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12 of the weirdest 'Masters of the Universe' characters
By the power of… what the hell is that? If you thought the patrons of the Mos Eisley Cantina were strange, they've got nothing on He-Man and Skeletor's entourages.
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Inconsistent, experimental, downright ludicrous… "Masters of the Universe" has a line-up of heroes and villains unlike any other in sci-fi or fantasy.
Thanks to the franchise's unique origin story, the hit '80s cartoon series was effectively a commercial for Mattel's extremely lucrative toy range. The show's writers subsequently did their best to accommodate the strange whims of action figure designers on the hunt for more and more playable designs. What other mythology would even try to accommodate extending necks, water squirters, and intentionally unpleasant aromas?
So, as the new He-Man movie prepares to transport us back to Eternia, we take a look at 12 of the weirdest characters from the "Masters of the Universe" back catalogue.
A great guy to have on your team, but only if you need someone to peer over a reasonably high fence. Mekaneck is the Inspector Gadget of He-Man's gang, capable of periscoping his mechanical neck to implausible lengths and, er, not much else.
Later iterations of "Masters of the Universe" saw him contemplating the pointlessness of his powers, but he was still considered worthy of a place in the new movie.
Ever wondered what you'd get if you fused the DNA of a flying insect with that of a human male?
"Masters of the Universe"'s answer to the question was rather different from David Cronenberg's in "The Fly", as Buzz-Off — who pulled off the double-whammy of being both a Heroic Warrior and an instruction — was a muscular bee fella with wings, a stripy sweater, and a buzz-like speech impediment.
The toy designers at Mattel always loved a pun, but this may be the most shameless of them all. Human lobster Clawful was nominative determinism in action, being both an awful guy (he was one of Skeletor's hired goons) and the owner of a giant claw.