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He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Difference between revisions

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (view source)

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The title, ''Masters of the Universe'', referred to a mystical power hidden under Castle Greyskull. Chosen by the Sorceress of Greyskull to be its guardian, He-Man's strength came from there, channeled through his sword. Skeletor possessed a companion sword which, when combined with He-Man's, would open the secrets of Greyskull.
An amusing bit of apocrypha states that the franchise was originally intended to be based on the film ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'', but a new plotline and characters were written when marketers realized the folly of basing children's merchandise on a very violent film that most children had not seen. Of note is that [[Paul Dini]] was a member of the writing staff (as was [[J. Michael Straczynski]]), and [[Bruce Timm]] did layouts; both would later go on to be main figures in ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures (Animation)|Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' and ''[[Batman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]]'' (also of note: Haim Saban and Shuki Levi were involved in the original production of the show as well, also going on to make [[Power Rangers|a surprisingly long-lived children's franchise]]). The franchise became so well known that the stockbroker protagonist of Tom Wolfe's novel ''[[The Bonfire of the Vanities]]'' identified himself as "a master of the universe" (the character's daughter owned some of the figures) because of the power he held.
 
The show left syndication and was shown on the [[USA Network]], which back then was known for being the "used car" network for rerun lots of rerun shows.
 
A [[Live Action Adaptation|live action film]] was made in 1987, called ''[[Masters of the Universe (Filmfilm)|Masters of the Universe]]'', featuring [[Dolph Lundgren]] as He-Man.
 
An ill-fated [[Revival]]/[[Retool]], ''The New Adventures of He-Man'', premiered in 1990 but lasted only a year. Depending on whom you ask, it failed either because it was [[Recycled in Space]] or [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]].
 
A 2002 [[Continuity Reboot]], first aired on [[Cartoon Network]]'s ''[[Toonami]]'', was much closer to the original series while being modernized and more consistently written. Unfortunately the new series failed after one and a half seasons due to [[Screwed Byby the Network|a lack of promotion]] and poor toy distribution.
 
''[[She -Ra: Princess of Power (Animation)|She Ra Princess of Power]]'' was a spinoff, although it wasn't quite as successful.
 
The franchise still has loyal followers, who have created the comprehensive fan site [http://he-man.org He-Man.org].
 
There's a [[He -Man and Thethe Masters of Thethe Universe (Animation)/Characters|character sheet]] in construction.
 
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** The 2002 reboot set up Hordak as, but we never got far enough to find out if Horde Prime would exist there or not.
* [[Bishonen]]: Poor, poor Keldor.
* [[Blessed Withwith Suck]]: The Sorceress in the Filmation series. 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.
** this trend was continued in the 2002 reboot
** also in the 2002 reboot the [[The Faceless]] One is implied to be a powerful practitioner of magic, but can't leave the Temple of the Ram Stone
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** For example, that episode that ends with an anti-violence message... after one more episode of an action show.
*** Three fights in that one. He-Man ''vs''. Demon, He-Man ''vs''. Wizard, Dragon ''vs''. Dragon.
* [[Burning Withwith Anger]]: Skeletor.
* [[By the Power of Grayskull]]: The [[Trope Namer]]. In ''The New Adventures of He-Man'', he would actually say "By the Power of ''Eternia''", though.
* [[Canon Immigrant]]: Orko, The Sorceress, and Evil Seed were originally created just for the Filmation cartoon. They all have since been adopted into the He-Man canon -- though in Evilseed's case, a toy has yet to be made.
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** Depending on your point of view, the Snake Men and Stinkor may count as well. Absent from the original cartoon (because the show had ended when the Snake Men's toys came out and Stinkor was judged "waaaaay too stupid to use"), they became fairly large parts of the 2002 series. Fellow original toyline characters not featured in the original cartoon Rio-Blast, Clamp Champ, and Snout Spout were integrated into the 2002 canon in its comic and statue lines.
* [[Can't Catch Up]]: The rest of the team when compared to He-Man's borderline God Mode at times, though the show still does a good job of keeping He-Man out of the picture enough to get to know the other characters. The newer series' "The Monster Within" episode tried to show He-Man as being just as vulnerable as the other Masters under the right circumstances; Man-E-Faces got in trouble and He-Man had to save him, but mere minutes later the roles were reversed.
* [[Card-Carrying Villain]]: Skeletor has a [[Skull for Aa Head]], keeps trying to [[Take Over the World]], and ''[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|is named Skeletor]]''.
* [[Catch Phrase]]:
** "By the power of Grayskull!"
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** "ORKOOOOOOOOOOO!"
* [[Cavalry Betrayal]]
* [[Character Name and Thethe Noun Phrase]]
* [[Christmas Episode]]: Yes, there was one, and it had a [[Trapped in Another World]] plot featuring a pair of young urchins from Earth. The children actually explain what Christmas is to Orko but that part gets the fade-off. [http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/14482-hmsrch The Nostalgia Critic] gave it a look, and it's as cheesy as you would expect.
** Justified with [[It Was His Sled]]. It was probably assumed that this was commonly known information that would just bore the audience.
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* [[Dark Action Girl]]: Evil-Lyn, especially in the 2002 version.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: The 2002 reboot.
* [[Darkest Hour]]: "The Price of Power" sees Skeletor arrange one of these for He-Man when he thinks he killed an innocent. He crosses the [[Despair Event Horizon]] and [[Ten -Minute Retirement|gives up]] being He-Man completely, a misery that is further compounded when Prince Adam learns that Teela will have to go on a suicide mission to stop Skeletor because He-Man is no longer available.
* [[Demoted to Extra]]: In the second season of the 2002 series, Skeletor and his minions appeared less frequently and had less impact on plots to make room for King Hiss and the Snake Men. (Season 2 being half as long as Season 1 likely didn't help, either.) Reportedly, this would've been rectified in a third season.
* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: "The Price of Power" where He-Man makes the decision to give up being He-Man and throw his sword into the bottomless abyss of Greyskull because he thinks he's killed an innocent while fighting Skeletor, resulting in the forces of good being left to fight a battle they can't win except through a suicide mission by one soldier (Teela).
* [[Distaff Counterpart]]: She-Ra
* [[Distracted Byby the Sexy]]: This happens to Keldor when he first meets Evil-Lyn.
* [[Do a Barrel Roll|Do An Immelmann Turn]]: Queen Marleena gets to show off her Top Gun skills in "The Rainbow Warrior".
* [[Does Not Like Shoes]]: The 2002 series makes quite a few characters barefoot.
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* [[Ironic Echo]]: The 2002 [[Continuity Reboot]] starts with Adam doing the [[Opening Narration]], but as soon as he gets to the line, "Fabulous Secrets", he's cut off in mid-sentence as the area he's standing in front of is under attack.
* [[It's the Journey That Counts]] / [[Magic Feather]]: King Grayskull seeks the power to defeat Hordak, and is told by a seer to give up his sword and journey to find a new magic sword. When he does, he finds the seer, who returns Grayskull's sword and tells Grayskull he always had the power, he just needed the trip to focus his abilities.
* [[I Want You to Meet An Old Friend of Mine]]: In the 2002 series, Teela was voiced by Lisa Ann Beley and Evil-Lyn was voiced by Kathleen Barr. By an amazing coincidence, Lisa was also the voice of the heroic [[Catgirl]] Felicia and Kathleen was also the voice of the evil [[Hot Witch]] Morrigan from the ''[[Darkstalkers (Video Game)|Darkstalkers]]'' television series.
* [[I Was Beaten Byby a Girl]]: Skeletor in ''Secret of the Sword''.
* [[The Key Is Behind the Lock]]: In one version of the [[Backstory]], Prince Adam was questing with Teela for what would later become his magic sword. Wielding this sword was the only way to enter Castle Grayskull. And yes, the sword was inside the castle.
* [[Lady of War]]: Teela and Evil-Lyn.
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* [[Meaningful Name]] / [[Meaningful Rename]]: Consider names like Cringer/Battle Cat, Skeletor, Evil-Lyn, Man-E-Faces, Beast Man and so forth. With this franchise, character backstories tend to fall on the latter trope when it comes to names.
* [[Mega Neko]]: Battle-Cat
** Also Panthor, Skeletor's pet, er, [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|panther]], and the lion steed of King Greyskull in the 2002 revival, who was ''twice as big as Battle-Cat '''and''' Panthor '''combined'''''.
* [[Merchandise-Driven]]: This was the first toyline driven show since [[Ronald Reagan]] deregulated FCC rules on shows pimping toylines.
* [[Missing Episode]]: A 40th episode of the '02 series was scripted, but never animated. A [[Comic Book Adaptation]] of it was included as a special feature on the DVD, though. {{spoiler|King Hiss is fully healed and Man-At-Arms is turned into a Snakeman again to be ''their'' [[Gadgeteer Genius]].}}
* [[Mordor]]: The Dark Hemisphere of Eternia.
* [[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 Movie]]: ''Secret of the Sword'', and in Live Action, ''[[Masters of the Universe (Filmfilm)|Masters of the Universe]]''.
* [[Mythology Gag]]: The 2002 [[Continuity Reboot]] series has an identical opening narration except that it is cut off by attacking villains:
{{quote| ''I am Adam, Prince of Eternia, and defender of the secrets of Castle Grayskull. This is Cringer, my "fearless" friend. [[Have a Gay Old Time|Fabulous]] secret pow--''<br />
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* [[Non-Mammal Mammaries]]: Buzz-Off's Queen Bee is pretty busty for an insect lady.
* [[No Name Given]]: The Sorceress. {{spoiler|What about in the sorceresses backstory episode? She is referred to as Teela-na}}
* [[Normal Fish in Aa Tiny Pond]]: Inverted for Orco, who was an archmage in his home dimension. Too bad magic works differently in He-Man's.
* [[Notable Original Music]]: Music by the team of [[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|Shuki Levy and Haim Saban]]. Some of the music was recycled from ''[[The Mysterious Cities of Gold (Anime)|The Mysterious Cities of Gold]]''. There was a BGM album released.
** The [http://www.coucoucircus.org/da/generique.php?id=1760 Spanish version of the opening theme] has additional lyrics added.
{{quote| ''El universo ya está protegido<br />
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* [[Right-Hand Hottie]]: Evil-Lyn all the way.
* [[Robo Speak]]: Roboto. [[Captain Obvious|He's a robot.]] Also Man-E-Faces' robot face.
* [[Rogues Gallery|Rogues' Gallery]]: Skeletor and his army. Sometimes, there are episodes that featured villains that weren't part of the toyline, such as Evil Seed.
* [[Samaritan Syndrome]]
* [[Save the Villain]]: A lot of times.
* [[Schizo-Tech]]
* [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can]]: In the 2002 series, King Hiss and the Snake-Men. And Hordak.
* [[She's Got Legs]]: Teela, Evil-Lyn, and the Sorceress.
* [[Shipped in Shackles]]: In the 2002 series, Kobra Khan is shackled and muzzled when transported. The muzzle is left on in his prison cell due to his venom-spitting abilities.
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* [[Sibling Yin-Yang]]: Man-At-Arms and Fisto to a certain degree.
* [[Single Tear]]: He-Man sheds one when She-Ra vanishes into the sunset in ''He-Man and She-Ra: Secret of the Sword''.
* [[Skull for Aa Head]]: Skeletor
* [[Smug Snake]]: Skeletor and almost every villain in the series.
** King Hiss takes this to a literal extent.
* [[The Smurfette Principle]]: Teela is the only girl on Team Good, and Evil-Lyn is the only one on Team Evil.
* [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"]]: Syclone, both literally and figuratively.
* [[Spider Tank]]: The Spydor from the original toyline.
* [[Spin-Off]]: ''[[She -Ra: Princess of Power (Animation)|She Ra Princess of Power]]''
* [[Split Personality]]: Cringer/Battle-Cat
** Man-E-Faces has a human face, a robot face and a beast face, each with an accompanying personality. One episode of the 2002 series has him learning to accept the advantages of his beast personality and overcome the weakness he had with Beast Man's power over animals. In the original, the number of faces he had and their exact unique qualities was never specified.
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** Also Kobra Khan in the 2002 series when pretending to align with Skeletor. He was completely loyal to King Hiss, however.
** Tri-Klops in one episode of the 2002 series, "Roboto's Gambit". He builds an army of skeleton soldiers that multiply when destroyed, and sets out on his own to prove to Skeletor that they work. He then decides to just take the castle for himself. Of course, once He-Man smashes the remote that controlled them and Skeletor finds out about his plan, he's quick to get back in line.
* [[Strong Asas They Need to Be]]: He-Man himself pretty much exemplifies the trope. He's exactly as strong as the plot needs him to be at any given moment. At one point his power is even specifically defined as this: his strength is exactly enough to accomplish whatever task he's attempting at the moment.
* [[Suicide Mission]]: In "The Price of Power" Teela takes one of these to stop Skeletor from completing a dimensional gate that will bring through an army capable of conquering Eternia. Due to He-Man's [[Ten -Minute Retirement|unavailability]], her chances of coming back alive are zero. Fortunately for her, He-Man [[He's Back|turns up]] [[Big Damn Heroes|just in time to save her]].
* [[Superhero]]
* [[Taken for Granite]]: Snake Face's power. It gets [[Hoist Byby His Own Petard|turned against him]] just one episode after his debut; the writers claim he had to be taken out quickly and permanently because his ability was ''too'' powerful.
* [[Take Over the World]]: The goal of Skeletor and pretty much every villain is to take over Eternia.
* [[Take That]]: The [[Christmas Special]] featured an appearance by new villains in the form of giant evil robots called the Monstroids, who have the ability to transform into aircraft. You can probably guess [[Transformers|which competing toy line they were knocking off here]].
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* [[Techno Wizard]]: Man-At-Arms
* [[Temporary Blindness]]: Happens to He-Man and Ram-Man in "Not so Blind". Fortunately, a boy who's already blind leads them to safety.
* [[Ten -Minute Retirement]]: He-Man goes through this in "The Price of Power" thanks to a [[Batman Gambit]] by Skeletor designed to [[Darkest Hour|make him think]] he had accidentally killed someone in order to get him to [[Heroic BSOD|defeat himself]] and thereby [[Despair Event Horizon|give up]]. Unfortunately for Skeletor, not only did Orko overhear the plan but he also underestimated Orko's magical ingenuity in escaping Skeletor's prison. As a result, He-Man [[He's Back|came back]] in a [[Big Damn Heroes]] way.
* [[That Man Is Dead]]: Keldor died when he got a face full of acid. Skeletor was born shortly afterwards. Figuratively speaking, of course. Among Skeletor's minions, Trap-Jaw (whose original identity of Kronis was abandoned after he became a cyborg) and Stinkor (who changed his name after becoming a formidable force for evil) arguably count, as well.
* [[That's No Moon]]: {{spoiler|Snake Mountain is really alive but frozen in place -- until King Hiss sets it free.}}
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