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Greetings and welcome to the Road Rovers 10th Anniversary Shrine. This page has been created to celebrate 10 years following the first debut of "Road Rovers" and to honor our beloved canine heroes. It will contain show descriptions, character biographies, episode lists, history and other interest facts. The shrine will be constantly updated throughout the year, but anyone who wishes to make a contribution to the shrine are welcome to send emails to gnaude_@hotmail.com and files to strikersa@webmail.co.za or strikersa@gmail.com.


WHAT ARE "ROAD ROVERS"?

Road Rovers is an action adventure / comedy cartoon. written and produced by Tom Ruegger, that premiered on Kids WB on September 2, 1996. It lasted only one season and ended on February 22, 1997. Re-runs of the show continued for a short time on Kids WB and then on Cartoon Network until 1999. Much of the humor contained in the show was derived from popular culture of the mid 1990s.

The show follows the adventures of the Road Rovers, a team of five super-powered crime fighting anthropomorphic dogs, known as "cano-sapiens". The leader of the rovers is Hunter, a golden retriever mix from the United States. The Rovers' boss is a scientist known as "The Master" who oversees their operations and supplies them with equipment from their subterranean headquarter.


HUNTER

Hunter, a male golden retriever, is the leader of the Road Rovers. Coming from a farm in the American state of Wyoming (where his mother still lives), Hunter escaped from a dog pound along with Muzzle when he was called upon by the Master. After having been established as a Road Rover, Hunter was given to the president of the United States, with whom he resides at the White House. Hunter has the ability to run Super Fast, but he is also, according to him, Super Friendly, Super Caring, Super Lucky, Super Loyal and Super Generous. He has a pleasant personality and is rarely frightened or put off by anything, but he tends to be a little thick at times. This really surfaces with regards to Colleen. While it is obvious that she loves him, he tends to miss it or even completely misunderstand. He has a great love of tennis balls and his weapons often tend to be one that can fire tennis ball bullets.

Favourite Lines:

"Huh, cool!"

"I would not have predicted this!"

"Yet another unexpected twist! Bummer!"

COLLEEN

Colleen, a female collie, hails from the streets of London in Great Britain. A stray mutt who managed to keep other dogs at bay with her fighting abilities, she was recruited by the Master and became the pet of the British Prime Minister. Colleen super power is her excellent martial arts combat moves and hand-to-hand techniques and her battle cries often include the names of famous celebrities (such as Nelson Mandela). She also acts as the field medic of the Road Rovers, but her driving skills leave much to be desired. Colleen has great affection (even love) for Hunter and often calls him "Huntie-Wuntie", but unfortunately for her the Road Rover leader tends not to notice her advances. Another fellow Rover, Blitz, is attracted to Colleen, but she hates the Doberman and tends to rebuke his advances by continually calling him names, assaulting him or mispronouncing his name ("Blinky" instead of Blitz). Colleen's passions include chasing the mailman, squeaky toys shaped liked bananas and sizzling shanks of fatty pork. She had attended obedience school, but failed paper training (watch your step).

Favourite Lines:

"Hi-yah!"

"I know! I'll call you Mister Fluffypants!"

"These boots are made for stomping!"

EXILE

Exile (full name Exile Mikalovich SanHusky) is a male husky who comes from the Siberia region in the Russian Federation. He was a sled dog before being recruited by the Master as a Road Rover. Following his first mission, Exile then stayed at the residence of the Russian president. Exile's super power is to fire either heat or freezing beams from his eyes at will and according to him his heat vision helps him keep warm in the Russian winters. He is also the Road Rovers' mechanic and usually fixes vehicles that have been damaged in the field.  Exile's grasp of English is not perfect and he regularly ends up butchering the language terribly, for example "baddest" guys or "Jingle Balls" instead of "Jingle Bells". The husky gets along well with most of the team, though he has a major dislike of Blitz, especially when it comes to the Doberman's fixation on "tooshies". As a result, he and Blitz are often in fights, where Exile called Blitz "weird boy".

Favourite Lines:

"Don't be a weird boy!"

"I'll have it fixed in two shakes of a lamb's jiffy!"

"Start rushing, comrades!"

BLITZ

Blitz is a male Doberman who comes from Germany. His previous job before becoming a Road Rover was being the guard dog of a junk yard. Following his job change to that of a Road Rover, Blitz moved in with the German Chancellor at the Reichstag in Berlin. Blitz's super is his ability to extend or retract at will claws that are able to cut through even metal objects and very strong teeth with which to bite opponents. However, Blitz had a fixation on biting the rear ends of his enemies which he calls "tooshies". He says that if he bites 1,000 butts then he will a get flea collar (he keeps record in a little book). This habit disgusts his team-mate Exile, with whom he sometimes clashes (this is also true of peppermint milkshakes). Blitz also clashes regularly with Hunter over why he should be leader, though the Golden Retriever is rarely bothered by this. Blitz does have a major crush on Colleen whom he calls "pretty she-doggie" and regularly makes advances towards the collie. This results in either having his name mispronounced (Blister instead of Blitz) or getting kicked or beaten. Despite his super ability and above-average strength, Blitz is a great coward and can often be found crying for his mother or screaming like a little girl, or both.

Favourite Lines:

"I'm pretty."

"Let the biting begin!"

*screaming like a little girl*

SHAG

Shag is a male sheepdog from the mountains of Switzerland. Shag was at first scared at being chosen to be a Road Rover, but was eventually convinced to be transdogmafied. However, the process did not transform Shag like it did the other Rovers. Rather, all what happened was he turned bigger and could walk on his hind legs. After finishing the first mission he stays with the Swiss president. Shag has perhaps the biggest coward in the Road Rovers, even more than Blitz (see above). He lacks the ability to speak and does not possess any kind of super power except the ability to store items in his fur like a warehouse. His cowardice often gets him into trouble during missions and he regularly jumps into the other Rover's arms, but his ability to store weapons in his fur and his great strength balance out his flaws. Shag is a lover of food and is the Road Rovers' chef. When making food he uses clean toilet water, which disgusts some of his team mates. He has the bad habit of drinking out of the toilet, resulting in long queues outside the bathroom. He gets along well with the other Rovers, though sometimes he and Blitz have their differences.

Favourite Lines:

Other than whimpering in fear and making growls and barks to communicate, Shag cannot speak.

MUZZLE

Muzzle is a male rottweiler who was, and still is, the pet dog of Professor Shepherd before and after he became the Master. Muzzle, originally named Scout, was an ordinary dog before being forcefully used as a test subject for a cano-mutator built by Jeffery Otitus under the orders of General Parvo. Unfortunately, the process was unsuccessful and Scout was turned in a mad dog. Scout then escaped and was eventually captured by dog catchers. He was placed into a dog pound, had a muzzle put over his mouth (hence his new name) and placed in a straight-jacket before finally put into a cart. Fortunately, fellow inmate Hunter rescued him and brought him back to his former master. Due to his insanity, Muzzle is kept restrained for most of the time. Though he is not an official Road Rover, he does go with the Road Rovers on their missions several times. During missions the Rovers release him from his restraints and sic him upon the enemy. His insane rage can decimate anyone and anything in his way and this often turns the tide for the Rovers. Though restrained, Muzzle can move about by hopping his cart.

Favourite Lines:

Muzzle cannot speak and communicates through growls, barks and other canine sounds.

THE MASTER

The Master, a human male with long white hair, glowing eyes and wearing a lab coat, is the head and founder of the Road Rovers. Originally he was known as Professor William Shepherd and had his own company, Shepherd Industries. Along with colleague Jeffery Otitus he built the first Transdogmafier. However, Otitus sold out the plans to General Parvo, who held Shepherd's pet Scout (see above) hostage. But rather than returning Scout, Parvo sent a bomb to Shepherd instead. The explosion devastated the entire factory, but Shepherd managed to survive. However, the explosion had left its mark on him. Shepherd built a new facility underground called Road Rover Mission Control and summoned the first five Road Rovers. Usually Shepherd assigns the Rovers their missions, never leaving the facility. He still refers to Muzzle as Scout.

Favourite Lines:

"You're good, good dogs."

"You have been chosen."

"Next time let's order take-out food."

HUBERT BLOODHOUND

Hubert is a male Bloodhound canine who works at Road Rover Mission Control. His job is primarily that of the Road Rovers' chief scientist, providing analysis of samples and other objects brought back by the Road Rovers. He also is behind the creation of the Road Rovers' weaponry, equipment and vehicles. His super power is believed to be his nose, which can distinguish between a huge variety of animals. He made only one appearance in the episode "A Hair Of  The Dog That Bit You".

Favourite Lines:

*sniff* Bandicoot? No.

GENERAL PARVO

General Parvo is the primary villain and adversary of the Road Rovers. He used to be a cat named "Boots", a pet of Professor Shepherd, but was turned into a human after an unscheduled test run in the Transdogmafier by Jeffery Otitus. Parvo blackmailed Shepherd to get the Transdogmafier plans and then blew up the professor's labs. After having escaped, Parvo now uses his own version of the Transdogmafier, called the Cano-Mutator, for his plans to take over the world. Aided by the Groomer, he tries many times to create armies of cano-mutants, find new super weapons or otherwise find ways to take over the world. However, he is always stopped short by the Road Rovers. Parvo has a cybernetic arm and leg and wears a bicycle helmet that covers his cat ears (the only traces left of his original feline form).  He also coughs a lot and requires lozenges to stop the coughing, otherwise he ends up coughing up hairballs.

Favourite Lines:

"Lozenge!"

"This is a happy day."

"We came to the jungles to find new biological weapons and instead we stumble across the biggest gold find in the world."

ZACHARY STORM

Zachary Storm was a former United States army captain until the First Gulf War, where he had opened fire without a direct order. As a result, he was court-marshaled and given a dishonorable discharge. Angered by what he views as unfair treatment, Storm attempted to seize control of a powerful laser satellite by stealing a US Navy decoder and installing it into his own systems at his island base in the Pacific. However, the Road Rovers managed to stop his plans and have him captured. However, during his treason trial Storm was freed by a mysterious craft. He then tried to brainwash the world leaders into causing a nuclear war, but once again the Road Rovers, with the aide of the Space Rovers, stopped his plans. This had seriously mentally destabilized Storm and he placed in the Sunnyvale Sanitarium, where he spends the rest of his days in a straitjacket in a padded cell.

Favourite Lines:

"Let the fun begin!"

"They gave me a dishonorable discharge. Big mistake! Now, I discharge THEM!"

"The world is mine! MINE!"

GUSTAV HAVOC

Colonel Gustav Havoc was the leader of a militia force that controlled the country of Ovitznia, one of a trio countries located in Eastern Europe (the two countries are Katzenstok and Esneria). Due to his love for both money and war, Havoc planned to trigger a war between Katzenstok and Esneria. He did so by having his troops steal an artifact called the Scepter of the Valley, causing the two countries to blame each other. Not knowing that Havoc was behind the theft, the two countries offered to buy up arms from his forces for their war efforts. The result would be a war where the two countries would destroy each other and Havoc could reap the spoils. However, his plans were stopped short when the United Nations had the Road Rovers sent in to recover the stolen scepter. Despite his best efforts, Gustav Havoc eventually got surrounded  by the Rovers and their wolf allies and arrested by the United Nations for his war crimes.

Favourite Lines:

"I love war!"

"I'm going to sit back and watch Katzenstok and Esneria blow each other to pieces, then I'll swoop in and pick up the pieces."

"Cry, Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war."

THE GROOMER

The Groomer is the assistant, left-hand woman and otherwise henchwoman of General Parvo. Though her origins are not known, her accent suggests that she is of Irish descent.  Groomer was the one who first gave Parvo his name in the place of "Boots" and helped him steal the plans for the cano-mutator from Professor Shepherd. From that point on she has helped Parvo through many plans to take over the world by running many functions of the operation as well as giving the general lozenges whenever he begins coughing. It has been suggested that the Groomer might even have a crush on Parvo, though this might stem from the fact that Parvo is partially feline and the Groomer appears to be a cat-lover. A ruthless and cunning foe, the Groomer always tried to make the Road Rovers' mission as difficult for them as possible (though she always loses in the end).

Favourite Lines:

"Road Rovers! I should have known!"

"Ooooh... I have to use this more often..."

"Lozenge, general?"

PROFESSOR JEFFERY OTITUS

Professor Otitus was the assistant of Professor Shepherd and a fellow designer of the transdogmafier. He was also able to obtain the government grants needed to fund Shepherd's research. Unfortunately, Otitus was greedy and intended to sell either plans or prototypes of the transdogmafier to those who had the money. But before he could do the deal he had to get proof. After stealing Boots, Professor Shepherd's cat, and putting it into the transdogmafier, Otitus unwittingly created General Parvo. The experience unsettled him and left him somewhat insane. Otitus built the cano-mutator on behalf of Parvo, but after the device failed to transform Scout (see above), Parvo had the Groomer shave his head. This event made Otitus flee in terror, now completely insane.

Favourite Lines:

"Nobody trusts anyone these days."

"Dog, cat. What's the difference?"

"This... isn't... worth it!"

PROFESSOR EUGENE ATWATER

Professor Atwater was a scientist who had concerns about humanity's future amid pollution, environmental destruction and the threat of nuclear winter. Thus, he proposed a radical idea to save humanity: by turning humans into insects to survive the nuclear winter. Most people thought he was insane and turned their backs to his ideas, but the Groomer approached him and offered him funds for his research. Little did Atwater know that his research would be going into creating powerful super bugs for General Parvo. His experiments proved successful and managed to create three giant bugs (flea, tick and mange), but then Parvo attempted to turn them on Atwater. The bugs refused and attacked Parvo instead, but Parvo managed to convince Atwater to use the bugs on his behalf. As a result, the bugs eventually rebelled and tried to destroy a nuclear power station, but the Road Rovers intervened and managed to turn the bugs back to normal. The experience, however, did not go well with Atwater and he was placed in the Sunnyvale Sanitarium along with his insects.

Favourite Lines:

"Flea, stop! Let's hear what the man has to say."

"And Tick... ha ha! ... you can have Iran!"

"You can't rule the world. You're not a bug!"

PERSIA

Persia was a female Afghan cano-sapien and the captain of a group of Rovers called the Space Rovers. Appearing briefly in "Take Me To Your Leader", Persia used her dog-shaped spaceship to attack and capture Storm's spaceship for the Road Rovers. She and her crew wear uniforms that bear a resemblance to the uniforms worn in the "Star Trek" series and the space ship was a Rover version of the Enterprise from the same show. Persia's accent is very distinct and was a little confusing for Hunter the first time they met.

Favourite Lines:

"All systems go, Hunter."

"Engaging laser launchers!"

"Initiating retrieval manoeuvres."

Image not available.
The Administrator is currently looking for any person
who has an appropriate image of Sport available.
Assistance is appreciated.

SPORT

Sport was a male Chow who was amongst dozens of dogs abducted by Donovan Bell on behalf of General Parvo. However, he managed to escape with the aid of his owner, who was unfortunately captured by Donovan. Fearing the dog might expose him, Donovan attempted to have Sport recaptured, but the Road Rovers quickly intervened and rescued him. After transforming him into a cano-sapien, Sport is escorted by the Road Rovers to Florida, where they free his owner and confront Parvo. Physically Sport is much shorter in height than the other Road Rovers when he is transformed, though he does wear the same armor uniform as the others. While at first he likes the uniform and enjoys being a Rover to the point where he would like to join, this quickly sours in the face of opposition.

Favourite Lines:

"Look at meee!"

"All of a sudden I don't want to be a Road Rover anymore."

"I've been a bad, bad dog."

Image not available.
The Administrator is currently looking for any person
who has an appropriate image of Oso available.
Assistance is appreciated.

OSO

Oso was the pet and guide dog of Lucas, a South American boy who lived in the jungles of the Amazon rainforest and who ended up getting captured by General Parvo's mutant piranha soldiers after stumbling upon a secret Gen-Par Industries base in the jungle. There, Parvo had found a powerful pyramid that he hoped to harness for its power. The Road Rovers, on behalf of Lucas, came in and freed Oso from the mutants. However, Oso rushed to the pyramid where Parvo was conducting a ceremony. The awakened pyramid recognized Oso, and not Parvo, as the one it should heed. Oso then had the pyramid destroy itself, denying Parvo of its power (and the gold that would have been gained from melting it down). Oso was then reunited with Lucas.

Favourite Lines:

"Woof!"

LT. SKEAM

One of the leaders of Colonel Gustav Havoc's forces in Ovitznia, Lt. Skeam was charged with capturing or destroying the Road Rovers after they recovered the Sceptre of the Valley. His forces managed to down the Rovers' escape craft and force them into hiding in an abandoned village. He forced them out again demolishing much of the village, but when he cornered them in a valley he found himself and his forces surrounded by wolves. Afterwards, he was arrested along with Havoc by United Nations troops.

Favourite Lines:

"We'll flush them out!"

Image not available.
The Administrator is currently looking for any person
who has an appropriate image of Donovan Bell available.
Assistance is appreciated.

DONOVAN BELL

Donovan Bell was a Florida businessman who abducted dogs on behalf of General Parvo. After foiling an attempt by Sport's owner to rescue him, Donovan took Sport's owner hostage but was arrested. When Sport escaped, Donovan was informed that the dog could testify against him with the aid of the Road Rovers and sent his men to catch Sport. Sport was rescued by the Rovers and turned into a cano-sapien to testify against Donovan. Parvo then stepped in and tried to catch Sport, but thanks to the Road Rovers, Sport was rescued and testified against Donovan in court. This resulted in Donovan being found guilty of kidnapping and sentenced to prison.

Favourite Lines:

"Dogs can't talk."

"I. WANT. THAT. DOG."


EPISODE LIST

A list of the all episodes of "Road Rovers", the dates on which they were first broadcasted and a short description of each episode. Source: Wikipedia.

  1. Let's Hit The Road (7 September 1996) - The Road Rovers meet for the first time.
  2. Storm From The Pacific (14 September, 1996) - Disgraced Captain Zachary Storm seeks revenge on the United States for no reason.
  3. A Hair Of The Dog That Bit You (21 September, 1996) - Packs of werewolves take over London, and they think Exile got bitten (or scratched), which puts him under watch.
  4. Where Rovers Dare (12 October, 1996) - Eisneria and Katzenstok are preparing to go to war over an ancient scepter.
  5. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (26 October, 1996) - The Road Rovers must protect ancient artifacts from unknown ninjas, which, of course, are Parvo's.
  6. Hunter's Heroes (2 November, 1996) - Parvo and his cano-mutants are at it again. But this time, it's a high-tech, heavily-armed base.
  7. The Dog That Knew Too Much (9 November, 1996) - One dog has the answers to a rash of human and canine kidnappings.
  8. Dawn Of The Groomer (16 November, 1996) - The Groomer gets delusions of grandeur involving taking over the world with cats, otherwise known as Felo-Mutants.
  9. Still A Few Bugs In The System (23 November, 1996) - Some humungous bugs have plans for a nuclear winter.
  10. Reigning Cats and Dogs (1 February 1997) - General Parvo builds a successful time machine so that he could stop Prof. Shepherd.
  11. Gold and Retrievers (8 February, 1997) - Gold begins to flood the world's markets at an alarming rate.
  12. Take Me To Your Leader (15 February, 1997) - Zachary Storm is back again and some aliens are intent on making trouble.
  13. A Day In The Life (22 February, 1997) - A pretty ordinary day for the Road Rovers (doesn't look like it, though).

Several of the above episodes are now available for viewing on YouTube.com, posting in segments due to the site's 10-minute limit policy. The link is at:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=taneshaness

If the above link doesn't work, go to www.youtube.com , type in the search engine "Road Rovers WB cartoons" and hit enter. Special thanks to Brian Wilkerson for the information.

Also, please visit Flint2007's account on YouTube to view several of the Road Rover episodes as well as some custom video (special thanks to Flint$ for the information).


INTERESTING FACTS AND TRIVIA


Recently spotted on DeviantArt.com: Road Rovers animation! Not really, but rather an interesting fan animation done for fun in a slightly different style. But it's cell animation scanned into his computer and stitched together in Flash.

http://www.deviantart.com/view/17874234/

More Road Rover fan art is available here, though membership is required to view the images through the site's search engine  (membership is free).

Special thanks to K-9: The First for the information.


The story is now updated.

In homage of the Road Rovers and to celebrate 10 years of the show, the 26th Dog has written this special story called "Home is the Hunter", a look at a possible "Episode 14 script" of the Road Rovers. Enjoy!

Special thanks to 26th Dog for his submission.


Description: Ever wondered what Colleen would've sounded like if Jim Carrey voiced her? Or what the RR Recruitment scene of  Let's Hit the Road would've been like if R. Lee Ermey of Full Metal Jacket fame voiced The Master? Or wondered what Hunter's REAL opinion of Muzzle is? Well, thanks to ChrisTheHunter on YouTube.Com and his editing skills, we can all find out! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gfWtgaoZok

Warning: The poster of this piece would like to recommend that only those 17 or older watch this clip do to the content of  the selected dialogue that many might find offensive. That is unless you are not easily offended and/or have a forgiving sense of humor.

Special thanks to K-9: The First for the information.