Who are the Snake Men from Masters of the Universe (He-Man). MOTU Secrets revealed!
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
- Scott Toy Guru Neitlich from Spector Creative dives into the origin of the Snake Men, both in toy form and their storyline in the Masters of the Universe mythos. How were they created? Which figures disappointed the designers and how were new Snake Men added in the Classics toy line? All this and more only on Spector Creative!
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King Hss and his Snake were always a curious mystery to me as kid, as I had to come up with my own backstory as a kid of him usurping power back from snake mountain. Lucky the 2002 Heman series came out and confirmed I was on the right track!!! I so love the lore further explored!
Glad you enjoyed! Please feel free to share around with others, it helps the channel a ton!
I also didnt know the back story of snake men
The 3 evil powers of Eternia: Skeletor, King Hss and Hordak! How I love this Lore!!!
Lore is tight
Lore is tight
@@spectorcreative1872 you need to get a screen pitch made. ;)
@@ehenyorFor some reason, I'm picturing Scott doing the Pitch Meeting, MotU, but cramming in WAY too many "___ is tight!" than RG does.
I find that really funny. I dunno.
@@TitularHeroine He can do it! It's super easy! Barely an inconvenience!
This is the most educational content on UA-cam. Thank you for these amazing videos.
Well what a kind thing to say!
Scott, I love your videos. I decree that you are not allowed to ever stop making them.
We must not forget that the Snake Men also gave us the greatest line evee spoken in a TV commercial: "Tongue Lashor, whose evil tongue lashes..."
True that
I always wished Cobra teamed up with King Hss! Wouldn't it be cool if Globulous( and Cobra-la citezens) were a further sect of Snakemen whose Cobra symbol were based off Serpos, the Snake God?
I can see that
Best comment on this thread 👍👏
Came looking for this comment
It may be possible that King Hiss character took inspiration from the villain of Conan the Barbarian, Thulsa Doom (Mr. James Earl Jones).
On the movie version yes. On the comic version Thulsa Doom has a Skull face/head. So he's kinda both. But remember that this is an army so for me it was sort of like Cobra from G.I. Joe.
Jamessss Earl Jonessssss🐍
Without a doubt!
Well see here:ua-cam.com/video/0sphQP2yK4A/v-deo.html
Another influence might have been the Serpent Men from the Hyperboran/Lovecraft mythos, which started with Robert E Howard's King Kull.
The Snakemen were a favorite faction of my older brother and I ever since the vintage line. In fact, it was the only faction where we had mostly doubles of from the MOTUC series. We even gotten doubles of them from the 200x line, though that may not have been intentional due to us needing to other them by the case either from BBTS or Mattel - I don't recall.
Toy memories are the best
I would have killed for a Lady Slither figure! It would have been awesome. I get so excited at the thought of expanding the line and mythos. The mini comics were amazing
Thanks, was made with so much love
loved the snake men,especially in the 2000 series. and that classic artwork brings back memories! :)
Oh boy do they!
As a kid, I truly enjoyed fighting bad guys against each other more than good guys VS bad guys. I don't know exactly why, maybe because when they are all bad, there are no limits!
I am glad the 200x series made them an important part of the story and some well deserved coverage
Me too!!
Absolutely loved the Snake Men as a kid especially that great mini comic the first 3 came with...great story great art..one of the best mini comics of the line. Ever notice the similarty to Zartan from GI Joe both have a snake allegiance both are masters of disguise both have a kind of Robin from Batman eye mask both...
The snakemen faction is the best faction in motu, with vibrant colours and amazing sculptures, specially motu classics and neca stactions!
They have many fans!
Love the design on 2003 King Hiss. His human looking face reminds me of of Bill Nighly from UNDERWORLD, with a dash of Egyptian design look.
The Egypt did it for me!
7:00 that snake trooper looks cool, Like the horde trooper, just more intemidating.
they were sold in classics
Indeed
The Snake Men were always MY faction, Rattlor my favorite original figure. Serpentine King Hiss is my favorite classics figure. A lot of people bitch about that one, but as far as a toy and a representation of an established character, it could not be more amazing. I treasure it.
That is awesome
I love the battle of the snake-men storyline in the reboot of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 2002!
One of the best parts of an already great show
I hope they make lady Slithers castle for origins
I wonder if they had made her in Classics (or if they ever both come out in Origins 🤞) could you attach King Hiss' top to her tail and make a 100% snake monster?
ooooh🤓 then swap in Squeeze's arms and Snake-Face's head 😆😁😆😃😄
Mattel, the race is on: either you manufacturer this or I will be forced to 3D print it 😄
Me too
every barbarian hero needs a snake based villian
👍👍👍voiced by James Earl Jones 🐍
Clearly. and clearly
@@MrHemanclix that goes without saiyng ^^
The snake men are some of my favorite MOTU figs! Some of the concept characters shown in the video would have been awesome if they'd made it to production.
You are not alone in that
I was at the tail end of my childhood toys days when the Snake Men came out and I definitely thought they were cool.. but middle school, boys, and more "adult fare" was calling my name at that point. This was when all the MOTU stuff got handed down to my brother and he rode it out until the Turtles took over.
Many of us were
200x King Hiss I remember the first time I saw this character it was amazing and terrifying. When he defeated the Sorceress I honestly was in shock. I do love my 200x Classics King Hiss a magnificent figure.
Snakes are pretty fan scary
@@spectorcreative1872 Yeah, perhaps... but snakes don't scare me! (I'm referring to *_real-life_* ones, here.) 🐍
I know that "The Unamed One" gets a bit of hate but I actually like him. He's pretty cool looking and I like his backstory too.
I thought so too
Love the Snake Men because of the King of the Snake Men mini-comic. I always wished we could have gotten every Snake Man that appeared in that mini-comic as a figure in MOTUC.
Oh such a great mini comic
I was 4 when the toys first came out so I was the right age to be there for whole length of the line. The Snake men were some of my favourite ones especially Squeeze and snake face.
Mine too
I remember those 200X Snake Men figures. They were the variants my brother and I had and we integrated them with our Classics. Some of them (like Rattlor) were awesome, but Snake Crush Skeletor sucked.
My friend growing up had an older brother who had the original Snake Men, as they were the only figures available when he was a kid. I remember him showing me his Rattlor and Tongue Lashor and figuring out they hand gimmicks by mistake. They were cool figures.
Yes he did
That sword was also one my “pocket toys!”
Oh that might hurt
This was awesome! Loved the Snake Men as a kid.
Many do!!
Love that Earl Norem art. He lived in my state and I didn't find out until after he had passed away. Man, if I had known....
I met him once. Was very honored
Very interesting, I never really thought of the Snake Men back in the 80s, but I admit that they never got their potential realized. Their appearance in the early 2000s was astounding to me, and I loved how things could have tied together (and wish they had). I am reminded of a question I had though. How does She-Ra's sword with its transforming power match up with He-Man's sword?
Yeah that was when they came into their own
I was never a fan of The Unammed One creating the Snake Men. I like King Hiss being the boss. I do like Gorpo as an antagonist, as well as Lady Slither and her castle. Great video as always Scott.
I appreciate you still enjoyed the video and took time to comment!
@@spectorcreative1872 I enjoy all of your videos Scott. I'm very grateful for your contribution to MOTU. Although I didn't collect Classics, mostly because I was late to the party and live in the UK💲😭, I watched every Pixel Dan review video on them and loved the bios and new characters. It's really cool you're so accessable to the fans!
Next to the Horde, they are the coolest faction. On another note, if people take the time to look at them, snakes are some of the most beautiful and unique creatures on the planet. They are cool asf.
I want to agree, but I saw a king Cobra, in a glass enclosure, raise up, and look me in the eye. I was mid-40s, and six feet tall. Garter snakes are cool.
True be that
@@vernonsanders9696 Are you sure that wasn't Cobra Commander after Serpentor had him turned into a real snake :-)
Love snakes. Fascinating creatures.
Really love when the topic is about history of motu,.i really love the snakemen faction yes they are colorfull and full of gimmiks on vintage toys maybe thats why.,i have read once that thses guys overthrow the rulers of eternia when they arrived and those were the race of webstor the spider like humanoids,dont know if they drove them to their extinction thats why webstor is the only one left.,then they rule preternia for a millennia
I'll get to a Webstor history soon!
@@spectorcreative1872 🤓👍😄 wooo hoo!
Another great video
And another thank you from me to you
thank you so much. This was an awesome video. Love the snake men. thank you for history.
So glad you enjoyed!!
Hey Spector I've got a question/video idea. You spoke before how the license for He-Man reverts to Universal in 2023. If you were managing the license for Universal and could decide who got what license to create product, who would you choose and why? Would you let Mattel keep it? Mattel keep part of it and license out to other manufacturers? Would you try to separate the kids line and the collector lines by manufacturer or have them all in 1 house? Domestic or International? Etc. I think it would be a fun, speculative video to see.
I'll add that to the video list!
Would you revive Classics???
Love the London Editions comics introduction of these, too.
Nice!
If they ever make a big screen movie for He-man you spectre creative must be the consultant/ screen writer 100% Facts
I wouldn’t say no!
@@spectorcreative1872 your knowledge of the Masters of the universe brand is unrivaled by anyone working in Hollywood
You're the only one I can trust to get
This property told the right way.
100% Facts
Love the Snake Men. Great designs, great figures, and great fun! I especially like all the real-world inspirations of their designs, including the eyelash viper for one of the swappable Snake Men Warrior heads.
It always puzzles me when people say "Sssqueeze doesn't look like a snake!" They should look at emerald tree boas, the inspiration for the character -- an atypically big, long snout full of teeth, just like Sssqueeze. Or even more hilarious, when they call Tung Lashor a frog, because they argue that his feet and hands "don't look snakey enough." Yes, they actually argue about how snake limbs should look. Snake limbs. Snake. Limbs. Let that sink in. If they wanted realistic snake limbs, that'd be limited to two tiny, one-clawed spurs on the hips of just the constrictor-themed characters. 🤣
I googled that and can totally see it!
Very cool. The "Snake. Limbs." thing made me think of glass snakes -- not snakes at all but limbless Iizards.
@@TitularHeroine We have slow-worms in our neck of the woods, similarly legless lizards. I used to have a pet skink, who looked like a snake with teeny little legs. He was called Ssslink.
@@Beedo_Sookcool Awesome.
Another great video! Thanks Scott
Glad to inform and entertain
This is good. Thank you.
Thrilled you are enjoying!
Great Video :) I always like your story telling and how things came to be and origins in Masters of the universe. And would have been great to see Lady Slyther in animation in 2002 cartoon :)
If only she could have been included!
@@spectorcreative1872 That would have been really great :) And am anticipating your next video and wishing you a great weekend :)
Looking forward to watching this later.
Glad to hear it!
Is it later yet?
@@ehenyor it will forever be later.
Loved the old mini comic introducing the Snakemen.
The Snakemen appeal to kids judging by my two boys. Got MOTUC Serpent King Hsssss delivered yesterday. Want to surprise my kids by changing the head on King Hsssss to the half transformed head to see when they notice. Then put the big snake body up.
Oh yes! See the video linked at the end
When you say Sssqueeze's name, you gotta sell it, bruh. Stress the multiple S's... Sssssssssqueeze! 😂
Of course!
Heh. I had a pet skink as a youngster, but since he looked more snake than lizard, I called him Ssslink.
@@Beedo_Sookcool 😂😂😂
Thank you very much for making this interesting video. I`m in love with Kobra Khan. He was my very first MotU figure back in the day.
One of mine too
Wait, wait wait... you mean to tell me that Orko... precious little Orko... just... did a *genocide* based on a torture that was implemented by Thanos?!
Think of it more as self defense
Its so cool to see these background stories, and hear about the marketing plans.
I also loved the plans and sketsches including the PMS-coloring =)
So glad you enjoyed so much!
@@spectorcreative1872
Ed:
This was quite an coincidence.
I just went for a stroll to look for some SW-figs at different second hand stores...
Long story short: I ended up at a street flea market, spotted a Toxic crusaders fig, and *King Hiss* him self 😄
I got both of the for ~2USD.
Shore, poor Hiss had lost one of his arms, and his human disguise was gone, but you want to display him in his true form any way.
And regarding the arm..? Well, lets just say that He Man cut it of (or maby Skeletor did it) 😄
I remember having the Rattlor action figure as a kid...the rest is a haze...Another interesting and insightful take..Thanks guru 😉
Glad you enjoyed and it brought back good memories
I was 5 -6around the time of 200x and I absolutely loved the snake men season king hiss was so badass he could beet skeletor with little effort not to mention snake armour heman being a absolutely amazing outfit change it just all worked really well for me only problem I couldn’t find a lot of the toys I think I had 6-7 in total never ever found king hiss tho😭
Spector creative is also the creator of my fav action figure 2 pack I own snake armour heman and king hiss classics 2 pack it’s the only one I HAD To open it was too badass😍😍
Snake man at arms is too cool I love that plot thread
One of the best parts of the show
I always thought it'd be cool if the snake man had holographic chest plates a similar to the visionaries then you can show some pretty cool differences between the characters
Oh that would be awesome
I didnt really watch the 200x show regularly....just several episodes at the time..but this video sure explains who the Snake Men are. I didnt really know their past or backstory. As a kid in the 80s they came out late as you mentioned and i dont remember any kid having them.
If you can ever get ahold of it on DVD I say check it out!
@@spectorcreative1872 ..whats funny i bought all 3 seasons and been too lazy to watch it. Guess im gonna start now...the Revelations show dissapointed me. Then he man flashbacks teela has is too much and ruins it for me.
My cousin had all the snake men. They were awesome. Another great video btw.
Cousins always had the good stuff
@@spectorcreative1872 I know! Not fair lol
That's an awesome story
So Gorpo has no connection with the Horde, right? Anyhoo, I do appreciate the fact that you gave Lady Slither certain mammalian features...
I think there is. Gorpo gave Horde the Tech while to the Snakemen Magic
Nope. He is his own thing
Like the best emoticon:
Parenthesis, space, lower case O, space, capital Y, space, lower case O, space, close parenthesis.
Noice.
Fun fact, the first motu styled Snake man figure was released by a knock off line before motu released any snakemen
lol do you mean Galaxy Warriors? Idk if thats actually a "fun fact" but yea Kobraa is who you mean
@@oansun close. Its actually snake man from remcos warrior beasts which came out in 82
I'll add that to the list
@@superermac55 Hydraz?
@@TitularHeroine no Snake man, he was purple, had a long tail
I feel like you could do a whole video on the confusing origin of Blast-Attack.
It’s coming…
I wonder if Lady Slither's lower torso would fit with Hiss' upper....
Well the male and female figures did not really have compatible heads so...
I seem to remember that Cobra Khan was in Skeletor's army because he was a decendent who's race was begining to lose their snakegenes.
As explored in the 200X show!
@@spectorcreative1872 But also hinted in the 90's comicbooks.
Hsss say something like "Even if Khan is not a true Snakeman, he sure acts like one. And I think he would side with me if the moment showed itself...."
Yay! Thanks!
Glad you liked!
Man, we need that Lady Slither's lair 😮
I've realized that a lot of these MotU videos are Scott covering Mattel's initial concepts, then expanding with his Head Cannon in Classics.
I find his head cannon pretty interesting though. Keeps me engaged for the duration..usually
Well considering my « head cannon » was actually on toy packaging and in mini comics it is kinda official
@@spectorcreative1872 True
@@spectorcreative1872 So it's canon, canon..not so much head...😅
Love it
Glad to hear. Topic suggestions always apprecated
All time favorite movie: Clash of the Titans
Another great video sir- so thank you very much! I really liked the old Snake Men (comics/ toys) & loved how 200x expanded on it. An then the gates were blown open- so awesome! Were there any Snake Men that didn't make the cut?
Well we certainly wanted to do a lady slither fig
When I was a kid I had ratlor Kobra Kahn and king hiss. I wanted the other snake men. But not long after that time I started collecting other action figures and stopped playing with He-Man figures.
Yup, and that is why they are a bit unknown
Hi Scott!
Thank you very much for the video, it has been very illustrative and complete.
I am a big fan and a student of the continuity that you created in the Classics line, always well explained in the bios. I like how you unified the most outstanding elements of the different media. After the information desert that was the 90's, and the abrupt end of the 200X toy line and its TV series, something like that was necessary.
But after watching this video I have a question. In it you clearly mention that three races were used to create the DNA of the Snake Men (the Lizar People from Eternia... the Caligars from Eternia, like Whipash... and the race of Lyzzor, from the NA), while in the Classics bios are mentioned two races (the Lizard People from Eternia, again... the Klybians from Draphos, like Saurod) and we never knew which race was the third.
Please could you clarify this matter? What do we take for valid?
I am translating the Classics bios in Spanish language for the Spaniard and Hispanic American fandom, respecting the beautiful and academic way in which all the descriptive texts of the vintage figures were translated, very similar to the antique medieval Spanish lenguage. This information can be very helpful.
Thank you very much for your attention, Scott! :)
So glad and really happy to have you as part of the channel
Snake Men rules!
Agreed
Scott. Was it ever explained/ did you explain why they all have the same staff as Hssss? All except for Squeeeeeze of course? And if Hsssss' shield is the Shield of Ka and Teela had the Staff of Ka, what is the significance/provenance of the generic snake staff?
Tongue Lasher came with a dragonfly thing (if I remember correctly)
yes it was explained in the bios. It is on page 452 of the character guide and compendium
@@oansun I just had a look and it doesn't explain the 4 generically named Snake Staffs which is what I was curious about. I only really mentioned Teela in reference to the Ka Staff and Shield. There is no entry for the Snake Staff in the Compendium that I could see.
@@MrHemanclix he does. As well as the same staff in a different colour. They all do except Squeeze who had a differently design of staff. Always been curious as to why.
I'll be getting to that in a future video!
I remember the original 3 ( Hiss, Rattlor, and Tongue Lashor) in 86. I never got the others that came out in 87 because I never saw them. Wasn't Squeeze originally named Tanglor?
Yup. He was even called that in one of the mini-comics.
Yup and Snake Face was Medusa man
@@spectorcreative1872 Why not Snake- e- Faces tho??
Which comics are you showing? , i would like to read them
Tongue lasher may be one of my favorite figures but he’s also the ultimate dirty joke.
Indeed
I am curious how Saurod fits into the relation with all of them (Lizard people, Snake Men, etc..?
Nice
*comprise
Great vid.
Well thank ya
I wish I had seen these back in the day. I would have bought them for a Serpent Society.
Nice idea
I always thought Tongue Lasher was a frog-man. More of an amphibian than a reptile. And his "special power" should've been a hallucinogenic poison that secretes from his skin. Just like any brightly colored frog would.
Maybe that would be a whole new character... "Trip-or" ! accessories: disco ball and glowsticks.
Oh yes, thé designers all thought he was a frog man too
Tung lashor was a favorite of mine, I always knew he was a snake due to the Snake symbol emblazoned on his chest.
I did think his hands and legs were froglike though.
Great video. Any idea if there were any plans in the 1980's to release more "snap-on armor" to King Hiss? Even as a kid I though that was a given to give King Hiss the ability to disguise differently. It could have been sold like the Weapon pak, but with three-four different snap on armors/parts
Surprisingly the designers hated the way hssss turned our so they weren’t really big on new armor parts
Vypor and Stretch Neck (Nek?) need to be canon!
Heck yeah
Was lady slither Your original creation? I really wish she was made into a figure
Yes, but Axel did the visual
Don't forget Draco is one of the largest constellations of the northern hemisphere.
Point take
If I was to make an educated guess, I assume Thoth Amon to be the template for King Hsss. As much as Thulsa Doom had been for Skeletor. It might be necessary to mention, that the character James Earl Jones was portraying in Conan the Barbarian had actually been misnamed. He actually embodied Thoth Amon, a wizard, which runs a snake cult, and with a knack of turning into snakes. The true Thulsa Doom, as shown in the comics based on Robert E. Howard’s creation actually is an undead (lich) wizard with a skeleton head…mmh, wizard with skeleton head…
Check out the video linked at the end for the scoop!
@@spectorcreative1872 If you refer to your video of how and why the Snakemen were created, I had already watched that. Still you can not deny the striking resemblances to the comics of Robert E. Howard. May it be He-Man/Oo-Larr (Conan), Teela (Red Sonja), Skeletor (Thulsa Doom), and King Hsss (Thoth Amon). www.pinterest.com/pin/827536500258434402/ twitter.com/i/events/893188683184164866
I believe the snake man were heavily Base off by the serpent man from Robert E Howard and HP Lovecraft respectedly
See the origin of the snake men video for the full scoop! (At the end screen)
I also would like to make a note of the Snake Men from the Conan series,
And those from the Pellicidar books!
Will we get a video about the towers from the preternia playset
Yup
Heya, sir (And anyone who's tried it and would know). With 200x being 6" scale, do their accessories work with vintage at all? (I'm guessing not armor because they look to have a more slender build). Thank you!
This was a pretty great episode. Who wouldn't love snake men?!
It’s one of those kinda sorta fig by fig basis things
If they're all King/Queens working for Gorpo, wouldn't that in turn make him Emperor Gorpo?
From a certain point of view
GORPO! Dr. (Michael) Halperin told me this was Orko’s original name!
It was! But filmation changed it so the O was flipable on the animation
So why did Rattlor and Tsung Lasher later join the Horde?
See their bios in the MOTUC line!
5:12 The tail end of a line is TIGHT!
9:28 The Unnamed One's name is not Grogu?
10:48 "Was!" I mean "was"! Grogu in a *blender?!*
Seriously though. Was Dri-Elle one of the Trollan Overlords?
No, they existed eons ago.
Favorite snake-beverage? Venom energy drink?
I hate the idea of losing man at arms to the snake men.
Not everything always works out
So you were the Roger Sweet of this character and Axel was the Mark Taylor 😉
Except we like each other
L ove The SNAKE Men! They're my favorite baddies. Can you add some more flavor as to the origins of the concept overall in the beginning, ie was the trope of an ancient Alien / Reptile race being locked in another dimension and freed it derived from LoveCraft's the Nameless City? Is there any information on the development of that part of the story line?
Yes that is part of what happened between King Grayskull's time and Hssss being released in He-Man's time
@@spectorcreative1872 Was it inspired by Lovecraft though?
@@spectorcreative1872 @Jason
The overused trope of reptile - especially *_anthropomorphic_* reptile - races/species/characters in being evil in media is getting really, *_really, REALLY_* emotionally tiring there - at least for me - which is why I *_*LOVE*_* the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Extreme Dinosaurs animated T.V. show and toy product line franchises so much there: the main protagonists are *_anthropomorphic_*_ _*_*reptiles*_* - anthropomorphic turtles and dinosaurs, respectively, there!!! "Can't anthropomorphic reptiles be 'good guys' *_FOR ONCE_* in media???!" is what I often think of there when it seems like anthropomorphic reptile characters are always relegated to the villains/'bad guys' side in media.
Now, slithering out from the depths of Snake Mountain,
the Snake Men: the lowest form of evil.
Rattlor’s evil head strikes, Tung Lashor whose evil tongue lashes.
“Snakes I’m ready for them”.
But is He-Man ready for their King Hiss.
When his skin comes off, his evil comes out.
King Hiss, Tung Lashor and Rattlor; new from the Masters Of The Universe,
each sold separately from Mattel.
Are you ready for the Snake Men?
Hell yeah I am!
The snakemen were great
Hell yeah
if the snakemen worshipped the unnamed one, then what about Serpos?
right?
They did not worship the Unnamed one, he was the boss.
@@spectorcreative1872 so where does Serpos come in at? also, does the unnamed one worship Serpos?
In you're research at Mattel, were you able to find the original plans as to who the Unnamed One was going to be, back in the day? Surely it must have been a time-displaced Keldor..?
Alas, if there were any nothing could be found
It could have been setting up something awesome! Instead we got Gorpo.
Do you think we'll get some Snake Men in Origins? I hope so, but I don't think it will happen. So far Ram Man is the only true unique buck in the line.
I don’t think we will get much else I Origins that hasn’t been revealed. It is already on clearance