Everything about Evil-lyn totally explained
Evil-Lyn is a
fictional character in the popular
Masters of the Universe toy line and the accompanying cartoon series
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
The only female member of the Evil Warriors, she's an evil
witch who aids
Skeletor as his second-in-command with her powers of darkness. She is vastly more intelligent than Skeletor's other minions and often comes much closer to defeating
He-Man than anyone else (It is often also suggested that she's more cunning than even Skeletor himself, and is merely a member of his ranks while it suits her own purposes). She regularly uses the crystal ball atop her wand to aid with her magic.
Character history
Action figure
Evil-Lyn was introduced into the Masters of the Universe toy line in 1983, to add a female character to the Evil Warriors for gender diversity. Initially envisioned as an evil warrior-goddess and counterpart to
Teela, her action figure is identical to Teela's in everything other than color scheme, head mould and accessories. Although the original figure has bright yellow skin, none of the subsequent depictions of Evil-Lyn in other media, with the exception of a few.
Cartoon
Evil-Lyn's appearance in the cartoon series by
Filmation is somewhat modified; her helmet and clothing are black and purple rather than blue and includes a black cape, and her skin a pale Caucasian flesh tone rather than deep yellow like the action figure. In one episode, "The Witch and the Warrior", it was revealed that she'd white short hair under her helmet.
Introduced in the pilot episode "Diamond Ray of Disappearance", she's quickly established as one of Skeletor's main accomplices, capable of using all manner of magic spells to battle against the Heroic Warriors. She also frequently employs the use of magical disguises to trick the good guys, in episodes such as "The Shaping Staff", "The Curse of the Spellstone", "Evil-Lyn's Plot" and "The Royal Cousin".
She is also shown to frequently branch out on her own and conduct her own schemes away from Skeletor in episodes such as "Ordeal in the Darklands"; also using her services to aid other villains in "The Defection" and "Eternal Darkness". There seems to be a kind of rivalry between her and Teela, based purely on the fact they're the only women in their respective armies. Although she's seen to have a similar feud with the sorceress Sybiline, as seen in "The Defection".
This is brought to the forefront in the episode "The Witch and the Warrior", Evil-Lyn's strongest episode of the series, in which she's forced into making an uneasy alliance with Teela when the two of them are stranded in the desert together. As well as showing a degree of respect for Teela's skills and intelligence above the levels of pure evil, she also reveals in this episode that she's only working for Skeletor so she can overthrow him once he conquers Eternia.
With her intelligence, fearlessness and her incredible magic skills, Evil-Lyn is clearly Skeletor's most powerful, not to mention reliable ally, often left in charge when he's away from
Snake Mountain. Other episodes that feature her working independently of Skeletor include "Journey to Stone City" and "No Job Too Small".
Although her background is never mentioned in the series, the series bible explains she was once a scientist from
Earth called Evelyn Powers, who was on board
Marlena Glenn's space craft before it crash-landed on Eternia. Evelyn had been insanely jealous of Marlena for being chosen over her to pilot the shuttle. When the ship crashed as the result of an explosion from Skeletor's homeworld of Infinita, Evelyn wound up on Infinita, where the evil powers of that world turned her knowledge of science into sorcery to aid Skeletor. This origin is used in a storybook entitled "New Champions of Eternia" but was unpopular with the show's writers and therefore never alluded to in the cartoon.
The film
Evil-Lyn featurs in the 1987 live action film
Masters of the Universe. Played by
Meg Foster, she's shown as Skeletor's main sidekick as in the cartoon, although the film adds an extra dimension to her relationship with Skeletor by indicating a love interest between the two. In one scene, Skeletor indicates that he depends upon Evil-Lyn to portray the image of him as ruler to the people of Eternia. While sharing the desire for power between them, Evil-Lyn's calm and seductive approach is shown to soothe Skeletor's wrath and mania in his moments of hysteria.
Any attempt Evil-Lyn makes to stand closer or equal to Skeletor is quickly deflected in the film. After Skeletor punishes his minions for failure, Evil-Lyn attempts to speak on their behalf. This stance prompts Skeletor to force her into control of his troops on their second mission to
Earth to track down the heroes. She succeeds in capturing the Cosmic Key, but Skeletor again disregards her when she reports that she's failed to deal with He-Man.
In the final stages of the film, she deserts Skeletor after he absorbs the power of the universe without sharing it with her. This remains consistent with the various portrayals of the character as scheming and willing to turn on Skeletor from the mini-comics,
Filmation series, and 2002 series. Evil-Lyn isn't depicted as a powerful magic-wielder in the film (although it isn't stated that she doesn't have such powers either) and doesn't carry her distinctive orb-staff. In the film she rarely uses magic, although in one scene she casts an illusion to make herself appear to be the dead mother of Julie and also uses her powers to keep the door of the music store closed while Julie brings her the Cosmic Key.
Kevin Corrigan, a human teenager, describes Evil-Lyn's eyes as "strange" during the film. Although no explanation for this is given on screen, Evil-Lyn doesn't even blink her eyes at the bright light cast from Skeletor's transformation. All of the other characters present, including He-Man, cover their eyes or turn away.
2002 series
Evil-Lyn returns for the
2002 relaunch of the Masters of the Universe toy line and cartoon series. While her portrayal in the new show is very much in-keeping with the original series, her background is expanded upon in the new series. She is revealed to be the daughter of a mysterious sorcerer known only as "
the Faceless One", who lives in isolation amongst the ruins of Zalesia and is the guardian of a precious object called the Ram Stone. The Faceless One disapproves of his daughter's servitude of the evil forces and hopes that someday she'll learn the error of her ways. The episode "Lessons" indicates that she still feels a familial bond with her father when she returns the Ram Stone to him after it was used by Skeletor in an attempt to breach
Castle Grayskull.
The show's second season expands considerably on the theme of her disloyalty to Skeletor, as well as showcasing her origins. Unbeknownst to Skeletor, Evil-Lyn forms a secret alliance with
Kobra Khan to free
King Hiss and the
Snake Men, whom she believes will grant her greater power than Skeletor. After the release of the Snake Men, Skeletor seeks to punish her by banishing her to the Forsaken Realm in the episode "The Price of Deceit". This episode features a flashback to the time she first met Skeletor, when he was still in the form of
Keldor. The young Evil-Lyn had managed to impress Keldor with her great knowledge and power, had fallen in love with him and played a part in saving his life. After his injury at the hands of
King Randor, she'd taken him to the altar of
Hordak, who gave him new life by turning him into Skeletor. After the transformation, Skeletor became more and more twisted and evil, causing the love between him and Evil-Lyn to fade as Evil-Lyn grew more twisted and desired to overcome Skeletor rather than work alongside him. This episode also indicates there are sparks of good left within her as she considers defecting to the side of good after He-Man saves her life following a call for help from her father.
Later, in the episode "The Power of Grayskull" Evil-Lyn learns that Skeletor promised to free Hordak from the dimension of Despondos in return for having his life saved, but chose instead to destroy his sanctuary, knowing that Hordak could easily destroy him. She therefore chooses to free Hordak by herself in order to gain the power that she needs, and once again concocts a scheme behind Skeletor's back, allying with
Count Marzo in the episode "History" to free Hordak from Despondos. Failing in her scheme, she vows to continue until she's freed Hordak. This plot was going to be expanded upon in the show's third season, but the cartoon was cancelled before any further episodes could be produced.
Minicomic appearances
Evil-Lyn only appears in six minicomics. She has yellow skin and is shown to be treacherous and deceiving. She even leaves
Skeletor and tries to join forces with
Hordak.
Four Horsemen Studios
At the 2006
Comic-Con International in San Diego,
Four Horsemen Studios offered an exclusive
mini statue of Evil-Lyn, as part of the line that serves as a continuation of the discontinued 2002 Mattel action figures. The mini statue was painted in the traditional blue and yellow colors. The statue was also be released in Series 5 of the ministatue line in 2007, in the new purple color scheme.
Other media
Evil-Lyn appears in the
Robot Chicken episode "Badunkadunk." On the Eternia News Network, she's set to appear alongside Teela in the upcoming series "Country Folks 'R' Morons."
Rachael Leigh Cook voices Evil-Lyn in the episode "Shoe." She was with Skeletor when He-Man was accidentally killed by Beast Man. When the three of them are hiding in the Snake Mountain bathroom, she told Skeletor that she was turning over a new leaf and becoming "Good-Lyn." Skeletor also thought that Evil-Lyn's name was Evelyn all that time.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Evil-lyn'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://evil-lyn.totallyexplained.com">Evil-Lyn Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
