NFL Rush Zone

Synopsis

Ish must try to protect one or more NFL team's shard every Sunday while trying not to be caught by his mom. He must protect the shards with the help of OT and the Rusherz.

Ish and his friends must try to protect the 32 Megacores of the NFL from the villainous Wild Card.

Wild Card has been defeated, but at the cost of Ish losing his Guardian powers. Having been the first Guardian, Ish is hit hard by this, while a newly resurfaced Sudden Death looks to continue where he left off, with three robotic aliens called Anticorians, who have had a sworn rivalry with the Rusherz, and perhaps with the help of a now vulnerable Ish.

Main

Ish Taylor – A natural-born leader. He is hip, funny, smart, insightful, caring and brave. He loves video games and football and has a winning personality that endears him to his community. Ish was the very first Guardian. In the second season, NFL Rush Zone: Season of the Guardians, Ish is now 11 years old living with his family in their new home of Canton, Ohio, and is captain of his local football team. With more training and experience than before, he is able to manifest a power armor with various abilities that consists of a football uniform plus full helmet via his new NFL-R watch with an inserted shield coin by shouting "Enter the Rush Zone!" and turning the dial. He is soon joined by several new Guardians with similar power armors, one of which is his old friend Ash, and works together with them to protect the 32 Megacores from the evil Wild Card's clutches. In the season 2 finale he sacrificed his Guardian powers to defeat Wild Card. His guardian powers later upgraded in season 3. His favorite team is the San Diego Chargers. He is voiced by Malachi Cohen.

Ash Reynolds – A redhead with freckles and green eyes, she is a good student and athlete, an adorable Tomboy. She was once under Sudden Death's spell, but overcame it to help Ish defeat him. In the second season, Ash is 11 years old, has reformed and is looking to redeem herself. She lost her Mother a few years ago, and is now being raised by Charles Reynolds, her loving, sometimes overprotective father. She is the brain of the group – complex plays or stats are easy for her. Her favorite team is the New England Patriots. She is voiced by Nika Futterman.

Troy Kang – A fun loving, daring, a bit arrogant, hot headed and someone who leaps before he looks. But he is also incredibly loyal and dependable, especially when bravery is needed. Troy is a terrific athlete. At the same time, he struggles to keep his grades up and is under constant pressure from his parents to do so. Being a Guardian teaches him to be a better team player, someone who can share the spotlight and put the needs of others first. His favorite team is the New Orleans Saints. He is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch.

Tua Tupola – An 11-year-old from a family that is completely into football. He is the muscle and heart of the team. Because Tua is a boy of few words, people sometimes underestimate his intelligence, but he is actually very smart. He is warm, caring, insightful, thoughtful, and a straight shooter. He can be shy and a little insecure, but don't get him mad – he is a fierce fighter and a terrific football player. He is laid-back and easy-going, but being a Guardian teaches him the importance of practice and persistence. His favorite team is the Chicago Bears. He is voiced by Ogie Banks.

Marty Stevens – An excitable fast-talking, 11-year-old who is always ready to pull a prank, crack a joke, or defend his beloved Cleveland Browns. He is the class clown, but also really smart, a good student, and handy with tech and computers. He has agility and moves like no other. When it comes time to fight, he can spin, twist, jump or dodge just about anything. His favorite team is the Cleveland Browns. He is voiced by Andy Aragon.

Ricky Cervantes – A tough, competitive kid with an even tougher, more competitive dad. Ricky is rough on the outside and can be sarcastic and blunt. But he proves himself to be a loyal and dedicated friend and is noticed having a close bond with Ash. He was once under Wild Card's control, but he now works with Ish and his friends. Ricky is the QB of the rival Youth Tackle Football team, the Tigers, and has amazing arm strength and firepower and can throw a football harder, faster and more accurately than just about anyone. His favorite team is the Arizona Cardinals. He is voiced by Nicolas Roye.

Villains

Sudden Death – The Non Transformers Character In season one and season three, he planned on using the Core to take over the universe and hired Ash when she was rejected as the Guardian. He was destroyed in Season 1 during the final battle for the Core...but his final words to Ish were that they hadn't seen the last of him.

The Anticorians – Three alien humanoids who have sworn rivalry with Rusherz. They come to serve Sudden Death as their almighty leader in Season 3.

Wild Card – The Non Transformers Character who is the antagonist of Season 2 who wants to destroy the guardians and the NFL. He has a very short temper and hates losing more than anything. In the episode "The Mystery Guardian", it is revealed that Wild Card's true identity is Warren Zimmer, Richard Zimmer's (thus RZ's) son. He is finally defeated when his powers overloaded in the season 2 finale. He is no longer a threat, but is still in debt for all the damage he caused. However, this is not the end of Wild Card as he returns in season 3.

Drop Kick – Wild Card's mostly incompetent robot lackey, who is frequently the target of Wild Card's rage. In the episode "The Mystery Guardian", it is revealed that Drop Kick's true identity is Sidekick, also known as RZ 1.0, Richard Zimmer's robot assistant.

Secondary

OT as RZ – The strange man who explains to Ish about the Core, the Rusherz, and Sudden Death. In the second season, he reveals himself as a supercomputer named RZ 6.0, telling Ish that "OT" was just one of many avatars he took to hide his true self. In the episode "The Mystery Guardian", it is revealed that he contains the essence of the scientist who made him, Richard Zimmer, as a result of an accident caused when Richard, with his son and his robot assistant performed an experiment with the power of the Core.

Shandra – Ish's mother. At first, she was clueless to the goings-on in regards to Ish's Guardian Status and was deeply puzzled by his newfound propensity to wander off, though she later found out. Soon after, OT warns her that, as the Guardian's parent, she would be a target for Sudden Death. In the second season, a few years after the defeat of Sudden Death, she and her husband, Lt. Matt Taylor, are aware of Ish's Guardian activities and have agreed to let Ish continue them. More than once has she has had to cover for her son's disappearances, and currently works as a tour guide at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Bolt – the Chargers Rusher, whom Ish met at the Chargers home game. He is a humanoid creature whose outfit consists of a white and blue football helmet with Chargers lightning bolts for a facemask and wears blue and yellow shorts with floral print. He was voiced by Zach Appelman.

The Gameballz – Ish's guardians in the first season:

BlitzBotz – Sudden Death's mechanical minions with one mission: collect the shards. They also have an arsenal of corruption footballs, which corrupt biological beings, transforming them into fellow BlitzBotz. 6 Rusherz had succumbed to this power, but were freed from it after Sudden Death's defeat.

Minor

Rusherz

The Rusherz are a race of humanoid alien beings from a distant planet, who bear some resemblance to an NFL team's logo, the city the team is from, or from that franchise's history. According to OT, they were responsible for the creation of the NFL's 32 teams.

Season 2: 2012–13: Season of the Guardians

A second season, titled NFL Rush Zone: Season of the Guardians, was announced by Nickelodeon and the NFL on September 6, 2012. The new season will run 24 episodes, and be produced by Rollman Entertainment, Inc. In the new season, Ish is now 11 and living in Canton, Ohio and must protect the NFL from a new enemy called "Wildcard". To stop this new enemy, Ish is given new abilities and is assisted by his old friend Ash and four other preteens. The new season began airing on Nicktoons November 30, 2012 at 9:00PM. The show resumed airing new episodes in July 2013. At that time, episodes also saw a same-week premiere on Saturday mornings on NFL Network.

Season 3: 2013–14: Guardians Unleashed

Season 3, NFL Rush Zone: Guardians Unleashed was announced by Nickelodeon and NFL on July 11, 2013. Shortly after the last episode of Season 2 premiered, a promo was released signifying that Sudden Death would return, and that the Guardians would get new suits after the first few episodes. Another change was that this season they used CGI to animate the Rusherz instead of regular 2D animation.