The Snake Men are a fictional race of evil humanoid snakes in Mattel's Masters of the Universe franchise.
Overview[]
Minicomics[]
In the distant past, the Snake Men were a vast, ruthless army that conquered numerous worlds, and served an evil ruler named King Hiss. Hiss and the Snake Men tried to conquer Eternia, and created Snake Mountain as their base of operations. However, the Elders of Eternia proved too powerful for the Snake Men and used their magic to cast Hiss and his army into a limbo-like dimension. This caused the empire of the Snake Men to collapse, although a small number of them remained on Eternia. Eventually, Hiss is set free by Skeletor, who had made Snake Mountain his base.
Hiss and Skeletor form an uneasy alliance against He-Man, the greatest opposition to their mutual dreams of conquest. Skeletor's Snake Man minion Kobra Khan serves as his ambassador to King Hiss. Together, the two villains are able to trap He-Man. They attempt to use their combined magic to pull the entire Snake Man army back into Eternia, but even their combined magical abilities united are only strong enough to return two snake soldiers: Tung Lashor and Rattlor. Realizing that they need more potent magic to resurrect the entire army, Hiss and Skeletor take He-Man's Power Sword, and attempt to use it to summon forth all the Snake Men. However, He-Man is able to free himself and recover his sword, foiling the return of the reptilian hordes.
Despite their initial failure, King Hiss and Skeletor move forward with their plans of conquest. The two villains once again combine their magic to raise three great towers that had been buried eons ago by the Elders of Eternia. The Elders had sunk the towers below the earth to ensure that they would never fall into the hands of the Snake Men or any other evil forces. The three towers were Grayskull Tower, which possesses the power of good, Viper Tower, possessing the power of evil and Central Tower which possesses the power of both. Hiss and Skeletor both secretly plan to betray each other once they have taken control of the towers. Though Skeletor is unable conquer Central Tower, a feat which would have given him the power of all three towers, King Hiss is able to seize Viper Tower. Using the magic of Viper Tower he is able to transport two more Snake Men from limbo, Snake Face and Sssqueeze.[1]
Not long after, in a battle in Viper Tower, He-Man turns all the Snake Men into stone, by reflecting Snake Face's power of petrifaction back at them. Snake Face and Sssqueeze appear in the later minicomic "Energy Zoids".
Later He-Man and the Sorceress venture into Eternia's past, to the time when the Snake Men originally invaded Eternia. Witnessing the Snake Men terrorizing a village He-Man wants to step in, however the Sorceress prevents him, as his interference could alter history. However, unbeknownst to the Sorceress, Skeletor had followed them through the time stream. Upon arriving he joins forces with King Hiss, saying that he wishes to help them and that his magic powers could help destroy the Elders. King Hiss accepts Skeletor offer and thinking to himself "Perhaps this is an emissary from the Unnamed One whom we serve" (the full meaning of this statement is never disclosed during the vintage era). The Snake Men rode into battle on the backs of mechanically augmented dinosaurs.
Seeing that Skeletor had entered the past, the Sorceress decides that it is necessary for He-Man to become involved, disguising him with her magic, she sends He-Man into battle against Skeletor, King Hiss and the Snake Man army. However, before the battle can conclude a shadowy figure, He-Ro, intervens. Using magic he hurls Skeletor, the Sorceress and He-Man back to the future. The final fate of the Snake Men is never revealed, as the Masters of Universe toyline and its accompanying mini comics came to end.
Filmation animated series[]
None of the Snake Men are featured on Filmation's animated series, with the exception of Kobra Khan, a snake figure in Skeletor's service introduced earlier in the franchise's run. When the Snake Men were introduced, Kobra Khan was said to be a go-between, working for both Skeletor and King Hiss.
The cartoon series had ceased production before the Snake Men could be introduced. Two Snake Men, Rattlor and Tung Lashor, were adapted to appear in the spin-off She-Ra: Princess of Power series, where they worked for Hordak as members of the Evil Horde, portrayed as generic warriors with no nod to their Snake Men origins. Tung Lashor, simply called "Tung" in some appearances, in particular bore little resemblance to his figure version, and inexplicably, is seen to be working for Skeletor in one episode, despite still wearing a Horde emblem.
2002 TV series[]
The Snake Men play a large role in the second season of the Mike Young Productions cartoon series. Upon re-runs, the second season was renamed Masters Of The Universe Vs The Snake Men. They are a diverse group led by King Hiss, who prove to be as much a danger as Skeletor, in fact, Skeletor only makes three appearances through the entire story arc. Similar to the old story, the Snake Men are an ancient threat that plagued Eternia in the distant past until they were locked away in the void by the power of the Elders. The threat of the Snake Men was so ancient that in a way it predated the creation of the Elders themselves during the time of King Grayskull who fought against this menace. However, in this new version, they are presented as a very strong army, who, as well as taking on He-Man, are also at war with Skeletor instead of forging an alliance with him.
Netflix series[]
Known as the Serpos, the Snake Men are an army of undead snake creatures created by King Hiss. The Serpos come in different forms, and can regenerate upon destruction from the Havoc energy that spawned them. They menaced Eternia prior to the present, until their master was defeated by King Grayskull and sealed away inside a tomb. For centuries, the Snake Men laid inside the earth for the day they would be summoned by the Sigil of Hiss and continue their master's work. In the second season, Skeletor manipulates Krass to revive the Snake Men under her control to search for Hiss's tomb.
Characters[]
- King Hiss: Leader of the Snake Men, can shed his humanlike "skin" to become a mass of snakes from the waist up.
- Rattlor: Possesses an extending neck, and rattling tail.
- Tung Lashor: Possesses a super long extending tongue.
- Kobra Khan: His character pre-dates the introduction of the Snake Men, formerly working solely for Skeletor, where he sprays a "hypnotic" mist.
- Sssqueeze: Possesses super-long bendable arms.
- Snake Face: Snakes extend from his face and shoulders to "petrify" opponents.
- Fang-Or: The Snake Men's mechanical expert who can launch his fangs. He debuted in the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline.
- Blast-Attak: Blast-Attak is an android built as a walking time bomb.
- Lady Slither: The leader of the Snake Men with the ability to transform the lower half of her body into a snake tail.
- Fang Man: a Dragosaur minion of Skeletor who might be a Snake Man.
- Megator: a giant with allegences with both the Evil Horde and the Snake Men.
- Tyrantisaurus Rex: Dinosaur mount of King Hiss.
- Serpos: god of the Snake Men and the true form of Snake Mountain.
- Snake Goddess: an Eternian deity and watches over the Snake Men
- Terroar: A formless exile from Melodian who assimilated the characteristics of the Evil Warriors, the Evil Horde, and the Snake Man upon arriving on Eternia. Terroar was taken in by the Snake Men when King Hiss was impressed with his sonic shriek that brought all three of his pursuers to their knees. He debuted in the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline.
- Lord Gr'Asp: The Snake Men's master strategist with a crab-like claw for a hand. He debuted in the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline.
- Snake Man Soldiers: The foot soldiers of the Snake Men.
- Snake Troopers: The result of a fusion between Snake Man Soldiers and the technology of the Horde Troopers.
- Rattle-Hood: in the Diabolical Snakes Invasion four pack
- Gorgon: in the Diabolical Snakes Invasion four pack
- Naga: in the Diabolical Snakes Invasion four pack
- Snake Men Infiltrator: appears in The Fading Fortress
- Coil The Queen Basilisk: a Queen Basilisk who lays eggs that hatch into fully formed Snake Men/Snake Troopers.
- Vypor:
- Quick Flick:
- Reptilax:
- Golden Rod:
- Strettch Nek:
- Nepthu/High Priest Pythonus:
- Necro-Conda: coming soon it MOTU Origins.
Trivia[]
- It is revealed in a MOTUC Collector's Choice bio that the Reptons from "The Cold Zone" are indeed, the descendants of the Snake Men.
References[]
- ↑ Sometimes called Tanglor.