Kobra Khan
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Kobra Khan is a character in the popular toy line and cartoon series Masters of the Universe.
A member of the evil warriors, he is a cross between a man and a cobra, who has the power to spray a 'sleep mist' from his hood which immediately renders his opponent unconscious. Although generally recognized as a member of Skeletor's evil team, in many mediums he serves a dual allegiance to both Skeletor and King Hiss of the Snake Men.
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[edit] Character history
[edit] Action figure
Kobra Khan was introduced into the Masters of the Universe toy line in 1984. His action figure's special feature was to spray water. The figure's head was removable and the hollow torso could be filled with water, so that when the head was back in place, it could be pushed down to spray water from its mouth.
[edit] Filmation Animated Series
Kobra Khan appeared on the cartoon shortly after his figure was released. He was one of the few evil warriors on the cartoon to be portrayed in a darker, more serious manner as opposed to being used for comedy value. He was usually paired with Webstor and the two of them were often seen to work independently as a duo. They were first paired in the episode "Disappearing Dragons" which portrayed Khan as the leader of the two. He was portrayed as a sly, scheming and sullen character, capable of taking on numerous opponents at once with his sleep mist. Never fearful or bumbling around the heroic characters, his low, whisper-like, hissing voice provided by Lou Scheimer enhanced the portrayal of him as a reserved and sinister character.
In the episode "The Good Shall Survive" he demonstrated the power to elongate his arms to grasp his opponent before spraying them (which may have influenced Mattel in the development of the later character Sssqueeze), while the final produced episode of the series, "The Cold Zone", focused exclusively on Kobra Khan and his race, the Reptons. We learn in this episode that the Reptons inhabit a quiet underground kingdom beneath a stone pyramid, and are a peaceful race who regard Khan as a traitor since he left them to join Skeletor's forces. The episode's plot features Khan seeking the help of He-Man and his companions in relighting the furnace that heats the Reptons' kingdom, which has been extinguished by an unknown intruder. As the plot unfolds, it turns out that it was in fact Khan himself who extinguished the flame, and the Repton's ruler, King Pythos, has offered to grant the crown of the Reptons to whoever can expose the guilty party. Therefore, Khan has concocted an elaborate scheme to frame He-Man for the crime so that he can become ruler of the Reptons upon exposing He-Man as guilty. Showcasing Khan's effectiveness as a villain via his independence and his subtle, sly concoction of schemes, this is his strongest episode of the series.
Other members of the Reptons seen in this episode are King Pythos, an unnamed Chancellor, and the court jester, Scales, who reveals Khan as the true criminal. Although this episode was made long before the idea of the Snake Men was conceived by Mattel, it is generally considered by fans that the Reptons are a sub-division of the Snake Men who were permitted to remain on Eternia after defecting from the side of King Hiss.
[edit] Later mini-comics/Other Mediums
When the Snake Men were introduced into the MOTU toy line in 1986, it naturally made sense for Mattel to link them with Kobra Khan, and thus his figure was repackaged and re-issued as a Snake Man. As the Snake Men were villains from thousands of years ago resurrected on present-day Eternia, it was clear that Khan could not be one of the original members, so in the mini-comic "King of the Snake Men", when King Hiss formed an alliance with Skeletor. Khan agreed to join them, but primarily as a spy for Skeletor so that he could report on King Hiss' actions and ensure he did not surpass Skeletor's threat to Eternia. A special Snake-Man Kobra Khan figure was made in Argentina, under the name "Kobra Khan Camouflage". The figure was painted in camo with a silver Snake Men logo on his chest.
This storyline was built upon in the UK comic series published by London Editions. Khan was portrayed as a spy, as in the mini-comic- but a highly disloyal one, who would inform King Hiss of Skeletor's actions as much as he would vice versa. In one of the comics it was stated that despite his dual allegiance, Khan was really only working for one person- himself. This fit in well with his cartoon persona, as an independent villain whose main concern was to gain power for himself.
[edit] 2002 series
Kobra Khan was re-used in the 2002 relaunch of the Masters of the Universe toy line and cartoon series. A major change to his character was that both his fangs and hood would spit poisonous venom instead of sleep mist, and his figure was packaged as 'Venom Spitting Khan', possibly due to legal issues over the Mortal Kombat character Kobra. Khan also seemed easily able to vary the intensity of his venom as he chose fit, from a painful irritant (blinding opponents eyes, without inflicting permanent damage), to an incredibly powerful acid (that was able to instantly melt metal and Zodak's helmet). He was introduced in the episode "Snake Pit", in which he was presented as a dangerous criminal who escaped from the Royal Palace dungeons after years of imprisonment. He fled to Snake Mountain where he pledged allegiance to Skeletor, but his real plan was to delve deep beneath Snake Mountain to find the Snake Pit, the portal to the void in which his ancestors, King Hiss and the Snake Men, were imprisoned. His scheme was foiled by He-Man and Zodak before it could succeed, but he did manage to free General Rattlor, and the two of them resurfaced in the final episode of the show's first season, "Council of Evil part 2" in which Khan made a deal with Evil-Lyn that he would free her and the other evil warriors from the Masters' jail providing she assisted him and Rattlor in freeing King Hiss. She kept her part of the bargain, and in the episode "Rise of the Snake Men part 1" the Snake Men were finally released. Khan joined his ancestors in their new conquest of Eternia, but he was treated with disrespect by the other Snake Men, purely because he was a descendant and not one of their original army. King Hiss however did seem to take a shine to Khan and seemed to be quite impressed by his loyalty.
Khan's personality was largely different from his 1980s incarnation. Although he still retained a portion of his independent and scheming nature, he was presented with a more youthful personality. When he knelt and crawled before the newly freed King Hiss, Evil-Lyn asked why and General Rattlor explained that Khan was but a puny descendant of the true Snake Men. (Other descendants of the first Snake Men have not been shown however.) Khan was rather squemish and was a groveling bootlicker for King Hiss, doing his best to win favor in his King's eyes and outdo his rival for that favor, General Rattlor. Ironically Khan appears to be a better fighter than Rattlor as when the General battles the cosmic warrior, Zodak, he is always easily defeated whilst on the one occasion when Khan and Zodak fought, Khan swiftly overpowered the cosmic warrior. Also in the episode Snake Pit he proved himself an extremely effective fighter against He-Man and the Masters.
[edit] Trivia
The character of Fang Man, who appeared in the early stages of the 1980s cartoon series but never in action figure form, was more than likely an early version of Khan. Although in his cartoon appearance the only similarity was that he was reptillian, his description in the show's Series Bible is remarkably similar to Khan, describing him as having the power to spray a sleep gas at his opponents.
