The Second Sister of Saturday Morning

Back in simpler times when Saturday mornings really meant something. Her present was our future and teamed with her two partners they made a formidable fighting force. The first lady of Saturday morning royalty, Princess Ariel from Thundarr the Barbarian.

“The year: 1994. From out of space comes a runaway planet, hurtling between the Earth and the Moon, unleashing cosmic destruction! Man's civilization is cast in ruin!
Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn...
A strange new world rises from the old: a world of savagery, super science, and sorcery. But one man bursts his bonds to fight for justice! With his companions Ookla the Mok and Princess Ariel, he pits his strength, his courage, and his fabulous Sunsword against the forces of evil.
He is Thundarr, the Barbarian!”

In this setting, Thundarr, a muscular warrior, and his companions Princess Ariel (who was a formidable sorceress) and the Wookiee-like Ookla the Mok battled evil wizards who combined magical spells with technologies from the pre-catastrophe world. Further Star Wars influences can be seen in Thundarr's weapon of choice, the "Sun Sword", which projects a blade-like beam of energy when activated, and can be deactivated so that it is only a hilt. The Sun Sword is magically linked to Thundarr and as such, only he can use it.

There is not a lot of info out there about the show in general or Ariel in particular so I will have to whoop out my bag of geekdom and go from memory. First of all Ariel (like so many of our sisters thru out time) was the glue that held the group together. She was strong and confident, a nurturer to the innocent and a formidable opponent to any enemy. Of the three she was the only one who could actually read and she was a sorceress, which you don’t find may dummies doing. She was often seen creating energy bolts, bridges or my favorite bubbles and was only rendered helpless when her hands were bound. What I really loved about the character and the show was that unlike most shows with a female lead who’s main job it is to be captured and rescued, Ariel was captured and rescued just as much as Ookla and Thundarr. It was often hinted at in the show that she a relation to one of the villains but to my memory this was never proven.

The show and characters was created by Steve Gerber who also created Howard the Duck

FYI the first African American cartoon female was Christy Cross, who along with her husband Chris Cross (how cute…not!) made up the dynamic duo of Superstretch and Microwoman. They appeared as a segment of Tarzan and the Super 7 back in 1979. 1 Year before Thundarr hit the scene.