Knight Rider History

Throughout history, few people have been able to make an impact on the world around them. But in the mid 20^th century, one particular man's dream started to take shape.

In the year 1965, Wilton Knight oversaw the manifestation of his dream and created the Foundation for Law And Government. It was an organization with a distinct commitment to justice. Dubbed "F.L.A.G." for short, the Foundation was to deal particularly with those criminals who operated "above the law", those who seemed always able to find a loophole to escape justice. Originally, its function was simply to provide competent legal aid to those in who needed it, employing some of the best legal minds in the world.

But this was only the very beginning…

In the late 1970s, Wilton began to execute his plan to back up F.L.A.G.'s potent legal force with physical power that would deal with criminals "on their own terms." F.L.A.G.'s first project was the "Megaman Program", where the physical attributes of five carefully selected operatives were substantially enhanced. Megaman was developed with the research of Dr. Martin Brooks, a geneticist working at one of Wilton's scientific development companies. The Megaman Program proved quite effective, until one of the "megawomen", Summer James, who formerly worked in F.L.A.G.'s investigation unit, died during a mission.

The other Megamen were:

Ken Savage - an ex-Los Angelos private investigator.

Ted Parker - an ex-Seattle police detective and pilot.

Sarah Lisbon - an ex-London police woman.

Zeb Williams - a former paralegal and investigator with F.L.A.G.'s legal unit.

Following this tragedy, the Megaman Program was cancelled and it’s members retired from crime fighting. But it was not the end of Wilton’s dream…

Wilton Knight decided that for his next project, the use of a solitary man instead of a team would avoid emotional tragedy as it had done in the Megaman Program. But this one man would not be totally alone, he would be teamed with the most technologically advanced crime fighting vehicle in the world. As well as having the back up of F.L.A.G.’s expansive resources. The new program was called "The Phoenix Project".

The project started out badly, the first choice for an operative was arrested for murder before even being recruited, and the prototype vehicle, the "Knight Automated Roving Robot" or K.A.R.R., become dangerous and uncontrollable due to an unforeseen programming mistake. K.A.R.R. was then shutdown and stored in a F.L.A.G. warehouse to be dismantled later.

Wilton's team started again, from scratch, and Wilton also handpicked the next man to become the driver. His name was Michael Long, a Police Officer whom Wilton had researched and observed thoroughly, unbeknownst to Michael himself. Michael was already extensively trained and experienced in law enforcement and crime solving, and had the moral fiber that Wilton was looking for in an operative. .

Finally, in 1982, the vehicle, labeled as the "Knight Industries Two Thousand" or K.I.T.T., was nearing completion. The time had come to approach Mr. Long. But at the time, Michael was pursuing a case in Reno concerning corporate criminals from Silicon Valley, and as he was about to close the case, Tanya Walker betrayed him. She shot him in the head, and he was left for dead.

Michael was found and rushed back to the F.L.A.G. mansion, where expert doctors were already standing by. They discovered that a metal plate in his forehead, a result of surgery he had received in Vietnam, had miraculously saved Michael. The bullet had deflected off the plate, saving his life but destroying his face. In light of this, F.L.A.G.’s plastic surgeons reconstructed his face to look like Wilton Knight’s son, Garth Knight. Garth Knight had turned to crime, feeling spurned by his father and ending up in an African prison with a life sentence.

When Michael regained consciousness, he was naturally shocked and bewildered at finding out that his face and fingerprints had been altered, and even more so when he learned that Michael Long had been officially proclaimed dead on August 8, 1982. Wilton Knight, along with his best friend and second-in-command, Devon Miles, explained what had happened and why they had selected him. No longer being able to call himself Michael Long he was given the new identity of Michael Knight.

Michael was then introduced to the finished Phoenix Project. Adjusting to a car that could think was another matter altogether, particularly when Michael learned that it could also talking, and was a acting and reacting creation, not "alive" by any scientific definition of the word, but certainly very living indeed by all practical means.

K.I.T.T. would grow into Michael's perfect partner, as well as one of his best friends, despite their awkward beginnings. Within his custom 1982 Pontiac Trans Am body, K.I.T.T. was programmed primarily to preserve human life.

As all this was happening, as the old man himself had anticipated, Wilton Knight's life came to a peaceful end in his bed, with both Michael and Devon listening intently from the bedside to his dying words; "One man can make a difference, Michael. You are going to be that man..."

Wilton Knight had two children, Garth, his son, and a daughter named Jennifer. Jennifer became involved with the running of FLAG after Wilton’s death.

If these transitions could be traced back to a certain principal turning point, it would be the death of Devon Miles. With the loss of the brilliant administrator that had guided the project through the Michael and K.I.T.T. era, the Foundation for Law And Government suffered the agonizing task of finding a worthy replacement.

An experienced and highly capable business man named James Marland was chosen for the position. With Marland in place, the Foundation's legacy was ready to be revived. Marland prepared the way for an innovative new artificially intelligent vehicle to protect the streets. The project was labeled "K.R.O." the "Knight Reformulation One." In the end K.R.O. was be housed in the body of a black Ferrari F355 and protected by a somewhat weaker version of K.I.T.T.'s molecular bondage shell, this being due to the fact that Devon had carried part of the M.B.S. formula to his grave. This forced the F.L.A.G. scientists to develope a new formula, but they were never able to replicate the original strength of the M.B.S.

With the new car came the task of selecting a new driver, and it didn't take long to find one who was qualified, a dignified, committed man named Martin Jantzen. However, in the anxious rush to make another perfect car/driver team, Marland overlooked some warning signs indicating that Martin was mentally unstable. Since K.R.O.'s A.I. was designed to connect with, and correspond to its driver's personality, the instability infected the car, and before long Jantzen and his car had somehow taken each other over the edge.

After K.R.O. had killed five innocent people on one of their missions, F.L.A.G. had to shut the project down, and Martin Jantzen was consequently committed to the White Sands Detention Facility on December 13, 1994.

After Marland resigned as head of FLAG, a board of directors meeting was convened. The dust kicked up by this disastrous failure had begun to settle, and the need for another car/driver project had became apparent, the Foundation faced a considerable challenge in ensuring that things be kept under control this time around.

Ultimately it came down to the choice of either risking the same type of thing happening again by giving one man sole control, or spreading the power more evenly among a carefully balanced team. Not surprisingly, they chose a team, and thus the project "Team Knight Rider" was born.

F.L.A.G. then put together a team of driver/car partners based out of Sky One, a VTOL-capable C-5 transport plane. They also incorporated F.L.A.G. more tightly into the US government, making it more like a government agency. T.K.R.’s assignments were more far reaching, performing espionage missions that helped more of the public in general than the common person specifically.

Kyle Stewart – the leader of Team Knight Rider. An ex-C.I.A. agent and intelligent strategist. Vehicle: Dante

Jennifer Andrews – a Martial arts expert and ex-marine. Later she is revealed to be Michael Knight’s daughter. Vehicle: Domino

Duke Depalma - an ex-Boxer and weapons specialist. Vehicle: Attack Beast

Erica West – the sexy ex-con artist, with good intentions. Vehicle: Kat

Kevin "Trek" Sanders – the brains behind the team, Erica and Trek both rode hi-teck motorcycles which could join together to form the versitile "Combo Car". Vehicle: Plato

The team faced many opponents over the next year including Mobius, a criminal mastermind who orchestrated several evil schemes the team managed to stop.