Skeletor was an action figure from the MattelHe-Man toy line and a character from the 1990 animated series The New Adventures of He-Man. Skeletor continued to serve as the main antagonist of the franchise and now set his sights on the peaceful planet of Primus. The New Adventures series sees Skeletor with a new costume; an armored chest, cybernetic implants and cape. His Havoc Staff was been replaced by the Skull Staff, which like his armor and Skullcopter prominently featured the shape of a human skull, not unlike Skeletor's own visage.
The Lord of Destruction, Skeletor was the enemy of the people of Eternia and commanded an assortment of minions from his base in Snake Mountain. Skeletor was alerted to the arrival of the Galactic GuardiansCaptain Hydron and Lieutenant Flipshot in the past, via his henchmen, Andros, who captured and brought them to Snake Mountain. Learning of the plight of Primus, Skeletor immediately schemed to take advantage of their peaceful nature and advanced technology, and tricked Hydron and Flipshot into believing he was the force for good they had travelled to the past to find. In reality, they had arrived looking for He-Man, who had been warned of Skeletor's plot by the Sorceress and confronted him as he prepared to leave for the future with Hydron and Flipshot.
"It's almost enough to make even me smile!"
Unable to decide who was good and who was evil, Hydron and Flipshot decided they would need to take both He-Man and Skeletor with them. Upon his arrival in the future, Skeletor quickly revealed his true nature and attacked the Primans just as the Evil Mutants broke through the protective shield surrounding the planet. Skeletor revealed himself to the Mutant Leader, Flogg, and came to an agreement with him; Skeletor would teach the Mutants how to fight He-Man, if Flogg taught him the ways of the Tri-Solar System. Flogg agreed, though was suspicous of Skeletor's intentions and insisted that he remain in charge. Skeletor agreed to Flogg's terms, but quickly became the real power behind the Mutants, subtly manipulating Flogg and becoming the power behind the throne. [1]
Under Skeletor's direction, the Mutant tactics and assaults became far more deadly. Used to simply using brute force, Flogg was unaccustomed to Skeletor's more devious schemes, which relied more on deception and strategy. Skeletor used the fact that he was new to the future to his advantage, often painting himself as the hero and He-Man as the villain, something which infuriated the most powerful man in the universe. [2]
"It's a day to circle on the calendar, don't you think?"
Skeletor's Victory[]
Skeletor soon discovered a powerful crystal on Moon Nordor which granted a temporary transformation and increased powers to whoever stood near it and embraced it's evil energies. After Flogg rejected his plan to use the crystal on all of the Mutants, Skeletor absorbed the power of the crystal for himself, transforming his armour and appearance drastically. Though He-Man was able to destroy the crystal, Skeletor managed to achieve a victory by gaining all of it's power as it exploded. [3]
Under Skeletor's direction, Flogg made a false offer of peace to Primus - offering gifts in the form of Zeps, which initially appeared to be adorable creatures, before transforming into monstrous Anadroids under Skeletor's control. The Anadroids were able to act as a conduit for Skeletor's magic and soon placed the entire planet under Skeletor's spell, allowing the Mutants to sweep in and conquer Primus in one bold sweep. Though Skeletor and Flogg were able to secure the underground city of Onnor and capture Master Sebrian and most of the Galactic Guaridans, He-Man was able to escape into the wilderness, where he began to form an underground resistance movement against the Mutant occupation of the planet. [4]
"We mean you no harm, we want only peace!"
Skeletor took personal charge of the search for He-Man, and despite several attempts to capture him, he always evaded the lord of destruction, and managed to recruit more and more followers to his growing rebellion. Eventually, Skeletor took the entire floating city of Levitan hostage, threatening to destroy it if He-Man did not surrender himself. With no other option, He-Man surrendered (though not before infiltrating the Mutant Mothership and stealing the schematics to their new tractor beam, which was being used to tow Levitan). He-Man eventually surrendered himself at Levitan, and was brought to Skeletor in chains to be executed. As he prepared to kill He-Man in front of the gathered masses of Priman citizens, Skeletor confessed that after he was gone, he intended to tow Levitan into space after all, killing everyone there. An enraged He-Man broke free of his chains, just as the crowd rose up against their Mutant oppressors, driving them back to the Mothership, which was then expelled from the planet after their tractor beam was reversed, sending it hurtling into space and bringing an end to Skeletor's reign of terror. [5]
"Crita, you adorably evil thing..."
Plans for Conquest[]
Despite this loss, Skeletor continued to create various plans to conquer Primus and destroy He-Man, forming a solid partnership Flogg despite their initally uneasy alliance. Skeletor formed a closer attachment to Crita, one of Flogg's top Lieutenants.[6] Crita admired Skeletor for his cunning and ruthlessness, and Skeletor respected Crita for those same qualities. The two enjoyed something of a romantic interest[7] and could often be found flirting. Skeletor would go on to recommend sending her to the planet Necron as the official Mutant liaison to the Gleanons. [8]
Skeletor was also presented with a "gift" from the Mutants in the form of a savage Mutant Mutt named Grr. The Mutants intended the gift as a joke, thinking Skeletor would not be able to control Grr, but Skeletor soon brought him to heel and became genuinley fond of his new pet. [9]
"You've waited so long to see the real me...well, take a look!"
Endgame[]
Skeletor would later lose his helmet in a set of gears on the planet Zil, revealing to He-Man that he posesses a tangled mess of black hair underneath. [10]Some time later, the Mutants and the Galactic Guardians were invited to take part in the Galactic Games, which was supposedly be a fight to the finish between the two factions. Though the Guardians managed to triumph in the games, Royka and Molden, the organizers of the games, imprisoned them as part of their managerie of aliens. [11]
Seizing the oppurtunity, Skeletor and Flogg decided to attack Primus with everything they had while He-Man was absent. By this point, Flogg had grown weary of Skeletor's plans, and refused to listen to any more of his advice. The Mutants were able to overwhelm the Priman defense forces with the assistance of Crita and the Gleanons, but their final victory was foiled when He-Man and the Guardians escaped from captivity and cornered Flogg and the Mutants in the Starship Eternia, forcing them to surrender. Defeated at last, Flogg signed a treaty with Master Sebrian and agreed to surrender, bringing an end to the ongoing conflict between Primus and Denebria. Skeletor, who had managed to evade being captured, appeared as a terrifying image in the sky, furious that Flogg had given up.
"Surrender?! SURRENDER?!"
Skeletor turned his wrath on Flogg, enraging a furious Flogg, who snatched a blaster from a nearby Flipshot and attempted to gun down his old ally. At the last moment, Crita intervened, kicking the gun from Flogg's hand. Skeletor then transported himself, Crita, He-Man and Mara to the ruins near the Oasis for a final battle. While Crita fought Mara, Skeletor attempted to bring down the ruins on top of He-Man as they entered a final one on one duel. During the fighting, Skeletor was caught off guard when Mara tossed Crita into him, knocking the pair from a cliff ledge and into a Shuttle Pod below. During the fall, Skeletor dropped his Skull Staff, and He-Man used the oppurtunity to seal Skeletor and Crita into the Shuttle and cast them into space.
With Skeletor defeated and Flogg signing a peace treaty with Primus, He-Man declared that his destiny was fulfilled. Skeletor, however, was confident that he would eventually escape from banishment and return, promising he would be back for He-Man before letting out a maniacal laugh. [12]
Minicomics[]
Skeletor heals his injuries.
Skeletor was able to trick the time travellers, Hydron and Flipshot, into believing he was He-Man, and boarded the Starship Eternia in an attempt to use it to claim the power of Castle Grayskull. He was badly injured when, in an explosive burst of power when Prince Adam transformed into He-Man before his eyes. [13]
Fleeing the Eternia in an escape pod, Skeletor escaped into the future through the Laser Gate and healed his injuries with the escape pod's medical unit, emerging with bionic replacements and a new staff. Skeletor travelled to Denebria, where he encountered Flogg, leader of the Mutants. Flogg instructed Skeletor to kneel before him, but Skeletor quickly silenced him and brought Flogg under his control, before taking command of the Mutants himself and reducing the humbled Flogg to his new second in command. [14]
Skeletor would quickly engineer a plan to destroy Primus by stealing the Trifusium Crystals which powered the planet's generators, causing their atmosphere to begin to collapse[15]. He-Man was able to recover the crystal, but Skeletor confronted him at the Titus Observatory, hoping to stop He-Man before he could replace the crystal and save Primus. He was once again defeated, but escaped Primus, vowing that his evil deeds were only just beginning. [16]
DC Comics[]
Behind The Scenes[]
Early Skeletor concept art by David Wolfram.
The Series Bible, written by head writer Jack Olesker, described the Skeletor of the New Adventures animated series as having a black, gallows-like humour and listed Beetlejuice and Jack Nicholson's character in The Witches of Eastwick as inspirations for his more manic attitude and personality. [17]
Skeletor's eyes went through several changes during the animated series; initially being more human-like with white sclera and black pupils, before briefly becoming black with red pupils and then remaining red with black pupils for the rest of the series.
The three Skeletor figures released in the toyline were all incorporated into the New Adventures animated series in some form. Skeletor began the series in his first outfit, before transforming into the Discs of Doom Skeletor figure's appearance[18], and finally losing his helmet and revealing his skull and hair beneath, adopting an appearance similar to that of the Battle Blade Skeletor figure.[19]
