Bionic Six

genre	Superhero
writer	Ron Friedman Gordon Bressack Craig Miller Mark Nelson
creator	Ron Friedman
director	Osamu Dezaki Toshiyuki Hiruma William T. Hurtz Steve Clark Lee Mishkin Sam Nicholson John Walker
creative director	Bob Dranko
editor	Sam Horta
voices	Norman Bernard Carol Bilger Bobbie Block Jennifer Darling Jim MacGeorge Alan Oppenheimer Hal Rayle Neil Ross John Stephenson Brian Tochi Frank Welker
composer	Thomas Chase Steve Rucker
country	United States Japan
language	English
num seasons	2
num episodes	65
list episodes	List of Bionic Six episodes
executive producer	Yutaka Fujioka Eiji Katayama
producer	Gerald Baldwin Sachiko Tsuneda Shunzo Kato Shiro Aono
runtime	22 minutes
company	MCA TV TMS Entertainment, Inc.
channel	Syndication
first aired	April 19, 1987
last aired	November 12, 1987

Bionic Six (バイオニックシックス) is a 1987[1] animated television series. It was produced and animated by TMS Entertainment, Inc. and distributed, through first-run syndication, by MCA TV, years before the latter company became NBCUniversal Television Distribution.[2] Renowned Japanese animation director Osamu Dezaki was involved as chief supervising director, and his distinctive style (as seen in Golgo 13 and Cobra) is evident throughout all its episodes. Character designs were by Nobuteru Yūki.[3]

The title characters of the series are a family of machine-enhanced human beings each possessing unique powers after being augmented with bionic technology. Each family member is given specific bionic powers, and thus they form a superhero team called the Bionic Six.[4]

Characters

Heroes

The Bennett family includes patriarch Jack, matriarch Helen, and their four children, Eric, Meg, J.D., and Bunji. They live in a secluded oceanfront home in the fictional city of Cypress Cove, in northern California.[13] Each member wears a special ring and a "wristcomp" (a mini-computer hardwired into the wrist), which they use to activate their bionic powers. The Bionic Six can also combine their powers by joining hands, creating a "Bionic Link" to amplify their abilities.[10]

Professor Dr. Amadeus Sharp Ph.D. is the genius scientist who infused the Bionic Six team with bionics. All his research is supported by the government, and Sharp's technology must be periodically reviewed by government agency Q10.[6] He lives alone in his private museum, which houses his secret Special Projects Lab, the hidden base of the Bionic Six. Amadeus is also Scarab's brother.[7] Sharp excels in the fields of aeronautics,[8] animatronics,[9] archaeology,[10] bionics,[11] and neurology.[12] He was voiced by Alan Oppenheimer.

Jack Bennett aka Bionic-1 is an engineer,[14] an expert test pilot,[8] and the secret agent known to the world only as "Bionic-One".[15] He enjoys gourmet cooking,[16] even participating in the Paris Food Conference.[17] Bionic-1's powers are mostly related to his bionic eyes (including "x-ray vision", telescopic sight, energy blasts, and low-powered beams that temporarily cause electronic devices to malfunction or even turn against their users), and enhanced hearing (this last capability beyond even the powers of the other team members, who each possess superhuman levels of hearing in their own right). His family was initially unaware of his secret bionic identity until bestowed with powers of their own.[11] Bionic-1 was voiced by John Stephenson.[18]

Villains

The primary villain of the series is Dr. Scarab – real name Dr. Wilmer Sharp Ph.D., who is Amadeus Sharp's brother.[7] Scarab is a hefty, egotistically brilliant and occasionally comical man who yearns for the secret to eternal life and world domination. His right eye has been modified with a monocle that has a low-powered scanner that can detect individuals with bionics, even when they are disguised, and a destructive, high-powered beam. In rare instances throughout the series, he seemingly demonstrates superhuman, bionic strength of his own (on at least one occasion, he picked up Mother-One effortlessly and threw her around; in another instance, he was seen carrying as much solid gold out of Fort Knox as his other bionic minions–several hundred pounds' worth). He was voiced by Jim MacGeorge.[18]

Dr. Scarab has assembled a motley team of henchmen (described below), imbued with an apparently lesser form of the same bionic powers employed by the Bionic Six. Another one of Scarab's goals in the series is to try to figure out the secrets behind his brother's superior bionics knowledge.

Dr. Scarab has tried to create additional minions with limited success, usually due to envying interference from his existing henchmen. Some of these include:

Where covert action is called for, Scarab and his gang go disguised via their "Bionic Masking Units". To disengage these electronically imparted disguises, they slam their fists to their chest insignias and exclaim, "Hail Scarab!" (Scarab, however, vainly exclaims, "Hail me!"). Doing so serves a secondary purpose – the activation of a temporary strength enhancement.

Supporting characters

Bionic Six episodes also featured a number of recurring, supporting characters.

Bunji's Father: His (unnamed) father, who taught him his martial arts skills but suddenly and mysteriously vanished over 10 years ago (causing Bunji to be adopted by the Bennetts in the first place), shows up in several episodes of the series during its run. He assists his son in instances where his son's life is in danger and there is no other apparent way to save him. It is implied that he has ascended to some unknown, higher plane of existence through his martial arts training, and has become a quasi-immortal being. His efforts at saving his son are usually orchestrated in ways that are unseen and unnoticed by everyone, including his son, and his own son does not even know for sure that his father is alive or what has become of him until much later into the series. He first appeared in episode #2, "Enter the Bunji".
Perceptor: Peter Wilcox was one of the finest bionic researchers under Professor Sharp. Due to impatience, Wilcox tested their bionic experiment on himself. The experiment bestowed on Wilcox bionic abilities, but at the cost of his own sight. Blaming technology for his blindness, Wilcox became the anti-technology vigilante known as the Perceptor. However, after a confrontation with Sharp and the Bionic Six, Wilcox renounces his terrorist activities to become a hero and occasional ally of the Bionic Six.[21] Perceptor was voiced by Neil Ross.
Dr. Hugo Fish: An eccentric scientist inventor and colleague to Professor Sharp, Dr. Fish consistently creates devices with unusual functions, including foodstuff that grants enhanced intelligence,[17]

Bionic Six

Development

Plot

Characters

Heroes

Villains

Supporting characters

Bionic Six vehicles

Episode list

Merchandising

Action figures

Books

External links

References