What species is Stratos?

[Beastman83]

I have always been very perplexed by Stratos and the people of Avion. They are called 'bird people' but their wings appear to be artificial and they only have the ability to fly thanks to the egg/staff of Avion. Also Stratos's body appears to be covored in grey fur, but in the classic cartoon he is the only avian to look this way. His bio also says that his species are 'winged simians', so does that mean they are more like apes than human? Maybe you guys could shed some light on this for me. Thanks.

[Penny Dreadful]

During 200X, the wings were shown to be an organic part of their bodies.



I always figured they were a weird hybrid between bird, ape, and human. They possess qualities of each.

[Replikor]

Stratozians, well thats what I use to call them as a kid. lol

[Dr_SLUMP]

Why ape, Penny Dreadful?

[Night Stalker]

According to the MYP cartoon, they're flying monkey men with Scottish brogues. And they're definitely NOT african-american.

Seriously, who thought it was a good idea to make Stratos sound like the world's worst Sean Connery impersonator?

[Eternian Poet]

As a kid, I saw Stratos' race as humans, but very hairy. As an adult, the explanation for this is that they are the survivors of an Ancient Eternian culture of humans who worshipped the Sky.

During their Golden Age, they may have genetically modified themselves so as to grow thick hair so that they would stay warm whilst flying. Or perhaps they were always very hairy, like some early hominids. They do have some simian features (including enlarged canines), which indicates that they are not ordinary Homosapiens.

To fly, they used hi-tech jetpacks, controlled by a small, wireless gauntlet held in one hand (see the metal glove that partly covers Stratos' hand on the vintage figure). Stratos' people now revere these jetpacks, as they don't know how to create them, & they superstitiously believe that their jetpacks are powered by the (actually useless) Staff of Avion. Though they are extremely tough & durable (doubling in some ways as armour), once broken, these ancient jetpacks can rarely be fixed & the barer of a lost or damaged jetpack is often disgraced.

The "wings" are ornamental status symbols crafted by the wearer. They are made from the feathers of slain monsters that they have personally battled & bested - these could be giant birds, harpies or chimera.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

I always thought they were flying monkies like in the Wizard of Oz. Over the years they evolved into monkey men with wings. The Avion race is probably one of the coolest in all of MOTU imho. Like a mix of the Hawkmen and the Ape men in Flash Gordon.

[VZX]

I really disliked the name "bird-men" for Stratos' people. I always preferred to call them Avions. They are from Avion and are called Avions. Kind of like how Vulcans are from the planet Vulcan.

[Dave-Man]

I always thought Stratos' "hair" was tiny feathers, like a baby chick.
Not sure if I ever really thought about whether he was a bird or a mammal. I guess if he had feathers he would be some sort of advanced bird.

Sort of like Skeletor. Until they introduced the whole Keldor thing, did anybody really have any idea at all what the heck kind of creature Skeletor really was? Or did it only matter that he made a cool villain?

[Phil.Pastel]

Figuras Moneymakerus

[Beastman83]

Well, I definitely like the MYP take on Stratos more than the classic cartoon series (other than the accent, that is). I like the wings being an actual biological appendage, and the idea of them being more of hairy humanoids instead of just people with jetpacks. If that was the case there would be nothing special about them at all. Anyone could wear a jetpack, and some decorational feathers and call themselves a bird person.

[Durendal]

^ Exactly - I always just assumed that the jetpacks were used to enhance their natural flying abilities. I'm having a tougher time explaining why Stratos' body is entirely grey but his face is white. Is he wearing a suit?

[Eternian Poet]

^ exactly - i always just assumed that the jetpacks were used to enhance their natural flying abilities. I'm having a tougher time explaining why stratos' body is entirely grey but his face is white. Is he wearing a suit?

no, he's hairy, except on palms & face, like an ape.

[Dr_SLUMP]

I understand that MYP officially defined him as an ape-oid but I'm personally not OK with this.

In my eyes this character is simply a bird-man with his hair being chick-like feathers.

[Dave-Man]

Then again there's this:

[Jon-O]

I was never sure if it was hair or feathers, a suit or naturally him. The females of the species don't appear to be hairy or covered in feathers like the men.

Maybe it's all regalia dating back to an earlier time in their species.

During 200X, the wings were shown to be an organic part of their bodies.

http://he-man.org/assets/images/coll...ee_07_full.jpg

I always figured they were a weird hybrid between bird, ape, and human. They possess qualities of each.

Just saw this, and I LOVE the notion!

[Akai]

Stratos' race are called Avions. It wasn't until MYP started giving the various races of Eternia actual names. The old show really didn't emphasize too much on this. Kind of like Buzz-Off's race simply being called "Bee People" hence their official name as Andreenids.

[Eternian-King Paul]

In my work.. I struggled with this stuff, because it was so wierd back then.

I decided there 'should be' two kinds of creature people on eternia:
Those that are half an animal of specific type. (BeePeople, LobsterPeople, ElephantPeople, Peek-A-Blues, etc.)
Those that are half an animal of inspecific type. (Beastmen, Mermen, Birdmen)

I see it like some ancient genetic designer made some simple or slight DNA mixes, and then made a few more unique creations of life.

[Spacedust]

I was never sure about Stratos and the Bird People's "origins" either. Overlooking 200x takes on the character (from origins, to the modifications to his wings - needless IMO by the way), were those wings part of their body (and just strapped on figure-wise) or were they additional to their body? And if they could fly, why would they need jetpacks?

Kinda sums up Stratos for me. I love him that he's one of the original characters and a pretty cool one at that, and like that he's more human-like over some of the later "what animal-monsters can we do this wave" offerings, but it was like a mish-mash of a few "lets make a flying man" ideas that were never totally ironed out.

[Eternian-King Paul]

They just need to understand the metiphor of the earth-like species on eternia.

[Captain Atkin]

I didn't like that that the Avions had actual wings in 200x/MYP, and I had hoped that this would have been droped for MOTUC. I always saw the wings as being symbolic (and possibly armor), since they used their jet packs to fly, and the wings were cuffed to the wrist and upper arm.

[Eternian-King Paul]

It hurts to attack the classic stuff, but I feel the same about Stratos's jet pack as I feel about the Sorceresses 'hat'.

In my work they are just bird-people.