Subscribe!The Pirates of Dark Water (1991)
Originally posted on 09 May 2026First episode title: The Quest
How familiar with the show am I?: This is another one I'd never heard of before.
On the planet Mer, many different species of people live. But the planet is being slowly consumed by a black liquid called Dark Water, and only the power of the Thirteen Treasures of Rule can save the world from it. A crew of heroes sail around Mer to find these treasures, but are pursued by a gang of pirates whose leader wants to use the treasures to control the Dark Water himself.
The main characters here are:
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Ren, a young man who learns that he is the son of King Primus of the kingdom of Octopon
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Niddler, a "monkey-bird" who initially works for the pirates, and who is obsessed with food
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Ioz, a rogue and seaman who joins up with Ren for the prospect of treasures
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Tula, a barmaid who decides she wants to get away from her dull life
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Bloth, the leader of the pirates, who is some unclear variety of large humanoid species with blue lips
Ren starts the episode in a lighthouse, seeing an old man in a small boat crash into the shore, and he rushes down to help him, bringing him to shore. From a distance, Bloth, on his ship, sees that the old man is being helped, and kills the pirate who was supposed to be guarding the old man by throwing him into a pit on the boat. The old man tells Ren to look towards Octopon, and Ren has a vision of the kingdom restored to its former glory. The man tells Ren to seek Alamar and tell him that Primus has escaped from Bloth - then, the sea washes over the old man and he vanishes. Ren goes back to the lighthouse to tell the woman who raised him what happened, thinking that the old man had been crazy, but she tells him that that man was King Primus and was his father, and she gives him a broken sword that had belonged to the king. She tells him he will be able to find Alamar at the Abbey of Galdebar.
Then Niddler smashes through the window, screeching, picks up Ren in his talons, and carries him away, depositing him on Bloth's pirate ship. Bloth is annoyed that Niddler brought him this unknown young man instead of Primus, and is about to throw Niddler into the pit to face the "Constrictus" when Niddler escapes his grasp. Ren realises who Bloth is, and Bloth starts demanding to know whether the old man had told him any secrets about the Thirteen Treasures of Rule. Ren reveals that he is Primus's son, so Bloth picks him up and throws him into the pit, where he's attacked by the Constrictus, a creature with multiple mouths whose body is hidden by the water. Ren still has the firestarter he lights the lighthouse with, so he uses it to burn the monster and climbs back out of the pit. He's surrounded by pirates but he manages to beat one and then get up to the crow's nest. The pirates use some kind of jellyfish-like creature to start dissolving the pole that's holding him up, but then Niddler comes back. Ren points out that they both want revenge against Bloth now, and Niddler saves Ren, carrying him away. Pirates riding dragons pursue them, and Ren is forced to agree to find Niddler some food if he takes him where he needs to go.
So, they head to the Abbey of Galdebar, at the top of a mountain. An intimidating hooded monk greets them, who Ren assumes is Alamar, but he is just a servant. He gives Ren a blue crystal on a necklace and says it will be his guide. Then he takes Ren to Alamar, who turns out to be a huge green lizard-like beast. Alamar shows Ren a poem that says that, in order to find the treasures, he'll need to follow the Compass - which is the jewel he was given - and that someone else is also searching for the treasures. Then Bloth and his pirates attack the abbey, capturing the servant and attacking Alamar. Ren manages to pick up one pirate's rope weapon and take out some of the villains, but it's too late to save Alamar's life. Bloth grabs Niddler when he tries to help, but Ren picks up a bow with a flaming arrow from another defeated foe and pins Bloth's arm with it (only his clothing, not the flesh!), saving Niddler and allowing the two of them to escape.
Ren and Niddler arrive in a market town - the Compass is indicating towards the sea so they are going to need a boat. In a bar, they hang around without ordering anything, irritating Tula. Once they spot Ioz as a likely prospect, they deliberately loudly talk about treasure in the hope of attracting his attention. It works, and he offers them the use of his boat for a cut of the treasure. As they prepare to leave on the boat, a group of men chase them, and it becomes clear as they set sail that this isn't really Ioz's boat! Five days pass at sea, and then the Compass points them towards the first Treasure of Rule, through some perilous rocks that Ioz doesn't like the look of, but there's no way for them to turn back either as Bloth's ship catches up with them (and it turns out Ioz, like Niddler, is a former member of his crew). The pirates launch fireballs at the ship, which Niddler is able to put out using the seawater. But then a trapdoor to the ship's hold opens, revealing that Tula has stowed away! It turns out she's good with sailing too and helps to steer them through the rocks. The Compass shows that the treasure is a gem on a rocky peak up ahead, and Ren tells Niddler to fly ahead and grab it. Bloth switches to firing at Niddler and it seems like he has been destroyed, but he shows up safely with the gem, and Ren's party head off towards the second treasure, pursued by pirates.
Ren is quite a standard hero type. He's eager to help when people need it and not afraid of the villains, and he has a few tricks up his, er, sleeveless top. He does have another case of generic heroic voice, but I can't complain about that every time!
The pit on Bloth's boat that contains the Constrictus looks like it's made from the ribcages of even bigger animals. Whether this serves any purpose beyond looking suitably intimidating, I do not know!
Niddler is constantly obsessing over when they can eat. At first it makes him seem a bit annoying, but as it goes on I start to feel sorry for him! Ioz promises him three meals a day when they get on the ship, but since it turns out not to be his ship at all, I'm guessing this was another false promise.
At multiple points during the episode, a ringed planet is visible, large on the horizon. The episode doesn't go into detail about the solar system that Mer is part of, but for a planet that size to be so close, maybe Mer is actually a moon?
Ren initially assumes that Alamar will be a human, and Alamar makes a point out of this, as if to imply that there is prejudice against non-human sentient beings in this world. The way some characters talk about Niddler certainly seems to bear this out.
There is some misogyny from Ioz that is clearly meant to be an illustration of what kind of character he is rather than a problem with the writers. He even calls Tula "wench" when they first meet in the bar!
Speaking of Tula, did she go five days without food while stowing away? Since she was in the hold, maybe she was scavenging whatever food was stored down there.
There is, overall, a surprising amount of death in this show, compared to what I'm used to in other kids' shows of the era. There's the executed pirate at the start, various random generic pirates in Ren's fights with them (yes, it's a show that's not afraid to have its hero kill when necessary!), and of course Alamar. Even a generic dragon got eaten by an even bigger monster right at the start of the episode, illustrating how brutal this world is. It's ambiguous what exactly happened to Primus when the sea washed him away, though.
There are some amusing coincidences between this show and Vytor: The Starfire Champion. They both have a general mix of fantasy and sci-fi (weighted more towards fantasy in this one though), but also, both shows have the main character learn that he is the son of a dead king and receive that king's old weapon, being told in the process that he is the only one who can save the world. Also, both shows start with the villain killing one of his minions by dropping them into a pit. I know those are some quite generic fantasy plot points, but it still amused me to encounter them again so quickly.
Anyway, I do want to see more of this show! There is strong characterisation for all of the lead characters, and the writers and animators alike have created an intriguing world that I want to know more about.
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