He-Man and the Masters of the Universe/Characters
Heroic Warriors
He-Man/Adam of the House of Randor
Played by: John Erwin (80's); Dolph Lundgren (Live-Action Movie); Gary Chalk (He-Man only, New Adventures); Doug Parker (Adam only, New Adventures); Cam Clarke ('02) |
Adam, prince of Eternia and descendant of the legendary King Grayskull, transforms into He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe, to protect Eternia from the forces of evil.
- A Lady on Each Arm: In the DC Comics story "Fate is the Killer!" Prince Adam arrives this way to a party, to whick Man-At-Arms comments "Only two wenches, lad? You're losing your charm!"
- Adaptational Heroism: An odd example. The original He-Man comics paint He-Man as a mostly neutral figure who wanted to be left alone. As the comics went on, He-Man grew gradually more heroic. Once the cartoon aired, He-Man became the true blue hero he's known or today, which directly influenced the darker comics, making He-Man much kinder and heroic there as well.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Zigzagged. Most portrayals of Adam past the 80s cartoon downplay his handsomeness by a lot. While he was still pretty good looking in the 2002 reboot, he's noticeably scrawnier and smaller in the New 52 DC stories. In the Injustice event, Prince Adam is once again portrayed as being an incredibly well-built and handsome man.
- Arm Cannon: A wrist-mounted laser as Adam.
- By the Power of Grayskull: Trope Namer. In The New Adventures of He-Man, he would actually say "By the Power of Eternia", though.
- Camp Straight: As Prince Adam in the 80's cartoon, though most of these characteristics Adam (supposedly) exhibited on purpose to help hide his true identity as He-Man.
- Clark Kenting: In the '80s version of the franchise. Lampshaded in To Tempt the Gods.
Save for my garb, what is there to prevent their recognizing me as the heir to the throne?" |
- Cool Sword
- Deadpan Snarker: In the cartoons, both as Adam and as He-Man, though the nature of the snark varies depending of the show; in the '80s cartoon it's more good-natured, while in the 2002 cartoon it's notably edgier.
- Faux Affably Evil: In the Eternity War storyline, He-Man witnessed a future where he never stopped being He-Man. Although he was cheerful and jovial, he was also overwhelmingly self-indulgent and a harsh ruler who punished dissent with death.
- Guile Hero: Despite being incredibly strong and powerful, He-Man's biggest asset is his intelligence. He tends to try to think of more diplomatic, peaceful and intelligent solutions to problems, only coming to violence if it's needed. Some modern adaptations either downplay this or rework his intelligence to make him more of a great general and leader.
- Half-Human Hybrid
- Henshin Hero: One Western example before it was made trendy in The Nineties.
- The Hero
- Heroes Want Redheads: Teela, though how red her hair was depended on the series.
- Important Haircut: In The New Adventures of He-Man, but in reverse: He-Man's hair inexplicably (but quite explicitly) gets ponytail-length longer during a moment of awesome mystical display.
- Invincible Hero
- Large Ham: I HAVE THE POWER!!!
- Loin Cloth
- Real Men Wear Pink: In the 80's cartoon.
- Samaritan Syndrome
- Secret Keeper: He knows Teela's mother is the Sorceress.
- Separated at Birth: His twin sister Adora was kidnapped by Hordak when they were babies.
- Sixth Ranger: From the point of view of the other Masters of the Universe. An interesting take on the trope as He-Man is the protagonist of the series but, unlike the other Masters who are more like a military unit and thus on call and can be deployed at any time, He-Man only shows up when things are bleak and spends most of his time as Prince Adam. While Adam does spend time training, he's only He-Man when the Masters need heavy backup.
- Strong as They Need to Be
- Transformation Trinket: The Sword of Power
- X Meets Y: Conan the Barbarian meets Captain Marvel
Battle Cat/Cringer
Played by: Alan Oppenheimer (80's) |
Prince Adam's pet tiger, who transforms into Battle Cat, He-Man's fighting tiger.
- Berserk Button: As Cringer, he almost always lives up to his name, but is usually the opposite if Adam is in great danger. For example, in the 2002 series, Cringer attacks a Snake Man for trying to eat Adam.
- Big Eater
- Cowardly Sidekick: as Cringer
- Hidden Depths: Regardless of continuity, Cringer can be a lot braver than even he thinks he's capable of.
- Horse of a Different Color
- Mega Neko: as Battle Cat
- Talking Animal: 80's cartoon only
- Team Pet
- Undying Loyalty: Cringer may be a scaredy cat, but he always stands by Adam - even when faced with all of Skeletor's Evil Warriors and the Council of Evil.
Buzz-Off/Tzzzzt zzz zzTTTzz
Played by: Alan Oppenheimer (80's); Brian Dobson ('02) |
King of the Andreenids, a race of bee people.
- Bee People
- The Lancer
- Nobody Calls Me Chicken
- Odd Friendship: With Stratos in the 2002 series.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He was Stratos' replacement as the flying Heroic Warrior in the 80's.
- Divergent Character Evolution: the 2002 series gave him an arrogant personality that differentiated him from Stratos.
Clamp Champ
King Randor and Queen Marlena's bodyguard, armed with a clamp weapon.
- Out of Focus: Due to being one of the latest Heroic Warriors to appear before the toyline's cancellation (his wave-mates in the toyline, King Randor and the Sorceress, had more luck since they began as Toyless Toyline Characters, therefore having more time to shine even before being released as figures). At least he managed to get enough screentime in the latest comics to avert becoming an Advertised Extra like the second wave of Galactic Guardians.
- Super Reflexes
- Super Senses: He cannot be taken by surprise.
Extendar/Doodon
"I am Extendar, tower of power!" |
A palace guard changed by Hordak into a cyborg with extendable arms, legs, neck and torso. Despite his powers being a Horde creation, he uses them for good.
- Cyborg
- I Just Want to Be Badass: Before getting his powers. Hordak promised him power if he accepted to become a cyborg, without telling him he intended to use him for evil purposes.
- Telescoping Cyborg: He can extend his neck, torso, arms and legs.
Fearless Photog/Jey
Gwildor's apprentice, who due to a miscalculation got accidentaly fused with his invention, the Photog Emulator, getting the power of draining his enemies' energy.
Fisto/Malcom
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's); Mark Acheson ('02) |
Man-At-Arms' brother, who has a metallic right hand. Generally considered the second strongest Heroic Warrior, after He-Man himself.
- Aloof Big Brother: To Man-At-Arms though only in the 2002 series.
- Name's the Same: Fisto's toy even had to be called "Battle Fist" to avoid confusion with Star Wars' Kit Fisto, despite being created like 20 years earlier.
- Power Fist
Gwildor
Played by: Billy Barty (Live-Action Movie) |
Thenurian locksmith and inventor.
- Expy: His sole reason for existing is because they couldn't do a live-action Orko.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Created the "cosmic key," allowing a person to travel between dimensions.
- Hobbits: He sure looks like one anyway.
- Little People
King Randor of the House of Miro
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's); Michael Donovan ('02) |
Heroic ruler of Eternia. Younger son of King Miro, and Prince Adam's father.
- Badass Normal
- The Good King
- Happily Married: to Queen Marlena
- Heroes Want Redheads
- Hot Dad
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Particularly in the '02 version, where he can hold his own in battle and is excellent at diplomacy.
Man-At-Arms/Duncan
Played by: Alan Oppenheimer (80's); Jon Cypher (Live-Action Movie); Gary Chalk ('02) |
King Randor's right-hand man, inventor and friend, and one of his most valuable warriors. Also, Prince Adam's mentor, friend and confidant.
- Arm Cannon: A wrist-mounted laser in the '80s series, a BFG in the '02 series.
- Badass Mustache: He didn't have it at first, but it was added in the animated series and kept for later renditions.
- Badass Normal
- Intergenerational Friendship: With He-Man
- The Smart Guy
- Secret Keeper: For both Adam (He-Man) and the Sorceress (Teela's mother).
- Techno Wizard
Man-E-Faces/Perkaedo
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's); Paul Dobson ('02) |
An actor who can change his face to become a human, robot or monster.
- Characterization Marches On: He began as a good guy who was transformed by Skeletor into an monster, and sometimes the struggle between human and monster caused the neutral robot personality to arise. Later characterisations show all the faces as the same heroic personality.
- Morph Weapon: Man-E-Faces has a weapon with three modes, much like himself. Staff, gun, and club — respectively well-suited to his human, robot, and monster faces.
- The Power of Acting
- Robo Speak: His robotic face
- Split Personality: in the original minicomics and the DC comics.
Mekaneck
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's); Gabe Khouth ('02) |
Heroic human periscope. During a disaster, his neck was badly injured, so Man-At-Arms made him a mechanical extending neck.
- Cyborg
- Long-Lost Relative: His son, kidnapped by Count Marzo.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: He extends his neck. This works well for reconaissance missions where he can act as a human periscope, but isn't very useful in combat.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: In 02's "Mekaneck's Lament," his power helps him defeat Count Marzo.
Moss Man/Kreann'Ot N'Norosh
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's); John Payne ('02) |
A plant-based hero who can manipulate plant matter.
- Green Thumb
- Nature Spirit: The '02 version is the guardian and living embodinent of everything pure and good about Eternia's flora. [1]
- Older Than They Look: It's been recently revealed that he fought alongside King Grayskull.
Orko
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's); Gabe Khouth ('02) |
A magician from the dimension of Trolla, who was stuck at Eternia by accident and became King Randor's jester.
- Amusing Alien
- Beautiful All Along: It's explicitally said that under his goofy hat, Orko's face is very handsome, or at least the equivalent on his home planet. (At least we get to see his hair.)
- Canon Immigrant
- Cloudcuckoolander: As Hordak learned, Orko's brain is...unique.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
- Fish Out of Water: Orko is an extremely competent wizard at his home dimension; unfortunately Eternia is a place with different laws of psychics, so his magic malfunctions there.
- Inept Mage
- Kid Appeal Character
- Never Bareheaded: He never removes his hat, as part of the Trollan custom that they never show their faces to anyone except their one true love. When he and Dree Elle showed each other their faces, they were kept offscreen; only shadows were shown.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Especially in the original series.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Inverted; Orko was an archmage in Trolla. Too bad magic works differently in Eternia.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: In the Filmation series he sometimes had an urban and/or Jersey accent.
- Probably because he was voiced by Filmation producer Lou Scheimer himself, who was from Pittsburgh.
- Parental Abandonment: His Uncle Montork seems to be the only father figure he has.
- Plucky Comic Relief
- Secret Keeper: For Adam (He-Man)
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Orko is afraid of dragons in an episode. But to quote the recurring line of the episode, "Who isn't?"
Queen Marlena Glenn
Played by: Linda Gary (80's); Erika Scheimer (She-Ra); Nicole Oliver ('02) |
An astronaut from Earth who got stranded in Eternia and married King Randor, giving birth to Prince Adam and his sister Adora.
- Happily Married
- Hidden Depths: In the 80s cartoon, she ends up leading a squadron of ships to rescue her husband and son from the clutches of Skeletor revealing her to be an extremely competent aerial fighter pilot on top of her astronaut skills despite having not been in the game for 20 years.
- The High Queen
- Hot Mom
- Secret Secret Keeper: Several episodes hint at her knowing that Prince Adam is He-Man but the most blatent hint comes at the end of the episode where she reveals her fighter pilot skills: she deliberately rescues Adam first which allows him to transform into He-Man and rescue everyone else. When Adam later asks her why on earth she rescued him first, all she says is that she "had a feeling he'd know what to do". She doesn't come right out and admit she knows Adam is He-Man, but she does say "a mother always recognises her own son".
- Shout-Out: Her name could be a reference to pilot/astronaut John Glenn.
- Toyless Toyline Character: This has changed after the 2011 SDCC
Ram-Man
Played by: John Erwin (80's); Scott McNeil ('02) |
A warrior who uses his head as a battering ram.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Mostly in the minicomics, but he still is in other versions to a lesser extent.
- Dumb Muscle
- The Big Guy
- Man Child
- Use Your Head
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes???: Ram-Man is afraid of the dark.
Rio Blast
A member of the Starband Marshalls from planet Loredos, who joined the Heroic Warriors of Eternia to catch Horde Prime.
- More Dakka
- Lethal Chef: As Orko found out when he tasted his chili. He-Man then refused the meal.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A cyborg cowboy.
- Odd Couple: With Snout Spout in the Star comics.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: In his case, it's effectively snakes. In the same comic issue where this is revealed he faces King Hiss
Roboto/Robot Model 9041
Played by: Alan Oppenheimer (80's); Michael Donovan ('02) |
A robot built by Man-At-Arms to play chess, who upgraded himself as a warrior robot.
- Arm Cannon
- Awesomeness By Analysis
- Clockwork Creature: According to the toy's visible inner works.
- Robo Speak
Rokkon
Played by: Lou Scheimer (She-Ra) |
A young member of the Rock People.
- Dude in Distress: There are several versions of how the Stone people arrive to Eternia (or Etheria), and in most of them Rokkon is captured or incapacitated so Stonedar and He-Man (or She-Ra) have to rescue him.
Rotar
A guard of the royal palace until one of Skeletor's attacks left him injured. Man-At-Arms saved him by using a machine that changed him into a spinning cyborg.
Snout Spout/Jaxton
Played by: Lou Scheimer (She-Ra) |
An Etherian peasant who was captured by Hordak and turned into a cyborg with an elephant-like head that allows him to shoot water out of the trunk. He escaped to Eternia and joined the Heroic Warriors.
- An Axe to Grind: He is a firefighter, it comes with the job.
- Can't Stay Normal
- Cyborg: His elephant head is cybernetic.
- Odd Couple: With Rio Blast in the Star comics. He's the neat and by-the-book one.
- Unwilling Roboticisation: Hordak kidnapped him to make him into a cyborg, rather than trick him like he did with Extendar.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Snout Spout can... fire water out of his trunk. However, he subverts the trope by using his powers (in creative yet not-so-awesome ways) to shoot ice, vapor or just water when the situation requires it.
The Sorceress of Castle Grayskull/Teela'Na
Played by: Linda Gary (80's); Christina Pickles (Live-Action Movie); Venus Terzo (New Adventures); Nicole Oliver ('02) |
- Blessed with Suck: Think about it. Blessed with the ability to discern almost all the things happening on Eternia, having extremely powerful magic at her command...and yet, she was unable to leave the Castle without being reduced to flying around as a bird with very low-level telepathy. One imagines the limitations got quite frustrating. The very few times she was able to overcome these limitations were explicitly stated to be special circumstances.
- Canon Immigrant: At least her bird-like looks.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"
- Her Heart Will Go On
- Hot Mom
- Luke, I Am Your Father: The Sorceress is Teela's mother, a fact known only by herself, Man-At-Arms and Adam/He-Man.
- She's Got Legs
- Team Mom
- Truly Single Parent: Unless you count Skeletor, who used the power of Point Dread to clone the Sorceress to create Teela.
Stonedar
Played by: George DiCenzo (She-Ra) |
Leader of the Rock People.
Stratos of the house of Avion
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's); Scott McNeil ('02) |
Leader of the bird people from Avion.
- Bird People
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: In the 2002 series, Stratos' voice is plainly based on Sean Connery's — apparently, it was felt that Stratos' beard brought Connery to mind.
- Odd Friendship: With Buzz-Off in the 2002 series.
- Token Non-Human: in the first few minicomics, before more non-human Heroic Warriors were added.
- What Could Have Been: He was going to be a villain.
Sy-Klone, Son of Dy-Lex
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's); John Payne ('02) |
Guardian of the Legacy Stones in the city of Anwat Gar, able to create whirlwinds. After the Legacy Stones are destroyed, Sy-Klone joins the Heroic Warriors.
- Blow You Away
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A samurai wind elemental
Teela
Played by: Linda Gary (80's); Chelsea Field (Live-Action Movie); Cathy Weseluck (New Adventures); Lisa Ann Beley ('02) |
Captain of the royal guard, who has a crush on He-Man.
- Action Girl
- Arm Cannon: A wrist-mounted laser.
- Badass Normal
- Happily Adopted: By Man-At-Arms
- Hot Amazon
- Lady of War
- Leotard of Power
- Loin Cloth: In the DC comics.
- She's Got Legs
Zoar
He-Man's fighting falcon.
- Depending on the Writer: Can be the Sorceress' pet falcon or the Sorceress herself.
Evil Warriors
Skeletor/Keldor of the House of Miro
Played by: Alan Oppenheimer (80's); Frank Langella (Live-Action Movie); Campbell Lane (New Adventures); Brian Dobson ('02) |
The older half-brother of King Randor, who tried to conquer Eternia and ended with his face horrifingly scarred and rechristened himself Skeletor, lord of destruction.
- Arch Enemy
- Bad Boss
- Bifurcated Weapon: In the 2002 series.
- Big Bad
- Bishonen: As Keldor
- Deadpan Snarker: He cracks more one-liners than anyone else on the show.
- Emergency Transformation: form Keldor to Skeletor in the 2002 cartoon, and from charred Skeletor to cyborg Skeletor in the New Adventures minicomics.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Not always consistent, as he has outright asked He-Man if he ever considered doing anything evil. Skeletor has, however, been Genre Savvy enough to predict how the heroes will react to events. In "The Problem with Power," Skeletor correctly predicts how He-Man would react to thinking he killed someone.
- Evil Laugh: Especially prevalent in the Filmation cartoon.
- Evil Sorcerer
- Evil Uncle: to Prince Adam
- Genre Savvy
- Glowing Eyelights of Undeath
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Upon seeing that his handsome face has been reduced to nothing but a skull floating above his shoulders, Keldor/Skeletor cackles madly.
- Half-Human Hybrid: His father is the Eternian equivalent to human, while his mother is a Gar (Sy-Klone-s race).
- I Surrender, Suckers
- Large Ham
- Laughably Evil: While the original minicomics played him as a serious villain, the Filmation cartoon (thanks to censors constantly breathing down Filmation's neck) turned him into a comedic figure, making him a Laughing Mad Deadpan Snarker. The 2002 cartoon made him a little more menacing and more of a legitimate threat, but otherwise stayed fairly true to the sniggering, wisecracking persona of the Filmation cartoon.
- Manipulative Bastard: Mostly in the New Adventures, where he frequently plays with Flogg's ego to get what he wants, but he also have his moments in the other series (like the 80's episode "The Problem with Power").
- Mid-Season Upgrade: During the first season of the New Adventures of He-Man, Skeletor finds a crystal that changes him from his basic "New Adventures" looks to an armor based on the Disks of Doom Skeletor figure.
- Names to Run Away From Very Fast
- Obviously Evil: His unsubtle visage is the article's picture.
- Pet the Dog: Skeletor really cares for his pets (Panthor in Eternia, Grr in Nordor), which is ironically more notorious when he betrays everyone else (in "Escape from Gaolotia" and "Council of Evil"). He can leave his allies to rot/die, but he will keep his pet at his side.
- Purple Is Powerful
- Red Eyes, Take Warning
- Skull for a Head
- Smug Snake
- Take Over Eternia
- That Man Is Dead: Keldor died when he got a face full of acid. Skeletor was born shortly afterwards. Figuratively speaking, of course.
- True Meaning of Christmas: He discovers this in the Christmas Special and makes a brief Heel Face Turn, though only begrudgingly whilst wondering what was coming over him.
Beast Man/Raqquill Rqazz
Played by: John Erwin (80's); Tony Carroll (Live-Action Movie); Scott McNeil ('02) |
Skeletor's savage henchman who can control wild creatures.
Blade
Played by Anthony DeLongis (Live-Action Movie)
"I've waited a long time for this..." |
A sword-wielding mercenary who expects to defeat He-Man some day.
Blast-Attak
A robot who is a walking time-bomb. Sometimes he's portrayed as part of the Snake Men.
- Easily-Detachable Robot Parts: There are some stories where he doesn't explode, but instead divides to fight two enemies at once.
- Verbal Tic: Quite literally, because he says "Tic" between sentences.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Blast-Attak is a robot who can explode; why go through the trouble of building a sophisticated robot if it's just to have it blow itself up?
Clawful/(real name pronounced through a series of claw clicks)
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's); Scott McNeil ('02) |
A member of the Karikoni, an Eternian race of crustacean warriors from Orkas Island.
- A Wizard Did It: His MOTU Classics bio reveals his change from the Dumb Muscle of the 2002 series to the keen warrior of the 80's series as the result of a spell cast by Evil-Lyn.
- Dumb Muscle: 2002 series only.
- Expy: The 2002 series' "The Island" introduced Clawful's cousin, who was intelligent and had ambition. He's basically Clawful of the '80s series.
- Giant Enemy Crab
- Right Hand of Doom: His right claw is much larger than his left -- much much larger in the 2002 series. This is based on real fiddler crabs.
- The Starscream: '80s series only.
- Too Dumb to Live: The 2002 series. Seriously, he doesn't even recognize the language of his own species.
Draego-Man
A recent addition to the Evil Warriors created for the MOTU Classics toyline.
Evil-Lyn/Evelyn Morgan Powers
Played by: Linda Gary (80's); Meg Foster (Live-Action Movie); Kathleen Barr ('02) |
An evil sorceress who works for Skeletor, but expects to overthrow him some day.
- Daddy's Girl: But a subversion of Daddy's Little Villain, as her father is good.
- Dark Action Girl
- Even Evil Has Standards/Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She is willing to help Skeletor in his attempt for world domination, but she will not betray her father and returns his magical Ramstone back to him when Skeletor loses it.
- Evil Albino: Possibly. Pale skin, purple eyes, and white hair from at least late adolescence/young adulthood, according to one flashback.
- Evil Sorcerer
- Hot Amazon
- Hot Witch
- Lady of War
- Leotard of Power
- Purple Is Powerful
- Punny Name
- She's Got Legs
- The Starscream
- White-Haired Pretty Girl
Faker
Played by: John Erwin (80's) |
A robot duplicate of He-Man, created to trick the Eternians.
- Depending on the Writer:
- His appearance: he's either always blue and thus a failed attempt as a He-Man duplicate, or he's blue but can change color to disguise as He-Man, or even is always identical to He-Man (despite the toy's blue appearance).
- His strength: he might have strength equal to He-Man's, or just average strength with his similarity to He-Man limited to appearance.
- Evil Knockoff
- Face Heel Turn: It was implied by the '02 series writers and confirmed by his Classics bio that he is the same robot Man-At-Arms used as a decoy He-Man. It's still an arguable example since he wasn't sentient when he worked for Man-At-Arms.
- Mythology Gag: In his appearance in "The Courage of Adam," he looks exactly like He-Man. When he's knocked out, however, he briefly turns blue before de-activating.
Gygor
A former warlord of the Vine Jungle, who was in suspended animation until Evil-Lyn freed him to bolster Skeletor's forces.
Jitsu
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's) |
An Evil Warrior who has a metallic right hand
- Evil Counterpart: to Fisto
- Power Fist
Karg
Played by: Robert Towers (Live-action movie) |
Mer-Man/Squidish Rex
Played by: Alan Oppenheimer (80's); Scott McNeil ('02) |
King of the underwater creatures of Eternia.
- The Beast Master: limited to aquatic beings.
- Fish People
Ninjor
An stealthy ninja who works for Skeletor.
Panthor
Skeletor's pet panther, that he sometimes rides in battle.
- Evil Counterpart: To Battle Cat
- Horse of a Different Color
- Mega Neko
- Right-Hand-Cat: Despite his size, he behaves as one of these with his master Skeletor.
Saurod
Played by: Pons Maar (Live-Action movie) |
A reptilian warrior who is killed by Skeletor for his failure in getting the Cosmic Key.
- Breath Weapon: He throws sparks from his mouth, an ability not shown in the movie but added for the figure.
- Canon Immigrant
- Killed Off for Real
- The Unintelligible: Only in the movie, where he expressed himself through hisses. When he appeared in comics, he talked normal.
Scareglow/Karak Nul
"In my glow, even brave men tremble!" |
A skeletal warrior whose body can glow and cause everybody who stares at it to see his/her greatest fears.
- Multiple Choice Past: He came too late to the toyline to get enough spotlight, yet he got so popular (specially due to looking similar to Skeletor)that every writer tried to give his own interpretation: a being summoned from the reaches of space and time, a copy created by Skeletor in his own image or the king of another dimension. The current version is that he's the ghost of a bounty hunter, summoned by Skeletor like in the first version.
- Power Glows
- Skull for a Head
Screeech
Skeletor's savage bird.
- Evil Counterpart: To the "Sorceress' pet" version of Zoar
Spikor
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's) |
A warrior covered in spikes that give him the advantage in close combat. He has an extendable left arm with a trident as a hand.
- The Blacksmith: Shown as such in a single minicomic, though then he created the Terror Claws, which would become Skeletor's new weapons for the rest of the toyline run.
- Spikes of Villainy: He has them around his whole body.
Stinkor/Odiphus
Played by: Brian Drummond ('02) |
A petty Paleezean thief who got the power to emit an awful odor.
- Ascended Fanboy: Odiphus is shown to desperately want to be fighting for the bad guys, which he ultimately does as Stinkor.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Odiphus appears as a prisoner in "Snake Pit" before his appearance in "The Sweet Smell of Victory".
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: Stinkor is a skunk-man who had the power of smelling so horribly he had to use a respirator to keep himself from being knocked out. You would think this is a useless or stupid ability, but the 2002 reboot shows just how deadly this can be.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Stinkor's stench is just as horrible to himself as it is others, which is why he always wears a breathing apparatus and mask.
- Meaningful Rename: He insists on not being called Odiphus anymore. He's Stinkor.
- Third Person Person
- Took a Level in Badass: Odiphus was a villain wannabe and - like the rest of his species - quite small in stature. The chemical accident in Tri-Klops' lab gave him his power, as well as made him taller and physically stronger.
Trap Jaw/Kronis
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's); Paul Dobson ('02) |
An Evil Warrior who tried to turn by Skeletor, who left him severely injured. Tri-Klops remade him as a Cyborg with a mechanical jaw and a robotic right arm with interchangeable weapons.
- Arm Cannon: one of his optional mechanical arms.
- Cyborg
- Hook Hand: another optional hand
- Meaningful Rename
- Swiss Army Appendage: Trap Jaw has several attachments he uses; approximately a dozen in the original cartoon, though naturally the toy is limited to three.
- We Can Rebuild Him
Tri-Klops/Trydor Esooniux Scope
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's); Paul Dobson ('02) |
A warrior with three eyes that give him different vision powers.
- Cyber Cyclops
- Dumb Muscle: In the original series.
- Evil Genius: In the 2002 series.
- Eye Beams
- Gadgeteer Genius
- Master Swordsman: Mainly in the original minicomics. Kind of in the 2002 series.
Twistoid
"Surrender!" |
A spinning robot created by Skeletor stealing the machine used to create Rotar.
- Everything's Better with Spinning
- Evil Counterpart: to Rotar
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: He was supposed to be the first of many, to oppose the Horde Troopers, but the machine used to make him was recovered by the Heroic Warriors.
Two-Bad/Tuvar and Baddrah
Played by: Lou Scheimer (both, 80's); Brian Drummond (Tuvar, '02); Mark Gibbon (Baddrah, '02) |
A pair of bounty hunters who were merged by Skeletor due to their failure.
- Brains and Brawn
- Dumb Muscle: Baddrah
- Multiple Head Case
- What Could Have Been: The original idea to Two-Bad was making one of the heads be a good guy and the other a bad guy. This was skipped and both were bad.
- In the 2002 series, they were going to be part of the Evil Warriors from the beginning, until their origin story was considered for a later episode.
Webstor/Araneus, Son of Raknus
Played by: John Erwin (80's); Brian Dobson ('02) |
One of the few remaining Arachna, a race of spider people.
- Early-Bird Cameo: He is seen in the catacombs of Snake Mountain in "Snake Pit" before his appearance in "Council of Evil, Part 1."
- Escape Artist
- Evil Counterpart: To Buzz-Off
- Giant Spider: More notorious in the 2002 series, but he was also supposed to be one in the 80s version of the franchise.
- Killed Off for Real: Word of God says that when he collapses in "Web of Evil" from injuries inflicted by the Snake Men, he did die.
Whiplash/Torrant Krazut
Played by: John Erwin (80's); Gary Chalk ('02) |
Member of the reptilian species known as Caligars, who betrayed his people to join the Evil Warriors.
- Dumb Muscle
- Whip It Good: He uses his tail as a whip.
The Evil Horde
Hordak/Hec-Tor Kur
Played by: George DiCenzo (She-Ra); Colin Murdock ('02) |
Skeletor's former teacher in the arts of dark magic, who was banished to Etheria, in the Dimension of Despondos, where he rules with an iron fist in the name of the Evil Horde supreme leader, Horde Prime.
- Amnesiac Dissonance: in issue #11 of the Star comic.
- Bad Boss
- Big Bad
- Bigger Bad: In the 2002 He-Man series, he's a Sealed Evil in a Can, but the Man Behind the Man with Skeletor since he's the reason he survived the injuries he got from Rayndor, and created the Dark Hemisphere. Word of God is that if the show continued he would have taken over as the Big Bad.
- The Dreaded: In the 2002 series, everyone is afraid of him, EVERYONE, even King Hiss.
- Evil Overlord
- Large Ham
- Rogues Gallery Transplant: When brought to animation, he became an enemy of She-Ra.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: In the 2002 series, he's sealed in the in Despondos by King Greyskull during the main series.
- Shapeshifting
- Shout-Out: His real name (Hec-Tor) is based on Hector Barbossa
- Swiss Army Weapon: His arm, due to his Shapeshifting powers.
- This Is a Drill: One of his many transformations.
Dragstor/Theydon
A motorized cyborg with a built-in wheel on his chest, that allows him to move at super-speed.
- Brainwashed: Unclear if it's the case in the minicomics, but it clearly is in the UK comics.
- Evil Counterpart: To Extendar. Their powers are different, but they share the same origin.
- Cyborg
- Super Speed
- Take That: to Transformers. He's a warrior who can run like a dragster via the wheel on his chest.
Grizzlor/Gur’Rull Gu’Rrooow Arrrk
Played by: Lou Scheimer (She-Ra) |
A hairy monster who acts as the Horde jailer.
- Beast Man
- Brainwashed: According to his Classics bio.
- Dumb Muscle
Horde Troopers
Played by: Lou Scheimer (She-Ra) |
Basic soldiers of the Horde Empire.
- Canon Immigrant
- Mecha-Mooks: Depending on the Writer, they can be humans or magically animated armors, but most of the time they are robots.
Leech/K'Ull'Leusshhhh
Played by: Lou Scheimer (She-Ra) |
A creature who can drain his enemies' strenght with the suction cups of his mouth and hands.
- Brainwashed: According to his Classics bio.
- Energy Absorption
Mantenna
Played by: Lou Scheimer (She-Ra) |
A Horde member with pop-out eyes that allow him to spy his enemies at long distances or shoot a stun ray.
- Butt Monkey: If Hordak is angry at a defeat, or merely bored, he uses Mantenna as an scapegoat and sends him through a trapdoor.
- The Dog Bites Back: He has turned the tables on Hordak a few times.
- Eye Beams: He can shoot a stun beam from his eyes.
Mantisaur
Hordak's mount, a huge mantis.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: A mantis huge enough to be used as a ride beast.
- Horse of a Different Color
Megator/Moleb the Demolisher
A giant who served Hordak millennia ago. After his death, he was found by King Hiss who briefly turned him into a zombie.
Modulok/Galen Nycroft
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's) |
A beast capable to rearrange his body parts to take several different shapes.
- Adaptation Expansion: In his first minicomic appearance, he stated he was a former slave of Skeletor, and he joined the Horde to destroy Skeletor. The cartoon showed his origin and his tenure as one of Skeletor's Evil Warriors before joining the Horde in the She-Ra series.
- Detachment Combat: Mostly uses it to divide himself into two bodies.
- Mad Scientist: He was shown as such in the animated series, and the comics followed by showing him as the creator of Multi-Bot.
Mosquitor
A cybernetic mosquito-man who can drain his enemies' blood and energy with his nose-piece.
- Animal Gender Bender: He is male, yet sucks blood.
- Energy Absorption
- Flight: Only in the Star Comics.
Multi-Bot
Played by: Lou Scheimer (She-Ra) |
A robot created by Modulok, with the same powers.
- Detachment Combat: Mostly uses it to divide himself into two bodies.
- Easily-Detachable Robot Parts
- Robot Me: The robotic version of his creator Modulok.
The Snake Men
King Hiss of the Viper House
Played by: Brian Dobson ('02) |
Leader of the Snake Men, who can disguise himself as a human or shed his human skin to reveal his true form.
- Benevolent Boss: In a stark contrast to either Skeletor or Hordak. The Snake Men have Undying Loyalty to him for this reason.
- Big Bad
- Fantastic Racism: If you're a Snake Man, he'll like you. If you're anything else, he'll consider you slave labor or food.
- I Am a Humanitarian: A species trait, though in the 2002 series, he's the only shown actually doing it.
- Smug Snake: Quite literally
- The Snake That Walks: His true form is multiple snakes tangled together.
Kobra Khan/Khan of the Clan Kobra
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's); Scott McNeil ('02) |
A descendant of the Snake Men who served Skeletor until King Hiss was freed.
- All of the Other Reindeer: The other Snake Men, with the exception of King Hiss, think of him as just an inferior descendant of the true Snake Men.
- Characterization Marches On: Khan predates Mattel's creation of the Snake Men, so he was originally just a snake-themed Evil Warrior working for Skeletor during the 80s. Upon the Snake Men's introduction to the toyline, Khan was retconned into being tied to them.
- Hollywood Acid: He can spit this or spray poison/sleeping gas.
- The Mole: Toward Skeletor.
- Rubber Man: One episode of the 80s series showed him having stretchable arms similar to Sssqueeze.
- The Starscream: More towards General Rattlor than King Hiss.
Rattlor
Played by: Lou Scheimer (She-Ra); Richard Newman ('02) |
General of King Hiss' troops, with an extendable neck and a rattle-sounding tail.
- The Brute: The biggest of the Snake Men.
- The Dragon
Snake Face
Played by: Paul Dobson ('02) |
A gorgon-like Snake Man who can petrify his opponents by showing them the snakes that come out of his face.
- Death by Adaptation: In the 200x series, he's turned into a stone statue and imprisoned. In the MVCreations comic adaptation of the same episode, the statue is kicked down the abyss by Zodak. Luckily for Snake Face, later comics follow the TV version and he's shown as an imprisoned statue.
- Hoist by His Own Petard
- Story-Breaker Power: Not so much if he was an one-shot villain, but that power is too much for a regular like him.
- Taken for Granite
Sssqueeze
Played by: Brian Dobson ('02) |
A Snake Man who can stretch his arms to ensnare his enemies.
- Cynical Mentor: Compared to the other Snake Men, he seems to believe that Kobra Khan has a chance to become a "proper" Snake Man with some effort. For instance, learning how to devour his enemies alive.
- Rubber Man: At least with his arms.
Tung Lashor
Played by: George DiCenzo (She-Ra); Michael Donovan ('02) |
A Snake Man with a long tongue.
Ancients
King D'Vann Grayskull
- Badass
- Heroic Build: Ever for Eternian standards.
- Heroic Sacrifice
Demo-Man/Uqquz' Zekul-Msbox
Eldor
The Faceless One/Nikolas Powers
Played by: Richard Newman ('02) |
Former ruler of Zalesia, and Evil-Lyn's father.
- Fog Feet: The Faceless One is always portrayed, both in animation and comic books, as a ghostly figure with mystic smoke around his legs. When he finally received an action figure that had no representation of the smoke, many fans were displeased.
- Papa Wolf: Even though he cannot physically leave the ruins of Zalesia, he does anything in his power to ensure his daughter's safety.
Granamyr
The oldest and wisest of the dragons.
He-Ro/Ro
Tytus
A giant aligned with the forces of good in Preternia times
Vikor, He-Man of the North
Wun-Dar, the savage He-Man
- Mythology Gag: He's an attempt to make canon the mysterious "Wonder Bread He-Man" with brown hair and different armor (who nobody can prove was actually offered by Wonder Bread). He even comes with an "Eternian baked good".
Zodac Zur
Played by: Lou Scheimer (80's) |
- Ambiguously Brown: The 80's figure and animated version. Comics and box art showed him as caucasian instead, just like the Classics figure.
- Balance Between Good and Evil
- Spell My Name with an "S": He could be named Zodac or Zodak. Currently, the last one is the name given to his disciple
Zodak/Kar-Tor
Played by: Christopher Judge ('02) |
- Ink Suit Actor: He is voiced by Christopher Judge and looks pretty similar to Teal'c.
- Retcon: At first, he was supposed to be the 2002 version of Zodac, but was retconned as a disciple of the Cosmic Enforcer.
- Revenge Before Reason: He allowed King Hiss to be freed just to have a chance to kill him.
- You Killed My Brother
Galactic Guardians
Hydron
Played by: Don Brown (New Adventures) |
Leader of the Galactic Guardians, from the underwater city of Serus.
- The Captain
- Straight Man: To Flipshot.
Artilla
Played by: Gary Chalk (New Adventures) |
A protocol android redesigned for battle.
- Badass Automaton
- Drill Sergeant Nasty
- Eyepatch of Power: His blue left eye emulates one.
Flipshot/Tc Icarius Kaz
Played by: Scott McNeil (New Adventures) |
Daring (and sometimes reckless) pilot from the cloud city of Levitan.
Kayo
Played by: Don Brown (New Adventures) |
A Galactic Guardian who appears in the minicomics and is the first one to find He-Man after Hydron and Flipshot bring the hero to the Tri-Solar Galaxy. He also appears in the cartoon, albeit Demoted to Extra.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: He's better using his punches than his gun.
- One-Liner: To Optikk; "made you blink!"
Mara
Played by: Venus Terzo (New Adventures) |
- Epic Flail: She has a a flail-shaped ponytail that she uses to fight.
- Master of Delusion
- Took a Level in Badass: She began just as Master Sebrian's assistant, but became more of an Action Girl in later episodes of the TV series.
- Toyless Toyline Character: There was a prototype for a figure, but the toyline was cancelled before she could be released.
Nocturna
Martial artist from Mida, the eastern continent of Primus.
Sagitar
Played by: Cambell Lane (New Adventures) |
A centaur-like being from planet Palomar (Equinos in the cartoon), who can adopt a straight stance to become a four-armed man.
- Bald of Awesome: His bald head can be seen when he isn't wearing his helmet.
- The Big Guy
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: When standing straight.
- Our Centaurs Are Different: His species are a sort of centaurs who can raise their forelegs to use as an extra set of arms.
- Token Non-Human: The other Galactic Guardians are humans whose abilities come from their armors, while he has additional limbs, normal for his species.
Spinwit
Played by: Ted Cole (New Adventures) |
Tuskador
Played by: Alvin Sanders (New Adventures) |
A Galactic Guardian with an elephantine armor, who can catch his enemies with the tusks built in his armor.
Vizar
Evil Mutants
Flogg
Played by: Alvin Sanders (New Adventures) |
Leader of the Evil Mutants from planet Denebria.
- Big Bad Wannabe: To be fair, he and his mutant army were a threat big enough to have the Galactic Guardians asking for He-Man's help, but after Skeletor arrived, Flogg became his pawn without realising it.
- Foil: He and Skeletor are this to each other; Skeletor is smart, Flogg is sane.
- General Failure: Flogg isn't a particularly intelligent mutant and his strategies often leave something to desire, but he manages to subvert this occasionally — he's not smart, but he's a savvy and intimidating military commander who can draw up a battle plan that'll leave 'em reeling sometimes.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He won't risk his ship or his troops unless there's a clear goal. Besides, he could incur the wrath of the Galactic Council by directly attacking the Primans, so he doesn't do it when it's for petty reasons.
- Whip It Good
Butthead
Played by: Scott McNeil (New Adventures) |
A mutant who uses his hard head to attack (kind of an evil Ram Man).
- Dumb Muscle
- Fail O'Suckyname: The cartoon mercifully refers to him solely as "BH", but that's still probably the single worst name they could have possibly come up with.
- High-Class Glass: After being hit by a "brain ray", he starts wearing a monocle. Later he completes the ensemble with a bowler hat and a fancy suit — though he doesn't take off his helmet at any point.
- Name's the Same: with the character from Beavis and Butthead.
- Use Your Head
Crita
Played by: Venus Terzo (New Adventures) |
A female mutant who admires Skeletor.
- Purple Skinned Space Babe: Thus subverting the other Mutants' Beauty Equals Goodness.
- Mid-Season Upgrade: She becomes queen of beings called Gleanons and gets a new costume.
- Toyless Toyline Character
- Whip It Good
Hoove
Played by: Doug Parker (New Adventures) |
A Mutant who can deliver powerful kicks. Later becomes capable of extending his arms and legs.
Karatti
Played by: Ted Cole (New Adventures) |
A mutant martial artist.
- Arrogant Kung Fu Guy
- Charles Atlas Superpower: His martial arts allow him to fight and almost defeat He-Man.
Lizorr
A reptilian mutant.
- Demoted to Extra: He already was an extra in the minicomics, only telling when there were ships approaching, while the TV series used him as a non-speaking background character.
- Overly Long Tongue: Used once in the cartoon.
- Verbal Tic: His only minicomic appearance had him adding "th" after each "s".
Optikk/(real name pronounced through a series of blinks)
Played by: Don Brown (New Adventures) |
Spy and reconaissance agent of the mutants.
- Cyber Cyclops
- Demoted to Extra: He was just as important as Slushhead in the minicomics, but the TV series kept him mostly in the background. He gets some importance back after his Mid-Season Upgrade.
- Giant Eye of Doom
- Mid-Season Upgrade
Quakke
Played by: Don Brown (New Adventures) |
A mutant with a mace that allows him to create earthquakes.
Slushhead/Kalamarr
Played by: Ted Cole (New Adventures) |
Flogg's bumbling second-in-command.
- Combat Tentacles
- Dumb Is Good: Not exactly good, but being the dumbest of the Mutants, he's also the most loyal and the closest to have a sense of honor.
- Even Evil Has Standards: During Slushhead's wedding, he tries to respect the truce he promised to the Galactic Guardians, despite Skeletor and Flogg's schemes. Besides, he's very loyal to Flogg.
- Happily Married: He married in the episode "The Bride Of Slushhead"
- Man Child
- Plucky Comic Relief
Staghorn
Played by: Ted Cole (New Adventures) |
A hunter and tracker who attacks with the horns of his helmet.
- Arch Enemy: to Sagitar.
- Beard of Evil
- Dumb Muscle
- Horned Humanoid: Not quite played straight, since his horns are clearly a part of his helmet, yet still invoked by the fact of being his most recognisable trait.
- The Starscream: tries to depose Flogg in the episode "Mutiny in the Mothership".
- ↑ The writers commented that they intended to make up for the Filmation version of the character never getting to do much due to his late appearance in the series, but feel they may have overpowered him. So he ended up turning up only rarely