Saban Entertainment and FOX Kids struck gold in 1993 with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a live-action superhero series that repurposed footage from the Japanese tokusatsu series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger mixed with newly shot American footage. MMPR became a sensation, easily catapulting to the highest-rated kids’ show on TV and selling a boatload of toys. So naturally, Saban and FOX attempted to recreate the success by crafting more shows that borrowed from Japanese programs including Big Bad Beetleborgs, VR Troopers, and Masked Rider. None matched the success of Power Rangers.
Then Saban tried to deliver a live-action show that did not borrow footage from any existing Japanese series. That show was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation. Despite being based on an established brand and utilizing puppetry developed for the theatrical movies, this did not prove to be a success.
But give it to Saban for trying again. The studio developed another Power Rangers-esque series based on Irish folklore, Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. This… also wasn’t very successful.
But Saban gets points for filming this show in Ireland, where it was set. Also, most of the cast were also Irish. Tír Na Nog is taken from Irish mythology and is considered to be the home of fairies, which plays into this program.
Also factoring in was a dragon, Pyre, rendered in CGI. Other monsters were also created using CGI, but monsters didn’t factor into Mystic Knights as often as on Power Rangers. Due to the show’s time setting, there were no Zords or equivalents. Pyre essentially filled that role.
Two fairies also factored in heavily. Assisting the heroes was Aideen (Kelly Campbell). Mider (Ned Dennehy) aided the show’s main villain, Queen Maeve (Charlotte Bradley).
Queen Maeve had been banished to an island prison from which she plotted to overthrow the kingdom of Kells, the main setting for Mystic Knights. Four teenagers with attitude earned the honor of becoming the Mystic Knights in order to thwart her plans. Unlike the Power Rangers, these heroes must earn their weapons and armor by defeating beasts. Individual episodes were devoted to each character’s quest.
The show’s main protagonist was Rohan (Lochlann Ó Mearáin), an orphan who was raised by Cathbad (Barry Cassin), the mystical council to Fells’ king Conchobar (Stephen Brennan). SPOILER ALERT, it turned out that Rohan was the son of Maeve.
Each Knight was bestowed with the power of one of the four elements of Earth. With the Sword of Kells, Rohan had the power of fire. To transform from his regular form into his battle armor, Rohan would call out “Fire within me!” Later in the series, he could further power-up by calling out “Battle Fury!” In addition to the Sword of Kells, Rohan also wielded the Dragon’s Breath Dagger which allowed him to summon Pyre.
Much of Mystic Knights followed the quest to find the legendary warrior Draganta. Once again, SPOILER ALERT, it was Rohan all along.
Rohan’s best friend, the former thief Angus (Vincent Walsh) joins his quest. Upon gaining his battle armor, Angus transforms back and forth by calling out “Earth beneath me!” He wielded the Terra Sling Mace which could hurl giant boulders at opponents and create earthquakes.
Against his wishes, Conchobar’s daughter, Princess Diedre (Lisa Dwan), also accompanied Rohan on his journey and became one of the Knights.
Diedre gained the power of the wind. Her weapon was the Whirlwind Crossbow which could generate tornado-like gusts. To don her armor, Diedre would call out “Air above me!”
As was the norm for kids series of the time, Diedre, being “the girl,” was the smartest and most level-headed of the crew. Being the only female in the bunch, she was sometimes romantically linked to Rohan, earning the ire of Aideen, who had feelings for the hero. However, Diedre would later become romantically linked to another character, but I will get to that in a second.
The fourth and final of the main Knights was Ivar (Justin Pierre), a prince from a foreign kingdom. (He seemed to be based on Morgan Freeman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.) Most of his storyline centered on him trying to find the stolen chalice from his kingdom. Sometimes, this led to him deserting his teammates in his search.
As a Mystic Knight, Ivar had the power of water and wielded the Barbed Trident, which nonsensically had the power to fire electricity.
To don his armor, Ivar would call out “Water around me!”
Obviously, this was a show that was meant to sell toys. Like the Power Rangers, the Mystic Knights toys were made by Bandai. I’m not sure what happened, but Ivar and the actor who played him, Justin Pierre, were black. The toys… were not. All of the Ivar action figures are Caucasian for some reason!
While Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog was kind of original in that it didn’t utilize any previously existing footage, it was not super creative in other ways.
Meet Garrett, the prince of Rheged, a neighboring kingdom of Kells. It turns out that Garrett and Dierdre were set up in an arranged marriage, making them a romantic couple now that they are older.
Initially, Garrett operates under the control of Maeve and infiltrates the team under false pretenses. He has the power of the forest. (Not an element, but okay. But forests are green. That’ll factor in later.)
To don his armor, Garrett says “Forest before me!” He can communicate with and controls animals. He carries the Twin Timber Axes which can… shoot energy. I guess that’s better than someone who controls water firing electricity which is conducted by water. But still.
After the other Mystic Knights free him from Maeve’s control, Garrett joins them, although he then vanishes for many episodes only to return to aid them in the final battle in the season finale.
So yeah… Garrett is Tommy the Green Ranger. They literally just ripped the pages out of the Power Rangers “Green With Evil” scripts and scratched out the old names and wrote in the ones from Mystic Knights.
As mentioned, Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog was meant to sell Bandai toys. The manufacturer offered action figures in different scales and the smaller figures also had different vehicles. But they failed to catch on in the same way the Power Rangers had.
The need for vehicles also led to their depiction on the show even though they were horribly anachronistic. I mean… they simply did NOT have tanks back then.
In a right of passage, Mystic Knights even got a wave of McDonald’s Happy Meal toys which included characters like Maeve (who never got figures in the main Bandai line.) Although, how upset would you have been had you gotten that Maeve Happy Meal toy instead of one of the more action-oriented characters?
Mystic Knights was mediocre at best, but Saban gets points for setting the show in Ireland, filming there, and casting actual Irish actors in most of the lead roles.
This show is mostly forgotten now, but it’s an interesting footnote when it comes to Saban and FOX Kids’ reign over children’s TV in the 1990s.
Mystic Knights isn’t available on DVD or streaming in the US. It’s not even clear who owns the rights to this program as reportedly Saban let the rights lapse years ago.
But then again, how many other kids’ shows from this time period got their own take on Spaghetti-O’s?
