Musings on Various Thundercats Characters

Anyone who knows me knows how much I like Alluro.  He is my favorite character from Thundercats.  I like Alluro for many reasons.  First of all, I love the concept of a psyche club, and wish I had one.  What a kick-ass weapon!  That is, without a doubt, the coolest weapon on the show.  I want one myself.  Imagine how easy things could be with one of those: "Yes, boss, you will give me that raise.  You have no choice, you are under my power!" and "No, sir, I was here on Friday.  You will not dock my vacation time."  Or how about when dealing with my little boy when he acts up?   "Give up, child! You know you are tired and wish to go to sleep now."

Although for a long time I called Tygra my favorite Thundercat, it's really hard to decide who I like more: him or Cheetara.  The truth is I really like them both.  I like Tygra because I have some personality traits in common with him.  I'm a natural introvert and have a scientific mind.  I'm no architect, granted, but I am a scientist and do QC work for a living, so I share that attention to detail.  I've also got a touch of the escapist in me, and can definitely identify with his weakness for the addictive substances.  My vice is more beer and junk food rather than silky fruit, but still, I understand where he's coming from.

As far as the character himself, his whip is very cool, his mind powers (even if we do hardly ever get to see them) rock, and he's pretty attractive.  Some ladies like Lion-O, but give me one of the tigers any day.  (Yes, Bengali is also hot, for a cat-man!)

Back when I first saw Thundercats as a kid, Cheetara was my absolute favorite, for some of the same reasons I still like her.  She's a pretty female character who isn't a wimp (hello Princess Allura of Voltron) and can kick some ass.  Her sixth sense is a very intriguing character trait and I like that one of her personality flaws isn't the stereotypical "girl that needs rescuing" but a touch of overconfidence and pride.  She still remains one of my favorite Thundercat characters to write in fan fiction, and I roleplayed her in a few Thundercat RPGs I used to participate in.

Not surprisingly, most of these are villains.  In general, the bad guys are more interesting to me than the good guys.  I write them, I roleplay them, and I try to get into their heads because they're not only interesting personalities, but they're fun.

   

Mumm-Ra is a fun character because he has awesome magical powers, a really evil laugh, and he lives in the ultimate bad-guy place, the black pyramid.  He's just an all-around powerful "gotta love 'im" villain!  Plus, he has a dog.  A dog he, the Ever-Living Source of Evil, even admits he loves.  (Yes, he actually said "I love you too" to Ma-Mutt in Thundercats Ho! Part One when he woke up Ma-Mutt out of that painting!)  Anyone who has pets and loves them can't be all bad, right?  Ok, maybe he can, but it's nice to know that even the ever-living source of evil can have feelings for something.

Mumm-Ra is also entertaining as hell!  He tells it like it is with a nice dose of sarcasm, and will not hesitate to whip out some red lightning to roast anyone that tries to give him crap.  You have to get a kick out of that, even if he is generally trying to do horrible, nasty things and terrorize the planet.  Naturally, that is the very reason he can't fry the Thundercats, because they are usually in the right and he is the evildoer doing his evil (as those Ever-Living Sources of Evil tend to), and this is a kid's show where good always triumphs over evil.  Still, one has to admire Mumm-Ra's determination and persistence in trying to take Third Earth, and later New Thundera, for himself.  If you think about it, even he adopted a moral from the show, the one some of us remember Cheetara spouting in those Toonami advertising blurbs for the show back when Thundercats was being aired on Cartoon Network: "You're never trapped until you stop trying."  You won't find a better example of this than Mumm-Ra himself.  He's a persistent bugger, and you never know, one day he might just succeed.

In summary, Thundercats wouldn't have been as good as it was without Mumm-Ra around to keep them on their toes.

Although I like all the Lunatacs and could go on at length as to why I like them all, and I already explained above why I'm fond of Alluro, I have to give a special mention to Chilla as well.  Much like Cheetara, Chilla is also a strong and beautiful female character.  She's arguably the most dangerous of any of the Lunatacs, and her temper is one anyone wise should fear the most as she can either ice you or fry you depending on her mood.  She's also got a short fuse.  If she had more ambition, she'd be the leader without a doubt, but one of the things that makes Chilla interesting is that she's more a warrior than anything else.  She'd be lost in a position of leadership because she's got zip in diplomatic skills and although she's undoubtedly intelligent, she doesn't seem to have the kind of vision to see through some grand plan of ruling a world.  As long as Chilla gets what she wants (respect and the spoils of victory) she's satisfied.

Not surprisingly, my favorite pairing in all of Thundercats is Alluro/Chilla.  The two of them have an interesting dynamic together, and a few ego clashes notwithstanding, I think they would make quite a formidable pair.  Forget the debates about Lion-O/Cheetara or Tygra/Cheetara as an OTP; Alluro/Chilla blows them both out of the water with potential.

Of the evil Mutants, my favorite is Vultureman, the avian inventor who inexplicably appeared on Third Earth one day.  No one knows how exactly he came to be on Third Earth, but I'm glad he did.  He's quite a lot of fun, a quirky inventor whose gadgets are capable of mass destruction and eventually, mass self-destruction when they explode.  He's got an attitude, and on more than one occasion has left what he considers the intellectual wasteland of Castle Plundarr only to go on his own or work with the Lunatacs only to return when that doesn't quite work out as planned.  He was the only Mutant smart enough not to get suckered in by Captain Bragg, but got captured anyway because Slythe was horny and wanted to see Marvelous Merna and took him along for the ride.  He also has the distinction of being the only Mutant to escape prison in an intergalactic bookmobile.

One of the great things about Thundercats is its number of background characters and races that show up in various episodes.  My favorite supporting character group is the Warrior Maidens.  Although the fact that they're strong female characters and also pretty are marks in their favor, the fact that I'm a country girl who likes the outdoors and lives in a rural area, knows her plants, flowers, herbs, and berries, likes gardening, and all that nature granola stuff also endears them to me.  While I enjoy my creature comforts and certainly have no desire to live in a tree house and shoot arrows, I find them fun to write and read about.

So there you have it... some insight into the characters in Thundercats that I really like. As for ones I dislike, to be honest there aren't that many and the ones that make me cringe were mostly one or two-shots that I don't feel like going on about.  The regular characters that can be annoying (sorry, Snarfer!) still have their fun moments, so I can't say I really hate them, and honestly, the show wouldn't be the same without them.

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