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Why was this always cooler than the big scary guy? |
I've never been very familiar with Mumm-ra. Whether it was just too hard to find Thundercats on television, or I liked the mutants better, or something else, I have no idea what Mumm-ra does. I know there's that cool stock footage transformation scene when he summoned the forces of evil, and I remember the bandages flying around his head like Medusa. Beyond that... not much.
What I don't know about this guy:
1. Why did he want the Sword of Omens? Did he know about it before the Thundercats landed on Third Earth?
2. Why did the mutants work for him? I seem to remember he made them work for him, but how?
3. What kind of powers did he have? I know powers were fluid with 80s cartoon villains, but they usually had some kind of theme.
4. What was his origin? Was this ever even shown in the series?
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Seriously? This is absolutely insane. |
I can't remember much about Mumm-ra. Well, besides Ma-mutt. What was the purpose of that? Was Snarf not kid-friendly enough, they needed another mascot? And why wasn't it named Mu-Mutt? They couldn't even spell it right to share the naming convention?
Now, I can't criticize this guy too much without knowing him, but I can't help but think of the correlations between him and Skeletor. You've got a blue monster villain with ill-defined powers that wanted the good guy's sword. I know people tend to compare their heroes, He-man and Lion-o (their names even have the same hyphen!), but I think their villains are the true copycats. Mumm-ra gets his powers from a mysterious force, and it could even be argued that Skeletor did the same, since he once worked for Hordak and the Horde.
To me that raises one question: Why do cartoons share seemingly everything? Did everything come from a pool of cartoon tropes? Was there a lot of crossovers with writing staff? One day, I'd love to ask a writer just that.
So let's rate this guy.
In terms of coolness, I have to give Mumm-ra an 8. I mean look at the guy, he one of the most imposing of his peers. He's a mummy! Then he becomes a bigger, less-clothed mummy. Granted, I think the chest tattoo of the two-headed snake looked out of place, since he was the only one with an insignia, but it wasn't any different than Megatron's Decepticon symbol. Well, I guess it is, since Megatron's fit on a robot chest, it could be a paint application. Mumm-ra's should have been a crest or amulet with it and it would have looked cooler. Regardless, Mumm-ra was one scary guy.
In terms of coolness, I have to give Mumm-ra an 8. I mean look at the guy, he one of the most imposing of his peers. He's a mummy! Then he becomes a bigger, less-clothed mummy. Granted, I think the chest tattoo of the two-headed snake looked out of place, since he was the only one with an insignia, but it wasn't any different than Megatron's Decepticon symbol. Well, I guess it is, since Megatron's fit on a robot chest, it could be a paint application. Mumm-ra's should have been a crest or amulet with it and it would have looked cooler. Regardless, Mumm-ra was one scary guy.
Effectiveness - You'd think since I couldn't remember the cartoon much, that I couldn't give him a rating on this. Seriously, though, it's not as if any cartoon villain was ever truly effective and none can be rated over a 5 (without a movie to boost it, of course). One thing I do remember if him usually showing up in the end after the mutants screwed things up, so I think it's safe to give him an average 5.
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