Lotor

Occupation| * Emperor of the Galra Empire
* Prince of the Galra Empire *(Formerly*)
* Emperor Pro Tem of the Galra Empire *(Formerly*)

**Prince Lotor** is the exiled prince of the Galra Empire and the son of Zarkon and Honerva. After Zarkon's obsession with the Black Lion leads to the emperor's defeat at the hands of the Voltron team and their allies, putting Zarkon in a comatose state under the care of Haggar, the prince is summoned by the witch to lead in his father's stead. Lotor ultimately allies with Team Voltron when Zarkon awakens and turns the Empire against his son, culminating in the prince killing his own father and succeeding the throne.

This alliance soon turns sour as Lotor's true character is revealed and he battles Voltron with his own robot, Sincline, ultimately defeated and left abandoned in the Quintessence field comprising the barrier between realities.

## Appearance

Full face.Armor and sword.Mark of the Chosen.
Lotor has the appearance of a lean, muscular young man with pale lavender skin who is described as being small in the eyes of other Galra - a species known for their staggering height compared to humans of Earth. His long white hair is slicked back behind his shoulders down to the middle of his back in slightly wavy strands with shorter ones curving upward on either side at his shoulders. A forelock of bangs protrudes from his forehead and remains over his face, reaching as low as his mouth. His eyebrows are also white.

Unlike most Galrans, Lotor does not have yellow eyes with no visual iris and pupil because he is part Altean; instead he has bright blue eyes with distinct pupils that are slitted in appearance, and his eyes have yellow sclerae. True to his roots, his pointed ears are reminiscent of Altean ears with slightly longer length. Lotor has sickle-shaped Altean markings under each eye that change curve and bend downwards toward his nose. These marks are the same color as his skin, but glow pale violet in the presence of Oriande, called the Mark of the Chosen, and otherwise remain unseen.

Lotor wears a mix of dark gray and blue-gray armor that includes a split waist cape reaching just under his knees. The waist cape is split in three places. His armor is accented with deeper blue across his chest, neckline, and hips, as well as red-orange lining his gauntlets at his elbows, decorating his mid-torso in a "V" shape, lining his collar, and encompassing the inside of his waist cape. Each of his gauntlets is decorated with two brightly glowing violet lights on the back of his hands - the same which can be seen comprising the quillions and pommel of his sword, while the center of the sword's guard features the same deep blue color accenting his armor.

## Personality

The exact nature and motivations of the prince of the Galra Empire are largely kept an enigma even for those closest to him. He is a naturally charismatic leader with a commanding voice that invigorates his subjects, be it to vouch for the value of an ally's strength, or to vow utter destruction of enemies. While the speech he gives advocating for ruling by loyalty and not fear is part of a ruse to sway the masses, Lotor holds true to a sense of honor and nobility that places him in sharp contrast to other members of the Empire: fellow Galrans consider him "weak" simply for being part Altean; furthermore, they think him a "lunatic" for both fighting alongside his military as if no higher than a private, and also for allowing planets he conquers to rule themselves as long as they pledge loyalty to him, taking the fallen societies under his protection rather than crushing them under his boot.

Lotor is inclined to use indirect methods such as tactical strategy, mental manipulation, and charm to achieve his goals rather than overpowering destructive force; he prefers not to blindly attack without garnering a full understanding of a situation beforehand with careful study, nor will he immediately choose to use the full extent of his weaponry, strength, and military force. Lotor has no pride barring him from allying with enemies nor retreating from battle at any time - although he is an adept military commander and deadly swordsman who holds no fear of fighting solo on the battlefield, and absolutely is not one to be underestimated. He is cunning and deceitful, easily donning a convincing demeanor extending mercy, honor, and compassion towards his enemies to gain their loyalty and trust, only to reveal he has more malicious intents in mind and has been withholding information to spin the truth in his favor. This skill with acting is enough to convince even Zarkon that his traitorous son is obedient, loyal, and resigned to being discarded; and furthermore, to convince Team Voltron that working alongside him is the best means of achieving peace for the universe.

Being that his displays of mercy and understanding are usually for his own benefit, Lotor is an opportunist who carries himself with confidence even when the unexpected or misfortune arises, acting as though the dice never leave his hand no matter the outcome by keeping a calm persona with restrained emotions. However, he has displayed unfettered rage and severe emotional instability when stressed, cornered, and threatened - but especially at the insinuation that he holds *any* similarities to his father, Zarkon. This repudiation is underlined both by his sheer determination to escape his father's murderous pursuit, not even fearful of nearly flying his ship into a star to succeed, and his sheer delight at the prospect of finally killing his father. The disgust extends to his mother, Haggar, who he refuses to even recognize as Honerva even after her memories return, considering her an twisted abomination of the pure Altean race. This is ironic, as Lotor is obsessed with his Altean heritage and the race's culture to a twisted extent: in his Altean Colony, he has experimented on Alteans to the point of killing thousands, but believes them to be necessary sacrifices for a greater good of achieving the most powerful Quintessence.

He appears to have little interest in ruling the Galra Empire, instead focusing on his own machinations and willingly allowing Zarkon to return to the throne, prioritizing the construction of Sincline over even his Galra soldiers' safety. The truth of his ambitious plans are kept hidden from everyone's eyes because they entail toppling the Galra Empire, wiping out the Galra, and creating a new Altean Empire with him as the leader to achieve his vision of peace in the universe. This, coupled with his lack of hesitation to strike down his trusted general, Narti, when he deduces she is being used by Haggar as a spy, using her death and Acxa to trick his other generals, play Team Voltron like a puppet so he can isolate and kill Zarkon, and string Team Voltron along as he builds his new empire, solidifies how brutal and ruthless the prince is underneath his neatly wrapped-up charms - all of it revealed when he suffers repeated exposure to the Quintessence of the barrier between realities.  Ultimately, Lotor truly believes he is on the right path to achieve peace in the universe and wishes for others to see the same as he does, blinded by his own traumatic upbringing and lack of ability to truly trust anyone, and his complex to be seen as an individual separate from his parents and worthy to exist.

## Abilities

### Equipment

Apart from piloting a fighter jet and Sincline, Lotor utilizes this equipment:

 **Royal Warship** | A battle cruiser he commands that is piloted by his generals.

## Stats

#### Combat

Lotor is highly skilled with bladed sidearms for close-combat, utilizing his Galran broadsword, and is confident enough in his abilities to willingly battle and defeat enemies in the Galra Empire's arena before an audience of the Empire's military. His deadly battle prowess is showcased in his intense solo fights against other Empire military elite, including Throk, Sendak, and his own Quintessence-infused father, Zarkon. His battle-hardened personality is mirrored in his ability to survive several heavy blows, including being knocked across a plateau and thrown through solid rock.

Lotor's greatest strength lies in his intellect, technical and scientific knowledge, and tactical prowess, extensively using methodical means to test and probe his targets for a result, ingenious use of his environment to his advantage, psychological warfare, and trickery, making him frighteningly dangerous because of his sheer competence in strategy and battle. His official intellect stats are maxed.

Contrary to his stature - smaller than most Galra - Lotor is powerful enough to deliver a staggering punch to the much larger Throk and shatter the commander's sword with his own. His official strength stats are nearly maxed. Unlike most Galra, Lotor uses speed, wit, and agility in combat rather than brute strength. He excels at handling larger opponents, and will taunt, dodge around, and parry attacks to tire out his enemy, using their own strength and aggression against them. This is a practice that he extends to the agile spacecrafts he pilots and designs.

#### Piloting

Lotor's superb piloting skills are a force to be reckoned with when coupled with his intellect and tactical expertise. Sincline and his customized fighter jets hold true to his nature of outwitting and outmaneuvering opponents; he is able to handle all five Voltron Lions with a fighter jet simply by exploiting their disorganized pilots, and shake off pursuit of entire Galra fleets by using his nimble and durable Sincline ship to exploit the hostile environment of space.

## Trivia

* Allura was born before Lotor, but because she was put in a stasis sleep for 10,000 years and he instead experienced those 10,000 years' worth of time, Lotor is older than her.
* The reason for Lotor's exile is because he befriended and worked alongside a civilization he was ordered to govern, instead of subjugating them and mining Quintessence to the detriment of their planet. Enraged, Zarkon ordered him to destroy the civilization, but Lotor refused, so Zarkon banished his son and destroyed the planet himself.
* The generals of Lotor's royal guard - Acxa, Ezor, Narti, and Zethrid - are all part-Galran women.
* Prior to Season 3, Lotor's face was kept hidden because of his status as an iconic character of the *Voltron* franchise. During WonderCon 2017, a clip of Lotor was revealed to panel attendees, but being April Fool's Day, his face was hidden by the cow given to Lance in "Space Mall".
* Tyler Labine considers Lotor to be one of the most complex, complicated, and well-written villains on TV.
* During the announcement of Season 5's air date, the *Voltron* social media event entailed voting in an Instagram story poll for whether Lotor was a friend or foe. The finalized results of the poll was that 59% voted for friend, 41% for foe.
* Lotor is based on the character Lotor of the previous *Voltron* franchises, who in turn was based on the character Sincline of *Beast King GoLion*. According to Lauren Montgomery, series staff saw in the villainous prince of *Defender of the Universe* a character that could be molded to be cooler and more motivated, and she spoke disdainfully of the older generation Lotor's obsession with Allura.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 **Season Four**: Episode 5, "Begin the Blitz"
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Voltron: Legendary Defender Official Website
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 **Season Three**: Episode 1, "Changing of the Guard"
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 **Season Five**: Episode 6, "White Lion"
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 **Season Five**: Episode 5, "Bloodlines"
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 **Season Three**: Episode 2, "Red Paladin"
7. ↑ **Season Three**: Episode 6, "Tailing a Comet"
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 **Season Five**: Episode 1, "The Prisoner"
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 **Season Six**: Episode 4, "The Colony"
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 **Season Six**: Episode 6, "All Good Things"
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 **Season Four**: Episode 3, "Black Site"
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 **Season Five**: Episode 2, "Blood Duel"
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 **Season Three**: Episode 5, "The Journey"
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 **Season Four**: Episode 6, "A New Defender"
15. ↑ **Season Six**: Episode 1, "Omega Shield"
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 **Season Three**: Episode 4, "Hole in the Sky"
17. ↑ **Season Six**: Episode 7, "Defender of All Universes"
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 **Season Three**: Episode 3, "The Hunted"
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 AfterBuzzTV: Voltron Legendary Defender Season 5 Episodes 1 & 2 Review & Reaction with Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery - 00:13:00 - Transcript:

**Lauren**: "*Being in her womb as she was being exposed to all this quintessence it's like, it's part of his DNA. It almost puts him on a level with Allura who—In which her quintessence is definitely part of her DNA. So it's uh, interesting to see.*"

**Joaquim**: "*And it's allowed him to stay so beautifully young this entire time.*"

**Lauren**: "*Yes, beautifully young. He's aged at a much slower rate than your average Galra.*"
20. ↑ Voltron Twitter
21. ↑ Rewind and Pause with Bex-Taylor Klaus and Tyler Labine at San Diego Comic-Con 2017
22. ↑ Voltron Twitter: "Is Lotor a Friend or Foe?" Poll Results
23. ↑ IGN with Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery, February 2017
24. ↑ Entertainment Weekly with Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery, January 2017

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