Prince Adam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Prince Adam of Eternia | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Prince Adam is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe comic and cartoon series. His secret identity is He-Man, the main character in the franchise. Adam is a seemingly careless and worry free prince in the eyes of the Eternian court. Most notably his parents (King Randor and Queen Marlena) and Teela, the captain of the Royal Guard perceive Prince Adam as a coward. This common misperception of Prince Adam is because whenever trouble arises in Eternia, Prince Adam makes a timely exit so that he can secretly become He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. After Prince Adam becomes He-Man, he then has the power to defeat whatever enemy is threatening the Eternian throne or Castle Grayskull.
Contents |
[edit] Background
[edit] Original Series
Prince Adam is half-Eternian and half-earthling. According to the episode "Teela's Quest" Adam's mother Marlena was one of the first Earth women allowed to go into space. Her ship crashed on the planet Eternia where she eventually met and married the Eternian King Randor. Their child Adam grew up to be "smarter, more agile, stronger, and more muscular than any Eternian"[1]. According to the series bible, Prince Adam experienced a pivotal change in his life one day while he was walking through Eternia's Wind Forest. He noticed a falcon flying overhead that was screeching at him as if it wanted him to follow it. Adam followed the bird through an adventurous path leading him to a clearing. When Adam looked up, he saw the legendary Castle Grayskull. The falcon transformed into The Sorceress who explained to him that his birth had been foretold in ancient legends and that the spirits had chosen him to share in Grayskull's secrets. Although the Jaw Bridge of Castle Grayskull had not been opened for centuries The Sorceress opened it with a magical gesture. After walking inside of the castle Prince Adam was given a magical sword and he was told to strike the sword against stone and to speak the phrase "by the power of Grayskull!" When he did this he was transformed into He-Man the most powerful man in the universe. Adam committed himself to use his newly found power for the good of others and to oppose Skeletor and his evil Masters of the Universe[1].
Oddly enough, He-Man and Prince Adam looked exactly alike, with the only exception being that He-Man was tan with sligthly darker hair color (and speaking in a deeper voice). This often brought into question why no one could make the connection between them. It was often assumed that the power sword altered people's persception between them.
[edit] 2002 Series
A teenaged Adam is brought to Castle Grayskull by Man-At-Arms on his birthday, where the Sorceress tells him of the prophecy that foretold his becoming He-Man to defend Eternia, which Adam initially scoffs at. After events come to pass Adam realizes the the prophecy is true and returns to accept the power and duty when Skeletor attacked his people and kidnaps his father.
After this time, Prince Adam regularly had the freedom to temporarily become He-Man whenever trouble arose. When Prince Adam changes into He-Man, he also points the Sword of Power at his reluctant large green cat named Cringer, who subsequently becomes He-Man's sidekick Battle Cat. Besides Cringer there are only three others who know the true identity of Prince Adam, Man-At-Arms, Orko, and the Sorceress. In the episode "Prince Adam No More," it was explained that Adam's true identity must be kept secret because if Skeletor or other evil forces knew, then that knowledge would endanger all of those whom he loves.
Unlike the original series, Prince Adam is portrayed as being far younger and skinnier than his He-Man persona, thus making any association between the two less likely.
[edit] Personality
Prince Adam is portrayed as a "happy-go-lucky" character[2]. He has a strong human physique, a passion for freedom, and a love for adventure.[1] He is a free spirit whose escapades are known throughout Eternia. Although he is overly-enthusiastic and his seeming immaturity is unimpressive to his parents, his goof-off attitude is not without purpose. In the episode entitled The Search Prince Adam reveals that the "fun-loving Prince" act is merely artificial. This suggests that He-Man and Prince Adam are intrinsically the same person and are not two entirely different personalities.
This varies from one animated series to another. In The New Adventures of He-Man, Adam is portrayed as an easy going everyman rather than an shallow, fun loving prince. In fact, Adam is shown behaving more like his alter ego He-Man, without much concern of people linking his behavior with He-Man. This could be representative of the idea of Adam as the true persona, or simply that Adam believes that since he and He-Man do not lookalike, people probably would not suspect them of being one person. In the 2002 series, the earlier "happy-go-lucky" prince image is brought back, and even goes so far as to show that initially Adam is a spoiled, carefree prince who doesn't think anything bad could possibly happen to him or his world, and he carelessly scoffs at the Sorceress when she informs him of his destiny to become He-Man. When the reality of danger finally confronts him and endangers his father's life, Adam takes the necessary step to become He-Man, which seems to have a "growing up" effect on him, though he still retains some of his youthful naivete and continues to behave as a shallow fun lover so as not to be suspected of being He-Man, who behaves in a more mature and responsible manner than Adam.
[edit] Duties
Prince Adam's duties seem to be somewhat limited. He frequently practices his combat skills with Teela, who will often berate him for his carefree attitude. He is often seen loitering in the Royal Palace, with no pressing concerns. Adam often speaks with Duncan and Orko, but rarely does he have any duties outside of an occasional escort.
[edit] Notes
- Originally in the Masters of the Universe world there was no concept of a Prince Adam. This is evidenced in some of the earliest mini-comics such as "He-Man and the Power Sword" and "The Vengeance of Skeletor." However, in the series of comics published by DC the concept of Prince Adam was debuted, and was subsequently used in the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon series. Ever since then, the concept of Prince Adam has been retained in the various Masters of the Universe incarnations (except for the live action movie).
- The concept of Adam and his alter ego He-Man is very similar to that of Billy Batson and the original Captain Marvel (The Power of SHAZAM!), in that Adam is (presumably) younger than his heroic alter ego and must speak a specific transformation line in order to become his heroic persona.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Series Guide p.3. He-Man.org.
- ^ He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Series Guide p.4. He-Man.org.
