For the Honor of Grayskull....

I have been masquerading on Facebook lately as Wonder Woman, but truthfully the real hero of my childhood was She-Ra.

Unbelievably (to me at least), many people I talk to about She-Ra have no recollection of her at all. My crusade for the week is to turn that around.






She-Ra: Princess of Power:

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 cartoon's premise is similar to that of the He-Man cartoon, with the distinction that while He-Man serves King Randor on Eternia, She-Ra is a revolutionary engaged in a rebellion against Hordak, the tyrannical 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 tend to lean towards science fiction and technology, while She-Ra's are 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 above her head and saying, "For the honor of Grayskull... I am She-Ra!" The Sword of Protection differs from He-Man's Sword of Power in that it has a crystal set into the blade. The crystal is the source of Adora's transformation power, and if cracked, prevents her from changing to She-Ra, as revealed in the episode, "The Stone in the Sword". The crystal is able to emit a beam of light, akin to a laser, capable of cutting through stone and metal. The Sword of Protection is also unique in that it can change into other forms at She-Ra's command, changing into a shield, helmet, parachute, lasso, or flaming blade among others.

Additionally, She-Ra and her alter ego, Princess Adora look exactly the same, much as He-Man and Prince Adam do. This is 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. The only real change that occurs in the transformation is a change in clothes and a deeper, more authoritative voice as well as giving She-Ra longer hair than Adora. Unlike Adam, who pretends to be a lazy, irresponsible playboy to keep people from suspecting he is He-Man, Adora never acts as anything than her true self: energetic, somewhat tomboyish, strong-willed but with a kind streak.

She-Ra also possesses superhuman strength and stamina, in addition to being very athletic and agile, and like He-Man, She-Ra often outsmarts her opponents rather than simply beating them up. Her personality combines the archetypical female traits of kindness, compassion, and a soft-spoken manner; however, she also displays 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 include a healing touch and telepathic communication with animals.

From Wikipedia (read more).

And if that wasn't enough to jog your memory, this might just do the trick:


"For the Honor of Grayskull... I AM SHE-RA!"