Count Takeshi and his henchmen

So, another day starts for Count Takeshi. As usual, his arch-rival General Hayati Tani gathered an army of volunteers wo will do whatever it takes to conquer Takeshi's Castle. But, Takeshi is well prepared. His defense team is prepared to stop the intruders at any cost. So, let's meet those brave souls who will defend the honour of Count Takeshi! (Oh yea, if you're wondering who's the man next to Ishikura that is all burned-well, that's Sonnemama Higashi, Takeshi's second advisor, but looks like he just had an....accident)

Well, these are only the main members of Takeshi's team that appear in almost every episode. And Takeshi's team was changing as time passed, but these people were always there for him. Other important members of the team are the dark samurai Ajimaru "Animal" Resry, Pop&Corn and some others, but I didn't manage to get their pictures. Anyway, Takeshi's team is ready, so let the games begin!!! By the way, there are A LOT more games in Takeshi's arsenal, but only 9 games are there in every episode.

GAME 1-door puzzles
There are 10 walls, each has 10 doors in it. But only one or two doors are made of paper so they can be "opened", others are made of wood and are pretty painful if you hit them too hard! But even paper doors hide nasty surprises-some of them have a net put behind them. But whoever can get past all 10 walls, can advance to the nekt game.

GAME 2-surfing over the air.
Simple. Get on a surfborard that moves in a circle and get to the platform on the other end. 3 obstacles only-jup over first fish, then land on the platform, quickly catch the surfboard that goes under, jump over the last fish and then on the green platform and you're in the next game. Whoever falls off and in water, is out. Sounds simple? It isn't!!!

GAME 3-the Labyrinth
12 (in later episodes 18) square (in later episodes six-cornered) rooms, doors connecting them. Find your way out. But there are also two (later-three) of Takeshi's guards, Onji Tankobo and Strong Kanegou (later with them, Ajimaru "Animal" Resry). If any of those gets his hands on you, you get black-painted all over your face and you are out. If you take the wrong exit and land in water you're also out. Whoever can find the right exit without getting caugt, is in the next round. Congratulations! This is the game where a lot of people are knocked out.

GAME 4-earthquake room
5 challengers at the same time get in, take a kneeling position on some pillows, and after that the room will shake wildly for 20 seconds. Only those who don't lose their balance and remain kneeling without falling over, advance. It's strictly forbidden to use hands to hold your position. You do that, you get disqualified. Simple. A difficult game, a lot of challengers are out after this one too.

GAME 5-7 cylindersPossibly the most difficult game of them all. 7 cylinders are put over water and make a bridge. But, they are placed in different heights and can spin clockwise as well as counter-clokwise. Only one wrong move, they start spinning and that usually means "arrivederci" for the attacker. Whoever gets across, is areal master of balance and is in the next game.

GAME 6-the Dragon lake
Another one of those most difficult games. A short sprint awaits the challengers. 25 stones build a bridge over the Dragon sea. But careful! 5 of those are kinda....unstable and will sink when stepped on. There are two problems about this-the unstable stones don't differ from the stable ones AND for every challenger, other stones will be the ones that sink. It's pretty difficult to get across. Whoever falls in the water, is out. A lot of people here too...but it's hilarious to watch them do saltos in the water! You can die laughing!

GAME 7-bowling Takeshi style
This bowling is special. Why? Well, the challengers are put into giant pin costumes and the ball has about 1,5 meter in diameter. The posotions are decided before the throw. General Tani has 10 cards. 10 challengers at the same time-each one draws one card. The ace means "pole position" and almost inevitable goodbye. Numbers 7-10 are positions in the background, a lot less dangerous. How many people are out here? Well, depends on who rolls the ball. It happened that no1 was out in this game! And Takeshi was not very happy about it! Neither were Higashi and Ishikura.

GAME 8-the bridge
Second-last game. The General shoots a golden ball at every attacker. They just have to carry it over the narrow 50 meters long bridge that hangs on 3 steel ropes. Would be pretty easy, but they are shot at by Takeshi's men that launch black balls at the attackers. Should the attacker lose the golden ball, he/she has to go back to the start and get another one (no ball limit). Whoever falls, will fall about 3 meters deep and will be caught by a double safety net. And that means "au revoir, too bad you were so close..." The rate of challenger sucess is kinda low here.

GAME 9-the secret passages
Last game, always the same. 5 passages, but in two of them Makoto Dainenji and Tatsuo Tokashiki will hide. So, the challengers only have 3 ways out of five. Depends on luck. The wrong passages are indicated by blinking skull symbols. Of course, the challengers don't see them. Whoever gets though, is in the final showdown! Congratulations!

THE FINAL SHOWDOWN
In front of Takeshi's Castle, General Tani gathers his remaining people. Very few made it. They will have to challenge the full Takesi's team. They are placed in some "cars", in later episodes the General has one too, but before, only challengers. If the sensor on a car gets hit (in earlier episodes with water-gun, in later episodes with a laser gun), the car is considered to be eliminated. If Takeshi's vehicle gets hit, he's defeated and the castle is conquered. If Takeshi's team manages to knock out each and every challenger, the castle is defended and the assault repeled...
SINCE THIS IS TAKESHI'S PAGE; IN THIS SCENARIO TAKESHI WILL BE THE VICTORIOUS
...in the end, the fireworks indicate the end of the showdown. Set off in Takeshi's honour this time. Whoever wins, just the background music differs. So, Takeshi has won again, the castle is defended! The General apologizes. It's not worth the words, he apologizes for his failure. His people were just too tired after all the games and were no match for entire team of Takeshi's. Takeshi himself, celebrates. But even for General Tani, this defeat doesn't mean anything tragic. After all, he is a man of a high morale. He will return, with more volunteers and attempt a new assault on Takeshi's Castle.