The Phoenix Defenders

The Phoenix Defenders is an American animated television series produced by Cartoon Network Studios

Tag line: Being a teen is hard, especially when you have superpowers and have to save the world from time to time. The Phoenix Defenders are no different from any other teenager. They just want to grow up, find their own way and be happy.

 Premise 

The series centers on the lives of a group of fifteen metahuman teenagers who lived in the fictitious city of Goldmoor. a vigilante team called The Phoenix Defenders. The team deals with all manner of criminal activity and threats to the city from time to time, and the series also explores what they do when they are not saving the world; like dealing with their own struggles with their high school life and their personal lives.

Themes

The Phoenix Defenders explores high school life, sexual orientation, sexual identity, gender identity, homophobia, and transphobia.

List of The Phoenix Defenders Characters

List of The Phoenix Defenders Episodes

The Phoenix Defenders Opening Theme Song

Star Guardians Unite! Opening Theme Song 2

The Phoenix Defenders Ending Theme Song

The Phoenix Defenders Shorts

Star Guardians Unite! Soundtrack

List of Characters

 Main Characters (The Phoenix Defenders) 

Lyn Betty Jean Manchester/Cursechanter (voiced by Elizabeth Gillies)- a 16 year old Scotch-Irish American self proclaimed yet unofficial highly disciplined leader of The Phoenix and is Julie's redheaded older sister with a heroic reputation. Lyn is a natural born leader who is fiercely serious and stubborn and is willing to help people in need and won't stop at nothing to protect her family, friends, and anyone in danger. Lyn is shown to be emotionally unstable in a few episodes, often being crazy. She and her sister have alien heritage from an alien species called Anodite, through their deceased father. Hunter is vastly powerful thanks to her abilities and some of these abilities are include immense strength, the ability to emit destructive scream, capable of transforming between her human and Anodite form more freely, a talented gymnast and martial artist and a "strong" magical aura. She can easily manipulate and control a supernatural substance called mana from her aura to create numerous things(energy blasts, shields, etc.). During her time outside her home, she went by the name Lyn Kane, in order to not being any further shame to the family. Her Infinity Force mask is black.

Bernadette "Berna" Verdona Manchester/ManaStar(voiced by Ariel Winter)- the 15 year old younger sister of Lyn who can manipulate and control mana but can't manipulate magic and possesses the ability to foresee the future. Like Mallory and Devanie, She is portrayed as a high school outcast and gets bullied by most her peers. Berna is shown to be very self-conscious, sensitive, shy and insecure but is very stubborn. She is a coward who would normally stays in the shadows while her friends fight against villains. However, as the series progressed, she became somewhat a confident, courageous and outspoken girl who is not afraid to defend what she believes in and is willing to try something to make things right and according to Lyn, "she has became a force to be reckon with". She is a member of an extremely wealthy and powerful family who lives in the richest part of Goldmoor and are close allies with the Wayne Family, whom they are distantly related to and is the goddaughter of Bruce Wayne. During her time outside her home, she went by the name Berna Kane, in order to not bring any further shame to the family. Her Phoenix Defender mask is pink.

Hermione Russo/Shield (voiced by Kate Micucci)- a 16 year old Italian American member of The Phoenix Defenders who is a super powered girl with elemental abilities to control, manipulate and reshape earthen materials, particularly soil, dirt, stone, concrete, and rock. She is simple minded, eccentric, and polite. Though is on good terms with Devanie, Hermione has strong romantic feelings for her in spite their different personalities. Her Phoenix Defender mask is brown.

Skye Rowan/StormWind (voiced by Kaitlyn Alexander)- a happy ,fun loving and caring but tomboyish 17 year old Canadian American member of The Phoenix Defenders who can control and manipulate weather and is Paul's maternal older half sister. She are in a romantic relationship with Zak Saturday as evidenced and mentioned in a few episodes. Skye is a girl who deliberately poses herself as a boy and because of her androgynous appearance, name, and innate inclination toward male behavior, many characters speculates if she is a girl or a boy and is made fun of by some of her peers as a result. Her Phoenix Defender mask is light gray.

Delphine Datura Isley/ Poison Rose (voiced by Jennette McCurdy)- a 16 year old girl and former villain who is quite intelligent and has a scientific mind but is sassy and has a dry sense of humor. Delphine is the biological daughter of Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy) as she is chemically made and injected into Ivy and is genetically identical to her. She has a strange connection with plants and has the ability to mentally control and animates all forms of plant life on a molecular level. This plant growth can occur in an instant, allowing her to use plants in the environment to attack or ensnare her opponents. Her Phoenix Defender mask is green.

Mallory Black/Hex Storm (voiced by Brenda Song)- a 14 year old gothic punk girl who is one of the team's only mixed raced members due to her being half Hmong American and half Caucasian. She is very agile and can use a form of black magic to bring misfortune upon others. She is depicted as a mischievous troublemaker and shows little disregard to other people, including her friends and her boyfriend Trent. Like Berna, she is considered a freak and an outcast by most her peers because of her appearance and bad luck. She and Devanie are cousins and is mostly known for their on and off friend/enemy relationship and won't hesitate to put aside their differences to help each other when necessary. Her Phoenix Defender mask is light purple.

Tora Alisha Gutierrez/Voltage (voiced by )-a 16 year old Portuguese American is Lakewood High's class president. She has the ability to control and manipulate electromagnetism. She is the voice of opinion and is very clearheaded. Prior to the events of the series, Tora was born to the late psychiatrist Dr. Homer Gutierrez and an unknown deceased mother. At the time of her birth, Tora activated her electrokinetic abilities but unfortunately, she had accidentally released some static which killed her mother by giving her a heart attack while giving birth to Tora. Her father hated her for the death of his wife and feared her because of her metahuman powers and decided to take his angry out on her with his tests. As time goes by, her powers had became very unstable, making it impossible for Tora to control at the time. The only person who had treated her with love, kindness and respect at the time was her older brother whom she has a close relationship with. One day, every member of her family blamed Tora for the accident and the authorities had made an agreement with her father, they allowed him to her for testing under the condition that she was not allowed out of the lab. She was kept in a glass room for a few years, until her father was murdered. Tora escapes. Her Phoenix Defender mask is dark purple.

Seraph "Sera" Nikita Hernandez/Hyrr (voiced by Becky G)- the 15 year old Mexican American delinquent who acts more of an uncharismatic antihero than she is as a superhero. She has an elemental ability to control, manipulate and reshape fire. Sera is a grumpy, abrasive, tomboyish, aloof, ill tempered, critical and selfish girl who is very cruel and dismissive towards everyone including Berna and is visibly annoyed by her. As the series progresses, Sera somewhat matures and is a bit calmer and her feelings toward Berna eventually improves causing her to become Berna's closest confidant and eventual love interest, much to Aeolus's dismay and jealousy. Prior to the events in the series, Sera was born to a couple who decides to get rid of her because of her gender. She was then raised in an orphanage where she was bullied by the children for her 'cursed' powers and has found comfort by using her powers to burn things in sight but ran away when nobody wants to adopt her because of her temper issues and upfront attitude, independence and her hatred for girly things. A few years after Jackson's death, she met a boy named Peter Thorne but once kissing him, she accidentally released a fire burst from her body which it ended up burning him to death, causing her to distance herself from everyone even more. Her Phoenix Defender mask is red.

Crispin Rivers/Snow King (voiced by David Mazouz)-the 13 year old Puerto Rican American who has the ability to manipulate ice and snow. Antonio is friendly and more of an open and gentle person but is really anti-social, shy and quiet, but only speaks up when he needs to. Prior to the events of the series, he once had a normal life in Metropolis until at the age of 8 when he was rejected and abandoned by his parents after a horrible accident that gave him powers. His Phoenix Defender mask is silver.

Aeolus Rowan/Zephyr (voiced by Michael Cera) -Skye's 15 year old younger maternal half brother who is a very passionate and honest person and can manipulate winds.He has romantic feelings for Berna His Phoenix Defender mask is orange.

Maya Jelani/ Whirlpool (voiced by Raven Symone) -the sporty 17 year old girl and is the team's only mixed raced member due to the fact that her mother is Atlantean and her father is African American. She can use hydrokinesis, the ability to increase the local specific density of water and manipulate its shape. She, along with Julie and Wendy, became part of the Lakewood High's cheerleading squad. She is romantically interested in Ezekiel. It is revealed that her deceased mother is the sister of the queen of Atlantis, thus making her royalty. Her Phoenix Defender mask is light blue.

Ezekiel Sanders/Beam Boy (voiced by )- the fun loving 17 year old jock and member of The Phoenix Defenders who is able to shoot laser beams from his eyes. He is romantically attracted to Maya and is currently lives with Trent, Jan and Wendy. Prior to the events of the series, Ezekiel was originally from New Orleans, Louisiana and as a result he has suffered neglect from his mother and stepfather until he was dropped off at Belle Reve Penitentiary and he haven't seen his parents since then. His Phoenix Defender mask is gold.

Devanie Black/Oz(voiced by Isabelle Fuhrman)- the 17 year old emo girl who is somewhat apathetic and levelheaded who is usually depicted with a stoic expression on her face. Devanie has a range of superpowers based upon her skills with telekinesis and psychokinesis, with her mind empowering her to manipulate and levitate objects. Like Berna and Mallory, she is considered a freak and an outcast by most of her peers. She and Mallory are cousins and are mostly known for their on and off friend/enemy relationship but won't hesitate to put aside their differences to help each other when necessary. Devanie is shown to be romantically attracted in Hermione as she is shown to be jealous when a random boy gets to close to Hermione. Her Phoenix Defender mask is gray.

Saya Sato/Velocity (voiced by Kimiko Glenn)- the 16 year old Japanese American member of the Phoenix Defenders who is capable of running at hypersonic speed. She is very spunky, bright and perky. Lisa is shown to have a mutual attraction with Richie Foley as evidenced in a few episodes. She is later revealed to be a direct descendant of Samurai Jack and holds significant political power among the royal family of Japan. Saya used to live in Gotham City when she was young because her parents were scientists before moving to Goldmoor where she soon started her superhero career as "Velocity". At the age of 2, she was in a lab accident at Wayne Industries which granted her the ability to run at high speed but doesn't remember what happened or who was responsible for the accident. Her Phoenix Defender mask is yellow.

Trent McGuire/LightMan (voiced by Drake Bell) -the ditzy, laid back, carefree and good natured 17 year old scene who can manipulate and control light. He is very good friends with Ezekiel and is in a romantic relationship with Mallory. Trent is served as the butt monkey of the series by everyone due to his inability to use his head at times. Despite him being a superhero, he is also a cop. His Phoenix Defender mask is peach.

 Recurring Characters 

Jan "Stan" McGuire (voiced by ; Gigi Gorgeous as "Jan")- Trent's 15 year old younger brother and is a transgender boy and has suffered issues and discrimination from his peers because of it and is struggling to fit into society.

(voiced by Dylan O'Brien) Jan's love interest.

Melanie(voiced by Tanaya Beatty)-Skye and Aeolus's 23 year old stepsister and the daughter of Hana.

Howard Russo(voiced by Brad Garrett) -Hermione's father who is the chief of police.

Samantha Rowen and Hana (voiced by Grey Griffin and Alex Rice)- Skye and Aeolus' lesbian mothers who cared deeply about their children. Samantha is Skye and Aeolus's biological mother who had them with two different men. She had Skye with a man who ditched her after three months and later had Aeolus with a man who, unfortunately, ditched Samantha for another woman after Aeolus was born. She is also Lakewood High's science teacher. Hana is Samantha's childhood friend and lover, the mother of Melanie, and the Rowan's siblings's second mother who is of Aboriginal Canadian descent. Hana also works as a customer service employee at Walmart as seen in Radda, Do you speak it?.

Steve Sato (voiced by Eric Bauza )-Saya's father and former scientist who is aware of his daughter's powers and superhero identity.

Donovan Jelani (voiced by Kevin Hart) -Maya's African American human father and is Lakewood High's gym teacher.

Shirley Jonas (voiced by) Beatrix's mother and the maternal grandmother of Lyn and Berna. She is very domineering and manipulative individual who despises Manny and Lyn and Berna because they are of "commoner blood" and doesn't want her granddaughters to tell anyone about the family and is verbally abusive towards them. She has a strained yet poor relationship with her daughter and granddaughters as she is more concerned with the reputation and wealth of the Manchester name than the people close to her as evidenced that she had forced her own granddaughters to change their last names in order to protect the family's reputation and to prevent them from bringing any further shame to the family.

Beatrice Manchester (voiced by Colleen Villard)- Lyn and Berna's 30 year old widowed mother who is a member of the Manchester family, a family of extremely wealthy socialites who is mostly known for their incestuous history. She is also a billionaire industrialist. She is very anxious about both of her daughters and cares for their well being while trying to live her life as a single mother. She is currently in a romantic relationship with Agent Six.

Miguel Gutierrez (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) -Tora's father.

Elena Gutierrez (voiced by Nika Futterman) -Tora's mother.

Refugio Martinez voiced by George Lopez- Crispin's uncle and guardian.

Eve Carter (voiced by)- An 18 year old girl who is originally from Chicago and is botanist. She is Delphine's love interest and later girlfriend.

Manny Manchester (ne Tennyson) (voiced by Clifford Chapin) -the late father of Lyn and Berna and the late husband of Beatrice who was killed in a car crash four years prior the series. He is the third son of Max and Verdona Tennyson. It was later revealed that Manny was a criminal and has a rough history with Celia's mother, which later results in a deadly car crash with Berna inside, taking away her courage and hope and was replaced with fear and hopelessness, leaving her vulnerable to bullying and harassment.

Macy Connors (voiced by Pamela Adlon)- an insensitive ringleader of a small clique of mean girls who continually teased, harassed and mercilessly bullied Julie because she was involved in the same car crash that killed Celia's mother and because of Manny's criminal past.

Mayor Spoons (voiced by Seth McFarlane) the Mayor of Goldmoor who is very cheerful, irresponsible and yet childish.

Ashley(voiced by Stefanie Scott)- a stuck up, snobby head of the cheerleader squad who has a possessive love with Aeolus and is constantly jealous of Berna's friendship with Aeolus.

Mr. Tatum(voiced by Patrick Seitz)-A history teacher who is better suited as a drill sergeant than a teacher.

Mr.Johnson(voiced by Matthew Mercer)- Lakewood High's administrator who has a strong respect for school authority, structure and discipline.

Principal Williams(voiced by J.Michael Tatum)- the principal of Lakewood High.

Mr. Elliot (voiced by Tom Kenny)- the eccentric vice principal of Lakewood High who retains a clam and light hearted demeanor.

Mr. Flora (voiced by Johnny Galecki)Ezekiel's art teacher who has a crush on him.

Evangeline Black/Charm(voiced by Ahney Her-) Mallory's younger twin sister and Vanessa's distant cousin who can use a form of white magic to bring good fortune upon others.

Deborah Malfoy (voiced by Emma Watson)Mallory's gothic friend and ex girlfriend who is a vampire. She speaks in an upper middle class English accent.

Sammy McQuire voiced by Trent's younger sister. She can either be playful and innocent or a troublemaker depending on her mood

 Villains 

Mad Mod voiced by Malcolm McDowell)- a psychedelic British villain with no superpowers but has the ability to produce illusions resulted in surreal 1960's styled landscapes.

Celia (voiced by Kathleen Barr)- a close friend of Macy who was at first kind to Berna until Berna accidentally squirted mustard all over Celia's leather jacket which she had stated that it used to belong to her mother before she died and after that incident she became hostile towards Berna.

List of Episodes

Season One
 * Lyn and Order: Lyn goes to jail and the rest of the Phoenix Defenders get jobs to pay bail.
 * School Dazed: A group of extraordinary teenagers must survive another year of school while trying to hide their secret superhero alter egos from those around them.
 * Switched: As a teenaged superhero, one finds themselves in a lot of weird situations. What happens if a villain came to Goldmoor and his magic goes haywire and being inside someone else's body is probably the worst?


 * Hocus Dorkus: After Julie gets bullied, Zatavia gain control over her body.
 * Phoenix Defenders to the Future:
 * Why is she here!: Trent's younger sister comes ov

Season Two
 * Terror in the Woods: As the Star Guardians include Muffy, Melanie, Jan, Brent, Zak Saturday and Doyle Blackwell camp out in the Sierra Mountains, animals began to attack them for no apparent reason and the group must survive the animal onslaught and make their way to safety.
 * Let's Go Hunting: Desperate for friends, Julie met and quickly befriends a goth girl named Katie, who along with her mother, moved to Goldmoor for one mysterious purpose.
 * The Bitter Visit: As Trixie takes Hunter and Julie to visit her younger sister Candace, the other members of the Star Guardians comes with them. However, things go wrong when Candace gets possessed by a necromancer who wants to destroy Paul.
 * The Bitter End: Tired of the Star Guardians for protecting her from Celia, Julie decides to confront her alone, only to discover a shocking origin story that will shock her forever.
 * It's the Great Pumpkin, Phoenix Defenders!: Our heroes are getting ready for Halloween until a supernatural force came to get rid of them and the residents of Goldmoor to unleashed a powerful evil the world as ever known and see.
 * 2 Frenemies vs Detention: Mallory and Devanie had a hard time controlling their on and off rivalry which causes them to get detention. While serving detention, they must work together to escape for the clutches of Mad Mod himself.
 * How the Star Guardians Save Christmas: The Star Guardians must save Christmas from The Grinch.
 * Prom Edition: It's time for the team's prom and everyone is getting ready. With some drama, romance and friendship, Can the Star Guardians survive the ultimate high school experience: prom night?
 * Mechanical Mayhem: Although a giant robot in Goldmoor sounds pretty bad for the Star Guardians, they soon learn that there is something worse, a giant robot designed for their destruction! Who is behind this machine and will he strike again?
 * Boom: The peace in Goldmoor is interrupted by a villain with highly destructive habits. Can the Star Guardians stop him before the city is rubble?
 * The Gremlin: The Star Guardians must stop a villain who is actually a gremlin.
 * Bitter Reunion: A creature that feeds on energy roams the streets of Goldmoor and it's up to the Star Guardians to take it down. The only problem is that the creature might be somebody that one of the Star Guardians know.
 * Hit the Surf: Everybody needs some time off. Even superheroes. After calling in some people to watch the city while they're gone, the Star Guardians decide to hit the beach! What could possibly go wrong?
 * Arguments Can Cause Tears: Tired of Berna and Aeolus being close to each other, Katelyn takes matters into her own hands by threatening to kill Berna in front of the whole school unless Aeolus agrees to be her boyfriend. Aeolus then makes an ultimate decision that would shatter their friendship in pieces.
 * The Eye of the Hurricane Part 1: Maya gets over pressured after Macy threatens her to stay away from Julie, causing her to avoid Julie at all costs. Julie then founds out the truth behind the reason of why Maya is so harsh towards people.
 * The Eye of the Hurricane Part 2:
 * The Eye of the Hurricane Part 3: Once they finally reconcile, Berna then founds out the truth behind the reason of why Sera is so harsh towards people.
 * The Eye of the Hurricane Part 4: Maya and Julie publicly announced their relationship to the Star Guardians, who are shocked yet supportive upon hearing the news. Yet, Paul became very depressed upon hearing the news and not everybody are not as accepting of a same sex relationship.
 * Skye experiences womanhood for the first time since revealing herself as a girl to the team.
 * Saving Private Zeta: The Star Guardians must protect Zeta and Ro from Agent West and Agent Rush.

List of Shorts  TV Rating 
 * Beware of the Hax: Tired of getting killed off on Team Fortress 2, Indira decided to hack it in order to win. However, a certain stranger decides to show Indira what happens to people who hacked a game.
 * The Legion of Zatavia: What if Zatavia has her own Legion of Doom?
 * You Shall Not Pass: As Donovan drives down a road, he comes across a bridge where he must answer three questions from the bridge keeper before proceeding.
 * The Wrath of the Snails: Serena has the ability to control snails and use that power to kill Lisa only to have slower than expected results.
 * Emo vs. Goth: Devanie and Mallory are battling each other in a stereotypical yet comical way.
 * I'm at a loss for words: Devanie has a somewhat normal day while meanwhile, Control Freak introduces coffee to Jan.
 * Radda, Do you speak it?: Samantha works as a customer service employee at Walmart and has trouble understanding what a customer is saying.
 * That's Just Who I Am: Before she was a Phoenix Defender, Skye doesn't know who she is anymore. Luckily, she has a stepsister who has lots of knowledge and a half brother who has lots of spare clothes.

TV-PG for crude humor, mild violence and mild bad language.

Star Guardians Unite! Parents Guide

 Critical Reception 

The Phoenix Defenders has received positive reviews, with critics praising its animation, voice acting, characterization, prominence of LGBTQ themes and humor.

Sequel/Spin off

A television series titled The Phoenix Defenders: The Next Generation will serve as a spin off and a sequel to The Phoenix Defenders. The series follows the lives of the teenaged children of the original phoenix defenders as they became the next generation of teenaged crime fighters.

 Trivia 
 * The Phoenix Defenders was inspired by The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Teen Titans, Steven Universe and Family Guy.
 * Although younger children and teenagers were the intended audience for the series, it has dealt with serious and dark themes such as homophobia, transphobia, bullying, incest, parental abandonment, and child abuse.
 * The Phoenix Defenders is one of the few animated shows to feature LGBTQ characters.