Captain Scarlet (character)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Captain Scarlet is the fictional main character in Gerry Anderson's British supermarionation science fiction television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and its CGI remake Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet.
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[edit] Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Well-trusted by the Commander-in-Chief of Spectrum, Colonel White, Captain Scarlet is the primary agent of the organisation and is assigned the most dangerous and crucial missions.
He is a close friend of Captain Blue, with whom he undertakes the majority of his missions, although he is on friendly terms with all other Spectrum agents. A close relationship with Destiny Angel is also hinted at several times in the series.
[edit] Death, Mysteronization, and Resurrection
Scarlet was killed in the first episode of the series ("The Mysterons"), in a car accident brought about by the Mysterons which also resulted in the death of Captain Brown. Both men were reconstructed by the aliens to assassinate the World President and Brown was turned into a walking bomb for this purpose. When this attempt failed, Scarlet kidnapped the President from Cloudbase and flew him to England, taking him to the top of the London Car-Vu, a large car park tower. Cornered while holding the President at gunpoint over the city below, Scarlet was shot by Captain Blue and fell 800 feet to his apparent destruction. However, at the end of the episode it was revealed that Scarlet was returning to life and had become incapable of dying due to the powers of the Mysterons. This extraordinary ability heals Scarlet of physical injuries within hours, making Captain Scarlet virtually indestructible.
Scarlet, like all Mysterons, is still vulnerable to electricity and impervious to X-rays. He also has a "sixth sense" when in the presence of a strong Mysteron influence--he becomes ill, sweats, and gets a terrible headache--but this sense sometimes does not indicate all Mysteron presence in an area.
Though Scarlet "dies" several times in the course of the series--usually quite violently--he always survives. In "Attack on Cloudbase", Scarlet is declared dead during the course of the battle for Cloudbase; this is later revealed to be Symphony Angel's hallucination as she is trapped waiting for Spectrum rescue following a plane crash.
[edit] Personality
Scarlet is one of the most developed characters in the series. His real name is Paul Metcalfe. He has black hair and blue eyes, and speaks with an English accent and is said to be from Winchester in Hampshire, England, born on 17 December 2036. He is not unfamiliar with gambling and drinking and in the episode "Special Assignment" plays, and loses heavily, at roulette. In the episode "Flight 104", Scarlet expresses a preference for steak "with all the trimmings".
Scarlet is a competent pilot and can drive almost any vehicle. He is also a qualified astronaut. He is a somewhat stereotypical hero in that he is dependable and always gets the job done although he is not always successful. He does, however, have a lighter side and is often seen to have a fun character off-duty. He also has a rather dry wit and sarcastic sense of humour often using this in dialogue with other Spectrum agents.
He can turn his hand to a variety of weapons from guns to electric cables. Scarlet does not have any love interests during the series although previous attractions are indicated at some points, and a popular speculation among the fan community of the series is that he has a soft spot for, if not relationship with, compatriot Rhapsody Angel.
Scarlet has a close friendship with Captain Blue and he acts as Scarlet's "partner". Blue cares about his friend and Scarlet trusts him implicitly. In the episode "Special Assignment", Blue tries to stop Scarlet's apparent spiral of self-destruction, showing the bonds between them. In the episode "Renegade Rocket", both men are prepared to stay in a missile base targeted by the Mysterons and die in a last-ditch attempt to stop its destruction.
Scarlet is also friends with Lieutenant Green when he accompanies Scarlet and Blue on certain missions. However, Scarlet is also friendly with all other Cloudbase personnel and has no particular enemies among those with whom he is closely associated.
[edit] Puppet Sculpture
Scarlet's puppet has been said to be based upon a young Cary Grant or Roger Moore; voice actor Francis Matthews told Simon Archer, author of Fab Facts, the story of meeting Roger Moore shortly after the series aired, when Moore reportedly told Matthews that he loved the series and that "[the puppet] looks just like me." It seems more likely that Scarlet, like Captain Blue and Colonel White, was sculpted to resemble his voice artist, Matthews, rather than another British celebrity. Matthews' well-known Cary Grant impersonation probably won him the part, as Gerry Anderson reportedly envisaged Scarlet as a dashing Englishman in the Cary Grant mould.
Scarlet's large marionette cast allowed for significant recycling of puppets both during the series and for most post-Scarlet Anderson puppet series. The Scarlet puppet itself was reused in the Gerry Anderson series The Secret Service, as Agent Blake.
[edit] Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet
In the remake series, Scarlet is a dual-national (British/American dual) having been born in Winchester, England, the son of a US astronaut and a British astrophysicist. Many of his other character traits remain, including his friendship with Captain Blue. However Scarlet's love interests feature more prominently. In the new series, Scarlet and Captain Black are friends up until Black's death at the hands of the Mysterons and both serve on the fateful mission to Mars.
