He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line Masters of the Universe. The show, often referred to as simply He-Man, was one of the most popular animated shows of the 1980s.
It made its television debut in September 1983 and ran until 1985, consisting of two seasons of 65 episodes each. Reruns continued to air in syndication until 1988, at which point USA Network bought the rights to the series. USA aired He-Man until September 1990. The success of the toy-based show in syndication greatly influenced other animation houses to produce half-hour "cartoon commercials", and considerably changed the syndicated cartoon market.
The franchise has been adapted many times in comic book and comic strip form, and a live-action film was produced in 1987. A rebooted series, Masters of the Universe vs. The Snake Men released on Toonami on August 16, 2002. A direct sequel series, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, premiered on Netflix in 2021.
The series takes place on Eternia, a planet of magic, myth and fantasy. Its lead character is Prince Adam, the young son of Eternia's rulers, King Randor and Queen Marlena. Whenever Prince Adam holds the Sword of Power aloft and proclaims "By the Power of Grayskull!" he is endowed with "fabulous secret powers" and transformed into He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. Together with his close allies, Battle Cat (who undergoes a similar transformation from being Adam's cowardly pet tiger Cringer), The Sorceress, Teela, Man-At-Arms and Orko, He-Man uses his powers to defend Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor. Skeletor's main goal is to conquer the mysterious fortress of Castle Grayskull, from which He-Man draws his powers. If successful, Skeletor would have enough power to rule all of Eternia and possibly the entire universe.
Cast[]
Character Gallery[]
| Gallery | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|