A very interesting theme throughout the film is that, while He-Man repeatedly insists that his rivalry with Skeletor is personal, and has nothing to do with the ultimate fate of the universe or Eternia, Skeletor maintains that this is COMPLETELY FALSE! It's DESTINY!
Combined with the obvious Author Monologue from the Sorceress about how "destiny" is simply what people call the sad failures of their lives, piled into a monument to their own inadequacies, and you get an interesting view of the villain.
Even in his moment of triumph, Skeletor seems more interested in He-Man than godhood. He asks where his friends are. He asks how heroism feels. He asks whether He-Man's life is as lonely and empty as his own.
If you really watch this movie, much more closely than the writing deserves, you are left with an image of Skeletor as somebody who is obsessed, deeply and personally, with being defeated by He-Man. Everything in his life revolves around what He-Man does. How He-Man defeats him is more important than any fleeting victories he may have; He-Man lives, and so all of his victories are hollow and uninteresting.
Combined with a fan-theory that the Power of Grey Skull gives you whatever you *expect* it to give you, the end of the movie becomes a peek into the subconscious mind of Skeletor. Adam, the weak and mundane prince, takes the sword and expects to be a strong hero. Thus, he becomes He-Man, a muscle-bound hero out of a fairy tale: exactly the kind of rough-and-tumble swashbuckler you'd expect from a sheltered teen who thinks hacking away at things with metal is how bravery works. Skeletor, on the other hand, expects to become an ostentatious god, whose power is so gross and decadent that nobody can challenge him. Thus, he becomes a gold-clad statue, wearing an ornate gilded Ganesha on his forehead.
On the face of things, he should win outright...but as soon as he gets his power, the heroes on Earth rally to fight. As soon as he asks He-Man where his allies are, they arrive; it's not a coincidence! His self-nullifying behavior is the defining quality of his personality.
He brought this on himself.
As he says, he *demands* the destitution, shame, and loneliness of scorn. It is his destiny, his right. Nothing will deter him from it.
Even ultimate power.
Everything leads, as it always has, to his defeat at the hands of his man-crush rival, He-Man.
==Skeletor: Self-nullifying God==
A very interesting theme throughout the film is that, while He-Man repeatedly insists that his rivalry with Skeletor is personal, and has nothing to do with the ultimate fate of the universe or Eternia, Skeletor maintains that this is COMPLETELY FALSE! It's DESTINY!
Combined with the obvious Author Monologue from the Sorceress about how "destiny" is simply what people call the sad failures of their lives, piled into a monument to their own inadequacies, and you get an interesting view of the villain.
Even in his moment of triumph, Skeletor seems more interested in He-Man than godhood. He asks where his friends are. He asks how heroism feels. He asks whether He-Man's life is as lonely and empty as his own.
If you really watch this movie, much more closely than the writing deserves, you are left with an image of Skeletor as somebody who is obsessed, deeply and personally, with being defeated by He-Man. Everything in his life revolves around what He-Man does. How He-Man defeats him is more important than any fleeting victories he may have; He-Man lives, and so all of his victories are hollow and uninteresting.
Combined with a fan-theory that the Power of Grey Skull gives you whatever you *expect* it to give you, the end of the movie becomes a peek into the subconscious mind of Skeletor. Adam, the weak and mundane prince, takes the sword and expects to be a strong hero. Thus, he becomes He-Man, a muscle-bound hero out of a fairy tale: exactly the kind of rough-and-tumble swashbuckler you'd expect from a sheltered teen who thinks hacking away at things with metal is how bravery works. Skeletor, on the other hand, expects to become an ostentatious god, whose power is so gross and decadent that nobody can challenge him. Thus, he becomes a gold-clad statue, wearing an ornate gilded Ganesha on his forehead.
On the face of things, he should win outright...but as soon as he gets his power, the heroes on Earth rally to fight. As soon as he asks He-Man where his allies are, they arrive; it's not a coincidence! His self-nullifying behavior is the defining quality of his personality.
He brought this on himself.
As he says, he *demands* the destitution, shame, and loneliness of scorn. It is his destiny, his right. Nothing will deter him from it.
Even ultimate power.
Everything leads, as it always has, to his defeat at the hands of his man-crush rival, He-Man.