Just a thought I had while reading the comments on the Skeletor bio discussion: how could a future bio retcon the Skeletor/Demo-Man merger concept everyone so loathes?
Let’s assume we’re writing the bio for a potential Demo-Man MOTUC figure. Here’s my version:
DEMO-MAN
Real Name: Carcharius
A mindless demon of the dimension of Despondos, Demo-Man spent his life wreaking havoc upon the denizens of Etheria. After his banishment to Despondos by King Grayskull, Hordak attempted to recruit Demo-Man into the Horde, but finding the creature too difficult to control, he locked it away. When Keldor was mortally wounded in battle, Hordak sacrificed Demo-Man to gain the power to turn Keldor into Skeletor, the Evil Lord of Destruction!
Just for fun, here’s the other bio I toyed with:
Ages ago, a young Eternian shaman mated with a demon, resulting in the hideous Demo-Man–a rage-filled hybrid of man and monster. To save his village from the beast, the shaman banished the creature to the dimension of Despondos, where it wreaked havoc for centuries before being captured by Hordak. When Keldor was mortally wounded in battle, Hordak sacrificed Demo-Man to gain the power to turn Keldor into Skeletor.
Ultimately I decided the shaman-mating-with-a-demon thing was a bit too salacious for a realistic bio, but the idea that the shaman could have been a young and foolish Eldor is appealing.
Any other ideas on how a future bio could retcon the whole Demo-Man/Keldor merger without obviously contradicting the Skeletor bio?
Snakeeyes22
Okay, just had an idea. It involves another new/forced relationship, but hear me out:
Demo-Man? He's a direct ancestor to Skeletor and perhaps a ruler, creator, or god-like figure to the Gar race who became incredibly powerful. Demo-Man is a nickname given by those who fear him since he's too powerful to be mortal The Gars are mistrusted because this guy and much of his legacy were violent power-mongers for years, but not so much now.
Keldor's got this guy's nasty blood in him, maybe Demo-Man even magically thrust bits of his conciousness into his bloodline so his mind would survive as his power was trapped.
As a decendent of Demo-Man, Keldor can be successfully merged with him, and Hordak can finally access this power, otherwise, why not try merging it with Grizzlor?
Not the best idea, but this way Keldor is is merged with something closer to a piece of himself, so he hasn't changed as much. The merger with his ancestor is also a twisted, permanent parallel to Adam's relationship to the power of King Grayskull.
Snakeeyes22
Makes sense that Hordak would have access to and knowledge of Demo-Man, waiting for an opportunity to use him.
Keldor provides an anchor for the immense power that Hordak can now direct, without sacrificing any of his own mind or body. Makes the idea of Skeletor eventually overpowering Hordak more poetic.
This is assuming Demo-Man doesn't turn out to be Oo-Larr's brother, or King Grayskull and He-Ro's lovechild.
Damien
Well-written, Poe. But I think your bio still essentially contradicts Skeletor's bio. There's definitely a big difference between merging two creatures and killing one creature to gain enough magical power to save another.
Honestly, I think the only way the 'merger' could be retconned is if Demo-Man's bio specifically states that, at some point, his essence was overpowered by Keldor's, and he ultimately perished, leaving his power within Skeletor – or something like that.
Of course, I also don't dislike the Demo-Man angle and so I don't really feel it needs to be retconned out.
Tahukanuva
Presuming Demo-Man is a rather primal creature (until we have another image, I'm forced to assume he is.) I'd say a full mind&body merger wouldn't be too out of the question. I mean, Keldor would still be the dominant personality, he would just be much more prone to violent outbursts (which Skeletor is quite prone to). Also, having the power of a demon would explain how Keldor went from 'magic chemist' to 'proper sorcerer'.
Mysterious Stranger
Skeletor's bio states that Demo-man is an "extradimensional being". I understand this to mean that Demo-man doesn't necessarily have a physical body but is in fact a spirit. So when Hordak merges Demo-man with Keldor, Keldors "soul" is combined with the Demo-man spirit and becomes the new being, Skeletor. The physical changes to Keldor's body (pointy forearms, paler skin, clawed feet and hands) are the physical manifestation of the merging of these two souls. Skeletor retains the blue skin and basic body shape of Keldor but takes on some of the demonic features of Demo-man IF he were to have a body.
Dead Man Walking
The first bio is the tops!
PrfktTear
I'm usually pretty open minded about stuff, a lot of fans complain simply because "it’s not like it was when I was a kid". For whatever reason, Skeletor's origin is one thing I'm not willing to bend on, and it seems like the same holds true for other fans as well.
If Demo-Man was "sacrificed" and then his essence or power or whatever was used to turn Keldor into Skeletor, I can live with that. I've always gone along with the idea that he was transformed by some evil magic, so this fits in well with that concept. Keldor being physically transformed by physically merging the two bodies and personalities together raises a lot of questions I don't want to have to ask.
Poe
@Grenadier: That's interesting, but it's also a lot like the Millennium origin of Two-Bad, where Skeletor merged the rival bounty hunters Tuvar and Baddhra, who hated one another.
I just hope that if and when Mattel gets around to making a Demo-Man figure, we get some explanation of Hordak's motivations for the merger–specifically, why he chose Demo-Man, and how, exactly, they were merged (were there souls fused together? Did he kill Demo-Man and use his power to turn Keldor in Skeletor? Did he kill Demo-Man and simply merge their bodies? Did he physically merge their bodies and their minds? So many questions, and they all seem pretty important to our understanding of Skeletor…
Grenadier
I may have mentioned this already in the Skeletor bio discussion, but I like to think Demo-Man either hated Hordak or Keldor before the merger. Perhaps Demo-Man met Keldor before the merger and didn't like him, which would make him all the more angry when Hordak (presumably against his will) fused him with Keldor. This would naturally/magically amplify Skeletor's hatred of Hordak.
toyman2581
Nice bio, it actually makes sense this way! Good work Poe. Now if only the figure of the actual character will look good……
MegaGearX
That's a hellouva lot better than what Mattel has written now.