Five unsuspecting teenagers, transported from Earth into the middle of a sprawling intergalactic war, become pilots for five robotic lions in the battle to protect the universe from evil. Only through the true power of teamwork can they unite to form the mighty warrior known as Voltron.
—Official Summary[2]
Voltron: Legendary Defender is a Netflix original web television series produced by DreamWorks Animation and World Events Productions, and animated by Studio Mir with a combination of drawn and CGI animation. It is based on the original American TV show, Voltron: Defender of the Universe, released in 1984, which drew its material from two different Japanese anime: Beast King GoLion, released in 1981, and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV, released in 1982. It is the fourth major television series of the Voltron franchise and first to be a web-exclusive to Netflix. Since its initial release in 2016, the series has released eight seasons, with the final season being released on December 14, 2018. In total, the series has accumulated aired 75 episodes.
Voltron: Legendary Defender was first announced as an expansion of the existing multi-year agreement between Netflix and DreamWorks Animation. Comic books for the series have also been produced. The official logo was released on February 8, 2016[3] while the entire first season was released on June 10, 2016.[4] The latest and final season of the show was its the eighth season, which was released on December 14, 2018.
Following Netflix's original releases online, the show was later televised on certain channels such as CHRGD from 2019 onward. It will be removed from Netflix in 2024.
Characters
Team Voltron/Defenders of the Universe
Paladins
Paladin is the term used to describe individuals chosen by a Lion of Voltron to pilot them. It also is another word for "hero". There can only be one Paladin to any Lion. Although an individual may be allowed by a Lion to pilot them, they are not recognized as a full-fledged Paladin until a Lion truly acknowledges them as such. Only then will they be awarded with a bayard and the true title of "Paladin". Below is the current roster of Voltron Paladins:[5]
- Takashi "Shiro" Shirogane: Former pilot and Paladin of the Black Lion.
- Keith: Current pilot and Paladin of the Black Lion and former pilot and Paladin of the Red Lion. He is part Galra and part human and now works with the Blade of Marmora, a small group of Galra rebels.
- Katie "Pidge" Holt: Current pilot and Paladin of the Green Lion.
- Lance: Current pilot and Paladin of the Red Lion; former pilot and Paladin of the Blue Lion.
- Hunk: Current pilot and Paladin of the Yellow Lion.
- Princess Allura: Current pilot and Paladin of the Blue Lion, Princess of Planet Altea and former captain, commander and pilot of the Castle of Lions.
Allies
- Coran: Former Royal Adviser to the Altean royal family and chief engineer of the Castle of Lions; also one of the last survivors of Planet Altea.
- King Alfor the Great: Allura's father and the previous ruler of Altea responsible for sending the Lions to the far corners of the universe for protection before dying in the Altean genocide by the Galra. Alfor was the creator of the Voltron Lions as well as the original Paladin of the Red Lion.
Galra Empire
- King/Lord/Emperor Zarkon (voiced by Neil Kaplan) - Former ruler of Planet Daibazaal, former leader of the Galra Empire and conqueror of most of the known universe. He was once the friend and comrade-in-arms of King Alfor and original Paladin of the Black Lion.
- Prince/Emperor Lotor (voiced by A.J. Locascio) - The son of Zarkon and a former fugitive of the Galra Empire; the once-and-future heir to the Galra throne who led the Empire following his father's defeat at the hands of Voltron and later his seeming demise.
- Lotor's Generals - Lotor's top generals who used to loyally serve him; they are only part Galra and insultingly described by other Galra soldiers as "half-breeds":
- Empress Honerva/High Priestess Haggar (voiced by Cree Summer) - Head of the Druids, a group of magic users in Zarkon's service who gathered quintessence as a power source, supercharged their Emperor with it and created monstrous "robeasts" to fight Voltron. She was previously Zarkon's Altean wife and Lotor's mother Honerva.
- Commander Sendak (voiced by Jake Eberle) - A Galra Commander tasked with capturing or destroying the lions along with Allura's castle. He is the first major enemy fought by the Paladins.
- Haxus (voiced by Robert Atkin Downes) - Sendak's second-in-command.
- Commander Prorok (voiced by Keith Ferguson)
- Subcommander Ylvik (Mentioned only)
- Chief Information Officer Plytox (Mentioned only)
- Lieutenant/Commander Thace (voiced by Mick Wingert) - A former Galra Commander-promoted-Lieutenant and spy for the Blade of Marmora.
- Commander Throk (voiced by Tony Curran) - A Galra Commander who originally sought to steal the throne from Lotor, plainly seeing him as unfit to lead the Galra.
Voltron
Voltron is the legendary giant robotic superweapon made 10,000 years ago by King Alfor composed of 5 robotic lions: the Black Lion, the Red Lion, the Green Lion, the Blue Lion and the Yellow Lion. It was created using special ore from a "trans-reality comet" that had the ability to travel between different places in the space-time continuum. It is that ability that caused Zarkon to deem Voltron so valuable to the Empire, as it would allow him to collect quintessence from the layer between realities. A second comet with similar properties is later found by Lotor, which he then used to create the Sincline ships.
Episodes
- See also: Voltron: Legendary Defender/Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Season premiere | Season finale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ██ | 1 | 11 | June 10, 2016 ("The Rise of Voltron") |
June 10, 2016 ("The Black Paladin") |
| ██ | 2 | 13 | January, 20, 2017 ("Across the Universe") |
January, 20, 2017 ("Blackout") |
| ██ | 3 | 7 | August 4, 2017 ("Changing of the Guard") |
August 4, 2017 ("The Legend Begins") |
| ██ | 4 | 6 | October 13, 2017 ("Code of Honor") |
October 13, 2017 ("A New Defender") |
| ██ | 5 | 6 | March 2, 2018 ("The Prisoner") |
March 2, 2018 ("White Lion") |
| ██ | 6 | 7 | June 15, 2018 ("Omega Shield") |
June 15, 2018 ("Defender of All Universes") |
| ██ | 7 | 13 | August 10, 2018 ("A Little Adventure") |
August 10, 2018 ("Lions' Pride, Part 2") |
| ██ | 8 | 13 | December 14, 2018 ("Launch Date") |
December 14, 2018 ("The End Is the Beginning") |
Music
The series has spawned a single soundtrack released for Season One.
| Cover | Season | Tracks | Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:OST1.png | 1 | 11 | July 21, 2016 |
Comic
- For more information, see the comic books article.
The Voltron: Legendary Defender Comic is a series of comic issues published by Lion Forge Comics, drawn by Digital Art Chefs, and written by show head writers Tim Hedrick and Mitch Iverson. The first comic was published on July 13, 2016. Once all separate issues are released, each storyline is complied into a paperback volume (abbreviated "TPB" for "trade paperback"). Beginning June 15, 2017, the comics were released on the DreamWorksTV YouTube channel as "motion comics" with animated panels and voice acting from the main series cast.
Collectibles
- For more information, see the Collectibles article.
Several extra collectible books have been published for the series, including character storybooks profiling certain characters, chapter books retelling certain episodes, and official guidebooks.
Games
The series has spawned two games: A series of interactive virtual reality episodes released for various virtual reality platforms, and a 2D horizontal shooter on the official Voltron website.
| Cover | Title | Type | Release |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Voltron VR Chronicles | Virtual Reality | September 26, 2017 |
| Cover | Title | Type | Release |
|
Super Mega Lion Attack | Horizontal Shooter | December 2017 |
Other Merchandising
- Puzzle & Dragons - A mobile puzzle/RPG hybrid developed by GungHo Online Entertainment. In 2017, it held a special event featuring characters from Legendary Defender as its first North America exclusive collaboration.
- Playmates Toys - The sole license-holder for the series' toy line.
Cast & Crew
Staff
Producers
Directors
- Joaquim Dos Santos
- Lauren Montgomery
- Steve In Chang Ahn
- Eugene Lee
- Kihyun Ryu
- Chris Palmer
Writers
- Tim Hedrick
- Mitch Iverson
- May Chan
- Joshua Hamilton
- Lars Kenseth
- Mark Bemesderfer
- Rocco Pucillo
Designers
- Christine Bian
- Christie Tseng
- Kim Il Kwang
- Jin Sun Kim
Composers
- Alex Geringas (Opening)
- Brad Breeck (Score)
- Brian Parkhurst (Score)
Main Cast
- For a full list of the cast, see the article on IMDB.
Team Voltron
- Allura: Kimberly Brooks
- Coran: Rhys Darby, Finn Darby, Theo Darby
- Hunk: Tyler Labine
- Keith: Steven Yeun
- Lance: Jeremy Shada
- Pidge: Bex Taylor-Klaus
- Shiro: Josh Keaton
Galra Empire
- [[Zarkon (Legendary Defender)|]]: Neil Kaplan, Kevin Durand
- [[Haggar (Legendary Defender)|]]: Cree Summer, Lily Rabe
- [[Lotor (Legendary Defender)|]]: AJ LoCascio
- Acxa: Anika Noni Rose, Erica Luttrell
- Ezor: Kimiko Glenn
- Zethrid: Jamie Gray Hyder
Other
- [[Alfor (Legendary Defender)|]]: Keith Ferguson, Sean Teale
- Kolivan: Mark Rolston
- Matthew Holt: Blake Anderson
Galra Empire
- Beta Traz Warden: Fred Tatasciore
- Branko: Ike Amadi
- Haxus: Robin Atkin Downes
- Ladnok: Katie Lowes
- Morvok: David W. Collins
- Prorok: Keith Ferguson
- Sendak: Jack Eberle
- Raht: Bill Millsap
- Throk: Tony Curran
- Trugg: Laura Post
- Galra Commander: Tommy Savas
Blade of Marmora
Humans
- Iverson: Nolan North
- Keith's Father: Jay Manalo
- Samuel Holt: Nolan North
Aliens
Alteans
Arusians
Balmerans
Mer
- Blumfump: Weird Al Yankovic
- Florona: Alyson Stoner
- Luxia: Kari Wahlgren
- Plaxum: Mae Whitman
- Swirn: Kari Wahlgren
Olkari
Other Aliens
- Alien Shopkeeper: John DiMaggio
- Baujal: Jim Cummings
- Blaytz: Chris Kattan
- Bounty Hunter: John DiMaggio
- Gyrgan: Geno Segers
- Trigel: Angie Harmon
- Nyma: Lacey Chabert
- Ozar: John DiMaggio
- Remdax: Bill Millsap
- Rolo: Norman Reedus, Tyler Rhoads
- Sal: Fred Tatasciore
- Slav: Iqbal Theba
- Slice Capades Owner: Vince Offer
- Te-osh: Lacey Chabert
- Unilu Salesman: Paul Reubens
- Vakala: Matthew Moy
- Varkon: Fred Tatasciore
- Xi: Robin Atkin Downes
Trivia
- In an interview, Tim Hedrick, Voltron's story editor, was asked "...Will we be seeing any LGBT content in Voltron?" to which he responded with "I think I'll let that play out as we go. No comment on that question."[7]
- Work on the series began as early as the year 2014.[8]
- The series was officially announced at Wonder Con 2016 with staff and cast Lauren Montgomery, Joaquim Dos Santos, Tim Hedrick, Jeremy Shada, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Tyler Labine, Josh Keaton, Kimberly Brooks, and Rhys Darby attending the panel.[9] A trailer for Season One premiered along with clips from the season. Steven Yeun was featured in a recorded video at the panel introducing his character, Keith.
- The series has been dubbed in: English, Filipino, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Danish, German, Dutch, Norwegian, French, German, Finnish, and Swedish.[10][11][12]
- The series aired on Netflix Korea on October 10th, 2016.[12]
- Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery are fans of the original Voltron show and wanted to make the new series similar to how fans nostalgically remember Defender of the Universe, rather than a strictly faithful update or a complete reinvention. Legendary Defender is a means to reel in both a new generation and old fans. To get a more coherent grasp on the older series, staff watched both Defender of the Universe and Beast King GoLion, paying homage and honor to both. They avoided going the darker route of a story, preferring to keep campy humor and fun amongst a serious storyline.[13][14]
- Dos Santos stated that the biggest influence on him for Legendary Defender are Robotech and Macross, appreciating the dramatic aspects of the show.[citation needed]
- According to Dos Santos, "As far as themes go, the overall theme of teamwork is a huge thing for us to get across. Not just teamwork like, ‘we gotta work together to make this happen’ but really building characters that are complex enough to overcome their own shortcomings, evolve, and become the fully realized heroes we know they can be. Nobody at the beginning or end of the show will be perfect by any means but they will change and rise to the occasion."[13]
- Voltron: Legendary Defender marks the first series in franchise history where the pilot of the Green Lion is a female character: Pidge, who was male in all the other versions of Voltron. Pidge's gender was on Lauren Montgomery's list of "must-haves", as well as mermaids.[15]
- There are notable aspects of the series which departed from the Voltron: Defender of the Universe:
- The first show that outright replace the series' traditional Monster of the Week (Robeasts) with Galra fleets as the primary threat, explaining why only four of them that exist in this continuity.
- Voltron Lions and their pilots in Legendary Defender are portrayed much more capable in their separated forms than their previous incarnations that their ability to combine into the titular mechs only used as a last resort.
- The first series that featured LGBTQ+ among the main casts (namely Shiro).
- The first series where Allura dies near the end of the series, arguably the most controversial change in entire franchise.
- Voltron Legendary Defender Final Episode The End Of The Beginning Loosely Based On Burn Galra Castle/Golion Desperate Battle And Galactic Dawn/Fierce Battle In The Underground
External Links
- Official Website
- Netflix Page (Note: Requires Netflix account to access)
References
- ↑ Netflix's offical page for the series
- ↑ DreamWorks Animation
- ↑ New Voltron logo at Nerdist
- ↑ Release Date
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Neil Kaplan's Twitter
- ↑ http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/voltron/256121/creating-voltron-legendary-defender/page/0/1
- ↑ Den of Geek with Tim Hedrick and Christine Bian
- ↑ Mashable: "'Voltron' details and a trailer revealed at WonderCon", March 2016
- ↑ Voltron: Legendary Defender on Netflix
- ↑ FiliDub Twitter
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Steve Ahn's Tumblr
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Den of Geek with Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos May 2016
- ↑ Nerdist with Lauren Montgomery, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Christine Bian March 2016
- ↑ New York Comic Con 2016
| V • E Voltron Television Series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Television Series | ||
| Original Japanese Series | Mirai Robo Daltanious (1979) • Beast King GoLion (1981) (episodes) • Armored Fleet DaiRugger XV (1982) (episodes) • Lightspeed Electroid Albegas (1983) | |
| Voltron Series | Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984) (episodes) • Fleet of Doom (1986) • Voltron: The Third Dimension (1998) (episodes) • Voltron Force (2011) (episodes) • Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016) (episodes) | |
| Additional Voltron Content | Voltron Pilot (1983) • Voltron: Defender of the Unvierse (2007) • Voltron 84 (2017) | |
| Related Articles | ||
| Production Companies | DreamWorks Animation • Kickstart Productions • Studio Mir • Toei Animation • World Events Productions | |
| Other articles | Content edits • List of edits • Exceptions to Editing Character Deaths | |