Rattlor

Real Name: Slltyo of the Rattlor House

A loyal leader in King Hssss’ army, Rattlor was the first of the Snake Men to escape their imprisonment in the Void. He worked with the Snake Men descendent Kobra Khan to liberate the entire serpent army. Once freed, Hssss quickly began a three-way war against the Masters of the Universe and Skeletor’s Evil Warriors, with Rattlor leading the attack. Eventually, Khan manipulated Hssss into demoting Rattlor and he defected to the evil Horde army. Under Hordak, Rattlor became known as “The General” for his keen insight into enemy strategy. After sounding his sinister battle rattle, Rattlor lashes out at victims with his terrible quick-strike head!

This bio is interesting because it strives to provide in-universe explanations for two completely incidental aspects of MOTU history.

The first is Rattlor’s inclusion in the Horde. The Snake Men, of whom Rattlor was a member, were created as a new sub-line of villains for He-Man to fight in the vintage 1980s Masters of the Universe toy line. By the time the Snake Men showed up at toy stores, the Filmation He-Man cartoon had been off the air for a while – but She-Ra: Princess of Power was still in production. The show already had the Horde for its villains, but the Prime Directive could not be denied, and so Rattlor, as well as fellow Snake Man Tung Lashor, made a few appearances on She-Ra as members of the Horde. (For a rundown of his role on She-Ra, visit The Ultimate She-Ra Guide.) Oh, and then he popped up as one of Skeletor’s Evil Warriors in the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special, but apparently that wasn’t worth twisting the bio story to explain.

Then there’s “The General.” When Mattel brought MOTU back in the early 2000s, it found that a few of its former trademarks had expired, and that included “Rattlor.” So while they could use the name Rattlor on the show and in the comics, it couldn’t be slapped on a toy package. (A similar problem occurred with Fisto/Battle Fist.) The solution Mattel came up with was to call him “The General” on his toy package. Why not “General Rattlor” (just like Hasbro does with “Autobot Ratchet” and so forth)? I don’t know. But anyway, this bio really goes out of its way to explain that discrepancy.

Is this fanservice? I feel like this is fanservice. Or does that only apply to gratuitous shots of scantily-clad female characters?