Screeech
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Screeech is a character from the Mattel toy line Masters of the Universe (MOTU), one of the best-selling toy lines of the 1980s.
Packaged as the 'evil fighting falcon', he is a barbaric armored bird in service to Skeletor. The toy was originally designed as an evil counterpart to the heroic character of Zoar, the falcon form of The Sorceress.
[edit] Character history
Screeech was introduced into the MOTU toy line in 1984. He was promoted as an evil counterpart to the character of Zoar, although most story mediums, particularly the cartoon series, were to portray the character as being totally different from Zoar. Throughout most storybooks and comic series, Screeech was portrayed as a pure barbaric bird whose power was sheer brute force, unlike Zoar who was a magical creature and the alternate form of The Sorceress. One of the UK Ladybird Books, "He-Man and the Memory Stone", featured Screeech being sent out by Skeletor to drop an arsenal of deadly bombs on He-Man.
The character's portrayal on the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon series, by Filmation, was completely different to all other mediums. Feeling that a mere evil counterpart to Zoar would diminish the uniqueness of the latter, Filmation's writers completely changed the concept of Screeech, making him a robot rather than an organic bird. The character had a completely different appearance from the toy, being unmistakably mechanical in appearance. Screeech was introduced in the episode "Fraidy Cat" as Skeletor's latest creation, and later appeared in "Visitors From Earth" and "The Toy Maker". The former of these featured Screeech being used in an attack on Castle Grayskull, to desposit an explosive missile beneath the castle's jaw bridge.
Another radically different usage of Screeech, which has always proved highly controversial among fans, was in a US picture book, which stated that Screeech was an alternate form of Evil-Lyn, claiming she "often becomes Screeech, the evil falcon". But this was the only publication to ever state this, for in all other mediums Screeech was male and a completely separate character from Evil-Lyn.
