Skeletor is the main antagonist of the Filmation animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He also made guest appearances in its spinoff She-Ra: Princess of Power. Skeletor was the most persistent threat to the heroes of Eternia and a powerful Sorcerer. His main objectives were to obtain the secrets of Castle Grayskull, conquer Eternia and rule the universe. To this end, he recruited an army of Evil Warriors from his fortress at Snake Mountain and engineered various schemes to destroy his arch enemy, He-Man and capture Grayskull.
Little was known of Skeletor’s early life, but he was described by the Sorceress as a “Demon from
another dimension”[1]. Skeletor was known to have been an associate of the Wizard, Monteeg, and the two of them once overthrew King Archibald together[2]. At some point, Skeletor also tricked the
cosmic enforcer, Zanthor, into giving him the Golden Disks of Knowledge, which he then used to construct Snake Mountain[3].
Skeletor was once a member of the Evil Horde, where he studied black magic under Hordak, who became
his favourite pupil. When Hordak invaded Eternia, Skeletor accompanied him on a mission to kidnap
the newlyborn royal twins, Adam and Adora.
Skeletor serving as Hordak's student.
Before they could complete their mission, Man-At-Arms and Queen Marlena entered the nursery and
foiled their plan. Hordak escaped with the captive Adora, leaving Skeletor at the mercy of the royal palace. Bitter at Hordak for abandoning him, Skeletor betrayed the location of the Horde’s secret
base, causing Hordak to flee Eternia through a dimensional portal.[4]
With Hordak gone, Skeletor set himself up in the Horde’s old headquarters; Snake Mountain, and
amassed an army of evil warriors and henchmen with which he planned to conquer Eternia. Skeletor’s most powerful warrior and second in command was the witch, Evil-Lyn; though their relationship was an uneasy one, as Evil Lyn one day planned to overthrow Skeletor and
take his power for herself.[5]
Battles against He-Man and She-Ra[]
Skeletor seated on his throne in Snake Mountain.
The greatest obstacle to Skeletor’s dominance of the universe was He-Man, the protector of Castle Grayskull and hero of the peoples of Eternia.
Skeletor set his sights on Castle Grayskull, and hoped to obtain its secrets in order to become all
powerful and rule the universe. Skeletor captured Grayskull on several occasions, but was always defeated before he could fully obtain its secrets.
Some time later, Skeletor was reunited with Hordak, when the Horde leader returned to Eteria in
pursuit of Princess Adora. Skeletor was shocked to find that Adora had become a member of the
Horde in the years since he and Hordak parted ways, and despite an initial battle, he agreed to help Hordak recapture Adora. This proved to be a ruse, as once Adora was safely at Snake Mountain, Skeletor turned on Hordak and sent him back to Etheria, planning to ransom the Princess to King Randor. [6] This would later backfire as She Ra (Adora's alter ego) battle against Skeletor and his henchman and escaped. Skeletor would declare this worst day of his life.
Skeletor is reunited with Hordak.
Now knowing of Etheria, Skeletor would expand his ambitions and made several attempts to overthrow Hordak and take control of the Horde for himself, hoping to use its army to conquer Eternia[7]. He would fight Hordak again on various occasions, often defeating his old mentor and demonstrating that the student had surpassed the teacher. [8][9]
On one occasion, Skeletor was contacted by Horde Prime, and agreed to serve him in exchange for a great reward. Horde Prime ordered that the spirit of Christmas, recently arrived on Eternia, would
need to be destroyed. Instead, Skeletor found himself - for the first time in his life - overcome with the desire to perform a noble act, and he saved two children from Earth from Horde Prime’s wrath, using his Havoc Staff to disable the Horde Leader’s ship. He was relieved to find that Christmas only came once a year. [10]
Powers and Abilities[]
Skeletor was an incredibly powerful sorcerer, and, alongside He-Man and The Sorceress, one of the
three most powerful beings on Eternia. Skeletor channelled his magic through his Havoc Staff, but
could also fire energy blasts directly from his fingers. He also possessed advance scientific
knowledge and was capable of creating machines and devices which rivalled those of Man at Arms.
Personality and Traits[]
Skeletor's trademark was his evil laughter.
Skeletor was cruel, sadistic and ruthless. He took great joy in the suffering of others and claimed hat
everything he did was for the sake of evil, often punctuating his evil rants with a demonic cackle. He showed little respect for his underlings, claiming that he only trusted them because they feared him. He would frequently belittle and insult his warriors, particularly Beast Man, who was often blamed for Skeletor’s own failures.[11] Skeletor loathed He-Man,
who became his arch nemesis, but at the same time, he also showed a vertain level of respect for He-Man’s abilities
and considered him a worthy adversary. Despite their mutual emnity, the two foes would put aside their differences and work together on on occasion, teaming up to battle the threats of Evilseed and Sh'Gora, respectively. [12][13]
Skeletor's terrifying new look, as seen in the He-Ro series bible.
The Series Bible, written by Michael Halperin, included an expanded backstory for Skeletor which was never alluded to in the series. It gave the name of his home dimension as Infinita, a planet which held the sum total of all the universe's evil. [14]
The Filmation incarnation of Skeletor would have returned in the proposed 1996 series He-Ro Son of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series which was developed by Lou Scheimer as a possible new cartoon series for the animation company DIC Entertainment. In that series, Skeletor had long since been defeated in a climactic battle with He-Man and imrpisoned in the frozen lands of Eternia, but escaped and returned to menace the now King He-Man and his son, Dare, who would have become known as He-Ro, Son of He-Man. [15]
