Viking Quest
Encyclopedia
Entourage (TV series)
Entourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18, 2004 and concluded on September 11, 2011, after eight seasons...
. It is referred to both by fictional characters and celebrities playing versions of themselves as a real show, and this conceit has been extended to promotional videos and a Flash game involving its star, Johnny Drama, outside of the show.
Within the Entourage universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
, Viking Quest is presented as a cult science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
show with echoes of Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess is an American–New Zealand supernatural fantasy adventure series that aired in syndication from September 4, 1995 until June 18, 2001....
.
Within the show
In the television show Entourage, Viking Quest aired in 1997 on the Sci-Fi channelSci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
. The complete series was later released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. The show seems to have developed something of a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
, and is especially popular in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In 2008, Viking Quest was re-released as a Special Edition DVD and promoted with a video game.
The show's tagline
Tagline
A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product...
is "From the past... comes a warrior of the future."
Tarvold
Tarvold hails from Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
. His ship is called the "Gokstad" (a reference to the Gokstad ship
Gokstad ship
The Gokstad ship is a Viking ship found in a burial mound at Gokstad farm in Sandar, Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway.-Discovery:The place where the boat was found, situated on arable land, had long been named Gokstadhaugen or Kongshaugen , although the relevance of its name had been discounted as...
).
Angel
Vanessa AngelVanessa Angel
- External links :...
appeared as Angel in three episodes of Viking Quest. She then went on to star in a spin-off series called Angel Quest, which ran "5 times longer" than Viking Quest. This is a sly reference to the fact that in real life Vanessa Angel was originally cast as Xena in a three-episode arc for the television show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is a television series, filmed in New Zealand and the United States. It was produced from 1995, and was very loosely based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles...
. She dropped out; the part of Xena
Xena
Xena is a fictional character from Robert Tapert's Xena: Warrior Princess franchise. She first appeared in the 1995–1999 television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, before going on to appear in Xena: Warrior Princess TV show and subsequent comic book of the same name...
went to Lucy Lawless
Lucy Lawless
Lucy Lawless, MNZM is a New Zealander actress and singer best known for playing the title character of the internationally successful television series Xena: Warrior Princess....
; and the subsequent spin-off series Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess is an American–New Zealand supernatural fantasy adventure series that aired in syndication from September 4, 1995 until June 18, 2001....
went on to significantly eclipse its predecessor, both critically and commercially.
Premise
Set during the mid-10th Century AD in the Orkney IslandsOrkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
, Viking Quest follows the exploits of Viking hero, Tarvold, as he and his clan sail the high seas. A legend in the making, Tarvold had become one of the most feared and notorious Vikings scarcely a year after he had grown his beard. It was then that he dared to steal the gold of Vali
Váli (son of Odin)
In Norse mythology, Váli is a son of the god Odin and the giantess Rindr. He was birthed for the sole purpose of killing Höðr as revenge for Höðr's accidental murder of his half-brother, Baldr. He grew to full adulthood within one day of his birth, and slew Höðr...
, Norse
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
God of Revenge. His childhood friend and arch-nemesis, Thorfinn Skull-Splitter, betrayed him and Tarvold was caught stealing the gold. As retribution for his deed, Tarvold was forced to loot and plunder in Vali's name. As he sailed the high seas doing Vali's bidding, Tarvold had to stay one step ahead of Thorfinn who constantly attempted to thwart Tarvold's progress and steal the treasure that he needed to repay his debt to Vali.
Episodes
Viking Quest ran for one season of 22 episodes. In episode 9, "The Thawing", Tarvold is frozen for 30 years, and when he wakes up, his wife is remarried.Online game
In September 2008, HBO and Fuel IndustriesFuel Industries
Fuel Industries is an Ottawa, Ontario based online interactive and marketing agency. Founded in 1999 by Mike Burns, Jeff Doiron, Dave Ozipko and Brian Nesbitt, Fuel Industries employs over 85 people and has satellite offices in Los Angeles and Seattle....
produced a Viking Quest game website as part of a marketing campaign for the 5th season of Entourage. The site features a Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
game, and claims that a Viking Quest game is coming soon to consoles. It also claims that the show is being re-released on DVD.