MOTUC Bio Discussion #32 > Gygor

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

Real Name: Gygor™

Shortly after the Great Unrest, Keldor™ was driven behind the Mystic Wall and Gygor™, Lord of the Vine Jungle, led an army of beast men in a series of raids against the long forgotten Castle Grayskull®, believing the many tales of its great and mysterious power. It was only through the combined powers of Oo-larr™ — the jungle He-Man® — and The Goddess that Gygor™ was defeated and placed in a state of suspended animation. Eventually, Hordak® returned to Eternia® and the savage gorilla was freed by Evil-Lyn® in her attempt to bolster Skeletor’s forces against the new Horde army. Gygor™ uses his great strength to fight the Heroic Warriors.

Portrait Art Source: Recolored Big Jim marketing/packaging art

As you may or may not know, I’ve already expressed my thoughts on the Gygor bio as a guest on the 23rd episode of the Roast Gooble Dinner podcast. But since you guys didn’t get a chance to chime in like usual, I’ll re-post my thoughts here.

First off, I reiterated my stance that I think Gygor should have been a good guy. I’ll admit that part of this comes from personal bias; I just want him to be a good guy. But I think I also make a pretty decent argument as to why he should be a good guy.

It has nothing to do with the fact that a Gygor prototype in the 1980s apparently had a saddle for He-Man, suggesting he was therefore good. I specifically tried to set that fact aside when I asked Mattel about it, but they sidestepped and went right back to it. What I wanted to know was why they’d chosen to make him evil in Classics. Was it the black armor? The roaring face? Was it because they thought it would just be cooler?

Here are my main reasons for why I think Gygor should be good.

First off, Masters of the Universe was always about balance. Battle Cat and Panthor, Stridor and Night Stalker, Tytus and Megator–particularly in the case of the beasts, there was always a good and evil version. What’s more, we’re already getting another version of Gygor–the Shadow Beast, who’s explicitly evil. By making Gygor good, we could have had the classic MOTU balance between good and evil. Instead, the Evil Warriors–who, let’s face it, are already loaded with awesome characters–get two giant beasts.

What’s more, Gygor’s colors are just as good as they are evil. Who’s the other major beast with a yellow and green color scheme? Battle Cat. Who else has a yellow and green color scheme? Man-At-Arms, the Wind Raider, and Mer-Man. So that’s 3-1 in favor of the yellow and green better representing the good guys.

Of course, the color issue is a more spurious point. Ultimately, I just think it would have made more sense for Gygor to be good. On the other hand, I don’t have to give a shit about the bios, so my Gygor is good and there’s not a thing any of you can do about it.

But the point of these posts is to discuss the bios, so let’s discuss. As I noted in the RGD podcast, the first half-sentence there seems to serve no purpose other than to anchor the events at a certain time. It makes it clear that Oo-Larr and the Goddess were running around just a few years before the Prince Adam He-Man arrives, though to what degree Eternians were aware of Oo-Larr as He-Man is unknown. It also suggests that the Sorceress and the Goddess may have been contemporaries, which seems kind of weird, but given that the Goddess is evidently a “spirit guide” that is alive from at least the time of King Grayskull to the era of the Great Unrest, perhaps it’s not so odd. It does make me wonder what the relationship between her and the Sorceress is, though.

The whole bit about Oo-Larr and the Goddess defeating Gygor and placing him in suspended animation almost seems contrived solely to add another item to the list of awful things that the Pandora of Eternia, Evil-lyn, unleashes. Fortunately, the bio implies that Gygor actually did just work for Skeletor (though why a former Lord of the Vine Jungle would agree to do so is beyond me).

Finally, there’s the fact that Gygor evidently led an army of beast men. This has led to much discussion as to whether Beast Man can control Gygor, and again, I’ll reiterate my argument. My theory is that Beast Man and others of his race can only control creatures that aren’t fully sentient. This explains why he can’t control Battle Cat, but can (somewhat) control Man-E-Faces’s monster form, which isn’t very intelligent and is more like a mindless “berserker.” That lack of self-awareness while in monster form allows Beast Man to partially (but, as shown in MYP, ultimately unsuccessfully) control MEF.

Of course, I’m making a lot of assumptions here based on previous canons, i.e., that Battle Cat is sentient. I think the Filmation/talking minicomic Battle Cat was obviously sentient, but the MYP one I’m not so sure about (although I don’t recall Beast Man ever being able to control him). As for Man-E-Faces, we don’t know anything about his MOTUC incarnation yet, but given how much the bios borrow from MYP I feel comfortable with my theory–for now, at least.

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16 Comments

  1. Thrawn

    MegaGearX wrote:

    Gygor is like the Attack Trolls in LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth II. A huge powerful tank!

    Funny you mention that. I made that same point on Poe's forums. I even posted pics.

    It's a very good comparison.

  2. MegaGearX

    Gygor is like the Attack Trolls in LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth II. A huge powerful tank!

    I think Gygor was acting on his own during the Great Unrest. I don't think Evil-Lyn would have gone to the trouble of freeing another Skeletor flunky.

  3. FakeEyes22

    I think it would be cool if some of these guys were reluctant allies with Keldor/Skeletor rather than serving him. Or at least allied until he becomes Skeletor and they pretty much have to serve someone so powerful.

    I'll say again that I really want to see this alleged red Gygor. If the artwork or whatever it is features different armor, I'd love to see it made with a different head to provide that classic balance.

  4. dayraven

    he can't be that smart if he's a raiding a castle that he can't break into and has no key for.

    i have a question here poe… using the "yellow and green is usually heroic" theory, you pointed out that the good guys are 3 to 1 on the bad for green and yellow characters… but using your "balance" theory, gygor being evil brings that to 3 to 2… more in balance. get you're theories together MASShole! 🙂

    as for him being evil, and the shadowbeast being evil… well, they're two different evils aren't they? the SB's work for marzo, which would bring them into conflict w/ skeletor fairly regularly. only vince mcmahon hates seeing heels fight. inter-bag guy conflicts are CLASSIC.

    and i'd like to add my voice to the chorus of "isn't this stacking the timeframe a little closer too close for comfort?" what are we, drawing straws to se who gets the power sword this weekend? is the goddess cutting custody agreements?

  5. misterbigbo

    Oh, and that bit on Keldor is so awkwardly smashed into that incredibly unweildy sentence that it makes me think TBW is shoehorning the continuity. But why? I still REALLY want to know who TBW is/are, and maybe the community members annoyed by this can exert some pressure.

  6. misterbigbo

    He fits more of the evil-appearance archetype to me, and reminds me of the 1930s King Kong movie posters. If the sculpts in this line are supposed to present the characters in their emotionally-neuter state, then he looks savage, and the only other character like that is Beast-Man. Battlcat's mouth moves so you can shut his maw and make him just look intense, so I don't think that counts.

  7. jackstatic

    A prototype picture only gives us a snap shot of one possible idea of a potential figure at one moment in time. The pic of gygor may have been taken with he-man on his back for the single purpose that he-man is the most recognizable figure, and the flagship figure of one of their flagship toylines just for the association people can make of it being for the masters toy line.

    no one can really say for certain what happened in a meeting that probably too place near 28 yrs ago that none of us were at when gygor was originally discused, all we really know is a name, and that someone somewhere thought he might be marketable to kids.

    with that being said… as already mentioned this line is stronly based off of cliches. heck, the line IS a giant cliche. I mean look at the main characters name, He-Man, who, as already said is a buff blue eyes blond haired white guy, I mean, really, you can't get much more cliche then that, so gygor being a giant evil gorilla sits fine with me, his armor screams evil! i mean honestly, look at gygors helmet and compare it to the gorillas in planet of the apes, to me theres a similarity. note, the gorilla soilders were essentially the bad guys in that movie. So, i don't know, sure gygor can be a good guy to you IF you want him to be, but he works out very well as a villian too.

    Oh, and as for the color scheme, triclops wears green and orange, whiplash is green with orange weapons, evil lyn is yellow, and skeletors face is yellow and green

    (wind raider and man at arms i believe are green and orange schemes as well, but orange is close enough to the yellow used on gygor imho, where it is closer to orange then the yellow used for evil lyn)

    anyway, the color scheme balance is a LITTLE different then you posted, and i guess we cant leave out the green tiger battle cat either. Moss mans green and yellow too… idk where im goin with this, but green and yellow/orange is WAY to common of a scheme to really make a difference in my opinion

  8. Jason

    I agree with you about the whole balance thing. That is one of the things I loved about MOTU. For every good guy there was a bad guy. But to the bio. I like it for the most part but I dont see Gygor submitting to Skeletor if he is the ruler of Beast men.

  9. Dead Man Walking

    @Poe:

    I still think it’s very boring cliche to assume that a big axe and black armor has to equal bad guy.

    Is it cliche? Sure. It's also cliche that the 2 skull-headed guys; the red-eyed spider-guy; the guy with the serrated, metal jaw; the Snake-Men; the gothic, vampire-like guy; and the arab with glowing-red eyes are bad guys, while the handsome, blond-haired, blue-eyed, buff white guy is a good guy.

    Face it, MOTU itself is one big cliche. Why draw the line here?

    Honestly, I think the impression the characters' appearance makes is going to have a big effect on how people perceive them, especially with little fore-knowledge about the character, as is the case with Gygor.

    I too was previously firmly in the "Gygor should be good" camp, but after repeatedly seeing him, I've come to welcome him as a villain. I honestly don't think most people would ever have conceived him as hero, had the only seen him and never heard about the proposed steed-of-he-man version of the character.

  10. Thrawn

    Poe wrote:

    so my Gygor is good and there’s not a thing any of you can do about it.

    Only until I devise a way to stop your heresy. 🙂

    I dislike monkeys and apes. Despite the notion of them being noble beasts, they are actually quite vicious. They'll tear your face off, and males will kill rival babies.

    And they play with poo. Not my cup of tea.

    Gygor as a vicious monster works for me.

    Poe wrote:

    First off, Masters of the Universe was always about balance. Battle Cat and Panthor, Stridor and Night Stalker, Tytus and Megator–particularly in the case of the beasts, there was always a good and evil version.

    That's true. But I think giving him to Skeletor makes sense in terms of balance. The heroes have He-Man, She-Ra, Mossman, Sy-Klone, Man-At-Arms, Teela, the Sorceress, Zodak, and the powers of Castle Grayskull.

    Skeletor has Tri-Klops, Evil Lyn, Scareglow, and Whiplash. I think an intelligent savage brute like Gygor evens it out a little.

    The Shadow Beasts are really cool and probably powerful, but they never struck me as a very intelligent threat, just more muscle for Skeletor.

    Fortunately, the bio implies that Gygor actually did just work for Skeletor (though why a former Lord of the Vine Jungle would agree to do so is beyond me).

    Because Skeletor is the Overlord of Evil, the Lord of Destruction, and the Lord of Snake Mountain.

    I imagine the conversation probably went something like this:

    Skeletor: "Serve me and you will be rewarded. Oppose me and you will be destroyed".

    Gygor: "Uh…okay".

    I look at it like Skeletor is the Eternian analogue for Sauron. He's calling all the evil forces on Eternia to serve him and they answer.

    Look at Gygor like Smaug the dragon in The Hobbit. He's an independent operator until Skeletor demands his services, and Gygor answers out of fear and awe for Skeletor's power.

    I’ll reiterate my argument. My theory is that Beast Man and others of his race can only control creatures that aren’t fully sentient.

    I agree with that. There needs to be limits on Beastman's power as well. I like to believe he has a hard time controlling sentient creatures and I like the idea that he has a hard time with animals that are inclined to serve the forces of good.

    In Filmation and MYP he also couldn't control dragons either. So that's a must.

    I also don't like the idea that Oo-Larr is so close to Adam. Stupid.

    The Sorceress and the Goddess being contemporaries is sort of neat, as long as the Goddess is specifically relegated to the role of a guide and trainer. Sort of like a Jedi Spirit in a Jedi Holocron. That way the Sorceress' role as an active protector of Grayskull is intact.

  11. Poe

    @Dead Man Walking: I still think it's very boring cliche to assume that a big axe and black armor has to equal bad guy. Why can't the good guys have a badass ape? I still think people just think it's cooler that he's evil, and I disagree this time.

    Regarding your second paragraph: in the case of Gygor, there already was an obvious counterpart to Gygor (Shadow Beast). From the beginning there was a plan to have two big ape-like figures.

    Making them both evil just seems uninspired to me. I want to see Gygor and Shadow Beast clash thunderously on the field of battle.

    And thus, I ignore this bio and will make them do so.

  12. Dead Man Walking

    Gygor might be yellow and green, but the fact is he's WAY more yellow than green. And as we know, yellow is the color of jaundice, bad dental care, urine, caution lights, cowardice, and Evil Lyn. You add stark black armor, a huge axe, and a terrifying, roaring face and you have a bad guy. I mean can't you just imagine Mekaneck shitting his pants when Gygor comes to beat down the door of a castle grayskull?

    As far as the balance equation…yes there is a good deal of balance with MOTU, but there is also a lot of imbalance. Can you honestly tell me that Scareglow, Tounge Lashor, Extendar, Snout Spout, Rockon, The Monstroid, or Blast Attack have counterparts?

    Lastly, it's very common for the bad guys' side to have many big guys, while the good guys only have a few, or none. Consider the X-Men, who usually have Colossus as their biggest guy, but have Juggernaut, Apocalypse, The Blob, Onslaught, Sentinels, et al as villains. The JLA often have no large character, but battle guys like Metallo, Darkseid, Anti-Monitor, Grodd, etc. When the bad guys have more large characters it makes them seem more formidable, and adds more tension and credence to the notion that the good guys might lose.

  13. George

    The only reason I bought Gygor, was to make my girlfriend re-paint him black and silver to be Grodd.

  14. Mountain-man

    Yeah, he shoulda been a good guy…

  15. Frogster

    In my canon, Gygor is the Grodd to Skelly's Lex Luthor. A grudging partnership and one born of convenience or manipulation rather than any explicit loyalty. I am very intrigued by the idea of "beastmen," as I wonder how our Beastman is connected at all to him, and what stories they can mine with divided loyalties ala' Kobra Khan and the Snake Men.

  16. Snarf! Snarf! (aka)

    I'm not a fan of Gygor…

    OK! now that THAT is out of the way here's my objective critique on his bio.

    I don't feel him as a bad guy either. Poe's Balance thing makes sense. Too me it was more being tired of having yet another fictional evil Ape.

    I dislike the fact that he's so close to Adam's time. (Raising too much awareness about the importance of the old forgotten ruins in the forest.)

    I could've taken him better if he was a Villain from Wun-Dar's time.

    Hate that once again they used plot device #3: (EL Released me!)

    Controlling an army of Beast Men. How does that dynamic work? I'm also wondering if they can control Gygor or not. Maybe Raquel had more potential to control the big G thus, he was banished by the big lemon-lime Ape.

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