Jun 29
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Newspaper Comic Strips
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He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Newspaper Comic Strips
The snakemen of MOTU are something special-
The impact that the realities of toy marketing have on world building is a personal special interest, and the snakemen are a wild example.
Clearly inspired by the seprent-men that menaced Kull, and later Conan the Barbarian (though mostly through other writers).
Now, the serpent men were a whole species of reptilian humanoids with snakelike heads, though they've got a a lot of vague lizardness going on. Some of them were sorcerers, but they didn't have much variance in their base ability package.
The serpent snake-men, however, were in a toyline where every figure had to have a (at least mostly) unique gimmick.
Now, Skeletor is basically running the UN of Eternian jerks. If he runs across a species of appropriately buff humanoids he tracks down the biggest jerk in their society and forces them to join up. He rarely grabs two goons from the same well. He and his live a lonely life in (ironically) Snake Mountain, but they're exiles and bandits. Demigod exiles and bandits, but still-
On the other hand King Hiss is the king of an entire kingdom of normal workaday snake-folks, AND a squad of superhero snakemen with unique themes and special powers, as well as some thematically appropriate non-snake members, and the occasional robot.
That sounds familiar...
It's exactly what the Eternian humans have going with their champions.
Skeletor and his evil masters are powerful villains, certainly, but the snake men are a rival empire with some demigod champions of their own. The Horde is able to reach similar diversity only because it's packed with individual representatives of various alien worlds.
Whereas the Snake Men are clearly able to get exposed to some magical or scientific hoozit and wind up being a mutated super-being in the process.
They don't have the luxury of being able to show up as Mer-Man, king of the Mer-Men, and just coast on what your mer-mom gave ya. You need a special name-compatible skill or you gotta make a pact with an elder god or get alchemically mutated or have a really bad overbite just to get an interview, and even then you're gonna sit in a design scrapbook for a decade or-
...
huh.
Da Cheff! [The Friendlocke] vs. King Hiss [The Masters of the Universe]
Best Fictional Snake Tournament: Round 1H, Poll 5/8
Da Cheff! [The Friendlocke]
King Hiss [The Masters of the Universe]
Propaganda (if any) under the cut! Please be civil, and please reblog!
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - art by Earl Norem (1986)
28mm Serpent Men faction of Masters of the Universe. King Hiss, Kobra Khan, Blast-Attak, Fang Man, and Rattlor.
two snakes doing the tango
Because it's completely rational to randomly ship a tyrannical snake who is a tangle of snakes in human skin with another tyrannical snake who is a tangle of snakes in human skin. Yeah.
My dumb brain wants to ship it but my gut says it's very bad news. Even more problematic than the any dragon + Messmer crack ship.
It's going to go very badly. For Messmer that is.
(Sunday cartoon characters can bounce back from anything; Fromsoft characters don't. The sadomachocist god demands its people broken and unfixable. Anyway...)
I'm getting strong prisoner-of-war Stockholm Syndrome and other dubious mental manipulation vibes, and Messmer is usually the one falling for it with bonus existential (or is it religious?) guilt.
Betrayal and short-term alliances among villains is a bread-and-butter constant in MOTU, and he's too damn loyal and faithful despite being a supposed pragmatic dishonorable villainous bastard. Things he must have picked up from being raised in a faith-based culture ruled by a living breathing god queen.
At least Marika has another option/war to throw her politically and religiously-inconvenient fire serpent son at, and use him as a distraction (while the Order picks on Rykard's research and figures out how to defeat, kill or seal away these outworldly serpents.)
So instead of abandoning his sorry ass in the Shadow Realm in the guise of a Crusade, Marika can instead toss him and his army at an invading race of serpent men who conquered entire worlds in the name of their king, empire, creator or serpent gods.
Messmer might just learn to rebel against his mother faster. Or maybe he'll hate himself even more and drown in envy because they get to be defiant and proud of their snake biology (and live and be acknowledged and belong) and he can't.
If the Erdtree/Golden Order wins, the hatred of snakes will be even more prevalent than it was before (and he will not survive it). If the Order is defeated, he loses the people he loves; they get killed, enslaved or eaten.
Anyway, the serpent-men are totally Messmer's people, see? The light is bad and darkness is good for them, just like it is for him.
(Sorry, Ser Messmer, but my fascination for you has its roots in growing up with 200X King Hsss.)
+ King Hsss canonically only really started turning people out of desperation, after he lost his empire and majority of his army and needed replacements. Converting members of the Golden Order is a double-edge sword, because the Order can and will turn on its own.
On one hand it's a waste of magic because only a select few leaders will be willing to spare them (aka if Marika can actually herd her army of rabid bloodthirsty zealots so they can create a counterspell—oh wait, she can't). On the other, it's good propaganda for Hsss because it makes him look like the reasonable one.
++ what if Marika got wind of the serpentmen's preference for darkness and manipulated things so that the Land of Shadows becomes the battleground for this war. And that's when she sacrifices Messmer and his army and traps them with the Snakemen army in that dimension.
*For extra extra mindfuck, what if Messmer and his army were retrieved from the Land of Shadow some time after they were already abandoned after winning against the Hornsent but still before the Shattering.
+ If they got out before the Black Knight coup/rebellion, and Huw gets converted into a snakeman which will piss Andreas off greatly. He's been pushing for the converted to be culled while the Fire Knights want them to be treated of their magical affliction.
+ Messmer had to learn from Ranni and Rykard that Queen Marika had his army retrieved only as a last resort. She had jeorpardized the Alliance of Gold and Moon by recalling Radagon to be her Elden Lord, and the repurcussions of the broken marriage vow are still ongoing with Caria basically left to its own devices and erupting into a civil war.
Rennala had mentally deteriorated because of the Rune of the Unborn (demigods) inside the amber egg Radagon bequeathed to her.
They needed Rellana and her knights to help resolve the Liurnian civil war. And Messmer to supplement his sibling/half-sibling/step-siblings' forces, and be of some further use because the enemy leader is a racist who values his snake people.
Not to mention some funky things going on on in the background with the Snake cult Rykard discovered, the mysterious nature of the Abyssal Serpent, and other demigod shenanigans.
(Being a snake in the Lands Between really sucks.)
MOTU-Themed Pokemon Teams - Part 1
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4
Going to split this into multiple posts because there is a lot of them. This first post will have teams meant to represent an entire faction. After this they will all be teams of 6 with a MOTU character trainer. All Pokemon are allowed, including shinies, legendaries, and even beta Pokemon. I imagine this all taking place on an alternate MOTU universe where all the Eternian/Etherian magical creatures are Pokemon instead.
Faction Team: Heroic Warriors
Credit to Rachel Briggs for official-style art of beta Pokemon Gorotora and Beta Octillery, check out more of her art here: https://x.com/RacieBeep/status/1301892632667398144
He-Man - GOROTORA: Very cute unreleased electric tiger Pokemon. This is Cringer/Battlecat, He-Man's faithful tiger. The electric type fits because both He-Man and Battle-Cat are powered up after the Power Sword 'charges' them with lightning.
Teela - RAPIDASH: Teela rides a golden unicorn in the original minicomics. The 'firey' red mane also suits Teela.
Orko - PORYGON-Z: Both travel through alien dimensions and are small levitating beings thought to behave strangely. Computers and machines struggle to analyze or make sense of Orko's existence, and Porygon-Z is a computer glitch. Their eyes and color palettes are also very similar.
Sorceress - HISUIAN BRAVIARY: The extra eyes above Braviary's face look similar to the Sorceress headress. The Psychic/Flying type fits her nature as a powerful magic user and ability to transform into a falcon.
Man-At-Arms - BETA OCTILLERY: The beta version of Octillery was designed to look like a tank, which fits Duncan well enough with his military experience, but also has Octillery wearing a matching helmet to its trainer. I imagine this version as a water/steel type.
Roboto - GOLURK: Roboto is a Robotican explorer from another world, and Golurk's robot-like appearance and ability to turn into a rocket fit this very well.
Faction Team: Evil Warriors
Credit to TonOfDirt726 for official art recolored to match Shiny Alolan Marowak: https://www.deviantart.com/tonofdirt726/art/105-Marowak-826417045
Credit to ExoticPoke for official art recolored to match Shiny Drednaw: https://www.deviantart.com/exoticpoke/art/0834-Shiny-Drednaw-979755953
Skeletor - ALOLAN MAROWAK: In one episode of the cartoon, Skeletor creates an army of miniature versions of himself. In this Pokemon-filled universe, he wouldn't need to go to that effort, as tiny skull-faced magic users already exist. Fire/ghost is a fitting type as blasts of flame and necromancy are some of Skeletor's most iconic magical abilities.
Evil-Lyn - WEAVILE: Same hat!
Beast Man - DARMANITAN: Both are red-furred primates with some form of psychic abilities.
Mer-Man - SWAMPERT: These two look like twins! Swampert is partially based on a mudskipper, a type of fish which can travel on land - Mer-Man is also a fish that travels on land.
Trap-Jaw - SHINY DREDNAW: Maybe the most perfect fit here! The discolored lower jaw, the tiny hole in the head protrusion for both (Trap-Jaw's is meant to allow ziplining, I don't know why Drednaw has it but glad it does), and the colors all make these two a perfect match.
Tri-Klops - SPIDOPS: Spidops doesn't shoot eye beams, but the ogre spider it is based on has incredible powers of vision just like Tri-Klops! The ogre spider's eyes are 2,000 times more sensitive to light than humans! These two also look very much alike, especially the head/helmet, and their names happen to also rhyme!
Faction Team: Great Rebellion
She-Ra - GALARIAN RAPIDASH: She-Ra's faithful unicorn steed Swift Wind! The psychic/fairy typing is a great fit for She-Ra as she has a wide array of magical powers herself.
Mermista - PRIMARINA: Primarina resembles a mermaid with flowing blue hair, making her a spitting image of her trainer. The fact that Primarina is a magical singing seal gives the two another connection: Mermista has the ability to change from her mermaid form to a human one, similar to the selkies of Celtic/Norse mythology who could don their sealskin to transform into a seal or shed the skin to appear human.
Castaspella - DELPHOX: Delphox is based on spellcasters, and the two share similar color schemes.
Sweet Bee - RIBOMBEE: Sweet Bee resembles both a fairy and a bee, though she is actually an alien species. Ribombee is fairy-type and resembles a bee, but is actually a different species called a bee fly.
Bow - HISUIAN DECIDUEYE: Bow is a guy with a bow. Decidueye is an owl that uses its curved wings as bows. The hisuian version has matching colors, and the patterning on its chest is closer to the heart on Bow's.
Flutterina - BUTTERFREE: They are both butterflies :-)
Faction Team: Evil Horde
Credit to Dark Domain for official-style art of Beta Liepard: https://x.com/DarknWindie/status/1845348376440676444
Credit to TrainerParshen for global link art recolored to match Shiny Eelektross and Mega Mawile: https://www.deviantart.com/trainerparshen/art/Shiny-Eelektross-Global-Link-Art-425672639 / https://www.deviantart.com/trainerparshen/art/Shiny-Mega-Mawile-Global-Link-Art-461310496
Credit to TonOfDirt726 for official art recolored to match Shiny Glalie and Shiny Cradily: https://www.deviantart.com/tonofdirt726/art/362-Glalie-819125686 / https://www.deviantart.com/tonofdirt726/art/346-Cradily-819121552
Hordak - SHINY GLALIE: Same face and red eyes.
Shadow Weaver - SHINY CRADILY: Yellow eyes in a black void, cloaked in red.
Mosquitor - BUZZWOLE: They are both buff mosquitos! Mosquitor also has legs similar to Mantenna, another red Horde member.
Catra - BETA-LIEPARD: Liepard's moody and vicious personality and dark typing fit Catra well, but this recently leaked beta version fits even better with the same color palette.
Leech - SHINY EELEKTROSS: Not only do they look very similar, they both drain prey like a leech! Due to being a lamprey, eelektross also has a very fitting sucker-like mouth and even suckers on hands. I probably should have displayed Leech in the configuration that has sucker mouth and hands also.
Entrapta - SHINY MEGA MAWILE: Not only is the hairstyle and color very close, both can move and 'entrap' people in their hair!
Faction Team: Snake Men
Credit to Anarlaurendil for official art recolored to match Shiny Dudunsparce: https://www.deviantart.com/anarlaurendil/art/Dudunsparce-shiny-HD-994175646
Tyrantisaurus Rex - TYRANTRUM: As a beast of the Snake Men, Tyrantisaurus Rex would not ordinarily be a trainer, but it's fine for a team meant to overview the faction in general. Anyway they're both T-Rexes and the 'crown' on Tyrantum fits as this would be the mount of King Hiss.
King Hiss - SERPERIOR: Because King Hiss believes that 'serpents' are 'superior'! Also color scheme/nobility theme.
Reptilax - SEVIPER: Reptilax is a user of bladed weapons such as axes and swords, making Seviper a perfect fit. Could have also worked well for Fang-Or due to having the longest fangs of the snake Pokemon, but I like Reptilax a bit better.
Snake Face - ONIX: Snake Face is a snake man that turns people to stone with his scary snake face. Onix is a snake made of stone.
Kobra Khan - ARBOK: Arbok is Kobra Khan's first name spelled backwards. Also they can both spit venom!
Rattlor - SHINY DUDUNSPARCE: I am pretty sure this is the closest that the snake pokemon come to a rattlesnake, but this one has a drill instead! The red/yellow color scheme of the shiny fits well.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed, the trainer team parts will look slightly nicer than this.
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4
It's so weird to me that people will see a character and be like "they're a warlord and a murderer, of course they're also an abuser" as if people treat their friends and loved ones the same way they treat their enemies. Like, jeez, I'd hate to be your friend.
A character can be a war criminal and still love his wife.
