Castle Grayskullman
Heroic Embodiment of Castle Grayskull
Real Name: Not ApplicableDuring the Second Ultimate Battleground, Hordak and King Hssss’s grand army pressed in against the allied heroes of Eternia. In the darkest moment of battle, all hope seemed lost as many heroes fell, including Snake Man-At-Arms and Stratos. Reaching out through the Orb of Power, hidden deep inside Castle Grayskull, He-Man and the new Sorceress used an unrepeatable spell to call upon the Power of Grayskull and infuse life into the very spirit of the castle itself. Rising from the castle’s hidden Chamber of Defense, Castle Grayskullman marched into battle, swinging his dual swords of power, helping to turn the tide.
Let’s set aside the deeply weird notion of an anthropomorphic Castle Grayskull and accept that it’s probably not any more strange than anything else that’s happened in the MOTU universe.
If you can get past that, then I think this bio is more or less how I would have done it – bringing the castle to life through a last-ditch spell in their darkest hour, and having the character help turn the tide but not be so powerful as to immediately save the day.
I will say, though, that the creepy blonde hair everyone’s commented on made me think Castle Grayskullman was going to be some sort of temporary merging of He-Man and Castle Grayskull, That would certainly have explained the hair and made it a bit easier to swallow as part of the design.
The bios are getting a bit morbid, aren’t they? First He-Ro, then the Sorceress and Duncan, and now Clamp Champ (who I’m guessing they’re referring to as Man-At-Arms, though I suppose it could still be referring to the Snake Man-ized Duncan) and Stratos buy it. UPDATE: Poester The Flash III pointed out that I missed the word “Snake” before Man-At-Arms – possibly because they didn’t italicize the “Snake” for whatever reason. Anyway, evidently he’s the one who dies, which we already knew.
Oh, and evidently King Hssss and Hordak team up for the Second Ultimate Battleground. So was Skeletor his own faction at the S.U.B.?
Stephen Sonneveld
I've been a He-Man fan my entire life and I really don't know where half of these things like the ultimate battleground and man-at-arms turning into a snake man have come from. News to me!
I think the Filmation cartoon established the world if not the canon, but I have a special place for the dark barbarian world in those first mini-comics, from the art to the format to the stories.
LBD_Nytetrayn
I sort of like the idea, but the scale bothers me…
Maybe I'm just spoiled by this, but it's closer to the same concept and how I'd love to see it done:
gmsfan
In the 80s it was acceptable to make corny names, but they could have at least called this the Living Grayskull, even though it was a contest entry.
And it should have been a giant size figure too.
Mario
Castle Grayskullman; the wickedest, dopest MOTU man of them all!
Ok, I'm exaggerating a tad, but I never thought I'd like a non-vintage fig so much. This guy's my boy!
De-Man
For what it's worth, the Four Horseman have said the hair will be more of a shade of green, closer to the stonework on the rest of the figure.
The Flash III
Poe, you missed the word "Snake" right before "Man-at-Arms" (look at the bio again), so it is he who bites it.
clark
It looks to me like the hair is supposed to be a ghastly green. On the concept art it looks like white hair, and they should just stick with that, because the color they chose looks very weird.
Did I just look at a figure that represents the embodiment of a castle, who has the face of the castle's entrance; and say his hair is what looked weird? Yes, yes I did. Welcome to the wonderful world of Eternia!
Jack Static
I beleive was metioned somewhere that skeletor and he-man teamed up (an enemy of my enemy is my friend type thing). Tho i could be wrong, although this has happened previously in mini comics and other media so its not unprecedented. Id assume it was either that or skeletor brought back all the space mutants during this time to bolster his ranks, tho i could be wrong. With that said i enjoy this bio, its how i would have handled it as well, or rather some variation on this. While i STILL think the runner ups (as well as my own design) were better i know why this won, and its growing on me… Except for that stupid f’n hair!
Pollex Christi
You are correct, He-Man and Skeletor team up according to the Dragon Blaster Skeletor Bio.