So, when you consider that as a longtime afficionado of wrestling who happened to also be a trained martial artist (and thus familiar with what many moves 'technical names' were) combined with a bad attitude and general disdain for other people, Bobo Fiendish really started to 'flesh out' as a character. Now, as anyone remotely familiar with wrestling knows, character and ability alone can not get you over...

You need catchphrases.

What then, could we use? We needed something catchy... Something original... Something you'd never expect to hear come from a near seven-foot murderous psychotic without an ounce of compassion?

Friendliness. Friendliness dipped in venom, true, but friendliness nonetheless... But it didn't seem like enough. Then I remembered an old proverb...

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

What if this menacing, deranged, bonesnapping beast was trying to be a NICE person? Helpful? What if he saw those that stood against him as simple children who needed guidance - even nurturing? Lumps of coal that only needed a little pressure to become diamond?

BINGO.

Every promo starts with a friendly hello to those he intends to show the way - his intended. It started as 'Greetings, my intended." But that was awkward and a little schlocky - akin to the original Dark Angel's 'Greetings, prey." opener that we had already decided was no longer 'over'.... 'Hello' was better from a linguistic/cadence perspective, so it became 'Hello, my intended' and has remained so for two and a half years...

Originally, Bobo was alot like most twisted psychos... Maniacal laughter at the dopes in the ring trying futilely to damage him. Giggling at people Frank Gorshin style. Evil mocking hysterics, even... However, when I thought about his backstory - that of a serial killer escaped from prison/asylum - the sort of stuff that one goes through there would logically be pretty bad. Maybe even bad enough to blight one's soul... Ergo, Bobo could not laugh. It became a rule. The closest he could get was a rasping 'Heh', and if something struck him as so patently ridiculous it was unbelievable, then he had to exert conscious effort to not break into a fit of riotous levity. (Must... Not... Laugh....). Further, every promo ended with him saying 'You're Welcome... See you SOON.', the former as notification that he had imparted knowledge that the 'lesser beings' should be grateful for; the latter as warning that he would be back with more...

There have been other add-ons to the phrasebook over the years, as is natural. He needed a way to show he liked something (This pleases me.), a word for 'cool' (Spiffy), and a few stylish descriptions of his work in the ring (The Treatment, Bobo's Wild Ride, A Damn Fine Beating, etc). Naturally, the trick is to not overuse them to the point of cliche', so the list is much more than above, but those are pretty much the staples. (But I digress....)

Bobo has gone through some tweaking over the years both in the moves department and general presentation. But essentially is the same mean bastard he always was...

This pleases me.

Continue orFlee