Beast Man
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Beast Man is a character in the popular toy line and cartoon series Masters of the Universe (MOTU).
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[edit] Character history
[edit] The 1980s
[edit] Mini-comics
Beast Man was one of the first toys to be developed for the Masters of the Universe toy line by Mattel. He made his debut in Mattel's mini-comics as Skeletor's loyal but incompetent sidekick who could summon all the beasts and demons of Eternia to aid Skeletor's schemes.
[edit] Cartoon
Beast Man appears frequently in the toy line's accompanying cartoon series by Filmation, introduced in the first episode "Diamond Ray of Disappearance". His cartoon portrayal is generally consistent with his mini-comic portrayal, although in early episodes the show's writers added extra dimensions to his character in that despite his loyalty, he clearly resents being bossed around by Skeletor and secretly desires to someday overthrow his master. This side of his character is brought to the forefront in the episode "Prince Adam No More", in which he is finally thrown out of Skeletor's crew. Feeling useless without the power of Snake Mountain behind him, he sets out to prove his worth by capturing King Randor by himself and bringing him to Snake Mountain. Although he succeeds in capturing the King, when He-Man comes to the rescue he is subjected once again to Skeletor's wrath and admitted back into his ranks purely so Skeletor has someone to vent his anger on. But his final line in the episode "It's kind of nice to be home" indicates he now feels he belongs as Skeletor's underling, and subsequent episodes portray him mostly for comedy value, willingly succumbing to Skeletor's abuse and constantly bungling his schemes. Notable episodes for Beast Man in the show's later stages include "The Shadow of Skeletor" and "Orko's Return" which restore him to his original, darker portrayal, working independently and craftily to achieve his aims.
His background is never mentioned in the cartoon, although the series bible states a surprising origin for him, explaining he was once a thuggish human from Earth called Biff Beastman who owned a farmyard on which he constantly abused the animals. He was recruited as chief technician on the spacecraft piloted by Marlena which crashlanded on Eternia, but wound up on Skeletor's homeworld of Infinita, where he was mutated into Beast Man and recruited by Skeletor.[1] This origin story appeared in a storybook entitled "New Champions of Eternia" but was unpopular with most of the show's writers and therefore excluded from the series.
[edit] Other Mediums
Beast Man is included in numerous MOTU storybooks throughout the '80s. One such range of storybooks is the UK Ladybird Books which reveals he was the leader of a tribe of Beast People from the Vine Jungle. Although this background has never been mentioned in any of the more prominent MOTU incarnations (except for the DC Comics, where appeared the "Beastmen"), it is generally the most popular idea among the fans, that he hails from a jungle tribe.
[edit] The 1987 Live-action Movie
Beast Man also appears in the live action Masters of the Universe movie in 1987. Played by Tony Carroll, he is portrayed somewhat differently to other incarnations, appearing as a savage minion of Skeletor's, who merely growls instead of speaking. Although his lack of speech might indicate a lower level of intelligence than his usual depiction, the character is shown as capable of using high-tech weapons, working in a team and following orders. When Skeletor incinerates Saurod for the broader team's failure, Beast Man clutches at his master's leg and makes a great show of obsequiously begging for his life.
Although redesigned by European comic artist Moebius, Beast Man visually appears to be essentially very similar to his traditional appearance, albeit with browner fur than his usual orange, no tribal facepaint and a possibly Samurai-influenced new design for his chest armour.
Although drawn to resemble his film counterpart, Beast Man of the movie's comic book adaptation has more in common with the cartoon and toy versions. He talks and even replaces Blade as Evil-Lyn's helper during the scene of her interrogating Kevin Corrigan.
[edit] 2002 Mike Young Productions animated series
Beast Man returns in the 2002 relaunch of the MOTU toy line and series. His portrayal in the new cartoon series is much the same as the old, although in this incarantion he never shows any signs of desire to overthrow Skeletor, remaining permanently loyal to his master.
Although he still possesses power over all wild animals, he has difficulty controlling dragons, as is showcased in the episode "Dragon's Brood". Possessing essentially the same design as the classic version of the character, the 2002 Beast Man is depicted as being a physically much larger creature with a hunched back, the most massive villain apart from the redesigned Clawful.
A couple of episodes make references to his terrible body odor. Even Mer-Man dislikes Beast Man's b.o., though one would think a man who was part fish would smell terribly himself when out of water. In fact, it is actually an attempt to rid him of his stink that is responsible for the "birth" of Stinkor. Ironically, Beast Man seems to be the only one not terribly bothered by Stinkor's stench; even Skeletor is covering his nose!
Although his background is not mentioned in the show, the accompanying comic series published an origin story for him in which he is revealed to originate from the Berserker Islands, where he first encounters Keldor before his transformation into Skeletor. He has remained subservient to Skeletor ever since he saved his life for the sake of recruiting him as his servant.
[edit] Trivia
- When the character of Beast Man was developed by Mattel, the name of Beast Man was reused from a figure in Mattel's earlier Flash Gordon toy line.
- Interestingly, both the original and 2002 versions of the Beast Man toy depict the character as having the furless portion of his face painted with a white tribal facepaint (with blue details), as do many of the minicomics and comic book adaptations. Yet in their accompanying animated series; both the original Filmation cartoon and the 2002 Mike Young Productions series; Beast Man is depicted without facepaint and a merely dark Caucasian skin showing on his face instead.
- Beast-Man remained a regular character throughout the run of the 1980s toy series, while some of the other originals gradually dropped out of site when newer characters were released.
- Beast-Man also had the unfortunate distinction of later being the character most often depicted being trapped and covered with evil green slime in the Evil horde's Slime Pit ending up as a slime-monster who willingly obeyed Hordak's bidding.
[edit] References
- ^ Masters of the Universe Series Bible. He-Man.org.
