I’ve had this idea gestating in my mind for a few years now but I’ve never been able to solidify it beyond a few character ideas, so I’m just going to make a post about it now and see if that helps it coalesce into something more solid.
I really love 80′s cartoon villains - Megatron, Cobra Commander, Skeletor, Mumm-Ra, and all their henchmen. There’s something so delightful about how they were designed to be menacing and theatrical and yet restrained by the standards of the time from ever being a real threat. The idea of a skull faced wizard acting like a rebellious and rowdy eight year old is just inherently endearing.
They’ve kind of gone extinct though. Villains in kids’ shows nowadays tend to be actual threats - even lovable goofs like Adventure Time’s Ice King have some disturbing sides to them. But I pine for those completely toothless villains of yore, whose day ended a few years before I was born and who I knew from reruns and youtube poops. Where have all the Skeletors gone?
So I’ve had this pitch in my head for a sort of throwback to those kinds of villains, and I call it Baron Skeleton after the lead bad guy. Like He-Man and Thundercats, it would be a sort of sci-fi/fantasy mashup without a real identifiable theme, and ideally it would also be designed to be as toyetic as possible - I’d want characters to be intentionally designed to share different body molds ala He-Man figures and Transformers, so that way the theoretical toy company could get as much use out of their toy toolings as possible. I’d also want to keep to story-telling standards of the time - a character whose toy just came out would have one episode where they’re introduced as SUPER important only to become just another character in the show a few episodes later, stuff like that. Ideally the show would be just a little aware of this without being too meta.
The big “twist” of Baron Skeleton would be that we’re focusing on the bad guys rather than the heroes. It’d play on my pet interpretation of 80′s cartoons: that the bad guys are basically theeatrical freaks and geeks, while the good guys are popular kids. I mean, think about it - 80′s cartoons always stress following rules, obeying authority, being super healthy, and just generally conforming to societal expectations. 80′s heroes want you to fit in rather than stand out - and they’re always attractive, straight laced people. 80′s villains, on the other hand, are surly, pouty, antisocial weirdos who come in all sorts of different shapes. They have weird obsessions and weirder fashion sense. It’s basically Goths vs. Preps, and so that would be the overall conflict of Baron Skeleton - antisocial misfits vs. popular comformists.
Our protagonist would be the titular Baron Skeleton, who’s mainly a hybrid of Cobra Commander and Skeletor - i.e. a lanky skeleton man in a vaguely military-ish outfit. Theatrical and prone to wild mood swings, Baron Skeleton leads the (currently unnamed) bad guy faction, although “leads” might be too strong a term. He’s less an iron-fisted dictator and more of a short tempered Kermit the Frog, desperately trying to reign in his volatile henchmen while futilely trying to get his own schemes to work. Like a good villain, he’s too clever by half - i.e. just smart enough to make a truly clever and complex plan, but not smart enough to keep it from falling apart. He’s also somewhat aware of the flaws of his operation, but not enough to actually fix them.
His number 2 would be Snakeman, a large, muscular henchman with a big snake head on an even bigger, beefier humanoid body. Snakeman isn’t particularly invested in the “bad guy” thing, and basically uses Baron Skeleton’s schemes as an excuse to stir shit up and have fun. He often “forgets” (i.e. purposely didn’t listen to) his orders and just makes shit up as he goes along with the hopes of causing as much mischief as possible. Despite his lax attitude, he deeply cares about Baron Skeleton, and genuinely wants his boss to be happy. Though Snakeman is one of the reasons the group’s schemes fail more often than not, he’s also often the person who keeps Baron Skeleton and the others from facing serious consequences, and Baron Skeleton considers him his closest friend.
The rest of the cast is still nebulous in my mind. I’d want there to be one new bad guy (as of the first episode at least) who wants to be an actual villain – i.e. genuinely evil and threatening. This character – let’s call them “Newbie” for now – would be used for exposition in the first season, being the fish out of water who has to be taught how things are run. Baron Skeleton and Snakeman would always shoot down his suggestions of legitimately evil actions, telling him early on that real villains get killed: “You don’t want things to escalate. Once you get serious, the Good Guys get serious too, and that’s when the bodies start piling up. Gotta keep the stakes low if you want to stay in the game long term.” In the first season finale, Newbie would betray Baron Skeleton by finally pulling off a truly evil scheme and framing Baron Skeleton’s group for it, forcing the Bad Guys to prove they’re actually not that bad.
There would have to be a host of other wacky henchmen too. I’d want one Starscream-style perpetual traitor who’s always trying to steal Baron Skeleton’s position only to be forgiven and welcomed back into the fold. There would likewise have to be one slavish loyalist who praises Baron Skeleton’s every action, no matter how stupid or mundane it is. You’d need a mad scientist and/or sorcerer to help make plot devices for the schemes of the week, and maybe a spy-master who’s far too competent to be in Baron Skeleton’s employ but sticks around because they like the low-pressure environment. It’d also be fun to play with Monsters of the Week and legions of faceless henchmen.
Finally, the show would need a hero team to oppose, which is an essential part of this pitch but one I can’t for the life of me figure out. 80’s heroes are nowhere near as interesting to me as 80’s villains, and while I could probably design a hundred different henchmen for Baron Skeleton’s faction, figuring out even a small core team of heroes is agony for me. The closest I’ve come to thinking of a coherent theme for them would be a sports-themed team of heroes – it’s Goths vs. Preps after all.
I also think it might be funny to have the setting be vaguely high school themed, with episodes that take basic high school sitcom tropes – the big dance, career aptitude tests, that sort of shit – and blow them out of proportion so they’re completely fantastical in scale.I had some design sketches for a few of these guys ages ago, but god knows where they went. Maybe I’ll make some more later on – but for now, this is Baron Skeleton.
I’ve posted some Baron Skeleton concept sketches on my Patreon. Since it will probably be ages before the finished artwork is posted on Horror Flora, maybe consider donating?
I hate to be a shameless shill, but I also need money.
Slightly More Detailed Character Nonsense for Baron Skeleton
It is weird how I’ve made more progress on this story concept in the last couple of days than I have in rest of the couple of years since I came up with it.
This builds off of/refines the rambling brainstorm stuff I did in this post, just in case you missed it.
Baron Skeleton Character List
Size Classes from Smallest to Largest: Scout, Basic, Deluxe, Mega
Villain Team
Baron Skeleton
Character Role: Big Bad
Motifs: Skeleton, Cobra Commander, Skeletor
Size Class: Basic
Toy Gimmicks: Snap on Chest Armor
Personality: Manic and almost perpetually annoyed, Baron Skeleton is prone to spiteful rants and loud tantrums. While anger and frustration are basically his default emotions, he rarely directs these feelings at the people around him, being more likely to rant about bad luck or society being rigged instead. Despite his volatile temper, he’s actually far more patient with his henchmen’s quirks that you’d expect, and genuinely likes the people he works with. Unlike the villains he’s based off of, Baron Skeleton is never abusive to his underlings and generally tries his best to accommodate their needs and desires in his schemes, even if doing so often results in failure. Though he talks as though his worlview is bleak and cynical, Baron Skeleton notably refuses to ever give up the fight – he always has another scheme for victory after each defeat, and rarely dwells on his failures for long before moving on to the next plan.
Meta Stuff: As the show’s protagonist, he’d get a lot of toy variants with different gimmicks, like “dragon blast armor” and the like. The show would work these in as clumsily as possible.
Snakeman
Character Role: Big Bad’s Wacky Sidekick
Motifs: Snake, Barbarian
Size Class: Deluxe
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: Though technically Baron Skeleton’s number two, Snakeman’s real function is as Baron Skeleton’s best friend. As the second in command, Snakeman is terrible – he can never keep Baron Skeleton’s plans straight even on the rare occasions where he actually listens to them, and always ends up derailing things by “winging it.” As a best friend, though, he’s marvelous – he’s always there to listen to Baron Skeleton’s problems, and he’s always doing his best to cheer Baron Skeleton up. One could say that Snakeman gives Baron Skeleton what he needs instead of what he wants. Snakeman is also a very chill boss to the other underlings, rarely dolling out punishments and always willing to hear them out. Like most of the bad guys, he can actually be a competent fighter when he applies himself – he just rarely ever does so.
Meta Stuff: Snakeman’s design should be as He-Man-y as we dare to get.
Newbie/Edgelord
Character Role: Fish Out of Water, Eviler Than Thou
Motifs: Grimdark villain
Size Class: Scout as Newbie, Deluxe as Edgelord
Toy Gimmicks: Clip On Spike Armor (Edgelord only)
Personality: Newbie’s role in the first season is to be the fish out of water character who triggers exposition from the pre-established characters, but overall his real purpose is to contrast the bad guy’s outdated style of supervillainy with a more modern Grim & Gritty take. Newbie is the only bad guy who is legitimately evil rather than just weird and antisocial. He views murder as the best solution, and all of his suggestions for plans essentially boil down to “kill as many people as possible.” He’s sadistic and cruel, and the other bad guys are ultimately unsettled by him (though many, Baron Skeleton included, still try to turn him around to their way of thinking). Once he becomes Edgelord, he dives straight into the most Grimdark of villainy, doing his best to put every face-removing Joker to shame. Edgelord is the one character on the show that the audience is invited to hate without any regret.
Meta Stuff: While Newbie’s action figure should just be a variant of the Henchskull figure (with a different head and color scheme), Edgelord’s should be a 100% new mold to better make him stand out as a character from a very different take on the superhero genre.
Gargruel
Character Role: Starscream
Motifs: Demon/Gargoyle, Gaudiness
Size Class: Basic
Toy Gimmicks: Clip On Armor (more elaborate than Baron Skeleton’s)
Personality: Gargruel is a perpetual traitor, trying to usurp Baron Skeleton’s leadership at every opportunity. It is literally a pathological tendency of his, and one of the rest of the bad guys have just learned to deal with. Perhaps the hammiest of the villains, almost every word out of his mouth is a loud, theatrical declaration of his superior mind and strength. Of course, Gargruel is nowhere near as clever or strong as he thinks he is, and always ends up overreaching. Despite his superiority complex, the others consider him a friend, and he is always quickly forgiven for his repeated betrayals (especially since they tend to implode on him almost immediately). It helps that he can actually be a pretty nice guy on the rare occasions where he isn’t talking himself up.
Meta Stuff: Gargruel’s outfit should look like a much flashier/gaudier take on Baron Skeleton’s. His toy would probably even be a retool of Baron Skeleton’s toy, with different gloves, boots, and clip on armor as well as a new head.
Galvanstein
Character Role: Fanatical Loyalist
Motifs: Frankenstien, Executioner
Size Class: Deluxe
Toy Gimmicks: Spring-loaded Extendo-Fists
Personality: An utter sycophant, Galvanstein is a yes man and Baron Skeleton’s greatest enabler. Galvanstein is utterly devoted to his boss and believes every idea Baron Skeleton has ever had is absolute genius. The only reason they fail, he reasons, is that the other henchmen aren’t pulling their weight, which is why Galvanstein is overly critical of his peers. He’s not a complete dick to them though – after all, Baron Skeleton clearly saw potential in them, so they must have some good sides. Galvanstein’s loyalty is his greatest weakness, as he can never bring himself to admit that his boss is flawed. Likewise, he has no improvisational skills – while he will gleefully carry out Baron Skeleton’s orders to the letter, he is at an absolute loss whenever a plan gets derailed and forces him to think for himself.
Meta Stuff:
Nosferoi
Character Role: TFP Soundwave
Motifs: Vampire, Boba Fett/Samus/Cool Helmeted Space Warrior
Size Class: Basic
Toy Gimmicks: Grappling Hook Claw, Removable helmet
Personality: Quiet and thoughtful, Nosferoi is the most competent villain in Baron Skeleton’s organization by a long shot. She has the highest success rate of any henchmen, pulling off her tasks efficiently and with a great deal of style. When she contributes to a plot, her suggestions are always cunning and well-reasoned. If she was the gang’s leader, they would have won ages ago – but she doesn’t want to be a leader. In fact, Nosferoi is much happier as a henchman. She likes following orders more than giving them, and thinks Baron Skeleton’s schemes are far more fun to carry out than anything she could come up with, even if they’re doomed to fail. Unlike most of the other villains, she doesn’t really want to win so much as she just wants to hang out with her friends, and is content to just do her part of the job well instead of trying to fix their operation.
Meta Stuff: Nosferoi should look rad as hell.
Spinestra
Character Role: PG Seductress
Motifs: Spider, PG Rated Dominatrix
Size Class: Basic
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: Supposedly a master manipulator, Spinestra’s role tends to focus on finding ways to play mind games with the heroes that Baron Skeleton’s forces oppose. She’s not quite as good at this as the others think she is, but she does her best to come up with dastardly schemes to set the heroes against each other. Her real skill lies in trap making, and many of the defense systems in the villain team’s fortress are of her design. Spinestra also often helps with the team’s plans, though she’s sort of a double edged sword – her contributions are so complex that the heroes can’t follow them, but, sadly, also end up confusing the other henchmen more often than not, resulting in a bungled operation. While she tries to act cold and aloof like Nosferoi, she has a ferocious temper and cannot take criticism well.
Meta Stuff: in the vein of villains like Evil-Lyn and Baroness, Spinestra has a vague dominatrix vibe that’s intensely watered down so as not to anger parents (ignoring the fact that they could have just not made her look like a dominatrix in the first place).
Swampstomp
Character Role: Bumbling Brute
Motifs: Swamp Monster, Gill Man
Size Class: Mega
Toy Gimmicks: Tummy Prison
Personality: The muscle of the villain team, Swampstomp knows she’s valued for her brawn and not her brains, and is totally fine with that. She’s the largest of the core henchmen and hits the hardest by far. Swampstomp revels in her role as a dumb brute, cheerfully taking orders from anyone who acts even the slightest bit authoritative. When Gangruel initiates a coup, Swampstomp is generally the first to fall in line, and likewise she’s one of the first to switch back to Baron Skeleton when the old boss reasserts himself. While Swampstomp gleefully embraces her dumb muscle persona, she’s actually more perceptive and intelligent than anyone gives her credit for, herself included. Likewise, while she generally plays up her love of beating people up, she really isn’t the sadist she thinks she is, and is utterly revolted at people who are genuinely vicious.
Meta Stuff: Swampstomp’s gimmick is that she can swallow smaller figures and store them in her tummy. Because this is a pretty intricate gimmick, Swampstomp’s mold would be entirely unique, so her design has more leeway to be strange than most of the others.
Dr. Strategerm
Character Role: Straw Vulcan
Motifs: Mad Scientist, Chess, Mathletes
Size Class: Basic
Toy Gimmicks: Swappable hands
Personality: Dr. Strategerm claims to value logic and rationality, and tries to reduce all problems to mathematic equations that come to one objective solution. Ironically, he is utterly irrational in his devotion to this philosophy, and will passionately argue about how emotions are distractions that keep people from being run by pure, perfected logic. Strategerm creates all the high tech weaponry and gadgets that the group uses and is prone to sesquipedalian loquaciousness. He has a notable rivalry with Hexadeth, being her foil.
Meta Stuff: Dr. Strategerm’s hands can be switched out with multiple different tools, like a claw, a hammer, a drill, etc. His toy would use Baron Skeleton’s body mold, but with a cloth labcoat draped over its torso and legs to disguise the mold reuse. His arms and head would be entirely new pieces.
Hexadeth
Character Role: Sorceress
Motifs: D&D, mummy
Size Class: Basic
Toy Gimmicks: Dice of Doom Accessory
Personality: Superstitious and traditional, Hexadeth is a master of magic who insists on doing things the “old way” and hates technology. Though her magic is extremely powerful, her resistance to catch up with the times often bites her in the butt, as her enemies often use technology that she is not prepared to deal with. She has great skill in dealing with emotional and spiritual matters, but has nothing but disdain for logic and science. She often butts heads with Dr. Strategerm despite the fact that she essentially does the same thing as him – i.e. create new weapons and equipment for the others. Her dialogue is also similarly hard to parse, as she loves purple prose and antiquated linguistics.
Meta Stuff: Hexadeth’s toy uses the same body tooling as Spinestra, though it is disgused by her cloth robe and cowl. Her head, hands, feet, and shins all uses new pieces that are sculpted to look like they’re covered in bandages. Her gimmick/accessory is a set of dice – 1d20, 1d10, 1d6, and 1d4 – with different magic symbols on them, which in the show she uses to cast her magic spells. She might also come with a cup that automatically rolls them or something – we can have fun with it.
Oddserver
Character Role: Wild Card
Motifs: Eyeball, strangeness
Size Class: Mega
Toy Gimmicks: Removable Parasites
Personality: Considered weird by the other villains, which says something considering their own quirks, Oddserver is an alien juggernaut that marches to the beat of its own drummer. The enigmatic monster is unpredictable – sometimes it will follow the team’s plot to the letter, and other times it will break off and do its own thing. Oddserver’s actions always serve a purpose, one that always benefits Oddserver even if it does little if anything to help the others. While Oddserver’s nature and motives are mysterious, there are some moments where it shows clear affection for the other villains, and they consider it to be part of the team all the same.
Meta Stuff: Like Swampstomp, Oddserver’s toy is an entirely new sculpt, so it can go a little wild. I like the idea of it working sort of like some of Kenner’s Aliens toys, with lots of little parasitive creatures that can pop off the main body and work as their own monsters, but look like just a normal body part when attached to the main figure.
Griftermister
Character Role: Prankster
Motifs: Goblin, Pranks
Size Class: Scout
Toy Gimmicks: Bug-Out Eyes
Personality: Griftermister has a deep seated inferiority complex that drives him to drag everyone around him through the mud to feel good about himself. He is always looking for new ways to humiliate and mock others, devoting his life to practical jokes and mean spirited teasing. A dick to friend and foe alike, the other villains rarely if ever incorporate him into their schemes, and instead try to steer him towards the heroes hoping they’ll distract each other. Like many of the other villains, he’s somewhat aware of his flaw, but has no idea how to fight it. The others accept him because he has no one else to turn to, and deep down he does value their friendship – even if he can almost never bring himself to admit it.
Meta Stuff: Griftermister’s goblin head would have a lever disguised as a horn that makes his eyes (and maybe his tongue) extend out ala Rat Fink.
Wailwolf
Character Role: Defeatist
Motifs: Wolf Man, emo kid
Size Class: Deluxe
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: Wailwolf is more acutely aware of how often the villain team fails than anyone else, and dwells on this constantly. For her, every battle is lost before its begun, and she only trudges on because she knows the others would be hurt if she didn’t join in with them. While her pessimism can be a bit grating, the others accept her for who she is, and sometimes inspire her with their resolute (if somewhat naïve) optimism. Or, in short, she’s basically Eeyore.
Meta Stuff: Wailwolf would reuse some of Snakeman’s sculpt, though she might require a different torso in addition to new head, hand, and feet sculpts.
Jinxlinx
Character Role: Silver Age Villain
Motifs: Black Cat, Theme Obsession
Size Class: Basic
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: Jinxlinx is basically every Silver Age Batman villain, having an all-consuming obsession with sticking to a particular theme for his crimes. This presents several problems, as Jinxlinx never keeps to one theme for very long, and the themes he does choose are almost always terrible and difficult to integrate into crime. The other villains try to accommodate this obsession, but it’s very hard for the aforementioned reasons. Jinxlinx is a very enthusiastic henchmen when things go his way, but panics once things fall apart.
Meta Stuff: Jinxlinx would have his own sculpt, though he may reuse arms and legs from Baron Skeleton’s toy.
Ratfang and Batfang
Character Role: Those Two Henchmen
Motifs: Rats, Bats, evil twins
Size Class: Scout
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: Ratfang and Batfang are less defined by their own quirks and more by their shared dynamic. The two are never seen apart and spend most of their screentime making snarky comments, essentially being the Statler and Waldorf of the show. They’re the lowest ranking of the named henchmen, but can be pretty competent despite their lack of special powers. They prefer to just crack jokes though, and their main contribution to the show is their banter. They cannot stand to be separated.
Meta Stuff: Ratfang and Batfang would have very similar head designs, and both would wear re-colored versions of the standard Henchskull uniform. Like Newbie, they were only recently promoted from Faceless Goon to Named Henchmen.
Henchskulls
Character Role: Faceless Goons
Motifs: Cobra Troopers
Size Class: Scout
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: As a legion of incompetent soldiers, the Henchskulls are technically varied in personality, but we generally only get hints of it. Normally they’re just go-fers and minions, though most of the villains know their names and treat them like the individual people they are (which is slightly humorous since their uniforms make them all look identical). The Henchskulls are terrible at villainy, but to be fair, their leadership isn’t much better.
Meta Stuff: The henchskulls’ outfits would be similar to Baron Skeleton’s, but less elaborate. Their masks would conceal their faces and look vaguely skull like. More than a few characters are retools/redecos of the Henchskull sculpt.
Hero Team
Captain Touchdown
Character role: The Hero
Motifs: Football, Superhero
Size Class: Deluxe
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: As the leader of the heroes, Captain Touchdown comes the closest to embodying the ideals they’re supposed to stand for. In D&D terms, he is every bad stereotype about Lawful Good characters: a goody two-shoes who insists on playing by the book and insists that everyone do things his way because it’s “right.” While many of Captain Touchdown’s beliefs are noble, he’s hampered by his completely lack of empathy – he cannot understand the idea that people think differently than him, or that anyone would be dissatisfied with the status quo. “The complainer is always wrong” is practically his motto, and most of the conflicts between his team and Baron Skeleton’s is rooted in his inability to accept different points of view. While never explicitly malicious, there is a smarmy air of condescension in how Captain Touchdown interacts with others, and he treats all of his peers as if they’re ignorant children who need to be told how the world works rather than, y’know, his equals.
Meta Stuff: though Captain Touchdown’s overall design should feel very Superman-ish, like Baron Skeleton, he should also have a few slightly medieval/fantasy touches. The Football theme could be used a bit here – maybe finding some middle ground between football shoulder pads and armor?
Cheerally
Character role: The Girl
Motifs: Cheerleader, Ultra-Femininity
Size Class: Scout
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: Cheerally is basically the anthropomorphic personification of what toy companies think girls act like and desire. She dresses in pink and pastels, she loves ponies and cute things, and her role on the team is essentially to provide moral support and act as a sort of surrogate mother. None of these traits are negative, of course, but Cheerally doesn’t get a great deal of respect in the group because of her perceived role, and rarely feels comfortable voicing her opinions. She’s somewhat aware of the fact that she’s not quite getting a fair deal, but she doesn’t know how to get the others to listen to her concerns.
Meta Stuff: If we were going super meta, Cheerally probably wouldn’t even HAVE a toy in the toyline, as the token girls of these shows often weren’t expected to sell merchandise well. But let’s be nice and give her a toyetic deisgn anyway – albeit one that’s unique, since she probably wouldn’t be likely to get many retools.
Hooper Trooper
Character role: The Lancer
Motifs: Basketball, Future Warrior
Size Class: Basic
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: Hooper Trooper is the second in command of the Hero Team, though that doesn’t mean a whole lot. In a more complex take on hero team dynamics, he’d be a foil to Captain Touchdown, but since 80’s hero teams hated interpersonal strife, he’s basically little more than a slightly more lax copy of his leader, and generally just acts as a yes-man.
Meta Stuff: His head is a giant basketball, and maybe removable?
Basebarian
Character role: The Big Guy
Motifs: Baseball, Barbarian, Caveman
Size Class: Mega
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: The big guy to the hero team, Basebarian isn’t particularly smart, but he’s got a lot of muscle. His ignorance will often be treated as a joke by the other heroes, and often people laugh at him without him truly understanding why. Thankfully, he’s not aware enough to realize just how poorly he’s being treated, and takes it all in stride.
Meta Stuff: Though he lacks an overt gimmick like the other mega figures, Basebarian does have multiple trick baseball accessories – including one that’s on fire, one covered in buzzsaws, etc.
Rockem Soccer
Character role: The Smart Guy
Motifs: Soccer, Cyborg
Size Class: Basic
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: Explicitly part robot and part man, Rockem Soccer is the smartest of the core five members of the hero team, although that doesn’t extend beyond memorizing a lot of facts and trivia – none of the team are very big on creative problem solving. Though his intellectualism is sometimes a boon, more often the not it just annoys his team-mates, who often tell him to stop rattling off his useless trivia.
Meta Stuff: Rockem Soccer would probably reuse some parts from Hooper Trooper, though his legs would have to be entirely new pieces.
Pukamok
Character role: The Loose Canon
Motifs: Hockey, Mad Max
Size Class: Deluxe
Toy Gimmicks: Puck-Canons
Personality: An aloof ally, Pukamok is sarcastic and far less “goodie goodie” than the other heroes, almost fitting better with the villain team. There is constant tension when he does work with the heroes, as his personality does not mesh well with their high standards of how heroes should act. He tends to struggle to win against the villains a lot more too – some would say it’s because of his independent streak, though others might note that the other heroes do little to include him or look out for his safety.
Meta Stuff: Pukamok’s toy would probably reuse parts from both the hero AND villain figures, as well as some new pieces.
Wrekracket
Character role: The Tomboy
Motifs: Tennis, Rock & Roll, Amazon Warrior
Size Class: Basic
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: Aggressive, masculine, and itching for a fight, Wrekracket is the obligatory tomboy to Cheerally’s girly girl. As per tradition, those two do not get along well, and also as per tradition, the other team members tend to take Cheerally’s side. Like Pukamok, Wrekracket is one of the least content heroes, and one the others fear may switch sides.
Meta Stuff: Wrekracket would use some parts from Spinestra’s mold, to further emphasize how she’s straddling the line between “hero” and “villain.”
Fortempo
Character role: Aquaman
Motifs: Marching Band
Size Class: Scout
Toy Gimmicks: Projectile-Launching Tuba
Personality: While technically a part of the hero team, Fortempo is generally shunted to the side under the assumption that his powers aren’t terrible useful – after all, how useful can music really be in the fight against evil? Fortempo desperately wants to prove he’s just a good a hero as the others, but he is rarely given the opportunity.
Meta Stuff: Fortempo’s toy would be a heavily altered version of the Henchskull sculpt, and might even have the tassle-y shoulder bits from Baron Skeleton’s toy. Again, this would be foreshadowing that he’s one of the heroes that’s on the margins.
The Council
Character role: Ineffectual Higher Power
Motifs: Student Council, the Guardians of Oa
Size Class: Scout
Toy Gimmicks: N/A
Personality: Presented as a sort of ultimate force of good that the heroes ostensibly answer to, the Council never uses their supposed power and does little more than occasionally give orders and evaluations of the Heroes. Though they demand that their authority should be respected, they do little to show they deserve that authority, and yet few of the heroes ever question them.
Meta Stuff: If these guys get a toy, it would probably be an add on with another character – no one really wants to play with the vague council of supposed goodness.
This is the best i could do. I had a bit more of a buggy idea in mind from an old RC bug toy i had but for the life of me i cant figure out what it was called for a reference, so i winged it
