Thorne Family Adventures
The Thorne Family Adventures is a science fiction action-adventure series set in the Dimension Delta Zeta 17-46 universe. The series follows the Thorne family, who live in isolation on a secluded Caribbean island at the intersection of genius, tragedy, and global conflict, as they balance their need for peace with their nation's demands for survival.
The series is a deliberate homage to the 1960s adventure cartoon Jonny Quest, featuring a brilliant scientist, her family, and a military protector engaged in perilous, globetrotting adventures against global enemies and non-conventional threats.
Premise
The Thorne family's isolated life on a classified Caribbean island research outpost represents a fragile truce between one family's need for peace and the North American Federal Republic's demand for survival. The series explores themes of sacrifice, moral conflict, and family loyalty against the backdrop of an alternate Cold War where metahuman powers and advanced technology shape global warfare.
Characters
Main characters
Dr. Vivian Thorne
Dr. Vivian Thorne (born 1923) is the NAFR's foremost normal-human mind in Quantum Gravitation and an Apex Researcher whose brilliance is critical to the Republic's survival. Born into the elite Boston Brahmin class, her talent placed her in the nation's top academic pipelines, where she encountered "Doctor Philadelphia," the metahuman responsible for approving Apex candidates. While pursuing her Ph.D., she met and fell in love with Damien Thorne, a nuclear chemistry student.
Her personal life was shattered in 1962 when Damien, an NAFR Strategic Infrastructure Engineer, was killed in the British atomic attack on Baltimore during the October War. This created her defining conflict: she hates war with every fiber of her being, but fears her nation's defeat more, viewing her work developing war-critical technology as a necessary sacrifice to protect her children and the NAFR from future atomic fire.
A Maverick Genius with a defiant streak, she actively aims to speak up and offer guiding wisdom to the NAFR's leadership, holding them to task to live up to her nation's high ideals. Since early 1963, she has worked in profound solitude on a Caribbean island, intensely focused on a revolutionary breakthrough, acknowledging that "every discovery has a shadow."
Major Rex Corbin
Major Rex Corbin (born 1913, age 51 in 1964) is a symbol of the NAFR's meritocratic military and a hardened, professional soldier. Born in rural Texas, he earned his stripes as a "Mustang" officer via a battlefield commission in the South Asian War, rising to Major (O-4).
His career was shattered in 1962 during Operation Chimera Block, which ended in catastrophic failure due to the military's disastrous underestimation of Imperial metahuman intervention—a systemic failure that broke his "direct and unwavering" moral code. While shielding a victim, he sustained a catastrophic arm injury, which was fitted with a sleek, highly integrated Tactical Stabilization and Micro-Dampening Unit. This augmentation restored his function but deemed him unfit for conventional combat.
Leaving soul-crushing desk duty, he accepted a secretive offer to "retire" and join the Shadow Guard. In early 1963, he was assigned as the Protector and Logistical Assistant for Dr. Thorne. His professional duty has evolved into a paternal bond with the children, Caleb and Zara. He serves as the gatekeeper to Dr. Thorne's solitude and the bulwark against all external threats.
Supporting characters
Caleb Thorne
Caleb Thorne (born 1953) is Dr. Thorne's son, forced to mature quickly. He is surprisingly adept at a young age, assisting Major Corbin during attacks by feeding tactical coordinates with video game-like proficiency. His motivation is familial love for his mother and sister, and a driving curiosity about the world around him.
Zara Thorne
Zara Thorne (born 1954) is Caleb's adopted sister, brought into the family after being orphaned during the October War in 1962. She is a vital part of the team and serves as the Keeper of Secrets, representing the moral human and empathic core of the narrative.
Production and development
The series is based on the Official Writer's Guide (1964) for The Thorne Family Adventures, which establishes the characters, setting, and tone for the Dimension Delta Zeta 17-46 universe. The guide emphasizes a deliberate homage to 1960s adventure cartoons while incorporating more complex themes of war, sacrifice, and moral ambiguity.
Themes and influences
The core structure and tone are a deliberate homage to the beloved 1960s adventure cartoon Jonny Quest. The series captures the classic dynamic of a brilliant scientist and family undertaking perilous adventures supported by a capable military protector:
- Dr. Thorne replaces Dr. Benton Quest as the genius scientist
- Major Rex Corbin embodies the steely resolve and guardianship of Race Bannon, with the added layer of a cybernetic past and growing paternal bond
- Caleb and Zara are the adventurous, tactically-adept children who transform their isolated, high-tech research outpost into an action-adventure backdrop
Wild cards and antagonists
Super Force
The ultimate wild card in this environment is the Super Force and its operatives, most notably Samantha Grey. Super Force is the highly secretive, metahuman-led branch of the NAFR war department, whose existence remained classified until well after the series' timeline.
Major Corbin's service failure involved metahuman intervention, and the Thornes' highly classified Apex research is a magnet for enemy metahuman and Super Force counter-involvement. Appearances by the volatile Samantha Grey—a powerful metahuman whose missions are often brutal and covert—inject unpredictable, transcendent power into the family's world, creating intense internal conflict for Vivian Thorne, Major Corbin, and the children.
Global threats
The family faces constant menace from global enemies and non-conventional threats, including Imperial metahuman forces and other entities seeking to exploit the Thornes' revolutionary quantum gravitation research.
See also
References
External links
Categories