RED CAPS
Make it snappy!
Characters
YOTAN
The only human in the crew, Yotan is a 13-year-old Russian boy who is incredibly intelligent and speaks in a very educated manner. He has great empathy, and nobody is better than Yotan in helping children in trouble, comforting them and helping them to develop their self-confidence. Everyone admires his optimism and courage.
Yotan has such great intuition in connecting facts and events that it borders on precognition. He also has a strong sense of humour, using it to lighten up the most difficult situations, and he loves to joke to keep his team’s morale high. He knows how to motivate his team and always achieves the best results on every mission. The star he got from Santa Claus turns him into a super martial arts expert. Enveloping him in a phosphorescent yellow light, he activates the star by saying: “Please, by the power of a thousand punches.”
JAGA
Proud and at times stubborn Jaga is a little elf who is 12 in human years. She tries to appear rational and shrewd, but her nature is really sweet and romantic. She would rather be swallowed up by the ground than be caught being sentimental. The only exception is when she’s gossiping with her friend Didi, when they speak so fast that it’s hard to understand. Before Yotan arrived Jaga was the leader of the Elves, and although a bit disappointed at no longer being leader, she has never made an issue out of it. She will never admit it but she is very attracted to Yotan, although Didi loves him too. Jaga knows this, so she keeps her feelings for Yotan quiet. Although insensitive to cold and heat, she is afraid of water because when she gets wet, she momentarily loses her special powers.
The star that she received from Santa Claus gives her the power of magnetism. To activate it, she has to cross her arms, close her eyes and say: “Please, by the power of a thousand bolts of lightning and magnets!” Her role in the team is of “saboteur”. In fact, wrapped in a phosphorescent red light, she can sabotage electrical systems or dismantle any metal structure that she can then use for defence. But that’s not all: if Jaga rubs her hands together or quickly pirouettes, she can generate electricity, throw lightning bolts and trigger short circuits.
SMOO
Smoo is the greatest technology and computer expert of all times. If he were human, he would be 12 years old. He’s strange, introverted and not very talkative, but his friends know that they can always count on him. Only Yotan can get through his shyness. Thanks to his specialized knowledge, the Red Caps are always provided with every sort of hi-tech equipment essential for carrying out their difficult missions. The invention he’s proudest of is the enormous ball-shaped machine he built with Santa Claus, which locates the 26 fragments of the Magic Crystal.
His second most important invention is software, which, together with the hologramophone, creates holographic humans indistinguishable from real people. Smoo is always connected to Santa Claus’s satellite, allowing him constant access to the Internet and the information needed to solve the most complicated problems. He is secretly in love with Didi: when he talks to her, he blushes and starts to stutter. He tries to win her heart by showing off his intelligence, but she hardly notices. This is a shame, because Yotan would be doubly happy: he would avoid Didi’s attentions, and his friend would finally be happy.
Smoo loves two things: eating and playing video games, at which he is phenomenal. He activates his star by hitting himself lightly on the head and saying the magic formula: “Please, by the power of a thousand brains!” A phosphorescent blue light envelops him and amplifies his extraordinary intelligence, turning him into a true genius.
DIDI
Don’t be fooled by Didi’s fragile appearance. In fact, the little elf has almost magical strength and agility and she excels in every sport. Didi is 12 in human years. She is Jaga’s best friend and, whenever they can, they throw themselves into a gossiping vortex that only Yotan can stop, calling them to order. But every time he reproaches her she suffers a little, because she is secretly in love with the Russian boy. Officially, only Jaga knows this, but actually everybody has noticed.
Didi is very romantic, and she loves to sing and dance; if it was left up to her she would sing and dance all the time. But the little squirrel Jiffy, with her sarcastic remarks, is always ready to dampen Didi’s “artistic” enthusiasm. If someone insults or tries to hurt the leader of the RED CAPS, she flies into a real fury. Her role is to be the Hercules of the group, and her powers are used for the heaviest physical tasks. The star she received from Santa Claus is activated by the words: “Please, by the power of a thousand elephants!” giving her supernatural strength and agility, and wrapping her in a glowing green light.
JIFFY
Jiffy is a little female squirrel that can talk. Together with Yotan she is the only one who doesn’t come from Korvatunturi – she came to Santa Claus with the Russian boy, and they are inseparable friends. If you left it up to her, she would always be nibbling on something, or taking a nap. She is a bit of a sissy and doesn’t like getting into trouble, but the great affection that she has for Yotan and the other RED CAPS makes her follow them on every mission.
Jiffy has a sharp and biting sense of humour; she is the sarcastic one of the RED CAPS. Alpo always wants to cuddle her, but Jiffy would really prefer to be with Yotan. However, she is the only one in the crew who can understand and translate Alpo’s strange gestures.
ALPO
Alpo is the youngest of the RED CAPS and the most naïve. He is 9 in human years. He never talks, though we are not sure why. Alpo is protected by Jaga and Didi’s kindness, and he expresses himself through gestures and facial expressions. He is curious to the nth degree. For him the world is a source of enormous wonder. He is mesmerized by everything: a colourful butterfly, a pretty flower or ants marching in line. He could spend all day looking at them if Yotan didn’t gently call him to order.
He is vital to the RED CAPS thanks to his ability to camouflage himself and become invisible. Whoever touches him inherits the same power, and that’s exactly what happens to Jiffy, whom Alpo loves to cuddle, becoming invisible just by standing on his shoulder. His role in the crew is to camouflage himself, listen to their opponents’ plans and then report back to the RED CAPS. But Alpo doesn’t speak, so we always see him reporting by means of an incomprehensible mime - readily translated by Jiffy. Also he is so flexible that he can sneak through any opening, and so the RED CAPS can always find a way out if they are trapped. Alpo owes these powers to Santa Claus’ magic star, which, since he doesn’t speak, he activates simply by rubbing and smiling at it as a phosphorescent pink light glows around him.
SANTA CLAUS
Wise and kind Santa Claus is the only real leader of Korvatunturi. He has a rather childish sense of humour, especially when he discovers a new gadget with his face printed on it produced by humans. His tastes are slightly kitsch, and he loves to collect anything that has his image on it.
Santa Claus is very worried; he has to retrieve all of the 26 fragments of the broken Magic Crystal before his evil younger brother Basil. This, however, doesn’t stop him from reading children’s letters and working in the toy factory with his elfin helpers so that children’s dreams can come true. He just loves to bring children gifts and to see them laughing with joy. In every episode, Santa Claus uses a riddle to tell his RED CAPS how to accomplish their difficult mission. But they never understand, and it’s only towards the end of the episode that Yotan is able to understand and find a way to help the child in trouble.
Always keeping up with the times, Santa Claus provides his team with the most advanced technological equipment, but he also tries to pass on old traditions; he does everything so that the RED CAPS don’t forget them and they, in turn, teach the traditions to the children they help. His weakness is his excessive love for chocolate made in the image of his face, so much so that his housekeeper, Maija, keeps on telling him that he is going to end up in bed again with a stomach ache.
MAIJA
Maija looks like a stern grandmother and has been living with Santa Claus since time immemorial looking after his health – certainly not a very easy task. She finds no interest at all in the modernization of Korvatunturi; according to Maija, the key to success is to have everything organized without the need for any of Santa Claus’s strange machinery
PORO
Poro is a talking reindeer who, with his super tech sleigh, flies the RED CAPS to their missions. According to Poro, everything is easy and can be solved simply by snapping one’s fingers. He’s always saying “Make it snappy!” which is also the slogan for the series.
His enthusiasm is often dampened by his hypochondria; he is convinced that he is suffering from all kinds of strange diseases. He has relatives spread all over the world (from the Greek and Sardinian donkeys to the Tibetan yaks) so he starts every mission full of expectation, hoping to meet one of them. But every time he is disappointed, because he doesn’t understand his relatives’ local customs, and then he can’t wait to get back to his home in Korvatunturi. He loves to entertain the RED CAPS with “funny” stories which are only funny to him – nobody else laughs!
BASIL
With his army of Robotiks, the RED CAPS’ main opponent is the evil Basil, Santa Claus’s twin brother. Born twenty minutes after Santa Claus, he can never be the legitimate Santa Claus, as this role is taken by his older brother. He thinks that children are too untidy and messy, and his dream is to realize a regimented world where children are all obedient and well mannered. He feels it is the only way to get rid of the problems that are devastating the planet: pollution, the exploitation of animals and deforestation. Basil thinks that his brother’s ideas are childish: to believe in the goodwill of others, in love, and in the potential of children. So he steals the Magic Crystal to obtain precious objects from all over the world and to “buy” an army of his own, made up of evil children.
But things don’t go according to plan. His silly assistant, Grouch, stupidly put the Magic Crystal in front of a mirror, causing it to explode into 26 fragments. Basil envies Santa Claus and imitates the way he dresses, wearing baggy clothing even if the colours are dark. His physique too is similar to that of his famous brother. However, Episode No. 13 will reveal his true colours, when he manages to retrieve one of the fragments of the Magic Crystal ahead of the RED CAPS. We will see how Santa Claus’s evil younger brother is not at all as fat as he looks. Actually he is very thin, and he wears military overalls under his baggy clothing. Every time Basil loses his patience he starts to stutter, and this makes him look ridiculous – but you’d better not be caught laughing! Basil is very intelligent but he’s surrounded by incompetent assistants who constantly disrupt his plans and they fail.
GROUCH
Grouch is Basil’s dim-witted assistant. Just like Yotan, Grouch is human. He was once a simple clerk in an administration office in the city before Basil discovered him and made him his assistant, thus making him finally feel like an important person. For this reason, Grouch will always be thankful to Basil and forever loyal. However, in spite of his self-denial, Grouch is always treated badly by his boss, to the point where he sometimes feels like quitting and opening up his own company: “Evil Inc.”. But then his sense of loyalty takes over and he stays where he is.
ROBOTIKS
Robotiks are mountain spirits who Basil has turned into slaves. They are identical and wear a sort of hooded cloak that leaves their face in an inscrutable shadow. Not at all intelligent, they always move as a group. They aren’t evil by nature, but Basil has succeeded in capturing their souls through the advanced technology he has perfected. Thus they are no longer in control of their own will and are forced to obey him. As they don’t have a particularly powerful physique, they are easily overcome. Their strength is in numbers.
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RED CAPS
Copyright©Epidem ZOT 2008
Epidem ZOT
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Copyright:Epidem ZOT 2008