Talk:He-Man

Miscellaneous

In Conan the Barbarian, it says the He-Man toys were originally to be based on the movie, and not on the comics, as this article states. Maybe one of you fanboys could correct whichever one is wrong?

I expanded this article by adapting text which is available online at Kuro5hin. Before anyone begins worrying about copyrights, please note that I wrote the article I quoted this from. --- IHCOYC 14:21, 30 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Small personal gripe: I've always thought that He-man was a spectacularly stupid name for a character. Sorry, fans. Lee M 04:11, 22 Feb 2004 (UTC)

This is perhaps one reason why it's amusing: the name is so obvious and over the top.

Mebbe so, but it's one reason I never got into the show, apart from the fact that it was obviously set up to sell merchandise. Lee M 19:41, 22 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Incidentally, viewing the 2002 series on the UK Toonami channel, I notice that all of the characters travel between the various locations with remarkable speed. Given that (according to the official publicity maps) the main locations are scattered around the planet, I can only conclude that Eternia is quite a small planet. In fact I estimate that it has a diameter of about 10 miles, which would also account for its very small civilian population which I estimate at about 300. No wonder everyone there is always fighting - they're claustrophobic!

FWIW, the fact that Teela is the Sorceress's daughter is canon from the 1980s series; it was revealed in an episode called Teela's Quest, which moreover suggested that it is Teela's destiny to inherit the somewhat unenviable position of being the sorceress of Grayskull. Teela journeys to a distant oracle and learns the truth, but a spell is cast upon her by the Sorceress to make her forget it. Smerdis of Tlön 00:28, 28 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for the info. I hadn't seen the original series, so I'd only seen the relationship mantioned in the 2002 episode "The Ties that Bind", where the Sorceress gives Teela a blood transfusion with unexpected results. Lee M 20:01, 28 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Sword

I am by no means a fan.... :)

But I seem to recall that He Man and Skeletor had 2 halves of the same sword. At least, if you had the He Man action figure, and the Skeletor action figure, you could click their swords together to form a thicker sword. I didn't know what the significance of that was. Anyone know?

I never noticed this myself. But in the early mini-comics and the DC comics a key plot element is "the Power Sword" which is formed of two halves. Several plots (IMHO so many they are repetitive) revolve around Skeletor seeking to unite the two halves and then use the sword to enter Castle Greyskull and aquire its powers. It should also be noted that in these early stories He-Man's main fighting weapon is the axe rather than the sword.

I'm not sure if this was deliberate or a case of someone noticing the toys could do this and writing something around it. The 2002 version of Skeletor comes with a sword that can be split into two blades with different coloured handles but I'm not sure if the corresponding cartoon made use of this. Timrollpickering 20:15, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I think you have your shows confused. The show where the good guy had one half of a sword and the bad guy had another was Blackstar. Blackstar, a former astronaut from Earth, had the Starsword and his nemesis, some scary guy named Overlord, had the Powersword. Together, they would become the mighty Powerstar. 193.167.132.66 12:31, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)

It's possible there's show confusion, but the Power Sword in two halves is most definitely present in the early mini-comics and the DC comics. Timrollpickering 13:25, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I am aware of that, but the OP's message sounded like he meant Blackstar. There's nothing stopping two shows featuring similar swords. 85.76.152.179 16:14, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Neutrality

Why may this article need to be reworded to conform to a neutral point of view? How can an article about a mere TV series not be neutral?

Thought the same thing myself, so I removed it.--Wasabe3543 00:06, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Contains POV material such as "...and an overabundance of spinning weapons and hyper-exaggerated leaps" and "... the 2002 Evil-Lyn is a witty, powerful agential player in her own right with her own plans and her own allegiances. It seems a shame that the writers could not do for Teela what they did for Evil-Lyn." Am editing. Lora

Skeletor based on Darth Vader?

Skeletor is assumed to have been modeled upon Darth Vader.

Is there any reason to support this, other than that Vader was setting strides in the field of villainy in 1980? Skeletor has never struck me as Vader inspired, beyond the origin (which is a later addition). Timrollpickering 09:12, 24 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Overview text

This was removed in edits. It is increasingly looking out of place and perhaps could go elsewhere. For the moment I've put it here in case anyone wants to recycle it:

Overview

He-Man's true identity is Prince Adam, the son of King Randor and Queen Marlena, who was granted the power to transform into his alter-ego by the Sorceress. Prince Adam's pet is a cowardly green tiger named Cringer. When Adam changes to He-Man, Cringer becomes a giant (and brave) armored green tiger named Battle-Cat, who serves as He-Man's steed.

Castle Grayskull, whiose facade resembles a gigantic skull, is the source of the Power of Grayskull. Inside the Castle lives the Sorceress. Part bird and part woman, she possesses the magical ability to change herself into a falcon named Zoar. The Sorceress is among the most powerful magic-wielders on Eternia, and she also has limited use of the power held within Castle Grayskull, but only for the purpose of its protection. She also communicates telepathically with He-Man, and was the person responsible for introducing Prince Adam to the power of changing into He-Man.

He-Man has other allies, many of whom are in the King's service.

"Teela" is Captain of the Royal Guard and often assists He-Man in his battles. She is the daughter of the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull, though she does not know this. She is characterized by a strong personality. One of her duties is to teach combat skills to Prince Adam, but she frequently berates him for his careless and worry-free attitude.
Her foster father "Duncan" is known simply by his title "Man-At-Arms". He designs and builds weapons and other technology for King Randor. Duncan knows the secret identity of Adam/He-Man and acts as mentor and teacher to the young prince.
"Orko" is an inept magician from the parallel dimensional world of Trolla. He moves around by levitating and is often the comic relief. Orko also knows Adam's secret identity and sometimes has a hard time not revealing the secret.
"Ram-Man" is a sturdy warrior with poor verbal skills who runs down most of his obstacles. In the 1983 original series, he was rather short and resembled a dwarf, whereas in the 2002 series he was a very large man with a disproportionately small head.
"Stratos" is a vaguely ape-like humanoid with wings for flying. His kind live in Avion.
"Buzz-Off" is an anthropomorphic bee. He is an andreenid in the 2002 series.
"Mekaneck" can stretch his neck to incredible lengths, which enables him to serve as a scout.
"Man-E-Faces" is an actor who can change his faces from a human face to a monster face to a robot face. He also adopts the abilities of the face he puts on.
"Sy-Klone" is an Eternian who ran rotate his arms or his torso to generate winds.
"Roboto" is a robotic warrior who in the 2002 series was created by Man-At-Arms as a chess-playing robot who upgraded himself to a fighter.
"Moss Man" is a plant man who can control plants, mostly moss.
"Zodak" is the Cosmic Enforcer and ally to He-Man.
"Fisto" is a man with a metal hand that packs a powerful punch. He is Teela's uncle in the 2002 series and got his metal hand when his large hand was badly shattered.
"Clamp Champ" is a black Eternian and Master of Capture since he has a clamp that can grab anyone.
"Snout Spout" is an elephant-headed man who can shoot water out of his trunk. He appeared in the She-Ra cartoon.
"Extendar" is a mechanical being who is the Master of Extention.
"Rio Blast" is an Eternian gunslinger with hidden weapons.
"Rokkon" is a rock being who can turn into a rock.
"Stonedarr" is Rokkon's brother with the same power.
"Rotar" is the Heroic Master of Hyper-Spin. He was a Palace Guard that was injured in battle and became what he is with the help of Man-At-Arms' inventive skills
"Gwildor" is a dwarf-like Thenorian and inventor of the Cosmic Key. He appeared in the 1987 Movie.

He-Man's chief adversary is "Skeletor", a blue-skinned muscleman with a skull for a head, wearing a cowl. He is skilled in dark magic as well as all forms of combat. Skeletor's weapon of choice is his Havok Staff, a ram's skull atop a large rod which serves to channel his magic and amplify his powers. Though his origin is mysterious, a tie-in comic inferred that Skeletor was Keldor, King Randor's younger brother and this was confirmed in the 2002 cartoon series. Skeletor is thought by some to have been modeled upon Darth Vader.

Skeletor's base of operations is Snake Mountain, a tall, conical-shaped cavern fortress made of polished black basalt, which has a giant stone snake coiled around it. Snake Mountain is located on the Dark Hemisphere of Eternia.

Skeletor's allies include:

"Beast-Man", who can control nonsentient lifeforms.
"Evil-Lyn", a powerful witch with the usual complement of malevolent powers.
"Mer-Man", a fish-man who controls sealife.
"Tri-Klops", a 3-eyed mechanic and inventor.
"Trap-Jaw", a cyborg and weapons expert with a metal jaw which can bite through anything.
"Faker", a duplicate of He-Man. (The toy version is done in blue, with the backstory that he is a robot duplicate that didn't work out. In one annual he was a deformed clone. However in his sole appearance in the cartoon he was a magical creation identical to He-Man apart from glowing eyes.)
"Jitsu", an Asian-esque wrestler with a giant arm.
"Whiplash", whose tail is a formidable weapon. His 2002 appearance was much larger but somewhat less intelligent than in the 1983 series. He is a Calagar in the 2002 series.
"Clawful", a giant anthropomorphic crab with claws similar to a fiddler crab.
"Kobra Khan", snake man who can emit a sleeping gas. In the 2002 series, he spits acid instead and is a servent of King Hiss.
"Webstor", a blue-skinned man with the abilities of a spider. In the 80's series, he was nothing but a goblin with a grappling hook for a weapon. In the 2002 series, he has the appearance of a spider-like being.
"Two-Bad", a character with two faces that constantly argue between themselves. In the 2002 series, he was 2 bounty hunter bonded together by Skeletor after they failed to work together.
"Spikor", a humanoid covered in spikes.
"Stinkor", an anthropomorphic skunk with magical control over his own stench (he only appeared in the written comics and 2002 animated version, never the original series).
"Screeech" is a barbaric bird that works for Skeletor.
"Icer" is Skeletor's northern agent who can freeze anyone and can dissolve into water to get under cracks. He hates heat.
"Twistoid" is Skeletor's evil speed-twisting robot created by Skeletor when he stole the blueprints for Rotar. He and Rotar are rivals.
"Ninjor" is an evil Eternian ninja and servent of Skeletor.
"Blade" is a master swordsman and bounty hunter with a patch over his eye. He was seen in the 1987 movie.
"Saurod" is a armored reptilian who shoots sparks out of his mouth. He appeared in the 1987 movie and was destroyed by Skeletor.
"Karg" commanded Skeletor's centurion and was seen in the 1987 movie. It is unknown how he got hook-hands.

Independent villains include:

"Modulok", a cunning scientist with multiple limbs. He only appeared in the 1983 series. (The toy version has a body that can be taken apart and remade into multiple forms, but for the cartoon he was simplified.)
"Count Marzo" is a very powerful sorcerer who, in hte 2002 series, was punished for his evil deeds by being transformed into a physically frail dwarf, although Skeletor and Evil-Lyn can revert him back to his true form whenever they require his assistance. In the 80's series, he an evil lord with a Frankenstein-like sidekick named Chimera.
"Evilseed" is an evil plant man who can control vicious plants. In the 80's series, He-Man and Skeletor teamed up to stop him and He-Man destroyed his plants with a large snowball as well as himself. In the 2002 series, he is Moss Man's enemy.
"The Giants Azdar, Belzar, and Chadzar" were in the 2002 series. Buzz-Off made enemies with Azdar.
"The Space Pirate" only appeared in one episode in the 80's series, they are Captain Sticky Fingers, Batty, Frogman, Hisser, Lavaman, and Leo.
"Shokoti" is an extremely powerful undead sorceress who resided in the Sands of Time. She only appeared once in the entire Masters of the Universe cartoon series, but is worthy of mentioning due to the fact that she nearly defeated He-Man. She had a rather demonic appearance, with a horned headdress, jet-black hair, pale bluish skin and black, lifeless eyes. The only episode of her appearance, "The House of Shokoti, part 2" is considered one of the darkest episodes in the series.

As with many parts of the Masters of the Universe story, He-Man's background and origins were somewhat revised in successive versions of the story and it is sometimes difficult to reconcile the various versions.

Timrollpickering 22:42, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Need to restructure article?

The article is starting to get confused due to the multiple versions of MOTU - toys, early mini-comics, original cartoons, New Adventures, 2002 incarnations and so forth. It's particularly confusing as to which version of a character is being talked about. Would it be better to have a general "Masters of the Universe" article and then several distinct articles on each incarnation? Timrollpickering June 30, 2005 15:45 (UTC)

He-Man video-games

What about the He-Man related computer- and video-games? I know that there was at least one shoot-'em-up style flight-game released for several systems in the 80s, a game based on the movie (with Ludgren featured in the title-screen), one or perhaps two text-adventures plus the newer Game Boy Advance-game based on the 2002-series.