Snout Spout



Snout Spout is a fictional character in the popular Masters of the Universe franchise. He is a cyborg with a human body and a metal elephant head. He serves the Heroic Warriors as a firefighter, his main power being to spray jets of water, stored in a special pack on his back, from his trunk, which he refills periodically from rivers and lakes.

Cartoon
Snout Spout was introduced into the Masters of the Universe toy line in 1986. By the time his action figure was released, the accompanying cartoon series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe had been cancelled to make way for its spin-off series, She-Ra: Princess of Power. Therefore, Snout Spout makes his cartoon appearances in She-Ra rather than He-Man.

Appearing in 3 episodes: "Small Problems", "Out of the Cocoon" and "Day of the Flowers", Snout Spout's roles are little more than cameos and he receives no real character development. Several continuity discrepancies also surround his character, as in his first episode he is referred to as "Hose Nose", this being Mattel's working name for the character, yet "Day of the Flowers" refers to him as Snout Spout with no explanation for the name change. His first two appearances also seem to indicate he lives on Etheria, yet the latter episode ties him in with Mattel's continuity by depicting him as He-Man's friend, visiting from Eternia. He also made a cameo in He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special, shown extending his snout to place the star on the tree.

Other media
Although the cartoon offers no kind of consistency to Snout Spout's character, other media producing Masters of the Universe stories throughout the 1980s give the character more exposure, as well as a background story. A Mattel promotional card states that he was formerly an Etherian peasant who was captured by Hordak and subjected to fiendish experiments which turned him into the elephantine cyborg he is today. Although initially intended to serve The Evil Horde, he managed to throw off Hordak's brainwashing attempt and escape to Eternia, where he joined He-Man and the Heroic Warriors.

This backstory was adopted by the UK comic series published by London Editions, which introduces Snout Spout in issue #26, in a story entitled "The Unknown Warrior", in which he makes his way from Etheria to Eternia wearing a mask, refusing to remove his mask or reveal his identity until he has proved himself a worthy hero. He is presented in the comic series as insecure and paranoid about his appearance, yet never overly self-pitiful and determined to fight on against the Horde until he finds some way of returning to his human form. In issue #41, a fairy concedes him a gift and he returns to normal, but when Hordak captures He-Man and Rio Blast, Snout Spout asks the fairy to undo the wish, knowing that he will remain a cyborg forever when it's undone, so he can use his powers to save his friends.

In the Star Comics series, he only had one major appearance, in issue #4, Snakes Alive. Here, he was shown as being in a constant, not-so-friendly rivalry with Rio Blast, with both characters constantly trying to belittle and outdo each other.

2002 series
Snout Spout was intended to be featured in the 2002 relaunch of the Masters of the Universe toy line and series; but both were canceled before his character could be introduced. However, toy sculptors the Four Horsemen, who sculpted the toys for the new line, designed a mini-statue of the character which was distributed by NECA. The cartoon's accompanying comic series, meanwhile, featured royal firemen dressed in uniforms similar to Snout Spout.

Minicomics

 * Eye of the Storm
 * The Ultimate Battleground!

She-Ra: Princess of Power (cartoon)

 * Small Problems
 * He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special (cameo)
 * Out of the Cocoon
 * Day of the Flowers

Trivia

 * Snout Spout's appearance has often been likened to the Hindu God Ganesh.
 * An unmade episode for the She-Ra series was planned to focus around Snout Spout's race, to be called the Hosers, thus offering a completely different backstory to that given by Mattel.