MOTU Origins card art is famous for hiding “Easter Eggs” for us to find, which teases figures they might produce next.

We all enjoy the amazing artwork by Axel Gimenez found on MOTU Origins packages, but one thing Axel and Mattel are famous for is hiding “Easter Eggs” for us to find in the artwork, which teases us as to what they might produce next. If you look at the early waves, we got teases of Clamp Champ on Scare Glow’s card back and Ram Man on Trap Jaw’s card back. You could see Mosquitor, Hordak and a Horde Trooper peeking out on She-Ra’s card back. Evil Lyn version 2’s card back showed Stinkor and Mini Comic Tri-Klops, which were both produced. Well, if past is prologue, Mattel has revealed their M.O and these characters have all come to life and have been in past or are part of current Waves.

So let’s dive in and see where’s Waldo so to speak! What hidden characters does Mattel have up their sleeves for us? Now this is all speculation, but that is part of the fun, right? We have dug up some fun finds for you, so here we go!

Heroic Warriors

Let’s take a look at some of He-man’s friends and family, as they have been shown on multiple card backs and are the most likely to be produced!

The regal King Randor, Ruler of Eternia, and father to Prince Adam. We have seen him on multiple card backs already and we already heard leaks of him likely to hit in Wave 9, according to our Toy Habits informant.

King Randor

He was first spotted at the corner of Ninjor’s cardback, peeking out of the corner! Hint, hint,….

Next, he was clearly seen crownless, ready for battle welding a spear and battling Keldor and Kronis on the Rise of Evil 2 pack!

Ready for battle, next we spotted him in all his royal glory on the Clamp’s Champ card back art, backing up Clamp Champ as he battled with Ninjor!

So now we are at 3 card backs featuring King Randor and a confirmed rumor of him being included in Wave 9 as we cover in the following article, see below for more details: Breaking News – Masters of the Universe Origins WAVE 9 CONFIRMED!

Sy-Klone

Sy-Klone is a member of the Heroic Warriors. A blue-skinned cyborg with the ability to spin at super-speed and generate a whirlwind, he is also able to spin different parts of his body individually and was dubbed the ‘Heroic fist-flinging tornado’.

We’ve seen Sy-Klone on a couple different card art montages, including Jitzu’s where if you were not paying attention to who was flying in from the side, you would definitely miss him. I think He-Man can stand on his own defending against Jitzu’s chopping fist but Sy-Klone is there for backup! We also saw him in the most recent release of the Flying Fists He-Man card art where he is taking an offensive pose raising his shield high up in the air.

Mossman

Now let’s take a look at another one of He-man’s closest allies, the ever so gentle friend of the forest, Mossman! As his name reveals, he is a man made of moss, who can camouflage himself into foliage and other green vegetation, as well as control all plant life. The figure is essentially a green repaint of Beast Man, flocked with “moss” with the fangs painted over and a pine scent added to the body. He has a mace that is a recast of a weapon from the original Castle Grayskull.

We first saw Moss Man on Stinkor’s card back where he looked like he was emerging from the bushes to take on the evil warrior with the power of stink! You an see him with a fierce look on his face, armed with his mace and ready for battle!

If you weren’t paying attention, you might have missed the arm coming out of the ground from the side of the Eternian Palace Guard box with the classic mace busting through the ground. We then saw Moss Man on the Flying Fists He-Man card art, ironically holding a torch, and as well all know, it was fire that did him in the Masters of the Universe Revelation Netflix series, but I am sure this battle turned out great for him!

Mini-Comic King Randor & Queen Marlena 2 Pack

In the second wave of early MOTU minicomics, “a central Eternian kingdom was ruled by a wise and elderly, white-haired king and queen. In the DC MOTU comics, the elderly King Randor’s patience was thoroughly tested by the antics of his son, Prince Adam, whom he considered a buffoon. He rebuked his wife, Queen Marlena, for defending the prince’s actions, and considered He-Man a more worthy heir to the throne.” (see source: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: A Character Guide and World Compendium Volume 1)

King Randor and Queen Marlena have been seen in many forms but, surprisingly, in their mini comic form. Here you can see the pair on Teela’s card back as Randor looks like he is ready to defend the throne!

They also appear on the Man-E-Faces card back enjoying a performance by the 3 faced being, who uses his alternate faces primarily for the purpose of playing roles on stage. He is also able to change to numerous other faces alongside his robot and monster faces and by the looks of the art on the card back, he quickly needed to morph into his monster persona to fend off Skeletor.

Hawke

If you are not faimilair with Hawke, she is an Avionian Birdwoman, whose mind is blinded with greed when Skeletor promises her riches. In the Filmation cartoon, she sabotages Avion’s defenses, manages to banish Stratos from Avion, and allows Skeletor to steal the Egg of Avion. Hawke’s reward, much to her disliking, is that she is imprisoned in a bird cage by Whiplash. Probably not the outcome she expected but she later atones for her crime by helping reclaim the Egg of Avion. She was not produced in the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe line in 1980’s but she was made into a figure for the Masters of the Universe Classics line.

We think this could be a version of Hawk on the back of Stratos’ card art but we are not sure. In our heart of hearts, we want to believe as her MOTU Classics version was amazing.

Oo-Larr

According to the Masters of the Universe Character Compendium Volume 1:

Oo-Larr, Lord of the Jungle Tribe, was the last warrior known as “the He-Man” before the birth of Prince Adam. He left his home in the Vine Jungle, seeking adventure and excitement.

A long shot at best would see Mattel make an Oo-Larr figure for the Origins line but I would not put it past them! They are making Kolar and Wun-dar into Origins figures but you can see Oo-Larr getting fierce on the back of the Green Goddess’ card art where she looks to be splitting the power sword in two.

Thunder-Punch He-man

According to the MOTU Classics lore, When Skeletor banished Randor to Despondos, he used Faker to convince the royal court that He-Man was not only a Gar, but also responsible for the King’s “death.” This ruse turned the people of Eternia against He-Man and the Masters soon became renegades in their own land. Driving to the underground caves of Tundoria, the Masters reformed as an elite attack squad. They returned to the surface and found not only Skeletor ruling Eternia, but King Hiss and a newly returned Hordak also challenging for control. To enhance his strength for these new battles ahead, He-Man used the Powers of Grayskull to energize his weapons, giving them a new Thunder Punch to combat evil.

Surprisingly, Thunder Punch He-Man is teased on the forthcoming Horde Trooper Wave 8 card art and looks like he can dish out thunderous blows to his Horde foes. This will most likely be a deluxe figure and would be great to see him released later in the year to give us a break between He-Man variants.

Princess of Power

Let’s move onto another fun one as the Princess of Power sub-line has yet to be developed beyond the two versions of She-Ra and this sub-line has the most room to grow in MOTU Origins.

Loo-kee & Kowl

First off, which was always fun to do during the Filmation She-Ra Princess of Power cartoon, is let’s find Loo-kee!

Loo-Kee, son of Pa-Pee, was a member of the Kon-Seals, a race of creatures that used their unique hiding abilities in order to aid the forces of good. Not only was Loo-Kee an expert when it came to hiding, he also had the ability to teleport short distances.

We first saw Loo-Kee (or did we 🤔) in the card art for the standard release of She-Ra and if you didn’t see him the fist time, he was right in front of your face so to speak as he was hiding in the trees.

The art for the Power Con 2020 exclusive She-Ra provided some great teases for some PoP characters, including Bow, Glimmer, Kowl, and Loo-Kee, who was much easier to find.

Kowl is depicted as a small flying creature capable of speaking. His wings are not unlike large ears, and he has the overall appearance of something akin to an owl mixed with a koala, hence his name. It is mentioned that there aren’t many members of his species left, and most of his relatives are dead.

Bow

Bow is renowned as the best archer in all of Etheria. Equipped with an array of trick arrows, he uses his skills of illusion and his fierce patriotism for Etheria to fight the Evil Horde. Bow is also Princess Adora’s right hand man and best friend. You will notice on the vintage PoP version, that Bow was missing his signature mustache, later corrected by including 2 different heads in the MOTU Classics version.

Glimmer

Glimmer is the Princess of Bright Moon, the very beautiful daughter of Queen Angella and King Micah. She was the original leader of the Great Rebellion of Etheria until Adora took over and helped to establish much of its support structure.

Frosta

Frosta was Queen of Castle Chill in the Kingdom of Snows on Etheria. She was a powerful ice sorceress and brought her formidable powers to bear as a member of the Great Rebellion. She was able to control ice and snow at will; this allowed her to freeze any object or enemy, as well as to use sheets of ice as a mode of transportation. She found herself irresistibly drawn to He-Man on at least one occasion, although he was put off somewhat by her aggressive advances.

Appearing on the 2020 Power Con exclusive She-Ra card art, can you can see Frosta in the background, standing directly in front of the Crystal Castle.

The Evil Horde

According to the WikiGrayskull:

In the cartoons, the Evil Horde is a vast, interstellar or a Dimensional empire bent on the domination of various worlds across the universe or the Multiverse. The center of the empire is called Horde world.

A gaggle of evil Horde henchman appear on the Sorceress’ card art as well as Hordak (shown below), including Mantenna, Modulok, Leech, and Grizzlor, make up the bulk of this section.

Mantenna:

When the Horde appear in the She-Ra: Princess of Power series, Mantenna retains his “spy sight” from the minicomics, and can fire energy beams of different varieties from his eyes, such as stun beams, gravity distortion beams, and freeze rays. Mantenna is a nervous stuttering imbecile and is mainly used for comic relief, with a running gag that Hordak frequently sends him down a trap door in front of his throne for any number of reasons.

Leech

Leech appears in animated form in She-Ra: Princess of Power, in which the Horde are the main villains. He is regularly seen among the main Horde members, but rarely showcases his power suction ability and receives generally little character development and no episodes feature him in a spotlight role.

Modulok

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. Halfway through the first season of Filmation’s spin-off series, She-Ra: Princess of Power, Modulok is incorporated into the She-Ra series, the only character from either show to be transferred permanently from one to the other. This occurs in the episode “Gateway to Trouble” in which Modulok builds a device for Skeletor which can open a portal to Etheria to transport his whole army to the planet.

Grizzlor – Standard Release

Grizzlor was initially portrayed as a competent and threatening member of the Horde, overseeing Beast Island. Like many of Hordak’s other warriors, he was said to be a product of Horde science, implying he had once been a normal creature or possibly human. He was depicted as rather muscular, with hair coverings similar to his action figure. Over time, the Filmation animated series increasingly depicted Grizzlor as a bumbling henchman, often bearing the brunt of Hordak’s wrath. Occasionally, he worked as part of Catra’s Force Squad, though he did not like taking orders from her. He displayed a strong dislike of Mantenna, and the pair would often bicker. We know this figure is a no-brainer as there has already been a dark-face Grizzlor produced as part of the 2021 Horde 4-Pack Power Con exclusive, so he would simply be a “repaint”.

The Power Con 2020 She-Ra card art is the gift that keeps on giving, bringing us more Horde goodness with Catra taking center stage!

Catra

Catra is a power hungry member of the Evil Horde and is one of Hordak’s minions. Although initially specked out to be She Ra’s main nemesis, the Filmation crew decided to go in a different direction. It’s a mystery where her loyalties lay as in one episode she joins Skeltor to annihilate Hordak to become the Queen of the Magicats. She doesn’t really get along well with others as she often has her own wishes to overthrow Hordak and she does not play nicely with her other female characters in the cartoon, namely Scorpia.

Evil Warriors

The Evil Warriors can be best described as a pool of resources available to Skeletor, so that he might have one or more of them aiding him on a particular mission. Collectively the Evil Warriors share a healthy fear of Skeletor and a lust for the power they hope to gain in his employment. However, many of them have also pursued their own independent agendas, sometimes in treacherous defiance of Skeletor. Nonetheless, there are several characters yet to be made for the Origins line so let’s break them down!

Kobra Khan

Kobra Khan was introduced into the Masters of the Universe toy line in 1984. His action figure’s special feature is to spray water. The figure’s head is removable and the hollow torso can be filled with water, so that when the head is back in place, it can be pushed down to spray water from its mouth.

Kobra Kahn made a clandestine appearance on the Roboto card art as he is hiding in the bushes lying in wait!

Whiplash

Whiplash was introduced into the Masters of the Universe toy line in 1984. The gimmick of his action figure is to thrash its tail when the spring-action waist is turned. Whiplash was introduced into the toy line’s accompanying cartoon series by Filmation at the same time his action figure was released. Whereas most characters from his wave of toys appear rather sparsely in the cartoon, Whiplash proves an instant favorite with the show’s writers and seems to become a series regular at once after his introduction.

Whiplash appears in the forthcoming Clawful card art for Wave 8 in a cool scene where Clawful is attacking Teela which Whiplash lying in wait!

Two-Bad

Two-Bad is a two-headed Evil Warrior who is basically two different beings sharing the same body. In some ways he is like siamese twins, although both halves of his body are very different-looking creatures who appear to be from entirely different species. His right half is a blue creature, while his left half is a purple, scaly creature with an eyebrow-like yellow band on his forehead. His two heads have the habit of continuously arguing with one another.

Two-Bad is introduced into the Masters of the Universe toy line in 1985. Originally marketed as the “double-headed evil strategist” it is implied he is a master of strategy due to being two warriors in one, but his main trait in all story media is that his two heads have a habit of endlessly arguing with each other, meaning he has always generally been used for comic relief.

Two-Bad first appeared on the Battlefield Warriors box art as he looks like he is in persuit of He-Man.

Spikor

Spikor’s head and torso are completely covered in razor-sharp spikes. It was not clear whether the spikes are a natural part of his body or some kind of special armor, until the bio for his 2012 figure confirmed it is an armor magically fused to his body. In place of his left hand is a trident, which can extend and, in some media, fires a laser beam.

Spikor was introduced into the Masters of the Universe toy line in 1985. His action figure’s feature is his spring-action waist, which propelled his trident to shoot out of its socket when his torso sprang back.

Spikor appeared, alongside Two-Bad, in a fantastic fight scene on the card art of Terror Claws Skeletor.

Dragon Blaster Skeletor

The concept for Dragon Blaster Skeletor comes from the mini comic “Skeletor’s Dragon,” which was packaged with Stinkor’s action figure. According to the WikiGrayskull:

Skeletor discovers the intact skeleton of a huge dinosaur under a pile of stones…He reanimates it magically and uses it for riding, naming him Battle Bones. Skeletor’s dragon, using its hypno-mist, puts them to sleep. The same strategy works for all the heroes at the royal festivities. Only He-Man manages to break free from the chains in spite of their magical nature. Skeletor runs away, but he has to leave the dinosaur skeleton behind. The Sorceress releases him from the evil spell and Battle Bones tells his story.

https://he-man.fandom.com/wiki/Skeletor%27s_Dragon

Very hard to make out, you can barely see Dragon Blaster Skeletor’s armor peaking out from behind the Roton on the Stridor box art (also, if you want to see an AMAZING review of Stridor, click here!)

We also did a video rounding up the teased figures that are left to be produced on our YouTube Channel, which you can view here:

https://youtu.be/WLCy5v6nrj4