Mighty Orbots

To set the stage, by the 23^rd Century, mankind on Earth is part of a larger community of planets made up of alien species spread throughout the galaxy, and travel between star systems is as quick as a flight from one country to another on Earth. The show’s team of protagonist robots, called Orbots, had to routinely race from one end of the galaxy to the other to stave off the sinister plots of an evil organization bent on domination, called Shadow. Unique unto itself, Shadow’s base of operations was the Shadow Star — in essence, a world built around a star — ruled by a disembodied, biological computer called Umbra.

Earth acted as headquarters to the United Planets, a conglomerate of planets united to promote peace throughout the galaxy. Their law enforcement arm — the Galactic Patrol — worked to maintain order, under the leadership of a psionic alien named Commander Rondu. Rondu’s daughter Dia was a senior officer of the Galactic Patrol and served under her father’s command.

Although effective under normal circumstances, the Galactic Patrol found itself hard-pressed to combat the machinations of Shadow, whose sleeper agents infiltrated countless world governments and organizations. To combat Shadow, genius robotics engineer and inventor Rob Simmons, working for Galactic Patrol, created a team of sophisticated robots with unique abilities and personalities. Although they had powers of their own, when the robots joined together they became an even more powerful champion of justice known throughout the galaxy as Mighty Orbots.

Rob’s first creation and addition to the Orbots team was a sassy, pint-sized, female robot named Ohno. Ohno had the stature of an adolescent child with a temperament to match. Because Rob built her first, she considered herself second-in-command of the Orbots team, which put her at odds with burly Orbot Tor, who considered himself the best candidate for the position. Surprisingly, Ohno’s willpower allowed her to badger anyone who opposed her into submission — which in many instances included Rob.

Tor’s large stature in conjunction with his tremendous physical strength and confidence made him a prototypical leader; at least, in his own mind. The other members of the team were less impressed with Tor’s arrogance and the admiration he had for his own physical prowess, most especially the twin female robots Bo and Boo, who Tor had a habit of trying to impress. Confident and assertive Bo had the power to control the elements, while her more reserved, speedster twin Boo had the ability to teleport. Nervous, gaunt-looking robot Bort could transform himself into almost any useful shape. The final member of the team was a paunchy, perpetually hungry robot called Crunch, who ate almost anything. This proved troublesome for the team on many occasions, but it also provided a means for a quick energy boost when Mighty Orbots ran low on power during combat.

More than just Mighty Orbots’ creator, Rob piloted the giant robot with the assistance of co-pilot Ohno from inside his flying vehicle, the Beam Car. When controlling the robot, Rob parked the Beam Car itself inside the torso of Mighty Orbots. To disguise his identity during missions, Rob took on the guise of Orbot Commander. This change amounted to wearing a helmet and omni-suit, but it likely manipulated Rob’s identity further, because mild-mannered Rob never had luck in gaining the attention of his love interest Dia, while Dia was madly in love with the confident Orbot Commander, who she never recognized as Rob’s alter-ego.

Mighty Orbots aired for a single season consisting of 13 episodes. Spoiler warning: a second season wasn’t needed, considering Umbra’s final attempt to destroy the Orbots went awry, leading to the destruction of the Shadow Star.