Data file #3-Gamilon Empire Characters

This is a continuation of my quick guide, with illustrations where available, to the major characters of the Star Blazers series as portrayed in my Visions series. Many of these notes are fan speculation. They are not canon but are reasonable guesses made by myself for this series of tales.)

The first section covers canon characters. The second section will cover original characters I made up for the Visions universe or characters borrowed ("crossed-over") from other fictional universes.

Section 1.3-Canon Characters--Gamilon Empire

Japanese name: Desslar

First appeared in the second episode of Star Blazers-series 1 (SB-1). He was initially portayed as something of a young fop; the ruler of the Evil Empire surrounded by his toadies and lots and lots of pretty Gamilon females. Little would anyone guess the role he would assume in the Yamato/ Star Blazers saga as it wore on. As the Argo and Star Force broke Gamilon's line at Pluto and ruined the efforts to planet-bomb Earth, Desslok became somewhat amused by these "primitives" and took some time out from his other campaigns to watch two campaigns designed to ensure their demise. (episodes 11 & 12, SB/Y-1). When those efforts failed and the Star Force escaped, he sent Captain Avatar a message of congratulations and then dispatched General Lysis to finish off this threat to Gamilon; a threat which grew closer to Gamilon itself day by day as it passed close to Iscandar. When the last of Lysis' schemes failed, Lysis was sent back to Gamilon to face a trial and death sentence, but Desslok pardoned him so that he could finish off the Argo before it reached the Great Magellenic Cloud, since Desslok now respected the Star Force as a dangerous enemy rather than a meaningless threat he could trifle with.

After Lysis just barely lost the Battle of Rainbow Star Cluster, Desslok took personal charge of the effort to stop the Argo before it could reach Iscandar...and Gamilon. It was revealed that Gamilon was a dying planet; poisoned by volanic action and the destruction of its seas with sulphuric acid from the lava compounds. Gamilon and Desslok were seeking Earth as a new home for their people. He was warned of his peril by Queen Starsha of Iscandar, a former lover who became angered at him over the methods he was using to save both of their races...namely, naked conquest, which Desslok felt was the only way he could save his world and Iscandar, which were both dyring worlds. He chided her for helping Earth by sending them the plans for the Cosmo-DNA as pointless, since the Star Force would be defeated. Starsha then warned him that the Star Force possessed a power he would never understand. However, Desslok's efforts to trap the Argo in Gamilon's acid seas only led to his unleashing the tiger that devastated Gamilon itself from the bottom of the acid seas with the wave motion gun! In the ensuing battle, Desslok just barely escaped with his life and his flagship. No longer underestimating the Star Force, Desslok was out for vengerance against those who destroyed his homeworld as he attacked the Argo two more times before it could reach Earth with the Cosmo-DNA. However, his final attack only led to his ship being hit with his own Desslok Surge Cannon as the beam bounced off the Argo...ironically, this deflection took place due to Gamilon scientific development; a shield, used by Gamilon to bounce energy off deflection satellites on Pluto, was duplicated by Stephen Sandor of the Star Force and used against the Gamilons.

Desslok escaped only by warping himself and his ship into the Fourth Dimension. There, his body, in a near-death state, was found by forces of the Comet Empire and he was recuscitated on orders by Prince Zordar. Desslok willingly accepted a commission into the forces of the Comet Empire--for the purpose of finally wreaking his vengeance upon the Star Force, which, as he felt, would surely answer Trelaina's call for help at Telezart. However, Desslok was mistrusted by Zordar's daughter, Princess Invidia, who plotted against him, aided by her friend, General Dyre. Desslok and his reunited Gamilon forces finally forced the Argo into a trap near Telezart; a trap which surely would have finished off the Argo if fate had not intervened in the form of a communication from Invidia. She faked a communication from Zordar and ordered Desslok to return to the Gatlantis city-ship in his name. This delay gained the Argo just enough time to escape from Desslok's trap and head towards Telezart. By now, Wildstar and Desslok both respected-and loathed-each other as their own respective Nemesis.

Upon returning to the Gatlantis, though, Desslok soon discovered he had other enemies to contend with. Invidia and Dyre kept him and Talan waiting to see Prince Zordar while she told Zordar that Desslok had returned from the battle at Telezart because he was a coward and had lost his nerve. She was to question him and find out what was going on. When she and Desslok met, Desslok had figured out that she was the one who had sent the communication and figured out she was plotting against Zordar herself! On his way to inform Zordar of her treachery and how she had been interfering with the Comet Empire's military campaigns against the Star Force and Earth, Invidia had him arrested and cast into prison on the Gatlantis to keep him quiet.

Eventually, Desslok escaped from Invidia's imprisonment, earning her hatred and the hatred of other Cometine forces as the Gamilon fleet was briefly attacked by her forces. However, Zordar ordered an end to the fighting and gave Desslok his flagship. Finished with the Comet Empire, Desslok took off on his own with his fleet to finish off the Star Force. He met them near Earth and began to attack the Argo just as it was about to begin a final attack upon the Gatlantis, which had finished off the EDF Fleet at Saturn-Titan. Earth was literally about to surrender. It was a dark hour for the Star Force, made darker by Desslok's last attack. Again trapped by Desslok, Wildstar ordered a short warp and escaped death at the hands of the Desslok Cannon by mere seconds as the Argo rammed Desslok's Command Cruiser. Wildstar and his forces boarded Desslok's ship for a personal confrontation which resulted in the devastation of Desslok's crew. When informed that he had won by his aide, Talan,...won because his ship and the Argo were now both helpless...Desslok prepared to leave...when he was finally confronted by Derek Wildstar. Wildstar asked Desslok why the Gamilon Leader was continuing his war against Earth now that Gamilon was finished. Desslok told his respected enemy that he was fighting on for the same reason Wildstar was fighting on now that Earth had surrendered to the Comet Empire; "...A man who fights for his homeworld fights on, even when there is no hope." Wildstar then told Desslok that the old war between Earth and Gamilon was over...he asked why Desslok was fighting for the Comet Empire. he said, "...they're not fighting for their own home; only for conquest...power...why go on fighting?" Desslok told his wounded foe it was too late. Both men prepared to fire the killing shot in their deadly duel, but Wildstar collapsed from a loss of blood.

Before Desslok could react, Nova Forrester appeared from nowhere. She protected Wildstar, turning her weapon on Desslok, and then dropped her weapon, tearfully offering to comfort her beloved and shield him with her own body. Desslok, stunned by this desperate show of Nova's love for Wildstar, slowly lowered his weapon, and began to realize that he was wrong. He had thought his love for Gamilon was stronger and more noble than the Terrans' love for Earth. He admits his loneliness, and admits his only love was his love for Gamilon. In his words, "...maybe I would do it again..., but I don't think so. There has to be a better way of life. Yes, I've seen it. The two of you...loving each other, and Earth, too. Love is the first casualty of war. Oh yes...I know. War does not allow us to be our better selves. To fight well, you must be hard and tough; never doubting your leaders, never questioning. But, some day, war must end. NOW. Yes, we can make a start, today."

At that, Desslok told Wildstar and Nova how to defeat the Comet Empire; they could attack the Gatlantis at a weak point at its bottom. Then, hoping they would meet again someday, as friends, he said his goodbyes to Wildstar and Nova and departed with his fleet to begin the rebuilding of his Empiore and to find a new home for his people. Finally, at his decree, the war between Gamilon and Earth had, indeed, ended.

In the rest of the filmed Yamato/Star Blazers saga, Desslok and the Star Force meet again quite a few times, forming a friendship and alliance over time as they join forces against the Dark Nebula Empire, the Bolar Federation, and the Deingil Empire. In my alternate Visions saga, Wildstar and Desslok and the Gamilons meet again, with their friendship forming under different circumstances, as both men are forced to work together under different circumstances against original enemies I have devised.

Desslok is, perhaps, the most fascinating character in the whole Yamato/Star Blazers saga. This charming anti-hero has an arrogance, cool, and sense of style unmatched by many other anime characters in any other anime saga. On one's side, he is an honorable and faithful ally. Cross him, though, and you meet a deadly, scheming foe who is a man not to be trifled with.

General Talan--Adjutant to Leader Desslok.

Japanese name: Talan

First appeared in the eleventh episode of Star Blazers I, he was a general of Desslok's whose plan to defeat the Argo with a minefield was defeated by the Star Force's unexpected decision to go out into space in a space walk and move the mines away with their own hands after the main command mine was found and disarmed by Stephen Sandor and IQ-9. Desslok apparently forgave him and kept him in his ranks; he was briefly seen again at the trial of General Lysis. After Gamilon's devastation, he apparently assumed command of the Territorial Space Fleets of the Empire in Desslok's absence after General Krypt's death in the devastation of Gamilon and he kept things in order until Desslok returned. Then, he was found at Desslok's side throughout the campaign against the Argo, faithfully remaining in command of the Gamilon forces around the White Comet during Desslok's imprisonment; and he aided Desslok in his escape from Invidia, remaining at his side throughout the final battle with the Argo and afterwards. In my Visions saga, as in the filmed Yamato/Star Blazers saga after second series, he remains at Desslok's side as his aide, second-in-command, best friend, and confidant.

General Krypt--Former Adjutant to Leader Desslok (Deceased-2200)

Japanese name: Hiss

Krypt first appeared in episode 4 of the first series of Star Blazers as Desslok's original Adjutant General and second-in-command on Gamilon. Cold, merciless, and bitter, he ruthlessly gave Desslok's commands to Ganz and Bane on Pluto as they suffered defeat after defeat. Later, he sat as judge at Lysis' trial on Gamilon (ep. 21, SB/Y1) and brought the military court's death sentence to Desslok for his signature--and was surprised when Desslok pardoned him. In the Battle of Gamilon, at last, Krypt said that Gamilon had been fighting something as hard to destroy as a ghost ship as they had fought the Argo. In short, he suggested that they give up. Desslok merely chided him for his defeatism in the aired Star Blazers version of this exchange, but in Yamato I, Krypt/Hiss was executed at this point with a single shot by Desslok/Desslar. Still, it can be safely assumed that Krypt probably died at some point in the battle during Star Blazers I, since Desslok's Command Headquarters looked to be pretty well devastated at the end of the battle, even in the English version of the saga...

General Lysis-Field Marshal in Charge of Gamilon Forces, Balan Region

Japanese name: Domel

First appeared in episode 13 of Y/SB I, Lysis was an important Gamilon Commander with many victories under his belt who was decorated by Desslok for gallantry and then assigned the task of hunting down and destroying the Argo. He did so with great courage; with the Argo barely escaping his grasp quite a few times...one of these escapes was, in fact, only performed with the aid of Queen Starsha of Iscandar from afar. (ep. 15, Y/SB I). Lysis' biggest problem was that he was forced to work with an incompetent drunk known as General Volgarr. Volgarr most often served to make Lysis look foolish out of jealousy since Desslok stripped him of his command at Balan and placed Lysis over him. Volgarr got his revenge in episode 20 of Y/SB I, when Lysis was preparing to finish off the Star Force and crush the Gamilons' base on Balan with an artificial sun the Gamilons had placed in orbit around Balan. Volgarr informed Desslok of Lysis' actions, only to see the base destroyed when the Argo hit the sun with its wave motion gun and finished off the base. Sentenced to death for his loss at Balan, Lysis was pardoned by Desslok, who then assigned him the task of finishing off the Argo with a Gamilon task force.

Lysis, again saddled with Volgarr, assumed command of a Gamilon task force consisting of a new Command Cruiser, a battle-carrier, and three tri-deck carriers. His cruiser was equipped with a new Gamilon weapon; S.M.I.T.E., an acronym which, in Terran, stands for Space Matter Instantaneous Transportation Equipment. S.M.I.T.E 's job was to create a warp field which could instantanteously warp attack planes and bombers from the vicinity of the carriers to the Argo. After taking the Argo by surprise and then departing, the Gamilons would finish the job by warping a heavy bomber towards the Argo with a drill missile which was to drill into the Argo's wave motion gun, keeping it from being fired, and then exploding at close range to finish off the Terran space battleship. Lysis issued a challenge for Captain Avatar to fight his fleet near the Great Magellenic Cloud at a location filled with inert gas which would make detection of the Gamilon Fleet difficult. The Argo met the Gamilons at that location, and, again, avoided defeat only by a hair by turning the drill missile back at the task force, destroying all the ships except for Lysis' cruiser. Lysis then attached his ship to the bottom of the Argo's hull. (NOTE: In Star Blazers, this was done so Lysis could place a bomb against the Argo's hull and then leave...in Yamato, on the other hand, Domel's ship was the bomb and this was an out-and-out suicide move.) Lysis had enough honor to call Avatar and inform him of his intentions. Then, in Star Blazers, (through reversed and inserted footage), Lysis and Volgarr left, and were caught in the explosion which seriously damaged the Argo. In Star Blazers, Lysis' damaged ship then left and headed slowly towards Gamilon. (In Yamato, of course, Domel simply kept his ship attached to the Yamato's hull and died when the ship blew up.)

Star Blazers, of course, does not tell us what happened to Lysis after the battle of Rainbow Star Cluster in any filmed/canon episodes. Fan Fiction, however, can fill in those gaps, and in my alternate-universe Visions saga, an explanation of the fate of Lysis is laid out in the course of the storyline.

General Volgarr-Former Gamilon Commander, Balan Base.

Japanese name: Geru

This commander is an incompetent drunken idiot! He had extremely tasteless quarters, lots of booze bottles, and disgusting artwork up on his walls at Balan. Demoted to second-in-command by Lysis upon his arrival at Balan, Volgarr is a vain-glorious commander known for coming up with harebrained technological schemes to defeat the Argo, such as the Magnetron Wave Fortress, and perhaps the most moronic Gamilon weapon ever, the Balanosaurus, a giant space monster made of small cells controlled by his own amplified brain waves. In neither case did Volgarr predict that the Star Force would not just waltz into his ingenious trap, roll over and play dead. Looking very foolish in the eyes of Lysis and Desslok, Volgarr tried to sneak his way back into Desslok's good graces by reporting Lysis at the Battle of Balan when Lysis was about to crush the Gamilon base and the Argo with his artificial sun. Sure enough, Lysis got recalled and court-martialed. (It should have been Volgarr who got the court-martial, in my opinion). Volgarr was then again stuck at Lysis' side during the Battle of Rainbow Star Cluster. Of course, in the Yamato version of the saga, when Lysis/Domel died, so did Volgarr/Geru. However, in the Star Blazers version of the saga, Volgarr escaped with Lysis to head back towards Gamilon. His fate is set forth in my Visions storyline...is Lysis still stuck with this fool?