Content deleted Content added
Line 36:
==Animated Series==
Shortly after his figure was released, Modulok appears on the toy line's accompanying cartoon series, ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]'' by [[Filmation]]. Although the Evil Horde are used as the main villains in the spin-off series ''[[She-Ra]]'', rather than ''He-Man'', Modulok is given the unique honor of making his debut on ''He-Man'' instead. He is introduced late in the show's second season. Several adjustments were made to Modulok's character by Filmation's writers and animators. Given Filmation's limited budget, Modulok would be a serious challenge for them to animate, given that his constant shape-changing would require the production of an exorbitant number of cel sheets for the character and therefore prove extremely costly. The decision was made, therefore, to simplify Modulok's design and give him one single shape to be used throughout the series. Although initially described in the scripts as appearing two-headed and multi-bodied like the toy, he appears in the cartoon with only one shape, his body appearing to be an organic whole rather than separate pieces locked together. He is also given only one head even though all of Mattel's promotional material depicts him with two (although his second head can briefly been seen in one episode). Possibly this may have been done to avoid confusion with [[Two-Bad]], another two-headed character who debuted in the toy line and series at the same time. Another reason may have been for the purpose of making the character's design symmetrical, so that cel sheets could be flipped over without altering the character's appearance, used to cut both animation costs and production time. Introduced in the episode "Mistaken Identity", Modulok's character is also adjusted from Mattel's concept.<ref name="cbr.com"/> His personality in the mini-comics is that of a rather generic villain, so Filmation expanded his character by making him a [[mad scientist]] hell-bent on proving his scientific genius. His debut episode was scripted by [[J. Michael Straczynski]], who liked the character and went on to write most of his major episodes. A hardcore [[Star Trek]] fan, Straczynski based the character's personality loosely around [[Mr. Spock]], feeling Modulok's pointy ears gave him a slight resemblance to the character. "Mistaken Identity" showcases him as the main villain..<ref name="auto"/> He begins as a deranged human scientist called Galen Nycroft, imprisoned in the Royal dungeons for attempting to use his science to control all of Eternia with a mind ray. Appearing human other than his deformed, enlarged [[eye]] which resembles that of Modulok, Nycroft is unfazed by the prison guards' mockery of him and vows to escape and prove himself. He summons a [[bat]]-like aid to his side with a component needed to teleport his final invention to the prison cell. Teleporting the large machine to the cell, he steps inside, and an explosion comes from within. He steps out in the mutated form of Modulok, and uses his greatly bolstered strength to break free from the prison cell. He contacts Skeletor and offers him his services, but Skeletor rejects him describing him as a "wimp scientist" and vows to only accept Modulok into his evil crew once he has proven himself. Modulok sets out to prove himself by capturing He-Man. He fails in his scheme, as he is deceived into capturing a teenage boy who is trying to impress his girlfriend by pretending to be He-Man's secret identity. He makes his second appearance in the episode "Happy Birthday Roboto", written by [[Larry DiTillio]], which presents him as a solo villain, and also states that he is the sworn enemy of [[Man-At-Arms]] even though no other episodes touch upon a rivalry between the two. Cast in the role of main villain once more, this episode features Modulok capturing the heroic character [[Roboto]] and reprogramming him, then reviving him to carry out his own evil deeds. He proceeds to attempt a [[Frankenstein]]-like experiment on Man-At-Arms, intending to transfer his brain power into his second head so that he can possess Man-At-Arms' scientific knowledge for himself. This episode ties the cartoon version of Modulok in with the toy by alluding to his shape-changing powers and showing his extra head, although to save animation costs he did not put it on. The second head also seems to be cybernetic rather than organic as conceived by Mattel. A third appearance on the He-Man series, in the episode "Here, There, Skeletors Everywhere" shows Modulok in the background among Skeletor's minions, indicating that he had somehow managed to gain acceptance into Skeletor's forces. Given that this is merely a non-speaking background appearance it is not explained how or when his services had been accepted by Skeletor.
| |||