Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!
Evil-Lyn® Bio
Real Name: Evelyn Morgan Powers™Raised alone by her father in the ruins of Zalesia™, Evelyn left her home in a fit of teenage rebellion. Taking the name Evil-Lyn®, she traveled Eternia®, learning from many of its great masters the ways of magic and the dark arts. While searching for new ways to increase her power, she met and fell in love with an ambitious alchemist named Keldor™ and agreed to join his cause. After Keldor™ was transformed into Skeletor®, he lost all emotional attachments to Evelyn and she began to scheme against him. In a series of miscalculations, she helped release both King Hssss™ and Hordak™ from their interdimensional prisons. Evil-Lyn® uses her crystal ball to foresee the evil future!
Portrait Art Source: Original card back
My apologies for the lack of bio discussions last week–I’ve been swamped at my real-world job, and I have to admit it just slipped my mind completely. But I’m back now, so, onward!
Let’s start with the real name. This is one of fans’ most-hated real names. The main reason, I think, is that having her real name be “Evelyn” is just groan-inducingly awful–her name was already a groan-inducing pun on the name Evelyn, do we really need to emphasize that fact?
The “Evelyn Powers” part of the name comes from the pre-Filmation Michael Halperin MOTU bible, which is often a source for these bios. In the bible, Evelyn is an Earth astronaut who, along with the future Beast Man and Tri-Klops, crash-lands on Infinita and joins Skeletor. The addition of “Morgan” to her name seems to be a simple nod to the famous Arthurian witch.
But let’s move on to the actual biography. It appears that the MOTUC canon has absorbed the 200X idea of Evil-lyn being the daughter of the Faceless One of Zalesia. I have to admit, I’ve always had about a hundred questions about this. Who’s her mom? What woman actually mated with a faceless sorcerer–or is he just wearing a mask? What happened to her mom? What was Evil-lyn’s childhood like in that weird ram-shaped castle? Oh, and now that we have this info, is the Faceless One’s surname Powers? I mean, it has to be, right? If/when we get the Faceless One’s real name, I hope and pray his middle name is “Danger.”
Then there’s the “fit of teenage rebellion”–yeah, those rebellious teenagers, leaving home and becoming evil world-destroying sorceresses. I mean sure, as I just mentioned, Evil-lyn must have had a pretty weird childhood, but you have to admit a relative good guy like the Faceless One raising such an evil child is a pretty epic failure.
The rest of the bio–Evil-lyn crossing Eternia, falling in love with Keldor and then turning against him after he became Skeletor and went crazy–that all scans. Then we get our first MOTUC-related glimpse of Evil-lyn as Pandora, as through “a series of calculations” she unleashes the Snake Men and Hordak. That’s from the 200X cartoon, so while it’s funny to see them bunched together like that, the Bio Writer isn’t entirely to blame (they are to blame, however, for repeating the trope with Gygor).
The last line (taken from vintage marketing materials, I’m assuming–probably the vintage card back) seems a little incongruous with the previous sentence, though–apparently her crystal ball’s prescience doesn’t extend to warning her about those upcoming “miscalculations.”
Snarf! Snarf!
Evelyn M. Powers came with Screeech… does that make it her pet? Screeech Powers? Lame SbtB reference aside, I hate her name. It's too Earthly. (I know that Evelyn Powers was her name in the Filmation Bible or something… Biff Beastman, Evelyn Powers and Dr. T.E. Scope, yadda, yadda…)
Couldn't it have been Eve'l'yn of the House of Zalesia or something more Eternian sounding.
Emo girl with daddy issues… She called herself EVIL LYN?
I understand her change in attitude after Keldor became Skeletor, with all the Skeletor being no longer interested in her; but releasing Bigger Evils left and right? She should've been a Locksmith for crying outloud!
On her Ball: Well it may see the Future in THIS dimension and it gets interference when dealing with Other Dimensions…
Biggest unanswered question: Why is she yellow?
Dead Man Walking
@Snarf! Snarf!: Good question on the yellow thing.
The fact that her last name is Powers bothers me even more than the fact that her first is Evelyn. It's just SO cheesy.
Oh, and Poe, The Faceless One wasn't always faceless (as seen in the MVC comics) so he probably didn't have much trouble landing a mate. Also, while EL did release Gygor, we haven't been given any information that suggests that that blew up in her face like King Hiss and Hordak.
dayraven
@Snarf! Snarf!: liver troubles? maybe during that teenage rebellion, she contracted hepatitis C and she drank a lot… could happen.
i'm cheesed that the "evil future" scrying seems to blockade releasing terribly evil people into the world… all that TG "oh, we have a plan, it's just confusing now cuz we haven't explained it all" is crap, cuz this is BAD WRITING! all on one card!
the "morgan" name addition is likewise sloppy… he's not adam arthur randor of the house of pendragon is he?
lastly, shouldn't she HATE hordak? didn't he rob her of her man? why is she setting him free?
i would add though that the faceless master was likely not always faceless, and he is a wizard, so doubt mr powers there wasn't faceless when he boffed her mom… or maybe it was some kind of creepy fetich porn thing, she had a thing for faceless dudes… maybe he gave great indention? maybe mom left the faceless one for rocky dennis?
Reilly
I'm just waiting for a bio that reveals how Evil-Lyn also released Her-Pes, Evil Master of Faceburn, in her teenage days.
The real name already was ridiculous in the 80s, but it at least made some sense as she was from earth. But incorpotating it into this bio just shows how Mattel doesn't know jack about the fanbase. If they really were aware about how much most fans despise that old name, they would have come up with something at least slightly less dumb, such as Lady Evilyndra of the House of Zalesia .
I also wouldn't be surprised if her teenage rebellion was caused by her dad losing it after she went into his room and accidentally freed some evil demon creature from its magic prison.
Ha, would be kinda ironic if she freed Demo-Man when she was young!
Heli
"All the other kids are releasing nameless horrors upon the world! You're so LAME, Daddy! I'm OUTTIE!"
MegaGearX
Her real name is terrible. Maybe she's an Earth child who was sent to Eternia and raised by the Faceless One. Now that will be an interesting bio.
Evil-Lyn is a total power whore. She jumped ship to other teams many times in MOTU history. In Filmation, she often teamed with everyone under the sun as a power grab. In MYP, she kept looking for the next big bad to join. She even tried to join Hordak in the mini-comics.
FakeEyes22
@Snarf Snarf
Screeech Powers! Fantastic.
I've got nothing bad to say here. The bio may have silly bits, but at least it gived a decent amount of info without becoming too muddled or contradictory. The real story perhaps lurks in other characters' bios, where we may see just how much of a pro-abolitionist she is for scary monsters everywhere. Is it possible that there are parallels to the American Civil War here? Evil-Lyn was spurned because of here yellow skin maybe? Please discuss. Or be totally offended. She does need to knock it off though. I wouldn't let that chick watch my hamsters for an hour.
The idea of her being romantically involved with Keldor then retaining a cold shell of thay relationship while scheming on her own is interesting. Was she really that hurt that her boyfriend with no face lost interest in making out though? I'd be totally cool with that if I were her.
Thrawn
This one's tricky. Overall it isn't too objectionable, but there are bits in it that are slightly irksome.
First, the name is somewhat goofy. I think it's the three taken together. Two of them would have been enough.
Second, the teenage rebellion thing. I hated that at first, but it could actually make sense. Maybe she was totally isolated in Zalesia and she rebelled at being sheltered. It wouldn't be the first time it's happened.
Then it does say that she left and went out into Eternia to further her magical training and skills. So it's not like she was idle. In that respect her journey sort of mimics Keldor's.
Third, letting out both the snakemen and the horde. Yeah…about that. The snakemen I could see. That was explained in the MYP series. We saw it's aftermath and why Skeletor let her live. But why would Skeletor not kill Evil Lyn for letting Hordak out after the Snakemen debacle?
I think it would have made more sense if someone else let Hordak out.
Not a great bio, but not the worst. I think that still goes to Teela and the clone crap. And Demo-man.
Cythagen
Initially I had a hard time accepting her very human name with the MYP backstory, but then it occurred to me that the circumstances of her birth could very well parallel those of Adam and Adora.
Suppose her mother is also Evelyn Powers–the astronaut from the Filmation series. Once stranded on Eternia, EP Sr takes up with the Faceless One and has a kid, much like her colleague, Marlena Glenn. She's christened with Mom's name, but shares a bit more of Dad's hobbies–and maybe his complexion, too.
I concede the feasibility of this explanation is subject to how one guages Evil-Lyn's age, but for me it's the best way to reconcile both the Earthly and Eternian elements of her origins.