In Your Canon©

[Battle Ram Man]

It seems like everyone has their own twists on the MOTU Canon. I'd guess that having personal takes on canon is something that has grown in popularity since MOTUC, where a lot of the official bios are not only poorly written, but poorly conceived.

I don't have a fully fleshed out canon or anything, but here are some points where mine differs from the bios:

Skeletor resides in the the reanimated body of a slain warrior. In Eternia warriors who don't have some kind of spell of protection upon their death may be reanimated by powerful demonic beings, ancient evil from before the universe was. Hence the skull face. Skeletor can never truly die.

Demo-Man is the same type of being, although the corpse he inhabits is a fallen ogre. He fights with Skeletor, but is more a colleague than a henchman

The Palace Guards are actually members of Man-At-Arms' people (reference to the first Mini Comic). They're a small tribe who have figured out how to fix and utilize ancient technology created before the great wars and the fall of Eternia.

He-Man is the tribesman as described in the first mini comic. He's not Prince Adam.

Vikor is a warrior from He-Man's tribe. He eventually joins up with He-Man to fight against Skeletor

The Evil Horde are a small band of freaks who reside on a rocky corner of Eternia. The fright zone is like the vintage toy, not the She-Ra cartoon. In fact, She-Ra and Etheria don't exist. Hordak is not more powerful than Skeletor, but he is a rival.

Goddess and Sorceress are contemporaries. The former guards both halves of the power sword, the latter guards the castle.

[Croc-O-Bite!]

The canon I prefer is the original mini comics. No Filmation, and definitely no Neitlich bastardized canon crap. (In My Canon, Eternians would know the difference between their, there, and they're you dumb ****!)

So no transformation. Prince Adam would be a separate character, if existing at all, depending on how the Alcala run had continued w/o any Scheimer influences.

The Evil Horde are a small band of freaks who reside on a rocky corner of Eternia. The fright zone is like the vintage toy, not the She-Ra cartoon. In fact, She-Ra and Etheria don't exist. Hordak is not more powerful than Skeletor, but he is a rival.

And 100% this regarding the Horde for my canon.



I'm curious to read other's favorite pieces of canon here.
At least here we tend to do a much better job of respecting each other's opinions, rather than turning a thread into a bitch-fest if others have different tastes... like over there

[zombihamma]

For me ,it's the cast of characters that tells the story, MAA is like you said a guy devoted to learning the ancient tech,
He-man is like Dark wolf from the 'fire and ice ' cartoon , a warrior from a tribe that appears when needed , people are in shock and awe of him , he dent just hang out in a super group, oh and the good guys don't call them selves MOTU , ...that's like the rebels from star wars being called...Star warriors

[zombihamma]

Star warriors actually don't sound to bad haha,

Oh yeah and prince Adam and Orko don't exist

[Matthew L. Martin]

I maintain at least two canons--vintage and 200X--and probably several variants on the former, at least. It depends what feel I'm going for, what elements I want to emphasize, and what mood I'm in at the moment.

My vintage canon is heavily informed by the box art and blurbs, the 86-87 minicomics, the Earl Norem and William George posters, and various other factors. Filmation is definitely part of it, but only selectively. Most of my emphasis these days is on working out a solid Powers of Grayskull canon, although I'm holding off doing more work until April's art book at least.

Prince Adam is the chosen one to wield the Power of Grayskull, although it has more to do with character than lineage. (I'm going back and forth on whether his descent from He-Ro has something to do with it or is purely coincidental.) Teela is the daughter of the Sorceress, not a clone; her father died in the Horde War. Keldor became Skeletor, but Skeletor is probably not simply Keldor. Orko exists but rarely shows up as more than a peripheral figure.

My 200X canon takes some hints from the unproduced second half of Season 2 and later material, but goes off in its own radical directions, ignoring even some elements of the MVC comic. He-Ro and the Three Towers are from the future, Etheria is another dimension apart from both Eternia and Despondos (and my 200X Adora lands sort of inbetween Filmation Adora and Despara), and Rio Blast, Rokkon, Stonedar and Extendar arrive on Eternia purusing Modulok out of the Tri-Solar System.

[Shawn]

Shortest answer is that "it's complicated". Essentially My canon is all of the canons!

I believe in the Multiverse theory that all fiction happens in their own context in their own way, but I also try not to subdivide any particular version of MOTU according to my personal interpretations. The He-man that is a jungle born warrior who kills when he feels necessary is not Filmation's Prince Adam who doesn't ever kill because he believes that all life has value. Jungle He-Man is SOMEHOW, most likely DC82's Adam though since he also kills! This Adam has clear ties between the first four ilustrated books and continues into the 1983 mini comics which completely contradicts everything Filmation gave us and all that came from that...These two original versions then are my primary concern. How they fit together and what the explanatory gaps are. That's where my crazy wall of theories enters into play. My primary focus is on Vintage, and it is my FIRM belief that MOST vintage stories can fit into one of two different versions of Eternia. The Savage Eternia (1982-1984) and the Standard Eternia 1983-1987. Very few stories don't fit in either and I have some pretty simple actual Canon rules to help keep them clear.

SAVGAE Eternia
He-man kills
Skeletor has always been Skeletor and is native to another world (most likely Infinita, but that is debatable)
"Tee-La, the Warrior Goddess AND Guardian of Castle Grayskull is not the unnamed "SORCERESS" who is green, but Teela clearly possesses her armor in Battle in the Clouds...
Teela Jr. is her clone.

My supposition (as Canon sounds immutable) is that THIS Skeletor killed THIS He-Man and created Teela Jr. Randor is related to He-Man #1 probably. He-Man becomes reincarnated into Prince Adam. I feel as if THIS Eternia is a post nuclear one given the various early Canon references. Perhaps the "ancient scientists" didn't have a "counsel of WISE" elders like Filmation did? Or perhaps they never had a He-Ro King Grayskull to guide them? Though they probably had Snakemen, I doubt they had Hordak. Again, I base that on Canon if you get the esoteric reference We only have about 25 stories told on this Eternia by my count and this is a timeline stretching as many years IMO. My metatextual referential reasoning is that the DC's Crisis on Infanite Earths MUST have effected Eternia, and would help explain some of the shifts in continuity as the brand moved toward...

PRIMARY Eternia: (named as such, since it straight up replaced Original Eternia)
Essentially this is "FIlmation Eternia" and ALL the various media that doesn't massively, or inherently contradict it. Color pallet and artistic license are easily forgiven as is a character saying "My name is" as if they are meeting for the first time. [Editor's note, in 198X Mattel didn't have an editor to remind you this happened in issue or episode "Y"]. "My canon" is only possible explanations for apparent incongruities and stories not told. I welcome other people's theories so I don't like to phrase it as "In my canon". I don't let minor visual differences dictate which "universe" a character lives in. Teela's hair color is different because she like to change her hair color. Sometimes she uses the toy's Cobra Armor (like in Golden Books) and sometimes she doesn't, perhaps it's inherited from Zillora? Sometimes Teela dresses in all pink or dresses up like she did in that one NA episode or in Secret Liquid of life mini comic...But that clearly isn't 200X teenage Teela. It can't be because Vintage Teela(s) are not a teenager, but an adult. 200X clawful clearly isn't the Clawful of Filmation, not just because of the vast visual differences, but also because they are completely different personalities, no "smart spells" are going to "fix" that. Mini comic and Filmation clawful are the same guy though in my mind...Same for Tung Lashor and Rattlor. Sometimes a mistake is a mistake and you just have to let it go. Other times we have logical explanations, that we just don't YET underrated until someone explains it to us.

Sometimes you just don't have people paying too close attention to the fine details. This causes MAJOR inconsistencies...But i don't think it creates another world in the Multiverse. That's why we have Retcons for! For example, Hordak's "etheria" and SHe-Ra's Etheria as depicted in the mini comics are a post Horde Etheria, where The Horde live on an asteroid in orbit around Etheria. It alters nothing in the story, except for the addition of a few extra explanatory words. Instead of "on Etheria", it could now read in a collected edition as "in an asteroid orbiting Etheria" That explains why Hordak is short on troops and vehicles...Hordak is rebuilding his forces after a devastating war we never saw. (that being a major theme of my play time as a kid) Post Filmation mini comics line up pretty well with this era if you think like I do. Golden Books smooths out some minor continuity concerns between 1984-1985 especially for Roboto! It's a complicated timeline of events because of the literally HUNDREDS of stories told on THIS Eternia. Add to that the inherent complexities of time travel with Ancient Preternia history and Future Primus events and the "timeline's" wibbly become wimey and it's timey gets all wobbly. Instead of Bob being your uncle, Keldor becomes Adam's

There are COUNTLESS other versions of Eternia throughout the multiverse! UK's, Germany's, 200X (both versions ) MOTUC and now DC'snew52 Eternia being pretty prominent ones, but My love is for the source material and how the puzzle pieces fit together ORIGINALLY. As such, I like to live in the gaps which gave us The Three Towers of Eternia, Keldor, The Unnamed One, He-Ro and the Powers of Grayskull where Skeletor and Hiss are Hordak's BITCHES! Also, I don't overly concern my self with differences in a retellings Like SotS which was adapted I forget how many times?!?! Mapping the Eternian Multiverse is a challenge and a lifelong work in progress and the most fun I've ever had as a MOTU fan, because EVERYTHING happens somewhere even the stuff I don't like and I enjoy the challenge. The primary guidelines I try to live by are:

• An apparent inconstancy does not a canon make.
• If the story doesn't explain an inconsistency, make one up, but don't contradict the story as that is counteractive!
• Is a story a RETELLING in a different media or is it a story in a different universe with similar characters?
• if somebody else explanation is LESS complicated, then that's probably more true.

[Shawn]

Skeletor resides in the the reanimated body of a slain warrior. In Eternia warriors who don't have some kind of spell of protection upon their death may be reanimated by powerful demonic beings, ancient evil from before the universe was. Hence the skull face. Skeletor can never truly die.

Demo-Man is the same type of being, although the corpse he inhabits is a fallen ogre. He fights with Skeletor, but is more a colleague than a henchman

The Palace Guards are actually members of Man-At-Arms' people (reference to the first Mini Comic). They're a small tribe who have figured out how to fix and utilize ancient technology created before the great wars and the fall of Eternia.

He-Man is the tribesman as described in the first mini comic. He's not Prince Adam.

Vikor is a warrior from He-Man's tribe. He eventually joins up with He-Man to fight against Skeletor

The Evil Horde are a small band of freaks who reside on a rocky corner of Eternia. The fright zone is like the vintage toy, not the She-Ra cartoon. In fact, She-Ra and Etheria don't exist. Hordak is not more powerful than Skeletor, but he is a rival.

Goddess and Sorceress are contemporaries. The former guards both halves of the power sword, the latter guards the castle.

Your Skeletor is AWESOME. I had a similar idea for a new movie script I was working on a while back. The difference is that The Sprit of Castle Grayskull curses Keldor and robs him of his face, so that whenever he looks into the mirror he is reminded of his failure. He is a walking dead man, made immortal by a Ghost of the castle that mocked him. If The Sorceress wasn't incapacitated, she might have stopped the guardian sprit from making such a mistake...

I like your idea of keeping Demo Man speerate from Skeletor. I think I may have him be The original Skeletor's skull faced father. Both being of the demon race of lich the Filmation bible infers exists on that neighboring planet Infinita.

I completely agree about the Royal Gurds. In My Mind, when The Horde Invaded Eternia, Duncan and the Sorceress worked together the combined foces of king randor and the power of castle Grayskull fought back the Horde invasion around the birth of Adam, Adora and Teela...

I like your idea for Vikor. Previously I just threw him in around King Tamusk's era the Eternian Dark age as referenced in Filmation. I like the idea that he is related to He-Man. Perhaps even a Son of King Grayskull? I like your idea better.

I've never understood the "small band of badguys" for the Horde? It seams to be because that's all we had as toys as influenced by the mini comics? Man, if I could time travel, I would FIRE whoever DIDN"T tell the 1984/1985 mini comic writers to not include the Star Wars like space empire. I guess I like the idea of Skeletor being leader of a small band and this just kind of makes that feel redundant to me? Hiss is a small band too. Not much of a threat if all the bad guys are just these small bands? That's why I like the empire. It's such a massive threat that you need He-man and She-Ra and a billion other heroic warriors and rebels to fight that HUGE planet destroying mechanical empire.

I completely agree about "The Goddess" and the Sorceress. I've always deferred to He-man and the Powersword/King of Castle Grayskull and IMPLORE everyone read the text more closely. Teela/Tee-La, (and even the later Teela'Na) are NOT the green skinned chick to guarded the Sword. Personalized canons are fun, except when they confuse people and the historic record. Emiliano has helped us to better understand what Mark Taylor was trying to go for with the "Green Goddess" I HATED how Teh Bioz further confused things by making her Sharella!



I've been wondering if perhaps this is Teela (Daughter/Clone) FROM THE FUTURE!?!? That makes for a complicated timeline to be sure, but also very full circle. I'm all for Alpha and Omega, death and rebirths!

[COLOR=#252C2F][FONT=Helvetica][SIZE=13px]The canon I prefer is the original mini comics. No Filmation,

depending on how the Alcala run had continued w/o any Scheimer influences.

I get confused where people draw the line in regards to "Alcala run" since he worked with both pre-Filmation and Filmation material. Do you mean JUST the first four "illustrated books" often lumped with the mini comics? That was never going to continue in anyway other then it did once DC and Filmation came on board after Toyfare1982. I can appreciate a minimalistic POV, as I view Terminator 1 & 2 in much the same way Perhaps you can clarify by pointing out your primary influences? particularly stories or concepts you mostly enjoy? I get especially confused when people are very against Adam since their* are perhaps 10 or so stories where there* is no mention or reference to Adam being He-Man. I've also noticed people who think this way gravitate towards 200X's King Grayskull as opposed to 1987's Gray. I'm unsure if you guys are responding to a more clear picture, the barbarian aspect, the medieval society, the simplistic story, with gaps in the story that allow your imagination to take hold or all of the above?

*I' am NOT being a smart ass, I legitamentally have dificulty remembering which is which. My brain just works differently. Hopefully I got it right THIS time? Please don't take offense because of bastardized grammar.

For me ,it's the cast of characters that tells the story, MAA is like you said a guy devoted to learning the ancient tech,
He-man is like Dark wolf from the 'fire and ice ' cartoon , a warrior from a tribe that appears when needed , people are in shock and awe of him , he dent just hang out in a super group, oh and the good guys don't call them selves MOTU , ...that's like the rebels from star wars being called...Star warriors

Man-At-Arms being the "Keeper of the secrets of technology" on a post "great War" Eternia is one of the things I hate the most that people forget about.
Interesting point of refernce Fire and Ice. I've often wonderd how much direct Frazetta inflence had on shaping MOTU. Is Teela/Teegra? Is that a coincident? One must stop and think having seen her original sculpt!


Star Warriros was what the Marvel comics called them IIRC. Though i never spent too much time reading those. (they kind of mostly suck LOL)

Most of my emphasis these days is on working out a solid Powers of Grayskull canon, although I'm holding off doing more work until April's art book at least.

Prince Adam is the chosen one to wield the Power of Grayskull, although it has more to do with character than lineage. (I'm going back and forth on whether his descent from He-Ro has something to do with it or is purely coincidental.) Teela is the daughter of the Sorceress, not a clone; her father died in the Horde War. Keldor became Skeletor, but Skeletor is probably not simply Keldor. Orko exists but rarely shows up as more than a peripheral figure.

My 200X canon takes some hints from the unproduced second half of Season 2 and later material, but goes off in its own radical directions, ignoring even some elements of the MVC comic. He-Ro and the Three Towers are from the future, Etheria is another dimension apart from both Eternia and Despondos (and my 200X Adora lands sort of in between Filmation Adora and Despara)

I think in the context of PoG and Filmation (to my mind, a single verse) the linage isn't the justification, it's just history leading up to the point so that future generations will say "Adam is the chosen one and this is why". This is why Hordak knew "adam and Adora where destined for SOMETHING, he just didn't know exactly what..." Kind of like how Jesus HAD to be descendant of Abraham through Solomon and David because of "prophesy"...Because being the "son of God" isn't enough?!?! LOL. It isn't like anyone in Randor's era KNEW their bloodline connection to Gray (except for PERHAPS Keldor who learned the long forgotten history?) These things are just signs pointing at the special thing, not the thing that makes it special. these signs are for the chroniclers to frame the story for the people reading it, not the people LIVING the adventure being written about them. Jesus didn't much talk about being related to all those other guys because he knew the focus on the source of his power. I'm gonna take this moment to point out that i mean this figuratively, in a literary sense, not a blasphemous sense. LOL

But 200X and my wacky 1982 Adam/Jungle He-man theory, it's straight up because of the blood line. No tww ways about that. "wowh, you mean when I transform into He-man, That's King Grayskull's power INSIDE of me?" Adam said to the Sorceress...Direct decent and ancestral worship being the whole point. Especially if THAT 1ST Skeletor is Immortal, I can imagine that He-Man reincarnating time and time again to fight him! Perhaps that He-Man even was reincarnated into Gray in 1987 after Eternia #1 universe got destroyed who later reincarnated into 200X Eternia...IDK, just spitballing.

If i wasn't such a stick in the mud when it comes to keeping to actual continuity, I really like the idea of Orko being a primary connection between the modern age, (young Orko) and The Oracle (old man Orko...) In my own Filmation centric way, I'd argue that The Original Eternia is so grim, humorless and dark because it doesn't have the HEART of Orko or Gray of FIlmation/PoG. But that's probably in defense of the thing I love so much, making them more important then they are? Still, I think the connective tissue is there for that to be the case for Orko in 200X at least. Orko pops up JUST when Adam is about to DIE and JUST when King Grayskull needs to be told a heart felt moral about his own inner strength and power? Keep in mind I'm talking about COMPETENT ADULT Orko "The Great". I completely tune out childish, dumb **** orko. No need to be a secret agent or silly stuff like that, just that only ZodaC knows what fate is in store for this special lil sorcerer..."Orko the GREAT" indeed.

In your mind who is Teela's father is not Skeletor? Fisto? Just a random guy Teela'Na loved? I like the Skeletor angle, I think people get way to hung up on the word "clone". He created her mystically in Tale of Teela, not genetically which is the imagery "cloning" conjures. That he created baby teela magically just seams so bad ass to me. He can create life? WOW! Besides I can totally picture the moment Teela learns the "truth" in the context of Filmation or a new amalgamated universe like a live action movie...

Skeletor: "Duncan never told you the truth about your father."
Teela: "He told me. He told me YOUR FRIENDS killed him!"
Skeletor: No, Teela, I AM your "father".
Teela: Wait what? ... Actually, Now that I think about it, that makes total and complete sense. Why didn't I figure that out before? LOL.

I think the theme of secrets and lies and hidden truths is such a great theme in the birth stories of Adam, Adora and Teela and their eventual destinies. Speaking for my self, I want to build that up not throw it away. That's why I like Despara, it embellishes Force captain Adora and brings it to a logical mature conclusions. At least in concept as I find the execution lacking. Better then what 200X where THINKING of doing with She-ra had we gotten ANY of those ideas BLAH!

One of the things I like about your canon is it tries to tackle something I find keeps me away, hypothetical continuations of 200X. Each creator seams to have wanted to go in very different directions especially in regards to Keldor/The Gar, She-Ra and Ancient Eternia. I literally can't even with MOTUC anymore, but I can enjoy the new DC stuff on a certain level. I want to know more about how you see the peaces fitting together because I often see things similarly to you, and when I see you say something, it almost ALWAYS makes me rethink stuff. The Three Towers being from the Future...Nah that's crazy bro! YOUR INSANE! ...But then I thought about it for like five minutes and...



If Primus is "New Jerusalem" like Earth (Heaven) and Gwildor, the Cosmic Key, and the Three Towers and Star Ship Eternia and Gwildor finding that American Flag in the Film Adaption comic from Marvel. It makes perfect sense then that the "ancient" Eternian Central Tower is even OLDER then that, because it's from THE FUTURE! Like reverse Planet of the Apes...Like Planet of the apes if they had a Waynes world style super duper happy ending! (Keep in mind, I'm not saying Eternia is Primus or Earth or any combination of the three, I'm only speaking thematically and emotionally) Ok then, so the three Towers are from the future...Cat. Cat Skull...Castle...Castle Grayskull...What if "central tower" is the FIRST configuration of what eventually becomes Castle Grayskull? Born in the future, to protect the present by being sent into the past? An Eternal monument "shining with the light of a million stars" its a beacon of Etherial light in a dark matter filled universe. The number one criticism levied against The Three Towers is that it draws focus away from Castle Grayskull...The idea that it IS Grayskull is something I never could have conceived until this suggestion it comes from the future...

YOU BLEW MY CANON ALL TO HELL!!!!

[Battle Ram Man]

Thanks!

Regarding the Horde, I don't know. I just don't like the idea of huge, intergalactic empires. I'd rather the story be more self-contained. I'm more interested in a group of monsters (the Horde resemble classic monster film bad guys) that live in this terrifying network of caves, complete with giant monsters and living trees.

And that's a threat to He-Man because He-Man also doesn't have a vast army to call upon. It's just him and a few of his allies in a post-apocalyptic world. The Fright Zone playset looks like a creepy, lonely place where traps are sprung on the unwary traveler .

[Nemisythe]

I will always love the ORIGINAL MINI COMICS canon... and that is before the Filmation influence intervened.

Filmation I only appreciate the newer characters and some ideas as well as the MYP Creations re-tweak and maturing of said characterizations / improvements.

As for the Classics Bios: As they seem to be an amalgamation of the prior with some new ideas and failed ones, I find them ok

And with that have adopted them all with some major and minor tweaks myself (depends on your personal opinion is you've ever seen some of my 'Thumbnail Theories') to try and create a simplistic yet connected universe and story that can float well for me.

[Matthew L. Martin]

In your mind who is Teela's father is not Skeletor? Fisto? Just a random guy Teela'Na loved? I like the Skeletor angle, I think people get way to hung up on the word "clone". He created her mystically in Tale of Teela, not genetically which is the imagery "cloning" conjures.

I've always been more influenced by the version in "Teela's Secret" (the hardcover book from Golden, released 1985) where it repeats "Teela's Quest" in saying that Teela's father was a brave man who died fighting for Eternia. This is not necessarily due to a question of 'what did you see first', because "The Tale of Teela!" was the second MotU media I was ever exposed to. (The first was "The Power of ... Point Dread!" mini-comic, followed shortly thereafter by "The Magic Stealer" mini and the first Filmation videodisc--"Diamond Ray of Disappearance", "Teela's Quest", "The Dragon Invasion", "Colossor Awakes". After that, it gets blurrier. I can say that the original four mini-comics were the last mini-comics from the original run I ever read, by over a decade.)

But I digress (a lot). That's for vintage canons, mind; for 200X, I lean towards the idea that Man-at-Arms is her biological father. He and Fisto were both caught in the mental blast of one of Pravhus' lieutentants, "Brainstorm/Brainwave" (think the Horde Brain figure from the P&H Catalog), and wound up dazed and amnesiac. Duncan met Teela'na, fell in love, and left once he recovered his memory, having no memory of the intervening events. This is part of why he has such contempt for his brother--they both went through the same thing, but Fisto never returned to the unit.

Why has the Sorceress never spoken to Duncan of this? Fundamentally, she's afraid--she isn't sure what they had was 'real', and while she claims she doesn't want him to feel too beholden to what he did while suffering from Brainstorm's attack, she's really just scared of rejection. I do think she admits everything and reconciles after he's changed back from being Snakeman-at-Arms, shortly before she dies.

I think the theme of secrets and lies and hidden truths is such a great theme in the birth stories of Adam, Adora and Teela and their eventual destinies. Speaking for my self, I want to build that up not throw it away. That's why I like Despara, it embellishes Force captain Adora and brings it to a logical mature conclusions. At least in concept as I find the execution lacking. Better then what 200X where THINKING of doing with She-ra had we gotten ANY of those ideas BLAH!

I really don't think the Gar element adds anything, but I always associated Skeletor's blue skin with the events that turned him into Skeletor, not from just being Keldor. I think you'd appreciate what I have in my notes on 200X Adora. These concepts predate the introduction of Despara, mind.

Force Captain Adora—Brainwashed Disciple of Hordak
Stolen from her family on the night of her birth, Adora grew up on Etheria under Shadow Weaver’s tutelage. The young girl was trained in the arts of combat and raised to worship Hordak as a god. Eventually, Shadow Weaver ‘revealed’ Adora’s heritage—she was the true heir of Grayskull; Randor and the Elders had usurped what was rightfully hers, and now she could lead the Horde to reclaim Eternia. The true plan was that Adora—both pure of heart and dedicated to Hordak—would claim Grayskull’s power for the service of Hordak and the Evil Horde. Leading an elite strike force, Adora clashed with the Masters of the Universe, ignorant of what Shadow Weaver’s army was doing to the rest of Eternia. It was only in her second battle against Prince Adam, which started at the gates of Castle Grayskull and finished within the Crystal Chamber, that Adora realized the truth—and Hordak realized that his schemes had just created one who would undo his master plan.

The Three Towers being from the Future...Nah that's crazy bro! YOUR INSANE! ...But then I thought about it for like five minutes and...

Ok then, so the three Towers are from the future...Cat. Cat Skull...Castle...Castle Grayskull...What if "central tower" is the FIRST configuration of what eventually becomes Castle Grayskull? Born in the future, to protect the present by being sent into the past? An Eternal monument "shining with the light of a million stars" its a beacon of Etherial light in a dark matter filled universe. The number one criticism levied against The Three Towers is that it draws focus away from Castle Grayskull...The idea that it IS Grayskull is something I never could have conceived until this suggestion it comes from the future...

It was to solve that problem of taking away from Grayskull that I came up with the idea that 'the Towers are from the future' in the late 90s, along with explaining how we get Grayskull Tower and something that looks like Snake Mountain before those two strongholds exist. Since then, with the revelation of more details about Grayskull/He-Ro, I no longer see the need,but I find the idea fits better with 200X, where it's very hard to fit the Towers as we know them in with King Grayskull if he predates the Council. I know Emiliano tried, but I find he tries a little too hard and feels too beholden to random Filmationisms (for example, there is no reason for Noah to be as important as he was if not for "My Enemy, My Friend", which is a toss-away bit that really doesn't mesh with Hordak's overall character).

So, my current thoughts on my much-beloved Three Towers of Eternia in both canons. As always, subject to revision (I've previously had Viper Tower built by the Elders to contain evil magic, and later taken over by King Hiss):

Vintage: Grayskull Tower and Viper Tower were built independently of one another; He-Ro and Eldor built Grayskull Tower as a place of study and contemplation, as well as defense against the Snake Men. King Hiss (with technology secretly acquired from 'the Nameless One') built Viper Tower as a foreward base for the Dino-Reptilian Kingdom. Shortly thereafter, Hordak discovered (or claimed to discover) that the two poles of magic were having a disruptive effect on all Preternia. He suggested linking the two together and creating a third Central Tower to balance them, as well as providing a way to centralize the power and wisdom of the Elders. He secretly convinced King HIss to go along with this by suggesting that once the link was established, it would be easier for Hiss to take over Preternia by moving on Central Tower and capturing it. Hordak's real agenda was to use Central Tower to drain both towers and make himself master of Preternia, but his treachery was uncovered before he could seize the Tower and the secrets of the Elders for his own. Eventually, it was decided that the power of Central Tower was too dangerous, so to avoid it falling into the hands of Hiss, Hordak or some other evil force, the three were cast into the depths of the earth.

200X In the last days of a dying universe, a mysterious force of evil finally conquers Eternia. They take the ruins of Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain, reconstruct them into Grayskull Tower and Viper Tower, and build their own Central Tower as a way to drain the magic of the planet itself. The Last Defenders--a small band led by He-Ro, the Last Heir of Grayskull and the most powerful wizard in the universe, and including Eldor, Gwildor and the Star Sisters--make one last, desperate attempt to thwart the conquest/destruction of the cosmos, using the Cosmic Key to send the Three Towers back to the days of He-Man and Skeletor. Unfortunately, they are followed, and this sets into motion the final stage of the Great War. The Towers do not survive the Battle of Three Heroes, since that battle means that they never come to exist. The forces of Evil think they 'win' by casting He-Ro, Starla and Orko back into the even farther past, but they actually wind up laying the foundation of the magic of Eternia, Etheria, the Crystal Castle, and the Oracle ...

And an element that ties into my 200X Towers/"Season 5" concept:

“The Goddess???—Avatar of the Three Towers
When the mysterious Nameless Ones of the future created the Three Towers to contain the powers of Castle Grayskull, Snake Mountain and Eternia itself, they created a magical/holographic entity from Grayskull’s memory of the Sorceresses, combined with a fragment of Serpos’ spirit, and empowered by the magical energy at the heart of the planet. The resulting entity called itself “The Goddess??? and was more than its masters expected. Although able to access all knowledge contained within the towers and direct some of their power and systems, she was mercurial and unpredictable. The conflicting powers within her drove her to act with the imperious pride of her creators, the hatred of Serpos, or the kindness and devotion of the Sorceresses, as the mood seized her. He-Ro was able to gain her help at several times during the Unending War, but eventually, the darkness of the two other sources overwhelmed her, and she turned on the forces of Good. In the Battle of Three Heroes, the Star Sisters and Sorceress Teela vanquished the Goddess and set free the power of the Three Towers. Starla would later, in Etheria’s distant past, use what she learned about the Goddess’ creation to help transform herself into Light Hope.

[Midnight Bass]

This is mine. Always evolving. Always changing.

--
Long ago in the time before Castle Grayskull, the land of Preternia, scattered with small towns and villages, was largely barbaric. Giants roamed the plains. Wars waged throughout the world, several between native Eternians and refugees from Infinitia, and no-one was safe for long. A great few Preternian people knew how to control the forces of technology and magic, and in doing so used their abilities to aid their allies. These scholars and sorcerers would go on to play a most important role in Preternian history.

Eldor, a wizard who spent his formidable years practicing his magic in secret decided to roam the land in search of others like himself. He spent years gathering together a council to bring about peace and harmony to the land. By combining their knowledge and magic, the Council was capable of nearly anything from mind over matter, to the creation of great machines able to move at the speed of thought.

Together, they built the Hall of Wisdom to house their great inventions and serve as a meeting place. Eldor documented their research and findings within the Great Book of Living Spells. Through his leadership, the Council helped usher in a new age, creating great cities filled with vast technology. The people of Preternia wanted for nothing, for the Council took care of all their needs, creating balance and harmony throughout the world.

It was a world of peace and tranquility. But the great Council knew that evil existed in the world, and would one day come to overtake Preternia. That day came sooner, rather than later.

An unknown priest of the snake clan unleashed a terrible plan. He stole the staff of Ka from the altar of the Goddess and used its magic to fashion the Serpent’s Ring, an artifact so powerful it would turn any mortal into a hideous snake warrior. The priest used this power to transform his followers into the Snake Men, and led them into battle as their king.

The Council of Eldor’s, despite its great powers, was unable to be everywhere at once, and thus the Snake Men began taking control of Eternia. And when King Hiss unleashed the Snake God, Serpos, the world fell victim to his domination. The Council trapped the horrible Serpos within a mountain peak, which King Hiss took as his fortress. But by that point, the damage had been done and the planet laid in burning chaos.

The Council realized the world was not ready to face such foes, and a champion was needed protect the land from the evil of the vile Reptile King. From within the walls of the Hall of Wisdom a decision was made. Eldor took his young protege Gray to a cave and unleashed the power of the Book of Living Spells, transforming him into He-Ro, protector of Preternia.

He-Ro valiantly fought against the Snake Men. Gathering together great wizard-warriors who aided him against the forces of darkness and helped to protect the peace.

Meanwhile, one member of the council had been plotting to overthrow it for some time —Hordak. He had taken on an apprentice known as Keldor who arrived from parts unknown. In exchange for teaching him the dark arts, Keldor secretly carried out Hordak's evil deeds while fighting alongside He-Ro as his ally. And unbeknownst to anyone, ti was Hordak who originally led King Hiss to create the Snake Men.

In the southern plains, a barbarian warrior lead a rebellion of free people against the overarching reign of the Snake Men, utilizing a tower fortress as his outpost against the dark forces.

The war between the free people, the Council and the Snake Men continued for countless years until the Council of Wisdom built the Central Tower of Eternia, and in an impressive display of power, shifted the very ground of the planet bringing together the the Viper Tower and the barbarian’s tower fortress as symbols of good and evil. Drawing power from each of them, the Council used Central Tower to strengthen their forces and push back the evil of King Hiss.

Hordak eventually made his move against the Council, murdering their leader Eldor and casting the Spell of Separation nearly tearing the planet in half and casting the spell of Separation nearly tearing apart the planet and bringing together the Evil Horde. King Hiss realized that Hordak had been manipulating him and there was now a three-way battle for control.

When the Council realizes Keldor’s evil nature, a spell of undying is cast upon him as punishment for his crimes. He will live forever but his body would ultimately deteriorate and decay.

A new leader, Zodac is chosen to help regroup the Council of Elders (as they are now known, to honor their fallen leader). The pages from Eldor’s book are preserved into the Golden Discs of Knowledge. Zodac, He-Ro and the others drive King Hiss into the timeless void beneath Snake Mountain and seal it to prevent his escape and the Mystic Wall is created to seal the dark hemisphere from the rest of the world.

He-Ro falls in battle, leaving Zodac and the Elders to preserve his magic within the Sword of Power, which is created to defeat Hordak.

Zodac calls to the stars for advice and the Goddess arrives tells him the time has come for the people to lead themselves, and as such, the barbarian warrior is chosen to lead the people of Eternia as their king. Upon learning that Gray was his long-lost son, the king takes the name Grayskull after the fallen He-Ro. As king, Grayskull is permitted to enter Central Tower and obtain the magic from its machines.

The Council buries the three towers and transforms the Hall of Wisdom into Castle Grayskull. Keldor is trapped but uses his newfound abilities to escape back to his own time, possibly using the Wheel of Infinity. The Elders focus all their power and become a living all-powerful orb of magic and knowledge, burying themselves deep within Castle Grayskull.

King Grayskull is given the Sword of Power and defeats Hordak, but at the cost of his own life. The Horde becomes trapped within Despondos. Upon his death, King Grayskull preserves his power within the sword as well, joining with He-Ro’s magic.

Zodac becomes a Cosmic Enforcer, his symbol being that of the three fallen towers. He is tasked with dividing the sword and hiding the pieces from all those who would wish to use them for evil purposes, keeping peace throughout the universe. A second sword is hidden within Castle Grayskull, created from the staff of protection once used by He-Ro, to be used to protect the Orb from evil.


--

Thousands of years later, when Keldor returns to the present, he breaks through the Mystic Wall and leads his forces in an attack on the Royal Palace, attempting to destroy King Randor. His plan backfires, however, and he turns to Hordak to save him in exchange for freeing him from Despondos. Together they attack Eternia and steal Princess Adora.

He flees to Etheria and invokes the spell of Despondos, drawing the entire planet into the dark dimension and preventing the Sorceress from locating the missing child.

Meanwhile, Skeletor sets out on a quest to obtain the Sword of Power for himself.

-

Filmation events occur.


He-Man and Skeletor begin discovering more and more of the history of Eternia.

Later mini-comics/POG events.

Eventually, Skeletor obtains both halves of the Sword of Power.

Skeletor tries to unleash the power of Grayskull, but learns that he is not a true heir of Grayskull because the bloodline was not preserved on Eternia itself, but on Earth through to Marlena. It is discovered that He-Ro was not destroyed by Hordak, but transported to Earth to preserve the Grayskull bloodline. This is one of the biggest “secrets of Grayskull.??? Marlena was destined to return to Eternia to bring about the prophecy of the twins.

King Hiss uses the power of Viper Tower to unleash Serpos and ravage Eternia, but is defeated at the hands of Zodak and He-Man. But not before poisoning the Sorceress.

The Sword of Power is returned to He-Man, but Skeletor takes his opportunity to take over Grayskull with the Cosmic Key and a rebellion begins, led by He-Man.

Movie events take place.

The Sorceress dies, but her spirit is preserved and travels with He-Man and the power of Eternia into the future.

New Adventures events take place.

King Hiss returns and corrupts Man-At-Arms, who defeats King Randor.

He-Man returns to Eternia to find it amidst a civil war.

Teela, as the new Sorceress, along with He-Man free Man-At-Arms and redeem the Snake-Men, freeing them from King Hiss’ control.

Adam is crowned King of Eternia and marries Teela. Together they rule from Castle Grayskull.

Son of He-Man events.

[_RZ_]

Very interesting thoughts from all of you. I love to read the thoughts & theories of everyone on this topic. I am not one for "canon" in anything I'm a fan of, be it Star Wars, Star Trek, MOTU- personally I don't need all of the dots to line up perfectly in order for me to enjoy something. If someone writes a story or backstory I don't like- for example, the MOTUC bios- I just ignore it, completely. For example, I love Star Wars, I collect all different types of figures, but I really despise the EU novels & most of the Dark Horse comic book series. I just ignore the books and their characters that I don't like, no harm no foul. I'll buy an EU figure from one of those books or video games I don't like if it's cool. And that way, when someone in charge "erases" canon, like the Star Wars EU recently, I'm not crying in my beer over it.

I've always kind of viewed MOTU canon as similar to the Legend of Zelda series of video games: There's always a He-Man, Skeletor, etc. but the details change from story to story, and they are separate from each other- what happened in the minicomics has no effect on the show, or comics, etc. Minicomics He-Man, Filmation He-Man, 200x He-Man- they all have irreconcilable differences with their stories, but essentially He-Man's characterization doesn't change. Skeletor is a demon from another dimension in one series, Keldor in another- but he's still Skeletor in both. I hope that makes sense! I guess my thoughts on this are more in line with what Shawn says above, but with a heavy dose of "ignore" added in there for some of it.

I still feel like the greatest disappointment in recent memory from a canon/story perspective is the New 52 DC Comics series. They had an interesting idea to start off with- He-Man doesn't know he's He-Man due to magical interference- and in that was a grand, grand opportunity to "fix" or "combine" all of the major MOTU stories and series, into one cohesive "world"- without resorting to huge amounts of exposition or stalling the new storyline dead in its tracks. Robinson in the past had done an amazing job combining DC Universe "canons" in his Starman comic back in the day, and I was expecting he'd do the same for He-Man.

They could have simply said that Skeletor has done this to He-Man many times before, making He-Man forget who he is and changing reality/time/universe so that he "always wins" and can kill or defeat the heroes over and over again. Thus Skeletor "messing with time/reality" would have been an easy out to combine all of the stories together, and provide a way for future writers to "reboot" the story without actually having to tell fans "the stories you loved didn't happen." Kind of like turning your computer on and off- you reboot and open your webbrowser to a blank page, you can continue reading something you started, or you can start something new, without "deleting" the other stories from your laptop. Thus, in this idea, 200x happened, minicomics happened, Filmation happened, and New 52 happened- all of every He-Man story ever published or even thought of, it happened. When the story "restarts" or is rebooted, a la 200x, that is again another time Skeletor "won" and restarted things so he would be even more powerful and victorious. So those who liked MAA turning into a snake man and dying, or the bio stories- it happened. Those who wanted MAA to grow a gray mustache and get old... that happens too. 200x King Hiss- happened. Those who like He-Man Alcala-ed out, that happened too. If you love Filmation, don't worry- that all happened. Your adventures in the backyard in 1984- those events happened too. So in effect there is one "main canon" that includes all canons- personal, Mattel, bios, everything. Actually that is where I thought the N52 book was going at first. I thought they'd try to rectify MOTU canon as one "everything happened" type of thing, and then move on with a new story that was consistent with itself from that point forward. Because from a writing/creative perspective, the past MOTU story is currently in such a confusing shape, to reference the past at all you'd have to do a lot of confusing, not-so-great exposition to a new reader. So obviously they went with the least amount of backstory possible an started the "story" over again. They could have started it over again, and at the same time "continue the story" so to speak.

[Battle Ram Man]

Here's how I would revise the Classics Castle Grayskull bio:

Castle Grayskull: ancient fortress of mystery and power.




And... that's it. Anything more than that ruins it.

[_RZ_]

100% in agreement. I'd even go further and say one sentence for every character- keeps the imagination active

[Crespo]

While I'm not too fond of most of TG's "Canon" my "MOTUC Canon" will try to use most elements from MOTUC's canon and tweak it in a way that it works for me. STILL in Progress.

For example:
Standor exists, but he is not THE God. He is one of many beings in charge of the MULTIVERSE.
He-Ro and KG are not in the same Era. KG is a decendent of He-Ro.
There have been many Warriors protecting CG, but only 2 He-Men. The Barbarian from the Mini Comics. Who was dubbed He-Man by the Sorceress (The one before Teela Na). the Second He-Man is Adam. The Power of Grayskull disguised Adam's appearance based on the Past Protector of the Power. As the Spell begins to weaken as Adam grows, He-Man's appearance slowly begins to change until the Transformation from Adam to He-Man is no longer needed. Basically He-Man is Adam at Full Potential. As Adam grows stronger, mature and wiser, he is becoming He-Man naturally.

The Techno Swords are "Half sword emulators" Since one half has been kept with the power of good and the other half has been corrupted by evil, both halves are unable to join.
The "Emulators" were made from Grayskull's Axe and Shield and He-Ro's Armor and Staff because of their magical properties and close ties to Wielders who unlocked the full potential of the sword. The Gem of He-Ro's Staff (Stone of Protection) is able to Purify Evil's corruption... Easy way to have a second sword with more Magical abilities than the Normal sword.
Adam is more aligned with KG's Branch of the Power, While Adora is more aligned with He-Ro's Magic.

And in your universe does Standor look like an 92 year old man, with a huge nose, wrinkles, and thick glasses?

Or does he have vaguely human features, and pure white eyes like Dr. Manhattan that are a window into his glowing blue body which can barely contain his phenomenal cosmic power?

Heh.

[Crespo]

He is not an important figure in the MOTU side of the Canon, but a nice way to add Scheimor, Tay-Lor, Sweet Rogor, A'l K'ala and others as the Guardian Deities of the MOTUverse., but if Standor had to appear in his appointed Universe, he's going to look like a former comic book writer from Marvel

[Matthew L. Martin]

One minor note:

In my vintage canon, today (December 21st) is Adam and Adora's birthday, for a variety of reasons.

So happy birthday to the Most Powerful Man and Woman in the Universe!

[zombihamma]

Here's how I would revise the Classics Castle Grayskull bio:

Castle Grayskull: ancient fortress of mystery and power.




And... that's it. Anything more than that ruins it.

I agree,... I'm a strong believer in to much information 'hijacks the imagination', a phrase my wife came up with that really resonated with me,
As a kid, The masters of the universe and all it's barbarians and warlords was such a mystery to me my mind was alight with ideas of who was good, bad , how powerful, who ruled what,

Now it's all wrote down done ,

Yep ,... My canon is just the tag lines;-)

[MIDOR]

My canon is whatever they tell us and I hold that as the "gospel truth".

I may not like what was said or understand it but I accept it.

I may expand on it (another discussion for another time) or even add on to it but I don't change it.

Now. With that said, what started out as a joke in the dot org chat room I did come up with my own version of the MOTU mythos. I'm making it up as I go along while wondering how and where do I put "X" in.

[_RZ_]

I agree,... I'm a strong believer in to much information 'hijacks the imagination', a phrase my wife came up with that really resonated with me,
As a kid, The masters of the universe and all it's barbarians and warlords was such a mystery to me my mind was alight with ideas of who was good, bad , how powerful, who ruled what,

Now it's all wrote down done ,

Yep ,... My canon is just the tag lines;-)

100% this- I think a big reason why things like MOTU or Star Wars resonate with fans to this day, was the lack of information. It allows the young ones to use their imagination, which will always be cooler than anything printed.

[MegaGearMax]

I dunno...G.i. Joe and Transformers had bios and they helped develop the characters in addition to the cartoons and comics.

[_RZ_]

True MGM but there's a clear difference between those bio cards and MOTUC bios. MOTUC bios overexplain everything and tie together things that do not need to be tied together. The TF and GIJOE cards are much less specific, and most of the specific backstory elements for characters like Duke or Optimus Prime were not released until many years later.

Besides those 2 property's movies and the season of cartoon series that came directly after them, there wasn't this huge focus on the backstories of any of the main characters. In fact, for the vast majority of both of those series, there is no backstory presented of any of the characters, except maybe a few here and there (there is a character who is Duke's brother in one, and "orion pax" episode of the other; I can't think of any episodes or explanations beyond those examples.) There was no internet in 1984 for me to look up twenty years of backstory- I had to use my imagination as a youngster. You don't need to know Darth Vader was an emo kid who fell into a volcano to enjoy Star Wars; you don't need to know Skeletor's backstory to enjoy him either. On a basic level, they just look cool, and this is enough to get the mind moving. I feel like this is part of the strong attachment the 80's generations have towards their childhood favorites, as opposed to the 90's and later generations whose programs and comics overexplained everything. I can't think of a licensed property today for kids that doesn't overexplain everything to kids. When people are given gaps in a story, their imaginations will fill in the spaces. If anything, the whole Keldor/Skeletor backstory takes away the fun for me. Does everyone always have to be related to everyone else? Does Beast Man have to tie into Marlena in order to be a compelling character? of course not! This to me is the beauty of MOTU's messed-up canon: look at all the imagination that exists in just this thread alone, too much backstory/'splaining just kills the imagination, especially in the young.

[Battle Ram Man]

I agree,... I'm a strong believer in to much information 'hijacks the imagination', a phrase my wife came up with that really resonated with me,
As a kid, The masters of the universe and all it's barbarians and warlords was such a mystery to me my mind was alight with ideas of who was good, bad , how powerful, who ruled what,

Now it's all wrote down done ,

Yep ,... My canon is just the tag lines;-)

That's a great phrase - "hijacks the imagination."

That's one thing about the early Golden Books that I really appreciate. They don't attempt to solve the mysteries. Eternia is a mysterious place. The focus is on the stories of the struggles between the factions. Knowing too much really does ruin the magic. I'd point to the final episode of Lost as a prime example of that.

:ramman:

[Dark Angel]

...my personal canon is that it's all just happening in some autistic kid's snowglobe.

[MegaGearMax]

In MY CANON™

The Masters of the Universe are a group of Eternia's greatest heroes formed by King Randor with the goal of stopping Skeletor from entering Castle Grayskull and gaining the secrets of the universe.

I regard Randor forming the Masters like The Council of Elrond. The Council is attended by many heroes of Eternia, including...

• Man-At-Arms
• Teela
• He-Man
• Stratos
• Man-E-Faces
• Ram Man
• Mekaneck
• Buzz Off
• Fisto
• Sy-Klone
• Roboto
• Moss Man
• Zodak
• Zoar (original mini-comic version) and Battle Cat


__________________________________________________ _________________
Other Notes:

Eternia is a post apocalyptic wasteland (seen in the Alcala minis) that was caused by the Great Wars. No one knew what caused these wars, but there are remnants scattered about Eternia, such as Castle Grayskull, Point Dread and the Talon Fighter, Monstroid, etc. The realm is divided into kingdoms or territories (later seen in the Texiera mini-comics).

I get rid of ALOT of characters. There is no Prince Adam, Adora, Orko or Cringer in my canon. Rio Blast, Clamp Champ and Snout Spout are also gone.

It is very hard to kill a main player. These ARE the most powerful characters in the universe. They don't get that way being easy meat.

Eternia's technology is the equivalent of ancient magical weapons. The common person doesn't have computers, vehicles or laser guns.

Man-At-Arms and Teela, Sir Duncan's daughter lead the Masters. Man-At-Arms is a master tactician and inventor. There are no fleets of vehicles -- only one Battle Ram and Wind Raider. They were vehicles created by Man-At-Arms with parts that he unearthed from the Great Wars. Man-At-Arms is an older soldier with a penchant for excavating ancient technology left over from the Great Wars and getting the technology to work again. On barbaric Eternia, MAA’s house has hot running water and an electric generator. MAA helps out with deciphering the ancient technology the Masters come across. MAA’s 200X arm cannon is one he reverse engineered from the Great Wars. Webstor stole MAA's original rifle (it's orange...). Duncan is one of the only technology oriented people on the planet. Another who comes very close is Trap Jaw, a villain so obsessed with technology, that he experimented upon himself.

Teela is blonde in my canon and she is also a living piece of the Goddess' lifeforce ala Tale of Teela. A formidable warrior woman, Teela is secretly attracted to the handsome barbarian warrior He-Man, despite class issues separating the two heroes (Teela is a civilized member of the Royal Court while He-Man hails from a lowly barbarian tribe). Teela tries to hide her true feelings and coldly rebuffs He-Man, calling him “barbarian???. Female warriors are uncommon on Eternia, so Teela is the rare example.

He-Man is the champion warrior of the group since he is the mightiest. He-Man is a barbarian, like he was in the original mini-comics. Although he looks savage, he has a noble soul and an intelligence that belies his rugged looks. When Man-At-Arms and Teela are incapable of leading, it is usually He-Man who takes up unofficial leadership through his great charisma.

The Goddess and the Sorceress are one and the same. Many guises throughout the centuries (Green Goddess, Caucasian Goddess, Filmation Sorceress, TOD Sorceress, 200X Sorceress, NA Sorceress), but the same person.

King Randor and Queen Marlena have their 200X appearances. The royals aren't elderly and Marlena is Eternian like everyone else. She isn't a Gar either.

Skeletor keeps the Keldor origin, only thing is that he was never a former pupil of Hordak. Keldor becomes Skeletor by messing around with dark magic, a result of his lust for power.

• Skeletor
• Beast Man
• Mer-Man
• Evil-Lyn
• Tri-Klops
• Trap Jaw
• Whiplash
• Clawful
• Webstor
• Stinkor
• Spikor
• Two Bad
• Ninjor
• Scare Glow
• Blast Attack
• Screech and Panthor

Since Skeletor lacks tech and resources, they make use of Griffins.

Jitsu is around and he's an enemy of Fisto, but he's not an Evil Warrior. I like my Evil Warriors to be non-human. The feeling is close to Jabba's Palace where most of the patrons are aliens and non-human. Tri-Klops is the most human out of all of them. (Even Evil-Lyn has different colored skin).

The Horde are like Elder Evils that were imprisoned within Despondos for thousands of years. A few warriors, but each is very powerful. Although Skeletor was never Hordak's student, everyone feared Hordak getting free. There is no Horde Prime or Horde Inspectors, only Hordak, his Horde, legions of Horde Wraiths and Horde Troopers. Mosquitor, Multi-Bot and Dragstor are gone. So are Vultak, Dylamug, Catra, Entrapta, Double Trouble, Scorpia and Octavia.

• Hordak
• Leech
• Grizzlor
• Mantenna
• Modulok
• Shadow Weaver
• Imp

The Snake Men are the same as MYP/200X. Kobra Khan tricked Skeletor and Evil-Lyn into letting him join the Evil Warriors so that he could free King Hsss from The Void.

[Jsting]

there is no canon for me either, I collect these figures as display pieces and rarely ever move them other than to clean them. the days of playing with toys have long been gone.

[Captain Atkin]

For me, Filmation, the 87 movie, and the MYP cartoon has influenced much of my personal canon for MOTUC.

[Mechanizor]

Hmmm, I don't have a specific canon at the moment since I only display the figures/Toys and draw inspiration from into my personal LEGO fantasy projects I'm involved in. That being said, the original mini comics mixing them with the MYP cartoons can easily set up a nice canon of mine, but without Adam being the alterego of He-Man...

He-Man will always be a barbarian legend warrior with mighty powers unrelated to the royalty, and Skeletor is a cosmic evil warlock who lost his magical castle (Castle-Grayskull) eons ago and is trying to regain it back to rule the universe a with a brutal iron fist!

[Y2Greg]

That's a great phrase - "hijacks the imagination."

That's one thing about the early Golden Books that I really appreciate. They don't attempt to solve the mysteries. Eternia is a mysterious place. The focus is on the stories of the struggles between the factions. Knowing too much really does ruin the magic. I'd point to the final episode of Lost as a prime example of that.

:ramman:

Totally. I love the mystery of Masters of the Universe. That is the fun of it

[RoboSteveo]

I love the MYP cartoon, so for me, that is the canon I follow. I ignore all of the added on stuff that Toyguru tried to fit in the line. I completely ignore Son of He-Man and all of the silliness that comes with it.