Hurricane Hordak and Leech carded!

[Paul Justice]

it seems Grizzlor and Leech were mindless creatures like the Shadow Beast in a way. Weaver gave them a purpose and a mind to serve the Horde. Marzo can control the Shadow Beast with his amulet, Beastman as well, Lyn can make dumb people smarter. But it still seems Weaver is the more powerful, being able to wipe a mind and keep loyalty forever. Adora would still be mind wiped if it was not for the Sword of Protection weakening Weavers spell.

It makes me wonder if in classics, weaver was previously the Green Goddess.

[Spyder121]

Sorry, but I'm hoping the "head witch" is actually NOT Shadow Weaver. If so, then they've COMPLETELY changed her origin. Shadow Weaver was a fellow magic student with Castaspella on ETHERIA, and sold out the Council of Kings to the Horde for her powers. Now all of that is gone, because they have her in Preternia, thousands of years before the Horde arrive on Etheria. So no rivalry with Castaspella, and no selling out the Etherian kings to the Horde. It seems that in their haste to legitimize Preternia as much as possible, it comes at the expense of any previously established POP canon.

Other than that, great bios.

If this really is Shadow Weaver, the divergence from "canon" is perfectly characteristic of the MOTU world. MOTU has some of the most inconsistent canon in history. Why? Simply because it started out as one thing and morphed into a few different things.

1. MOTU started life as toys. In an attempt to give the toys some life, Mattel included mini comics that provided some backstory to the characters. Early on, He-Man had no secret identity, had no relation to the king, his strength came from his harness, etc, etc, etc. Although at times hokey, the tone for these early stories was darker than what it later became.

2. Filmation turned MOTU into a cartoon to help sell the toys. When this happened, they threw most of the early mini comics stories out the window and created their own. He-Man gained a secret identity, his power was linked to his sword, "By the power of Grayskull!" was born, etc., etc., etc. The tone become much lighter and the villains (the flunkies, anyway) became uniformly dumb and absolutely no challenge to He-Man. I can't even count the times poor Beast Man literally got tossed.

3. Comic books then became something in between the early mini comics and the cartoon series -- they kept a few things that became established in the cartoon, but they didn't exactly follow the continuity established in the cartoon.

4. As the years went by, the mini comics became lighter and their quality oftentimes suffered tremendously. None of these mini comics, regardless of when they were created, followed any particular canon (even amongst themselves). It's as if they lived in their own worlds.

5. Picture books came out... again, canon out the window.

6. The 1987 Dolph Lundgren movie ignored He-Man's dual identity altogether (presumably taking a cue from the early concept of the character), gave us never-before-seen characters (Karg, Saurod, Blade, and Gwildor), and a much nastier Skeletor than anyone had ever seen (and despite what anyone thinks of the film, Langella's cruelness was excellent).

7. NA didn't exactly fly against the face of earlier Filmation continuity, but they did put He-Man and Skeletor in a completely different time/place and it did give us a version of Teela that looked a lot more like She-Ra than the redhead we'd all been used to.

8. Mike Young gave us the new 200X cartoon, which basically gave MOTU a darker tone (for a cartoon, anyway), brand new backstories for most characters, and a much more cohesive continuity than any of the previous incarnations.

9. And it was essentially the same for POP. The Filmation series did not match the mini comics that came with the toys (not to mention most of the toys looked nothing like their cartoon counterparts) or the picture books/comic books.

So this very long-winded reply is simply to state that canon is not and never has been sacred with this brand. Each iteration the brand takes gives its own backstory. Yes, Filmation had Shadow Weaver and Castaspella as early rivals, but that doesn't mean this incarnation of the story must follow that. In all honesty, they never even kept that up on the POP cartoon. They only did it for one episode and their supposed "rivalry" never came up again. So, I for one, don't mind if they choose to do it differently here. And who knows? Maybe Castaspella is from the past as well.

[Reboot]

And who knows? Maybe Castaspella is from the past as well.

Would explain her voice

[gbagok]

Would explain her voice

Only if she's from the past of New England.

[HordeMonkey]

"Of Hordak" and "suck" are all nods to the 80's tag lines.

LOLOLOL

I see what you did thar!

Wait, that was a joke, right? Hard to tell in text only. I assume you're making light of that fact that that's their excuse for most of the bad/corny lines we've seen in the bios so far? Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Darkspecter]

LOLOLOL

I see what you did thar!

Wait, that was a joke, right? Hard to tell in text only. I assume you're making light of that fact that that's their excuse for most of the bad/corny lines we've seen in the bios so far? Correct me if I'm wrong.

It's a bit of both.

It's really funny though, that they inserted an "of Hordak" when they ELIMINATED the "of Skeletor" in Scareglow's tag line and made it "serving Skeletor."

[Eternian Poet]

Mind-wiped Slug-man?

Pfffffffffffff!

Garbage.

[scott metzger]

I think that the bulk of fans never KNEW Shadow Weavers origin, as the breakdown is probably most of us are fans from MOTU, then after that PoP, and finally NA.

The "bulk of fans" from the original MOTU were likely similar to the rest of the populace who had no inkling there was a difference between MOTU and POP. Only the absolute die-hards even make that distinction on a regular basis. Most folks aware of any of the mythos from the Filmation days likely know it from both shows. In other words, someone who knows Fisto was once a flunky of evil more than likely knows about where Shadow Weaver came from, as well.

As far as the carded pics, I ignore the bios as usual and concentrate on the figures. My first reaction was just how much Leeech fills up that bubble! He's going to be one impressive figure. The attachments are going to be tempting on Hordikins, but I'm still leaning toward leaving the arm as a blaster canon.

[Kevenn]

So this very long-winded reply is simply to state that canon is not and never has been sacred with this brand. Each iteration the brand takes gives its own backstory. Yes, Filmation had Shadow Weaver and Castaspella as early rivals, but that doesn't mean this incarnation of the story must follow that. In all honesty, they never even kept that up on the POP cartoon. They only did it for one episode and their supposed "rivalry" never came up again. So, I for one, don't mind if they choose to do it differently here. And who knows? Maybe Castaspella is from the past as well.

No, it was done in more than one episode. They meet each other for the first time in The Eldritch Mist. The origin is shown completely in a flashback in The Price of Power, where we see her pre-transformation, and we also see young Castaspella. The episode A Loss for Words, says that she was a second rate sorceress from Mysticor.

[EagleOne]

At my work i deal with Leechs and slugs on a near daily. they are pretty simialar. Alot of folk wouldn't be able to tell certain types of slugs and leeches apart. Even then Leach really dosn't look much like either. Biology of this other world dosen't phase me. If spiders can relate to bees, slugs can relate to leechs.

I got to say i don't mind the bios at all but i come from what i am assuming is a rare place. MOTUC is actual the first he-man line and story i have gotten into. this is my Masters of the universe. I bring no back knowledge to toys. sure i love hearing that "this relates to the 80"s cartoon" " thats from the mini comic" It adds depth. But as the story i am learning about here in these bios with little other knowledge of past stories... I am enjoying it.

I'm in a similar boat on this. I had a ton of He-man toys when I was little, because my parents bought them all on clearance ($0.25 - $0.50 a piece) and only 3 episodes of the cartoon recorded. So I had some tales of them that I had made up but nothing rock solid. I still haven't seen everything that was made (Filmation He-man & She-ra, NA, & MYP) trying to play catch up after 30 years. Most of my thoughts actually came from the movie (one of my all-time favorite movies from childhood).

So to me this bio plot line is interesting and love that they are trying to pull all the pieces together. The bios are actually the reason I started buying the figures. It sucked me in to the point I couldn't resist picking up all the figures.

Keep up the good work Mattel!! I'm a happy customer.

If they butcher Shadow Weaver's bio, I hope it mentions in Ram-Man's bio that his mother was a Ram and his father was a man.

A ram is a male sheep... but I still think that his mom could be Ewe.

[Benedict Judas Hel]

If they butcher Shadow Weaver's bio, I hope it mentions in Ram-Man's bio that his mother was a Ram and his father was a man.

A ram is a male sheep... but I still think that his mom could be Ewe.

You never know. This is Eternia we are talking about. Perhaps Eternian rams are like the Dracs from Enemy Mine where the males give birth.

[kylun flac]

both grizz & leech have those red eyes with yellow pupils. so now we know why. they were mind wiped
a little disappointed they ain't really evil. but they are unusual rare creatures captured & mind wiped. so thats cool.
hordaks got me ??? death of randor? skeletor the ruler of eternia? did randor disappear? he man lose his power sword or something? how could this have happened? he man mustn't been doing his job.

[Pixel Dan]

I know I have a weird obessions with "shiny" toys, but I gotta say I LOVE that vac-metal armor on Hurricane Hordak! And I really want vac-metalized armor for He-Ro now!

[SLO-MAN]

Boy, mind wipe/mind control sure is popular among MOTU magic people.
Even the good guys are taking part in it.
The Sorceress mind wiped the whole population (almost) when Adora was kidnapped, and did it again years later to Teela when she found out about her mother.
Makes me wonder if Adam even chose his role as He-Man willingly, or if the Sorceress mind controled him to do it.

[Eternian Poet]

both grizz & leech have those red eyes with yellow pupils. so now we know why. they were mind wiped

No. They both stay up too late playing Nintendo & smoking space-weed.

a little disappointed they ain't really evil. but they are unusual rare creatures captured & mind wiped. so thats cool.

Rare? Sounds like Grizz is from a whole race of beings that live a ridiculously long time & Leech is a "Slug-Man" implying there are a bunch of those too.

So they're one of many & unluckily enslaved. Yawn.

[Thrawn29]

Excluding Skeletor and He-Man, Leech is my all time favorite motu toy and character. His bio seems to be a perfect example of most of these motuc bios for me. There's one very objectionable element along with one or two very interesting bits.

Like several other fans, I hate the brainwashing angle. It does lessen the character in my opinion. It would appear the only legitimately evil Horde members are Catra and Hordak (Filmation characters excluded).

They turned Grizzlor into a brainwashed wookie. Now Leech is just another brainwashed thug. Not cool.

By itself, the brainwashing wouldn't have been that bad, but it was already used on Grizzlor. It's like using the evil brother angle, and some of the clone stuff for multiple characters.

Hordak already has robot Horde troopers that are 100% loyal, so why couldn't Grizzlor and Leech be evil blood thirsty monsters who willingly joined the Evil Horde for the opportunity to cause death and destruction?

Skeletor's Evil Warriors are certainly looking better and better because of the brainwashing angle though. At least they knowingly joined Skeletor. That also speaks volumes about Skelly, that despite his punitive leadership style, his warriors still serve him willingly.

I'll just ignore that aspect of Leech's bio for my own canon.

Now the good stuff. First, we now know where Leech comes from. He's Eternian! We never knew if he was from Etheria, or some other planet. As a fan, I love finding out bits of the different characters' origins. That's cool. It also seems fitting that something as monstrous and grotesque as Leech comes from the same planet that spawned Beastman, Webstor, Clawful, Merman, Whiplash, and (in some canons) the snakemen.

Second, we know Leech is from a race of slugmen, similar to Webstor, Clawful, and Whiplash. I'm fine with those guys coming from a race of similar creatures. It doesn't lessen them at all for me. But Mattel did something really cool with Leech.

They made him unique. He's a slugman, but he was magically changed and enhanced by the Horde. That's cool. So while he has other memebers of his species around, there isn't another like him.

It also explains Leech's goofy powers. Looking at him "realistically", his people probably use their ability to just suck blood and nutrients from large water creatures or something. Maybe? That doesn't translate to draining the life and energy from another living thing like Leech has been shown to do.

By saying he was magically enhanced, it gives his powers a different angle and explanation. It enhances Leech's character and keeps what we know about the Horde. We know the Horde likes to create cyber warriors and dabble in sorcery to entice beings to their cause with the promise of greater power-Shadow Weaver, Extendar, Dragstor, Catra, etc.

So overall the Leech bio works very well for me, except for that stupid brainwashing bit.

However, I will say that if Mantenna turns out to not be brainwashed as well, I will be disappointed. I want brainwashed Mantenna!

[Alexx]

No. They both stay up too late playing Nintendo & smoking space-weed.

Well that has to be an annoying session.

Grizzlor: "No, I told you to time it so that the fire is going up when you jump! Don't jump when the fire is gone; it just means it's coming back right then!"

Leech: "I don't have fingers, man! What do you want from me?!"

Grizzlor: "You said it was cool! You've been running and shooting this whole time! There's two buttons! Look----look at your suction cups. They're holding the controller right now!"

Leech: *slaps the controller around* "YEAH. Yeah, look! See?? It's like a dog trying to play the piano over here! Most of what I've been doing has been complete luck!"

Grizzlor: "Ugh...you know what, light that roach and lets try this again, I'm way to lucid to handle this right now..."

[gbagok]

Skeletor's Evil Warriors are certainly looking better and better because of the brainwashing angle though. At least they knowingly joined Skeletor. That also speaks volumes about Skelly, that despite his punitive leadership style, his warriors still serve him willingly.

People keep saying that, but honestly I think it makes the Horde guys scarier. They are so powerful that Hordak can't intimidate them as Skeletor does his troops, and needed to enchant them in order to control them. And Hordak is at least as intimidating as Skeletor, so it's not like he's a weakling who needed a crutch to achieve the same results.

[Thrawn29]

People keep saying that, but honestly I think it makes the Horde guys scarier.And Hordak is at least as intimidating as Skeletor, so it's not like he's a weakling who needed a crutch to achieve the same results.

I understand your opinion, but I don't agree. The Horde are still scary, it just detracts from them if they are brainwashed in my opinion.

Hordak already has robot soldiers, and another brainwashed minion in Dragstor. Then there was Adora. I just don't see the need for both Leech and Grizzlor to be essentially tricked into serving the Horde. There was nothing wrong with them just being bloodthirsty and evil villains in the first place who jumped at the chance to dish out more death and destruction in the name of the Horde.

They are so powerful that Hordak can't intimidate them as Skeletor does his troops, and needed to enchant them in order to control them.

If I read the Leech bio correctly, Hordak made them more powerful with Horde magic and science. Hordak was more than powerful and ruthless enough to command minions without needing to resort to brainwashing.

I know the response to that is then he doesn't have to worry about his minions betraying him, but I would think that an evil being like Hordak would like some ambition amongst his troops. Plus he still has a non-brain washed Catra to deal with. One would begins to wonder why someone as ambitious and prone to treachery as Catra wasn't brainwashed from day one either. I'd worry about her more than Grizzlor.

And Hordak is at least as intimidating as Skeletor, so it's not like he's a weakling who needed a crutch to achieve the same results.

I'd argue at most he's as intimidating as Skeletor. However the point about not liking the Horde brainwashing Leech and Grizzlor isn't so much about Hordak's competency as a villain or a leader.

Again, in the mini-comics, Dragstor was brainwashed. I'm fine with that. He was created from a simple peasant and turned into a cybernetic monster. It seems that Leech would be loyal to the Horde because of his own naturally evil disposition and because the motuc bio states that the Horde gave him power similar to what they did with Shadow Weaver. The threat of taking back those magical enhancements should have been sufficient enough to ensure his loyalty, as it does with Shadow Weaver.

In the end it's just comes down to personal preference. I think brainwashing Grizzlor and Leech was unnecessary for their characters and doesn't add to them. Especially if Mattel follows the mini-comic origin for Dragstor (which I hope they do), that will be three key members of the Horde that were brainwashed. It's redundant to me. It also seems idiotic to brainwash the bruiser when you leave you two most ambitious and traitorous minions (Catra and Shadow Weaver) free will to betray you whenever they can. Those would have been the first two I brainwashed. Not Leech and Grizzlor.

[General Hawk 7]

Two more reasons I am thankful that I did not get this year's subscription.

Hordak looks good. But I dont need another Hordak (unless it is significantly cooler than this or a 200X inspired version).

I dont mind variants. Dont get me wrong. Just not interested in this one. Could change my mind about this though. Maybe get him in trade.


LEECH... Here was a figure I was looking forward to, but am extremely disappointed in. Maybe its just the angle (and I hope that's all it is) but he just looks too goofy and cartoon for my tastes. I'll be hunting down the staction for Leech.

::sigh::


Please Matty...stop with the cartoony look already. Im beggin ya! GO BACK to what you were doing from the beginning with this line.

For those of you who like this Leech. That is fine. I am happy for you. At least SOMEBODY is getting what they like. So please dont get on my case about my saying it looks cartoony. Because it does. Some of the 200X figure faces looked anime. It is what it is.
Whether you like "cartoony" or you dont, it still looks like it looks.
GRANTED... it looks better than the original I guess. But its just not what I was hoping for. I was hoping for a more more vicious and "scary" looking Leech. More "realistic". Less 'toony'. That's all.

[gbagok]

I understand your opinion, but I don't agree. The Horde are still scary, it just detracts from them if they are brainwashed in my opinion.

Hordak already has robot soldiers, and another brainwashed minion in Dragstor. Then there was Adora. I just don't see the need for both Leech and Grizzlor to be essentially tricked into serving the Horde. There was nothing wrong with them just being bloodthirsty and evil villains in the first place who jumped at the chance to dish out more death and destruction in the name of the Horde.



If I read the Leech bio correctly, Hordak made them more powerful with Horde magic and science. Hordak was more than powerful and ruthless enough to command minions without needing to resort to brainwashing.

I know the response to that is then he doesn't have to worry about his minions betraying him, but I would think that an evil being like Hordak would like some ambition amongst his troops. Plus he still has a non-brain washed Catra to deal with. One would begins to wonder why someone as ambitious and prone to treachery as Catra wasn't brainwashed from day one either. I'd worry about her more than Grizzlor.



I'd argue at most he's as intimidating as Skeletor. However the point about not liking the Horde brainwashing Leech and Grizzlor isn't so much about Hordak's competency as a villain or a leader.

Again, in the mini-comics, Dragstor was brainwashed. I'm fine with that. He was created from a simple peasant and turned into a cybernetic monster. It seems that Leech would be loyal to the Horde because of his own naturally evil disposition and because the motuc bio states that the Horde gave him power similar to what they did with Shadow Weaver. The threat of taking back those magical enhancements should have been sufficient enough to ensure his loyalty, as it does with Shadow Weaver.

In the end it's just comes down to personal preference. I think brainwashing Grizzlor and Leech was unnecessary for their characters and doesn't add to them. Especially if Mattel follows the mini-comic origin for Dragstor (which I hope they do), that will be three key members of the Horde that were brainwashed. It's redundant to me. It also seems idiotic to brainwash the bruiser when you leave you two most ambitious and traitorous minions (Catra and Shadow Weaver) free will to betray you whenever they can. Those would have been the first two I brainwashed. Not Leech and Grizzlor.

My point was Skeletor overpowers his troops to make them serve him, while Hordak's forces, at least Grizzlor and Leech, may be too strong for that, forcing him to use magic to enslave them instead. That he made them stronger doesn't mean they weren't still too powerful to control otherwise. Also, there's something about taking good guys and turning them evil that gives Hordak an edge over Skeletor in the villainy department. I know people always go for Skeletor, but I think he's the Joker to Hordak's Darkseid. He's not nearly as powerful, but he means more to us is all. You're fixating on the fact that the Horde isn't willingly evil, but I say that doesn't matter if they're super strong and cannot be reasoned with or forced into retreat by the heroes.

[Eternian Poet]

LEECH... Here was a figure I was looking forward to, but am extremely disappointed in. Maybe its just the angle (and I hope that's all it is) but he just looks too goofy and cartoon for my tastes.

I feel your pain. Leech's mouth looks like a sex toy.

You're fixating on the fact that the Horde isn't willingly evil, but I say that doesn't matter if they're super strong and cannot be reasoned with or forced into retreat by the heroes.

Why doesn't Hordak brainwash Grizz's whole race & turn the Slugmen into Leeches?

Why stop at one? Does he only have one Slugman to Leech transformation kit?

Didn't Leech used to be a mythical-type monster, like Grizzlor? Whose origins were strange, legendary, mysterious... Bah.

[Penny Dreadful]

* Slug??

* I hope the "lead witch" isn't referring to Shadow Weaver since that would really change her cool origin from the cartoon. Thus, I DEMAND that that the lead witch referred to in Leech's bio be the Green Concept Witch who is later replaced by Shadow Weaver!

* Somebody needs to revisit the Hurricane Hordak bio and correct the tense shifts. I know they're referencing the art on his vintage cardback, but I think it could have been phrased a lot better.

[flaming_knob]

You never know. This is Eternia we are talking about. Perhaps Eternian rams are like the Dracs from Enemy Mine where the males give birth.

Thanks for mentioning "Enemy mine" Fantastic movie. I'm going to watch it tonight now!

[grenadaspice]

Well, why isn't Hordak brainwashing/mind wiping Catra's mind? People make the argument that she is truly evil because she joined the Horde on her free will. But, out of all the Horde members that you could see scheming against Hordak for their own personal goal, Catra's is definitely the #1 draft pick in that apartment. She was a monarch of her own planet and all of a sudden, wants to play 2nd fiddle to Adora in this new army. I wouldn't be surprised if Skeletor was able to defeat Hordak because of some backstabbing done by Catra.