Skeletor Will Return Later

What's in the shot

The image shows a villain in a purple hood, cloak, and boots running away from the viewer down a dark tunnel. The walls and floor look like huge curved, bluish-gray ribs or spikes, with rocks visible on the floor. His face isn't visible: Skeletor is shown from behind, mid-stride, with one arm tucked in. There's no caption on this particular shot — it's a plain template.

The meme is described as a two-panel format, but this picture is a single frame of the fleeing villain. The second panel, when there is one, is usually made up of a setup caption on top and a farewell line at the bottom, so this picture works well as the closing half of the joke.

The character and the show

Skeletor is He-Man's main adversary in the animated series 'He-Man and the Masters of the Universe,' which premiered in the 1980s and became the foundation of a large franchise with toys, comics, and later adaptations. In the show's plots he's forever scheming, losing, and fleeing, only to come back in the next episode. It's precisely this habit of retreating with great fanfare that the joke is built on.

The exact episode this shot is cut from is unknown, and there's no need to name it. The joke doesn't require it: it's enough that the villain is leaving the scene.

Where the 2021 format came from

According to a reference entry in an English-language meme catalog, the series of Skeletor jokes began in July 2021 on the Facebook page 'Sinister Skeletor,' with the first post dated July 7. The format parodied old cartoon 'He-Man's advice' segments that used to close out episodes — except here the villain, instead of a moral lesson, delivers something unsettling and signs off with something like 'see you soon.'

From there the format quickly moved to Reddit: the reference entry notes retellings racking up tens of thousands of votes already in July. The version promising a return the following week is just one of the farewell-line variants; who exactly first ended a caption that way hasn't been reliably determined.

How the joke is built

The meme rests on a mismatch of tone. The line sounds like a children's TV segment delivering a helpful message, but the content is either a creepy fact or a strange bit of everyday trivia. The farewell 'I'll be back later' adds the feeling of a recurring broadcast — as if unpleasant news were airing on a schedule.

Another layer is Skeletor himself, a character who's constantly losing in the show. His exit reads as evasion: he says the uncomfortable thing and runs off without waiting for a reaction.

Example captions

Version 1: 'Your fridge is running all the time, even when you're not listening to it. Skeletor will return next week.' A mundane fact delivered like a threat, with the escape in the picture providing the pause after it.

Version 2: 'Your notes app is still holding on to that idea from 2019 you forgot about. Skeletor will return later.' Works because the 'scary' part here is just an awkward memory.

Version 3: 'That Tuesday meeting could have been an email. Skeletor will return next week.' The author takes an office theme: the villain states the truth and disappears until the next meeting.

The general rule: the fact in the first part should be either true or at least plausible, and nothing needs explaining at the end. The shorter the caption, the stronger the effect of the farewell.

Tips for using it

The template works best placed after the text rather than before it: the fleeing figure reads as a reaction to what was just said. The caption above the shot should fit in one or two lines.

Don't pin real people or major events onto Skeletor's line: jokes about everyday observations last longer. If the caption needs humor about work, school, or technology, it's best to pick a fact that any viewer will recognize.