Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

Spikor

Real Name: Kleffton

Originally a blacksmith from the Eternian village of Nordling, Kleffton was fused with an enchanted suit of spiked armor and a mystic trident when he attempted to steal a sacred scroll from the city’s high priests. Banished from his home, Kleffton became an outcast, wandering into the Sands of Time. He was discovered by Skeletor, who saw his natural talent to forget weapons and recruited him to battle against the Snake Men. Now called Spikor, he serves Skeletor by creating new arms and armor for the Overlord of Evil. Spikor uses his spike-studded body and trident arm as might weapons!

“Kleffton”? (more…)

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

Sir Laser-Lot

Real Name: Unrevealed

Across the continent of Preternia, the mightiest of King Grayskull’s Knights was Sir Laser-Lot, a master of weapons and hand-t0-hand fighting techniques. He wore an enchanted suit of armor powered by the great Gem of Tamadge which enhanced his strength and let him unleash powerful energy blasts. So legendary were his deeds that the future king He-Man sent one of his loyal Time Agents into the past to bring Sir Laser-Lot forward to his time. Here, Sir Laser-Lot became the King’s new Man-At-Arms, training both the Royal Guards and the King’s young son Dare in ancient battle techniques. Sir Laser-Lot uses his energy blade to fight for chivalry and justice in any time.

Mattel posted packaging art and bios for Sir Laser-Lot and Spikor on Facebook yesterday, and in the interest of actually striking while the iron is hot, I’ve decided to start posting these bios as they’re revealed. (more…)

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

Star Sistersâ„¢ Bios

Starlaâ„¢, Bright and Beautiful Leaderâ„¢
Real Name: Gemma,

Jewelstarâ„¢, Hidden Beautyâ„¢
Real Name: Devena

Tallstarâ„¢, Lovely Lookoutâ„¢
Real Name: Cassandra

In ancient times, an evil sorceress became jealous of the Star Sisters’ youth and beauty and trapped them in a shooting star. It was sent hurling through the cosmos until the three women crash-landed on Etheria. There, they remained magically confined in the side of a mountain until the day Swiftwind’s hooves accidently loosened the stone that concealed their prison. She-Ra quickly used her powers to melt away the star that held them captive. In gratitude, the sisters pledged their everlasting friendship. Jewelstarâ„¢ magically conjures gem armor to protect herself and others. Tallstarâ„¢ uses her magic to stretch to unbelievable lengths. Starlaâ„¢, with her pet Glorybird, can sense danger and project spells of light against her foes. Together, they stand side-by-side with She-Ra in the battle for freedom.

Not a whole lot to discuss here, is there? An origin story, a description of the characters and so on. I’m trying, but I just can’t find anything interesting to say about this bio.

These bio discussions have really lost a lot of their appeal, haven’t they? I think they work better in a live format, like the actual Roast Gooble podcasts. Then you usually get one person willing to play the devil’s advocate enough to make it interesting.

MOTUC Bio Discussion Archive

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

Battleground Evil-Lyn Bio
Real Name: Evelyn Morgan Powersâ„¢

Cast aside by her secret husband after his transformation, Evil-Lyn sent their infant son into the future and plotted to overthrow Skeletor by releasing his enemies from their dimensional prisons. In a series of miscalculations, she helped free the Snake Menâ„¢, Hordak and Gygorâ„¢ — increasing her adversaries threefold! After Randor and Miro returned from Despondosâ„¢, the Three Towers rose and Evil-Lyn found herself again allied with Skeletor during the Second Ultimate Battleground. At the end, defeated and stripped of her powers by the new Sorceress of Grayskullâ„¢, Evil-Lyn used the Cosmic Keyâ„¢ and the Power of Central Tower to return to the future to find a new life with her long lost child — The Son of Skeletor!

Quite a bit of new information in this bio. First, we learn for certain that Evil-lyn actually married Skeletor at some point, albeit secretly, and they even had a kid. I’m a little unclear on how the events proceeded, but my guess is Evil-lyn got pregnant by Keldor, had the child secretly (probably after Keldor was transformed into Skeletor), sent it into the future (probably with the aid of her father, the Faceless One), then remained an Evil Warrior and began unleashing all of Skeletor’s enemies into the world, each of which backfires on her.

At the Second Ultimate Battleground newly-minted Sorceress Teela strips Evil-lyn of her powers, but she uses the Cosmic Key (doesn’t anyone ever keep an eye on that?) and goes to the future with “the Son of Skeletor.”

The “Son of Skeletor” plot thread may be a reference to “He-Ro, Son of He-Man,” a rejected 1996 cartoon pitch by Lou Scheimer Productions to bring back the He-Man franchise. The cartoon would have featured a teenager named Dare, a ward of King Adam, who could turn into the He-Man-like “He-Ro” using the Power Sword. If you skim through the pitch’s bible (via the link above), you’ll see there’s a lot of talk about the mystery of Dare’s parents. However, Mattel’s Scott Neitlich confirmed that Dare is not the son of Skeletor – which makes sense, since that would have been far too interesting a plot point for these bios.

MOTUC Bio Discussion Archive

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

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Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

She-Ra Bio
Real Name: Adora of the House of Randorâ„¢

After crossing over from Etheria to Eternia with the help of Light Hope, She-Ra joined forces with her brother and the Masters of the Universe who were caught in a four-way war with the Snake Menâ„¢, Skeletor and Hordak. She used her cloned sword to harmonize with and channel the Powers of Grayskullâ„¢ to form new arms and armor in the midst of battle. Her Bubble Powerâ„¢ armor greatly enhances She-Ra’s stamina and allows her to funnel great fumes of energy at her foes. She remained on Eternia to fight off evil until both she and He-Man were called to the stars to fulfill their destiny, traveling to the Tri-Solar System to end the oppression of the Horde Empire.

Like He-Man, She-Ra can “harmonize” with the Powers [sic] of Grayskull to form new arms and armor. He-Man gets the awesome-looking Battle Armor; She-Ra gets…Bubble Powers, which allow her to funnel great “fumes” of energy (energy apparently having been transmuted into a gas at some point).

This bio does reveal a few things, though: it confirms the existence of Light Hope in the MOTUC Bio Universe (MBU) and mentions the four-way war between the Heroic Warriors, the Evil Warriors, the Snake Men and the Horde that occurs near the end of the timeline. I’m a bit unclear on how this war ends, though we know Skeletor defeats Hordak and takes off into space to conquer the Horde Empire and the universe itself.

So, some new information and a serviceable if uninspired explanation for the Bubble Powers (as it includes no mention of, y’know, bubbles).

MOTUC Bio Discussion Archive

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

Swiftwindâ„¢ Bio
Real Name: Spirit

A magical steed from Etheria, Spirit served Adora during her time as Force Captain of the Horde Army. Loyal to Adora, not the Horde, Spirit stayed with her after Adora learned of her true heritage and joined the Great Rebellion. Enhanced by Adora’s newly acquired Sword of Protection, Spirit was transformed into She-Ra’s flying mount Swiftwindâ„¢, heroically carrying the Princess of Power into battle. Swiftwind remained with She-Ra, traveling with her from Etheria to Eternia to join with the renegade Masters of the Universe in the continued fight against Hordak and his armies.

I think what I wondered about most in reading this bio was why Swiftwind stuck with Adora after she turned against the Horde. That’s some pretty strong loyalty to turn against the status quo you’ve known your whole life simply out of loyalty. I have to believe Swiftwind wasn’t a fan of the Horde’s regime. If he thought the Horde was running Etheria just fine, it’s arguably like joining up with the Taliban against the government in Afghanistan purely out of loyalty to your best friend.

And once again, I’ve engaged in some traditional geek overthinking. But that’s really the whole point of these bio discussions, isn’t it?

We already knew from She-Ra’s bio that the Heroic Warriors would become renegades under Hordak’s rule (though the Thunder Punch He-Man bio seems to dispute that, as Skeletor is ruling when he’s challenged by Hordak and King Hssss). So nothing new there. Overall a pretty straightforward bio.

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

Snout Spoutâ„¢ Bio
Real Name: Jaxton

A peasant from Etheria, Jaxton was one of three athletes abducted by Hordak and cast into his experimentation matrix. There, like the others, Jaxton was grafted with cybernetic parts giving him both amazing powers and a bizarre form. After crossing through a Laser Gate to Eternia with The Evil Hordeâ„¢, Snout Spoutâ„¢ escaped and joined with the renegade Masters of the Universe. Self-conscious about his appearance and called “Snout Spoutâ„¢” for his abilities to blast water from his cybernetic trunk, Jaxton often feels that everyone is always laughing at him. But when the Snake Menâ„¢ slither out and enemies attack, Snout Spoutâ„¢ blasts them back with a super jetspray!

Because he joined the MOTU toyline after the Filmation cartoon had ended, Snout Spout was incorporated into the She-Ra cartoon, which is presumably why he has an Etherian origin here. But even the cartoon version was confusing; of the three episodes he appeared in, sometimes he was depicted as an Etheria resident (and was even referred to by his original concept name of “Hose Nose”) while other times he was Prince Adam’s friend from Eternia.

Finally, issue #26 of the United Kingdom MOTU comic featured the story “The Unknown Warrior” in which Snout Spout was an Etherian peasant who was experimented on by Hordak and transformed into an elephant-headed freak who later escaped to Eternia and joined the Heroic Warriors.

This bio synthesizes elements from all these origins, but adds the interesting wrinkle that Snout Spout evidently served as a Horde member for at least a little while. It raises the question as to whether “Jaxton,” like so many other Horde members, wasn’t simply brainwashed. Maybe they hadn’t worked out the kinks yet? Did Jaxton do any evil deeds as a Horde member? Did he kill a fat barkeep?

I love the lack of resolution to his bio, too: “Jaxton often feels that everyone is always laughing at him.” Oh, and he fights the Snake Men. So we’re left to think either people are laughing at him or he’ll continue to suffer crippling paranoia that they are.

As for that last bit, why the Snake Men, you ask, rather than Hordak or Skeletor, either of whom would make more sense? Because the last sentence has to come from the card back, people!