Chapter 10: The Birth of He-Man
Back on Eternia, life had been peaceful since the defeat of the Horde. King Randor and Queen Marlena ruled over the planet with great peace, and Eternia returned to its state of bliss and tranquility from before the war, with Randor and Marlena rarely ever having to resume their old warrior roles. Their son, Prince Adam, had grown up alongside Man-At-Arms' adopted daughter, Teela. Adam was highly intelligent, with a yearning for adventure and excitement, but was also often overly exuberant and loved to play practical jokes on people, which caused King Randor to worry about him and fear that his seemed lack of responsibility was inadequate for the heir to the throne. Teela, meanwhile, although unaware of her true heritage, became extremely dedicated to her warrior training. By her teens, she had achieved an amazing level of athleticism and agility, as well as becoming highly intelligent and headstrong. She amazed many people with her astounding battle skills, and was so skilled that she was presented with the rank of Captain of the Guards at the age of only eighteen, the first ever woman to hold the role. Although she and Adam had grown up like brother and sister, and had a strong bond with one another, Teela often grew frustrated with Adam's apparent laziness and fooling around, and they developed a kind of love-hate relationship as they reached adulthood.
But although Eternia was in peace for the time being, elsewhere in the universe, the great Skeletor was working towards his long-term goal- the ultimate assault on Eternia and Castle Grayskull. When he had teleported himself away from Randor's dungeons after the Horde's defeat, he had fled to the world of Infinita, the dark world established centuries ago by the cult of the Nocturnals. As the Nocturnals had brought about his own existence, it made sense for him to retreat to the planet colonized by his ancestors to develop his powers. Infinita was almost exactly what Skeletor hoped Eternia would become under his rule. He spent eighteen years on Infinita, exploring his potential and developing his powers, to fully merit the title of Lord of Destruction.
Although he had once been a handsome young man, Skeletor felt far more himself in this demonic form, which had resulted from his duel with Keldor. It was as if this had been his true self all along, and Keldor's magic had actually unleashed his inner soul, rather than merely disfiguring his body. Wherever he went, even in a world as festering with evil creatures as Infinita, he seemed to strike terror into all who saw him. It seemed as if he were the embodiment of pure evil.
Eventually, the whole of Infinita came to live in fear of Skeletor, and he ruled over many sectors of this world. He was commended by the planet's demonic emperor, Dagon, as one of the greatest and most powerful beings ever to walk upon Infinita. Infinita felt like a true home to Skeletor- it had, after all, been partially established by his own ancestors. But he knew he could not remain on this world- for his true goal was Castle Grayskull, and his black heart was firmly set on challenging The Sorceress for the power of the universe. After these eighteen years, his power had expanded to such extremes that he had become one of the most feared beings in the cosmos, possessing incredible power that far exceeded that of his former mentor, Xazrog. The time had finally come for him to return to Eternia and usurp the power that he felt rightfully belonged to him.
The Sorceress was warned of Skeletor's return by a terrifying nightmare. In her dream, she saw red eyes shining through extreme blackness, and the faces of gruesome snakes and demons zooming towards her vision, hissing and spitting blood. A huge green snake then came writhing towards her, with glowing red eyes, emitting a terrible screeching sound from its mouth. It formed itself into a coil shape, and a mountain appeared within the coil, then the snake set in stone, forming the image of Snake Mountain. The sound of thunder roared deafeningly, and the image of Skeletor's face, eyes glowing intensely, came zooming rapidly out of the mountain, emitting a deafening evil laugh as his face zoomed towards The Sorceress...
Then she woke with a start. She had instantly recognized the face in her dream. She went over to the castle window, and looked outside. The thunder was roaring, the lightning cracking through the sky, jagged white bolts illuminating the skyline. This was no ordinary thunderstorm. It was a sign of a dreadful threat coming to Eternia. And The Sorceress knew that unless she did something fast, all would be lost. She did not want to inflict panic on Eternia by telling the whole planet- so she flew to the Royal Palace and warned Man-At-Arms, the man she trusted most in all Eternia. When she told him about the dream she had had, his face went pale with shock. He could sense the evil that was coming. In turn, Man-At-Arms warned King Randor and Queen Marlena of The Sorceress' premonition, and Randor instructed Teela to mobilize the palace guards for the event of possible attack. Later that day, the attack came... in a more terrifying form than they had imagined. Skeletor had harnessed the powers of the great evil spirits of the Black Continent to inflict the powers of the storm on Eternos. As the storm erupted, he attacked the city with four hired warriors at his side- the savage commanders of wildlife, Beast Man and Merman, and criminal escapees Trap Jaw and Tri-Clops. Skeletor's powers were so immense that he cut through the palace guards in no time, entered the palace, and had Randor and Marlena both captured within fields of crackling magic energy. The Sorceress intervened, but after a brief battle, even she was overcome by Skeletor's incredible dark powers. She barely managed to escape, teleporting herself back to Grayskull, instructing Man-At-Arms that he must follow her there┘ with Prince Adam at his side.
Man-At-Arms was confused by her instruction, but did as she had asked, and traveled to Castle Grayskull with Prince Adam, distressed by his parents' capture. Once they had reached Grayskull, The Sorceress appeared at the entrance, and asked that Adam enter the castle alone. Confused, the Prince crossed the Jaw Bridge, and entered the great castle.
Within the depths of Grayskull, The Sorceress explained to the young Prince that Eternia had sunk into its most dire situation in thousands of centuries. Since his initial retreat from Eternia eighteen years ago, Skeletor's powers had grown to an amazing level- to the extent that even without an army, he was already close to conquering Eternia, and at this rate, he would seize Grayskull in no time. He was the greatest evil Eternia had faced yet... and this was truly Eternia's darkest day. And as the ancient prophecy had foretold, on Eternia's darkest day, a hero would be selected from the ordinary mortals of Eternia and presented with the Sword of Power, which would duplicate the power of Grayskull within him, enabling him to defend Eternia as the embodiment of heroic power. That hero, she explained, was none other than Adam.
Adam was taken aback- for despite his intelligence and bravery, he was not yet a warrior, and he was constantly the subject of criticism by his father for his supposed cowardice. The Sorceress explained that Adam was simply a misunderstood young man, and that he possessed the courage, wisdom and sense of justice that was perfect for the defender of Eternia. And given that his true bravery had remained largely concealed from those around him, no-one would ever suspect that he and Eternia's hero were one and the same. It was time now for the ancient prophecy to be fulfilled.
The room was filled with an immense, glowing light, and out stepped the Elders of Eternia, led by Keclar. Keclar presented Adam with the Sword of Power, then the Elders formed a circle around Adam. They raised their arms, and began chanting a spell in an ancient Eternian language. The room was filled with stars and all kinds of strange symbols floating in the light. The images surrounded Adam, and the wisdom of the universe began to fill his mind. Wisdom and knowledge poured into Adam's mind by the thousands each moment. The magic symbols increased, and bright lights of all colors filled the room, whirring faster and faster around Prince Adam. The Elders kept their arms raised, spreading their power throughout the room. Magical coils whizzed around Prince Adam at an incredible speed.
The light vanished abruptly, and Adam was left standing alone in the center of the stone circle, the Sword of Power placed in his right hand. Adam didn't need an explanation. He knew just what to do. He held the sword above his head, and shouted:
"BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL...
I HAVE THE POWER!!"
A huge burst of energy erupted from the blade of the sword, and surrounded Adam's whole body. Then came a flash of light, shielding Adam's form from view! The flash died down, revealing Adam once again... but now, he looked very different. Gone was the form of the thin, smart young prince, and in its place was the form of a mighty warrior, with powerful, rippling muscles. He was six feet six inches tall, with blond, shoulder length hair, almost golden in color, and a heavy tan over his body. He still bore a very vague physical resemblance to the Prince, but his great muscle mass and height made him appear a totally different person. Over his chest he wore a metal harness, with a red cross in the center.
He was now He-Man, defender and champion of Eternia! In his new form, he was taken out to see Man-At-Arms, who was amazed to be told that this mighty warrior with the gleaming sword was none other than Prince Adam. The Sorceress explained that he would be able to change from Adam to He-Man whenever danger threatened. But no-one besides Man-At-Arms and one other trustworthy person, whom He-Man must select, would be allowed to know that the two were one and the same. For if the secret was to become too widespread, it would quickly fall into enemy hands and endanger the Royal Family. So He-Man's double identity must be kept secret- even from his closest friends.
He-Man thanked The Sorceress, then he and Man-At-Arms began making their way back to Eternos City, to free the palace from Skeletor. When they reached the palace, He-Man sprang a surprise on Skeletor just as he was attempting to enslave the palace guards. The evil warlord and his minions were amazed at the strength of this fighter, who smashed each of them across the room with just one blow. Teela, King Randor and Queen Marlena watched in amazement as this mighty hero fought the evil warriors with colossal strength. Eventually, Skeletor realized that he and his warriors stood no chance against this great fighter, and so he ordered them to retreat. The King and Queen congratulated He-Man on his victory, and He-Man vowed that he would be around to help them whenever danger threatened. Inside, he was yearning to tell them he was their son- but he could only tell one other person his secret, and he had decided that other person should be none other than the girl he had grown up with, and loved the most- Teela.
After He-Man's victory, he quickly became the talk of the place around the city. Denizens were ecstatic that this amazing hero had come to defend them in their very hour of need.
But on the Black Continent, as Skeletor and his minions returned to Snake Mountain, they felt the total opposite of the people in Eternos. Skeletor was furious that a champion this mighty should arrive just as he was about to conquer Eternia. He had never expected to encounter a foe of such incredible power. This He-Man seemed to be Skeletor's strongest possible match- a single being with the power and goodness to rival his own immense evil power. He was almost an embodiment of true goodness in the way that Skeletor had become an embodiment of evil.
Immediately, Skeletor set about training his minions for an assault on Grayskull. Alongside the four warriors he had hired, during his assault on Eternos he had been pledged the services of one of the palace's maidservants, a beautiful and elegant young woman named Evelyn Powers. Evelyn was a close friend of Queen Marlena, who had possessed a strong lust for Prince Adam. For some time, a bitter rivalry had been brewing between Evelyn and Teela, who made Evelyn jealous through her closeness to the Prince. Evelyn had turned against the Queen when she had refused to let her marry Prince Adam, and she now desired vengeance on Marlena. Now using the name Evil-Lyn, she joined forces with Skeletor, who began to train her as a sorceress. Within days, Evil-Lyn showed incredible ability at mastering the powers of darkness, and was easily seduced by Skeletor's desire for power... a power that the two of them would soon share.
The following morning, Skeletor and the evil warriors teleported to Castle Grayskull, where Skeletor could finally confront The Sorceress and drain her power. The Sorceress instantly sensed their presence, and began to fight back with her magic- but she was stunned by a beam of energy, thrown by the joint powers of Skeletor and Evil-Lyn. She stumbled to the ground, but quickly used her mind power to summon Prince Adam, so he could change to He-Man and come to her aid.
When Adam heard her voice calling him, he quickly warned Man-At-Arms, then he rushed to his room, to change to He-Man. But unfortunately, as he changed, he forgot to make sure no-one was watching... And as he changed, the King's court jester, Orko, floated into the room. Orko was a strange little alien magician from the planet Trolla, who had been stranded on Eternia several years before and had been employed as court jester, even though his tricks usually went wrong due to his power being unaccustomed to this world.
Orko saw Adam transforming into He-Man- but so did Cringer, Prince Adam's pet tiger- who was scared of everything, even his own shadow, and who tried to follow the Prince everywhere he went. He walked into the room at the same time as Orko. He-Man, annoyed with himself at having blown his secret on only his second transformation, explained to Orko the powers he had been given, and made him swear to secrecy. Orko promised he would keep quiet, although He-Man was rather weary of trusting the alien magician, since he often let things slip by mistake.
Cringer was cowering into a corner as he looked up at the form of He-Man. He-Man bent towards him and tried to calm him down... but as he did so, a bolt of power shot from his sword without warning, and struck Cringer! Cringer began to grow in size... then a dark red armor saddle and helmet appeared over his body. He was no longer the weak and timid Cringer... now he was a ferocious warrior tiger!
He-Man looked in amazement at the changed form of his pet... and in his head, he heard the voice of The Sorceress, telling him that this was Battle Cat, who would serve as a trusty battle steed to propel He-Man into combat. Although he could still change back to Cringer, his double identity must also be kept secret.
He-Man did not hesitate- he leaped on Battle Cat's back, and the great tiger carried him out of the palace, and towards Grayskull, to do battle with Skeletor. A great battle ensued at Grayskull, as He-Man, with the aid of Battle Cat, Teela, Man-At-Arms and The Sorceress, defended the castle from Skeletor and his minions. He-Man, with his astounding strength, succeeded in driving the evil crew from the castle... but before he retreated, Skeletor cursed He-Man for his intervention in his scheme, and vowed to do everything within his ability to overcome He-Man and conquer Grayskull.
Although they had emerged victorious, He-Man and his friends realized that a tremendous war was ahead of them, and that they must be extra vigilant now that Eternia was facing its greatest threat yet. He-Man knew that even with his power, he alone would not be able to prevent Skeletor from conquering Eternia for long. So he sent out a call across Eternia for the strongest and most noble of the planet's warriors to join him in his struggle against evil. His call was answered by numerous strong and mighty warriors, and together they formed the team of defenders who became known as the Masters of the Universe.
But Skeletor also expanded his forces by recruiting armies of great, bloodthirsty demons from across Eternia's Black Continent, along with a team of evil warriors to carry out his bidding. Almost day by day, He-Man and the Heroic Warriors were locked in mortal combat with Skeletor and his band of villains, determined to do all they could to conquer Eternia. As the battles continued, He-Man and his forces became stronger, but Skeletor became more crafty and cunning, and succeeded in conquering several kingdoms across Eternia, his schemes constantly becoming more and more difficult to beat.
He-Man's struggle against the forces of darkness was underlined by a great frustration over the double identity that his acquisition of Grayskull's powers had forced upon him. He was forced into putting on an act as Prince Adam, exaggerating his fun-loving and careless side. Although this act protected his secret, it caused King Randor to become ever more disappointed with Adam as he seemingly failed to live up to his expectations as Prince. And even worse, Teela's annoyance with Adam grew to the point where she made constant verbal attacks at him, yet this was juxtaposed by her intense love and admiration for He-Man. Adam was determined to tell her his secret identity, but with Orko having already stumbled upon the secret by accident, he was forbidden from doing so, and was thus blocked from revealing his true self to her. His personal frustrations only served to complicate the great war between good and evil, as the battles became more and more stressful and difficult for Adam. Although the forces of good continued to ensure Grayskull's safety, Skeletor was succeeding in causing mass destruction across Eternia.