#matel

The afterlife of a 1980s movie prop can sometimes be weirder than the movies themselves. Let’s talk about the absolute GLOW-UP and recycling journey of Saurod from the 1987 Masters of the Universe film.

First off, Saurod was a total vibe. He was one of three "movie original" characters created because Mattel didn’t want their precious A-list toys like Beast Man or Trap Jaw dying on screen. That, of course, didn't exclude him from becoming a toy himself, joining the likes of Beastman, Skeletor, and Ram Man in every 80's kid's toybox.

For the film, he was designed by the legendary William Stout (the mind behind Conan the Barbarian and Return of the Living Dead) to be a "believable" lizard-man—basically a reptilian mercenary in bronze cobra-hooded armor with literal venom syringes built into his face mask.

Michael Westmore (the GOAT who did Star Trek) designed the prosthetics, but because MOTU was a non-union production and he was union, he couldn’t actually be on set. He had to hand off the application to a team of "ghost" artists like Emmy-winner Todd McIntosh (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) to get the lizard skin just right on actor Pons Maar (Return to Oz’s Lead Wheeler and the physical performer for Theodore Rex).

Saurod serves as one of Skeletor's mercenaries in the film, introduced in a rogue's gallery line-up scene that is a not-so-subtle xerox of the bounty hunter scene from The Empire Strikes Back (1980). All the characters step towards the camera for their introductions and their accompanying individual music riffs; they're all pretty cool, but Saurod is a cut above. His armor is sick, his eyes are scary, he's making creepy gurgly sounds that have to be coming from that pulsing neck, and he literally slithers out of the shadows for his close-up. He even gets to show off some sharp claws later. My boy's got the TOOLS, and he's got the TALENT!

Ultimately, our mean green machine ends up as Skeletor’s emotional support punching bag for exactly three minutes.

This man showed up in head-to-toe tactical reptile armor looking like he was ready to carry a whole franchise on his scaly back only for skeletor to go “you didn’t find the magic harmonica fast enough” and vaporize him into a pile of glitter.

When Cannon Films went bankrupt, Saurod’s soul didn’t go to Eternia—it went to the clearance bin. Since the MOTU sequel was canceled, the armor was stripped and reused for DECADES. Enter: Fred Olen Ray, Low-Budget schlockmeister extrodinaire, he facilitated the Saurod costume's extended life in the 90s B-movie circuit.

It made a brief appearance in Cyberzone (1995), video-chatting with action icon Matthias Hues (I Come in Peace).

Saurod returned again as the MAIN VILLAIN in the 1996 B-movie Star Hunter. They just spray-painted the bronze helmet silver, slapped in some red lenses, and called it a day.

Most of the MOTU scrap-heap ended up in Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Cyborg (1989), which was famously the MOTU 2 script with the names changed.

Fast forward to 2020: Steven Kostanski gives us Star Stryker 77 in Psycho Goreman. While not a direct copy, the DNA is undeniable. That "toyetic" bronze armor and very familiar high-concept helmet are placed on yet another lizard man. Considering Kostanski’s nostalgic love for 80s practical effects, it’s not a stretch to imagine he was one of the many kids who fell in love with that original design.

So there you have it, Saurod remains a cult icon because he perfectly balances top-tier character design with a hilariously tragic legacy. He looks like a high-stakes sci-fi assassin, yet he exists purely to be Skeletor’s most overqualified victim.

Between his "spark-shooting" toy and his blink-and-you-miss-it movie career, he has become the ultimate underdog—a reptilian fashion icon whose lasting fame is built entirely on being the coolest guy to ever fail a job interview.

Moral of the story: If you’re a weird lizard man in a 1987 flop, don’t worry. You’ll eventually become a cult icon and a silver-painted alien hunter in a straight-to-VHS masterpiece. 🦎🛡️✨