Flash Gordon and his son Rick escape from Ming the Merciless, who has exhausted the natural resources of his home planet Mongo and desires to exploit Earth. Ming tries to brainwash Flash's wife Dale Arden, but she resists until death, whereafter her psyche is later included in the Defenders' supercomputer Dynac X.[4] To protect Earth from Ming's invasion, among other threats, Flash joins forces with Mandrake, his assistant Lothar and The Phantom, alongside their children, to form the Defenders.