Mysterious Cities of Gold Mysterious Cities of Gold Characters (back to main page)  Esteban     (voiced by Shiraz Adam) His fathers ship was caught in a terrible storm when he was a baby. Esteban was on board, and the ship started to sink. Luckily another ship passed close by and a man called Mendoza rescued Esteban, but couldn't rescue his father. He was raised as an orphan by Father Rodriguez, the Dean of Barcelona Cathedral. Still, Esteban always maintained that his father was still alive and that they would meet again.    Esteban has a fear of heights, which causes him no end of problems, which was due to the people of Barcelona hoisting him to the top of a flag pole when it rains, so he could call forth the sun and make it stop. When Mendoza came back into his life many years later, he saw this as a chance to explore the world and find his father. He joined Mendoza on his ship and befriended Zia, an Inca girl who is roughly the same age as him.    There is a bond between Zia and himself, and when she was kidnapped by Tao, he did everything in his power to rescue her (he even swam to another island to find her. He is very stubborn and once he sets his mind on something, there is no stopping him. Also he has in unwavering conviction that Mendoza is good and that he'll never betray them. Esteban seems to squabble a lot with Tao. He also can walk on his hands, which can cheer up most people.     Mendoza     (voiced by Howard Ryshpan) He was the only person that was brave enough to dive into the ocean to save baby Esteban and regrets not being able to save his father. Mendoza seems to be an honourable man, but underneath he is a greedy man that only thinks of one thing - Gold. He was given the task of kidnapping Zia, a young Inca girl, who was supposed to know the whereabouts of The Mysterious Cities of Gold. At the same time he persuades Esteban to come on a journey with him and hopefully find his father. But Mendoza wants to use Esteban to keep the skies clear and Zia to lead him to the gold, and not the others (his employers wouldn't give any thought to killing him over the gold).   Mendoza is a trained navigator and was invaluable to Commander Gomez to get them through the Straits of Magellan.  But when he came across the Inca ship, the Solaris, even his skills couldn't help him operate it, so he let Tao take the helm. He was startled by the workmanship of the vessel. He tells others that he has a way with children and knows how to make them trust him. Mendoza pretends to be the children's friend, but he's only being nice to them because he wants to find the gold. He would betray them at the drop of a hat. When Mendoza found out that that the medallions supposedly opened the gateway to the Mysterious Cities of Gold, he planned to snatch them from the children when the time was right. But he didn't need to, as they opened the gateway when he caught up with them. Mendoza might be selfish and cunning, but this trait has meant that he's helped the children out of a few dangerous situations. If it wasn't for Mendoza, the children would have been captured and their quest to find the Cities of Gold would have come to an abrupt halt. He talks down to Pedro and Sancho as if they are children. Mendoza is always telling them off and chiding them for their actions. But he can be ruthless and cruel to them in certain situations.     Zia     (voiced by Janice Chaikelson) She is an Inca Girl, roughly the same age as Esteban. She originates from the New World and was kidnapped by the Spanish and taken to the Royal Court as a gift to Princess Marguerita. Later she was kidnapped by Mendoza to read a quipu and help find the Cities of Gold. She became good friends with Esteban and has the same medallion as him. Her father, a High Priest, has told her to speak to no one about where she comes from, but she senses that it is alright to discuss it with Esteban. Zia is still trying to find her father. Not surprisingly, she doesn't trust Mendoza and thinks that he is using them (the children) to get to the gold. Se feels that he will betray them at the slightest whim. She was scared when she was kidnapped by Tao (who disguised himself as a monster), but quickly came to trust him. Eventually Zia made it back to her village in the New World.     Tao     (voiced by Adrian Knight) He is roughly the same age as the other children (Zia & Esteban). Tao can be a bit pig headed and wants others to follow what he says. It seems that Tao doesn't like to wash much, as he smelt when the children first met him. Tao lived alone on a deserted island for many years after his father died. His people (the Hiva's) built houses and paths way up in the trees. He is proud of his ancestors who not only built the tree houses, but built wondrous things such as the Golden Condor and the Solaris, a huge ship powered by the sun's rays. Tao carries with him a book that his father gave him. This stores vital clues to the Mysterious Cities of Gold, which he must decipher.    When he first saw Zia with Mendoza, he thought she had been captured by the Spanish, so carried her away. He also knew that this was the girl that he had been waiting for all these years, as it had been foretold. He was wary of Esteban initially, as he was Spanish, but now understands that he has the best interests of Zia at heart. The same cannot be said about Mendoza, who he keeps a watchful eye on. Tao decided to join Zia and Esteban's on their journey. When they discovered the ship that his people built, the Solaris, he was overcome with pride that his people could have built such a magnificent thing. Then almost at once, he buried his head in a book that his father gave him, to try to work out how to operate the ship. Eventually he did, which allowed them to escape from Gomez and his men.    Poor Tao was heartbroken when he realised that he would have to blow up the Solaris to destroy the nearby ship of Gomez, to save his friends. So he pulled the red handle and blew up both ships. Tao is very clever and can come up with ideas to help out. Such as the time Governor Pizarro tried to attack the Fort of the Black Eagle at night. Tao came up with an idea to make small parachutes and attach them to flaming torches, which when shot into the air would float down slowly and light up the surrounding area.     Sancho     (voiced by Terrence Labrosse) He is a colleague of Mendoza and acts quite oafish. He is overweight and not surprisingly he loves to eat. He stutters through conversations and is quite a coward in dangerous situations (more so than Pedro). Mendoza considers Sancho as one of his right hand men and in return Sancho would follow Mendoza to the ends of the Earth. He has gold on the mind more than the others, because he tries to ask everyone he meets where the Gold is. This really annoys Mendoza, as he's trying to keep their real intensions about the Cities of Gold a secret. So he silences Sancho quite quickly. Like Pedro, he will fight anyone for gold.     Pedro     (voiced by Howard Ryshpan) He is Sancho's best friend. Sometimes you wouldn't think it, as they are always squabbling. He too is one of Mendoza's companions. He is cowardly and selfish, just like Sancho, and hates caves. But when he sees gold his personality changes and he becomes extremely selfish and will fight anyone to keep it, especially Sancho. Pedro (along with Sancho) wanted to leave the children behind as soon as they found out where the Cities of Gold were. They like the children, but haven't go the same bond with them as Mendoza has.     Gomez     (voiced by Matt Berman) Gomez is a Commander in the Spanish army. It was Gomez who sent Mendoza out to kidnap Zia on Governor Pizarro's orders. He is ambitious and also has a lust for gold. Gomez's is not an honourable person. His word means nothing, as he goes back on it, as Zia has found out. He identified quite quickly that Mendoza could be a threat to him and the expedition to find the Mysterious Cities of Gold. So he plotted with Captain Perez and Gaspard to get rid of him. But as usual, Mendoza countered this and made sure that he was indispensable to them. When the ship they were on was shipwrecked, Gomez thought the children and Mendoza had been killed. He was rescued by another of Pizarro's ships. It was at this time that he came across the Solaris, a ship powered by the sun, and found out that the children and Mendoza were still alive. So he pursued them, but the Solaris was too quick. But Gomez is a determined person and does not give up easily. He eventually caught up with a moored Solaris, which he took control of. But he didn't count on Tao and Zia blowing it up.   Gomez knows that Governor Pizarro doesn't take kindly to failure. He knows that if he keeps failing to re-capture Zia for the Governor that it wouldn't be wise to see Pizarro again, as it would mean certain death for Gomez. Later on in his quest to re-capture the children, he came across Mendoza without the children and knows that Mendoza would be the best person to guide his men in pursuit of the children through the Forbidden Zone, much to the disgust of Gaspard. But Mendoza betrayed him again by stealing his cannon and joining the Inca's, so Gomez has vowed he will never trust Mendoza again. Gomez is like a bad penny, he's always turning up. The children can't seem to shake Gomez and Gaspard.      Governor Pizarro     (voiced by Maurice Podbrey) He is a very powerful man and also has a lust for gold. He has many soldiers at his disposal from the Spanish Army. He is based in the New world and when he first arrived the locals thought he was a god, as foretold in a prophecy, but they quickly learnt that this wasn't the case. He stole from their Temples and enslaved the local Inca population. Any disobedience was met with punishment, such as floggings or they were sentenced to death. It was under the Governor's orders that Zia was to be kidnapped. He suspected that she could read the Inca message he had obtained, written using knots (a quipu) and tell him where the Cities of Gold were.   When Zia refused to translate the message he was furious and threatened to hang her. It was only when Mendoza said that he could persuade her that he calmed down, but only long enough to threaten Mendoza with the same fate, if he didn't get the information by the next day. He was furious when Mendoza escaped with Zia and ordered his guards after them. Later he found out that Zia was heading to a temple that was in an underground cave beneath his fortress, to talk with a priest he imprisoned years ago. So he went to head them off.     Gaspard     (voiced by A.J. Henderson) He serves in the Spanish army and is the Captain of the Guard (of a contingent of soldiers), under the command of Commander Gomez. He jumps feet first into situations without thinking and uses brawn instead of his brains, in situations. He dislikes Mendoza as believes he mocks him and would love nothing more than to run him through with a sword. He has stuck with Gomez through everything, as he believes that he will find the Cities of Gold.     High Priest of the Cities of Gold  He is Esteban's father. When he was younger, he sailed across the Great Western Seas to the New World. Here he fell in love with a young Inca woman and they had a child, who was Esteban. The land was plunged into darkness and the Inca people said that the Sun God was angry. Esteban's mother was sacrificed to appease the gods and he was to be banished from the land and sent back to his homeland along with the child. So the Inca's built them a ship and sent them on their way. But during the journey the ship started to break up during a great storm. He was more interested in saving his child's life rather than his own and was relieved when a man from a passing ship saved his son. That man was Mendoza.    Before being put on the ship by the Inca's he prophesised that the place where the god of the sun and the god of the bright star cross, there will be born the sacred emblem of the sky. After travelling the world looking for his son, he settled at one of the cities of gold, as he knew his son would one day come here. During his wait, the High Priest of the Cities of Gold died, so he decided it was his duty to take this role on and protect the Cities of Gold. When he met Esteban, he never let on that he was his father.     Kokapetl     (voiced by Vlasta Vrana)  He is Tao's green parrot. He's very intelligent and talks. When there is danger around, it is Kokapetl that warns everyone. But it seems that Kokapetl knows more about the Cities of Gold than he's letting on. Kokapetl is normally found sitting on the shoulder or head of Tao. This is probably due to being too fat and so he finds it hard to fly.   Mysterious Cities of Gold T-Shirts - NONE Mysterious Cities of Gold DVDs Region 2 (Europe) - Mysterious Cities of     Gold DVDs Region 1 (USA) - Mysterious Cities of     Gold DVDs Mysterious Cities of Gold Video Mysterious Cities of Gold Episodes Series 1 (1982)  1. Esteban, Child Of The Sun  2. Crossing The Atlantic  3. Heroes Again  4. Adrift On The Endless Sea  5. The Abduction Of Zia  6. The Ship Solaris  7. Secret Of The Solaris  8. The New Continent  9. The End Of The Solaris  10. Secret Of The Temple  11. Messengers Of The Region  12. Secret Of The Medallions  13. Mystery Of The Parents  14. Esteban's Medallion  15. The Subterranean Secret  16. The Urubus  17. The Great Condor  18. Maiden Flight Of The Great Condor  19. The Nazca Plateau  20. The Spaniards' Cannon  21. The Amazons  22. The Mirror Of The Moon  23.The Jade Mask  24. The Manuscript  25. The Lake Of Gold  26. The Swamps  27. The Doors Of Night  28. The Forest Of Statues  29. The Burning Shield  30. The Escape  31. The Village Of The New Sun  32. Attack Of The Olmecs  33. The Reunion  34. Revolt Of The Mayas  35. The Olmec Machine  36. Aerial Pursuit  37. The City Of Gold  38. The Great Legacy  39. End Of The City Of Gold  Mysterious Cities of Gold Images (click to enlarge) © JedisParadise.com Toys & Gifts T-Shirts Bargain DVDs