The Work[]
Mighty Max is an animated TV series that aired beginning in 1993, and is based off of the toyline of the same name. The series follows Max, an adventure-seeking boy who is in possession of a magical cap that can create portals. With his cap, Max and his allies, an anthropomorphic fowl (or specifically Lemurian) named Virgil and a warrior named Norman, go on adventures, and Max is destined to defeat the Big Bad of the series, the Skullmaster.
This specific proposal deals with the 2nd season's 11th episode "Souls of Talon", which can be watched here.
The Candidate[]
The eponymous Talon is an immortal soul-eating skull from the astral plane who is carried by a large bird, and who plans to devour all of the souls on Earth.
Talon's origins are unknown. He first appears approaching the gate that connects the astral plane to Earth, and expresses his intentions to feast on human souls to the gatekeeper after having been trapped for millenia. However, the gatekeeper refuses to let him pass, as Talon does not have the cap of the Mighty One. In retaliation, Talon's bird damages the gate, resulting in natural disasters occurring on Earth.
After detecting this disturbance in the astral plane, Max, Virgil, and Norman head to the portal from Earth to the astral plane. Virgil warns Max not to enter the portal before he is ready, but an impatient Max sets foot through it anyway. Now able to fly, Max explores the astral plane. Soon after, however, Talon discovers Max with his cap, and gives chase to Max. Max escapes into a cave, and encounters a dead-end with piles of treasure. He finds a disc and puts it in his pocket, but is then chased out of the cave by two gargoyle-like creatures. After escaping, Max encounters an immobile Talon, and notices numerous souls trapped inside one of Talon's eye sockets. Just then, Talon's bird swoops in, and Talon chases after Max once again. His bird manages to steal Max's cap, and Talon heads back to the gate, and this time the gatekeeper lets him pass through, allowing Talon to enters Earth.
Realizing that Talon is about to wreak havoc on Earth, Max goes to the astral gate. With some talking, Max is able to convince the gatekeeper that he is the Mighty One despite not having his cap, and he heads back to Earth. Virgil says to Max that as long as Talon's disc of immortality is still intact, there is nothing they can do to stop him. Realizing that he had picked up that disc of immortality, Max shows Virgil the disc, and Virgil says that since the disc is on Earth, Talon is now vulnerable.
Max, Virgil, and Norman head back to Manhattan, where Talon is devouring the souls of its denizens. Max flaunts Talon's disc to lure Talon, and the three teleport back to the site of the astral portal, where Talon follows them. Talon finds them and demands that Max hands back the disc; when the latter refuses, Talon attempts to suck him in with his mouth. However, Norman attacks Talon again, and this time successfully drives his bird away due to Talon's mortality. With Talon immobilized, Max smashes one of his pupils with a rock, freeing the souls of all the people Talon terrorized.
Max is hailed as a hero, but shortly thereafter Talon's bird kidnaps Max and returns to Talon. Max threatens to break the disc in half; Talon demands that Max gives his disc back lest his soul gets devoured. Virgil claims that Max is immortal, but Talon threatens to make Max suffer for eternity. Max begins to bend the disc. Talon then attempts to beguile Max by asking if he would like to rule the Earth and the astral domain together forever. However, Max sees through this lie, and suspects that Talon is not the one who "doles out eternity". Max then tosses the disk back through the astral portal; not wanting to lose his immortality, Talon flies back through the portal. The portal closes, trapping Talon in the astral domain once again.
Mitigating Factors[]
None. His appeal to Max about letting him rule the world and the astral domain was a ploy, as Max figured out. Talon is a sentient being capable of understanding morals, as he sadistically takes delight in devouring the souls of people. Although there is somewhat of an entertaining quality about Talon, he is presented and perceived as a serious threat.
Heinous Standards[]
Slightly debatable. Mighty Max has a high heinous standard, owing to its multitude of despicable villains. Apart from the Big Bad Skullmaster (who has an endless rap sheet but also plenty of resources and more screen time), there are also numerous minor villains or one-shots from the animated series that have committed uniquely odious atrocities, including Professor MacDougal (painfully sucking blood out of werewolves so she can become one and maul people), Corpus' Creator (created Corpus to devour everyone in his hometown and subject them to a tortured state inside of Corpus), Cyberskull (attempted to turn reality into a cyber horrorfest, draining the world's electricity, and mind-washing numerous citizens), and Freako the Clown (attempting to transform everyone into deformed monstrosities out of petty vengeance for having been laughed at for his own freakish appearance).
However, I believe that Talon stands out in his own right. Apart from the fact that he had already captured a million souls, nearly managed to steal everyone else's soul on Earth, and expressed intent to devour Max's soul and torture him for eternity if he did not give his disc back, Talon has little to work with. Sure, he has immortality, soul-absorption abilities, and a bird for flight, but apart from his bird, he is working alone. The fact that all of his atrocities are in one episode and not spread out (unlike Skullmaster) makes him stand out even more.
Conclusion[]
A moderately hearty yes from me.