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crack_van2008-06-03 09:34 pm
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Small Fandom Overview: Ace Lightning
Ace Lightning is an obscure YA television show with a small (but tenacious!) fandom into teh crack it offers. This overview has many spoilers--proceed with caution! Canon Sources is where to get the material.
Screencaps mostly courtesy of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sapphiresilver and moordryd_rules. Note: rather image-heavy! (Click on the images to see larger versions.)
Plot Overview:
I couldn't limit myself to one summary, so I offer three:
Summary #1: Superheroes land in a small American town. Predictable chaos results.
Summary #2: Questions about humanity and the nature of reality combine with some good old-fashioned debunking of clichés. Canon necrophilia results.
Summary #3: Characters from a popular videogame mysteriously appear in the real world. A young teenager, Mark Hollander, is forced to help them and become a hero himself. Associated relationships are brief, violent and/or probably doomed.
Canon Sources:
I'm sure nobody reading this would ever, ever be so unethical as to blatantly violate copyright, even when it's nearly impossible to legally obtain the canon. There is no such thing as an episodes tag on the LJ comm, almost all the series is not on Vuze, if YouTube ever had a couple of episodes I'm sure they're gone by now, via the comm nothing's on Megaupload either, and there is no messageboard topic about these issues.
Beside the episodes, there was also a computer gamewhich kinda sucked, so I'm not covering it here.
Characters:
CGI:
Ace Lightning.
As blond and muscular as a figure in a Hitler Youth poster, superpowered, strong, and brave (and even self-admittingly virginal)--yes, he calls himself a hero. Surprisingly enough, his claim on the word's quite solid; he makes his grand entrance refusing to hit a villain while he's down even though disaster is sure to result. He can fly at the speed of electricity, has superstrength, and fires bolts of electricity from his wrists. He's a ‘Lightning Knight' (named after his job, yes he is just that sad), which seems to be a kind of interdimensional police officer. Though he's usually easygoing, after being *ahem* given ‘human emotions' he finds anger more difficult to deal with and gets to go through a character arc. He's naïve, innocent, kind, and in love with someone entirely unsuitable.
"Do you always do the right thing?"
"I try to, yes."
Lord Fear.
The most powerful villain in the Sixth Dimension, ruler over the Carnival of Doom and all associated domains, and Ace Lightning's archfoe. He's a walking skeleton, though this anatomical condition doesn't seem to stop him from much; he can see, smell, speak and apparently feel (necroporn oh yeah). He's supposed to be a powerful and cunning overlord but comes across as a megalomaniacal buffoon at times--the usual kids' show effect. Manages to step up to the villainous plate a little more in second series. Lord Fear's grudge against Ace Lightning--and the end of a friendship between them--was caused when Ace ‘crippled' him (whether that refers to his skeletal state or the band around his leg we're not sure). Ace claims it was an accident. He also plays the organ (as in, musical instrument). He's three hundred and fifty-two years old.
"I had the world in the palm of my hands."
Lady Illusion.
Evil minion; cross-morphing shapeshifter and generally distressing damsel, sortofonlywaybetterwritten fanon!Draco with breasts. Involved with Lord Fear on a level that's not exactly platonic. (In other words? He calls her snookums.) Instead of more typical courtesan's skills such as embroidery and music, she's better at espionage and explosions. She falls for Ace and spends a good deal of the series trying to clandestinely rescue him, though she's yet to realize that love-is-not-beating-up-other-contenders-before-dragging-the-object-of-affection-away-by-the-haireven if he'd totally be into that. She'd be cooler if she wasn't so angsty, but she's the only humanoid character obliged to be subservient to another by the program. Her relationship with Lord Fear isn't exactly consensual.
"There's a saying in this world. Actions speak louder than words."
Staffhead.
(Art by byscarab_dynasty.)
Lord Fear's other companion, often thought of as a unit with him--he's basically a toad on the end of a stick. (In second series, he seems to be gradually coming away from the stick part. Who knows why.) Lord Fear fires from the crystal ball on top of his head, and also uses him to block and occasionally tie up. Speaks in a Cockney accent, is rather intelligent, and loathes Lady Illusion. Presumed to be some sort of demon by the fandom and is occasionally the source of phallic symbol jokes.
"You hurt Lord Fear, I hurt you. Understand?"
Kilobyte.
Second series main villain. Appears from the Ferris wheel and proceeds to take over the Carnival and come closer than Lord Fear to success in half the time. He has tentacles, which he wraps around people in order tocop a feel drain energy, and also has the ability to bestow upgrades on fellow evils. He was individually created by the Master Programmer, and his only weakness is light. Fred is his pet giant mutant wasp.
"Befriend the mortals while you can, Ace Lightning. You'll be a worthy foe."
Sparx.
Fan favourite and generally cool swordswoman. She's Ace's sidekick and fellow Lightning Knight, and fires electric pink from her sword. Like her name might suggest, Sparx is impulsive and brave and reckless, and doesn't know when to give up. She rides the Lightning Flash, which is kind of an aerial jetski with teeth. It comes when whistled.
Neither love interest nor romantic subplot, her place in the story is as one of the heroes.
"Charge your power to the max, Ace!"
Random Virus.
Ace's best friend and another Knight, though only some of the time. Due to a previous battle with the evils, about half his body is replaced with metal, and somewhere in the process he gained a bad case of multiple personality disorder. Random's evil side despises weakness of all sorts and alternates between wanting to destroy Ace specifically or everything in sight; his good side is saner, quieter, and extremely depressed (for some odd reason). He lives in the junkyard most of the time in order to keep his evil side from hurting people. Like Lady Illusion, he's kinda angsty, but unlike her he doesn't really get a character arc. He loves Ace and turns up to rescue him every so often.
"I have to leave, my friend. Or I'll do something that I'd regret for all eternity."
Humans:
Mark Hollander.
Thirteen-year-old whose somewhat turbulent love life fills a certain proportion of the series. I'd say he was pretty, but I'd worry about getting arrested (though the actor's older than me ^_^). He moved from England to America with his parents at the commencement of the series, and was playing the computer game ‘Ace Lightning' in a storm. Lightning struck, and then Lightning struck--sorry, that's really bad. The CGIs appeared in his back garden engaged in a battle. Ace recruited Mark as his reluctant sidekick, and with the unfortunate knowledge of how heavily it weighed on his social life, Mark contributed to saving the world.
"I don't know if I'm going to make any friends in America. Well...at least not any human friends."
Charles “Chuck” Mugel.
Mark's best friend. Keen player of videogames and gifted child, though his social expertise leaves a lot to be desired. He tends towards gluttony, and his nickname is rather...apropos, though he's a loyal if insensitive friend. He's bullied at school, which Mark helps him out with. He helps Mark out by telling him cheat codes, and is the only person Mark choose to eventually tell about the CGIs. His mother's a lawyer.
"Like...a pandemonium of puke."
Samantha Thompson.
Most popular girl in school, and Mark's love interest in the first series. Appears to be a genuinely nice girl with some fascination for oddities (this presumably explaining her interest in Mark). Close friends with the more domineering Heather. She quote-unquote dated Brett (they were thirteen, after all) before the start of the show, but quickly threw him over for Mark. I wrote a longer character overview for IBARW here, with spoilers (Sam is awesome ^^).
"I always thought I'd feel better knowing that there's something else out there. Have you ever imagined how many amazing things haven't been discovered yet? Well, I want to see those things one day."
Heather Hoffs.
Dates Mark briefly, then dumps him for Brett. Confident, assertive and overachieving. She's a year young for her grade, and involves herself in a number of extracurricular activities---swimming, gym, martial arts, school paper, basketball and cheerleading, among others. In second series her overbearing tendencies rather get the better of Brett. In first series she's only forceful, but later she seems to dislike the world aside from Sam, Mark especially included.
"It was nice of you to sub for my usual karate partner, Mark. The doctor says he should be out of traction in, like, two weeks."
Brett Ramirez.
Easygoing guy with an interest in martial arts and action movies. Kind of a pushover, but a nice pushover. Sam breaks up with him in order to go out with Mark at the beginning of the series. He dates Heather for a while, but eventually breaks up with her due to her verbal abuse of him. He's friendly with Mark, Sam, Heather and even Wayne, but doesn't seem to have any particularly close friends. Apparently he's one of the most popular boys in school. Like Mark, he's very good at soccer.
"So I was like 'dude', and he was like 'whatever'..."
Ashley Hollander.
Mark's young cousin. She finds out about the CGIs on her first trip to Conestoga Hills, but fortunately the game isn't given away. Forthright, always very clear about what she wants, flies her pet guineapig with helium balloons, and sets traps for the Tooth Fairy.
"Chucky, you got videos? Yes! The House of Bloodsucking Terror! I love this one!"
Wayne Fisgus.
The school bully with a rather overbearing father. Torments Chuck, small insects, and various other powerless species. Lord Fear has a soft spot for him.
"I'm Wayne. School screwup."
Jessica Fisgus.
Wayne's computer geek cousin and Lady Illusion fan, who meets Chuck at an Ace Lightning convention and starts dating him. Shares Lord Fear's predilection for pet names, but aside from that peccadillo appears to be a very nice girl.
"What is it...Chucky-wucky?"
Kat Adams.
Sam's second series replacement as love interest when the actor had other commitments, a new girl arriving from the big city. She's forward, frank and assertive, and quickly gains Mark's attention. As co-editor of the school paper with Heather, she's assigned to find out the true story behind the Carnival. She's also a talented basketball player. Occasionally called a canon Sue (nothing wrong with being a talented female character, though!).
"In case you care, I'm Katherine."
Pete.
Pete is sometimes forgotten about, because he's us-as-the-audience: as Mark's best friend in England, he's the ostensible beneficiary of episode-framing narration. Loves football, claims to have once mooned a Spice Girl, and occasionally provides commentary on Mark's exploits. Briefly visited America and met Lord Fear on that occasion.
"Take my advice, Mark: avoid the Virus like the plague!"
Mr Cheseborough.
Insane science teacher, and that was before the minions kidnapped him and temporarily stole his identity. He thinks they're aliens, but isn't believed when he rants. Lord Fear forced him to supply a workable weapon against the Lightning Knights: salt water. Rather fond of Nettie Kutcher's cookies. Has been placed under psychiatric supervision a few times.
"Students! Don't touch that! That thing contains millions of volts of electricity! Do you know what happens if you touch millions of volts of electricity?"
"You get a shock?"
"No, I get paperwork. Mountains of it!"
Simon and Fiona Hollander.
Mark's long-suffering parents. Simon is an accountant who's clumsy but enthusiastic around the home, and has a deep and abiding interest in Americana; Fiona's more practical and level-headed with a hobby of collecting gnomes for her (proper English!) garden. She works as a real estate agent in second series, and was a professional actor when she was young.
"My gnomes!"
"Sorry I'm late; you know how we accountants like to talk and talk."
Mrs Kutcher.
The lunch lady. Chuck's a favourite of hers and gets special food, but everyone else gets rather suspicious-looking constructions of indeterminate nature. Apparently she makes nice cookies.
(to Mr Cheseborough): "Call me...Nettie."
Felicity Fury.
Young and attractive housekeeper hired by Fiona when she goes out to work, to Mark's temporary excitement.
"I'm making Earth cookies!"
The Master Programmer.
Self-proclaimed genius behind the curtain. Lonely and bitter about not being the next Bill Gatesand all the people who mocked him in high school, he decided to prove what he could do by doctoring a copy of the Ace Lightning computer game to bring the CGIs to Earth. The original goal was to have Lord Fear take over the world so that nobody would ever laugh at him again, but when that wasn't working he created Kilobyte. Unfortunately, Kilobyte found out about that.
"Nobody will laugh at me ever again."
Rick Hummel.
Chuck's long-suffering employer in series two; runs “Rick's Computer Shack”.
(as apathetically as possible): "Rick's computer shack, service with a smile."
Minions:
Googler.
Insane undead clown with sockpuppets. The literal sort, which fly off his wrists and come in handy for turning foes to mulch and doing the occasional brainwashing. Ace condemned him to White Hot Oblivion some years ago, but he's back with a vengeance and is working for Lord Fear.
"Google me this, Lightning. When does a hero become a zero?
...Soon!"
Anvil.
Evil rhinoceros muscle of the gang with intelligence corresponding to stereotype. Occasionally manages to use pronouns. Creator's word says he dates back to the “Middle Ages”, although how medieval rhinoceri and seventeenth-century sorcerers are supposed to meet is anyone's guess.
"Anvil smash!"
Pigface.
Yeah, he's kind of a pig. Secondary muscle, with a particularly repulsive snot attack developed in second series.
"Not Pigface's fault. I can't help it if I...I smell bad!" *sniff*
Rotgut.
Incoherent zombie who doesn't hold together nearly as well as Lord Fear. Has a thing for Chuck.
"Rotgut wants a big hug!"
Duff Kent.
He's human and he didn't want to be a minion, but that's pretty much what he's played as--generally subservient, self-interested and occasionally malicious, not especially intelligent. He owned the Kent Brothers Carnival prior to Lord Fear taking it over, and seems to manage it well enough when he's not hampered by the CGIs. He drives the minions around in his ice cream truck. Tries to quit Team Evil every so often, but never really makes it.
(Lord Fear, to Duff): "Honey, I'm home."
Dirty Rat.
Smart, for a minion. Unique among the characters, he seems to be able to sense amulet pieces, and his flying abilities and small size mean he's a decent spy. Unfortunately for him, he appears to be attracted to humanoid females as against members of the suborder Myomorpha. (Bestiality--whoops!)
"Tell me more about this thing called...money."
Fred.
The cutest little giant flying mutant wasp you'll ever see. Doesn't seem to have much of a mind of his own and carries Kilobyte around. Kilobyte seems quite fond of him. Is the name from the Master Programmer, or from Kilobyte?
*num num*
Plot Synopsis:
(major spoilers! You can skip down to the fandom resources by clicking here.)
The first thirteen episodes deal with Ace's arrival and Mark gradually becoming accustomed to heroism. Sparx makes her memorable debut in episode twelve. Ace and Lady Illusion fight and fall in love, and manage to rescue each other once or twice.
The second thirteen episodes get quite dark at times; Sparx ‘dies' (returns to the Sixth Dimension after being blown apart with her own sword), and the evils come very close to winning. Mark breaks up with Sam, gets back together with her again, dates Heather, gets dumped by Heather, and dances with Sam. There's an onscreen kiss between SleepingBeauty!Ace and Lady Illusion, but Staffhead finds out about their affair and blackmails her. At some point Lord Fear also realizes, but keeps that to himself. In the end, all the evils but Lady Illusion disappear back to the Sixth Dimension once Mark narrowly manages to save the world, and she teleports off for parts unknown.
Lady Illusion reappears in the second series (the last thirteen episodes) as Felicity Fury, a flaky college student who sees auras and believes in crystals. It's assumed by fandom that she spent the time between the series establishing the identity through contact with particularly stoned hippies. Felicity gets a job as housekeeper for the Hollanders as Fiona goes out to work as a real estate agent. The Knights decide to return to the Sixth Dimension since there doesn't seem to be anything left for them to do, but Random Virus' evil side disrupts the process. Ace and Sparx end up trapped with zombies in the Sixth Dimension, and then Lord Fear stages his return; Lady Illusion is sneaking around the Carnival when he shoots her from the roof, and she reluctantly returns to his side. Kilobyte appears and coerces Lord Fear and his minions into doing his will, Chuck accidentally encounters the Master Programmer, Kat appears in Conestoga Hills and Mark's affections, and Ace is summoned back from the Sixth Dimension. Mark and Kilobyte both discover the identity and purpose of the Master Programmer, and in anger Kilobyte decides to conquer the world on his own. There's a teamup of enemies that ends with Lady Illusion fading back into the Sixth Dimension to save Ace, and the teen lovers get their silhouetted embrace.
In planned future episodes, Ace was to return to the Sixth Dimension to find Lady Illusion and human captives there, and a new villain character Candy Floss would debut.
Fandom:
The fandom is mostly interested in the adult CGIs and their large-scale dramas rather than Mark's schoolyard issues, and tends to enjoy inventing elaborate backstories for the world of the Sixth Dimension as a fantasy creation. (You can probably see a bit of my own bias in this manifesto.) There's a theory that the CGI/human parallels--Ace/Mark, Sparx/Heather, Random/Chuck, Lady Illusion/Sam--could mean that the CGIs are alternate universe identities of the mortals. Allison Lightning has also advanced a theory for the similarities between Ace and Mark.
Genfic or fic keeping canon relationships in the background is common, typically focusing on the adventure plot or identity issues.
Het:
Canon het could be said to include Lord Fear and Lady Illusion's rather less than consensual relationship, Ace and Lady Illusion's romance, Sparx flirting with the Rat, Mark and his various love interests, Brett and Heather, Simon and Fiona (of course!), and...tentacles?.
Lord Fear/Sparx was the surprisingly plausible pairing in the first NC-17 Acefic I read (written byfeardantane and unfortunately not available online); I've also seen Staffhead/Sparx and Kilobyte/Sparx by lightningflash8. (These will be recced later in the month!)
Slash:
Rotgut/Chuck has a certain amount of canonical support if inherent squick ("Rotgut wants a hug from friend Chuck! And incidentally to turn him into a zombie too!"), and Random and Ace are very close to each other. Kilobyte has also had tentacled incidents with Ace. Brett is surprisingly friendly towards Mark considering his history of dating girls Brett's been attracted to, and Chuck is the only person Mark chose to tell about the CGIs.
Femslash:
It's so much more interesting if Sparx and Lady Illusion's rivalry is about sexual tension rather than merely about a manor a war, and their explosive relationship is ample enough support for that particular pairing dynamic. ("Just give me Sparx, preferably chocolate-coated."/"Morph in any time."/"I almost had her, Ace!") And Sam and Heather are very close friends.
Threesomes:
Really not something the small fandom has stretched to, but...three villains, three Knights?
Bestiality:
Perhaps thankfully, not something explored in fanfic! However, Sparx and the Rat arguably flirted in canon. :( :(
Fandom Resources:
Most fanfiction and fanart is posted on the Pit o' Voles (and just one entry on Squidge). (We have a feed from the Pit at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
mortal_knight.) Some fic is also on the community. A list of Ace-related links is compiled here (there's also del.icio.us); I've used memories to contain Livejournal Acefic and art; some more fic is on the messageboard; there's also an adultfanfiction.net spot. We also have a fan history page, a wiki page, and we've been a requested fandom at Yuletide, though without any fics there. Oh, and a FanLib page with nothing in it.
Fanfic Recs:
More recs are to come later! For a nostalgic view, I'll start off with one of the earliest fics written in the fandom.
Dirty Tricks, by Sparx-007.
Fandom: Ace Lightning
Pairing: None
Length: 2150 words
Why this must be read: It's a simple, self-contained short story that has many canon elements. Many kids' fandoms don't get it nearly so good with their first fics; I was delighted when I first saw an Ace Lightning section existing on ff.net, with this fic and a couple of others just waiting to be adored. Short, sweet, and recognizably Acefic.
Mark's cousin is kidnapped by Lord Fear...
And to balance out the old fic, some new fanart byrodentnetworks.
Why this must be viewed: bright, expressive, and well-drawn, these artistic reproductions of the CGIs are just plain amazing. You can find Lord Fear and Dirty Rat at her website gallery here (no direct linking available); and here's also a very nice sketch with a Fear/Lady Illusion pairing. (All safe for work.)
Screencaps mostly courtesy of
sapphiresilver and moordryd_rules. Note: rather image-heavy! (Click on the images to see larger versions.)
Plot Overview:
I couldn't limit myself to one summary, so I offer three:
Summary #1: Superheroes land in a small American town. Predictable chaos results.
Summary #2: Questions about humanity and the nature of reality combine with some good old-fashioned debunking of clichés. Canon necrophilia results.
Summary #3: Characters from a popular videogame mysteriously appear in the real world. A young teenager, Mark Hollander, is forced to help them and become a hero himself. Associated relationships are brief, violent and/or probably doomed.
Canon Sources:
I'm sure nobody reading this would ever, ever be so unethical as to blatantly violate copyright, even when it's nearly impossible to legally obtain the canon. There is no such thing as an episodes tag on the LJ comm, almost all the series is not on Vuze, if YouTube ever had a couple of episodes I'm sure they're gone by now, via the comm nothing's on Megaupload either, and there is no messageboard topic about these issues.
Beside the episodes, there was also a computer game
Characters:
CGI:
Ace Lightning.
As blond and muscular as a figure in a Hitler Youth poster, superpowered, strong, and brave (and even self-admittingly virginal)--yes, he calls himself a hero. Surprisingly enough, his claim on the word's quite solid; he makes his grand entrance refusing to hit a villain while he's down even though disaster is sure to result. He can fly at the speed of electricity, has superstrength, and fires bolts of electricity from his wrists. He's a ‘Lightning Knight' (named after his job, yes he is just that sad), which seems to be a kind of interdimensional police officer. Though he's usually easygoing, after being *ahem* given ‘human emotions' he finds anger more difficult to deal with and gets to go through a character arc. He's naïve, innocent, kind, and in love with someone entirely unsuitable.
"Do you always do the right thing?"
"I try to, yes."
Lord Fear.
The most powerful villain in the Sixth Dimension, ruler over the Carnival of Doom and all associated domains, and Ace Lightning's archfoe. He's a walking skeleton, though this anatomical condition doesn't seem to stop him from much; he can see, smell, speak and apparently feel (necroporn oh yeah). He's supposed to be a powerful and cunning overlord but comes across as a megalomaniacal buffoon at times--the usual kids' show effect. Manages to step up to the villainous plate a little more in second series. Lord Fear's grudge against Ace Lightning--and the end of a friendship between them--was caused when Ace ‘crippled' him (whether that refers to his skeletal state or the band around his leg we're not sure). Ace claims it was an accident. He also plays the organ (as in, musical instrument). He's three hundred and fifty-two years old.
"I had the world in the palm of my hands."
Lady Illusion.
Evil minion; cross-morphing shapeshifter and generally distressing damsel, sortofonlywaybetterwritten fanon!Draco with breasts. Involved with Lord Fear on a level that's not exactly platonic. (In other words? He calls her snookums.) Instead of more typical courtesan's skills such as embroidery and music, she's better at espionage and explosions. She falls for Ace and spends a good deal of the series trying to clandestinely rescue him, though she's yet to realize that love-is-not-beating-up-other-contenders-before-dragging-the-object-of-affection-away-by-the-hair
"There's a saying in this world. Actions speak louder than words."
Staffhead.
(Art by by
scarab_dynasty.)Lord Fear's other companion, often thought of as a unit with him--he's basically a toad on the end of a stick. (In second series, he seems to be gradually coming away from the stick part. Who knows why.) Lord Fear fires from the crystal ball on top of his head, and also uses him to block and occasionally tie up. Speaks in a Cockney accent, is rather intelligent, and loathes Lady Illusion. Presumed to be some sort of demon by the fandom and is occasionally the source of phallic symbol jokes.
"You hurt Lord Fear, I hurt you. Understand?"
Kilobyte.
Second series main villain. Appears from the Ferris wheel and proceeds to take over the Carnival and come closer than Lord Fear to success in half the time. He has tentacles, which he wraps around people in order to
"Befriend the mortals while you can, Ace Lightning. You'll be a worthy foe."
Sparx.
Fan favourite and generally cool swordswoman. She's Ace's sidekick and fellow Lightning Knight, and fires electric pink from her sword. Like her name might suggest, Sparx is impulsive and brave and reckless, and doesn't know when to give up. She rides the Lightning Flash, which is kind of an aerial jetski with teeth. It comes when whistled.
Neither love interest nor romantic subplot, her place in the story is as one of the heroes.
"Charge your power to the max, Ace!"
Random Virus.
Ace's best friend and another Knight, though only some of the time. Due to a previous battle with the evils, about half his body is replaced with metal, and somewhere in the process he gained a bad case of multiple personality disorder. Random's evil side despises weakness of all sorts and alternates between wanting to destroy Ace specifically or everything in sight; his good side is saner, quieter, and extremely depressed (for some odd reason). He lives in the junkyard most of the time in order to keep his evil side from hurting people. Like Lady Illusion, he's kinda angsty, but unlike her he doesn't really get a character arc. He loves Ace and turns up to rescue him every so often.
"I have to leave, my friend. Or I'll do something that I'd regret for all eternity."
Humans:
Mark Hollander.
Thirteen-year-old whose somewhat turbulent love life fills a certain proportion of the series. I'd say he was pretty, but I'd worry about getting arrested (though the actor's older than me ^_^). He moved from England to America with his parents at the commencement of the series, and was playing the computer game ‘Ace Lightning' in a storm. Lightning struck, and then Lightning struck--sorry, that's really bad. The CGIs appeared in his back garden engaged in a battle. Ace recruited Mark as his reluctant sidekick, and with the unfortunate knowledge of how heavily it weighed on his social life, Mark contributed to saving the world.
"I don't know if I'm going to make any friends in America. Well...at least not any human friends."
Charles “Chuck” Mugel.
Mark's best friend. Keen player of videogames and gifted child, though his social expertise leaves a lot to be desired. He tends towards gluttony, and his nickname is rather...apropos, though he's a loyal if insensitive friend. He's bullied at school, which Mark helps him out with. He helps Mark out by telling him cheat codes, and is the only person Mark choose to eventually tell about the CGIs. His mother's a lawyer.
"Like...a pandemonium of puke."
Samantha Thompson.
Most popular girl in school, and Mark's love interest in the first series. Appears to be a genuinely nice girl with some fascination for oddities (this presumably explaining her interest in Mark). Close friends with the more domineering Heather. She quote-unquote dated Brett (they were thirteen, after all) before the start of the show, but quickly threw him over for Mark. I wrote a longer character overview for IBARW here, with spoilers (Sam is awesome ^^).
"I always thought I'd feel better knowing that there's something else out there. Have you ever imagined how many amazing things haven't been discovered yet? Well, I want to see those things one day."
Heather Hoffs.
Dates Mark briefly, then dumps him for Brett. Confident, assertive and overachieving. She's a year young for her grade, and involves herself in a number of extracurricular activities---swimming, gym, martial arts, school paper, basketball and cheerleading, among others. In second series her overbearing tendencies rather get the better of Brett. In first series she's only forceful, but later she seems to dislike the world aside from Sam, Mark especially included.
"It was nice of you to sub for my usual karate partner, Mark. The doctor says he should be out of traction in, like, two weeks."
Brett Ramirez.
Easygoing guy with an interest in martial arts and action movies. Kind of a pushover, but a nice pushover. Sam breaks up with him in order to go out with Mark at the beginning of the series. He dates Heather for a while, but eventually breaks up with her due to her verbal abuse of him. He's friendly with Mark, Sam, Heather and even Wayne, but doesn't seem to have any particularly close friends. Apparently he's one of the most popular boys in school. Like Mark, he's very good at soccer.
"So I was like 'dude', and he was like 'whatever'..."
Ashley Hollander.
Mark's young cousin. She finds out about the CGIs on her first trip to Conestoga Hills, but fortunately the game isn't given away. Forthright, always very clear about what she wants, flies her pet guineapig with helium balloons, and sets traps for the Tooth Fairy.
"Chucky, you got videos? Yes! The House of Bloodsucking Terror! I love this one!"
Wayne Fisgus.
The school bully with a rather overbearing father. Torments Chuck, small insects, and various other powerless species. Lord Fear has a soft spot for him.
"I'm Wayne. School screwup."
Jessica Fisgus.
Wayne's computer geek cousin and Lady Illusion fan, who meets Chuck at an Ace Lightning convention and starts dating him. Shares Lord Fear's predilection for pet names, but aside from that peccadillo appears to be a very nice girl.
"What is it...Chucky-wucky?"
Kat Adams.
Sam's second series replacement as love interest when the actor had other commitments, a new girl arriving from the big city. She's forward, frank and assertive, and quickly gains Mark's attention. As co-editor of the school paper with Heather, she's assigned to find out the true story behind the Carnival. She's also a talented basketball player. Occasionally called a canon Sue (nothing wrong with being a talented female character, though!).
"In case you care, I'm Katherine."
Pete.
Pete is sometimes forgotten about, because he's us-as-the-audience: as Mark's best friend in England, he's the ostensible beneficiary of episode-framing narration. Loves football, claims to have once mooned a Spice Girl, and occasionally provides commentary on Mark's exploits. Briefly visited America and met Lord Fear on that occasion.
"Take my advice, Mark: avoid the Virus like the plague!"
Mr Cheseborough.
Insane science teacher, and that was before the minions kidnapped him and temporarily stole his identity. He thinks they're aliens, but isn't believed when he rants. Lord Fear forced him to supply a workable weapon against the Lightning Knights: salt water. Rather fond of Nettie Kutcher's cookies. Has been placed under psychiatric supervision a few times.
"Students! Don't touch that! That thing contains millions of volts of electricity! Do you know what happens if you touch millions of volts of electricity?"
"You get a shock?"
"No, I get paperwork. Mountains of it!"
Simon and Fiona Hollander.
Mark's long-suffering parents. Simon is an accountant who's clumsy but enthusiastic around the home, and has a deep and abiding interest in Americana; Fiona's more practical and level-headed with a hobby of collecting gnomes for her (proper English!) garden. She works as a real estate agent in second series, and was a professional actor when she was young.
"My gnomes!"
"Sorry I'm late; you know how we accountants like to talk and talk."
Mrs Kutcher.
The lunch lady. Chuck's a favourite of hers and gets special food, but everyone else gets rather suspicious-looking constructions of indeterminate nature. Apparently she makes nice cookies.
(to Mr Cheseborough): "Call me...Nettie."
Felicity Fury.
Young and attractive housekeeper hired by Fiona when she goes out to work, to Mark's temporary excitement.
"I'm making Earth cookies!"
The Master Programmer.
Self-proclaimed genius behind the curtain. Lonely and bitter about not being the next Bill Gates
"Nobody will laugh at me ever again."
Rick Hummel.
Chuck's long-suffering employer in series two; runs “Rick's Computer Shack”.
(as apathetically as possible): "Rick's computer shack, service with a smile."
Minions:
Googler.
Insane undead clown with sockpuppets. The literal sort, which fly off his wrists and come in handy for turning foes to mulch and doing the occasional brainwashing. Ace condemned him to White Hot Oblivion some years ago, but he's back with a vengeance and is working for Lord Fear.
"Google me this, Lightning. When does a hero become a zero?
...Soon!"
Anvil.
Evil rhinoceros muscle of the gang with intelligence corresponding to stereotype. Occasionally manages to use pronouns. Creator's word says he dates back to the “Middle Ages”, although how medieval rhinoceri and seventeenth-century sorcerers are supposed to meet is anyone's guess.
"Anvil smash!"
Pigface.
Yeah, he's kind of a pig. Secondary muscle, with a particularly repulsive snot attack developed in second series.
"Not Pigface's fault. I can't help it if I...I smell bad!" *sniff*
Rotgut.
Incoherent zombie who doesn't hold together nearly as well as Lord Fear. Has a thing for Chuck.
"Rotgut wants a big hug!"
Duff Kent.
He's human and he didn't want to be a minion, but that's pretty much what he's played as--generally subservient, self-interested and occasionally malicious, not especially intelligent. He owned the Kent Brothers Carnival prior to Lord Fear taking it over, and seems to manage it well enough when he's not hampered by the CGIs. He drives the minions around in his ice cream truck. Tries to quit Team Evil every so often, but never really makes it.
(Lord Fear, to Duff): "Honey, I'm home."
Dirty Rat.
Smart, for a minion. Unique among the characters, he seems to be able to sense amulet pieces, and his flying abilities and small size mean he's a decent spy. Unfortunately for him, he appears to be attracted to humanoid females as against members of the suborder Myomorpha. (Bestiality--whoops!)
"Tell me more about this thing called...money."
Fred.
The cutest little giant flying mutant wasp you'll ever see. Doesn't seem to have much of a mind of his own and carries Kilobyte around. Kilobyte seems quite fond of him. Is the name from the Master Programmer, or from Kilobyte?
*num num*
Plot Synopsis:
(major spoilers! You can skip down to the fandom resources by clicking here.)
The first thirteen episodes deal with Ace's arrival and Mark gradually becoming accustomed to heroism. Sparx makes her memorable debut in episode twelve. Ace and Lady Illusion fight and fall in love, and manage to rescue each other once or twice.
The second thirteen episodes get quite dark at times; Sparx ‘dies' (returns to the Sixth Dimension after being blown apart with her own sword), and the evils come very close to winning. Mark breaks up with Sam, gets back together with her again, dates Heather, gets dumped by Heather, and dances with Sam. There's an onscreen kiss between SleepingBeauty!Ace and Lady Illusion, but Staffhead finds out about their affair and blackmails her. At some point Lord Fear also realizes, but keeps that to himself. In the end, all the evils but Lady Illusion disappear back to the Sixth Dimension once Mark narrowly manages to save the world, and she teleports off for parts unknown.
Lady Illusion reappears in the second series (the last thirteen episodes) as Felicity Fury, a flaky college student who sees auras and believes in crystals. It's assumed by fandom that she spent the time between the series establishing the identity through contact with particularly stoned hippies. Felicity gets a job as housekeeper for the Hollanders as Fiona goes out to work as a real estate agent. The Knights decide to return to the Sixth Dimension since there doesn't seem to be anything left for them to do, but Random Virus' evil side disrupts the process. Ace and Sparx end up trapped with zombies in the Sixth Dimension, and then Lord Fear stages his return; Lady Illusion is sneaking around the Carnival when he shoots her from the roof, and she reluctantly returns to his side. Kilobyte appears and coerces Lord Fear and his minions into doing his will, Chuck accidentally encounters the Master Programmer, Kat appears in Conestoga Hills and Mark's affections, and Ace is summoned back from the Sixth Dimension. Mark and Kilobyte both discover the identity and purpose of the Master Programmer, and in anger Kilobyte decides to conquer the world on his own. There's a teamup of enemies that ends with Lady Illusion fading back into the Sixth Dimension to save Ace, and the teen lovers get their silhouetted embrace.
In planned future episodes, Ace was to return to the Sixth Dimension to find Lady Illusion and human captives there, and a new villain character Candy Floss would debut.
Fandom:
The fandom is mostly interested in the adult CGIs and their large-scale dramas rather than Mark's schoolyard issues, and tends to enjoy inventing elaborate backstories for the world of the Sixth Dimension as a fantasy creation. (You can probably see a bit of my own bias in this manifesto.) There's a theory that the CGI/human parallels--Ace/Mark, Sparx/Heather, Random/Chuck, Lady Illusion/Sam--could mean that the CGIs are alternate universe identities of the mortals. Allison Lightning has also advanced a theory for the similarities between Ace and Mark.
Genfic or fic keeping canon relationships in the background is common, typically focusing on the adventure plot or identity issues.
Het:
Canon het could be said to include Lord Fear and Lady Illusion's rather less than consensual relationship, Ace and Lady Illusion's romance, Sparx flirting with the Rat, Mark and his various love interests, Brett and Heather, Simon and Fiona (of course!), and...tentacles?.
Lord Fear/Sparx was the surprisingly plausible pairing in the first NC-17 Acefic I read (written by
feardantane and unfortunately not available online); I've also seen Staffhead/Sparx and Kilobyte/Sparx by lightningflash8. (These will be recced later in the month!)Slash:
Rotgut/Chuck has a certain amount of canonical support if inherent squick ("Rotgut wants a hug from friend Chuck! And incidentally to turn him into a zombie too!"), and Random and Ace are very close to each other. Kilobyte has also had tentacled incidents with Ace. Brett is surprisingly friendly towards Mark considering his history of dating girls Brett's been attracted to, and Chuck is the only person Mark chose to tell about the CGIs.
Femslash:
It's so much more interesting if Sparx and Lady Illusion's rivalry is about sexual tension rather than merely about a man
Threesomes:
Really not something the small fandom has stretched to, but...three villains, three Knights?
Bestiality:
Perhaps thankfully, not something explored in fanfic! However, Sparx and the Rat arguably flirted in canon. :( :(
Fandom Resources:
Most fanfiction and fanart is posted on the Pit o' Voles (and just one entry on Squidge). (We have a feed from the Pit at
mortal_knight.) Some fic is also on the community. A list of Ace-related links is compiled here (there's also del.icio.us); I've used memories to contain Livejournal Acefic and art; some more fic is on the messageboard; there's also an adultfanfiction.net spot. We also have a fan history page, a wiki page, and we've been a requested fandom at Yuletide, though without any fics there. Oh, and a FanLib page with nothing in it.Fanfic Recs:
More recs are to come later! For a nostalgic view, I'll start off with one of the earliest fics written in the fandom.
Dirty Tricks, by Sparx-007.
Fandom: Ace Lightning
Pairing: None
Length: 2150 words
Why this must be read: It's a simple, self-contained short story that has many canon elements. Many kids' fandoms don't get it nearly so good with their first fics; I was delighted when I first saw an Ace Lightning section existing on ff.net, with this fic and a couple of others just waiting to be adored. Short, sweet, and recognizably Acefic.
Mark's cousin is kidnapped by Lord Fear...
And to balance out the old fic, some new fanart by
rodentnetworks.Why this must be viewed: bright, expressive, and well-drawn, these artistic reproductions of the CGIs are just plain amazing. You can find Lord Fear and Dirty Rat at her website gallery here (no direct linking available); and here's also a very nice sketch with a Fear/Lady Illusion pairing. (All safe for work.)
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I really think we need to add this to the "Too Good To Last" catagory on tvtropes, you know...
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Thank you for tagging the entry. The fandom title's "ace lightning" rather than "ace lightening"--sorry to bother about that.
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Have I told you lately that I love you? :P
Have an icon.
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