HE HAS A NECK!!! ARRRGH!!!

[shakalooloo]

Of all characters, Kevin Smith, does Skeletor really need a sympathetic backstory?

From 'Masters of the Universe: Revelation' issue #2:

Of course, while Smith's name is on the cover, writing credit belongs to Tim Sheridan, with art by Mindy Lee and colours by Rico Renzi.

Comments

[cyberghostface]

I’ll admit I barely follow He-Man but didn’t Smith try to reveal his motivations were “I have a skull face so no one can love me” in the reboot? And now he comes from a race of skull people where he was happily married? Huh?

(I know there was a previous origin story where his face was burned off but I guess that’s a different continuity.)

[coldfury]

To be fair, I think that was Skeletor just being psuedo Joker, which I think they're leaning into since they cast Mark Hammil.

The Keldor (Adam's Uncle who lost his face) origin wasn't reference in the 1986 show, IIRC, but was in the 2002 show. Though it probably has roots it some form of comic media, I'm not sure -- I'm not *that* versed in He-Man, lol.

It looks like the new CGI He-Man is going that route though.

I don't really mind the Keldor twist, though I think I prefer Skeletor to be just a random jerk. Not really feeling this 'broken champion' interpretation in either case.

[icon_uk]

Keldor being King Randor's long lost brother dates back to the original 1980's mini comics, "The Search for Keldor". He was said to have been lost in another dimension years before when trying to master magic.

When the Sorceress tries to find him using rare magical maguffins, Skeletor senses it and sends three henchmen (ie new action figures) to deal with it, NOW! He doesn't say exactly why he's so freaked out but won't go himself, except that Keldor's secret could destroy him... so the hint is there from back then, but nothing confirmed one way or the other.

The 2002 series was the first one to have Keldor definitively became Skeletor.

The Classics toy line has now retconned it in canon.

[janegray]

didn’t Smith try to reveal his motivations were “I have a skull face so no one can love me”

Which was super weird, because the series made it VERY clear that Evil-lyn wanted to jump him like a kangaroo on a trampoline.

[lordultimus]

Well if he didn't have a sympathetic backstory, how could he feel the magic of Christmas?

[thenicochan]

Making the good points.

[tinygaylaura]

"Skeletor has a tragic past involving slave labour" is not a take I predicted

[starwolf_oakley]

So, Skeletor is Megatron now? "Slave turned gladiator turned revolutionary turned despot." I mean, the "Nobody to Nightmare" trope work for a reason, and Skeletor wouldn't be the first rebel to think "Things will be much better when *I'm* in charge."

[velacron]

Personally, I thought this was more off a riff on Black Adam's reboot origin (because magic and all), but there are multiple characters filling this trope

https://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/4356992.html#cutid1

[reveen]

I'll give this a pass because He-Man is fundamentally a Saturday Morning Cartoon take on sword and sorcery fantasy. And as far as villain origins go, 'lost his family to brutal conquest and slavery putting him on the path to being a brutal conqueror himself' is to fantasy what 'was horribly scarred in a lab accident' is to superhero comics.

[strejdaking]

Okay, genuinely asking: Is this supposed to be a joke? Like, are we even meant to take this sincerely? Cause like, giving Skeletor, a guy who is designed to look obviously and ridiculously evil to small children, this super sad and incredibly cliched backstory, where everyone still fucking looks like him....

Like, I know I sound like I'm just criticizing, but if this was written by Mark Russel, I would 100% think this is meant to be a satire of such things, an intentional pisstake. And Kevin Smith is a comedy director afterall. So like,are we meant to take this at face value? If so, it is actually pretty funny, but otherwise....

[icon_uk]

I found the "everyone looks like him" aspect to be the most interesting part of this, to be honest, and nicely subverts the usual "skulls are scary and evil" approach.

[repto]

I am also finding "pre-Skeletor meets a nice skull-lady and settles down to have a skull-child" to be pretty absurd and just visually hard to take seriously.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Eh, I much prefer the Keldor origin.

[janegray]

This sucks.

The Keldor origin was good because it had the potential to add a good deal of drama. Turns out that Skeletor, as the King's older brother who was unjustly robbed of his birthright, DOES have a legit claim to the crown. But he'd make a terrible ruler! The fact that the evil guy is technically the one who was wronged for the greater good was a good twist.

Wtf did they turn that into Fridged Wife #63255432?

[thumbs13]

Skeletor being from a race of skull people is actually older than the Keldor backstory, but way less common, surprised they went with it.

[super_fly]

The biology of race of skull people with skull couples having little skull children raised a lot of questions

But then I remembered Red Death from Venture Bros https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj6r0Vi4-Bk