Skeletor's Virtues - John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

In the Mattel character line-up of He-Man,  the epitome of evil was the character Skeletor.

I submit that Skeletor was gravely misunderstood and that, in fact, he had many admirable qualities.

Skeletor was highly intelligent and very well educated. He was also multicultural. He was literate in, and he fluently spoke, several different languages. In wanting to rule all of the planet Eternia, he was simply ambitious. He had great administrative, technical and financial skills having put together his enclave, Snake Mountain, with all of its capital equipment.

His skills with personnel were incomparable. Imaging trying to supervise subordinates like Kobra Khan and Beast Man. 

He also dealt well with the competition. He had spun off his own operation from that of The Horde which was run by Hordak on the planet Etheria. There was subsequent rivalry, but Skeletor held his own very nicely, thank you.

Skeletor wasn't about to be upstaged by some Johnny-come-lately either such as King Hiss. Even though this other rival was King of the Snake Men, Kobra Khan knew where his own loyalty rightly belonged.

By comparison, He-Man just didn't measure up. As Prince Adam, he was well into adulthood but still living at home with his parents in Castle Greyskull while showing no discernable career aptitudes other than holding a sword over his head every so often while shouting "By the power of Greyskull". Career options for someone with that particular skill set seemed rather dim.

All of this makes me wonder if some of the human resources literature I've seen might do with a little bit of revision.

Or, maybe not.

Comments

[John Dunn]

There's an error up above. King Hiss was indeed King Of The Snake Men, but that was not the group of Volta, Ampère and Ohm.

Oh well. These things happen, I guess.

[Gabor Nagy]

It must have been a heavy stuff you've taken :). It's my childhood, but I forgot these long ago.
Really true: Skeletor really rules with his skill set --- unfortunately his intentions might not have been the right ones to gain popularity.

[John Dunn]

It's my two sons' childhoods actually.

My favorite character was Gwildor, the inventor of The Cosmic Key.

When He-Man first encountered Gwildor and showed his surprise that Gwildor wasn't another Charles Atlas imitator, Gwildor's response was "What? You we're maybe expecting some kind of sponge?"