Skeletor

Skeletor (IPA: US /ˈskel.ə.tɔːr/) is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise, the arch-enemy and main antagonist of He-Man. Tagged "The Evil Lord of Destruction", he is the greatest threat to present-day Eternia. Depicted as a muscular bluish humanoid with a purple hood over his yellowish bare-bone skull, Skeletor seeks to conquer Castle Grayskull so he can learn its ancient secrets, which would make him unstoppable and enable him to conquer and rule all of Eternia.[2] In the original minicomics and in the Filmation series, Skeletor is said to be an evil demon-like being from Eternia's sister planet Infinita. A later Mattel minicomic implies that he was once Keldor, brother of King Randor (therefore, uncle of Prince Adam/He-Man). The Mike Young Productions series confirms that Skeletor was once a man named Keldor, though no familial connection to Randor is ever openly established. Nevertheless, the audio commentary on the first volume of the DVD release of the 2002 series states that Keldor/Skeletor is indeed Randor's half-brother.

Mini-comics

Pre-Filmation series minicomics

The first minicomics that accompanied the 1981–1983 line of Masters of the Universe toys present the earliest version of continuity and are fascinating for their many differences from the more widely-known continuity of the later Filmation cartoon and the later minicomics which complement it. For example, there is no royal court of Eternia, King Randor, Queen Marlena, or Prince Adam. Instead, He-Man is depicted as the scarcely-superhuman champion of a tribe of stone-age jungle-dwellers.

These very first minicomics, which are actually more like storybooks, with a single image per page footed by prose, state that Skeletor was originally an inhabitant of another dimension, populated with others of "his kind". During "The Great Wars", an ambiguous and intriguing concept which is largely ignored in later continuities, a hole was opened in the dimensional wall and Skeletor was thrown from his world into Eternia. Significantly different from the lonelier and entirely self-serving Skeletor of later depictions, the villain's key motivation in this first story is to reopen the rift between his world and Eternia, thus allowing Skeletor's race to invade and conquer Eternia alongside him. This was the initially-stated reason behind Skeletor's desire to obtain the powers of Castle Grayskull, not merely seeking power for its own sake as is generally the case in later depictions.

However, as this first incarnation of the franchise's continuity was particularly short-lived, many questions about this version of Skeletor's origin are left unanswered, particularly as this original story remain vague about Skeletor's people. What was Skeletor's status amongst his own kind? Did they all look like him or was he the only one with a skull face? Were they all sorcerers? Did they all share his evil dreams of conquest? A panel from the first minicomic hints that they are just like Skeletor, but unfortunately does not show their faces. Of course this particular origin of Skeletor occurs in a different continuity from that of the better known animated series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Post-Filmation series minicomics

In the minicomics that followed the cancellation of the Filmation animated series, which can be seen as following on from the same continuity as the Filmation series, although there are still various contradictions, it is hinted that Skeletor is in fact Keldor, King Randor's long lost brother.

This inference occurs specifically in the 1986 minicomic entitled "The Search for Keldor", a story that involves Prince Adam and Randor searching for Randor's lost brother Keldor. When Skeletor learns of their quest, he muses that "they must never discover the secret of Keldor", as the truth will lead to his destruction.

In this story King Randor announces that Keldor disappeared years ago. "He thought to master magic; when his experiments went wrong and he was lost in a dimension beyond time!" One of the few elements of Skeletor's back story that remains consistent throughout the various continuities is that he had come to Eternia from another dimension.

It is likely that Randor's statement about Keldor disappearing to another dimension is an attempt to reconcile Skeletor being He-Man's uncle with his Extra-Eternian origins. To find out what happened to Keldor, Randor and the Sorceress attempt to peer through the dimensional veil.

Randor announces "I think I see Keldor... Or is it..." Before he can see anything else, Skeletor appears, determined to stop them from finding out any more. Although Skeletor is defeated, he is able to prevent Randor from discovering Keldor's fate

Skeletor's frantic effort to cover up what happened to Keldor, combined with the fact that Keldor vanished to another dimension when attempting to become a master sorcerer, is taken as heavy inference that the two characters are indeed one and the same. Unfortunately, because the original MOTU toyline came to an end before the story could be resolved, it is never fully disclosed if this was officially intended to be the case.

Steven Grant, the writer-for-hire of the minicomic in question, stated in a he-man.org interview that "As far as I remember, Keldor was Skeletor... But, I don't think that was ever going to be revealed... I seem to remember it as one of those things Mattel came up with out of the blue... Slur Keldor and you end up with Skeletor... His back-story wasn't really worked out. Some sort of evil cosmic energies altered him. I think they were going for a Darth Vader thing, but it was a tack-on... The main idea was that if they found out Skeletor was Keldor, they'd be able to find out what had changed him and might find some way to reverse it."

In the new continuity of the 2002 animated series, Skeletor's original name is definitely Keldor, his appearance as such is shown and his exploits partially depicted. However it seems unlikely that he is related to Randor in this continuity, as he has Skeletor's blue skin and some other slightly nonhuman features whilst still Keldor. In a he-man.org interview with one of producers of the 2002 series, it is revealed that Keldor is the half brother of Randor; they have different mothers.

The New Adventures of He-Man

The New Adventures series sees Skeletor with a new costume, chest armour, cybernetic implants and a pink cape. Skeletor fools the Galactic Guardians, Hydron and Flipshot, into thinking he is the force of good they need to save their home planet, Primus, when in fact they came looking for He-Man. Unable to decide who is good and who is evil, Skeletor and He-Man are both transported to the futuristic planet Primus, where Skeletor reveals his true evil nature to the Primans as the Mutants attack. Skeletor and the Mutant leader, Flogg, come to an agreement: Skeletor will help Flogg conquer Primus in return for Flogg's help in destroying He-Man. One of Flogg's terms is that he will remain in charge of the Mutants. Skeletor agrees, and is able to manipulate and control Flogg from behind the scenes, while making himself a force to be reckoned with among Primans and Mutants alike.

In the episode "Sword and Staff", Skeletor finds a powerful crystal on Moon Nordor and absorbs its power, making him more powerful and evil than ever before, and changing his appearance drastically, including a yellow face with red eyes, and different armour and helmet, based on the "Disks of Doom Skeletor" toy. Throughout the series, Skeletor concocts various schemes to destroy He-Man and conquer Primus. When Teela arrives in the future, she tells Skeletor Eternia has been peaceful since he left. Skeletor actually succeeds in conquering Primus after a clever scheme fooling Primus and its ruler, Master Sebrian, into thinking the Mutants want peace. Flogg is able to proclaim himself King of Primus and the Mutants seize control of the planet, with Skeletor in pursuit of He-Man and the growing rebellion against the Mutant invaders. The Mutants remain in control of the planet for some time; as Mara states in the episode "Skeletor's Victory", that she and He-Man have been in the wilderness for days. The Mutant invaders are eventually forced to flee Primus when the entire planet rises up against them and their Mothership is forcibly removed from the planet. Skeletor and Flogg's dominance over Primus and victory over the Primans lasts for a total of five episodes including "The Gift", "Skeletor's Victory", "He-Man in Exile", "The Seeds of Resistance" and "The Battle of Levitan".

Skeletor also has an admirer among the Mutants named Crita, an attractive and ruthlessly evil female who works aboard the Mothership. She and Skeletor become closer throughout the series, leading Skeletor to show flirtatious behaviour toward her, even dancing with her. His advances are often interrupted by Flogg, who tends to become jealous because he is not being paid more attention. However, Skeletor shows in "Escape the Galolotia" that he would be perfectly willing to destroy her if it suited him. Despite the events of that episode, Crita apparently forgives Skeletor, who arranges for her to be sent to Nekron to assist the evil Gleanon warriors in their war against the peaceful Mytes.

At the end of the series, Skeletor and the Mutants take part in the Galactic Games, where they fight the Galactic Guardians and He-Man. The Guardians win the games, but the organisers of the games capture them. During their imprisonment, Flogg finally decides to attack Primus with everything he has, including having the Gleanons, under Crita's leadership, assist them. Skeletor intends to have his final battle with He-Man, and sets up an ambush. The Mutants are able to conquer Primus once again, with the Galactic Guardians and He-Man absent, but the Guardians escape their captivity and return in the Starship Eternia. The Primans are once again able to defeat the Mutants, and Flogg, realising he has finally lost, agrees to surrender all his forces. Skeletor flies into a rage, finally expressing his true opinion of Flogg. Flogg attempts to shoot Skeletor, but is stopped by Crita at the last moment. Skeletor then transports himself, Crita, He-Man and Mara to the ancient ruins of the Oasis on Primus and challenges He-Man to their final battle. Skeletor is caught off guard and Mara throws Crita into him, knocking the two off a cliff ledge and into a shuttle pod. He-Man is able to take Skeletor's staff after their battle and uses his power sword to trap Skeletor and Crita within the shuttle pod and exile them into space. Skeletor promises Crita he will return to destroy He-Man.

The second season of the series would have featured Skeletor returning to Eternia, where Man-At-Arms would have turned evil and set himself up as dictator in He-Man's absence. Skeletor would be seen manipulating both He-Man and Man-At-Arms, and the series would have ended with the two friends reconciling and Man-At-Arms returning to his former good ways, as they journeyed to Primus to help their friends. Skeletor would have taken advantage of the opportunity, and conquered Eternia while they were gone. But the New Adventures line was ultimately short lived, and the second series was never produced.

Although The New Adventures series follows the continuity of the Filmation cartoon, Skeletor is quite a different character. He possesses a sarcastic sense of humor and often jokes and laughs, taking his own failures much better than in the previous series. He has a genuine friendship with Crita, and works well with Flogg, Slush Head and the other Mutants as part of their team as well as having a pet named Gur. Though often showing a more relaxed attitude he shows that, when angered, he simply becomes a maniac and lashes out in anger at anyone around him. He is able to instill fear into Flogg, despite being perfectly willing to take his orders when it suits his own purposes. Overall, the Skeletor in this series is portrayed as a far more competent and threatening character, despite his often comedic lines. In an interview, Campbell Lane, the voice actor for Skeletor, claimed he based his portrayal of Skeletor around The Joker from Batman.

According to the episode Adam's Adventure, Skeletor is allergic to flowers.

Mike Young Productions animated series

Skeletor as he appeared in the 2002 MYP animated series.

In this new version, it is shown that Skeletor was formerly a warlord known as Keldor who trained under Hordak. He gathered a small band of warriors to attack the Hall of Wisdom. They encountered resistance from Captain Randor and his officers; Keldor fought Randor personally, wielding two swords with astounding proficiency, but when Randor disarmed him, Keldor threw a vial of acid at him. Randor deflected it with his shield, and the acid splashed on Keldor's face.

Kronis called the retreat, and Evil-Lyn took Keldor to Hordak's sanctuary, where Keldor summoned Hordak to save his life. Keldor agreed to pay whatever price Hordak wished for his life, and Hordak transformed him, stripping the damaged tissues from his skull and dubbing him Skeletor; Keldor's head had been completely stripped of soft tissues, leaving only a floating skull. When Keldor saw his new appearance, he laughed maniacally; the incident perhaps shattering whatever sanity he had left.

Trapped in the Dark Hemisphere by the Mystic Wall, Skeletor designed a machine that would smash it, but it needed the Corodite Crystal as a power source. When Mer-Man retrieved it, Skeletor destroyed the Mystic Wall, and returned to menacing Eternia.

Unlike this previous portrayals, Skeletor is not concerned with Castle Grayskull right away, until a giant fish-monster heads toward it and the Eternian warriors led by Man-At-Arms and He-Man stop it, forcing Skeletor to ponder what could be in that ancient pile of stones worth dying for. At the time, the Heroic Warriors seem ready and willing to let Grayskull fall, and would likely have done so, if not for the urgings of Man-At-Arms, who had been swallowed whole by the monster. Skeletor directly attacks it with his Council of Evil: himself, Count Marzo, Evilseed, the three evil Giants and Webstor. When King Hiss and the Snake Men are freed from the Void, Hiss imprisons Skeletor, having him devoured by a giant snake, but Skeletor escapes after the Masters defeat Hiss.

Despite owing his life to Hordak, Skeletor destroys Hordak's sanctuary to prevent him from returning. At the end of the Second Season, King Hiss revives Serpos, the Serpent God, who had been transformed into Snake Mountain by the Elders; Skeletor and his minions were inside the mountain at that time. Although Serpos is defeated and restored to its Snake Mountain form. If season three of the series been produced, it would have seen Skeletor and He Man dealing with the Horde invasion and the powerful Hordak, who it was said Skeletor would eventually have defeated. This season would have also shown Skeletor's part in the kidnapping of He-Man's twin sister, She-Ra, and sending her to Hordak to be raised.

In the cancelled 2002 show, Skeletor is again portrayed a bully towards his minions but with an even more malicious edge, using his powerful abilities to threaten his followers or to silence them. He also constantly blames his followers for their defeats at the hands of the Masters, and rules through a policy of fear, which makes him somewhat different compared to King Hiss. Also like previous versions, he is shown to possess almost no loyalty towards his followers as demonstrated in the last episodes of the first season, where he sends his own Evil Warriors into a trap to get captured just to lull the Masters into a false sense of security. He even goes as far as replacing them with his 'Council of Evil'. Despite this, he is shown to be power mad and unwilling to share the spoils of war; as demonstrated when he tells Count Marzo, when questioned if they will gain anything from Castle Grayskull, that he will give them a reward if he feels like doing so. In the beginning of the first season he demonstrates a deep rooted hatred towards King Randor for his part in destroying his face and making him what he is now; though he also attributes that to Evil-Lyn for saving him. This gradually shifts towards a hatred against He-Man for standing in his way constantly. Furthermore, his maniacal laughter can perhaps indicate that he might have become insane by the loss of his face, something that is mentioned in the Icons of Evil comics when Kronis, who later becomes the villain Trap-Jaw, mentions that Skeletor is no longer the leader he once followed. Finally, despite his evil, Skeletor has been known to grovel when his life is in jeopardy, though this is usually an attempt to get the upper hand before betraying his savior, which is seen on a few occasions to trick He-Man into dropping his guard before attacking and escaping.

As with all the Mike Young Productions series' characters, Skeletor's appearance is based on his figure from the Four Horsemen-designed toyline for which the cartoon was produced to promote. Skeletor is the character that received perhaps the least-extensive redesign from his original toy/cartoon version. However, when this new design was then translated into animated form, MYP's artists usually gave him a voluminous cape; something which neither the new toy, nor the original incarnation of the character ever wore. The cape is typically adorned in situations where Skeletor chose to employ powerful magical feats, and may have been influenced by Skeletor's costume in the 1987 Masters of the Universe film. Skeletor is still commonly seen without his cape in the 2002 series while at rest or in combat situations not requiring extensive use of magic. When a later convention-exclusive figure of Keldor was made using the existing Skeletor body, a removable cloth cape was included. As the figure came with three swappable heads including his Keldor face; his burning, acid-splashed visage; and his final Skeletor head, this figure could thus be configured into a "show-accurate" caped Skeletor.

2008 Masters of the Universe Classics toyline

Although the MOTU Classics toyline that debuted in 2008 has, as yet, no supporting fiction, the toys' packaging do include short character biographies that merge elements from various different incarnations of the franchise as well as some newly-developed information to form a new, distinct "Classics" continuity. Skeletor's bio identifies him as being King Randor's half-brother (from the later minicomics) named Keldor, who was mortally wounded in a battle with then-Captain Randor and was saved by his mentor Hordak (2002 cartoon), who merged "Keldor with the extra-dimensional being Demo-Man from Despondos", changing him into Skeletor (contrary to the 2002 continuity, referencing the earliest minicomics which portrayed Skeletor as creature from another dimension). Note that the naming of 'Demo-Man' was dropped from the final shipped figures.

Powers and abilities

Skeletor possesses an array of mystic powers that seem to vary depending on the whims of the particular writer using him at the time, however all portray him as an extremely powerful sorcerer with control over a vast range of dark magical powers. He also possesses considerable scientific skill, and is shown to have skill in creating various machines and devices in the Filmation and New Adventures animated series.

He is usually armed with a magical weapon called the Havoc Staff; a long pole crowned with a ram's skull (and in some depictions, a crystal ball embedded within). He can discharge bolts of mystic force from the head of the staff, or use it as a focus for more powerful forms of magic. Skeletor has also displayed the ability to discharge energy from his own body, as is seen in the 1987 film where he casts lightning from his hands, and in the original animated series where he projects energy from his fingertips and even his eye sockets. In the 2002 series, his innate powers seem much more limited; though his abilities, when in conjunction with his Havoc Staff seem nearly unmitigated in scope and highly potent in raw power.

In the early mini-comics, Skeletor sometimes possesses one half of the power sword. From this weapon he could also project magical energies. He also displays many other skills, such as the ability to teleport himself and others over vast distances, send telepathic commands to his minions, open gateways between dimensions or perform remote viewing. He has also shown himself to be a gifted swordsman. As a master of the occult arts he is also privy to much secret knowledge about the universe.

Despite his occasional bungling actions and personality, all versions portray Skeletor as being extremely cunning and intelligent but with a sense of hubris that invariably leads to his downfall.

Also, some toy versions of Skeletor have been featured in media:

• Dragon Blaster Skeletor: Featured in the 1984 minicomic "Skeletor's Dragon". In addition to Skeletor's powers depicted above, he has some energy-draining chains and is aided by a little dragon who can spray a sleeping mist from its mouth.
• Terror Claws Skeletor: This version of Skeletor has claw gloves known as the terror claws. Strangely, Skeletor wears his "original" costume in all the minicomics which use the terror claws, including the Terror Claws Skeletor minicomic "The Terror Claws Strike!". In the only minicomic that shows him wearing the "terror claws" costume, "The Cosmic Key", he does not use the terror claws.
• "New Adventures" Skeletor: The Skeletor figure featured in "The New Adventures of He-Man". In the minicomics, Skeletor uses that costume after becoming a cyborg. In the TV version, he is only wearing a different costume than the "original".
• Disk of Doom Skeletor: The second "New Adventures" Skeletor version. This version first appears in the episode "The Sword and the Staff" and becomes the regular version of Skeletor in the series until the last episode. This Skeletor version wears skull-shaped chest armour and a white helmet. The figure came with a disk launcher, but in the series Skeletor continued using the Havoc Staff.
• Battle Sounds Skeletor: This figure was made as a "talking" Skeletor figure for the 2002 toyline. In the TV episode "Sky War", Skeletor transforms into his "Battle Sounds" version after eating Ambrosia, a miraculous food made by the Andreenids, Buzz-Off's people. As Battle Sounds Skeletor, he is stronger and more powerful.
• Samurai Skeletor: With the power of the Legacy Stones, Skeletor transforms into his samurai version in the episode "The Mystery of Anwat Gar". This Skeletor wears samurai armour, is stronger and, fittingly, has samurai weapons.
• Battle Armor Skeletor: Skeletor dons battle armour. In the episode "Of Machines and Men", a being called Sortech sends the battle armour to Skeletor. This is the 2003 Battle Armour Skeletor figure, and must not be confused with the 1983 Skeletor figure with the same name.

Panthor

Panthor in the Filmation Animated Series.

Panthor is Skeletor's evil feline companion, a giant purple panther who serves as an evil counterpart to Battle Cat. Panthor is portrayed as Skeletor's pet, being at the right of his throne. However, unlike He-Man's Battle Cat, Panthor only appears in a handful of stories.

Other media

• Skeletor was the primary villain in the 1987 live-action film starring Dolph Lungren. He was portrayed by Frank Langella.
• Skeletor appears in episodes of the Cartoon Network program Robot Chicken voiced by Dan Milano and by Seth Green in one episode. In "Toyz in the Hood," he was seen with Lex Luthor, Cobra Commander, and Mumm-Ra in a carpool in a traffic jam. Skeletor is driving the car and late in the sketch he passes gas, much to the chagrin of his supervillain carpool mates. In "Toy Meets Girl", he commits suicide, which is followed by a documentary on the current condition of other toys of the 80s by Michael Moore. In the episode "1987", he is approached by Eternian dentist Mo-Larr who says that he has an impacted wisdom tooth that must be removed. After tying Beast Man up with dental floss, and stabbing Grizzlor in the eye with a dentist's drill, he enters Skeletor's castle, tackles him to the ground, and pulls out the impacted wisdom tooth, much to Skeletor's chagrin. In the episode "Shoe", Skeletor's plot to harness the powers of Eternia's oldest tree goes horribly awry when He-Man arrives and Beast Man accidentally killed He-Man. In the episode "I'm Trapped", Skeletor uses Faker to infiltrate King Randor's birthday party in an attempt to take over Castle Grayskull. It doesn't go well as Faker is mistaken as the real He-Man and parties with everyone. When Skeletor barges in and berates him for his actions, Faker stabs Skeletor in the head with his sword and Skeletor is later shown beheaded.
• Skeletor is one of the characters in the song Skeletor Vs Beastman, he is played by Brandon DiCamillo. The song was made by Gnarkill
• A reference to Skeletor appears in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade; the Horde's Arathi Basin battle master in Shattrah City has the name Keldor the Lost, is undead with blue skin and wears an outfit similar to the one of Skeletor. The Season Two Gladiator Arena set for Rogues also has a very similar helm to Skeletor's original costume with a Skull emanating from a Hood, His enemy is also spoofed as the Alliance Battle Master, with his pet, Battle Cat.
• Skeletor appears in one strip of the popular webcomic, Penny Arcade, where he is actually vandalizing the entry for He-Man on Wikipedia.
• In the 8th season of American Big Brother, Daniele Donato is frequently referred to by fans and Houseguests as Skeletor due to her body size.
• Skeletor appears in the Drawn Together episode "Charlotte's Web of Lies". He is seen in an anger management meeting with Ling-Ling, Hulk, Yosemite Sam, and Marvin the Martian.
• In the Lost episode, Tricia Tanaka is Dead, Sawyer dubs Roger Linus's remains Skeletor.
• Skeletor appears in the first issue of the French comic book of Maliki in a cameo.
• In an episode of The Simpsons, "The Blunder Years" (written by Ian Maxtone-Graham), Mesmerino refers to Montgomery Burns as Skeletor, prompting Homer to say, "Zing!" and then ask Lisa "What's a Skeletor?"
• In the film Ali G Indahouse, Ali G describes the main villain to be even more evil then Skeletor.

See also

• Szkieletor, an incomplete structure in Kraków, Poland, nicknamed after Skeletor

External links

• Skeletor's Biography
• Article on Skeletor's Minicomic origin in The Search For Keldor
• Template:Imdb character