How the Finale of the Dungeons & Dragons ’80s Cartoon Turned a Pop-Tradition Thriller

Hasbro’s multitude of celebrations marking the fiftieth anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons embody streaming the fan-favorite Eighties D&D cartoon on the 24/7 Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures FAST channel. The animated collection, regardless of a comparatively brief run of three seasons and 27 episodes, has develop into a fantasy style basic. The participating storytelling and darkish themes enormously influenced future media—and the characters have been so memorable, 40 years later they precipitated a social media frenzy when their live-action counterparts made an sudden cameo in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

For the uninitiated, again in 1983 Dungeons & Dragons designer and co-creator Gary Gygax had the brilliant thought to quash the Satanic Panic brewing round his sport with the crafty use of… a Saturday morning children’ TV present. In doing so he additionally unintentionally helped create probably the most unsanitized youngsters’s packages in historical past—tackling mature subjects like trauma, the futility of revenge, and what to do when your 11-year-old-brother contemplates slaughtering the demon-man that haunts your each waking second?

In collaboration with Marvel Productions, TSR, and the Japanese firm Toei, developer and author Mark Evaniar and his crew (together with Hank Saroyan and later Michael Reaves) have been tasked with diluting sophisticated D&D mythology and gameplay into 30-minute episodic TV for preteens. This genius advertising and marketing ploy to make RPGs extra relatable additionally produced a loyal and barely unhinged multi-generational fanbase—one which fueled a decades-long rumor concerning the final episode they thought they’d seen: “Requiem.”

Nostalgia tends to make it more and more troublesome to separate actuality from rumor, and a false collective reminiscence started about what occurred “to” and “in” that last episode. In an interview with io9, Mark Evanier mentioned he needs to dispel the city legend as soon as and for all: “There was NO ‘last episode’ of Dungeons & Dragons.”

Confused but? You quickly will likely be.

At first, let’s set up what’s remembered appropriately: how the present started. Evanier was intelligent sufficient to invent a camera-friendly solid of characters to exhibit participant ways (now a gaming commonplace) with 5 all-American children, aged 9 to fifteen: Hank the Ranger, Eric the Cavalier, Sheila the Thief, Presto the Magician, Bobby the Barbarian little one, and Diana the Acrobat (their one Black good friend).

Voiced by a then star-studded solid of ‘80s sitcom actors—together with Don Most, Adam Wealthy, and Willie Aames—the collection kicked off in spectacular vogue with a carnival roller-coaster journey gone rogue. The pilot begins with the children discovering themselves sucked by a cosmic portal right into a magical realm, the place they encounter a bit of man with a kinky moniker, “The Dungeon Grasp.” Every instantly features a particular talent and game-like weaponry to confront challenges (sound acquainted but?), defined in plot exposition that matches neatly into the opening title sequence. There was additionally Uni, a mute toddler unicorn, appropriate for kids ages 8 and up.

Evanier meant to play fanservice all through the present by together with a number of the sport’s villains: Tiamat the red-hydra dragon, and the Spider Queen, Lolth. Nevertheless, the true scene-stealer was new: Venger (voiced by Optimus Prime himself, Peter Cullen), a demon of pure nightmare gas sporting a dramatic floor-length cloak of the best haberdashery. What we didn’t know on the time is that he additionally had an origin story for the ages (spoiler alert); it will definitely revealed the indignant dragon was his sister, and the smart previous sage, the Dungeon Grasp, their daddy.

Whereas these plot twists have been spectacular, the imagined variations by the fandom have been equally theatrical. They emerged throughout the web’s infancy and spanned the early days of social media, from ‘90s chat rooms to Fb and Reddit. In response to the feedback on this Reactor thread: “However I bear in mind watching the ending… which doesn’t exist!” a consumer named Cap-mjb posted. “They find yourself again reunited with their households.”

One other consumer, Capnjimbo the BBS Captain, disagreed, insisting “It ended on a cliffhanger.” On Reddit, OGBranFlakes lamented “They by no means acquired dwelling… Does this imply we will get a D&D film with Venger?” On Facebook, MrSchee fondly referred to as this “My first brush with the Mandela Impact,” and recalled how he was so certain he “noticed an episode that exposed they have been truly all lifeless (and in hell).”

Because it seems, the explanation for the Mandela Impact—the identify for a false reminiscence that’s nonetheless shared by a big group of individuals—on this case was comparatively easy: there have been two final episodes. The final one to truly air was “The Winds of Darkness,” a narrative with the same old fare: a terrifying creature referred to as the Darkling should be defeated, and there was additionally fog. It ends with Dungeon Grasp gaslighting the kids as soon as extra, with tales of yet one more means dwelling.

However, “Requiem”—a never-produced script written by Reaves that was meant as a potential collection finale—reveals Venger’s identification because the Dungeon Grasp reopens the portal (wait, he might’ve completed that the entire time?!) for the gang to decide on whether or not to remain or go earlier than fading to black. We by no means study their choice. Earlier than his passing in 2020, Reaves posted the PDF on his now-defunct weblog, resulting in a fan-made version of the episode created from modifying collectively present footage. Now, that’s intense dedication: being so invested within the cartoon’s end result, followers first created a shared reminiscence, then they created their very own finale. Evanier believes the “lacking finale” provides properly to the lore, proving the ability of the present’s legacy. Within the present local weather of malicious fanboys boycotting any new or up to date IP, it’s heartwarming to see geek tradition utilizing its powers for good, albeit obsessively.

Over electronic mail, George Krstic, VP of the D&D franchise crew for Wizards of the Coast, informed io9 that the “unaired last episode isn’t actually a part of the official D&D cartoon canon.” However, he added, “We’re all followers of it (the cartoon) right here,” and “your complete collection means quite a bit to many gamers (and myself as properly). It continues to be fashionable on the D&D: Adventures FAST [channel], so we all know that there’s starvation for extra.” As for confirming the most recent on-line rumor: Venger nonetheless would possibly seem in the live-action Paramount+ series or get his personal standalone cartoon. “We wish to be open to these paths,” Krstic wrote.

One other signal that the D&D cartoon characters proceed to be fashionable got here after they popped up (in live-action!) within the TTRPG’s latest big-screen outing. In an interview with Polygon, Honor Amongst Thieves co-writer and co-director John Francis Daley mentioned the filmmaking crew simply acquired the rights to make use of the animated characters’ likenesses, since they have been already a part of the TSR property picked up by Wizards of the Coast. “The rights are type of baked into the film, simply because it’s D&D,” he defined.

At a latest San Diego Comedian-Con, Evanier watched the now-famous cameo for the primary time as younger ranger and thief cosplayers sat within the viewers. “It was so nice seeing these children once more,” he mused. So far as what he thinks occurred after the portal reopened: “Oh, the children are nonetheless trapped in that world together with Venger, Tiamat, and all my royalties!”

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