| “ | BACK, YOU VILE BEAST! | „ |
| ~ Kuros in the Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II Commercial |
Kuros is the main hero from the Wizards & Warriors NES game. In the game, He must fight against the main antagonist, the evil wizard Malkil who is specifically known to kidnap various princess and innocent maidens, Kuros's story is split into various parts from the first and last known games.
Appearances[]
Kuros first appeared in the first Wizards & Warriors video game (not to be mistaken for the Wizards and Warriors TV show as seen on CBS back in the year 1983 nor the Wizards & Warriors PC game as released on September 27th of 2000) for the Nintendo Entertainment System back on December 1987 in North America, it was then released in Europe on January 1990.
The first Wizards & Warriors NES game became a popular hit to the point where three sequels where created: Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II, Wizards & Warriors III: Kuros: Visions of Power & Wizards & Warriors X: The Fortress of Fear. The second sequel became a popular hit and well-received as it sold over 500,000 copies in North America and another 50,000 in Europe. Despite this, the third sequel only had moderate sales as the reviews became mixed, save for the fact it was praised for its rich quality graphics which where exceptional by NES standards among with its challenge and high gameplay. Then the forth game, despite being released before the third game did had negative reviews due to slow gameplay and lack of continues.
Then outside the Wizards & Warriors gaming series by Rare, Kuros also made his appearance in the cartoon series called The Power Team, also known as Video Power where he was teamed up with Max Force, a police officer from NARC, Tyrone, a basket ball player from Arch Rivals, Kwirk, a living tomato from his eponymous game and Bigfoot, the legendary monster truck based on its eponymous name. The series involved a teenager who summoned video gaming heroes into the real world (as opposed to Captain N where he was summoned into the video gaming world) where the characters found themselves involved in recovering their game paks in order to send them home, the series ran for 55 episodes as it only had two seasons before it ended.
Wizards & Warriors[]
Kuros, a hero who is the Knight Warrior of the Book of Excalibur takes up the task of going against the evil wizard Malkil, who is specifically known to be a student to the great wizard Merlin. Despite this, Malkil has aged to the point where he's gone mad and has kidnapped a beautiful princess among with several beautiful innocent maidens (Lucinda, Esmarelda, Galadriel, Grizelda, Penelope, & Candida) where he holds them hostage in none other but Castle IronSpire, where it is hidden deep within the Forest of Elrond. Armed with the legendary blade called Brightsword a holy weapon that can defeat demons, undead and other foul creatures, Kuros ventures into the Forest of Elrond with the intent to save the princess, the innocent maidens and vanquish Malkil once and for all.
Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II[]
Taking place after Wizards & Warriors, Kuros became hailed as the greatest warrior of all, due to defeating Malkil which caused his renown to spread far and wide. Because of his renown, he was summoned to the Kingdom of Sindarin, where the evil wizard Malkil has managed to survive and took on the shapes of the four elemental forms: Earth, Fire, Wind & Water.
Kuros must ask for help from the four Animal Kings in order to get him further into his quest as they ask him a specific item of value in turn he must find, succeeding in doing so allowed him to push on further to vanquish these elemental beings in order to assemble a legendary blade called The Ironsword in order to defeat Malkil once again, for that sword in hand he will take in his fated conflict at the top of IceFire Mountain.
Wizards & Warriors III: Kuros: Visions of Power[]
It is Kuros the Knight Warrior of the Book of Excalibur, rising the Ironsword in victory on the peak of IceFire Mountain after vanquishing the evil wizard Malkil, thinking that he's gone for good, or so he thought...
Suddenly, Malkil appears in his inhuman spirit form, spitting a powerful last treacherous blast of lightning which not only knocked Kuros out but also caused our legendary hero to lose not only the Ironsword but also his memory and even his honor.
Malkil while in his weakened state used this chance to escape to the peaceful Kingdom of Piedup, he waited for the right moment in order to overthrow the Good King James thus seizing the crown, the throne and control over the Kingdom. Kuros on the other hand, while recovering found himself in the wilderness, without weapons, armor nor food and drink, his journey is indeed a long, cold, hungry and perilous one.
After many months of wondering, our hero Kuros finally reaches to the gates of the Kingdom of Piedup where he still has lost his memory among with his honor as he still remained a daze. Despite this, he then hears the name Malkil where something in his mind stirs inside him, it is then thoughts of revenge flood the head of our hero where he must follow his instincts.
This is where Kuros must fight with not only strength of the lion and honor of the knight but also with the cunning of the thief, intellect of the learner and magic of the wizard in order to get to Malkil, which includes passing the trials of the three guilds: The Thieves Guild, The Wizard's Guild and the Knight's Guild.
Upon passing the trials allowed him to obtained the four crown jewels (also known as the sacred mega gems), three from rescuing King Jame's three daughters: Princess Joanne, Princess Julia, & Princess Lindsey, and one from slaying the flying fire-breathing dragon with the legendary Silver Sword, another holy weapon.
It is then Kuros finally managed to save the good King James and fought against the evil Malkil for a 3rd time while wielding the Silver Sword. Upon defeating him, Kuros ends up getting sucked into a time portal in the year 2191, where his story was suppose to continue on to this day...
Meanwhile in the past, it is then where the Kingdom of Piedup is restored to its former goodness where the Good King James regains his crown and throne, the three beauteous princesses saved and the legend of Kuros lives on.
Wizards & Warriors X: The Fortress of Fear[]
Seventeen years after the events of Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II, Malkil fell into seclusion prior his defeat by the hands of Kuros, the only Knight Warrior to ever vanquish the vile wizard where he is hailed for his heroism.
Prior to those seventeen years, things where quite... perhaps too quite on why Malkil hasn't even been heard from again. Suddenly, the fair and innocent Princess Elanie was missing and despite the best efforts, nobody was able to find out what happened to her.
But deep down inside Kuros's heart, he knew that Malkil was somehow behind the disappearance of Princess Elanie, where he discovered to have taken her to none other but the dreaded Fortress of Fear, a place behind the treacherous forest of Zanifer where those who entered never came back.
Not taking any other chances, Kuros went inside The Fortress of Fear to recuse Princess Elanie before Malkil gets the chance to execute his vile plan, even if Malkil did planned something for Kuros.
But after enduring the dreaded Fortress of Fear, Kuros fought against Malkil and defeats him once again before he was able to sacrifice Princess Elanie, it is where she embraces Kuros as he holds her.
Videos[]
Gallery[]
.png "Wizards & Warriors - Kuros using Ironsword to evaporate water to prevent the Dam from overflowing (he had Bigfoot's help doing this).png (589 KB)")
Trivia[]
- While Kuros looks more like a barbarian on the front covers of the Wizards & Warrior games, he's actually dressed as a Knight in Shining Armor when playing the games.
- As Kuros wielded the Ironsword by the very moment he was transported into the real world as seen in Video Power, its likely indicated that he didn't get his proper victory over Malkil on Icefire Mountain despite having knowledge of that place.
- While Kuros was shown rising Ironsword with the intent to strike down a pterodactyl as seen on the Nintendo Power Poster by Tatsuji Kajita, the actual Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II game never displayed such foes.