Stratos

This article is about the Mike Young Productions character. You may be looking for the original character.

Stratos as seen in the Mike Young Productions animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002).

History[]

StratosUnmasked — The comics by MV Creations show Stratos with winglike hair and birdlike eyes when unmasked.

Stratos was used in the contemporary relaunch of the Masters of the Universe franchise. His appearance is slightly modified. Whereas in the old continuity his wings seem to be merely attached to his body, the relaunch depicts him with large, widespread wings which are part of his anatomy, and his jetpack serves to enhance, rather than produce, his power of flight.

In the new cartoon series, Stratos is seemingly one of the older members of the Masters, and is given a Scottish accent remarkably similar to that of actor Sean Connery. His Bird People once again feature in the new series. The most prominent bird person besides himself is a birdwoman named Hawke, who seems to be a combination of the 80s series' characters Hawke and Delora. Although she shares her name with the classic character Hawk, her personality is different. She is close and loyal to Stratos rather than power-hungry and vengeful like her '80s counterpart. Although their family relationship is never actually mentioned in the series, she is also Stratos' sister, like Delora in the '80s cartoon. This is stated in the series bible as well as the comic books that accompany the show.

Stratos' most significant episodes of the new show are Sky War, which features his people being manipulated by Skeletor into entering a war with Buzz-Off's race, and Trust, in which he is forced into forming an uneasy alliance with Trapjaw to cross the Ice Mountains.

At one point Stratos was going to be re-designed as being black skinned for the 2002 relaunch, by toy sculptors the Four Horsemen, in response to Mattel's demand for racial diversity within the toy line. However, the Four Horsemen decided the racial change did not go well with Stratos' overall design, and so the character Zodak was made black instead.