She-Ra

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She-Ra

She-Ra, with her Sword of Protection

Statistics
Name	She-Ra
Secret Identity	Princess Adora
Affiliations	The Crystal Castle, Light Hope, Kowl, Madame Razz, The Great Rebellion, Castle Grayskull
Notable relatives	King Miro (grandfather) King Randor (father) Queen Marlena (mother) He-Man (brother)
Notable powers or skills	She Ra is known as the Princess of Power. As such, she has superhuman strength and is highly resistant to damage. She also possesses superhuman speed and agility, a healing touch, as well as the ability to speak with animals telepathically. All her powers derive from the mystical Power of Grayskull.
Weapons	Sword of Protection
Voiced by	Melendy Britt
Created by	Mattel

She-Ra is the heroic female lead in a series of toys produced by Mattel called She-Ra: Princess of Power. She also appears in the tie-in cartoon of the same name, which was an attempt to make a version of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon series that would appeal to young girls in the same way that He-Man appealed to boys. She-Ra is also the sister of He-Man.

1 The toys
2 The animated series
3 2002 series
4 DVD Releases
5 Further reading
6 Trivia
7 External links

[edit] The toys

The toyline was primarily focused on She-Ra and her allies. The villain of the toyline was Catra, a "jealous beauty."

Many of the villains in the cartoon had toys released as part of the Masters of the Universe toyline. Most came out as members of the Evil Horde, though a few were released as Snake-Men.

The toyline had 3 series over 3 years, 1985, 1986, and 1987. All toys made in 1987 were canceled in mid-production, and therefore are rare, with the rarest being Spinnerella. These were distributed in many countries, including: Canada, USA, Mexico, Italy, France, Brazil, and Spain, among others.

In most cases the action figures were packaged in a clear bubble on a card, and the horses were in boxes. Most of the toys were packaged individually, but in second runs were packaged together, such as: Swift Wind and She-ra 2 pack, Storm and Catra 2 pack, Crystal Swift Wind and Starburst She-Ra 2 pack, Crystal Moonbeam and Peekablue 2 pack, Crystal Sundancer and Sweet Bee 2 pack, Clawdeen and Scratchin' Sound Catra 2 pack, and the 'Defenders of Good' 3 pack which included She-Ra, Sweet Bee and Perfuma.

The Action Figures

Series 1 (1985): She-Ra, Bow, Castaspella, Double Trouble, Frosta, Glimmer, Queen Angella, Kowl, and the villain Catra.

Series 2 (1986): Starburst She-ra, Flutterina, Peekablue, Perfuma, Mermista, Sweet Bee, and the villains Entrapta, and Scratchin' Sound Catra.

Series 3 (1987): Bubble Power She-Ra, Netossa, Spinnerella, Loo-Kee and the villain Shower Power Catra.

The Steeds & Vehicles

Series 1 (1985): Swift Wind (She-Ra's horse), Arrow (Bow's horse), Storm (Catra's horse), Enchanta (holds 3 or 4 dolls), Butterflyer (carrying case for 8 dolls).

Series 2 (1986): Crystal Swift Wind (Starburst She-ra's horse), Crystal Moonbeam (Peekablue's horse), Crystal Sundancer (Sweetbee's horse), Clawdeen (Scratchin' Sound Catra's Cat), Sea Harp (holds 3 or 4 dolls).

Series 3 (1987): Royal Swift Wind (Bubble Power She-ra's horse), Silver Storm (Shower Power Catra's horse)

The Playsets

Series 1 (1985): The Crystal Castle

Series 2 (1986): Crystal Falls

The Fashions

Series 1 (1986): Ready in Red, Hold on to Your Hat, Flower Power, Deep Blue Secret, Fit to be Tied, Flight of Fancy, Veils of Mystery, Rise and Shine. They each had a 'secret' feature.

Series 2 (1987): Reflections in Red, Hidden Gold, Frosty Fur, Colorful Secret, Windy Jumper, Blue Lightning, Heart of Gold, Secret Messenger. They each had a 'secret' feature.

[edit] The animated series

The premise of the show is that Princess Adora, whose secret identity is She-Ra, and her friends must free Etheria from Hordak and his evil Horde, after realizing her true destiny through the help of her twin brother Prince Adam, who is also known as He-Man.

The She-Ra cartoon's premise is similar to the He-Man premise, with the distinction that while He-Man serves King Randor and the rulers of Eternia (a neighboring planet), She-Ra is a revolutionary engaged in a rebellion against Hordak, the ruler of Etheria, and to a larger extent against the rarely seen Horde Prime, leader of an evil intergalactic empire. Another similarity and distinction is that while both series mixed science fiction and sorcery, He-Man's stories tended to lean towards science fiction and technology, while She-Ra's were geared more towards swords and sorcery.

She-Ra, like He-Man, wields a magic sword: the Sword of Protection. Adora transforms into She-Ra by holding it aloft and saying, "For the honor of Grayskull... I am She-Ra!" The Sword of Protection varies from He-Man's Sword of Power in that it has a crystal set into the blade. The crystal is the source of her transformation power, and if cracked, prevents Adora from changing to She-Ra (as revealed in the episode, "The Stone In The Sword".) The Sword of Protection is also unique in that it can change into other forms at She-Ra's command, changing to a shield, helmet, parachute, lasso, or flaming blade among others. Apart from that the crystal allows She-Ra to make use of a ray.

Additionally, She-Ra and her alter ego Princess Adora look exactly the same, due to budget restraints on the animation (and the presumption that youngsters would not be able to follow the stories with a vast distinction in appearance) much as He-Man and Prince Adam did, and the only real change that occurred in the transformation was a change in the standard clothes and a deeper, more authoritative voice as well as giving She-Ra longer hair than Adora. Unlike Adam, who would pretend to be a lazy, irresponsible playboy to keep people from suspecting he was He-Man, Adora never acted as anything but her true self: energetic, somewhat tomboyish, strong-willed but with a kind streak.

She-Ra also possessed superhuman strength and stamina, in addition to being very athletic and agile, and like He-Man, She-Ra would often try to outsmart her opponents rather than simply beat them up outright. Her personality combined the archetypical female traits of kindness, compassion, and a soft-spoken manner; however, she also displayed bravery and perseverance in the face of danger. As well as the super-human strength and stamina shared by He-Man after his transformation, She-Ra had additional skills in her changed form. These included a healing touch and telepathic communication with animals.

She-Ra has allies among the rebels: they include Bow, an archer and bard with an assortment of specialized arrows; Princess Glimmer of Brightmoon, who can manipulate light and is daughter of Queen Angella; Madame Razz, a somewhat absent-minded Twigget witch and her talking, flying Broom; Kowl, a wise and sharp-witted owl-like bird; Castaspella, the sorceress queen of Mystacor; Mermista, a siren princess who can acquire legs to walk on the land and control waters; and Frosta, ruler of the Kingdom of snows, who can command snow and ice. While He-Man rides a tiger, Adora rides a horse, Spirit. When she transforms into She-Ra she uses the power of her sword to transform him into a winged unicorn, called Swift Wind, similar to how He-Man transforms his pet, Cringer, into Battle Cat. (As with Adora/She-Ra, Spirit/Swift Wind's personality is not changed during transformation.) The rebels operate from The Whispering Woods, a dense magical forest inhabited by the Twiggets. In the episodes encompassed by the feature film, the rebels also succeeded in reconquering Castle Brightmoon from the Evil Horde.

Like the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, there were also three people on Etheria that knew of Adora's true identity. Madame Razz, her sidekick Broom, Kowl and most importantly, Lighthope, who in turn appeared occasionally as the gatekeeper of The Crystal Castle, a hidden castle on Etheria which was introduced in an episode of the same name one quarter into its first season. Unlike Skeletor, who always tried to conquer Castle Grayskull on He-Man, Hordak may have known of The Crystal Castle's existence, but no episode focusing on that idea ever materialized. And like the friends of He-Man who knew of his secret, Adora's friends knew of Adam's secret as most of the characters from Masters of the Universe appeared occasionally throughout the series run.

Hordak, who was a co-conspirator with He-Man's Skeletor to kidnap Adora from Eternia when she was a baby, has a supporting cast of villains. These include Shadow Weaver, Hordak's right hand, a dark witch with a whole complement of spells and who was originally a sorceress from Mystacor named Light Spinner; Leech, who can suck the energy out of his unsuspecting victim; Mantenna, a hideous creature with pointy ears and pop-action eyes that emit various energy beams attacks capable of incapacitating his foe (who was played, however, as a stammering, incompetent boob rather than the capable, erudite threat of the mini-comics); Grizzlor, a hairy bearlike beast, who reminds one suspiciously of Eternia's Beast Man; Catra, an anti-She-Ra who can transform into a giant cat (hence the name) through means of a magical mask; Entrapta, just like catra is another anti she-ra and is the Evil Horde's villainous technician. She appears to be a close sidekick of Catra. Entrapta is a skilled inventor and can mentally control her hair at will and Scorpia, she is part-human, part-scorpion. Instead of hands she possesses scorpion-like claws and has a scorpians tail aswell as legs.

After being kidnapped from Eternia as an infant, Adora was raised as Hordak's protégé and manipulated by Shadow Weaver's magic, but through the encounter with her brother she broke free of the manipulation, was told of her true heritage and joined the rebellion.

Hordak is also supported by an entire army of Horde troopers, recognizable by their heavy armor, dome-shaped helmets (adorned with a fin) and phallic blasters; the troopers also have a host of different combat vehicles, giving them a technological advantage over the rebels in the war for Etheria. The Horde operates from the aptly named Fright Zone and controls much of Etheria. The notorious Beast Island serves as a prison camp.

One interesting feature of the animated series was the presence of a "hidden character" in most episodes, Loo-Kee. This small pixie-like creature, dressed in a rainbow-colored outfit, was drawn into the background art of one specific scene in a given episode; the viewer was implicitly challenged to try and find him, much like the Where's Waldo? phenomenon of years later. Loo-Kee was used to deliver the end-of-show "morals" segment (a trademark of most Filmation shows of this era; in He-Man the role was sometimes given to Orko), and it was during this segment that it was revealed where exactly he could be found in the episode. Loo-Kee was not a character in the She-Ra series per se, and only directly interacted with the story in two episodes.

She-Ra made her début in the five-part opening adventure to the syndicated series which premiered in 1985. This five-part story (comprising of "Into Etheria", "Beast Island", "She-Ra Unchained", "Reunions" and "Battle For Bright Moon") was later re-edited into the full length animated movie, He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword. The syndicated series was cancelled in 1986, after 2 seasons and 93 episodes (of 65 and 28 episodes respectively). Reruns aired on USA Network from September 1988 to September 1989.

[edit] 2002 series

It was rumored that She-Ra was supposed to be reintroduced in the third season of the 2002 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series; however, the series was cancelled after the second season, and thus She-Ra never came to be in the latest incarnation. She did, however, receive an updated action figure to fit in with the new 2002 Masters of the Universe toyline. The She-Ra 2004 toy was an exclusive to the Wizard World Chicago and San Diego 2004 comic-book and pop culture conventions.

[edit] DVD Releases

She-Ra DVDs have been released by BCI Eclipse LLC.

[edit] Further reading

Hillary DePiano (2005) The She-Ra Collector's Inventory: An Unofficial Illustrated Guide to All Princess of Power Toys and Accessories (Includes Price Guide)''. Priced Nostalgia Press. ISBN 1-4116-3128-5

[edit] Trivia

In the 90s, Howard Stern's family had a cat named She-Ra Princess of Power.
An illustrated portrait series named "She-Ra, ReVamped" was created by New York's Pop Fantastic. The series featured edgier, Vargas Girl inspired versions of the dolls.
J. Michael Straczynski was a staff writer on She-Ra: Princess of Power.
In the comic book Supreme Power (also written by J. Michael Straczynski) one character named Princess Zarda, General Richard Alexander said that focus groups came up with Power Princess she said Princess of Power would be better, but General Alexander said that it was already copyrighted.
She-Ra may have loosely been based on Red Sonja as both possess uncanny might and sword abilities. Most of the primary characters of He-Man and She-Ra are rumored to have been inspired by Conan.

[edit] External links

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Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links. Please remove this tag when this is done. This article has been tagged since January 2007. (talk)

Name	Ep #	Region 1	Region 4
She-Ra: Princess of Power: Season 1, Volume 1	33	November 6, 2006	November 8, 2006
She-Ra: Princess of Power: Season 1, Volume 2	33	April 3, 2007	TBA
She-Ra: Princess of Power: Season 2	27	September 4, 2007 [1]