Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!
Buzz-Off® Bio
Real Name: Tzzzzt zzz zzTTTzz
Heroic King of the Andreenids™, a bee-like species closely related to both the Kex™ insect people and the Arachna Spider-Warriors™, Tzzzzt’s race evolved into fierce warriors, guarding their home and their ambrosia honeycombs with stubborn dignity. Although he initially preferred to keep his people’s neutrality, a sky war initiated by Skeletor® gave Tzzzzt more than enough reason to ally himself with King Randor’s Masters of the Universe®. He often partners with Mekanek® using his wings for airborne spying missions.
Portrait Art Source: Original card back
I think the most painful thing about this bio is that it repeatedly refers to Buzz-Off as “Tzzzzt.” They actually managed to make one of the goofiest MOTU names even goofier, and then they doubled down on it.
And then there’s the whole bit about how the Andreenids are closely related to the Kex (found in the early mini-comic “He-Man and the Insect People”) and Webstor‘s race, the Arachna Spider-Warriors. First off, on Earth, insects and arachnids aren’t that closely related–they’re in different subphylums. Webstor is more closely related to Clawful than Buzz-Off.
But why do we even need to start off with this whole “related” thing? I don’t see how it’s relevant. Imagine He-Man’s bio opened with, “Prince of Eternia and champion of the human race, an ape-like species closely related to the Beast Men…” It would seem weird and off-point, right? (And if Clamp Champ’s bio started that way, you’d hear about it on the six o’clock news.) So why do the Andreenids have to be defined by their race? Look, all I’m saying is the bio writer is clearly an arthropodist.
As for the story of the bio, it’s pretty much in line with the 200X cartoon version, right down to the events of the episode “Sky War.” The mention of Mekaneck is a reference to the fact that the two were often paired in 1980s MOTU media. It’s not a splashy bio, nor a controversial one, aside from “Tzzzzt.”
Izdawiz
Sorry guys, something is wrong with my keyboard. I even got my own screen name wrong.
Izdawis
Bee-bonics.
Izdawis
Personally I love that his name is Tzzzzt zzz zzTTTzz.
What's Bee so wrong with having some fun with a this character?
You haterz just need to mind their own bizzywax!
Thrawn
The related to the Kex thing doesn't bother me. In the MYP cartoon Buzz-Off mentions that the arachna and his race are more closely related or similar (can't remember which exactly) than he'd like to admit.
To me it wasn't saying they're in the same family, just that between their metabolisms, extra legs, exoskeletons, etc they were similar enough that the ambrosia would work effectively on both their races.
The real name doesn't bother me either. Yes it's silly, but he got one of the stupidest head in the entire line. The vintage Buzz-Off looks like a "Tzzzzt zzz zzTTTzz". 200x Buzz-Off doesn't.
The only thing that really bothers me about the bio is that they refer to him as a king. He should just be a lord or something. I don't like that at all.
Dead Man Walking
I still don't see what the big deal about the "real" name is. Bees make buzzing sounds, it's logical to me that Buzz-Off's name would be spoken in his native language, and I don't see why his native language wouldn't be a series of buzzing noise that sound foreign to English speakers. Tzzzzt zzz zzTTTzz is just the onomatopoeia of those sounds. Again, there are tribal people who's language contain a number of clicking sounds that would seem weird to English speakers.
I also don't think it's strange that the writers want to discuss how the anthropomorphs are related (even if they are mistaken). It is in our nature as humans, and as geeks to ponder such things. I mean, think about how much people pondered the relationship between Goofy and Pluto. Humans have a desire to classify, and to understand the relationships and ancestry between species. We have a mental block that prevents us from pondering too strongly our relationship to the animals, as we see ourselves as separate from them.
Now what I don't like is the whole Ambrosia angle. I just thought it was super silly in the MYP toon that eating some of their honey caused Skeletor to grow armor and become ridiculously powerful. Same with Webstor's mutation. You'd think that no matter the consequences, lots of badies would be trying pretty hard to steal the ambrosia, to try it, or study it.
dayraven
hey now, this is the focus of toy guru's work, remember? we shouldn't be critical and look at things like story structure or internal consistency. remember, these were all written at once by the same team… you can't expect people to write that many bios in a row and not phone some in. 😉
truthfully, i think the kex name drop was there strictly to get the TM renewed, as they likely intend one later in the line (and really, they'd "bee" a pretty easy repaint w/ minimal new tooling)
i'm again forced to ask… millenium he-man is ok for bios, but we can't get a head? love that critical thinking!
this bio has little to hate though, in large part because it has little to offer. it's more interested in name-dropping a race that's never gotten a toy before than mentioning that, for example, his staff can shoot energy "stings" or some such.
Stephen
I agree with you on this one, it seems pretty 'phoned in', and the info on the kex TOTALLY isn't needed. A lot of these bios seem to be getting goofier as we go on (or maybe it's just that there are so many ancillary characters being used). Still a cool looking figure though!