Though his name is not all threatening, he is one of the most brutal villains to appear in a 90s cartoon.
After my first successful Pure Evil proposal on Lord Nekron, I decided to make another on a villain from the 90s. His name is Skullmaster and he is the main antagonist of Mighty Max as well as the most evil in the show (Or at least in my own opinion that is).
What Is The Work?[]
Mighty Max is a 90s cartoon show based on the toyline of the same name. It is about Max who finds a magical cap that allows him to teleport across time and space. Max is revealed to be the chosen one who is destined to defeat Skullmaster in order to save the world. He is accompanied by Virgil, a wise anthropomorphic owl, and Norman who is an immortal norseman and Max’s bodyguard.
Who Is The Villain?[]
Skullmaster is the main antagonist of the show, being the main protagonist’s main motivation as Max is prophesied to destroy Skullmaster once and for all. However he is not the only villain in the show as he has his minion-Warmonger- whom he mistreats a lot (which prove to bite him in the butt once Warmonger briefly betrays him). Then there are one-shot villains who are mostly not affiliated with Skullmaster, like Spike (a villain who was approved as Pure Evil some time ago). Despite this, Skullmaster is the main big bad as he is the driving force for the hero to stop, from the very beginning of the show to the very end. Being a power hungry and sadistic sorcerer/warrior, his one goal is to rule the world.
He is an ambitious and power hungry warlock that seeks to possess the cosmic cap which serves as a key to other dimensional portals to Earth, and could use to rewrite history. He is also voiced by Tim Curry himself who is known to voice other villains like Hexxus and Dr. Frank-N-Further.
What did he/she do?[]
Prior to Mighty Max[]
Prior to the series, Skullmaster is an evil warlock that is a fusion of both warrior and sorcerer with limitless ambitions for both power and influence. Once being a Lumerian who was taught by Virgil , he soon discovered that the Cosmic Cap (the one the titular protagonist wears) can rewrite history itself which makes him power hungry and malicious. This would be the reason why he into an irredeemable monster that he is now, as his limitless ambitions resulted him to cause the destruction of two civilizations- the Lumerian and Atlanteans. He destroyed the Lumerians out of sheer wrath for not giving him the secret of the key. Then, he went to Atlantis to manipulated the king to convince the people of Atlantis to give their souls to his crystal in order to survive the soon to come the destruction of their city. However, the people refused which resulted to Skullmaster to use his dark powers to tumble the walls of Atlantis which causes flood inside. The Atlanteans were forced to give their souls to the crystal. Skullmaster then killed the king of Atlantis and fled with the crystal, while not letting the souls of the Atlanteans free. This condemned them to a fate worse than death they are left to be neither dead or alive. Skullmaster used the crystal to rule the Earth unopposed for centuries unopposed until the original Cap-Bearer named Maximus (Or chosen one to be precise) leads a group of rebels to dethrone Skullmaster and free the people. However, Maximus was surrounded by Skullmaster and his forces in was trapped thanks to a large cliff. The Cap-Bearer named Maximus resorted to tricking Skullmaster to fall with the Maximus into a portal to the center of the Earth where Skullmaster is imprisoned, leaving his cap behind so that Skullmaster would never return to wreak havoc on the Earth again. Skullmaster dethrone the original ruler of the center named the Lava Lord and became it’s new ruler while using the inhabitants as his slaves.
Season One[]
We first see Skullmaster in the very first episode called “A Bellwether in One’s Cap” using a machine to dig a tunnel to the surface as a way for him to escape from the Center of the Earth. Once Max received the cap and becomes the new Cap-Bearer, Skullmaster sent his lava monster (or Lava Beast in the show) to find Max and “find his beating heart so he could eat it raw”. Max finds Skullmaster’s Lava Monster in Big Ed’s Mini Mart, with the Lava Monster attacking the owner (and presumably kills him) and then chases Max who escapes to Mongolia thanks to a portal caused by Max’s cap. Max, Virgil, and Norman accidently fell into the portal to the underworld due to the Lava Beast. Skullmaster and Max finally met for the first time in Skull Mountain with Skullmaster attempting to kill Max until he (Max) starting to knocks the crystal. Skullmaster catches the crystal before it could land on the ground, allowing Max to escape. Skullmaster finds Max and his companions once again, and once again attempted to kill Max while saying he can’t escape. He threatens Max (Who is a child, mind you) that he would rip his limbs from his body and slowly suck the marrow from his bones. Max use the drill to escape from the Underworld, leaving Skullmaster to be trapped once again. However this does not stop Skullmaster from plotting another attempt to escape.
In “Let Sleeping Dragons Lie”, Skullmaster manipulates a necromancer named Ravendark (Under the guise of Loki) to awaken the Doom Dragon in which would bring the end of the Earth in doing so as an attempt to set Skullmaster free. Skullmaster promised Ravendark that he would set him free from Odin’s curse as well and make him human again without becoming a raven. Max and his friends attempts to stop both Ravendark and Skullmaster/Loki, but fails to do so. The Doom Dragon has successfully awoken, but Skullmaster didn’t fulfill his end of the bargain as soon as Ravendark leaves the cave he transform into a raven (which was part of his curse to walk the Earth as a raven). This proved to be his downfall as Ravendark betrays Skullmaster and foiled his plans. But it resulted to Ravendark to sacrifice himself to break the spell (Basically commited suicide to defeat the dragon in a KIDS SHOW).
In “Bring Me the Head of Mighty Max”, Skullmaster is brooding that he has yet to kill Mighty Max. He decided to use the power of the crystal to summon the Soulless Ones (The undead Atlanteans he imprisoned in the crystal) to kill Max once and for all. One of the Soulless Ones find Max in the Beach, but escaped to a snowy location. However it also failed. Skullmaster vowed one day that Max would be his soon.
He returns yet again in the Season One finale “The Magnificent Seven”, where Max received a haunting nightmare of him being chased by the Soulless Ones and then seeing SKullmaster taunting him. The nightmare ends with Max being swarmed and attacked by the Soulless ones until Max finally awoke and went to Virgil to interpret the dream he had. They went to the four corners of the Earth to recruit the heroes from myth such as Beowulf, Hanuman, Yona Yah In, and Mojanji (Sorry if I didn’t spell the name correctly) to go to Skull Mountain and destroy his crystal to free the Soulless Ones/Atlanteans. Max leads the group of heroes to Skull Mountain to destroy the crystal. Max finally finds the crystal but Skullmaster tries to prevent him from destroying it by attempting to slice him. However Max use the crystal as a shield to block Skullmaster’s attacks which resulted to the souls of the Atlanteans to be set free. Skullmaster was angered and threatens Max with a thousand ways of showing pain and ways to die until he uses his lifeless body on his master table. Max was luckily saved by Hanuman who tackles Skulllmaster in order to buy time for Max to escape. Max and his team of heroes plans to escape through another portal, but Skullmaster has them surrounded thanks to his forces and through Hanuman’s helmet to the Group, to show he killed Hanuman off-screen. Norman, Max, and Virgil escapes but the four heroes didn’t as they needed stall Skullmaster’s forces for the three to escape. We never see them again but it is most likely they didn’t survive and were killed by Skullmaster. Max builds a grave for the four heroes to pay respects, but he is haunted by the thought of them dying which makes him want to quit being the chosen one. This would lead to the events of the season two premiere.
Season Two[]
In the two part season two premiere “Pandora’s Box”, Lava Lord was set free from his imprisonment created by Skullmaster, due to the destruction of the crystal. Lava Lord vowed to have his revenge on Skullmaster for usurping him from his ruler over the Underworld, Skullmaster was watching over on what was going on and claims that Lava Lord’s freedom would lead to his obliteration. Skullmaster is still bitter that Max shattered his crystal, and desire to shatter him once he is set free or if he returns to Skull Mountain. Skullmaster has his troops prepared for the battle between the Lava Lord, but then he soon expects Mighty Max to come to Skull Mountain once again. Once Mighty Max and Virgil returns to SKullmountain, SKullmaster’s troops ambushed them much to his amusement. He ordered his troops to attack Max and his gang, but Norman fought back and helps the group escape, but Virgil was captured by one of Skullmaster’s minions. Max and Norman are saved by the Lava Lord’s Lava Beasts as he thinks they can work together to defeat Skullmaster. Back in Skull Mountain, Virgil is seen chained up and interrogated by Skullmaster whom he tries to persuade Virgil into restoring his crystal so he could change his destiny. Virgil refuses, as what is written in the prophecy cannot be undone much to Skulmaster’s dismay. However Skullmaster tries to convince Virgil as he knows that if he dies, so does Virgil. Mighty Max and Lava Lord teamed up to save Virgil and defeat Skullmaaster through Lava Lord’s mech called Magus. Back at Skull Mountain once again, Skullmaster proposed a partnership between him and Virgil. Virgil was convinced to join Skullmaster in exchange for the cap as long as Skullmaster spares Max. Virgil formulate a plan, and he and Skullmaster start to attack both Lava Lord and Mighty Max, ending the first part. Continuing in part two of “Pandora’s Box”, Skullmaster charges at Max in an attempt to kill him, but Norman saves his life thankfully. Skullmaster have the two cornered (again) but they were saved by Lava Lord’s Magus. Skullmaster calls Lava Lord a coward for hiding behind machines, saying that a true true warrior meet sword-to-sword. SKullmaster and Lava Lord begins their battle, but Skullmaster attacks Lava Lord’s mech from behind where it’s weak spot is located. Skullmaster defeated Lava Lord, but fails to get Might Max’s cap as they escaped to the Magus and used it to fight back. As it turns out, Virgil was not actually working with Skullmaster as he was merely pretending as a way to help Max defeat Skullmaster through the Magus. Once Max appears to Skull Mountain through the Magus, Skullmaster orders his minion, Warmonger, to kill Max in order to get the cap, going against Virgil’s wishes. Skullmaster through a battle ax at Max, but was luckily saved by Norman. He sent his army to attack Max, with Max using the Magus to fight back. Skullmaster was soon betrayed by Virgil, which angers Skullmaster and holds him captive. Max refuses to kill Skullmaster due him holding Virgil captive, Skullmaster claims that if he attempts to kill him then he would end up killing Virgil. Virgil ties to tell Max that he and SKullmaster are destined to die together in the first place, but Max hesitated and he and Skullmaster enters through the portal to surface, releasing Skullmaster and Warmonger into the surface world yet again much to Virgil’s dismay. He and Warmonger escapes thanks to his pet dragon that was waiting for him to return. Skullmaster is now free to wreck havoc on the surface once again.
In the episode “Blood of the Dragon”, Skullmaster goes to a village called Mala Manuka (I really need help on spelling their names correctly) in an unknown jungle. He convinced the villagers to drink the Dragon’s Blood to offer them “Immortality and Power”. However, the Dragon’s Blood only mutates the people of Mala Manuka into lizard monster, turning them into one of Skullmaster’s victims and his new slaves. However one of the villagers escapes, so Skullmaster sends his minion Warmonger to slay him before he could find help. However the villager escapes, but Skullmaster knows he might bring Max and his friend to stop him which gives him a wicked thought of having his revenge. Max and his friends go to the island to save the village, but were attacked by Skullmaster’s dragon and his lizard minions. Max and VIgil are captured and are taken to Skullmaster. In the village, Skullmaster attempts to make Max drink the Dragon’s Blood to convert him to his cause. Thanks to Norman, he saves Max from such fate, Max freed the remaining people who didn’t converted. Skullmaster used his dragon to attempt to kill Max and the villagers, Max makes a deal with Skullmaster that he would give him the cap as long he spares the people. However the cap opens a portal and allows them to escape from Skullmaster.
In the episode “Max VS Max” Skullmaster interrogates a monk in somewhere in a snowy desert. Skullmaster seks a magical book called the “Lumerian-Arcana” ( from now on I’ll call it the Magic Book instead) so that he could use it to restore his crystal. He chained the monk upside-down from a cliff as a way to interrogate him on where is the magic book he seeks. However the munk told him it was located in a long lost city hidden away which even he can’t locate, so Skullmaster chained the monk and let him fall to his death. Skullmaster sends his lizard minions to attack a village, where Max and another named Maximillian (who Virgil presumed is the true Mighty One/Cap-Bearer) are at. Both Maxs repelled Skullmasterr’s forces and force them to retreat on top of a mountain to find the lost city where the magic book he seeks. Maximillian (The so-called true mighty one) revealed himself to be a spy to Skullmaster, as he tells Skullmaster on how he would be able to enter the long lost city. Skullmaster sends his lizard minions to attack the city with the Group inside as an attempt to get the book. Skullmaster went inside a temple that said to contain the book, however it was revealed to be empty much to Skullmaster’s dismay. When Max (the good one) attempts to fight Skullmaster, he merely grabs Max by his shirt and demands to know where the book is. Skullmaster swings out his sword on Max and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t tell him. Virgil demand to have him release Max, only for Skullmaster to demand Virgil to tell him where to find the book or he’ll use his sword to cut a new smile on Max (Who I must remind you is still a kid in the second season). Virgil tells Skullmaster where he hid the book, Skullmaster threaten to show Max unimaginable pain if Virgil deceived him. It was shown that he wasn’t deceived at all, but he didn’t keep his promise as he then put his sword close to Max’s face. He reveals that he merely uses Maximillian as his unwitting slave (who is as old as Max, so Skullmaster just brainwashed an innocent child). Max saved himself by releasing the Yeti to attack Skullmaster, allowing the group to escape. SKullmaster broke free from the Yeti and attempts to escape with his minions and the book but leaves Maximillian behind. Max attempt to stop Skullmaster but fails, but he did rip out a few pages from the magic book without him knowing. In the final scene of the episode, Skullmaster learns that they are a few missing important pages in the book.
“I, Warmonger” is where Skullmaster attempts to disrupt the balance between good and evil by corrupting Hydra, a creature who one head embodies good while the other embodies evil. In doing so would disrupt the balance and cause the end of the world which Skullmaster is aware of but still continues to do the deed. Skullmaster used the Magic book to have Hydra’s evil side to take over his good side. However Warmonger betrays Skullmaster by using the page of control to command Hydra to kill Skullmaster, as he was fed up with being treated like a dog by Skulmaster. Though he was saved by Norman and Max, Skullmaster refused to join them and attempts to kill Max. This resulted in his temporary death as he was soon resurrected at the end of the episode. It was actually his plan to get killed, as he only wanted Max to use Lumerian Sun symbol as he feared its power, and in fact he didn’t die at all but was simply using an illusion.
In the two part series finale “Armageddon Closer & Outta Here”, Skullmaster finally repaired his crystal of souls. Skullmaster uses the crystal to steal the souls of his own minions who are the same people who he mutated into lizard monsters in “Blood of the Dragon” (minus Warmonge whom he spared only because he has other uses for him) to fuel his crystal, giving them the same fate the Atlanteans faced at the hands of Skullmaster. Skullmaster finds his way to an ancient temple that contains the prophecy, where Max and the group are at. Skullmaster orders Warmonger to kill Max but was saved by Norman. Skullmaster wants to obtain the Cap, in order to rule over time itself including the past, present, and future. The Group escape through a portal landed in Turkey. Skullmaster summons almost every villain the Max and his friends have encountered as a means to kill them and take the cap. He attempts to use the Winter Solstice to use the Cap at Stonehenge in order reach Godhood. Norman finally meets his end on-screen hen Skullmaster summons the giant spider, a fate Norma was destined to have. Skullmaster kidnaps Virgil but fails to kidnap Max as Virgil puts him in the Astral plane. Skullmaster sends a projection in the Astral Plane to propose a deal, He’ll kill Virgil unless Max goes to Stonehenge and give him the cap. Max, with the help from Lava Lord, goes to Stonehenge as an attempt to save Virgil. Skullmaster summons Fuath (another Mighty Max villain) to battle Lava Lord and his Magus robot. Fuath was destroyed, but Skullmaster used the crystal of souls to send Lava Lord back to the underworld. Max had no choice but to give him the cap, but Skullmaster kills VIrgil anyways in front of Max. Max angrily tries to attack Skullmaster if it weren’t for Warmonger holding him back. Skullmaster explains his plan to Max, after he finished explaining, he kills Warmonger as part of his “reward”. Skullmaster then puts on the cap which turns into a crown and begins his evil plan, but Max interferes and reseted time back to the beginning of the series. Max now knows what might happen in the future, and Skullmaster is back to phase one but the series ends living it ambiguous of what might happen next.
Mitigating Factor/Freudian Excuse[]
Skullmsster has none what-so-ever, his only excuse for being evil was because he learns of the power the Cosmic Cap is capable of. He only cares for himself, and never keep his promise he makes. The only reason he spared Warmonger on "I, Warmonger" because he was merely using him for his plans and still has use for him until he finally kills him in the final episode. He is also taken completely serious even by the show's standards, which makes him one of the darkest villains to appear in a kids cartoon. You could even compare him to the Lich just on how brutal and vile he is, heck even I feel like he kinda is out of place in the show due to his ruthlessness.
Heinous Standards[]
Let see:
- He destroyed tow civilazations, one of being off-sceen villain but the destruction of Atlantis was shown on-screen via flash-back and we got to see the result through the Soulless Ones.
- He usurped the former ruler of the underworld and used the Lava Beasts as his minions and slaves.
- He constantly uses disturbing death trheats to Max, a child. ne being that he would eat his heart raw, cut a new smile on his face, and use his corpse on his master table.
- He probably hasthe most kills, he killed Hanuman even though it was off-screen, but we see him throw his helmet to Max which was damaged which is likely that Skullmaster killed him. He even did the same with the remaining three heroes who died off-screen to protect Max.
- He attmept to end the world by awakening the Doom Dragon just so he could be free, which resulted to a person commiting suicide to stop it from happeinging.
- Mutated a indigidous tribe into becoming savage lizard monsters into becoming his slaves and imprisoned those who refuse to drink the dragons blood. He attempted to do this to Max as well.
- Killed a monk by making him fall to his death and later brainwashed a child to be his temporary slave and spie.
- Tries to disrupt the balance between good and evil by corrupting Hydra, which would resulted to the end of the world.
- Summons past villains to kill Max and his friends, one of which successfully killed Norman who acts as his gaurdian. He later kills Virgil even though he promised not to but he responed that he did by killing him using exact word. He also rewarded Warmonger by killing him as well whom he constantly abuses and treats like a dog.
- Literally did the same thing he did with the Atlanteans by stealing the souls of the people he mutated into monsters just to fuel his now repaired crystal.
- Later attempts to rewrite history in his image to become a god, while attempting to kill Max who may not be anything new but have to remind you one last time that Max is still a kid, making Skullmaster a little more evil as he ACTUALLY attempted to kill him.
Yeah he stands out, becase even in the world of Mighty Max where both mythical creatures and even aliens exist, Skullmaster shown to be one the most evil villains in the show. Though the other two villains he has to rival wih in sheer evilness are Spike and Professor MacDougal, but I don't recall them commiting genocide successfully killing a few heroes plus a monk, or even came CLOSE to winning. Skullmaster was the one who caused the most death in the show so he kinda does stand out.
Verdict []
Up to you, but I find him as one of the most brutal villains in a kids cartoon making that a yes from me.