Only
appearing in 10 of He-Man's 130 episodes, and not
getting all that much memorable material, out of all of
Skeletor's original villains, Tri-Klops really got the bad
end of the deal. In some of his few appearances he did display
his very unique gimmick that made him one of the original
and classic He-Man villains. Out of all the Masters
of the Universe merchandise, the 1984 UK annual appears
to define his individual eye powers the most; "One
has night vision, one can see great distances in Distavision,
and the third has Gammavision, which allows Tri-Klops to
see round corners like a periscope." However, the card
that came with the action figure simply states, "It's
a daytime eye! It's a nighttime eye! It "sees"
around corners!," which does not mean anything. It
appears that none of the writers or directors really knew
what Tri-Klops eyes actually did, and on the few occasions
that he used his powers, there were contradictions to other
appearances.
MU4
- "Diamond Ray of Disappearance"
In the first episode we can see that he is one of the most
useful of Skeletor's villains. Not only does he possess
a very unique power, which can benefit the evil warriors,
he also has an immense amount of strength, even capable
of fighting hand-to-hand with He-Man.
Triangular
eye - Gammavision
Tri-Klops triangular-shaped eye enabled him to see through
solid objects. The first inconsistency occurs later in the
episode; when He-Man is down a crevice trying to get the
diamond back, Tri-Klops states, "He's got it!,"
and yet we see Tri-Klops looking on with his square eye.
MU8
- "The Time Corridor"
In this episode, Skeletor's two main henchmen are Tri-Klops
and the one-shot Fang Man. Tri-Klops has a big role in this
episode and appears at many times to be Skeletor's main
ally. This episode is noteworthy because Tri-Klops uses
his Distavision for the first time, and many times during
the episode.
Circular
eye - Distavision
Tri-Klops circular-shaped eye enabled him to see long distances.
This was used frequently in this episode, and to comic effect
when Tri-Klops looks towards the sky and sees a huge great
boulder falling towards him. Although the name of the power
is never given in this episode, we learn later on in "The
Royal Cousin" that it's called Distavision.
MU19
- "Quest for He-man"
As Tri-Klops flees from the palace on a Sky Sled, He-Man
gives chase in a Wind Raider. He-Man fires several blasts
at Tri-Klops who manages to evade every single shot claiming,
"I can see every move long before you make it!"
This makes it sound as if his square-shaped eye can see
into the future, but that's highly unlikely as he is defeated
by Ram Man.
Square
Eye - Unknown
This appears to be the eye that none of the writers used
clearly, because on the occasions where they did it differed
immensely. It appeared to be used from a directorial point
of view, as his most "natural" eye shape. In most
of his appearances this would be the standard eye.
MU21
- "The Royal Cousin"
This is the first of two occasions where Tri-Klops is teamed
up solely with Evil-Lyn. The two appear to make a good partnership,
although Tri-Klops is played as the bumbling sidekick who
cannot really think for himself. In this episode Tri-Klops
uses both his Distavision, to spot Ram Man hanging on to
Jeremy's Sky Sled for dear life, and Gammavision to spy
on He-Man and his friends.
MU26
- "Ordeal in the Darklands"
Again teamed-up with Evil-Lyn, Tri-Klops is again played
as the sidekick. In this episode though he does not display
any of the familiar eye powers we have seen before. This
time, in an almost desperate piece of writing, Tri-Klops
now has the ability to shoot concussive blasts out of his
eyes. First using his triangular eye he fires a beam towards
Teela, Mira and Orko, and as Orko flies higher, Tri-Klops
fires at him using his square eye. Needless to say this
idea was not used again, thankfully.
MU55
- "Eye of the Beholder"
In this appearance, Tri-Klops' square-shaped eye is defined
as the one that makes it impossible for anyone to sneak
up on him. Also in this brief appearance whenever he turns
his head, his visor rotates 360 degrees.
MU88
- Three on a Dare
In the "Diamond Ray of Disappearance" reunion
party Tri-Klops gets to shine alongside his old teammates.
For the final time we get to see Tri-Klops use his unique
power and he activates his Gammavision, enabling him to
see the power source of the Basher. However what is not
clear in the script is if Tri-Klops' Gammavision actually
deactivates the power source, considering we hear him reply
to Skeletor, "I'll get it."
Weakness
of uniqueness
Tri-Klops also appeared to have one major problem, apart
from his lack of appearances; his visor was often the target
of his enemies. In "Diamond Ray of Disappearance"
Orko decides to spin his visor around thus temporarily making
him dizzy. And in "Ordeal in the Darklands" Evil-Lyn
knocks Tri-Klops out of his seat causing his visor to once
again spin.
MU29
- "Prince Adam No More"
MU72 - The Great Books Mystery
MU78 - Betrayal of Stratos
PP5 - Battle For Bright Moon
Sadly, in all of his other appearances his powers were not
used, and any other villain could have performed his screen-filling
task. As a consolation prize for being treated so badly,
he shows up one final time in She-Ra's "Battle
For Bright Moon" episode. Even Evil-Lyn did not get
that chance!
