Drake (Sir Drake) is a major character in Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders where he was voiced by John Beach. Drake-centered episodes include "Wizard's Peak", "Love Struck" and "The Wishing Jewel". He later inspired the characters of Zach and Drake in Avalon: Web of Magic. Drake was confirmed to return in the Jewel Riders comics sequel.
"Life is a Great Adventure" card
Drake is the adventurous, brave and strong leader of the Pack—a band of wolf-riding knights serving as protectors of the Great Forests and defenders of the Crystal Palace, who use the Forest Stones for their magic. He has a natural love of the forest and his great wolf is named Thunderbolt. Out of the three members of the Pack, Drake plays by far the most prominent role in the show.
Drake riding Thunderbolt the wolf in his Upper Deck character card
Rugged and handsome, Drake is romantically interested in Tamara, but most of all he is in love with Princess Gwenevere, the next-in-line to the throne of Avalon. He is also very protective of both of them. Despite being very awkward in the role of a suitor, Drake believes that one day he can become Gwen's husband and the next King of Avalon. But for this to happen, he must help Gwen and the Jewel Riders in their quest to overcome the dark magic of her evil aunt Kale so they can save the good wizard Merlin and all of the kingdom.
"Gwenevere, my Queen, it was always meant to be."
In the show[]
Official description[]
"DRAKE - Leader of the Pack
Handsome and brave Leader of the WolfPack (sic) - the Knights of The Crystal Palace. Drake is strong and dedicated to protecting the Princess. Drake would do anything for Gwen but he also likes Tamara and protects her well. Gwen is jealous over these feelings Drake has for Tamara, although she will never admit it.
Drake rides a giant wolf, Thunderbolt, his very best friend.
- Age: 17
- Height: 5' 10" (177 cm)
- Hair: Auburn
- Eyes: Dark brown
- Skin: Ruddy tan
Drake is a handsome and dashing young man. He has a very well-built athletic body and has a head of thick, unkempt hair that he constantly brushes back from falling into his eyes.
Background[]
Drake with his Forest Stone and Thunderbolt in "The Wishing Jewel"
Sir Drake is the son of the Earl of the Riverdells Township, a flourishing network of villages on the crossroads of many major rivers in the Riverdells region of Avalon. But rather than except a place in his father's fishing business, Drake leaped at the opportunity to enter the Friendship Ring and become a Wolf Rider. Drake and his best friend and mount Thunderbolt (or just Thunder), the biggest and strongest of all the wolves in all of Avalon as second only to King Jared's own Goliath, pledge their allegiance to the Crystal Palace as members of the Pack. Although Drake's father is unhappy about his son being a famous knight, he respects his son's decisions, and would not mind riding the wild magic himself.
Personality[]
Drake is strong willed and determined to do things his own way. He is perfectly comfortable earning his way through accomplishment and achievement. Well-paired with his wolf pal Thunder, Drake fancies himself a roguish young "Romeo", always looking for a great adventure. He carries himself like the leader he someday will be—Drake possesses a tremendous charisma, an irresistible personality, and immense good humor. Daring and valiant, even if often also stubborn, he boldly leads the Pack to fight alongside the pretty girls of the Jewel Riders in their Jewel Quest to stop the evil Lady Kale from taking over the kingdom and magic of Avalon all for herself. Thunder understands Drake better than any human could and believes that the young man will someday be a great leader as the next member of the royal family.
Relationships[]
The beautiful Princess Gwenevere, next-in-line for the throne of Avalon, has her eye on Drake. Though everyone considers them a potential couple, Gwen is not ready to admit feeling anything more than friendship, and instead likes to mess with his head. Even though she loves dressing up and flirting, she aggressively refuses to wait around for a man to come find her, to Drake's great frustration and confusion.
Drake's Enchanted Jewels themed promise rings for all three Jewel Riders
However, much to Gwen's dismay, he also finds Tamara to be truly pleasing: besides his attraction to her beauty, her sensitivity, her intelligence, and her talents, he also knows that Tamara's Heart Stone makes her vulnerable to the wild magic. Hence, he keeps an eye on Tamara whenever she is on assignment, and always comes to her rescue when she gets into trouble (as with him saving her at the last moment in Kale's castle). Because of this, Drake often finds he is the reason for altercations between Gwen and Tamara. His amusement by this and subsequent free offers to split his time accordingly between them only makes matters worse. Due to the awkward role he had come to play in Gwen's and Tamara's lives, Drake often confides in Thunderbolt that he could not understand the fairer sex, to which the wolf heartily agrees. Hence, for now, both are content to go on great adventures with the Jewel Riders. Drake has a friendly rivalry with the Jewel Riders' third member, the warrior Fallon. And in "Love Struck" he also attempts to go on a date with Fallon too.
Drake plays a 'ladies' man' with a touch of irony and believes his winning smile and easy-going ways are sure to charm Gwenevere eventually. He and she both protect and save each other on various occasions, and despite all of her teasing of Drake, the Princess finds out herself genuinely attracted to him. She dreams about being with Drake in "Dreamfields" (and him proposing to her), and often flirts with him, waiting for the young knight to prove himself as her perfect type: "strong yet gentle, kind, and loving."[1] Towards the end of the story, Gwen's heart is stolen by the mysterious Prince Ian in "Prince of the Forest". Nevertheless, the prophecy of Lady of the Lake in "Spirit of Avalon" shows she and Drake are in fact destined to be together after the victory over the dark alliance of Kale with Merlin's ancient enemy Morgana. And while it is Ian who arrives to help Gwen in the final battle against Kale, Drake does aid the Princess against the power of the Dark Stone so Merlin can defeat Morgana.
Abilities[]
- Main article: Forest Stones
Drake uses his Forest Stone to protect Gwen from the Guardian of the Magic
Drake taking on Gwen's evil aunt Lady Kale with his sword in "Fashion Fever"
Like any knight of the Pack, Drake is an excellent rider, perfectly at home in the forests, and loves the great trees. His innate knowledge of the forests has also helped to sharpen his skills in survival in the wild. Drake is also a terrific athlete, very strong and agile. Like his female rival-partner Fallon, Drake is able to take on any foe for a direct fight. He is well-trained in martial arts as well as usage of various weapons, from swords to spears and bows—usually, he carries only a dagger, but his Enchanted Jewel can turn summon weapons such as lightsaber-like magic sword or shield when needed.
Fashion and style[]
Drake prefers the functional wardrobe of the Pack as his everyday adventuring clothes. He is especially proud of his jewel armor's helmet design, in the shape of wolf's head. Drake is aware, however, that dating the Princess requires more than a Pack Rider's riding clothes, especially when accompanying her to great ceremonial balls held around the kingdom.
- Favorite foods: Trail burgers, milk shakes, potato rolls.
- Pet peeves: Gwen gets mad at him for seemingly no reason, Gwen is nice to him for seemingly no reason, Tamara gets mad at him for seemingly no reason, Tamara is nice to him for seemingly no reason, having to lower himself to ride any other animal but Thunderbolt.
Appearances[]
- First season: "Jewel Quest, Part I", "Jewel Quest, Part II", "Travel Trees Don’t Dance", 'Song of the Rainbow", "Wizard’s Peak", "For Whom the Bell Trolls", "Badlands", "Dreamfields", "Love Struck", "Revenge of the Dark Stone", "Full Circle"
- Second season: "Morgana", "Fashion Fever", "Prince of the Forest", "The Wizard of Gardenia", "Prince of the Forest", "The Wishing Jewel", "Spirit of Avalon", "The One Jewel"
In the comic[]
Drake and Gwen in Issue 1
The Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders sequel comic, to be released in 2024, will feature Drake who has left the Pack and is now Gwen's fiancé. However, despite them being in love and Drake claiming for them to be "extremely" commited to each other, they be both (but Gwen especially) are also not in a hurry to get married.
The comic incarnation of Drake seems to have a very much slighter physical build than in the show. He is also dark skinned (even if not nearly as much as Josh or Fallon) and his hair too is of a darker shade of brown.
Behind the scenes[]
Drake was voiced by John Beach (just like Archie, Rufus, and some other male characters) in English. He was dubbed by Mark Seidenberg in German and Thierry Ragueneau in French.
Development[]
Enchanted Camelot version
Drake was originally F'lessan ("future Perm leader; rich, popular, too-adventurous") back when the show was supposed to be an adaptation of Dragonriders of Pern.[2] In some other early versions, Drake has been named Shawn.[3] He was initially to be black-haired and wearing darker clothes, and his skin was also sometimes darker in early design options.
A sword-wielding Drake facing the Guardian in a storyboard
Drake's action figure was made to be much more masculine ("buff and muscular") than the likes of Barbie's Ken.[4] Later in the show, "Drake would have continued as a character [while at first] Ian was supposed to be Tamara's love."[5]
Drake actually carries a sword in the "Wizard's Peak" script and storyboard (not just a dagger).[6][7] The "Good Knight" Drake from Gwen's dream is wearing a silver armor in the script of "Dreamfields",[8] but it is metallic colored in the actual show.
Legacy[]
Zach (second from left) with Drake in Avalon: Web of Magic
In Avalon: Web of Magic, Drake losely inspired the character of Zachariah (Zach).[9] A very rare young dragon in care of Adriane (Fallon's analogue character) is named Drake, a bonded of Zach's.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Dreamfields (script)
- ↑ Dragonriders of Perm | The Jewel Riders Archive
- ↑ Jewel Quest script (Enchanted Quest)
- ↑ Audio interview with Greg Autore
- ↑ Q&A with Greg Autore
- ↑ Wizard's Peak (script)
- ↑ Wizard's Peak Storyboard | The Jewel Riders Archive
- ↑ Dreamfields (script)
- ↑ Character Comparison: Zachariah | The Avalon Archive
External links[]
- "The Feast of Saint Valentine", a Drake/Gwen sequel story by Ry Sabir
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