Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!
Bow Bio
Real Name: Kyle Reccula
After wandering through Despondos for several centuries and unable to return to Eternia, Hordak and his ageless army eventually claimed Etheria as a new throne world, deposing the local monarchs and ruling the people through fear. A nobleman in Queen Angella’s court, Kyle was one of many brave warriors who took up arms against the Horde invaders and joined the Great Rebellion. Nicknamed “Bow” due to his natural ability as an archer, each of his arrows possesses different powers and he has a magical heart that beats frantically when She-Ra is in danger. Bow is secretly in love with Princess Adora, unaware that she and She-Ra are one and the same!
Portrait Art Source: Original packaging art
It’s interesting that the entire first sentence of this bio has nothing to do with Bow at all. This backs up my recent observation that the bios have moved from describing the MOTU mythos through character and to telling a story in (relatively) straightforward fashion, mentioning the character largely in passing.
The most interesting part of that first sentence to me, incidentally, is the “ageless army” reference. We know now that Grizzlor and Catra have been with Hordak in Etheria for 5,000 years, but why don’t they age? It suggests an immense level of power and technology that makes them seem like gods. Why not just say they ended up in magical suspended animation in a crystal cave or an asteroid (Nordor?) or something until they break free during the time of King Miro? (Too “Space Seed”?)
The name “Kyle Reccula” is random and not, to my knowledge, pulled from any existing lore. While I’m happy it’s pronounceable and human-sounding, I would have preferred any of the more tongue-in-cheek names that were bandied about by fans, like “Flynn” or “Bowen Fletcher.” Flynn is my favorite, honestly–a one-word parallel to Man-At-Arms’s Duncan and a nice reference to one of Bow’s forebears.
I find it interesting Bow loves Adora, not She-Ra. That’s a pleasant reversal of the usual Lois-Clark-Superman triangle.
I was initially a bit confused on the whole “heart” thing–does Bow suffer from arrhythmia?–until I realized they were referring to that heart on his armor.
Kate Racculia
I cry now.
Poe
@ dayraven: OK, I just upgraded the plugin. It should work properly now.
AJ wrote:
My best friend's name is Kate Racculia. She and I have been laughing about the coincidence, but now you just got mean. 🙁 😉
dayraven
@ Poe:
no, in the last two weeks at least, if it gives you any time at all, it's not much, no more than 4 or 5 seconds.
Poe
The edit function is supposed to time out after giving you five minutes to do so. Is it not giving you at least that long?
dayraven
i'm bettin' right about now that fakeeyes is wishing the edit function worked regularly.
Dead Man Walking
FakeEyes22 wrote:
He's an anti-Semite! /Uncle Leo
FakeEyes22
I don't think I noticed that bit about his heart going nuts about She-Ra while he prefers Adora. He must get pretty confused. Or he's realized that the super powered chick he's got the hots for is pretty unattainable, he set his sights on the regular girl whi looks almost
exactly like her.
I don't mind Kyle at all. He does kinda look like a Kyke to me. Flynn would have been clever and fun. I'll suggest Flynn Fox, as a reference to the Disney film that Toyguru's a fan of. Honestly, any birth name at all besides Bow would have caused some fits. Kyle seems pretty tame. Coulda been Shaft Pullstring
AJ
I'm not a fan of this bio.
From my vague recollection, Bow was "in love" with She-Ra (possibly in the same way many gay men are "in love" with Wonder Woman), not Adora.
Also, Bow has to be pretty stupid if he knows he loves "Adora" yet his magical heart beats frantically when only She-Ra is in danger. Does it not also beat frantically when Adora is in danger? Wouldn't that give him some indication they are one and the same?
And the entire 5,000 nonsense confuses me. How long have the Horde actually been on Etheria (the planet) as distinct from how long they were "trapped" in Despondos? It surely can't have been that long if Bow was already a nobleman in Queen Angella's court. I would expect he'd need to be at least 16 to earn that position and the "figure" doesn't look "older" than any other figure, so I'd guess he's around 25 or so. But, Adora is at least 18 (if not older), so that suggests that the Horde must have been on Etheria for at least 18 years in order for Adora to age normally.
And I still don't buy Despondos as this horrible, dark dimension that just happens to have one planet Etheria which is near-identical to Eternia in terms of humanoid life forms, etc. If they explain that Etheria was "settled" by people from Eternia at some point, then I guess it's okay, but the way they've described Despondos makes it sound like a pretty crappy place where only "ageless armies of the Horde" could survive (other than on Etheria itself).
And like so many of the other "real names", Bow's real name sucks. If I was called K. Reccula, I'd want to change my name ASAP as well.
Dead Man Walking
@ dayraven:RE: Rectum
LOL. I had the exact same reaction. In fact, it seems like a portmanteau of RECTUM and DRACULA–neither of which suit Bow at all. Then again, IF Bow were gay rectum might be more apropos.
dayraven
i just can't get past how last name like of sounds like rectum.
that said, i have to ask, he had skills with a bow, so they called him bow, but he also apparently has a magic heart, so was there a chance he'd be named "heart?" or maybe "he-art?" does this mean in the motucverse, i'd be called "meathamm-or?" 😉
Snarf! Snarf!
I don't think so. It only makes the Horde members trapped in there 5000 years younger. This suits Catra a lot better. She's no longer a loser for 5000 years. It avoids the whole "Why Adora ages normally while the Horde doesn't" issue.
The Time/space portal gives the Horde a reason to conquer Etheria. They're lost, no way to contact the Horde Empire, if it even exists. Now Hordak has to start from Scratch. Probing into Eternia through magic he could see that the Age of Grayskull is no more thanks to Keldor looking for him at the Eternian Horde Temple.
Poe
Snarf! Snarf! wrote:
That's a great idea–they could have just said King Grayskull's time/space warp flung them 5,000 years in the future as well as into Despondos. Right? Does that open up any new plotholes?
Snarf! Snarf!
I'm not liking this shift on the bios. This one Hordak related sentence steals ALL of Bow's thunder…
Or that the Portal sent them through TIME AND SPACE to Despondos. Harder to break out and return home when you're in the far future…
I'm not cool with the fact that Bow is "one of many" of the Rebellion. The Rebellion has always been portrayed as Bow and Glimmer being the Leaders of it. This is like being demoted from being the PoP equivalent of Teela to a PoP Lt. Spector.
Now the whole heart beating for She-Ra while loving Adora reeks of Mattel trying to squash any Bow is Gay Rumors…