KING HISS'S GENERAL
Rattlor (200x)
The 2002 series makes Rattlor the officer of the Snake Men, the one who opens the Void for his king and then waits in a cell for someone to remember him.
Rattlor is the 2002 series' general of the Snake Men, voiced by Richard Newman. He is freed from the Void in "Snake Pit" and gets his own escape story in "Rattle of the Snake."
The record
The facts
BEFORE 2002
Rattlor in She-Ra, and in plastic
Filmation never used Rattlor in He-Man. He belongs to She-Ra: Princess of Power, where he turns up from the first season in 1985 as a red, yellow-bellied soldier of Hordak's Horde, usually at Catra's side with Grizzlor and Leech.[1] That run has its own entry.
Mattel's figure came in 1986, a Snake Man whose neck stretches to strike. The Cartoon Network series of 2002 kept the rattle, the fangs and the long neck, and gave him a rank: he is General Rattlor, King Hiss's officer. The 2002 series is not part of the classic canon this encyclopedia follows, so the Rattlor below is another version of the character.
[1] ^ Rattlor is among the Horde in "The Prisoners of Beast Island" (September 1985), "Book Burning" and "Jungle Fever" (both 1985) and "The Locket" (1987), all She-Ra episodes.
THE SIGNATURE EPISODE
Rattle of the Snake
"Rattle of the Snake," written by Steven Melching and first shown on December 27, 2003, is the episode that belongs to Rattlor. It finds him in a cell in an Eternian stronghold, groaning "Sick. Need help!" at a robot guard whose database has already warned it that prisoners fake illness to escape. The guard takes him to the infirmary anyway, and he is gone before the scene is over.
He goes straight to King Hiss, who has dug through to the Temple of Serpos to find the means of reviving the Snake Men's god, and Hiss greets him with "Welcome back, General." Kobra Khan is there too, and Rattlor has a question for him: "You knew where I was, yet you left me to rot?" Khan answers that he has the power of Webstor's ambrosia in him now and is the stronger of the two, and Rattlor's reply is a promise to settle it later, "once it is worn off."
The rest of the episode belongs to Fisto and the warring Speleans and Caligars. He-Man breaks up the Snake Men's feast, and Hiss leaves the temple with the Medallion of Serpos.
The original Rattlor, from She-Ra, sneaking about with Grizzlor in Jungle Fever.
Clipped from our own copy of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Jungle Fever (She-Ra: Princess of Power, 1985), 13:18 to 14:00, 42 seconds. Nothing is added and nothing is sped up. Copyright Mattel.
THE SNAKE MEN'S OFFICER
From the Void to a prison cell
Rattlor's first episode in the series is "Snake Pit," shown on March 29, 2003. Kobra Khan opens the Void beneath Snake Mountain, the prison where Zodak and the Elders sealed the Snake Men long ago, and frees General Rattlor, who is offered Zodak as a prize and calls up his soldiers before He-Man and Zodak fight the Snake Men back and seal the Void again. Richard Newman is credited as Rattlor for the second season; no cast list found names the voice in "Snake Pit."[2]
In "Rise of the Snake Men Part 1" he is the one who opens the Void, and King Hiss's verdict is "You have done well, General Rattlor." In the second part he fronts the Snake Men's attack in the jungle, offering the Masters a swift death if they surrender. By "Second Skin" he is a prisoner of the Masters, and he only learns from them that his king is alive. Orko gets the rest out of him with a mongoose, and Rattlor gives in at once: "I'll talk, I'll talk!" Even after his escape the grudge stays with him, and "History" opens with a complaint about being left "to rot in that Eternian prison."[3]
[2] ^ Metacritic's second-season cast list names Richard Newman as Rattlor; the same list gives him Lord Dactys and the Faceless One.
[3] ^ The line opens "History" in King Hiss's lair, with Kobra Khan sent to the surface as a diversion. The subtitles do not label the speaker. The complaint matches the one Rattlor made to Kobra Khan's face a week earlier.
AFTER 2002
Netflix and the figures
Netflix's two series leave the general out of their credits.
Mattel's toy line for the series made a figure of this design in 2004. Later figures went back to the vintage look, among them a Masters of the Universe Classics Rattlor in 2012 and the Origins figure, which is the one in stock.
THE FIGURE TO OWN
The Rattlor on shelves now
The figure in stock is Mattel's Origins Rattlor, in the vintage design with 16 points of articulation. No figure of the 2002 General design is in stock.
Origins Rattlor
Buy at BigBadToyStore, $13.99 Paid link
Full details and photosPrices and stock read from BigBadToyStore on November 2, 2026. In collaboration with BigBadToyStore. #BBTSpartner
IN BRIEF
From the Horde to King Hiss's army
She-Ra's Rattlor
He serves Hordak's Horde in Filmation's She-Ra: Princess of Power.
The vintage figure
Mattel releases Rattlor as one of the Snake Men.
Snake Pit
His first episode in the series.
Rise of the Snake Men
The two-part return of King Hiss.
Rattle of the Snake
His own episode, shown on December 27, 2003.
Questions
Rattlor (200x) questions, answered
Who is Rattlor in the 2002 He-Man series?
King Hiss's general, the officer of the Snake Men. He serves Hiss from the Void to the Temple of Serpos.
Who voices Rattlor in the 2002 series?
Richard Newman, according to the second-season cast list, which also gives him Lord Dactys and the Faceless One.
What is Rattlor's first 2002 episode?
"Snake Pit," shown in March 2003.
How does Rattlor escape in Rattle of the Snake?
He fakes being ill in his cell, and the robot guard takes him to the infirmary even though its database warns that the trick is common.
Why do Rattlor and Kobra Khan fall out?
Kobra Khan knew where Rattlor was being held and left him there. When they meet again in the Temple of Serpos, Rattlor promises to settle it once Khan's ambrosia wears off.
How does Orko get Rattlor to talk?
With a mongoose, in "Second Skin." Rattlor tells the Masters about the Ophidian Spire as soon as it gets near him.
Is Rattlor in Filmation's He-Man?
No. Filmation used him in She-Ra: Princess of Power, as a soldier of Hordak's Horde; see the Rattlor entry.
Is Rattlor in Revelation or Revolution?
Neither Netflix series credits him.
Is Rattlor in the He-Man movies?
No. He is absent from the 1987 film, and the 2026 film has not announced a Rattlor.
Is there a Rattlor figure on sale now?
Yes, Mattel's Origins Rattlor, in the 1986 vintage design.
Compiled by the heman.org desk from the 2002 series episodes and their English subtitles, the Rattle of the Snake, Snake Pit and Second Skin episode guides, the She-Ra episodes, Metacritic's second-season cast list, and TVmaze's Revelation and Revolution cast lists.
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