Blade (Masters of the Universe)
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Blade is a character from the popular toy line Masters of the Universe, who was introduced into the toy line and mythology after appearing in the 1987 live action movie based on the toy line.
Blade is a master swordsman and bounty hunter. He has a pirate-like appearance, with a patch over his eye and completely bald head. He is an incredibly skilled swordsman, whose swordsmanship can rival He-Man.
[edit] Character history
Blade was introduced into the MOTU mythology with his appearance in the 1987 live action movie starring Dolph Lundgren. Played by Anthony De Longis, he was one of Skeletor's bounty hunters, a psychotic swordsman whose array of blades and exuberant swordsmanship rendered him a deadly enemy. No background was given for the character, although it was hinted that he may have had a long-standing personal grudge against He-Man (he utters "I've been waiting a long time for this" when facing He-Man in a man-to-man fight). In the later stages of the movie, although not always obvious to the casual viewer, Blade appeared to die when knocked back towards one of the deep pits of Castle Grayskull by He-Man; he was not seen in any scenes afterwards.
In the comic book adaptation of the film, wherein most of the characters are drawn to resemble their cartoon and toy counterparts, Blade is depicted with yellow skin (similar to Evil-Lyn), and wears a large grilled mask over the lower part of his face for some reason. He is also apparently mute; he has no dialogue in the comic and during their fight scene, He-Man refers to him as "silent one."
After the release of the movie, Blade was incorporated into the MOTU toy line by Mattel. His action figure came packaged with a mini-comic titled "The Cosmic Key", which was based upon the weapon of that name from the movie, although the storyline completely contradicted the movie. In this mini-comic, Blade was sent (together with another movie character Saurod) by a mysterious entity called the "Evil Cloud" to serve Skeletor but they were both defeated by He-man.
Blade also appeared in the MOTU Marvel comics (where he appeared as another bumbling villain, different to the deadly swordman from the movie), and various European comic series.
[edit] Trivia
Many fans have speculated that Blade may have been a substitute for the toy line's character of Tri-Klops. This is mainly because like Tri-Klops, he is a swordsman and has only one frontal eye (although Tri-Klops was a three-eyed spy with a rotating helmet).
As well as playing Blade, Anthony De Longis was also Frank Langella's stunt double as Skeletor in the movie, and doubled for Skeletor in the final climatic battle between himself and He-Man.
