Mummies Alive! is an animated series created by Louis Gasin from DIC Productions, L.P. and Northern Lights Entertainment. It originally aired for one season in 1997. The show was part of a general trend of "mummymania" in 1990's pop culture.
The series opens in ancient Egypt, where an evil sorcerer kills a prince in order to gain immortality. He is entombed alive, but is revived in 20th-century San Francisco. He finds the prince's reincarnation in a local boy and resumes his quest for immortality. The prince's Egyptian bodyguards are resurrected in order to protect the boy. They use the power of their patron deity Ra to transform into more powerful forms. Other Egyptian gods and spirits soon visit the modern world, including Anubis, Set, Geb, Apep, Bast, Sekhmet, and Bes.
Plot In ancient Egypt, an evil sorcerer named Scarab kills the pharaoh's son, Prince Rapses, to become immortal. Entombed alive for his crime, Scarab revives in the modern world and begins his search for Rapses' reincarnation, a San Francisco-dwelling boy named Presley Carnarvon, to retrieve the spirit of Rapses so he can become immortal. Rapses' (Presley's) bodyguards, Ja-Kal, Rath, Armon, and Nefer-Tina, along with Rapses' cat, Kahti, awake from the dead to protect him from Scarab. They use the power of Ra to transform into powerful guardians.
Each of the mummies is aligned with the power of an Egyptian god. Ja-Kal uses the spirit of a falcon, Rath uses the spirit of a snake, Armon uses the spirit of a ram, and Nefer-Tina uses the spirit of a cat. The mummies are able to call upon it for magical armor and powers to fight superhuman evildoers by shouting "With the strength of Ra!". Once their strength is exhausted, they must rest in their sarcophagi to regain the ability. The mummies also have the power to make a horrifying face, usually used to scare away nosy bystanders.
In addition to Scarab, the mummies often had to contend with gods and spirits from Egyptian myth summoned to the modern world, including Anubis, Set, Geb, Apep, Bast, Sekhmet, Bes, and many others, usually as part of one of Scarab's schemes that went out of his control.
Characters Main Humans Presley Carnovan (voiced by Bill Switzer): A 12-year-old boy who has the spirit of Prince Rapses XII (an ancient pharaoh) who is based on Ramses, he soon discovers this when the Mummies introduce themselves as his guardians. He lives in San Francisco with his mother. He is reluctant to accept his role as Rapses, but on at least two occasions where he had the chance to be freed of his role, he expressed reluctance at losing his status as "Pharaoh" because it would have also meant him losing the mummies. Prince Rapses was the heir to the Egyptian throne 3500 years ago. He was protected by the Mummies (before they were Mummies) but was killed when he was Presley's age by Scarab. His spirit now lies within Presley, and is drawn out by Scarab in several episodes. Rapses himself comes to the present in "The Prince and the Presley", when Scarab steals a time travel scroll to draw him to the present in the hopes that he would be easier to capture than the present Presley. Rapses returns to the past at the end of the episode. Amanda Carnovan (voiced by Louise Vallance): Presley's mother, she works at the City Museum. In "Ghouls' Gold", Armon refers to her as "the wise Amanda" when recalling advice she gave Presley. She has insecure feelings that Presley misses being with his father, who is away on business, and tries to bond with her son often, such as taking him out camping, as she desperately tries to fulfill both the role of a father and a mother.
Mummies Ja-Kal (voiced by Dale Wilson): The leader of the Mummies, in his transformed state, his armor resembles a falcon and it also allows him to fly. His weapons are his razor sharp talons and claws, and a bow that can shoot out flaming arrows. In ancient Egypt, Ja-Kal was a hunter who had a wife, named Tia and a newborn son, named Padjet, and had died without knowing what happened to his family. He worries the most of Presley's safety, often acting as a father-figure to him. He commonly uses hunting terms to talk to others and explain situations. Ja-Kal commonly cares for other people's needs first and himself second. In "Family Feud: Part 2 – New Mummy in Town", it was revealed that he had a brother, named Arakh, who was a notorious bandit. Rath (voiced by Scott McNeil): The most intelligent of the Mummies, Rath is also the only one able to cast spells. When he transforms, a green snake which turns into a golden cobra wraps around him and serves as his armor. His weapon of choice is a sword that can transform into a snake, but he is also able to perform magical incantations. He also had designed and built the Mummies' vehicles. In the past, he had served as prince Rapses' tutor. He claims to know about science, but his definition is such things as turning a staff into a serpent, although he has learned to adapt some spells to the present, such as a spell that summoned underground snakes to bind his enemies in the past, but now summons electric cables in the present. Though they are enemies, Scarab does respect him for his spellcasting skills. Armon (voiced by Graeme Kingston): Armon is huge and eats very often. He is very strong even when not transformed. He lost his right arm fighting in the pharaoh's army, and when he transforms has a golden arm that is used as his weapon. His armor resembles a ram. While not fighting, Armon spends most of his time eating or watching "the magic box" (TV) that Presley gave them. In the past, Armon was Rapses' teacher of combat. Nefer-Tina (voiced by Cree Summer): She is the only female of the Mummies. Nefer-Tina is an expert with her whip, has great agility and is extremely proficient at driving the Hot-Ra, the Mummies' dragster-like vehicle. When she transforms her armor is like a cat. Back in ancient Egypt, she had to hide the fact that she was a woman with a head piece or she would not have been allowed to drive chariots. She was known to everyone as Nefer. Only Rapses knew her true identity during that period of time. Ja-Kal and the other members were shocked to find out the truth about Nefer-Tina. Armon then comments "No wonder he never went swimming in the Nile with us". Out of the group, she is the only one who is absolutely willing to try anything modern, such as driving a car and constantly learns under Presley. She also travels the modern world in disguise to try new things. Nefer-Tina's name is based on Queen Nefertiti. Scarab (voiced by Gerard Plunkett): The pharaoh's adviser, who later sucked the life force from prince Rapses for youth and immortality, but the effects were not permanent and started to wear off after a few centuries. Now with prince Rapses reincarnated as Presley Carnovan, he will stop at nothing to steal Rapses' life force again. When Scarab transforms, his body is covered in golden and purple armor, resembling that of a scarab beetle and possessing the power of flight. He also possesses a magical talking snake named Heka that acts as his magical staff from time to time, much to her dismay. His powers include shooting energy blasts from his hands, creating Shabti, and extensive knowledge in summoning creatures. He has also seen to have a good grasp of modern technology, as seen most keenly in "Sleight of Hand", where he used technology while competing against the mummies in a mystical contest to try to become Presley's "guardian" himself (although Ja-Kal and Presley were able to expose the deception at the last minute). Additionally, he occasionally uses the identity "Harris Stone" in public, and is a major benefactor for the museum. He killed the real Harris Stone who discovered his crypt and inadvertently freed him, and took over his identity. Heka (voiced by Pauline Newstone): The Snake Familiar and sometimes Staff of Scarab, Heka acts as his loyal companion and advisor, who often makes snide, sarcastic remarks and witty observations. She also has the ability to spit fire.
Others Ancient Egyptians Amenhotep is Rapses' father, the pharaoh and ruler of all of Egypt. He was a good pharaoh and was very respected by all his people. Being long-deceased, he primarily appears in flashbacks and dreams. Ammut (Devourer of Souls) is Scarab's dog-like pet. He has the head of a crocodile, the body of a lion and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus. Ammut was not summoned by Scarab but simply tagged along with the Pack, and then stuck around, and usually messes up anything Scarab tells him to do. In Egyptian Mythology, Ammut is female. Apep (voiced by Jason Gray-Stanford): Serpent of the Desert, Apep is an anthropomorphic cobra-like creature who can transform into a young human man. Rapses' grandfather drove Apep out of Egypt and into the desert 3500 years ago. Apep is after revenge and wants Rapses to pay for what his grandfather did to him and when Scarab summons him and his gang, they take on the shapes of a motorbiker gang, but upon meeting and fighting Nefer-Tina, he falls in love with her and decides to disobey Scarab. Arakh is Ja-Kal's evil brother and was known as the "Scorpion of the Desert". He can transform into his scorpion armor. His story is told in the three "Family Feud" episodes. Bastet is cat goddess of ancient Egypt and the patron goddess of Nefer-Tina, brought to the present in "Paws". She demands to be worshiped by the people. Bes is a master of chance and trickery. He is a small mischievous green dwarf who enjoys playing games on people. He especially enjoys flipping a coin to decide on outcomes. Chantra is Rath's student of magic who appeared 3500 years ago. She was the best student he ever had, and she became more powerful than Rath. Rath was falling in love with her, but had to stop teaching Chantra when the pharaoh ordered him to teach Rapses. For this reason, Chantra became vengeful and wants to make Rath pay. The Eye of Darkness is a horrific monster trapped in a mirror. No one knows his origin. Every 3500 years, when the planets align, he seeks the soul of a pharaoh so that he can exchange himself with the spirit to free himself from the mirror. The pharaoh's soul would then be lost until the planets realign in 3500 more years, a fact that had allowed the Mummies to deduce that Scarab was not involved in its release as Scarab would want Presley's soul for himself. Once unleashed, no power on earth would be able to stop him. Only the one who sets the spell in motion can stop him. Geb is a spirit of the earth, a huge rock giant that makes earthquakes when he walks. He is a quite unintelligent giant that attacks anyone who disturbs him. He is also married to the goddess of the sky, Net. Ka is a spirit consisting of disembodied arms who lives inside Scarab and comes out of his mouth. In ancient Egyptian religion, the Ka is the spirit of a man's soul and is represented by the symbol of two upright arms. Kahti is the sacred cat, sometimes called the sacred kitty. Kahti can transform into a bigger, more-powerful, lynx-sized cat. She was Rapses' pet 3500 years ago, and occasionally serves as Presley's more "immediate" guardian by staying near him when he is not with the other Mummies, her small size allowing her to escape being noticed. Kenna is a friend of Nefer-Tina 3500 years ago. Enchantra appears as Kenna in "Eye of the Beholder". Kimas is Arakh's son and Ja-Kal's nephew. He might not truly be considered a bad guy, but does side with Scarab and cause the Mummies a lot of grief before he determines where his true allegiances lie. He also can transform into Scorpion armor like his father. Net is the spirit of the sky, a cloud-like being who can produce rain and lightning and turn into a tornado. She is also married to the god of earth, Geb.