From the mid 60s to mid 90s, many different cartoons aired on Saturday mornings for children to watch and love. Then, the 80s saw a surge in cartoons connected to toylines. Many toy brands and production companies spiked in popularity during this time. However, one of the cartoons and toylines that released during the 80s got mixed reviews for it’s appropriateness to children. Many people saw the toyline, comics, movie, and animated series as too gory or graphic for children. Regardless of the mixed opinions, the awesome franchise showed initial popularity among the toyline release and many other media aspects. Were the terrifying Inhumanoids really too scary for children?
Beginning in 1986, this creepy franchise follows the adventures of the Earth Corps. This awesome team of heroic scientists begins combatting three grotesque monster creatures, the Inhumanoids. The team needs to stop the Inhumanoids from taking over the world and turning it into their own violent, evil territory. Stick around in our blog to see the terrifying Inhumanoids and the story that went along with the many incredible releases for the franchise.
Join Us in Seeing the Terrifying Inhumanoids
Follow along in our blog with us as we mention the reason many people viewed Inhumanoids as too scary for children. Along with this, we will also mention the many other aspects of the franchise to give a well-rounded view of just how terrifying the storyline and characters are. This includes the toyline, animated series, movie, and comic books.
Why Inhumanoids Was Deemed Too Scary
The Inhumanoids television series, toyline, and other parts of the franchise focused on graphic content and dark themes as well as mangled monstrous creatures. The graphic content of the franchise appears through the many deaths throughout the television series, some of which were from toxic waste. Also, the amputations and other scenes showed too much blood and violence as seen by many parents. The visual style also played a role here with lots of shadows and split screens, causing a suspenseful and disturbing aspect. The characters also appear as monster-like creatures, giving off frightening and dangerous personalities.
Dark themes, including toxic chemicals and corruption of the planet made a lot of parents uneasy about their children watching the show and playing with the toys. Although all of these factor into how the franchise looked terrifying, many people also loved all parts of the franchise. They got to know each character well and see all different media released as well as the detailed toyline. Many children and adults still enjoyed it for years, despite the concerns on appropriateness.
Toyline
Now appearing on our blog, we will mention the terrifying Inhumanoids toys. Hasbro released this line of toys in 1986. It featured 13 action figures and 2 vehicles to go along with the animated series. David McDonald designed each figure for Hasbro with the freedom to create unique and grotesque toys. The action figures stood at either 6 inches, 7 inches, or 14 inches tall. Each represented the characters seen also in the television series with lots of detail. The different heights for toys represented the different groups of characters and allowed the 14 inch figures to stand especially tall, giving off their extra scary, ready-to-conquer appearance.
6 Inch Figures
We will mention the 6 inch figures first. These figures were all a part of the heroic Earth Corps team. This included Dr. Derek Bright, Auger, Herc Armstrong, and Liquidator. Hasbro added light piping to create a glowing effect on each of the figures, adding to the detailed heroic look. These characters were also each clothed in protective suits to keep them from harm when battling the vicious Inhumanoid creatures. The Dr. Derek Bright mining engineer figure comes clothed in his bright green and blue exo-suit. He comes with his staggered, scooping gadgets as hands and thick outer layer to keep safe from damage of any kind. Auger, the super strong bright purple figure comes with a spinning drill hand and removeable glow helmet.
Then, Herc Armstrong, the geologist on the team, comes in action figure form with his retractable grappling hook and removeable helmet. Clothed in an olive green exo-suit, this character takes on a leadership role as he guides the team into battle to save the world from destruction. Lastly, the Liquidator figure comes in his bright yellow bubble-looking exo-suit. This spelunker artist comes with his own removeable helmet, like the other 6 inch figures, and has a water pump hand.
7 Inch Figures
Then, the 7 inch figures featured Magnokor, Granok Mutore, Granites, Redlen Mutore, Redsun, and Redwoods as the Mutores. With multiple of these characters looking the same, some of them shared the same mold as they came from the same species. These include Granites and Granok Mutore appearing very similar with the same mold. Along with this, Redwoods, Redlen Mutore, and Redsun all used the same mold.
Magnokor appears in bright red coloring with yellow accents resembling fire. His pose and facial expressions give off a ferocious ready-to-fight look. This figure also comes entirely in grey with less points of articulation. Then, the Granites and Granok Mutore figures appear to be made out of stone with the rock-like detailing. Both figures creepily smile big and feature round bright green glowing eyes. Lastly, the Redwoods, Redlen Mutore, and Redsun figures all hold the ability to expand upward to grow taller for the ultimate launch forward, scare factor. These characters’ facial expressions also show the brutal, ready to fight appearance. With the big, bright green eyes and mouth with sharp teeth, these characters prove their place within the group.
14 Inch Figures
Next, the terrifying Inhumanoid super tall 14 inch figures included the characters D. Compose, Metlar, and Tendril. These giant action figures towered over the others, creating an even more ferocious and dangerous appearance. First, D. Compose features two levers on his back to open up the ribcage of his skeleton to reveal a torso full of tinted red skulls. The mis proportionate nails and shredded bone-like body give this character an uncomfortable, disturbing appearance. D. Compose’s head also takes the shape of an animal skull with bright red eyes and a large, mischievous smile.
Then, Metlar’s monstrous face spikes out on the sides and bottom. Along with this, bright orange fangs and horn appear on his face to give him a nasty look. More than this, the figure features giant claw-like hands and feet with silver armor that splits in the middle. Lastly, Tendril stands tall in lime green, spiky skin. His hunched over back, along with his lengthy arms and tail, make him seem like the most torturous character of all. The large eyes and bright fangs only add to this appearance. Originally, Tendril released with long fangs sticking out of his mouth but later released with shorter fangs for safety reasons.
Vehicles
Along with these 13 action figures, 2 vehicles released to fit the 6 inch characters. These vehicles include the Terrascout and Trappeur. Both vehicles come with weapons attached to assist the Earth Corps in fighting the Inhumanoids as they ride around and battle these evil enemies to save the world. The Terrascout vehicle includes a moveable hinged headpiece, glowing scanner, and rear sentry platform for figures. Along with this, a moveable laser, front-mounted drilling apparatus, and all-terrain treads are all included on this vehicle. Although the entire body of the vehicle is a dark grey, the purple and yellow gadgets pop and match the Earth Corps figures well.
Then, the Trappeur vehicle also shows two different shades of grey with bright yellow accents. It features a detachable hovercraft with harness trap, navigator’s station, retractable grappling hook, and side mounted tread. It also includes a rotating knob that retracts the grappling hook, a command station, all-terrain wheels, and headlight protection panel. Along with these, a moveable lever with front-mounted claw, overhead direction module, glow scanners, and a retractable control panel all come attached to this vehicle for the 6 inch figures.
Animated Series
The animated series also released in 1986 produced by Sunbow Entertainment and Marvel Productions while Toei made the animation. At first, Inhumanoids appeared as 6-7 minute cartoons on the Super Sunday half hour block. These short cartoons appeared alongside other Marvel and Sunbow series which later turned into an introduction movie before the full television series came out. The series included a total of thirteen 22-minute long episodes of action and gore. To begin the series, however, these original 6-7 minute episodes turned into the first five episodes of the series. They combined three together per episode to make the first five episodes. Eight more episodes then released to create the full season of Inhumanoids.
The subtitle of this series, The Evil That Lies Within, also acted as a phrase within the theme song that showed at the beginning of every episode. One of the main factors to the television show’s popularity includes the toyline that released at the same time. Along with other toylines that connected to cartoons in the 80s, these animated shows promote the toys greatly and allow for more of a backstory to the characters. The animated shows help give more love for the characters as the audience gets to know their stories and personalities better.
Movie
Now, we will mention the movie that released which served as a continuation and expansion of the animated series. The story begins with the Earth Corps discovering an encased monstrous creature in Big Sur national park. This leads to Blackthorne Shore, a deceitful industrialist, to find the second creature, Tendril. As these creatures begin running through the dark streets and dive into the waters of the bay, Liquidator comes back to Big Sur in search for more evidence and background of where these monsters came from. While doing this, Liquidator meets a group of tree-beings who tell him that they are subterranean creatures known as Mutores. They sealed the Inhumanoid creatures under the Earth many years ago and now come out of the surface causing destruction and fear to everyone around.
The Inhumanoid leader, Meltar, stays imprisoned below the Earth’s surface with the magnetic force from Magnokor. However, an assault to the Earth Corps base by Tendril causes a retreat to the bottom of the Earth. This causes them to all retreat to the surface. The team builds new vehicles before heading back down to below the surface where they run into a battle which frees Meltar from Magnokor’s grasp. Earth Corps makes an alliance with the Granites. Meanwhile the Redwoods begin to help defend the surface world against the Inhumanoids who try to gain all surfaces of power.
After many schemes, battles, and solving terrible potential threats, Meltar’s plan leaves the Inhumanoids in fear of what is to come. A climactic battle takes place, D. Compose gets re-sealed and Tendril gets imprisoned by the Granites. Near the end, Senator Masterson gives the Earth Corps a new headquarters building. However, the sample from the team’s first encounter with Tendril mysteriously disappeared.
Comic Books
Now we will look at the terrifying Inhumanoids through the pages of comic books. These comics released by Marvel’s Star Comics in 1987 with the first in January and the last in July. A total of four issues released for this volume and feature the same characters through graphic illustrations and epic stories. These comic books, adapted by Jim Salicrup and based on the screen play by Flint Dille, featured illustrations by James W. Fry and Joe Del Beato. Each comic consisted of 32 pages of action and battles, along with a goal to corrupt and conquer the Earth. The first issue begins the Inhumanoids story with the group of scientists, Earth Corps, as they explore and discover the evil monster creatures.
Then, issue two picks up with the Earth Corps stuck in the middle of a war between the Mutores elemental creatures and Inhumanoids. The Earth Corps stands ready to go with a new plan and weapons in the third issue. They travel down to the depths of the Earth to only discover some surprising things in the presence of D’ Compose. Lastly, the fourth and final issue includes the Earth Corps and Mutores attempt to defeat the ruthless Inhumanoids after the release of Meltar.
Unfortunately, however, this comic leaves fans with a cliffhanger and the story never resolves in comic book form. Although only four comics released, many fans enjoyed them and got a new amazing release for the franchise. It also helped give the characters’ backstories in another light, through the pages of illustration and dialogue. The cover art and illustrations throughout the entire comic series show great detail to each character as well.
Final Thoughts
These terrifying Inhumanoids may have been too scary for most children. Many parents at the time viewed the gory and dark themes as being more appropriate for older kids and adults. Especially with the first 6-7 minute episodes and toyline release, kids viewed these characters and storyline amongst other more lighthearted action series and toys at the time. However, these still showed popularity among some children, teenagers, and adults among their release. Today, the toys sell online for people to add to their collections and many items people search out to even pay high prices for. They remember those scenes and characters from their childhood. When toy collectors search and find the items, they get great joy from adding to their collection. Even though the toyline and series showed aspects that many viewed as too scary, the nostalgia was still there and Hasbro’s creative designs remain today.
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About the Author
Chris Ingledue is the founder and owner of Wheeljack’s Lab pop Culture and Toy Shop. His vision has always been to reunite customers with their favorite childhood toys and pop culture, triggering fond memories, and reigniting their imaginations. Every day he works in the “lab” where it’s Christmas 365 days a year; scouring the internet – like we did the Sears Catalog of yesteryear – for the next great treasure, awaiting the arrival of the postman as if he was Santa Claus himself and helping collectors worldwide with their own versions of Christmas. For Chris, every day as a vintage toy buyer is an absolute joy!