Tung Lashor
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| Tung Lashor | |||||||||||||
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 Tung Lashor as depicted in the 2002 remake of the series |
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Tung Lashor is a fictional character and member of the Snake Men, villains of the Masters of the Universe franchise, who has an extending tongue that he uses like a tentacle and a whip, and is coated with venom that makes it poisonous to the touch.
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[edit] Character profile
Tung Lashor was introduced into the MOTU toy line in 1986. He first appears in the "King of the Snake Men" minicomic, in which he and Rattlor are called from another dimension by King Hiss. When they appear, Kobra Khan says they "are from the Evil Horde on Etheria!", but both Snake Men swear allegiance again to their former leader King Hiss, explaining that after his banishment they felt they had nowhere to go other than to serve the Horde.
[edit] 1985
Although the Snake Men as a group never appear on the toy-line's accompanying cartoon series Tung Lashor appears in She-Ra as a member of the Evil Horde. He is one of several newer characters from the toy line to be featured on She-Ra's series in order to promote the toy in the absence of the He-Man series, discontinued to make way for She-Ra. The mini-comic alludes to his allegiance with the Horde to avoid confusing viewers. His cartoon appearance came prior to the release of his toy, and as such it is clear that he was in his prototype stage at the time of production, because his appearance in the show is completely different from that of his toy, unrecognizable aside from his extending tongue. There is also discrepancy between episodes over his name. The episodes "Micah of Bright Moon" and "Welcome Back Kowl" refer to him as Tung Lashor, but "Book Burning" refers to him as merely 'Tung' while in "Gateway to Trouble" he is called 'Tung Lash'. This indicates that Mattel were probably undecided about the character's name at the time the show was in production.
He is portrayed in the show as an exuberant and excitable warrior always eager to help out his masters, with an almost teenage personality. His ability is often used for comic effect, particularly in "Micah of Bright Moon" in which he annoys Hordak by using his tongue to clean the computer consoles, and in "Book Burning" in which he is tied up with his own tongue. Despite his comic value he nevertheless comes across as a fairly responsible villain, particularly in "Book Burning" in which he leads an entire Horde fleet in their invasion of a small village. Another continuity discrepancy occurrs in the episode "Gateway to Trouble" in which he is seen on Eternia, on the side of Skeletor rather than Hordak, despite still wearing the Horde bat symbol. However, he does state in the episode that he knew Etheria, which was clearly intended to establish some kind of continuity with his other appearances. It is possible that he defected from the Horde to Skeletor's services, but later episodes show him back in the service of the Horde, suggesting his alliance with Skeletor may have been carried out in secret. Irrespective of episode order it is possible to explain this discrepancy in terms of the minicomics, assuming it takes place after he and Rattlor were brought to Eternia as Skeletor and King Hiss were allies in the minicomics.
[edit] 2002 series
Tung Lashor also appears as a member of the Snake Men in the 2002 update of the series, where he looks more like the original toy. He is depicted here with a more powerful, dominant personality and is fiercely loyal to his King. There are occasions where his tongue is cut off, but it later grows back. A mini statue of Tung Lashor was released by the toy company NECA.
[edit] Trivia
- Tung Lashor can regenerate his tongue. In one episode of the 2002 series, his tongue is cut, but in a later episode, he has it back again, but the part that had been previously cut is in a lighter tone of green than the rest of the tongue.
- The series bible for Lou Scheimer's unmade sequel series "He-Ro, Son of He-Man" in the mid-90s features a character by the name of 'Tongue-Lasher' whose power is identical to Tung Lashor's, except he is not a Snake Man.
- The original toy-figure's packaging in 1986 described Tung Lashor as using his tongue to attack enemies with "venomous licks" or "venom licks". The 2002 revamped TV-series added him using his tongue like a whip and a tentacle, but dropped the poisonous venom detail.
- In the minicomic "Snake Attack!", Tung Lashor's tongue had a venom that hardens on the victim's skin, turning it into a statue, this could be reversed by just breaking the upper layer of the hardened venom. The "turning people into statues" idea was later transferred to another member of the Snake Men named Snake Face.
