Ronval Rubat
'Rusty'
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
The primary profit of the franchise comes from its large toyline of 4-inch figures, including heroes, villains, vehicles and playsets inspired by the Holo-series. The Holo-series proper, mostly animated but a few live-action series, has ran for several years and consists of several seasons of half-hour episodes, usually aired in pairs in a 1-hour block, with advertising making up the rest. The current total approaches 200 episodes. The ongoing line of books come in text and comic formats (both digital and physical), and are usually aimed at both "entry" and "intermediate" adolescent readers, with around 120 pages per book and 20 pages per comic issue.
CONTENT INFORMATION
TOYLINE
The toyline releases waves on a yearly basis, with its mainline Real Alliance Heroes branding releasing a total of 12 "hero" figures, 12 "villain" figures, 2 "titan" figures, 3 vehicles and 2 playsets (terrain, buildings, and an assortment of equipment) released every year except the first (8 heroes, 6 villains, 1 "titan", 1 vehicle, 1 playset). With the conclusion of the original Real Alliance Heroes holoseries, other sub-lines have been released since such as the adult collector-focussed Legacies that re-manufacture and re-tool classic sets, the experimental Era 2 series, the Divergences sub-line that represent characters from the annual Divergences holo-series, and non-Alliance market-specific limited runs.
HOLOSERIES
The holo-series consists of the original animated R.C. Joh: Real Alliance Heroes broadcasts spread out across 4 seasons and a theatrical movie. The original series depicts a conflict between the Alliance's "R.C. Joh Special Missions Force" that fought the evil Magus empire (with heavy Dark Side motifs) beyond the Alliance's borders and rooted out Magus infiltration cells inside the Alliance. Following the animated Movie series the Dominion became a secondary antagonistic force, partially to re-use a set of toy molds from another toyline but also as a catchall stand-in for Alliance enemies unrelated to Force Users. This original series is seen as the most 'simplistic' and jingoistic, painting the Johs and the GADF at large as heroic freedom fighters fighting enemies that aim to destroy the Alliance's way of life. A series of P.S.A. were also produced with R.C. Joh characters instructing young viewers at home on simple life lessons.
Notable Divergences series include:
BOOKS/COMICS
While the books have no definite or specific categorisation (only being branded with either the Real Alliance Heroes or its respective Divergence branding), the comics have had their own classifications. Several publishing companies took the responsibility of writing the monthly R.C. Joh: Alliance Heroes comics series during the years of the original holoseries broadcast. These series diverged greatly in story and tone though the general conceit was identical, and was for a few years a consistent comic bestseller on over a dozen worlds. Several companies had a slightly different publishing schedule, resulting in weekly comics instead of monthly. To fill the gaps between the main comic issues, guest writers were brought on board to write side stories fleshing out the world and concepts of R.C. Joh. To this day, this spin-off series now known as Era 2 continues publishing in the original continuity and has its own toy sub-line, while the comic rights for the franchise's "main series" has reverted to the conglomerate that owns R.C. Joh, resulting in it at least three main comic continuities that have been rebooted regularly.
ANCILLIARY MEDIA
Licensed interactive holo-games, merchandise, branding deals and so on also exist and are largely popular.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The providence of R.C. Joh comes from two wildly different sources: a real-world special operations unit in the GADF and a failing GADF PR campaign that had burned the money of many megacorps.
In the early years of the GADF, constant warfare and limited resources prevented it from using its best soldiers for its most difficult tasks. A cross-branch special operations unit, RC-JOH (Recon & Command – Joint Operations Headquarters) was created, to undertake miscellaneous independent missions and special operations deep behind enemy lines but conducted using a collection of normal GADF troops without drawing on the limited Pathfinder manpower pool. The idea was that a mixed unit from different units and branches would allow RC-JOH to sub-divide into teams of specialists to undertake a wide variety of medium-intensity special operations without straining the GADF's limited resources. Contrary to popular perception, units suborned to RC-JOH were not vocationally specialised for special operations: most of its manpower pool came from normal Army units detaching groups ranging from a battalion to a platoon to be suborned under RC-JOH for a limited period. This meant that RC-JOH had a constantly rotating temporary pool of various specialised soldiers to use. The scheme largely worked, but attrition and large-scale warfare will deplete even a good idea, and by the end of the war with the Sith Empire few units were sent to RC-JOH, while its long-term detachments were largely disbanded back to line units.
The actions of units that worked under RC-JOH behind enemy lines liberating Sith worlds and the image of "ordinary Johs" from across the GADF Army standing toe-to-toe with Sith Lords on their own soil in combat, while romanticized and exaggerated, nonetheless held some truth to it and had become something of an icon to both the GA public and many in the GADF, the latter resulting in RC-JOH being able to find willing volunteers from line units even late into the war. Several widely circulated news stories about the unit's actions soon caught the attention of GADF Public Relations, who were happy to inflate the image of the unit along with many others to boost public support. At that time, the GADF had engaged in failed half-hearted ventures to spread GADF public relations operations into the civilian media, all of which had failed.
An unscrupulous businessman that had backed one of these failed ventures and a desperate Major in the PR department cooked up an idea to dramatise some of the stories of the RC-JOH, though as many were still classified this idea incorporated the actions of many, more celebrated and successful units in the GADF. A story pitch was sent to GADF PR, who greenlighted a proof-of-concept. Working closely with Marines, Commandos, Pathfinders and Army units well known for their RC-JOH stints, the pilot live-action episode and animated series has since become lost media. Reportedly, a combination of insufficient budget and an "overly depressing" and "mundane" storyline led to GADF PR almost canning the project after seeing both.
However, at the insistence of some in the project, the project was allowed to continue and be reworked. It was at this time that GADF PR linked the project to the failed media ventures from earlier. The combined working group hit it off quickly and came to a new concept: the scope of the franchise was expanded into an entire media line and the fictional conceit of the story was reworked to be more palatable, heroic and more supportive of the GADF, retaining little except some names, ideas and the series' name itself, drawing inspiration instead from GADF exploits as a whole mixed in with a large helping of general adventure fiction. In addition, the involvement of the megacorps meant that the project could now draw on a larger 'private' budget for its goals. An animated pilot was created (which would later comprise the first episodes of Season 1) and a limited toy range. With the increased private budget and change in the fiction's tone, GADF PR felt confident enough to approve this, and this decision was proved right as it instantly became a hit. The consultants on the original prototype, however, were largely unhappy at the more 'sanitised', unserious tone of the series that was approved, though over time the later seasons and especially the spin-off material allowed a more realistic depiction of military life and special operations. Nonetheless, the franchise as a whole has retained an image of being juvenile, jingoistic, trashy pop-culture, an image that its fans and writers have simultaneously rejected and leaned into.
- Intent: To add more in-universe propaganda/entertainment pop culture, flesh out an element of
Ronval Rubat
's backstory and also to exorcise the G.I. Joe demons in my brain - Image Credit:
Saro Nakaioma
for the banner - Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Holovid, Action figure, Book
- Media Name: R.C. Joh, A Real Alliance Hero
- Format: Entertainment Franchise primarily centered on a line of Toys/Action Figures and Entertainment Holovids and books
- Distribution: Common
- Length: Recurring (A large toyline, many seasons of Holovid episodes and several book/comic series)
- Description: R.C. Joh is a media franchise and line of action figures owned and produced by a group of entertainment megacorps primarily based in the Alliance with substantial funding from the GADF. The franchise is centered on a complex story describing the ongoing conflict between the R.C. Joh Unit and its primary adversaries, the evil Magus Order of Force Users which seeks to take over the Free Worlds through invasion, terrorism, and subterfuge; and the "Dominion", a militaristic authoritarian state which seeks to take over the Free Worlds through invasion, terrorism, and subterfuge.
- Author: Several large media and toy companies, including GalactiCom Holocommunications' entertainment subsidiaries, with story consulting credits from the GADF
- Publisher: Several large media and toy companies, including GalactiCom Holocommunications' mass media subsidiaries, with publishing assistance from the GADF
- Reception: Public commercial reception to the series has been largely positive, with its action figures seeing very high sales across the Alliance and other markets situated in Alliance-friendly states. Critical reception of the series is mixed, with some critics praising the sharp writing, action sequences, and surprisingly complex political themes in a franchise clearly aimed at adolescents, while others have decried it as jingoistic propaganda that aims to indoctrinate the youth of the Alliance against 'certain religious freedoms' and 'certain political opinions'.
The primary profit of the franchise comes from its large toyline of 4-inch figures, including heroes, villains, vehicles and playsets inspired by the Holo-series. The Holo-series proper, mostly animated but a few live-action series, has ran for several years and consists of several seasons of half-hour episodes, usually aired in pairs in a 1-hour block, with advertising making up the rest. The current total approaches 200 episodes. The ongoing line of books come in text and comic formats (both digital and physical), and are usually aimed at both "entry" and "intermediate" adolescent readers, with around 120 pages per book and 20 pages per comic issue.
CONTENT INFORMATION
TOYLINE
The toyline releases waves on a yearly basis, with its mainline Real Alliance Heroes branding releasing a total of 12 "hero" figures, 12 "villain" figures, 2 "titan" figures, 3 vehicles and 2 playsets (terrain, buildings, and an assortment of equipment) released every year except the first (8 heroes, 6 villains, 1 "titan", 1 vehicle, 1 playset). With the conclusion of the original Real Alliance Heroes holoseries, other sub-lines have been released since such as the adult collector-focussed Legacies that re-manufacture and re-tool classic sets, the experimental Era 2 series, the Divergences sub-line that represent characters from the annual Divergences holo-series, and non-Alliance market-specific limited runs.
HOLOSERIES
The holo-series consists of the original animated R.C. Joh: Real Alliance Heroes broadcasts spread out across 4 seasons and a theatrical movie. The original series depicts a conflict between the Alliance's "R.C. Joh Special Missions Force" that fought the evil Magus empire (with heavy Dark Side motifs) beyond the Alliance's borders and rooted out Magus infiltration cells inside the Alliance. Following the animated Movie series the Dominion became a secondary antagonistic force, partially to re-use a set of toy molds from another toyline but also as a catchall stand-in for Alliance enemies unrelated to Force Users. This original series is seen as the most 'simplistic' and jingoistic, painting the Johs and the GADF at large as heroic freedom fighters fighting enemies that aim to destroy the Alliance's way of life. A series of P.S.A. were also produced with R.C. Joh characters instructing young viewers at home on simple life lessons.
- Season 1: 12 eps
- Season 2: 41 eps
- The Movie Season: Animated feature film and 6 episode follow-up
- Season 3: 33 eps
- Season 4: 12+1 special triple-length finale
Notable Divergences series include:
- Unity Spirit. This Divergence was set on a single tribalistic world, in an eclectic setting that included a large Droid presence and preponderance of Force powers. The Magus was reimagined as a single evil overlord oppressing the continent of Harmony, who awaited the arrival of the Warriors of Joh. This Divergence toyline saw a crossover with a wildly popular construction-block toyline to depict the heroes and vehicles of this season, and the success of this year's series led to the general concept being licensed to that toyline in subsequent years as part of its own pre-existing action-adventure franchise.
- Double Null. This Divergence was seen as the most "contemporary" and political of all the R.C. Joh seasons, being set on an explicitly near-future version of the Galaxy. Explicit reference was made to Sith and an amalgam of the Eternal Empire and the New Imperial Order, prompting the most series backlash from sympathetic groups against the series in years.
- Stellar Cantata. This Divergence incorporated high-concept speculative fiction ideas to weave a tale that was more focussed on the intersection of Alliance freedoms with far future scientific concepts. The writing team in this series included several big names in speculative fiction and spawned the most successful book and comic series of the franchise, which continues to the present day.
Example of an ad for a new R.C. Joh season aired on Galacticom channels
BOOKS/COMICS
While the books have no definite or specific categorisation (only being branded with either the Real Alliance Heroes or its respective Divergence branding), the comics have had their own classifications. Several publishing companies took the responsibility of writing the monthly R.C. Joh: Alliance Heroes comics series during the years of the original holoseries broadcast. These series diverged greatly in story and tone though the general conceit was identical, and was for a few years a consistent comic bestseller on over a dozen worlds. Several companies had a slightly different publishing schedule, resulting in weekly comics instead of monthly. To fill the gaps between the main comic issues, guest writers were brought on board to write side stories fleshing out the world and concepts of R.C. Joh. To this day, this spin-off series now known as Era 2 continues publishing in the original continuity and has its own toy sub-line, while the comic rights for the franchise's "main series" has reverted to the conglomerate that owns R.C. Joh, resulting in it at least three main comic continuities that have been rebooted regularly.
ANCILLIARY MEDIA
Licensed interactive holo-games, merchandise, branding deals and so on also exist and are largely popular.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The providence of R.C. Joh comes from two wildly different sources: a real-world special operations unit in the GADF and a failing GADF PR campaign that had burned the money of many megacorps.
In the early years of the GADF, constant warfare and limited resources prevented it from using its best soldiers for its most difficult tasks. A cross-branch special operations unit, RC-JOH (Recon & Command – Joint Operations Headquarters) was created, to undertake miscellaneous independent missions and special operations deep behind enemy lines but conducted using a collection of normal GADF troops without drawing on the limited Pathfinder manpower pool. The idea was that a mixed unit from different units and branches would allow RC-JOH to sub-divide into teams of specialists to undertake a wide variety of medium-intensity special operations without straining the GADF's limited resources. Contrary to popular perception, units suborned to RC-JOH were not vocationally specialised for special operations: most of its manpower pool came from normal Army units detaching groups ranging from a battalion to a platoon to be suborned under RC-JOH for a limited period. This meant that RC-JOH had a constantly rotating temporary pool of various specialised soldiers to use. The scheme largely worked, but attrition and large-scale warfare will deplete even a good idea, and by the end of the war with the Sith Empire few units were sent to RC-JOH, while its long-term detachments were largely disbanded back to line units.
The actions of units that worked under RC-JOH behind enemy lines liberating Sith worlds and the image of "ordinary Johs" from across the GADF Army standing toe-to-toe with Sith Lords on their own soil in combat, while romanticized and exaggerated, nonetheless held some truth to it and had become something of an icon to both the GA public and many in the GADF, the latter resulting in RC-JOH being able to find willing volunteers from line units even late into the war. Several widely circulated news stories about the unit's actions soon caught the attention of GADF Public Relations, who were happy to inflate the image of the unit along with many others to boost public support. At that time, the GADF had engaged in failed half-hearted ventures to spread GADF public relations operations into the civilian media, all of which had failed.
An unscrupulous businessman that had backed one of these failed ventures and a desperate Major in the PR department cooked up an idea to dramatise some of the stories of the RC-JOH, though as many were still classified this idea incorporated the actions of many, more celebrated and successful units in the GADF. A story pitch was sent to GADF PR, who greenlighted a proof-of-concept. Working closely with Marines, Commandos, Pathfinders and Army units well known for their RC-JOH stints, the pilot live-action episode and animated series has since become lost media. Reportedly, a combination of insufficient budget and an "overly depressing" and "mundane" storyline led to GADF PR almost canning the project after seeing both.
However, at the insistence of some in the project, the project was allowed to continue and be reworked. It was at this time that GADF PR linked the project to the failed media ventures from earlier. The combined working group hit it off quickly and came to a new concept: the scope of the franchise was expanded into an entire media line and the fictional conceit of the story was reworked to be more palatable, heroic and more supportive of the GADF, retaining little except some names, ideas and the series' name itself, drawing inspiration instead from GADF exploits as a whole mixed in with a large helping of general adventure fiction. In addition, the involvement of the megacorps meant that the project could now draw on a larger 'private' budget for its goals. An animated pilot was created (which would later comprise the first episodes of Season 1) and a limited toy range. With the increased private budget and change in the fiction's tone, GADF PR felt confident enough to approve this, and this decision was proved right as it instantly became a hit. The consultants on the original prototype, however, were largely unhappy at the more 'sanitised', unserious tone of the series that was approved, though over time the later seasons and especially the spin-off material allowed a more realistic depiction of military life and special operations. Nonetheless, the franchise as a whole has retained an image of being juvenile, jingoistic, trashy pop-culture, an image that its fans and writers have simultaneously rejected and leaned into.
