Written by Adam McCombs & Jukka Issakainen

Masters of the Universe has had a multiplicity of competing canons almost since the very beginning. Part of the reason for that is because Mattel didn’t exert consistent, tight control over the story during the course of the 1980s line. Canons have continued to multiply ever since, as the story has been rebooted with each new relaunch, and new writers want to put their mark on things.

In some cases, it’s a matter of different departments working under different guidelines. As a modern example, there are the 2012 Comics by Mattel (through DC Comics) contradicting and/or ignoring the story written for the MOTU Classics toy packaging by Mattel. Both existed as official canons at the same time. Sometimes, as in the case of the MOTU Classics bios, there is an attempt to retcon multiple existing canons together. However, retconning really just adds one more new canon to the pile of existing canons.

We thought it might be interesting to explore some of the early canons for Masters of the Universe, from the first mini story books by Don Glut and Alfredo Alcala to the Filmation animated series a couple of years later. We won’t be including every canon, just the major stories leading up to Filmation. In order to make the differences more clear, we’ve come up with some categories for each different canon of stories, involving how different characters, places and things are portrayed, or whether or not they even exist! That should hopefully make it easier to compare and contrast each one without going into exhaustive detail.

The Fighting Foe-Men – 1981

The Fighting Foe-Men was an early minicomic treatment written by Don Glut for Mattel. After Glut submitted it to Mattel, probably early in 1981, Mattel gave him some feedback for changes they wanted to the story, mainly making Castle Grayskull more mysterious, dangerous and containing hidden secrets, making “De-Man” (Skeletor) the main villain, and making He-Man more heroic. They wanted to write Teela out of the story, which obviously didn’t happen. They also asked that he add the “dimension/warp travel” aspect to the Battle Ram.

Summary

• He-Man: jungle dwelling tribesman; arrogant, short-tempered, reluctantly heroic; gets extra strength or a forcefield from his costumes
• Prince Adam: doesn’t exist
• Sorceress: doesn’t exist; instead He-Man is awarded his weapons and outfit by his Tribal Elders
• Skeletor: “De-Man,” a demon from another dimension thrown into Eternia when the Great Wars created a rift between dimensions. An underling of Beast Man. Has elemental powers and secretly desires to overthrow Beast Man and take the Power Gem for himself.
• Snake Mountain: does not exist
• Beast Man: the main villain, a jungle native at war with He-Man’s tribe. He can wear various costumes to take on the powers of other animals.
• Teela: Teela is a passive character, playing the damsel in distress role. She is captured by Beast Man, who wants to marry her by force.
• Stratos: heroic, practical joker. He had various wing options, including bird, bat and insect wings. His sense of humor made him annoying to He-Man.
• Mer-Man: heroic warrior, last survivor from a world of underwater dwellers. He is even stronger on land than in water, but is vulnerable to heat.
• Man-At-Arms: a rational, calculating planner and thinker. Master of weapons, who left his people to “right wrongs where he finds them.”
• Zodac: doesn’t exist
• Power Sword: doesn’t exist, instead factions fight over the Power Gem, the “product of both pre-war science and sorcery.” The Power Gem will make its possessor all-powerful and the “master of all Eternia.”
• Castle Grayskull: ancient, ominous, “equipped with all manners of weapons, traps and devices”
• Battle Ram: not mentioned
• Other: two unproduced villains are named in the story, Woods-Man and Ka-Man,
• Battle Cat: not mentioned
• Cringer: there is no Cringer in this canon.
• Eternia: Eternia is caught in a time warp, held in a timeless limbo; a post-apocalyptic land that was once technologically advanced, now thrown into war and savagery
• Spirit of Grayskull: doesn’t exist
• Orko: doesn’t exist
• King/Queen/Royal Palace: they don’t exist here

He-Man and the Power Sword – 1982

He-Man and the Power Sword was the first published mini comic/storybook for Masters of the Universe. I’m putting it in a category by itself because it has a Sorceress character, while the rest of the first series of minis do not.

• He-Man: a jungle dweller who leaves his home to protect Castle Grayskull. He saves the Sorceress from a monster and is rewarded with weapons and armor that grant him great strength or a force field.
• Prince Adam: doesn’t exist in this canon.
• Sorceress: a mysterious green-skinned woman, guardian of the Power Sword, and to some extent Castle Grayskull. She is very powerful, being able to remove the combined halves of the Power Sword from Skeletor’s possession.
• Skeletor: the main villain, a demon from another dimension who unceasingly seeks to gain access to Castle Grayskull. There are others of his kind in his home dimension.
• Snake Mountain: does not exist
• Beast Man: Skeletor’s subservient henchman. He doesn’t appear to have much intelligence. In this story he has red fur and red armor.
• Teela: Although in this story she is captured by Skeletor and Beast Man, she isn’t a helpless damsel in distress, but is instead a brave warrior goddess. She is often seen riding a unicorn.
• Stratos: an evil warrior serving Skeletor.
• Mer-Man: an evil warrior serving Skeletor.
• Man-At-Arms: stoic and heroic. He and his people are masters of weapons and ancient technology.
• Zodac: doesn’t exist
• Power Sword: the main McGuffin of the story. Initially the two halves of the sword have nothing to do with entering into Castle Grayskull, but instead provide the owner with additional power. However at the end the Sorceress makes it so both swords are needed to enter the castle from that point onward.
• Castle Grayskull: mysterious fortress with untold powers.
• Battle Ram: mainly appears as the Sky Sled. It is mainly used by He-Man as a battering ram and space warp device. Stays low to the ground.
• Battle Cat: doesn’t appear.
• Cringer: there is no Cringer in this canon.
• Eternia: a post-apocalyptic land that was once technologically advanced, now thrown into war and savagery.
• Spirit of Grayskull: communicates with the heroes, even seems to help thwart Skeletor
• Orko: doesn’t exist
• King/Queen/Royal Palace: they don’t exist here

King of Castle Grayskull, Vengeance of Skeletor, Battle in the Clouds – 1982

• He-Man: a jungle dweller who left his home to protect Castle Grayskull He has two identical harness that grants him great strength or a force field.
• Prince Adam: doesn’t exist in this canon.
• Sorceress: doesn’t technically exist (dropped from the story), although Teela sometimes plays this role under the name Teela
• Skeletor: the main villain, a demon from another dimension hellbent on obtaining Castle Grayskull for himself.
• Snake Mountain: does not exist
• Beast Man: Skeletor’s beastial servant. He now has orange fur.
• Teela: A tough warrior who also takes on the role of guardian of Castle Grayskull. She is often seen riding a unicorn. In one story she wears her snake armor. Her hair is sometimes blonde, sometimes red.
• Stratos: a heroic warrior – he is flesh colored until Battle in the Clouds, where had his gray coloring for the first time. He lives in a mountain top realm.
• Mer-Man: a cunning and powerful evil warrior, master of the seas and the creatures within it. He is vulnerable to heat. He is blue until Battle in the Clouds, where he appears with green skin.
• Man-At-Arms: stoic and heroic. He and his people are masters of weapons and ancient technology.
• Zodac: doesn’t exist
• Power Sword: a mystical split sword – both halves are required to enter Castle Grayskull.
• Castle Grayskull: mysterious fortress with untold powers.
• Battle Ram: mainly appears as the Sky Sled. It used by He-Man as a flying vehicle.
• Battle Cat: he lives in the jungle and appears when He-Man calls for him. He does not speak.
• Cringer: there is no Cringer in this canon
• Spirit of Grayskull: communicates with the heroes at the end of the story
• Orko: doesn’t exist
• King/Queen/Royal Palace: they don’t exist here.

DC Comics Series (full size retail comics), 1982

Note: the characters in this series speak a kind of watered down Early Modern English, similar to how Thor speaks in old Marvel comics. Many important changes were introduced by DC (written by Paul Kupperberg) that later influenced the animated series and stories going forth.

• He-Man: Hero of Eternia. He is secretly Prince Adam, son of the King and Queen. It’s mentioned that prior to joining up with Battle Cat, he allied himself with a tribe of jungle warriors, as Prince Adam. They know of his secret identity in this story. This seems to be an attempt at retconning this canon with the earlier Don Glut/Alfredo Alcala stories. He-Man has his “power vest” which augments his strength and resilience.
• Prince Adam: a womanizing prince who can turn into He-Man by entering the Cavern of Power. He has a wry sense of humor.
• Sorceress: She looks like Teela with her snake armor on, but is a separate character. She uses Zoar the falcon to summon Prince Adam when He-Man is needed, but she does not turn into Zoar. She is called both the Sorceress and the Goddess. She guards both halves of the power sword until the true King of Eternia claims them.
• Skeletor: the main villain, a demon obsessed with obtaining the power inside Castle Grayskull. It is said that he has caused massive destruction throughout the multiverse and conquered countless worlds.
• Snake Mountain: does not exist
• Beast Man: Skeletor’s beastial servant. He comes from a tribe of Beast Men who all have a similar look. He is subservient to Skeletor.
• Teela: she has a temper in this series, and often trades sarcastic barbs with Prince Adam. She serves in the palace as captain of the guard. In one story only she wears a gold bikini top. She is the daughter of Man-At-Arms and fierce warrior. There is no indication that she was adopted. She has long blonde hair.
• Stratos: He comes from Avion, home of the bird people. Stratos is their heroic leader and an ally of He-Man.
• Mer-Man: a cunning evil warrior, who has his own underwater domain and loyal minions. He obeys Skeletor through threats of violence.
• Man-At-Arms: a fixture in the palace, Man-At-Arms is Prince Adam’s mentor and He-Man’s ally in battle, the “imperial master at arms for the royal house of Eternia.” He is often hard on Prince Adam for being irresponsible. He doesn’t seem to know about Prince Adam’s secret identity. He says that he “deals in science” as opposed to magic. He is the father of Teela – there doesn’t seem to be any indication that she was adopted in this series.
• Zodac: rider of a the space ways, a neutral cosmic enforcer who comes to keep the balance between good and evil. In one story he fights He-Man, but only to keep him from dying in a later battle, which would have upset the balance between good and evil.
• Power Sword: a mystical split sword – both halves are required to enter Castle Grayskull. More than that, both halves grant the owner unlimited power.
• Castle Grayskull: a mysterious seat of power, it can only be accessed by someone who has both halves of the Power Sword. However, in this series, a set of three magical talismans drop the heroes into the castle courtyard, with Zodac’s help.
• Battle Ram: does not appear.
• Battle Cat: in this series he talks, and is always thirsty for battle.
• Cringer: Prince Adam’s pet cat Cringer is transformed into Battle Cat when Prince transforms into He-Man. He talks and seeks to avoid trouble.
• Spirit of Grayskull: not specifically referred to, but when Skeletor tries to take the Talon Fighter from its perch on the castle, the castle resists, and eldrich green arms appear to try to hold on to the Talon Fighter.
• Orko: doesn’t exist
• King/Queen/Royal Palace: Prince Adam’s parents are the King and Queen, both white haired and not resembling the later Filmation versions. However the King still voices disapproval at Adam’s tardiness and unserious behavior, a hallmark of later animated stories. Queen Marlena is established to come from Earth, having landed on Eternia in a spacecraft. The Queen seems to suspect that He-Man is Prince Adam.

DC Comics Wave 2 Mini Comics – 1983

These stories are more straightforward compared to the full-size 1982 DC series. There are fewer plot and character details given. Two major details of this series are an absence of Prince Adam (despite his presence in 1982 DC comics) and the introduction of the one-off idea that Teela was the clone of the Sorceress/Goddess.

• He-Man: Hero of Eternia. There is no mention of any Prince Adam secret identity. He does seem to hang out at the royal palace.
• Prince Adam: there is no mention of Prince Adam, despite this coming from DC Comics, who featured Prince Adam in their 1982 comics.
• Sorceress: She looks like Teela with her snake armor on, but is a separate character. She is called both the Sorceress and the Goddess. She seems to function as a kind of nature goddess. She is tasked with defending Castle Grayskull but doesn’t seem to live there and often warns He-Man of danger to the castle. She often uses Zoar as a messenger, but does not transform into Zoar. We learn that Teela is a clone of the Sorceress/Goddess.
• Skeletor: the main villain, a demon obsessed with obtaining the power inside Castle Grayskull. He is described to live in a secret lair in caverns that honeycomb Eternia.
• Snake Mountain: does not exist
• Beast Man: Skeletor’s beastial servant.
• Teela: She is the adopted daughter of Man-At-Arms and fierce warrior. She has long blonde hair. In this series she is the clone of the Sorceress/Goddess, something never brought up in the 1982 DC series.
• Stratos: a flying heroic warrior
• Mer-Man: a cunning evil warrior.
• Man-At-Arms: a fixture in the palace, Man-At-Arms is the father of Teela – there doesn’t seem to be any indication that she was adopted in this series. He is the heroic master of weapons.
• Zodac: he does not appear in this series
• Power Sword: a mystical split sword – both halves are required to enter Castle Grayskull.
• Castle Grayskull: a mysterious seat of power, it can only be accessed by someone who has both halves of the Power Sword.
• Battle Ram: it appears as the complete vehicle. No warping ability is mentioned.
• Battle Cat: He-Man’s loyal steed. He talks in this series but there is no mention of a Cringer alter ego.
• Cringer: does not appear.
• Spirit of Grayskull: does not appear.
• Orko: doesn’t exist
• King/Queen/Royal Palace: The king and queen are both white haired and not resembling the later Filmation versions. Although Prince Adam doesn’t show up in this series. He-Man is depicted at the same table with the king and queen, as well as Teela.

Golden Story Books series 1 – 1983

This first series of story books was published on September of 1983, the same month that the Filmation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series debuted. These were very simple stories, with no Prince Adam and a small cast of characters.

• He-Man: Hero of Eternia. There is no mention of any Prince Adam secret identity.
• Prince Adam: is never referenced.
• Sorceress: She is mentioned as someone who lives in Castle Grayskull and guards it, but she is not shown.
• Skeletor: the main villain, the Lord of Destruction obsessed with obtaining the power inside Castle Grayskull.
• Snake Mountain is mentioned as the lair of Skeletor. It is shown from the inside only, where it looks like a cave.
• Beast Man: Skeletor’s beastial servant.
• Teela: She is a fierce warrior, shown wearing her red snake armor.
• Stratos: a flying heroic warrior, the “Prince of the Skies.”
• Mer-Man: a cunning evil warrior and dreaded “Sea Lord.”
• Man-At-Arms: a heroic warrior. We get almost no details about him in this early series.
• Zodac: he is a “wizard” who appears once to help He-Man stope Skeletor from overturning the balance of good and evil.
• Power Sword: a mystical split sword – both halves are required to enter Castle Grayskull.
• Castle Grayskull: a mysterious seat of power, it can only be accessed by someone who has both halves of the Power Sword.
• Battle Ram: it appears as the complete vehicle.
• Battle Cat: He-Man’s loyal steed. He does not talk but seems to understand He-Man.
• Cringer: does not appear.
• Spirit of Grayskull: does not appear.
• Orko: doesn’t exist
• King/Queen/Royal Palace: There is no mention of any Royal Palace in this first series.

Filmation’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983)

Filmation’s earliest scripts were started roughly in November 1982, and the Series Bible by Michael Halperin is dated Dec. 1st, 1982. The Series Bible mentions Eternia’s sister (darker) planet Infinita – though that is not brought up in the show itself. Later by Season 2 the Series Bible had addendums such as “there are no longer two planets”. Writer Robby London also worked on a Series Bible, accordingly acknowledging the DC Comics’ story with a clone Teela, but disregarding it.

• He-Man: Hero of Eternia. His secret identity is Prince Adam, son of King Randor and Queen Marlena
• Prince Adam: the son of King Randor and Queen Marlena. He exaggerates a lazy demeanor to hide the fact that he is also He-Man. He transforms into He-Man by raising his Power Sword and chanting: “By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!
• Sorceress: She is the protector of Castle Grayskull, residing there. She dresses in a falcon costume, and can transform into Zoar the falcon to venture outside Grayskull (though the writers played fast and loose with this “rule”). She is secretly the mother of Teela.
• Skeletor: the main villain, the Lord of Destruction obsessed with obtaining the power inside Castle Grayskull. He is an evil Demon from another dimension. He has been on Eternia for many years.
• Snake Mountain: the lair of Skeletor, featuring a large stone snake wrapped around the mountain. Said to have been built by Skeletor with the knowledge he gained from the Golden Disks of Knowledge.
• Beast Man: Skeletor’s beastial servant.
• Teela: She is a fierce warrior. She does not wear her snake armor, and often uses a sword as a weapon. She is the daughter of the Sorceress (unbeknownst to her) and the adopted daughter of Man-At-Arms. She has red hair.
• Stratos: leader of the bird people of Avion, and ally of He-Man.
• Mer-Man: a cunning evil warrior and lord of the seas
• Man-At-Arms: a fixture in the palace, Man-At-Arms is the adopted father of Teela. He is the heroic master of weapons and often creates new vehicles and devices for the Heroic Warriors. He knows Prince Adam’s secret. There has always been a Man-At-Arms in the long history of Eternia, one such Man-At-Arms saved the forest in which Skytree (the oldest living being) resides from the Witches of Fire.
• Zodac: he is a neutral character who appears only rarely to keep the balance between good and evil. He is the last surviving member of the Council of the Wise.
• Power Sword: the sword is whole, not split. Prince Adam uses the sword to transform into He-Man. It is He-Man’s primary weapon.
• Castle Grayskull: a mysterious seat of power, it is guarded by the Sorceress.
• Battle Ram: it appears as the complete vehicle and as the Sky Sled.
• Battle Cat: He-Man’s loyal steed. He can talk and is eager to fight evil.
• Cringer: Prince Adam’s cowardly cat, he is transformed into Battle Cat whenever he is needed. Found by a young Prince Adam and saved from a sabertooth tiger. He often complains to Prince Adam about having to be turned in to Battle Cat.
• Spirit of Grayskull: appears as a red, floating head. He only appeared to He-Man once, when the Sorceress had disappeared and Teela was required to temporarily take her place.
• Orko: heroic court magician, a child-like friend of the heroic warriors who came from Trolla. He saved a young Prince Adam and Cringer at the Tar Swamp (without him, there would be no He-Man as the Sorceress describes it). His magic is not very effective but he often helps the heroic warriors to save the day. He knows Prince Adam’s secret.
• King/Queen/Royal Palace: King Randor and Queen Marlena are the rules of Eternia. Marlena was originally an astronaut from Earth who crash landed on Eternia. King Randor is often frustrated with Prince Adam’s behavior. The queen seems to know or suspect that Prince Adam is He-Man.

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