wait remember hero 108 it was cartoon networks and kabillion's action adventure series about a
conflict between human and animal factions that took inspiration from ancient chinese literature
it also had a strange array of plant-based weapons and graced us with the swiss army tongue mystique
sonia yeah this one's unique created by yang ming tang and released on march 1 2010 hero 108
introduced us to first squad a team of warriors set on missions to undo the chaos created by the
dastardly villain high roller and restore harmony between humans and animals along the way enemy
factions become allies to our heroes ultimately resulting in a team consisting of you guessed it
107 heroes but wait a minute what happened to the 108th hero well today we'll be taking a look
at hero 108 its world building episode structure and its surprisingly memorable cast of characters
also you may be able to tell that i don't really have a voice right now i don't know
how to take a break from making videos so i hope you enjoy wait no don't cry
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the case this must be your wallet that makes sense to me then take it it's not my wallet why you hate
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your mama thanks so much to extra for sponsoring today's video for squad attack hero 108 is unique
in that despite its simplicity it actually has a great deal of lore the story goes that long ago
in the beautiful land of hidden kingdom after the evil emperor high roller convinced animals that
all humans are evil except for him discord was spread throughout the land now under the servitude
of high roller every species of animal has its own castle to defend well not every species absent is
the monkey castle this is because the monkey king chose not to fight with the humans and instead
sought to bring back peace between humans and animals so he put together a task force called big
green in an attempt to undo the damage caused by high roller and his henchmen he also does this all
under his new identity ape truly i guess totally not monkey king would have been too obvious
almost every episode of season one follows a simple structure ape truly goes to the title
animal's castle he asks them to join forces with big green they decline he gets captured
and our five main heroes from first squad are deployed to rescue him hero number six lin chung
the level-headed staff-wielding combat master and aspiring sketch artist that gains mystical powers
in the second season hero number 25 mighty ray the brash aggressor that can shoot lightning out of
his removable eyes but only after eating bananas don't you hate when that happens hero number 88
jumpy ghostface originally the rabbit king who joins first squad in the series premiere episode
he can jump rope so fast that it cuts through things and is later taught how to speak english
by the parrot king also he reminds me of that gamestop rabbit from a while back for some reason
hero number 103 mystique sonia the charismatic and somewhat vain person of the group who can
hang on let me check my notes here real quick ah use her tongue as a windmill a chainsaw and
even a sword use her saliva to grow an unlimited supply of buns that strengthens whoever eats them
she's cursed so that if someone tells her they love her three times in a row they'll turn into
a yaksha a hat creature that can transform into a shield a dress and uh i think you get the point
yeah the thing on her head that was once a living being heck it still is mystique sonia is an army
all by herself and those are the members of first squad yep totally not forgetting anyone uh well
there is the team leader mr nohans who keeps his hands locked up so he doesn't tickle himself and
uh well he kind of fades out of focus as the series progresses heck he's not even called by
name in the theme song of the show together these five go out of their way to stop whatever devious
deed was done to deter their dear commander in season one that is and before we discuss where
the show changes up some things in the second season i wanted to mention the voice actors with
this show being a more unique case where a lot of voices were done by singular vas most times
i feel like i mentioned so many names but here we see reoccurring names under different characters
like brian drummond who voices jumpy ghostface sparky white high roller among a handful of others
ian james corlett voices mighty ray ate truly mr nohand as well as plenty others that show up
kelly sheridan who voices characters like mystique sonia rose finch and more with other
voice talents like andrew francis andrew petru scott mcneil tabitha st jermaine jillian michaels
and eric baza so yeah overall there are a lot of great voices behind these interesting characters
but let's jump back to talking about season two in the second season we would see some small
changes in their approach to storytelling as well as some slight character changes
season two reveals that high roller was working for an even bigger bad guy named twin masters
a being full of chaotic energy paving the way for lin chung's harmonic energy it's purple and
it does whatever the episode needs it to do at the exact moment it's used with these changes
of power comes a small change in the structure gone are the simple animal castle titles and
new are the plot based titles now first squad goes on journeys for items to aid them against
twin masters on their quest for peace raising the stakes without making the plots too complicated a
benefit of the show's simple structure of an overarching plot that allows for exploration
even if the episode isn't integral to the narrative is that it lends itself well to
the characters through these different encounters with different animals we learn more about each
individual team member and by extension the world around them paying special attention
to continuity in season 1's episode turtle cannon competition we meet second squad a team comprised
of big green's second best task force led by alpha girl who forms a bitter rivalry with
first squad but by season two's episode second to none after her whole team is rescued by lin chung
she's willing to put aside their differences even going so far as sacrificing herself to save lin
she gets better though but you know what doesn't get better her confusing name you see in the
show she's exclusively referred to as alpha girl but in some extra material she's referred to as
latifah the show's credits spell her name as alpha girl but the toys have it spelled as alpha space
girl any logged information online or specific hero 108 wikis just kind of gave up with this
debate and listed her name as alpha girl latifah but the imdb page has her listed as alpha space
girl ugh which is it i'm so conflicted which reminds me because the conflict between humans
and animals predominantly takes place in forests mountains and deserts the opposing forces had to
get creative with their weapons carrot grenades grape seed bullets and tanks made of giant gourds
are just a few that come to mind this works well not only for the setting but also for
the family friendly rating we don't want little jordy seeing his favorite heroes playing with
those violent attack drones next thing you know he'll want to become a youtuber or something
speaking of heroes earlier i mentioned this series taking inspiration from chinese literature
the novel in question being none other than water margin for those who don't know water
margin tells the tale of 108 outlaws or stars of destiny 36 heavenly spirits and 72 earthly
fiends or demons who seek justice under the rule of an unjust government each hero of big green
is given a number associated with them each number loosely relating to their respective
outlaw from 1 to 107 but what about the 108th hero well i'm glad i asked you see in the series finale
in order to stop season 2's ultimate villain twin masters from destroying all life itself every
member that was added to big green as the series progressed including high rollers henchmen have
to fuse together to make the episode's namesake the bronze giant yeah the 108th hero of big green
it's a fusion of them all combining each of the hero's skills to win the world ending battle it's
actually pretty cool you should totally check it out the whole thing was surprisingly a fun time
i personally don't remember hearing much about the show during its run but i see why people
found an attachment to it speaking of attaching things one thing that needs to always be latched
onto a cartoon property is merchandise what you thought a cartoon network show wouldn't have
merch or its own flash game on its main website i'll have you know they did that for every show
even the ones they don't want to talk about whatever did happen to that dude
anyway the series spawned a variety of toys which had some really cool packaging that helped them
stand out comics that never got translated into english some trading cards exclusive to taco bell
and games lots had lots of games there was hero 108 hidden kingdom showdown your standard flash
made 2d fighting game hero 108 big green drift which is basically air hockey and there's hero
108 zebra spotting hero 108 dancing mystique hero 108 bunny battle hero 108 smash and cash
games i never personally had the pleasure of playing but most interesting of all these games
was the free to play mmo hero 108 online in it you can play as different characters from the
show and follow an assortment of tasks throughout hidden kingdom on the way you'd encounter numerous
enemies seen in the show and you'd use your powers to stop them it had a major focus on
fast-paced combat and incorporated ways for players to work together to complete raids
similar to most mmos out there i do believe this game is a big reason why people remember this
property as i feel i heard more people talk about playing this back when it was around more so than
watching the show itself or collecting the toys while there was some dedicated fans of the show
the games etc alas all good things must come to an end in 2012 cartoon network aired hero
108's final episode and that was that some shows i've covered in the past ended on a cliffhanger
others with shockingly weird finales but hero 108 is a show that had a satisfying conclusion with an
ending that lends itself well to a continuation if any further interest is shown personally i'd like
to see this world again whether it be through an animated continuation a video game or heck
maybe translate those comic books there's still room for these characters to grow
and questions to be answered how would the members of first squad feel about ape truly's
secret identity sure first squad sees him in his true form in the episode dear castle but
none of them realize it's him if the humans found out their leader in the battle against
animals was secretly an animal this whole time would it cause an even bigger divide between
humans and animals would they cut off their ties with animals entirely replacing their
turtle treads with robot treads would the members of big green have to advance their technology to
the point of no longer needing the assistance of animals would mystique sonja ever be freed
of her curse but most importantly would alpha girl's name be spelled right lots of questions
all still left on the table for more one day but if not just some fun stuff to ponder on
i think this show had a lot more to offer than we originally got while what we got was surprisingly
fantastic i feel that there was so much left to explore from the evolution of the mmo to the toy
side of things i feel that this property was well on its way for a solid foundation of fans
to still be invested in the franchise it was a uniquely designed show with fun animation that i
can't really recall seeing any place else now i want to know what you think of hero 108 do you
remember watching this show did you ever play the games who's your favorite hero let me know
in the comments thank you so much for checking out today's video be sure to hit the like button
and subscribe for more content like this i'll be back with another video soon but until then later
you