He-Man

"He Man" redirects here. For the Yellow Turban commander, see He Man (Three Kingdoms).

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He-Man as seen in a DC comic from December, 1982, one of his earliest appearances and preceding the debut of his animated series.

He-Man ("The Most Powerful Man in the Universe") is a heroic fictional character in the toy series Masters of the Universe ("MOTU") and the various spin-off products and media related to it. The most prominent is the animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, produced by Filmation Studios. The syndicated series premiered in 1983 and ran until 1985, for a run of 130 episodes. In the series, He-Man and his friends defend Eternia and the secrets of Castle Grayskull from the evil forces of Skeletor. This was followed in 1990 by The New Adventures of He-Man which has He-Man summoned to the future world of Primus. In 2002, a remake was shown on Cartoon Network. The character's name is presumably based on an old expression in which a "he man" is any macho male, an expression often used in an ironic way.

Overview

Fictional character biography

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

In the earliest series of minicomics released with the original toys, He-Man is a wandering barbarian on the world of Eternia, which is dealing with the aftermath of a Great War that has devastated the civilizations that once ruled supreme over all lesser beings, but has left behind advanced machinery and weaponry. The Sorceress of Castle Grayskull, called "The Goddess" in some early appearances, gives He-Man special powers and weapons, and he sets out to defend the secrets of Castle Grayskull from the evil villain Skeletor.

Starting with the third series of mini-comics, the scenario is somewhat revised: He-Man's true identity is Prince Adam, the son of King Randor (called King Miro in early literature, a name that would later be given to Adam's grandfather) and Queen Marlena, the rulers of the planet Eternia, who live in the Kingdom of Eternos. Marlena is later stated in the Filmation cartoon series to be from the planet Earth, making He-Man only half-Eternian.

In the new version of events, The Sorceress of Castle Grayskull endows Prince Adam with the power to transform into He-Man by holding aloft his magic sword (called the "Sword of Power", or the "Power Sword") and proclaiming, "By the power of Grayskull...I have the power!". In these early revised versions, the Sword of Power has been split into two halves, with one half entrusted to He-Man, and Skeletor searching for, or occasionally possessing the other half, desperate to possess both halves as it will give him the power to conquer Castle Grayskull. As events were revised further, the concept of the two halves of the Sword of Power was dropped, although it lingered on in some media, with the Sword of Power being one. This was carried over into the 2002 series.

Prince Adam's pet is a cowardly green tiger named Cringer. When Adam changes to He-Man, Cringer becomes a giant, brave armored green tiger named Battle Cat when filled with the magical power cast from He-Man's sword. Battle Cat, like He-Man, had existed prior to his alter ego, also serves as He-Man's steed and fierce fighting companion.

Adam is friendly with the beautiful and strong-willed Teela, the female Captain of the Royal Guard and adoptive daughter of his mentor Duncan. Adam and Teela grew up together, and now as the Captain of the Guard, Teela is entrusted to protect the Prince, something that she does loyally, although she often sees Adam as lazy and cowardly, not aware of his dual identity as He-Man. Teela is revealed to be the only daughter of The Sorceress, and the future inheritor of Grayskull - however, The Sorceress gave her up for adoption when she was just a baby after her father died.

Duncan—also known as Man-At-Arms—is the Eternian royal family's innovator of technology and weapons. In many episodes, Man-At-Arms unveils new and fantastic weapons that help He-Man and his friends.

Castle Grayskull, which resembles a gigantic skull, is the source of He-Man's powers. Inside the Castle lives the Sorceress, who grants Prince Adam his transformative abilities, and communicates telepathically with He-Man. She also created He-Man's harness from a rare Eternian mineral called Korodite, which adds to his physical strength.

To protect his family, He-Man keeps his double identity secret, sharing the knowledge only with Man-At-Arms, Orko, Cringer/Battle Cat, and the Sorceress; with the advent of the She-Ra: Princess of Power series, this list is expanded to also include Adora/She-Ra, Spirit/Swift Wind, Light Hope, Loo-Kee, Madame Razz, and Kowl. The original cartoon series also includes the dragon Granamyr, the cosmic enforcer Zodak and at the end of a later episode, "The Rainbow Warrior" it is lightly hinted, although never confirmed or played on, that Queen Marlena may possibly also know his secret. He-Man is usually accompanied by an assortment of allies in his battles, such as Ram-Man and Stratos.

Later, it is revealed that Adam has a twin sister named Adora, theoretically the Princess of Eternia, but in fact a leader in The Great Rebellion against Hordak on the planet Etheria. Adora, like Adam, has been given the gift of the power of Grayskull and has her own sword which she uses to transform into She-Ra, Princess of Power. He-Man makes a number of appearances in the She-Ra: Princess of Power television series.

He-Man's chief adversary is Skeletor, a blue-skinned sorcerer with a skull for a head, wearing a cowl. He is skilled in black magic as well as all forms of combat. Skeletor's weapon of choice is his Havoc Staff, a ram's skull atop a large rod, which serves to channel his magic and amplify his powers. The Havok Staff also allows Skeletor to engage in the remote viewing of events on and around Eternia. Though his origin is mysterious, and the cartoon describes him only as a "demon from another dimension," a tie-in comic implies that Skeletor's true identity is Prince Keldor, younger brother of King Randor, thus making him He-Man's uncle. It is revealed in the He-Man motion picture He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword that Skeletor was Hordak's right-hand man up until his capture, and supposed release.

Skeletor's base of operations is Snake Mountain, a 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 leads a motley crew of henchmen against He-Man and his associates; the most popular are the sorceress Evil-Lyn, the bumbling lord of the animal world Beast Man, the bionic Trap-Jaw, multi-sighted Tri-Klops, and fish lord Mer-Man.

In the 1980s series, He-Man/Adam is voiced by John Erwin, for many the definitive He-man, a congenial hero with an endless supply of one liners. In the 1987 live-action feature film, he is played by Dolph Lundgren. Gary Chalk provides the voice of He-Man for the 1989 series The New Adventures of He-Man, and later the voice of Man-At-Arms for the 2002 series. He does not provide the voice of Prince Adam; Adam is instead voiced by Doug Parker, unlike the 1983 and 2002 series, where Adam and He-Man were voiced by the same actor. In the 2002 series, He-Man is voiced by Cam Clarke.

He-Man and Conan connection

Originally, the He-Man action figures were designed as a toy line for the Conan The Barbarian movie, but Mattel president Ray Wagner decided instead to come up with a new proprietary male action line, so as to avoid paying royalties to another company. The toys that had already been put into production were changed and combined with the ideas of Ray Wagner.

Wagner wanted a strong line to compete with the then popular Star Wars line of toys; a license that he had ironically rejected purchasing for Mattel in 1977. In an attempt to fulfill Wagner's request, the He-Man concept came into existence, with Roger Sweet heading it's development.

Sweet's hard work resulted in the "He-Man trio", three 9½ inch tall prototype figures created using "Big Jim" molds. One was a barbarian fantasy themed figure, one a military toy in the vein of G.I. Joe and one was a Star Wars-esque space man, complete with jet-pack.

several months of development work occurred at Mattel before the new Masters Of The Universe line began to hit the market in late 1981. Filmation writers and many other varied personnel joined in to contribute greatly to the success of the line.

History of the He-Man action figure

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He-Man & Battle Cat (1982)

The Original "Masters of the Universe" toy line

The first He-Man action figure was released by Mattel in 1981, and had a twist waist and power punch action. The figure came with the power sword, a battle axe and a shield, together with a removable harness. In 1982 the figure was also released in a set with either Battle Cat or the Wind Raider vehicle. The He-Man figure was released again in 1983 together with Teela and Ram-Man; and the figure was also released in 1986 together with the Jet Sled vehicle.

Starting with the third wave of figures in 1984, a different He-Man variant, and corresponding Skeletor variant, was released with each new wave. The first alternate version was entitled Battle Armor He-Man. The chest contained a springloaded rotating drum bearing three "damage indicators". As before, the power sword and battle axe were included. The figure was also re-released the same year, in a two-pack with Battle Armor Skeletor, and the figure was also available packaged with the Road Ripper vehicle. In 1986, the figure was released again, together with Battle Armor Skeletor and Orko.

Another alternate version was released in 1985, with the name Thunder Punch He-Man. The toy was powered with caps to make a bang when he threw a punch. The power sword, colored mustard gold with this version of the character, and shield were released with the figure, together with some red caps. The same year, Battle Armor He-Man was re-released with Battle Cat, and again in a collector's pack with Man-at-Arms and Man-E-Faces.

1986 saw the release of another version, named Flying Fists He-Man. The figure's arms moved as his waist rotated. The figure included a spinning trident mace and a rotating shield. A double-pack was later released containing both Flying Fists He-Man and Terror Claws Skeletor.

In 1988, a final version was released for the original toy line, entitled Laser Power He-Man, which lit up He-Man's Power Sword powered by batteries inserted into the back of the figure. The figure was limited to releases in Italy and Spain, although it also appeared in some major department stores in London, England, and is one of the rarest and most highly sought after figures of the toy-line due to its limited release. This figure is also notable in that, whereas previous alternate versions had stuck to the basic original He-Man head, this new version had a completely new head sculpt, inspired in part by He-Man's appearance in the 1987 movie.

It should also be noted that He-Man, along with all of the early figures, was originally released with a hollow rubber 'squeezable' head. In the later days of the line, the He-Man figure, as with a number of the early figures, was altered to have a solid head. The soft head version is the far more common of the two, with the hard head version being relatively scarce. Thunder Punch He-Man and Flying Fists He-Man were released with hard heads; Battle Armor He-Man, like the original version, was originally released with a soft head, but later also appeared with a hard head. Not all countries of production adopted the later hard head alteration.

The "He-man" toy line

In 1989 Mattel re-launched the He-man brand, albeit with some major differences from the older toys. Instead of using the characters and setting from the old "Masters of the Universe" line, He-man and Skeletor were decked out in new space themed armor with new weapons and new cohorts. In fact, the only two original characters that were made into figures in the new "He-man" line were He-man and Skeletor.

"Masters of the Universe toy line" (2002)

The newest series of Mattel toys designed by the Four Horsemen was produced in tandem with the new cartoon that was aired by Cartoon Network. The new toyline was made surprisingly faithful to the original line, with the characters gently "re-imagined" and updated in terms of sculpting detail rather than radically reinterpreted. Some characters were marginally more redesigned than others with merely more detailed and "mature" sculpts. Most redesigns simply involved making certain elements slightly more hyperbolic. The new He-Man figure was generally faithful to the original version, although some long-term collectors felt that his muscles had been toned down too much and he now looked "gangly". The strongest point of criticism from many fans was the radical redesign of the Power Sword, which went from its originally slender appearance to what many saw as now being "ugly".

The toyline was ultimately short-lived, lasting less than three years. Many fans and market commentators believe that the line's failure was twofold: an excessive focus on attempting to mass-market the line to a new generation of children rather than focusing on a safer collector-based approach and instead of consistently releasing new characters Mattel massively over-produced gratuitous recolours and variants, sometimes quite minor, of already-released figures. Some fans also feel that the new line was too compromised - while being fairly faithful to the original, at the same time shoe-horning in heavy Manga / Anime and other current trend influences, losing some of the original line's distinctive appeal in the process.

Since the discontinuation of the toyline, NECA toys has taken the unprecedented step of continuing the toyline through the use of action figure sized mini-statues scaled and sculpted to be aesthetically compatible for display alongside the Mattel toys, thus allowing fans to fill out their collections with other Four Horsemen redesigned characters that had yet to be produced as figures when the toyline was cancelled. According to a December 8, 2005 interview with a Mattel representative on he-man.org, NECA offered to produce fully-articulated action figures for Mattel without taking any credit, but permission was denied nevertheless. Instead, NECA was only permitted to produce nonarticulated statues.

He-Man in live action

In 1987, Cannon Films produced a Live-action film Masters of the Universe which features Dolph Lundgren in the role of He-Man. Although the film was not received well upon its release, it has developed a strong cult following over recent years. Despite accusations that Lundgren was "embarrassed" about the movie, he has repeatedly stated his pride in his work in the movie.

Although generally portrayed in much the same manner as other media, there were several notable differences in the character of He-Man within the movie. His use of a gun in several scenes, rather than his characteristic sword, caused controversy among fans. Also, there was no mention of his secret identity of Prince Adam within the film, implying the makers envisioned him as having only one permanent identity, as is the case in the early mini-comics. There was not even any direct indication that his powers came from Castle Grayskull; nor that he possessed any superhuman abilities, save for a few depictions of enormous strength; such as overpowering Beast Man in a fight and pushing over a giant statue. He is portrayed generally as a standard hero, although widely recognized and regarded as a great leader and Eternia's best hope of survival. However, at the climax of the story he does retrieve his sword from Skeletor and cries "I have the power!", seemingly replenishing his strength. It has also been suggested by fans that, as the movie starts partway into the story, with Skeletor already having captured the Sorceress and taken control of Castle Grayskull, that Prince Adam could have transformed into He-Man prior to the events we see on-screen, and simply did not transform back into Adam during the story due to the critical nature of the situation.

Powers and abilities

He-Man is characterized by his immense strength. In the intro sequence of the 1980s cartoon series he claims to be "The Most Powerful Man in the Universe". Similar wording is also used in early packaging of He-Man toys. He-Man's strength is an issue rarely tackled and seems to vary depending on the adaptation. In his first DC comics appearance he was able to trade punches with Superman. Typical of most adaptations is that He-Man is often shown successfully attempting feats deemed impossible by other characters. Episodes of the original cartoon also depict him as being able to swim at a far faster rate than is humanly possible. It is unknown if there is a limit to how long He-Man can remain He-Man before he reverts back to his original form of Adam, but in the 2002 series, He-Man is shown enduring the brunt of at least two large explosions, which he survives, but reverts back to Adam in the process, suggesting that even He-Man has a limit as to how much abuse he can endure before his superhuman strength and stamina is exhausted.

His physical prowess is not limited to strength, however, and he is also depicted as being extremely fast and acrobatic. These traits do not show themselves in He-Man's movie appearance, but this may had been due to budgetary reasons, as well as the fact that Dolph Lundgren, in the absence of a fitting stunt double, was forced to perform all his own stunts.

On the other hand, He-Man as a character is largely non-violent and usually only resorts to combat as a last resort, usually preferring to outsmart his adversaries, his most violent actions usually consist of picking up an enemy and tossing him away like a rag doll, though the 1987 film and 2002 series show him fighting more aggressively. He-Man is also depicted as a leader, most noticeably in the movie adaptation where he is referred to as the leader of the resistance. Sometimes He-Man's intellect appears to cross a point not within his character, but this usually happened in the original 80s cartoon.

He-Man's primary weapon is his sword, but he also uses other weapons, such as a laser-gun in the film, and equipment while battling his foes. His sword is able to deflect bolts of energy both magical and technological. Originally He-Man's primary weapon was an axe. His chest harness is made of an Etherian mineral called Korodite that helps add to his physical strength.

Due to his costume he can rarely carry large items with him. The 1980s cartoon depicts He-Man sometimes carrying items in his chest-plate and in some cases in his belt. This has caused some irritation with fans who consider the latter cases as embarrassing to the character. The He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon by Filmation also gives He-Man a number of powers many fans considered silly or over-cartoonish and which in result have not appeared in other versions. Such powers include:

• He-Man being able to blow, using the full-capacity of his lungs, a gust of wind powerful enough to knock over most opponents (similar to Superman's "super-breath").
• Able to transform himself into a human tornado (sometimes with the aid of spinning his sword) to divert objects, or even fly short distances on rare occasions ("Evilseed" and "The Shadow of Skeletor" being two such examples).
• Able to run at high speed, creating a vacuum ("The Once and Future Duke")
• Able to rub his hands together fast enough to turn sand into glass (as seen in "Temple of the Sun")
• Punched a falling moon which was on a collision course with Eternia and shattered it to a billion pieces with his bare fist.

There are also dubious feats specific to plot, such as an inexplicable ability to fix a broken chain by merely connecting its both ends ("Evil-Lyn's Plot"), and to adjust the course of one of Eternia's moons by flying a Wind Raider to it and pushing it ("Eternal Darkness").

Other Media

• A He-Man parody, He-Bro, appeared in 2006 on the TV show Wonder Showzen which portrays He-Man as a Jewish black man who can stretch his muscles like Plastic Man. The feature stays true to the actual Filmation style.
• He-Man was briefly spoofed in the fifth season The Simpsons episode "The Front". An animation awards ceremony included a clip of 'Strong-Dar: Master of Akom: The Wedding Episode'. There were physical similarities between the two characters, primarily being blond and muscular.
• He-Man was parodied in an episode of Round The Bend (a children's TV show shown on CBBC in the UK), as Wee-Man and The Masters of The Loo-nyverse.
• He-Man was briefly seen in the 4th season of Family Guy episode "Brian the Bachelor" jumping on a donkey as Prince Adam, then changing into He-Man, complete with the appropriate music and sound effects and voiced by the original He-Man, John Erwin.
• He-Man appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "Toy Meets Girl" voiced by Adam Talbot. In the "Where Are They Now" segment, He-Man is shown as a security guard. Tom Root voices He-Man in the episode "Shoe" where He-Man is accidentally killed by Beast Man.

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Penny Arcade satirizes Wikipedia with Skeletor.

• He-Man was satirized by Penny Arcade where Skeletor vandalized his Wikipedia entry.
• He-Man makes a cameo in the Drawn Together episode "Breakfast Food Killer." He is among the characters seen auditioning to become the next cereal mascot. He is missing his cross pattée here.
• As well as appearing in every Master of the Universe and New Adventures minicomic he also appeared in The Story of She-Ra, the first She-Ra minicomic.

See also

• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983 series)
• The New Adventures of He-Man
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002)
• Masters of the Universe
• Masters of the Universe (film)
• She-Ra
• List of Masters of the Universe characters
• List of Masters of the Universe vehicles
• Mattel

External links

• HeMan and SheRa Information
• He-Man.org - The most comprehensive He-Man site
• Masters Cast First He-Man and She-Ra Podcast
• He-man's Biography
• Original He-Man cels from the cartoon show
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe at IMDb (1983–1985 series)
• Masters of the Universe at IMDb (1987 live action film)
• The New Adventures of He-Man at IMDb (1990–1991 series)
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe at IMDb (2002 series)
• He-Man Master Of The Universe Shockwave Game
• He-Man on myspace