Grizzlor is a fictional character in the animated television series . A member of the Evil Horde, Grizzlor is a hairy man-beast creature from the wild, covered in thick brown fur and sharp claws, who attacks his opponents with the power of brute strength. Most story media have portrayed him as a mindless brute with little in the way of intelligence.
Character profile
Toy line/Mini-comics
Grizzlor is introduced into the Masters of the Universe toy line in 1985 among the first wave of Evil Horde figures. His figure was packaged with the mini-comic "Grizzlor: The Legend Comes Alive!" which portrays him as a kind of urban legend among the Eternians, a product of apparent "tall tales" about a wild man-beast which roams the night stalking its prey. After Buzz-Off disturbs his Heroic comrades with tales of the creature, it later transpires that Grizzlor is a real creature and has been hired by Hordak to fight against He-Man and the Heroic Warriors. Grizzlor is portrayed as a mindless, savage killing machine, who is defeated by being shown his own reflection in a mirror; he apparently fears nothing but the sight of his own gruesome visage. Grizzlor also appears in several of the Masters of the Universe comic series. A notable one of these are the UK comics published by London Editions, which portray him as one of the least intelligent of all the evil characters. In this series he is frequently used for comic relief and has a child-like mentality, implying he is not actually evil and has merely been misled by Hordak into helping with his schemes. An origin story in a later issue explains that he comes from the jungle world of Jungulia "on the outer edge of the spiral arm of the N24 galaxy" and is a member of a race of man-beast creatures. Although his race was peaceful, by the age of 428 he had developed a savage anger that shocked his family, and stumbled across a range of powerful weapons in a cave. His youthful nature led him to see them as toys, and play with them as such. When detected with the weapons by Horde Prime's sata-spies, they mistook him for an evil warrior and reported him to Hordak, who beamed him on board his ship, erasing all memories of Jungulia from his mind so he would willingly serve him. At first, upon seeing the advanced weapons, Hordak mistakenly believed Grizzlor must possess an incredible mental genius, but subsequently Grizzlor proved to have no remote intelligence, rendering Hordak confused as to why Horde Prime wanted him in the Horde.
''She-Ra: Princess of Power''
Grizzlor appears in animated form in the cartoon series , in which the Horde are the main villains. The cartoon series plays down his savagery, presumably to make his character more suitable for a children's audience. At times it even seems as though he may be more human than animal, particularly in the early episode "Beast Island" in which he is competent enough to operate a computer console and command a series of Destructotanks. However, he is far from intelligent and is usually portrayed as a generic bumbling villain, constantly fouling up Hordak's schemes. Although he appears frequently in the cartoon he has no spotlight roles and is mostly consigned to background appearances.
Grizzlor also features in animated form in the updated Masters of the Universe cartoon series Masters of the Universe vs. The Snake Men, produced in 2002 by Mike Young Productions, to promote the relaunched toy line. Mattel had intended to release the Horde characters among the next wave of villains, and they were intended to fill the role of main opposition to He-Man in the show's third season. The second season episode "The Power of Grayskull" features the Horde in a flashback sequence, as an evil force from Ancient Eternia. Grizzlor was seen amongst Hordak, Leech, and Mantenna in a non-speaking role, and was imprisoned by King Grayskull in the dimension of Despondos together with Hordak and the rest of the Horde. However, since the toy line and cartoon were cancelled shortly afterwards, the third season was never made. Despite the cancellation of the line, a Grizzlor mini statue figure has been sculpted and issued by toy sculptors the Four Horsemen.
Other media
Grizzlor appears in the Robot Chicken episode "1987", voiced by Seth MacFarlane. He alongside Beast Man try to prevent Mo-Larr from reaching Skeletor, only for the Eternian Dentist to use a drill on Grizzlor's eye. Tom Root voices Grizzlor in the episode "Slaughterhouse on the Prairie" where he accompanies Mantenna into attacking the Whispering Woods and slaughtering the Twiggets only for She-Ra to stop them and Grizzlor ends up stuck underneath She-Ra's foot.
Reception
The character has had mixed reception from critics. Grizzlor was voted No.4 in The 14 Least Masterful Masters of the Universe by Io9. Comic Book Resources voted Grizzlor 8th most expensive Masters of the Universe toy. Video game websiteThe Gamer voted Grizzlor the 15th worst Masters of the Universe toy ever.
