Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s was a dream come true. Do you recall sitting in front of the television on a Saturday morning with a sugary bowl of your favourite cereal? We admired characters like He-Man, the Centurions, Optimus Prime, and his Autobots, but without Skeletor, Doc Terror, and Megatron, what would they be?
We loved being inspired by G I Joe’s real-life American heroes, but we equally loved being afraid by baddies like the Cobra Commander. It’s been proven time and time again that a show and its protagonist are only as good as their antagonists.
As a result, we’ve compiled a list of some of the greatest and most terrifying adversaries to ever grace the cartoons of the 1980s television scene in this video. So, let’s take a trip down memory lane, and if you have any younger audiences at home, include them as well.
Skeletor – He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
The show takes place on Eternia, a land rich in mythology, myth, magic, sorcery, and, of course, He-Man, the universe’s most powerful man. He-Man is the son of Eternia’s monarchs, Queen Marlena and King Randor, and his original name is Prince Adam Adam pretends to be a cowardly prince, but everytime he raises his Sword and declares, “By the Power of Grayskull!” he gains fantastic secret powers.
As a result, he is transformed into a superhero with the highest strength in the universe. Cringer, his frightened pet tiger, undergoes a similar transition into the formidable Battle Cat. He-Man shares this secret with a sorceress named Teela, a strong warrior named Man At Arms, and a wizard from another dimension named Orko. Now, such a fantastic persona demands an equally fantastic villain, right?
Naturally, He-Man uses his abilities to defend Eternia from an evil sorcerer named Skeletor, whose sole intention is to conquer the mystical fortress of Castle Grayskull. It is Castle Grayskull from which He-Man draws his powers, and if Skeletor would succeed, then he would gain control of not just Eternia but also the entire universe.
Skeletor is a demon from another world or, at the very least, another dimension. As a warlord, he leads the evil side of Eternia and resides in Snake Mountain, which is essentially his palace of evils.
Skeletor has earned the title of Evil Lord of Destruction as a result of his acts, and he makes sure to live up to it throughout the programme. His teacher Hordak, the ruler of the Evil Horde and aspirant ruler of Eternia’s neighbouring planet Etheria, taught him magic and sorcery.
Skeletor is represented as a demonic figure with a skeletal face and a physique comparable only to He-Man himself. According to the He-Man comics, Skeletor was a genuinely evil figure who had no qualms for violence and destruction.
However, the cartoon considerably toned down this image to make the show suitable for children. Nonetheless, Skeletor remains one of the most sinister baddies of the 80’s animated renaissance.
Venger – Dungeons & Dragons
A group of six buddies travel to an amusement park to ride the Dungeons and Dragons roller coaster. When they are transported to the realm of Dungeons and Dragons, however, things take a miraculous turn. When they arrive, they are greeted by a Dungeon Master who bestows a magical trinket on each youngster.
The show’s plot revolves around the kids’ attempts to return home, but their young and kind hearts lead them to take detours in order to assist people in need. They frequently discover that their fate is inextricably linked to the fates of people around them.
Venger’s primary goal is to rule the magical realm, and he has a firm belief that the metaphysical articles of the children will help him attain his goal. However, Venger has another enemy in the form of a five-headed dragon.
This adept wizard and sorcerer wields a wide range of evocation and necromantic spells and terrorises the DnD community, forcing the Dungeon Master and the children to face him on a regular basis.
He was voiced by Peter Cullen, who would later star as Optimus Prime in the Transformers series. (You might want to include a comparison) Venger is an ancient being who has existed for over a thousand years and has slaughtered an untold number of heroes throughout that time. What makes him truly nasty is that he is pursuing the life of a group of children ages eight to fifteen.
His single horn, devilish wings, and pale white skin under a blood-red and dry blue robe give him a uniquely grotesque appearance. Furthermore, his esthetic is only complimented by his evil and authoritarian nature.
If he assigns a task to someone, he expects it to be completed at all costs, lest they wish to face the drastic consequences that would follow. But the bad old Venger was not always this embodiment of monstrosity, and he was once a heroic young man who was converted into a half-fiend by an evil entity called the nameless one.
Mumm-Ra – Thundercats
The series follows the exploits of a group of feline humanoid aliens known as the Thunderians, who hail from the planet Thundera. Their world is on the point of extinction, and the strong Thundercats are perhaps the only hope for survival. Their fleet, however, is assaulted by their archrivals, the Mutants of PlunDarr.
The mutants destroy the starships but save the flagships in the hopes of obtaining the Sword of Omens, a supernatural rapier. The Thundercats were forced to land on Third Earth, a friendly planet, as a result of the attack.
The Mutants of PlunDarr, on the other hand, followed the cats there, and a struggle occurred. The fierce war didn’t go unnoticed, and the demonic and mummified sorcerer named Mumm-Ra took stock of the situation. Mumm-Ra wishes to take control of Third Earth, and he recruits the Mutants of PlunDarrin his conquest.
In the Black Pyramids of the Third Earth, there lived the Ancient Spirits of Evil whose powers were unlimited, but their sphere of influence was limited to the pyramids. When a sorcerer and demon priest named Mumm Ra decided to cheat death, he turned to these god-like spirits for help.
They offered him immortality in exchange for eternal servitude. With his help, the spirits could increase their sphere of influence into the physical world. When not attacking the Thundercats, Mumm Ra stays in his black pyramid as a withered corpse, but he can transform into various entities by reciting the following Mumm Ra then changes into a hulking and monstrous entity whose sources of power are the Ancient Spirits of Evil.
Furthermore, he can morph into a fiercer being by transforming into “Mumm-Ra the All-Powerful.” In this stage, he becomes even larger and stronger by absorbing all the powers of the Ancient Spirits of Evil. When he transforms into Mumm-Ra the Dream Master, he can enter the dreams of the Thundercats and control their minds. Does anyone smell a bit of Freddy Krueger here?
He is virtually immortal, and anytime he is slain or defeated, he returns to his sarcophagus to be resurrected. Being away from his sarcophagus for an extended stretch of time is his sole noteworthy flaw. Despite his entirely malicious personality, he has a sympathetic side when it comes to his bulldog Ma Mutt.
Hordak – She-Ra, Princess of Power
The show revolves around She-Ra, the Princess of Power, and her battles with an evil sorcerer named Hordak, as the title suggests. She-Ra and Catra were two orphans groomed to join Hordak’s wicked army, an authoritarian ruler who sought to dominate the planet Etheria one day.
Adora once got lost in the woods and came found a magical sword that granted her incredible abilities and changed her into She Ra, the epic princess of power. Following this, she underwent a profound transformation, realising that Hordak and his army were, in fact, evil and had been inflicting misery and suffering on the people of Etheria.
Adora decided to rebuild the Princess Alliance to fight against Hordak and his horde. However, Adora’s change of mentality and allegiance pits her against her best friend and confidante, Catra. Most of the episodes deal with the tussle between two sisters.
The intimidating and menacing appearance of Hordak acutely resembles a typical vampire. His pointy ears, the bat-like nose, razor sharp fangs, and pale skin are all proof of his menacing nature and personality. Speaking of appearance, he looks amazingly badass with a little mohawk that’s been combed backward and a skeletal face with dark pigmentation around the eyes.
In terms of personality, he’s a fairly complex entity who rewards those who do his bidding while punishing those who don’t. When Adora defected, he was less interested about her as a person and more concerned about the plethora of secrets she kept to herself.
He was a man with ambitions who would go to any length to get what he wanted as the head of Etheria’s Horde. His ultimate ambition, though, was to stand alongside his master Horde Prime, whose Army would go to the farthest reaches of space in order to conquer worlds. Hordak was created as a Horde Prime clone and was not even given a name, so poor Hordak had to name himself.
Shredder – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Hamato Yoshi was a devout ninja who was expelled from his clan after being falsely accused of rebellion. Hamato was duped by his colleague and adversary Oroku Saki, who staged an assassination attempt to make it appear as if Hamato intended to kill the sensei.
(Oroku Saki used a knife to pin Yoshi’s keikogi to the wall.) The sensei and his supporters mistook Yoshi’s removal of the knife for an assassination attempt.) Following his banishment, he relocated to New York, but due to his poverty, he was forced to live in the sewers.
He came upon four little turtles in the sewers one day; they had been purchased as a pet by a man who had dumped them in the drains by accident. As fate would have it, one day the turtles and Yoshi became exposed to a glowing ooze. It transformed the turtles into humanoids and himself into a humanoid rat.
Yoshi calls himself Splinter and adopts the turtles as his sons. He trained them in the fine art of ninjutsu and named them after great Italian artists. Meanwhile,Oroku Saki left Japan to finish the rivalry by finishing off Yoshi.
Saki tracks him down and forges an alliance with an alien brain named Krang from a planet called Dimension X. Saki now goes by the name Shredder and wears a steel-bladed exoskeleton, a kabuto helmet, and a long cape. The plot centres around the teenage mutant ninja turtles seeking Shredder’s vengeance.
Shredder’s sneaky and doubtful attitude makes him a scary villain. Shredder has no reservations about ensuring that Splinter and the Turtles are destroyed, by any means necessary.
By hook or crook, mostly! He infected his henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady with the same mutagen that changed the turtles and Splinter, in addition to Krang. Bebop and Rocksteady become a huge hog and a giant rhinoceros, respectively. With them, he would execute his plans, but he almost never tasted success because the turtles would be there to foil him.
However, Shredder was a very competent and intelligent adversary with an IQ of over 300. He used his smartness to plan his attacks, but his innately stupid henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady would become the reason behind Shredder’s eternal failures.
In spite of the failures, he was headstrong with unyielding perseverance. In addition, he had a particular fondness for technology. He possessed knowledge of alien transportation systems and constructed a metallic suit for his apparent master Krang.
He also devised a mutagen to infect the turtles and his minions as a scientist. Above all, Shredder was a skilled martial artist who could only be compared to Splinter.
Cobra Commander – G.I Joe
G.I. Joe, the popular 1980s cartoon series, is a perfect representation of the American military. It began as a Hasbro toy line featuring some of America’s greatest military soldiers, but it swiftly evolved into a legendary western animation that aired from 1983 to 1985.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, created by Ron Friedman, depicts America’s finest against the wicked forces of Cobra’s army in order to obtain three catalytic elements that power a matter-transporter.
Whether it’s preventing Earth from being encircled by an electro-negating “Pyramid of Darkness” or fighting a super solder, G.I.Joe has always managed to get across an important message.
While there have been many formidable foes who have tested the metal of G.I.Joe, one that stands out among all is none other than Cobra Commander. Initially depicted in the comics as a used car salesman with a war veteran brother suffering from deep psychological trauma, this Cobra Commander origin makes the character more human with a dark past self.
Contrary to the comic book persona, Cobra Commander in the cartoon series is an ancient being coming from a long line of serpent people and their secret organization of COBRA-LA. While homoserines ruled the Earth predominantly, this secret society of serpents stayed underneath and devised a plan to destroy Earth.
Cobra Commander was dispatched to oversee this scheme and help COBRA-LA win the planet. In contemporary depictions of the hooded figure, he has been shown as a symbol rather than a single individual commanding the Cobra army.
This portrayal demonstrates how, since Dante Alighieri’s time in 1265 AD, the mantle of Cobra Commander has been taken up by some of history’s most dreaded figures.
Regardless of the origin story, Cobra Commander remains an icon and formidable foe introduced by the American comics and pop culture.
Mon*Star – SilverHawks
When interplanetary prisoner and alien criminal Mon*Star escapes, a bionic cop named Stargazer enlists the help of the Silver Hawks, a group of teenage heroes. The Silver Hawks, headed by the quirky Quicksilver, are ‘partially metal, partly real’ beings that oppose Mon Star and his minions.
Rankin and Bass created the show in 1986, and Warner Bros. purchased it in 1989. Surprisingly, the cartoon had uncanny similarities to Thunder Cats, and it had its own comic series published by Star Comics, exactly like Thunder Cats.
Silver Hawks, on the other hand, was a one-of-a-kind space-bound cop show that received positive reviews and a loyal fan base before being discontinued after 65 episodes.
Mon Star was the head of the Limbo Mob and gained his powers through a star called the Moon Star of Limbo and functioned from a planet called Brimstar. Originally he looked like a muscular feline humanoid with a dense red mane around his neck and an eye patch on his left eye.
However, he would transform into a strong entity and don heavy armor plating around his body whenever he recited Because of being a criminal, he was jailed twice for 300 years in the Penal Planet 10.
His second imprisonment was the result of Stargazer’s expeditious work as a cop, and this gave birth to a personal vendetta and enmity between Mon Star and Stargazer, and by extension, the Silver Hawks.
Mon Star is a strange villain because he seems to enjoy fighting the Hawks; it’s similar to howthe Joker loves to mess with Batman. The other would not exist or have any worth if the first did not exist.
Mon Star is the supreme ruler of the Limbo Underworld in terms of power, and nearly no one is brave enough to go against his wishes or even accomplish anything without his consent.
He has superhuman strength and stamina even before the change, but he acquires a robotic armour that amplifies his inherent strength by a factor of ten. He also regains his left eye and gets the ability to fire pure energy beams that can stun, mesmerise, or destroy anything in their path.
Megatron – Transformers
When Optimus Prime’s Autobots and Megatron’s Decepticons crashed-landed on Earth four million years ago, the battle between the inhabitants of a metallic planet named Cybertron persisted. The Decepticons began plundering Earth’s energy supplies after awaking from their hibernation in 1984. The Autobots, on the other side, attempted to defend Earth.
On his homeworldCybertron, Megatron used to be a skilled, fierce and deadly gladiator. Due to his extreme skills in combat and surprisingly high levels of intelligence, no Decepticon dares to question his decisions.
Small Autobots are nothing more than ragdolls to his strength, and he can also lift objects far heavier than himself. Megatron is not someone with mighty brawn and miniscule brain: he has the best of both worlds and to complement these, he’s a skilled fighter whose expertise is hardly matched by anyone.
As a champion gladiator from the dark pits of Kaon, he perfected his combat manuevers to fierce levels. Once, he managed to take down three Insecticon warriors simultaneously.
Megatron’s abilities are highlighted in the show when Optimus Prime loses his memory at the start of season 2, and Megatron simply manhandles the Autobots like toys. Although one might assume that such a massive Decepticon would be slow, he is remarkably swift and agile considering his size.
No Decepticon or Autobot would dare to be near Megatron and Optimus on the battlefield since these aeons old enemies have polished their skills to the point where whenever the two of them meet, carnage ensues.
Although he’s ferocious and fearless as a fighter, he’s also a skilled and cunning tactician who uses his environment and circumstances to his advantage. Furthermore, he’s the perfect example of a demagogue who is adept and persuasive in his speeches and oration. Getting himself ardent followers like Dreadwing, Skyquake, and Soundwave seemed to be a cakewalk for this evil Decepticon.
In terms of his body, he has a fusion cannon on his right arm, which conceals a sharp and long sword. His Dark Star Saber bestows near-cosmic abilities on him, while his Cybertronian Jet allows him to fly.
Megatron is like a lion, savage and lethal, but when hurt or battle-weary, he becomes even more deadly. When he feels his opponent is gaining control of the battle, the champion gladiator within him wakes and unleashes unthinkable and unimaginable mayhem.
Doc Terror – Centurions
The show was set in a slightly futuristic Earth in the twenty-first century, with a deranged cyborg scientist named Doc Terror plotting to enslave mankind and turn them into robotic slaves. He enlists the support of his cyborg pal Hacker and an army of cyborgs to accomplish this goal.
The Centurions introduced a variety of cyborgs, including doom drone traumatizers (walking robots with laser blasters instead of arms) and doom drone strafers (flying robots with lasers and missiles).
With these minions, Doc Terror would hatch many plans and conspiracies to become the master of Earth, but his plans would get foiled by the heroic Centurions, who were men with specially curated exoskeletons that allowed them the merge with heavy weaponry, arsenal, and assault systems.
Doc Terror used to be a member of a science council, but he was kicked out because he wanted to turn everyone into a machine! Terror, on the other hand, did not give up; he resorted to working alone, and Hacker was his first successful attempt. He was nearly killed in a car accident, but Hacker saved him by transforming Doc Terror into a cyborg.