Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, known in Japan as Pac-World,[b] is an animated television series produced by 41 Entertainment, Arad Productions, a partnership between Sprite Animation Studios and OLM, Inc., and Bandai Namco Entertainment for Tokyo MX (stereo version), BS11 (stereo version) and Disney XD (bilingual version).[3] Based on Bandai Namco's Pac-Man video game franchise, it is the second animated series to be based upon the game franchise, following the 1982 TV series. The show aired from June 15, 2013, to May 29, 2015, running for three seasons and 52 episodes.

Various games and merchandise were produced based on the series, including two video games[4] and several mobile apps.

Overview

Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures takes place in a planet called Pac-World, regularly taking place in a futuristic city called Pacopolis, which is inhabited by orb-like Pac-People. In the year 2522 (according to The Adventure Begins - Part 1), Pac-World was once a peaceful planet, until an conspiracy led by Commander Betrayus, the brother of Spheros, attempted to seize control of Pac-World; this resulted into the beginning of the Pac-World War, referred in modern days as the Ghost Wars. After years of fighting Betrayus and his army, the people of Pac-World reigned supreme and defeated Commander Betrayus' army. The Pac-People stripped Commander Betrayus and his minions of their corporeal bodies by using the Repository, and banished their spirits within the Netherworld, where they have remained sealed for years.

In the present day, the titular Pac-Man (real name Pac, though nicknamed "Pacster" by his friends) attends Maze High School with his best friends Spiral and Cylindria. Pac is a war orphan after his parents disappeared during the Ghost Wars; he is raised by his Aunt Spheria and resides with his friends inside the Maze High School dorms. After being relentlessly chased by the school bully Skeebo for emptying the whole school cafeteria as part of an all-you-can-eat buffet, Pac hides from Skeebo by fleeing to the local maze, Maze 256; a maze just next to the school. Pac gets lost within the maze, and stumbles upon a suspicious path with warning signs. After assuming it may be a prank from Skeebo, Pac goes down the path but ends up tumbling down a forbidden tunnel, where he accidentally opens a large gate that breaks the seal between Pac-World and the Netherworld. With the seal broken, the ghosts are now able to roam free in Pac-World. Betrayus, now the leader of the Netherworld with his servants Dr. Buttocks and Butt-ler, leads the ghosts into invading and terrorizing Pac-World, not stopping until they are able to seize control of Pac-World by stealing the Tree of Life or the Repository, where the ghosts' bodies are located. Among the first ghost invasion, Pac is ambushed by Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, but are then eaten afterwards as he is a "Yellow One". Not long after, Spheros, now the president of Pac-World and associates of Pac's parents, discovers Pac's ability to fight back and scare the ghosts as a "Yellow One", also discovering he is the last of the powerful kind; fulfilling a prophecy written centuries ago that a "Yellow One" would rise to protect Pac-World. Spheros reveals the Tree of Life to Pac, a giant tree that grows special Power Berries and stabilizes the atmosphere in Pac-World. Without the tree, Pac-World would collapse into the Netherworld.

Though initially reluctant, Pac takes on the ghosts from the Netherworld and uses the Power Berries to power up. When chasing ghosts for the first time using the special Power Berries, Pac corners Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, who surrender to the Pac-People and vow to help Pac and his friends defeat Betrayus as spies, in exchange to be restored to their corporeal bodies. After successfully retrieving the Tree of Life after it was stolen by the ghosts of the Netherworld, Pac is hailed as Pac-World's guardian and is named "Pac-Man" by President Spheros for his heroic acts.

Pac-Man and his friends are often supplied with helpful equipment from Sir Cumference, a Pac-Scientist who also houses his robot Grinder and Fuzbitz, a tamed monster from the Netherworld. Using the many different abilities of the Power Berries to power-up and gain special powers, Pac-Man often deals with battling Betrayus and his ghosts with their evil plans, or are sometimes also ambushed by other evils. He is occasionally supported by Cylindria, Spiral, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, Clyde and others during his adventures. In his regular life, Pac continues to attend Maze High School, occasionally meeting up with many friends, dealing with various different situations and situations related to himself, such as attempting to control his appetite or dealing with situations happening in Pacopolis.

Along defeating the evils that attempt to seize control of Pac-World such, Pac encounters faces of people responsible for committing genocide on the "yellow ones" such as The Pacinator and Apex; from the latter which Pac learns that his parents, Zac and Sunny, are still alive. After learning about his parents, Pac begins to investigate the disappearance of them and where they might be found. As the series never received a proper conclusion by the time the show was cancelled, it is unknown if Pac would ever find his parents.

Cast and characters

Promotional concept art featuring Pac-Man, Spiralton, and Cylindria

Main

• Pac-Man (voiced by Erin Mathews), Real name as "Pac" is the title character of the series. He is the last of the Yellow Pac-Worlders, having lost his parents to ghost-related circumstances. As a yellow Pac-Worlder, he has the ability to eat ghosts while spitting out their eyes. He is brave, kind, cheerful, loyal and compassionate, but on occasion, he is impulsive, rebellious, and immature, as well as being motivated by his absurd appetite.[18][19]

• Cylindria (voiced by Andrea Libman[20]) is a pink Pac-Girl with glasses and one of Pac's classmates and best friends who is the smartest of the main three. She is hot-tempered and sassy, but fundamentally sweet.[19]

• Spiralton[21] (voiced by Sam Vincent,[20]commonly referred to as Spiral) is a tall red friendly jock and one of Pac's classmates and best friends. He is the tallest and most athletic of the three.[18]

• Betrayus, full name Lord Betrayus Sneakerus Spheros,[22] (voiced by Sam Vincent[20]) is the sadistic, temperamental, and egocentric Lord of the Ghosts and the Netherworld and Spheros' brother. When alive, he tried to conquer the world, but was defeated and stripped of his corporeal form alongside his underlings. Despite his malicious personality and actions, he is also very immature and prone to childish fits when he doesn't get his way.

• The Ghost Gang is a group of four ghosts from the original arcade game. They live in the Netherworld and are ruled by Lord Betrayus. Despite their servitude towards Betrayus, they are secretly allies of Pac-Man and friends due to not liking having to live in the Netherworld.

  • Blinky (voiced by Ian James Corlett[20]) is a red ghost. He's the default leader of the group, as well as the shortest. Hot-tempered and cunning, he's very insecure and has a softer side.[23]

  • Inky (voiced by Lee Tockar[20]) is a blue ghost, the thinnest and sneakiest in the gang. He has a sibling rivalry with Blinky on account of them being twins.[24]

  • Pinky (voiced by Ashleigh Ball[20]) is a sassy pink ghost and the only sister. She has a crush on Pac-Man and a rivalry with Cylindria.[25]

  • Clyde (voiced by Brian Drummond[20]) is an orange ghost, the largest and friendliest of the siblings.

Pac-Worlders

• President Stratos Spheros (voiced by Sam Vincent[20]) is the benevolent president of Pac-World, old friends of Pac's parents, and Betrayus' brother. He serves as a mentor to Pac-Man, Spiral, and Cylindria.

• Sir Cumference "Sir C" (voiced by Ian James Corlett) is a goofy scientist who has met Pac's father and mother. Despite his advanced age, he is very energetic and athletic, and is a brilliant, yet scatterbrained, inventor.[19]

• Skeebo (voiced by Matt Hill[20]) is a mean-spirited, vain, and buffoonish blue jock and school bully who torments Pac. He openly despises the color yellow despite having blonde hair. He is also Cylindria's ex-boyfriend, and the two broke up for his cowardice when she was held captive by a giant ghost.

• Spheria Suprema (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) is a scrappy orange Pac-Person who is Pac-Man's aunt.

• Ms. Globular (voiced by Erin Mathews[20]) is one of Pac-Man's teachers.

• Mr. Strictler (voiced by Mark Oliver) is a light-blue driver's ed teacher with a stubborn personality.

• Mr. Dome (voiced by Lee Tockar) is the gym teacher.

• O'Drool (voiced by Lee Tockar) is the arrogant and abrasive Secretary of Security who first appeared in "Betrayus Turns Up the Heat".

• Kingpin Obtuse (voiced by Lee Tockar) is a dark-green crime lord of Pac-World's criminal underworld.

• Rotunda (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain) is an Elder who is the mother of Stratos and Betrayus.

• Zac is Pac's father.

• Sunny is Pac's mother.

• The Pacinator (voiced by Ian James Corlett) is a villainous Pac-Person. It's implied that he is responsible for the demise of Pac's parents.

• Do-Ug (voiced by Gabe Khouth) is a Neander-Pac kid who first appeared in "Cave Pac-Man".

• Danny Vaincori (voiced by Kyle Rideout) is a movie director who first appears in "Pac-Mania".

• Elliptika "Elli" (voiced by Kazumi Evans) is a light pink Pac-Worlder who visits Pacopolis from PacTokyo.

• Moondog is a black-haired lavender Pac-Worlder who is Cylindria's father.

• Starchild is a blonde Pac-Worlder who is Cylindria's mother.

• Santa Pac (voiced by Richard Newman) is Pac-World's version of Santa Claus.

• Floofers is Elliptika's green pet dog.

Ghosts

• Butt-ler (voiced by Brian Drummond) is Betrayus' long-suffering servant and butler whose forehead resembles pair of buttocks.[26]

• Dr. A.H. Buttocks[27] (voiced by Brian Drummond) is the Netherworld's greatest mad scientist and Butt-ler's older twin brother who takes every opportunity to bully Butt-ler.

• Glooky (real name as Funky in the game series) is a green Ghost with a squint in his left eye. He is a friend of Blinky.

• Mavis is an orange female Ghost.

• Specter (voiced by Brendon Ryan Barrett) is a ghost spy who works for Betrayus.

• Fred is a white ghost that was used as a flag due to the lack of white clothes.

• Master Goo (voiced by Vincent Tong) is a Ninja Ghost.

• Captain Banshee is a ghost pirate who first appears in "Cap'n Banshee and his Interstellar Buccaneers".

• Cyclops Ghosts (voiced by Lee Tockar) are heavyset Ghosts with one eye and three horns.

• Ogle (voiced by Brian Drummond) is a Cyclops Ghost who works as a chef.

• Fire Ghosts are orange Ghosts who can emit fire from their body.

• Ice Ghosts are blue Ghosts who can emit ice from their body.

• Tentacle Ghosts (voiced by Lee Tockar) are 4-eyed purple-black Ghosts who look similar to an octopus.

• Guardian Ghosts are large Ghosts who guard the Netherworld.

• Aqua Ghosts are light blue Ghosts with fins on their head.

• Drill-Bit Ghosts are Ghosts that have drill bits on their heads.

• Alien Ghosts are Ghosts that live on the Ghosteroid.

• Ghosteroid is an asteroid ghost that Dr. Buttocks once brought near Pac-World.

• Ghost Sharks are ghostly sharks that reside in the waters of PacLantis and guard the Berry of Youth.

• Virus Ghosts are normal ghosts that have been digitised by a Dr. Buttocks invention.

Pointy Heads

• Apex (voiced by Colin Murdock) is an evil strange mysterious overlord.

• Professor Pointybrains (voiced by Brian Drummond) is a scientist who assists Apex.

• Tip (voiced by Gabe Khouth) is a strong minion who first appears in "Cosmic Contest".

Robots

• Grinder is a lab assistant Sir Cumference made for himself.

• Grindette is Grinder's wife who first appeared in "The Bride of Grinder".

• Grinder-Tron is a giant robot made by Dr. Buttocks that resembles an evil version of Grinder.

• Mega-Grinder is a giant robot build by Pac-Man.

• Computer Bug is a small antivirus bug that helps Pac-Man rid the computer systems of the evil virus ghosts.

• Pac-Topus is a giant mechanical octopus that only appears in "Ride the Wild Pac-Topus".

Others

• Madame Ghoulasha (voiced by Kathleen Barr) is a warty Nether-witch from the Netherworld.

• Count Pacula (voiced by Sam Vincent) is a villainous vam-pac from the Netherworld.

• Jean (voiced by Nicole Oliver) is a vile genie who first appeared in "Meanie Genie".

• Overlords of the Outer Regions are a group of strange and unknown celestial beings that take the form of a burst of light.

• Mooby is an ancient giant flying Pac-Cow that lives up in the sky in Pac-World.

• The Easter Pac-Peep (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) is a humanoid marshmallow chicken made of marshmallow and the owner of Easter Egg Island.

• Dentures of Doom (voiced by Paul Dobson) are a set of living dentures originally owned by an ancient mummy wizard.

• Mummy Wizard (voiced by Paul Dobson) is a strange humanoid wizard with a mummy-like appearance.

• Round Deer are flying reindeer that pull Santa Pac's sled and have special fighting abilities.

• Dr. Pacenstein is the talking brain in the glass and lives in Transylpacia Castle.

Monsters

• Fluffy is a giant poodle.

• Fuzbitz (voiced by Lee Tockar) is Sir Cumference's pet monster.

• Gargoyles are large, heavy-set blue monsters with three eyes and small wings.

• Slug-cams are used by Betrayus to spy on Pac-World.

• Pac-Dragons are one-eyed red dragons that live in the Netherworld.

• Stalkers is a black medium-sized monster with 2 legs, a long eel-like body, and a multi-eyed face full of sharp teeth.

• Venus Dragon Flytraps are large carnivorous plants that are indigenous to the Netherworld.

• Monobats are a race of one-eyed bats.

• Stone Temple Guardians are giant statues that serve as the guardians of a slime-filled temple.

• Pacosaurus refers to a type of ancient dinosaur which originally roamed Pac-World.

• Were-Pac Flea is a Netherworld flea made by Dr. Buttocks.

• Space Worm is a giant worm that lives in space and has the ability to send victims to other dimensions.

• Hugefoot is a monster with an enormous foot.