Dragon Flyz

Dragon Flyz is an animated television series produced by French production company Gaumont Pictures in 1996. It ran a total of 26 episodes, and had an accompanying toy line produced by Galoob Toys.

The basic premise; an all but world-ending event known as the Cataclysm strips the Earth's surface of most lifeforms and leaving it a poisonous, volcanic wasteland. Humanity escapes complete extinction by fleeing to the upper atmosphere in a flying ark named Airlandis. This city in the sky is powered by orbs of a purple crystal referred to as 'Amber', generally found near lakes or rivers of molten rock. The Dragon Flyz are members of a paramilitary body not unlike the United States Coast Guard, in which they scour the wastelands of Old Earth to collect Amber and defend against the endless attempts at conquest at the hands of Dreadwing and his forces.

Main Characters:

• Aaron: An older man, the dragon Flyz father. Also potentially a kickass old man.
• Apex: The token female of the team, possessed of psychic powers and a diplomatic personality. Apex wears white armor with sky blue elements and a dark purple bodysuit underneath.
• Blackheart: Dreadwing's dragon steed.
• Councilor Joshua: The well-intentioned but exceedingly vocal member of the Airlandis government.
• Dram: A Dramen warrior who fights alongside the Dragon Flyz, Dram pops up periodically in the series. His outward appearance is much less harsh than his fellow Dramen and he is predominantly brown. His sense of ethics is far more refined than others.
• Dreadwing: The villain. Tends to muscle around his flunkies, but also seems to favor a poetic touch.
• Fryte: A hunchbacked monster in the service of Dreadwing, Fryte lacks a solid grasp of the English language. His grammar resembles a slaughterhouse.
• Gangrene: The tech-savvy mutant, whose inventions generally fail due to Dreadwing's absolute lack of patience.
• Nocturna: She-mutant fighting alongside Dreadwing, Nocturna is conniving and temperamental.
• Orac: The silver-haired technician of Airlandis' power systems.
• Peak: Youngest of the team, sports a typical reckless, youthful demeanor. Wears purple & orange armor.
• Summit: Second oldest Dragon Fly, possessed of a sharp wit and short temper. His armor is light and dark green with red accents.
• Z'neth: Leader of the Dragon Flyz, and the oldest of the four. He is intelligent and courageous. His armor color is blue and white.

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Tropes used in Dragon Flyz include:

• Badbutt: Dreadwing's most violent moment is probably when he backhands Orac in 'The Defector'
• Color Coded for Your Convenience: The protagonists are all brightly colored.
• Dragon Rider: Everyone and their mother, it seems.
• Hulk Speak: Fryte, the Dark Dramen (even Dram, to a lesser extent).
• Incredibly Lame Pun: Played totally straight almost constantly, but the writing is so terrible that some can hardly be called puns at all. Those tend more towards rhymes or poor attempts at slang.

Nocturna: "...the Dragon Flyz."
Dreadwing: "Yes; the heads of the four Dragon Flyz. That would make this day eclipse all others!" in an episode called "The Eclipse." (Guess what it's about.)

• Large Ham: Dreadwing lives and breathes this trope.
• Merchandise-Driven: As is the case for all shows with accompanying toylines.
• My Little Panzer: The toys (like the Distaff Counterpart Sky Dancers) are basically flying, spinning, helicopter-dolls that leave their base at high speed when a string is pulled - perfect for use as weapons.
• Narm: Every line uttered in high-pressure situations ever.
• Noble Savage: Dram and Kreigor, each nurturing a sense of honor in their own way.
• Non-Action Guy: Orac, who's closest encounter with actual combat occurred in 'Warnado Rising' upon completing the warp cannon.
• Spear Counterpart: The toyline was similar to Sky Dancers (which also had an animated series).
• Unobtainium: Amber
• The Dragon}}: Literally, with Blackheart.
• Theme Naming: The Dragon Flyz all have names that refer to the highest point of something; Z'Neth (pronounced 'zenith'), Summit, Peak, and Apex.
• The Starscream: Nocturna, although a more patient, thoughtful one than normal. It helped that Dreadwing had promised to let her have Old Earth to rule once he conquered Airlandis. Didn't stop her from once making an alliance with the Dragon Flyz to try and assassinate Dreadwing.
• Wasteland Elder: Played with in Aaron, who serves as a community leader without clearly being part of the governing body. (Also, the humans don't live in a wasteland, but they do live over it.)