''Viking Quest'' poster ''Viking Quest'' is a fictional TV show within a show in the TV series ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

''. It is referred to both by fictional characters and celebrities playing versions of

themselves Themselves, previously known as Them, is an American hip hop duo based in Oakland, California. It consists of Doseone and Jel. They are also part of Subtle and 13 & God. The duo's first studio album, ''Them'', was included on ''Fact''s "100 B ...

as a real show. Within the show's

fictional universe A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes may ...

, ''Viking Quest'' is presented as a cult

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

show. The show's relative lack of success and critical reception next to its fictional spin-off, ''Angel Quest'', is a play on the same dynamic between the real-life shows ''

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' is an American television series filmed in New Zealand, based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles (Hercules was his Roman analogue). Starring Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and Michael Hurst as ...

'' and '' Xena: Warrior Princess''. The conceit that ''Viking Quest'' is a real show was extended to promotional videos and a

Flash game A browser game or a "flash game" is a video game that is played via the internet using a web browser. They are mostly free-to-play and can be single-player or multiplayer. Some browser games are also available as mobile apps, PC games, or on co ...

involving its star, Johnny Drama, outside of the show.

Fictional portrayal

Johnny "Drama" Chase at San Diego Comic-Con International The show featured

Johnny "Drama" Chase Jonathan "Drama" Chase is a fictional character in the comedy-drama television series ''Entourage''. He is played by Kevin Dillon. He is often addressed by other characters as Johnny Drama or Drama, but is credited in his movies and TV shows a ...

as the lead character, Tarvold. Tarvold has a signature exclamation, "VICTORY!!!".Episode " I Love You Too" Tarvold hails from Northumbria. His ship is called the ''Gokstad'' (a reference to the Gokstad ship). Set during the mid-10th century AD in the

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

, ''Viking Quest'' follows the exploits of Viking hero, Tarvold, as he and his clan sail the high seas. A legend in the making, Tarvold had become one of the most feared and notorious Vikings scarcely a year after he had grown his beard. It was then that he dared to steal the gold of Vali, Norse God of Revenge. His childhood friend and nemesis,

Thorfinn Skull-Splitter Thorfinn Torf-EinarssonCrawford (1987) p. 63 also known as Thorfinn Skull-splitterThomson (2008) p. 57 (from the Old Norse ''Þorfinnr hausakljúfr'') was a 10th-century Earl of Orkney. He appears in the '' Orkneyinga saga'' and briefly in '' St ...

, betrayed him and Tarvold was caught stealing the gold. As retribution for his deed, Tarvold was forced to loot and plunder in Vali's name. As he sailed the high seas doing Vali's bidding, Tarvold had to stay one step ahead of Thorfinn who constantly attempted to thwart Tarvold's progress and steal the treasure that he needed to repay his debt to Vali. In the show, ''Viking Quest'' aired in 1997 on the

Sci-Fi channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launc ...

. The complete series was later released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

. ''Viking Quest'' ran for one season of 22 episodes. The show is portrayed as having developed something of a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

, and is especially popular in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 2008, ''Viking Quest'' was re-released as a Special Edition DVD and promoted with a video game. Vanessa Angel appeared as Angel in three episodes of ''Viking Quest''. She then went on to star in a spin-off series called ''Angel Quest'', which ran "5 times longer" than ''Viking Quest''. This is a sly reference to the fact that in real life Vanessa Angel was originally cast as Xena in a three-episode arc for the television show ''

''. She dropped out; the part of

Xena Xena is a fictional character from Robert Tapert's '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' franchise. Co-created by Tapert and John Schulian, she first appeared in the 1995–1999 television series ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', before going on to ...

went to

Lucy Lawless Lucille Frances Lawless (; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', as D'Anna Biers on the re-imagined '' Battlestar Galactica'' seri ...

; and the subsequent spin-off series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' went on to significantly eclipse its predecessor, both critically and commercially.

Real-life promotion

In September 2008,

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

and

Fuel Industries Fuel Industries was a Canadian online interactive and marketing agency. Founded in 1999 by Mike Burns, Jeff Doiron, Dave Ozipko and Brian Nesbitt, Fuel Industries employed over 150 people and had offices in Los Angeles and Seattle. Fuel Industrie ...

produced a ''Viking Quest'' game website as part of a marketing campaign for the 5th season of ''Entourage''. The site featured a

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...

game, and claimed that a ''Viking Quest'' game is coming soon to consoles. It also claimed that the show is being re-released on DVD.Viking Quest Game
/ref>

References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Viking Quest'' Fictional television shows Fictional Vikings Entourage (American TV series) Video games set in the Viking Age