As with many cartoons, first comes the toy line, then the cartoon, then the catch-phrase! He-Man is a real classic old-school cartoon from the 1980's and embodies what is so great about many cartoons from that era.
Originally Mattel had a toy line, based on the Conan the Barbarian toy, but they understandably wanted to distance any toys they made for kids a little bit away from the head-chopping, maiden stealing antics of Conan the Barbarian. So they gave the toy a slightly different hair-cut to Conan and called it He-Man!
Originally it was the bad-guys that were known as the Masters of the Universe, but by the time the Cartoon was released the term referred to Adam and the other good guys in Eternia.
So the 1980's cartoon was born as a result of the toy-line, and the budget was reportedly so small for the cartoons, that a large number of the voices were carried out by Lou Scheimer who went under the name Erik Gunden.
OK , so moving onto the basics of the cartoon itself. There is a planet called Eternia ruled over by King Ramos and Queen Marlena, Adam's parents. The royalty and all the other movers and shakers in Eternia all live near Castle GraySkull and the Sorceress. However on Eternia there also lurks a set of bad guys, who like to hang-out at a place called Snake Mountain, they are led by Skeletor and generally go round causing trouble and keeping Man-At-Arms, Teela etc. in a job.
One thing I always remember about He-Man as a kid was the moral at the end of each episode. The cartoon made no attempt to be subtle about this! At the end of each episode a character woudl talk directly to the camera and tell the ausdience exactly what lesson they had learned and imply that it was about time the kids watching learnt it too!
Prince Adam of Eternia and Cringer
So, on the face of it these two are good for nothing lay-about bums! They swan around Eternia not working and generally trying to get out of anything that looks close to hard-work, and this really annoys Teela!
The two seem to be really good friends, although I supose the main difference between them is that Adam is pretending to be a loafer, (Clark Kent style) for the sake of his secret identity, whereas Cringer makes it quite clear his cowardice and laziness are not an act, but quite heartfelt!
Adam's mother the Queen of Eternia (Queen Marlena) is actually from Earth! One episode refers to her as being an astronaut from Earth that crash landed into Eternia. This means that Adam (and Adora - also known as She-Ra are half human.
He-Man and Battle-Cat
Before we get into the detail of He-Man, a little known fact is that he is called 'Musclor' in the French series of the cartoon! Whenever there is trouble afoot, Adam will hold aloft his magic sword and say 'By the power of Grayskull - I have the POWER!!'. Then due to the powers given him by the sorceress and Castle GraySkull he transforms into He-man, the most powerful man in the universe (all though we only have his word for the latter bit - I always thought that sounded a bit boastful!)
Cringer also turns into Battle-Cat a fearsome ally to help He-Man in his battles. What's nice to see in a cartoon ultimately aimed at kids, is that although He-Man is of course kitted out to cause some real trouble, most of the time he actually goes out of his way to avoid a bru-ha! and tries to use his wits to out-fox the likes of Skeletor as peacefully as possible.
Man-At-Arms
Man-At-Arms is another one of those cartoon characters that hides his real name behind a flashy sounding pseudonym! Man-At-Arms' real name is Duncan! As well as being the leader of the soldiers around the palace, he also likes to invent things and in many episodes comes up with useful devices etc.
Man-At-Arms is also the father of Teela - although not the genetic father as we later find out, see below!
Man-At-Arms is one of the three people that knows Adam is He-Man (the others being Orko and the Sorceress).
Orko
Orko is the comic relief for He-Man, a bit like Presto from Dungeons and Dragons in that he has magical powers, but anything he tries to conjur generally goes wrong with comic consequences. Like many comic foils in cartoons, Orko was not partof the original toy line he was just thrown in by the writers for laughs!
Orko is a Trollan from the planet Trolla, he wears the red robes as his species are very shy about exposing their bodies. Apparently an episode was written where Orko was due to take off his hat and reveal blue, elfin like features - but it was never aired. Orko became friends with He-Man when he rescued Adam and Cringer from the Tar Pits when they were babies, he arrived on Eternia by accident due to a cosmic storm that blew him there.
The Sorceress
The Sorceress is the Guardian of the Secrets of Castle GraySkull. She is possibly the most powerful being on Eternia, although a lot of this power is derived from the Castle itself and diminishes the further away she is from the Castle walls. We found out most about the Sorceress in an episode unsurprisingly called 'Origins of the Sorceress'.
The Sorceress is the brains behind He-Man and often communciates with him telepathically to hel himout of trouble orpoint him in the right direction. her real name is Teela'Na and she has an interesting back-story of her own.
Teel'Na's village was attacked when she was a child and so she roamed Eternai until she came across Castle GreySkull. The previous keeper of the Castle invited her in and gave her the powers of GraySkull with the warning 'It will not be an easy task, Teela'Na. You will fight many battles, see great sadness, and great joy. As Keeper of Castle Grayskull you must fight a constant war against evil, and comfort those in need. And, you will never be mortal again. Finally, you must preserve and protect the Swords of Power, until the day comes when they may be claimed'.
Teela
Teela is the daughter of Man-At-Arms and as well as being a very good soldier, she is also responsible for Adam's saftey. Being both Adam's friend and bodyguard means that she spends alot of time with the prince, however because she doesn't know his secret she spends alot of this time on his back about getting a job, or undertaking some training or not being such a wimp!
In the episode 'Teela's Quest' we find out that Teela's real mother is the Sorceress and that Man-At-Arms adopted her from the Sorceress when Teela was just a child, as the Sorceress was afraid that her enemies would seek to harm Teela if they knew she was her daughter. In keeping with this, after Teela learns that the Sorceress is her mother, the Sorceress actually erases this knowledge from Teela's memory for her protection. We never found out the name of Teela's father.
The Sorceress - Transformation Sequence
He-Man wasn't the only one that could transform! The Sorceress regularly changed into a falcon called Soar, to save on bus fares.
Skeletor
Skeletor is the leader of the bad-guys who all hang-out at Snake Mountain generally causing trouble. Skeletor is a demon from the planet Infinita, and appears to be made of bones, but is also surprisingly muscley!
Skeletor wants to invade Castle GraySkull, as by taking over the powers of GraySkull he would become an unstoppable force in Eternia. Skeletor has magical powers and he also has a staff, that comics pre-dating the cartoon advise is one-half of the Sword of Power (the other half being He-Man's Sword). Skeletor's Chief ally is Evil-Lyn (an evil sorceress) and he also has his own Cat! called Panthor which appears in a few episodes and is an evil, purple version of Cringer!
The only other thing of note really is that in some comics and the later cartoon series it is suggested that Skeletor is King Randos' half-brother and his real name is confirmed as Keldor.
He-Man: Lyrics
He-Man... And the Master of the Universe!
I am Adam, Prince of Eternia, Defender of the Secrets of Castle Greyskull.
This is Cringer, my fearless friend.
Fabulous, secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword and said: "By the Power of Greyskull!"
He-Man, He-Man . . . I HAVE THE POWER!!
Cringer became the mighty BattleCat and I became He-Man, the most powerful man in the Universe!
Only three others share this secret . . . Our friends the Sorceress, Man-at-Arms, and Orko.
Together we defend Castle Greyskull from the evil forces of Skeletor. . . . He-Man!
