Trapjaw
Context
Trapjaw appeared in the 1983-1984 cartoon series He-man and the Masters of the Universe. He’s an evil warrior working for Skeletor.
If you aren’t familiar with this universe, read our Masters of the Universe setting primer.
Trapjaw was active in a couple of She-Ra episodes as well.
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Background
- Real Name: Trapjaw.
- Known Relatives: None.
- Group Affiliation: Skeletor’s Warriors.
- Base of Operations: Snake Mountain.
- Height: 5’8″ (1.72m). Weight: 215 lbs. (97 Kg.).
- Eyes: Black. Hair: Unrevealed.
Powers & Abilities
Trapjaw is a cyborg. He has a mechanical right arm that houses many attachments. These provide him with both melee and ranged weapons.
Often forgotten by enemies in battle is his impressive steel jaw. With it, Trapjaw can effortlessly bite through almost any material on Eternia.
He can design and build powerful sci-fi-level weapons and machinery.
Trapjaw is a magical creature! He actually chews up and eats the metal and stone he bites through. How his body can hold and process that much metal is unknown. Chalk it up to cartoon physics and his magical make-up. Trapjaw can subsist on things eaten as if it were normal food.
Later in the series, he showed skill with disguises and espionage. He even fooled a suspicious Prince Adam.
History
Trapjaw was one of Skeletor’s first warriors gathered from Eternia. Teleported to Snake Mountain, he joined Evil-Lyn, Beast-Man, Mer-Man, and Tri-Klops.
He aided Skeletor in his attempts at conquering Castle Grayskull and the forces of good.
Build me an army worthy of Snake Mountain
Trapjaw worked with Beast-Man to build a robot army for Skeletor (“Like Father like daughter” episode). Still, the Sorceress sensed the threat. She sent He-man to nip it in the bud.
Later on, He-man and Man-At-Arms needed Eternium to renew the Royal Palace’ energy source. Trapjaw and Mer-Man intercepted them and took the Eternium for themselves. Trapjaw ate some of it, and for a short time, was as powerful as He-man.
When his boost subsided, He-man captured him and sent him to the Prison Mines.
Keeper of the ancient ruins
Man-At-Arms and Professor Smallen, with the University, researched ruins together. Ancient robot guardians attacked them. Teela, Adam, and Cringer took a windraider to help. But an unexpected storm forced them down.
Trapjaw, at Snake Mountain, saw the crash. He mapped where the windraider went down and traveled there.
Trapjaw was in rare form. He disarmed Teela and took her prisoner. He then took on He-Man, even firing a bank shot forcing He-man to dodge.
Trapjaw stood against He-man and Man-At-Arms but when Battle-Cat growled at him, he ran. Trapjaw was again sent to the Prison Mines.
What about me?
Many times, Trapjaw gets left behind by Skeletor or Evil-Lyn. So, he’s spent his fair share of time in the Royal prisons.
Adνеrtisеmеnt
Description
Trapjaw is a muscular man with blue skin.
He has a robotic right arm and a metallic helm and jaw.
He snores when he sleeps.
Personality
Like the other villainous warriors, Trapjaw is a bully. He laughs at his opponents when he has the upper hand and acts the coward when losing.
Trapjaw is a mechanical genius able to build futuristic sci-fi robots and machines. But working with the likes of Skeletor has always left him feeling inadequate.
Other traits
Trapjaw seems to follow the lead of whomever he’s paired with. Most often, that’s Beast-Man. One of the few warriors he counts as a peer.
For all his mechanical genius, Trapjaw is pretty dumb. He’s easily tricked, intimidated, and bluffed.
Here’s a few colorful names he’s been called: Metal Mouth, Trappy, Tin-brain (by Clawful), the walking junkyard.
Quotes
Skeletor: “Trap-jaw, wizard of weapons. Return with your wicked arsenal and vicious steel jaw !”
“If I could just get this Energy Bow on. These things never fit right.”
Skeletor: “Are you ready ?”
Trap-Jaw: “Oh, I’m ready.”
Skeletor: “And the army ?”
Trap-Jaw: “The army awaits my command.”
Skeletor: “No ! My command !”
Trap-Jaw: (drops his head) “Oh, yeah, of course.”
(Tank-like mechanical spiders are firing cannons at an old fortress)
Ram-Man: “I’ve never seen spiders like that !”
He-man: “They’re not real, they’re just machines. Trap-Jaw invented them which means he’s probably behind this attack.”
Trapjaw: “Now we’ll never get the Eternium.”
Mer-Man: “We were so close I could almost taste it !”
Trapjaw: “Taste it ? Hmm, I wonder. Eternium is the most powerful substance on the planet.”
Mer-Man: “So ?”
Trapjaw: “Suppose I ate some of it.”
Mer-man: “Why would you do that ?”
Trapjaw: “Well, if I ate it, it might make me…”
Mer-Man: “It would make you as powerful as He-man !”
Trapjaw: “Right, then I’ll show He-man a thing or two. Haha. And the rest of Eternia too.”
“At last, one of my devices worked !”
“I have some tricks of my own.”
“I don’t need my hands to take care of the likes of you !” (Chomp !)
“Running won’t do you any good. Eternia’s ours now and there’s no place to hide !”
“Yes, master.”
DC Universe Adaptation
(This section proposes ways of using this character in DC Universe stories).
He could be seen as a tragic character, especially if we go with the idea that his conversion to a cyborg greatly diminished his intelligence.
DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Trapjaw
| Dex: 04 | Str: 04 | Bod: 06 |
| Int: 03 | Wil: 03 | Min: 04 |
| Inf: 03 | Aur: 02 | Spi: 03 |
| Init: 010 | HP: 045 |
Skills:
Acrobatics (Athletics): 02, Artist (Actor): 04, Charisma (Intimidation): 03, Gadgetry: 09, Military Science (Cartography): 03, Thief (Stealth): 04, Vehicles (Air): 04, Weaponry (Firearms)*: 04, Weaponry (Arm Attachments & Steel Jaw): 05
Advantages:
Genius, Sharp Eye.
Connections:
Beast-Man (Low), Skeletor (Low), Villainous warriors (Low).
Drawbacks:
Distinct Appearance, Minor Physical Restriction: Missing right arm (See Design notes), Unluck.
Motivation:
Mercenary.
Occupation:
Villainous Warrior.
Wealth:
000
Equipment:
VICIOUS STEEL JAW [BODY 09, Claws: 12, R#0].
Mechanical Arm Attachments
- These all use Trap-Jaw’s Weaponry Skill for AV.
- All beam weapons have an undetermined ammo rating. Running out of ammo just doesn’t happen. Unless of course when holding off evil vines indefinitely (“Evilseed” episode).
MECHANICAL RIGHT ARM [BODY 09 STR 06, R#2]. Attachments:
- Energy Hook [BODY 10, Claws: 04, R#5]. The hook can spin. This is Trapjaw’s favorite attachment.
- Lasertron [BODY 08, Disintegration: 09, Energy Blast: 08, Bonuses & Limitations: Autofire (Energy Blast), The – Lasertron itself has an Attack Vulnerability (Magic -2 CS), R#3].
- Freeze Ray [BODY 08, Ice Production: 06, Bonuses & Limitations: May only be used to make a simple attack or to trap a target in a block of ice (FC -3), R#5].
- Energy Bow [BODY 06, Energy Blast: 08, R#5].
- 08 AP Omni-Gadget (x2).
Less common arm attachments
These are covered by his Omni-Gadget attachment, but examples have included:
- Blaster [BODY 08, Energy Blast: 08, R#5]. This is a short-barreled energy cannon.
- Dropper [BODY 03, line may extend up to 06 APs]. This is a wench and line attachment. Trapjaw used it to lower Mer-Man over a cliff, the line broke and Trapjaw quipped “No wonder it’s called dropper”.
- Energy Claw [BODY 08 STR 08]. Only briefly seen.
- Flame Thrower [BODY 08, Flame Project: 06].
- Fire Suppression [BODY 08, Super Breath: 07, Fog: 04, Bonuses and Limitations: all Powers can be Combined, Superbreath can put out a large fire but launches Trapjaw backward].
- Grabber [BoDY 08, Stretching: 07, R#5].
- Jack Hammer [BODY 08, EV 08, R#5].
- Miniaturization Ray [BODY 08, Diminution: 12]. This arm attachment looks like his Lasertron.
- Rocket [BODY 08, Flight: 07].
- Sword blade [BODY 08, EV 04].
- Swatters [BODY 08].
- Tools such as a welder.
More equipment
- Robot Spider (X3) [BODY 10 STR 07 DEX 04 INT 01, AV 05, Energy Blast: 13, Running: 03, R#5].
- Trapjaw uses plenty of equipment to detect and see what is happening around his hide-out. Though not on par with Skeletor’s equipment. I assume he built them himself. These are radar, motion-sensors, cameras, etc..
- Trapjaw sometimes works out of his own 09 AP lab.
Design notes
Trapjaw is missing his right arm. This is normally a Serious Physical Restriction, but his cybernetic arm overcomes that. Still, Trapjaw’s arm isn’t a fully articulate prosthetic. Hence, the Minor Physical Restriction.
According to the line’s creator Roger Sweet, Trapjaw was inspired by the character Jaws from the film Moonraker. But many have speculated his design stemmed from the character of Iron Jaw from Mattel’s earlier toy line Big Jim.
Estimated an additional 20lbs (9 Kg.) to his weight for his metal parts.
Where does Trapjaw carry his attachments? It’s a question that goes unanswered by the series.
And yes, the Energy Bow was also only seen in one episode, but it was more memorable to me. So, it went in as one of his common attachments.
Source of Character: The 1983/1984 animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra Princess of Power episodes “Battle for Brightmoon” and “Assault on the Hive”. Voiced by Lou Scheimer.
Helper(s): Wikipedia; he-man.fandom.com .
Writeup completed on the 03rd of March, 2020.