He-Man/She-Ra

WE’RE TWIIINS!

~ J.Ho
This will be my final post based on Horde Prime for the foreseeable future, promise.

I’ve seen two versions of Horde Prime as he appeared in comics in the UK, each with a different color scheme. I made each of them into new characters, Praetors of Hordak and Horde Prime’s homeworld. Their weapons were my idea.

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I’ll be honest, the drawing of these was a somewhat hasty process. I was trying to keep it fast and loose, but instead it got sloppy. I think the colors helped pull it together somewhat, and I’m glad I was able to tweak the original color schemes, while sticking pretty close to the source material. Here’s the nerdy bio…

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PROFILE: The harsh enforcers PRAETOR ALPHA and PRAETOR OMEGA are, in reality, genetically modified clones of Horde Prime. Horde Prime is over a thousand years old, and the biology of the Praetors matches that of Horde Prime as a young man–therefore, while Alpha and Omega are extremely skilled warriors with some knowledge of combat spells, they have not yet developed Horde Prime’s advanced magic and shapeshifting abilities. Both of them are merciless in the performance of their duties, though an instinctive mutinous streak is gradually surfacing in both of them.

HISTORY: While it is widely known that Alpha and Omega were genetic experiments raised and trained by Horde Prime in secrecy, their secret genetic heritage is unknown to all but Horde Prime and his trusted follower Ifreet.

Disappointed in Hordak’s failure to crush resistance on Etheria, and having placed Zed (the Crown Prince of the Horde) under house arrest for being a rebel sympathizer, Horde Prime is looking at the very real possibility of placing Alpha and Omega in the line of succession. Already, they are entrusted with the stewardship of Horde World, while the newly regenerated Horde Prime leads the Eternian invasion in person.

Hordak does not suspect the true origins of the Praetors, but he is very wary of them. Hordak is aware that his failures on Etheria put him in grave danger of losing favor with his brother, and he senses his brother’s favoritism for Alpha and Omega. Away from the eyes of his all but his most trusted advisors, Hordak has begun to plan the execution of the Praetors of Horde World.

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Also posted here on my variants thread on the He-Man.org fan-art forum.

Flame Broiled Pork

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
As a companion piece to the Horde Prime redesign that I posted earlier in the week, here is a fan character that I created, Ifreet (named after the mythological entity):

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The idea here is that Horde Prime and Hordak‘s race have a symbiotic relationship with Imp‘s race. Ifreet is one of Imp’s kind–but where Imp is still a mischievous adolescent, Ifreet is a fully matured specimen. Further explanation in the overly detailed bio:

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PROFILE: Horde Prime is infrequently seen without the zealot IFREET at his side. And one can be certain that if Ifreet is absent, he is carrying out the orders of his master. Unquestioning in his loyalty, Ifreet plays a role for Horde Prime analagous to the role that Imp plays for Hordak–something of a cross between pet, valet, yes-man, messenger, and herald. But where Imp’s diminuitive size gives him the added role of spy, Ifreet’s imposing stature instead allows him to perform the function of bodyguard. He stands at close to nine feet tall, is capable of breathing hellfire, and has the natural shape-shifting abilities of his race (but unlike Imp, his shape-shifting is focused on combat rather than disguise). In addition to his innate abilities, consider that his regular armament includes a stun trident and an elite Horde bowcaster, and you will realize that there are few warriors in the galaxy who could prevent Ifreet from executing his master’s will. However, Ifreet essentially has no identity outside of his servitude to Horde Prime.

HISTORY: Having been Horde Prime’s trusted servant literally since before Hordak was born, Ifreet has a unique and envied position within the Horde, in spite of lacking “official” power within the Horde hierarchy. Even Hordak resents Ifreet, much in the way that Hordak’s underlings resent Imp. Now, in the wake of Horde Prime’s regeneration and rebirth, Horde Prime is himself leading the invasion of Eternia, which means that both he and Ifreet are more visible and present, resulting in further resentment amongst high-ranking Horde officers. All in all, Ifreet refrains from abusing his advantaged station, however, those foolish enough to defy his master earn Ifreet’s eternal enmity.

* * *

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here.

Big Brother Is Watching (Triple Post!)

~ J.Ho ~ 4 Comments
(Posting early… )

For a re-design challenge at the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here, my post is here. The first round voting polls are here and here, and the final vote can be found here–I placed 4th out of the finalists.

The subject this time around is Horde Prime, Hordak‘s brother and leader.

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The scene in the center is a revision of my previous drawing of Horde Prime–in fact, the secondary head and the silhouette of Hordak on the platform were both directly lifted from the original piece. The figures on the left and right, however, are all new. The entire basis for my interpretation of Horde Prime is the theory that Horde Prime himself was the basis for the symbol of the Horde. The little guy on the left is based on an accessory that came with the original Hordak action figure. The throne room in the center piece is based on scenes from the cartoon. Finally, the Horde Prime on the right combines elements of Hordak’s costume (cartoon version) and the UK comic book version. In-fiction descriptions follow…

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Horde Prime’s Throne Room (center): Centuries before the Horde invasion of Etheria, Horde Prime engaged the heroic champion Light Hope in a battle of apocalyptic proportions. The battle ended in a stalemate, both combatants having received near-fatal wounds. Light Hope sacrificed his wounded physical form to become caretaker of the Crystal Castle and protector of Etheria. His power was greatly increased but his new discorporate form was bound to the castle itself.

Meanwhile, suffering under the effects of Light Hope’s powerful magic attacks, Horde Prime found himself crippled and trapped in his giant form, unable to shapeshift back. He retreated to his flagship, the Velvet Glove, and there, with a combination of advanced Horde science and pirated Infinitan magic, his servants built a sarcophagus-like regeneration chamber. The chamber, combined with Horde Prime’s shapeshifting abilities, allowed him to slowly form a new body, gestating within the colossal rotting husk of his old form. This embryonic body often manifested itself as a secondary head, sprouting from the eye socket of Horde Prime.

Horde Prime’s twisted body renewed itself in a twisted mockery of life and birth over the course of centuries, and in the meantime he plotted revenge against Light Hope and Etheria (it was during this time that Horde Prime’s younger brother and trusted disciple Hordak became the de facto leader of the Horde).

Horde Familiar (left): Through the use of his shapeshifting and magical abilities, Horde Prime can focus his life force to temporarily create a small demonic familiar to act as a spy or messenger. Horde Prime can see through the eyes of these creatures, and act through them. These extensions of Horde Prime were generally reserved for the gravest situations, such as delivering critical information to Hordak without risk of interception. Many rebels have made the fatal mistake of judging Horde Familiars by their relatively small size, failing to realize that a creature with even just a fraction of Horde Prime’s cosmic power is still a formidable foe.

Horde Prime Reborn (right): With the revelation that the two most powerful beings on Eternia (He-Man and Skeletor) had disappeared from the planet, Horde Prime realized that it was the time to strike. Forcing an acceleration of his regeneration, through arcane lore and untested science, Horde Prime is reborn! The cruel leader of the Horde is still regaining his god-like levels of power, but even still he is perhaps the most feared being in the universe. While Hordak holds the Etherian front, Horde Prime leads the invasion of Eternia. Horde Prime seeks nothing less than the utter subjugation of He-Man’s homeworld, after which he will return to Etheria to crush his old enemy Light Hope.

* * *

If this were a toy, I would see Horde Prime’s throne room as a playset, with his giant form being molded into the facade of the regeneration chamber, and his giant arm being a spring-loaded capture claw. Of course, the highly sought-after Horde Prime Reborn action figure would be packed in exclusively with the playset.

Don’t Look A (Humanoid Robotic) Gift Horse In The Mouth

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
Today’s post is a long-delayed follow-up to my take on Stridor. It’s Night Stalker, now outfitted with the same humanoid transformation that I gave to Stridor. I drew Night Stalker with a slightly heavier build than Stridor, and some different details. He is armed with Asian weaponry as a nod to the fact that he was typically portrayed as the steed of Jitsu, Skeletor’s token Asian henchman. The pole-arm is a Pudao also know as a horse-cutter, and the swords are a set of Daisho. And I slapped a bat-cape on him because I have a tough time not giving cool villains bat-capes.
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His title of “Evil Armored Dragoon” owes to the fact that I found a definition that described a Dragoon as “a soldier trained to fight on foot but who transports himself on horseback.” This seemed like the perfect description for a transforming horse warrior. Elsewhere, I found that Dragoon or Dragoon Guard referred to heavy cavalry, which was appropriate to the bulkier look that I gave night Stalker.

Last but not least, the nerdy, in-depth bio:

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PROFILE: A brilliant strategic mind and a brutally effective warrior, NIGHT STALKER is every bit the match for his brother Stridor. But where Stridor is gentle and merciful, Night Stalker is brooding and unforgiving. He adheres to a strict code of honor, but nonetheless believes might makes right. This harsh sense of honor has earned him the friendship and trust of the similarly dispositioned Jitsu.

Night Stalker is outfitted with standard Stridor-type weaponry (dual heavy laser cannons, and a rapid-fire hip blaster)–however, he prefers to engage in melee combat with his custom-made horse-cutter or Daisho swords. He commands a regiment of Equestris mercenaries with a few other renegade Stridor units mixed in.

HISTORY: Night Stalker was the first of the mass-produced Stridor units, and was groomed to be the original Stridor’s second-in-command. Although their personalities were like night and day, the two considered each other brothers and were a formidable team on the battlefield. In time, Night Stalker was promoted, and became commander of his own unit.

During a heat wave, Night Stalker and his troops were sent to perform crowd control in a town where drought and food shortage were causing riots and looting. They had been dispatched with the idea that their imposing stature would be enough to intimidate the angry mobs into submission–on the contrary, because of their greatly superior size and strength, the troops couldn’t act against the relatively weak humans for fear of harming them. Night Stalker had no choice but to withdraw his troops. However, the rioters had become increasingly aggravated, and Night Stalker and his troops found their backs against the city walls. A make-shift bomb was thrown, a nearby wagon transporting fuel was ignited, and the ensuing explosion brought the city walls down on top of the Stridors. All the troops under Night Stalker’s command were destroyed, and he himself was damaged almost beyond repair–there were no human casualties.

The incident changed Night Stalker forever. He blamed himself, feeling that had he used force to decisively end the conflict, his troops would still be alive. Why, he asked himself, should the strong suffer at the hands of the weak? Night Stalker became increasingly insubordinate, and finally deserted his post. Stridor tracked Night Stalker down and attempted to talk to his brother. Their conversation became heated, and Night Stalker lashed out; an intense duel ensued, and Night Stalker got the best of Stridor. He restrained himself from making the killing blow, and disappeared into the wildnerness.

Night Stalker became a mercenary, and occasionally a bandit. He eventually crossed paths with Jitsu–though the two were initially contentious, Jitsu saw that they shared a common worldview, and he recruited Night Stalker to Skeletor’s cause. Since then, Night Stalker has swayed a few other disillusioned Stridor units to join his forces.

Stridor remains determined to bring his brother back to the fold.

* * *

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here.

Don’t Tread On Me…

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
I’ve been awake for about 33 hours straight, worked an 11 hour day, and topped it off by playing Guitar Hero for 3 hours (yes, i have succumbed at last). Basically that means I’m going to pass out. Before I do… here’s King Hiss, leader of the Snake Men, rival to Skeletor and Hordak, enemy of He-Man:

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Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. My post is here, the entire thread (including some of my previous sketches) is here.

Lady in Blue

~ J.Ho
(Posting early… )

A few weeks ago, I drew this for a He-Man.org re-design challenge. Here today, is a standard version of Shokoti:

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Pose is a bit awkward on this one, and something about the colors doesn’t quite mesh. Hmm.

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. My post is here, the entire thread (including some of my previous sketches) is here.

Lady in Red

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
(Posting early…)

When I was working on my illustration of Light Spinner, I decided to draw up her eventual alter ego as well. I finally got around to coloring it, so here’s Shadow Weaver:

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I’m happy with the pose on this one, except for the obscured Horde logo on her belt. I had a bit of difficulty coloring it–for some reason monochromatic red color schemes are something I have difficulty with, and I ended up making a lot of adjustments. The minor changes I made to her costume draw influence from Maleficent and Morticia Addams.

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. My post is here, the entire thread (including some of my previous sketches) is here.

What’s a Spector?

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
I know I’ve mentioned COTU and talked about Fuerza-T in the past. Here’s an illustration of a little known Fuerza-T prototype that I did for an upcoming COTU project:

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The figure was to be named Spector, and it ought to be painfully obvious that he was to be built primarily from Skeletor’s parts. My drawing is pretty accurate to those details. I deviated a little, attempting to mimic the style of the Fuerza-T card art. Much like my illustration of Goldar, this piece is not part of my “regular” series of Masters of the Universe drawings, as it deviates from my usual modus operandi, and was done for a specific purpose that COTU has in mind. The coloring, for example, is a blended style, as opposed to my usual cel-shading. A more J.Ho-ized version of Spector (and the rest of the Fuerza-T cast) will come in the future.

Check out COTU World blog for some photos of their excellent He-Man customs (on the links list on the sidebar… or if you can’t be bothered, click HERE).

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. My post is here, the entire thread (including some of my previous sketches) is here.

Sweet Adeline…

~ J.Ho ~ 5 Comments
(Posting early… )

With this post, I’m wrapping up my first batch of Masters of the Universe variants re-cast as new characters. There are still a lot of variants to tackle (and I will!), but for now I’ve covered the main classic variants. Allow me to present a lady codenamed Flying Fist, with accesories and armor courtesy of Flying Fists He-Man.

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The original Flying Fists He-Man figure was not particularly feminine, but once I re-cast Terror Claws as a female, it made sense to give Team Grayskull another woman warrior as well. As far as the costume itself, I combined the redundant double-belt of the action figure into an armored girdle. The perspective on the shield is messed up, but I can live with it. Color-wise, I initially had some difficulty making things mesh, but once I decided to make her furry barbarian short-pants black (instead of brown), the rest of the colors really clicked into place. The end result is pretty faithful to the original color scheme (with the exception of the aforementioned furry barbarian short pants). Now how about a bio for this little lady?

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PROFILE: Peace-loving and kind, ADELINE, known on the battlefield as FLYING FIST is essentially a gentle but fair soul who has taken on the role of protector. She is strongwilled, but when faced with failure she has a tendency to blame herself.

Adeline’s mechanized triple flail can pulverize granite and break solid plate armor, while her rotating shield is capable of generating a defensive barrier of wind, or firing an offensive whirlwind blast. When held aloft, she can utilize it as a limited one-person helicopter, and in the past she has also used the shield as an improvised boat propeller. The flail and shield are both semi-magical items, requiring the input of the user’s chi for proper use.

Adeline wears an armored girdle that grants her the strength of a storm giant, and an enchanted breastplate that conforms to the shape of its wearer, allows for a full range of movement, and provides magically enhanced stamina. However, even without her girdle, she has an abnormal level of strength. The cause of this is unknown.

HISTORY: Adeline hails from a serene and remote village in the foothills. Her mother Adele was famed amongst the locals for using her tremendous strength as the village’s protector, earning her the nickname “Flying Fist.” For the most part, the village was peaceful, and Adele used her strength for mundane tasks such as helping with construction and demolitions and clearing fallen trees. Occasionally some small-time bandits would show up, or a bear would wander too close to town, but all in all it was a peaceful existence. Adeline knew that her mother’s strength came from the magic girdle, though her mother never explained where the girdle came from. And when Adele passed away, some five years ago, Adeline inherited the girdle and the role of village protector. It wasn’t long before Adeline inherited the nickname “Flying Fist” as well.

Following another dream-vision, Teela visited Adeline’s village with Team Grayskull in tow. Adeline had long been in possession of a magically locked chest belonging to her mother, and with the help of Teela’s magical powers, she was finally able to open it. The chest contained a breastplate marked with an ancient heraldic symbol of Grayskull’s line. After this, it quickly came to light that Thunder Punch was in fact Adeline’s father, and like Thunder Punch, Adeline’s mother Adele had once been a champion of Castle Grayskull. Initially, Thunder Punch was vehemently opposed to involving his daughter in the struggle between the protectors of Castle Grayskull and its would-be conquerors. However, the Sorceress convinced him that while it was not Adeline’s inevitable destiny, it was the legacy of both her parents, and she had a right to choose for herself.

Adeline had planned to reject the invitation to join Teela’s group, but after witnessing a battle between Team Grayskull and some Horde Troopers, she understood the bigger picture–in order to protect her village, there was a bigger world outside of it that needed protecting as well. With a tearful goodbye, Adeline bid farewell to her village.

Shortly after arriving at Castle Grayskull, Adeline came across a room with two broken and discarded mechanical devices. In her village, Adeline’s strength made her ideal for carrying out repairs on large structures like windmills and water wheels, so she had developed something of a sense for mechanics–she tinkered with the devices a little, and was able to restore them to perfect working order, and even improved them with some minor modifications. Thus, the mechanized triple-flail and rotating shield became Adeline’s primary tools in combat. When Team Grayskull isn’t searching for He-Man or battling the forces of evil, Adeline often spends her hours trying to repair the ancient technologies contained in Castle Grayskull, with the “assistance” of Orko..

All things considered, Adeline has adapted to life with Team Grayskull rather smoothly. At times, her relationship with her father is strained, but overall, Adeline and Thunder Punch are both doing well in mending their estranged relationship. Teela has become a surrogate big sister to her, and Orko and Cringer are both very fond of her. There’s something of a brewing romance between Adeline and Battle-Scar, at least when Battle-Scar isn’t attempting to rile her up by calling her “She-Man.” Such behavior generally earns Battle-Scar a punch in the nose.

* * *

I didn’t like Flying Fist much as a name, but at the same time I didn’t want to drop it completely. I finally decided on giving the character a ‘real’ name (Adeline) and using Flying Fist as a nickname, kind of like Duncan/Man-At-Arms. Adeline and Adele are both variations of a German name, meaning “noble,” and chosen to be evockative of the ad sound in Adam and Adora (the real identities of He-Man and She-Ra respectively). The relationship between Adeline and Battle-Scar is somewhat meant to mimic that of Akane and Ranma from Ranma 1/2. Man, these character bios keep getting longer and longer. :P

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here and the post is here.

For my other “new characters from old variants” posts:

One Year Later!

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
Well, here we are–the one year bloggiversary of Oh Snap! The Friggin Amazing J.Ho Sketchblog. You see, bloggiversary is a super clever portmanteau of the word “blog” and the word “anniversary.” Have I ever mentioned that I hate the word “portmanteau?” What was I talking about?

Oh yeah, so, I’ve managed to stick it out for a year so far, without missing a single post, and I have no intention of stopping any time soon. If you had any idea how lazy/unmotivated/lethargic/quitty I am in RL, you’d be impressed. But whether or not you’re impressed, I thank you, Dear Reader for tuning in. Whether you’re a crony who’s known me since I was in grade school, or someone who randomly stumbled upon this blog, or anyone in between, I appreciate your patronage, and wish you a safe and happy New Year.

The inaugural sketch that I posted on this blog was Skeletor, and for today’s post, I’m continuing my series of He-Man/Skeletor variants turned into a new characters. Did you ever look at Terror Claws Skeletor and wonder, “Skeletor, why the hell are you wearing a metallic purple sports bra?” I don’t have a good answer for that question myself, but here’s a new character named Terror Claws, for whom a metallic purple sports bra seems more appropriate:

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The rough sketch for this one has been sitting around here foreverrr, so I’m glad I was able to finally use my holiday time off from ye olde day job to finish this (as well as a few other drawings, to be presented in the following weeks). Her face paint is definitely influenced by the Superman villainess Silver Banshee, but I think the face underneath as well her body type, both take after Trish Stratus (this was not intentional, just an observation I made after the fact). As usual, I tweaked with the colors of the original toy, adding some and switching some, hopefully creating a vibrant and visually pleasing recipe in the process. Oh, and as a bonus, I even drew her with the original toy’s alternate weapon:

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And the final touch–a painstakingly written bio, nerdily composed by yours truly:

* * *

PROFILE: Named after the sacred Infinitan artifact weapons which she wields in combat, TERROR CLAWS is the fearsome leader of Skeletor’s Elite–a group of powerful warrior-mages handpicked and trained by the Lord of Destruction himself. In hand-to-hand combat, her namesake claws can effortlessly rend through the toughest armored units of the Eternian military, and enhance her strength to a level possibly rivalling He-Man’s. In ranged combat, she wields a dragon-skull arm cannon, created by Dragon Blaster. Terror Claws is a seasoned magic-user as well, specializing in scrying, enchantments, and counterspells.

Terror Claws’ true power, however, is her ability to lead. Cool, collected, and meticulous, in Skeletor’s absence, she has been able to wrangle and lead Skeletor’s Elite, as well as his other forces. Even the mutinous Evil-Lyn cannot deny Terror Claws’ efficiency as a leader.

Unlike her fellow Elite, Terror Claws possesses a sense of honor that extends beyond her fealty to Skeletor. This “defect” did not escape Skeletor’s attention–on the contrary, he felt it would be a weakness that he could exploit to insure her continuing loyalty. Terror Claws has no obvious weaknesses, but it seems inevitable that she will be drawn into a confrontation with Evil-Lyn.

HISTORY: An orphaned Infinitan girl with no memory of her past, was brought to Skeletor’s attention because of her unusually advanced magic capabilities. Inexplicably drawn to her, Skeletor inducted the orphan girl into the Elite training program. In spite of being one of the later recruits, and one of the youngest, she rapidly rose through the ranks. Is her loyalty to Skeletor a true testament to the power of the Elite re-education system… or does Terror Claws have an as yet unrevealed motive?”

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Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here and the post is here.

For my other “new characters from old variants” posts:

Feeling a Little Punchy

~ J.Ho
(Posting a smidge early)

Getting back to my self imposed task of changing He-Man and Skeletor variations into new characters, today I bring you Thunder Punch He-Man, now simply (you guessed it), Thunder Punch:

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Thunder Punch is supposed to be an older, grizzled veteran of the battlefield, so hopefully that comes through in my drawing. There’s a little bit of action in this one, a bit of a change from my usual static ways. The right leg and foot are awkward, but luckily I had to place some type in there anyways, so I covered that up a little. The colors aren’t anything special, and in hindsight, I really meant to make the skin much more tan in contrast to the fair hair. The perspective on the shield is pretty wonky. Overall, this is a piece that I was excited about when it first started coming together, but I’m somewhat disappointed with it as I pick it apart. Oh well… I’m still pretty happy with it as far as the concept goes. Read on!

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PROFILE: Cynical and world weary, THUNDER PUNCH nonetheless possesses a heart of gold, awakened by the moral purity of his new-found allies. His many years of experience have made him hard edged yet pragmatic. He is a natural leader, though a reluctant one–shortly after Flying Fist joined “Team Grayskull,” Teela was forced to leave the group, and she named Thunder Punch the leader, much to his chagrin.

His battle harness enhances his strength, speed, and rudimentary psychic abilities. The enhancement allows him to perform maneuvers such as his trademark “Thunder Punch,” a devastating attack, enhanced by a burst of chi. His shield further amplifies and refines his psychic power, and recently Thunder Punch has developed a new technique where by concentrating his battle aura upon his shield, he can manifest a psychic power sword.

It is clear that Thunder Punch knew the Sorceress at some point in the past, though the specifics of this have yet to come to light. It has also been hinted at that he was accquainted with Man-At-Arms and King Randor.

HISTORY: With a heavy heart, King Randor was forced to indefinitely suspend the kingdom’s search for the missing He-Man. With the Horde threat becoming increasingly aggressive, Randor simply could not spare any resources towards what seemed to be a hopeless effort. Refusing to relent, Teela resigned her position as Captain of the Royal Guard and exiled herself from Eternos, vowing that she would not return unless she had He-Man with her. Cringer, Orko, and Battle-Scar accompanied her as well. With a heavy heart, Man-At-Arms told his daughter Teela that the kingdom would need him in the war against the Horde and he could not accompany her on her quest. However, he urged Teela seek refuge with the Sorceress, and complete her training in the magical arts. As Man-At-Arms watched his daughter and his closest friends ride away, he said to himself, “If anyone can find He-Man, they can.”

Teela and her fellowship did take refuge with the Sorceress at Castle Grayskull, and investigated every possible lead over the following months. They found many clues and possibilities, but nothing concrete. In the meantime, the Sorceress continued to guide Teela’s education in magic, and Teela’s sensitivity to the supernatural developed quickly. A breakthrough came to Teela in the form of a dream-vision, telling her to seek out a warrior; a lost descendant of the legendary King Grayskull, who would aid her in her quest. Teela, Cringer, and Battle-Scar set out to find this lost scion of Grayskull.

What they found however, was a grizzled and bitter man living in isolation in the wilderness, a once idealistic knight errant, turned hardened soldier of fortune, who had ultimately decided to reject the world and its corruption in favor of life as a hermit. He knew he was a descendent of Grayskull–he simply did not care. Unable to break through his jaded shell, Teela’s group left the hermit in the wilderness. At the edge of the wilderness, they were ambushed by Force Commander Scorpia, Modulok, and a contingent of Modulok’s test-tube engineered warriors and monstrosities. Incapacitated by Scorpia’s poisonous stinger, Teela was unconscious and capture was imminent. The hermit, who had shadowed Teela’s group to ensure that they left his sanctuary, had a split second to make a decision. Before he realized what he was doing, his legs were carrying him into the fray, and with nothing more than a wooden cudgel, he was able to beat back Modulok’s creations long enough for Cringer to carry Teela to safety, and for Battle-Scar to regroup with the hermit. The ensuing battle was brutal, but the hermit and Battle-Scar were able to fight off the Horde attackers. Scorpia’s poison, however, was spreading fast through Teela’s blood. The hermit squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating upon the astral plane, searching for a response… with a flash of light, Battle-Scar, Teela, Cringer, and their new accquaintance found themselves on the Jaw Bridge of Castle Grayskull–Orko flew to them with haste, and treated Teela with a magical antidote. Standing at the gates was the Sorceress herself, holding a red and silver battle harness, and a matching shield.

The hermit’s expression was impassive, though his eyes betrayed mixed emotions, “It’s good to see you, Sorceress.”

The Sorceress smiled in her usual mysterious manner, holding up the rough implements of war in her elegant hands. “I kept these for you.”

* * *

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here and the post is here.

For my other “new characters from old variants” posts:

A Witch in Sheep’s Clothing

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
An entry for a re-design challenge at the He-Man.org fan-art forum. The subject is Light Spinner, Shadow Weaver‘s identity before she betrayed the Rebellion and became the Horde‘s head magic-user. The thread is here, my post is here. The voting threads are here and here. The final run off vote is here–I ranked third.

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I wasn’t too drastic with my design–I basically just combined her cartoon and comic appearances, and tried coloring her so that she wouldn’t come out looking completely like Dree Elle.

Another Enchanting Young Lady (follow up to Tuesday’s post)

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
(These days, who’s got time to wait for a midnight post, huh? Posting early, as I am wont to do.)

As promised, here is a picture based on the toy version of Castaspella. Also posted here on my variants thread on the He-Man.org fan-art forum.


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First off, you will notice that I have changed her into another character. While the toy’s packaging depicts Castaspella very much like her cartoon appearance, (bouffant intact), the toy itself simply had the hair tied in a ponytail. Because of the significantly different hairstyle, coupled with the toy’s differing color scheme, I decided to make her into a new character. The name Sorciela is taken from an image I found online of international packaging for Castaspella–unless I’m mistaken, Sorciela is her French name.

I made a few minor tweaks to her costume, but for the most part, this is a pretty straight interpretation of the toy. I turned her spinning disk accessory into a magical ward–the symbols on it are nothing more than the symbols of the western zodiac. I rarely use a dark background color, but here it was necessary to accentuate the glowing magical energies. And the finishing touch; a super-nerdy bio…

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PROFILE: An extraordinarily capable magic-user, SORCIELA far exceeds the limits of most of her peers, but still requires focus and experience as a result of her youth. She specializes in hypnotism, but excels in this particular area to the detriment of her other magical capabilities. Sorciela can be impatient and frivolous, but her sense of compassion and fairness is true.

HISTORY: Sorciela is the younger sister of Castaspella, Mage-Queen of Mystacor. When Castaspella ascended to the throne, Sorciela was sent away to a hidden location. There were two motives behind this–first, so that Sorciela could continue her education in the use of magic, and second, so that the next in line for the throne would be protected in case any harm should ever fall upon Castaspella. With the Horde’s presence growing ever more oppressive and She-Ra’s departure to Eternia, Castaspella has summoned her sister back to Mystacor to aid in the defense of the country, and the planet.

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A Shocking Event: I have drawn a character from an 80’s cartoon.

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
(Well, I’m running off of no sleep, so I’m posting early rather than risking a loss of consciousness and a late post. Enjoy.)

An entry for a re-design challenge at the He-Man.org fan-art forum. The subject is Castaspella, ruler of the magical land of Mystacor and an ally of She-Ra. I didn’t have much to express about Castaspella (in terms of a real re-design) but I did want to draw her, so I posted my drawing but abstained from entering the contest. My version is really a minor tweak rather than a true re-design. The thread is here, my post is here. Check out the other entries in the voting threads here and here. The final voting thread is here.

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This picture is based on Castaspella’s cartoon incarnation, as opposed to her toy incarnation (a pic based on the toy version is in the works). The toy was billed as an “Enchantress who Hypnotizes”; I have instead billed her as “Heroic Mage-Queen of Mystacor” because A) she never hypnotized anyone in the cartoon, and B) she was the heroic mage-queen of the country Mystacor.

The main tweak in my take is that I merged her top and skirt into a dress (and juggled some colors around accordingly), in an attempt to accentuate the ‘go go girl’ look that Castaspella sported in the cartoon. Her posture is meant to have a bit of a haughty aristocratic feel. If I could change one thing, I would make her hair more curly.

A Magical Sprite and a Thanksgiving Flashback

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
(Posting early for Thanksgiving…)

This sprite is Orko, who is not actually a “Sprite” at all, but a Trollan:

I started this a while back when I was trying to get into RPG Maker. The general proportions of the head (particularly the spacing of the eyes) mimic those of RPG Maker’s character sprites, but this was rendered from scratch. I did try animating this at one point, but it was choppy at best. However, this is definitely something I’ll try more of in the future.

And as a bonus treat for anyone who likes He-Man, She-Ra, or awesome Thanksgiving parades:

HUBBA HUBBA!

~ J.Ho ~ 5 Comments
(Super tired = Super early post… enjoy!)

An entry for a re-design challenge at the He-Man.org fan-art forum. The thread is here, my post is here. Voting was split up into two threads, here and here, and a final poll between the finalists was conducted here. Err… basically I came no where close to even making the first cut, but I encourage everyone to check out the other entries–there’s some great stuff there!

The subject of the redesign is Shokoti, an obscure but somewhat popular villainess who appeared only once in the cartoon. This time around, there were a lot of entries, and I had a hard time figuring out how to redesign the character while trying not to make changes for change’s sake. All in all, I thought a different approach might be necessary:

I changed her name to “Shokutie” for two reasons, 1) to play up the cartoony aspect of this drawing and 2) because I cannot resist a terrible pun. Sorry. I settled on “Wicked Mistress of Hubba Hubba” as her title after rejecting “Villainous Mistress of Va Va Voom” and “Evil Mistress of Honk Honk Awooga.”

I’m basically satisfied with the drawing and color choices on this one (i punched up all her colors so they were more saturated and vibrant than the original). The actual rendering however is pretty “meh” (don’t even bother trying to identify consistent light sources!) and I wish I had pushed the hair color more towards black rather than blue.

This sketch, obviously, does not fall in my normal series of Masters of the Universe drawings. Although, because of the modified name, I guess she could conceivably be some kind of a slightly super deformed avatar that manifested sentience and became an independent entity, similar but not exactly like the background I came up with for Horduck. Wow, that was a nerdy sentence. Aww, what the heck, here’s a profile for the little hottie:

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PROFILE: SHOKUTIE (so named by Orko) has the basic abilities and personality of Shokoti, however her power levels are diminished, and her demeanor has an added impish aspect to it. She’s still something of a bully, but it appears that Shokutie may be a more innocent version of Shokoti, as she lacks some of the original’s more cruel tendencies.

HISTORY: After her defeat at the hands of He-Man, Shokoti attempted to rematerialize herself on the material plane by creating an avatar that contained a fraction of her power. The avatar was able to bring about Shokoti’s return, but in the process, apparently became autonomous. When Shokoti tried reabsorbing Shokutie against her will, Orko (who had somewhat befriended her), casted a mirror spell, attempting to deflect Shokoti’s magic. As could be expected, Orko botched the spell, but it had an unexpected affect–Shokoti was able to reabsorb an equivalent amount of magic so that her soul and magic ability were rendered whole once more, and yet Shokutie was able to continue existing, free from the power of her originator. Still somewhat weakened, Shokoti retreated, vowing vengeance on He-Man and his allies, as well as her diminuitive doppleganger. Orko attempted to convince Shokutie to join the side of good, but she was still struggling with her newfound freedom and possibly evil nature. She was allowed to go free, and was last seen on Etheria, playing pranks on Horduck.

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So, I guess that means that this is part of my regular series of He-Man pics. I also have a “standard” version Shokoti that I drew up (that one sticks pretty close to the original costume), and will be posting sometime in the future.

Clever Titles Are Overrated

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
After a brief hiatus, the re-design challenges at the He-Man.org fan-art forums have returned! The thread is here, my post is here.

(Voting thread is here and I placed 2nd–the winning design was an awesome piece by my pal Jazyl.)

First up is Light Hope, a mystical column of light who is guardian of She-Ra’s headquarters (the Crystal Castle) and acts as her advisor. My version depicts a human avatar of Light Hope:


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The design of his helmet is based on the toy version of the Crystal Castle, while his staff is a depiction of the cartoon version. The double crests on his robe are loosely patterned off of the upper windows of the Crystal Castle toy, and the colors of the robe are based on the toy’s flag. His breastplate, belt, and boots are based on the Bow action figure–not because he has any connection with Bow directly, but because if there had been a Light Hope action figure, it’s likely that Bow’s token male sculpt would have been harvested for parts. The symbol on his chest is the same sun-symbol motif found on She-Ra’s, and his wings of light echo the double wings of the cartoon version of the Crystal Castle. His sword of light is based on a She-Ra role play set which differs from other depictions of She-Ra’s sword.

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PROFILE: LIGHT HOPE is a master sorcerer and expert warrior. He wields a sword of light and the staff of the Crystal Castle. His wings of light provide him with flight as well as a defensive barrier. Light Hope’s even-handed wisdom is reknowned throughout the cosmos.

HISTORY: The power embodied by the Crystal Castle of Etheria is ancient, and, like Castle Grayskull on Eternia, predates recorded history. Light Hope–a powerful warrior-mage rumored to be allies with He-Ro the Wizard and King Grayskull–sacrificed his mortal body to become the caretaker of the mysteries of the Crystal Castle. It is foretold that Light Hope will take on his human form once more in Etheria’s greatest hour of need.

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Crouching Villain, Hidden Dragon… (Plus a BONUS Dragon-Related Review!)

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
Resuming my series of Masters of the Universe action figure variants re-purposed into new characters–today, I bring you Dragon Blaster Skeletor, now recreated as simply Dragon Blaster, another member of Skeletor’s Elite. I’ve dubbed his previously unnamed pet dragon Paralyzor, a name which comes from one of the international versions of the figure, known as “Skeletor Paralyzor.”

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To be perfectly honest, I’m really not crazy about how this one turned out. The drawing feels lethargic to me, and the skull-motif face paint just didn’t turn out the way I envisioned it. On the plus side, although I found it a struggle to get the colors to mesh, I think that part (at the very least) turned out reasonably well. This is one that I’ll need to revisit someday, but for now I’m just going to move forward. Super-nerdy character profile follows–but stay tuned (or skip ahead) for a bonus review!

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PROFILE: From a perilous cliffside, about a day’s ride from Snake Mountain, the air is sundered by fearsome draconic cries. The cliffside, riddled with a network of caverns, serves as a roost for Skeletor’s fleet of dragons. The evil warrior DRAGON BLASTER walks silently and authoritatively amongst the trained saurian killers, charged with their care and training. His training techniques are cruel and harsh, revolving around the gradual break down of each dragon’s will, accomplished partially through psychic conditioning. Dragon Blaster is a capable warrior in his own right, but prefers to let his ‘pets’ do the fighting. His favorite is a particularly vicious dragon named PARALYZOR, whom Dragon Blaster can only rein in with the aid of a bewitched collar and psionic chains. Paralyzor is named for his paralysis-inducing venom. In spite of his relatively diminuitive size, he is particularly pugnacious, and has frequently taken down fearsome beasts several times his size.

HISTORY: Dragon Blaster is, in his own twisted way, an idealist. Hailing from a long lineage of Infinitan dragon tamers, Dragon Blaster was raised on tales of Infinitan domination over man and beast alike. To him, the subjugation of dragons (who are perhaps the most powerful of all living things) is the ultimate symbol of Infinitan power. Skeletor, seeking to fortify his aerial cavalry, has taken advantage of Dragon Blaster’s idealism by painting a vision of utter Infinitan supremacy brought about by a fleet of dragons with numbers so great as to blot out the sun itself. Thus, in order to ressurrect his ideal of Infinita, Dragon Blaster has joined the ranks of Skeletor’s Elite. He cares little for the petty power struggles between ARMORAX and TERROR CLAW, nor is he interested in the machinations of Evil-Lyn or any of Skeletor’s other lieutenants–very simply, anyone who stands in the way of the Infinitan cause will suffer his wrath. However, in truth, Skeletor only feigns devotion to Infinitan ideals to secure the power of Dragon Blaster’s reptilian fleet. What will happen when Dragon Blaster discovers Skeletor’s true nature?

It is worth noting, that in his struggles against the forces of good on Eternia, Dragon Blaster’s vile enslavement of dragonkind has earned him the lifelong enmity of Granamyr.

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Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here and the post is here.

For my other “new characters from old variants” posts:

Oh yeah, speaking of dragons, I somehow tricked Jacob and Carrie into going to watch a certain dragon-y movie with me:

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Dragon Wars AKA D-War (In theaters now!)

Ok first up, I have to say, what’s up with the title? This was originally a Korean movie titled D-War, and according to Wikipedia (questionable, I know) the title in the North American release is D-War: Dragon Wars. Buuut… everything I’ve seen for the movie calls it Dragon Wars with D-War as a subtitle. And regardless of that little confusion, how is it that Dragon Wars (PLURAL) becomes D-War (SINGULAR) when abbreviated? Nonsensical.

Well, the movie makes just about as much sense as that crazy little rant I just had. Peppered with large doses of corny dialogue and bizarre leaps in logic, Dragon War must be seen to be believed. However, on the plus side, unlike the little rant I just had, Dragon Wars is filled with dragons! And wars! And dragon wars! Basically, you have to think of Dragon Wars as a Godzilla movie (which it essentially is).

Verdict: Awesome. There are bad movies (which are just no fun), and there are B-movies (which are both bad AND fun). This here, is a bona fide B-movie. Thankfully, the rest of the audience (all seven of them) found this as openly laughable as I did. It was a good time, I didn’t regret spending the money, and I got to see good special effects in the form of bad-ass dragon-y monsters destroying cities and fighting each other.

For More Giant Monster Goodness With A Mysteriously Plural “Wars” In The Title: You must watch Godzilla: Final Wars. Featuring modern versions of almost all of Toho‘s major monsters, Final Wars is mindless monster mayhem at its best. There’s even a battle between the true Godzilla and his ersatz american counterpart (from the lame Matthew Broderick version). For reals!

No Time For Post Titles

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
I know I’ve mentioned COTU and talked about Fuerza-T in the past. Here’s an illustration of a little known Fuerza-T prototype that I did for an upcoming COTU project:

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The figure was to be named Goldar, and was built from He-Man’s head, torso, and legs, Jitsu’s arms, and Fisto’s armor. My drawing is pretty accurate to those details. I deviated a little, attempting to mimic the style of the Fuerza-T card art. This piece is not part of my “regular” series of Masters of the Universe drawings, as it deviates from my usual modus operandi, and was done for a specific purpose that COTU has in mind. The coloring, for example, is a blended style, as opposed to my usual cel-shading. A more J.Ho-ized version of Goldar (and the rest of the Fuerza-T cast) will come in the future.

Check out COTU World blog for some photos of their excellent He-Man customs (on the links list on the sidebar… or if you can’t be bothered, click HERE).

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. My post is here, the entire thread (including some of my previous sketches) is here.

Another Dude With An Axe!

~ J.Ho ~ 5 Comments
(Posted early cuz i feel like it, sucka!)

Another Masters of the Universe action figure variant re-purposed (by me) into a new character. It’s the opposite number to last week’s Battle Armor Skeletor re-vamp, Battle Armor He-Man, reborn as “Battle-Scar,” for obvious reasons:

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On the one hand, I think I more or less got across what I was trying to with this piece. On the other hand, I think it greatly suffers because I have not yet posted an illustration of He-Man proper, for comparison. I need to remedy that soon. In the meantime, I’ll just have to point out the differences that would be apparent if I’d had the foresight to finish a pic of He-Man first. Lame!

Anyways, where He-Man has blonde hair and orange (copper?) bracers & belt, Battle-Scar is strawberry blonde, and has gold bracers & belt. I’ve given Battle-Scar pale skin and blue eyes, in contrast to the cartoon version of He-Man, who had dark eyes, and deeply tanned skin. The idea was to give Battle-Scar more of a Celtic or Nordic look (which is where his title of Berserker comes in as well). In terms of facial features, the cartoon depicted He-Man with more or less classic good looks–in comparative nerd terms this means that if you ignore his coloration and haircut, he pretty much looks just like Superman. I gave Battle-Scar a face that was a little closer to the rough-hewn looks of the toy. His armor is slashed and dented, to represent the battle-damage gimmick of the toy, and the scars on his body were added to continue the theme and give a visual cue as to his ability to take punishment (more in the profile below). On its own, I think this character re-mix comes off as just a version of He-Man, but once I post my take on He-Man, hopefully the differences will be more apparent.

My drawing is a little static, but hopefully it gets across the idea of raw power that I was going for. No characters with axes next week–I promise!

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PROFILE: Young, loyal to a fault, and still somewhat naive, BATTLE-SCAR is nevertheless a veteran of the battlefield. Even before he obtained his magical breastplate, Battle-Scar was well known for taking heaps of punishment on the battlefield. His immense stamina and resistance to pain are magnified to demi-god levels by the breastplate.

Ostensibly, Battle-Scar was the first member of the entity that would become affectionately known to the populace of Eternia as TEAM GRAYSKULL, named so by Orko, much to the chagrin of their reluctant field commander THUNDER PUNCH. It is notable that Battle-Scar is the only member of the core team who is not a blood descendant of King Grayskull.

HISTORY: Years ago in the northern lands, the boy who would become known as Battle-Scar watched as He-Man saved his village from a brutal attack by Skeletor’s forces. This left an indelible mark on the youth, and he strove to live up to He-Man’s example of bravery and honor. Thus when word of He-Man’s disappearance spread, Battle-Scar (now a young yet experienced warrior) wasted no time, travelling to Eternos immediately to pay his respects to his missing (and possibly fallen) hero and offer his axe in service to Eternos and Castle Grayskull.

Initially He-Man’s allies were unsure of what to do with the young scarred warrior who stood before them. Teela decided to consult the Sorceress, and was bringing Battle-Scar to Castle Grayskull, when they were attacked by a platoon of evil Horde robots. Teela and Battle-Scar managed to fight them off long enough to retreat into the safety of Castle Grayskull’s dark halls. However, more Horde Robots were on the way, Teela had been gravely injured during the battle, and Battle-Scar’s axe was shattered, and his armor was blasted to pieces. The Sorceress saw to Teela’s wounds and lead Battle-Scar into a room pulsing with magical energies–the armory of King Grayskull himself!

“According to prophecy, only the just and even-handed–those worthy of King Grayskull–may wield these implements of war,” the Sorceress told him, “choose wisely, young warrior!” Battle-Scar was humbled beyond words–he could not bring himself to even touch the magnificent arms and armor before him. Everything was elaborately crafted and intricately inlaid with precious metals and gems. He spotted a dusty breastplate and axe in the corner; unlike the other items, these were plain and ungilded. The axe was rough and worn from use, the breastplate marred by slashes and dents, and marked with an ancient heraldic symbol of Grayskull’s line. In spite of their obvious wear, both were sturdy, and well-crafted–they would serve his purpose. Battle-Scar hastily equipped the breastplate and axe, promising the Sorceress that he would return them as soon as the battle was over. As Battle-Scar ran to the Jaw-Bridge, the richly crafted weapons shimmered and faded–in their place was a collection of humbler, and yet more powerful implements–like the axe and breastplate that Battle-Scar had chosen, these were the true weapons of Grayskull’s armory. Sorceress smiled to herself, “Well done, young warrior.”

Now armed and clad like a god of war, Battle-Scar dispatched the Horde robots easily. After the battle, Battle-Scar attempted to return his newfound weapons. The Sorceress explained to him that he truely was one of Grayskull’s chosen defenders, and Battle-Scar pledged himself to defend Castle Grayskull until He-Man returned.

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In case anyone didn’t pick up on it, the whole “choose wisely” bit is totally lifted from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here and the post is here.

For my other “new characters from old variants” posts: