Lotor (Legendary Defender)

This article is about the prince of the Galra Empire as he appears in Legendary Defender. For a list of other meanings, see Lotor (disambiguation).

Lotor
Biography
Home Planet	Unknown
Heritage	Galran
Physical Description
Age	Unknown
Born	Unknown
Gender	Male
Popular Headcanoned Eye Color	Blue (Yellow Sclera)
Hair Color	White
Personal Information
Relatives	Zarkon (Father) Unknown Mother
Occupation	Prince of the Galra Empire Emperor Pro Tem of the Galra Empire
Affiliation	Galra Empire
Status	Alive
Media
Debut	Changing of the Guard
Voice Actor	A.J. LoCascio
Counterpart	Lotor

Prince Lotor is the prince of the Galra Empire and son of Zarkon. He is slated to take over his father's role after Zarkon's obsession with the Black Lion, coupled with aid from the Galra rebel faction called the Blade of Marmora and their allies, led to the emperor's defeat at the hands of the Voltron team. With Zarkon in a comatose state under the care of Haggar, the witch has ordered the Empire's commanders to summon the prince. He is accompanied by his four generals Acxa, Ezor, Zethrid, and Narti.

Appearance

Lotor's appearance bears little in common with that of the average Galran, aside from his long limbs, lavender skin, and yellow sclera. His mane of white hair is usually kept slicked back over his shoulders with a single forelock hanging down over his face. When piloting his ship or in the gladiatorial arena, he keeps his hair tucked under a helmet. Unlike the average Galran, his eyes possess visible pupils and irises, which accentuate his rather cunning and snide facial expressions. Lotor's long, elfin face is framed by long, saber-like pointed ears that rise above his high cheekbones.

Lotor's build is lean, quick, and deceptively powerful, as he was strong enough to cleave Throk's blade in two with a single-armed stroke of his blade - a feat not easily achieved by contemporary human swordsmen.

Lotor commonly wears a custom Galran armor. It bears a great resemblance to the uniforms of his personal generals, being black, dark indigo, and accented with blue and orange, unlike the fatigues of his father's standard soldiers.

Personality

Unlike his father, Zarkon, Lotor sees no point in suppressing those he conquers. Rather, he prefers to amplify his strength by instilling good will in those under the Galra Empire's rule, sparing his enemies in exchange for loyalty and service. This is a far cry from his father's methods. However, Lotor is also quite brutal in his personality, as evidenced by him dropping the cybernetic arm of the soldier that Haggar sent to tail and observe him at her feet. Throk experienced a tandem of these traits during his dealings with Lotor: publicly he was defeated and spared from death by Lotor to gain greater support from the Galra people, only to assign him to what Throk considered to be the worst post in the Empire, the item he was protecting stolen by Lotor's own soldier, and was then both tortured and killed by Haggar for his failure which had been setup by the Prince.

Lotor is willing to admit when a strategic withdrawal from battle is acceptable. This contrasts greatly with his father's brutal berserker philosophy in combat, where Zarkon would sacrifice anything, including himself, in order to achieve a goal. Lotor's greater patience allowed him to survive direct combat with the Lions of Voltron on multiple occasions, with the most damage being done to him being the freezing of a wing of his personal fighter ship.

Lotor is rather tough to read, his motives being difficult to decipher based on his fluid and changeable tactics, thus his behavior is inconsistent with his actions. As a tactician, this makes Lotor very skilled, if not bordering on genius.

One aspect of Lotor's personality that appears to be atypical of those of the Galra Empire of high standing and rank is his lack of bigotry towards Galran of mixed heritage. This can be seen in his hand-picked generals, as they have been stated to be exclusively of mixed heritage. This shows that Lotor values diversity on his force, which fits well with his mindset as a fluid and cunning strategist, keeping his tactics unpredictable and adaptive.

Abilities

Intellect

Lotor has demonstrated that he is extremely intelligent and a cunning strategist. He is a tactician of considerable skill, capable of quickly analyzing and countering his opponent's tactics, and altering his own to remain unpredictable.

Lotor's tactics include the use of probing attacks in order to gauge his opponents' strengths, weaknesses, and even their identities. His indirect methodology makes him hard to follow. He is an astute judge of his enemies, able to understand that the Paladins he fought against were not the ones who defeated his father based on their cohesion as a team. Lotor prefers to pick his battlefield, playing his enemies for fools, taking time to observe them, their methods, and more. Lotor is unlike any enemy that the Paladins have faced before, in that he emphasizes intelligence over brute military force, his methods being more akin to a snake than a dragon, as he weaves his way around his enemies before crushing them from all sides and going in for the kill.

Additionally, he is a master orator, able to inspire thousands of his people in the gladiatorial arena following his apparent mercy to Throk. Lotor's gift of eloquence allows him to seduce his followers, ensnaring their sense of loyalty to his own ends.

Swordsmanship

Lotor dueling Throk for the Galra throne

Aside from his intellect, Lotor is a master swordsman. In his debut, he illustrates his skill with a one-handed sword, disarming and defeating an opponent of much greater size. His technique is shown to be fluid, wasting little energy on power over grace in his swordsmanship. Lotor's grace and agility may be great, but his raw power as a swordsman allowed him to cut through Throk's blade with a single slash, bringing the treacherous Galra general to his knees.

Lotor's personal weapon is an oddity among his people: unlike the single-edged backswords that are norm among the Galra, Lotor favors a double-edged blade with a guard that angles downward toward the hilt. This blade is also incredibly durable, able to cut through standard issue Galran swords with no visible wear or tear, and is incredibly fine tuned to Lotor, allowing him to wield it like an extension of his body.

Piloting

Lotor fighting solo against the Voltron Force

Lotor is shown to be an extremely competent pilot, taking his own personal fighter out to face the Paladins alone. It is during this battle that he is able to easily maneuver around the Lions, avoiding their attacks and even causing them to attack each other, so much so that Hunk eventually remarks that he believes Lotor is "toying" with them. After luring the Paladins to the planet Thayserix, Lotor's evasion tactics and piloting skills are shown again, as he continually conceals himself among the planet's gases before flying into the haphazard formation of the Lions, catching them off-guard and goading them to attack him. He is also able to effortlessly pursue Allura while in his fighter, chasing after and separating her from the rest of the Paladins.   

Quotes

• "True Galra do not take the throne by stirring up insurrection in darkened chambers. They rise through honorable rite of combat."

Notes

• Lotor's appearance is not that of the average Galran; his mother and exact heritage are unknown. It is likely he is a Galran hybrid much like his generals. This would make sense given his own lack of animosity towards hybrids of Galran descent and his generals being exclusively of mixed heritage.

Gallery

Main Gallery: Lotor (Legendary Defender)/Gallery