From Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. (Episode 7: "Three Men and A Dragon")
• Eggplant Wizard - From Kid Icarus. (Episode 7: "Three Men and A Dragon")
• Moblin - From The Legend of Zelda. (Episode 23: "The Trojan Dragon")

From The Series

• Keven Keene/Captain N - When Videoland needed a hero to stop the forces of Mother Brain, Kevin Keene was sucked into his television set from the real world due to his video game skills.
• Duke - The pet dog of Kevin Keene, who joined his master in coming to Videoland.
• Princess Lana - Ruler of Videoland after the Mother Brain banished her father King Charles. She is also a member of The N Team.
• Game Boy - N Team's computerized member. Based on the handheld product of the same name. (Episode 23: "The Trojan Dragon")
• Puff - One of the last remaining dragons from Dragon's Den not corrupted by The Dragonlord, until the N Team intervene. (Episode 7: "Three Men and A Dragon")
• The Three Keepers of Power - Keeping watch of Dragon's Den, they alerted The N Team to The Dragonlord's plan and later provided Princess Lana & Mega Man with Warp Water. (Episode 7: "Three Men and A Dragon")
• Stoop - The Dragonlord's servant. He steals the Sun Stone from The Palace of Power to aid his master in hatching the legendary Golden Dragon. (Episode 23: "The Trojan Dragon")

Other elements from Dragon Quest

• Brecconary
• Weapon shop
• Medicinal herb (Referred to as Magical herb)
• Charlock Castle
• Sunstone
• Gold
• Fairy water
• Torch
• Treasure chest
• Flame sword
• Silver shield
• Cursed necklace

Episodes

Episode 7: Three Men and A Dragon

Using a hypnotic crystal from Mother Brain, The Dragonlord has succeeded in corrupting all of the white dragons in Dragon's Den, save for a baby named Puff. The N Team arrive at Dragon's Den and split up. During which Captain N, Simon and Kid Icarus find Puff and end up taking care of her. Princess Lana and Mega Man end up in the Castle Charlock and trapped by the Dragonlord, but are later freed with an item given to them by the three keepers of power. The N Team meet back up to confront the Dragonlord, and manage to save both Puff & her mother.

Episode 23: The Trojan Dragon

The Dragonlord is back and with a plan to hatch a golden dragon egg. His minion steals the source of the Palace of Power (known as the Sun Stone) in hopes of achieving that and succeeds, leaving Game Boy to use his power to keep the palace's defense system online. The N Team arrive at Dragon's Den and fight off some Slimes, earning some gold in the process. They spot the uniting of various dragons and decide to create a wooden dragon which they can use to infiltrate the group.

To do so, Simon, Kid Icarus & Mega Man go to Hyrule to gather the material with Link & Zelda in order to build their dragon. Kevin, Lana & Duke stay at Dragon's Den to acquire weapons & equipment. After the team reunites, they manage to succeed in getting into the meeting and learn that the egg being hatched contains the legendary Golden Dragon, though they are eventually exposed & captured. To deal with them, the Dragonlord puts the Cursed necklace on Simon which results in the newly hatched dragon being drawn to the N Team.

They manage to get away by using Fairy Water to remove the necklace from Simon, allowing it to fall on the Dragonlord, forcing him to destroy the Golden Dragon. The N Team escape successfully with the Sun Stone back in their possession.

Episode 24: I Wish I Was a Wombatman

While on tour at Marblopolis Studio World, The N Team encounter a robotic replica of the Dragonlord, which emits fire.

Episode 27: Misadventures in Robin Hood Woods

Though not focused upon, it's stated that Captain N & Kid Icarus have finished a mission in Dragon's Den, which is mentioned for the last time in the series as of this episode.

Notes

• The original version of "Three Men and A Dragon" played the cover song of Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder when Kevin, Simon and Kid Icarus take care of Puff. Repeated airings along with the DVD and YouTube presentation replace it with a instrumental version of the show's own song Mega Move (From "The Feud of Faxanadu").
• Several references to the English title of the game is made in both episodes.
  • Episode 7: When the keepers of power tell Kevin that in order to find the baby dragon, he will need to be a dragon warrior.
  • Episode 23: Kevin & Lana leave the item shop after learning that the Fairy water is the only thing left. The shopkeeper tells them that in the dark times that the people of Dragon's Den hoped for a hero to come and that he saved a map to the Cave of the Axe knight to guide that dragon warrior.
• Though music from Dragon Quest doesn't play, both related episodes have the following BGM from various games:
  • Three Men and a Dragon
    • Super Mario Bros - The "Underground" music plays after the N Team learns that all of the dragons have (apparently) been caught.
    • Super Mario Bros. - The "Castle" music plays when Kevin, Duke, Simon and Kid Icarus hide a cave.
    • Super Mario Bros 2 - The "Boss Battle" Music plays briefly when Lana and Mega Man find the power items.
    • Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest - The "Message of Darkness" plays when Kevin, Duke, Simon and Kid Icarus reunite with Lana and Mega Man.
  • The Trojan Dragon
    • Gradius (Game Boy Version) - The Stage 2 music plays when the Dragonlord and Stoop conceive their plan to steal the Sunstone
    • Marble Madness - The Level 2 music plays during the fight with the Slimes.
• As part of the Captain N & The Adventures of Super Mario Bros 3 "The Trojan Dragon" aired with the SMB 3 episodes "The Ugly Mermaid"/"Mush Rumors".
• The series also shared several cast members with the English Dub of Dragon Quest: Abel Yuusha (titled in the US as Dragon Warrior as with the games):
  • Long John Baldry: King Charles of Videoland (Captain N: The Game Master) and The Narrator (Dragon Warrior)
  • Garry Chalk: King Hippo, Donkey Kong, Dracula, Mayor Squaresly & Rush (Captain N: The Game Master) and Great Demon King Baramos (Dragon Warrior)
  • Michael Donovan: Eggplant Wizard: (Captain N: The Game Master) and Adonis (Dragon Warrior)
  • Marcy Goldberg: Additional voices (Captain N: The Game Master) and Daisy (Dragon Warrior)
  • Scott McNeil: Additional voices (Captain N: The Game Master) and General Rudolph (Dragon Warrior)
  • Alvin Sanders: Additional voices (Captain N: The Game Master) and Baharata (Dragon Warrior)

Gallery

• 

  Episode 7's title.

• 

  Episode 23's title.

• 

  Dragonlord.

• 

  Slimes.

• 

  Torch, Flame sword & Silver shield.

• 

  Brecconary shop.

• 

  Unspecified Weapon shop.

• 

  Castle Charlock.

External link

• Captain N: The Game Master on Wikipedia.
• Official streaming of "Three Men and a Dragon" on YouTube
• Official streaming of "Trojan Dragon" on YouTube