MOTUC Bio Discussion #38 > Preternia Disguise He-Man

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

This bio largely draws from the vintage minicomic “The Power of Grayskull – The Legend Begins!” and the outline for the rest of those comics. The storyline was never completed, but notes were made, and are being used for the bio storyline.

That minicomic featured a number of mysteries, such as the “Unnamed One” King Hssss mentions, as well as the Sorceress’s insistence that He-Man cloak himself. She doesn’t explain why, though it’s implied to avoid being seen by He-Ro, who was intended to be ancestor to He-Man in the original “Powers of Grayskull” (POG) storyline. The bio writers here alter it so that He-Man’s ancestor is King Grayskull, but they also explicitly state the reason for the cloak and mask is to hide him from Grayskull.

But why bother? It’s not like King Grayskull has ever or will ever hear of He-Man–the concept of He-Man won’t exist until after KG is dead. And He-Man openly wields the Power Sword (at least in the comic), so does Grayskull  (or He-Ro, since he’d be the one wielding it, I think) find it odd that this “stranger” has a sword identical to his own–this cosmic weapon bequeathed upon him by the legendary Overlords of the Timeless Dimension?

This bio also raises the question of just how long He-Man spent in Preternia, and whether it was one continuous trip or if he just occasionally dropped in. In the POG minicomic, he returns to his own time at the end of the story, but it was pretty obvious he’d return again (if only to meet, and thus advertise the action figure of, He-Ro). The bio says He-Man participated in “many battles,” which does raise some questions regarding the Power of Grayskull and how it works. I suppose the power He-Man wields could be said to be stored in the Power Sword when he’s in He-Man mode, so he could take it with him to Preternia. Still, I have to imagine King Grayskull got a weird sense of déjà vu when he saw that sword, what with it containing his primal essence and all.

Finally, there’s that mention of the “newly-invented Cosmic Key.” Invented by whom? Gwildor, I’m sure, who will probably show up in the line eventually.  I don’t think Mattel has the rights to the movie (aside from the movie figures that were in the toy line), so my guess is Gwildor’s bio will say he simply invented the Cosmic Key, without any reference to the events of the movie.

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17 Comments

  1. thrawn

    You could make the case the He-Man disguises himself from King Hsss and Skeletor but I don't believe Skeletor would be fooled by that for an instant. Just like how the Joker can always tell it's not Bruce under the cowl.

    He-Man vs Skeletor is the very essence of Masters of the Universe.

    I'm fine with him just keeping his face hidden to sow further confusion in the past even though He-Man and Skeletor wouldn't be fooling each other.

    The Unnamed one is possibly interesting even though I don't like the Snake Men serving him. I like them being independent and worshiping Serpos.

  2. Barbecue17

    Imagine a storyline where He-Ro, Grayskull, Wun-Dar, He-Man, She-Ra, Oolar, and Vikor all come together to fight in a huge war. How epic would that be?

  3. RM

    @MegaGearX: Yeah, that's exactly why I think he'd go by Adam. =)

  4. dayraven

    @ LBD – yes, that was the idea with the movie, so yes, it appears they're drawing that from the dolph lundgren fim

    @ megagearX – yes, they would be almost overkill together, wouldn't they? and how exactly do the current timeline masters fight the snake men, the horse AND skeletor's crew without the help of grayskull and he-ro? MAA is a far cry from chuge liang, so the heros are in desperate need for some new muscle, you'd think.

  5. MegaGearX

    He-Man, King Grayskull and He-Ro must have been one helluva team!

  6. MegaGearX

    It would be a hoot if He-Man used "Adam" as his real name. Randor names his first born son after this mighty warrior "Adam" from antiquity only to wind up with this lazy son.

  7. Regarding the Cosmic Key, I've been wondering lately if the "rebel Masters" part of the storyline might be some sort of alternative to the events seen in the movie. Weren't they in a similar position there?

  8. Griffen112182

    I messed up this sentance it sould say:

    It is so King Hsss wouldn’t recognized him later in the future/present and so Skeletor wouldn’t recoginze him during the events in the past.

  9. Griffen112182

    I think they put the wrong names at the end of the bio. It should say to disguise him from King Hsss and Hordak. Those are the ones who are the threat of knowing his identity since they survive to present day. That is why the sorceress disgused him in the “The Power of Grayskull – The Legend Begins!”. It is so his wouldn't recognized him later in the future/present and so Skeletor wouldn't recoginze him during the events in the past. The one writing this bio really screwed up this major detail. As for his Disgiuse name how about Adam-Man, it isn't any weirder than names we had before.

  10. Snarf! Snarf!

    @dayraven:The "Faceless One" has a face. Maybe Mattel is from Bizarro World.

  11. dayraven

    just for the record, calling someone "the Unnamed One" thus gives them a name. calling something the "Nameless Dimension" thus names it. i hate mattel.

  12. Didn't Superman do something similar in going back to Krypton PC?

    Oh, and just a wild theory here, but what if…the snake men have released a diesase that turns everyone into a snakeman, and he-man, finding no cure in the present decides to go back into the past to find one?

    lol, i like it anyway 🙂

  13. Snarf! Snarf!

    Too much BTTF… If He-Man is the descendant of KG for 5000 years, WHY must he wear a mask? He can say he's an ally. One more thing, these visits from He-Man to the past… Wouldn't they alter history as we know it? thus creating Two 1985s… Whoops! got a little sidetracked there…

    OK I want/need a MOTUC Gwildor and a MOTUC AttakTrak to recreate the ending of BTTF.

  14. Poe

    @RM: You're right–that's a big oversight, and something I actually would have been interested in knowing.

    It also would have been a fitting opportunity to dig into ancient MOTU history, as they love to do (like that early list of potential He-Man names that included Vykor/Vikor).

  15. Maybe the Cosmic Key was invented by Doc Brown-dor. He had to disguise himself/assume a secret identity lest he meet his great great great great great…(about a hundred "greats" later) great grandmother, she falls in love with him instead of King Grayskull, thus changing history forever.

    There are some interesting questions raised here! I'm interested to know who the “Unnamed One” is and how long He-Man spent in Preternia or if he made a series of visits.

  16. RM

    Also, the bio never mentions what name He-Man uses while "disguised" in the past.

    One could guess that it might be "Adam", but for a bio that is supposed to explain the situation, it's a crucial detail to be lacking.

  17. Dead Man Walking

    This is getting too convoluted.

    Honestly, I think it would be cooler if Grayskull and He-Ro traveled forwardin time to assist He-Man, than the other way around. It certainly would justify the generation-spanning displays and battle scenes collectors set up on their shelves.

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