Line #61 YMMV/MastersOfTheUniverse


1	[[folder:Works with their own YMMV Pages:]]
2	* ''YMMV/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983''
3	* ''YMMV/SheRaPrincessOfPower''
4	* ''YMMV/TheNewAdventuresOfHeMan''
5	* ''YMMV/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002''
6	* ''YMMV/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower''
7	* ''YMMV/MastersOfTheUniverseRevelation''
8	* ''YMMV/MastersOfTheUniverseRevolution''
9	* ''YMMV/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2021''
10	* ''YMMV/HeManThundercats''
11	* ''YMMV/InjusticeVsMastersOfTheUniverse''
12	[[/folder]]
13	----
14	!!The Franchise
15	* AdaptationDisplacement: Almost all the canon nowadays comes from the Filmation animated series, instead of the original pack-in mini-comics. Even the mini-comics themselves began adapting their own canon to fit with the cartoon.
16	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Webstor a WellIntentionedExtremist who wants what's best for his race but still doesn't approve of them torturing prey, and seeks to rule Eternia to find a compromise, or just a power-mad villain who sees the world as a buffet? Is Whiplash a NiceGuy who was forced to team up with Kraal for his own purposes and genuinely regrets all those human sacrifices, or a black-hearted monster consumed by hatred for his damn brother? Is Beastman a {{Woobie}} whose intelligence was destroyed by Skeletor's torture, or an animal abusing {{Jerkass}}? Is Trap-Jaw a typical Snake Mountain dumbass, or the OnlySaneMan who Skeletor horribly disfigured when he attempted a rebellion? Was Keldor denied his birthright to the throne out of pure racism against the Gar, or was he digging into secret dark magic at an early age to conquer Eternia?
17	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
18	** Orko in the 80's series. To some he's TheScrappy but to others he's an EnsembleDarkHorse. This is less bad in the 2002 series.
19	** Horde Prime. Some find him a cool and compelling villain, while others feel that it diminishes Hordak's importance if he's not the leader of the Horde.
20	* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/MastersOfTheUniverse here]].
21	* CreatorsPet: Mighty Spector, the character created by Scott Neitlich for MOTU Classics. Also Whiplash, in the original series. He gets the most screen time of any second season villain in the Filmation cartoon, and arguably has the most developed character as well, next to Evil-Lyn and Skeletor of course.
22	* EvilIsCool: Many villains of the franchise has this especially Skeletor.
23	* HilariousInHindsight:
24	** In "Prince Adam No More", Skeletor made Beast Man fall through a trap door. Think about it while remembering SpinOff series ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'' would later establish Hordak as someone who usually does this to his subordinates and was the one who used Snake Mountain as headquarters before Skeletor.
25	** He-Man was redesigned with less of an accidental HardGay look to him for the 2002 reboot. Who did they get to voice him? Openly gay voice actor Creator/CamClarke.
26	** After all the jokes made about He-Man being gay it was his sister in her [[WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower reboot]] that came out as a lesbian.
27	* HoYay:
28	** Prince Adam is quiet and unassuming, wears pink, and he lives a secret double life he can't tell anyone about, where he waves around a phallic object that transforms him into a handsome, muscular man wearing a skimpy leather chestpiece and a loincloth. Not to mention he has only one female friend and their relationship is strictly platonic, and all his other friends are muscular, handsome, and skimpy themselves.
29	** "By the power of G(r)ayskull!"
30	** Characters named Ram-Man and Fisto. ''Fisto''.
31	** It doesn't help that Prince Adam in the 2002 series was voiced by the openly gay Creator/CamClarke.
32	** All that manly facial hair...
33	** ''[[ILoveTheExties I Love the 80s]]'' lampooned this subtext in its review of MOTU, with clips of Prince Adam talking about protecting his "secret" interspersed with suggestively looping footage of Beast-Man grappling He-Man from behind. While playing a bit of the song "Now You're a Man" by [[Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone DVDA]].
34	** [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/masters-of-the-universe-a-tragic-gay-love-story#.jxDOME1xV This]] article about the live-action film. According to it, Skeletor and He-Man are bitter ex-lovers, with He-Man accepting his gayness and proud of it, while Skeletor is ashamed of it, in a self-deluding relationship with Evil-Lyn, and intent on punishing the true object of his desire for tempting him.
35	* JerkassWoobie:
36	** Given his constant humiliating defeats, it gets hard not to feel bad for Skeletor at times. The writers even did several episodes where He-Man and Skeletor team up because that was the only way they [[ThrowTheDogABone got to let Skeletor win]].
37	** A case could be made for some other villains, especially Mer-man, who once tried to sacrifice Teela, but is generally hated by every other member of Skeletor's team (and there was also an embarassing incident with a perverted octopus once, in "Prince Adam No More..). Trap-jaw is basically a straight-up Jerkass, while Tri-klops and Beast-man are just plain Woobies. The former was never a jerk to begin with, and the latter is only a jerk if you believe the backstory given in the series bible. The German episodes, in fact, make poor Beast-man downright pitiable.
38	* LGBTFanbase:
39	** The main character is a buff, handsome man running around in little more than a loincloth. Of course a lot of gay/bi men would be interested.
40	** Skeletor's got quite the following as well.
41	** By extension ''She-Ra'' had one as well with lesbian/bi women and also a gay following for Bow.
42	* MagnificentBastard: See [[MagnificentBastard/MastersOfTheUniverse here]].
43	* MemeticMutation:
44	** "{{BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL}}!" (and) "I HAVE THE POWERRRRR!" Also, Skeletor appears to have joined ComicBook/LexLuthor and [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] as one of the go-to examples of [[CardCarryingVillain Card-Carrying Villainy]], as well as a slightly cruel nickname for Victoria [[Music/SpiceGirls "Posh Spice"]] Beckham.
45	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR7wOGyAzpw "Fabulous Secret Powers"]], or more coloquially known as He-Man/Prince Adam covering "What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes. Also has a more widely spread shorter version: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBw3qzf4s18 HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA]]
46	** He-Man's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VAYd3TWF0U "Magic Drugs"]].
47	** Now [[http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6541d3b24e/he-man-is-sexy-and-he-knows-it he's sexy and he knows it]].
48	** Joke's on you I'm into that shit [[labelnote:Explanation]]A still frame of Skeletor pointing with the text below it. Used to denote an InsultBackfire or an {{Unishment}}.[[/labelnote]]
49	*** Even I'm not into that shit [[labelnote:Explanation]]An offshoot of the above memen which is a still of Skeletor cowering. Used to remind people that EveryoneHasStandards, or to imply that something pissed ''everyone'' off, such as, say, [[PaedoHunt pedophilic content.]][[/labelnote]]
50	** "Hey I'm actually going by They-Man these days" "oh cool thanks for letting me know"[[labelnote:Explanation]]A graphic of "They-Man" and Skeletor edited against a trans flag, with They-Man telling Skeletor that they now use they/them pronouns and that their name is now They-Man. Regardless of whether or not the edit was made to be homophobic and transphobic, it's been [[InsultBackfire embraced]] as a funny and cute meme by the LGBT community for the memetically silly Skeletor [[EvenEvilHasStandards being accepting of his nemesis coming out as nonbinary]] and that a hero going by [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment He-Man]] already sounding silly in the first place.[[/labelnote]]
51	** Skeletor Facts[[labelnote:Explanation]]An exploitable format in which a screenshot of Skeletor is edited to look like he's saying some disturbing or uncomfortable trivia (for example, "two people kissing form a tube with two anuses"). The second panel is always a shot of Skeletor running away, typically captioned "until we meet again!"[[/labelnote]]
52	* {{Narm}}:
53	** When Skeletor and Beast-Man are flying around turning things to stone, Man-at-arms stands up to them and shouts, 'YOU DON'T SCARE ME!' while firing his blaster at their ship. This is supposed to be dramatic?
54	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz-BsM8qZ3o Skeletor will make you uncomfortable.]]
55	* NoYay: Quite a few people like to pair He-Man up [[FoeYayShipping with Skeletor]], unaware that he's Prince Adam's uncle. (In certain continuities, that is-- in others, Skeletor is a demon from a different dimension entirely, and therefore [[CaptainObvious probably not Adam's uncle]].}
56	* OlderThanTheyThink: It's commonly alleged that the idea of giving He-Man a secret identity as Prince Adam was made up for the original animated series. While it ''is'' true that He-Man was just He-Man all the time in the earliest mini-comics, it's also true that Adam originated in DC Comics' short-lived ''Masters'' series that predated the cartoon.
57	* ReferencedBy:
58	** ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' has Tien be mockingly called Tri-Klops by Vegeta and Cell, because both have three eyes.
59	** ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' has Hal Jordan try the Grayskull line in an effort to activate his Power Battery device.
60	** He-Man apparently had quite a fanbase in Asia, as seen in the fantasy spoof film, ''Film/TheMagicCrystal'', where the FatComicRelief sidekick, snooker, managed to absorb powers from the titular Crystal and actually strikes a pose similar to Price Adam's while shouting, "''I have the power!''"
61	** In ''WesternAnimation/TheBossBabyFamilyBusiness'', Tina and Ted use Castle Greyskull as a stand in for the school when they're PlanningWithProps. Wizzie (Tim's old alarm clock) has his missing right arm replaced with He-Man's, complete with sword, and is shown to become friends with a Skeletor action figure, even taking a selfie with it in the epilogue.
62	** Marvel Comics features a being in the Guardians of the Galaxy called the Prince of Power, who hails from the planet Muscula, which is based on Eternia. Two of its warriors, Rapskullion and Majestar (Otherone's brother), are expies of Skeletor and He-Ma.
63	* ReplacementScrappy: Sir Laser-Lot gets an extra strike against him for succeeding Man-At-Arms in the official continuity. Unsurprisingly, not everyone was happy with one of the original eight characters of the franchise being KilledOffForReal and replaced by a never-before-seen nobody. To make matters worse, there were pre-existing characters (like Fisto or Clamp Champ) who had already been established as being the people directly under Duncan in the hierarchy of the Eternian military.
64	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Bow; his new action figure, which is in scale with the rest of the Masters of the Universe line and show accurate head (complete with mustache) has helped soothed a lot of complaints about him and his original figure.
65	* RetroactiveRecognition: Late into the line's lifespan, Mattel held a contest for fans to design their own character, which they would then make into an official action figure (the plan never came through). The winner was Nathan Bitner, who grew up to design characters for the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series.
66	* RootingForTheEmpire: Quite a few people root for Skeletor and the Evil Warriors. Hell, even the ''writers'' of the Filmation series felt bad for them and did some EnemyMine episodes just so Skeletor could actually ''win'' for once.
67	* TheScrappy:
68	** The four scientists of Primus are the collective Scrappy of the New Adventures. Alcon and Gepple are somewhat tolerable when not along the rest, but the other two are never anything else than their bickering, bumbling selves.
69	** In the Classics line, the Mighty Spector, and to a lesser degree Sir Laser-Lot, have received quite a bit of vitriol from fans who feel that they have bland, uninspired character designs (the idea that they look more like comic-book superheroes than science-fantasy characters is brought up a lot) and that they don't fit in with pre-existing characters. Not to mention, both have been given quite important roles in multiple eras of the canon, thanks to Spector's time travel (which is itself a source of great controversy).
70	* SoBadItsGood: The original cartoon. The 2002 series is ''much'' better, though it still has its moments.
71	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Season 2 of the 2002 series saw the formal introduction of the Snake Men, who were also bent on conquering Eternia. They battled He-Man and the Masters often, but despite being a rival faction, they had no real interaction with Skeletor's Evil Warriors. Their only clash was in "Rise of the Snake Men, Part 1" - a battle some saw as disappointing due to the Snake Men [[CurbStompBattle curb stomping]] the Evil Warriors (who had already been wearied from battle with the Masters). (Reportedly, the unproduced 40th episode would've seen Skeletor leading an offensive against what was left of their ranks.)
72	* UglyCute:
73	** Webstor, Modulok, Spikor, and Mantenna from Filmation's ''He-Man'' and ''She-Ra'', respectively, count. Why are there so many goddam cute villains in the Filmation versions of these shows anyway?!!
74	*** Modulok is terrifying!
75	** Imp.
76
77	!!The Film
78	* AwesomeEgo: Skeletor got a massive ItsAllAboutMe mentality, but is very [[HamAndCheese hammy and entertaining]] about it. This is best shown in the scene where [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOsHoqhbUIU he becomes a god]]. [[ChewingTheScenery He rants for solid two minutes about how awesome he think he is]].
79	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
80	** [[http://youtu.be/ftRoYLzFMKo Bill Conti's score, but especially the triumphant, heroic theme. Try and tell us you wouldn't want this playing whenever you did something awesome.]]
81	** The up-beat theme when Skeletor is around are equally good because they encapsulate his personality. They ham up the scenes as much as him.
82	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Skeletor was the film's resident scene stealer, but [[TheDragon Evil-Lyn]] has a fair fan following as well, mostly for being attractive and [[HypercompetentSidekick very competent]] during her investigation on earth. Lubic gets his share of this as well as he was the only Earth-based character to hold his own against Skeletor's forces.
83	* FightSceneFailure: The climactic duel between He-Man and Skeletor is pretty dry, serviceable but it's a dim, backlit set with smoke effects and a lot of {{Flynning}}. This was an admitted result of the TroubledProduction, the entire Greyskull set was intended to serve as the stage for this fight with staircases, bottomless pits and pillars that they can swerve around. The money ran out and studio execs charged them to end filming immediately, with only the final fight left the director brought in a skeleton crew just before the set was to be torn down and every shot was done in one take. And this is before Skeletor's golden costume with a really heavy crown making stunts difficult.
84	* HamAndCheese:
85	** Creator/FrankLangella's take on Skeletor is one of the most triumphant examples of this. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfiOOwJTgg8 He's on record]] saying that it was one of his most favorite parts he's ever played, and he was clearly having a ''ball''.
86	** Creator/DolphLundgren, meanwhile, doesn't have any particularly interesting lines, but he's bare-chested and muscular and swinging that sword around as often as possible; and hey, they weren't paying him to talk!
87	* HarsherInHindsight: TheStinger is this, with [[spoiler:Skeletor popping out of the water declaring "I'll be back!"]] seeing as the movie bombed, the sequel was canceled, and the franchise suffered heavy financial losses in the coming years.
88	* HilariousInHindsight: Seeing Creator/JamesTolkan wielding a shotgun makes you want to scream, '''"[[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII SLACKERS!]]"'''
89	** Also, Creator/ChristinaPickles and Courtney Cox would reappear together in ''Series/{{Friends}}'' years later, with Pickles playing Cox's mother (though in comparison to how the Sorceress healed Julie's injuries here, Judy and Monica Geller's relationship isn't that great).
90	* JustHereForGodzilla: Be honest. You watched this movie only to see Frank Langella ChewingTheScenery.
91	* MagnificentBastard:
92	** Skeletor is a powerful and hammy warlock introduced taking over Castle Greyskull and Eternia with apparent ease. Revealed to have manipulated a Thenorian locksmith Gwildor into creating a teleportation device called the Cosmic Key through Evil-Lyn and using it to crush the entire army of Eternia, Skeletor captures Sorceress and starts slowly draining her of her powers to empower himself, so he can uncover the secrets of the universe at moonrise. Forcing the [[Characters/MastersOfTheUniverseHeroicWarriors Masters of the Universe]] to run to Earth, Skeletor managed to track them down, captured nearly all of the heroes, forces He-Man to surrender by promising to spare his friends in return and even somewhat honors his promise by leaving his friends alive, although breaking their Cosmic Key to prevent them from returning to Eternia. Opening the door to the secrets of the universe, Skeletor succeeded in absorbing the power of the universe and becoming a god. After He-Man's friends manage to arrive and save He-Man, Skeletor gives a good battle to He-Man, refusing to surrender even after losing his god form and surviving his apparent death.
93	** Evil-Lyn is the second-in-command of [[Characters/MastersOfTheUniverseEvilWarriors Skeletor's army]], who assisted him conquering of Eternia. Easily the most competent out of all Skeletor's minions, Evil-Lyn easily succeeds in nearly every task Skeletor gives her: from tracking down the location of the Key to gathering and controlling the team of mercenaries. After being sent to Earth to track down the Key, Evil-Lyn quickly figures out mercenaries' lies, tracks down the heroes and manipulates Julie to get the Key from the heroes by taking the form of Julie's dead mother. Resenting Skeletor for not sharing the powers of the universe with her, Evil-Lyn deserts him during the final battle, effortlessly intimidating the leader of the mercenaries and most of Skeletor's remaining army into following her.
94	* MisBlamed: One criticism fans of the franchise have is that the movie had new henchmen for Skeletor instead of recognizable established characters. This was in fact a directive from Mattel, who hoped to launch new toys to sell based on the new movie characters. In addition, characters like Orko or Two-Bad would have been very difficult to realize on film to begin with.
95	* {{Narm}}: The fight scenes tend to come off as this thanks to blatant SpecialEffectsFailure.
96	* NarmCharm:
97	** The film is as cheesy as a 80s film gets and is still popular among people despite or because of it.
98	** Frank Langella's take as Skeletor. A HamAndCheese-style villain in a film as campy as this should be silly, but he blends it with seriousness and competence, resulting with a character that many sees as the best part of the film.
99	* ReplacementScrappy: Gwildor. Even though Orko is a divisive character himself, many of his fans were upset when Gwildor took his place in the film.
100	* RetroactiveRecognition:
101	** Both Creator/CourteneyCox and Robert Duncan [=McNeil=] became much more famous for ''Series/{{Friends}}'' and ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' years later.
102	** Similarly, Creator/DolphLundgren's career recently had a bit of a revival with the Norton Antivirus commercials and his appearance in ''Film/TheExpendables''. Those too young to remember his ''Film/RockyIV'' performance may have this reaction.
103	* RootingForTheEmpire: The heroes are somewhat bland with some cool and funny moments here and there. The villains consists of the entertainingly over-the-top Skeletor, his attractive and competent dragoness Evil-Lyn, the CarnivalOfKillers and Darth Vader-esque mooks. There's little question on who steals the show.
104	* SignatureScene: Viewers tend to remember Skeletor's hammy villain speech the most.
105	* SoOkayItsAverage: The movie isn't good by any means, with large deviances from the source material, too blatantly mimicking ''Franchise/StarWars'' and the [[HumanFocusedAdaptation trip to Earth]] never really fits the tone of the franchise. But the overall product shows signs of effort, with some fun action scenes and a few memorable performances, resulting in a film that's somewhat watchable.
106	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftRoYLzFMKo&feature=youtu.be main theme]] sounds ''remarkably'' similar to Music/JohnWilliams' iconic ''[[Film/SupermanTheMovie Superman]]'' theme. It can also be compared to the main theme to ''Franchise/StarWars'', also composed by Williams.
107	* SpecialEffectsFailure: Skeletor's DisneyVillainDeath is shown by a motionless model slowly receding into a vaguely bottomless-pit-like matte painting accompanied by a clearly overdubbed scream.
108	* SpiritualSuccessor: The film is described on Website/ThatOtherWiki as being the best ''Creator/JackKirby's [[ComicBook/NewGods Fourth World]]'' movie ever attempted. Though WordOfGod from the director indicates he meant to do an homage to the work of Kirby in a general sense, not the Fourth World in particular. It helps that Skeletor’s infamous "I dare anything" line is nearly a direct quote of Darkseid from an early ''New Gods'' comic.
109	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Instead of the Earth subplot and its residents, a movie that involves He-Man leading a group of resistance fighters to overthrow Skeletor's reign would've been a better movie.
110	* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: While it may not be ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' the cast do give it a valiant effort, and there's no denying that Frank Langella is downright '''EVIL''' and scary as Hell as Skeletor. Indeed, Langella has made it clear in interviews that he considers Skeletor one of his absolute favorite and best roles.

Context YMMV / MastersOfTheUniverse