Evil-Lyn
Evil-Lyn is a character in the popular toy line and cartoon series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
The only female member of the Evil Warriors, she is an evil witch who aids Skeletor as his second-in-command with her powers of darkness. She is considerably more intelligent than Skeletor's other minions and often comes much closer to defeating He-Man than anyone else. She regularly uses a crystal ball atop her wand to aid with her magic.
Character History
Action Figure
Evil-Lyn was introduced into the Masters of the Universe toy line in 1983, to add a female character to the Evil Warriors for gender diversity. Initially envisioned as an evil counterpart to Teela, her action figure was identical to Teela's in everything other than paint job and head mould.
Cartoon
Her appearance in the cartoon series by Filmation was somewhat modified,; her helmet and clothing black and purple rather than blue, and her skin a pale flesh tone rather than deep yellow like the action figure. Introduced in the pilot episode "Diamond Ray of Disappearance", she was quickly established as one of Skeletor's main accomplices, capable of using all manner of magic spells to battle against the Heroic Warriors. She also frequently employed the use of magical disguises to trick the good guys, in episodes such as "The Shaping Staff", "The Curse of the Spellstone", "Evil-Lyn's Plot" and "The Royal Cousin". She was also shown to frequently branch out on her own and conduct her own schemes away from Skeletor in episodes such as "Ordeal in the Darklands"; also using her services to aid other villains in "The Defection" and "Eternal Darkness". There seemed to be a kind of rivalry between herself and Teela, based purely on the fact they were the only women in their respective armies. This was brought to the forefront in the episode "The Witch and the Warrior", Evil-Lyn's strongest episode of the series, in which she is forced into making an uneasy alliance with Teela when the two of them are stranded in the desert together. As well as showing a degree of respect for Teela's skills and an intelligence above the levels of pure evil, she also revealed in this episode that she was only working for Skeletor so she could overthrow him once he conquered Eternia.
With her intelligence, fearlessness and her incredible magic skills, Evil-Lyn was clearly Skeletor's most reliable ally, often left in charge when he was away from Snake Mountain. Other episodes which feature her working independently of Skeletor include "Journey to Stone City" and "No Job Too Small".
Although her background was never mentioned in the series, the series bible explained she was once a scientist from Earth called Evelyn Powers, who was on board Queen Marlena's space craft before it crashlanded on Eternia. Evelyn had been insanely jealous of Marlena for being chosen over her to pilot the shuttle. When the ship crashed as the result of an explosion from skeletor's homeworld of Infinita, Evelyn had wound up on Infinita, where the evil powers of that world turned her knowledge of science into sorcery to aid Skeletor. This origin was used in a storybook entitled "New Champions of Eternia" but was unpopular with the show's writers and therefore never alluded to in the cartoon.
The Movie
Evil-Lyn featured in the 1987 live action Masters of the Universe movie. Played by Meg Foster, she was shown here as Skeletor's main sidekick as in the cartoon, although the film added an extra dimension to her relationship with Skeletor by indicating a love interest between the two. While sharing the desire for power between them, Evil-Lyn's calm and seductive approach was shown to soothe Skeletor's wrath and mania in his moments of hysteria.
In the film, Evil-Lyn was placed in charge of Skeletor's troops on their mission to Earth to track down the heroes. In the final stages of the film, she deserts Skeletor after he absorbs the power of the universe all for himself without sharing it with her. Evil Lyn is not depicted as a powerful magic-wielder in the film and does not carry her distinctive orb-staff. The only instance of her using an (apparently) magical ability is when she casts an illusion to make herself appear to be the dead mother of Julie, the human protagonist.
2002 series
Evil-Lyn returned for the 2002 relaunch of the Masters of the Universe toy line and cartoon series. While her portrayal in the new show was very much in-keeping with the original series, her background was here expanded upon.
She was revealed to be the daughter of a mysterious sorcerer known only as the Faceless One, who lived in isolation amongst the ruins of Zalesia and was guardian of a precious object called the Ram Stone. The Faceless One disapproved of his daughter's servitude of the evil forces and hoped that someday she would learn the error of her ways. The episode "Lessons" indicated that she still felt a family bond with her father when she returned the Ram Stone to him after it had been used by Skeletor in an attempt to breach Castle Grayskull. The show's second season expanded considerably on the theme of her disloyalty to Skeletor, as well as showcasing her origins. Unbenownst to Skeletor, Evil-Lyn here formed a secret alliance with Kobra Khan to free King Hiss and the Snake Men, whom she believed would grant her greater power than Skeletor. After the release of the Snake Men, Skeletor sought to punish her by banishing her to the Forsaken Realm in the episode "The Price of Deceit". This episode featured a flashback to the time she first met Skeletor, when he was still in the form of Keldor. The young Evil-Lyn had managed to impress Keldor with her great knowledge and power, had fallen in love with him and played a part in saving his life, when after his injury at the hands of King Randor, she had taken him to the altar of Hordak, who gave him new life by turning him into Skeletor.
After the transformation Skeletor had become more and more twisted and evil, causing the love between himself and Evil-Lyn to fade as Evil-Lyn herself grew more twisted and desired to overcome Skeletor rather than work alongside him. This episode also indicated there were sparks of good left within her as she considered defecting to the side of good after He-Man saved her life following a call for help from her father.
Later, in the episode "The Power of Grayskull" Evil-Lyn learned that Skeletor had promised to free Hordak from the dimension of Despondos in return for having his life saved, but chose instead to destroy his sanctuary, knowing that Hordak could easily destroy him. She chose therefore to herself free Hordak to gain the power she needed, and once again concocted a scheme behind Skeletor's back, allying with Count Marzo in the episode "History" to free Hordak from Despondos. Failing in her scheme, she vowed to continue until she had freed Hordak. This plot was going to be expanded upon in the show's third season, but the cartoon was cancelled before any further episodes could be produced.