Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles (Starship Troopers: The Series in the United Kingdom) was a CGIanimated television series based on both the novel by Robert A. Heinlein and the 1997 film adaptation directed by Paul Verhoeven (who served as executive producer for the series). It follows the exploits of the Mobile Infantry squad "Razak's Roughnecks" during the SICON-Arachnid war, and focuses mainly on the small actions in which the squad participates, rather than addressing the larger war.
The show borrows elements from Paul Verhoeven's film, but incorporates more elements from the original novel the film was based on, such as the Skinnies, powered armor suits, and drop pods. Some elements are original (e.g. the war starts on Pluto), and the controversial politics of the original book are left out.
An image from Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles
The show is divided into seasons based around the military campaigns the Roughnecks fight in. The campaigns are, in order: Pluto, Hydora, Tophet, Tesca, Zephyr (Ice Asteroid), Klendathu, Trackers, and Homefront (Earth). There is an error in the DVD edition, with Tesca listed as Volume 2; it should be watched after Hydora and Tophet.
Pluto: SICON first battles the Bugs on Pluto. Razak's Roughnecks learn to trust and rely on one another. SICON discovers that the Bugs aren't native to Pluto but come from elsewhere. Warriors, Cliffmites, Tankers (flamethrowers), Hoppers, Plasma Bugs, and the Transport Bug (a living starship) are introduced.
Hydora: The Roughnecks battle across the oceanic world of Hydora, encountering two new breeds of Bug (Ripplers/Kamikaze Ripplers and Water Tigers), and discover the existence of Brain Bugs. Rico and Brutto bond after a near-disaster. Carl uses his mental powers to destroy the Brain Bug, but suffers mental damage. Brain Bugs, Charioteers, Ripplers, Mother Ripplers, and Water Tigers also make their first appearances.
Tophet: The Roughnecks land on the methane-atmosphered desert world of Tophet, discovering an indigenous race which they dub "Skinnies." At first believed to be friendly, the Skinnies are revealed to be allied with the Bugs (though not by choice). Carl and Brutto bond after being captured and then escaping from a Skinnie. The first of the Cybernetic Humanoid Assault Systems is assigned to the Roughnecks. Dubbed "CHAS", he is at first received with hostility but is eventually regarded as a true Roughneck, posthumously sacrificing himself to save the other Roughnecks (the CHAS units are deemed cost-ineffective, so he is never replaced). It is discovered that the Skinnies are being controlled by mind-enslaving Bugs. Carl is mentally shattered during the event and is quickly spirited away by Intel. The Bugs (Control and otherwise) are driven off, with one Transport Bug destroyed in the process. Control Bugs, Blister/Blaster Bugs, and Skinnies are shown.
Tesca: In the wake of the Tophet Campaign, the Skinnies are now allies with SICON, but need to sign up as SICON recruits because they lack Faster-Than-Light drives. Colonel T'Phai, the leader of the Skinnies (and the one indirectly responsible for Carl's loss), is assigned to the Roughnecks, which leads to hostility, though he is eventually accepted by the squad. Rico suffers from a horrific wound given by a Spider Bug while his friends desperately keep him alive. Spider Bugs, Pit Worms/Tanker Worms, Nurse Spiders, and Minions are introduced as part of the swarms' masses as well as the Arachnid ability to use DNA from other creatures as a basis for a new form of Bug depending on the DNA used. This amalgamation of DNA to create new Bugs was later realized when Lt. Barcalow became a Human/Arachnid hybrid.
Zephyr: The Roughnecks land on an ice asteroid in order to recover a toxin deadly to the Bugs when they discover that the asteroid is really a giant Bug itself, and fight to survive with limited oxygen and ammunition. Lt. Barcalow becomes infected by Bugs and becomes the first "infiltrator." Rico is promoted to Corporal. Firefries, Ice Slugs, are introduced.
Klendathu: The Roughnecks assault the Bugs' homeworld of Klendathu and are given a chance to destroy the Queen Bug. Sergeant Brutto is paralyzed, therefore making Rico the acting Sergeant. Lt. Barcalow's infection gets significantly worse, and he aligns himself with the Bugs. During the final assault, Rico decides to let the Queen live and save his friend Carl, who was recently brought back into action. Queens, Royal Centurions, Royal Guard, Infiltrator Bugs, Rhino Bugs, Nurses, and Workers are all introduced.
Trackers: Trackers contains only a single episode which bridges the gap between the Klendathu and Homefront Campaign. In this episode, All SICON forces attempt to destroy the Queen Bug before she reaches Earth. The mission was seemingly successful, but Carl Jenkins senses that the Arachnids are back on Earth after the return home, setting up the Homefront campaign. Other than this episode, bonus features featured four different episodes, all of which do not have a specific setting while showing flashback clips of previously aired campaigns.
Homefront: The Bugs attack Earth, forcing the Roughnecks to fight on their home turf. Lt. Razak is killed and Rico is promoted to Lieutenant after convincing General Redwing to not split up the unit. Brutto's son, Max, joins the Roughnecks; T'Phai promises Brutto that he will look after him. The campaign is unresolved due to fund shortages from the studio.
Lieutenant Gene Razak (voiced by Jamie Hanes) – The leader of the Roughnecks, Razak is a seasoned veteran who has been decorated ten times for meritorious service. He is described as having "broken the mold" of trooper officer behavior. Razak's left arm is a mechanical prosthetic, the legacy of his first command where the entire squad was ambushed and only he survived. He later dies a heroic death to save Rico in the Homefront Campaign.
Sergeant Francis Brutto (voiced by David DeLuise) – A somewhat ruthless taskmaster, Brutto is very outspoken and aggressive. Originally something of an antagonist for the rest of the squad, he eventually becomes easier to get along with during the Hydora Campaign. His son, Max, is 17 and an All-Star Fullback. Brutto is crippled before the Klendathu Campaign, and his son (who apparently joined the Mobile Infantry in the aftermath of the Pluto Campaign) is assigned to the Roughnecks after his father is crippled. Like all the Roughnecks, he originally was distrusting of T'Phai, but eventually became his best friend, prompting Higgins to remark, "Are those two actually bonding?"
Corporal Richard "Doc" LaCroix (voiced by James Horan) – The team's medical officer, Doc is laid-back and patient. He and Goss act as the comic relief of the show at times, playing off each others jokes amidst a folly of Bug drones. Doc is the assigned pilot for the Long-Range AKA "Chickenhawk" Marauder.
Corporal Jeff "Goss" Gossard (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke) – An ambitious Roughneck who wants a distinguished career. The elder of two siblings, Goss is a technological master, adept with any form of machinery. He invented the "TALC Box", which was intended to translate Bug shrieking into human language, but used to translate for Skinnies instead. Goss is the assigned pilot for the Assault aka "King Kong" Marauder. He had a short relationship with Dizzy starting since the Pluto Campaign, but broke up with her, feeling responsible for Rico's near-fatal wound during the Tesca Campaign, and knowing that Dizzy still loves Rico.
Private/Corporal/Sergeant/Lieutenant Juan "Johnny" Rico (voiced by Rino Romano) – The main focus of the series, Rico is a good soldier but a little distrustful of technology ("I couldn't stand being in one of those tin cans") and a bit over-reliant on his instincts. He is best friends with Carl Jenkins and Dizzy Flores, and carries a torch for Carmen Ibanez for most of the series but eventually admits he's in love with Dizzy. Rico is the last of the Roughnecks to accept T'Phai. He is promoted first to Corporal during the Zephyr Campaign, then to Sergeant in the Klendathu Campaign as a result of Brutto's paralysis, and finally to Lieutenant during the Homefront Campaign, carrying on Razak's legacy.
Private Isabel "Dizzy" Flores (voiced by E.G. Daily) – An old friend of Rico's from high school, Dizzy has a crush on him which is unrequited for most of the series; she figures they'll sort out their relationship problems after their tour of duty. She had a relationship with Goss in an attempt to make Rico jealous which ended in the Tesca Campaign, but started having an affair with Zander Barcalow for the rest of the Tesca Campaign and the entire Zephyr Campaign, which was shattered as Barcalow became an Arachnid/Human hybrid during the Klendathu Campaign. She eventually redeems Barcalow in the Klendathu Campaign. Dizzy is claustrophobic, but lied about it to be accepted into the Mobile Infantry; their phobia was later remedied by Jenkins, who gave her a post-hypnotic suggestion.
Lieutenant Carmen Ibanez (voiced by Tish Hicks) – A pilot in the SICON fleet. Rico joined the military just because Carmen said that she wanted to be a pilot, and Rico blindly attempts to follow her. Carmen is smart, calm, and rarely lets her emotions get in the way of her tasks. Whenever a drop ship she's piloting is crash-landed due to whatever circumstances, she often helps the Roughnecks carry out their missions. While reminiscing about the past, Carmen admits that she had a big crush on Rico during the sixth grade, but didn't tell him. It is not clear if she feels the same way about Rico after Dizzy tells Carmen that she's the reason Rico enlisted.
Lieutenant/Major Zander Barcalow (voiced by Nicholas Guest) – A former football player in high school, Barcalow joined the SICON fleet as a pilot and was ranked Major at the start of the Pluto Campaign. He started off as Carmen's flight instructor in a drop ship. Other than transporting troops, Barcalow occasionally flew the air fighters to provide air support for the Mobile Infantry. Personality-wise, he was pompous and arrogant, second to Brutto in terms of being a jackass, which somewhat explained his constant change between Major and Lieutenant ranks (SICON doesn't like mouthy Majors). During the Tesca Campaign, Barcalow started a relationship with Dizzy Flores, which lasted until the end of the Zephyr Campaign, during which he was captured by the Bugs and became infected with an unknown virus, which gave him a Jekyll-and-Hyde complex. Things went worse during the Klendathu Campaign when Barcalow mutated into an Arachnid and nearly had the Valley Forge crash-land on Klendathu. He later died a noble death saving the Roughnecks after Dizzy reminded him "to play on her team."
Special Operations Tactician Carl Jenkins (voiced by Rider Strong) – A psychic friend of Rico's and Dizzy's from high school, the other Roughnecks avoid Jenkins like the plague because his telepathic powers give them the creeps. He destroys the Hydoran Brain Bug with a Mind-Bomb but suffers mental trauma in the process. Jenkins grows weaker and his powers become less stable during the Tophet Campaign, when T'Phai's Control Bug breaks loose and it attempts to attach to Jenkins. He destroys it with a telekinetic blast, but falls into a coma and is spirited away by Intel. Jenkins returns later on in the series, the mental experimentation performed on him by Intel neurosurgeons has increased his powers but made him cold and harsh. What was left of his old self was rekindled when Rico saved him during the Klendathu Campaign.
Private Robert "Paperboy" Higgins (voiced by Alexander Polinsky) – A FedNet reporter assigned to the Roughnecks, Higgins is something of the trademark outsider. His inexperience and degree of military incompetence makes him something of a liability on occasion. Higgins usually shoots with a camera instead of a gun. He is able to stay in the squad only because Rico gave him training. Higgins is the narrator for the series.
Private "Colonel" T'Phai (voiced by Steve Staley) – The former military leader of the Skinnies, T'Phai was an enemy for most of the Tophet Campaign under the influence of a Control Bug. He was indirectly responsible for Jenkins' extended medical leave, which didn't help matters when he was assigned to the Roughnecks during the Tesca Campaign. Not accepted initially, T'Phai receives the acceptance of all Roughnecks but Rico in the end of the first episode, not receiving Rico's approval until the end of the second episode. Rank is Private within the Mobile Infantry, but he is still referred to as Colonel (his Skinnie rank) by the Roughnecks. T'Phai is considered a father figure since he had a wife, who was also in the military, and two children. He believes in fighting a war so that his children wouldn't share the same fate as him.
Brain Bugs – Moving, telepathic nodes, Brain Bugs have a slit-like mouth with a spike/sucker organ that extends from the mouth to enter the brains of an enemy and eat the enemy's brain to add the gained information to the hive mind collective. Brain Bugs coordinate all Bug activity through some sort of telepathic mind control. The Brain Bug was discovered on Hydora.
Chariot Bugs – Bearing a resemblance to common roaches, they are the Bugs that Brain Bugs lay on to be moved about. They were discovered on Hydora with the Brain Bugs.
Warrior Bugs – The bulk of the Arachnid armies, they scuttle around on four spindly legs and attack with two spiked razor limbs and their razor-edged mandibles. Warrior Bugs are relatively weak against standard-issue weaponry. They are first encountered on Pluto.
Tanker Bugs – Massive Bugs that can breathe fire and tunnel underground, they are impervious to everything except high explosives such as mini-nukes and plasma rockets. Tanker Bugs are first encountered on Pluto.
Plasma Bugs – Bigger than the Tanker Bugs, Plasma Bugs have a rather nasty ability to fire huge, volatile globs of plasma from their rear ends at airborne or distant targets. They are first encountered on Pluto.
Hoppers – Basically, they are warrior mosquitoes with razor wings. Hoppers are attracted to laser emissions like mosquitoes to a bug zapper. They are first encountered on Pluto.
Transport Bugs – Creatures used for interstellar travel, Transport Bugs are fuelled by water and can make planetary landings. They proved that the Bugs weren't native to Pluto. Transport Bugs are first encountered on Pluto.
Kamikaze Ripplers – Flying Bugs that can shoot spines from their mouths; these spines may be coated in corrosive venom. Kamikaze Ripplers are produced by an oversized version Higgins coined 'Ripple mom.' They are first encountered on Hydora.
Blisters – Smaller than a Tanker Bug but bigger than a Warrior Bug. Basically, they are walking tanks of corrosive acid. Blisters are first encountered on Tophet.
Blaster – Similar to Blisters, but take in heat from the surrounding environment and focus it into a wave of energy capable of burning through power suits. Blasters are first encountered on Tophet.
Spiders – Though looking more like crabs than actual spiders, Spider Bugs are eight-eyed and eight-legged with web-spinning capabilities. They are used to capture enemies for "interrogation" by Brain Bugs. Spider Bugs are encountered on Tesca.
Firefries – Small Bugs similar to fireflies, except they are actually on fire (biological fusion reactors). As they age, firefries grow larger but lose some of their fire abilities. They are first encountered on an asteroid belt near Harvok during the Zephyr Campaign.
Water Tigers – A pale species that can swim quickly in water, but are never seen on the land. Water Tigers are first encountered on Hydora.
Control Bugs - Small bugs, roughly the size of human heads, that seize control of human hosts, turning them into telepathic conduits for Brain Bugs. The range of their telepathic abilities has never been tested in the field.
Cybernetic Humanoid Assault System
The Cybernetic Humanoid Assault System (C.H.A.S) is a heavy combat robot. CHAS packs the firepower of an entire MI squad. CHAS is capable of learning though a Bio-enhanced logic matrix, has a titanium exoskeleton and it would seem has medical records of MI troopers (this is evident in episode 1:13 Of Flesh and Steel). CHAS is seen to have various weaponry in the series, consisting of 4 miniguns, a chest mounted nuke cannon, a shoulder mounted mortar, a pair of rocket pods integrated into the arms, various sensors hooked up to the CPU, and a pair of jump jets integrated into the legs. It seems that CHAS looked destined to only star in episode 1:13 after his "death", but due to a foundation imaging staff member acquiring the model off someone at flat earth, CHAS units made appearances in the Klendathu campaign, and an episode of the homefront campaign, albeit easily destroyed and without personality.
According to commentary from the production crew, doing CGI work for the CHAS unit cost the most amount of money, which is the main reason behind their very limited appearances.
Sony contracted Foundation Imaging to do the episodes. It was originally planned that the show be made with 2-D animation. Some other companies also helped with the production of certain episodes; these companies include Flat Earth Productions (Eps 1X12 and 1X13), Hyper Image (Eps 1X20 to 1X22), and Rainbow Studios (Eps 1X23 to 1X25).
The series was to end with a titanic battle (in a larger scale than any previous episode) against the Bug forces on Earth, but the series was cancelled before this arc was produced. In order to fulfill Sony's 40-episode order, clip shows were produced because they could reuse old footage. 40 episodes were originally scheduled, although only 36 episodes of original material were eventually produced due to production problems. Each week was to be a separate campaign with five daily episodes. There is also a compilation DVD available called "Trackers", which consists of episodes created from clips of previous episodes and some new material.
The show was produced by Columbia Tristar for daily television syndication and ended its intended run of a single season, with a cliffhanger but without a proper series finale. Both the war and the personal history of most of the characters are left hanging without any clue as to what will come next.
Most of the original episodes can be seen on DVD, but buyers should be warned that there is an error in at least the UK edition of the DVD. Tesca is listed as Volume 2, which it still is at AmazonUK; it should be watched after Hydora and Tophet.
In the Homefront Campaign, there was one episode aired on TV, but never made it to the DVD, which was titled "Homefront." "Homefront" focused on Rico, Dizzy, and Jenkins looking for their parents in Buenos Aires.
Fan campaign and DVD releases
With a fan campaign begun by the now defunct Roughneck Chronicles website, the Pluto Campaign was released on DVD. Based on sales, the other arcs were released on DVD. However, these subsequent DVDs were released in order of popularity, not in chronological order. The last DVD released was called "Trackers", containing an episode missing from the Homefront Campaign DVD, and the clip shows that were produced in order to fulfill Sony's 40-episode order. Unlike the other DVDs, "Trackers" did not have any cast or crew commentaries.
Given the success of the earlier DVDs, it was hoped that the sales would encourage Sony to produce a final direct-to-DVD movie to complete the original story arc. However, other than a recent box set release of the series (which are stripped down versions of the individual releases, removing the cast and crew commentaries), there have been no announcements regarding the Roughneck Chronicles series. Also, the original production company, Foundation Imaging, has since gone out of business, so prospects of a final DVD movie are perhaps non-existent.
It is worth noting that while the series ends on a cliffhanger, the writer of the final story arc outlined his plan for the final three episodes on the crew commentary of the Homefront Campaign DVD.
Deviations from the Book
Johnny Rico was Filipino in the book, while it seems to show Rico being Latino/Caucasian in the series.
Private Jenkins, Rico's squad mate, and Carl, Rico's friend, are two different people in the book, but are lumped into one in the movie
Dizzy Flores in the book is a man, while the television series follows the movie, where Dizzy Flores is a woman.
Navy pilots are seen wearing tight bodysuit versions of the M.I. armor. No such armor is mentioned in the book.
In the series, the Marauder is a large humanoid mech-type vehicle manned by one trooper as a fire support and gunnery platform. The Trooper remains in his standard powered armor while he mans the Marauder. In the book, the Marauder is simply the name of the standard armor worn by the majority of troopers.
Drop sequence is different in many respects. In the series, small troop carriers launch from the main ship and proceed to the upper atmosphere, where they launch the troopers from tubes. Troopers drop in large armors worn over the standard suit instead of book's capsules. In the book, the capsules are launched from the main ship in orbit and require no small troop carrier.
In the series, Carl is alive and is a "talent" attached to the squad. In the book, Carl dies during a bug raid on Pluto's research station at the beginning of the war.
In the series, Razak's Roughnecks is a squad. In the book, Raszack's Roughnecks is a platoon-sized unit sometimes deployed as a company.
The book mentions the hand flamer as a light close quarters weapon. Every trooper has one mounted on his armor. In the series, however, flamethrowers are large two-handed rifle-type devices used as a squad support weapon.
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