Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light

It is a time where magic is more powerful than science, and only those who control the magic, control destiny. They are The Visionaries!

© Hasbro 1987

Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light was originally a range of action figures from Hasbro, released in 1987. To promote the toy line, an animated television series and a comic book series were made. The half hour cartoon series was created by Sunbow Productions—the same animation studio who made G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and The Transformers cartoon series. The comic book series was published by Star Comics.

The planet of Prysmos had enjoyed an advanced technological age for several thousends of years, until the realignment of the three suns marked the end of the age of science and technology and began the age of magic. The planet entered into its own Dark Ages, where all technology was now useless.

The catastrophe tore the planet into two warring factions—the good Spectral Knights and the evil Darkling Lords. Chaos ensued as both party seek military advantage. To keep the balance of power, the old wizard Merklynn came out of hiding and offered magic to those who could survive his tests.   

Those who survived the competition were each given a totem animal, which they can transform into. Merklynn assigned an animal based on the knight’s personality.  The staff-wielding knights; were also given, among others, the powers of Wisdom, Knowledge, Destruction, Invulnerability, and Fear. The knights without magical staffs, on the other hand, can activate vehicles with magic.

The toyline was not as successful as its counterparts, which led to the cancellation of the comics and the animated series.  The animated series lasted for only one season of 13 episodes while the comic book series was axed after its 6th issue. 

I never got to watch the first run of the series due to the fact that I was only 2 years old when it first aired. I was able to watch some of the episodes on VHS when I was already 5 years old. I wasn’t able to finish the whole season though; one would need to rent a cassette for each episode.

I never watched the series again until this month—thanks to YouTube. It just hit me one night—I missed the cartoons that I watched as a kid. After a week, I was able to finish the the first and only season of Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light.

The Darkling Lords

The Spectral Knights