Sparx (Ace Lightning)

Sparx is a character from the BBC show, Ace Lightning. As a Lightning Knight, Sparx has sworn to protect the Amulet of Zoar from Lord Fear, and is willing to sacrifice herself in the process. Very energetic and equally hotheaded, Sparx is never one to hold back during a battle, Sparx puts her powers and dangerous body into full force. A deadly fighter with her hands, Sparx is an expert in martial arts and gymnastics, as well as possessing great skills in swordfighting.

Abilities

*Sparx is an expert in martial arts and gymnastics. Her high level of visible agility might be due to superstrength, though it is never outrightedly stated that she has the same strength as Ace.
*She wields the Sword of Jacob, a double-edged weapon which fires bolts of pink electricity. On several occasions, Sparx has used this sword to deflect Lady Illusion's exploding crystal balls.
*Sparx rides the flying Lightning Flash. While Ace is capable of unpowered flight it is believed that not all Knights have this ability (Ace is actually the only one shown to on screen), so the Flash makes a useful alternative for Sparx, even coming to her at her whistle.

The Lightning Flash

The Lightning Flash is Sparx's personal aircraft, resembling a futuristic aerial jetski. Being able to fly at the speed of electricity [Jon Richards, "Ace Lightning Official Guide", page 24, ISBN 0-5635-3218-I] , it is just as fast as Ace, and comes to Sparx's side with just a whistle - and sometimes with a cry of "Lightning Flash, to me!". Sparx uses it throughout the series to combat the villains from above or head-on. The Lightning Flash seems to be bound to Sparx, as it disappears after her brief destruction at the hands of her own sword. The Lightning Flash is capable of being brought down, as seen by the likes of a zombified Ace, Anvil and Lord Fear, who later becomes Sparx's rival when he gains the Doom Wagon. The Lightning Flash seems to be completely damaged in the final episode, when Lady Illusion strikes it with one of her bombs, causing it to crash and partially explode. Ace later arrives at its crashsite to find it broken and on fire. However, at the end of this episode, Sparx is shown riding the Flash about the sky with Ace, revealing that the vehicle still functions.

History

Sparx's past, like that of many of the characters, is unknown, although she seems to have always had a grudge against Lord Fear and Lady Illusion. She is arrogant, hotheaded, impatient and has the tendency to develop grudges. She has a number of rivals, including Lady Illusion and Googler in the first series, and Lord Fear in the second. Sparx debutes in Episode 12 when Mark locates another piece of the Amulet and uses it to summon her from the game. She easily defeats Anvil and chases off Lord Fear, then criticizes Mark's role as a Lightning Knight, causing him to quit. The next day, however, when Sparx and Ace attack the Carnival of Doom, Ace is turned into a zombie by Googler's puppets Zip and Snip, and he is forced to hunt Sparx. Mark protects her, and Ace is eventually restored to normality. Sparx thanks Mark for saving her life and accepts him into their ranks.

Sparx remains on Earth for several episodes. At one point, she becomes impatient with sitting around in the Thunder Tower, and goes to the Carnival depite the fact that her power levels are low. She confronts Lord Fear, and the two battle each other. Sparx knocks Fear's staff from his hands, but it then blasts her from behind, destroying the last of her power reserves, and thereby incapacitating her. Fear holds her prisoner, waiting for Ace to arrive and rescue her. When Ace does arrive, Lord Fear blasts him and prepares to destroy them both. However, Mark defeats Fear and rescues them. During her time in the human world, Sparx also engages in several fights with Lady Illusion, who believes that she (Sparx) is attracted to Ace. The validity of this assumption has never been explored. While leaving the scene of a battle with Googler, her then-current rival, Sparx is accidentally recorded on video by Chuck, who mistakes her for an alien. In the same episode, Googler ends up lost, and later attacks Mark and Mr. Cheseborough at the school. Ace and Sparx arrive to defend Mark, and in the ensuing battle, Sparx is accidentally wounded by Ace and she drops her sword. Zip and Snip take this opportunity and blast Sparx with her own weapon, destroying her and returning her to the Sixth Dimension. Before she dies, she tells Mark to take care of Ace in her absence.

When Ace locates another piece of the Amulet near the end of Season 1, he summons Sparx back from the Sixth Dimension to help him battle Lord Fear once again. In the next episode, she exacts revenge for her prior destruction by defeating Googler in a heated battle. She later engages in a fight with Lady Illusion, almost defeating her, but runs out of power at the last minute, allowing Lady Illusion to imprison her in a giant crystal ball. She remains within this prison throughout much of the next episode, but tricks Dirty Rat, who had been guarding her, into inciting a revolt against Lord Fear, distracting all the villains long enough for Ace to free her. However, while Ace is focussed on saving her, Lady Illusion steals their pieces of the Amulet from Mark. Now in possession of the entire Amulet, Lord Fear begins to slowly drain the powers of all the Lightning Knights. Along with Ace and Random Virus, Sparx takes part in a climactic battle with Lord Fear's forces, choosing to set herself against Googler. However, in her weakened state, she is easily defeated and subsequently imprisoned, along with Random Virus, in another crystal ball by Lady Illusion. When Mark shatters the Amulet, Sparx and Random are released form their captivity.

In Season 2, Ace and Sparx plan to return to the Sixth Dimension with Random, but the insuing battle and intervention of Lady Illusion causes only Ace and Sparx to return to the Sixth Dimension, where they are hunted by Googler until Ace vanishes due to Chuck's examination of Mark's Amulet piece. Chuck later appears in the game to save Sparx, the two return to Earth. Sparx tries to help Ace with his unstable emotions, but instead a rift forms between them, until they battle Pigface together and each realise that the other may have been partly in the right in their arguments. Sparx's rivlary with Lady Illusion continues throughout the second series, and the two engage in several battles. When Googler returns, he uses his powers to wound Sparx so that she 'bleeds' binary code. If this bleeding is not stopped soon enough, it will cause Sparx to return to the datastream. Ace attempts to help her, but later receives a similar wound when battling Google. Fortunately, Chuck uses an upgrade from his computer to cure both of the ailing Knights, and they combine attacks to defeat Googler. Several episodes later, Sparx engages in another battle with Googler, and almost loses. However, when he knocks her to the ground, she feigns incapacity, and her subsequent attack therefore catches him by surprise and defeats him.

Sparx is later captured by Kilobyte and imprisoned in an unbreakable forcefield along with Random and Kat Adams. Sparx seems to develop a friendship with Kat, and tells her she has accepted the relationship between Ace and Lady Illusion, after Kat asks her if she and Ace are a couple. Sparx is freed from the prison after the defeat of Kilobyte and witnesses Lady Illusion's death and comes to Ace's side to help him mourn his loss.

In the Videogame

Sparx is mentioned in the opening story sequence of the Ace Lightning computer game, but doesn't appear in the game itself. However, she is playable in a boss fight on the Game Boy Advance adaptation.

References