Line #64 Series/Beastmaster1999


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beastmaster_7.jpg]]
2
3	->''"In an age when nature and magic rule the world... there is an extraordinary legend: the story of a warrior who communicates with animals."''
4	-->-- '''Beastmaster intro'''
5
6	Emerging on the heels of the enormous popularity of [[Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys Hercules]] and [[Series/XenaWarriorPrincess Xena]], ''Beastmaster'' was a [[RecycledTheSeries recycled]] TV series of [[Film/TheBeastmaster the film of the same name]] and [[FollowTheLeader shared]] the general WalkingTheEarth in TheTimeOfMyths sort of theme. The series lasted from October, 1999 to May, 2002. A total of 66 episodes in three seasons.
7
8	Starring Daniel Goddard as [[TheHero Dar]], Jackson Raine as [[TheSmartGuy Tao]], Steven Grives as [[EvilOverlord King Zad]], Creator/MonikaSchnarre as [[HotWitch the Sorceress]], Grahame Bond as [[JerkassGods the Ancient One]], and Marjean Holden as [[ActionGirl Arina]].
9
10	----
11	!!This show provides examples of:
12
13	* ActionGirl: Most notably Arina, but also many [[GirlOfTheWeek girls of the week]].
14	* AdaptationalNameChange: Many of the characters are named after characters from the film, with slight differences:
15	** Zed becomes Zad.
16	** Tal becomes Tao.
17	** Kiri becomes Kyra.
18	* ApeShallNeverKillApe: Dar knows a group of crocodiles are being unnaturally aggressive when they start killing each other.
19	* ArbitrarySkepticism: An episode has Tao explain to Dar that the hostile panther they're chasing is the {{Familiar}} of a guy who has come BackFromTheDead. Dar dismisses this as nonsense. Tao retorts, "You can talk to animals!" but Dar refuses to believe it until later.
20	* TheBeastmaster: Dar is the titular Beastmaster, who was given the ability to communicate with animals and even copy their fighting styles.
21	* [[BigBad Big Bads]]: King Zad for Season 1, King Voden for Season 2 and Balcifer for Season 3.
22	* BigNo: Dar gives one out when Kyra is killed trying to protect him.
23	* TheBusCameBack: The Sorceress returns in Season 3 after spending Season 2 in an Amber Prison, being freed when Balcifer kills the Ancient One. (And the replacement Sorceress vanishes from the plot without explanation.)
24	* ContinuitySnarl: The third season changed ongoing plotlines or established histories established in the first two seasons.
25	* CostumePorn: The Sorceress's outfits.
26	* CrystalPrison: In "Rage", the Ancient One traps the Sorceress in an amber prison as punishment for "being too human". She is freed in the first episode of Season 3.
27	* CustomUniformOfSexy: Akili is a [[{{Mooks}} Terron warrior]]. None of the other Terrons wear loincloths specifically designed to show off certain... ''assets''.
28	* {{Curse}}: Both Sharak and the Sorceress were cursed by the Ancient One. Sharak has been [[WhoWantsToLiveForever cursed to live forever]] as an eagle and eternally roam the sky while the Sorceress was cursed to [[LaserGuidedAmnesia never have her memories]] of Sharak or their love.
29	* DarkActionGirl: Arina [[spoiler: before her HeelFaceTurn.]]
30	* DealWithTheDevil: The Sorceress makes one with Balcifer to lift the curse on Sharak and turn him back into a human, selling out Dar in the process. Sharak is horrified when he finds out.
31	* DemotedToDragon: Zad who becomes TheDragon for Balcifer in Season 3.
32	* DiedInYourArmsTonight: Kyra dies in Dar's arms, taking a mortal blow meant for him.
33	* DressHitsFloor: In "Tiger, Tiger", Callista undresses in this fashion before entering her bath, right in front of one of Zad's captains that she's trying to seduce.
34	* EatingTheEyeCandy: When the Sorceress first turns Sharak back into his human form in "Rescue", he [[ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing doesn't have any clothes on]]. Her eyes travel up and down his body in appreciation and they end up in bed soon after.
35	%%* EffortlessAmazonianLift
36	* EndOfAnAge: The general theme of the series focused on the changing of the world where technology began to supplant magic and old cultures being erased (various characters being survivors of their own group).
37	* EvilOverlord: Zad is made out to be one as the King of the Terrons, a savage tribe that enslaves and pillages at will. But he's just an agent for Balcifer the Dark One.
38	* EyeScream: A flashback in 'The Demon Curupira' shows an ant crawling on Dar's eyeball.
39	* EvilVersusEvil: King Voden's Nord army versus King Zad's Terron army.
40	* FighterMageThief: Dar's animal companions. Ruh the tiger is the fighter, Sharak the eagle is quite literally the mage, being a transformed sorcerer, and Kodo and Podo the ferrets are the thieves.
41	* ForcedTransformation:
42	** Sharak's curse has left him imprisoned in an eagle's body. Every time he reverts back to human, the episode ends with him being stuck as an eagle yet again. Fortunately, he still has his intelligence.
43	** The ongoing plot of the third season involves searching for Dar's long-lost family members who were all turned into animals.
44	* FriendToAllLivingThings: Dar. Tao becomes more of this over the course of the series.
45	* FriskyFerret: Dar's ferrets Kodo and Podo are playful and larcenous.
46	* GenderFlip: The Curupira is a boy in Brazilian folklore; here she's a girl.
47	* GoneSwimmingClothesStolen: Dar has one his ferrets steal the shirt of a woman that was [[OutdoorBathPeeping bathing in the river]] to lure her to him so he may interrogate her on Kyra's whereabouts.
48	* HarmonyVersusDiscipline: One of the big themes of the show, illustrated primarily through Dar and Tao. An example from early in the series: Tao, preparing to continue his journey, builds Dar a garden as a farewell gift, citing the greater convenience of not needing to forage for food. Dar is confused (the forest has plenty of food already) and unsettled ("But that's where the wildflowers grow."). Later on Tao is equally unsuccessful in convincing Dar to dig a well.
49	* HeartbrokenBadass: [[spoiler:Dar becomes one after Kyra's death in the Season 1 finale]].
50	* TheHeavy: King Zad and the Sorceress are the most recurring and constant threat for the Beastmaster across all 3 seasons.
51	* TheHedonist: King Zad is often seen indulging himself, especially with women. The Sorceress and the Ancient One have caught him in bed with his harem many times.
52	* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor / WildCard: In any given episode, it's a tossup whether the Sorceress is going to be helping Zad/Balcifer, Dar, or both.
53	* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Arina defects from the Nord army to join the heroes]].
54	%%* HeroicFantasy
55	* HumanityEnsues: Kodo and Podo are turned into humans by the Sorceress in "The Prize". They revert back by the end of the episode.
56	* {{Hypocrite}}: The Ancient One berates the Sorceress for giving in to her human emotions, despite him doing the same thing. When she calls him out on him, he traps her in amber.
57	* ImpossiblyLowNeckline: It can, at times, be difficult to focus on Monika Schnarre's face.
58	* InventingTheWheel: In the middle of the first season, Tao gets fascinated by the "many applications of circles" and meets a fellow who invents the wheel.
59	* JamesBondage: Tao gets captured or otherwise put in mortal danger a ''lot''.
60	* JerkassGods: The Ancient One, definitely. The Sorceress also has her moments.
61	* KissOfDeath: Curupira's kiss sucks out her victim's internal organs.
62	* TheKlutz: Despite being TheSmartGuy Tao can be very clumsy and prone to screw up in any physical task.
63	* LampshadedDoubleEntendre: Invoked in "The Last Unicorns".
64	--> '''King Zad''': Every Terron warrior will have a priceless horn!... so, to speak.
65	* LastOfHisKind: Dar and Kyra [[spoiler: until the end of the first season]] are the last surviving members of the Sula tribe.
66	* LightIsNotGood: King Voden wears white and has bleached hair. He's also kind of a {{Jerkass}}.
67	* LightningBruiser: Dar is both fast and powerful.
68	* LoinCloth: Worn by Dar and numerous guest stars.
69	* MageSpecies: It's never fully clarified, but the Sorceresses are sometimes referred to by themselves and others as not being human.
70	* TheMedic: Tao's biggest contribution to Dar is his vast medicinal knowledge that saved their lives many times.
71	* ModestyBedsheet:
72	** The Sorceress and Sharak are wearing one after sleeping together in "Rescue", when a displeased Ancient One barges in on them.
73	** In "Orpheo", when Arina and Orpheo make love in the middle of the forest, they're shown later post-coitus both covered by a convenient sheet.
74	** In "Choice", it's used once again when Sharak and the Sorceress sleep together. She wraps herself in one when trying to convince him to ComeBackToBedHoney.
75	* MorphicResonance: King Zad is turned into a donkey with the same tattoos. Although one character finds them familiar, it doesn't become GlamourFailure in time to be meaningful.
76	* MrFanservice: Dar is a handsome man that is a WalkingShirtlessScene that wears only a LoinCloth most of the time.
77	* MsFanservice: Both Sorceresses are gorgeous women wearing very {{Stripperific}} outfits. So is the water demon Iara.
78	* TheNapoleon: Ketzwayo.
79	* NatureHero: Dar often defends nature and animals from those that try to cause it harm.
80	* NatureSpirit: The Curupira is a fierce demon that protects nature, often more ruthlessly than Dar. Curupira's rival Iara is a water demon who takes the form of either a seductive woman or a snake, and takes over Curupira's role as patron of the forest after trapping her, albeit with a much more lax work ethic.
81	* NonActionGuy: Tao has no fighting skills whatsoever.
82	* NoNameGiven: The Ancient One has no name. He also calls both of his apprentices only "the Sorceress".
83	* NonHumanSidekick: The animals - Ruh, Sharak, Kodo, and Podo.
84	* NoPeekingRequest: In "Mydoro", Loriel asks Tao to turn around after he [[OutdoorBathPeeping walks on her bathing on a river]] and is too {{distracted\|ByTheSexy}} to actually speak to her without [[GibberishOfLove stammering]].
85	* OneWordTitle: ''Beastmaster''.
86	* OurDemonsAreDifferent: There's quite a variety of creatures called demons in this show. Curupira and her rival Iara are demons of nature, and Curupira's other rival Ketzwayo is a demon of chaos. The BigBad of the last season, Balcifer, is a blatant {{Satan}} stand-in, and a succubus and a gorgon-in-all-but-name also appear in that season.
87	* OutdoorBathPeeping:
88	** In the first episode, during his search for Kyra, Dar and Tao come across several women bathing in a river. They're all wearing skirts but with their [[ToplessnessFromTheBack bare backs]] to him; the only woman shown from the front has GodivaHair to preserve her modesty.
89	** In "The Demon Curupira", in a flashback Dar ends up walking into a random [[FanserviceExtra beautiful woman]] bathing in a spring, who teasingly accuses him of spying. She ends up seducing him and they have an [[SexyDiscretionShot implied tryst]] and she exits the episode completely, with the whole scene existing just for {{fanservice}}.
90	** In "Mydoro", Tao finds Loriel bathing nude in the river. Her body is [[SceneryCensor covered by a rock from the viewer]] but Tao gets an eyeful and is DistractedByTheSexy until she [[NoPeekingRequest asks him to turn around]].
91	* PantheraAwesome: Mainly Ruh, but there are giant cats.
92	* PetTheDog: Despite getting off on the wrong foot with Dar in the pilot, the Sorceress has many moments like this towards him. And it turns out that she's one who created unicorns.
93	* RemakeCameo: [[Film/TheBeastmaster Marc Singer]] as Dartanus in the third season.
94	%%* SceneryPorn
95	* SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains: Inverted. King Zad and Voden both cover themselves up, while Dar runs around in a loincloth.
96	* SeeingThroughAnothersEyes: Dar is able to see through his eagle Sharak's eyes, providing Dar with aerial vision.
97	* SexyDiscretionShot:
98	** In "Rescue", when the Sorceress and Sharak reunite and sleep together, the camera cuts away as they start to kiss to show them post-coitus in bed.
99	** The above also happens in "Orpheo", when Arina and Orpheon sleep together.
100	* ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing:
101	** The first time Sharak is turned back human, he naturally doesn't have any clothes. {{Subverted}} in future episodes where he gets MagicPants.
102	** In "The Prize", when the Sorceress turns Kodo and Podo into humans they are both naked, although the Sorceress is quick to conjure up clothes for them.
103	* ShouldersUpNudity: Kodo and Podo's nude forms are only seen from above shoulders or chest. Noticeably when they're side by side, a [[SceneryCensor conveniently placed table blocks the view of Kodo's chest.]]
104	%%* {{Sidekick}}: Tao serves as one for Dar.
105	* TheSmartGuy: Tao is one of the few characters on the show who can read and write.
106	* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Dar's most notable power granted by Curupira is being able to talk to ''any'' animal (and not just his four companions).
107	%%* SpeculativeFiction
108	* SpoilerOpening: From the very first episode, the opening narration refers to [[spoiler: Dar being the [[LastOfHisKind last of the Sula]],]] which doesn't actually occur until the first season finale.
109	* TheSpymaster: The Ancient One, which he tries to teach his Sorceresses - Zad is more than grateful for the scrapes given to him by magic and his men; Dar with his eagle.
110	* StarCrossedLovers:
111	** Dar's eagle Sharak and the Sorceress were both students of the Ancient One. After he caught them having a romantic relationship in contradiction of his rules, he turned Sharak into an eagle and [[LaserGuidedAmnesia made the Sorceress forget him]] (which is also supposed to have made her less emotional in general). Even after the Sorceress learns the truth, they're never reunited for long before circumstances force Sharak back into eagle form.
112	** [[spoiler:Dar and Kyra, given that she takes an arrow for him in the first season finale]].
113	* StatuesqueStunner: The Sorceress is a 6'2" tall stunning woman (she's played by a supermodel after all).
114	* StealthHiBye: Both Sorceresses and the Ancient One seem to enjoy doing this with their teleportation powers, appearing and disappearing suddenly on people.
115	* {{Stellification}}: The Sorceress turns her unicorns into constellations to protect them from human greed. She's understandably miffed when the Ancient One pulls them out of the night sky and absorbs them.
116	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: The New Sorceress that the Ancient One takes as an apprentice after he disposes of the first one looks ''very'' similar to the first, both being tall beautiful blonde women. The first Sorceress {{Lampshades}} that the Ancient One HasAType.
117	* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler: After [[StarCrossedLovers Dar and Kyra]] are finally reunited, Kyra intentionally intercepts an axe thrown by [[{{Jerkass}} Qord]]... with her back.]]
118	%%* TheTimeOfMyths
119	* {{Tsundere}}: Curupira often gives Dar a hard time, but seems to have something of a crush on him at times.
120	%%* {{Twincest}}: Nye and Jem from the episode "Gemini".%%Quotes are not context.
121	%%-->'''Tao:''' It says you were born in the same place... and at the same time.
122	%%-->'''Jem:''' You are the first to understand.
123	%%-->'''Tao:''' This has to be wrong.
124	%%-->'''Nye:''' It's not wrong.
125	%%-->'''Jem:''' We know our own story.
126	%%-->'''Tao:''' But it says you were born of the same mother.
127	%%-->''crickets''
128	* TheVamp: Zad's sister Callista is just as evil as he, but she prefers seduction and subterfuge over his brute strength approach and even seduces one of his lieutenants to spy on him.
129	* WalkingShirtlessScene: Dar's usual outfit leaves him shirtless. Also applies to many other minor characters.
130	* WalkingTheEarth: In addition to being the framework for the show itself, the mission of most of Tao's people to wander the world, spreading and gaining knowledge.
131	* WeCanRuleTogether: King Voden gives this offer to Dar, believing his army will be unstoppable with the Beastmaster at his side.
132	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The third season took a radically different path from the second, dropping some plotlines or conveniently writing out characters. The all-powerful Ancient One, who is supposed to have existed since before the world, is KilledOffScreen by Balcifer with only his crumbling bones left behind, which frees the first Sorceress, and the New Sorceress from Season 2 conveniently disappears.
133	%%* YouCantFightFate: The Ancient One has this worldview.
134	%%--> '''The Ancient One:''' Fate is a providence over which ''none'' have dominance.
135	%%* YouKnowWhatTheySayAboutX: Tao's people are not well liked.
136	%%--> "The Eiron are master tricksters, pretending to be ignorant but making others look so in the end. They are hated."
137	%%--> "Just for challenging somebody's beliefs?"
138	%%--> "Wit is... ''dangerous'' to the simple-minded."
139	%%--> Earlier in that same episode:
140	%%-->"Sounds like an Eiron. They are pests, like fleas: tiny and harmless-looking; but let them live, and they sting you all over. We don't need their kind of free thinking in our world."
141

Context Series / Beastmaster1999