#baron skeleton

Baron Skeleton Character List

Size Classes from Smallest to Largest: Scout, Basic, Deluxe, Mega

Villain Team

Baron Skeleton

Character Role: Big Bad

Motifs: Skeleton, Cobra Commander, Skeletor

Size Class: Basic

Toy Gimmicks: Snap on Chest Armor

Personality: Manic and almost perpetually annoyed, Baron Skeleton is prone to spiteful rants and loud tantrums.  While anger and frustration are basically his default emotions, he rarely directs these feelings at the people around him, being more likely to rant about bad luck or society being rigged instead.  Despite his volatile temper, he’s actually far more patient with his henchmen’s quirks that you’d expect, and genuinely likes the people he works with.  Unlike the villains he’s based off of, Baron Skeleton is never abusive to his underlings and generally tries his best to accommodate their needs and desires in his schemes, even if doing so often results in failure.  Though he talks as though his worlview is bleak and cynical, Baron Skeleton notably refuses to ever give up the fight – he always has another scheme for victory after each defeat, and rarely dwells on his failures for long before moving on to the next plan.

Meta Stuff: As the show’s protagonist, he’d get a lot of toy variants with different gimmicks, like “dragon blast armor” and the like.  The show would work these in as clumsily as possible.

Snakeman

Character Role: Big Bad’s Wacky Sidekick

Motifs: Snake, Barbarian

Size Class: Deluxe

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: Though technically Baron Skeleton’s number two, Snakeman’s real function is as Baron Skeleton’s best friend.  As the second in command, Snakeman is terrible – he can never keep Baron Skeleton’s plans straight even on the rare occasions where he actually listens to them, and always ends up derailing things by “winging it.”  As a best friend, though, he’s marvelous – he’s always there to listen to Baron Skeleton’s problems, and he’s always doing his best to cheer Baron Skeleton up.  One could say that Snakeman gives Baron Skeleton what he needs instead of what he wants.  Snakeman is also a very chill boss to the other underlings, rarely dolling out punishments and always willing to hear them out.  Like most of the bad guys, he can actually be a competent fighter when he applies himself – he just rarely ever does so.

Meta Stuff: Snakeman’s design should be as He-Man-y as we dare to get.

Newbie/Edgelord

Character Role: Fish Out of Water, Eviler Than Thou

Motifs: Grimdark villain

Size Class: Scout as Newbie, Deluxe as Edgelord

Toy Gimmicks: Clip On Spike Armor (Edgelord only)

Personality: Newbie’s role in the first season is to be the fish out of water character who triggers exposition from the pre-established characters, but overall his real purpose is to contrast the bad guy’s outdated style of supervillainy with a more modern Grim & Gritty take.  Newbie is the only bad guy who is legitimately evil rather than just weird and antisocial.  He views murder as the best solution, and all of his suggestions for plans essentially boil down to “kill as many people as possible.”  He’s sadistic and cruel, and the other bad guys are ultimately unsettled by him (though many, Baron Skeleton included, still try to turn him around to their way of thinking).  Once he becomes Edgelord, he dives straight into the most Grimdark of villainy, doing his best to put every face-removing Joker to shame.  Edgelord is the one character on the show that the audience is invited to hate without any regret.

Meta Stuff: While Newbie’s action figure should just be a variant of the Henchskull figure (with a different head and color scheme), Edgelord’s should be a 100% new mold to better make him stand out as a character from a very different take on the superhero genre.

Gargruel

Character Role: Starscream

Motifs: Demon/Gargoyle, Gaudiness

Size Class: Basic

Toy Gimmicks: Clip On Armor (more elaborate than Baron Skeleton’s)

Personality: Gargruel is a perpetual traitor, trying to usurp Baron Skeleton’s leadership at every opportunity.  It is literally a pathological tendency of his, and one of the rest of the bad guys have just learned to deal with.  Perhaps the hammiest of the villains, almost every word out of his mouth is a loud, theatrical declaration of his superior mind and strength.  Of course, Gargruel is nowhere near as clever or strong as he thinks he is, and always ends up overreaching.  Despite his superiority complex, the others consider him a friend, and he is always quickly forgiven for his repeated betrayals (especially since they tend to implode on him almost immediately).  It helps that he can actually be a pretty nice guy on the rare occasions where he isn’t talking himself up.

Meta Stuff: Gargruel’s outfit should look like a much flashier/gaudier take on Baron Skeleton’s. His toy would probably even be a retool of Baron Skeleton’s toy, with different gloves, boots, and clip on armor as well as a new head.

Galvanstein

Character Role: Fanatical Loyalist

Motifs: Frankenstien, Executioner

Size Class: Deluxe

Toy Gimmicks: Spring-loaded Extendo-Fists

Personality: An utter sycophant, Galvanstein is a yes man and Baron Skeleton’s greatest enabler. Galvanstein is utterly devoted to his boss and believes every idea Baron Skeleton has ever had is absolute genius. The only reason they fail, he reasons, is that the other henchmen aren’t pulling their weight, which is why Galvanstein is overly critical of his peers.  He’s not a complete dick to them though – after all, Baron Skeleton clearly saw potential in them, so they must have some good sides.  Galvanstein’s loyalty is his greatest weakness, as he can never bring himself to admit that his boss is flawed.  Likewise, he has no improvisational skills – while he will gleefully carry out Baron Skeleton’s orders to the letter, he is at an absolute loss whenever a plan gets derailed and forces him to think for himself.

Meta Stuff:

Nosferoi

Character Role: TFP Soundwave

Motifs: Vampire, Boba Fett/Samus/Cool Helmeted Space Warrior

Size Class: Basic

Toy Gimmicks: Grappling Hook Claw, Removable helmet

Personality: Quiet and thoughtful, Nosferoi is the most competent villain in Baron Skeleton’s organization by a long shot.  She has the highest success rate of any henchmen, pulling off her tasks efficiently and with a great deal of style.  When she contributes to a plot, her suggestions are always cunning and well-reasoned.  If she was the gang’s leader, they would have won ages ago – but she doesn’t want to be a leader.  In fact, Nosferoi is much happier as a henchman.  She likes following orders more than giving them, and thinks Baron Skeleton’s schemes are far more fun to carry out than anything she could come up with, even if they’re doomed to fail.  Unlike most of the other villains, she doesn’t really want to win so much as she just wants to hang out with her friends, and is content to just do her part of the job well instead of trying to fix their operation.

Meta Stuff: Nosferoi should look rad as hell.

Spinestra

Character Role: PG Seductress

Motifs: Spider, PG Rated Dominatrix

Size Class: Basic

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: Supposedly a master manipulator, Spinestra’s role tends to focus on finding ways to play mind games with the heroes that Baron Skeleton’s forces oppose.  She’s not quite as good at this as the others think she is, but she does her best to come up with dastardly schemes to set the heroes against each other.  Her real skill lies in trap making, and many of the defense systems in the villain team’s fortress are of her design.  Spinestra also often helps with the team’s plans, though she’s sort of a double edged sword – her contributions are so complex that the heroes can’t follow them, but, sadly, also end up confusing the other henchmen more often than not, resulting in a bungled operation.  While she tries to act cold and aloof like Nosferoi, she has a ferocious temper and cannot take criticism well.

Meta Stuff: in the vein of villains like Evil-Lyn and Baroness, Spinestra has a vague dominatrix vibe that’s intensely watered down so as not to anger parents (ignoring the fact that they could have just not made her look like a dominatrix in the first place).

Swampstomp

Character Role: Bumbling Brute

Motifs: Swamp Monster, Gill Man

Size Class: Mega

Toy Gimmicks: Tummy Prison

Personality: The muscle of the villain team, Swampstomp knows she’s valued for her brawn and not her brains, and is totally fine with that.  She’s the largest of the core henchmen and hits the hardest by far. Swampstomp revels in her role as a dumb brute, cheerfully taking orders from anyone who acts even the slightest bit authoritative.  When Gangruel initiates a coup, Swampstomp is generally the first to fall in line, and likewise she’s one of the first to switch back to Baron Skeleton when the old boss reasserts himself.  While Swampstomp gleefully embraces her dumb muscle persona, she’s actually more perceptive and intelligent than anyone gives her credit for, herself included. Likewise, while she generally plays up her love of beating people up, she really isn’t the sadist she thinks she is, and is utterly revolted at people who are genuinely vicious.

Meta Stuff: Swampstomp’s gimmick is that she can swallow smaller figures and store them in her tummy. Because this is a pretty intricate gimmick, Swampstomp’s mold would be entirely unique, so her design has more leeway to be strange than most of the others.

Dr. Strategerm

Character Role: Straw Vulcan

Motifs: Mad Scientist, Chess, Mathletes

Size Class: Basic

Toy Gimmicks: Swappable hands

Personality: Dr. Strategerm claims to value logic and rationality, and tries to reduce all problems to mathematic equations that come to one objective solution.  Ironically, he is utterly irrational in his devotion to this philosophy, and will passionately argue about how emotions are distractions that keep people from being run by pure, perfected logic.  Strategerm creates all the high tech weaponry and gadgets that the group uses and is prone to sesquipedalian loquaciousness.  He has a notable rivalry with Hexadeth, being her foil.

Meta Stuff: Dr. Strategerm’s hands can be switched out with multiple different tools, like a claw, a hammer, a drill, etc.  His toy would use Baron Skeleton’s body mold, but with a cloth labcoat draped over its torso and legs to disguise the mold reuse.  His arms and head would be entirely new pieces.

Hexadeth

Character Role: Sorceress

Motifs: D&D, mummy

Size Class: Basic

Toy Gimmicks: Dice of Doom Accessory

Personality: Superstitious and traditional, Hexadeth is a master of magic who insists on doing things the “old way” and hates technology.  Though her magic is extremely powerful, her resistance to catch up with the times often bites her in the butt, as her enemies often use technology that she is not prepared to deal with.  She has great skill in dealing with emotional and spiritual matters, but has nothing but disdain for logic and science.  She often butts heads with Dr. Strategerm despite the fact that she essentially does the same thing as him – i.e. create new weapons and equipment for the others.  Her dialogue is also similarly hard to parse, as she loves purple prose and antiquated linguistics.

Meta Stuff: Hexadeth’s toy uses the same body tooling as Spinestra, though it is disgused by her cloth robe and cowl.  Her head, hands, feet, and shins all uses new pieces that are sculpted to look like they’re covered in bandages.  Her gimmick/accessory is a set of dice – 1d20, 1d10, 1d6, and 1d4 – with different magic symbols on them, which in the show she uses to cast her magic spells.  She might also come with a cup that automatically rolls them or something – we can have fun with it.

Oddserver

Character Role: Wild Card

Motifs: Eyeball, strangeness

Size Class: Mega

Toy Gimmicks: Removable Parasites

Personality: Considered weird by the other villains, which says something considering their own quirks, Oddserver is an alien juggernaut that marches to the beat of its own drummer.  The enigmatic monster is unpredictable – sometimes it will follow the team’s plot to the letter, and other times it will break off and do its own thing.  Oddserver’s actions always serve a purpose, one that always benefits Oddserver even if it does little if anything to help the others.  While Oddserver’s nature and motives are mysterious, there are some moments where it shows clear affection for the other villains, and they consider it to be part of the team all the same.

Meta Stuff: Like Swampstomp, Oddserver’s toy is an entirely new sculpt, so it can go a little wild. I like the idea of it working sort of like some of Kenner’s Aliens toys, with lots of little parasitive creatures that can pop off the main body and work as their own monsters, but look like just a normal body part when attached to the main figure.

Griftermister

Character Role: Prankster

Motifs: Goblin, Pranks

Size Class: Scout

Toy Gimmicks: Bug-Out Eyes

Personality: Griftermister has a deep seated inferiority complex that drives him to drag everyone around him through the mud to feel good about himself.  He is always looking for new ways to humiliate and mock others, devoting his life to practical jokes and mean spirited teasing.  A dick to friend and foe alike, the other villains rarely if ever incorporate him into their schemes, and instead try to steer him towards the heroes hoping they’ll distract each other.  Like many of the other villains, he’s somewhat aware of his flaw, but has no idea how to fight it.  The others accept him because he has no one else to turn to, and deep down he does value their friendship – even if he can almost never bring himself to admit it.

Meta Stuff: Griftermister’s goblin head would have a lever disguised as a horn that makes his eyes (and maybe his tongue) extend out ala Rat Fink.

Wailwolf

Character Role: Defeatist

Motifs: Wolf Man, emo kid

Size Class: Deluxe

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: Wailwolf is more acutely aware of how often the villain team fails than anyone else, and dwells on this constantly.  For her, every battle is lost before its begun, and she only trudges on because she knows the others would be hurt if she didn’t join in with them.  While her pessimism can be a bit grating, the others accept her for who she is, and sometimes inspire her with their resolute (if somewhat naïve) optimism.  Or, in short, she’s basically Eeyore.

Meta Stuff: Wailwolf would reuse some of Snakeman’s sculpt, though she might require a different torso in addition to new head, hand, and feet sculpts.

Jinxlinx

Character Role: Silver Age Villain

Motifs: Black Cat, Theme Obsession

Size Class: Basic

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: Jinxlinx is basically every Silver Age Batman villain, having an all-consuming obsession with sticking to a particular theme for his crimes.  This presents several problems, as Jinxlinx never keeps to one theme for very long, and the themes he does choose are almost always terrible and difficult to integrate into crime.  The other villains try to accommodate this obsession, but it’s very hard for the aforementioned reasons.  Jinxlinx is a very enthusiastic henchmen when things go his way, but panics once things fall apart.

Meta Stuff: Jinxlinx would have his own sculpt, though he may reuse arms and legs from Baron Skeleton’s toy.

Ratfang and Batfang

Character Role: Those Two Henchmen

Motifs: Rats, Bats, evil twins

Size Class: Scout

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: Ratfang and Batfang are less defined by their own quirks and more by their shared dynamic. The two are never seen apart and spend most of their screentime making snarky comments, essentially being the Statler and Waldorf of the show.  They’re the lowest ranking of the named henchmen, but can be pretty competent despite their lack of special powers.  They prefer to just crack jokes though, and their main contribution to the show is their banter.  They cannot stand to be separated.

Meta Stuff: Ratfang and Batfang would have very similar head designs, and both would wear re-colored versions of the standard Henchskull uniform.  Like Newbie, they were only recently promoted from Faceless Goon to Named Henchmen.

Henchskulls

Character Role: Faceless Goons

Motifs: Cobra Troopers

Size Class: Scout

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: As a legion of incompetent soldiers, the Henchskulls are technically varied in personality, but we generally only get hints of it.  Normally they’re just go-fers and minions, though most of the villains know their names and treat them like the individual people they are (which is slightly humorous since their uniforms make them all look identical). The Henchskulls are terrible at villainy, but to be fair, their leadership isn’t much better.

Meta Stuff: The henchskulls’ outfits would be similar to Baron Skeleton’s, but less elaborate. Their masks would conceal their faces and look vaguely skull like.  More than a few characters are retools/redecos of the Henchskull sculpt.

Hero Team

Captain Touchdown

Character role: The Hero

Motifs: Football, Superhero

Size Class: Deluxe

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: As the leader of the heroes, Captain Touchdown comes the closest to embodying the ideals they’re supposed to stand for.  In D&D terms, he is every bad stereotype about Lawful Good characters: a goody two-shoes who insists on playing by the book and insists that everyone do things his way because it’s “right.”  While many of Captain Touchdown’s beliefs are noble, he’s hampered by his completely lack of empathy – he cannot understand the idea that people think differently than him, or that anyone would be dissatisfied with the status quo.  “The complainer is always wrong” is practically his motto, and most of the conflicts between his team and Baron Skeleton’s is rooted in his inability to accept different points of view.  While never explicitly malicious, there is a smarmy air of condescension in how Captain Touchdown interacts with others, and he treats all of his peers as if they’re ignorant children who need to be told how the world works rather than, y’know, his equals.

Meta Stuff: though Captain Touchdown’s overall design should feel very Superman-ish, like Baron Skeleton, he should also have a few slightly medieval/fantasy touches.  The Football theme could be used a bit here – maybe finding some middle ground between football shoulder pads and armor?

Cheerally

Character role: The Girl

Motifs: Cheerleader, Ultra-Femininity

Size Class: Scout

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: Cheerally is basically the anthropomorphic personification of what toy companies think girls act like and desire.  She dresses in pink and pastels, she loves ponies and cute things, and her role on the team is essentially to provide moral support and act as a sort of surrogate mother. None of these traits are negative, of course, but Cheerally doesn’t get a great deal of respect in the group because of her perceived role, and rarely feels comfortable voicing her opinions. She’s somewhat aware of the fact that she’s not quite getting a fair deal, but she doesn’t know how to get the others to listen to her concerns.

Meta Stuff: If we were going super meta, Cheerally probably wouldn’t even HAVE a toy in the toyline, as the token girls of these shows often weren’t expected to sell merchandise well.  But let’s be nice and give her a toyetic deisgn anyway – albeit one that’s unique, since she probably wouldn’t be likely to get many retools.

Hooper Trooper

Character role: The Lancer

Motifs: Basketball, Future Warrior

Size Class: Basic

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: Hooper Trooper is the second in command of the Hero Team, though that doesn’t mean a whole lot.  In a more complex take on hero team dynamics, he’d be a foil to Captain Touchdown, but since 80’s hero teams hated interpersonal strife, he’s basically little more than a slightly more lax copy of his leader, and generally just acts as a yes-man.

Meta Stuff: His head is a giant basketball, and maybe removable?

Basebarian

Character role: The Big Guy

Motifs: Baseball, Barbarian, Caveman

Size Class: Mega

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: The big guy to the hero team, Basebarian isn’t particularly smart, but he’s got a lot of muscle.  His ignorance will often be treated as a joke by the other heroes, and often people laugh at him without him truly understanding why.  Thankfully, he’s not aware enough to realize just how poorly he’s being treated, and takes it all in stride.

Meta Stuff: Though he lacks an overt gimmick like the other mega figures, Basebarian does have multiple trick baseball accessories – including one that’s on fire, one covered in buzzsaws, etc.

Rockem Soccer

Character role: The Smart Guy

Motifs: Soccer, Cyborg

Size Class: Basic

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: Explicitly part robot and part man, Rockem Soccer is the smartest of the core five members of the hero team, although that doesn’t extend beyond memorizing a lot of facts and trivia – none of the team are very big on creative problem solving.  Though his intellectualism is sometimes a boon, more often the not it just annoys his team-mates, who often tell him to stop rattling off his useless trivia.

Meta Stuff: Rockem Soccer would probably reuse some parts from Hooper Trooper, though his legs would have to be entirely new pieces.

Pukamok

Character role: The Loose Canon

Motifs: Hockey, Mad Max

Size Class: Deluxe

Toy Gimmicks: Puck-Canons

Personality: An aloof ally, Pukamok is sarcastic and far less “goodie goodie” than the other heroes, almost fitting better with the villain team.  There is constant tension when he does work with the heroes, as his personality does not mesh well with their high standards of how heroes should act. He tends to struggle to win against the villains a lot more too – some would say it’s because of his independent streak, though others might note that the other heroes do little to include him or look out for his safety.

Meta Stuff: Pukamok’s toy would probably reuse parts from both the hero AND villain figures, as well as some new pieces.

Wrekracket

Character role: The Tomboy

Motifs: Tennis, Rock & Roll, Amazon Warrior

Size Class: Basic

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: Aggressive, masculine, and itching for a fight, Wrekracket is the obligatory tomboy to Cheerally’s girly girl.  As per tradition, those two do not get along well, and also as per tradition, the other team members tend to take Cheerally’s side.  Like Pukamok, Wrekracket is one of the least content heroes, and one the others fear may switch sides.

Meta Stuff: Wrekracket would use some parts from Spinestra’s mold, to further emphasize how she’s straddling the line between “hero” and “villain.”

Fortempo

Character role: Aquaman

Motifs: Marching Band

Size Class: Scout

Toy Gimmicks: Projectile-Launching Tuba

Personality: While technically a part of the hero team, Fortempo is generally shunted to the side under the assumption that his powers aren’t terrible useful – after all, how useful can music really be in the fight against evil?  Fortempo desperately wants to prove he’s just a good a hero as the others, but he is rarely given the opportunity.

Meta Stuff: Fortempo’s toy would be a heavily altered version of the Henchskull sculpt, and might even have the tassle-y shoulder bits from Baron Skeleton’s toy.  Again, this would be foreshadowing that he’s one of the heroes that’s on the margins.

The Council

Character role: Ineffectual Higher Power

Motifs: Student Council, the Guardians of Oa

Size Class: Scout

Toy Gimmicks: N/A

Personality: Presented as a sort of ultimate force of good that the heroes ostensibly answer to, the Council never uses their supposed power and does little more than occasionally give orders and evaluations of the Heroes.  Though they demand that their authority should be respected, they do little to show they deserve that authority, and yet few of the heroes ever question them.