Don't Look A (Humanoid Robotic) Gift Horse In The Mouth

Today's post is a long-delayed follow-up to my take on Stridor. It's Night Stalker, now outfitted with the same humanoid transformation that I gave to Stridor. I drew Night Stalker with a slightly heavier build than Stridor, and some different details. He is armed with Asian weaponry as a nod to the fact that he was typically portrayed as the steed of Jitsu, Skeletor's token Asian henchman. The pole-arm is a Pudao also know as a horse-cutter, and the swords are a set of Daisho. And I slapped a bat-cape on him because I have a tough time not giving cool villains bat-capes.

click above for larger view

His title of "Evil Armored Dragoon" owes to the fact that I found a definition that described a Dragoon as "a soldier trained to fight on foot but who transports himself on horseback." This seemed like the perfect description for a transforming horse warrior. Elsewhere, I found that Dragoon or Dragoon Guard referred to heavy cavalry, which was appropriate to the bulkier look that I gave night Stalker.

Last but not least, the nerdy, in-depth bio:

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PROFILE: A brilliant strategic mind and a brutally effective warrior, NIGHT STALKER is every bit the match for his brother Stridor. But where Stridor is gentle and merciful, Night Stalker is brooding and unforgiving. He adheres to a strict code of honor, but nonetheless believes might makes right. This harsh sense of honor has earned him the friendship and trust of the similarly dispositioned Jitsu.

Night Stalker is outfitted with standard Stridor-type weaponry (dual heavy laser cannons, and a rapid-fire hip blaster)--however, he prefers to engage in melee combat with his custom-made horse-cutter or Daisho swords. He commands a regiment of Equestris mercenaries with a few other renegade Stridor units mixed in.

HISTORY: Night Stalker was the first of the mass-produced Stridor units, and was groomed to be the original Stridor's second-in-command. Although their personalities were like night and day, the two considered each other brothers and were a formidable team on the battlefield. In time, Night Stalker was promoted, and became commander of his own unit.

During a heat wave, Night Stalker and his troops were sent to perform crowd control in a town where drought and food shortage were causing riots and looting. They had been dispatched with the idea that their imposing stature would be enough to intimidate the angry mobs into submission--on the contrary, because of their greatly superior size and strength, the troops couldn't act against the relatively weak humans for fear of harming them. Night Stalker had no choice but to withdraw his troops. However, the rioters had become increasingly aggravated, and Night Stalker and his troops found their backs against the city walls. A make-shift bomb was thrown, a nearby wagon transporting fuel was ignited, and the ensuing explosion brought the city walls down on top of the Stridors. All the troops under Night Stalker's command were destroyed, and he himself was damaged almost beyond repair--there were no human casualties.

The incident changed Night Stalker forever. He blamed himself, feeling that had he used force to decisively end the conflict, his troops would still be alive. Why, he asked himself, should the strong suffer at the hands of the weak? Night Stalker became increasingly insubordinate, and finally deserted his post. Stridor tracked Night Stalker down and attempted to talk to his brother. Their conversation became heated, and Night Stalker lashed out; an intense duel ensued, and Night Stalker got the best of Stridor. He restrained himself from making the killing blow, and disappeared into the wildnerness.

Night Stalker became a mercenary, and occasionally a bandit. He eventually crossed paths with Jitsu--though the two were initially contentious, Jitsu saw that they shared a common worldview, and he recruited Night Stalker to Skeletor's cause. Since then, Night Stalker has swayed a few other disillusioned Stridor units to join his forces.

Stridor remains determined to bring his brother back to the fold.

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Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here.