Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion: Mer-Man!
MER-MAN
Real Name: Squidish Rex™
Ruler of the undersea realms of Eternia®, Mer-Man® was forced to serve in the armies of Skeletor® after his kingdom was destroyed in a battle with rival ocean clans. His allegiance with Skeletor® brings him to the surface world more often then he would like. Cowardly on land, Mer-Man® prefers to stay in the murky waters of the Sea of Rakash™, awaiting the evil call of Skeletor®.
Portrait art source: “Battle in the Clouds” minicomic
Note: Mer-Man’s bio was altered for the reissue Mattycollector website. The last sentence reads,
Cowardly on land, Mer-Man prefers to stay in the murky waters of the Sea of Rakash, awaiting the evil call of Skeletor.
I’m not sure why they had to add that little “cowardly” dig in there, but it was theorized on the Roast Gooble podcast that it’s a nod to fans of Mer-Man’s Filmation depiction.
The first sentence is derived from Mer-Man’s Icons of Evil origin comic from the Millennium era.
There’s really nothing to discuss here. I’m fine with this bio, which I think may be even more boring than Stratos’s. That’s arguably a good thing, since there’s nothing I dislike or disagree with here–there’s just nothing interesting, either.
Oh, wait–except the name. Why “Squidish”? He’s a fish-man, not a squid-man. Please tell me it wasn’t meant as a wink to Mer-Man saying “Hello Uncle Squiddy” to a giant squid in the Millennium series.
Snakeeyes22
Squiddish isn't too bad, even though he's not a squid. Tiger Woods is a human, so is Bear Grylls.
Dlia
More reason to get a reissue for collectability for a single sentence variant. 😀
"But Matty, my reissue didn't come with a 'The Original' burst!"
PrfktTear
try doing an impression of Mer-Man with your tongue rolling in the back of your mouth and say Squidish, it actually doesn't sound too bad…
JediCreeper
so, I'm the only one who likes the name Squidish? to me it reads more of a sound effect than an adjective (as in, he squishes on land, not that he is feeling a little squidish)
it should mention his powers, but is otherwise fine as a bio. I'm fine with the cowardly line… since all of the villains had their flaws
misterbigbo
I only came here to echo the comments about his name being cheeky. That was the only one so far that I found myself saying "Oh, really?", out loud and with a raised eyebrow. That's why I voted for him.
toyman2581
Mer-Man was always of favorite of mine and I never liked how the Filmation series depicted him. I also think this was a chance to have the bio increase his coolness and it didn't really do that. At least it isn't as blah as Stratos' bio, though it should mention his creature-controlling abilities. The name Squidish Rex is highly lame.
PrfktTear
Perhaps its "forced" as in "he had no other choice" rather than being made to do so against his will.
Damien
I'm fine with this bio for the most part. But It leaves one wondering why they left out the fact that he can control sea creatures. That's arguably his most useful trait. Seems extra-retard not to mention it in his own bio.
And it still irks me that no mention has ever been made of HOW he was forced to serve Skeletor. Even his Icons of Evil comic only dealt with how his kingdom was destroyed, and never had him even encounter Skeletor at all.
@Mysterious Stranger: Even in the Image Comics "Icons of Evil" – Mer-Man fancied himself the ruler of all. It didn't really matter that there was a clan out there that didn't even know who he was.
PrfktTear
I recall now not being a big Mer-Man fan back when I was a kid. He was one of the figures I got second hand, and I didn't have his corncob sword. Trap Jaw was always my number one, and Beastman and Tri-Klops were beloved as well, but Mer-Man was just there to fill in the ranks.
I'm kind of undecided. The whole concept of every single one of the heroic warriors and the evil henchmen having their own race is odd. While I suppose it makes the most sense that Beastman has the beasties, and Stratos has the Avion folk, the fact that they're just one of many kind of makes them less unique. If you go by Filmation, many of the villains were from different dimensions, which at least if they had their own people back home, made them unique on Eternia and masters of their own domain with no equal.
Mysterious Stranger
Okay, so, he's the "ruler of the undersea realms of Eternia" which implies he rules ALL of the undersea of Eternia. But his kingdom is defeated by rival clans? If he's the ruler of all then who are these rival clans? And how did they become so powerful to overthrow Mer-man's kingdom?
Adding in the cowardly line helps to explain some of this as a cowardly leader could be easily defeated by stronger opponents. But that still doesn't make a lot of sense. It would have been better if he had been cast out of his kingdom for being a poor and cowardly leader. Or perhaps he was overthrown and in exchange for his service, Skeletor promised to help him regain his throne once he captures Castle Grayskull and the Power Swords.
Lemonjuice_McGee
I feel like this was their chance to up Mer-man's badass quotient, and they failed to do so.
However, as stated, the bio is good all around for keeping the status quo.
RocketPunch
I have the Mer-Man reissue and his cardback is actually unchanged. That 'cowardly' part only appears on the bio on Matty's website.
This bio is okay, although I wish they'd mentioned his ability to control sea creatures. Hate the new name.
Snarf! Snarf!
I thought that the "Uncle Squiddy" line was a joke… If the Bio Team is taking it seriously, then there might be a reason to be concerned.
Don't like the "Cowardly on land" added to the reissue, even if it's a nod to Filmation's Merman.
Now unto the bio itself: Pretty vanilla bio, but only one thing stands out: Why was he forced to serve Skeletor?