Character page for Masters of the Universe: Revelation and Masters of the Universe: Revolution. If you're looking for the character sheet for the toyline and its various incarnations then go here.
open/close all folders
Heroic Warriors
Adam/He-Man
Prince Adam/He-Man
Voiced by: Chris Wood (English)
"By the power of Grayskull..."
"I have the power!"
He-Man wielding the enchanced Sword of Power.
The crown prince of Eternia and heir to the throne, Prince Adam has lived a secret double life acting as the clueless son of the king and queen while secretly defending the realm as He-Man.- Action Survivor: Even when he lacks the power of Grayskull, he does not sit idly by. Even though he's horribly outmatched, he still chooses to fight an empowered Evil-Lyn alongside Skeletor and even manages to get a hit in.
- Adaptational Curves: Lack of curves, really. In the original 1984 cartoon, Adam looked like He-Man in a different outfit. Here, He-Man rather obviously has at least a hundred pounds of muscle on the prince, so it's understandable why nobody would think they're the same person.
- Back from the Dead: Physically returns from the land of the dead with the rest of the cast when he realizes Eternia is still in trouble.
- Barred from the Afterlife: Implied by Grayskull's warning that once he returns to the land of the living, he may never be able to return to Preternia. Although thanks to Evil-Lyn, that won't be much of a concern anymore.
- Becoming the Mask: Notably averted. When he goes to Preternia after his death, he chooses to exist as his weaker Adam form rather than the superheroic He-Man.
- Berserk Button: Killing his friends. Skeletor incinerating Moss Man leads Adam to snap and impale him outright, and Skeletor not only killing but damning Fisto and Clamp Champ is what prompts Adam to try transforming without the Sword.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He is a cheesy All-Loving Hero, but when Skeletor kills Moss-Man and makes a joke about it, He-Man gets enraged to the point of skewering Skeletor through the chest.
- Bifurcated Weapon: What happens to his iconic Sword of Power when trying to save the universe from destruction from Skeletor. The effort of trying to contain the power of the entirety of the universe being too much for it too handle. This also makes it similar to how it originally was in the toy line and comics. Roboto pulls a Heroic Sacrifice to combine his two swords back together.
- Brought Down to Badass: For the majority of Part 2 he's separated from the Sword of Power and unwilling to transform without it. Doesn't stop him from joining in the fight against God-Lyn with a regular sword, and proving to be a rather capable combatant with it.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": His Chest Insignia is no longer a cross pattée, but now a stylized character that can be read as "H" or "M".
- Bruiser with a Soft Center: He's the most powerful man in the universe and an unquestionable Humble Hero who cares for the well-being of others, even if it means giving his life to save them.
- Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: When going on a rampage againsg Skelegod and his undead in his Savage He-Man form, he momentarily picks up a large double-bladed battle axe. Which fits his much more brutish, savage and strength-focused form.
- By the Power of Grayskull!: Duh, it's a part of Adam's transformation into He-Man. Its awesomeness is further increased due to being backed up by an heroic, bombastic and orchestral soundtrack
. - Clark Kenting: Prince Adam has the shorter, scrawnier appearance from the 2002 series and has most people fooled.
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Some have noted that Adam looks a little bit like a younger Mark Hamill when he played Luke Skywalker. Ironically, Mark voices his uncle and arch-enemy, Skeletor.
- Death by Adaptation: The He-Man from the original cartoon had a few scrapes with death, but this version actually kicked the bucket. For a while anyway.
- Decoy Protagonist: Dies in the first episode, leading to Teela becoming the focal character. It turns out to be a downplayed example, as he comes back in Episode 5 and becomes an active player in the story again from that point going forward.
- Deuteragonist: The role he plays in the entirety of the first season put together. His conflict with Skeletor is ultimately given about as much focus as Teela's emotional journey.
- Disappointed in You: His father makes it clear he feels no pride in his son during Teela's promotion ceremony. Then Randor finds out the truth after Adam dies saving Eternia and flies into a rage over having been kept in the dark about Adam's heroism. In Part 2, Randor acknowledges that it was wrong for him to write Adam off just because he didn't fit his expectations of what a man should be.
- Enemy Mine: Ends up teaming up with Skeletor of all people to stop Evil-Lyn after she hijacks the power of Grayskull to wipe out all of existence.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: He-Man has a thick gold bracelet on his right wrist while the left forearm has a golden bracer with brown leather straps.
- Fatal Flaw: Not apparent in Revelation but Revolution reveals his insecurity in himself to be a huge one. After his father unexpectedly passes away, Adam is left terrified of the possibility of not being able to match his father's wisdom as a ruler, feeling that he only ever could do good fighting evil rather than making decisions for the people. When Keldor arrives and seemingly proves himself to possess the qualities Adam feels he lacks, he immediately passes the crown over to him, unknowingly selling Eternos out to Skeletor in the process.
- Good Feels Good: Upon regaining his power, Adam empowers Skeletor to help him, saying "I want you to know for once what saving the universe feels like".
- Good Is Not Soft: He's quick to see the good in everyone, even granting Skeletor the Power of Grayskull to assist in fighting the empowered Evil-Lyn, in the hopes that he'd 'see what it feels like to save the universe', but is just as quick to punt him over the horizon when this turns out to have been misguided.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He's an Ideal Humble Hero with gold blond hair, which complements his golden heart.
- Half-Human Hybrid: His father is an Eternian and his mother is a Terran astronaut.
- The Hero Dies: In the first episode, no less. He gets better.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: His weapon (alongside his fists) is his Cool Sword that also doubles as a Transformation Trinket: The Sword of Power.
- Heroic Build: Nothing says you're the most powerful man in the universe like being ridiculously jacked.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrifices his life to save the universe when Skeletor damages the orb of power and tries to steal its power, with He-Man calling upon the power of Grayskull to handle the amount of magic it's exerting, making him split the sword in half while doing so.
- Hidden Depths: Though he's a Nice Guy through and through, it is implied that he does have some ill feelings towards his father for constantly calling him a disappointment. After being transformed by the untempered power of Grayskull into a hulking wild man driven by pure rage, the mere mention of his father causes him to go on a warpath to his father's location. He comes very close to killing him before Randor manages to calm him down by apologizing for treating him poorly and telling him that he's proud of him.
- Horseback Heroism: He-Man rides Battle-Cat like a horse, which makes it even more dramatic when he appears on the battlefield. Once the fighting starts, though, he tends to shun Mounted Combat, allowing Battle-Cat to fight separately (and outflank their enemies).
- Humble Hero: So humble that even in Preternia where he's allowed to pick the ideal body for himself, he chooses to continue living as his normal teenaged self. He's noted to be the only person to have done this. Duncan notes that this was precisely the quality that made him worthy to be He-Man, as he always returned the power the moment he was done with it.
- Ideal Hero: He fought to his last breath to protect Eternia and is an all-around Nice Guy and Humble Hero, and he's even willing to leave Preternia for good once he finds out that Eternia is in trouble once again. Somewhat deconstructed in that Teela feels the shadow he (unintentionally) cast over her after he died, as she doesn't believe she's capable of following his example, which in turn fuels her anger towards him.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
- After seeing Skeletor absolutely incinerate Moss Man, he immediately loses it and finally goes for a killing blow.
- A revived Skeletor stabs him through the back, impaling the sharp-end of the Havoc staff deep into his gut, although this doesn't kill him.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: As Teela's flashbacks show, he's rather fond of making these. She points out that once she knew who He-Man really was, it made more sense that his jokes were terrible.
- Insult of Endearment: The other inhabitants of Preternia call him "Flea Man" in reference to the scrawny stature he chose to continue living with as opposed to the tall and idealized bodies everyone else chose for themselves when they arrived.
- Keeping Secrets Sucks: In a darker example that most, Adam really wants to tell Teela and his parents that he's really Eternia's champion, He-Man, but he's not allowed to because it could put everyone he cares about in danger. It's been taking a toll on him for years, especially with his father putting him down all the time. The consequences are seen after his death, where Randor and Teela are infuriated he kept this from him, resulting in the exiling of his closest allies for keeping said secret, and Teela peeved at him when she reencounters Adam in Preternia.
- Large Ham: As He-Man, he was a pretty big and hammy goofball. Teela justifies it by pointing out that he was a teenager.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Both Teela and King Randor didn't think too highly of Adam (the former seeing him as a coward and the latter seeing him as a slacker, though you can blame him having to hide his identity from them for that), but they greatly respect He-Man and his efforts to protect Eternia. All of that comes crashing down when they both learn Adam and He-Man were one and the same.
- Misblamed: In-universe, his father and Teela treat him harshly for never confiding in them his identity as He-Man, not knowing that it was not his secret to share but something he was forced into hiding.
- Mr. Fanservice: He's a buff hero with ridiculously large muscles and insanely toned abs, and he wears a harness and a loincloth. At least as He-Man; as Adam, he's less physically impressive, although still quite good-looking and handsome even, leaning a bit on the Bishounen side due to his boyish good looks.
- Muscles Are Meaningful: As He-Man, Adam is endowed with Super-Strength, and has a massively muscular build.
- Nice Guy: He has both the strength and the heart of a hero. When they meet again in Preternia, Adam reacts with confusion and concern rather than defensiveness at Teela's anger towards him (over him hiding his identity as He-Man from her). Even though Adam is the one who suffered worse (having died), he cares just as much about helping Teela through her grief.
- No Body Left Behind: After He-Man uses the two halves of the Sword of Power to contain the raw magic of the Orb of Power he and Skeletor, who was trying to grab the power at the time, are seemingly annihilated in the subsequent explosion, leaving behind nothing but a black scorch mark on the floor.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Adam has spent years defending Eternia as He-Man, and winds up dying saving the planet and the universe from destruction. Is he mourned for his years of service to the kingdom and having perished for the good of the planet? Nope! The fact that his true identity was revealed just moments before he died ends up causing a whole mess of complicated emotions for both King Randor and Teela, who both give in to anger as a means of dealing with their grief. When Teela reunites with Adam in Preternia, things are a little tense over his inability to reveal his secret identity. However, by part two, everyone upset by the revelation comes to realize Adam's reasoning for keeping his identity as He-Man a secret, with King Randor acknowledging his role in mistreating Adam and not appreciating him for the great man he truly was.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He-Man seeing Skeletor finally pull off the kiddy gloves and outright kill Moss Man by incinerating him, finally causes He-Man to snap and impale him with his sword.
- Plot-Triggering Death: His Heroic Sacrifice in the first episode sets the stage for everything which follows.
- Rage Breaking Point: Witnessing Skeletor callously incinerate Moss-Man and then immediately dare to joke about it is what finally pushes He-Man to do away with his usual mercy and run him through. Unfortunately that act played right into Skeletor's hands.
- Reforged Blade: After He-man gets the Sword of Power split in half. Roboto combines them back together albeit at the cost of the latter's life.
- Refusing Paradise: He gives up his place in Preternia to come back and save Eternia even though he's told he probably won't get back in if he dies again.
- The Scapegoat: Teela projects her own insecurities about being a proper hero onto Adam after his death by being frustrated at having lied for many years about his true identity.
- So Proud of You: When they reunite in Part 2, Randor apologizes for treating him like a disappointment and tells him that he's proud of him, specifying that he's proud of Adam rather than just his alter ego He-Man.
- Smarter Than They Look: You'd think being turned into an Expy of The Incredible Hulk by the untempered power of Grayskull would dim his intelligence, but he proves to be just as skilled and sharp-minded even in his most feral state. Though he does overwhelm Skeletor with force, he's also notably able to quickly counter Skelegod's more esoteric abilities such as his portal magic and illusory clones. He only lost the fight because he didn't count on Skelegod shooting through one of his own minions to hit him.
- Super-Strength: Just like in the source material, He-Man is capable of incredible and almost godly feats of strength. This is handily shown in the Siege of Castle Grayskull, wherein he stops a large weapon used by Beast Man's Siege Engine with his bare hands then topples the whole thing with ease; after that he does a Ground Punch that creates a Ground Wave strong enough to topple almost all members of Skeletor's army; and, if that wasn't enough, during his final battle against Skeletor, he manages to easily overpower the Big Bad's giant-sized fist and nearly break it.
- Sword and Fist: His preferred weapons when entering into battle is his Sword of Power and Super-Strength, sometimes that's all he needs really.
- Transformation Sequence: When he calls upon the power of Grayskull, he undergoes an almost Sailor Moon-esque transformation from the skinny Prince Adam into the bulky and powerful He-Man.
- Transformation Trinket: Transformation Weapon in this case, but just like in the Filmation series. The Sword of Power is what allows him to transform from Prince Adam into He-Man.
- Unstoppable Rage: Not usually, but he becomes a savage and hulking wild man who attacks everything in his path after calling down the power of Grayskull without the Sword of Power.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: In the first episode, when Man-At-Arms is expressing pride in his daughter Teela's promotion, King Randor coldly wishes that he could feel as much pride in Adam. This in turn feeds into Randor's rage/grief later, when Adam dies and Randor learns — too late — that his son was the great champion He-Man all along. When he transforms into a creature of pure rage thanks to losing the Sword, Adam's only thought is anger against his father, swinging at Teela when she mentions him and coming very close to killing him. Randor admitting how proud he is of him and embracing him is what lets Adam calm down enough to let the power go.
- What the Hell, Hero?: After it was revealed that he is actually He-Man, Adam is (posthumously) ostracized by his father and Teela for keeping his secret identity from them for so long, not knowing that Adam had very good reasons for doing so.
- Willfully Weak:
- Not even counting how he has to pull some Obfuscating Stupidity to try and keep people's suspicions of him being He-Man at bay. It seems to even extend to the afterlife. In Preternia, almost everyone can choose their own form; while every hero before him has chosen their youngest or strongest forms, Adam chose to be... himself, rather than be the more beloved and stronger He-Man. Which has him earned the playful nickname of "Flea Man" from the other inhabitants of Preternia, mostly as an Insult of Endearment.
- When Skeletor gains the power himself, he notes that Adam could have simply ripped his soul out of his body at any time as He-Man, but chose to spare him.
- When he transforms into his Savage He-Man form, his full unbridled power is on display, showing such feats as being able to move faster than the human eye just on strength alone. However, it also shows how much destruction he could have caused if he didn't care about casualities or destroying the environment around him, meaning that he was intentionally holding back the entire time he was transformed.
- Zero-Approval Gambit: In his life as Prince Adam, he had to play the role of The Ditz in order to keep everyone he cared about from learning that he was really He-Man, making him a disappointment to his father. It kept everyone safe, but his father's cold dismissal and lack of pride in him implies it's taking its toll. When he dies, the gambit gets a Deconstruction as Randor is furious to learn that Man-At-Arms kept this from him and almost immediately exiles him from the palace, while Teela is left furious and full of self-loathing that she wasn't apparently strong enough to be worth confiding in.
Sorceress
Teela-Na, the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull
Voiced by: Susan Eisenberg
- Adaptational Modesty: In the original series, she wore a Leotard of Power which showed off her legs. In later series she wears a relatively modest dress.
- Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence: Her fate after Skeletor kills her. Her physical body might be gone, but she still watches over her loved ones posthumously.
- Big Good: Although she takes a backseat this time around. She's still the Guardian of Castle Grayskull and the keeper of pretty much every secret on the franchise.
- Casting Gag: Played by Justice League's Wonder Woman? You can bet she kicks some serious ass.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Everyone just refers to her as the Sorceress due to her mysterious nature and keeping her name a secret or at least not sharing it.note
- Her Days Are Numbered: Because Eternia's magic was lost in the final battle, she's dying trying to protect what little remains.
- Heroic Sacrifice: At the beginning of Part 2, she uses the last of her magic to send Adam, Teela, Cringer, and Andra to safety before Skeletor can kill them. Not long afterwards, Skeletor kills her.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How she meets her end at the beginning of Part 2, courtesy of Skeletor and the Sword of Power.
- 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 finally hints to Teela that she's her mother by wanting to see her one last time when it appears that Skeletor might win and destroy the universe, but doesn't actually answer Teela's baffled query as to why the Sorceress would want to see her. It's revealed in full in Part 2. Unfortunately, Teela only realizes the connection after the Sorceress dies.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: It's not addressed in the series itself, but it was she who made Adam swear an oath to never reveal his secret identity as He-Man in order to keep his loved ones safe. After his death, poor Adam ends up getting the brunt of the blame from Randor and Teela for hiding the truth, even though it was not his secret to share in the first place.
- Plot-Relevant Age-Up: She's noticeably older during the Time Skip, implied to have been the result of Eternia losing its magic.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: When Skeletor reveals himself with his "Lord of Destruction" rant, she blasts him before he can finish his speech.
- Squishy Wizard: While she's the most powerful magic user in Eternia, she's not as physically strong as the other combatants, and her magic can only stretch so far.
Teela
Teela
Voiced by: Sarah Michelle Gellar (English; Revelation), Melissa Benoist (English; Revolution)
Click here to see her as the Sorceress
Click here to see her using the Power of Ka
The adoptive daughter of Man-At-Arms, she has spent her entire life serving Eternia and her people as a warrior alongside He-Man. All of that changes when a final battle between him and his old enemy Skeletor reveals a devastating truth.
- Achilles in His Tent: When Sorceress and Evil-Lyn try to recruit her to reforge the Sword of Power to save magic, Eternia, and the universe, she initially refuses, claiming that she's no longer a hero. It seems that it's because she's still angry about not being let in on Adam/He-Man's secret double life, but Cringer correctly deduces that it's actually because she's afraid that she can't be the hero Adam and Eternia needs her to be in He-Man's absence and he assures her that You Are Better Than You Think You Are.
- Action Girl: In the first episode, she is promoted to the new Man-At-Arms. Afterwards, we see repeatedly that it's not in the least an undeserved honor.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In most continuities, Teela is Man-At-Arm's adopted daughter. It's revealed in the opener to the second half of the series that Duncan is Teela's biological father, with her being conceived before the Sorceress found herself bound to the confines of Castle Grayskull.
- All Your Powers Combined: By the end of Revolution she succeeds in her quest to acquire and unite the powers of Zoar, Ka and Ha'vok to recreate Preternia, combining the magic staves of all three into one with He-Man sharing the power of Grayskull to stabilize them within her.
- Brains and Brawn: The Brawn to Andra's Brains... interestingly so, as Teela's father is such a gadgeteer himself.
- Breaking Old Trends: She becomes the first Sorceress capable of leaving Castle Grayskull in human form, as she pledged her loyalty to Eternia rather than the power of Grayskull when she ascended.
- Broken Pedestal: She is not happy to learn that Adam / He-Man didn't trust her with his secret, though she eventually gets over it. It's also repeatedly suggested that she's not so much angry at Adam for hiding his secret from her as she is frightened by having to carry on the fight against evil without him. By the end of Part 2, if the pedestal was ever broken in the first place, it's been completely rebuilt.
- Character Development: Part 1 is about her confronting the insecurities that caused her to lash out at everyone after discovering Adam's identity as He-Man. By Part 2, acknowledging these insecurities have turned her into a much more considerate and empathetic person.
- Defector from Decadence: Teela believes herself to be this, in the sense that she thinks her anger towards her past life and the people in it was the result of the people she fought alongside (including her father) hiding the incredible secret of Adam's true identity from her for so long. It's revealed by Cringer and later further reinforced that her anger is really a means of masking her fear of being a hero in the absence of He-Man. In reality, she isn't angry at her friends for keeping Adam's secret from her, but is projecting her own insecurities of potentially being too weak to be considered worthy of being a confidant.
- Deuteragonist: Her emotional journey is as much of a focal point in the first season as Adam's physical conflict with Skeletor.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Teela initially starts out using only her weapons and combat training. The final episode of part two has her taking her mother's role as the Sorceress of Grayskull and inheriting her magical abilities.
- Enemy Without: After fighting an evil copy of He-Man, courtesy of Scare Glow, she has to fight an evil copy of herself, embodying her worst fears.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Post-Timeskip, she has an undercut hairstyle, indicating her shift to a more bitter and cynical character. It grows back out to its original length after she becomes the new Sorceress, indicating that she's made peace with who she is.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: While endowed with the snake-magic of Ka, she's turned green, has fangs and reptilian-eyes, outfitted in a rather revealing outfit, and briefly hisses in her speech. She's changed to the Goddess form when the Havoc-staff magic is added, and then back to her own appearance at the conclusion.
- Happily Adopted: As per usual with Man-At-Arms; though the relationship becomes somewhat strained following The Reveal, their familial love remains strong. By the end of the season, they are closer than ever, and in episode six it's revealed Duncan really was her biological father all along.
- Heartbroken Badass: Adam/He-Man was her best friend, perhaps something more, and the sudden onslaught of complicated emotions that arise from his unexpected death and revelation cause her to relinquish her position in the Royal Guard.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: She arms herself with a sword during the siege of Castle Grayskull, but drops it once she leaves the Royal Guard. her Swiss-Army Weapon
- How Dare You Die on Me!: This is heavily implied to be the true basis behind her Broken Pedestal attitude towards Adam. She actually isn't angry at him for keeping his identity as He-Man a secret from her, but is lashing out because of her fear about the responsibilities he left to her when he died.
- Hypocrite: She lays into Adam posthumously for keeping a pretty big secret from her—a secret of which he couldn't tell because it would have jeopardized her safety. Yet in Preternia, she keeps the truth of Eternia's loss of magic a secret from him at first because she doesn't want to put him in danger. Might also count as Dramatic Irony considering Adam was never able to tell her why he kept his identity a secret from her in the first place.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Overcoming this is the actual crux of her character arc. Though she masks it behind being angry at Adam's supposed deception, in reality she's incredibly insecure of her ability to be a hero in his absence and is trying to find an excuse to avoid her responsibilities. As her Enemy Without puts it, she's an extraordinary girl who desperately wants to be ordinary.
- It's All About Me: Her split reaction to the reveal of Adam/He-Man's true identity upon his death is anger that she was never told the truth about her best friend's double life, and in her irrational grief, she ignores that everyone else including the King and Queen are also grieving their son's death, to the point that she rage quits from the Royal Guard in front of them. That being said, she initially withholds her reason for wanting to restore the Sword of Power from Adam because she doesn't want to ruin his paradise in Preternia by informing him that Eternia was at risk of dying from an absence of magic, so she is actually capable of being considerate when her anger isn't blinding her. Thanks to Character Development, it's mostly remedied by the start of Part 2.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She becomes a significantly more bitter and cynical person after finding out about Adam's true identity as He-Man at the worst possible time, but that doesn't mean the old her isn't still buried deep down. Though she does lash out unjustifiably towards her former allies and displays some self-centered characteristics, she is just as quick to mend things with them when given a perspective on their struggles, and she's completely warm and friendly towards her mercenary partner, Andra. Despite her claims that her days as a hero are behind her, it's also not all too difficult for her to be convinced to do the right thing. Thanks to Character Development, by Part 2, the "jerk" part is almost completely absent.
- Magic Knight: After becoming the Sorceress in Part 2.
- Mix-and-Match Weapon: She carries a small rod that can transform into several, tools and weapons including a shovel, a staff, a sword, a spear, and a grappling hook so far.
- Mythology Gag: When Teela possesses the Power of Ka, her appearance (minus the green skin) resembles the design of her original action figure.
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: Her reaction to Adam/He-Man's death is much more complex than just being angry that no one let her in on his secret; she only learned the truth when he died, leaving her no time to come to terms with it while he was still alive, and also realizing that it was never planned for her to know the truth. Not only that, but Teela understood that Adam thrust at her the responsibility of being Eternia's hero in his absence, something she also wasn't prepared for. Upon reuniting with Adam in Preternia, she finally gets the chance to talk to him about these complicated feelings.
- Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Her undercut grows back to an approximation of her original hair length after she becomes the new Sorceress.
- Refusing the Call: Teela initially has no interest in helping her former allies and Evil-Lyn save the universe, until Cringer and Andra talk her into it.
- Relationship Upgrade: At the end of the season, Adam places his hand on hers, indicating a romantic interest. Teela seemingly reciprocates by telling her best friend that she finally knows who he is after all this time...her hero. They kind of dance around the subject for much of Revolution (despite all their friends and family knowing about their mutual attraction) before firmly establishing themselves as a couple in the final episode, complete with a Big Damn Kiss.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: How she changes the game in part two. As the new Sorceress, she removes the restrictions that cause the Sorceress to be bound to the confines of Castle Greyskull, rationalizing that rather than disconnecting from the world to serve them, she is better served living in it and not isolating herself from others.
- Sssssnake Talk: When fully using the power of Ka, Teela's speech naturally adopts the hissing quirk.
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside: The loss of Adam caused her to adopt a more abrasive attitude and a distrust for magic, but it's clear to those who know her best that she's only this way because she was deeply hurt by the circumstances of finding out Adam is He-Man, seeing him sacrifice himself, discovering that many of her friends (and her father) already knew his secret, and is now facing the crushing doubt of whether she could ever live up to the faith and trust he had in her to be Eternia's protector, after he set such a high example as its Ideal Hero.
- Take Up My Sword: Downplayed, as Teela was already a hero to begin with, but it's the death of Prince Adam, alias He-Man, that starts her down the path to becoming the hero she was meant to be: the one He-Man implicitly trusts to protect Eternia in his absence.
- Took a Level in Cynic/Took a Level in Jerkass: The Teela of the previous series was a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who very much cared for Prince Adam in spite of his apparent cowardice (due to the fact he has to hide his true abilities as He-Man). When he dies saving Eternia and his true nature is revealed, Teela quickly walks away and lays into everyone for lying to her about Adam. By the time the Time Skip occurs, she's become much colder to most everyone, blames magic for all the troubles that have happened since then, and initially refuses to help the Sorceress restore things after everything that's happened.
- Took a Level in Badass: Her capacity for magic is awakened in Part 2. She ascends to the role of the new Sorceress by the end of it.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Her arc in Part 1 is coming to terms with how her fear led her to lash out at everyone and stepping up to be the hero. By Part 2, nearly all of the negative traits she had at the start of the show are practically gone, putting emphasis back on the "heart of gold" part of her characterization as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
Andra
Andra
Voiced by: Tiffany Smith (English)
Andra as the new Man-At-Arms
Teela's companion post-timeskip. The two of them operate as mercenaries together.- Ascended Extra: Andra was a minor character from the Marvel run of He-Man, with this series marking her first animated appearance.
- Action Girl: While Andra is not quite as badass as Teela, she can still hold her own in a fight.
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: Andra is a black woman and becomes the new Man-At-Arms in Part 2's epilogue.
- Arm Cannon: She is seen using a wrist blaster in episode 5. Duncan gives her his own Arm Cannon to use in tandem with her own in Part 2's climactic battle.
- Audience Surrogate:
According to Kevin Smith, her role is not only to do the technical stuff normally left to Man-At-Arms, but to be someone to whom the other characters can explain things, in order to clue in new audience members to the history and lore. - Badass Bookworm: She may have engineering as her main job, but she is also very muscular and combat capable.
- Badass Normal: Andra has no magic, superpowers or enhancements. That doesn't stop her from kicking ass.
- Black and Nerdy: She's a black woman and an engineer.
- Brains and Brawn: The Brains to Teela's Brawn.
- The Baby of the Bunch: While the rest of the heroes are battle-tested veterans, Andra is younger and a lot more inexperienced and isn't that familiar with the evil warriors who plague Eternia.
- The Idealist: In contrast to Teela's bitter cynicism, Andra likes the idea of going on grand quests, and encourages Teela to rejoin her former allies to save the universe.
- Passing the Torch: She becomes the new Man-At-Arms at the end of Part 2.
- Raised by Grandparents: Mentions being brought up by her grandfather when introducing herself to King Randor.
- Stock Ninja Weaponry: Her weapon of choice are shurikens.
Man-At-Arms
Duncan/Man-At-Arms/Man-Of-War
Voiced by: Liam Cunningham (English)
Duncan as Man-Of-War
He-Man's closest ally, Man-At-Arms (whose real name is Duncan) is a highly-skilled warrior and a master of technology. He is also the adoptive father of Teela and the creator of Roboto.- Arm Cannon: When fending off the aquatic goons that Teela and He-Man fight, he makes use of wrist-mounted blasters to deal with them. Also while the Sorceress is defending herself from Faker, it also has a hidden Laser Cutter that bisects the robot in half.
- The Atoner: He eventually becomes willing to defy Randor's orders and risk death itself if it means he can make up to Teela for all those years of keeping secrets.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the Filmation series, Man-At-Arms was Teela's adoptive father, having found her in a nest created by the Sorceress. In this series he is Teela's biological father, with the Sorceress being his former lover.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: At the start of the series, he is in charge of Eternia's armies, as well as being King Randor's right hand man, yet is enough of a Badass Normal (and Gadgeteer Genius) to carry his weight fighting by He-Man's side. After he's stripped of his rank and exiled by the king, he transitions handily to Retired Badass.
- Beard of Sorrow: During his days as The Exile after the time skip, he grew a large beard with grey strands of hair on it.
- Big Damn Heroes: He has a long record of showing up exactly when Teela and/or He-Man need him the most.
- Badass Normal: Unlike He-Man or the Sorceress, he has no supernatural powers to call upon, just his arsenal and experience. Despite this, Evil-Lyn at one point names Man-At-Arms as the person she always warned Skeletor's subordinates to fear the most; it's with obvious respect that she identifies him as "the most dangerous man in Eternia."
- Carry a Big Stick: After giving Andra his Arm Cannon in Part 2's climactic battle, Duncan fights with a mace.
- Cool Helmet: Still wears his iconic helmet (which also has a facemask when he goes underwater) but drops it during the time skip.
- Cool Old Guy: He's the oldest of the Heroic Warriors, but he can kick as much ass as any of them.
- Defiant Captive: Duncan does not take being imprisoned by Skeletor and Evil-Lyn lying down, giving the both of them "The Reason You Suck" Speeches when the opportunities arise.
- The Dreaded: Evil-Lynn describes Man-At-Arms as the one all of Snake Mountain's warriors needed to watch out for. Considering his two Big Damn Heroes moments, she was right to consider him the more dangerous threat. And this was compared to He-Man himself, mind you.
- The Exile: After Adam/He-Man dies (and King Randor learns that Man-At-Arms hid from him the truth about He-Man's identity), Randor exiles Man-At-Arms from his palace, under the threat of execution should he return, and he assumes a more humble life in a nondescript village.
- Fluffy Tamer: While imprisoned in the basement of Grayskull, he manages to befriend and tame the Orlax also imprisoned there.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He wields an impressive array of weaponry throughout his appearances, and he also creates the android Roboto (who is a badass in his own right).
- Good Old Fisticuffs: While he has a wide variety of weapons to use in battle, he is also adept with fisticuffs, punching or kicking bad guys when there isn't time to bring his weapon to bear.
- Honor Before Reason: He initially refuses to help Teela because it would be in defiance of the King's orders, but he subverts this by going to defend Grayskull and the Sorceress.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: It's revealed in Part 2 that he is not just Teela's adoptive father but also her biological one.
- Never Say "Die": When reporting to King Randor and Queen Marlena about He-Man's death, Duncan tells them that "he succumbed" — possibly because he's trying to soften the news as much as possible that their son is gone.
- Promoted to Love Interest: In the original series, while he was aware of the Sorceress' secrets and was raising her daughter as his own, the pair had no relationship beyond a vague unrequited affection for each other because Status Quo Is God. Part 2 opens with the revelation that the two were lovers, and Teela is his daughter as a result of their relationship.
- Rank Up: With Andra promoted to Man-At-Arms in Revolution, Duncan assumes the role of Man-Of-War to lead the fight against the Horde invasion of Eternia.
- Relationship Upgrade: From merely a close ally to the Sorceress in the original series, to being her former lover and the biological father of Teela in this one.
- Retired Badass: Well, forcibly retired badass, as his exile and disgrace from Eternia made him leave his old life behind, but he can still kick ass as much as ever.
- Rōnin: Duncan essentially becomes a ronin after Randor exiles him, being a warrior who continues to fight even without a lord to serve. The samurai top-knot in his hair following the Time Skip helps to contribute to the image.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Initially subverted, then Played Straight. After his exile, he lives out a quiet life tending to a dying Orko so he won't be in defiance of Randor's orders, even refusing to help Teela at first. But in the end, his parental instincts get the better of him, and he puts himself at risk to restore Eternia.
- Secret-Keeper: He, Sorceress, Orko, and Cringer were the only ones who knew Adam was really He-Man. This gets deconstructed in the pilot, where the revelation of said secret leads Man-At-Arms to be disgraced and exiled.
- So Proud of You: Definitely his attitude towards the promotion of his daughter Teela to Man-At-Arms rank in the first episode.
- Still Got It: After the Time Skip and his exile, he re-enters the narrative by almost single-handedly beating back Tri-Klops' raid on a village without spilling the cup of water he's holding.
- Un-Confession: He tries to tell Teela something (presumably that her mother is the Sorceress), but Evil-Lyn prevents him.
- Ultimate Blacksmith: Man-At-Arms is referenced as the greatest blacksmith in Eternia, and the only one who can reforge the Sword of Power. Roboto is the only one who can stand in because he has Duncan's memories, and even He-Ro defers to his expertise.
Cringer/Battle-Cat
Cringer/Battle-Cat
Voiced by: Stephen Root
- Cowardly Lion: As par for the course. Cringer is scared of most things, but he's got heart.
- Nice Guy: Cringer doesn't hold grudges and treats people with understanding and respect, which he probably got from Adam. Even when calling Teela out for Refusing the Call, he does so in the most sympathetic way possible, taking the approach of You Are Better Than You Think You Are, because he knows what it's like to be afraid and really not wanting to face what's ahead.
- Panthera Awesome: Turns into He-Man's mighty steed.
- Sapient Steed: In his Battle-Cat form, he serves as He-Man's steed.
- The Speechless: Well... as his normal self, he's quite the talker, but as Battle-Cat he only roars and growls. According to Kevin Smith, this wasn't quite intentional, as only when the series was finished did the creators realize that they hadn't actually given Battle-Cat any dialogue. He finally gets some speaking lines as Battle-Cat in Revolution.
- Took a Level in Badass: He actually gets a few untransformed fight scenes in Part 2, indicating that his fear is no longer a hindrance.
- Undying Loyalty: To Adam, of course, but to the Sorceress as well. After Adam's death, Cringer stays at Castle Grayskull to watch over the weakening Sorceress.
Orko
Orko
Voiced by: Griffin Newman
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In this incarnation, Orko was born as an incompetent magic user in a realm where everyone else was perfect at using their magic. Once he ended up in Eternia, not being able to control his magic takes a toll on his self-esteem.
- Adaptational Badass: While his backstory has made him more of an Adaptational Wimp, his present-day actions are significantly more effective than usual for the character, to the point of defeating Scare Glow with a Heroic Sacrifice even though most of the magic is gone.
- Adaptation Name Change: Says his real name was Oracle here, but he couldn't pronounce it as a child so Orko stuck.
- Adaptational Wimp: As far as his backstory goes. In previous versions of the character, he was in fact an extremely powerful sorcerer in his homeland, only he was unlucky enough that his magic didn't work well in Eternia. In this version, he was considered an inept wizard even in his homeland.
- Back from the Dead: Evil-Lyn resurrecting all the dead in Subternia to fight for her accidentally resurrects him as well.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Along with Beware the Nice Ones. Normally Orko is the friendliest, most genuinely nice character on the show, and he's a total Inept Mage who gets into all sorts of mishaps... but push him hard enough and he can throw down. Scare Glow learns this the hard way. Twice.
- Came Back Strong: Like you wouldn't believe. When he returns from Subternia, he's no longer an Inept Mage but a honed and confident magician capable of fighting Scare Glow and an empowered Evil-Lyn on even footing at the same time.
- Composite Character: His real name is said to be Oracle here. The Oracle was the name of another Trollan from the 2002 series.
- That being said, the Oracle from the 2002 series was implied to actually be an older Orko who travelled back in time thousands of years to the era of King Grayskull, as evidenced by 2002 Orko and the Oracle not just sharing a voice actor, but the exact same character voice. So it might not be that much of a composition after all.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the original Orko. It's true that he had a group of supportive friends to help him out, but he was constantly goofing up and making simple mistakes with his magic, yet never seemed much more than disappointed with his failures. This iteration shows the poor guy has pretty crippling depression about being useless with his magic, to the point that he willingly goes along with Teela in spite of being on his death bed so he can prove he has some worth to Eternia after all.
- Determinator: On one of his podcasts, Kevin Smith pointed out Orko's never-ending refusal to give up and how, despite contstant failures and setbacks, he'd always insist he'd get it right this time. While in the actual show he's notably more self-aware about his failures and suffers from some rather severe self-doubt issues, he still keeps trying.
- Due to the Dead: After his Heroic Sacrifice, his friends give him a memorial stone in Preternia. Moss Man turns the ground into the soil of Trollan, Adam carves the stone, Teela lays down the scrap of his scarf which she caught after he vanished, and even Evil-Lyn sets down her helmet in respect.
- Energy Ring Attack: Upon his resurrection, he displays the ability to conjure rings of white light.
- Exact Words: A recurring problem with his magic is that it will give him what he wants, but not the way he wants it. A bubble to keep Cringer safe leaves him without air, a lens to see the others sets things on fire, etc. Notably, he's most effective when he leaves the words out completely in favor of manipulating raw magic.
- The Exile: Like Man-At-Arms, he was exiled from the palace by the king and queen.
- Face Death with Dignity: While his first death is hardly undignified (what with him putting the fear in the literal king of fear), when Teela and He-Man banish all of the denizens of Subternia back and realize that includes Orko, Orko simply accepts it with dignity, as at least this time he got to see his friends again and say goodbye. Fortunately Lyn has other ideas.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrifices himself to banish Scare Glow; it's unclear if he died or not, since they both vanished in a flash of light, but the heroes treat it as a death. Part 2 clarifies that he did indeed die, but Evil-Lyn summoning the forces of Subternia brought him back to life.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: He has self-esteem issues regarding his lack of skill at magic.
- His Days Are Numbered: The elimination of all magic in Eternia has left him very sick, to the point that Man-At-Arms needs to give him magically-enchanted water just to keep him alive. Knowing this, he decides to join Teela's quest, figuring that if he's going to die, he might as well die trying to help. And tragically, he does indeed die... until he returns in the last episode, more vital and powerful than ever.
- Inept Mage: A holdover from the original series and it's deconstructed here as Orko's reputation as one has gave him big self-esteem issues. He's genuinely terrible at magic compared to other Trollans here rather than Trollan magic not working on Eternia like in the original cartoon.
- Last of His Kind: Declares himself to be the last Trollan after he finds Trolla wrecked and empty but this is an illusion in Hell so we don't know how true it is.
- Light Is Good: Following his return from Subternia, he appears wearing all white robes and using spells conjured from pure light. And with them he puts the hurt on both Scare Glow and Dark-Lyn quite effortlessly, and his return from the dead is the turning point in the battle for the Heroic Warriors (...and Skeletor).
- Mentor Mascot: He confesses to Andra he doesn't remember every adventure, and advises her to keep a journal. With her love of learning, she probably will.
- Nice Guy: Orko is always friendly and helpful, and though his incompetence with magic can push his help onto Unwanted Assistance he's probably the most accepting and forgiving character on the show. It's a big mistake to think of him as a pushover, though.
- Odd Friendship: With Evil-Lyn of all people. Even she seems confused by the fact that she grows fond of him.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: As he confesses to Evil-Lyn, "Orko" isn't his real name, but a nickname based on the name his parents gave him — "Oracle." When he was little he couldn't pronounce the name properly and turned it into "Orko," which stuck — especially when his magic left a lot to be desired.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: After the time skip he drops his long and baggy sleeves to go bare-armed. Ironically, this is to show how sickly and diminished he's become since magic started leaving Eternia following He-Man's sacrifice. After returning from Subternia, he wears a robe with sleeves again.
- Took a Level in Badass: No less than twice in the series. First, after his talk with Evil-Lyn in Subternia, he begins getting a new attitude and with it more confidence.After this, he goes toe-to-toe with Scareglow and manages to stave him off long enough for the others to escape, performing a Heroic Sacrifice... The second time happens in the very last episode, when he returns from Subeternia and has gone up several levels in badass; this time he outright defeats Scareglow and doesn't really have a hard time of it either.
- Unwanted Assistance: It's a classic Orko problem — all he wants to do is help people and be useful, but his general incompetence and a lot of bad luck often results in his "help" just creating more trouble. It's kind of downplayed in this show, though; it shows mostly up in the first episode before things get serious, and after that is phased out fairly quickly.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Implied. His parents named him "Oracle" because they wanted to "set him up for greatness," and while he never directly says they were disappointed in him or that he wished for their approval, the sadness in his voice when he tells Evil-Lyn about them tells a whole story in and of itself.
Roboto
Roboto
Voiced by: Justin Long (English)
- Apologetic Attacker: His polite programming means that he apologizes after each attack while fighting.
- Birds of a Feather: He and Andra develop a bond during the adventures, which makes sense since he's a machine and she's a Gadgeteer Genius. She weeps extensively when he powers down for good.
- Face Death with Dignity: An interesting variant. As he lays dying from the immense power unleashing while reforging the Sword of Power, he tells Teela that he's afraid to die, but that the fact that he can finally feel proves he isn't a machine; he's a miracle.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: After he dies in his attempt to reforge the Sword of Power, Roboto is sadly never acknowledged again. That said, he is seen "alive" and well once again with the rest of the fallen heroes after Teela and Adam restore Preternia at the end of Revolution.
- Genius Bruiser: His robotic strength and built-in weaponry means he's a formidable combatant. Having Duncan's know-how, he's also no slouch in the brains department.
- Happily Adopted: To the extent that a robot can be, he's this. He identifies himself as Duncan's surrogate son and even addresses Teela as "sister."
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrifices himself to reforge the Sword of Power.
- Logic Bomb: Reversed, in that it's Roboto who logic-bombs Man-At-Arms. Man-At-Arms initially refuses to let his creation join Teela's quest, but Roboto insists, on the grounds that Man-At-Arms cannot himself go, and as Roboto was programmed with Duncan's knowledge, he will be able to help in his creator's stead. Roboto further adds that as he also has Man-At-Arms' stubborn personality, he is only doing what Man-At-Arms would do. Duncan concedes the point and lets Roboto join the quest!
- Reforged Blade: With a bit of Heroic Sacrifice thrown in at that, as he combines the two parts of the Sword of Power for it to be whole again.
- Related in the Adaptation: Was built by Man-At-Arms here like in the 2002 show but is treated more like a son than a machine.
- Robo Cam: We see through his perspective a few times.
- Spock Speak: Robot's preferred way of talking, unsurprisingly.
- The Stoic: As befitting his machine nature, Roboto never expresses fear (or any other emotion) despite all the violent and terrifying things he encounters as Teela's ally. Until he dies.
- Ultimate Blacksmith: He gets to step into this role for a day, after He-Ro proves unable to reunite the Sword of Power. With his robotic strength and Duncan's knowledge, he's well-equipped for the task.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: He plays into this trope when he dies. He realizes in his final moments that he can feel, and this proves that he was more than a machine.
Moss-Man
Moss-Man
Voiced by: Alan Oppenheimer
- "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: He wasn't eavesdropping on Adam and Teela's conversation, he was "listening in". Of course, they were talking in the forest, which is him, so he's probably got a point that he couldn't help but overhear.
- Cool Old Guy: He's a million years young (at least in comparison to the rest of the universe), and is quite serene and insightful when talking to Adam, who's considering returning to Eternia after already having died to protect it, in the same battle in which Moss-Man fell.
- Face Death with Dignity: When Evil-Lyn destroys Preternia, Moss-Man peacefully closes his eyes just before the explosion engulfs him.
- Genius Loci: In Preternia, he takes the form of an entire forest.
- Logical Weakness: Plants are very vulnerable to flames, which Skeletor uses to burn the poor guy to a crisp.
- Nature Spirit: Even more so when he ends up taking the form of an entire forest in Preternia.
- Plant Person: There's a reason he's called Moss-Man.
- Sacrificial Lion: An ancient force for good, whose fiery death at Skeletor's hands lets us know that the kid gloves are off this time.
- Time Abyss: He's a million years old. He considers himself young compared to the rest of the universe, but he is far beyond the time scale of anyone else in the series.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He appears for a few seconds before burning to death. His appearance in Preternia is also brief.
King Randor and Queen Marlena
Randor voiced by: Diedrich Bader
Marlena voiced by: Alicia Silverstone (Revelation), Gates McFadden (Revolution)
- Ace Pilot: Marlena's backstory as an astronaut and pilot from Earth is intact in this iteration.
- Actor Allusion: Marlena (played by Alicia Silverstone) channels her inner Cher Horowitz, laughing "As if!" at least once during the show.
- Ambiguous Situation: It is unclear if Randor ever knew his older half-brother, Keldor, became Skeletor. When Adam asks as much to Skeletor's face in Revolution, Skeletor says that he himself didn't even know he was Keldor, and thought it no longer mattered how much his brother might or might not have.
- Battle Couple: With Randor leading the charge on the ground, and Marlena in command of the air, the forces of Eternia are in good hands during the final battle.
- Big Damn Heroes: In Revolution, his ghost along with the ghosts of Eternia's other deceased heroes arrive to help defeat Skeletor's forces.
- Deadpan Snarker: When Randor says he owes Andra a debt he can never repay for helping to bring back his son, he quips that since he's the King he can actually pay quite a lot, making her a lieutenant in his Royal Guard. Later after seeing her skills in battle he says to Duncan, "She was a good hire."
- Divorce Is Temporary: Adam's death and the circumstances around both it, and the secrets of He-Man destroyed their marriage. However, his return from Preternia alive and well gave them a second chance to forgive eachother and set things right and by the end of Part 2, the House of Randor is a family once again.
- Heel Realization: Off-screen over the course of the Time Skip, Randor realizes the mistakes he made as Adam's father, and when they reunite in Part 2, he apologizes to Adam for treating him like a disappointment just because Adam wasn't what he wanted him to be, telling Adam that he's proud of him.
- Interplanetary Voyage: Marlena briefly contemplates returning to Earth after Eternia has fallen on hard times. This is because just like her original counterpart, she is actually a space explorer who decided to stay on Eternia.
- Not Too Dead to Save the Day: Randor's ghost comes back to save He-Man just as Skeletor is about to deliver the killing blow.
- Parents as People: Adam coming to see them as human beings is a major part of the second half of the series. Randor admits that he made mistakes as Adam's father, and the shared grief over their son's loss caused the pair to almost break up.
- Parting-Words Regret: Before the first fateful battle at Castle Grayskull, Randor all but called Adam a disappointment for seemingly failing to do anything with his life. Needless to say, he became consumed by grief-induced rage after finding out that his son was He-Man and that he had died during the battle. In Part 2, that has cooled down to just guilt over the way he treated Adam.
- Pre Maturely Gray Haired: Their hair is a lot more paler and grayer (more prominently in Marlena's case) after the Time Skip. Justified due to the stress of their strained marriage, constant arguing, and mutual grief over Adam's death.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: Both of them are capable fighters with Randor Dual Wielding a sword and blaster into battle and Marlena flying in a fighter jet.
- Relationship-Salvaging Disaster: The threat of a returned and empowered Skeletor, and later Dark-Lyn attemping to unmake the universe brings Randor and Marlena back together as a couple after several years' estrangement.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Randor passes away from an unspecified terminal illness in the first episode of Revolution.
- Token Human: Queen Marlena being from Earth, she is the only actual full human on the show, all others being Human Aliens and her son the Half-Human Hybrid. She actually lampshades it in the final episode of "Revolution" when she calls Randor "forward thinking" for marrying an alien.
Evil Warriors
Skeletor
Skeletor / Prince Keldor
Voiced by: Mark Hamill (English, Skeletor), William Shatner (English, Keldor)
"Behold... the Lord of Destruction."
Transformed into Skeletek
Click here to see him in his previous life
The self-proclaimed "Lord of Destruction", Skeletor has long sought the powers within Castle Grayskull so he could rule over Eternia. Hailing from the dimension of Apollyos where others of his kind lived, Skeletor made a deal with Hordak to gain the power to revive his deceased family but became obsessed with power for its own sake and an independent villain out to conquer Eternia. However, it may not be all what it seems with him.
- Actor Allusion: Mark Hamill voices a wisecracking Card-Carrying Villain with a nihilistic outlook and a single-minded obsession with fighting his Arch-Enemy above all else, and who also has a twisted and abusive romance with his henchwoman. In the flashback with Mer-Man (voiced by Kevin Conroy no less), Hamill even uses the same voice he uses for The Joker in various Batman cartoons and video games. Oh, and the tie-in comic also gives him a dubious backstory where losing his wife and child drove him toward villainy. And finally, this is not the first time where Hamill voiced a skeletal overlord bent on universal conquest.
- Adaptational Badass: Subverted. At the beginning he presents himself as a much greater threat than his original version, to the point of achieving a victory. But in the part 2, is quickly revealed that he is still the same incompetent as always, even with his new powers, to the point that Evil-Lyn betrays him and keeps the power for herself. Then he double subverts it in Revolution where once he regains his memories he proves he means business by killing Motherboard and mortally wounding Hordak before absorbing both magic and technology to become the greatest threat and even take over the Horde temporarily, something his Filmation version and even his mini-comics self would only dream of.
- Alien Blood: When He-Man impales him with the sword of power, his blood is blue.
- Amnesiac Dissonance: Zig-Zagged. Skeletor and Keldor are extremely different in temperament and personality, but they ultimately have the same goals and are equally ruthless.
- Amnesiac Resonance: Despite their superficial differences in personality, both Skeletor and Keldor are equally power-hungry and ruthless.
- The Anti-Nihilist: In an incredibly twisted way, he's this thanks to his single-minded obsession with killing He-Man. While Evil-Lyn broke upon witnessing the Apex of Creation, he viewed the evidence of the universe's fundamental meaninglessness as more of a curiosity while going about his usual plans of trying to kill He-Man.Skeletor: One must be wary of gazing too deep into the horrors of the void. It can get awfully addicting.
- Arch-Enemy: Like always, he is this to He-Man and the Sorceress. The fact that he can't see beyond his need to kill He-Man ends up causing a lot of problems for everyone, including him, in Part 2. He-Man himself outright states in their final battle that he does not view their dynamic the same way, knowing that the universe is far larger than just their conflict.
- Asshole Victim: Being assimilated into the Horde is a horrifying fate, but it couldn't have happened to a worse person in his case.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Episode 5 ends with him having succeeded in wounding He-Man and taking the Power of Grayskull for himself, becoming a god in the process.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: When He-Man angrily skewers Skeletor with his sword in response to him killing Moss-Man, Skeletor congratulates him, as he finally used his sword as it was meant to be used. At first, it seems like Skeletor means like an actual weapon and that he's goading He-Man for crossing a line he never did before, but then he adds "as the key to the Hall of Wisdom!", revealing that he had been leaning against the chamber holding the orb of magic when He-Man struck him.
- Bastard Bastard: He was born as the bastard child of King Miro and a Gar woman, and after being exiled to the land of his mother's people he grew to resent his legitimate brother Randor and covet the Eternian throne.
- Beware the Silly Ones: He's a zany, overly theatrical goofball who is frequently dismissed as a joke, but Skeletor is a legitimately dangerous threat cripples mainly by his obsession with killing He-Man. Once he overcomes that, he comes within an inch of conquering Eternia and enslaving the entire population to his will.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Despite all his power, he ends up being overshadowed by Evil-Lyn when she decides to betray him, and in the season finale he is subjugated by Hordak. However he winds up subverting it to hell and back in Revolution where he slowly but successfully climbs back to the top threat spot and overthrows Hordak and Motherboard even taking control of the Horde and becoming the greatest threat to Eternia until he's defeated for good.
- Big "NO!": Let's out a horrified one when Motherboard begins to convert him into a cyborg for the Horde.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While acting out his prior life as Keldor, he presents himself as a humble and wise man who seems like perfect king material, a role he plays so effortlessly that he quickly convinces Adam to give him the crown. Unfortunately, that was all just an act. Even after he regains all of his memories as Keldor, he still remains just as cruel and vindictive as ever.
- Blood Knight: In the end, Skeletor wants nothing more than to fight his nemesis, He-Man, forever. Even when the universe might be destroyed, he turns on He-Man due to his obsession with fighting and someday killing him.
- Body Horror:
- Courtesy of the Havoc Staff. It strips off all flesh from Keldor's face as he transforms into Skeletor.
- Even his Skeletek transformation in Revolution doesn't look pleasant. He becomes an equivalent of cybernetic Grim Reaper.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Takes Adam's transformation and catchphrase in Revelation after finally obtaining Grayskull's power for himself for the first time. Downplayed in Revolution when he mocks He-Man while trying to finish him off.
- Broken Pedestal: After his death, all his former subordinates and allies lose what respect they had for him, realizing that he was a clown with ridiculous plans who never accomplished anything. Though he seems to have regained the respect of most of his minions after stealing the power of Grayskull (with the exception of those indoctrinated by the Motherboard), he somehow manages to re-break Evil-Lyn's pedestal of him after exposing that he has no real ambitions beyond killing He-Man.
- Brought Down to Normal: Revolution concludes with He-Man draining him of Havoc magic, reducing the once mighty Skeletor to a mere middle-aged Gar, to be imprisoned beneath Castle Grayskull with the just as powerless crown he coveted for so long.
- The Chessmaster: Skeletor plans everything to ensure he gains the power of Grayskull. He succeeds.
- Chest Insignia: When transformed into Skelegod, he has the same symbol He-Man has on his harness carved into his skin like a Power Tattoo.
- Cold Ham: As Keldor, he's still snarky but not quite as theatrical or bombastic.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: In the prequel comic, he left his daughter behind on Apollyos while he helps Hordak until he resurrects his wife. Like everything else about his supposed backstory it turns out to be false though not even Skeletor knew about it.
- Deadpan Snarker: Very sarcastic and constantly cracking jokes. As does Keldor, despite being much more serious and lucid in demeanor.
- Decomposite Character: At first he and Keldor appeared as separate characters, but this gets immediately subverted. They are still one and the same and Motherboard, disguised herself as Skeletor at the time.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the original Skeletor, as well as the many 80s supervillains who took after him. Skeletor is the show's Big Bad, but more importantly, he knows it. As a result, he has a grandiose sense of self-worth to the point where seeing the whole of reality itself was just a neat sight, because he knows what his "purpose" in life is — to be evil and to kick He-Man's ass, no matter how many attempts it takes. Thus, when things get thrown off the rails and he suddenly stops being the main villain, he has absolutely no idea what to do and is reduced to the same pathetic loser he was decades ago, ultimately trying to get his fated final showdown with He-Man before Evil-Lyn kills everybody. Adam ultimately triumphs over him, ending their confrontation by shouting "IT'S NOT ABOUT US!" to drive the point home how much of a narcissist Skeletor really is. He undergoes a bit of a Decon-Recon Switch in Revolution, as it turns out the reason he had been so fixated on defeating He-Man at the expense of everything else was because he wasn't truly Skeletor yet, having had his actual motivations obscured by Hordak tampering with his memories. After he regains his memories as Keldor, he becomes significantly more dangerous, as he now has ambitions beyond just beating He-Man and can table their Arch-Enemy dynamic to focus on grander long-term planning.
- Dimension Lord: Declares himself Master Of The Universe at the end.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The way Revolution executed how Keldor and Skeletor were the same person could easily be considered a stand-in for Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
- Enemy Mine: After Evil-Lyn steals the power of Grayskull from him, he teams up with the Masters of the Universe to stop her from wiping out all of existence.
- Even Evil Can Be Loved: At least for a time, Evil-Lyn had obvious affection for Skeletor, even after she gave up any hope that he would ever return her love.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- It's debatable if he actually loves Evil-Lyn, but he does seem to be genuinely fond of Panthor. He shrieks in anger after Evil-Lyn kills him. That said, he did risk the universe in the first episode, which included Panthor, so this too is dubious.
- The prequel comic reveals that he had a wife named Zari'i and a daughter, both of whom were murdered in front of him, which prompted him to become a disciple of Hordak after Hordak hinted that he could bring back Skeletor's daughter and Zari'i. While Hordak did eventually resurrect the daughter, her and Skeletor's reunion was short-lived, as she was taken away to be raised to serve the Horde while Skeletor continued to personally serve Hordak. When Evil-Lyn asks if any of this tragic story is true, Skeletor admits that he made it all up, though Skeletor briefly seeing Evil-Lyn as Zari'i and forlornly contemplating a necklace that is identical to the one that was worn by Zari'i indicates that Zari'i was at least Real After All... At least until Revolution revealed neither his wife or daughter were real as his whole backstory was fabricated by Hordak following a temporary memory loss when he first took the Havoc Staff. That being said, the fact remains that Skeletor showed he genuinely has the capacity to love a romantic partner and child, as he believed them to be real until his original memories returned.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Subverted. He'll kill and manipulate whoever he has to in order to get the power he craves. He draws the line at destroying existence itself... except when he tried it initially, risking the universe to get the Power of Grayskull. It's more Pragmatic Villainy on his part— he can't exactly have a final battle with He-Man once the universe is destroyed.
- When Evil-Lyn tells him to kill Adam's father so Adam would beg him to spare his mother, he seems rather put off by the suggestion.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: After finally obtaining the power of Grayskull, he's almost insulted that Adam called on it solely when it was necessary (i.e., defeating him), with the implication that not using it to live as a god and lord it over others showed the boy's lack of imagination and ambition — something of which Skeletor himself is an unwitting victim. Later, when Adam manages to call down raw, unchanneled power without the sword, Skeletor interrogates Man-at-Arms to find out how he "manipulates" it.Duncan: The fact... that you consider it "manipulation"... is why you'll never understand, and will always lose!
- Evil Is Petty: So unbelievably petty that looking upon the entirety of creation with Grayskull's power is motivated solely by his obsession with finding a way to defeat He-Man.
- Evil Sounds Raspy: Courtesy of Mark Hamill.
- Evil Uncle: It's revealed in Revolution that he actually is King Randor's half-brother, Keldor, making him this to Adam and Adora. He has no issue whatsoever with endangering them as babies in Hordak's scheme nor does he have any hesitation to kill Adam in both their final battles.
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: After killing Moss-Man, he cracks a joke about how it smells like pine and how to tend a garden. He-Man does not take that well.
- Faking the Dead: When the Sword of Power explodes, he is seemingly destroyed alongside He-Man, with nothing but the ram skull of his Havoc Staff left behind. Turns out that he had taken refuge in Evil-Lyn's wand, and waited until the sword was reforged so he could claim it along with all the power in the universe.
- Fatal Flaw: Pride. Once he actually believes he's succeeded in one of his plans, he immediately starts developing blind spots. Evil-Lyn's very overt seduction tactics to steal the Sword of Power from him probably wouldn't have worked had he not been so assured in his victory against He-Man.
- Faux Affably Evil: As Keldor, he always speaks with a dignified, polite tone of voice. Skeletor himself is a friendly, theatrical jokester, but it never overrides how evil he is.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: Literally — the Ram Skull on his Havoc Staff opens its mouth up every time Skeletor is about to throw flames.
- Flaming Skulls: His opening attack during his final battle with He-Man in Episode 1, is a large wave of fire that looks like a skull. His own skull alights with supernatural green flame when he taps into the Sword of Power in Episode 5.
- Foreshadowing: Evil-Lyn (along with most viewers) were already skeptical of his supposed backstory in the prequel comics, however, in the second half of Revelation, it's status as a lie is hinted at even more so.
- After taking the Sword and becoming Skelegod, at no point does Skeletor try using the Power of Grayskull to bring his supposed family back, instead focusing all his attention on killing He-Man and remaking the Universe (forgetting the latter part after seeing Adam transform without the Sword).
- Freudian Excuse: Subverted. Every time Skeletor claims to have a Freudian Excuse, it turns out to be sarcasm or an outright complete lie. Then his memories as Keldor awaken, and it turns out he actually had a reason for his villainy that he forgot about due to Hordak tampering with his mind.
- Skeletor mentions that he had a family that died, and began working for Hordak as a desperate attempt to gain the power to revive them, but later reveals that the story was a complete lie... Or so he claims as he pictures his deceased wife when seeing Lyn and is notably upset at the sight. It's fully established as such come Revolution albeit it was one Skeletor fully believed himself.
- Skeletor tells Andra that due to having such a horrible face, there's no person who can accept him as a human being, but given his tone of voice, it is clear that he is only being sarcastic.
- Keldor's excuse for turning to villainy was the product of an unjust law that had been in effect during his childhood. Though he was the first-born son of King Miro and should have been his rightful heir, he was conceived illegitimately between Miro and a Gar woman and thus couldn't succeed his father. He was ultimately sent back to his home nation while his brother Randor took the throne. Feeling cheated out of what he thought was his birthright, Keldor grew to resent his brother and covet the throne of Eternos. Then Hordak's forces invaded and razed his birthplace to the ground. With no place to call home, he let his resentment boil over and joined Hordak in the hopes of getting the power to take Eternos' throne, only for Hordak to betray him and rob him of his identity and memories. Even Adam admits that Keldor's grievances are legitimate...
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: That being said, Adam also points out that Keldor ultimately chose to become a villain to get what he wanted.
- Full-Circle Revolution: In his supposed origin story, Skeletor mentions that he led a rebellion to free his people from slavery, only to enslave them again when Hordak arrived. Revolution reveals that origin story to be a lie conjured by Hordak.
- Genuine Impostor: Skeletor started using Keldor's name without knowing he's Keldor or even believing Keldor was a real person.
- A God Am I: When he procures He-man's sword, he makes himself into a Physical God, declaring himself as such.Skeletor: And since I hold the sword, this celestial apex will imbue me with not just power over the Universe, but power of existence itself! And existence could use a makeover. I mean just look at it.
- Good Stepmother: His stepmother, Queen Amelia, cared a great deal about him despite being an illegitimate child, half-Gar, and the mutual distrust between the Gar and Eternos. She fought with his father constantly to do right by him so he could build something of his life.
- Graceful Loser: Shockingly, he has a rather understated reaction to being reverted back to Keldor and stripped of his power. Simply annoyedly agreeing with He-Man's assessment that he'll always be the villain no matter his past.
- Half-Human Hybrid: His father was a Eternian human while his mother was an Eternian Gar.
- Hijacked by Ganon: By the end of Revelation, he is reduced to a lackey for both Hordak and Motherboard. It's thanks to them, however, in Revolution that led to him to fight back, after re-learning his past, and kill them both, becoming the main threat again and taking the Hordak fleet for himself before he is defeated once more.
- I'll Kill You!: In a Pet the Dog moment, Skeletor shows rage and promises death when Evil-Lyn kills Panthor.Skeletor: I will kill you for that!
- Internal Reveal: Like Teela and Randor, he too learns that He-Man and Prince Adam are one and the same, and is shocked that his greatest enemy is "just a boy". He's almost impressed.
- In the Hood: To cover up his Skull for a Head and is obviously a part of his iconic design.
- It's All About Me:
- Or rather, it's all about (to him, anyway), him and He-Man. Skeletor's ego and his egotistical need to destroy He-Man is all-emcompassing, even in the midst of the universe literally unravelling around them. Eventually, He-Man has enough of his poisonous obession and pointedly tells him "It's not about US" and then flings Skeletor over the horizon so that he can deal with the real problem at hand.
- He doesn't gets any better in Revolution where even when brainwashed he still tries to earn Hordak's favor above all things and is notably annoyed whenever Motherboard gets the praise. And even as Keldor he hardly proves to have been anything more than a selfish jerk, as he coveted the throne of Eternos so much he sold out his family and planet to Hordak and was willing to kill them and wreck his other home just so he could be King at last. It even gets to the point that despite his Freudian Excuse of being denied the throne that was his birthright, Adam tells him his selfishness has no excuse.
- The Jekyll Is a Jerk: Keldor is just as ruthless and power-hungry as Skeletor is, albeit far more calm and calculating. In fact, once his personality is reawakened, Skeletor becomes a bigger threat thanks to Keldor influencing him to become increasingly ambitious and cunning.
- Large Ham: As is usual for his appearances, Skeletor has No Indoor Voice and speaks almost entirely in full-throated evil villain speech.
- Laughably Evil: He's prone to ridiculous theatrics and wisecracking. Keldor is quite prone to joking around as well, despite being the much calmer and more restrained personality.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Or rather lust and a bit of pride in this case. Evil-Lyn manages to convince him to release the power of Grayskull and take his hand off of the Sword of Power with just the promise of sex.
- Magic Staff: His iconic Havoc Staff is his primary weapon, he can use his magic to give it a dagger-like point on the bottom part and can also shoot powerful flames. This particular staff is the very thing that has transformed Keldor into Skeletor.
- Magitek: He makes use of both the Havoc Staff's magic, as well as bits of Hordak's technology. As Skeletek, his cybernetic augmentations fuse the Havoc Staff to his body and allow him to have the best of both worlds.
- Master Actor: He managed to fool everyone while under the disguise of a still-living Keldor, effortlessly tricking Adam into handing the crown over to him by making himself appear as a kind, humble, and wise man. Of course, it does help that he is Keldor and had his memories used as reference to truly sell the act.
- Matchstick Weapon: Creating flames is also a part of the Havoc Staff's many abilities. Hilariously enough, after announcing their final battle. He actually scrapes the top of his staff across the ground, as if he were about to light a match. Then the ram skull opens its mouth to breathe out a giant skull of fire aimed at He-Man.
- Motive Decay: At some point, it's implied Skeletor might have had a genuinely grand motive. By the time of Revelation, however, he's devolved into just wanting to fight He-Man over and over, being willing to do anything if it means fighting him forever. Evil-Lyn even explicitly calls him on the fact that He-Man has become the only reason he exists. Then his original memories as Keldor reemerge in Revolution, and he immediately regains his grand ambitions and becomes a threat to everyone even being willing to kill He-Man without any fanfare before moving on to ruling existence.
- Multiversal Conqueror: The prequel comic has him helping Hordak conquer worlds. When Hordak rules Eternia, he says he'll bring Skeletor's wife back. The motivation turns out to have been a false memory created by Hordak.
- Near-Villain Victory: In Revolution, he manages to tie He-Man down by taking advantage of him being distracted by Preternia's resurrection and comes dangerously close to killing him, without his typical ego and theatrics to prevent him from just dealing the killing blow. Had it not been for the ghost of King Randor's timely interference, Skeletor actually would have won.
- Never My Fault: Blames the Motherboard Cult (his former minions) for his loss of the Power of Grayskull when it was his own fault for giving into Evil-Lyn's seduction.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Villain: Showing Evil-Lyn the Apex of Creation, and subsequently showing her just how small and meaningless her life and life in general is, turns out to have been a really bad idea.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain:
- He's suffered a lot of beatings and defeats over the years, but he's the greatest threat to Eternia for a reason. He actually wins post-resurrection.
- It happens again when in Revolution Motherboard and Hordak think he's just some bufoonish minion for them to push around and abuse while forcing him to serve their purposes. Once Skeletor regains his full memories, he strikes back at both succesfully and becomes the main villain again.
- One-Winged Angel:
- Upon absorbing the Power of Grayskull, he gains a much deadlier new form, Skelegod— a much bulkier and far-more demonic looking monstrosity that makes Skeletor's base form look like a cuddly dolly.
- He gets another one in Revolution upon defeating Hordak, utilizing the Horde technology in his system and his own magic to construct a body of pure dark energy for himself that he can reshape at will. He even calls it Skeletor 2.0.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: He's completely willing to destroy the universe if it means he gets to finally kill He-Man. If it's anyone else doing it, he'll oppose them, as seen by him joining forces with Adam to stop Evil-Lyn from destroying existence. And when it seems like the universe was doomed, he turns on Adam just so he can at least be able to finally kill him before the universe goes down with them. He completely averts this by Revolution once he regains his memories, he prioritizes ruling Eternos and the Universe above all things and only wants He-Man dead to get him out of the way, not even treating striking him down as anything but a minor accomplishment.
- Pet the Dog: He rescued Evil-Lyn from getting beat up by people she stole from. Sadly, any affection he had for her seems gone by the present thanks to his abusive and demeaning behavior towards her.
- Post-Final Boss: After Evil-Lyn is convinced to abandon her plan to destroy existence, he becomes the last threat in the first season to take down, as he decides to forsake his collaboration with the Masters of the Universe to kill He-Man.
- Power Parasite: In Part 2 he admits to feeding off Lyn's magic "like a tick" from within her wand staff while he was plotting his return.
- Practically Joker: Though he's not as obvious as a lot of other examples, he's a villainous Large Ham with a cackling-mad laugh and a tendency for Chewing the Scenery, the voice of Mark Hamill, is disdained for his egomaniacal tendencies by a character played by Kevin Conroy, is dolled up in purple, is a Not-So-Harmless Villain that has the showings of The Chessmaster, his rather blase take on the meaninglessness of the universe (even driving one of his own minions insane with it), revels in total destruction and cares more about his eternal fight against his Arch-Enemy than anything else, and is abusive and possessive towards a devoted female acolyte who eventually learns to turn against him. If all that doesn't scream Joker, nothing does.
- Psychopathic Manchild: While capable of impeccable cunning, Skeletor repeatedly shows himself to be a single-minded manchild hoping for his final, dramatic showdown more than anything else. Once he gets the Power of Grayskull, his immediately tries to anger his nemesis just to be petty, gets easily angered every time he's impeded, and sets aside everything else to have sex with Evil-Lyn, which allows her to easily her betray him. At the end of everything, when Adam believes he has the capacity to be a hero and gives him the Power of Grayskull, he betrays Adam— because he's obsessed with his final battle, desperate to clash with He-Man forever because he can't even think of anything else, even when the world is at risk. It's proven, in the end, that Skeletor is nothing more than an (admittedly brilliant when in a corner) obsessive Blood Knight.
- Real After All: Skeletor thought Keldor wasn't a real person until Hordak told him otherwise.
- Sadistic Choice: He asks Hordak to resurrect his wife and child and Hordak only gives him power to bring one of them back.
- Skull for a Head: One of the most iconic characters with this villainous design, so it's a given.
- Split Personality: Skeletor and Keldor are both separate personalities, but both are equally focused on their ambition of conquering Eternia.
- The Starscream: The prequel comic says he's biding his time until he can find a way to overthrow Hordak. He succeeds in overthrowing him in Revolution.
- That Man Is Dead: He has this reaction when Hordak refers to him as Keldor right before murdering his former master.Hordak: I should have left you to die on that island, Keldor.
Skeletor: My name is SKELETOR! - Then Let Me Be Evil: Skeletor implies that this is his Freudian Excuse when Andra asks him what his deal is, pointing out that he couldn't get much respect as a man with a skull for a face. It's hard to say how serious he is, given he's Chewing the Scenery as he says it.
- Thinking Up Portals: One of his many abilities. During his final fight with He-Man in Episode 1, he uses this creatively. As well as using portals for transport, Skeletor conjures up two portals of vastly different sizes, putting his arm through the smaller-sized portal and then causing a magnified version of his fist to erupt from the larger one, heading straight for He-Man.
- This Cannot Be!: He reacts in horror when Motherboard reveals themselves to him, likely recognizing them as a tool of his former master, Hordak.
- Took a Level in Badass: He becomes a whole lot more dangerous after his memories as Keldor reemerge in Revolution, as he discards his original weakness of theatrics in favor of pure cunning and viciousness.
- Truer to the Text: His initial backstory is that he's an interdimensional demon from the realm of Apollyos who became Hordak's pupil, as it seemed in the original minicomics but then it is revealed that he's actually Keldor, half-brother of Randor, who had his memories tampered with by Hordak to make him compliant; which is also the case in the original continuity where Hordak similarly turned Keldor into Skeletor with a forceful merge with an actual demon to get his accolyte to release him from Despondos.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: The prequel comics show that he comes from a race of skeleton people and is no longer He-Man's uncle Keldor. Although it is possible that he is lying. It's confirmed in Revolution that the story was a lie, but one crafted by Hordak which he forcefully implanted on Skeletor's mind to make him believe it was real, and that Skeletor is Keldor.
- Unreliable Narrator: In the prequel comics, Skeletor tells his supposed origin story to Evil-Lyn, but she doesn't believe a single word of it. It’s made up but the story was put into his head as false memories; so he was telling what he believed to be the truth.
- Unwilling Roboticisation: Motherboard's conversion of him into Skeletek was very unwanted, and very painful, fusing the Havoc Staff to his arm and otherwise "optimizing" his body. However, after he regains his memories, he learns to appreciate being able to utilize it.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He really shouldn't have shown Evil-Lyn the full scope of existence.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: A flashback shows that Keldor and Randor got along very well as children, with Keldor showing their father respect despite Randor's grievances with him. Of course, that wouldn't last.
- Villains Never Lie: Double subverted. Hordak initially had him manipulate Adam while disguised as Keldor, only to discover just before they reveal the deception that Keldor was in fact his original identity.
- Villainous Valour: Skeletor is a brave warrior just as much as he is a schemer. While incredibly clever and prone to sorcery more than straightforward combat, he also has no problem standing at the front of his own assault, taking injury to achieve his ends, and he refuses his subordinates' healing just to accomplish his goal faster. Even when defeated, he devises a way to survive and bounces back to achieve his goal again. While he's not unwilling to beg, bargain, or plead, he also proves that he's incredible in a pinch, challenging a very powerful Evil-Lyn openly, defending Adam throughout the battle, and risking everything to defeat Evil-Lyn Even Teela openly admits he of all people is risking everything to save the universe, even if it's for his own ends.
- Was Once a Man: Claims this to Andra as part of his Freudian Excuse. Turns out he was correct, but not in the way he was initially thinking. He was formerly Keldor, Adam's uncle, but had his original memories and personality sealed away by Hordak.
- Wrecked Weapon: His Havoc Staff was seemingly destroyed after Episode 1, with only the ram skull left behind. It's later used to help the Sorceress, due to still having a bit of magic left in it. After ressurecting himself when the time was right, he uses his magic to quickly repair it and put it to use.
- Xanatos Speed Chess:
- Skeletor's initial assault is full of this. Unveiling a disguise and dramatically revealing himself? Just a distraction for the fact that "He-Man" is actually Faker. Skeletor unleashes his minions once he's safe, goes for the crystal beneath Castle Grayskull and its power, and claims it. Even when he loses, he carries through with this. He stores himself in Evil-Lyn's wand, only emerging once the Sword of Power is already reformed so he can claim it for himself.
- In Revolution he pulls one of these again once he recovers his memories as Keldor and his free will, he kills Motherboard and gifts her head to Hordak to provoke the latter into fighting him and uses the magic side of himself and the technology he was forcefully assimilated with to overcome his former master and mortally wound him, then use said defeat of Hordak to brainwash the entire Horde into his minions and take over the Universe with them as well as reawakening the Techno-Titans to crush the Eternians and Heroic Warriors. It's only every single hero (even the deceased souls of Preternia) pulling all stops that stops him in the end.
Evil-Lyn
Evil-Lyn
Voiced by: Lena Headey (English)
- Abusive Parents: She was born into poverty, to the point where she had to run away from home after her starving parents decided to eat her. On her birthday.
- Adaptational Heroism: By the end of Revelation, she actually gives up her villainy and goes on to atone for her prior actions, something none of her previous iterations have even attempted. In Revolution she goes even further by caring for a sick and dying Granamyr and helps Teela restore Preternia to atone for her crimes and even joins the Cosmic Enforcers in balancing magic when all is said and done.
- Adaptational Nice Guy:
- Concerning her relationship with Skeletor; in the 80's series, Evil-Lyn did not feel any kind of loyalty or love for him, and planned to betray him as soon as she became more powerful. In this version, she seemed to have genuine affection for him, to the point of mentioning that there was a time when she was in love with him. Subverted when it is revealed that she secretly hated him and decides to betray him..
- She is also somewhat more personable once you get to know her, befriending and mourning Orko over their shared interest in magic. Beast Man more or less reveres her and she treats him genially.
- Affectionate Nickname: Skeletor calls her "my dear" and "Lynnie" when he revives near the end of episode 5. YMMV as to how affectionate it really is, but he does appear to at least genuinely respect her.
- Amazonian Beauty: She gains defined muscles and abs after taking on the power of Grayskull along with an outfit that shows it all off in a very flattering way.
- Animal Motif: Bats as of part 2 when she becomes the new sorceress of Grayskull.
- The Atoner: By the end of Revelation and continuing into Revolution, she's given up her evil ways and works to undo the damage she caused while under the power of Grayskull. She also helps Teela restore Preternia and explicitly states she wants the latter to fix the damage she caused.
- Badass Longcoat: The short cape from her traditional incarnations is redesigned here into a long, sleeveless tailcoat that sways with the wind.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Served and fell in love with Skeletor because he uplifted her from her life as a street thief living in the sewers. Although secretly she hated him.
- Big Bad: She becomes this for Revelation after betraying Skeletor, gaining the Sword of Power, and taking the power of Grayskull. She then plans to destroy the entire universe, though she is talked down in the end and Skeletor becomes the final boss.
- Blood Knight: Develops into this as a consequence of becoming Drunk on the Dark Side after taking the power of Grayskull. She probably could've just obliterated Skeletor and Adam on the spot when they arrived at her doorstep to negotiate, but where's the fun in that?
- Card-Carrying Villain: As though it were not enough that she has "Evil" as part of her own name, she at one point happily states "I may not be Clawful, but I can be AWFUL!" as a Battle Cry. Turns out, that's just something she's been telling herself. In reality, she has the capacity to be good.
- Carry a Big Stick: Thanks to her staff getting its pole cut in half, but its orb head being large and surprisingly sturdy. She uses it like a mace when she and Teela have their second Designated Girl Fight in the first episode.
- Compressed Hair: Underneath her helmet she has long, flowing white hair. This contrasts with previous◊ incarnations◊ which actually have white Boyish Short Hair to fit in her helmet.
- Cool Helmet: Wouldn't be Evil-lyn without her signature helmet, with its iconic intimidating crest and small decorative skull. However, she does take it off later to reveal her long hair. She abandons it for good after Orko's death, leaving it at his memorial stone as a sign of respect.
- Cruel Mercy: She spares Skeletor so he can watch as she destroys the universe.
- Cruel to Be Kind: She hurls a lot of insults at Teela (including claiming that Adam was far more attracted to her than towards Teela) while she's possessed by the Staff of Ka in order to release her pent-up emotions, as the power of Ka requires the user to tap into their most carnal desires.
- Dark and Troubled Past: It doesn't get much darker than your own impoverished parents trying to eat you. She spent the years after that as a lowly street urchin having to pickpocket to get by before Skeletor found her.
- Deadpan Snarker: She's fond of making snide remarks to enemies and allies alike.
- Designated Girl Fight: Two of them between her and Teela in the siege of Castle Grayskull, the first one has her easily trounced and gets her staff cut in half. The second time, she fares a bit better and puts up more of a fight.
- The Dog Bites Back: After years of verbal and physical abuse from Skeletor she takes the power of Greyskull for herself and turns against him.
- The Dragon: Evil-Lyn is this for Skeletor, being his most trusted and versatile minion.
- Dragon Ascendant: Until she takes Skeletor’s power for herself.
- Drunk on the Dark Side: Beast Man suspects this to be the case after Evil-Lyn steals the power of Grayskull and immediately sets about destroying all of existence.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- After Skeletor has been annihilated, Evil-Lyn momentarily looks aggrieved as she grabs the ram skull of his destroyed Havoc Staff before fleeing. Subverted in part 2, when she reveals to him that she always hated him, and deep down she was relieved and happy that he had died.
- Played Straight with Beast Man, even she admits that he is the closest thing she has to a friend.
- Evil Brit: Speaks like one, courtesy of Lena Headey, including once using a British Precision F-Strike.
- Eviler than Thou: Betrays Skeletor in Part 2 after realizing that he has no grand ambitions for his power. For her opening act as the new Big Bad, she wipes out Preternia, something that not even Skeletor would've dreamed of doing. Ultimately subverted in the end when it turns out that, unlike Skeletor, who is evil to the very fiber of his being, she has the capacity for good and can be talked out of her destructive plans.
- Femme Fatale: A rarity in the franchise, she plays as one to take the Sword and Power from Skeletor.
- Freudian Excuse: In regards to her decision to end all of existence, it's honestly just an escalation of terrible things happening in her life. Her parents tried to eat her on her birthday, she was nearly killed trying to pickpocket just to survive, Skeletor mistreated her constantly during her time serving him, and then she discovered that the entire universe lacked any grand design, which she took to mean as her suffering having no meaning or purpose at all.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Witnessing the full scale of existence itself in Part 2 along with Skeletor having no true grand designs causes her to snap, and she decides to take Grayskull's power for herself to, in her mind, free everyone from existence's meaninglessness. Teela sets her straight in the end and shows there was more to the picture than she or Skeletor initially saw.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: She begins as Skeletor's right-hand woman, switches to Teela's side to help save the universe after Skeletor dies, and returns to Skeletor's side once he comes back to life. Then she breaks free from him in Part 2 but remains a villain intent on remaking existence. Then in the final episode of the first season, she's convinced to give up that plan and find her own place in the universe. The last shot of her has her leave behind her staff, showing that she's given up on being evil for good. She continues this in Revolution where she makes a full turn to good and even helps restore Preternia before joining the final batle against Skeletor to save Eternia.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: In Part 2, she reveals that, amidst all her complicated emotions towards Skeletor, deep down, she hated him.
- Hypocrite: Evil-Lyn criticizes Skeletor for not doing the most practical, and simply killing Adam. When she betrays Skeletor, she decides to let him live, even when she is making the same mistake she criticized herself.
- Ignored Enamored Underling: She only served Skeletor because she was in love with him. Skeletor never returned her feelings, which she eventually came to understand. Subverted because it turned out that she secretly hated him.
- I Owe You My Life: The basis of her loyalty to Skeletor, and nothing else. She permanently throws off that shackle in Part 2.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: She becomes particularly enraged when Beast-Man points out, "You sound just like [Skeletor]."
- Mad Love: Her relationship with Skeletor is decidedly toxic, and between friendly advice from Beast-Man and tauntings from Man-At-Arms, she eventually manages to break free of him.
- Magical Barefooter: While she does wear shoes in most versions her champion form has no shoes, making her the first version to have bare feet.
- Magic Knight: Though sorcery is her main weapon, she's good enough at melee combat to keep Teela busy.
- Master of Illusion: Even more than Skeletor, her calling card is disguising herself with illusions or making herself invisible to the naked eye.
- Meaningful Rename: Orko calls her Lyn exclusively after learning "Evil-Lyn" wasn't her birth name, and later Granamyr dubs her "Good-Lyn" with his final breath after all the work she put in to atone for her crimes and to try and save him in Revolution.
- Mythology Gag: Her staff getting cut in half by Teela, and looking like a wand as a result, could be a reference to her older toy's◊ shorter staff◊.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: EVIL-Lyn. She notes that she gave herself that name.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: She calls upon the forces of Subternia to fight the forces of Eternia. It ends up bringing Orko, who was dragged there by his fight with Scare Glow, back to life as well.
- Odd Friendship: Ends up befriending Orko and mourning him. In the end, she's the one who makes sure his stint of being Back from the Dead sticks.
- Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Inverted. Her normal form has long hair, but it gets considerably shorter in her champion form.
- Reformed, but Not Tamed: Even after becoming The Atoner, she's still a loner with a very sharp tongue.
- Shock Stick: Her magic staff/wand can fire powerful lightning bolts.
- The Starscream: She betrays Skeletor in Part 2 and takes the power of Grayskull for herself.
- Straw Nihilist: She decides that the universe is meaningless and attempts to destroy all of existence.
- Strong as They Need to Be: With the power of Grayskull she can destroy Preternia in one hit, but even so Adam in his weak form and Skeletor are capable of fighting her and she needs to call in reinforcements when Randor and his allies arrive..
- Talking the Monster to Death: Teela convinces her to stand down from her plan to destroy existence by showing her the birth of Eternia, explaining to her that while the universe is chaotic, it is also beautiful.
- Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: She admits that she was in love with Skeletor, yet he never felt the same way about her. Subverted, being that she actually hated him secretly.
- Villainous Friendship: With Beast Man. Despite her callousness towards everyone else, she is never seen mistreating him, and he in turn protects her in an almost chivalrous manner.
- Walking the Earth: In the end of Part 2, she gives up her evil ways and sets off to find her place in the universe. Revolution reveals she was actually exiled to Trolla for her previous crimes, but returns to Eternia anyway (with the consent of the Trollans, at least) to care for Granamyr in his final days.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Like her prior iterations, her hair is a pale white and her motives are self-interest.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: In a conversation with Orko, she establishes that she named herself Evil-Lyn; her given name was just "Lyn."
- Wrecked Weapon: A minor case, during the siege on Castle Grayskull. When she and Teela have their short Designated Girl Fight the latter uses her sword to cut Evil-Lyn's staff in half. But the bisection doesn't completely wreck her staff, and gives her a pretty awesome-looking wand instead. Much more portable too and works nicely as an improvised mace.
Beast Man
Beast Man
Voiced by: Kevin Michael Richardson
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Perhaps it's not saying much, but aside from Beast Man's Mirror Universe self in the Anti-Eternia comics, this is the kindest version of him by far. He saves the heroes and local villagers from Tri-Klops and his goons and seems appalled by Tri-Klops attacking the poor and destitute. He has a profound respect for Evil-Lyn and is staunchly loyal to her, and is also not above fighting alongside our heroes in a quest for the greater good. He even seems saddened by the loss of Orko.
- Big Damn Heroes: He scores an unexpected moment of this when Tri-Klops has Teela, Andra, Evil-Lyn, and Man-At-Arms pinned. Beast Man shows up out of nowhere to turn the tide.Beast Man: All those eyes and you still couldn't see me coming.
- Beast Man: Duh. He is a large, bestial man.
- The Brute: As you might expect from his name and appearance, Beast Man prefers to use brawn (and brawl) over brains.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Of the punching up variety. You get the impression that while he relishes going toe-to-toe with opponents that can give him a fight, he appears genuinely disgusted by Tri-Klops attacking poor, desperate villagers at their lowest point, and tells his former colleague in no uncertain terms to leave them in peace... or else. He also doesn't approve of Skeletor being so controlling and abusive towards Evil-Lyn. After Evil-Lyn steals the power of Grayskull for herself, he tries to dissuade her from destroying existence.
- Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: Beast Man so very harshly averts this. When he has Tri-Klops on the ropes, the latter tries to say "I have no quarrel with you, Beast Man" (alluding to their former alliance as Skeletor's henchmen), but Beast Man is having none of it, and issues the aforementioned threat. Later, Beast Man reveals that he has no love for Mer-Man, either.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: After Skeletor's death, along with Evil-Lyn, Beast Man joins forces with our heroes in their quest to reforge the Power Sword and save the universe, going so far as to fight his own former allies without hesitation (he was even willing to outright execute Mer-Man). He also appears quite saddened after Orko's sacrifice. Ultimately, though, Beast Man and Evil-Lyn immediately return to Skeletor's side after his sudden, shocking resurrection.
- Killed Off for Real: Is kicked into the crevasse surrounding Castle Grayskull by Battle Cat during the final battle of Revelation and is never seen again in either Revelation or Revolution.
- Lightning Bruiser: He might not be quite as strong as He-Man, but his fight with Tri-Klops shows that he can hit hard and move fast.
- Love Makes You Evil: Or more evil. Beast Man initially tries to dissuade Evil-Lyn from destroying existence, but is so devoted to her that he will end up helping her anyway.
- One-Winged Angel: After consenting, Dark-Lyn uses the Power of Grayskull to turn Beast Man into a massive, canine beast akin to Battle Cat.
- Siege Engines: When facing Man-At-Arms during the battle for Castle Grayskull, he rides a strange siege vehicle that looks like a triceratops on treads and its main form of attack is a large hammer-like weapon that has a large boulder as its main bludgeon.
- Uncertain Doom: He's kicked down into the abyss surrounding Castle Grayskull by Battle-Cat. That's the last we see of him. He does not return for Revolution either seemingly indicating he indeed died for good.
- Undying Loyalty: He goes wherever Evil-Lyn goes, and never fails to step up when something threatens her. Despite his misgivings towards her change in character after taking the power of Grayskull, he agrees to fully be transformed into a beast to protect her.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Since the time skip he has done away with his original outfit, now wearing a tattered loincloth and little else.
Mer-Man
Mer-Man
Voiced by: Kevin Conroy (English)
- Actor Allusion: A character played by Kevin Conroy has a disdain for a cackling mad-man with ego issues played by Mark Hamill. Now where have we seen that before?
- Adaptational Badass: The original Mer-Man was far from a capable warrior and he always kept getting his ass handed to him in addition to being a bumbling oaf. This Mer-Man... keeps getting his ass handed to him, but he's a far more dangerous and competent threat and has none of the laughability of the original.
- Disabled in the Adaptation: In contrast to all other portrayals, this Mer-Man lost his right eye at some point.
- Eye Scream: After the Time Skip, his right eye is shown to be swollen shut with a plus-shaped scar over it.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: While holding Evil-Lyn and the others prisoner in episode 3, he admits that he never liked Skeletor and considered the latter's "raging ego" an obstacle to his own goals for universal domination.
- History Repeats: Twice he's holding the heroes hostage with his fish-men, and twice does Man-At-Arms end up handing his ass to him by pulling a Big Damn Heroes moment.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Post Time Skip, he stops wearing his chest plate and goes shirtless.
- We Can Rule Together: Mer-Man tells Evil-Lyn that he once dreamed of ruling the world with her, with him ruling the seas and her ruling the land, but that window has since closed.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Around the end of episode 3, Mer-Man warns Teela’s group that he won’t forget their encounter, implying that he’ll be back to face them. However, he never shows up after this point, not even to participate in the final battle for Eternia, even though some of his Fish Men are present.
Panthor
Panthor
- Alas, Poor Villain: Killed by Evil-Lyn as an act of spite just for being Skeletor's loyal pet.
- Evil Counterpart: To Battle Cat/Cringer. Ironically, they end up fighting together instead of against each other this time around to face God-Lyn.
- Right-Hand Cat: To Skeletor.
- Taken for Granite: God-Lyn turns Panthor to stone when he tries to pounce on her, which causes him to fall onto the floor and shatter into pieces.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Panthor is conspicuously absent amongst the evil warriors until the episode where Skeletor brings him along to confront God-Lyn. Unfortunately, he is swiftly killed off.
Subternia
Scare Glow
Scare Glow
Voiced by: Tony Todd
- Deal with the Devil: He offers to give Teela half of the Sword of Power (and allow her friends to leave Subternia) if she will feed him her fear. In an interesting twist, both sides end up violating the agreement.
- The Dreaded: For good reason. Orko's people even have a boogieman-like rhyme about him.
- God of the Dead: Essentially fulfills this role as the ruler of Subternia. Though he only really rules over those damned to Subternia to begin with.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He torments Teela by making her fears come to life. One of those fears is the Subternian half of the Sword of Power (or, more precisely, Teela's fear of the destiny associated with the sword), which allows her to summon the sword to herself without needing him to relinquish it voluntarily.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: He attempts to break Teela by bringing to life her grief about Adam and her insecurity about her destiny, but this ultimately makes her more determined to be the hero that Eternia needs.
- Skull for a Head: Wouldn't be a fitting ruler of Subternia and be a master of bringing out people's nightmares if his visage wasn't a glowing green skull.
- Supernatural Fear Inducer: Since he feeds on fear, his power is all about bringing it to the surface for his victims.
Preternia
King Grayskull
King Grayskull
Voiced by: Dennis Haysbert
- Big Good: He is the first champion of Eternia, the namesake of Castle Grayskull, and the de facto leader of the Preternian champions.
- Domesticated Dinosaurs: His mount during the Wild Chase is a cyborg (or possibly robotic) triceratops.
- Founder of the Kingdom: The castle was named in his honor for his service as champion. He was not exactly flattered by that, given its terrible visage.
- Heroic Build: He is no less tall and muscular than He-Man himself.
- Insult of Endearment: He teases Adam by referring to him as "Flea-Man", but his respect for the guy shines through. He is just as sad as the other champions to see him leave for Eternia.
- Race Lift: His appearance in the 2002 series and the Classics toy line were basically as giant sized He-Man due to him reusing a prototype design from the 2002 series. Here he's black, likely to match the ethnicity of his voice actor, Dennis Haysbert.
He-Ro
He-Ro
Voiced by: Phil LaMarr
- Ultimate Blacksmith: He is renowned for his talents even centuries after his death, though reforging the Sword of Power is beyond even him... until Andra suggests turning a whole tower into a forge.
Vikor
Vikor
Voiced by: Adam Gifford
- Horny Vikings: Was inspired by the archetype.
- Nice Guy: Despite his macho appearance, he greets Teela in a friendly manner, and his interactions with Adam are brotherly.
Kuduk
Kuduk
Voiced by: Cree Summer
- Action Girl: We don't see much of her in action, but she handles herself pretty well during the Wild Hunt. Not to mention the "champion of good" credentials she would obviously have to be admitted to Preternia in the first place.
- Animal Motif: She wears a falcon-esque headdress very similar to that of the Sorceress, suggesting that she may have served Eternia in that capacity rather than as a wielder of the Sword of Power.
- Does Not Speak Common: Converses in her own ancient language rather than the English used by everyone else. With some audible difficulty, she bids Adam farewell in English when he decides to return to life to help save Eternia.
- Domesticated Dinosaurs: Her mount is a beast reminiscent of a Jurassic Park Velociraptor . At least it has feathers.
- Mythology Gag: The language she speaks sounds very similar to the language of the Snake Clan from the episode of the 80s show, “The Time Corridor”. She even speaks the language with a raspy voice, just like the leader of the Snake Clan Zilora.
Wun-Dar
Wun-Dar
Voiced by: Jay Tavare
- Out of Focus: Compared to the other Preternian warriors, Wun-Dar gets very little attention and speaks only a few times.
Motherboard Cult/The Horde
Motherboard (Unmarked Spoilers)
Mistress Motherboard
Voiced by: Meg Foster (English)
Click here to see her true form
The source of Tri-Klops' cult and its object of worship. However, she's actually an agent of Hordak who prepares Eternia for her master's arrival.
- Animal Motif: Birds. Her headdress and feathers bear a slight resemblance to an Eagle Aztec Warrior.
- Anti-Magic: She completely negates a fire spell from Skeletor and doesn't even flinch beforehand.
- The Assimilator: She uses nanomachines to convert followers into horrific cyborgs.
- Bad Boss: Tosses Skeletor around like a ragdoll just for embarrassing her in front of Hordak. This bites her in the mechanical butt when the beating restores Skeletor's memories as Keldor.
- Berserk Button: Never barge into her conversations or embarrass her in front of Hordak, as Skeletor finds out the hard way.
- The Dragon: To Hordak.
- The Dreaded: When she fully reveals herself, Skeletor recognizes her and instantly panics.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: In her debut appearance at the end of Revelation, she was completely nude and only censored by Barbie Doll Anatomy. In Revolution, her extremities are covered by dark armor.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In Revelation, while in her idol form, she could detect and defend herself against threats, as shown by negating Skeletor's fire spell. However, in Revolution, once she absorbs too much of Castle Grayskull's data, she goes completely catatonic and is easily killed by Skeletor without her defense mechanics activating.
- Evil Counterpart: She resembles the Sorceress in motif and bird form but goes more towards science and technology for malevolent purposes. And when she takes over Castle Grayskull in the wake of the original Sorceress' death and Teela's absence she modifies the castle to be a technological sanctum for the Horde.
- Fembot: Her true form resembles a tall nude woman (minus the details). She's covered up in Revolution, though the armor adorning her extremities more resembles a two-piece swimsuit.
- Flat Character: Aside from her intense hatred of magic, fanatical devotion to Hordak, and unforgiving nature, she really doesn't have much of a personality to speak of.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Seemingly an inanimate idol of Screeech that stands within the chambers of Snake Mountain in Skeletor's old throne room, but is truly a sinister, metalic, agent of Hordak.
- Hypocrite: Her followers build her up as some sort of all-merciful, forgiving mother, but when Skeletor barges into her conversation with Hordak, she punishes him for it, and when he asks for forgiveness, she throws him like a ragdoll and threatens to kill him if he ever embarrasses her again.
- Killed Offscreen: Skeletor beheads and destroys her offscreen after recovering his memories.
- Last Episode, New Character: She only fully reveals herself at the end of Revelation then goes on to be a major antagonist in Revolution.
- Mouth of Sauron: In reality, she is just the messenger and conduit to allow Hordak to communicate with the cultists.
- Mythology Gag: Her appearance as a mechanical bird is a reference to Skeletor's Evil Counterpart to He-Man's messenger bird Zoar, the cyborg falcon Screeech. Much like how Zoar was adapted in later works to be the animal form of the Sorceress, she is also revealed to be an alternate form of a humanoid woman.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Her slamming Skeletor's head into the floor after he butted into her meeting with Hordak ends up unlocking Skeletor's memories as Keldor, which paves the way for her and Hordak's downfall.
- Off with His Head!: Is beheaded offscreen by a recently de-brainwashed Skeletor and her head is gifted to Hordak by her killer as a mocking gift.
- Punny Name: Motherboard does sound a lot like "Mother Bird", which is fitting because she is a technology-based antagonist who takes the form of a giant bird.
- "Board" also rhymes with "Horde", which is fitting given how she is the leader of a tech-worshipping cult that acts as a front and scout group for the Horde Empire.
- Required Secondary Power: Though she's considerably taller and broader than Skeletor, she was able to reduce her size and mass enough when disguised as him to be fully convincing.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Her being female and status as Hordak's right-hand essentially make her a technological, non-magical Shadow Weaver.
- This Is Unforgivable!: She treats Skeletor barging into her conversation with Hordak and boasting about their success as such. She doesn't kill him, but does threaten to do so if he ever does something like this again.
- The Unfought: While she does fight He-Man while disguised as Skeletor, she technically never fights him or Teela in her true form.
- The Voiceless: She has no dialogue when she reveals herself in front of Skeletor, which gives off an eerie presence as she uses her technology on him. This is averted in Revolution.
- Walking Spoiler: Just talking about her reveals not only that she's a character and not just some metal idol but the involvement of the Horde as well.
- Winged Humanoid: Her true form possesses large metal wings◊ on her back.
Tri-Klops
Tri-Klops
Voiced by: Henry Rollins (English)
- The Assimilator: His reworked version of the Evil Warriors is a cult that assimilates people with metallic liquid to turn them into horrifying cyborgs.
- Ambiguous Situation: It is unclear if he, Trap Jaw, and Whiplash were brainwashed or joined the Horde willingly.
- Anti-Magical Faction: Tri-Klops sends his followers to destroy communities that have any hint of magic. Unlike many other examples of this trope, there's nothing well-intentioned about his extremism, it's just pure Magic Versus Technology.
- Cargo Cult: The leader of one, actually. His anti-magic stance has led him to found an entire religion dedicated to the "Motherboard". Turns out the Motherboard is in fact alive and an agent of the Horde.
- Dragon Ascendant: Following the Time Skip after He-Man and Skeletor's apparent deaths, he's shown to have taken over Snake Mountain and converted the Evil Warriors into a technology cult. In reality, he just became Eternia's representative for the Horde and is subservient to Motherboard and Hordak.
- Evil Redhead: One of Skeletor's Evil Warriors, and shown to have a shock of bright orange hair in the first episode. Whether he still has it after he establishes his machine-worshipping cult is unknown, but he's no less evil.
- Light Is Not Good: He considers his own belief as the Light by the time he says "one more enters the light" and resembles a priest of a church.
- Machine Worship: The basis of his cult after Skeletor is gone.
- Mook Chivalry: When his minions are fighting, he is content to stand back and watch.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!:
- When Beast Man defeats him in episode 2 and threatens to kill him if he ever again attacks Man-At-Arms' village, Tri-Klops takes the hint and leaves with his (remaining) cultists.
- His cult assaults Castle Grayskull itself in the fifth episode, but when the Sword of Power is reactivated, causing a blast of energy visible from even outside the castle (alongside its original look returning), he is quick to recognize what's happening and sound a retreat.
- The Starscream: At the end of part 2, when Skeletor returns to reclaim Snake Mountain from him, it turns out that Motherboard is not only a real entity, but an agent of the Horde, and Tri-Klops' cultists hold Skeletor down as he is forcibly cyborged.
- Starter Villain: Tri-Klops is the first real villain that Teela and Andra face. After the duo escape with his chalice, he takes a back seat in season 1's narrative.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He only shows up twice in Revolution, before disappearing completely, along with the other Evil Warriors who joined the Horde.
- Worf Had the Flu: The blasting beams that he could fire from his eyes in both previous versions of the series seem to be absent here.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: At the end of season 1, he and Trap Jaw feign terror towards an enraged Skeletor in order to distract him long enough for Motherboard to get the drop on him.
Trap Jaw
Trap Jaw
Voiced by: Diedrich Bader
- Ambiguous Situation: It is unclear if he, Tri-Klops, and Whiplash were brainwashed or joined the Horde willingly.
- Disabled in the Adaptation: In contrast to all other portrayals, this version of Trap Jaw ends up losing an eye.
- The Dragon: To Tri-Klops during the Time Skip.
- Dumb Muscle: He's not the sharpest tack in the package, and really serves as an enforcer for Tri-Klops.
- Eye Scream: Thanks to Andra's quick thinking, when she tricks him into chowing down on a robot hand with a buzz-saw in the forearm. The next time we see Trap Jaw, he's got a nasty scar and cybernetic eye.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Along with the other Evil Warriors who joined the Horde.
The True Master (Unmarked Spoilers)
Hordak
Voiced by: Keith David (English)
"I am Hordak! Conquest incarnate!"
The field leader of the Horde Empire, who sent Motherboard as an advanced scout to give the Horde a foothold on Eternia. Years ago, he turned Skeletor to evil and has returned to finish what his former pupil started.- Adaptational Badass: While his Filmation counterpart wasn't weak per say, his boastful and arrogant nature meant he lacked a great deal of foresight, resulting in his plans always failing, getting trounced by He-Man, She-Ra, and the Great Rebellion at every turn. Here, while he ultimately ends up being defeated, he still proves himself to be a force to be reckoned with, as Skeletor finds out.
- Adaptational Intelligence: Filmation Hordak wasn't outright stupid, but he was often blindsided by his arrogance, sadistic urge to make the Etherians' lives even more miserable, and therefore, made foolish decisions, took his minions' ideas as his own, constantly insulted them and dropped them down his trap door whenever they failed or annoyed him. Here, while still incredibly arrogant, he displays far more cunning and pragmatism than his original counterpart ever did. His sadism also isn't as pronounced and is overall more respectful, if not apathetic and condescending, towards his minions.
- Animal Motif: Bats. The crest of the Horde is a red bat, and Hordak himself has bat-like ears and facial features.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Hordak may ultimately be a Big Bad Wannabe in the grand scheme of the series, but there's no doubt he's a very powerful warrior and even the empowered Skeletek only overcomes him by combining technology and magic and mastering them to their full potential.
- Badass Boast: Delivers one right before his big epic duel with Skeletor in Revolution after Skeletor reveals that he's killed Motherboard and is gunning for Hordak next.Hordak: Heads will roll, Acolyte. And soon, you will learn what all the universe will come to know — I am Hordak, conquest incarnate. So let this be our final battle!
- Bat Out of Hell: Hordak's species resembles a humanoid bat, with a sunken nose and pointed ears and fangs. The Horde's emblem is even a demonic looking winged bat with his face.
- Big Bad Wannabe: He starts out as the main antagonist of Revolution, but Skeletor quickly makes his way back to the top as a rival before outright deposing him.
- Card-Carrying Villain: He isn't under any illusion of there being a noble reason behind his conquests. He even likens his forces to a virus. Not only that, but openly admits he's unleashed horrors worse than a hundred hells.
- Casting Gag: This isn't the first time Keith David has voiced a cyborg world conqueror.
- The Dragon: He turns out to be one himself to Horde Prime, who is fated to come to Eternia to finish his servant's conquest in the future.
- Death Glare: Gives one to Skeletor when Skeletor bursts into his meeting with Motherboard to boast about how easily they played the people Eternos.
- Does Not Like Magic: Despite being a partial magic user himself, Hordak finds magic a cheat, an occasional use from time-to-time at best, preferring to favor the power of technology. At the end of their fight, Skeletor spells it out that he only hates magic because he doesn't understand it.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Plays a significant part in the Revelation prequel comic before his appearance in the series.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: You Don't Look Like You explains it in detail, but in Revolution Hordak looks pretty much nothing like he does in the Revelation prequel comics.
- Evil Sounds Deep: When you're voiced by Keith David, it's a given.
- Four-Star Badass: As the field leader of the Horde, Hordak is the equivalent to Horde Prime's general.
- Genius Bruiser: Hordak is a giant mass of armour and muscle, but he's also a calculating leader and master of technology.
- The Ghost: The unseen source of Motherboard, his proxy until Revolution where Hordak shows up in person to conquer Eternia.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Behind the Motherboard Cult.
- Hypocrite: He openly disdains Skeletor for still possessing the Havoc Staff despite his newfound technological power. Skeletor is quick to point out that the only reason why he has the Staff to begin with is because Hordak cursed him with it.
- He was also quick to call out Skeletor for his arrogance despite being incredibly arrogant himself.
- Also, for all his talk of magic being a cheat, his technological shapeshifting could be considered just as much of a cheat.
- His hatred of magic doesn't stop him from using it to brainwash or mind control his followers, as Skeletor can attest to.
- Irony: When Skeletor calls him out for making Motherboard his right-hand instead of him, Hordak boasts that she was merely an extension of his hand, a tool of the Horde, just like Skeletor. Ironically, Hordak himself is just another tool of the Horde, as he is merely just the second-in-command of Horde Prime, who is the true leader of the Horde. Skeletor even calls him out on this, too.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: What ultimately does Hordak in is allowing the veil he placed over Skeletor's mind to slip by allowing his memories of once being Keldor to re-emerge from the brainwashing he had done to him long ago, all just to exploit the weakened state of the kingdom of Eternos in the wake of Randor's unexpected passing for an easy conquest by using Skeletor's prior identity and rightful claim to the throne to their advantage. The end result speaks for itself when Skeletor, both from Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal and ambitions to be more than a lapdog to The Dragon, ends up nearly killing Hordak in the process of his betrayal.
- Not Quite Dead: After his fight with Skeletor ends disastrously for him, he's presumed dead by everyone and even Teela can't feel him being alive; of course it turns out he's still alive, albeit in really terrible condition requiring life support but Despara does mention Horde Prime will have him back in full shape soon so they can enact their revenge.
- Oh, Crap!: Has such a reaction when Skeletor reveals that he knows the truth about his past and when he sees Motherboard's decapitated head in a gift box given to him by Skeletor.
- Orcus on His Throne: Hordak makes a point of never fighting his own battles since he has people to do that for him, but when Skeletor directly challenges him, Hordak demonstrates precisely why he's the ruler of the Horde.
- Signature Laugh: Just like in the original cartoon, he snorts when he laughs.
- Villain Ball: Keldor was actually legitimately loyal to Hordak and would've happily given all of Eternia to him so long as Hordak helped him claim Eternos' throne. Rather than cultivate Keldor's Undying Loyalty, he instead chose to seal away his memories and enslave him, which would only cause Hordak's own downfall in the end when Skeletor finally repaid him for his betrayal.
- You Don't Look Like You: In the Revelation prequel comics, Hordak looks almost nothing like he does in Revolution.
- He looked a lot more lean and less heavytop; his face and the spikes on his head were white compared to Revolution's brown; his ears were more triangular; he also lacked the pupils he has in Revolution.
- This also applies to his classic outfit. In the prequel comics, the segments of his cowl and sleeves were silver (with a red jewel for the cowl), his chestplate was more segmented and had red accents, and his boots were more armored
- In Revolution, the cowl (which has no jewel and is more pointed and angular) and sleeve segments are black, his chestplate has no segments or red accents, and his boots look more cloth-like.
- This also applies to the Horde's symbol. In the prequel comics and Revelation, the wings were more bat-like and the face only vaguely resembled Hordak's, overall resembling the classic symbol. In Revolution, the wings are more sharp and angular and the face resembles Hordak's more prominently.
- Hordak can seen wearing the former symbol on his regal attire when not in battle.
- This can be chalked up to the fact that the animation team hadn't created Hordak's design yet at the time of Revelation and the prequel comics. It's also possible that Hordak used the Havoc Staff's influence to make himself look different in the false memories he implanted in Skeletor's mind.
The Horde Empire
Horde Prime
Horde Prime
The shadow founder and true leader of the Horde Empire, and Hordak's master.- The Emperor: Horde Prime is the Horde's Emperor, who rules the galaxy with an iron fist.
- The Ghost: He is mentioned at the end of Revolution, but never actually appears.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Hordak may be the public face and field leader of the Horde and still the former mentor of Skeletor and has already committed unspeakable atrocities across the galaxy, but at the end of the day, he ultimately still answers to Prime, who is no doubt the much greater threat than he is.
Grizzlor, Mantenna, and Leech
Grizzlor, Mantenna, and Leech
Hordak's most loyal and competent minions, responsible for killing countless heroes across the Universe. They get called to Eternia to deal with the Heroic Warriors, especially Orko and Gwildor.- Adaptational Badass: Their designs are partly based on their Filmation selves, but here they are a legitimate deadly trio who have implicitly killed a ton of heroes across the Universe in the Horde's conquests. They are also able to fight against the reborn and empowered Orko very well, giving him serious trouble. Hordak in turn respects their prowess and competence.Hordak: I hire well.
- Hero Killer: The three of them worked together to defeat and kill the captured heroic champion of a planet Hordak conquered in seconds flat. Given the Horde's reach, it's safe to say that said hero isn't the first to have fallen to their might.
- Out of Focus: They're the only individual Horde members to not get much character focus or any dialogue whatsoever, mostly showing up to inconvenience the heroes.
- The Voiceless: Other than Grizzlor's roaring and the others grunting, they don't speak a single line of dialogue.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: They are last seen fighting Orko while attempting to reach Gwildor, but while Orko and Gwildor are shown coming out alive and join the Heroic Warriors in the final battle against Skeletor, the fate of the three Horde warriors is left unknown, especially after Hordak's Disney Death and the Horde retreating from Eternia.
The Acolyte (Unmarked Spoilers)
Despara / Princess Adora
Voiced by: Grey DeLisle (English)
"Rest, oh exalted one. Horde Prime will make you whole again. And when you have healed, we shall return to Eternia together to destroy Skeletor. And... this... He-Man."
The long-lost twin sister of Prince Adam/He-Man, daughter of King Randor and Queen Marlena, and half-niece of Keldor/Skeletor, who was kidnapped by Hordak as an infant, and raised as his daughter and right-hand woman, under the name of Despara.- Ambiguous Situation: It is unclear if she was ever She-Ra or not in this continuity. In both the original cartoon continuity and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Adora was an active Horde agent before becoming She-Ra, so that may be yet to happen in this iteration of the story.
- Casting Gag: Grey DeLisle voiced Evil-Lyn in the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2021) continuity, and where Hordak claimed she was his daughter. Plus, it's also not the first time DeLisle's voiced a relative of someone voiced by Mark Hamill.
- Creepy Monotone: Her voice is almost so soft and soothing-like, it could give Azula a run for her money.
- The Dragon: Despera is Hordak's apprentice and lapdog.
- Dual Wielding: Despara is armed with two swords which are equipped on her back.
- Early-Bird Cameo: A very obscured one, but she indirectly first shows up in Skeletor's flashbacks of her kidnapping at Hordak's hands, though we only see Hordak carrying her in his arms (of which we can only see the bundle) before leaving the Royal Palace.
- Half-Human Hybrid: As the offspring of the Eternian King Randor and the Terran Queen Marlena.
- Last Episode, New Character: First appears during The Stinger of the last episode of Revolution. She did get an obscured appearance and reference prior in Skeletor's flashbacks to Hordak kidnapping her as a baby, however.
- Rage Helm: She wears a frowning mask which is sculpted to resemble a member of Hordak's race.
- The Unreveal: We never actually see her face, though we do get a brief glimpse of her bottom lip when she takes her mask off before the rest is covered by smoke.
- This Means War!: She tells the critically-wounded Hordak that once he's healed, she, him, and Horde Prime will work together to destroy both He-Man and Skeletor once and for all.
Characters from the Comic
Zari'i and daughter
Skeletor's supposed family whose supposed death motivated Skeletor to work for Hordak, in an attempt to gain the power to revive them.
- Ambiguous Situation: It is not clear if they were real, or their existence was completely invented by Skeletor.
- Averted with the reveal in Revolution. Turns out they were a fabrication created by Hordak, to make Skeletor more compliant. Therefore, it's possible that Zari'i's necklace was an artifact Hordak gave to Skeletor to seal the deal.
- The Lost Lenore: Bringing them back to life is Skeletor's main motivation. Though it turns out to be a false memory Hordak implanted, and Keldor's real motivation was to obtain the throne of Eternia that was denied him because of his illegitimate status.
- Skull for a Head: They supposedly belong to a race of people who look like this.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: According to Skeletor's telling, his daughter managed to be revived, only to be kidnapped by Hordak shortly after with him forced to accept it and keep serving his master.
- Then it's revealed that someone was kidnapped by Hordak, but it was NOT Skeletor's daughter, but rather his half-niece, Adora.
Others
Granamyr
Voiced by: John de Lancie (English)
- Big Damn Heroes: He flies into the final battle just in time to stop the Techno-Titan attempting to halt Teela's restoration of Preternia.
- Deadpan Snarker: Considering his voice actor, this should come as no surprise.
- Dispense with the Pleasantries: Granamyr has no time left for Teela's flattery due to having his immortality cut short.
- The Dreaded: Known to Eternians as "Granamyr the Monstrous" and "Granamyr the Magnificent" in equal measure.
- Humans Are Bastards: After spending centuries seeing Eternian's mainly use magic to make war with themselves, Granamyr has resolved to stay out of their affairs, considering them to be selfish and destructive.
- Mortality Ensues: Due to Lynn's catastrophic actions destroying Preternia and damaging all magic in the previous season, Granamyr is slowly dying either of old age or merely wasting away, while he was previously The Ageless.
- Mutual Kill: How he goes down fighting the flying Techno-Titan.
- My Greatest Failure: Lynn points out to Granamyr that deep down he knows he's not blameless for the war and death caused by the Eternians with the Snake Magic he granted them, and his soul may still suffer in Subternia forever for his part in it.
Gwildor
Voiced by: Ted Biaselli (English)
- Broad Strokes: His past adventures with the Cosmic Key are alluded to, implying some version of the events of the Live-Action film had already took place before he went into seclusion.
- Creator Cameo: Voiced by Masters of the Universe: Revelation and Revolution executive producer and co-creator Ted Biaselli.
- Mythology Gag: He and Orko can't stand each other due to their preferences of science over magic and vice-versa, respectively. Gwildor was created as a replacement for Orko for the live-action Masters of the Universe movie due to the latter being difficult to properly portray in live-action and appeared in a more science-oriented setting.
