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lion-o vs he-man

I really am bereft of ideas.I’ll just post this “research”:) i found on the net:)this one’s for the cartoon freaks:)enjoy:)

On He-Man, Lion-O and the Art of being a Jerk

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and ThunderCats were two of the most popular cartoons in the 1980s. But beneath their benign surface and hyphenated heroes lie two very different worldviews that attempted to shape their audiences in stark ways. They reflect a clash of two long-disputed and interlocking concepts: the Individual versus Society.

What was it with 80s cartoons, always trying to tell you stuff? Like cartoons were going to solve society’s ills. However, the way the morals in both He-Man and ThunderCats were communicated displayed a marked difference: while He-Man broke the fourth wall and preached the life lesson right at you like some blonde teutonic doofus, Lion-O would express the moral to another character, maintaining more dignity for himself and the viewer:

“By stopping to help you, I ended up helping myself, and my friends.”

Let’s examine some other key differences between the two cult cartoons in order to highlight their diverging worldviews:

Firstly, their official titles. Although Lion-O is by birth the ‘Lord of the ThunderCats’, he in fact had to earn the title by defeating the ThunderCat nobles in ‘trials’. (These were the Trials of Strength against Panthro, the Trial of Speed against Cheetara, the Trial of Cunning against Wilykit and Wilykat, and the Trial of Mind Power against Tygra. Lion-O then faced the final Trial of Evil against Mumm-Ra.)

In contrast, Adam appears to have named himself the most powerful man in the universe, simply coming upon the humble idea one day of holding his sword aloft and shouting:

“By the Power of Grayskull! I have the Power!”

Where does this guy get off? How does he know he is the most powerful man in the universe? He-Man is inescapably smug, while Lion-O has had to struggle for his abilities and position.

Secondly, let’s examine their swords:

Lion-O’s Sword of Omens is a sophisticated weapon, enabling him to do two main things. Firstly, it can reveal visions to him when he says:

“Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight”.

When in trouble he can also send a Batman-like signal into the sky, calling all ThunderCats to fight.

“Thunder – Thunder – Thunder – ThunderCats – Ho!”

When he shouts this, the sword lengthens phallically and the red signal fills the sky. Thus, when in trouble, Lion-O calls for the help of his friends. This may be interpreted as Lion-O shitting himself on a consistent basis, but it is really an unusual admission that he can’t win on his own. It underlines the communal society of the ThunderCats where each has their individual strengths and contributions to make.

For example, “Uh-oh, we can’t handle this from the water. Thunder – Thunder – Thunder – ThunderCats – Ho!”

In contrast, Adam has a sword which transforms himself into He-Man and his cowardly cat, Cringer, into Battle-Cat. It should be noted that Adam is only able to fight and win when he is transformed; as himself he is useless and cowardly. As themselves, they have nothing to offer. It is also unclear whether Cringer actually likes the transformation which He-Man enacts on him – he is essentially an involuntary steed as He-Man’s phallic sword forces itself upon him.

A side comparison here is fruitful between the two cats in He-Man and ThunderCats: Cringer and Snarf. While both are cowardly and loveable, Cringer is only really deemed useful once transformed by force into something implicitly better; Snarf however always remains Snarf, and on occasion can, through his loyalty, contribute greatly to the battle against evil.

For example,

Lion-O: How can I help you Panthro? I can’t tell the real you from
the fake.
Snarf: The sword, Lion-O! Use the sword.
Lion-O: Not against a ThunderCat, Snarf. Our code expressly
forbids it.
Snarf: Exactly! The sword will only harm the fake ThunderCat!

He is flawed but he can still participate. (Although in He-Man, Orko perhaps fills this role).

Thus while He-Man’s sword imposes a kind of tyrannical imperative on those around him, changing them drastically, Lion-O’s sword offers communal defence, valuing people as they are.

Thirdly, their past and how it impacts the present also shows clear differences. Lion-O as a boy had to watch his fellow Thunderians burn when they had to leave in the spaceship – in order to live to fight another day, he had to sacrifice other Thunderians and escape. This decision taken by Jaga at the time haunts Lion-O as a nightmare and means he has always wrestled with tough choices and ethical decisions.

Lion-O: But, we’ve abandoned them Jaga. They were our
countrymen.
Jaga: One day, as Lord of the ThunderCats, you will have to make many hard decisions, Lion-O. This is but the first of them.
Lion-O: No! I can’t watch! No!

And Lion-O says of the nightmare: “How many times must I watch my fellow Thunderians perish, while I sped to safety?” (In fact, it turns out they did survive and were able to escape in another spaceship.)

By contrast, Adam’s secret identity as He-Man is only known by three others:

“our friends, the Sorceress, Man-at-Arms and Orko.”

However, it is clear that Teela loves He-Man and thinks Adam lazy – and rather than reveal the truth to her, Adam lets her go on believing they are two different people. What a jerk. His past clearly serves only to divide those around him, not unite them as equals. Teela is also victim to another secret unknown to her: she is the daughter of the Sorceress.

Fourth, let’s examine the enemies both Lion-O and He-Man are pitted against as another measure of their worth. Mumm-ra was the main antagonist of the ThunderCats – it is clear that Mumm-ra is fucking cool and can harness great unearthly powers:

“Ancient spirits of evil, transform this decayed form to Mumm-Ra, the ever-living!”

In contrast, Skeletor was very uncool, weaselly and in fact, quite clearly, a pantomime villain. Skeletor had the Havoc Staff from which he fired thunderbolts - big whoop.

The band of Mutants which the ThunderCats also face live in Castle Plun-darr. Led by Slithe, they include Monkian, Jackalman, and Vultureman. The names are pretty mediocre, but witness Skeletor’s motley crew: Beast-man. Trap-jaw. Mer-man. And best of all, Evil-Lyn. What were they thinking with these names? Evil Lyn? I mean come on. Even one of He-Man’s allies continues in this uninspiring vein: Man-at-Arms’ real name is of course… Duncan.

Finally, while Lion-O lived in the Cat’s Lair (designed by Tygra), He-Man lived in Castle Greyskull – however, doesn’t the latter name imply some dark and macabre meaning? Especially as his supposed enemy is called Skeletor and has a skull for a head. What depths of evil are hidden beneath Adam’s ludicrous cloth tunic?

In conclusion, He-Man and Lion-O represent two diverging views on how to battle evil. While the former stresses the individual with an almost dictatorial and rapacious transformation and leadership, the latter emphasizes society and the contributions each individual can make to it. He-Man remains untested against any real opposition and yet affirms his supreme abilities; while Lion-O faces true unearthly powers and yet is always humble in the leadership of his community.

It is thus logical to conclude that He-Man is one hell of a jerk.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 27th, 2006 at 10:06 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.