I'm going to talk about the Reactions...
People are pissed off at Mattel BECAUSE of this Figure... And what it represents.
MOTUC Lore seems to have been infested by a certain Emerald Plague... Which can be attributed to a Certain Guru who made an Oath once:
In blackest day, in brightest night,
No GL Reference shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship MOTU's might,
Beware my power, Spector's light!!!
Yes, Toyguru infected MOTU with Green Lantern Lore.
Look at the Overlords of Trolla... Orko's Race Now Look at Ganthet of the Oan Guardians of the Universe. Not only that but the Green Lantern Corps. of Eternia have a bit of some Cosmic Enforcin' to do... Like some sort of Glactic Police... Why do you think they put Zodac WITH Hal Jordan on the MOTUC vs DCUC pack?Not to mention how Zodac (who also functions as a Metron knock-off) is basically the Abin Sur to ZodaK... Resiously, Zodac's Real name is Zodac Zur...
the Whole Renegade Trollan creating the Snakemen seems similar to the whole Manhunters thing and Krona the Rogue Maltusian. (the Oans original form) Mitch the Unnamed One is a Taller Trollan... Krona is Taller than the Guardians.
Not to mention that Toyguru's creativity almost Matches Shia LaBeouf... Well, it's not only the Green Lantern Mythos that Toyguru Shia LaBeouf'd! Seems that he got "influenced" by the (in)famous "fan pitch" made by the MVCreations team for some things from the Bios and MOTUC Canon. The main difference from the bible is that Toyguru made the Unnamed One and the Overlords into Trollans.
Nothing Personal against Scott Neitlich, but this trend of ripping off things as seen with the whole Overlords of Trolla = Oan Guardians of the Universe and the Cosmic Enforcers = GLC. Not to Mention
and the whole Sir Laser-Lot into Darkness thing... Or should I call it too convenient coincidences?
But aren't you the one who wanted to make Power Rangers out of the Cosmic Enforcers?
Yes, it's true that I wanted to use the Cosmic Enforcers as a Tribute to Sentai shows, since their look ALREADY LENDS ITSELF FOR THAT! Compared to taking Scrappy Doo and make him the Villain while taking the Rest of Scooby's family (Scooby Dum, Scooby Dee, Howdy Doo, etc.) and turn them into elder gods.
We're taking the race of characters whose most renowned member was used as the link between the Children Viewers and the World of MOTU and making them into the ultimate gods (after Stan Lee) and one of their Members into the Ultimate Evil or Lord of Chaos...
We got the Guy who created the Snakemen and Ultimate Evil looking like a slightly older version of the Scrappy Doo... Which brings forth another reason people are disliking Mitch, the Unnamed One...
Remember the NU52 D.Orko? Well, there is a Theory that Mitch, the Unnamed One is going to be an older Time displaced Orko. The basis of this Theory is that NU52 Is HEAVILY Inspired by the Neitlichverse Canon of MOTUC.
Now his appearance as a slightly taller Trollan has disappointed many, myself included. What I mean is, the design is cool and an evil Trollan is cool, but the evil Trollan as the Ultimate Villain, that's what I don't like. MOTU started and forever will be an Action Figure line first.
He-Man: Blonde White Man is the Good Guy.
Skeletor: Blue skinned Skull Faced Lich mage is the Bad Guy.
Hordak: Gray Skinned Nosferatu/Tiki Mask Cyborg Vampire thing is the Bad Guy
King Hsssss: Heroic Looking Guy whose Torso explodes to reveal a mass of Giant Snakes is the BAd Guy
Horde Prime: A more Cybernetic Looking Nosferatu/Tiki Mask Cyborg Vampire thing whose head is the Horde Logo is the Bad Guy
With each new Big Bad revealed in MOTU, we get into the dark and scary route... Mitch is none of that!Widdle Mitch is so darn cute!!He’s so adowable! He’s almost suited for Care Bears or G1 of My Little Pony… That’s how cute he is! This guy is so adorable that he makes the Popples look like Nightmare Creatures… I mean look at Little Mitch doing some FFVII or Kingdom Hearts Cloud Cosplay!!
The Deceptive Badguy was used two Villains before Mitch!
If the Second head is For Mitch, no matter how Demonic or Pants crapping Scary it can be, it'll be attached to the emo Trollan body with a half-assed Kingdom Hearts Cloud Cosplay.
There's some canonical baggage and appearance baggage on with this guy. (I also mentioned the whole $25 for a Trollan thing in past rants)
While I wike widdle Mitch, he just doesn't seem to work as King Hssss' superior.
When I mentioned April Derp on the previous rant, I did not mean EXACTLY an April Derp version of Orko, but the IDEA of a Corrupted Trollan that is Far Removed from it's Trollan Form that it had become an Abomination. But that's taking the best out of the worst situation (making a Trollan the Ultimate Evil.) Something Along the Lines of Draego-Man could have worked as the Ultimate Evil since Big Scary Dragon Dude seems like a Step-Up from Bunch of Snakes wearing a man-suit.
Yes, I'm going to use a My Little Pony Reference with Discord. OK, so Discord is the Lord of Chaos in MLP. Look at him! He is a hodgepodge of other creatures. Pretty Chaotic, wouldn't you say? Now Look at Mitch! Tell me where can you see the Chaos (aside Facebook pages and MOTU message boards)? How does Mitch evoke chaos.
Stinkor = Skunk, evokes stench. Mossman, fuzzy, evokes moss. Catra, Cat Woman, evokes cat. Sy-Klone, his name evokes cyclones, his torso spins wildly. Hydron, evokes water, he's a scuba Diver. Faker = Blue He-Man, evokes the idea of a Fake He-Man.
Where is the Chaos in Mitch? If he was an Action Figure in the 80s, what would his Action Feature be? Modulok and Multibot evoke more Chaos than The Unnamed One
If we Toss Discord through the Classicizer Machine we get a more Badass Lord of Chaos than Mitch!
The Unnamed One doesn't NEED To be a Big Hulking Creature like The Balrog. It just needs to be the embodiment of Chaos. Though a Procrustus sized MOTUC Creature a la Hotdiggedydemon Discord would be cool as Hell; We needed something BETTER than Mitch to fill the Gap of the Unnamed One.
I am going to do something very Pretentious as If I was a Japanese Game Developer making a JRPG or an Anime... Or a writer writing a wet dream about a poisonous fairy and I shall quote the Bible.
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." -Genesis 1:27
Why the quote? The Unnamed One created the Snakemen. So, the idea of People Expecting some Eldritch Ancient Snake Deity is not that Far-Fetched. Hell something Lovecraftian or H.R. Gieger-esque would have been insane for the Unnamed One... OK it's the part of me that wanted the Horsemen to be fully unleashed and allowed to make the Unnamed One we deserved and needed.
Now don't get me wrong, Mitch is a cool figure. I'd love him as an independent villain or as a Herald of the Unnamed One. I think that might be the Role I'll give Mitch in my fan continuity...
Mitch shall be the Silver Surfer to the Unnamed One's Galactus.NOW I am mostly at peace with the Unnamed One... (the whole $25 for a Trollan still bugs me especially when I've gotten $25 figures like Mantenna, Dactus, Two-Bad)
Also, Happy Valentine's Day!!
Also, Happy Valentine's Day!!
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| Madame Razz is coming... for real!! |
You simply don't get it. I agree that Toyguru has made some seriously bad decisions (like the whole part about Skeletor having a son for instance), but you have to consider what he had to work with. The He-man universe was always a bit of a trainwreck and that before we add the Filmation canon to it. Some of these storylines should have just been scrapped entirely instead of Matty trying to rework them.
ReplyDeleteGorpo as the evil overlord of Chaos is not one of those bad decisions though.
The problem is Scrappy. Scrappy Doo was a baaaad character but turning him into a villain didn't work because in doing so the character lost some of what made him Scrappy and why people loathed him so.
But Gorpo? Gorpo is nothing like Scrappy. While it is true that Gorpo was just a joke character created by Filmation,unlike Scrappy there was plenty of things that could be used for hints at this true character.
Gorpo always said that he was REALLY powerful and was famous on his own homeworld. Only his powers were screwed up by Eternia. Gorpo's magic doesn't work like Skeletors or anyone elses. Instead of casting actual spells he always just tries to just make what he imagines into reality, such magic make all other magic seems ridiculous weak in comparison.
Furthermore, it isn't about turning a "joke character" into a main bad one, it is about turning "the least likely suspect" into the ultimate cause for all that is bad. THAT, is what makes Gorpo as the unnamed one cool. Of course, looking at his figure I wish they'd given him legs and just included an Orko inspired head for him. Made him look more like the winged black mage from FF9 or something.
But, who/what is Gorpo? Don't think that things are settled just because we can see the figure. The story at the back of the box looks more like as if it belonged to Skeletor after all... It mentions that the being that got imprisoned in the unnamed dimension lost their body. I.E, what if Skeletor lost his body? (The unnamed one has a cowl just like Skelly) What if Skeletor traveled in time and became Orko? Now THAT would be poor writing wouldn't it? But at least then it wouldn't be all "green lantern".
So in closing, the story line as we have it is basically:
DeleteShokoti decides to to take over the world by enveloping it in eternal darkness. She is defeated by her own people but the Gar are ever since then viewed as evil and shunned. Around 2000 years later Keldor is born. Keldor isn't allowed to become king because he is half Gar. Keldor ends up merged with Demo-man and turned into Skelly by Hordak. Adam and Adora are born and Skelly kidnaps Adora on behest of Hordak. Adam meets Gorpo when he is around 9 years old? When Adam is around 19 years old? he becomes he-man and starts fighting Skelly. He is reunited with his sister and later travels back in time. Skelly pursues him and is mistaken by King Hiss as an emissary of the "unnamed one". He-man fights Skelly and King Hiss but saved by Hero. Hero dies and gives his sword to King Grayskull who in turn transfers the power of the sword and hides it in his castle. He-man travels forward in time where Hordak has raised the three towers. The three towers being raised supposedly will suck Eternia dry of its power? Hordak, Skelly and King Hiss are defeated. Evil Lynn flees 20 years into the future. He-man now travels forward in time to Primus. Skelly pursues He-man again. Skelly gets some new nifty powerups and becomes grrrrrreeater than the universe. Skelly is defeated by He-man again. He-man travels back to his own time.Horde Prime shows up, most likely drawn there by the towers? She-ra and He-man defeat Horde Prime. Skelly returns from the future, fights He-man and is defeated. he is trapped between time and space where his body is disintegrated. He-man is now around 40 years old. Evil Lynn shows up and gives birth to Skelly's son. He-man adopts him and names him "Hero" as a tribute to the He-ro that saved him in the past. Meanwhile normal time He-ro learns magic from Teela and swordplay from all the best masters in the universe. He has the best teachers so he soon becomes the greatest warrior and magician in the universe. Since he has shares Grayskulls blood he now wield the powersword. Hero absorbs all of Grayskulls power into his sword. Skelly, trapped between time and space starts plotting how to get out decides to send Hero back in time because taking control of the 3 towers back then can only be done with the powersword. The towers are what keeps Skelly imprisoned. Sending Hero back in time the boy faces of against the evil horde empire. Horde Prime is annoyed by both his brother as well as Hero, decides to kill two flies with one swat. Poisoning his brother with the techno virus he sends him to fight against Hero on on Eternia. Hero is poisoned and slowly dying. All "dinosaurs" on Eternia start dying from the virus. Hordak create the towers and is then trapped in Despondos by Hero. Skelly splice the DNA of three reptilian races and create the Snakemen and then send them to Eternia to fight Hero and raise the towers. His scheme fails however since Hero dies. Skelly schemes to change time and affect history more directly so he creates a shadow of sorts of himself. This Shadows is Orko. His powers are all screwed up though and possibly his brain as well, he instead of succeeding, Skelly creates the ultimate time-loop. In the end though... it was all Shokoti's fault.
So yeah, that is basically more or less the story (gluing together bits and pieces of what we already know.) I still say that the Unnamed one is Skelly, but that doesn't disqualify Gorpo from being Skelly. Personally I would like it if it is just a pure Gorpo and Skelly has absolutely nothing to do with it -- but considering how Skelly is forced down our throats over and over again, it putting my money on the above scenario.
Sadly, Skeleteen was not Toyguru's idea.
DeleteNow if the whole Unnamed One thing had played differently. Not being an obvious copy of Green Lantern Lore for starters; perhaps, he would have been better received speaking from a canon point of view.