Growing up in the 70's and 80's, there was ONE thing all the bad guys/villains in film and cartoons had in common: TOTAL DOMINATION.
They wanted COMPLETE CONTROL over everything, and to have everyone submit to their whim and bow to their will. And they sure had the resources to make their twisted dream a reality.
Take the Centurions main antagonist, the one and only Doc Terror. Here's a guy who was SO devoted and obsessed with his dreams of conquering the world, he actually experimented on himself and FUSED his human part with a robotic half named Syntax. He obviously had technological know-how on how to do that, but remember what I wrote earlier about 'resources'? Well, this guy had it, and then SOME.
Almost every episode, the Centurions would go up against dozens, sometimes HUNDREDS, of Doc Terror's Terror Drones. He must have been either VERY RICH, or was being funded by all the known terrorist organization in the world, or maybe he was just very good at rebuilding his drones whenever they got destroyed.
Whatever the case, it's suffice to say that Doc Terror had a purpose, and was so hell-bent on seeing his dream become a reality that he just kept coming back no matter how bad the Centurions beat him. And beat him they did. Repeatedly.
But let's talk more about Doc Terror, and what makes him a great villain.
For starters, there's the name. DOC TERROR. If that doesn't give you enough indication of what he's all about, then there's something wrong with you. He's a scientist, and he's out to spread terror. Don't you just LOVE the simplicity of the 80's villains? Just the name alone let's you know if the character's a bad guy or good guy.
And he sure LOOKS the part, too. Just imagine if he were REAL and you had the unfortunate experience of running into him. I'd bet my bottom dollar you would wet your pants while crying for your mommy. He doesn't look like the sleek, could-pass-for-a-human entity we've come to expect from a cyborg nowadays. He was a hulking, half-human, half-machine cybernetic MONSTROSITY. He was half robot and wasn't afraid to show it. There was nothing pleasant about this guy, and he was always about brute force and intimidation.
I haven't read the comic mini-series from DC that came out in the 80's. Supposedly it reveals the ORIGIN of the Centurions. But if I know anything about villains, it's a good bet that Doc Terror's origin is tied in with the Centurions. Just the fact that he's wearing an EXO-FRAME implies that he may have been involved in the creation of the suits. There's nothing better than having a personal connection between the hero and the villain, and the Centurions and Doc Terror seem to have it.
The extent of Doc Terror's abilities was never fully shown in the cartoon. His strength's obviously been enhanced. And even being half-machine has done nothing to hamper his MOBILITY. He's shown running full speed from a herd of angry dinosaurs in the episode "Found: One Lost World".
He's also been shown being able to fire laser blasts from his cybernetic arm, and what is probably the COOLEST thing he can do is the ability to MERGE with his Terror Drones, most of all the Doom Drones STRAFER. This all makes sense since the premise of the show is "...man and machine..."
Merging with the Strafer greatly enhances Doc Terror's abilities. Already a formidable foe, he gains additional firepower and also the capacity for flight. I don't know if he was able to merge with one of his Traumatizers, but it wouldn't surprise me if he did.
But probably his most dangerous trait is his vast INTELLECT, and his mastery of fusing flesh with machine. It's perplexing to think why he never accomplished his goal of taking over the Earth. Let's face it, even with the Centurions stopping him, it was only a matter of time until he would eventually succeed. I guess if there was one weakness Doc Terror had, it was his obsession of destroying the Centurions. He would become so focused on the Centurions it would distract him from the big picture, and his original plan of world domination.
Even now, the people who grew up watching the cartoon and the ones who collected and STILL collect the toys will tell you that Doc Terror ranks high up there with the all-time classic VILLAINS.
Until next time...POWER X-TREME!!!
They wanted COMPLETE CONTROL over everything, and to have everyone submit to their whim and bow to their will. And they sure had the resources to make their twisted dream a reality.
Take the Centurions main antagonist, the one and only Doc Terror. Here's a guy who was SO devoted and obsessed with his dreams of conquering the world, he actually experimented on himself and FUSED his human part with a robotic half named Syntax. He obviously had technological know-how on how to do that, but remember what I wrote earlier about 'resources'? Well, this guy had it, and then SOME.
Almost every episode, the Centurions would go up against dozens, sometimes HUNDREDS, of Doc Terror's Terror Drones. He must have been either VERY RICH, or was being funded by all the known terrorist organization in the world, or maybe he was just very good at rebuilding his drones whenever they got destroyed.
Whatever the case, it's suffice to say that Doc Terror had a purpose, and was so hell-bent on seeing his dream become a reality that he just kept coming back no matter how bad the Centurions beat him. And beat him they did. Repeatedly.
But let's talk more about Doc Terror, and what makes him a great villain.
For starters, there's the name. DOC TERROR. If that doesn't give you enough indication of what he's all about, then there's something wrong with you. He's a scientist, and he's out to spread terror. Don't you just LOVE the simplicity of the 80's villains? Just the name alone let's you know if the character's a bad guy or good guy.
And he sure LOOKS the part, too. Just imagine if he were REAL and you had the unfortunate experience of running into him. I'd bet my bottom dollar you would wet your pants while crying for your mommy. He doesn't look like the sleek, could-pass-for-a-human entity we've come to expect from a cyborg nowadays. He was a hulking, half-human, half-machine cybernetic MONSTROSITY. He was half robot and wasn't afraid to show it. There was nothing pleasant about this guy, and he was always about brute force and intimidation.
I haven't read the comic mini-series from DC that came out in the 80's. Supposedly it reveals the ORIGIN of the Centurions. But if I know anything about villains, it's a good bet that Doc Terror's origin is tied in with the Centurions. Just the fact that he's wearing an EXO-FRAME implies that he may have been involved in the creation of the suits. There's nothing better than having a personal connection between the hero and the villain, and the Centurions and Doc Terror seem to have it.
The extent of Doc Terror's abilities was never fully shown in the cartoon. His strength's obviously been enhanced. And even being half-machine has done nothing to hamper his MOBILITY. He's shown running full speed from a herd of angry dinosaurs in the episode "Found: One Lost World".
He's also been shown being able to fire laser blasts from his cybernetic arm, and what is probably the COOLEST thing he can do is the ability to MERGE with his Terror Drones, most of all the Doom Drones STRAFER. This all makes sense since the premise of the show is "...man and machine..."
Merging with the Strafer greatly enhances Doc Terror's abilities. Already a formidable foe, he gains additional firepower and also the capacity for flight. I don't know if he was able to merge with one of his Traumatizers, but it wouldn't surprise me if he did.
But probably his most dangerous trait is his vast INTELLECT, and his mastery of fusing flesh with machine. It's perplexing to think why he never accomplished his goal of taking over the Earth. Let's face it, even with the Centurions stopping him, it was only a matter of time until he would eventually succeed. I guess if there was one weakness Doc Terror had, it was his obsession of destroying the Centurions. He would become so focused on the Centurions it would distract him from the big picture, and his original plan of world domination.
Even now, the people who grew up watching the cartoon and the ones who collected and STILL collect the toys will tell you that Doc Terror ranks high up there with the all-time classic VILLAINS.
Until next time...POWER X-TREME!!!
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