A number of new MOTUC bios popped up in the course of SDCC. I’ll eventually discuss them at length in my bio discussion posts. (I actually started to write some brief responses to some of these, but since they were running longer than half my actual bio discussion posts, I decided to just save them for later.)
Roboto
Real name: Robot Model 9041Originally built by Man-At-Arms as a chess opponent for Man-E-Faces, the robot companion was nicknamed Roboto and later given a heart-shaped emotion chip which altered his speech patterns. Under the influence of his new programming, Roboto came to understand the desire for freedom and upgraded himself for battle so that he could join the Masters of the Universe in their fight against evil. Roboto serves as chief strategist for the Masters and uses his unstoppable robotic strength in heroic combat.
Grizzlor
Real Name: Gur’rull Gu’rrooowarrrkOriginally a peaceful creature from the planet Jungulia, at the young age of 428 Gur’rull was kidnapped by the Horde Empire who erased his memories so he would serve loyally in their armies. Renamed “Grizzlor” he travelled with Hec-Tor Kur to Eternia in search of He-Ro. His ferocious attacks were so frightening that even after being banished to Despondos along with his master, Grizzlor’s legend lived on becoming a myth told by young Eternian children. Prison guard for the Horde, Grizzlor is ready to unleash his fierce claws to attack the forces of Eternia.
King Grayskull
Real name: D’Vann GrayskullGrowing up under the oppressive rule of the Snake Men, D’Vann was driven to rebel against injustice when his brother was captured and eaten. Others flocked to Grayskull’s banner and his legend began to grow. Declared King for his courage, compassion, wisdom and strength, Grayskull became a great leader ruling along with his council of wise Elders. A destined guardian of the Sword of He, Grayskull magically passed his essence into the blade with his last breath – ensuring that only his heirs would now wield it and tap into the great power it harmonized with. After his death, the sword was split in two and its power transcended into a great orb inside his castle, protected by Grayskull’s devoted and loving widow.
Eternian Palace Guards
Real name: VariesFrom across the Light Hemisphere of Eternia, the bravest and most noble warriors in Randor’s kingdom were recruited by Man-At-Arms and later Clamp Champ to help guard the Royal Family. Often called upon to aid the Masters of the Universe, the royal guards are trained in multiple forms of hand-to-hand combat and are masters of many weapons including the Power Staff and several types of Energy Blasters. Whenever the Royal Palace is threatened, it is the strength of the elite guardsmen which often repels evil. Brave Palace Guards like Lieutenant Spector defend the Royal Family from attack.
Chief Carnivus
Real Name: Carnivus Fervelius IIILeader of a race of Eternian cat warriors called Qadians, Carnivus keeps his people safe high in the village of Felis Qadi. For many years the Qadians kept neutral stance, preferring not to get involved in the affairs of other tribes. But with the rise of Skeletor and the subsequent release of the Snake Men and the Horde from their inter-dimensional prisons, Carnivus agreed to re-evaluate his core principles and joined the struggle for freedom allying himself and his people with King Randor’s new Eternian Council. Carnivus uses his feline agility and great courage to fight evil.
Snarf! Snarf!
Roboto's bio: Emotion Chip shaoed like a heart. I can live with that as an explanation for the heart shaped thing on his chest. Aren't emotions supposed to clash with Roboto's Tactical prowess?
I'd be worried if I had a Robot that became self aware enough to Upgrade itself for battle… MOTU-Skynet anyone?
Grizzlor: Girl Growark? Peaceful but brainwashed? meh.
King Grayskull: D'Vann Is he the son of La'shaneeequa Grayskull? Another brother eaten by Hsss. So now the swords are powerless, but they can harmonize with the power… wait a minute, MAA can create a sword that Harmonizes with the power too! The Cosmic Key can Harmonize with anything… Holy Tuning Forks, Batman!
Toyguru and the other guy (+ 2 non-human heads that are most likely to end on the spare parts bin):
So these guys train with weapons they don't have… Nice! Good to know that Lt. Sk'ottt "Spector" K'neit'lich't is taking Clamp Champ's position after MAA turns evil.
Carnivus: Eh, nothing to say about this other than what Dayraven pointed out about Evil Lyn. That courage tag at the end reminds me of the Cowardly lion from The Wizard of Oz…
We need Marlena, Cringer and the Sorceress so we can have an Eternian version of The wizard of Oz.
He-Dan
WTF?:
"After his death, the sword was split in two and its power transcended into a great orb inside his castle"
Great orb? So the sword is split in two but has now power?
FakeEyes22
@Misterbigbo
You're right! More silly alien names that have apostrophes…because they're alien! Funny how we English speaking earthlings manage to approximate all sorts of languages from other earth countries to our phoenetic system without any punctuation.
Grizzlor's name is great though. It's so insane that I'm confident my human tongue couldn't grasp it. I think I find it hilarious since it just blows any expectations for silliness that we've developed straight to hell. It's like they saw the reactions to the previous bios, and now they're seeing how far they can push it before our minds break.
They could have gone a route similar to Optikk. "Grizzlor's name is only pronounceable to furry gorilla people."
As for Grayskull, D'vann sounds the same as Divann to earthfolk, right? Do they even speak English on Eternia, or was it translated for television? Does Marlena have trouble ordering at McGooble's drive thru with all the nutty spellings?
I'm beginning to think that Hordak and Skeletor give all of their henchmen toddler level names because the chirps and squeals everyone was born with on this planet are especially difficult to say without lips.
Mysterious Stranger
Who wants to bet that the real name of Palace Guard Lt. Spector is some play on Toy Guru's name? S'Kot Nyt-leech or something.
toyman2581
Man I can't wait till we get to these individual bios. Some interesting stuff in there as well as some lameness.
misterbigbo
@FakeEyes22:
Every time I read a name with all those apostrophes I think back to trying to get through that Inferno storyline in the marvel mutant series in the 90s. It's dumb.
FakeEyes22
I think the more apostrophes we see, the closer we tread towards Star Wars Expanded Universe/ Fan fic territory.
I love Grizzlor's real name though. It's hilariously long.
Since Roboto's got some feelings…wasn't it kind of a dick move for Ducan not to bother giving him skin? Just run out to the Royal Dump and peel some off of a Faker or something so he'd feel more human and less naked. Come to think of it, was Faker's blue skin just a bizzare prank so Duncan could see if Eternians would be racist towards He-Man?
PrfktTear
Okay, I know this is a stretch, but what about confusing D'vann with the late drag actor, Divine?
dayraven
couple things… first, while i agree w/ the other poesters that grizzlor's bio sucks, they've all missed a rather significant detail… "grizzlor is ready to unleash his fierce claws" how exactly would he do that w/ two fists holding a pair of swords or an axe?
plus, you can expect a slew of "d'vann" jokes from me from now on, whenever grayskull is mentioned. "remember kids, don't go near d'vann even if de nice man has a puppy… stranger danger!!" what a stupid name. like he's devin grayskull, this is his sister merrybeth grayskull and their lion spike. they like to go hiking, when they're not attending their studies or ministering to guatemalan children. this year, d'vann wants to scale K2!" what are they, sending out a family newsletter?
also, w/ carnivus' bio… so basically, his problem lies w/ evil lyn, moreso than skeletor eh? that's kind of funny.
BTW, i'm very glad that on earth, we program our chess bots to just play chess… not build laser weapons for when they lose… "oh, your knight takes my queen, checkmate, eh?… BOOM! check that… bizitch!" seriously, who programs a chess robot to built his own weapon upgrades? also, w/ the inclusion of the heart shaped emo chip… does this mean bow is a cyborg? so the swappable chest emblem things allow his to alter his emotional state, like heart, he's all puppy dogs and ice cream, but then he goes circle and suddenly, he's dr manhattan?
Poe
@misterbigbo:
<img src="http://www.poeghostal.com/images/clamps.jpg">
Thrawn
Carnivus, Roboto, and the palace guards are fine. I have no qualms with their bios.
Grayskull's real name is D'Vann? Like Devin? Or is it supposed to be like divine? A curiosity. I can't say that I like or hate it.
Grizzlor's bio on the other hand is awful. Grizzlor is a mind controlled slave? What the "F"? Oh my, lots of fail with that one. Why can't he just be a savage animalistic beast whose insatiable bloodlust attracted the attention of Hordak, who then eagerly recruited him into his "Evil" Horde?
428 years old from the planet Jungulia. Okay, Grizzlor is now a wookie, huh?
I have to say that is probably the worst bio out of every figure so far. I really don't like that one at all.
misterbigbo
@PrfktTear:
He was clamped?
PrfktTear
From the Eternian Palace Guards bio:
All I have to say is curiouser and curiouser… so at some point in time, Duncan Hines will be somehow incapacitated or removed from his post as Man-At-Arms?
Poe
@misterbigbo: Yeah, that's basically the gist of what my bio discussion on Grizzlor is going to be about.
Novelty
Yay, the first mention of the Eternian council (I think). Hopefully, we'll see all the members of the council!
misterbigbo
Jungulia? Really?
I liked the description of Grizzlor's bio from that UK comic you posted, Poe, more than the one given him here by Matty. The notion that his ignorant dangerousness is already established is better than the transparent redemption option from MOTUC. It seems they want to make more than a few enemies gray in this line.
Then again, in reviewing the bios of the baddies thus far, it seems that Matty has mitigated the evil of most (save maybe Hordak)by making their nefariousness a desperate choice, or a no-win bargain foisted upon them, rather than having bad guys just be bad. Can't we just have some evil here, people? I'm all for complex and mature storytelling, but this is He-Man. . .
Poe
@Dead Man Walking: Without getting too much into it (I'll do that for the official bio discussion post), Grizzlor's bio (including the name "Jungulia") is pulled almost entirely from this issue of the MOTU U.K. comic.
Dead Man Walking
"Jungulia?" Is that a reference to a jungle or to Carl Jung? I'm not sure how I feel about Grizzlor being a mind controlled slave of Hordak. My initial reaction is to hate it. It seems like Mattel is going for a lot of sympathetic villains, who are rarely done well (cf Dinobot for a sympathetic villain done VERY well).
I hate Roboto being a chess playing robot–it's one of the dumber things to come out of the MYP show. I mean, they have super-advanced robots meant for limited tasks on Eternia, but they don't have computer chess? I'd like to see Kasparov vs. Roboto.
Lemonjuice_McGee
So The Sorceress is Grayskull's chick? Hmmm…
Newton Gimmick
Gur’rull Gu’rrooowarrrk? Isn't that like some noises he made in a Robot Chicken sketch or something equally as stupid?