Alien Racers is an animated science-fiction action series originally aired on Fox's FoxBox in May 2005. It formerly aired in Canada on Teletoon.
Plot Xenoc, the heart of the universe, holds the valuable energy source known as Xeno-energy. It has the power to create or destroy. For eons, this cosmic energy gathered and destroyed civilizations until the wisest and oldest species, Zenterrans, managed to land containment chambers on the planet surface, which they built with the help of Fyran mechanics.
Fearing that every race would be warring over the contained energy, the Zenterran Master Khadan issued a contest. Each alien civilization would choose a champion to race for this great power, and whoever controls the most Xeno-energy will decide the fate of the universe. Since the Zenterrans maintain their neutrality, even the Kragnans were welcome to compete.
The Kragnan Empire, a race of fierce crablike creatures who travel in spaceships made of lava and land vehicles made of bones (which they built using knowledge they obtained from the Fyran brains they consumed), have enslaved or eaten half of the universe. They seek more energy for their new generation of eggs.
The protagonist, Ultrox, knows there is more to Xeno-energy than even the Zenterrans know. While studying a planet damaged by Xeno-energy, he notices a Kragnan ship crash-land nearby. He saves its imprisoned occupant, a Fyran boy named Jek, from a squad of Klaw Troopers. Just before he was vaporized by another Kragnan ship, the gangster named Seadrok dropped his space anchor on the ship, thus saving his life. After persuading him by also dropping the N'tal champion G'rog, Ultrox joins the races as Alpheron's champion.
On the planet Krag, the Kragnans, knowing that they can't steal the Xeno-energy or eat the Zenterran brains (when the Kragnan Warlord Zanth ate Undermaster Akhil's father's brain, the power proved so overwhelming that his body exploded), entered one of their warlords, Gnarl, into the races. The Zenterrans created an enforcer from Xeno-energy named Gamekeeper Kytani to enforce the strict set of rules they imposed on the races. During the first race, Jek followed Kommander Necraal, the Kragnan Klaw Trooper who had kidnapped his uncle, until he kidnaps the young Fyran and tells him they ate his uncle's brain. In an attempt to fix the race, Skrash, the lone zombie native to Xenoc, detonated a mountain in the hopes of taking the other racers with it.
After the first race, the Kragnan commander attempts to steal the Command Matrix. But when Ultrox and Khadan warned Necraal of the trap Undermaster Akhil set that would unleash Xeno-energy on the entire Kragan Empire, Undermaster Akhil mind-controlled the Kragnan into springing it. The resulting trap sent destructive streams of Xeno-energy to every Kragnan like Necraal, except Gnarl, who was shielded at the time. Master Khadan explained that the Xeno-energy only wiped out the Kragnans identical to the commander, so because they did not match Necraal's pattern, the Empress and her new breed of eggs were spared. Even though he saved the universe from the threat of the Kragnan Empire, Akhil was executed for his illegal use of mind-control, but promised to return. The Zenterrans continued to hold the races, while Gnarl continued to compete in them in the hopes of winning enough Xenocells to restore his empire's former glory. Meanwhile, Ultrox has to keep winning Xeno-cells for Alpheron as much as possible so he can continue to study Xeno-energy. But because he often neglects the rules and the races to save people, he is often disqualified from races he would otherwise win, and Alpheron's Minister Prime Apex often comes close to replacing him.
As the races progressed, Ultrox discovered that the Xeno-energy was becoming more violent because of the races, and a new more violent and unpredictable form of it called rogue Xeno-energy was steadily growing throughout Xenoc.
Characters Ultrox (voiced by Brian Dobson) - Ultrox is a scientist and explorer from the planet Alpheron. When he was born, Xeno-energy destroyed his arms and legs, forcing him to utilize robotic prosthetic limbs. Ultrox spent years studying Xeno-energy with help from the onboard AI of his vehicle/mobile laboratory Vakkon (Voiced by Ian James Corlett). Selected by Minister Prime Apex to compete in the Alien Races, Ultrox (with persuasion from Jek) agreed, finding an opportunity to study the Xeno-energy up close by competing. He always prioritizes saving people over winning races, which often gets him in trouble with his Alpheron sponsors. Gnarl (voiced by Brian Drummond) - Gnarl is a warlord of the Kragnan Empire, which had enslaved, devoured, and conquered half of the known universe by the start of the series. He loathes all other racers and any non-Kragnans for that matter. He'll gladly cheat, destroy or attempt to eat anything that stands in his way to achieve his empire's goals. As one would expect from a warrior, Gnarl loves to fight, doesn't know the meaning of compromise, and shows no mercy to others. Gnarl rides in the "Stoneklaw" - an extremely heavy and strongly armed vehicle that well fits Gnarl's ruthless, sadistic combat-oriented driving style, itself a supercharged version of a Kragnan vehicle called a Landkrab. However, while it has proved its prowess in combat, its speed leaves much to be desired and is often outraced by faster vehicles. G'rog (voiced by Doron Bell) - G'rog is a N'tal athlete. He is the greatest athlete in the universe who won recognition on six planets. He is also a big fan of Ultrox. His sponsoring product is G'rogade for his organic car, the Battlesynth. When it's a tie in the races, he wants to flip boogers. The result of this is determined by whether it lands "crusty side" or "slimy side" up, like "heads" or "tails" when flipping a coin. Much of the show's humor revolves around G'rog's fondness for snot and boogers. Jek (voiced by Danny McKinnon) - A boy genius from the Planet Fyra, home to "one of the most mechanically gifted species in the universe." He and his uncle helped Akhil construct the Xeno-energy control chambers. They were later captured by Kragnans who ate Jek's uncle's brain to absorb his knowledge, but Jek escaped and was rescued by Ultrox. He's been Ultrox's faithful companion and chief mechanic ever since. The young Fyran dreams of being a racer, and occasionally pilots one of the other racers' vehicles, or his own, the 3X-J, in the Alien Races. Skrash (voiced by Ian James Corlett) - Skrash is the crazed lone skeletal zombie of Xenoc and pilot of the Flameskull. He is the last member of a long-extinct species that crashed on Xenoc so long ago, even he doesn't remember the details. His body is a natural conduit for Xeno-energy, which keeps him alive. He possesses immortality, invulnerability, cellular regeneration, and tremendous physical strength. He also suffers from insanity. Skrash loves all sorts of destruction, mayhem and foul play. He is very territorial about Xenoc, believing that the whole planet belongs to him and that the Zenterrans and all other species that have come to compete are deliberately trespassing on his home. His goal in entering the races is to win enough Xenocells to get all those uninvited freeloaders "off his planet". He hates everybody equally, and everybody hates him equally back. However, in one episode, when Skrash is banned from a particularly violent race, he shows a more sensitive side when he claims that he enjoys the races and got upset about missing out: "I hate the other racers! That's the point, buggy! The races give me a chance to beat up on 'em!". Skrash is often used for comic relief - much of the show's humor revolves around Skrash, bones, and his afterlife "living". Master Khadan (voiced by Dale Wilson) - Master Khadan is the leader of the Zenterrans. Khadan has helped Ultrox on many occasions and sometimes reinstates him in the races after being disqualified for trying to save a life. In the final episode, Khadan was destroyed by Undermaster Akhil, but managed to transfer his consciousness to Xenoc itself and, as a specter, used Xeno-energy to help Ultrox defeat Akhil. Undermaster Akhil (voiced by Alessandro Juliani) - Akhil is a Zenterran aide to Master Khadan. Long ago, a Kragnan ate his father's brain (killing them both in the process), causing him to secretly swear revenge against them. His chance came when Kragnan Klaw Trooper Kommander Necraal tried to steal the Xeno-chamber's Command Matrix, which Akhil had booby-trapped. By mind-controlling the Kragnan into activating it, the result destroyed the entire Kragnan race except for Gnarl, the Empress, and her latest batch of eggs. As punishment for his shameful actions, he was "blended" by the Zenterrans (an execution where a rogue Zenterran is merged into the collective). In Heart of Xenoc, Akhil's specter possessed Khadan's Zenterran Helmsman to sabotage the monitor station and take the Heart of Xenoc, a living master control module made of stable Xeno-energy that stabilizes all Xeno-chambers. Using the Heart, Akhil tried to rebuild his body and gain the power of a god. But before this could happen, Ultrox rammed into and dispelled his ghostly body. Akhil tried again by gathering enough rogue Xeno-energy to kill Master Khadan and become a god, but he was again thwarted by Ultrox and Skrash, who banished his specter from the planet. Seadrok (voiced by Michael Kopsa) - Seadrok is a powerful gangster and a very rich personality who handles bets people make on the races. His face is not shown for half of the series; at first, only his red eyes and two tentacles are visible. In Backseat Drivers, his true form is revealed; he has bright red scales, green eyes, tentacles for feet and actual hands, like a red hybrid, half-human, half-octopus. Okular (voiced by Brian Drummond) - Okular is a mercenary from the Grote Nebula working for Seadrok. Occasionally taking part in the races, he'd sell Xeno-cells to anyone—even the Kragnans. He does not like working with his fellow henchman, Talanna, but is often forced to do so by their employer. Okular is capable of pulling people's eyes out with his wooden club, as well as storing and preserving the eyes in a see-through bag. All of the eyes obey his commands. The only eyeballs he uses are ones that emit sonic waves that can have concussive effects. He briefly stole G'rog's eyeballs and briefly lent Skrash some crazy-looking ones for his empty eye sockets. Talanna (voiced by Janyse Jaud) - Talanna is the sole female competitor in the Alien Races, introduced later on in the series. Her species is called the Nthelle, a primitive predatory raptor-like race whose species has only six words in their language, and five of them are about tearing people apart. Her skin texture is like that of a pineapple, and her talons can tear through solid metal. Her weight is unknown since she ripped off the head of the only person to ask. Working as a henchwoman for Seadrok, Talanna is not a woman to be taken lightly. Minister Prime Apex (voiced by Michael Dobson) - Minister Prime Apex is the leader of Ultrox's home planet Alpheron. Ultrox's racing vehicle/mobile laboratory, the Vakkon, was funded by his scientific grants. Apex often threatens to repossess the Vakkon and replace Ultrox as a racer for constantly losing races he would otherwise have won if he hadn't been disqualified for saving someone. He insists Ultrox's priority should be winning Xenocells for Alpheron, not saving people. Kreff (voiced by Tony Sampson) - The greatest in a new breed of Kragnan commandos spared from Akhil's treachery, able to change his color and turn invisible. The Empress later used a Xenocell to grant him the power to shapeshift into anyone, and he was able to safely consume the brain of the Zenterran technician who gave him the ability. He calls Gnarl his "father".