A lot of people know the main characters of the Lion Force series, so getting to their detailed bios wasn’t a high priority for me just yet. But a lot of new people are coming to the VOLTRON mythos of late, so I realize that for them – especially finding this site to be one of the most recommended – it is important to get main character bios out there so they can understand the difference between the TV series’ mythos and that of the more recent Devils’ Due comic. So I decided to at least get something preliminary up to give these folks a point of reference.
ALFOR
King of Arus, fell to Zarkon when his daughter Allura was approximately eight years old. Said to be the one who ‘built the Voltron lions’ but not Voltron as its original single robot. A man of magical powers, he has still been able to appear to Allura as a guiding spirit in times of trouble. Sometimes he can magically rescue her, but not always. According to VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION, Alfor and Haggar had a love relationship early on that did not work out, after which Haggar joined up with the forces of Zarkon. Who Allura’s mother and Alfor’s wife is remains a mystery; we only know she passed away when Allura was very young and has a sister named Queen Orla who resides on Arus.
ALLURA
Princess and current ruler of Arus. Daughter of King Alfor and a mother who is unnamed, though her mother’s sister Queen Orla resides on Arus. Current pilot of the Blue Lion of Voltron, much to the worry of Coran and Nanny, who would rather she stay safe in the palace than be put in the line of fire. Timid at first, she has slowly grown into a capable ruler. However, the pressure is still on to marry, and implications are that Arusian law is that she cannot become Queen until she chooses a Prince Consort. Which, given her strong concern and attraction for Keith, may not be too forthcoming anytime soon. And, as much as he’d like it to happen, Lotor is certainly no candidate in Allura’s mind. The extent of the relationship between Keith and Allura remains puzzling, as there is a debate that they appear to have actually gotten Alfor’s ‘approval’ for a relationship near the end of the original series, but by VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION they show a deep caring for each other but no hint of anything romantic.
ARIELLA
The first Queen of Arus, who came in a mysterious space pod as a baby and was raised by five magical protective lions. She became, by means not yet revealed, the first Queen of all Arus. She reveals herself as a magical sprit to Allura for guidance midway through VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION, why she did not reach out to Allura before then is unclear.
BANDOR
Young Prince and ruler of Arus’ sister planet, Pollux. Older sister is Romelle, and Bandor is also cousin to Princess Allura. A tantrum throwing, immature, adventurous ruler who is lucky to have Romelle to balance him out.
CORAN
Royal Advisor to King Alfor and now to Princess Allura. Protects her like a father, sometimes
too much so. Little else is known
about him save that he had a wife, Leda, and son named Garrett. Leda fled with their infant son during
an attack years ago by Zarkon (not the same attack that kills Alfor as Allura
and Garrett are near the same age).
When a man comes to the
COSSACK
Commander who works for both Lotor and Zarkon, as kind of a second in command to Lotor leading the armies of Doom. He is however, a sniveling fool who likes to kiss up, which is probably how he keeps his job for as long as he does (the last 20 episodes of the original series). In the end, during a big conflict, he runs away in fear and is never heard from again.
HAGGAR
Witch of dark powers who serves Zarkon or Lotor, whoever can offer her what serves her needs. Apparently originally a beautiful green alien who had a love affair with King Alfor (per VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION) that went bad, she’s now bent on helping to destroy him by allying with the forces of Doom. How she quickly became such a dark, old crone is unknown. Can change her appearance to anyone she needs with the use of glamors. Powerful enough to disguise herself as a beautiful goddess in order to lure a curious, originally whole Voltron close and split him into the five parts Voltron now functions as. In the FLEET OF DOOM, Keith and Allura team up in the Dream Dimension to reawaken that tiny bit of original goodness left in Haggar to win their freedom.
HUNK
Pilot of the Yellow Lion. Big friendly fellow that lives up to his nickname in size of body and heart. Real name is unknown, as is homeworld. Only fact we know about his past is that while doing an ‘internship’ of some kind while at Space Academy, he befriended three kids on a planet in the Azure Quadrant he later goes back to help.
KEITH
Steadfast commander of the Voltron Force and pilot of Black Lion. Tends not to show feelings on his sleeve, so it takes him nearly the entire original series to bring down his walls and hint to Allura that he likes her as much as she does him, though everyone else can see it from miles away. Only detail we know about his past is that he got lost as a child in a forest, fears that Haggar later plays upon in the FLEET OF DOOM special. The extent of the relationship between Keith and Allura remains puzzling, as there is a debate that they appear to have actually gotten Alfor’s ‘approval’ for a relationship near the end of the original series, but by VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION they show a deep caring for each other but no hint of anything romantic. Add to that the problem that Allura apparently can’t become Queen until she gets married per Arusian law, and Keith isn’t exactly considered Prince Consort material, and it becomes quite the dilemma.
LAFITTE
A female Space Pirate who comes to work for Lotor in VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION. Home planet is unclear.
LANCE
Stubborn, rebellious, hot-headed pilot of Red Lion. We know that Zarkon destroyed his parents’ farm on his homeworld when he was a child (but not the name of his homeworld) and that is what spurred him to join the ranks of Galaxy Garrison. He also seems to have a rather accurate ‘sixth sense’ about people, so therefore is the most likely to see through deception. Whether it is special abilities or just a heightened awareness from such a devastating early childhood is unclear.
LOTOR
Prince of Doom. He’s intent not only on taking Arus for his own, but Allura for his bride, and overthrowing his father Zarkon. He is very ego-centered yet charismatic, and charming in a eerily gentlemanly sort of way, plus a capable fighter. That said, he rarely wins, and in particular hasn’t won Allura’s heart. Briefly married (or engaged, depending on who you ask) to his distant cousin Merla, who has since turned to the side of good. A big battle right at the opening of VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION left half of Lotor’s body a mass of electronics and cybernetics, ruining his good looks and making him even desire revenge even more, as well as trying harder than ever to make Allura his own.
MERLA
Distant cousin of Lotor, known fully as Merla Queen of Darkness, though it is unknown if she uses that title now since turning good. She rules her own small kingdom of worlds. Merla has mental powers that she used to use to mind control people, but now applies them responsibly for good. Soon after turning good, Merla disappeared after finding she could not get Lotor to join her. At one point, Lotor and Merla were wed in an arranged marriage that they ultimately annulled, though Merla later just brushes this off as an ‘engagement’. She made no appearances in VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION.
NANNY
Allura’s Nanny, who watched out for her following her mother’s death into her adulthood. Strong, disciplinary, unafraid to go so far as to give the teen Princess spankings if she felt needed. However, by VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION Nanny is no longer at the Castle.
PIDGE
Smart, techo-genius who pilots Green Lion. Real name not known. He has a twin brother Chip on the Vehicle Voltron team, as well as a mentioned kid sister back on planet Terra who nothing else is known about. We do know that he and Chip were adopted when they were old enough to understand what was going on, but we do not know their birth parents. Whether the sister is a blood relation or their adoptive younger sister is unknown. Pidge grew up on planet Balto, which Zarkon later totally devastated and the planet exploded into non-existence. We learn much later in VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION that most people on Balto had mental powers and that Pidge is frustrated for never having developed them.
QUEEQUEG
A male Space Pirate who comes to work for Lotor in VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION. Home planet is unclear.
ROMELLE
Princess of Planet Pollux, twin planet to Arus. Older sister of Bandor, girlfriend to Sven. Stubborn, headstrong, willing to plunge headfirst into a fight, yet still strikingly beautiful. Sven and Romelle have been through hard times together, after she helped rescue him from his lonely existence in the Pit of Skulls on Planet Doom and then later Sven nearly died fighting Lotor to avenge the mistreatment of them both. The two have basically pledged themselves to one another openly in love toward the end of the original series. They do not appear in VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION, so we do not know how the relationship progressed.
SVEN
Original pilot of Blue Lion. Sven begins as a very honorable, perhaps even prideful, man. Sven and Haggar battle it out early on in the series, and Sven is so badly injured his friends must take him to the medical planet Ebb. They are so busy helping rebuild Arus they do not hear of the raids on Ebb where Sven is captured with the intent to enslave him and everyone else on the planet. However, when brought to planet Doom, Sven is deemed too sick to work (perhaps not completely done with physical therapy?) and is doomed to starvation in the Pit of Skulls. One day, a woman is cast into the Pit with him… Allura’s distant cousin Princess Romelle of Planet Pollux, who refuses to serve Lotor. She recognizes who Sven is, or more exactly, who he used to be. Romelle cannot believe the depressed and bitter man she’s meeting is the Sven of recent Voltron legend. Hitting him at the heart of his pride, Romelle pushes Sven to help save her and himself. The bond that forms between them begins as one where Sven feels loyalty and honor toward Romelle for saving his life. At one point, Sven risks his life to fight Lotor and nearly dies to avenge how Lotor treated him and Romelle, but Romelle once again is there to nurse him back to health. Sven is reassigned to help Romelle’s world of Pollux rebuild from Zarkon’s attacks. Over the course of the remainder of the series, their relationship evolves to where Sven finally gets past seeing himself as ‘just a pilot’ and openly declares his love for the headstrong Princess Romelle… who declares it right back. He and Romelle do not appear in VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION, so how the relationship evolved is unknown.
ZARKON
King of Planet Doom, intent on having all of Arus as his slaves and Voltorn defeated. He is served by witch Haggar, and his son is Prince Lotor.
VOLTRON's visited a lot of planets over the course of well over 60 episodes. So who all have they met? Check out this guest character listing and find out who's who. (Will take some time to construct, I offer it in partially finished form to help answer what questions I can)