RK-0 Designate 1983 is a supporting character in Netflix's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He was a former Eternos RK unit until an accident rebooted him, and after downloading the memoirs of a powerful wizard named Orko the Great, he adopted the identity of the wizard and renamed himself as Ork-O.
Appearance[]
Ork-0 appears as a standard RK unit, but after downloading the memory cog of Orko the Great and assuming his personality, he "appropriated" a red wizardly hat and garments to appear the wizard he believed himself to be.
Personality[]
Originally believing himself to be the actual Orko the Great and assuming the name was his own, Ork-0 believed himself to be a master wizard of great prestige and power, yet he was baffled by reality conflicting with his memories (or rather the memories of the memory-cog that gave him the memories and personality of Orko the Great), and he mistook his built-in technological tools to be his magical powers, such as his repulsor allowing him to levitate.
He was briefly tricked by Kronis until the Masters of the Universe helped him understand that while he was not the actual Orko, he could still be great.
He demonstrated a lack of tact in disturbing and condescending to Teela about magic and though he tried to be helpful his actions proved to be more of a nusiance than of real aid. Still, Eldress trusted Ork-0 and (correctly) believed he could (and would) be a worthy ally to the Masters in their mission to stop Skeletor and the rest of the Dark Masters.
Ork-0 continued to be a friend and ally to the Masters throughout their adventures, and his life took a turn for the better when he got to meet the real Orko the Great, whose words helped Ork-0 realize that even though he's a robot, as long as he believed in magic than he could use it too, and he succeeded (albeit after a few mistakes), becoming a real wizard in his own right and even found the wisdom to encourage Orko to do his best and keep trying.
Ork-0 tends to act like a flamboyant magician with enthusiastic drama.
Biography[]
RK-o was part of the RK series of robots created and programmed by Royal Man-At-Arms Kronis to protect the palace of Eternos. This unit saved the life of Kronis' former apprentice Duncan during a battle against Battle Bones. To show his gratitude, Duncan repaired RK-o at Castle Grayskeull, using a piece of tech he used in an old trunk in Grayskull's archives. The tech contained a legacy recording of the knowledge of Orko the Great, a wizard from the time of King Grayskull. This caused RK-o to believe he was the actual Orko the Great. RK-o started searching the archives of Grayskull, and because he felt 'chilly' somehow managed to set them on fire. After Teela doused the fire by magical conjuring up rain indoors, RK-o left the castle and headed for the Royal Palace of Eternos.
Teela read up on the real Orko's history in a book she found in the same chest from where Duncan had taken the tech. She explained his history, and Adam deduced that RK-o would be searching for the King of Eternos. Duncan realized that if RK-o was neutrilized and linked back to the RK hivemind, his data would be synched with that of all the other RK units in the kingdom, turning them all into 'Orko the Great', or as Duncan referred to it: "The Orkening". The new Masters of the Universe decided they could not let this happen and went in pursuit of RK-o.
RK-o stole various items of clothing from a market stand upon his arrival in Eternos, including a red hat, a pink scarf, two cloth cuffs and a red tunic with the letter 'O' on it. He was soon confonted by Royal Guards Tuvar and Baddrah, who informed him that the current King, Randor had eliminated the position of Court magician. Orko used magic to animate an empty suit of armor, but the Guards, who had been joined by two colleagues, merely laughed at him.
RK-o flew off and was feeling sorry for itself when it was found by it's original maker, Kronis, who had snuck into the palace in disguise to steal some Kirbinite. Kronis initiated the command "Maker Override". RK-o simultaniously began announcing his presence to the people of Eternos and magically summoning every piece of Guard armor nearby, including those being worn by Tuvar and Baddrah to him. The armor was combined to resemble the giant form of Colossor, an enemy defeated by the real Orko the Great in ages past.
Kronis used this distraction to escape from Eternos on a stolen Sky-Sled while Duncan figured out a way to get RK-o back to normal. In order to do so, Duncan's friend had to call upon the power of Grayskull and fight Colossor. During the battle, Duncan, in the form of Man-At-Arms, launched himself at RK-o and got close enough to use the override password "Kronis is the best at everything". RK-o returned to normal and Colossor exploded. But before any of the pieces could do any damage, Duncan gathered them together into the form of a tree, just like the real Orko the Great had turned the actual Colossor into a tree.[1]
Unable to return RK-o to it's original programming, Duncan and Teela took RK-o to the last place any Trollans were seen. They used a Sky-Sled to get to this location, where there was a large statue of Orko the Great. By reading it's inscription, Teela realized it was actually a communication totem for any Trollans left behind after the real Orko the Great helped his people ascent to another dimension. RK-o was sad to discover he did not belong anywhere, but Duncan and Teela reminded him that they all belonged to gether. Teela promised to help 'Orko' become a better wizard, and Duncan to help him be a better machine. RK-o then renamed himself Orko and decided to stay at Grayskull with his new friends and honor the memory of Orko the Great.[2]
When the young Masters of the Universe headed towards the Fright Zone to confront Keldor and his henchmen, Eldress told Orko to follow and help them. Orko first visited the Tiger Tribe to try and convince Krass to join him, but she was too busy keeping Navtis safe from Poacher Bots. But while she was confronting a Bot as Ram Ma'am, she suddenly reverted to her normal form and realized that something must have happened to the source of her power, the Sword of Grayskull.[3]
Krass took a running leap to land on Orko's back as they flew to Snake Mountain to help their friends. They arrived just in time to save the other Masters from drowning in Havoc fluid. Duncan then used what was left of the Kirbinite to repair the Masters' broken weapons, although they remained unstable after Adam called upon the power of Grayskull to transform them all into the Masters of the Universe.
Feeling the Wind Raider was too slow, Teela discovered a new power of teleportation, causing the Masters to appear in the sky high above Eternos. As they began to fall, they disabled as many of the Red Legion's red Sky-Sleds as they could. Orko managed to pose as a regular RK unit and blasted several actual RK units as well as General Dolos who were threatening King Randor. He then headed for the battle between the Masters of the Universe and the Dark Masters in the streets of Eternos together with Randor. Skeletor revealed that he had now taken control of all of the guards in Eternos and had sent the Red Legion to attack Castle Grayskull.
Orko cast a spell to teleport the heroes, including King Randor, to a safer location nearby. There Adam de-powerd the masters, and his father told him that he had misjudged his son and that Eternia needed the power of Grayskull now more than ever. Teela and Orko decided to stay behind with the King to protect the city.[4]
Trivia[]
- His name has been subject to inconsistent spelling, among these "Ork-O" in episode captions, "Ork-o" in the credits, and "Ork-0" with a zero in the guidebook, although it has not been confirmed which one is correct.
- In "The World Above", he states that his name is pronounced "Ork-O" after Teela calls him "Orko", implying this to be the proper form.
- His designation number, 1983, may be a reference to the year the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was released.